Work rant

The official title of my day job is 'physician recruiter' which is a fancy way of saying i cold call hospitals all day and find shitty radiologists with a laundry list of malpractice suits and place them in temporary jobs. Or in my case submit them to temporary jobs and have the client reject them in favor of a PACS system, a much cheaper and easier option.

So today was a cold calling day and I called up a PHS Santa Fe Indian Hospital in Taos NM

Me: Hello are you using any temporary doctors to fill in this week?
Male secretary in rad dept: (aggressively) who is this? Why do you want to know?
Me: My name is Angie and I'm with B***** and A*********?
MSIRD: (still aggressive)Who?
Me: Barton the locums firm?
MSIRD: First of all, we're a government facility you should never call in here asking for confidential information. We're a government facility (again), and blah blah blah, second of all we are not authorized to release that kind of information to anyone?
Me: Um are you sure because I've called many many government facilities about 15 today alone, most of which are military hospitals and they have no problems telling me who's on...
MSIRD: 'click'
Me: Asshole

Get the hell over yourself. It's a freakin Indian hospital, not the CIA... it's not even military based....? This job really makes me hate people. On the plus side...HURRAY!!! MY BLOG HAS FOLLOWERS!!!

Homebrewed Hard Apple Cider Recpie

Last night my boyfriend and I brewed some hard apple cider. This was a piece of cake. It's easier to brew then beer, and is perfect for the season. If you have an interest in home brewing, it's a good recipe to start with.



So I found the following recipe online:
5 gallons sweet cider (fresh, cold pressed, no additives DO NOT USE pasteurized apple juice)
3 pounds brown sugar
3 pounds honey
2 packs champagne yeast


5 gallons is a lot of frickin cider. Plus we already have pumpkin beer (made from a HUGE pumpkin) fermenting in our 5 gallon carboy. So we cut the recipe down to 3 gallons:


3 gallons cider (we bought ours form Russell Farms in Ipswich MA)
1.8 pounds of brown sugar
1.8 pounds of honey
1.2 packets of champagne yeast

For the modified recipe we used a glass 3 gallon carboy and filled with about 2.5ish gallons of cider.

Mix remaining cider with the honey and brown sugar in a large pot. (heat it just high enough to dissolve the honey and sugar but not enough to boil)

It doesn't say to add spices..but it doesn't say not to add them, so i sprinkled in some cinnamon, all spice and nutmeg. Not too much, maybe like 2 teaspoons of cinnamon and about a half teaspoon each of allspice and nutmeg. Now that i think about it, i probably should have added that during the second fermentation process. Oops. LET COOL TO ROOM TEMP (overnight)

Add the packet of yeast to a cup of lukewarm water and let it sit for 20 minutes. This is called a 'starter'.

Normally in a 5 gallon bucket style carboy you would add the yeast mixture directly into it stir it forcefully 2 or 3 times with a long spoon to jump start the activation process. But in a glass carboy the opening is much too narrow so poor the yeast mixture into the now cooled honey/sugar/cider mixture and stir it a few times.

Pour yeasted mixture into the carboy. (you may have to empty some of the cider in the carboy out to make room) **Do yourself a favor and invest in a funnel**

Snap the airlock on and wait three weeks (1st fermentation). According to the recipe funky smells are normal as it ferments. Hmmm. Well keep out of direct sunlight, perhaps that will help.

After three weeks take out the airlock and pop some Campden tabs in the brew. (one per gallon) **Quick note, if you'd like to use the to sterilize fruit before fermentation add when you first add the cider to the carboy. I'm using it as a preservative so I'm adding now (bottling process)

Take an 'ale pail' and empty the priming sugar into it. Be sure to measure out the right amount of priming sugar to how many gallons you're brewing.

Empty carboy into 'ail pail' either by syphoning it, or getting you're muscle bound boyfriend to dump it in.

Bottle and Cap

Store in a cool dark area for another week or two depending on taste and pressure (second fermentation and helps flavor and adds carbonation) **If any bottles explode place them in the fridge. This stops the fermentation process dead**

Enjoy :):) Good luck and let me know how your batch turns out.










