Sac's Rant Thread [rant]

Ah, I guess I should listen to what my mom used to tell us kids when we would turn our nose up at the horrible, disgusting things other people ate - she would always say, "Don't yuck their yum."

So if you want to eat a horrible, inedible, vile plant... I mean I won't yuck it. :rofl::rofl::rofl:
 
Okay, there is one thing worse than kale. The durian. Kale is just nasty and sour and you spit it out and haul it to the garbage. The durian actually makes you barf.
 
had to look that one up... Durian... good lord it even looks inedible. Who was the first person who looked at that and said, "Hmmmm maybe I'll eat that."
 
Bus with less than standard seating capacity...

ROFLMAO!

Thanks for the laugh, Sac. M

Today’s fun in IT.

“Where could we possibly be leaking employee SSNs?”

.... blink ....

“Everywhere?”

LOL.

Well thanks for the Jerimiah Weed! Yes I drank it!
 
had to look that one up... Durian... good lord it even looks inedible. Who was the first person who looked at that and said, "Hmmmm maybe I'll eat that."

Same guy who looked at a porcupine and thought “Damn, that would look good on the barbecue”?
 
Same guy who looked at a porcupine and thought “Damn, that would look good on the barbecue”?
How about cheese? "I ran out of milk cartons so I used a sheep stomach. A few days later it was no longer milk. It was all curdled up and leaking whey. I ate it anyway."
 
Well thanks for the Jerimiah Weed! Yes I drank it!

It’s pretty awful. I’m not sure you want to be thanking me, but it’s fun to introduce someone to it once and then help them avoid it for life after that. Haha.
 
Jeremiah Weed! The Drink of Fighter Pilots the world over. Always keep it stock for telling lies about how great we were.

Every year during the last week of February, a group of Fighter Pilots gather on the mountain in Steamboat to drink a toast to the late B/G Robin Olds. I’m privileged to participate even though I never was one, just developed the planes.

Cheers
 
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Kimchee and kraut are fine. Kale and collards, are not high on my taste palate. Most everything else I'll eat as long as the looks/smells aren't repulsive.
 
I make fun of kale like it’s evil, but the reality of it is, it’s just “meh”.

Better culinary options for most of the things it gets used for, abound.

Most applications of it in recipes get overrun by its bitterness. Even piling fats and salt like bacon on it, the kale still overpowers it.

Not good eats.

Perhaps they’ll genetically modify it like Brussel Sprouts into something that actually tastes good someday.

Kimchee and such, those you know what you’re in for going in. They’re deliberately overpowering.

Kale just naturally sucks. There’s better leafy greens. It got popular for no particularly taste worthy reason.
 
In being stationed there for two years, I don't think I've had sauerkraut once there. I've had some pretty good sauerkraut in New Yawk from street hotdog vendors. Of the local foods in Germany, Jagersnitzel was my favorite.

Sauerbraten is also very good. I remember one time we had a standards committee meeting in Stuttgart. There was a great restaurant behind the hotel we were staying in. The waitress we had had been married to a GI in the past and I gave her a hard time one evening as the English menu was incomprehensible, but the German menu was easy to figure out. They needed a new translator.

And when it comes to inedible items (or its an acquired taste) try Vegimite. I haven't acquired that taste.
 
Actually, there is one instance where I will eat kale. My wife mists it with olive oil, then lightly sprinkles with sea salt, then crisps it in the oven. As a crispy salty snack it's ok, but if salty snack is what I want, I find more satisfaction dipping some tortilla chips into some guac or hummus.
 
I make fun of kale like it’s evil, but the reality of it is, it’s just “meh”.

Better culinary options for most of the things it gets used for, abound.

Most applications of it in recipes get overrun by its bitterness. Even piling fats and salt like bacon on it, the kale still overpowers it.

Not good eats.

Perhaps they’ll genetically modify it like Brussel Sprouts into something that actually tastes good someday.

Kimchee and such, those you know what you’re in for going in. They’re deliberately overpowering.

Kale just naturally sucks. There’s better leafy greens. It got popular for no particularly taste worthy reason.
I think a cardboard box from Amazon would taste better than kale.
 
