The "This Might Be A Stupid Question, But...." Thread

[blue2000]

How on earth do you read and understand the various electric company offerings?

We are moving to Houston, where you can choose between different electric companies. I am so overwhelmed with trying to figure it all out! We currently live in an area where there is only 1 option for electricity, so I have never even needed to think about these things.

For example, they give different rates for 500 kWh, 1000 kWh, and 2000 kWh. Does that mean that your rate will vary and be billed by the amount of electricity you use? Is there some sort of average that I might expect to use? What is renewable content, and should we look for a provider that has a higher percentage of it? What is a "TDSP pass-through charge"? Should you go with the provider with the lowest prices, or are there other factors to consider?

I'm not entirely sure about most of that, but I know my EC has different rates for 500 kWh and 1000 kWh. When I hit 1000 kWh, they charge a higher rate. Your current bill should say how much power you have used in that month. If you use just over 1000 kWh, consider a provider who has the best rate for that. If you are moving to a much larger/smaller house or expecting lower heating bills, look for rates that are closer to what you expect in the new place.

[VorFemme]

How on earth do you read and understand the various electric company offerings?

We are moving to Houston, where you can choose between different electric companies. I am so overwhelmed with trying to figure it all out! We currently live in an area where there is only 1 option for electricity, so I have never even needed to think about these things.

For example, they give different rates for 500 kWh, 1000 kWh, and 2000 kWh. Does that mean that your rate will vary and be billed by the amount of electricity you use? Is there some sort of average that I might expect to use? What is renewable content, and should we look for a provider that has a higher percentage of it? What is a "TDSP pass-through charge"? Should you go with the provider with the lowest prices, or are there other factors to consider?

I'm not entirely sure about most of that, but I know my EC has different rates for 500 kWh and 1000 kWh. When I hit 1000 kWh, they charge a higher rate. Your current bill should say how much power you have used in that month. If you use just over 1000 kWh, consider a provider who has the best rate for that. If you are moving to a much larger/smaller house or expecting lower heating bills, look for rates that are closer to what you expect in the new place.

Also remember that your heating bills may very well be lower.....but your summer cooling bills could be a LOT higher (I live just southwest of Houston).

[twiggy]

I've had chicken marsala at Olive Garden and I love it. It's so yummy! I didn't realize that it's cooked in a specific wine, Marsala, until I started seeing recipes online for it. And that led me to several stupid questions.

So, stupid question #1: does the alcohol cook out of the wine?
#2: is there a substitution, or is the flavor mostly dependent on the wine?
#3: I don't drink, so how many 1C servings would be in a typical bottle?
#4: I think that once you open the bottle, you then have a limited window of time in which to consume the wine, correct? That being said, if I made a bunch of the sauce, would it freeze well?

[ladyknight1]

I cook with Marsala all the time.

No, not all the alcohol cooks out of the wine.
The flavor is heavily dependent on the wine.
I usually get three to four recipes out of one bottle.
Marsala is fortified, and lasts just fine as long as the lid or cork is secured between uses.

[JoW]

chicken marsala .... if I made a bunch of the sauce, would it freeze well?

The freezing point of alcohol is -173F (-114C).  The average home freezer is just a little cooler than 32F (0C).  If the sauce contains alcohol the water in it will freeze but the alcohol will remain liquid.  So you'll get a slush, not a block of ice. 

[Raintree]

I'm still trying to figure out Twitter. #Whatdoesitmeanwhenpeopledothis ?

[blue2000]

I'm still trying to figure out Twitter. #Whatdoesitmeanwhenpeopledothis ?

It is a hashtag, and for the old-school among us, it is kind of like a file marker. If you 'tag' something, twitter will file it with all the other tweets under that tag. If you want to see all the tweets filed with yours, type your hashtag into the search function. This also gives extra meaning to the tweet. If you tweet someone and say "I like your shirt" they will take it as a fashion compliment. Hashtag it with #nicegazongas, and it has a totally different meaning.

People make games of this. They also hashtag important events. So if you wanted to see Olympic or superbowl tweets, you could search for the hashtags. If the event is going on right now, you can follow along with that hashtag and see every tweet even if you don't follow the people making them.

[kherbert05]

My district tech department has a hashtag so we can see each other's tweets about things we have done in the classroom. Some schools have hashtagas and a tv set to display things happening at the school.

[Ms_Cellany]

I had a class last semester that made up its own hashtag. Many conferences also do that. #mla.

[Slartibartfast]

It can be used as a tongue-in-cheek way of adding sarcasm or a postscript to a tweet, too - "Cleaning vomit out of the car for the third time this week #ParentingIsGreat" or "Yay political robocalls!#NotReally #NotVotingForYouAnyway #IHateLivingInOhio".

[twiggy]

I cook with Marsala all the time.

No, not all the alcohol cooks out of the wine.
The flavor is heavily dependent on the wine.
I usually get three to four recipes out of one bottle.
Marsala is fortified, and lasts just fine as long as the lid or cork is secured between uses.

really? Now I'm very sad. No more chicken marsala for Twiggyy  

[Snooks]

My district tech department has a hashtag so we can see each other's tweets about things we have done in the classroom. Some schools have hashtagas and a tv set to display things happening at the school.

This backfired pretty impressively for Starbucks.  They encouraged people to use the hashtag #SpreadTheCheer the tweets were then displayed on a giant screen at the Natural History Museum ice rink in London.  Problem was it was an automated system and Starbucks were (are) in the middle of a tax scandal in the UK. Examples/full story here.

[Mental Magpie]

I cook with Marsala all the time.

No, not all the alcohol cooks out of the wine.
The flavor is heavily dependent on the wine.
I usually get three to four recipes out of one bottle.
Marsala is fortified, and lasts just fine as long as the lid or cork is secured between uses.

really? Now I'm very sad. No more chicken marsala for Twiggyy  

As far as I know, the stuff you buy pre-made (I find mine in the frozen food section) has all of the alcohol cooked out of it.

[kherbert05]

My district tech department has a hashtag so we can see each other's tweets about things we have done in the classroom. Some schools have hashtagas and a tv set to display things happening at the school.

This backfired pretty impressively for Starbucks.  They encouraged people to use the hashtag #SpreadTheCheer the tweets were then displayed on a giant screen at the Natural History Museum ice rink in London.  Problem was it was an automated system and Starbucks were (are) in the middle of a tax scandal in the UK. Examples/full story here.

I could see this happening especially with the secondary schools. They had a problem with another group using the same hash tag not to harm the school - but because it also fit their business so our district added 2 letters to the hashtag.


Not my place so I kept my mouth shut about the possible problems.

[magicdomino]

I cook with Marsala all the time.

No, not all the alcohol cooks out of the wine.
The flavor is heavily dependent on the wine.
I usually get three to four recipes out of one bottle.
Marsala is fortified, and lasts just fine as long as the lid or cork is secured between uses.

really? Now I'm very sad. No more chicken marsala for Twiggyy  

As far as I know, the stuff you buy pre-made (I find mine in the frozen food section) has all of the alcohol cooked out of it.

I suspect the commercial version of chicken Marsala (which would also include chain restaurants) uses a low (or no) alcohol concentrate rather than real wine.  But yes, if someone has either an alcohol allergy or alcoholism, it's better to skip the booze.  The longer the dish cooks, the less alcohol will remain -- spaghetti sauce cooked for hours may be alcohol-free versus cherries Jubilee which almost qualifies for a cocktail -- but you can't be sure without testing.