What bugs you?

And is that a secret recipe Ms.Paws??? :)

I think it was Gilbert and Sullivan who coined the phrase "Mad dogs and Englishmen drink tea in the noon day sun"...although, now that I think about it it might have been Kipling.

We just put chili ingredients on hubby's grocery list. It's chili the first night and taco salad the next! We like to make chili when we have lots of fresh tomatoes and onions. Now I just have to figure out how to grow those hot and spicy chili beans. :) We brown the meat (we use turkey these days) then throw the whole mess in the crock pot. It's ready when we are ready.

Bivbiv, it is sort of secret. But I can give the general ingredients one of these days. I doubt if Anasazi beans are readily available where you are, but pintos work. I don't put tomatoes in my chili. :-)

Mad Dogs and Englishmen is a song written by Noel Coward. "Mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun..."

I've bought Anasazi beans here, but I don't remember where. Haven't seen them lately, but haven't been looking for them either.

Thank you, biv biv. I knew I needed a little help there. : )

My exhusband is a mad Brit. It used to make me laugh to watch him come indoors in the middle of an August Virginia day and put the kettle on.

Why is it we have this stereotype of madness? Hot beverages are very cooling on hot days and very warming on cold days, seems perfectly sensible to me!

That's what my mother used to say, and she wasn't British. :) But a cup of hot chocolate just isn't appealing to me in the dog days of summer.

I won't hesitate consuming a large cup of hot coffee (or more), on a like-wise day during the extremes of Summer. Find it offers much faster 'cooling' effects, than a glass of any cold beverage, or water. And I'm pure southern USA red-neck hillbilly.

- Magpye

I'm starting to believe I'm in the minority on this, but I think most caffeinated beverages are considered poor choices by the medical community for cooling our bodies in the summer. I don't always agree with their esteemed advice, but I'm with them on this one.

I'll stick to water or maybe lemonade...but probably water. An ice-cold diet coke (with fresh lime, if you please) or (iced) tea might taste good, but it isn't as cooling.

And no hot tea for me, except in the winter. I had two elderly cousins who insisted on serving tea every day, even in Kansas, even in the middle of sweltering 100 degree temperatures with matching humidity levels. I loved the biscuits (cookies) they served, and their genteel graciousness made a lasting impression even though I was too young to fully appreciate such niceties. But I can't bring myself to emulate them in serving hot tea in the summer.

And quite frankly, I'll be hanged before I'll drag out my big ol' soup kettle and heat up my already-hot kitchen with a pot of soup bubbling away - that's an event special-made just for heralding the arrival of late fall's cooler temperatures and rainy, dreary days. (Heating up my kitchen to can tomatoes and salsa is torturous enough, but it has to be done while the tomatoes and peppers are fresh.)

Yes, I agree with the medical profession on this one, too. And I'm also with you on the wintery type meals. To me, hearty soups and stews are part of a cozy seasonal ambience. In my house, they would seem out of place on a stifling Florida summer day.

However, there is a quick fish soup I make that is a favorite in either season. It's light enough for summer, yet hearty enough for winter.

When the ac is running, it might as well be ''winter.'' I mix a can of HyVees bean and bacon soup with Campbells Roadhouse chili for a quick healthy meal!

We had oven roasted veggies for dinner today!

Interesting Terry, I'd read that sugary drinks heat you up but water is always the best option isn't it! Well when you nave nice tasting water that is, the stuff we get through the taps here ........ it's like licking the white cliffs of Dover.

Hmmm, is that limey or bird poopy?

Actually, lukewarm water is best for you. A few years ago, I used to drink it warm in the summer heat, but suntea needs ice and that's my kick now. Today it's green tea suntea.

Wellll I can't say I've ever tasted bird droppings ;) I was thinking along the lines of limestone.

ROTFL!
Our water tasted real good, not too limey, not too hard. Then we found we had Atrazine (herbacide) in it and were given one of those tiny drinking faucets that runs water thru a solid charcoal core. I was so disgusted! We just took the thing out last month and use a Britta pitcher, till we're forced into city water and have to pay for the privilege. I'm not too jaded. We have an aquifer.

I always heard a little citric acid in water or any drink you can put it in is good.
Suppose to help the body assimilate it better!

If I'm out in tha heat working, I drink a lot of unsweetened lemonade /a dash of apple cider vinger in it.
-
If I'm hiding in tha house its back to my old addition. Folgers!

Yep, another one!
I'm pure southern USA red-neck hillbilly.

Citric acid, interesting!

Folgers here too, but I've cut way back after experiencing a caffine headache from withdrawl!

Pretty much gave up pop too.

Does citric acid in water equate to lime in my drink with many cubes of ice?

Giggle!

It's very refreshing to add about three slices each of cucumber and lemon to a pitcher of ice water.

With or without the vodka?

Ooooh, that sounds good. I'm not a vodka drinker, but I'll bet that would be good.

