• Are_Euclidding_Me [e/em/eir]
    ·
    2 years ago

    Huh. I have a hard time pinpointing anything that's actually wrong with this, other than a vague "what the fuck" feeling.

    It kind of reminds of the other day when my sister told me that she just leaves her rice cooker on for days, with rice in it, and eats the rice and everything is fine. And I was like "and the rice isn't gross?" and she was like "no". And then I'm like "and it's never made you sick?" and she's like "no". And so I'm left with the feeling that this is a bad idea, but I can't pinpoint why.

    • iridaniotter [she/her]
      ·
      2 years ago

      So there is a bacteria that thrives in the warm, moist environment of rice. To be safe, you need to keep the rice's temperature above 60°C or at fridge temperatures (for like three days in the fridge - don't push it if you want to be safe). Rice cookers are supposed to keep rice at this safe temperature for a few hours after the cooking is done. For instance, some Zojirushi models claim theirs are safe for 12 or 20 hours depending on the setting. Theoretically, I think you could keep it longer but it will dry out or overcook which is probably why Zojirushi has this limit. You should check the temperature of your sister's rice to make sure she is being safe. Otherwise, she could get really unlucky one day.

      Now as for books, eating them is a bad idea as well but it's harder to find info on that topic. From what I have gathered, paper is mostly cellulose so a little bit is fine but a lot will give you gastrointestinal issues. The dyes are very likely not food-grade. The cover is clearly a tougher material with more dyes, so much more toxic. So don't eat book covers! You can give a page a nibble though maybe.

    • CriticalResist8 [he/him]
      ·
      edit-2
      2 years ago

      What bothers you is rice is dirt cheap and there's no apparent reason your sister can't just make a fresh batch measured for one person every time.

      Leaving the rice cooker on for days also damages it, it's meant to be on for a few hours at most.

  • Coca_Cola_but_Commie [he/him]
    ·
    2 years ago

    So do we think reading Pynchon gave this guy pica? Or did having pica draw this guy to Pynchon?

    Also, I went to my local library the other week. It's not a tiny library, not huge, but pretty good size for the place I live. Anyway, I searched their database to see if they had any Pynchon novels and they didn't? He's a hugely important author, I couldn't believe they didn't have anything by him. "Oh you want a thriller published in the '70s by a guy who died in the '80s and no one has read since the '90s? We got plenty of those. Oh, you want a copy of every single book ever published with James Patterson's name on it? We can do that. Oh, you want even a single book by one of the most influential American authors in the last century? Sorry, no luck."

    • frankfurt_schoolgirl [she/her]
      ·
      2 years ago

      I always have this problem with my local library. Like it seems like it would be great in theory, and then they never have anything I want to read, and I read a wide variety. Eventually I bought an e reader and now I pirate books from annas-archive and put them on there with Calibre. But I miss being a kid and getting to have a different book every week.

  • FlakesBongler [they/them]
    ·
    2 years ago

    I wonder if reclusive author Thomas Pynchon would have a conniption if he saw this

  • Frank [he/him, he/him]
    ·
    2 years ago

    As far as "eating weird shit" habits go this is probably one of the most harmless.

    • booty [he/him]
      ·
      2 years ago

      id by mildly concerned about whatever ink is in it to turn it fun colors, but yeah, it's basically just fiber or whatever otherwise. and its not like we're not all eating horrible toxic shit all the time anyway

  • Acute_Engles [he/him, any]
    ·
    2 years ago

    I used to eat paper and card stock and stuff when i was a kid and through highschool. Mostly just chew and spit but i would swallow it often as well