Leesport PA

So, Friday morning I stayed up till 5 am trying to fix my computer. While waiting for things to load on it, I was simultaneously packing for the weekend, making lists of things my car needs done to it, and putting away my winter clothes/having a sneezing fit.

3.5 hours later, I was up and at the student clinic, massaging ungrateful wretches, I mean poor poor people with lots of shoulder injuries. As soon as clinic was over I turned on my trusty Tomtom (which by the end of the trip I desired to throw out the window on the Turnpike) and began to program it to tell me how to get to the jujitsu clinic in Pennsylvania. As it turns out, the address I got from the clinic website does not exist, according to Tomtom, but a quick call to mom to look up the address I used last year set things straight. Its a good thing I don't throw crap out and am somewhat organized about where I keep googlemaps directions.

I arrived safe and sound, and opted out of the "pay-$20-a-night-for-a-cabin-with-no-electricity-and-no-heat-and-no-locking-door-and-no carpeting-and-bugs" deal, and chose to sleep on the mats in the dojo. That was a better experience than last year, where I felt that the "martial" spirit had never left the mat and therefore kept me awake all night. This year air was peaceful. Perhaps it was not the mat that changed, but me.

Sheela working with a green belt.


Cara and I-forgot-his-name-already! working on some judo stuff after classes.


Peter... every time we turned around he was on the mat with someone. Or so it seemed.


After classes, we were stuck in the dojo avoiding torrential rain. We grabbed a deck of cards and began Rorshack tests on ourselves (Cara's idea- psychology major that she is.) Apparently, I keep all my assets hidden. Some are organized, some are scattered, and a good deal of them are all in one big pile of crap (sound like my bedroom to anyone else?)


Peter has a scorpion. But at the risk of revealing everyone's innermost psyche, I'm not going to share their card-psycho-analysis. Read into it whatever you want to. We did.


Cara's horseshoe.


Wu's whatever-shape-that-is.


Done with the psychology class, we began a game called heart attack which ended up being almost as violent as jujitsu. Maybe it was because we were on a mat, and it was easy to hit people without thinking about it.


The dojo picture. Wu, me, Barb, Peter, Sheela. And Professor Okazaki above the mantel piece.


Last year, the clinic was in the same location. Ben and Amish got it in their heads that we were all going to go visit a Chinese Pagoda that happened to be somewhere in Pennsylvania. I was following them in my own car and as it turned out, they left me in the middle of Reading at a stoplight. I managed to get lost enough to make it to the "other" side of the tracks, where no one spoke English and I had to keep my doors locked, drive slowly, and avoid one-way streets. As you can tell, I made it out alive, and decided that THIS year, Tomtom was going to bring me to that darned Pagoda if it killed me.


As you can see, it did.


So anyway... I had a good time at the clinic, took quite a few bodywork and therapy classes, and got a whole brainful of stimulating information to mull over during the drive back. Speaking of which... I mentioned an incident with my Tomtom. It cost me $.75 to get to Camp Joy via Interstate 78. Instead of sending me back the way I came, which would have been intelligent, Tomtom sent me from 78 past Philadelphia, to the NJ Turnpike, which cost me $8.55 and 25 minutes of stop-and-go traffic. I should have trusted my instincts and taken 78 to 287.

But at least I didn't get lost in Reading this year (twice last year!). Thats the important part. That, and learning jujitsu.

I know too much...

So, a friend of mine posted this picture on her blog:


My reaction was this: "Wow, look at how perfectly the bicep fits under the deltiod. Oh wow, look at that brachioradialis. I didn't know you could develop that muscle enough to be able to see it from a distance. Ok so then the brachialis is THERE and the coracobrachialis is THERE..."

Somehow, I don't think that was the reaction K was fishing for when she put that picture on her blog.

I feel like I am taking this Anatomy and Physiology thing way too far.

Old Movies Vs. New Movies

On hulu.com, there is an hour-long video called "The Best of Abbott and Costello Live." Around the 50-54 minute mark, Abbott pushes Costello backwards. He staggers into the side of a waitress who is cleaning a nearby table. She proceeds to do a stime over the table and flying dishes, and sits up, straightening her blouse. Costello comes behind her to see if she is ok, and she reaches up and throws him with a seated version of Kesa Nage. It is things like this that make old movies so wonderful. Old movies use no bad language, no raunchy jokes, and no flashy fancy martial arts moves. They stick to the unadorned jujitsu throws, and make us laugh with a bucket of nails and a mouthful of milk.

Now for my observation of new movies. They're good. They're entertaining. But what's with the actors who accidentally slip into past roles? Take Orlando Bloom. He played Legolas, a sharpshooting archer elf. Then he was cast in Troy. Ok, good he's got a nice role he can sink his teeth into and he actually kind of looked masculine in it. But all of a sudden his character has a bow and arrow. And then all of a sudden, he was wearing the Legolas face. Ok we mess up, it happens to all of us, but why didn't the director catch it and refilm? Here I am, and the movie has brought me to ancient Greece, and my brain suddenly is expecting him to shout some Elvish curse at an orc.

It happened again last night. Zachary Quinto plays Sylar, the evil bad guy stealing the superpowers of our favorite genetic mutants (Heroes, not X-Men). We watch with baited breath as he seduces our favorite character only to pick their brains (quite literally) to gain more understanding and power. So then last night I went to see Star Trek (first time in a theater since maybe August with Dark Knight) and there's Zachary Quinto playing Spock. Excellent job. But then, Uhura follows Spock into the elevator, and looked him in the eyes asking, "What do you want from me, Spock?" Something about the way he looked at her, made my brain scream, "He's going to cut open your skull and absorb your powers! RUN!!" Then the moment was gone and he was Spock again.

What do you think? Do you think this is something actors do accidentally? Or do you think this is something my brain creates because I have seen them in other movies before?

Massage Clinic

If you didn't already know, I'm working for credit in a student massage clinic at my school. In order to "further the profession," and for insurance purposes, we have to be able to speak medical, just like anyone else who is required to wear scrubs for their profession. This means that the medical abbreviations used on insurance forms and by doctors and nurses are the same abbreviations we use in clinic. Usually. Today, there was a clerical error discovered.

In case you are not aware of basic anatomy, the Erector Spinae group is a set of three muscles (Iliocostalis, Longisimis, Spinalis) that runs up the side of the spine. It keeps your spine erect. If a therapist finds any muscle to be tense on a client, we are supposed to note it in their chart. Today, Janna was handed the chart of Client C, and looked back on the previous massage session to see if there were any problems.

The last therapist to work on C happened to make a mistake. Instead of marking that there was "(Mild/Moderate/Severe) tension in the erectors," this therapist wrote, "Tight erection." The clinic supervisor, Sandy, was called in to have a look. It took her half a second to process it, and the look on her face as she came to the realization of what it said was priceless. She then had a knee-jerk reaction somewhere between getting a tooth pulled and grabbing a high-voltage wire. Then she sighed and said, "One of these days I'm going to lose my job..." And walked out.

