McDonald's Iced Coffee

So I tried McDonald's Iced Coffee for the first time and I can sum up my experience in two words:



EXPLOSIVE DIARRHEA.

What the hell do they put in this stuff? I did a little online research and found this message board and it appears I'm not the only one with this issue.

Here are some of the reviews:

"I tried the sugar-free iced vanilla coffee this morning. 1 hour later I had cramping and diahrrea so bad. Do they put sorbitol in the sugar free? It felt like I had eaten too much sugar free candy. I do love the taste of the coffee, but not sure I want to side effects."
Posted by: Annie | April 08, 2008 at 05:22 PM

"I read these reviews and was instantly horrified by the tales of people getting shaken up inside, but I chose to try the iced coffee anyways. I opted for the vanilla flavored large sized. Words can hardly describe the taste of this drink. I can say the it was like a Greek goddess of taste buds released her power and flavor fairies were dancing on my tongue. I was unable to make the drink last more than a few minutes. The joy was short lived. I was driving home and the all mighty laxative power unleashed its fury on my innocent and unsuspecting stomach. I broke out in a cold sweat and contemplated running every red light due to the sheer pain I was in. Five minutes later I was home and penguin walking into the house. What ensued could is best described as a wooly mammoth getting kick in the junk. I was down for the count. I fear that I may have suffered internal and possibly external injuries. Once it is safe to leave the house I will probably go buy another one because they are that flipping GOOD. I will just wait until I get home to drink it."
Posted by: T-Dog | April 09, 2008 at 08:07 PM

"I got sick the first two times, but I think I got used to it and I don't notice it any more. The stuff is pretty much an intense laxative though... so make sure there is a restroom nearby. Seriously. Its difficult to explain the effect this will have on your body. Tastes amazing. Nice and cheap. McDonalds is the best restaurant ever. I limit myself to 1 per week though because its just so bad for you. But it sure tastes good."
Posted by: Cory | March 28, 2008 at 12:39 PM

"My friend Tammy and I are standing here and we have a new name for the McDonalds Iced Coffee. It's now called the "McColonic" it's cheaper then a colon cleanser!!! We love them but we can't stop with egg farts!!! LOL!!!:)"
Posted by: lisa | March 27, 2008 at 10:09 PM

"Loved the carmel flavor! Wish they had soy milk as an option. My stomach was hurting after and I was bloated because of the milk. It was not strong enough for me!"
Posted by: Shani Vo | March 26, 2008 at 11:12 PM

"I drank it the first time and loved it...1 hour later I was doubled over with severe stomach/abdominal cramps to the point where I thought maybe they did not rinse the pot after cleaning it and considered going to the hospital. It lasted for about 2 hours. Three months later, I decided to give it another shot since I did love the "coffee" and had the exact same reaction. I had no idea so many other people were experiencing similar effects. I read somewhere about all the additives that are in their coffee. It sounds similar to Olean...unfortunate because their coffee truely does taste great."
Posted by: RO | January 08, 2008 at 05:34 PM

"Yes I felt pukey from it too; it was delicious and I was disappointed that I could not get one again the next day as I felt nauseous; took the third time trying it to realize it was the iced coffee making me sick. And I think it is the CARRAGEENAN ingredient - have read a lot of people get sick, upset stomach from it although it is also in creamers and ice cream."
Posted by: no name2 | October 22, 2007 at 08:29 PM


Aside from these lovely side effects it also gives you an INTENSE buzz. After a few sips you'll feel like the spaz in the commercial.

even more annoyed

I'm watching American Idol and they are showing a montage of "celebrities" singing and dancing to I'm a Believer by the Monkees and it's one of the gayest things I've seen on television in quite some time.

annoyed

I have a love hate relationship with my Roomba.

They make it look so easy here but what about those times when it gets wedged underneath furniture or stuck on the corner of a throw rug or when the damn lady inside keeps barking, "PLEASE REMOVE AND CLEAN ROOMBA'S BRUSHES!"

Why don't they ever show that in an infomercial!?!?

I'm about at the end of my rope with this piece of modern technology.

Farewell to my friend

Say hello to my friend Aaron. Say goodbye to my friend Aaron. Aaron is going to leave the paradise of Southern California and travel the world. He was one of the first people I met when we moved here and has been such an amazing friend ever since. I am going to miss him tons but I know we'll stay in touch via modern technology.

Check out his blog, The Bright Path for inspirational updates on his journey and amazing photographs of his upcoming travels. And feel free to drop him a message too. He'd like that.

