Coconut Monkey Cornerclub

[Zed Clampet]

I don't use gravy. I actually don't use much in the way of extra flavoring. I love the lightly salted and buttered taste enough. Gravy sometime for a change of pace, but most of the time without.

In the same vein I don't use steak sauce on steak or taco sauce on tacos. The natural taste is just too good to cover up.

For me, no to steak sauce, and maybe to tacos. Tacos with homemade seasoning? No. Tacos with something like Old El Paso seasoning? Yes. In my favorite Mexican restaurant? Absolutely not.

As for mashed potatoes, I like them with gravy, but probably only make gravy maybe 1 in every 5 times.

 

[Frag Maniac]

I've always had a soft spot for McCormick brown gravy packets. It's a familiar taste that I enjoy and goes good with pretty much anything. Besides that, I make a homemade turkey gravy on Thanksgiving that is very good. I roast the neck with veggies, then make the gravy using those drippings and fresh herbs. I really should do that more often with a roast chicken or roast pork tenderloin throughout the year, it's a lot of work but is very worth the effort.

Yeah I don't normally cook a whole turkey, but I thought I'd christen my new home with the smell of roasted bird last Thanksgiving when I found out the food bank down the street was giving out Butterballs. I found a carbon steel, non stick roasting pan marked down to $10 from $40 at Fred Meyers. It was a 12 lb bird, but thankfully I measured it's temp well before the time it was supposed to be done, as it cooked way faster than their instruction. It was a very good turkey, but IMO Butterball puts WAY too much sodium in them. It made a nice gravy, just a bit too salty.

 

[BeardyHat]

I gotta have sauce on most of my stuff. My cabinet and fridge is full of hot sauces, they go on pretty much everything.

But for mashed potatoes, I usually just eat them with salt and pepper. I try to make them taste as good as I can without a gravy, because I'm usually too lazy to make a proper gravy.

 

[BeardyHat]

Oof, between the money I "saved" buying this computer, the money I found in Venmo and the money I'll receive when I sell my other computer, it's burning a hole in my pocket.

Tariffs don't help though, that's part of what's doing it. There's things I want, that I'd be content to wait for, but I'm worried I'll just end-up paying more in the long run, so I've ordered them now. At this point, I've spent $250 in the past two days on random odds and ends, having just dropped $50 of that on a box of models, as they're manufactured in the UK and I'm worried they'll near double in price over the next few months.

Somebody stop me...

 

[Zloth]

Butter, salt, and pepper can be considered gravy if you use enough butter!

In the same vein I don't use steak sauce on steak or taco sauce on tacos. The natural taste is just too good to cover up.

I also don't bother with steak sauce - but your tacos must taste a lot better than mine.

Oof, between the money I "saved" buying this computer, the money I found in Venmo and the money I'll receive when I sell my other computer, it's burning a hole in my pocket.

My broker called me up and told me that Wall Street is having a 10% off sale.

 

[Frag Maniac]

Somebody stop me...

 

[Zed Clampet]

WOOOO! (maybe)

I got offered to participate in an IPO, stock price $10, minimum investment $5k. It's not something I wanted to invest in, but it seemed like something that would go up quickly at least temporarily, so I bought the minimum investment. It launched Thursday and went up to $233.

That's just amazing. Unfortunately I wasn't paying any attention. I can't sell it over the weekend, and it's already dropped $50 in pre-open trading. Plus it will probably tank in an epic way Monday morning. I put in a sell order, and I guess we'll see where it ends up when I sell it. Hopefully it's still over $10.

The fact that I wasn't paying attention actually isn't unfortunate because I would have sold it the second it hit $20 and now I'd be furious. That happened to me with a company called Ipix. I bought 10,000 shares at 30 cents and sold it at 60 cents which made me about $1600. Two weeks later, however, this big news on terrorism hit (Trade Center bombing), and Ipix made 360 degree security cameras. Their stock went to $38 over a 24 hour period. I've been depressed about it ever since, but I've consoled myself by admitting there was no way I would have held onto the stock that long because on penny stocks like that I just want to take my earnings and get out.

