Showing posts with label thoughts. Show all posts
Showing posts with label thoughts. Show all posts
Yes, I am a chocolate snob. You will only see me buy a chocolate bar out of desperation. If I need a quickie chocolate fix, I’ll reach for a bag of peanut M&Ms. But if I have the cash and a good quality chocolate is in the vicinity, I’ll pay for it. This isn’t to say I never buy American. I will buy/eat See’s or a chocolate shop’s chocolate. I should say that I’m talking milk chocolate, since I don’t care for dark chocolate. I just have a real preference for European chocolate.
Why? It turns out that most American companies just don’t take the time and care to make quality chocolate.
You might have taken the Capitol Corridor train to the Bay Area, but taking an Amtrak train to a distant destination is a much different experience. I endured such an experience in January a couple of years ago when I decided to take the train to Salem, OR instead of drive. Based on that trip, I can see why Amtrak is always in financial trouble. America will never embrace train travel if it stays the way it is now.
Delays are the number one issue that needs to be overcome. Trains are much worse than airlines for staying on time. My departure from Sacramento was an hour late. That was a good day. Often times it can be a lot worse. I was supposed to leave at midnight and ended up leaving at 1 a.m. When I woke up the next morning, we had apparently lost another hour. The reason for most of the delays...freight trains. Amtrak leases the tracks from Union Pacific. That means they have to give way to freight trains whenever there is a right-of-way issue. Freight trains are LONG and SLOW. We lost more time along the way. My arrival changed from 3:30 to 5:30. I was lucky. The next day’s train apparently broke down in the middle of the mountains and sat for eight hours! It was so late that instead of going to Seattle, it stopped in Portland and bussed the people to Seattle (and the reverse) so that the next day’s train could be on schedule if it departed from Portland. Lucky for me because that was my return train home!
The second problem with train travel is it is boring. They need to have airline type seats with the monitors in the seatbacks and some movies. On my way home I had finished my knitting and reading. It was pitch black, outside so I ended up taking a sleeping pill and going to sleep at 8:00. Luckily there were no further delays and we arrived on-time at 6 a.m.
There are some good things. The observation car is nice during the day to look at the scenery. On the way up some volunteers got on at Klamath Falls and gave trivia and history of Oregon all the way to Eugene. The snack bar was O.K. It offered snacks that went up to microwaveable pizzas, etc. The dining car was nice too. I only tried breakfast, so I don’t know the quality of the entrees, but they did include things like lamb shanks and Angus burgers. The coach seats recline really far and there is plenty of leg room and a leg rest that flips up.
One tip I got from the papers and from another passenger—if you want to get a sleeping cabin, don’t book it in advance. Instead, get on board and then inquire after departure. Sometimes you can get them at a discount. The guy I talked to got his for just $50. But I think it depends on if you get a nice conductor or not. When I inquired for my return trip he told me $129, so I passed.
In my opinion people should have priority over freight. Who cares if a load of lumber is two hours late? If they could take care of that and add some entertainment on the trains, people would be more willing to use the trains to travel.
I know what vanity is, but for the sake of this post I wanted the true definition, which is: "Excessive pride in one's appearance or accomplishments; conceit". Therefore, I would not consider myself to be an example of it. After all, I often go to the grocery or drug store sans shower, makeup and in sweats. Hell, I've even gone in my scrubs that I wore as pajamas and was to lazy to change out of. This compared to some of my friends who won't leave the house without full makeup.
I realized that what I'm getting done is not due to vanity, it is due to self image or self perception. You see, starting tomorrow and over the next couple of months, you will be reading about my getting laser liposuction done.
Yikes! My ears are ringing! I'm hearing all the people who have met me saying out loud, "What the hell? She doesn't need lipo!" But that's where self image comes in. You do these things for yourself, not for everyone else.
I'll get into my why and how shortly. First I want to discuss that issue of self-image. How do you see yourself? The anorexic or bulemic sees themselves as too fat when they look in the mirror. The rest of us see skin and bones. A person sees their own big nose, yet I find it's what gives you character and makes you attractive.
There's also those with misconceived ideas of physical attributes. Mainly, big breasts will make me more attractive to men. We all realize that all they do is increase lust, not attraction. Getting to know you as a person is what will make you attrative or not. If you're a bitch, triple D's aren't going to help you.
It's what you see in the mirror and how you feel about yourself that matters. If you don't like what you see, you can make yourself miserable.
I'll admit that when I look into the mirror I am pretty damn pleased with what God (and mom and dad) gave me. And that last sentence is admittedly vain. I'm thankful that I got my mom's Filipino tanning skin versus my dad's British burning skin. That my mom's flat nose was countered by my dad's bigger nose to give me the right sized nose.
So why the lipo? Because I grew up well into my 20's thin. Like this. And even though I understand that age means added weight, I'm not happy that it all goes to my middle. You see, it's true - women become like their mothers. My mother was small as can be and yet she had a Buddha belly. All her added weight went to her round, little belly. So while you look at me and see thin extremities, you don't see that most of my weight is in my midsection. I've hid it well or covered it in Spanx.
I do exercise. I go to spin class at least three times a week and do weights the same. But as much as you tone up your muscles, the fat is still there.
