Good dim sum in China Town

Cue the village people 🎵 Taco taco man 🎵

Fuck trump.

Today I learned about sub orders! Feliformia (cat-like carnivores) and Caniformia (dog-like carnivores) are distinguished by several anatomical features, primarily related to skull and dental structure, as well as locomotion. Feliforms typically have shorter snouts, fewer teeth, and more specialized carnassials (teeth used for shearing meat). They also possess a double-chambered auditory bulla (a bony enclosure around the middle ear). Caniforms, on the other hand, tend to have longer snouts, more teeth (often with less specialized carnassials), and less specialized claws (often non-retractile). They are also more likely to be omnivorous. However in this instance ferrets are obligate carnivores the way cats are.

That girl there, Daisy, she was a bedtime cuddler. She would climb into bed with me, tunnel under the covers, and sleep next to my feet and legs every night. She was also a light sleeper, and the moment she heard my key in the door after work, she would run to the door and be waiting there for me. Her brother, George, was a day cuddler. He would let you pick him up, snuggle him, and then he would just give you so many kisses. He liked to climb into the hood of my hoodie and just fall asleep in it while I went about my day.

Obligatory George pic:

All your base are belong to us.

Yes. Ferrets are the domesticated European polecat.

I’ve had ferrets for 20 years, (obviously not the same ferrets the whole time.) You absolutely should NOT bathe them daily. Bathing strips oil the oils out of their fur, and causes their sebaceous glands to go into overdrive, making them even more smelly. For issues with smelly ferrets, you have to clean the bedding regularly. On a weekly basis I would wash their blankies and all of their beds and stuffies. As they loaf around in their beds, the oil from their skin rubbs off on their bedding and accumulates which creates some stink. Another way to reduce odor is to clean the litter boxes 2-3 times a day, and promptly clean up accidents. These are high maintenance pets, but as long ask they have had the musk glands removed, they aren’t as stinky as they have been made out to be.

I finished my PhD in a STEM field primarily funded by the NIH in 2008. I did a post doctoral fellowship for 3 years where I was paid $10 an hour when you accounted for my fixed salary vs the hours I was putting in. At that time, we were in full austerity mode thanks to austerity forced by republicans because of the market crash and 9/11. Getting funding was an absolute bitch, and when you did get a grant award, they would come back to you and offer you half of what the award was. At the end of those 3 years, I realized I didn’t need a PhD to make $10 an hour, left the field and never looked back in 2011. It took 11 more years to land a job that has reasonable hours, pension, ample vacation/sick time, and a living wage ($28 an hour in Albany, NY.) My current job has nothing to do with what I studied for. I ended up using my publication experience from writing peer reviewed journal articles to get into medical insurance contracts/underwriting/customer service, and I now work in a position where I enroll state employees in benefits and have the opportunity to teach them how to use their insurance coverage without getting fucked over financially.

Congrats!

Have you tried couples therapy? Do you think that would improve the toxicity or your relationship?

I currently live with my g/f and the relationship is a happy one. She slowly moved into my one bedroom apartment and I refuse to let her contribute to rent or utilities because I don’t want to be dependent on her income. (Also she and her retired mother went halfsies on a new trailer. She’s paying the lot rent while her mom lives in the trailer. She also has her own room there too.) If she starts pestering me to move into a bigger place, I will be damn sure it’s something I can afford on my own. I learned my lesson after being thrown out of a place 2 weeks after breaking up while I had no stable income.

Yeah, I was referring to things like mass produced chocolates.

Here is my list of cheap foods I tend to keep on hand for making inexpensive meals.

Non perishable: Rice, Beans (black, chick pea, and lentils), dry mixed beans, bulk flour, bulk sugar, cans of tomato paste, cans of diced tomato, dried red chills, dry noodles, (like soba noodles or ramen noodles,) cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, vegetable oil, white vinegar. (I don’t really eat traditional pasta, but that is also a cheap, non perishable.)

perishables: Onions, garlic, cilantro, carrots, Asian cabbage like nappa cabbage, green onions, green bell peppers, corn, potatoes, ginger root, soy sauce, ketchup, mayo, mustard, worcestershire sauce, oyster sauce, yeast, bananas, tomatoes, cucumbers, seasonal squashes, seasonable fruit.

