Not location specific, No rules: Welcome to ILX heaven

d'oh, I forgot the other one said heaven too. No wonder it sounded good to me. Originally I was thinking in a Ryan Seacrast, american Idol voice "This . .is ILX heaven" but figured it may not transfer well to the screen.

This isn't heaven, heaven is Leighton Buzzard. I want my money back.

You've made your own heaven. Lie in it.

Are these the new "this is the thread where I say"? They seemed to die off!

If you say that, people will leave. Apparantly some disliked those. Although except for myself and the occasional other these seem to be a wholly different crowd. Also Irish/Scottish heavy.

AND I'll have you know TTITWIS died off around number 42 which was a pretty good run if you ask me.

I'm trying to clean my desk now and sorting through a stack of paper, deciding what to recycle. In the margins of some printed out code I see "Hard-Knock Life" and "Fell in Love With a Girl" scribbled and think WTF?? The Harry Potter iPod thread. Ahh, love it when ILx mangles itself all up with work. . .wait that's every day.

So, that was the "Crossroads" of threads, and this is what, the "Hollyoaks"?

and not a moment too soon. i couldn't even look at the old thread from my creaking work pc.

So, that was the "Crossroads" of threads, and this is what, the "Hollyoaks"?

I prefer to think of us as the "Hamish Macbeth" of threads. No, I don't know why.

this may very well be the 'bracken' of threads. i am gabriel byrne.

xpost, I'm not sure what either of those are. If they are albums, I am lame. If they are British television shows, I am American.

I like smaller threads.

KV, why you cry? You weren't the one who put up a fuss over a new LOST thread, where you?

Probably should've linked to the old one in the first post though. I'm notoriously bad at starting threads.

Crap. Does this mean I have to wear pants now? Booooo

Also accentmonkey, sorry about your leg. At least you have office of kittens.

About the wedding: I can't get out of it. I'll have fun. I'm just super-busy before break and therefore super-kvetchy. Thank you all for kind words. I will drink a bottle of wine each for you all. Then tell groom what I really think. Such fun that would be :)

I cry Ms Mis because it was a good thread for few weeks. This one will be even better!

Are pants still optional here?

Accentmonkey, quit hurting yourself. We have miles of Amsterdam to walk.

Good company, good threads. This will be fine too.

I so want an office of kittens. The latest addition to our porch will pop any day now. But she's a bit more skittish than Lil' Mama (whose kittens I've never seen). I just have a feeling bringing this new mother (Scarface) inside could be disastrous. She'd have to be locked up in my sewing room (which is Wheezy's room so this would immediately cause unrest) and I imagine the sniffing possibly barking dogs would terrify the kitty (even if she were safe from them.)

But oh how I'd love a sewing room full of kittens!

Well, you should know that thanks to the ringworm, the drill with the kittens has become more complicated. I basically have to hoover the hall, stairs and landing twice a day now so they don't infect Linus. And I have to wash myself each time I leave their room, and change my t-shirt. I've started wearing my kitchen apron when I'm sitting with them as well, just to be on the safe side.

have you gotten medicine for them? (maybe I missed that back on the mega-thread)

Oh yes. I had them to the vet yesterday. Even she gave them a little hug.

GIVE THEM TO ME! I DON'T MIND DISEASE! NOT WHEN THERE IS THE POSSIBILITY OF SQUEEEE

Just walk around your neighborhood. I'm sure you'll find some poor unwed kitty mother to adopt.

My new motto is Cowboy Up. I should get a hat like Onimo's, they did come in pink.

GIVE THEM TO ME! I DON'T MIND DISEASE! NOT WHEN THERE IS THE POSSIBILITY OF SQUEEEE

Go on your holidays. Go on, leave us. I will stand here at the window with my kittens and we will watch you go. GO! No, don't look back. Just go.

Ms. M, please use "cowboy up" in a sentence so I understand its use.

I plan to stop whining about all my various health issues and just cowboy up and get on with living.

I will wave to you as I fly over your neighbourhood! Will be spending time with aged wrinklies' thick moggy. Should be fun!

Also: Wine, pool, runny cheese, funny meat and sun. Can't wait!

Work want me to be contactable. Bugger. Still though I plan on not being 100% sober after 12:00 (11:00 gmt). They'd better get the calls in early!

Karl hears him coming and wipes his nose. Sawyer socks him in the arm.

"Ow! What the hell was that for?"

"So you'd cowboy up." Sawyer sits next to Karl. "Crying in the jungle ... I thought you people were supposed to be tough."

I shall be Sawyer. Ruthless on the outside, a wimpy softie on the inside.

xpost, Did you get that off some LOST transcript or something?

A stray cat started hanging out under our house a few days ago. At first I was chasing it away, cuz my cat tends to fight other cats but now I see that it's basically just hanging around our house. It sneaks onto our porch. I started feeding it (him? her?) yesterday. Getting a chance to get up close to him (I'm guessing), I see he's quite undernourished and fleabitten. Applied flea stuff just now. My cat seems to just be ignoring him even though I fed him with her bowl, so it isn't coming to blows. Who should I call to find out whose cat it is? He looks like he's been lost for a while, but isn't feral.

You could try the shelter, see if anyone's reported a missing cat. Or take it to a vet to see if it has a microchip.

So, we have a pet guest cat for the next couple of weeks! Gloriously, his name is MONKEY. Or maybe 'her' name. I don't bl00dy know. Today I went to Tesco and picked her (or 'him') up some cat food - the SHEBA brand. One is "rabbit and chicken" which frankly my deres sounds quite tempting TO ME!

Bored. Here is a list of my favourite MUM TELLY:
1. Inspector Lynley Mysteries
2. Midsomer Murders
3. Dib Dob Deeb (JUDGE JOHN DEED to you non legaleagles - would usually be #1 but it's not on at the mo)
4. Morse
5. Poirot

(Inspired by mention of Hamish Macbeth which I never really watched I must admit)

PS INSPECTOR NUMMY MORE LIKE

What is "mum telly"?

ask yer mum

She wouldn't know.

Yes she would!

It is "telly your mum likes". Usually featuring someone who can be described as "that nice kind Inspector" who can either be the main protagnist or supplemental. Men who are fancied by YOUR MUM. You know!!

LYNLEY
http://www.bbc.co.uk/drama/lynley/characters/inspectorlynley_person_page.shtml

MIDSOMER
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midsomer_Murders

DDD:
I reommend this ep:

"Episode 6 - Popular Appeal
Thursday 17 February 2005, 8.00pm, BBC One

During a reality TV show one contestant, in an explosion of stress-filled anger, kills another on camera. Judge John Deed hears the trial of the producers, who are charged with manslaughter when its learned psychologists profiled contestants to find those with 'The most entertaining flashpoints'.

Meanwhile, the judge is pushing for a police enquiry in the death of Rufus Barron. But as the judge gets closer to the truth so the armaments manufacturer, Sir Tim Listfield is provoked into more extreme measures..."

The reality TV show is called THE DUNGEON!! Features g4y n4z1 aryan stereotype... ON ACID!!! Caused a frenzy of text messages to fly between the Freaky Trigger text reviewin' collective resulting in sore thumbs the next morning!

I kill thread! Never mind, it's quarter to five.

Because you like him, Sarah, I have tried to like JJD, but I just don't. Guess what though, my mum LOVES him. I'm not really a big lover of mum telly. Although Inspector Lynley intrigues me.

And now I know how to use "cowboy up" correctly, I'm all in favour of it.

I've spent the last hour talking to my cousin who came over. She will take little orange cat next week, even if he is ringwormy. Bah. Still, it's probably for the best.

He could "intrigue" me any day.

"telly your mum likes"

Okay I know that is American Chopper, Miami Ink and Dirty Jobs.

She used to "fancy" this weatherman on the local news then I got to go to a superbowl party at his house. She's enormously excited.

she was rather. don't even know if that guy's still on tv.

CHOPPER!

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/catfoodrob/choppers/images/yellchopper.jpg

I saw a dude on a chopper the other day and thought... maybe I should get one! Whilst I greatly worry about bikes, choppers are slightly better for some reason. I like 'design-y' bikes, ie the Strida, loony Sinclair A-bike and so on. They're probably unrideable though. And you'd look a t00l...

Okay I know that is American Chopper, Miami Ink and Dirty Jobs.

I think it's safe to say that your mam is not like my mam. My mam likes these guys on telly:

http://www.thecinemasource.com/moviesdb/images/George_Clooney_9.jpg

or

http://www.nerf-herders-anonymous.net/JimmySmits.jpg

People like that.

I like people like that! Maybe I'm my own mom. That would make sense.

Yesss... it... would.

Ooh, Hamish Macbeth was a mainstay for me when I was single. mmm!

Mum tv for me is home and garden, Cary Grant films, and soppy teen dramas like Felicity. Oh, and Sex and the City. She asked me if that was what it was like to be single in a big city and sounded all disappointed when I told her it was not.

My mother has gotten so deaf that she turns the TV volume up to a level that makes younger people bleed from the ears. And then falls asleep in front of it.

Going out the the movies tonight with a weapons-grade case of the farts. Yay canned black beans! What an excellent way to clear a space so I can put my feet up on the seat in front of me!

Whoa, this thread is impossible to arouse. It must have a headache.

Ooh new thread. This is like coming home and finding someone's moved your furniture around. Except not really. I see pants are no longer optional, is this down to the lions, tigers and boobs thread? Can our kids no longer see their parents' pantless browsing?

My two boys are back at school today. The oldest has graduated to The Big Playground (Primaries 1-3 and 4-7 have separate playgrounds). How to stop them growing up?

You may remove your pants if you choose, you just can't talk about it in the thread title (for the benefit of people who are at work and kind of trying to maintain the moral high ground over the slackers they work with).

Back to school today? Jesus, the kids here don't go back for another two weeks.

Scotland going on holiday two weeks before the rest of UK & Ireland has its benefits. Holidays beginning at the end of June are usually a good bit cheaper than they are once the English holidays start so we can usually get a good deal if we go abroad. Also, hotels tend to have significantly lower numbers of the "two world wars and one world cup" mob who have ENGLAND written on every single item of clothing they own, just in case you weren't sure.

Not that I've been abroad for ages, what with pregnancies and babies and stuff.

When I was a kid the "holidays" meant going to Dunoon and playing crazy golf and eating chips on Fair Saturday then having the remaining 7 weeks off school to fuck around at home. The kids' telly in the first two weeks was always rubbish because the BBC didn't start their holiday programmes until England was on holiday.

Is Life On Mars one for the mums? I reckon mums would want to have John Simm round for a nice hot supper ("feed him up a bit") and they'd probably like the roguish nature of THE GENE GENIE.

I think that John Simm does bring out the maternal instinct in my mam. Not as much as David Tennant, though, who makes her positively cluck with the desire to feed him up.

(Actually feed him up, not "feed him up".)

Yes I see this thread title is too similar to the last. I suck. Never let me at it again.

Beth, what did you see?

Apparently Hurricane Erin has hit down south from us and we are drenched. I had to swim on my .5 mile walk from the bus to the office. I stress the distance b/c normally I take a shuttle that drops me much closer. But no, this is the dead time between semesters so it must be city bus through the monsoon.

I poured water from my vans and had to wring out my skirt.

Plus I'm feeling super exhausted and poorly this week. My cowboy up campaign is not shaping up well.

There's currently a TOTALLY NEKKID picture of David Tennants doing the rounds in the LOLCAT DOCTOR WHO COMMUNITY I AM IN (WHAT OF IT) from when he was in a PLAY and his PROTRUDING RIBS are the most disturbing thing about it! I mean - ouch! (His w1nk1e is NOT protruding fyi, not that I was looking). He definitely needs a pie or six.

