What can be the issue?

Problem:  I am cold.  All of the time.  I can not warm up.  I sit in a room that is 88 degrees, and I need to put on a sweater.  And a stocking cap.  And gloves.  And wool socks.  And house slippers.

Maybe it wil result in comfort.  Not always, especially if all those things limit my mobility.

At this moment the temperature is -9 with a wind chill of -19.  I hate strongly detest this time of year.  The only redeeming quality is that when blowing bubbles outside, they freeze.  That is the ONLY redeeming quality.

Does anyone have a house they would like to donate to us that is in a tropical region, or at the very least that never has temperatures that drop below 74 degrees farenheight?

Eight dollars and sixteen months

We went out to Idaho (15th-21st) with Jacob’s Parents for Erin’s and Adam’s graduation.  We stayed with John and Tinell (she also graduated) Broadbent (they have two very adorable little girls, and stinking smart too).  John may be responsible for our potentially thinking about purchasing a Wii in the future.  We had a lot of fun in Idaho.  Not so much fun the four days in the car to get there and back. The trip was good; physically sitting in a confined space for four days is not so pleasant.

We were very lucky with the driving conditions.  We did see lots of tire marks where cars had gone off in the snow before we got to those points.  We are happy that the weather cleared up for us to make it there and back in safety and with out too much worry.

Now for the fun stats I know everyone is waiting for, knowing that I am mee and I do these things on car trips.  Just remember FOUR days of travel.

December 15th:

I counted up 30 places where cars had slid off the road in the earlier bad weather, not including cars still there.
There were 2 cars still out there, one was a mini-van and looked like it may have collided with a car not there any more.
There were 6 semi-trucks, 3 of which were flipped on the sides.
I just hoped and prayed that everyone was ok.

Watched Indiana Jones:  Raiders of the Lost Arc and Horton Hears a Who ( the newer one, I still prefer the older one).

Now for the Alphabet searches:

Start time 7:50am (finding the words in order)
Avenue Burlington Club Dane Equipped For Golf Hiring It’s Junction Kawasaki Lockridge Melrose National Orlando Peterbilt Quarter Right Stop Travel USDOT VanWyk Wisconsin Xpress (as in U.S. Xpress) Yanke Zooming
Stop time 9:44am

Start time 9:46am (finding the letters on license plates we passed)
668WWA SB3P2M  989CMQ  126TDX  490MLE TF4209  G598107  237SJH 894NIP  790JJA  KTYAHWK  206ALZ  CWM 995TLN 188WDO PS4404  951RQZ  6FBR122  795ESC  896TJY  U1462O  OVF776  435EWX  835RMX 726SYK  013NQZ
Stop time 12:10pm

Start time 12:56pm (finding the words randomly)
Airport Beatrice Class Downtown East Federal Grand Harley Icy Jery’s Knight Lincoln Mack Nation Oak Park Quest Ramada Sale Then University Vehicles Warning Xtra York Zoo
Stop time 4:05pm

We stayed the night in Laramie, Wyoming.  I did not make any lists the next day (the 16th) because I was too busy whining about the lack of data service on the phones as we drove through the rest of Wyoming.  I was also taking lots of pictures of the scenery.  It is beautiful even if there is not a single person who lives there to enjoy it!!!  We decided to stop briefly in Salt Lake City so we could take Jacob’s parents to see the new Conference Center.  It was a fun tour.  And wouldn’t you know it, the first person we see as we are rounding the corner to park the car was Brother Maynard.  He and his wife were serving a mission here in Macomb, and just left in August.  Driving through the mountains was very pretty.

We headed back early the morning of December 20th:

We watched A Christmas Story and Back to the Future I, II, and III

Alphabet searches:

Start time 8:55am (in  order)
And Blackfoot Comfort Diabetes Exit Fort Gas Highway (9:00am) Indian Just (9:19am) Kehoka (10:28am) Lots Miles North Ogden Price Quizno’s Restaurant Subway TechnaGlass Unleaded Villiage Watson Xtreme Yard Zone (no passing zone)
Stop time 12:54pm

Start time 2:42pm (finding the words randomly)
Area Benson Cross Draw Express FedEx Georgia Halliburton Interstate John Keystone Lays Marten Number Only Parking Quick Richfield Sswift Trading Ursus VanPack Winning Xpress (Ad Xpress) Yesco Zone (Auto Zone)
Stop time 5:10pm

We stayed that night in Ogallala, Nebraska.

