[Tiste Simeon]

TheRetiredBridgeburner, on 01 May 2025 - 08:18 AM, said:

I found out yesterday I'm going to be promoted!

Manager has set a couple of criteria to work towards and we'll have regular meetings to discuss those, but she asked for next year and the powers that be have said if I meet the criteria it can be whenever at her discretion.

It's a bit of a shock - I'm very early in terms of length of time doing the job to make Senior, but our team situation is a bit unique and my attorneys fed back that I've basically functioned as second in command to manager for a long time now despite that.

Hasn't really sunk in yet but what a lovely surprise!

Ah massive congratulations! You'll be full lawyer before you know it

[QuickTidal]

TheRetiredBridgeburner, on 01 May 2025 - 08:18 AM, said:

I found out yesterday I'm going to be promoted!

Manager has set a couple of criteria to work towards and we'll have regular meetings to discuss those, but she asked for next year and the powers that be have said if I meet the criteria it can be whenever at her discretion.

It's a bit of a shock - I'm very early in terms of length of time doing the job to make Senior, but our team situation is a bit unique and my attorneys fed back that I've basically functioned as second in command to manager for a long time now despite that.

Hasn't really sunk in yet but what a lovely surprise!

Amazing! Always great to be recognized and to grow in your job! Congrats!

[Azath Vitr (D'ivers]

I've discovered that even though I don't like ordinary Uzbek suzma (that I've had so far at least) very much---not even with the luscious crisp juicy radishes they serve it with---if I put it in the freezer for a day, so that it forms ice crystals... then I love it.

They do also add a light sprinkling of some red spice to a part of it---could be a tiny bit of paprika?---maybe more of that would also make it tastier... the burning yoghurt, fire and milky ice crystals...

This post has been edited by Azath Vitr (D'ivers: 01 May 2025 - 03:42 PM

[worry]

Oh here we go again with the Uzbek suzma. Can we go a single day without all the Uzbek suzma talk?

[QuickTidal]

worry, on 01 May 2025 - 03:37 PM, said:

Oh here we go again with the Uzbek suzma. Can we go a single day without all the Uzbek suzma talk?

Yeah, it's tiresome to see chatter about *checks notes* a tangy yogurt cheese? so regularly.

[amphibian]

This suzma cheese sounds delicious and also a set-up for a ligma situation.

Azath, you might like churpi (often used as dog chews because they're so hard). https://en.m.wikiped...rg/wiki/Chhurpi

[Azath Vitr (D'ivers]

It also tastes better if you've been fasting for five days. Prolonged fasting reduces gut microbiome diversity but might make it more feasible for probiotics to cause long-lasting changes in the gut microbiome. (Pickled vegetables are also an option; but there's a strong association between pickled vegetable consumption and stomach cancer in studies on East Asian populations; OTOH the results of observational studies on non-East Asians have been mixed so far... although rates of stomach cancer are also significantly higher in Eastern Europe than in Western Europe, and pickled vegetables are consumed more frequently in Eastern Europe. A disadvantage of fasting is that---at least in rodents---there's an increased risk of carcinogenesis during the recovery period if exposed to carcinogens.)

Suzma is very similar to chakka, labaneh, and Greek yoghurt, though I see some suzma recipes suggest straining Greek yoghurt to produce suzma, so I'd guess that suzma is actually strained more. It's interesting how they're served differently---an acclaimed local Lebanese restaurant serves labaneh topped with olive oil and mint, to be eaten with pita... instead of topping it with paprika (if that's what that sprinkling of mysterious red powder is---could also be powdered beets?), to be eaten with radishes. (But they're really good radishes!)

I prefer Uzbek chalop as usually served (it's a watery chilled yoghurt soup with chopped cucumbers and spices), but suzma is strained and aged and so almost certainly has a higher density of bacteria. Mmm, bacteria... if "cheese is the corpse of milk", suzma is the zombie... or the lich.

This post has been edited by Azath Vitr (D'ivers: 01 May 2025 - 08:01 PM

[Azath Vitr (D'ivers]

My mother gave away almost all my old books.

She also recycled a few.

