It happens every year. My body, off it's routine school schedule, decides to torture me with strange sleeping patterns! Despite my greatest efforts to stay on some sort of schedule (I have been getting up in the 6:00 hour, hoping to get my sleep patter under control) I am still having issues (hence the 3 AM post)! So here are the very random thoughts of my brain, wide awake, in the middle of the night!
Meet, Mr. Gas Pump...
At ten this morning I headed across town to get gas. This may sound strange to drive across town past no less than 10 other gas stations to get gas, but there is a good reason! My friend Rob called me and said that one of the radio stations was doing a promotion... the radio station is 103.5 and they were giving you $1.03 cash back for every gallon of gas you purchased at this particular gas station!! The cut off was at 10:35 (inventive, huh?) and I made the cut! In fact, I was the last car allowed to fill up - yay me! I put in 13 gallons of gas and as I pulled away I was handed $14 cash! This is significant because I am usually the person that is behind the person that gets the last prize! So I felt like it was kind of my day!
Meet... Mr. Tomato.
Despite a childhood of not diggin' on the tomatoes, as an adult I have come to love them! Tragic that many beautiful red beauties are now in question. I have noticed some places (Sonic, Taco Bell) have stopped serving tomatoes all together while others (O'Charley's) is still dishing them up proudly on top of their salads! So I checked out the FDA's website because I heard there were certain places tomatoes were okay from and some from which they should be avoided. Did you know that Florida tomatoes are only good if they come from these counties? Jackson, Gadsden, Leon, Jefferson, Madison, Suwannee, Hamilton, Hillsborough, Polk, Manatee, Hardee, DeSoto, Sarasota, Highlands, Pasco, Sumter, Citrus, Hernando, Charlotte. Many states are on the list for okay tomatoes, including Tennessee. I also found it interesting that the FDA says cherry tomatoes, grape tomatoes, and tomatoes sold with the vine still attached, from any source, are fine! Hm. I guess Mr. Salmonella is a picky bacteria... who knew?
Which brings me to meeting...
Mr. Salmonella himself!
Allow me to say... ew! This lovely bacteria is a "family member" of e coli. (Learned that tonight - thank you Google). I wondered how this little guy could end up in so many tomatoes (can you tell, I really care about my tomatoes at 3 AM?). Turns out, most likely, animal waste from birds and other wild animals was deposited on or near the plants containing salmonella. Then the contaminated soil or few contaminated tomatoes can get into the wash water or irrigation system. This, then, infects a whole lot of tomatoes!
So there is your science lesson for today. It is entirely possible that all of my new found knowledge has totally been reported every night on the news and thoroughly explained, but I haven't watched much news lately - it's depressing! I prefer, instead, to read the headlines online.
These have not been the musings of mad woman... just one who can't sleep! Sorry for the randomness - it's just how my brain works in the middle of the night.
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Summer Insomnia
Posted by Meagan at 12:21 AM
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5 comments:
I commented earlier BUT it does not look like it saved =(!
I love your middle of the night ramblings!!! This one was extremely informative =)!
Yay for money back on gas. I never win anything, so I'm happy for you! I know...the tomato thing has made me so sad. I love tomatoes. I need to check that list to see if we are okay. And Google is a great university. I attended many a google class researching autism. What would we do without it?! If your sleeplessnes continues, melatonin might help. It's natural and helps Evan get to sleep every night. :)
Breathe, Lauren, breathe. I have not laughed this hard reading a blog in A LONG TIME. The part about the animal waste just sent me over the edge! I love your brain and I LOVE YOU!
I too Love to hear your late night ramblings. Science is soooo fasinating. Spelling is not. I missed the gas too but then again I love to pay too much for everything, it makes me feel like an overachiever when I clip a few coupons.
love ya
Debbie
You never cease to surprise and amaze me. There's a quote in the book you're currently reading that goes something like this: You think you really know your child; but once that umbilical cord is cut, your child becomes a complete and total stranger to you. She will do thousands of things you'll never hear about." I was conflicted when I read it b/c it's so true and yet so not true. I never knew what a great writer you are until you started blogging. But then I did know (have always known) that my children are, all three of them, completely brilliant!
Love your nocturnal blogging.
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