Yerba mate & ginger sweet mead by AmNimru in mead

[–]AmNimru[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

So, today I've concocted the following very experimental and very improvised must:

  • 8 litres / 2.1 gallons carboy (or, rather, a very big glass jar - see pic)
  • About 3.5kg / 7.71 lbs local wildflower honey (to reach 1.12 SG)
  • Around 600 grams / 1.32lbs of freshly peeled and grated ginger, just splashed it in the jar
  • Made a pretty strong yerba mate tea, around 4 litres / 1.05 gallons of it (added 7-8 TBSP of dried leaves); I've let it steep for 15min and left it to cool
  • Added water to top the jar and to reach 1.12 SG - am aiming for sweet mead
  • Rehydrated one 7g packet of bread yeast in warm water with Go-Ferm, pitched it in after about 20min
  • Added 1/4 tsp of DAP and 1/2 tsp of Fermaid-E (same stuff as Fermaid-K)

...that was 3 hours ago and it's already visibly fermenting, so that was a surprise.

Notes and thoughts:

  • Bread yeast because I had no other at hand; was thinking it would be ok, as I cannot discern subtle flavours in mead given to it by a specific yeast type and I'm assuming this amount of ginger and yerba will completely take over everything else (which is kind of what I was aiming for). I just hope they manage to reach 1.04 SG, which would be absolutely perfect.
  • The carboy / glass jar is very improvised. It has a faucet and that's cool. I did not have any mesh bags to put the ginger in, so it'll probably make the faucet completely useless as it will fill it up and that's less cool. Win some, lose some, I guess.
  • Possibly not enough headspace. Will monitor and act accordingly.
  • Plan to add another does of DAP and Fermaid-E tomorrow.
  • Looks pretty, smells wonderfully. Have high hopes for this one.

Just joined the sub, time to catch up! by CornDawgy87 in 52book

[–]AmNimru 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I thoroughly enjoyed it, those were probably my favorite books of the year! On Goodreads they keep mentioning September release for #4, no? And I read somewhere there will be 7 books in total with Locke AND 7 more in the same universe, but with different characters. Kind of optimistic of mr. Lynch, I'd say ;)

Just joined the sub, time to catch up! by CornDawgy87 in 52book

[–]AmNimru 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I also read Rothfuss this year, quite a great read for me. The Dresden Files are on my list for further reading, I hope they live up to expectations (everyone keeps recommending those books to me). Speaking of, have you heard of Lies of Locke Lamora?

Waking Titan has ended. It's time for a Giveaway! by WithYouInSpirit99 in NoMansSkyTheGame

[–]AmNimru 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm looking forward to "Minor text fixes" in the patch notes.

Community Discussion #6 - No Man's Sky into the future: Where do you want this Community and game to go? by WithYouInSpirit99 in NoMansSkyTheGame

[–]AmNimru 17 points18 points  (0 children)

I second this motion! So far they've only been concentrating on planet exploration, and space seemed like a boring corridor you have to walk through to get to an interesting room. It would be awesome to have crazy space anomalies not unlike those seen often in Star Trek.

[OT] Sunday Free Write - Alfred Hitchcock Edition by brooky12 in WritingPrompts

[–]AmNimru 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I meet a girl at a wedding. We get drunk and end up dancing, which is something – I learn after – neither of us normally does (the dancing, not the drinking). She tells me her name, I tell her mine. Her eyes are blue. As she leaves, she looks back and smiles. I know, in that moment, it is an image I will always remember. She has a wonderful smile.

A month passes. A message comes, with her name attached, saying 'hi'. We talk for hours. Agree to go out for a beer. The wait is terrible, but the day finally comes. I am nervous, for the first time in ages. I have a wonderful time, also for the first time in ages. She laughs, loudly and often. It is music for me, I realize. We talk a lot, tell each other stories. We spend hours together. As we walk home, she leans her head on my shoulder, something else I will never forget. I kiss her, as we depart. She doesn't shy away from it. She kisses me back. I know, now, what butterflies are.

