Level 1
Lowest level of intoxication. I'm quite sociable and my inhibitions have lowered enough that I feel comfortable striking up a conversation with a complete stranger and that stranger is not afraid of me because I still appear to be sober.
Approximately 1-2 drinks
Level 2
At this level I feel a definite buzz. I feel really fun and sexy and want to flirt with everyone. People are still enjoying my company at this point. I'll be feeling up my boyfriend and kissing him a lot. This would be a good level to stay at for the rest of the night to avoid a hangover in the morning.
Approximately 2-3 drinks
Level 3
I'm starting to get ridiculous, but not out of control. Everything is a lot funnier at this level and "good" ideas and "witty" comments start to spew from my mouth like gold. I'll talk to anyone about anything, but nobody can take me seriously because I'm obviously intoxicated. I'm losing my balance and starting to stumble around a bit. I no longer care about having sex with someone. I'm going to have a slight hangover in the morning, but probably won't feel sick.
Approximately 3-4
Level 4
I start saying things that make zero sense to others and try to justify and explain myself which only makes things worse and more hilarious, often not remembering these conversations in the morning. My speech is slightly slurred and I need help walking any great distance. Though generally still in a fun party mood, there may be a few tears shed. At this level I will have a bad hangover in the morning and will be sick.
Approximately 4-5 drinks
Level 5
Blackout level. This is the worst level I could be at because I'm no longer having fun and someone has to babysit me. Often I won't be able to stand, let alone walk, and someone will practically have to carry me out to the car. I'm usually crying inconsolably about nothing or something trivial. This is the most obnoxious level to deal with. I feel sleepy and want to pass out after crying.
Approximately 6+ drinks
Sunday, October 28, 2012
Wednesday, October 17, 2012
Dumpster Food Diving
I was watching Extreme Cheapskates on TV today. It's about people who go to the extremes to save money. One woman who lives alone in a New York apartment saves money in various ways including washing clothes in the shower while she's showering, using the dishwasher and oven as extra storage instead of their intended purposes, disconnecting the gas and air conditioner, and haggling when she does need to buy something (which is quite rare.) She never buys new clothes, not even socks and underwear. She never buys toilet paper (just rinses with soap and water) and when she goes out she saves the paper towel to use at home again later.
The biggest way she saves money though is by dumpster diving. She has never bought furniture in her life. Every piece of furniture in her apartment was either given to her for free or taken for free from a dumpster. That's also where she "shops" for groceries.
She dresses herself up to look more homeless and then goes to the high end grocery stores and restaurants with her canvas grocery bags and starts digging around for good food in the trash bags. Specifically she looks for prepackaged food that appears to be untouched, but will also take food that looks good that isn't packaged. During the episode, she had an old friend come over for dinner and bring his girlfriend whom she'd never met. She fed them dumpster food.
She thinks these places just throw out good food and waste it. Talking from experience, it's true many establishments throw out perfectly good food because it cannot be saved for later use or cannot be sold, however, talking from experience, every business hates waste and every business tries to saves money where it can.
When I worked as a stock girl in a specialty food store, any grocery items that could not be sold because it was damaged, past expiry, or had been opened up, was put on a shelf and was used up by the in-house chef. We had a take-out counter where people could buy pre-made meals to heat up for dinner and desserts and that kind of thing. What do you think that food was made out of?
If you've ever eaten at Aalto's Cafe at any Canad Inns, you may have notice their buffet. Where do you think that buffet food comes from? It's the food that's about to expire and the kitchen needs to get rid of it quick. Same with the Daily Special.
If you've ever shopped at Sobey's or Superstore or Safeway, you may have noticed you can buy sandwiches, dinner items, mixed fruit bowls, salad bowls, all with the store's logo on it. Those are made in-house with food that cannot be sold. They literally go through the old lettuce and chop off the bad parts and use the rest to make a fresh salad. They pick through all the moldy berries and use the rest to make a mixed fruit bowl. I know because that's what I had to do at the store I worked at.
By the time food is actually thrown in the dumpster, it's because all uses for it have been exhausted. Yes, the food can technically still be eaten, but it's usually stale at that point, or has someone's germs on it. It's not necessarily dangerous to eat, but you could still get sick. Safe-handling practices are never used to throw food in the trash can. You could never find out the story behind why that food was thrown away.
When it comes to saving money, go ahead and reduce, reuse, free-cycle, clip coupons, pick up every penny found on the ground, and haggle every item you want to buy down to the lowest possible price. Be creative, but please, never ever dumpster dive for food and especially don't ever feed it to guests in your home because that is truly disgusting and something that I would stop being your friend over if you ever did it to me.
The biggest way she saves money though is by dumpster diving. She has never bought furniture in her life. Every piece of furniture in her apartment was either given to her for free or taken for free from a dumpster. That's also where she "shops" for groceries.
She dresses herself up to look more homeless and then goes to the high end grocery stores and restaurants with her canvas grocery bags and starts digging around for good food in the trash bags. Specifically she looks for prepackaged food that appears to be untouched, but will also take food that looks good that isn't packaged. During the episode, she had an old friend come over for dinner and bring his girlfriend whom she'd never met. She fed them dumpster food.
