Octopus Overlords

I think the most 'interesting' breakdown was when I was a teenager and my father's truck broke down in the middle of nowhere. It was, I believe, the fuel pump. I drove probably 10-15 miles on back roads while my father sat under the hood and poured gasoline directly into the carburetor.

Another time the gas pedal cable snapped. That time we drove back by tying a string to the carburetor, running it into the truck, and using it as a gas pedal.

(Caveat: I know nearly zero about cars, and I could have the details/names of parts mixed up, but the gist is correct.)

My throttle link broke once and I replaced it on the side of the road with a piece of metal coat hanger. I never did change it hehe.

Ok Ive gotten 3 calls from New York since 9am this morning. 2 are the same number and one is different. Same robot though. They all start with 585-540. Its just the last 4 digits that differ. 2 messages just leave the number that called. One message was longer but the entire first part was garbled and only at the end did it clear up when the number was repeated. Bet thats on purpose. Im not calling it . Wish there was a good site these days to tell you who called. Ive tried tons of sites and either they want money or tell you nothing anyways.

My most interesting car experiences:

1) After an oil change at a Jiffy Lube, I was driving home on the highway in a construction zone (no emergency lane to pull onto) when I saw my oil pressure dropping precipitously. Turns out the guy changing the oil didn't put the oil plug back in tight and it dropped out, thus draining all my oil out onto the highway. Since I couldn't pull over, I had to drive for about 3 miles to an exit before pulling over. At that point my engine seized and I was dead in the water. Engine destroyed. I had it towed to the dealership's parking lot (my car died literally a mile from it) and then called the jiffy lube and went off on them. They sent out a mechanic to look at it. I then proceeded to record him on my cell phone admitting that it was their fault. I suspect if I hadn't, they would have denied it later. But as it stood, I had them on video admitting fault. The owner of the franchise in question then tried to get me to take it to one of his cronies to replace the engine with a used one and he'd pay for it out of pocket. I told him no dice and that I wanted the dealership to put in a new engine. He eventually agreed and we went through his insurance agency to get it done. So I ended up with a new engine in my old Toyota Matrix (it had 40,000 on it when this happened).

2) Driving home in my dad's car in high school, I realized I was about to throw up. I had apparently picked up some food poisoning. Turning my head sharply to the left, I didn't realize the window was still up, smashed my head against it, then threw up down the door panel. It took my poor father a week to air that thing out with the door panel pried off and left outside.

I got another one:

I was driving the kids to school in my Karmann Ghia when the clutch gave out. I was in second gear, but I couldn't stop or the engine would stall. So I limped along with one foot on the gas and one on the brake, making right turns on red and driving through parking lots. Actually made it home.

Daehawk wrote: ↑Tue Dec 08, 2020 3:07 pm Wish there was a good site these days to tell you who called. Ive tried tons of sites and either they want money or tell you nothing anyways.

It wouldn't work. Many or most robo callers spoof the caller ID. The number you see likely has nothing in common with the number they actually called from.

I have had the joy of some very irate calls when my number was apparently the one that some robo caller was showing other people.

I mentioned in the whatcha stocking thread that my diet since March is mainly rice, potatoes, eggs, and beans. Since WFH and limiting the shopping exposure I find potatoes be an excellent "fresh" food that still hold for a long time. I probably eat 21 1/2 pound baked potatoes a week. Easy to cook and a small amount of butter, cheese, garlic, and paper and I have a meal I can eat just about every day. I have 90 minutes to let them bake most days that I would not normally have on a work day no at home.

And this brings me to me curiosity. I oil lightly my potatoes, cook them at 400 for 60 minutes, gut them, mix the guts with butter, cheese, pepper, and garlic, embalm them and then cook them for 30 minutes 350. The skin is much tougher than I get when I have baked potato from a restaurant.

Should I be wasting tons of foil, foiling my potato instead of oiling it?

Also things I discovered WF(prison, um..)H cooking:

10 to 15 minutes in to boiling rice, you can throw in broccoli and it will steam perfectly for the last 10 minutes rice cooking, put some sweet chili sauce in when it's done and you are cooking with gas.

Low sodium Soy Sauce is just bad.

Potatoes are high starch and carb items. I avoid as much as I can.

