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Albino...goat?!? 2007-06-25 23:25:00 Ok, so is this little fella cute or what? Forest rangers in thenorthern Italian Alps came across this very rare albinomountain goat, the first such find in that area. Photossuch as the one above were taken at around 10,000 feet in the Val d'Aosta region of Italy. Hikers and climbers had reported seeing a white animal during their treks, so the rangers had been on the lookout for such. Well, they finally found him; the goat is estimated to be about a year old. They even decided to name him.....Snowflake!
A diverse trio 2007-06-25 22:20:00 I must admit, I have been remiss in introducing y'all to someof the new wait staff additions that we have had at the restaurant recently. They are all night shift girls, as that shift has a MUCH higher turnover rate than day shift. I ampretty much convinced that the main reason for that is the late closing hour that we have there; not a whole lot of folks are too keen on being out and about at 2 am. Night shift is also a much slower, more relaxed pace than day shift; hence, the better waitresses tend to work during the more hectic day, while at night we can usually get by with staff who are not quite as efficient. Those who realize that waiting tables is NOT for them then move along. So the 3 newer staff members I need to bring y'all up to date with are Patricia, Terri, and Susan. Patricia is Hispanic, from Puerto Rico, but speaks excellent English. She is a good waitress and a very hard worker; the only drawback is that she is habitually late to work, to
Remembering Liz Claiborne 2007-06-29 14:09:00 There are alot of women out there in mourning these days.This past Tuesday saw the passing of fashion designer LizClaiborne after a long battle with cancer. Liz revolutionizedthe fashion industry, designing and producing stylish, classic,and affordable casual sportwear and coordinated outfits and that were serious yet so very attractive. Her fashion and sense of style were aimed at the influx of women entering the work-place and climbing up the corporate ladder in the 70's and 80's. Elisabeth Claiborne was born in Brussels, Belgium in 1929 and came to the U.S. in the 1940's to pursue a career in fashion.(She married twice and had one son.) After working for yearsas a relatively unknown dress designer, Liz, together with herhusband Art Ortenberg and 2 business partners, launched the Liz Claiborne line of clothing in 1976. It would not take long for her to totally turn department store clothing policies and sales upside down; her clothes became an instant hit, and in 1981 Liz Claiborn Read more:Remembering
Happy 4th of July! 2007-07-04 17:18:00 Yes, time for your history lesson! On this date in 1776, the Declaration of Independence was adopted by the ContinentalCongress by the 13 British Colonies in America. The Declara-tion listed all the grievances of the Colonies against the British monarch (at the time, King George III) and declaredthe Colonies to be free and independent states; it was unanimously endorsed by all the delegates. As the websitefor the History Channel states, this event "marked the cul-mination of a political process that had begun as a protestagainst oppressive restrictions imposed by the mothercountry on colonial trade, manufacturing, and political libertyand had developed into a revolutionary struggle resulting in the establishment of a new nation." Wow, I couldn't have said it better myself, Happy
231st Birthday U.S.A.!
Some odd food notes 2007-07-02 09:05:00 Unusual food notes that I ran across over the weekend. Accordingto Reuters, McDonald's Corporation in Britain has announced thatstarting this week, they will convert part of their 155 vehicleBritish delivery fleet to run on biodiesel fuel made from their ownrecycled cooking oil. It will start with 45 vehicles, with the restbeing switched over the next 12 months. The fuel will be 85%cooking oil collected from the approximately 900 Mickey D'saround Britain, the remaining 15% will be pure rapeseed oil. Myquestion is, will the discharge smell like fries? On a more seriousnote, Veggie Booty Snack Food has issued a recall of all theirsnack foods due to possible salmonella poisoning. Veggie Booty?Is this name for real? I was quite surprised to read the CNNonline article about "a popular snack food sold nationwide....insupermarkets, health food stores, vending machines, and onlinein the U.S. and Canada." As most of you know, I shop alot, hit allthe grocery stores (depends on what I need and
Another transfat free chain 2007-07-08 11:33:00 Yet another fast food chain has recently announced that theywill go trans fat free in their cooking oil. Burger King is the latest to join the anti-trans fat trend; they even stated thatthey had already starting using trans fat free oil in severalhundred of their 7100 restaurants and will do so in all of them. I am pretty sure that we are witnessing a positivetrend here, with all these chains announcing how they haveseen the importance of going trans fat free. Not to soundcynical, but could it be that some of these companies areenjoying the publicity they attract when they announcethat they are following more health conscious choices? Maybe one company gets jealous when another announcesmenu alterations? Whatever the case may be, these are all instances where change is indeed good.
