Small Talk: The Impala

[Demented Daisy]

All together now....  Awwwwwww!

 

[catrox14]

See also, some things never change :(.

[7kstar]

See also, some things never change :(.

But Sam has brought somethings to Dean this season...so at least he is trying.  I don't mind Dean helping Sam, as an older sibling of two younger, I would do it without thinking a thing about it if they were sick and I was around to help.  However since my health is going down, I would really hate the opposite.  It just wouldn't feel right.  I'm suppose to take care of them, not the other way around.  If you get my drift.  So to some degree I could get Dean hating Sam taking care of him.  But I must admit I like it when the Show has Sam do it.  :)

[rue721]

Aw I think it's sweet.

 

catrox14, don't you know that food is love? for shame. :P

[Demented Daisy]

Okay, totally off-topic.  For now.  ;-)

 

I love the Lego video games.  Batman, Harry Potter, Star Wars -- not so much the Lord of the Rings or Pirates of the Caribbean, but I have them all.  In a few months, they're releasing a Jurassic World version and it looks awesome.  

 

I would love a Supernatural version.  Technically, they're kids' games, so it wouldn't really work, but it would crack me up and be a blast to play.  (Of course, after Stephen Amell voiced the DLC for the latest Batman, I'd love an Arrow version, too.)

 

Back to your regularly scheduled programming.  ;-)

[rue721]

Bringing this over from the Supernatural Obsession thread because apparently I posted in the wrong thread in the first place:

 

My current advice:  Run when being chased and swim when drowning (although I am a swimmer so that one is not fast and hard).

 

As long as cops were out there chasing people down, it actually seemed like a bad idea to run! I don't really know how to swim, either, so for me that rule's more like:  swim when...a pool noodle is handy and there's an attentive life guard on duty? (Or not. Or just never swim. :P).

 

If anyone would appreciate this, you guys would, because it was that horrifying white bread and kale sandwich from a couple episodes back that inspired me:  I made extremely healthy chicken pot pies for dinner. They've got 4 cups of kale in them! And the pastry crust is made with wheat flour...As well as 2+ sticks of butter and 6Tbs of Crisco (I mean, they're still pies).

 

Also, my job interview with Cain this afternoon was utterly uneventful. No demon fighting at all, no new nasty scars. He drank hot tea the entire time. Guess I wore my kickass boots for nothing! Le sigh.

[AwesomO4000]

As long as cops were out there chasing people down, it actually seemed like a bad idea to run! I don't really know how to swim, either, so for me that rule's more like:  swim when...a pool noodle is handy and there's an attentive life guard on duty? (Or not. Or just never swim. :P).

 

I'm kinda weird with swimming. I like to swim in what might be considered the "wrong" way: i.e. I prefer to keep my head above water while swimming (usually the side stroke or the fan stroke). However, snorkeling is one of my favorite hobbies, so I do put my face in then (the mask covers my nose, so I'm okay), and I can "swim" (more like float and kick slowly around, but sometimes there's current) for hours at a time doing that. So weirdly I love being in the water and love snorkeling, but don't like my face under water much without a mask on (or unless I'm holding my nose). So I couldn't imagine not swimming - especially because then I couldn't snorkel anymore.

[rue721]

I'm kinda weird with swimming. I like to swim in what might be considered the "wrong" way: i.e. I prefer to keep my head above water while swimming (usually the side stroke or the fan stroke). However, snorkeling is one of my favorite hobbies, so I do put my face in then (the mask covers my nose, so I'm okay), and I can "swim" (more like float and kick slowly around, but sometimes there's current) for hours at a time doing that. So weirdly I love being in the water and love snorkeling, but don't like my face under water much without a mask on (or unless I'm holding my nose). So I couldn't imagine not swimming - especially because then I couldn't snorkel anymore.

 

Snorkling sounds fantastic! Do you get to go a lot? What kinds of life/places do you like to look at?

 

I'm into fish tanks as a hobby and would love to see all these aquatic creatures in the wild. Right now I've got a FW planted tank that's finally doing well (plus, a bunch of projects for it that are still only half-built!) and am slowly collecting equipment to get a SW tank going. Last summer I started helping with the invertebrate counts and water quality readings that a county nearby does on their creeks, too, but that's still as close to *actual* nature as I've gotten so far. Anyway, so it would be awesome to be able to swim well enough to go snorkling or even scuba diving! Last year, I took swimming lessons with that as my (vague) goal, but even now, I can't actually *swim* anywhere, I'm just more skilled at not starting to drown straight away after getting into the water.

 

But if the not-able-to-swim thing is unimaginable to you, here's another thing that I can't do:  smell anything. I don't have a sense of smell, and haven't since I was a very small child. (No interesting story behind it, just a lack of medical care growing up, lol).

[Demented Daisy]

This new invention would make Sam and Dean's lives so much easier.  No more packing rounds with rock salt.

 

I give you -- Bug-A-Salt!  Pour salt in the chamber and fire!

[AwesomO4000]

Snorkling sounds fantastic! Do you get to go a lot? What kinds of life/places do you like to look at?

