Lounge random thoughts/stories thread -- CURRENT

[Da Xiang]

I ran into someone today, in the hustle and bustle of Southern California. They grew up in the same small town (less than 5k people) as I did, graduated a few years ago.

I knew their aunt. Same graduating class as me. This is the kid of her younger sister.

Small world.

I met a man here in Southern China who used to live 2 miles from me in Portland, Oregon and came to this city in China the same year that I did.

Small world.

 

[Da Xiang]

(raises hand)
I have enough trouble keeping my head on straight without taking toxic, often addictive substances to undo all that work on purpose, thanks.

Add coffee to that list and I'll raise my hand too. I've seen to many alcoholics and addicts to every have any interest in any of that lifestyle.....

 

[Da Xiang]

Snickers is the king of candy bars.

 

[Da Xiang]

Coffee Crisp, you heathen.

Never heard of that one but in my experience anything with even a hint of coffee flavor lingers in my mouth for a week. Coffee and liver are the two worst tastes on the planet.

 

[Da Xiang]

One of my old coworkers, at some point in his young adulthood, developed an allergy to chocolate. And he loved it. Oof.

Though I did get to enjoy presenting him and the other coworker who had a bad peanut allergy with a (packaged) Reese's Cup, and having them hiss and pull back like they were vampires. That was fun to set up...and a good anecdote for training new hires that, if I hadn't cleared it with those two people, I'd be a jerk.

ex-wife had a severe chocolate allergy but she was able to eat carob as a substitute and fortunately for her, Fred Meyer's Health Food Center had carob covered raisins. I loved those!

 

[Da Xiang]

Bananas here always seem to be dark green or black.....seldom anything that looks appealing.

 

[Da Xiang]

Being married and having a kid - it's no longer that simple.

Plus I'm concerned about supply chain collapse due to the tariff insanity.

Yes, we do still need to jettison stuff and I am getting some out - but the rate is too low for meaningful progress.

Long before my move to China, I downsized my possessions by getting rid of anything I hadn't used/worn/admired in the previous year. It's all just stuff. I moved to China with 3 suitcases and never missed anything.

 

[Da Xiang]

Think twice, you may not want to be indebted with some Igor knowing his way around a shovel. If really needed, it's slighty safer with a Giuseppe.

GUIDO! I used to have a 6'8" Guido friend that I often used as a threat against people who borrowed stuff and were slow to return.....

 

[Da Xiang]

The other day Mrs B said for the 5th time how much she likes the cordless magnifying makeup mirror I got her for Christmas.

And it struck me. I got her the Ugg ankle boots she wanted, they have never been worn because she doesn't want to get them dirty. I got her the little cross-body purse she wanted, it's still in the box because it's too nice and she got a more utilitarian version right after. I also got her a coat that has been worn maybe twice because it's a weird weight that's not warm enough for winter but too warm for mild weather.

But this $30 thing that I happened to see at Costco last-minute, that's the big gift she loves.

yeah...spent $1000 on a necklace she has never worn, "afraid I will lose it".

 

[Da Xiang]

Of the following "Last" movies from the 80's, only one can stay and the rest have to go.

• The Last Dragon (1985)
• The Last Emperor (1987)
• The Last Starfighter (1984)
• The Last Unicorn (1982)

Which are you picking?

Starfighter!

 

[Da Xiang]

I waited for a year or two while prices stopped being stupid, perfectly happy with the GTX1060 I was running - I don't game - before finally purchasing the RTX3070 that was originally planned for the box in early 2023. The 1060 gave no problems; it was only a software upgrade or two after adding the 3070 that Chrome forgot how to play video. Steady deterioration, until I needed to switch to Chromium a while back to have synched audio and video.

Yeah, I know how to do CLI - I've been using computers for a living off and on since it was all DOS-based; I installed WfW on my (small) employer's computers for the first time after also having added their first hard drive in the building- but the whole appeal of Linux almost 10 years ago was that it had finally become plug-n-play.