California

Ok so, every year there is a Jujitsu convention in the West Coast. This year it was in Santa Ana. I had been hoping and planning to go this year, and made sure to write the dates in my calendar before making my school schedule. Then the bookstore went out of business so I wasn't sure if I should go or not, but anyway bottom line is several people convinced me to go, and I really needed to get away from school for a short time. My school doesn't believe in spring break.

Anyway, my teacher has been teaching us the difference between good and bad business names (so that we can work on our business projects). I saw this one and decided I really needed to preserve it for memory. Here Jim, this one's for you:


On the lines of a good and memorable name (and also good and memorable food), I found this:


Unfortunately, our hotel was surrounded by nothing but Asian food, and one Pollo Loco (Crazy Chicken in Spanish). Don't get me wrong, I love Asian food, but after eating it breakfast lunch and dinner for 5 days straight... I need something new and exciting.

Here, Steve successfully lands a fighter jet on the playground.


The beach. We bus hopped for most of the day to see where our wanderings would take us. The buses are much better on the East Coast, but fortunately, God saw fit to bring the correct bus when we needed it and never spent too much time waiting.


This picture is for my brother, whose plan for Iraq involves bringing the soldiers home and employing them to shoot pedestrians who disregard common sidewalk ettiquette.


In the evening, we made our way to the neighborhood of Knott's Berry Farm, where we had dinner on board a pirate ship. For anyone familiar with the concept of Medieval Times, its that, but cooler. We were rooting for the red pirate, Cutthroat Jack, whose colors Steve is proudly wearing on his armband.


The cool thing about pirates is you never know who the good guys are and who the bad guys are. There were so many twists and turns in the plot that I can't tell you what's going on here, except that I think Sebastian the Black is fighting someone, perhaps the yellow pirate Antonio or the traitorous First Mate Andre the Orange or the privateer trying to rescue Princess Anita and the Gypsy. I am not sure because there were so many people fighting each other.

**Edit: Steve says its a picture of Antonio fighting Benjamin. But it could be Andre fighting Benjamin. Not sure. Everyone fights everyone else by the end of the show.**

Here, the blue pirate Benjamin, Treasure (Sebastian's wife), Mr. Magee, Jack, and all the pirate squabbles are stopped in their tracks by the British army, who happens to be all children from the audience (yes, they gave GUNS to children- clearly we are no longer in New Jersey).


Steve and I are joined by the red pirate, Cutthroat Jack.


After the show, I got a few pictures, mostly of the ship with a few abs thrown in for good measure. I think thats the purple pirate Saxon, and either Jose or Antonio (green or yellow). Interesting to note is that everyone picked on the purple pirate. That would be ok except that the actor playing him happened to be black. More evidence that we're no longer in NJ. The place would be shut down for racism if it opened in NJ with him playing the picked-on character.


The show was amazing, and musical, so not only do these pirates have to perform gymnastic feats, stage fighting, and acting, they also have to carry a tune, dance a little, interact with the audience, and flex their muscles.

Speaking of muscles, I found a review of this place online. While many people bashed the food (I thought it was great, so perhaps they have improved it recently), I liked what this person had to say: "The best part, of the night, of course, is when the three 'good' pirates decide to throw down for the women they love, and STRIP SHIRTLESS to fight the 'bad' pirates. Yes, there you have it, ladies and gentlemen: Fifteen minutes of shirts-on-skins pirate naughty swordplay. I found it hilarious. I think quite a few of the people around me were drooling. It was, in a word, hilariouslyawesometasticallyuncomfortablelicious."

So after our one day of sightseeing, the convention commenced. In the next couple of pictures, you will see the competition. Competitors demonstrate their techniques by being attacked, with a judge watching. Judges award points based on creativity, effectiveness, safety, etc. Here, Steve B. has dropped his crutches (he has little ability to use his legs) and is demonstrating his defense techniques from the ground.


Steve breaking an arm while his second attacker reaches for the gun. Oh I forgot to tell you. In the blackbelt divisions, there are weapons involved and in the third round, its two attackers per competitor.


Cara on the far right defending against two attackers, shortly before my camera died. I had the flash turned off, and there's no sport setting on my camera, so many shots came out blurry.


The blackbelt competitors posing with their judges.


Steve showing off because he is allowed to have a flower now.


An awesome dessert.


Barb killing someone.


The centerpiece. A fish etched into the glass, and a real fish suffocating inside (no oxygen bubble maker).


Random person in a class throwing someone. It was a cool shot.


Jake discovers Green Tea Mochi.

Easter quotes

I went to see dad's family for Easter this afternoon and I discovered a new appreciation for my Uncle John. He is from Vietnam, and has a bit of an accent. He walked in and announced that "the Devil's eggs are here."

Later on he was talking about the hockey game last night, where at halftime 10 seat numbers were picked at random and the people allowed to take a shot on goal for a chance to win a car. "It was one of those nice new cars that look like a hearse."

Yep, I would love to drive one of those...

Important

This is an important response to my latest post, Change Your Story:

"And I agree also with your dislike of bashing exes in. It's not appropriate; we liked them at one point. When we bash them in, we are actually putting down our own innate tastes of men, our own past selves, and our ability to forgive and move on."

Change your story

I read this today:

"On this day...To my sons I would like to say...all of our life comes to us in narrative form; it's the story we tell. Change the story and you change your life. Do not tell the story of how hurt you are that he is gone, but instead speak of how much you have learned from him. Do not speak of how you cringe when someone else speaks of their father, but cherish and proudly shout out about who he was to you in the short time you shared his life."

It was written from a mother to her sons concerning the death of their father. I find this important because today at class, A announced he was planning on proposing to his girlfriend. Being the only guy besides the teacher, the girls instantly pounced on him to give him advice. It ended up being a gabfest where four of the girls shared the details of how they got engaged (multiple times), married, divorced, re-engaged, etc. They even got the teacher to share how he proposed to his wife.

Another girl and I remained silent, as we commonly do, politely listening, and laughing when appropriate. I love stories and I love hearing people tell me their stories, so I was memorizing every detail. But as the teacher tried to rein us in ("Ok can we get back to massage for tension headaches now?"), the girls decided that next week, Andrea and I will be telling our "stories."

On the drive home I pondered what kind of a story could I tell? Most of the women in the class are on the other side, married (legally or in spirit), with kids, a career, basically settled. My story could be simple if I let it. On the other hand I can choose to focus on the romantic parts of it because I know that's what they will be looking for.

I started to tell myself my story, to see what I would say. I realized that my story is unlike the rest of theirs. I realized that my story contains no harsh words about my exes, no lingering hurt or pain, and is full of acceptance at the way my life has turned out. I do not wish to paint my exes in a negative light.

It is interesting the way that growth and maturity have allowed me to change the focus of my story. And the story that they will get next week, is the story of how I changed my life.

Saint Patty's Day

So I figured I'd better get my pictures up before its April. I redid the henna in my hair, something I haven't done since August. I waited so long because I wanted to let my hair grow a little so I could cut the insanely red ends off. Then I touched up the roots which were no longer roots but went several inches down. And all of this I did before Saint Patrick's Day, so I could get in touch with my Irish blood.

