House of Mouse

Xmas Carol for Dieters

Sun, 07 Dec 2008 23:18:58 GMT

*Twas the night before Christmas and all round my hips*
*were Fannie May candies that sneaked past my lips.*
*Fudge brownies were stored in the freezer with care*
*In hopes that my thighs would forget they were there.*

*While Mama in her my girdle and I in chin straps*
*Had just settled down to sugar-borne naps.*
*When out in the pantry there arose such a clatter*
*I sprang from my bed to see what was the matter.*

*Away to the kitchen I flew like a flash*
*Tore open the icebox then threw up the sash.*
*The marshmallow look of the new-fallen snow*
*Sent thoughts of a binge to my body below.*

*When what to my wandering eyes should appear:*
*A marzipan Santa with eight chocolate reindeer!*
*That huge chunk of candy so luscious and slick*
*I knew in a second that I'd wind up sick.*

*The sweet-coated santa, those sugared reindeer*
*I closed my eyes tightly but still I could hear;*
*On Pritzker, on Stillman, on weak one, on TOPS*
*A Weight Watcher dropout from sugar detox.*

*>From the top of the scales to the top of the hall*
*Now dash away pounds now dash away all.*
*Dressed up in Lane Bryant from my head to nightdress*
*My clothes were all bulging from too much excess.*

*My droll little mouth and my round little belly*
*They shook when I laughed like a bowl full of jelly.*
*I spoke not a word but went straight to my work*
*Ate all of the candy then turned with a jerk.*

*And laying a finger beside my heartburn*
*I gave a quick nod toward the bedroom I turned.*
*I eased into bed, to the heavens I cry*
*If temptation's removed I'll get thin by and by.*

*And I mumbled again as I turned for the night*
*In the morning I'll starve... 'til I take that first bite!*

Heading for Iraq

Wed, 29 Oct 2008 06:08:33 GMT

I have my instructions (the step before you get orders).
Leaving for Balad AB early January (yup, Happy Birthday to me).
Will be gone for 6 months.
I should have reasonable computer access and plan on taking lots of pictures.
More info as I have it.

Throwing my political hat into the ring?

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 01:38:58 GMT

Fundraising for Dunder Mifflin Infinity.

Sun, 10 Aug 2008 01:51:52 GMT

The Bush Presidential Library

Wed, 06 Aug 2008 02:22:04 GMT

(thanks to my mother who forwarded this to me).

Subject: Tour of the George W. Bush Library

The GEORGE W. BUSH PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY is now in the planning stages.
The Library will include:

The Weapons of Mass Destruction Room, which no one has yet been able to find.

The Hurricane Katrina Room, which is still under construction.

The Alberto Gonzales Room, where you won't be able to remember anything.

The Texas Air National Guard Room, where you don't even have to show up.

The Walter Reed Hospital Room, where they don't let you in.

The Guantanamo Bay Room, where they don't let you out.

The National Debt Room, which is huge and has no ceiling.

The Tax Cut Room, with entry restricted only to the wealthy.

The Airport Men's Room, where you can meet some of your favorite Republican
Senators.

The Economy Room, which is in the toilet.

The Iraq War Room, where after you complete your first tour, they make you to
go
back for a second, third, fourth, and sometimes fifth tour.

The Dick Cheney Room, in the famous undisclosed location, complete with
shotgun gallery.

The Environmental Conservation Room, still empty, but very warm.

The Supreme Court Gift Shop, where you can buy an election.

The Decider Room complete with dart board, magic 8-ball, Ouija board, dice,
coins, and straws.

Additionally, the museum will have an electron microscope to help you locate
the President's accomplishments.

Admission: Republicans - free; Democrats - $1,000.00

If you have any spare change this month....

Sun, 27 Jul 2008 05:29:31 GMT

Will Calories on the Menu Change Your Eating Habits?

Thu, 17 Jul 2008 02:41:18 GMT

First New York City passed a law requiring fast food places to post calories of their foods on the menu....then it was amended to include ANY chain restaurants with 15 or more locations.
Most of these places have had nutrition information available in pamphlets for years, and subsequently posted online. For example:
Blimpie
McDonald's
Panda Express
Starbucks Beverages and Food
Now other cities are thinking about following the example of NYC. Why? Because obesity is fast becoming the nation's number ONE health problem (now that smoking has been banned in most all public places).

Today MSNBC posted an interesting article about the effect of calorie information on the menu? Will it open up some eyes and show the public WHY we're getting heavier? It's not the "carbs", it's not the "fat", it's not the "high fructose corn syrup"; IT'S THE CALORIES!!!!

