Primrose vs Harrier - Troll Challenges

Originally posted by Harrier88
Oh, and it looks like there are some problems with imgur... many old pictures here are gone...

Maybe it is only temporary, maybe it is not. I will try to deal with it in the next few days. In the meantime, can anyone recommend any good alternative image hosting sites?

Hmmm, I'm using imgur
How many?
How old?
I just checked, and the ones I checked are still visible in posts.

Originally posted by VorpalF2F

Originally posted by Harrier88
Oh, and it looks like there are some problems with imgur... many old pictures here are gone...

Maybe it is only temporary, maybe it is not. I will try to deal with it in the next few days. In the meantime, can anyone recommend any good alternative image hosting sites?

Hmmm, I'm using imgur
How many?
How old?
I just checked, and the ones I checked are still visible in posts.

By now, pretty much all of them, including the ones I just posted in the solution to this week's Troll Trivia and the burgers from yesterday. They wouldn't show up in the preview of my post either, when I was still typing it up.

I guess I'll just leave it be, if everyone else can see the pics.

Originally posted by Harrier88
By now, pretty much all of them, including the ones I just posted in the solution to this week's Troll Trivia and the burgers from yesterday. They wouldn't show up in the preview of my post either, when I was still typing it up.

I guess I'll just leave it be, if everyone else can see the pics.

Test:
Can you see this one?

If not I suggest that you check your UBlock settings — UBlock may have downgraded imgur to "dodgy" status.
Failing that, check w/ imgur support if there is any.

However, I can see you imgur posts, and I can add the images to posts.

Originally posted by VorpalF2F
Test:
Can you see this one?

Spoiler

Nope.

Originally posted by VorpalF2F
If not I suggest that you check your UBlock settings — UBlock may have downgraded imgur to "dodgy" status.
Failing that, check w/ imgur support if there is any.

However, I can see you imgur posts, and I can add the images to posts.

I have checked this earlier today, but even disabling UBlock Origin completely won't do the trick.

The two pictures I used in yesterday's solution to the Troll Trivia question were uploaded to imgur too. I couldn't see them, but I knew that they otherwise work, and with only two pictures, it was manageable.

The only problem is that making posts with several pics would be quite a hassle for me. But as I said on my blog, I will use imgbox as my image hosting service of choice now for all future uploads. No problems so far.

Originally posted by Harrier88
Nope.

It's enough to make you hate computers
Have you tried different browsers?
Cleared the cache?
Boiled the eye of a newt under a full moon?

Originally posted by VorpalF2F
It's enough to make you hate computers
Have you tried different browsers?
Cleared the cache?
Boiled the eye of a newt under a full moon?

I haven't tried any of this, but now that I made an imgbox account (the .com one, apparently there is an .io one too), I might as well use it. I didn't even like imgur all that much to begin with, but it got the job done until recently.

There was no HORSE race last Friday because I was away at a meeting with my work colleagues. Next Friday, we won't be able to do it either, because we plan to meet up in person that day. Maybe we should have picked a different weekday for the HORSE race, looks like something always comes up on Friday evening.

I already thought that we should introduce some new poker challenges anyway, so I suggested playing some SNGs instead. We originally intended to do it today, but then decided not to because Prim didn't really feel like playing poker today, which is perfectly acceptable.

There should be some new challenges around the corner, though, and also some more cooking.

Hey, wait a sec - what is going on? All the imgur pictures are back for me all of a sudden!

I don't know who is trolling me here... but good one!

Troll Trivia of the Week

Primrose follows a healthy diet and loves to eat veggies, but there is one kind of vegetable she absolutely dislikes, which is...

1) pumpkins
2) Brussels sprouts
3) sweet potatoes

I'm going with
2) Brussels sprouts

First South American stop for the Trolls.

Today's burgers are inspired by feijoada, a Brazilian black bean stew. I'm going to take it a little easy, starting with the beans already. I'm using canned black beans in chili sauce.

Also, feijoada would traditionally involve meats like pig ears, tongue, hock, feet... I will just get a few suggested substitutes to get some savory meat in there. Apart from air-fried diced bacon, I'm using some chorizo salami and corned beef.

I would have liked to cut them into clean dice, but I guess this shredded version will work as well.

