I'm back!

Hey! Did you get your MRI?

No, but I've got 2 docs looking at the film (xrays), an appt with another doc, and an imminent mri

So, one way or another we're going to nail this.

That sounds really good!

@Jolenealaska sure hope that is enough doctors!

Hey, there... @Jefromi watch who you're pinging ;)

yup misclick :)

How goes?

good good, heading out for dinner in a little while, how are you?

I'm actually tired. I was at home earlier reading a book while waiting for the cable guys to do their thing and I almost fell asleep... I'm not sure what happened.

Other than that, I'm just watching the last few minutes tick by before getting to start my weekend.

@Jefromi My brother thinks I'm nuts :(

I wish I could just bring him down my rabbit hole to show him that I'm not

@Jolenealaska just in general? or something specific to disagree on?

just in general

But I've got to show him stuff there

BRB, damn 'puter.

I need to reboot to get dragon back

hum, I see. I dunno, you've had a lot going on lately, I could see trying to dive into all of that not always coming across well.

Hence the problem

could be good to wait til things are a little more settled to try to present all of it :)

OK. I'll just try to talk to him some more. I need to convince him that I'm sane, but the thing that I can't get past is what is making him think I'm nuts. I have such a crazy, mixed up family.

sounds like there might be something more specific after all?

Yeah, there is.

Let me think about it while I get something to eat. Are you going to be here for a while?

unfortunately I'm leaving in half an hour

Bummer

well, there's always the English chat

Someone there can usually help me think.

Cya later. I must eat.

bye!

enjoy your food

o/

hey ho, I'm here but I think it's too early in the morning for the other continent

Hey!

LOL I often meet @JourneymanGeek around this time. He’s in another time zone, too.

Just the two gorgeous girls I was hoping to find :)

Hi sweetie!

I'm feeling so naked without my diamond :(

How’s Bacon these days?

She's lovely! God I love this kitty.

@Jolenealaska just let your inner beauty shine. You did well before you had it.

@Jolenealaska ours finally figured that sleeping at night is a viable option.

And we get frost at night, so he prefers the rocking chair / sofa (comes with humans willing to pet and cuddle) / window sill.

Plus, it means he will always know when something interesting is happening in the kitchen.

He came in from a quick bathroom break this afternoon and literally fell asleep on the rug on the floor. One moment he was giving it a sound thrashing, the next - zzzzzzz!

@Stephie Have you met a user named Lucy?

@Jolenealaska I don’t think so?

Hmmm You will. I think she knows you.

@Jolenealaska how so?

hey @Jolenealaska, you are here!

and news from Bacon, great!

(But admittedly I’m not too good with names. And my short-term memory is flooded with Hungarian name and the pronunciation that goes with them.)

Follow the link @Stephie. That's how I think you may know of her

@Stephie now that's a feat. I don't know if I could ever get the Hungarian pronunciation into my brain even for the time needed to say it, less alone to keep it in memory.

@Jolenealaska Ah, of her. Got it.

@Jolenealaska Ohh you have a kitty!

We need pictures!

a gorgeous orange one

Yay.

Incidentally, who is the "nemesis" of Bulgaria?

Rumania?

Turkey? I don't know in what way you mean it.

(Belgium is mostly our nemesis, and also Germany because of the war.)

@Cerberus Will you delete that silly one box thing I posted?

Ah, OK.

That's just embarrassing

@Jolenealaska That one?

@rumtscho and I’m fighting with putting the diacritics in the right place.

yeppers!

Then, yes.

Let me show you my kitty! Great new picture:

There's a speck of dirt on my screen that occasionally turns a comma into a semicolon. That's hardly fair towards students I'm correcting.

We used to be part of the Osmanic empire until 1878, and were given a slave-like status there. And in our history books, the names "osmanic" and "turkish" are not differentiated. So our national hero epics are about the heroic fight against the Turks, until we got our independency (with Russian help)

you could clean your screen :)

@rumtscho That makes sense! Now that you mention it, I remember there was also a Turkish minority that 'you' didn't like.

@rumtscho Always so practical. Where's the fun in that?

