Sunday, November 27, 2005

Snow

Yes, that's right, snow! Not a lot, but it did snow yesterday. While it may not be much I fear that it is a sign of more to come in the near future. Now granted, living in the far north, I have to expect there to be snow, but damned if I have to like it! And I don't, I hate hate hate it.



We've actually been quite fortunate this year, by this time last year, we had had snow on the ground for a while, and it was bloody COLD. This year though, it's snowed once already, and that wasn't even worth mentioning, it snowed a bit and didn't even stick. Last week it was 14 degrees (Celsius of course)uncharacteristically warm for this time of year.



I knew the snow had to come at some point, I was just hoping it would hold off a while longer. Rumor has it though, that this is set to be a rather short mild winter for this area. I pray the rumors are true!

Wednesday, November 9, 2005

Riduculous Food Phobia?

Yesterday, I was reading this post over at Hot Toddy's Toaster Oven.



Last night I had a dream that I took a bunch of free popcorn from CC Slaughters at happy hour and put it in a big white bucket. Then I put Saran Wrap over the bucket of popcorn and brought it home. I lovingly placed the bucket of stolen happy hour popcorn on top of my dresser so I could eat it later.



I think I may go to the bar too much. Does anybody want to take a stab at interpreting this dream?




My comment, meant mostly in jest, was the following...

I say that it's your psyche telling you that you shouldn't eat that stuff. Free bar snacks scare me, if you do the math on the percentage of people who don't wash their hands after using the washroom combined with the number of people who touch the free bar snacks...




My comment, was met with this one...



people with these riduculous food phobias kill me...yea it sounds gross what you describe erin, but your body has natural defenses and anyway if one did wash one's hands, they would eventually get bacteria on them again. what do you suspect you'd catch? you'd be more likely to catch a cold from someone sitting next you at a bar rather than eating bar food. we don't live in a sterile environment babe. just use common sense!




I’ve seen several reports on the subject, and I’ve taken my Food Safe course. Over the course of several years, a few facts have come to my attention that keep me from eating the communal snacks in bars.



1) Around 20% of the population does NOT wash their hands after using the washrooms!



~ In the USA that is 59,146,826 who don’t wash their hands

(There are more people in the US who don’t wash their hands after they use the washroom than there are people in Canada period!)



~ In Canada that is 656,100.82 who don’t wash their hands



2) One of the leading causes of Food Poisoning is Fecal Mouth Transfer. And yes, that is as bad as it sounds. It’s caused by us eating food that has been touched by someone who has feces on their hands, mainly as a result of not washing after using the restroom.



3) Investigations have shown, through those funky UV scanner thingies, that more often than not, there is both urine and semen on community snacks at bars.



If I see the bartender open a bag of snacks, put it in a clean bowl and hand it too me, sure I’ll eat it. But if it’s just sitting there for anyone to help themselves too… I think not. I’m not scared of what I might catch, but having that knowledge floating around in my head makes it so that I just can’t bring myself to eat that stuff. It’s not a fear of germs, or a desire to live in a sterile environment. If I pick something up to eat it, and all that is going through my head is “this could have a strangers semen or urine or both on it” call me crazy or squeamish if you must, but I’m not putting it in my mouth.



Screw unsanitary or germ infested, or bacteria laden. Urine is sterile, and lots of people eat semen on a daily basis. That has nothing to do with it. I just find it yucky to eat that stuff on my pretzels.



P.S. While I really do feel that way, this is not a bitchy rant, but rather an amused rant! lol