hello everyone

hey @tastefive

long time no see

@tastefive lol what 48 hours? lol

yep

a lot can happen in that amount of time

i guess so

@tastefive so...*has* a lot happened to you in that amount of time?

Well just a job interview, and a couple client projects.

@tastefive nice

how'd the interview go?

I don't think it went well, but it has been a long time since i had to interview, and I am always overlly hard on myself

what kinda job you interviewing for?

They tried to roll play a project meeting and my brain shut down right then and there

IT Project Manager

ic

that sucks :(

meets are terrible lol

Yeah, it kind of has been killing me bause I was really excited about the company

Face to face is were I usually shine, never get nervous, always feel at ease. This was just an off day I guess.

i'm sorry :(

what company?

everybody has em

Writing follow up email right now.

@rfusca nothing that can be done know. it is out of my hands

yup

@rfusca The Seed Company

best not to dwell on it

@rfusca It was never really in my hands in the first place

@tastefive nice

very, very true

@tastefive anywhere else you're looking at?

@rfusca A couple of places, Job market it tough right now, and I am really looking for IT Project Management or greater. So the opportunities I have come across are slim. Another one that I am hopeful to here back from is Lehigh Hanson.

My mother-in-law actually works there and from what I know of her experience it is a decent company.

hmm, not familiar with it

@tastefive sure, its a rough market

@rfusca they are an aggregate company.

where you at? Dallas?

@rfusca Yes, I am on the Fort Worth side of the Metroplex though

the parent company of the one I work for has software teams in Dallas I think, and we've not been hit hard economically - so they could be hiring

@rfusca I would be interested in checking it out.

Transcore

transcore.com

cool, looks like they are a pretty large company

my particular division is INSANE...but the rest of company is a bit more normal

ya, they are

they're owned by roperind.com

So, @rumtscho or perhaps @rfusca, have either of you made pavlovas before?

@Aaronut not I

I've settled on this recommendation for tomorrow's dessert but there seem to be at least half a dozen different methods.

@rfusca Alright, not to worry... she recommended it but I figured you might also have tried it in your vast baking experience.

nope, i'm not much for meringue

simply recipes has one, and they're usually pretty trustworthy to start with

simplyrecipes.com/recipes/pavlova

Yeah, that was one of the first I looked at, but it's weird, the dessert is supposed to be cake-like (or pie-like, I guess). That's for mini-pavlovas or something.

@Aaronut hmm

wierd

lol, I just uncovered the greatest marketing gimmick ever.

?

A particular packaged food, which I won't name, advertises "25% less salt". Well, after looking at the information more closely, it turns out that they've reduced the serving size from 4 to 3.

lol AWESOME

25% less food, therefore 25% less salt!

@Aaronut if you make a portion size small enough, you can list stuff as 0 calories and such too

@Aaronut That is exactly what they do

@Aaronut I don't think there's going to be clear consensus on the drug issue - looking at the voting on the answers

@tastefive btw transcore.com/about-us/dal-maptn.html - in case you didn't see it

@rfusca thanks I was loking for that

I am also lookinf for a link that list current openings, but I might just have to contact directly

ya, I couldn't find that

@tastefive transcore.com/careers

@rfusca there it is.

doesn't look like dallas is hiring

sorry :(

nope, no hurt in looking though. Thanks

@tastefive np

@tastefive whats for dinner?

@rfusca Not sure really. I know I am assisting the mastering sauce class tonight. BUt I didn't look to see what the menu was. I just know we are going through the mother sauces.

and on that note, see everyone later, I have to be off to the class

lol

tschus

@rfusca In those cases moderators usually tend to let the community decide through close/reopen votes.

@Aaronut gotcha

I'm honestly not going to lose any sleep if the community and/or Word of God decides that it's too much of a hot potato. But since discussing pot (and other drugs) is not actually illegal, it's not going on my "must close immediately" list (unless the question is close-worthy for other reasons, which the original question actually was).

