Small Talk: Chili's

[King of Birds]

As this thread is primarily a bunch of women, hope you all were kick-ass in your own way for the various Women Marches throughout the USA and world.

[possibilities]

I'm the sort who would march, but didn't. But they were welcoming men to participate, too, fwiw.

I wish I had known about this earlier-- I think it's a cool idea for those of us with willing spirit but weak flesh (or other barriers): http://mashable.com/2017/01/18/disability-march-womens-march-on-washington/#j8C3rdMkdmqx

I've been occupying myself learning about Hashimotos thyroiditis (apparently a lot more people have it than I realized) and trying to finish knitting a blanket I started years ago and keep getting distracted from.

Also, there's a cricket living in my apartment. I know some people would find it annoying, but I like it. She has been moving from room to room, so sometimes I hear her close and sometimes far, but she's loud enough to be heard in every room, wherever she or I happen to be at any moment. It's my "all the best of the outdoors without the hassle" music... like if it was summer and I had the windows open, or was outside and it wasn't freezing cold.

[LiberryLady]

I wanted to go to a local march, but had an all-day, prepaid class I had to take. I did wear my kitty ears to class, and this happened at break:

Allison: "So, why the kitty ears?"

Me: "I'm wearing them because I wanted to go to the Women's March today."

Allison: "But why cat ears?"

*Room goes quiet.*

Me: "It's in reference to what Trump said. The women are wearing them at the march."

Allison: "What did he say?"

...

...

...

Me: "They're wearing pussy hats."

GODDAMN TRUMP MADE ME SAY "PUSSY" IN A ROOM FULL OF ELEMENTARY SCHOOL TEACHERS.

But then my tablemates began detailing the awfulness of Trump, and I heard someone across the room livestreaming Madonna at the march, so it was okay.

[smrou]

I would have loved to march, but am in a fairly enormous work crunch right now (term ends next week and I'm going to be out of town all weekend, so all my grading has to be finished this week, PLUS I'm taking a class which finishes up this week, so I had a final project and presentation to do) so I couldn't afford to spend most of the day out. My mother went to the march in Boston as well as one of my sisters as well as...well, basically lots of friends and coworkers. And a handful of my friends also went to the one in DC. Looking at pictures and videos yesterday and this morning felt good for my soul. While recognizing it's just a beginning and that LOTS of action needs to follow, I find it inspiring. 

[King of Birds]

10 hours ago, LiberryLady said:

GODDAMN TRUMP MADE ME SAY "PUSSY" IN A ROOM FULL OF ELEMENTARY SCHOOL TEACHERS.

But then my tablemates began detailing the awfulness of Trump, and I heard someone across the room livestreaming Madonna at the march, so it was okay.

I'm very sorry this happened... but it's pretty funny! And, as @possibilities noted, I know it was open to me to march as well, but the downtown LA march was very well attended without me. I take my dog to one of the handful of nearby parks on Saturday mornings, and yesterday went to NoHo and even though the parks looked empty, the streets were FULL and I drove around a bit and saw all the pink "pussy hats" and realized it was quite full because all the people were trying to park and take the subway downtown. (NoHo is the end of the line... until they build more line) But, I still found a parking spot and walked the pup... I only felt a little bad that I took a spot from one of the marchers, but I was only there 45 minutes. It was quickly snapped up as I left.

[Glory]

I didn't march. And I felt awful about it. So many of my friends were there... but big crowds sometimes freak me out and I just couldn't. I was there in spirit.  I unfriended a lot of people after Saturday. People I probably should have unfriended in November but... oh well. 

Instead, I spent some time with a few girlfriends and we talked politics and the state of our union over tacos and margaritas. It was a nice Saturday. 

[frenchtoast]

I was going to go to the Boston one and then I remembered that I'm akin to @Glory and that amount of crowds with my kids and arranging for pet care would be probably freak me out. So we didn't go. We did go to see Hidden Figures on Sunday--excellent movie, loved it!

I'm pretty lucky that my facebook bubble is filled with likeminded people so I'm not in the unenviable position of unfriending. In fact, through some of those friends, I've read some really interesting stuff.

[sacrebleu]

So, I marched. Totally get why people were there in spirit-- but wary of crowds. What impressed me the most about the whole thing is how chill everyone was. Very few counter-protests (unlike on Inauguration Day). 

