The forum blipped for a few minutes and said "Not enough privileges to view this" and I was half way into a panic attack when it fixed itself.
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According to a frozen food company that makes various chicken, rice, egg rolls, spring rolls, etc., I'm supposed to keep a camera on hand every time I microwave my supper in case there's a problem because unless I take a picture of the food before putting it on the plate (it comes in a pouch that has to be vented before microwaving so it doesn't explode and is therefore steamy and opaque when finished), it means I'm lying about there being a problem.
Seriously, who besides social media-obsessed narcissists even take pictures of their food when it's just a run-of-the-mill supper that isn't any kind of special occasion? I get that warpus takes pictures of his food on holidays, but that's because he's on holidays and wants to share as much of his experience as possible. Mary takes pictures of her food because she's justifiably proud of her cooking/baking ability and presentation and wants to share it.
I was just microwaving a bit of chicken to go with some rice because I happen to like that.
Condescending and unreasonable customer service agents are not doing their company any favors. I'll finish what's still in the freezer, but they've lost me for anything new.
Seriously, who besides social media-obsessed narcissists even take pictures of their food when it's just a run-of-the-mill supper that isn't any kind of special occasion? I get that warpus takes pictures of his food on holidays, but that's because he's on holidays and wants to share as much of his experience as possible. Mary takes pictures of her food because she's justifiably proud of her cooking/baking ability and presentation and wants to share it.
I was just microwaving a bit of chicken to go with some rice because I happen to like that.
Condescending and unreasonable customer service agents are not doing their company any favors. I'll finish what's still in the freezer, but they've lost me for anything new.
I think that the proper word that English should incorporate for this kind of thing is ‘empalagoso’.
Your postcount! How dare they! And you're so close to breaking the thousand-post barrier!
Yeah, sorry, that was probably my fault.
I think this should be mostly about the additional fat in there.
Potatoes themself should be one of the most easily digestable food for humans, since it's basically only starch. But I'm not a nutrition expert.
I think this should be mostly about the additional fat in there.
Potatoes themself should be one of the most easily digestable food for humans, since it's basically only starch. But I'm not a nutrition expert.
Traitorfish
The Tighnahulish Kid
I find myself struggling to get into new video games over the last few years. I'd say that about the half the games I try, I play for a few hours and lose the energy to continue.
Possibly I'm just playing the wrong games, but the pattern is that I struggle to get into games with unfamiliar or complicated mechanics, which makes me worry I've damaged my brain in some specific way that has rendered me too impatience to tolerate anything but the slightest learning curve. The sensible answer is probably that I've just reached a stage in life were games are brain-candy, a way of unwinding rather than something to sink time into, and that's fine. But it lines up with a broader concern that I've destroyed my attention span through over exposure to the bleep-bloop machines, especially after Covid, and I may have done some sort of irreparable damage.
I should probably throw my phone into the sea and see if that helps.
Possibly I'm just playing the wrong games, but the pattern is that I struggle to get into games with unfamiliar or complicated mechanics, which makes me worry I've damaged my brain in some specific way that has rendered me too impatience to tolerate anything but the slightest learning curve. The sensible answer is probably that I've just reached a stage in life were games are brain-candy, a way of unwinding rather than something to sink time into, and that's fine. But it lines up with a broader concern that I've destroyed my attention span through over exposure to the bleep-bloop machines, especially after Covid, and I may have done some sort of irreparable damage.
I should probably throw my phone into the sea and see if that helps.
Farm Boy
I hope you dance
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You're probably bored enough of games that if it's going to be complicated and tedious it needs to be exceptional and something at least a little novel. I almost never make it through an episode of a show anymore. What are they remaking this time, you know? 10 minutes in I'm bored. But everything is sort of like that. People suggest getting a hobby and I cannot for the life of me come up with anything that even sounds potentially amusing.
It's very rare a new game hooks me, because it is rare we reinvent gaming and discover a new genre or way to play.
Only one or two games per generation really get my attention now, but then I'll obsessively sink 100+ hours in.
Hades, Breath of the Wild are the only recent games. Then you leap back to old favourites that just scratch an old itch.
Only one or two games per generation really get my attention now, but then I'll obsessively sink 100+ hours in.
Hades, Breath of the Wild are the only recent games. Then you leap back to old favourites that just scratch an old itch.
Synobun
Deity
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Perhaps challenge has become no longer appealing. What happens if you remove the challenge? Does it become more or less interesting?
I think that yes, you should get rid of your phone, or at least all the endorphin-releasing clickbait app-sites like facebook, instagram, twitter, etc. that reshape your brain into an instant-response machine conditioned to not only get things in quickly but also to remove them quickly to make room for the next thing.
I suggest getting into a) the really immersive and well-designed games e.g. the original Doom and b) starting reading things on paper again. A good nice book. worked with me.
I suggest getting into a) the really immersive and well-designed games e.g. the original Doom and b) starting reading things on paper again. A good nice book. worked with me.
If you are playing games on your phone, that might be the problem. Try going back to PC based games and maybe party up with a friend to learn the game together.
Synobun
Deity
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I've deciphered the coded message in this post. It's telling you to play Path of Exile.
I was tempted to add that bit, but to spare you all the pain, I did not. Thank you for inflicting it for me!
@Traitorfish Any time you want to learn to play Path of Exile, let me know!
Spaceship victory in civ3.
