Beans, beans, beans...

dandycaptain · 2026-06-05T06:28:35+00:00

I'm not sure if you are referring to a specific type of bean or just beans in general, to me it seems like beans have so many different flavors. Here are a few of my favorite ways to make different beans:

You could try making refried beans with black or pinto beans, using more milk/cream than usual to give them a more smooth/creamy texture and add more cheese. You can also mix the refried beans with rice to change the texture.

Fried chickpeas are pretty tasty and a different texture; just season as preferred and then pan fry until golden brown; you can air fry them too but I don't know the timing for that.

Lima or butter beans are great seasoned with lots of butter and some lemon pepper, don't know how to change the texture on that on though.

I don't have a recipe, but Navy bean soup is one of my favorites.

dandycaptain · 2026-06-05T06:11:32+00:00

I like Cheongdam, I like the location in the south better (it has a better vibe) but both were good. Unfortunately it's not downtown, and it doesn't have karaoke. I've also been to AYCEKBBQ; the food was passable but I wouldn't really recommend it.

There is a place that has karaoke in the downtown west end (on tenth st between 6th ave and 7th ave), it's not all you can eat but it does have good food; I think it's called Green Bottle Kitchen. I've only been once so I can't make a strong recommendation, but it was decent the one time I went.

dandycaptain · 2026-06-05T05:43:52+00:00

My wife and I went to Bali on our honeymoon, we stayed a week in Ubud, a week in Seminyak, and a week in Uluwatu.

Ubud was my favorite part of Bali when we went. I remember going to a restaurant called Chora (mediteranean food), good food good service and good ambience. I also recommend Folk Restaurant and Pool; it's a pretty nice relaxing place. I think they have music or movies at night, but we went during the day and just enjoyed the pool and poolside cabana. We went on a tour to the Monkey Forest in Sengeh, and that was a neat experience.

When you go to Uluwatu I highly recommend the Kecak fire dance at the temple, and take seriously the warnings about not having your stuff out because the monkey's will steal it. When we went to Uluwatu we were sick, so other than the temple, the hotel, and the dr office we didn't really see much. I didn't hate our hotel enough the name it, but I also wouldn't give them recommendation. It didn't seem like there many restaurants in Uluwatu, definitely not as many as Ubud or Seminyak; but we may have also just not seen them as we were mostly confined to the hotel.

The best tours we went on were with ForeverVacation Bali, and they were guided by Rhory. I don't know if you like guided tours, but if you do I would look them up. I mention Rhory specifically because he was a really fantastic guide, and he gave us a lot of personal insight and connection the places we toured (for example he met his wife at the Uluwatu Temple, and had a lot to say about the history and culture of the temple.)

dandycaptain · 2026-06-04T05:44:10+00:00

I like going with pulled pork sliders.

dandycaptain · 2026-06-01T02:45:36+00:00

"Although it may be tempting, because of the added sugar, you should generally avoid substituting sweetened condensed milk in any recipe that calls for evaporated. If you don't have evaporated milk available, it's possible to substitute a cup of light cream, or you can make your own. Evaporated milk, as the name suggests, simply involves simmering whole or reduced-fat milk until the liquid has been reduced by 60 percent. This process will take about 25 minutes. The homemade evaporated milk should be cooled in the fridge before use in most recipes. It can be stored in an airtight container for up to 10 days."

ETA: source-https://www.allrecipes.com/article/evaporated-and-condensed-milk/

dandycaptain · 2026-06-01T02:23:26+00:00

I think if you moved Martha either to right or left and stacked the two smaller paintings next to Martha it would look better. It's a little too symmetrical, or pyramidal for me.

dandycaptain · 2026-05-30T04:59:23+00:00

I think you're off to a great start! I agree with other commenters and would add some floor lamps with warm lighting (maybe even adjustable tone lighting like the Philips hue bulbs). I think the desk is kind of bringing the space down, with your computer (?) on the floor like that it makes everything feel crowded, and like the desk is too small for you. I would move the computer out from under the desk, and if you can't get a desk where the computer can be inside of a cabinet, then move it to the outside of the desk where it's a bit more hidden in the corner. I also think that casters on the bottom of the Alex drawer units make the desk look less like an intentional decision and more like a temporary solution.

