Looking at the picture of that scrumptious burger you may think so, but think again! The ice in fast food restaurants is apparently dirtier than the toilet water. And I am not talking about your everyday household toilet water. I am talking about fast food restaurant toilet water, which just makes the whole idea a million times nastier. Ok. Where am I getting this from? Some kid from Florida decided to compare the bacteria levels in toilet water of fast food restaurants to the levels in the ice machines in the same restaurants. Finding? The toilet water was cleaner!!! Read all the gorey details here.
Granted, scientifically you cannot take such a small sample and generalize it to everywhere. Science schmience, I say. What has science ever done for us? I say it is time to panic! My beloved McDonald's, Dairy Queen, KFC even! Are all my favorite haunts tainted with bacteria-filled ice?!!
Also, if these places can't even keep their ice clean, what the heck is in the burgers? And I don't mean in a Doublemeat Palace kind of way. No longer is it merely a question of wondering if some teenage kid spit in your burger if you ordered the wrong way. Now you also have to worry about drinking the pop. And think of the possibilities of cross-contamination.
Oooh that cross-contamination. No good will ever come from it.
Let me just tell you a little story that one of my nutrition profs shared with our class in first year. This is a true story. It takes place on a plane flying from somewhere in the States to Japan. A flight that is mostly over ocean with nowhere solid to land. Now, what happened? Well, apparently the person who prepared the meals for the passengers on board had a cut on his hand and a Staphylococcus aureus infection of some sort. Cross-contamination occurs and suddenly the evil Staph. aureus is multiplying happily in the lunches of all of the passengers. Symptoms of staph. aureus? Rapid onset projectile vomiting and explosive (picture a proper little old woman professor saying this) diarrhea. NASTY. And, it can take 2 to 3 days to recover. Now, do you even want to imagine what happened to the passengers on this plane with only 1 or 2 bathrooms, everyone on the plane sick as dogs and nowhere to land. No, you do not. Don't even go there. It is too horrific. In the end, sadly enough, the person who prepared the food ended up killing himself because he felt he had disgraced his honour. A very sad ending to a very horrendous event.
Now, tell me we don't have anything to worry about with a) the bacteria in the ice itself and b) cross-contamination issues even if you avoid the ice machine.
When you think about it, you can't eat fast foods because of countless horrors. Fruit and vegetables are covered in pesticides. I have decided that it would be safest for us all to go on an all-cookie diet. I figure there isn't going to be any cross-contamination between my bucket of flour and my vacuum packed bag of choco chips. The all-cookie diet. Definitely the way to go. Oh and you can take this as official. I am a nutritionist you know. One word of caution: Do try to eat some pb cookies and maybe some oatmeal ones too just to make sure you are eating a balanced diet. Ok. I'm done here. For now.
Please note: A special thank you goes out to my dear friend Adrienne (aka Elmira) for bringing this disturbing news to my attention and making this rant possible. Wer I not so directionally challenged, we may never have met.
Well, I know I said before that the black day of death was Singles Awareness Day; however, I have decided that May 7 is the new black day of death. (Side note: I think I just banished any scrap of coolness I had from riding a motorcycle by using a semi-colon in a blog post.)
The new day of doom is rapidly approaching. I've tried to stop it, but my physicist sister still hasn't gotten around to building the time machine I requested (or the transporter beam either, but that is off topic). I've tried to think of cool things I need to do before I turn 30, but, lately, I just don't feel that imaginative.
The only conclusion? I am not going to run. I, for one, choose to take my chances with renewal. I choose carrousel.
Monday, Joe and I headed to the Bayshore mall to do a bit of shopping. We went out on his motorbike. Yesterday, I got to work and my revisor says to me "You're the COOL translator." I said, "What? Huh? Me?"
Apparently she and her daughter were at Bayshore on Monday too. At one point, her daughter said to her, "Hey Mom, look at them. Aren't they cool?" My revisor looked up and who did she see? Me and Joe. Motorcycle helmets in hand. The bad part is that I didn't even notice my revisor, so when she told her daughter that she knew me, I guess her daughter told her that I was too cool for her because I didn't stop to say hello. Oops! I must have been in my own little shopping zone. Anyway, apparently walking around the mall with a motorcyle helmet transformed me into the "the cool translator" at my revisor's house. So, while I was thinking it was just a pain in the butt to lug the helmet around, I was actually upping my cool quota! This is great, as usually people are giving me a hard time for being such a nerd.
