The Whine thread.

[Aquarius]

Dear Manager of Dining Commons One,

I regret to inform you that corn is not a vegetable. This is relevant, at least to me, because I dine at your establishment because A) it is close to my classes, and B) you are the only alternative to fast food on campus. I dine there because out of everything EMU has to offer, I figure I can at least eat something a little closer to what I would make at home.

So it is with much dismay that I see all of your offerings so carb-laden. Today with your chicken jambalya (which contained rice), you served corn and corn bread as sides. Fried okra was also available, but I'm sure the greasy breading on the outside neutralized whatever value it originally had as a vegetable.

As an alternative, you always offer the pasta line...in which one can usually find the pasta du jour (sans vegetables, unless you count tomato sauce) and garlic bread or a breadstick. You haven't even made your pasta dish with whole grain pasta, which would at least allow the carbs to serve some sort of purpose other than going straight to my ass and hips.

There's always the stirfry line...but you can't expect a body to eat THAT every day, can you? Plus, you're going to put it over rice any way, as though I haven't had nearly enough carbs to choose from.

Seriously, you need to re-evaluate your menus. Everything is so carb-laden, and I know why, too: it's cheap! Well let me tell you something, Manager of Dining Commons One: a can of green beans costs exactly the same as a can of corn. I know it sounds crazy but I've witnessed it at the store! It is a minor change you could make; we'd have to have a conversation about sodium later, but at least it would go a long way toward helping students like myself, who are dining at your establishment in an effort to make healthier choices. You're selling food on a college campus, for cripe's sake! Showing a little enlightenment in your menu offerings can only help your patrons to achieve enlightenment in the classroom, by properly fueling our brains and our bodies when we eat at DC One. Not to mention we'll tend to fit better in those awful chairs with the mini table/desk thingy attached.

Sincerely,
Wondering if I Should've Just Had the Whopper

[Linda]

Give me a Whopper...hold the meat, hold the bun...just give me the lettuce and the tomato.

[Aikiweezie]

Awww......one of the things I DON'T miss about working at a college, cafeteria food! Ours was pretty bad. I'm not a vegetarian, but I try to go meatless a couple of days a a week, and one day I went through the chow line and asked if they had anything meatless. The lunch lady replied, "we got chicken."

[Alelou]

I put on at least 10 pounds the first year of college. Mostly in Oreos, pizza, brownies made in someone's toaster oven at night, etc. I can't really blame the dining commons, though I don't recall anyone loving them at UMass. Sometimes we went to the kosher hall because the food was rumored to be better. Can't say I noticed much difference.

UNH had good food in their dining commons. I still use their recipe for sweet potato muffins.

[Aquarius]

Don't get me wrong. The food at DC One tastes good...and to their credit they have a decent salad line where you have options like spinach and romaine lettuce if you don't want the nutritionally-bankrupt iceberg. I just question that my ability to have a lot of vegetables with meals usually limits me to having a lot of salad. On at least three occasions I've noticed that the sides that accompanied the entree were carbs and not vegetables. I'm just saying it wouldn't have killed them to put some green beans or carrots out with their chicken jambalya; it may not be what you traditionally serve with it, but it wouldn't have clashed, either.

Yet in the dessert line, there are waffle irons so you can have your ice cream on a waffle instead of in a dish or a cone. Priorities, I guess.

[Aikiweezie]

My dog, Jack, the blind one, bit me in the face this afternoon. My lower cheek to be specific. Three punctures and a scratch. I was trying to get him to give me a kiss because sometimes I feel like he doesn't get as much as his brother, who can see. Apparently I scared him or something because he bit me. I feel bad, he feels bad, and now I have these lovely marks on my face to add to the other scars already on my face (long story). I am feeling very ugly and sad right now. I need to go to my martial arts class tonight, too. Great.

I did go to the Dr. right away and she gave me an antibiotic cream and an oral prescription if I think I need it. She doesn't think I'll have much of a scar.

[Asso]

[Alelou]

That's so difficult. A friend of mine just made the difficult decision to put down a dog she'd had for six years because it would just attack visiting people's faces sometimes, but that was much more overtly hostile than what you experienced (I hope).

(But please make sure your son is safe.)

