Chit-Chat: What's On Your Mind Today?

[shapeshifter]

5 hours ago, oliviabenson said:

I’m in need of new electronics and I don’t want to waste $$$. 

Does this mean your phone and laptop both died or are about to die?

[kristen111]

12 hours ago, oliviabenson said:

I’m in need of new electronics and I don’t want to waste $$$. 

I have a new I pad and it’s driving me nuts.  Clouds and things I don’t understand.  I hardly use it lately, as I have to sign in whenever I change topics.  Anyone know why?

[shapeshifter]

My HOA spent $4K to redo the sidewalk from the parking lot to my building's front door requested by one of my elderly, disabled neighbors whom I suspect thought that they were replacing the perfectly functional steps with a ramp.
But no. Just steeper steps:

Still waiting on the balcony fix.

Edited September 20 by shapeshifter

[oliviabenson]

9 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

Does this mean your phone and laptop both died or are about to die?

I need a new tv/dvd player, phone, tablet and way more stuff. 

[shapeshifter]

12 hours ago, oliviabenson said:

I need a new tv/dvd player, phone, tablet and way more stuff. 

I bought a Roku TV at Walmart. It was fine except it does not have bluetooth, but I could by a bluetooth speaker for it so it could connect with my hearing aid or other speakers when I'm in the bath, which would probably have better sound quality if you want that.
Are you familiar with Roku?

Cheap little DVD players can hook up to a TV.

[oliviabenson]

1 hour ago, shapeshifter said:

I bought a Roku TV at Walmart. It was fine except it does not have bluetooth, but I could by a bluetooth speaker for it so it could connect with my hearing aid or other speakers when I'm in the bath, which would probably have better sound quality if you want that.
Are you familiar with Roku?

Cheap little DVD players can hook up to a TV.

What I meant is that I don’t want to spend $. I’m tired of spending $. I Might be the last person who uses DVDs.

[chitowngirl]

4 minutes ago, oliviabenson said:

. I Might be the last person who uses DVDs.

You’re not! I get them from the library… I just checked out This is Spinal Tap!

[Suzn]

18 minutes ago, oliviabenson said:

What I meant is that I don’t want to spend $. I’m tired of spending $. I Might be the last person who uses DVDs.

I still buy DVDs because I want to own the movies that mean something to me rather than being dependent on streaming.  It was a horrible lie that ALL movies and TV would someday be available to stream.  That may happen someday but I doubt that all vintage stuff will ever be readily available.  

[GHScorpiosRule]

1 hour ago, Suzn said:

I still buy DVDs

So do I. Well, bluray or 4K, for the behind the scenes and also cast interviews. I don't care about the commentaries.

[Lisa418722]

4 hours ago, oliviabenson said:

. I Might be the last person who uses DVDs.

No, you're not.  I still use DVDs and I refuse to get rid of the ones I have.  A couple of years ago because of a cut line in my neighborhood, I didn't have cable or internet.  I did have electricity and a DVD player so I watched DVDs at night until I got sleepy.  

Edited September 19 by Lisa418722

[shapeshifter]

DVD player from Amazon for $30.
https://www.amazon.com/Players-Remoted-Control-Included-MAJORITY/dp/B098TWW7KK

[Dimity]

Another buyer of DVDs chiming in.  I've ranted here once or twice (or maybe even thrice) about how much more difficult, not to mention expensive, it's getting to purchase TV shows on DVD.  I've still been pretty lucky with movies - I usually am buying older titles - but even those are getting harder and harder to track down.

[Mindthinkr]

27 minutes ago, Dimity said:

Another buyer of DVDs chiming in.  I've ranted here once or twice (or maybe even thrice) about how much more difficult, not to mention expensive, it's getting to purchase TV shows on DVD.  I've still been pretty lucky with movies - I usually am buying older titles - but even those are getting harder and harder to track down.

I find so many in resale, vintage or charity shops. Usually for $1-2. 

[shapeshifter]

9 hours ago, Mindthinkr said:

I find so many in resale, vintage or charity shops. Usually for $1-2. 

I've donated DVDs to places that have large annual flea markets for charity.

[Caoimhe]

One of our DVD players is dead but fortunately the second one still works. I have a pile of DVDs from home so I need one that can be hacked to play region 2 as well as region 1, these are nearly ten years old and I don’t look forward to dealing with all that again! 

