Small Talk: Chili's

[Pixel]

Nobody draws maps these days, KOB. The maps are built into the games! A great game gets me completely immersed. The Bioshock games are the best for that. Great story, beautiful visuals, and auto aim for those of us who are lousy shots!

[Kalliste]

I love a game with a good soundtrack and storyline. And pretty visuals doesn't hurt. Ori and the Blind Forest is beautiful and I really loved Life is Strange.

[MichelleAK]

I only play games I can complete in a few minutes: solitaire, pinball, jigsaw puzzles, Shanghai, etc. I've never even tried to play world building games (well, just one), or first person shooter games. I think I had the original Civilization for Mac year and years ago, but I just couldn't get into it, and only played a couple of times. I was always much more into reading, or watching TV. Some of the newer games look amazing, but I'm too old to take on new hobbies!

It's pretty (but chilly) here, after Thursday night's snow. We didn't get nearly as much as originally predicted; Fairbanks and the western coast got hit hard, but we got about half of the snow totals they thought we would get. Doesn't break my heart!

Edited December 31, 2016 by MichelleAK

[Glory]

This week's video gaming has been glorious.  I start playing at 10am and the next thing I know my husband is walking in the door after a full day of work! Whoops!

Time absolutely flies by when you're playing an interesting game. 

Happy New Year everyone! I hope 2017 is as awesome as 2016 was shitty!

[possibilities]

1 hour ago, Glory said:

I hope 2017 is as awesome as 2016 was shitty!

Heh. Someone got mad at me recently, because as she was leaving I said: "Have a good day if you can!" She thought I was being horribly negative, but I was just trying to take the pressure off.

[Kalliste]

What game are you playing at the moment @Glory?

I've been spending far too much time in the Sims 3... I don't even know if I like it but I need the Sims I created to succeed :P

[Glory]

I'm playing Dragon Age II which I never played when it initially came out. It was a departure from the first game and I was being whiny and didn't want to play it. Now I'm digging it. 

I finished up a run through of the first game last week and now I'm about halfway through II. I'll re-run through the third one when I'm finished but that's a 60-80 hour game. 

[King of Birds]

You're crazy @Glory.  A 60-80 hour game!

Wishing everyone a good 2017. This past year could have been so much better on so many levels, lets aim high for 2017.

[possibilities]

Eh, how many hours a year do people spend WATCHING other people play games (sports)? 60-80 hours DOING something is surely no crazier than WATCHING other people do something.

[MichelleAK]

2 hours ago, possibilities said:

Eh, how many hours a year do people spend WATCHING other people play games (sports)? 60-80 hours DOING something is surely no crazier than WATCHING other people do something.

That's a good point. I do watch a lot of football (not so much other sports, except playoff baseball), and watch a lot of TV. Plus my other hobbies. I generally try to not judge other's hobbies or interests, since I'm sure mine seem just as "weird" to them (and other people) as theirs seem to me!

On another note, I am feeling accomplished this morning. It's just shy of 1pm, and I already have my Christmas decorations put away, and my living room cleaned and collectibles, etc., put back in place.  Tonight, it's the "big one": The Return of the King, all 4 hours 20 minutes of it, plus the "making of" video that was a Blue Ray exclusive (provided I don't fall asleep early again). Fortunately, I have tomorrow off, too, so I can sleep in one last day.

Anybody making resolutions? I generally don't, but I have one this year, which is to completely clear out my spare room and finally go through all of my doll stuff and "collectibles" and get rid of anything that I don't want or use any longer, and to do it in the first quarter of 2017. The spare room looks like a hoarder lives here, and I have too little room in my tiny place to waste it on stuff I no longer want.

[Glory]

@King of Birds my video games helpfully tell me how many hours I've played and I've estimated that I've spent around 500 hours playing Dragon Age. Which is approximately a quarter of a work year (playing 40 hours a week). This is since 2010 or so.

Guts, probably has that much time into his favorite game, so equal opportunity and all that. 

@MichelleAK I put away my Christmas decor today too! Tomorrow I'm forcing myself to get up early because Tuesday is going to suuuuck.

[Kalliste]

Steam helpfully tells me I've played 33hrs of The Sims 3 in the last week. I've spent more than 100 on Stardew Valley in the last year. 

14 hours ago, possibilities said:

Eh, how many hours a year do people spend WATCHING other people play games (sports)? 60-80 hours DOING something is surely no crazier than WATCHING other people do something.

