It's winter. How do you keep warm?

[Spleen]

TINY HARDDRIVE?! <p>-_-___-___-___-_-

"There are four types of men: one who says what's mine is mine and what's yours is yours - he is a neutral person. One who says what's mine is yours and what's yours is mine is a fool. One who says what's mine is yours and what's yours is yours is righteous. One who says what's yours is mine and what's mine is mine is evil."
-Talmud, Avot 5:13

Arch mage144: Spleen doesn't bother with penis size contests; instead, he goes straight to penis number.</p>

[ikozaedro]

that's not TH, don't you see it's clearly labeled as "not"?
duh. <p><div style="text-align:center">
my deviant art thingy!
quote:
"Are you dense? are you a retard? i am the goddamned batman!"-Batman</div>
</p>

[Archmage144]

If I wished my beer tasted like weakly-flavored piss I would buy Miller Lite instead of Heineken, Asahi, Guinness, and Kirin. <p><hr /><div style="text-align:center">

RPGWW Wiki!</div></p>

[not Tiny Harddrive]

You're just jealous of water's nutritious taste. Straight from the tap, just like nature intended. Mmm, chalk. <p>"Go and eat a pie fat boy. To hell with your 'intelligent' discussions." - Jin</p>

[Zemyla]

Finally, someone who agrees with me!

Tap water is awesome in a can. Or maybe not in a can, in a glass. Because it's not canned. Or bottled. <p>-----
Do not taunt Happy Fun Zemyla.

<span style="font-size:xx-small;">I think boobs are the lesser of two evils. - Inverse (Pervy)
Dammit, Dan, I'm not dating a damn NPC! - OOC Will (Will Baseton)
Of course! Anything worth doing is worth doing completely wrong! - Travis English
Ultimately, wizards and clerics don't say, "Gee, I want to become a lich because weapons hurt less and I don't have to worry about being backstabbed; that whole 'eternal life' thing is just a fringe benefit."-Darklion
But this one time I killed a walrus with my bare hands, and I suddenly understood spherical coordinates. - KnightsofSquare
Also, when you've worked a 36-hour shift as an intern you too just might pour yourself a catful of coffee and sit down to cuddle with your travel mug. -eirehound
</span>

Adventurers! | RPG World World | d20 Optimization Boards</p>

[pd Rydia]

In my personal experience, tap water is great so long as:
-- the water doesn't originate from the Ohio River
-- you get it cold first

tap water scale of goodness to horriblosity:
New Tampa > > > Macon, GA (yuppie side) > Laurel, MD > Macon, GA (poor side) >>>>>>>> Burlington/Florence/Hebron/Villa Hills, KY

For the record, Tampa's tap water is godly. Apparently, it's from an underground source. <p><hr /><div style="text-align:center">dictionary.com | encyclopædia dramatica
"he is the godamn batman! thats why! if he can breath in space you damn bet he can wear a panty on his head!" glu-glu</div></p>

[BrainWalker]

So like, instead of saying "good coffee is better than bad coffee", maybe someone should like, talk about some actual brands or types or whatever. I mean, "good coffee" means less than nothing to people who don't give a rat's ass about coffee. And a rat's ass is the kind of thing that most people would be eager to get rid of.

Coffee annoys me with it's wonderous aroma that just does not match up with it's taste at all.

This reminds me of conversations I've had with people about beer. It took me forever to find a beer that didn't trigger the gag reflex, and I still haven't found a beer that I would actually classify as being anywhere near "good". "Passable" is as close as I've come.

Edit: Also, chai tea is awesome. <p><div style="text-align:center"></div></p>Edited by: [url=http://p068.ezboard.com/brpgww60462.showUserPublicProfile?gid=brainwalker>BrainWalker</A]&nbsp; at: 12/18/06 15:13

[Kai]

I'm going to be the chai snob and smack anybody who uses the term "chai tea," as that's redundant. Chai means tea. It's like saying cow beef, PIN number, RPG game, or HIV virus.

Also! Chai latte at Starbucks is nothing close to masala chai. It's what happens when you take the perfectly decent chai they sell there in little bags and add all sorts of syrups and stuff to it that kill the taste. I mean, I add plenty of milk and sugar to the chai I buy there, but that stuff? It's like drinking diabetes.

Also, I drink more chai when it's hot out because it makes me sweat, so there. <p>-------------------------
<span style="font-size:xx-small;">I've always followed my father's advice: he told me, first to always keep my word and, second, to never insult anybody unintentionally. If I insult you, you can be goddamn sure I intend to. And, third, he told me not to go around looking for trouble. --John Wayne</span></p>Edited by: [url=http://p068.ezboard.com/brpgww60462.showUserPublicProfile?gid=kai@rpgww60462>Kai</A]&nbsp; at: 12/18/06 15:44

[Idran1701]

Saying chai tea now is as redundant as saying 6-sided die was 40 years ago.

