#prairie-grass

prairie-grass

I'll be interested to hear if this trick works. I would have thought the leather being also in a frozen environment wouldn't be a good combo. I've alternately heard of putting wet newspaper in shoes and then letting it dry, a similar method. Can't say i've ever tried it myself though. I always go for buying the bigger size and putting a inner-sole in. Also, if this doesn't work for you, a lot of shoe-repair places will have special tools for stretching shoes!

The problem in this case is that buying the bigger size, because they don’t have half-sizes, means buying a massively bigger size. Like, an inch of clearance between toe and end of toe-box in my right foot bigger. I bought about four pairs in three different sizes, to make sure, but yeah these are a ten and the eleven is just comically massive on me.

Usually I buy a half size because the half-size isn’t so small that my left foot hurts, while being small enough that my right foot more or less fits. I also can’t use most insoles because I have flat arches and wide feet, but putting an insole into the right boot wouldn’t help anyway with the fact that no part of the shoe except the sole touches my right foot at the larger size :D 

It’s perplexing to me that Docs don’t offer half sizes; there seems to be no benefit and quite a few downsides. IDK why the last pair fit so perfectly, given I got them from a secondhand store decades ago, but depending on how these docs perform I probably won’t buy another pair unless I can buy one that fits from the jump. 

lilyhargrave

Oh, I have a pair of leather cowboy boots that are a little tight, did this really work? No damage to the leather?

None that I can see, but you have to bear in mind this leather is a lot thinner and more flexible than cowboy boot leather. Someone did the actual calculations on the website and water expands roughly 9% when frozen, but as they pointed out, realistically that’s only 2% in any given direction, so you don’t get a ton of expansion, just enough to stretch the leather. When I checked the boot with the frozen water in bags inside it, there were many places where the water hadn’t expanded into the area at all (the toe box, for example). I’d google to see if other people have tried it before trying it yourself. 

It seems to have worked to an extent -- the problem area for me was the seam where the tongue was sewn into the boot at the end of the laces, and that loosened somewhat after two days in the freezer. Enough that I could shove a soda can into the foot to continue stretching it, anyway, which I couldn’t before. 

onemuseleft

I was fully prepared to accept they were olives and that you knew what you were about

I actually would love some recs of fanfic for when people don’t know the fandom, not for myself but for giving to friends to introduce them to fanfic generally. I’m off in the slashy Explicit deep end and can never provide any good examples.

HERE’S a true story about me: when I used to work in an office, around 2012/3, I once spent maybe half an hour explaining the plot of a piece of X-Men: First Class fanfiction, in GREAT detail, out loud, beat by beat, while pretending it was an original story “my friend” wrote. I kept trying to exit the conversation and could not do so because everyone in the office was RIVETED and kept being like AND THEN WHAT??? This really happened, in real life, to me. So for that reason, my non-explicit rec for a first-timer to fandom has got to be that fic: Humane Society by smilebackwards. Audience tested. Universally appealing.

Apparently some cats are attracted to the yeast smell in bread? You'll often see yeast on the list of ingredients in cat treats. Anyway, 10/10 thievery score. You've got a little rogue growing!

fixomnia-scribble  on Dearborn stealing english muffins

Yeast and butter, man...enough to make a hardened criminal of the nicest cat.

That’s the oddest part -- I eat buttered toast around them all the time and they never give a damn. Granted, I don’t usually buy english muffins (Mum is coming to visit this week and they’re for her) but their total lack of interest until now might simply have been a ruse while they waited for me to leave the muffin unguarded. 

theahole  on Dearborn stealing english muffins

but look at that face..

Heyyyy, now. Lived my entire life in the 'burbs of Chicago, and when we travel we say we're from the city. We're not, but... We're also more than strip malls and bigotry. �� ... Elgin is a serious stretch though. �� What the hell-gin.

