French Vanilla Iced Coffee

This morning I saw a news report that really alarmed me.

Restaurant Lemons Tested Positive for Fecal Matter and E-Coli
‘GMA’ Uncovered Germy Garnishes at Some Large Restaurant Chains
By ELISABETH LEAMY and VANESSA WEBER
June 12, 2008

It may be tempting to take a twist of lemon along with a refreshing summer drink. But beware because that splash of citrus could have bacteria that may make you sick.

Lab tests reveal citrus slices contaminated with bacteria at some restaurants.

“Good Morning America” tested lemon wedges from six popular family restaurants and what they found was more frightening than refreshing. At four restaurants, “GMA” found the lemons were contaminated with fecal matter, including one sample that contaminated with E. coli.

To put the lemons to the “GMA” test, we visited three sets of chain restaurants: Applebee’s, TGI Fridays, and Chili’s. All six of the causal dining restaurants were in New Jersey.

After swabbing each lemon we were served, the samples were sent to a microbiology lab at New York University’s Medical Center.

We found yeast and harmless bacteria that are commonly found on fruits and in our environment. But four of the samples were contaminated with dangerous bacteria.

“A small risk, but a risk nevertheless by ingesting byproducts of these lemons,” Philip Tierno, director of the clinical microbiology at NYU.

The fecal matter was found at both of the Applebee’s and TGI Friday’s restaurants. The E. coli was found at the Applebee’s in Clifton, N.J. At Chili’s, we found no evidence of fecal matter or E. coli at either restaurant.

But that’s not all. At half of the restaurants we caught workers grabbing lemons with their bare hands. New Jersey’s health code insists that workers wear gloves or use tongs.

“I see that people have no concern of where they put their fingers,” said Tierno. “They’ll take things with their bare hands rather than gloving up and distributing the food stuff as they should.”

Restaurants Respond

Representatives from TGI Fridays and Applebee’s tell “GMA” they take health and safety very seriously.

TGI Fridays told “GMA” in a statement: “As we do with all matters of safety and health in our restaurants, we took this very seriously. We immediately stopped utilizing lemons at all of our restaurants until we could investigate this matter further and review our procedures to ensure this was an isolated issue.

“We’ve taken quick, thorough and appropriate measures to rectify this situation. We have very high health and safety standards, including extensive food safety training for all team members. The health and safety of our guests and team members is our top priority.”

And Applebee’s said in a statement: “Applebee’s takes these findings very seriously as the health and safety of our guests are top priorities. We believe these are isolated incidents and not reflective across the system in our company or franchise restaurants. Nonetheless we have reinforced our processes for produce washing, washing of all our cooking utensils and silverware and employee hygiene in all our restaurants.”

Not the First Time

In a study released last year, Anne LaGrange Loving, a New Jersey microbiologist, tested lemons at 21 restaurants. She found disease-causing bacteria on two-thirds of all lemons, including fecal bacteria.

People need to be aware of the kind of bacteria on lemons, Loving said in a HealthInspections.com report.

“It was like they had dipped it in raw meat or something,” Loving, a science professor at Passaic County Community College said. “It was gross.”

What You Can Do

The best advice is to squeeze the lemon juice into your drink and put the whole lemon aside, instead of putting the lemon in your drink.

Experts told “GMA” that a lemon’s acidity will not kill bacteria. Hard alcoholic drinks, like a martini, can kill bacteria, but beer’s lower alcohol content will not.

In New York, employees at Peter’s restaurant cut lemons with gloves and distribute the wedges with little spears, mindful of all that workers can come in contact with during a shift, including handling filthy money.

Looking for safety protocols like those may be the best practice the next time you order a lemon with your favorite drink.

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Consumer/story?id=5048483&page=1

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The other day I went to a grocery store to stock up on hamburger. They had a sale on 93% lean hamburger, which is the only one I’ll eat. $2.69 a pound, and I generally pay twice that amount. Sl, I was all ready to stock up.

In the meat case they had packages with 2 patties each, and they weighed a pound. They had packages with 3 patties each, and they weight 1.5 pounds. It’s not rocket science to know that each patty was approximately 8 ounces, or half a pound.

Right?

So, I asked someone in the meat department — a middle-aged man — if I could have some made up at 5/6 ounces each. I was told no. I pointed to the sign that said they would be glad to help the customers with special requests, but he went in back and the meat manager yelled at him that they didn’t have time.

I asked what other size they came in, and this guy told me the 4 ounce package that was on the shelf. I told him they weren’t 4 ounces and he insisted they were. I told him there were 2 in a package and it weighed a pound, and he said, “see? 4 ounces each.”

