Sunday, January 30, 2011

No Super Bowl watching for me

I'm not one of those who will be glued to the TV set next Sunday watching Super Bowl XLV.  No sports for me.   As such there is little for me to watch on TV,  and such Sunday afternoons get boring.  Even though the game isn't till next week, I'm getting that same boring feeling this Sunday as my TV viewing options remain limited today.   I'm thus left trying to write a blog entry for today with not much to say on this matter.

I do know for certain that I should get groceries bough before next Sunday to avoid the Super Bowl Sunday crowds at the stores next Sunday.  I mean they act like it's Thanksgiving or Christmas Eve on that day, waiting till that day to get beer, chips and whatever else they need for their Super Bowl party.  But there could also be some customers who unfortunately ran out of milk or toilet paper that morning and who  don't have a mimi-mart, liquor store or grocery store near their homes so that have to run all the way to Safeway and fight the Super Bowl party crowd.   

So what can I do next Sunday?  Hope to get a Netflix movie at the end of next week and keep it until Sunday for viewing then.  Try to come up with a papier mache project to work on and perhaps get an inventory to start selling on Etsy. I've already signed up for an Etsy account and have some other things I already made that I could try selling.  Find something to read.  Going to try to come up with something before then. 

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Quiz: What Should Your Birthstone Really Be?

The emerald represents harmony and patience - two concepts you totally embody.
Like emerald wearers, you value growth. You're always looking to change for the better and to help others to change.

You think that everyone deserves the chance to start from scratch. You believe in rebirth.
You balance your heart and your head. You listen to both intuition and reason.

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Starbucks Trenta would be too much for me

Once again I am blogging about something I don't normally do--coffee.  I drink coffee even less than I read horoscopes, that is almost never.   The supposed change in the Zodiac sign dates and the new Starbucks Trenta were both subjects of two different writers' columns in my hometown's weekend paper last Friday and both articles prompted me to give my two cents on the two subjects even if they aren't a big thing on my mind or in my life.  I want caffeine almost every day, but coffee generally isn't how I go about getting it.  


I actually drank some coffee once in college to try to stay awake while writing a paper.  My tongue was not used to the taste, so it tasted weird.  But before then and ever since I have not been a coffee person.  My desire for caffeine comes from drinking caffeinated soda, namely cola. Caffeinated citrus drinks have more caffeine than colas, so I don't drink a lot of those.  I only tried Sun Drop since it's new to the area where I live and I had been curious about the stuff since hearing about it about 10 years ago.  My last bottle of Sun Drop is still half-full two weeks after I purchased both of them.  A two-liter bottle of soda lasting longer than three days in my fridge would be unusual for other sodas in two-liter bottles, but not for this one since it's a flavor of soda I don't drink much.   My final verdict on Sun Drop is that I will only purchase it once in a while and that's difficult to say just how often.  For more about my Sun Drop experience, read my entries from January 6  and 12.  

trenta_resize.jpg

Now onto the Starbucks Trenta.  "Trenta" is Italian for "thirty" and  that would be an awful lot of coffee.  I have to buy a 32-ounce of soda to get a hot dog meal deal at the Extra Mile mini-mart at Chevron, and that was a lot of Diet Coke for one meal, so I decided not to get the meal after getting it once to twice.  I haven't gotten a hot dog and soda from the mini mart in a while, but  I'd rather just buy the 20-ounce bottle of coke if I ever do again.  Thirty-two ounces of diet Coke is a lot for me, so I can't imagine drinking 30 ounces of coffee, if I were more of a coffee person.  I can't recall if I ever got one of the Big Gulps from 7-11, let alone the Super Big Gulp. I fI have to get a fountain soda from a fast-food restaurant, the 21-ounce size is all right for me.   

The Trenta it says is as big as as the human stomach.  OMG.  And from the Seattle Daily Weekly:

"While we have introduced the Trenta size (31 oz.) in certain markets, it is simply a new item we are testing in response to our customers asks for larger iced tea and coffee. Trenta is only available for iced teas and iced coffees. Unsweetened the beverages are less than 5 calories, but even a sweetened iced coffee or tea in a Trenta cup would be less than 200 calories."

