Behind the Blogger: Why on Earth do People Install Tiny Kitchen Sinks? (UPDATED)

UPDATED 09/05/14, 09/13/14

I may have written about this subject before, but if I have, it is my insatiable curiosity for why so many people apparently intentionally hobble their kitchens! I do a lot of looking at houses online, both out of curiosity, and because I'm planning for the future. There's a strong possibility that we'll be moving to a different state in the next couple of years, and I'm trying to get a feel for what's out there.

See what I mean?

At the same time, we've recently done some home renovations, so I am familiar with the decision making process when doing so. Picking countertops, faucets and sinks--for instance--takes a lot of research, comparison shopping, compromises, and weighing pros and cons. We were stuck between a 60/40 split kitchen sink, and a large single-basin for our kitchen. We settled on the 60/40, with the large side for doing dishes, and the small side to hold a dish drainer. We love it, it works for us. But our friends opted for a large single basin that could hold their cookie sheets, and roasting pans, etc. For the record, our large basin holds almost everything we use (including a turkey roaster), but we're not gourmet cooks, just your usual workaday types.



Looks a little wider, but still. . . At least it does
have a tall faucet.

A large single basin was our second choice, but for the way we do things, we would have had to store a dish rack on the counter, or make room under the sink. Ditto for a rubber wash tub, because you wouldn't want to be filling that huge sink up every time you do dishes, right? Oh, and by the way, we do have a dishwasher, but there are several items we don't put in there, and some things the dishwasher just doesn't clean well. Anyway. . .

To get to the meat of my irritation, whenever I look at houses on Zillow, particularly in Baltimore (but also in other cities), it is the kitchens that are the make-or-break the property for me. Having just completed our counter/sink/faucet/fridge/microwave overhaul, I just can't go back. Not unless the rest of the property just knocks me out. But in even 90% of the houses with great or passable kitchens, I am sure to find a single basin sink. A tiny, single-basin sink. They might be deep, they might be shallow, but they're like 20" wide, over a cabinet space that will hold a 30"-35" wide sink.

The "before" sink in our house, used for about
15 years.

My question: Why on EARTH would you intentionally hobble your kitchen in this way? And why are so many people doing it? Was there a fad or hot kitchen trend for tiny sinks? Was there a surplus? I can't stand it, I want to know! Is there a water shortage in Baltimore and surrounding areas? Do none of these people cook or do dishes?


And while we're at it, here's another question. Tiny sink or not, why would you redo your kitchen counters, and drop in a top-mount, ugly, tinny, $75-range, Home Depot sink? And then, put one of those hideous, 4"-arched, 70s-era faucets? And I'll go further!!! Those tiny, 4" nubbin-sized, crystal-plastic-knobbed bathroom faucets? Okay, okay, YES, we did too, before the renovation. Though after, I marveled that we kept them for so long. Faucets aren't that expensive. Who decided that the standard sizes would be little, cramped things with no utility? Arrgghh. But, I'm getting off on a tangent. The core question, somebody please explain to me: Why did little, tiny, single-basin sinks in kitchens become a thing?

Whether it's a double like ours, or a single, why go small?

UPDATED 09/05/14: I still haven't found anything online, or gotten any responses for my central question. Why do people do this? What's the deal?

Why does it bother me? Because I get daily alerts via email from Zillow.com, and I keep running across great houses with gorgeous kitchens and tiny, stupid sinks, that's why! Scroll down, I'm gonna keep adding pictures to this post every so often until I get an answer!

Tiny Sink Update #1

Tiny Sink Update #2
 

Tiny Sink Update #3

Tiny Sink Update #4

Tiny Sink Update #5

Tiny Sink Update #6

 

So, THAT Happened: Ted Cruz has a Coloring Book out in Time for Christmas!

Ugh. As anyone who reads my blog knows, I find Ted Cruz to be exceptionally creepy looking in virtually every photograph. To say nothing of his smarmy demeanor, his craven politics, and on and on. The perfect subject for a children's coloring book. In hell.

[Excerpt]



Image from source, Think Progress. They didn't
quite capture the creepiness.

