It seems that in North America, there is one unspoken rule: everyone uses microwaves. Well except for my family. We are firm believers in home-cooked meals and we use the oven for everything. I am not here to hate on you microwave users, but merely explain my view on the matter.
My experiences with microwaves have been less than cordial. One of them involved me trying to successfully heat a wrap to a proper temperature. It ended with me eating a boiling hot outside and a still-frozen inside. Not too pleasant. Despite swearing off microwaves, I still ended up using one quite recently. The situation pretty much called for it. Darn my human emotions forcing me to be polite. Well, once I pulled my defrosted bread out of the microwave, I proceeded to make a sandwich and hope for the best. Alas, it would not be. The crust of the bread was unusually tough, and the sandwich just did not taste right. So again I am trying to swear off microwaves. Again.
And why do I not like microwaves? Well really it boils down to about two reasons.
1. The microwaves that bombard the food when placed into the microwave disrupt chemical bonds and change the function and viability of the nutrients in the food. Such a sudden increase in temperature cannot be good for the food or the health benefits they would offer.
2. No one truly knows exactly how much microwaves due due to our lack of knowledge of them. Their impact could be a lot worse than possibly thought. And that is scary. Just like cellphones may prove to cause an increase in susceptibility to cancer, microwaves could do something similar.
Not that I expect to convert any of you to my ways, just a little of a spiel on the implications of microwaves. And because today I hatd to use the danged contraption.
/rant
-AFR
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Forgiving Headphones Kid
A couple of events have transpired recently that have got me thinking about holding on to things. Some are a little personal, others not so much. Recently, I talked to with my friends about holding grudges, a thing I can do extremely well when it comes to certain things. I want to reverse that concept of holding on to things, whether it be grudges, feelings, or something along those lines, and discuss a little bit about letting go.
Let me begin with a story. About a year ago, my residence held an "Olympics", where the various residence houses competed to determine who was the best house. On the fateful day, we played a number of games, the most significant being dodgeball. Now there was a kid, dubbed hereafter as "headphones kid" and for whatever reason that day, I decided to release whatever amount of anger or bitterness out on him. Now, moving back a bit to the dodgeball came, everyone was having a good time, and me, my usual nimble self, was managing to stay in the game. Well, I saw a golden opportunity present itself, in the way of an incoming dodgeball. I picked it up, ran forward, and whipped it at the nearest opponent, who just so happened to be headphones kid. Well, he did not go out. And that is what began my long, bitter hatred of headphones kid.
I would see headphones kid around campus that year, and each time I laid eyes on him, I felt that bitterness stir. To make a long story short, I have held that grudge for a little over a year now, and I feel that it is time to finally get rid of it. I feel I have been relatively judgmental in general lately, not on purpose, but judgmental nonetheless. So in my eyes, it is time to let bygones by bygones, and let go of all those emotions that I have been withholding.
So watch out world because here I come, new and improved!
-AFR
Let me begin with a story. About a year ago, my residence held an "Olympics", where the various residence houses competed to determine who was the best house. On the fateful day, we played a number of games, the most significant being dodgeball. Now there was a kid, dubbed hereafter as "headphones kid" and for whatever reason that day, I decided to release whatever amount of anger or bitterness out on him. Now, moving back a bit to the dodgeball came, everyone was having a good time, and me, my usual nimble self, was managing to stay in the game. Well, I saw a golden opportunity present itself, in the way of an incoming dodgeball. I picked it up, ran forward, and whipped it at the nearest opponent, who just so happened to be headphones kid. Well, he did not go out. And that is what began my long, bitter hatred of headphones kid.
I would see headphones kid around campus that year, and each time I laid eyes on him, I felt that bitterness stir. To make a long story short, I have held that grudge for a little over a year now, and I feel that it is time to finally get rid of it. I feel I have been relatively judgmental in general lately, not on purpose, but judgmental nonetheless. So in my eyes, it is time to let bygones by bygones, and let go of all those emotions that I have been withholding.
So watch out world because here I come, new and improved!
-AFR
Monday, November 1, 2010
The Beginning of a Quest
Hello all!