@Aaronut ya, its just a bit of a polarizing topic

it some countries, they execute you for pot possession

We had a very similar discussion about alcohol in the beta, and at the time I was very much on the "don't allow it" side. We ended up allowing it, of course. It's polarizing, yeah, but on the flip side, indignation over one or two isolated incidents tends to fade away after a few weeks.

very true

@rfusca Yes, but even in most of those countries, you actually have to possess it - it's not illegal to talk about it.

So we aren't actually hosting illegal content on the site by permitting it. Questionable for some, maybe - but not illegal.

thats a line I prefer not to walk

And you're entitled not to.

like on the electronics site - if somebody asked questions about how to wire a bomb...its perfectly on topic, its not illegal to discuss in a theoretical sense...but should they allow it

.... yes and no

A bomb is clearly intended to harm someone, though.

perhaps thats where we differ

i've seen pot do harm

...I doubt that. Statistically its fatality rate is zero.

1. not from OD'ing, but from driving while high

Ah, well, that's quite different.

2. nobody died, it just left his girlfriend mute and a unable to walk or use her arms...

Driving while under the influence of any perception-altering substance is an extremely bad idea.

not to me

@rfusca There's obviously something you're not telling us there - that's never been recorded as a side effect.

oh sorry

lol didn't mean to be ambigious

I take it that was the same incident, i.e. driving while high?

he was driving while high, hit a semi truck, his girlfriend was in the passenger

Got it.

so for me, adding it to something like butter, for example, just says "I'm going to be consuming enough of this to do something really dumb"

Just to be clear on where I stand: If every country in the world were to legalize pot tomorrow, I'd still want it to be illegal to drive afterward.

right, sure

and i know that

That's more about driving than pot, though. Alcohol causes more car-related injuries and deaths than pot does, even per capita.

And although you can cook with alcohol, certain alcoholic concoctions like, say, jello shots, are clearly intended to inebriate.

agreed

exactly and Id be against jello shots on the site

So, much like you say, it's a line that I also prefer not to walk, I'm just on the other side of it.

right, I understand that. I'm really not going to argue about it - nobody is going to change an opinion here

I wouldn't have said that we were arguing, but ok.

sorry, argue was a poor choice of diction

i meant that I'd rather not have some long drawn out thing in the comments of a meta

Good evening

@rfusca Right; I declined to post an answer because I figured it would just be adding more fuel to the fire. I'd rather wait until the embers go out, and see how much of a practical issue it really is.

@Aaronut sure, i can appreciate that

@Aaronut, I haven't made any real pavlovas, although I've planned it several times

(my mother always disagreed for some reason and I had to change the plan)

That's essentially what happened with alcohol topics - with all the explosive debate around the subject, we ended up getting, maybe 1 alcohol-as-something-other-than-a-minor-ingredient question per month.

@rumtscho That's okay, I think I've kind of figured it out. I'm glad I started rifling through recipes because it seems that you really have to start the day before.

Basic process seems to be: 1. Whip meringue to stiff peaks, add corn starch to stabilize. 2. Spread a thin circular layer on a piece of parchment paper. 3. Pipe out the side walls in clever patterns. 4. Bake. 5. Let cool in the oven. 6. Fill.

@Aaronut ya

Or, more like top than fill.

@Aaronut Let me know how it went when it's ready, I'm interested in the results.

Will do. I'll have to use whipped topping instead of whipped cream, but maybe with a little vanilla and lemon zest, people won't care.

I'm still trying to figure out how to decorate it, although I don't have to do that until tomorrow.

@Aaronut Does a standard Pavlova include whipped cream?

Got the apples and the kiwis, and after reading a bunch of recipes, I think bananas would also go well.

@Aaronut why have to use that?

@rumtscho I honestly have no idea what "standard" is, but most recipes do seem to include that.

You bake the meringue "crust", then top it with whipped cream and fruit and/or compote/gelee/etc.

@rfusca Non-dairy meal.

And coconut cream doesn't really "whip", so edible oil it is.

@Aaronut ah

I wouldn't pile banana on meringue. Not enough contrast in the flavor, both are sweet, non-acidic, low-humidity foods.

