Hmm, Unboxed at Last

[Peeking Duck]

Rigs, I'm so happy for you!

I've been enjoying a mostly lovely holiday break. We spent a day and night visiting Mr. Duck's family in New Glasgow--which was very "meh"--and we spent Christmas Eve and Christmas at my daughter's home in Halifax, which was great...just as Hallmarky as we'd hoped for. I'm glad we travelled home on the morning of the 26th, though, because later that day I got sick with...I don't know...nothing contagious, but something autoimmune-related I'm pretty sure. (Tests have been ordered for 2024, but I won't bore you with more details now.) As these flare-ups tend to go, this one isn't too bad, I'm honestly glad that it happened while I am off work anyway.

Work will resume on Tuesday, starting with a rather rare "all hands on deck" meeting in which we'll...strategize, or something. It wasn't that long ago that I was endlessly telling you guys how perilous my work situation was (not just for me but for everyone). The peril is still definitely there, it's just...laying low, awhile. There are still government changes afoot, we're just not sure to what extent. And I care less and less with every passing month! But we'll see what the boss has to say on Tuesday.

Slightly related to work, I'm reading one of three "marketing" books that I bought for myself. "Stories That Stick" explains "How Storytelling Can Captivate Customers, Influence Audiences, and Transform Your Business". I'm really enjoying it so far! At work, 95% of the "marketing" has been assigned to me, and this book is showing me different ways of perceiving our potential students. Or something like that. (I looooove creating Facebook posts. Sometimes it feels like being paid to paint a picture or something. Does anybody else here work with Canva or anything similar?)

Babble, babble, babble.

I hope everyone has just the sort of day they'd like to have today and tomorrow! (Well, ALL days, really, but you know what I mean.) Mr. Duck and I are going to have a once-per-year video visit with friends in BC and Ontario. There's a four-hour time difference to navigate, but the BC boys are always up for drinking--or smoking--early. And we'll be in bed waaaay before midnight.

Here's wishing all of you a good new year!

[Peeking Duck]

Oh, yeah! I forgot I said I'd report back about the perfume I ordered from Amazon: Twilly d'Hermes. Yay, oh yay, I love it. I don't know what makes it a "young" perfume, because--to my untrained nose--it has plenty of powdery notes, but, to be sure it also holds some surprises. By the time the perfume arrived, I had truly forgotten almost everything that I'd read about it, and my first impression of it was that it is "powdery", but also grass-like. It smells "green" to me. But there are also other things...something spicy, and something sort of...I couldn't place it, so I went to the bother of relocating and reloading the perfume book I'd read onto my Kindle, and guess what? Twilly d'Hermes has notes of gasoline and rubber, and somehow they really, really work!

I recommend you try it if you see it! And hey, men wear it, too.

I briefly thought about creating a Scents thread here, but then I thought to look in Reddit, and holy cow...some people are REALLY into perfumes! There's more to read there than I'd ever really care to, but some of the posts are interesting. Bad reviews can be fun to read: "DS & Durga Vio Volta. Violet done oh so wrong. Smells like stagnant pond water was used to put out an electrical fire and then your cat peed on it for good measure. Sometimes I also get a vomit like note." "I saw someone call it “panic inducing” once. I want to try it so bad."

Your favourite scents from yesteryear (just for a jaunt down memory lane)?

I'll take the low road. I adored Emeraude circa 1984. Sold at all of the finest drug stores!

[C2H5OH]

Originally Posted by Peeking Duck

Babble, babble, babble.

I started to read this as:

Originally Posted by Shakespeare, Macbeth, Act 4, Scene 1

Double, double toil and trouble;
Fire burn, and cauldron bubble.

And wondered who are the witches in your story...

[C2H5OH]

Originally Posted by Peeking Duck

Your favourite scents from yesteryear (just for a jaunt down memory lane)?

When my girlfriend in college got into her sorority, after her 'hell week', and 'hell night', when I got to get together with her after a week's absence, just after the public initiation, I said to her "They make you crawl through a swamp on hell night, don't they?" She asked how I knew. So I told her that swamps have a rather distinctive smell, and that shower she took beforehand wasn't enough to get rid of it. It's in your hair.

