Shake, Ramble, and Rant

I'm not feeling inspired to write about any topic in particular today, though I do feel inspired to write. So, this will be another rambling monologue about whatever crosses my mind as I compose this entry.

After about a week of near-fall temperatures that teased those of us living in my area into thinking we would have an on-time arrival of fall this year, summer has returned in full force. Yesterday, the temperatures reached a humid 90 degrees that necessitated the wearing of shorts. Though the leaves showed early signs of color change weeks ago, the level of color change has stalled, with most trees still remaining 90% dressed out in green leaves. The stores are showing Halloween and even Christmas decorations, yet the weather would seem to indicate Fourth of July sales, instead. I'm just hoping that summer will not obdurately remain until the middle of December as it did last year.

Though I live in the foothills of the Appalachians, the weather screams "Florida!" It makes me wondering what Florida's weather is now screaming -- "Amazon rainforest!", perhaps?

The temperatures are supposed to drop like a rock tonight, but I'll believe it when I see it.
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Alternet had another article yesterday that got me into rebuttal mode and I ended up leaving two novel-length comments over there. I'm guessing I'd be very happy if I were a columnist full-time for Alternet.

I would have made the comments the subject of today's entry, but the first comment was a rehash of my Domestic Partnership entry of a few days ago, and the second was a rehash of a post I did about a year ago, so I didn't want to do another rerun over here. For those interested in what I had to say anyway, click here to read the article and comments.
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Vegetarians, you might want to look away from the screen now. If you read on, don't say I didn't warn you.

I admit it; I grab a lot of meals on the run at fast food joints. Some places are decidedly better than others, but I usually end up visiting them all on a rotating basis eventually.

One change that I've noticed in most of the fast food chains -- and it's not for the better -- is that they've gradually increased the amount of mayonnaise used on a burger. Don't get me wrong; I like mayonnaise, but, for me, a little bit goes a long way. I just want a little taste of it -- I don't want the sandwich drowning in it.

The two biggest offenders in this regard are Burger King and Wendy's, and Hardee's is beginning to catch up. They put on so much mayonnaise that it drips out the bottom when you pick up the burger.

And what's worse is that all this mayo makes the bun soggy and slimy, and the bun rapidly disintegrates after you take the first squishy bite. Feel free to barf now.

The other day, my son came over to the house with the DVD "We Are Marshall" and a bag full of Burger King small burgers. I opened the first one and saw the mayonnaise miasma all over the top bun. The lettuce, onions, etc on the bun had been totally drowned in mayo and had decomposed into a limp, slimy mess. But I was hungry, so I scraped everything off the bun, then tried to eat it.

But I couldn't. For one thing, the bun was still soggy, and the cheap, greasy mayo they'd used had contaminated the taste of the meat. I just put it aside, disgusted.

Let's just put it this way -- I've had prepackaged cardboard burgers out of vending machines that were more appetizing than this mess.

I know McDonald's gets a bad rap, but the one saving grace of their Quarter Pounder is that NO MAYO is used on them. For the rest of the fast food joints, I make sure to specify "no mayo" whenever I order from them. Saves my stomach and saves them money.