@rumtscho People eat banana cream pie... anyway I was thinking of using only one banana, just the occasional slice mixed in with the generous apple/kiwi.

Not everything needs to be contrasting. Flavor pairing usually involves similar and contrasting flavours.

I haven't made up my mind yet. I'll decide on that tomorrow.

@Aaronut I would eat banana cream pie too. And I pair food with similar tastes too. I don't know why my intuition is against banana in this case. Maybe just because I dislike oversweet food, and the banana would add sweetness.

Speaking of pies, how was your chocolate pear tart @rfusca? And what metthod did you use for the chocolate?

Only one way to find out. ;)

@Aaronut The only thing lovelier than an experiment is an experiment where nobody looks at your fingers and you don't have to keep a lab diary.

P.S. I have been reprimanded for unusual use of adjectives before. If the concept of beuty is strictly sensory for you, replace "lovelier" with "more entertaining"

@rfusca: quick comment regarding your truck-crash anecdote... Good friend of mine, old biker who tried just about everything back in his day, loves telling stories about stupid stuff he did... now completely blind after a serious auto wreck caused by driving sober and falling asleep at the wheel. Moral: doesn't matter what you ate/drank/smoked, if you can't stay alert don't drive.

thats not really...you could say you might as well give handguns to kindergartners because they're gonna die one day anyway....it does matter what you do....but yes, if you can't stay alert, don't drive.

@rumtscho it was great! Ended up with a vanilla custard and swirls of dark chocolate ganache, pears on top, and honeyed almonds

@rfusca if you were arguing that you shouldn't give handguns to stoned kindergartners, sure.

Also, I'm now hungry for banana cream pie.

we'll you're saying it doesn't matter what you do in life, life can kick you in the balls regardless

@Shog9 I'm hungry for pear-vanillacustard-chocolate tart.

Or anything else.

@rfusca That's not what he's saying. He's saying that driving is a responsibility, regardless of what you did or did not ingest beforehand.

Havn't eaten in the last 14 hours.

@Aaronut i agree with that - but it still comes off like what I said to me. It the same dumbass argument people make for smoking cigs - "something will kill me anways"

It's the driving part that's dangerous, not the alcohol/weed/PCP/LSD/whatever.

@rfusca But that's not what I'm saying. Look, I'm a terrible driver, slow, inattentive... completely sober. So I drive differently from, say, my wife who is insane but quite aware of her surroundings. That's just being responsible.

but those substances make you more likely to do dumb things while taking them...like driving

@rfusca I can't speak for everyone, but driving is the last thing I want to do if I've just smoked up.

Many if not most of my friends would say the same.

Yeah, there are some idiots who will say that they drive better stoned, just like there are some idiots who insist they're OK to drive after 12 shots of tequila.

But drugs don't make you stupid. Stupidity makes you stupid. Sorry, but it's the truth.

and i'm against people taking 12 shots of tequila

@rfusca If they took the bus - who cares?

@Aaronut Look, for the last damn time. Stop preaching that crap about 'the truth' - its your opinion.

just like all this stuff I believe is my opinion

Well, actually, the effects of cannabis are pretty well-documented, that's why it's prescribed medicinally for a lot of people.

It doesn't lower your inhibitions like alcohol does.

@Aaronut because 12 shots of tequila impairs your ability to make good decisions - like taking the bus

@Aaronut yet you keep comparing it to it

@rfusca If they took the bus to where they drank - i.e. their car is still at home and there's nothing for them to drive.

@rfusca Only because alcohol and tobacco are the only street-legal reference points that most people are familiar with.

well sure, if you start putting all sorts of conditions on the situations..only if they didn't drive, only if they have somebody not drinking, only < blah blah blah>

We're not putting conditions on; you put a very special condition on: driving.

no, i gave an example

That's not an "example", that's the exception to the rule. What other combinations have that level of risk? Drinking/toking and... talking? Walking? Singing? Cooking?

Most cold medicine has explicit warnings not to combine with either driving or operating heavy machinery.

guns in the house, knives when you're cooking, when you're supposed to be watching your kids, when you're supposed to be working,....there's loads of times its a piss poor idea to get high at

@Aaronut and i'd be against people posting a question about trying to mix cold meds in with butter

You two owe me a new keyboard.

