Useless Conversation

[Lantyssa]

How do you get so plastered you don't remember hurting yourself?

[Murgos]

How do you get so plastered you don't remember hurting yourself?

It's not hard.

I spent all weekend moving.  Blech, 3rd time in 4 years.

[Lantyssa]

It's hard for me to comprehend.  I remember better than normal when drunk (mind, my memory is normally terrible), and I reach a point where I can't function anymore before I lose my sense of what's happening.  The closest I've come to not being aware of things was when I was focused on reaching the porcelain or finding a bed.

Also, I kick ass at Street Fighter when totally smashed.

[NowhereMan]

Unfortunately I lose my sense of surroundings and even memory a while before I cease functioning properly. Generally I can still get served while not remembering anything at all, which is annoying since it means I've lost any sense of how drunk I am and my hangovers are absolutely awful if that happens. Talking to other people I established that we were putting out candles in jars by putting our hands over the jars and letting them burn out all the air, only me and one other idiot were stupid enough to actually do this properly and we've now got matching burn blisters.

[Cheddar]

My brother flies in from Iraq today.  Another year tour down!

[Engels]

Congratulations on still having a brother, and please, thank him for me for his service.

[Yegolev]

You couldn't fill your pool for $32K!

It's being filled for free right now.  Downside is that my DSL is out.

Move to Portsmouth, UK, and get a contract with IBM.  They pay well, taxes are cheap for contractors in the UK and IBM contracts just go on and on and on forever and ever and ever....

Man, I'd do that for real.  If you have a contact, I'll be your BFF.

Or become a rock icon.

I considered it but I'm not willing to compromise my artistic integrity.


Ah, by the way, it is raining here.

[Signe]

My cat is digging a hole to China in his litter box.   

[Nebu]

My cat is digging a hole to China in his litter box.   

My cat has a new thing that is driving me nuts.  After using the litter box, he claws the bathroom wall.  I think he's going insane.  Maybe he's trying to dig a hole to California. 

[FatuousTwat]

One of my cats scratches the wall next to her food after done eating... It drives me insane. YOU AREN'T COVERING ANYTHING UP! STOP!

[Ingmar]

You might want to watch Lister (did I remember the cat's name properly? if so I want a gold star) closely to make sure he doesn't have a peeing problem of some sort or another, Signe - excessive litterbox digging can be a sign of that.

You know, keep a cat pee diary or something.

[Merusk]

Ah, by the way, it is raining here.

Raining?  Fuck, it's flooding there according to the news.  I expect we'll see you on the Ark soon enough.

[Sjofn]

One of my cats scratches the wall next to her food after done eating... It drives me insane. YOU AREN'T COVERING ANYTHING UP! STOP!

One of our cats tries to bury her leavings in the littlerbox, but she fails miserably. She just sort of flails one paw about, hitting the litterbox cover and such, but not actually any litter. (This would be Gilly, who is new and still technically a kitten although she's in that too big to be cute by default, but too small to be a "real" cat stage)

[Endie]

My cat, Renton, indulges in much the same, ineffectual pawing at the tray rather then the litter. I imagine that it is a mixture of the instinctive desire to cover his droppings with feline fastidiousness about coming into contact with used litter.

[Cyrrex]

I had a cat that did that once, and after some investigation we found that it was likely due to the simple fact that he was taken away from his mommy too early and never learned how to do certain things properly.  He had a lot of quirks that may have resulted from that.

[Engels]

Ya, our male cat fails at covering poo. He is very cute; he actually drags the poop scooper into the box and bats it about, since he sees mom and dad using it. Same as Cyrrex's cat, Burger was taken away from his mother too early for a kitten. It had to be done, since the mother was mistreating the kittens to the point of endangering them.

His sister, for some reason, is fine. At one point, she was only peeing on towels and jackets left on the sofa. Turns out she had a urinary tract infection, and that behavior is a common indicator.

[Signe]

Magenta doesn't even bother trying to cover her poop.  She goes and then sits down and stares at me, sometimes making her weird ah-ah-ah-ah noise until I get up and scoop it out.  It's not as if I wouldn't notice.  I can smell a dirty poopy box from anywhere in the house and then it's gone immediately.  Lister will fool me now and again because he's so fastidious about covering it up completely. 

Is Trippy going to shout at me for having cat threads all over the place?  I don't like making Trippy angry.  It's so not in his nature.

[Viin]

So, turns out the Jamba Juice oatmeal is pretty good. A little thick (I like mine with milk) but good.

Better than Starbucks oatmeal. However, even Starbucks instant oatmeal is better than any instant oatmeal I make. Seems like the same dried oats mix that you can buy at the store, but the Starbucks oatmeal comes out fluffy while my oatmeal comes out flat and sludge like. Yuck.

Whats the trick for getting good(ish) instant oatmeal?