More expensive optional perishables: Block of store brand cheddar and mozzarella cheese, eggs, butter, condensed milk, sweetened condensed milk, plain yogurt

spices: Salt, pepper, paprika, chill powder, oregano, basil, cumin, coriander, garam masala, tumeric

With that list of ingredients I can make these things: Fresh breads including naan, sandwhich bread, flour totillas, banana bread. Cheese pizza, vegetarian Chinese dumplings with dumpling sauce, felafel, channa masala (a chick pea curry I eat with rice and naan), black bean burgers, black bean chilli, spiced lentils, Dahl (a type of lentil soup), Raita which is a condiment made with yogurt, spices, and veggies, Vegetable yakisoba, cheap ramen enhanced with egg, corn, carrot and green onion, home made brownies, tomato soup, cheesy baked potato, mashed potato, home made caramel to serve with brownies, or fruit, or mixed into yogurt with fruit. With the seasonal squashes I can make a squash bisque using butternut squash, or veggie soup using the mixed dried beans with the squash and other veggies.

When it comes to spices, I find that they are cheaper in my local asian grocery than the standard grocery store. When it comes to ketchup, mustard, and mayo, I get that for free just by asking at fast food joints, or grabbing them when they are freely offered in fast food joints.

The other thing that keeps the cost of the foods I eat low, is the fact that I am making it all from scratch. You can see that I am primarily cooking vegetarian, because meat is really fucking expensive. PM me if you would like the recipe for anything I mentioned.

I had a hard time getting the page to load, so I’m just gonna copy fuck the south here for anyone else that can’t load the page:

*November 3, 2004

Fuck the South. Fuck 'em. We should have let them go when they wanted to leave. But no, we had to kill half a million people so they’d stay part of our special Union. Fighting for the right to keep slaves - yeah, those are states we want to keep.

And now what do we get? We’re the fucking Arrogant Northeast Liberal Elite? How about this for arrogant: the South is the Real America? The Authentic America. Really?

Cause we fucking founded this country, assholes. Those Founding Fathers you keep going on and on about? All that bullshit about what you think they meant by the Second Amendment giving you the right to keep your assault weapons in the glove compartment because you didn’t bother to read the first half of the fucking sentence? Who do you think those wig-wearing lacy-shirt sporting revolutionaries were? They were fucking blue-staters, dickhead. Boston? Philadelphia? New York? Hello? Think there might be a reason all the fucking monuments are up here in our backyard?

No, No. Get the fuck out. We’re not letting you visit the Liberty Bell and fucking Plymouth Rock anymore until you get over your real American selves and start respecting those other nine amendments. Who do you think those fucking stripes on the flag are for? Nine are for fucking blue states. And it would be 10 if those Vermonters had gotten their fucking Subarus together and broken off from New York a little earlier. Get it? We started this shit, so don’t get all uppity about how real you are you Johnny-come-lately “Oooooh I’ve been a state for almost a hundred years” dickheads. Fuck off.

Arrogant? You wanna talk about us Northeasterners being fucking arrogant? What’s more American than arrogance? Hmmm? Maybe horsies? I don’t think so. Arrogance is the fucking cornerstone of what it means to be American. And I wouldn’t be so fucking arrogant if I wasn’t paying for your fucking bridges, bitch.

All those Federal taxes you love to hate? It all comes from us and goes to you, so shut up and enjoy your fucking Tennessee Valley Authority electricity and your fancy highways that we paid for. And the next time Florida gets hit by a hurricane you can come crying to us if you want to, but you’re the ones who built on a fucking swamp. “Let the Spanish keep it, it’s a shithole,” we said, but you had to have your fucking orange juice.

The next dickwad who says, “It’s your money, not the government’s money” is gonna get their ass kicked. Nine of the ten states that get the most federal fucking dollars and pay the least… can you guess? Go on, guess. That’s right, motherfucker, they’re red states. And eight of the ten states that receive the least and pay the most? It’s too easy, asshole, they’re blue states. It’s not your money, assholes, it’s fucking our money. What was that Real American Value you were spouting a minute ago? Self reliance? Try this for self reliance: buy your own fucking stop signs, assholes.

