76 posts tagged “qotd”
Tell us a true story that proves it really is a small world after all.
Submitted by havybeaks.
Today, this is something that's so routine that it's hardly worth remarking on, but almost 20 years ago - back before the web and internet were so easily available - I first discovered the local Bulletin Board Systems (BBSs) and FIDOnet (I forget what it stands for, but basically, it was a group of mailing lists anyone could sign up to.) BBSs were essentially message boards or forums, but most of them were hosted on someone's home computer and you'd have to search through lists you could find in computer stores, at social gatherings of SysOps (System Operators - who functioned basically like message board moderators do today) or other "techie" type places to find out which boards covered the topic you were interested in. Then you'd have to (or, rather, have your computer) dial the number for the individual board you wanted, and you could go read and post messages on that topic. Not all boards were connected to FIDOnet, which would collect the "feeds" from the message boards and distribute them all around the world.
I still remember the first time my messages got responses from people in Japan and Russia. The world shrunk in an INSTANT from this place where Japan and Russia were like exotic, unreachable lands that might as well be a universe away, to where Japan and Russia were as close as my phone line, and I could talk to people there as easily as I could talk to someone down the road.
Today, of course, if there WERE places across the universe (that we knew of) we could probably talk to them just as easily, but back in the mid 80's to early 90's, it still felt like there were a lot of big huge walls between us here and the rest of the world, and watching them fall electronically really reminded me of just how small the world really is.
What's the longest boat ride you've ever been on?
A ferry from Seattle to Victoria BC. It was beautiful, and for a complete landlubber, I actually handled it pretty well!
How many discount cards do you carry in your wallet and where are they from?
Submitted by danatmedog.
We tend not to use discount cards just because we don't really like having companies keeping a list of *everything* we're buying, and selling it to whomever wants to buy that store's data.
Who's the most annoying person on TV?
George Bush, Anyone on FOX News (especially Bill O'Reilly), Paris Hilton and all her ilk, Donald Trump, Rachael Ray and Rosie O'Donnell.
Seriously, though - NOTHING will make me reach for the remote faster than having Bush show up on the screen. Just his voice gives me fits!
Who are the last five people you called on your cell phone?
My husband, my home health care nurse, the "So You Think You Can Dance" voting line (GO HOK!!!), my parents, and my home health care nurse (a 2nd time.)
What do you absolutely refuse to eat?
Settle in, this may take a while... :D In some categories it'll just be easier to list the exceptions. And for the most part, if I don't list something as an exception, then I won't touch it! (Untouchable food in bold for clarity)
Game or exotic meats (except I did have some caribou once and some moose at another time - both while I was in Nome, AK as a missionary, and they weren't half bad), fois gras, fowl other than chicken or turkey, fish, seafood other than a bit of shrimp now and then and a VERY occasional lobster tail. ABSOLUTELY NO OFFAL!
I actually like most fruits, except for berries (of any variety) or anything exotic (this will be a recurring theme - I just don't DO exotic). Is coconut a fruit? Regardless, I will NOT touch that, either. Also, peaches, rhubarb, plums, cherries (though I do like artificial cherry flavour - is that sad or what?), are on my "no touch" list, too, as is any fruit juice that has pulp in it.
Smelly, slimy, icky looking or extremely pungent cheeses
Walnuts (unless they're in a Honey-Walnut cream cheese and pretty finely chopped), Pine Nuts, Macadamia Nuts
I like bread, as long as it doesn't have any of the stuff I won't touch in it :D, and I like most grains, like rice, barley and so forth, depending on how it's prepared. Pasta is great, too!
In terms of spices, I don't like anything with ginger or paprika in it, or anything considered a "hot" spice. Spicy-hot foods trigger my stomach problems something fierce.
Most vegetables except asparagus, artichokes (yes, me, the horrifically finicky eater LOVES artichokes and asparagus - don't ask, I have no idea how that happened), lettuce (iceberg, romaine, spinach leaves, you know, normal and "slightly ritzier" salad greens), carrots (raw only - cooked carrots? BLECH), potatoes (are these a vegie or a starch? either way, I love 'em), broccoli florets, corn, cooked spinach (if there's a bit of cream of mushroom soup in it), occasional zucchini and/or yellow squash, pumpkin (if it's in a pie or bread), occasional green beans (but usually only if Mom has fixed them and will be eating with us - if she's not looking, I tend to skip them,) ditto with peas, mushrooms (normal mushrooms - all those funky upscale/gourmet varieties scare me), and tomatoes (yes, I know, they're technically fruit, but everyone thinks of them as a veggie) - unless the tomatoes are (a) virtually devoid of anything resembling a tomato "chunk" and (b) used in a pizza or spaghetti sauce or in ketchup. (This list right here is why, even though I LOVE watching cooking shows, they rarely if EVER make anything I'll eat - onions - especially onion pieces - make me sick, as do most kinds of pepper - other than black pepper, which really isn't a pepper at all if I understand right, but either way, I'll use it, and celery is out, too.)
In general, if you have to go to a specialty food market to get it, I won't eat it, and I'm not big on most any kind of "ethnic" food (for want of a better term) except for "Chinese Restaurant" Chinese food and the Japanese steakhouse food where they cook it on your table.
TV, books, movies: Who's your favorite fictional father?
Joe DuBois from "Medium" - their portrayal of a family is one of the more realistic ones I've seen, and he seems to be a very good dad - though not perfect, which is part of what makes him my favourite - he's very real.
What time is your alarm clock set for? Do you use the snooze button?
Since I can't go anywhere, I don't really have to get up at any specific time. Matt, on the other hand, has to get up every morning at 9 to get ready for work. We don't actually use an alarm clock, though, since those are useless when it comes to waking Matt up (actually most everything is useless when it comes to waking Matt up - even the airhorn I used for a while was pretty much hit or miss.) Instead, our friend who helps take care of me during the day comes over every morning and rings the doorbell. USUALLY, that works. If it doesn't I have to get up and start yelling at him. It's a mess, really.
Ah well - he's great in so many ways I guess I can live with that.
What other names did your parents consider for you?
I don't know that they ever considered any other female names, but if I'd been a boy, I would have been named "Clifford Richard" which would have driven me nuts - that repeated "rd" sound!
What were your top 5 TV shows of 2006?
These are the shows I either make the effort to watch "live" or am sure to watch on my DVR the same day they're broadcast:
HEROES
Criminal Minds
Bones
Project Runway, Top Chef & America's Next Top Model (they're all so similar that I'm counting them together)
Cold Case