 

[Zed Clampet]

HAHAHAHA It's already down to $45/share. Oh well. It's not just any day I can say I lost $100k, but today is going to be one of them.

In my mind I never really had it to begin with. I do wish I'd thought of this yesterday afternoon, but it is what it is. If I were 25, I'd probably be vomiting in the bathroom right now. Canceled my sell order. Will see if it bounces back up a bit on Monday.

 

[Frindis]

I like hot sauces but most supermarkets don't sell hot stuff. It is ridiculous how they can call regular El Paso/Santa Maria salsa for medium or hot when it is so far from being either. The only thing I have bought from supermarket that was somewhat decent hot was the Broken Taco Hello No. I think they just brand products with medium or hot on regular salsa to fool people into believing it is actually hot.

They do the same with potato chips also, call some chips super spicy or hot, like the Chili Klaus chips which was even marketed as a very hot chips. It is all a bunch of kakapo if you ask me.

 

[BeardyHat]

HAHAHAHA It's already down to $45/share. Oh well. It's not just any day I can say I lost $100k, but today is going to be one of them.

In my mind I never really had it to begin with. I do wish I'd thought of this yesterday afternoon, but it is what it is. If I were 25, I'd probably be vomiting in the bathroom right now. Canceled my sell order. Will see if it bounces back up a bit on Monday.

I always kind of think about it as funny money. Money that doesn't really exist for me as it sits and fluctuates.

My wife wants me to put some more into the market pretty soon here and I need to figure out where it's going to go.

I like hot sauces but most supermarkets don't sell hot stuff. It is ridiculous how they can call regular El Paso/Santa Maria salsa for medium or hot when it is so far from being either. The only thing I have bought from supermarket that was somewhat decent hot was the Broken Taco Hello No. I think they just brand products with medium or hot on regular salsa to fool people into believing it is actually hot.

They do the same with potato chips also, call some chips super spicy or hot, like the Chili Klaus chips which was even marketed as a very hot chips. It is all a bunch of kakapo if you ask me.

Whole Foods often has a section of bespoke or "small batch" style hot sauces. I don't usually buy salsa or anything though, I just buy the vinegary stuff in the little bottles to put on my tacos and whatnot.

I'm glad I have a habit of doing the opposite of what my anxiety demands of me and I actually had a good time all day yesterday. Hanging out with my friends and playing games was a good time; I really need to hang out with them on Discord more. This is maybe getting a little navel gazy, but I can't stop thinking about what my 80 year old Aunt told me a few years ago, about how she's kind of lonely, because she used to have a group of friends, but they're all dead now.

I think about this a lot when I hang out with my buddies, because they definitely don't take care of themselves, not that I'm a pillar of health or anything, but still. I feel like I'm in this weird place right now where I have limited time and often I choose to hang out with my wife in the evenings, which I like, but I need to give some more time to my friends than I usually do.

Anyway, the show I went to last night was a good time. Drinks were expensive and it was pretty funny having two of my Brothers-in-Law there with me; they had never seen anything like it before and in spite of knowing me for 20-years, had no idea I was into this kind of stuff. But they had a good time of it and the band I was there for actually wasn't the last, which was great, so they finished their set at 10pm and we left after that. I ended-up buying a couple of T-shirts, as I usually do, as well as seeing and supporting a new band who was pretty cool.

This morning, my dog is not terribly happy that I was gone all day yesterday and he didn't get a walk or to play ball. He hasn't left my side.

https://imgur.com/a/ijLMs9j

 

[Pifanjr]

I need to give some more time to my friends than I usually do.

I relate to this. I really need to reach out to my friends and family more, but especially the last 3-4 weeks I've been feeling so drained all the time. I did go to my sister's birthday party Friday evening and I felt physically sick the next day and I'm still recovering.

 

[Frag Maniac]

I interrupt the culinary chat to bring you the latest in Supercross, which was an extremely soupy mess in Foxborough, after a dry race in Seattle. I've never seen a supercross race quite this wet. The kids races are generally ones where they roll over the jumps, vs get airborne. That's what even the best pros are reduced to in races like this. Pretty much every bike was smoking due to the high engine temps from the excessive clutch work it takes. Worse yet, laying the bike over in such conditions makes it very hard to lift the bike up, let alone get going again once you do. There were a few brave and skilled riders in both classes that managed some jumps, and kudos went to Aaron (The Cowboy) Plessinger, who at 29, one of the older riders, won the 450 main. These kind of conditions of course are brought by heavy rain, and why most riders hate such forecasts. Ruts were peg deep, and main events were shortened.

