noise."Story Notes: Chapulin II (Como Salsa para los Tacos) · 8:16pm Sep 27th, 2020
First, let me thank my pre-reader, MSPiper, who’s persevering despite technical issues and scheduling issues.
Chapulin’s nickname, Cri-Cri, was suggested by Wanderer D. It comes from the Mexican singler Fransisco Gabilondo Soler, who sang children’s songs under the name of Cri-Cri. As mentioned in a previous blog post (I think), Chapulin’s name means ‘cricket,’ and "Kree-Kree" is essentially the sound that crickets make.
(I took a quick look and didn’t find any pony-themed videos, but I can’t read Spanish, so. . . )
I’ve mentioned hoof boots before--and that if you’re looking for them on Google (or whatever search engine you use) you should specify ‘for horses,’ or else you’ll get some interesting results.
There is a company who makes “hoof boots” called “Pegasus Airboots”, although they’re not actually hoof covers, but instead wraps for the lower leg. I think that there was another pegasus-themed hoof boots company who actually made boots for the hoof, and of course there are other brands.*
Such as Easyboot Clouds.
They come in sizes from 00 to 8, which is measured from the toe to buttress line, in approximately 1/4” or 8mm increments, plus 4” or 100mm for size 0, presumably less for size 00 (likely 4”-1/4” [3.75”] or 100mm-8mm [92mm]). Obviously, they’re not intended to be worn over normal shoes, and Chapulin will likely quickly wear out the EVA comfort pad each boot comes with.
Also, they are sold individually. So it’s gonna cost her about $400 for a set of ‘em. Still, they come with a velcro closure, and a cute little cloud logo.
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*There’s also a brand called “Scoot Boot”
Like most fast-food restaurants, everything in food preparation is regimented and simple to make sure that the quality of the food remains the same and that the most idiotic worker on his worst day can still manage to make a taco without screwing up too much. One documentary I saw on Taco Bell suggested that they prepare their hard tacos on a scale, which I highly doubt. I have seen scales at restaurants before for certain foods (I worked in an ice cream shop that had one so you could weigh the cone to make sure it had the right amount of ice cream, and no manager ever wanted you to use it, because it slowed down production).
They do have colored scoops that are different sizes to portion out the food, the sour cream gun dispenses a prescribed dose with each pull of the trigger, the nacho cheese pump is metered, etc. And while I’ve confirmed the existence of the training modules explaining how all the food is made, I would also bet that in the preparation areas there are laminated cards saying exactly what goes into each menu item. [Where I live, all the Taco Bells are closed to dine-in customers, on account of the pandemic, so I can’t just go to one and lean around the counter and look.]
I don’t know about Taco Bell specifically, but I’ve worked at a couple of other restaurants, and your clothes do take on a smell that never quite goes away.
Between the Airboots, the Clouds, and the Scoot Boots, it seems like there are a lot more pegasus farriers than I realized.
Can confirm. I've never worked in restaurants, but I did work in the cheese department of a grocery store. I think SMBC put it best.
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Honestly, I think that having a pegasus theme to the boots is probably the best you’re gonna get with classical mythology most of your horse people are going to be at least somewhat familiar with. Certainly implies speed more than unicorn boots, for example. I vaguely remember coming across a brand of shoes for draft horses that had a more ‘strengthy’ name which makes sense for that application. Although a big draft can be surprisingly light on his hooves, as seen in this video which I never get tired of:
(it’s also a good example of how horses show dominance--he’s prancing, making himself look bigger, and when the cows give way, everybody knows who’s in charge.)
That’s not entirely inaccurate. Mmm, cheese.
If fast food and drive throughs are so metered, Im suprised that the robots cant do it a lot cheaper. After all, once you have the metering in place, the rest of it is an assembly line, and you can get that from a photo booth development line?
Then again, the stuff you haev these days was only just out of theoretical when I was at university back in the 80s, and the tutors kept getting lost when I asked about the stuff.
Dynamically ajustable scaling for computational fluid mechanics? Grab that from video compression?
Significant Other did his time at a McDonald's and when we started dating, the black belt that he wore still smelled of fry oil.
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As far as cheat-sheets on the line, only for the occasional promotional stuff, which tends to be temporary. All of the staple menu items are listed in a folder in an office area, and not generally accessible while on the line.
Source is I room with a worker from a corporate (non-franchise) location.
5365606
I have never seen that video before, but my goodness he is elegant. Between the prancing and the outfit, I could see Rarity wanting to make something for him.
