It's like a Crock Pot!
HELLO. It's been a while, hasn't it? Let's see. Last flood related news was...oh yes. Crap, two weeks ago. A lot of crap has been going on. Hmm. Well, everyone loves lists!
1) Floodage
I'm not going to give any links cuz that would be effort, i.e. requiring me to look for them. Let me try to stuff it in a nutshell. The river crested on June 13th (I mentioned this) and fell quicker than they expected it to...I think it helped that downstream, it had stopped raining the same time it stopped up here, so it was able to drain. Or something more technical and probably actually correct. Our building is structurally sound, which is GOOD, but there are a lot that aren't. The library was completely flooded, they lost 300,000 books. Little King, Mr. Beans and the Blue Strawberry, all of which are basically IT for diners and little cafes for fooding downtown are not coming back. Little King was directly across the street from my work (in our other building, in which they rented part of the first floor from us). Quiznos probably won't come back, Gringos (really good Mexican restaurant) might not come back and same with Brueggers, which is a bageleteria. There's rumors that the Alliant tower, the building across the street from us, was lifted off its foundation and is therefore not structurally sound. I don't know. I haven't heard anything about Cedar River Tower, either.
10 square miles of Cedar Rapids ended up being affected by the flooding. We had 10 employees within in the company lose everything, one of whom is a co-worker of mine. She will be back to work on Monday.
We are renting a building about 20 miles outside of Cedar Rapids, near to our DR site...it's been rough, just because of all the computer mumbo jumbo they're having to deal with. My dad's been working 18 hours days for two weeks straight. He's hoping to get tomorrow off. It's only about 5 miles farther of a drive for me than driving to work normally is, just in a different direction, so I don't mind it. We started last Monday out in Norway, two shifts. I'm on the early shift, which means I get up at like 3:30 in the morning which MAKES ME SO HAPPY NOT.
We did get nifty t-shirts, though. And free food, including free pizza last Friday. Which leads me to my next number.
2) Yuck
About three weeks ago, I was finally diagnosed as having Celiac disease. While I sound relieved, trust me in that I'm not. I'm actually quite upset and freaked out about the diagnosis, but I'm relieved that I've finally found out what's going on. I've always had these health problems, but was never diagnosed. They finally started running me through the tests and biopsies and experimental diets and all that crap a little bit less than a year ago, so I'm glad that's over and I can move forward. I'm also anemic and hypoglycemic but the doctor thinks that those can be fixed with a proper diet.
From wiki:
Coeliac disease is caused by a reaction to gliadin, a gluten protein found in wheat (and similar proteins of the tribe Triticeae which includes other cultivars such as barley and rye). Upon exposure to gliadin, the enzyme tissue transglutaminase modifies the protein, and the immune system cross-reacts with the bowel tissue, causing an inflammatory reaction. That leads to flattening of the lining of the small intestine (called villous atrophy). This interferes with the absorption of nutrients because the intestinal villi are responsible for absorption. The only effective treatment is a lifelong gluten-free diet. While the disease is caused by a reaction to wheat proteins, it is not the same as wheat allergy.
In laymans terms? This means no bread, no pasta, no cookies and no pizza. MY FOUR FAVORITE FOOD GROUPS.
That's a lie. I could have all those things (I quite often have rice pasta) but I'd have to make them myself using gluten-free flour or order ingredients from the internet and that's work. So I eat fruits and veggies. And meat. Ungh.
3) " I can't believe Tracy savagely bludgeoned an Eagle Scout. That's just not like her." "But it's not true! I was there! He didn't even bleed."
I've discovered two (threeish) new fandoms. Specifically, Death Note and Hairspray. I've always known about Hairspray but I kinda fell into the fandom after re-watching the newest movie. It helps that Zac Efron is um... my guilty pleasure. Cuz he's hot. (AND LEGAL, ASHLEY.) Death Note is...ack, just brilliant. It's a psychological mindfuck of a manga/anime and I love it dearly, yes, I do.
4) Redux
David left yesterday. He's gone until August 14th. He left late cuz of the flooding. But! Now I get the whole bed to myself. Delicious.
5) Last but not least
I cheated and went from Planet of the Ood to Turn Left and The Stolen Earth last night. I have one thing to say:
OMGWTFBBQ?!?!