(Read the rest of that article here.)

Starbiucks seems to have a thing for using Italian words as the names for its sizes of coffee.  They already have a  20-ounce  coffee called Venti, the Italian word for "twenty."


Bottom line: if I ever get tempted to drink coffee, it will not be in a 30-ounce cup.  And I likely will never be met with the temptation of drinking coffee, since I'm already not so used to it. 

Friday, January 21, 2011

What's your (new) sign?

Let me start by saying reading horoscopes in the newspaper was never a big thing for me. If I ever read them in the newspaper, I was likely either curious or bored, and if I ever read them in those tabloids placed near the checkstands at grocery stores, it was likely from getting bored while waiting in line. And I'm not sure if I ever even did that, since the last time I was waiting in a long line at a grocery store (the registers at my town's Safeway went down one night just before Christmas), I kept glancing at cookie recipe magazines and at People Magazine's recap of last year's celebrity deaths. No horoscopes were in sight as far as I could see.

But I've been well aware that being born on January 11 made me a Carpicorn. At least that what I told I was. Now everyone may not be the sign they thought they were, and now apparently there are 13 signs. Now I am apparently a Sagittarius, but I will always be a Capricorn in my mind. Many have probably been saying this since this news broke last week, or even saying "I'm not a (their alleged new sign), I am a (the one they were always told they were)." Yeah, I'll go on right out and say I'm no Sagittarius, I'm a Capricorn.

The news broke last week when an astronomy professor in Minnesota mentioned that the 12 signs as we know them did not exactly line up the way they are supposed to because of Earth's wobbly orbit. The wobble has shifted the Zodiac signs, says the professor Parke Kunkle. It is mentioned in this article. I just now noticed this quote from that article:

Sofia Whitcombe began her day with the startling realization that she might not be exactly who she thought she was.

“My whole life, I thought I was a Capricorn,” the 25-year-old New York publicist said. “Now I’m a Sagittarius? I don’t feel like a Sagittarius!”

Exactly what I am thinking. I sure don't feel like one either. And as I said earlier I will always be a Capricorn in my mind.

Here are what the supposed new dates for each sign are and the new sign:

YOUR REAL HOROSCOPE

Astrology buffs who follow the stars should be using these dates, reflecting where the stars currently are aligned (note: the days overlap because the periods don't begin and end at midnight): Capricorn: Jan. 20-Feb. 16.Aquarius: Feb. 16-March 11. Pisces:March 11-April 18. Aries: April 18-May 13. Taurus: May 13-June 21. Gemini:June 21-July 20. Cancer: July 20-Aug. 10. Leo: Aug. 10-Sept. 16. Virgo: Sept. 16-Oct. 30. Libra: Oct. 30-Nov. 23.Scorpio: Nov. 23-29. Ophiuchus:* Nov. 29-Dec. 17. Sagittarius: Dec. 17-Jan. 20.

* Discarded by the Babylonians because they wanted 12 signs per year.


Notice how some of the date ranges have changed only a little. Apparently someone born on August 24 is no longer a Virgo, but someone born on September 16 still is a Virgo. May 15 is apparently still a Taurus but May 24 is no longer a Gemini. And notice how Virgo is said to now run from September 16 to October 30, and Scorpio is now said to be just for six days November 23 through 29. The new sign Ophiuchus runs after Scorpio and before Sagittarius.

Just who are we? No doubt most people will always feel they are what they always thought they were. Those who believe in reading horoscopes may be want to read both of their apparent signs just to be on the safe side.

Thursday, January 13, 2011

Quiz: What Color is Your Birthday?

You are the blunt type. You give it to people straight, whether they want to hear it or not.
You are a bit self centered at times. You put your own interests first, but you'd argue that everyone does that.

While you love to be flattered, you're pretty good at flattering other people back.
You can make anyone smile or laugh. You have a talent for saying the right thing at the right time.

