Small Talk: The Quiver

[BkWurm1]

Just now, Mellowyellow said:

Maccas

Huh?

[Mellowyellow]

Just now, BkWurm1 said:

Huh?

Sorry McDonald's! That’s what we call it!

[BkWurm1]

Ha!  You made it sound all exotic and interesting.  

I still like their cheap cheeseburgers as a weird occasional craving but otherwise the only thing I get at MickeyD's is the occasional diet Dr. Pepper (none of the other fast food places around here have anything but Diet Coke and I HATE Diet Coke).  

[statsgirl]

Can I put in a word for poutine here?  French fries, cheese curds and topped with gravy.  You'll probably get a heart attack but you'll die happy.

[lemotomato]

28 minutes ago, calliope1975 said:

Nah, or maybe that's just me. I mean, it can be, and there are lots of healthy eateries out here, but I'm the person who does a 10 pm Del Taco run for some greasy fast food. Juicing is pretty big out here, though. 

It's not just you, lol. As someone from Northern California, land of kale salad and spirulina smoothies, I feel like LA and SoCal might as well be in a different state when it comes to food. I have fantastic meals when I visit, but they're definitely not healthy. 

Edited March 15, 2017 by lemotomato

[BkWurm1]

25 minutes ago, statsgirl said:

Can I put in a word for poutine here?  French fries, cheese curds and topped with gravy.  You'll probably get a heart attack but you'll die happy.

Lol, I thought poutine was some kind of grits.  

[Starfish35]

I tried cheese curds once.  Someone brought some to the office.   I think it must be an acquired taste.  :)  They weren't awful, but just give me some straight up cheddar. Lol.

[BkWurm1]

31 minutes ago, Starfish35 said:

I tried cheese curds once.  Someone brought some to the office.   I think it must be an acquired taste.  :)  They weren't awful, but just give me some straight up cheddar. Lol.

Any cheese curds that can be brought to an office fall in some other category.  A meh category.  

[bijoux]

That was honestly not the This is Us finale I expected.

Spoiler

Frankly, it was a bit heavy on the Jack makes terrible, horrible, no good choices and Rebecca's dreams get flushed down the toilet for me. But I did enjoy the culmination and good on Rebecca for calling him on his "alcoholism".

Way too little kids for the finale episode. Randall, as always, is my favorite.

[BkWurm1]

So Previously.TV had a piece on how much he hates Kevin and the show would be better without him.  Is that a common opinion?

[Starfish35]

2 hours ago, BkWurm1 said:

Any cheese curds that can be brought to an office fall in some other category.  A meh category.  

Hmm.  How do they usually come?  

[bijoux]

4 minutes ago, BkWurm1 said:

So Previously.TV had a piece on how much he hates Kevin and the show would be better without him.  Is that a common opinion?

Kevin from This is Us? It's certainly not my opinion, but I don't really follow the fandom for this show, so I don't have a clue.

[BkWurm1]

12 minutes ago, bijoux said:

Kevin from This is Us? It's certainly not my opinion, but I don't really follow the fandom for this show, so I don't have a clue.

http://previously.tv/this-is-us/its-time-to-boot-kevin-off-this-is-us/  

I don't follow the show but I wish good things for Hartley.  

16 minutes ago, Starfish35 said:

 

2 hours ago, BkWurm1 said:

Any cheese curds that can be brought to an office fall in some other category.  A meh category.  

Hmm.  How do they usually come?  

 

The actual direct from the diary cheese curds are what you would have tried.  I was talking about the battered, deep fried kind, lol.  Still, I've had store bought cheese curds like that and also have had really fresh ones right from the dairy and that makes a big difference in flavor as well.

[Starfish35]

Ah!  Well yes, deep frying would make a difference. Lol. :)

[bijoux]

27 minutes ago, BkWurm1 said:

http://previously.tv/this-is-us/its-time-to-boot-kevin-off-this-is-us/  

I don't follow the show but I wish good things for Hartley.  

I actually think Kevin is a really well written character, with different and sometimes opposing characteristics that make sense all bunched together in the end. 

[MaisyDaisy]

I am from the Sunshine Coast in South East Queensland, Australia.

