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No offense, but this thread hasn’t been about you for quite a while.

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You are here: Home / Pet Blogging / Pet Rescue / Open Thread

Reader Interactions

50Comments

  1. 1.

    MattR

    I am kinda curious if I am gonna get a Pet Calendar from my aunt for my birthday even though I’ve already received the two I bought – one for me and one for her as a Hanukkah present.

  2. 2.

    Violet

    Awesome! I think I’m going to order a mug. They’re big mugs, right?

    Since this is an open thread…does anyone have any experience with Vitamin B12 deficiency? Know anyone who has had it? Were they seen by a doctor and treated? Did it help?

    I’ve been reading up on it and I think it could explain some symptoms that someone I know has. This person is a long-term strict vegetarian (almost vegan), so is definitely in a risk category for it.

    I’d be interested in hearing if anyone has an experience with it. Thanks.

  6. 6.

    jeffreyw

    @Violet: Don’t know about deficiencies in it, but my doctor prescribed a B-complex for me. One dose daily. I think it may have some utility in preventing nerve damage due to diabetes, but I’m not really sure about that. I can attest that it turns my urine bright yellow, damn near day-glo yellow. It’s so distinctive in the snow that disguising my handwriting is useless.

  7. 7.

    WereBear

    @Violet: I feel for your friend. You are probably right about the vegetarianism; there really aren’t any vegetable sources for b12, though they deny it.

    A marvelous book on the subject is The Vegetarian Myth, written by a former vegan who permanently ruined her health; and improved only somewhat when she began eating animal products again. I found it to be a wonderfully written and thought provoking work.

  8. 8.

    wmd

    Are these heat activated mugs? With different taglines when filled with hot liquid?

    Not that I can afford one…. I’ve still got an old Joel Furr produced mug from usenet days that has big 7 newsgroups on it when cold and alt newsgroups when hot and it seemed like the technology would lend itself to tagline rotation.

  9. 9.

    arguingwithsignposts

    Mr. Cole, your loyal commentariat thanks you for listening.

    Now, I believe someone also suggested a shirt with the rotating tag lines all on in some sort of design, maybe wordle-like. I would buy one of those, maybe black with the light blue lettering.

    And I got my calendars today. Quite nice, and fast service too.

    And @Mike Kay – how many of you are there?

  11. 11.

    katherine

    The calendars are perfect holiday gifts. Hopefully my relatives will be as excited as I am that my kitties are centerfolds.

  13. 13.

    Mnemosyne

    I got all excited about getting a tagline mug, but there’s no “a refuge for a snarling mass of vitriolic vicious jackals” one. I haz a sad now.

  14. 14.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @jeffreyw #6: Heh. I’m not built properly to write my name in the snow, but I remember several years ago when I was taking a short-term something I can’t even remember except it was a huge green capsule. First pee of the morning was always a bright, almost electric green. As the day wore on, it would gradually fade to an attractive chartreuse-peridot tint.

    Sorry if TMI but you started it!

  15. 15.

    slank

    I got my pet calendar and it is hard to believe how much cute there is in it!!
    As for the Vit. B problem, at our clinic there are a few people who have to come in weekly for B12 shots and they swear by them. Definitely should see a doctor and get some tests.

  17. 17.

    General Stuck

    @Violet:

    We are omnivores, and vegetarianism is not a healthy thing imo. Specially on the protein front, we needs us some meat protein of some sort, imo. And I know a lot of folks disagree with this, but from my own personal experience, it is true.

    Don’t know how B 12 metabolism fits into this, but I wouldn’t be surprised. I got all screwed going all veggie decades ago. Of course, also drinking a case of beer or so about every day may have contributed some.

  20. 20.

    Mnemosyne

    @General Stuck:

    We are omnivores, and vegetarianism is not a healthy thing imo.

    Meh. Lacto-ovo (aka milk and egg product) vegetarianism can be perfectly healthy. It’s once you start cutting out all animal proteins that you can start running into problems because the human body isn’t nearly as efficient at getting proteins and minerals (like calcium) out of plants as it is at getting them from animal products.

