Small Talk: Chili's

[frenchtoast]

Smrou, forewarned, I may take you up on that! One of the pet rats died last month and the other is ... not doing well either. Sadly, that's the lifespan of a rat. But she's still a sweetie.

Quote

(I can't tell you how many times I've read Anne of Green Gables.)

 

Me, too, LiberryLady. Me too. Crostini is 8, but she's a pretty strong reader and I'm really, really tempted to introduce her to it. And someday we'll be able to afford a vacation and I will persuade the family to go to Prince Edward Islan.

Edited March 31, 2014 by frenchtoast

[smrou]

Smrou, forewarned, I may take you up on that!

I wouldn't have suggested it if I weren't serious.

One of the pet rats died last month and the other is ... not doing well either.

Aw, so sad.  Those rats are such cuties.

[Pixel]

Pixel, it's Master's!

 

So, always capitalized too?  I've actually googled this more than once and seem to have a mental block against retaining the proper answer. Perhaps then, I don't deserve my Master's. Then again, it's in medical informatics, not spelling and grammar (although it might could be!).

[dread pirate]

Sharing in the love for Anne of Green Gables.

Just got the new Rob Thomas penned Veronica Mars book, and I'm currently reading some good non-fiction, The Sports Gene, which is all about how large a role genetics versus practice plays in making an elite athlete.

[King of Birds]

Okay , so I joined and just read up. I guess I'm just a JOINER. Pssh.

Should we start a pool on whether ikar really isn't migrating over here, or whether he's just holding out for bribes?

Dammit. I should have held out for bribes.

Nutella covered potato chips?!???!  Okay, I haven't bought Nutella in about 2 years, I may have to try this combo.

I wasn't really pissed at "the internet" but boy, Pimpleton sure was deleting anything that came close to questioning "the motives" on what happened. I basically replied in the thread where everyone was all "Whaaaa?  I've been here __ years and it means so much..." etc  with  "Jeez, the upgrade killed this place, huh?" Just gotta love it when a place known for snark can't handle snark. Did that hurt Bravo's feelings?

Books- Yeah, this is what we get when BrahmaGirl abandons the Luke's thread- some great book choices there. I'll note them. I'm in the middle of at least three books: just haven't had time to read. I haven't turned on my kindle (yup, got a kindle for Christmas!) in about a month. Bethbox you are NOT enjoying the Prey series? I love all of them. Even the Virgil Flowers books. 

I can say whatever I want about ikar when he's not around! Muhahaha!

Also, I doubt anyone but [unshun] Setlist [/reshun] "gets" my new name. Or maybe you do. I just didn't want to be ikar anymore. It was so 2008, ya know? I left that name at twop.

[MichelleAK]

Good to see you here, The Artist Formerly Known as ikar! The only "King of Birds" I can think of is the R.E.M. song, and I'm guessing that's not what you are referencing.

I really liked the early Prey books, but got annoyed when Lucas started getting all broody with Winter.  I haven't read any of the Virgil Flowers books. I think my favorite mystery series is P. D. James' Dalgliesh novels, followed by Jonathan Kellerman's Alex Delaware series.

[King of Birds]

The only "King of Birds" I can think of is the R.E.M. song, and I'm guessing that's not what you are referencing.

Nope, that's it. 

I'm gonna have to find an avatar, because that smiley face just ain't me.

[possibilities]

Yeah, that pink smiley is so not me, it feels almost like sarcasm every time I see it. I have never used an avatar anywhere, though, and it feels like a new chore to have to find one. Suggestions?

Re commentary on what's happening at TWoP, I would guess the moderators there are under a fair amount of stress with their jobs ending, and who knows what behind the scenes info they may or may not have. It sure looks to me like they are as upset as the rest of us and sharing what info they can. NBCU just changed their position wrt pulling the recap archives from public availability, so it might be one of those situations where "nothing left to lose" does not apply.

[MichelleAK]

For an avatar, they are usually 100x100 pixels (Facebook is 130x130, I believe).  I generally find a picture I like, that can be cropped down that small and still look good, and use that.  You generally don't need a fancy photo editor, just one that can crop to specific pixel dimensions.

