Look!! I am back blogging again! It has been a few days since I have posted anything due to work being CRAZY busy, but hopefully things have slowed down enough that I can get back on track.
So I am back again at my home away from home…Starbucks. Have you ever noticed how Starbucks is like a melting pot of different cultures? I don’t think I have ever been in any location that didn’t have at least 3 or 4 different races and cultures being represented at the same time. And always a vast array of age groups. I can see teenagers, college kids, thirty-somethings, forty-somethings, and even senior citizens from my little piece of Starbucks real estate (aka my table and chair). A lot of work and homework being done, a lot of music downloading, and who knows what else. The common theme with everyone though, is that we all seem to be very content. Not sure if it is the ambience…or just the caffeine high….but we are all very content, nonetheless.
Well…the girl in front of me is not so content…she seems to be having a hard time with her homework. She keeps saying to herself “I just don’t understand”. Looks like Geometry… so there goes any hope of me helping her. I hated geometry…never could do those Proofs. I never understood the necessity of knowing the measurements of a triangle, much less if it was isosceles (is that spelled correctly?) or not.
There is another young couple across from me that is looking for a new apartment (or maybe there first). They are discussing whether amenities or floor plan is more important. She says floor plan…he says amenities. He “needs” a swimming pool….and she just wants the second bedroom to be on the other side of the apartment from the master bedroom. She will win… just my opinion.
A group of girls ( college age) across the room all have their laptops out and are apparently listening to music…as every couple minutes one of them will start singing…and the other two will join in. Annoying at times… but they are enjoying themselves.
Ok…I feel really old now. The geometry girl in front me just asked me what time it is…a perfectly normal question, right? However, when she asked she said “Excuse me, SIR…can you tell me what time it is?” she called me SIR. She is probably a senior in high school, which is considerable younger than myself… but I am certainly not used to be being called sir. Not making a big deal of this…it just caught me off guard. I guess I should be happy that she was polite about it… most kids would have just looked me and said “Tell what time it is”. She even said “Thank You…..SIR”.
Ok… I am off to the store (to cause myself torture by having to deal with the incompetent checkers) to buy the ingredients for dinner. I am making Roasted Tomato and Red Pepper Soup with homemade Rosemary Croutons. Easy…but very delicious. I might post again later to let you know how it turned out.
Until then… Keep Smiling and Keep Blogging.
Saturday, January 16, 2010
Sunday, January 10, 2010
My boss and underwear...wait, what?
Back to work tomorrow for me… Already? I have a new boss as of tomorrow. For most people this would conjure up some sort of emotion…whether good, bad, excitement, fear…whatever. However, for me, it is just another day at work. This will be my sixth new boss in about 4 years, so this kind of change is like any other day to me now….like changing underwear. Wait… did I just compare my new boss to underwear? Well, anyway, I think he will be ok. The few people that have met him already seem to think he is going to be very easy to get along with and that he seems pretty laid back. I am sure I will have some sort of update on this subject tomorrow…
Keep Smiling and Keep Blogging!!
Keep Smiling and Keep Blogging!!
Saturday, January 9, 2010
Special note to Ambitious1.....Checker Challenges..... Grazers
Every time I go to the grocery store, I leave thinking I need to be getting a paycheck from them. Why is it that I always seem to get in the line in which the checker has now clue of what any of the fresh produce is in my basket, or how to ring it up? They have those little cheat sheets that spin around and give them the code number for everything…but those are useless. They are useless because the problem is not that the checker doesn’t know the code…they don’t know what Fennel is, or what whether I have a cucumber or zucchini, or whether I am trying to buy butternut squash or acorn squash. I end up having to tell them what it is so they can scan it. I mean it is not like I am buying really weird stuff…like those fruit things with the spikey horns, or one of those melons that look like a dinosaur egg.
This is just not right on many levels.
Are those varicose veins...on a melon?
I am not even sure why I waited to go to the store on a Saturday anyway. It is the worst possible day to go. It is always busy and standing in line is not on my list of “favorites”. Not only that, but you have to deal with all the Grazers. Grazers are the people that go to the store on Saturdays for the sole purpose of visiting each and every “free sample” station they can find. These people do nothing but block the aisles…for what? A cracker with smear of some new processed cheese product on it? Or a toothpick stuck in some meat substitute? Or a 1 oz cup of stale granola? I mean really… seriously?
Ok… enough ranting for today.
Oh…I almost forgot… I gained a new follower today…Ambitious1. Hopefully she will read this…
Ambitious1, your blog is good and I am now following….but you need to check your “post comments” link. It doesn’t seem to work, so no one can leave you comments. And since you said you began following me because of the meaningful comments I have left on a blog we both follow… I would like to be able to give you some comments…K? So get the link fixed…now…I’ll wait…
This is just not right on many levels.
Are those varicose veins...on a melon?
