[TheRetiredBridgeburner]

Tiste Simeon, on 12 August 2024 - 11:41 AM, said:

I'd go down the sod it route TRB, though interestingly their views go quite nicely in the period you're fascinated by so maybe it won't be out of place in an ancient castle. Maybe they can negotiate your sale to the king of Saxony in order to shore up the alliance?

I take it Mr NAB is on your side of things and understands your frustrations?

Also, picture of him in the Smithy for my entertainment please.

Yes, Mr NAB is very understanding and does his best to push back - and has been very clear that I'm not to do anything different because it's their problem. I agree with his take that the constant kid conversation is inconsiderate rather than pointed (because I suspect they're just doing what they do when it's the four of them and the kids and we're not there), but he does understand why it's annoying (and gets fed up of it himself).

If we find one, mission accepted!

worry, on 12 August 2024 - 12:07 PM, said:

That sucks. This isn't a solution or advice or anything, but the fact is they are wrong and you are right. This isn't like a toppings on pizza preference thing. So ultimately, they're just gonna have to get used to you being yourself, rather than the other way around.

Key phrases to add to your lexicon: "Did I ask?", "Did I stutter?", and of course "I could bench press you."

Thanks Worry I look forward to the future use of all three (in one conversation? Sure, I'll challenge myself )

[Macros]

Think my sister is reading Dianectics, by L Ron Hubbard

[Tiste Simeon]

 Macros, on 12 August 2024 - 07:50 PM, said:

Think my sister is reading Dianectics, by L Ron Hubbard

Oh no

[Cause]

 Macros, on 12 August 2024 - 07:50 PM, said:

Think my sister is reading Dianectics, by L Ron Hubbard

Intervention now, repair relationship later.

There must be tons of resources of what to do at this stage. Hyperbole aside though scout out how serious she is taking it. I imagine it bounces off a lot of people too without any help.

[Cause]

Does the forum keep going dark for a few hours at a time for other people?

[Tsundoku]

 Cause, on 13 August 2024 - 12:34 AM, said:

Does the forum keep going dark for a few hours at a time for other people?

Read from this post onward:

https://forum.malaza...ost__p__1468353

[Azath Vitr (D'ivers]

Turns out that cheap iodized salt I ordered on Amazon is cheap for a reason... the packaging frequently doesn't survive shipping, exploding inside the Amazon box... and Amazon doesn't allow refunds or replacements. I really should have checked the myriad one-star reviews before buying it. Now I'm on the verge of running out of salt, and to get the same price per ounce I had to buy ten pounds of salt (... that looks like it at least comes in sturdy enough containers).

Don't buy this shit:

Amazon.com : Hain Pure Foods Iodized Sea Salt, 21 Oz : Everything Else

This post has been edited by Azath Vitr (D'ivers: 15 August 2024 - 07:20 PM

[Whisperzzzzzzz]

 Azath Vitr (D, on 15 August 2024 - 07:07 PM, said:

Turns out that cheap iodized salt I ordered on Amazon is cheap for a reason... the packaging frequently doesn't survive shipping, exploding inside the Amazon box... and Amazon doesn't allow refunds or replacements. I really should have checked the myriad one-star reviews before buying it. Now I'm on the verge of running out of salt, and to get the same price per ounce I had to buy ten pounds of salt (... that looks like it at least comes in sturdy enough containers).

Don't buy this shit:

Amazon.com : Hain Pure Foods Iodized Sea Salt, 21 Oz : Everything Else

Can't you buy iodized salt at any supermarket? I bought Morton's Iodized Salt earlier today at a grocery.

[Tsundoku]

WTF do you do with 4.5kg of salt?
A lot of magic ritual circles?
Take anything Macros says?

[Macros]

Shut it convict!

[Tsundoku]

*takes a pinch of salt*

This is going to last a while ...

[amphibian]

Life's too short for shitty main food ingredients and terrible toilet paper.

Don't cheap out on those.

I've grown to enjoy Diamond salt more than Morton's. I thought it was the pretentious foodie opinion, but lo, I do actually like it more.

