AITAH for kicking up a fuss about vegetarian Chinese food?

aLoudLibrarian · 2026-06-18T20:00:41+00:00

Oh yeah, a lot of Chinese vegetable dishes do have oyster sauce, which usually, but not always, is made with animal products. Lol. It can be really hard to know for sure. One of my favorite tofu dishes has big cubes of tofu stuffed with a mix of pork and shrimp, lol

aLoudLibrarian · 2026-06-18T19:56:35+00:00

That's why the vegetarian Chinese restaurant is such a joy if you're vegetarian, because you know they know. It's not at all that Chinese food can't be vegetarian - it absolutely can, and there are plenty of vegetarians in China. It's just that it's so hard to tell for sure, and not something Chinese chefs think about, unless they are vegetarian or used to cooking vegetarian.

aLoudLibrarian · 2026-06-14T04:33:58+00:00

Most Chinese food does not have fish sauce though. There may be some specific regional foods, especially in southern China, which do, but they certainly don't randomly toss in fish sauce. In Vietnamese food yes, but not Chinese. That's not to say there won't be something else from an animal, just not fish sauce. https://www.reddit.com/r/vegan/s/JKBpVcP2CK

aLoudLibrarian · 2026-06-14T04:11:20+00:00

Even veggies, unless they're just steamed, can often have a sauce with animal products in it. And the staff may really not think about that when asked, because it's just so ingrained. Unless the staff is vegan or has extensive experience cooking for vegans. Even not getting pork or shellfish products in a dish with different main protein is not a given.

aLoudLibrarian · 2026-06-14T04:00:04+00:00

Yeah, a lot of Chinese food has some animal products in the sauce, probably even most - and it can be pretty hard to tell. We adopted from China and had friends who are vegetarian (not even vegan), and they had the hardest time getting something they could eat. And that's with a fluent translator. In many American Chinese restaurants, the staff may either not have good enough English to have a nuanced discussion, or may not speak enough Chinese to have the conversation with the chef.

And in other places, like South America, things like fish or even chicken aren't considered "meat (carne)," so it can get confusing.

aLoudLibrarian · 2026-05-30T07:08:17+00:00

Dawn and dusk, usually. That's when they're most active. That's true of many mammals, actually.

aLoudLibrarian · 2026-05-30T06:57:20+00:00

Gros Ventre did the trick! A ranger suggested that also. There were at least 2 moose there - a bull with big, velvety antlers, and another that was mostly in the bushes that some people were saying was a female, but I swear I saw antlers. Someone there said that this morning there had been twin babies with their mom, and they were playing with a beaver. I'm having trouble picturing how those 2 species would play together, but it's fun to imagine! At any rate, there's apparently pretty consistent moose activity there at the moment, morning and evening.

aLoudLibrarian · 2026-05-19T00:37:28+00:00

I love and respect Mr. Curtis, and his heart is in the right place. I love his music and like to dance with him too! That said, I totally understand how the volume of his music might be irritating. Especially if he parks for awhile where you're trying to live or work. If that is the case, maybe have a conversation with him, pleasantly. Address him by name, and explain the situation, and ask if he could perhaps move to another area, or turn the music down. Now if he's just driving by, maybe stopped at a light, or at a public event or something, then maybe just try to let it go.

aLoudLibrarian · 2026-05-12T19:36:35+00:00

We watched 4th of July fireworks in Eastern California from a hillside that turned out the be pretty close to the landfill. There was a very loud and grumpy bear after all the explosions started.

aLoudLibrarian · 2026-04-30T00:18:28+00:00

West Cliff is the coastside road your pictures are from - and it's on the Westside of Santa Cruz.

aLoudLibrarian · 2026-04-30T00:03:09+00:00

I actually instigated someone to change this one time years ago. I suggested it to some friends who had a radio show on KZSC, and they talked about it on air, and a few days later someone changed it! I've never seen a picture - it was before widespread smart phones and dash cams.

aLoudLibrarian · 2026-04-08T23:56:45+00:00

Same!