 

[BeardyHat]

I interrupt the culinary chat to bring you the latest in Supercross, which was an extremely soupy mess in Foxborough, after a dry race in Seattle. I've never seen a supercross race quite this wet. The kids races are generally ones where they roll over the jumps, vs get airborne. That's what even the best pros are reduced to in races like this. Pretty much every bike was smoking due to the high engine temps from the excessive clutch work it takes. Worse yet, laying the bike over in such conditions makes it very hard to lift the bike up, let alone get going again once you do. There were a few brave and skilled riders in both classes that managed some jumps, and kudos went to Aaron (The Cowboy) Plessinger, who at 29, one of the older riders, won the 450 main. These kind of conditions of course are brought by heavy rain, and why most riders hate such forecasts. Ruts were peg deep, and main events were shortened.

That looks... Challenging.

 

[Frag Maniac]

That looks... Challenging.

Yep, you add a 39 degree temp, to the extra muscle work it takes, then God knows how many pounds of mud added to the bike and rider, and you just pray you don't fall. Not the least of which is the problem of your goggles getting sprayed with mud, and hoping you can afford to lift a hand off the bars when you need to pull a Tear-Off.

 

[BeardyHat]

I relate to this. I really need to reach out to my friends and family more, but especially the last 3-4 weeks I've been feeling so drained all the time. I did go to my sister's birthday party Friday evening and I felt physically sick the next day and I'm still recovering.

It's tough, especially as a introvert who feels that energy drain too. Most of the time I just want to be quiet and not listen to one particular friend talk at me; which maybe sounds harsh, but it's just how it is and I still like the guy.

But I'm beginning to work something out here. Told me wife about it and I'll probably setup something twice monthly where I'll hang out with my friends via Discord and my wife can go hang with her sister or do whatever she wants, so we're both getting something out of the deal.

Kind of thinking Friday's are probably best, since we don't have anything going on, usually and since all my buddies are definitely on that night, plus no need to get up early on Saturday and get the kids to school.

 

[Colif]

It's tough, especially as a introvert who feels that energy drain too. Most of the time I just want to be quiet and not listen to one particular friend talk at me; which maybe sounds harsh, but it's just how it is and I still like the guy.

I get that way with my mum sometimes but most of the time she is quiet too, its only after she has been out with my brother that she is talkative. Whereas I get talkative when no one wants to listen... revenge.

I don't make friends easily. The only ones I have in reality are the same ones I have had now for over 35 years now. Most of them live in other cities, I really only see one of them regularly and he has his own family and knows I am not really social. I need to travel to see most of the rest and I see any travel as a waste of time. Maybe once I finish my course I will go see them. I tend to forget we not the same ages as we used to be. I rarely see my self in a mirror so can forget I am going grey until reminded by them. I don't feel my age, or act it.

Two weeks ago I got a new pair of PC glasses but they had made them too strong meaning I had to be really close to monitor to see anything. I am normally at the bare minimum 134cm away from my screen. It annoyed me as I had been waiting to get new glasses since the old PC glasses I have, the lenses in them were scratched. It put me in a bad mood for a week almost... that wasn't a fun week for many reasons

They have replaced the lenses and now they are useable. They made them less strong, so now I don't need to be right up close to screen to read it. My prescription hadn't changed a lot otherwise.

 

[Frag Maniac]

Two weeks ago I got a new pair of PC glasses but they had made them too strong meaning I had to be really close to monitor to see anything. I am normally at the bare minimum 134cm away from my screen. It annoyed me as I had been waiting to get new glasses since the old PC glasses I have, the lenses in them were scratched. It put me in a bad mood for a week almost... that wasn't a fun week for many reasons

They have replaced the lenses and now they are useable. They made them less strong, so now I don't need to be right up close to screen to read it. My prescription hadn't changed a lot otherwise.

