Small Talk: Chili's

[Kalliste]

This sounds excellent and I may have to try it.

This one looks decent: link

I haven't tried with feta before, might be awesome

[Kalliste]

Oh it's Roquette lettuce.. let me see if it's called something different over there :P Arugula?

[possibilities]

Yes, rocket = arugula. Spicy goodness!

[Kalliste]

Just in case you had nothing better to do today

[sacrebleu]

 

"All the way" means something different in my neck of the woods, and is not food related.

 

You can love your food, just don't love your food. 

 

 

I also like chocolate covered cherries, but like you, I prefer the ones without the fondant inside. The ones I get are called Cella. They do come in dark chocolate.

 

Cella chocolate covered cherries remind me of my dad. He used to buy a box for Washington's birthday- now President's day- (you know, because of George Washington and cherries). He and I were the only ones who would eat them. 

[King of Birds]

I wrote about a 1000-word rant about the crap I've gone through with my iPhone the last 2 weeks but even I found it tedious to read, so I deleted it and saved you the trouble.

 

20 days til Christmas. I haven't bought a single present or had time to even think about it. I'm just gonna start to paint my face grinch green for this year.

[frenchtoast]

You can rant to Mr. Toast. He haaaates his iPhone 6. He didn't choose it, it was issued to him by his employer and he is counting the days until he get a different phone. But, yeah. He really, really, really hates it. He feels your iPain.

[Glory]

If you work 13 hours one day, and then the next day your boss says "great job, take off early today." Would you leave early?

Because I left 3 hours early today and then had my boss call me in a panic wanting to know where I was because I needed to be on this call (that I had zero email about!) right now.

I was at the jewelry store and had to leave in a rush like a rude person. Ugh.

[Kalliste]

I would leave early but I'd say or email my boss "Thanks for the early mark! I'm getting out of here after lunch, see you next week!" and then turn off my phone :P

[possibilities]

Glory, I would have left early, like you said. I've also given my own employees that "you did great, go home early" speech and they have 100% of the time taken me up on it.

 

I bet your boss forgot about the meeting and then decided to freak out and make it look like your fault, or else forgot about the meeting and also forgot having given you the afternoon off. Especially since you had no email about the call, it looks to me like TPTB dropped the ball and are now panicking and passing the buck. If it's an innocent forgetfulness and panic, and you aren't getting blamed, OK-- but they need to acknowledge that it wasn't your fault and that they did give you permission to leave early. If they have a pattern of throwing you under the bus, that's a red flag for Villainy Afoot.

 

Can have have a calm conversation with your boss, where you establish that he dismissed you early and that communication about the call that required your presence was not provided in advance, and see how it plays out? You really are owed an apology, and in my opinion a "replacement afternoon off". It's to the organization's advantage to make sure communication is happening properly, so everyone can be where they need to be in future, so a good boss will acknowledge and try to fix the problem, and not just look for a scapegoat.

Edited December 4, 2015 by possibilities

[King of Birds]

If you work 13 hours one day, and then the next day your boss says "great job, take off early today." Would you leave early?

Hell, as a boss, once I gave my assistant the Friday off because he and a friend were gonna drive to Vegas for the weekend. Mid-morning, my client dropped a HUGE project that would take me the entire weekend to work on alone. I called my asst and said "Hey... have you left yet?" They were loading the car. He bailed on the trip and came in to work. I gave him a huge bonus for that. 

 

Then, the flip side. As I've mentioned, I'm here in LA, with family in New York. Not once, not twice but THREE times I've cleared time to travel eastward and got calls about work projects that "suddenly sprang to life!"  Two of those three times, the calls came in on Christmas eve! (Understand, I told these clients I was out of town, but they still called as if I was in LA and "forgot.") 

 

The third time was when I was on twop and had ideas of randomly driving back to CA (I thought I had 3 weeks off) and hitting Memphis to see Actinolite, and Chicago to see Glory and the Chicago gang. Instead, I had to hop on a plane and fly back on a red-eye. 

 

Hey- lookie here!  It's the first weekend of December! What movie might you see in December?  You can pick FIVE!  Fun, right?