I hadn't planned on going-- but I went to a party on Friday, in honor of some friends I haven't seen in years that came into town for the march, and I felt a little guilty about not going-- so I caved, but I'm glad I went. 

[sacrebleu]

this one's just for @King of Birds What's cooler than a jet pack?

A firefighter using a jet pack to put out a car fire.

[King of Birds]

Yes... cool, but much cooler if it wasn't such a contrived scenario.  But as always, thank you for your jet pack news!

[Babalu]

I marched! It was a little scary for me because I'm new here, so went alone, but I talked to a lot of nice people. Since it's only little Sarasota, there were probably only 10,000-20,000 people, but that still seemed like a lot. And there was an earlier March in Sarasota + 3 more within 2 hours + 14 more than that in the state of FL. Stephen King spoke at mine, but I didn't know that until I got home and read it on-line since I could neither hear nor see the speakers.

[King of Birds]

Man I'd be bummed if Stephen King spoke and couldn't hear him.  (He's a fun speaker)

[possibilities]

I was just coming over here to post about the firefighting jetpack story. The Daily Show did a bit about it, which is how I knew it existed.

Stephen King in Florida! I thought he lived up here in the frozen north.

[Babalu]

I didn't realize he lived here, either, @possibilities. I thought he was still in Maine. Maybe he's a snowbird. When I looked it up, I found he'd bought a very expensive house on Casey Key, which is sort of between Sarasota and Venice, where I live.

[King of Birds]

If you were a millionaire writer and could "winter" in Florida ... yeah, you would too.  I think it's close to Sarasota/ Fort Myers (so he can get down to Red Sox spring training!)  I think he still "summers" up in Maine/ Boston, because they show him at a bunch of Red Sox home games during the season.

ETA - I am unsure when he started "snowbirding" to use Babalu's term, but King wrote a novel Duma Key that takes place in Florida, and there were some short stories in the Bazaar of Bad Dreams collection also FL-related.  Yes, I've read a lot of King.

Edited January 25, 2017 by King of Birds

[possibilities]

I didn't mean to say he couldn't, wouldn't, or shouldn't, just that I didn't know he did!

[Kalliste]

I've read a lot of old King. The Green Mile was the first book(s) I bought myself. I couldn't wait for the next one to come out and it was nice they were so cheap given I was 12 when they were released. I was a strange child :P my friends were reading Goosebumps and I was reading Stephen King.. Pet Sematary gave me nightmares for weeks.

I could never read The Stand, too long! Maybe that's why I liked The Green Mile and Skeleton Crew :P

[Kalliste]

This came up in my youtube subs this morning, strange timing given our conversation recently :)
 

[Pixel]

Thanks to all you ladies who marched. I just couldn't face the crowds in Chicago, but if you all remember Jennifuh she marched. So did my mother-in-law, in Maui! These have been harrowing days, but I believe in the ability of the true American spirit of compassion and positivity to eventually prevail. 

I love Stephen King. I stopped reading his new stuff a few years ago, but The Stand is one of my favorites, and I've read it multiple times. 

[sacrebleu]

Ever have one of those days...

I forgot my keys when taking my dog out for a walk this morning. We wrap up an hour long walk and I realize I didn't put them in my pocket. I call my sister, who lives nearby and she hadn't left for work yet. I don't have a car, her husband had already left for work-- so, the dog and I walk to her place (about a mile).

As my sister walks out of her apartment to hand me my spare key, her door closes behind her, locking her out. (seriously, if this happened on a sitcom I would roll my eyes at the contrivey-ness of it)

Now, my sister has to call her super to get her spare key and I stay with her because I feel responsible. It all gets sorted out and I head home, with my dog. (again, another mile home)

I end up being two hours late for work (I emailed my boss-- she, thankfully, was okay about it). As of 10 this morning, I've already put 5 miles on my pedometer. 

I'm exhausted... 

ahem... @King of Birds (now, to be fair, the step counter on my phone always exaggerates my distance when the phone in my purse. I think the phone moves around. I haven't walked 9.5 miles today, but I did have 5 miles on my phone this morning.  

no alternative facts were used in the creation of this post

Edited January 31, 2017 by sacrebleu

[King of Birds]

49 minutes ago, sacrebleu said:

As my sister walks out of her apartment to hand me my spare key, her door closes behind her, locking her out.

As of 10 this morning, I've already put 5 miles on my pedometer. 