work and money 2007-07-07 15:03:00 I am just positively getting spoiled....almost regular visits bySandra lately! She has started a new job, and so far, it seems to be working out great for her, other than the fact that shehas to wake up at the very awful time of 4:30am!!! ick, yuckAnother one of my gal pals who has had quite a time at worklately is Michelle. She works for the cell phone retailer whojust happens to be the exclusive here in town for the over-hyped iPhone by Apple. Needless to say, her workplace hasbeen a madhouse lately. At least Michelle will have extra bonuses on her next paycheck thanks to the commissions.And speaking of the iPhone, the one and only Lola called melast night and declared that due to an unforeseen bump in herpaycheck from her summer job, she is going to go to buy theiPhone TODAY. I knew it was only a matter of time beforeLola broke down and bought it, she just can't help herself!
Sounds like a plan! 2007-07-12 17:27:00 Reuters.com occasionally provides me with some rather cute stories. The latest one that caught my eye was titled "Jail break timed with guard toilet break."! Naturally, I could not resist. In Manilla, capital of the Philippines, 7 men escaped from a police station detention cell by sawing on the bars (albeit very old, rusty bars) of the cell they were in. They were able to time their sawing with thenumerous bathroom visits the lone guard took that evening; the guard was nursing an upset stomach and had to make several toilet pit stops. It wasn't until several hours later that the guard noticed the damaged cell and the missing prisoners. What made it worse is that of the 7 escapees, 2 were being held on murder charges (the other 5 for theft and robbery). Needless to say, the guard was suspended, as was his commanding officer. I suppose the possible loss of work will really make the poor guy's stomach churn!
Read more:Sounds
The curse of the moto razr 2007-07-16 00:33:00 Spoke to gal pal Lola earlier this evening. Her plans to acquirethe iPhone were temporarily postponed last week, but in themeantime, her current phone decided to cease operations. So,as one of her good friends did indeed buy an iPhone, she had an extra phone to give to Lola.....a Motorola Razr. Now, let mefill you in on my humble opinion on this matter. I am by nomeans superstitious, nor do I believe in psychic stuff or spells,but I kind of have to wonder about Lola and her relationshipwith Razrs. This will be the 4th one she has had in about a year. Her first one was stolen, the second suffered a painfuldeath in a washing machine, and the third suffered an unfor-tunate demise in the snow and ice of Alaska. So I really haveto wonder a couple of things - first, why would she take another one after her string of bad Razr luck? Secondly, I can't help but wonder what the Fates hold for this latest Motorola - perhaps it will be run over accidentally as it falls out of a pocket un
Girls Behaving Badly 2007-07-23 14:14:00 So y'all know that most men, my husband included, have a thing for the television remote control. One evening not too long ago, while roaming the channels, hubby came across an amusing hidden camera show. Apparently when he was younger he was a big fan of 'Candid Camera'. Well, the show he discovered is similar to it, but with a twist. It is called 'Girls
Behaving Badly' and it stars 4 lady pranksters who pull rather outrageous, and sometimes raunchy, gags on unsuspecting victims. Some of the pranks are cute, others on the verge of indecency, and a few are just silly. But all in all,'Girls Behaving Badly' is good 1/2 hour of entertainment. You can find Kira, Chelsea, Melissa, and Shondrella, the 4 crazy gals, on the Oxygen Channel, available on basic cable.
it never ends..... 2007-07-22 14:19:00 .....the food recalls that is. This week the FDA has had to handleyet another food crisis. Castleberry Foods of Augusta, Georgiahas recalled more than 80 versions of canned corned beef hash,chili, chili sauce, and beef stew. Apparently the meat productshave been connected to a botulism outbreak; botulism is amuscle paralyzing disease brought about by a bacterium. So far, cases have been discovered in Texas and Indiana. Most ofthe Castleberry products are sold as the store or generic brandsof many grocery stores. Equipment malfunction seems to be theculprit of this latest recall; a Castleberry official stated "we believe we have isolated the issue to a situation of under-processing on one line of our production facility...we have shutdown this line altogether and are recalling all products produced on it." Guess we just have to wait for the next food or otherrecall, I am sure it will be just around the corner, since cornerskeep getting cut on a regular basis.