You need to get out of Michigan. Drive down I-69, and restaurants are now fully open, including Taco Bells.
5365981 Insert Jeff Goldbum quote here.
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They were already the militaristic ones, and blacksmiths are an important part of that.
New headcanon: in Equestria, "Thunderbolt Iron" is actually an eponym.
5365651
I think that there are too many variables in current fast food preparation for a robot to do it. I know that I used to work in a factory that had a robot who was supposed to assemble heater vents for cars, and it would malfunction whenever the parts weren’t in exactly the right spot.
Robots are good at doing one task well, but when things aren’t where the robot expects, things don’t go so well. Obviously, food assembly lines do exist, but they’re usually only good for one task, and the idea of fitting in an assembly line for every one of Taco Bell’s items, to be made on-demand, is not practical.
Heh, it’s not that easy AFAIK.
5365742
I’ve still got a 20-year old work shirt from a restaurant . . . I wonder if it still smells faintly of fry oil?
5365788
That’s kind of what I thought from watching the prep videos, but I wasn’t sure. I’ve worked places where if you’re on the line you should know, and I’ve worked places where they have lots of helpful pictures. I figured the training modules would take the place of cheat-sheets at the preparation stations, but couldn’t confirm.
If said roomie is interested in ponyfic and possibly willing to help with finer points, I might have some questions going forward (I think I’ve got most of it figured out, but. . . .
5365801
I think by default Frisians are elegant. Between the black coat and luxurious, flowing manes, and the nearly effortless high-stepping . . .
It’s no wonder the cows accept him as their leader. Heck, I would.
5365981
I think I’ll be cautious until we’ve got a vaccine. While I’ve got pretty good odds if I get it, for a lot of the guys I work with, it’d be a death sentence, and I don’t think I’d be able to live with myself if I found out that I was the cause of infection in one (or several) group homes. Research for a fanfic ain’t that important.
5366010
Yeah, exactly, except that I know I shouldn’t.
5366020
You know . . .
I’ve posited that when tribal alliances started, the pegasi and earth ponies would be natural matches--pegasi can bring good weather, ensure a good crop, and in return get good food from the grateful earth pony. I hadn’t considered other benefits, which might have even existed before food. Scavenging/stealing can fill your belly, but it won’t armor your hooves. Especially since of the three tribes, pegasi probably have the weakest hooves . . . some pegasus observes an earth pony kicking things day in and day out and wants to find out how, and pretty soon she’s got a set of armored hooves, and pretty soon all the pegasi want it, and then you’ve got an alliance. . . .
A crushing blow sent the upstart pegasus skidding to the cloud, and Commander Hurricane turned to face the rest of his soldiers. “Does anypony else have concerns about me visiting an Earth pony farrier?”
Nopony spoke.
“In exchange for good weather in Gdańsk and no raids, we can all have armored hooves.”
I can’t remember the exact term now, but historically ‘star metal’ (metal from meteors) was valuable and highly sought-after.
5366233
AFAIK meteoric iron was mostly sought because it doesn't require smelting, which is useful when you either haven't learned how or don't have the resources at hand to smelt iron ore. Also it's from the sky, which is cool.
5366225
They don't have much interest, but I should be able to be a go-between...message me directly, and I'll pass the question on to him.
"As mentioned in a previous blog post (I think), Chapulin’s name means ‘cricket,’"
You know, I realize it's not the focus of this story, but I do wonder what they thought of that in-universe.
And thank you as usual for the additional information. :)
5366320
Yeah, that tracks with what I remember--it’s the best stuff if you don’t have good metallurgy, and it’s from the sky . . . from the gods.
5366370
Got it!
No specific questions at the moment, but if I run into a wall, I’ll let you know. 
5366452
Crickets are happy, chirpy insects. No reason a pony might not be named for that, if she’s a happy, chirpy foal.
5367039
Oh, I didn't mean that, I meant her being named either in something enough of an equivalent to Spanish that it translated into that instead of English or actually being named in Spanish.
...
Though it did just occur to me that it might be something as simple as "Well, my name is <pony noises>, which means 'cricket', but I liked the sound of 'chapulin' from back when I was studying Spanish and decided to use that over here.". Rather less of a cosmic mystery, that one, really. :D
:)
5365606
That horse is so big that he made the cows look like they were far away.
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Could you please run for governor, then? I'd rather have someone with your way of thinking in charge than someone who released official guidance that said "Residents with COVID-19 that require hospitalization can and should be discharged back to the facility of residence once they are clinically stable regardless of whether COVID-19 testing is still positive or not."