(Note: I used henna, but even lil ol' Irish me can't handle the flaming red color. This is henna mixed with instant coffee. Not as good as coffee grinds, but a lot easier to wash out afterwards.)





No idea what I was talking about... probably wasn't anything important.




Running around because its springtime (almost).


Inspecting it...

Clinic

So I work in a clinic giving massages to people for a cheap price because I'm a student.

One client told me about a hamstring injury three days ago (!). When I got to the hamstrings, they were as soft as butter so I have no idea where this client thought the hamstrings were.

Another got on the table and said, "Can you work on my subscapularis?" What? The general public is not supposed to know that word!

After each massage the clients are given evaluation sheets where they can anonymously let us know what they thought of the massage. At the end of the night we can look over them for feedback. One of my classmates, B, looked at her papers and saw that a client, instead of circling "excellent" circled "good" and wrote "very" over it. The comedian in the class jumped on that and started joking around but then saw S's evaluation forms. One of her clients had decided that the massage was not "excellent" but it was "good +++."

I just don't get it sometimes.

Revisiting old writings...

This is my blogger post #900. Wow. To think that that much bull could come from my fingertips is amazing.

In honor of the occasion, I would like to share with you a few things I wrote many years ago, before blogs were invented.

This one is dated May 18, 1994. The worksheet lists ten nutrition tips. My assignment was to choose three of them and explain why they are good tips:

#8. Don't soak fruits and vegetables before storing them because you will wash away the nutrients.
My answer: "In all our healthfood items it says how they make the food. It never says, 'We soak vegetables before we put them in chip dough.'" Chip dough was underlined and questionmarked in red pen.

#4. Don't drink coffee or tea with your meals because both reduce the amount of iron that gets into your system.
My answer: "I think this is good, I didn't know about the tea but I know coffee causes brain damage." Another red question mark. To think that I later grew up and worked in an Espresso Bar.

#9. Cook food right to preserve the nutrients because it is possible to destroy the nutritious value of foods by overcooking.
My answer: "this is good, Mommy usually burns food and if I eat its, I might get a cough." Not only is this horrible grammar and punctuation and capitalization, it also probably had my teacher falling out of her chair.

Hope you enjoyed. Happy 900th, blog!

Shot off the soapbox

So there's a woman in my anatomy class who tends to... lets say "sell" a healthy way of life. Which is good. She's not trying to sell an actual product, or rip you off. She just wants you to be healthy. She explains to you why you shouldn't use plastic bottles (they leach chemicals into your drink) and why its good to exercise, eat healthy foods, etc. I can feel her staring at the back of my head when I snack on my tortilla chips in class, and I want to turn around and shout at her, "They're from the health food store, leave me alone!"

Yesterday, one of the guys in the class mentioned McDonald's, in the context of a story that was similar to this: "When I was 6 we watched a movie about how bad fast food is and then my dad took us to McDonald's." I suppose she assumed he was still eating at McDonald's every night of his life since then, because she started to tell him about how inhumane McDonald's is.

"The cows are held in mass quantities in large pens, knee deep in feces, and are fed corn. Because they are fed corn, they have to be slaughtered before a certain age because corn is not good for them and they will die if they eat only a diet of corn. As long as they can physically drag the cow off the truck and have it still breathing, then they are allowed to slaughter it and put it in a burger. So when you eat a burger, you are eating parts of at least 1000 different cows (thats how processed it is) and they have all been malnourished and unhappy."

I sometimes wish I were a robot or droid or something so that every time I hear something like that, a little alarm will go off and I will start blinking neon lights and shouting "Soapbox, Soapbox!!" without it actually being considered rude ('cause you know, that's just how the programmer made me.)

At the end of her rant, she looked at him saying, "So that's why my daughter has become a vegetarian." And looked at him pointedly, as if to say that he should immediately call the girl and tell her what an inspiration she is and that he would immediately take a vow of veganism to join her in her cause.

Instead he said, "So?"

Silence.
"Doesn't that bother you?"
"Nope."
More silence.

I guess it pays not to have a conscience.

A fun little thing

Go to this website: http://www.joshhosler.biz/NumberOneInHistory/SelectMonth.htm

Do a search and find out what song was #1 on the charts on the day you were born. Then leave me a message to let me know! Why? Cause I'm curious.

Mine is "When Doves Cry" by Prince.

Also fun is to look up the songs for other memorable dates, like the day you and a special someone first became "an item" ("Ain't it Funny -Murder Remix" by J-Lo and "We belong together" by Mariah Carey) or the day you made a mistake ("Foolish" by Ashanti), or your first day away from home at a large State University ("Dilemma" by Nelly).

protecting those you love

In the fall of 1999, three things happened. My mom and I went on a retreat to the Poconos. The day we returned, Hurricane Floyd swept up the East Coast. I reveled in the magnificence of the wind before the storm, and mom spent her time unpacking, cleaning, and doing laundry, just in case the electricity went out. Then the third thing happened. My grandfather had a heart attack that resulted in a bypass surgery and ten years of complications. My mom wasn't home at the time, she was helping a neighbor fight the flooding effects of Floyd. My dad took the call, told us, and swore us to secrecy so he could tell Mom properly. The electricity went out, so we went to Pop's Grill for dinner, and that was how mom found out her dad might die.

Dad had to sit on the news and not say anything until the proper time.

In another instance, a friend of mine was out with her boyfriend. Her mother called asking to speak to the boyfriend, and he immediately took her home, but wouldn't share with her what was said on the phone. When she got home, she received the news of a death in the family.

In yet another instance, another friend of mine knew something was going on because the phones had been ringing. She asked her father what was wrong, he looked at her and silently headed out to his car in the middle of the night. She did not learn the news of a friend's death until the proper time.

These and countless other stories make me wonder. What is it about the human nature that makes us hold bad news inside to protect the ones we love? Instead of telling them so they will help lighten our load, we instead hold it in (even if they ASK) so that they do not experience the pain we are going through by our knowledge.

Is this a noble human trait? Or is it a flaw that causes us unneeded pain? Is our pain somehow made lighter by knowing that our loved one is not hurting too?

exercise

They say that when you start working in the student clinic giving 4 or 5 one-hour-long massages a night, you burn a lot of calories and lose weight. The most petite girl in my class piped up with "Damn, I'm going to die." We joked about having to feed her intravenously while she gave massages, so that she would have enough energy to keep her alive. Clinic has been ok for me; I haven't lost weight yet.

I did begin some exercise videos though, because I haven't been on the jujitsu mat since October and I thought I ought to do something that bends my legs and elevates my heart rate every once in a while. My body is really messed up. A lot of people exercise, and feel good about the exercise, so they try to eat lots of healthy foods to keep their diet in line with their exercise routine. I, on the other hand, finish a yoga workout and crave candy bars I don't even like. I wonder if all the massage I've been doing lately has kept my metabolism active enough that now that I am exercising again, my body is craving pure fats and sugars to replenish.

Or is it just a mental thing?

A better rant.

http://www.xanga.com/ordinarybutloud/693450779/i-hope-obama-can-do-something-about-my-weight-problem/

I have something to say to the above blogger.

