Daily Chit Chat Showing 851-900 of 1,626

[Ed]

Stay safe everybody! And don't come near me!

[Papaphilly]

Ed wrote: "Stay safe everybody! And don't come near me!"

Ah Ed come and give me a hug.....

[Jim]

I really appreciate Ed doing our beginning of the month chores this month. As an IT guy, I've been slammed supporting users working remotely & other chores. It's spring here & everything is in bloom on the farm, but we've also had a lot of rain until recently. The past week has been really nice, though.

I don't know how I'm ever going to manage going back to working all day in the office again. It's great to be able to work a few hours then go outside to work outside for a few. When I don't get called in by some user with a problem, I feel like I get a lot more accomplished. I'm eager & don't get nearly as tired.

[Jim]

John Prine has died, a big loss. His songs always made me laugh & think at the same time. Here's an article about him.
https://getpocket.com/explore/item/in...

My favorite songs by him were "Your Flag Decal Won't Get You Into Heaven Anymore" which lampoons misguided patriotism.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=heuGz...

"Illegal Smile"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GY4Hu...

"Spanish Pipedream"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oPwq0...

"Pretty Good"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lXDCU...

Oh heck, there's a dozen others that might make the list too.

[Buck]

I've now gotten 20 likes of my status of reading The Cosmic Computer by H Beam Piper. 16 of the likers have no profile picture, 12 have no Goodreads friends, 4 have read no books. None of them have liked the review that I wrote three days after I posted the status that I was reading it.

Do these likers pose a threat? Can I get rid of them?

[Ed]

I don't think there is any threat in general. I checked on those and saw that a few had URLs in their profiles leading to "sexy" Russian websites in their profile. I wouldn't advise clicking on those links. Otherwise, just ignore them, or "block" them from contacting you.

[Deb]

Hey Buck. I don't think there is any problem with them as long as you ignore them. Like Ed said, avoid any links they post as though they were infected with electronic COVID-19 and you should be fine.

Pretty recently when I started getting 'likes' for my status updates, it confused and annoyed me. I could not find any way to stop them happening though. I have no idea why GR has added this redundant feature.

[Papaphilly]

Buck wrote: "I've now gotten 20 likes of my status of reading The Cosmic Computer by H Beam Piper. 16 of the likers have no profile picture, 12 have no Goodreads friends, 4 have read no books. None of them have..."

You can block them at your choice.

[Deb]

Papaphilly wrote: "Buck wrote: "I've now gotten 20 likes of my status of reading The Cosmic Computer by H Beam Piper. 16 of the likers have no profile picture, 12 have no Goodreads friends, 4 have read no books. None..."

oo. How?

[Papaphilly]

Deborah wrote: "Papaphilly wrote: "Buck wrote: "I've now gotten 20 likes of my status of reading The Cosmic Computer by H Beam Piper. 16 of the likers have no profile picture, 12 have no Goodreads friends, 4 have ..."

Click on the offending user to their profile. Click the more button next to the add friend tab and then block this user.

[Jim]

A few years back, I got a lot of likes on some of my books by a group of brownheads. Turned out it was a class whose teacher assigned them some project on GR.

Today I got a comment by a brownhead & it was obviously spam. I flagged the comment (lower right, just "flag", & don't delete. It's grayed out, but works & is the same on profile comments.) after looking at the profile. Brand new & all the comments made were all identical to the one on my review.

If you're pretty sure someone is up to no good, you can always email support@goodreads.com with the url of their user profile. They're pretty good about investigating & dealing with them, although it takes a few days.

[Deb]

Papaphilly wrote: "Deborah wrote: "Papaphilly wrote: "Buck wrote: "I've now gotten 20 likes of my status of reading The Cosmic Computer by H Beam Piper. 16 of the likers have no profile picture, 12 have no Goodreads ..."

Ah, so one at a time? I might consider that if one gets annoying but mostly they don't hang around...

