Thought or Rant of the day!!!

[Eleiris]

Because my mom told me to. But when I went to start it later (we back to the empty neighbourhood a little more than two hours ago) without the gas pedal, it started just fine.

Some types of cars need the gas pedal pressed before starting, but from what I know, the very ooold ones....
Like my Renault 6, I had to pump the life out of the bastard to get it running...

[raspberrytea]

I was taught by my mother, my father, and my step father that I was always supposed to have my foot on the brake when driving-- and this is in 4 different cars. :/ It's one thing if the car is old, but otherwise it just sounds like a bad idea.

Also I might be a big odd in this respect, but I always found it much easier to turn left than right (in terms of the actual turning action, and judging the distance).

[Joshuamonkey]

The first time starting the car, I held the gas pedal down too far, so the transmission went crazy.

I almost always hold down the brake pedal when turning on the car (mostly since changing from park is the next action). To each their own I suppose.

Something I hardly did at all today was look at the mirrors. I need to fix that before I start driving on main roads with people around....

Pedestrians is definitely a worry; I've had a couple close calls with people crossing when I'm turning, but I've never spotted pedestrians from mirrors. I think it's more about looking where walkers, runners, and bikers could possible come from, in front of you. Since you're supposed to turn around when backing up, I guess mirrors are just for seeing cars behind you.

Also I might be a big odd in this respect, but I always found it much easier to turn left than right (in terms of the actual turning action, and judging the distance).

It's not as sharp of a turn, and you have a longer time to figure out the angle and such. I've found some left turns to be a bit tricky though, when there are many lanes and much traffic and you can barely see the lane that you're trying to reach across the huge intersection at night..

[Abe]

Pedestrians is definitely a worry; I've had a couple close calls with people crossing when I'm turning, but I've never spotted pedestrians from mirrors. I think it's more about looking where walkers, runners, and bikers could possible come from, in front of you. Since you're supposed to turn around when backing up, I guess mirrors are just for seeing cars behind you.

Drivers not looking around is definitely a worry. Some weeks ago a car almost hit me on the sidewalk.
There are always a couple of cars parking right next to that apartment building on the sidewalk (which is against the law I think, plus there is a parking lot behind the building, but I guess it waaay too far). I was walking peacefully when suddenly this car comes out real fast and almost hits me (by about a foot or maybe less). The old bloke in it then raised his hand as an apology. What's more: he didn't go on to drive out to the road. He stopped right next to the door of the apartment building where a "lady" was already standing, waiting to get in the car. This stunt was done so that she doesn't have to walk to the car...Is it really THAT hard to walk just a little bit?
And please take a good look around before going and drive slower if you are driving on the sidewalk.

(Note: This is not targeted at anyone here, your discussion just reminded me of this so I ranted.)

[Snickie]

The first time starting the car, I held the gas pedal down too far, so the transmission went crazy.

I almost always hold down the brake pedal when turning on the car (mostly since changing from park is the next action). To each their own I suppose.

I can understand that. Though I usually check the mirrors immediately after turning on the car before bringing it into drive or reverse.

Something I hardly did at all today was look at the mirrors. I need to fix that before I start driving on main roads with people around....

Pedestrians is definitely a worry; I've had a couple close calls with people crossing when I'm turning, but I've never spotted pedestrians from mirrors. I think it's more about looking where walkers, runners, and bikers could possible come from, in front of you. Since you're supposed to turn around when backing up, I guess mirrors are just for seeing cars behind you.

Well it's people in general. Pedestrians, people on/in other vehicles including bikes, et cetera. My mom made me pull over because a car was coming from the opposite direction (I was headed for a cul-de-sac to practice U-turns, and we'd seen his car in a cul-de-sac on our way to the neighbourhood, but we didn't know it hadn't left yet), and I was to keep my foot on the brake until he'd completely passed us. It was probably a good idea, since the other guy was on his cell phone.
At least now I know I can do curbside parking when there's no other cars on that side of the street.

Also I might be a big odd in this respect, but I always found it much easier to turn left than right (in terms of the actual turning action, and judging the distance).

It's not as sharp of a turn, and you have a longer time to figure out the angle and such. I've found some left turns to be a bit tricky though, when there are many lanes and much traffic and you can barely see the lane that you're trying to reach across the huge intersection at night..