There’s Now A Coloring Book To Teach Your Children To Love Ted Cruz
 
Are you a new parent terrified that the liberal media will turn your child into an Obama supporter? Or do you just need something to entertain your kids during those long drives to Tea Party rallies? If so, then a brand new coloring book is just the thing for your family! The “Ted Cruz to the Future™ – Comic Coloring Activity Book” is a “non-partisan, fact-driven view of how Texas Sen. Rafael Edward “Ted” Cruz became a U.S. senator and details, through his quotes and public information his ideas for what he believes will help America grow,” according to its publisher Really Big Coloring Books. . .

Read more at: Think Progress

WTF: Virginia Atty General Wants to Uphold Sodomy Law?

Sometimes WTF is the only response that you can come up with at first, isn't? I mean seriously, what would motivate a politician who has grand ambitions be for something like making sodomy illegal again? Forget for a second that the Supreme Court ruled such laws unconstitutional a decade ago--and was late doing that. But we're not talking about just the "gay"kind of sodomy you're likely thinking of when you hear the word. We're talking pretty much anything but missionary position by any  combination of genders. Yeah. Let that sink in for a minute, and then tell me exactly what constituency this guy is aiming for? What percent of the population would say, "Oh, yeah. That's my guy."

Gov. Missionary, from HuffPo

[Excerpt]

Ken Cuccinelli, Virginia Attorney General, Petitions To Uphold Anti-Sodomy Law 

Virginia Attorney General and gubernatorial candidate Ken Cuccinelli has filed a petition challenging a ruling that recently struck down the state's anti-sodomy law. . .

Read more at: Huffington Post

Clint Eastwood Steals the Show, RNC Day #3

"Get off my lawn!" Image from Salon.

As it was for the first two days, I watched the Republican National Convention (and participated, via Twitter) with a sinus headache. To be sure, this did nothing to help my sour feeling of this sorry spectacle. I mused, earlier in the day, about what glitch I'd like to see occur. Maybe Rubio would go off script, and disavow Romney? Maybe the RNC would go with the reanimated corpse of Ronald Reagan after all? Maybe Mitt would just draw a blank and run crying from the stage? Maybe the balloon drop wouldn't go as planned? The last part sort of happened, but that wasn't what threw a wrench into the works.

Clint Eastwood was leaked as the "surprise guest" already, so that wasn't unexpected. It was Eastwood's embarrassing, rambling, disjointed (and oh-so-many other negative adjectives) performance that will forever go down as the main story of the 2012 RNC. Whatever message Romney/Ryan was hoping to float is going to be squashed by the wacky old guy yelling at an invisible Obama. As I watched, I was reminded of Rick Perry's grasping in vain for the three departments he would cut. I flashed on New Years Rockin' Eve, when they used to wheel out Dick Clark (after the stroke). It was hard to watch. Oh, but watch it we will, again and again. Guaranteed.

[Excerpt]

Clint Eastwood steals the RNC




When it leaked earlier today that Clint Eastwood would be the “surprise” guest at the Republican National Convention, it seemed predictable that a bunch of white people in patriotic hats would shortly be chanting “Make my day” on national television.  This cacophonous “Make my day” did, in fact, come to pass, but only after the 82-year old Eastwood babbled, went blue, and inadvertently insulted Mitt Romney, the guy he was allegedly there to support. . .

Read more at: Salon

Newsbusters: Yeah, So?

In my last post, I mentioned Newsbusters.org, which is a conservative "watchdog" site, which purports to expose the "liberal media" for whatever it is the liberal media does. But it's kind of funny. Most of their stories are preaching to the choir, so they take it as a given that you'll "get" what their objection is.  For instance, here is a list of recent Newsbusters headlines:

• NPR Marks 9/11 By Hyping Counterterrorism's 'Disruption of Innocent Lives'
• MSNBCer Suggests GOP Rejected Obama's Request for Speech Because of 'Color of His Skin'
• Scarborough to Cheney: What Happened to Your 'Moderate Voice of Republicanism?'
• CNN Looks to Obama to Solve Crisis of Partisanship
• Piers Morgan to Santorum: Your Views 'Are Bordering on Bigotry, Aren't They?'
• NYTimes: Boehner Issued 'Unprecedented' Refusal of Obama's Request for Speech
• NBC Reporter to Huntsman: Are Perry and Bachmann 'Too Far Right to Win?'

The funny thing is, in each case above, my response is, "Yeah, so?"