The play is "Wot The Butler Saw" (scrawny nekid actor in a pleeceman helmet apparently).

nd his PROTRUDING RIBS are the most disturbing thing about it! I mean

That is disturbing.

I saw "What the Butler Saw" in London though I don't remember who did the nekkid bit.

I'm really hoping Dan Radcliffe comes to NYC when/if they do Equus on Broadway. I would travel for that. (pls to note he is now 18 so this is not crepey)

Not creepy at all.

I'll tell you what is a bit creepy. I have a huge crush on David Tennant (as Sarah says, what of it?) yet both my brother and my mother think he looks like my brother. I am slightly creeped out by this, because obviously I can see that he answers to the same description, as it were, but that hardly counts.

Hmm, I've never crushed on anyone who looks like my brother so feel unqualified to comment on the creepiness. Could just be coincidence, no? There is more to attraction besides the physical after all.

I'm going for posh Mexican food at lunch with my Potter compatriots. (Under the pretext of planning our party next week). And they're picking me up IN A CAR. This improves the day greatly.

:-)

okay no here's creepy. my grandmother is having dinner with my aunt when she goes, u know that niece of yours, Sasha, she's quite a girl now - very poised. She and Ramzi (me) should get married.

my aunt was like what are you crazy? they're cousins. and she's like, that doesn't make any difference in the world.

needless to say my aunt was shocked. she went on, but he's GAY.

"no he isn't"
"yes he is, you knew that"
"no i didn't"
"well know it"

haaaaa

Now where's me lousy t'shirt and ...ah, and whatever-that-other-thing was, where's that also?

I saw the Bourne movie. Awesome. I have to go post on that thread about the movie, but here I will complain about how FUCKING SORE my stupid hip was for the whole movie, like a nail was being tapped into the joint. As soon as I got up and walked away (after sitting through the interminable credits just in case there was hidden footage after them) I was fine. We walked through the graveyard to get to our car. I peed on someone's grave.

Yesterday I incorrectly received two deliveries at my house

A bouquet of flowers
&
£170 worth of silicone sealing gel

u peed on someone's GRAVE???!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

who needs that much silicone sealing gel???

Beth is hardcore.

Britishers! Anyone know a decent recipe for treacle tart? I've found a couple online but they seem pretty different so I don't know which is more accurate.

I'm trying to plan some recipes for my Potter Party and want some authentic Hogwart's feast food.

I have never made tart.

aldo is an I Love Cooking type bod, and I know from num num experience his partner makes excellent cake, chili cheesecake notwithstanding :)

Don't ask him, he'll put spiders in it. Although for a Harry Potter party...

Surmounter, is it worse that she's your cousin, or that she's a GURL, (ew)? Actually, the cousin thing is worse.

Mister M has cousins who are married to each other; they got a special dispensation from the pope.

chili cheesecake

!!!

No spiders in cakes pls.

That last bit is kind of weird. I hope they were distant cousins.

Surmounter, at least if you entered into an arranged marriage you and your bride would have YOUR INTERFERING GRANDMA in common. That might make up for her being wrong sex. And the physical nonattraction would avert inbreeding! So it's all good.

OK, the simplest answer is that you can't make authentic treacle tart without golden syrup which AFAIK you can't get in the US. Somewhere on ILC there is a link to a website for how Merkins can knock it up which Jaq(?) posted. Which I can't find.

I'd say you can't go wrong with this recipe.

Wikipedia identifies a US brand, but really it has to be Lyles.

http://www.goldeneaglesyrup.com/images/ges005.jpg

I'm betting this would be pretty darn close. Available in every grocery store in MS/AL/GA, probably TN and LA.

xpost NOOOOOOOO

Dare I ask from where on a golden eagle one extracts the syrup?!

He's one getting pished: http://www.birdchick.com/2007/08/pishing-golden-eagle.html

Thanks Aldo! That recipe looks like a combo of the two I saw so should be good.

This weekend I'm going to venture to Central Market/Whole Foods. I'd be very shocked if one of them didn't have golden syrup.

ugh, I'm so tired I'm ready to go home now. but I'm being pressured to go to a friend's happy hour show.

literally my limbs feel heavy with fatigue.

Sometimes you can push right through the more oppressive leaden fatigue, and come out the other side.

the MOST. God, I cannot put words down with any precision anymore.

I've not been able to lately. really. it was kind of a relief to have a dr say that something actually was wrong so I didn't feel like a big lazy slob. I think mon & tues running around on the bus to three different appts killed me though. The past two nights I've gone home and gone straight to bed.

would do so tonight but am trying to hold to see a friend's band at happy hour.

Power through! Cowboy up! Other helpful things!

Said the woman who has been in her pyjamas since 7pm.

I envy you.

COFFEE!

I would not be able to get through the evening if I didn't drink a whopping big coffee in the afternoon.

Lately caffiene's been making it worse. Well sodas have. I'm trying to cut out the high fructose corn syrup but when I do give in and have a diet dr pepper I usually end up feeling more tired. I like the odd latte but even if the coffee stand were open I'm way too tired to walk to it.

I'm going to the happy hour mostly b/c my friend said she would give me a ride home. Otherwise it would be the half-mile walk to the bus stop and I just can't hack that today. :(

My fears have come true. I'm falling apart. I'm going to lose my job and G. is going to leave me b/c he doesn't want to care of a sickie for the rest of his life.

nb. I don't really believe those things. just wallowing in misery. Although I really do feel like shit. I'm hoping a beer and some loud nick lowe music will make me feel a tad better.

You'll be fine—you're just in a bit of a trough. If you can avoid thinking of yourself as an invalid, the battle's half-won.
The last time we had to be out really late—to see a friend's singing gig—I had to drink a double shot of espresso at 10:00 and then a shot of tequila. It was just right. I ordered a second shot but ended up not drinking it. I hate the too-drunkeness. I had already had my half-bottle of wine at dinner, so I was disobeying the "wine before liquor, never sicker" rule. Proceeding with caution. A benefit of my advanced years—I've got the drinking down.

If you can avoid thinking of yourself as an invalid, the battle's half-won.

This is exactly what've been trying and I know is true. That's why I said my new motto is "Cowboy Up". But not so much cowboy-ing here.

I hope what Trish said about feeling better once the thyroid medicine kicks in proves true quickly.

It might not be quick, but it will happen. Believe me. I might have been in my jim jams for hours, but I've written half a zine, played with the cats, read a bunch of stuff and listened to some new music, as well as cooking dinner and washing up after it. In other words, there's some energy in there, and I've had days like yours where I couldn't move without feeling like I was pushing my way through glue.

I'm hoping a beer and some loud nick lowe music will make me feel a tad better.

There is hope for anyone who believes these things can make them feel better.

I'm off to bed. Night night, Americans.

I'm not going now. The bar is just off campus which is why so many of us are going. my friend's walking there and then walking back to her garage from whence she was offereing the ride. That's not unreasonable under normal circumstances (esp. considering parking near the bar) but is just impossible for me today. I feel like a moran telling her this though so just said I wasn't feeling hot so skipping.

I also know I cannot make it to the bus stop. Today the fatigue is horrible and my joints are hurting again. No communication from G which means he's in transit or at home so I am going to call a cab. I've never had to take a cab home and feel I'm hitting new lows.

night trish. hopefully I'll be in bed soon.

but I've written half a zine,

O shit, must start mine someday soon.

Must finish mine.

I have wireless again! And am in my bed with a heating pad! ahh, life is good.

I'm about to do the same. My neck is all sore and stiff from drawing.

Oh you guys. The worst possible cat news. Ginger kitten died last night in an accident. I was putting his eye drops in and he squirmed away from me and fell and hit his head and died. It was incredibly traumatic. He went into these huge spasms for about two minutes and then just died. Mister M and I are both gutted.

*hugs*

oh jesus, that's terrible :(

a couple of weeks ago our dog starting choking on a bone and i went into shock, luckily my flatmate (bella's actual owner) was able to reach down her throat and pull it out. but it was incredibly upsetting, and made me realise just how devastated i'd be if anything happened to her. man, the love you feel for your pets is often underrated.

i second ailsa's hugs.

Oh god Trish, I'm so sorry! That is horrible. . . You were doing your best to take care of him and keep him healthy. You gave him a good life while he was here.

*big hugs*

Thanks all.

Yeah, I'm like Rubyredd, completely useless in these situations. If I had come into the room and found him dead, it would be sad, but I wouldn't be as upset as I am. But I am freaked out by how quickly it all went from normal to horrible.

Still, it was quick, there was obviously something wrong with him for such a small fall to have killed him, and he did have a great time while he was here.

I think I might watch some comfort television now (by which I mean old episodes of Gilmore Girls).

Yeah, I'm like Rubyredd, completely useless in these situations. If I had come into the room and found him dead, it would be sad, but I wouldn't be as upset as I am. But I am freaked out by how quickly it all went from normal to horrible.

Yes the witnessing is much harder. Watching Q-Tip be put down tore my guts out but waking up and finding Bengal dead wasn't half as hard.

Sorry, sugar. love on your other kittens more now. And pour some milk out on the floor for him.

Oh that is horrible news Monkey, what a jolt! Very sorry to hear this happened :(

Makes me coming here to say "Oi Oirishers - have you heard the US remake of Life on Mars is going to be set in Oirland with Chief O'Brien from STAR TREK playing Gene Hunt" now feel somewhat crass and blasé... but I will say it anyway, because... begorrah! (Srsly, Jason O'Mara vs John Simm? Egad! One for the NUNS).

Dude, I don't know, news like that is still news, even if I'm a bit stunned. Cardassians me bollox.

It's 1973, it's dinnertime, I'm 'avin synthetic 'oops from the food replicator.

Wow, ginger kitty must have been terribly frail. Poor kitty, poor you, Trish! Hugs and hugs!

Aw, poor ginger kitten! Hope you are feeling better, ailsa!

aw christ, my eyes are cross. Hope you feel better, accentmonkey and Mr M!

ailsa, you can feel better too at your own discretion.

damn you K for that word game. . .

crossed. eyes crossed. making me cross. wah!

oh! the word game is a beastly thing, no?
http://shygypsy.com/farm/p.cgi

I can probably blame it for my eyes, though.

(i still haven't figured out what that other thing of mine was, r!r!r!r!)

Yes I see this thread title is too similar to the last. I suck. Never let me at it again.

Ach Ms M no need to worry! We all understand that pants are optional. Remember, the first rule of non-specific (I know, we don't have rules but if we did...) is don't ask if anyone else is wearing pants. The second rule of non-specific is don't tell anyone whether you're wearing pants.

As to Daniel Radcliffe: he has a funny looking willy. Google search and you will know what I mean...

As to feeling down and not up for things: this too shall pass. G will be back soon, beerzlol can be had at home for cheap and if you do house-swap with Ms Monkey next year there will be a great beach for walking on. That's a goal to aim for! Also I hope this week goes a bit better for you, it'd be nice not having the drama with your boss and things getting in your way for a few days.

but I've written half a zine

LOL plans of writing beside the pool with glass of wine to inspire me fell flat. Sure, I've had wine, there's even been a pool but an article? Nope. Still though, writer's block has never been so much fun!

but I've written half a zine,

O shit, must start mine someday soon.

-- Rock Hardy, 16 August 2007 23:29 (16 August 2007 23:29)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Must finish mine.

-- Beth Parker, 16 August 2007 23:31 (16 August 2007 23:31)

I feel better!

