# The Off Topic Thread #2



## dc sunshine (Feb 26, 2007)

Just wanted to have a place like the the original off topic thread. Yes, I know we are a cooking site, but this particular part of the site is for non-cooking issues, and I would really like to have somehwere to continue in that vein.

So, I would like to respond to Yeti....

You are most welcome. I cannot do much about the weather, just learnt to manage it in my lab. The Finesse in this field is amazing to manage. On some days where the temperatures were unmanagable, so we just didn't do some of the finer work on these days. Or, which was pretty funny, trying to work in the dark in the lab, no backup generator when the power went out due to the local drain on power facilities, and having to use torches and candles. Which again affected the temperature so all we could do was measure stuff like steel rulers, that sort of thing, with fairly rough requirements. No fine work.

That's amazing there is only one person in the world working with that international standard. I envy that person actually, they would get to see a lot of companies in a lot of countries /img/vbsmilies/smilies//smile.gif

I hope we can keep this new thread going, as there has been a lot of interesting conversation and input for a long time in the previous one.

DC


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## oregonyeti (Jun 16, 2007)

DC Sunshine, it's been a while since I visited this site. It's great to see you here/img/vbsmilies/smilies/biggrin.gif

This site sure has changed, and frankly I've lost interest in the new setup. It's not the same site at all. I'll pm you my contact info so we can stay in touch if you like.


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## dc sunshine (Feb 26, 2007)

Yeti - I'm not even sure why your original thread was blocked.

Moderators - the thread was a great way to chat about anything not regarding (but may have included) anything  to do with cooking and people could get to know each other.

Confused I am.


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## oregonyeti (Jun 16, 2007)

DC Sunshine said:


> That's amazing there is only one person in the world working with that international standard. I envy that person actually, they would get to see a lot of companies in a lot of countries
> 
> DC


I must have made it out to be a lot more interesting than it is. If Fluke totally depended on me, we'd be sunk! Luckily I have knowledgeable people around me, even if they aren't fixing things.


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## oregonyeti (Jun 16, 2007)

I really lucked out food-wise. I'm renting the basement of a 3-story house, with my own kitchen, bathroom etc. The owners live above me. They are originally Ethiopian, and when they cook, dang does their food smell good. When I told the guy I like injera, and that my Eritrean friends turned me on to their food, he said they would bring me something good to have with the injera. And DAMN is it good.

One dish is a not-too-spicy fragrant beef dish with carrots, and the other, the one that really got me going, is a chicken and boiled egg dish in a sauce heavy with peppers, mostly sweet and with some hot to it. Sheesh, I'm hooked. I hope I can learn some things from them. There are probably some ingredients I never tried. I'm glad they're friendly. I'll make some things for them too if they want some. I have a happy tummy right now /img/vbsmilies/smilies/licklips.gif


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## oregonyeti (Jun 16, 2007)

And no, I don't want to do the facebook thing. Why can't I just post something here? Sheesh, I'm getting invaded with the facebook thing. Damn annoying. <---- Now THAT, what I just wrote I would agree to publish on Facebook.


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## dc sunshine (Feb 26, 2007)

That food does sound good /img/vbsmilies/smilies//smile.gif I'm glad you landed on your feet there - I'd not enjoy being a boarder with someone I couldn't get along with - so that's excellent my friend.

Re Facebook - I find it, well, immature and too hard to use. I'd rather be here or emailing. Maybe it's a case of teaching an old dog (i.e. me!) new tricks - my kids swear by Facebook. Oh well, each to their own.

Summer is coming along here after a really long wet spell - gotta dig out the shorts and tank tops. And finally maybe even get a tan happening (Yeah - a tan is not healthy, blah blah blah /img/vbsmilies/smilies/lol.gif). I figure it's a good dose of vitamin D so experts - go away. Had enough of doctors lately and I've never met one that didn't tell me off for something. Arrgh. So I take their advice in moderation. As moderation should be taken - in moderation /img/vbsmilies/smilies/biggrin.gif Also another excuse for some sun is that I lost the cats in the weeds after all that rain now sunshine - so I must do something about that. Cats re-appeared eventually. At suppertime, of course.

