I don't understand . . .

Ok, I have been trying to get this written and posted for a few days now but every time I try, I end up getting super angry and it becomes a rambling mess. I leave for awhile and then think of something else and have to come back and add that too. So that being said, I apologize for anything that seems completely random within this rant. I will try and tie it all together as best I can.

I know I promised a rant on writing (or maybe I didn't specify, but it was going to be on useless essays) But I need to do this one first. This is another rant about higher education. Here we go!

When I talk about college here, I mean mostly the process of getting your bachelor's degree through a four-year program from a state university. I can't speak for the private universities that perhaps I should have gone to . . .

College has essentially defeated its own purpose. I was looking at scholarships today trying to find some money for study abroad next semester and I came across one that had an essay and the prompt was, "Explain your main purpose for attending college". I had to skip this one because it immediately lead me into this rant and the essay had a 250 word max. My answer was "to get a better job". Essentially, to help me prepare for life beyond school. However, when I thought about how that goal was going . . . well, it's not.

First major problem: College costs too much to be of any immediate benefit for most people. The vast majority of graduates that I know are still at home with their parents working jobs that don't require college degrees trying to pay off their loans. Their loans that were to pay for the schooling that was supposed to help them get a nice job that pays better than it would for someone without a college degree. Tens of thousands of dollars that are now preventing these people from being able to go out and start their lives. . .I do not understand. College is supposed to help you get a job and live your life, but it seems to just hold people back.

Second major problem: At large universities at least, no one is interested in helping you get a job. There are certain majors, like the business school here I know has its own career department that really helps their students, but for the most part its useless. I met with my adviser, who is typically pretty useful, and when I brought up not knowing what to do once I got out of school his response was "you have time." I do not see this as necessarily true. I will be gone next semester and then I will be a senior, that is not a lot of time. I had a discussion with a professor of mine who basically explained it as "you get a job and that leads you to another job and that happens until you find what you like." . . . this just sounds silly to me . . . more wasting time. I know a girl who is a senior and attempted to use career services. They told her that she had no chance of getting a decent job without going to grad school. This is not true. Grad school is typically another big waste of time and money. Grad school is only good if you know exactly what you want out of it. Otherwise you are just putting off life even more and wasting some more money. And for some people, that's good, they want to stay in school forever. For those who want to just live their life and not be stuck in this collegiate limbo anymore, it is just another annoyance.

~A day passes~

I just found myself worrying about my grades for this semester. I feel that I have not been doing my best in all of my classes because I do not care about them at all for the exception of a few of them on certain days. I'm doing really well in my sociology class but even that I don't give 100%. Then I thought to myself, what do these grades mean anyway? What good is an A if I didn't learn anything? I'm not saying I want to do poorly in my classes or that I want to fail, but I don't know what that A gets me. I'm not in elementary school anymore. I don't get a fun prize for doing well on my report card. Throughout grade school, your grades got you somewhere. Good grades in high school helped you get into college and get scholarships. Since these grades meant something, it was justifiable to take classes that had no meaning for you. But what are college grades good for? If you audit a class about something that you are truly interested in and you learn a whole bunch from that class but you get no grade because you only audited it, then you gained so much more than had you taken a class that you didn't care about and got an A in it. You learned nothing of value in that class you didn't care about but you got your precious A. Where does that A get you? That A doesn't get you a job because you don't care about that subject and you likely didn't learn anything that you will retain anyway. I already proved in high school that I can go to class and get good grades. I have the ability to suck it up and make it work. This is college, why is it seemingly the same deal as high school? I should be able to take classes that I care about and want to learn. Instead, I am taking classes for credits. In reality, I could easily finish my degree this year. However, even if I weren't going to Germany, I would not be able to graduate because I have not taken 120 credits or whatever the silly required amount is. My senior year will consist of 1 German class, my capstone project and 7 or 8 other courses. Those courses will have nothing to do with my major, they will just be empty credits. It is true that I could find some interesting courses that really give me some useful knowledge, but the university makes that so difficult. So many courses are for majors only or they have prerequisites. Most of the classes you can take are basic, may as well be high school, courses. It drives me insane.

When it comes down to it, my biggest problem is that I do not want to spend my life wasting my time. I have heard the argument that this setup of college is helping me because in the "real world" I will have to do things that I have no interest in and I will have to just go with it. Obviously this is partially true, I will always end up having to do some things that I don't want to do but I do not want to make a career out of it. I don't want a job that I hate going to every day. I don't want to feel upset all the time because I am wasting my time at a job I hate and have no interest in. If my job is going to be like my college "career", then I am going to be a very very unhappy person. I have no desire to live this way once I get out of college. I have never been so unhappy in my life and I refuse to continue this once I am done with college.

This comic from Amazingsuperpowers.com pretty much sums this all up.



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Back For Now . . .

ok, I'm back!

First of all, I apologize for being a terrible blogger lately. I have had a ton of stuff to do at school and nothing truly worthy blogging about but I will fill you in for the most part. I finally finished applying to study abroad, that was a ridiculous process. A ton of stuff to fill out, but it's done and I am basically accepted. I had an awesome midterm for my comic class. The class before the midterm, we got into six groups and each group wrote a question. Then we went over the questions and were told to pick two to prepare for the midterm. We could use prepared notes and our notes from class so it was much less stressful than most midterms. I have two food science tests coming up next Thursday, but they are conventional 50 or 100 multiple choice question tests.

To follow up on my last post, the Yankees are in the World Series and tied at a game a piece. I am very excited even though the Phillies scare me a bit, hopefully we can pull it off. GO YANKEES!!!




A few days ago I got an email regarding the pre-sale of the "Love Never Dies" soundtrack. I had yet to hear about this show but apparently, Andrew Lloyd Webber decided to write a sequel to the Phantom of the Opera. What I've gathered so far is that 10 years after the original takes place, the Phantom goes to Coney Island to become a freak show and eventually ends up owning the place. He invites Christine to visit without her knowing that it is him and she shows up with Raoul and their son and from there craziness ensues, i am sure. Check it out. I do not think that it will be as good as the original but I'm not going to pretend that I don't want to see it.


I stared a rant on academic writing but I'm too tired so it was just a big run-on sentence. I will make that into a separate blog post hopefully soon. I'll give you a short preview. Most of the work I do here at UMass is pretty much a waste of time involving minimal thinking and it's really frustrating. I feel like the college degree is basically a membership card that enables you to earn more money. You have to pay four years worth of dues in money and time and then you get a magical piece of paper and supposedly means something.

I have to sleep. Goodnight and GO YANKEES!!!!!

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GO YANKEES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So if you don't already know, I am a huge Yankees fan! I am thrilled at the moment because I just watched the Red Sox lose to the Angels with the help of former Yankee, Bobby Abreu. The Yankees play tonight against the Twins and if they win, then they move on to face the Angels. So naturally, as happy as I am with the Angels at the moment, they are going to need to tone it down a bit because the Yankees are going to have to beat them. The Yankees have not won the World Series in quite awhile, so this is very important. I apologize if this makes no sense and is just a long ramble but I am super super excited right now that the Sox just lost!!!! My boy Andy Pettitte is pitching tonight for the Yankees so I have high hopes!!!!!!! Ohhh man, I love post season baseball! After all if said and done, I will construct a well written blog about the post season. For now . . . GO YANKEES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Rant Tuesday

As I promised, being back at UMass has lead me into many a recent rant. On my walk back from class today, I decided that a few of them should be shared with you as well. You may agree with some of them, you may disagree, you may think I'm an even bigger jerk than you previously thought. I'm over it.