Recently I have been bogged down by a number of things, such as wrestling clowns, holding charity auctions for fallen coconuts victims and the like. I am now announcing my quest: to blog every day in November. Or for short, BEDIN. I realize that my readers are most lacking my sharp wit and stunning intellect and are in need of some intellectual and humorous nourishment. So for this month, all your wishes will be granted!
And so, the topic of my blog today. I have decided to talk about the alleviation of stress today, due to the past month's extreme workload. Here are a couple of tricks that I find very useful.
1. Drink tea. Tea is awesome. Enough said.
2. Get some sleep. I have always noticed my significant decrease in work productivity when I do not get enough sleep the night before. And those extra hours of rest are by far more useful than the cram session that your fevered brain would otherwise have to undergo.
3. Did I say sleep? Yes? Good.
4. Give yourself a little "me" time. To really relax, just take a quick hour break to read or engage in an activity to your liking. If you do not give yourself time for yourself, who will?
Well, hope that helps you a little. I realize this blog post is about as interesting as watching grass grow, but I thought I would just let you know my plan, and about the fact that I do indeed still exist.
-AFR
Recently I have been bogged down by a number of things, such as wrestling clowns, holding charity auctions for fallen coconuts victims and the like. I am now announcing my quest: to blog every day in November. Or for short, BEDIN. I realize that my readers are most lacking my sharp wit and stunning intellect and are in need of some intellectual and humorous nourishment. So for this month, all your wishes will be granted!
And so, the topic of my blog today. I have decided to talk about the alleviation of stress today, due to the past month's extreme workload. Here are a couple of tricks that I find very useful.
1. Drink tea. Tea is awesome. Enough said.
2. Get some sleep. I have always noticed my significant decrease in work productivity when I do not get enough sleep the night before. And those extra hours of rest are by far more useful than the cram session that your fevered brain would otherwise have to undergo.
3. Did I say sleep? Yes? Good.
4. Give yourself a little "me" time. To really relax, just take a quick hour break to read or engage in an activity to your liking. If you do not give yourself time for yourself, who will?
Well, hope that helps you a little. I realize this blog post is about as interesting as watching grass grow, but I thought I would just let you know my plan, and about the fact that I do indeed still exist.
-AFR
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
A Little Update!
Hi loyal readers!
Just an little update from me, letting you know that I do indeed still exist and I have not been sucked up into space because I forgot my towel, or something like that. I have been unable to update my blog for a number of reasons, however, the great majority of them are just excuses. So an apology to my loyal readers, who have been drooling for an update, and a new post to stop that salivating.
My life has been busy with the new school year starting, bringing classes, homework, and above all midterms. I have a exam every day this week, so you can kind of imagine how much work I have been doing (even though I have time to write this blog post). I have entered a Warhammer tournament, of which I am now in the finals for, I have joined an environmental group of campus devoted to sustainability, and a myriad of other time-consuming activities.
So my topic today is of course something of dire ecological significance: alcoholic monkeys of course! Recently, I have discovered that in St. Kitts in the Caribbean, there is a species of vervet monkey that actually consumes alcohol on a regular basis. Yes, these monkeys get drunk. And they seem to prefer leaders that actually get drunk. So as the commentator put it in his dry, monotone voice, "It seems they prefer leaders who like monkeying around."
So what does this say about humans? Well, one would think that monkey leaders could hold their alcohol better than humans. That is not the case. There have actually been more than a couple world disputes solved when humans have been drunk. So it would probably be safe to say that humans are closer to monkeys that we would care to admit.
-AFR
Just an little update from me, letting you know that I do indeed still exist and I have not been sucked up into space because I forgot my towel, or something like that. I have been unable to update my blog for a number of reasons, however, the great majority of them are just excuses. So an apology to my loyal readers, who have been drooling for an update, and a new post to stop that salivating.
My life has been busy with the new school year starting, bringing classes, homework, and above all midterms. I have a exam every day this week, so you can kind of imagine how much work I have been doing (even though I have time to write this blog post). I have entered a Warhammer tournament, of which I am now in the finals for, I have joined an environmental group of campus devoted to sustainability, and a myriad of other time-consuming activities.
So my topic today is of course something of dire ecological significance: alcoholic monkeys of course! Recently, I have discovered that in St. Kitts in the Caribbean, there is a species of vervet monkey that actually consumes alcohol on a regular basis. Yes, these monkeys get drunk. And they seem to prefer leaders that actually get drunk. So as the commentator put it in his dry, monotone voice, "It seems they prefer leaders who like monkeying around."
