Hi Everyone! I'm new!

[sigmaration]

Hi. I'm new here. My name is Kellie -- you think you might not know me, but some of you do! I am Kay's [LakeMartinGal's] DD1. :) Please forget anything bad that my mother may have said about me...

I am 31, I live in San Francisco with my partner Carly and our two cats. I work as the Online Community Manager for PC World and Macworld magazines -- managing communities like this one. (Hence my user title... which is actually my second choice. My first choice contained a word that this board apparently finds offensive... even though it is not!) I am also earning my MBA in Marketing (in fact, I'm avoiding doing my homework right now... heh) and I also volunteer as a national officer with my sorority, Sigma Sigma Sigma. I work with the collegian women to make sure their chapters are being run correctly, they are complying with our national policies, and to act as a mentor for them.

Carly and I don't have a car (parking is expensive and a real pain here) but SF has a good public transportation system, and we have a couple of food stores within walking distance. We tend to pick things up during the week, and about once a month we rent a car for a few hours to do "major" shopping -- bottled water, soda, cat litter, etc. I'm the better cook of the pair, but she's learning a lot, and enjoys being my sous chef. We try to eat less red meat and more lean meats and vegetarian meals. We try to get takeout less, and cook at home more. Some days we are more successful than others, to be sure.

I read my CL every month, and transfer the majority of the recipes to my computer. The last recipe we made was last month's plum & port glazed pork chops... they were delightful, and I think we are repeating them again tonight! (We were going to have them last night, but ordered pizza instead. See what I mean?)

Anyway... hi! Nice to meet you.

[sneezles]

Welcome, Kellie! And I know your mama wouldn't tell stories about you!;)

[LakeMartinGal]

Welcome! I for one am glad to have you here! Saves me from sending you the copies of the posts I think you'll enjoy! ;)

OK, now, nobody pm her anything bad I may have said!:D Guess I'll have to watch my p's and q's from now on...:p

BTW, Canice lives about 8 blocks from you...

[honeygirl1971]

Hi Kellie, nice to meet you! Welcome to the BB. :)

My sis and her SO live in SF and use City Carshare (http://www.citycarshare.org/) for just the kind of situation you describe--major shopping trips etc.

Are you going to make us guess what word was in your original user title? I doubt it was pr1ck which gets censored most often around here (because it's used in so many recipes)...LOL :D ;)

[sigmaration]

Hi sneezles and honeygirl! and mom!

Well, you do know the boards are readable by anyone, right? What makes you think I haven't already seen the bad things you said about me. Hmmm? ;)

We use Zipcar (http://www.zipcar.com), which is the same idea as City Car Share. It's such a great thing. It just doesn't make sense for us to own a car here. I figure that until I am spending the equivalent of a car payment, gas, parking and insurance on Zipcar, it's a better deal. Plus, I'm the only one that can drive (Carly has epilepsy, and thus cannot legally drive) so it doesn't make sense on that level, either.

honeygirl, my first user title is the name of a comic by Alison Bechdel, called "D*ke to Watch Out For". The "D" word is what got me the dreaded ****. I guess some still do see it as offensive, and use it with the intention of it being offensive, but in my world it's just a descriptor, like "Blonde". Oh well.

[honeygirl1971]

honeygirl, my first user title is the name of a comic by Alison Bechdel, called "D*ke to Watch Out For". The "D" word is what got me the dreaded ****. I guess some still do see it as offensive, and use it with the intention of it being offensive, but in my world it's just a descriptor, like "Blonde". Oh well.


Yeah, the CL censor is really not very savvy at all. :rolleyes: Every once in a while you get a thread where people try to "outsmart" it with pretty humorous results. At my sister's work they do the same thing when they need a laugh, since the guy who runs their system is a real idiot and configured the system to censor a whole bunch of words that are perfectly normal in most contexts, and yet managed to miss a lot of words that are really quite filthy. She and her friends send each other the VILEST messages just to test out the system, LOL... ;)

[Canice]

Welcome, Kellie! <gives a friendly wave from up the hill>
Don't have to tell you this is a pretty nice place to hang out, if your mom's been sending you links to threads.

