What to Do If Your Roommate Snores

What to Do If Your Roommate Snores When you dreamed of going to college, it almost certainly didnt include visions of trying to sleep while your roommate loudly snores only a few feet away. And when youre sharing a tiny space with someone who makes a lot of noise while they sleep, it can feel downright impossible to get any rest. Add the fact that youre likely not getting enough sleep anyway, and you have one small situation that quickly balloons into a serious problem. If your roommate snores in a way that is preventing you from getting your much-needed zzzs every night, youll need to address the situation ASAP. Doing so wisely, however, is likely to increase your chances of finding a workable solution that everyone is happy with. 1. First and Foremost, Mention It to Your Roommate If youre waking up super cranky and mad at your roommate, and they have no idea why you cant expect them to guess why youre so upset. If your roommate snores a lot, youll have to bring it up if youre ever going to move toward a solution. How you bring the topic up, however, matters a lot. Avoid angry accusations like You snore so much! or Why are you snoring like that all the time? Your roommate is not snoring on purpose and is certainly not doing so just to make you upset. Try to bring it up gently, as your roommate may not even know that they snore. Did you know that you snore pretty loudly? Have you ever been told that you snore a bit? Have you ever talked to anyone about your snoring? 2. Remember That Snoring Can Indicate Some Other Issues Dont just view snoring as a bad habit; it can be a medical issue for some people, too. The multiple causes of snoring should help you keep in mind that this isnt something that can just be fixed, like a dirty roommate or one who takes your stuff all of the time. Be patient and considerate as your roommate looks into  whats causing the snoring. 3. Find Some Temporary Fixes   As you and your roommate work to find long(er)-term solutions to the snoring problem, look into some short-term fixes. Can you get earplugs? Ask your roommate to try to sleep on their side? Reconfigure the room so your beds arent so close? Perhaps you can ask your roommate to avoid alcohol before bed, or look into getting and using a white noise machine, 4. Look Into Long(er)-Term Fixes Your roommate might just need to change some sleeping habits; similarly, they might also have some serious medical concerns that arent going to fixed quite so easily. If thats the case, look into some longer-term fixes. Know that its perfectly okay for one of those fixes to be finding another roommate. Sleep is important - for  both  of you. If your roommate has something serious going on that is preventing you from getting some sleep, dont hesitate to talk to your RA or other residence hall staff member about possibly switching roommates. It doesnt have to mean anyone is doing anything wrong; it just means that you arent a great match for each other. You can still be a great match for someone else. 5. Keep Things Pleasant and Friendly Consider how youd want to be treated if you were in your roommates shoes. Would you want someone, for example, taking video of your snoring and posting it online somewhere? Definitely not. Would you want your roommate to be gossiping with friends about how horrible you are to share a room with? No thanks. Your roommates snoring isnt an intentional act designed to make your life horrible. Consequently, aim for understanding and patience as you both work to find a solution. It might take a while, but theres no reason why both of you cant be kind, respectful adults during the process.