I told him there were 2 patties at a pound, making them 8 ounces each, and after a bit of chat he said, “well, I flunked math in school.”

No, really?

I’m told to shop around for a bit as it will take them a while to make up 5 pounds of 4 ounce patties. (I watched another kid come out of the back, grab the 8 ounce patty packages, and take them in back, obviously they were just reissuing them).

When I came back, they looked so good I asked for more. This confused the kid totally. I said, “93 lean , 4 ounce patties.” He asked how many pounds, and I told him 3 pounds. He then says, “ok, 4 packages.”

At this point I was scratching my head and wondering why people in this particular town and this particular store (out of town, not local) hired people to work in the meat department, where ounces and pounds and addition/subtraction is needed.

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I’ve noticed this trend and it seems like almost every new show is some sort of reality television show. I guess Survivor was the leader and everyone else followed after that. I’ve never watched it. I do watch American Idol but that’s it.

I remember the days when television had good programming. Well, good in my mind. I loved the old detective shows as they were funny, corny but made you think during the show as you tried to figure out who the bad guy was. I wish they’d rerun all of the old detective shows! The classic cars *drool*, the hair styles, the clothing … it brings back memories and is funny to watch.

Do you remember the summer replacement shows? Everyone had a variety show. They, too, were corny, with some horrible skits that just kept you laughing, and they always had one or two good musical guests on as well, though mostly lip-synching was going on.

Then came the era of the expensive shows with Dynasty, Dallas, Falcon Crest and the rest. Women watched them to see the clothing and men watched the to see the women in skimpy clothing.

Now it seems every show is put out there to embarrass someone and keep legitimate actors out of work. I mean, other than being the MC, what are actors doing on television these days? And these so-called reality shows that are just scripted?? I’d like the camera to run in the home of Gene Simmons, Snoop Dogg and others without anyone editing the film. Show some REALITY.

I was reading one forum where people kept talking about how ALL fat people overeat and after all, they all do this or that, just watch The Biggest Loser! I tried to explain that it’s reality TV and is there for ratings, so they are going to find the fattest slob who is a typical couch potato, shoving fast food into his mouth, or the woman sitting around all day eating chocolate. Those are extremes and not the norm. But people are gullible and believe everything they see on television.

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Sometimes I wonder about the media and what they do. When actor Heath Ledger died, they milked everything they could out of it. I liked Heath Ledger, and only saw him in one movie, Brokeback Mountain, but he nailed that character perfectly and really impessed me.

The day he died the media was in a frenzy, camped out at his apartment, even reporting inaccuracies in their rush to be the first to report something. The cameras trained on people as they walked by, gauging their grief, was nuts.

I thought it was horrible for everyone to be speculating on what happened, the hows and whys and whos about it.

They then followed his ex-fiance and mother of his child, Michelle Williams, to train the camera on her face and gauge her facial expressions as she walked. Sheesh, let her grieve in peace.

His parents found out he died when they heard it on the radio. I don’t blame the media for that, I blame the police department for not notifying the family immediately.

I felt bad for people who had a microphone shoved into their face while a reporter asked how they felt that he died.

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JACKSON, Miss. - A state lawmaker wants to ban restaurants from serving food to obese customers — but please, don’t be offended. He says he never even expected his plan to become law.

“I was trying to shed a little light on the number one problem in Mississippi,” said Republican Rep. John Read of Gautier, who acknowledges that at 5-foot-11 and 230 pounds, he’d probably have a tough time under his own bill.

More than 30 percent of adults in Mississippi are considered it obese, according to a 2007 study by the Trust for America’s Health, a research group that focuses on disease prevention.

The state House Public Health Committee chairman, Democrat Steve Holland of Plantersville, said he is going to “shred” the bill.

“It is too oppressive for government to require a restaurant owner to police another human being from their own indiscretions,” Holland said Monday.

The bill had no specifics about how obesity would be defined, or how restaurants were supposed to determine if a customer was obese.

Al Stamps, who owns a restaurant in Jackson, said it is “absurd” for the state to consider telling him which customers he can’t serve. He and his wife, Kim, do a bustling lunch business at Cool Al’s, which serves big burgers — beef or veggie — and specialty foods like “Sassy Momma Sweet Potato Fries.”

“There is a better way to deal with health issues than to impose those kind of regulations,” Al Stamps said. “I’m sorry — you can’t do it by treating adults like children and telling them what they can and cannot eat.”

