reminiscence – Page 10 – Go Retire Psychiatrist

We Tried Domino’s New York Style Pizza

The other day, we tried a large Domino’s New York style pizza. You may have seen a recent commercial in which focus group members at first aim criticisms at Domino’s pizza until the leader springs the new pizza on them without telling them what brand it is. After they rave about it, the leader tells them (surprise!) it’s the new foldable New York style pizza. They rave about it.

Our curiosity about it peaked after we saw this really enthusiastic YouTuber posted a video (from his car; why do they do that?) reviewing it.

So, Sena got a Domino’s large takeout 3 topping with extra cheese (Italian sausage, pepperoni, and mushrooms). It was actually pretty good, though I thought it could have used more tomato sauce.

Domino’s has been around a long time. Back in the 1980s when I was an undergraduate at Iowa State University in Ames, Domino’s got a fair amount of criticism. I can’t remember exactly why. I think it had something to do with their 30-minute delivery promise or you got the pizza free deal.

I found an article about focus groups for the purpose of changing the Domino’s pizza recipe but it was published in 2010. So why are we seeing commercials about it nowadays?

The pizza box is interesting and funny. One of the many messages on it reads: “Domino’s Carryout: It’s like a pizza-scented air freshener for your car except you don’t hang it from the mirror.” There are several messages on it indicating Domino’s sensitivity to protecting the environment. It’s almost like they’re trying too hard to be liked including one that says:

“We take pride in being en-pie-ronmentally friendly.”

They also take pride in asking for tips. Sena gave him a 10% tip, just for handing her the carryout pizza.

Here’s my tip: Don’t use focus group commercials and put more tomato sauce on the pizza. You’ll be fine.

Earthquakes and Railroads and Magic Fingers, Oh My!

The hotel we’re staying in while our house is being built is very close to railroad tracks. We hear the whistle and then, we feel the train going by. No kidding, we can feel the rumble. It shakes the chairs, the sofa, the bed. The whole room shakes for as long as the train passes through the area.

It’s kind of an eerie sensation. It reminds me of the Illinois earthquake in 2010, which was felt by many in Eastern Iowa. It rattled our bed. That went on for a few minutes.

And some of you X-Files fans will get it when I say this free association would naturally lead to memories of the Bad Blood episode (season 5). This hilarious show features Mulder and Scully telling their own versions of what happened in a little town full of vampires. Both agents got all shook up using the Magic Fingers on a hotel bed.

Scrub to about 2 minutes into the YouTube to see the first Magic Fingers earthquake. There’s more, but you’ll get the idea.

U-Haul is Laying Down the Lavatory Law!

Ok, the other day, we were out to U-Haul, not to get more boxes, thank goodness, but so I could use the bathroom.

There was this new sign on the door laying down the law about how construction workers should keep it clean-or else.

You should know that the Iowa City U-Haul is building a huge new facility with tons of self-storage. I can’t tell you how much money we’ve spent on boxes, packing wrap, and tape and more. We kept going back for more punishment.

After the moving was done, I couldn’t bring myself to even look at the U-Hall sign whenever we passed it. It just reminded me of the pain. I can’t even avoid it when I look out the hotel window. Yes, there are two U-Haul centers, one in Coralville and the big one going up in Iowa City. I can see the Huge U-Haul sign rising above the Long Horn Steakhouse. I can’t unsee it.

I remember detasseling corn when I was a kid, and some of you may remember that if you grew up in the midwest where people grow corn just to torture kids who need a summer job. At the end of the day of detassling, when I collapsed on my bed, my hands curled into claws from grabbing tassels, I would close my eyes-and not be able to sleep because I would hallucinate with closed eyes miles and miles of corn fields.

The same kind of thing happened after all the packing was done. I closed my eyes and saw nothing but corrugated cardboard boxes. I can’t unsee it.

Where was I? Oh, yeah, the U-Haul lavatory law. How do you ban the construction guys from using the bathroom? They’re the ones building the new U-Haul complex, complete with a zillion self-storage units.

More important, what did the construction guys do to get the book thrown at them like that? Did they try to flush boxes down the toilet? Did they stick packing wrap all over the mirror? Did they tape the flush lever down? It’s impossible to tell now; the bathroom is spotless.

I’m tempted to ask the U-Haul clerks about it. But that means I would have to return to U-Haul. Not that. Can’t do it; won’t do it. You can’t make me. I’ll use another bathroom.

Where is the Weather Channel Going?

Have you noticed where the Weather Channel is going lately with its commercials? We’ve been staying in a hotel while our house is being built and the TV defaults to the Weather Channel-no matter which channel it’s on when you turn it off.

OK, what’s up with the Blue Chew commercials? I honestly thought it was about chewing tobacco with food coloring until I noticed (and how could you not notice?) that there were several women with serious cleavage holding up a bag with the name “Blue Chew” on it and repeating the name over and over.

Is the Weather Channel hurting for sponsors that now they have to swing chesty women in front of you to get your attention? It used to be about barometric pressure. Now it’s about boobymongous babes.