... that I'd left at my parents' house, that is. I decided that it might be easier for her to give or throw things away if she saw that I was willing to go first by going through my old books and designating almost all of them to be given away or recycled (my father was running out of toilet paper, after all... kidding! it's for mummy wrappings obviously, just like Sappho and Plato... intertwined around the brainless dessicated remains that they're holding together, like a papery (or papyrusy) hug...).

So out of about 300 books I picked around 25 to keep. Though I could get rid of those as well. I prefer ebooks these days anyway.

First my mother wanted me to put the ones to give away in boxes---done. But then she said she didn't want to give them away in boxes, but in paper bags that would be easier to lift. I suspected that she was coming up with an excuse to put off giving them away, so I put them in paper bags. Then she said she wanted to write down all the titles and whether they're fiction or nonfiction before giving them away. "Do you think I'll be able to tell which they are by looking at them?" (About half of them were either poetry or philosophy, so... both and neither? "I tell you again it don't apply...") I offered to write it all down for her---no, she said, she'll do it. So I was very skeptical that she would actually give them away in a timely fashion.

But lo and behold, she did. Perhaps part of her was hoping I would feel some anguish over losing all those old books. They did bring back some memories---of where I was when I was reading them, what motivated me to buy them and read them... and ultimately to remember why I didn't bother bringing them with me to my apartment, where I have about another 400 books.

My mother also thought my grandparents' old gargantuan multi-volume encyclopedia might be worth money, but it's worthless (except as recycling). And so are old the medical books. Some of the old psychoanalysis books have a bit of resale value, but not enough for us to bother; and various psychoanalytic organizations I reached out to said they're not interested, so we can just donate those too (... where they'll probably end up being recycled---after all, with these tariff-bare shelves we might have some toilet paper shortages coming up...).

Quote

Some Trump administration officials are stockpiling toilet paper and food before Trump's tariffs cause prices to skyrocket

https://www.rollings...ffs-1235329235/

[Tsundoku]

I like that the last few letters of "tariffs" are "FFS".

[QuickTidal]

My dad got us a BBQ for a housewarming gift. It has arrived and I need to assemble it, but it's exciting....we lived in a Condo for 20 years so I've never had a BBQ.


Beyond that, he realized that his 12 year old car was not going to get him and my stepmom to the end of their lives (He doesn't think it's morbid to discuss such things), so they've bought a new one and out of the blue has offered to "gift" their old one to me for $3...as he knows we struggle a bit with one car. since we both work. He's had it fully serviced and all we need to do is the paperwork ect and it should be ours by the end of May.


So that's two really good things in the last week.

[Abyss]

QuickTidal, on 01 May 2025 - 05:08 PM, said:

worry, on 01 May 2025 - 03:37 PM, said:

Oh here we go again with the Uzbek suzma. Can we go a single day without all the Uzbek suzma talk?

Yeah, it's tiresome to see chatter about *checks notes* a tangy yogurt cheese? so regularly.

amphibian, on 01 May 2025 - 05:40 PM, said:

This suzma cheese sounds delicious and also a set-up for a ligma situation.

Azath, you might like churpi (often used as dog chews because they're so hard). https://en.m.wikiped...rg/wiki/Chhurpi

I see your churpi and raise you a fine Kazakh qurt.

[QuickTidal]

Abyss, on 02 May 2025 - 02:42 PM, said:

QuickTidal, on 01 May 2025 - 05:08 PM, said:

worry, on 01 May 2025 - 03:37 PM, said:

Oh here we go again with the Uzbek suzma. Can we go a single day without all the Uzbek suzma talk?

Yeah, it's tiresome to see chatter about *checks notes* a tangy yogurt cheese? so regularly.

amphibian, on 01 May 2025 - 05:40 PM, said:

This suzma cheese sounds delicious and also a set-up for a ligma situation.

Azath, you might like churpi (often used as dog chews because they're so hard). https://en.m.wikiped...rg/wiki/Chhurpi

I see your churpi and raise you a fine Kazakh qurt.

A cheese of resilience!

[Azath Vitr (D'ivers]

QuickTidal, on 02 May 2025 - 03:16 PM, said:

A cheese of resilience!

Perhaps you should test it with the lances (or if lances won't cut it, tongs) and the fires of your barbecue...

[Azath Vitr (D'ivers]

Looking for interesting restaurants in Philadelphia that I haven't tried yet that have delivery via Grubhub, I discovered an acclaimed Yemeni restaurant with some dishes I'm unfamiliar with....

