The Good with the Bad

I have this daily to-do list that I maintain.  It helps me to keep track of how often I do things.  This blog is on the list.  I have several blogs.  On my list, this one is titled "Rant Blog."  The title comes from the fact that I often use this blog to vent.

Today, I am going to try something different.  I am going to complain, and then say something nice about what I just complained about.  I want to (1) see if I can do that and (2) see if saying something nice actually changes my perspective.

Here we go...

The Bad: British Petroleum screwed up big-time with this oil spill.  They took short cuts in anticipation of profits.  They lied about the scope of the incident and they seem to be handling this with the same dexterity of a baby bear cub fondling his new-found penis while wearing boxing gloves.  (I heard that somewhere years ago and have been looking for a chance to use it ever since.)

The Good: BP has 96,200 employees.  My guess is that a handful are responsible for this incident.  All of the others are hard working people trying to do a good job while providing for their families. 

The Bad: Is it just me or had anyone else noticed that government jobs are often filled by people that cannot succeed in the private sector.  I look at people like the director of Homeland Security and think, "Really?  Is she the best we can do?"  Government agencies tend to be bloated, highly bureaucratic, slow to change and lack accountability.  I have been dealing a lot with immigration lately.  They do not use fax machines, telephones or email.  The only way to communicate with them is via snail mail.
The Good:  There are a lot of highly skilled people that occasionally rise to the top.  When they do, they really make a difference.  I realize that a lot of this has to do with pay.  Why would a super talented person work for the government when he/she can make millions in the private sector? 

The Bad: Our school systems are so poorly managed that they can't find a way to reach out and grab the lifeline that technology is dangling in front of them.  Replace text books with electronic readers and save a few billion the first year.
The Good:  We have teachers that spend 80 hours a week, 10 months out of the year doing the best with what they are given.  In California, the student to teacher ratio is so poor that if an English teacher assigns everyone a paragraph to write, she has 250 paragraphs to grade over the weekend.  If you see a teacher or a soldier - be sure to tell them "thanks."


The Bad: It sure has been raining a lot here in northern California.
The Good: When the sun comes out, its beautiful.

So, for every Ying there is a Yang.  Without the darkness, would we ever appreciate the light?  The best feeling in the world is when an ice cream headache goes away.  That is when I remember to appreciate not having a headache.

j

Crock Pot Alchemy

Back by popular demand (popular demand = 3 or more requests), I am adding another chapter to my collection of kitchen tips and cooking recipes.

Today, I will start with my crock pot.  This is a device that cooks stuff really slow.  You basically put anything you want into the pot, plug it in and then go on vacation.  When you return, there will be a sumptuous meal waiting for you.

I use it as a meat tenderizer.  I try not to eat a lot of red meat but when I do, I know where to go for the best deals in town.  Safeway has this area at the end of their meat isle where they put food that is minutes away from going bad.  I am of the opinion that if I can apply enough heat to anything, it becomes safe for consumption.  So I buy all of my meat there.  I call it "meat on the cusp."  It's right on the verge of converting to the dark side.

Earlier this week, I bought some of this "choice" meat.  It was basically a roast the size and shape of a deflated soccer ball.  Since it was not quite brown, I decided to leave it in the fridge overnight for a little more aging.  In the morning, I plopped it into the crock pot.  The plan was to come home about noon and take it out.  However, I forgot all about it.  I came home later that evening surprised to find the crock pot on my counter.  It had been cooking that meat for over 10 hours!  I ran over expecting to find a briquette inside.  Instead, there was the most perfect, tender roast of all time.

This is not to say that crock pots can't make mistakes.  A few months back I used it to turn a package of split peas into a blunt instrument.  Here it the recipe:  Add 1 package of split peas and some water.  Go on vacation.  When you come back you will find you have created a giant green block suitable as either construction material or maybe a boat anchor.

Now for the perfect dessert.  This is guaranteed to blow away any diet.  Make one batch of instant chocolate pudding.  Next, make one batch of instant butterscotch pudding.  Set these two next to each other, along with an open container of Cool Whip.  Take a wooden spoon (regular spoons are too small).  Fill the spoon with one part chocolate pudding, one part butterscotch pudding and two parts Cool Whip.  Eat.

There you have it.  I am at the airport so I need to run catch my plane. 

Bon Apetite!!

jim