ImpossibilityBox

My wife says standing over the sink at 3am cleaning tea infusers with a brass tooth brush, dremel tool, and dental picks is not normal. Is she right?

https://lemmy.world/post/4746173

My wife says standing over the sink at 3am cleaning tea infusers with a brass tooth brush, dremel tool, and dental picks is not normal. Is she right? - Lemmy.world

Context: I currently have a back injury and as such my sleep schedule has been destroyed. There are days that I simply cannot get comfortable no matter where I sit/lie. The other night I was restless and couldn’t get comfortable but was feeling tired. I wanted to brew myself a cup of tea but as luck would have it we had run out of fill-able tea bags. I pulled out the metal tea infusers and found that due to an improper cleaning at last use and who knows how long they had been sitting idle they were absolutely disgusting. Some had mold spots and one appeared to be rusting (how aluminum rusts I don’t know). I REALLY wanted my tea so I busted out my cleaning tools and got to work. She woke up to use the restroom and heard me in the kitchen and made it a point to call me out for being weird and that no one in their right mind would be doing what I was doing. Is that a fair assessment? I only spent about 50 minutes cleaning them.

Sep 9, 2023 at 6:33pmWeb
Show threadsafesyrupSep 9, 2023
Totally normal, nothing wrong
Show threadLerajeSep 9, 2023
Read the headline: yes mate, she is. Read the post: Perfectly understandable, carry on.
Show threadfungSep 9, 2023
Lol my exact thought process as well
Show threadImpossibilityBoxSep 9, 2023
I love this take.
Show threadfrickinehSep 10, 2023
Thank goodness it’s not just me. Reading the post had me like “well yeah, obviously, what else can you even do in that situation?” You gotta get the strainers clean once you know they aren’t. It’s basically the law.
Show threadVector610Sep 9, 2023
Not normal. But also not a problem. You couldn’t sleep, needed something to occupy yourself.
Show threadHatchetHaroSep 9, 2023
Doing something productive when you can’t sleep is, like, the most normal thing you can do. You’re fine.
Show threadImpossibilityBoxSep 9, 2023

Right! My one concession to here (loving) statement is that my ideas of productive can often lean towards the absurd.

Yes, I am handplaning bowling alley floor for a desk at 11:30 at night… why do you ask?

Show threadover_cloxSep 9, 2023

Only thing I would have done different is use a nylon brush instead of brass. Brass often leaves its own residue on other metals, even if only miniscule.

Regardless, I’d say carry on. I’d rather a tinge of brass flavor than obvious mold.

Show threadImpossibilityBoxSep 9, 2023

I started with a acid brush, and then moved onto a nylon. The residue was being very stuborn which is why I moved onto the brass brush and dremel.

I finished outt which a fabric wheel in the dremel, the idea being to help wipe away any brass or residue that got left being in the final cleaning steps.

Show threadAggressivelyPassiveSep 9, 2023

Try drain cleaner (or whatever the proper term for anti-clogging goo is). 10% drain cleaner, 90% cooking water, let it sit until the water is cold, and it will look like new.

Yes, it sounds weird, but it’s almost impossible to properly clean the mineral buildup in the tiny holes otherwise.

Show threadImpossibilityBoxSep 9, 2023
Before we move to fillable bags we would soak the infusers in vinager overnight every week or two. They stayed nice and sparkling clean.
Show threadAggressivelyPassiveSep 9, 2023
That may work with your water and filter. My water is basically a saturated mineral solution and my filter has very very small holes. I’ve got the weird brown tea mineral buildup on everything that comes in contact with them tea.
Show thread[email protected]Sep 9, 2023
It’s only not normal because the equipment doesn’t require a deep clean very often. And major back injuries are also not normal but who’s connecting all those dots at three in the morning?
Show threadSaintWackoSep 9, 2023
Dude, dremels are loud. Don’t use them while people are sleeping
Show threadImpossibilityBoxSep 9, 2023
In my defense the kitchen is as far from the bedroom as you can get in our apartment and it’s an variable speed electric so you can run it relitively slow for (again, relatively) quite operation.
Show threadover_cloxSep 9, 2023
Can confirm, low speed Dremel isn’t loud, especially from another room. 👍
Show threadHipHoboHaroldSep 9, 2023

I’m with the others. It’s not normal, but it’s not an issue.