And this is a good point. Not only sports but what about TV (and youtube), movies and books? Are games somehow a lesser hobby? That being said I mostly draw the line at watching people stream games (like on Twitch)... however I do watch people cross stitch on twitch. Mostly for something to listen to while I cross stitch.

Speaking of cross stitch, I have created my first ever pattern (although it is based on someone elses image):

I made it pretty easy for myself :D It did start with a huge amount of colours though and I was able to get it down to 3. Now to see if those colour choices work out.

ETA: I also started playing Super Mario Run today :D

[King of Birds]

15 hours ago, Glory said:

@King of Birds my video games helpfully tell me how many hours I've played and I've estimated that I've spent around 500 hours playing Dragon Age. Which is approximately a quarter of a work year (playing 40 hours a week). This is since 2010

You're behind in becoming The Goddess Of Gaming, Glory!

[Pixel]

I just got Final Fantasy XV and I had no idea it was an RPG. The demo I played was not an RPG, it was a button masher. So now I've spent 45 minutes trying to catch a fish for a friendly cat, and I can't figure out where me and my boys can go sleep for the night, so we're getting really tired.

I think I'm skipping the resolutions this year.  

Edited January 2, 2017 by Pixel

[Kalliste]

That's how I felt about Final Fantasy VIII... "I can't find anything useful! Monsters just keep fighting me, oh god levelling up grind is the worst, I hate this!" and that's when I realised RPGs were the worst :P That might have been partly Squall's fault though.

I'm skipping resolutions too, but then I don't usually have them. I also decided setting goals wasn't my style.

That being said I have planned: getting my licence, getting my wisdom teeth out (maybe) and getting invisalign (if I get my wisdoms out). I also planned on a new computer but the parts have already been purchased. The monitors turned up today! Alas, I can't plug them into my laptop so I have to wait for everything else to show.

[sacrebleu]

My resolutions are small changes. I'm starting an instagram account for my dog (because, of course). It's also semi-work related-- upping my social media skills.

I'm also gonna go sugar-free in February (the shortest month, but also, the one with Valentine's Day). Just avoiding foods that add sugar (natural sugar in fruits and stuff is okay). 

[Kalliste]

7 hours ago, sacrebleu said:

I'm also gonna go sugar-free in February (the shortest month, but also, the one with Valentine's Day). Just avoiding foods that add sugar (natural sugar in fruits and stuff is okay). 

good luck! My doctor last year told me I had to have 0 sugar in my diet and I said "you mean processed sugar right?" and he replies "No, all sugar" "so, I can't eat fruit?" "Oh, well... yeah fruit is fine" everytime I go I say "reduce" sugar intake and he says 0 so I'm just doing it my way :P

It can be really difficult, you basically have to eliminate all processed food from your diet because so much has added sugar that you don't really think about. Things I chose to keep in were: sauces (but try and reduce the amount), bread, pasta, dairy and yoghurt. I only eat greek yoghurt anyway but even no added sugar yoghurt still has sugar. 

Anyway, let us know how it goes :)

[Pixel]

5 hours ago, Kalliste said:

good luck! My doctor last year told me I had to have 0 sugar in my diet and I said "you mean processed sugar right?" and he replies "No, all sugar" "so, I can't eat fruit?" "Oh, well... yeah fruit is fine" everytime I go I say "reduce" sugar intake and he says 0 so I'm just doing it my way :P

It can be really difficult, you basically have to eliminate all processed food from your diet because so much has added sugar that you don't really think about. Things I chose to keep in were: sauces (but try and reduce the amount), bread, pasta, dairy and yoghurt. I only eat greek yoghurt anyway but even no added sugar yoghurt still has sugar. 

Anyway, let us know how it goes :)

Why do you need 0 sugar? That seems insane to me. I'm a nurse and a diabetic and I've never heard of anyone being put on a zero sugar diet by a physician. I must know more about this!

[Kalliste]

My doctor seems to be waging war on sugar @Pixel my bf went to see him and he told him he needed to reduce his sugar intake too and ranted to him about it. The reason he told me to do it was because of having a fatty liver. That being said, when he made me get an ultrasound the person who did it didn't seem to think my results were high enough to warrant it.

