That's a brutal way to lose a day.

My cousin's wedding potluck had a jello salad with shredded carrots and mayo that still haunts me, so I get where you're coming from, @nancy_ellis. Some combos are just a cry for help from the back of the pantry. I once tried to make a fancy mac and cheese with cinnamon because it was the only thing left in the spice cabinet... that was a quiet dinner. You're right though, it really shows what people will call a meal when they're desperate.

My friend Sarah is a vet tech and her clinic's power went out last month. She had to track all the boarding animals on a paper chart with a flashlight. She said her basic notebook was the only thing that kept the feeding and med times straight.

Bottled water seems like a weird fix, honestly. Tap water works fine for most people, and it's way cheaper. That whole month of fails was probably just bad luck or something else in the recipe. Sometimes old family recipes are more about nostalgia than actually being good instructions.

Yeah, that's way too close! @wade_perez, do you ever mark your ropes with tape at high-wear zones? I started putting a little strip of colored tape every few feet after a core shot, so I can track if a rough spot is always ending up in the same place on the carabiner.