Spend enough time online and the attention span for real books does suffer. I've noticed this, as it's been years since I spent much time at one sitting reading anything more complicated than fanfiction. That's not to say I don't read real books; I've got a couple of Highlander novels on the go. But I don't usually read more than a few pages at a time.Read a book to check for the attention span?
I've got a couple of new Bova novels (Uranus and Neptune) that were my birthday present to myself, so hopefully they'll be page-turners that'll keep me reading more than a few minutes at a time. I used to spend hours/day reading.
Hobbies often discover you, not the other way around. Or they come at you from a slightly different angle if you are looking for one.I had the same issue before. At that time I decided it's simply time for a new hobby. Would recommend
My grandmother tried to push me into sewing/crafting-based hobbies. I actively and deliberately failed home economics in junior high because I hated it, was afraid of electric sewing machines (getting fingers caught in the needle is definitely something that can happen as it happened to a classmate), and wary of hot stoves (my mother never trusted me enough to teach me anything when I was younger and to this day I hate using them).
My grandmother's efforts to teach me knitting and crocheting went nowhere, since she had no idea how to teach. If I started doing something wrong she'd grab the needles or hook and do it herself. Then she tried latch hook. I did a little of it but found it boring so she finished the picture herself. I eventually did get interested in it to to the point of giving my dad a picture of a basic rug hooking frame in a Mary Maxim catelogue and asking him to make me one.
What he came up with was big enough and heavy enough that I could make a quilt on it, if I knew how to quilt. Yes, it got used for rug-making. In the SCA someone had the idea for a group project - to make a giant banner, rug, and runners with the Shire's device on it (gold 8-pointed star surrounded by silver/white laurel wreath on a black background). That thing was wide enough for 3 people to sit side-by-side and work on, which we did at times at the Seneschal/Master of Arrows' home, with the Highlander TV series on in the background. But then a couple of us thought it would be nice to work on it without having to go there, so I proposed taking it to my place and using the rug hooking frame. There was enough room there for two people to work side-by-side. If memory serves, this thing was 6' x 6'. The canvas was regular rug canvas that has 3.3 holes/inch, and each hole requires at least 1 knot, possibly 2 if you want it extra-thick or a more 3-D look/texture.
So we did that for awhile. Eventually it was finished, and at the next feast the out-of-town guests were amazed and stunned and astounded at how good it looked and how many person-hours it had taken (it's customary at feasts for everyone who has any kind of heraldic device to display it, whether personal, a sign of what office you might hold, or a group device).
I haven't done any serious rug-making since then. If I did, it would be something that doesn't matter when it gets done. Working all that time, under a deadline (we wanted it finished in time to show off at Harvest Feast, which was our premiere event of the year), meant cramped fingers and a sore neck from having to work quickly and looking down so much.
I picked up plastic canvas (3-D needlepoint) in 1985 after watching someone else do something similar (with a frame). I thought it looked easy enough, so went to Walmart to get some basic supplies and an instruction book. Eventually I started producing stuff that didn't look like complete crap, but was still rough and unrefined.
Two years later, I realized that I'd run out of people to give stuff to, and since my technique had improved considerably, I approached the craft stores in town to see about selling. That resulted in joining a craft co-operative and eventually being on the board of directors. I sold in the store and took custom orders on the side. Some of the things I've made have traveled farther across this planet than I have, all the way to England. So a hobby became a home business, and someone in the SCA who ordered some things from me as gifts for friends asked me how I could bear to sell any of it. I told her that if it was a simple enough pattern, it was really easy to make dozens of identical things in various sizes so I didn't get emotionally attached to them. Original designs, though, were a bit different. There are some custom orders that I only ever made one of, even though I created the pattern myself and could have made as many as I wanted. Those were special to the client, so I left it at that.
Many years ago I got the idea for some science/space program-themed counted cross-stitch projects. They're super-ambitious and I never got beyond the basic sketching stage. Now that I've joined several FB groups for needlepoint and cross-stitch, I might be able to source some of the materials and images I'd need to do justice to these ideas.
One thing about sewing-based hobbies I've learned is the necessity to think outside the box, and pick yourself up after a disaster. The headbands and headdresses I wore as part of my SCA costume or science fiction conventions were made of plastic canvas (the trick is to make them not look like it). When disaster strikes (such as accidentally sewing one of said headdresses together sideways the day before the convention and having to redo 9 HOURS of work), you just get it done.
At least my problem wasn't as bad as what happened to the Seneschale of the Shire. She loved any and all crafts, from lace-making to intricately-detailed blackwork using metallic threads. The latter is what she decided to do to decorate a sideless surcoat she wanted to make as part of her court dress. So she spent two YEARS on this project, in detailed, finicky cross-stitch and straight-stitch embroidery. Finally, during one meeting, she triumphantly declared herself FINISHED and quickly ran to the bathroom to change into the surcoat to show us.
Then we heard hysterical laughter coming from the bathroom and wondered WTH had happened...
Turns out she'd spent two years embroidering the back of the surcoat in gold and silver metallic embroidery thread. The kind of thread you can't put much pressure on because it can break.
The kind you can't sit on. And anyway, it would look ridiculous to have a surcoat embroidered on the back, with a plain front.
So she had to start all over on a new project. To this day I have no idea if she ever finished it.
As for gaming... Civ is for fun and figuring out new strategy. Pixel Art is for relaxation. The rest is for mild-medium mental exercise as in the game I just finished (Spellarium 8). The added bonus of the Jewel Match and Hiddenverse games is the wonderful artwork. It's given me so many great ideas for developing the wider background for my King's Heir story.
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