Random thing you love right now that doesn't deserve its own thread

I attempted to get used to a trackball a few years ago, but it made my carpal tunnel inflammation worse so I went back to a traditional mouse.

To each their own.

Switched to a trackball to better play TIE Fighter in '97, never looked back.

doubtingthomas396 wrote:

I am a huge fan of the Logitech MX Master.

I concur with everything you said about it.

In my case, I have been using Track and Ball mice since I was roughly 5, when Asheron's Call came out. Any other type of mouse just feels wrong when gaming. I can use them for anything else except gaming.

I switched to a hand-me-down M570 at work a year or so ago and never looked back. Not sure if I'd love it for gaming, but my wrist has felt much better since making the switch for all-day work use. If and when this thing ever dies I'll definitely look at replacing with an MX Ergo.

Amusing exchange in Euphoria episode 2:

Ethan walks in and sits next to Kat in an HS lab class. After a bit of introductory small talk and exchanges of nervous glances...

Kat: What's your Reddit user name?
Ethan: Um, it's IncelUprising
Kat: ...
Ethan: I'm joking. Joke.
Kat sighs, relieved.

Euphoria is super dark. Really too dark for me, I think, though I keep dipping my toe in. Still, it has its moments.

BadKen wrote:

Amusing exchange in Euphoria episode 2:

Ethan walks in and sits next to Kat in an HS lab class. After a bit of introductory small talk and exchanges of nervous glances...

Kat: What's your Reddit user name?
Ethan: Um, it's IncelUprising
Kat: ...
Ethan: I'm joking. Joke.
Kat sighs, relieved.

Euphoria is super dark. Really too dark for me, I think, though I keep dipping my toe in. Still, it has its moments.

Just finished the last episode. Definitely one of my favorite new shows.

St. Louis Burger Week Is Almost Here… And It’s Going to be Juicy

Did you ever want to find out just how many scrumptious burgers you could fit into your face in a week? We did, too, so we organized the best week of the year: Burger Week. This festival of all things meaty and juicy starts July 29 and runs through August 4, 2019.

In partnership with the Missouri Beef Industry Council, Schlafly and Jim Beam we are bringing you $6 burgers from more than 50 of St. Louis' most delicious restaurants.

From gourmet blends to off-menu specialties and even beer pairings – we will pay tribute to America’s sweetheart – the hamburger! Each restaurateur and chef will prepare their unique take on the burger and each burger is better than the last.

It's gonna be a good week. High on the list will be this burger, which I can hit on my way out or back into town when I head to Kansas to trade cars with my daughter.

IMAGE(https://i.imgur.com/oSx8ewu.png)

that burger makes me want to get back to Chicago and eat at Kumas again. Heavy Metal band inspired burgers and some of the tastiest mac and cheese i've ever had.

yup...a chicago trip is in order

Trackballs are awesome. I used to use a Trackman Marble and loved that thing unreasonably. They are much faster and more precise than a mouse.

They also play hell on my wrists. I'm prone to thumb-tendon inflammation, and the Marble was not good for me. I had to go back to regular mice, but damn, I still miss trackballs.

Oh, what I actually came to post, a funny gaming moment. I was playing through the old Jedi Outcast game (it's pretty short, but it's a good time), and I got to this level where you needed to shut off the lights and stealth through an area; you couldn't set off the guards, and couldn't use force powers, because there were just too many people who could set off an alert and end the game.

So I kept trying and trying to get through, and kept failing over and over. They'd spot me instantly, and I remembered being able to sneak through easily in my prior playthroughs. I was really beating my head on the wall, trying to figure out what was wrong.

Then I remembered my huge glowing lightsaber.

Yeah, sneaking around in the dark waving one of those isn't at all noticeable. Surely nobody would see that.

Turned it off and got through with zero effort. Duh. And good for them for coding that in.

There’s two types of trackballs - thumb oriented and pointer-finger oriented. I’ve never liked the thumb-oriented ones like the Logitech M570.

However, I fell in love with the Microsoft Trackball Explorer back in the day, and it’s still my favorite peripheral ever made. With MS bringing back their classic Intellimouse line, I wish they would bring it back too. NIB this can go for $500-$600 today, which is way outside my comfort zone.

IMAGE(https://www.trackballmouse.org/images/microsoft/microsoft-trackball-explorer.jpg)

The closest equivalent that I’ve found is the Elecom Trackball M-DT2DBRK which is at a reasonable $33.99 on Amazon right now. If you’ve hated marble-style trackballs or they’ve caused discomfort, maybe give the more ergonomic style a chance?

Yes... Microsoft Trackball Explorer was an amazing piece of hardware. Absolutely loved it.

I've tried other trackballs with simular designs, but haven't really found any that feel or work nearly as nicely.

The fingerballs lack the precision of thumb balls for FPS games, though. At least for me.

Random love: Okonomiyaki. Had it for the first time today and it was delicious!

I also love it when I manage to find Japanese food I haven’t had before without having to go to Japan. Not that I mind traveling to Japan, of course.