(I wouldn't want to unnecessarily spoil anyone, of course.)
I think that about covers everything. Is that random enough for you?
Now I have to go clean.
1) Floodage
I'm not going to give any links cuz that would be effort, i.e. requiring me to look for them. Let me try to stuff it in a nutshell. The river crested on June 13th (I mentioned this) and fell quicker than they expected it to...I think it helped that downstream, it had stopped raining the same time it stopped up here, so it was able to drain. Or something more technical and probably actually correct. Our building is structurally sound, which is GOOD, but there are a lot that aren't. The library was completely flooded, they lost 300,000 books. Little King, Mr. Beans and the Blue Strawberry, all of which are basically IT for diners and little cafes for fooding downtown are not coming back. Little King was directly across the street from my work (in our other building, in which they rented part of the first floor from us). Quiznos probably won't come back, Gringos (really good Mexican restaurant) might not come back and same with Brueggers, which is a bageleteria. There's rumors that the Alliant tower, the building across the street from us, was lifted off its foundation and is therefore not structurally sound. I don't know. I haven't heard anything about Cedar River Tower, either.
10 square miles of Cedar Rapids ended up being affected by the flooding. We had 10 employees within in the company lose everything, one of whom is a co-worker of mine. She will be back to work on Monday.
We are renting a building about 20 miles outside of Cedar Rapids, near to our DR site...it's been rough, just because of all the computer mumbo jumbo they're having to deal with. My dad's been working 18 hours days for two weeks straight. He's hoping to get tomorrow off. It's only about 5 miles farther of a drive for me than driving to work normally is, just in a different direction, so I don't mind it. We started last Monday out in Norway, two shifts. I'm on the early shift, which means I get up at like 3:30 in the morning which MAKES ME SO HAPPY NOT.
We did get nifty t-shirts, though. And free food, including free pizza last Friday. Which leads me to my next number.
2) Yuck
About three weeks ago, I was finally diagnosed as having Celiac disease. While I sound relieved, trust me in that I'm not. I'm actually quite upset and freaked out about the diagnosis, but I'm relieved that I've finally found out what's going on. I've always had these health problems, but was never diagnosed. They finally started running me through the tests and biopsies and experimental diets and all that crap a little bit less than a year ago, so I'm glad that's over and I can move forward. I'm also anemic and hypoglycemic but the doctor thinks that those can be fixed with a proper diet.
From wiki:
Coeliac disease is caused by a reaction to gliadin, a gluten protein found in wheat (and similar proteins of the tribe Triticeae which includes other cultivars such as barley and rye). Upon exposure to gliadin, the enzyme tissue transglutaminase modifies the protein, and the immune system cross-reacts with the bowel tissue, causing an inflammatory reaction. That leads to flattening of the lining of the small intestine (called villous atrophy). This interferes with the absorption of nutrients because the intestinal villi are responsible for absorption. The only effective treatment is a lifelong gluten-free diet. While the disease is caused by a reaction to wheat proteins, it is not the same as wheat allergy.
In laymans terms? This means no bread, no pasta, no cookies and no pizza. MY FOUR FAVORITE FOOD GROUPS.
That's a lie. I could have all those things (I quite often have rice pasta) but I'd have to make them myself using gluten-free flour or order ingredients from the internet and that's work. So I eat fruits and veggies. And meat. Ungh.
3) " I can't believe Tracy savagely bludgeoned an Eagle Scout. That's just not like her." "But it's not true! I was there! He didn't even bleed."
I've discovered two (threeish) new fandoms. Specifically, Death Note and Hairspray. I've always known about Hairspray but I kinda fell into the fandom after re-watching the newest movie. It helps that Zac Efron is um... my guilty pleasure. Cuz he's hot. (AND LEGAL, ASHLEY.) Death Note is...ack, just brilliant. It's a psychological mindfuck of a manga/anime and I love it dearly, yes, I do.
4) Redux
David left yesterday. He's gone until August 14th. He left late cuz of the flooding. But! Now I get the whole bed to myself. Delicious.
5) Last but not least
I cheated and went from Planet of the Ood to Turn Left and The Stolen Earth last night. I have one thing to say:
OMGWTFBBQ?!?!
(I wouldn't want to unnecessarily spoil anyone, of course.)
I think that about covers everything. Is that random enough for you?
Now I have to go clean.