Octopus Overlords

That is my version, yes.

As I recall, you aren't technically her husband either. So it seems that would mean you aren't obligated to be a good one.

My ex may give her a run for her money. After our divorce we tried to reconcile, but it wasn't long before she started seeing some new guy so I moved out. She married the new guy (let's call him Joe). It lasted about a year then she divorced him. Only she wouldn't move out. She took over her own room while Joe continued to support her for years. Joe got so fed up said he was selling the house out from under her, but that didn't happen. Finally he paid full boat to move her up to her sister's house out back in Washington. Her sister soon moved out, so she cajoled her other sisters and children to pay all her bills. Surprisingly, I wasn't interested in contributing.

Krystal is out of bankruptcy. Thank God. I never want to be without a Krystal . Man I love those things. Was sold for $48 million. Seems cheap as hell. If I was one of those $1 billion lotto winners Id have bought them myself.

https://www.restaurantdive.com/news/ban ... 8m/578039/

Must be some law that canned tamales have to be good. But holy smokes each one has 130 calories and there are 6 of them.

One thing I noticed about my handful of items I got at the grocery store......milk is cheap. I got a gallon of whole milk for $2.89

Seeing the news here on 3 new giraffe being delivered to the local zoo got me wondering just how you transport giraffe. Ill have to remember to look this up later.

Im pretty sure the answer is "without a roof". But feel free to look it up.

Thats amazing. Found a video too.

Found out this morning that Tracey Hickman (Dragonlance author) lives just around the corner from me. We did a "What are you reading" e-mail on our team, and I mentioned that I was reading the original Dragonlance Trilogy with Little B 11.3. One of my co-workers (who lives just a couple blocks from me) said that Hickman is his next door neighbor.

Maybe I can get him to sign my original copy of Dragons of Autumn Twilight that has the cover duct-taped on because I read it so many times as a kid. That'd be a cool keepsake'ish thing to give to B.

You should leave a bunch of random Christmas presents on his porch!

I met him a couple of years ago at GenCon. I was there with a friend who'd been injured. We'd been part of a presentation he'd done (Killer Breakfast.) He said he'd be signing our character sheets out on the floor later, and I asked if he'd be willing to sign my friends here, as he was in a wheelchair and the lines were a problem. He was not only willing, he hung out with us for 30-40 minutes telling us stories in the empty auditorium just for the hell of it. Great guy.

The next year I brought my copy of Dragonlance Adventures (my first D&D book from too many decades ago) in and had Margaret Weis sign it. Tracy wasn't there that year, and I really regretted that I hadn't thought to bring that book the year before. Having that signed by both of them would be a very special thing to me. I really hope I can catch him at a future event.

I may have told this story before, but I did actually meet him a few years ago at the SLC Comic-Con..without realizing it was him.

He was sitting at a big booth with a bunch of Dragonlance memorabilia that I was checking out (which was, oddly, in a far back corner of the convention hall). We got to talking about the books and I was telling him how much I absolutely adored them as a kid and how much they shaped my pre-teen years in the mid-80's. He was delightful to chat with and seemed very interested, but never mentioned that he was the author.

We talked for about 15 minutes, with me just figuring he was just some random dude manning the booth. As I was leaving he said "Good to meet you, I'm Tracey". I introduced myself, shook his hand, and walked away...not connecting the dots until about 10 minutes later. I hurried back to the booth, but he was being rushed off to a panel discussion.

Bummed I didn't get to tell him thanks, although I guess I kinda did.

Cleaned my wallet out and uh oh. I cant find my voter registration card. Gone. No telling where I put it or lost it. I had planned on early voting this year. Im betting I have to go to human services or some place. Im not even sure. I was thinking it would be an easy thing. Now its a hassle.

EDIT: never mind. Online says I dont need the card to vote. Just a picture ID with my name and such.

Whats the best safe kitchen degreaser? I have a microwave that sits right beside the stove and a toaster oven on top that. Thought Id kept it clean but when I moved the little toaster over theres a area around it Id missed and it is sticky with grease. Soap wont cut it and I really dont want to use windex or something. Also I plan to go to Walmart when my check comes in a week so something I can buy there would be best.

Daehawk wrote: ↑Wed May 27, 2020 2:30 pm Whats the best safe kitchen degreaser? I have a microwave that sits right beside the stove and a toaster oven on top that. Thought Id kept it clean but when I moved the little toaster over theres a area around it Id missed and it is sticky with grease. Soap wont cut it and I really dont want to use windex or something. Also I plan to go to Walmart when my check comes in a week so something I can buy there would be best.

In my experience, this stuff has always worked incredibly effectively and doesn't reek of any harsh chemicals:



To remove heavy grease, just spray it on and allow it rest on the surface for 30 minutes and you should then be able to use a scrubber sponge to easily clean it off.

BTW, you should be able to buy it from Walmart.

