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comedy o' stoopid. the guy we paid to clean our gutters is coming out to re-do the job today. we only got three properties in the area so for the last couple years we cleaned the gutters our self... 'cause am a right cheap bastard. the thing is, we had a bit o' an accident 'bout a month ago and we couldn't/cannot manage a ladder climb at the moment. so, we dug deep and paid a few hundred bucks for gutter cleaning; bad timing for the gutter clean as it were done a bit before the atmospheric river events we saw recent, so no doubt is new detritus in our gutters... again. whatever. anywho, yesterday am talking with one o' our renters and he just kinda drops into the conversation that the the joker who cleaned the gutters a month ago did a terrible job and one particular section o' gutter had a considerable amount o' dirt and mud accumulation. our renter watched the gutter cleaner eat his lunch in his truck and kinda fake clean the gutters. our renter then climbed up a ladder and saw that there were indeed crud in the gutters. our renter then didn't bother to tell us anything 'bout the shoddy gutter cleaning until a month elapsed and we called him regarding an unrelated matter. because o' the atmospheric river nonsense, am guessing all our gutters is fubar, but the only property am able to say with certainty were half-arsed by the contractor is the one heavy with dirt as 'posed to tree matter. ... honest though, the thing which bothers us most ain't the contractor who tried to pull a fast one on us, 'cause that is sadly the new normal in these parts. nope, what annoys us is the tenant who knew there were a problem near a month past and never bothered to say nothing. one o' the few responsibilities a tenant has other than paying rent is to inform the property owner o' problems and yet in our experience, most tenants don't unless is something which direct impacts them personal. if the heat or ac went out, we would hear from the tenant immediate, but if is slow bathroom sink leak causing damage to the cabinet and flooring which may end up costing us many thousands o' dollars, chances are we don't find out unless we personal see the issue. oh well. regardless, today we gotta stand and stare at a guy cleaning our gutters as if by doing so we will make him do a better job than he managed with his previous effort. HA! Good Fun!

not a dirty harry fan? HA! Good Fun!

PS I never thought anything about ketchup on a hot dog was weird until I worked for a place that was headquartered in Chicago Plus where I come from we have what's called the Sonoran hot dog that is its own thing

Physical ailments/issues make one feel so much older, not just physically but mentally. I should do more than 30 min. elliptical and arm exercises and occasional walks, but eh, it's hard enough to get my arse to keep even that up. These days, I see a chair, I (and my creaky joints) like to sits. The one thing I keep wanting to do is work on leg muscle mass again tho. After losing much muscle re: hospital, I have near chicken legs (well, for me, vs. what I had) and the elliptical, while toning/strengthening, has so far not done much of anything re: mass. Which means I should ... wait, what was that? "CHAIR!"

this is so not helping. edit: at our table, you may add whatever you want to a food and we won't sneer or judge. individuals have individual tastes and am not gonna make somebody feel bad 'bout their choices. 'course the internet allows us to be all judgy with folks we will likely never meet. regardless, returns us to the original observation from way back where we observed how defined exotic is gonna change quite a bit given regional tastes and preferences. HA! Good Fun!

as is paywall, am not gonna cheat, but we will post ingredients: 24 sage leaves 3 large skin-on chicken breasts 6 garlic cloves, smashed and peeled Fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper 3 tablespoons olive oil 3 tablespoons cold butter ¼ cup gin ¾ cup chicken stock, preferably homemade 1 to 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, plus wedges for serving ... see, this is where you folks lose us. @majestic shows pictures o' a steak being served with ketchup and you apparent prefer meatballs with ketchup... and am assuming you are older than eight. HA! Good Fun!

