English Language & Usage: Multi-Layered Discourse Room

Cerberus

04:00

Not quite.

tchrist

They’re frolicking right next to me right now.

It is so cute to see them get up on their hind legs and swipe at each other.

Cerberus

They exude happiness.

tchrist

There are constantly playing the stalking game in the long grass.

Cerberus

Who wouldn't!

Mahnax

It makes me so happy to see how much you love those cats, @tchrist.

tchrist

04:01

Almost all that’s left now.

But yes.

Cerberus

I'm sure there is more.

tchrist

Yesterday I just hung out with them for like an hour as the sun was setting, over across by the volleyball & tennis courts, in the grass. It’s the center of a cul-de-sac circle, and the only cut grass around. And I watched how alert they were, to everything all around them.

Cerberus

And there will be new things.

tchrist

I’m afraid they may like the volleyball courts a bit too much: they’re all sand.

Mahnax

But I hope you find something else. Cats are wonderful, but there's so much out there to see and do. Life's not over yet, so keep going.

tchrist

04:04

I know, I know. I’m a complete recluse now.

Mahnax

Well, maybe come visit Edmonton for awhile. There's lots of neat stuff here :)

Cerberus

Yay!

And it's not so far, is it?

Mahnax

There's the Fringe festival in August.

tchrist

@Cerberus Hah!

Mahnax

Cool weekly farmer's markets, a beautiful river valley.

Cerberus

04:06

But, yeah, the reclusion should end in the medium future.

Mahnax

High crime rate—pardon me. Wonderful restaurants, urban sprawl…

Cerberus

Shh no urbanity!

tchrist

@Cerberus 20 hours of driving.

Mahnax

Cerberus

I saw that.

Yay!

Mahnax

04:08

You are still working, right, @tchrist?

Cerberus

It's only 23 days on foot.

tchrist

@Mahnax No, got laid off on June 1st.

Mahnax

@tchrist Oh, really? Gosh, I'm sorry to hear that.

tchrist

Mahnax

I hope this does not leave you in any major financial difficulties.

Cerberus

04:09

here.com/directions/drive/Edmonton,_AB%5B53.54624,-113.49037%5D/…

tchrist

@Mahnax They scuttled ALL contractors. Then last week they laid off 15-30% of the employees, too.

Mahnax

@tchrist Good god.

With a resume like yours, though, is finding another job going to be easy?

tchrist

@Mahnax Well, I’ll need a new job. Sigh. The $12k spent on the flood was not good for this.

Cerberus

Extremely annoying. But there are lots of jobs in your field for someone with your experience.

Mahnax

@tchrist Ouch.

tchrist

04:10

@Mahnax Many places would take me in an instant — if I were willing to relocate.

Like Booking.com, for instance.

Mahnax

@tchrist Aha. And I don't suppose you are.

tchrist

But no offence, I do not care to move to Amsterdam during the dwindling autumn of my life.

Cerberus

Could be the Indian summer of your life.

But, sure, I wouldn't want to move either.

Mahnax

That would be quite the move, yes.

BRB tummy growls.

Cerberus

Haha.

tchrist

04:12

WTH the kittens are opening and closing all the kitchen cabinets!

Cerberus

Bye, Tummy.

A new trick?

tchrist

Looking for mice, I imagine.

Cerberus

But I'm sure there will be jobs in your area too.

tchrist

Wish there were a job that I actually enjoyed.

Cerberus

Sometimes you only know once you've tried it...

tchrist

04:14

My ex-ex-boss is in France right now, and he would like me to assist him with some NLP work I did for him several years ago. Fix stuff up so it works with French, too.

There’d be a paper in it, but not money. Sigh.

At least that was halfway interesting work. The good&bad of it is that it was a university job, so all that matters is getting published, nothing else.

Cerberus

Hmm.

You could take two jobs: one interesting and one that pays well.

tchrist

Rather, it was a research assistantship, but a professional one not a postdoc one, so it paid something more than slave wages.