1894-S Barber Dime 2007-07-31 21:28:00 Some of you may, or may not, know that I am a coin collector,not a real serious one, but above average. I generally stick toU.S. coins, mostly silver ones. My faves include the 3 centnickels (yeah, sounds weird, but they do exist!) and all Barber
coinage. Barbers are what we collectors call all dimes, quarters,and half dollar coins minted between 1892-1916; the coinswere designed by Charles Barber. One Barber I DON'T have isthe 1894-S dime. Only 24 proofs were made, none for generalcirculation. Of the 24 proofs, only 9 are documented to be inexistence. One of those got sold a few days ago by someone inCalifornia to a lucky soul in New York. Lucky, and rich I mayadd, as the coin sold for 1.9 million dollars. The 1894-S Barberdime is considered by many in the coin world as the Holy Grailof coins. I know I will never get to own one, but I do hope to seeone at some point, hold it in my hot big hand and just pretendfor a few seconds.....and then grudgingly give it back. Unless Ifinally hit
time off....for a movie 2007-08-05 10:54:00 My gal pal Michelle visited me at the restaurant last night and proceeded to make me extremely jealous - she had just gotten out of the newest Jason Bourne spy flick starring Matt Damon. She loved it, and get this, she didn't even see the first 2 Bourne movie
s. I mean, what on earth!?! It has been a while since I have been to the movies; sadly, there just haven't been any coming out that have really piqued my interest. But you can bet that I will be dragging hubby to the Bourne movie this week! This week will be divine, as I have it off; after tonight, I won't be back to the restaurant until the second Wednesday from now - 9 days off in a row! It is actually a good time to get a break. The last few weeks have been rather hectic and frustrating at the restaurant, with staff turnover and shortages, equipment woes, and the ridiculous heat and humidity. Plus, the fine local university will be back in session in about 3 weeks....that means more folks in town, more busy weekends, foot-bal
Bottled water 2007-08-03 08:44:00 I knew it....i knew it. I drink bottled water
daily, usually about 2 small or one large bottle. A few years ago, I meticulously bought a bottle of each and every brand on the market, to find the best tasting ones. I endured a mild amount of ridicule from folks telling me that it's just water, it's all the same, what difference does it make. Well, I could taste a difference. Some had a more metallic taste, even a bit of an aftertaste in some cases. So it came as no surprise to me to learn this week that Aquafina (from Pepsi), and Dasani (a Coke product) bottled waters were not from fresh springs, but simply treated tap water. I had tried both during my taste test period, and they were equally bad, very metallic. And now we all know why. Another brand that admitted to being tap water was one I somehow missed, Nestle Pure Life. Yeah....real pure! Oh, and the brands that did do well in my personal taste test are as follows:1) Evian2) Spring (by Dannon)3) Crystal Springs4) Deer ParkAs Evi Read more:Bottled
Let's go for a drive! 2007-08-06 12:08:00 Just checking the news real quick today, and came across this headline in the Reuters website - 'Blind man arrested for driving car'. I naturally thought of that Al Pacino movie, 'Scent of a Woman', where Pacino plays a blind retired miitary man who at one point decides to take a Ferrari for a spin. Anyway, this actual event occured in Estonia. Police pulled over a car that was driving erratically, assuming that the drive
r was drunk. They realized, however, that he was blind when he kept missing the tube to blow into for the breathalyzer test! The blind man's passenger, a teenager, was playing the role of instructor; he obviously fared poorly in his capacity!
