If a person makes a decision and does what he thinks is right by him, and yet by his decision causes some injustice, should he be held liable for that injustice? Is "I didn't know" just an excuse or can it be considered a reason? At what point should one be let off the hook for not knowing the harm in his decision?
Rant about a rant I read a post on a live journal the other day about losing weight, the issues and complications that someone a hundred pounds or more overweight might encounter, the many obstacle one would have to overcome to make this weight-loss regimen a lifestyle in order to maintain a healthy weight.
While I don't discount a single point the author makes, I couldn't help but feel argumentative toward her. Although she claims not to be complaining, she is, pure and simple. Acknowledging this might actually have made me feel less resentful toward her complaints. Yes, it's hard; yes you're going to have to put in A LOT of work. And yes, this is her rant bitching about that. Done.
But instead she tried to disguise it as a helpful guide to anyone wanting to lose weight. Yar. That's a laugh. It might not help, but it will certainly help dissuade those who didn't really want to lose weight in the first place.
The thing I find most infuriating about reading this is the attitude. "It's hard work. Oh my, it's so hard. Here are all the tremendously hard things I have to do to be healthy." Wah-fucking-wah. I got news for you, sweetie: that's what EVERYONE has to do. Just because you've negated to learn those skills before it had a negative impact on you/your body, doesn't mean it's any harder for you than for anyone else. Of course, your attitude is what's making it hard, and if you don't like to learn new sports or skills, find activities that interest you in more ways than just losing weight, or figure out the general basics about nutrition or cooking, then you might as well resign yourself to being a fucking lard-ass.
And as if this wasn't enough, she complains about having to buy new clothes after she's lost a hundred pounds. Well what the fuck did you think was going to happen, honey? You knew it was coming, why should this be something that makes the experience worse? Why not see it as something making it better? You're working towards your goals; you're actually getting there. Needing a new wardrobe is a good indication of reaching a milestone. Sheesh.
I just can't help but think that the weight issue is only a symptom of deeper problems. With an attitude like that, her whole life is going to be hard because she chooses it to be that way. "Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% attitude." I think the actual ratio might even be higher in favour of attitude...
I think I'd like to try to rewrite her post, stating the same facts but from a more positive point of view. Maybe something that will actually encourage people to embark on such an enormous undertaking. With the right attitude, it can become so enjoyable.
Just cooked this recipe, it turned out very yummy!
Tomato Sauce with Vegetables and Basil A chunky garden tomato sauce with fresh basil from Diana Rattray
INGREDIENTS: • 3/4 cup chopped onion • 2 cloves garlic, crushed and minced • 3 tablespoons olive oil • 6 cups chopped tomatoes, canned or about 6 fresh, peeled tomatoes • 3/4 cup dry red wine • 1/4 cup shredded carrots • 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley • 1/3 cup chopped fresh basil • 1 teaspoon sugar • 1 teaspoon salt • 1 cup sliced zucchini • 1 cup sliced fresh mushrooms PREPARATION: Heat olive oil in Dutch oven over medium heat; add onion; cook until tender. Stir in garlic, tomatoes, wine, carrots, parsley, basil, sugar, and salt. Bring sauce to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, for 1 hour, stirring frequently. Add sliced zucchini and mushrooms; cook until sauce is thick, about 20 minutes longer. Serve with hot cooked pasta. Tomato sauce recipe serves 4.
It's been over five months since I started trying to address the issues I've been having with my laptop. It started with an email to alienware support on October 4, 2005 in which I was told to call the support desk on the toll free North America number by Jens Mcnaomh Sánchez (or Henry Cheever, not sure how to read it in the email - question reference #051004-000172) even though I'd included in the information that I was in Australia. I decided that I would attempt to resolve the issue by calling the Australian toll free number since this was free for me while the North American number was not. I was informed that the problems I was having were part of a known issue with my model of laptop. I was given several suggestions over the phone by the support agent, Adam Hicks, which I tried without results. It was at this time (beginning of October) I asked if it was possible to send the laptop within Australia for speedier diagnosis and possible repair. Although the laptop was not functioning correctly, I could still manage to work with it, but after three months it refused even to remain powered, the rare times it would power up at all. I had yet to receive any answer or help from either the US or Australian support.
Finally, I made more calls, paying for international US customer support phone calls, repeatedly having to explain these problems I was having, sometimes up to four times in a single phone call. Although the Australian Alienware support staff were helpful, they explained that they were waiting on the US to send an official "OK" to go ahead an perform warranty work for a customer in Australia because I was considered a US customer. Finally I was told that I had to call the US to switch from being a US customer to Australian customer, even though I will only be in the country for a year. Will I have to change back when I am back in Canada? What about when I am in Europe for six months?
I finally sent in my laptop to the Australian facilities on Dec. 28, 2005. It is now March 13, 2006 and I have discovered only that my laptop is still waiting for parts from the US. This is exactly what I had been trying to avoid by having it repaired in Australia. Apparently they do not stock my model in the Pacific Rim, and have no spare parts to use in the repairs. Apparently the Australian Alienware support did not have access to this information before I sent the computer nor did they bother to ask at any time. At times, it seems that the Australian segment of this company operates as an entirely separate company that is at odds with the US; instead of collaboration, there is animosity, to my detriment. I have been told by Mr. Hicks that he has repeatedly sent emails, even going to the extent to make phone calls to the US, without successfully being able to address the issues in my case, technical and bureaucratic.
I had originally purchased the laptop because of its size and computing capacity. I have always intended to use it for travel -- it is considered an "ultraportable" laptop. But it seems apparent that Alienware does not consider its computers intended for international travel. I have only 12 months in Australia (only 5 remaining) and had been using my laptop intently until it began to malfunction. I depend on it for writing and have been having to pay internet cafe rates just to type and send my writing.
