General Discussion Thread

[Lazy8]

Oh damn, you're not talking the fury road mad max or even beyond thunderdome bur original max.

Oddly enough i saw what basically amounted to five warboys (yes they were shiny and chromed) piled into a vw bug doing burnouts and donuts at the walmart parking lot yesterday.... then again this was in portland sooooo....

Ah yes, War Boys in the parking lot. Just another day in Portland, so I hear. (Has seen a Youtube video of Darth Vader riding around on a unicycle playing the bagpipes, so...)

[Emil]

Time for my bimonthly visit to the forums!

Moving for uni this Wednesday. Looking forward to it though I am gonna miss my sweet dear fat blorp of a cat so very much, and I know he's gonna have it hard, as he usually eats less and goes out less when I'm not around. Hopefully he'll get used to it. I'll be visiting home every now and then but not as often as I'd like to. The travel expenses are a big turnoff.

Other than that, I've made some progress in my drawing practices. Nothing major though, but progress is progress ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Also, fireweed juice is dope. Made some earlier this summer, and while it got a sweet, it was tasty!

[Yuuago]

Time for my bimonthly visit to the forums!

Moving for uni this Wednesday. Looking forward to it though I am gonna miss my sweet dear fat blorp of a cat so very much, and I know he's gonna have it hard, as he usually eats less and goes out less when I'm not around. Hopefully he'll get used to it. I'll be visiting home every now and then but not as often as I'd like to. The travel expenses are a big turnoff.

Other than that, I've made some progress in my drawing practices. Nothing major though, but progress is progress ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Also, fireweed juice is dope. Made some earlier this summer, and while it got a sweet, it was tasty!

Good luck with university!

Also... fireweed juice? I had no idea that existed. I am intrigued.

[Solokov]

Ah yes, War Boys in the parking lot. Just another day in Portland, so I hear. (Has seen a Youtube video of Darth Vader riding around on a unicycle playing the bagpipes, so...)

The best part was I played along and threw on my respirator from work (only normally use that for pesticides that are basically discount vx which we haven't used any of this season anyway) and a heavy parka and waved them over to tell them they would travel to valhalla all shiny and chrome, to which they did another another burnout.

[Emil]

Also... fireweed juice? I had no idea that existed. I am intrigued.

It's pretty easy and gives them some use besides annoying weed. Just pick a large number of them and have them in a jar you then fill with water with some sugar and such and let it stay for a couple of days. Too long and the taste might get too acidic for your liking, or so it happened to me.

The recipe is as follows:

- 150 grams of dry fireweed (if you're picking fireweed after rain make sure to compensate for the extra weight per flower)
7 dl sugar
25 gram citric acid
1 liter water

Pick the flowers from the weed and put them in a jar. Boil the water, add the sugar and acid, have it in the jar with the fireweed flowers. Leave it for like 3-5 days, preferably in a fridge. Use a sifter to remove the flowers and tadaah - enjoy!

It has a tendency to spoil fast, so if you want to have it for a later date put it in a freezer.

[Róisín]

Sounds intriguing, Emil. Which fireweed did you mean? I was guessing the one with the mauve-pink flowers, Chamaeneiron or Epilobium, because I've used those flowers in a herb tea, and eaten them,  and they were good. Or is it the yellow-flowered thing that looks like a tiny daisy, the Senecio? I suppose putting the flowers with sugar like that ferments them a bit, like ginger beer?

[Emil]

Yep - Chamerion is correct. Easily accessible and plentiful!

[Róisín]

I wish it grew so with me! I love the plant, but I've only succeeded in growing it here for one season before the summer killed it. It's so pretty, and edible as well as being an excellent anti-inflammatory and a useful herb for magic. And of course a food source for beneficial insects.

[urbicande]

Man, getting up early to go into Manhattan this week reminds me why I don't work in Manhattan anymore.

[Róisín]

I can understand that. I've been there and hate it. Too loud, too bright, too much traffic, too many people, and did I say too noisy, and I can't begin to describe the stench. I get lost there, which doesn't happen in the bush. Went there most recently with an enthusiastic young relative who actually likes the place. It was a bit better forty years ago. You are well out of it.

[Lazy8]

I can understand that. I've been there and hate it. Too loud, too bright, too much traffic, too many people, and did I say too noisy, and I can't begin to describe the stench. I get lost there, which doesn't happen in the bush. Went there most recently with an enthusiastic young relative who actually likes the place. It was a bit better forty years ago. You are well out of it.

*shudders* I've been to NYC once and it nearly killed me. I just remember the sensory overload that was Times Square, during which I spent the entire time staring longingly up at a screen showing scenes of mountains and wilderness. I want to live some place where I can see the stars, and where I can be alone once in a while.

[urbicande]

Oh, don't get me wrong, I love Manhattan.  It's not a place that I'd want to live long term, but I grew up in the suburbs of this city, and I've spent a lot of time here. It's a great place. Varied culture, people from all over the world, cheap food (and all kinds of cuisine, too.  Within spitting distance of our NYC  office are food carts and trucks where I can get Korean, Japanese, Italian, Mexican, schnitzel, Peruvian, Thai, Greek, Middle-eastern, Tibetan, and a few others I can't think of right at the moment.  Great wine bars abount.  There are world-class museums, concerts, plenty of free or cheap theater...  You name it, it's here.

What I specifically hate about it is getting up at 6:15 in order to catch a train to get to my office.  I'm...not a morning person.

[Keeper]

I like going into Manhattan, but getting around can be a pain. Riding the train down is fun! Riding the subways elsewhere...varies. And then one must be very fast and skilled to navigate the crowds in a timely fashion.

I went down to Manhattan yesterday to do some shopping with a friend, so that part was nice!

[urbicande]

I like going into Manhattan, but getting around can be a pain. Riding the train down is fun! Riding the subways elsewhere...varies. And then one must be very fast and skilled to navigate the crowds in a timely fashion.

I went down to Manhattan yesterday to do some shopping with a friend, so that part was nice!

Right, you're upstate.  (Don't take it wrong.  Technically, upstate for me is anything north of midtown, but I I use "upstate" for most things Westchester and up )

I don't mind the subway. It's cheap and gets me where I want to go.  (If it's later at night, I might grab a cab or Uber it back to Penn Staion to get home).  And the crowds...well, bad as they are here, London is so much worse because nobody in London knows how to walk through a crowd.

[BlueSkyVail]

Apple support needs to stop. Just stop.
I asked about what I should do to get my suddenly non-functional beats fixed, and they were like "oh well you should mail them in" so I'm like "okay thanks I'll do that bye" and they were like "oh cool so lemme just get your address, email, phone number, credit card info, social security number, blood sacrifice, and soul real quick here and then we'll send you a box and you put the headphones in the box and and and" and I'm like "wait, hold up wasn't looking to do it now, just was asking what the best thing to do was bye"...