I learned how to use a corkscrew last night. I'm 63.

[trof]

The "waiter" type?

I had used them before and just muscled the cork out.
Never SAW one used.
Last night a friend used one and THEN I saw how you put that little notched shank on the rim of the bottle and LEVER it out.
Much easier.
I guess you never know it all and you're never too old to learn.
But I definitely feel "duh".
;-)

[Cuban_Liberal]

1. LOL!

I've known how to use one since I was small, but maybe that's one of the advantages to having a father who's a chef.

:pals:

[Skink]

3. I still can't tie a tie....

It's not like they come with instructions.

[Robb]

7. 1) Button top button of shirt.

2) Slide clip over top of collar.
3) Enjoy! :silly:

[trof]

13. Sometimes I can't if I think about it.

I've rarely worn ties for the last 10 or so years.
Mainly for weddings and funerals now.
Once or twice a year?
If I think about what I'm doing, sometimes I get it all screwed up.
I have to go watch TV or something to get my mind off of it and then it's automatic.
weird

[trof]

14. A tie story.

When I was an airline pilot I wore a black clip-on.
It was a lot more comfortable and came off as soon as I was in the cockpit.

One night we had a passenger get drunk and disorderly and a cabin attendant asked me to step back and see if I could settle the guy down. Back then the uniform was somewhat awe inspiring to civilians.

He was standing in the aisle in first class as I walked up to him. I started out nice, but before I'd said more than 4 or 5 words he grabbed my tie. It came off in his hand. He was completely non-plussed. Just stood there with his mouth open.

I said something like "Tell ya' what, you give me my tie back and quit trying to undress me in front of all these nice people and sit back down and be quiet and we'll just forget about this whole thing." He handed me my tie and sat down.

The C/A reported he was sound asleep a few minutes later.
;-)

[Jackpine Radical]

18. I worked on an inpatient psych ward for some years.

Some people wore clip-ons to reduce their vulnerability to agitated patients. I wore the regular kind, but there were a few rather memorable occasions when I pulled it off in a hurry before joining the fray to subdue a flip-out case

[Jackpine Radical]

19. Oops.

[trof]

20. Takes a couple of days sometimes.

We know your heart's in the right place.
And, figuratively speaking, your star too.
;-)

[trof]

6. It was definitely one of those "well I'll be damned!" moments.

[Cuban_Liberal]

9. Hehe!

Aren't those amazing moments?

:P

[Borgnine]

2. Hah, I just learned how to use one too.

But then I'm 21. I was trying to open a bottle of wine and I accidently got the cork down inside of the bottle (don't ask), so the next day I went out and bought a corkscrew.

[Robb]

4. There's an even cooler waiter-style one...

...we used to have at the restaurant. The lever side is articulated, with a little hinge halfway down with a second notch for the rim. You sort of ratchet it up a little, then re-set the second notch onto the rim and pop it out the rest of the way.

Archimedes would be proud. Give me a big enough lever and I can open bottles all night. And move the world. :D

[hickman1937]

5. Damn, now I wish I hadn't thrown mine out.

I did not know about the notch. After the last time I cracked myself in the mouth, I heaved the sucker in the trash.

[trof]

8. Get out! You too?

You're shuckin' me.

[hickman1937]

15. Yeah, a fat lip, and a bitten tongue really got in the way

of my appreciation of my $7 dollar wine.

[toddzilla]

10. several others..

there's one in foodservice that latches onto a table and you put the bottle in, same principle, but there's a huge lever that you pull.


then there's the portable one with the two levers that work at the same time..

i guess i spent too much time working in hotels.

[trof]

12. I use the dual lever type at home.

Did you know there's a bottle cap opener at the top? My wife didn't until a couple of weeks ago.
;-)

[trof]

11. I have used a screwdriver.

Only thing I could find at the time.
Poked the cork INSIDE the bottle.
Put my thumb (washed, of course) over the neck, turned the bottle upside down, the cork floated to the...um...bottom(?) of the bottle and I could let the wine squirt out.

[Kellanved]

16. get one with a link in the shank

Good wines have longer corks, the one-notched-kind isn't up to that job.


Two-basic things:
-it has to be possible to look through the spiraled part; the corkscrews with a shaft in the center of the helical thing are substandard.
-It needs to have a hinged shank:




Things like teflon-coating are nice, but not really necessary.

[hickman1937]

17. Try a vise grip and a meat cleaver.

Only at parties though. Ah that takes me back to my college days.

[trof]

21. I'm laffin' my ass off and trying to figure

what goes where?

[hickman1937]

24. I might have that wrong.

What is that thing called that you bolt to a work bench? Put the bottle in that(jam in a towel to stabelize), on its side, and give it a good whack. WARNING! Do not attempt this with an ax. You will lose all the wine.

[yellowdogintexas]

22. I have one that grips the bottle top, and has a big lever with

this really lethal looking auger on it and you just grip the bottle at the rim, lower the lever handle down until it meets the gripper handle, which drives the auger neatly through the cork. Then raise the lever back and it pulls the cork neatly out.

Then you close it back up again, grip the cork and it pulls the cork off the auger. Perfection, and I only paid $5 for it

It is the "rabbit style" I think

[Blue-Jay]

23. So *that's* what that thing is for!!!

I'm in the same boat as trof. I just screw it in an start yanking on the cork until it comes out.

Ya learn something new every day.