5367173
The ‘translation convenience’ plays strongly . . . I’ve touched upon it before in story notes and random commentary: how pony names appear to us might seem dumb/on the nose, but when we take our human names and their meanings and consider them that way. I get lucky; my name means ‘lover of horses’, whereas my bother is the guardian of cowsheds.
I think that their names would be not quite translatable, and they’d pick the closest thing; probably Chapaulin has a name that roughly translates to ‘cricket’ or ‘sings like a cricket’, and she’d chose the human translation that best applies, or perhaps there is some weird cosmic force that not only means that they wind up with names close to what their cutie mark ultimately is, but that said names also conveniently translate into a human language as well.
5367493
And that’s why he’s their leader now.
5367645
In which state?
Seriously, though, I think that in a lot of cases, the doers aren’t the ones who aspire to political office. In a lesser extent, I’ve taken up the reins because nobody else wanted to, but it’s not my thing. I’d rather do what I do and not have politics enter into it at all . . . and before anypony jumps on this one way or the other, assisting another man in the shower is in one of my job’s description (the other just involves pain and scarring and crippling debt on the tool truck).
5367918
I was quoting "COVID-19 Guidance for Healthcare Facilities for Discharge of Residents" from michigan.gov/coronavirus (a screenshot I saved on 5/25), but similar language was used in states like Pennsylvania and New York.
Florida was one of the few states to decide the opposite. The secretary of Florida’s Agency for Healthcare Administration: "I understand that for 20 years it’s been ingrained, especially through Medicare reimbursement policy, to get individuals in and out. That is not our focus today. I’m not going to send anyone back to a nursing home who has the slightest risk of being positive."
5367910
Ah, thanks for the additional information/speculation. :)
(And neat, re the names of you and your brother. :))
5367937
Huh, I didn’t know that was in their guidance. I’m honestly not sure what the agency I’m working for has planned if/when we get positive cases. Due to the nature of our residents, we need to provide staffing 24/7 for most of our residents . . . I’ve done shifts at the hospital, ‘cause one of our guys was there for whatever reason [not all of our residents need/require full-time staffing].
I’m also curious if the guidance has changed as more is known. We’ve sort of changed up our requirements, but it’s a complete hodge-podge of rules from house to house; the only thing that’s stayed constant is no visitors.
That’s refreshing, considering some of the other ideas Florida has about quarantine etc. Like, I get it, it sucks, but if everybody had done their part back in spring and continued with a few very basic precautions after that, nearly everything would be open again and the risk would be minimal.
5368717
That’s always a fun thing to do. Figure out what your name means, friends, family members, etc. And if you say them just as nouns, all of a sudden pony names don’t sound so weird any more.
For example, to pick a few celebrities:
Dwayne Johnson: Little Dark Son of John
Justin Bieber: Righteous Beaver
Katy Perry: Pure Pear
Tom Hanks: Twin son of Hank
Will Smith: Desire Helm Smith
Robert Downey Jr: Bright-fame, belonging to a Fort
5368830
I mean, I already didn't think pony names sounded that weird... and I don't think I did when first encountering them but, you know, been a while. :)
And neat, again. :)
5368856
Like, they don’t for me, either, but for some people they do, and it helps to remind those people that their name might very well mean something like “Farmer, son of Blacksmith.” Or “Pure Pear,” which is actually a great name.
5369540
Oh, huh. Well, thanks. :)
"Or “Pure Pear,” which is actually a great name."
:)
5368830
My mother's name is Marion, which ultimately come from Mars. So I tell people that her name means "Dawn Star of the War God".
And then there's my father, "Delight".
5380151
That is super epic.
Slightly less epic, but no less cool.
Hmm.
My own first name is ‘lover of horses;’ I’d say my parents hit a home run on that one.
My dad would be (roughly) “Free farmer guard,” and my mom would be “noble fierce lake.”
I have noticed a number of chains that have assembly instructions on the wrappers in various pictograms. 4 different directions, 4 different types of sandwich, so just have to orient the wrapper and they have an assembly order reminder right there.
5487485
That’s something I haven’t seen, or if I had, I hadn’t paid attention to it. I have seen the wrappers that will show on their face a different menu item depending on how they’re folded.
You are gonna murder me with all these fabulous Sonata Dusk pics.
5668041
Who, me?
derpicdn.net/img/view/2022/3/24/2831569.jpg
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