Obama is not God. He cannot make you health conscious. He cannot make you thin because he does not have a magic wand. He cannot make you intelligent.

That comes from YOU.

1. Don't eat hot dogs for lunch. Don't eat veggie dogs for lunch. If you want to be healthy, don't eat anything processed whether its soy or real meat.
2. Don't eat Fritos for lunch.
3. Do more than walking for exercise.
4. The government can't help you lose weight. They can pay for your liposuction if you convince them to. But I watched a cadaver video today and I learned exactly what liposuction does. It is NOT the answer. It messes your body up.
5. Fake butter is just as bad as real butter. If you want it to taste good, use herbs to season it. They count as leafy greens.
6. Don't eat bagels. One bagel has the carb count of 9 slices of bread.
7. Don't drink diet soda. Studies have shown that in the long run, fake sugar makes you think its ok to eat bad food at other times of the day, and increases your hunger in general.
8. Don't drink soda. You don't need it. Water down some fruit juice.
9. Don't drink alcohol. Limit yourself to a glass of wine a day. No beer, you will get a gut.
10. Dark chocolate, the way that you eat it, is not good for you. The bar of dark chocolate that is sitting in front of me contains 22 grams of fat, 68% of your recommended intake for saturated fat, and 16 grams of sugar, because lets face it, even the dark chocolate has to taste good or else it won't sell. If you somehow got your hands on a bag of raw, unprocessed cacao beans, you would have a wonderful supply of antioxidants and magnesium. Unfortunately, it would also have 12 grams of fat per ounce; 7 of those would be saturated fat. I know this because there's a bag of raw unprocessed cacao beans sitting in front of me.
11. "I probably eat more calories than I burn on a regular basis" Thats another problem.
12. "but it is impossible for me to do anything else because the past few administrations have conspired against me... high-calorie, cheap food, a crazed, busy lifestyle with no time to exercise, and all those pesky viruses the kids bring home." The government MAKES you buy Doritos and takes away all your time to exercise AND infects your kids with viruses on purpose???
13. "We face more problems with obesity every day, and yet the Bush Administration did NOTHING for eight long years to help us lose weight and look better." Bush cared about your fat asses enough to send my brothers to Afghanistan so you could continue to sit in your lazy chair getting fatter instead of getting bombed by someone who hates the fact that you are allowed to live in a capitalist society and buy all the junk food you want whenever you want, and wear tight shirts and shorts that ride up your crack even though it makes some people puke a little in the backs of their throats just to look at you.

Bottom line, if you don't want to be fat, work for it. Limit your portions, exercise, don't eat junk, and educate yourself on proper diet and exercise. Many people get fat because they don't know the effect their "diet plan" will have on their body.

Valentine/Birthday

I mentioned to a few of you that I had some plans with Steve for his birthday and Valentine's Day. You all asked me how they went, so here's the story:

On Valentine's Day, Steve and I both worked. Well, he worked. I worked and shopped for the perfect gift for him, which I had in my mind but couldn't find anywhere. I spent 3 hours Friday searching for it, and finally on Saturday I was directed to an Asian market that might have it, "because Asians have that kind of thing." Wow, did the lady on the phone really just say that? Yes, she did, but she was right. The Asians DID have it.

Sunday morning I went to the early service late, because I thought my church's early service started at 9:30 when actually they start at 9. Now I know. I think I did know that already I just got mixed up.

Anyway then I went down to New Brunswick for an Asian-themed birthday party, complete with Philippino pork rolls, miso soup, and home-made sushi rolls. Sushi rice takes FOREVER to make. First, it can't be any old rice. You have to get sushi rice. Then, you have to wash it 300 times. Then you let it dry for a half hour, then you let it soak for a half hour. Then you cook it like normal rice (40 minutes or so) and then you put sushi vinegar (not just any old vinegar) on it and stir it in front of a fan so it will cool rapidly. Then it is done, and stickier than peanut brittle in Florida.

Of course, we cannot forget the balut. Sheelah brought another Asian delicacy known as balut. It is basically, a fertilized, hard boiled duck egg.

There is a "right" way to crack the egg open.


Sheelah had to do it for him.


Once open, there is a broth inside that you sip. It tastes like omelette and chicken broth. I know because we passed it around and tried some. The adventurous ones anyway.


The interesting/scary thing about balut is that you don't know how developed the duck fetus will be. Some people get little ones, and some people open it up and discover fully developed feathers. We were lucky and didn't get feathers.


After Steve and Stu ate the fetus (birthday boy and birthday boy's brother) of which I have omitted pictures - thank me later- we passed around the yolk which was basically like a meaty version of a standard hard boiled egg yolk. Anissa was thoroughly disgusted.


James is not impressed either.


On to happier things, like the birthday cake. I made a green tea cake. I found the recipe on a website I love and thought, "How unique, I'll try that." So I made green tea cake with green tea frosting, and everyone seemed to like it.


I liked decorating it until I got out the green gel frosting. I was squeezing the tube with all my might, shaking a blob of green out, and then grabbing a toothpick to shape it into the script lettering I wanted. It was a pain.


At "Happy" I decided its just going to be a Happy cake and nothing else. But there was all this empty space so I hunkered down and finished it.


Oh well. Its one less letter I had to do. Happy Birthay Steve.


He didn't seem to mind. Plum wine and sake make every birthay greeting enjoyable.


After the guests left, I sent Steve and James to bed (Andrew had already retired for the night) and I stayed up and did dishes and cleaned the tables. Why? So I could set out some Valentine/birthday gifts for my salamander. Yes, that little lucky bamboo sculpted heart is the item I was looking for and found at the Asian market.


Sunday night was the birthday party, Monday night was the Valentine's date. We got dressed up and headed to a nice restaurant I knew of about a half hour from New Brunswick. We arrived in the parking lot and immediately wondered why there were no cars. As it turns out, they are closed Mondays. So quickly, it was Tom-tom to the rescue, where one can search nearby points of interest by category. Conveniently, local restaurants in the GPS have phone numbers listed. So we quickly called them all to determine which was take-out and which was a sit-in. We found a nice place called the Cranbury Inn and headed there. It was only 3 miles away.

We walked in and found a fancy, dress-uppy kind of place, that wasn't stuffy in its fanciness, but had a sort of quaint feeling to it. As it turns out, the place was established in 1780, and has been in operation ever since. Click here if you are interested in browsing the website. Although we didn't take any pictures, the food was arranged beautifully on the plates and tasted as great as it looked.

Afterwards, due to a slightly sticky part of the meal, we both went to the bathroom to wash the honey off our hands (since our pre-teen waiter kinda didn't notice anything was amiss). When I came out of the bathroom, Steve was there talking to the owner, who was so proud of the place I thought he was going to burst at the seams (that and the hearty food of the inn- there was more than pride filling his waistline). He gave us a grand tour of their new addition- a banquet hall, where they host over 50 weddings a year. You can view it here, if you didn't already stumble on it.

At the end of the night, our bellies were full and our hearts were happy for having discovered an ancient gem of a restaurant- one that may have hosted countless forefathers during its long lifetime.