None of this is believable. You need to rewrite this, the door closing behind her being MORE believable than the 5 miles on your fitbit...

I tell you this as I would like to tell all America about Fuckin'45: Try, try again.

Quote

So did my mother-in-law, in Maui!

MAUI had a women's march??!?!  Wow that's one I didn't hear about.

Edited January 31, 2017 by King of Birds

[King of Birds]

3 hours ago, sacrebleu said:

no alternative facts were used in the creation of this post

LOLsiees. As for the phone counter in your purse, I like the story my friend Sara told me : She met up with college friends at some mixer and then some band played and her classmates- all late 40s/ early 50s- hit the dance floor with their fitbits on their wrist. They weren't moving their legs too much, but- shaking the groove thang means lots of arm motion, and she got home with THOUSANDS more "steps" than before. Yet, it is sad that 9.5 miles ONLY equals 788 calories. You can't even burn off your portion of a Chili's Blooming Onion, yet alone baby back ribs... after almost TEN MILES of slogging? God is cruel.

[King of Birds]

Just wanted to let @Kalliste know that, your record-setting January is all a scam and also a hoax by the Chinese. Okay? So don't tell us all about your "hot nights" in Oz. We're onto you. Look north to your Asian neighbors, it's cold and wintery here so it's not global warming.

[Kalliste]

Well at least all the complaining I didn't wasn't wrong :P The whole month I was like "aaaahhh, why so hot? It's not usually like this, aaahhhhhhh" and everyone was like "psh, it's Summer.. Summer gets hot. duh" According to a local article it's the hottest January we have on record, I'm not sure when our records began though we didn't exist as a city until about 100 years ago so not as old as the Sydney stats go I assume.

[Glory]

So, I had a lovely day in the city of Chicago yesterday. Had lunch with my girlfriend at the Berghoff, then we saw Hamilton. Wonderful.

Then I got home and Lexi promptly got skunked. So... that was awful. She got it right in the face/chest so while she mostly smells okay, her head still reeks. Ugh. 

[King of Birds]

Wait hold on there @Glory.  "Promptly got skunked"? You're not telling the fun part of the story. Skunked on a walk? or do you have skunks in the backyard?  How did the dog get hit and not you or Guts? Did you keep Lexi outside, as they suggest, and wash her down? NO tomato juice!

[Glory]

21 minutes ago, King of Birds said:

Wait hold on there @Glory.  "Promptly got skunked"? You're not telling the fun part of the story. Skunked on a walk? or do you have skunks in the backyard?  How did the dog get hit and not you or Guts? Did you keep Lexi outside, as they suggest, and wash her down? NO tomato juice!

I got home from the show, changed, was about to pull my delicious, delicious Thai food out of the bag and let the dogs into the backyard for a bit. I always watch them while they're outside, but it was 20 degrees so I didn't feel like standing out there with them. My phone rang and I looked away to grab it and as I was answering a call from my sister I turned back to the yard. 

CHAOS! Lexi was chasing the skunk which ran under the gate that connects my yard to my neighbors yard (and the electric company easement, which I"m pretty sure where this stupid skunk lives!) and escaped. HOWEVER, it skunked her as it escaped. Rigby, thankfully, was more interested in the bag of treats I was shaking furiously and I was able to get him in the house before he got hit. 

Luckily, I was on the phone with my sister who has three dogs and a skunk bug-out kit. I screamed gibberish into the phone and she grabbed the kit and was at my house in 5 minutes flat. 

I put Lexi in the garage (because 20 degrees) and waited for my sister's instruction. No tomato juice. But we did hose her off with beer first (to help remove the skunk oil) and then made a mix of vinegar, blue dawn, and baking soda to coat her in. 

Guts was at class and so I texted him to get to the pet store before it closed and pick up nature's miracle skunk remover. She got another bath when he got home and then slept in the crate last night. Lexi has a ginormous head, though, and big googly eyes so her head still smells like skunk. I'm going to try again when I get home to get the smell off her face. 

The dog walker called today to tell me my house reeked of skunk and so I bought some Biocide bombs to put off in the house tomorrow night. We'll sleep at my parents house. 

Phew. 

I did learn that I am absolutely useless in an emergency. Seriously. If it wasn't for my sister I'd still be screaming in the backyard. 

