Paul's Journal

11/21/2008 14:34 #46785

Squid == cholestrol
Category: food

Who knew that squid had so much cholestrol. The other day (e:enknot) and I ate the squid I bought at the local asian grocer (e:paul,46615) It was so freakin tasty. I used my time tested cinamon, clove, carrot, tomato paste, olive oil recipe (e:paul,40613)

Then I looked at the package and saw just how much cholestrol is in squid. 263mg per serving with 6 serving in the bag. I had 5 servings about. That means I got 1315mg of cholestrol. That cannot be good, does anyone know if this is the good or bad kind?

tinypliny - 11/22/08 18:53

The term "good" cholesterol is assigned to High-density-lipoprotein-bound (HDL) Cholesterol and "bad" cholesterol to Low-density-lipoprotein-bound (LDL) Cholesterol. These fractions are exclusively manufactured in the liver. Your liver manufactures most of the cholesterol in your body

You shouldn't worry too much about cholesterol from food. It is true that animal derived cholesterol will be one of these fractions, but its of no relevance once it reaches your stomach - because it will be broken down and reassembled in the liver. The final ratio of HDL and LDL in your bloodstream is dependent on the metabolic function of your liver, the amount of saturated fats and simple carbohydrates you consume and very remotely linked to the amount of cholesterol you consume.

So if you are healthy person with a balanced diet, good exercise patterns and no genetic/hereditary/pre-existing coronary events in your medical history, you are fine eating relatively high cholesterol foods.

It's the fats and carbohydrates that are the major culprits. It you factor in all this over-awareness about saturated fat levels in the population, in the end the blame squarely rests on simple refined carbohydrates (including sugar).

james - 11/21/08 16:20
It is also low in fat and that fat is Omega-3. So in the end it isn't that bad unless you have a cholesterol problem to begin with.

anne - 11/21/08 16:09
"Ingredients: Squid Tubes"

Hahahahahahaha. when worded that way it sounds ridiculous

mike - 11/21/08 15:32
if it tastes so good , it must be the good kind right?

11/21/2008 14:31 #46783

Giving Basra a Bath
Category: pets

Basra got his winter bath today. He was relatively clean to begin with. Its amazing how little a tortoise smells. Our previous home zoo always smelled so bad because of the freakin sugar gliders. I feel bad for basra that he had to live with them.

paul - 11/21/08 23:12
We sold them in order to buy the Hall Tree (e:matthew,45127) They smelled so bad.

metalpeter - 11/21/08 19:29
You refer to the sugar gliders as freakin and in the past tense, do you still have them? I admit they are kinda freaky and kinda cool all at the same time

paul - 11/21/08 17:19
He is huge and will get much bigger. We had him for about 7 years now. He lives in the backyard may->end of sept and then has a bedroom during the winter. He hates being inside. He has a rock and a heat lamp on the floor, the room has outdoor carpeting and he just goes where he wants.

He doesn't ever go in water normally, only like once or twice a year. He is from the desert.

gardenmama - 11/21/08 14:52
He's pretty cool! I'm assuming you bathe him with just plain water but do you use a toothbrush on his shell, or just wipe him down? What type of habitat do you normally keep him in?

I used to have a painted turtle that would hiss sometimes. It was funny as hell. I don't know if that's normal or if he picked it up from the cats I had. But then, I also had a cat that growled like a dog when people got near the door. Maybe my pets were just identity confused.

11/19/2008 10:42 #46752

Too early for Christmas

When I took this picture last week, it as entirely too early for
Christmas. It still is. When will they start in the summer.

flacidness - 11/19/08 16:07
walmarts have been playing christmas music as of two weeks ago. way too early. ick

libertad - 11/19/08 14:01
Those have been up for almost a month now

lauren - 11/19/08 12:26
ug, i know! AND they have planted Christmas chocolate and candy canes ALL over that damn store. Bastards.

james - 11/19/08 12:11
All things Christmas should be sealed in a subterranean temple which is guarded by radioactive vampire dogs who sleep between December 10th and January 10th. If you want your stuff early or you put it back late you have to brave the horrors below.

janelle - 11/19/08 11:03
Ugh. Yuck.

11/17/2008 22:27 #46725

So stressed out about New York
Category: work

In terms of the working for it part, I am very happy. Lots of stuff going on and its pretty fun right now. I love solving problems and right now I have a million little ones to solve which keeps it exciting.

