Hi folks. I'm looking for a new gin to try, but very newbie on what's out there. I'd like to try something earthy and not too floral, and which goes well in either a GnT or in home bar cocktails (or neat).
I'm in the UK, preferably looking for something available on Master of Malt or Amazon. Price tops £35.
Thank you for any suggestions!
Glad I've finally played it. I like games where some of the decisions matter, and Mass Effect's 'spin' being that some decisions matter later in the series is even rarer and better imo.
I tended towards paragon gameplay naturally, and also appreciated that I could sometimes talk people down without bloodshed. That felt refreshing compared to most other games.
Not to say I didn't want to shoot things; I did, and enjoyed that too. Although like many folks I found the combat a tad clunky. Especially the squad commands menu. I ended up just going guns blazing most of the time and largely ignoring squad commands/abilities until right at the end, which is fine (I quite like just shooting things in games lol) but felt like I was missing some of the flavour of combat. Maybe it's something I can lean into more in future playthroughs.
Similarly, I found a few other things clunky. The Mako, especially. Could never figure out how to get it to fly in the direction I wanted it to. Mostly just ended up boosting up cliffs to get to objectives on planets. Found it annoying to manoeuvre for most of the game but somehow ended up enjoying it right at the end. Might have been starting to let go of caring, or perhaps was simply enjoying yeeting my team off a cliff to get to stuff, even if grinding upwards on cliffs in it was still frustrating.
The keybindings... well, some of the original keybinds threw me off repeatedly, but they were okay once I rebound a few. I guess they were from the era before many keybindings got standardized across games. (I prefer keyboard/mouse over controller for most games.) Likewise, Shepard's slow and short run speed nearly put me off the game for good. I had to mod it so his run was actually useful and a decent speed.
I also found the inventory management clunky. So much loot, so many individual screens to scroll through. Also equipping team members took a while, though that's partly on me. think it was literally just before the final story mission that I realised you could change squad members' equipment by going to their locker. Up to then I'd been waiting for them to be on a mission with me or - towards late game - cycling through landing on any planet with a squad, going through their equipment, going back to the Normandy to change squad, landing, equipping... anyway. Still way too much loot spread across different menus.
Also the maps, both the main map and the mini map, took me a while to get the hang of. I'm geographically and directionally challenged in real life, and at first I really found it hard to find anything. But I figured out how they worked.
I did like bipping around star systems checking each planet for scans and stuff to do. Little dopamine hits. I also liked that anything non-main-quest related was usually quick to do - bitesize - just right for my attention span. I got a lot of side quests done that way, despite the fact that oftentimes in other games I get bored of side content when it's more drawn out.
I found the graphics a mixed bag. Some of it was clearly dated, whereas other bits I appreciated enough to stop and look at: some of the sky boxes or light setups/backgrounds on planets, and oddly enough, some of the clothing textures. The cut scenes had clearly been worked on too.
I enjoyed the main story overall. Somewhat surprised at how short it was though. Didn't realise I was about to hit a point of no return (Ilos) so 'soon' - i.e. after what seemed to be only 3 real main quests. But my attention span struggles sometimes with very long games, and I wasn't looking for a long story this time so it suited me.
I did miss out on some side stuff. Given the game isn't as hand-holdy or explain-y as many games these days, and given the aforementioned directional difficulties, I felt a bit overwhelmed at first. I got so many side quests in the Citadel very early when I didn't really understand how the quest system (or the kinda clunky game in general) worked. Ended up locking myself out of a few bits, though I did go back and mop up what I could/wanted to before Ilos. Also, I finished the game and then read that apparently there's a personal quest for each squad member? I missed those entirely. I did talk to the crew on the ship but only a couple of times. (See also: patience/attention issues and not wanting to spend lots of time on dialogue on the ship 😂 think I may have missed out on some character depth/flavour though). The personal quests is something to keep in mind for a future play through.
I liked Kaidan, Wrex, and Tali most on the squad, though I tried to rotate all of the squad for missions so everyone got a shot often.
Spoilers: >!I saved Kaidan. Kind of found his biotic stuff interesting, and I didn't like Ash's racism. I've read an argument that as the new kid on the galactic stage, humanity is wary of other races and Ash represents that. But imo she didn't read as that nuanced in the game, just xenophobic. Maybe I'll find it more nuanced on another playthrough. Have also read that her arc is good, so again, maybe something to bear in mind for a future play through saving her instead. Still sad to lose her anyway this time, she did have good qualities too. I did talk Wrex down and he survives.!<
Also spoilers: >!I saved the council. Didn't want to initially given how much they stuck their heads in the sand, but all through the game my Shepard had been extolling the virtues of working with other races. Felt like I had to walk the walk as well as talk the talk. Did at least then pick Captain Anderson for the council role. Politician or soldier aside, for me he just seemed like the better human being compared to Udina.!<
So that's that for now, playthrough done. I'm not used to games not letting you carry on doing side quests after the main story these days, but I guess ME1 is from the era before that was common.
