Grrl Power #1247 – The ol’ switcheroo
Happy eclipse day if it happens to be basically passing straight over your house like where I am. I’m actually a little south of it but I think we’ll get about 2.5 minutes of total eclipse here. Be sure to check out the weird crescent shadows just before and after.
I hope this page makes sense. Most people have gone into autopilot mode while commuting or cleaning or taking out the garbage or whatever, so hopefully it’s not totally out of left field. I almost put a can of Pam in the fridge recently while cleaning up after making breakfast, and I have picked up the milk after having cereal and made one step toward the pantry instead of the fridge, but usually when you’re autopiloting, I think there’s a part of your brain still alert for deviation, so stuff like commuting home but missing your exit and driving to the neighboring town doesn’t really happen that often.
Obviously, this does happen to Sydney on occasion – the fact that her apartment complex has a procedure for this specific event tells you that the use of the word “occasion” is probably the polite way of saying “kinda often.” With her sleeping at HQ more often than not these days, there are ways this can go bad, as seen here. It’s a good thing Sydney doesn’t have any pets.
Oh, and since I zoom in way too much while I’m drawing and lose sense of how large things will be in the final page, here’s a look at that cereal box in the fridge, since even the Patreon version is too small to realistically read. (click for the full size obviously)
Also, I don’t care about the timeline of when the comic started vs the first season of Rick and Morty. I reserve my right to deploy comic time.
The new vote incentive is up! This is a bit of a weird one as it’s a character that hasn’t appeared in the comic.
It’s my Ifrit Pathfinder 1e monk, Fray! Ifrits don’t really make great monks in Pathfinder, as player characters they get a +2 to Dex and Cha, but -2 to Wis. For monks, Dex is good, Cha is largely irrelevant, but Wis is important as it can add to your AC and also has something to do with Ki points I think. But I didn’t care. I wanted a character with dark blue/gray skin and glowing orange hair, so that’s what I picked. (I don’t think Ifrit even really have dark skin, so maybe she’s 1/4 Drow? Don’t care. I think she looks cool.) Will she show up in the comic? I mean… maybe? Probably in a Dabbler flashback, but who knows?
As usual, Patreon has her in delicto flagrante.
Double res version will be posted over at Patreon. Feel free to contribute as much as you like.
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Why is Sidney not using her orb to carry the trash bag?
Lack of fine motor control. Or just plain old forgetting about it.
Maybe not a good idea to use something that can crush walls for something she can do with her own hands and arms.
Probably also not a good idea to use something that can crush walls for something that will become deadly when ruptured.
It’s good that they have an understanding.
Also, she should probably consider a new, more secure home, and hiring a M/W/F maid service.
…no, I’ve never done that before! What kind of ADHD brain puts milk in the pantry?!
*makes sure to have not put milk in the pantry* ._.’
No I did not just look through my translucent pill thing AGAIN to check if I took my morning pills. (less than an hour ago)
Ahhh yes… the good old pill forgetting thing. That and misplacing my keys or wallet is a common occurrence, even with my meds now.
That’s why I take an unnecessary extra step when I do those things. It becomes less automatic and keeps me focused on it so I pay more attention. As sky as it sounds(and crazy it makes m3 look), I also voice out things I really want to make sure I don’t want to forget.
It’s especially bad in the morning, takes me 1 hour to get out of auto-pilot mode…
Keys and wallet always in same place. In appropriate pockets as I dress. Tap each pocket before I touch the doorknob. Then everytime I get out of the car to remind me I have dropped nothing nor locked it in the car.
I do this enough someone once asked me what religious sign it was.
I’ve done that once or twice. Even without ADHD.
Then I started buying Parmalat so it doesnt matter anymore. :)
when I was younger, we had left a large jug of apple cider in the snow to get it cold, and forgot about it, when we found it, it was right on the edge of fermentation, where it was basically now carbonated. And Slushy.
The same person as me who once put my sunglasses in the freezer. on top of a pickle. not a jar. a single pickle spear
I think shee’s either now living in her church or at the arcswat building. The church is a multi-million dollar building even if shee got from the goverment for back taxes.