[MichelleAK]

Yikes, Glory!  What a mess. You did better than I would have; I probably would have noped right out of even touching the dog. That's one thing we don't have to worry about in Alaska, since we don't have skunks (too cold, for most of the state). However, there are plenty of other wildlife hazards for pets here.

On the good news front, I'm going to see Queen + Adam Lambert in Seattle in July!  Two great things wrapped into one; a weekend trip to Seattle in the summer, and finally getting a chance to see QAL on tour.  I sprang for the "silver-level" VIP package, which comes with a bunch of perks. (The top, on-stage, level was way too expensive, and the gold wasn't worth the additional $200.) Fortunately, airfare to Seattle from Alaska is cheap in the summer due to the many carriers. Rental cars are pricy, but I did manage to lock down a $27/day rate (it's the local taxes/fees that are killer - 50% of the rental charge!).

[King of Birds]

9 hours ago, Glory said:

The dog walker called today to tell me my house reeked of skunk and so I bought some Biocide bombs to put off in the house tomorrow night.

See, you learn something every day! I never heard of a Biocide bomb, just looked it up. I may have to do this too - not due to skunk but just general dog smells. (As the Beast snoozes at my feet...)

[King of Birds]

I see a trend. @sacrebleu forgets her keys and gets locked out, but her sister is nearby to bail her out. @Glory's dog gets skunked, and her sister is nearby to bail her out. I'm thousands of miles away from my sisters btw. 

I forget if it was here or TWOP that I lamented about this - but hey! Instead of me having to figure out where the Girl Scout cookies are... they came to MY DOOR!  Yay for girl scout cookies! I didn't really load up since I'm looking to maintain my stocky 50 yr old figure, but it's all good.

[Kalliste]

I don't even have any sisters @King of Birds! Or brothers for that matter. So hopefully I never run into these situations :D I don't think skunks even are in Australia so I'm probably safe on that front.

[King of Birds]

Well, you gotta look out for those dingos! 

[Cquen82]

Hey, is anyone here from IMDB? I need a new home to discuss the many shows I'm addicted to so I'm trying this out ?

[Kalliste]

56 minutes ago, Cquen82 said:

Hey, is anyone here from IMDB? I need a new home to discuss the many shows I'm addicted to so I'm trying this out emoji unicode: 1f60a

As in post in the message board sections in IMDB?

I have read occasional threads but haven't posted in any myself.

[sacrebleu]

@Kalliste you're welcome to some of mine, I'm one of seven-- most of which live within 10 miles of me.

[Cquen82]

12 hours ago, Kalliste said:

As in post in the message board sections in IMDB?

I have read occasional threads but haven't posted in any myself.

Yes! They are shutting them down in a couple of weeks due to lack of activity/unfavourable activity ?

[LiberryLady]

Quote

Yes! They are shutting them down in a couple of weeks due to lack of activity/unfavourable activity.

I checked out the IMDB forums once, and found out that they weren't moderated. Yikes! They was some nasty stuff going on. You'll find, Cquen82, that this is a friendly place to chat.

[Glory]

On 2/5/2017 at 4:13 PM, LiberryLady said:

I checked out the IMDB forums once, and found out that they weren't moderated. Yikes! They was some nasty stuff going on. You'll find, Cquen82, that this is a friendly place to chat.

She's back! @LiberryLady

[LiberryLady]

Yes, it's meee!!

I've been busy with...stuff...For those who aren't on Facebook, the LiberryLord and I are no longer together. He moved on last spring. So I'm okay, but I've been in a weirdish place the last half-year.

But! Good news! I got a new job! Next fall, I will FINALLY have my own classroom, a dream yearrrs in the making. Which is why I just spent the last two hours scrubbing my little blog of every damn, crap, hell, and mofo. I didn't use them THAT often, but teachers are one of the few professions to still have weird morals clauses. Seriously -- I was asked about my social media in my interview.

Anyhoo, hello all!

[Pixel]

21 hours ago, LiberryLady said:

Yes, it's meee!!

I've been busy with...stuff...For those who aren't on Facebook, the LiberryLord and I are no longer together. He moved on last spring. So I'm okay, but I've been in a weirdish place the last half-year.

But! Good news! I got a new job! Next fall, I will FINALLY have my own classroom, a dream yearrrs in the making. Which is why I just spent the last two hours scrubbing my little blog of every damn, crap, hell, and mofo. I didn't use them THAT often, but teachers are one of the few professions to still have weird morals clauses. Seriously -- I was asked about my social media in my interview.

