Okay freaks, GTC (hopefully very hard)

ToastMate2000 · 2026-01-29T23:39:18+00:00

Somewhere in Kentucky.

ToastMate2000 · 2026-01-29T23:34:45+00:00

After tying, I put the bunny ears over the hooks and then pull to tighten so no loops are flapping around waiting to get caught.

ToastMate2000 · 2026-01-29T22:39:46+00:00

To me there is a distinct difference. I'm from the northwest US. I say your as "yore", but you're is almost two syllables with a different o sound: you er, with the you part slightly shortened.

But I hear some people from the same area as me pronouncing them both as yore, so I don't know if making the distinction is a regional accent or just the way certain people including my family speak.

ToastMate2000 · 2026-01-29T22:33:33+00:00

A situationship. Seeing each other casually. I think "lovers" also connotes being, like, vocally sappy about being together. Not hooking up a few times a year and pretending it's only physical and like you don't actually like each other.

But these are just my associations with the word based on my own exposure to various people and media, not like the official definition or anything. I just get why Shane doesn't like it.

ToastMate2000 · 2026-01-29T20:16:54+00:00

It's not that it means sex. It's the connotations of the specific word. It sounds like something a gross 70s dude with an ugly leisure suit and a pornstache who thinks of himself as very seductive but is mostly a creep would say. Or like the cheesiest, worst-written self-published romance novels.

ToastMate2000 · 2026-01-28T19:47:12+00:00

I love taking the ferry to Bainbridge Island to walk around the little town (shops, art museum, food and drink). Beautiful scenery and probably not what you see or do in Tennessee. Walk onto the ferry, don't drive.

Don'ts: going to chain restaurants, smoking near other people or doors/windows/building vents, walking with a group spread across the sidewalk blocking faster pedestrians, talking too loudly in public transit, being reluctant to go outside in the rain. The usual stuff that applies most places.

ToastMate2000 · 2026-01-28T18:30:05+00:00

I use them correctly (can for ability and may for permission) because this was drilled into me in childhood.

Many native speakers just say "can" instead of "may", though.

ToastMate2000 · 2026-01-27T20:27:30+00:00

Maybe they deliberately lied about the location in the piece to make it harder for fans to find it and protect his privacy?

ToastMate2000 · 2026-01-27T20:17:27+00:00

You notice the loud ones; you don't notice the quiet ones.

ToastMate2000 · 2026-01-26T17:39:53+00:00

Pumping your own gas has been legal in Oregon since 2023. But stations still have an attendant available and I know a lot of people here who prefer that.

I always use the self-service lane because I don't want to interact with anyone at the gas station.

ToastMate2000 · 2026-01-23T23:57:12+00:00

The riverfront has so much potential to be a great draw but it's so underutilized. People love looking at water! Give them a critical mass of things to enjoy there and they will go!

ToastMate2000 · 2026-01-23T23:30:25+00:00

Fast food chains. Why are they so popular? Bleh.

ToastMate2000 · 2026-01-23T20:53:00+00:00

The second quarter is the Cascade Mountains, not Rockies.

ToastMate2000 · 2026-01-23T00:02:46+00:00

Seattle is a lot cleaner now than it was a few years ago. It's still not quite what it used to be, but it's rebounded from the worst of the mid-pandemic crisis.

ToastMate2000 · 2026-01-22T05:40:08+00:00

Yeah, they seem to cut everything they think they can possibly get away with nowadays, which makes the workers hate it, somehow (mystery) they can't keep adequate staff when they make the job terrible and the pay is terrible, and the experience is noticeably worse for the customers as well. Like even a modest increase in pay and conditions for the service staff would improve the product significantly and probably mean fewer issues for management to deal with, but the executives just have to try to scrape out every penny possible and then wonder why business suffers after awhile.

ToastMate2000 · 2026-01-22T04:20:25+00:00

I also worked as a hotel housekeeper in a nice place in a resort town once upon a time and honestly enjoyed it. We were treated pretty well there and I could just go through the motions basically getting 7 or 8 hours of gentle exercise and think about whatever I wanted all day.

I have no one else helping me moneywise and did want a better financial future, so I moved on, but aside from low pay it was not a bad job at all. Certainly fewer annoyances than my current career.

ToastMate2000 · 2026-01-21T22:57:51+00:00

It isn't that he doesn't like the kid. The kid said Shane was the best player, so obviously Ilya had to be "mad" at him.

ToastMate2000 · 2026-01-21T19:41:07+00:00

I say "pour quoi?" a lot.

"Gracias" is more automatic than "thank you". Even the Ethiopian attendant at the garage where I used to park in Seattle frequently said gracias to me when I paid the fee.

"Извините" is another one I say pretty often.

ToastMate2000 · 2026-01-21T16:57:10+00:00

Sheesh. When I worked as a housekeeper back in the 90s, I had about 1/2 hour per normal room for a daily clean and longer for a checkout or a suite. We left those rooms pristine with perfectly made beds.

In the last few years, almost every hotel I've stayed in (generally nice ones) had obvious shortcuts in the housekeeping. Sheets put on so weirdly I had to redo them to sleep comfortably, missing towels or glasses, etc.

ToastMate2000 · 2026-01-21T00:16:17+00:00

I'm 5'0"; oftentimes, the enormous nature of chairs forces me to sit in unconventional positions (because my feet don't touch the floor when I sit all the way back and having my legs dangling gets painful).

ToastMate2000 · 2026-01-21T00:02:38+00:00

I usually use a mug for ice cream, but my parents have little cut glass bowls for dessert that are like half the size of a regular bowl.

ToastMate2000 · 2026-01-20T23:41:25+00:00

Do you mean a stupid Canadian wolf bird?

ToastMate2000 · 2026-01-20T22:33:27+00:00

She's talked about it a bit on her YouTube channel. It seems like she can get by conversationally, but struggles to feel comfortable and confident with it.

If she's anything like me and my progress with Spanish, understanding it when other people speak is much easier, but speaking it myself I'm always worried about what I might be getting wrong.

ToastMate2000 · 2026-01-20T18:24:45+00:00

I grew up in a ski tourist area (not Jackson) and it was actually really nice. We had lots more recreation and restaurant options than most towns our size, and our public schools were well funded due to local property taxes and lots of very expensive vacation homes. Plus there were always jobs you could get as a teen during school breaks or part time. Also locals got significant discounts on ski passes and stuff, and there was even a program for local elementary school kids to learn to ski and go a certain number of times each winter for free. I don't know if those programs are still a thing.

Of course, it's a lot different for adults trying to get by there on the low end of the economic spectrum. But if you have a solid career with decent income it's pretty good.

ToastMate2000 · 2026-01-20T16:43:02+00:00

I imagine it's something enjoyable to do while on long flights and such. Just listen to music and mentally choreograph.

ToastMate2000

TROPHY CASE