Skinypupy wrote: ↑Wed May 27, 2020 12:22 pm Found out this morning that Tracey Hickman (Dragonlance author) lives just around the corner from me.

Hmm, you realize he's now on the list of suspects for the unwanted advent gifts.


Completely unrelated outside of "around the corner from me", I recently learned that the Kentucky Fried/Taco Bell right next to my apartment was originally owned by Colonel Sanders himself, and he'd often visit it to do quality checks. Also unknown to me, Sanders had a residence in Mississauga, Ontario (bordering Toronto) from 1965 until his death in 1980. After selling control of his U.S. franchises, he split time between Kentucky and Ontario to develop his Canadian stores.

I recall that my grandfather, who worked in radio and did a lot of promotional and hosting gigs, told a couple of interesting stories about Sanders. I wonder if they were just anecdotal, or they actually crossed paths at some point. (My grandfather met everyone who came through Toronto... somewhere in his effects there's apparently a disastrous interview with Johnny Cash that never ran.)

Coincidentally, the KFC/Taco Bell is just horrible these days. They have some very sweet and hardworking crew members, but the store is consistently filthy. Every surface is sticky, and they had a serious fruit fly infestation for a long time. And they get about 50% of my orders wrong. Though I still eat there occasionally... sometimes you just need a burrito supreme.

Do you have any lemon juice? It might cut the grease and allow you to wipe it off. A lot of the de-greasers seem to like "citrus". I've got an orange based one.

Sudy wrote: ↑Wed May 27, 2020 3:06 pm

Skinypupy wrote: ↑Wed May 27, 2020 12:22 pm Found out this morning that Tracey Hickman (Dragonlance author) lives just around the corner from me.

Hmm, you realize he's now on the list of suspects for the unwanted advent gifts.

The plot thickens...

Completely unrelated outside of "around the corner from me", I recently learned that the Kentucky Fried/Taco Bell right next to my apartment was originally owned by Colonel Sanders himself, and he'd often visit it to do quality checks. Also unknown to me, Sanders had a residence in Mississauga, Ontario (bordering Toronto) from 1965 until his death in 1980. After selling control of his U.S. franchises, he split time between Kentucky and Ontario to develop his Canadian stores.

I recall that my grandfather, who worked in radio and did a lot of promotional and hosting gigs, told a couple of interesting stories about Sanders. I wonder if they were just anecdotal, or they actually crossed paths at some point. (My grandfather met everyone who came through Toronto... somewhere in his effects there's apparently a disastrous interview with Johnny Cash that never ran.)

Coincidentally, the KFC/Taco Bell is just horrible these days. They have some very sweet and hardworking crew members, but the store is consistently filthy. Every surface is sticky, and they had a serious fruit fly infestation for a long time. And they get about 50% of my orders wrong. Though I still eat there occasionally... sometimes you just needs a burrito supreme.

Tangentially related to that, did you know the first KFC location was actually in Utah?

I've been there, can confirm it's a shithole.

No lemon juice right now .Used the last of it last week to make me a glass of lemonade when I had nothing else to drink.

Ill also look into that Krud stuff. Never heard of it. Maybe its in store at my local place.

Daehawk wrote: ↑Wed May 27, 2020 3:16 pm Ill also look into that Krud stuff. Never head of it. Maybe its in store at my local place.

Put your zipcode into the Walmart link at the top (click on the "Delivering to" section to change it). If it's listed as available for pickup, then it should be available from your local store.

None near me except for one store in my town that has 2. So if those are still there in a week im set

Skinypupy wrote: ↑Wed May 27, 2020 3:16 pm

Sudy wrote: ↑Wed May 27, 2020 3:06 pm

Skinypupy wrote: ↑Wed May 27, 2020 12:22 pm Found out this morning that Tracey Hickman (Dragonlance author) lives just around the corner from me.

Hmm, you realize he's now on the list of suspects for the unwanted advent gifts.

The plot thickens...

Completely unrelated outside of "around the corner from me", I recently learned that the Kentucky Fried/Taco Bell right next to my apartment was originally owned by Colonel Sanders himself, and he'd often visit it to do quality checks. Also unknown to me, Sanders had a residence in Mississauga, Ontario (bordering Toronto) from 1965 until his death in 1980. After selling control of his U.S. franchises, he split time between Kentucky and Ontario to develop his Canadian stores.

I recall that my grandfather, who worked in radio and did a lot of promotional and hosting gigs, told a couple of interesting stories about Sanders. I wonder if they were just anecdotal, or they actually crossed paths at some point. (My grandfather met everyone who came through Toronto... somewhere in his effects there's apparently a disastrous interview with Johnny Cash that never ran.)

Coincidentally, the KFC/Taco Bell is just horrible these days. They have some very sweet and hardworking crew members, but the store is consistently filthy. Every surface is sticky, and they had a serious fruit fly infestation for a long time. And they get about 50% of my orders wrong. Though I still eat there occasionally... sometimes you just needs a burrito supreme.