I'm currently trying a few different soy sauces that aren't Kikkoman. Really like the Kamebishi one right now.

[Tiste Simeon]

 Tsundoku, on 16 August 2024 - 09:28 AM, said:

WTF do you do with 4.5kg of salt?
A lot of magic ritual circles?
Take anything Macros says?

I mean, for Macros' mammoth hands, 4.5kg is approximately a single pinch so you're probably not far off...

[Whisperzzzzzzz]

 amphibian, on 16 August 2024 - 12:20 PM, said:

Life's too short for shitty main food ingredients and terrible toilet paper.

Don't cheap out on those.

I've grown to enjoy Diamond salt more than Morton's. I thought it was the pretentious foodie opinion, but lo, I do actually like it more.

I'm currently trying a few different soy sauces that aren't Kikkoman. Really like the Kamebishi one right now.

Have you tried finishing foods with Maldon's sea salt or a fleur de sel? Or even a slice of fresh bread with some olive oil, roasted garlic, and Maldon's or fleur de sel sprinkled on. That's worth it.

This post has been edited by Whisperzzzzzzz: 16 August 2024 - 04:55 PM

[Cause]

 Azath Vitr (D, on 15 August 2024 - 07:07 PM, said:

Turns out that cheap iodized salt I ordered on Amazon is cheap for a reason... the packaging frequently doesn't survive shipping, exploding inside the Amazon box... and Amazon doesn't allow refunds or replacements. I really should have checked the myriad one-star reviews before buying it. Now I'm on the verge of running out of salt, and to get the same price per ounce I had to buy ten pounds of salt (... that looks like it at least comes in sturdy enough containers).

Don't buy this shit:

Amazon.com : Hain Pure Foods Iodized Sea Salt, 21 Oz : Everything Else

Good luck Hunter. Dark witches and demons don't kill themselves, your doing gods work.

Does the iodine improve the binding circle?

[Cause]

The nature of your colleagues are so important for a good working relationship, but also just efficiency.

I doubt you will remember but when I started my new job I was partnered with a sales rep with whom I would work closely. She drove me nuts because she had what I described as a mental disorder/compulsion to never stop talking. She was let go fairly soon after I started working with her and while I was never going to say anything I was so glad how things worked out. I just knew having to work with her closely every week would drive me nuts. Her replacement so far has been great.

However I am in theory supposed to work with 2 sales reps closely (its more like 4-5 it feels like), and the new hire who is my sales rep partner in the second territory is just hard to work with. He doesn't take feedback which is annoying when I am expressing a preference but outright infuriating when he ignores when I try to steer him away from making mistakes against company policy, misrepresenting our technology or making promises to customers on my behalf that I cant keep.

He schedules appointments on my calendar where I have conflicts and then gets annoyed when I reject them. He has promised a customer a demo and tentatively scheduled it before I have technically cleared it (company policy). I gave him a 3 day window for the demo expecting him to mention to the customer that their timeline was feasible and offer to have discussion. He sent them an invite for the first day (The day I would need to travel since its in Michigan and I dont live in Michigan). Worse he told them the demo will take 1 day (why he said this when he has no idea how long it will take since I do demos and he doesnt), it will take a minimum of 2 since the particualr equipment in questions takes one day just to set up.

This is after I specifically told him this week to stop scheduling installs of equipment with customers since I am the one who has to do them and therefore I will schedule according to the needs of my schedule. This is also company policy and how it works with everyone else at the company.

I think in his head he is the top performer but this attitude makes more work for everybody and doesnt help. He sends other sales reps emails about news at accounts that they dont cover. He offers to speak to other sales reps customers when he is on site but they would be his customers if he covered the equipment they were intrested in. So instead of providing any usefull information he wastes customer good will on a pointless meeting and freaks out other sales reps who either find it annying having to talk him through speaking to their customers remotely or worse feel resentful and think he is trying to steal their customers.

[Azath Vitr (D'ivers]

 Tsundoku, on 16 August 2024 - 09:28 AM, said:

WTF do you do with 4.5kg of salt?
A lot of magic ritual circles?

I consume about 1,300 mg less salt than the average American (that monstrous Form...). Here's my daily intake:

Spoiler

4/3 cups (= 316 ml) dried edamame with sea salt, 560 mg sodium
2 cans of sardines, 580 mg sodium
1/2 cup lightly salted almonds, 110 mg sodium
1/2 cup salted pistachios (no shells), 270 mg sodium
1/4 teaspoon iodized salt = 590 mg sodium

560+580+270+590 = 2000 mg

So without the extra salt I'd only be getting 1410 mg / day, which is below the common minimal recommended value of 1500 mg. (The official US RDV of 2300 mg is the value which they recommend you don't exceed, not the optimal value.)

I add the salt to 1/3rd cup of dried vegetables... with a fistful of garlic, a fistful of rosemary, a pinch of ginger, and a dash of dill.

(There are a few days each month when I do have (supposedly healthy) restaurant food instead---always either eating outside or eating leftovers in my apartment.)

So 10 pounds of iodized salt would last me just over 7 years. Problem is that while salt doesn't go bad (over current human lifespans), iodized salt sort of does---the iodine content decays. So I canceled the order.

While a substantial portion leaked out of the seams of the Amazon box, and it got all over the myriad other groceries inside, I was able to recover enough to last me about a year. Pretty sure it's sanitary enough, since salt kills microbes and I probably won't have to start using it for another week.

 Whisperzzzzzzz, on 16 August 2024 - 07:48 AM, said:

Can't you buy iodized salt at any supermarket? I bought Morton's Iodized Salt earlier today at a grocery.

The only nearby grocery stores are overpriced. And non-ultra-bulk Morton's salt---even on Amazon---is twice as expensive. More importantly, we're in the midst of the worse summer covid surge in years, and studies on long covid have only gotten more alarming: it turns out Paxlovid doesn't help significantly and long covid brain fog is accompanied by a breakdown in the blood-brain barrier. Even with my P100 mask there's always the possibility that it could come loose, or fail to fit well enough. No sense in needlessly risking long covid. I haven't been inside a physical store in years.

Actually I'm thinking of risking long covid for one thing that's extremely important to me... because the worst part of staying vigilant about the ongoing pandemic has not being able to fast for prolonged periods to slow my aging. I had thought of aging as mostly continuous, but according to a new study,

Quote

Scientists find humans age dramatically in two bursts – at 44, then 60

US findings suggesting ageing is not a slow and steady process

[...] The mid-40s ageing spike was unexpected and initially assumed to be a result of perimenopausal changes in women skewing results for the whole group. But the data revealed similar shifts were happening in men in their mid-40s, too.

Scientists find humans age dramatically in two bursts – at 44, then 60 | Medical research | The Guardian

So I think that after I get my next booster I might wait one month and then do another five-day chocolate-and-psyllium-husk-only fast. (Consuming only 200 calories a day---of pure unsweetened cocoa powder---which is extremely filling, basically all fat, and extraordinarily high in fiber.) Or I might try the fast mimicking diet instead, which is 700 calories / day for five days, if that will reduce the temporary negative impact on the immune system.

 amphibian, on 16 August 2024 - 12:20 PM, said:

Life's too short for shitty main food ingredients and terrible toilet paper.

Don't cheap out on those.

I've grown to enjoy Diamond salt more than Morton's. I thought it was the pretentious foodie opinion, but lo, I do actually like it more.

I'm currently trying a few different soy sauces that aren't Kikkoman. Really like the Kamebishi one right now.

In my youth I spent at least tens of thousands of dollars on food and drink for myself---eating at the world's most critically acclaimed restaurants, traveling mostly to eat. In retrospect, I consider it mostly a mistake. Pleasure is generated within our minds; and I can experience ecstatic bliss just by willing it. It feels like two points in the back of my head tingle and release something that spreads and swirls through my body. And I can imagine eating foods I've eaten (or other sensations I've had) with such vividness that it borders on hallucination.