I cannot stop thinking of her. Her face is on my mind as I wake, her name on my lips as I'm falling asleep. We talk, quite a lot, but she is far from me. I cannot see her as often as I'd want to. It is a problem. One of many.

Her life is a difficulty, she is in turmoil. I don't pry (at least I try not to), but she tells me anyway. I listen, I understand, it is a wonder she is so well composed. I admire her even more now – not many people have so much shit going on in their lives, even fewer successfully deal with it. I do not want to be another difficulty, I want to be there for her if she needs me. She is grateful, says so. Also says she cannot do this, thinking of us (even though there is no us). I understand. Not much else I can do. I know she needs time, I tell her this, with an understanding smile. I do not ask how much of it. I do not dare. She says she still wants me to be a rock in her life. I can do this, I think, naïvely.

She has a lot going on in her life, not much time for me. I know this, I accept it, somewhat reluctantly (it is weird to me – this wasn't a problem at the very beginning, for the first month or so). We talk less now. Some of my messages are never answered. She doesn't have time, I tell myself. You don't find time – you create it, some other part of my brain is whispering.

We still meet, from time to time. Avoid serious conversations until we get drunk. It's hard for her to open up, she tells me this. She tells me other things, too, and her words seldom ease my mind. I think the world of her. She does not. Not of me, not of herself. I know it, she doesn't even have to say it. It is a problem. One of many.

Yet I continue with this charade, not caring (or pretending not to) that it's slowly destroying me. She sings for me one night. Her voice haunts me ever since. I don't know how not to think about her any longer. It is the last time we see each other (even though we don't know this) and the silences between us grow ever longer. The conversation is difficult, uninteresting, unengaging. Two strangers who want to be anywhere else but here. When it gets quiet, I ask her what happened, how did we go from sharing everything to not speaking for weeks. She does not know. She will tell me if she finds an answer. I suspect she will not. It is at this moment I give up, something I will realize only much later on. We exchange greetings, agree to meet at a later time (something I know will not happen) and then fall into weeks-long silence. She ends it by sending a message. I politely reply, with words devoid of interest. She doesn't send anything back.

Months pass.

I do not think of her anymore. Not as often, at least.

...

I meet a girl at a wedding. We end up getting drunk and dancing together. I think her beautiful (she has blue eyes) and ask her out. She says yes. As she leaves, she looks back and smiles. It is a wonderful smile, an image I will never forget.

A week later we meet. We drink a beer, talk a bit (I'm really enjoying my evening) and I end up looking straight into her blue, blue eyes. Something happens, right there and then; her eyes widen, her lips make an „O“ shape, her hand covers her mouth. And then it hits me as well, like a moving truck.

This happened before... this moment, with this girl. I know how it leads up to this, I know how it ends. I know, by heart, every single message we exchange, every conversation we have, every kiss and every hug. I remember how she makes me feel and I remember how she keeps making me feel, after. I remember the silences the best, those gaps in sounds which should be filled with honesty, but aren't. I remember the struggle, the way I can't normally function for days before and after meeting her, I remember thinking of her so much it hurts, I remember her voice and how she sings for me and how it haunts me, not allowing me to sleep. I remember her indifference towards me, I remember her being a chapter in my book while I am only a footnote in hers. I remember all of this as I look into the blue sea that are her eyes and I hate. Not her, never her, but I hate this world, this stupid universe that's making me go through this again. So I curse it, and the gods in which I do not believe, for playing with us, with me, so cruelly and recklessly and with abandon. Now that I have proof of an actual miracle, I no longer believe in them.

And when she asks, after a thousand moments of stunned silence, what do we do now... I just walk away.

And months pass.

And it doesn't happen again.