I was carless for years (lived closer to you - Pine bet Pierce/Scott - for some of it) and it wasn't bad, but if they'd CarShare, ZipCar, or Flexcar then, I probably would have joined. Of course, I used to joke that I would only be friends with people who lived within walking distance of me or on the 1-California line! ;)

Anyhow, welcome again. :)

[Kay Henderson]

Welcome Kelly -- a fellow northern Californian! Sounds like you are pretty familiar with the Board, but don't hesitate to ask if you can't figure something out.

Kay

[sigmaration]

Unfortunately, no community software has it down correctly. I have a big list of words that I load into the profanity filters on my communities (it's really not for the shy), and I try to avoid words that can be used in an innocent context unless they are really, really bad. On PC World, I have a box on our homepage that lists the last 2 comments made on our forums... I remember when we were still programming our new site with that, I posted some profanity on the forums to see if it would come through to the homepage. It did, and I left it there for our engineering team to see and take care of. And I got about 20 calls that day because there was profanity on our (not yet public) new homepage.

Back in the day, when I used to work in IRC text chat, we had our filters set up to ignore spaces, so sometimes the end of one word and the beginning of the other would cause a problem. Phrases like "The pen is mighter than the sword" and "Deep Impact" became a problem. (pen*s and p*mp, respectively.)

HA! Within 3 posts, I'm already spouting profanity. So typical.

[Canice]

Hahah, honeygirl, I know someone who was a biz dev person person in the financial services sector and couldn't get proposal out to the John Hancock company because it couldn't get through their email system. :p

[honeygirl1971]

HA! Within 3 posts, I'm already spouting profanity. So typical.


LOL :D Thanks for the explanation about the filters, it does make sense that it would be pretty complicated, especially for public forums.

You couldn't say pimp? So sad for all those people who really wanted to talk about Pimping Their Ride, LOL...;)

Canice, that's exactly the kind of problem they run into, practically on a daily basis. Sometimes it's not even clear WHY certain messages get censored (and they way they have it set up, the whole message gets blocked, not just the "bad" words).

[sigmaration]

Oy... that's funny. So I hear you live near me, Canice? I'm in the NOPA area, just a few blocks north of the DMV.

[TKay]

Just popping in to say welcome to the bb! Nice to "meet" you.

[Canice]

Oy... that's funny. So I hear you live near me, Canice? I'm in the NOPA area, just a few blocks north of the DMV.

Why, I'm having dinner AT Nopa (the restaurant of course) this week!

I'm not so far - couple of blocks each from Whole Foods and Peet's to give you a general idea. Pass through your hood daily, though, on my way to or from the Sunset.

[cminmd]

Hi and welcome aboard. You will find that this is a fantastic site for avoiding homework! I am so curious- as a computer guru, what programs do you use to store your recipes? I want to create a recipe database of all my favorites and am not sure what the best option would be. The software could be either mac or PC, we have a mixed marriage ;).

I love the San Fran area, but yikes, it's a place that makes metro DC prices look reasonable.

I have a friend in DC that I work with that keeps threatening to use the "smart cars", but she hasn't worked up the nerve. She is very worried about getting into an accident and if the last user was a smoker and the car being all smelly. Have you ever had either problems? I think they are such a great idea. She lives in Bethesda and walks to work and to most errands. It seems silly to keep a car for such occasional use.

"Oy... that's funny. So I hear you live near me, Canice? I'm in the NOPA area, just a few blocks north of the DMV" That's what I get for skimming! I thought you were north of the DMZ! Wow, that is one rough neighborhood!

Hope you like the boards AND get your homework done. Colleen

[stacy7272]

Welcome to the boards! So, you have Alton Brown as your avatar? Why not Rachael Ray? Wouldn't that be like a picture of you? At least, that's what your mom says. :D

Yes, my sister just started (Deb67) and it is nice that I don't have to forward her everything that I think might interest her now!

ETA: I sent you a PM.

[cookieee]

Hi Kellie (DD1), WELCOME TO THE BB. It's nice to finally meet you. I have heard so much about you. NO, NO, just kidding:D

I have been trying for months to get my DD to join. Did you do this on your own or did DM talk you into it? If so, how?

Anyway, you must know this question would be coming. Will you be joining your mother and us at the Sunday Game of the Week? Hope so, it would be nice to have you join us.