Wow, it is from the R.E.M. song?  Excellent!  I was actually going to chance my name here to "Driver 8," but decided to just stick with my old one, since I also use it (or variations of it) on a couple of other boards.

ETA: It is nice that they are leaving the TWOP content up. I know a lot of people wanted access to the old recaps.  I actually downloaded the "Deadwood" recaps this weekend, since I thought they were going away, and I just loved those 'caps.

 

Edited April 2, 2014 by MichelleAK

[smrou]

I generally find a picture I like

I think that's the hard part. But I figured a pet photo was an easy way to go.

[Setlist]

Oof. I'm an R.E.M. fan, but I totally blanked. I was thinking it was an Always Sunny in Philadelphia reference, but that was "Birds of War".

I'm also happy about the content staying put. The whole thing is still so strange to me. I'm glad the forums are still active, since reading the reactions to the last How I Met Your Mother episode were quite entertaining. Maybe even moreso than the actual episode. The thread they made where the staff said goodbye was pretty upsetting to me - I couldn't get through it all.

[LiberryLady]

You guys. My poor LiberryLord has been dealing with a kidney stone for almost a week. Please tell me about some Lifehack-y thing you or a friend of a friend did to GET RID OF THE DAMN THING; I'm not exaggerating when I say it's like he's been in labor this whole time. He's been to the emergency room twice and the urologist once, and they're like Whatever... it'll pass soon...

[MichelleAK]

Sorry, LiberryLady, I don't know any tricks.  I've been fortunate so far and haven't had to deal with kidney stones.  All I know is what I've heard or read, which is to drink a lot of water to help move it along.  I hope he gets rid of it soon!

[Pixel]

It really is like being in labor, LL.  I have had both a baby (two) and a kidney stone (one) and the pain is very much like being in labor, except the prize at the end isn't a baby.  There is nothing you can do but take pain meds and drink copious amounts of water to flush the thing out. In my case, they had to go in with a scope and grab it, and then I had to have a stent in my ureter for 10 days because the darn thing did so much damage bouncing around in there. And it was smaller than a grain of sand!  It's amazing how much pain a thing you can barely see can cause.

And, in the interest of coffeetalk, I am excited because at 7pm I'm getting on a plane cross country to visit my friend who moved temporarily to the west coast. For those who were at Chili's during the great Pixel meltdown of 2013, this is the friend that I thought might not want to be friends anymore because of events at the time, but all is well and we are besties once more!  She lives near the Roloff's (Little People, Big World) so we might go visit the farm while I'm there. 

PS: In my case, the pain meds did nothing for the pain, but because they were heavy narcs at least let me catch some sleep in between waves.

Edited April 4, 2014 by Pixel

[Glory]

I had, what might be, the worst day in the history of all mankind yesterday.

Came home and Dozer had pottied all over the house. Not sure why, maybe he was scared by the thunderstorm? Anyway, cleaned it up, washed the floor, stuck his bed in the wash and gave him a bath.

 

Washing machine beeps, I pull the bed out and it’s all chewed up. I had washed it according to the directions – gentle cycle, all by itself, cold water. Fuck. Call Petsmart, they can look up my receipt and take it back. Which is good because it was $60!

 

Stick another load of laundry in and it starts up just fine. Then it gets to the rinse cycle and it stops completely and start beeping. Okay. I open it up, wiggle everything around and give it another go. Nope. Nada. Just fills and won’t drain. Seriously?

 

Look around for the info on the washer from the old owners. Find the book and a note that it was purchased in 10/2012 but no receipt. Warranty company won’t talk to me without a receipt. Call another appliance guy. He can come at noon today. Okay.

 

Go to petsmart and get a new bed. Come home and Dozer promptly throws up all over the floor I just washed. EXCEPT! It’s not just any barf. It’s poop barf. He ate his poop and barfed it up. Yes, this is my life.

Cleaned it up and opened every window in the house then poured a stiff glass of scotch and gave up on the evening.

[frenchtoast]

Ugh, that sounds a like a terrible. And while it doesn't help when I say we've all been there, that's what the scotch is for. Because that does help. Mostly.

