3 Positive Things Part 7

[Daniel E.]

RE: Black bean donuts

It was an interesting experiment. They taste more like brownies and the texture is still too moist and crumbly (after making them yesterday afternoon). It reminds me of when someone made me chocolate brownies made out of sweet potatoes. As with the sweet potatoes, I could not taste the black beans because of the cocoa and other ingredients.

Here is a picture before one was glazed:

 

[Daniel E.]

BONUS: A couple of sparrows were stuck in my chimney, but they saved themselves and escaped (into my house then went outside) after I heard them and opened the bottom up. (Of course, I was freaking out at first since they did not leave right away, and I went on the roof for the first time in order to see if they were still inside the chimney.)

 

[gooblax]

BONUS: A couple of sparrows were stuck in my chimney, but they saved themselves and escaped (into my house then went outside) after I heard them and opened the bottom up. (Of course, I was freaking out at first since they did not leave right away, and I went on the roof for the first time in order to see if they were still inside the chimney.)

"A couple of sparrows escaped into my house" is not what I was expecting to read as a bonus :lol:

 

[gooblax]

1. Made it to the post office in time to collect a parcel, dropping my bike at home first to avoid repeat of a certain scenario. (Although it would've been the easiest box yet to try and carry while on the bike.)
2. Was thinking about meals I could try to make for my family if I get to visit them this year. I could try to make a vegan ice cream that I believe uses ingredients that my brother will eat. Of course they never have freezer space, so I'd have to try making it for myself first to see whether it justifies using up the prime real estate in the freezer.
3. I got chased by a crow this morning. It was much less stressful than being chased by a magpie, because the crow let me know it was chasing before it posed any sort of threat (by "ark-ark"ing at me) and its swoops were nowhere near making contact with my bike helmet. 9/10 would recommend in lieu of a magpie.

 

[David Baxter PhD]

If magpies were actually delivering pies as their name implies, it would be worth it. False advertising, if you ask me. The gov'mint should shut 'em down.

 

[Daniel E.]

That's another reason magpie should be short for magpie pie

 

[gooblax]

Interesting. A shame that it's illegal to toss fruit mince pies at them (one of the few types of pie that I believe are unfit for consumption).

 

[David Baxter PhD]

Interesting. A shame that it's illegal to toss fruit mince pies at them (one of the few types of pie that I believe are unfit for consumption).

Is it really illegal? Or is that mainly a littering infraction?


I actually like mince pies. Probably my British background but it was a special Christmas treat growing up.

Much much much better than that pasty stuff I forget the name of.

Added: Vegemite. That's what I meant. mg:

 

[Daniel E.]

How do you feel about beans on toast? I have had it a few times.

 

[gooblax]

Is it really illegal? Or is that mainly a littering infraction?

They're a protected species. But if they weren't so busy trying to protect themselves, they wouldn't need so much protection.

I actually like mince pies. Probably my British background but it was a special Christmas treat growing up.

Much much much better than that pasty stuff I forget the name of.

Part of my dislike of fruit mince pies (aside from not liking the dried fruit mixture) is that they're not meat pies which are typically made with beef mince. It was always disappointing to learn that someone meant fruit mince instead of beef mince when talking about pies.

 

[gooblax]

How do you feel about beans on toast? I have had it a few times.

Baked beans on toast is also pretty big here. Definitely something you'd find in a hotel continental breakfast buffet. I used to tolerate it but wasn't a big fan. Typically best made into a jaffle (sandwich press where the toast is sealed into pockets) if it must be consumed. Dad would sometimes make them for my school lunch, which had the unfortunate consequence of being cold and slightly soggy by lunchtime.

I was surprised to hear that it isn't such a common thing in the US.

 

[Daniel E.]

Growing up in Miami with a Cuban mother, a favorite breakfast for me was toasted Cuban bread dunked into café con leche (coffee with milk).

 

[David Baxter PhD]

How do you feel about beans on toast? I have had it a few times.

I do like that. Haven't had it in years but I should try it again.

They're a protected species. But if they weren't so busy trying to protect themselves, they wouldn't need so much protection.