I mixed some of the cooked black beans in a bowl with the meats and some fresh onions. The leftovers from the can of beans made a fine filling for burritos later on for dinner.

Mixing it up a little... this is what our burger topping will look like:

Let's build this thing then, starting with a plain pork patty...

...then our improvised black bean stew...

...and then... I was debating whether or not to include some oranges. I figured that oranges fit with the Brazilian theme, and I heard that they are sometimes served as a side dish to feijoada... I wanted to try at least one burger with them.

That's our Brazilian burger:

Even if I was serving them in the shade of Christ the Redeemer, Primrose would consider those burgers simply irredeemable... I heard they are a top pick for her #1 worst Banhauser spot.

I thought it was a nice and hearty burger version, but I agree with Prim that orange slices were not a great addition - they covered up too much of the other flavors.

The version with the orange slices would probably rank near the bottom, while the version without them would get a pretty solid position around the middle. Taking everything into account... I think I will rank them just above the Arabian version we had last week.

1st Switzerland
2nd Cyprus
3rd Greece
4th Mongolia
5th Denmark
6th Korea
7th Spain
8th Germany
9th Alsace
10th Italy
11th Texas
12th California
13th Mexico
14th Brazil
15th Arabia
16th Turkey
17th England
18th France
19th Cuba
20th Canada
21st Hungary
22nd The Netherlands

This is the WORST Banhauser burger - so far!!! And the topping looks like dog food! And then the orange!!!

Originally posted by Primrose6789
This is the WORST Banhauser burger - so far!!! And the topping looks like dog food! And then the orange!!!

Well, the orange was optional - and not a great inclusion. But I assume that even without it, this would be the top of your banhauser list so far?

Originally posted by Harrier88

Originally posted by Primrose6789
This is the WORST Banhauser burger - so far!!! And the topping looks like dog food! And then the orange!!!

Well, the orange was optional - and not a great inclusion. But I assume that even without it, this would be the top of your banhauser list so far?

Yes! Absolutely!

Originally posted by Harrier88
Troll Trivia of the Week

Primrose follows a healthy diet and loves to eat veggies, but there is one kind of vegetable she absolutely dislikes, which is...

1) pumpkins
2) Brussels sprouts
3) sweet potatoes

3 sweet potatoes

Originally posted by Harrier88
We hope everything is all right, Saffo.

I work in catering, in these periods we are full of ceremonies, after all I work a lot and live little.🤦‍♂️ I would need a vacation, but my benefactor is poor😁

In Sicily oranges are cut into slices a little salt and oil, served simple and eaten with bread. It can be used in salads and squeezed to season or cook with meat.
How you did it, I don't know if I would have done it😅

Originally posted by Saffo7

I work in catering, in these periods we are full of ceremonies, after all I work a lot and live little.🤦‍♂️ I would need a vacation, but my benefactor is poor😁

Great to hear that you're still around.

Hang in there with the work. I had to work some crazy hours last year too at my previous job, I know that it's tough.

Originally posted by Saffo7
In Sicily oranges are cut into slices a little salt and oil, served simple and eaten with bread. It can be used in salads and squeezed to season or cook with meat.
How you did it, I don't know if I would have done it😅

That does sound interesting. Maybe something to try some time.

Putting orange slices on a burger was definitely a little experimental to put it mildly...

Originally posted by Harrier88
Troll Trivia of the Week

Primrose follows a healthy diet and loves to eat veggies, but there is one kind of vegetable she absolutely dislikes, which is...

1) pumpkins
2) Brussels sprouts
3) sweet potatoes

Solution:

Live Challenge No. 16 - Dine and Splash

The Trolls had an extra long meetup today, starting a little before 9 AM already. This gave us plenty of time, so today's Live Challenge was twofold. And because we like cooking so much, I was first tasked to make a nice and hearty breakfast for my guest.

Challenge #1: Breakfast at Harrier's

We have been discussing breakfast over here before, and the two of us do not always see eye to eye... but I wanted to at least make a filling meal that includes sausages, eggs and bacon, as well as pancakes as a bit of a dessert for the grindette, who normally likes her breakfast sweet - not to mention that she never had those American style pancake stacks before, as far as I know.