[Kalliste]

I like the descriptions KoB it helps me to think whether I'd like the movies although I haven't heard of most of them (Star Wars excepted obviously - but I wouldn't choose that). Like for example I can't stand Will Ferrell so I know Daddy's Home is not for me :D

 

And also, I get my own option this month! Huzzuh! lol I nearly missed it, I guess a lot of movies come out around christmas, is boxing day release still a thing?

 

ETA: I was interested in seeing what the Point Break remake looked like and well.. it doesn't look very good :P

[MichelleAK]

I chose Star Wars, although that's still a "maybe" for me. It depends on early word of mouth as to whether it's good or not. I've never seen Chapters 1-3; I have seen (and enjoyed) the original three movies.

 

If Hamlet makes it up here, I'll go see that.  The Hateful Eight is a 'wait for Netflix' movie for me.

[Too Late Kev]

I'll definitely see Star Wars. Sisters looks very funny, but I recently saw a bunch of clips of that and I'm wondering how much I haven't seen. Plus, I don't get to the movies that often...so that might wait for Netflix/Amazon Prime/whatever.

 

In "new to me" stuff, I recently got a Fitbit. I know KoB has one -- anyone else? I like it.

[Pixel]

I have one. I love it. I like checking to see my heart rate and how I slept. It doesn't inspire me to exercise as much as it did when it was new, but it still keeps me hopeful.

[Kalliste]

I've thought about getting one but not sure I want to spend that much on one. Maybe with christmas sales but I also want to buy a new Nexus 5X, a Kindle, a new iPad so...

[smrou]

I selected Sisters as the movie I might see, since I'm confident I'll see it eventually, though probably not anytime soon.

 

I hadn't read or seen anything about the movie Concussion until a week or so ago when I heard someone mention it and I was confused for a moment because there's another movie called Concussion that I've watched and it is quite different. 

Edited December 7, 2015 by smrou

[King of Birds]

Star Wars, to an eight year old boy: What character would they like, gift wise? There is too much variety to choose from.

I finally got out gift shopping and poked my head into the Disney store to see some of the SW stuff. I know ToysRUs is probably even more full of stuff.  With an 8 year old, can you really go wrong with whatever you pick? 

 

I have the "old style" fitbit, the small one you fit into your pocket. I never liked to wear things around my wrist when everyone wore watches. Hell, I used to take off my watch and just carry it in my pocket 20 yrs ago.  I primarily got mine because when my doctor asked how much I walked my dog, I had no idea. I do over 10k steps about 4x a week and the other days I'm around 8-9k. Like Pixel, I like the info about sleep too, but ... you have to remember to click the damn button before you crash and I'm not always successful at that.

[Too Late Kev]

I've thought about getting one but not sure I want to spend that much on one. Maybe with christmas sales but I also want to buy a new Nexus 5X, a Kindle, a new iPad so...

My Fitbit (a Fitbit charge) cost $89, I think, on sale. Mr. Kev said that's not an unusual sale price. The sleep thing records automatically with mine. Each day I have to say when I got into bed and when I got out, and then when it syncs it figures out awake, asleep, and restless. I haven't had a watch for a few years (I accidentally break them), so I definitely wanted something for my wrist that could also tell me the time. I used to wear a pedometer clipped on my pants, but that sometimes would fall off. Breaking two pedometers was one of the reasons for the Fitbit.

 

My one problem with the Fitbit so far is it's already telling me I need to charge it, and it's only been 4 days. But then it looks like it's only halfway down in battery life, so Jeez, give me a break. It also says it can take 1 - 2 hours to charge, which I'm not too thrilled about, since the whole point was to wear it all the time. Oh, well, I've already done more than 10K steps today (12.8K at the moment), so I guess I'd rather charge it before bed and have the sleep monitor rather than miss out on it counting my hours of sleep.

[King of Birds]

Tuned in late, but YOWZA!  Victoria's Secret fashion show. Not enough shows where women walk boldly around in 6" heels like a linebacker, while half naked. Or more.

 

(These women are far too thin. Give me Kate Upton, please!  LOL, this plea will work, right?)

[King of Birds]

OH SURE. Don't anybody rush to reply to my VS post!

 

"Yes KoB, we'll give you Kate Upton."

 

Is that so hard?  (twss)

[Kalliste]

Sorry, I was all the way over here not having seen the VS show and I had to google Kate Upton to see who she was :P

[Kalliste]

Just got home from my first Christmas party as a public servant. That is, the first christmas party where you have to pay for everything yourself because everyone would cry if the taxpayers had to pay for us to get 1 day a year for free.. do they not realise I also pay taxes and technically part of my wage ends up paying my salary?

