Forum: The Lounge

OK - Tinker, I know you used to be someone else. I can't remember who, but I seem to recall liking you. But now, every time I see Tinker I think it's "Tinkler". I'm betting that's not the image you were going for. OTOH, I'm REALLY glad...

This thread is the place for all of our traveling posters to check in and announce which odd corner of the universe they are currently inhabiting. Myself: Fort Collins, Colorado. Reason: Servicing a million dollar focused ion beam milling...

Guys, We need to elect four new moderators. By my count, ten people have had their names put forward, either as a result of losing the last election, or volunteering themselves for this one. The names are below, please choose four names who you...

Every Friday I pick up a dozen of these little (and they have shrunk in recent years) mediocre life truncators and foist them on my willing staff. But only recently have I picked up on something sinister...the Maple Glaze. My God, these smell...

Counter-productive, costly, morale-killing rules...they're everywhere! I was reading through What time does work really start? when I saw this:I used to work for a large engineering company. They had a written policy that you should be at your...

I started a similar thread on Giraffe's board, but my mind is puttering away up there. Why is there no vanilla sauce/syrup for chocolate ice cream? If it takes me 37 minutes to go north on Michigan Ave to my work, how come it takes at least...

There are some expressions I'd expect that just about every British English-speaking person would understand. I was chatting with a friend who has been offered a voluntary redundancy package, and I considered that in his situation it would be a...

What have you done lately that was just -- duh! I had a good one just last night. In January I signed on to be an Independent Consultant, I sell stuff at home parties. So of course I'm eager to build a clientele of satisfied, nay rabidly...

OK, so due to somewhat unusual circumstances, I commute with my kids in the car for about 45 minutes each way to & from work. I feel a little bad to coop them up in the car for so long, so over the years I've adjusted to listening to "their" music...

I know what the phrase I've been taught to identify this tool is. I'd just had a frustrating couple of days trying to explain to someone what I wanted, and wonder if there is some other term for this tool that I should have been using. Mystery...

Of course the overwhelming 99.999 percent at the moment came from the SDMB. The group has enough life in it though, even at just several days old, that I believe someone could refer it to a friend and we might have one or two people join via...

I'm finally settled back in. And after 2 months of waiting for T-Com, I finally have internet at home! As promised, I've uploaded a bunch of my Iraq kids pictures. Special thanks to fisha, EJsGirl, and everyone else who sent toys, candy and money. ...

I've been looking at reverse mortgages and they seem to be fee heavy and return light. That is, for a regular house in La Mesa w an appraised valuation of $475,000 it seems that the actual return after paying off the $300,000 principal is only...

Since it's the polling booth, I thought i'd ask: What's the "highest" you've ever been polled? The Nielson ratings, the US Census, or just the 7th grade Junior Prom Committee? Basically, what's the most famous pollster/group that's polled you...

Not really eating away at me, but certainly annoying me... I do the Sunday crossword in bed, and nowhere near a computer or reference sources. There's two particular clues that always show up right where I could use a gimmie: OT Book ...

In this thread, I outed myself as a Mensan. This resulted in someone requesting I start a new thread. So here it is - "Ask the Mensa member", by semi-popular demand. Feel free to ask about: how to join, what we do, what Mensans are like in...

Not enough of a rant to go into the Thunderdome. I don't plan to curse. I'm just annoyed, tuned down from livid. Background: I work in the billing department for a well-known company. I answer phones and emails and am professionally nice. I am...

BBC Story about Lithium Iron Phosphate batteries - different from the current Lithium Cobalt batteries. A prototype battery made using the new technique could be charged in less than 20 seconds - in comparison to six minutes with an untreated...

First, the disclaimer: 1. Due to possible legal liability issues for the operators of DoMeBo, we ask that you refrain from posting specific details regarding the use of illicit substances. DoMeBo cannot be seen as supporting illegal activies in...

Here is Becky Well that works well on preview.

I can see him at the bottom of the page. Looking. Spying. Recording. Telling the whole internet what we're up to. I don't trust that Google guy at all. Not since the day I googlestreeted my address. I'd only lived in my house for a year. But there...

I'm just catching up on watching Hell's Kitchen and it got me to thinking about stories you hear of chefs spitting on foods, or picking up food off the floor and putting it back on a plate. So I figured i'd ask anyone here to share stories of...

Story(brief) Who else is shocked? :roll:

Two ladies are retiring here at work and to surprise them they brought in a full marching band from a local middle school - like 100 kids - they lined up between the cubicles and played like 4 songs! Little spotty 14 year old clarinet players!!!...