Till later, Joan (cookieee)

[LakeMartinGal]

Welcome to the boards! So, you have Alton Brown as your avatar? Why not Rachael Ray? Wouldn't that be like a picture of you? At least, that's what your mom says. :D
It's DD2 that looks like RR... DD1 looks more like me, bless her heart! ;)

[stacy7272]

It's DD2 that looks like RR... DD1 looks more like me, bless her heart! ;)
AAhhhh - I get it. So she does look more like Alton. :D :D Kidding, of course!

[sigmaration]

Hi everyone, and thanks for the warm welcome!

I am 1/5th of the way through one homework assignment, and I still have a 900 word paper to write after that. Seriously... kill me now. Ugh.

Kay H -- thanks for the welcome! It's expensive here in NorCal, but I can't imagine moving away of my own free will.

Hi TKay!

Canice -- I have never eaten at NOPA (oddly enough, since it's the hot restaruant in the 'hood and only about 5 blocks away), but I hear it's great. I'm sure you'll have a good time. I ate at Citizen Cake a week or so ago, and it was yummy!

cminmd -- We are an all-Mac household, and I use Connoisseur to manage my recipes. It's got a great import from the web feature -- one of the best I've seen. It installs an "import to connoisseur" link in the Services menu of Safari, so you just highlight your recipe (no need to copy it) and go to Safari, Services, Import to Connoisseur. The Connoisseur icon will bounce, and there's your recipe! Its pretty accurate, although sometimes it misses stuff depending on how the recipe is written, so I always check.

I don't know how other car sharing companies work, but ZipCar does not allow smoking in cars, so no, it's never a problem. And they only allow pets in carriers, in case the next person is allergic. I think it's a good compromise -- I can still take my cat to the vet in the car, but there's not fur all over the seat for the next person who drives it. As for accidents... thankfully, no. Part of the fee for Zipcar ($25/year plus driving charges) is to cover the auto insurance. If you get in an accident, you notify them and they call their company. You will still be responsible for the deductible, but you are covered. (My SO is an insurance agent, and she said all their stuff was legit.) (I guess I'll use SO instead of DP -- for domestic partner or darling partner, cause DP just sounds dirty. heh.)

Stacy -- thanks, I'll check the PM. Yeah, it's my younger sister that my parents think looks like Rachael Ray. (I personally don't see it, but oh well.) I do look a lot like my mom, although I didn't inherit her red hair, so I have to make it happen chemically. I have her coloring though, so it looks fairly natural on me. We are big AB fans here. Honestly, 50x50 is so small for a forum avatar that it was hard for me to choose one that would be recognizable at that size. And not dirty... that narrowed my choices considerably, actually.

Joan -- I would be happy to join, but I need to hold off on a week and then figure out how. I'll be in NYC for business most of next week, so no cooking for me. I have a bunch of cookbooks but I rarely use them because I never have the time to sit down and put them all in my computer, and if they aren't there, they don't get used! Maybe this is a good chance to try them though, and put in the good ones. Or, I have such a backlog of recipes I want to try, I'll just line those all up and pick the number that is selected. Either way, I'm in... just give me another week!

I actually did this on my own... I had thought about joining, but I spend so much time on boards and in communities for work, that one more seemed overwhelming. But then I read the story in the new CL (the one that mentions my mom!) and saw that the feature story was taken from a thread in the community. I struggle a lot at work getting some of our editors involved in the community, and I thought this was a great example of what can be done with user-generated print. So I brought it in to work to show people (and brag about my mom) and subsequently decided to check it out. Plus, as I said earlier, it's a good homework diversion.

Cheers!

[cookieee]

Shoot, what am I missing? I don't have the new CL yet. Kay, why didn't you say something. Or if you did, I missed it. Now, I am really anxious for it to get here. Thanks for telling me Kellie. And hope to see you soon on the game. Don't answer this, keep on with your homework :D

[sigmaration]

There is an article about favorite weeknight meals, based on a thread here. A few people are mentioned by name, and my mom is one of them.

Just over half done with my first (of two) assignments for the week, and my SO just offered to make me a sandwich for lunch. How cute!

[Gumbeaux]

Welcome to this forum! Do you have a retriever?

