Vox Hunt: My Pets

Show us your pets.
Submitted by Prakash Daniel.

The vet said they don't usually get this large.....

Boru (P1010105)

My Ocicat, Boru.  Named for Brian Boru, my family's namesake.

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Because.... well, just because!

I wish I could be a better speaker, better writer, better communicator in general.

Part of my problem comes from my lack of confidence, part of it from a brain that switches track in the middle of a thought.  I can force myself to write clearly when I take my time, but I'm talking about the ability to have a live debate and still be coherent and complete in my reasoning.  To those of you who can do this, I envy you.  That is all. 

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QotD: Tasty Thanksgiving Treat

What's your favorite Thanksgiving dish?
Submitted by Brennan.

Definitely not Jones Soda's Holiday Pack.  Tried that last year, out of misguided curiosity.  Never again.  Well, unless I get curious.  Maybe I should?  It could be that THIS year, one of the flavors will be like dying and going to heaven, right?

Anyway, my favorite turkey day dish actually comes down to a close run off between filling/stuffing and pumpkin pie.  I love stuffing.  I'm from a region of Pennsylvania where Pennsylvania Dutch foods are still popular.  I love dutch potato filling.  Even among dutch potato filling there are some drastic differences and I love them all.  Don't think I don't also like traditional bread stuffing, I do.  I could make a meal of just the various kinds of stuffing people make!

Even so, I think the winner is Pumpkin Pie.  My wife has spoiled me on this.  Fresh made crust, made with fresh pumpkin.  Can't be beat.  Don't settle for store bough crusts or canned filling, it isn't the same.  I can't reveal the secret mix of herbs and spices.... no wait, I'm thinking of KFC.  But the spices definitely make the pie.  If you're going to be in my neck of the woods, let me know.  I'll let you watch me eat a slice.

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Vox Hunt: Autumn Where I Live

Show us what autumn looks like where you live.
Submitted by Miss Parker.

wraight030

This is a view from Bake Oven Knob on the Appalachian Trail in Pennsylvania,  looking southward over the Lehigh Valley.

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Ground in 5...4...3...2...1...

Ok.  I'm not a cruel person, really.  I don't think I'll be able to convince a local bat of this, no matter how hard I try.

My wife and I were out walking yesterday afternoon, just before sunset.  It was a warm day for November in eastern PA.  Warm enough for bugs to come out for a quick buzz around the neighborhood.  Warm enough for a local bat to take advantage of the bugs flying around and grab a quick snack.  He was traveling up and down the road between the trees, minding his own business.  For some reason I decided I would try to trick him into catching a stone I threw his way.  Odd enough as this is not an activity I ever remember partaking in before in my life.  What made it even more odd is that it worked.... all too well.  Not only did he try to catch the stone, he apparently focused on it so intently that he never noticed the ground approaching.  He flew into the ground, not six feet from us, in a full on dive.  He seemed OK, if a bit shocked.  He flopped around for a few seconds and then flew off, probably cursing us the whole way back to his home. 

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QotD: A Tip About Tipping

What's your method for calculating a tip?

Start with your waiter's height, divide by weight.  Multiply by the cost of the meal, divide by the number of minutes from when your order was taken til when it arrived.  Add in the number of calories consumed and divide by the number of mistakes made in your order, multiply by the number of trips the waiter has made to your table.  That is all meaningless, forget the result.

Take the total for the meal, drop off the last digit.  That's the low end, bad service (unless it is exceptionally poor).  Multiply that by two, that is exceptional service.  Actual tip is somewhere in between, usually the upper end of the scale.

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Vox Hunt: Crazy Hat

Show us a crazy hat.
Submitted by Mindy.

Proud member of the Green Banana Hats....

certifiable

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QotD: Pizza Preference

How do you eat your pizza:  folded, flat or with a fork and knife?
Submitted by danimass.

Yes.

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QotD: OS Preference

Windows, Mac, Linux - What's your preference and why?
Submitted by ramblingsbymark.

Windows.  I know it is the least stable of the three.  I know it is a resource hog.  Whatever.  I spent the 80's working on a TRS80 Color Computer II  and III.  I loved the computer.  I think the CoCo III was superior to anything else in its price range (basically Commordore 128 and one of the Atari ST models).  Problem was, there was little software available.  What was there was good, but there was little choice.  It was frustrating.  That is why I am a Windows user.

I know that Mac and Linux are technically better OSes, but I find my windows machine to be stable.  I rarely need to reboot and might have a few crashes a year.  I've never had a serious virus infection (knock on plastic).  If that were not the case I'd be more tempted to switch.  I also know that both MAC and Linux have many apps available.  Windows still has many times more.  I like having the options there.  End of story.

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QotD: My Vox Name

How did you pick your Vox name? Does it mean something? 
Submitted by LeendaDLL.  

Here we go again.  There actually is a bit of a story here, let me start at the beginning.....

When I was in junior high school (mid 80s), I started using BBSs (Bulletin Board Systems) using just my first name + last initial.  Boring.  Didn't like that.  Started trying to come up with a cool sounding name and decided to go with the name of a character on a cartoon I was watching.  The show was Robotix, the character: Nemesis Enforcer.  I just used Nemesis as my name.

I continued using that for many years, until I started having trouble using the name at most sites.... too many other Nemesi (Nemesises?)  So I started to think of a new name.  I wanted something unique, so that I wouldn't find myself using different names at various sites (as I had to do with Nemesis).  At the time I had also been reading up on my Celtic heritage, so I decided to look for a Celtic name.  I figured I would look for something Celtic that related to the name Nemesis.  Well, Nemesis is the Greek goddess of justice, so I started looking for Celtic words with similar meanings.  I came across Ceart which is Celtic for correct or right, which was close.  I also liked the look and sound of the word, so I decided to choose Ceart.  One concern I had was that the username would be too short for many sites, so I decided to add some digits to the end.  The year I chose the name was 1999, so I became Ceart99.

Remember, you asked.

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