December 21:

We watched Rigoletto and we stopped about 1:30pm in Omaha for lunch at Jimmy John’s in hopes of meeting up with a couple of friends.  Unfortunately, neither of them were able to make it.  Maybe another time.

Alphabet searches:

Start time 9:22am (finding words randomly)
Ants Bridges Coleman Drive Eagle Food Golden Hershey Inn Join Kearney Lodging Minimum Nebraska Oversized Penske Quit Road Simon’s Transport Utility Veterans Wallace Xterra Yourself Zumstien
Stop time 12:15pm

Start time 12:16pm (finding the letters on license plates we passed)
325OYA 421PAB PCO648  PGD520  8-E2706  18-F585  RGW007  917HLC  200PII  RDJ634  73682K PLW453  XGM676  17-N188  POM896  PVF7849  OYQ634  RCO658  584TTS T865260  HU51693  PV6347  OXW366  PXB761  14-Y427  66055HZ
Stop time 2:40pm

Start time 3:13pm (finding words randomly)
America Buckle City DesMoines Elk Ford Go Horn Immigrant Johnston Kum Limit Malibu Nissan Oldsmobile Pontiac Quality Ram Sunrise Town Up Value Wings Xtra Yukon Zeitner
Stop time 4:33

That is enough of my obsession for now.  Give me a day or two for pictures and holiday reporting.

Sandwich Cookie Showdown

scs jacob start scs mee up next

It’s well known among our readers that we are, in fact, a couple of nerds. Being nerds, we like to apply science wherever we can. Tonight, we used science to finally answer a question that has long plagued mankind: Are Oreo brand cookies really better than their store-brand equivalent?

scs the competetors
scs cookies3 scs cookies 2 scs cookies1

Here we present our methods and our findings for peer review.

Our experiment was conceived when Marcia (hereafter known as “Subject B”) acquired a package of Oreo cookies as “payment” for babysitting the daughter of some friends while they went roller skating. Since we usually purchase the store brand cookie from Wal-Mart (because it is less expensive), we began to wonder if there was really a significant difference between the two products. We devised an experiment where each of us would sample different cookies blindly, in a random order, and rank them on flavor.

The materials for our experiment were as follows:

  • Two Oreo brand sandwich cookies
  • Two Wal-Mart “Great Value” brand sandwich cookies
  • Two Hy-Vee “Dunkster” sandwich cookies
  • One black sleep mask
  • Water
  • Digital Camera
  • Paper plates

scs before start

Subject A (AKA Jacob) was the first to undergo the rigorous test. He put on the sleep mask and then took a small drink of water to clear his palette. One of each type of cookie was placed on a paper plate. When Subject A was ready, he was given the first cookie. After taking one bite of the cookie, he took another drink of water, and then repeated the process with each cookie, until he had sampled each one.

scs jacob eats

scs jacob tastes

scs jacob drinks

Subject A then wrote his results down and hid them, so that he would not influence any other subjects.

The experiment was then repeated with Subject B, who also wrote her results without influence from any other subjects.

scs mee tastes

scs mee chews

scs mee contemplates

scs mee drinks

The subjects sampled their cookies in the following order:

Subject A Subject B
1. Great Value Oreo
2. Dunkster Great Value
3. Oreo Dunkster

scs judgement time

When the subject’s results were compared, they ranked the cookies in the following order, from best to worst:

Subject A Subject B
1. Oreo Oreo
2. Great Value Great Value
3. Dunkster Dunkster

scs bitten samples

Each of the subjects independently ranked the cookies in the same order, with the Oreo cookie best, the Great Value cookie second, and the Dunkster cookie third. When the subjects’ notes were compared, each agreed that the Oreo was the best cookie, and the Great Value cookie was a very close second. The flavor of the Oreo and Great Value cookies was nearly identical, but the Oreo cookie prevailed in texture and “mouth feel.” The Great Value cookie was drier and harder than the Oreo. The Dunkster cookie’s flavor was less sweet, one subject described it as “more like baking chocolate.” The texture of the Dunkster cookie was described as “almost stale-like” and “waxy or greasy.”