At the movies 2007-08-10 18:28:00 Yay! Finally got to see the new Jason Bourne movie,and yes, hubby and I loved it! It started off a tad slow, but picked up speed quick and never reallystopped. And the ending was such that the doorwas left open for a 4th rendition. Naturally, if thereis a 4th, we'll be there. During the previews of up-coming movies
before it started, there were someclips of an upcoming action thriller starring myfave actress, Jodie Foster. The role looks a tad out-side of her norm, but Foster can pull off just aboutanything. But today, Matt Damon was the star!
oh no, not again 2007-08-13 20:24:00 I was making a quick check of the news today around the various websites I frequent, and came across an eyebrow raiser at Reuters.com. Last week I reported on an article I read about the blind guy in Estoniagetting pulled over by police who thought his erratic driving was due to being drunk. Well, he was at it again this past weekend, and this time, he was indeed drunk, a winning combo with his blindness when it comes to driving! This time he had 3 people in the car with him who were giving him instructions; no word if they weredrunk as well, but you have to wonder who would getinto a car driven by a drunk, blind man! Estonian police this time are not in a forgiving mood. They are asking the court to jail the man for 30 days and to confiscate his car. Y'all can be sure that I will be checking Reuters to see if there will be a 3rd story on this character!
Introducing Lady! 2007-08-12 17:00:00 Hard to believe my vacation time is winding down, these dayshave simply flown by. The old adage 'time flies when you arehaving fun' is oh so true. Of course, the best part about thistime off is being able to spend more time with my husband.But we have also spent times with friends, and with our newmember of the family. Yes, the time has come for me to introduce y'all to Lady! Lady is our puppy, approximately3 months old. See, we don't know her age for sure. Hubbyfound an online ad from a woman about 20 miles from ourfair city giving away a litter of puppies, Siberian Husky andLabrador mix. We decided to go see them, and 3 of the original 10 puppies were left, including the so-called 'runt'of the litter. Well, of the 3 puppies, the runt was the only one to actually pay attention to us, sniffing around and thendemanding a belly rub! Basically, she made us pick her!Since that fateful day about 6 weeks ago, Lady the 'runt' hasdoubled in size, gotten almost all of her shots, becomep Read more:Introducing
Under the radar 2007-08-11 21:45:00 Takeovers and mergers are always newsworthy forvarious reasons. I have written about the the possibleXM/Sirius satellite radio merger and the attempted acquisition of Wild Oats by Whole Foods (both arestill not done deals yet). But one union did occurrecently that managed to avoid the big headlines.Thule, the Swedish company that produces carrooftop storage boxes, ski and bicycle racks, andmore, recently acquired the American firm Case Logic,which supplies storage bags and cases for computers,CD's, DVD's, and other types of media. While stillsubject to clearance of European anti-trust laws, itappears that this combination will be a winning one.According to Anders Pettersson, president and CEOof Thule, “The Case Logic acquisition adds a highlycomplementary line of products to our core line of smart transportation solutions based on functional design. Thule and Case Logic are serving the same end consumer groups, active people that need an accessory to bring their equipment with them
Work and play 2007-08-19 12:12:00 Well, this week I returned to the restaurant, after having 9 days off.Let me tell you, that first day back was rough, more so because I had to open, and that 5:00am alarm was a terrible thing! But I amfully back in the swing of things. Strangely enough, nothing reallymajor happened, no new staff, no one got fired or quit, actually a quiet week, so I didn't miss anything. During my time off I was able to see some of my closer friends, such as the dear Thompsons,Michelle, and Sandra. Of course, nowadays I am not sure if folksare coming to see my husband and I, or to visit with Lady! So far,there has not been a person she hasn't befriended, or a dog shehasn't tried to play with. Yeah, and my husband dreamed of a having a possible guard dog....NOT! Just an example of how Lady is anything BUT....yesterday one of the local churches washaving their big annual yard sale. Hubby and I decided to go,and we took Lady along. Part of the sale was actually inside thechurch, so we were about to lea
What a catch 2007-08-24 08:27:00 Read a story in Reuters.com the other day from one of the nations I have written about on several occasions, The Netherlands, but this one was actually NOT risque or morally questionable....for a change! A 13 year old boy was fishing just off the coast of the Dutch town of Zierikzee when he felt a heavy tug on his line. Alas, it wasn't a big fish, but a scuba diver who had been swimming close to shore. The unlucky diver got hooked in his lower lip; a doctor was able to remove the hook safely. I found this story rather amusing as I had run across a similar story while living overseas several years ago. A scuba diver in the Mediterranean Sea suffered a similar fate, becoming the catch of the day for an erstwhile fisher-man. The story became the butt of several jokes, but I bet that scuba diver wasn't laughing!