In my country it’s possible for an unopened an sealed milk container more than 95% of milk sold is UHT milk
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultra-high-temperature_processing#:~:text=Ultra%2Dhigh%20temperature%20processing%20(UHT,for%20two%20to%20five%20seconds.
And in this type of package 6×50 cl it’s about 1.42 euro/liter
https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/shopping?q=tbn:ANd9GcQym23qAA9V3lKj0ICWAtqWGxzmrvCvlr7iuO8Zd6OKfWY1EKJeyZn2ixhxCd37voBgkWIjIz1Ly4w7yCM7kbyElqFPhd_1l0Lht8JXGUw
A pint is 56.8 cl
It’s semi-skimmed milk : milk from which some of the cream has been removed.
UHT milk in sealed container don’t need refrigeration and have a long self life: 6 to 9 months…
For her UHT milk is a lifesaver and for any camping trip it could be great.
I’m still not sold on UHT milk… Anything that you can put on deck in 100+ degree weather for a month then unbox on the mess decks and call milk… Nope, not there for that.
When you all say UHT milk, do you mean stuff like Parmalat? because that stuff is great. I just put it in my pantry and it can last for a year and a half if I don’t open it. Unrefrigerated. Then you open it and have to refrigerate it and it lasts 2-3 weeks. Plus I sort of think it tastes better than normal milk – whatever they do to it makes it taste better.
Parmalat is an italian dairy and food corporation which is a subsidiary of French multinational company Lactalis.
Lactalis owns brands such as Parmalat, Président, Siggi’s Dairy, Skånemejerier, Rachel’s Organic, and Stonyfield Farm.
Yes UHT milk is produced by Parmalat but many of European food corporation make UHT milk.
Parmalat is a subsidiary of French multinational company Lactalis an was specialized in UHT milk…
Parmalat is one of US producer of UHT milk but many european based dairy company make UHT milk.
100° F is about 38° C a cow internal temperature is also 38 °C …
Organic milk sold in the US is UHT treated (organic milk is produced at fewer locations and consequently spends more time in the supply chain and could therefore spoil before or shortly after being sold if pasteurized).
In general there is more regulations against chemical treatment and post-processing in Europe.
Taste could vary but there is completely safe to drink .
UHT milk is put at 140°C ( 284 °F) 4 second …
And your milk is pasteurized and put at 60 °C (140 °F) for 20 minutes… since 1973 the U.S. federal government requires pasteurization of milk used in any interstate commerce.
In Europe eggs are not dipped into a 200 ppm chlorine solution at 55-60°C (131-140 °F) and due the presence of bloom don’t need refrigeration … food in the refrigerator without any judgment is an US meme.
Standard (pasteurized) milk should last at least a week in a refrigerator (+4 °C) opened. The less times you open it the longer it will last. Mine last 5-7 days after last recommended date. In total 10-12 days after production date.
As a person with ADHD like Sydney, yes, that does happen sometimes. I usually catch it before a week goes by, but I am also home more often than Sydney. I have definitely put refrigerator food in the pantry before, though.
I always end up leaving the stuff in the fridge for some reason. Left my phone in it once or twice. The car keys.. tv remotes.. A bottle of rubbing alcohol.. The mail..
always put things you need in the last place you’d think to look for them, you’ll find them so much faster
Given I leave my phone in the fridge about once a month (I put it down on top of my cheese box while I am moving things around and forget about it), I feel her pain.
One of my kids once forgot to grab a gallon of milk from the minivan to bring in from the grocery store. It was in the middle of summer and the dang thing burst open. The car reeked of spoilt milk for months. Worse, my wife tried to fight the stink by putting in a peach-scented air freshener. The combo of smells was truly nauseating.
Yikes! I feel for you. Or… smell for you?
Peaches & Scream
I wish there was an upvote button for comments now, that’s hilarious.
I have to admit, that one made me giggle.
Sweet scents are the WORST option for fighting smells like that, as they mix into an even WORSE scent. Something strong scenting like Menthol or Peppermint is much better since they can purge other scents from your nose due to how they function. However, they can be overwhelming in their own right, so pick your poison, I guess. (P.S don’t bother trying thus against skunk oil, that stuff is its own flavor of god-awful.)