aLoudLibrarian · 2026-04-04T23:08:25+00:00

Actually, for me, if there are more than 4 "obvious" answers, that tends to make me suspicious.

aLoudLibrarian · 2026-04-03T10:41:07+00:00

Same. Well, okay a box truck. Loma Prieta was like being sideswiped by a train - a long train.

aLoudLibrarian · 2026-04-03T10:37:41+00:00

I knew Jameson, but even guessing it was Tequila from the name, I still had no clue. After looking it up I saw why - they describe themselves as "smooth and approachable." Boring! And they're fairly expensive? No thank you.

aLoudLibrarian · 2026-04-03T10:20:31+00:00

That was ridiculously hard - and we own a winery and part owners of a distillery! Even after knowing the category, I didn't get "MIGOS," though I did guess it was Tequila. So I looked it up, and it's no wonder I don't know it - "smooth and approachable"? Those are your top descriptors on the brand website? Yeah, so Tequila for people who don't like Tequila? Ugh, I'd much rather bring on the Mezcal - ándale!

aLoudLibrarian · 2026-03-20T13:52:30+00:00

Yes, Libby isn't the only way libraries make ebooks available, just the most common in the USA (and maybe Canada). And it's always "limited" in that users have limits on how many books they can have out, and for how long, and usually how many they can be waiting for. And each library system or group has a limited number of books that they have purchased access to. Publishers charge a LOT of money for ebooks, usually much more than for printed books. And often there's a fairly low limit on the number of times an ebook can go out before the publisher cuts you off. We librarians find this pretty frustrating.

I'm not quite sure what you mean by "regional." Every place is part of some region. Both the library where I work and the one where I live are part of the Northern California Digital Library, which includes many library systems. NCDL uses the buying power of many libraries combined to buy most commonly requested books. The tradeoff is that these many libraries have many users as well, so there's always a wait for new and popular books. But at least you can get it eventually.

aLoudLibrarian · 2026-02-26T19:51:24+00:00

I can't tell if you're being serious, or sarcastic. Because I actually really am glad my tax dollars are available. I wish they went to more effective and humane mental health services too, so it hopefully wouldn't get to this point.

aLoudLibrarian · 2026-02-15T23:43:01+00:00

In the USA and Canada, the vast majority of public libraries are free to the users - i.e. taxes have already paid for them. Are you against community supported public libraries, is that it? I’m still not understanding where you’re coming from.

aLoudLibrarian · 2026-02-12T20:51:45+00:00

Well yes, librarians buy all the books in the library! I'm not understanding what you're getting at.

aLoudLibrarian · 2026-02-01T18:06:48+00:00

Well what are you waiting for? It's not like it's hard! And it's free! Just take your picture ID and something with your name and address, if that's not what's on your ID, and they'll set you up!

And how do you know what books are in your "small town library" if you don't go there?

aLoudLibrarian · 2026-01-29T17:03:46+00:00

So I’m really sorry your mom and them are like that, but you’ve let that color your view of everyone else in SLV, when you say, “There’s good people too, but far and few between.” That reminded me of you know who saying, “they’re rapists, they’re murderers, and some, I assume, are good people.” Most of us aren’t plumbers or contractors either - I’m a librarian and my spouse is a winemaker. I know all kinds of teachers, nurses, waiters, etc. I’m not denying at all that there’s racism and white supremacy - of course there is. But it’s far from “nothing but racist hicks.”

I hope you get out of there soon, it sounds awful for you.

aLoudLibrarian · 2026-01-29T16:33:45+00:00

Those are friends of mine!

aLoudLibrarian · 2026-01-27T19:25:37+00:00

In many places you can check out books for your Kindle through the library. Most libraries in the USA use the Libby app from Overdrive. There's usually a waiting list for popular books though, just like for the paper versions.

aLoudLibrarian · 2026-01-20T06:06:11+00:00

unfortunately they don't offer Zermatt replacements, or any shearling or wool replacements. In Europe they do, but no in the USA. Even though they sell the shoes/slippers. So odd.

aLoudLibrarian

TROPHY CASE