[Dimity]

16 hours ago, Mindthinkr said:

I find so many in resale, vintage or charity shops. Usually for $1-2. 

That's a good suggestion.  I've noticed as well that the book store connected to our public library will often sell CDs and DVDs.  Definitely going to start checking these places out!

[nokat]

On 9/19/2024 at 1:10 PM, shapeshifter said:

I bought a Roku TV at Walmart. It was fine except it does not have bluetooth, but I could by a bluetooth speaker for it so it could connect with my hearing aid or other speakers when I'm in the bath, which would probably have better sound quality if you want that.
Are you familiar with Roku?

Cheap little DVD players can hook up to a TV.

I just bought an adapter for my TV so I could use bluetooth headphones. I love it. I use the optical audio output for it. I was having so much difficulty with dialog and I set my headphones to voice, and I can hear it again.

[nokat]

I ate a slice of pepperoni pizza a bit too soon before bed. I had reflux, so I got up to drink a small glass of Vernors, which usually settles my stomach. All that did was go up my nose, so when I went to tinkle I did a sneeze fart, and I am like the epitome of womanly beauty at the moment. 

You're welcome for me making the rest of you look like Venus. :D

Oh, and I think I got some pizza up my nose.

Edited September 21 by nokat

[shapeshifter]

2 hours ago, nokat said:

I just bought an adapter for my TV so I could use bluetooth headphones. I love it. I use the optical audio output for it. I was having so much difficulty with dialog and I set my headphones to voice, and I can hear it again.

Brand or Amazon or BestBuy etc. link?

[kristen111]

On 9/19/2024 at 11:39 AM, shapeshifter said:

My HOA spent $4K to redo the sidewalk from the parking lot to my building's front door requested by one of my elderly, disabled neighbors whom I suspect thought that they were replacing the perfectly functional steps with a ramp.
But no. Just steeper steps:

Still waiting on the balcony fix.

Coming back from Florida, we bought a Condo instead of a house.  Big mistake.  The HOA keeps building new roads, and all unnecessary construction.  It’s very hard to keep up.  Too many rules also.  Who knew.

[shapeshifter]

39 minutes ago, kristen111 said:

Coming back from Florida, we bought a Condo instead of a house.  Big mistake.  The HOA keeps building new roads, and all unnecessary construction.  It’s very hard to keep up.  Too many rules also.  Who knew.

Yep.

[nokat]

2 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

Brand or Amazon or BestBuy etc. link?

The Brand is Golvery.. I bought it from Amazon.

[JustHereForFood]

Just two weeks ago, I was still complaining about how warm it still is and where's my Autumn weather. Then we went from over 30 °C (should be around 86 °F according to online calculator) to just around 10-11 °C (around 50 °F) in like two days and we were hit with non-stop rain several days in a row that resulted in massive floods all over Central Europe.

Why can't we have normal weather? Why does it have to be just extremes? 

(Not sure if this belongs here or to Pet Peeves as per the last rule there.)

[Absolom]

9 hours ago, nokat said:

Vernors

Ginger ale?  I think it's a local product. 😁

[graybrown bird]

We had Vernor's ginger ale in Michigan where I grew up in the 1950s- 60s.

[nokat]

I purchased Canada Dry here, and people acted like, oh you poor dear.  I tried Vernors and it is the tastiest ginger flavored corn syrup.  I don't know what it is about ginger, but it will settle my stomach.

3 hours ago, Absolom said:

Ginger ale?  I think it's a local product. 😁

 

1 hour ago, graybrown bird said:

We had Vernor's ginger ale in Michigan where I grew up in the 1950s- 60s.

 

[Gramto6]

1 hour ago, nokat said:

I purchased Canada Dry here, and people acted like, oh you poor dear.  I tried Vernors and it is the tastiest ginger flavored corn syrup.  I don't know what it is about ginger, but it will settle my stomach.

 

 

I always have a couple 10oz bottles of Canada Dry ginger ale in the fridge. It is my go to for an upset stomach.

I've had Vernor's Ginger Ale but in my memory it comes up as "Vernon's" probably just faulty memories. I think it was when I lived in CA.