[Jim]

Since I'm working from home, I haven't had to set the alarm, but I still get up about 5am. I put in a few hours of work then take the dogs for a walk before going out to the shop for a couple of hours. I alternate between the shop & computer work the rest of the day before coming in for dinner around 7pm. It's GREAT!

I'm getting a lot of fun projects done in the shop. Some are using up scraps. I'm making a lap desk out of 1/4" white oak that's finger jointed, about 18"x11" - 3" tall at the back sloping to 2" at the front. I was a little shy of the oak, so I edged the top with Brazilian cherry. The bottom is made out of Red cedar scraps that are only 3/16" thick, so I put clear epoxy on one side. I'm going to try to leave it plain on the inside so that nice smell permeates the box. It will be hinged with one that I salvaged from a box that had Forstner bits I bought from Harbor Freight.

The laptop desk needs a lot of drying time between steps, so I've been going through my Woodworker Journals. I have a DVD set of them for 25 years or so & they have a lot of great projects. For instance, I made up a jig & used it to make 8 trivets out of oak & maple. They're just 6" squares of 3/4" stock that are dadoed diagonally on both sides. Once the jig is made & the dado blade is set, they take just a couple of minutes to cut & a few more to sand. Since they're going to have hot stuff on them, I didn't put any finish on them.

Who knows what trouble I'll get into today?
:)

[Rosemarie]

It's great that you enjoy woodworking, Jim. And that you can work from home.
My husband and I have been retired for a while, so we are keeping busy.
But I love travelling and going to the museum and art gallery where we have memberships. That isn't happening for a while.
Everything is shut down for another four weeks.
I may finally finish my knitting project.

[Jim]

I've been knitting a scarf for weeks. I only seem to get a few rows done each night after dinner. I'm not very fast at knitting & it tickles Lily's ears if she is laying the wrong way in my lap, so I can't do it every night. (Yes, I have a bossy girl!)

It won't be a very good one, but it is good practice. The wool is from a cheap fleece I bought at a local wool festival a few years ago. Had a lot of burrs & was soaked in lanolin, so it takes a while to clean. I think it's from a Dorset, so it's not very soft. It got a little softer after I spun it up & dyed it, but I don't like the color, either. I'm trying to make it one sided & occasionally goofed knitting when I should have purled at first. I'll donate it some place when I'm done & hope no one traces it back to me!
:)

[Rosemarie]

I've been knitting with this yarn for years. I started a sweater only to realize towards the end that I didn't have enough yarn(which my daughter gave to me years ago). So I unravelled it and am making a patterned wrap that will be as long as the wool lasts. There are some tiny mistakes in it, but not noticeable.

When I first started knitting I would somehow end up with a scarf that kept getting wider as it was getting longer!

[Jim]

Sweaters are way beyond me. I tried making a sock one time & really goofed the heel turn. I need something simple like hats & scarves. I just don't spend enough time sitting where I do it nor can I seem to count properly even with markers, stitch counters, & notes. I get distracted too easily.

[Rosemarie]

The closest I came to making socks was baby booties.

[Buck]

We have a gang problem in our neighborhood. The Squirrels and The Jays. The Squirrels are just hooligans, but The Jays have an esprit de corps. And the cat enjoys watching them.

[[deleted user]]

Lmao. We got some big ass grasshoppers.

[Papaphilly]

It is spring, the ants have returned..... For two or three weeks, they roam my living room at the one end. Cannot figure where they come from and they go away every year after their visit.

[[deleted user]]

I feel you!
I mowed today and ran over like ten ant beds. their so annoying.

[Jim]

I hate those little ants. They come into our house for a while too in the spring & fall. We can block them for a while by spraying some corners & pipes with ant spray, but it's never a certain victory.

After hitting 80 one day last week, the past 2 mornings have been down in the mid 20s. I planted some marigolds & other annuals in a sheltered corner by the house where my fish pond used to be. Those furthest from the house made it the first night, but last night killed them. The Golden Rain tree & magnolia are both looking rough, too.

