Octopus Overlords

Blackhawk wrote: ↑Tue Jan 26, 2021 6:01 pmOurs is 349

Do you wear a helmet in the shower?

You could pay $100 for that or get a $5 pot at Goodwill. Of course it wont keep the water at a certain temp. Ya babies ...but I dont like hot drinks at all so its moot to me.

Daehawk wrote: ↑Tue Jan 26, 2021 6:14 pm You could pay $100 for that or get a $5 pot at Goodwill. Of course it wont keep the water at a certain temp. Ya babies ...but I dont like hot drinks at all so its moot to me.

You're probably not in the best position to criticize how others choose to spend their money.

68 today and tomorrow night is due a 1/2 inch of snow then 30s Thursday.

ImLawBoy wrote: ↑Tue Jan 26, 2021 6:16 pm

Daehawk wrote: ↑Tue Jan 26, 2021 6:14 pm You could pay $100 for that or get a $5 pot at Goodwill. Of course it wont keep the water at a certain temp. Ya babies ...but I dont like hot drinks at all so its moot to me.

You're probably not in the best position to criticize how others choose to spend their money.

Not really spending anything but just how was it I spent it wrong ?

Smoove_B wrote: ↑Tue Jan 26, 2021 6:12 pm

Blackhawk wrote: ↑Tue Jan 26, 2021 6:01 pmOurs is 349

Do you wear a helmet in the shower?

This is limestone country. The Jefferson Memorial, Federal Triangle, Lincoln Memorial, the Treasury building, Yankee Stadium, the Empire State Building, the University of Chicago, multiple state capitol buildings, plus tons of other buildings all over the country were built with Indiana limestone. And guess what our ground water is soaking in?

Daehawk wrote: ↑Tue Jan 26, 2021 7:21 pm

ImLawBoy wrote: ↑Tue Jan 26, 2021 6:16 pm

Daehawk wrote: ↑Tue Jan 26, 2021 6:14 pm You could pay $100 for that or get a $5 pot at Goodwill. Of course it wont keep the water at a certain temp. Ya babies ...but I dont like hot drinks at all so its moot to me.

You're probably not in the best position to criticize how others choose to spend their money.

Not really spending anything but just how was it I spent it wrong ?

You have to diagram this sentence before I respond to it.

Palmolive?

Daehawk wrote: ↑Tue Jan 26, 2021 6:14 pm You could pay $100 for that or get a $5 pot at Goodwill. Of course it wont keep the water at a certain temp. Ya babies ...but I dont like hot drinks at all so its moot to me.

Different teas have to steeped at different temperatures. Black tea is boiled. Green teas, oolong, white teas, etc. are not. The alternative is to either boil them and end up with nasty, bitter tea, or sit there heating the water with a thermometer in your hand the whole time.

ImLawBoy wrote: ↑Tue Jan 26, 2021 6:10 pm

Blackhawk wrote: ↑Tue Jan 26, 2021 6:01 pm

ImLawBoy wrote: ↑Tue Jan 26, 2021 2:31 pm My wife uses her electric kettle daily to make tea. I got her a fancy one that has different temperature settings for different types of teas.

I was given this one about four years ago as a gift, and it is easily my most used appliance. Especially since I'm a tea snob and recognize the importance of having the right temperature for the right tea (such as not boiling green tea.) Unfortunately, where I live has such hard water that I have to use distilled for tea and in any appliance I don't want destroyed. (Slightly hard water is 17ppm, hard water is 120-180, and very hard is anything above 180. Ours is 349.)

That's the same one I got her!

from that pot temperature guide, it has 'oolong = 190 deg F' - i've found out really most any decent oolong can get to 205F, if not outright boiling.

Daehawk wrote: ↑Tue Jan 26, 2021 6:14 pm You could pay $100 for that or get a $5 pot at Goodwill. Of course it wont keep the water at a certain temp. Ya babies ...but I dont like hot drinks at all so its moot to me.

it does make an essential difference:



and with the oolongs, different temps will give you different flavors.

also note there are different steeping times depending on what infusion the leaves are currently on, and whether it's being steeped in a pot, cup, steeping cup or gaiwan. i should probably get around to updating the tea thread...

Blackhawk wrote: ↑Tue Jan 26, 2021 7:39 pm

Daehawk wrote: ↑Tue Jan 26, 2021 6:14 pm You could pay $100 for that or get a $5 pot at Goodwill. Of course it wont keep the water at a certain temp. Ya babies ...but I dont like hot drinks at all so its moot to me.

Different teas have to steeped at different temperatures. Black tea is boiled. Green teas, oolong, white teas, etc. are not. The alternative is to either boil them and end up with nasty, bitter tea, or sit there heating the water with a thermometer in your hand the whole time.

That is a beauty of a kettle and I may have to pick one up since I have the means.

I made my first cups of a 175F tea today, Caribe from Harney & Sons. In the past I have avoided purchasing such teas because I was intimidated to brew anything that didn't use boiling water.

