We've had ours frozen for years. The only time I can remember that we had to unfreeze (thaw?) it was when we moved and had to connect utilities. I did it online, and they leave it open for something like 48 hours, then it automatically freezes again. You can also do it over the phone.

No issues for us.

Thanks for all the comments. I froze my credit this morning at all three agencies. Piece of cake. No code to remember but this is probably because I did this on-line and created an account with each. I can deal with my credit being frozen, I just was curious if there were any unintended consequences, and it appears there isn't.

It chaps me a bit that one of the three, Experian, had notified me a few years back that my information with them had been compromised in a data breech. AT&T offered a free year of credit monitoring and identity theft detection. My data stolen from them will be with me until I die. Sounds like an anemic mea culpa to me.

We've had a credit freeze on for years. I have to say that the credit bureaus' responses to "unlock" have not been consistent. Most times a company cannot tell you which of the 3 major agencies (there's actually 4, but one is a lot smaller and not often used) they will contact, as it's a random choice.

So if you need to unfreeze your credit, you have to do it 3x, not just once. You also need to tell them how long you want to lift the block for, which isn't as straightforward as you might think. One time we unlocked our credit for a week, but the company didn't contact a credit bureau for almost 2 weeks - so we had to go through it all over again.

Now that they've mostly switched to a Pin # and moved the process on-line, it is easier than before, however. These days, with hacking happening (literally) every micro-second, I still think it's worth freezing our credit records. Thankfully, it isn't often we have to unlock our records!

Many years ago, our landline number had apparently belonged to a plumbing company. For severas years, we would get calls for them, even though we couldn't find any hint of their existance. We think a builder put their card in the kitchen cabinet of every house.

People would leave messages, even though our machine said "you've reached [us] , we're not here right now!" Obviously not a business. Sometimes I called them back, so they wouldn't be sitting in a flood, waiting for a return call that wasn't coming.

" Isn't it funny how one person's attempt to be kind is regarded as being nosy...? "

You clearly don't get it. Reread what I said with an open mind rather than an attitude of wanting to challenge what I said. Or don't, I don't care.

Eld, you have such a good heart. The world needs more like you.

We have a friend who doesn't like any heat beyond black pepper. She insists that she doesn't like Chinese food. None of it, won't even go inside the restaurant. Turns out, she ate Chinese food until the day that she did what you did. Chomped down on a hidden hot pepper. That was the end of it for her.

I join the ranks of the many who have learned the hard (hot burning) way — forgetting, then rubbing my eye/s.

I often cook with those small Thai ”bird” chilies. I leave the seeds in, but after washing them I use one of those metal double tined seafood picks to hold the chili, while I slice it or remove the stem with a sharp knife. I mostly finely mince or grind these chilies.

I also cook with the dried red Chinese ” Facing Heaven” chilies, leaving them whole, but reminding diners to set that chili aside as it in not intended to be eaten — they are largely for flavor and color.

I’m sorry for your experience, lucillle.

Also, be careful dealing with contact lenses after cooking with chiles. I learned the hard way.

I've never used cannisters because I can't get past the idea of bugs. Flour is in the freezer, everything else is in the pantry.

In my dreams! And he wants me to get rid of the kettle.

Does he cook?

"I’ve often said that bay leaves are the dryer sheets of the kitchen—most people can’t explain what they do, but they throw them in there anyway."

-Claire Lower

"I'd have to hitchhike a few miles before any bus nearby to hit me ......" was my first thought.

Then I remembered - yellow school buses travel this road ... (but only five days a week, through most of the year).

o j