The Vent and Rant Thread

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by Katsunami

AFAIK, MobileRead is not responsive; not even on the desktop when making the window smaller. Responsiveness is not up to VBulletin. It is up to the developer/maintainer of the theme that is in use. I assume MR's theme is not the default VBulletin theme? It could be; I don't know. I've never used VBulletin myself. The two forums I maintained in the past used PHPBB and SMF (Simple Machines Forum). When I maintained the first, responsiveness for mobile devices wasn't an issue (this was pre-2007), and later, for the second forum, being responsive would have been useless.

I rather liked SMF, way-back-when. For commercial or professional-level forums, thought, let's face it, it's either VBull or IPB, if IPB is still around?

Vis-a-vis responsiveness, while the theme may need to be adjusted, (fwiw, I think that this skin is a default, if memory serves), the core of the thing needs to be conformed with Bootstrap, or one of the other RW mechanisms. Hell, I did that on my OWN website. If I can do it...(trust me. If I can, ANYONE can!). Bootstrap is actually uber-easy, once you can "see" it in your head.

@Pooh wrote:

The .mobile version of MR is crap ... most folks use Tapatalk to access it on devices .

Thanks, Pooh. I'm not out and about enough to know all the ins-and-outs of using a smartphone. Yeah, I know, sounds crazy, right? But where I live and work, we are surrounded by mountains and have bupkus for cell reception. So the only time I really use the phone is when I'm out and about, and stopped somewhere for some reason.

I'll look into TapTalk. Ta!

Hitch

[CRussel]

Originally Posted by Hitch

Thanks, Pooh. I'm not out and about enough to know all the ins-and-outs of using a smartphone. Yeah, I know, sounds crazy, right? But where I live and work, we are surrounded by mountains and have bupkus for cell reception. So the only time I really use the phone is when I'm out and about, and stopped somewhere for some reason.

I'll look into TapTalk. Ta!

Hitch

Tapatalk is definitely the only workable solution for phones and tablets. It does have some limitations (you can't see polls, for one critical problem), but it does make the forum quite usable except for those specific limitations.

I use TapaTalk on my Fire 8", and have it loaded on my phone, but I don't use it on the phone at all.

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by CRussel

Tapatalk is definitely the only workable solution for phones and tablets. It does have some limitations (you can't see polls, for one critical problem), but it does make the forum quite usable except for those specific limitations.

I use TapaTalk on my Fire 8", and have it loaded on my phone, but I don't use it on the phone at all.

Thanks, Charlie. Much appreciated!!

Hitch

[Katsunami]

Normally I don't get angry really quickly, but some things gets me up a tree in no-time. Bah. I really have a difficulty getting over my parent's eating habits. Over and over, everything that's not 'normal food' can't be eaten right, or something. Maybe I should have known better.

So, I made sushi yesterday, as I invited my parents over to dinner.

Mind you, I'm not the world's greatest sushi chef, but I can make a decent nigiri (rice with topping), small roll, large roll, and oshi (pressed sushi). Everyone who ate it found it to be perfectly adequate amateur sushi. (I prefer to use smoked fish or fish fried with tempura batter, because raw fish that is safe to eat is very hard to get and extremely expensive in my area.)

Thus, I make like 60 (largish) pieces, for three people, with a mix of tuna, salmon, mackerel, avocado, carrot, cucumber and some seasoning such as (fake) caviar. It takes me *three hours* to prepare, including getting everything out and cleaned up again.

So, you try to explain to your parents:
- Put a bit of wasabi on it (didn't dare to put it in there myself already).
- dip it into the soy sauce, lightly.
- eat it.
- eat a piece of pickled ginger.
- repeat.
- You don't even have to use chopsticks; eat them by hand. It's allowed.

OK, got it? Not too difficult, is it? So this is what happens.

Mom: Don't want the wasabi. Too spicy. Don't want the ginger either. Too minty. Don't want the soy sauce. Too salty. These pieces are too big. (What? But you *can* bite off half of a banana?!) Solution: don't use the wasabi, the ginger, or the soy sauce, cut everything apart using a knife and fork and eat it like a salad. Be done in about 15 minutes.

Dad: That's way too complicated a way of eating. Solution: *whips out butter knife* Smears wasabi on the sushi. Puts the ginger on the sushi too. Then pours the soy sauce on top of that as if it's gravy. Eat it using a fork, two or three at a time. Be done in less than 15 minutes.

Dear mom, it's not a salad.
Dear dad, it's not a plate of potatoes.

I have never been so annoyed in my life. If I ever invite my parents to come eat again, I'll just make a stew and be done in 30 minutes. Fracking hell. Next time, I'm back to making sushi for me, myself and I only, or for someone who can at least half-way appreciate it.

This is going to piss me off all of next week.