@Cerberus no, you must be thinking of the gypsy minority

the Turkish minority also exists, but is somewhat wider accepted

I specifically remember Turks?

@Stephie lol. GMT +8 Represent!

There was an article in a newspaper a while ago.

I think it was about how certain Bulgarian politicians didn't like Turkish immigrants.

still not exactly equal, mostly also because the ones who want to make it in the big city go to Istanbul instead of Sofia, so it is mostly rural uneducated population

@rumtscho hm, that's the same as the Ottomans?

@JourneymanGeek yes

@Cerberus remember that most students have rarely seen, let alone used a semicolon! ^_^ Or is that too pessimistic?

@Stephie I've abused them before.... ;p

@Cerberus the xenophobic political parties tend to win about 15% of votes, which is about average, or even below average, for Eastern Europe. Those hate the Turks, the Gypsies, and so on.

@JourneymanGeek programmers! <grins>

She's like a silk tassel in this picture! I want to snuggle with her.

Very cute!

@Stephie Oddly enough! I'm the rare bird that isn't one

@Jolenealaska I've replaced her with a one-boxable image, if you don't mind.

I just wander around fixing things, and typocally just glare machines into submission

@Jolenealaska she's quite fluffy ;p

@Stephie Hah! Well, I'm sure that applies to some students. But not so much to most, at university.

cuter than a Tribble!

@rumtscho Right, that's probably what I read about.

@Cerberus do you teach at a university? I knew you are a teacher, but not where.

@rumtscho OMG not those.

@rumtscho I used to tutor students, academic writing.

But not any more.

ah, do you have a new job?

Well, it was only a couple of hours a week, and I didn't replace it with something else.

It was quite exhausting and paid poorly.

ah OK.

Out of the various jobs I do and have done, somehow the ones requiring the highest level of education paid the worst!

I hope your job is slightly less stressful these days?

not yet, but I expect improvement

I found a great new hire, and HR started preparing his contract last week

currently there is a mountain of tasks in my team which only I can do, because it is not the developer's job, and they don't know how.

Having a new scientist join will be really helpful, I will be able to delegate.

That's great!

And you can have her bring you tea.

And sciency stuff.

Cool! Have you switched to a full-time position yet?

it is a he, and nobody on my team brings other people's tea. Not even the interns.

Hehe.

You could have him serve as your foot stool, then.

@Stephie it's imminent. If HR can get the required signatures, it can happen on Monday.

@rumtscho why not?

(Just kidding!)

But a pecking order can have its perks. Provided you have risen high enough in the hierarchy.

actually, now that I have an intern I realized something new. At first I almost apologized that she will frequently have to end up with boring jobs like typing text from a Word document into a computer program. But it seems that she likes to have a certain amount of such routine tasks, because she is a bit stressed about getting the more "flexible" ones right.

And provided you don't enjoy being pecked on.

Like if you have fleas in your fur.

that's not pecking, that's grooming. I enjoy it even when I don't have fleas.

The grooming can be carried out by pecking.

If you have chicken available.

Speaking of stuff like that. When bacon is really relaxed (like when I am brushing her) she'll knead and "nurse".

yes, I know that birds do it with their beaks, I would still avoid calling it "being pecked" just to avoid the unpleasant connotations.

@Stephie I want to have such a family!

and not to be the child, obviously :)

I want to catch it on camera, but she stops as soon as I try. Damn cats

well sure, she does it when she is relaxed. And then you start to move, and her hunter instincts put it in "attention" mode.

Of course

@rumtscho lol! With my kids, it’s more about putting bandaids on scratches and finding ways to untangle matted hair. “Grooming” isn’t exactly a favorite pastime for the underage family members.

there is a solution, but most people won't like it: install a security camera pointed at your bed. Or easychair, or whatever you use.

@Stephie I meant to be part of that baboon family. Only not as the member at the end of the chain, which I suspect is determined by age/hierarchy.

@rumtscho But that would give just blurry pictures... a tripod and a remote control perhaps?

that doesn't make it less frustrating. If I could, I'd leave a camera running, but it goes through batteries fast that way. Until I can place a big Amazon order (oh shit, I'm about to lose my free prime trial), I'm stuck with my last 4 batteries.

