Speedy's Cafe - General Chat about anything you like!

[Fantasy Lover]

My boyfriend's brother is addicted to coke, my ex is addicted to a variation of drugs, but specifically coke.

[Carol the Dabbler]

Wow, that's scary -- and must be expensive too.

[Fantasy Lover]

Yeah, my ex girlfriend lied to me in the beginning when we were cohabiting. She asked to borrow money from me to pay for amazon stuff (so she claimed) because she earned less and I was the breadwinner, which I gave her. But she kept asking and asking for money, one time I refused, and she was like "don't you love me anymore? You're just being greedy and selfish." So I kept borrowing her money, until she asked me to borrow money twice in one day, I was like "are you mental?" Shortly after that she went on a trip to Poland and then she dumped me and found a new apartment while on her trip, and then I had to pack her stuff because she was in Poland, which I did being the goody two shoes I am. I'm glad I'm rid off her. 

[Carol the Dabbler]

Yup, you're better off without her.

 

[J.P.]

A random thought about storytelling that came to me while vacuuming:

Already in my twenties, I concluded that the main difference between fiction and reality is that a story has to make sense and have a point.
And today my brain added: Maybe that's why we are so obsessed with stories: They are an attempt to make us believe, that there is some sense and meaning to our lives.

[Carol the Dabbler]

I agree:  Reading (or writing) a story can offer temporary relief from real-world worries.

Assuming, of course, that the story isn't too much like our real life!     Thus, I suppose, the appeal of stories set in other places (e.g., Middle Earth) or other times (e.g., Victorian London).

 

[Caya]

Kinda like the old joke about RPGs, whether computer or pen&paper, that let you live out your wildest, most unrealistic fantasies, like having money and time to travel extensively, making new friends as an adult or getting eight hours of solid sleep almost every night.  

[Carol the Dabbler]

On 11/6/2023 at 4:27 AM, Caya said:

... your wildest, most unrealistic fantasies, like having money and time to travel extensively, making new friends as an adult or getting eight hours of solid sleep almost every night.

You mean I'm not the only one?  

 

[Carol the Dabbler]

According to the annoying pop-up that occurs when I accidentally mouse over the lower-left corner of the screen, this is Pizza Day, which somehow made me remember that (according to the inimitable Dave Barry) in Japan they put corn (as we call it, elsewhere it's maize, Indian corn, etc.) on pizza.  Somebody here in the US may have done that, at some time, but if so I've never seen or even heard of it.

I do recall noticing, however, that many of the deli offerings (various cooked salads) at Speedy's contained corn.  That which would merely be rare here (I can easily imagine that there might be corn in some Mexican-themed salads, for example).  But it makes me wonder -- is corn a normal pizza option in the UK?

 

[Caya]

Dunno about the UK but it’s an option here - not the most common one but not as wild as pineapple either.

[Carol the Dabbler]

8 hours ago, Caya said:

[corn is] an option here - not the most common one but not as wild as pineapple either.

Pineapple has been a fairly standard option here since the 70s, mostly as part of various "Hawaiian style" pizzas, but also available on a "build your own."  When I lived in Iowa they also routinely had sauerkraut, but either that was just a local thing or it fizzled out.  I don't recall ever seeing corn, though.

 

[Caya]

On 2/11/2024 at 8:35 PM, Carol the Dabbler said:

sauerkraut

[J.P.]

Yeah, I don't even want to imagine that.

[Carol the Dabbler]

I don't recall ever having sauerkraut on a pizza myself, but it's traditionally paired with ham or Canadian bacon.  Looks like it's still popular in Iowa.

 

[Carol the Dabbler]

And as a followup to our pizza discussion:

Happy Pi Day!  (March 14 = 3.14, sort of, approximately -- at least in the U.S.)

 

[Fantasy Lover]

On Tumblr the ides of March were celebrated, the memes were amusing

[Carol the Dabbler]

9 hours ago, Fantasy Lover said:

On Tumblr the ides of March were celebrated

Oh, right, Pi Day would be the day before the Ides of March -- which in turn is only two days before today -- Happy St. Patrick's Day, everybody!

9 hours ago, Fantasy Lover said:

the memes were amusing

Is there a way to link to those?

 

[Fantasy Lover]

they're on my tumblr: https://aurelievanimpe.tumblr.com/

[J.P.]

In case of boredom
https://detectiveforaday.com

[Carol the Dabbler]

In an earlier post, I told an anecdote about Q-Tips (AKA "cotton swabs" in the US and "cotton buds" in the UK), which I repeated to Alex today, which got me thinking about Q-Tips.  Other than craft projects and such, just about everyone seems to use them for the same thing, namely cleaning their ears.  Yet the package always says something like "To clean ears, stroke swab gently around the outer surface of the ear.  Do not enter the ear canal."  That's pretty clearly a CYA ("Cover Your A$$") statement to protect the manufacturer against lawsuits in the event that someone inadvertently pushes their earwax in deeper or even punctures their eardrum with a Q-Tip ("Well, they didn't follow directions!").