First, my most recent rant. I know there are some of you who will disagree with this one. However . . . milk, vanilla ice cream and chocolate syrup is NOT a chocolate milkshake. That is a vanilla milkshake with some chocolate syrup. That shit still tastes like vanilla and is not the least big enjoyable for me. Milk, CHOCOLATE ice cream and perhaps some chocolate syrup is a chocolate milkshake which is delicious. Today, between my classes I decided to go get a chocolate milk shake at the campus center. I waited 20 minutes because it was prime feeding hours but the picture lead me to believe that this milkshake would be delicious. (and yes, for those of you at UMass ready to tell me, I know it is frozen yogurt, not ice cream. still delicious.) However, I get up there and watch the girl make it and die a little inside when I see her use the vanilla ice cream. If it were less busy, I probably would have said something but the place was packed and I didn't feel like making this girl's day any worse. I still drank it because I was hungry but it was for sure a vanilla milk shake.
This is a severe problem that I have. I really do not enjoy vanilla ice cream but it is soooo popular around here. I HATE going to a restaurant and every dessert comes with vanilla ice cream and they don't even offer chocolate. If I were ever to open a restaurant I would only serve chocolate and every time someone asked for vanilla I would instruct the servers to come tell me so I could run out yelling "HOW DOES IT FEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEL!?!?!?!?" yes, it's a little extreme, but I am tired of the injustice.
Moral of the story is, if you ever offer someone a milkshake and they ask for chocolate; do the right thing and use chocolate ice cream.

Another issue that I am having daily here at UMass, specifically in my dorm, is that someone keeps propping the bathroom door open. First of all it's super awkward to just keep it wide open so everyone walking by can check it out. But the real problem is that I live right next to the bathroom. When the door is shut, it's not too much of a problem, but when the door is open I can hear everything. When the hand dryer goes on, I can hear nothing but the obnoxious sound of the epic UMass hand dryers. Everyone time I walk by, I shut the door but there is clearly someone doing the opposite. Perhaps someday we shall meet and battle it out. (as I proof read this, someone has propped it open)

Yesterday's rant is a mix of dumb people and useless people. I went down to the kitchen to wash some dishes and quickly realized that the drank was clogged because someone had put a ton of food down the drain without using the garbage disposal which was now not working at all. I mean, really regardless of the garbage disposal you shouldn't put that much food down the drain, that's just stupid. So, I did the right thing and went to tell an RA. Naturally, my RA is no where to be found, I haven't seen her since the first week of school but I was able to find the 3rd floor RA who basically told me there was nothing she could do about.

This leads me into another rant about the kitchen here. It is DISGUSTING. I don't know where these people are from but they clearly have MUCH lower standards of food preparation sanitation than I do. The counters constantly have huge puddles of water and other spilled liquids and the stove is always crusted over with food and sauce. Some how these girls think that they can just use the kitchen and leave it like that and the kitchen fairy will come and clean it for them. We do have a cleaning guy, but he doesn't sit outside the kitchen and clean it after every use. I have no meal plan, 80% of my food is made in that kitchen and it's disgusting. I'm not the most cleanly person, but I can barely tolerate it.

Another extreme inconvenience is that my mailbox combination is wrong. There are quite a few people here who can not get into their mailboxes. I spoke to an RA who was with another girl having the same problem. She told me to talk to the cluster office. They had had several other people with the same complaint. They took my info and I have not heard back. I don't even know how this is possible. How do you suddenly give out the wrong combination when you had the right ones last semester. The best part is, they have no idea how to fix this problem. AHHH, these people kill me. I have no idea how this university runs.

I think that's enough ranting for now.


Today's recipe is the chocolate milk shake

milk
chocolate ice cream
chocolate syrup
blend into creamy chocolaty deliciousness.



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Back to School Edition

Alrighty, so I've been at UMass for a little over a week now and I am finally getting around to writing about it. It's been a semi-eventful week I guess.

First off, I was pleasantly surprised when I got to my room. It was much bigger than I expected it to be. I have plenty of room for all of my stuff and a massive closet which is very helpful. I will post some pictures at the end.

It took me until Thursday to figure out my schedule. I had to drop my women's studies class because I definitely did not fit in. Everyone was a feminist vegetarian (it was a class on women and food) and most were women's studies majors. Also, the professor felt the need to bash Thanksgiving on her syllabus which I found completely unnecessary. She went on about how its a day of mourning for the genocide of the indigenous people. Pleeeeeeeeease. I HATE how many pretentious hippy professors there are here at UMass. If their beliefs and ideas have something to do with the subject they are teaching, then I can bear to listen to them. But to just randomly share your hippy ideals with us is not helpful, it just makes me angry.
Also I had a teacher who (not his fault) made us get our books at a certain downtown Amherst bookstore (Not Amherst Books). I HATE this bookstore but apparently everyone in the sociology department uses it and this professor is new so I can't blame him. But anyway, my reasoning for disliking this bookstore is that last year, Jon had to buy a book there for one of his classes and the book was about capitalism. The woman at the register looks at the book and says something like "ugh! Capitalism! Why would you even buy this book!?" and Jon was like "Um, it's for a class, calm down" That is so unnecessary. Obviously its the beginning of the semester and he got it from the text book section, he's not just picking it up for a nice read. Ugh, I hate hippies like that! If they would just keep their hippiness to themselves, then I would have no problem with them but they insist on trying to get everyone around them to become hippies too. I don't go around trying to get them to use the text book annex (although life would be much easier if they would!) or make them shop at macy's or something. Hippies that just live their lives and let other be are perfectly fine with me, but some of these professors are ridiculous.

I also dropped my anthro class because it was terribly boring. I picked up two food science classes in place of the two dropped classes. They're both really big just get the notes and take the test classes. Those are the best.

My favorite class is "Comic Art in North America" because I'm a huge nerd. The professor is super cool and used to work for Kitchen Sink Press. He worked with Will Eisner and wrote a few books about him.

Last night I saw Bo Burnham with Jess, Craig and Kenny, that was exciting! He was funny as always. Amy Anderson was with him as well, I had never heard of her, but she is real funny as well. Afterwards (apparently that's not a word?) I hung out with Craig and Kenny for the rest of the night which was exciting because I'm pretty sure it was the first time I'd been out of my dorm passed 10 o'clock (I'm a terribly boring college student)

Today Umass Laundry struck again!! We have brand new washer and dryers BUT the card reader doesn't work so you have to use quarters. I had to go to the snack machine, put in a few dollars and press the coin return to get enough to do the laundry. Nothing kills me more than the incompetancy of UMass.

Today's recipe is a snow pea salad

1 lb fresh snow peas
1 T olive oil
1 orange pepper (or red, yellow or green) julienned or chopped
1 clove minced garlic
3 T honey

In a skillet, saute the snow peas in olive oil for 3 minutes. Add pepper and garlic and saute for another minute or two. Add the honey and season with salt and pepper.

pics of the new room!

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ACH NEIN! DAS SCHMUTZIGE WASSER!!!!!

Alright, once again, i apologize for not posting. Not being at work gave me less time to sit around and think about stuff to write about. However, I think today I've got some good stories.

First of all, I've been packing to head back to school. By packing, its more like I decide what to bring and what I don't need to bring and my mom magically fits it all into boxes. She's like the Michael Phelps of packing minus the pot. Regardless of her packing abilities, I still have like 7 boxes to bring, most of which is filled with cooking stuff. My Dad says that him and my mom didn't have that much crap in their first apartment, he's probably right. Every time I look at it all I'm like, "I need help."
I've also received like 12 e-mails already from school which is a little annoying. However, one was the list of first week activities going on and I learned that Bo Burnham is the comedian this year!!!! I was super excited until I realized I have about 2 friends left on campus. Hopefully I will find some more friends and someone to go with. All the other events also made me a little sad thinking of how many people have either dropped out, transferred, graduated or moved off campus. Then again, I won't be on campus next semester either . . .


Now for the highlight of today's Blog . . . dun dun dunnnn

THE GLOUCESTER WATER CRISIS OF 2009!

As some of you surely know, Gloucester has been under a boil order for about 12 days now. It's a long story but levels of coliform bacteria are much too high for the state's approval. For those of you who do not know: coliform bacteria are harmless bacteria that naturally show up in water. However, too much of it can be an indicator that e-coli could also be in the water. Therefore, when coliform bacteria levels are high, precautionary boiling needs to be mandated in case e-coli does show up and people get POed that they weren't warned. However, even after intense chlorination the levels of coliform bacteria are not going down. In fact, they have gone up recently. People in Gloucester are super POed because they are terrified to go near the water. There were problems with the way the city handled this issue but I won't go there for now. This blog is about how the wonderful people of Gloucester are responding.