 

When I was a teen, we used to go often over the summer at my Nana's in Florida (we'd stay there on summer break), but it was the West coast, so no real coral reefs or anything to look at. And I couldn't "snorkel" per se back then. I wore a mask and would just take a breath and float - looking for sea shells in the wave swail or looking at the fish - and pick my head up when I needed air. My husband grew up on the West coast of Florida though - I met him in college in Florida - so when we visited his hometown area, we'd go snorkeling together in various places there. Jupiter beach was one place. Once we graduated and we moved to Indiana, I'd go during our Christmas break. (Still no snorkel). Our first big trip was about 12+ years ago. We had an international Entomology meeting in Australia. The airline ticket didn't cost any more to stop off for a few days in Fiji, so we went to one of the smaller islands (Malolo). It was awesome. Then about 8 or 9 years ago, I went on a work trip for 2 weeks or so through Honduras (loved it). Our last stop was a mini 2 day vacation on an island called Roatan. The snorkeling was awesome so I told my hubby about it. We planned to go on a cruise a couple of years later with that as one of the destinations so he could see it to. We also stopped in Belize and the Cayman Islands, but Roatan was our favorite. The plan was to choose the favorite and spend all of our time there - we both found the "cruising" part of the trip rather boring - so we've been 2 more times to Roatan with plans to go again this year (hopefully if I get my butt in gear and make plans). When I get home today, I'll try to find a photo or two to show you from our last trip - I got one of those Canon cameras that can go underwater up to about 15 or so feet (totally affordable) - but it's going to be tough to just pick a few - I ended up taking like 1000 photos (no exagerration).

 

As for scuba diving, My hubby knows how, but I have pressure issues (as in I can't even go to the bottom of a pool and my head hurts). Hubby also actually prefers just snorkeling, because we don't have to deal with any extra equipment. I have a mask, a special snorkel (it closes underwater, so no water gets in), and small fins, and I'm ready to go. Roatan has quite a few places where you just bloop! in the water right off the beach and there's the reef, or a small boat takes you and there's the critters right below you at 10-15 feet. I tend to gravitate towards and photograph the stuff that - as my hubby says - "looks like fungus" (which I also photograph), so the soft corals, fire worms, shrimp, sea lilies, etc. I'll also photograph the fish too, but I really like the weirdo stuff just as much.

 

So we only go once every 2 or 3 years now, but we stay a week and snorkel 2 or 3 times a day for 4 or 5 of those days, usually a few hours at a time (so we get in a lot of snorkeling in a short time).

 

If you ever want to go snorkeling in Florida - and there are some nice places to do so there - I'll ask my hubby about places for you. He grew up there and knows the best places. He's also been to the Keys (I have not).

[rue721]

I give you -- Bug-A-Salt!  Pour salt in the chamber and fire!

 

My favorite part is the A-Salt pun. I *know* somebody felt really clever when he came up with that one! Also love the part in the video when the salt gun shoots fireworks. LOL. Thanks for that.

 

AwesomO4000, I just googled Roatan and this is the sort of stuff that came up (!!!):

 

 

 

OK, it's obvious why you keep going back! Does it really look like that?

 

I don't know if you would be able to see this out in the wild (?) -- but for the nano reef I'm trying to build (only 10 gallons), I'm hoping to eventually get a goby/pistol shrimp pair. They seem like they'd be fascinating to watch (apparently, the shrimp like to build their burrows right up against the aquarium glass, so you might even be able to watch the shrimp and goby when they're "at home" in the burrow). If you haven't heard about the goby/shrimp relationship before, these are pretty good videos about them (please ignore the ~biology class~ music!).

Goby Fish and Shrimp Friendship

The Odd Couple (this one ends with a total guilt trip for the goby, which I love)

 

Have you ever seen Planet Earth: Ocean Deep? I saw it years ago, when it was being broadcast, but still remember it so well. I even skipped class to see the whole thing.

 

UGH if only I weren't scared of the water :)

[AwesomO4000]

I've looked into having a salt water tank myself, but unfortunately we live in a neighborhood where there are lots of trees and the power goes out more often than I'd like. They generally fix it fairly quickly, but I would be worried for those times when it isn't possible to fix it so quickly, or if we aren't there when it goes out - say if we're out of town for a meeting - so we finally decided that we'd love to, but sadly can't at present.

 

And I love goby fish and their cool biology. I actually have a cool shrimp photo that maybe I'll post later - when we get to a new page.

 

As for Roatan, I'm not so sure about those colors where we can reach (as in those photos above might be from deeper), but here are some of my photos. Keep in mind this was my first foray into underwater photography, and that I had to resize/resample the photos quite a bit so that they wouldn't be too big a file size. The regular sizes are much more impressive, and I'm not a professional to say the least, but I hope these give an idea. Later on I'll post some of the cool brain coral maybe as well (again - new page). I just couldn't seem to choose and so just went with these to show various aspects - fish congregation, water color, depth, critters, etc. Oh by the way, we go in July, so the water is perfect and warm, so we can stay in for hours without getting cold.

 

 

See the damaged coral in the bottom right of the photo? At first I was thinking that this was being done by people damaging it, but then I later heard this crunch, crunch, crunch, looked over and saw a parot fish eating the coral... so that's natural "damage" by munching parot fish - hee.

 

 

To show how close to the surface the "action" often is. And how the coral and rock formations just go on and on. (That's hubby snorkeling.)

 

One of my favorite Roatan denizens: a beautiful spotted eel. I've seen these multiple times.

 

 

Less friendly than the eel, this curmudgeony octopus hid soon after his photo, and he wouldn't come out for us anymore (we could see one of his arms that wouldn't fit all the way in his "cubby"). He was right off the dock at one of the places we stayed. It was only about 5 feet deep.