Ok but all of these examples - guns in the house, kids you need to be watching, blah blah blah - those are specific instances when you should not have impaired judgment. There are millions upon millions of people who have no such responsibilities.

@Aaronut lol you're saying that you shouldn't count people with kids lol

We all agree, if you need to be alert, don't drink or do drugs or take cold medicine. That's not the same as saying all drugs are bad and you should never ever even talk about them.

well thats it, you've just doomed the procreation of the human race

@rfusca Huh? That's exactly the opposite of what I said.

i'm saying its not a 'specific instance'

you make it sound so trivial

If you have a gun, you have responsibilities. If you have kids to watch, you have responsibilities. Drugs are not the issue here, responsibility is.

its billions of people

Oh please, are you against watching TV also? Because plenty of people forget about their kids while doing it.

There are ways to responsibility consume certain perception-altering chemicals just as there are ways to responsibly wield a knife or a gun.

I cannot even fathom that someone who owns a gun could see marijuana as a taboo.

and if you put it in butter, i cannot believe that you're going to be using it responsibly

i don't own a gun

@rfusca Ok, that's interesting... why?

@Aaronut you're gonna be cooking meals with, putting it on toast - you're trying to make it easy enough to use to be pervasive in your daily life. Not just the occasional lighting up when you have nothing else to do.

Cooking with it is easier than smoking it...?

after you've made the butter....

What if you are, in fact, one of the millions of people worldwide who uses it for medical reasons (typically pain management) and don't want to ruin your lungs smoking it? What's the next best way to use it?

If you're using it for medical use - go ask your doctor. I wouldn't expect use to answer questions on cooking with codeine either.

Or, let's say that its "abuse" - that it's for a party where you'll be making weed cookies and all the guests are informed of this in advance and everybody's going to be sleeping over. It goes without saying that all of these people are singles with few responsibilities. What then?

@rfusca A doctor would likely not know the answer to that.

besides 'ruin your lungs' - you already made the case that it was perfectly safe

It is. Lots of things are safe in isolation, but not in combination. You shouldn't drink strong coffee and take decongestants at the same time, it can cause heart failure in large enough doses.

so now you've contrived a 'specific instance' where it is safe...you're now trying to use the same logic you just convicted me for

I've "contrived" probably the two most common reasons why anyone would bother making cannabis butter.

People don't spread it on toast. They use it to bake something.

you're saying that the 'most common' reason is that people are going to have a sleepover lol

It doesn't have to be a sleepover. The effects last for a few hours at most. Take the guests' keys, as you would if you were serving alcohol.

take the keys may be common in Canada - it is not here

So if people are going to take certain drugs anyway - and they are - isn't it better that they're able to talk about proper safety precautions?

The whole discussion reminds me of abstinence as the official policy toward sex. Yeah, that's a good choice for some, but the other people need to know about condoms and STDs.

If somebody's going to be making cannabis butter anyway, and (hypothetically) there was some major food safety issue concerning it, better to have that out in the open than to have thousands of people all making the same mistake due to lack of information.

Now that's obviously contrived, but I honestly can't think of good counterexamples. Where there's a will, there's a way; the only thing people are notoriously bad at learning for themselves are risk factors.

Just look at all the food safety questions on the site with people claiming it's OK to eat pizza that's been left out for 3 days.

@Aaronut i just don't want to be part of the community that does that - it feels like condoning the drug to me. And I'm not ok with that.. If we decide to do that, I simply won't be a part of the community anymore (thats not a 'threat' of leaving at all, just my choice). Since I don't wish to do that, I'd prefer we not.

anyway...we should really lay off this...it can be a bit intimidating to a new user who would venture into a 'cooking' chat room to get help on grilling meat or such

Sure thing... I have to get back to my meringue in any event.

(i'm not suggesting we dont talk about it...its just been like a hour plus of chat)

@Aaronut very cool, let me know how it comes out!