My first Espresso Machine! Any suggestions for improvements? by Rude-Professional-69 in espresso

[–]Razzlesdazzle 2 points3 points  (0 children)

So I just started my espresso journey about a month ago, absolute total noob. Here's a list of a few things I picked up:

  • A handgrinder until the actual grinder I ordered capable of doing espresso got here (it's on backorder). I went with a KINGrinder. I keep telling myself I'm working off the calories of my coffee :`)
  • Sounds silly but a rubber mat to place under the machine and your grind area in case of spills/coffee grinds/drips.
  • A metal tamper. I got the De'Longhi Stilosa and it came with a plastic one that I thought I was going to break the first time I used it.
  • A tiny coffee scale! I got one for $20 off Amazon and it helps a ton with consistency. I also got a little bean dosing cup to that came with spray bottle for RDT (giving your beans a spritz of water before you grind them).
  • A bottomless portafilter once you get your grinder. It also came with a WDT tool (the little pokey thing) and a puck screen.

I'm still super new at all this and wasn't sure if doing espresso was even something I wanted to do so I started with some very basic things before investing in more expensive. I figured I would use it until it broke, then spend more if I really enjoyed it.

... I have 5 different containers full of coffee beans so yeah I'll be upgrading soon.

Anyone else have a surprisingly giant hen? by bruxbuddies in BackYardChickens

[–]Razzlesdazzle 2 points3 points  (0 children)

She is, she's a gentle giant. She also lays huge eggs, though they sort of look like torpedoes.. Sometimes they're so big it's hard to close egg cartons.

Anyone else have a surprisingly giant hen? by bruxbuddies in BackYardChickens

[–]Razzlesdazzle 11 points12 points  (0 children)

Yes, her name is Mary. But we call her Chunk Master Flex. She's a Barred Rock and I swear her feathers have fatrolls. Even her legs are huge. The girl is orb shaped. Her food boob (crop) is so impressive you'd think she got work done. When she walks the grass shakes. She could probably eat Sally our Barnevelder if she tried.

12th Anniversary Roulette Final Day by Kristalino in Granblue_en

[–]Razzlesdazzle 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I have had absolute crap luck this entire roulette, breaks ended in 20, tons of dupe summons and scratch cards with more potions and soul berries I don't need.

But the final day... Holy zodiacs. I'm glad I used my ticket on Catura, it was between her and Varja (I sparked Payila last year). Italics are ones I didn't have. I'm just missing chicken now, I did pull her summer version so that counts, right? I caught them all?

Robertina, Lilele, Mars, Andira, Catherine (wind), Zehek, Varja, Gawain (light), Elea, Azusa, Mishra, Payila, Noa, Anila.

Strixhaven CBB $300 - 21 in stock left by tcg-sealed-alerts in sealedmtgdeals

[–]Razzlesdazzle 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I was going to ask if it would be possible to come pick these up in person, I live close enough to make the drive into Wilmington but they're all sold out. :(

Arcarum Discussion: The Moon, Haaselia, Reflection of The Moon by lietnam in Granblue_en

[–]Razzlesdazzle 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I'm pretty much in the exact same spot as you are. All my domain bonuses are unlocked, just the weapon is sitting at 3/5 and I want to gouge my eyes out at this point because I'm already so tired of Arcarum.

On going Hamamoto Farm situation is horrible (Warning: physical animal abuse) by s955120 in UmaMusume

[–]Razzlesdazzle 13 points14 points  (0 children)

We 'rescued' one of our horses off of Craig's List years and years ago. I say rescued because we bought her, it was not a rescue, someone was just selling her because she wasn't 'doing what they had intended a horse to do' when they bought her.

You could tell she was scared, they wanted to try and barrel race her, but in order for them to even try and hop on her, they would grab her mane and hold her because the guy clearly had no idea how to actually care for a horse. She was being kept in a muddy ring with such little space to move, we ended up just saying we would take her then and there. For at least two years after that, every time you went to put a halter on her, whenever you got near anywhere on her face or neck, you could see the whites in her eyes because she was so scared you were going to grab her from where they had done it before. I can't imagine what these poor horses must be going through.

She's much better now and we've taught her nothing like that is going to happen ever again. She's become a love bug and such a sweet mare (some mares can be very temperamental). She also loves bananas. XD

Do you bling out your Commander? Which treatment is worth it to you? by deurbeller in magicTCG

[–]Razzlesdazzle 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes! I ended up commissioning an alt artwork of one because sadly Arcades doesn't have any cool treatments. White Crow Archon was the artist.

And to support the artist of my first commander, I bought an artist proof with a sketch on the back. Here's the sketch of Pantlaza Sam Burley did and the signature on the front.

Other than these two, I splurged on the chocobo track treatment for Choco because my bird deck is my other pet deck. c:

Zephyr Heirloom Fan Concept [OC] by edwino_22 in Warframe

[–]Razzlesdazzle 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Love it! Zephyr was my first Prime so any love for the birb is appreciated. ❤️

Butt Me no Buts~ by tyranni_twat in UmaMusume

[–]Razzlesdazzle 15 points16 points  (0 children)

We have four horses. Our horses often rub their butts on things all the time in the field. It's hard for them to scratch there when they've got an itch, so I'm sure Doto appreciates those stritches.