LOL! Honestly I have no problem with the burbs, or even people saying they’re from Chicago when they’re from the burbs -- my issue is more that I live in south loop and don’t have a car, so I can’t get to most of them. So the Trib will be like EIGHT PLACES IN CHICAGO YOU MUST EAT AT BEFORE YOU DIE and I can’t access them despite living literally in the middle of Chicago. If they just said Chicagoland instead I would not have such rage!

Well, that and any convention that calls itself the Chicago XYZ Convention and actually happens in Rosemont. No charging Chicago prices for Rosemont atmosphere.

arukou-arukou replied to your link “The 20 best Italian beefs in Chicago”

You've made me so curious about this sandwich I had to check and see if there were any Chicago ex-pats in my area selling this wonder sandwich, and sure enough, there are. I may have to make a Venture in the near future. (Or see if they're on DoorDash or something.)

Awesome, you’ll have to let me know what you think of it! 

Bear in mind that while I have held myself up as some kind of arbiter of Italian Beef, 90% of the time I buy one, take it home, take 2/3 of the meat off of it, eat it, and then eat the rest reheated on my own sandwich rolls over the next few days. There’s no shame in not being able to eat like a pound of shaved beef in a single sitting, and it browns really nicely when toasted or pan-fried. 

dbdatvic replied to your photo “only packing the essentials  Hen-dbag. ”

Well, I got ninjaed on my planned "shirley you mean only PECKING' the essentials?" but perusing the comments I saw "csibecsütörtök". I have NO clue of meaning or language, but I notice that chickens can almost certainly pronounce it.

ONLY PECKING THE ESSENTIALS. OMG. 

Apparently  csibecsütörtök translates to “Chick Thursday” which I think is probably like ladies’ night in Hungarian. HUNGARIANS, PLEASE ADVISE. 

kyamdone replied to your link “The 20 best Italian beefs in Chicago”

my question is why did they go to ELGIN??? its not even in the same county????? much less the actual city!!!

I’m guessing they have high circulation numbers in Elgin :D 

prairie-grass replied to your post “It’s coming up on time for my first yearly performance review at my...”

Ugh I just went from an org that had no perf revs, just 'personal development' which was never a critique just a conversation about what's going well vs not and how to help, back to the review style and I'm like 'wtf you want to see how MEASURE UP??? Get out of my face!!' I filled out my form running on pure spite and my manager was very confused.

LOL! At my old job, about eight years in -- so I’d done sixteen different forms of performance review, more or less -- they did an anonymous survey asking us how we felt about performance reviews in general and the process at our job in particular. I let them have it with both barrels: I thought that performance reviews were not very useful for anyone other than someone who needed to improve, that they were mainly there as an extra point for HR to justify its existence, that we should be developing and in contact with our managers as time passed rather than having high-stress-for-everyone twice-yearly checkins, and that it didn’t reflect well on HR that every time we had one we had to fill out a new and different form. 

Shortly thereafter we transitioned from twice-yearly to once-monthly performance reviews where there were no forms, metrics, or goals, but the managers were supposed to take notes on what was said and keep them in a hardcopy file. Literally no manager I knew, mine or others’, actually did this. Most didn’t even have the monthly review after 2-3 attempts at it. I know mine didn’t. 

mander-mouse replied to your post “I’ve been trying to explain the regional foodstuff known as Italian...”

I miss Portillo's!!! I recommend trying buns/rolls from S.Rosens and Turano too! Also, off topic, if you want to eat the BEST Chicago deep dish pizza in existence I recommend Bacino's of Lincoln Park (2204 N Lincoln Ave, Chicago, IL 60614), my soul misses that pizza....

Yeah, I eat S. Rosen rolls for preference, but sometimes Gonnella is on sale :D I didn’t care much for Bacino’s when I tried it, but I don’t like deep dish to start with so I’m biased....

bonnie131313 replied to your post “But Sam. All this discussion of pizza puffs ignores the actual best...”

