Official Off Topic Discussion Thread #1

[skjl47]

a shop owner got cited for power washing the homeless (junkies) piss and feces off the sidewalk infront of his store.

Hello; I get that when you gotta go -you gotta go. But what I gather is this is a regular thing on the streets of some cities. What about health codes and public decency laws?
I use to have reason to be in an area of Knoxville TN called Old Town. In the last couple of decades this once run down section has been undergoing a revitalization with many rebuilt or remodeled buildings turned into shops and condos. Sadly back when the area was low rent a big shelter had started with a large population of "homeless". I guess they did not stray too far from the shelter during the day but the Old Town area is close enough. Lots of panhandlers and the like. Another result has been that the shop owners have a problem with these folks wrecking or at least making the restrooms nasty.

And no I cannot see anything wrong with cleaning piss and feces off the sidewalk.

hearkens him back to the water canning of blacks in the 60ies

how does power washing human excrement off the sidewalk in front of your store possibly get compared to that?

Hello; the water cannon back in the day was aimed at actual people, not at their abandoned waste. I can recall having to enter doorways that reeked of piss.

right wing lunacy

Hello; you are too polite. This is beyond basic lunacy.

 

[AquaAlex1993]

My first attempt at making chicken parm...came out pretty good if I say so myself.
View attachment 1266117

Hey, for a first attempt that looks awesome! I know many people decades or so older than me that struggle at making fancy Italian dishes such as chicken parm.
So as an Italian, I can appreciate that you can make great Italian dishes.
I learned how to make Chicken Parm, Meatballs, Shrimp Scampi, tortellini, etc from my Great Grandma who was born in Italy. She moved to the USA when she was a kid, but always carried most of the Italian way of life from Italy... everything from serving homemade food almost all the time, family dinners, pasta this, pasta that, and hours making cannoli shells, but boy I do miss a fresh made cannoli, she was an excellent cook in the kitchen.
I think because of her I became a good cook. She got me interested in going futher into cooking and I did culinary arts as my vocation for 4 years in high school. Then did a brief program at a vocational college. In 2015, I worked with a Chef who was my mentor at his catering company and he taught me everything a chef needs to know from ordering supplies and ingredients, to cooking, and everything in between. Keep in mind these were times when I was 12, 16, 18, and 19-20. So I am very fornatue to have been this lucky in my life. Some people my age can't even cook popcorn right or make their pasta as soft as the cotton on your filter pad lol.

 

[krichardson]

Hey, for a first attempt that looks awesome! I know many people decades or so older than me that struggle at making fancy Italian dishes such as chicken parm.
So as an Italian, I can appreciate that you can make great Italian dishes.
I learned how to make Chicken Parm, Meatballs, Shrimp Scampi, tortellini, etc from my Great Grandma who was born in Italy. She moved to the USA when she was a kid, but always carried most of the Italian way of life from Italy... everything from serving homemade food almost all the time, family dinners, pasta this, pasta that, and hours making cannoli shells, but boy I do miss a fresh made cannoli, she was an excellent cook in the kitchen.
I think because of her I became a good cook. She got me interested in going futher into cooking and I did culinary arts as my vocation for 4 years in high school. Then did a brief program at a vocational college. In 2015, I worked with a Chef who was my mentor at his catering company and he taught me everything a chef needs to know from ordering supplies and ingredients, to cooking, and everything in between. Keep in mind these were times when I was 12, 16, 18, and 19-20. So I am very fornatue to have been this lucky in my life. Some people my age can't even cook popcorn right or make their pasta as soft as the cotton on your filter pad lol.

Thanks,I can also make a decent pan of lasagne when I feel like it.I haven't done that in a while though.....next up,Chicken Marasla.

 

[AquaAlex1993]

Thanks,I can also make a decent pan of lasagne when I feel like it.I haven't done that in a while though.....next up,Chicken Marasla.

Chicken Marsala, YUM! One of my favorites. You can also do Veal Marsala or boneless round steaks too. Some people have also used Pork tendorlions as well, I have to try that.
P.S.: Use a sweet Marsala wine, one that you would enjoy drinking straight out of the bottle. Why? It will have a much better taste and flavor your dish better. Some of the cheaper, inexpensive brands have a salty, nutty flavor that is kind of weird tasting and that's why most people add chicken stock to the dish to give it an added flavor. I use chicken stock and a bit of flour to make a gravy like sauce.
So once you have pre sauteed your chicken, and cooked your mushrooms and onions, add about 2-3 tbsp of flour and mix until incorparated and mushrooms are dry. Add your Marsala wine and let thicken. Add the chicken stock and seasonings and your good to go. Return the chicken to the pan and let cook until no longer pink.
Sides can be pasta, mashed potatoes, rice, polenta, etc. anything that you would like to scoop some of the sauce on. In Italy, this is somewhat our version of fried chicken and mashed potatoes, but it's better because we use pasta.
If you ever need any help with cooking or baking, I'll gladly help just message me.