I am not even sure why I waited to go to the store on a Saturday anyway. It is the worst possible day to go. It is always busy and standing in line is not on my list of “favorites”. Not only that, but you have to deal with all the Grazers. Grazers are the people that go to the store on Saturdays for the sole purpose of visiting each and every “free sample” station they can find. These people do nothing but block the aisles…for what? A cracker with smear of some new processed cheese product on it? Or a toothpick stuck in some meat substitute? Or a 1 oz cup of stale granola? I mean really… seriously?
Ok… enough ranting for today.
Oh…I almost forgot… I gained a new follower today…Ambitious1. Hopefully she will read this…
Ambitious1, your blog is good and I am now following….but you need to check your “post comments” link. It doesn’t seem to work, so no one can leave you comments. And since you said you began following me because of the meaningful comments I have left on a blog we both follow… I would like to be able to give you some comments…K? So get the link fixed…now…I’ll wait…
E-Freaks... Graceland.... And the Smell of Dizzy
Today is Elvis Presley’s 75th birthday…or wait, it is after midnight, so i guess yesterday was his birthday. For most people, that means they may hear something about it on TV… or see a quick mention on the internet. But for those of us that live in Memphis, TN…that means we get to hear about it for a good solid week. It also means we get to see some 50,000 people from all over the world come pouring into our city. This is always good for Memphis, as it brings in tourist dollars and helps out our local businesses. But it also seems to bring out some of the oddest people you will ever see. Not just Elvis impersonators, but I am talking some crazy Elvis fanatics….or E-Freaks as we around here so lovingly refer to them.
Even at lunch today… a co-worker and I had the honor of eating two tables away from the “king” himself. Oddly enough, the “King” was also sitting at a table across the restaurant. So me, my co worker, the two “Kings”, and about 20 other people that were wearing Elvis shirts, hats, buttons, scarves, etc , etc, etc. all enjoyed our sandwiches and chips together. Of course, all you could hear from any and every table was story after story of how they “once met Elvis” or “once saw Elvis in the grocery store” or “have a lock of his hair from seeing him concert”. Every one of the E-Freaks seems to have some personal “connection” to Elvis.
Of course after lunch…all of the E-Freaks were headed over to take the big tour of Graceland along with thousands more of their kind…the highlight of their trip. I have lived in Memphis since 1989…and I have never officially been to Graceland. I say officially because I have driven past it several times… just never taken the tour. However, I heard enough about it over the years that I feel like I have taken the tour many times.
Of Course, tonight and all this weekend is when the real craziness will happen…down on Beale Street. The Elvis Impersonators will line up and down Beale and the big street party will be in full swing. Beale is a big street party every weekend, but Elvis Birthday Week becomes a madhouse.
So ….Happy Birthday Elvis….the E-Freaks are doing you proud!!!
Time for today’s edition of “What’s in the community refrigerator at work?”
MMMM….MMMM… Today’s morsel of muck was a piece of fish. I truly have no clue what type it was for sure, as it was perfectly square and a grayish white color. Nothing else with it…just a lump of gray fish substance on a plate….mmmm…. good eats boys and girls!! I would try to describe the smell as it was being heated in the community microwave (which could be a whole separate segment on this blog in itself—but I will spare you that indulgence), but just thinking about it is making me dizzy all over again.
Keep Smiling and Keep Blogging!!
Even at lunch today… a co-worker and I had the honor of eating two tables away from the “king” himself. Oddly enough, the “King” was also sitting at a table across the restaurant. So me, my co worker, the two “Kings”, and about 20 other people that were wearing Elvis shirts, hats, buttons, scarves, etc , etc, etc. all enjoyed our sandwiches and chips together. Of course, all you could hear from any and every table was story after story of how they “once met Elvis” or “once saw Elvis in the grocery store” or “have a lock of his hair from seeing him concert”. Every one of the E-Freaks seems to have some personal “connection” to Elvis.
Of course after lunch…all of the E-Freaks were headed over to take the big tour of Graceland along with thousands more of their kind…the highlight of their trip. I have lived in Memphis since 1989…and I have never officially been to Graceland. I say officially because I have driven past it several times… just never taken the tour. However, I heard enough about it over the years that I feel like I have taken the tour many times.
Of Course, tonight and all this weekend is when the real craziness will happen…down on Beale Street. The Elvis Impersonators will line up and down Beale and the big street party will be in full swing. Beale is a big street party every weekend, but Elvis Birthday Week becomes a madhouse.
So ….Happy Birthday Elvis….the E-Freaks are doing you proud!!!
Time for today’s edition of “What’s in the community refrigerator at work?”
MMMM….MMMM… Today’s morsel of muck was a piece of fish. I truly have no clue what type it was for sure, as it was perfectly square and a grayish white color. Nothing else with it…just a lump of gray fish substance on a plate….mmmm…. good eats boys and girls!! I would try to describe the smell as it was being heated in the community microwave (which could be a whole separate segment on this blog in itself—but I will spare you that indulgence), but just thinking about it is making me dizzy all over again.
