"AC in Peril." written by Fellyconnelly on estrip.org

10/23/07 11:49 - 49ºF - ID#41772

AC in Peril.

Did anyone else happen to see the CNN special "Planet in Peril" this evening? Its very humbling, sad and angering at the same time. Part 2 is on tomorrow night. If you didn't watch it - i would recommend searching for the reruns and watching it. Especially for those of you who wouldn't mind watching Anderson Cooper running around the amazon in tight shirts. (ahem - (e:james))

My cat just attempted to jump on my yoga ball. needless to say my yoga ball now has a hole in it. grrr

so the halloween party is saturday and it starts at 8. That is also the same night as the october breakdancing battle. I believe that we will end up at the battle for an hour or so and then run home to change and then we will head out to the party later...
speaking of which...

if anybody is interested in going to the battle for a bit before the party - just let me know. it is an amazing time and you will love it.

Permalink: AC_in_Peril_.html
Words: 175
Location: New Paltz, NY

Category: work

10/22/07 09:57 - 63ºF - ID#41747

to veggie or not to veggie

This morning while making my lunch for work, I was pondering the fact that most of my coworkers thing that i'm a vegetarian.
If you know me, you know that this is definetely not true. I love meat. Sorry vegetarians, but i am not...

but why do they think i am a vegetarian is so beyond me. Yes i bring salads to work... but what is sprinkled generously across the top of said salad? ham. yes real ham! oink oink!
and when i bring in a wrap or sandwhich? yes i admit... its always on whole wheat bread. and yes, there is usually a generous helping of lettuce, tomato, and avacado on there, but there is also HAM!

i like ham.

and yes i put hummus on my wraps! i know that several of you are unaware of what this stuff even is (quote: "Oh is that the stinky stuff that you smell when you go into Indian restaurants?") no my friend, that is curry. HUMMUS PEOPLE!!

Apparently to my fellow coworkers, if one attempts to eat 'healthy' (not running to mcdonalds/burgerking/arby's/fishfryfridays) every day than i must be a vegetarian.+

mike writes at 08:11:04 10/23/07 - Comment #26804: no one has ever confused me for vegetarian or healthy? hmm? is it because for example the other night on the way to (e:pmt) I picked up some Wendy's only to get there and a half hour later they are going to wendy's and I think, hey why not? Why not go for round two.... and it was delicious!

joshua writes at 10:58:22 10/23/07 - Comment #26789: I used to be a vegetarian until I recognized that denying myself steak, chicken and pork was outright stupid. Let the people with the hang-ups sweat over the BS.

fellyconnelly writes at 09:20:30 10/23/07 - Comment #26785: yeah apparently soy really is in everything....

i find nothing wrong with vegetarianism for others. i just really love ham. mmm ham.

tinypliny writes at 08:53:44 10/22/07 - Comment #26764: To resolve your Hamletesque dilemma, yes!!! Veggie rocks! Be veggie!!!

@(e:James): Average vegetarians don't gorge on Soy, James! Two years back, I had never even heard of all these crazy soy stuff eg. Tofu, Seitan, Soy milk etc. They are now a part of my diet (except Soy milk), but they aren't anywhere close to being a major part, and they never will be. These soy products are south-east Asian protein sources and not all of Asia lives and swears by them. The major sources of protein for people in the subcontinent are milk/dairy products and lentils.

I think it's interesting that here vegetarianism is seen as being hooked to meat replacements that are inevitably made of soy. Non-vegetarians see this as a revolting and insipid alternative. I think the reason behind this blind loathing of "replacements" is the idea of being a "replacement". It is my personal opinion that if you want to be a vegetarian, then you don't need replacements. It's a totally different lifestyle choice, and you just adopt it. It's a lifestyle in which all the so-called "replacement" products are just new components to your food. They are not a predominant part or a block-your-meat-craving-with-this part.

Let me step on the controversy platform and say that if anyone is using the soy products as a replacement, they probably aren't too happy being a vegetarian anyway. Continuing being a vegetarian with cravings for meat is going to do you no earthly good.

That said, it is very true that soy is used as a filler material in every kind of processed food sold here in the States (on a par with corn). In fact, did you know that those cherished donuts have a major % of soy in them? So you don't really have to be a forced vegetarian to be eating an indecent amount of soy.

However, soy may not be a major source of phytoestrogens. Other surprising source of isoflavones (phytoestrogens) are Beer, Coffee, Flaxseed and a quite non-surprisingly, a million different types of fruit.

According to latest epidemiological research, the role of phytoestrogens in breast cancer causation/prognosis is not defined. Clinical trials are currently underway to see if a sizeable amount of phytoestrogen-intake induces the expression of good genes (tumour-supressor genes) or bad genes (oncogenes) or affects weight gain in any way. All this points to the fact that though phytoestrogens may have a hormonal action in maybe test-tube cancer cell models, this may not be the case in a human body.