[LiberryLady]

Yeah, my poor man is drinking so much he's floating. And it looks like the stone is about 4 cm? So, not tiny! (Though from what we've read size doesn't matter - TWSS- and a bitty one like Pixel's can mess a person up more than a pea-sized one). I'm about to get all Shirley Maclaine in Terms of Endearment on these doctors' asses if they don't do something.

"Poop barf," Glory? I think you just coined a new expletive. Also can be used like, "I think the series finale of How I Met Your Mother was poop barf."

Edited April 4, 2014 by LiberryLady

[possibilities]

Ugh. My sympathies to all.

4 cm sounds to me like a surgical situation. I mean... 4 cm?!?!?! Did you mean mm? Either way, I've known two people who had kidney stones and they both say it's the worst.

If you bought the washing machine with a credit card, maybe your credit card records would work for a receipt? Do you think the dog bed shed stuff that clogged the drain hose?

For the hell of it, I just did a search for "lifehack kidney stones" and got this: http://www.lifehack.org/articles/lifestyle/10-health-benefits-potatoes-you-didnt-know-about.html . I have no idea if it has any merit. There were some other articles, but I didn't read them.

I have not had any calamities in the past 24 hours, so I'm feeling lucky at the moment.

[King of Birds]

Sorry to hear about your shitty day there Glory.  Hope today is better for you. I'm pysched because tonight is Book of Mormon for me.  I"m actually gonna wear a suit. A suit!

I'm very bummed about the Letterman news. I may have to seek out YT for his appearances on The $$ Pyramid this weekend. I still have kept VHS tapes of his anniversary specials from way way back.  VHS!

[LiberryLady]

I"m actually gonna wear a suit. A suit!

 

Pics or it didn't happen!

And you're right, possibilities: it's 4 mm, not cm.  I blame my American-ness.

Edited April 4, 2014 by LiberryLady

[Pixel]

And it looks like the stone is about 4 cm

 

Are you sure you don't mean 4mm?  Huge kidney stones do happen  but I don't think anyone would expect to pass a 4cm without some sort of intervention. Especially a man!

Mine was 4mm. That's still tiny, but it carries a big load of pain with it.

ETA: I put ram's head in here, but when I googled it didn't come up with anything. There ARE enormous stones that have curled horns on them that require surgery to remove.  They are often less painful than the tiny ones because they don't move.

Edited April 4, 2014 by Pixel

[LiberryLady]

Yeah, I was wrong -- it's 4 mm.  I am a weenie American, who only sorta has a picture of metric in my head. And stewedsquash, I am totally going to pick up beer for after his ultrasound today.  Thanks for the suggestion!

[smrou]

Now I'm thinking about what it would be like for a man to pass a 4-cm stone, and just...aaaaaaaah.  But surely that wouldn't even be possible, right?  Apparently the Guinness world record-setting kidney stone was 13-cm at the widest (and removed surgically, of course).

[possibilities]

More "home remedies" for kidney stones, courtesy of The InterWebz:

http://www.wikihow.com/Pass-a-Kidney-Stone

http://www.home-remedies-for-you.com/remedy/Kidney-Stones.html

Again, I have no idea if any of the ideas have merit. But they don't seem like they could do any harm, either. Lemon juice, potatoes.... Add the beer and it's a picnic.

I think if it's been 4 days, though, the docs should be concerned. It can't be good to be in that much pain for that long. I'm not liking the idea that they can't do anything to help.

[LiberryLady]

Got the beer and lemons!  Fingers crossed!

[Too Late Kev]

Yay, King of Birds! Glad you're joining us. :)

After I said I didn't have much to say about books...I recently read Darkly Dreaming Dexter, which I liked all right, but I like the series a lot more. Now I'm listening to Double Dexter on audiobook, and I'm not loving it. I think it's that the author takes a long time to say things, and if I'm reading I can skim, but I can't skim an audiobook, and then my mind wanders off and I forget to pay attention.

I'm also "reading" the Walking Dead comic books. Again, I like the series better, and I can follow who's who on the series better.