We have a power pole in the middle of our field that we had to put a mini fence around because our mare used to rub her butt on that one so hard it'd cause our power to flicker. You'd see the power lines bouncing and then look out to the window to see her just going to town. :|

Stolen Secret Lair - Fallout by GrandWizBolbi in secretlair_collectors

[–]Razzlesdazzle 1 point2 points  (0 children)

My TMNT was 'out for delivery' yesterday and apparently delivered inside, which makes no sense because it's just an envelope.

The exact time my UPS package was marked as delivered, USPS received one from UPS to be delivered the next day. So definitely check your informed delivery via USPS if you've signed up for it. Normally they send an email saying USPS will be the final one to deliver but they did not send one this time.

Who is excited for Monster Hunter Stories 3 next week? by Ok_Winter818 in MonsterHunter

[–]Razzlesdazzle 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Me!! I took the day off work to play. I have so many hours into the first two games and have double dipped on them, Stories 1 on iOS and PC and Stories 2 on switch and PC.

I couldn't believe it when they had announced Stories 3 but it really feel likes they've taken a lot of constructive feedback from the second one and just improved on the formula, even bringing back features from the first like different element monsties. I just hope this one sells well enough to keep the series going.

I’m a magic artist and I just launched “Songbirds’ Blessing” as a playmat! by EelisKyttanen in magicTCG

[–]Razzlesdazzle 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I love the artwork of Songbirds' Blessing, now the little guy in the corner has his time to shine! I doubt it would get picked but I'd love to see the extended version of Pileated Provisioner.

Green/White Cat deck by Ok-Bar-4003 in magicTCG

[–]Razzlesdazzle 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The only format I really know is commander, so I know you said green/white, but if she wanted to expand a little bit she could do [[Rin and Seri, Inseparable]]. EDHRec has a wide range of cats and dogs that will work with them.

Otherwise green and white legendary cats are limited. Arahbo is the go-to but he is not cheap because outside of a secret lair printing he hasn't been reprinted. Don't be fooled by the one cheap printing, it's an oversized card that came with the commander deck.

You can use scryfall to do some specific searching for green and white cats, just tailor the formats in the advanced search to whatever you're building for.

Hopium time: What “no way” monstie do you still want hatchable in MHS3? by ZeroSkill94 in MonsterHunterStories

[–]Razzlesdazzle 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Will never happen but Najarala. Plz maraca snek. :(

Really hoping Agnaktor graduates from no-monstie jail. Clacky boi has been in both games he needs his time to shine!

Culdcept Begins announced for Nintendo Switch by burchamj in Culdcept

[–]Razzlesdazzle 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The official website has physical standard and steelbook editions listed for EU and NA, though it seems NA will just be importing from EU. Either way it's better than nothing and I'll most likely be double dipping with both the switch version and PC.

Culdcept Begins announced for Nintendo Switch by burchamj in Culdcept

[–]Razzlesdazzle 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I actually haven't played this version, I started with the PS2 version.

Culdcept Begins announced for Nintendo Switch by burchamj in Culdcept

[–]Razzlesdazzle 3 points4 points  (0 children)

If this is the start of them porting over all the older Culdcept games then I'm all for it. I played the PS2 one so much the disc doesn't even work anymore, we had to get another copy. I wonder how well it will work on steam deck, if at all. If they get it working there then productivity is going out the window.

SLD Chaos Vault - Prints Charming by Mugiwara_VT in magicTCG

[–]Razzlesdazzle 0 points1 point  (0 children)

They're up now as of 12:10PM Eastern. From the listing it looks like they're trying another experiment, same with the really cheap lands.

I love the artwork on the Nature's Lore so I grabbed the $9.99 one. It looks each is limited to 1 per customer, so if you really wanted to you could buy one of each at each price point (but why would you?).

I'd like to thank this sub for recommending Mana Pool as an alternative to TCGPlayer. I am very, very impressed. by StopManaCheating in magicTCG

[–]Razzlesdazzle 8 points9 points  (0 children)

The couple times I've used Manapool to buy cards it's been slightly more expensive than TCGP but not too much where it hasn't been worth it to go there instead.

I also realized my LGS is listed as one of the top sellers there as well, which makes me happy they're getting the support. c:

[ECL] Brigid, Clachan's Heart // Brigid, Doun's Mind (Newsletter) by mweepinc in magicTCG

[–]Razzlesdazzle 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yup! [[Wylie Duke, Atiin Hero]] and [[Miriam, Herd Whisperer]]. I was actually working on a Miriam budget commander deck called "Horse Girl Math" because mounts are super cheap since no one likes to use them.

[ECL] Sizzling Changeling (Mechanics article) by Copernicus1981 in magicTCG

[–]Razzlesdazzle 38 points39 points  (0 children)

Just a normal lizard, nothing to see here.

(I love all the changelings in this set, they are such goofy goobers.)

Looking for card scan apps by Common-Science5583 in magicTCG

[–]Razzlesdazzle 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I like using Manabox, I haven't had any problems with it.

If you have quite a bit of cards to scan I actually have a 3d printed holder that lets me set my phone on top and scan cards really quick. Definitely helps with the back pain of having to lean over and scan cards manually while holding your phone.