LordMortis wrote: ↑Tue Dec 08, 2020 3:44 pm I mentioned in the whatcha stocking thread that my diet since March is mainly rice, potatoes, eggs, and beans. Since WFH and limiting the shopping exposure I find potatoes be an excellent "fresh" food that still hold for a long time. I probably eat 21 1/2 pound baked potatoes a week. Easy to cook and a small amount of butter, cheese, garlic, and paper and I have a meal I can eat just about every day. I have 90 minutes to let them bake most days that I would not normally have on a work day no at home.

And this brings me to me curiosity. I oil lightly my potatoes, cook them at 400 for 60 minutes, gut them, mix the guts with butter, cheese, pepper, and garlic, embalm them and then cook them for 30 minutes 350. The skin is much tougher than I get when I have baked potato from a restaurant.

Cooking at 400°F = tough, dry skin. Just have a butcher's at the following guide from Serious Eats for best results:

A Fully Loaded Guide to the Ultimate Baked Potato

Daehawk wrote: ↑Tue Dec 08, 2020 3:50 pm Potatoes are high starch and carb items. I avoid as much as I can.

I've been losing weight since moving away from snacking and toward eating more potatoes to "fill me up"

Anonymous Bosch wrote: ↑Tue Dec 08, 2020 3:55 pm

LordMortis wrote: ↑Tue Dec 08, 2020 3:44 pm I mentioned in the whatcha stocking thread that my diet since March is mainly rice, potatoes, eggs, and beans. Since WFH and limiting the shopping exposure I find potatoes be an excellent "fresh" food that still hold for a long time. I probably eat 21 1/2 pound baked potatoes a week. Easy to cook and a small amount of butter, cheese, garlic, and paper and I have a meal I can eat just about every day. I have 90 minutes to let them bake most days that I would not normally have on a work day no at home.

And this brings me to me curiosity. I oil lightly my potatoes, cook them at 400 for 60 minutes, gut them, mix the guts with butter, cheese, pepper, and garlic, embalm them and then cook them for 30 minutes 350. The skin is much tougher than I get when I have baked potato from a restaurant.

Cooking at 400°F = tough, dry skin. Just have a butcher's at the following guide from Serious Eats for best results:

A Fully Loaded Guide to the Ultimate Baked Potato

Maybe I'll try lowering to 375 next time and see if it makes a difference. Otherwise that's pretty close to what I do (the twice baked variety), just without SourCream or bacon or chives. I keep it simple with stuff that holds forever, except the cheese but cheese holds for long enough.

I just nuke for about 8 min on high for a big tater. Wash, dry, oil, salt, poke holes in it with fork, wrap in moist paper towel...nuke.

Daehawk wrote: ↑Tue Dec 08, 2020 4:05 pm I just nuke for about 8 min on high for a big tater. Wash, dry, oil, salt, poke holes in it with fork, wrap in moist paper towel...nuke.

I'm pretty happy with the long oven cook. OTOH, I also learned that you leave corn in the husk and nuke it for five minutes and it's just as good as boiling. That was a game changer for me. I love corn on the cob. I hate boiling water, waiting, and cleaning pots and nuked CotC if just as good as boiled CotC.

Corn still in the shuck and grilled is good too.

That robot called again. Its the first spammer Ive seen that will leave a voice msg. usually they just give up. Also none ever call back but this is the 4th call today. Almost tempted to call but wont.

Hey anyone wanna call it for me? Wish I had a robot to call and speak to their robot. I know better than to call though cause then they know my number is a good one.

Also I FINALLY got hold of human services. My EBT is dropping so much not only due to me drawing more but also because COVID relief has run out. I didn;'t know that. I was told my normal amount is $105 and its dropping to $96.

With the $194 I was getting I had enough to last 3 weeks. Now Ill have a weeks. But better than none at all. Guess Ill lose weight...for a while. Which is good..to a point that its not. Fun . I hope Mitch enjoys his 4 course dinners with lobbyist.

Honest answer: Potatoes, rice, and peanut butter (beans if you can eat them - I can't) are a fantastic way to save money on food. Just substituting half of your meals with that sort of high calorie, non-junk, inexpensive food can significantly increase the amount that you can spend on the other meals.