Cerberus

Well, do you need lots of money?

tchrist

@Cerberus Yes, and I could also find some nubile and fertile young thing, marry her, and start a family of 2.4 children.

Cerberus

I mean, two part-time jobs.

tchrist

04:17

@Cerberus I need to be able to pay the bills. I wracked up too much debt.

Cerberus

Hmm.

tchrist

By not having a job, and not wanting a job, and not realizing what was happening, and being completely depressed. Those debts need to be paid.

Cerberus

At a rate such that you could not live off the research job?

tchrist

I had a PTSD-inducing event about 5–6 years ago, and it squashed me.

@Cerberus I never had any “spending money”. At all.

Cerberus

What was it? Or is that private?

@tchrist "Had"?

tchrist

04:19

@Cerberus Maybe if we meet in person.

Cerberus

OK.

tchrist

Oh for heaven’s sake, now Randy is in the UPPER cabinets!

I need to put an end to this before something breaks.

I only noticed because I heard Lorin complaining. He was complaining because Randy was way up in the upper cabinets, and he wasn't.

Maybe there are mice in my spice cabinet. I don’t know.

Cerberus

At some point, we attached the door of the upper cabinet to its frame with a rubber band.

So the cat couldn't throw the butter dish on the floor again.

Mahnax

I am back now, hello.

Cerberus

Welcome back!

It is long past my bed time.

Mahnax

04:24

No kidding!

tchrist

It’s funny, Lorin is much the better tree-climber. He was way up high in a tree yesterday again. But Randy can jump higher, so can leap any countertop in a single bound.

Cerberus

nods gravely

Mahnax

What time do you usually wake up these days?

tchrist

Is it possible that a cat might have licked the butter dish?

Cerberus

Depends on what I have to do!

Tomorrow, I should probably be at work around 1.

tchrist

04:25

The cover was off and it looks a bit messed up. Hm.

Mahnax

@tchrist Oh…

Cerberus

@tchrist Always. But the problem was the breaking of crockery.

Mahnax

Silly kitties.

Cerberus

Oh, your cat.

tchrist

I gave them a saucer of milk.

Cerberus

04:25

So I wish you a good evening!

tchrist

I guess it’s time to break out the ice cream.

They rather like that.

Good night.

Good night again.

Mahnax

Goodnight, Cerby. Sleep tight.

Cerberus

Again?

Thank you!

tchrist

But the butter, that’s just greasy.

I’ll give them ice cream. Vanilla.

Cerberus

disappears

Anonymous

04:26

Rest well, Kerberos!

tchrist

When I have an ice-cream bar, Randy always wants to lick the stick.

Mahnax

You'll spoil their dinner!

tchrist

This would be dessert.

Mahnax

What a mooch! :-)

@tchrist Yes, only joking of course.

tchrist

They are just being way frisky for the hour.

Mahnax

04:27

I've never heard of cats eating ice cream.

tchrist

They get this way. My time to go to sleep, and they go all frisky on me.

@Mahnax Really?

Mahnax

@tchrist The boundless energy of youth, eh?

tchrist

@Mahnax Exactly. Just like yours.

Mahnax

@tchrist Nope. I guess it doesn't seem so unlikely, but I've never seen it done.

tchrist

Their favorite game is for me to have the light and ceiling-fan on in my bedroom at night with the windows cracked enough to let the moths in.

Mahnax

04:29

@tchrist Hehe. I'm feeling tired these days, but when exams are over that will pass.

tchrist

The moths try get to the light, and are batted about by the fan.

Which puts them in reach of leaping kitties.

Mahnax

@tchrist Such an interesting game. How do you sleep like that?

tchrist

I don’t. Of course.

I let them do that while I’m reading.

Mahnax

Ah, good.

tchrist

And I rescue the sphinxes as I can.

Today a great dragonfly came into the house, one of those huge ones.

Mahnax

04:30

When you're sleeping, they should be snuggling with you there, not hopping about.