P.S. What is injera?


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## maryb (Mar 21, 2008)

I am not on any "social networking" sites. Socializing to me is done in person. And I am not computer illiterate, I program, build computers, and all kinds of other electronic goodies.


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## oregonyeti (Jun 16, 2007)

DC Sunshine said:


> That food does sound good /img/vbsmilies/smilies//smile.gif I'm glad you landed on your feet there - I'd not enjoy being a boarder with someone I couldn't get along with - so that's excellent my friend.
> 
> Re Facebook - I find it, well, immature and too hard to use. I'd rather be here or emailing. Maybe it's a case of teaching an old dog (i.e. me!) new tricks - my kids swear by Facebook. Oh well, each to their own.
> 
> ...


I do use Facebook, but I don't do a lot of things there. I got in touch with old friends I hadn't seen in 30 years, friends I went to school with in India. That was great!

The cats-in-the-weeds thing reminded me of something Jeff Foxworthy said. "You might be a ******* if ... you mow your lawn and find a car". /img/vbsmilies/smilies/smile.gif

Injera is kind of a big crepe that I think has yeast in it, and usually has teff flour in it, sometimes wheat too. Teff is a grain that's grown a lot in Ethiopia, that's got a lot of flavor to it. Injera is more chewy than pancakes are, and thinner. I haven't had anything else really similar to it.


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## oregonyeti (Jun 16, 2007)

MaryB said:


> I am not on any "social networking" sites. Socializing to me is done in person. And I am not computer illiterate, I program, build computers, and all kinds of other electronic goodies.


In other words, you are not a *******, eh?

All in fun--I know some cool people who call themselves ********/img/vbsmilies/smilies/biggrin.gif


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## nicko (Oct 5, 2001)

The old thread became nothing more than a place for new members who wanted to get their post counts up. If you look at many of the posts they are one lines. The real deal is the old threads are a big demand on the server so please start a unique topic for what you want to talk about.


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## homemadecook (Jan 27, 2010)

Nicko said:


> The old thread became nothing more than a place for new members who wanted to get their post counts up. If you look at many of the posts they are one lines. The real deal is the old threads are a big demand on the server so please start a unique topic for what you want to talk about.


Yeah I agree, so that topics in this forum will be organized and not mixed up. /img/vbsmilies/smilies//smile.gif


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## dc sunshine (Feb 26, 2007)

Nicko said:


> The old thread became nothing more than a place for new members who wanted to get their post counts up. If you look at many of the posts they are one lines. The real deal is the old threads are a big demand on the server so please start a unique topic for what you want to talk about.


Thank you for your response Nicko.

Daina


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## oregonyeti (Jun 16, 2007)

Yeah it was all bullshit. But then again there was a hell of a lot of fun on that thread. We would shoot the breeze a lot, say what what was on our minds, casually, and there was a lot of friendship. We could bring up anything we wanted, and in my experience there was almost no meaningless chat. If you want to close that off, your choice of course, but you must not have been following that thread.

I'll stay here as long as I can connect with my friends here, but it's not what it used to be.


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## oregonyeti (Jun 16, 2007)

This is really puzzling me--why would anyone care about their post count? Are there prizes to be won or something?? This is weird.


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## ishbel (Jan 5, 2007)

Hello OY - long time no 'see'!

Some new members want to up their post numbers in older threads so they won't be spotted until after they make the minimum number required to let them post links in messages, a subtler form of spamming!


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## oregonyeti (Jun 16, 2007)

I replied earlier but I must have messed up. It doesn't show here.