I have a pretty standard cheap-o electric kettle but I know it and the sounds it makes well. I just started checking the temp when I could hear it coming up to heat and pulled it right at 175F. Oh, did I mention I use a $100 Thermapen? Because I do...

I mean sure, I could use the rectal thermometer my Memaw used on me when I was a baby but (did I mention?) I have the means to use better equipment in the kitchen.

IIs it so choice?

We've had the same Cuisinart kettle as Blackhawk for about a year now and it's fantastic...spot on temperature in a matter of minutes. We use it at home quite a bit, but it's also a very handy tool to throw in our camper...much easier, faster and precise than boiling water over a fire or grill burner.

Isgrimnur wrote: ↑Tue Jan 26, 2021 8:06 pm IIs it so choice?

Memaw's rectal thermometer?

I didn't have a choice you savage.

At least I can rest easy knowing that a dedicated thread on tea kettles isn't going to come anywhere near the awesomeness of a thread on using a DE safety razor.

Do we have one on bread makers yet?

OO has gotten old. We're Gone Gramps.

Target pulling products allegedly made with forced monkey labor

PETA, which has been tracking monkey exploitation in Thailand since 2019, conducted two undercover investigations that found primates are forced to pick coconuts all day with chains around their necks. The group’s probe found “cruelty to monkeys on every farm, at every monkey-training facility, and in every coconut-picking contest that used monkey labor.”

This just in: Humans are fucked up.

Evidently CostCo was the first one to step up with a ban.

Jaymann wrote: ↑Tue Jan 26, 2021 10:19 pm This just in: Humans are fucked up.

For brevity's sake, I just go with: People suck.

As hesitant as I am about anything originating from PETA, good for Target.

The Meal wrote: ↑Tue Jan 26, 2021 7:39 pm

Daehawk wrote: ↑Tue Jan 26, 2021 7:21 pm

ImLawBoy wrote: ↑Tue Jan 26, 2021 6:16 pm

Daehawk wrote: ↑Tue Jan 26, 2021 6:14 pm You could pay $100 for that or get a $5 pot at Goodwill. Of course it wont keep the water at a certain temp. Ya babies ...but I dont like hot drinks at all so its moot to me.

You're probably not in the best position to criticize how others choose to spend their money.

Not really spending anything but just how was it I spent it wrong ?

You have to diagram this sentence before I respond to it.

I laughed and hurt my neck nodding.

Sometimes I think I'm the only one who doesn't really care for poetry.
But if that's so why aren't more books of poetry being sold?

dbt1949 wrote: ↑Thu Jan 28, 2021 12:10 am Sometimes I think I'm the only one who doesn't really care for poetry.
But if that's so why aren't more books of poetry being sold?

I like poetry when it's spoken or sung. The young lady at the Inauguration was wonderful, and a lot of my favorite song lyrics are poetic. Reading it? Not so much. I dislike having to decipher the writer's meaning. I'm a prosaic guy.

A lot of songs are poetic and I like the songs. To be honest tho I like the music more than the words. As a matter of fact I don't like the words in a lot of songs but still like the tune.

My wife was a poet. Published a book when she was around 20.

i am using a 16-year-old computer monitor that for some reason has cracks extending from the upper two corners of the monitor casing, and they've been slowly growing over time. my only guess as to why this is occurring is the plastic is becoming brittle from age - there's nothing resting on the top of the monitor, or any visible forces acting upon it. i definitely haven't moved it from this spot for a good six years.

i do have to give Samsung credit for workmanship otherwise - never had a CRT monitor this long. (the reason i got this one was because my previous monitor - a 17" or 19" ViewSonic CRT - started flipping out in 2008... like literally, the display just started rolling on the screen. current monitor was a second-hand purchase from craigslist - it has an analog TV tuner and composite and S-Video inputs as well, but only a VGA connector for the PC - no DVI, much less DisplayPort or HDMI)

hitbyambulance wrote: ↑Thu Jan 28, 2021 3:04 am i am using a 16-year-old computer monitor that for some reason has cracks extending from the upper two corners of the monitor casing, and they've been slowly growing over time. my only guess as to why this is occurring is the plastic is becoming brittle from age - there's nothing resting on the top of the monitor, or any visible forces acting upon it. i definitely haven't moved it from this spot for a good six years.

My wager is the subtle heating and cooling of the plastic with use. A slight fracture expands at the molecular level every day, then cools - then expands a little more the next day. Cracks will follow a point of weakness as they travel over time.

A friend once showed me how drilling a hole at the end of a crack will stop it from progressing. Remove the point of weakness and it can't continue.