And it worked great for my use case in Ubuntu 18x. Seamless. Everything worked the same way Win98 and XP did, which is a high compliment in context. And it deteriorated since, steadily. First, Pulse Audio (spits) and then video lost its' shit.

Think I'm done with Ubuntu, understanding it might just be Nvidia. Tomorrow I'm gonna clean repave with MX-XFCE (I got backups, and have a mind to see what else is out there 'cause I can't stop fucking with things), look at what happens, and then maybe hold the line until I can find a while RX 9060XT.

Look, I lived thru Win95 in a professional environment. How could it get worse?

WindowsME

 

[Da Xiang]

NOPE. You skip generations of Windows. It is known

The question I replied to was "How could it get worse". Win95 was definitely better than Windows ME. Anything would be better than Windows ME.

 

[Da Xiang]

Memories
May be beautiful and yet
What's too painful to remember
We simply to choose to forget

 

[Da Xiang]

I wonder if I have ever bought milk from the same cow twice.

Not bought but definitely drank. My grandparents had a small farm....

 

[Da Xiang]

Your first AARP mimeograph will be mixed in with your mail tomorrow.

One of the advantages of being an ex-pat!

 

[Da Xiang]

Ate at one of those buffets the other day that delivers the food to your table using automated robots. Although almost half of our food ended up being delivered by an actual human from the kitchen. If you’re going to embrace the machine revolution, then at least go full hog with it.

It did get me thinking though, how we’re basically at a point where you could sit down at a standard restaurant and never see or interact with a human at all. QR/digital ordering, robot servers, pay at the table. I wonder how many places where this is already a reality. The only thing missing is the Star Wars-esq robot chef in the back I suppose.

We already have all but the robot chef here in China.

 

[Da Xiang]

Go back to Dr. Tell him the stuff makes you high. Specifically ask for a non-narcotic.

...and get someone else to drive you there!

 

[Da Xiang]

I have an old man rant that I need to do.

Does anyone knock on doors or ring doorbells anymore? So many times whenever someone is coming over to get something from FBMP/Craigslist/NextDoor or whenever there is an UberEats/DoorDash delivery, they text me something along the lines of "here". I don't always keep my phone on my at all times. Just come up to the door and ring the doorbell so that I can actually hear it.

In China, people just come to the door and announce themselves through the door. I've never had anyone knock and there aren't doorbells.

 

[Da Xiang]

I have bought a Keychron M7 mouse. This is an attempt to finally break my Razer habit and say goodbye to their extraordinarily intrusive software and random connectivity failures - often associated with said intrusive as hell software.

We’ll see how it goes. Crossing my fingers.

Huh? I've never installed any mouse software. I used a Razer wireless mouse for many years before I decided it was looking a little beat and replaced it.

 

[Da Xiang]

Neat.

If you want to program any macros, futz with the RGB, or adjust the set DPI levels? You need the software. And Razer’s is terrible.

I see. I never bothered. I just want the actual mouse function.

 

[Da Xiang]

Decades ago I was at my mom's at lunch time. Paul Harvey was on the radio talking about the Annual Meeting of "Procrastinators of America" being postponed. Mom and I simultaneously said, "I want to join that club! I could be president!"

We had a good laugh but of course neither of us ever got around to following up.....

 

[Da Xiang]

A few years back a friend gave me a drone for Christmas. I never even opened the box. A couple of years later I re-gifted it to the 15 year old son of a friend.

 

[Da Xiang]

It was my 20th year work anniversary on 6/6/65

Holy crap, time does fly!

20th? That was 60 years ago!

 

[Da Xiang]

One of the few times touchscreen scrolling is superior to mouse. That said, I overshot the text a few times and had to back up. I heard the “truck backing up” sound every time I had to.

opened it on my PC. No mouse or touchscreen needed. Just used the arrow keys......