The cucumber is especially interesting, bivbiv...and billyporter - limey or poopy? lol

Water here has to be boiled for drinking. We now buy bottled delivered. I got tired of hauling it in and recycling the gallons. Such a waste.

I put my crockpot outside to cook on hot summer days, especially when I lived in the desert. 112 is almost as hot as Bullhead City used to get.



This message was edited Jul 25, 2006 6:20 AM

I guess the original point of the thread is long-gone..

Time to take it off my "watch list".

I'm a pretty laid back and tolerant person, BUT my pet peeve is people talking on cell phones while driving. We thought it was bad in California, but now find it equally as bad in New Mexico. Santa Fe, New Mexico recently banned all cell phone use in vehicles. This issue may come up in Albuquerque soon and I will be the first to vote for it.

Cell phones are a wonderful convenience. They become a terrible danger when used while driving, not to mention a major annoyance to others when used in restaurants.

And that's my two cents worth!

I definately agree, june_nmexico!

It's too bad that legislation is necessary to make people use common sense.

As my ex used to say, "El sentido comun es lo menos comun de todos los sentidos." Common sense is the least common of all the senses.

He was right Biv. I like that saying!

We just had a water sample taken from the faucet and the Britta pitcher today. At least they keep checking the atrazine levels even if it is once a year. Water table should be pretty low. My neighbor says farm chemicals float to the top, so a low table will probably show more. Our point is only down about 24' to 28'

My pet peeve is people who get peeved by cel phones. No offense meant, lovely people! It's just...would you get bent if I was talking to someone who was standing next to me? So why get bent over the cel?

*shrug* My example is....grocery shopping is not generally a social time. I can steer a trolley, be polite to my fellow shoppers, and get a lot of calls out of the way in that half an hour. That's a half hour I can spend reading to my kid, instead of on the phone after dinner.

I'm self employed. I have to make hay whilst the sun shines. Mobile phones have made my life a lot more efficient.

And I'm not talking about boorish, rude Mr. Cel Phone Jerk behaviour, just so we're on the same page. Stupid is stupid whether someone's on the phone when he's doing it or not.

Is that clear as mud?

I agree. As long as I'm in my lane of traffic, keeping up with traffic, and staying out of your way, what business is it of yours if I'm using my cell phone? I don't have a traffic violation or accident on my record, and I use my phone ALL the time. I've never been stopped by a cop, even for a warning.

If I'm at the store, and my phone rings, sometimes it's my family (who live 2000 miles away) calling to check on me. If I don't answer, they worry... So to keep from "offending others around me" I should not answer it and make them think something bad has happened to me?

If I'm out eating with friends, and another friend calls me to find out if he or she can join us, what am I supposed to do? Not answer it, and make them feel left out? Or if I'm sitting eating alone and a friend from out-of-state calls that I haven't heard from in a couple weeks? Can't answer those either?

If it bothers you, learn to ignore it. I've learned to ignore cigarette smoke ruining the taste of my supper in restaraunts, and stupid parents who drive fiddling with the kids in the backseat.... We all could learn to endure others' hobbies & choices.

I have nothing against cell phones and their owners - we have four adults and four cell phones in our family.

When people get on their phone and "in the zone" they sometimes take on some zombie-like qualities that are aggravating and sometimes nerve-wracking to witness.

On the serious side, I've watched people run stop signs and stoplights (and refuse to budge at stop signs and stoplights) because they were engrossed in their conversation, and totally oblivious to everyone and everything around them. I waited through an entire green light on a major highway intersection, and when I finally passed the driver (who then proceeded to drive through the now-RED light at a snail's pace), I glanced over, thinking perhaps they were lost or having car problems. Nope - just talking on her phone.

On the lighter side, I've seen the same behavior with grocery cart "drivers". They stop their cart in the middle of the aisle because their conversation consumes all their attention. And some of them will actually hold up that infamous "wait-a-minute-can't-you-see-I'm-on-the-phone" finger when anyone tries to get their attention to tell them to move to the side. (Now THAT is so infuriatingly ridiculous, you just gotta laugh. ;o)

And if anyone tells themselves they would NEVER do those things....how do you know you don't? Kinda hard to self-diagnose when you slip into that cell-phone trance. Have you ever pulled in your driveway and realize you don't remember a single thing about the trip home? Hmmmmmm......

"Have you ever pulled in your driveway and realize you don't remember a single thing about the trip home? Hmmmmmm......"


Yes, but I blame it on premature senility, not my phone. ; D

For some reason, many people talking on cell phones talk LOUDER than they would if they are talking to the person next to them, so that others have no choice but to become part of that conversation. Also, when the phone rings, often the tone is set to get louder until it's answered. Why not put it on a different alert in a restaurant?

Learning to ignore something that only offends and doesn't hurt is one thing, but cig. smoke hurts, and inattentive cell phone drivers do, too. Loud cell phone user in restaurants and other public places are simply self-centered people, which is more the norm than the irregularity.

