Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2017/11/03/amazon-alexa-turned-me-into-a.html
…
2 Likes
Nah, I think Amazon is doing it 100% right 
All Amazon hardware exists primarily to sell you more stuff.
3 Likes
@jlw, this is why I click and don’t Alexa.
4 Likes
If I ever come to your house:
25 Likes
It all turns into paperclips.
1 Like
I already have enough trouble with my drunken Amazon binge shopping. At least I can’t order without a typing test of minimal hand eye coordination. I would bankrupt in short order after a couple of drunken Echo sprees if that typing challenge were removed.
2 Likes
On the topic of crazy amounts of tea, I used to be a tea drinker before/during/after college. Not so much these days, except the summer months where I make huge containers of ice tea for post-workout quiet time.
So I had my own collection when I moved with a buddy of mine a couple years after college. He was Polish, and I dunno if it’s an Eastern European thing, but he had a ton of tea. He moved away, and left me his tea collection.
After that I lived with a Japanese friend of mine, who also had a huge collection of tea. I inherited that as well when we parted ways and I started living alone.
It’s been 10 years, and what started as an entire shelf of tea in my kitchen (spanning both doors) is now down to a fraction of the shelf, but I still have tea which dates back to the Clinton administration.
7 Likes
I have visions of the Sorcerer’s Apprentice of Barry’s Tea. But I’m driven to ask how close together are your Alexa devices that they could all hear you? We have to have a good shout to talk to one just on the otherside of the house.
1 Like
Echo Spatial Perception works really well – even when the Fire 10 is in my lap and the Alexa is 2-3’ away, it figures out which one I mean every time.
It has been several months since I’ve had Alexa kick off in two rooms at the same time.
2 Likes
That Walter White is clever.
Wait. When did Preppies become Preppers?
Is this like Trekies?
2 Likes
Can I get a list of your tea? And then decide if I want to be invited to your next tea party?
I’ll wear a rabbit costume, if I must!
3 Likes
Jason, given the amount of tea in your house and assuming that you are a bit on the obsessive side, you should have a look at this paper, but make sure to read this, too.
More than a liter a day of that CTC stuff isn’t really recommended, I’d say. I’m sticking to orthodox teas, anyway: the taste is incomparably nicer…
1 Like
It is 
Samovars(a bit like Teaforia but without DRM 
) for brewing tea are also popular in Eastern Europe. In Poland they are more rare, but a colleague from work has one.
1 Like
Get some good loose leaf, and you can rebrew it 2-3 times. Tastes much better, too.
1 Like
A lot of amazon items default to a subscription, and you need to click the other button for a single order. This could be a problem if it does the same thing for voice ordering.
Also Barry’s is the best bagged tea, but I’ve definitely had better loose leaf (admittedly, purchased directly at the plantation in Assam, so not sure where to get it here).
I get TGFOP1 and 2 Assams at the Tea Fountain in Mill Valley. They have a website.
2 Likes
(I drink Barry’s. And Yorkie Gold. I hear ya, man… I hear ya.)
1 Like
“OK Google, ruin my search history.”
I find myself in a similar situation only because I hate shopping, so buying a pile of stuff we use all the time means less whining by family members, and fewer trips to the grocery (yay). I have been thinking about your situation for a few days and, now, I must ask:
Do you take milk or half-and-half or similar in your tea?
and if yes…
Are you going to stock non-dairy creamer (which is shelf-stable, but tastes iffy)?
Are you going to stock tinned condensed or evaporated milk?
Or those weird, shelf-stable TetraPak milk cartons that need no refrigeration, or aseptic single-serves like this?
Yeah ok sugar (if one takes that in one’s tea) is shelf-stable and there are any number of ways to keep it long-term. Periodically, I have to reorder these:
https://www.lehmans.com/product/standard-old-style-canning-jar-rubbers/
because I keep my sugar (and quinoa and raisins and steelcut oats and rice and other dry staples I buy in bulk from Wheatsville Co-op) on the counter/in the cupboards in these:
https://www.lehmans.com/product/kilner-square-clip-top-jars-50-ounce/
(Ants and weevils seem to still get in my Mason and Ball jars–not enough compression at the seal, I think. I live in central Texas and all the mercilessly hungry bugs here are active 24/7/365. Grrrr.)
ETA: I clicked the “reply” button too soon and didn’t get to finish my post.
1 Like
