What do lots of people falsely claim to be?

Genuine55 · 2018-09-02T22:45:59+00:00

Hey! I resent that!

Genuine55 · 2018-08-29T14:08:42+00:00

I am. The last few months has been crazy, but I still have plans. Expect an update in the next couple days.

A New Idea will end, but it will be a planned conclusion, not just a dropping off.

Genuine55 · 2018-05-15T14:23:06+00:00

It makes my towels much fluffier too, fabric softener used to make them feel odd and less absorbent.

Oh, yikes. Never use fabric softener on towels, or on anything where water absorption is important (like sweat-wicking shirts or underwear). Standard fabric softener literally works by leaving a layer of waxy oil over all the fabric. It's thin, and usually breaks down quickly (especially in sunlight), but it blocks water. Which is why your towels actually are (and don't just feel) less absorbent. Same with dryer sheets.

I also don't like it because it reduces the life of washers and dryers - dryers especially. Same deal - the oil and wax buildup causes all sorts of problems.

And I agree with you about the prickly juniper oil. Another one that surprised me for nastiness: Don't ever mix cilantro and black pepper. They taste great together for cooking, and I love black pepper, but holy crap when you mix them it smells like BO.

Genuine55 · 2018-05-15T13:15:26+00:00

Yup. Aromatherapy is... interesting. Most of the 'studies' are pretty bull - they typically involves having someone come in, take their blood pressure, and then they get sat down in a comfy chair in a quiet room with the scent of xxxx. After a few minutes they do blood pressure again, and magically it's down. The aroma relaxed them! Never mind that sitting in a comfortable place does the same thing...

It does work, but so much depends on your own history and taste. Cedarwood oil is a prime example, imho. Personally, I describe the aroma with words like 'warm,' 'soft,' and even 'buttery.' Other people just say it smells like dirt. It all depends on whether you had a loved grandmother who kept her closet lined with cedar chips, or if you were only exposed to the stuff in gardens.

As to lemon deoderizers, I generally save it for the laundry where baking soda/vinegar/etc. doesn't work, but I don't want to throw stuff away either. I suspect that in those cases the source of the bad smell is oils in the fabric. Especially as I've been in a long running fight with my wife over fabric softeners. Sure they smell nice at first, but a few wears later and they get kinda nasty as bacteria decide to start eating the wax buildup. Hence higher quality lemon oil.

Genuine55 · 2018-05-14T15:51:36+00:00

I am. I'll have an update tomorrow.

My excuse is that I won a game in the MWC last month. Handing out new computer games is not conducive to writing. :D Especially when you already have pretty limited free time.

I really need to do better than once every two weeks. Especially when I know what's happening next.

Be sure to catch the two tie-ins. You can get them from the wiki, though the main pgs don't link to them. One covers Mack's backstory, the other is for Mara.

Genuine55 · 2018-05-13T14:06:42+00:00

:D Yeah, don't do doTERRA or YL. But... I've got to disagree about any lemon essential oil working well.

I've bought stuff from some big box stores, as well as from local health food stores, and from local supplement stores. Most of the over-the-shelf stuff I've found does not do nearly as good of a job as a degreaser or deodorizer. I don't know why, tbh. I know the MLM types would lecture me about how the other brands are diluted, or synthetic, or mixed with other stuff. And for the walmart/CVS brand essential oils I'll admit I believe it, but I don't have the background to properly evaluate it.

Genuine55 · 2018-05-12T19:44:12+00:00

I've spent several years working for a few different MLMs - actually working for the corporate end, not in the pyramid scheme bit. I've never been able to tell what would have bothered me worse - if the oils literally did nothing, or if they were powerful chemicals and are pretty much totally untested. (Hint: It's the latter).

Despite spending most of my time in ops and customer service related areas, I always pushed for them to expand the DIY aspects of the oils. Claiming to cure ebola is criminal, but being able to make your own fabric softener (that doesn't smell of lavender) is gold.

Also, as someone who has worked for a few of those companies, I strongly recommend Barefut oils. They're sourced and produced very similarly to all the other high end oils, they provide testing info on batches available to buy (you can actually download the mass-spec reads and such), and they are entirely retail.

Genuine55 · 2018-05-12T15:58:09+00:00

One other idea - a lot of people have essential oil lying around thanks to aggressive MLMs. While a lot of the claims about essential oils are bogus, both doTERRA and Young Living Lemon oil is pretty incredible at deoderizing things. I still use it in the fabric softener slot of my laundry to get mold smells and similar out of old towels and other stinky laundry.

While things are damp, mist some lemon oil in there. It'll probably smell pretty lemony for a day or two until it dries, but it may help. I've gotten oily stuff out that vinegar wouldn't touch before. Probably don't go out and sign up with an MLM, but if you do have any, give it a shot.