I am a very unhappy and dissatisfied Alienware customer. I feel that I have been more than patient, but this kind of wait is ludicrous in an age where information can be sent anywhere in the world in instants and shipping could take only a few days. I would like to have a computer in my home. I would like to have my laptop back. Please do something to rectify this situation as soon as possible.
If you are considering buying an Alienware laptop, please consider this situation before you plan to leave the country with it. In fact, I'd suggest you not even bother and go with something by a more reputable company with a better service/track record like Dell or IBM.
I've been reading Angela's backposts, and I have to wonder... when does she get all the time to write these things for her blog? I love the little anecdotes and stories, told in such a casual, friendly way that it's hardly like reading at all, and I feel like she's sitting right in front of me telling me the story. I can hear her voice through the words on the screen. And I take a look at my own writing, experiences, and I sense a difference. I guess I have to take into consideration here that she is experiencing an entirely different culture, exposing herself to such a different lifestyle. If she were actually in the room, actually telling these stories, she would be staring at me with my jaw gaping open and my eyes full of awe. Not because of the stories themselves -- they're only a small part of it. It's her courage at flinging herself into this new culture and taking every opportunity to get the most out of it. I understand how difficult that can be. Luckily she's got a bit of a support network to fall back on, but it can feel like a very thin net when standing all alone in completely new place, with everything totally foreign. In my own travel experience, I'm not really immersing myself into a new culture. At least people here speak English (more or less, with the obvious cultural variations), and even if they don't drive on the right side of the road, the British colonization and subsequent immigration that laid the foundations for the culture give the place a familiar enough feeling. As with most cities I've visited, Auckland has its own flavour, a pulse that beats through the movement of the people living there, of the people passing through. The different neighbourhoods with their own variety combine to make up the city's beat. In the eastern beaches where Greg is now living, I sense a comfortable, relaxed, almost Californian quality surrounding me. Cyclists and joggers zip by in their fashionable sporting clothing from sunrise to sunset, or meet in cafes that seem to be tucked into every part of a neighbourhood just so nobody has to walk more than a couple blocks for a low-fat-no-whip-mochaccino or frozen-white-chocolate-cappuccino-light-whip-topping. After dark, very few people walk along the beachfront or through the streets. They keep to their beautiful half a million dollar homes that overlook the darkness they know to be the water, watching television or reading a book or shining the silverware, or whatever it is they do in the evenings in houses like that. And in the Central Business District (CBD or Downtown), a totally different vibe flows through the streets. Cafes are open later; the well lit streets offer more than the deserted dark shops out in the residential areas. The pulse of the city beats the strongest here, and people flow through the streets, passing each other in waves, eddying around the intersections where traffic waits for the hoards of people to cross in every direction. This is business, of every kind - from the guy begging for change to the executive in his suit hurrying to his next appointment, from the shops selling every kind of goods to the banks exchanging every kind of currency.
Learning this pulse of the city, these movements, is just a different way of learning about the people that surround me. I'm not inundated in cultural differences, but this city is as different for me as any and I want to learn how the people here live. I may not meet many people on this trip, but I will certainly have an opportunity to pursue a relationship with the city itself, and that can be rewarding in its own ways. And I can always come back and see how a month, a year, a decade has changed the city I had begun to know.
Chop the following into ~1 cm cubes into a bowl or container with a lid
1 Avocado (ripe)
1 Tomato
2 celery sticks
1 med carrot, grated
~2 Chicken Breast or ~5 chicken strips, cooked & refrigerated
1/2 cup grated cheese
In a seperate bowl, mix the following dressing:
1 heaping spoon mayo
1 heaping spoon yoghurt
1 small tsp lemon juice
garlic, corriander, salt, pepper, seasoning to taste
Drizzle dressing over avocado and chicken mixture, cover with lid and shake to coat with dressing.
Makes ~4-5 side servings
Tomato Cream Sauce
A tasty sauce for chicken or any meat where a cream sauce could use a little "something more."
Once meat is nearly cooked, melt a spoonful of butter in hot pan (separate). Cook finely chopped onions and crushed garlic until the onions are clear (caramelised). Add Sundried tomato and chopped fresh tomato. In a small dish, melt a bit more butter in the microwave, add a spoon of flower, and small amount of milk. Stir until there are no lumps. Add milk to onion and tomato mixture (as much as desired), and while stirring, add milk, flower and butter mixture slowly. Add seasonings (honey, salt, pepper, chili powder) and cook until mixture begins to thicken. Pour over cooked meat and simmer to let cream mixture seep into meat, add fresh herbs/seasonings and cook another minute or two. Serve over bed of rice. Makes ~4 Servings (depending on amount of meat).
It's going to be impossible for me to just abandon this site, but I've now got a dedicated travel site set up (well, functional at least) for myself over at Strange Blue Sky.
Because I'm going to be spending the next significant chunk of time traveling, writing things like what I think of Douglas Adams as an author (brilliant!) or the idea of conceptual errors that lead to my misreading then wanting to develop a piece of writing to go with the title Dude, Where's My continuity? (as opposed to Michael Moore's "Dude, Where's My Country") is just going to have to be put on the back burner for a while. They're ideas in progress however, and I'm going to have to write them down sometime, provided I don't get too distracted first.
In the mean time, the travel writing I'm doing has been keeping me occupied (along with short bursts at attempts to get the site more than just functional). I've only been in Auckland 2 days, but there's already been so much to write home about. I hope I can keep it up semi-regularly, at least. Go check it out.