It was a good Sunday and Monday.

achy

My rhomboid major is screwed up. I know this because when I attempt lateral rotation of my scapula, it hurts. Its is probably an adhesion which is entrapping a nerve because when my mom pressed on it, I could feel referred pain in my tailbone.

I know too much about muscles. By the time I graduate, I have a feeling I am going to be completely vegan.

unrest

I've been thinking about blogging... I just don't know what to say... or how to verbalize what's going on with me.

Talking with someone on aim, I managed to let them know, and so I've copied and pasted so I can let you all know.

I experienced something today which my anatomy book describes as a sympathetic nervous system reaction. I know this because that's what chapter 4 is all about, and I had a test on chapter 4 today. There were a few things causing it, however, when the causes were removed, the sympathetic nervous system did not shut down, nor did the parasympathetic kick in.

The result is that I suddenly had an irrational fear settle in the pit of my stomach and I had to take precautions to prevent myself from acting upon the fears. The kind person who let me spill my guts on aim described it as "comfortable and uncomfortable in your skin all at the same time."

Its a sudden feeling and it makes your stomach feel tight and you get hungry and also sick to your stomach at the same time so you want to eat and you can't, and you want to jump out of your skin because it feels too normal and familiar.

I would not say that it was a panic attack, however, I also would not say that I was 100% sane today. I did not eat, but in a strange twist of fate, I knew that it was not simply that I did not feel hungry. It was that breakfast had not digested because when one's body is operating under the grip of the sympathetic nervous system, digestion slows or stops as the body prepares to move into the fight-or-flight response. Yes, oddly enough, I had the presence of mind to analyze myself medically, but I did not have the presence of mind to say get over it this is stupid.

In the end though, as my friend said, "you know, you're gonna be ok :-)" either after a relaxing shower, or a good shot of liquor.

ROFL

1: Did you get my message?
2: No, I didn't check my messages yet.
1: Oh. I said Happy Valentine's Day, and that I love you.
2: Awww.
1: I only said that because its Valentine's Day though.

i am not making this up.

I swear to you that by the end of this you will think that my imagination has run away with me, but I promise all of this actually did happen, and it actually did happen between the hours of 9 and 5 today.

I opened up the store today, as usual. The credit card machine yesterday and Tuesday was having some problems, but I was still able to ring up transactions. It just took some time and an extra little song and dance. What bugged me was that I was the only one on the schedule until 4:00. Tom expects less customers and thus cuts hours so he's not paying two people to sit there and twiddle their thumbs. Its a reasonable idea. However, when you put sale signs on the windows, people go crazy and become needy and need to know the price of this and how steep is the discount and if its $9.99 and 50% off how much is that? So you need two people there to answer the questions and ring up all the transactions. I was a little grumbly that I was the only one there.

Then the credit card machine stopped connecting to the internet again. Hector, the maintenance man from the church next door came in to say he called Verizon, and the problem is with them, not with the modem or network or anything.

I then proceeded to get yelled at by a customer who didn't like having to pay in cash. (This particular customer, I might add, was also picking up something that she ordered and paid for September 1, 2007.) If she knew of any way to get the credit card machine to connect to the internet, she was perfectly welcome to fix it and pay in whatever manner she liked. I actually ignored her. If someone has a problem, usually I'll at least be somewhat sympathetic. This woman, nope. No eye contact, no "I'm sorry," nothing. I took her money and rang it through and handed her the bag, and that was it. If you don't like it, don't shop here. Its that simple.

As I was dealing with another line of customers, a man came up to the counter. "Someone used the bathroom and didn't flush." Oh, ok. "So I went and then flushed and it overflowed." What the heck is wrong with you? Why would you try to flush a toilet that is obviously not working? Why would you use it, knowing it probably won't go down??

I didn't have time to run to the bathroom to clean because once again I remind you all that I was the only employee in the store, and I had a line of customers who can't do math. So I finally got a moment where there were no customers in the store. I opened the door to the hallway leading to the bathroom and there was a puddle out into the hallway. There was enough of a spill that it covered the formica floor and pooled on the hallway carpeting. Yay.

I opened the utility closet door to grab a mop, discovered we don't have one, and grabbed the next best thing. A squeegee on a long pole with a sponge on one side. So there I am, squeegeeing a puddle and sopping it up and squishing it against a bucket so the water will come out, and starting the process over. And as I was working, the door to the utility closet slammed shut.

I went back into the store and looked around. Still empty. I looked to the parking lot to see if any other employee cars were there to see if they were playing tricks on me. No one. I felt the air for wind. Nothing. This bathroom is on a cement floor (no creaky shifting floor boards or door frames that could cause it) and its an inner hallway away from windows. I had left the door open too far for it to be a sudden shift in barometric pressure due to the wind. I have no idea why that door slammed shut, but I propped something in front of it and cleaned the bathroom as quickly as I could.

Realizing we had no plunger, I went up to the church office to borrow one. After finally getting the toilet to flush on the first try, I went back to check on the customers (none) and looked down at my shirt. Toilet water splashed on my shirt, and the back of my leg from where I walked into the squeegee at some point or other. Great, and I have to go to class like this?

A customer came in and I started to ring up the transaction. She wanted to pay by credit card, it wouldn't go through. So I told her I would have to call the credit company for a voice authorization code which I could enter into the computer to make the sale. As I was on the phone (it took a while because the "1" button doesn't work on our phones) there was suddenly a change in the amount of light. I wasn't sure if I was seeing things or what. Then the lights went out, and with them, the phone went dead.

The computers were on still, with the battery power supply beeping an alarm at me. I called Tom, who told me I have ten minutes to shut the computers off before the power supply runs out of juice. After calling Tom, I called Katie and left a message saying, "If at all possible, please come in early, I'm having a DAY. Oh and the electricity and phones are out so don't call the store, call my phone."

Customers kept walking in saying, "Are you guys open?" "Yeah we are, we just can't sell you anything because the power is out." Apparently, according to one of my customers, all of Rt 23 from Wayne to Riverdale lost power.

So, finally, the lights came back on, Katie came in, and I told her my story. I ended with, "so I'm going home early so I can change out of my toilet water clothes before class."

On the drive home, the road to my house was blocked off by flashing lights, so I couldn't even get home to get out of my toilet clothes. In the end, I went the long way around and made it home, where I discovered that the cans and bottles garbage can had blown over in the wind. I think we had a tornado while I was gone. There were GLASS bottles strewn all over the yard. I can understand plastic because they are light. No, there were GLASS bottles unbroken blowing in the wind.

After picking all that up I went inside and discovered our power was out. So I couldn't make myself dinner before class. In the end I made some soup on the stove since gas stoves still work in power outages. Fortunately I did not burn the house down.

The redemption of the day came in the form of a long slender box on the doorstep:









And all that before 5:00! Luckily I still did well on my anatomy exam at class and gave my oral presentation and am happy with what I did.

confessions

I was trying to remember, when was the last time I cried? I am not sure. It must have been a while ago.

I used to cry at least once a week.