[Terri_A]

Hi Kellie! Welcome! Any DD of Kay's is a...well, friend of ours! Glad you made your way over to a "cool" board! And as you've learned, there's always a good procrastination thread around to help you not do whatever you are supposed to be doing! (I should be cataloging all the items for DD's school auction right now, but that's no fun! )

[AzAnne]

Welcome! Glad you decided to join us!
I was born and raised in the Bay Area and I really miss SF!!
The food, culture, people, food, food :D
Haven't had a decent Chinese meal in decades!
DS says that after the "big one" we can move back, but me think there won't be too much to move back to.

[sigmaration]

Hi Gumbeaux! Sadly, I do not. I live in a small-to-medium sized apartment that does not allow dogs. When our cats eventually die, we will get a dog though... probably a poodle mix, since they are hypo-allergenic, and my SO is allergic to dogs. (And cats, but she deals with it cause she wuvs me! And animals!). Anyway, no... I get all my retreiver loving when I visit my mom & dad once a year.

Hi Terri! I'm slowly making my way through this. I tell you, I'll be really happy when school is over with (December) and I can have my weekends back. But I guess there's always something to do, isn't there.

Hi Anne! Yeah, I think that for all of our preparation, there won't be a whole lot to go back to either. In the meantime, I'm happy to live here through the minor trembles (the worst it's been is that "did the building just get hit by a truck?" feeling) than to repeatedly live through tornadoes and hurricanes each year. To each their own, I suppose. In the meantime, it's a lovely place to be. And certainly plenty of good food!

I haven't had Chinese food in a while, but there's a spectacular Thai place not far from my office. Yum!

[SheRa]

HA! Within 3 posts, I'm already spouting profanity. So typical.

HAHAHHAH!!!! i suspect that we have similar senses of humor. welcome to the boards! :)

[mcgee]

Welcome to the CLBB. I'm a daily lurker and only post on occasion but I love this board. I live across the bay in Alameda, so wanted to say hi.

[erinlovesmarc]

Hi Kellie, Welcome to the boards! :D

[Robyn1007]

Hi Kellie, welcome to the boards! My sister's name is Kelli as well. We're about the same age, that must be why your mom as been especially supportive and helpful to me during the last few months. ;) Enjoy being here, I look forward to your contribution. Oh, by the way, it can be addicting...:p

[sigmaration]

mcgee -- howdy neighbor!

Hi erin... good to meet you!

Hi Robyn, glad she's been helpful to you! Yeah, communities in general are addicting... that's why I started doing them for a living! ;)

[suebear37]

Welcome to the bb... it's a great place to hang out! And the perfect "whatever I should be doing" avoidance excuse! I should know!

[EllenL]

Welcome, Kellie. I enjoyed your explanation of how you shop. Always wondered how you big city folk without cars do it! Anytime I say to DH that maybe it would be more fun to live in a city and not have to drive, he brings up the issue of how we would do all our shopping, like the kitty litter! Yes, I guess renting a car would be the solution to it (can't imagine lugging it home on a train or bus). But ugh---I hate renting a car (especially returning to it and having them look for any dings that weren't noted before).

[sigmaration]

Hi Ellen! Well, there are a couple ways to do it. The big grocery chains in the city (Albertson's and Safeway) allow you to order online and they will deliver during a specified window of time. So if you can't, or just don't feel like going anywhere, that's an option.

We use a by-the-hour rental service called ZipCar, and there are others like FlexCar and CityCarShare. It's pretty self-service -- you can reserve a car online or by phone, and it has sensors in it that "talk" to the reservation database, so it knows who reserved it when. I just use my card (which is one of those magnetic badges like many people use to get into their offices) to get in the car by holding it to the sensor in the winshield. It knows that car belongs to me, that it's 3pm and I have a 3pm reservation for that car, so it unlocks it for me. The key stays in the car at all times and I use my card to lock and unlock during the reservation. When I'm done, I just return the car to where I picked it up, and lock it with my card. Then it's ready for the next person. It's cost efficient at about $10/hour and a lot less stress than traditional car rental.

We do that about once a month... the rest of the time, we just go to the store and pick up enough to last us for a few days. We also find that it helps eat fresher and be less wasteful. There are so many great stores -- both chains like Trader Joe's and Whole foods, and local co-ops and farmers markets -- that we rarely just go to one store anyway.

Anyway, it's not for everyone, but we just love living in the city!

