That’s a beautiful story. Thanks for sharing. My mom was an avid gardener also. I miss her so much!

Oh man, you sound like my mother! She was actually Japanese and grew her own tomatoes. She was always forcing them on me, saying Ne, umai-deshou! (See? They’re full of umami!)

I actually like cooked tomatoes in all forms, but there is something in the flavour profile of a raw tomato that turns me off.

That is fascinating! You should do an AMA.

I would love to see fewer monocultures at the supermarket. I have noticed lately that a number of new apple varieties have been popping up, at least where I am in Canada. I keep hoping for some kind of craft beer-like renaissance in produce where there is a lot more to explore and rabid fandom over particular varieties.

Ah that would certainly explain it.

My working theory had been that maybe they were being selected for size à la strawberries, which have grown almost comically huge in recent years. But it’s as though nature can only provide a set amount of flavour per fruit, and by growing it larger, it only gets diluted over a greater volume? But I haven’t been able to determine whether fast food tomatoes are behemoths since they are already cut up.

The other day I ordered a burger and they put tomatoes on it even though I asked them not to. I was about to complain, but decided to take a bite anyway and…huh. The tomato had no flavour whatsoever. I used to not like the taste of tomatoes but how could I object to this?

So what does this mean? Are my taste buds not functioning like they used to? But I spent lunch looking it up and apparently, there is a fair consensus that tomatoes, along with a host of other fruits and vegetables, really are blander today than when I was a kid. For something I never liked, this kind of works out but…

I’ve had this notion that pickling is what you get when fermentation fails? This is not based on any background in chemistry, but rather my experience in trying a friend’s homemade wine and noticing its vinegar undertones. Keep trying, man, you’ll get there!

I was afraid it was going to be something like that. But the truth was something totally unexpected.

Yeah, I usually buy cheap drug store readers and break them regularly. Even the ones with spring hinges can’t seem to cope with my head size. I should probably go get proper fitted glasses, but I also misplace them all the time and would worry about spending the big bucks on something I’d lose in a week.

Indeed, I do look for the tall sizes when I’m buying dress shirts. I generally have no problem there. It’s more with casual wear where there is not enough choice.

I’m 6’2" and have a fairly long torso compared to leg length. So I’m ok on pants but shirts can be a problem. I have noticed that with T-shirts, the difference between XL and XXL is all in the width and not length. This is not helpful.

I have a big head and have trouble with hats. Particularly ball caps. They are supposed to be one-size-fits-all, but apparently, I am an exception to this. Even at the widest possible setting, they are too tight.

I tried one of those surveys before the last election, and it concluded that I was most closely aligned with the Green Party. Alas, they don’t have a chance in Hell where I am. They are so far off the radar I wasn’t even aware they were fielding a candidate in my district. But it does make me wonder though. If such surveys actually informed how people vote, would the balance of power shift? I think it would help if our voting system (I’m in Canada) changed to something other than first-past-the-post?

I’m guessing it was some sort of photoelectric sensor that detects the light coming from a fire? So not your usual smoke detector. But I honestly don’t know.

TIL about spoiler tags

Lemmy guess, there was a cryo lab next door and they were trying to resuscitate Austin Powers again?

Ok I’ll spill. It was indeed the fire alarm.

I heard “CODE RED! CODE RED! Connell 5” coming over the PA. I looked at my wife. “I know we are on the 5th floor. Not sure about the wing?” She assured me it was Connell all right. Ugh.

I peaked out the door. Nurses and orderlies were rushing past. Then the firefighters arrived in full gear. They initially trudged past us and went into other rooms, but then they turned around and made a B-line for us. They barged in and knocked around the place. Spent a lot longer with us than anywhere else. Then one of them noticed I was holding a camera. “Could I see that?”

He took the thing apart and eventually pronounced “Yep, this is our culprit right here. The flash set off the detector.” I just remember feeling smaller and smaller and wishing I could disappear into the floor.

Oh wow thank you so much!

I got super busy today and only just got back on now to see the idea seems to have some traction. I will try to post/comment there to get ball rolling.

I was thinking actually, you could have posts that, like I suggested, describe a strange situation and invite people to speculate on how it came about. But you could also give some sort of narrative that describes the circumstances instead and leads up to a point where you go “…and you’ll never guess what happened next!” or something to that effect.

I had a mini sitting there for about a year before someone pointed out it was upside down on my desk. I thought the side that says “Mac mini” was supposed to be facing up? But no, apparently it’s the Apple logo side. With the power button on the model name side, I think that could fuel a nice, juicy OCD argument with my coworker?

Yeah, I was never a fan of the Whopper for that reason, but the IW is pretty good!

Yeah I always get that bun! If you go often, I strongly recommend the app. It remembers previous orders and what sort of toppings you like on your burger. It takes around 10 minutes to prepare it, so if you order before you head out, it will usually be ready by the time you get there. Also, you can get Scene points towards your next movie.