New Product Review: Dole Shakers

I coupon. I love browsing matchups between weekly specials and coupons and saving tons of money. I also love trying new products and figure if the financial investment is minimal then it's worth the risk of a new product. And, although I don't really do product reviews in my blog, this disaster could not go unremarked.

This time the couponing/bargain-shopping gamble most certainly did NOT pay off.

I present to you: Dole Fruit Smoothie Shakers.

Lose the blender ... simply add juice, shake vigorously and enjoy. Right? Simple, tasty and remotely healthy. Right?

Wrong.*

I followed the directions (add juice until one reaches the "fill zone," shake for 30-45 seconds, open and enjoy) and when I re-opened the lid I was greeted by a fresh, pleasing aroma and a satisfying pile of foamy goodness at the top of the canister.

I took a sip ... yummy. A few more swallows ... hhhmmmmmm, unpleasant bit of pulp** here and there, but nothing too bad.

I put the canister down to take a breath. Joe and Emily were watching me expectantly. I commented on the pulp. Joe gave a knowing look, "Wait 'til you get to the bottom." Again, I figured I shouldn't waste the money I'd spent and that I could just power through. I mean, how bad could it be?

It could be very, very bad. That's what. After a few more seconds of sipping, the pulpy sludge began to accumulate along my upper lip. I opened my mouth wider to accommodate swallowing the goop in one big*** gulp. The resulting sensation in my throat triggered a violent gag reflex.

My eyes watering, I dumped the rest of the nasty concoction down the kitchen drain.

Eeew. SOOO wrong despite tasting quite good.

I wrote to Dole's customer service department. The berries reconstitute really very poorly and most certainly do not form anything that should be described with the adjective "smooth," as in smoothie.

Bleah. Avoid at all costs.

--End--

* To be fair, I was duly warned. "Try one of the smoothie thingies," Joe said, "Watch out, though, they're nasty." I figured he must have done it wrong. I was wrong. He did it right. Dole did it wrong.

** Again, to be fair, I'm not a fan of pulp. We buy pulp-free OJ, too. The flakes of fruity matter always make me think I'm swallowing little caterpillar legs. (good luck shaking that image the next time you drink some freshly-squeezed juice!) I could never handle a Survivor-esque eat gross creepy, crawly things contest.

***I initially typoed "bug" here. Freudian?

What a BAAAAD Idea

There is a proposal afoot in New Jersey to merge Rowan University and Rutgers University's Camden campus and to rename the merged institution as entirely Rowan University.

I think this is a terrible idea and would love to discuss my reasons with anyone willing to listen. The following is a list of talking points with which I wholeheartedly agree.

1. The plan robs South Jersey of the benefits of a university with a world-class reputation. South Jersey residents have been paying taxes and tuition for centuries to build Rutgers into a world-renowned university. If this plan goes into effect, South Jersey residents will instantaneously lose all of their accrued principal in The State University of New Jersey. That is fundamentally unfair.

2. It will take decades or centuries for an unknown regional university to attain anything like the status of Rutgers. This is one more example of South Jersey being treated as a second-class region of the state. Central and North Jersey will continue to be served by world-class Rutgers, and South Jersey has to settle for an institution unknown beyond South Jersey.

3. Rutgers–Camden has top-flight faculty because we are Rutgers. We can recruit people at the very top of the field, who bring their expertise to the South Jersey region. Jacob Soll’s Macarthur is a recent example. Rowan cannot do that and will not be able to the same for the foreseeable future.

4. Economically successful regions are driven by the presence of several strong diverse institutions of higher education. The Bay Area in California draws from the research outputs of Stanford, multiple campuses of the UC system, multiple campuses of the Cal State system, and many private universities. The Research Triangle is driven by three research universities. Boston and its 128 corridor are driven by the presence of innumerable colleges and universities. Yes, helping Rowan grow and improve will bring benefits to the region. But South Jersey needs more higher education activity, not less. Folding a campus of a great research university into a minor regional university is a net loss for the region.

5. The commission began with a charge to study medical education, and they never really got past that frame. The whole analysis is driven by the fact that Rowan is connected to the Cooper Medical School. The Cooper Medical School is not even offering classes yet, so the significance of that relationship is far less than the significance of the relationships of all of the Rutgers-Camden programs to Rutgers. If we are to reorganize higher education so drastically, it should be driven by a study that looks holistically at higher education, not as an afterthought to an analysis of medical education—which is important, but isn’t the only important issue.

6. The commission was studying higher ed and medical education. It contained two lawyers, no physicians, and just one former higher education official. These are honorable and respected citizens, but we should not make such a drastic change without having the right mix of knowledge and experience in the room. We need proposals based on the right mix of expertise, and we need careful deliberation that includes the residents of New Jersey and our elected representatives.

7. The recommended path represents the worst kind of government over-reach—just the sort of thing Chris Christie has built his reputation opposing. Rutgers and Rowan have been growing successfully despite dwindling state support and a bad economy. Rutgers continues to cement its strength as a world-class university, and Rowan has become a successful regional university. The recommended reorganization puts all of that at risk because five people behind closed doors think it’s a good idea.

8. Rutgers-Camden is helping make the right kind of revitalization happen in Camden—the slow, steady growth of jobs and an increase in education levels in the city. Folding Rutgers-Camden into Rowan will shift the focus away from the necessary revitalization of South Jersey’s urban center.

Thank you.

--End--

Disney Planning

OK, we'll also be visiting the Kennedy Space Center, Universal Studios, Islands of Adventure (Hogwarts!!!), but we all know what a trip to Orlando means .... Disney World!!!

I love planning trips. I'm a planner. I also love to travel ... so it works out really well. I often think my dream job would be a trip planner/coordinator. Or a guidebook writer. Travel, travel, travel.