Does it count if you are only borrowing the coolness from a friend though? Am I just a poser giving off the appearance of cool? Oh well. Too bad. I'll take it however I can get it. At least it made the other translators jealous! ;o)
This weekend was a shop-and-eat-a-thon in good old Montréal. Caroline, Jennie and I left Ottawa on Friday morning. First, we hit H&M, which just opened out in the burbs not too long ago. The place was crazy, but we all managed to find something. My new fashion try this year - white capris/skirt. I have always hesitated about the white bottoms. It poses an underwear dilemma, as well as calls out for me to spill something on them and then spend the rest of the day embarassed bc my skirt has ketchup on it or something. Anyway, this year is the year to live on the edge. We'll see how it goes.
Lunch was downtown at Boulangerie Au Pain Doré on Peel. Real French baguette sandwiches with ham and emmental. Mmmm..delicious. Don't forget the pecan pie either. Also very tasty.
After lunch came more shopping. I wasn't too impressed with Simon's this season. I didn't buy a thing there, which is basically unheard of. Maybe it was just because it was so crowded. Seems we weren't the only ones with the idea of spending the weekend shopping. We stayed downtown for a bit and then did some big box outlets out by Caroline's parents place.
Made a short stop to get changed and then we headed back downtown to the St-Denis area for supper at Bistro Express. I had roast beef with fries...fries with mayo. How much better can it get? We also got our own jar of pickles at the table! The service was very good here and the food quite tasty.
After supper we went to some place that I can't remember the name of for dessert (Caroline, Jennie - can you help me out on this one?). I was done by this point having eaten about an entire basket of bread during supper. This place was kind of a pre-bar hang out. One thing that I hadn't really considered was the fact that you can still smoke in the bars in Quebec. It is brutal! I can't believe I used to do it all the time! My allergies started acting up after about two minutes inside. I swear everyone in the place was smoking. That aside, it was kind of a different and fun kind of place. It was a pub-like atmosphere only with dance music to get you pumped up for a night on the town.
We did not follow it up with a night on the town however. Instead, we went home and went to bed to prepare for another day of shopping.
Saturday, I was the driver. It wasn't so bad since I had Caroline in the passenger seat beside me telling me exactly where to go. I have to say though, I think I would be very intimidated to move to that city and have to drive myself around. I think I would spend a lot of time lost.
In the morning we went to Vieux-Montréal, down to the port and whatnot. Then more shopping and a late lunch at La Paryse, a fabulous and cheap burger place on Ontario Street. Delicious fries, shakes and sugar pie. I'd definitely head back there again.
More shopping and thus concluded the shop-and-eat-a-thon. We have been planning an eating tour of montreal for some time now. The main problem is that there are so many places to eat in the city and only so many meals you can eat in a day. This will definitely have to be a continuing venture.
Sausages Ahoy and the reappearance of the hotdog vendors all over town since the weather has warmed up has had me thinking about the beauty of street meat. Who doesn't love a good hot dog? Cancer-causing agents on a tasty bun. Mmm, mmm.
However, there is a dark side to this tale. Street meat is like a family. The sausage is the higher class family member, the one with all the money who has his/her life together. Next, and nothing to be trifled with, is the middleclass hotdog, sometimes even better than the snobbish sausage. However, every family has at least one black sheep. So does the sausage family. I have dubbed it the Thermos Dog.
Way back in my childhood, I distinctly remember kids bringing hotdogs for lunch. Now, I am not talking about happy joyful hotdog day where volunteer mothers would come into the school and make lunch leaving the whole place smelling like boiled hotdogs. I am talking about kids who would bring a hotdog to school in a thermos. The hotdog was boiled and placed in the thermos along with the nasty hotdog water to keep it hot. Once lunch time came, they would pull the bun out of their lunch box, take the hotdog out of the smelly and by now probably cold hotdog water and voilà - their very own hotdog day any day of the week. The Thermos Dog.
Now, I was never among the Thermos Dog kids, but, even I, who love a good dose of nitrates, cannot see the appeal in this dish. The Thermos Dog is like the crazy uncle you avoid at family reunions. Good for a laugh after the fact, but in the situation, much too scary to even contemplate.