Have we seen that excellent D12 lamp before?
Sydney is missing an obvious solution. Not in ‘unspoiling the milk’, but ‘keeping the spoiled milk far away from her’. Namely her Lighthook. Has way more range.
Which likely means she’ll realize after she’s already done that she could have done it. Either by closing the dumpster/trash can with it, or the grabber drops it.
I the last time she had to deal with this, she either didn’t have the orbs, or was still hiding it.
Don’t think the lighthook is gentle enough to move that bag without tearing it open which would send the jug to the ground where it will go ka-splat and then we have a very stinky/sticky mess all over the floor.
While using the lighthook might be convenient, it’s not exactly low profile. Sydney is cute but physically she doesn’t stand out as a super. If she still kept the mapcase for storing the orbs, she could still go into Clark Kent mode. There are advantages to not flashing the powers.
Surprised she isn’t shielding herself in the bubble and using the lighthook
Is “DDTing a snake” a euphemism or…
Nope, either she performs wrestling moves on reptiles, or she poisons them
I don’t know where on earth she’d get DDT, plus it’s an insecticide that doesn’t really work on reptiles. So I can only assume Sydney’s preferred anti-snake technique involves driving them head-first into the floor. Bonus points because Jake “The Snake” Roberts named and popularized the move.
I thought DDT stood for ‘don’t do that’ but now i’m not sure, definitely feel like I’m not parsing the snake in the laundry room bit as intended if it is a euphemism
From wikipedia
“In professional wrestling a DDT is any move in which the wrestler has the opponent in a front facelock/inverted headlock and falls down / backwards to drive the opponent’s head into the mat. The classic DDT is performed by putting the opponent in a front facelock and falling backwards so that the opponent is forced to dive forward onto their head”
The break room cooler where I work doesn’t keep under 40 F (safe holding temp), so after a while the gallon of whole milk that someone puts in there to use as coffee creamer starts looking a lot like the one Sydney’s got here.
I has been an unusually long time since I last found the tv remote in the freezer.
I wish I had a box of Rick and Morty O’s. Is the prize a mini portal gun?
When getting something out of the freezer, my standard procedure is to open the freezer, take out the things on top, retrieve the item I came there for, close the freezer, put the item in the fridge, get half-way back to the couch before hopefully seeing the things on top still sitting out on the bench and putting them away.
What does DDT stand for?
Haven’t done this switcheroo, surprisingly, but that might only be because I don’t have a pantry–my cereal just get left out in the (closed!) box on the counter. Despite it being in obvious visual range, I have left the milk out overnight, though.
According to Wiktionary, it’s a wrestling move similar to the suplex.
In the roleplaying group I had with some friends a long long time ago we called ourselves “Dark Demon Troupe”. Those were the times.
But I don’t think that is meant here.
It is a wrestling move.
“In professional wrestling a DDT is any move in which the wrestler has the opponent in a front facelock/inverted headlock and falls down / backwards to drive the opponent’s head into the mat. “
Originally, it’s a type of poison, it’s also a wrestling move
Take your pick what she used on the snakes
There’s another layer to the reference as one of the wrestlers who used the DDT as a finisher was Jake “the snake” Roberts.
Jake the Snake didn’t just use the DDT, he’s widely regarded as the inventor of the move. A Mexican wrestler named Black Gordman actually used the move first, but Roberts named it and popularized it nationally.
Plus, Jake did it by accident :)
Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane.
The wrestling move is less certain.
With what they’re paying her, she should be able to afford a house, or at least a down payment…depends on who’s running the gov’t in this world
SHE just bought an old church to be her shop and she has one lover on a space ship that has a bigger tub makes prioritization a jinga puzzle.
Buying a house on earth or on a space station where she can get her favorite alien spicy foods?
Her pay from Archon wouldn’t exactly buy her much on a space station.
Her pay from Archon actually could if she converted it to resources that are valuable to said space station to use as a currency exchange.
if someone is offering you free housing in the same building you work in, Take it.
PLUS she just baught a freaking church.
Then she’s being hounded by the press and all those cape geeks, religous nuts. and people who would see killing her as just the price of doing buisness.
