my parents
When I was a teenager I found a bag of ming mixed with water in my parent's fridge. It had once been celery. Out of curiosity I looked for a use by date, it was the previous December. I made the discovery in February.

My Dad was in charge of laundry and chucked all the socks into one big box when they were dry. We all ended up constantly wearing odd socks as a consequence of this. The solution? Throw all the odd socks away. Fine, until the next batch of laundry comes round with all the partners in it. He used to throw away all the 'odd' socks about once a year and couldn't get to grips with the fact he was just making the problem worse.

He has also been known to boil eggs in the kettle and make tea with the water.

My Mum told me when he was a student he would have a weekly bath, then wash his clothes and dishes in the same water, in that order.
( bland is bland, Fri 26 Mar 2010, 3:29, 4 replies)

He has also been known to boil eggs in the kettle and make tea with the water.
Why didn't I think of this before?! This is possibly the best idea I have ever read on QOTW.
(syz, Fri 26 Mar 2010, 10:39, closed)

Probably because the egg would not cook properly
A soft-boiled egg takes at least three minutes in water which is already boiling.

A kettle doesn't take that long to boil - and when it hits boiling point, it switches off and starts to cool.. so it would take even longer if you just left the eggs in there for a few more minutes.
(EuroSong I love horse meat: best of all the animals, Fri 26 Mar 2010, 17:39, closed)

Also, your tea afterwards would taste of chicken fanny batter

( Michael Ellis contributes nothing, Sat 27 Mar 2010, 10:44, closed)

There was a time when kettles would not switch themselves off.
And you had to get up to change the channel on the telly too.
(Richy_T hundreds if not thousands of dollars, Wed 31 Mar 2010, 22:00, closed)