Let’s talk about those values for a fucking minute. You and your Southern values can bite my ass because the blue states got the values over you fucking Real Americans every day of the goddamn week. Which state do you think has the lowest divorce rate you marriage-hyping dickwads? Well? Can you guess? It’s fucking Massachusetts, the fucking center of the gay marriage universe. Yes, that’s right, the state you love to tie around the neck of anyone to the left of Strom Thurmond has the lowest divorce rate in the fucking nation. Think that’s just some aberration? How about this: 9 of the 10 lowest divorce rates are fucking blue states, asshole, and most are in the Northeast, where our values suck so bad. And where are the highest divorce rates? Care to fucking guess? 10 of the top 10 are fucking red-ass we’re-so-fucking-moral states. And while Nevada is the worst, the Bible Belt is doing its fucking part.

But two guys making out is going to fucking ruin marriage for you? Yeah? Seems like you’re ruining it pretty well on your own, you little bastards. Oh, but that’s ok because you go to church, right? I mean you do, right? Cause we fucking get to hear about it every goddamn year at election time. Yes, we’re fascinated by how you get up every Sunday morning and sing, and then you’re fucking towers of moral superiority. Yeah, that’s a workable formula. Maybe us fucking Northerners don’t talk about religion as much as you because we’re not so busy sinning, hmmm? Ever think of that, you self-righteous assholes? No, you’re too busy erecting giant stone tablets of the Ten Commandments in buildings paid for by the fucking Northeast Liberal Elite. And who has the highest murder rates in the nation? It ain’t us up here in the North, assholes.

Well this gravy train is fucking over. Take your liberal-bashing, federal-tax-leaching, confederate-flag-waving, holier-than-thou, hypocritical bullshit and shove it up your ass.

And no, you can’t have your fucking convention in New York next time. Fuck off. *

As an American, our chocolate does indeed taste like vomit.

I grew up with gaming on a DOS PC, Atari, and original NES. My parents didn’t regulate my use, but refused to spend money on consoles or the games themselves. I supported my gaming interests with summer jobs, skipping lunch and saving the lunch money instead. Both of my parents were also addicts, so I could usually steal 5-10$ once in a while when they were high without being noticed. Not sure when the ESRB rating system rolled out, but it’s something I paid attention to when buying games for myself, and eventually my kids.

When I had my own stepchildren, they were free to game as much as they wanted when chores and homework were done, and adhered to a 10 pm lights out to get 8 hrs of sleep. As my stepson grew more interested in mature titles, I often played those titles to see what the content was like before deciding if I would allow him to play it. His bio mom was clueless about games, and tended to be more restrictive than me. I played OG halo before deciding it was a game he could play as a 14 year old. I played some of the GTA games before deciding he had to be 16 before we would let him play those. (My issue was picking up a prostitute and then being able to beat her after to get the $ back.) I started playing WOW because my stepson wanted to play. After some exploring I thought it was a safe title for him. Gaming was something that brought us closer together, and I spent so much time gaming with him. If I had the chance to give birth to my own kids, I would wish for a biological son like my stepson.

I sort of think that the only way to make visa/mastercard reverse course is to boycott the fuck out of them. Go back to using cash to make EVERY purchase. Purchase physical copies of games every time with cash. (I’ve been able to link games to my steam account purchased this way.) No longer buy skins and loot crates, and battle passes. Same goes with media. Go back to hard CDs for music/movies. Starve them of income any place you can, which would fuck with the business models of so many other companies that want your debit and cc on file for streaming services and subscriptions.

Our cat gets fed small amounts 4x a day for the same reason. You feed him and 15 minutes later he’s begging for more food. I’ve been working on extinguishing begging behavior by fucking with him relentlessly. He comes over to beg, and I act like I’m walking to the kitchen, then at the last second veer off to the bathroom. Or I will walk to the kitchen and pretend I’m going to open the cupboard where his food is, only to veer off at the last second and open the glass cupboard and just get a drink of water instead. Usually after 15 - 30 minutes of trolling him, he stops begging and goes back to napping.

Cardamom is a spice derived from the seeds of various plants in the ginger family. It’s known for its warm, sweet, and slightly citrusy flavor with hints of eucalyptus and mint. It’s used in both sweet and savory dishes across various cuisines, including Indian, Middle Eastern, and Scandinavian