Ping Larkin

Only my money is leaving the U.S... maybe the Cayman Islands ?:-) ...Jim Thompson

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| James E.Thompson, CTO                            |    mens     |
| Analog Innovations, Inc.                         |     et      |
| Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC's and Discrete Systems  |    manus    |
| Phoenix, Arizona  85048    Skype: Contacts Only  |             |
| Voice:(480)460-2350  Fax: Available upon request |  Brass Rat  |
| E-mail Icon at http://www.analog-innovations.com |    1962     |
             
"Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and
the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of
misery."  -Winston Churchill

Umm.. you want to get to know Sheriff Joe better? ;-)

Ummm? My corporation doesn't need to be U.S. ...Jim Thompson

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| James E.Thompson, CTO                            |    mens     |
| Analog Innovations, Inc.                         |     et      |
| Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC's and Discrete Systems  |    manus    |
| Phoenix, Arizona  85048    Skype: Contacts Only  |             |
| Voice:(480)460-2350  Fax: Available upon request |  Brass Rat  |
| E-mail Icon at http://www.analog-innovations.com |    1962     |
             
I love to cook with wine.      Sometimes I even put it in the food.

People don't have to eat it. I never do. They have choices, and brains.

That is a myth, and false. Lots of people think "Oh, a 99c burger, let's all go there". Then the whole family scrambles into the car. Now li'l Joey also wants a side order of fries and a coke. Oh, and ice cream. Ol' Leroy is still hungry after the 99c burger and opts straight for another, but this time the super-duper-$3.99-triple-decker. By the time it's all said and done $30-$40 are gone, plus gasoline. For that kind of money you can cook a fine meal and feed the whole family plus the neighbors, and have leftovers.

You can ask for smaller portions or, if well over 50, a senior-size meal (less money). Also, they'll gladly pack you a doggie bag. Ownership of a dog not required. It's all a matter of discipline. When do we stop wanting the government or business to decide stuff for us?

We don't even have it in our kitchen. Very little sweet stuff is used. Tonight we will have a large mixed salad, slowly baked marinated pork chops, roasted potatoes with onions. Costs less than fast food, tastes infinitely better, and is healthy. Ok, the pork chops maybe not but in moderation that's ok.

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Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com/

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[...]

Don't generalize from UK systems to EU systems. For example, health care in Germany is not at all free no matter which method you pick. In the mid-90's I paid about 800 Deutschmarks per month over there for the two of us, just in premiums. Then there were co-pays. This was a non-private plan, the kind that's called Gesetzliche Krankenkasse. That is hardly free, is it?

[...]

--
Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com/

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No, but there are ALL kinds of gotchas. "Mind and management", for one. They don't make it easy.

The money will be coming from Dubai... maybe I should just leave it there ?:-) ...Jim Thompson

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| James E.Thompson, CTO                            |    mens     |
| Analog Innovations, Inc.                         |     et      |
| Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC's and Discrete Systems  |    manus    |
| Phoenix, Arizona  85048    Skype: Contacts Only  |             |
| Voice:(480)460-2350  Fax: Available upon request |  Brass Rat  |
| E-mail Icon at http://www.analog-innovations.com |    1962     |
             
I love to cook with wine.      Sometimes I even put it in the food.

Maybe. It might be easier for someone in JL's situation.

Fat Foolishness

-- Cheers, James Arthur

Where I go to get good prices on canned goods, those prices have gone up since fuel prices spiraled up and the package *sizes* of many other items have gone DOWN. I haven't see that second case in restaurants yet, but maybe hard times will be better for our waistlines.

Joerg wrote:

With the way Mercuns like stuff sweet , I'm surprized that this isn't more widely know/grown/used:

*-*-* Essentially zero calories.

But as the average US population becomes fatter and fatter they just want more and more. Twenty years ago a reasonably fit 6' adult male in a US restaurant could just about eat the entire meal and be uncomfortably full. These days there is enough for at least one extra meal on the plate. Perhaps it is time to limit servings to the amount that a healthy adult can eat (maybe plus 10%). Gluttony is not pretty.

Catering for the calorific intake of the morbidly obese is asking for trouble. Particularly in those establishments where you don't have to pay if you leave a clean plate which I find exceptionally gross.

However, there are a lot of people that finish the plate and are eating themselves into an early grave and loads of expensive health problems on the way.

I suppose the "customer is always right". I am reminded of the cartoon with the sign writer part way through painting that slogan with a little old lady saying to him "Young man, there are two m's in custommer" .

Sort of place where you choose the pudding at the outset because of the time it takes to make it... l'Auberge or the brasserie l'? Does he have outposts in California or were you in Lyons?

