In Just Seven Days, We Can Make You A Go-o-o-o-oat.

@mike808

There used to be 10. Hence “October” was the 8th month, “November” the 9th, and “December” the 20th.

So there was no December??
(Sorry… I just couldn’t resist …)

@chienfou Blame the goat. @hammi99

@mike808 Just one problem. Augustus became Caesar after Julius was assassinated.

@Barney I would never try to replace @narfcake, but I could not resist the opportunity to use that line…

@werehatrack It doesn’t matter to me who calls out the nominations. I seldom follow it anymore because I think this goat shtick should have been retired a long time ago.

@Barney @werehatrack @nardcake I was wondering the same thing. Something to be said for letting folks do their job.

@tinamarie1974 BTW, congrats on your weight loss. Keep up the good work. I know it’s not easy, but you can handle it.

Thanks @Barney!!! It was past due, I had gained a bunch of weight the last few years and my A1C was at diabetic levels. So, it is necessary and just needs to be a life change.

How you been doing? Haven’t seen you on much lately

@tinamarie1974 This hot weather has really been kicking my butt. I don’t seem to have much energy to do much of anything.

Take care of yourself, TM.

@Barney I’m indifferent about it – aka meh. I too rarely participate in the goat thread; if there comes a month in which there are no nominations, then that’s that, I guess. Maybe Mediocrebot gets to be the default goat?

(FWIW, I actually did make a note to start an August nomination thread tomorrow.)

@Barney I spent two of my college summers working in an ice cream vault. Cool job. Good perks. Lousy minimum wage pay, but got quite a bit of overtime, anywhere 9 1/2 - 11 hours a day. Worked hard all day, put on lots of new muscle. I’d get home, nap an hour or two (bc I had to get up to be there at 4 a.m.), be alert and ready to stay active the rest of the day. Paid for next years’ school.
Third summer I worked on an engineering crew, mostly outside in Dallas heat doing installations at new construction sites. Pay rate almost twice as much as previous summer, but almost no overtime, usually worked right at 8 hours (union work). Work took more skill than brawn. Gained lots of new skills, but little or no muscle. I’d get home, collapse on couch, and mostly stay there until time to go to bed to do it over the next day. Paid for next year’s school.

I agree, heat kicks butt.

@tinamarie1974 Congrats on achievement. Diets never worked well for me. Last time, I was on two at the same time. (Eating by only one diet kept me hungry all the time.)
Since then, I don’t worry much about such.

BTW, best shape I was ever in I was 6’2" and 242 pounds (my heaviest). Charts said I was overweight.
Phoo on that. I bicycled huge miles (did 57 one day), roller-bladed, played soccer, etc. Since then, I’ve shrunk (both down and in), losing almost 30 pounds, mostly muscle I feel. Lost ~3% of my height vs 12% weight. Should make me healthier, right (by charts)? Nope. I wish I could gain the weight (and muscle) back. When you get out of shape, it’s very hard to regain it.

Wish you luck with your health endeavors. Keep the goals in mind.

@Barney @phendrick my gosh, I wish I had some of your height!!! 5’1" over here. The weight, well we wont talk about that

The diet is actially not bad. It is a shift in the tyoes of food for sure, but I guess that is the point. I usually end up with points left every day, meaning I could eat more than I do but I am not hungry. So that is positive. Also it allows me to have popcorn every night. I can survive most things w a bowl of popcorn

@Barney @tinamarie1974 I wish I had all of my old height. 5’1" is just a tad taller than my dear wife was when we married (she’s still in Alzheimer’s care and has also shrunk). She used to joke after we married that she would never have to use a ladder or step to change a light bulb again. Now I have to; I just quite can’t reach the ceiling anymore flatfooted.

My biggest problem now is that as basically a single person, I really hate bothering to spend any time fixing a meal. So, much too often, I just stick a personal-sized frozen pizza or pot pie into the microwave, or cut a hot dog up into a pot of canned beans or spread peanut butter or pimento cheese onto bread. Often breakfast is my decent meal, with cold cereal with milk and fruit or maybe once a week I’ll have eggs, sausage, toast, hash browns, and coffee.

I probably should eat more popcorn, but when I received that Stir Crazy popper a couple months ago, I put it up away and there it sits with fixin’s along side it. (Typical Meh Syndrome.) Maybe tonight I’ll break it in. Thanks for the suggestion.

