Sunday, March 31, 2013

March Update

I haven't really been in the mood for posting as of late, so this is gonna be a short summary of everything memorable that has happened in the past few weeks to try and make up for that.

For St. Patrick's day I visited Bianca and Lucie in Temecula for some wine tasting. Everything was pretty good I guess cause I don't really know much about wine but I found out that I prefer white wine or mostly light in color. We enjoyed some green wine and had a few dessert wines including one that tasted like chocolate.

Probably most importantly this month, March Madness started, my favorite time of the year. Of course I made a bracket (that sucks) and convinced myself that I might actually have a shot at doing really well this year, but of course it failed. In hindsight I could see myself making much better picks but the main reason that nobody gets a perfect bracket is because nothing goes as expected.

I had a few interviews the past few weeks which was really exciting. Unfortunately I didn't get any of the positions. It's nice that each of the interviewers said that they really liked me, but sucked mostly because I lacked enough experience to secure the job. Fortunately I did manage to find another position that I had applied to before and has recently reopened. It sucks that it requires 3-5 12 hour shifts during the week from 6pm to 6am. Fortunately this position pays really well and will hopefully give me the experience needed for other positions in the future. I start Monday for training.

A few days ago Kyle came back for a few days for Easter. We celebrated by getting California burritos which tasted really good. We also celebrated the good weather by going for a bike ride around Lake Hodges going across the footbridge which is apparently the longest stressed ribbon bridge in the world. We ended the day watching lots of March Madness and 'The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel' which was a neat movie.

Today, Joey and Morgan came for a visit so all of us and Kyle went to the beach. The weather was spectacular though the water was pretty cold. We played catch with the football and Aerobe disk while managing to catch some rays. We ended the day with some more March Madness.

Monday, March 4, 2013

Paying for a Brand

The Ranch Dressing you choose is actually quite important. Last night, I went big and spent the extra bucks for Hidden Valley Ranch because I wasn't going to make the same mistake again. Like many of you, I have a history of shopping really thrifty (like Macklemore); I try to buy the cheapest items in order to save money. But the "Great Ranch Dressing Fiasco of 2012" made me think differently. Sometimes, brand-name items are actually better than their generic counterparts (Great Value, Valu Time, Safeway, Savemart, etc.). What was this dressing fiasco, you may ask? Well, I'll tell you.

There's not much to it, other than that I bought a cheap generic version of ranch dressing, and thought I was getting a great deal (it was about $3 cheaper than most other choices). Well, when I opened it to enjoy some carrots and ranch, I learned why it was cheaper: it was rancid! Probably the most foul thing I tasted that was supposed to be fresh. Well, since then I've stayed name-brand on Ranch dressing.

Other things that I stay name-brand on: Hershey's Syrup, Jif peanut butter, Ritz crackers, and I think that's it so far. Cool huh?

P.S. I learned through my job as a medical assistant that the generic versions of medications are NOT exactly the same as the name brands, even though they claim many of the same ingredients or active components. For example, with eye medications, the name brand Lastacaft is proven to relieve itching for 24 hours, while the generic wasn't tested to last nearly as long. Interesting; now I don't know what to believe anymore.