New Yorkers try to swallow calorie sticker shock
600 calorie muffins? The first city to adopt law faces unappetizing surprises
By Roni Caryn Rabin, MSNBC contributor, Wed July 16, 2008

Nora Cara was flabbergasted.

She was about to order her usual morning coffee and muffin at Dunkin’ Donuts when she saw the new calorie labels. The chocolate chip muffin she had her eye on was 630 calories.

“I was blown away,” said Cara, a 27-year-old homemaker from Forest Hills in New York City. “I’m not a no-carb type of person, and I usually don’t even think about it. But you pick up a little muffin with your coffee, and it has 630 calories in it? That’s a bit extreme!”

New Yorkers have been in the throes of sticker shock since this spring when the Big Apple became the first city in the country to implement a law forcing chain restaurants to post the calorie count of each food in the same size and font as the price.

Restaurants have not exhausted their legal challenges, but the city will start fining violators up to $2,000 beginning Friday, say officials with the city’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.

While some sit-down chains and fast-food eateries are waiting until the last minute, coffee shops like Starbucks — home of the 470 calorie raspberry scone and 610 calorie cookie — have been replacing their menu boards and adding calorie tags to pastries in recent weeks. The result: Do a little eavesdropping in a New York City restaurant, and you may think you’ve stumbled into an Overeaters Anonymous meeting.

At T.G.I. Friday’s, one of the few sit-down chain restaurants to have already added calorie counts to menus, a group of young women gasped as they studied the menu, barely able to find a meal under 1,000 calories, never mind an appetizer or dessert. Both Stephanie Fowler and Lindsay Green asked about the suddenly popular Classic Sirloin — at 290 calories, it was one of the lowest calorie items on the menu — but learned the restaurant ran out by the time the dinner rush started.

Outside the Forest Hills’ Dunkin’ Donuts, Juan Restrepo, the 45-year-old owner of a construction company, said he was quitting corn muffins — 510 calories! — this time for good.

“My daughter warned me about them,” he lamented. “I just didn’t listen.”

Preventing diabetes
Putting the brakes on thoughtlessly inhaling calories is exactly the effect New York City health officials hoped the law would have. They say calorie labels could reduce the number of obese New Yorkers by 150,000 over the next five years, and prevent 30,000 cases of diabetes.

New York is not the only city pushing calorie labels. New laws in Seattle and California’s Santa Clara and San Francisco are scheduled to go into effect later this year, including some more stringent than New York’s, requiring restaurants to post information about sodium, carbs, fats and cholesterol in addition to calories.

Such laws have faced stiff opposition and legal challenges from the restaurant industry. A judge struck down New York City’s first calorie labeling law, which would only have applied to fast food restaurants that were already making calorie information available on Web sites or posters. The law was then revised to apply to all chain restaurants with 15 or more outlets nationwide.

“We’re still in court, but the ruling is in effect,” said New York City health department spokeswoman Jessica Scaperotti. Fines for the restaurants who haven't posted calorie counts by Friday will range from $200 to $2,000 depending on the violation, she said.

Scaperotti said she didn't know what impact the calorie labels have made on consumer choices or sales. But, she said, “We know nutritional information is effective. If you go to the Starbucks near our office in lower Manhattan, the little cookies that are 80 calories each — they’re the first ones to go.”

1,360 calorie salad
Many New Yorkers are finding that even the foods they thought were lower calorie really aren’t. Vicki Freedman, who lives in Manhattan, watches her weight and always tries to choose a light option when eating out. But the 26 year old just discovered that the Friday’s pecan-crusted chicken salad, served with mandarin oranges, dried cranberries and celery, has 1,360 calories.

“That surprised me the most because they market it as a healthy option,” she said. “It’s like false advertising. You think it’s better than the burger and the fries. It’s misleading.” (The cheeseburger served with fries is, indeed, 1,290 calories.)

Meals ordered at sit-down chain restaurants may have more calories than typical takeout fast-food, nutritionists say, because the portions are often larger and an entrée can be served on a plate smothered with French fries. In a takeout restaurant, the fries have to fit into a container, which limits the portion size.

Managers at some restaurants, including an Upper East Side Johnny Rocket’s and Outback Steakhouse, said new menus including calorie counts would be on tables by Friday, or shortly thereafter.

“We’re concerned,” acknowledged Eric Hagy, proprietor of Outback Steakhouse on Third Avenue in Manhattan. “I don’t know what effect it will have, but it will bring people’s attention to certain items that are high in calories, like the Bloomin’ Onion appetizer. It has over 2,000 calories, but it’s meant to be shared between two or three people.”

