The Frying Pan

I am now

Catija

@Jolenealaska I got scared... I tried to go to the ATK site and it wouldn't load... I thought the entire thing had gone to pot since they announced Kimball is leaving.

But when I googled it the site worked fine... it was odd.

I didn’t know that Kimball was leaving.

Catija

@Jolenealaska They just announced it. It was very surprising.

cooksillustrated.com/news

Apparently he wanted more money than they want to pay him.

Wow. I wouldn't have guessed it. When you first said that he was leaving, I figured he was sick

8:13 AM

Morning all

9:21 AM

@Jolenealaska are you in bed again?

Greetings people.

person only, I'm afraid

9:37 AM

Hi there!

Hi Stephie. What's happening?

@Stephie hello there stranger

so, how are we all?

@ElendilTheTall Same old...

Minus one minor, until tomorrow.

oh? have you banished one?

sent them off into the woods as a coming-of-age test/

Fied trip with school. Kind of "let's all bond" thingie. Off into the woods is pretty close. I guess.

Blah, it's so ugly outside. Windy, grey, ... need more coffee.

9:56 AM

yes. we are due another 'named storm' later apparently

I always hated those 'team building' things

I don't want to be in a goddamn team

It's good if you are nine, new in a class and could do with a few friends. It's not easy to be a one-man-show at that age.

10:11 AM

meh

I hated it even then

evidently I am a sociopath

@Stephie We should swap weather. Could use a little grey here.

/me doesn't understand the general obsession with coffee.

@FaheemMitha come visit!

@FaheemMitha yes, we know

@Stephie Maybe one day. But knowing my luck, it would probably be excellent weather.

it tastes nice and has a stimulating effect

(coffee, not Germany)

10:13 AM

And contains addictive substances.

@FaheemMitha replace "coffee" with "random stimulating substance with addictive properties".

@FaheemMitha ¯\ _(ツ)_/¯

@FaheemMitha So what?

@Stephie Quite. Emphasis on the "addictive".

mildly addictive with otherwise negligible negative side effects

10:14 AM

@Stephie So, um, drug addiction?

@ElendilTheTall mildly?

@FaheemMitha Better than chemical stuff to boost my blood pressure.

@Stephie You have blood pressure issues?

@FaheemMitha mildly. The guys over at coffee.se probably have sources.

@FaheemMitha I have in the past weaned myself off caffeine in a week

just slowly replace with half-caf and decaff

@FaheemMitha Sometimes I get up and my blood pressure stays down.

@ElendilTheTall Or go cold turkey and pop an ibuprofen against the headache, if necessary on day 1.

But why bother...

10:17 AM

@ElendilTheTall Though apparently it didn't take?

@Stephie Oh. Is that bad? I guess it should stay in some range...

@Stephie I regularly hear people saying things like - I can't face the world till I've had my coffee. It's a motif.

I last tasted coffee when I was around 17, I think. So I'm a bit fuzzy on how it tastes exactly. Though I might have had coffee flavored chocolate or suchlike.

@FaheemMitha and a habit.

@Stephie Yes, apparently so.

Psychological dependence. That's a whole another thing.

Maybe I'd need such things if I lived in a cold climate.

I keep forgetting there is a Coffee Stack Exchange.

@FaheemMitha My "normal" is lower than the "normal" normal range. Add mild bradycardia and you have me. My doctor once called me a zombie.

Coffee is an easy method to give me that little extra kick that keeps me from fainting in public places and has little side effects, so why not?

@Stephie I see. Does that mean the blood doesn't get around your body fast enough.

@FaheemMitha basically, yes.

10:31 AM

@Stephie Therapeutic coffee? I've not heard that one before.

@Stephie Ok.

@FaheemMitha the choice of decaff coffee is considerably poorer than caffeinated

@ElendilTheTall I can imagine. And probably tastes worse.

10:59 AM

@FaheemMitha not really, no

i can't really tell the difference between the same brand's caff and decaff

@ElendilTheTall It doesn't taste worse?

@ElendilTheTall Oh. Why not just drink decaff then? It's presumably healthier.