It is also wise to keep in mind that mono-diets (with the same nutrient-source everyday, for every meal) or diets rich in excessive amount of a particular nutrient-source are bound to interfere/alter with some biological pathway or the other.

The punch line is: Making informed choices should not be equivalent to making yourselves unhappy.

james writes at 03:35:09 10/22/07 - Comment #26754: Sorry to scare you Drew.

There is soy in everything. Seriously, everything you eat has some soy product (and corn product for that matter).

I heard about the soy estrogen thing in regard to weight lifters who use soy protein powder. Eating 200g of the stuff a day is a lot different that the casual soy eating most people do.

my apologies.

drew writes at 02:41:50 10/22/07 - Comment #26750: hmmm. I eat a lot of soy. I just thought I was too fat, but apparently, it's soy's fat.

Hey Janelle, you should eat all my soy from now on. win-win, right?

james writes at 02:05:34 10/22/07 - Comment #26748: I hate that. People think healthy eating = vegetarianism... as if gorging on genetically altered soy is healthy.

Speaking of which, hope you male vegetarians are enjoying those soy-estrogen induced man-titties.

We need to get you a hat made out of bacon to put them in their little place.

janelle writes at 10:21:49 10/22/07 - Comment #26744: LOL, I hear ya Felly. I imagine my co-workers think I'm vegetarian as well. Eating food that is "different" is definitely asking for yourself and your food to be deeply scrutinized by your co-workers. At my last place of work, people were more than happy to let me know my food was stinky and weird looking.
At one work place, I had a friend tell me that my food looked good and smelled good, but when I offered to let her try some, she absolutely refused because the food had fake meat(seitan)in it! How bizarre is that?
Here at my current work place, someone told me that they were hesitant to offer me sweets because I looked like a person who tried to be healthy?! Lol, that doesn't mean I don't enjoy the occasional sweet!

Permalink: to_veggie_or_not_to_veggie.html
Words: 193
Location: New Paltz, NY

Category: good times

10/21/07 03:59 - 76ºF - ID#41737

lacklusty bills

Buffalo Just won a game.
is it just me or was that win rather lackluster?
i mean everyone was just like... yeah we won, i'm tired lets get a beer...

i mean its the bills... shouldn't they be ecstatic as all hell that they actually didn't biff it in the end?

or am i just being overly pessimistic?

Permalink: lacklusty_bills.html
Words: 58
Location: New Paltz, NY

Category: good times

10/20/07 10:30 - 56ºF - ID#41723

News!!!

perusing the titles on yahoo news after signing out of my email often leads to interesting news.....
but this morning's tidbit of news was just the cats pjs!

HARRY POTTER SPOILER!!!!

and for all those link clicky persons (such as myself) i'll let you know the big suprise...

dumbledore is gay!

thats right... harry potter's beloved headmaster was a big homo!! ahh yes... the answers to all those pesky questions! the fashionable robes! the mysterious twinkle in his eye! oh dumbledore, i finally get you!!!

oh yeah and that fling with Grindelwald was explained too...

oh and then i just looked at jim's chatter and saw that he already posted this... so t his is a pointless entry... thanks a lot for bein on top of things jim!!

Permalink: News_.html
Words: 141
Location: New Paltz, NY

Category: work

10/15/07 11:23 - 53ºF - ID#41667

Entitlement

Well kids, today I want to talk to you about entitlement.

Take note of the following and very pertinant example that I have taken from my everyday life.

"I have given you guys a lot of money over the years so you better give me a good deal"

or

"You will give me a car charger for free or that will be a deal breaker"

or

"What do you mean I can't get that phone for free? I'm entitled to a free phone!"

You see, one thing that I have come to realize over the years as a sales person is that there is this nasty virus going around making people believe that they are entitled to much more than they are. I mean, I may be wrong, but I don't believe that anyone has ever approached the electric company and told them "Hey, I've paid you thousands of dollars over the past few years, so I am entitled to a free month of service!" Who has ever approached Time Warner Cable and requested free cable because of the amount of money they have spent?

It somehow seems to me that people have gotten a bit too big for their britches. About 95 percent of the people who come to me with these demands seem to be middle class white men (and sometimes women). They seem to think that they deserve the world.

They seem to believe that what they are doing when they demand that free car charger or that free phone is 'sticking it to the man.' Really they are just 'sticking it to the underpaid salesperson'

Verizon doesn't suffer from that free accessory. The salesperson's pay check sure does though.

I have sold phones and services and actually lost money on, just to make the customers happy, and they STILL have walked out of the door with the proverbial 'I deserved more" stick up their ass.