Keep Smiling and Keep Blogging!!
Friday, January 8, 2010
1st week's thoughts.... old people food... and French Toast in the snow?
Day 7 01-07-10
One week ago I sat out for this little venture into blogging. So far it has been a blast. I have had some rollercoaster thoughts about the blogging process over the past week. Day one and two were fun and exciting. Then day three I became stressed and obsessed over it…thinking I HAD to get more followers and readers… I thought I was going to end up on the show “Intervention” before day four arrived. Then suddenly it hit me… Even if I have only one follower/reader that enjoys my blog… then isn’t that all that really matters? I mean, if I can even for a brief minute put a small hint of a smile on someone’s face ( a stranger for that matter)…then can’t I consider my blog worth the effort each day? I think so…
So reader(s) beware… I am sticking around this blogging thing for a while! And a special thanks to Luna over at Luna’s Gonna Lose It for the shout out in her blog post today. If you haven’t been to her blog yet… you should click here to do so!!
Today’s edition of “What’s in the community refrigerator at work”…
Since the fridges were cleaned out yesterday, and a lot of people stayed home because of the snow, there was not much available to inspect. There were some green peas with pearl onions…not very interesting, but certainly not my idea of a great lunch. There was some carrot and raisin salad… boring. Some cabbage slaw with two hot dogs on a slice of wheat bread. It was kind of like looking in the refrigerator at a nursing home… minus the ambrosia salad.
Speaking of the snow… We actually had people out from work today because of it. Really? It was not even a full inch of snow. But I guess that is the South for ya….. The first hint of snow and southerners freak out. They actually showed people on the news last night at the grocery store buying a bunch of food and crap. Now, I understand, back in ’94 we had this massive ice storm that knocked the power out for nearly three quarters of the entire city…but is such panic really necessary? And besides…the news said people were buying milk and eggs and bread. Now let’s analyze this…I see at least two things wrong already…
1. Based on the three ingredients being bought, is everyone in the city going to suddenly have the urge to make French toast just because it snowed?
2. Should the power go out for an extended period of time…the first two things to go bad would be the milk and eggs…so let’s be sure to stock up on those two items… Sheesh, really?
3. Should the power go out for an extended period of time… how in the heck are you going to be able to turn your now spoiled eggs and milk and bread into French toast?
I say…buy a jar of Pig Lips and a bag of potato chips and be done with all !!!! (this makes more sense if you have read my previous posts...so go read them...now...go on...go!!)
Keep Smiling and Keep Blogging !
One week ago I sat out for this little venture into blogging. So far it has been a blast. I have had some rollercoaster thoughts about the blogging process over the past week. Day one and two were fun and exciting. Then day three I became stressed and obsessed over it…thinking I HAD to get more followers and readers… I thought I was going to end up on the show “Intervention” before day four arrived. Then suddenly it hit me… Even if I have only one follower/reader that enjoys my blog… then isn’t that all that really matters? I mean, if I can even for a brief minute put a small hint of a smile on someone’s face ( a stranger for that matter)…then can’t I consider my blog worth the effort each day? I think so…
So reader(s) beware… I am sticking around this blogging thing for a while! And a special thanks to Luna over at Luna’s Gonna Lose It for the shout out in her blog post today. If you haven’t been to her blog yet… you should click here to do so!!
Today’s edition of “What’s in the community refrigerator at work”…
Since the fridges were cleaned out yesterday, and a lot of people stayed home because of the snow, there was not much available to inspect. There were some green peas with pearl onions…not very interesting, but certainly not my idea of a great lunch. There was some carrot and raisin salad… boring. Some cabbage slaw with two hot dogs on a slice of wheat bread. It was kind of like looking in the refrigerator at a nursing home… minus the ambrosia salad.
Speaking of the snow… We actually had people out from work today because of it. Really? It was not even a full inch of snow. But I guess that is the South for ya….. The first hint of snow and southerners freak out. They actually showed people on the news last night at the grocery store buying a bunch of food and crap. Now, I understand, back in ’94 we had this massive ice storm that knocked the power out for nearly three quarters of the entire city…but is such panic really necessary? And besides…the news said people were buying milk and eggs and bread. Now let’s analyze this…I see at least two things wrong already…
1. Based on the three ingredients being bought, is everyone in the city going to suddenly have the urge to make French toast just because it snowed?
2. Should the power go out for an extended period of time…the first two things to go bad would be the milk and eggs…so let’s be sure to stock up on those two items… Sheesh, really?
3. Should the power go out for an extended period of time… how in the heck are you going to be able to turn your now spoiled eggs and milk and bread into French toast?
I say…buy a jar of Pig Lips and a bag of potato chips and be done with all !!!! (this makes more sense if you have read my previous posts...so go read them...now...go on...go!!)
Keep Smiling and Keep Blogging !