I get these awesome Gloucester opinions from my daily perusal of the Gloucester Daily Times online.
A popular opinion seems to be that people are under the impression that stomach problems did not exist before the water problems. People are posting about how they got sick from the water . . . to which I typically can't stop myself from replying and reminding them that the water can't get them sick right now and that other things in the world can create stomach problems. My favorite variation of this is the claim that they had heartburn once the boil order began. For any of you who may have ever experienced e-coli, you can probably vouch that heart burn is wonderful in comparison. I promptly reminded these folks that it could also have been their dinner that caused their heartburn. I tried not to get involved in posting, but I just can't help it.

Perhaps my favorite and least favorite is a person who comments on every article having to do with the water problem and always mentions how the water made their dog sick and they had to put it down. Sounds like a victim . . . until you find out this dog was 13 years old with cancer OH and then you remember that dogs have way better immune systems when it comes to these types of bacteria. Of course the cancer that was killing this poor dog probably destroyed its immune system . . . still it's EXTREMELY unlikely that the water had anything to do with the death of this poor dog. I try and keep my mouth shut with this person because loosing your dog suck and I'm not a very sensitive person when it comes to these types of people. I didn't want to offend them and make them even more upset, but really. I lost it today and responded something along the lines of "I'm sorry about your dog, but the water didn't kill your dog. Dogs naturally have better systems to deal with these bacteria and they are meant to eat raw foods that can expose them to these bacteria anyway." Some one agreed with me and mentioned that their dog eats poop. That person is rawrsome.

Most people rant about how terrible the mayor is for this whole thing. They have a point, it wasn't really handled correctly but they make it seem like no one is trying to fix the problem. The water is currently chlorinated more than a pool and still the bacteria count is growing. They shut down the Babson reservoir to clean the entire thing. You can't say they aren't trying.
We still wash our dishes in it and no one here has gotten sick. Sassy drinks out of the sink and she hasn't gotten sick. I understand the importance of the boil order and think it is the right thing to do. E-coli can be quick to follow in these numbers of coliform bacteria. However, I'm not freaking out right now. There was an article today that said most other people aren't really freaking out right now either. Luckily, for our enjoyment, those who are freaking out are posting it on the GDT's website.
Oh Gloucester . . .


Today's recipe!

This is getting a little difficult because i keep forgetting which recipes I've posted . . .OH Schnitzel!

Schnitzel is one of my favvvvvorite foods!

Basic schnitzel is quite easy!

4 thinly sliced veal or pork cutlets
flour
2 eggs
breadcrumbs

Season the cutlets with garlic powder. Dredge the cutlets by putting them into the flour, then the eggs, then the breadcrumbs. Place them into a frying pan with 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil and cook about 2 to 3 minutes on each side.

mmmmmmm


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* update! I received a ridiculous response to my post and I just need to share . . .


Me: we are required to boil the water as a precaution in case e-coli gets into the water, which it hasn't. I'm sorry to hear about your dog, but the water didn't kill your dog. Dogs naturally have much better immune systems than we do when it comes to such bacteria. Remember that dogs are naturally meant to eat raw foods that would expose them to these types and more serious bacteria.
I've been washing my dishes in the water since the boil order started and no one in my house has gotten sick. My cat drinks from the sink everyday and she is fine. My dog drinks out of the toilet sometimes, he's fine.

Rawrsome Person: I agree. I grew up w/a dog that loved to eat 'actual poop' from the yard, and she lived to the ripe old age of 14, which is 98 in human years 4 those counting. I loved that dog (I didnt' "love it" when she licked me tho...)

Annoying Person: that is ridiculous to say we are boiling water as a "precaution to e-coli". In every water-related news article, they have always stated that we are boiling water due to the "coliform contamination". There has never been any positive test for e-coli, so why then the boil water order ??? I'm sorry...that doesn't make any sense.

Me: the coliform contamination is an indicator that e-coli can also easily infect the water. The coliform itself can't cause that much of a problem. Therefore, we are boiling the water because there is high chance that e-coli can also infect the water right now.

Me getting more annoyed looks up total coliform: "Total coliform bacteria are commonly found in the environment (e.g., soil or vegetation) and are generally harmless. If only total coliform bacteria are detected in drinking water, the source is probably environmental. Fecal contamination is not likely. However, if environmental contamination can enter the system, there may also be a way for pathogens to enter the system. Therefore, it is important to find the source and resolve the problem."

-http://www.doh.wa.gov/ehp/dw/programs/coliform.htm (my source)



*Another classic convo!

Person who boggles my mind: "the type of coliform bacteria we're dealing with won't get you sick like that."

Really? And what about people who have low immune systems, people who are HIV, people on chemo? Like Grimmy stated, the powers-that-be have known about this since Aug. 4, and let's remember that the public wasn't notified until Aug. 21. Knowing that, do you really think they're going to admit to illness stemming from this "problem"?

"If the water were to get you sick, it would likely be from e-coli which we don't have."

After all that's gone on in the last month, how can you be so positive about that?
I've lived in this city for 55 years....I wish I could be so optimistic.

Me: Because there are worse things that can happen.

Person who boggles my mind: Such as?

Me losing my mind: seriously!? What's worse than having to boil your water for a few weeks!?

How about a hurricane wiping out your entire city, you probably have pretty bad water and OH you probably don't have a house either!

Maybe a wildfire destroying your entire city, again, no house!

How about finding our your 20 year old daughter was killed in a car crash. I don't have kids, but I'd rather have e-coli. And NO, this can not be compared to losing your dog. I have lost dogs before and I know people that have lost children, it is NOT the same!

Those are just a few things that are worse than having to boil your water.

Suggestions and Stories

Today I have another random post. I have collected some stuff over the weekend and beginning of the week to share with you. Luckily, most of them are leads to help continue to treat your boredom.

First off, I saw Inglorious Basterds on Friday. Good movie, go see it. However, be warned that there is not as much action as you may think from the previews. Brad Pitt is hysterical in it and Eli Roth is a major BA. There is a kind of long stretch of not-so-exciting in the middle, but the end is worth it.

On Sunday I watched the first episode of "What Would Brian Boitano Make?" on the Food Network. EXCELLENT show. Brian Boitano is so fabulous!!! He was super entertaining. The intro was of course the infamous "What Would Brian Boitano Do?" song from South Park which is part of what makes this show so awesome! The show airs on Sundays at 1, I insist that you all must watch it!
After I watched his show, I became a fan of his on facebook and left him a comment telling him how awesome the show was. Today I looked on his official website and he had a section for the show. On that page, he had displayed some comments that he had received about the show and one of them was mine!!!!!!! It was sooooooo exciting I didn't even know what to do!!! He is just as awesome as South Park promised he would be.

Another source of infinite entertainment is gloucestertimes.com. This is the website for the Gloucester daily times. You can read the articles if you want, but I just like the read the comments on the articles. Most of them are so typically Gloucester its almost disgusting. Once in awhile someone makes a good point too. Usually they're just great for a rofl or an lol.

Today at work I took a trip across the street to the hospital to pick up something for the office over inRadiology and it reminded me of some other trips that I have taken over there. Every time it amazes me how far you can get into a hospital without anyone questioning you. Today, I went into radiology and asked about the package and they gave it to me, that was normal. However, I then proceeded, in normal clothing, to walk right out of the main entrance with a cart and two boxes from radiology and no one questioned me. I then walked across the street and dropped them off and went back into the hospital with the cart and brought it back. The people in radiology knew what I was doing but you would think maybe someone would wonder why some random girl is leaving with a cart of boxes marked "Radiology". Another time I went in a back entrance, again in normal clothing. First of all, no one stopped me from going in that random back entrance that went into the labs. Then I couldn't find where I was going nor could I find someone to ask. Therefore, my plan was to stand around until someone came out. For about 5 minutes I looked at a rather strange picture in the hallway. There were people in the labs that could clearly see me, but I could not get to them to ask them for help. If I were one of those people, I would have thought that I had escaped from the psych ward. I just stood there looking at this picture, but no one came out and questioned it. I began to feel really awkward so I left that hallway, again no questions. I then walked down another hallway all the way until I got to a loading dock. Even on the loading dock, I had to ask the two people out there, they really didn't seem to bothered that I was there. . . wtf?? Another time, Jon and I went to go see my grandmother in the hospital. We walked in the main entrance and all the way up into her room and no one seemed to mind. This is very concerning for me. I guess today's PSA is "Watch out for random people in the hospital"

Here is a recipe from Brian Boitano's new show!!!

