DataNinja's Scintillating Digital Random Banter #231

[Mystic Muse]

I passed the certification exam I was worried about. Needed an 83%, got an 84%.

Unrelated, I'm pondering how to get more fruits and veggies in my diet. Thinking of getting a big blender, and just tossing like 5 of each in there with some greek yogurt and orange juice.

Would be like a half gallon of smoothie, but I can probably manage that in a day.

[Tvtyrant]

I passed the certification exam I was worried about. Needed an 83%, got an 84%.

Unrelated, I'm pondering how to get more fruits and veggies in my diet. Thinking of getting a big blender, and just tossing like 5 of each in there with some greek yogurt and orange juice.

Would be like a half gallon of smoothie, but I can probably manage that in a day.

Which kinds of fruits and veggies?

I like avocado as a smoothie base, thickens it up a lot and is texture wise fairly close to a milkshake (in no other ways though, y've been warned.)

[Rater202]

I passed the certification exam I was worried about. Needed an 83%, got an 84%.

Unrelated, I'm pondering how to get more fruits and veggies in my diet. Thinking of getting a big blender, and just tossing like 5 of each in there with some greek yogurt and orange juice.

Would be like a half gallon of smoothie, but I can probably manage that in a day.

Be careful that the fruits and vegetables you use have flavors that work together.

It doesn't matter that it's good for you, if you can't make yourself drink it then it's useless.

[Mystic Muse]

Which kinds of fruits and veggies?

I like avocado as a smoothie base, thickens it up a lot and is texture wise fairly close to a milkshake (in no other ways though, y've been warned.)

Be careful that the fruits and vegetables you use have flavors that work together.

It doesn't matter that it's good for you, if you can't make yourself drink it then it's useless.

Broccoli, spinach/kale, carrots, a banana, apple, some form of thing with berry in its name, and pineapple.

Was also considering cucumber since the taste should not be especially strong.

Open to other things.

[Tvtyrant]

Broccoli, spinach/kale, carrots, a banana, apple, some form of thing with berry in its name, and pineapple.

Was also considering cucumber since the taste should not be especially strong.

Open to other things.

Frozen blueberries are low calorie and take the place of ice in a smoothie.

Most fruit have really weak flavors in a smoothie, so they get cut with banana which is stronger. Pineapple is quite strong as well. Brassica plants tend to be stronger then the fruits, so you get sweet kale IME. A childhood friend of mine swears that the flavor is better if the bassica's are frozen, so frozen spinach/etc and then drink it before they melt. This supposedly neuters the flavor.

Edit: Also go slow on adding in the brassicas and fiberous stuff if you don't eat a lot of fiber. Going cold to high fiber diet can lead to some really unfortunate gastrointestinal issues as you lack the bacteria for breaking it down. He gentlest is gas like an ungulate.

[DataNinja]

I passed the certification exam I was worried about. Needed an 83%, got an 84%.

Oh, nice! Congrats! I knew you could do it! :D

[Rater202]

Broccoli, spinach/kale, carrots, a banana, apple, some form of thing with berry in its name, and pineapple.

Was also considering cucumber since the taste should not be especially strong.

Open to other things.

If you can get your hands on it, pomegranate juice. Lots of vitamins, lots of antioxidants, and there's clinical research that suggests that as little as two ounces of it a day can drastically improve blood pressure and cholesterol levels over time.

It's one of those things that, consumed in moderation, is just supposed to be all-around good for you.

An episode of Good Eats talking about proper diet and nutrition gives the suggestion to "think purple" when it comes to smoothies: Berries, grapes, pomegranate, acai or the like making up the "bulk" of the smoothie's fruit component. Not exclusively, not by any means, but a good decent amount of it. Alton Brown also suggests that all of th fruit be fully or partially frozen rather than using fresh fruit, and for things like this I find he generally knows what he's talking about.

In case you're curious, the recipe he used in that episode can be found here.

You're gonna want a slightly smaller portion of broccoli than the other fruits and vegetables, but that's a flavor thing so feel free to ignore me if your tastes run a bit different than average.

Low-fat soy milk is also commonly included in "health" smoothies as a source of protein.

[Rawhide]

I passed the certification exam I was worried about. Needed an 83%, got an 84%.

So you put in 1% too much effort.

[Rater202]

So, weird question:

I'm not the only one who has dreamed that they were a pro-wrestler and you're beating the ever-loving crap out of the jackass who bullied you all through school in front of a cheering audience at Wrestlemania while Real American is playing, am I?

...I have lingering issues from my time in school.

[Peelee]

I passed the certification exam I was worried about. Needed an 83%, got an 84%.

HUZZAH!

If you can get your hands on it, pomegranate juice.

Easy to find in the liquor aisle.

So you put in 1% too much effort.

You are technically correct. The best kind of correct!

[Rater202]

Easy to find in the liquor aisle.

Really? I can usually only find grenadine, which is supposed to be concentrated and sweetened pomegranate juice but now days is usually corn syrup, artificial colors, and a blackcurrant based blend of natural and artificial flavors.