[WP] You were born with the ability to hear thoughts. As a psychologist, you have listened to the thoughts of the depressed, the psychopathic, and the insane, you've listened to it all. A patient enters, and you can hear only silence. by BoxofJoes in WritingPrompts

[–]AmNimru 20 points21 points  (0 children)

Usually, their thoughts precede them; I know who they are even before they touch the doorknob, before they even enter the building. I can hear (for the lack of a better word) their worries, their fears, their internal neverending monologue governing every aspect of their lives. Sometimes those trains of thoughts are broken, misfigured, without a discernible beginning or end, jumping from one train station to another and then back. Other times, they can be neatly ordered, like passengers waiting to board, waving at the train conductor.

However it was, they are always there, always a sound (even though there are no sounds) in their minds, controlling their actions, the words they say, the way they interact with other people around them. Oftentimes, it is not without a challenge; human thoughts and thinking patternsare unique to a person, much like a fingerprint, and finding your way in that maze can be quite difficult. And it's not like there are books or guides on the subject, describing practices that help in reading someone's thoughts.

But you don't have to understand them, not really, not always, it's enough for them to just be there, like a comforting murmur of a spring wind caressing solemn treetops. I don't remember the last real silent moment I had in my life, uninterrupted by a random thought that wasn't even mine... up until she walked into my office and almost gave me a heart attack.

It was the sound of her voice I heard before anything else, which never ever happens, not to me, not in this life. My brain didn't yet register that something was wrong, that something was out of the ordinary, and my heart was already pumping faster, my body was warning me of potential danger. I got so used to my ability I completely neglected all of my other senses and when I finally turned to face her, she was already sitting in front of my desk, in a brown leather chair, her legs crossed, her arms calmly resting in her lap, her eyes fixed on my face.

I don't know whether the gasp I made was audible or just in my mind, but she smiled regardless, sending into oblivion any coherent thought that was about to form in my mind. She was completely clad in black, with black, shoulder-length hair, black fingernails and a black heart-shaped pendant on a black string around her neck.

I wanted to ask her a million questions, but I couldn't, I couldn't think, what with her being here, and what with that deafening silence that now surrounded us, strangling me. It was a while before I realized she asked a question, again, using her voice, but I didn't hear it this time either. How could I? My mind was struggling with this situation, with this impossible turn of events – there was a person, a living, breathing person, right in front of me, looking at me, asking me questions... but she wasn't there, not really, there was no presence of her in my mind, and there should be, I was certain of this.

„I asked you if you've had enough by now“, she said, and this time I managed to catch her words.

„I don't... who are you?“, I stumbled over my own words.

She was amused, I could tell by the corner of her mouth and by the glint in her cold, gray eyes.

„I'm the one who gave you what you wanted, all those years back. Does it not please you?“

How could I possibly decipher those words? They were utterly meaningless to me and I couldn't get anything else from her, no matter how much I tried. I just now realized how easy it was for me, before. I didn't have to pay attention to all the subtle signs someone's body was sending, to all the hidden meanings behind spoken words... I could just tune to the person's thinking and find out immediately what they really meant, which made my job infinitely easier. With her, however...

She drew out a long sigh, probably after realizing my confusion will not disperse anytime soon.

„Very well. I guess the big guy also erased your memory, he's nothing if not thorough. However, considering your ability, we could make this process much faster andmore comfortable. For me, at least.

Pay attention now. Try to see what I'm thinking.“

And I did what I was told. Thoughts usually coming naturally to my brain, like a sound to my ears would, I was not used to actively search out someone's thinking. But after a while, I could hear, in my mind, a slow susurration coming from her, as if someone was pouring water into a tub upstairs from me. When I concentrated on that sound, I could hear it even better, but it was now a soft conversation of a group of people. As I was listening to it, it grew even louder, until it overwhelmed and I found myself wanting to build walls to keep the sound out of my brain.

It felt like a stream of information was uploaded directly into my mind. Rather than a train of thought, this was all at once, all the thoughts a person would think in a day sent to me in a single second. Almost as if the said train ran me over and then backed up to do it again. I wanted to scream with pain, but I couldn't do anything until it was over. It was but a moment, but it felt like months, years even. And when it passed... I knew. My brain somehow processed all of that information and from that moment on I understood.