Wow - What a bargain!

This seller lists his Volvo on ebay for the low low price of $12,345,678.00. I actually sent the seller an e-mail saying that it was a nice car, however it was priced about $12,320,678.00 too high. He may have already changed the price by the time people read this post.

Speaking of random things on ebay, we just won a tattoo of my father from 1964 when he played for the Kansas City Athletics. Here's a pic:

Something a bit unusual but I thought it was cool. Years ago we found a bouncy ball with a picture of him in the middle that was inside cereal boxes in the late 60's. Come to think of it, I wonder where that ball is now. I really hope Wrigs did not get a hold of it. I'm going to look for it right now.

I love these pads!

Since I've been sticking to a budget for '08 I've eliminated facials from my monthly spending. I found these amazing beta hydroxy pads from Trish McEvoy that make your skin feel soft and exfoliated, fresh from a facial clean! And the other thing I noticed is that you can actually cut the pads in half and still get the full effect. I guess this would depend on your overall face size - if it's small to average size, half the pad works fine. But if you happen to have a pancake face like this then I'd recommend using the entire pad.

So for $65 you get 40 pads, which cut in half = 80. That comes out to about .81 cents a pad. And you're only supposed to use these pads on average 2 times a week so they have the potential to last you up to 10 months. $6.50 a month sure the heck beats a $150 facial!

I will find any reason to justify a shopping purchase.

A New Chumley

Tom and I agree that Chumley would be the perfect pet if we could make just a few minor adjustments:

• If we could remove all of his teeth.

• If he would stop urinating on all our furniture and beds and if he didn't have one of these.

• If he would stop sticking his litter clumped paws in our beverage glasses for a taste.

• If he would stop dive bombing face first into our food when we are trying to eat or cook something on the stove. 

• If he would stop the loud bellowing between 2:00 and 3:00 in the morning.

• If he would stop knocking everything off our countertops and shelves.

• If he would stop licking photographs and magazine covers.

• If he would not try to kill every person that walks through our front door.

• If he would stop pulling the yarns out of my home made shawls and scarves.

• If he would stop chewing and thus destroying the charger cords for our laptops and cell phones.

• If he would stop hitting the screen of my lap top or book I am reading when he's having one of his fits.

• If he would stop jumping from floor to head level when he's upset and trying to get attention.

• If he would stop pawing out all this food, spreading it across the kitchen counter, which then attracts ants. 

• If he would just learn to throw up on the hardwood floor and not our couch, bed or throw rugs (but this I know he can't help so I'll have to let it go.)

• If he would let me pet him.

• If he would not attack us, period.

• Oh and if he would stop sleeping curled up on MY same pillow at night. Though it wouldn't be so bad if he didn't have this anymore.

Is that too much to ask? And yes, I realize that in the above pic Chum is donning a nice striped tie. That's his good boy tie and I put it on him when he's being good. He actually doesn't mind it. Yes he's weird. He loves getting his toe-nails clipped and he likes to wear ties and scarves. You figure him out.

Coal Miner's Husband

Much to Tom's displeasure, I like to read in bed at night. It's always a sore subject because he prefers a "lights out" regimen once his head hits the pillow. I thought we could compromise so I invested in one of these:


I like how it illuminates the pages of my book but Good God, if you look in the general direction of the bulb, you will go blind. And since Tom is laying below the rays he occasionally gets a beam shot in the eye - which doesn't make him too happy.

So tonight, we're in bed early, both not feeling well and after cleaning the thermometers, I grab for my book and click on the light.

Tom says in a grumbly voice, "Oh great. Working in the coal mines again tonight?"

Even when he's a grump ass with a low grade fever, he makes me chuckle.

Ass Effects?

Tom and I are still sprawled out on our couches engrossed in our laptops and this commercial came on. We weren't looking at the television when we heard the narrator. Tom looks at me and says "Ass effects?"

Seriously, what halfwit comes up with names for this stuff?

Speaking of, do you want to know if you're an idiot?

Take the test.

(Warning: It's addicting)

Took 3 tries but I finally finished it.

Now Tom and I are lying in bed with digital thermometers sticking out of our mouths. He is very warm to the touch so I took his temperature a few minutes ago and it registered 96.3. I didn't think that was correct so now I'm taking my own (with the thermometer he just used) while I stuck an older digital thermometer back into his gob for a second opinion. His beeped and showed 96.3 again! Mine is 95.8. Is that low? How come we both feel warm but have low temps? Time to google.