Many post-9/11 "counter terrorism" efforts did disrupt innocent lives. The GOP's knee-jerk hostility to Obama likely does have at least a little to do with the color of his skin (or more accurately, that he's a black Democrat). Cheney did prove to be quite un-moderate. Obama has tried to squelch partisanship, many, many times. Santorum's views are bigoted. Boner's Boehner's refusal was unprecedented. Perry and Bachmann are far right. So what's the problem?

Daily Show: Sarah Palin, Driving Miss Crazy

Jon Stewart shares our bafflement at what in the hell Sarah Palin's "bus tour" is supposed to be. Is it a Presidential campaign? Is it a high-profile (and thus $$$-raising) ego trip? A magical mystery tour? Who knows? But leave it to The Daily Show to come up with the perfect name for it, Driving Miss Crazy.

The Daily Show - Indecision 2012 - Driving Miss Crazy
Tags: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily Show on Facebook

Let me Tell You 'Bout the Birds and the Bees (and the Fish): They're Dying!

Image from source, Examiner

I recently posted a piece on the weird mass die-in of the crows in Arkansas. Was that a murder of crows? Heh. But see, that's the weird thing. Well, one of the weird things. This dead bird story was followed by dead fish stories, more dead bird stories, and the almost unanimous response--even by me--is humor. Dark, gallows humor. Slightly uncomfortable humor. But still. I'm a little surprised that we all find this so funny.  I mean, if this was an M. Night Shyamalan movie. . .well, it would suck. . .but the dying animals scenes would be played for suspense, to shock, to horrify. Perhaps a sequel to The Happening.  The Crappening? I like it.

But the point is, this mass death thing could be a very bad thing, right? The canary in a coal mine on a larger scale?  And what about the mass bee deaths of the last few years, did we ever figure that shit out?  I don't know. But if the wind starts chasing me, I think I'll just let it catch me.

[Excerpt]

Dead birds in Louisiana; dead fish in Maryland, Brazil and New Zealand



After reports over the weekend of thousands of dead birds falling from the sky in Arkansas and around 100,000 dead fish washing up on the shores of the Arkansas River, more mysteries abound with hundreds of birds dying in Louisiana, dead fish in Maryland, dead sardines on Brazil’s beaches, and hundreds of snapper floating in New Zealand waters. . .

Read more at: Examiner

It's Raining. . .Birds?

Image from source, Huffington Post

WTF?

[Excerpt]

More Than 1,000 Dead Birds Fall From Sky In Arkansas



Environmental service workers finished picking up the carcasses on Sunday of about 2,000 red-winged blackbirds that fell dead from the sky in a central Arkansas town. . .
 
Read more at: Huffington Post

Photo of the Day: Oreo Barbie

Okay, I really don't want to think about this. Thanks to Tracy for the link.

White Castle Scented Candle!

Image from source, Best Week Ever

Whether you call them belly-bombers, whitey one-bites, sliders or slyders, I call them a little slice of heaven. And since I can only get them in the grocer's freezer out here in Las Vegas, I rarely get to staunch my craving. Still, I'm not sure a White Castle hamburger-scented candle is the answer. . .

[Excerpt]


White Castle Offers New Scented Candle To Stupidly Buy When You’re Stumbling Home Drunk


Ahh, the sweet, unmistakable “steam-grilled-on-a-bed-of-onions scent of America’s first fast-food hamburger,” aka, the smell of always-poor drunken decisions of yesteryear that manage to occur spaced far enough apart that you can’t remember how unpleasant the previous time was, decide to do it again, and wake up in the morning instantly reminded of why you shouldn’t do that. . .

Read more at: Best Week Ever

They've Changed the $100 Bill. Again.

Seriously? How many times are they going to redesign this thing? And what's to stop counterfeiters from copying the older versions?

Just Askin': Why Is Climate Change a Partisan Issue?

The issue of climate change (or global warming) is--for some reason--a massively partisan issue. Most liberals and progressives will be firmly on the side of climate change science, and believe that something must be done to protect the environment. Many (most?) conservatives believe that climate change is a massive hoax, and that while the climate may be in flux, nothing proves that humans have anything to do with it.

Mmkay. I can see how a person might come to that conclusion, but why is it almost as contentious as abortion, god, guns and gays?

It is true that the earth has gone through warming and cooling periods in eras when man did not produce massive amounts of pollution. It is true that climate science can and has been incorrect in the past. But to conclude that 110+ years of industrial polluting, and automotive exhaust can't possibly affect the environment just seems incredibly naive and stupid to me.