[Cinisajoy]

Originally Posted by Katsunami

Normally I don't get angry really quickly, but some things gets me up a tree in no-time. Bah. I really have a difficulty getting over my parent's eating habits. Over and over, everything that's not 'normal food' can't be eaten right, or something. Maybe I should have known better.

So, I made sushi yesterday, as I invited my parents over to dinner.

Mind you, I'm not the world's greatest sushi chef, but I can make a decent nigiri (rice with topping), small roll, large roll, and oshi (pressed sushi). Everyone who ate it found it to be perfectly adequate amateur sushi. (I prefer to use smoked fish or fish fried with tempura batter, because raw fish that is safe to eat is very hard to get and extremely expensive in my area.)

Thus, I make like 60 (largish) pieces, for three people, with a mix of tuna, salmon, mackerel, avocado, carrot, cucumber and some seasoning such as (fake) caviar. It takes me *three hours* to prepare, including getting everything out and cleaned up again.

So, you try to explain to your parents:
- Put a bit of wasabi on it (didn't dare to put it in there myself already).
- dip it into the soy sauce, lightly.
- eat it.
- eat a piece of pickled ginger.
- repeat.
- You don't even have to use chopsticks; eat them by hand. It's allowed.

OK, got it? Not too difficult, is it? So this is what happens.

Mom: Don't want the wasabi. Too spicy. Don't want the ginger either. Too minty. Don't want the soy sauce. Too salty. These pieces are too big. (What? But you *can* bite off half of a banana?!) Solution: don't use the wasabi, the ginger, or the soy sauce, cut everything apart using a knife and fork and eat it like a salad. Be done in about 15 minutes.

Dad: That's way too complicated a way of eating. Solution: *whips out butter knife* Smears wasabi on the sushi. Puts the ginger on the sushi too. Then pours the soy sauce on top of that as if it's gravy. Eat it using a fork, two or three at a time. Be done in less than 15 minutes.

Dear mom, it's not a salad.
Dear dad, it's not a plate of potatoes.

I have never been so annoyed in my life. If I ever invite my parents to come eat again, I'll just make a stew and be done in 30 minutes. Fracking hell. Next time, I'm back to making sushi for me, myself and I only, or for someone who can at least half-way appreciate it.

This is going to piss me off all of next week.

I sometimes think parents were made to irritate grown children.
Your sushi sounds fabulous.

[WT Sharpe]

Originally Posted by Hitch

Moses on a pony! You breed? I could never take having a cat in heat. Been there, done that. The yowling would drive me mad. That, and, of course, having to battle your way in and out of the house for days!



Did you get the tom out? I take it the deed is not done?



Hitch

The Tom finally left, but looked for a while as if he were ready to battle both my wife and me for entrance. Yes, her cries get old quickly, but at least this cat isn't as bad as the pervert we had at one time. Whenever she was in heat I'd find myself looking up from reading to see her wiggling her tail at me with a come-on gleam in her eyes. There was something seriously wrong with that cat.

[Katsunami]

Originally Posted by Cinisajoy

I sometimes think parents were made to irritate grown children.

I don't know. I'm unqualified to judge, as I have only two parents, and that is not a decent sample size. It's statistically insignificant

Your sushi sounds fabulous.

Thanks, but it really isn't something special I'm not a sushi expert. I just watched a bunch of video's on Youtube, and then tried it myself. (edit: although this was not the first time. The first time, I wasted half of my ingredients in failed attempts, still used only half of what was left, and it took me like 5 hours. And that was only making sushi for myself, and not including cleaning and dishwashing.)

I just like to eat it, and even the low-end version at a Japanese/asian all-you-can-eat is often good enough for me, if only because I can get to eat some ingredients I often can't really use myself.

If I make it for myself, I have to keep to two, or even one ingredient or most of it will be wasted. The smallest I can get of each ingredient is often enough or even more than is needed to make sushi for one person.

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by WT Sharpe

The Tom finally left, but looked for a while as if he were ready to battle both my wife and me for entrance. Yes, her cries get old quickly, but at least this cat isn't as bad as the pervert we had at one time. Whenever she was in heat I'd find myself looking up from reading to see her wiggling her tail at me with a come-on gleam in her eyes. There was something seriously wrong with that cat.

Well, my theory on this is, if they're not breeding animals, spaying and neutering make everyone happier. (And, of course, even with breeding animals, there are SO many unwanted/abused cats in the world...) You, the cat, the neighborhood Toms, etc. If you/your neighbors have Toms around, or even neutered males, the whole advent of heat and hormonal changes that provoke the Toms will start to cause spraying (inside!) by all males, neutered or otherwise in your area. If this hasn't happened to you (perhaps you only have females?), you're very, very lucky.

Hitch

[CRussel]

Katsunami -- I feel your pain. I can still remember what happened the first time I fixed a curry for my father. (Mom was already gone by then.)

