A vendor at a Japanese supermarket recently suckered me into buying this cucumber dressing. The dressing was imported from Japan and has no English on the bottle. I’m not sure what flavor the dressing even is, but boy is it tasty.
If I had to guess, I’d say this concoction includes soybean oil mixed with a ton of monosodium glutamate (MSG)–umami goodness. I typically associate MSG with soups or hot foods, but I guess MSG will taste good in any form.
If any of you comprehend Japanese, please let me know what the bottle says. I’ll definitely be going back to the market for more!
The AAO (American Academy of Ophthalmology) has a public awareness website, GetEyeSmart.org, that overviews common eye problems.
I direct my English-speaking patients as well as my non-medical friends here for self-education. Helps me to avoid stupid questions (and creates other ill-considered medical questions).
I wrote about my feelings of receiving inappropriate consults on a previous post. Since then, I tallied an additional list of observations I’ve noted in consultation requests. Some of these are absurd:
Me: This is ophthalmology returning a page.
Consultee: You have to see this consult…
Others are even more direct:
Me: This is ophthalmology returning a page.
Consultee: Five-One-One-Eight… [reading medical record number of presumed patient needing consult]
On other occasions, the interaction becomes insulting:
Consultee: (At 3 am) Sorry to wake you. This isn’t an official consult yet, but can I borrow your Tonopen? (Device to check eye pressure). This guy with a history of glaucoma fell and hit his head last night….
I suppose that direct blow to the eye could cause an eye pressure spike, but there are a few other incongruities in this consult request (We take home-call).
The ultimate insult:
Me: Can I borrow your stethoscope?
Consultee: Do you even know how to use one? (I was one year senior to this guy in medical school, and I taught him about renal failure in a review group)
Most grocery stores now discourage the use of plastic grocery bags in favor of reusable canvas totes. Apparently plastic bags require too much energy to produce, and are unsightly populating landfills. Stores like Whole Foods even give a 10-cent discount when we opt out of a plastic bag. Others like Aldi, don’t even have plastic bags to offer. Years ago many stores in East Asia already began charging for use of plastic bags.
While it is true that plastic bags are produced from natural gas and recycling them can cut down on crude oil usage, we need plastic bags. Aren’t those large garbage bags we use in the kitchen made out of plastic (polyethylene)? What about the black bags lying on sidewalks of NYC awaiting transport to the landfill?
Plastic grocery bags are perfect as trashcan liners. They are the right size to help isolate your garbage from within your large 13-gallon kitchen trash bags. It typically takes me an entire week to fill a 13-gallon bag with trash. Do I want my watermelon rinds, chicken bones, and avocado pits lying in my kitchen for a entire week? Hell no.
Small grocery bags are also great for cleaning up pet litter, especially in the park.
Indeed, it would be a sad day when all plastic grocery bags are gone.
A vendor at a Japanese supermarket recently suckered me into buying this cucumber dressing. The dressing was imported from Japan and has no English on the bottle. I’m not sure what flavor the dressing even is, but boy is it tasty.