[Papaphilly]

The worst part is the cat that will kill any animal that it can get its paws on, only watches the ants.

[[deleted user]]

Heyo bae

[Rosemarie]

I got a pointsettia plant for Christmas that must have had ant eggs in the soil, since all of a sudden we ants all over the place. Once I figured out where they were coming from, I took that plant outside. We still find the odd stray ant.

[[deleted user]]

Yikes.
We got a scorpion. My dad brought one home from work. My siblings got some dirt and stuff and put it in a vase. They also caught a cricket. They keep wanting to see the scorpion attack it.

[Jim]

I'm working from home with the Covid lockdown & loving it. It's given me a chance to go through my DVD of 25 years worth of Woodworker's Journal (1977-2012) & use up some of the scrap that's been accumulating in the shop. I've been on a bit of a clean up kick & was close to consigning much of it to the brush pile. Glad I didn't!

Trivets
I have a lot of sugar maple around since I cut one down at the kids' house & had it cut up into boards by a neighbor. Trivets that are made from 3/4" thick, 6" square scraps (oak (left) & maple) & left unfinished. A 400 degree muffin pan left them unmarred. They're one piece, just dadoed to make the lattice effect. I made a jig to cut them, so they don't take long to make. Setting up the dado blade takes the longest.



Here's the jig:



The Little Boss (aka my daughter, Erin) wanted a lap desk & I had a bunch of thin scraps around. The White oak is 1/4" think & the Red cedar I used for the bottom isn't quite 3/16" thick, so edge gluing & finishing them into wide boards was interesting. I didn't have quite enough oak, so I edged the top with some Brazilian cherry scraps. For as thin & light as this is, it's amazingly sturdy. Both the top & bottom boards were finished with clear epoxy to add strength & make them smooth as a baby's skin.

It's about 18" x 11-1/2", 3" at the back. The hinge is repurposed from a box of bits I bought from Harbor Freight.






Another idea from my Woodworker Journal DVD is this marble maze. It looks simple here, but wait until I glue the lid on. I'll bet it will be really tough blind. It's 6"x 8" made from oak scraps.



Here's picture of the latest wooden Erector set made out of Sugar maple with 2 different size (3/4" & 1") threaded bolts, screws, washers, & nuts plus 2 wrenches & screwdrivers all made from wood. The toolbox itself comes apart to provide material. I finished this one a while ago & had made a smaller one for the first grandmonster.

[Ed]

Really cool tool box!

[Jim]

Thanks!

[Buck]

Wow, Jim. I am so impressed. I once thought of myself as a woodworker, but that's been years ago.

[Jim]

Thanks, Buck.

Update on the marble maze: It's so tough that I woodburned the maze on to one side. People can try it either way, but I'll bet most look at the maze & still have trouble. I do.

[Jim]

While the asparagus started coming up almost 2 weeks ago, the weather has been too cold for it to grow much. Now that it's warmed up, it's been pretty dry, but we did get enough for dinner tonight. Tomorrow is supposed to be rainy all day with lows around 50 & highs close to 70 for the next couple of days, so it will take off.

[RJ - Slayer of Trolls]

I have been cooking a lot lately, since I am "working" from home. I made biscuits and sausage gravy the other day. I think that may be the perfect meal, especially when accompanied by scrambled eggs. I could eat it every day.

[Ed]

I'm cooking lots of beans. A few days ago I decided to sprout a few of them. I think I'm going to do a bit of Earth-day "rogue gardening" and plant them in the garden box of the church across the street. They already have cauliflower and other things, and nobody is taking care of it now.

[Oleksandr]

RJ from the LBC wrote: "I have been cooking a lot lately, since I am "working" from home. I made biscuits and sausage gravy the other day. ."

I knew that biscuits means not "sponge cake" as in Ukraine but something else. Now I also know the definition for sausage gravy. Thanks

[[deleted user]]

YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT SAUSAGE GRAVY IS!!!! ONLY THE BEST BREAKFAST FOOD EVER!!!!