@FaheemMitha because it's hard to find decaff in the brand I like

and the 'healthier' is highly questionable

@ElendilTheTall Ok.

most early studies into the effects of caffeine involved giving a dose just short of lethal for a horse to a rat

Soon enough you get newspaper headlines like CAFFEINE MAKES YOUR HEART EXPLODE

more recent studies show that caffeine in moderation has a number of health benefits

@ElendilTheTall Define moderation.

11:14 AM

depends on the strength of your coffee. I believe it's something like 6 cups of filter coffee a day. Don't quote me on that.

@FaheemMitha Sources vary, most say two to four, some say six. Depends on strength and preparation method.

Oh, and note that the human body develops caffeine tolerance quite easily, at least where side effects like mild diuretic are concerned.

I fnd it way harder to wean myself off sugar than off coffee.

@Stephie I did that by slowly reducing the amount of sugar in my coffee over about two weeks

@ElendilTheTall works in theory - but my sugar cravings fluctuate. Hormones suck.

spoken like a true endocrinologist

12:06 PM

@cindy hey there

@Stephie two, four, or six what?

I'm actually eating less sugar these days. Though I never ate that much.

@FaheemMitha cups

@FaheemMitha "serving units". Cups, espresso, whatever. Of course they vary a bit.

12:22 PM

Ok

I remember I used to enjoy hot chocolate, though it's been aeons since I drank it. I've never been much of a hot drink person.

user116848

12:48 PM

Good evening Frying Pan.

Hi Arrowfar.

@Arrowfar I wish....

Hi, btw.!

user116848

Hi!

user116848

1:03 PM

Liebchen!

user116848

See, I'm learning new words.

@Arrowfar careful what you pick up from @ElendilTheTall...

user116848

heh.

Liebchen is both out-dated and quite personal. Don't say it if you don't mean it!

user116848

Yeah I heard him say that :)

user116848

1:10 PM

Hmm good to know.

@Arrowfar Just because I let him get away with it. He has a special relationship with the word.

user116848

I saw its origin: "German, diminutive of lieb 'dear'."

user116848

Yeah I'll stick to English words for now.

teehee, I got arrowfar in trouble, i got arrowfar in trouble

user116848

Grrrr.

user116848

1:13 PM

;)

@Arrowfar That is correct. But much more personal than the English 'dear'.

user116848

@ElendilTheTall You are evil.

user116848

;)

'darling' would be the English equivalent I should think

user116848

@Stephie I see, thanks for letting me know.

1:14 PM

not necessarily personal here

@ElendilTheTall No, you didn't. You would if I hadn't warned him - in some other context.

@Stephie sssh, just play along

;)

user116848

Yeah I got quite scared, actually.

user116848

heh.

The Wrath of Stephie

I'm fairly sure I heard a rumble of thunder to the south east

1:15 PM

@ElendilTheTall Aber Schnuckiputzi, we can't do that!

Poor Arrowfar!

@Stephie O.O

sweetie pie is deeply personal here

user116848

So even saying "hun" or "hon" to someone you don't know very well seems awkward too right?

@ElendilTheTall jk

lol, me too, ya nut

user116848

I'm just playing along too. So continue please...

user116848

1:17 PM

:)

call me what you like, everyone else does

user116848

No, I'm straight.

What's that got to do with it?

user116848

Okay can someone please crack a joke or something?

user116848

@Stephie I was joking.

1:20 PM

erm

@Arrowfar Sorry, completely missed that. Probably because I couldn't care less about anyone's preferences in that departement.

well, I quit my job at the helium factory today

user116848

@Stephie Yeah same here I guess.

@ElendilTheTall and you had such high-flying ambitions.

@Stephie yes. but I refuse to be spoken to in that tone.

badumtish

1:24 PM

Can I give negative grades for jokes? Like, -2?

C'mon, @ElendilTheTall, you can do better!

user116848

So you guys wanna hear something? I have had many awkward moments in English rooms in the past. Good thing my English writing is getting better.

Good for you!

(And haven't we all? Akward moments, that is.)

user116848

At times I felt quite speechless and at times I felt quite stupid :)

user116848

@Stephie Yeah. True.

user116848

It is fun though (sometimes).