If you've ever seen a model of the earth's atmosphere in relation to the size of the planet, you can see that it is just a thin shell of protection. It seems plausible, in fact likely that pumping metric tons of pollution into the sky must have some kind of effect. But the party of no says. . .well. . .no.

When they will concede that the climate is changing--just that man can't be responsible--and that cutting pollution is desirable, they always have a caveat. Namely, that any effort expended toward that goal should not adversely affect business. And here, I believe we have the core of the partisan nature of the debate.

I know that big business would continue dumping and spewing without care were there no regulations. And I'm aware that Republicans have in the past cut those kinds of regulations and continue to attempt to get rid of them. All politicians, but Republicans especially, are beholden to their corporate campaign funds. Their mouthpieces, like Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh are beholden to if not Republican at least what now passes for conservative ideals, and those ideals now include backing up corporate interests.

In my experience, many hardcore conservatives are fans of FOX "News" and conservative talk radio, and have a remarkable ability to argue--nearly verbatim--Sean Hannity's or Bill O'Reilly's side of any issue. They seldom can answer follow-up questions, but they have the main talking points down. So when Beck or one of the others rants and raves about the global warming "hoax," their fans are all loaded up with their belief system. No thought required. It just amazes me how easily people can take these opinions to heart, even if it goes against their own self interest. Even if it falls apart under close scrutiny.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, these pundits and talkers must have zero respect for their audience. If you constantly fed your audience a bullshit buffet, and they continued to line up with a plate and fork, could you have any respect for them? Just askin.'

Catching a Ride on the Clue Bus Never More Difficult

Source: FailBlog.org

Friday WTF? Moment: Forced Perspective & Giant Midget

Giant midget? Big little person? Freaks my sh*t out? Yeah, that will do!

Source (the fabulous): Picture is Unrelated

Olbermann's WTF? Moment: Bush the Bookworm?

I remember when we heard about George W. Bush's voracious reading habit, and thought they must be lying about it. Bush didn't seem like much of a reader, and was in fact known for having little patience for briefings and such. But what if it were true? That he really read hundreds of books during his tenure? How could a man as busy as the President of the United States have enough time to read that much?

The theory that Dick Cheney was the real President for the last eight years is getting more and more credible.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Olbermann's WTF? Moment: Republican Chrysler Conspiracy

One of the best things about shows like Countdown with Keith Olbermann and The Rachel Maddow Show, is when they skewer and utterly destroy right-wing talking points. Tonight's was about a conspiracy to close only Republican Chrysler dealerships. Olbermann rips the meme to shreds.

Sadly, these thorough obliterations of GOP ridiculousness seldom do what they are intended to do: shut down the talking point. They keep repeating the debunked stories anyway.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Olbermann's WTF? Moment: John Culberson (R-TX)

Rep. John Culberson (R-TX)had himself a wandering Sarah Palin-like answer to a question about same-sex marriage. And Keith Olbermann had a blast taking him to task for it. These WTF!?! moments are a lot of fun. But what's the deal with the picture of Nevada Gov. Jim Gibbons and President Barack Obama under the Las Vegas sign? There's comedy gold to be had in our doofy governor too. Maybe Olbermann had a last-minute change of topic?

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Olbermann's WTF? Moment: Rush Limbaugh's Ego

I'm really starting to enjoy these "WTF!?! Moments" on on Countdown with Keith Olbermann. No one but no one deserves a skewering more than Rush Limbaugh. And, hoo-boy does KO live up to his initials here. Just awesome.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Olbermann's WTF? Moment: John Ensign and Gitmo Health Care

Having just trashed Sen. John Hairdo Ensign (R-NV) in a previous post, I could not resist letting Keith Olbermann keep slugging away at him. For years, as a resident of Nevada, Ensign seemed like the invisible Senator, only appearing around election time. But lately, he's been popping up all over the place, usually saying something supremely stupid. He's still at it. This time, he says that prisoners in Guantanamo Bay get better health care than the average American. D'oh!

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Olbermann's WTF? Moment Michael Steele & Gay Marriage

I'm quickly becoming a fan of Countdown with Keith Olbermann's "WTF?!? Moments." They're much lighter-hearted, but still hard-hitting editorials than the hosts's "Special Comments." These are more in the spirit of "Really?!? With Seth and Amy" from Saturday Night Live. This one's pretty good too.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy