Looking on the Brighter Side, Things that are good

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Re: Looking on the Brighter Side, Things that are good

Postby cmsellers » Tue Dec 24, 2019 7:26 pm

So, I kvetched here about Central Market being out of sumac. As it turns out, that was a blessing in disguise. In my head, the Middle Eastern grocery store was way to the Northwest, but in reality, it's only a little further than Central Market.

Not only do they have much better prices than Central Market on a lot of spices, but they have a great selection of cheeses and sausages as well. Their prices in general are either the cheapest for almost everything they carry, or barely more than the cheapest competitor. I need to go there more often, and now I realize that it's not nearly as far away as I thought it was.

Also, I got a bunch of spices, including two Central Market doesn't carry: angelica and safflower. I'm gonna smell and taste them, and possibly add them to my ras al-hanout.
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Re: Looking on the Brighter Side, Things that are good

Postby NathanLoiselle » Wed Dec 25, 2019 3:32 am

I don't know. Texans eating Morrocan food? What are you? Some kind of non-Texan? Does that exist?
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Re: Looking on the Brighter Side, Things that are good

Postby IamNotCreepy » Thu Dec 26, 2019 2:01 pm

NathanLoiselle wrote:I don't know. Texans eating Morrocan food? What are you? Some kind of non-Texan? Does that exist?


He lives in Austin, which I don't think technically qualifies as Texas.
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Re: Looking on the Brighter Side, Things that are good

Postby cmsellers » Fri Dec 27, 2019 3:27 am

The rest of Texas has a saying about Austin:

"The nice thing about Austin is you can drive half an hour in any direction and you'll be in Texas."
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Re: Looking on the Brighter Side, Things that are good

Postby cmsellers » Sun Jan 05, 2020 4:32 am

I don't see wild animals in Austin nearly as much as I did at home, but today, I saw a fox!
I've only seen wild foxes twice living in a rural area, but they're an animal that does really well in urban environments, and I guess less shy of people here. It was just trotting across the road like it owned it.
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Re: Looking on the Brighter Side, Things that are good

Postby cmsellers » Wed Feb 12, 2020 9:03 pm

I like oily fish, aside from small oily fish you eat whole, but the only reliably affordable large oily fish are bluefish—which you can't find in Texas—and mackerel. Mackerel is easy to find, but it's almost always sold whole, and is a pain to clean and fillet.

However today I discovered that there's a Korean grocery store which sells mackerel fillets. At about twice the price of whole mackerel, but I'm not paying for the head and guts and am paying for not dealing with whole mackerel, and it's still on the cheap side for fish. Unfortunately, I'll likely be moving soon, but now I know: want mackerel fillets? Look in Korean (not general Asian) grocery stores.
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Re: Looking on the Brighter Side, Things that are good

Postby cmsellers » Sat Mar 07, 2020 5:08 am

On my walk to work today, a sharp-shinned hawk burst out of the tree right in front of me: swooped down, gathered speed, and flew off to alight on a nearby telephone wire. I don't think I've ever seen a bird of prey that close before in the wild.
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Re: Looking on the Brighter Side, Things that are good

Postby SlayerGoddess » Sun Mar 15, 2020 1:04 am

I haven't caught the coronavirus yet, and none of my pets have died so far this year! (The last 2 years, I had dead pets before this point in the year). My rat, Rose, is VERY popular at the bar I go to weekly, even if it's a 45 minute drive away. I call her my ratbassador (rat ambassador).
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Re: Looking on the Brighter Side, Things that are good

Postby cmsellers » Sun Mar 15, 2020 1:22 am

You should call her your rat-bass-adored.
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Re: Looking on the Brighter Side, Things that are good

Postby SlayerGoddess » Sun Mar 15, 2020 4:18 pm

cmsellers wrote:You should call her your rat-bass-adored.


I think I will!
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Re: Looking on the Brighter Side, Things that are good

Postby cmsellers » Fri Mar 27, 2020 8:02 pm

Had to run tree errands today, and got them all done and got gas to boot.

Also, while I was out, I saw a lot of animals. In addition to pigeons and grackles, I saw:

A mockingbird
A mourning dove
At least two robins
A yellow butterfly
A monarch butterfly

This is the first mockingbird I've seen in Houston, and the last three aren't things I think I've seen in Austin. And while all of those things may be common where I'm from, after years of living in a city, pretty much any wild animal is exciting to see, even the pigeons.
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Re: Looking on the Brighter Side, Things that are good

Postby jbobsully11 » Wed Apr 01, 2020 12:25 am

I had a phone interview this morning for a job that would pay about 1/3 more than what I’m making now, doing similar work (during first shift instead of second, and with food instead of drugs). Both interviewers seemed to like me, but I was only the first person they interviewed. I’ll find out next week if they want me to do a Skype interview.
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Crimson847 wrote:In other words, transgender-friendly privacy laws don't molest people, people molest people.

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Re: Looking on the Brighter Side, Things that are good

Postby SlayerGoddess » Tue Apr 07, 2020 7:23 pm

My boyfriends's able to work through the stay at home order in NC. His job involves assisting people while social distancing. I don't have income coming in myself, since they cut me off SSI after I got a 9,000 inheritance from my (narcissistic and abusive) father's death, and I can't work, so I don't know what we'd do if he couldn't work!
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Re: Looking on the Brighter Side, Things that are good

Postby jbobsully11 » Thu Apr 09, 2020 12:19 am

Last week, I wrote:I’ll find out next week if they want me to do a Skype interview.

I had the Skype interview today, and I think it went well. They might ask me to go in person for another interview in a week or two.
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Crimson847 wrote:In other words, transgender-friendly privacy laws don't molest people, people molest people.

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Re: Looking on the Brighter Side, Things that are good

Postby cmsellers » Fri Apr 17, 2020 8:15 pm

I saw a mockingbird mobbing a squirrel across a telephone wire. And why am I listing this in things that are good?

1. Mobbing behavior is really interesting, and this is only the second time I've observed it in the wild, though I'm not sure if it counts as mobbing with one bird.
2. I hate eastern gray and fox squirrels, and I imagine this one was probably after the mockingbird's eggs or chicks, so good on you, bird!
3. It was just a really cool thing to watch.
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