Or - hear me out - connecting with a charity/non-profit organization in your area that explicitly exists to help address food insecurity that results from sliding-scale benefits that have people going into and out of various eligibility categories. There is no shame in asking for help; you don't need to suffer needlessly. If you need help finding an organization, I can help.

Blackhawk wrote: ↑Tue Dec 08, 2020 5:36 pm Honest answer: Potatoes, rice, and peanut butter (beans if you can eat them - I can't) are a fantastic way to save money on food. Just substituting half of your meals with that sort of high calorie, non-junk, inexpensive food can significantly increase the amount that you can spend on the other meals.

Potatoes and peanut butter are two of the high-oxalate foods I had to cut from my diet after my bout with kidney stones last year. My go-to quarantine panty staples have been canned tuna (picked up in bulk when Amazon was selling it cheap back in the spring), rice, lentils and dry pasta (also cheap on Amazon, at about $5 for a a 5-pound package).

Daehawk wrote: ↑Tue Dec 08, 2020 4:32 pm Hey anyone wanna call it for me?

Kitboga makes a good living by doing that sort of thing.

Max Peck wrote: ↑Tue Dec 08, 2020 5:59 pm Potatoes and peanut butter are two of the high-oxalate foods I had to cut from my diet after my bout with kidney stones last year. My go-to quarantine panty staples have been canned tuna (picked up in bulk when Amazon was selling it cheap back in the spring), rice, lentils and dry pasta (also cheap on Amazon, at about $5 for a a 5-pound package).

Wait wait wait WAIT!!!! Potatoes have a relationship with kidney stones? I need to know more. Kidney stones and I are sworn enemies and they are winning.

Blackhawk wrote: ↑Tue Dec 08, 2020 5:36 pm Honest answer: Potatoes, rice, and peanut butter (beans if you can eat them - I can't) are a fantastic way to save money on food. Just substituting half of your meals with that sort of high calorie, non-junk, inexpensive food can significantly increase the amount that you can spend on the other meals.

People overlook it, but oatmeal (5 min cooked, not instant or pre-flavored) is one of the cheapest, easiest, and most filling foods out there, and it's very good for you. It's two weeks of breakfast for three bucks.

Holman wrote: ↑Tue Dec 08, 2020 6:08 pm

Blackhawk wrote: ↑Tue Dec 08, 2020 5:36 pm Honest answer: Potatoes, rice, and peanut butter (beans if you can eat them - I can't) are a fantastic way to save money on food. Just substituting half of your meals with that sort of high calorie, non-junk, inexpensive food can significantly increase the amount that you can spend on the other meals.

People overlook it, but oatmeal (5 min cooked, not instant or pre-flavored) is one of the cheapest, easiest, and most filling foods out there, and it's very good for you. It's two weeks of breakfast for three bucks.

Oatmeal (instant and preflavored) was my go to breakfast in the office. It was cheap and easy (meh on the filling but it was enough to keep me from being hungry) for about 50 servings at under $8 from Costco about $6 when it was on sale twice a year. It's not as good for yo u from what I've read but it was 0 effort and it was just enough to keep going until lunch. Now that I am much of the time and don't trust too many of my coworkers to spend time in the kitchen or using shared tools areas, I have replaced a $.12 packet of oatmeal, with a $1.00 breakfast sandwich at work or 3 $.08 eggs when I am at home. OTOH, I'm going through about $12 of Folger's Coffee + sugar and creamer a month that work used to subsidize (again don't trust my coworkers and share things and spaces at work, so even at work I bring coffee from home now)

LordMortis wrote: ↑Tue Dec 08, 2020 6:03 pm

Max Peck wrote: ↑Tue Dec 08, 2020 5:59 pm Potatoes and peanut butter are two of the high-oxalate foods I had to cut from my diet after my bout with kidney stones last year. My go-to quarantine panty staples have been canned tuna (picked up in bulk when Amazon was selling it cheap back in the spring), rice, lentils and dry pasta (also cheap on Amazon, at about $5 for a a 5-pound package).

Wait wait wait WAIT!!!! Potatoes have a relationship with kidney stones? I need to know more. Kidney stones and I are sworn enemies and they are winning.

Also green veggies. My kidney stones were oxalate.