Strangely you don't see all that many fat Frenchmen. They eat quality food. The food as fuel - never mind the quality feel the width thing is a distinctly Anglo-Saxon trait.

I agree the obesity problem is spreading worldwide.

Regards, Martin Brown

And health insurance is still offered as a (taxable) employee perk.

Crucially in a medical emergency they do not look for your credit/insurance card first.

400 Euros/month? That seems a bit on the high side. What happens to those in Germany who cannot pay the premiums?

I can't recall exactly what it was in Belgium for the major operations state insurance option with a couple of thousand Euro excess but ISTR it was a lot less than that. But whichever way you look at it their system is way more efficient than the US robber baron model.

Regards, Martin Brown

That is the top rate. As a consultant I had to pay 100% of premiums on my own.

The unemployed get it at taxpayer cost. People making less money must pay, it is deducted as a percentage from their salary so in effect its a sliding scale. They do not have any say in this, it's simply deducted. Self-employed who do not pay have no insurance, they will get socked into bankruptcy if they become really sick. Just like in the US.

When I look at cancer survival ratings I do not agree.

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Regards, Joerg

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Got to watch those coupon deals. My wife is like a hawk in that respect.

Invited boss and his wife over. My wife cooked one of her wonderful gourmet meals and baked a cheesecake, putting in a tad more sugar than usual. Boss' wife: "Hey, this cake tastes excellent, amazing for a cake that has no sugar in it".

No idea. But we don't like sugary taste anyhow so we don't miss any of the sweetening stuff.

--
Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com/

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Obama cake will be non-fattening... made entirely from hot air ;-) ...Jim Thompson

--
| James E.Thompson, CTO                            |    mens     |
| Analog Innovations, Inc.                         |     et      |
| Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC\'s and Discrete Systems  |    manus    |
| Phoenix, Arizona  85048    Skype: Contacts Only  |             |
| Voice:(480)460-2350  Fax: Available upon request |  Brass Rat  |
| E-mail Icon at http://www.analog-innovations.com |    1962     |

               All Hail Lord Obama, Groveler-in-Chief

Who is going to limit portion size? Or how many courses a diner is allowed to order, or how much he eats off his wife's plate?

I, like lots of people, like large servings. I eat a third or maybe half and take the rest to go. That's probably a consequence of the actual cost of food being a minor component of the restaurant's total costs.

My company is much like a restaurant. Our cost of parts runs around

22% of revenue, just about what a typical restaurant pays for food. So we don't sweat over a few more parts, if it adds features, as the restaurant doesn't worry about serving a little more pasta if it attracts some customers.

We do have a bunch of tapas and dim sum places, where a meal is a number of small servings. And one can usually make a nice small meal off the appetizer menu. Or share a salad and an entree. That's one limit on portion sizes: they encourage sharing.

Interestingly, if you say "we'll split the salad" they usually bring two plates full of salad, for the price of one.

True. But there's no way to stop them. They can order appetizers and dessert, or go home and snack before bedtime.

Just north of Lyon. It was wonderful, but I was full after the beautiful fish-in-pastry-shell thing, pretty early on. We met PB, very nice guy. Some years ago, of course.

John

Mere practical details. But you seem to deny there is a problem.

I guess you are right. It may be a cultural thing but doggie bags have a distinct yuck factor for us Europeans. I can't really think of anything worse than taking away well cooked uneaten restaurant food and then warming it up later in the week. I have sometimes done it in the US since it offends me to see so much food go to waste.

A ratio of 4-5x cost of parts is standard in high growth hitech bespoke electronic instruments which I presume is your market niche.

We have too many bean counters in the UK. Companies I work for would not put stuff into production until the material cost to price ratio was right. This meant they would often be cheapskates on random components.

The salad cost is noise in the general scheme of things.

I guess my point is that making overeating the norm is a bad thing.

If you are into fine dining Relais&Chateaux is fun touring in Europe.

Regards, Martin Brown

I'm not denying that there are lots of fat people around... more in other parts of the country than here in California.

Do you propose to legally limit serving sizes in restaurants?

It's very common in the US. It use to be considered a bit tasteless, but no more.

Yup. But I'll eat anything... bread and cheese is fine, too.

The best stuff I had in France was calloulet (in Baune) and bouillabaisse (in Marseilles.) I have peasant tastes.

John

All those travel guides from the 70's and 80's for foreigners said it was perfectly normal even back then. Except they were really called "doggie bags" whereas nowadays nobody seems to use that word anymore. The guides often also mentioned that proof of dog ownership is not required ;-)

Now it's more "Can I get this bagged?" or "Could I have a bag?". Mostly the waitress will ask when seeing a lot of the good stuff left on a plate, at least out here.

[...]

--
Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com/

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