It's in the subtropics, so no real winter- winter here means you wear a t-shirt instead of a singlet and shut your windows at night.

Because it's sunny, but wet it's very lush and green, it's where pockets of rainforest meet the ocean. We have amazing produce with lots of tropical fruit grown locally.

People are super duper friendly, it's not unusual to get to chatting (everyone here just talks to each other reguardless of if you know them) to someone at the beach/park or in line at the supermarket and get invited to meet up later for a BBQ, at the pub, down the beach ect.

It's something that I really struggled with when lived in America, because it was no way near as friendly as I was used to.

[way2interested]

1 hour ago, MaisyDaisy said:

It's something that I really struggled with when lived in America, because it was no way near as friendly as I was used to.

Which part of America did you live in? Because let me tell you in the South (or at least in New Orleans), everyone talks to everyone.

[Mellowyellow]

9 hours ago, BkWurm1 said:

Ha!  You made it sound all exotic and interesting.  

I still like their cheap cheeseburgers as a weird occasional craving but otherwise the only thing I get at MickeyD's is the occasional diet Dr. Pepper (none of the other fast food places around here have anything but Diet Coke and I HATE Diet Coke).  

I was drinking my airport coke zero today and pondering whether sugar in real coke will kill me or the chemicals in coke zero will kill me.

I opted for the chemicals today but my internal debate rages on about real coke vs coke zero.

[dtissagirl]

I used to drink regular Coke instead of water, basically, but a few years ago I decided to go cold turkey on it, and got rid of the habit. I drink it occasionally now, but generally I just order sparkling water these days.

...But then I started making my own sodas at home because once a hipster, always a hipster. But hey, at least now I know EXACTLY what goes into my lime-hibiscus soft drinks? Heh.

[Morrigan2575]

6 hours ago, BkWurm1 said:

So Previously.TV had a piece on how much he hates Kevin and the show would be better without him.  Is that a common opinion?

Most of the comments on that article disagreed with the statement. Mostly what I've seen is love/praise for Randall and Jack. The other characters (Kate, Kevin and Rebecca) seems to get mixed reactions. Meanwhile Miguel and Toby seem to be mostly hated. Of course nothing is universal but, I don't think everyone wants Kevin gone...I certainly don't.

[Delphi]

I'm bothered that I'm very familiar with deep fried cheese curds yet have no idea what a del taco is.   Is it amazing?

[MaisyDaisy]

1 hour ago, way2interested said:

Which part of America did you live in? Because let me tell you in the South (or at least in New Orleans), everyone talks to everyone.

I was in DC. But I did travel a bit, found the people in Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine friendly but still reserved. People in the Florida Keys were pretty friendly- pretty crazy also ( in a great way).

People might have been friendly in Sth Carolina but even with both of us talking English, our accents made communication difficult.

[catrox14]

I'll play. 

I was born in Miami, grew up in the burbs of Denver, Colorado and moved to San Diego after college where I still live. In Colorado, we have Tex-Mex and in San Diego it's mostly Baja style Mexican food. I grew up with parents who grew up in the South (North Carolina and Florida so I have a weirdly varied vernacular

i say y'all from time to time.

I veer between soda and Coke for soft drinks

I

California and Colorado have similar and yet very different vernaculars

I started using "Dude" back in Colorado and use it more there than I do here in SoCal.

Coloradans  say  highway vs freeway for Californians. in SoCal it's THE 5 OR The 15 for a freeway and in Colorado its either I-70 or I-225 or just 70 with no "THE"

Distance  is measured by time when driving in SoCal. someone says how far is it from the zoo to the sea world  I say  it's about 20 minutes. if  I say it's 7 miles the expectation is that it will take just 10 minutes but that's not the  reality of traffic in SoCal. Drove  my dad a little bonkers when he came to visit me. LOL.

[calliope1975]

1 hour ago, Delphi said:

I'm bothered that I'm very familiar with deep fried cheese curds yet have no idea what a del taco is.   Is it amazing?

Amazing? Objectively speaking - no. LOL. But when you are craving some tacos and french fries at any hour of the day or night - yes. http://www.deltaco.com/  It's a step up from Taco Bell if you are familiar with them. 