At a Starbucks on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, barista Bishoy Ayoub, 18, said he’s noticed many customers switching to smaller drinks or reduced-fat drinks since calorie labels were posted several months ago.

‘Take off the labels’
“Some people actually tell us we should take off the labels, because it discourages them from ordering what they want,” he said. “But I think honesty is the best policy.”

At a Wendy’s nearby, where calorie counts were just posted next to prices on the menu-boards behind the counter, customers didn’t flinch. “I figure I’ve got 1,350 calories here on my tray,” said Tristan Rowe, 26, who lives in Brooklyn, pointing to his lunch of a chicken club sandwich, junior bacon-cheeseburger, large fries and a large Coke (which actually added up to 1,680 calories). “It’s not going to change what I order — I’m not watching my waistline. I have a very active lifestyle.”

Despite the eye-opening revelations, whether New Yorkers will switch to lower calorie meals remains to be seen. They may just switch menus.

That’s what Fowler, the woman who was dining recently with her friends at T.G.I. Friday's, decided to do.

“I’m so upset,” she said, noting some entrees — like the Jack Daniels ribs and shrimp dinner — contain almost 2,000 calories, and the desserts were more of the same (the brownie obsession is 1,500 calories). “I wish they wouldn’t have done this.”

But then Fowler noticed that the waiter had handed her friend an old menu, which didn’t have calorie counts on it.

“You got a menu without anything on it?” she asked her friend. “Can I have yours?”

Roni Caryn Rabin is a health writer who lives in New York City.

© 2008 MSNBC Interactive
URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25464987/

The Terrorist Mouse in Afghanistan

Wed, 16 Jul 2008 03:45:36 GMT

Tali-Rat on the prowl.....

Approaching a jar of roasted almonds.

Tali-Rat looks left and right....

Making sure the coast is clear.

Tali-Rat finds a way up.....

You can see the hungry look in his eyes.

Tali-Rat checks out the Nutrition Facts label.....

Trying to decide how many carbs are in a serving.

After he couldn't get the jar opened, Tali-Rat decides to make a long distance phone call instead.

By running up the phone bill, Tali-Rat has caused havoc at the work place.

Damn you, Tali-Rat!

July 15th 1995

Tue, 15 Jul 2008 16:29:59 GMT

WTF?

Wed, 09 Jul 2008 01:57:57 GMT

Seen at the top advertising bar on my Live Journal.

Proctoring a Final (again)

Fri, 20 Jun 2008 04:27:50 GMT

The good: I have access to the internet while they are taking their exam.

The bad: I can't leave to use the restroom (and again - just like the last time, there is 30 min left and I would really like to go).

The ugly: I have to grade these ASAP - the original due day was TOMORROW! Are they frakking kidding me? It's going to be 10p by the time I get home and they wanted these (and the final grade) turned in by 3p on Friday? Even if I wasn't leaving on a plane for Chicago at 9a I could not possibly have these graded and turned in within that time frame (it's called "I have a full time 9-5 job on Friday"). So I got some extra time from the Dean. I have until 6p on Monday to turn them into the school. Great....so I'm grading papers on the plane. Then Monday hope I can get away from the AF base *on time* and not get stuck in the usual afternoon traffic and get back down here (30 miles away) before 6p. (Boy, re-reading this it does sound ugly).

A bright spot - there are only 12 papers to grade, and most of it is multiple choice, true/false, matching. Only 3 essays & 1 extra credit (numbers, all numbers). Not too bad.

Another 7 minutes have passed. Two students left....I still need the restroom. 10 minutes left.....thank ghod.

Hope you all have a nice evening!

Rep Ted Poe from Texas makes a good point (or two) about the Energy Bill

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 15:08:12 GMT

His first point is more than enough justification to strike this: The Constitution does not afford the US Government the right to mandate what types of lightbulbs we use in our own homes.

Question.
Are *any* lightbulbs still made in the US?

Have you seen this man?

Sat, 14 Jun 2008 14:48:45 GMT

When I first saw the picture, I was reminded of someone else.

Some of my friends might recognize his doppleganger who is very prone to wearing sunglasses, all sorts of sunglasses. I think he brought more than 10 pairs to the last ARGFest.

But this guy was hanging out at our hospital in Las Vegas.