I can only wear my Gunnar Optiks blue blocker gaming glasses lately, even for freeway driving. It's because I finally had my 3rd (and hopefully final) eye exam (this time at an Ophthalmologist) then gave them my glasses for a 3rd grind. I don't even feel it would have been a necessary appointment had the Optometrist who referred me to the first Ophthalmologist I saw, waited for her recommendation on how much Prism I needed. The second one I went to merely trusted her word on the Prism, and let his assistant do the regular eye exam.

I've already gotten a This is Not a Bill letter from my insurance provider saying I owe $137 to the 1st Ophthalmologist, and am hoping I don't get the same for the 2nd. I understand fully why an Ophthalmologist would cost more than a mere $39 copay for the Optometrist, but I can't help but feel some of this out of pocket expense could have been avoided.

For now I have to tilt my head back when I drive, I use the headrest to alleviate neck strain.

On a stranger and more Monkey note, I think I may have finally found out what causes my stove vent to drip a bit of water on my range after days of heavy rain. I heard this morning what sounded to be a woodpecker pounding away on the wood my stove vent pipe is mounted to. That's my guess anyway, as I've never heard of a woodpecker trying to use a thin metal pipe for a nest, and I grew up in an area that had them, so I know what they sound like. I've just never heard a metal ring with their pecking sound, so I was chuckling while trying to record it. It flew away of course by the time I got my phone in video record mode, maybe I'll have better luck next time if it decides to hang around.

I'm sure everyone loves to laugh at the guy that is so unskilled at using a cell phone that he can never manage to capture the moments he's looking to. I used to throw cussing fits over it. Anymore I'm so used to it I just say, oh well.

 

[Colif]

I can count the number of times I have made a video using my phone on one hand, and the last time I had forgotten the saying to get it to auto start. So you are not alone.
If its not something I do regularly, I too generally look for instructions

 

[Frag Maniac]

I can count the number of times I have made a video using my phone on one hand, and the last time I had forgotten the saying to get it to auto start. So you are not alone.
If its not something I do regularly, I too generally look for instructions

I would have thought everyone else here doesn't have such problems. Thanks for making me feel just a little bit less dysfunctional.

 

[Colif]

Prior to a few weeks ago I had never bought a smart bulb before. Now I have 3 of them.
I wanted one as the bulb in my standing lamp was too bright. Now I can set its dimness value in an app on my phone, or change its color, or make it show xmas lights. I have it set to be a night light during the hours after midnight, some light but not enough to wake others.

I only have 3 lights in room, 2 lamps and the ceiling light. I have swapped both lamps now and next step was ceiling bulb. I went to do it today and I can't get the old bulb to come out.

I don't recall last time I swapped the ceiling bulb. I hardly ever use it, so maybe 20+ years. Its obviously not an led lamp, unlike my new ones. Need to rearrange room a little to give me better access to ceiling bulb. Its not going to win.

 

[neogunhero]

On the topic of friends, in a way I feel like I have shunned a lot of them out of my life, some on purpose, others not. I have a group chat with a couple friends, but being a group chat full of busy people, it's not like we have the most in-depth conversations there. We may post a video or article, discuss it a bit, maybe a meme or two, and move on. I feel that is the reason I'm so active here, besides my girlfriend I don't have anyone to talk to about the things I like in person. Moving away from a lot of people in my life didn't help at all. All my friends are gamers too, but of different types and different levels of interest. Some have moved on mostly from games, but may occasionally play COD or Madden, while others play totally different types of games than I do.

These guys are my best friends, but we sure as hell don't act like it. As much as I love them, I don't feel like I have made any *real* friends in my life. They are fun to hang out and chat with, when we were all in school, we hung out every day, but it's one of those things as guys where we didn't really talk about real life issues, things that bothered us, dreams and aspirations, we were only interested in playing video games and getting high. No one cared what sort of things the other person was going through, unless it was something that was very obviously hurting them, but besides that we all grew up being taught to keep that kind of thing to yourself. Of course, we all know now these days that is not healthy, and you really do need friends that you connect to on a deeper level, even if you guys don't communicate every day, it's good to have that kind of person in your life.

