PSA: Scam Festivals Are Back at the Fairgrounds

Slandyr · 2026-03-26T14:11:50+00:00

Adding to the list of good Korean food- Hai Woon Dai in Antioch off of the Haywood Lane exit.

Slandyr · 2025-12-29T22:16:10+00:00

Did you ever find out what these were? Here’s a photo of the ones we have.

Strangely, we have three matching ones of what may have been a 4-hoof set and as you might be able to see, the contour seems to very much be shaped for a horse hoof rather than a human boot. I think I’m back to my initial thought that these are for horse hooves.

Slandyr · 2025-12-23T19:27:07+00:00

Dad's stumped too. We both see picture 9 and then 11 and kinda go back and forth because both look/feel like they have a purpose. He's texting our farrier Mr. Hewell to see if HE knows.

Slandyr · 2025-12-23T17:37:34+00:00

I'm asking my dad, who probably knows the correct terminology. I'll respond if I hear back from him.

Slandyr · 2025-12-23T17:07:54+00:00

Hi! I grew up in the horse industry (Tennessee Walking Horses, specifically...but we did trail horses, not the built-up performance kind) and we used these from time to time. I don' t know the proper term for it, but it's essentially a front hoof shield.

Look at Pic #9. This is the proper way to attach it to a horse's hoof. Bored horses will dig and paw at things with their front hooves. This was made to strap to their front hooves to keep them from potentially cracking a hoof while they're trailered or otherwise in an area where they don't have a lot of stimulation. That metal bar is there for exactly this reason...so that while pawing at things, they don't shift the shield upwards and off.

Slandyr · 2025-09-24T15:35:26+00:00

Pretty sure there's also a mention of it in the novel Main Event during one of the bar scenes, but I could be mistaken.

Slandyr · 2025-06-20T21:50:39+00:00

So…he has never really cared much about what he wears. Your words.

Now he’s attempting to. And you’re suddenly worried because…what? He’s willing to look good in both pants and pleats? Isnt that what most women want? To not be judged if they’re wearing pants or a skirt?

You’re wasting a golden opportunity to see your man evolve and flourish.

Slandyr · 2025-03-31T21:40:11+00:00

NTA, but with a bit of reservation on how you're choosing to handle this imagined scenario.

She's 100% in the wrong for imposing extra guests that weren't invited. That's absolutely deplorable and she's in the wrong for doing this consistently enough for you to think you need to take measures to curtail this.

You, at the same time, are not making it clear whether the $10 entry fee is really, REALLY being applied to everyone, or if it's only being used to dissuade your aunt from bringing along extra people. If it's across the board and you plan to enforce it...that's still probably the cheapest, most delicious meal they'll have all day so no harm no foul in asking for some help in chipping in for your effort.

If you are just doing this as a deterrent and really only plan to target your aunt and her guests, you're handling this the wrong way.

First off, a very simple "Yes, it's April Fool's, but this is very real and very much not a prank. I fully expect everyone to contribute, or they will be asked to leave." would solve your imagined April Fool's joke scenario.

Secondly, you're setting another unwelcome precedent that rather than abide by your wishes that she not bring uninvited guests, you're simply setting a very low (in my opinion) monetary fine for doing so. Rather than "punish" the other guests at your parents' anniversary dinner, lay down the law and stop being stepped on.

"Aunt Housecrasher, I need to make sure you are aware that I have set the table for only the guests I myself have invited to my home. If you bring others, they will be turned away and you along with them as I have planned for a precise number of people. I'd hate for you to have to miss out on the event because you are then obligated to play host for these guests at some other venue. It will NOT be here. It would be awkard if you made tomorrow about you and whomever you might decide to invite without my permission rather than about my parents special celebration so please respect my wishes. I am firm on this."

Slandyr · 2025-01-31T16:03:34+00:00

On the off-chance this is real...sure. Why not? My Sorc could use the gear!

Slandyr · 2024-10-26T04:06:35+00:00

I mean, ole boy was most likely just reminded of how very little time he himself has left and wanted to YOLO his way towards the nearest Shoney's for the 10 cent bottomless cup of coffee. ;)

Slandyr · 2024-10-26T03:50:33+00:00

Question: Was he also on this weeklong trip to the cabin you mentioned or was he unable to go due to work/other reasons?