Ah, BRB. One sec.

tchrist

Never happened before.

I eventually rescued it. But Lorin had never seen such a crazy thing in his life.

Mahnax

Was he freaked out?

tchrist

Not exactly. Just fascinated.

Mahnax

Still curious, then. Good.

tchrist

The only time I ever saw a freak-out was when Sam brought home the bat.

They’ll be curious as long as they live. They’re cats.

Mahnax

04:33

True enough. But some cats get old and mopey, like Pushka did.

tchrist

Sam brought home a bat. It was in the middle of the teak floor and he was in the corner crouched, and it was emitting very freaky sounds. I can only imagine what Sam was hearing. I rescued the bat.

Mahnax

(Pushka was a friend's cat)

@tchrist Oh my gosh, a bat? Wow.

tchrist

Sam at 22 remained curious, and a hunter, and would sometimes bring in pine cones and string and such and play around with them like any kitten would.

He acted like half his age.

I have no earthly idea how Sam caught the bat in the first place. I think he must have found it sleeping in the garage or something.

Mahnax

That's so wonderful. I wonder how my cat is doing.

tchrist

But he used to catch hummingbirds on the wing, too.

@Mahnax Where is your cat?

Mahnax

04:36

@tchrist Living on an acreage with some relatives, forty five minutes away. But she's always out in the forest, so I never see her when we visit (which is rare enough as it is).

She loves being outside, but I hear she's not doing so well anymore. She's old.

tchrist

Aren’t there predators there?

I’m getting sleepy and sloppy.

Mahnax

@tchrist Not too many. Predators in these areas tend to stay away from subdivisions—too noisy, I think. Coyotes are the only major ones I can think of at the moment.

tchrist

The kittens have been learning to come when I call them. And they actually do, at least if it is daylight. At night they are more reluctant.

@Mahnax Coyotes are the biggest danger.

Mahnax

@tchrist Yeah. But as I said, they tend to stay away from subdivisions, especially near towns as this one is. I lived on an acreage for a decade and I've never seen a coyote before.

tchrist

Although my gardner’s friend who lives maybe a half-mile south of me just had her cat eaten by a lion in front of her eyes in broad daylight. Her kids want a replacement, but the mom is too shocked still.

What is an “acreage”?

Mahnax

04:40

@tchrist Oh my heavens. That's so awful.

tchrist

You mean some acres in the country?

@Mahnax Two weeks ago.

And no word that the lion has been relocated.

Mahnax

@tchrist Ehm, a house on a few acres of land that's not in town, I guess.

There's groups of them clumped togethere round these parts.

tchrist

And we’re talking only 10 blocks south of me. Easily within range. So I try very hard to keep the kittens in at night, and try not to lose track of them by day.

Mahnax

Here, one sec.

@tchrist Good idea.

tchrist

I think we would just say that somebody lived out in the country.

Mahnax

04:41

@tchrist Regional differences, I guess.

tchrist

Oh, that’s like a little subdivision?

Mahnax

So in those roads, you have houses, but they're very spaced out.

tchrist

Living in the country would be different.

Mahnax

There is a large amount of forest between each house, and only a couple on each road.

tchrist

The next house would be a mile down the road or something.

Unincorporated Boulder County is zoned to only one residence per 40 acres, at least in the mountains.

That keeps it from turning into a sprawl.

Mahnax

04:44

So on the left is my old driveway, and off to the right is our neighbours' driveway.

tchrist

I see. Reminds me a bit of where my paternal grandparents lived, where my cousin now resides.

Mahnax

There was lots of forest to explore there.

tchrist

So much green.

Mahnax

All the property lines got kinda fuzzy in there, but one day they became incredibly well established.

tchrist

There is only one place in Colorado that is true deciduous forest. All the rest are conifers.

Mahnax

04:46

My friends were over for my birthday party, and we went into the forest to make a fort out of fallen trees and sticks and such. Nothing harmful, of course. As we did, a man came by and started yelling and screaming at us, chased us back to my property.

tchrist

I grew up in the mixed-hardwood forests that start a bit south of Lake Superior, which is a different ecosystem.

