Miracle fruit update

Miracle fruit made it on the front page of the Wall Street Journal!
Get it while it's hot: To Make Lemons Into Lemonade, Try 'Miracle Fruit'
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Get Cheaper Hotel Rates

If you do a lot of traveling or just enjoy getting a good deal you’ll know that hotel rates (like the weather in some places) fluctuate from day to day.

A lifehacker reader left a very insightful comment today on getting the best rate at any hotel. Listen up folks this is inside information.

To get the best hotel rate:

• Be careful about asking for the business discount, corporate rate, or student rate.
  
• Do your homework online
  
• Call the hotel direct and talk to the Front Desk
  
• BE NICE (if they are busy offer to call back etc.)
  
• Don’t tell them you found cheaper rates online
  
• When quoted a rate, say something like I was hoping to pay a bit less
  
• Don’t ask for the manager (he gets the rates from front desk too)
  
• Be nice!

Whatever discount you can get is great, but if you want to maximize your discount try following this advice and see where it gets you.
Here's the Hotel Manager’s reasoning and more information.

This is from swvaboy’s post on lifehacker.
“As a hotel manager, I would suggest you never ask for the business discount or corporate rate. Why? Business and corporate travelers are usually on an expense account and they typically do not care about the rate.

There are other discounts available that have much better rates. First, check the 80 number, the web site, and travel sites such as expedia.com to find the lowest rate. The call the hotel direct, after their reservation department has closed so that you talk with the front desk about rates. BE NICE. Nice people get the best rates. When you are quoted a rate, say something like I was hoping to pay a bit less. The desk clerk, if not busy, will find a lower rate - especially if you are calling the same day you want to arrive. If the clerk seems busy, offer to call back, that line alone is usually good enough for at least $20 - $25 off the rate because it seems that you understand. If you truly get a lower rate at the 800 number or web site, it is because it is a promotional rate and it 99% on the time has to be booked based on the way you found it. There is nothing wrong with walking outside and calling the 800 number or using the WiFi in the lobby to book a room.

Do not say, "I found it cheaper on the web", the answer is going to be "Book it on the net", bad customer service yes, but true, front desk clerks have a lot of leeway in rates and the last thing you want to do is start quoting rates to them, it should be the other way around. Another great way to get a not so good rate is to ask for a manager. In most hotels the manager will have to be paged, and when they get to the phone they invariably ask the front desk what rate to give. At the time you are calling, the manager usually has no idea how many rooms are available for such and such date.

Discounts that are legitimate:
Death/Major Sickness in family - Usually half price if hotel is not full
Church Rate - again usually half price
Government Rate - If you have ANY form of Government id, that usually is the lowest rate in the hotel
AAA/AARP- A big trick in the hotel business, 20% off of the highest rate which usually equals Corporate Rate
Weekend Rate- Yes it is good all week, if you pull in at 6pm and hotel lot is not that full, then ask.
Reunion Rate- Even if your family is not having a reunion at the hotel, usually you will get this rate, at least a 25 - 30% discount.

One rate I would not ask for is a "Student Rate" in my history of hotel work (16 years and counting) without stereotyping students; they give the most trouble and leave the biggest messes in a room. It may happen only 1 time out of 100, but that 1 time sticks in everyone's head because everyone from the front desk to housekeeping gets questioned about the who/why/how about that person and that rate. This is the only exception I have ever run into when the top manager asks a desk clerk why a student got such a low rate when we knew they were a student.

There are many ways to get a good rate at a hotel but what they all boil down to is -BE NICE
Don't say something like "I do not pay that much in XYZ city" "That is highway robbery"
Just look a little pitiful and ask for a better rate, it is that simple.

As a PS, buy some cheap Blow Pop Suckers and carry them in your pocket. When you walk up to the desk, give all the clerks one, and you are on the way to the best rate a hotel has or a suite for a regular price.

Managers run a hotel, but they give the front desk the most flexibility in selling rooms. As long a clerk does not sell a room for $1.00 then there is little chance anything will be said.

I have always wanted to write a book about the hotel business for the guest, I guess I have chapter 1 now, sorry for getting so carried away.”

Thanks swvaboy!
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Philly Cheesesteaks

If you are American I know you’ve heard of the Philly cheesesteak. These sandwiches are simple artery hardening goodness. The cheesesteak was created in Philly (of course) at a little hotdog stand later renamed “Pat’s King of Steaks” (tab em).

King of Steaks? Well, they’ve proved that! These guys are so confident and in love with their product that they actually give the recipe away.