Life's too short---and there's too much to learn, too much to do (before it's too late)---for me to spend too much time focused on eating.

So these days while I'm eating I'm usually pacing back and forth at a brisk speed and contemplating something far more important than food (like mathematics, or the stock market, or higher dimensional puns...)---just have to be careful I don't bite my mouth or my tongue so hard they have to be stitched back together (though come to think of it, in the not so distant future robotic prosthetics might be interesting... perhaps especially for vocalists).

However I did recently have Nepali cuisine for the first time (though I've had Tibetan and various regional Indian cuisines many times before, of course it's more than just a fusion of Indian and Tibetan with southwestern Chinese influences) and I do eat restaurant food more mindfully (... and typically not while pacing back and forth). Interesting how---at least according to Reddit---Nepali culinary philosophies tend to prioritize being able to taste the main ingredients, as opposed to some Indian cuisine that obscures the ingredients with spices (so in that respect that Nepali culinary philosophy seems similar to Cantonese (Guangdongese) or Japanese, even though Guangdong is in southeastern China and Sichuan Province (Szechuan cuisine) is much closer, being in southwestern China (of course Szechuan cuisine is famous for their intense use of spices). Granted, they're an "Indian and Nepali restaurant", so it's not clear whether they're always using Nepali versions of the dishes familiar from Indian cuisine. When I first tasted their dal tadka (lentils)---which I guess I wasn't eating properly, since I wasn't having it with rice---I felt like I'd prefer it with more spices, but as I got slightly deeper in the bowl a very pleasing and moderately intense mix of spices emerged. In contrast, when I first tried a spoonful of their mixed pickles (raw mango and vegetables), the sourness was shockingly overwhelming, and I thought my palate might just not be able to handle it. But when I tried it again later I realized that if I ate the pickled mango/vegetables without getting too much of the sauce I actually liked it a lot---still intensely flavorful. While I'm generally not that into noodles, and it was very hot out (I was eating outside of course), I did also enjoy their wai wai soup. The palek paneer seemed significantly different than what I remember from most Indian restaurants---it was yellow rather than green, for one---and I loved it even more than what I remember having from Indian restaurants. A different Nepali restaurant recently won a Best of Philly award---"You don't expect to find the best korma of your life in Voorhees"---though unfortunately it's over in New Jersey, and korma typically has sugar added to it, which I do my best to avoid even when eating restaurant food. But in the old days I definitely would have traveled out to that New Jersey strip mall, even if I had to take a bus and walk a few miles.

This post has been edited by Azath Vitr (D'ivers: 17 August 2024 - 09:59 PM

[Whisperzzzzzzz]

 Azath Vitr (D, on 17 August 2024 - 08:00 PM, said:

 Tsundoku, on 16 August 2024 - 09:28 AM, said:

WTF do you do with 4.5kg of salt?
A lot of magic ritual circles?

I consume about 1,300 mg less salt than the average American (that monstrous Form...). Here's my daily intake:

Spoiler

4/3 cups (= 316 ml) dried edamame with sea salt, 560 mg sodium
2 cans of sardines, 580 mg sodium
1/2 cup lightly salted almonds, 110 mg sodium
1/2 cup salted pistachios (no shells), 270 mg sodium
1/4 teaspoon iodized salt = 590 mg sodium

560+580+270+590 = 2000 mg

So without the extra salt I'd only be getting 1410 mg / day, which is below the common minimal recommended value of 1500 mg. (The official US RDV of 2300 mg is the value which they recommend you don't exceed, not the optimal value.)

I add the salt to 1/3rd cup of dried vegetables... with a fistful of garlic, a fistful of rosemary, a pinch of ginger, and a dash of dill.

(There are a few days each month when I do have (supposedly healthy) restaurant food instead---always either eating outside or eating leftovers in my apartment.)

So 10 pounds of iodized salt would last me just over 7 years. Problem is that while salt doesn't go bad (over current human lifespans), iodized salt sort of does---the iodine content decays. So I canceled the order.