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/brian-boitano/cappuccino-panna-cotta-recipe/index.html

A rather low-dose treatment for today

Unfortunately, I am back to either not posting or posting random, rambling posts.

I haven't posted in quite awhile because I have been on vacation. I went to New Hampshire with my family, it was fun but yielded nothing truly blog-worthy except a great picture of Jupiter and a story about my utter lack of control. We visited the world's longest candy counter at Chutter's in Littleton, New Hampshire. It was great but now I have nearly $50 worth of candy to eat and I'm growing tired of it . . . oops. Clearly, I was unable to control myself in such an environment. The rest of the week was mostly outlet shopping, card playing and dairy queen runs. Jon came with us too which was fun and we had some AWESOME food. Our wonderful neighbors from home came up the first weekend with some fresh lobsters and we had some delicious surf and turf. Unfortunately, I had to leave a couple days early to bring Jon home since he had to work but it was still a great vacation!

I only have two weeks of work left and it is as boring as ever. I've stopped tracking the number of phone calls I get each hour because I wasn't getting paid enough to do all that extra stuff . . . long story . . . well, I have time and if you don't then why are you reading this? When I came back to work this summer I was offered this new position answering the phones. The first question everyone asked me when I told them: "Are you getting a raise?" my reply "I hope so" did I? NOPE. I continued to do my original job of faxing the transcription plus answering the phones which is actually half of someone else's job (who gets paid much more than I do) and I was tracking the number of phone calls I got and putting them into an excel file and making a number of charts each week for the doctors to review as they had requested. I also fill in for the secretaries or receptionist when they are away. All for the original price. Apparently, I am quite the package deal. So after review of my bank account, I decided that doing all that extra work was getting me nowhere. But anyway my original point was that I have not had a lot of calls today at all which makes my being here rather pointless. I have no idea where this paragraph was going . . .

I go back to school in 3 weeks which I have mixed feelings about. I'm excited to go and see my room and some friends and be closer to Jon but my house is much more comfortable and I will miss everyone here and I'm not looking forward to going to class and this is a major run-on sentence.


Today's recipe is more of a suggestion. We had it in New Hampshire and it was delicious!

When making corn on the cob . . .
take the corn and before you cook it put some butter on it then sprinkle it with salt and lime zest then wrap it in tin foil and grill it. It was soooo good.


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If everyone is the brightest bulb, then who's to say we aren't all dull?

Today I have another special edition rant blog where I force you to indulge in my opinions. Today's topic is much more opinion based than my last rant on the swine flu which I was able to back up with some facts but it is a topic that I feel quite strong about.

Yesterday at work I was working the front desk and I overheard a conversation between two women in the waiting room. They were discussing their children and quickly got onto sharing names of good tutors. They continued to discuss their children's bad test scores and how they can improve them. At one point one woman said something along the lines of "When I went to school, you knew you had to pull those A's or you weren't going anywhere." I found this hard to believe because it is only recently that we have implemented such high standards for every student. I'm guessing she simply had parents who told her that she wouldn't go anywhere without all A's.

Here is my problem: Most parents and pretty much everyone have begun to tell their children this false statement that they will not go anywhere in life without a perfect GPA, perfect test scores and a college education.

I am a firm believer that not everyone has to go to college. In fact, I believe that college has become nearly useless because of this notion that everyone must attend college. This has forced college to dumb down to accommodate everyone. College was supposed to be for the elite who wanted to continue their education.
I always did well in school and I always planned on going to college. However, now that I'm there, I have realized that it is essentially high school all over again. I am forced to take classes that I don't care about just to get credits and I'm really not learning all that much. Now, I'm not talking about general education courses. I understand the purpose behind those and they have been some of my most interesting courses. However, now that my gen-eds are done, I still have to take random classes because I need so many credits to graduate. This I do not understand. When I have to write a ten page paper in German, I don't want to have to worry about these other classes that I don't really need.
Another big problem I have found is that I am once again in classes full of people who don't want to be in school. College is supposed to be for those who want to be in school so they can learn more. This doesn't just hurt those who want to be there but it ends up hurting those who don't. These people are wasting their money. They could have just gone into whatever trade they wanted to be in after high school and started making money but instead they are paying tens of thousands of dollars a year to go to more school. Many of these people do not excel in college and end up dropping out which makes them look worse now that they are labeled as "college drop-outs". Now that everyone has to go to undergrad, graduate schools are becoming a necessity for those who truly want to distinguish themselves, something they could have done years ago as an undergrad. Now these students are being forced to spend even more money to continue their education because they are essentially wasting their time for four years going to what may as well be high school again. Graduate school was supposed to be for those who needed it for a profession such as medicine or law.

Today there is this huge emphasize that only people with a college degree can get goods jobs. Sure people with college degrees do generally make more money but it will soon become obsolete since everyone is being pushed through college. Soon you will need a graduate degree to get any sort of good job. And frankly, I don't really buy this statement. From what I've seen, acquiring a job is mostly luck and knowing the right people. Most people don't even have jobs that have anything to do with their undergraduate degree. College isn't for everyone and there shouldn't be a problem with that, it's not supposed to be for everyone. Everyone wants a smart and successful child, but it just doesn't happen. Not everyone can be super smart and successful at everything.

Along these same lines, test scores aren't everything either. I took the SATs once and did alright and I was able to get into college during the early admission period because I had good grades and plenty of extra-curricular activities. I did excellent on my MCAS because I was lucky. I'm typically ok at math but I got an above-average score for my math MCAS. This doesn't mean that I'm above-average at math, it means I did well on a test. Another interesting quote I heard from one of these women in the waiting room earlier today was "It's just a test, you can learn how to do well on it." I'm not sure that's true. Some people just can't take tests. They can still be smart and they usually know the information, they just don't test well. And some kids just aren't good academically, that's the way it goes.

I keep emphasizing that some kids just don't do academics. I have a huge problem with parents who claim their child has a disorder when really they are just misbehaved or they just aren't good in school. I know people who really have ADD and autism and they have a serious condition that truly hinders their performance and there are some drugs that help these people. However, when you look at the recent numbers for these conditions, they are out of control. The majority of those kids are not sick. Those kids need discipline or they just are not talented in academia. Not every kid is a good student, get over it. When you treat these kids for medical conditions that they don't have, you're essentially just getting your kid high.

When I was in high school, I tutored a 5th grader. (I know this may sound strange to those of you who know of my child phobia, but I was doing it for community service for national honors society and he was a Yankees fan so he was fine by me) Before I started, his mother told me that he struggled with ADD and he couldn't concentrate on homework and it was always a chore. I never once had a problem with him. I would come over and we would sit down at his kitchen table and we'd go through everything he had to do and we'd do it. I had to help him a lot, but he never lost concentration or acted out. I'm guessing the problems they were having were that he was not doing things as quickly as they wanted him to and they got impatient or he would get something wrong a few times and they would get frustrated which would make him upset. I felt bad for this kid because his mother was going around telling people he had all these problems that he didn't have. I also feel bad for people who actually have these conditions because the seriousness of these conditions is being over-looked and dumbed down.

I'm not saying "Don't go to college" but I'm also not saying that you absolutely have to. Graduating seniors that don't feel they are ready to go to college shouldn't be forced to. If they want to go to community college for two years to figure out what they want to do, then there is nothing wrong with that. They end up saving tons of money but often get ridiculed by friends and family for their choice. If a kid knows what they want to do and a degree really isn't necessary, then let them do it. If they want to go to a specialized trade school because they know what skill they want to learn, then they are probably better off then most college graduates. You can always go to school later in life when you know exactly what you want to go to school for. Then you can go to these accelerated degree schools that let you skip all the crap you don't care about it. Now-a-days, you will probably still end up taking one of these other courses after you receive your traditional undergraduate degree anyway. If you truly do want to go to a regular four year college, then do that. But do not let others push you into it, it won't be worth it.


As school starts up again, be expecting more posts on how I feel about college. I have a lot to say about how the money you pay is spent.

