Let's put it this way. If the knife scores it, it will not damage (much) the edge, you will get a nice cutting action, but you will get a scratched dull surface, great for holding small amounts of food and then bacteria.

If the knife does not score it, you will have a nice appeareance for a long time, easy to clean, no bacteria breeding ground, but you will damage the edge noticeably, and will get a nasty bump at the end of each cutting chop.

If you have ceramic knives or some grades of high hardness molybdenum steel knives the tempered glass will behave as the first case (with some risk of adding glass slivers to food). With all normal knives it will be the second case.

If you cut a lot, or love your knives, pick a soft cutting surface. If you love more showing your kitchen than using it, or you use cheap knives and never worry about sharpening, glass would be an option.

As in the stain and oven cleaner case, it is a matter of choice. I bet the stain did disappear. No stain on a hole.

I love the thunk when chopping with a big knife on a wooden board. Or even a PP one.

José

If I remember, steel and glass are of roughly equivalent hardness (Moh's scale of hardness). So the knife is likely to be made blunter than if used on wood/plastic cutting boards. I read a study from U of Alaska a while back about cutting boards (may be OBE by now). Basic gist was took wood cutting boards of various woods, plastic cutting boards and bathed them in bacterial soup. Washed with hot soap and water. Wait 24 hours, then examine. Wood boards had none of the bacteria, plastic did. Didn't matter what wood type. I'll see if I can find the link.

There's something disturbing about glass cutting boards, similar to nails on chalkboard. They also break, which is definitely a hazard. I'd just use the plastic/wood and keep it clean.

"Toxic Suzie"? Ha ha ha! She and I think alike. I bleach down the bathroom/kitchen every now and then, for that hospital-fresh feeling. You gotta kill them all the first time, or else they mutate and come back stronger.

Don't use triclosan. Some common bac are already resistant.

Wood only for me. It's a feel thing mostly (that sound Jose describes as well as the nails-on-chalkboard feeling I get when visiting my mom and using her glass board), and polypropylene looks really gross after a while. Someday I'll have all my countertops done in butcher-block. Bleach is your friend, and when it starts to get too gouged and nicked, just whip out the belt sander and resurface.

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Originally posted by lithos:
Splitcoil, any cheap ways to get a Fender Vintage (ie, baaaad) trem to stay somewhat in tune when using it?

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Short answer? No. There is no way.

Long answer: Become an expert setup technician, keep your tuners tight, your nut well lubed and filed (stop snickering), your saddles equally well lubed, and the trem set up perfectly, and then it MIGHT stay in tune if you only use it with moderation.

Alternative: Switch to a frickin' Jazzmaster or Jaguar, replace the bridge with a modded Warmoth Jmaster bridge and keep the trem locked unless you're using it.

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Basic gist was took wood cutting boards of various woods, plastic cutting boards and bathed them in bacterial soup. Washed with hot soap and water. Wait 24 hours, then examine. Wood boards had none of the bacteria, plastic did. Didn't matter what wood type. I'll see if I can find the link.

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Yep. I saw that too. So I wash my one plastic board more thoroughly than the wood ones. I learnt at my then work-place that it is because wood contains a lot of bacteria-killing chemicals. Wadda you say José?

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Short answer? No. There is no way.

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totally agreed.

alternative solution: do what i did. track down every piece of concert footage you can of Jimi Hendrix. Remind yourself you are watching a guitar genius. Note how often he retunes his stratocasters (between every song at least and often on the fly while playing). Accept the fact that the vintage tremelo system is quite simply garbage and not even someone as gifted with the instrument as Hendrix could do a damn thing about it except learn to tune really fast.

At this point you can either buy a fixed bridge guitar like the telecaster or pay close attention to the Hendrix tapes for a great education in how to tune as you go (greatly aided by naturally perfect sense of pitch.)

I use both wood and plastic cutting boards.

The plastic ones were sold as being "anti-bacterial". I've no idea if that's true, but we haven't died yet.

I did try using a Fender Vintage once, but it blunted the hell out of my knives.

glass is no good, but it can be pretty.

plastic cutting boards tend to bend over time, especially if you put them in the dishwasher.
stick to wood, and just treat it as you should any of your possessions; they'll last.

As much as I loathe chiming in on a hydra sponsored topic, here's my rupee 1.50:

You shouldn't wash a wooden cutting board. Wet it (with just the right combination of hydrogen and oxygen - don't want to mess that up!) then pour sea salt all over it, really coat it. Let sit for half an hour then scrub it with a rough kitchen cloth. Dry. Oil with mineral oil. Repeat as necessary.

(The above is an old Dutch butcher's trick - although I'd assume the salt would kill just about anything, I'll leave a more definitive answer for the more microbiologically inclined.)

And re: the gitfiddle. What S/C said: buy a Tele. That said, you could consider drop tuning it down to D; it just might take enough tension off for it to stay in tune two or three songs longer.

OK, enough with the damn cutting boards already! More guitar tech stuff!