It's funny what you remember from school. I vividly remember the day Ms. Zimmer explained in biology class that a fat cell never disappears. It only inflates and deflates. I'm getting rid of those fat cells the only guaranteed way there is - removing them.
As to the how? My first article tomorrow will go into why I chose the clinic I did and the pre-op stuff. But I must issue the required FCC disclaimer and explain to you that I asked them if they would give me a deal in exchange for my detailed blog accounts. Much to my shock, they agreed. I really didn't think they would and so when they agreed it became a case of - you can't pass this once in a lifetime opportunity up! They get some publicity, which they are free to use in their own marketing campaigns, while I get a super deal. The only catch for me - it's public! You all know about it! Yikes!
So that's it. You'll be reading about how I chose them, the pre-op appointment, the surgery day itself, the recovery, the follow-up appointments, and the final results. I just ask that you read them as informative articles and don't embarass me too much when you see me next.
I realized that what I'm getting done is not due to vanity, it is due to self image or self perception. You see, starting tomorrow and over the next couple of months, you will be reading about my getting laser liposuction done.
Yikes! My ears are ringing! I'm hearing all the people who have met me saying out loud, "What the hell? She doesn't need lipo!" But that's where self image comes in. You do these things for yourself, not for everyone else.
I'll get into my why and how shortly. First I want to discuss that issue of self-image. How do you see yourself? The anorexic or bulemic sees themselves as too fat when they look in the mirror. The rest of us see skin and bones. A person sees their own big nose, yet I find it's what gives you character and makes you attractive.
There's also those with misconceived ideas of physical attributes. Mainly, big breasts will make me more attractive to men. We all realize that all they do is increase lust, not attraction. Getting to know you as a person is what will make you attrative or not. If you're a bitch, triple D's aren't going to help you.
It's what you see in the mirror and how you feel about yourself that matters. If you don't like what you see, you can make yourself miserable.
I'll admit that when I look into the mirror I am pretty damn pleased with what God (and mom and dad) gave me. And that last sentence is admittedly vain. I'm thankful that I got my mom's Filipino tanning skin versus my dad's British burning skin. That my mom's flat nose was countered by my dad's bigger nose to give me the right sized nose.
I do exercise. I go to spin class at least three times a week and do weights the same. But as much as you tone up your muscles, the fat is still there.
It's funny what you remember from school. I vividly remember the day Ms. Zimmer explained in biology class that a fat cell never disappears. It only inflates and deflates. I'm getting rid of those fat cells the only guaranteed way there is - removing them.
As to the how? My first article tomorrow will go into why I chose the clinic I did and the pre-op stuff. But I must issue the required FCC disclaimer and explain to you that I asked them if they would give me a deal in exchange for my detailed blog accounts. Much to my shock, they agreed. I really didn't think they would and so when they agreed it became a case of - you can't pass this once in a lifetime opportunity up! They get some publicity, which they are free to use in their own marketing campaigns, while I get a super deal. The only catch for me - it's public! You all know about it! Yikes!
So that's it. You'll be reading about how I chose them, the pre-op appointment, the surgery day itself, the recovery, the follow-up appointments, and the final results. I just ask that you read them as informative articles and don't embarass me too much when you see me next.
The biggest reason I love food and travel is because of my dad. Considering that he came from a lower class upbringing in Ipswich, England during an era when they rarely saw a foreignor, you wonder where he got his adventurous spirit from. He took the Canadian immigration deal back in 1958, moved around Canada and the U.S. a bit, then married a Filipina. He took a chance with a job in Saudi Arabia and I thank God that he did. Thanks to him I got a childhood of traveling the world and an excellent education.
During our travels we rarely stayed in a nice hotel. Dad also drilled in finances and saving money. Plus he liked the closer contact to cultures. So we would stay in B&B's in Europe or cheap, but clean, hotels in Asian countries. We always rented cars and drove all over.
Keep in mind that this was all in the 70's and the world still wasn't as ethnically mixed as it is these days. Chinese and Indian restaurants in Europe were rare and generally mediocre. But if we drove through a town and there was an ethnic restaurant, we'd stop for a change of pace. Back as a child I hated Indian food. At that time it was only curry and tandoori.
Nowadays we are especially blessed in California with all sorts of cuisine and quality cooking. I am trying to get a better appreciation for Indian food now that they offer a lot more regional dishes. I would like to get as knowledgable about Indian food as I feel about Thai food. I've also gotten a new Indian roommate, Veena. So I'm sure I'll be better educated thanks to her.
Sooooo... I selected the Katmandu Kitchen for this week's Dining Out Meetup. This place has a good reputation. We were also pleased to witness that it was a very busy place considering it was a Tuesday night. The place was full.
Katmandu says they serve Indian and Nepalese food. There is not supposed to be much difference between the two.
Most of us orderd Thali, which means a kind of combo plate. Those who orderd ala carte only got the dish and some bread. Most people ordered a tika masala. We also had some vegetarians in the group. We don't get many at our meetups and I guess it all depends on my restaurant choices. But they generally do show up when we have Indian, Chinese, or Thai.
I'm going to go ahead and post this and then ask Veena for her comments on some of the food. She thought they made their stuff on the sweet side and so she thought the place was just OK. Her favorite Indian place is Mehran on Fair Oaks Blvd.