 

Anyway, rant aside. It was actually quite nice and thanks to the generosity of the higher ups I got a lot of free drinks :D

[smrou]

Just got home from my first Christmas party as a public servant. That is, the first christmas party where you have to pay for everything yourself because everyone would cry if the taxpayers had to pay for us to get 1 day a year for free.. do they not realise I also pay taxes and technically part of my wage ends up paying my salary?

Heh. This is one of those things that I forget is different in other professions. We have an annual holiday party for work and we have to pay $25 to go and then we have to pay for our drinks while we're there and that just seems entirely normal to me. Also probably a good thing, because I think it limits the alcohol consumption.

[Kalliste]

Heh. This is one of those things that I forget is different in other professions. We have an annual holiday party for work and we have to pay $25 to go and then we have to pay for our drinks while we're there and that just seems entirely normal to me. Also probably a good thing, because I think it limits the alcohol consumption.

Generally here it's very unusual that you have to pay for the christmas party (in the private sector anyway). Drinks are usually included but might only include beer, wine and champagne. In my last job I would have to pay $20 or so if my bf wanted to come but all employees got to go for free and they also provided free cabs home (that's less standard).

 

Limited alcohol consumption is never really a consideration for us :P In fact, you're usually encouraged (unofficially) to go crazy.

[sacrebleu]

Well, I work for a non-profit that is funded by the govt. So our Christmas party is a lunch  then they give us the rest of the afternoon off. Which is always really handy leading up to Christmas. 

 

So, look at me! wasting your tax dollars (mwah ha ha) but I do usually go shopping with my free afternoon, so, contributing to the economy. (I think it all works out in the end)

[Kalliste]

We had the afternoon off but had to use our 'flex time' for it. They 'paid' for 2 hrs of the party for us.

I'm not sure flex is a term used anywhere else, it's basically time in lieu but it doesn't really need to be approved. So I have to put in what hours I work everyday, I'm paid for 7hrs 21mins.. if i work 7hrs 30mins, I accrue 9mins of flex.. so I could work 10hrs on one day and then 5 on another and it would be fine because we work under 'flexible hours'.

 

So, my options after my 2hrs paid time were up were to go back to work or use flex for the afternoon.. we're not allowed to go back to work if there is any alcohol in our system (we have random drug and alcohol tests, zero tolerance) so my choice was to not go back to work.

 

The place we went charged $9 a drink! So, I was lucky that the bosses bought the majority of what I drank :P

[King of Birds]

Hearing Kalliste talk about flex time... anyone watch "Adam Ruins Everything"?  He had a whole ep about how F'd up the 40 hour week is, etc. Plus episodes on voting, fingerprints, tipping, security /TSA, salmon, video games. Pretty good show (but don't binge, you'll get annoyed with the guy, he's like Larry David that way.)

 

We're in the final week of regular season Hateball, before the playoffs start. I'm woefully out of it in one league, and hanging in there in the other. It does not look good for me being able to order a championship mug for myself, like last year.  Booo.

 

I have to admit in being even more un-festive this year than usual. Last year I at least got a tree, decorated a bit. This year is tough with some sickness and cancer and other issues in the family. Just not fun. Hope you are all enjoying the season if you can.

[possibilities]

I watch "Adam Ruins Everything"! I like the show and really enjoy seeing him delve into the stuff he's "ruining." After the one on "forensic science" I wrote to him afterwards, because he was saying DNA evidence is the answer, but I had just read an article describing problems with a lot of the DNA evidence used in police work. It made me wonder how many other things are going on that are not as they appear. I like the show, though. I think it's interesting that shows like this one, and Drunk History, are kind of feeding people info they might not otherwise be interested in, using humor as the way to wash it down easier. I love "Going Deep with David Rees" also, but I don't get the channel it airs on anymore. I think "Adam" is kind of like "Mythbusters," but for social issues rather than scientific ones. Though I do wish he'd cite his sources more. Not sure how he could work that into the show, but I do want to know where he gets his info sometimes.