I have a nutritionist/dietitian (whichever is the one that requires an actual degree to give advice) conveniently up the street (and they have a free facebook group) I haven't made an appointment but have gone to a few workshops and they don't think you should cut out all sugar either and liked to joke that if you have a diet with 0 sugar than you're basically limiting yourself to a diet of poached chicken and nothing else.

Given they have trained specifically in it, I'm more likely to follow their advice than my doctors and am working on reducing level of sugar intake and processed foods. I have also increased my fish intake for b12 reasons... I'm less ok with that :P

[Pixel]

Aha. Yes,  that sounds a bit overboard. I'm on board for low sugar, but no sugar is nuts!

[Glory]

Fish has B12? I thought B12 came from dirt.... which is ingested by animals and so people consume B12 indirectly.  This is why vegans have a hard time meeting their B12 goals. I have nutritional yeast in my diet at least once a week as a supplement to B12 deficiency since I don't eat meat and very little dairy/eggs. 

Guts is going full bore on a new work out plan/diet thing. It's making me feel like a fat lump. Two weeks of video gaming hasn't helped. I'll put my gym bag in my car tomorrow... my work has a free gym but I'm so tired after work I barely take advantage of it. We'll see... I did start tracking my food again. That's always eye opening. Who knew pull-n-peel twizzlers had like 100 calories EACH?! 

[MichelleAK]

Imma leave this right here:

 

[King of Birds]

THE MUG O'GLORIOUSNESS!!!  I think you need to click on this and bask in the glory- so click below, and look upon the M'OG above.

[Kalliste]

17 hours ago, Glory said:

Fish has B12? I thought B12 came from dirt.... which is ingested by animals and so people consume B12 indirectly.  This is why vegans have a hard time meeting their B12 goals. I have nutritional yeast in my diet at least once a week as a supplement to B12 deficiency since I don't eat meat and very little dairy/eggs. 

Guts is going full bore on a new work out plan/diet thing. It's making me feel like a fat lump. Two weeks of video gaming hasn't helped. I'll put my gym bag in my car tomorrow... my work has a free gym but I'm so tired after work I barely take advantage of it. We'll see... I did start tracking my food again. That's always eye opening. Who knew pull-n-peel twizzlers had like 100 calories EACH?! 

Yes, some fish are a good source of b12, it seems like a lot of seafood is.. which I don't tend to eat :P It's been a struggle to make myself eat salmon and tuna once a week.

But generally b12 comes from 'animal by-products' like eggs and milk etc.

Iron is more of an issue for me given I don't particularly like red meat or fish which are higher in iron content than chicken, for example.

[possibilities]

I read an article about iron fish (literal cast iron fishes, like mini sculptures) that were being used in an area where the local diet was low on iron. You would put the iron fish in a cooking pot and it would dissolve enough iron into the food that the local rates of anemia went down. I didn't think it would work, I thought that kind of iron wasn't really bioavailable, but apparently it did work.

I'm going to see if I can find the article again, and post the link....

[thank you for holding...]

Here it is: Lucky Iron Fish

[Pixel]

Huh.  I read that Lucky Iron Fish article.  Makes me wonder if the same benefit comes from cooking with cast iron pans?  Anyway, if the iron fish catches on, eventually people will forget what they were originally for and some crazy old wives' tale will probably develop.  Like, "I don't know, my grandma always said having the iron fish in your pot guaranteed good health and future babies," or something like that.

So, I've already broken the two resolutions I did make, which were to dress better for work (we are allowed to wear jeans, so I do all the time) and to make the effort to put on makeup on workdays.  My glasses broke the other day so I spent yesterday morning epoxying the arm on instead of putting on makeup, and last night I had some crazy ass action adventure dreams that made me oversleep today.  Sigh.  Not even a week in and my plans are already kaput.

[King of Birds]

Well @Pixel at least you attempted resolutions.  I haven't done that in years.  I wear jeans for work and never wear makeup either!

[Glory]

I don't have a New Years Resolution except maybe to read more fun books. I didn't do a Goodreads challenge, though, so I should do that. 

[Kalliste]

I never wear makeup to work and wish I could wear jeans. I have never once thought 'maybe I should start dressing better for work' I'm generally trying to work out how I can dress down and still look professional :P

I've had a goodreads challenge for the last few years. I just finished my first book for the year actually :)

[Glory]

Death chicken? 

I did my first out and back yesterday. Took the 6am flight to DC and then flew back to Chicago that evening. My flight back was almost cancelled because we had no crew and then delayed an hour because of high winds in Chi-town. We had to circle the airport for a while before we can land. Fun. 