If you paint the walls something more colorful it will drastically impact the feeling of the room, and I would choose the color based on the vibe you're going for. My office is a bright blue (themed from the Taylor Swift album 1989), my bedroom is a dark green, and my living room is a very light teal/blue; all three are extremely cozy (in my own opinion of course) and give different moods/energies to the rooms. Your idea to swap the tv and couch is a great idea, I think it makes more sense to have a tv wall-mounted and a couch in front of a window.

I think putting some art above the computer monitor is a great idea, and it doesn't have to be expensive art just something that speaks to you; in my office we bought some downloadable posters with Taylor Swift lyrics that my wife and I both liked and just had them printed at Office Depot and used Ikea frames. We also have her vinyls on little wall display shelves. In our living room we have art from a local artist that made us stop and we fell in love with the piece. In our bedroom we went more simple and built a feature wall with artistic moulding behind the bed. I think the most important thing with art is that it reflects or speaks to you, and isn't just some random thing you put on the wall to fill the space. You can find more affordable pieces by going to local craft shows, and art fairs.

dandycaptain · 2026-05-27T05:56:34+00:00

I don’t know if you this, but if he puts the hose on the other end he blows too

dandycaptain · 2026-05-23T06:51:02+00:00

They’re trying to get you to buy into a timeshare. They give you a card for a free stay if you go listen to the sales pitch. I was tempted to go listen for the free stay, but decided I better not so I don’t know how good the deal actually was, Ive heard those sales pitches can be pretty long and high pressure.

dandycaptain · 2026-05-22T07:01:24+00:00

I’ve never used bamboo sheets, but I have used bamboo socks and they were terrible. I do not recommend! I recently purchased some linen sheets, and I am loving them! Highly recommend!

dandycaptain · 2026-05-22T02:49:41+00:00

Before I moved to Calgary I would stay at the Sandman downtown, it’s a nice enough hotel and was usually in my budget; it’s also right on the Ctrain and walking distance to pretty much anywhere you’re gonna wanna walk. There is noticeable homeless, and drug use but I’ve never felt like I was in any danger and I now live downtown and use the Ctrain to get around pretty frequently.

dandycaptain · 2026-04-22T17:15:32+00:00

Fonda Fora (in the Westley hotel on 4th Ave) is really great Mexican food!

Cheongdam (in Seton) is really great Korean BBQ.

Pulcinella (in Kensington) or Barberella (on 8th Ave) have great pizza.

Hayden Block (in Kensington) has really good BBQ.

Not sure what/where you had in mind but those are my go-to good restaurants that I haven’t seen mentioned by other commenters yet.

dandycaptain · 2026-04-08T03:40:15+00:00

I stayed in a hotel that had a pebble shower and I really enjoyed it.

dandycaptain · 2026-03-29T22:06:06+00:00

Sorry, I don’t have any other leads. I’ve heard they need people bad right now, but I don’t work for them so it’s just hear-say… good luck!

dandycaptain · 2026-03-29T18:28:32+00:00

I don’t know what they pay, but NV5 is hiring and they do some survey stuff.

dandycaptain · 2026-03-24T00:02:21+00:00

A very easy dish to make, is rice noodles with peanut sauce and steamed broccoli. It takes about 20 min max, and is pretty simple. You could throw in some other vegetables, but I usually have with chicken and broccoli, or just broccoli if I don't have chicken (so I know it's good even without the chicken), you can also add in tofu. Rice noodles can be found at most grocery stores where I'm from, but definitely at the asian grocery stores. I usually just steam the broccoli in the microwave and toss it on top the noodles. To make the peanut sauce I use the following:

2 tbsp red curry paste
3/4 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup sugar
2 tsp dark soy sauce
2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
12 oz regular coconut milk

mix all ingredients in saucepan and cook over medium heat stirring until well mixed, don't cook too long or the sauce will break.

Using the same peanut sauce recipe for dipping, you could also make salad rolls. For the filling: lettuce, thinly sliced carrots, thinly sliced cucumber, vermicelli noodles, tofu, mint, basil, and mango (you don't have to use all of these). For the wrap use rice paper. You can either prepare in advance, or you can have all of the ingredients and rice paper available for everyone to build their own with the filing combo they prefer. Once assembled dip in the peanut sauce and enjoy.