@Mahnax You were kids?

Mahnax

@tchrist Yeah, maybe ten years old.

tchrist

@Mahnax That happens all the time.

I would think you would be boreal forest, too. Hm. Let me check.

Mahnax

@tchrist Mhm. But it was so unexpected—I'd never even seen that guy before. I'd spent so much time in that forest.

@tchrist I think so.

tchrist

But you had hardwoods, not just conifers, right? Paper birch and such?

Mahnax

04:49

Yes.

Lots of paper birch.

tchrist

A hardwood forest is so much more alive than a coniferous one is. Alive with birdsong and light.

Mahnax

We had lots of birds in there.

tchrist

Once the houseboy is back, I may have to drive over to ours. It is the largest aspen forest in the world.

And it is just now waking up to spring.

Mahnax

Wow. Take some nice photos…

tchrist

Look for Crested Butte photos here.

2010 for example has town shots, and mountains too.

Mahnax

04:53

Your photos are so tranquil.

I feel like I could look at these for days.

tchrist

You are very kind.

Mahnax

This is so pretty.

tchrist

Aspens.

To walk under that golden light is almost magical.

Mahnax

I bet.

tchrist

But this is what that sort of place looks like right now, or will in a few weeks.

Mahnax

04:58

Just as beautiful.

tchrist

Here’s the 2011 gallery.

Mahnax

Whose ratings?

tchrist

Oh, mine.

Mahnax

Ah, OK.

tchrist

This sort of thing is staggering, but it lacks the intimacy of the aspen forests.

Mahnax

05:01

yawns

tchrist

And note the elevation on that shot.

12 kf.

That’s the road I have to take to get to Crested Butte. Tough drive, eh? :)

Mahnax

Wow.

Absolutely!

Gorgeous.

I need to get to bed though. Exam in the morning, etc.

tchrist

I’ll go once I can arrange that the houseboy becomes the catboy.

YES!

I am so sorry!

I forgot!

Please say good night.

Mahnax

Oh, heavens, don't worry! I'm saying goodnight.

Goodnight, Tom. :) Sleep well, keep those kittens close as ever.

tchrist

Ok, good night then. Enjoy. You can look at the pictures any time.

I think they’ve gone up without me.

I shall join them now.

disappears

Mahnax

05:03

Thank you, I'll bookmark the URL. Take care, friend.

poof

Matt Эллен

09:30

!!define housecarl

Jarvis the Bot

@MattЭллен housecarl (historical) A member of the Scandinavian royal household troops.

RegDwigнt

10:25

room topic changed to English Language & Usage: The room description now changes daily. Subscribe to updates by sending money. Tögrögs accepted. (no tags)

Cerberus

10:37

Hello.

Matt Эллен

₮₮

Hello.

Andrew Leach

@MattЭллен If that works for a subscription, then ₮₮.

Matt Эллен

:D

that's what I'm hoping

1.00 GBP = 3,104.76 MNT
British Pound ↔ Mongolian Tughrik

that's from xe.com

Andrew Leach

Oh. Might need a bit more than just ₮₮ then.

Matt Эллен

maybe

I haven't seen a price list. we might have overpaid

Andrew Leach

10:43

Why on earth do they go down to ₮0.01 in that calculation? That's a ridiculously small amount.

Matt Эллен

apparently Tögrög prices peaked in mid 2008. I guess Mongolians were unaffected by the mortgage problem

@AndrewLeach maybe they want to balance significant figures?

~1700 MNT to the pound back then

Andrew Leach

Value halved in six years. That's some going.

Matt Эллен

yeah

Mitch

11:28

@Reg wait...so we can no longer talk about 'stuff'? whines

meta question logged, bounty applied, all relevant items flagged twice

oh what the hell, shock troops deployed

Matt Эллен

11:59

I think we'd be better off with a shock troupe

Mitch

12:09

Shock Morris Dancers. No one can withstand that.

