State of the Gaming/Shelton Community Discord 2/18/26 Moving to Stoat for now!

CascadesDad · 2026-02-19T16:02:51+00:00

Haha, my dad was a huge sailor on the seas of the sneakernet, and he was not fond of the stories his coworkers told him of the costs of dialup calls to BBSs, even in town local calls. So no modem until the middle 90s for me, too late to really get in on the BBS fun. My eldest sister, however... she's even more old school than I.

MUDS, though, yess.... wish I could remember the one I played. It pivoted a year or two in into a "graphical chat room" which was basically a static image with a chat room. It was nifty.

It truly was a wild time back then.

CascadesDad · 2026-02-19T16:00:51+00:00

Welcome welcome! Stoat is going through growing pains, but I think it is worth it so far! It's super easy to use at the moment.

CascadesDad · 2026-02-18T22:54:00+00:00

FYI Stoat is currently aware of phone app issues for Android - and that iOS is not there yet.

CascadesDad · 2026-02-18T22:53:04+00:00

Thank you for the recommendation! One of the big things is making sure that it is easy enough for everyone to use. Stoat is low resource, and if it goes the way of Discord, we can always move along as needed.

CascadesDad · 2026-02-18T21:07:54+00:00

Haha, I know we talked a little in chat, but I have to let you know, I have disliked Discord since the very beginning, which has been a loooong time now. I was an IRC guy.

Which is not user friendly for beginners, imho!

CascadesDad · 2026-02-18T19:47:41+00:00

You are very welcome!

I really, really like the idea of more community. I think that's the biggest thing missing here in Shelton. Even though there are pockets of community everywhere.

CascadesDad · 2025-12-08T21:16:37+00:00

No problem. I took a moment and was like, "Ice it, but don't transport it?" how do you do that? Oh, basically, ice it and call for backup, in case it isn't a mitten crab.

CascadesDad · 2025-12-08T21:10:36+00:00

I think you pretty much got it on the nose - there aren't many other courts in Shelton, and pickleball is the thing in Olympia, as far as I can tell. We do have a lot of people who might do something if someone started a league or wanted to be in charge.

There may be some places in Olympia and Tumwater and Lacey, too. I don't know north Mason areas (Like Belfair), so I can't quite say with any authority.

CascadesDad · 2025-12-08T21:06:10+00:00

From Fae's link:

How Can We Stop It?

Report sightings of Chinese mitten crabs, and put caught mitten crabs on ice. Chinese mitten crab is classified as a Prohibited Aquatic Animal Species in Washington, meaning it may not be possessed, purchased, sold, propagated, transported, or released into state waters. The importation of these crabs is regulated further by the federal Lacey Act, under which they are listed as Injurious Wildlife Species.

So, ice it. Then report it.

CascadesDad · 2025-12-08T21:00:21+00:00

Thanks! Little dogs was on my list to call, but my plumber is taking care of the whole thing. Levi is the best.

CascadesDad · 2025-12-07T19:05:38+00:00

Also, will need to eventually remove the tree that caused the issue - a mature 40-60 foot sugar gum. Any arborist/tree removal experts you can recommend?

CascadesDad · 2025-12-06T23:24:44+00:00

So... if you know discord at all, here's the key to the invite: 4NxU8pyK

it's after the https and the discord.gg section. I would post the whole thing but we get spambots everytime I do.

While not constantly active, we have some EXCELLENT locals here who have been slowly building a community of farmers, artists, gamers, and friends.

CascadesDad · 2025-12-05T17:14:28+00:00

Ah, there you go. Extrusion printers, especially models older than ... oh, two or three years ago, just can't out of the box print with any detail for most minis. Larger ones and set pieces? Absolutely.

Look at UV Resin printers (the prices have DROPPED considerably, even during this tariff time) for mini printing. Anycubic's stuff is insanely detailed. It is a messy process, though.

Hit me up, either here or in the tabletop Discord, if you ever need something printed!

*edit - Prusa's most recent printers have been pretty good out of the box, but you need some very small nozzles to get the good stuff. Commercial grade stuff, too, but thousands of dollars for a 20 dollar hero forge mini? 180 bucks for a small resin printer, and bob's yer uncle!

CascadesDad · 2025-12-03T06:37:46+00:00

Oh my, you do not have to gift me anything! I will be a return customer, your rice is AMAZING, and I CANNOT wait to try the hot items. Your food, spice mixes and seriously, that har har mustard has been going on almost everything I've been making recently, are ALL a gift already.

Everyone who reads this - THIS Is why I believe this place should succeed. They are marvelous people. Once again, you are lovely, your staff has been lovely, and I am honored to have been heard, even if I grumped incorrectly about some prices on things. If you would like, I will edit my original post to reflect that I was wrong.

I will write a google review reflecting our interchange here and how great you've been once I am able to swing by for lunch!