Annnnyway . . .

Here is a recipe that will make you happy if you have ever been to P.F. Chang's.


♥

A brighter day at work

Today work was as if the work Gods had read yesterday's blog and felt pity for me. And for that I thank them.

When I got here at 8:30 the pathologist who comes by a couple of mornings a week to take care of all that stuff was still in the office that I use so I didn't have to start working until about 9:20, that was awesome. After about an hour I had only received about two calls all morning and one of the Doctors asked me to run to target to get his little daughter a bathing suit and bring it to her camp since she had forgotten one this morning and was very upset that she couldn't swim. This was awesome because I got to get paid for going to the mall. Since then the phones have been super quiet all day and the calls that I have gotten have been from very pleasant people. A good day at work indeed.

I'm also excited because once I get out of work I am meeting my fairy-God-mother to see Harry Potter at the IMAX.

Tomorrow will be a little crazy, I have to drive for about 7 1/2 hours all around MA to see Jon for awhile and pick up my cousin in Lee. If it wasn't supposed to rain, then I would say it will probably be alright but it's supposed to rain alllll day. Hopefully traffic won't be too bad!


I don't really have a PSA for today, I tried but couldn't think of anything good and I'm kind of in a hurry so here is a link to a delicious cupcake recipe that I used last night minus the peanut butter icing.

Tschüß!

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"I asked for the secretary and you sent me to a machine."

As promised earlier, I have for you today some wonderful work stories. Well, they aren't really stories, but they are common quotes that are said to me from people on the phone and the responses that I wish I could give.

The most common phrase I get is "I asked for the secretary and you sent me to a machine." I get this phrase mostly from older people who don't understand the concept of the answering machine but also from impatient people who feel that they are too important to leave a message. What I tell these people is that I did in fact send them to the requested secretary; however, that secretary is either on the phone with someone else or they are helping a patient who is here in the office and that if they just leave a message on the machine she will promptly call them back. However, what I want to say is "Yes, we have recently replaced all of our employees with machines, they are more economical, I am the only human being who still works in this office."

A variation of this phrase is . . . Patient: "she's not in the office" Me: "yes, she is. She is either on the phone with someone else or she is helping a patient here in the office" Patient: "She is helping a patient? Is she a doctor?" Me: "no, but she needs to set up new appointments for the patients who are seeing the doctor today." The way I wish this could go is as follows . . . Patient: "she's not in the office" Me: "yes, she is I just fricken saw her. She is either on the phone with someone else or she is helping a patient here in the office because believe it or not you are not the only patient out there" Patient: "She is helping a patient? Is she a doctor?" Me: "You've been here before, you know that she is not a doctor, you know the drill. You see the doctor then you see the secretary for a new appointment, leave a damn message."

Another fairly common phrase I get comes after a patient has called several times refusing to leave a message is "What kind of office is this? I've called 5 times and no one answers" variations on this are "Does anyone besides you answer their phone in this office?" and "I've worked in an office before and there is time to answer your phone, how come it's so difficult for you guys to do?" I never really know how to respond to this. I typically apologize and try to send them through again. What I want to say is that there are three doctors here all with full schedules. Everyone is busy LEAVE A DAMN MESSAGE AND BE PATIENT!!!

Today I got kind of an original one. A woman called and asked to be put through to one of the secretaries who was busy with another patient and did not answer. The woman promptly called me back and the conversation went like this . . . woman: "I called to speak with the Secretary but she isn't in the office today" me: "she is in the office today, she is either on the phone with someone else or she is helping a patient. If you leave her a message . . . " woman interrupting: "I can't leave a message because I can't be reached. You don't seem to understand why I'm talking to you." me in my head not out loud "You're talking to me because I answer all the phone calls and how are you calling me if you can't be reached?" Me out loud: "ok" woman: "I need to speak with her and I am going to keep calling YOU until she answers, you are going to be very busy if she doesn't answer" me in my head: "I can't wait!" me out loud: "ok, hold on one moment" I transfer the call and say to myself "I will now use my magical powers to force her to drop what she is doing and answer your call pew pew pew" She must have answered because the woman never called back.

My favorite part about all of this is that the past two weeks when I was doing someone else's job and dealing primarily with people in person, I had none of these problems. It seems that it's only when they're on the phone that they feel they can be this obnoxious. Of course there are always people that are just as rude in person as well, they're fun.

Now I'm not bashing my job or saying I hate it or anything that would possibly deter potential employers and make them think I'm a terrible employee, I am simply sharing my experiences for your entertainment. I am always as pleasant as possible with these people in real life and I do try to help them but some of them seem to only be looking to make things as difficult as possible.


Anyway, today's PSA of the day!
Today's PSA is a lesson that I learned this morning. Caffeine does not counteract the effects of benadryl.
On my way to work this morning I was bit by some sort of bug and my entire wrist turned red and i had a huge bite. When I got to work I took a benadryl and quickly realized that was not the right decision to make. However, I was soon happy to find that some drug rep had wasted some more money and brought in coffee for the office this morning. I thought "this benadryl has made me drowsy and normally this coffee would pick me up, therefore they should combine to create an equilibrium of normal function." However, it really just made me even more tired and I had to pee every 20 minutes.

Today's recipe is one that I came up with all by myself.
Chicken and Mango

1 lb chicken cut into pieces
1 mango cut into pieces
1 red pepper diced or julienned
1 shallot or half a red onion
1 lime
1/2 cup mango juice
2 T rice vinegar
1 1/2 t jalapeño sauce
Chili powder
Salt
Pepper
1 cup chicken broth
Mint


Heat a pan with oil. Add chicken and let cook for a few minutes. Add red pepper, shallots, and mango. Season with salt, pepper and chili powder and cook until chicken and fully cooked and veggies are tender. In a separate bowl combine the mango juice, lime juice and zest from whole lime, jalapeño sauce and chicken broth. When the chicken is cooked through, add the sauce and let simmer for 5 minutes. Add more chili powder if needed. Add a few leaves of mint and let simmer for one more minute. Serve with rice.


That's it for today, thanks for reading!

♥

ACH NEIN!! DIE SCHWEINEGRIPPE!!!

I was planning on writing a typical blog today that started out with this article I found on Spiegel online but once I started writing, I couldn't stop. So today we now have a very special Swine Flu edition of my blog.

~cue lights and dramatic music~

I finally found a swine flu article worthy of sharing. I found this article on Spiegel Online (don't worry, it's in English). The article is an interview with epidemiologist Tom Jefferson. Jefferson's thoughts about the Swine flu are very similar to my own. I have been skeptical of the swine flu "pandemic" since it came about earlier this spring. This is mostly because WHO and many scientists have been crying flu-wolf for quite awhile now. They terrified everyone with the bird flu a few years ago and that ended up just being silly. They have been telling us for years now that we are over-due for an influenza pandemic. I find this statement ridiculous. If we had control over when pandemics hit, then they wouldn't be a problem. How can we say when we're supposed to have pandemics? We can estimate from past pandemics, but they aren't an orderly occurrence, pandemics aren't migrating geese.

When Jefferson was asked why he thought scientists paid so much attention to the influenza viruses when there are so many others out there, he responded the same way I would: Money. There is money for the scientists and for the pharmaceutical companies in influenza. I'm not saying that there is not going to be a huge problem with the swine flu, but I'm not convinced that there will be either. Jefferson also mentioned in the article that WHO had changed the definition of pandemic so Swine flu could be declared as one. They changed the definition by dropping two major qualifying features: high morbidity and mortality rates . . . okkkkkkk. This pretty much says to me that the Swine Flu is not a pandemic. It just needed the name to scare people. I did not previously know about this change and I figure most people are also unaware which adds to their growing fear of the swine flu. People hear the word "Pandemic" and they think of an uncontrollable virus that kills most everyone it infects. Now it apparently means a virus that spreads a lot . . . but that sounds much less dramatic and won't convince everyone and their mother to buy certain anti-flu drugs (which Jefferson also mentioned seems to have some major psychological side-affects) and get a flu shot (which typically don't even work for the regular flu). Speaking of the seasonal flu, Jefferson mentions in this article that only about 7% of cases involving influenza-like symptoms caused by actual influenza viruses. There are tons of infections that can cause the same symptoms of an influenza virus that all get grouped together and raise the numbers for influenza cases each year making it look far worse than it should.