1:37 PM

@Stephie You have no proof of that!

user116848

Btw I couldn't find any definition of "Schnuckiputzi". What does it mean?

sweetie pie

user116848

ah

I fail to believe Google couldn't tell you that

First hit: en.bab.la/dictionary/german-english/schnuckiputzi

@Arrowfar as to what it means, basically @Stephie loves me deeply :D

user116848

@ElendilTheTall Yes. I was using Google translate on "Aber Schnuckiputzi" and got this only: translate.google.com.pk/?hl=en&tab=wT#auto/en/…

1:40 PM

Google Translate will only get you so far, grasshopper

your Google Fu is weak

I am periodically afflicted by encore performances of "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" here, which has a "love" duet between the Baron and Baroness of the imaginary country of Vulgaria. I think "liebchen" and similar enter in there. As common in trad British works, the villains are vaguely Germanic.

So "liebchen" is quite intimate then? Like darling/honey?

apparently so

though 'darling' isn't that intimate imo

I get called darlin' by shop workers on a regular basis

maybe that's just me <polishes nails>

Maybe not if you are a show business person or similar.

@ElendilTheTall Haha

The British also seem partial to "lovely".

1:42 PM

@FaheemMitha yes, but not generally as a term of endearment. That would be just 'love'

"There's your change, love"

@Gigili :D

Hellow, BTW.

Hai

I'm particularly thinking of:

Chu-Chi Face

"Chu-Chi Face" is a song from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, the 1968 musical motion picture. In the film it is sung by Gert Fröbe as Baron Bomburst and Anna Quayle as Baroness Bomburst. "Chu-Chi Face" is also featured prominently in the award winning stage musical version of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang which premiered in London at the Palladium in 2002 and on Broadway in 2005 at the newly refurbished Foxwoods Theatre (then the Hilton Theatre). Brian Blessed and Nichola McAuliffe originated their respective stage roles at the London Palladium in 2002. == About the song == As the baronial couple profess their...

user116848

Hi!

@ElendilTheTall Yes, I know. I was not suggesting it was.

That's actually a fun duet. Punctuated by the Baron's unsuccessful attempts on his wife's life. I count maybe half a dozen failed attempts in the course of the film. She really ought to be dead.

Cindy

1:46 PM

@ElendilTheTall Hey there! Just wanted to say hello but can't stay. The manager I'm working with is picking me up shortly. We'll be out for a rainy day somewhere in Chicago. But it's going well. Details later.

Also notable for being one of the 10,000 films that use Neuschwanstein Castle as an exterior.

Hi Cindy.

@Cindy good to hear, have a good day!

user116848

@ElendilTheTall So saying "hon" or "hun" to someone of the opposite sex in chat you are not quite acquainted with can be seen as inappropriate too? Or is it okay? I thought I'd ask before getting into awkwardness.

@Arrowfar It would only be appropriate for reasonably good friends

user116848

I see.

user116848

1:48 PM

Good to know.

yes

I find not talking to people at all is the best way to avoid any social faux pas

user116848

Why do you think I don't chat here much?

user116848

;)

the fast-paced, high-powered life of a trainee accountant gets in the way?

user116848

I meant to avoid any social faux pas.

1:53 PM

I know, I was joking

I'm so misunderstood

user116848

Nah.

user116848

Well, it is chat and no expressions etc. you know so...

If you assume I am always taking the piss or joking, you will generally not go far wrong

user116848

Yes that's one of your positive attributes.

ha, plenty of people would dispute that

user116848

2:09 PM

Well, it also depends on the other person's mood I guess.

user116848

We should change the topic.

user116848

There was a power breakdown here a few minutes ago. Everything back to normal now.

is that fairly common?

user116848

Here yeah. Especially in summers.

user116848

It also depends upon the area. The area I live in is not bad but still we get breakdowns sometimes.

2:16 PM

@Arrowfar How well do you know him?

user116848

Hello @Gigili.

user116848

I think I know him better than I know you :)

Gigili is an enigma, wrapped in a puzzle, clad in a cloak of secrecy

she flits in, she flits out

@Arrowfar Great, but that doesn't answer my question.

and she never leaves any tahdig

(′︿‵｡)

2:18 PM

@ElendilTheTall Lalalala! Not listening!

user116848

@Gigili Erm, I don't know what to say.