 

Here's one of the fish up close:

Edited February 12, 2015 by AwesomO4000

[catrox14]

I think all your lovely pictures should go into a Supernatural Therapy thread a happy place to look at when I'm ready to throw my remote at the TV like I was on Tuesday night. 

 

I LOVE snorkeling but the water in San Diego is too cold for snorkeling without a wetsuit most of the time.  I snorkeled in hawaii and it was awesome.

[Demented Daisy]

Snorkeling in Hawaii, you say?  My husband's favorite place is Hanauma Bay.

 

I was going to post pictures, but you need to do a Google image search.  Too much to choose from.  :-)

Edited February 12, 2015 by Demented Daisy

[rue721]

AwesomO4000, those pictures are wonderful! Thank you for posting them. I love how the octopus somehow manages to have a distrustful facial expression (without even really having a face?!) and the colors on that fish are spectacular. Like a really beautiful oil slick :P

 

Did you ever see something out in the ocean while snorkling and then come back and eat the same animal for lunch or dinner?

 

With the coral stretching out forever like that, what happens if you need to rest? Do you have to just tread water until you can start swimming again?

 

Snorkeling in Hawaii, you say?  My husband's favorite place is Hanauma Bay.

 

That link is amazing, Demented Daisy, thanks for that. So many cool animals, but this description of box jellyfish was the biggest WTF:

 

Box jellyfish have 24 eyes, four parallel brain clusters and 60 anal regions. Their eyes are collected on the four sides of the cube-like body. Sixteen of the eyes are pits of light sensitive pigment, however one pair in each cluster have complex development. These complex eyes include a lens, retina, iris and cornea. It’s not known how these jellyfish process visual information, since they have no central nervous system.

 

Mindblowing.

 

I've looked into having a salt water tank myself, but unfortunately we live in a neighborhood where there are lots of trees and the power goes out more often than I'd like. They generally fix it fairly quickly, but I would be worried for those times when it isn't possible to fix it so quickly, or if we aren't there when it goes out - say if we're out of town for a meeting - so we finally decided that we'd love to, but sadly can't at present.

 

And I love goby fish and their cool biology. I actually have a cool shrimp photo that maybe I'll post later - when we get to a new page.

 

If what's holding you back is being away from home too much, some people put everything onto a central system that allows them to monitor and control the tank remotely (they use an Arduino). Those systems don't seem all that expensive to build, but they require some skill. Of course, I'm still struggling to wire my DIY auto top off, so am definitely light years away from being able to put anything like that together myself! You can also just buy a system to monitor/control the tank remotely, too, but they're really expensive. And obviously not as fun to mess with!

 

There's also a lot of stuff you can do to keep a tank running in a pinch, like using an airstone powered by a battery-operated air pump to run a skimmer (SW) or box filter (FW), if you're really desperate for filtration. Apparently (haven't done this myself), you can build a wave generator that runs on gravity rather than electricity using a bell siphon. And it's not tough to build a little auto-feeder out of a cheap battery-operated clock. The big issue is the lighting, I think? The only way I know of to keep that going uninterrupted is to have some sort of backup generator, but at the point that you're running a backup generator, maybe you want to connect it to, you know, your fridge or freezer, rather than to your fish tank :P

 

Hey speaking of finding ways around a power outage, have you guys ever heard of people cooking food on their car engine?! I've read about it, but can't imagine doing it. Otoh, it would be really nice to arrive home at night and have a hot meal all ready to eat! :P

[rue721]

Oh shit guys. I've been working at a fine dining place, and obviously this weekend is going to be a madhouse because of Valentine's Day. The guests you get for Valentine's are also usually people who are eating at a place that's one step fancier than they're used to, so they're usually more demanding and stressed than normal guests because they're more anxious for everything to go perfectly. I'm freaking TERRIFIED.

 

They're already so stuffy at this restaurant, the other day the service captain criticized me because when I cleared someone's dirty plates, I didn't stack them prettily enough on my tray. He was like, "That is not OK! Everything has to be pretty!" Everything has to be pretty?! With all the guests stressing out over their Big Date tonight and tomorrow and the tasting menus and all of that...Blegh my stomach is in knots.

 

I keep thinking of all the times I've messed up terribly and thinking, "well, at least that can't happen tonight!" Like one time (years ago), I had a tray full of ramekins of Ranch dressing, I mean maybe 10 ramekins full of the stuff. I set the tray on the counter of the service station, though part of the tray had to hang over the edge of the counter because it was so big, and then I squatted down to get into the cabinet below the service station to get some take out boxes. When I stood up, I stood up directly into the edge of the tray, knocked it right on top of myself, and SOAKED myself in Ranch. SOAKED. My shirt was entirely see-through from the grease and I had to just go home. At least this place is too fancy for Ranch dressing, and that can't happen! Anything is better than taking a Ranch bath right on the dining room floor, right? Right?! GAHHHH.

[supposebly]

I don't envy you. That sounds terrifying. Although I laughed when you mentioned that the tray was too big. I knew what would happen.

 

Good luck! I hate Valentine's day. It's too close to my birthday.

[Altered Reality]

I'll be crossing my fingers that all goes well for you rue721.  Your Ranch dressing story is an example of why I don't work in food services.  It sounds exactly like something I'd do~multiple times a week, I'm sure.  Hope the lovebirds all tip well!

[rue721]

Thank you guys!