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
rabid kids.... Fridge Fairies.... and hairy caterpillars
Today at work a couple of co-workers and myself got into a discussion about children. One co-worker was telling-us about how frustrated she got with her two kids, a boy and a girl, ages 6 and 8 respectively. Apparently last night they were very hyper for whatever reason and were, as she put it, "running around acting like rabid animals in heat". She said that she just could not get them to settle down. they would start off playing, but always ended up fighting, whining, and chasing each other. She tried putting them in their own rooms, but that they continued to bother each other by banging on the walls at each other. She almost seemed like she was getting frustrated all over again just telling us about it.
This got me to thinking about my childhood. I do not have any kids of my own (yet, but someday ...God willing). Anyway my Mom used to tell me a story about me and my brother when we were around those same ages. My brother and I used to play outside alot, and we used to make up alot of games. One day we decided we were going to play gas station. We would wash the window on the car, pretend we were checking the oil, etc. Well when it came time to put the gas in the car, pretending just wasn't cutting it...it need to be "real". So we opened the gas tank on the car, grabbed the water hose, and let'er rip. yep, filled up the car gas tank till it overflowed with good ol' H20. Of course this rendered the car useless...and my parents had to have the water siphoned out of the tank. My parents were not as excited about us fillig up the car with "gas" as my brother and I were, so needless to say, we were in pretty big trouble. So as we were both put into our room (that we shared) for basically the next couple of years of our lives ( or so it seemed, I'm sure...probably was just the rest of the night), we needed something to do. After all just sitting there was not an option for two boys of that age. Apparently we decided, for some strange reason, to take all of our clothes out of the dresser drawers and throw them out the window. By the time we got caught, we had stripped the bunk beds of all the sheets and comforters and were about to give them the ol heave-ho as well. To this day, neither me or my brother know what made us throw everything out the window...but due to whatever game we had made up at the time...it was COMPLETELY necessary to make the game seem more "real". I am the younger brother, so i can just always claim that i was just doing what my big brother told me to do!! This doesn't seem to work as well, now that i am in my 30's....hmmm.
Today's edition of "what's in the community refrigerator at work?"
Praise the Lord, there is a God!! The refrigerators have been cleaned out...sparkling clean!! Smell like new!! It is like the Fridge Fairies all got together and said "WTF!! is going on in those refrigerators? We must stop the onslaught of toxic vapors before anyone (else) gets sick."
However never fear... the work place never fails to offer wonderful nuggets and strange offerings of the most bizarre kind. So today's edition of "what's in the community refrigerator at work?" has been relpaced with....
"What was found in the stairwell at work?"
As I was leaving work today, I took my normal route from the second floor to the parking lot, by going down the back stairs. The means two flights...so as I came to the end of the first flight and rounded the corner to the second flight...there it was!! It was hanging on the handrail.... brownish red in color...about 6 to 8 inches long....greasy...with some sort of rubber band type thing on one end. Just hanging there waiting for some unsuspecting soul to accidently grab hold while just innocently trying to keep from falling by grabbing the supplied handrail. It was..... a stray, braided ....hair extension!!! Yep...some poor female is running around tonight with a gaping spot on the back of her head where the this extension broke free and jumped for its life to the stairwell handrail. Ok..so how does one not know something of this sort has fallen off their head? Being a guy with very short blonde hair... i agree I do not know anything about hair extensions...but i think I would know if one fell off my head...?!?! My question is ...who picked it up to put it on the handrail?..... it looked liked a very large hairy caterpillar...
Keep Smiling...and Keep Blogging
This got me to thinking about my childhood. I do not have any kids of my own (yet, but someday ...God willing). Anyway my Mom used to tell me a story about me and my brother when we were around those same ages. My brother and I used to play outside alot, and we used to make up alot of games. One day we decided we were going to play gas station. We would wash the window on the car, pretend we were checking the oil, etc. Well when it came time to put the gas in the car, pretending just wasn't cutting it...it need to be "real". So we opened the gas tank on the car, grabbed the water hose, and let'er rip. yep, filled up the car gas tank till it overflowed with good ol' H20. Of course this rendered the car useless...and my parents had to have the water siphoned out of the tank. My parents were not as excited about us fillig up the car with "gas" as my brother and I were, so needless to say, we were in pretty big trouble. So as we were both put into our room (that we shared) for basically the next couple of years of our lives ( or so it seemed, I'm sure...probably was just the rest of the night), we needed something to do. After all just sitting there was not an option for two boys of that age. Apparently we decided, for some strange reason, to take all of our clothes out of the dresser drawers and throw them out the window. By the time we got caught, we had stripped the bunk beds of all the sheets and comforters and were about to give them the ol heave-ho as well. To this day, neither me or my brother know what made us throw everything out the window...but due to whatever game we had made up at the time...it was COMPLETELY necessary to make the game seem more "real". I am the younger brother, so i can just always claim that i was just doing what my big brother told me to do!! This doesn't seem to work as well, now that i am in my 30's....hmmm.
