Also, bonny, insent!

Froot loops for dogs.

Possibly more literally than you imagine. A friend whose son is a truck driver told me that some years ago, one of his assignments was to haul "floor sweepings and mistakes" from the local Malt-O-Meal (you know those cheaper bags of sugary cereals) plant to a pet food plant.

As I understand it, "X likes carrots" isn't so much about any characteristics of X, as it is about the enthusiasm of the person in a new relationship burbling happily on about every trivial discovery made about the other person in that new relationship. It's about the argumentum absurdam of that happy burbling: "OMG, X is so amazing! I like carrots, he likes carrots too! It's like a sign from on high - we are so meant to be!" It is possible that it sprang from some actual conversation here, but if so, we will need someone with a longer memory than mine to recount it.

ETA: It is the recognition of the burbler that the burbling might become a bit annoying if carried on too long.

Vortex, I have been told that drinking lots of water helps by keeping blood volume up.

this may be true. I got a helpful info sheet that listed things that may exacerbate the symptoms and one of them was dehydration.

Possibly more literally than you imagine. A friend whose son is a truck driver told me that some years ago, one of his assignments was to haul "floor sweepings and mistakes" from the local Malt-O-Meal (you know those cheaper bags of sugary cereals) plant to a pet food plant.

Yep. Plus road kill, vet cadavers, research animals, USDA rejects, etc. If it's solid enough to be scooped off a floor, it goes into commercial pet food.

Ick.

Zenkitty, I don't have smonster's carrot recipe, but I personally love Korean carrot salad, which is a bigtime Russian favorite. I've had it at the local Uzbek restaurant, but haven't made it at home yet. It's fabulously spicy in that vinegar-y way, and the recipe I linked looks relatively easy.

My dad didn't eat hot dogs for years after he'd toured a hot dog plant. (The gritty plant floor, because he was selling them a fire alarm system.) I never wanted to know what he saw.

Oh, I meant to say yesterday, Vortex, how happy I am to hear that you have found out what's the matter, and that it's not all that bad.

Not quite, on the "likes carrots". I think there's an entry on the FAQ, but X like carrots when your friends are having an unrelated conversation (say, about recipes for carrots) and your contribution is to sigh and say that X (object of your affection) like carrots.

Yay for St. Woot's virtues and Vortex's non-scary diagnosis.

Hot dogs and bologna both can be made from some fairly scary things, but not if the ingredients are listed as the meat name. Beef hot dogs, for example, have to be made from cuts of beef you'd recognize. The more appalling ingredients are listed as "byproducts," "variety meat" and "mechanically separated."

My father was known to read the ingredients of competitors' bologna at the dinner table.

My father was known to read the ingredients of competitors' bologna at the dinner table.

Oh MY.

The more appalling ingredients are listed as "byproducts" "variety meat" and "mechanically separated."

By products, 'meal,' 'natural flavorings'...all should be avoided in pet food as well.