Random randomness

Kasey Chang · Post by **Kasey Chang** » Wed Jan 08, 2020 1:32 pm

FINALLY got my new wallet in (the first one shipped by Amazon was probably filched by a porch pirate)

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07G2L4C6K/

Outside pocket for tap or frequently used card, multiple pockets inside for other cards, one windowed pocket for ID, and money clip for cash.

I may have preferred a second outside pocket, but it's actually VERY usable as is.

Holman · Post by **Holman** » Wed Jan 08, 2020 1:32 pm

Daehawk wrote: ↑Wed Jan 08, 2020 9:59 am I was trying to sleep at 3am when it hit me...what do I do with my drink and snack if I have to go piss?? D always looked after stuff when Id step away and me when she would. So this is new.

I'm usually done with that stuff before the last previews, so I got nothing for ya.

stessier · Post by **stessier** » Wed Jan 08, 2020 1:41 pm

I got Spider-Man: Far From Home for Christmas. I went to claim the digital copy and found it had already been claimed - on Oct 9th (we placed our order on Nov 29th)! I filed a complaint with Sony and first had to provide a receipt (Amazon order worked) and today had to send in a picture of the UPC and front and back of box. Hopefully that will be it.

Daehawk · Post by **Daehawk** » Wed Jan 08, 2020 4:43 pm

What is it with popcorn you get at the movie theater other than high price? It tastes SO good and always has. It has the same flavor it had when I saw The Empire Strikes Back in 1980 as it does now. That unique taste has never changed. I can buy all types and brand of popcorn in stores and not get that flavor. Store bought can be good or great or amazing...but its not what you get at a real theater. How do they do it?

stessier · Post by **stessier** » Wed Jan 08, 2020 4:44 pm

Coconut oil for popping.

I'm in charge of making it weekly at work. The butter flavor is important, but it's the coconut oil that makes it.

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Wed Jan 08, 2020 5:10 pm

We just got the yearly AMC bucket for our Star Wars trip yesterday, and honestly, while I shoveled it up, I'm kind of over their popcorn and butter-flavored oil.

Kraken · Post by **Kraken** » Wed Jan 08, 2020 5:25 pm

A small popcorn costs $6 and has a week's worth of calories, but I can't resist it. It's a good thing we only go to 2-3 movies a year. I hate all things coconut and am ordinarily hypersensitive to the slightest trace, but theater popcorn is the one product in which I can't taste it.

Daehawk · Post by **Daehawk** » Wed Jan 08, 2020 5:31 pm

Coconut oil huh? Neat.

coopasonic · Post by **coopasonic** » Wed Jan 08, 2020 5:42 pm

Holman wrote: ↑Wed Jan 08, 2020 1:32 pm
Daehawk wrote: ↑Wed Jan 08, 2020 9:59 am I was trying to sleep at 3am when it hit me...what do I do with my drink and snack if I have to go piss?? D always looked after stuff when Id step away and me when she would. So this is new.
I'm usually done with that stuff before the last previews, so I got nothing for ya.

You don't get up during the movie!

Holman · Post by **Holman** » Wed Jan 08, 2020 5:45 pm

I ordered a dog toy (a stuffed green dragon) for my four-legged boy from Amazon. The delivery date came and went, and after a few days Amazon posted that I could claim a refund or request a replacement order. I opted for the replacement order, which arrived promptly.

Then, about two weeks later, the original order appeared on my porch. I assume I'm not liable for this and don't need to send it back? (Too late if so, as the dog has already been at it.)

LawBeefaroni · Post by **LawBeefaroni** » Wed Jan 08, 2020 5:58 pm

Holman wrote: ↑Wed Jan 08, 2020 5:45 pm I ordered a dog toy (a stuffed green dragon) for my four-legged boy from Amazon. The delivery date came and went, and after a few days Amazon posted that I could claim a refund or request a replacement order. I opted for the replacement order, which arrived promptly.

Then, about two weeks later, the original order appeared on my porch. I assume I'm not liable for this and don't need to send it back? (Too late if so, as the dog has already been at it.)

You don't need to send it back. I usually send them a note and they either never reply or tell to keep the item(s). The only thing they ever asked me to send back was a laptop they sent me by accident.

Daehawk · Post by **Daehawk** » Wed Jan 08, 2020 5:59 pm

Ive not had that happen but I have read others have and they said that when they contacted Amazon they were told to keep it and consider it a gift for the trouble. Up to you how your conscience deals with it.

pr0ner · Post by **pr0ner** » Wed Jan 08, 2020 6:03 pm

Kraken wrote: ↑Wed Jan 08, 2020 5:25 pm A small popcorn costs $6 and has a week's worth of calories, but I can't resist it. It's a good thing we only go to 2-3 movies a year. I hate all things coconut and am ordinarily hypersensitive to the slightest trace, but theater popcorn is the one product in which I can't taste it.