Edited September 22 by Gramto6
typo

[oliviabenson]

I bought zero sugar ginger ale with lemonade to try. It’s all right but I’m not buying it again. 

[nokat]

I have a new conspiracy theory about Canadians.They are known as the sweetest people.  My theory is they put all of their hate into the geese. They scare the hell out of me.

[fairffaxx]

I love them!  And they're some of the best parents I've ever seen.  Nothing scary about them if you just don't get closer than they want you to (especially while they're raising goslings). 

[athousandclowns]

 I have eaten ginger chews for years and drank Reeds ginger beer it’s really gingery . I have them in my purse or car at all times. 

Edited September 23 by athousandclowns
Typo

[Bastet]

I have somehow in the course of my life come across two people who were attacked by geese.  I don't know what kind.  One just got smacked with a wing, but the other was bit.  They both accidentally came upon them, and IIRC (both were long ago, one before I'd even met the person), the geese were being defensive parents, not just defending themselves.  While neither enjoyed the incident, of course, especially the one with a bitten arm, they just regretted that they'd unintentionally caused it.

One year mockingbirds made a nest in a branch of my orange tree that hangs over my driveway.  My garage is not attached to my house, so to access it I walk out the back door across that very section of driveway.  I don't remember if they did it when there were eggs, but certainly once there were hatchlings and then fledglings, I was like Tippi Hedren out there whenever I had to get to my car.  That section of the driveway between the house and the garage is wide enough for two cars (a narrow driveway widens once you clear the house to provide access to a two-car garage), and my car was on the left side of the garage and the tree hung over the right side of the driveway, so I walked as far left as I could, and still got dive-bombed every single time.  Once so close she/he touched my hair.  And one time, one of them sat on the wall and stared through the window of the back door at me like "Are you sure you don't want to just stay in?"

I limited my arrivals/departures as much as I could, both babies fledged, and the parents built a nest elsewhere the next time.

No birds of any type have made a nest in my yard the last few years, and I kind of miss it, but I always got attached and when I could see a crow attack coming from inside the house and ran out just too late, I burst into tears, so it's best for me that they just chill in my trees and peck around on my ground for food, but raise vulnerable offspring outside of my viewing.

[EtheltoTillie]

Tippi Hedren. Ha ha!  Come to think of it I never see any crow babies either. Just adults making a lot of noise and coming down for a landing. 

[Gramto6]

Here, in MT,  the snow geese are on the fly to their Winter homes. Big V's flying overhead honking as they go. It is quite the sight.  There is a bird refuge about a mile from me and many hang out there so they are going overhead here several times a day.

[fairffaxx]

 Canada geese are SO loud & SO talkative!  But it's funny & I love them.

[Browncoat]

A skein of Canada geese flew over my house this morning.  I like to hear them flying over.

[ECM1231]

About once a month, on a Sunday, I make a sauce with about 16 meatballs to last for 4 Sunday pasta dinners. I've been doing this for 41+ years and probably will for another long while. We haven't had Sunday sauce for a few weeks, as I was all out of sauce and didn't feel like making it in the Summer heat. Last week we went to our favorite Chinese restaurant instead. I could always whip up a quick marinara sauce, but the mister wants meatballs. My meat sauce cooks about 4 hours and right now the kitchen smells so good.

[emma675]

4 minutes ago, ECM1231 said:

About once a month, on a Sunday, I make a sauce with about 16 meatballs to last for 4 Sunday pasta dinners. I've been doing this for 41+ years and probably will for another long while. We haven't had Sunday sauce for a few weeks, as I was all out of sauce and didn't feel like making it in the Summer heat. Last week we went to our favorite Chinese restaurant instead. I could always whip up a quick marinara sauce, but the mister wants meatballs. My meat sauce cooks about 4 hours and right now the kitchen smells so good.

Ooooh, yum! Do you have a recipe to share? 

[ECM1231]

8 minutes ago, emma675 said:

Ooooh, yum! Do you have a recipe to share? 

Not really a recipe per se. My dad taught me how to make meat sauce, and over the years I have simplified because my husband isn't crazy about sausage, and cutting and frying the spare ribs was tiresome. 