You could tell she was a city kid, and I was a rural kid. I've been in swamps going from point A to point B through the woods. Which included going through swamps whenever one was in the way. I was very familiar with the smell. And I actually don't mind it. It's just a part of nature. And on her, that night, it smelled wonderful. I doubt anyone will make a perfume out of it, though.

Re: City vs. Country kids: On my hell night, we had to get a pole from the woods. One of my pledge-brothers found a suitable small tree (about 1-2 inches around, and tall enough) and were wondering how to make it into a pole. That was probably part of the challenge. Make it work. Figure out how, with what you have on hand. I said "No Problem", and pulled out my pocket knife, chopped that thing down in no time, then cut off all the stuff we didn't need. City Kids. What do they know about dealing with wilderness?

I was the only one who actually had a knife in my pocket. And there were 12 of us.

[Peeking Duck]

I love both those stories.

[C2H5OH]

I really can't imagine how the second story would have worked if there had been no one with a knife. What? Invent the stone-age hand axe from scratch? With no rocks around to make one with? I would have tried that, if I had nothing else to try. I suspect that they already had something in mind for when we failed, since that was their expectation. They probably had to improvise something when we succeeded.

It's always fun to exceed people's expectations, when their plan required your failure!

[Jaglavak]

No sweat. I'll grab the beaver by the tail while you handle the business end.

[SmartAleq]

Well, 2024 is off to an excellent start--the recession has apparently rendered the denizens of outer SE Portland unable to afford illegal bangbangs, there were a few here and there but nothing like the sustained Fallujah level mortar attacks of yesteryear. I bundled Shoga into her thick sweater and this seems to have chilled her out quite a lot and I was able to get to sleep at a normal hour, which was good since I worked today. The weather today was absolutely wonderful as soon as the fog burned off, crystal blue sky with only the very occasional cloud and no wind--chill but not really cold. I tootled around the outskirts of town, hitting Beaverton, Wilsonville, Oregon City, Estacada, Sandy and Gresham then back home. What a great way to start the year--I'm sure it'll all go to hell soon enough but this was a nice beginning for sure.

[Jaglavak]

I don't care what the EPA says, I really enjoy walking through three kinds of wood smoke drifting through the neighborhood.

[teela brown]

Yesterday was my first day out of isolation post-Covid-rebound, so I demanded lunch out. Enough of home cooking!

We went to a great banh cuon joint. If you don't know what banh cuon is, here's a link. Mr. brown had the banh cuon, and I, still having a bit of residual snottiness, opted for a bowl of boiling hot pho. On the table was a pot of red chili paste and it looked just like the bottled sambal olek I've used in the past. I put a couple of little dabs into my pho and soon learned that this joint grinds up their own Thai chilis with a little vinegar, and the resulting paste is about fifty times hotter than sambal olek. I still ate my pho, but had to take breathers after every third spoonful or so. That's okay - the spice and the heat were just what my nose needed.

But I still couldn't taste a thing other than salt.

[Wolf Larsen]

Originally Posted by teela brown

I, still having a bit of residual snottiness, opted for a bowl of boiling hot pho. On the table was a pot of red chili paste and it looked just like the bottled sambal olek I've used in the past. I put a couple of little dabs into my pho and soon learned that this joint grinds up their own Thai chilis with a little vinegar, and the resulting paste is about fifty times hotter than sambal olek. I still ate my pho, but had to take breathers after every third spoonful or so. That's okay - the spice and the heat were just what my nose needed.

But I still couldn't taste a thing other than salt.

Many moons ago, my cure for a cold was to go to Little Shanghai near school and get a big bowl of Hot Sour soup, extra hot. Fixed me right up. (Sadly, it like most restaurants has gone to the great Kitchen In The Sky. Never found a version of the soup that was quite as good.)

[teela brown]

Originally Posted by Wolf Larsen

Many moons ago, my cure for a cold was to go to Little Shanghai near school and get a big bowl of Hot Sour soup, extra hot. Fixed me right up. (Sadly, it like most restaurants has gone to the great Kitchen In The Sky. Never found a version of the soup that was quite as good.)