Ishbel, nice to see you /img/vbsmilies/smilies//smile.gif

In the off-topic theme, I just started a batch of basmati rice with some kachu-jang paste cooking in it. I think it will turn out good. I think eggs over-easy on that rice will be nice for a simple breakfast.

One thing that I am liking about Lynnwood is that I have a choice of Korean restaurants. I can even get dolsot bibimbap here--I have to try that for sure! In Corvallis I could get bibimbap but not the stone-bowl kind.


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## oregonyeti (Jun 16, 2007)

"I am liking" is excellent, grammatically. Right?


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## boar_d_laze (Feb 13, 2008)

Originally Posted by *OregonYeti* 


> "I am liking" is excellent, grammatically. Right?


Usually not.

BDL


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## dc sunshine (Feb 26, 2007)

Our puppy dog has gone bird crazy. Now it's mating season for the birds the are all screeching and fighting on the dog's lawn.

He's up to a count of 6 so far /img/vbsmilies/smilies//smile.gif But at least it's only the noisy ones. He's a Kelpie, so loves to chase anything that moves.

He tried it on with the cats, but soon learnt they have a pointy end, to his regret /img/vbsmilies/smilies/lol.gif Silly puppy.


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## oregonyeti (Jun 16, 2007)

DC Sunshine said:


> Our puppy dog has gone bird crazy. Now it's mating season for the birds the are all screeching and fighting on the dog's lawn.
> 
> He's up to a count of 6 so far /img/vbsmilies/smilies//smile.gif But at least it's only the noisy ones. He's a Kelpie, so loves to chase anything that moves.
> 
> He tried it on with the cats, but soon learnt they have a pointy end, to his regret /img/vbsmilies/smilies/lol.gif Silly puppy.


HAH! Wait, doesn't "kelpie" refer to a dog who hunts seaweed? Tell him that.


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## oregonyeti (Jun 16, 2007)

A thumbs-up for Trader Joe's "Bohemian Lager". It's not quite Pilsener Urquell, but it's really good and fresher than what we get from Czech.


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## oregonyeti (Jun 16, 2007)

I was having some really good pecan pie, and it struck me how much it was like baklava.


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## dc sunshine (Feb 26, 2007)

Very droll Yeti /img/vbsmilies/smilies/lol.gif Thank you for the laugh. I'll make sure not to take the dog to the beach.

About to go home for a week after Christmas, really looking forward to catching up with old friends and family. First holiday in about 5 years even if it is only a week, but, thank goodness, at last!

If I don't manage to get online for a bit, happy holidays one and all.


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## american_suisse (Mar 9, 2007)

OregonYeti said:


> This is really puzzling me--why would anyone care about their post count? Are there prizes to be won or something?? This is weird.


 Wait! There are prizes?! WHY AM I ALWAYS THE LAST TO KNOW THESE THINGS?! Darn it all to heck. Everyone always gets the good stuff but not me! Think I'll go to that far corner of the internet and sit in the dark for a while...grumble, gurmble, grumble....


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## leeniek (Aug 21, 2009)

Hi OY... good to see you again!

As for the post count thing.. why do people care about upping it?  For me, if I have nothing to add to a converstation I keep my mouth shut.. I know hard to believe (LOL) but I actually do that now and then!

Hope you all are enjoying the holiday season!


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## gunnar (Apr 3, 2008)

OregonYeti said:


> I was having some really good pecan pie, and it struck me how much it was like baklava.


I've noticed this in the better pecan pies I have had. Bad ones just taste like corn syrup.


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## dc sunshine (Feb 26, 2007)

Just spent a week away interstate with family and friends.  Exhausted, but by geez it was good to see everyone again.

Anyone else get to travel over the holidays?


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## ishbel (Jan 5, 2007)

DC

I didn't - but that was because family came to us.