The swine flu issue bothers me for a number of reasons. First of all, I don't think all this flu-hysteria is really healthy for the world. There are sooo many bigger problems that could be dealt with, but everyone is super paranoid about the swine flu. I read a headline somewhere that the WHO recommended that countries start closing schools to slow the spread of the virus. That may sound awesome if you're in the third grade and you get to stay home and watch power rangers all day but what about high school seniors that want to celebrate senior year and go on to college in a year, they would have to wait around another year? What about people in college? I DO NOT want to stick around until 2012 to graduate, I can hardly wait until 2011! I am supposed to study in Germany next spring, now I have to think about what if they won't let me go over there? That screws up my entire schedule of completing my degree. What if I get there and they won't let me go home? That sucks. What if I can go there and get home but I have to stay in the Germany the whole time or that one town the whole time? I love Germany, but I have plans to visit some other places while I'm there. This only adds stress that I do not need. Thanks WHO.

This adds stress to everyone. When people hear that schools are being closed, then they are going to get even more paranoid. This makes it sound like it is spreading like lice and killing everyone who gets it. This could lead to people not traveling which will hurt everyone's already fragile economy. People may start locking themselves and their families up in their houses and stopping all human contact. Mass hysteria can break out over something that might not even be that big of a deal.

I also have a big problem with the way that they have "advertised" (for the lack of a better word) the swine flu. It began in Mexico, ok. It killed people there, ok. When this first began it was a huge story that this new influenza virus was killing Mexicans and was going to come to the US and kill us too. During this time, shortly after people in the US started getting infected as well, I heard a phrase on the news that said "We are still trying to figure out why the Swine Flu is killing people in Mexico but not in the US." My response was " . . . . . really? really? . . . you really don't know? Do you know anything about Mexico? . . .rrrrrright." Of course this is going to kill more people in an unfortunate country like Mexico, they don't have the same standard of living as we do. Of course now it is killing people in the US, but they are not your average healthy person. It is known to hit younger people more than the seasonal flu, but it's not killing perfectly healthy people. When you read further into the cases of people who died, then you find that they had other underlying problems. They had heart problems or lung problems or they already had pneumonia. The seasonal flu could have killed these people as well.

Another major reason the swine flu hype doesn't sit well with me is the involvement of the pharmaceutical companies. I would need another special pharmaceudical edition blog to express my huge problem with this but I will try and sum it up. A short disclaimer first: I do not have a problem with all Pharmaceutical companies. Some make wonderful drugs that help people and some very nice people can work for them (like my father). However, some pharmaceutical companies feed on this fear that spreads quicker than any pandemic can. This recently happened when a certain company introduced their cervical cancer vaccine which supposedly prevents cervical cancer (but not all types if you listen to the end of the commercial). This vaccine took off and some states even require girls to get the vaccine. However, when further researched, you find out that it was fast tracked and the long term side affects are absolutely unknown. I refused to get the vaccine even though my doctor pressured me for about 10 minutes because I do not trust that it is really worth it. It does not prevent all types of cervical cancer and who knows what affects it will have later on in life. A few months later I read an article that this company had begun researching to see if they could expand the HPV diseases they could advertise this drug as preventing. This is mostly because not enough girls were willing to get the vaccine. If they could prove that it would prevent other HPV diseases then they could also begin marketing to boys and older people as well. I then read an article about some pretty bad side-affects that were popping up. But as I thought I would be, I am WAY off track.

Anyway, Jefferson mentioned in his article his skepticism over flu shots because they really only seem to work on healthy young people but they are marketed for really young and really old people in which studies have found the flu shot rather ineffective. I have never gotten a flu shot because I really see no need. I hear a lot about people who have never had the flu, get the shot and then get the flu that year. Companies are also coming out with drugs that are supposed to lessen and shorten flu symptoms. I have read that they do work if taken correctly but they can have some nasty side-affects and recently the swine flu seems to be building a resistance to these drugs. Lucky for these companies, people who are being misinformed about Swine flu and subsequently terrified, will likely hand over their money in exchange for a falsely guided piece of mind. (I'm pretty sure this blog just made it impossible for me to ever work for a pharmaceutical company)

I think I'm going to stop my ranting here since my hands are getting tired and your eyes are probably killing you. I apologize for the epic length of this blog but I hope that you did read it and took a look at the Spiegel article. I think the entire thing was probably good enough for PSA of the day but here's a good pork recipe from my mom's collection in case I'm wrong and the swine flu wipes out the majority of our population ;-)

Pork in Balsamic Vinegar
1 1/2 lb pork tenderloin
2 T olive oil
2/3 C dry white wine

1 medium onion, sliced
1/4 C cider vinegar
3 T dried rosemary
2 T dried sage
1 T dried parsley
2/3 C balsamic vinegar
juice of 1/2 lemon

Preheat oven to 375.
Simmer onion and cider vinegar until soft.
Add rosemary, sage, parsley, balsamic vinegar and lemon juice. set aside
Dry the meat and rub with 1 T olive oil. Brown on all sides in remaining oil. Transfer to roasting pan and add 1/3 C wine. Roast 15 minutes, add remaining wine and roast 15 minutes more.
Allow to cool and transfer to large zip-lock bag. Add marinade mixture and marinate 8 hours in refrigerator. serve warm or at room temperature.

That'll teach those pigs to mess with us!

Feel free to comment with your opinions if you agree or disagree with what I said.

♥

Back to Effective Treatment

Alright, I am ready to get back on track. I apologize for slacking and either not posting or posting something boring which complete defeats the purpose of this blog. :-( But today I have tons of stuff to blog about and I am ready to start once again effectively treating your boredom!

I didn't blog last night because I had a very busy night. I got a tattoo. It is on the inside of my left ankle. It's kind of a strange design, but there is a story behind it for those of you who do not know. ~cue flashback music~ In high school I took voice lessons with possibly the nicest woman ever. She always had food waiting for her students but I was particularly lucky and had my lesson at 2:30. She lived right up the street from school so I always got there early and had lots of time to eat and enjoy Nina's company. At some point we started drinking cappuccino before every lesson despite what everyone says about singing after consuming dairy products (it worked for me, I tended to sound better after the cappuccino). I continued taking lessons from Nina until my senior year when she was diagnosed with colon cancer. She died in the fall of 2007. I chose to get this tattoo in her memory. The cappuccino cup is a reference to the story above and the music coming out is a measure from the last song I sang with her before she was diagnosed with cancer and stopped giving lessons. She had one final recital where I performed Aria #5 from Hector Villa-Lobos' Bachianas Brasileiras. It was the most difficult piece I had ever done and we spent 6 months preparing it. It was definitly my best performance, but I didn't want it to be my last. Once she died, I stopped singing. I hope that now that I can always have a cup of cappuccino with me maybe I can start singing again.

Anyway getting the tattoo was fun! Nina's son, Aaron, who has been my friend for quite awhile now came with me which was cool. It really didn't hurt, despite what everyone says. The further up my leg it went, the more it hurt but it was nothing beyond mild discomfort. I got it done at Drastic Tattoos in Peabody which I totally recommend to anyone around here who wants a tattoo.

Today I am just finishing up work and remembering why I never liked doing this job. I'm not very good at it. I don't really have a choice actually because I can't get into all the scheduling systems that the regular secretaries can get into. Therefore, whenever a patient needs something beyond a routine follow up, I have to ask someone else and waste some of their time. This makes me seem rather useless to the patients and makes me feel more awkward than usual. Also, I think I have killed Robin's plant. When I first started working on Monday, I took a picture of it. It looked real nice. Today . . .it looks pretty sad . . . I watered it and everything but it's just not a trooper. (the first pic is from Monday, the second is from today) whoooops.