I hear you. Hot and sour soup is awesome for head colds. There's a place a bit of a drive away that makes hot and sour soup of the gods, and in a few days, if this clogginess persists (or even if it doesn't), I think we'll pay them a visit, too.

Today I get the treat of a visit to the grocery store, well-masked. I'll buy coarse-ground cornmeal today plus a quart of buttermilk, as I am determined that I'll master the art of making cornbread. My family never ate it when I was a kid, so I don't have any training in this. I don't want a really sweet northern cornbread, but I also don't want the cornbread-in-a-cast-iron-skillet stuff either. Cast iron skillets are too heavy for me. So we'll see how I do with a recipe that calls for neither a skillet nor a lot of sugar.

[Solfy]

Congrats on the new tiny person, Grandma Rigs!
I hope your tastebuds come back online quickly, teela. My go-to for sinus clearing has always been a good curry, especially with a bowl of sambar from the vegetarian Indian place. Speaking of which, the overpriced and underwhelming Greek place near us has been converted to an Indian restaurant. I am very pleased. It's mostly northern dishes, but that's fine. The fried stuff like dosas never make good takeout anyway.

I had a good Christmas break. Apparently, the key to having a stress-free holiday is to not have to work for the ten days before Christmas. This provides ample time to decorate, buy gifts and hide them, wrap them and hide them again, bake cookies, procure and prepare food, etc. without turning into Mom-zilla. The holiday was good. The week after was even better, with slow mornings and late nights, movies and snacks, gift returns and sloth.
Highlights:
Having Eldest home from college
Visiting with family and friends
If you can't have snow, sunshine and 57 is a good alternative
Didn't have to be on-deck as a musician at church for a change
Made more cookies than usual because I couldn't narrow the list down
All the standard holiday merry making things

Lowlights:
The holiday appliance curse took out the water heater the 3rd Sunday of Advent. The last one was only 2yrs and 1mo old. Gas control valve failed, wasn't willing to wait four days for replacement parts so we bought another. We've done this so many times now that the plumbing lines are quick-connects, so it was an easy swap. Old one will be repaired and hang around as stand-by. Hopefully after that we'll replace the boiler with a combi-unit and be done with water heaters.

The appliance curse took out the dryer on Saturday before Christmas. I was able to fix that one though. Replaced the fuse, thermostat, and heating element. It was fun. I like fixing things.

The tree took itself out the same day the water heater crapped out. Backstory - last year we went to put the tree up to learn that Husband had, for reasons that will never be fully understood, thrown out the tree stand the year prior and completely forgotten to get a new one. He procured a new one but it was a shitty plastic thing that broke when we tried to fasten it down. He went back to the store and was only able to find the same shitty plastic one, but it served the rest of the year. Forwardstory - this year we put the tree up in the shitty plastic stand and it stood a few days (MD did say it looked like it was leaning, so she gets "I told you so" points) before the stand gave way and the whole tree toppled over before my eyes (thus absolving any pets from guilt in the matter). I bought an exorbitantly priced metal stand and we got it back up. Only lost a few ornaments in the process (RIP, Krampus) and nothing too dear. Eldest was happy to do most of the redecorating as she hadn't been home the first time we hung them.

Appliance curse tried to get the vacuum, but it was just a clogged hose from sucking up an ornament hook. Hose clogs trip the motor's overheat sensor, so a time-out on the porch to think about sucking more got it straightened out.

Also done over break: caught up on random preventative health care things for myself and the girls. Our healthcare system had been autodialing the house at 8:00 in the morning, then calling my cell phone, then emailing me to remind me that Swimmy's routine physical was overdue. Did not appreciate that. Now Eldest has contacts, MD is meningitis-proof, and I shouldn't be getting nagged-by-phone for Swimmy. Got my boobs squished. Have to get another one next month. Fingers crossed it's nothing.

[Jaglavak]

Its nothing because I said so. And next month I'll be saying I Told You So too.

Meanwhile, I ain't ever letting you near my appliances. I tell them stories about your curse just to scare them into working.

[Solfy]

I'm safe with appliances 11 months of the year. Maybe 10. Not sure about Easter.
It's gotten to the point where I'm legit afraid to run the dishwasher or a load of laundry in December, wincing when I hit the start button and waiting for the fail.