Sauerbraten is also very good. I remember one time we had a standards committee meeting in Stuttgart. There was a great restaurant behind the hotel we were staying in. The waitress we had had been married to a GI in the past and I gave her a hard time one evening as the English menu was incomprehensible, but the German menu was easy to figure out. They needed a new translator.

And when it comes to inedible items (or its an acquired taste) try Vegimite. I haven't acquired that taste.

I lovely vegemite. I got hooked on it shuttling between Sydney and SFO on Quantas business class, where it would be available as a breakfast item. Being a low carb person, the challenging thing is to find something appropriate to spread it on, so on the flight I would usually just eat it out of the tub with a spoon. Usually the decent hotels in Australia would have a buffet breakfast spreads that included sliced meat and cheese platters, and a bowl of vegemite. Sliced meat and cheese are perfect vehicles for eating the vegemite.

It was shortly after the airport security restrictions were imposed after 9/11 that my boss had to give up a large, restaurant size container of vegemite at the Sydney airport on the way home.
 
Okay, there is one thing worse than kale. The durian. Kale is just nasty and sour and you spit it out and haul it to the garbage. The durian actually makes you barf.

I've had some exposure to durian on past trips to Singapore and Kuala Lumpur, but could never bring myself to try it. I've heard that if you can get past the smell (a nearly impossible task), the taste is ok. The subways and most of the cabs all have 'no durian' placards, though.
 
Don't get me started on Singapore. That is worthy of a rant in itself. It is the most, over the top expensive places in Southeast Asia and isn't really all that much of an interesting place. $16 USD for a house beer? Ugh.
 
Don't get me started on Singapore. That is worthy of a rant in itself. It is the most, over the top expensive places in Southeast Asia and isn't really all that much of an interesting place. $16 USD for a house beer? Ugh.

No kidding. The most expensive beer I've ever had was in Singapore. I don't think I've paid $16 for a house beer, however. Close, but not that high. The only time I've paid more was about $17 for a 1/2 yard of beer at the Long Bar at Raffles, but that was a long time ago. I don't even want to think about what they would charge now.
 
No kidding. The most expensive beer I've ever had was in Singapore. I don't think I've paid $16 for a house beer, however. Close, but not that high. The only time I've paid more was about $17 for a 1/2 yard of beer at the Long Bar at Raffles, but that was a long time ago. I don't even want to think about what they would charge now.

Vietnam is somewhat catching up. If you go to the tourist districts of ether Ho Chi Minh City or Hanoi, you're paying top dollar stupid for everything. Get out of those areas and things are dirt cheap. Heck, when I was working a project in Northern Vietnam for six weeks out in the sticks, there weren't any bars to speak of, so I was buying Tiger beer at the street corner vendors for like VND 100,000 ($5) a case. And that is the good stuff. 333 was probably going for half the price.
 
Vietnam is somewhat catching up. If you go to the tourist districts of ether Ho Chi Minh City or Hanoi, you're paying top dollar stupid for everything. Get out of those areas and things are dirt cheap. Heck, when I was working a project in Northern Vietnam for six weeks out in the sticks, there weren't any bars to speak of, so I was buying Tiger beer at the street corner vendors for like VND 100,000 ($5) a case. And that is the good stuff. 333 was probably going for half the price.
Well, down south, not north. I don't know if this is like a "tied house" pub in the UK, or independent and only sold Tiger beer.

 
Well, down south, not north. I don't know if this is like a "tied house" pub in the UK, or independent and only sold Tiger beer.


Okay, so Googling indicates that it is a bar in Hoi An (mid coast, near Danang.) But generally the way it works, is that how exclusive the bar is to a particular brand equates to how free the swag is, e.g. signage, dart boards, beer girl uniforms, etc...

This is my local. I had my hand in setting up a similar British style ex-pat pub a few blocks away a few years ago. That place is still in business, but the business partners had a falling out.

thetavern.jpg
 
Okay, so Googling indicates that it is a bar in Hoi An (mid coast, near Danang.) But generally the way it works, is that how exclusive the bar is to a particular brand equates to how free the swag is, e.g. signage, dart boards, beer girl uniforms, etc...