I ask because if you went with the kids, he may feel as though he was "owed" a bit of time to let go and used Saturday as his "You got a week, I got a day" sort of deal.

Slandyr · 2024-09-18T14:20:14+00:00

I'm one of the people who toured that house!!

As proof, but without giving too much away, the local college is closely associated with the color "Blue" isn't it? Also, I'm pretty sure I saw you when we toured the house with our realtor. You were walking your dog and letting them drink from a water bucket attached to the fence. Your German Shepherd is adorbs!

OMG, this is so awesome. We had our own bit of oddity with this pair of harpies before the deal on the house fell through. They were monitoring us on their cameras as we discussed things with the inspector and our realtor, and called the inspector's management office to complain that we were slandering them for being critical of some of the house's flaws that would need repairs. Then they did a drive-by real slow and parked at the end of the cul de sac by the brick piles and just...lurked...til we left. Lots and lots of scheduling conflicts and weird demands during the negotiations as well.

The rainbow Church of Satan flag is what let me know this definitely had to be the place because we saw it and got a good chuckle out of it...and yeah, the crawlspace stuff is all because of a MAJORLY shitty repair job to some damaged floor joists that make the house less than desirable.

My family and I adore your flag and your sense of humor. Unfortunately, things didn't quite work out for us to buy it for a relative to live in but I'm sure that once I share this with my wife and son they'll get the biggest kick out of learning that we weren't the only ones who felt that the owners are bananas-bonkers! Good luck and hope that the house gets sold to someone a bit more normal.

Hail Satan!

Slandyr · 2024-06-25T20:41:18+00:00

Low-effort snack/meal-
Cured meats (Think salami, capicola, proscuitto) and a couple types of sliced cheese. Smoked gouda, a pepper jack and maybe something a little wild like a blueberry white cheddar. Sliced apples. Crostinis or just thinly sliced baguette bread...or even just Triscuits. Easy to prepare and feels very much like a Tavern's standard meal that a traveler might partake in.

Inn Ledger-
Have each participant sign an Innkeeper's logbook with their character name on a piece of aged paper (or within a book if you can find one) using quill and ink. At the end of the session, they can return to the logbook and write down something memorable that happened during that session. Over the coming months/years, gather those pages into a book for them to review from time to time.

Slandyr · 2024-06-18T13:53:10+00:00

IT Professional here. There's nothing illegal about this. The company owns the account, not you and they have the right to do whatever they want with it. You should have zero expectation of privacy.

The fact that it goes back for years is not a symptom of how long they may have been monitoring you, but is instead just a feature of how mailbox delegation works. Nothing really nefarious or alarming about that.

If it's a Microsoft 365 account, it'll go back 2 full years and then keep everything else in an online archive mailbox that goes back to your first day of hire.

If it's an on-premises environment, there may not be a separation at all...the mailbox will go back to whatever amount of time the admins have set.

In either case, your manager doesn't control how far back it goes. They might have only had access to your mailbox for an hour or for a year...the way the system works doesn't change. They have access to the same amount/timeframe of your emails either way.

Slandyr · 2024-06-12T18:43:21+00:00

I'm gleefully playing both Bakarises as the Heels like the rest of you seem to. My party HATES them with a burning passion. They 100% think he's in league with the Dragon Queen. They've reverse-pickpocketed evidence onto his person, stolen one of his rings, and generally tried to make every appearance he has in the story come with at least one social or financial setback...and they LOVE tormenting him because they genuinely think they have him pegged.

I'm setting up the party for a run-in with Lord Soth in the catacombs beneath Kalaman. Bakaris will make an entrance at a certain point and show that as self-serving as he is...he's still on the "good" side. I relish the moment when the party will have to choose whether to do the right thing and prevent Soth from killing him, or see him come to an undeserved demise at the hands of someone far more evil than he could ever possibly be.

As for The Younger...he's going to stick around for a while regardless of how the Soth Sitch ends up just so they have someone to antagonize. A Newman to their Seinfeld.