[Jaglavak]

What kind do they use at the laundromat? Might just be worth the lucre at this point.

[C2H5OH]

Originally Posted by Jaglavak

No sweat. I'll grab the beaver by the tail while you handle the business end.

In Southeastern Ohio, at the time, beavers were a bit scarce on the ground too. If they were common, you could have stolen a pole or two from their dam, if you didn't mind getting wet. That would probably have been just as problematic for the guys running it as the solution I came up with.

Never do what your opponent expects. He's got a plan for it. Do what he DOESN'T expect, then let HIM deal with the fallout.

[Wolf Larsen]

Originally Posted by Jaglavak

What kind do they use at the laundromat? Might just be worth the lucre at this point.

Next time we need to buy a washer or dryer, we're getting Speed Queen ones. Seriously not cheap, but they last forever and can be repaired.

[thylacine]

I think the model matters, the brand is in the top ten but this particular model was declared second worst in oz by our consumer reports equivalent https://www.choice.com.au/home-and-l...d-in-the-sales

Speed Queen AWNA62
speed queen awna62
The Speed Queen AWNA62 uses a staggering 171 litres of water per cycle.

CHOICE Expert Rating: 59%
Dirt removal score: 54%
Capacity: 7kg
RRP: $3295
Not only does the Speed Queen have a relatively high ticket price of $3295, it'll also end up costing you a lot more over time, with a 10-year running cost of approximately $1959 (more than twice that of many of our recommended models).

Panasonic comes out best though all behind a paywall so I can’t see which models

ETA, helps to include the problematic model, laghing at the “relatively high ticket price”, plenty of more highly rated small top loaders under $700!

To be fair we do emphasise water usage more than other continents

[Zeener Diode]

Not really a gripe, but... for the past couple days, when I check in on various news sites I have to search for news on Japan's earthquake (today the headlines are all about who knew Jeffy Pervstein --- yes, let's resurrect that dead horse just to PAL at those who will not be touched despite touching those whom they should not have).

[Peeking Duck]

Thylacine!!!! I've missed you and have been thinking about you a ton!

Zeener, I hear ya re. the dead horse.

For what it's worth, my news searches today have all been for further details about JAL's collision with the Japanese Coast Guard's Dash 8.

[thylacine]

Aww thanks Duckie, spring was brutal but all easing up now so I’m trying to use words again. All gets scrambled so easily when my system is stressed so I avoid. I have kept up from the sidelines a bit so have the advantage in an idea of what’s been happening for you guys.

[Peeking Duck]

[JackieLikesVariety]

Originally Posted by thylacine

spring was brutal but all easing up now so I’m trying to use words again. All gets scrambled so easily when my system is stressed so I avoid.

[Zeener Diode]

Originally Posted by Peeking Duck

For what it's worth, my news searches today have all been for further details about JAL's collision with the Japanese Coast Guard's Dash 8.

Yeah, that looked a whole lot worse than how it went down. IMO only in Japan would you manage to keep people from going into full panic mode and jamming the plane's exits.

[Jaglavak]

Just as I was thinking we were having a mild winter, here comes the Blizzard of '24. Forecast calls for over a foot of snow next weekend with days below freezing. Guess who's going nuts at the grocery tomorrow. I'm going to stock up and hunker down.

Boy, the grid is going to be glowing. Guess I better fire up the generator just in case. If I don't, the power will definitely go out and all my neighbors will freeze and I can't be responsible for that.

[SmartAleq]

Snow? Ooh, fun! NOT! Good thing I went to Costco yesterday--I'm full up on pet food and Kosh's peepee meds and snax. By having done so I ensure there will be little more than a dusting in Portland--y'all can thank me later lol.

[thylacine]

Whereas we’re in some ridiculous tropical pattern in my marvellous and meant to be moderate Melbourne, humidity that you used to have go north to visit. My evaporative cooling useless in it unless you want to slip on the wet floors. Our groceries were just delivered for our stock up at the storm and flood warnings.