@Gigili basically you're saying you refuse to do your bit to help Western/Middle Eastern relations...

Exactly, which is the issue when it comes to tahdigs

your beautifully crusted rice could save lives, damn it!

user116848

Ah, tahdig is an Iranian cuisine. Nice.

user116848

2:25 PM

First time I heard.

it's fantastic

@Gigili do you make it with potatoes?

Potato, bread, ...

there are wide variations

But potatoes with Sesame is my favorite version

user116848

2:48 PM

I don't know if we have a dish like that here. Maybe by some other name. I can't think off the top my head.

3:01 PM

@Gigili ooo, sesame

that would be good

now you really need to make it, or at least give me the recipe!

if that was a secret message, I missed it :)

It wasn't me!

whistles innocently

3:20 PM

hi guys

@Jolenealaska hey you!

hi sweetie. I slept last night!

well done, me too!

In even better news, I think I've got my video set up to where I like it (almost)

Cool

3:32 PM

There's one little thing I need to work out.

hit me

my screen

That shows up just right on my television

if I could get the Word window to show up on top so that it covers the black letterbox area of the video, I would be able to see both windows of text and the video from the kitchen and living room.

There you go.

Hi @Jolenealaska

3:38 PM

beautiful taters!

those aren't just taters, they're tahdig taters

@Jolenealaska can't you just click the word window to bring it to the top?

it does not go over the video no matter what. I must have the video set to some kind of "always on top"

right click the media player in the taskbar, should give you an 'always on top' option

nope

The Word window and the chat window play nicely. whichever one I clicked most recently is on top.

AHA! Desk pins. I got it.

user116848

Howdy @Jolenealaska.

3:52 PM

Hi @Arrowfar

@Jolenealaska that's an interesting movie you're watching. I can see two particular points of interest from here...

@Jolenealaska What's that movie? If you don't mind my asking

Jinx!

The movie is the 1998 Les Miserables.

It would be a great movie if I didn't know the book so well.

Unfortunately, they really ruined the character of Javert,

@Jolenealaska Why? does the slight difference drive you nuts?

It's not a slight difference. Any student of French literature knows that the characters of Javert is not a villain.

But in this movie they turned him into a villain, probably because it was easier.

That is getting it very fundamentally wrong.

I blame the director for that, not the actor.

3:59 PM

Jojo Hot Button #4: Fucking around with Les Mis

now you know how I feel about The Lord of the Rings

only spread it out over 3 (arguably 6) wildly successful films

I'm sure it's a very similar thing

A lot of people really love the character of Javert. If this were Dungeons & Dragons, he would be Lawful Good. This movie screws it up badly.

user116848

I haven't watched Les Miserables 2012 yet. I hear it is good.

It is very good.

user116848

Last movie I watched was Gone Girl about a few months ago. I only watched half of it then couldn't watch the rest. Dunno why.

It's not as good as the stage production, partly because they made the decision to have dialogue in the movie. In the stage production, only one line is spoken. Since they chose to have dialogue they skipped some of the beautiful music.

Now that I can watch a DVD on my big television while using Dragon in both chat and Word, I'm probably going to sign up for Netflix again . But for the DVDs, not the streaming.

4:06 PM

do they still do DVDs?

Yes they do. They come in snail mail and without late fees.

wow, i need to volunteer to mix concrete more often

after the soreness passed, i can visibly feel my muscles being much bigger

user116848

Hi Jay. How is the putting together playground thingie going?

Labor is good that. I find it hard to push past pain if it's just a workout.

@Jolenealaska yea, thats so true. multiple times i thought i was past my limit but able to muster up more energy knowing I was helping a bunch of children

and having the goal getting closer and closer to completion right in front of me really helps too

@Arrowfar It was completed last Saturday. It was all built that day.