Count me in as an Anne of Green Gables fan. I guess some of us are just kindred spirits and/or bosom friends. Yes, King of Birds (KoB), I said "bosom."

[possibilities]

KoB, do you have any guesses (or wishes) for who replaces Dave? Is there anyone you think would be good enough to take the sting out?

I don't have a late night host I'm loyal to, and mostly only watch if I'm interested in the guest or I can't sleep. I used to watch Wanda Sykes show, though, when she had a late night talk show. I'm a big fan of her stand up.

Last year, I don't think there were any TV-related cancellations I was upset about, but this year is a little rough.

It rained today. Rained! As in: not snowed. Soooo pleased about that....

[King of Birds]

I just saw an article this morning that mentioned Stephen Colbert, the real Stephen not the one he plays on TV, might be in line for the Letterman job. That might be fun.

I think it'd be great to do a period of time where various people could host, like when Dave when out after his heart attack and shingles. It was interesting to see different people given the opportunity to sit behind the desk and play "late night host" for a day or two. I think Patton Oswalt would be a kick in that role. One of the things back in the 70s was that Johnny Carson took his vacations- and boy he liked his vacations. He would have various people host, and a lot of the times they'd just invite their friends on. I saw one Carson where Rob Reiner hosted, I think he was on All In The Family. But some of the guests on his couch were Michael McKean, Christopher Guest, etc. Even WAY before Spinal Tap the movie, they were all friends.

Also odd was Carson was a 90 minute show... there was a lot more chit chatting and time to do some odd things. Most of the late night stuff today doesn't feel too inventive- pardon me, the network late night. Adult Swim and Comedy Central does have some interesting stuff that's hit or miss to me, but that's what gets me to check out Key& Peele, Amy Schumer, Workaholics, some of the animation domination, the 12:50am bit on SNL, etc.

What's with me going on about comedy? Jeez, I could go on but I won't.  I don't want Jesus to call me a dick or anything.  BTW, loved Book of Mormon. For those of you have have seen it, the joke with Elder Cunningham not knowing Nabulungi's name (and I had to look it up on wiki) had a great spin, and recent I believe:

"Adele Nazeem" was in the mix and it was one of the bigger laughs of the night.

Good times!

[LiberryLady]

the joke with Elder Cunningham not knowing Nabulungi's name (and I had to look it up on wiki) had a great spin, and recent I believe[spoiler...]

 

Heh, KOB, when I saw the Aladdin show at Disney last weekend, the Genie tossed that name into the mix, too.  That joke is going to be around for a looooong time.

I went poking around this site last night, and it looks pretty interesting!  There's a lot of fun features.  I think I'm going to like it here.

(On the kidney stones front:  it looks like it might have moved on, but the Lord had trouble telling because the damn codeine was messing him up so much.  He was only able to get a half of one of those beers down before it came right back up, for example.  Now that he's just taking aspirin, he's way more comfortable.)

[MichelleAK]

I went poking around this site last night, and it looks pretty interesting!  There's a lot of fun features.  I think I'm going to like it here.

I downloaded the most recent Extra Hot Great podcast and listened to it when I was on the treadmill.  I hadn't listened to them before. It was pretty entertaining, and kept me distracted for the hour I was slogging away. And, one of my long-time internet friends sent in the game they played at the end, which was pretty cool.

I'm glad to hear the Lord is feeling better, LiberryLady.

Edited April 5, 2014 by MichelleAK

[King of Birds]

What's with this "KOB" nonsense?  You do not nickname The King! ™ 

[LiberryLady]

Quick poll:  who else has begun to think of "King of Birds" as "KoB," as in "corn on the..."?

 

*raises hand*

[bethbox]

*also raises hand*

 

P.S. Hey guys! Sorry i haven't been back by - I was preparing for and am now on another trip to Disney World. I love me some Disney.

[LiberryLady]

Do you mean the "raises hand,"  stewedsquash? It's for who agrees with the KoB/cob pronunciation.  If I could have set up an official poll, I would have.  ;)

[King of Birds]

LiberryLady, I serve polls almost daily. I know polls. Polling is a skill of mine. LiberryLady you're no Jack Kennedy.  Wait hold on- I goofed up on that.