 

[J. H.]

Hey, for a first attempt that looks awesome! I know many people decades or so older than me that struggle at making fancy Italian dishes such as chicken parm.
So as an Italian, I can appreciate that you can make great Italian dishes.
I learned how to make Chicken Parm, Meatballs, Shrimp Scampi, tortellini, etc from my Great Grandma who was born in Italy. She moved to the USA when she was a kid, but always carried most of the Italian way of life from Italy... everything from serving homemade food almost all the time, family dinners, pasta this, pasta that, and hours making cannoli shells, but boy I do miss a fresh made cannoli, she was an excellent cook in the kitchen.
I think because of her I became a good cook. She got me interested in going futher into cooking and I did culinary arts as my vocation for 4 years in high school. Then did a brief program at a vocational college. In 2015, I worked with a Chef who was my mentor at his catering company and he taught me everything a chef needs to know from ordering supplies and ingredients, to cooking, and everything in between. Keep in mind these were times when I was 12, 16, 18, and 19-20. So I am very fornatue to have been this lucky in my life. Some people my age can't even cook popcorn right or make their pasta as soft as the cotton on your filter pad lol.

I worked as a cook too, for a while. When I was in tenth grade, I dormed, and i took kind of as a job, to be the janitor and assistant cook for the school.( it was an all boys school of30 kids) I never made anything fancy, except one time, we accidentally wound up with a lot of eggplant. Parm is a very labor intensive food to make, and you need to learn how to do it from someone who knows what they are doing, the first time I made it, I didn't know I had to dry the eggplant first :0 a lot of people were unhappy with me.
About the police stuff, I appreciate what they do for me and Don't want to make it any harder for them, but I have a friend who was nearly killed by a cop who felt advice the law and got away with it. He was walking with two friends along the road, and the cop, off duty and over the speed limit, decided to mount the shoulder to pass someone. One of his friends was dead before the ambulance got there, he was in bad shape for months, still doing PT, and the third guy wasn't hurt. They are trying to pass charges, but they were told flat out that they won't stick on a cop. This cop still has his job, and as far as I know did not suffer in any way from the event. They need bit to be above the law.

 

[krichardson]

Chicken Marsala, YUM! One of my favorites. You can also do Veal Marsala or boneless round steaks too. Some people have also used Pork tendorlions as well, I have to try that.
P.S.: Use a sweet Marsala wine, one that you would enjoy drinking straight out of the bottle. Why? It will have a much better taste and flavor your dish better. Some of the cheaper, inexpensive brands have a salty, nutty flavor that is kind of weird tasting and that's why most people add chicken stock to the dish to give it an added flavor. I use chicken stock and a bit of flour to make a gravy like sauce.
So once you have pre sauteed your chicken, and cooked your mushrooms and onions, add about 2-3 tbsp of flour and mix until incorparated and mushrooms are dry. Add your Marsala wine and let thicken. Add the chicken stock and seasonings and your good to go. Return the chicken to the pan and let cook until no longer pink.
Sides can be pasta, mashed potatoes, rice, polenta, etc. anything that you would like to scoop some of the sauce on. In Italy, this is somewhat our version of fried chicken and mashed potatoes, but it's better because we use pasta.
If you ever need any help with cooking or baking, I'll gladly help just message me.

Thanks for taking the time to post all of that good information.I will refer to it when I make my marsala.

 

[jaws7777]

they want to open injection sights in Seattle, freaking lunacy. Its bad here, a shop owner got cited for power washing the homeless (junkies) piss and feces off the sidewalk infront of his store. city councilman says it hearkens him back to the water canning of blacks in the 60ies.

how does power washing human excrement off the sidewalk in front of your store possibly get compared to that?

right wing lunacy. Hopefully our heat wave will melt these snowflakes.

Thats crazy...so water shooting out of a hose reminds that genius of what happend in the 60's !!!! My lord why not ban hoses while hes at it

 

[skjl47]

Hello; Had a new experience a couple of days ago in Tennessee at a new car dealer. I drove to the dealers place to check out a new car. I had found the car online and had discussed the car a bit on the phone with the salesman.
The car was what had been advertised and we proceeded to the test drive. As is common they wanted to check my drivers license, no problem. The new wrinkle was they wanted me to sign a form making me liable for some things.
One thing is that I will be responsible for any traffic violations such as a speeding ticket. I had no problem with that part.

The thing that stopped me were the parts making me responsible for any damage to the car during the test drive. It read more or less that I would agree to use my insurance if there was damage and also that what the insurance di not cover, that I would be responsible for personally.
In an animated discussion we went around the issue with the end result being I refused to sign the form. I did drive the car around the car lot a couple of times which apparently is covered by their insurance but I could not take it on a public road. I became disgusted with the process and left without buying the car.