Some places have it on their kid's menu but most people buy it at a grocery store (Dave's is the best) and a lot of mini-marts will have it too

Blasphemy roulette sounds like something we would have played at my high school.

They did not look to be long out of high school themselves, I have to say. I was mostly watching this all in delight but one portion of me felt very old and another was like ‘Eyy, the kids are all right.” 

koramberlynne replied to your photo “Hirshhorn Museum! The Duchamp exhibit was slightly underwhelming but I...”

Looks like tetherball. *Dangerous* tetherball.

Especially since when you walk out onto the field to try and play the tetherball, security will come and get mad at you for “climbing on the art” :D

goldenmeme replied to your photo “Hirshhorn Museum! The Duchamp exhibit was slightly underwhelming but I...”

Sam how could you not mention that the rock has grotesque eyes and a mouth?

Look, I had to discover that for myself as I walked around it and if I had to, everyone else should as well. 

prairie-grass replied to your photo “Checked in on the Cryptids and caught Dearborn practicing her yelling....”

She's summoning SOMETHING

Probably Polk. :D 

rsfcommonplace replied to your photo “Hirshhorn Museum! The Duchamp exhibit was slightly underwhelming but I...”

Car Being Driven By Disappointed Rock is my favorite.

I will say the discovery that the rock has a face totally altered my interpretation of the piece, so well done artist I guess...

tehnakki replied to your post “A brief overview of my day: I did the tour of the Bureau of Engraving...”

That museum frybread is some GOOD SHIT.

Right? I was a little sad not to get some, but I really wanted some french fries. And I’ve had it before, so at least I know of its goodness :D 

arsenicjade replied to your post “A brief overview of my day: I did the tour of the Bureau of Engraving...”

I love the engraving tour, it's so fucking arcane

What struck me as super interesting about seeing the presses going is that it’s like, there’s layers and layers of security, no photography allowed, very strict rules, but the guys running the presses are like...every dude in every machine/wood shop I’ve ever met. Big burly working-class union guys who are using a spare 2x4 to prop up the part that never quite sits where it’s supposed to in the machine and wash their tupperware in the dump sink. 

kitsparrow replied to your post “oh my gosh, tell me more about this much ado about nothing timeline of...”

Sam, I am OBSESSED with this idea. What would you need to be bribed with to at least write it?

I’m not sure it could be written, is the thing. Like you could write it in the sense of novelizing the play, or you could write it into the play with a shitload of stage directions, but I don’t think either would be truly satisfying. I might do some kind of larger treatment of it, though, somehow. 

katestamps replied to your post “bibliofran replied to your post “Hi Sam! I was curious, and hope...”

Rescues will take old sheets and towels, if you’re replacing yours! They won’t care if they have holes.

Oh, good to know! Usually I reuse them -- I never lack for uses for fabric -- but that’s the kind of info it’s good to pass on. 

spadesandaces replied to your post “bibliofran replied to your post “Hi Sam! I was curious, and hope...”

When you buy new sheets, please review them! I need new ones but I’m afraid I won’t like whichever ones I buy

Which is one reason I haven’t bought yet -- sheets are kind of pricey, and often cheaper online, but I don’t want to buy sheets I can’t touch-test ahead of time. Especially since I’m shopping for lightweight summer sheets and all the ones I like the look of turn out on closer inspection to be flannel :P 

figtreeandvine replied to your photo “LOL, that’s like, half a mile from where I live! The perils of naming...”

If I were the sort of person who stole road signs I would send you the "Welcome to Polk County" sign I pass every time we go to the beach. Sometimes it sucks being a good citizen. ��

I have oft considered stealing the “Dearborn and Polk” corner street sign, but it just seems like so much work :D Thwarted by my own laziness, that’s me. 

thedarkbunny replied to your post “bibliofran replied to your post “Hi Sam! I was curious, and hope...”

Have you looked into dissipative gloves? They're not quite on par with a grounding bracelet, but they're pretty good at dampening shocks.