In other wacky tales of hotdogs...I went to a bbq once back in the day. Guy I know, Duane was cooking up a storm. Another guy, Ian, was waiting eagerly by the bbq. He grabbed the first hotdog that was ready. Took a bite and said "This hotdog tastes kind of funny. Did you leave the plastic on?" At this question, Duane proceeded to go into hysterics stating that he would never be so stupid as to leave the plastic on the hotdogs. Ian continues eating. At this point Trish arrives and asks Duane what is so funny. He tells the tale of how Ian thinks he's a complete moron who left the plastic on the hotdogs.
Trish: Are those Larsen brand hotdogs? Duane: Yeah, why? Trish: Uh, you do realize they individually wrap each hotdog in plastic? Duane: Complete silence, tumbleweeds going by. Then, even more hysterical laughter than before after realizing that Ian ate almost the entire hotdog melted plastic and all.
Welcome to spring everyone! This post is dedicated to Ryan, lover of the Thermos Dog.
Seems like lately I have been witnessing a lot of anger. For instance, last Friday I went to get my haircut. While I was in there, another woman came in. She asked Amy (hair cutting chick) if she did waxing. Amy asked what type of waxing. The woman responded mustache and chin, which automatically made me groan inside. That must be horrible! Anyway, that is not the point. Amy said that she did do waxing, but asked if it were possible for the woman to come back. She was going to be at least another 20 minutes on my hair. The woman said she would wait and sat down. Every few minutes the woman would ask questions in a loud, angry voice, mostly "Are you going to have time to do me?" Amy was patiently assuring her that yes, she would get to her soon. Then, another man comes in and asks if he can get his hair cut. Amy says it will be five minutes. Well, the woman then proceeds to have a complete freak attack because she was there first and he has to be served after her, etc. etc. All along, Amy intended for the other stylist in the salon to cut the man’s hair, but this woman was totally raising her voice and was practically shouting.
Also, just before my hair appointment, I was killing time at Mags and Fags on Elgin. I thought I would check out some of the hair magazines to see if inspiration hit. Anyway, while I was in there, a fight broke out between a little old grandma and some random man. I don’t know exactly what started it, but all of a sudden they were yelling at each other. The old woman told the man, "that’s no way to treat a lady." The retort? "I’m more lady than you’ll eva be" (in pretty much the gayest voice you can imagine). The fighting continued with the woman saying that he should show some respect to his elders and that she was old enough to be his grandmother. Response? "Yeah, honey and it shows." Anyway, the showdown continued for quite some time. It was all very strange and random. Finally the woman left in a fit of rage. She literally stomped off down the street.
Then today, I was stopped at a red light waiting to go straight and the man in the car behind me was honking his horn and making obscene gestures at me. What do you want me to do buddy? If you want to run the red, then go around.
What is with the rage people?!! I thought maybe Friday was a full moon or something, but that doesn’t explain the guy today. You would think people would be getting less cranky as the weather gets nicer, not more cranky! Sheesh!
Song of the Moment: Bullet With Butterfly Wings by the Smashing Pumpkins
Side note: If you are wondering where this picture came from, I again refer you to Eric Conveys an Emotion for guaranteed laughs.
As though we really needed more! My Mom was telling me this horror story about an attack goose in Cherry Hill, NJ. It was sitting on top of a store and attacking customers as they tried to enter or leave the building AND they aren't even going to do anything about it!Read all about it here.
Then, while I was investigating that story, I found this, which, let's just say, does not help at all to win me over to the bird-liking side of things.
They are taking over the world. Forget about the fear of zombies. This is much worse, and, dare I say it, more realistic. RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!!!!
Ok. For all those of you who were in a snit because their comments were being moderated (ahem Sena!), the problem has been solved. (I am picturing myself saying this in the same voice as the maid in Mary Poppins uses when she says "the position has been filled").
Speaking of movies...my latest movie hunt is for Alice in Wonderland/Alice Through the Looking Glass circa 1985. This was the fabulous made for tv version with two parts - one with the happy smiley wonderland and the other dark black Jabberwocky part. You cannot go wrong with this movie. I mean come on. It has Ringo Starr, Sammy Davis Jr., Sally Struthers and Carol Channing. How can a movie like that not be a cheesy hit. Besides, any movie with a song that goes "jam tomorrow, jam yesterday, but never never jam today" has got to be good! And also the Oyster and the Carpenter. I need to see this movie.