  22. 22.

    JGabriel

    I still think “This is why we can’t have nice things”* should be added to the Balloon Juice taglines.

    *Sign seen at the Jon Stewart rally.

    .

  23. 23.

    Litlebritdifrnt

    I was a vegetarian until I moved to the US when I realized that I would basically starve without meat products. In the UK there is a huge veggie market Quorn, Soy, veggie burgers you name it. Here not so much, unless I want to spend half my annual income on a veggie lasagna.

  24. 24.

    Mnemosyne

    @Litlebritdifrnt:

    Depends on which part of the US you live in. Here in sunny California, I can think of three fake meat brand names available at my local supermarket (and that’s not counting the dozen or so available at Whole Paycheck Foods).

    The South and Midwest, not so much.

  25. 25.

    SiubhanDuinne

    I was a vegetarian once, but it turned out that merely eliminating animal protein and subsisting on wine, coffee, chocolate and cigarettes wasn’t a great idea.

    What finally sent me screaming back into omniverousness, though, was going to a conference banquet. Everyone else had prime rib. I gave my little “V” ticket to the waiter, who brought me a big white dinner plate with three things on it: a big heap of mashed potato, a big heap of white rice, and a big heap of egg noodles.
    *

    I posted in an earlier thread that I got a Very! Excited! Indeed! message from Café Press telling me that my order of three BJ pet calendars is on the way. I love that their shipping confirmation emails always start WOO HOO! So cute.

  26. 26.

    Litlebritdifrnt

    @Mnemosyne:

    In the South if it doesn’t involve bacon fat, barbeque, ham hocks, and whatever else you are doomed. I learned this when I ordered a “veggie plate” and found large slabs of bacon fat in my green beans, slivers of ham in my cabbage, and again bacon fat in my cauliflower. WTF!

  27. 27.

    MikeJ

    Why would anybody want to eat fake meat? If you like veggies, eat veggies. If you like meat, eat meat. I’ve never tried to make veal taste like eggplant. Why on earth would somebody do the opposite?

    I like veggies to much to want to eat bland, flavourless patties that somebody think looks like a burger.

    And while I’m complaining, I want my url hover preview moved back to the status(add-on) bar where god intended it to be. And I want my reload button moved back to the proper side of the address bar.

  28. 28.

    WereBear

    I was vegetarian in my twenties; I lasted nine months. I gained many pounds from all the starches, I was tired all the time, and I caught everything that came down the pike.

    I’m much better off with my present eating plan. But I can see how some people would have a different metabolism for it and might do okay. But vegans are missing some vital nutrients. B12 would be one of them.

  31. 31.

    Mnemosyne

    @MikeJ:

    Why would anybody want to eat fake meat?

    Cooking a veggie burger in the microwave is much quicker and less messy than making a meat burger the same way. Plus brands like Morningstar Farms make a pretty tasty product. It doesn’t taste “like a hamburger,” but it tastes pretty darn good. (Boca products are just plain slimy, though. Yuck.)

    Basically, it’s a slightly healthier junk food choice. Morningstar Farms veggie corn dogs are really good and, let’s face it, it’s not like corn dogs have the finest meat products in them to begin with.

  32. 32.

    MikeJ

    @Mnemosyne: But instead of eating fake meat you could eat real veggies.

    Chickens don’t have fingers, so chicken fingers are out of my menu. No plant grows in the shape of a patty. I like veggies. Why hide the taste?

    I’d rather eat very lightly processed meat than factory formed food that comes from an unidentifiable source.

  33. 33.

    Paula

    @MikeJ:

    I’m only a semi-vegetarian, and sometimes I want meat. (I’m anemic, but I’ve been super-terrible about my iron-rich veggies lately so I’ve been eating chicken and beef sporadically.) But I gotta say that sometimes I also specifically crave soy-meat products like Tofurky and fake-chicken nuggets. Of course, in southern Cali, you can have a lot of choice about what kind of meat-substitutes you can get, too, so it’s not even like I’m forced to have the same kind of meat substitute in every meal I eat. Sometimes I have the fake italian sausage to go with pasta, other times I have the fake burger meat to go with a sandwich (topped with soy cheese!), or the fake nuggets. My fave all-around protein product to sprinkle on salads is teriyaki-flavored baked tofu slices.