Today's edition of "what's in the community refrigerator at work?"
Praise the Lord, there is a God!! The refrigerators have been cleaned out...sparkling clean!! Smell like new!! It is like the Fridge Fairies all got together and said "WTF!! is going on in those refrigerators? We must stop the onslaught of toxic vapors before anyone (else) gets sick."
However never fear... the work place never fails to offer wonderful nuggets and strange offerings of the most bizarre kind. So today's edition of "what's in the community refrigerator at work?" has been relpaced with....
"What was found in the stairwell at work?"
As I was leaving work today, I took my normal route from the second floor to the parking lot, by going down the back stairs. The means two flights...so as I came to the end of the first flight and rounded the corner to the second flight...there it was!! It was hanging on the handrail.... brownish red in color...about 6 to 8 inches long....greasy...with some sort of rubber band type thing on one end. Just hanging there waiting for some unsuspecting soul to accidently grab hold while just innocently trying to keep from falling by grabbing the supplied handrail. It was..... a stray, braided ....hair extension!!! Yep...some poor female is running around tonight with a gaping spot on the back of her head where the this extension broke free and jumped for its life to the stairwell handrail. Ok..so how does one not know something of this sort has fallen off their head? Being a guy with very short blonde hair... i agree I do not know anything about hair extensions...but i think I would know if one fell off my head...?!?! My question is ...who picked it up to put it on the handrail?..... it looked liked a very large hairy caterpillar...
Keep Smiling...and Keep Blogging
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Side Affects....
Day 5 01-05-10
Have you ever listened to the possible side affects you can have from the medicines being advertised on TV? I mean really.... a prescription medicine for a simple headache...but the side affects are nausea, diarhea, vomiting, abdominal pain....personally, I would rather suffer through the headache. My favorite ones are for the sleep aid medicines. These medicines are to help you fall asleep, yet the first side affect listed is...may cause drowsiness. What the...? Isn't that the point?!?!?
That is like the the warning on coffee cups at fast food restaurants now... the one that says "Contents of this container may be hot". Well no crap...i ordered hot coffee, didn't I?
Or the warnings on plastic bags that say "Do not place over head". Why the hell would I ever need to anyway?
Time for today's edition of ...
"What's in the community refrigerator at work?"
Today's mouthwatering morsel is: lunch meat. Today I witnessed a plastic baggie of lunch meat in the little container in the door usually reserved for ketchup, mustard, and soy sauce packets. I am still not sure exactly what type of lunch meat it was, as it was not normal "meat" color. It was more of a coffee stain amber color...which leads me to believe it was once some form of poultry.
I do not include this feature on this blog to gross you out...but more so you can hopefully help me understand people. Why can't these people in my work place learn to throw away their rotten food. It really scares me to think of what the fridge in their homes is like... and to think I have eaten food at work potlucks made by some of these same people!!
Until next time... Keep smiling and keep blogging.
Have you ever listened to the possible side affects you can have from the medicines being advertised on TV? I mean really.... a prescription medicine for a simple headache...but the side affects are nausea, diarhea, vomiting, abdominal pain....personally, I would rather suffer through the headache. My favorite ones are for the sleep aid medicines. These medicines are to help you fall asleep, yet the first side affect listed is...may cause drowsiness. What the...? Isn't that the point?!?!?
That is like the the warning on coffee cups at fast food restaurants now... the one that says "Contents of this container may be hot". Well no crap...i ordered hot coffee, didn't I?
Or the warnings on plastic bags that say "Do not place over head". Why the hell would I ever need to anyway?
Time for today's edition of ...
"What's in the community refrigerator at work?"
Today's mouthwatering morsel is: lunch meat. Today I witnessed a plastic baggie of lunch meat in the little container in the door usually reserved for ketchup, mustard, and soy sauce packets. I am still not sure exactly what type of lunch meat it was, as it was not normal "meat" color. It was more of a coffee stain amber color...which leads me to believe it was once some form of poultry.
I do not include this feature on this blog to gross you out...but more so you can hopefully help me understand people. Why can't these people in my work place learn to throw away their rotten food. It really scares me to think of what the fridge in their homes is like... and to think I have eaten food at work potlucks made by some of these same people!!
Until next time... Keep smiling and keep blogging.
Monday, January 4, 2010
Black Ears...Bootylicious...and Gray Shrimp
Day 4 01-04-10
Started back to work today after my week or so vacation...and surprisingly, it wasn't too bad. My email was not overflowing as expected, and no one sabotaged my desk. Desk sabotaging is a favorite pastime in my office. Whether it be simple hiding of your stapler and other desk paraphanalia or more harsh things like putting copy toner on your phone to cause your ear to turn black...you can usually count on something upon your return to the office. But, to my knowledge, nothing was disturbed at my desk. However, maybe the sheer paranoia of expecting something all day was the real trick....hmmmm.