I also love Disney World. Not in a go-every-year-and-never-vacation-anywhere-else kind of way. But, in a Happiest Place on Earth, take my breath away, I know the castle doesn't have an "apostrophe s" in the name kind of way. I adore the level of planning and detail that Disney puts into every aspect of their theme park experience. I'm kind of a planning and details kind of gal ... so it really appeals to me on vacation, too.

And a Disney vacation is a vacation with pre-planning. Piles and piles of pre-planning. Yay! I mean, sure you could just show up and buy your tickets at the gate and pick up a map and wander around and eat wherever you can manage to get a seat, but honestly ... I am completely convinced of the value of pre-planning a Disney trip.

That's how I did our family trip in 2006, and the trip Joe and took minus the kids in 2009. So, it's how I'm setting up for 2012.

I've already subscribed to TouringPlans.com and bought their 2012 edition of the Unofficial Guide. I browse AllEars.net and receive their weekly email newsletter. I've scoured restaurant reviews and examined charts of which parks are likely to be more or less crowded on any given days.

The result of all of this research is compiled in a color-coded document I call At-a-Glance. When complete, it will include which parks we're visiting on which days, all of our dining reservations and confirmation codes, as well as which meals I'll need to buy groceries for. We stay in a timeshare and have a full kitchen ... saves a LOT of money on dining out.

It's too early to have much of the information. I can't make dining reservations until 180 days in advance of the trip, which begins in February. But, I just thought I'd give you a glimpse into the (neurotic?) way I plan a big trip.

At-a-Glance

---

	Friday 8/17	Saturday 8/18	Sunday 8/19	Monday 8/20	Tuesday 8/21	Wednesday 8/22	Thursday 8/23
Main Idea	Travel	Animal Kingdom		Magic Kingdom		Universal Studios	Magic Kingdom
Park Hours		9-7		9-10			9-10
Special Events
Depart
Breakfast, 7am		Timeshare	House of Blues Sunday Gospel Brunch	Crystal Palace	Timeshare	Timeshare	Timeshare
Morning, 8-noon			Downtown Disney
Lunch, 12:30pm							Liberty Tree Tavern
Afternoon, 1-5
Dinner	Hope-de-Doo Revue	Boma
Evening, 6-8
Night-time, 8-10

	Friday 8/24	Saturday 8/25	Sunday 8/26	Monday 8/27	Tuesday 8/28	Wednesday 8/29	Thursday 8/30	Friday 8/31
Main Idea		Epcot	Epcot		Disney Studios	Islands of Adventure	Epcot	Travel
Park Hours		9-9	9-9		9-9		9-9
Special Events
Depart
Breakfast, 7am	Timeshare	Timeshare	Timeshare	Timeshare	Timeshare	Timeshare	Timeshare	1900 Park Fare
Morning, 8-noon
Lunch, 12:30pm							Rose & Crown
Afternoon, 1-5
Dinner		Biergarten	Le Cellier		Mama Melrose’s
Evening, 6-8					Fantasmic!
Night-time, 8-10

The Beginning of the End ...

I've spent part of my morning today exchanging emails with various members of the Rutgers-Camden English department.

I'm working on a timeline for wrapping up my Master's program. Which is awesome. And scary.

At the end of this semester I'll have completed 7 of the required 10 courses. And every MA student in English must choose one of two graduate requirement options: two comprehensive exams or one exam and a thesis.  Most people choose the exams.

So, naturally, I'm opting to write a thesis. I plan to analyze and discover the sources for Thomas Southerne's Restoration play Oroonoko. 'Casue, you know, that's something everyone wants to read, right?

So in addition to writing this over the summer in conjunction with an Independent Study with my advisor, I'm also working on trying to transfer in some credits for my prior graduate work in other fields. I'll have to argue those points, maybe quite a lot, because the work isn't in English and was done several years ago.

*sigh* Never hurts to try, right?

In any case, the end of the tunnel is in sight. I should graduate next January.....with any luck.

--End--

Baby Steps ....

I started watching what I eat and trying to move more starting after we returned from the Poconos on January 1. (before then it was a holiday food free-for-all, multiplied by the extra eating (especially of crap) we always do when we're at the mountain house.

Anyway ... 4.5 lbs down so far. That's almost as much as a standard bag of sugar. I used to just be carrying that around all the time.

It helps me to visualize what I'm no longer carrying around. Before I'm done I want to carry around a total of eight fewer bags of sugar.

Or four of my cat.

Or half my daughter.

Or five gallons of water.

Or a cinder block .... a cinder block!

That last one hits home. I've been carrying around a cinder block with me all day, every day. No wonder I'm tired.

--End--

[EDIT: 1/20/12 -- Another pound and a smidge down.]

Many Things Make a Post

a la Adrienne ...

I know the Many Things is Adrienne's thing. But today I've come across some things I wish to recall later ... so why not record them here?

Just another way that the Republicans are successfully lying to everyone.

How Google is breaking Google -- We don't use you to make friends, Google!

If you're ever in Scranton ... I can highly recommend this place.

Yeah, Sarah ... because breast feeding is only an option when milk is expensive. Hate to break it to you, but babies shouldn't be fed cow's milk. Keep reading, later she blasts a healthy food for youth initiative, too. The "god-given right" to what, Sarah? Childhood obesity? Diabetes?

And, finally, on a non-political note -- I wish this necklace were cheaper. Emily would simply love it.

--End--

Scaly, flakey, itchy ....

This is not me. But -OH BOY- do I empathize.

I want to scratch my face right off.

It itches.

Quite a lot.

Allergic reactions suck. See yesterday's post.

:(

--End--