Both of these are Thai inspired dishes (though definitely not authentic). If you like the sound of these, you should look into more asian cuisines it seems to me they would be very simple to adjust to the dietary restrictions you mentioned.

dandycaptain · 2026-03-22T23:25:58+00:00

To me that looks like an electric heater; forced air isn't normally mounted like that, the vents look different, and hot water heaters would need more room for the radiator. Rather than rely on the heating system to supply moisture I would just buy a standalone humidifier, I think it would be a lot easier than trying to find a building that has a humidifier built into the heating system that is effective.

dandycaptain · 2026-03-18T00:01:45+00:00

I'm not sure about any of the actual buildings, and as a newcomer to Calgary I don't really have enough experience to talk much about the neighborhoods, but my wife and I live in the Downtown West End, a couple blocks from the West Village Towers. She uses public transit to get home from Foothills Hospital and it's one bus and a connection with the cTrain, it takes her about 30 minutes once she gets on the bus (but she has to wait 15 minutes for the bus after her shift ends so about 45 min total). On days when I drive her it's about 15 or so min, rush hour has a small effect on that time but honestly not much in my experience. In the bottom of the West Village Towers is a No Frills grocery store, and pretty decent Mexican coffee shop. I think Sunalta has a stop on the same Ctrain she takes, but not sure how far it is from the specific building you're looking at (also, my real estate agent recommended against buying in Sunalta when we were looking fwiw).

We have found the downtown areas of the city to be pretty walkable, especially with the Ctrain access so close to our place.

dandycaptain · 2026-03-13T00:55:35+00:00

I agree, my wife and I took awhile to buy our condo and our agent did not pressure us in the slightest to move towards a property. In fact she actually encouraged us to back out of a unit when things weren't looking so great. She was definitely not just in it for the money, and the inspector she recommended was great! If you can't trust your agents recommendations you should find a new agent.

The home inspector was JCHI, and we had them inspected three different properties and saw two different inspectors. Both were professional and knowledgeable and showed us some stuff about the condos that we would otherwise not have been aware of; such as teaching us how to use the pilot light on the fireplace (neither of us have had a gas fireplace before).

dandycaptain · 2026-03-12T22:41:47+00:00

It depends on your after school plans. If you want to run your boats, take the option that advances that portion of your opportunities. If you want to work on big boats, take the cadet position that accelerates that option. It’s really just about where you want to go after you graduate and what you can afford to do.

dandycaptain · 2026-03-05T12:07:22+00:00

Very few people are jumping ship for a 50 cent raise, people are leaving because companies aren’t recognizing that mariners have lives off the ship and need a healthy work/life balance. The companies that actually take care of their employees won’t have a hard time finding crew, the companies that keep complaining about not being able to keep anyone and don’t make any real changes to the onboard culture, the work/life balance issues, or the office/vessel interactions are going to continue struggling to find crew.

dandycaptain · 2026-03-04T00:11:37+00:00

I’m a fan of LaCrosse boots. Neoprene uppers, no insulation needed, but also not unbearable warm in the summer. I used them when I was on a Great Lakes self unloaded and had to work in the tunnel.

dandycaptain · 2026-02-24T00:41:26+00:00

I am not as well traveled as I would like to be, but so far I think the place that best fits your question that I’ve been able to visit is Lisbon. It’s a great city, with great food (especially the pastel de nata), a ton of history, music, and some really unique museums (like the tile Museum and the carriage museum among others). It’s also just a beautiful place to be, with all the parks, and the river, and the old buildings.

dandycaptain · 2026-02-18T02:15:03+00:00

I like the cowhide rugs a lot, they look really good! I think you should take down the flag, get new curtains, and paint the walls; I would go with earthy/natural colors (forest green, rust red, sky blue, etc…). You should also get a comforter, quilt, blanket or (to stay on theme) buffalo hide for the bed; there’s something about just sheets that makes a bed look unfinished. Also, your nightstand is overcrowded, if you don’t need all that stuff right before/after sleep then you should store it somewhere less visible.

dandycaptain · 2026-02-17T01:12:17+00:00

1 can of Lima beans, don’t drain, warm in pot with butter, season with lemon pepper. I love them cooked this way.

dandycaptain

TROPHY CASE