Meanwhile, back to my little narrative:

So there I am, half awake, and I spy some Goldfish crackers, lonely and ignored.  So tempting, so tasty. Did I mention crunchy, because they are definitely packed full of crunchy goodness. I pick them up and start reading the label, and just then, BBD decides she is hungry too. Do I give her the Purina One, or maybe… she’d like something else?

She got the Goldfish crackers, I got the oatmeal and both of us were happy. Well, my happiness wasn’t as immediate as hers, and I didn’t wag my tail at all. But I’m glad that I stayed on my gluten free plan, it seems to be helping me a lot. I have to admit that I miss some forms of flour, and at night, I dream of hot buttered toast. I am finding the best way to deal with temptation is to get rid of it as soon as possible. Thankfully, BBD, being a loving and faithful companion, is more than happy to dispose of anything that I give her, she’s so helpful that way.

The thing that really bothers me is that there is no word of any of this on the official ConAgra website. How long would it take one of their employees to add a scrolling message that warns the public? Don’t they care that their product could be affecting the health of many of their loyal customers? In my opinion, when a company faces something like this, they should be the first to step up and sound the alert. Right now, I’m not feeling very confident about any of the foods that ConAgra sells, not just because of the possible salmonella, but because of the way they’re handling the situation. Shame on ConAgra for not telling the public in a timely and forthright manner!

What’s tragic is that many dog handlers and trainers use grapes as little motivating rewards. They don’t know that they’re actually hurting the dog and sometimes don’t find out until its too late.

Can you even begin to fathom what it must be like to live with Alzheimer’s, or care for someone with the disease? What would it be like to hear your doctor pronounce his diagnosis, knowing that your brain, your thoughts, your very essence will be stolen from you by this vicious illness? Can you imagine what it would be like to live with a loved one with Alzheimer’s, and the feelings of helplessness someone must go through as their loved one’s mental abilities fade away each day?

On the other hand, can you imagine how joyous the world will be when the cure for Alzheimer’s is discovered? Everyone will be celebrating and rejoicing when this vicious illness is defeated. I don’t know how soon the cure will be discovered, but I know that you and I can help make it happen. By joining in on the Alzheimer’s Association Memory Walk, you can be part of the nation’s largest event to raise awareness and funds for Alzheimer care, support and research. You can help out by becoming either a Team Captain, Team Walker, or an Independent Walker.

The Memory Walk is a nationwide event, but I’d like to discuss what’s happening in my area to give everyone a better idea of the process. I clicked on the link for Memory Walk 2007 and saw several options, including “Sign up for a walk”, “start or join a team”, or “volunteer”. The Alzheimer’s Association web site is very easy to use, and it allows visitors several ways to get involved. I decided to choose “Find A Walk” and entered my zip code. I found that a local chapter has scheduled their walk for October at a central Phoenix location. Statewide, I found that there will be other walks in cities such as Tucson, Prescott, Cottonwood, and Sun City West.

If you can’t walk, then you can sponsor someone who can. You can also tell everyone you know about your local walk as well. Send everyone you know to look at the Alzheimer’s Association website so they can help spread the word too. Whatever you decide to do, make sure you do something. If we all work together, then we can hope that soon, Alzheimer’s disease will become a thing of the past.

I found all this out because I was reading a story at my local newspaper’s site and saw a “user’s comment” that referenced a link between skin cancer and this new term, AAIT. I did a search for AAIT, and found a site (a wordpress blog) that supposedly belongs to a dermatologist. I say supposedly because he misspelled some key medical terms that any first year biology student would know. I’m not going to correct his spelling here, but if you really want to know, post a comment and I’ll fill you in.

I am not going to give any sort of link to this fraud that is trying to use the internet to spread hatred and dissension. Instead, I’d rather link to an excellent site that proves that exposure to Blacks in the work place or anywhere else for that matter does NOT cause any sort of skin reaction or skin cancer. They discuss this purported “condition” and say,”It is not real. It doesn’t even scientifically make sense. Humans do not store UV rays in their original form in order to release them later on. The body converts UV light to vitamin D. They can’t magically convert it back and start shooting UV rays at their coworkers like some kind of biological death ray. This is some idiot’s attempt at trying to manufacture a medical reason to be racist.”

I would definitely urge everyone to read the entire post at the site I quoted because they do a far more eloquent job than I. They’ve done a magnificent job of proving that AAIT doesn’t exist in any way, shape or form. I applaud them for taking the time to do their research and make it available for public benefit.

And the ones that are spreading this horrific rumor online?

May God have mercy on your souls

I just now hopped online to look something up, next thing I know I’m looking at a few favorite blogs, and I found this great recipe for Quick and Easy Chunky Tomato Soup. It sounds terrific and its probably a lot better than anything I could buy in a can. I think it would be a great meal for me and my family, we could all customize it to suit our tastes. I’d like it just the way it’s described in the recipe, but my daughter would probably love it with some bacon bits. My son would definitely spice it up, that is, he would if he could ever figure out where I hid the Tabasco sauce.

1. Lipton’s dried onion soup base (the kind you use for onion dip)
2. 2 cans of chicken broth
3. onions, as many as will fit, and still have room for the canned broth
4. tons of garlic cloves, as many as you can fit between the onion pieces
5. a splash or two of Tabasco or El Pato, as much as you can stand

Put it all in the pot, put the lid on, and cook till the onions and garlic are tender

I don’t know which will fare worse, me or the germs. If I’m not back in a few days, you can assume that I’ve taken my stomach to soak in a vat of Pepto-Bismol.

However, if its true that pot can increase the risk of schizophrenia, then I think we, as a socieity should take a long hard look at the situation. I’m not foolish enough to think that everyone that smokes dope is going to have a mental illness, but then again, I don’t know how anyone on the planet could ever predict whether or not marijuana could seriously affect any particular person.

So much stuff to do online. For example, I think I missed most of the “do-follow” action and I don’t even know if its too late to participate. I also have to decide whether or not to install an “will blog for bucks” badge or not. Hmmm… I think I’ll leave that one on the back burner a bit longer. In the meantime, it feels great to feel good!