I'd happily eat your sushi (_with my fingers_), carefully dipping just the topping in the soy sauce, and passing on the ginger.

One thing I learned a LONG time ago. When I'm a guest, I eat what's put in front of me, and appreciate it lavishly. Period.

[Katsunami]

Originally Posted by CRussel

Katsunami -- I feel your pain. I can still remember what happened the first time I fixed a curry for my father. (Mom was already gone by then.)

I'd happily eat your sushi (_with my fingers_), carefully dipping just the topping in the soy sauce, and passing on the ginger.

Pass on the ginger? But that's the best part! Apart from the fish, the rice, the nori, the garnishing and the wasabi, who are also the best part... lol.

One thing I learned a LONG time ago. When I'm a guest, I eat what's put in front of me, and appreciate it lavishly. Period.

The irony is that I learned that as well, from those same parents who now don't seem to adhere to their own teachings.

Maybe it's just a fact of getting old(er) or something, but they're not yet THAT old. My mom hasn't even reached pensionable age yet... by a long shot.

[WT Sharpe]

Originally Posted by Hitch

Well, my theory on this is, if they're not breeding animals, spaying and neutering make everyone happier. (And, of course, even with breeding animals, there are SO many unwanted/abused cats in the world...) You, the cat, the neighborhood Toms, etc. If you/your neighbors have Toms around, or even neutered males, the whole advent of heat and hormonal changes that provoke the Toms will start to cause spraying (inside!) by all males, neutered or otherwise in your area. If this hasn't happened to you (perhaps you only have females?), you're very, very lucky.

Hitch

We only have the one, and it's my grandson's. It spent most of it's life with my ex-DIL until she moved into a house whose owner doesn't allow pets. I think he should get it fixed, but don't look to me to pay for it.

[WT Sharpe]

@Katsunami (who has his Visitor Messages turned off): Thanks for the karma!

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by WT Sharpe

If I mean to write "too" I'll swipe over the "o" twice. My dear Swype keyboard, how hard is that for you to understand?

I use an honest-to-God physical keyboard on my devices, reasons why...

(I have a folding IR keyboard for my old Palm PDA, and a USB keyboard for my Android tablet. On-screen virtual keyboards are actively painful for anything beyond minimal text entry.)
______
Dennis

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by orlok

Just a few days ago I went into our bathroom (door kept firmly closed at all time to keep errant cats out), and opened the laundry basket (solid heavy lid), and was about to dump a load of washing into it when I got the fright of my life (me? exaggerate?) as this ginger and white furball suddenly leapt out of the basket and streaked for freedom. How do they do it?

Rule 1: Anything not nailed down is a cat toy.

Rule 2: If it can be pried up, it's not nailed down. See Rule 1.

Rule 3: Kittens must always be on the wrong side of the door.

Rule 4: There is no such thing as cat-proof

Decades ago, I had three cats. An adult male, an adult female, and a kitten. I went away for a weekend. I left clean litter in the cat box, fresh water and dry food for them. It had not been the first time I'd done it.

I came back to discover they'd gotten to the box of catnip. I hadn't realized how much catnip could be packed into one of those small Hartz Mountain boxes until I returned to find a catnip coating a quarter inch thick on everything, with two totally blasted adult cats staggering around with "How! High are you?" expressions. (The kitten was too young to be affected.)

I shrugged, swept up the mess, and got blasted myself, after making sure the remaining catnip was placed somewhere the cats couldn't get to.
______
Dennis

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by WT Sharpe

The Tom finally left, but looked for a while as if he were ready to battle both my wife and me for entrance. Yes, her cries get old quickly, but at least this cat isn't as bad as the pervert we had at one time. Whenever she was in heat I'd find myself looking up from reading to see her wiggling her tail at me with a come-on gleam in her eyes. There was something seriously wrong with that cat.

Animals in heat are like that.

Male dogs will attempt to hump anything that will hold still. (There was a hilarious cartoon years back of a male dog mounting a female while fantasizing about a man's pants leg...)

There's a female King Charles Spaniel/Poodle mix in my neighborhood who seems to have decided I'm the Best Thing Evar! because I rub her belly and let her lick my face. Her human describes her as "high maintenance". There's no such thing as enough attention. (Since King Charles Spaniels are bred to live in laps and be petted at all times, this is not a surprise.)

My SO suggests that part of her behavior is "Ohhh! Uncut male alpha! Mount me! I want to have your puppies!", but I don't think I can get across that cross species relationships of that sort just don't work out...

It's not confined to mammals, either. An old friend interned at Wood's Hole Oceanographic Institute decades ago, and described why you didn't stick your hand in the water during squid mating season, unless you wanted an ardent male squid to try to impregnate it.
______
Dennis