4:11 PM

@Jay lol

good grief, I had to edit that new question

look at the history

Dammit...Just when I think I like it, now Dragon is choking.

i don't know how to punctuate so i'm just going to talk in one long sentence like this it makes it really hard to read and i feel like my brain is getting out of breath jesus christ

@ElendilTheTall Huh, it's been edited into shape

@ElendilTheTall panting

@ElendilTheTall Weird. shit.... Dragon! Here Boy!

4:27 PM

@Gigili yes, by me

are you here Dragon?

Yay

okay, what I was going to say is that it appears that Netflix has stopped the DVD delivery. At least it's not on their website, but just yesterday I saw somebody getting a Netflix DVD out of their mailbox.

So, it's at least worth a phone call.

I'm going to go in person to GCI collections as soon as I can swing their $60 a month for unlimited Internet.

This having to watch every KB thing is getting old.

I'm sure

4:42 PM

my mother left me about 200 DVDs (although I question her taste in movies), so I can pretty much watch nothing but DVDs for a few months. It's a pain to go from television to a computer monitor, so I only want to do it if I actually have something on television I want to watch.

what do you mean?

to change the input from television cable to the HDMI input which comes from the computer, I have to do it physically from the television. There's probably a remote that would do it, but I don't have such a remote. It's hard to see the buttons that I have to use to make the switch, and as such, it often takes a while.

so PIA

it took me a while, but now all audio is coming from the television. The television has a headphone jack and I've got excellent headphones with a just long enough cord to reach the two places that I like to sit. Unlike the Bluetooth headphones though, I can't walk around and talk.

I have a good microphone for use in a silent room:

you could play the DVD on the computer and show it on the TV though, no?

amazon.com/Blue-Microphones-Yeti-USB-Microphone/dp/B002VA464S/…

@ElendilTheTall yes, and that is exactly what I do unless I actually want to watch something on television (cable TV)

I could also do that streaming, if I could afford the data.

ah, I see

it's been a long, lonely day

4:55 PM

ultimately, I would most like to have the audio coming from the television while using the Bluetooth headset to record text in chat and Word.

that shouldn't be hard

sound input and output are entirely separate, no?

@ElendilTheTall I know <violin duet>; the very idea was almost enough to get me out of bed when I knew I could find you here.

almost being the operative word

you're so lazy and selfish

:P

@ElendilTheTall it seems like it should be, but something about the card, the two microphones, Bluetooth, and Dragon doesn't get along.

A standard line-in mic would be much easier

4:58 PM

but here's the thing....

My good microphone (the Yeti) will pick up my text from anywhere in the room accurately enough that Dragon can transcribe it.

However, it also picks up audio from any video I am watching.

My Bluetooth microphone handles background audio just fine, the microphone is right up by my lips. However, the Bluetooth connection is flaky.

plus

Ideally, I would like to wear the excellent stereo headphones so that the microphone does not pick up the sound of the movie, yet if I speak into the microphone I want to hear it through those same headphones.

some people want the moon on a stick

The microphone has headphone jacks.

I have heard a DVD playing in the headsets coming through the microphone, plus that's basically what Audacity does. That would be ideal. I want to hear my own voice over any video that I'm playing if I happen to be dictating to Dragon at the time.

5:25 PM

You could just pop one headphone off your ear...

that would be fine if we were just talking about chat

I want to talk for hours on end, most comfortably, and with most accurate possible transcription

6:11 PM

I generally talk in spurts. I'll work things out, decide what I'm going to say, and then just say it. I'll do a quick edit of obviously wrong words, and then move on. So I don't want to do anything to go back to the video that I'm not watching to begin with. I just want it to have never have stopped.

keep in mind that I'm dealing with certain physical issues.

My vision is weird. It takes a good second to go from one field of vision to another and actually see it the way I'm supposed to (that is why I shouldn't have a drivers license).

If any of those fields of vision are close-up (like a keyboard, or a remote control, or buttons on the television), then it's more like two or three seconds.

I'm also trying to learn how to use a mouse with my left hand. Do you want to play that game for a while and see how weird it is to just switch? Yes, it is difficult that the mouse is designed for use with the right hand. It's a lot more weird that I've always used it that way, so I am hardwired to do it that way.