[Chaser]

34 minutes ago, catrox14 said:

I'll play. 

I was born in Miami, grew up in the burbs of Denver, Colorado and moved to San Diego after college where I still live. In Colorado, we have Tex-Mex and in San Diego it's mostly Baja style Mexican food. I grew up with parents who grew up in the South (North Carolina and Florida so I have a weirdly varied vernacular

i say y'all from time to time.

I veer between soda and Coke for soft drinks

I

California and Colorado have similar and yet very different vernaculars

I started using "Dude" back in Colorado and use it more there than I do here in SoCal.

Coloradans  say  highway vs freeway for Californians. in SoCal it's THE 5 OR The 15 for a freeway and in Colorado its either I-70 or I-225 or just 70 with no "THE"

Distance  is measured by time when driving in SoCal. someone says how far is it from the zoo to the sea world  I say  it's about 20 minutes. if  I say it's 7 miles the expectation is that it will take just 10 minutes but that's not the  reality of traffic in SoCal. Drove  my dad a little bonkers when he came to visit me. LOL.

I'm the reverse - California to Colorado. 

Whats your take on the drivers? People here insist all the bad drivers are from California and Texas and I'm like it's the natives. Id rather drive in California any day of the week.

[statsgirl]

We finally hit winter here (high of -3C (27F)) but still not enough snow to toboggan.  pouts

Newfoundlanders are generally considered to be the friendliest Canadians, much like the Aussies it sounds.  If anyone is going to be in New York, go see Come From Away, a musical about how a small town took in 6.700 stranded American passengers on 9/11.  If you go tonight, you can see Justin Trudeau in the audience.

11 hours ago, BkWurm1 said:

Lol, I thought poutine was some kind of grits.  

Really?  I thought you were close enough to the Canadian border that you would have some there.  Some of the smaller fast food chains here have it but the real thing is the best.

[Bort]

I miss Del Taco. They don't have them in Texas.

[catrox14]

1 hour ago, Chaser said:

I'm the reverse - California to Colorado. 

Whats your take on the drivers? People here insist all the bad drivers are from California and Texas and I'm like it's the natives. Id rather drive in California any day of the week.

I think Colorado drivers are worse. Especially the super aggressive drivers in their entirely too big SUVs and trucks. They drive ENTIRELY too fast EVERYWHERE. There is gridlock in and around Denver whereas at least in California traffic moves , if at a snail's pace and there are alternate routes. For some reason, they haven't figured out the one car at a time and everyone goes somewhere thing. I kind of blame that on the metered lights that send two cars out on the freeway entrance at a time and make them jockey for position. 

[Mellowyellow]

8 hours ago, dtissagirl said:

...But then I started making my own sodas at home because once a hipster, always a hipster. But hey, at least now I know EXACTLY what goes into my lime-hibiscus soft drinks? Heh.

I love my home brewed hibiscus cinnamon drink. It’s so good for you too! I make bottles of the stuff and drink it instead of water when it's too hot for tea. 

@statsgirl dumb question but do you guys have lots of Newfoundland doggies? They were my dream when I was researching dogs but they are so hard to buy here (not many breeders) so we opted for a Golden.

I'm a terrible driver! I can only drive to 3 places. Preschool, the local sushi restaurant and the local supermarket. I catch the train everywhere and walk! 

[bijoux]

8 minutes ago, Mellowyellow said:

I love my home brewed hibiscus cinnamon drink. It’s so good for you too! I make bottles of the stuff and drink it instead of water when it's too hot for tea. 

I admit, you have me intrigued. Do you have a recipe?

[Mellowyellow]

Just now, bijoux said:

I admit, you have me intrigued. Do you have a recipe?

It's super easy! Just about 3 tablespoons of the dried hibiscus flowers, one stick of cinnamon and 3 litres of water. Bring to boil, take off the heat and let it steep for a few hours until cools (I fish the cinnamon out mid way because I've got a complicated relationship with cinnamon). Strain, bottle and store in fridge. 

My friend who put me onto this also adds sugar or honey to sweeten it while it's cooling but I like it plain. 

I serve it with a wedge of orange floating in it. 

[bijoux]

That doesn't sound too elaborate. Now I just need to see where I can find dry hibiscus flowers.

