Note to self: FIRST drink the Emergen-C, THEN eat the chocolate chip cookie. It’s not nearly as pleasant the other way around. Whoops.

I’m drinking a Spicy Hot V8, and man, that stuff is HOT! It’s tasty, and it’s great that I’m getting vegetable servings from it, but I definitely need to follow it up with something non-spicy and non-hot, such as ice cream. Oh! I have a great idea: They should make Ice Cream V8.

There needs to be a word for the action of stirring or blending your drink with its own straw. I can’t decide if it should be a noun, such as strawrobics: “The frozen drink required considerable strawrobics in order to succumb to suction”—or a verb, such as strawgitate: “All of the sweetener kept falling to the bottom, so I kept having to briskly strawgitate my iced tea.”

It’s been a long time since Ilse’s been so excited about a treat (a treat meant specifically for dogs, not for people), so I have to blog about these. She absolutely loves these Zuke’s Mini Bakes that we got at Anaheim Feed.

I’ve never seen them at Petco, so I’m not sure how long they’ve existed. They only have the Zuke’s Mini Naturals, which smell gross. I went to Anaheim Feed to find a different treat but ended up deciding to try these. We got her the “Peanut Butter ‘n Blueberryz” flavor because she likes peanut butter more than turkey, and we think she’s allergic to chicken.

She’s been getting them for over a month now, but she still dances and acts crazy when she knows she’s going to get one. She usually loses interest in her treats pretty quickly, so her reaction to these is a welcome change. And they come in a huge box (325 pieces) for a low price (about $5), so that’s a welcome change too!

As a bonus, they’re made without wheat, corn, and soy, which is good if your dog has allergies, or if you’re a dog-allergy-hypochondriac.

I’m a happy birthday boy when I get my free bag of fresh tortillas from Disney’s California Adventure. This year I had a very happy birthday. I got my tortillas, and Disney bought me some t-shirts.

See, if you’re a normal person, Disneyland gives you a free ticket on your birthday. But if you’re an annual passholder like me, you already get in free on your birthday… so instead they give you a $69 Birthday Fun Card, which is just like a gift card but with TONS of terms and conditions (like, “no food” and “no discounts”). I used my Birthday Fun Card to buy a cool 80’s Mickey Mouse t-shirt and a Monorail t-shirt.

It’s hard adjusting to the lack of food delivery here in Southern California. I was used to having lunch delivered very often from Say Cheese, Hale & Hearty, and other great little cafes. Now I have to go pick it up myself if I want something that’s not at home. And that means actually getting in the car and driving somewhere, since there’s also nothing in walking distance. The relative inconvenience is assuaged, though, by the availability of cream cheese wontons–which didn’t exist east of the Mississippi.

The only real food I’ll eat at McDonald’s is the Chicken Select strips, and only with buffalo sauce. It just so happens that the McDonald’s around the corner is the one McDonald’s in the city that never has any buffalo sauce. So today, after my latest attempt to secure some Chicken Select strips with buffalo sauce to no avail, I sent the manager a letter:

Dear Sir or Madam:

I live just around the corner from your restaurant, and it is by far the most convenient McDonald’s location from my home. However, it has been difficult to order the food that I want from your restaurant.

My favorite item on the McDonald’s menu is the 5-Piece Chicken Select Meal. I only like the Chicken Select strips with Buffalo sauce, but your location does not seem to have Buffalo sauce. I’ve asked for it several times over the past year. At first I assumed it was just out of stock, but now it has become clear that you do not carry Buffalo sauce at any time. I don’t understand why; Buffalo sauce has been a regular part of the McDonald’s menu for several years now, and is one of the standard accompaniments for the Chicken Select strips. You carry the Chicken Select strips, why not the Buffalo sauce?

Whenever there’s no Buffalo sauce, I am forced to cancel my order. When I eat at McDonald’s, I’m eating there because I want a specific item from the McDonald’s menu. If you don’t have that, I don’t eat there, and you lose my business for the day. Please add Buffalo sauce to your menu so that I can become a regular customer. Thank you.

I seriously doubt this is going to have any effect, however, because this is New York–the city of New York-style customer service.

Why do they have to keep the soup in the cafeteria at atomic levels of heat? I mean, sure, if I needed to get my soup in the cafeteria and then walk with it to Nebraska and eat it there, it might be good to serve it at this temperature so that it’ll still be piping hot when I finally eat my lunch. But considering the fact that it’s a cafeteria, and that people purchase food there for immediate consumption, it might be nice to keep it at an edible temperature, or maybe a temperature slightly higher than edible, instead of a temperature used for melting steel.

Amanda’s in town right now, which is really cool. I haven’t seen her in forever. And by forever, I mean a few months. Anyway, it’s especially cool because it’s Alex’s first time in the city, and he’s totally a guy who could enjoy living in New York, so I know he’s really enjoying it. Last night we joined them for fondue at Kashkaval, followed by dessert at Edgar’s Cafe (because Cafe Lalo was too crowded, and Edgar’s is a block away, never crowded, and just as good). Today on my lunch break I showed them the Chelsea Market, and we enjoyed “Witchino” blended coffee drinks at the Fat Witch Bakery. Sweet! Literally.

We had elphabagels at work again today, in honor of St. Patrick’s Day. This year I was brave enough to actually try one. They’re just plain bagels with green food coloring, so they shouldn’t taste weird. But… they tasted weird. Sort of like… lots of green food coloring.