@phendrick I really like my Stir Crazy popper, it does a good job & is a lot less messy than popping on the stove. It’s also easy to clean up, since it’s just oil & popcorn shrapnel, you don’t need to thoroughly wash it every time. You can just wipe it down with a paper towel if you use it frequently enough, which made it a lot easier to make it part of my routine. One word of warning, though: when flipping it to use the cover as a bowl, make sure to unplug it (for better maneuverability) & hold it by the handles only, the rest of the base gets really hot!

@hammi99 You’re kid unfriendly?

@phendrick no comprende . . .

@hammi99 When goats or people have children they call them “kids”. (Wonder which version of the term came first? And, did the other follow from the first?) So, if you are blaming the goat for having a goat, you seem to be disparaging kids, which is only allowed at Halloween or when they jump the fence or when school projects are announced the night before they are due.

@phendrick yaaaahhh . . . I’m more confused. If “goats” was slang for “kids”, I think I’d get it . . . but both goats and kids have “kids” . . .

@phendrick I blame the goat for my not understanding . . .

@hammi99 Oh, well…

@hammi99 @phendrick
Just don’t have a cow, man.

@hammi99 @phendrick what about when they’re on my lawn?

/giphy you kids get off of my lawn

@hammi99 @j2 @phendrick

@hammi99 the only issue is she has already been goated

@hammi99 @tinamarie1974 Yep, goated a looong time ago.

FWIW Purple goats are the bestest.

@Barney @tinamarie1974 that’s what I thought but profile doesn’t say goat emeritus!

@hammi99 @tinamarie1974 For some reason or another those of us who chose to show their K instead of the dead goat, the goat emeritus is not in the profile list. I think this also holds true for those who show their V shield instead of the dead goat.

@Barney @hammi99 @tinamarie1974 But there is a list …

@hammi99 @tinamarie1974 @werehatrack

https://meh.com/forum/topics/calendar-of-the-scapegoat

Not quite up to date, but it will be. Maybe.

@Barney @tinamarie1974 @werehatrack Oh I didn’t know such a list existed!! good one! Where’s @Thumperchick - we need update for @walterbird and myself!

@hammi99 @tinamarie1974 @werehatrack

She’s taking a break from us. She’ll be back. Maybe.

@Barney @hammi99 @werehatrack I hope she comes back!!!

@hammi99 @tinamarie1974 @werehatrack Me, too. But sometimes we just need a rest from things.

@Barney @hammi99 @tinamarie1974 @werehatrack
I’m a VMP badged Goat Emeritus, and my profile lists my VMP status, not GE.

I think the badge determines the profile listing too.

@Barney @mike808 @tinamarie1974 @werehatrack

Agreed on break.

And I guess if emeritus badge is removed, looks like entire mention is removed. Oh well. I’ll keep my upside down goat then. LOL

@Barney @hammi99 @mike808 @tinamarie1974 @werehatrack So, a few things regarding your conversation…

One, the past goat list looks good to me. Not sure what you mean by “we need update.”

And two, here’s some insider info, there’s a master list of all possible titles any account can have. We call them “roles” and Staff can edit each account’s list by just adding or removing whatever. If I were to edit your account and put “staff” in there, you’d have a flask. It’s not a complicated system but it is particular. The system looks at the list and picks the least common role and makes that the one displayed. That’s why if you’re VMP and you have “ex-scapegoat” in your list you’ll have the Scapegoat Emeritus badge. There are far fewer of them than VMPs. In order to give you back the VMP badge we have to fully remove the ex-scapegoat role from your list so VMP goes back to being the least common you have and thus primary displayed.

The exception is of course Staff. That role has priority regardless of all else. Unless there really are fewer staff members than past goats.

@Barney @ExtraMedium @hammi99 @mike808 @tinamarie1974 @werehatrack So what you are saying now:

Unless there really are fewer staff members than past goats

That we can now goat staff as they’d retain their flask regardless? (smirk)

@Kidsandliz
It may not be wise to goat one who could arrange for a TrackRDrop from orbit…

@hammi99 @ExtraMedium

You might regret keeping that GE badge instead of your VMP badge. There is history with former goats not noticing their VMP got dropped (credit card expiring) and could not get reinstated by the time they noticed - because they didn’t see their VMP badge get dropped. That’s why I asked to keep my VMP badge after my reign of hilarity expired.