So what is it with the cell phone ringtones these days? I know alot of people are using real songs for their ringtone nowadays, and that is cool, I guess. I mean, I myself do not think i will be changing my ringtone to anything with the word bootylicious, or the phrase 'My humps' being blasted for everyone to hear...but if other people do, i guess that is their perrogative. However, the ringtones that do make me cringe are the ones where you can record your own voice and set it as your ringtone. There are several in my office and they go off constantly. One of them is this lady's child saying "I love you Mommy"...cute the first time...amazingly annoying every other time. And she doesn't just pick it up...she has to let it ring like 3 times first... saying " isn't that sweet?" I want to tell her No..it isn't sweet, it is excruciatingly painful to my ears. Another guy has his set with what i assume is his own voice, saying "Pick up the damn phone"... this is just plain ignorant to me. Wasn't even funny the first time. And last but not least, the guy across from me has now set his phone with his own voice saying "Ring, ring....Ring, ring". He and I are good friends, so I told him that he needed to put it on vibrate before I went nuts. So the next time his phone rang, it was his voice saying "Vibrate, vibrate...Vibrate, vibrate." Ok...so i had to laugh at that one. Point is...whatever happened to just a normal ring tone...boring maybe...but still very effective, right?
Ok..Starting a new daily feature (well monday through friday, anyway) on this blog called: "what's in the community refrigerator at work?" it never ceases to amaze me the crap that some people will eat. I mean it is not like i am inspecting everyone's tupperware or anything, but sometimes you open that fridge and you can either see or smell (or both) some things that i truly have to wonder if they are fit for human consumption. Todays delicacy was some sort of Ramen noodle concoction with what i think was shrimp and green peas. The shrimp however were gray and sort of mushy looking and the peas weren't much better... i was introduced to this work of culinary art by the wonderfully foul aroma it gave off. I guess i will know who it belonged to just by seeing who does not show up for work tomorrow due to food poisoning.
Well, off to bed. Keep smiling and keep blogging!!!
Started back to work today after my week or so vacation...and surprisingly, it wasn't too bad. My email was not overflowing as expected, and no one sabotaged my desk. Desk sabotaging is a favorite pastime in my office. Whether it be simple hiding of your stapler and other desk paraphanalia or more harsh things like putting copy toner on your phone to cause your ear to turn black...you can usually count on something upon your return to the office. But, to my knowledge, nothing was disturbed at my desk. However, maybe the sheer paranoia of expecting something all day was the real trick....hmmmm.
So what is it with the cell phone ringtones these days? I know alot of people are using real songs for their ringtone nowadays, and that is cool, I guess. I mean, I myself do not think i will be changing my ringtone to anything with the word bootylicious, or the phrase 'My humps' being blasted for everyone to hear...but if other people do, i guess that is their perrogative. However, the ringtones that do make me cringe are the ones where you can record your own voice and set it as your ringtone. There are several in my office and they go off constantly. One of them is this lady's child saying "I love you Mommy"...cute the first time...amazingly annoying every other time. And she doesn't just pick it up...she has to let it ring like 3 times first... saying " isn't that sweet?" I want to tell her No..it isn't sweet, it is excruciatingly painful to my ears. Another guy has his set with what i assume is his own voice, saying "Pick up the damn phone"... this is just plain ignorant to me. Wasn't even funny the first time. And last but not least, the guy across from me has now set his phone with his own voice saying "Ring, ring....Ring, ring". He and I are good friends, so I told him that he needed to put it on vibrate before I went nuts. So the next time his phone rang, it was his voice saying "Vibrate, vibrate...Vibrate, vibrate." Ok...so i had to laugh at that one. Point is...whatever happened to just a normal ring tone...boring maybe...but still very effective, right?
Ok..Starting a new daily feature (well monday through friday, anyway) on this blog called: "what's in the community refrigerator at work?" it never ceases to amaze me the crap that some people will eat. I mean it is not like i am inspecting everyone's tupperware or anything, but sometimes you open that fridge and you can either see or smell (or both) some things that i truly have to wonder if they are fit for human consumption. Todays delicacy was some sort of Ramen noodle concoction with what i think was shrimp and green peas. The shrimp however were gray and sort of mushy looking and the peas weren't much better... i was introduced to this work of culinary art by the wonderfully foul aroma it gave off. I guess i will know who it belonged to just by seeing who does not show up for work tomorrow due to food poisoning.
Well, off to bed. Keep smiling and keep blogging!!!
Sunday, January 3, 2010
Crunchy rubberbands....and PB and J.