I guess your thread came back around to the beginning, as they often do, with patience, AngelSong.

Wanna know what else bugs me?

I pay over $100 to take my small pet on airlines as a carry-on. I have a $50 each way charge on the flight, along with the vet fees for her health certificate. She counts as one of my two carry-ons, so my additional carry-on ends up being a small purse or tiny bookbag crammed with my emergency clothes, toiletries, and food for the dog.

Parents with small children can carry them in their lap, free of charge, and still bring two larger carry-ons with them.

Furthermore, my dog does not bark, does not growl, does not whine, and often sleeps during the entire flight, to the point that passengers nearby me do not know she's there if they don't see me enter the plane.

Parents with small children are often the torture of the entire flight, between the crying, constant screaming, and smelly diapers. ..... And they do it free of charge....

(Welllll, geez-louise) !!
Every one of us human mortal perfecto-mundo's started out life, as those .. along with our being snot-nosed and whiney and expect everything 'yesterday' type of wee lil peopler beings. And sadly, there's some 'grown full-size' folks, that haven't outgrown it (or, 'kicked the habit') either! .. heehee

Your lil poochem may be the exception .. as well as a whole slew of lil peopler yunkins, to boot.

Mitey glad ya got that out of yer system! .. LOL ..

Yep .. we've all probably been 'subjected' .. at one time or another, on most any public transit system: land, sea or air .. at least once. (LOL)

- Magpye

My turn to sound-off? OK! I am disabled and use the handicap parking as I do have a permit. So many times I have searched for a parking space only to see a young person park in a disabled spot while their parent,who is disabled, sits in the car? This is illegal as the permit only pertains to the disabled person and they must leave the car. It is illegal to abuse the privilege. Better yet! This is the truth and if I had my camera with me I would have taken a picture to show you.
In a handicap parking space was parked a Dodge Ram 2500 truck with monster truck wheels? It had a disabled decal? The running board had to be at least three feet off the ground! Now, can you tell me how a disabled person can get into that monster? There were no special apparatus to lift the person and I stayed around hoping to see the person or a cop but neither showed up so I drove home utterly disgusted.
I see abuse like this so often. It is very painful for me to walk more than twenty feet or so and parking close to stores saves me a lot of pain but it hurts even more when I see things like the above...

All to often you see someone young and seemingly capable hang their handicap tag on the mirror just after they've parked and walk seemingly fine into the store. It is annoying and I always feel bad for the person who really truly does need it! I've been to 1 store (can't even remember where now) and they had a patrol man who actually went up to people parking in handicap spots with no handicap plates to tell them to move. =) Another store I went to (an HEB in a fancy town) they had the handicap spots and then EXPECTING MOTHER spots and I thought that was so sweet of them!

I've got a cell phone but it is never glued to my ear. I can't stand when people are having them ring in a theater or in church and then they answer them only after ringing several times. I just think that's rude.

You hear more and more about how neighbors aren't neighborly and I wonder how it relates to the modern world.... we don't have to hold face to face conversations, EVERYTHING almost can be done by email or cell phone. We gain some but we lose a lot more. I don't care if other people are living by their cell but I'm very conscious of my cell use and don't use it when driving (my preference).

Terry: good point about the people with carts in the way! Oh wow, that has to be one of my all time pet peeves! I am strange but try to "drive" down the aisles following the rules of the road, 1. drive on the right hand side, 2. look before entering the "intersection" at the end of aisles, etc. No one else seems to do this but it's really annoying when someone "parks" their cart mid-section and walks several feet away to browse the produce/meat areas and you can't get around them. You ever notice no one smiles at you when you grocery shop either? I try to smile. IF people even look up to see others are all around them. Shopping early morning on a weekday alleviates almost all of the hassle and nuiscenses (spelling?) for me because everyone else shops on Friday and Saturday.

Well, my DH always says I can go to the grocery and walk out with a friend because I've been known to start conversations with other shoppers. I've never had anyone respond in a unfriendly way. I don't go shopping with the idea of making it a social occasion; it's just part of the shopping experience and happens naturally. For instance, if I'm looking for something, I might ask someone if they see it on the shelf. If I see someone debating between two products and I'm familiar with them, I might throw my two cents in to help them decide. I've ended up having some really fun encounters with other shoppers. On one occasion, I ended up exchanging recipes with another lady. Years ago I met a charming Vietnamese woman in a fabric store, and we ended up being friends. And ya never know...That's how I met my husband!

However, if he'd been standing on the phone gabbing away in a public place, we probably wouldn't be together today. I think there are times when those public phone calls are necessary (like when he's shopping, and I need to add something to his list). But I, too, am tired of seeing careless driving because people are inattentive..on the phone or even putting on makeup! Also, it does seem that people often talk more loudly than necessary. I'm not interested in what they're saying, but sometimes they seem to think it's fascinating enough to broadcast.