I had a sort of similar experience when I got back to work, one of my colleagues that likes to complain alot about things but never actually reports faults with the tractors was complaining that the technician was useless and that he hadn't fixed the brakes in 8 attempts and such. Last friday that coworker wasn't in place, so I decided to try the tractor he normally drives, and sure the breaks were weak as hell, so I tried just pushing the brakepedal to the floor at which point a torrent of air started gushing out from underneath the floor instead of at the (air)brakes... It returned to normal duty after redlining the engine and compressor for about 5 minutes to fill up enough airpressure to overcome the leak and return to the base position. So it turned out that there was a leaking membrane in the brakevalve, but noone thought to test something like that and report it to the tech. It was fixed yesterday and the brakes are as new now. And at the same time I got him to fix a bunch of other things that noone reported to him that it needed fixing. 3 pairs of wing mirrors with new defrosters 2 New 1 inch round rail to mount wing mirrors (Imagine bending those truck moose killer bumpers... And not "noticing it") 1 leaking front window 2 new sets of washerfluid containers (Bad idea to put these behind the seats, in an unprotected area were people like to put things like crowbars and clawhammers, plastic containers + heavy metal moving about = bad) 1 new heated seat 1 new steering wheel 1 new controller joystick 1 new climate control unit and fan package for the heater 30 something side indicator lights 3 new sets of rear lights 1 entire new VBG tow hitch and ofcourse, a replacement for the ducttaped camera that's off to the side... 1 replacement cabling set for the entire back half of one of the tractors... that's got a bit of a wait list. New wipers and arms for all the tractors. And that's about what I can remember ontop of my head. And one of the tractors are completely bent in the frame after someone T-boned a parked 45foot trailer at 30kmh. Someone needs to get their fricking nose out of their phone. Me and the very nice Danish ( ) service technician had a nice chat. He was extremely happy to see me so that he could get clear word on what was broken and what was not since he's not allowed to search for faults by our contract..

Thank you for schooling them Gorth, this is an integral part for proper Swedish meatballs that cannot be substituted. .. On a more serious note, I've never seen a recipe online that matches the one our family makes for christmas, with oatmeal for one instead of breadcrumbs, and finishing them off in an oven is really important aswell.

I have this locomotive (BR41) and tender, with 3 (or is it 2?) passenger cars, and a caboose:

Few weeks ago I was thinking of getting myself back into model train stuff. Long story short ... Bought a starter set for the rails and other hardware on the cheaper end, since this is merely some toying around. However, I spared no costs with the actual train. I'm honestly amazed at how detailed this stuff is. Especially at this size. Even the steps to get into the train have little holes in them. The handrails are barely 1mm in size. The lights and sounds are awesome. Also the train actually feels heavy. Even if you fully crank up the dial, it takes a while to get up to speed, and the engine sounds react accordingly. It made me understand why the prices are so high for this stuff.

ME3 is DA:I reskin with moar fun combat, blander companions and equally inane story. Even some monsters had the same behavior pattern as DA:I's titanium-skinned lootless bears that would home in onto you from across the opposite corner of the map, stealth or not. What I remember the most from DA:I was a bug that allowed some fighter subclass be invincible and do, like 300x than supposed to be damage at the same time when doing a roll , so my dragon strat was to roll on'em to death. Also how crafting system allowed for splendiferously glorious garb combining yellow tartan and blue paisley. Good times. These memories sometimes make me nostalgic enough to think of replaying, but then I remember the rest of the game and yeah, nah.

Horse meat?

Had a group "away day" at work. Eh. On other matters, only 70 days till Star Wars celebrations, and the godawful cold weather and rain has delayed my painting timeline still. So I focused on dealing with some other things, and picked up some Chelsea-style safety boots for my Mando, and then started sewing some half-chaps for it. A few things that didn't quite work, but good enough for now I think. Might add a long strip of wide velcro on the front to help support shin-plates... Now I'll just have to do the other one and set it aside for weathering later.

Continuing my streak of cooking new things, I made Rouladen: Super delicious! The pickles and mustard work shockingly well. This is one of the best foods I've ever made. It's a 2+ hour job but so worth it.

First attempt at Swedish meatballs, completely from scratch: So delicious! Eat your heart out, IKEA!

If the story similarly ends with Jordan Love winning a Super Bowl the year Rodgers retires after having the worst season of his career...yeah, I'll take the Super Bowl.

am from the dakotas, so am having witnessed first hand the scandinavian peculiarity o' using ketchup on pasta... as functional a replacement for marinara and/or italian gravy. mashed potatoes? nope. only kids. as we say, "exotic" doesn't travel. ... our father picked up a strange habit when he were in the military: he used ketchup on his scrambled eggs. this culinary heresy didn't bother us as we took such as strong evidence we were secret adopted as 'posed to genetic related to our father. HA! Good Fun!

Anyone who has driven around California has probably wondered about this weird road... https://www.sfgate.com/travel/article/the-mysteries-of-zzyzx-road-california-17726000.php

But swole is the goal and size is the prize Just don't skip leg day Says the guy that goes to the gym all the time but never actually lifts any weights. I just play basketball and do body weight exercises.

I dunno...he's a talking skull.