My boyfriend likes to come home around 11:30 at night, have some coffee, and maybe play a bit of a video game while he eats.

Seems weird. But he also works an over night shift from 7 pm to 7 am. So it makes sense in that he’s awake at night. He sleeps a lot during the day. At first, seems weird. Once explained, not so much. At that point most people are understanding.

Show threadSmuuthbraneSep 9, 2023

Out of context, that’s not normal.

In your context, there is no normal, but your actions were rational.

Hope you recover quickly, friend, and get the cup of tea you deserve.

Show threadTheAndrewBrownSep 9, 2023
Yeah it’s not “normal” in the sense that it’s probably only happened a couple of times in history, but there’s nothing wrong witht he though process. Although 50 minutes to clean the infusers is a real long time, but if you had no other option, might as well
Show threadSmuuthbraneSep 9, 2023

Depending on how nasty/corroded they were, I could see spending that long at it. Especially using 3am logic.

Daytime logic may have been “I’m going to clean one, and order more teabags and a new strainer right now”.

Show threadsquibletSep 9, 2023
Time of day is a matter of cultural tradition and coordination with other people. For me it’s always been a relative matter to when I woke up. Got up at 8 am? I expect to go to sleep 12-1 am. Get up at 3 am? Normal to go to sleep at 6 pm. Get up at 4 pm? Totally normal to be cleaning tea strainers with a dremel at 3 am.
Show threadIthronMornSep 9, 2023
Show threadDiabolo96Sep 9, 2023
I may be remembering wrong but in the middle ages people would often wake up at like 2am 🕑 do stuff and go back to sleep.
Show threadflubba86Sep 9, 2023
It was more like 11pm till 1am. They went to bed at 7pm, so sleep for 4 hours, get up, do stuff for a couple of hours, bo back to bed, and sleep for another 4 hours, get up at 5am.
Show threadRizzRustboltSep 9, 2023

Segmented sleep is the best fucking sleep you will ever have in your life.

Restful, rejuvenating, and dreams in the second half are totally choice.

Show threaddreklySep 9, 2023

Fifty fucking minutes of cleaning for a cuppa?

I do all sorts of things at 3am too, thanks to my awful circadian rhythm. As long as it wasn’t you who woke her, you can do what you want. Awake is awake, no matter the time of day. Just be mindful of your surroundings.

Show threadImpossibilityBoxSep 9, 2023

I may or may not occasionally get super fixated on tasks I’m doing. The only reason I know it was fifty minutes was because I listened to the entire Sleep Token album “This Place Will Become Your Tomb”.

You can bet your ass that those steepers are nice and shiny clean.

Show threadagent_flounderSep 9, 2023
Ever been diagnosed with ADHD?
Show threadImpossibilityBoxSep 10, 2023

Nope, my family was never really financially stable and we lived next door to a nurse (extreme luck) for small cuts and bruises/illnessess, so the only time I ever actually saw a doctor was for wisdom teeth and a freeway speed car accident that broke a bunch of my bones.

I only recently at the young old age of 32 got insurance that actually covers anything, but old habits die hard so doc visits of any kind are kind of taboo in my brain.

Show threadagent_flounderSep 10, 2023

Fair enough. Sucks that we live in a society where we can’t get healthcare by default.

Anyway Hyperfocus is one of a number of ADHD symptoms. I got diagnosed in my 40s

Avoiding docs is one major reason my friend died recently in his 50s. Undiagnosed blood pressure and cholesterol led to heart failure.

It’s hard to break those habits for sure.