So I was really into building my new wikimedia extensions when the cleaning guy came to me to say that he and his whole team are being laid off and have only a month left. Its so sad that they lay off the people for Christmas. He seemed so sad.

I overheard the older lady cleaning woman saying how the new jobs she looked at had no benefits. It made me think about what would happen to me if I lost my job and had no health insurance and now I am just sad. Seriously, I kind of feeling like crying and I know thats lame but it must be so devastating.

It also makes me think that the state job world is maybe not so secure after all. It makes me wonder if I should look for a federal job like terry. I mean if the feds go down its really over, right?

To make it even creepier of an evening at like 8:00PM someone came in our office area where I am the only person and shouted "everyone go home." Then they left before I could figure out who it was. I left right after and just finished my editing from home. It probably was just a co-worker but the moment had all the feeling of office shooting.

Speaking of which, the VPN we have is so great. Before I hated it because I didn't have a native mac client but it is so convenient to just be at work from anywhere.

Pictures
I was so busy I forgot to change my iphone so there are no pics to post. But you would have seen.
1. A squirrel's head I found on the street still bleeding. How on earth did that happen.
2. An ambulance on and vacant with the windows open and the keys in the ignition while the drivers smoozed with the gas station owner on Allen.

libertad - 11/18/08 19:41
Yeah DHL is our shipper at work and they were the cheapest contract. Now we will probably have to spend more money to ship thus being in even worse shape.

jenks - 11/18/08 18:12
the DHL delivery guy just said that the whole company is going out of business (or more accurately, is going to be international only, no domestic), so they are all losing their jobs too. And yeah, right in time for xmas. Awesome!

pmrk - 11/18/08 15:55
My hubby said that the VA Administration Offices downtown will be hiring 80 - 100 people soon including some IT positions. USAJOBS.COM will have the postings when they come out.

He's a work study down there and hears all kinds of things since no one is afraid to talk in front of the work study!

janelle - 11/18/08 10:10
Roswell gives a contract to Phoenix Frontier to do their cleaning. They didn't renew the contract. My agency supports developmentally disabled individuals who work for Phoenix Frontier at Roswell and these individuals reported that they're going to be laid off as of January, 31. We're scrambling over here to help these guys start looking for new jobs. At least our individuals will receive support in finding a new job. I feel bad for the other employees.

libertad - 11/18/08 10:02
It seems they are hired by Roswell but right now they are hiring under 20hrs a week which keeps them from getting benefits.

:::link:::

fing - 11/18/08 09:45
I think that these cleaners in our building are contracted out through a 3rd party company. I don't think they get paid from Roswell. This does not make the suck factor any less however. I know that being a State Employee has its moments but job security is pretty high.

vincent - 11/18/08 00:22
Things are going to be very tough in this state for a while. I don't want to get into a hypothetical prognostication about what is going to happen when they raise taxes at the same time when everyone's pocketbook will be contracting.

libertad - 11/17/08 22:58
I am pretty stressed about it too. Losing those hours came at a really bad time. Everyone is tightening their wallets.

tinypliny - 11/17/08 22:45

I meant to ask "You have VPN access?" but somehow my train of thought got derailed a bit...

tinypliny - 11/17/08 22:42
Hmm... dead squirrel < dead bunny NOT < dead squirrel BUT definitely < dead squirrel WITH still-bleeding head.

Also you have can connect via VPN? How awesome. I wish they would give at least a remote proxy-access to library resources if not a VPN for students. I am so jealous!

As for being fired, I think I get depressed about it once in a while. Even though I am just a student, it still feels scary and awful. I can't even begin to imagine how it must be really like to be laid off without a back-up. It makes me want to cry as well. :/

11/16/2008 10:11 #46703

Desperate House Wives
Category: television

Sadly, after the fun time dancing on friday night, I did nothing really this weekend other than some programming for work and watch Desperate House Wives series 1. I have to say I am addicted and I hope they continue the same level of entertaining throughout the series.

Bree is my favorite character.

They even have a barbie doll of her now

gardenmama - 11/16/08 18:32
I have never watched an episode of Desperate Housewives but people who watch it really seem to like it. Is it kind of like old nighttime soaps, ala the days of Dallas and Knots Landing? (Though you're probably too young to know what those were.)

metalpeter - 11/16/08 11:36
I had no idea they had dolls of the Characters. I hope you keep enjoying the show. I don't know why I like it but I really do. I think there is more to it then Wanting to be Raped by Eva Longoria (Gabby or Gaberial). Of course there is there are some pretty interesting stories and not just cheating either.