So far, on the quest, the first part is available from the good old public library, but they don't have the evil dark part. Amazon only has one part on video cassette and it costs $60-something. Crazy! Anyway, I think I have finally managed to track it down on Futureshop.ca. It said when I tried to order it that it was out of stock, but I put the order through anyway. Someone from Future Shop called me this afternoon to confirm my billing information and she seemed to think it was on its way. Let's keep our fingers crossed!
I'll keep you posted. If this avenue fails me, I am going to try ebay. For now, I will be anxiously awaiting the mailman to see if this Future Shop deal pans out.
So Ferda and I were chitchatting via email the other day and somehow the topic of Dirty Dancing Havana Nights came up. Since Patrick Swayze was the star of the original Dirty Dancing and also does a cameo it led to a discussion about people we used to think were hot and who are now not. (Side note: I have never seen Dirty Dancing Havana Nights. I only heard about his cameo through the delight of entertainment television.)
I don't remember ever being crazy over Patrick Swayze, but I do remember loving Kirk Cameron back in either elementary or junior high...can't remember exactly when. What I do remember is having a poster of him from Teen Beat or one of those magazines hanging up in my room.
This led to me to wonder a) What on earth could I have possibly been thinking? and b) What the heck is Kirk Cameron doing these days? The answer to question a? Well, I'll just let you try to answer that one on your own. The answer to question b is not pretty. One of the last things he did was Growing Pains: Return of the Seavers in 2004. Who knew that there were actually two Growing Pains made for TV movies. If I remember correctly, Ryan and I were supposed to watch one of them together...maybe it was even the 2004 one. I'll have to see if I can dig that tape up from somewhere.
Some interesting facts that I just learned: Kirk Cameron's parents named him after Captain Kirk of Star Trek fame. Also, Kirk now has SIX kids - 2 biological and 4 adopted.
I leave you for now, knowing that because of me your brains contain just a little bit more useless information. And Ferda, you can stop threatening to tell my secrets on your blog. I've come clean! ;o)
Oh wait. One more thing. Does anyone know if Patrick Swayze ever sang any other songs besides She's Like the Wind? That seems really random.
Ok. So after a Saturday that involved scones made with delicious cream (thank you Jennie!), KFC and Dominos cheesy bread, I have decided that it is definitely time to abandon my slothful ways and get my butt back into shape.
My friend Caroline has decided that we should train for a 10k run at the end of May. Since she is much more devoted than I am and has been going to the gym all winter, I can actually see her making it. She is also much more of a positive thinker, as she has already signed up for the race and is now looking ahead to her next goal of a triathalon - I think my heart palpitations will keep me out of that one. (Thank you Wolffe-Parkinson-White Syndrome!)
Anyway, regardless of whether the goal is 10k or just getting back in shape, I have a lot of work to do. Why couldn't I just be one of those people that just naturally enjoys sports and who likes eating healthy food? Why can't chocolate cake have the nutritional value of broccoli? WHY?!!
In other news, the evil black rat squirrels are back with a vengeance from wherever they were hiding this winter. There were a few around, but the numbers are definitely starting to increase. Today, when I was out walking there was one sitting near my apartment building eating a french fry (looked to be from MacDonald's). This is disturbing on so many levels. It takes a lot of nerve to be sitting on a step eating French fries and staring people down with beady little eyes. Second, see how MacDonald's has permeated our culture. How am I supposed to be able to resist it when it is half a block away and EVERYONE is eating it. Even the dirty rat squirrels can't stay away from the greasy goodness that is rotten ronnie's. Sheesh.
It is time to eliminate the low hanging fruit, the maka feke if you will. The current maka feke is chocolate mint ice cream Caroline left in my freezer. She wouldn't take it home because she knew she would eat it, so she left it here and last nite I ate my body weight in it. The problem is that if I know it is there, I can't not eat it. Even now, I am thinking ice cream... mmm...ice cream. Ok. Enough of this. Gotta go. Ice cream calls and I must listen. Resolve to do better starting tomorrow!
Looking at the picture of that scrumptious burger you may think so, but think again! The ice in fast food restaurants is apparently dirtier than the toilet water. And I am not talking about your everyday household toilet water. I am talking about fast food restaurant toilet water, which just makes the whole idea a million times nastier. Ok. Where am I getting this from? Some kid from Florida decided to compare the bacteria levels in toilet water of fast food restaurants to the levels in the ice machines in the same restaurants. Finding? The toilet water was cleaner!!! Read all the gorey details here.