[Peelee]

Really? I can usually only find grenadine, which is supposed to be concentrated and sweetened pomegranate juice but now days is usually corn syrup, artificial colors, and a blackcurrant based blend of natural and artificial flavors.

I may be spoiled by my choice of stores.

[Rater202]

Sometimes when I'm particularly grumpy or cynical about human nature, I imagine having a bunker where I can just sleep for a couple of thousand years and then wake up in a world where I'm the last human and I can just do whatever I want because I have an apocalypse proof bunker and enough supplies to last me an eternity.

And then I think about it, the "you'll miss all your friends" thought pops in, and I stop wanting that until the next time I get bit by the grump bug.

[Fyraltari]

Apparently the weather suddenly remembered what month it is and we've had a 15° C drop in temperature overnight.
Edit: all the puddles are now solid.

[Peelee]

Apparently the weather suddenly remembered what month it is and we've had a 15° C drop in temperature overnight.
Edit: all the puddles are now solid.

I like short horror stories.

[Rawhide]

I like short horror stories.

Enjoy.

Bonus.

[Rater202]

I like short horror stories.

A young girl was playing in her room when she heard her mother's voice from the kitchen, "sweety, could you come here for a minute?" Dutifully, the young girl left her room and made her way to the kitchen but in the hallway, she found herself grabbed from behind and dragged back an inch. "Don't go in the kitchen," her mother said from behind her. "I heard it too."

---

A man goes into his young son's bedroom to tuck him in for the night. His son looks terrified and whispered "Daddy, I'm scared. There's a monster under my bed." Humoring his son, the man looks under his son's bed... And sees his son. "Daddy, I'm scared. There's a monster in my bed."

---

Single mother catches pneumonia and, not being able to rest and take care of her daughter at the same time, sends her child to her parent's house where the child's grandparents will watch her until the mother has fully recovered. One day, a few days into the arrangement, she's talking with her daughter over video chat and the daughter looks miserable, complaining about how strict her grandparents are and how many chores they're making her do and how... Weird they act. The mother dismisses it, her parents are from a different time and honestly, she had all the same complaints when she was her daughter's age only to realize in hindsight that it wasn't as bad as it seemed at the time. Shortly into the conversation, an elderly woman walks into the room in the eyesight of the camera. "Sweetheart, could you come and clean the oven for me. It needs to be cleaned before I make dinner." "In a minute grandma." The old woman leaves, and the mother tells the daughter "That's not your grandmother."

[Anonymouswizard]

I like short horror stories.

We called but you weren't in.

---

No, me suggesting that as a horror story has nothing to do with me chasing down a missing parcel this morning. At least customer service agreed that none of the procedures they use to check that the driver has arrived showed him turning up. So it might actually turn up at some point today, probably at like ten in the evening once4 the driver turns his phone back on.

[LaZodiac]

Apparently the weather suddenly remembered what month it is and we've had a 15° C drop in temperature overnight.
Edit: all the puddles are now solid.

Good luck with that! Solid puddles are no joke!

Meanwhile, it's currently -40 up here, -60 with the wind.

[Rater202]

Good luck with that! Solid puddles are no joke!

I have injured myself on them more than once.

That's another reason that I think immortality or eternal youth would be nice. The older I get the more slipping on ice and falling on your ass hurts and the longer it takes the fully recover, and seeing as I've got bad knees and a bad ankle already...

Or failing that, the power of Spider-Man or Black Panther or someone whose power set includes perfect balance.

[Fyraltari]

Good luck with that! Solid puddles are no joke!

Meanwhile, it's currently -40 up here, -60 with the wind.

Oh the temperature is what it should be. It's just the sudden shift from "well I guess we went directly frol autumn to spring" to "ah, no there it is" that's surprising.

[Rater202]

Snow is pretty but sunlight reflecting off the perfect fluffy white is too damned bright.

[Peelee]

Good luck with that! Solid puddles are no joke!

Meanwhile, it's currently -40 up here, -60 with the wind.

OK the short horror stories have now gotten too scary.

[Rater202]

OK the short horror stories have now gotten too scary.

-60c is -76f

With wind chill, zodi's home town is literally anti-comfortable temperature.

[Mystic Muse]

OK the short horror stories have now gotten too scary.

I'm going to be heading up there this year.

How's that?

[Rogar Demonblud]

Not in winter? Sensible. Winters up here are not for the neophyte.

[Mystic Muse]

Not in winter? Sensible. Winters up here are not for the neophyte.

October 8-16 hopefully.

[LaZodiac]

Not in winter? Sensible. Winters up here are not for the neophyte.

Even if things get cold, I'll be there to keep her warm, so it'll be all good.

[Rater202]

I've been sitting on a poutine recipe for years and have never had an opportunity to make it.

[Form]

-60c is -76f

With wind chill, zodi's home town is literally anti-comfortable temperature.

Fahrenheit? Ok, now it's a horror story.