Is it Just Me ? Opening Things !

And it does not get anything but harder with age. I am 80 and just today split the skin around my thumb fingernail tying to open the cap on a 1 gallon plastic milk jug. Then it took two little skin colored band-aides (try opening them buggers with one functional hand and the other one bleeding) to stem the flow.
 
OAG said:
And it does not get anything but harder with age. I am 80 and just today split the skin around my thumb fingernail tying to open the cap on a 1 gallon plastic milk jug. Then it took two little skin colored band-aides (try opening them buggers with one functional hand and the other one bleeding) to stem the flow.
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Bet you could get those band-aides open easily enough with a nice, sharp pair of scissors or a box cutter! :D
 

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Jerry1 said:
I take my tin snips to those plastic clam shell containers..........
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Those things are the Devil's spawn. Even after you cut the plastic, you risk cutting yourself on the cut plastic edge or damaging the merchandise trying to get it out of the still clinging plastic shell. :mad:
 
Am I the only one that saw the title to this thread and thought it would be about Texas :facepalm:
 
Good use for all those gloves people bought back when we were wiping down grocery carts last year. I wear gloves for all household tasks.

travelover said:
Those things are the Devil's spawn. Even after you cut the plastic, you risk cutting yourself on the cut plastic edge or damaging the merchandise trying to get it out of the still clinging plastic shell. :mad:
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Box cutter for plastic clamshell packages. Has anyone figured how to use those string zipper type things on top of charcoal bags? I haven't. Again....box cutter.

Agree...things in general are hard to open. Thankfully have mastered beer cans and bottles.:D
 
CincyDave said:
Has anyone figured how to use those string zipper type things on top of charcoal bags? I haven't.
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Me neither. There are 2 ends, and 2 strings. So I try pulling on all 4 permutations. about 1 in 5 times, it miraculously unzips. The other 4 times, I try all possible permutations, then pull out my pocket knife.
 
Amethyst said:
Good use for all those gloves people bought back when we were wiping down grocery carts last year. I wear gloves for all household tasks.
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Great for cooking. Especially handling all hot peppers and garlic. Keeps my hands from smelling like garlic for days or accidentally burning my eyes, as the oils do not wash off easily.
 
Out-to-Lunch said:
Me neither. There are 2 ends, and 2 strings. So I try pulling on all 4 permutations. about 1 in 5 times, it miraculously unzips. The other 4 times, I try all possible permutations, then pull out my pocket knife.
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Same here. I’ve even watched videos to try to figure out the right string to pull and still don’t get it to work most of the time. I think it’s just a random occurrence when it does work. But oh how satisfying it is when it does work. :dance:
 
I fail opening frozen veggie packs. I scissor along the wrong line and can’t use the built in reseal feature.
 
SloHan said:
I fail opening frozen veggie packs. I scissor along the wrong line and can’t use the built in reseal feature.
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+1
I end up grabbing the top part of the bag and twirling it around tight and then wrapping a twist tie around it like a bag of bread...
 
And the interior bags in cereal boxes used to be easy to grab each side of and open cleanly. Now they seem to defy Superman and require scissors. If you do manage to get one started by hand, as often as not it tears down the side. Not to mention the cardboard box-top, which used to easily pop open but now are glued fast, making the tab that's supposed to be for re-closing rip apart.

Which reminds me of the small cardboard containers with what's supposed to be easy open, zipper-like perforations on one end. They always fail when less than halfway open, requiring good old-fashioned ripping apart.
 
Aerides said:
But first you have to get the scissors out of the scissor packaging, which is the worst.
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Years ago I saw, in The Container Store, some sort of scissors designed to cut through the hard plastic packaging. I joked, on Facebook, how I bought it. But then I needed scissors to cut through the packing of the first scissors, and so on. I'm not Friends with Larry David, but I later saw a version of MY joke on Curb Your Enthusiasm.
 
CardsFan said:
Am I the only one that saw the title to this thread and thought it would be about Texas :facepalm:
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No, you’re not. I didn’t think Texas per se, I was thinking it would be COVID related.
 