But this is a poll that has no scientific basis! The fact that bethbox of all people signed on from the bowels of Orlando (it's actually hell, as I found out from Book of Mormon) to vote in this misconceived "poll" says it all! CONSPIRACY!   Pay no attention to the LiberryLady behind the curtain!

I am officially shunning anyone who refers to me as anything but King of Birds. Because if you refer to me by initials then it stands to reason, you obviously must not save the excess oil from cans of tuna.

[Too Late Kev]

A thousand pardons, King of Birds. I shall not shorten your name again. I, however, will answer to TLK or Kev, as well as my full name. Once someone called me Kevin, which I thought was a bit odd, but I suppose they thought I was actually named Kevin, and I tended to be tardy.

stewedsquash, I didn't get the reference about Nabulungi either. I googled it to sort of understand. Sort of understanding tends to be good enough for me.

[dread pirate]

Well. I have nothing to contribute to the kidney stone conversation, although I wish the hubs a speedy recovery.

I'm totally excited, my building has finally decided to allow dogs in my building-- so I'm gonna start researching. I'm thinking I may get myself a dog for my birthday, definitely a rescue. I haven't had a dog since I was a kid, but I've wanted one for a while.  

I've always had big dogs (dalmation, german shepherd) but I'm thinking in a condo I should get something under 40 pounds. Any advice from dog lovers/owners?

[LiberryLady]

I've always had big dogs (dalmation, german shepherd) but I'm thinking in a condo I should get something under 40 pounds. Any advice from dog lovers/owners?

 

I have a pug, which is a fun (if noisy) breed.  I know that my local PetSmart does a "small dogs" adoption event every Saturday or Sunday.  You could check to see if your local pet store does something similar.

ETA:

I am officially shunning anyone who refers to me as anything but King of Birds.

 

Well, as another titled member of this board, I can say it doesn't bother me in the least when I am referred to as "LL."  But I guess some members of royalty are just more insecure, or something.

Edited April 6, 2014 by LiberryLady

[possibilities]

Feel free to call me "possi" if you want to, KOB. You cornball, you!

I love dogs. I don't know what kind is best, but it probably depends on what you're looking for. I like dogs who are smart, and cuddly. I had a schnauzer when I was a kid. He was medium-sized. But some people think they have piercing barks. I'm glad you'll rescue. You might fall in love with a mutt. It's all good.

The rescue orgs can probably advise you about what type is best suited. There are quizzes you can take to help narrow down what dogs met your lifestyle and dog-related desires. Do you care about shedding? Some people enjoy brushing and grooming (and vacuuming) and other people want a dog who keeps its hair to itself. Schnauzers (and some other breeds) don't really shed. On the other hand, I have a friend who actually saved the shedded fur from her golden retriever and knitted a sweater out of it, so there's that. I do agree you probably want a small to medium dog rather than a giant or very high energy breed, if you live in an apartment. On the other hand, sometimes greyhounds or large breeds are less energetic than you'd expect, especially after a certain age. I've heard greyhounds can actually be couch potatoes after they get done with the whole racing situation. And some small dogs are energy dynamos, like Jack Russell terriers, who are smart, moderately sized, but active.

[Setlist]

Hope it's not too late to raise my hand for Corn on the KoB! Sorry, KoB. Er. King of Birds. I'm also really glad LiberryLord is feeling better. I haven't experienced a stone yet, but I've heard my fair share of horror stories. Poor guy.

Too Late Kev, I honestly laughed out loud over people calling you "Kevin". It's kind of like how post-shut down announcement, a lot of TWoP folks wanted clarification as to whether or not certain mods were men or women. It's a big mystery!

As for dogs - I have a rescue, and couldn't be happier. Just keep in mind that if you go visit a shelter, you might fall in love with all of them. Did your building give any kind of restrictions? (For us, they had to be under 40 lbs, and certain breeds weren't allowed.) I know that possibilities mentioned shedding, which is definitely a big thing to consider. And if you're looking for a pup that won't shed, I'll have to recommend Bichons. I had a Bichon growing up, and she was an incredible family pet and companion. I still miss her.