Mantid wrote:

Random love: Okonomiyaki. Had it for the first time today and it was delicious!

I also love it when I manage to find Japanese food I haven’t had before without having to go to Japan. Not that I mind traveling to Japan, of course.

I had those when i took my trip earlier this year. they were pretty amazing

Pretty easy to make at home too.

Another thumbs up for Okonomiyaki! Love the stuff.

I am torn between what I love more, okonomiyaki or takoyaki! Both so delicious!

I often get them together, just because I can't decide! Although... Maybe takoyaki is just a bit better...

I can speak authoritatively on this. Okonomiyaki is objectively better, for many reasons:

  • Infinitely wider spectrum of stuff going on - bacon, seafood, cheese, tenkasu, vegan, anything goes. It's the pizza of Japanese food
  • You get to participate (if it's that kind of restaurant)
  • No weird specialty equipment required (when making at home)
  • Heats up and cools down in a sane way that's suitable for human consumption. None of that stuff where the takoyaki is cool on the outside but the inside is still nine million degrees so you have to split it open and let the steam out.
  • Takoyaki chefs are often weird old guys who smoke while cooking. Okonomiyaki chefs are typically young and attractive with good taste in music.
  • The defining feature of takoyaki is ostensibly octopus, yet you can't even taste it. What's up with that?

I love Okonomiyaki. I preferred the Hiroshima version when I was there, but I would take either in a heartbeat. That and Japanese curry are the two meals I miss most from my trip to Japan, as you can get decent sushi or ramen in this city but those two are pretty much non-existent around here.

kuddles wrote:

That and Japanese curry are the two meals I miss most from my trip to Japan, as you can get decent sushi or ramen in this city but those two are pretty much non-existent around here.

Yes!

You can get relatively close making it yourself with S&B Golden Curry but it's still not exactly the same. From what I understand, in Japan almost everyone starts with this boxed mix but usually doctors it in some way.

Luckily we had an H-Mart open up in the past couple of years here and their cafeteria area has a Japanese booth that does curry katsu and I nearly cried the first time I had it.

Okay, Fenomas, I hear you. But I will say the octopus in the Bon Chon takoyaki can *definitely* be tasted.

Ranger Rick wrote:
kuddles wrote:

That and Japanese curry are the two meals I miss most from my trip to Japan, as you can get decent sushi or ramen in this city but those two are pretty much non-existent around here.

Yes!

You can get relatively close making it yourself with S&B Golden Curry but it's still not exactly the same. From what I understand, in Japan almost everyone starts with this boxed mix but usually doctors it in some way.

Luckily we had an H-Mart open up in the past couple of years here and their cafeteria area has a Japanese booth that does curry katsu and I nearly cried the first time I had it.

All the ramen places around here have Japanese curry, too. There might be somewhere you can still get it.

Also, +1 on the Golden Curry. It's very close, and easy to make.

This is interesting, I never thought of JP curry as that noteworthy. I mean it's fine but I think of it as a fast food / comfort food kind of thing, akin to mac-n-cheese in the US.

Ranger Rick wrote:

From what I understand, in Japan almost everyone starts with this boxed mix but usually doctors it in some way.

Yes, most families have their own thing - either they add something (chocolate, coffee, honey, cream, worcestershire sauce...) or they mix roux from two different brands, etc.

If were to leave JP (don't think I could, because food) I think what I'd miss would be tonkatsu. Don't know personally but I've heard a lot of expats here say you can't find it done right elsewhere. And it's soooo good done right.

Had some leftover pad thai in the fridge. Nuked it for four minutes then cracked an egg over it and stirred it in. Amazing! Tasted better than when I bought it.

This also works for leftover rice.

"Put an egg on top of it" is a turbo boost to deliciousness for pretty much all leftovers.

Coloring with my kid. Granted it's just scribbles on her side but it's so enjoyable to color and teach

Random Thing I Love: No Notifications

Last week I turned all the notifications off on my phone. All the popups. All the numbers over tiles showing unread notifications. Everything.

Pardon my language.

HOLY sh*t. Life changing. I check email, texts, phone calls, social media, etc, when I want. No more pressure. No more tiny red notification or banner popup compelling me to do something, respond, or get back to someone. It's been so liberating and awesome. I keep the important people (family) on for notifications but everyone else can wait till I have the time or will to respond. It's the epitome of a random thing I love and I would encourage anyone and everyone else to give it a try.

staygold wrote:

Random Thing I Love: No Notifications

Last week I turned all the notifications off on my phone. All the popups. All the numbers over tiles showing unread notifications. Everything.

Pardon my language.

HOLY sh*t. Life changing. I check email, texts, phone calls, social media, etc, when I want. No more pressure. No more tiny red notification or banner popup compelling me to do something, respond, or get back to someone. It's been so liberating and awesome. I keep the important people (family) on for notifications but everyone else can wait till I have the time or will to respond. It's the epitome of a random thing I love and I would encourage anyone and everyone else to give it a try.

I love this.

If more people tried to live like it was 2006 (or even 1996), imagine how much happier we’d all be.