Particularly acclaimed for their blackened fish.

What better way to celebrate the news?...

Quote

Another $70 Million Fighter Jet Sinks Into Sea During Hegseth's War

[...] after it went overboard during an unsuccessful landing on the USS Harry Truman aircraft carrier.

Spoiler

The two aviators who were in the aircraft safely ejected and were rescued [...]

The incident happened the same day [...] Trump announced a ceasefire deal with the Houthis, the Iran-backed rebel group that the Truman's crew has been battling in Yemen. [...]

Hours after Trump's announcement, the Houthis "took a shot" at the aircraft carrier

A third fighter jet was accidentally shot down over the Red Sea in December by another Navy warship

https://www.thedaily...k-into-the-sea/

This post has been edited by Azath Vitr (D'ivers: 07 May 2025 - 10:38 PM

[QuickTidal]

They chose a new pope. American/Peruvian, a reformer like Francis...so luckily no hardliner nonsense to deal with. A continuation of Francis's more progressive policies likely.

Pope Leo XIV (born Robert Francis Prevost)

This post has been edited by QuickTidal: 08 May 2025 - 05:27 PM

[Tiste Simeon]

I was hoping for the nice smelling pontiff, Pope Pourri.

[QuickTidal]

Tiste Simeon, on 08 May 2025 - 05:51 PM, said:

I was hoping for the nice smelling pontiff, Pope Pourri.

Do you think they chose by ranked ballots, or First Past The Pope?

[worry]

I thought I ran a good campaign but congrats to the winner.

[Tiste Simeon]

QuickTidal, on 08 May 2025 - 06:03 PM, said:

Tiste Simeon, on 08 May 2025 - 05:51 PM, said:

I was hoping for the nice smelling pontiff, Pope Pourri.

Do you think they chose by ranked ballots, or First Past The Pope?

I think they have a guy that can remember exactly what every person has voted. He has popal recall.

[Azath Vitr (D'ivers]

Huh, looks like that creepy little Lynn Chadwick sculpture in my closet---that my grandfather gave me a long time ago, saying it's valuable, but I've never really liked---should go for at least about $20,000 (with some selling recently for about $100,000):

https://www.artsy.ne...sale_dates=true

And looking through his works, it looks like I might have also gotten their other Chadwick, which is larger and similar to this one:

https://www.artsy.ne...-result/7223737

... which sold for $152,231 last year.

But I like that one (mine is actually much cooler looking than the one that sold for > $150k), so I won't sell it unless I "have to". Besides, it's nice to have some real assets other than gold, music gear, and a couple of very old Rolexes. And some of my old Magic cards of course...

Meanwhile, a large-ish painting (like five foot by five foot) I don't really like visually that my grandmother kept because it was by a colleague of hers (some art therapy pioneer from the UK) and she thought the title was very funny in the context of psychotherapy would probably only sell for around $600---if at all, since it's more figurative than the work that sold at auction. Might see if I can just donate that somewhere.

They did sell their artwork that was appraised as more valuable---stuff like their Miro painting, Franz Kline, etc. I do also have their Anthony Caro sculpture, in my closet but it's one of his early figural works (he's known for his later abstract sculptures) and would probably only sell for about $5000... I have no intent to sell anytime soon.

Two new availabilities opened up at my apartment complex that apparently can be accessed from outdoors and don't open onto communal indoor spaces. Rent is 30% higher which is ridiculous, and I don't really need to live in Philadelphia anyway, but it might be nice to spend another year or four in the city before leaving.

The apartment to transfer to is just across the courtyard, so I'm tempted to move most of the artwork myself. But some of it is a bit too large for one person to move (9 foot x 4.5 foot painting for example). Hopefully I'll be able to get professional movers on relatively short notice (just over two months) for such a small move. Groundfloor to groundfloor even. Don't want some rando off of Taskrabbit damaging something... or trying to rob me for that matter. Would be funny if I got an art student to do it, thinking they'd be more careful with the art, and then they recognized what I had and decided to rob me... though they'd have a hard time running off with these, because most of them are pretty heavy last I checked. Maybe if it were several art students running off with it, holding it between them... now that would be a visual, me chasing after them across the courtyard and down the street.)