Not all Americans are Stupid you Idiot! November 1, 2011

Not all Americans are Stupid You Idiot!

 

I was in a US airport recently. It was the Boston airport and my flight home to the West coast had been delayed. I took the opportunity to eat one more lobster roll and relax before the 6 hour flight home. If you are not familiar with a lobster roll it is lobster meat with maybe some mayonnaise on a hot dog bun. It is fantastic. I grew up in the Boston area and eat lobster as much as possible when I am back visiting. During the summer in Maine and Massachusetts, McDonalds will even have lobster rolls on their menus.

I was in one last lobster bliss stupor, watching baseball on the bar TV, enjoying myself completely when a woman next to me interrupted my reverie. She did not have an American accent and was holding out American coins wanting to know their values. Being a polite person, I engaged her in conversation about where she was from. She told me but with an attitude that I should know just from her accent. She then proceeded to go into a tirade about how stupid American coins are in relation to their size and denominations.

Again, let me state, I was having a pleasant time. How often does that happen when you are delayed in an airport? So I listened to her and told her she was over-thinking the whole money thing. I took her bill and looked at the money she had laid out and told her it was not enough. She was leaving all her change for a tip, amounting to about 5%. She went on about how Americans are so stupid because a nickel is bigger than a dime but is worth less and all the bills are the same size. Yeah, I had enough of her and wanted to get back to the baseball game and savor my lobster roll, but she wouldn’t stop harping.

I sized her up as not a fan of Americans. She was haughty, belligerent and from her tab, cheap. So what could I do? I told her to put down all her change and take another bill that had a big ‘5’ on it and put it on the counter. She asked if wasn’t that too much? I assured her it wasn’t and she did what I asked. I waited for the waitress to come over and collect the bill. She was still talking and going on and on so I had to tell her to take her skinny boney ass back to her country and get the hell away from me. I am patriotic after all. Rude is rude, what else could I do?? What would you do?

Tie One On for the Giving Season November 9, 2010

National Tie One on Day, an apron of course, is November 24, 2010. EllynAnne Geisel of Apron Memories, http://www.apronmemories.com/, started this giving day tradition the day before Thanksgiving five years ago. She encourages embracing a “giving opportunity that has nothing to do with shopping or even getting into a car, but everything to do with our recognition of gratefulness and our ability to give to someone in need of spiritual or physical sustenance.”

EllynAnne goes on to say “Women clad in aprons have traditionally prepared the Thanksgiving meal and it is with in our historical linkage to share our bounty”

This year Haralee.Com is a sponsor for Tie One On Day. http://www.apronmemories.com/tie-one-on-day/

EllynAnne has become the patron saint of the Apron.

She writes about aprons, exhibits aprons, and sews and sells aprons on her web site. Her aprons have become famous with the Desperate Housewives character Bree wearing one, to the recent article in the upcoming AARP magazine.

When I came across the Apron Memories site I was infatuated. My very first sewing project was an apron, and I have loved them and sewing ever since. Just this year for my birthday two friends separately gave me aprons! After I read about EllynAnne’s ‘Tie One On Day’ I knew I had to get the word out. Join me and other apron wearing women spreading thanks the day before Thanksgiving.

A Garden Whine June 8, 2010

It has been unseasonably cool and wet here. So cool that my heat turns on and it is set at 65degrees. It is so wet that your feet squish and splash up onto your legs while walking on the grass. Then there is the garden and the slug problems. Strawberries are ripening and rotting at the same time. Vegetable starter plants are being eaten by the slugs. I can imagine them on the backs of slugs as they slither on down the garden path.

I am on a vegetable garden rant. All winter we plan and work the yard getting it ready for the garden. We buy starter plants, seeds, compost and soil in anticipation of planting. We wait for the soil to warm up and plant. Excitement ensues in anticipation of the harvest.

What happened this year is the weather turned ugly and nasty. Warning to all readers, this will be gross. My lettuce which is growing well, but it takes up to 30 minutes to clean. Each Romaine leaf has to be individually washed and de-slugged. This same washing procedure has to be used with the spinach which is kind of tough. Yes thick and tough spinach!  After all the lettuce is washed I put it in a plastic bag. Yesterday when I took out some lettuce, there were slugs. They had been eating on the leaves so there were holes. Live slugs and holes on my cleaned and refrigerator lettuce leaves were just too much for me. I think the slugs hatched in my refrigerator.

I am trying to wait for the sun before I re- plant the missing vegetables. I am hoping it is soon. I had dreams of eggplants, melons, cucumbers, and of course sweet tomatoes. Strawberries may be a lost cause, and melons a memory but I am forever the optimist.

The Debate About Leftovers November 23, 2009

Talking about leftovers is a worthwhile discussion. You can find out a great deal about some one when you uncover their attitude concerning leftovers. There are not just 2 camps like one would think; those that eat them and those that do not. There is a third group made up of those that mean to eat them but never do.

From anecdotal observations, the leftover debate is not one divided by gender, age, education or sophisticated palette. Income or lack there of, can be a swaying factor for those who would normally reside in the I don’t eat leftovers camp. For those who eat leftovers, the debate can be fine tuned to how many times to eat the same meal. Is once enough or are you good for as many as it takes to finish it off? For those who do not eat leftovers are there ever exceptions like Thanksgiving dinner? For those who have eating leftovers good intentions, how long do they stay in your refrigerator at home or at work before you toss them? For all camps the question comes up about reusing the leftovers into another meal. For example, leftover roasted chicken becomes chicken burritos the next day. The third day the same roasted chicken becomes chicken salad. Is this a violation of the ‘I don’t eat leftovers’ camp doctrine? Do only ‘I eat leftovers’ users make use of the leftovers?

Are the ‘I don’t eat leftovers’ people better or worse money managers?

Are the ‘I eat leftovers’ people more responsible or lazy?

Are the ‘I meant to eat the leftovers’ people greedy or thrifty?

Am I full of it or am I just full? Thanksgiving is coming!