While a substantial portion leaked out of the seams of the Amazon box, and it got all over the myriad other groceries inside, I was able to recover enough to last me about a year. Pretty sure it's sanitary enough, since salt kills microbes and I probably won't have to start using it for another week.

 Whisperzzzzzzz, on 16 August 2024 - 07:48 AM, said:

Can't you buy iodized salt at any supermarket? I bought Morton's Iodized Salt earlier today at a grocery.

The only nearby grocery stores are overpriced. And non-ultra-bulk Morton's salt---even on Amazon---is twice as expensive. More importantly, we're in the midst of the worse summer covid surge in years, and studies on long covid have only gotten more alarming: it turns out Paxlovid doesn't help significantly and long covid brain fog is accompanied by a breakdown in the blood-brain barrier. Even with my P100 mask there's always the possibility that it could come loose, or fail to fit well enough. No sense in needlessly risking long covid. I haven't been inside a physical store in years.

Actually I'm thinking of risking long covid for one thing that's extremely important to me... because the worst part of staying vigilant about the ongoing pandemic has not being able to fast for prolonged periods to slow my aging. I had thought of aging as mostly continuous, but according to a new study,

Quote

Scientists find humans age dramatically in two bursts – at 44, then 60

US findings suggesting ageing is not a slow and steady process

[...] The mid-40s ageing spike was unexpected and initially assumed to be a result of perimenopausal changes in women skewing results for the whole group. But the data revealed similar shifts were happening in men in their mid-40s, too.

Scientists find humans age dramatically in two bursts – at 44, then 60 | Medical research | The Guardian

So I think that after I get my next booster I might wait one month and then do another five-day chocolate-and-psyllium-husk-only fast. (Consuming only 200 calories a day---of pure unsweetened cocoa powder---which is extremely filling, basically all fat, and extraordinarily high in fiber.) Or I might try the fast mimicking diet instead, which is 700 calories / day for five days, if that will reduce the temporary negative impact on the immune system.

 amphibian, on 16 August 2024 - 12:20 PM, said:

Life's too short for shitty main food ingredients and terrible toilet paper.

Don't cheap out on those.

I've grown to enjoy Diamond salt more than Morton's. I thought it was the pretentious foodie opinion, but lo, I do actually like it more.

I'm currently trying a few different soy sauces that aren't Kikkoman. Really like the Kamebishi one right now.

In my youth I spent at least tens of thousands of dollars on food and drink for myself---eating at the world's most critically acclaimed restaurants, traveling mostly to eat. In retrospect, I consider it mostly a mistake. Pleasure is generated within our minds; and I can experience ecstatic bliss just by willing it. It feels like two points in the back of my head tingle and release something that spreads and swirls through my body. And I can imagine eating foods I've eaten (or other sensations I've had) with such vividness that it borders on hallucination.

Life's too short---and there's too much to learn, too much to do (before it's too late)---for me to spend too much time focused on eating.

So these days while I'm eating I'm usually pacing back and forth at a brisk speed and contemplating something far more important than food (like mathematics, or the stock market, or higher dimensional puns...)---just have to be careful I don't bite my mouth or my tongue so hard they have to be stitched back together (though come to think of it, in the not so distant future robotic prosthetics might be interesting... perhaps especially for vocalists).