Just be nice and I'll be more than happy to help you out as much as I can. I will lose money for you.
That is all.

james writes at 03:48:20 10/17/07 - Comment #26483: I mean, this really is the logical end of the bend-over-backwards-for-the-fucking-customer philosophy that distant execs have been imposing on the underpaid grunts of the business. The customer is seldom right.

joshua writes at 10:07:17 10/16/07 - Comment #26345: That is sad, but yeah its true - entitlement is a big problem in our society today.

Its funny to me that the people with the most are usually the ones that feel the most entitled to free stuff.

fellyconnelly writes at 09:48:08 10/16/07 - Comment #26340: oh and incidentally - the store that i have the most problems with this is East Aurora.

fellyconnelly writes at 09:47:09 10/16/07 - Comment #26339: What really gets to me is that when people come in that don't seem to have lots of money, more often than not they don't argue! When I tell them what the price is, then they accept that without a tear.

Does this mean that in order to elevate my financial status that I have to start whining and taking money from other people's paycheck?

janelle writes at 08:23:01 10/16/07 - Comment #26335: Hm, I can tell you all about entitlement from my teaching assistant days where I had students insist that even though they were failing a class they out to at minimum receive a passing grade as they were paying for the class!

imk2 writes at 07:31:49 10/16/07 - Comment #26332: but if there was competition to the electric co and the cable company then there would be plenty of free stuff to go around.

mrmike writes at 06:55:31 10/16/07 - Comment #26330: Oh, the stories I could tell you about Time Warner, especially the Amherst office, the clientele is especially white, wealthy and whiny.

tinypliny writes at 05:23:01 10/16/07 - Comment #26325: This post rocks. So does jenks' comment. :) Hee hee.

jenks writes at 11:48:33 10/15/07 - Comment #26323: 1- love the new user pic
2- yeah, I hear you. I had a patient tell me the other day that I couldn't discharge him from the hospital since it's "his right to be in the hospital".
Ummmm, no it isn't. There is nothing wrong with you, and you have no insurance- it is not "your right" to essentially stay in a hotel and get IV narcotics for your imaginary pain.

But.... if patients make a stink, we don't "kick them out" (even though it is our "right" to)- instead we said "ok, fine. You can stay. But you get only ORAL pain meds, and a bland diet since you said you are sick to your stomach, and you are not allowed to leave the floor to go outside to smoke."

He went home.

But seriously.... why does everyone think they 'deserve' free stuff?
What happened to honest pay for an honest day's work? no free lunch? etc etc?

Permalink: Entitlement.html
Words: 346
Location: New Paltz, NY

Category: good times

10/14/07 11:36 - 53ºF - ID#41638

Do i ski? well ha!

I've been skiing about three times.

Ski trip #1 involved lauren and myself, and our friends Kathi and Kim. Kathi and Lauren being the great skiiers that they are, took off and left me with Kim. Kim is rather awkward and can barely walk without falling over. Somehow Kim and I were left at the bunny slope for two hours while Kathi and Lauren went and played. The damn tow rope seemed to dislocate my shoulder. Kim fell a lot.

Ski trip #2 was the following year. I brought my friend Kat out skiing for her birthday. We both did well and I even made it from the top of the mountain down without falling!

Ski trip #3 involved myself, Lauren and Kathi. the following pictures will tell the tale.
doing great...

yeah i can do this!

nope no i can't...

please take note that i have lost my pole, and apparently a ski. this was how the day went for me.

This post is actually a call for (E:strip) skiiers~! (e:jbeatty), (e:lauren) and i are psyched about skiing this year, and are prepared to set up an (e:strip) ski gathering! whatcha say winter sports fans?

fellyconnelly writes at 11:24:49 10/15/07 - Comment #26321: HOORAH! (E:STRIP) SKI PARTY!

I guess we should wait till the snow actually hits before we start planning. But a weekend ski trip (come January/February) sounds like good fun!

jbeatty writes at 07:27:14 10/14/07 - Comment #26263: As I was telling Felly earlier today, my friends from Syracuse and I are planning a trip to Jay Peak in northern Vermont sometime during peak season if anyone is interested. We usually do a few days + at a decent resort and get a chalet that can usually accommodate a large number of people. But that aside even doing a couple days or one day at a local place like Holiday Valley or slightly more east like Bristol MT would be a blast. I think an (e:strip) ski outting would be pretty cool. I guess it just depends on how much money/time everyone wants to invest. One day would be pretty reasonably priced if there were only a small handful of people. But if there was enough interest I am more than willing to pitch in and help set something up for a longer weekend.

drew writes at 06:21:09 10/14/07 - Comment #26255: I'm in! Love skiing, hot chocolate, wine and boardgames.