My sister rang this morning, she said that it had rained every day when she was down the Coast at Bateman's Bay, so they went home to Canberra last weekend.  Her sister-in-law (who lives permanently at Bateman's Bay, NSW) is frantic because her son and his family have lost everything in the Queensland floods, house, cars and his business that employs 100 people. They cannot leave the area where they are being looked after in a sports hall.

My heart goes out to those poor people in Q'land and northern NSW.....


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## dc sunshine (Feb 26, 2007)

Hi Ishbel,

Yes the floods have been devastating.  An area the size of Germany and France has been flooded, some places up to 20m.  Many have lost everything, some have lost their lives, many are still missing.  Have never seen anything like it.  There are houses, cars, tractors, wharfs, boats, even wharfside restaurants floating at high speed down the rivers.  The impact will be unbelievable.  Queensland is one of the major crop growing and mining areas of our country.  Financial losses are unimaginable, apart from the impact on human lives.

I wish the best for your family members over here - it must be so heartbreaking.

Take Care - DC


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## ishbel (Jan 5, 2007)

Now it appears that his sister, who lives closer in to Brisbane, has also been flooded, but is able to stay in the top story of the house.   I saw those beer gardens and the boats floating down the river and getting smashed on one of the CBD bridges in Brizzy.  The floods have received a lot of coverage here in the UK.

The loss of crops will be devastating to your agricultural businesses.  The prices of many items will have to increase a LOT to take the losses into account, I suspect.


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## gunnar (Apr 3, 2008)

Hope all my Australian friends and thier families get through this.  I helped with the cleanup in New Orleans for 4 months right after Katrina, it wasn't pretty and I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy, much less anyone here. Warm thoughts for you all.


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## dc sunshine (Feb 26, 2007)

There have been surprisingly few deaths thank goodness.

Am expecting the cost of beef to go through the roof and lots of fruit and vegetables too.

To make matters worse, 46 towns in  my state of Victoria have now been flooded.  This country is a mess and it will be years recovering.  90,000 kms of roads need repairing in Queensland alone.  Yikes.


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## ishbel (Jan 5, 2007)

My niece lives in Melbourne - she said that it was lucky that the floods in Victoria were in a fairly sparsely populated area, rather than a huge conurbation like Brisbane.  It doesn't lessen the awful devastation, but at least the chance of people losing their lives was lessened.


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## dc sunshine (Feb 26, 2007)

I'm glad she's in a safe area, that's where we are too.  Many dams and weirs are in danger of cracking, so unfortunately they are having to let go of lots of water which will further affect other towns downstream.  Brizzy had 2 major storms and more flooding over the last couple of days.  Bet they're all saying Yippee - not.

Things is, it's coming up to cyclone season and the ground in the north is so saturated already that anything further will be immediate flooding.  Gotta love it.


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## ishbel (Jan 5, 2007)

That's the thing about living in a place of seasonal extremes, DC...!


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## breadmaker man (Jan 25, 2011)

DC Sunshine said:


> Hi Ishbel,
> 
> Yes the floods have been devastating. An area the size of Germany and France has been flooded, some places up to 20m. Many have lost everything, some have lost their lives, many are still missing. Have never seen anything like it. There are houses, cars, tractors, wharfs, boats, even wharfside restaurants floating at high speed down the rivers. The impact will be unbelievable. Queensland is one of the major crop growing and mining areas of our country. Financial losses are unimaginable, apart from the impact on human lives.
> 
> ...


And as if the floods weren't bad enough, they've just had a hurricane as well.


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## ishbel (Jan 5, 2007)

I saw on the BBC that there are terrible bush fires around Perth, too.

Honestly, this year seems to be like Armageddon for Australia. 

I hope that now that summer is supposedly over, the weather will quieten down a bit for you all.


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## dc sunshine (Feb 26, 2007)

Thanks for your wishes Ish.  Unfortunately, the cyclone season lasts until the end of March, sometimes beyond.

This cyclone has just compounded on the problems Queensland already has.  So many people dislocated, homeless, without power, traumatised.  It was the worst storm on record here, ever.  Now the bushfires in Perth - it does feel as if Armegeddon has struck.