However I did recently have Nepali cuisine for the first time (though I've had Tibetan and various regional Indian cuisines many times before, of course it's more than just a fusion of Indian and Tibetan with southwestern Chinese influences) and I do eat restaurant food more mindfully (... and typically not while pacing back and forth). Interesting how---at least according to Reddit---Nepali culinary philosophies tend to prioritize being able to taste the main ingredients, as opposed to some Indian cuisine that obscures the ingredients with spices (so in that respect that Nepali culinary philosophy seems similar to Cantonese (Guangdongese) or Japanese, even though Guangdong is in southeastern China and Sichuan Province (Szechuan cuisine) is much closer, being in southwestern China (of course Szechuan cuisine is famous for their intense use of spices). Granted, they're an "Indian and Nepali restaurant", so it's not clear whether they're always using Nepali versions of the dishes familiar from Indian cuisine. When I first tasted their dal tadka (lentils)---which I guess I wasn't eating properly, since I wasn't having it with rice---I felt like I'd prefer it with more spices, but as I got slightly deeper in the bowl a very pleasing and moderately intense mix of spices emerged. In contrast, when I first tried a spoonful of their mixed pickles (raw mango and vegetables), the sourness was shockingly overwhelming, and I thought my palate might just not be able to handle it. But when I tried it again later I realized that if I ate the pickled mango/vegetables without getting too much of the sauce I actually liked it a lot---still intensely flavorful. While I'm generally not that into noodles, and it was very hot out (I was eating outside of course), I did also enjoy their wai wai soup. The palek paneer seemed significantly different than what I remember from most Indian restaurants---it was yellow rather than green, for one---and I loved it even more than what I remember having from Indian restaurants. A different Nepali restaurant recently won a Best of Philly award---"You don't expect to find the best korma of your life in Voorhees"---though unfortunately it's over in New Jersey, and korma typically has sugar added to it, which I do my best to avoid even when eating restaurant food. But in the old days I definitely would have traveled out to that New Jersey strip mall, even if I had to take a bus and walk a few miles.

To clarify, the Paxlovid / Long COVID study you're likely referring to looked at people who previously had COVID* and have been suffering from Long COVID to see whether Paxlovid reduced their symptoms. It did not look at the effectiveness of Paxlovid in preventing acute worsening of symptoms or preventing Long COVID in patients with active COVID infections. As far as I am aware, Paxlovid still has some data showing effectiveness when taken during an active infection, though I still think we need more studies here.

* "Mean (SD) time between index SARS-CoV-2 infection and randomization was 17.5 (9.1) months"

This post has been edited by Whisperzzzzzzz: 17 August 2024 - 11:02 PM

[amphibian]

 Whisperzzzzzzz, on 16 August 2024 - 04:54 PM, said:

Have you tried finishing foods with Maldon's sea salt or a fleur de sel? Or even a slice of fresh bread with some olive oil, roasted garlic, and Maldon's or fleur de sel sprinkled on. That's worth it.

I use the Maldon's flakes all the time!

Best usage of it is in these salted chocolate chunk shortbread cookies from Alison Roman: https://www.alisoner...hunk-shortbread

[Azath Vitr (D'ivers]

 Whisperzzzzzzz, on 17 August 2024 - 11:00 PM, said:

To clarify, the Paxlovid / Long COVID study you're likely referring to looked at people who previously had COVID* and have been suffering from Long COVID to see whether Paxlovid reduced their symptoms. It did not look at the effectiveness of Paxlovid in preventing acute worsening of symptoms or preventing Long COVID in patients with active COVID infections. As far as I am aware, Paxlovid still has some data showing effectiveness when taken during an active infection, though I still think we need more studies here.

* "Mean (SD) time between index SARS-CoV-2 infection and randomization was 17.5 (9.1) months"

There's another study which found that taking Paxlovid during the acute phase of the infection failed to prevent long covid:

Quote

The research team selected a group of vaccinated people [...] who had reported their first positive test for COVID-19 [...] and who were not hospitalized. Some of these participants reported taking oral Paxlovid treatment during the acute phase of their COVID infection, while others did not.

[...] About 16% of those treated with Paxlovid had long COVID symptoms compared to 14% of those who were not treated. Commonly reported symptoms included fatigue, shortness of breath, confusion, headache, and altered taste and smell. Those who took Paxlovid and then went on to develop long COVID reported as many long COVID symptoms as those who were not treated with Paxlovid. A small percentage of people developed severe long COVID, and those who had received Paxlovid were just as likely to have severe Long COVID symptoms as those who did not.


https://www.ucsf.edu...risk-long-covid

But that conflicts with the VA study, so more research is needed... it may or may not. But on average the effect isn't very strong in either case.

This post has been edited by Azath Vitr (D'ivers: 17 August 2024 - 11:33 PM