Back to Los Angeles next week, but I don't think I'm going to have any time to hit up Chili's with @KING OF BIRDS  sad face

[King of Birds]

52 minutes ago, Glory said:

 I don't think I'm going to have any time to hit up Chili's with @KING OF BIRDS  sad face

Aww. Too bad. What part of LA will you be in? Same place or somewhere closer?

[Glory]

I'll be in El Segundo but I won't have my own car this time. I'm getting in Monday at noon and leaving Wednesday morning. 

[King of Birds]

Less than 48 hours in the glorious City of Angels?  A shame. Just let me know the next time you're in.

[LiberryLady]

Hey, all. I know I haven't been around, and I know this is just about the Death Chicken-est of Death Chicken news to share, but I got a sad letter Monday. Do y'all remember Ohnomrbill from the old TWoP Chili's? He and I have emailed since our time there, but then I didn't hear from him since about April or so. I found out why when I got a letter from his brother: sadly, Bill died last May. 

So, yeah. I have his brother's address, if you want to send a card. It really makes you think, doesn't it? How people we only know on the Wide Wide World of Web would know if anything happened. 

Sorry to just drop in and be a bummer. :(

[Pixel]

I feel badly that I don't remember him. :(

[LiberryLady]

He didn't make the move over here. But he was pretty active on both TWoP and More Than That.

[King of Birds]

On 1/11/2017 at 5:30 PM, LiberryLady said:

 Do y'all remember Ohnomrbill from the old TWoP Chili's?

I believe he was a fine upstanding member of the Sno-Cone Patrol!  It's sad news, but thanks for sharing LL.

[Pixel]

Did he write fanfic, @LiberryLady?  I do recall his name, I just don't remember interacting with him. I'm sure I did, though.  There are others I remember well, like TVBuffy and KittyKat, and of course Jennifuh.  But honestly, I have a few FB friends that I know came from TWOP and I can't remember who they were on TWOP. 

[LiberryLady]

Yes, he was a member of the Sno-Cone Patrol, and he did write a little fanfic, @Pixel. He never went here or to Facebook, so that makes it harder to remember him.

[Pixel]

Well, I'm sorry to hear that he passed. It's always sad to lose someone.  

[sacrebleu]

I'm sorry to hear about Ohnomrbill, I have only a vague memory of him. Mostly because every time I saw his name, in my head, I heard the Mr. Bill high-pitched voice saying it.

This is a weird week to be in DC, more and more streets are closing as we get closer to the inauguration. It's getting more difficult to get in to work each day. Most offices (including ours) are closed on Friday- so with the MLK holiday-- it's a three-day work week. 

[King of Birds]

Would that it were so simple, a three-day work week.

So basically I've had very little to do today, and yet... with tax season approaching, some movies out that I want to see, netflix, shows on the dvr ... I caught up on the four episodes of the Leah Remini Scientologist show and I just read Leah's reddit AMA. This section she wrote...

Quote

Because very early on in the brainwashing process, L. Ron Hubbard's "technology" teaches you that outside sources (i.e. The news, the Internet, books, magazines) are ALL LIES and hellbent on destroying something decent like Scientology. The AMA, and APA, and all "governments" do not give scientology its due because they have a vested interest in not healing people and not helping people. And Scientology is in the business of making people better. So Scientologists are taught that their safest bet is to get their info from the only true decent people...and those are Scientologists.

And if you replace Scientology with "Republican/s" you see we're in a place where what happens Friday should not be unexpected.

BTW sorry to be so anti-republican. I'm really not, several friends are 'Pubs and we all coexist mostly, but my context is that the GOP Republican Presidents in my lifetime at least wanted to be President, and acted thusly. I don't see this with the incoming government.

Edited January 18, 2017 by King of Birds

[possibilities]

I have a weird earache that only happens in the evening. It started last night, but was gone this morning. Then it started again this evening. Is that a thing? It's kind of painful and also itchy. My throat is also mildly sore. I feel like a child. I had a lot of strep growing up. I am trying to remember if it felt like this.

I get being skeptical of various institutions, but what I find surprising is that it doesn't lead to being skeptical of Scientology as well. Why does the skepticism end, instead of stimulating critical thinking and research? Maybe I should read her book, but I'm kind of lazy, so I want KoB to just tell me.

See? I said I feel like a child.