Here is my question, do any of you have any insight about this? I stopped by my insurance agents shop today but he was not in. The lady who works there has the opinion that my insurance is not any good on a vehicle I do not own. This would mean I would be personally liable for any damage and my insurance would not have to pay at all. I have test driven many cars over the decades and this is the first time such a thing has come up.
I always thought the dealerships had some sort of insurance on the cars on their lot to cover the test drives, but now that assumption is not so certain. I was told one of the employees could drive me around on the highway and be covered. I said no thanks to that.

Should this prove to be a common practice it makes the act of taking a test drive a potentially expensive activity. We could be on the hook for expensive repairs on a car we do not own.

This was a new car at a major brand dealership if that information is of use.

 

[millerkid519]

Hello; Had a new experience a couple of days ago in Tennessee at a new car dealer. I drove to the dealers place to check out a new car. I had found the car online and had discussed the car a bit on the phone with the salesman.
The car was what had been advertised and we proceeded to the test drive. As is common they wanted to check my drivers license, no problem. The new wrinkle was they wanted me to sign a form making me liable for some things.
One thing is that I will be responsible for any traffic violations such as a speeding ticket. I had no problem with that part.

The thing that stopped me were the parts making me responsible for any damage to the car during the test drive. It read more or less that I would agree to use my insurance if there was damage and also that what the insurance di not cover, that I would be responsible for personally.
In an animated discussion we went around the issue with the end result being I refused to sign the form. I did drive the car around the car lot a couple of times which apparently is covered by their insurance but I could not take it on a public road. I became disgusted with the process and left without buying the car.

Here is my question, do any of you have any insight about this? I stopped by my insurance agents shop today but he was not in. The lady who works there has the opinion that my insurance is not any good on a vehicle I do not own. This would mean I would be personally liable for any damage and my insurance would not have to pay at all. I have test driven many cars over the decades and this is the first time such a thing has come up.
I always thought the dealerships had some sort of insurance on the cars on their lot to cover the test drives, but now that assumption is not so certain. I was told one of the employees could drive me around on the highway and be covered. I said no thanks to that.

Should this prove to be a common practice it makes the act of taking a test drive a potentially expensive activity. We could be on the hook for expensive repairs on a car we do not own.

This was a new car at a major brand dealership if that information is of use.

That is scrap I would t habe signed it either.
My take on it is if you want me to buy the car you do what I want.
I could maybe see them sending a salesperson with you, I would be calling the head office and explain that they lost a sale because of it and see if it goes anywhere.

I actually have a good story about taking my vehical into the dealership for an oil change.
I was still at work and having one of those days that if I could go wrong it was screwing parts up, machine not wanting to fit together blew the belt off my mill and it wedge in the pulleys so bad it took me an hour and a half to just get it apart.
Then my girlfriend pulls in to pick me up from work in a loaner car. I was thinking wtf is going on here..... turns out the oil change kid at Ford dealership drove my vehical into the bench, he said his foot slipped of the break but i have wrecked enough vehicals to know bs when I hear it. Ended up needing new hood, grill, bumper, rad saddle, a.c. condenser, rad, passenger fender.
Also took 3 times for them to get the paint right

 

[krichardson]

Hello; Had a new experience a couple of days ago in Tennessee at a new car dealer. I drove to the dealers place to check out a new car. I had found the car online and had discussed the car a bit on the phone with the salesman.
The car was what had been advertised and we proceeded to the test drive. As is common they wanted to check my drivers license, no problem. The new wrinkle was they wanted me to sign a form making me liable for some things.
One thing is that I will be responsible for any traffic violations such as a speeding ticket. I had no problem with that part.

The thing that stopped me were the parts making me responsible for any damage to the car during the test drive. It read more or less that I would agree to use my insurance if there was damage and also that what the insurance di not cover, that I would be responsible for personally.
In an animated discussion we went around the issue with the end result being I refused to sign the form. I did drive the car around the car lot a couple of times which apparently is covered by their insurance but I could not take it on a public road. I became disgusted with the process and left without buying the car.

Here is my question, do any of you have any insight about this? I stopped by my insurance agents shop today but he was not in. The lady who works there has the opinion that my insurance is not any good on a vehicle I do not own. This would mean I would be personally liable for any damage and my insurance would not have to pay at all. I have test driven many cars over the decades and this is the first time such a thing has come up.
I always thought the dealerships had some sort of insurance on the cars on their lot to cover the test drives, but now that assumption is not so certain. I was told one of the employees could drive me around on the highway and be covered. I said no thanks to that.

Should this prove to be a common practice it makes the act of taking a test drive a potentially expensive activity. We could be on the hook for expensive repairs on a car we do not own.

This was a new car at a major brand dealership if that information is of use.

Interesting,it sounds as if there is a movement afoot to disuade customers from doing test drives or eventually do away with them altogether.