Show threadt0frSep 9, 2023
You are not in a normal situation so how can it be normal? Normal activity if you’re awake. And you’re awake.
Show threadAlbumSep 9, 2023
Why would you put that much unnecessary work into it. Just soak it in bleach and hot water for an hour and rinse it out after.
Show threadstephen01kingSep 10, 2023
Well, when you want tea at 3 am because you couldn’t sleep, but the tea steeper is dirty thus preventing you from having your tea, you get a bit vengeful and want to remove each speck of dirt by hand.
Show threadAlbumSep 10, 2023
I prefer to speak down to my dirty utensils until they smarten up and start taking care of themselves.
Show threadRizzRustboltSep 9, 2023
So you’ve stumbled into ADHD through the side door eh?
Show threadKecessaSep 9, 2023
Yep from reading other replies that looks a bit like that 🤣
Show threadLaticaudaSep 10, 2023
Chronic pain actually can cause similar symptoms to adhd lol
Show threadmorphballganonSep 10, 2023

I’m sorry to hear you married a muggle.

Whether it’s normal or not should not be on anyone’s list of concerns, unless they’re trying to fit in through deception.

If my wife or I caught each other doing something like that, our instinct would not be to complain, and certainly not by suggesting there’s anything wrong with being weird.

I’d much rather be weird than boring.

Show threadBoiglenoightSep 10, 2023

It is not typical, expected behavior by most peoples’ standards, partly because the majority of people at that time of night are sleeping.

You’d be hard pressed to find support for this as being normal behavior. What’s important is whether or not normal matters? If it’s considered criticism, why? Is she being awoken by your behavior? If so, then that’s probably warranted. Otherwise, if it’s just a characterization of what you’re doing, so what?

Show threadstephen01kingSep 10, 2023
Tbh, if it was my partner doing it, I can see myself saying that even if it didn’t cause me to wake up. Only, its not to criticise, but just to tease them.
Show threadKnusperSep 10, 2023
Yeah, maybe she meant it as in OP should visit the doctor another time. But it’s also quite possible, she simply couldn’t make the link that OP is awake due to pain.
Show threadserial_crusherSep 10, 2023

she woke up to use the restroom.

More likely all the noise you were making did it. Yeah Buddy, looks like you might be in a bad spot. Listen to your wife and figure out what needs to change.

Show threadLaticaudaSep 10, 2023
It may not be normal necessarily, but it’s completely understandable. You wanted a comfort while you were in pain, and you were willing to work for that comfort.
Show threadsouthsamuraiSep 10, 2023
Why are you brushing your teeth with a brass brush?
Show threadImpossibilityBoxSep 10, 2023
Really gnarly plaque buildup.
Show threadMediocre_BardSep 10, 2023
You have autism. It’s cool though. Keep doing your thing.
Show threadLukeMediaSep 10, 2023
Is that why I find this completely relatable? From the description it sounds totally normal
Show threadNeoNachtwaechterSep 10, 2023

A dremel is sacred.

How dare you wake it up in the middle of the night!!

Sadly, she is right.

Show threadprofdc9Sep 10, 2023
Lack of sleep can make you do weird things. It’s not keeping anyone wake, it’s not hurting you or anyone. Enjoy your tea.
Show threadTakatakatakatakatakSep 10, 2023
A dremel is not a quiet tool. Don’t thik spin at some obscene RPM?
Show threadTheInsane42Sep 10, 2023
Depends, some have adjustable rpm. Still they usually aren’t to quiet, but when the partner doesn’t wake up by the sound, I see no problem.
Show threadSokathHisEyesOpenSep 10, 2023
It depends on your normal waking hours or how much insomnia you have.
Show threadwaterboganSep 10, 2023
Given the circumstances you have described it doesnt seem that far out of the “normal” ballpark to me. I’ve seen worse and lived with worse. Maybe not strictly normal but no big deal
Show threadAssPenniesSep 10, 2023
Yeah that’s pretty fucked. Who uses a brass toothbrush?
Show threadTakatakatakatakatakSep 10, 2023
How else do you clean those pesky gums off of your teeth and expose ALL of the pearly whites?
Show threadThat Dutch guySep 10, 2023
When is 3am?
Show threadTheInsane42Sep 10, 2023
03:00
Show threadThat Dutch guySep 10, 2023
Thanks
Show threadLazaroFilmSep 10, 2023
3 in the morning. As to when exactly depends on your time zone.