Saturday, March 19, 2011

Getting Pissed and Taxes

Got our taxes done today and then talked to our accountant for about an hour on, what else, cooking.  Seems he likes to cook, but has troubles with a few of the mother sauces.  Like Hollandaise for example.  Well, I could have told him that Hollandaise is a bitch of a sauce to make and besides its full of just about everything that's bad for you.  But, then he told me he likes everything that is classically French, like butter, cream, eggs and fat.  Why have a tablespoon when a pint is so much better, he said.  When I said that Europeans usually take hours to eat and really only have one big meal per day, he kind of scoffed and said, "if I don't have the dinner check in my hand in 45 minutes, I go nuts."  Very typical for most Americans.  The lengthy meals and just the one big meal per day is the one of the reasons most Europeans are not obese.   Plus fast food in Europe is not as big as it is here.  At least not yet.

Speaking of fast food;
Last night I watched Food Inc.  If you have not seen this documentary film or read Fast Food Nation, then I would say you need to watch the movie or read the book.  Maybe not do both however.  You will then be really pissed off like I was when I did both.   Every chapter of Fast Food Nation made be more angry than the previous one.  But I couldn't put it down.  Food Inc. is not a great movie.  But, it conveys the message very well.  Companies like Cargil, Nestle, Swift and McDonalds control what you and I eat.  They buy up any competition.  They control how workers are trained and paid.  Controlling how food factories (NOT FARMS) must raise their stock. How they are made to upgrade these factories that continually keep them in debt and in line for the companies purpose.   How E-coli viruses, once very rare, are now widespread and the culprits go unpunished because the people who oversee the food industry in Washington have come from the same industry that they are paid to oversee.  Then do nothing to the offenders.   It really was unsettling and it made me angry.

So, I was pissed off but I did get a refund.  The American Way!

1 comment:

Denise said...

Did you at least drink some amazing red wine from Casperia to drown your anger? That's my solution to all that peeves.

My new favorite quote is, "why have a tablespoon, when you can have a pint?" Your CPA is funny.