Seeing as how you can clean and dry your outer ears just fine with your usual washcloth and towel, the CYA statement boils down to this:  Q-Tips serve no useful purpose whatsoever, except for an occasional craft project.  Fortunately for the company's bottom line, though, quite a few people go right ahead cleaning their ears with them.

On 9/25/2017 at 8:27 AM, Arcadia said:

Question: are you familiar with the Donovan song "Wear Your Love Like Heaven"? In it he pronounces "alizarin crimson" as "alizarian crimson", which has always driven me crazy. Is that just a British pronunciation, like "aluminium" vs. our "aluminum"? Or did he mispronounce the word? Inquiring minds want to know.

Minor point:  "aluminium" vs. "aluminum" is not technically a pronunciation difference.  When the metal came into common use circa 1900, there was disagreement over the proper name for it, so the UK and the US actually have slightly different words, the former ending in "-ium" and the latter in just "-um" -- and pronounced accordingly.  (See this article.)

 

[Carol the Dabbler]

On 12/18/2017 at 11:55 AM, T.o.b.y said:

I can't say for sure what my eye color is either. Again, depends on the light. If someone asks, I just go with grey, because who wants to hear "grey-green-blue-with-specks-of-yellow-i-guess"?

And a mere six or seven years later, I have a definitive answer for you -- or actually two answers:  If the yellow specks are fairly evenly scattered about, that's called hazel.  But if they're heavily concentrated around the pupils, then it's called central heterochromia (just try getting that on your driver's license!).  This site has a good photo of the latter, and here's a more specific description of it (from this site) :

Central heterochromia is characterized by having two different colors in the same iris. Usually, the outer ring of the iris is one color while the inner ring is another.  The inner ring often seems to have “spikes” of different colors that radiate from the pupil . . . .

My eyes are like that, though perhaps a bit darker than yours -- most of each iris is a dark blue-gray-green, but there are brown flecks concentrated around the pupil.  (My mother had that eye coloring too, as does Martin Freeman.)  I'll probably stick with writing "hazel" on forms, though, since most people have at least a vague idea what that means (and Mom's eye doctor called hers a "blue-hazel mix").

By the way, there's also something called complete heterochromia or just heterochromia, meaning that each eye is a different color (for example, the individual might have one blue eye and one brown eye).

 

[Hikari]

On 5/20/2024 at 12:10 AM, Carol the Dabbler said:

In an earlier post, I told an anecdote about Q-Tips (AKA "cotton swabs" in the US and "cotton buds" in the UK), which I repeated to Alex today, which got me thinking about Q-Tips.  Other than craft projects and such, just about everyone seems to use them for the same thing, namely cleaning their ears.  Yet the package always says something like "To clean ears, stroke swab gently around the outer surface of the ear.  Do not enter the ear canal."  That's pretty clearly a CYA ("Cover Your A$$") statement to protect the manufacturer against lawsuits in the event that someone inadvertently pushes their earwax in deeper or even punctures their eardrum with a Q-Tip ("Well, they didn't follow directions!").

Seeing as how you can clean and dry your outer ears just fine with your usual washcloth and towel, the CYA statement boils down to this:  Q-Tips serve no useful purpose whatsoever, except for an occasional craft project.  Fortunately for the company's bottom line, though, quite a few people go right ahead cleaning their ears with them.

Minor point:  "aluminium" vs. "aluminum" is not technically a pronunciation difference.  When the metal came into common use circa 1900, there was disagreement over the proper name for it, so the UK and the US actually have slightly different words, the former ending in "-ium" and the latter in just "-um" -- and pronounced accordingly.  (See this article.)

 

 

On 5/20/2024 at 12:10 AM, Carol the Dabbler said:

In an earlier post, I told an anecdote about Q-Tips (AKA "cotton swabs" in the US and "cotton buds" in the UK), which I repeated to Alex today, which got me thinking about Q-Tips.  Other than craft projects and such, just about everyone seems to use them for the same thing, namely cleaning their ears.  Yet the package always says something like "To clean ears, stroke swab gently around the outer surface of the ear.  Do not enter the ear canal."  That's pretty clearly a CYA ("Cover Your A$$") statement to protect the manufacturer against lawsuits in the event that someone inadvertently pushes their earwax in deeper or even punctures their eardrum with a Q-Tip ("Well, they didn't follow directions!").

Seeing as how you can clean and dry your outer ears just fine with your usual washcloth and towel, the CYA statement boils down to this:  Q-Tips serve no useful purpose whatsoever, except for an occasional craft project.  Fortunately for the company's bottom line, though, quite a few people go right ahead cleaning their ears with them.

