![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
baratronDear gods, I am going insane. Whose stupid idea was it to bring myself to New York even though I haven't finished my coursework, on the basis that I can do my work anywhere? ARGH!
Dealing with Richard and my mother together is like herding cats. They woke me up at 11.45 this morning by shouting about cups of tea - not shouting as in arguing, shouting because the flat here is too large and you have to shout to be heard. I was unimpressed because 4 hours sleep plus 20 hours awake plus 11 hours sleep does not balance out to the right amount of sleep for me. But then we didn't actually make it out of the flat until 1pm - so I could have had another hour. Bah.
Then we went to Whole Foods and damn, we were in there for close to 3 hours due to major faffing. Okay, that included getting lunch - but apparently neither Richard nor my mother is capable of navigating a lunch buffet where everything is labelled with all ingredients without handholding. My mother because she flaps and Richard because there was too much choice. Argh! As for shopping for food, well, is it really so very difficult to shop for food in a foreign country? Granted, the brands are unfamiliar, but it's in your own language... I knew exactly what I wanted but nobody else had thought about it.
By the way, my lunch consisted of a vegan cheese pizza, roast potatoes, roasted peppers and courgettes/zucchini, sprout salad, shredded raw carrot, and vegan "noodle" (spinach tagliatelle) with fake meat; followed by a vegan chocolate chip scone. Delightful, all of it. And Boylans cream soda, because it is Local, so I can drink it in abundance without having to feel guilty (unlike when I get it at home). Mind you, it's US $1.39 a bottle here (on special offer - usually $1.99) - at home it's £7.99 for 4 bottles on special offer and usually... more. I don't know the price, it's a luxury rather than an everyday drink.
And Whole Foods didn't have everything we wanted, so we ended up going to two branches of D'Agostinos (a normal supermarket) and a random health food shop that we walked past too. My mother is flapping because "she checked" that the milk and yogurt with plant sterols that she has is available here, but she obviously didn't check very well because I found out in about 5 minutes with Google that although both brands exist here (Benecol and Flora Pro Activ - called Promise, apparently), they only sell margarine, not anything else. I have managed to get some peace and quiet by sending her & Richard off to The Vitamin Shoppe to buy capsules of plant stanols or sterols, and then up to The Food Emporium to get more yogurt and soy milk, and get me some legwarmers from American Apparel because I forgot to bring mine. Richard is moaning because he wanted to go to Radio Shack and get a figure of eight cable, and buy a couple of mobile phone SIMs from T-Mobile. Well, Radio Shack is open 'til 8, that should be possible.
I am so glad that we didn't try to go anywhere exciting for dinner last night and just went to Better Burger. Because anything done twice is tradition, and I'm now on my fifth trip to New York and... seventh? eighth? tenth? trip to Better Burger. Last night I had a soy burger, smashed potatoes, fruit smoothie and vegan brownie. Fast food that is actually food. Om nom nom.
Okay, I think I've got all the moaning out of my system. Better try to get on with some work.
Dealing with Richard and my mother together is like herding cats. They woke me up at 11.45 this morning by shouting about cups of tea - not shouting as in arguing, shouting because the flat here is too large and you have to shout to be heard. I was unimpressed because 4 hours sleep plus 20 hours awake plus 11 hours sleep does not balance out to the right amount of sleep for me. But then we didn't actually make it out of the flat until 1pm - so I could have had another hour. Bah.
Then we went to Whole Foods and damn, we were in there for close to 3 hours due to major faffing. Okay, that included getting lunch - but apparently neither Richard nor my mother is capable of navigating a lunch buffet where everything is labelled with all ingredients without handholding. My mother because she flaps and Richard because there was too much choice. Argh! As for shopping for food, well, is it really so very difficult to shop for food in a foreign country? Granted, the brands are unfamiliar, but it's in your own language... I knew exactly what I wanted but nobody else had thought about it.
By the way, my lunch consisted of a vegan cheese pizza, roast potatoes, roasted peppers and courgettes/zucchini, sprout salad, shredded raw carrot, and vegan "noodle" (spinach tagliatelle) with fake meat; followed by a vegan chocolate chip scone. Delightful, all of it. And Boylans cream soda, because it is Local, so I can drink it in abundance without having to feel guilty (unlike when I get it at home). Mind you, it's US $1.39 a bottle here (on special offer - usually $1.99) - at home it's £7.99 for 4 bottles on special offer and usually... more. I don't know the price, it's a luxury rather than an everyday drink.
And Whole Foods didn't have everything we wanted, so we ended up going to two branches of D'Agostinos (a normal supermarket) and a random health food shop that we walked past too. My mother is flapping because "she checked" that the milk and yogurt with plant sterols that she has is available here, but she obviously didn't check very well because I found out in about 5 minutes with Google that although both brands exist here (Benecol and Flora Pro Activ - called Promise, apparently), they only sell margarine, not anything else. I have managed to get some peace and quiet by sending her & Richard off to The Vitamin Shoppe to buy capsules of plant stanols or sterols, and then up to The Food Emporium to get more yogurt and soy milk, and get me some legwarmers from American Apparel because I forgot to bring mine. Richard is moaning because he wanted to go to Radio Shack and get a figure of eight cable, and buy a couple of mobile phone SIMs from T-Mobile. Well, Radio Shack is open 'til 8, that should be possible.
I am so glad that we didn't try to go anywhere exciting for dinner last night and just went to Better Burger. Because anything done twice is tradition, and I'm now on my fifth trip to New York and... seventh? eighth? tenth? trip to Better Burger. Last night I had a soy burger, smashed potatoes, fruit smoothie and vegan brownie. Fast food that is actually food. Om nom nom.
Okay, I think I've got all the moaning out of my system. Better try to get on with some work.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2010-12-11 03:00 pm (UTC)This appears to be a common-enough affliction that they've installed a food service facility (http://finweb.rit.edu/diningservices/golisano/) very near the lab I frequent (http://www.rit.edu/cast/ectet/embedded-systems-design-lab.php). The menu is arranged such that the rightmost/bottommost item (the last one you'd read) is both the least expensive and sufficiently nourishing (grilled cheese).
I'm sure this is accidental; if it were intentional, it'd be called the Else Clause or something.
no subject
Date: 2010-12-11 06:34 pm (UTC)