Medical Massage 2

Second day of the weekend class. I got up when my alarm went off, but somehow, I still didn't leave the house until 10 minutes before I am supposed to be at class. I don't know how that happened. Maybe my inner ear was not working hard enough to keep me in the correct place in time. I got almost to class and decided to buy a muffin and a roll for breakfast and lunch at stop and shop, then since I was already late I sat in the car for a little longer trying to wake up and get my brain in order.

On the way in I spilled my tea twice, and when I walked in the door, the teacher told me I had to do 50 pushups later. I guess a lot of people came in late. I sort of just ignored him, I think that I am at the point now where he's not quite sure what to think of me. He's got the rest of my classmates figured out but the ones who ignore you or don't talk to you or respond to you are the ones that could surprise you with anything at any given moment, and this morning, that was definitely me.

Then we did postural analysis which is basically learning on each other how to assess movement and posture so we know what muscles to work on, on a client. As it turns out, when I stand, I stand as if I'm a skiier that's just gone off a jump (back straight as a board, but leaning over my toes). Apparently it was one of the more pronounced skiier stances in the class because all my classmates were going, "Oh my gooooooodddddd." Which of course improves my mood.

A. asked the teacher, "What could cause something like that?" and Jim said something about how it probably started in my hip or feet, more than my back or anything. That made sense since I had a hip injury which caused me to be over-protective in such a way that I compromised my toe and most likely fractured it, which resulted in swelling all the way into my ankle, which made me walk crooked, which further agitated my hip... although I didn't say that much. I just said, "Yeah I had a hip and ankle injury." But it annoyed me because I thought that hip-ankle stuff was mostly behind me except for the ankle-swelling-in-bad-weather part. Apparently I never really got over it.

Then we learned specific techniques for creating "good pain" in a muscle. Jim walked up to show my partner, A. how to find it and he just reached up and grabbed my SCM (neck muscle) until I felt like there was a needle in the top of my ear. He was just winning points with me right and left all day. Then A. couldn't find the right trigger points on my back so I ended up having four people poking and prodding my back (including Jim again- this time the needle-like pain radiated into my elbow). After class we filled out evaluations and for the question "Where did we goof?" I wrote that it really irritated me that ten times in this course I will have to skip church on a Sunday for a class that is really too long to begin with. I didn't curse them out and I wasn't mean about it, I was just more firm than I normally am. I think having everybody touch me at once really threw me over the edge and also messed with my moods somehow. I was jumpy driving home too and I pretty much wanted to pull over and make my passenger drive me home, except that I couldn't because I didn't have a passenger.

I am hoping that a nap will settle me a little so I can go to church tonight. Lets hope I wake up in time.

Medical Massage

In class today, we talked briefly about how the inner ear helps to maintain equilibrium, and how even if you are not moving but your head remains tilted for a long period of time, you could still experience vertigo because the tilt of your head will mess things up. My teacher said, "So, the inner ear helps you maintain and monitor your proper location in space and time."

I mentioned this to my brother and his response was... "That inner ear is wonderful. For those times when all of my atoms suddenly slip into another dimension, I'm always able to find my way back. Gotta watch out though... inner ear infections can be annoying."

not hoarding the quotes.

me: i learned a dance tonight called the tush push lol
him: sounds like a stupid name for sex

random thoughts

I was once reprimanded for using the phrase "holy cow" to mean, "oooh wow." My instructor reasoned that in India, cows are holy and worshiped. A good Christian girl like me should not align myself with "pagan" religions of India. People could get the wrong idea.

All these years, it has made sense. Then I really started thinking about it. I don't look remotely Indian. It would take a lot more than two words to align myself with a foreign religion. I would have to be in India, or in the presence of someone who considers cows holy (cause lets face it, a lot of Americans know nothing about the religious practices of other cultures). Then they would have to get the wrong idea (and say what? "You worship cows too? How great to find a fellow believer in this pagan America!"). And if they did think that I was using the phrase seriously, wouldn't that be something akin to taking God's name in vain? If I saw a gorgeous Mustang on the road and said, "Holy cow! Look at that Mustang!" I'm not actually speaking to the cow... I'm taking its name in vain. How can one say that the phrase aligns me with a deity when that same phrase is being used by me irreverently?

Which takes me a step further because now I'm wondering if the God of the Christians and Jews is the only god that doesn't like his name being used in vain. Do other religions teach not to use the name of a deity lightly? Is Saturn shaking his fist in anger now that these silly Americans have made his name commonplace in the form of a car?

If I were a Goddess...

...my subjects would have to appease my wrath with this.

Conversations

The following are either overheard by me or said in my presence.


Crazy Sale People:
Woman: I came to get my money back.
C: I'm sorry, we are not able to give refunds.
Woman: Oh, I'm getting my money back, or there will be trouble here.
C: Let me get my boss on the phone for you.
Woman: You don't F&$%ING have to call him, just give me my money. THIS is the reason you are going out of business. This place is run by the DEVIL. I'm never shopping here again.
Another customer: You know, you profess to be a Christian but its people like you who make people like me think Christianity is stupid.
Woman: F$^% YOU, #^%$%(@#($*&#%*&^$#


Later, about the woman:
C: So then, she cursed me out, and I was like, "Oh no she didn't!" Let me tell you, I wanted to die and come back to life right then and there.


Later, about the other customer:
C: So she turned around and cursed HIM out, and I couldn't believe it. I'm telling you, she sent him to hell and back, she did.


Sigh, I love the C-isms. For the record, she got her money. Then she came in the next day and got the same item she had just returned. AND she did more shopping. Guess she likes giving money to the devil.


On Obama:
One: Can you believe the things the Obama staff listed as goals for the coming year? Its ridiculous!
Two: Yeah, and it just disgusts me that its now legal to kill a baby after waiting nine months for it to be born.
One: Oh I don't have a problem with that.
Two: You don't??!! Why not?
One: If you think about it, anyone who would do that is probably going to raise their kids in a liberal household. So abortion just mass genocide of future liberals. I don't have a problem with it.


... ?!

Obama's first offense.

For the full article, click here.

The Obama campaign first laughed at Matt Damon, then tried to charge him $50,000 to get a nosebleed seat at the inauguration. Way to say thanks for all the support over the past two years.

(IMO, Matt Damon is not the most eloquent person to endorse a political figure. But hey, he's PASSIONATE, and plays an invincible character in an awesome movie series. Isn't that all you need?)

State rivalry

Taken from a friend's blog, who was quoting the author of this article:

“So why all the antipathy toward a place that is also the first colony to ratify the Bill of Rights, that contains numerous beautiful towns and villages, that boasts an ocean, mountains and a vast forest among its natural wonders, and that has more horses per square mile than any other state?

The glee that New Yorkers take in belittling their neighbors to the west is especially energetic. There are two reasons for this. First, people living in New York City are convinced that without New Jersey blocking their view, they would be able to see the rest of the country. Second, New Jerseyan Aaron Burr killed New Yorker Alexander Hamilton in a duel, the tragic consequence of negative remarks that Hamilton made behind Burr’s back at a dinner party (probably something like: “Burr, that moron from New Jersey”). That Hamilton was gunned down on a Weehawken, N.J., cliff overlooking Manhattan’s spectacular streets — and not, say, on Fifth Avenue — only added insult to injury. New Yorkers have a long memory.”

hiding?