Matt Эллен

noöne

Mitch

@tchrist I'd rather eat ground glass. well, about the same.

Matt Эллен

I've seen it

Mitch

Shocking, right?

Matt Эллен

yeah

!!wiki border morris

Jarvis the Bot

12:14

Border Morris

The term Border Morris refers to a collection of individual local dances from villages along the English side of the Wales-England border in the counties of Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Shropshire. They are part of the Morris dance tradition. History This was a village dance done in winter for fun and a bit of money. It usually includes three to twelve dancers. Some of the earliest accounts of a border morris tradition are provided by E.C.Cawte. There is reference to questions about "any disguised persons, as moricedancers, maskers, or mum'ers" to St. Mary's Parish Church in Shr...

Matt Эллен

@Cerberus these guys ^^ are less well known that your Zwart Piet

noöne seems to call them out as racist. At least, I've never heard it.

RegDwigнt

@Mitch you are still allowed to think about stuff. Daily, on two separate occasions of your choosing.

Mitch

@RegDwigнt What about... argh that was one. Dammit that was another!

shivers in corner

Matt Эллен

What about stuff are we not allowed to talk about?

Mitch

@MattЭллен Wow... black face. Racist against 'moorish' people.

@MattЭллен tries not to think, tries not to think

Matt Эллен

12:27

Don't try too hard. That's what starts people thinking in the first place

@Mitch I guess cannibals find people moreish

Mitch

@MattЭллен or less... ish

Matt Эллен

Mitch

@MattЭллен so hungry

Matt Эллен

@Mitch maybe you'll stuff yourself next time you eat

Mitch

stuffing self

KitFox

12:46

gasp

Oh. That kind of stuffing.

RegDwigнt

Stuffing compares to you.

KitFox

Y u no liek my tags?

Mitch

@RegDwigнt suppresses but hints at a comment about Sinead

RegDwigнt

Tags narrow down the scope. If you tag the room beer, it means you must no longer discuss nouns in it, or intergalactical-dildae.

So if this room is for the tags X, Y, and Z, you must create another room for the other tags.

KitFox

Um. But they were funny.

RegDwigнt

12:50

It sort of only makes sense on SO. Where you have a C# room and a Java room, and neither is aware that it's the same shit.

Matt Эллен

but given that the tags are as official as the topic itself, there really isn't aproblem

RegDwigнt

@KitFox oh I didn't say they weren't.

Andrew Leach

@RegDwigнt That's a remarkably perspicacious assessment of both.

KitFox

cries, runs away

Mitch

@RegDwigнt There's already 5 questions under your poorly-grammared space-themed tag.

RegDwigнt

12:52

@Mitch if you are trying to rick roll me with my own link, that's not how it works.

Matt Эллен

reg-should-click-this-it-is-not-a-rickroll

Mitch

@RegDwigнt Well I cheated and retagged a few things.

@MattЭллен I am so close to clicking on that.

Matt Эллен

how close?

KitFox

It's just a tag. It's clean.

RegDwigнt

@MattЭллен damn, that one worked.

Matt Эллен

12:55

Woo! success!

RegDwigнt

Matt's definition of success: "posted a link on the Internet someone else clicked".

Matt Эллен

That's one of my many definitions for success. Others include "writing a limerick other people read" and "making it to bedtime"

KitFox

Yay!

Alraxite

tag

I see.

RegDwigнt

nacht

KitFox

12:57

NO U!

Matt Эллен

not-it

KitFox

Not it!

Matt Эллен

jinx!

KitFox

No, that's how you do it.

The last person is it.

Matt Эллен

so you are it!

KitFox

12:58

Maybe we just did that where I live.

RegDwigнt

coke

KitFox

Nuh-uh, coke...oh Reg got it.

RegDwigнt

You not-it, I got-it.

Matt Эллен

KitFox: pitting the it in kit since 20XX

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English Language & Usage: Multi-Layer…