Basically it's:

2, 28 oz cans crushed tomatoes 

4, 6 oz cans tomato paste 

Water from each of the cans

Basil, oregano 

Onion and garlic 

Start by sauteing a diced onion and a few garlic cloves in olive oil in bottom of large saucepan. Then add the crushed tomatoes and tomato paste with water and seasonings. If you are not making a meat sauce, just marinara , don't add a lot of water.

While this is simmering over low heat, fry the meatballs. Drain on paper towels and plop into the sauce. Cook about 3 1/2- 4 hours.

A lot of folks bake their meatballs, but we prefer frying.

[annzeepark914]

Geese mate for life. I like that...and the way the male stands guard as his missus searches for whatever they eat (worms?) 

Re: ginger ale? I always buy small cans of Seagram's Diet. They're ready in case of an upset stomach (& it's not OTT sweet). MrP914 is from Michigan & *must* have Vernor's Diet Ginger Ale. At least he can now get it in the metro DC area (he used to stock up while back in MI).

I've made a note to watch a new show on CBS tonight: Matlock, starring Kathy Bates, at 8PM. It's the pilot episode with the next episode not airing until October 17. I love Kathy Bates. Just had a vision of her in that feisty scene in a parking lot in "Fried Green Tomatoes".  Gee...she must be feeling great, taking on a new job at 76.

 

Edited September 22 by annzeepark914

[nokat]

16 minutes ago, annzeepark914 said:

Geese mate for life. I like that...and the way the male stands guard as his missus searches for whatever they eat (worms?) 

Re: ginger ale? I always buy small cans of Seagram's Diet. They're ready in case if an upset stomach (& it's not sweet). MrP914 is from Michigan & *must* have Vernor's Diet Ginger Ale. At least he can now get it in the metro DC area (he used to stock up while back in MI).

I've made a note to watch a new show on CBS tonight: Matlock, starring Kathy Bates, at 8PM. It's the pilot episode with the next episode not airing until October 17. I love Kathy Bates. Just had a vision of her in that feisty scene in a parking lot in "Fried Green Tomatoes".  Gee...she must be feeling great, taking on a new job at 76.

 

Thank you for the reminder. I love Kathy Bates too.

[Bastet]

1 hour ago, annzeepark914 said:

It's the pilot episode with the next episode not airing until October 17. I love Kathy Bates.

It's a sneak peek of the pilot tonight (at 8:00), which will be repeated 10/10 (at 9:00, its regular time slot), and then the second episode will air 10/17 and so on.

(Edited to update: It seems that might have changed recently, and the pilot will re-air on the 17th, not the 10th, and then continue on.  But I think that's just a publication using imprecise language, and the original schedule stands.  Either way, tonight's sneak peek is not the only chance to see it, so if you miss it, it will repeat in October when the series starts for real.)

I wasn't into the original, and generally drift away from the legal dramas I watch (if they don't draw me in, I get too distracted by all the inevitable inaccuracies), but I'm going to give this one a shot because a) Kathy Bates and b) its fundamental premise is that old women are rendered invisible, and she turns that around and uses it as a weapon.  (I'll be watching football tonight, so if Paramount+ has it tomorrow I'll watch then; otherwise, I'll just wait until it starts for real in October [Thursdays, which is also a football night, so I'll still be watching next day on P+]). 

1 hour ago, annzeepark914 said:

Gee...she must be feeling great, taking on a new job at 76.

She says this is her last role.  It wasn't age, but a project gone wrong (she didn't say which one, and she had several in production at once so you can't tell by checking her credits) that was the last straw of injustice for her, and she retired, but then this offer came along.  It was a procedural, which she wasn't looking for, and a reboot of a show she hadn't been moved by, but one with a protagonist she loved -- rendered invisible by age, but brilliant and called to right wrongs.  So she signed on.  The strike delayed it, but now it's finally going.

Edited September 22 by Bastet

[Bastet]

1 hour ago, annzeepark914 said:

Just had a vision of her in that feisty scene in a parking lot in "Fried Green Tomatoes".

"I'm older and I have more insurance."

Towanda!

[fairffaxx]

1 hour ago, annzeepark914 said:

Geese mate for life. I like that..

Yeah -- but tomcats are fun too, & the footloose fancy free male raccoons. 🦝

[shapeshifter]

1 hour ago, annzeepark914 said:

Geese mate for life. I like that...and the way the male stands guard as his missus searches for whatever they eat (worms?) 