I noticed something. When I have nothing to do, I don't turn to my hobbies anymore, I just become depressed. I have more reason to be scared of losing my job than before because now its about more than just money. I wonder what I am trying to hide from myself by keeping myself distracted. How long has this been going on?

Dave Barry quote

Snowboarding is an activity that is popular with people who do not feel that regular skiing is lethal enough.

burning question of the night

Why is it that medieval clothing is so much sexier than anything we have today?

A genuine rant.

I have not ranted here for a very long time. I have complained, I have mentioned briefly how tired I am, or how busy, or how I can't understand people's stupidity. But I haven't genuinely ranted, probably since I left Nordstrom. Today, I break my non-ranting streak. At the store, we also broke a few other things, some items, but mostly records.

A typical day in the store includes ringing up approximately X transactions. Around Christmas, our average jumped to perhaps 2X, if that. We can generate about $Y worth of transactions, $2.5Y during Christmas.

I have mentioned that we are going out of business, and I think I have mentioned that we have a mailing list so our customers can be informed of everything that is happening at the store. Tom sent out a mass mailing to let people know about the liquidation sale. I arrived at the store at 9:30 to open. From 10:30 until 3:00, we had no less than 5 people waiting in line to check out, sometimes 20 people. Today, we rang up 4X transactions, and generated about $6.6Y of transactions. We have never done that kind of traffic in the 3.5 years the NJ store has been around OR the 5 years the NY store has been in the Woodbury Commons Mall, even during Christmas time.

So the first record broken is in the number of people that came through our store today. The second record is the dollar amount of sales for the day. The third record was the number of times I wanted to shoot myself and possibly other customers today.

I was scheduled to leave at 5 but there was no way that was happening. I stayed till closing because there were so many people in the store. At 6:00, Crazy Lady came in. She always spends hours looking at stuff in the store, talks like an idiot but spends money like Bill Gates, which is why we tolerate her rude and inconsiderate ways. She indicated that she was finished shopping so we began ringing her up. After processing about $200 worth of stuff (after discounts), she walked away to continue browsing. Since we only have one working register, we had to delete the transaction to help another customer. Ten minutes later she came back saying, "Did you figure out how much I owe you?" We politely explained that we have one working register, and are going to have to start fresh. She does this every time she comes in, which is several times a week. And she never spends less than $300. But she never came in except after our sale signs went up, otherwise we'd still be in business.

So we began ringing her up again. And she walked away again. And another customer came up. This customer happened to be someone from my church, so I was more comfortable asking her to wait until we finish the now $350 transaction ($500 before the discounts). Finally after $10 minutes I decided, this is getting absurd so I just said, "Ma'am, there's a line behind you and we only have one working register." (FOR THE THREE HUNDREDTH TIME!!! OMG HOW DENSE CAN YOU BE?) I have a lot of patience but even I was starting to let it show that we can't handle much more of her coming into the store. Tom couldn't even come near the counter because he can't handle people like her without developing more grey hairs instantly.

And another thing. When you go into a store and you take something off the shelf and then decide you don't want it, either put it back, or hand it to me. Don't wrap it up in a tshirt and put it in the music section. I will not give you your full discount, and you will never know because you are an American and you can't do math to save your life. Every night, the store looks like it was hit by Hurricane Liquidate and I have to go around moving stuff back to where it came from, straightening all the books on the shelves and filling in spaces that keep getting bigger and bigger until pretty soon there's just an empty shelf. Make my life easy and hand me what you have decided not to buy.

One more thing, I really really wish I could give myself a massage every night. I think maybe I am in the wrong professional school. I should be doing something else, and the one I'm fated to marry needs to be in massage school. Either that or I just need a jacuzzi.

**End Rant**

ART

This belongs to Todd Detwiler.

inauguration

We change presidents every 4-8 years.  I don't see why this year is any different.  It would be a big deal if one could go, say 50 years, without seeing a new leader.  But in America we have a privilege to choose our leaders, and choose them often.  This is a plus, but the downside is that it makes a change in leadership mundane and commonplace.  I don't understand the reason for all the parties where you can drink and sit around the TV and watch people in Washington drink and listen to celebrities singing.  Sure the inauguration ceremony is as important as the "Dearly Beloved" wedding ceremony.  But its just another inauguration.  Just another president.

COLD

I was listening to the radio yesterday and the morning show announcer made a call to a family diner in Minnesota.

JS: Hi, who is this?
Dk: Derek.
JS: Hi Derek, this is Johnny Stone in the Morning, we are serving the New York/ New Jersey area, you're on the air. Do you mind if I ask you a few questions?
Dk: No go ahead.
JS: Well, I hear that the weather there is -28 is that true?
Dk: Yes that's true.
JS: And that the windchill factor makes it -58?
Dk: Yep.
JS: Well, Derek, how do you cope with the weather out there?
Dk: Well I work indoors in the diner so its no big deal.
(Outdoor diners must be awful up there.)

JS: But what about when you have to leave the diner?
Dk: Well, we just dress in layers here.
(Cause Minnesota law allows for that kind of breach of fashion.)

JS: Well what about your car, do you have to plug it in at night?
Dk: No, I have an automatic starter, every two hours it starts the car to warm the engine for a while and then shuts off.
JS: And what about pets? Your animals must hate the cold.
Dk: Well, my dog, she's an indoor dog, she doesn't go outside.
(That must get messy after a while...)

Speaking of the cold, I've been working on the goat farm in the mornings before heading out to the store to open by 10. There's a water heater under the sink, and a heat lamp on the faucet. Sometimes in the morning I will come in and the cat will be sleeping in the sink under the heat lamp. But this morning I came in and even though the heat lamp was on, the faucet was still frozen. I couldn't give the goats fresh water so I had to go around the barn with a hammer, breaking the ice on the tops of their water buckets. Its miserable out, no wonder they refuse to leave the safety of the barn.

I am waiting for the temperature to get to about 28. I want to go ice skating again but I can't when the high for the day is 19 degrees.

Sex with Lake Vostok

I am amused.

"To date, the best candidate seems to be the cryobot, a fittingly phallic penetrating probe designed to gingerly work its way into the virgin lake. Its heated tip would melt a channel straight into the ice as it unspools a power and communications line behind it. The melted water would quickly re-freeze behind the cryobot in temperatures which linger around minus 100 degrees Fahrenheit, and once it finally reached the water it would eject a small submersible hydrobot to capture images and take measurements."

Taken from this article about a sub-glacial lake in Antarctica.

the total opposite...

So the other day I couldn't figure out how a person could come into the store and ask us if we were closing. Can you not read the signs on the window? They are pretty straightforward. But today, a woman came in and made her purchases. While ringing her out, another customer came up and asked if we had a closing date yet. The woman said, "Wait, what? You're closing??" So apparently, you CAN miss the fifteen signs, the empty shelves, the whole everything-being-on-sale part, AND the hand made signs all over the counter saying "Please note that all sales after Jan 1 are final." I would hate to be on the road with her...