Day 3 01-03-10
Back at my home away from home...Starbucks. However, I am currently sitting in a different location than my normal Starbucks. Not sure why...just wanted some different scenery today. Funny how different the two places can be. The clientele is really different, even though the places are literally less than a mile and half apart. Even the stabucks staff...excuse me, Baristas.... act different. The crew here is like watching 14 year olds on a playground. Arguing, fighting, ignoring the patrons in line. And this one guy, has done nothing but rant and rave about having to be at work since i walked in the door. Every other word out of his mouth is a cuss word, and he is not even trying to be quiet about it. Normally this wouldn't bother me, as I have been known to let a few choice words flow from time to time myself. But when you work in retail, that kind of talk should be saved for the breakroom or stockroom. Back to my normal Starbucks and the excellent staff there from now on!!
Ok I will get of my soapbox now.
Another lazy day today. Watched some football, food network, the usual. Oh, and if you read my last post ...here is what i was talking about:
Come to find out, the most poular way to eat this so called ...treat.... is to take a small bag of potato chips and crush them. Drop a pig lip in the bag and shake it all up, in order to coat the pig lip in crunchy potato chip crumbs and then munch away. The mere thought of it conjurs up thoughts of trying to eat a crunchy rubber band...and why you would want to ruin a perfectly good bag of potato chips is beyond me, but to each his own!
Personally, if you feel you need to eat potato chips in any other way than by themselves, then there is only one possible way... as a source of texture on a PB and J sandwich. I know, I know.... this delectible concoction is supposedly reserved for kids between the ages of 4 and 12, but when is the last time you have tried it? For me, about 3 days ago. The saltiness of the chips with the sweetness of the PB and J...along with the crunchy texture aspect.... what is there not ot like...seriously. Even from a culinary chef point of view, the contrasts needed for a great dish are all there.
Back to work tomorrow. This registers on my excitement meter about as much as pig lips. I am sure i will have some very amusing "stories from the office" to write about... so please keep reading.... and suscribe to follow...i promise i don't bite!!
Saturday, January 2, 2010
Every part is edible...Really? I mean Really?
Day 2 01-02-10
So 2010 has been very relaxing so far.
Translation: I have been lazy for the past two days.
I have actually been on vacation from work since Christmas Eve and dreading going back on Monday. I am sure my email will be way out of control at work and I will spend all next week doing nothing but sorting through it all. But let's not talk about work...no need to even think about it until 8:00 a.m. Monday morning.
During my two day Laz-a-thon, I have watched alot of Food network, done some cookbook reading, and a lot of food "research" on the internet. Earlier today I came across something that i have never heard of before...pickled pig lips. PICKLED PIG LIPS?...what in the ?... I mean really...the first person to try that must have lost a bet or something. Pig lips...say it!...Pig lips....it just doesn't even sound right. As a chef, i am willing to eat anything at least once, but pig lips? Do they only come pickled? I mean am i going to walk into a BBQ restaurant some day soon and be able to order Barbequed Pork lips...i think not!!! Now that i think of it, do pigs even have lips?
Ok...cutting it short today...More tomorrow.
So 2010 has been very relaxing so far.
Translation: I have been lazy for the past two days.
I have actually been on vacation from work since Christmas Eve and dreading going back on Monday. I am sure my email will be way out of control at work and I will spend all next week doing nothing but sorting through it all. But let's not talk about work...no need to even think about it until 8:00 a.m. Monday morning.
During my two day Laz-a-thon, I have watched alot of Food network, done some cookbook reading, and a lot of food "research" on the internet. Earlier today I came across something that i have never heard of before...pickled pig lips. PICKLED PIG LIPS?...what in the ?... I mean really...the first person to try that must have lost a bet or something. Pig lips...say it!...Pig lips....it just doesn't even sound right. As a chef, i am willing to eat anything at least once, but pig lips? Do they only come pickled? I mean am i going to walk into a BBQ restaurant some day soon and be able to order Barbequed Pork lips...i think not!!! Now that i think of it, do pigs even have lips?
Ok...cutting it short today...More tomorrow.
Friday, January 1, 2010
Grande = Medium....and Black Eyed Peas
01-01-10...Day 1
As promised the year long venture begins...