Next... well. I had promised myself to play Fields of Mistria next as I've been holding off on it 'til its 1.0 launch. I am tempted to play ME2 next though! But I think I'll wait. I've read it is very different to ME1, so maybe a breather between them will be a good thing. Thanks for reading :)
I do have some questions though, would appreciate thoughts please:
Playing Mass Effect 1 and met this character called Charles Saracino. I thought "hang on, I recognise that voice, who is that?"
So I googled, and discovered the voice actor is our beloved Abe / Gary Anthony Williams! That sent me down an IMDb rabbit hole, and I learned that a) he's got so. many. TV and movie credits (i.e. clearly loves his craft and has found success) and b) is clearly a geek as a number of them are geeky things.
Warm fuzzy feelings :) Just felt I had to share with you all :)
Hi folks. Been playing Glimvale recently and finding it charming. Seems easy to get most of the achievements too - not grindy anyway, which makes a nice change (I'm looking at you, Cozy Grove and broken tools).
But there's one Glimvale achievement I have no clue how to get: Satisfaction -30 (having -30 satisfaction).
I Googled but no luck. Also saw someone else has asked the same question on the game's Steam discussions but has had no responses.
Anyone here got any ideas or knows how to achieve this? Thank you in advance.
Decided a week ago I'd like to get a Fitbit Charge 6, only to find I'd missed the lowest historical price on Amazon UK (£79) by 1-2 weeks 💀 It's on offer again now for £99, down from standard price of £139. I'm wondering if it's worth getting it now at £99 or waiting for a possible £79 in future, though who knows how long that'll be or if it'll happen at all in the next year. Seems like it's only hit £79 once on Amazon, and never (yet) on other UK retailers.
I don't have a smart device atm. Used to have a RingConn 3 which I found useful, but the battery died. I want the Fitbit for both health and exercise tracking; my interest in the watch has been sparked due to starting a weight loss journey recently. I want the data from it to connect to MyNetDiary.
Please could you advise - get the current deal or wait? Thank you for any thoughts.
Edit: extra question - how many years can I expect a new Charge 6 to last?
Edit: found the answer myself, leaving this post and answer up in case anyone else has this question in future. See the picture I'm adding below. The add step button on the website version is left of the calorie apple on the dashboard, shown here circled in red, and is similarly placed in the Android app. Being new to MND I hadn't realised that all these bits around the apple were also buttons I could press. (MND creators: perhaps you could add a link to 'add steps' in the places I was already looking - e.g. the blue or green add icon, or an obvious place on the exercise tab?)
Started using the app this week, and am confused about adding steps. I don't currently have a smart watch/device to link to do it automatically, so I'll be using an app to track steps then manually entering the amount on MND.
Google suggests that there's an option to add actual step count on MND, but I can't find it anywhere. I've had a good look on the whole dashboard page, also the little green or blue 'add' icon that gives you a quick drop down list, and on the exercise tab. Can't find an 'add steps' button.
Sure I can add walks in the exercise tab, but that's not really what I'm wanting right now. I have chronic health issues and tend to walk slowly, and I don't feel confident knowing whether my walking speed fits into the lowest 'walk' speed category or the next one up on MND... so don't feel confident adding in a walk that might not be accurately estimated based on speed.
Further, it might just be nice to add my total step count for the day, not just add a single walk?
So how can I simply manually steps - what am I missing? Preferably on the desktop version, but on the app if necessary.
TIA.
Hi all. We're hobbyists in the UK, looking to add a white rum to our cabinet. Hubby wants to try making a pina colada, for which I guess we want a white rum, but I'm thinking having a good all-rounder white rum might open up a few other cocktails for us too, but don't want to spend hugely on a bottle.
Seems like our nearby supermarkets have very poor choice on white rums (we have ASDA, Morrisons, M+S locally). So we're looking online.
My reading suggests opinions vary wildly on white rums.
In order of price low to high, looks like we could get: Dead Man's Fingers white rum, Angostura 3 year old superior white rum, Kingston 62 white Jamaican rum, Mount Gay silver Barbados rum, or Planteray 3 stars white rum.