Again, accentmonkey I'm so sorry :(

Hello thread! I'm still on hols, having a great time and generally learning that shoulders are not just things to crack rocks off (stress etc). Mountains on both sides waving and saying hi, just watched 3 Jeeves and Woosters back to back. I want a) all their clothes and props b) a valet with whom to have adventures with sexy results!

Aer Lingus strike has messed me up somewhat. Still have to fly back on tuesday but on cheap-o air. So much for my boycott :( Will head off, must just check on digital camera thread whether the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W80 is worth buying. Anyone here used one/owned one?

Beth, found you a great card. I was at this and found the perfect image. Not by him sadly but of the area around here. Will try to remember to post it when home.

Cool!
I haven't been off this island since MARCH, people!

Sorry to hear about your poor wee kitten, accentmonkey :(

Thanks. Thanks all for the good wishes. I know he was only a kitten, not a person, but the shock was amazing.

However, after two days of more or less not getting out of bed, I'm all better now. Mister M is just the greatest in these circumstances.

I feel like an exchange of cards and random stuff. Send me your address if you'd like something random in the post from me (ILE webmail actually gets to me), or if you are on my list already, expect something random.

Speaking of which, where has Ai Lien gone?

hey, trish, I am moving house next week so will send you my new address so that we can have something random and exciting through the post!

Oh yes, do. Whereabouts are you moving to (she said airily, as if she actually knew anything about the geography of Scotland)?

Just across the road-ish, still in Renfrew. Currently in a flat, moving to a semi with a lovely garden, hurrah!

accentmonkey, do you like whittaker's (new zealish) chocolate? if you send me something random, i will send you whittaker's ;)

or a piece of pounamu.

punani?

close but no cigar.

well, not really close at all. it's what we call jade/greenstone in new zealand.

Darragh! How rude!

Yum, whittaker's. I would like that. Goody! An exchange.

cool! what flava is your flava, lady?
72% dark ghana
62% cacao
coconut
almond
peanut
mocha
orange
hazelnut
... i'm trying to remember others...

did you get a piece of pounamu while you were here? traditionally, it's supposed to be received as a gift and never bought for oneself, so i could send you a piece if you don't.

jade/greenstone?

that is now my new slang for punani. this will make me impressively vague at the pub this weekend.

i have never bought punani for myself, xpost. technically, i don't think i've ever received it as a gift either, more of a consolation prize tbh

sympathy fucks?

greenstone as slang for punani has conjurors up some dodgy images.

i disagree, sympathy rox.

Rubyredd, any kind of milk chocolate is fine by me. But not plain. I'm sick of pretending to like plain chocolate just so that people will think I'm some kind of grownup sophisticate.

i shall surprise you. emailing you my address now :)

'this domain name does not exist' :(

you can email me at: justine at bukowski dot net

Wilco.

Hey, this Flight of the Conchords programme is funny.

accentmonkey, just tried to email you through ILX but I've no idea if it worked. would be up for mail trading for sure!

anyone here a big PEZ lover? email me with your address and I've got a surprise.

I GOTTA DA POSTCAHDS. A whole new batch! Who wants one!

Or ANOTHER one!

Me! Pick me!

I just got to work from an 8am appt at the endocrinologist. Please shoot me and the Austin bus system. Well maybe just the latter and buy me one car, k thx.

And now I'm about to leave for two meetings and then head home.

Let's hear it for minimal amount of work done on a Monday, hooray!

What a spectacularly bad Monday!

What should I eat tonight for dinner? I don't feel like making anything, and since I have to literally travel from one corner of the city to the other (well, from one corner to halfway-between-the-middle-and-the-other-corner), I can pretty much pick up anything for dinner. I am, however, cheap, so nothing pricy. I am tired of pizza, poutine, and macca's.

taco bell?
we're eating chicken strips and fries as we are both hungry and lazy tonight.

I'm doing work work tonight which goes against my principles. :(

I have just spent 30 minutes listening to me at 4. I am very angry/protective/ready to FUCK U ALL UP NOW!!! I was a cute kid.

Oh right, I was 4 years old.

What is poutine?

What do I do by the way? Should I make those tapes MP3s?? I don't think my kids (should adoption ever work that way) need to hear their father make squeak noises for 30 mins. It was lovely though. I feel very old. Could someone make me feel better please? I just need cuddles!

I had cheesy scrambled eggs (with a spoonful of salsa on the side) and toast.

Poutine is french fries smothered in cheese curds and brown gravy. I accept in theory that it can be a good dish, but I haven't had any that took less than a week and a half to digest.

I have only ever looked at poutine.

I would like poutine (I am Onimoed, this might colour my judgement as to what I would find edible and nice).

Poutine does sit in your stomach like a rock, but this is not necessarily always a bad thing. Sometimes you like to feel comfortably full of stuff you're fairly sure won't come back up (because it is too super-dense to be regurgitated).

Welcome back, Kev-lol.

I am not back yet! Thanks though.

I will make do with cornflakes :(

Oh yeah, I forgot. Still, at least the strike has been called off, so you don't have to sit in a yellow Fisher Price plane and have ads played at you loudly all the way home. That's something.

I've never had proper poutine wot with the cheese curds and everything, HOWEVER, I have requested the kitchen in the Head of Steam (as was) to give us CHIPS CHEESE AND GRAVY. They took a very long time to decide whether they could do this! Eventually they did, and we were very happy.

I believe 'poutine' should be pronounced 'poutsine'?

They have poutine in the MAPLE LEAF pub, but I hear they don't use cheese curds either so what's the point?!

(Chips and gravy being the foodstuff of the g0ds obv)

yes.

Unfortunately accentmonkey I cancelled my ticket yesterday morning! Well at least I get the refund and work covered my flight back (I am soooo important. Or they're understaffed, either or basically). It's Easyjet to Gatwick then Ryanair home. I'll wave to you from the plane, of course.

I was in Head of Steam with Stevem and 4l1x once I think. Is it in King's cross? V depressing place full of aged alcos and mean barmen? (Note: Stevem and 4l1x were heroes to meet us there, they were just in from Manchester where he had been fannying about djing).

Chips and ketchup with tabaco, bits of onion and mayo is better imho. The other sounds a little too dense & salty, if such a thing is possible

Head of Steam is just outside Euston station. I watched some rugby in there with Carsmile Steve and Ptee once.

Ah, quick google shows me that that is not the place. Right. Must finish packing for trip back. Chat tomorrow when I'll be *groan* back at desk. So need to find a job in France!

I know, I was watching Phil and Kirsty the other night (I know, I know, but they're so flirty!) and they showed this couple a house in a small town in France and it was insanely gorgeous and €40,000. Sometimes I wish Mister M was a tax adviser or someone who could work from home, and then we could hide away in France.

You could all visit us. At that price, we could buy two houses, and our guests could stay in one.

I keep coming across old repeats of Phil and Kirstie when flicking through millions of tv channels, and seeing old eps when the houses were affordable then realising that was about six years ago and same lovely house would now cost about a squillion times more.

My current house-buying favourites are Rocco and Dawn on Costa Chaos, the most deluded couple in the world. There was a Costa Chaos catch-up marathon on More 4 on Sunday, and I sat howling like a madwoman at them. Please someone else tell me they've seen this, i don't think it's worth a thread on its own.

I haven't seen it. Mister M bans any program where people poke around other people's houses (except House M.D.), and he is here at the weekend.

(o-no, i reallyreally believe that i actually did have two things)

I always thought Poutine was New Orleans dish. But the discussion of cheese curds makes me realize I was mistaken.

I have completed a deadline, with 30 minutes to spare, that I worked on all last night.

I'd love a latte as reward but everything on campus is still closed. :(

30 minutes to spare is plenty (by my piss poor standards)!

Well my client needed mockups to present at a meeting at ten. I was worried about emailing them before she left. In any meeting I've been with her she seems incapable of figuring up how to connect to the wireless.

Deadlines imposed by others are good for me. I work efficiently compared to normal laziness. I need more of them besides the ones I have to set.

Please tell me what I have forgotten to do re. impending house move. There must be something. I can't possibly have remembered all the stupid wee things I need to do, can I?

(I have read a list of things to remember to do that I printed off the interwebs, but there must be other things I need to do, yes?)

I am addicted to House, MD.

Er, bog roll.

You always need bog roll!

transport/set-up for furries
setting up/turning off utilities
shower curtains, paper towels, dining necessities easily at hand
a few changes of clothes, towels not packed
alcohol for relaxing afterwards

1 pack
2 hire van and/or burly removal blokes
3 sort out all legal gubbins with lawyer and/or mortgage provider
4 beer

haha xpost

I just booked van this morning, I R disorganised (also hello onimo, please be burly removal bloke, I shall reward with beer and takeaway). Set up/cancelled phone/TV/internets/gas/lecky this morning. Sorted insurance. Signed legal gubbins. Dad coming down to do (sorry, help with!) packing stuff for the next four days. Anything else?

I have no furries, unless you count the mister.

Make sure he has a litter box ready at the new place.

See, I told you bog roll...

I can attempt burly removal bloke-ing but my back's still sore from the other week so I don't know how much use I'll be. If you want mrs o to help as well let me know, I don't think we've got any plans - though taking mrs o might mean you have a pile of mini-onimos around your feet.

Packing: number your boxes and keep a wee notebook listing what's in each numbered box. Worth the extra bit of time for relatively pain free unpacking (until you do what we did and decide to swap everyone's rooms around).

Almost every house move I've been involved in has involved someone going to a hardware shop for a couple of yards of twin and earth cable to connect the eletric cooker.

xpost

When I say someone I mean me.

If the packing has yet to be done, buy a couple of more rolls of tape than you have already.

Cooker is built in, so that's one less thing to worry about. I actually don't think we'll need you on Monday, it should be just one van-load to unpack (think non-essentials are going in aunt's garage to be hoicked over by car when we're a bit more settled), and me, Neil, Kr1s and Ry4n should have it covered between us, but I'll let you know. You might still get a panicked phonecall! Neil's folks are helpfully all out of the country, so local relatives are a bit thin on the ground.

I'm working on Monday.

Oh, OK, I sort of assumed holiday, but I guess not. You are excused (though stop by on your way home if you like, you might be needed if the panic sets in!)

I thought you said you were moving on Sunday and that was when you needed me?

English bank holiday innit? Our work swaps that for the Glasgow Trades Holiday (fancy dan for the "Glesga Fair").

Naw. Taken to email, sorry thread :-)

No worries I like reading things to waste time. Even if they don't relate to me. (being serious here, not snarky)

Have now set firm deadlines for testing, demos to directors and everything for the two sites I AM BUILDING SIMULTANEOUSLY. Will complete all, on time, by the end of Sept. come hell or high water. I predict much caffiene and pretty much working all day and all night for the next month or so. Poor Harry Potter sweater. :(

Also trying best to be patient and not all IT bitchy with less-than-educated client questions. So hard, but so necessary. Deserve chocolate or ice cream but will instead reserve calories for beer later.

I keep thinking that I've got everything scheduled and set and manageable, then something utterly confounding happens and it's late nights and weekends to the end. Patience wears thin in these moments!

I just got a call from my mother telling me she's hired someone to unblock the energy at their properties. Feng shui dowsing stuff, with spinning crystals and whatnot. Whee!

Is she getting a psychic to talk to the pets?

Oh, Ailsa, if the new house has an alarm, don't forget to get the code from the vendor. You certainly don't want to arrive at your new house on the Friday evening of a bank holiday weekend and open the door only to trigger the alarm and have no way of turning it off for THREE WHOLE DAYS!