 

Tonight turned out fine. Absolutely NO:

• Ranch dressing baths;
• Spilling pitchers of beer onto guests;
• Sliding down the stairs and falling onto the food runners so that we all end up sprawled on the floor like dominoes, with everyone's food splattered on the walls of the stairwell; or,
• Complaints.

 

There's honestly no reason to get so wound up, because fine dining is easy! Aside from the seemingly infinite arbitrary rules we're supposed to follow at all times. And the massive amount of food and alcohol knowledge we're supposed to have. Or in my case, fake. But physically, it's so, so, so much easier. So I'm trying to get used to it. Tryyyyyying.

[catrox14]

Happy Unattached Drifters Christmas!!

[Guest]

(As an aside ItsABear, your screen name is reminding me of Spike, and when I see it I hear Spike in my head saying it and then sayin "You made a Bear! Undo it! Undo it!" I have issues.)

 

I want to thank you for pointing this out.  Ever since you mentioned this, I've been doing that too and it makes me smile every time!

[Splash]

I've looked into having a salt water tank myself, but unfortunately we live in a neighborhood where there are lots of trees and the power goes out more often than I'd like. They generally fix it fairly quickly, but I would be worried for those times when it isn't possible to fix it so quickly, or if we aren't there when it goes out - say if we're out of town for a meeting - so we finally decided that we'd love to, but sadly can't at present.

 

If you want one, don't let that hold you back.  We've have a 55 gallon salt water tank for 15 years and have never had a significant problem because of a power outage, even when we lost power for 2.5 days.  I think that, once the tank gets established, it can handle less than perfect conditions pretty easily.

[AwesomO4000]

AwesomO4000, those pictures are wonderful! Thank you for posting them. I love how the octopus somehow manages to have a distrustful facial expression (without even really having a face?!) and the colors on that fish are spectacular. Like a really beautiful oil slick :P

 

Did you ever see something out in the ocean while snorkling and then come back and eat the same animal for lunch or dinner?

 

I should have answered your questions sooner, but it's been a busy week:

 

Actually yes, but one of the main things we ate I don't feel guilty about, because they are an invasive fish. Roatan has very strict policies in large parts of the island. No fishing in those areas, not even collecting sea shells (Two big areas are marine preserves). One exception are the lion fish. When we went 5 years ago, there were lots of lion fish - which was a bad thing, since they are not native to the area, and the predators didn't know how to eat them, so the lion fish were starting to eat all of the other reef fish. So Roatan had a policy with specialy trained people - often natives of the island - to fish the lion fish (usually they are spear-fished) and the local places know how to cook it. Some of the dive shop owners also had programs to teach the predators - like big grouper - how to eat the lion fish. This seemed to have worked, because when we went last time 3 years ago, we only saw one or two pairs of lion fish during our snorkeling (instead of about 40 pairs 5 years ago). Lion fish are actually pretty tasty, too - not as tasty as the hog fish we ate one time, but still pretty tasty - so when we go we try to eat local lion fish when we can, since that promotes their being fished and keeping them from over-taking the natural reef fish in Roatan. When we snorkel and see them, we report their location - especially if we're with or within close proximity to a dive shop person or someone who has taken us via boat - the dive shop person or boat owner can then go get them with a spear (a few times one of the eco lodge / dive shop owners let my hubby have a spear to try to get some - they can be sneaky though, so hubby was unsuccessful. He reported their location for future hunting purposes.)

 

But that was probably way longer an answer than you wanted. ; )

 

With the coral stretching out forever like that, what happens if you need to rest? Do you have to just tread water until you can start swimming again?

 

Surprisingly I'm usually so fascinated ny all the werid critters that I forget to get tired, but when I do, there isn't much current in most places, so floating on my back is generally peaceful if I can't get to shore quickly - though often shore is only a 10-15 minute leisurely swim away. In the location in the picture with my hubby - slow careful swimming is best anyway. In some areas, the reef is so close to the surface you float over it starfish-like to get to the next area, because otherwise you might get hurt or hurt the coral. Frenetic swimming would be dangerous and likely get you cut up. This is actually good though - because that means all of the boats and water sports take place down the beach and despite being like 10 minutes from shore, you never have to worry about boats or Sea Dos or anything while you snorkel, because they'd never get in there.

 

There are dozens - probably over 100 or more - channels like this:

 

 

throughout the area, and some go pretty near the surface... that gradually go into the regular flat areas like this...

 

Hey speaking of finding ways around a power outage, have you guys ever heard of people cooking food on their car engine?! I've read about it, but can't imagine doing it. Otoh, it would be really nice to arrive home at night and have a hot meal all ready to eat! :P

 

I could imagine Dean cooking something this way - he'd be proud his Baby made him dinner - unless it was a messy process, in which case he'd not subject his Baby to it.

 

And thank you and Splash for the salt water tank advice. I may have to look into it.

[supposebly]

Seeing those pictures, it does make me regret a bit that my chosen country is the Great White North. Which is very white and cold and thus not so great today. I haven't been snorkeling in 20 years!

[AwesomO4000]

Brought over from the "Cast In Other Roles" thread where the talk had turned to soap operas.

 

Many years ago on a Buffy message board, I did a post comparing all the ways that Timmy and Spike were similar. It turned out to be a rather extensive list.

I think we need to see this list. For science.  Perhaps move it to the Small Talk thread as it's wildly unrelated?

 

It's been many, many years since I made that list. but I recreated as many things as I could remember from it.