Probably constant heat ya. My old monitor made a nice hand warmer.

hitbyambulance wrote: ↑Thu Jan 28, 2021 3:04 am i am using a 16-year-old computer monitor that for some reason has cracks extending from the upper two corners of the monitor casing, and they've been slowly growing over time. my only guess as to why this is occurring is the plastic is becoming brittle from age - there's nothing resting on the top of the monitor, or any visible forces acting upon it. i definitely haven't moved it from this spot for a good six years.

i do have to give Samsung credit for workmanship otherwise - never had a CRT monitor this long. (the reason i got this one was because my previous monitor - a 17" or 19" ViewSonic CRT - started flipping out in 2008... like literally, the display just started rolling on the screen. current monitor was a second-hand purchase from craigslist - it has an analog TV tuner and composite and S-Video inputs as well, but only a VGA connector for the PC - no DVI, much less DisplayPort or HDMI)

I'm also using a Samsung that's 15-20 years old, and still going strong.

Paingod wrote: ↑Thu Jan 28, 2021 7:52 am My wager is the subtle heating and cooling of the plastic with use. A slight fracture expands at the molecular level every day, then cools - then expands a little more the next day. Cracks will follow a point of weakness as they travel over time.

i had a slight suspicion this was the case (with the case) and now it's confirmed. while i was feeling the back of the monitor at the top of the case, it did feel noticeably warm in the middle.

A friend once showed me how drilling a hole at the end of a crack will stop it from progressing. Remove the point of weakness and it can't continue.

my dad has a bike (Specialized Rockhopper) that had a crack developing in the frame (the joint weld where the front tube meets the top tube) and he drilled holes on either side of the crack, then reinforced it with like, i dunno, zip ties or something, and it stopped expanding. ofc he really should not be using that bike at all and it ought to have been brought to metal recycling instead of implementing such a dodgy repair, but he uses it for Minnesota winter and snow riding as of the past 15 years... still replaces the drivetrain parts, as they will get severely corroded from road salt. i'm going to suggest again he get rid of that bike - he's always complaining about having too much stuff in that garage anyways AND he has a backup winter bike that never gets used as it is.

The drilling was right but should have used JB Weld instead of zipties.

Zipties are much better than duck tape.

dbt1949 wrote: ↑Thu Jan 28, 2021 12:10 am Sometimes I think I'm the only one who doesn't really care for poetry.
But if that's so why aren't more books of poetry being sold?

Like with all art I know what I like and it's a very small subset of what's out there and even after degrees in literature and philosophy I have no idea what's good, just what I like.

dbt1949 wrote: ↑Thu Jan 28, 2021 12:42 am A lot of songs are poetic and I like the songs. To be honest tho I like the music more than the words. As a matter of fact I don't like the words in a lot of songs but still like the tune.

There are so many lyricists I hear and I hear poetry. Emenem, Paul Simon, Peter Gabriel, Leonard Cohen, Tom Waits. And so many lyricists as poets I just don't "get"... Bob Dylan...


I have to read Shakespeare before I can begin to comprehend it live and to read Shakespeare I have to digest each part so slowly I can't put anything together without losing the beginning by the end. I have to skip past Tolkien's "songs" in his books. I can't even through them but I can sit marvel the cadence and rhythm and playfulness of chaos or Emenem. It seems everyone I know rolls their eyes at me when I can't help but tune out "the Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner" but I read the limerick "The Good Ship Venus" once and memorized it on the spot.

Playing with language, when I get it (or at least think I do) is awesome, when I don't, I don't and I move on.

http://octopusoverlords.com/forum/viewt ... 6#p2763796

LordMortis wrote: ↑Thu Jan 28, 2021 6:10 pmI have to read Shakespeare before I can begin to comprehend it live and to read Shakespeare I have to digest each part so slowly I can't put anything together without losing the beginning by the end.

In high school I decided to start translating one of the plays, Romeo and Juliet I think, into common modern English. It was fun, but the story felt a whole lot less interesting.

Paingod wrote:

LordMortis wrote: ↑Thu Jan 28, 2021 6:10 pmI have to read Shakespeare before I can begin to comprehend it live and to read Shakespeare I have to digest each part so slowly I can't put anything together without losing the beginning by the end.

In high school I decided to start translating one of the plays, Romeo and Juliet I think, into common modern English. It was fun, but the story felt a whole lot less interesting.

I was given the surprisingly challenging assignment of translating Hamlet's soliloquy into English with the appropriate iambic pentameter as a high school senior... definitely lost something

Setting: afternoon IT meeting with head of IT and lead developer

Meeting ends and head of IT and I stay on to discuss a new contract.

I have participant list hidden behind some other web pages.

After about 20 minutes, I start talking about having to deal with the lead developer who was being goofy this morning and wouldn't answer my question about whether or not he had received a mouse I'd sent him. He was trying to be Sheldon from tv and answering every question with a demand for precise details. "I don't have a box in front of me" when asked if he had received a box from amazon. That kind of thing. Eventually I just told my boss I lied and told him that VPN had cut off and that had ended our teams meeting earlier so I could get out of the conversation.

After a few seconds I then hear...

Lead developer: "I'm still here you know."