Regal's menu says a small popcorn has 280 calories. I'm not seeing how that's a week's worth.

gbasden · Post by **gbasden** » Wed Jan 08, 2020 6:05 pm

LawBeefaroni wrote: ↑Wed Jan 08, 2020 5:58 pm
Holman wrote: ↑Wed Jan 08, 2020 5:45 pm I ordered a dog toy (a stuffed green dragon) for my four-legged boy from Amazon. The delivery date came and went, and after a few days Amazon posted that I could claim a refund or request a replacement order. I opted for the replacement order, which arrived promptly.

Then, about two weeks later, the original order appeared on my porch. I assume I'm not liable for this and don't need to send it back? (Too late if so, as the dog has already been at it.)
You don't need to send it back. I usually send them a note and they either never reply or tell to keep the item(s). The only thing they ever asked me to send back was a laptop they sent me by accident.

I had this happen with a $500 hitch mounted storage box that somehow got lost for 6 months in shipping. They told me to keep that. I think your dog toy is ok.

coopasonic · Post by **coopasonic** » Wed Jan 08, 2020 6:10 pm

pr0ner wrote: ↑Wed Jan 08, 2020 6:03 pm
Kraken wrote: ↑Wed Jan 08, 2020 5:25 pm A small popcorn costs $6 and has a week's worth of calories, but I can't resist it. It's a good thing we only go to 2-3 movies a year. I hate all things coconut and am ordinarily hypersensitive to the slightest trace, but theater popcorn is the one product in which I can't taste it.
Regal's menu says a small popcorn has 280 calories. I'm not seeing how that's a week's worth.

You get more than 40 calories a day? OK, blob.

Also hyperbole...

Smoove_B · Post by **Smoove_B** » Wed Jan 08, 2020 6:15 pm

pr0ner wrote: ↑Wed Jan 08, 2020 6:03 pmRegal's menu says a small popcorn has 280 calories. I'm not seeing how that's a week's worth.

How much when you float the popcorn in the magic "butter" they let you apply in the theater?

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Wed Jan 08, 2020 6:17 pm

Smoove_B wrote: ↑Wed Jan 08, 2020 6:15 pm
pr0ner wrote: ↑Wed Jan 08, 2020 6:03 pmRegal's menu says a small popcorn has 280 calories. I'm not seeing how that's a week's worth.
How much when you float the popcorn in the magic "butter" they let you apply in the theater?

Mmm...

Enter cartons of Flavacol and Butter Flavored Topping. Yeah. That’s not the same as butter at all. Flavacol is the yellow powder that gets added during popping to give your popcorn that yellow buttery color. It is essentially just a super-fine salt with some coloring agents, although people swear it has butter flavor, even though there are no extra flavorings in it. But Butter Flavored Topping? That is a whole other story.

Your movie theater butter has no butter in it, but it does have partially hydrogenated soybean oil (a.k.a. trans fats), beta carotene (a coloring, makes carrots orange), tertiary Butylhydroquinone or TBHQ (synthetic preservative that keeps the color and texture from changing as the product sits), polydimethylsiloxane (silicone based chemical that prevents foaming), and, wait for it, buttery flavoring. They do not say what exactly makes a buttery flavoring, but they do admit that it isn’t butter. So it is some sort of chemical that mimics butter.

And the part that is most egregious to me? Movie theater butter topping actually has 20 more calories per tablespoon than real butter.

Daehawk · Post by **Daehawk** » Wed Jan 08, 2020 6:26 pm

When I was young we got butter. Now days I just pour that fake stuff all over and call it a day.

Jaymann · Post by **Jaymann** » Wed Jan 08, 2020 6:59 pm

Holman wrote: ↑Wed Jan 08, 2020 5:45 pm I ordered a dog toy (a stuffed green dragon) for my four-legged boy from Amazon. The delivery date came and went, and after a few days Amazon posted that I could claim a refund or request a replacement order. I opted for the replacement order, which arrived promptly.

Then, about two weeks later, the original order appeared on my porch. I assume I'm not liable for this and don't need to send it back? (Too late if so, as the dog has already been at it.)

This happened to me with a book, so I got a replacement. About a week later, a neighbor showed up at my door with the original, it had been delivered to the wrong address. I took it and gave it away.

pr0ner · Post by **pr0ner** » Wed Jan 08, 2020 7:51 pm

Smoove_B wrote: ↑Wed Jan 08, 2020 6:15 pm
pr0ner wrote: ↑Wed Jan 08, 2020 6:03 pmRegal's menu says a small popcorn has 280 calories. I'm not seeing how that's a week's worth.
How much when you float the popcorn in the magic "butter" they let you apply in the theater?