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Recently in Massachusetts a 13-year old boy was hit by a car and was killed. He was walking down the road at 1 am with some friends, apparently having snuck out of the house without permission. A man was driving down the road and struck him and drove off, thinking he hit a mailbox he claimed.

The next morning he turned himself in. He claimed he was doing a text message and didn’t see the boy he hit before he hit him.

So, now they want to ban text messaging while driving. Some states make it illegal to use a cell phone unless it’s hands free when driving. One state made it illegal for you to smoke in your car if you were driving with your children.

Let’s legislate human behavior, shall we?

First of all, you can smoke around your kids 24/7 but if you go in the car and smoke, it’s not allowed? Second-hand smoke is dangerous. But, you can take your kids to a place where others are smoking and it’s ok?

Why is it ok for an adult to drink in the house with kids? Why not make that illegal, too? After all, an adult could do something stupid with kids in the house, right?

Text messaging while driving is just stupid. I rarely even use my cell phone when driving. If I get the urge to make a phone call, I pull into the nearest parking lot. If my phone rings and the conversation will be more than a few minutes, I do the same. Of course, one day 3 years ago I was driving through the town and pulled into a parking lot, not paying much attention to what type of establishment it was. A few weeks later a couple of people mentioned they saw me at a bar in the middle of an afternoon. I guess a redhead in a 1966 Mustang is easy to spot. So, I had to explain that no, I wasn’t in the bar, no, I don’t drink, but I had to make a phone call.

I see more people eating in their cars than talking on cell phones. Let’s make it illegal to eat in the car, shall we? After all, you take your eyes off the road to dip your French fry into the ketchup, take your eyes off the road to inhale the sodium and fat-laden burger or to triple-dip your oversalted chicken.

You can’t legislate human behavior. People are always going to do something stupid.

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This article is pretty scary and if you use Gmail, you should read it.

What would you do if a criminal stole something very personal, and very valuable from you?

What if they were able to target your business and criple your income?

You wouldn’t be too happy now, would you?

What if you also discovered that this was happening because of a Google security infection that can affect every GMail user on the planet?

That’s what has just happened to me, and here I’m going to tell you my story. I will detail everything I know about the web pirates who are threatening my livelihood, and tell you what you need to know in order to avoid the same thing happening to you.

Continue Reading »

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Did you have a paper route when you were a kid? I did. Got it when I was 14 I believe and had it until I was 16. Back then, papers were delivered after school, and were a way to teach responsibility. Kids would learn about delivering on time, collecting money, dealing with the public.

In our area, the papers would be dropped off around 4 pm and most kids had 35-50 papers to deliver. We’d get our bundle, count them, and then put them in our bags or a shopping cart we ‘borrowed’ from a supermarket, and off we went. We’d be sure to put the paper in the door and shut the door if it was raining or snowing. We’d fold the paper into thirds to fit it into mailboxes.

I had a helper for the heavier paper days, until she began stealing money from me by collecting and then claiming the customer didn’t have money for a tip and I’d get it next week — pocketing the quarter each time.

If we ran out of papers, since my house was the last on the route, I’d either call the office and ask for another paper, or run to the store and drop a quarter and buy one. Each week I’d collect from each customer and then on Saturday would go to the bank and buy a money order to pay for my papers. We weren’t allowed to pay by a check from our parents, just a money order, but back then the convenience stores didn’t sell money orders, and the bank gave them for free. Really really, to quote Shrek.

Seque to 2007. I pay for my newspaper ever year by check to the newspaper office, adding in a tip. I never see my paper delivery person, but know I have had many. They get their papers around 5 AM and that means at 6 am I hear their car pull up, door slam, heavy footsteps on my stairs …… or they throw the paper with a loud thud. I’ve had carrier who are old enough to be my grandfather.

Yesterday my newspaper had a poorly typewritten sheet of paper by my new carrier, apparently. He said that if the paper is not there, to call him and not the newspaper office, as they charge him $1 or $2 for each missing paper. WOW. What happened to the office calling the carrier to report the missing paper?

Also, in bad weather, the paper is delivered in a plastic bag. I toss mine. However, my carrier asks me to now save it as he has to pay for it. Not only that, when the paper comes in a rubber band, I’m now asked to save those, too, as he has to pay for them.

So, now I’m supposed to remember to save my plastic bags and rubber bands and leave them for some anonymous person who slams my door shut on Sunday mornings when I want to sleep late?

Things have certainly changed. Now carriers drive cars to deliver the paper, and at $3 a gallon, they must not be making much at the end of the week. I give credit to older men who are trying to pay the bills and are taking on an extra job, but think it’s wrong of the newspaper office to charge them a buck or two if my newspaper is missing.