Sausages and bacon are pretty straightforward. Pancakes are more of a problem, because they would have to be gluten-free for Prim. I just looked up some recipes, and found this. I decided to try it out for the first time.

Meanwhile, eggs can be prepared in all sorts of ways - all I knew was that I wanted to make eggs. I was debating whether to make them scrambled or sunnyside up, but Primrose had a different idea entirely. After looking through what I had available, she made a simple omelette with diced bacon and tomatoes.

Trying to cook for Prim is certainly an experience... She always ends up taking over, pretty much demoting me to her sous-chef, and always insists on going for the lowest calorie options. For the pancakes, I already brought her my low-fat milk, which she ended up further diluting with water...

All is well that ends well. The finished breakfast was a lovely sight. It's a bit like the kind of breakfast you would see in cereal commercials, claiming that the advertised cereal is "part of this complete breakfast".

Not pictured is the bacon, which was at this point still in the air fryer, done and ready and almost forgotten.

The bottle in the middle contained maple syrup - which unfortunately turned out to be a little moldy already and had to be discarded. I simply took it for granted that I still had some at home. Pancake stacks are just not the same without some good syrup, but nothing we could do now. Primrose still liked them very much.

In fact, this entire breakfast has earned her full approval. Challenge passed!

This wouldn't be the last time the grindette put me to the test today, though. Stay tuned...

It was off to the local pool for a series of aquatics challenges. I mentioned it a few times before on my blog, this is not a commercial pool, you would normally have to be a club member in order to access it, with the membership fees paying for the operational costs. Like many other indoor pools in more rural areas, it could not survive on a strictly commercial basis, so this membership system was introduced about 20 years ago to keep it running.

I am a club member, but Primrose obviously isn't. Recently, however, an option has been added to purchase one-time guest tickets for non-members - so that's what I did. This was the proving ground for my challenges today - which also happened to be the place where I first learned how to swim as a child:

Challenge #2 - Keeping up with Prim

Did you know that Primrose is a trained lifeguard, as well as a former competitive swimmer who has won several regional medals in her native Hungary? Meanwhile, I'm a casual swimmer who merely learned a decent breaststroke. I rarely even attempt to crawl because I feel that it's too noisy.

My first challenge was to simply keep pace with Prim for as long as possible... but you just can't keep up with a proficient front crawl swimmer with my puny breaststroke. I tried hard to make the impossible possible but the grindette easily left me in her wake. We decided to let me take the L after one lap back and forth and move on to more realistic challenges.

Challenge #3: Dive Down

I know that I used to be able to dive a full 25 meter lane when I was younger - but could I still do it? It was time to find out, even though I was pushed to my limits above the surface already.

My first go was a valiant effort, but fell short about... maybe five meters? I couldn't quite reach the grindette on the other end of the pool, at least. Your first attempt is usually your best shot, because it can be difficult to fully regain your breath later on, especially if you're also doing normal swimming in-between... but I wasn't ready to give up just yet, I wanted at least one win.

I made another attempt after taking a break, this time making sure to take an extra deep breath and get a good starting push... and then just proceeded to push myself through, trusting that each of those tiles that kept passing in front of my face could be the last one before my goal. Eventually, the other wall showed up in my sight and received an underwater tag from me - the challenge was passed after all.

Challenge #4: Prim's Challenge

Okay, so I couldn't keep up with her, but I already knew going into this that the grindette was way out of my league anyway. Instead, I let her coach me a bit on those kinds of swimming strokes that I am not used to so far. It felt a bit like learning how to swim all over again, and Prim was also having some fun and trying out some swimming styles that she normally wouldn't do, and even some gymnastic poses.

After getting some pointers from her and practicing for a bit, I asked her to compile a final challenge for me to put it all together. She chose two back-to-back laps of front crawling and back crawling, and then an underwater handstand, followed by a forward flip.

Primrose would watch to make sure that I was doing it correctly, and she was pleased with the way I handled my crawling laps. Then there was the handstand... I made several attempts that always fell short somehow, and we were ready to wrap it up with an A for effort, but I made one final attempt before the water in my ears, the chlorine in my nose and my irritated eyes got too much for me. And I kind of did it... not a great handstand, but I flipped over in the right direction this time. Enough for Primrose to give me a "Pass", even though it wasn't a super solid one.