On the other hand, it's a great way to meet your neigbours.

accentmonkey, that is a blindingly good point - the alarm was going off when we went round to view the second time and the agent had no idea what to do to stop it!

No psychic to talk to pets. The dog barks itself hoarse, the rabbit is a rabbit, and the cat knows to dodge trouble.

She is seeing a color psychic and an emotional energy therapist for herself, though.

other random house things: find out the brand and color for any paint that you don't intend to redo right away (for touchups), where the circuit breaker is, what day they pick up trash/recycling... that's all I can think of right now!

And the stopcock!

???

For turning off the water.

ah, like a drain plug/stopper. sounds dirty.

It's where to turn off the main water line to the house--pretty critical!

We ran into trouble before we'd even moved in when the foundation work caused the pipes to split. When the plumber got there he saw that the workers had used duct tape to direct the spray of water away from where they needed to be, but not actually turned it off.

ahh, sorry.

We had just barely moved in when the fridge was delivered. The delivery dudes were installing the water bit, forgot to turn it off at the main line and ended up flooding half our house. I had no idea where the cut-off was so had to call G at work while their dispatch was unhelpfully suggesting we get some towels.

Towels? Oh that's rich. Nothing like a flood to make it seem like home though!

This thread is reminding me that the overhead light in one of the bedrooms hasn't work since we moved in, and we've yet to discover why. Replaced the bulb, checked the wiring at the switch, still nothing.

Yeah, our landing light hasn't worked since we moved in either, and water drips down through the fan in our en suite shower in the wintertime. C'est la maison.

OK, guys, you're giving me the fear now. I am scared that our fairly trouble-free six years here is going to lead to calamitous move of doom on Monday :-/

I had to hammer through a wall that the previous resident had kindly put in front of the stopcock when we got flooded.

Ailsa, it'll be a grand and wonderful adventure! The stuff we encountered in the new place was a trifle compared to the old place :)

OK, guys, you're giving me the fear now. I am scared that our fairly trouble-free six years here is going to lead to calamitous move of doom on Monday :-/

MOVE! OF! DOOM! RAWWR!

etc.

Ah, you'll be grand.

This thread fell completely off the board.

Is everyone that busy on a Wed.? I'm in a completely unproductive mood today. Not good. Also sleepy.

I think I'm sleepy b/c we watched a movie after dinner that basically stretched to bedtime. too much downtime.

Also pretty unproductive, waiting for some interviewees to reply to me for a column I write.

Need a regular job still, but still no idea what direction to take and probably a tiny bit scared of working, having been sick for so long.

Ah well, at least it's sunny outside.

Take a leap. If it doesn't work you can always quit. (and leave it off your CV.)

Catching up on days off. I am officially unhappy to be back :(

Ailsa, plz to stop kicking my ass so badly! xi for 54 points? FFS!!

Ronan, again: promotions?

Also have you contacted the bigger record labels for unpaid work that could become a paying job? Sure, there aren't many jobs but good experience for when you strike out on your own.

Promotions sounds terrible, if it's what I think it is!

I took a half day off work coz the sun was out. I'm halfway through mowing the lawn and have stopped for refreshments.

I'm finding myself having less and less to say on ilx these days. I still read it obsessively of course. Maybe I've run out of opinions. I only seem to post on nothing threads, football threads or the odd UK politics thread.

(I'll probably check the stats and find I'm making 1000 posts a month or something)

Congrats on enjoying sunny weather. Seeing the sun here this time of year is usually a grim thing. (Unless you are doing something fun in the water.)

I'm finding myself having less and less to say on ilx these days.

I read it too much b/c I have the attention span of a fly. When I do post I usually regret it b/c it seems most of the board, even old regulars I used to like, have reverted to assholism. I don't like becoming an asshole in return so it is annoying.

I should probably just stick to this thread, the crafty ones and the scrabble one. AND LOST WHEN IT COMES BACK! :)

A rough count puts me at #69 (oo-er) this month with 236 posts. Could be worse I suppose. I reckon the vast majority of them are either here or on the Scottish footie thread (where there's only about 4 regular posters).

I love reading the LOST thread but my downloading/viewing routine usually means that I get to the thread and there's already been 200 posts about what I just watched and I have nothing new to add except "Yay that was grebt! Hurley pwns!"

Yeah well I don't post while I watch so by the time I get to it the next morning it's about the same.

I used to IRC Chat while watching the X-Files. I have now sworn off such nerdiness.

kv_lol, I have been waiting a week for you to come back so I could play that shot!

Sun is shining and it is very warm, I just went out to go and do stuff and just about melted, my car is like a wee sauna on wheels.

Most of my posts are here, Scottish football predictions, Big Brother and occasional ventures into the land of wilful misunderstanding that calls itself the Watercooler thread. I shall return to L O S T posting shortly, but will very much have nothing to add, though will try to keep up for next series. Doctor Who, Heroes, that's about it. I do try to put forward opinions on other threads, but there aren't enough that capture my imagination any more, mostly because of what Ms M said about the ongoing assholism issue.

(though I do read virtually everything, being a housebound recluse at the moment)

Alisa, you are my model poster on ILx. You don't hesitate to call out people, no matter what their reaction, and then you just go about your business after saying your piece.

I used to be very confrontational, but not in a good way. I'm trying to find a better balance now.

And I'm sorry for constantly misspelling your name. I do know better.

Aw, thanks :-)

*embarrassed*

I am shit at this in real life, believe me. I wibble and cry and get all paranoid and shakey.

Promotions sounds terrible, if it's what I think it is!

Not for drinks! Organising club nights etc. I would have figured that B4ckl4sh would have given you a few contacts in that department.

Ailsa, I do not understand what draws you to the horrific twilight zone that is the Watercooler.

(Car and crash? WE ARE ALL GUILTY ect ect)

xxpost biting tongue.

Ailsa, didn't mean to embarrass! I'm crap at social interactions in real life as well. I blame it on a better lifestyle and less drinking.

CSS is giving me fits today and I want to fling something through my monitor. Head just not working right.

I blame it on a better lifestyle and less drinking.

Than in my past when I was a social bee and queen bitch. Not in relation to others.

Nice people, kv_nol, same as here. Though there are some dicks as well. I find ignoring the rules helps, even if other(s) do not necessarily agree.

Dickage runs high on Ilx. I really do hate it when I become one though. I blame it on cross-browser issues today.

My browser gets cross sometimes too. I think it picks up my moods.

In less ILx whine news, I have ditched plans for making a treacle tart this Friday. It sounds lovely but also difficult and between house-cleaning and other party prep I know I won't have the time. I'm going to make a trifle instead, sounds far easier and seems to involve alcohol. Which is good.

xpost It's really my CSS being difficult. The bastard, trying to make me look bad.

No no! Treacle tart is easy! I promise! And trifle is disgusting yuck :(

I find drinking to be easier still and involve more alcohol and less prepping.

(talking of which, provisional house-warming/BBQ - ha, optimism - plans for 7th Sept if you and the missus are around, onimo)

and anyone else, obviously, but the likelihood of that seems remote

Grass cut. Brownie points gathered :)

All the kids in my street are having a water fight outside, I used to love that when I was a lad. It was all squeezy washing up liquid bottles in my day - this lot have what appears to be high-powered riot-control water cannons.

I'll let you know re the 7th. It's Anne's Mum's b/day that weekend but I don't think they've arranged anything yet so we should be ok.

Treacle sounded hard! making dough and everything. Also I wasn't sure b/c of the syrup if I could make it ahead of time and keep it in the fridge.

And trifle is disgusting yuck :(

Really? This is what I've been thinking it is: layer of cake topped with liquer, varying layers of fruit, pudding, cakes, jam, whipped cream, etc. sounded super easy and yum to me!

Make vodka jelly. It's jelly, with vodka.

Have they burst a fire hydrant yet? That's when it's properly summer.

xpost: No bother, it's just provisional at the moment anyway, figure it'll take us a couple of weeks to get settled enough to let people near the house.

more xpost: Trifle is gooey, and can vary tremendously. I'm not a fan, but what you've described is pretty much the idea.

and other xpost - aye, do that. That's always good. In fact, I might do that for housewarming, hurrah!

I want something British, and Harry Potter-ish. Treacle Tart's the best option but I do believe a trifle is featured in Chamber of Secrets.

One of the women coming is married to a Brit and the rest are Potter fanatics like me so I worry about authenticity. Maybe I should just throw some Digestables on a plate, call them wizard wafers, and make a pot of tea.

Skipping dickheads is easy. It's avoiding the passive agressive or the attention whores is the hard part!

British and Harry Potter-ish? Spotted dick. Note: significant other will need to be comfortable with sharpie near dangly bits and need to adopt posh accent.

Also:

http://m.assetbar.com/uua45HwGS.gif

</incredibly unfunny (and creepy) joke>

I'm afraid of the wizard-related porn which might really exist.

Making dough?? You can if you want but the rest of us just buy dough if you can't be bothered making it :) Here is my easy guide:

line your tin with dough
mix up some golden syrup, breadcrumbz, ginger and lemon
stuck the mix inside the tin wot is lined with DOUGH
make strips out of remaining dough and put them on LATTICE STYLE
Brush with milk or egg or whatever

BAKE
SCOFF

Trifle is way more f-d. Shudder.

(Spotted dick = YUM YUM YUM. Gots to have your custard though. Oh yes, Sam, you will also need custard. Custard custard argh I am so hungry why I am going for sushi tonight I just clearly want TWENTY PUDDINGS)

f-d

?

Okay, yours sounds easier, maybe I'll try it. This means I will have to run to central market though to look for the golden syrup. They should have it.

I want to make things that are in the books. I should flip through the sections at the Burrow and see what Mrs. Weasley makes. Surely easier than the Hogwarts feast. Parsnips! Never had those before. Don't even know if I could find them.

Roast parsnips are nummy.

Are they like potatoes? I don't think I've ever seen them in stores here and don't remember having them when I was in England. But the cook at the college I was at was French.

Pretty comprehensive list here!
(http://www.hp-lexicon.org/wizworld/food.html)

OMG you don't have parsnips??? They are root vegetables but much sweeter than potatoes. Great roasted or you can make parsnip chips which are amaaaazing.

Hahahahaha tripe! I love tripe but with all the best intentions do not serve this yourself...

HOWEVER I highly recommend black pudding fried up with leeks served with a big pile of mashed potatoes and plenty of gravy with treacle tart for afters maybe (have the ambulance on standby).

ooo, good list.

Although I would love to recreate a Hogwart's feast that's not going to happen. I can only take off half a day of work to prepare and most of that will probably be spent vacuuming dog hair.

We're doing pot-luck style that's why I'm going on about the dessert. Also I'm contributing homemade guacamole and salsa which is very, uh, not British.

This parsnips thing has knocked me for eleventy. I suppose they do need frost to grow... maybe it is more available in northern north america ie COLORADO and the like (i hear it is cold there, a lot). Gosh! Parsnips though. Nom nom.

Treacle tart, do it do it do it (I think I will make some myself soon too)! Ooh I will bring some to sinipicnic! YAI.

Stop making me sad that I am not going to sinipicnic. Dang Perry and treacle tart and indie dancing and people what I haven't seen for years...WAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH

Yes, I was just thinking that parsnips are around somewhere over here. There's a Dave Chappelle sketch where they do a husband swap between a white and black family. The white man makes parsnips for the black family and they're all "wtf??" So yeah, somewhere. But not the South!

Dudes! I did not post earlier because I was out in the world. I can report back that it's a bit shit, and I do not plan to go out in it again (well, I might go into Dublin on Saturday).