GalaxyBoy said:
And the interior bags in cereal boxes used to be easy to grab each side of and open cleanly. Now they seem to defy Superman and require scissors. If you do manage to get one started by hand, as often as not it tears down the side. Not to mention the cardboard box-top, which used to easily pop open but now are glued fast, making the tab that's supposed to be for re-closing rip apart.
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I thought of this post while opening a box of Cheerios yesterday. For the first time in several years it was surprisingly easy to do this, just like it used to be. The cardboard box-top opened easily, and the interior bag was easy to open by grabbing each side. Will wonders never cease. Hopefully they finally fixed this problem.
 
They've been that way forever. Cracker boxes, too. That's why my Dad ripped open the box and the bag like a caveman - his hands hurt, and he wasn't about to fiddle around with scissors. This was 50 years ago.

GalaxyBoy said:
And the interior bags in cereal boxes used to be easy to grab each side of and open cleanly. Now they seem to defy Superman and require scissors. If you do manage to get one started by hand, as often as not it tears down the side. Not to mention the cardboard box-top, which used to easily pop open but now are glued fast, making the tab that's supposed to be for re-closing rip apart.

.
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DW has one of those flexible rubber disks that fit over the lid on a jar. With that, you get a decent grip so your hand doesn't slip. She still can't seem to generate enough grip to open most things, so she hands it off to me. Macho Man never starts with the rubber thingie (first time I fail, I use the knife-as-hammer around the edges - that always seems to work.)

One time DW passed me a large jar of pickles to open. I dutifully grabbed the jar and twisted off the top for her. Unfortunately, the seal on the lid never gave way. The jar gave way. Why I didn't slice my hand to ribbons on all the broken glass, I'll never know and will always be thankful for. NOW, any large jars get the full treatment from me. First, the "knife" trick, then the rubber thingie, then slowly, I add pressure as I twist. If that doesn't work with reasonable pressure, I go back to the knife trick and start over. YMMV
 
Koolau said:
DW has one of those flexible rubber disks that fit over the lid on a jar. With that, you get a decent grip so your hand doesn't slip. She still can't seem to generate enough grip to open most things, so she hands it off to me. Macho Man never starts with the rubber thingie (first time I fail, I use the knife-as-hammer around the edges - that always seems to work.)

One time DW passed me a large jar of pickles to open. I dutifully grabbed the jar and twisted off the top for her. Unfortunately, the seal on the lid never gave way. The jar gave way. Why I didn't slice my hand to ribbons on all the broken glass, I'll never know and will always be thankful for. NOW, any large jars get the full treatment from me. First, the "knife" trick, then the rubber thingie, then slowly, I add pressure as I twist. If that doesn't work with reasonable pressure, I go back to the knife trick and start over. YMMV
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Simple trick my Mom taught me 60 or so years ago: put the cap under hot water. The cap will expand ever so slightly, and that's usually all that is needed to unscrew it.
 
My GF taught me this trick and it works surprisingly well. Hold the jar upside down and thump the bottom with the heel of your hand. The contents hitting the lid is enough to make it easy to open in most cases.
 
mystang52 said:
Simple trick my Mom taught me 60 or so years ago: put the cap under hot water. The cap will expand ever so slightly, and that's usually all that is needed to unscrew it.
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That is always my first plan of attack. Metal will expand more than glass (hey, I learned something in my materials class 45 years ago). Also, if there is any sugar/sticky stuff, the hot water will also help.
 
Koolau said:
DW has one of those flexible rubber disks that fit over the lid on a jar. With that, you get a decent grip so your hand doesn't slip. She still can't seem to generate enough grip to open most things, so she hands it off to me. Macho Man never starts with the rubber thingie (first time I fail, I use the knife-as-hammer around the edges - that always seems to work.)

One time DW passed me a large jar of pickles to open. I dutifully grabbed the jar and twisted off the top for her. Unfortunately, the seal on the lid never gave way. The jar gave way. Why I didn't slice my hand to ribbons on all the broken glass, I'll never know and will always be thankful for. NOW, any large jars get the full treatment from me. First, the "knife" trick, then the rubber thingie, then slowly, I add pressure as I twist. If that doesn't work with reasonable pressure, I go back to the knife trick and start over. YMMV
Click to expand...

DW taught me to use a bottle opener to gently pry on the lid and release the vacuum. The lid will easily unscrew.
 
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