About the church, the religous people might see repurposing a church into a comic book store as a little sacreligous.
Those kind of people don’t have any trouble finding reasons to call people they don’t like sacrilegious. Although the hardcore fundies are losing market share to QAnon lately.
qAnon *are* hardecore fundies.
Sydney didn’t buy a church.
Her co-owned business, combined with several others, with additional funding from ARCHON, bought a church.
https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/comic/grrl-power-781-iconic/
As rich as she might now be, I doubt Sydney has the money to buy that building for herself.
At least in North Texas, it isn’t that unusual to see repurposed church buildings. Locally, I know of at least one church that is now a pickleball court and another that is a garage. Some congregations outgrow their facilities and move on and sometimes a schism flourishes for a while and then fizzles out. Depending on local zoning you may end up with a relatively new building that isn’t otherwise useful for much. The community around the comic shop may be grateful for the addition to the tax base. It may be something that is more common to older churches in small towns but there is often a parsonage, where the church provides a residence for the pastor. It doesn’t seem like she currently does but it is possible for her to have a residence at the comic shop.
There are several ex-churches that are now houses in the UK.
She simply hasn’t had the time to.
Buying and moving into a new home takes weeks.
She’s bad at being rich.
“The Mighty Halo Buys a House” could actually be completely hilarious.
I feel like there’s definitely room for a Queen of Salt flashback. Especially when she decides to start paying attention to potential neighbors & discovering how obnoxious rich people actually are.
Yeah I can see Sydney buying a high-end house, then her neighbors snub her for “being one of THOSE people” then someone decides to get a gang together and tries to raid everyone’s homes at once, so of course it’ll be “save us Sydney! Ole buddy ole pal” to which she dials 911… After she’s taken down the guy(s) that tried to break into her place.
Maybe, buti think it more likely she’d windup buying a few hills around Lake Livingston, and hiring someone to recreated Bilbo’s Hobbit Hole.
(Mental images of the song “There are those” from “The Happiest Millionaire”
There is a reason why some of us choose to live out in the oil patch where there are no HOAs. I have to think that Sydney and I, each of us for our own reasons, would be the nightmare neighbor in a well to do housing development. In Sydney’s case the Shrapnels could be good advisors. I could see Sydney being attracted to the idea of a McMansion because that’s what successful people have and then becoming disenchanted with rattling around in a big empty house. Realism aside, I agree with Bharda that “Halo Buys a House” would be very much in tune with the theme of the comic.
There’s a movement that thinks renting should be abolished, but I keep pointing out that there are pros and cons to both renting and buying. Even for people who can easily afford a house, many find renting to be more advantageous given their circumstances. There is less upkeep (of several kinds), and you’re not firmly rooted if you feel the need to relocate for any reason (selling/buying houses is a time-consuming process even aside from the closing/realtors costs etc.), not to mention that there are more risks to owning vs renting.
Or, or – hear me out – landlords are parasites on the workers, and should be done away with, because housing is a human right, being something people need for safety, security, and their physical & emotional health and wellbeing, and therefore should not be monopolized in order to extract ever greater, ever more parasitic rents.
Owning property is also a human right.
What does it says that the founders of the United States of America, basically the home of capitalism, considered and ultimately rejected, “life, liberty, and property” in favor of “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”?
Property that one can reasonably be expected to make personal use of, yes, absolutely.
One’s home absolutely qualifies as personal property, AND still falls in line with the idea that housing is a human right.
There is no right to own a home that someone _else_ lives in. See how that works?
So glad we could have this talk!
Property improperly packages together two separate ideas: the right to the use of something, and the right to deny others the use of something. The two ideas are in tension, bound together mostly by scarcity. People fear that the former will be used as a justification to control others, but it’s the latter that’s the primary mechanism of control.
Bingo!
Ah yes, the ‘mind in neutral’ moment, it can strike at any age :)
Today’s “Head, shoulders, knees and toes” has become “wallet, glasses, keys and phone”
I know it references something different, the Catholic cross movement, but I use an Austin Powers line to check and remember.