Ha ha. Good point!

Part of my dislike of fruit mince pies (aside from not liking the dried fruit mixture) is that they're not meat pies which are typically made with beef mince. It was always disappointing to learn that someone meant fruit mince instead of beef mince when talking about pies.

Yeah I'd forgotten that ground beef is called "mince" in many of the old British colonies. It's just ground beef or ground pork or ground turkey or whatever here so there's no confusion.

 

[gooblax]

Growing up in Miami with a Cuban mother, a favorite breakfast for me was toasted Cuban bread dunked into café con leche (coffee with milk).

And here I thought toast dunked into tea was unusual (how my bf drinks tea), but this seems to be along the same wavelength.

Yeah I'd forgotten that ground beef is called "mince" in many of the old British colonies. It's just ground beef or ground pork or ground turkey or whatever here so there's no confusion.

It would certainly make more sense to call it by a more descriptive name. At least it's a confusion limited to Christmas time, unlike the chips=fries=/=crisps=chips debacle that we also inherited. Here it's "chips" for both, unless there's any ambiguity in which case you might call them "hot chips" or "a packet of chips".

 

[gooblax]

1. Ordered a new computer mouse because mine is having left click problems and it's at the point of being unusable. Should arrive either tomorrow or the next day.

2. I was feeling bothered by a chirping bird at work. But it's nice to have that sound compared to having to listen to conversations. Or compared to listening to a koel like this annoying guy:



3. Made the effort to eat lunch with people at work rather than just sitting at my desk browsing stuff on my phone.

 

[David Baxter PhD]

That is a bit repetitive and annoying close up, rather like a dog barking incessantly - I'd never heard of a koel before.

But then most bird calls are repetitive. It might actually be soothing if it were off in the distance blending in with the other bird sounds.

Still probably not as bad as dog barking or kids chanting "are we there yet?" in the back seat of your car.

 

[GaryQ]

1. Ordered a new computer mouse because mine is having left click problems and it's at the point of being unusable. Should arrive either tomorrow or the next day.

2. I was feeling bothered by a chirping bird at work.

I need a new mouse too. One likes to double click

Hey, it's the first post I read where a bird is not attacking you. I'll take that as a really nice bird.

 

[gooblax]

I find the two main problems with the koel are:
1. It likes to start its 'song' at 3:30am.
2. It can't decide what pitch it's singing at. You might notice that each call is kind of a chromatic sequence of 2 notes. Then typically the next call is slightly higher. If it would just do a chromatic scale it would at least be predictable. But sometimes it repeats the same sequence it just did. And whenever it decides it got high enough or gets interrupted it starts back at the beginning!

Haha I suppose it is a rare occurrence for me to post about birds not attacking me. I'm pretty sure the crow has had another go at chasing me but otherwise no issues.

My mouse was just refusing to click, except for when it would double click.

With all the bird and mouse problems, maybe I need a cat

 

[gooblax]

1. I'm a member of a neighbourhood Facebook group (I joined because my neighbour kept mentioning how people were posting about break-ins) and there's a lot of other people who are peeved at the koel this morning :lol:
2. My report is coming along gradually.
3. I had a tail wind for part of the way to work, and should have one for part of the way home. It helps that I have one hill on my trip that's the opposite direction to about half the ride - so if I have a headwind for the hill at least a good portion of the ride before that is easier, and vice versa.

 

[David Baxter PhD]

Pfffttt.... kids today.

Why in my day, we had to go uphill all the way to get to work and uphill all the way to get home again.

And we didn't have tailwinds. We were lucky to get a slight breeze brushing us gently from the side.

And bikes? You're lucky, mate. Why in my day we didn't have bikes. We couldn't afford them. We just painted small wheels on our shoes and pretended we were riding a bike. Which made us walk funny with our legs going around in circles. Which made us even more tired than just regular walking.

And when I say shoes, I don't mean real shoes. We couldn't afford those either. We just got kleenex boxes from the neighbors' trash bins and pretended they were shoes.

You kids today don't know how easy you have it.