Planteray came up in my reading a lot, but I noted folks say it's very neutral tasting and I'm not sure if that's quite up my alley. I like my spirits to have a bit of taste. Hubby just wants whatever's best for mixing cocktails (with reasonable price). Not finding much about the other white rums (mostly reading about rums that are out of our price range/hard to get in the UK!).
Please can you recommend based on price/versatility/UK availability?
Edit: Thanks all. Looks like it'll either be Planteray or Havana 3; hadn't listed the latter as our nearby supermarkets don't stock it and neither does Amazon, but turns out MoM does.
Edit 2: Extra thanks for the cheerful and warm discussion over this folks, and so many helpful replies so quickly too. Thanks for being welcoming to my question.
Hi folks. New to bungalow ownership, and based in Scotland; lots of wind, especially right where we are, and of course a fair bit of rain.
Our bungalow is currently coated in rough cast, as is standard in Scotland, with London brick foundation. The rough cast is showing some damage - cracks around windows etc, and spotting where bits of the rough cast has worn away.
We've recently heard about rough cast alternatives. In fact, we had a particular company (not sure if okay to post their name - don't want to get mistaken for advertising) chat to us about their 'new' product; they paint it onto the rough casting, then spray on a biocide on top. (They'd also repair the cracks/damage first.) The idea is that the product they paint on is very wind and rain resistant, breathable, and can flex with the house. Apparently better than roughcasting. 15 year guarantee.
That's the crux of what we're struggling to figure out though. Is it better than roughcasting? Both for the house itself / weather protection / moisture management, and for cost of getting this new thing instead of roughcasting? We have no knowledge of roughcasting - cost or how often it's needed - though google seems to suggest it can vary.
They have good reviews and their customers seem to like the end result, but how much can the customers truly tell if it's a good product? Also, it's a relatively new product (product itself has been around 12 years I think they said), so I guess don't know the true longevity of it. All these are things in my mind and google isn't being much help answering.
Any advice please?
Hi folks. Newbie gardener here, sharing 3 pictures: my rosemary, onion, and sweet peppers. Feeling at sea with a few specifics of growing from seed, and hoping for guidance please.
All the seedlings are being kept indoors under mixed grow lights for 12-16 hours/day at present, and are being carefully bottom watered every few days.
Based in Fife. Fairly rainy/changeable weather here recently.
Would really appreciate any guidance. Thank you.
HISENSE - HS663A90WUK Full-size Dishwasher - only a few months old. Freestanding.
The dishwasher's outer front plastic panel is bowing out slightly and catching on the kick board part of the dishwasher right below it. It started a few days ago. After some Googling, husband removed the kick board and 'pressed' the front panel back into shape so it didn't catch on the kick board anymore. But the problem has restarted today - slight bow in the middle, catching on kick board.
He says the feet looked fine when he had the kick plate off the other day.
Help welcome, please?
I've recently fallen in love with Fage Fruits coconut yoghurt, but unless it's on offer it's rather pricey. Tried the ASDA own brand version and it tastes alright but it's just not got that same Fage thick consistency.
What other/cheaper brand do you reckon is closest to the Fage version?
Did vaguely wonder about making my own and googled a bit, but it looks a bit daunting.
New to bird feeding properly. Put out my new bird feeding station for the first time two days ago. It's one of those tall metal poles with a heavy metal base, and hooks at the top to hang feeders off of. So far only got a suet ball feeder on it.
The birds loved the food, but left a lot of poop on the paving slabs below the feeder (+ on the base). It's obviously going to build up quickly; I need to learn how to clean the area regularly.
I've been doing some reading about this and have some questions (help on any welcome, doesn't have to be all):
Lastly, any other tips appreciated. I suppose between arthritis and OCD I'm not the ideal person to feed birds, but giving these little feathery dears sustenance is important.
Thank you for any help you can give.
I finally got round to giving My Time at Portia a go recently. I'm in this weird spot with it where I kind of like it, but it doesn't seem to hold my attention for that long, and I don't go back to it very much. Although I like how very none-pressure it feels, I think it goes a bit into boredom for me. I'm also not such a fan of the game's character art style (the faces especially), and the fact that their dialogue is repetitive gets a bit meh.
I've only got as far as the first bridge mission and am very slowly getting the pieces/equipment I need for that.
I think I've read before that Portia is a little rough around the edges. I gave it a go first based on other threads that suggested trying that before Sandrock.
Having now done so though... might I get on better with Sandrock? Or should I stick with Portia for a bit longer - does it 'warm up'?
Alright folks, hoping this will brighten up some Monday mornings. I need your help on a very serious matter.