Why did I think it would be a good idea to buy a Wii? I have been listening to my husband loudly (really loudly--there is actual yelling) cursing out Mario since 6:28 p.m. It’s now 9:50 p.m. Yesterday, he played for over six hours. And I...

I have an idea for a use of a developing technology that has more or less broken into the mainstream on consumer products. The use of the technology for this type of thing, as far as I can tell, would be a first. In fact, it is a new concept on...

So we did a lab to learn, roughly, the Kirby-Bauer Method of determining antibiotic resistance in S. aureus, E. coli and P. aeruginosa. I didn't design the lab, I followed the instructions in the lab manual, of course. I inoculated agar plates, I...

http://www.ecomelectronics.com/prodinfo ... ref=nextag If anybody's contemplating a purchase or just has a question or comment, feel free to post. We replaced a three-year-old Sony Vega 55" rear projection LCD with this Panasonic Viera 58" flat...

We're in dire need of a logo, so I propose a competition to design one. You may also propose a catchphrase, at the same time to go with your logo (an analogue of "Fighting ignorance since ..."). However, other people may also propose catchphrases...

Ok, so here's my issue. I am a fairly...okay, a REALLY...young grandmother. I started my family when I was young, and my daughter (bless her little heart) started hers even younger. End result, I became a grandmother at age 34. Now, one would think...

OK, I'm slow. I just noticed it's 3/11. The band 311 got it's name from a police code for indecent exposure. Happy Naked Day!

I have no real interest in getting in contact with random people from High School. I know a couple of old friends are on MySpace (I don't have an account for that either), but MySpace is extraordinarly ugly. I have a livejournal account, but there's...

Getting better slowly.

Instead of '99'ers, I say everyone who registered Thursday, February 26th should be the new elite. We can call ourselves Thursdayers. :mrgreen: Poor Fridayers - you just didn't make the cut.

* At the request of Batman, in another thread. How could I refuse Gotham's #1 crime fighter? Without resorting to the noble but hokey 'fighting ignorance' theme from the 'other place', my main intention here is to try and give people an insight...

I've seen many threads or blogs, all over the internet, about bad tattoos. They all seem to feature many of the same standard bad tats - "Mr Cool ICE" and whatnot. Common ones: But here are some I've never seen! I'd post am image...

Here he is, doing that do! "You don't need government funds." "...I don't need government funds." "You should run along now." "...I should run along now."

At least according to this bizarre email I got. No idea of how I managed to be the lucky recipient of it either. I never give that address out, and the combination of letters used is pretty unlikely to be hit upon by a spambot generator (its not...

So, some of you may remember my post on the other boards about my wife maybe being pregnant, and how it turned out she wasn't. That was sad, but this is good...we got a positive home test this morning. We were actually 99% certain that she wasn't...

A Canadian documentary filmmaker, who only has one working eye, is building a camera into a prosthetic eyeball so that he can take video from his other eye socket: http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/article/600363 No word about the audio.

Or, everything old is new again.Henri Pieper, a German-born inventor and gunmaker in Belgium, submitted his application on November 23, 1905—and was granted a US patent on March 2, 1909. Its opening paragraph says: “Be it known that I, Henri...

I have a bunch of odd items that I do not want or need... But they're just random enough (and not so cumbersome in size) that they're perfect to be placed in random public areas where someone will find them and not be annoyed at their appearance. ...

I have been looking for a lighter unit to schlep around when my old, battered and much-beloved T42 Thinkpad is just too much of a hassle. ("Built like a tank" is not always a good thing, y'know?) A slight unexpected windfall has made it defensible...

If so, can you make one out of this song for me? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JiTr6hZE ... re=related

I've just been given a packet of chilli and chocolate crisps... I'm not sure what they are called in the US, but that's what we in the UK call thinly sliced, cooked and flavoured potatoes. I'm a wee bit dubious about this combination, and I was...

I have a second interview for an elementary music teaching position. Apparently I passed the "screening" interview, and tonight I meet with the principal. Interviews always make me nervous, since I'm always afraid that I won't know what to say,...

In other words, what accumulated elements of your previous long-term relationships are reasonable to discard, or at least remove to one's archives, in order not to offend the sensibilities of a new long-term partner? There are, it seems to me,...

I was terminated. Was it unfair? Should I pursue the issue? At the end of December of last year, I was terminated from my bartending job at the Hotel DuPont after 10 and a half years of employment. I want to know if it was unfair and if I should...

Ok, my soon-to-be wife and I have been together for 12 years now. And we decided to finally make a commitment :D Or, more accurately, we're getting off our lazy butts and deciding to wade through the hassle of having a formal ceremony to certify...