Not sure if this post comes off as me being desperate or depressed, but I'm really not. I'm very happy and I'm also very introverted, so it doesn’t bother me much. The friends I do have are still great people to talk with, though it may not always be about real life or serious issues. My girlfriend is my best friend and we connect on that level. Being an introvert is weird because on one hand you want more friends but on the other you’re perfectly fine being by yourself. It’s also so hard to find people that share all the same interests as you.

 

[Colif]

These guys are my best friends, but we sure as hell don't act like it. As much as I love them, I don't feel like I have made any *real* friends in my life. They are fun to hang out and chat with, when we were all in school, we hung out every day, but it's one of those things as guys where we didn't really talk about real life issues

most of my friends fall into this category. Or did at first, 30+ years ago. I lost track of a lot of them due to work, and it was only 11 years ago now I spent a month finding as many as I could. I have seen them in the time since but life gets in the way. One guy I only ever see outside my house on random occasions where he is driving past.

Opening up and trusting someone else isn't something I do. Only to people that have known me a long time, and who haven't abused the relationship. Being too trusting can lead to stupid situations.

Being an introvert is weird because on one hand you want more friends but on the other you’re perfectly fine being by yourself. It’s also so hard to find people that share all the same interests as you.

The internet makes both of those things easier.

I know more people online than I do in reality, I talk to more as well. I can go an entire fortnight and only talk to 5 people offline. Mostly the same 5 people.

 

[Frag Maniac]

Prior to a few weeks ago I had never bought a smart bulb before. Now I have 3 of them.
I wanted one as the bulb in my standing lamp was too bright. Now I can set its dimness value in an app on my phone, or change its color, or make it show xmas lights. I have it set to be a night light during the hours after midnight, some light but not enough to wake others.

I only have 3 lights in room, 2 lamps and the ceiling light. I have swapped both lamps now and next step was ceiling bulb. I went to do it today and I can't get the old bulb to come out.

I don't recall last time I swapped the ceiling bulb. I hardly ever use it, so maybe 20+ years. Its obviously not an led lamp, unlike my new ones. Need to rearrange room a little to give me better access to ceiling bulb. Its not going to win.

Smear a little dielectric grease on the bulb threads (small tubes go a long way and are cheap), making sure not to leave any trace connecting the threads to the positive center terminal. The metal oxidizes over time, which can cause them to get stuck in the socket.

The main thing I prioritize in LEDs, and the only feature I care about, is that they are at least some level of daylight level brightness, which is considered 4000 Kelvin and above. I really don't care for the multicolor options and being able to program patterns. Fun fact, white lights that are 4000K and up show colors more accurately which is why they work well for HT lighting. I have an inexpensive bias light kit I bought to put on the back of my LG C3 42" OLED TV. It's 4000K, and they stay daylight white even when dimmed, very nice kit for just $12.

 

[Colif]

Mine can do 6200k but one of them maxes out at 470 lumens whereas the other two are 1521, so its not overly bright. It was my first and I didn't realise it would be so dim.

I looked at the colors, but that was as far as it went. App has multiple different presets as well as one that lets you just set to colours or Kelvin level via a slider

The only lights I had bought in the last 20 years were lava lamps which don't really light up much at all. Prior to that was probably fish tank lights. So I missed the led lighting thing completely. I mean, I knew they existed but it was never something I wanted before.

 

[Frag Maniac]

The only lights I had bought in the last 20 years were lava lamps which don't really light up much at all. Prior to that was probably fish tank lights. So I missed the led lighting thing completely. I mean, I knew they existed but it was never something I wanted before.

Yeah I call lava lamps hippie lights, they're more for mood than lighting.

I saw a maintenance guy in our apt building yesterday talking to our on site staff saying he was replacing a 24" fluorescent tube lamp in one of the apt bathroom above the sink, with a LED tube light. They've had the 48" ones for our kitchen lamps for some time, but I didn't know they had the shorter ones.

I consider all this good news, as anything that saves electricity usage, especially if you live in a state like ours that sells it to other west coast states, helps build the reserve we can sell, and can help other states that need it as well as our state economy a bit.