Monday Meanderings - 1.23.2012

While the Northwest is being blanketed with snow, we are having spring-like weather here in ATX. It was so balmy the other morning I took my coffee to the patio - and discovered that if the trees are bare (it is still winter, after all), then the sun shines directly into your face. Oh, I get it! In the winter you do afternoon coffee on the patio. Works for me.

Medicare sends quarterly statements showing what they paid various doctors over the past few months. We got a statement this past week that was prepared in South Carolina, showing a charge from a doctor in Prarieville, Louisiana, for a service that was performed in Fresno, California.

And speaking of doctors and such, the surgical center where Barb had her procedure last week has called a couple of times, leaving messages that they wanted to follow up and make sure she was doing okay. Barb won't let me call them and apologize for missing their calls, "what with all the funeral plans, etc." No sense of humor.

Barb came home the other day with the newest in the series of the "Eat This, Not That" books. If you are not familiar with this series, the books contrast a healthier suggestion for what is usually a more popular (and less healthy) choice. This latest book is a guide to popular restaurants, with suggestions for best choices from the current menu. For instance, at Outback Steakhouse, choose the Teriyaki Marinated Sirloin (418 calories, 12g fat) as opposed to the Baby Back Ribs (3,021 calories, 242 g fat). I looked through the book, and discovered that all the things we like to eat at our favorite restaurants are on the right-hand page. You know, the one that starts, "Not That!"

I've previously written about cowbells and their use at football games. I came across this the other day: empty propane tanks with a number of steel ball bearings inside.

 

Take that, SEC!