LordMortis wrote: ↑Tue Dec 08, 2020 6:03 pm

Max Peck wrote: ↑Tue Dec 08, 2020 5:59 pm Potatoes and peanut butter are two of the high-oxalate foods I had to cut from my diet after my bout with kidney stones last year. My go-to quarantine panty staples have been canned tuna (picked up in bulk when Amazon was selling it cheap back in the spring), rice, lentils and dry pasta (also cheap on Amazon, at about $5 for a a 5-pound package).

Wait wait wait WAIT!!!! Potatoes have a relationship with kidney stones? I need to know more. Kidney stones and I are sworn enemies and they are winning.

I don't have links to the online documents handy (just google something like "oxalate content of food" and you can probably run them down though), but several of the references I found last year list potatoes as high in oxalate (to be avoided) or moderate in oxalate (consume in limited quantity). Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be a single authorative reference for oxalate content, so I generally go with the worst case scenario and avoid anything that any resource lists as high-oxalate. Luckily, I thrive on a relatively monotonous diet.

Anonymous Bosch wrote: ↑Tue Dec 08, 2020 1:31 pm
Alas, for the reasons This Week in Tech outlines below, SMS isn't just bad two-factor authentication, sometimes it isn't two-factor authentication at all:



Needless to say, a hardware authentication device, such as a YubiKey, makes for a vastly more secure option.

my previous job required everyone use their mobile phone as a 2FA device (and everyone got $80/month for that). thing is, as a contractor i didn't have a mobile phone, so after discussing it amongst themselves they got me a YubiKey, which is... what they should have been doing in the first place. (then i got hired on FTE and it was _strongly suggested_ to me that i get an actual phone for work purposes, so i got a beat-up Samsung Galaxy S4 from a coworker and a free subscription plan to FreedomPop.)

LordMortis wrote: ↑Tue Dec 08, 2020 4:19 pm

Daehawk wrote: ↑Tue Dec 08, 2020 4:05 pm I just nuke for about 8 min on high for a big tater. Wash, dry, oil, salt, poke holes in it with fork, wrap in moist paper towel...nuke.

I'm pretty happy with the long oven cook. OTOH, I also learned that you leave corn in the husk and nuke it for five minutes and it's just as good as boiling. That was a game changer for me. I love corn on the cob. I hate boiling water, waiting, and cleaning pots and nuked CotC if just as good as boiled CotC.

Nuking spuds works in a pinch, but you have to bake if you want crispy skin. I've always baked for 45 min at 425 degrees, or an hour if it's especially large. In place of butter or sour cream, I use bacon grease because mmmmm bacon.

That's when I'm making spuds as a side. For a main course, I do the baked-stuffed thing.

Daehawk wrote: ↑Sat Dec 05, 2020 1:12 pm Ive wanted to try Sake since I was old enough to buy beer but never did for some reason. So I bought a bottle the other day. Its semi filtered so still has bits of rice in it and its cloudy. It looks like milk almost.

In Korea that form of rice wine is called makgeolli. The commercial products are pretty vile with a lot of artificial sweetener but the real stuff is great. Slightly different than the Japanese version due to different fermentation and filtering. I've been tempted to make some and probably will after I leave Korea. While I'm here I decided that I can get the good stuff easily enough that it isn't worth the space in the apartment for a fermenter.

Madmarcus wrote: ↑Tue Dec 08, 2020 7:44 pmThe commercial products are pretty vile with a lot of artificial sweetener

Well, if I know my Daehawk....

Kraken wrote: ↑Tue Dec 08, 2020 7:40 pm In place of butter or sour cream, I use bacon grease because mmmmm bacon.

I miss the days of bacon and bacon grease. My Sat and Sun every week was a long leisurely morning that started with three strips of bacon. That was just enough grease to fry two eggs over easy, hash browned potatoes, and two slices of bread in. Throw some cheese on the potatoes when flipped. Toast is then lubed with egg yolk. Coffee, medium sugar and cream.

It all started with three strips of bacon.

Then came the stent in my heart and my favorite breakfast, the cooking ritual I truly enjoyed doing, gone.

Frying bagels in lard instead of toasting them. Gone. Bacon grease made everything better... except my heart.

LordMortis wrote: ↑Tue Dec 08, 2020 7:57 pm Frying bagels in lard instead of toasting them.

OK, that's pushing it.

Unagi wrote: ↑Tue Dec 08, 2020 8:00 pm

LordMortis wrote: ↑Tue Dec 08, 2020 7:57 pm Frying bagels in lard instead of toasting them.