So, the Dublin Fringe Festival is on in a month's time, and get this, a guy I used to know (who is a playwright and poet) is putting on a show where he RECITES HEART OF DARKNESS. Not reads, RECITES. He has spent a whole year learning it off by heart (of darkness). It is the maddest thing ever. I MUST see this show.

Will you shout "Comma" and things at the appropriate times? Will you tell us who it is?

It's Gavin Kostick.

I actually really want to go to it, but I'd be kind of afraid I might put him off. Also, I would feel unable to leave if it was shit.

Here's hoping he doesn't google himself, see that and start getting paranoid!

Oh don't worry, I intend to contact him and say "hey Gav, I want to come to your show but reserve the right to leave if it's shit".

I did some computer based training this morning for the first time in years. I forgot how patronising faceless voices can be.

'I...am...speaking...very...slowly...because...this...bit...is...IMPORTANT'

I hate computer based training stuff. I don't think I ever done a training course on a computer where I have managed to retain any information passed a couple of days.

I do like looking out for sad has been actors in training DVDs, though.

Retaining information is a problem, and this one will have a closed book examination at the end :(

I was out in the world.

Traitor! I'm sure it's completely overrated.

I just realized this morning that I will not be able to take a week off come October when my sites are done. I will be in a MWF class. :( Also this means we will have to take our trip to NOLA at Thanksgiving.

I AM BORED WITH ILX AND MY INTERACTIONS WITH IT. THE SAME THINGS OVER AND OVER AGAIN. I MUST GO NOW, BACK TO MY PLANET. PEACE BE WITH YOU ALL.

you never us

I PAID GOOGLE TO SEARCH FOR ME BECAUSE I AM RICH MAN AND IT LOOK INTERESTING

KV NOL PLEASE STAY, YOU ACTUALLY CHEER PEOPLE UP!

I AM BORED WITH ILX AND MY INTERACTIONS WITH IT. THE SAME THINGS OVER AND OVER AGAIN. I MUST GO NOW, BACK TO MY PLANET

This would make me sad.

After yesterday I was about ready to flip ILx the bird and keep on moving. But who am I kidding? I'm not going anywhere.

don't you leave either, ms misery!

I'm not. After six years it would take a lot to make me leave. Too ingrained a habit. Although sometimes it gets so boring there's not much worth reading. . .

Traitor! I'm sure it's completely overrated.

It's rubbish. The train was late coming and going, and Dublin city is just FULL. There isn't space to walk on the path. I hates it, precious.

I just realized this morning that I will not be able to take a week off come October when my sites are done. I will be in a MWF class. :( Also this means we will have to take our trip to NOLA at Thanksgiving.

I don't understand these acronyms.

Sorry, "Monday, Wednesday, Friday" and "New Orleans Lousiana"

Woah, I will be more careful with my declarations after caffeine in future. Thanks all.

I am bored with ILX, I am bored with most things. This is because I am not 'doing anything different'tm at the moment. Even though I'll be busy it doesn't feel like I'm up to much.

Suzy, trust me you cheered me up no end on the maid thread I'll be honest with you! I used to occasionally dip into the Watercooler. No more, it all got to be really, really repetitive in the worst possible way.

I walk away from some threads after awhile, too much headache. The maid thread was one.

It was a very good thread though! I want to read the graphic novels one but christ, I don't have the time (he says posting yet again etc)

Some of it was, yes. After awhile I just get tired of the conversation. The best solution for me though is just to not get too invested in any thread here.

I just followed a trail of old threads via a revived old thread. That was, um, fun? Interesting? Weird? I dunno. Let's just say some people never change.

Six years Ms Mis?! Fuck! I think I'm near my 4th 'anniversary' here and I really should let go.

I will as soon as I find something else to do with my time. Work doesn't cut it :)

I think I'm near my 4th 'anniversary' here and I really should let go.

No, don't. We have many Lost seasons ahead of us.

I started posting on 9/11 so it's a very easy anniversary to remember.

I walk away from some threads after awhile, too much headache. The maid thread was one.

I thought it was a good thread too, as long as I let my eyes just slide over some posts. I like any thread that has stet and grimly on it; they have good banter.

And no, onimo, I'm not going to start reading the Scottish football thread. I hear enough about Hibs and Kilmarnock et al. when I'm in my folks' house on a Sunday (because my brother rings from Glasgow and he and my Dad talk about the football).

Really? Why? I mean was it a google that brought you here I mean! (xpost)

No, I was led to ILM by a former co-worker through which I found ILE. Which was much more my style. I had been lurking off and on before 9/11 and then that day I couldn't get to any other sites, except for here. That was long before Greenspun started bombing on a regular basis.

Stet and grimly do not frequent our Scottish football-loving world. It's pretty much just me, Onimo, aldo_cowpat and treefell, with very occasional contributions from Brigadier L-P and Scotstvo.

It still sounds like thread of fun.

Man, Judge Judy has had work done.

Okay, I really need to go out for a walk now.

It is a thread of fun, like a watercooler where we can talk about stuff we want to talk about and anyone can join. Like here! Like everywhere on teh ILX which isn't the watercooler!

I like any thread that has stet and grimly on it; they have good banter.

OTM, especially when grimly gets annoyed about some triviality and lets the profanities flow.

(I should be packing, rather than "checking my email" and leaving my dad to do it all, oh well. Laters)

Best thing about grimly doing that is that he's EXACTLY the same in real life.

Obv. pooping thread is thread of the day.

Argh, work sucking so much lately. Instead of working on the tight deadlines I have I'm trying to troubleshoot an online form for our tech group. It's something I wrote when I very first started and was only beginning to teach myself PHP. In other words, it's very poorly written.

It's taking me forever to figure out what's going wrong and I'm starting to think I should just rewrite the whole thing. bah.

Good luck with the packing Ailsa!

It is a thread of fun, like a watercooler where we can talk about stuff we want to talk about and anyone can join. Like here! Like everywhere on teh ILX which isn't the watercooler!

-- ailsa, Thursday, 23 August 2007 16:36 (Thursday, 23 August 2007 16:36)

HA HA

Obv. pooping thread is thread of the day.

OTM. Enjoying it a lot I must say.

I want to know why it is that coffee makes poop happen but I'm not googling that shit (ahem) at work.

Hmnm, could it be the stimulating nature of caffeine? Does decaffeinated coffee do the same thing?

I don't know, but I know coke doesn't.

One of the hardest things about giving up smoking was... the body gets used to it sort of thing and when the stimulant is gone... That's all I'm saying...

coke

For a second I thought you meant something else. . .

Well coffee has a lot more caffeine than cokes.

For a second I thought you meant something else. . .

Well I think anything that stops you eating stops you pooping.

I'm also here around 6 years. Similar time to Sam actually I think.

It's funny....6 years posting here. So many eras! (is that the plural of "era")

yes

argh, brain not useful for needed work this morning. considering heading out for lunch.

I didn't bring any b/c I was supposed to eat with a friend. But she's homesick so that's two days I'll be eating out. Hmm, should I go to close cafe for overpriced sandwich or walk further for taco bell or a Wendy's salad?

Sorry that I'm attempting to revive thread with such boring rambling.

Okay, the cafe is having fried shrimp salad today. I'm going there.

i will equal your boringness and raise you with this: i bought myself new toys a couple of days ago - my first ever digital camera, and my first ever mp3 player. the 40min walk home after work is now much more enjoyable with a soundtrack. and having a digital camara is so much FUN!

WENDYS! I've always wanted to eat there! Taco Bell, less so!

Digital cameras are teh bomb. I bought a Canon ILUX just a few days ago. Which one did you go for in the end?

Which MP3 player?

Hooray! Both are awesome and I've surprised you've managed without them! Well, at least the MP3 player. Without my iPod my commute is completely miserable.

my camera is the canon that i mentioned on that thread - just the most basic model. but i love how easy it is to use; i haven't even glanced at the instructions and i already know how to take pics and get them onto my computer! (maybe this sounds dumb, but i'm SERIOUSLY TECHNOLOGICALLY CHALLENGED).

the mp3 player is also just a pretty basic 1gb sony. now THAT gave me some troubles. i thought i could just drop and drag songs from my windows media player. but no. i had to use the sonic stage software which is rubbish.

i really do not know how i've survived without either, esp the mp3 player. but i only got my first ever computer 9 months ago, and now i don't know how i survived without that, either. there is no going back!

jesus christ. one hour=161 posts on the crapping at work thread. i'm stunned.

Bleurgh, I hate Wendy's salads. They use the bitter chunks of lettuce close to the core that are left over after they use the good looking leaves for the sandwiches.

ooh fried shrimp!

digital gadgets are part of what makes life happy! I have just scammed a free iPod from my brother, since he is getting a new laptop for school (but screwed something up so I had to do the ordering, ergo popping free with rebate iPod in the basket and whistling). My old one will go to my sister, and we'll all be happy.

My mother called me yesterday to tell me about her day with the GHOSTBUSTER. She hired a woman to go to all of their properties (they are slumlords, so lots of dodginess) to rework the energies with "dowsing crystals", because "even if you don't occupy a property you own, its energy will still affect you."

They didn't get to the property that was the previous location for a murder/suicide, though.

The website lied and they didn't have fried scrimp salad today. But instead I got chicken taco salad. We ain't talking nasty fried bowl crap. Mixed green lettuce, cucumbers, carrots, a whole grilled chicken breast, pico, dab each of sour cream and guac, handful of tortilla strips and salsa.

SO MUCH YUMMINESS FOR LUNCH!

Damn! That sounds so good right now. Need to make a plan for lunch stat.

Rubyredd, how did you decide on which digital camera to buy? I have just started looking for one, but I'm finding it overwhelming.

well, i just wanted a basic one that would be easy to use. i had a canon SLR years ago and it was awesome, so i went with the canon. also, apparently the software that comes with it is superior to the other equally priced brands i was looking it (although i have yet to check it out).

i really had no idea what i was doing ;) i think the first thing to do is decide how much you want to spend and then start looking within that price bracket.

Good call about the price bracket. I think the most important thing for me is the shutter lag. That's what has put me off buying a digital camera until now. OK, well that gives me a starting point anyway, so thanks for the advice.

Rubyredd OTM. That's how I had to do it. HLA I got the Canon ILX and it fires pretty much immediately after button pressed. It is a bit irritating though.

Sonic Stage is rubbish Rubyredd and it'll only get more irritating. Just be grateful that you are after the era of Connect Player. Now that was a piece of shit! Bit of advice: to get the most on to it use the Sony ATRAC format. You lose a lot of quality but it's for commute. I use my NWA-3000 with Koss headphones which means that even though I can only get 2200 songs on the 18Gig memory at least the sound is pretty damn great (6 band equaliser and most files are either MP3). I wouldn't swap it for an iPod though, not until they sound as good. I do love their speed and simplicity though :(

Remember in the dim and distant last thread?

In other news I would like a Wispa. Do they still make them and if so where can I find one.

-- Sarah

dum dum daaaaaaa!

http://news.scotsman.com/uk.cfm?id=1309002007

teh power of teh web monging! Bite it and believe it!

Good woman Sarah, well done.

thanks kv_nol. yeah, it's been painstaking using it; i had to import all my music from windows and a lot of track listings/album art was lost. and it's so goddamn slow. but it's definitely worth it to now have a soundtrack playing continuously in my ears. i wish i could wear headphones at both my jobs :(

I'm only working half a day today. How much work will I get done?

I also need a new camera but I think I'm getting a less fancy one.