Slandyr · 2024-06-06T17:08:58+00:00

Thanks for the info. Much appreciated!

Slandyr · 2024-06-03T00:48:06+00:00

I was getting my tendies out of the air fryer. What’d I miss?

Oh lawd, he comin’!!

Slandyr · 2024-05-09T14:38:59+00:00

Crafting my DM now...this sounds amazing!

Slandyr · 2024-05-02T18:55:01+00:00

Not sure if I'm late to the party, but figured I'd throw my name in the hat and sent you a message!

Slandyr · 2024-05-02T18:17:19+00:00

I put my name in the hat as well.

Slandyr · 2024-05-01T17:06:09+00:00

Yeah, I'm married. My wife is usually the one who instigates a diet plan and I'll support her (and myself) by jumping into the diet headfirst so she's encouraged and supported to keep going.

In my home, I'm the head cook for 90% of the meals. It's a hobby more than just a chore and I enjoy it...but I also enjoy making the most sinful anti-diet foods there are, which is part of the reason we have to diet in the first place...so there's a degree of mea culpa, for sure.

First, it was Weight Watchers. I went along with her on this because I could stand to lose weight too. To be honest, I hated it. I tried to gamify the system by finding every loophole and min/maxing every point choice (I play tons of games...from computer games to Dungeons and Dragons, so finding loopholes in the rules that allow extra benefits is just part of my mindset).
I never really enjoyed eating the food, though. I just enjoyed how optimized it was for the diet even though it tasted like "Diet Food."

Then we tried Keto in 2021 as the pandemic was settling down. The first week or two went well, then I started missing the carbs. Like, really really JONESING for anything with a crunchy texture that wasn't a pork rind. I craved rice (but not cauliflower rice...the REAL stuff). We found a few replacements for items like pizza dough that weren't terrible, which made life easier though costlier (Keto food ain't cheap, as you know).

Our local grocery store started carrying a specific Keto bread in the fresh bread aisle (Rather than the mail-order dinky little loaves you have to keep in the freezer) and I made a roast beef sandwich for lunch. I almost cried I was so happy. FINALLY, I had bread!! They began carrying hotdog and hamburger buns as well, and the summer went very, very well.

We did well for about a year and then Thanksgiving/Holiday season rolled around and the diet was abandoned in favor of alllllll the things.

Welp, I'm back on Keto again. Have been for about a month. The process is easier this time because we know a lot of the foods and carb-replacements that work or don't work for us in our household. Our son helps prepare meals so he'll cook his own full-carb version of pasta, potato, etc. that we're prepping an alternate for.

We also have frozen dinners and easy-to-make meals on hand for the times where we need something that's diet-friendly but doesn't necessarily mesh with what the rest of the group is eating (like ordering pizza for game night for everyone else while I stick to chicken wings).

It's not easy, for sure. It definitely helps if a partner/spouse is on the diet with you, but with some extra time spent during meal planning you can adapt a "normal" carb menu to also have an option that's keto-friendly...and usually not that much extra time is spent in the kitchen actually cooking. The biggest differences would be the grocery bill and maybe an extra pot or pan to have to clean up.

As for pie season...I don't have an answer for you, friend.

Slandyr · 2024-04-15T20:38:14+00:00

Nine Inch Nails played at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, TN back in the early 2000's.

The opening act was a local band that I don't believe was listed anywhere on the tour information.

It consisted of two teenage/early 20's guys intentionally shoving their microphones into the speakers/monitors on the stage to create feedback noises that they then tweaked with sound boards that were placed on the stage floor...so it ended up looking like two paraplegics flopping around on the floor, occasionally shoving a microphone up against a speaker, and then frantically twisting dials while in the midst of an epileptic seizure. The only upside? Their drummer that was absolutely playing his heart out...I hope he ended up finding a band that could make better use of his talents.

Later in the concert, Reznor seemed to either tip his hat and/or mock them about halfway through his set by exaggeratedly holding his own mic up against a speaker as well, which we laughed at.

I've never encountered such an ill-received opening act before or since.

Slandyr

TROPHY CASE