OK, that's pushing it.

It sooooo isn't. I was introduced to this wonder of nature while camping many years ago and it became a thing right there and then. Really, camping is how I learned everything is better fried in bacon lard.

Madmarcus wrote: ↑Tue Dec 08, 2020 7:44 pm

Daehawk wrote: ↑Sat Dec 05, 2020 1:12 pm Ive wanted to try Sake since I was old enough to buy beer but never did for some reason. So I bought a bottle the other day. Its semi filtered so still has bits of rice in it and its cloudy. It looks like milk almost.

In Korea that form of rice wine is called makgeolli. The commercial products are pretty vile with a lot of artificial sweetener but the real stuff is great. Slightly different than the Japanese version due to different fermentation and filtering. I've been tempted to make some and probably will after I leave Korea. While I'm here I decided that I can get the good stuff easily enough that it isn't worth the space in the apartment for a fermenter.

I keep meaning to try sake, but I want to try it right, and not just grab whatever generic brand I'm able to find, and it means knowing what to get and how to drink it. That means doing a bunch of research, and then finding a place that actually sells it. Around here, that probably means either a four hour drive, or trying to order online.

You can see why I've never tried sake.

I've had sake in what was considered the best Japanese restaurant in Ann Arbor. It was good, but it wasn't life-changing.

It felt more like an experiment in transforming high-octane liquor into thick, dense wine. A few sips were impressive, but you couldn't really make it a lifestyle.

Kraken wrote: ↑Tue Dec 08, 2020 7:40 pm

LordMortis wrote: ↑Tue Dec 08, 2020 4:19 pm

Daehawk wrote: ↑Tue Dec 08, 2020 4:05 pm I just nuke for about 8 min on high for a big tater. Wash, dry, oil, salt, poke holes in it with fork, wrap in moist paper towel...nuke.

I'm pretty happy with the long oven cook. OTOH, I also learned that you leave corn in the husk and nuke it for five minutes and it's just as good as boiling. That was a game changer for me. I love corn on the cob. I hate boiling water, waiting, and cleaning pots and nuked CotC if just as good as boiled CotC.

Nuking spuds works in a pinch, but you have to bake if you want crispy skin. I've always baked for 45 min at 425 degrees, or an hour if it's especially large. In place of butter or sour cream, I use bacon grease because mmmmm bacon.

That's when I'm making spuds as a side. For a main course, I do the baked-stuffed thing.

Indeed, If you're in a hurry, the following advice from the aforementioned Serious Eats guidance for the ultimate baked potato works pretty well in my experience (though it's still not quite as good as properly baking in the oven):

SeriousEats.com wrote:If you're pressed for time, I've gotten very good results by microwaving the potato for five minutes, then finishing it in a very hot, 450°F oven for about 20 minutes. That high heat will help the skin crisp in a much shorter window of time.

Anyone tried those Just Crack An Egg? They sound good and Ive got a coupon.

https://www.justcrackanegg.net/

That's a good idea. Although in the age of Covid, I'm never in a hurry for anything anymore. Nowhere to go, nothing to do.

LordMortis wrote: ↑Tue Dec 08, 2020 7:57 pm I miss the days of bacon and bacon grease.

I still cook my egg in bacon grease most mornings (my wife is the one that eats the bacon). My doctor hasn't been worried about it but maybe that is just that my blood pressure bothered her more!

We have servers hosted on Netgain, and since December 3rd they've been completely unavailable. Their domain controllers were hit with Ransomware, knocking down their ability to service any client. They've spent the last 5 days rebuilding their infrastructure (seemingly from scratch) and still don't have us up yet.

Doctors are angry, owners are pissed, patients are disgruntled. All I, the IT Guy, can do is apologize over and over and over while we wait.

Daehawk wrote: ↑Tue Dec 08, 2020 11:48 pm Anyone tried those Just Crack An Egg? They sound good and Ive got a coupon.

https://www.justcrackanegg.net/

I don't know what they cost, but you're definitely going to pay more for prefab one-serving anything.

I bought a couple for my wife. They were around $2.50 - $3.00.
They were alright but not worth the money as far as we were concerned.

Ironic

Cybersecurity firm FireEye says was hacked by nation state