Amateur Bakers' Code of Ethics***

One of the custodians at work was going around the office selling his cupcakes for a dollar. And I must say, as someone who bakes and brings in my goodies as a treat for my co-workers, I was turned off by his impromptu bake sale. 

First he started off by giving us a sample. Not a whole cupcake or a mini cupcake, but a 1/4 of a cupcake...Carrot/Apple Cake with a Maple Cream Cheese frosting.  I'm not one to pass up a free sample, but it didn't wow me. The cake was fine, but the frosting was too thin and I couldn't taste the maple flavoring, and I gave him this feedback.  He informed us that from now on, Friday would be "CUPCAKE FRIDAY"!

Friday rolls around, he comes up to my floor and starts bellowing, "Cupcake Friday...get your cupcakes!"And people bought them!  I was shocked.  I couldn't believe that people would just pay a dollar for this man's baked goods.  A dollar that wasn't benefiting a charity or his daughter's school, but was just going into his pocket. The next week he brought cupcakes on Thursday, in addition to Friday. This time the cupcakes were strawberry and people raved, said the frosting tasted like ice cream. Then on Friday he made blueberry ones that weren't baked very well and he knew it AND he said it, so he reduced the price to 75 cents. And my co-workers STILL bought them.  They complained about the taste and everything...so I had to say, "Why did you buy them?!? He said they didn't come out the way he intended."  No response from my co-workers.  I think Cupcake Friday carried on for a few more weeks and then it fizzled without a peep, probably because his sales weren't more than his expenses.

Here's what I feel.  I think Amateur bakers should not, on the whole, charge for their treats.  It's one thing if someone asks you to make a cake for a special event or bake a pie for a holiday, but charging for a cupcake (or any small baked good) is just inappropriate and ridiculous to me.  Bake and share because you you were experimenting and want feedback.  Bake and share because you have more than you need to eat.  Bake and share because you just want to give your colleagues a sugar boost.  But please fellow amateur bakers, don't just charge to make a quick buck off your colleagues.

***I started this post in April and am just finishing in August. Better late than never!

I'm working out regularly again...but it's not my New Year's Resolution

We're at the very beginning of the New Year and you know what that means...RESOLUTIONS! This is the time when many people resolve to lose weight, watch what they eat and get back in shape. I haven't made weight loss my resolution for the New Year, but I am on the "Special K (lose up to 6 lbs) Challenge" for two weeks, and I'm getting back in to my gym routine again, after taking a few weeks off to rest my left hip.  I was getting physical therapy on my hip...apparently I have/had hip bursitis and a pelvis that was misaligned.

Anyway, in recognition of all these people who are bombarding the gym right now and will likely fall off by March, if not sooner, I'm going to list a few helpful hints that will make you the ideal gym-goer.  The gym regulars, like myself, will encourage and motivate, but only if you take my advice.

Locker Room Etiquette

1. Do not choose a locker that is immediately next to, above or below a locker that is already occupied. Why would you want to be that close to someone? You don't want to be standing next to or below someone who's sweaty and smelly after a long workout, do you? Create a buffer zone. 
2. Don't parade around completely naked. Towels are available (usually)...so use them! This goes for whether you are fit and toned or fat and mushy...cover up!
3. If, after you leave the shower, you notice lots of hair around the drain that wasn't there before...NEWSFLASH...it's your hair!  Get a paper towel, pick it up and take it away.  There is something about seeing someone else's wet hair around a drain that is really gross and it totally freaks me out.  Don't make others freak out, just wipe up your shed hair and keep it moving.
4. Connected to #2...don't squat and towel down facing people. Turn toward the locker, or, here's a novel idea, dry off right by the shower! No one wants to look at you naked in the first place and certainly not while you are bending and squatting to dry off your private areas. ICK!!

Gym Floor Etiquette

1. Wipe down the machines...  I don't like my own sweat, so I definitely don't like your sweat.  Wipe it away before you go to another machine.  Plus, don't you want to stop the spread of those nasty super germs that live and grow at the gym??
2. Similar to L.R.E. #1, if the gym is not busy, do not choose the treadmill, elliptical or bike that is immediately next to someone else unless there is something wrong with a machine that is a spot or two away.   This isn't the starting line of the NYC Marathon, there is no need to be on top of someone, and or spying on their speed and time to see if it's worse (or better) than yours.  Spread out...do your own thing!
3. In the stretching area, don't be the person who stretches out perpendicular to everyone else, thereby taking up 2/3 more space than you need.  You mess up the parallel pattern and make everyone nervous.
4. If you're not a trainer, don't tell someone they are exercising incorrectly.  **MEN, please take note of this**  It's creepy to think that you are watching someone so closely that you now think you can school them on their exercise moves. If the person isn't harming his or her body while doing the exercise, MIND YOUR BUSINESS or ask a trainer to give some advice. 

There might be few more "rules" that will come up, but this should be good to get your started and surely, if you ever work out with me, I won't be annoyed by you. :)  Happy Working Out!!