Extra juice?
Hot Apple Cider (non-alcoholic)
6 cups apple cider
1/4 cup real maple syrup
2 cinnamon sticks
6 whole cloves
6 whole allspice berries
1 orange peel, cut into strips
1 lemon peel, cut into strips

Lolita and bizarre hotel signs

I'm in the middle of Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov in which Humbert a middle aged man and his sexual affair with his stepdaughter Lolita. I'm about 2/3rds in and it's pretty good. Surprisingly funny considering the plot. Among Humbert's (who BTW is the weakest most pathetic character ever put to paper) courting methods are to drug Lolita's mother to give him some one on one time with her 12 year old daughter, drug Lolita so he can molest her as she sleeps, bribes her for sexual favors, and he toys with the idea of marrying her and dumping her when she becomes too old (what's too old for a pedophile 16? 18ish?) but not before he impregnates her with a daughter with whom he will begin a sexual relationship with at the ripe age of 8 or 9. Charming.
I get the whole but he llloovveess her (which is crap) and Lolita being a sexually aware, calculating, evil little asshole. But you know what? Sometimes at the end of the day you've got to call a spade a spade. And Humbert is a giant mother fucking spade.


Anyway i bring this up because in the section of the book where Humbert traveling across the country to various low-end hotels to rape his stepdaughter--excuse me i mean 'make love to his darling nymphet Lo' *Gak* I came across this;

"...Some motels had instructions pasted above the toilet (on whose tank the towels were unhygienically heaped) asking guests not to throw into it's bowl garbage, beer cans, cartons, stillborn babies..."

STILLBORN BABIES?! what the crap! Who does that? And do they do it enough where it warrants a sign? My friend did some housekeeping for a short period of time, and she had horror stories about the conditions the rooms are left in but not once did she mention a fetus floating in the toilet.
What's the accepted method of disposal? Bury it out back? Call management? Wrap it in tissue and throw it in a wastepaper basket as you would other unsanitary unmentionables?
I figure since the book's set in the 40's people probably used cheap hotels to preform abortions, and 'stillborn baby' sounds alot better then 'aborted fetuses'. As much as I'm not a fan of abortion, I can't help but find this really really funny. So much so that I have made a sign to hang in my bathroom, should any of my house guests have designs to leave any surprises floating in my toilet.


Not bad...could be neater.


My other favorite quote?...Humbert describes the two adolescent boys Lolita has hangs out with as; "two gangling golden-haired highschool uglies, all muscles and gonorrhea" Heh. Humbert may be an odd little pervert but he's a funny odd little pervert.

Color Me Badd meets Arrested Development...

So I'm on the YMCA website deciding what exercise classes i want take and came across this gem:

Dance Craft Mania
Do you love all things dance?! Want to hang out with other dancers and tie die hip hop hats, make a dance charm bracelet, learn T-shirt braiding and rhinestoneing? Come to this great class with Miss Darcy! You will make some dance themed crafts for yourself and your friends and talk about all things dance! With the holidays coming this is a perfect time to make gifts for the dance lovers in your life! Class length is 45 minutes.

STER Thursday 6:30pm



Rhinestoneing? Tie dye hip hop hats? um ok...

Hello :)

So lately I've been bored out of my skull, and thought it might kill some time to start a blog. I've decided I'd introduce myself using one of those cheesy myspace questionnaires

Enjoy

1. The phone rings; who do you want it to be?

Eh I'm on the phone all day at work...i prefer texts. Funny texts.

2. When shopping at the grocery store, do you return your cart?

Yeah always. I feel bad for those people in the reflective gear who have to round them up 8 hours a day.

3. In a social setting, are you more of a talker or a listener?

Depends on my comfort level and how much I've had to drink... but usually more of a listener

4. Do you take compliments well?

Not at all, but I've learned to nod and smile.

5. Do you play Sudoku?

numbers irritate me.

6. If abandoned alone in the wilderness, would you survive?

It would never happen, You would never find me anywhere near the woods.

7. Do you like to ride horses?

I've only went a handful of times in my life, but it was a blast.

8. Did you ever go to camp as a kid?

My uncle ran a camp when I was a kid and my mother worked full time so i spent the majority of my summer there. Sports, socializing, and fresh air...everything I hated as a kid. Still do.

9. What was your favorite game as a kid?

Reading. Anything i could do alone really. I was an only child, plus i couldn't stand other children.

10. If a sexy person was pursuing you, but you knew he/she was married, would you go for it?

Married!? Hell no.

11. Have you lied to get out of a date?

Haha I've only been officially asked out on a date twice and after 5 years I'm still dating one of them.

12. Could you date someone with different religious beliefs than you?

I think so.

13. Do you like to pursue or be pursued?

I'm pretty shy, so pursued. Unless I"m single and your amazing. Then I'm going for it.