[King of Birds]

OMG, the shedding!  A groomer is coming by this Friday to trim my dog- thank God. She's a black part german shephard/ maybe lab/ border collie mix and the hair... I've worn out my frickin' Dyson. We're approaching a 90* day here in SoCal tomorrow, and the pup gets very hot, so I'm gonna be thankful post-grooming.

In the dying days, has anyone considered archiving (way-backing?) Chili's incarnation #1? How many trees would it kill? I know it's read-only but I keep thinking- who's to say that in 5 years maybe it'll go offline, and then who'll remember how hilarious I was? Will Hateball still exist?

[LiberryLady]

In the dying days, has anyone considered archiving (way-backing?) Chili's incarnation #1?  

 

I actually did do that for a big chunk of the My Name is Earl thread. I wanted to preserve Greg Garcia's "whojackie" joke. Chili's, though... that's a heckuva lot more pages.

[frenchtoast]

I went back and read that whojackie part after I heard the forums would be closing. And I remember thinking, before the shout-out was revealed, that posting about a Murphy bed, that is so off topic and just plain weird. But I didn't do anything because it wasn't a hugely busy thread and it was unlikely it would get sidetracked. A variation of ignore the troll, as it were. And then the reveal was just amazing. And it's still a lovely depiction of internet friends that is hard to find these days.

[possibilities]

There are lots of threads I'd like to see archived. They still say the forums go offline on May 31, so anything would have to be done quickly.

[smrou]

Thankfully a friend from the Gilmore Girls Meet Market (before it became a place for Chili's refugees) archived that whole thread and made it accessible to us old GGMMers. But I'd so love to have other threads accessible as well. In recent discussions of series finales someone mentioned Everwood, which sent me back to that thread on TWoP to see how I and others reacted to that finale when it aired and I ended up reading through months worth of posts there. It was awesome and nostalgic and soon I'll never be able to do that sort of thing again. So sad.

[frenchtoast]

Pssst...Boston TWoPpers....check the Con thread.

Hey, AMC! Might be nice if you posted times for Saturday so we can purchase tickets for Winter Soldier. Dammit!!! I've been waiting for months for this movie and I cannot wait! I need my tickets. I love reserve seating, but this is driving me crazy.

[King of Birds]

They still say the forums go offline on May 31

For some reason I thought it would still be read-only.  Now I'm really bummed about May 31. Also, I realized I lost touch with so many Chilians. Randomly went to a page from Dec 2008 and saw posts with Pig Voice, Jennastine, Columbia25 ... They all went away and I used to have such fun abusing - er, I mean conversing with them. Ah well.

[MichelleAK]

Deeeaaaaathchiiiickeeeeen!

Ugh, winter came back the past couple of days.  It had been sunny and in the low to mid-40s for the past 10 days, but today and yesterday's highs only hit 30.  It was 14F when I left for work this morning. Fortunately, it's supposed to warm up for the weekend.  I'm beyond ready for spring. I want to wear sandals, and go outside without a down coat!

[MMLEsq]

TWOP's "A Message to Readers" says:   "TWOP ceased operations on April 4, but our archives will stay up. Plus: our forums will remain open till May 31. Thank you for your support over the years."

Also, per Entertainment Weekly:  "[The original TWOP announcement] was also that much more disheartening as it slipped in the detail that TWoP’s archives will be saved “in the digital ether,” but publicly inaccessible — its content virtually disposed in a last gasp of bitter irony (or perhaps I should call it cosmic snark?)." 

However, EW later posted the following:  "UPDATE:  On April 1, TWoP tweeted a reversal of the archiving policy: 'Bad news for producers of the past decade and a half’s worst shows; good news for our fans: TWoP’s archives will stay up.'"

I'm assuming the Forums are part of TWOP's archives and will therefore continue to be accessible (i.e., readable) even after people are no longer allowed to post to them after 5/31.... is that not the case?

[smrou]

In this announcement by TWoP Pembleton it says the forums will not be available even in archived form.