Have some Jabbacado Toast in memoriam.

Side note: Since all traces of the Avocado Goatness () have been removed from my account, does that mean, technically, there is a chance I could get goated again?

@ExtraMedium @mike808 Good point on monitoring VMP.

That Jabbacado Toast is quite creative!

As for being re-goated - I guess as long as that list is maintained by @Thumperchick, then no?

@Kidsandliz Thumperchick was one of the first goats according to the history, though I don’t think she was a staff member yet.

@werehatrack We have worse items we could put in an IRK than the TrackR 5-pack. But sadly I have no control there. IRKs are handled at the warehouse and I live almost exactly 2000 miles from it.

@mike808 I guess that’s a valid concern, but you wouldn’t see it until you’d already lost your “VMP since…” date because any lapse resets the date to when we catch it.

@hammi99 I took over maintenance of the list at the start of the year. I try to remember, but there are a lot of moving parts in this machine so if you ever notice I forgot something you can always tag me.

@Barney @hammi99 @tinamarie1974 @werehatrack That list does clearly point to July 2021 for when the goat lost its steam… (or at least when Thumperchick lost her steam in notating the reason for the nomination.)

@Barney @ciabelle @hammi99 @werehatrack well except I dont think the list was ever updated monthly. At least it hasnt been the last few years. Someone always went in and did several at once.

@tinamarie1974 List of emeriti checked; this is correct.

@werehatrack I checked the list before posting

@tinamarie1974 I’m more of a supporter than a goader

@hchavers hummmmm, well do you have a suggestion for goat?

@MarkDaSpark
Is that a self-nomination?

@Kyeh @MarkDaSpark It sure looks like one to me.

@Kyeh @werehatrack

But, but … I’m Spiritual!

@MarkDaSpark @werehatrack
And spirited!

@Kyeh @werehatrack

@MarkDaSpark @werehatrack
I know your spiritual strength will get you through it.

@Kyeh @werehatrack

@MarkDaSpark @werehatrack Maybe this is the spiritual strength you need:

@MarkDaSpark @werehatrack
Our current goat is actually something of an expert on this: https://meh.com/forum/topics/ethics-in-arbitrage#62c22a44a9fc3d441ebc95ba

@Kyeh @werehatrack

I too, have a drinking problem … I don’t drink enough!

Whilst I do have a plethora of whiskeys and bourbons (& other assorted spiritual bottles!), my downfall was Wine.W*** in 2007 (had bought some there in 2006, but major addiction started with dessert wine offer at the end of Dec 2006). Meeting up with fellow Wineaux around the country soon followed! (For a while, several of us were competing to see who travelled farthest & the most!)

Then in 2008, started the WW RPM Magical History Tour of Napa/Sonoma wineries, where we visited 4 to 5 wineries a day (swish & spit was our friend! ). It also meant the start of far too many Wine Clubs (and Allocation Lists).

And while the Evil Empire closed WW, the King who had made it part of his Kingdom (before the Evil Emperor lusted over that Kingdom), recreated it in 2018 with his valiant (and previous) Prince as (using James Earl Jones’ voice) Casemates!

Last tour was in 2018 for Lodi/Amador area. But we are looking to 2023 for another one!

Video of wine purchased from 2018 Tour

It also meant a chance to be a Wine Judge (through Scott Harvey) at the New World International Wine Competition (NWIWC) a couple of times, meeting great winemakers that were fellow judges (Gary Eberle, Don Galleano (sadly passed away last year), and others).

TL:DR version? Shipping 8 pallets of wine from old wine lockers (Walk-in, 122 case, and three 48 (or 64) case lockers) to a new one in a different state (moving eventually, but at a sloth-like pace).

2 of the pallets:

@MarkDaSpark @werehatrack
That is incredible! Wow! I think that would make you a very interesting goat.
Hey, everyone - Vote for the Wine Goat!

@Kyeh @werehatrack

Just in case anyone was interested in how the 2018 RPM Lodi/Amador trip went …

2018 RPM Amador/Lodi Magical Historical Tour Field Notes

@MarkDaSpark @werehatrack That sounds like a blast! Nice sangria recipe, I’ll have to try it sometime. But - how in the world will you ever drink even a fraction of all that wine?!

@Kyeh @MarkDaSpark @werehatrack i spent the weekend at a winery once, I think I had a good time. I have a wine glass and a butter knife that I apparently “borrowed” i dont remmeber much else

@MarkDaSpark @werehatrack
@tinamarie1974 Hah - did you forget about the “spit it out” part of the tasting process?

