Tag Archives: Business

waste not, want not

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Who can even remember when they first heard this. Who can remember what it really even means. Basically if you don’t waste, you’ll have enough for later.

But looking over this, I’ve come up with a new cliche. Take note folks you’re seeing it here first. At least I didn’t find this on a quick search.

Ready?

Want not, waste not.

Seriously. That’s it.

Missy Elliott said it, “..flip it and reverse it.”

So I did.

I like my version better. If you want not then you won’t waste. Not exactly the same but you get the idea.

Americans and probably most “developed” countries throw away quite a lot of food each day. Not “so bad gonna make you sick” food but “one day past expiration” or “slightly discolored” bad or “ewwwww i just don’t want it”. The food that many other people would be happy to eat, even in the USA, if they would just have it.

I was astonished at the numbers (which I can’t reproduce off the top of my head) on the amount of food wasted. But I’m curious if the data also tells what types of food and maybe even why it was thrown away. I wonder about the numbers from other countries and how we stack up. Could this data be used as a marker for “growth”? The emerging country showing an increase in the amount that is wasted?

As these thoughts were rolling around I had more thoughts. Crazy I know. Can you link these numbers to portion size? If you have a larger plate and portion there is simply more to throw away. Right? It seems simple as an idea. Smaller plates, less to throw. Smaller appetites, less to put on the plate. The idea that it’s ok not to feel full. It’s ok to feel a little hungry. Perhaps I will take the time at some point and see what the web has to offer if I search for answers.

I just talked about food here but really, this can apply to anything you choose to buy.

-Santa’s Fallen Angel

 

A Pizza Hut experience

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Many of us have probably had pizza hut at some point in life. I had pizza hut as a kid and every so often as an adult. I went through a recent craze with pizza 9 as a sometimes better quality and tasting pizza hut. Then, out of the blue, a friend asked if I wanted to try pizza hut again. Sure why not. It’s been several years. Might as well give it another try. Of course one of the first things that came back to mind was that the large now seems like what a medium was before. It just looks so much smaller than what I remember. I did do a search and you can find comment after comment from people who experienced the same thing. There are claims that the large used to be 16″ and is now 14″ or that the pizza just shrinks a lot and if you take a measuring tape with you, you might find it is still smaller than 14″ across.

Regardless, it tasted soooo good. Just like I remember. The somewhat greasy crusty pan pizza. Slightly thick and every bite a joy in the mouth.

Then last night (Feb 23rd for whenever I do post this) we decided to go again this time to a different location. You have a craving sometimes and the idea builds up over and over until you just want to satisfy it. (Ladies, it’s like the way you want chocolate.) We went to the pizza hut near constitution and juan tabo. All excited and giddy we ordered a large pan pineapple, black olives and green chili (instead of jalapenos). Oh the horror! Below are pictures I HAD to take. We got the pizza and immediately did a double take. This surely wasn’t a pan pizza. It was in a pan and it was a pizza but was it a normal pizza hut pan pizza? It wasn’t greasy and it wasn’t crunchy.

never seen a crust that wasn't this clean before

never seen a crust that wasn’t this clean before

It's in a pan but is it a Pan Pizza

It’s in a pan but is it a Pan Pizza?

Pizza Hun Pan Single Slice

Pizza Hut Pan Single Slice

Pizza Hun Pan Underside

Pizza Hut Pan Underside

I stopped the waitress to see what had gone wrong. Surely she must see that it wasn’t what they usually look and taste like. At first she said that it was a normal looking pan pizza. When pressed she gave possible reasons for the way it was. It didn’t proof right or wasn’t stretched out or didn’t cook long enough or that it just came out that way. She did offer to have it put back into the cooking machine. I can’t remember if she gave any other reasons. I was in shock at that point. We tried eating it and as expected it wasn’t anything like what we were expecting. I would agree that it didn’t seem to have been cooked long enough. It was a little chewy at times on the bottom. At some point another person came over, the manager I would presume, and also stated emphatically that this was a normal looking pan pizza and he could take off $2. We tried to explain again what our concerns and problems were but he kept insisting that the pizza shown in the pictures above was a normal pan pizza that they serve and it felt to me that our years of pizza hut experience wasn’t worth anything.