You know, you could do worse, if you haven't got cash, than buy an oldish digital camera on eBay or something. I've got a four year-old Canon one that's a bit ye olde looking, but it still works great.

Well done on the Wispa front, everyone.

So, I have friends coming over on Sunday, and bringing CHILDREN. Argh. I need to cut the grass and pick up all the poo out of the back garden.

Nah, leave the poo. They can throw it at each other.

Ms Misery, finish our game so I can uninstall the application!

Sorry, that sounds a bit more anxious than I meant!

I'm playing every time I see my turn!

Why you gotta uninstall?

xpost

It says it your turn now, mister.

it=it's

I have to uninstall because I feel bad keeping people waiting.

Also I don't know how to finish without resigning. I only have two U's.

Well I'm waiting on you now, hoss.

You can pass. Then if I can't play we're deadlocked. And I guess I could resign.

No worries. I resigned. Ah well, back to feeling guilty about the usual I suppose :)

Don't feel guilty. I usually have so many games going at once there's no hate for slow players.

Ha ha. Well I have hate for people who do the wrong thing and then lie to themselves about it. It's on the scabulous thread anyway, no need to pollute the rest of ILX!

Yes I saw it and confused our scrabble talk here for that one. Thought you were yelling at me. Mildly traumatized.

Ooops. Sorry Ms. M.

This thread will be dead on Monday b/c most of you are off, right? :(

I'm leaving in an hour or so to clean my house and get ready for my party. Busy weekend. Already tired. :(

I am 'working' on Monday so I should be around, albeit possibly a tad onimo-ed.

QNI with the kids tonight as Mrs O's going to a work drinkies thing. Going to my Mum's to pick them up in a minute. Might buy some Chinese food and watch a movie or something.

Going to the football tomorrow with ailsa + I get to meet her dad.

Sunday will have pubs involved in it somewhere.

Pubs sound nice. Enjoy. :)

I'll be here, don't worry. Have a good weekend everyone!

I also will be here, even though I find it hard to post these days because all I do is play with Ms. Lorelai Gilmore and it's kind of lamer to spend your time going "hey, my cat did the cutest thing!" because OMG SHUT-IN. To counteract this, I went into town earlier in the week, and the friends are coming. Next week I am going to try to go into town TWO times.

Mrs. Monkey, don't become a shut-in.

I am trying very hard not to, but, to be honest, I am an almost pathological creature of routine, and I've got a really nice routine at home. I hate breaking it.

I also quite enjoy the shut-in bit. I'm supposed to be cleaning b/c friends are coming over. Also one of my few motivations for cleaning.

how do i make a bong when i can't find a pipe?

what about spotting it with a couple of knives? i'm not sure if "spotting" is NZ slang, so i better explain - heat two metal butter knives on a stove element, sandwich small ball of teh w33dz between said knives and inhale (in my experience, a large plastic bottle with the bottom cut off is best for this).

Pringles can.

Right all, cheerio for a wee while, I will be offline until those nice people at Sky come and fix me up with new internets in my new house.

(apologies to any scrabulous people waiting forever for me to take my go)

Hello ILE. I feel a need to de-lurk briefly and I remember this thread being welcoming.

Hi Zora!

Hi!

Hi Zora, brave delurker. We don't bite (cuz the internets don't have teef) and we're generally alright. Welcome!

this is the best thread in which to become a delurker. all the cool/nice/funny people hang out here :)

Hey Zora! Long time no see!

We have houseguests, but I rudely ignore them to be here with y'all. At least for a sec.

We had houseguests yesterday. It went swimmingly. Alex, who is five, and I, played a game where we pretended muddy sand was ice cream and he was the world's WORST ice cream man (because he kept throwing my ice cream on the ground instead of giving it to me) for TWO HOURS. And I taught him an annoying new voice.

Hi Zora!

urgh - my diet so far today: hueg coffee - kitkat - crappy made from concentrate orange juice - paracetamol

that can't be healthy :(

hi dere zora delurker!

Hi Zora!

I am so tired. What a weekend. I played a lot of Lego Star Wars I yesterday so that helped me through terrible red wine hangover :(

Hi everyone. I am a house guest in a house with no hosts: they have gone to Norfolk for the weekend and left me in London. It's a very lovely, enormous house. It's also very, very quiet.

Shortly I'll be going down to my family's house (they live at the bottom of Putney, this house is about 3/4 of the way up) where it will be very noisy and chaotic. I yearn for a happy medium.

Invite some people over. Like, two people maybe.

Hey, I'm thinking of taking an Italian class at the cultural institute in Dublin. Anyone think it's a good idea? Bad idea?

Learning any language is a good idea, I think.

Why Italian?

Ditto onimo. It might not be the most useful language you could learn unless you go to Italy a lot (and sometimes not even then, as not all Italians actually speak Italian), but it's probably easier than Mandarin.

I am going to Rome in November, and my family might be going on a big group holiday next year to one of those parts of Italy where they don't really speak English.

Also, it seems like it would be reasonably easy, given that I learned French in school.

Doing Italian in uni as part of my degree near killed my French. Be warned of the risk!

I think that you should do the course but aim for conversational Italian. There's no need to learn the verbs etc unless you really want to learn it. The best trick: say the word in English in an Italian accent. It works about 75% of the time :)

Rome again though? Score! Same flat as last time? (OR WAIT IS THIS STILL THE TRIP THAT I CONFUSE MYSELF AND THINK THAT YOU HAVE ALREADY BEEN ON?!)

Also the ILAC center used to do conversational exchanges in the evening. I don't know if they're still on...

Hi dere, I is back. Expect ranting about holidays idc.

Also pics of nice scenery and things!

Where were you?

Plz no pics of edible bugs and ting.

^^^ what he says

I just ate chips and I am now sampling a free Frutasia cereal bar - probably not wise. The woman in the canteen asked if I wanted Strawberry or App-rick-it - I eventually worked out she was trying to say apricot but had decided it should rhyme with syndicate for some reason. I picked strawberry. They're a bit crap, like most cereal bars - except Fruesli.

Syndicate was such a great game...

I now need to buy sleeping bag and groundsheet for a festival this weekend. Oh to have one of those ATP-type chalets :(

There was no edible bugs and things so no pics of them. I will do scenery and stuff when I get round to uploading my photos - I kind of need to go to the opticians this afternoon though, because one of my lenses was half dark, half light when I woke up one morning so there's something weird going on with the polarising (plus I'm 6 months late on eye test anyway).

Rhodes was very nice, and/but bloody hot, the ranting is about my parents.

Indeed. I think I still have a copy lying around somewhere. I loved the assassination missions. Drugs, flame throwers and world domination. Classic.

xpost re Syndicate

Oh noes u went on holidays with them after all the ranting when they visited? What did you do to vent?

Onimo, I tried using a copy I downloaded from the Underdogs website. Sadly my PC was too fast so it was nigh on unplayable :( I still remember the old cheat: Choose the Frog symbol for your team and call it bullfrog, I think you then had to hold down the full-stop button to get money. Savage.

I thought they couldn't possibly be that bad on holiday, plus we would have separate rooms for space, plus they could help look after the kids and maybe give us some time to ourselves.

Instead it was like having two extra children, possibly under-fives, who each had a couple of recalcitrant dogs, and were deliberately being disobedient as part of some naughty phase they were going through.

But more on that later, I need to go into town now.

This thread is busy today!

Good morning, good monday. Nice weekends?

Already feeling tired, hope the latte cart is open today.

Take that Italian! I heartily endorse education. (I'm starting my math class this week and want fellow sufferers.)

Hi Ms. M! I'm gonna. But, as Kev-lol points out, the Italian classes in the Italian cultural centre might be a bit full on, so I am getting Mister Monkey to cast about among his colleagues for a more suitable Italian conversation class.

Fair enough accentmonkey, that sounds the best way to proceed anyway!

You don't think they'd be a bit gentle on you? It would seem they're out to serve the community.

BTW, I hate my boss. We just had it out much to the consertation of my co-workers. I refuse to be bullied by his poor leadership skills.

Good woman yourself! Don't start worrying about it or feel you've messed up (that always happens to me). It's up to him to apologise!

He won't. He didn't last time we had a blowout (although that was completely unwarranted on his part). This time I called him on something and he became a little bitch about it. Maybe it's a bit pushy for an employee to call out her boss but if he was a good manager I wouldn't have to. My request was legitimate and I doubt there was anyway I could have broached it without him getting pissed.

Whatever, I'm completely fed-up with him and don't intend to keep trying to work under his crappy, inefficient ways. If he doesn't like it he can buck up or fuck off.

"he can buck up"?

Bit of role reversal there! Isn't that normally the kind of thing that the boss says :)

Exactly. That is the root of our problem. I'm done tip-toeing.

Well done, more power to your elbow!

Sometimes you just need to keep your ground and things will improve. Good luck Ms Miz!

Had a busy weekend but felt happy and relaxed--today is like a massive time-delayed hangover (from way too much fun but no drink, just mounds of Greek food and such).

Stuck at PC trying to write. Failing miserably. Silly internet, why must you have so many distractions??

Unplug yourself.

I beg your pardon!

Easier said than done since you can always plug back in but if you disconnect yourself, it might be easier. Or try writing the old fashioned way. :)

accentmonkey, how much of your French do you recall now? Did you find it easy learning another language? I studied German for 6 years at school and now all I can remember is how to ask where the toilet is.

I had three years of French in high school and two semesters in college, and I was really surprised how much of it came back to me during my two trips to Montreal/Victoriaville. Not enough for extended conversations, by any means, but I could make my way around restaurants and stores.

It comes down to how much you can use it. My German (4 years of high school and some in college) was in really rough shape until I started goofing off on a German MUD. My vocabulary for D&D type weapons and armor grew by leaps and bounds :)

I've managed to keep it up better since then, writing to friends and reading German websites. You can find your way to more than just the bathroom I bet!

I can also tell people I've been staying here for two weeks...

accentmonkey, how much of your French do you recall now? Did you find it easy learning another language? I studied German for 6 years at school and now all I can remember is how to ask where the toilet is.

Yeah, like Patita says, it's all in how much you use it. I don't remember a lot, until I've been in France for a few days, and then suddenly I find I can order things in a cafe and understand little jokes and it's all good. I coast on my accent, though (hence the nickname). I never really realised how hard it is for people to understand you if they're not expecting your accent. So what usually happens is Mister M will tell me what to say, and I'll say it. But it's extremely basic. My vocabulary's not bad, but I can't do tenses at all.

Also like Rock says. He said it too.

The most important thing I ever learned about shopping or going to cafes in Paris is this: always say hello to the proprietor when you come in. Even if you can't say hello in French. People who work in shops there will look up when the door opens, and if you don't greet them then you are RUDE. This advice may not hold true in every single shop, but it's a pretty good rule of thumb.

I chose Technical Drawing instead of French at the age of 13, but I still remember how to ask where the supermarket is and to declare my wish for a potato.

Allez tout droit Monsieur Myoppe!

It turns out the BBC has a really nice little basic tourist Italian class online.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/italian/lj/

It follows good principles of instructional design (as I learned them ten years ago).

I would love to learn a properly useful language like Spanish. Except I think they all sound like slightly challenged stroke victims. Sorry Spanish speaking world, I am an ignorant man.

I chose Technical Drawing instead of French at the age of 13, but I still remember how to ask where the supermarket is and to declare my wish for a potato.

Haha, you are me (except it's German in my case).

Photies.