[dtissagirl]

1 hour ago, Mellowyellow said:

I love my home brewed hibiscus cinnamon drink. It’s so good for you too! I make bottles of the stuff and drink it instead of water when it's too hot for tea. 

Yeah, I drink a ton of hibiscus tea too, either hot or cold. I love it with a spritz of lime, but I'm definitely gonna try it with cinnamon and oranges wedges now. That sounds awesome.

Also, I use a ton of mint leaves in general for cooking [Lebanese here], and I then I use the stalks to brew tea, which is awesome with lemon/lime/ginger/honey. I also use it to make green juice in the morning [mint tea, lime, spinach, green apple or green grapes, stevia, spirulina], because I'm THAT person. :)
 

Edited March 15, 2017 by dtissagirl

[BkWurm1]

10 hours ago, Mellowyellow said:

I was drinking my airport coke zero today and pondering whether sugar in real coke will kill me or the chemicals in coke zero will kill me.

I opted for the chemicals today but my internal debate rages on about real coke vs coke zero.

I've made my peace and accepted death by diet soda.  Mainly because I can't live without the stuff.  So oh well.  And Zero is so much better than Diet Coke. I don't even understand why anyone still drinks Diet Coke.  

7 hours ago, statsgirl said:

.

Really?  I thought you were close enough to the Canadian border that you would have some there.  Some of the smaller fast food chains here have it but the real thing is the best.

I did a quick Google search and I guess there are a number of places around the Twin Cities that do serve it, just not places I've been before.  It's now officially added to my food bucket list.  :D

1 hour ago, Mellowyellow said:

I'm a terrible driver! I can only drive to 3 places. Preschool, the local sushi restaurant and the local supermarket. I catch the train everywhere and walk! 

It's ten minutes just to drive to the nearest gas station from were I live.  (Going 55 MPH) and I'm barely in the "country".   Even an hour doesn't feel that far to drive for me anymore which means nothing in the Twin Cities metropolitan area seems that far away.  (I've been told that the seven counties are like one large sprawling city stretched out for a 40 mile radius).  Walking or taking public transportation everywhere is hard for me to even wrap my mind around.  

[Mellowyellow]

31 minutes ago, BkWurm1 said:

I've made my peace and accepted death by diet soda.  Mainly because I can't live without the stuff.  So oh well.  And Zero is so much better than Diet Coke. I don't even understand why anyone still drinks Diet Coke.  

It's ten minutes just to drive to the nearest gas station from were I live.  (Going 55 MPH) and I'm barely in the "country".   Even an hour doesn't feel that far to drive for me anymore which means nothing in the Twin Cities metropolitan area seems that far away.  (I've been told that the seven counties are like one large sprawling city stretched out for a 40 mile radius).  Walking or taking public transportation everywhere is hard for me to even wrap my mind around.  

I know a few Diet Coke addicts and they like that specific taste! they don't actually like the taste of normal coke. I like zero because it comes close to normal coke.

Ha! Try pushing a pram with a giant nappy bag and a baby! In the rain! oh the things I've had to do all because I'm a crap driver! Our public transport is not too bad though. Everyone rages about it compared to say Hong Kong or Singapore but it's not that bad. 

[BkWurm1]

1 hour ago, Mellowyellow said:

Ha! Try pushing a pram with a giant nappy bag and a baby! In the rain! oh the things I've had to do all because I'm a crap driver! Our public transport is not too bad though. Everyone rages about it compared to say Hong Kong or Singapore but it's not that bad. 

Where are you again?  I'm kind of surprised that any part of Australia has extensive public transportation.  

[kismet]

18 hours ago, bijoux said:

That was honestly not the This is Us finale I expected.

  Hide contents

Frankly, it was a bit heavy on the Jack makes terrible, horrible, no good choices and Rebecca's dreams get flushed down the toilet for me. But I did enjoy the culmination and good on Rebecca for calling him on his "alcoholism".

Way too little kids for the finale episode. Randall, as always, is my favorite.

Honestly, I was angry with the finale last night...