The Chemistry of Baking Cookies

The Chemistry of Baking Cookies Baking cookies seems simple, especially if you cook pre-made cookie dough, but its really a set of chemical reactions. If your cookies never turn out perfect, understanding their chemistry may help improve your technique. Follow this classic chocolate chip cookie recipe and learn about the ingredients and the reactions that occur throughout the mixing and baking process. Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe 3/4 cup granulated sugar (sucrose, C12H22O11)3/4 cup brown sugar (caramelized sucrose)1 cup unsalted butter (a fat)1 large egg (consists of water, protein, fat, emulsifier, and albumin)1 teaspoon vanilla extract (for flavor)2-1/4 cups all-purpose flour (contains gluten)1 teaspoon baking soda (sodium bicarbonate,  NaHCO3, which is a weak base)1/2 teaspoon salt (NaCl)2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips Youll get the best results if you use room temperature eggs and butter. This helps the ingredients mix into the recipe more evenly and means your cookie dough will be room temperature and not cool when you put the cookies in the oven. The fat in the recipe affects the texture of the cookies and browns them, which influences flavor as well as color. Substituting a different fat in place of butter affects the flavor of the cookies and also the texture since other fats (lard, vegetable oil, margarine, etc.) have a different melting point from butter. If you use salted butter, its usually best to reduce the amount of added salt.Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Its important to preheat the oven because if you put the cookies in the oven and the temperature is too low, the dough can spread rather than firm up. This affects the thickness of the cookie, its texture, and how evenly it browns.Mix together the sugar, brown sugar, butter, vanilla, and eggs. Mostly, this is to blend the in gredients so the composition of the cookies will be uniform. For the most part, no chemical reaction occurs at this point. Mixing the sugars with the eggs dissolves some of the sugar in the water from the eggs, so the crystals wont be as large in the cookies. Brown sugar adds caramelized sugar flavor to the cookies. While it doesnt matter what color of eggs you use (white or brown), the size matters, just like measuring all of the other ingredients! If you substitute an egg from a different bird than a chicken, the recipe will work, but the flavor will be different. You dont want to over-mix the ingredients because beating eggs for too long affects the protein molecules in the egg white. Real vanilla and imitation vanilla (vanillin) contain the same flavor molecule, but real vanilla extract has a more complex flavor because of other molecules from the plant. Mix in the flour (a little at a time), baking soda, and salt. You can sift the ingredients together to make sure they are evenly distributed, but sprinkling the salt and baking soda onto the mixture works too. The flour contains gluten, the protein that holds the cookies together, makes them a bit chewy and gives them their substance. Cake flour, bread flour, and self-rising flour could be substituted for all-purpose flour in a pinch, but arent ideal. The cake flour might produce fragile cookies with a finer crumb; the bread flour contains more gluten and could make the cookies tough or too chewy, and the self-rising flour already contains leavening agents that would make the cookies rise.  The baking soda is the ingredient that makes cookies rise. The salt is a flavoring, but also controls the rising of the cookies.Stir in the chocolate chips. This last to ensure the other ingredients are properly mixed and to avoid smashing the chips. The chocolate chips are flavoring. Dont like semi-sweet? Switch it out! Drop rounded teaspoons of the dough about two inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. The size of the cookies matters! If you make the cookies too big or put them too close together, the interior of the cookie isnt dont by the time the bottom and edges brown. If the cookies are too small, they may not brown enough by the time the middle is done, giving you rock-hard cookies. Theres no need to grease the cookie sheet. While a light spritz of non-stick spray might not hurt, greasing the pan  adds fat to the cookies and affects how they brown and their texture.Bake the cookies 8 to 10 minutes or until they are light golden brown. Which rack you put the cookies on depends on your oven. Usually, the center rack is fine, but if your cookies tend to get too dark on the bottom, try moving them up one rack. The heating element in a conventional oven is on the bottom. The Baking Process If the ingredients are high quality, measured carefully, and mixed as they should be, chemical magic happens in the oven to make great cookies. Heating sodium bicarbonate causes it to decompose into water and carbon dioxide: 2NaHCO3 → Na2CO3 H2O CO2 Carbon dioxide gas and water vapor form the bubbles which make cookies rise. Rising doesnt just make cookies taller. It also opens up space to keep the cookie from becoming too dense. Salt slows down the decomposition of baking soda, so the bubbles dont get too big. This could lead to weak cookies or to cookies that fall flat when they come out of the oven. The heat works on the butter, egg yolk, and flour to change the shape of the molecules. The gluten in the flour forms a polymer mesh that works with the albumin protein from the egg white and the emulsifier lecithin from the egg yolk to form the dough and support the bubbles. Heat breaks the sucrose into the simple sugars glucose and fructose, giving each cookie a shiny, light brown crust. When you take the cookies out of the oven, the hot water gases in the cookie contract. The chemical changes that occurred during baking help the cookie keep its shape. This is why undercooked cookies (or other baked goods) fall in the center. After Baking If the cookies arent devoured immediately, the chemistry doesnt end with baking. The humidity of the surroundings affects cookies after they have cooled. If the air is very dry, moisture from the cookies escapes, making them hard. In a humid environment, cookies can absorb water vapor, making them soft. After cookies have completely cooled, they can be placed into a cookie jar or other container to keep them fresh and delicious.