Up in smoke.

Another election, another slice of freedom gone, but this time it doesn't effect me directly since I am in Tulsa.

Manhattan (Kansas) passed their ban on smoking in public places this time around. Now everyone can enjoy their "freedom" of eating in a smoke-free environment at the cost of business owners deciding what legal activity their patrons can partake in.

Freedom doesn't mean that you can do whatever you want, how you want. Freedom means that the government will not limit what you can do.

Due up in 2012: Ban on trans fat
In the batting circle in 2016: Ban on large portions of food
Clean up in 2024: Ban on "unhealthy" food

Suck it personal choice, hurray government dominance!

Update: Ever since starting my job here in Tulsa I felt the need to post again about how no one does correct statistics in their studies. However, my comment that I left is close enough to scratching that itch that I will just post it here and be done with it (for now).

The first time that I actually looked at a study that was conducted, just to see what it had to say, was a study that the American Heart Association did on second hand smoke. What I found shocked me.
While the study was used to say that second hand smoke was dangerous and bad, the study actually found that unless you live with a smoker that smokes multiple packs a day for many many years second hand smoke does not hurt you.
They were lying to us about the outcome of the study.
This got me interested in other studies, mainly global warming, since the quick analysis that is presented to the general public is flawed. Sure enough, they aren't finding anything like they are claiming, but some how it gets reported that the problem is dire and completely our fault.
Now that I work answering statistical questions from people doing studies all over the world it is quite obvious -
It is rare for someone to do an actual statistically valid study.
I don't think that people are intentionally misleading people, or doing bad science on purpose, I think that it is a matter of not knowing what they are doing statistically.
And it is sad to say, but if you do the best experiment in the world, but then do a wrong analysis or misinterpret the results your study is for naught, or worse you come to the wrong conclusion.
So here we are with "evidence" for a need to protect peoples health with a smoking ban. Policy is made without regard to actually knowing the truth.
But we can all sleep better at night, right?

Aunty Em!

It seems that Manhattan (Kansas) threw a tantrum because I left and got ht by a tornado last night. K-State received some heavy damage in parts and there were some houses destroyed, but as far as I have heard there were no deaths or major injuries.


You can read more about it here:
Jenette's blog (and original post about the storm) she has some pics up now.
Manhattan Mercury's website
K-State's website
Kansas State Collegian's website

McAlister's Deli

We ate at the new McAlister's Deli last night (here in Manhattan, Kansas). The best way to describe this place is Quizno's crossed with Denny's. You get sandwiches and stuff, but it is decorated country style.

Now the sandwiches are not as good as Quizno's and they aren't open all the time like Denny's, but McAllister's actually is a place I can see eating at once a month or so. They have large potatoes with a good variety or fairly good quality toppings, and they have salads (which I have not tried yet.) The prices are reasonable -it was about $16 for two people, including getting drinks. The only real complaint with the place is that it isn't open late at night (they close at 10 or so.) If they stayed open until 2 or 3 I would be a frequent customer.

So I guess in summary, I will say that McAlister's is a good place to grab a bite with prices that beat a sit down restaurant. But the food is not spectacular. It is worth checking out.

Starbucks in Aggieville

I got a green tea frappuccino from Starbucks the other day. It is the best thing that I have gotten from there...

it was ok.

Edesia's Bakery & Cafe

Today for lunch we ate at Edesia's bakery and cafe which is a new restaurant that has opened up on Poyntz here in Manhattan (the Kansas version of Manhattan).

The first thing that I noted with the place is that it is very clean and nice on the inside. The front of the store is almost all glass so it was very bright inside even though it was cloudy today. Also there is alot of paintings on the walls which also lightens up the place.

Since it was lunch time I ordered a three cheese panini with potato salad on the side and Nicole got a curried chicken salad, I also got a double apricot italian soda and Nicole just drank water. Overall it cost us $17.

When I got my sandwich and Nicole got her salad I was a bit disappointed. My sandwich was a bit small (hopefully they just gave me a half sandwich instead of the full that I ordered) and Nicole's salad had a good amount of curry chicken, but not too much salad. (Look at the above picture, it looks like there is about twice as much greens on the plate as there actually was.) Besides the small portions though the food tasted fine. The panini was about what you would imagine, and the potato salad was better than average (but not as good as So Long's). Nicole's salad was alright but the greens could have used a bit of a vinaigrette or something. And my italian soda did not have as much syurp as I am used to (i.e. how Radina's does it). But overall I can not complain the food tasted fine, but maybe it was just a bit too small of portion or a bit too pricey.

What Edesia's should say is that they are a coffee house with decent food (unless they actually plan to sell some bread they should just drop the bakery in the name... yes I know there are scones and things, but so does Radina's, Blue Stem, Starbucks, and other coffee places that aren't bakeries). What really sets Edesia's apart from the rest of the stores in Manhattan is that it is a nice place to go on Poyntz. The coffee house makes a nice anchor for the street and should help everybody all the way down to the mall and Old Chicago's.

Overall it is at least worth a trip to Edesia's to see if you like it. I have not tried any of their coffee yet, so I know that I will have to go back there for that. Also they serve Republic of Tea, so if I get in the mood for tea instead of coffee Edesia's may be the place to find me. The food is decent, but a tad expensive, it will be about $20 for two people to eat there and also get something to drink. Also be warned that they are closed on Sunday's and their open hours the other days are from 6am to 6pm, so don't plan to go too late in the day.

While I am on the topic of "things that are new to the area" a new store to Aggieville, Bathmatiks, is pretty rocking. What you do there is make custom bathroom supplies. Nicole made some basil hand lotion that is very fun.

Also, if I haven't mentioned it before: Toto's Tacoz in Wamego, Ks is very good and worth the trip out to Wamego if you are in the mood for a different type of Mexican food.

If you have gone to Edesia's, or even Bathmatiks or Toto's Tacoz give me a comment below and let me know what you think.

Ray's Apple Market

We stopped on by the newly remodeled Ray's Apple Market this afternoon to pick up some groceries. Unfortunately the free milk this was the high point of the shopping trip. Even though the store is not Food 4 Less anymore and it looks many times better than it used to, it still feels the same. Which is too bad, I was hoping that it could at least one-up Dillions and Walmart, it wouldn't be that hard...