Somebody couldn't stop picking up the yellow (and other coloured) stones:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/aldo_cowpat/DSC00967.jpg

I call this one "Waiting For Grandad (again)":

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/aldo_cowpat/DSC00971.jpg

Rhodes harbour is very nice. This is the view from where (allegedly) one of the Collossus' feet stood:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/aldo_cowpat/DSC00977.jpg

St Nicholas' Fort saw lots of FITEING against the Turks:

which left bits of it kind of damaged:

Other bits of the City Walls survived relatively untouched:

and with gates this size, maybe that isn't surprising:

It has a pretty square with a lovely fountain:

which Charlie discovered you could do optical illusions with:

and Alex looked aloof over:

It also has (allegedly) the best preserved Knights Inn street in Europe:

Lindos was much hotter, but has spectacular views:

and a fort:

with an Acropolis at the top:

I found a cricket, but I did not eated it:

Can anybody else see the other pictures?

3 picture limit per post in nu-ILX

Ah. In which case:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/aldo_cowpat/DSC00980.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/aldo_cowpat/DSC00988.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/aldo_cowpat/DSC00995.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/aldo_cowpat/DSC00999.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/aldo_cowpat/DSC01005.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/aldo_cowpat/DSC01011.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/aldo_cowpat/DSC01012.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/aldo_cowpat/DSC01019.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/aldo_cowpat/DSC01064.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/aldo_cowpat/DSC01067.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/aldo_cowpat/DSC01071.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/aldo_cowpat/DSC01049.jpg

Good pictures mate. The kids seem to take turns each at looking like you.

That looks lovely.

Cuet kids! Also yummy lunch etc.

Looks amazing!

Was stupidly hot - Lindos was something like 44 degrees when we were there. And it would have been far lovelier without my parents, but I am not quite ready for that vent yet.

Okay wow. This is what your kids are meant to be saying!

Damn that is hot, even by Texan standards. Was it dry at least?

It was pretty dry. Not dry like the Middle East is, but certainly not as humid as the Far East, or Florida.

Love 'Alex aloof' shot.

OK, wrong country and wrong time but it could be a still from Jewel in the Crown. Or any number of Merchant Ivory films.

You know it's kind of a plus when ILx is this boring. I get more work done.

Ooh, pretty holiday pictures! And high five on getting work done.

That road leading up was the first pic that loaded, and I said "ooh, that's Rhodes isn't it?"

one dark path leading up! Made an impression on me that one.

I have booked my Italian course! It starts at the end of this month! I am very excited.

Oh cool. Who with?

Eden School of English, which sounds like a place you'd train pole dancers, but in fact was recommended by a couple of people in Mister M's workplace.

OK, some conversations I had with my parents on holiday.

(We are at the beach, on the second day.)
Ma: "Oh, you've brought two bottles of water?"
Me: "Aye, well, we thought you wouldn't think about it, so we figured we might as well."
Ma (starting to be in the huff): "That's right, think the worst of us."
Me: "Well did you bring any?"
Ma: "No, we never really thought about it..."

She bore that grudge all week, because on the final night we weren't getting picked up till 4 in the morning, so we were trying to get a bit of kip on the sun loungers - me specifically because it's a 3 hour drive home from Gatwick. She woke me up at half 1 to tell me she'd bought some water for the airport. Which she had told me 3 hours previously.

______________________________________________

(We are in a bar, watching the Arsenal-Blackburn match. Robbie Savage has just gone down in the box when, if he had stayed on his feet he was clean through on goal.)

Da: "There'll be none of that in Scotland soon. We're bringing in a scheme."
Me: "No, FIFA said it couldn't go ahead."
Da: "That's rubbish, it is."
Me: "Da, I run an internet predictions league. I made up a bonus round based on that very pilot, before I found out FIFA had said it needed a rule change first."
Da: "You don't live in Scotland any more, what do you know."

He then huffed for the next hour or so, then when we got our on-the-house-so-you-might-come-back drink (which was ouzo in this case) refused to pass it to F or I (who like ouzo) and forced himself to drink it, despite declaring it "vile" after the first sip.

__________________________________________________

(We are in Lindos where, as we have suggested, it was bluddy hot. We have decided the kids will ride donkeys to the top because we don't know how far it is. The previous night my Da had told me they were in pairs, and we figured my parents would go up with them - not least because both of them have had high blood pressure and other health problems. This caused him problems, as he didn't want to go on the donkey, insisting the "donkey man" would watch the kids until we got up there.)

F: "Right, that's the queue for the donkeys. We're going to start up the hill."
(a minute passes)
F: "That's the donkey queue, we're off, see you up there."
(another minute passes)
F: "The donkey queue is there, we're starting to walk."
(another minute passes)
F: "WILL YOU JOIN THE FUCKING DONKEY QUEUE!"
Ma: "Oh! I didn't know we had to do that."

In response to this, my Da drunk all the water that was supposed to be for him and the kids on the way up. They then went into the Acropolis and left in under a minute, saying they had seen enough.

(I should also point out they didn't actually want to go to Lindos until a guy from our hotel with three Celtic tattoos, who only wore Celtic branded wear HIS ENTIRE HOLIDAY told him it was "nice". Our opinions counted for nothing.

__________________________________________________

(During the walk to a restaurant in Faliraki, we are nearly forced off the pavement and into a sewer by a bunch of Glaswegian neds and nedettes. One of them is drinking simultaneously from 3 bottles of lager. One girl is wearing clothing that covers approximately 2% of her body. The remainder of the girls have eaten more pies in the last year than most people eat in their lives. We are now in the restaurant and a group of 17-18 year old girls come in. We do not hear them speak, but from the racial mix they are clearly not Scottish. They are wearing standard clubbing wear, albeit with a slightly IT'S BLUDDY HOT reduction factor in skirt length and amount of material in tops. The drink they are having with dinner appears to be one of the first of the evening.)

Da: "Girls like that will be on one of those telly programmes soon."
Ma: "Aye, Costa del Crime."
Me: "You seriously think that compared to those Scottish girls we passed?"
Ma: "I can't believe you said that, what a racist."
Me: "I'm using it as a descriptor, not as a pejorative."
Ma: "How do you know they were Scottish anyway? They could have been from anywhere."

I thought about telling her that one of them saying "you get tae fuck, ya fucking cunt that ye are" was a bit of a giveaway, but thought better of it. I don't think they spoke to us for the rest of the night.

_____________________________________________

Ma: "All teenagers today think nothing of spending £75-100 on drink on a night out."

_____________________________________________

Oh, then there was the time my Da waited till we were ready to go to lunch, before announcing he had to get changed. Which somehow took him over half an hour and included piercing blisters. The "waiting for grandad" picture comes from the wait.

______________________________________________

Or the time when we were accidentally put at different tables while we were in Rhodes town and ended up finishing at different times. We just told them to go down to the square and we would see them in twenty minutes. As we got up to leave, I spotted them in the place we had agreed to meet. By the time we got down there, they had wandered off. They came back about 10 minutes later, claiming since we were late it didn't matter whether they were there or not so they went for a walk.

There's lots more where these came from.

Sounds like a blast.

a shotgun blast

Jesus Aldo. Have you always had these problems with them or is this recent? Did you get any break in at all?

I've not heard of Eden, always a good sign. I only hear bad stories about places (selective negative deafness :) )

There was fun had by us and the kids in spite of them. It's telling though that they didn't phone on Sunday to say their flight had got in safely. And I haven't bothered to tell them that we didn't crash and die on the M4.

See, my middle brother wants all of us in my family to go on holidays to a villa in Italy next year or the year after. But this is because he lives in England and does not see my parents as often as I do. Don't get me wrong, I love them very much and get on much better with them than Aldo appears to get on with his folks, but I don't want to go on holiday with them.

Celtic fans are known for their Acropolis critiquing :)

Me: "I'm using it as a descriptor, not as a pejorative."

If I'd said that to my Dad I'd had got a good dose of the Chewin The Fat "ooooooohhhhh pejorative, you hear that?" wiggly hands treatment :P

I've been on holiday with my parents a few times and it's been a blast. My in-laws on the other hand...

Said Celtic fan was a class alkie btw - on the final day he walked up to the village to retrieve his wife's bank card from the machine that had swallowed it. He came back about 3 hours later. Pished.

His excuse? "Just think of the money I've saved you on crisps. They give you them free in Mike's Bar."

That's... brilliant. I must remember that excuse!

Sounds lovely. I don't think I'll go there on hols. I'm too much of a snob.

I've been on holiday with my parents a few times and it's been a blast. My in-laws on the other hand...

Oh my god, I'm sure I've moaned at length about the time we took Mister M's mam to Paris for five days. Jesus. She didn't bring her glasses, for a start. Which, you know, is grand, because it's not like there's ANYTHING TO SEE IN PARIS.

I haven't really been on hols with my parents abroad. I haven't lived with them since I was 16 so it's always a bit of fun going home.

I did travel with my dad around Myanmar shortly after I turned 21. One of the happiest trips of my life to be honest. My mum and I just drink and get giggly so not the most touristy of times to be had :)

I took my mother on a driving trip to NYC once and that's the closest we've come to a vacation together.

Ha! You know how when you go traveling, or go somewhere really great and life changing, you think that you will remember it forever, and then you look at a photo of one of the amazing places you saw (in my case, Doubtful Sound, New Zealand) and you realise that you don't really remember it. All you really remember is some stupid middle-aged Indian guy smoking on the boat and fucking his plastic cup over the side, like a cock.

^it's not places, but people & time...

aldo, what type of camera do you have? Yours pics are fab, great colour, contrast & clarity.

I've never been away with my parents, though they have invited me once or twice. They have a house in Spain. However I figured it's best to check it out with my girlfriend first so that will be my summer holiday next week. Can't wait, need some heat and good weather. Just want to read, swim, and have nice meals out for the entire time away.

Oh yeah, I meant to say I guess I would enjoy a holiday with my parents, I get along pretty well with them, even if we don't have much in common at all.

we don't have much in common at all

My Dad and I share an unhealthy appetite for alcohol and have been boozing together since I was at school. I suppose I should resent him for it but, you know, beer :)

Camera is a Sony DSC-N1. It's pretty damn fine, I must say.

I think the problems with my parents probably started when I moved to England. They seem to think I'm some sort of traitor to my country, or something, in addition to being a Class traitor.

They're right really. Poor Braveheart :(

So, you know that Irish guy who was imprisoned in Senegal for mooning? Am I the only one who thought he should have received a booting?

i feel crap.

My Dad and I share an unhealthy appetite for alcohol and have been boozing together since I was at school. I suppose I should resent him for it but, you know, beer :)

hehe...I do have an occasional drink with my parents though mainly on special occasions. other than that I bond with my Dad over sport!

Sorry to hear that Nath. Need to read the Irish Times this morning. Too busy :(

I have a very complicated relationship with my parents. I think a lot of that has to do with me.

Also decent wine and the enjoyment thereof has always been a good way to get chatting to my father. That and book collecting.

My dad is funny, he is very intelligent but he has not read a book, watched a film, or listened to a record in around 15 or 20 years I reckon.

What does he get up to in his spare time? My parents are quite insular so I can't really imagine them not reading or listening to music. It's admirable but at the same time a little worrying how much they do rely upon each other. Should something happen it would be an utter disaster for the other.

Unlike my father I think my mother is my traditional male role model. She decided in her middle age that she was sick of teaching and is now a full time wood restorer and French polisher which means that the only time I see tools or visit a hardware shop is with her. I go to the supermarket with my father :)

xpost WTF! Not one film? Not one book? Nor music? I have tried to make my dad read books, but in vain. :-( He did end up reading Lord of The Rings and a few Russian (!!!!) books but gave up after that. I think he did read War&Peace? Can't remember. Anyway, he does watch movies and listens to a crapload of shit. hah.