Quiz: What Does Your Birthdate mean?

Spiritual and thoughtful, you tend to take a step back from the world.
You're very sensitive to what's going on around you, yet you remain calm.
Although you are brilliant, it may take you a while to find your niche.
Your creativity is supreme, but it sometimes makes it hard for you to get things done.

Your strength: Your inner peace

Your weakness: You get stuck in the clouds

Your power color: Emerald

Your power symbol: Leaf

Your power month: November

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

More of my Sun Drop Experience

As I said earlier this was the first time I saw Sun Drop soda for sale in my neck of the woods.  As I've said it has a lot of caffeine as does Mountain Dew and its knockoffs.  I've always been cautious as to not drink caffeinated soda late in the day when I have to be up early for work.  Having been off this week, though, I felt it was OK to drink some of the stuff late in the day and as I would have expected, I got very little sleep that night.  

It's been about two days since I last consumed any of the stuff and when I go back to work next week, I will be limiting my consumption and purchase of Sun Drop.   That will be all right, since I don't drink a lot of Mountain Dew or its generic knockoffs, and Sun Drop is basically the same thing.  

I just looked on YouTube and saw this commercial for Sun Drop




I just learned that Dr Pepper Snapple has planned to distribute Sun Drop nationwide, though I have yet to see it anywhere but at  Walmart.  This plan is to compete against Mountain Dew.

Thursday, January 6, 2011

Discovering Sun Drop Soda


I first learned about Sun Drop soda about 10 years ago, but until now it was never sold anywhere near me. On New Year's Eve, on the way to work, I stopped at Walmart to use their restroom and on the way out of the store, I spotted a display of bottled soda including Sun Drop. The man who was stocking the stuff said that Sun Drop is like Mountain Dew. I was aware of that fact from what I have read about the stuff. But this was the first time I had ever seen it for sale anywhere near where I live. I was tempted to go back to Walmart after work to buy a bottle (they're selling it for 88 cents) but totally forgot. Yesterday, however, I went and bought two bottles--one of regular and one of diet.

I must admit I'm not a regular Mountain Dew drinker and probably won't be buying a lot of Sun Drop either. I already drink too much caffeinated diet cola, and Mountain Dew and its knockoffs have even more caffeine than do colas. But once in a while I may get some Sun Drop as I have since tasted the stuff and it it tastes quite good. Their website says that Sun Drop is also made in a caffeine-free version (regular and diet) and a cherry-lemon flavor. None of these were available at Walmart, at least not in the two-liter bottle display in which I spotted the stuff. I have not yet looked in the aisle in which Walmart regularly displays sodas, including the six-, 12-, and 24-packs of canned soda. Nor have I yet looked to see if Sun Drop is being sold elsewhere near me. I didn't even think of all this until now. I now plan to see if Safeway Kmart, or Target have any of the Sun Drop flavors.

From Wikipedia:
Sundrop has maintained popularity in many parts of the southernUnited States and parts of the Midwest, including Wisconsin and western Minnesota. Like other regional drinks with a cult following, fans outside bottling areas have been known to pay large amounts to have the drink shipped to them.


This was like getting to taste something new though it's not a new product. It was introduced in 1928 and patented in 1930. Its current manufacturer is Dr Pepper Snapple Group.

If you cannot find Sun Drop in your area, you can purchase it from this website. I now remember that I once wanted to order some of this stuff when I first learned about it about none or 10 years ago. Never went through it with then, though and completely forgot about it until I suddenly spotted the soda at Walmart last week.

My New Year So Far

Already six days into the new year, and not much happening just yet, only six more days before I get old (please don't ask).  Only two days of work this week, using my days off for laundry.  At least I didn't have to work during inventory. It was Tuesday night starting at 7PM and ending at either midnight or 1AM.  Since I had to work at 7:30Am that next day,  I did not work the inventory shift.  

I never both with making resolutions because I will never keep them. I can't seem to commit to things. I might even forget them.  I do hope however, to find a different job sometime this year.