The unwatered grass should be dying by now, instead you can hear it growing and I’m having to mow more often than in spring. Of course now it has to stay damp for months or the fire season will be horrific with all the growth. I am seriously considering moving over to our island state Tasmania to the south of us, the largest city Hobart is nicely at the bottom. I lived in Wisconsin, Hobart winters don’t scare me.

[JackieLikesVariety]

why do you want to move to Tasmania? have you lived there before?

the weather is supposed to really do stuff next week but exactly what isn't yet clear.

really depends on where you are, I think

[Solfy]

We got a slushy wet snow today as the weather hovered right at the freezing point. It was just enough for Eldest and her S.O., who is from L.A., to go sledding. I’m glad they had fun.

MD and I did final returns at the bullseye emporium and picked up a new bin for ornaments (to replace the printer paper box they’d lived in). Tree will come down tomorrow. I always hate that part.

[SmartAleq]

THERE, I have been productive. Tackled a project I've been putting off and got it all squared away, got Agnes all gassed up for tomorrow (three of us will be handling 85 orders containing 1300 meals, whew!) and hit the WinCo for a bit of this and that I can't pick up at Costco. Now I am TIRED and this couch and I have a hot date planned lol.

[thylacine]

Originally Posted by JackieLikesVariety

why do you want to move to Tasmania? have you lived there before?

I have visited and loved it but basically climate change has made it more like we used to be weather wise in summers. I considered moving there in the 80s for a job opportunity but it was a hard place to live without driving so wasn’t really an option back in the day. It was also not necessarily the best place for an obvious lesbian to be (just like country towns here in the past) it has grown a lot and has much better public transport now plus all the delivery and ride services and of course internet that we have here. Not sure about the coffee though (we are the coffee capital of oz, is Seattle still yours?).

ETA: just realised I may never have explained my name here… my ancestors first settled in Tasmania and were instrumental in the extinction of the thylacine before moving over here to the mainland and lording over all. They also loved hunting rabbits and foxes and made sure plenty came over for sport from Europe, in fact the old family homestead has stained glass windows dedicated to the vermin they failed to kill nearly enough of. I spent much of my childhood on the bunny issue on family properties paying off ancestral guilt by dispatching as many as possible.

Basically Thylacines were odd, misunderstood but fabulous creatures my family destroyed. The more recent generations near did the same to me but fuck it, I’m amazing!

[Wolf Larsen]

So we wanted to grill some burgers, but the evenings have been cold and windy. So we decided to re-arrange the day a bit. Today wasn't too cold and only mildly breezy, so I fired up the grill and did the burgers for lunch. We'll have a lighter dinner tonight.

The days are getting longer, but it is going to be a while before it stops getting dark before dinner time.

[Jaglavak]

I have the grill about one long step outside the kitchen door. After a bit of practice I can step out, lift the lid, flip a burger or two, and be back inside in around five seconds. With NASCAR pit stop voiceover, of course.

[Diamonds02]

I caused a whole row of slot machines to freeze up by hitting the spin button too fast. “Fatal error” These slot machines are linked because they share the same progressive jackpot. One woman went nuclear Karen. Not towards me, fortunately. But towards the slot techs who weren’t moving fast enough to get the games fixed. LOL

[Solfy]

Weekend update:

The holidays are officially over. The snow made me feel festive, so we squeezed the last bits of Christmas out of things on Saturday by keeping the outside lights on one last night and playing Christmas music (brass instrumentals) all day. We watched Pixar's "Soul" since Swimmy and Eldest hadn't seen it. That movie is underrated.
On Sunday it wasn't too painful un-Christmasing the place. I kept up decorations that qualify as "winter" so it's not too bleak. Had one last Sunday pot roast before schlepping Eldest back to school. The car was full, and she'd already taken a load back earlier in the week. Much of that was laundry and groceries; I made sure she was well provisioned for the semester. Next year will be extra strange since both big girls will be in college. When I joined here, we were still debating whether to have two kids vs. three. Tempus fugit!

