Last Blog!

    I did enjoy English 102; however, I am glad the semester is ending. I really need a break because the Christmas season, school, and work are all very stressful for me. I would have to say the best thing about English 102 was that we were able to pick any subject to write about in regards to the various essays we wrote throughout the semester. I think getting to choose your own topic broadens the choices one has for their essay and it makes writing the essay somewhat easier. When I choose a subject that I like or have knowledge of, it makes my essay better as less time consuming. Choosing a topic also helps because then, I want to research that topic and gain more knowledge about that specific topic. So choosing a topic and writing an essay is actually a learning experience because I am learning grammatical skills and gaining knowledge of the topic I chose.

     I believe the blogs made a huge difference. I think the blogs actually improved my writing skills. The blogs became tough at times because sometimes I had a difficult time coming up with a subject to write about. Even though I had a hard time coming up with topics, I always managed to get my blogs posted. I also liked responding to other classmates of mine. I like seeing what topic each person blogged about and I think that gave me a little insight into their lives. Overall, I really liked reading my classmates’ blogs because there were a variety of topics to read about and the variety gave me ideas to help me write my next blog. I also think posting a thread in the discussion boards in regards to the possible topics for each essay definitely helped when it came down to researching and writing the essay.

     In the future, I would like to continue to blog, but I doubt I will have time. With a new semester approaching, I will have homework assignments to complete, which will limit the free time I have. Therefore, I do not think I will have enough time for blogging. Overall, blogging was a good experience

     I really like this English class and it was a great experience. I actually like English 102 more than English 101. Last semester was my first semester at MSSU; therefore I had to take English 101. At the time, I did not believe that I was a very good writer and I was very nervous about taking English 101. In English 101, we had to read a variety of stories and post response papers summarizing those stories every other day of the week. It was very time consuming and somewhat difficult. However, I did keep up the with amount of homework and ended up passing the class with a solid A. I firmly believe English 101 adequately prepared me for English 102. I believe English 102 was a little easier than English 101 because we did not have to write “response papers” every other day. I know we had to write blogs, but I definitely prefer blogs over “response papers” any day.

     Like I stated before, I did enjoy English 102, but I am glad the semester is over (for this class anyway). I am glad to get a break! Well, I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year! I loved reading everyone’s blog posts and I wish all of my fellow students good luck in their future success! 

Oh, TGIF!

     As the end of the semester draws closer, I am becoming more in the mindset of “It’s almost over!” I am more stressed because it seems as though I have more assignments and tests, but I know it is a result of the semester ending. After next week, I will be completely finished with English and Sociology. Phew, two classes down, three to go. During the week of finals, I actually only have to take two finals: one in math and one in government. I am very nervous about my math final because my professor does not communicate well with his students, so I have no idea what the final will be covering.

     Moreover, work seems like it has been very hectic this week. Usually, work is crazy during the last two weeks of the month because we try to ship many products out the door, so that we can have a higher amount of sales dollars. This week was crazy because many changes were made and then reversed because some of our management team can never make up their minds as to what they want. Also, I had many shipments, which is out of the ordinary, to complete each day before I went home. Each day as I got ready to leave, more shipments would be brought to me. I became very frustrated with that issue because I do not understand why people wait until 20-30 minutes before I go home to give me a lot of shipments that “must” ship that day.

     Also, I had to go to the dentist on Tuesday. At first I was just going to get some fillings, but then the dentist informed me that I needed to have a portion of my tooth cut out. About a year ago, another dentist performed root canal therapy on one of my teeth. Root canal therapy is the same thing as having a root canal. Anyway, the white artificial roots that the dentist put inside my tooth were not long enough. Therefore, the tip of my tooth was abscessing. My new dentist, Dr. Ray Bolin, decided that the tip of my tooth needed to cut/extracted so that I would not get any more infections in that tooth. So anyhow, my dentist cut into my gum line and extracted the tip of my tooth. I currently have several sutures or stitches in my gums. The right side of my face is still very sore, making being at work even more miserable.  

In light of going to the dentist, I had to miss all of Tuesday from work. Missing a day at work always puts me behind in completing my required tasks. However, I came in early the rest of the week so that I could get caught up on my workload.

     Overall, I thank God that it is Friday. I have homework to complete all weekend and hopefully, I will get some time to relax a little bit over the weekend. I think I will be less stressed when Christmas break (from school) finally gets here, but we will see. Christmas may stress me out even more, but everything will work out alright. I am just thankful it is Friday because I was definitely ready for a break! If only the weekend lasted a few days longer…

No More Toys!

On December 1, 2011, CNN released an article stating that one major city in California was going to stop giving away toys and trinkets in kid’s meals. San Francisco has passed a new law that went into effect yesterday, December 1, 2011, that will halt all toys being included in kid’s meals unless the food in those meals meets nutritional requirements. The new law will affect approximately 50 fast-food restaurants, which include McDonald’s, Burger King, Subway, Sonic, and Carl’s Jr. I think this law may be a good thing, but I do not think it should be limited to kid’s meals. The toys included in kid’s meals is not the actual issue, the issue is that meals served at fast-food restaurants are unhealthy and unbalanced nutritionally.

     Currently, McDonald’s Happy and Mighty Kid’s Meals do not meet the requirements of the new law. For example, the kid’s meals must be less than 600 calories and contain fruits and vegetables. The meal also must contain less than 35% of the total calories coming from fat, less than 0.5 milligrams of trans fat, and less than 640 milligrams of sodium. The city of San Francisco believes as a result of the very high calorie intake that the Happy Meals supply, it would be extremely unhealthy to include a meal that should be a balanced nutritional meal.  

     “This is not an anti-toy ordinance; this is a pro-healthy-meal ordinance,” says Rajiv Bhatia, director of occupational and environmental health for the San Francisco Department of Public Health. I still believe toys that are included in kid’s meals are not a bad thing. Personally, I take the toy out of the Happy Meal and put it up until my kids are finished eating. For my children, it provides them with incentive to eat so they can receive their toy when they have eaten all their food. I understand that the kid’s meals may be unhealthy, but if they are so unhealthy, then do not eat at unhealthy fast-food restaurants. Also, repair the meals to make them more nutritional, instead of taking toys out of kid’s meals. For instance, instead of making only the kid’s meals more nutritional, make all meals “across the board” nutritional and healthy.  In 2009, 63.1% of Americans were either obese or overweight.  That is a prime example of why meals at fat-food places should be upgraded nutritionally.

    As for the toys, parents can still purchase toys at the local fast-food restaurants. The toys will cost 10 cents extra.  I think this is a little ridiculous because the toys are not the issue. People have debated that the toys in kid’s meals “lure” children in to wanting a kid’s meal. I understand that a child may want a kid’s meal to get a toy, but the parents are the ones who decide whether or not to buy the child a kid’s meal. In regards to McDonald’s, what is a Happy Meal without a toy? Happy Meals have consisted of toys since their debut in 1979. I guess I just do not see why we, as Americans, cannot just make kid’s meals more nutritional and continue to add toys into those meals.

     Overall, this new law passed in San Francisco is ridiculous. Do we not have anything else worry about, instead of focusing on toys in kid’s meals? It has been said that this law may go nationwide. I will be outraged and on the front lines of the protestors. I just think that meals within fast-food restaurants need to be more nutritionally balanced and healthy for everyone to consume, not just children. I do not wish to see this law go into effect in my area.

     Pretty much it boils down to, Bah Da Bah Bah Bah, I’m not lovin’ it!