[[deleted user]]

It's the best American breakfast.
You make a white pepper gravy and make your favorite breakfast sausage and cook it separate. I like the extra spicy sausage. Then you poor it in fresh got biscuits and yummmmyyyy!!!

I have not

[[deleted user]]

It is. I'll make you some.
The best is when you have hash browns and scrambled eggs and you put the hash browns and eggs in the biscuit then the gravy

[Papaphilly]

Sweet But A Phycho wrote: "YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT SAUSAGE GRAVY IS!!!! ONLY THE BEST BREAKFAST FOOD EVER!!!!"

You obviously never had a bagel with lox. 8^)

[Jim]

Our microwave died. Luckily, I'd bought a small, cheap one to work with the generator & as a backup. It's working great. The new one is scheduled to be installed next Wednesday morning. (Yes, I could do it, but it's tough unless you really know what you're doing. It's worth the installation fee.)

[Deb]

So.... I have always mean to ask; you see biscuits mentioned in books all the time as an american breakfast food but I just can't get my head around it... Surely you don't mean actual, sweet, biscuits, like you have with a coffee in the afternoon...?

[Ed]

Deborah, American "biscuits" are not sweet. They are basically scones without sugar. But usually fluffier. You try to avoid stirring or kneading the dough much because you want it to stay soft.

[Papaphilly]

Deborah wrote: "So.... I have always mean to ask; you see biscuits mentioned in books all the time as an american breakfast food but I just can't get my head around it... Surely you don't mean actual, sweet, biscu..."

No, What we call a biscuit is more like a scone to you. What you call a biscuit is more like a cookie to us.

[Peter]

Forthencho Pacino wrote: "AHhhhh.
That does sound insanely tasty."

Still doesn't come up to Applewood-smoked bacon. Preferably with a couple of sunny-side eggs on top. "Ladders", we call them at our house, and that's what I made for brunch today. Yum!

[Peter]

Deborah wrote: "So.... I have always mean to ask; you see biscuits mentioned in books all the time as an american breakfast food but I just can't get my head around it... Surely you don't mean actual, sweet, biscu..."

Scones! Do you guys do good, Pom-style scones Down Under? We had the most amazing bakery in Cayucos, Calif (which closed for the epidemic, & likely forever 😥). Their scones were amazing! I hope the pastry chef sticks around. Maybe she'll open her own place? Because the owners were clueless about running a business!

[Peter]

"Cayucos", incidentally, was as close as Mexican Spanish could get to "kayak." The Russian-American Fur Co. used to hire Aleut, Yupik and other coastal Alaska natives to hunt the then-abundant Sea Otters, back in the 18th & 19th centuries, Those guys, of course, hunted from their Kayaks....

[Deb]

Peter wrote: "Deborah wrote: "So.... I have always mean to ask; you see biscuits mentioned in books all the time as an american breakfast food but I just can't get my head around it... Surely you don't mean actu..."
We do scones, the Aussie specialty tends to be pumpkin scones.

I think, if the world ever recovers, I might have to visit America if only to taste these biscuits. I just can't even start to imagine scones for breakfast, let alone scones with meat gravy. I think this needs to be experienced for oneself.

[Peter]

If you ever get to Fort Ross, California -- a very cool place -- that was the southernmost base for the Russians on the American West Coast. The Russians shut down their operations in Calif around 1849, and sold Ft. Ross to John Sutter of Gold Rush fame. The Russians later sold Alaska (formally the Russian-American Company) to the US in 1867.

[Papaphilly]

Deborah wrote: "Peter wrote: "Deborah wrote: "So.... I have always mean to ask; you see biscuits mentioned in books all the time as an american breakfast food but I just can't get my head around it... Surely you d..."

If you ever get to the NYC area, I will buy you a bagel and lox. Now that is heaven