@pfspock@vombardi Was er sagt. Wasser brennt nicht. Feuchte Bäume auch nicht. Trockenes Zeug brennt nach drei Monaten ohne Regen und ner Kippe. Habe ich auf der YouTube Uni gelernt
The chunky wood butcher block in 1980s kitchens disappeared because of a government recommendation that had zero science behind it.
In the early 90s, food microbiologist Dean Cliver asked the USDA for the evidence behind their advice to ditch wood for plastic. They admitted they had none. So he ran the test himself.
He contaminated wood and plastic boards with E. coli, Salmonella, and Listeria. Three minutes later, 99.9% of the bacteria on the wood was dead. The wood's pores pull bacteria beneath the surface, where they can't survive.
Plastic went the other way. Left overnight at room temperature, the bacteria multiplied. And knife-scarred plastic was nearly impossible to sanitize, even in a dishwasher. Every cut creates a groove where bacteria hide from your sponge.
The thickness wasn't decoration either. Those blocks were end grain, wood fibers standing vertical, so the knife slides between fibers instead of cutting across them and the surface heals itself. That construction only holds together as a thick slab. Slice it thin and it cracks.
Cliver repeated the results across nine hardwoods, maple to walnut. Same outcome every time.
The butcher block was self-sanitizing and built to outlive the house. America threw it out for the board that grows bacteria overnight.
I mentioned that my garage door was making a sound.
An American immediately said, "I got a guy."
He did not ask what the sound was. He did not ask what kind of door. He produced a guy on the basis of the word garage.
I asked who the guy was.
He said, "Just a guy."
He did not have a company name. He had a first name and a phone number in his phone saved as "Mike Garage."
That is the contact name. Mike Garage. As though Garage is his surname. As though there is a family.
I asked how he found this guy.
"My brother-in-law used him."
I asked if the brother-in-law was satisfied.
He thought about it. Then he said, "He's still standing."
The house is still standing. That is the entire review.
Inside I said: THEY DO NOT KEEP RECORDS. THEY KEEP LOYALTIES.
I called Mike Garage. He answered from inside a vehicle. There was wind. He said he could come Tuesday between eleven and four.
Between eleven and four. A window of five hours. In my country this would be a scandal. Here it is generous. He gave me a window at all. Some guys do not give you a window. Some guys say "Tuesday" and that is the whole appointment.
He came at 1:40.
He fixed it in twenty minutes. He charged me less than I expected and he did not take a card, only cash or an app I had never heard of.
Before leaving he looked at my water heater, which I had not mentioned, and said, "That's gonna go."
I asked when.
"Couple years."
I asked what I should do.
He said, "I'll give you a guy."
He gave me a guy. Mike Garage has a guy. The guy has a guy. There is a network beneath this country made entirely of men named after their function, and none of them advertise, and all of them are busy.
Inside I said: THERE IS A SECOND NATION HERE. IT HAS NO SIGNS. IT IS ENTERED ONLY BY INTRODUCTION.
I have been given four guys since.
I have a guy for trees.
I did not know I needed a guy for trees.
I have trees now, apparently. They are my responsibility. A man named Rick told me so and then left.