iPad or Laptop

I am wavering between purchasing a new laptop or an iPad2. I love to play games on my laptop, so I am worried about not being able to use a mouse to play the games.

Maybe I can try one out at the Mac Store before I make a decision.

Peter's Baked Stuffed Onions Recipe - Allrecipes.com

Peter's Baked Stuffed Onions Recipe - Allrecipes.com: "

* 1/2 cup uncooked white rice
* 6 large Vidalia onions
* 3/4 pound ground spicy pork sausage
* 1/4 cup chopped green bell pepper
* 1 egg, beaten
* 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
* 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
* 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
* 2 tablespoons butter, melted
* 1/2 teaspoon paprika

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Lightly grease a baking dish.
2. In a saucepan bring 1 cup water to a boil. Add rice and stir. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 20 minutes. Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Peel onions and slice off the tops; boil for 12 to 15 minutes, or until tender but not mushy. Drain, cool and remove the centers, leaving the shell intact. Chop onion centers and reserve 1/2 cup.
3. Place sausage in a large, deep skillet. Cook over medium high heat until evenly brown. Drain and set aside, reserving drippings. Saute green pepper and 1/2 cup chopped onion in sausage drippings.
4. In a large bowl combine green pepper, onion, sausage, egg, 1 cup cooked rice, cream cheese, oregano and parsley. Spoon mixture into onion shells and place in prepared dish. Combine melted butter and paprika; brush tops of onions.
5. Cover and bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes. Uncover, and bake an additional 5 minutes.

- Sent using Google Toolbar"

Friendship

I have had many friends in my life. Some of them have been very close and some have been not so close. Some have been female, some have been male, but they have all made an impact of some kind on my life.

Currently, I have very few friends. I think that comes from 13 years of life with a man who didn't like people, so we didn't interact with others very well. I am starting to make friends again, but at this stage in my life, I am finding it very hard to completely accept all my friends' idiosyncrasies.

I have one friend that has been a friend for many years. Lately, we have been drifting apart. All friendships go through waves. I know this, but I am thinking this is more than a wave. This is a tsunami. We seem to have nothing in common anymore. She has a new man (well, okay, not so new - they've been together for 2 years), but he does not like me at all. I represent a time in her life that he was not a part of and did not approve of. So, our friendship is dying.

I have another friend that was starting to become a very good friend, but that friendship is stagnating. She started dating a man that we both know. He is a good man, but I don't want to be a third wheel and they are constantly together.

So, I find myself relying heavily on my children and their significant others to have "friend" conversations. You know, those times when you just need someone to talk to about life in general or about your work day.

Some people say I should go out and find a man, but there are no men interested in me nor am I interested in any men. I am very happy with my life right now except for the lack of friends. My job is going great, my family is getting their lives together. A man is definitely not something I need right now.

But I would really like some good friends to hang out with.

Did I do the right thing?

I just can't stop thinking about our greeter and the fact I think he had a heart attack. Did I do the right thing when I called management to take over? Should I have called an ambulance instead? Should I have stayed at the store? Did I do the right thing by leaving the store and leaving others to take care of matters?

Sleep will be non-existent for a while. I am really worried about what happened to him.

Do you know the signs of a heart attack?

This morning as I was getting ready to leave the store, one of our greeters came in and it was pretty obvious he was not feeling well. He was sweating heavily, he was pale and he was mumbling. After talking to him for a few minutes, he stated his chest hurt. After a few minutes, he told us his left arm hurt.

I am positive he was having a heart attack, but I won't know for sure until I get back to work on Saturday. It scared the hell out of me.

Made the rest of the night look stress-free.

Another exciting day...

When I got to work last night, I had to immediately rush to the Front End because the CSM on duty needed to go home and all but one of the cashiers were leaving. There was a long line even after my cashiers came on duty, so I called the second overnight CSM and another associate up to the front to cashier.

When the CSM arrived, she came over to where I was helping a customer at the service desk and simply stood next to me. She totally ignored the lines at the registers. So I just barked at her in exasperation that I was going to get on a register since she didn't want to. She looked at me and said, "Well, I didn't know where you wanted me." Excuse me? You shouldn't have to be told to get on a register when the lines are so long.

The rest of the night went pretty smoothly. I managed to stock in several areas of the store, clean up an endcap and zone the racetrack. I also fixed some signing that was falling down.

It has come to my attention that the other CSM has been complaining about being "stuck on the Front End" on the nights we both work. I am not sure why she feels this way. When I am there alone, I do not stay on the Front End, so I am not sure why she feels the need to stay up there when we are both working. I am going to confirm tonight that a CSM does not need to stay on the Front End all night.

Scotch Eggs

So, instead of sleeping I just made Scotch Eggs. I deem them a major success! They are YUMMY! I will make more of them when I get more bread crumbs. Just a couple minor adjustments (like more bread crumbs), but otherwise very yummy!

I will try and take a picture later.

AMANDA•FREITAG | recipes | Bacon Wrapped New York Trout with Brussels Sprouts and Mustard Sauce

Have I mentioned how much I love Amanda Freitag? She is AMAZING!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

AMANDA•FREITAG | recipes | Bacon Wrapped New York Trout with Brussels Sprouts and Mustard Sauce: "Bacon Wrapped New York Trout with Brussels Sprouts and Mustard Sauce
Ingredients: Trout

Directions: Trout

2 Filets Trout
½ lb. Bacon
2 c. Brussels Sprouts
Olive oil
1 Bunch Italian Parsley
Salt and pepper



1. Slice half of the bacon thinly and lay three slices shingled together on a cutting board.

2. Lay the filet of trout over the bacon and roll the bacon around the fish until the bacon ends meet and seal and the Trout is wearing a bacon 'belt' so to speak, Repeat with the other filet.