It's Monday, June already, and here at least it's raining. Grizzly start to the week. So, comfort food tonight: I'm going to make cheese on toast. I haven't made it in ages and really fancy it.
But I can't decide what cheese to use. That's where you lot come in. Current top runners are extra mature cheddar or gruyère. I'm looking for your votes. Alternative suggestions also considered.
Bonus question: what else would you have with your cheese on toast? Soup is a popular choice of course, but what else might you go for?
Hi folks.
UK based (Scotland), and this is the first time we've owned a garden. Would like a catio for our little murderbeast to safely enjoy the outside. She's never been an outdoor cat and now we live in the countryside, I really don't want her free roaming out there and potentially meeting foxes, bigger cats, birds of prey, etc.
We thought about making a catio from scratch but that is currently daunting enough that it's putting us off the whole catio idea. Perhaps in future. For now, we're looking at buying a 'pre made' catio - one of those on wheels ones so that we can move it into the garage in inclement weather. Ideally we want it to be something multi-level that we can place next to a ground floor window, and open the window so cat can go straight into the catio.
All our available windows are like this - i.e. they open outwards as a fairly big single glass pane.
-- Edit: I've realised it's a bit more complicated than I first thought, as a) our windows are slightly recessed into the walls, and b) there's a raised cement lip/border a few inches away from the walls on the ground that runs all the way round the outside of the house. Photos here and here. Both these aspects will make getting the proposed catios flush to the window more difficult. Ideas need to take this into account (we're flummoxed; please help!). --
These are the catios we're currently looking at: PawHut outdoor catio, a different PawHut catio, 'Archie & Oscar' catio, or Blue Elephant catio. I've read that people use these in the UK the way we want to - against a window.
Thing is, we're envisioning these against an open window (windows as described), and all we can think of is that there's going to be open space between some of the window and the part of the catio that 'opens' up for the cat to go into. Especially as we can't get the catio 100% flush against the window due to the window sill outside. And cat can then escape out of the rest of the open window space. Does this make sense?
Our cat hates being picked up. It's a blood bath every time. (I tried to get her used to it as a kitten but it just hasn't happened.) So picking her up and putting her in the catio is not an option; we need it to be possible for her to walk through open window into catio, but not escape round the rest of the open window area.
Does anyone have any ideas on how to achieve this, or advice based on own experience? Or is there something we're just not understanding about how the linked catios work - will it be fine? (Their pictures aren't great at showing transit from window to catio.)
Much as I said we are daunted by making a catio and that's true, we could potentially make some sort of short, secure, hopefully-temporary tunnel (which would need to funnel her safely from inside house/open window space to catio) if needed from window to catio, but we'd need some help knowing how to do this.
TIA for any thoughts or help!
Hi folks. I'm very new to gardening, based in Fife, and looking for some raised garden beds, preferably ones that are near waist height (on a 5'2" person). Certainly ones that are at very least knee height off the ground, but preferably higher. I'm not in a wheelchair but I can't bend far, and kneeling is out of the question (even on these kneeling gardening platforms I've seen).
I was doing some research about this last night. I see from previous threads on this sub that this is something where cheap really does mean it won't last year-on-year, so I guess the Aldi £17~ ones I've been hearing about are a no go. Likewise I read multiple people saying that wooden raised beds often warp, rot, or fall apart, and if they do keep their shape they need regular treatment to keep rot etc at bay. Metal or non-wood materials were being recommended.
So I Googled for some options. In no particular order, here's what I've come up with so far. Please can you let me know if you have any thoughts on or experience (good or bad) with any of these, or if you know of alternative good options?
The Marsden Modular is somewhat uncomfortable budget-wise, but I include it as an option in case it's worth the cost longterm. I'm guessing raised planters might be a 'you get what you pay for' on longevity.
Thank you for any help you can offer a keen, budding, but mobility-challenged gardener.
I have vague memories of a game where you build a small town and it changes overnight, or after a certain amount of time when you weren't playing. Like you'd set something going in the town (for an NPC?) and it'd take x hours to complete.
I'm not sure what platform it was on - SNES is just a guess - but sure it was a console. Could've been SNES, Game Cube, Playstation, maybe even Playstation 2.
I'm not even sure it was a full game. It might have been a mini game part of an overall game, but I have no idea what game it was part of if so.
I've been trying to remember more about this on and off for years. Any help welcome.
I got Emerald Coach's Whistle trinket on a healer toon but am never sure who to use it on in my groups. Which classes/specs like mastery the most, or otherwise benefit most from the Whistle pairing?
Edit: thank you all :)