We had flooding here in Victoria from the remnants of another Cyclone.  Again, more disaster and heartbreak.  People, double check your household insurance.  Many people will not be paid any compensation going by the shoddy wording enclosed in those contracts. Grrrr.


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## oregonyeti (Jun 16, 2007)

The disasters in Australia are heartbreaking. I hope everyone here is hanging in ok ... what else could I say? It's so sad.


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## oregonyeti (Jun 16, 2007)

There are a couple of things I like about living in Seattle. I'm actually in Lynnwood, just north of Seattle, but same diff.

One thing I really like is the variety of foods and markets here. H Mart (with mostly Korean groceries) has been one of my favorite places to get tasty stuff. I love their kimchis, seasoned vegetables, seafood and other stuff. Yum. Today I got something that threw me off--"seasoned sesame leaves". It has a little bit of something like miso mixed into. I tried a little of it, plain, and my taste buds complained loudly. Is it an acquired taste? Does it have to have to go with something? This is the first thing I've gotten there that wasn't yummy at first bite.

I also got dolsot bibimbap at a restaurant nearby that was so good!


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## oregonyeti (Jun 16, 2007)

Todamgol restaurant is where I got the really good dolsot bibimbap, by the way. The banchan (their side dishes, however you prefer to spell it) are great and add a lot to the meal. I got 6 or 7 of these, I think, as part of the meal and with free refills. I paid about 12 dollars for lunch, I think. Service is really good. If you're in the Lynnwood area and looking for a casual, reasonable Korean restaurant, I recommend Todamgol.


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## dc sunshine (Feb 26, 2007)

Hi Yeti,

Long time no see, glad to see/hear from you.

You're very lucky to have such a great grocery store near you.  I can't say I can imagine what those leaves must have tasted like, but if even you can't eat them, they must have been awful!   I saw a grocery in  the "Chinatown" of Adelaide (South Australia) which had a huge range of oriental groceries in it, most of which were labelled in the various languages other than English so I had no hope of guessing what on earth they were except if the packaging was transparent.  Lots of fruit and veg I wouldn't know where to start with   I was just sight seeing anyway, so it didn't matter.

But the one thing that really opened my eyes was the live seafood display.  Wow!  All sorts of fish in tanks swimming quite happily (little did they know what was coming next)>  It was truly impressive.

Stay well - DC


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## oregonyeti (Jun 16, 2007)

[h6]One person who really made an impression on me was a customer I had when I was doing HVAC service. He was full of energy and just so positive that you couldn't help but get caught up in it. I spent some extra time on that call talking to him.
He was in his 90's and he had framed pictures of the airliners he had piloted. He showed me his Model A that he'd restored and was having a lot of fun with. It was gorgeous. He invited me to take a ride with him on the weekend, and asked me if I'd bring my kids with me.
He'd named that Model A "I'm not dead yet". A few years before, some health problem had gotten in his way and he was going to sell a lot of his stuff. But he got past that and decided he wasn't going to give up. He kept the car because he wasn't done having a lot of fun with life ... hence the name he gave it.
People like that, you can't help but learn from. I'm smiling just remembering the time I was yakking with him :^)[/h6]


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## oregonyeti (Jun 16, 2007)

The main reason I like this thread (which a cool person started) is that I can post here without having to have a theme. Sometimes I just want make informal conversation, with nobody trying to prove I'm wrong. It's pretty laid-back, too. Also, I can answer myself if nobody else does.


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## oregonyeti (Jun 16, 2007)

Sounds pretty lame, Yeti.


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## petemccracken (Sep 18, 2008)

OregonYeti,

Of course you know it is alright to talk to yourself, even ask yourself questions, but when you start answering yourself???? /img/vbsmilies/smilies/crazy.gif

Though random association does often spur interesting results.


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