50 years ago

Nah, I am afraid I just can’t help myself from not finishing games I am starting if they have story. I have been slowly slogging through DA:I for probably over a year. I attempted to give up on it once, but it found it’s way back to my disk in the name of completion.

Aaah Deadfire. Game V5.something, plus Community Patch V4.something, plus Balance Polishing Mod V2.something... yet still, broken. Just as I like it.

we were informed by an expert on such things that our swedish meatball recipe were actually norweigan meatballs. so we asked what is difference tween swedish and norweigan. answer: swedish meatballs is tending to be smaller and more spherical. we observed that our meatballs were smallish and spherical. the chef nodded in agreement. euros. ... *shrug* also makes us wonder at the european bafflement regarding american biscuits and gravy when swedish meatballs involves greasy meat slathered in a creamy gravy and served over a rib-sticking starch. ikea is kinda surprising as is no nutmeg in the ikea offering. we thought a signature flavour o' swedish meatballs were the nutmeg. Gromnir nordsweedballs in a brown gravy: preheat oven to 400F 2lb meat (usual 1/2 ground beef and 1/2 pork) 3/4C grated onion 1/4C half-n-half 2T cornstartch 1 egg 1t kosher salt 1/4t each fresh ground nutmeg, allspice, black pepper combine above ingredients being careful to not overmix. in the past we used panko breadcrumbs. meh. skip 'em. also, as am braising, we don't need vigorous mix and as a result our meat is more tender and less gummy than is most skillet durable meatballs. use a 2T cookie scoop to form into balls and place 'em on a parchment-lined cookie sheet. am knowing is raw meat, but taste and decide if your mix needs more salt. am always tending to start with less salt so am able to add more if needed. in batches, brown the balls in a skillet with 2T butter and 1T olive oil. remove browned balls to a dutch oven. drain off oil from the skillet and deglaze with 3 1/2C beef broth. combine whish to combine 1/2C room temp or cold beef broth, 3T flour and 1T better than bullion base. add your flour slurry to the skillet with the broth and cook over medium for ~ five minutes or until you got appropriate gravy consistency. skim off excess fat and foam and add salt and pepper as needed. aside: if your gravy is not a deep and rich brown, do not hesitate to add 1/2t or a smidge more o' kitchen bouquet. pour the gravy over the meatballs in your dutch oven and then place in a preheated oven for 35-40ish minutes. you wanna braise the meatballs. remove from oven and serve meatballs and gravy over noodles or mashed taters or whatever. the version we offer is admitted not the dairy gravy one most recognizes from ikea and other swedish meatball recipes, but it is our current go to recipe. HA! Good Fun!

