Annoying Questions I'd Like Answered...

[Count Arioch the 28th]

How do I start a union? I believe my co workers and I at Panera are in need of a body to fight for their fair treatment and freedom from immoral hatchet man managers. So how do I start one? What do I need to do? How do I do it?

My advice? Don't. They'll fire all of you and get new people in. This is a day when cruddy jobs like ours get 50+ people trying to get in. they can afford to kick people out who don't tow the line.

[Prak]

Ok, so AT&T is buying T Mobile, or has bought. anyone happen to know if I could use this as grounds to terminate my account without havving to pay an early termination fee?

[Count Arioch the 28th]

I have a very specific complaint.

Why can't the people in my statistics class excuse themselves from class to get a tissue instead of constantly slurping their snot all class? And why didn't their mothers teach them that's disgusting and rude?

I wanted to barf all class period because of all the snot people where slurping around.

[Prak]

Ok, short of wandering down the drive way and knocking on the door, how might one go about finding out if a home is currently inhabited? There's got to be some kind of city archive of addresses and last known date of occupation, right?

[Doom]

It's possible your town's city hall would have a records section that would detail who the owner of record is of any property.

You could also try the tax assessor's office (if you live where there's real estate taxes), they might tell you the owner of record.

You could also try checking the back door. Usually houses that are uninhabited are not paying bills, and collectors will sometimes hang notices on the back door.

Your library system might have cross directory, which are reverse phone books; these give you phone numbers by location, rather than by name. If you know the address, you're set, although this method was a bit more useful 20 years ago.

If you're really desperate, mail a package and pay for a signature...if it doesn't come back to you in a few weeks, well, someone is getting the mail, at least, and you can get their signature, for all the good it will do you.

[RobbyPants]

Ok, short of wandering down the drive way and knocking on the door, how might one go about finding out if a home is currently inhabited? There's got to be some kind of city archive of addresses and last known date of occupation, right?

The electric meter may or may not be a source of information. If they weren't paying bills, they'd likely shut off the power. This can often be done in one of two ways:

1) They pull the meter entirely and put in a blank plastic cover to close the empty socket, or

2) They put some non-conductive sleeves on the spades on the inside to block power (which you can't see from the outside), but they'll usually mark the meter in some way, like replacing the standard seal with a red colored one, or something.

Edit: This usually involves walking into someone's side or back yard, though.

[Ganbare Gincun]

Ok, so AT&T is buying T Mobile, or has bought. anyone happen to know if I could use this as grounds to terminate my account without havving to pay an early termination fee?

No. If AT&T does buy T-Mobile with the blessing of the FTC, they will not allow you to terminate your service just because they bought out your current provider. You'll end up having to either eat the ETF or wait until your contract is up and then jump to Verizon. That's what everyone did after the Cingular/AT&T Wireless merger!

[Prak]

Ok, short of wandering down the drive way and knocking on the door, how might one go about finding out if a home is currently inhabited? There's got to be some kind of city archive of addresses and last known date of occupation, right?

The electric meter may or may not be a source of information. If they weren't paying bills, they'd likely shut off the power. This can often be done in one of two ways:

1) They pull the meter entirely and put in a blank plastic cover to close the empty socket, or

2) They put some non-conductive sleeves on the spades on the inside to block power (which you can't see from the outside), but they'll usually mark the meter in some way, like replacing the standard seal with a red colored one, or something.

Edit: This usually involves walking into someone's side or back yard, though.

Yeah, this property is a large, fenced property, lots of over growth, set back from the road. There's no backyard access unless I go down the driveway, and probably through the front yard. So back door, meter stuff isn't an option, or if I decide to do it, I can just go up to the front door.

No. If AT&T does buy T-Mobile with the blessing of the FTC, they will not allow you to terminate your service just because they bought out your current provider. You'll end up having to either eat the ETF or wait until your contract is up and then jump to Verizon. That's what everyone did after the Cingular/AT&T Wireless merger!

Damn, that's what I figured, oh well.

[PoliteNewb]

Ok, short of wandering down the drive way and knocking on the door, how might one go about finding out if a home is currently inhabited? There's got to be some kind of city archive of addresses and last known date of occupation, right?

Try here:

http://publicrecords.netronline.com/

I went to my own state, and was able to access tax assessor's data online; by entering an address, I can find out who owns it (or at least, who pays the property taxes). This won't tell you for sure if they live there, but you can then go to whitepages.com and get information on them...if the addresses jibe, they reside there.

You can also just try entering the street address at whitepages.com; the info may be out of date, but if you cross reference through several sites and google searches, you can get a picture.

[violence in the media]

Out of curiosity Prak, what are you doing with this house?

[Maj]

I would like to know what on earth is up with potatoes in California.