Spoiler

They had me prepped for Jack's death. I had opened up a nice bottle of wine, made myself a yummy dinner and had chocolate on standby. And then nothing.... I mean I guess we saw a major fracture in J/R relationship. But for all of the build up both in show and in recent interviews, I had fully expected to witness Jack's death. I did not want to see it, but I know it has to come.... so I was prepared. It was a little anti-climatic.

I mean, I guess I should be happy he didn't die yet... but I know it's coming, so I still get no peace in the scenario. I truly believe that they have changed Jack's trajectory because of the success of the show. I hope it doesn't make me frustrated with the show. It was on such an emotional roll for so many episodes, but it has had a few bum ones in there and sadly the finale was one of those. I love Jack & Rebecca's relationship but I don't think it needed to be the only thing in the season finale.

Agree, it was way too little of the children. I do really love their future plans though. I think they all make sense. It's almost like their journeys are coming full circle.

Spoiler

Randall is adopting, that's self-explanatory. I do feel like a lot of Kate's weight issues have been shown to be connected to how she saw herself in relation to her mother. So her following in her mother's footsteps seems logical. Kevin's is simultaneously illogical and yet makes perfect sense. He went to NYC to get respect and attention for his acting, while also recentering his emotional self, for him to get the girl and then leave her for a big audition, is the perfect ending of his journey. That being said, I could have used a little more scenes than just a 2 min recap at the end of the show.

Now if only season 2 was now.

[kismet]

17 hours ago, bijoux said:

I actually think Kevin is a really well written character, with different and sometimes opposing characteristics that make sense all bunched together in the end. 

Kevin is my favorite character on the show. Randall is a close second (but I think that is more because of Sterling than the writing, he just brings such charm to that character). I think the best written character is actually Beth. Although they do such a good job at fleshing out all the characters, nobody really seems like a poorly written character.

IMO, the only character that is a little weak of the Pearson Crew is Kate. It could just be that the others are stronger, so it's not that her character is weak - its just the competition is too fierce. I will admit though that Kevin's arc took a big hit for me when they introduced his first wife. But I do think that it somehow does make sense that they would have linked his heart with his professional career. It became a little more clear to me when they had Ron Howard's bit. I guess I just didn't appreciate the whole I came to NYC for you.

[Mellowyellow]

2 hours ago, BkWurm1 said:

Where are you again?  I'm kind of surprised that any part of Australia has extensive public transportation.  

I'm in Sydney.

It's a slow method to get around but it's not bad because Sydney traffic is brutal. 

You can catch a train almost anywhere. The few suburbs that don't have trains will have buses. Can't say for any of the other states, although Melbourne has a fabulous tram network.

@MaisyDaisy one of the things we noticed when driving in the Sunshine coast was people weren't psychos on the road like in Sydney. No one beeped and carried on or tried to overtake etc. The driving was very chilled!

[MaisyDaisy]

36 minutes ago, Mellowyellow said:

I'm in Sydney.

It's a slow method to get around but it's not bad because Sydney traffic is brutal. 

You can catch a train almost anywhere. The few suburbs that don't have trains will have buses. Can't say for any of the other states, although Melbourne has a fabulous tram network.

@MaisyDaisy one of the things we noticed when driving in the Sunshine coast was people weren't psychos on the road like in Sydney. No one beeped and carried on or tried to overtake etc. The driving was very chilled!

I know! People here don't even tail gate . There is a road here that t intersects with a main road in and out of my town, and during school drop off and pick up it's a bit of a mess, there are no lights or round abouts, but traffic on the main road stops to let multiple cars in from the smaller roads so they don't get stuck- they have no right of way, but people just see them waiting and tragic stops to let them join the main road. 

Public transport here is a bit crap, just buses that run on relaxed time, and are super expensive.

I think Sydney public transport is pretty good. I grew up in the Blue Mountains area then lived in Newtown then in the Double Bay Area and the trains and buses were always frequent and linked well. Didn't have a child then though. Sydney would be less fun with a pram.

[Bort]

I'm jealous of good public transportation. Houston's is crap. There isn't even a bus system that services my neighborhood. Literally no buses. I would kill for a train that could take me into downtown for a ballgame instead of fighting through freeway traffic.