@Kyeh @MarkDaSpark @werehatrack uh, I swallowed

@MarkDaSpark @tinamarie1974 @werehatrack
… we’re waiting for it …

@Kyeh

But - how in the world will you ever drink even a fraction of all that wine?!

I won’t! There’s at least a case of 2018 Cabs (including Corison Cabs) that are there for my granddaughter’s 21st birthday (and after if she wants).

Some will be drunk at dinners, some will be used for Casemate gatherings. Some verticals (wines from same Winery & vineyards) might get special gatherings like my fellow Casemate Wineaux did for his 27 year vertical of Corison Cabs (Cathy Corison even joined us!)

The rest I call my son’s inheritance!

@Kyeh.

1987 was the first bottle. We tasted in flights of 3, 9 years apart. So 1st flight was 1987, 1996, & 2005.

Cathy was impressed by it (since most tastings go by year only) because it highlighted the difference in aging.

@Kyeh @tinamarie1974 @werehatrack

As our expert RPM (his great uncles were very involved in the birth of the California Wine industry and still has family involvement) put it (paraphrasing of course):

You can skip “Swish & Spit”, but once you get the later wineries purchases home and start drinking them, you’ll wonder what the h*ll you were thinking!

Usually at the last winery (4th or 5th), some of us wouldn’t be spitting because it was the last one of the day. But all of us were happy that we had after 3 or 4 days (most Napa/Sonoma were 3 days, Lodi/Amador was 4, IIRC) of it!

And to be honest, there were a few wines each day we refused to spit! So good!

@Kyeh @tinamarie1974 @werehatrack

I still remember Tim Daly’s reaction to the wine spitting in the “Year of the Comet” movie (1992).

And everyone’s reaction when he opened the bottle at the end!

@MarkDaSpark I hope your son loves wine too? I can see how it would be a fascinating obsession. I got involved with letterpress printing a bunch of years ago and collected several printing presses and a lot of lead type. One thing I liked was the community of fellow printing crazies enthusiasts, and learning and sharing knowledge with them. But I sometimes wish I’d decided to collect stamps instead - smaller, lighter, so much easier to store. Wine is also so fragile and needs such careful temperature control - a true labor of love!

@Kyeh

He does, so I have to keep my better wines in the locker, or he’ll drink them before I finish moving there!

However, not all wines suffer with less care! Madeira wines are actually stored in attics, using the heat. And while we were selling my parents’ long time home (dad helped build it in 1950, and expanded it when I came along!) I came across 3 very old wines from the garage. They’d been stored in a corner of it where the temperature was steady, but still higher than normal (55°). One was very bad (which I’d expected, since it was a wine you’d try to age), and one was still very good (but you needed to drink it right away once opened, as it got worse the longer it was open).

Stamps need care too. So many rules for pill … phil … p̶h̶i̶l̶a̶t̶e̶l̶y̶ … err, stamp collecting. But less room needed!

@Kyeh

Actually, stored is the wrong word … they are “aged” using heat. They used to be stored in attics, but they have 2 main methods now:

Making Madeira Wine

There are 4 main blends, and they range from Extra Dry to Sweet.

The following are white grapes known as Madeira’s “noble varieties”:

Sercial
Verdelho
Terrantez
Bual
Malvasia

In order from Dry to Sweet (not syrupy like a Late Harvest or Icewine).

@MarkDaSpark I had no idea! I do like Madiera, at least what I’ve tried.

@Kyeh

Little known fact is that Madeira was the Founding Fathers goto wine. They drank it as a toast during the signing of the Declaration of Independence! (And every public event, including Washington’s Inauguration!)

Although probably because that was the only Old World wine able to cross the ocean without going bad! As well as it’s ability to be opened and last for a long time, unlike most wine.

The Rare Wine Company created their Historic Series Madeiras to recreate the “style and complexity that enchanted our forefathers”.

Thus, Charleston Sercial and Savannah Verdelho celebrate the South’s love of drier Madeiras, while Boston Bual and New York Malmsey acknowledge the North’s appreciation of sweeter Madeiras.

They have added more Special Madeiras since those initial four city styles. If you can’t find a Madeira tasting close by, you should be able to find a set to try … and since they last after opening, share them with friends.