    So: if you’ve got a certain amount of choice in your meat substitutes, it’s really not that bad. I mean, I don’t recommend it to everyone. But as a personal choice, both for convenience and environmental consciousness, I don’t really feel like I’ve given up too much.

    The only troublesome thing I have to deal with is the anemia, which, as I said, is sort of pushing me off the vegetarian wagon. I eat spinach with almost every goddamn meal, but I need to make better friends with the likes of kale and broccoli, neither of which are favorites for me.

    EDIT: you can read ingredient lists for products. I mean, most of the fake meat stuff I eat is some combination of soy, vegetables, and spices, so it’s not really “mystery veg”.

  34. 34.

    cat48

    @Mnemosyne:

    I haz a sad too! My favorite one is “How has Obama failed you today?” Of course, I realize I’m supposed to hate him; but that has become such a common position these days that I’m going cutting edge and say I like him! Where’s my tshirt?

  35. 35.

    Violet

    Thanks everyone for the thoughts on B12. I’m going to try to help my friend get help, but not every doctor will run tests apparently. Hopefully it’ll work out.

  36. 36.

    TXSMR

    I’d have loved to have a “I showered with Rahm and all I got was this shitty blog” and I second the request for the vitriolic jackals. I would have liked to comemorate all of the watching of you vitriolic jackals that I do. My wit & insult skills are just not up to joining in.

    So much balloon juice goodness, how to choose?

  37. 37.

    Mnemosyne

    @MikeJ:

    But instead of eating fake meat you could eat real veggies.

    If I want a vegetarian corn dog, I’m not looking for real veggies. I’m looking for something kind of junky to satisfy my inner six-year-old that isn’t going to leave me feeling sick from all of the fat.

    If I want meat, I eat meat (and I do). If I want veggies, I eat veggies. But sometimes I want something fast and junky that I’m not going to regret too much, and so I’ll have a Morningstar Farms burger instead of a McDonald’s hamburger.

    For me, at least, it’s a junk food substitute, not a meat substitute per se.

  38. 38.

    Angela

    Yeah for the mugs. I ordered two for stocking stuffers for my two college student sons. Maybe they will start reading BJ if prompted every time they have coffee.

  39. 39.

    TooManyJens

    @wmd:

    I’ve still got an old Joel Furr produced mug from usenet days

    OMG, that takes me back. When “e-commerce” meant “you sent Joel Furr a check and he sent you a T-shirt or a mug.”

    I think I still have my “This shirt is a munition” T-shirt.

  41. 41.

    asiangrrlMN

    @MikeJ: Gotta say I agree with you. I have tried countless of the ‘taste like meat’ products, and I find them to be less than satisfying. If I want meat, I eat meat. If I want veggies, I eat veggies. If I want junk food, I eat junk food.

    Cole, I am glad I waited to buy my new mug/thermos. Yutsy, honey, break out your wallet!

  43. 43.

    Yutsano

    @asiangrrlMN:

    Yutsy, honey, break out your wallet!

    Sigh. This is what I get for being ebil gubmint employee with steady income. I suppose next comes signing the paycheck directly over, amirite?

    (Oh wait. I haz direct deposit. Neener.)

  47. 47.

    Yutsano

    @Steeplejack: I’m gonna go into bankruptcy (which I almost used the code for at work then realized only one other person on this blog would have any clue what the hell that meant) if she keeps this up. Notice she sucks the dinero out of me and not the other husband? You know, the rich lawyer with a neurosurgeon husband?

  48. 48.

    Anne Laurie

    @JGabriel:
    __

    I still think “This is why we can’t have nice things”* should be added to the Balloon Juice taglines.

    That’s been TBogg’s catchphrase for some years, though. It’d feel like poaching.

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