So, I've been thinking about doing an anti-hero Priest of Skaen who seeks to punish those they view as oppressors; a Punisher-esque character who isn't afraid to be cruel to those they deem worthy of retribution. Given this focus on retaliation, I've come up with the following build idea: Race: Fire Godlike (or maybe a non-godlike) Culture: NOT Aedyr or Ixamitl Plains (Resolve will be minimized) Background: Something that gives bonuses to Mechanics or Survival (if trying to solo, choose a Mechanics-boosting background) -- maybe a blacksmith (laborer) who was betrayed by a jealous master, a slave who conspired and killed their masters at sea, or even a colonist who fled persecution. Could even be a scientist who enjoyed taking down powerful criminals until they found out they were being used by someone they cared about. Attributes: MIG: 18 (or 19, if you go Living Lands and want to completely max Might) CON: 16 (enough to have a healthy amount of Endurance at half health, could be 14 maybe?) DEX: 15 (or maybe 14 or 13 if raising Might and/or Intellect) PER: 8 (with all the priest accuracy buffs, along with Song of the Heavens, this can be dropped a little) INT: 18 (want long buff durations; could be 20 for more Will and a bit longer durations if you go Old Vailia) RES: 3 (can buff concentration and we want to get hit, so can drop this) Skills: Mechanics: 9 if get gloves of manipulation and soloing; 11 otherwise. can be 0 if not soloing Survival: 2 or 6 + Sanguine Plate when resting to get accuracy bonus. Lore: 10 if you want Maelstrom scrolls; could be left at 2, I suppose. Athletics & Stealth: whatever's left over, with a preference for Athletics. Planned Talents (not necessarily in this order): Prey on the Weak Apprentice Sneak Attack Vulnerable Attack Scion of Flame Inspiring Radiance Aggrandizing Radiance Interdiction Painful Interdiction or Weapon & Shield Style Event Based: Flick of the Wrist Dozen's Luck Song of the Heavens Gift of the Machine if doing a truly evil playthrough, skip if doing an anti-hero Effigy's Resentment: Durance perhaps if not soloing, especially if playing as a Fire Godlike with Orlan parents Planned Mastered Spells: Blessing/Holy Meditation/Halt (for sneak attack bonus) Instill Doubt (for sneak attack)/Divine Mark (for damage and lowering deflection)/Repulsing Seal (for Sneak Attack) Dire Blessing / Pillar of Faith Devotions for the Faithful Planned End-Game Equipment: Head: Fire Godlike Armor: Vengiatta Rugia (for sneak attack bonus and retaliation) or Coat of Ill Payment (+RES, retaliation, more DR) -- PER+2 buff regardless Arms: Swift Action Gauntlets or Ryona's Vambraces Legs: Glanfathan Stalking Boots (for Sneak attack bonus if not using Vengiatta Rugia) or potentially Viettro's Formal Footwear (for more Lore and DEX) or perhaps Malina's Boots for Preservation enchantment and move speed? Neck: Maybe Lost Periapt of the Winding Path for Resolve and concentration or Shroud of Mourning for Resolve Waist: Belt of the Royal Deadfire Cannoneer (for Flame Shield and attributes) (maybe Broad Belt of Power if using Ring of Thorns Ring 1: Gwin's Band of Union (instill doubt and more INT) Ring 2: Iron Circle (more CON and more armor) Alternate Ring Option: Ring of Thorns Weapons: Drawn in Spring, Stilettos (Bleak Fang, Azureith's Stiletto, etc.), Clubs (War Club of the Mataru, etc.), Steadfast, Nightshroud, St. Ydwen's Redeemer, Abydon's Hammer Shields: Sura's Supper Plate, Aila Braccia, Little Savior The idea behind this build, mechanically, is to make use of Skaen's sneak attack bonus even when casting; thus, a retaliation armor and Sura's Supper Plate are preferred, along with Vulnerable Attack and high Might, to cause decent pain to anyone who dares attack this priest. Since late-game priests spend a lot of time casting and not as much time doing melee damage, the retaliations are a nice way to double-dip on the damage, so to speak. I could also see going for a non-godlike and using a helm with Preservation on it so that I can stick with Sura's Supper Plate; Maybe Garodh's Chorus or the He Carries Many Scars helm. If using Garodh's Chorus, could use a different armor than Vengiatta Rugia due to the retaliation effect on the helm, but that would mean losing the sneak attack bonus if not using Glanfathan Stalking Boots. Maybe could even do Maegfolc Skull with Coat of Ill Payment and Glanfathan Stalking Boots, but then we'd have to use Malina's Boots or Ring of Thorns for Preservation. Or... I could stick with Fire Godlike and Vengiatta Rugia, and use Malina's Boots? Problem is... Malina's Boots are an Azzuro item, so no guarantee of getting it... Maybe replace one of the rings with Ring of Thorns then? Any thoughts or feedback on this build idea, especially around the questions below, are welcome. Fire Godlike or non-Godlike? If non-Godlike, what race? Human for Fighting Spirit and Might? Hearth Orlan for more crits? Coastal Aumaua for stun/prone resistance and Might? Which configuration of equipment sounds best? Am I crazy to try such a retaliation priest? Could it actually work alright, or even well? Should I lower Constitution more, given how much priests can buff themselves? EDIT: Double-checked my memory of Garodh's Chorus helm; it only has Preservation OR Retaliation, not both.

if you ever win some kinda national award, we expect you to mention Gromnir as am about to blow your mind with a time-saver video recipe. compared to the effort pressing tomato goo through a fine mesh strainer alternating with a flexible spatula and a rigid tablespoon (perhaps 2x,) the mayo is diabolical simple. as mentioned, the drawback for homemade mayo is it is not reasonable to try and make less than one egg's worth o' mayo, which means you end up with a fair amount o' mayo and that maybe lasts five-to-seven days in the fridge. HA! Good Fun!

