I swear I haven't been lazy........

I have been getting ready to go to ALASKA!!
I got the call last Thursday and have been running around like a nut ever since, ya see I have never been there. My job is to make the clients think I know exactly what I am doing. So...reading, reading, reading. The good thing is that I will get to see a very good friend of mine in Juneau, he is a boat captain there and I don't get to hang out with him enough.
So this entry will be extremely short because I need to finish packing and reading.
I will post pictures when I get home.

Food can be very weird.

I saw this commercial for a product called "Capri Sun Roarin' Waters". They say it is a water alternative for kids, because we need to add a sweetner to water to get kids to drink it. This product is made by Kraft, I wanted to know a little more about it so I went onto the Kraft website and found a list of products that Kraft markets outside the US. And here they are:

Examples of “better for you” choices outside the U.S.

Clight Fiber — a low calorie powdered beverage with added fiber in Brazil
Eden cheese — available in the Philippines , fortified with vitamin A and iodine
Maarud Superchips — with 45 percent less fat than regular Maarud potato chips in Norway
Pacific Soda Seaweed — a biscuit made with seaweed and fortified with calcium, available in China
Light Philadelphia Cheesecake Wedges — single portions of Light Philadelphia Cheesecake with 30 percent less fat sold in the United Kingdom
Philadelphia Ultra Low Fat cream cheese — sold in the U.K.
Qeju cheese — sold in Indonesia , with added Vitamin A and calcium
Peek Freans Lifestyle Selections — a new line of Canadian biscuits that are trans fat free and low in saturated fat.
Delissio Balance Harvest Wheat Rising Crust Pizza – available in Canada , this great-tasting pizza is made with whole wheat, part-skim mozzarella, reduced-fat grilled chicken, reduced-fat pepperoni and premium-roasted vegetables
Christie Crunchers Crackers – available in Canada in four light and crispy flavors (Cheddar, Spicy Thai, Bold Barbecue and Sour Cream & Onion), these baked corn-rice crackers have zero grams trans fat and about 70 percent less fat per serving than the leading regular potato chip
Miracle Whip Balance — with fat reduced from 31 grams to 11 grams per 100 grams in Germany
Jacobs Cappuccino Cremafino — with no added sugar (from 57 grams of carbohydrates to 45.5 grams of carbohydrates per 100 grams) in Germany
Simmenthal Chicken — with 1 percent fat per 100 grams in Italy
Milka Milkinis — with 22 percent less fat from 38.5 grams to 30 grams per 100 grams in France

The funny thing is that these products all contain some sort of "added" benefit so that one is supposed to feel less guilty about eating them. But in reading the contents of these products they have replaced what they removed with all kinds of other things and salt is high on this list. It just angers me that we are marketed these processed foods that are so far removed from actual food. Kraft also makes a product called "Lunchables" this can be crackers, cheese, jello (or pudding) and salami. And is made for people who are too busy to throw these things together on their own. And once the child is done with it they throw the package away. It is the training kit to prepare kids for a lifetime of processed food. And wasting resources.
Lately I am getting angrier and angrier when I go to the store. They place your purchases in as many bags as possible, this is another form of marketing (the bags have the stores name on it). If I buy shampoo and some lettuce they will take the shampoo and place it in another bag so that the smell of the shampoo doesn't get on the lettuce. No matter what I say to the contrary they insist on sending me with 2 bags for 2 products!! Shit like this causes me to hyperventilate.

Check it out............

Pops doesn't know she is a cat. And Cholie doesn't know she is a dog. They only know they eat out of the same dish and drink out of the same (toilet) bowl.

Take a meme......... it is a list....and you answer the questions

Name three things that make you happy:

1) My dog

2) My new outrigger canoe

3) A really dry martini after a day of difficult customers (and Mr Man....I guess)

List three things that make you really sad:

1) That I live so far from my family.

2) That my step-mother makes my relationship with my father difficult

3) That I let it eat me alive at times

If you could go back in time and tell the 12 year-old you three things, they would be:

1) By nicer to your older sister

2) PAY ATTENTION TO YOUR SCHOOLWORK.

3) Don't believe everything, QUESTION EVERYTHING

* * *
1. What does your Blogger name mean? I would think that is self explanitory

2. Elaborate on your default icon? Lazy?

3. Make up a question. NO

4. What’s your current relationship status? Sussing out our lives together (but not married).

5. What EXACTLY are you wearing right now? Striped pajama bottoms, striped slipper socks, t shirt, an old sweater (and underwear which are also striped). I look like I am Dr Seuss' wife.

6. What is your current problem? What to eat for breakfast

7. What do you love most? A clean house

8. What makes you most happy? a good day on the water and a flealess dog

9. Are you musically inclined? Yes, I sing pretty well

10. If you could go back in time and change something, what would you change? I would exercise more (or not because I beleive that everything that happens brings you to where you are)

11. If you MUST be an animal for ONE day, what would you be? A hawk, I love the flying part. OH, OH I take that back, I wanna be a Manta Ray....then I get to swim AND fly (underwater flying is pretty great too).