14. Use three words to describe yourself?

Pretty frickin awesome

15. Do any songs make you cry?

No but I recently heard the song Chasing Pavements by Adele and i choked up a bit

16. Are you continuing your education?

I'm hoping to start my masters soon, once i figure out what i want to major in

17. Do you know how to shoot a gun?

not a real one, but over the weekend i shot a few cups off a shelf using a cork gun and won a stuffed animal for my boyfriend

18. If your house was on fire, what would be the first thing you grabbed?

My house was on fire before and i grabbed my stuffed lamb. Now I'd grab my cats/bird Maybe Dave...but my cats/bird first

19. How often do you read books?

All the time.

20. Do you think more about the past, present or future?

past and future.

21. What is your favorite children's book?

My favorite author as a kid was Roald Dahl, and I loved the Blossom Culp series by Robert Peck.

22. What color are your eyes?

dark brown

23. How tall are you?

5'3 but I'm a tiptoe walker so i look at least 5'5 (I hope)

24. Where is your dream house located?

My grandparents old house in Farmington CT. Oh the memories....

25. Do you have a secret fetish?

A secret fetish?! Please, I have about 20. But that's between me, my boyfriend, and the sex slave i keep tied up in my basement.

26. Have you tried sushi?

I love sushi. Healthy and delicious. Like hummus.

27. Have you ever taken pictures in a photo booth?

I use to do that alot when i was a teenager. I still have some of those photos wearing huge earrings and airbrushed tee-shirt. ahh the late 90's.

28. When was the last time you were at Olive Garden?

Ew. Just Ew.

29. When was the last time you were at Church?

too long...Easter i think.

30. Where was the furthest place you traveled today?

work

31. What was your favorite job?

I tried to start up my own crafty business a few years ago, poor beyond anything, but so so much fun.

32. Do you like mustard?

I've grown to tolerate it

33. Do you prefer to sleep or eat?

tough call

34. Do you look like your mom or dad?

Dad. Both in looks and temperament.

35. How long does it take you in the shower?

I love the shower. I live in there. 20 min mim

36. Can you do the splits?

almost. i can touch the palms of my hands to the floor...does that count for somthing?

37. What movie do you want to see right now?

Nothing looks all that good right now, but the TV program Glee is perfection

38. If you could fast forward your life, would you?

Only the boring parts

39. What did you do for New Year's?

Don't remember...couldn't have been all that exciting

40. Do you think The Grudge was scary?

I thought The Dark Knight was scary. Don't judge me.

41. Could you relate to a character in Mean Girls?

I don't know...did they have a token black girl?

42. Do you own a camera phone?

Yes

43. Do you have an "ex box" with pics and letters from past lovers?

Nope.

44. Was your mom a cheerleader?

Cheerleader Captain actually. I"m sure she was very proud of her chubby uncoordinated socially awkward back-talking bookworm of a daughter.

45. What's the last letter of your middle name?

E

46. Do you like your middle name?

Marie? Not really.

47. How many hours of sleep do you get a night?

around 4-6

48. Do you like care bears?

I LOVED those little bastards. I wanted one so bad... that and a Popple.

49. What do you buy at the movies?

Nothing usually, the 10 dollar ticket is more then the theatre deserves.

50. Do you know how to play poker?

negative

51. Do you wear your seat belt?

Yup. I'm a awful driver, with a bad track record

52. What do you wear to sleep?

Nothing usually but if i do wear anything it's usually bizarre, like a bra, a headscarf and one sock.

53. Anything big ever happen in your hometown?

I spent some time in Farmington CT home of Miss Porter's Finishing School where Jackie Kennedy was an alum...La di da!!

54. How many meals do you eat a day?

5

55. Is your tongue pierced?

Nope.

56. Ever meet anyone you met on myspace?

God no

57. Do you read myspace bulletins?

I don't really do the social networking sites unless i have something worth networking

58. Do you like funny or serious people better?

Funny, but it's good to have a balance...

59. Ever been to L.A.?

Yup everyone ignores each other, wears mismatched head to toe designer logos and talks loudly on there cellphone/bluetooth. BTW Nobody's rocking their natural breasts, and the implants look cheap and painful.

60. Did you eat a cookie today?

Nope but i had some tirasmu

61. Do you use cuss words in other languages?

nope.

62. Do you steal or pay for your music downloads?

I still buy cd's. Yeah i know.

63. Do you hate chocolate?

Who the heck hates chocolate? That's like hating bunnies. Or air.

64. What do you and your parents fight about the most?

*sigh* What don't we fight about?

65. Are you a gullible person?

Yes

66. Do you need a boyfriend/girlfriend to be happy?

No. But i got a good one so it helps.

67. If you could have any job what would it be?

Starting my own creative/crafty business and becoming rich off it.

68. Are you easy to get along with?

For the most part. I'm quiet but once you get to know me I'm alright.

69. What is your favorite time of day?

3:36 pm on a Wednesday.