[Signe]

I didn't even know Starbucks made oatmeal.  By instant, do you mean like the little packages that you make in the microwave?  I find it hard to believe you can screw up oatmeal in a bag.  Maybe they use water instead of milk?  Also, I looked up Jamba and they use soy milk in theirs.  God, I hate soy milk!  You know, you can make regular oatmeal in a slow cooker and leave it overnight and you'll have a yummy breakfast for the whole family in the morning! 

[Nebu]

I didn't even know Starbucks made oatmeal.  By instant, do you mean like the little packages that you make in the microwave?  I find it hard to believe you can screw up oatmeal in a bag.  Maybe they use water instead of milk?  Also, I looked up Jamba and they use soy milk in theirs.  God, I hate soy milk!  You know, you can make regular oatmeal in a slow cooker and leave it overnight and you'll have a yummy breakfast for the whole family in the morning! 

When I make oats, I through them in salted boiling water for about 2-3 mins and then drain all the water I can.  If you use whole oats, they end up with a nice chewy texture. 

Nice idea using a slow cooker.  Would make the house smell nice if you added some cinnamon. 

[Viin]

What? Plan meals ahead? You sound like my wife!

Yeah the instant packets you can get at the supermarket. I swear Starbucks uses the same thing but theirs comes out better. Try it sometime and let me know if yours are the same, 'cause mine come out of the microwave a lot different. I've tried milk, water, milk and water... The only thing I can think of that Starbucks does different is with their container. They have this cup/bowl with a tight lid with small holes in the top. I wonder if that is actually steaming the oats rather than just "cooking" them in hot water.

When I make oats, I through them in salted boiling water for about 2-3 mins and then drain all the water I can.  If you use whole oats, they end up with a nice chewy texture.  
Nice idea using a slow cooker.  Would make the house smell nice if you added some cinnamon.  

The slow cooker is a good idea, I'll have to try that soon. When I make oatmeal at home I have no problem, but I don't usually have time to make something before going to work, so I do instant things (like a English muffin, instant oatmeal, a bagel, yogurt, etc) when I get into the office.

[Signe]

I don't remember where I saw the exact recipe for slow cooker oatmeal, but I think it was my sister.  There are recipes out there, though, I just looked it up.  If you throw blueberries in your oatmeal, you will live forever!  Do you have a rice steamer?  Try making the oatmeal in that?  I guess it would be the same premise as the Starbucks oatmeal steamer.

[Yegolev]

Tried to go to work today by four different routes, all closed.  It's like I'm in a Twilight Zone episode where I can't leave the county.  Also there is a main circuit break and my DSL is out, so I am playing The Witcher instead of MMOs.  Of course I still have voice service so the phone keeps ringing .  I did not try leaving by north or west today; I think the north routes are clear so I will give that a shot tomorrow.

[Murgos]

Whats the trick for getting good(ish) instant oatmeal?

Stop using instant oatmeal.  No, seriously.  Get regular rolled oats and put 1/2c + 1c milk into bowl and microwave on high for 90s.  Let it sit for a minute or two, stir and eat.

I generally put in a dollop of maple syrup and pour a little half+half in also maybe a handful of raisins.

I use McCann's Irish Oats.

[Signe]

I use the McCann's, too, unless.  It's easier but you can just buy organic oats really cheap in bags locally.  The instant might be nice for a quick snack.  For some reason I'm strangely interested in trying Starbucks oatmeal.  Maybe it's the allure of coffee, although I almost never buy coffee out.  I make lovely coffee.

[Nerf]

My dogs sit at the door and bark at me when they have to poop.  Then they go do it outside.  I have small dogs so I never have to actually come in contact with the poop.
Take that cat people.

[Cyrrex]

My dogs sit at the door and bark at me when they have to poop.  Then they go do it outside.  I have small dogs so I never have to actually come in contact with the poop.
Take that cat people.

So...the dog just shits wherever and you leave it there?  Or did you mean something else?

[Nerf]

Yeah pretty much, Gizmo is 4.5lbs and Bayer is 18lbs or so, their turds are tiny and fertilize the lawn between mowings - no sense scooping when they're that small.

[Cyrrex]

Remind me not to come over to your house for Yard Darts.

[Nebu]

Remind me not to come over to your house for Yard Darts.

Or croquet!

[Cyrrex]

Remind me not to come over to your house for Yard Darts.

Or croquet!

Did you see that last shot I made?  It was heading toward the wicket, but instead it rolled into a big pile of shit!  Oh look, now I've stepped in poop.

[Nevermore]

Que Sera, Sera

[Nerf]

We live in north Texas, outside is fucking miserable for 80% of the year, and if we want to spend the other 20% outside there are a number of parks nearby we can go ride bikes in.  Yards are just a buffer so you don't have to deal with your fucking neighbors.

[Signe]

80%!  That's a lot of miserable outside time.  Why do you live there?

[Nebu]

80%!  That's a lot of miserable outside time.  Why do you live there?

For the same reason that people live in Phoenix or Seattle?