 

For those unfamiliar with Passions, Timmy was a "living doll" who could exist either in living form or return himself to doll form when needed. He was immortal, because as Spike, from Buffy, once told Buffy's mother Joyce "oh, Timmy's a doll. Tabitha can just stitch him back together" ... which considering Timmy's habit of falling into wells, getting into skirmishes with Fluffy the cat, and other trouble, it was a good thing that was the case. He was also known for making special cocktails for Tabitha the witch - called Mar-Timmies. They had a mother/son relationship. Timmy was Spike's favorite character on Passions, and it was interesting that depsite not looking all that much alike, they had an awful lot in common, in my opinion...

 

Here are the similarities I observed between Spike and Timmy that I remember... I'm sure I'm forgetting some, but here we go...

 

Spike was created by a somewhat evil vampiress who he called his black queen and/or princess.
Timmy was created by a somewhat evil witch who he referred to as his “Princess.”

 

For about 100 years, Spike remained devoted to his “black queen.”
For an unknown time that may have been centuries, Timmy remained devoted to his “princess.”

 

Both Spike and Timmy started out evil and/or immoral.

 

Both Timmy and Spike were immortal and different versions of “undead.”

 

Spike fell in love with good woman Buffy.
Timmy fell in love with good woman Charity.

 

Buffy was the mortal enemy of Spike’s creator and the woman he was previously devoted to, Drusilla (the vampire).
Charity was the mortal enemy of Timmy’s creator and the woman he was devoted to Tabitha (the witch).

 

Drusilla repeatedly tried to get Spike to kill Buffy.
Tabitha repeatedly tried to get Timmy to help her kill Charity.

 

Spike rejected Drusilla to be with Buffy.
Timmy defied Tabitha to help / save Charity.

 

Spike tried to be good for Buffy, eventually working to get his soul.
Timmy tried to be good for Charity, eventually working to become a real person and mortal rather than a doll and immortal.

 

Spike loved Buffy even though he believed Buffy would never love him back.
Timmy loved Charity even though he knew she could never love him back.

 

Spike sacrificed himself to prove his love and worth to Buffy.

Timmy sacrificed himself and gave his heart – literally – to save Charity’s life. (I cried embarssingly a lot.)

 

Spike was resurrected.
Timmy was supposed to be resurrected – I believe as an angel – but in a cruel coincidence, because the taping was a month ahead, Josh Ryan Evans (who played Timmy) died from complications of a needed operation on the same day the episode was broadcast where his character Timmy died to save Charity.

Edited February 17, 2015 by AwesomO4000

[SueB]

This is an outstanding list. I'm going to tweet to Christos Gage (current Buffy comic writer) that spike needs to fall down a well.

That's really sad about the Timmy actor.

[AwesomO4000]

This is an outstanding list. I'm going to tweet to Christos Gage (current Buffy comic writer) that spike needs to fall down a well.

 

Hee. This so needs to happen.

 

 

And yes, it was really sad about Josh Ryan Evans. He seemed like such a positive and likeable kid - and he was pretty much still a kid since he was only 20 when he passed away.

[SueB]

I have a completely OFF TOPIC random rant.  I just a picture of someone in the TV industry interviewing a star.  Normal, nice picture.  She's a nice person.  And then I noticed her jeans. And they are artfully torn with what I presume is an artful bleach spot. I bet those jeans are over $200.

 

And I'm thinking...why? My jeans got like that on accident throughout my life.  Those are the jeans that I wear for painting and change out of before going to the grocery story. Why are those jeans still a thing?  Didn't that trend come and go a gazillion years ago?

 

** this old lady moment brought to you by the letter W...for Wasting Time because it's not 9pm and I'm just ranting**

[Altered Reality]

SueB  I shall rant right along with you.  Why are these a thing.  It's just stupid to pay *more* for something that's already partially destroyed.  And don't get me started on finding that crap in the kids/teen wear.  Kids wreak havoc on their clothing quickly enough, TYVM!

 

And don't get me started on paying $100s for a pair of jeans.  I resent it when I have to pay more than $50 (I'm hard to fit so don't always have much of a choice).

 

 

[rue721]

Actually yes, but one of the main things we ate I don't feel guilty about, because they are an invasive fish. Roatan has very strict policies in large parts of the island. No fishing in those areas, not even collecting sea shells (Two big areas are marine preserves). One exception are the lion fish.

 

You shouldn't feel guilty about anything you eat!

 

I just love when you're eating something and the cook or the waiter will be like, "we got it from right there" and point to a spot maybe 100 yards away. Have you ever eaten at a crab shack in MD? The butcher paper tablecloths + mallets + eating right on the dock is so fun, I love going even though I don't particularly like crab.

 

What are they going to do once all the lion fish are gone? Are people going to raise them in captivity to keep their businesses going, or will they just shift back to their old, local foods?

 

It's great that they've gotten the lion fish population down. How did they teach other sorts of fish to eat them? Tbh, how do you teach fish *anything*? Your husband is badass for trying to spearfish. I don't think I'd have the heart. In theory, everything has a job, and some things' job is to be eaten...but in practice, I don't know if I'd have the nerve to actually do the killing myself -- and with a stick ffs?!