3. Dice the remaining bacon into ½ inch lardons and render the bacon in a hot skillet until the fat comes out and the bacon is cooked.

4. Add in the Brussels sprouts and coat them with the bacon and the bacon fat giving the sprouts a little bit of color and then add ½ cup of water to finish the cooking.

5. Approximately 5-7minutes over medium heat.

6. In another pan(or in the broiler, or on a grill) cook the trout until the bacon is crispy and the trout is just cooked through.

7. Place the trout filet onto a bed of mustard cream sauce and then top the Trout with the braised Brussels sprouts and some fresh parsley leaves and serve.

Ingredients: Sauce

Directions: Sauce

1 c. White Wine
2 Shallots
2 c. Heavy Cream
1/3 c. Dijon Mustard
2 tbsp. Grainy Mustard



1. Simmer shallots and white wine in pot until dry.

2. Add heavy cream and reduce by half.

3. Strain out the shallots and but cream back into pot on low heat.

4. Add mustard and whisk until smooth.

5. Simmer for 5 minutes.

- Sent using Google Toolbar"

Accident vs. Incident

In the Walmart World, there are two levels of employee mishaps.

The first level is called an "incident." This simply means that you have hurt yourself in some manner. The associate is supposed to tell a member of management that they have run into a cart, cut themselves with a knife, whatever. The manager than has the associate fill out a one page report on what actually happened.

The second level is called an "accident." An incident becomes an accident if the associate has to see a doctor. Then there is a lot more paperwork that has to be done.

Confused? Here's a scenario:

George trips over a pallet and stubs his toe. This is an incident. He is not hurt badly, he just stubbed his toe. George gets home and takes off his shoes and his wife screams loudly because his toe is the size of a large dill pickle. She takes him to Urgent Care where the doctor tells him it is just badly bruised. This has just become an accident simply because he went to the doctor. How badly the associate is hurt has nothing to do with whether it is considered an incident or an accident.

Does that make sense?

Garlic Salmon Recipe - Allrecipes.com

Garlic Salmon Recipe - Allrecipes.com: "Garlic Salmon
By: LILIO
'A large salmon filet, steamed in foil and cooked either in the oven or barbecue. It's seasoned with minced garlic, fresh baby dill, lemon slices, fresh ground pepper and green onions.'


Original Recipe Yield 4 to 6 servings

Ingredients

* 1 1/2 pounds salmon fillet
* salt and pepper to taste
* 3 cloves garlic, minced
* 1 sprig fresh dill, chopped
* 5 slices lemon
* 5 sprigs fresh dill weed
* 2 green onions, chopped

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C). Spray two large pieces of aluminum foil with cooking spray.
2. Place salmon fillet on top of one piece of foil. Sprinkle salmon with salt, pepper, garlic and chopped dill. Arrange lemon slices on top of fillet and place a sprig of dill on top of each lemon slice. Sprinkle fillet with chopped scallions.
3. Cover salmon with second piece of foil and pinch together foil to tightly seal. Place on a baking sheet or in a large baking dish.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes, until salmon flakes easily.

- Sent using Google Toolbar"

Guess I was tired...

I slept for 12 hours today. I didn't wake up at all. Not sure if I was just that tired or if it was the two Aleve I took just before I went to sleep.

My knee has been bothering me a lot lately. I've got two more months before I can get another Cortisone shot. I have osteo-arthritis in my left knee and maybe in my right knee. It sounds like a stretching rubber band when I move it.

I'm off to work in about half an hour. Should be a quiet night again tonight with no truck on the GM side. I need to get the bins cleaned out. I haven't worked on them for almost three weeks because of Christmas. If you have never worked retail during the Christmas season, consider yourself extremely fortunate. Christmas in retail destroys a lot of Christmas spirit.

Sunday Morning

It was quiet at work last night. Especially quiet for a Saturday. We are usually swamped with people for the majority of the night. Last night, we had several spurts, but it wasn't that busy. We didn't have a GM (General Merchandise) truck last night. Instead, we got to do a lot of little "projects" devised by the Assistant Manager.

Fortunately for us, we only had one little project. After that, I was able to go pull quite a bit of freight from the bins and we filled multiple outs. We'll do a lot more of that tonight.

Having a bit of an issue with the other overnight CSM. She has informed a couple of the cashiers that all the schedules will be changing. I have heard nothing about this and will be confronting her and possibly the assistant managers about it. I don't really care if my schedule changes as long as my days off are not split. I hate split weeks!

But what really irritates me is that she is telling these things to the cashiers and not confirming or talking to me about it. I have no say in whether the schedules should/will change, but she could have mentioned it to me before going to the cashiers.

On the plus side, I got to work with my favorite assistant manager last night. I think he will be there again tonight. Is it wrong to have a favorite manager? Is that like having a favorite child?

For today, I need to sleep a couple hours, so I can get up and watch the Vikings game. I will wake up long enough to watch the game and then go back to sleep until about 8:30. I've tried staying awake until Noon, then going to sleep, but I still only sleep a couple hours and wake up. So it is counter-productive to stay up until Noon.

Hope you all are having a great start to your 2011.