Macaroni is a type of noodle... It is entirely possible that there's a different export recipe, all I know is that Felix is a damned sight better than Heinz, but I have noticed similar discrepancies with other food. For instance, a lot of people I interacted with told me that McDonald's food is vile. Now, while their fries aren't great and the food is, well, McDonald's, it is a far cry from being vile. The patties are regularily overcooked and therefore a little on the dry side, but you can't reasonably expect properly medium grilled patties at a McDonald's. I never really understood that until I visited a McDonald's on Malta, and that was indeed vile. From YouTube I learned that McDonald's in Germany is much better than in the US, and while I don't know if that applies to the chain across the entire US, McDonald's in Germany is - while better than in Malta, at least - still a far cry below what we get from them here in terms of taste and ingredient quality. Oh, also, that is only true for the regular ketchup. The Felix hot varieties aren't good. The seasonal varieties are miss and hit, although I don't know if you actually get any of them. The onion one is not particularily great, but onion and garlic is good enough for red meat. The weirdest one was ketchup and plum, which tasted pretty good on its own, but did not mesh particularily well with any meat.

ketchup (tomato) and mayo is so ubiquitous they create an expectation issue. we have made ketchup a few times and the problem is we would never make our version the only ketchup offering for somebody who wanted ketchup with their french fries, 'cause in the US, heinz = ketchup. when an american wants ketchup with whatever, chances are what they actual want is heinz ketchup. our version involves a couple pints worth o' cherry tomatoes puree which were pressed through a fine mesh strainer to which we add some kinda vinegar, worcestershire sauce, brown sugar, salt and pepper, which we then simmer and reduce by' bout 1/2. our homemade involves a fair amount o' effort... and is guaranteed to disappoint most people who want ketchup. mayo is having a similar issue. if you grew up with duke's or hellman's, then those is what you think o' as mayo and chances are any replacement is gonna taste weird. mayonnaise is a french mother sauces and it is endlessly adaptable. is also far easier to make mayo at home than is ketchup and it can be delicious, but as a sandwich spread, if somebody is expecting dukes and they get Gromnir's version, they is gonna wonder at the "funny" taste. HA! Good Fun!

So much pain this thread. Tongue in cheek part: First: please, for the love of god, keep ketchup away from pasta. I love me my good ketchup, really, but noodles? What savage puts ketchup on noodles? But, well, let's never say that Scandinavians know anything about good food. Second: putting ketchup on eggs isn't any better. That is, at best, an acceptable side effect of eating pan-fried or grilled knacker (kinda like baloney) with sunny side ups. Third: Eating mayo with fries is borderline criminal, but something I sometimes induldge in too. Mixing it with ketchup, or even buying one of those dreadful pre-mixed disgusting sludges that are sometimes sold is a crime against humanity and should be prosecuted accordingly. Yuck. Fourth: Käsespätzle > Mac'n'Cheese, but it is close. Lastly: Milk is perfectly fine for making savory dishes and that goodly bechamel sauce, but it's not fine to insult the god of sausages by throwing milk on them after cookng them in a pan. Real talk: For @Keyrock (image repost): We've given up on making our rouladen into rouladen shape. Why? Because we just make a beef "pouch" to hold as many pickles, mustard and onions as you can possibly stuff into it. Yeah, it's that good. For the record, I also don't have any issue with cream based sauces or gravy. They should just not be put on beautiful, crispy meatballs. It is acceptable to eat condiments with them, perhaps even decent ketchup (which means not Heinz). I also stand by them having to be properly deep fried in clarified butter. For anything else? Just make meatloaf.

To be fair, I think mambo/mumbo sauce is only really big in DC and maybe Chicago. I have to order it on Amazon as no stores around here carry it. I remember how hard it was making dinner for my in-laws when I was in Estonia. The stores didn't have all the ingredients for some of the things I wanted to make or the had the item but it was completely different to what I was used to. I remember the main grocery store we went to had an American section that was hysterical to me as it was basically what you'd find in a typical gas station here.

First, it looks delicious. Secondly, you have no room to talk after posting that ketchup ****. Thirdly, I weep for you if yall don't have cheese or milk.

