A Shop Named “My Wife Is a Sow” Raises Eyebrows in France

A small delicatessen in Cannes, France, has been making headlines because of its controversial name — "Ma femme est une cochonne” — which translates to “My Wife is a Sow.” The sign features two sketches of a humanoid sow carrying a hatchet. Opening in mid-January, the shop is owned by Frédéric Saury and David Prince, who describe themselves as “bon-vivants who love good food.” The shop sells all kinds of treats, from cold cuts to alcohol, and while their products are excellent, many people are put off by the shop's name. It sounds more like an insult, but the owners swear they have nothing against their spouses. In fact, both of their spouses find the shop’s name funny. They said they wanted a name that attracted attention, and did it ever. In fact, it garnered the attention of Cannes City Hall, which immediately notified the owners to take the sign down or face a fine of €243 ($262) per day until they complied. The owners say the sign isn’t going anywhere. They have already had a new sign made and installed it inside, right at the window, so authorities can’t say anything. They claim the locals found the name funny, as did their own wives — the only ones who should be insulted by it.

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The Rise and Fall of the Layaway Plan

Layaway plans gained popularity after the Great Depression, offering consumers a way to purchase items without immediate cash. The layaway plan allowed customers to pay a deposit on an item that would be “laid away” or put into safekeeping by the retailer and later pick it up once they fully paid for it. In the 1980s, credit cards became widespread and offered instant gratification. The difference between credit cards and layaway plans is that although the consumer still had to make monthly payments, they could take the product home when paying for it with a credit card. The downside was the potential for interest payments if not paid off in full. In 2006, Walmart got the ball rolling by discontinuing its layaway service, citing decreasing demand and rising costs to manage the program. While some retailers — like Burlington Coat Factory, Kmart and Sears — still offer layaway service, it’s generally seen as a dying approach to retail sales. Buy now, pay later is the new version of the old layaway plan, but with a modern twist: the consumer gets the product immediately but gets the debt immediately too. The important thing to remember is to read the fine print. Consumers need to be aware of what they’re getting into.

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The Difference Between PYREX and pyrex

A Pyrex liquid measuring cup is one of those things most people have in their kitchen, and many of those measuring cups date back to the 1950s. What most people don’t notice about the glass measuring cups with the red markings is the logo. There’s actually a difference between PYREX with capital letters and pyrex with lowercase letters. Corning invented the brand Pyrex in 1915 and made all Pyrex products — casserole dishes, loaf pans, pie pans — with borosilicate glass. This type of glass has an element called boron trioxide in it, which makes it highly resistant to major temperature changes, reducing the risk of breaking. Products labeled PYREX in Europe, Africa, and the Middle East are still made with borosilicate glass, but products made in the rest of North America, South America, and Asia are no longer made with borosilicate glass. They are made with tempered soda-lime glass, which is heated and cooled in a manner that makes it more durable than regular glass under temperature fluctuations. Pyrex products made with soda-lime glass now contain the logo in small letters. While soda-lime glass is still heat-resistant, it’s not quite as heat-resistant as borosilicate glass. Since PYREX is made with borosilicate glass and is more heat-resistant, it's less prone to breaking due to any sudden changes of temperature such as transferring a casserole from the refrigerator directly to the oven. That makes PYREX cookware safer than pyrex cookware, which runs a higher risk of exploding due to thermal shock (when the glass goes through an extreme temperature change that can cause it to fracture). Regardless of whether you own PYREX or pyrex cookware, it's important to care for them properly so that they don’t break. 

• • Always avoid sudden drastic changes in temperature. 
  
• • Don’t pour boiling liquid into it. 
• • Let it cool down after pulling it from the oven before running cold water over it in the kitchen sink. 
• • Don’t put frozen or refrigerated casseroles or pies straight from the freezer into a hot oven. 
• • Don’t put your cookware directly under the broiler. 
• • Always store the baking dishes carefully to prevent micro-cracks in the glass, which can weaken them.

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A Reporter’s Words Come Back To Bite Him

In 2015, reporter Christopher Ingraham wrote a story for The Washington Post that changed his life and put his family on a new path. As a data reporter for the paper, Ingraham mapped the USDA’s data for all U.S. counties and called Red Lake County, Minn., “the absolute worst place in America to live.” Needless to say, Minnesotans all over the state were upset and began sending pictures of the county to Ingraham. Even the state’s representatives and senators got in on the action, with the media in the state reporting regularly on the frenzy. A local resident even extended an invitation to Ingraham to visit Red Lake, a rural county of about 4,000 residents five hours north of Minneapolis. Ingraham accepted the invitation and was surprised at the quality of life issues that he and his family faced in the city that the residents of Red Lake didn’t. Six months later, he announced that he and his family were moving from their Maryland home to Red Lake County. What Ingraham discovered was that moving to “the worst place in America to live” gave him cheaper housing, eliminated his commute entirely because he could work from home, and he has more time to spend with his family. Ingraham’s wife Briana decided to run for city council and ended up getting elected. As a result of the throwaway line Ingraham wrote in 2015, his wife is now making decisions that guide the future of their new community. Who knows where our decisions will lead us, but Ingraham is grateful that his comment led his family to “the best place in America to live.”

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