Tangentially related to that, did you know the first KFC location was actually in Utah?

I've been there, can confirm it's a shithole.

I grew up about 10 minutes from the Big Chicken and live about 15 away now. Can confirm it used to be nice as a kid, turned into a shithole (literally, so full of birdshit at one point it took a hazmat team to clean it.until KFC bought it back and fixed her up. You did not grow up in Marietta, without giving driving directions like "It's 2 miles south of the big chicken on the right"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Chicken


That's how you do KFC

Is this the thread where Casey talked about cramming in courses via Coursera?

My son is in the middle of a comp sci degree but now stranded at home without a summer job. He's also living with my mother in law so there is little desire to have him get a McJob and risk bringing something home. I'm feeling like he needs to do something that he can point to as being productive over the otherwise lost summer. One thought was taking online classes / certifications.

He says cybersecurity / computer security is interesting. He's done a little looking (mostly he talked about an information security offering at Stanford but it looked to be a 5 course sequence that might be $500 per course). Money might not be the biggest issue but bang for the buck is still a bit of a concern. Can anyone clue me in on any courses or certifications that actually might be worth something to someone looking for a job next year as an otherwise fairly generic comp sci grad?

The certs short of years of experience or specialized education you want in cyber security are probably Comptia. The classes, I don't know. I would defer to someone who actually does cyber security for bread and butter. I, personally, don't have a lot of faith in generic certification classes as a means to learn about a topic. You need to know what you are doing before hand for these classes to have meaning. If you know what you are doing then the benefits of the classes are minimal, though I guess they are good crib taking the certs, which is there stated purpose, even though educators don't sell them that way.

https://www.comptia.org/faq/security/wh ... urity-exam

Coursera allows you to audit for free. In IT, knowledge trumps certification. the classes I’m taking have “deadlines” of when you’re supposed to complete them. They are toothless in terms of finishing early or “resetting” them after a break.

Isgrimnur wrote: ↑Wed May 27, 2020 9:23 pm Coursera allows you to audit for free. In IT, knowledge trumps certification.

But as a newly minted comp sci major (next summer hopefully) how can he get to the point to try to demonstrate knowledge? Im in education so perhaps it is different but I can think of some things that would be positives to have on a resume that might get you noticed in the first place (get you past the first filter).

Normally I'd say the best thing would have been an internship or job but that's not happening. Next best would be something he could point to as a body of work showing his skills. I love him but that's not likely. At this point he's great if you give him a project but he's lousy at coming up with an independent project of any size.

Find an open-source project that’s under development and start weaseling his way into it.

Madmarcus wrote: ↑Wed May 27, 2020 8:20 pm Is this the thread where Casey talked about cramming in courses via Coursera?

My son is in the middle of a comp sci degree but now stranded at home without a summer job. He's also living with my mother in law so there is little desire to have him get a McJob and risk bringing something home. I'm feeling like he needs to do something that he can point to as being productive over the otherwise lost summer. One thought was taking online classes / certifications.

He says cybersecurity / computer security is interesting. He's done a little looking (mostly he talked about an information security offering at Stanford but it looked to be a 5 course sequence that might be $500 per course). Money might not be the biggest issue but bang for the buck is still a bit of a concern. Can anyone clue me in on any courses or certifications that actually might be worth something to someone looking for a job next year as an otherwise fairly generic comp sci grad?

He needs to get Security+ from CompTIA, and while he's at it, he may as well get A+ also.

500x5 is actually pretty cheap considering there are cybersecurity bootcamps for $12000.

Daehawk wrote: ↑Wed May 27, 2020 4:24 pm None near me except for one store in my town that has 2. So if those are still there in a week im set

I like this stuff if you have a Home Depot near you:

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Citrus-Magi ... /202559695

That's either the one I have (too lazy to go check now), or pretty close.

Ya have a Home Depot on the other end of town too. I like the place. Ill try to find comparisons and reviews for both products.

I use baking soda to clean almost everything in the kitchen. Mix it with a bit of water just enough so it's a paste, not a powder, and it will cut through any grease.

After all these years Im still wondering why in Google Earth that the name of the road you're trying to see is the only one that wont show up without fiddling with it by changing the angles and rotation yet all the other streets names show up

Laaaaaa lalalalala lalalalala lalalalala

Yeah, the Google Maps road name thing is on my list along with the videos that follow you.

You mean the ones that pop into the bottom right when you scroll down? Ya I hate that too. If I wanted to keep watching I wouldn't scroll.

Thank you!

Typing "Are penguins" into Google auto-completes "birds". A notable segment of the population actually believes penguins might be fish. This is like flat earth all over again.

I was quite excited to get a "congratulations for 15-years" card from work today.

I'll tell ya...nothing conveys the company's gratitude for a decade and a half of working here quite like a $50 Amazon gift card.