I don't let them.

disarm · Post by **disarm** » Wed Jan 08, 2020 8:45 pm

stessier wrote:Coconut oil for popping.

I'm in charge of making it weekly at work. The butter flavor is important, but it's the coconut oil that makes it.

Most theaters use coconut oil and Flavacol. When I make popcorn at home, I use coconut oil and salt...very good, but it lacks that "butter" flavor that you get with Flavacol. You can buy Flavacol through Amazon if you want to give it a try. The other key is getting popcorn/nut salt...very finely ground so that it's almost like powder and sticks much better than regular table salt.

I recently acquired some of this, and it comes pretty close...salt with natural butter flavoring and turmeric to add yellow color. It comes surprisingly close to movie theater taste with a just a light sprinkle...

Kraken · Post by **Kraken** » Wed Jan 08, 2020 9:25 pm

pr0ner wrote: ↑Wed Jan 08, 2020 7:51 pm
Smoove_B wrote: ↑Wed Jan 08, 2020 6:15 pm
pr0ner wrote: ↑Wed Jan 08, 2020 6:03 pmRegal's menu says a small popcorn has 280 calories. I'm not seeing how that's a week's worth.
How much when you float the popcorn in the magic "butter" they let you apply in the theater?
I don't let them.

I add a shot of that oil and a sprinkle of salt powder, so that brings the calories up some, but not as bad as I'd thought. Wife and I usually split a small bag. I could do without the butter oil if that's where the calorie bomb comes from.

Anonymous Bosch · Post by **Anonymous Bosch** » Wed Jan 08, 2020 10:04 pm

Daehawk wrote: ↑Wed Jan 08, 2020 4:43 pm What is it with popcorn you get at the movie theater other than high price? It tastes SO good and always has. It has the same flavor it had when I saw The Empire Strikes Back in 1980 as it does now. That unique taste has never changed. I can buy all types and brand of popcorn in stores and not get that flavor. Store bought can be good or great or amazing...but its not what you get at a real theater. How do they do it?

FWIW, you can easily make your own microwave popcorn in a brown paper bag using coconut oil. It tastes a whole lot better than the synthetic garbage typically included with most pre-packaged microwave popcorn. And you can flavour it however you like.

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Wed Jan 08, 2020 10:10 pm

Bookmarking this page for future reference...

Kasey Chang · Post by **Kasey Chang** » Thu Jan 09, 2020 1:22 am

Holman wrote: ↑Wed Jan 08, 2020 5:45 pm I ordered a dog toy (a stuffed green dragon) for my four-legged boy from Amazon. The delivery date came and went, and after a few days Amazon posted that I could claim a refund or request a replacement order. I opted for the replacement order, which arrived promptly.

Then, about two weeks later, the original order appeared on my porch. I assume I'm not liable for this and don't need to send it back? (Too late if so, as the dog has already been at it.)

It takes them more money to process the return and dispose of it so they don't bother to ask for the return.

There are shows where people buy whole pallets of returned crap from major retailers, including Amazon, Walmart, etc. Most are junk, but some are worth something that can be sold on eBay and such.

EDIT: it's pretty gross sometimes. People buy a hair clipper, then return it. A pillow was returned with weird stains. Someone returned a whole box of pokemon cards... EACH opened and the rare removed. It's basically "storage wars" except with random pallets. With all the labor involved sorting through the junk, I personally think it's a net loss, but that's IMHO.

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Thu Jan 09, 2020 11:40 am

ChiTrib

A 5-year-old boy was “attacked" and bitten in the head by a coyote on Wednesday afternoon outside a nature museum in Lincoln Park, according to the Chicago Fire Department.

Daehawk · Post by **Daehawk** » Thu Jan 09, 2020 2:18 pm

2 thoughts on my trip to Hardees today for their 2 roast beef for $5 deal.

1. After being on over 3 years my check engine light went off. Either....
A. It burned out.
B. It gave up and killed itself.
C. Whatever the problem was resolved itself.

2. Those roast beef sandwiches are SMALL. I mean they have the small hamburger bun in use. Like McDonalds el cheapo plain little bun and burger bun size going on. Then the meat is NOT piled high. These at most $1.49 sandwiches. I 'think' normal menu price is over $4. Not near worth that. Taste wise they are very good. Not as good as Arbys but good in their own way. The meat looks more like beef and its slightly thicker than Arbys. Their sauces are also good but different. The BBQ tastes like a good thick smoky bbq sauce and the horseradish is nice and strong. If these were $1.49 Id go back. As is ill stick to Arbys who themselves are overpriced for what you get now.

stessier · Post by **stessier** » Thu Jan 09, 2020 2:42 pm

Looking for 1980 pricing in 2020 leads to nothing but disappointment.