I’d never heard of them! But I looked them up and....they have a real supervillain look about them :D Not sure the cats would enjoy them either. 

nogling replied to your post “bibliofran replied to your post “Hi Sam! I was curious, and hope...”

You should probably invest in a decent humidifier, to help with the static. Also with your sinuses. Chicago is pretty dry, anyway, but it’s so much worse in the winter.

What a weird mixture of super thoughtful and deeply disturbing!

Being fair to my mother, she is clearly aware how disturbing they are -- I don’t think she was when she ordered them, but she told me they arrived and she went “OH NO.” She assured me she would not be hurt if I didn’t want to wear them but by the time she finished the sentence I had already put them on and was wiggling my toes in delight. 

folavrilblog replied to your photoset “I’ve been talking to my parents with relative regularity about...”

Gelt!!!!

RIGHT? Hilariously I also brought gelt to give to them just to add to the Buffet Of Snacks we always have out at the holidays, so we have so much gelt. 

the-rainbow-jen replied to your photoset “I’ve been talking to my parents with relative regularity about...”

So you can cosplay when you see Cats?

Or just cosplay with my cats!

this-is-malarkey replied to your post “fruitgoat replied to your photo “Went to Johnson City tonight to see...”

Went there last Sunday with the fam since that's mom's hometown. So so many lights.

It’s amazing how much it’s changed, too. Ten years ago, the last time I went (my folks have been since) it was legit just an empty park with lights; we walked around, oohed and ahhed, and then went home. This time there was like, a whole production -- huge crowds of people, tractor- AND horse-drawn hayrides, food trucks, no parking. I was astonished. It’s great for the city I’m sure, but I did feel like maybe a few more crossing guards/traffic cops might be in order. 

yolandaash replied to your post “My parents are literally debating what Hallmark Christmas movie to...”

I have been beaten into submission on most Hallmark movies but not Candice's. I find hers to be the most grating and voice to be like nails on the chalkboard most of the time. Lifetime has stepped up their game and now offers racial diversity at least.

She’s very terrible, and you can tell she has a hand in the writing/production actively because hers are the only ones that really hammer home This Heroine Believes In God And Is A Good Christian.

And I was so delighted by Lifetime this year! They have a holiday movie about Christmas and Hanukkah -- Mistletoe and Menorahs -- written by a Jewish man, that was super enjoyable and culminates in the heroine winning the day through The Power Of Knowing What Hanukkah Is Actually About (Maccabees). 

I will say, I saw most of Double Holiday (one of the two Jewish-adjacent Hallmark movies) and it was way more charming and less creepy than I anticipated. Still had quite a few problems and I don’t think Hallmark should be trumpeting it as actually being about Hanukkah, but it wasn’t the hot mess I expected. 

crystalmir replied to your photoset “I’ve been talking to my parents with relative regularity about...”

Okay but where did they get those socks?

Aww I want Trubz to comment on my fic now

I just realized Trubz doesn’t leave Kudos

SHE LEAVES MEW-DOS

prairie-grass replied to your post “I asked myself, what should I, a reasonably healthy and intelligent...”

But is it pronounced tru-bz, or trubs?

I like to think it’s trubs, like a shortened version of trouble. 

innytoes replied to your post “I asked myself, what should I, a reasonably healthy and intelligent...”

Trubz writes fanfic shipping Bucky and Natasha's comicbook cats.

Do not underestimate her fame in the Garfield fandom, either. 

dignitywhatdignity replied to your post “I asked myself, what should I, a reasonably healthy and intelligent...”

trubz has left Kudos for "Trying to Communicate"

HAHAHA YES. “UR WRITIN FANCY FANFICS.” 

yee-jun replied to your post “I asked myself, what should I, a reasonably healthy and intelligent...”

Dearborn Trouble 'Trubz' Starbuck, accomplished author and cat.