This commercial gets heavy rotation. You notice the women more than the weather. Maybe that’s the idea. You don’t notice how bad the weather is because the in-your-face mammaries on parade compete for your attention.

I know this sounds like a guy thing-and it is. On the other hand, the big boob picture, (I mean the big picture), are all the in-your-face commercials you see nowadays: Lume, Artificial Intelligence (how many times do you see the Google Gemini jingle in a minute?), and “Bienvenido la vida mas fina?”

What’s your favorite annoying commercial? When I look back, I think of the old Rice Krispies opera style commercial in 1967.

Back to the Clear Creek Trail

We’re moving back a little closer to Coralville although technically we’ll still be in Iowa City. We always used to walk the Clear Creek Trail. It’ll be good to be back.

When Do We Get Out of the Woods?

We were out walking the Terry Trueblood Trail the other day. It’s always good to get out of the hotel where we’re staying until our house is built. I get this cooped up feeling and it feels great to escape.

While we were on the trail, we saw this huge field of giant, golden prairie plants that looked familiar. It lined both sides of the walking trail. It was giant mullein. We saw it for the first time a couple of years ago while walking the trail.

Anyway, when you got perspective on it, it gave a sense of coming out of the dark, coming out of the woods.

It reminded me of that scene in Wizard of Oz when Dorothy and the guys emerge from the dark woods into the light. There’s this great little song in the scene that I finally discovered is called “Optimistic Voices.” I found this blog post about it posted back in 2015 by a writer named Marti Wukelic. The blog is called Is There Life After Retirement?

It captured how I felt that day, surrounded by giant mullein. I know that sounds ironic because we were in a sense in the woods of a field of giant prairie plants.

But giant mullein is a sunny color. On both sides of the trail, it rose high above our heads. It was like a giant, golden hallway to heaven and we were stepping into the sun.

Annual Kickball Challenge Tonight: Psychiatry Residents vs Faculty

I almost forgot to announce the annual KickBall Challenge, which is tonight! This used to be called Matball, but is now called Kickball.

It starts with pizza at 6 pm and then the barfing starts at 7 pm. Just kidding! Usually this event is marked by extreme heat and humidity, but I gather it may be almost balmy by comparison tonight-around 78 degrees.

What’s the difference between matball and kickball? I think it’s the use of large mats for bases and that is usually played indoors. The size of the bases during the first match was like the one in the photo below. It rained briefly, but then it cleared off so the humidity only felt like it was raining.

I never actually played in a game of matball/kickball. In fact, I took it easy because the temperature was usually in the mid-90s at least.

The faculty team losers in the first matball/kickball match were accused of suspending the resident team trophy in Jello. I refuse to answer any questions about the issue on the grounds it may incriminate me.

Other special rules apply as usual, at least I assume:

For every point the residents score, faculty automatically score 5.

Faculty may tackle the base runner at any time.

If it rains, faculty win by 10 points.

The games are fun to watch. Residents jumping over faculty; Faculty collapsing from pizza overload or heat stroke.

Just win, baby.

Go Fly a Kite Right Now!

We got a couple of those ready-made kites the other day, took them out to Terry Trueblood Park and man did they fly! We used to fly kites you had to spend a little time and effort putting together back in the day. It was close to 90 degrees but we barely noticed.

I remember the first time we ever flew a kite. I was in medical school and we lived out in one of the cinder block apartment houses on Hawkeye Drive in Iowa City. They don’t exist anymore. The kite flew like a dream—and got stuck in a tree.

The next time we flew a kite was well after I graduated from residency. We got a kite that I couldn’t stop flying. I flew it in the nearby park, and afterward flew it in our driveway for hours.

There’s nothing like flying a kite.

Releasing Your Inner Nerd

Getting the new laptop reminds me of my pocket protector nerd days. That’s because the modern laptop is a sharp contrast to the big heavy desktops. I worked for consulting engineers back in the stone age and I wore a pocket protector. Some people might not know what that is. It’s a little plastic pen holder that fits in your shirt pocket. It protects your shirt from ink spots, but makes you look like a nerd. I would also keep notes on a little pocket flip cover paper notebook.

It was mandatory that you carry six or seven pens and mechanical pencils in the pocket holder, which typically would be emblazoned with some kind of engineering advertising label: Nerdy Engineers Are Us or The Silos of Tomorrow.

When I graduated to a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) complete with stylus, I thought that was a major upgrade. It was a mobile handheld device on which I took notes using a stylus. It was a little on the big side for my shirt pocket, so it displaced the paper notebook and the pocket protector.

You can see the PDA in action by watching the Men in Black II movie in which a couple of junior level men in black are using them to take notes. This is the scene at Ben’s Pizza Parlor in which Frank the talking pug says the deflated body of Ben has “zero percent body fat” and the two men in black laugh at the joke.

Also on the nerdy side, I used to wear bow ties. They were kind of fun to tie. I had many. One of them was plaid, which I realize raises the nerd level up a notch. My nerd fashion attire also included (you might want to sit down for this)—clip on suspenders. I later graduated to the suspenders you button on the inside of your pants beltline.

I think you can still release your inner nerd by getting a pocket protector. And remember, you didn’t hear it from me.