[Solfy]

We had a little more snow overnight, which turned to freezing rain right before sun up. We also have a high wind advisory.
A while back my neighbor got a new roof from a company that is a proud supporter of our local right wing radio nutjobs. I refused to even get an estimate from that company for my roof.
They were there this morning, presumably addressing yet another shortcoming of her roofing job. (not the first time they've been back)

[JackieLikesVariety]

I've got covid and just had a video call with my NP - she doesn't think I need the anti-viral but willing to prescribe it if my symptoms get worse. felt feverish overnight: cold/sweaty/aching but I slept 11 hours or so and now I just have a headache and mild over-all yucky feeling. not so much of a headache as just my eyeballs hurt!

I texted everyone I socialized with over the weekend so that's done. luckily I have plenty of food and library books.

[Solfy]

Feel better soonest, Jackie! Sending you virtual soup.

[thylacine]

That sucks Jackie, may it leave fast with no after effects. It is rising here too and the gov has asked us to put our masks on but hasn’t demanded it and a friend texted from a standing room only train last night to say she was the only one in a mask. People are just flaming ridiculous.

Partner has something but is testing negative, hopefully just a cold. Could be a flu too. Up to date vaxxed on both so whatever it is hopefully won’t be too destructive. We’re sleeping in separate rooms and running air purifiers full pelt.

[Peeking Duck]

I'm sorry that you're sick, Jackie! May you and thylacine's partner feel better soon! (By the way, thylacine, that was quite the story about...thylacines!)

Yesterday was a snow day, so we worked from home. And it managed to be the most stressful day of the (school) year for me so far! A student wanted to be remote-proctored on an exam she was taking from a third party organization, and ohmygod it was a nightmare! I won't bore you with the details, but do you know what bothered me the most? I hated feeling so overwhelmingly work-frustrated while sitting in my safe spot--my home. I wanted to fantasize about just getting up and going home, but I was already there.

In other news, our across-the-street chickens think nothing of visiting us even with considerable snow on the ground. And did I tell you that three of them followed Mr. Duck through the open front door recently? Ha ha ha ha. I love them all. Immensely.


I enjoyed reading about your weekend, solfy.

[SmartAleq]

Get beddah, all you sickies! From what I hear, this newest COVID variant is, as usual, wildly contagious and tends to hit people right in the gut with the untidiness and the belly gripes and whatnot. SO MUCH FUN. Ugh.

[thylacine]

Her doc is calling in 90 minutes or so, I’m rather worried about her since putting my oxygen sat meter on her, thanks for the good wishes.

If you are interested in the fascinating beasts this is a pretty good article https://www.nature.com/articles/s41559-017-0417-y My sheep farming ancestors were also in parliament, the critters had no bloody chance!

Duckie, I imagine it is quite the skill to separate work and home when same place. I doubt I’d have it. Is it safe for chooks to free range? Here they’d be eaten pretty fast by something if not protected by netting.

Smartie, iis it JN.1 over there too? I know some places are being hit by other variants. Nasty bastard.

[thylacine]

Doc listened to her coughing and prescribed antibiotics, apparently lots of bugs going round on top of COVID and the flu, probably all that snogging strangers at midnight 2023. My pharmacist had the decency to sympathise with me, he knows us both far too well, one refuses to fall down when they should, the other needs little prompting.

[Jaglavak]

We had the typhoon part of the show last night and today. A stout east wind with the occasional gully washer. Some imressive gusts, but no tree limbs on the roof this morning. The blizzard shows up Friday with a foot of snow. Got the generator running. A few more errands and I'll be ready to build a proper snowman.

[JackieLikesVariety]

Temira posted a detailed forecast for the gorge this morning and then posted this:

TLDR version of the previous forecast:
We're screwed. Safe travels. -TATAS

[SmartAleq]

Lotta tree flurb on the roads this morning--and my first drop was right off Skyline which runs the ridge of the West Hills and is at around 1000 ft elevation and there was quite a lot of snow on the ground, pretty! Agnes handled it like it was absolutely no thang and the rest of the day was just sporadic rain. Now I'm off for a few days barring the urge to go Uber and all is well.

How ya feeling, Jackie?

[Diamonds02]

What is up with stupid people and fire hazards?

[Solfy]

Originally Posted by Diamonds02

What is up with stupid people and fire hazards?

I don't know, but it makes me think of this.

[Diamonds02]

Originally Posted by Solfy

I don't know, but it makes me think of this.

Ha!

RIP Hedberg