I found two articles today that I would like to discuss. The first one Here is about Apple's anger towards Microsoft for their recent "laptop hunter" ads in which macs are portrayed as over-priced. This article made me happy because I am a PC fan. I don't think apple has any place to whine when you consider all their anti-microsoft ads. I especially dislike their anti-vista ads considering I am a very big fan of windows Vista. I know many people that hate it but I think they are just scared. It is confusing when you first see it because of how different it is. However, once you get used it, it is SO easy. I hate when I have to use XP now that I am so used to Vista. Go Microsoft!
The second one Here am I not as happy about. It is titled "Gentler Bruno to play in UK for younger teens. This article relates to one I discussed a few posts back regarding the reaction of the Austrians to Brüno. I praised the Austrians for their awesome response, however I am very disappointed with the UK. They apparently cut the film by two minutes in order to get a 15+ rating instead of 18+. I hate the idea of toning down films for mass appeal. Some movies just need to take the hit and go for the R rating. Sure they won't get as many movie-goers as they could, but the film will suffer less. So many films with awesome potential are dumbed down just to get a lower rating and it makes me sad. So UK . . . no.

Super exciting news! Watchmen comes out on DVD on tuesday!!! I've already pre-ordered my copy because I'm a huge dork and I can not wait!

I think it's time for a PSA of the day!
Today's PSA is getting into the open lane in time when one lane is closed on the highway. This issue probably hits home to my local readers who have been dealing with route 128 this summer. When the sign says "right lane closed 1/2 mile" GET IN THE LEFT LANE! Don't wait until your right in front of the closed lane dicking up the line for everyone else!! If everyone would just get into the correct lane ahead of time instead of trying to be clever and get ahead of everyone we wouldn't have so much damn traffic!! If someone tries to merge shortly after the sign, I will gladly let them in but at a certain point I refuse to let them get infront of me. They can wait like everyone else. ahh, traffic related PSAs always make me angry! Anyway

Today's recipe of the day!!
Today's recipe is SUPER SUPER easy!!!
Asian Noodle Salad

1 lb Chinese noodle, cooked according to package instructions
3 ½ T soy sauce
3 ½ T balsamic vinegar
2T sugar
2t salt
1 t chili oil
4T green onion

Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl, Mix well and refrigerate until ready to serve.


I think that's all for today! Thanks for reading and please keep voting for my picture!
♥

Keep Voting!

My picture has made it to page two of the "newly popular" pictures which is very exciting and I thank you all sooooo much for voting!!! Luckily, you can vote as many times as you want, so please please please keep voting!!!!!!!!! You're the best!!!! (Please refer to my last post if you don't know what I'm talking about!)

I don't have a lot to talk about today, hence the lack of a post yesterday.

Last night was the all star game . . . big surprise, the AL won (Mariano Rivera's 4th all star save!) I'm not really the biggest all star game fan, i find it kind of boring. I flipped back and forth to it throughout the night but was glad to see the AL win . . . again.

I didn't have to work today, that was exciting! I didn't do much either which was nice.

since I don't have too much to say today, I think I will just post some pictures of my favorite puppies!





so that is Broadway, Kenya, Mekka, Snitch, Sweety, Jon, Jupiter, Mozart (kitty) and Lui.

I don't really have PSA for today but i do have a recipe. . .

Buffalo Chicken Stir-fry
•2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
•2 pounds ground chicken or turkey breast (chunks will work too)
•1 cup mushrooms
•1 green pepper
•1 yellow onion, finely chopped
•3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
•Salt and freshly ground black pepper
•2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
•2 tablespoons brown sugar
•1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
•1/4 to 1/3 cup hot sauce
•1 cup chicken stock
•1 cup blue cheese crumbles

Directions
Heat a large skillet with extra-virgin olive oil over medium-high heat. Add meat and break it up with wooden spoon, cook 5 to 6 minutes. Add in mushrooms, pepper, onions and garlic, season with salt and pepper, cook 7 to 8 minutes more. In a bowl combine the vinegar, sugar, Worcestershire, hot sauce, and stock. Pour sauce into the pan and stir to combine. Simmer a few minutes more. Serve with rice and top with blue cheese crumbles.

Sorry today's blog was kind of boring. I'll try and find something interesting to talk about tomorrow. Please keep voting!!!!

♥

Arrrrooooo (Jupiter came up with today's title)

So first off, I need your help!!! First I need you to click HERE! On that page you will see this picture:
Under that you will see a button that says "View & Vote". I need you to click that button and vote for my picture. Please and Thank you!!!!!!!!!!

So now, on with today's blog.

I don't have too much to talk about today, but I have got some stuff. First off a work story. I'm writing so late tonight because for the next two weeks I am covering one of the secretaries at work. Typically, I dread this time of the summer because compared to what I used to do at work, it was a lot more work and really boring. However, this year, when it is compared to what I usually do, it is actually less boring and the people are a lot nicer when they are face to face than when they are on the phone.

Secondly, I would like to approve of the Austrians' general reaction to Brüno. Today at work I read this this article. I was glad I had found it because while I watched Brüno, I wondered how the Austrians had reacted and whether it even played over there. In the article is basically says that some people reacted as you would expect and thought it was the trashiest, most disrespectful movie to ever grace earth but the majority took it in stride and laughed. I was glad to hear that they were mostly enjoying the humor in this film and that not everyone is as stuck up as us Americans. After reading American reviews about the film before seeing it (most of which were bad), I feared reading about how the Austrians reacted. So Austria: you're awesome.

Now I think it is time for today's PSA. Today's PSA is dedicated to my dear friend Kate. Beware of old men on mopeds. They are dangerous. This warning comes from a very personal story. . . One day, many a year ago, while Kate and I peacefully walked home from middle school, we were nearly taken out by an old man on a moped. He seemed to come out of nowhere and nearly ended our lives right on the spot. After the shock wore off, this soon became the story of our year and left us paralyzed in a fit of laughter. But it is no laughing matter, old men on mopeds are a real threat! So beware.

Today's recipe is a very simple one, but it is another of my absolute favorites. Lucky for me, my mom is making it as I type and lucky for you, you can make it now too! Spinach Pasta Salad!

Spinach Pasta Salad

1 lb Geminelli pasta, cooked

½ C olive oil
4-6 cloves, minced garlic

8oz package fresh spinach, stems removed and torn into pieces

½ C grated parmesan cheese

Heat oil in a large fry pan and sauté garlic for 30 seconds, add spinach and cook until tender, about 3-5 minutes.

Pour over cooked pasta and combine well. Sprinkle with grated cheese and mix well.

Refrigerate until ready to serve.


Well, I think that's all for today. Hope you are all enjoying my blog! If you are or even if you aren't, leave a comment and tell me what you think. What you like and dislike and if there's anything else you want me to write about!

♥

unexpected kindness and typical drivers

So it's 2:30 am. I worked half a day today and then drove to North Adams to spend the weekend with Jon. Unfortunately, he has to work 11 pm to 7 am today. I've spent the last 3 hours playing the Sims 3 and decided to update before going to bed.

Work was unexpectedly pleasant today. I was working the front desk instead of answering the phones like usual. I was soon informed that one 80 year old patient would have to sign a waiver saying that we had not yet received their referral from their PCP. This was very concerning for me as I saw the conversation to likely go something like this:
"Good Morning, I just need you to read and sign this for me." "WHAT? I'VE NEVER HAD TO SIGN ANYTHING BEFORE!" "yes, I realize that, but we haven't received your referral yet; but don't worry, it was requested. "I DON'T KNOW WHY YOU NEED ME TO SIGN THIS!" "It's just saying that you know that we have not yet received your referral, that's all." "I'VE NEVER HAD TO DO THIS BEFORE!" and so on.
However, to my delight, the man walked in and I asked him to read and sign the slip and he promptly complied with just a question as to what exactly it was. I responded by telling him that his referral was requested but not yet received and he informed me that his primary care doctor had been sick and that is probably why and then continued to tell me all about how his daughter and him are planning to go to the cape soon and he was very pleasant with me the entire time he spent in the waiting room. If everyone who came to our office was that nice, I would be much happier.

After work, I embarked on the 3 hour journey to North Adams. It was a nice day, so it wasn't too bad. Jon and I saw Brüno. We enjoyed it quite a bit, but you definitely have to go into it knowing how ridiculous it is going to be.