Mambo sauce is good on mac and cheese and a lot of other things and has ketchup (it's basically ketchup, soy sauce, and hot sauce mixed together) in it Of course, some BBQ ribs (or pulled pork) over the macaroni and then covered in the sauce is even better This is my favorite way to eat runny eggs. I like ketchup a lot but I really only like it on fried potats, burgers, runny eggs, and occasionally a hot dog (yes, I'm a savage). PS my wife is Yuropien and also has a strange relationship with ketchup as she also used to* commit heinous acts of brutality and barbarism with it. *still does if I'm not around to provide better alternatives

I ended up playing a little indie game you've probably never heard of called Elden Ring. Anyway, it's fantastic and I found myself wondering why I waited so dang long to check it out. I've been a big Soulsborne fan, though maybe I didn't find Sekiro worth finishing. But I enjoyed it so much this has turned into a Dark Souls marathon. Dark Souls 1 down and now I'm in the midst of Dark Souls 2. This is my first experience with Scholar of the First Sin edition and will be my first time with the DLCs. I recall plodding through the original Dark Souls 2 carefully and doing a pretty decent job. This time I feel like I'm getting drowned in fights every couple feet. As a conquence I'm massively overleveling this game. So that's a mixed bag. It's easier because of my levels, but it's tense because I'll go somewhere and fight like 6 tough enemies in a row followed by an NPC invader....

The truth. But why ketchup? Just use some jarred sauce or something else.

The hell it does. A good mac and cheese looks and tastes delightful, combining a crisp crust and creamy sauce with some pasta. Everything in that picture clashes, like you are hungover and just toss whatever is in a fridge together.

"Pasta, Swedish meatballs and ketchup" Thats wild. The only time I eat ketchup is mixed with mayo, for my fries. I dont put it on my burgers (mustard and mayo) and if you put it on a hotdog around these parts, youll be asked to leave.

If I'm using it as a condiment I mix in some sriracha or hot sauce. It's very good that way, like the spicy ketchup from whataburger but better. I hope this is just a case of us having very different ideas of ketchup, because that sounds nasty.

I'm just not a fan of ketchup in general. I use it as part of the sauce for meatloaf and... ... ... I'm drawing a blank. I think that's it. I don't put it on hot dogs, I much prefer chili, mustard, relish, or, better yet, diced onions and pickles with a couple half slices of tomato *chef kiss*. I don't put it on fries, I mostly just put salt & pepper on fries, but if I do dip fries in something it's either a cheese sauce or tartar sauce.

My bodyshape is practically the reverse of that. More like a cyclist or such, I was never ever able to build bodymass above the waist even when training professionally in my teens. Running around in the woods with an AK-74 clone airsoft rifle is much more fun Until all the **** with Ghille suits and sniper rifles show up.

That's why Crossfit and gyms like F45 are so popular. They provide the plans and the goals, and even gamify the process quite a bit. Granted they are stupid expensive because of it. Also Crossfit can be super risky, since they focus on speed and reps over form. I'm terrible at getting in gym work, but I know it helps to have a workout group that you regularly interact with. Most gyms also have classes, I think. I've done a few HIT classes at my gym, and those are fun. edit: I know we are all anti-social here, but you can probably find at least one workout buddy.

I havent been able to post for a month due to my Chrome posts being eaten so I have updated gaming news I finished ELEX 2 and it was fun, its not as good as ELEX 1 but I enjoyed the noticeable crafting improvements and the faction interaction is always entertaining. The main narrative is a little meh until I learnt the origins of the Skyands and then it was more interesting. Its gets 65\100 on the globally respected " BruceVC game rating system" And then I decided to finally play DA:I, Im 10 hours in and Im enjoying it. I have some reasonable criticisms around combat mechanics and exploration but I will make a detailed post later when I have played more. I am using both DAI and Frosty mods and getting them working together is also a story I will share later

@Shai Hulud I don't remember exactly but I think my ultimate challenge run was validated in about 3/4 weeks, and my run was probably one of the slower ones with lots of video footage, but they had a dedicated person at the time so maybe thngs are slower now I don't know the implementation details of target groups so I could be wrong, but I don't think you can easily add Vela as automatically scripted target for Withdraw or similar already legit spells/scrolls without allowing other spells too that would make the challenge different/easier (e.g. a cipher with pain block/ectopsychic echo working on Vela would have easier life) Not that it would be much a problem at this point, a challenge patched to allow more classes without obligatory cheese could be very interesting and make more people try it.

@Elric Galad Animancy Cat is not applying either the might bonus or penetration bonus to essential phantom (probably other duplicates as well, but I've only tested essential phantom). Dunno if you were aware of this already. Can see the animancy cat on the left there. Has an aura of 42.6 according to my tooltip so he should be applying the summons buff but there is no damage bonus from might and no pen bonus. Doesn't seem to work in vanilla either.

EDIT: A slight oops! I assumed that this was about a PoE2 Deadfire playthrough coming from PoE. This affects all of my replies. Sorry.