12. Ever have a near death experience? No, but I have watched others have them......I think that kind of counts

13. Name an obvious quality you have. Patience

14. What’s the name of the song that’s stuck in your head right now? The theme for the "Colbert Report"

15. Who did you cut and paste this from? Bitchypoo

16. Name someone with the same birthday as you. Mary J. Blige

17. Have you ever vandalized someone’s private property? Probably

18. Have you ever been in a fight? Well, I went to school during desegregation in Boston, what do you think?

19. Have you ever sung in front of a large audience? Yep, a song from Guys & Dolls

20. What is the first thing you notice about the opposite sex? Their eyes

21. What do you usually order from Starbucks? A LARGE cafe latte (I refuse to speak their Starbucks language....Venti......ridiculous)

22. Has anyone ever said you looked like a celebrity? Nope

23. Do you still watch kiddy movies or TV shows? Just Charlie and the Chocolate factory (the original)

24. Did you have braces? Yep, and a double headgear, really sexy.... set me up for a fabulous adolescence

25. Are you comfortable with your height? I sometimes wish I were shorter.

26. What is the most romantic thing someone has ever done for you? Actually cleaned the house, I am really easy...........that came out wrong.

27. Do you speak any other languages? Spanish and ubie-dubie

28. Do you have a crush on someone on your blogger? I don't tend to crush much anymore

I must have high expectations......

Today I was standing in as Kayak Guide for a friend of mine who has hurt himself. So I am driving about 80 miles roundtrip daily to work for him. I love to work for him because he tends to get customers that are willing to paddle. Willing to work. Understand that kayaking is an activity that requires effort. So this leads me to this morning..... I meet the clients, 3 couples. I try to size them up. As usual I am waaaay off. Meet couple numbah one: he is a car salesman (?) and she is a housewife (?). Couple numbah 2; he is an older man who is not used to taking direction from a woman and she is a ...........woman. And couple numbah 3: they are both executives for Nike.
We set out for our paddle.
Everything seems to be fine until I hear Nike Woman yelling behind me "I need to get off of this, I need to get off of this!!" and I turn and see a very panic stricken look on her face. She is on the verge of a full blown panic attack. And I decide that I am gonna talk her down. I think this because I can't stand to lose when it comes to getting people thru the entire trip. We get to the beach and i get them all suited up to snorkel. This should be an easy task..........well get them to wear the equipment works, but they had other plans. The men went in, the women didn't. I tried to get them comfortable to go in, it worked until they were 20 feet from shore and then Nike woman freaked. I give them their lunch and get them back on their kayaks and we start heading out for some more paddling and Nike woman freaked. I turned them around and told them to wait on the beach and I would come back later and pick them up. Oi! This just keeps getting better. So, to make this long story very short I had to drive over and pick them up with my truck. She was still freaking, but now it was because everyone will know that she can't paddle. And all I could think was "Get out of my car, and go back to Oregon!" So later I got to thinking, what kind of image are these Nike people supposed to project? These days very few people actually do something that requires some skill and guts. And to be honest you really don't have to be that gutsy to get in kayak and paddle. But everytime I take people out they remark on how gutsy and adventurous I am. 100 years ago no one would be saying that, knowing how to get from A to B would most likely be under your own power. This is such a rarity these days..........................What do you think???

What to do after a $4000 day.........

When I awoke today I had no idea it was going to so expensive to make it thru the day. I wonder if I hadn't gotten out of bed, would it have been this bad??
After thinking that we had fixed the fridge (or so we thought) I was hoping that everything would be fine and we would not have to pay $700+ for a new one....... but alas this is not the case. The fridge is truly broken. Okay so I accept this and continue with my day. Just a scant few minutes later I am in my car and discover that "something" is wrong. I can't get the gear to stay when I change it, not a good sign. And so I drive to the shop and I tell them what is happening. I also tell them that if it is the transmisson I don't want to know. Do you have any idea how much it is to replace a transmission?? In my last car I paid $2700 for a new transmission. I was already having a nervous breakdown. The count so far: 1 new fridge....$799, 1 new transmission.....$2000.....ouch! And then we go by the outriigger store. Ok, this will make no sense for those of you that do not know what an outrigger canoe is. I paddle. I paddle kayaks, surf skis, and outrigger canoes. An outrigger is the type of canoe that the early polynesians. Anyway, I was forced to fork over the $$$ for this baby. Whatevah! My bad. Then we get home and the microwave dies. SON. OF. A. BITCH. Currently I am afraid to move for fear that I will leave a path of appliance destruction in my wake.
(I think I need a new carbon fiber paddle to go with the canoe, God wants me to have one)