We probably won’t be returning to that location. The event was so anti-climatic that the night seemed ruined. A memory tarnished with such a bland tasting crust. I should have taken a video of putting the crust on a napkin to show how clean the crust was. I didn’t really even need to use a napkin to wipe my fingers after the fact. I ate because I was hungry, not for the bite by bite joy.

The The Ravenous Princess has some pictures she has taken of some pan pizza crusts. I was waiting for permission to post them but I haven’t heard back yet and I don’t feel like waiting so the link is there so you can see for yourself. The two pictures links below are from the Common section on Flickr. I think you would agree the crusts don’t look the same as mine. I do wonder if anyone else has experienced the difference in crusts and sizes. Leave a comment and let the me and world know. Maybe it was a normal pizza and this was simply the first time in our combined histories that we came across one like it.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sklathill/3884446427/lightbox/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/oxborrow/177697152/lightbox/

Maybe I’ll go for best 2 out of 3 and make a decision from there.

-Santa’s Fallen Angel

on being me the physician

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Every so often and for reasons I don’t fully understand, I reminded that I’m a physician. I won’t get into a discussion on saying physician versus doctor as it can get heated and that’s not the point of this. I’ve been in some aspect of healthcare since 1997 and an MD since 2004, but most of the time it isn’t necessarily something I think about. I am a physician. It is what I do. It is part of what I am. As there are the jokes about people and their pets looking like one another, perhaps what we do helps to change us, that it is no long a job but part of our personality. Or maybe it was our personality to begin with that led us to our job. Chickens vs eggs throughout our lives.

I go to work. I teach when I can because that’s also part of who I am. And I go home to be on call. At work I am reminded of my title when people say “Dr. Chaudhari” or “Doctor” but maybe because it is at work that I’m not thinking about it so much. The other day I was picking up a prescription and while I was waiting I was absorbed in a book. The pharmacist only called out “Doctor” but I immediately came alert and turned toward him. My title must have been on the prescription or maybe it was in the system. I usually try to hide who I am in public. When initially asked many times I do respond with the title “Teacher”. And I mean it. Doctor in latin means “to teach”. As a pediatrician I considered the number one aspect of my role was to teach. Specifically I mostly do that teaching to the parents, not the patient.

Of course there is nothing to be embarrassed of which leads to the title switch. The problem is that usually once someone knows my title, their perception changes, whether it is on haggling for a purchase or even in a conversation. Once my title is known what I am comes to replace who I am. I am not what I do. But what I do is mostly definitely part of who I am.

Titles can help and hurt. At work it is needed to get the work done. That’s a given. You could be cuckolded at home yet be a CEO of a large corporation. The title of that job sure isn’t helping at home and maybe it’s the title and what comes with it that is causing the marital problem to begin with.

I am a hypocrite though. I can’t honesty say that I’ve never used my title outside of work and for my own benefit. I’ve used it for other people’s benefit and I’m usually ok with that if it was warranted but for myself I do feel guiltier. I have used it calling an insurance company to fight a charge or get it paid faster so the place I went to doesn’t send me a bill. I’ve used it with another insurance company to get them to pay for something they supposedly said they would pay for (it eventually worked once I got a hold of someone who knew what they were talking about.). I’ve used it when I was out and as usual, not dressed like a physician and I was being talked down to. I’ve been told by others that at times I may not use my title but I slip into “Doctor mode” when my attitude changes from usual passive to commanding and authoritative. Yeah, that idea shocks me too. I’d almost like someone to record it just so I can what it looks and sounds like.

I could go on and on with my personal thoughts on where medicine was, is and seems to be headed but I’m not.

Stick a fork in me, I’m done.

-Santa’s Fallen Angel