So what does this say about humans? Well, one would think that monkey leaders could hold their alcohol better than humans. That is not the case. There have actually been more than a couple world disputes solved when humans have been drunk. So it would probably be safe to say that humans are closer to monkeys that we would care to admit.
-AFR
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
The Little Things in Life
Today was a good day. Not great, at least not until I walked on the bus, but pretty good. School has kept me fairly occupied for the last week, so I was still a little frazzled from it all. Sometimes a small thing in life changes that, and makes your day go from good to great in an instant. This is a post highlighting on of those things for me and illustrating why it is always better to dwell on the little things in life.
Bus rides are usually ordeals. Waiting for the bus, listening to a couple pedophiles discuss life, riding home, dealing with drunks, etc. all make the experience somewhat unpleasant after the initial excitement of commuting. Today seemed no different as I got on the bus, but rather than see the dour expression that usually greets me, I got a nice smile and a 'hello'. This alone surprised me because usually bus drivers are relatively distant and seemingly unhappy. I mumbled a reply as I sat down, still shocked by the happy greeting I got. This feeling intensified in the coming moments because today I experienced an event that changed my day completely.
As I sat down, I heard the unmistakable static that comes when an announcement is being made. Expecting delays or some such nonsense, I was pleasantly surprised when the bus driver stated: "This is your captain speaking. Thank you for choosing the super duper duper number four with service to downtown Vancouver." Uncontrollably, I began to feel a smile creep onto my face. I could not stop it and the smile grew as the bus driver continued: "Our estimated arrival time to downtown Vancouver is approximately thirty minutes, not accounting for unexpected stops because sometimes other motorists like to test my reflexes." A small laugh came out at the following statement, and my smile grew even larger and I was completely unable to erase it from my face. My bus driver finished with this: "We have reached our cruising altitude of one foot off the ground. I would like to remind passengers to either be seated or hanging on to something firmly or hanging on to someone who is hanging on to something firmly. Have a great ride!" The smile stayed for the rest of the bus ride as he continued to make comments on various stops we were making, keeping in form with the airplane comments he had previously been making. I would have loved to stay longer and keep listening to him, but my stop came all to soon and I heartily thanked him as I stepped off.
The morale of the story: No matter how crappy your day has been going always make sure to focus on the brighter side of life. Because if you do not, you may miss a bus driver flying an "airplane".
-AFR
Bus rides are usually ordeals. Waiting for the bus, listening to a couple pedophiles discuss life, riding home, dealing with drunks, etc. all make the experience somewhat unpleasant after the initial excitement of commuting. Today seemed no different as I got on the bus, but rather than see the dour expression that usually greets me, I got a nice smile and a 'hello'. This alone surprised me because usually bus drivers are relatively distant and seemingly unhappy. I mumbled a reply as I sat down, still shocked by the happy greeting I got. This feeling intensified in the coming moments because today I experienced an event that changed my day completely.
As I sat down, I heard the unmistakable static that comes when an announcement is being made. Expecting delays or some such nonsense, I was pleasantly surprised when the bus driver stated: "This is your captain speaking. Thank you for choosing the super duper duper number four with service to downtown Vancouver." Uncontrollably, I began to feel a smile creep onto my face. I could not stop it and the smile grew as the bus driver continued: "Our estimated arrival time to downtown Vancouver is approximately thirty minutes, not accounting for unexpected stops because sometimes other motorists like to test my reflexes." A small laugh came out at the following statement, and my smile grew even larger and I was completely unable to erase it from my face. My bus driver finished with this: "We have reached our cruising altitude of one foot off the ground. I would like to remind passengers to either be seated or hanging on to something firmly or hanging on to someone who is hanging on to something firmly. Have a great ride!" The smile stayed for the rest of the bus ride as he continued to make comments on various stops we were making, keeping in form with the airplane comments he had previously been making. I would have loved to stay longer and keep listening to him, but my stop came all to soon and I heartily thanked him as I stepped off.
The morale of the story: No matter how crappy your day has been going always make sure to focus on the brighter side of life. Because if you do not, you may miss a bus driver flying an "airplane".
-AFR
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