I just hope a beginner goes so I don't feel bad ditching (e:janelle) for some advanced slopes

jbeatty writes at 05:51:06 10/14/07 - Comment #26251: It's easy, just point the tips downhill and try not to have a yard sale.

janelle writes at 05:43:13 10/14/07 - Comment #26250: I wanna ski, I wanna ski!!!!

I just need to learn how =(

imk2 writes at 02:30:52 10/14/07 - Comment #26237: yes, i am totally in!!! jenks and i were talking about renting out a chalet and having a bunch of us split the cost for a long weekend. how awesome would that be, skiing all day, and drinking wine and hot chocolate by the fire and playing board games all night! i'm in, i'm in, i'm in!!!!!!!

james writes at 11:42:47 10/14/07 - Comment #26229: Skiing scares me.

Once when i was a child I was ill and had a high fever. In a fever dream I saw all these people skiing. One was dressed like a bunny. He looked fun so I went over to him. But when I got close I could see he was made entirely out of sugar cubes. They started melting really fast and out of the syrup was a burnt rabbit face.

So, skiing scares me.

Permalink: Do_i_ski_well_ha_.html
Words: 203
Location: New Paltz, NY

Category: randomo history

10/13/07 08:21 - 44ºF - ID#41624

a convenient truth

oh look everybody! the vatican secret archives has uncovered a document that shows how the pope WASN"T trying to murder the knights templars! he just wanted them disbanded for the sake of the church.

how very convenient! i bet this cleans up the reputation of the vatican huh?

Permalink: a_convenient_truth.html
Words: 60
Location: New Paltz, NY

Category: good times

10/10/07 11:10 - 51ºF - ID#41584

i missed pizza for THIS?

sorry to miss the fun guys...

in exchange we went to our dance class wherein both lauren and i have managed to put ourself in such an amount of pain that we can't even stand to shower.

i think that i pulled something in my calf. and something directly above my knee. both on the left side. i'm so out of shape.
but we learned some great moves that hopefully when we can walk again we will be able to try and recreate!

we were going to swing by PMT mansion afterwards but we would hav elooked stupid crying and limping.

Permalink: i_missed_pizza_for_THIS_.html
Words: 101
Location: New Paltz, NY

Category: randomo

10/10/07 11:42 - 60ºF - ID#41569

growly belly

Frozen pot pies linked to salmonella? COOK THEM YOU MORONS!

anybody else think that unions have gotten too big for their britches? i've been rather anti-union since my father got screwed around so regularly by his union.

(e:enknot) your baby is adorable! more pictures please!

last night i met with my boss, heather, and her friend carmello about doing this crazy fashion show/theatrical experience. it sounds like such amazing funness!

more on that later...

i have to get off the computer as lauren has to start writing papers.
and i have to start on my chores.

zobar writes at 08:43:40 10/10/07 - Comment #26064: When I was growing up, my dad was a nonunion carpenter getting paid better than union wages. His jobs were often shut down by union picketers for no real reason. My mom was a union teacher, and Phil Rumore [Jesus he's been at this a long time] was the only thing between her and the school board [, city, media, public, ...] Unions defy one simplistic label; the worth of one specific union is inversely proportional to the sliminess of each specific employer.

- Z

mike writes at 06:08:13 10/10/07 - Comment #26056: i love fashion show/theatrical experiences! In high school I was in our fashion show/dance party/show my junior year adn ran it my senior year! It was liek teh best time ever!

james writes at 05:57:52 10/10/07 - Comment #26053: Sorry, the recent UAW strike has been angering.

Without Unions blacks, latinos, and women would be making much less than they are now. Unions, in general, rock. Some unions, in specific, are doing silly, silly things.

I mean, how can you be mad at the people who invented the weekend?

libertad writes at 05:52:10 10/10/07 - Comment #26051: I love unions. IF there were laws protecting businesses from setting up in places like mexico and india then they would be even better.

If it weren't for my union I would have nothing. NO insurance, no right to be healthy, no plan for retirement, no dental or vision coverage and no days off. I will gladly pay my union dues and because it would be so uncool for a politician to send my job to India then I have pretty good job security.

Sorry. I just can't say enough how much I love my union. Are they perfect? No.

fellyconnelly writes at 04:56:37 10/10/07 - Comment #26041: word james. WORD!

james writes at 02:12:43 10/10/07 - Comment #26029: There are a ton of Unions that are big pains in the ass. Like the UAW. Seriously, there should not be a $70/hr job on an assembly line in this country. If farmers had a union starting way back when we would be paying them $100/hr to grow onions. Dinosaur industries should go overseas or be extinct.

have fun with chores.

Permalink: growly_belly.html
Words: 98
Location: New Paltz, NY

Category: randomo

10/09/07 10:08 - 73ºF - ID#41556

the next day

now its time to put last nights rollercoaster of emotion away and pretend like monday night football doesn't exist.

i have a football hangover. without booze ever having been involved.