[WarpGirl]

My stupid router still isn't working, so let me catch up... Grammer, LOVE IT! Think it's important, I know it's not around to my my life miserable, it just does because I panic.

College food, I lucked out, if I wanted to avoid carbs there was a lovely grilled veggie option. But since I don't think carbs are evil I usually had a cheap well balanced BLT on WHOLEGRAIN bread. Sorry you're so carb laden, but most colleges let you request as well. A little pricey, but not as bad as fast food.

Doggies... OMG I am soooooo sorry. I thought giving my monster to my parents was hard. Feel better.

My whine, I HATE MY ROUTER!

[Aikiweezie]

Jack's never done anything like this before. I think I scared him. I think we all need to be extremely cautious and aware of the fact that he can't see us and so we can't move in too quickly on him and let him make the first move when he wants some attention. I did exactly the kind of thing I remind my son never to do.

Jack's not going anywhere.

[WarpGirl]

Please be careful.

[Distracted]

Dog bites are cleaner than human bites. You should be okay,Aikiweezie.

Okay. I've got a whine. A physican's list I subscribe to has called this quote to my attention. "Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said Thursday that 250 million doses (of H1N1 vaccine] have been purchased. "The vaccine is paid for by the federal government," she said. "The vaccine itself will be free, although some providers may charge an administrative fee. We're asking people not to do that, and private health plans say they won't charge a fee," explained Sebelius."

So now the secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services is basically labeling as greedy the docs who will charge an administration fee for this "free" vaccine (Which is not free. Your tax money paid for it and the labs who are making it are definitely getting paid.)

I understand the idea of "contributing to the good of all" and all that, but if a primary care doc is going to administer this vaccine in his/her office, somebody's got to pay the staff that gives the vaccine. Somebody's got to pay for syringes and needles and such. And while the staff is giving vaccine they're not seeing sick patients...patients who will then go elsewhere, which is a loss of income. At the end of the day, who pays for all this? Will the federal government? Of course not.

I can understand not charging an administration fee if someone is truly poor. That's what public health clinics are for. They're subsidized by our tax money specifically for that purpose. Their staff are government employees and if they don't make a profit nobody loses their jobs. If a patient can't afford five or ten bucks for administration of the vaccine then there's always that option. But it's just not FAIR to expect a private physician who's trying to make a living to swallow the cost of all this when a working patient is perfectly capable of "cost sharing". It's stuff like this that scares me about this administration. When young people ask me if they should go into medicine, I tell them not unless it's their vocation, not just a job. You'd have to want to serve the sick like a priest wants to serve God to go into medicine these days. Otherwise, I'd recommend real estate.

[Aquarius]

I just managed to stave off narcolepsy long enough to read a chapter on the early Roman Republic. I don't know what the hell my problem is...but waking up with face in book was a little uncomfortable. Thank goodness I didn't drool.

[WarpGirl]

Aquarius maybe stress? College is stressful.

Dis I get where you're coming from I really do, but those clinics sometimes have sick beurocrats that will do anything to turn you away. Even if you deserve their services, so it's impossible either way. I don't think any human can change that one.

My whine Kitty tipped her litter box over, but at least she's decided its a good idea to start using it again.

[Aquarius]

ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGH!! Litter dumpage. I HATE that. Luckily I put puppy pads under and around the boxes, but sometimes when Elvis really gets going, I still end up feeling like I'm sweeping it up forever. I feel your pain, WG.

Yeah, it might be stress...It might also be the lack of getting up and moving around. I'm used to being on my feet for a living, so sometimes I think sitting in one place for too long kind of knocks me out. It's not so bad if I'm in front of the computer or sitting in a lecture hall, but typing and writing by hand engages at least some part of my body, so maybe that's just enough. I noticed I got through the second half of the chapter better and paid attention more effectively after I popped a piece of gum into my mouth. (Try 5's new flavor "Solstice"--is very yummy! ) I think my next "monster session" of studying needs to be broken up with walks through the neighborhood instead of catching up on Stargate episodes on my DVR.

Aikiweezie--How's your bite healing? Jack's lucky to have a loving family to look out for him even when the chips are down. It's so tough having geriatric pets in the house.