is it just me?

Here in Wisconsin, and it is not just myth, people love dairy. A lot. If you can add a dairy product, you had better bet any self-respecting Wisconsin cook'll do it. Why have hash browns when you can have cheesy hashbrowns? Why not accompany every meal with milk? Many 'salads' here are made with copious amounts of mayonnaise. Fruit salad usually includes cool whip, jello, or both. For the most part, I'll admit, I am on board with this whole dairy thing. I mean, fried cheese curds are deeeeeeelicious. But often they go overboard. I think this is particularly true when combining vegetables and dairy. I sort of like the vegetables to counteract all the other stuff. But today I was in a campus deli, and I saw something truly frightening. Now, before I tell you what it was, I should say that this particular deli really does not make me feel like eating. It has one of the worst cafeteria smells you have ever encountered. There is always a selection of hot meals, none of which I have ever eaten, with perhaps the exception of the occasional grilled sandwich. It involves a lot of stuff that reminds me of airplane food. The overall cleanliness of the facility leaves something to be desired. So, I just go there for pre-packaged food and beverages. You know, some chips or something. Anything where the contents were never exposed inside of this place. So in addition to hot food there are pre-prepared sandwiches and salads. And that's where it gets ugly. The sandwiches look a little dry, but if you were starving you'd eat one. But then today, I saw something that was never meant to exist. I saw it from the side. It looked like peas....and something milky...and...could it be? cheddar cheese? So I cautiously peered at the lid where it proudly proclaimed "Pea and Cheese Salad". I am not kidding. I felt utterly revolted and left as soon as possible, having lost my appetite even for some chocolate milk or a baked cheeto. Pea and cheese salad? What's delicious about that? Not melted cheese. Just a big chunk of cheese, floating in there with the peas and the milk? or was it mayo? does it matter? Oh lord. I still feel traumatized. I may not ever go there again.

On another note about that deli. There are four women that work there. One of them has, quite possibly, the nastiest finger nails I have ever seen. They only cover about half the amount of area as a normal finger nail, and they are filthy, rough and corroded. She certainly has a fungus. (This does not make me want to eat their food.) But for some reason, she insists on keeping a partial, chipped, worn out coat of pink metallic nail polish on her nasty little nail stubs. Why? It doesn't help. I can still tell what they really look like. In fact, it almost makes it worse. Like she didn't bother to actually try and get them clean, or to grow in. She just slaps a coat of paint on there and hopes we won't notice. I notice. And I bet I'm not the only one.

handicapped access

yesterday I walked over to pick up a new printer for my office. To do this I dragged one of those dolly/hand cart things. This gave me the opportunity to experience the handicapped accessibility of the surrounding buildings. It's awful. One door where I tried pressing the button it didn't work at all. Apparently if you can't open a door that's just your tough luck. But at least that's something that can be fixed. On my building, however, it's even worse. If you press the button for the door at the top of the ramp, it just de-energizes the door (making it easier to open) but you still have to pull it open by hand. That doesn't make any sense at all. If you can't open a regular door because you are in wheelchair, you can open a de-energized door either. Especially since the door opens out, which means that even if you are strong enough the physics of it are all wrong. Now, I understand they are complying with the law that says it they have to have the access, but this particular enactment of the law is pretty half assed. The other thing is that they recently moved the center for students with disabilites over to this side of campus. Instead of being in its old location which was right on a busy corner in the middle of campus, and quite easy to get to, they have moved it into an old library, which is probably the least accessible place on campus. It has stair access to all doors on all sides. I am not kidding. I mean, what kind of cruel joke is that? How mean. Now the center is not only in a building no one has ever heard of and knows how to find, but if you are in a wheelchair you can't get there. So, apparenlty about a month after they moved it they figured it out, and put in a ramp across the road which allows one to get down to a level where you can then go down a steep driveway and across to the building. Very accessible. Genius.