What-What?! Week of July 14th

I have done a lot of nothing this week – that is, other than driving back and forth to Gilroy.  In the last week, I’ve been four times.  Not that I mind Gilroy, it’s just unusual for me.  Not much by way of freelance work, or sales on eBay, which generally kind of sucks.

We went to Happy Hollow, and had a good time with the kids.  Then we had dinner at Marie Calendar’s, which was not a very good experience – somehow, they managed to make my son’s macaroni and cheese taste odd.  Like a weird, metallic taste.  It made my Gordon Ramsay senses tingle (‘cause I’ve seen enough of those kitchens to think twice about off-tasting food), so we left.  Not sure we’ll be going back.

Oh!  Last week, I updated the key words on my posts, and consolidated the recipe-related ones on the right column.  Now, both you and I can easily find the recipes I review!

Mac & Cheese:  Some Nutrition, Please?

Sometimes, when the husband is gone and the children are misbehaving, I cook something fast and easy for dinner.  Lately, that something has been Kraft Mac & Cheese, which is not the most nutritious food.  So lately, I’ve been working on easy improvements to the nutrition content and flavor, without the bother of making real macaroni and cheese.

Any other ideas?  I know some people suggest adding pureed cauliflower or squash, but I find that it adds an off taste.  One thing that I haven’t tried is adding a bit of nutmeg, which is one spice I add to real macaroni and cheese.

TV:  Jake and the Neverland Pirates

Netflix added more Disney shows, so the kids have been watching Jake and the Neverland pirates – now, understand that I am very picky about children’s shows, because I simply find most of them to be obnoxious.  The current approved list is Kipper, Super Why, Timmy Time, and My Little Ponies.  Jake and the Neverland Pirates is suitably exciting for children, while still managing not to be annoying.  My kids love pirates, so they’re totally into it.  There’s a fair amount of singing in the series, which I enjoy.  The two singing pirates in the series are actually a real pirate band, Captain Bogg and Salty, originating from Portland, Oregon; they have self-produced four albums, which I admittedly have not listened to yet.  Look for a review soon. ;)

(imgs via businessinsider.com, disney.wikia.com)

What-What?! Week of July 7th

This week was wonderfully less searing than last; the winds were up, the clouds were in, and we had a nice holiday.  Saturday morning, I was actually cold when I woke up.  It was a nice change.

News:  Invesco – An Opportunity  Lost?

Ever since I posted the foresight goggles ad that Invesco had in the Wall Street Journal a few months ago, I have had visits from people specifically looking for that ad.  So, I went onto Google and typed in “invesco foresight goggles” – which took me straight to Invesco’s main page, which was horrendously disappointing.  One of the things that attracted me to the ad in the first place is that steampunk is mostly a young people’s interest; however, when you search for Invesco using those terms, it takes you to the same website that they have for the company’s target market, who are older.  It doesn’t take you to a special website set up for young people who are interested in investing (but not investing yet), or who are early enough in their investment relationship that they can be easily stolen.  I think this could have been a great opportunity for Invesco to snare some younger customers, or at least get younger customers thinking about them and investing; instead, they didn’t take the extra few steps to make this marketing campaign into something truly special.

Food:  Pork Carnitas via Smitten Kitchen

The other day, my husband decided that we should have pork carnitas for dinner – so I went looking for recipes, and knew I had hit the jackpot when I saw that Deb Perelman of Smitten Kitchen had posted such a recipe.  While it was delicious, ours didn’t come out with quite the right consistency (ours looked nothing like the above), but that’s because we didn’t have the proper cut of pork – we were just using what we had.  The lime in this recipe adds a great tanginess that goes well on tacos and burritos.  If you don’t have the cumin by itself, then I’m sure you could probably sub a general taco mix and be fine.  We’ll be making this one again, for sure.

News:  The Rise of the Naked Economy via GTWeekly

This article, about the upcoming book The Rise of the Naked Economy, discusses changes in how businesses operate today, including using more freelancers, offsite personnel, part-timers, and so on.  The authors of the book view this as a positive change; people are valued more for their skills and what they bring to the table, and are more free to manage their work themselves.  However, I think that this change has negatively affected young people, because to be hired as a freelancer, previous skills and experience are a requirement.  When fresh out of highschool or college, or just a few years into your career, that’s a huge hurdle.

One thing that the authors discuss that particularly resonated with me is the discussion of young people’s priorities changing; people in their 20s and 30s who have children are looking for better ways to balance life and work, because they place a higher value on family time.  That description fits me and my husband very well; sometimes we’ve sacrificed getting ahead because we thought being with our children was more important.  I think that freelancing, and part-timing allow a greater level of flexibility that previous generations didn’t get – of course, those of us who are younger or just beginning our careers might not get this option because of our lack of experience.  It seems to me that people have to get experience in the conventional way before becoming a freelancer.  You have to do your time, so to speak.

'Til next week!