[Kalliste]

Feeling pretty average today, can't seem to get out of the low feeling. It doesn't help that I have an interview on Wednesday to try and win the permanent role of what I'm in now and they advised me it'd be Wednesday, I said I had a full day course on Wednesday and wasn't available. They asked if I could do it on the lunch break, I said I would find out when it was.. they sent me an email without confirming with me saying it was at 12:30 and if I couldn't make it to withdraw my application. This is from people in the team that I'm currently in.

 

It would be ok and I'd have enough time to prepare (apparently I can take notes in with me and review them to see if I have a relevant answer/example to their questions.. the public service is a weird creature) but I'm off doing role playing from 7am to 5pm tomorrow (Monday) which hopefully will be interesting. They have made us fake passports and things so that's pretty cool. I just can't imagine by the time I get home I'll be really interested in 'studying' for my interview.

 

And KoB I have barely bought any gifts (and I really only have 2 people I need to buy for) or anything. I wish I could just stay home on Christmas day and do whatever I want to do which wouldn't involve christmas trees.

 

Also sorry to hear about the sickness and cancer and other that is going on for you right now :(

[Pixel]

Sorry about everyone's not so happy holiday season.  I don't have any reason to be unhappy, but I'm so busy with work that I don't really have time to enjoy it at all.  This is probably going to be the least anticipated Christmas ever for me, and I'm an atheist!

 

I love "Adam Ruins Everything".  I particularly liked the one about work, but I got bummed when I realized it doesn't matter how many studies show that people are more productive working fewer hours, America isn't going to change.  

[Glory]

Sorry to hear that, KoB.

I'm enjoying my holiday. Though, I feel as if I'm bleeding money. Our faucet and dishwasher broke and our son flooded. It's pretty much fixed now but between that and vacation and the holidays I'm pretty broke.

One more full work week until my lab closes down for two weeks. I can't wait.

[MichelleAK]

Our faucet and dishwasher broke and our son flooded. 

 

That makes for an interesting mental picture!  I'm trying to figure out what autocorrect changed. 

 

 

I'm sorry to hear about your family's problems, KOB.  I hope things look up in the new year.

[Glory]

Ha! Sink! The cabinet underneath totally flooded.

I just saw the new Independence Day trailer. Jeff Goldblum is looking fine and grizzled Bill Pullman is definitely doing things for me. I'm picking up what you're putting down, ID4. Oh, yes.

[Too Late Kev]

Sorry for the various woes and down-feeling.

 

I have some gifts bought for my kids, and both my parents' gifts taken care of. That's better than many years.

[Kalliste]

The roleplay was less cool than expected but it was interesting to see how the whole process played out. My character was working in a chinese restaurant where the manager was hiring people without correct visas. I was one of the few 'legals'. 

 

You all might have a chuckle about the fact that at the morning briefing we were warned about snakes and goannas in the area. Do not go near the goannas. :P

[smrou]

I just saw the new Independence Day trailer.

What?! I didn't even know this was a thing! How on Earth did I miss that?

[sacrebleu]

I sympathize with folks who can't get into the season. That was totally me last year- for family crisis reasons. I really feel like my family has kind of been at DEFCON 3 or greater for better part of the past two years. I'm hoping its over- and this will be a happy, mellow Christmas.

 

I put off the dog search until after the holidays (adding a new member of the family seemed a little bit much right now) but 2016- sacrebleu gets a dog! The problem is, I keep checking in to rescue sites and falling in love with dogs that won't be there in a month. I've gotta stop doing that.

Edited December 14, 2015 by sacrebleu

[Kalliste]

I sympathize with folks who can't get into the season. That was totally me last year- for family crisis reasons. I really feel like my family has kind of been at DEFCON 3 or greater for better part of the past two years. I'm hoping its over- and this will be a happy, mellow Christmas.

 

I put off the dog search until after the holidays (adding a new member of the family seemed a little bit much right now) but 2016- sacrebleu gets a dog! The problem is, I keep checking in to rescue sites and falling in love with dogs that won't be there in a month. I've gotta stop doing that.

I'm not sure of where abouts you live or what the Vet Ranch policy is on adopting out their dogs but.. you might find a lovely dog that they've taken in and saved from euthanasia. Their facebook is: https://www.facebook.com/VetRanch

 

Hope I didn't just make the search harder :P

[Glory]

YES! DOGS! GET ALL THE DOGS!