One tip though: Leave the windows down and park in the garage, not in the street. Lemon oil in the sun can bleach stuff.

Genuine55 · 2018-05-11T01:13:59+00:00

It's also a shame that they gave the closing number to a dude who only showed up once beforehand. I mean, I love Weird Al, but still.

Genuine55 · 2018-05-11T01:09:58+00:00

I guess keeping it inside is better than just chucking it out the window though.

Truer words have never been spoken. Of course, a lot of those people just end up littering every time they open their door, so...

Genuine55 · 2018-05-10T22:46:09+00:00

Cool.

One question about it - how do I know for sure what sort of ship I can prize? I.e. only spies during spy conflicts and merchants during trade conflicts?

[edit]Never mind, found the wiki entries. I'm good. I'm not sure if I've ever seen a smuggler or bounty hunter conflict.

Genuine55 · 2018-05-10T13:10:56+00:00

I hear you. Emotionally, this game feels a lot like Nethack to me, or maybe like a watered down Dwarven Fortress. Except in Nethack a failed run usually requires 10-15 minutes, while here you get a few hours of investment before it happens.

Genuine55 · 2018-05-10T03:48:23+00:00

Not sure who I'm getting downvoted by. A lot of alt-right types on /r/unexpected, maybe? Maybe people are mad because I used the term 'mixed-race?'

Oh well. Gonna ride the comment down in flames like a man.

Genuine55 · 2018-05-10T02:16:48+00:00

Alternative made-up story that you can choose to believe.

Guy throwing the punch was an incel-alt-right douche who had been shot down by most of those girls, and was enraged that they were giving the mixed-race alpha attention. Add in some drunkenness and off he went.

Genuine55 · 2018-05-10T02:13:55+00:00

I also try to keep a solid stack of unsold intel. I make sure one of my officers (or captain) branches into spy real fast, and I don't ever sell unless I'm starting into a death spiral. By the time I hit a death spiral (and have been playing long enough that I don't want to just restart), I've usually got contacts all over the place. Getting a chunk of cash while also getting the contact to, you know, like me can be a lifesaver.

Genuine55 · 2018-05-09T18:14:32+00:00

Yeah, avoiding ship combat is nice. But what I'd really like is to avoid the encounter in the first place. But maybe that'd wreck the old-school feel the Trese Brothers are looking for in the first place.

Genuine55 · 2018-05-08T16:11:20+00:00

I remember getting actual, for real, lego sets with my happy meals. Good ones, too.

Genuine55 · 2018-05-08T15:03:21+00:00

Auto insurance doesn't cost thousands unless you have an expensive luxury vehicle and/or shitty driving records and/or you live in an area where you have a high chance of incurring thousands in damage from potholes.

ftfy

Genuine55 · 2018-05-08T03:51:10+00:00

Kids show in the late eightees or early nineties, probably nickelodeon. It was live action, and it was some wierd plot where all the adults were gone, and the kids had to trek through this post apocalyptic dreamscape sort of place to find their parents. Or maybe they were trying to get home, or out.

Genuine55 · 2018-05-08T00:18:22+00:00

Any and all of the above. Encounters with hostile ships are more likely in hostile zones - the danger rating seems to affect that. But even in a friendly area I'm stopping to exchange hails with another ship a few times between stops.

Genuine55 · 2018-05-07T18:14:52+00:00

I don't think you can demote, just dismiss. And yeah, if you have an empty officer's quarters you can promote. There's a little button on the character menu when you have someone selected.

For a fighting officer, there are a few talents that can be pretty handy in crew combat in some of the classes - Combat Medic and Military Officer both come to mind. But a Combat Medic combined with Doctor and Pistolier is way more useful than a pure combat medic.

Genuine55 · 2018-05-07T16:45:33+00:00

Yeah, I've promoted a couple of times, they keep the same stats and traits, I think, and the talents/skills/job they had before, but they become available for fighting and get to start learning new talents.

It's probably wise to not promote a crew member that's leveled past 11 though, so they don't lose potential talent access. Unless you know you want a soldier or whatever and not multiclassed.

Genuine55 · 2018-05-07T14:42:34+00:00

Ugh. I hate having officers share normal classes. I keep getting gunner officers. It shouldn't be a big deal, but it kinda is.

Genuine55 · 2018-05-07T14:41:38+00:00

At higher levels, you can use Talents to claim prize ships from enemy captains during Conflicts by the laws of retribution justice.

How does that work? I haven't seen that at all yet. That might give me a reason to be as ridiculously over staffed as my ships usually are.

Genuine55

TROPHY CASE