Minor point:  "aluminium" vs. "aluminum" is not technically a pronunciation difference.  When the metal came into common use circa 1900, there was disagreement over the proper name for it, so the UK and the US actually have slightly different words, the former ending in "-ium" and the latter in just "-um" -- and pronounced accordingly.  (See this article.)

 

I don’t know what possessed me to come to this discussion tonight but here’s a few other uses for Q-tips besides crafts—

Use them to clean tiny areas a cloth or brush can’t reach, like electronics and little crevices in the molding.  Also good for removing gunk around bottle and jar necks.

Don’t have a fancy eyeliner brush or shadow blender?  A Qtip is the cheap solution.  Great if you’re traveling And have limited space for cosmetics. Just be sure to keep them sterile and take care that you don’t get fibers in your eye.  Also use to apply creams or medications to a small area, like zit cream or hair remover that you don’t want to get on your fingers.

Work as lipstick applicators or to apply Vaseline and the like.  Wetting it first is suggested!

Apply solvents like jewelry cleaner to tiny areas and clean knickknacks.

You could always color them green with a marker then stick them in your ears, not too hard!… And you are on your way to a Shrek costume! 

They work great to clean smudges of nail polish when doing a mani/pedi.

[Van Buren Supernova]

It's actually not recommended to use Q-tip to clean ear canal. Most likely it would push the ear wax deeper, unless you can navigate your way around expertly and the Q-tip is thin enough.

For me, I use metal! Yeah, the one that looks like tiny round shovel. My family have always been using that and it's more effective effective than Q-tip.

 

On another note, I have been curious about this since months ago. Is it true than in some part of America theft under $950 is 'okay?" Merchandizes have been locked up and stores are closing because of that? I hope it's not true, because what kind of shenanigan it would be (but I think my sources are quite credible). 

[Carol the Dabbler]

VBS -- glad to see your shadowy face again!!!  

9 hours ago, Van Buren Supernova said:

It's actually not recommended to use Q-tip to clean ear canal. Most likely it would push the ear wax deeper, unless you can navigate your way around expertly and the Q-tip is thin enough.

Yes, that's my understanding of the official reason.  I suspect it may depend on the texture of one's personal ear wax.  I do know that some is gooey (which Qtips may work well for) and some is dry and crumbly (which may be the problem type).  But that's just my guess.

9 hours ago, Van Buren Supernova said:

For me, I use metal! Yeah, the one that looks like tiny round shovel. My family have always been using that and it's more effective effective than Q-tip.

I've seen the type you're talking about -- a friend from Hawaii had a pair of tweezers with that on the other end -- but that's the only one I've ever seen, so I don't even know if they're available here on the mainland.  (My friend was from a Chinese family, so maybe they're an Asian thing.)  My mother used the round end of a bobby pin in a similar way, and my brother still does.

ADDED:  But I think any such tool is officially considered dangerous.  The only recommended method seems to be soaking with various liquids, followed by rinsing with a rubber-bulb syringe of water.

9 hours ago, Van Buren Supernova said:

On another note, I have been curious about this since months ago. Is it true than in some part of America theft under $950 is 'okay?" Merchandizes have been locked up and stores are closing because of that? I hope it's not true, because what kind of shenanigan it would be (but I think my sources are quite credible). 

I've heard the same things, but cannot verify from my own experience, because I don't live in any of those places.  Apparently some jurisdictions assume that "petty" theft is done only by people who have little or no legitimate income, so even if the thieves are arrested (and even if they've broken into the store), they're usually released without being formally charged with any crime.  If such leniency were helping the thieves to support themselves while getting a legitimate job, I might be somewhat sympathetic, but I fear that it's only encouraging them to continue in a life of crime.  I also fear that this will be the ruin of several of our big cities. 

 

[Hikari]

VBS,

Hello again!

Theft is not “okay” but is often overlooked if the value of the items is not deemed worth the effort of prosecution.  Under $1000 in value is considered petty theft—a misdemeanor.  If one is convicted of “grand larceny”—$1000+, that is a felony.  Generally you are not required to disclose misdemeanors on job applications but felonies are different.

with the current push being toward self check out, retailers are having more and more prosecutions of people who take items without scanning and paying for them. Theft is a huge problem… Called “shrink“ in retail lingo, when the takings do not match the inventory. The biggest source of shrink is often the employees. It’s a depressing scenario. When I worked for a small retailer in a mall, we had to get searched every night before we left to make sure we weren’t stealing. Ironically I had worked for a huge department store prior to this  and they didn’t have any such rule. Inflation is so bad post Covid especially for groceries that more people are being driven to steal. It’s like the dystopian future is here.