While I realize that the last week in the northern Bay area is hardly a representative sample of the entire state, the fact that everyone in the nice restaurants we ate at seemed to find the potatoes perfectly normal seems to back up my conclusion that Californians can't cook potatoes.

Universally, the potatoes served at restaurants from casual dining to gourmet were rubbery and overcooked. There was not a single sign of crunch anywhere - every bite was chewy and downright tough.

Is this some conspiracy designed to sell more ketchup or something?

[MfA]

I never even realised there were people who wanted boiled potatos with crunch/snap ... I'd call that raw. An overcooked potato to me is one where the outer layers have started to go powdery.

Are potatoes that different in the US than Europe that they don't simply start falling apart when overcooked?

[Jilocasin]

I never even realised there were people who wanted boiled potatos with crunch/snap ... I'd call that raw. An overcooked potato to me is one where the outer layers have started to go powdery.

Are potatoes that different in the US than Europe that they don't simply start falling apart when overcooked?

No, they start to fall apart here too. I've never heard of anyone wanting potatoes with any kind of crunch, or even the hint of a crunch. I'll bake or fry up some sliced red potatoes fairly often and I'd call any kind of crunch/snap raw as well.

[RobbyPants]

I'll third that as well. Although, I don't want them "rubbery", either.

[Maj]

I never even realised there were people who wanted boiled potatos with crunch/snap ... I'd call that raw. An overcooked potato to me is one where the outer layers have started to go powdery.

Who on earth said anything about boiled potatoes? And when I said crunchy, I meant crunchy as in the outside is crisp from being cooked. Uncooked potatoes are absolutely disgusting.

The right sort of home fry potato should be golden brown, slightly crispy on the outside, and firm (but cooked) all the way through. Sort of like french fries or hash browns. If we're talking something like roasted potatoes, then they don't need crispiness, but they cannot bend when you stab them, or wrap around your fork when you cut into them. They need to break/fall apart.

Boiled potatoes end up mashed in my house (or as part of a soup). I find no other reason to cook them that way.

[Count Arioch the 28th]

I also misunderstood you. I thought you meant al dente instead of crispy. As for an answer, I haven't a clue.

[RobbyPants]

Boiled potatoes end up mashed in my house (or as part of a soup). I find no other reason to cook them that way.

Soften them up before frying?

[MfA]

Boiled potatoes end up mashed in my house (or as part of a soup). I find no other reason to cook them that way.

Sorry, language problem ... when I hear "cooked" I think "gekookte" which will mean boiled when talking about potatoes in Dutch. Boiled potatoes are a standard part of dinner over here (we are not known for our fine cuisine). Still don't quite see how they would go rubbery from baking/frying/roasting them too long though.

[Jilocasin]

And when I said crunchy, I meant crunchy as in the outside is crisp from being cooked. Uncooked potatoes are absolutely disgusting.

Ah, I misunderstood too.

[Doom]

I used to eat raw potatoes as a kid (well, not the whole potato, but a few slices before they went into the pot).

Mama grew up on a farm, so had different views of eating.

Anyone else here think a plate of chicken hearts, gizzards, and livers is a special treat?

I had no idea folks thought those parts were disgusting, and turned a few stomachs at a friend's house. They'd cooked a turkey, and were about to toss the heart and liver and gizzard. I ate 'em....good stuff.

[Jilocasin]

Those parts are delicious and I say that as a total city boy.

[Prak]

Out of curiosity Prak, what are you doing with this house?

Nothing really, I'm just kind of curious about it. It's set back from the road, the front yard is raised and full of overgrown vegetation, and I've never seen any activity around the entrance to the driveway, so it piques my curiosity.

[CatharzGodfoot]

Chicken gizzards are fucking awful. Hearts and livers can be tasty.

[Prak]

Ok, so, working on a comic, and need an opinion on a character idea before I actually work it through. The work is inspired by Scott Pilgrim, so heavy in game references and comic book artifacts happening in world, but playing more with RPG, and horror elements (especially WoD and Silent Hill so far) than the music and fighting game elements that Scott Pilgrim did. Tone wise it's fairly similar to SP, being a somewhat comedic, action oriented story, but with much less focus on characters' love lives.

Anyway, I'm thinking of making a young female character, 17, neonazi, heavy on the "Those Wacky Nazis" caricaturization, mostly with the Dr. Strangelove gag, ie conceals nazi ties, but they slip out. Other characters show horror, shock and discomfort. Also some "underage character repetitively comes onto adult" stuff.

Anyway, question is, is there enough humour potential in this character idea to overcome any potential offensiveness?

[tzor]

I think it is hard to say. Simple argument would be if you are going to have any era other than WWII, using a Nazi is about as offensive as pulling any other cultural sterotype out of their historical context. This is especially true for a specific sub culture as the party elite of the national socialist party (not all Nazi's were members of the SS just as not all Germans involved in WWII were members of the party in an offical capacity).