@Stephie yes, a real camera used as if it were a security camera would be better. I still think most people would object to that for privacy reasons.

@Jolenealaska cannot you have it run off the grid, with a charger cable?

I don't (yet) have a power adapter

or lights

or the camera that Tall wants me to buy

and it runs with normal batteries, not a proprietary rechargeable one? That surprises me.

I'm in my overdraft protection, so just food is becoming an issue

But you could probably use a smartphone in that mode too.

no, I can't

forget that camera that Tall mentioned. He is very special about his cameras. The model best suited for a camera nerd doesn't have to be the same that is suited for you.

I find small touchscreens so hard to use (ms things) that they make me nuts.

You have this one, and I am sure people have done great videos with worse ones.

I need Tall more than any camera

Awwwwww!

Only 10 years ago, the quality which your current camera can do was not attainable with hardware priced below 5 digits, but people were uploading YouTube videos anyway and getting followers.

@Jolenealaska now that is worrisome.

He's just being a pussy face because I bought a lesser camera

Is there anything to make sure that your very basic needs like food are met?

Bacon thinks so.

Folks, I have to leave - I have an appointment. Take care and see you later!

@Stephie bye, nice talking to you again!

@Jolenealaska I am not letting you stick Bacon in the oven!

Rumi <shakes head>

jokes aside, do you have access to something to make sure you can eat and have electricity and so on even if everything else fails?

do you qualify for food stamps or something like that?

And heating!

I'm kind of glad I have gas heating, so it's independent of power outages.

And I could always turn on the electric oven in case the gas goes out.

And heat water in the electric kettle.

@rumtscho I get food stamps $19/month. That isn't a big help when I have been putting all the money I have and more into a project related to stuff I have going on in a big way.

but that's not enough food to last an adult for a month, even if all you buy is flour.

That's why bacon put up a gofundme page

she needs food soon

And I can't even afford to feed her

that's really sad.

could neighbours give you scraps for her?

@Jolenealaska it is temporary right?

Yes, my problems are temporary, but they are true problems today.

Social Security disability is just a 'safety net" income (like the food stamps). $1000/month is not enough to do more than simply live with a roof over your head in Alaska.

(still catching up on chat ;p)

of course it is too little.

Still, even if it just suffices for rent and food, that's the highest priority, right?

You cannot do any projects if you are raving hungry!

^

I'll tell you the same thing I'm trying to tell my dad, who's ALSO being a pussy face. Don't worry about it, I'll be fine, and stop thinking I'm NUTS

If I could just bring Daddy down my rabbit hole just a little he would start to understand why my mother left him.

I'd like that to happen while I'm still a little nuts like mom was.

He still gets sad that Sherri was so nuts and now I seem to be too.

I would love to see your dad getting to understand you more and grow even closer

So would I

We're still close, but only because Dad loves me, even though I'm nuts.

that's what family is for! They love you no matter what you think of you. (The relatives who don't... well... they are still family, but they are doing it wrong).

Yep. You're funny. Just like my dad, but totally dense in other ways :)

well, dense in the same way

and brilliant in others

I'll take that as a compliment

it is, but you would make a lousy spy! :)

That may be true! I never considered if I would be a good or a lousy spy.

what stands in the way of me being a good spy?

Missing subtext

always missing subtext

Have you ever seen Bones?

No, I don't think so

you are right, I miss subtext quite a bit, especially on chat.

You must. The protagonist makes me think of me (but not that brilliant). She really makes me think of you.

not available on German Netflix :(

That's a good project for me while I sit here in a wheelchair slowly losing my mind. I'll find a perfect episode and somehow find a way for you to see it.

You know, I think that your father may be calling you nuts because he doesn't agree with your ideas, but that's not necessary. All he needs is to understand you, and that creates real closeness.

exactly

And Dad is quite the Autistic Savant. That's a layman's term for it. My shrink will eventually tell me the 'real' term for it, because it is clear that it is something that my brother, my late mother, my father, my husband and I all share.

sounds a bit improbable, seeing that two of those are actually not blood relatives

The "syndrome", (for lack of a better term for it) comes with a special knack for seeing it in others.

but well, your doctor will know it better than I do

she does

a lot better

I met with her yesterday

yup, it's her job to know it

oh, cool. What did she say?