This is my local. I had my hand in setting up a similar British style ex-pat pub a few blocks away a few years ago. That place is still in business, but the business partners had a falling out.

thetavern.jpg
Yes, my image was taken just a little inland from Danang.

That one is in HCM city?
https://www.facebook.com/tavernpmh/
 
I've only been to Vietnam once and that was in 2007. As I recall, Hanoi was cheap then. We went to a restaurant that likely was not in the tourist district and ate and drank plenty. Came to about $9 each. I remember the cab ride from the airport to my hotel and the meter was going nuts. 160,000 Dong! Then I realized that the exchange rate at the time was 16,000 Dong to the USD. Oh, $10 cab ride. Whoopie. Hotel was just on the south side of the Red River, within eyesight of the bridge designed by the guy who designed the Eiffel Tower. 14 years ago, time flies.
 
Okay, so Googling indicates that it is a bar in Hoi An (mid coast, near Danang.) But generally the way it works, is that how exclusive the bar is to a particular brand equates to how free the swag is, e.g. signage, dart boards, beer girl uniforms, etc...

This is my local. I had my hand in setting up a similar British style ex-pat pub a few blocks away a few years ago. That place is still in business, but the business partners had a falling out.

thetavern.jpg

That is a stock image, but yes, that is the one. Phu My Hung is a commercial district in D7 HCMC where most of the expats hang out. Expats = Brits and Aussies working in Vietnam. And then there are the actual expats, a handful of former mercs that can't return to their home countries.

Hoi An was the site of a series of water wells (very small ones) drilled and developed for the resorts. The project team was myself, one of our Vietnamese engineers, and a local water drilling contractor with the most ghetto looking drilling rig you could imagine.
 
Kale is alright though even a bit of chore to prep for cooking. On the other hand, give me some arugula...that some good stuff. Even on top of a pizza.
 
Did she say because it wasn't too beau coup? ;)

Boo coo has been in the US military vernacular at least through the '80's. It originated in Vietnam, and is a bastardized form of the French beau coup. Eg, "I have boo coo confidence in Corporal Smith."

Nobody speaks French in Vietnam anymore. Any remaining that do are well in to their 70s. It remains one of those elective languages that students can learn if they want, but few do. English is, not surprisingly, the most common secondary language students might study.
 
Boo coo has been in the US military vernacular at least through the '80's. It originated in Vietnam, and is a bastardized form of the French beau coup. Eg, "I have boo coo confidence in Corporal Smith."

Um...yeah. It was also a line in Full Metal Jacket. ;)
 
UPDATE: Re. Bad Lettuce Wrap

I ride to the burger place. Not the Carl's, but the one with the hot Burger Girls that I go to so often they think I'm stalking them. They are closed. There is a sign on the door that says 'temporary hours 4 pm to 10 pm.' What kind of fast food restaurant is only open for a few hours in the evening??

So I adapt. I stop at the Walgreens down the street to buy a burger mounting system (BMS) which is actually... just a roll of masking tape so I can tape the bag to the bars. I'm adaptive like that right. And it never hurts to ask...

"Can you wrap that in iceberg instead of green leaf lettuce?"

"Honey, we ain't even carry no iceberg lettuce no more."

Well there we have it. They ain't even carry no iceberg lettuce no more. Fo sheezy they no pleasy.

Here's the thing about Habit Burger - never mind that they make the best fast food burger hands down, and do the best job a lettuce wrap, but there are two things that I need, 100%, when I eat, is 1. A place to wash my hands after eating. Lettuce wrapped burgers are messy. 2. A bathroom to use. The time from 'a slight knock at the back door' to 'emergency cargo dump' is on the order of minutes for me. But you probably didn't want to know that.
 
That sucks. But they could have offered to wrap the burger in kale.

And why no bathroom in the other joint? Restrictions?? Whey you gotta go, you gotta go.
 
Next thing you’re going to ask for is a Swedish Meatball wrapped in a Brussel Sprout leaf.

Cheers
 
That sucks. But they could have offered to wrap the burger in kale.

And why no bathroom in the other joint? Restrictions?? Whey you gotta go, you gotta go.

Some places are drive through only, no access inside. I've mastered the art of centering my aluminum bike rim on the order kiosk sensor.
 
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