Geese are vegetarians. 
I was surprised to learn that goose poop is mostly grass and doesn’t really smell or even stick to your shoes.

[EtheltoTillie]

3 hours ago, ECM1231 said:

Not really a recipe per se. My dad taught me how to make meat sauce, and over the years I have simplified because my husband isn't crazy about sausage, and cutting and frying the spare ribs was tiresome. 

Basically it's:

2, 28 oz cans crushed tomatoes 

4, 6 oz cans tomato paste 

Water from each of the cans

Basil, oregano 

Onion and garlic 

Start by sauteing a diced onion and a few garlic cloves in olive oil in bottom of large saucepan. Then add the crushed tomatoes and tomato paste with water and seasonings. If you are not making a meat sauce, just marinara , don't add a lot of water.

While this is simmering over low heat, fry the meatballs. Drain on paper towels and plop into the sauce. Cook about 3 1/2- 4 hours.

A lot of folks bake their meatballs, but we prefer frying.

This is my technique except we also add hot Italian sausage. 
Because we are crazy about hot Italian sausage. 

Edited September 22 by EtheltoTillie

[EtheltoTillie]

I’ll be watching Matlock. I’ve also had the good fortune of seeing KB on the stage twice. Once in ‘night, Mother, and once in Frankie and Johnny in the Claire De Lune. The latter was in a tiny off-Broadway theater and we were about ten feet away. 
 

36 minutes ago, shapeshifter said:

Geese are vegetarians. 
I was surprised to learn that goose poop is mostly grass and doesn’t really smell or even stick to your shoes.

I don’t trust that stick to your shoes thing. I will try to avoid. 

Edited September 22 by EtheltoTillie

[emma675]

3 hours ago, ECM1231 said:

Not really a recipe per se. My dad taught me how to make meat sauce, and over the years I have simplified because my husband isn't crazy about sausage, and cutting and frying the spare ribs was tiresome. 

Basically it's:

2, 28 oz cans crushed tomatoes 

4, 6 oz cans tomato paste 

Water from each of the cans

Basil, oregano 

Onion and garlic 

Start by sauteing a diced onion and a few garlic cloves in olive oil in bottom of large saucepan. Then add the crushed tomatoes and tomato paste with water and seasonings. If you are not making a meat sauce, just marinara , don't add a lot of water.

While this is simmering over low heat, fry the meatballs. Drain on paper towels and plop into the sauce. Cook about 3 1/2- 4 hours.

A lot of folks bake their meatballs, but we prefer frying.

Thanks, @ECM1231! One question, do you add 2, 28 oz cans and 4, 6 oz cans of water? Or is it 1, 28 oz can and 1, 6 oz can of water?

[SoMuchTV]

7 minutes ago, emma675 said:

Thanks, @ECM1231! One question, do you add 2, 28 oz cans and 4, 6 oz cans of water? Or is it 1, 28 oz can and 1, 6 oz can of water?

Oh wow, I was assuming she just meant the water you use to rinse the cans, but now I’m waiting on the answer as well. 

[shapeshifter]

18 minutes ago, EtheltoTillie said:

I’ll be watching Matlock. I’ve also had the good fortune of seeing KB on the stage twice. Once in ‘night, Mother, and once in Frankie and Johnny in the Claire De Lune. The latter was in a tiny off-Broadway theater and we were about ten feet away. 

That must've been an evening well-spent.

19 minutes ago, EtheltoTillie said:

I don’t trust that stick to your shoes thing. I will try to avoid. 

Definitely avoid. But having stepped in both types, the goose poop is *much* easier to deal with.

 

Those tomato sauce recipes remind me of my mother's. She didn't like to cook, but her neighbor taught her how to make spaghetti sauce when we were babies, and she made it until Dad passed 65 years later. The last few years he had to "help," doing most of it.

Back when I used to cook, I always put onion, garlic, celery, ground beef, bell pepper, and mushrooms into the tomato sauce, and often added carrots and zucchini. A food processor would have made sense. Sometimes it morphed into chili. Sometimes it was pizza sauce and often lasagna sauce.

Now I buy Rao's Homemade All Natural Marinara Sauce (the Sensitive style without onions or garlic) and sometimes add mushrooms or celery. I don't have it very often.