Currently I am sitting in my local neighborhood Starbucks ( one of about 8 within a 3 mile radius) listening to the multitude of conversations going on around me. My first thoughts are...Why is this place so crowded on New Year's Day? Don't these people have somewhere else to be? But I guess they could be thinking the same thing about me. I used to hate the idea of Starbucks. I never understood why anyone would want to pay the incredibly high prices for coffee...and I certainly never understood why people ordered coffee and hung around the joint like they were living in an episode of Cheers. Then one random Sunday morning when I was living in Atlanta, I stopped at a starbucks on the way to work. Totally random for me as I was not a coffee drinker at the time...and really was planning on just getting a hot chocolate. Once inside, I felt really out of place. You know back in elementary school when a new kid joined your class in the middle of the year... and on that first day everybody just looks at him like he is the evil invader moving in on previously occupied territory?...that is how i felt. Anyway, the few people in front of me were ordering in some sort of new Starbuckian language that I had never heard before....skinny soy this....and mocha frap that. i get up to the register, already intimidated, and say "hot chocolate". the girl looks at me and says "Tall, grande or Venti?" Thinking she just called me something derrogative...i felt myself hunch over and hang my head as if i just commited some sort of coffeehouse sin...and said"excuse me?" She said "what size do you want?" I said "medium". she said Grande!...I said "no, medium". Now just let me point out...to me, the word Grande puts forth an image of a route44 at Sonic....which would be way too much hot chocolate for one person to consume at one time. She laughs at me, of course. But then explains the sizes to me. She obviuosly figured out this was my first time in starbucks. She tells me that i should really try something else other than hot chocolate. I told her that the hot chocolate was the only thing i could understand on the menu board. So she said let me make you something, and if you don't like it, you don't have to pay for it...and you can get your hot chocolate. I agreed. Well , i of course loved what she made and have been ordering it every since. Still pretty plain in the Starbucks world...but i love my VENTI sugar free vanilla soy latte. AND.... i have come to really enjoy lingering around the coffeehouse ever so often. Starbucks has something in there air system that seems to just realx you....funny considering the amount of caffeine that is on hand at any given time.
There is a young couple near me having a conversation about Black Eyed Peas. Oddly,given their apparent ages, they are not talking about the "Boom Boom Pow" black eyed peas....but real black eyed peas, the edible kind. They are "arguing" about the good luck superstition of eating black eyed peas on New year's day. He doesn't like them, and doesn't want to eat them for dinner. She says they bring good luck and prosperity for the coming year and they should really have them. Personally, I already ate mine today, so i guess i am covered. However, i am only covered for about 1/3 of the year. They say you should eat one pea for each day of the year ahead... i am pretty sure that i did not eat 365 peas. I really do not have the heart to tell this guy next to me this little tidbit of information...as he is obviously losing the battle and will have to eat the peas. I am afraid of what type of ramifications might arise if he thinks he has to eat 365 of them.
As promised the year long venture begins...
Currently I am sitting in my local neighborhood Starbucks ( one of about 8 within a 3 mile radius) listening to the multitude of conversations going on around me. My first thoughts are...Why is this place so crowded on New Year's Day? Don't these people have somewhere else to be? But I guess they could be thinking the same thing about me. I used to hate the idea of Starbucks. I never understood why anyone would want to pay the incredibly high prices for coffee...and I certainly never understood why people ordered coffee and hung around the joint like they were living in an episode of Cheers. Then one random Sunday morning when I was living in Atlanta, I stopped at a starbucks on the way to work. Totally random for me as I was not a coffee drinker at the time...and really was planning on just getting a hot chocolate. Once inside, I felt really out of place. You know back in elementary school when a new kid joined your class in the middle of the year... and on that first day everybody just looks at him like he is the evil invader moving in on previously occupied territory?...that is how i felt. Anyway, the few people in front of me were ordering in some sort of new Starbuckian language that I had never heard before....skinny soy this....and mocha frap that. i get up to the register, already intimidated, and say "hot chocolate". the girl looks at me and says "Tall, grande or Venti?" Thinking she just called me something derrogative...i felt myself hunch over and hang my head as if i just commited some sort of coffeehouse sin...and said"excuse me?" She said "what size do you want?" I said "medium". she said Grande!...I said "no, medium". Now just let me point out...to me, the word Grande puts forth an image of a route44 at Sonic....which would be way too much hot chocolate for one person to consume at one time. She laughs at me, of course. But then explains the sizes to me. She obviuosly figured out this was my first time in starbucks. She tells me that i should really try something else other than hot chocolate. I told her that the hot chocolate was the only thing i could understand on the menu board. So she said let me make you something, and if you don't like it, you don't have to pay for it...and you can get your hot chocolate. I agreed. Well , i of course loved what she made and have been ordering it every since. Still pretty plain in the Starbucks world...but i love my VENTI sugar free vanilla soy latte. AND.... i have come to really enjoy lingering around the coffeehouse ever so often. Starbucks has something in there air system that seems to just realx you....funny considering the amount of caffeine that is on hand at any given time.
There is a young couple near me having a conversation about Black Eyed Peas. Oddly,given their apparent ages, they are not talking about the "Boom Boom Pow" black eyed peas....but real black eyed peas, the edible kind. They are "arguing" about the good luck superstition of eating black eyed peas on New year's day. He doesn't like them, and doesn't want to eat them for dinner. She says they bring good luck and prosperity for the coming year and they should really have them. Personally, I already ate mine today, so i guess i am covered. However, i am only covered for about 1/3 of the year. They say you should eat one pea for each day of the year ahead... i am pretty sure that i did not eat 365 peas. I really do not have the heart to tell this guy next to me this little tidbit of information...as he is obviously losing the battle and will have to eat the peas. I am afraid of what type of ramifications might arise if he thinks he has to eat 365 of them.
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