Food Safety Tips and Tricks for Fun and Health

I feel quite ill after some sketchy food handling at a friend's house. So! Here are some tips!

1. Do not leave mayo-based spreads hanging out on the table for several hours.
2. When cooking pre-purchased raw mesquite wings, do not (a) upend the plastic tray onto a baking sheet, (b) cook the wings, (c) return the wings to the plastic tray and serve. One of your guests will (d) merrily scarf down a dozen and a half wings before realizing that (e) the tray is cross-contaminated.
3. Don't be a freakin' glutton and eat it all anyway. This path can only lead to pain.
   

kachingching!

My credit card will be paid off in about four months! :D

I love children--they're great with ketchup!

I'm in Panera right now, hunkered down with my laptop, notebook, books and a cup of coffee (decaf, because my daily Diet Coke has been giving me the worst leg twitches lately). I'm listening to happy cafe sounds now, but about an hour ago, there was the most miserable toddler in here, shrieking and fussing.

Every time I hear a child screech like that, I cringe inside. Sometimes outside, too. It's hard not to glare at the accompanying parent(s), or worse, lack thereof.

But I realized something today: It's not usually the fault of the kids. They don't know any better, because they haven't been taught. They've learned that it's okay to scream in a restaurant or cafe because they don't get hauled out of there, which is what would've happened to me if I'd ever gotten stroppy in a coffee shop.

This kid's mom and grandma (from the looks of them) went on eating and half-assedly trying to silence the kid: A shush here, a bite of food there, the occasional use of the pacifier. It didn't work. Kiddo needed to be taken outside where (1) he wouldn't be a nuisance to the other patrons and (2) he could get an age-appropriate talking-to about how we shouldn't keep other people from enjoying their lunches.

Once I'd jammed my noise-canceling earbuds as far down my ear canal as they'd go and cranked up the death metal, I started to feel sorry for the little dude. I mean, here's a kid who's learnng that it's okay to act like a douche becuase you'll get away with it. He might even grow up to actually be one. Think about the douches you know. Chances are, they're not happy people. Kids who are allowed to be d-bags probably won't grow up to be happy people. And, I dunno, whenever I consider the possibility of spawning, I'm afraid to do it because I'm afraid the kid will grow up as maladjusted as I am.

I guess this is just a really wordy way of saying bratty kids should be pitied, not punted.

Plaxico's Gun Safety PSA

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This is the funniest thing on the Internet this week. "I'm outta here! That motherfucker possessed! I'm just tryin' to help the kids, dawg!"

$$$$$

Guess who's getting 40 hours this week?

Ohhhhh yeaaaaaaaah. :D

Only problem is, work is insane and I'm not getting much time to study. I expect I'll have to hole up in a coffee shop the next couple of nights. Seems to be the only way I can focus for longer than 20 minutes.

I killed my food

I have a black thumb.

That's my cilantro plant. Cost me $3 at the big-box retail store.

I brought it home and put it in my kitchen, which gets a little bit of sun and a lot of draft.

The poor thing came home on Wednesday or Thursday. This picture was taken today. Poor dead plant :(

I really wanted a basil plant, but the ones that were left were already dead. I somehow managed to keep a hydroponic basil plant (named Basil) living while I still lived at home, but I didn't take him when I moved out. Poor Bas got a bunch of mosquito larvae and had to be thrown out. :(

So I was really excited about getting this living cilantro plant.

Yeah. Right.

No more plants for me, kthx. I have a black thumb.

Love It or Shove It: iPod Nano 4th Gen

My 3rd gen iPod Nano disappeared between my car and my apartment. I guess it belongs to someone else now. I hope you're enjoying my taste in music, jerk.

I could've ordered a replacement from an online refurb dealer, but the condition of each item isn't described. I could have gotten anything from like-new to scratches all over the LCD screen--and I can live with scratches on the body, but a scuffed LCD is not acceptable.

For not much more, I was able to get something brand new.

Problem is... well, you'd think that the new version of something would be an improvement over the old.

I'm not generally against changing technology. I've vowed not to turn into one of those old people who doesn't understand what double-clicking a mouse is. So don't call me a Luddite when I say this, but: The 4th gen Nano is an inferior product.

• Apple seems to have decided that, since they made the Touch and iPhone sensitive to tilting sideways, they should also put a tilt sensor on the Nano. Now you have to turn it sideways to watch a video.
• You also have to turn it sideways to play the pre-loaded Solitaire game. No more playing Solitaire with one hand, at least not with the way my thumb joints ache.
• The narrow list feels claustrophobic. The titles cut off entirely too soon.
• The "now playing" menu option is gone.
• Shaking it turns on shuffle. That's kind of cute, except for when I drop it into the car's cupholder and it plays a random song.
• Shiny new colors are a major selling point? Okay, so this isn't so much related to the product itself, but still. Really, Apple? Really?!

Sorry, Apple--I gotta say SHOVE IT to the new Nano.