 

[Da Xiang]

The Sleestak hangs out in Portland, OR these days.....

 

[Da Xiang]

In large swatch's of America, ketchup chips are like fish tacos; they make no fucking sense until you try them done right. Then the dawning light of revelation blesses one's self and he/she becomes one of the converted. It's truly a beautiful thing.

There are tomato flavored potato (many brands) and tortilla chips (Mission brand) in all the larger supermarkets in this Chinese city. The tortilla chips are good but a big no-thanks on the potato chips.

 

[Da Xiang]

To cope with modern times, I have been doing what some would call "heavy drinking." The Ketel One is almost down to Zero.

View attachment 112039

There is more in that cupboard than I have downed in my 71+ years.

 

[Da Xiang]

Do you just not like Earl Grey?

No. I don't like Earl Grey at all. And no Black Tea or Puer. I prefer red tea or green tea.

 

[Da Xiang]

Amazon suggested a list of college essentials deals, and the first thing was a $468 Dyson stick vacuum.

Did the college experience change a lot since I went?

What ever happened to 12 for a dollar Ramen?

 

[Da Xiang]

You mean that's not what people mean when they say they want some hot sex?

Is that what they use in the intimate warming gels? Chilies?

 

[Da Xiang]

To be fair, those outfits in the picture are extremely formal special occasion attire. For the tangzhuang, at least, it's a lot less formal. Plus, you see celebrities like Donnie Yen or Jackie Chan wearing it fairly frequently.

21 years of living in China and I've yet to encounter anyone wearing this style outfit.

 

[Da Xiang]

I have in Tianjin. Mostly older folks. Also saw it at the Guwenhuajie (Ancient Cultural St) where there are a lot of traditional artisans like calligraphers.

On the other hand, I still see qipao almost everyday.

 

[Da Xiang]

Went to the dentist. Good news, I get to keep all my teeth. Bad news, have to go back for a deep cleaning.

Funny how EVERYONE ALWAYS has to go back for that "deep cleaning".

 

[Da Xiang]

Got my UK passport today. Yay.

God save the King I guess

Congratz! I'm off to Macau in a couple of hours to reset my 60-day visa for another stay.

 

[Da Xiang]

I have literally never had to do that, ever.

Oh! So you're the one I heard about....

 

[Da Xiang]

Either they're doing it because you have badly receded gums, or its a chain dentist and they are mining your insurance

Sorry, but I'm betting on the latter.

 

[Da Xiang]

It's been a bit since I've been to the dentist. And what's with all the medical cynism? It's like I've discovered the "do your own research" of Ars.

It has been said elsewhere. Easy way to get money from the insurance companies.

 

[Da Xiang]

Just the other day I ran across a video of Obama saying something to the effect of ‘it’s not acceptable to put ketchup on a hot dog past the age of 8’. This is the first time I can ever recall hearing anything to that effect, so it was a fascinating discovery that this was even ‘a thing’ in some places.

Only ketchup and yellow mustard on my hot dogs--ever!

 

[Da Xiang]

It's not like the Costco here has anything other than ketchup and mustard to go on the hot dogs. And mustard alone is just a bit wrong. I happen to like the K&M on corn dogs, as well.

That said, I never put ketchup in anything else, with the notable exception of Kraft Dinner. Dijon ketchup, if you please.

I've never had a corn dog. Ketchup is ok with french fries but I'm generally too lazy to dip so I seldom bother. I've put ketchup on meatloaf before but I haven't had meatloaf since moving out of my parent's home in 1972. Here, Chinese think Ketchup, tomato sauce and tomato paste are all the same thing.

 

[Da Xiang]

A good meatloaf should never be made with ketchup, but with a good BBQ sauce and a good BBQ glaze on top.

I'm not convinced there is any such thing as a good meatloaf.

I was talking about using some ketchup on it when I ate it. Not for cooking! For that you are correct.