Chai means tea in Chinese, yes, and I assume in China it's accurate to describe all types of tea with the word "chai". However! The word as it was brought into English is an adjective describing a specific type of tea, not a noun. So saying chai by itself might be more accurate with respect to the original language, but it's grammatically incorrect in English.

As far as I see it, that is. Besides, rules for language should be descriptive, not prescriptive. <p><hr />
"Never let your morals get in the way of doing what is right" - Salvor Hardin
</p>

[Kai]

I don't know. I believe in keeping some pretense of adherence to a word's original meaning. If I say, "I ordered a cup of chai at Starbucks," it's grammatically correct. But if someone in another country were to say they ordered a cup of "coffee joe," you'd likely feel that what they were saying was redundant, as in this case, joe=coffee.

The only reason chai is used colloquially as an adjective instead of meaning what it means is the same exact reason some people say "PIN number." It's because they don't know what "PIN" means. As a result, it doesn't feel redundant to them even though it is. <p>-------------------------
<span style="font-size:xx-small;">"Because we care, my sweet imperialist dog." --Linka to Wheeler</span></p>

[Idran1701]

All right, in some sense, it's grammatically correct, yes. But we already have a word that means tea. And for some reason, we don't have nouns that mean specific types of tea. We have nouns that describe types of coffee, but as far as I'm aware for some reason English only has adjectives that describe types of tea. Thus, it makes more sense in English for a word import describing a type of tea to fit in as an adjective, not a noun.

Edit: Wait, is chamomile an adjective or a noun? I suppose that might qualify. Still, though, the majority of types of tea are adjective modifiers on the word "tea" in English. <p><hr />
"Never let your morals get in the way of doing what is right" - Salvor Hardin
</p>Edited by: [url=http://p068.ezboard.com/brpgww60462.showUserPublicProfile?gid=idran1701>Idran1701</A] at: 12/18/06 20:21

[Kai]

Chamomile is a plant. <p>-------------------------
<span style="font-size:xx-small;">"Because we care, my sweet imperialist dog." --Linka to Wheeler</span></p>

[Archmage144]

Okay. Coffee primer.

Step 1: You must acquire good coffee beans and grind them immediately before use (within minutes).

Bad coffee beans: Anything you get at a huge metal can in the supermarket. Folgers, Taster's Choice, etc. Eight O'Clock Coffee is perhaps the worst coffee I have ever tasted. I was desperate and it cost me less than $5 for the bag. The stuff doesn't even smell good when you're making it.

Good coffee beans: Personal favorite so far is just about anything you can get at small local coffee shops that roast small batches at a time. Daytonians should check out Boston Stoker; there are several locations in the Centerville area, one at the Dayton airport, and a couple others that I can't remember off-hand. If for some weird reason you can't find a coffee shop that sells whole bean coffee, you can settle for Starbucks coffee beans if only because they're the best you're going to get at the grocery store.

Personal favorites at Stoker: Ethiopian Yrgacheffe is at the top of the list, closely followed by Highlander Grogg and the Red Eye Kenya. Beyond that, it's really a matter of personal preference. Coffee is like wine; everyone has a favorite lot, vintage, and origin.

Ideally, you buy the coffee in whole bean form, not pre-ground, and grind only as much as you need to make the coffee immediately before using it. After grinding, coffee is rapidly oxidized due to increased surface area and the flavor compounds degrade, resulting in stale coffee. It is not likely that you can vaccum-seal your coffee every time you open it.

Do not keep coffee in the fridge.

Step 2: You must use good water.

If your tap water tastes like ass because it's full of iron or something, your coffee is not going to taste as good. Filtered water is ideal. If you have a Brita filter or something installed on your tap already you're set; if not, you can buy filtered water at the grocery store for $1 for the initial gallon jug and about a quarter per gallon if you bring back the bottle for refills.

Step 3: You must use enough coffee.

For every six ounces of water (that's one cup of coffee, standard size), use two tablespoons of coffee grounds. If you want to get really technical, you can use different amounts based on how finely ground the coffee is and its relative density and all kinds of other stuff I won't go into here. This is the internet. You can get a more detailed tutorial on how to make coffee for snobs; this is just the basic overview.

If you use less coffee than you should, you're functionally wasting it by making a weak cup of coffee. If you use too much it will probably be too strong to drink.

Step 4: Make sure your coffeepot is clean.

This should be obvious, but like using water full of the typical tap contaminants, having a dirty coffeepot is going to produce coffee that tastes less than optimal.

Step 5: Use the right kind of filters.

Don't use paper filters. Use a mesh filter. Not only is it reusable, but it allows the flavorful oils in the coffee to properly pass through instead of potentially retaining them. You want them in the cup, not the filter.

Step 6: Drink the coffee immediately after brewing.

Letting coffee stand on a hot plate scalds it and ruins the flavor. <p><hr /><div style="text-align:center">

RPGWW Wiki!</div></p>

[Kai]

I demand Brian edit his post.