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Thu Jan 09, 2020 2:51 pm

Isgrimnur wrote: ↑Thu Jan 09, 2020 11:40 am ChiTrib

A 5-year-old boy was “attacked" and bitten in the head by a coyote on Wednesday afternoon outside a nature museum in Lincoln Park, according to the Chicago Fire Department.

That's not even the only case of it happening here within the last bloody day or two.

LawBeefaroni · Post by **LawBeefaroni** » Thu Jan 09, 2020 3:03 pm

hepcat wrote: ↑Thu Jan 09, 2020 2:51 pm
Isgrimnur wrote: ↑Thu Jan 09, 2020 11:40 am ChiTrib

A 5-year-old boy was “attacked" and bitten in the head by a coyote on Wednesday afternoon outside a nature museum in Lincoln Park, according to the Chicago Fire Department.

That's not even the only case of it happening here within the last bloody day or two.

Welcome to ChiCoyraq.
The attack was retaliation for a coyote kidnapping the day before.

The animal could be seen on a stretcher Tuesday afternoon, wrapped in a blanket, next to Monroe Harbor .

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Thu Jan 09, 2020 3:11 pm

Can’t a coyote just join the polar bear club in peace?!

Jaymon · Post by **Jaymon** » Thu Jan 09, 2020 3:46 pm

my house may be cursed for 2020. Mrs jaymon had a surgery, so I am caretaker, and managed to sprain my knee pretty badly at a new years party. And it wasn't even drunken shenanigans, it was just trying to get up the front steps. So we called for help. My mother and sibling arrived. My sibling got into a fight with some furniture, so I had to take them to the ER with a concussion, driving with my sprained knee. My mother is taking care of three of us now, but shes having troubles with my car, and I had to drive (again with my sprained knee) to rescue her from the grocery parking lot after it died and would not move, not even the doors would unlock. But at least m knee is just a sprain, and not some sort of unhealable tear. So I got that going for me.

Daehawk · Post by **Daehawk** » Thu Jan 09, 2020 3:55 pm

pr0ner · Post by **pr0ner** » Thu Jan 09, 2020 9:55 pm

Jeopardy The Greatest spoilers:

Spoiler:

Daehawk · Post by **Daehawk** » Thu Jan 09, 2020 11:37 pm

Ya feeling sorry for him.

stessier · Post by **stessier** » Fri Jan 10, 2020 9:37 am

stessier wrote: ↑Wed Jan 08, 2020 1:41 pm I got Spider-Man: Far From Home for Christmas. I went to claim the digital copy and found it had already been claimed - on Oct 9th (we placed our order on Nov 29th)! I filed a complaint with Sony and first had to provide a receipt (Amazon order worked) and today had to send in a picture of the UPC and front and back of box. Hopefully that will be it.

Victory - I now have a streaming copy!

Separately, I had trouble claiming a streaming copy of John Wick 3. They sent me a new code with much less hassle, but the only way to claim it was to agree to get email from Lions Gate. That really stinks.

Daehawk · Post by **Daehawk** » Fri Jan 10, 2020 10:21 am

Just mark it as spam and never see it again. Or use a throw away email.

Kasey Chang · Post by **Kasey Chang** » Fri Jan 10, 2020 10:43 am

Got my BT bone conduction headset in... It's one size too small. it works, but the seal against the skin/bone isn't quite as good as the other pair. And the battery life is exactly 9 hours, which means it doesn't QUITE last my entire work day. *sigh* My neckband style BT headset lasts 12 hours.

Daehawk · Post by **Daehawk** » Fri Jan 10, 2020 1:06 pm

OH.MY.GOD!

I came across a snack at the little Speedway near me today Ive never seen before. But I like snacks like this so figured I could spare the $1.40 for this at least once. Its a mozzarella stick wrapped in a thin spicy salame from Volpi. Never heard of them. Man I was missing out son! Its one of the most wonderful tasting snacks Ive ever seen. The cheese is melt in your mouth creamy like butter and the salame is thin and tender and melts too. the taste is so good. I think if I was rich Id just live on these.

LawBeefaroni · Post by **LawBeefaroni** » Fri Jan 10, 2020 2:36 pm

Daehawk wrote: ↑Fri Jan 10, 2020 1:06 pm OH.MY.GOD!

I came across a snack at the little Speedway near me today Ive never seen before. But I like snacks like this so figured I could spare the $1.40 for this at least once. Its a mozzarella stick wrapped in a thin spicy salame from Volpi. Never heard of them. Man I was missing out son! Its one of the most wonderful tasting snacks Ive ever seen. The cheese is melt in your mouth creamy like butter and the salame is thin and tender and melts too. the taste is so good. I think if I was rich Id just live on these.

One of my favorite weekend lunches when nothing is planned (which is rare) is to go somewhere in the neighborhood and get a giant antipasto board and some beer.