The original Philly cheesesteak recipe in all its glory:

For 4 you need

• 1.5 lb of thinly sliced rib eye steak (fresh is better, but frozen might be easier to find)
• 6 Tbs Oil - they use Soya bean oil
• Cheese - they use Cheez Whiz® (sounds bad, but it really tastes great)
• 4 rolls – get good Italian Rolls (pretty important part)
• 1 large onion
• Optional: Sauteed green and red peppers or mushrooms

Assembly

1. Start melting the Cheez Whiz® in a double boiler – if you use the microwave save this step for the end
2. Saute the onions in the oil then set aside
   
3. Saute the steak in same oil – goes almost as quick as the onions
4. Place meat and onions on roll
5. Pour on the cheese
6. Garnish with sauteed peppers, mushrooms, ketchup
7. Take a bite, and as you chew thank Pat the King of Steaks for making the world a better place.

After trying a cheesesteak three ways (at Pat’s, the other guy, and at home) Pat’s is way better, but home is still great. There is just something about a “Whiz wit” that makes your taste buds scream with joy.

By the way…
Whiz wit = American Cheese steak with onions
Provolone wit-out = Provolone Cheese steak without onions

Don’t even try the other guy

Image:Tom simpsom

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MIRACLE FRUIT!

Heard of miracle fruit? Unless you are from Japan, West Africa or an internet news junkie chances are the answer is no.

This might be one of the best kept secrets of the 20th century! If you can get your hands on this stuff do it.

The fruit is actually called Miracle Fruit, and has been used for centuries in West Africa to make sour things taste sweet. Efforts to market the fruit in the United States seem to have been denyed by the FDA. For more information on the fruit itself, tab this puppy: miracle fruit

If you are lucky enough to get some miracle fruit, you’ll want to try it with every fruit you can get your hands on. Here’s a list of a few to get you started...

Miracle fruit works immediately after touching your tongue so be brave and dig in:

• Goat’s cheese - tastes like cream cheese frosting
• Blue cheese - $2 cheese tastes like $200 cheese
• Sourdough bread – not sure seems to be better, eat with your blue cheese
• Lemons, Limes – sweet!!
• Grapefruit – candy!
• Pomelo – not as good as grapefruit, but still great!
• Tomatoes – imagine life sized cherry tomatoes
• Honey Dew – brings out the soft subtle flavors
• Cantalope – like honey dew, one time with miracle fruit and you’re a fan of these fruits for life
• Granny Apple – best apple of your life
• Strawberries – makes bad berries good; right off the vine good
• Broccoli – amazingly the cooked stems taste like artichoke hearts
• Cabbage – cooked tastes great
• Mango – good
• Grapes – almost too sweet
• Pineapple – again almost too sweet
• Cherry – tasty but too sweet
• Rhubarb - (from WSJ - tastes like sugar stick)
  
• Lychee - one of our reader's favorites

Don’t try

• Ginger – very overpowering, miracle fruit doesn't help
• Radish – no difference in taste or intensity
  
• Coconut – has no taste
• Coffee - just heard it doesn't work
  

This is really one of those subtle life changing experiences. Not only will you gain a great appreciation for fruits and vegetables, but you will find yourself eating more of them even after the effects of the miracle fruit are gone.

List last updated: 15 March 2008

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Since I started with my own work, I decided to add my thoughts behind "War".

Sometimes we as a people are like the ants described. A constant barrage of "wars and rumors of wars" threatens us each day. Even in our own country, we find kids fighting on the playgrounds, people fighting on the streets, and when that is not enough, we pay money to watch people fight.

With these feelings, I often wonder what would we do if we did not fight. Where is the logic in this mindless barbaric obsession?

The well chosen plains describe the amount of time, money, and knowledge we put into war tactics and strategies. Fervor filling the warriors' ears represents people so filled with hate and anger that they refuse to listen to reason. Those same warriors march in a single file line to battle, one following another mindlessly, to be killed.

Thankfully, there is an unseen power that will and even does today intervene. There have been so many people that have felt the power of God in their lives that one cannot deny that His Hand is outstretched to us all. There is hope.

What will we do when we will not fight? We will live!

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War

Another single file line of warriors weaves its way through steep ravines and massive cliffs to the killing fields. No army of this magnitude has been seen before.

The two armies attack with a fury known only to those caught up in the heat of battle. Fervor fills their ears with a gentle rushing sound, which drives out all others. As far as the eye can see, bodies litter the well-chosen plain. Mangled corpses seem to soften the fall of the wounded and dying.

When will it end?

Where is the logic in this mindless barbaric obsession?


Suddenly, as if in an act of mercy, the sky darkens and unseen overwhelming energy fills the air. Another army has joined in the battle. Huge projectiles pummel the ground with such force to send the warriors flying.

Corpses, warriors, and debris wash back and forth in the puddles created from the aerial assault. And yet, the ants go on. Theirs is a fight to the death. For what would they do if they didn’t fight?
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