I'm back! 2007-09-24 20:10:00 hhhmmmm, how to explain a month long absence?!? Was it just a break, lack of blogworthy stories, time restrictions, or perhaps writer's block?!? While I do have less time, with work, our new puppy, trying to fit in an hour at the gym, and spending quality time with my husband, I really have to attribute my neglect in this forum to the latter....writer's block. Sandra sort of understood my predicament, after all, she writes in her little spare time. Lola (who,by the way, is in Seattle now....long story, will get to that eventually!), suggested that maybe I take my blog in a different direction. And Michelle basically threatened me, telling me to get going again so that she can keep up with the zany side of news, such as that one and only blind Estonian drunk driving man! (nothing new to report on him by the way!) Anyway, I need to overcome whatever has befallen me, and tonight is the first step to my way back to reporting restaurant gossip, pop culture scandal, and news stories that g
#300 2007-09-28 08:22:00 Well, this is post #300 to my blog....I would have gone over 300 by now had I not taken my little hiatus, but anyway. I did promise to catch y'all up on the exploits of Lola, that wandering soul. As reported late spring, she left the wilds of Alaska (bringing me a great T-shirt in the process!), and proceeded to get involved with that summer job she enjoyed during past summers, driving trucks full of camping gear up and down the Eastern seaboard. The plan originally was that after the summer job ended, she was going to move to Philadelphia with Nora, that equally outrageous gal pal of hers that I may have mentioned here in the past (another brainy butbizarre character!). But then Lola's family, and soon Lola herself, began to doubt this move, considering Philly's rather high crimerate, and general dinginess of the City of Brotherly Love. In themeantime, Lola had some friends in Seattle, Washington who invited her to come to visit at summer's end, which she did, and proceeded to dec
Put down that pot pie! 2007-10-11 08:22:00 I shake my head as I type here - yet another food problem. This time, it involves a typical Americana comfort food - Chicken Pot Pies. Con Agra, who earlier this year had a recall of their Peter Panpeanut butter (reported on these very pages), has stopped produc-tion of Banquet Chicken Pot Pies at a Missouri plant after healthofficials stated that the pies may be linked to salmonella cases.Almost 140 cases, in 30 states, have been reported. Con Agra hasstated that the pies are safe if cooked properly; problems mayarise if they are cooked in microwave ovens, where the heat maynot be uniform, resulting in uneven cooking. While Con Agra didnot issue an official recall, it will give refunds to all consumerswho have purchased the pot pies in question. Something tells methat once the CDC and USDA finish their investigations, we will have yet another recall in the books.
Seattle's slew of nuns...and sluts! 2007-10-09 20:16:00 I am sure most of y'all have seen the Tom Hanks, Meg Ryanblockbuster hit movie 'Sleepless in Seattle
'. The largest cityin Washington state looked rather serene in that movie. Well, thanks to my gal pal Lola, I now know that this depic-tion was an illusion, or at least rather misleading. Lola, uponher arrival there, noticed an abundance of drag queens; themost outlandish ones were dressed as nuns! She has sincediscovered that these 'nuns' are part of an order called theSisters of Perpetual Indulgence. The sisters originated inSan Francisco (of course!); the Seattle chapter goes by theAbbey of Saint Joan. I have attached the link to their website, just click on the title of this post, and prepare to be amazed and amused! Speaking of amazement and amusement, Lolaprovided both to me when she discussed the rail type metrosystem that Seattle is in the process of implementing. It willbe called the Seattle Light Urban Transport (or train). Now,I know my readers are smart and hip, so y'al
Wacky stuff 2007-10-05 08:24:00 I haven't been awake too long, just long enough to havehad breakfast with hubby, take out Lady to do her thing, and then give her breakfast. So now I am checking my e-mail and the news at CNN, and yes, I have come across a couple of doozies. I am sure all of y'all have heard of drug mules, folks who smuggle illegal stuff