Avenue Q Mixed with Fiddler on the Roof

Wed, 11 Jun 2008 15:08:17 GMT

Playbill online, April 23, 2004 says it is from that year's Easter Bonnet Competition, a yearly fundraiser for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. Shows on and Off-Broadway compete to see which show can raise the most money. "The casts of Avenue Q and Fiddler on the Roof joined together in a mix of tunes from both musicals with revised lyrics by Randy Bobish, Rick Lyon, James Valletti, Stephanie D'Abruzzo, Molly Ephraim, Jordan Gelber and Melissa Bohon." Playbill has the script online.

Cleaning out our Star Trek Obsession

Wed, 04 Jun 2008 04:46:20 GMT

Through the years, konashark & I have collected a large amount of Star Trek STUFF.

Some pretty good STUFF, some cheesy STUFF. But it's a lot of STUFF.

Time to grow up. Time to clean out the STUFF. Starting with an ad in the local Craigslist and a Garage Sale this weekend.

Here are some of the STUFF we're getting rid of (for a reasonable price).

Greatest Family Friendly & Funny Show in Vegas - Coming Soon!!

Sun, 11 May 2008 19:43:28 GMT

Some of you may have seen him on "America's Got Talent" last summer. Or maybe read my rave about his first Las Vegas show last fall.

Now he has a permanent home on the Las Vegas strip! I'm more than thrilled! (Just wish it was at the Venetian where I might be able to score discount tickets - but I'm every hopeful that the AF Base will get some special deals at Tickets & Tours).

NORM: Mirage signing 'Talent' winner

Ventriloquist/impressionist Terry Fator, whose popularity has exploded since he won NBC's "America's Got Talent," will be introduced Tuesday at a news conference as the new headliner at The Mirage.

Fator will move into the theater vacated by fellow impressionist Danny Gans, who moves to Wynn Las Vegas late this year after almost nine years at The Mirage.

New Stuff

Mon, 05 May 2008 04:59:46 GMT

New Laptop - squeeeeeeeeeee! Faster, more memory, and lighter.
New Router to run a wireless network in the house (and free the laptop from slow modem connection as well as allowing me to check email from bed upstairs).
Got the network up and running in only 3 tries.
Got files "intellimoved" from old laptop to new in about 4 hours.
Now working on desktop to laptop. *27 hours?* Damn, we have lots of files on this computer (and many that will just get deleted from the laptop cause they belong to the hubby or they are pictures I don't want).

Maybe the 27 hours is a slowest case questimate and it will be done in 24.

Or it will be ready at midnight TOMORROW! Ack.

Guess I'll go catchup on my DVR shows.

"Forgetting Sarah Marshall"

Mon, 21 Apr 2008 02:08:06 GMT

Funny. Very funny.
Go see as soon as you can so you don't get spoilered.
Don't leave too early.

Geek Meet

Thu, 17 Apr 2008 14:25:01 GMT

Come to Las Vegas and you get to meet me!

It was great having dinner with atdt1991

"Camp Water"

Tue, 25 Mar 2008 04:22:47 GMT

Skit night at Diabetes Camp. May I present the Dietetic Interns in "Camp Water".

Gone for Another Six Months

Mon, 03 Mar 2008 05:16:09 GMT

He left for Afghanistan this morning.
So I'll be found online more often for awhile.

Guess I'll have to find an ARG in which to lose myself for awhile.
Nice that I got one of those www.findthelostring.com packages this weekend.
I miss my Sammeeeees.

Maybe I'll hone my poker skills this summer.

Package in the mail

Thu, 07 Feb 2008 03:25:56 GMT

I'd say "best trailhead ever"...alas, I know it's just my winnings from the "free truffle" contest from last week.
Thanks

avatrix

Reviews after they have thawed (it's been a bit cold on the road). But already they smell yummy!

January 27, 2008

Sun, 27 Jan 2008 19:27:30 GMT

Eldritch Dreams redux

Mon, 31 Dec 2007 01:53:46 GMT

Thanks to October, this time it really works. Eldritch Dreams. Enjoy.

Visiting In-Laws

Sat, 29 Dec 2007 20:51:09 GMT

Learning how to use a left-handed mouse, how to find all my usual websites (cause they aren't bookmarked on FIL's computer), how to drink caffeine-free diet Pepsi (cause that is what my step-MIL drinks), and to avoid getting licked/scratched by the dog, and how beautiful South New Jersey (just 30 min from Philly) really is (even in the winter with most of the leaves gone).

Wow! There really are still places like this (countryish, narrow streets with no-turn lanes, mailboxes on the roadside without locks, diners where waitresses know your name, squirrels & deer in front/back yards, etc). I may enjoy the city amenities, but this place is lovely.

There will be pictures when I get home (in two weeks).