A sad sight

The store looks so sad, all dressed up like this...




And, get this: I still have at least two customers a day who will come in and ask me, "Are you guys closing?"

Um, what could have given you that idea? Oh those FIFTEEN signs that say we are going out of business? No, we just put them up for kicks.

New Years

I had a great time but I really don't feel driven to give you all a play-by-play. All I have to say is that in the past years, I have looked back on the year and analyzed it. Was the year a good one or a bad one or somewhere in between? I know that there are some years that totally sucked, and others were pretty good and memorable. This year, as the ball dropped, I was totally caught up in an adventure, and didn't think to look back on the year until today. I think I am finally living in the present.

addition to the last post

In the old days, it was not called the Holiday Season; the Christians called it ‘Christmas’ and went to church; the Jews called it ‘Hanukkah’ and went to synagogue; the atheists went to parties and drank. People passing each other on the street would say ‘Merry Christmas!’ or ‘Happy Hanukkah!’ or (to the atheists) ‘Look out for the wall!’

~Dave Barry, “Christmas Shopping: A Survivor’s Guide”

Merry Christmas

"I am a Merry Christmas person. It's Christmas. I am going to say it. Why it might offend anyone is not on my mind. I laugh inside when people exercise God-less political correctness and try to neutralize Christmas by saying 'happy holidays.' The word 'holiday' is derived from the phrase 'holy day' so in actuality, by trying to drop God from the season actually re-affirm it. Merry Christmas, and happy holiday!" ~BGDC

Throughout the year, I celebrate holidays with my friends. I take no offense when I get a text message that says Happy Diwali, I throw colors like the best of them on Holi, I have eaten many Seder meals, I eat moon cakes at the Chinese New Year, and I put up with the absurdity that is Thanksgiving. I have enjoyed myself at your holidays, please enjoy yourself during mine. Merry Christmas.

(I screwed up, moon cakes go with the Autumn Festival, some other thing which I can't pronounce goes with the New Year Festival. Both are yummy and I enjoy them. So eat some Christmas cookies.)

Postal services.

Me: surprisingly, we received shipments from the Post Office, FedEx, and UPS today, despite the snowstorm.
Me: no DHL though.
Him: yeah, they are going out of business anyway.
Me: that's cause they don't deliver during snowstorms.
Him: sissies.

So, I dropped off four packages at the post office on Wednesday (the 17th). They were all 3-4 day mail. Not counting Wednesday and not counting Sunday which is not a business day, I calculated that they will arrive somewhere around Monday (the 22nd). Contrast that with this:

I ordered a gift for someone and received email confirmation that it left the warehouse on December 14th. Estimated arrival time is December 22nd. Keep in mind that the warehouse is not on the moon, it is in Jersey City! So it takes 3-4 business days to go from West Milford to California and Michigan, but it takes 7 business days to go from Jersey City to West Milford. I could drive there in an hour.

Then, I go to the website to track the package, and I see this:

December 14, 2008 11:17:00 AM JERSEY CITY NJ Shipment has left seller facility and is in transit.
December 20, 2008 06:55:00 AM JERSEY CITY NJ Arrival Scan

So, it took them 6 days to go from one end of Jersey City to the other? I think "they" are right, NJ is like the Twilight Zone.

Sigh, shake head, roll eyes...

How do you know he's an engineer?

His Christmas list includes 40 feet of carbon composite pipes.

wtf

The following is excerpted from an email sent to me.

"Tyson Foods, the world's largest meat processor and the second largest chicken producer in the U.S., has admitted that it injects its chickens with antibiotics before they hatch and then labels them as raised without antibiotics. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has told Tyson to stop using the antibiotic-free label, but the company has sued for the right to keep using it.
...
...
...
The agency told Tyson that ... it would no longer consider the antibiotic-free label "truthful and accurate." Tyson objected again, claiming that because the antibiotics are injected before the chickens hatched, the birds can truthfully be said to be "raised without antibiotics." Tyson has filed a lawsuit against the USDA, claiming that the agency had improperly changed the definition of "raised without antibiotics" to include the treatment of eggs."

Sources: http://www.naturalnews.com/024756.html Natural News November 9, 2008

So, I need opinions people. In our society, it is generally accepted that before birth, a fetus is not a baby, therefore abortion is ok. So, should Tyson be allowed to keep their label? Are they really going to say that an unhatched chicken is still a chicken but an unborn baby isn't a baby?

weird

I can drive the road between my house and work (or my house and school) on any given day and not see a single person out walking on the road. There are no sidewalks, so people just don't do it. The road is winding and just isn't safe. But today, when the thermometer reads 28 and it snowed last night, and the windchill puts things in the single digits, I happened to see FOUR people out walking their dogs. What is going on??

Another customer...

Him: I want to get this visor clip, but do you have anything better than this?
Better, as in more suited to the occasion or better, as in better quality?
Me: I can get you some catalogs that have visor clips but that rack you were just looking at is what we have here in the store.
Him: Well, I like this one, its the right size and its what I'm looking for but do you have any that are more expensive?
I would be more than happy to overcharge you for that one.
Me: Like I said, that rack is what we've got but I'll get you a catalog to look at.
Him: It doesn't even have to be a visor clip, it could just be a large medal and I'll just glue it.
You are going to spend more on something just so you can smear glue all over the back of it?

Ehh... Its his money...

Huh?

An elderly customer came in asking for help finding a Bible, and also finding books on economics and Biblical prophecy. I explained the differences in translations and also which authors were best-sellers in the "end times" category.

Upon completing the sale, the following dialogue occurred. I'm not feeling well, so my brain is still spinning 2 1/2 hours later.

Him: Can I ask you, do you go to college?
I'm not exactly in college anymore, so I inefficiently clarified.
Me: I am going to school, yes.
Him: Can I ask you the name of the school?
Me: The Institute for Therapeutic Massage.
Him: Ehh? Massage? Oh. Ok.
Me: Yes, its a vocational school.
Him: You see, if you had said something like Seton Hall, it would make sense for you to sell me these books. But you see, you don't go there and you are selling it to me anyway, out of the goodness of your heart. That's a Christian witness right there. Excellent.

Well, I'm glad that he left happy, and I'm glad that I did something Christian... but I am not quite sure what exactly I did... there's nothing Christian about going to ITM, or about telling a customer what books to buy based on how popular they are. Maybe it is because I'm not feeling too good that my mind is still reeling. What's wrong with me? I don't know, but I think its in my head somewhere:

"Dysfunction is the in-between state of 'not healthy' but also 'not sick' (i.e., experiencing disease). Unfortunately, many people experience dysfunctional states. Western medicine has a difficult time identifying and dealing with dysfunctions because these are prepathologic states and are often not apparent within current diagnostic methods. Actual pathology usually needs to exist before medical tests and diagnostic methods can detect a disease state."
~Mosby's Fundamentals of Therapeutic Massage

So, if you think you're sick but your body looks normal, you are dysfunctional. Excellent!