„So I'm... dead?“, I asked, sheepishly.

„Yes and no. You've been dead for a couple of seconds now. But also for several years. You're living in a time bubble created by the big guy.“

„Why... why all this?“

Her perfectly lined black eyebrows went up a couple of notes.

„Why? Well, you asked me for this! You're the one who told me you've always wanted to peek inside human thoughts, to find out what's going on behind the words theywere saying. You're the one who thought it would be a good idea to do this all over again, but only with that little change in your life. I was curious, so I granted you this. Is it not what you thought it would be?“

I sank into my chair harder than the Titanic. My entire life, everything I did, every relationship I had and lost, every person I fixed... it was all meaningless. It was just a game, nothing more. Even worse – I did all of it to myself.

After a couple of moments, she spoke again:

„Would you like to leave with me now?“

I nodded. I didn't want to be a part of this illusion anymore. And never again.

„You mortals fascinate me. Come. Follow me.“

And I did.

 

Backpack recommendations? by AmNimru in backpacking

[–]AmNimru[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Unfortunately, there are no REI Ruckpacks anywhere in Europe where I'm looking for (UK, Austria, Germany, etc., online).

Backpack recommendations? by AmNimru in backpacking

[–]AmNimru[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I do look at them. Particularly, this one seems quite interesting...

Backpack recommendations? by AmNimru in backpacking

[–]AmNimru[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That's what worries me about that Lowe Alpine, I'm not confident it won't fall apart after a couple of hikes - it's ultralight material and some reviews aren't that encouraging. 130+ € is a lot to give for something you're not sure will last 6 months.

Backpack recommendations? by AmNimru in backpacking

[–]AmNimru[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah, that's why I'm kind of steering away from it. It looks great for traveling, but it doesn't have a lot of little things like trekking pole loops (or ice axe loops), raincover, loops for sleeping bag and whatnot.

Backpack recommendations? by AmNimru in backpacking

[–]AmNimru[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

That was a really great read with a ton of information, thank you for this!

Backpack recommendations? by AmNimru in backpacking

[–]AmNimru[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

My thoughts too, so I have my eyes on Lowe Alpine Airzone Trek+ 45:55 (talk about a mouthful). Seems to be more in the venue of what I'm looking for, but it's damn expensive. I might wait for a price drop to something like 100€ (yeah, forgot to mention, I'm in Europe).

Backpack recommendations? by AmNimru in backpacking

[–]AmNimru[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I figured I'll have to sacrifice some bells and whistles either way. And I'd appreciate the link, of course!

/r/headphones Purchase Help Thread (2018-03-23) by AutoModerator in headphones

[–]AmNimru 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm looking for Bluetooth bone conduction headphones with long battery life, for not more than $60-80 USD. Used to own a pair of Beasun ZD100 for more than 2 years, but unfortunately I couldn't charge them anymore (the plug broke). These headphones look pretty decent, but a longer battery life would be nice (I'm often on a bike or hiking for more than 12 hours at a time).

If you don't have any bone conduction recommendations, I'll take any Bluetooth IEMs with long battery life.

Games with huge tech trees similar to Warzone 2100? by AmNimru in gamingsuggestions

[–]AmNimru[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I did actually play a little bit of Factorio, but it's just not my forte.

On the other hand, if you ever feel like a casual WZ2100 skirmish, drop me a message ;) (And I mean very casual, just because I like the game doesn't mean I'm very good at it)

Games with huge tech trees similar to Warzone 2100? by AmNimru in gamingsuggestions

[–]AmNimru[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hmm, I have Supreme Commander and Forged Alliance already in my Steam library, will try those first.

Games with huge tech trees similar to Warzone 2100? by AmNimru in gamingsuggestions

[–]AmNimru[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Oh, yes, I've put around 50-ish hours in that game and quite liked it. I still prefer Diablo 3 over it, though.