Disclaimer: did I say I felt crap? Well, I take it back. I feel hellacrap. I hate it when I feel this way without having gone out or not having had a drink/joint. Damn. It's like you feel crap for what?

Yep I know that feeling Nath, it's shit. Lately I've been trying to go out more just to at least say "well I had fun and feel shit" instead of just "I feel shit".

In his spare time my Dad golfs a lot, does work around the house, reads the paper, watches TV or goes to sports matches. He works very hard also during the week.

Fair enough.

I get that feeling of the occasion. I hate it. You end up feeling worse and worse. Best trick to shake it I've found is a good book somewhere quiet.

Ronan, are you going to E.P this year?

I ask because I want to brag about being all packed already.

Since I came back from hols, PSU has been making a bad noise and running hot. Failed during the night, forced it to work again this morning and it failed again.

Weighed up the cost of a PSU and putting it in a 5 year old computer.

I AM WEAK.
(but I has a new computer)

You deserve it, after the holiday you just had. What are F's folks like (or is that a tricky/sensitive/embarrassing question?)

Nath, when you feel crap without having gone out, isn't that just illness? Maybe you're getting a head cold. I know I am. All the kids are doing it.

Kev-lol, your parents are me and Mister M. (except more cultured and traveled). We too are very insular, and I sometimes worry about what will happen to us when we're old.

Ronan, your dad is like my dad, except that my dad doesn't work anymore because only one of his lungs functions and he sometimes watches films. But he doesn't read books or really listen to music at all. He likes to go to standup comedy shows, though, as long as they're not too shouty.

I used to think F's parents were worse. Now I am not so sure.

The closest my dad gets to books is the bookies. That's only two letters out.

I have remembered another one from the holiday. The kids are looking through the photos on my phone and there is one of me and my friends Gary, Colin and Mike on Mike's birthday. My Ma hears us talking - she has met Colin several times, Gary twice, and has not met Mike - and comes over to look at the picture.

Ma: "Who's Gary?"
Me: "He's the one on the left in the photo."
Ma: "I don't think I know him."
Me: "You have, you've met him more than once."
Ma: "Oh, was that him with his sister? He was nice."
Me: "No, that was Nick."
Ma: "Oh, I know where we met him. Yes, he was short."
Me: "No, that was Yuma."
Ma: "Oh, I don't know then."

Gary is about my height and thin, and from Liverpool.
Nick is about the six foot mark and has a beard. He is from Leicester.
Yuma is a couple of inches shorter than me and about the same build. He is from Nigeria.

CAN YOU SPOT THE COMMON FACTOR THAT I HAVEN'T MENTIONED?

Then re-read this to remind yourself SHE HAD ACTUALLY SEEN GARY'S PICTURE.

Gary. Isn't he the one who was at that party that time with that nice girl who used to like you? She was lovely. Why didn't you marry her?

That would have been preferable to the implicit "all blacks look the same" that was the actual answer.

Ah, black fella, eh?

I'm afraid my dad would be no better on this score.

I am reminded of the amusing argument my dad had with middle brother the other day about the directions to his house. Where he lives, and Dad has been once before. But Dad still insisted on arguing with him about how to get there.

My mother and I have a pretty basic relationship limited to phone calls and 2 or 3 visits per year. The only thing we really have to bond over are health issues.

I have no relationship or contact with my father other than the restraining order I plan to get against him in the near future. </debbie downer>

Man, I just got back from my first class. It was full of freshman and the dude sitting next to me was wearing his high school ring and not even bothering to take notes. Meanwhile I was busy writing down everything the instructor said or put on the board. Every now and then he'd stop and say "Is everyone getting this?" I didn't speak up b/c I was getting absolutely none of it. I stopped math with Algebra II and that was nearly 20 years ago.

I'm going to go over my notes and the chapter we covered in the book very carefully and slowly over the next couple of nights. If that doesn't wake up the highly capable intellect that has apparently fallen asleep in my brain, it's tutor time.

Your notes will make more and more sense as you reread them. Such an exciting time going back to learn something. It's like mature students always do well in Uni, they actually care about what they're doing!

I really admire anyone who tries to learn maths-based things later in life. It's HARD.

It's HARD.

*cries*

Hmm. That wasn't supposed to put you off, that was supposed to give you a sense of achievement when you do get it. Which of course you will.

hahah, I know. I keep telling myself I will too. If these 18yr olds sitting next to me can do it, so can I.

So true!

Aww.
I'm so incompetent with math—I think the term is "inumeracy," as opposed to "illiteracy."
But my father had the highest math score in the country—100%—on his college boards. He ended up as a manager of a wire factory. Go figure.
I've been thinking of taking a math class, just to stretch my brain and get over my knee-jerk "I'm no good at math" attitude. First I want to do an intense Brazilian-Portuguese immersion, though. My Portuguese is so spazzy, and I'll get stuck that way if I don't correct it—start over from scatch.

Oh dear god Beth, I keep forgetting your card. Sorry!

I've always been more of a word person but I think I can handle a bit of math in my 30s.

Kv, no worries! I just need to keep mailing them out from my end before they fill my tiny office/studio to the ceiling. Not that I'm very efficient or timely about it either.

Okay. You'll never guess what I forgot again today... sorry Beth.

Right, I am so ready for this festival. There is nothing that I have not packed. I am a camping god!

Ooh, get you. etc.

So, it seems all of my Dublin mates are going to December ATP this year. I feel sadface and left out because I can't go.

Aldo, Onimo, you're not going are you?

I have never been to an ATP.

It was the boy's b-day yesterday. We went out for steaks (I had the tuna variety rather than cow) and tried to go bowling. But it was league night so no go (they did give us passes for free games though, which was nice.) We then tried to go see Halloween but realized it hadn't opened yet, doh! Instead, home to drink on the front porch, revel in our stray cat colony and complain about the neighbors. Ahh, old age. (There was a bit more to the night after that but I'll keep that private, thank you.)

We have a three day weekend coming up here in the US. I imagine the bowling and/or the Halloween will happen at some point.

Tonight it's all about my math homework!! I've been reading on the bus and it's becoming a little more clear. Yesterday I was dressed in pink, with my pink notebook and pink pencil and totally clueless look on my face. I was one feathered pen away from being Elle Woods. Felt ridiculous. Will def. cowboy up on this one.

I bought a cowboy hat for the festival! I'll join you. I do not look good in pink mind. Fuschia I can just about get away with.

LOL I CNA'T SLELP!

I am not going to the December ATP, I am having F put in suspended animation.

We are not going to December ATP. One a year is as much as we can manage as it means having to sort out 4 days worth of babysitter cover for three kids. It would be nice to make a December one at some point as they always fall round about mrs o's birthday.

Are they always in the same place? It sounds a bit involved.

I have a cowboy hat but I never wear it. It serves a decoration in the living room.

It is a bit involved, Ms M, but substantially less so than other music festivals because you don't have to bring camping gear.

Oh kev-lol, I hope the weather holds up for the weekend for you.

Happy birthday, Mister Misery, btw.

Haha, Mister Misery. We are the same age now until December.

I have never been to a music festival that involved camping.

Man, my obgyn sent me a postcard yesterday saying I needed to call them and discuss the results of my pap smear. I was terrified but just now they said they were normal and they just needed my new number. Couldn't they have marked "normal" on the card and asked me to call and update my contact info?

argh.

Kev, nah no Electric Picnic for me. I am working on the Sunday and then I agreed to DJ for four hours on Saturday night in the Pod, I'll make good money doing that plus four hour sets are rare as hell. Going on holidays on Monday too so need money/health as much as possible.

The American use of 'pap smear' always confuses me, because it doesn't involve paps at all.

ATP is not involved, really, and you get a nice chalet to stay in rather than a tent. It has changed location recently from Camber to Minehead, and will stay there until F0und4ti0n manage to piss off Butlins so much that they tell them to poke off (2 years, tops).

I don't know what a pap is! Other than, you know, the pappiness it involves here.

Ronan, sorry I won't get to FAP with you now. Enjoy your holliers though!

Weather is meant to be cloudy but dry. Fingers crossed!

Oh yeah and happy bday to the male mis!

Hmmmm male ms mis would have worked better.

Yeah mixed reports on the weather. I'm sure there'll be an FAP this autumn sometime. I am off to parent's house in Spain with my gf so I can't wait. I intend to read/drink/swim for 5 days. Though when I said this to a friend on Sunday night he said "isn't that what you do here? look you're drinking right now. and you said you were swimming earlier".

I am off to parent's house in Spain with my gf

That sounds lovely. I am jealous of the girlfriend you've landed.

Paps is a slang term for breasts. It was also used in the Bible (srsly!).

ahh, this is new to me. :)

x-post I'm lucky with the parents too I guess, I couldn't afford to go anywhere if they didn't offer me this option, plus it's nice knowing the place will be nice and having good info on the area and stuff.

Paps are, as the Black Eyed Peas would have it, lady lumps.

1. <anatomy> A nipple; a mammilla; a teat. "The paps which thou hast sucked." (Luke xi. 27)

2. A rounded, nipplelike hill or peak; anything resembling a nipple in shape; a mamelon.

Origin: Cf. OSw. Papp. Cf. Pap soft food.

Source: Websters Dictionary

There is a pair of hills on the island of Jura, off Scotland, called the Paps of Jura exactly for this reason.

Wikipedia is more revealing as to why it is called a pap smear in the US: In gynecology, the Papanikolaou test or Papanicolaou test (also called Pap smear, Pap test, cervical smear, or smear test) is a medical screening method, invented by Georgios Papanikolaou, primarily designed to detect premalignant and malignant processes in the ectocervix.

xposting

Aldo dropping the science.

nice set of paps
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/45/Papsofjura1.jpg/300px-Papsofjura1.jpg

mmm, latte.

argh, my concentration is not good. I keep thinking instead about my homework and the silent war I'm raging against my boss. He should be gone after 11, maybe it will be easier to work then.

guys i need a recipe for like a chipotle garnish for a salmon burger. why can't i find a cooking thread?

You'll get better results if you go straight to epicurious.com or foodnetwork.com. It's flattering that you'd think of ILX first though.

haha no no i DID go to epicurious first but then don't have the exact thing i want. maybe i'll try foodnetwork.com...

i dunno see i'm a REALLY bad googler sometimes, and ILX caters to me "just gimme the answer" impulse =P

get some general ideas and then make it up yourself.

yes i think that's really going to be the strategy - i love experimenting with flavors. have my instincts are good enough for it (the other half need the recipe)

i really am trying to type intelligbly :-)

This one looks good (o jesus, it's from "Dweezil and Lisa") --

Chipotle Dressing:
4 tablespoons white wine vinegar
4 tablespoons water
2 small shallots, or 2 tablespoons white onions, diced
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons honey
1 egg yolk*
3 chipotle peppers in adobo
1 cup olive oil (not extra-virgin)

Place the first 7 ingredients in a blender and blend on high for 1 minute. With the blender running, slowly drizzle in oil, and blend until emulsified. Reserve until needed.

thank you!!!! see, it would have taken me like 2 hours to track this down.

really though, isn't there a cooking thread?

There's a whole cooking sub-board!
http://www.ilxor.com/ILX/NewAnswersControllerServlet?boardid=66

hahahaha DOH! :-)

lol dweezil and lisa

I'm pissed off at Epicurious for short-circuiting the Firefox search-bar engine. You used to be able to go straight to the results, but now it always goes to the site's front page.

i just started using firefox... it's a whole new world for me! this recipe looks really good i am very appreciative