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YOU KNOW YOUR FROM MASSACHUSETTS IF..

1. You’ve pulled out of a side street and used your car to block oncoming traffic so you can make a left

2. Stop signs mean slow down a little, but only of you want to

3. You know how to cross four lanes of traffic in five seconds

4. You believe using your turn signals gives away your plan to the enemy

5. You think it’s not actually tailgating unless you’re touching the bumper of the car in front of
you

6. You know that a yellow light means that at least five more people can get through and a red one means two more can

7. The transportation system is known as the “T”

8. You could own a small town in Iowa for the cost of your house

9. You almost feel disappointed when someone doesnt flip you off when you cut them off or steal their
parking space

10. There are 24 Dunkin Donuts shops within 15 minutes of your house

11. When people talk about “The Curse Of The Bambino” you know what they’re talking about and
believe it too

12. You’re amazed when traveling out of town that people at McDonalds actually speak english

13. If you stay on the same road long enough it eventually has three different names

14. Someone has honked at you because you didnt peel out the second the light turned green

15. You have honked at someone because they didn’t peel out the second the light turned green

16. All the potholes just add to the excitement of driving

17. You think if someones nice to you they either want something or they are from out of town and lost

18. Six inches of snow is considered a dusting

19. Three days of 90 degree heat is definately a “heat wave” 63 degrees is “on the warm side”

20. You cringe everytime you hear some actor/actress imitate the “Boston Accent” on TV or in a movie, if you don’t have it then you’re never going to get it even if you were born here

21. At the ice cream shop you call chocolate sprinkles “jimmies”

22. You can go from one side of town to the other in less than fifteen minutes and see at least fifteen
losers you went to high school with doing the same thing they were doing when you saw them last

23. It is raining and/or snowing, the person in front of you is going 70, and you’re still cursing them for going too slow

24. You know how to pronounce towns like Worcester, Haverhill, and Cotuit

25. You know what they sell at a “packie”

26.You’ve called something “wicked pissa”

27. You’ve slammed on your brakes to deter a tailgator

28. You still try to order curly fries from Burger King

29. You keep an ice scraper in your car all year round

30. You know at least three Tony’s one Vinnie, and a Frank

31. Paranoia sets in when you can’t see an ATM or CVS

32. You think crosswalks are for wimps

33. You’ve bragged about saving money at The Christmas Tree Shop

34. You know what “regular coffee” is, and you order iced coffee in January

35. You can navigate a rotary without a problem

36. You have been to Fenway Park

37. You refer to the New York Yankees as the Evil Empire

38. You feel the rest of the world needs to drive more like you

39. When someone calls you a “masshole” you take it as a compliment

40. You use the words “wicked” and “good” in the same sentence

41. You know what a frappe is

42. Saint Patrticks Day is your second favorite holiday

43. You are proud to drink Sam Adams and think that the rest of the country owes Bostonians a thank you

44. You never say “Cape Cod” you say “the cape”

45. You went to Old Sturbridge Village and Plymouth Plantation in elementary school

46. You can drive to the mountains and the ocean all in one day

47. You have a special place in your heart for the Worcester Firefighters

48. You know the Mass Pike and 128 are some strange weather dividing lines

49. You do not recognize the letter “R” as a part of the English language.

50. You’ve gone from I-95 South to I-93 North by driving in a straight line and never changing direction.

51. You understand everything just said and passed it on to other massholes

52. You know you’re from Mass when you give directions that cite land marks that USED to be there…

You bang a left at the lights, and then you drive just past where the old farm was… the one that used to have the giant catepillar in front… and then you take a wicked sharp right to where the movie theater used to be…

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Have you noticed that coupon clipping isn’t quite the same? I admit I don’t bother with coupons anymore, but used to do it quite frequently. Now you’ll notice that coupons say “buy 3, save 50 cents” or “buy 6 and save $1.00″. Years ago it was buy 1, save money! All of a sudden now coupons are for multiple items, have you noticed that?

And, what’s with the “DO NOT DOUBLE” on coupons issued by the manufacturer? The store pays the extra cost, not the manufacturer, so why do they care and disallow the store from paying double on a coupon???

Today I saw a coupon for bags of walnuts, the brand I use. Generally they are $6.99 at my local supermarket but if I go to Target, they are $4.75. Obviously I buy them when I am at Target. The coupon? Buy 3 bags and save $1.00. Uhm, I don’t think so … 3 lbs. of walnuts is waaaaaaaaaaay too many to buy. Plus, it’s just a buck. 33 cents a bag.

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