Spectacles, t3sticles, wallet, and watch. In this case, the far down thing being my keys(testicles), and also watch being references by the phone, which is my clock/watch.
It seems silly, but it’s a fun way to say the checklist.
Didn’t “Nuns on the Run” come out before Austin Powers? They did the ‘Spectacles, Testicles, Wallet & Watch’ thing as well
I have put my glasses on so I can find my glasses.
Good to know I am not the only one with epic brain fart moments
OFF TOPIC COMENT
Recently I have been watching Youtube videos where a bunch of people have been makeing a bunch of primatave but stong small houses all over their country. Houses with floors doug deep.
So I belive Afganastan belives it is going to be invaded once again, and showing the world that they are prepared themselves this time well in advance.
Think you mean bags of flavor-water in her underwear drawer
Dave, your lack of experience in these matters shows. That milk jug is under high pressure and should be shown blown up like a balloon. Ask me how I know.
Hmmm… Maybe like what happened to us, We took a week to visit my in-laws, came home to find out a storm had rolled through the area, zapped a transformer, which in turn popped our breaker, which meant the house was without power for about a week. YEA… nasty… and a hot summer to cook things up nicely.
See that circle on the side of the jug? It’s bulging out, as it’s designed to do. But you’re right that the whole jug should be closer to spherical, since those indentations typically provide only enough extra space to keep the cap from blowing off.
Never seen a bottle like that
Then again, our bottles tend to be 1 or 2 litres, that looks like at least a 3 litre
It’s just shy of 4 liters (3.8 L), my 90 y/o father drinks half of one of those a day. he’s trying to stay healthy.
Depends. I’ve done this several times lately (forgetfulness from concussion is not fun!) and each time, the pressure went down, sucking the sides of the jug inwards. No mess, and no smell as long as I didn’t open it!
The very first restaurant I worked in…oh man. We broke down the week’s order and found that one case of beef had…gone bad somewhere in the supply chain. Normally, each primal cut is vac packed nicely. This case was full of murky purple-black balloons.
Me: “WE NEED TO JUST GET THIS OUTSIDE CAREFULLY”
My chef: “No, we have to open one and check it, it could still be good. Hand me a knife.”
Guys, gals, and nonbinary pals—that bag popped aggressively when he touched it. Cow wine splattered EVERYWHERE. That was a “closed early” day and a horrible, horrible deep clean. I was standing outside of the door when it burst, so I did not end up covered in it. Chef, on the other hand, was at ground zero.
“not totally out of left field” ??? Let me count the ways.
• 20 miles past my exit before “this looks strange!”
• Misplaced keys, glasses, wallet, tools, dishes, etc, etc
• My ex put my CRC book (size of a large Webster’s dictionary and heavy) in the refrig
• 20 miles past my exit before “this looks strange!”
Yep, forgetting to reprogram the auto pilot before starting is a thing. I regularly miss the exit to friends house because it’s on the same route I use to go to work.
The milk knows hatred…
This might be something which happens, but I really don’t find it entertaining to see.
Wonder if this happened to DaveB or someone he knows?
My mother has requested I come behind her after she puts the groceries away, because she has done this.
I do not tease her because I may have done the same if I am putting things away after a long tiring day.
For those wondering what a DDT is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ITPWryhrrwE
Lol–okay. Thank for the visual reference! :D
I once auto piloted and went to work on my day of, then worked 8 hours and only remembered it when I thought about it on weekend: “when did I have my day of this week ?”
Heh, I was a senior mechanic and a fireman, I had to request a day off if I wanted one, a week in advance. I averaged about 70-80 hours a week. “I’m tired, boss.” (The Green Mile)
I a cupple of times drove an hour to work and then didn’t snap too till I got to a part of it that required judjement.
talk about sleepwalking through work.
Have gone into auto-pilot a few times: first two times was at primary school, one was playing out the back breaking ice on puddles (one was not a puddle, slipped and crack back of head on the tarmac, no idea how got home) another was running around a building and crashing into a younger kid (running around the building and seeing the kid *flash* sitting at desk *flash* walking towards the school office *flash* walking home, about a 30-45 minute walk and don’t remember any of it)
Doing the paper-run there were a few times would blank out and have to go back to make sure actually delivered the papers (never missed a delivery)
It was only in the cupboard for a week?