Speaking of asking colin about Japanese, I think this is an easy one. In karate at the bow-out we say 'domo arigato gozaimashita'. We have a Japanese exchange student in the class, and she's fallen in line now and says it that way, but used to just say 'arigato gozaimas', and I've heard lots of people saying it that way in different contexts. Is the full version kind of archaic, or just super polite, or...? As I understand it the more verbose versions are more polite - or used toward a social superior - but does anyone in general Japanese usage use 'gozaimashita'?

Or, you could be a complete Phillistine and put some kinda new-fangled high-tech Floyd Rose trem in it... (grinning, ducking and running)

Speaking of which, any bets on when the first mini-Mac will end up in an old IIe case?

I agree wood is better, but I just prefer plunking it in the dishwasher. That is enough for most normal infections. Wood is naturally less prone to food infections, but just because it sponsors its own system of competing microorganisms, ones that usually have no interest in animals.

DP, I would check that mineral oil to be food grade, as they usually contain lots of unpleasant toxic cumulative compounds. But yes, that would not kill everything, just everything dangerous to health, which is the point, really.

The bending will depend on use, material (lots of grades of polymer out there) and how you place them in the dishwasher. No problem at all in three years.

And I use all my possessions the same. Which is why all cooking implements are dishwasher capable, all clothes are machine washable, preferently no ironing, and I tended to go through glasses, watches and agendas with a high rotation.

Testing to destruction.

José

Thank you, and please let me get my ducks in a row for a top 10 shot...

Thanks SC. Deep, deep, down, I knew it was hopeless, but still there was that glimmer of hope. And ED, Jimi did tune on the fly, but Lithos does not equal Hendrix. And I never really did like Teles too much.

New guitar soon, though. Floyd Rose here I come. Those things are fun. I've already got a fixed bridge - my strat stays in tune as long as I don't use the whammy (and I'm from the more "diiiiiiiiiiive booooooomb" school of whammy).

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Switch to a frickin' Jazzmaster or Jaguar

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Yup. You're definitely from Seattle.

Cutting boards? Don't, for the love of 14,5 CroMo, use glass. They make OK cheese boards, but will kill your knives and sound like nails on a chalkboard, as Pauline pointed out.

The food service industry standard in most countries is nylon (not polypropylene) - those white "wax" ones you see. They don't blunt knives, and if washed properly won't harbour bacteria. There are woods that are naturally antibacterial - I know pine sap is reccomended in the SAS survival guide as an antiseptic to put in soap - but no one wants a pine board. Too soft, and chunkily-grained.

There's a guy in the King George Square markets who sells antibacterial wood boards - will check it out this Sunday.

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Originally posted by Bravus:
Speaking of asking colin about Japanese, I think this is an easy one. In karate at the bow-out we say 'domo arigato gozaimashita'. We have a Japanese exchange student in the class, and she's fallen in line now and says it that way, but used to just say 'arigato gozaimas', and I've heard lots of people saying it that way in different contexts. Is the full version kind of archaic, or just super polite, or...? As I understand it the more verbose versions are more polite - or used toward a social superior - but does anyone in general Japanese usage use 'gozaimashita'?

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Lookit me! Ah'ma ee-ki-su-part!

Without any further context I'd say your exchange student was being rather casual. Kids these days! This is not really because of the difference between 'gozaimasu' and 'gozaimashita' (see below) but because you wrote it as 'gozaimas', which gave me the impression that she wasn't enunciating clearly.

But given that she is a native I could be completely wrong. Or it could be that your ears are bad.

Anyway, (and coincidentally this came up in email with someone else) the difference between 'gozaimasu' and 'gozaimashita' is not really politeness, it's tense. 'Gozaimasu' is present/future tense and my impression is that it should be used when accepting things, or before somebody does something for you. 'Gozaimashita' is past tense and should be used when giving thanks for an action that is complete, like a karate lesson. However, language is a flexible thing, even in Japanese, and either form is correct and roughly equivalent in politeness.

The 'domo', by the way, basically means 'very much', as in 'thank you very much'.

Edit: Though now that I think about it, even when you enunciate clearly you probably won't say the 'u' sound at the end of 'gozaimasu', so I'm probably just getting a mistaken impression from your lack of Japanese spelling rigor!

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i like the Bartlby sig, Hydra!

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well thank you boogerhead for reminding me of it. I saw it on IFC many months back and thought that Maury Chaykin gave a killer fuckin' performance.

For this question any ladies that have personal experience that they feel comfortable sharing are the experts.

My girlfriend switched from orthotricyclen (from which she experienced no negative side effects to Yasmin which just seems like an expensive way for the pharmIndustry to harvest more rupees.

Any ladies had either positive or negative personal experience with taking (and/or switching) to Yasmin?

domo arigato gozaimashita, colin-san

Can any of you math-heads recommend a good Algebra/Calculus textbook/work book/website?

Trying to pass a math entrance exam but don't want to end up in the remedial class.

Cheers