And that wrapped up my aquatic challenges. We sure had a load of fun in there, even though Prim unfortunately lost her contact lenses somewhere... it's why I always remove mine before hitting the water. I guess both of us would be well-advised to shop for some swimming goggles this weekend.

Bonus Challenge: Italian Salad (Freestyle)

Swimming often leaves you tired and hungry, and Primrose was feeling like having some salad later today. It sounded good to me, so I gave the local Italian takeout a call, who turned out to be on vacation. What now?

After discussing what to get instead, Prim had another idea: Let's just make the salad ourselves, using lettuce from the backyard and whatever else we have available. I gave the grindette free reign, resulting in another spontaneous challenge for her.

The result was quite passable:

Lettuce, home-made vinaigrette, mozzarella cheese, Parma ham, onions, tomatoes and some herbs from the front yard. Did I forget anything?

I don't know, but that was a pretty good salad. Well done, Prim!

And that's it for today's Live Challenge, with both of us Trolls looking forward to the next one.

Well, even though being an old f*rt now, I still got some muscle memory for swimming. ♠_biggrin: I have always been a good swimmer, all my life and fun fact: Swimming is actually my strongest sports. ♠_biggrin:♠_ugly: It comes naturally to me, so guess, got a little talent there. ♠_ugly:

But Harrier did really a great job in swimming, my original plan for the challenge was to do my usual 1,5 km freestyle work out together ("Keeping up with Prim"), but then I saw Harrier kind of "gasping for air" ♠_ugly: so, I decided to teach him crawl and back stroke. And he did a great job, learning quickly and managing to swim a couple of laps in crawl and back stroke! Harrier, from now on you can add some nice variations to your swimming work-out routine! ♠_thumbsup:♠_cool:

Blooper of the day: I had lost my contacts during swimming and the little "water gymnastics". This already had happened to me twice before, so I was glad that I wore my old and already pretty used-up contacts which should have been discarded anyway a month ago. So, this was not a drama, but the rest of the challenges I had to do with very poor eye sight, being "nearly blind". ♠_ugly:♠_ugly:♠_ugly:♠_ugly:

As we can see in the pic above, I managed to prepare us a nice, healthy salad for dinner anyway, using up Mussgoes and picking fresh salad from the garden! ♠_thumbsup: The thing is: At home it´s me who prepares the meals, because Homer is not exactly a "crack" in the kitchen. :f_ugly::f_ugly::f_ugly: So, I do the planing and the preparing of our healthy meals and I´m not used to "men in the kitchen". :mdr::mdr::mdr::f_ugly::f_ugly::f_ugly: So, as usual, I pretty quickly and automatically "took over" HARRIERS (!) kitchen :f_ugly::f_ugly::f_ugly: being used to be the one who prepares the healthy, good meals. :f_ugly::f_ugly: Our cooking ended up being a little bit of an "Overcooked" live :mdr::f_ugly: But it was big fun!!

Good that we had already done some "Wii Mario Kart" BEFORE the swimming, so that Baby Peach could show her best shape and she did VERY WELL!!!!

The gaming after the swimming and me being "nearly blind" was then a bit of a challenge, but big fun anyway. We had a great time (even with my poor eye sight)!!

Originally posted by Primrose6789
Blooper of the day: I had lost my contacts during swimming and the little "water gymnastics". This already had happened to me twice before, so I was glad that I wore my old and already pretty used-up contacts which should have been discarded anyway a month ago. So, this was not a drama, but the rest of the challenges I had to do with very poor eye sight, being "nearly blind". ♠_ugly:♠_ugly:♠_ugly:♠_ugly:

Luckily, we didn't really do any challenges later on, we just sipped cocktails and watched a movie. And we also had your nice salad.
(In hindsight, we should have added olives too, I forgot that I had some at home.)

Well done on the karting with Baby Peach too.

The swimming should stay around during our meetups, it's a fun and sporty activity for all seasons and weather conditions. Maybe we can even set some long-term goals for me, aside from the little challenges we came up with yesterday?

Still plenty to do for the Trolls, I have many ideas already.