Oh right, Texas, gets hot there
LOL, I auto-pilot ALL the time, like if I’m driving my wife to a doctor appointment, we start talking, I just go a common route to a store. Or start to and she reminds me… I’ve never put the milk in a cabinet, but I have left my phone in the fridge. I’m at the age where I tend to keep things in a certain spot, and if I don’t do that, it becomes lost. I spent half a day looking for my wallet because I didn’t set it on my desk, I set it on my computer tower… I was about to run to the store to see if I had left it there, and my wife spotted it.
Good thing she didn’t do that before getting Lost In Time And Space for 57 days. Even in the fridge, milk would be a hazmat after that much time
Surprised she used that claw thing instead of just using her lighthook :)
That thing can lift 16 tons, and while she can control it well enough to air-write with it, it’d be like asking a HUGE body builder to thread this sewing needle… I know when I was body-building I had the dexterity of a gorilla. At 16 my fore-arms were as big as my girlfriends thighs. WAY too many curls… I had to dial it back quite a bit.
She also has controlled it well enough for other people to stand on it, but I get what you’re saying. You’re saying the lighthook might not be dextrous and gentle enough to pick up the milk without it exploding all over the place.
Oh man, you’re lucky to be in the path of totality. A partial eclipse is like a nice sunset, but a total eclipse is like the sky is broken, as Randall Munroe of XKCD put it. I drove down to Columbia SC for the eclipse in 2017, and it was the most spectacular thing I’ve ever seen. Unfortunately, the one-hour drive to the NC-SC border took six.
So now we’re seeing the age gap of the author, who like me is old enough to think of the pesticide when they hear “DDT” and the audience who think of the pro-wrestling move.
I actually forgot it used to be pesticide. I’m fully imagining Sydney with a snake in a headlock (somehow) falling back and the snake going rigid like a spear when its face connects with the linoleum laundry room floor.
I will now be assuming that at some point Sydney put on some heavy duty gloves and grabbed a snake and the DDT occurred due to flailing. Possibly because it never occurred to Sydney that the snake could still wrap its tail around her.
I say an elbow drop more likely, but her doing a DDT is funnier! I’m old enough to remember DDT poison, so I had the thought of that first. Then I remembered her atomic elbow drop on that guy in the bank and went OOOoooh… To be honest? Sydney lacks the body mass for either to be really effective. It’s be more like an 8 y/o kicking a shin. An ouch followed by cussing loudly. I’d be surprised if she weighs over 95 lbs.
You’re missing the third option: people went “what the heck is DDT?”, did a quick search, and found the wrestling move.
If she put the cereal where she usually puts her milk, the milk probably would have been bad by now anyway. The bottle is only half full, which suggests that she’s had it for a bit, and if she was also cycling the fridge door regularly, that would render the refrigerator not a whole lot better than the cupboard as a milk repository. Those refrigerator doors that are deep enough to accommodate a gallon jug of milk are a treacherous bitch, offering a false promise of convenience that’s cost many a poor soul their edible bowl of Rick-and-Morty-Os.
Bad, probably. But it likely wouldn’t be a pressurized stank bomb.
I have to assume that the Rick & Morty cereal is pickle-flavored.
Naaa, Portal flavored. (Because no one knows what they taste like so it wouldn’t matter.) Since the fluid is “green slime” I’d say sour apple…
Szechuan dipping sauce.
this, totally
A sip from that milk bottle might really settle her down.
I feel her pain… did this myself twice in the past 5 years, though luckily not for a week!
god never occured to me, sydney neighbors must have seen some f’up sh*t
Sydney: “Oh no.”
Kool-Aid Man: *Busts through her wall* “Oh yeah!”
My worst experience like this was a coworker leaving a 1/2 eaten cup of cereal with milk on her desk during winter break. I had to go into the office to finish up stuff, so I was the only one working that week and started noting an odd smell. Went into her office, noted the biohazard and foolishly picked it up.
That broke surface tension and the smell increased a hundredfold. Once I finished gagging and disposed of that, had to just go home for the day to let the smell leave the office.