Anyhoo, hello all!

So glad you're back! Facebook just isn't enough of you. 

[King of Birds]

On 2/5/2017 at 0:16 PM, Cquen82 said:

Yes! They are shutting them down in a couple of weeks due to lack of activity/unfavourable activity ?

It must be the "unfavorable" one, right? Were the IMDB boards some of the group who down-voted the newer, women-lead Ghostbusters, before seeing the movie?  Not that you did that CQUEN82.  BTW until you posted here, I didn't know it was shutting down. Not sure if you found or perused this yet, but here is the movie forum here on PTV.

By the way, LL, I figure the 'scrubbing' of your blog ... uh, does this mean you scrubbed comments? Like, MY comments? I'd be upset but I do understand that some random person claiming to be "Bob" should not interfere on undermining your teaching career.

[LiberryLady]

Quote

By the way, LL, I figure the 'scrubbing' of your blog ... uh, does this mean you scrubbed comments? Like, MY comments? I'd be upset but I do understand that some random person claiming to be "Bob" should not interfere on undermining your teaching career.

I didn't bother looking at comments. I can't believe they'd look THAT closely. But like I said... I was asked about my social media in my interview! I'm not taking a chance that a crack about Salma Hayak's bosoms could cause a school district to rescind my job offer. Also, I took out the TWSS jokes. :(

[King of Birds]

8 minutes ago, LiberryLady said:

Also, I took out the TWSS jokes. :(

Thought about it long and hard, I guess? Wow that must've been hard to do. You put this matter to bed, huh? Did it yourself, or did you put two men on it? So you clicked on the blog and - up went the toolbar - and it was all straight after that?  Well, as long as you got it out of your nook of things to do.

[LiberryLady]

Quote

Thought about it long and hard, I guess? Wow that must've been hard to do. You put this matter to bed, huh? Did it yourself, or did you put two men on it? So you clicked on the blog and - up went the toolbar - and it was all straight after that?  Well, as long as you got it out of your nook of things to do.

THAT'S WHAT SHE SAID!!!

[Glory]

9 hours ago, King of Birds said:

Thought about it long and hard, I guess? Wow that must've been hard to do. You put this matter to bed, huh? Did it yourself, or did you put two men on it? So you clicked on the blog and - up went the toolbar - and it was all straight after that?  Well, as long as you got it out of your nook of things to do.

This... is phenomenal. 

[Kalliste]

It's 40C/104F here today... they're telling everyone to reduce power where possible otherwise they're going to have staged power outages. At work all public service buildings in the ACT and NSW had their aircon put up to 26C/78F. It wasn't pleasant.

[King of Birds]

Random thought of the day:  If I change my name from King (Last Name) to King Sriracha, then it's acceptable to tell people I'm "The hot guy" - right? So if I go into Starbucks and order they'd write it on my cup o'Joe. Sure, my parents may be disappointed but the hilarity... would last forever.

Stay tuned for more provocative thoughts of the day.

[possibilities]

Welcome back, LL! I never know whether to give congratulations or condolences when people get divorced. I hope you are happy. And for sure congrats on the job!

I am thinking about putting some snow in my freezer for next August. You should try it, Kalliste, next time you get a chance. I did this a few years ago, but then I couldn't find anyone to engage in shenanigans of the snowball fight variety, which made me hate the people in my life and decide I definitely need new friends. But I might give it another try.

I only vaguely knew that IMDB had active forums. I imagine that any unmoderated forum would be very different than here, but if you're looking for thoughtful and intelligent conversation, I think you may enjoy previously.tv. Some shows inspire more of that than others, but it's not troll-central, anywhere I've checked.

Now I feel obligated to say something to elevate this above snowball fighting, but I'm all out of erudition.

Question: if you hard-boiled some eggs before going to bed, and forgot to put them away, then found them on the kitchen counter the next morning, and your kitchen was around 60degF, would you throw away the eggs, or would you take your chance and eat them?

I have had food poisoning once in my life and do not wish to repeat it. But I also hate wasting food that may be perfectly safe.

[Kalliste]

I think I'd probably chance the eggs @possibilities, their shells should protect them.. right?

Also, the snowball fight in summer sounds good, except we don't get snow :P I'd have to start collecting frost :D

[King of Birds]

Happy Galentine's Day to the Chili's crowd!  Waffles for everyone! (not snowballs)