Now it time for a very important PSA of the day!
Today's PSA is about yielding. The yield sign is a somewhat mythical creature in the eastern part of Massachusetts. Everyone learns about it in drivers-ed, but it is rarely seen by drivers. Oh, they are there, they are just ignored. I have found that once you get to the middle of the state and beyond, they are more vigorously acknowledged. However, for the east I feel that I must spread the word. The yield sign is that triangular red and white (sometimes yellow) sign that you see, especially while merging onto the highway. This sign means that you can only fly onto the highway if it is clear and safe, not if there are 5 cars coming. If this is the case, then you must stop until it is safe to go. Many many many drivers in eastern Massachusetts choose to just drive right onto the highway regardless of what is coming which leads to many a problem. Those who manage to go fast enough and get lucky enough that any cars are far enough away, can make it work. However, it often happens that there are cars coming and the person merging without yielding is going 30, nearly gets hit and pisses off the other driver. This can all be avoided by YIELDING!!!!

On a lighter note, Today's recipe!!!

Today's recipe is soft pretzels! I love pretzels. I love hard pretzels, soft pretzels, pretzel sticks, regular shaped pretzels, pretzel nuggets, pretzel goldfish, etc. I like them with just a bit of salt, no mustard or cheese to take away from the purity of the pretzel. (Something I forgot from my I love food post: I am a total food purist.) Pretzels are one of the few adventures I will take into the world of baking and it is always worth it! I've tried a few different recipes and sort of combined them all into my own that I think works the best.

Pretzels

1 ½ C warm water
1 T sugar
2 t kosher salt
1 package active dry yeast
4 C all purpose flour
2 T melted butter
10 C water
2/3 C baking soda
1 egg for egg wash
Kosher salt to salt pretzel

Combine the 1 ½ cups water, sugar and kosher salt in a medium sized bowl and add yeast. Let stand for 5 minutes or until the mixture gets foamy.

Add two cups of flour and butter to the yeast mixture. Mix for a minute then add the rest of the flour. Mix until all the flour is mixed in and it forms a dough that pulls away from the sides of the bowl. (this can be done in a mixer with a dough hook attachment, but I find it easier to do by hand) Remove the dough and clean the bowl. Lightly grease the bowl with some vegetable oil or non-stick spray. Put the dough back in the bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let the dough sit in a warm place for about an hour.

Once the dough has risen, preheat the oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit. Spray two sheet pans with non-stick spray or cover them in parchment paper. (I find it best to lightly grease the parchment paper as well, just to make sure nothing sticks)

Bring the 10 cups of water and the baking soda to a boil. Take the plastic wrap off the bowl and lightly push down on the dough. Take out the dough and place it on a floured work surface. Cut the dough into 8 equal pieces. (I find it easiest to pat the dough into a square then cut it into quarters and those quarters into halves) Roll out each piece into a rope then cross the ends over to a make a pretzel shape.

Place the pretzels one by one into the boiling water for about 30 seconds then place them onto the baking sheets. Brush each pretzel with the egg wash and sprinkle on the desired amount of salt.

Bake them in the oven for about 12 minutes. (I find it best to set the timer for 6 minutes, check them and switch racks then set the timer for another 6 minutes, this way each sheet gets 6 minutes on the top rack of the oven. Depending on your oven, one sheet may have to come out slightly earlier than the other, just watch them) Let the pretzels cool for at least five minutes, waiting 10 or 15 will allow them to get their normal chewy pretzel texture. Less than 5 minutes and they will be too hot and less than 15 they have a more bread-like texture.


Thanks for reading and remember to yield!!

Tschüß!

ps feed my fishies and follow my blog!

I love food but hate computer STDs.

Hallo liebe Leute!

I have an hour an fifteen minutes left of work and have had plenty of time to prepare today's blog! Today I am going to share with you my love of food. I have also decided that every blog is going to end in a recipe that I want to share with you. Every blog is also going to end with a PSA about a subject I feel you need to be warned about (many will likely not be as serious as others). So here we go . . .

• I love food. I love cooking food, I love eating food, I love smelling food, I love looking at food, I don't so much love having to pay for food but that's besides the point.
• I love a lot of foods, but there are very specific foods that I do not like. I hate potatoes. I have never ever liked potatoes. When I was a small child, my parents tried to feed me potatoes and I not only spit them out, I wiped my tongue. I also do not like eggs. I used to like eggs, but then I stopped. I don't like yogurt, but I wish that I did. It smells so good but tastes so bad :-(
• I love chicken, pasta and seafood but I will eat any animal (Fun to pet, better to chew! -Jim Gaffigan)
• I grew up with parents that both love to cook. They always cooked things that I found normal but I realized later in life that they were not. For example: We ALWAYS had a rice cooker in the house and we ate rice like our lives depended on it. However, when I was 16 I finally realized that not everyone, in fact very few people, have rice cookers in their house. This was slightly embarrassing.
• So now that I am older I have inherited their passion for cooking (UMass dining also helped move the process along) I started cooking at school and have acquired quite a few delicious recipes from various places.
• I'm addicted to the food network. I watch it all the time and have lost countless hours of sleep watching "Food network night time"
  
• I love Rachael Ray and don't care how annoying you think she is. I also love Paula Deen.
• I'm not so much into baking. I had a traumatic experience involving expensive brownie mix and egg negligence. Kate and I were supposed to make four boxes of Ghirardelli brownies which we did. However, we did not add the eggs. Therefore, they sat in the oven for two and a half hours and never cooked. So I stick to cooking and minimal baking.

• As much as I love cooking, I also love to eating at restaurants. Some of my favorite restaurants are The Melting Pot, Legal Seafood, McCormick and Schmick, PF Chang's, Buffalo Wild Wings and the Thai restaurant in Gloucester. I suggest you try all of these restaurants because they are delicious!
• For your viewing pleasure: This is a video that Jess and I made for German 311 about Schnitzel and Pretzels (don't worry, there is minimal German speaking.) it's epic.
  

I think that's enough about food for now, there will likely be more later on.

Now for today's PSA . . .

Get your computer tested for STD's! Just as you don't want to have the clap, your computer doesn't want to have a virus. I suggest getting a main anti-virus program such as McAfee as well as anti-spyware or anti-malware programs such as Super antispyware or malware bytes. These extra programs can usually be found online for free and are very helpful in protecting your beloved computer. Also invest in an external hard drive to backup all of your important files just in case something does happen and you need to wipe your hard drive or if your computer crashes.


Today's Recipe: Chicken and Green Onion Sauce! This is one of my mom's many recipes and one of my absolute favorites.

Chicken in green onion sauce

2 t soy sauce
1 ½ t sugar
1 T sherry or cooking wine
4 chicken breasts, pounded thin

Cornstarch
4-6 T olive oil

6T rice vinegar
6T sugar
4T soy sauce
Bunch green onion, chopped
1T sesame oil
1t chili oil

Place chicken in a ziplock bag with 2t soy sauce, 1 ½ t sugar and cooking wine and let sit for 10-15 minutes.

Combine the final 6 ingredients and set aside

Dredge the chicken in the cornstarch and shake off any extra.

Heat the olive oil and fry the chicken until golden brown 3-4 minutes per side. Remove to a serving dish.

Add the remaining ingredients and bring to a slight boil. Pour over the chicken and serve with rice


That's all for today! Hope your treatment is working. Thanks for Reading!

p.s. Feed my fishies on the side and follow my blog!

Pre-Treatment Consult

So lately I have been trying to keep sane at work by reading my friends' blogs. This has been quite successful and today I have decided to give back and create my own blog to try and help other people suffering from chronic boredom. It also gives me something else to do while I'm at work.

For those of you who do not know, I work for a group of three Urologists in Beverly. I used to wander around the office doing whatever needed to be done, but this summer I have leveled up to Operator. It sounded good at first when I thought about the money I could get with a 40 hour a week job. However, I soon remembered that I hate getting up early, I get bored real easily and I have a low tolerance for humans, especially the cranky old kind suffering from urinary problems. There will be many a post about the people I speak to during the day.

I will likely just write about whatever random subject I feel needs to be discussed throughout my day and hopefully it will keep you entertained for a few minutes and I will feel satisfied.

I will also probably post a bunch of random videos and pictures that I take with my camera or that I find and think need to be shared with you.

Anyway, enjoy!