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The math was insane! I'm not spoiling anything because it says right on the page you need to find keys, but some of the keys are on the bolts of combo locks and that's where the math comes in. There was even one combo lock that used letters. I had never even seen a lock like that!
I have to say, the people that comprise your group probably make a huge difference. First off, I wouldn't have wanted to play with people I didn't know very well. We went with our oldest friends. My best friend is married to my husband's best friend and we've all know each other since childhood, so that helped. Our jobs are very diverse which was also useful. Let us know how you enjoy it. I can't wait for the opportunity to go again.
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Thanks for the tips Kandice! At least now I know who not get paired up with for my work and family trip.
First room, we needed help to escape it.Second room, we breezed through it.
Both were great!
I think I mentioned a while back that I was put in charge of the Purim Carnival at work and that I felt a bit (a lot!) out of my league, having never done it. We offered a nacho lunch for sale and I found out that the cheese we were planning on using is no longer on the market. There is no other hechered cheese available anywhere! That means I need to make (from scratch!) enough nacho cheese for 200 servings the morning of the carnival. AAAAAAAARG!You'd think we could bend a rule just this once.
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Kandice, stay strong, I am sure you will find a way!
I have checked everywhere I can. At this point it is getting close enough that I feel making it is the safest bet. There is also the matter of cost. If I could find it online, I can't imagine the shipping costs.It'll be fine, it's just a step I wasn't planning on or accounting for.
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Howdy Aaron :)
I’m not making “cheese” per se, just nacho cheese. I can’t do the big batch until the morning of the event so it doesn’t get icky, but I plan on trying a small batch at home tonight or tomorrow night. For 200 servings I just have to melt 15 pounds of American cheese very slowly and blend it with butter, flour salt and macerated jalapeno peppers. The small batch is just 7 slices of American cheese with the other stuff.I’m sure it will go fine; it’s just something I hadn’t planned on taking the time to do. O_o
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There's several brands of Nacho Cheese on Amazon.com or Walmart.com, with free shipping above 35-50$ orders.Not sure about what type of cheese you need exactly (as a French, I only eat strong & smelly cheese coming directly from the farm ;-) )
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https://anaslair.wordpress.com/2015/0...
I like the highlighting for spoilers, it shows me how long the spoiler is before I click on it and read it all!
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What do you think of the colour? Light blue is one of my favourite colours and I thought it went well with the background notebook lines.
Nice one.Usually, I'd stick with black, but light blue is indeed a nice touch. I love this colour too.
In need of sleep (the constant fireworks aren't helping).
Contrary to our New Year, Chinese New Year is a long process that lasts 2 weeks. With constant fireworks during those two weeks, especially on the fifth day. Which means basically no sleep for 2 weeks...
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Dang, that sounds dreadful, Melas. There is nothing that can compare to a good night's sleep. I have been having crappy rest lately, so I feel your pain. Though luckily no fireworks. Hope you don't have to endure it much longer!
Light blue works for me, Ana. Not sure what other colors there are, but I don't see a need to change.Hi everyone!
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And thanks Aaron, hopefully I will be able to catch up on my sleep tomorrow ^_^
I think your blog looks great Ana!Melas, I work at a synagogue, so the cheese has to be kosher. Under normal circumstances any fresh cheese is considered kosher even if it doesn't bear a heksher, but because nacho cheese in a can is processed, it isn't automatically kosher. At the planning meeting for the carnival everyone wanted to try nachos, but it didn't occur to anyone to think of that.
Good morning everyone! I made the small sample batch of cheese (at home) last night and it was a HUGE hit with my children. My oldest son, who lives on his own now, made a "date" with me to come over and learn how to make it. He's a vegetarian, so always happy about simple recipes he can actually eat.
I didn't add any jalpenos because I was really just testing for texture, but the taste was nice and rich because of the butter. I think it will be even better with some jalapenos and red pepper diced really fine.
Go eat! It's funny being the only non-Jewish person at a synagogue, because often things just don't occur to me. They have so many, many rules. Other times, I remember things that they neglect to mention because they seem second nature to them.It's a joke around work that I've become more Jewish than the Jews, but without the religion. :D
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Ana's blog had me thinking.Having a book blog sounds like a wonderful idea, but what does it bring that GR doesn't? Is it really useful?
I post all my reviews here already. Wouldn't posting them on a blog be duplicate content?
Which one of you have a book blog here? Is it an interesting adventure? Should I open one too?
I already have a personal blog. I sometime post book reviews on it, but not all of them. Mostly on books about China. If I had to post all my reviews on there, the other content will be overflooded by it, which I don't want. After all, the other content is what I want to focus on. Also, my blog is in French and I would have to translate everything!
What do you think about it? I'd be really interested in your opinions.
I honestly don't feel interesting enough to warrant a blog. Like you said, I post my reviews here, and who really wants to read a site all about me? Having said that, I can see why they would be fun to write and design. I work on the website for my job and I often wish I wasn't constrained by their rules and regulations. Not enough to write my own, but still...
Melaslithos wrote: "Ana's blog had me thinking.Having a book blog sounds like a wonderful idea, but what does it bring that GR doesn't? Is it really useful?
I post all my reviews here already. Wouldn't posting them..."
What is your blog? I speak French (and read it, too) :D
Kandice wrote: "I honestly don't feel interesting enough to warrant a blog. Like you said, I post my reviews here, and who really wants to read a site all about me? Having said that, I can see why they would be ..."