 

Surprisingly I'm usually so fascinated ny all the werid critters that I forget to get tired, but when I do, there isn't much current in most places, so floating on my back is generally peaceful if I can't get to shore quickly - though often shore is only a 10-15 minute leisurely swim away. In the location in the picture with my hubby - slow careful swimming is best anyway. In some areas, the reef is so close to the surface you float over it starfish-like to get to the next area, because otherwise you might get hurt or hurt the coral. Frenetic swimming would be dangerous and likely get you cut up. This is actually good though - because that means all of the boats and water sports take place down the beach and despite being like 10 minutes from shore, you never have to worry about boats or Sea Dos or anything while you snorkel, because they'd never get in there.

 

OK, since the horrible cold here has made running feel like torture, I decided to go to the pool and try swimming instead. DUDE. This "floating until you're not tired" thing is tiring. And talk about "frenetic" swimming. You know the moment when you realize that no part of yourself is touching the ground? And you frantically try to grab onto something before you sink/fall/die? That happened at least 10 times yesterday.

 

But your pictures are *gorgeous.* Especially the one showing that channel between the outcroppings of coral. Is that just the sand that the coral hasn't gotten to yet? Will it eventually be covered by coral, too? Anyway, thank you for posting them!

 

Maybe eventually, once I stop feeling like I'm tugging on the veil between worlds while in the 3.5ft deep swimming lane, and can go more than half a length before stopping for breath, I will look into snorkling further. :P

 

I could imagine Dean cooking something this way - he'd be proud his Baby made him dinner - unless it was a messy process, in which case he'd not subject his Baby to it.

 

I read that it started with truckers putting cans of soup (with a hole cut to vent?) onto an exhaust valve (?) in their engine. But apparently, you can wrap food up in tinfoil (I guess to make a version of those steamer bags you can use in an oven? Or how you can roast jacket potatoes or beets?), and cook it on the engine that way, too.

 

On this site, they're talking about making beef stroganoff, homemade pizza, a turkey, hamburgers, peach crisp -- all on an engine?! LOL. I don't even know how I'd react if I were driving with someone and they decided we were going to be cooking a meal like that as we went.

 

A part of me wants to try it, a part of me is horribly disgusted.

 

Here are the similarities I observed between Spike and Timmy that I remember... I'm sure I'm forgetting some, but here we go...

 

This list is fantastic! I also love that the character of a living doll had such an incredible emotional arc. Cracks me up.

 

It's just stupid to pay *more* for something that's already partially destroyed.  And don't get me started on finding that crap in the kids/teen wear.  Kids wreak havoc on their clothing quickly enough, TYVM!

 

But clothes hang better if they've been partially destroyed! They're too stiff off the rack -- except if you're rich enough and/or willing to pay enough to get them pre-broken-in. So you're paying more in order to wear the pants *only* at their period of peak hotness, not during the blah breaking-in phase.

 

I guess. Though I buy my clothes at Marshall's/Ross/TJMaxx, so how would I really know. If I had $300 to blow, though, I guess why not get really nice pants (or pants you really like wearing)? You have to wear pants, might as well wear the best you can get.

 

I've got a leather jacket that I've worn for about 6mo out of the year for the last ten or eleven years, and at this point it's perfectly molded to my body and is just amazing to wear. It looks great, it feels great. But the zipper keeps breaking, and I keep having it repaired, so keeping that jacket has cost me a fair amount of money over those ~10 yrs. This winter, I had to get the zipper replaced and then part of it repaired again, and it's cost about $25 -- and it's not the first winter that that's happened. Idk, I don't think that spending money on something I really like (like this jacket) is a waste, though. It feels like a bigger waste of money to just throw out this jacket even though I still want it, or to spend less to buy something I don't like, than to spend (more) money on something I do?

[ItsABear]

And I'm thinking...why? My jeans got like that on accident throughout my life.  Those are the jeans that I wear for painting and change out of before going to the grocery story. Why are those jeans still a thing?  Didn't that trend come and go a gazillion years ago?

 

 

I also thought they had gone out of style a long time ago.  

SueB  I shall rant right along with you.  Why are these a thing.  It's just stupid to pay *more* for something that's already partially destroyed.  And don't get me started on finding that crap in the kids/teen wear.  Kids wreak havoc on their clothing quickly enough, TYVM!

 

My son has holes in all his clothes.  Even his snow pants and jacket.  I'd never buy him something already ripped!

[Altered Reality]

But clothes hang better if they've been partially destroyed! They're too stiff off the rack -- except if you're rich enough and/or willing to pay enough to get them pre-broken-in. So you're paying more in order to wear the pants *only* at their period of peak hotness, not during the blah breaking-in phase.

 

I guess. Though I buy my clothes at Marshall's/Ross/TJMaxx, so how would I really know. If I had $300 to blow, though, I guess why not get really nice pants (or pants you really like wearing)? You have to wear pants, might as well wear the best you can get.

 

I've got a leather jacket that I've worn for about 6mo out of the year for the last ten or eleven years, and at this point it's perfectly molded to my body and is just amazing to wear. It looks great, it feels great. But the zipper keeps breaking, and I keep having it repaired, so keeping that jacket has cost me a fair amount of money over those ~10 yrs. This winter, I had to get the zipper replaced and then part of it repaired again, and it's cost about $25 -- and it's not the first winter that that's happened. Idk, I don't think that spending money on something I really like (like this jacket) is a waste, though. It feels like a bigger waste of money to just throw out this jacket even though I still want it, or to spend less to buy something I don't like, than to spend (more) money on something I do?