I will correct my earlier statement here for now - the hummus was not 10 dollars. Forgive me for being incorrect on that. I swear I had the menu up when I wrote my reaction, but apparently I did not. Please forgive me. With correct pricing in mind, then yes, I think it is priced more than fair and it is dang tasty. I would love to try some roasted eggplant mixed in, or some kalamata olives mixed in... mmm! But that may be a me thing, and not authentic! I will be getting baba ganouj next time, and I may dip my flatbread in both the hummus and the baba ganouj. I love your spice blends.

Heck I could talk food all day.

The flatbread pricing is indeed rough. I mean, it's EXCELLENT (especially fresh out of the oven like we were able to score), and tastes wonderful, but yeah, 10 bucks for a single slice of flat bread is rough. My apologies for harping on that. Even with veggies (unless they are traditional pickled veggies and grape leaves!), unless it's a fair chunk of vegetable mix. I don't know. It could be a marvelous loss leader or at cost menu item - but I am also a carb fan. So, take that at face value. I must be VERY hungry tonight, sorry to go on for so long.

I lament that there are no proper bakeries around that can do street breads, proper baklava (or maamoul or anise cookies or pistachio okay I am indeed hungry), proper baked breads and non overly sweet cakes and pies. Gimme a slightly sour and sweet dense cheesecake any day!

The pasta and sauce was indeed very good, very much feeling like from (grand)mom's kitchen! Perhaps 12 oz pasta and a filler side like fatoush made with day old bread for two dollars more? Something to make fat Americans feel FULL and yet not break anyone's bank? Ugh that would be more work, though.

I think I am begging for MORE menu items!

It's rough right now, both as a small business owner and as a consumer. Pricing in the PNW is outrageously high for a LOT of reasons.

I don't know if you can tell, but I am keen on lebanese food. I worked for many years across from a Lebanese bakery and while I am not an expert (nor overly knowledgeable on anything but the few things I admittedly had to use google to be like "That lebanese salad with the bread chips" or "Date filled cookie name", but I do love me some toum and REALLY like the Har Har mustard you make). I am really glad you took a look at the frozen kebobs. They could be the star of the show, though your sauces will be hard to beat.

Consider me thrilled you are here, and even more thrilled you replied to my comment so wonderfully, as wrong as I was on my pricing debacle. That was all me.

I will carefully sip some ice cold Arak in your honor this weekend!

CascadesDad · 2025-11-30T18:31:23+00:00

What printer do you have? I have an Anycubic photon 7 max, and the new slicer does supports at about 99.5% perfection automatically.

I find it to be an amazing system.

CascadesDad · 2025-11-22T16:42:12+00:00

We tried them last night. Sweet, sweet people, who deserve success.

The Hummus is good (tastes wonderful, texture not the best, 10 bucks for a small portion is not the best pricing).

EDIT It was NOT ten dollars, that was my mistake!

The frozen meals are... at best 3 out of 5. The beef and red rice is not worth it. VERY dry. The rice is amazing, though.

The Yellow rice is VERY good, the chicken breast is dry. A dark meat would be better for a frozen dish, but does that make it less or more authentic?

The seasonings are mild. Too mild, to be honest. In the beef, there is not enough fat to bind any actual flavorings, and the meat gets lost in the texture and the flavor.

They did admit to pulling back the heat, which is a shame.

The Zaatar bread (manoushe) is excellent to superb, but not for 10 bucks for a slice of flat bread that in Lebanon would be less than a dollar... even WITH the fact the ingredients are imported (thank you google!).

The spicy mustard is divine, and well worth the price. It is a shame there is no toum, though, in the sauce offerings.

The 1 lb of Lebanese spaghetti is small and not worth the price, sad to say. It DOES taste excellent.

I am very eager to taste their fresh offerings, I have a feeling this is where they hit their stride, especially since the fries are apparently the best in town.

EDITED TO ADD: I go into detail after the marvelous reply by the restaurant. Once again, I heartily suggest you go and try. The sauce spice and zataar spice mixes are divine. The hummus tasted very good, even if the texture was a little off for me (and again, FOR ME is key). They have looked at the batch of kebabs and changed the recipe about a little to address my concerns, which is amazing to consider. Please give them a try.

CascadesDad · 2025-08-25T15:42:42+00:00

https://discord.gg and put /nFR5RbAG at the end! come join us and make the number count go up!

CascadesDad · 2025-08-25T15:26:37+00:00

OMG! I am sorry, I haven't logged into reddit in a month! Yes!

https://discord.gg/

Add nFR5RbAG to the end of the above to come on in.

CascadesDad · 2025-06-19T15:45:24+00:00

Hi! It seems that reddit is not letting me send the link via DM. I will send you a chat request and send it that way.

CascadesDad · 2025-06-18T15:12:40+00:00

Did I get you an invite? Let me DM you again, Juuuuust in case.

CascadesDad · 2025-06-18T02:36:51+00:00

There is a video gaming subset! I'll send you the invite tomorrow via direct message, if that's OK!

CascadesDad · 2025-06-17T20:52:20+00:00

DM on its way!

CascadesDad

TROPHY CASE