There were no chemical formulas or equations in it. <p>-------------------------
<span style="font-size:xx-small;">"Because we care, my sweet imperialist dog." --Linka to Wheeler</span></p>

[Archmage144]

Coffee Beans + Filtered Water = Coffee

I have posted this three times and it apparently didn't like my arrow, so you don't get a proper chemical equation. Every time I put the arrow in it bitches at me about HTML comments.

Anyway, BW should try Trader Joe's Winterfest dark double bock lager as far as beer is concerned. Ashley even likes it and she's not much of a beer person; we disagree on precisely what it tastes like, but I think it has a finish reminescent of caramel and roasted peanuts. <p>

---

<div style="text-align:center">

RPGWW Wiki!</div></p>Edited by: Archmage144&nbsp; at: 12/18/06 23:03

[Idran1701]

Coffee Beans + Filtered Water => Coffee

Works fine for me in ezCode. Unless you were double-arrowing it.

If you were, you should license that reverse-coffee machine. You could probably make a pretty penny on it. <p><hr />
"Never let your morals get in the way of doing what is right" - Salvor Hardin
</p>

[PriamNevhausten]

I would buy a machine that made coffee into something drinkable. And I'd use it *every day.* <p><span style="font-size:xx-small;">"It's in the air, in the headlines in the newspapers, in the blurry images on television. It is a secret you have yet to grasp, although the first syllable has been spoken in a dream you cannot quite recall." --Unknown Armies</span></p>

[Ganonfro]

Brian... are you, in all actuality, my Drawing 1 teacher from Sophomore year?

Anyways, I've heard roasting the beans before grinding also perfects the taste. And I've had the Ethiopian coffee. Again, it was two years ago when I had it, but it was freaking good coffee.

[Archmage144]

Typically when you buy coffee beans they've already been roasted.

I found a website that gives a good overview of different coffee-making methods. A lot of people use drip coffeemakers just because they're convenient, but I understand that a French press makes better coffee--it takes more work, though, and more practice to get the technique right.

To be completely honest, I use a drip coffeemaker and don't own a coffee grinder, but I know the merits of doing things the right way. I'm just a poor college student who has to decide very carefully how badly he wants things before spending money on them.

Fixed your link. - Idran

*points and laughs* -Kai

Thanks. Also, no, I was using a double-dash then greater-than sign, not an equals then greater-than sign. HTML comment, apparently!

(Also fixed the italics) Yep, it is. Also, switch it over to HTML if you're going to be using HTML code. :D - Idran

Shit! I forgot to go back to HTML from plaintext!

*Also points and laughs!* --Priam

OH SHIT, IT'S A BANDWAGON! Seriously though, -- followed by > is how you close a "comment" in HTML. If you've got some code and you want to put in some commentary for people looking at your source that you don't want to actually be rendered on the page, you enclose that commentary between ‹!-- and --›. Only, you know, with the proper triangle thingys. NOW YOU KNOW! Also, you totally could have solved your problem by using en dashes ( ––> ), or an em dash ( —> ). --BW

Or equals signs. ==> Priam

I'm learning so much about html! -Kai

Actually, you really only learned one thing about HTML :P The rest of that knowledge is more related to Windows' Character Map tool than HTML. —BW <p>

---

<div style="text-align:center">

RPGWW Wiki!</div></p>Edited by: BrainWalker&nbsp; at: 12/19/06 14:07

[not Tiny Harddrive]

Brita filters are pretty horrid. If it's not squeezed straight from a rock, it's not a man's drink. <p>"Go and eat a pie fat boy. To hell with your 'intelligent' discussions." - Jin</p>

[pd Rydia]

ATM machine. <p><hr /><div style="text-align:center">dictionary.com | encyclopædia dramatica
"he is the godamn batman! thats why! if he can breath in space you damn bet he can wear a panty on his head!" glu-glu</div></p>

[Endesu]

Actually, my vote shouldn't count. I'm in Alabama, and the coldest it's been for the last week or so has been about 60 degrees Fahrenheit.

Also, tiny_harddrive needs his brain reformatted, or summat. Water that is filtered, however girly, is vastly preferable to water that tastes like crap. <p><hr />
<div style="text-align:center"><span style="font-size:xx-small;">Curtis: Dannyboy, look at you. You've changed considerably, into a badass, if I may.
Dan: Yeah, you've changed a lot too, into an old man! I went to see the devil, now it's your turn!
Curtis: Oh, my pupil, so tenacious of life, guess I have to kill you again.
Dan: Shut up, before you run out of breath!
Curtis: I got rid of those smiles, there's no one left to disturb our game. Just you, and me.
Dan: Sounds fair, 'cuz I hate holding back, even for an old fart like yourself.
Curtis: Talk all you want, I won't need six bullets for you.
Dan: Or four for you.</span>
</div></p>Edited by: [url=http://p068.ezboard.com/brpgww60462.showUserPublicProfile?gid=crawlingreshiki>Crawling] at: 12/20/06 3:20