A whole lotta moanin' going on-

-and it's not the good kind.

Tom and I both contracted an upper respiratory virus, complete with ear infections and excess fluids.

FUN!

We're both sitting on our respective couches in the family room, watching American Idol, with laptops on our lap (me- doing this, he- checking out replacement parts for our dryer that just stopped working) and every few moments one of us lets out a loud "Oooooohhhhh" or a nasally "Ehhhhhhhnnn."

Speaking of Idol:

Jason Castro- AMAZING!!! Loved his rendition of Over the Rainbow. He blew the rest of the Idols away. Though I wasn't a big fan of the skin tight pants. He looked a little unusual on stage with the tight pants and ukulele. But his voice was phenomenal.

Kristi Lee Cook- I didn't think she was that bad. Her vocals were strong tonight.

Syesha Mercado- Should have picked a different song. Can't compete with Fantasia (or Whitney for that matter!) She'll be in the bottom 3. Or is it 2 now?

David Cook- song choice: STOOOOOPID and you could barely hear his vocals. Was annoyed throughout his entire performance.

David Archuleta- Does he have some issues? I don't mean to be "un-PC" but I think he's on medication for some type of something.

Brooke White- seemed very unnatural and awkward when she sang. I thought she sang well but she just seemed very uncomfortable tonight. Maybe she has her period.

Carly Smithson- Buh-bye. You will be voted off tomorrow.

Ok back to moanin'.

Walking on Eggshells

So I finished A New Earth (finally) and felt it an extremely worthwhile read. I was all set to read Eat, Pray, Love but then by some cosmic intervention I stumbled upon this book which to be honest, comes to me at the right time.

Here's an Amazon reviewer's opinion on the book:
Guest Reviewer: Po Bronson

-When we tell family stories, we so often focus on the beginning and the end. The beginning is the two decades of our childhood and adolescence, and it's been the favorite narrative arc ever since Freud. What happens in your childhood does not stay in your childhood--it haunts the rest of your life. In the last decade, we've suddenly heard more stories of the end--narratives constructed around a parent's death, and often the year spent caring for that parent on their deathbed.

Because these are the conventional narratives, they often distract our attention from the many decades in between. We barely even have a terminology for these years--and the terms we employ sound like oxymorons: "Adult Children," "Parents of Adults." There's an old saying: you can choose your friends, but you can't choose your family. In the beginning this is true--we're in the care of our parents, like it or not. And in the ending this is also true--they're in our care, like it or not. But in the long middle, this isn't so true. The middle is a period where both child and parent can keep their distance, if they prefer. And often do, harboring resentment. We too often accept that this is just the way it is. "She's never going to change" is a common, fatalist refrain.

In Walking on Eggshells, Jane Isay shines a much-needed light on these years. With a graceful respect for the families she investigates, she tells their stories--how they lost their love, and how they regained it. Isay covers the many ways families develop resentment, and the many techniques they employed to make peace. She shows that small changes in routine can go a long way to restoring goodwill. But it's not a self-help book; it's more of a literary contemplation, and we learn more by inspiration than by emulation.

Though this book addresses the parents directly, I suspect it will be passed back and forth, between generations, in many a family. --Po Bronson-

****************************

Hi, me again. My question to all of you:

How can one NOT benefit from reading this book?

Nordstrom, Target and now Pinkberry

I can take up residence at the Irvine Spectrum seeing that Pinkberry has now opened its doors.

Eva Cassidy...

...was an amazing musician. And her voice - it takes my mind and soul to another place.

Here are some favorites:
Autumn Leaves
Songbird

And this digitally enhanced duet with Katie Melua is pretty damn cool. Both voices blend so well together. Katie has stated that Eva was her inspiration for writing her very first song, a tribute to Eva.

I am in awe of such talent.

Orbit Power Wheelchair

What kind of blue hair list am I on now???

The Dysfunctional Family Letter Generator

This is brilliant!!!

The Giving Tree

One of my favorite books as a kid.

It's 4:34 am and...

I'm staring at my lap top keyboard.

I never noticed that certain letters also had little numbers written on the bottom right hand corner.

U, I, O

J, K, L

and M all have mini numbers.

Oh wow! If you hold down the "fn" key (located on the lower left hand corner of the keyboard) the numbers appear!

They are normal size though, not mini as they appear on the keys. Dang.

I am a Murderer.