I feel this way about my blog, where I don't post reviews, but write about my life and thoughts. However, I'm not sure it's all that interesting to other people....I'll keep it going for a while, and see if I can't hit my stride with it and use it for personal enjoyment.
I started my blog to stay in touch with my friends in France. I never expected it to be interesting to many people, but it looks like some do find an interest in it. I also had nice exchanges with people thanks to it. It is a very small blog with just a tiny reach. But I love it! I love that I can have my own space on the web to do whatever I want, to experiment and have fun with.
Regarding a book blog, I also have a question, regarding what Ana said about NG giving more copies to those with a blog: do you think a blog can give you that much more of a reach than just GR reviews?
There are also several authors here, what about you? Do you like your reviewers to have a blog, on just GR reviews are fine with you? Why?
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Having a book blog sounds like a wonderful idea, but what does it bring that GR doesn't? Is it really useful?
I post all my reviews here already. Wouldn't posting them..."
I decided to create a blog mainly to see if it would get me more netgalley titles, since some publishers demand that you post elsewhere than goodreads. I have gotten several decline emails stating that as a reason.
The fact is there are a lot of people out there who don't like gr. I am not sure why but I think it has something to do with an agreement with Amazon? Or they view GR as biased? I don't know, the fact is a lot of folks, publishers and authors included, do not like or use it at all.
I found that the blog complements my GR experience. And since I created it, I found that I would like to post more than just my book reviews. It became my personal little corner, though not too. I don't intend on posting a lot in it because, as you said, I am also not that interesting, but overall it has been a positive experience, a challenging one too. Right now I am working on a cover book index for the books I have reviewed, a fast and easy way to see what I have read, but since I don't know html it has been a very slow process.
I am not sure how long I will keep it up but so far I am enjoying the ride.
I'm trying to put myself in an author/publisher point of view. I am not a professional/well known reviewer, so I would expect my review to have a bigger reach on GR, where a lot of people come, than on an obscur blog in a corner of the web.But since I am not an author, I would love to get the opinion of one here.
Anyway, I might still open a book blog just for the fun of it, but it will stay centered on books, since I already have other outlets for other subjects.
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Usually, after reading several new books, especially R4R from self-published authors, I like to go back to a good old classic or something I'm sure I'll like (i.e. Pratchett).Let's be franck, there's a reason why some books are classics and not others, and most contemporary authors don't make the cut (it's the same for all "contemporary", be it now or 100 years ago). When I read too much of these "new" authors, I kind of feel like you, like I loose my enthusiasm for books, because a lot of them are not that good (although some are really great, and I love finding a new author I love in all those unknown ones).
So maybe you need a break, pick up something you know you love, maybe a book you've read and re-read and re-re-read, or a new book from your favorite author.
And then you can delve again in your humongous pile of R4R ^_^
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I wonder where the heck I got the idea the book I am reading was 200 pages long, it's actually 352... I don't actually mind that it's long, I am just wondering if you gals want to start on Bald New World before I am done, since no one is really mentioning a specific date to start.
But yeah, I think I have had bad luck with new authors. This one is pretty boring. I enjoy hard sci-fi as much as the next person but only if it has something interesting going on, otherwise it's just piles and piles of description.
I consider certain books "palate cleansers" and other books as "rests", like Melas said. After reading an especially hard or dense book I try to read something fun and quick like a Charlaine Harris Mysteries or J.D. Robb. When I feel I am in a slump from reading too many in a row that aren't that engaging I tend to read a Stephen King or Colleen McCullough, not because their books are easy, but because I love, love, love them and can re-read them over and over and never feel bored.
Regarding starting Bald New World, I'm only on page 80 of a book with more than 500 pages. So I will need at least a few more days to finish it. So you will have time to finish your book too.Also, if you prefer to push to an even later date, I'm fine with it too. I don't really have a time goal or limit for this book, such as book club meeting, group reads, etc.
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When I read stuff that leaves me feeling the way I have lately I usually go for short stories. But unfortunately the short story books I have on my Kindle that I would like to read are in pdf format, so not the easiest to get through.
I do feel the pressure of the clock ticking with r4r and netgalley books as well... But it's pretty counterproductive to keep reading them if I don't feel up to it so yes, I will most likely read a classic after this one and Bald New World, or just a really short read, 100 pages or less. Most likely horror, to take a break from all the sci-fi/fantasy.
I think part of why I hesitate to take or ask for R4R books is my inclination to do so many re-reads. It makes my progress through completely new to my TBR pile very slow, but it keeps me a happy reader!
Well, I did decide to cut down on the quantity of R4R books I read. And I think I'm much better at not jumping on the first occasion I see, but only selecting books that I think I'll really like and enjoy.
Leonard Nimoy died this morning. :*(
Kandice wrote: "Leonard Nimoy died this morning. :*("I just read about that in another thread - how sad.
Funny enough, each of my children called me throughout the day to ask if I had heard and if I was ok. When Colleen McCullough dies recently I cried inconsolably (I know...), but was simply sad about Nimoy. I tried to explain that with a writer, it felt like so much more loss because they would never create another story, which feels very different than portraying a character. I'm not expressing it well, but I know what I mean. O_o
Book Lair
Books mentioned in this topic
The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket (other topics)Memoirs of a Geisha (other topics)
Memoirs of a Geisha (other topics)
Broken Pieces (other topics)
All the Blue-Eyed Angels (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Laura Black (other topics)Alexandre Dumas (other topics)
Philippa Gregory (other topics)
Margaret George (other topics)
Colleen McCullough (other topics)
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I'm really looking forward to it; I told my family about it and they also want to do it.