Exactly what I can't talk about, Bones

OK, dense me didn't know there are things you can't talk about.

Yeppers, Bones

but if she is helping you deal with the stuff you are going through - and it is a lot you are facing right now - I am happy to know it!

That's my name for you now

Bones

I like my own better.

Yes, that is just a kind of codename in my crazy head.

I'll only use it if I'm trying to communicate that you are missing subtext.

And on that note. I'm off to find that perfect video. Catch you later!

I had crab enchiladas last night mmmm

@Jefromi tasty!

mhm! when I make my own I never use fancy things like crab maybe I should splurge now and then though

actually I did shrimp once, with a hatch chile cream sauce, and it was suuuuper good

now that you are saying it, I think I should cook Mexican more often

which ones were the enchiladas? Just stuff wrapped in a tortilla? Or was that the burrito?

enchiladas are corn tortillas rolled around some filling, usually including cheese, and smothered in sauce and baked to heat through

well, the Mexicans will have to excuse me for making a cheese-reduced version. But maybe that's what I'll pick from the supermarket later.

I mean, the ingredients, not readymade enchiladas, I don't think they'd have something of that kind anyway

there's a pretty wide variety of sauces

what filling do you recommend?

oof :)

or maybe you even have a full recipe you can point me to?

depends on the sauce some!

can you get tomatillos?

almost impossible. If yes, then with a longer waiting time, not for this weekend.

hmm ok

that is my go-to sauce

I'll probably have to shop at the discounter because I don't think I'll reach the more standard supermarket in time, I have a bit of a logistic problem in the new part of town.

chili powder?

so I will be reduced to mostly basic products, nothing fancy.

you mean just the spice? yes, that's available.

so a chili sauce/gravy like the one here homesicktexan.com/2007/01/essence-of-tex-mex.html or here homesicktexan.com/2017/03/red-chile-cheese-enchiladas.html is a decent basic sauce probably (I have not actually made those specific ones but I've done similar things)

and filling... shredded chicken is always good, I like spinach mushroom too but I think it goes better with tomatillo sauce

"done similar things" is good enough for me

I just trust that somebody who has cooked something of the same kind can distinguish between a "likely to work" and "hmm, that looks weird" recipe.

there's a roasted tomato salsa I like too, I can't remember the name

I think the name means burned or something like that

this is a good basic tomatillo sauce/enchilada recipe for what it's worth: rickbayless.com/recipe/roasted-tomatillo-enchiladas

if you ever find yourself with a pound of tomatillos someday

oh OK, I would never be able to get fresh ones. Pickled is the best I can hope for.

oh :(

pickled, huh

When I come someday to America, I will try it.

I don't know if I've ever actually had pickled tomatillos!

I doubt that anybody on the European continent grows tomatillos

possibly some homesick texan :) but nothing commercial.

yeah, besides people with their own gardens

my grandmother had recipes for pickled unripe tomatoes, but those were for normal tomatoes which grow into standard red sweet ones when ripe

I made sauce to bring when I visited my now-wife in Canada, I figured I couldn't count on things there either

ah, yeah

mmm fried green tomatoes

@Jefromi hehe, that must have been a courtship. Wow the future inlaws with sauce flown in from California.

(in the southern US the common thing for underripe tomatoes is fried with cournmeal coating)

I hope they appreciated it!

@rumtscho it was just her! and I was still back in Texas then. but yes she liked it

oh, I didn't realize there was a time she lived in Canada after she met you.

there was!

a couple years

that's a lot. Long distance relationships are difficult. I'm glad it worked out for you!

yup it was an adventure but we sorted ourselves out in the end

how does she like California?

it's pretty good, I'm never going to be able to get her to move anywhere too hot or too cold after this, I suspect

she's too spoiled now

:)

though the promise of lower housing prices could win out someday