[Clover]

But ugh---I hate renting a car (especially returning to it and having them look for any dings that weren't noted before).
The cars aren't in a centralized location. They're in neighborhoods all over the cities that have the service. The car will have a designated parking place in a public lot or a parking garage or just on the street. I have a car and have never used car share, but if I needed to, there's one in a parking lot two or three blocks from my house.

[Canice]

Hey, Kellie, I have a question: who's responsible for gassing up the cars? Since the price of gasoline is included in the membership, it's not the driver's responsibility, right? But what if someone returns it nearly empty and you're the next to use it?

Ellen, I'm sure it'd be a pain if you had a family, but I went years without a car and it wasn't a big deal at all. This is a very small and compact city, and I have loads of shopping options within walking distance, and taking one or two bags of groceries on the bus is very managable if you go someplace that's not walking distance. I almost never rented a car, but if I needed to do a big shopping I'd just call a cab to take me home, and for under 10 bucks, problem solved! With PeaPod and all that you could just skip that step if you wanted. Still, I would have loved have had FlexCar or such. If you suddenly decided to head out to West Marin for oysters and cheese, you could be on your way in 15 minutes! :cool:

[mbrogier]

Welcome to the board, Kellie. Your mom is very well liked and respected here... but I'm sure you know that since it would be obvious since she's such a nice person. :)

I have a cousin that spells her name the same as you. For more trivia, my mom's name is Kay as well.

[sigmaration]

Hey Canice! Gas is included in the membership cost. There is a debit card in the driver's side visor that you use to fill up when the tank is 1/4 full, and the company pays the gas bill. Each member is supposed to fill it up when it reaches that level, although occasionally, I've picked up a car that was only 1/4 full. Never been totally empty though!

I do occasionally take a cab home from the store if I get carried away with my shopping... or if it is raining. :(

HI mbrogier! How's that for coincidence? My given name is actually Kelly, but I started spelling it differently in junior high, and after a few permutations, Kellie is what stuck. It's been that way since 6th grade! Honestly, I would go back and change it to Kelly, which I think is more classy and sophisticated, but it's a real pain to change your name on all your documentation. It doesn't bother me *that* much. :)

[EllenL]

California is so much more progressive than here in Georgia, even in Atlanta, that I forgot that you have stuff like the ZipCars. What a great concept.

[Dani'sMom]

Hi everyone! I'm new too. Still trying to get the feel of everything. So far I like what I see.:D

[testkitchen45]

Hi everyone! I'm new too. Still trying to get the feel of everything. So far I like what I see.:D

Dani'sMom, if you like what you see on this thread, just wait till you start swapping recipes! (Be careful, though; this BB likes to encourage shopping--me, included! ;) ) Welcome to the boards.

[LakeMartinGal]

Hi everyone! I'm new too. Still trying to get the feel of everything. So far I like what I see.:D
Hi, Dani'sMom! I see you're in Alabama, too! Feel free to PM me (I notice your PM isn't active)... maybe we can talk about places to shop, etc!:)

Welcome to the board, Kellie. Your mom is very well liked and respected here... but I'm sure you know that since it would be obvious since she's such a nice person. Thanks, Micah -- I'll be sending you that $20 pretty soon! ;)

[Miss_Liss]

Welcome Kellie!! :)

Ooo you're the second person to mention ZipCars, and the like, in the past few days so I'm inspired to give it a go. I'm in NYC and you'd be crazy to have a car (unless, of course, you had a fancy schmanzy place upstate to visit on the weekends ;) ) but I do miss big shopping trips to Costco when I don't have to rely on a 'man with a van' service.

I also had a run in with the CLBB censor the other day but what I can't work out is why using the word f*rt is not allowed :rolleyes:

[Dani'sMom]

Hi, Dani'sMom! I see you're in Alabama, too! Feel free to PM me (I notice your PM isn't active)... maybe we can talk about places to shop, etc!:) ;)

Yes born and raised! I can't think of anywhere else I'd rather be. (except on the lake :D)

[GingerPow]

Welcome Kellie! So, lovely Kay is your mom and you live in fabulous SF? You're twice blessed! (Also, I think whoever invented the ZipCar concept is a genius!)

Welcome Dani'sMom! Have fun here, but beware - this board can be addicting! ;)