The bottom line:

All subjects agreed that when a sandwich cookie craving needs filling, the Great Value cookie is an excellent choice for its relative price and flavor, but when the full sandwich cookie experience is of the utmost importance, the Oreo brand cookie is an absolute necessity.

I admit I can not spell

I can’t spell.  However there are people all around me who can spell.  I always end up feeling like such  a dunce when I learn a new spelling after I know I have typed it for the whole world to see, and not a single person has corrected me.   It really does some damage to the self-esteem.  Now I am not talking about the difference between their, there, and they’re or here and hear.  Those I understand, I do admit that sometimes (often) I can’t remember if a work has “ie” or “ei” or any double letters.  I do not know why I have such a hard time with spelling rules like that, but I do.  And I wish people would point out when I have some letters mixed up, or missing, or extra.  This does not go for commas, I like to use them.  Please help, and please be gentle about it.  Thanks.

Halloween, or my favorite holiday

I seriously need about 12 of these dress up days a year, one a month would be a lot of fun for me.  Jacob on the other hand would not really enjoy costuming once a month.  In fact, I was unable to get him to dress up, even to be a butcher and carry a fake meat cleaver…to go with my swine flu (I was so excited about this one!):

meeswinetailflu

Sitting outside to hand out candy (what was up with only 30 minutes of trick or treating?):

meesitting

And my tail closer-up (it may very well be my favorite part of the costume):

curlytail

With out my snout (like when I had to get a drink or eat):

meenosnout

My eyes, simply because I like this picture:

myeyes

The scary (lunging) monster that made a little girl cry:

scarry

It also got a “What the fff…?” by a boy about 12-13 years old, that caught himself, and then I told him he should not know that word.  And I think Loana Deveraux had to go change her drawrs after her encounter with the monster….  Here she is, or was?

ghostofloanapast

Here are cookies I made using the cookie press (for the first time ever) that Jessie gave me because she never used it:

cookies

Quiz 82

This is a piece of a bigger picture. I welcome one and all to guess at what it is. In one week, or so, I’ll give the answer, and post a new one. Good luck and may the guessing begin.

quiz82

Esta es una parte de la foto grande. Hay que adivinar lo que es. En una semana mas o menos regreso con la respuesta y otra foto. ¡Suerte!

Some people’s children

We had to run to the store for some items, and while we were waiting to check out the line got really long. I am talking there were 11 carts/baskets in line, counting the person at the check out.  That person was splitting the order on 3 tickets.  WIC, foodstamps, and check.  I have no problem with the programs, they are there for people who need them, I only mention them so you know how long it took, because there is paperwork involved.  There was only one cash register open.

Here is the point of this post.  As the lady is making her purchase, the kid with her was looking at the “impulse buy” items.  No big deal, I do it too.  That kid was probably about 15 years old.  The item he seemed to enjoy most was a laser pointer.  He would look around to see if anyone was watching, cover the pointer so people “couldn’t see what it was” and hold it up to his eye and push the button.  He did this a few times and then switched eyes.  Each time he grimaced in pain, then continued.  He ended up walking out of the store holding his eye in pain.

Do people not realize that a laser can be very bad for the eyes?  It even has warnings written on the product and the packaging.

This is not what I first typed!

So I had this good post about my root canal yesterday, but the internet said “no” so this is what you get.


Later:  I found it!  Originally this was titled “My brain is broken” because I was totally scatter-brained.  And this was the content of the post:

Yesterday I had a root canal performed.  I have curved roots on that tooth, so I had the privilage of going to a specialist.  Meaning it cost more money.  But it is nice to have it done.  He took the pain out of my tooth, and he was not hard on the eyes either.  Can I say that?  I am married, but I think he is too.  Any how, I am on my way to a happier mouth (read: healthier).  In the next couple weeks I will get a crown on that tooth, then I can tell people that I have a “royal” mouth!

In seriousness though, it was not that bad.  I had one done in Chile, and had no problems with it, though I think I must have blocked out some of the recovery experiences of it.  This time I want to remember.  It burns a LOT when the anesthisia wears off.  It is a really odd feeling when half of your ear goes numb.  This morning I felt what they were talking about with the whole “you will hurt for a while,” my jaw aches from being held open for an hour (half hour less than was expected!), it aches more on the left than the right, the proceedure was on the left side.  My head and neck ache too.  Other than that, I feel pretty good.