She thinks these places just throw out good food and waste it. Talking from experience, it's true many establishments throw out perfectly good food because it cannot be saved for later use or cannot be sold, however, talking from experience, every business hates waste and every business tries to saves money where it can.
When I worked as a stock girl in a specialty food store, any grocery items that could not be sold because it was damaged, past expiry, or had been opened up, was put on a shelf and was used up by the in-house chef. We had a take-out counter where people could buy pre-made meals to heat up for dinner and desserts and that kind of thing. What do you think that food was made out of?
If you've ever eaten at Aalto's Cafe at any Canad Inns, you may have notice their buffet. Where do you think that buffet food comes from? It's the food that's about to expire and the kitchen needs to get rid of it quick. Same with the Daily Special.
If you've ever shopped at Sobey's or Superstore or Safeway, you may have noticed you can buy sandwiches, dinner items, mixed fruit bowls, salad bowls, all with the store's logo on it. Those are made in-house with food that cannot be sold. They literally go through the old lettuce and chop off the bad parts and use the rest to make a fresh salad. They pick through all the moldy berries and use the rest to make a mixed fruit bowl. I know because that's what I had to do at the store I worked at.
By the time food is actually thrown in the dumpster, it's because all uses for it have been exhausted. Yes, the food can technically still be eaten, but it's usually stale at that point, or has someone's germs on it. It's not necessarily dangerous to eat, but you could still get sick. Safe-handling practices are never used to throw food in the trash can. You could never find out the story behind why that food was thrown away.
When it comes to saving money, go ahead and reduce, reuse, free-cycle, clip coupons, pick up every penny found on the ground, and haggle every item you want to buy down to the lowest possible price. Be creative, but please, never ever dumpster dive for food and especially don't ever feed it to guests in your home because that is truly disgusting and something that I would stop being your friend over if you ever did it to me.
Thursday, October 11, 2012
Eating Primal
Changing your lifestyle isn't easy. Bob and I would both like to make a change for the better. We both want to lose some weight before Christmas and after having feasted on 3 Thanksgiving dinners, now is a great time to start! We've decided to eat primal.
A long while back, I stumbled upon Mark's Daily Apple and found the content to be very interesting and informative. The essence of the Primal Blueprint is to live the way our ancient ancestors lived before farming. Mark, and many others, believe we should be eating mostly vegetables and meat, some fruit and nuts and that's it. No cereal grains, no processed food, and no refined sugar! We should also be exercising like our ancestors too by doing lots of walking, some sprinting and weight lifting.
I'm not hardcore into this primal business, but many compelling arguments are made for the case of living this lifestyle. Enough so, that Bob and I have started to eat primal. At the end of the week we'll reassess to see how we're liking it.
The first day went well for both of us. I cooked Bob breakfast and packed him a lunch to ensure he wouldn't be frustrated and give up on the first day. I also made us a fabulous primal dinner of stuffed peppers. When he got home from work, Bob said he was less sluggish and even noticed a change in his, um, private bathroom time, we'll call it.
I didn't notice any immediate change in myself. In an unrelated matter, at 2am I felt sick to my stomach and puked my guts out for 4 hours. Several hours later I had a banana and a few soda crackers, breaking the diet. I could have made myself some broth, but my body was so weak, I barely had any energy at all. I skipped dinner and slept for a while, then had 4 strips of bacon and Cheerios. Bob cooked himself a primal dinner and I was quite proud of him.
Today I feel a lot better and am eating primal again. I've researched tons of recipes and my refrigerator is fully stocked with everything I need. Will post more results after the weekend!
A long while back, I stumbled upon Mark's Daily Apple and found the content to be very interesting and informative. The essence of the Primal Blueprint is to live the way our ancient ancestors lived before farming. Mark, and many others, believe we should be eating mostly vegetables and meat, some fruit and nuts and that's it. No cereal grains, no processed food, and no refined sugar! We should also be exercising like our ancestors too by doing lots of walking, some sprinting and weight lifting.
I'm not hardcore into this primal business, but many compelling arguments are made for the case of living this lifestyle. Enough so, that Bob and I have started to eat primal. At the end of the week we'll reassess to see how we're liking it.
The first day went well for both of us. I cooked Bob breakfast and packed him a lunch to ensure he wouldn't be frustrated and give up on the first day. I also made us a fabulous primal dinner of stuffed peppers. When he got home from work, Bob said he was less sluggish and even noticed a change in his, um, private bathroom time, we'll call it.
I didn't notice any immediate change in myself. In an unrelated matter, at 2am I felt sick to my stomach and puked my guts out for 4 hours. Several hours later I had a banana and a few soda crackers, breaking the diet. I could have made myself some broth, but my body was so weak, I barely had any energy at all. I skipped dinner and slept for a while, then had 4 strips of bacon and Cheerios. Bob cooked himself a primal dinner and I was quite proud of him.
Today I feel a lot better and am eating primal again. I've researched tons of recipes and my refrigerator is fully stocked with everything I need. Will post more results after the weekend!