I guess it's never bothered me to have to break in my jeans.  Just means I will get more wear out of them.  Mind, I've never found any jean that looks all that great on me broken in or not, probably influences things. :D

 

I will spend more on certain items and I don't mind upkeep costs on the really good/useful things (sounds like your leather jacket fits into that category).  I've paid upwards of $400 for a really good wool winter coat, but then winter here is about 9 months long and I expect to wear it for at least 5 years! Jeans just don't fall into this category for me.  Now if I could find a really well tailored (properly lined etc.) well fitting pair of wool slacks, I'd be willing to spend $200 or more on them.  But that falls into the category of fantasy, so..!

[Altered Reality]

I also thought they had gone out of style a long time ago.  

My son has holes in all his clothes.  Even his snow pants and jacket.  I'd never buy him something already ripped!

I could never figure out how my kids managed to take out the knees in every thing they owned so darn fast.  I figured they would eventually grow out of that, but not so much.  The damage rate has slowed down (and thank goodness they stopped growing) but I noticed the younger one's  jeans on the drying rack the other day and every pair has at least one knee blown out.

[SueB]

Actually, I think it's a good sign if you kids are still blowing out their knees in their pants.  Means they are active.  So many kids are not these days.  So YAY! for damaged clothes -- it's a kid thing to do.

[ItsABear]

I could never figure out how my kids managed to take out the knees in every thing they owned so darn fast.  I figured they would eventually grow out of that, but not so much.  The damage rate has slowed down (and thank goodness they stopped growing) but I noticed the younger one's  jeans on the drying rack the other day and every pair has at least one knee blown out.

 

If you figure it out, please let me know.  My son even has holes in the knees of his sweats and pajamas!  Not to mention the elbows of at least half his long sleeve shirts.

[rue721]

When I was a kid, my mom worked at a department store that was the local version of Macy's (and the store where she worked actually is a Macy's now). Whenever clothes would come in that she thought would look cute on me (or on herself, or on my dad, or on my grandma or uncle), she'd hide a set in the back room until they could be put on clearance, and then she'd buy them for cheap. (Shhhhh!). So I was a well-dressed child! Well, relatively.

 

I don't have any children, so you should probably take this with a grain of salt, but fwiw, I think that how a kid should be dressed mostly depends on how the other kids on his street or in his class are dressed. It's fine to skimp if all the other parents are/have to, but nobody wants to be the neglected-looking child in the class!

 

Tbh, even as an adult, I just try to dress (etc) as similarly as possible to everyone else who I'm around. When I moved (back) to DC from LA a year or two ago, I felt like I had to tone down my clothes/hair/jewelry/makeup *so much,* and it was (is!) awful. But you know, gotta fit in. So I started wearing a french braid and canvas-soled sneakers**, "tasteful" makeup, and stud earrings. To my immense chagrin.

 

**Or in the current cold weather, powder blue combat boots. There have to be some allowances for winter.

[Altered Reality]

Actually, I think it's a good sign if you kids are still blowing out their knees in their pants.  Means they are active.  So many kids are not these days.  So YAY! for damaged clothes -- it's a kid thing to do.

Well, yes for a kid it is a good thing, but my kids really aren't kids.  They still live with me (many various and complicated reasons) but these are fully grown adults.  Just glad it's only the younger one I still buy clothes for.

 

If you figure it out, please let me know.  My son even has holes in the knees of his sweats and pajamas!  Not to mention the elbows of at least half his long sleeve shirts.

Sorry, still don't get it and at this point I don't think I ever will.  Hopefully yours will outgrow this destructive phase.

[ItsABear]

 

I don't have any children, so you should probably take this with a grain of salt, but fwiw, I think that how a kid should be dressed mostly depends on how the other kids on his street or in his class are dressed. It's fine to skimp if all the other parents are/have to, but nobody wants to be the neglected-looking child in the class!

 

Honestly, I think kids should dress any way they like, provided it is weather appropriate.  My son prefers to have clothes that don't match.  He actively picks out clashing colors.  Why?  I have no idea, but a few years ago I tried to get him wear matching clothes, and he refused.  Flat out refused to get out of his pajamas unless I let him wear the red with the orange (or whatever colors they were).  Of course, I didn't push it too much and let him pick out his own clothes.  He frequently looks like a thrift store reject, even though I buy high quality clothes for him due to the cheap clothes don't last long enough to make it worth it.

[Demented Daisy]

Agreed, ItsABear.  We started letting our daughter dress herself when she was about 3.  My husband is color blind, so whenever we visited my parents, they always assumed that he dressed her.  But nope, she wanted to wear that green striped shirt with those pink and purple plaid shorts.  ;-)  Like you, we only intervened when what she was wearing was weather-inappropriate.  (Shorts and a bathing suit in the dead of winter, for example.)

 

Cut to 15 years later and she wants to be a fashion designer.  Coincidence?  Maybe.  ;-)

[AwesomO4000]

Hee, Demented Daisy. It was similar with my sister. When she was really little, she would begin shucking clothing - with alarmingly efficient speed, no matter how many buttons, ties, bows, buckles, or zippers - almost as soon as she was dressed... we'd follow the trail of clothes to find her. Fast forward to her teen years and she was into fashionable clothes - conservative, almost demure, fashionable clothes - much to the "relief" of my Nana who used to tease my Mom all the time that she was going to grow up to be a stripper ("exotic dancer" hadn't become a common thing back then, so "stripper" it was). Heh.

[rue721]

It is horrible out -- below freezing, new snow was falling onto the old snow for about 9 hours today, and now we're getting frozen rain. The restaurant had to close *again,* so I'm called off work *again.* So I'm stuck at home, can't drive anywhere, haven't been able to go anywhere all day, and GOING STIR CRAZY.