in their luggage or even person. Well, we now have a new mule to watch out for...Mr. Potato Head! Custom officials in Australia found over 10 ounces of Ecstasy pills hidden inside such a toy, sent from Ireland. While no arrests have been made yet, the incident is under investigation. A customs official did admit that while they were used to odd methods of drug concealment, the Mr. Potato Head was definitely "outlandish"! Gee, no wonder he has sucha goofy smile! And now a story that I could kind of relate to - an Idaho woman trying to enter a Federalcourthouse was forced by security officials to removeher bra because it was setting off the metal detectors. From the vi
Bad news, sad note 2007-10-01 08:09:00 Darn it, here we go again. After yet another spinach recall during my hiatus month, we now have more food problems. Topps MeatCompany, based out of Elizabeth, N.J. (N.J? already sounds bad)recalled 21.7 million pounds of ground beef and hamburger patties after reports of about 25 cases of E. Coli related illnessesin 8 states. Apparently, the problems started during the firstpart of September; the affected meat had a "sell by" September25 date. The E. Coli outbreak so far has been in Connecticut,Indiana, Maine, Florida, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and ofcourse, New Jersey. It's just sad how rampant cutting cornersand slacking off on regulations has become. From being mad, to being sad. The actress who played Miss Moneypenny in 14James Bond films has died. Canadian born Lois Maxwell died inAustralia of cancer over the weekend at the age of 80. When Iwas younger, I never missed a James Bond flick, either going tothe movies or watching on TV or video all the Roger Moore andSean Connery
Beetle-mania 2007-10-16 20:49:00 No, not the movie, nor avid music fans. This is about yet anothermethod of delivering illegal drugs. After reporting about 10 daysago about a Mr. Potato Head being used as a drug mule in Australia, our good friends the Dutch came across an evenmore unusual drug mule method. Customs officials, whileexamining a package from Peru, were shocked to discover 100 dead beetles inside, all stuffed with cocaine. In all, therewere 300 grams of the white powder, with a street value of about$11,000 dollars. Dutch officials, who have probably seen it all ina country where soft drugs are legal, admitted that it was "a verystriking method of smuggling. Well, I guess until the drunk blindEstonian driving man of past posts pops up again ( and I really believe it is only a matter of time!), I will just have to be on thelookout for more astounding drug mule ideas. How about insidesome ravioli or other stuffed pastas, it would make marijuanabrownies look tame!
Read more:Beetle
The dishwasher from Hades 2007-10-15 08:28:00 Well, I am just chilling, resting up after a hectic homecoming weekendand football game, which translates to very busy times at the restaurant.Most things went fairly smoothly except that for some reason, wehave happened upon the dishwasher from H*E*L*L!!! This small, olderHispanic dude got hired a little over a month ago to replace anotherHispanic dude who had disappeared; we had not been real keen onhiring this guy, but after the other no-called no-showed, and withconcerts and games coming up, we figured he would be better thannothing. WELL, maybe better than nothing, but not by much!!! He isa complete whack job, nuttier than a Christmas pecan log. He claimedthat he was experienced, knew what he was doing, and needed no help or instruction. But he is beyond unstable, and has been getting worseas each shift wears on (he works only on the weekends). This past weekend sadly made us all fearful that we would have to call the folks with the straitjackets and rubber rooms for him. First he Read more:Hades
Toast, pop tarts....schnitzel? 2007-10-18 10:09:00 The toaster has to be one of the more significant kitchen applianceinventions. I mean, look at all that can go in and be made warm and.....TOASTY! Bread, english muffins, bagels, pop tarts, frozenwaffles, and more. But now a German firm has come up with anew item to toast - Schnitzel! Yes, I have my doubts too about this one. Apparently German meat producer Toennies believesthat the convenience of a frozen schnitzel that one can pop in the toaster for 3 minutes, rather than going through the troubleof breading and frying, will be a draw for many time-pressedpeople. What I am curious about is how they claim that theconcoction won't ooze or drip grease from the heated meat. Toennies spokesman Dietrich Gumppenberg wouldn't discusshow that is possible, stating that it "...will remain a companysecret. We're patenting our invention." I could maybe buy thisif you put the schnitzel in a toaster oven, where you could linethe pan with aluminum foil, but I wouldn't feel confident putting this Read more:Toast
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