 

I search petfinder constantly and we're not getting a third dog anytime soon. Even if I do want a puppy! LOL

 

You'll find the perfect dog for you! And hey - I know it's not quite 2016 yet, but if you have time off over the holidays it can be nice to adopt your doggie when you have some extra time to spend with them. 

[possibilities]

DOGS! I love them. I can't have one right now but I love them.

 

I am always pretty much annoyed by The Holiday Season. It just feels like being nagged all the time. I can be cheerful all on my own when I feel it, but this time of year it's like being chased around by loud bells and people shouting at you to BE MERRY OR ELSE and it wears me out.

[sacrebleu]

 

if you have time off over the holidays it can be nice to adopt your doggie when you have some extra time to spend with them.

Well, my leave time is limited because I just started this job in October. But as of 2016, I'll have more flexibility with PTO - so I'm hoping to take a week off to bond with the pup.

Oh, when will some animal rights organization  lobby for pet inclusion into FMLA?

Edited December 15, 2015 by sacrebleu

[King of Birds]

My house heating unit isn't working... and tonight is one of the cooler nights here in SoCal! I have a small space heater for me and the pup here, and will move it into my room on a timer for tonight. It started acting up last night, so the AC/heating guy is scheduled to be here tomorrow.

 

sacrebleu, no matter when you decide to go looking for a dog, I hope you find a lovable mutt.  I like having my dog around.

[Kalliste]

I have been watching Orange is the New Black - did we talk about that a while back.. was that the boobs discussion?

 

Anyway, I was immensely jealous of Big Boo having a dog in prison.. which probably means I really want a dog :P

[Babalu]

Whoa - that's cold, KoB! Hope your heater is fixed soon.

I would love a dog, too, and always considered myself a dog person. When I got together with my husband, though, he had a cat, and my previous indifference to cats has turned to love. I still want a dog, but one of our present cats is a (slowly improving) monster, and I'm afraid she'd make its life miserable; the other is timid as can be, and if we got another creature, we'd probably never see him again because he'd be under the bed permanently.

[King of Birds]

Babalu, it got all the way down to 43 overnight. Now, the part of me that grew up in almost- Upstate NY feels like "eh" about 43. No biggie, right New Englanders? Hell, that's balmy in January. But this house is built more for dealing with 100* summer days in June-July-August.  I had 4 layers of blankets on the bed last night. The worse was when the dog burst in my room, announcing her presence at 7am (it's uncanny how accurately she comes in almost on the dot of 7) I did NOT want to get out of bed.

 

To quote Kenny Loggins- the heat is on! Guy came by and did a short term fix, coming back with a new part on Saturday.

[possibilities]

Speaking as a rugged New Englander, 43degF is very cold when you're not outside with a warm coat, moving around. It's dangerous, actually. You are not being silly to find it uncomfortable and unsleepable.

 

If the temporary fix to your heat lapses, see if you can get a serious sleeping bag and some of these: http://www.heatmax.info/ to put inside your mittens, hat, socks, and clothing. They're used by campers -- it's like having a heating pad. Totally amazing. Saved me from a repeat of hypothermia when we had an extended winter outage here. They sell them at camping supply places, but also at Amazon.com and possibly other places I haven't looked.

 

They come in different sizes. I knew someone who did outdoor activities in winter and would put the small ones in her gloves and socks. I've used the larger ones between layers of shirts (not right against my skin, but between a turtleneck and a sweater, for instance) and stuck them in my hat.

 

Toasty! No batteries needed, either.

[Babalu]

Yes, perception of cold very much depends on your circumstances. I lived in Minnesota for many years, and when it got into the 30s (about 2 degrees for you, Kalliste, though you're probably far more bi-metric than we insular Americans are), we thought it was a gorgeous day. Now that I live in Hawai'i, I've been known to stand in my back yard, say that I'm freezing, then look at the thermometer and see it's 74. But when I visit friends and family in Ohio or New York in the spring, the 50s and 60s are refreshing and pleasant.

Anywhere, though, the 40s inside without heat is distressing, so I'm glad you have your back, KoB.

[Kalliste]

You guys may or may not find this interesting. It's a pretty decent photo of my city from Black Mountain tower - link

[MichelleAK]

You guys may or may not find this interesting. It's a pretty decent photo of my city from Black Mountain tower - link

 

That's a very cool picture, Kalliste!  How many people live there?