 

How do people get through winter? I hate it so much. This is how desperate I am for something to do:  I've already finished my taxes and cleaned everywhere. Even the shower curtain liner got washed. There's nothing on Netflix and I've watched even the most recent episode of Backstrom twice. FFS! Grump grump grump. Grump.

 

Any tips for how to survive? Is anyone sitting outside on a warm night with a beer PLEASE SAY YES.

 

My father claims that to keep warm, people should bathe less, "to keeps the heat in the body." But uuuuh I think I'll continue disregarding that one. ETA:  oh, and heat apparently also has healing effects, because if you're feeling sick (according to him), you should wrap a scarf around your lower back/hips, to "warm your kidneys."

Edited February 22, 2015 by rue721

[SueB]

 

My father claims that to keep warm, people should bathe less, "to keeps the heat in the body." But uuuuh I think I'll continue disregarding that one. ETA:  oh, and heat apparently also has healing effects, because if you're feeling sick (according to him), you should wrap a scarf around your lower back/hips, to "warm your kidneys."

Does your father use Windex on zits?  Just checking...

 

 

How do people get through winter?

Hot tea or hot cocoa. Flannel sheets.  

[catrox14]

I would think watching Supernatural would warm your cockles!  :).  It's snowmaggedon in Colorado right now too.  My San Diego side is not happy. LOL

 

Use warm not hot water for your shower or bath. Put a little coconut oil in the bath water. Drink a lot of water too. I drink hot water with honey and lemon.  And hot cocoa.

[rue721]

Does your father use Windex on zits?  Just checking...

 

My father has probably never picked up a bottle of Windex in his life. For cleaning:  My parents both smoke, and when I was a kid, the Big Spring Clean that would happen every year or two is that my dad would get a big dishpan and pour bleach in it and bleach the kitchen. I mean literally wipe the walls with bleach-soaked rags to try and get them whiter. When I was maybe six or seven I was supposed to start helping, but my mom made this big point DO NOT TO TOUCH YOUR EYES OR YOU'LL GO BLIND!!1! and I noped right out of there.

 

Use warm not hot water for your shower or bath. Put a little coconut oil in the bath water.

 

Ooooh good tips. I always try to get the water blistering. How come it's better to just keep it warm?

 

And yes:  hot tea -- check! flannel sheets on the bed and an enormous down comforter drowning me on this chair -- check!

 

Now I just have to find a good episode of SPN...

[catrox14]

Hot water dries out the skin more than warm water. 

[GirlyGeek]

I'm in San diego, so I know nothing of this bad winter weather you all speak of. It got a little windy and cloudy here today... It might sprinkle tomorrow ;)

Rue721, I'm in the middle of the re watch and posting all by my lonesome in the episode threads if you're really bored. Just finished Very Supernatural Christmas, but if you want a recommendation, I laughed so hard I cried from Tall Tales and Folsom Prison Blues (hadn't watched them in years, so it was like brand.new.information!) :)

Edited February 22, 2015 by GeekGirlnb

[AwesomO4000]

How do people get through winter? I hate it so much.

 

I don't like it much either, even though I'm in Georgia now. When I was in Indiana though, winter was rough for me. But getting through - I have so many hobbies, i'm usually covered. I can put something on the TV and get creative at a moment's notice.

 

However here's a question that might be fun... The current survivor has got me thinking about characters I like and why I like them - especially since it's sometimes difficult to decide who I'm to vote for and who to vote against, so I ask myself why this one and not that one? So question:

 

What are your favorite top 10-15 all time favorite non-Supernatural characters from television shows? Please include the show they are from for people like myself who don't watch a lot of recent stuff. Also I'm going to make an exception for characters that "go together" like Mulder and Scully or Olivia and Elliot. They can be listed as one if you like.

 

I'm making my list still - and it'll likely take me a bit to narrow it down. But I'd love to see some of you guys' lists in the meantime...

[GirlyGeek]

OOooh, fun!

Hmm, let's see, in no particular order:

Mulder and Scully (xfiles)

Malcolm Reynolds (firefly)

River and Simon Tam (firefly)

Damon Salvatore (vampire diaries)

Spike (Buffy the vampire slayer)

Kara Thrace/Starbuck (battlestar galactica)

Helo and Athena (battlestar galactica)

Sheldon (Big Bang theory). See... I can pick non-sci fi shows! ;)

Edited to add...

Topher (dollhouse)

Sun and Jin (lost)

Angel (only on Angel, though, not on Buffy, lol)

Fred And Illyria (Angel)

Edited February 22, 2015 by GeekGirlnb

[catrox14]

Jack Harkness - Doctor Who and Torchwood

Gaius Baltar - BSG

Six - BSG

Sayid Jarrah - LOST

Jack Bauer - 24

Kara Thrace - BSG

Laura Roslin  and William Adama- BSG

Wesley Wyndam Price - Angel

Angel - Angel

Juliette  - LOST

Sun and Jin - LOST

The Doctor - Nine and Ten

Illyria (not Fred)- Angel

 

gotta think more

Edited February 22, 2015 by catrox14

[GirlyGeek]

Oh my catrox, we should be friends! And now I really, really want to do a BSG re watch (after my supernatural re watch is over, of course!)

I forgot Lost!

Edited February 22, 2015 by GeekGirlnb