Nectar of the Gods

Have I ever told you my feelings about milk? If not, and if you care, read on.

What ever possessed us to think that cow milk was something we should regularly consume? We are not cows. We cannot utilize milk the way a baby cow can. It is not designed for us to drink. It is designed to put 400+ pounds on a baby cow in a year. We are the only mammal that drinks milk beyond infancy into adult years. Does this make sense? Did we somehow evolve differently in some aspect of our nutrient intake that makes us have to drink another species' milk this late in life? Nope. Cow's milk is made of fat, sugars that we cannot digest, and calcium we cannot get at. So they came up with lower fat milk. Well, we are even less likely to get calcium out of the milk with the lower fat content. So clog the arteries, and get some calcium. But milk products actually cause you to lose calcium out of your body. Calcium is not only used in your bones, it is used in cellular processes throughout your body. Making your body try to digest and deal with dairy products actually causes you to lose calcium. This is one of the reasons why the higher rates of milk consumption per capita coincides with the highest rates if osteoporosis.

Why did the western world start drinking so much milk? Many cultures do not drink much or any milk at all, and they did not suffer from osteoporosis like this, where did they get their calcium from? It seems a while ago, the dairy and meat producers got together to manufacture this little thing called a 'food guide' to tell you how much of their products you should eat. The marketed this as a way to push their products under the guise of health.

Oops. I lied.

It was -47.

-40

Without the wind chill. It is cold. Apparently, working at these temperatures is a choice, not a thing they can force you to do. Yeah right. I am sitting here at work and it is pretty cold. I changed my boots for shoes, but I am about to go back. I am also wearing my coat, hat, and scarf. This is inside remember.

I got out!

Well, in spite of our cancelled conference, my roommate and I managed to get out for the weekend. We decided the 8 hour drive was worth it to get out and by the coveted vegetables. Everything went fine and dandy until the trip back when the weather decided to plunge to -30. With the wind chill, I can't even guess what cold force was hitting our windshield. It became painfully apparent that the only thing that the heater was going to be able to do was to keep the windshield clear of ice. Frozen feet, frozen apples, frozen legs, and then the gas light came on. A mere 20 km from the turn-off into our village, but scary nonetheless. To be trapped out in that cold with no heat until someone could come and get gas to us would be insane. We managed to make it and now can eat salads and fruit.

Nice to Know

Well, in case I ever was not sure that someone thought I was incompetent at my job, now I know for sure. I mean, it is hard to escape it when they talk on the main office phone, where everyone can hear, oh, and did I say talk, I meant rant and rave about how much you suck. And then, when they corner your boss in the hallway right in front of the front door and do it again, it is kind of hard to miss. Especially, when they are talking so loud you can hear it down the hall and through a closed door. I am lucky my boss does not think I suck and supports me and acts in the right way to diffuse the situation.

Still, blah.

In other news, my roommate has proposed we kick this popsicle stand for a weekend. Since she has a truck and I can't afford the $500 air fare to get out and our conference has been cancelled and we need to replace the stuff stolen from our house during our break-in, we think this is a good idea. But which will it be, this weekend or next weekend? Hard to say.

I need quiet. The humming of the computer is too loud for me right now.

Post Christmas Blahs

Well, after internet being down and Christmas being what it was, I didn't really have time to talk to much to my adoring public via my blog. Here, the blog is back! Does this mean I will have something interesting to say? No. Oh well.

I am still in the middle of nowhere. I was presented with an oppurtunity to get out for just about a week! but due to issues beyond my control, this oppurtunity was taken from me. I am stuck up here for all eternity (at least until Spring Break that is). Crap. Oh, did I mention my house got broken into over Christmas while I was away? Stupid things were stolen, like my homemade raspberry jam, and things that are disconcerting, like our house keys. Also, everything I owned was rifled through. Nice to know that people know all my underwear. Even an attempt was made to pillage my dirty laundry in the hamper. F U C K

Now there are other issues up here that are beyond our control, even beyond the control of our boss, but the weight of which fall directly on our shoulders. Nice. More so on my boss's than mine, but still. It sucks. Our workplace is getting broken into twice nightly and everything we try to do for anyone gets ruined or fucked up. Also, the interior smells like cigarette smoke all the time. Nice. Can't you chain smoke elsewhere everynight?

My roommate also wants the dogs up here to be like "city dogs," thinking that they should evolve to her criteria so her dog and her can walk nicely, just like they do in the city. Well, they aren't going to, and the only solution is to get them all shot, so she tries to talk to people who will shoot them. The people, knowing that this is the way dogs are up here and, indeed, this is the way they expect them to be, haven't really done anything about it so far, but I fear if she pushes enough they are going to kill more dogs just for her. Anybody want a dog? They are all larger dogs, and I can try to train and rehabilitate them for you before I bring them out. They will be similiar to my dog. Raven, the beauty queen.

My roommate moved out after Christmas, and in with her "boyfriend." I use boyfriend in the loosest possible definition. Fucking partner would probably be more appropriate. It lasted about a week before she moved back in at 2:30 am on a work night. Shows you what kind of "boyfriend" he is. Remind me to never get knocked up by someone with addiction problems who has been in jail for attempted murder.

I still haven't even got a sorry from her about the $160 somebody she let in the house stole from me.