I am finishing the last of the steel cut oats I made last weekend. Fuck, I love these.

Every national disaster feels like it's piling on the last few. So even if I avoid Japan news, I see the news I didn't avoid earlier. So my brain fills in Haiti or Pakistan instead. It's really not helpful.

Thank god that Japan had so much earthquake-handling infrastructure in place, but fuck. Fuck.

Thank god that Japan had so much earthquake-handling infrastructure in place, but fuck. Fuck.

I know - it makes the amount of destruction so much more mind-boggling. I mean, 9500 people missing from one town. 9500!!

Steph,

Bittman discusses McD's oatmeal:

[link]

I know I am being pre-mature, but I know at least for me, some of the anxiety the news is causing is in anticipation of what September is going to be like this year. 10 years means a million specials and re-running of news. I have already been hit by ads for that damn PBS special, caught me completely offguard with news footage that sent me in a tailspin of anxiety.

Hummingbird nest with hatchlings.

Wow, that's a live webcam. Thanks, sumi!

some of the anxiety the news is causing is in anticipation of what September is going to be like this year. 10 years means a million specials and re-running of news.

Oh god. I hadn't even thought of that.

I have to go to Boston next month, and I'm having an extraordinary amount of difficulty in figuring out how to get there. I hate to fly, what with security checks, seats that my ass barely fits into, cramped spaces filled with other humans, my growing sense of crowd anxiety (I know where it's coming from but that doesn't make it go away), rigid schedules that don't fit what I'd prefer to be doing, and the fact that our reimbursement is capped at $520, an insanely small amount that will only cover my airline ticket if I fly at dreadfully early hours of the morning out of an airport that's in another city. I'd rather drive, except it's 11 hours if there are no traffic jams and god help me if there are. I could take the train, which would also be 11 hours, but I could, theoretically, relax. I've only ever taken a train once before, but I recall actually being more bored than relaxed after a couple hours. It's hard for me to relax with strangers around and me being alone and having to carry my shit with me every time I leave my seat.

Driving a comfortable rental car with my music playing, being able to stop whenever I want, being able to carry whatever I want with me and leave on my own schedule, trumps everything - until I'm stuck in a traffic jam and yelling "why the fuck didn't I fly?" I don't know. This decision shouldn't be so hard.

As much as I love trains, one thing about them is that freight has priority, which means you can get really long delays. Like 12 hours on occasion. This varies a lot with route, so if somebody on the board knows the quirks of your particular route, that might help you decide.

Mark Bittman is such a drama queen. I didn't see much in there that counters Teppy's analysis from a week or so ago. He just seems to hate McDonald's and fast food culture, really. He's a bit of a food elitist in my opinion.

Yeah, I read that and was a bit taken aback--I mean, yes, it'd be nice if you could get skim milk instead of weird "cream", but the rest of it sounds fine. (Though honestly, if it's only ten calories less than an egg mc muffin, I'd just as soon have one of those--more protein for my morning start, which is what I've had trouble with the oatmeal for!)

ETA: And Zen's route shouldn't be freight train interrupted, except possibly at the beginning (am I remembering Virignia right, Zen?). DC-NYC-BOS is pretty well traveled, Amtrak wise, and they even have semi-speedy trains (Acela) that cost extra (and aren't all that much faster, but are unlikely to end up behind a freight train)

ND,

Mark Bittman is such a drama queen.

No doubt. He has also abandoned his cooking column for a new food blog and so he is an evangelist now.