Tony Brewer

I was recently given a gift of real Maine maple syrup.  This syrup was made by the person who gave me the syrup – he runs a farm that produces hundreds of gallons of maple syrup every year.  I really didn’t know what to make of the gift at first, I’ve always just used the cheap store brand “imitation maple flavored” pancake syrup on my french toast, pancakes, and waffles.  But I thanked the giver enthusiastically and brought it home with me.  He warned me to refrigerate it after opening it, telling me that if I don’t refrigerate it after opening it will grow mold.  And he told me that it is especially good warmed up and poured over vanilla ice cream.

So this morning I decided to try it out for the first time.  I was surprised how thin and runny real maple syrup is!  I’m used to syrup pouring out slow and thick.  It made me wonder what artificial ingredients are put in “pancake syrup” to make it so thick!  And when I tasted the syrup I was really surprised at how really extra sweet it was!  A little bit of syrup can go a long ways!  It was really delicious!  I can’t wait to try it tonight over ice cream!

The biggest first step an addict must take is accepting the fact that he IS an addict and that the addiction is ruining his life, and the lives of those people who love him.  Until the addict faces that fact, no program will help the addict to recover from that addiction.  Some addicts will come to this realization on his own, some will need intervention, and some will never come to the realization and will just continue with the addiction for their entire lives.

Once an addict accepts that he needs help, he can start to look for addiction treatment programs that are tailored to his needs.  The alcoholic might simply choose to quit “cold turkey” or go to meetings, or go through a detox program.  The drug addict may also choose to quit “cold turkey” or choose to go to drug rehabilitation programs.

The stopyouraddiction.com website helps those interested in alcohol rehab or drug rehab find the program that is best suited for their rehabilitation needs.  Their recovery procedures include a wide variety of programs; some are spiritual, some are holistic, some are more traditional.  What they try to do is to determine the needs of each individual client and match them up with the program most likely to help the client with their recovery.  They will also help the clients to obtain financing for the different programs.

Addiction is a terrible thing.  It rules the life of the addict, and the lives of those around him.  The addict claims to be concerned about other people, but the truth of the matter is the only thing they really are concerned about is where their next “fix” is coming from.  When someone is an alcoholic, getting the next “fix” is relatively easy – the alcoholic can legally buy (assuming he is of legal age) his drug of choice.  With a drug addict, getting the next “fix” is risky and dangerous; getting his drug of choice always involve breaking one or more laws.

I was reading an article in Businessweek that there is a bill being promoted by labor unions called the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) that has a good chance of passing into law after this election season is finished.  Essentially it would make it a lot easier for employees of large companies to unionize.  The article gave me the impression that most of the large companies don’t even seem to be aware that the bill is being considered!  I find that to be strange; I would think that they would be right all over this like pigs on slop!

I was reading an article on the Time.com website that the Japanese have designed (and introduced to the market) a new toilet that they say will cost $5,000!  Can you even imagine paying $5,000 for a toilet?  Sounds like they plan to have NASA put it on a rocket ship right?

Well, this toilet is amazing!  The lid lifts and shuts automatically, the seat is heated, and there is a built in night light.  It plays music, and it acts as a bidet (washing the bottom area) and then blow-drying it!  It has different flushing “speeds” so that you can determine how much water and force is used for flushing.  So you save money on water and toilet paper!  So after a few decades, maybe the toilet will end up paying for itself!