[kismet]

Sometimes public transit, isn't any better than traffic. At least in traffic, you're stuck in a car with people you hopefully like - not jammed under a random person's smelly armpit, while you indirectly bump and grind with strangers and bags.

And ball games are even worse, because you always have that one person who never rode a train before, so for the entire ride they are giving commentary or asking if this is their stop. Hint - when everybody on the jam packed train in ballpark gear gets off is your stop. Follow them to your destination.

I truly think there is just no good way to experience gridlock.

[Mellowyellow]

Do you guys have Lindt chocolate? Is it popular over there?

[BkWurm1]

3 minutes ago, Mellowyellow said:

Do you guys have Lindt chocolate? Is it popular over there?

Thankfully yes.  I've been spoiled for nearly any other chocolate because of it.  So creamy.  Not sure how popular it is but I see it at many stores, but not at "gas station convenience store" levels like so many of the candy bars and chocolates.  

Edited March 17, 2017 by BkWurm1

[Mellowyellow]

34 minutes ago, BkWurm1 said:

Thankfully yes.  I've been spoiled for nearly any other chocolate because of it.  So creamy.  Not sure how popular it is but I see it at many stores, but not at "gas station convenience store" levels like so many of the candy bars and chocolates.  

So I'm guessing you don't have an entire store devoted to Lindt?

We have Lindt Cafes here with everything in the Lindt range and Lindt hot chocolate and drinks!

Haha I posted the question after I finished selecting chocolates for my mixed bag!

[Sakura12]

We have Lindt chocolate shops in Chicago. The hot chocolate is amazing.

[dtissagirl]

We have Lindt shops in Rio too. One of them is very near me, it's A PROBLEM not to go in every time I pass by it, hee. I don't even have a sweet tooth, but their chocolate is the best.

[bijoux]

So, I happened upon And Then There Were None on HBO Go and considering there was talk about it here recently, I gave it a go. I remember having read the novel about 20 years ago, but had no recollection whatsoever of the plot. The series was really well done, but I'm wondering if I saw the shortened version, because I felt some crimes weren't as explained as the others. Namely, 

Spoiler

the doctor's, Ms Brent and Lombard. I have my own ideas about the doctor - patient died when he operated drunk - and Ms Brent - actually killed the girl and left her on the tracks - but it's really my own headcannons, not something that was shown. As for Lombard, there was just a shot of him with two other guys in Africa, not actually killing anyone, rather his confession that he did it for diamonds.

This version had two hour-and-a-half long episodes.

[statsgirl]

When my daughter was little she hated having her hair washed so we would bribe her by giving her a Lindt chocolate ball after she was done, put in the little gold bag. So yummy and I also like them because they're more socially responsible than Ferro Roche.

I'm looking forward to our local Easter parade because Lindt hands out small gold bunnies and we're at the start of the parade route so there's always some for us. 

On 2017-03-15 at 5:33 PM, Mellowyellow said:

 

@statsgirl dumb question but do you guys have lots of Newfoundland doggies? They were my dream when I was researching dogs but they are so hard to buy here (not many breeders) so we opted for a Golden.

Goldens are very popular dogs here because they're so friendly.  I heard someone describe them as the blonde cheerleaders of the dog world.

We don't have many Newfoundlands here in central Canada, I can think of only a handful I've seen.  Come to think of it, there are more pulis (the dogs with dreadlocks, they're what I grew up with) than Newfs around.  My sister-in-law used to have Rottweilers but when she and my brother started to have kids they got a couple of Newfoundlands instead because she was afraid other parents wouldn't let their kids come over if their dogs were Rottweilers.  Their dogs were very sweet and so friendly they would lick an intruder instead of protecting.  They were also very gentle with the babies.  The only downsides were the drooling (they drool A LOT) and that you have to spend time brushing out their coats.

They live near a lake and she would have to be careful walking the dogs at winter because they loved to jump in and go for a swim and it would often be very hard to get them back on land between the sheets of ice.  (This was before climate change got so bad here.)  

[Starfish35]

13 hours ago, Mellowyellow said:

Do you guys have Lindt chocolate? Is it popular over there?

I've never seen whole stores, but their milk chocolate truffles are my favorite chocolate.

Edited March 17, 2017 by Starfish35