Ok that may be a bit harsh but I can't get past the fact that on our morning walk, while deeply engrossed in the final chapter of A New Earth, I smushed a sweet brown garden snail with my shoe.

99.9% of the time I am scanning the streets and sidewalks for them in case they may be underfoot of other pedestrians or car tires. Due to the cold temps and drizzle in the last week I've probably displaced 6 snails a day (making sure to point them in the direction they were already headed).

And today I failed.

I'm sorry little guy. I won't let this happen again.

Final Jeopardy

-was an easy one tonight...

"THE FIRST BASEBALL WORLD SERIES GAME PLAYED OUTSIDE THE U.S. WAS PLAYED IN THIS CITY IN 1992"

(answer in comments)

And while we're on the subject of game shows, do you ever notice on Wheel of Fortune, if a contestant keeps spinning the wheel when just about every single letter is up there and the puzzle is pretty much solved except for one or two missing letters, Pat Sajak gets kind of pissy with the contestants who opt to spin. And if they happen to land on Bankrupt you KNOW he wants to say something like, "Well that's what you get GREEDY BASTARDS!" You just know that's what he's thinking.

Though I've never lived in Long Island...

I was a Lolita.

Twice.

I was 14 and a sophomore in high school (had a late birthday) and met a much older boy. He was 22. (With just the right make-up and padded bra I could make myself look a LOT older.) I went to an ultra conservative super preppy Catholic school about 45 minutes from where I lived and needless to say it didn't really fit my personality or lifestyle. I preferred to hang around my public school friends who lived much closer and were a bit more liberal in their thinking and behavior. That's when I met the man. He told me he was 18 and I told him I was 16 so for a while we didn't seem like too much of an odd pair. While we were at a drive-in movie, watching Dirty Dancing (how fitting!) I reached into his pocket and pulled out---his LICENSE (perverts!) and that's when I saw his birthdate. It was then that I told him my real age and for about 30 minutes straight, all I remember him saying was "NO WAY! NO WAY!! NO F*CKING WAYYYY!!!!!" We both realized there was just way too big an age difference and it wasn't a good idea to continue seeing each other. Now, for the record, no deed was done, all we had ever done was kiss. I'm 100% serious about this.

So we decided that we couldn't see each other anymore but we still talked on the phone EVERY single night and even wrote letters and cards to each other. It was weird. I probably act more immature now at 35 then I did at 14 and that's why the "friendship" continued to evolve. We realized after a while that we still enjoyed each others company (and hell, he used to let me drive his car, even without a learner's permit!) so we started to hang out again.

I remember one afternoon he drove me home from school and my mom wasn't home. We sat in the family room and watched MTV and this video came on. Cheezy, I know but during the video we started to kiss and things got a little heated. The part of the song where it goes, "I don't want to touch you too much baby, cuz, making love to you might drive me crazy" was playing and he stopped kissing me and freaked out and said he couldn't do this anymore. He got up to leave and told me that he was afraid he would end up in jail. I had no idea what he was talking about. I never even realized that the age difference was actually illegal. He told me that we just couldn't see each other anymore. And he didn't want to talk or write letters or anything. He left my house (with blue balls) and I sat on the couch confused. Why the heck would he go to jail?

Later that night, he called. He asked, "How many people know my REAL age?" I told him nobody did because I knew they would tell me I'm crazy, so everyone thought he was still 18. He said okay let's keep it that way, no matter what never tell anyone I'm 22. Ok, ok.

So we continued to "date" for a couple more months and by now I had turned 15 which meant he also turned another year older. He would send flowers to school and write me songs (he was in a band) and for a silly teen it was pretty flattering.

Until I met...another 22 year old.

This time, it was a professional baseball player. And we dated (long distance) for almost a year. He thought I was 18 (because that's what I told him) but I blew it when I started school the next semester and told him I was taking Driver's Ed. He said, "WHAT??? Why so late??? Is the law different in Illinois?"

Woops.

The funny thing is when he would come into town to play the Cubs (he played for Cincinnati) he would have a car service pick me up at home and bring me to the games. He was very much a gentleman, and he wouldn't have wanted me to drive down by myself anyway. So he really never thought to ask me if I could drive so the subject never came up. Until I opened my big fat mouth.

There's something incredibly liberating about sharing this on my public journal. I may just start to purge all my scandalous secrets on here.

I still think my best dating story dates back to when I was 21 and dated a 36 year old bi-sexual model. DAMN was he hot! And so was his boyfriend.