[Glory]

Her book is really good! I devoured it on a plane ride and it was so good. I've been watching the show too. 

The thing I hear a lot about Scientology is, at the beginning, it all makes a lot of sense. It's a lot about being your best self and getting rid of your inner demons, and living in positivity and such. I can see that being appealing. I mean, if you've ever bought a self-help book you could be "this close" to buying in to parts of Scientology. 

It's when they've sucked you in that things start to get real crazy. 

Back from LA. Man, you guys have good food. So many vegetarian/vegan options that it makes me sad to come home. Went to Sage Vegan Bistro twice. So good. 

[frenchtoast]

7 hours ago, possibilities said:

I have a weird earache that only happens in the evening. It started last night, but was gone this morning. Then it started again this evening. Is that a thing? It's kind of painful and also itchy. My throat is also mildly sore. I feel like a child. I had a lot of strep growing up. I am trying to remember if it felt like this.

My 14 year old was complaining that his ears felt like they had popped or needed to pop. He had an appointment at the docs in a few days so I brought it up then and he had a double ear infection. He didn't say it hurt, it was just bothering him. I had a weird pain in my ear/head/mouth and it turned out to be Hand, Foot and Mouth. Sometimes I get a bit of a sore throat with post-nasal drip which will even make my ear and sinus ache a bit. All of this is to say, there is a lot of interconnected stuff between the ear and throat. It could be a virus, a bacteria or just something simple as a drip. It couldn't hurt having it checked out. In the meantime, maybe those allergy pills, like Claritin, help. All the dust and the weird up and down weather has made my nose runny and given me a tickle but it's not a cold. The anti-histamine can help sometimes.

[possibilities]

Damn, my book and tv list gets longer and longer.... There was someone in my college alum group who was an ex-Scientologist. He made it seem extremely scary and dangerous, so that colors my attitude. But then you see a lot of people be part of it, and you wonder what the hell draws them in? What you say about it makes sense, Glory, about it starting off OK and only getting terrible once you're already invested.

My earache seems to be gone today, but that is sobering stuff, frenchtoast. If it comes back, I guess I should take it seriously. My body is so prone to problems, I tend to ignore the symptom du jour unless it persists for a long time or is really intense and unmanageable, just so I have room to think of other things than what the hell is wrong today, but it does make it hard for me to know when to do something and when to just hope it passes.

[Kalliste]

2 hours ago, possibilities said:

But then you see a lot of people be part of it, and you wonder what the hell draws them in?

This is how I feel about pretty much all religion to be honest. Religion fills a hole in your life. It's a community of people who want better lives or be better people and think some higher being is going to guide the way for them.

Any religion can be scary if you let it. I mean, how many wars has Scientology started? That being said, I don't know much about Scientology, other than that they try and get me to complete stress tests :P

Unrelated to religion (probably), I'm actually planning on seeing a movie this year. It's pretty unlike me, although I did see Fantastic Beasts. This year I plan on going to see Logan.

[King of Birds]

3 hours ago, Kalliste said:

Unrelated to religion (probably), I'm actually planning on seeing a movie this year. It's pretty unlike me/  This year I plan on going to see Logan.

Sounds like Kalliste belongs to The Church of Hugh Jackman. Those Logan trailers did their job huh K?

[Kalliste]

Not really @King of Birds (re: Hugh Jackman) I haven't seen a Wolverine movie since... I forget its name, the terrible one in, I want to say Japan. The Wolverine maybe? I really haven't kept up with the whole Marvel universe really but I did like the trailers for this one. I used to really like Wolverine from the old animated tv show but I preferred Gambit :D There was a good comic series a few years back that I enjoyed too, also mostly because Gambit :D 

[Pixel]

15 hours ago, Kalliste said:

This is how I feel about pretty much all religion to be honest. Religion fills a hole in your life. It's a community of people who want better lives or be better people and think some higher being is going to guide the way for them.

Any religion can be scary if you let it. I mean, how many wars has Scientology started? That being said, I don't know much about Scientology, other than that they try and get me to complete stress tests :P

Unrelated to religion (probably), I'm actually planning on seeing a movie this year. It's pretty unlike me, although I did see Fantastic Beasts. This year I plan on going to see Logan.

I agree. Religion is a dangerous thing, as far as I'm concerned. Cults are worse because at least if you're a catholic and you want out you just stop going to church. Scientology sends private investigators out to find you!