That's what I've found, how much easier left turning is that right. It's also really easy to perform a rolling stop at right turns. That's the last thing I did last night, was a rolling stop on a right turn. If a cop had been around, I'd've gotten a warning at least, and my parents would've never let me hear the end of it.
Needless to say, I haven't done any night-driving yet. And I won't for at least three months. I don't know whether or not to look forward to doing that. My parents both find night-driving unpleasant and slightly difficult, especially my mom since she has vision problems. My vision is three times worse, so…
(By "three times worse", I mean her contact lens prescription is something like -1.5 and mine is -5.)

[SumBum]

Sometimes you really need to think through your convictions before you decide to stand up for them. I'm about to cook a squirrel and eat it because I'm too stubborn to let my brother win over this "you should eat what you shoot" debate. I did not shoot it (Dad did) and thankfully my brother was kind enough to gut and skin it. I'm hoping I like it so I can insist my brother field dress all the squirrels he kills and save them for me. I think I'll let him win when it comes to possums and coons, though - I've heard they're difficult to make palatable.

[mojomuppet]

http://www.wildgamerecipes.org/

[Snickie]

So I'm auditioning for District Honour Band and District Honour Jazz Band tomorrow night on clarinet (CL) and alto sax (AS).

These are my audition times:
5:35pm CL
6:10pm AS
8:38pm AS (Jazz)

This means I'm going to have more than an hour of downtime to.....eat overpriced food and do nothing else (un)productive, because I'm NOT going to ruin my embouchure right before the jazz audition. -nods-

It also means I don't get to drive tomorrow at all.
Didn't get to drive at all today.
Oh well.

At least these things are happening while Cantr is down, so I don't have to worry about missing anything.

In addition to that, I have to have a Christmas-y saxophone quartet piece done by Thursday, which I'm playing next Friday night.

-back to the grind-

[Missy]

How weird. I just visited that wildgame site the other day when I was looking for a recipe for goose.
In the end I didn't have the ingredients needed for any of their recipes so I came up with one of my own and I completely ruined the goose (or I think I did since it was the first time I ever had it) it had a texture like a beef roast instead of bird. And it was terrible dry, even though Im to understand that wild duck/goose is supposed to be greasy. Anyway--Don't like goose.

But when i was a kid my stepfather cooked squirrel. I loved it. But that's just me.

[Alladinsane]

Squirrel, being a 'wild' meat tends to be a whole lot leaner. A Duck or Goose, unless freshly shot, is going to be greasier. I remember cooking duck in a few restaurants and we always had to remove the fat cap and still try to keep the grill (or sautee pan depending on recipe) from flaming up and scorching the meat. Though it sounds like you may have -over-cooked it....I bet the roasting pan (you cooked it in an oven I assume) had an inch of fat in the bottom. Seriously though, Duck and especially goose are a tough project if you are not a seasoned (yes, pun intended) cook.

[SumBum]

My bro-in-law (and probably my sister by now) do a decent job with duck and goose but I don't care for all the grease. I could check with them for recipes if you have more to cook.

Thanks for the link, Mojo. I'd checked that one and several others before finally just setting up a stew in the crockpot like I do for beef or chicken. It turned out pretty good - at least no worse than when other meats are used. lol Actually, the meat tasted just fine (the veggies were overcooked, though. that's what I get for being lazy). And I was impressed by the fact that there was practically no fat! My brother might have to make room in his freezer for squirrels.

[kronos]

So I was told I pass the three courses I had this semester and I can graduate....so I got my marks back and I passed them perfectly and now they tell me I can't graduate but fail to give me a reason why....FFFFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU so frustrating..

[Doug R.]

They like you so much, they can't bear to part with you.

[Rebma]

So I was told I pass the three courses I had this semester and I can graduate....so I got my marks back and I passed them perfectly and now they tell me I can't graduate but fail to give me a reason why....FFFFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU so frustrating..

You have to pass the final exam: Doing the Dean.

[Indigo]

Just a few days more, and I'll be officially single again, and moving to my new place. Lots of work packing things, loads of feelings messing up... My head is about to burst.

I just wanted to thank my friends, all of them. The ones I have close, and the ones who are supporting me from the distance, specially the ones I've met here. You know who you are. I love you *quickly wipes a rebellious tear out, and smiles*