Da Techguy's (no longer backup) Blog

Thanks to Tuesday’s 15 inning Redsox game I found myself unable to sleep when it was finished not falling asleep until nearly 4 AM. This messed my schedule up completely as I had to record this week’s Your Prayer Intentions among other things so by the time I woke (11 am) and recording Your Prayer intentions It was 1 PM.

And that’s when my son walked in the room and handed me an Impossible Whopper.

He and his mother had gone to Burger King for lunch and as he is under the same vow as me (my wife is not) has used the impossible Whopper to maintain his vow while sating his craving for meat. I had no interest or intention to ever have an impossible Whopper as I couldn’t see the point in paying more money for no beef and it’s not as if I don’t like Pizza or fish, but as this was bought for me it was a good chance to see what all the fuss is about.

Now in fairness I’m not Big on Burger King, the quality of their meat is such that I eat their food before work at my peril and their fries are the worst in the business by far I thought I should mention this up front so you know my biases before reading

Appearance, smell etc:

Without a question the texture, smell and feel of the Impossible Whopper is indistinguishable from a regular Whopper. This is very important because part of the taste of any kind of food is generated by anticipation. By all of these markers the impossible Whopper fits the bill and then some. The only difference if any would like likely be if it sits for a time as there is no fat for the bun to absorb, although in fairness the broiler at Burger Kings are not conducive to that as much of the liquid drips off during cooking.

Taste:

I must confess that it wasn’t bad at all. It did have the taste of a burger, in fact I’m sure I’ve tasted burgers much like it and with the toppings of a Whopper (I have mine without pickle and tomato) I’m sure that it would pass for one to many people although for me it seemed that it didn’t have the taste of a Whopper to me but in one respect this is a little hard to judge because of course you KNOW that it isn’t beef before you take that bite and I’m not sure that this didn’t cloud your judgement a bit.

Aftertaste:

The real difference between this and a burger in general and a Whopper in particular is the aftertaste. I found that the Impossible Burger left a slightly weird taste behind after you ate it, not a bad taste, but a taste I wasn’t used to. In my opinion most people will not have this aftertaste because they will be eating it with fries and a drink in a value meal so you will have the taste of the fries and drink to normalize or eliminate the after taste, but as I dislike Burger King fries since they changed their formula early in the decade my son only bought me the Whopper and as the Impossible Whopper is more expensive than regular beef it’s unlikely that it will be discounted and sold outside a meal deal.

Conclusion:

If you wish to avoid eating meat for medical, cultural or religious reasons but like the idea of a burger in general or a Whopper in particular, the impossible Whopper certainly fits the bill. It gives enough of the taste of a burger to do the job but I would not advise substituting it for beef of any quality, but then again if you are looking for quality beef you aren’t running to Burger King anyways but if you’re craving the Whopper, and sometimes you just are, it will do the trick but for my money if you really a dying for a Whopper, I’d get the real thing.

After many years of back and knee pain, I got a prescription for hydrocodone from my doctor.

I rarely use the pills—about once or twice a month—but the government overreaction to the opioid crisis has left me and others feeling like crack addicts.

I used to get 30 pills every six months. But new government and insurance regulations force me to make an appointment every two months. That costs me $20 per session.

I have to provide a urine sample every time I see the doctor, who agrees that the restraints are extremely silly for people who don’t abuse their medication.

But my complaints about overreaction are far less serious than those who need pain relief.

The Washington Post wrote an excellent story—yes, that Washington Post—about how the opioid “crisis” has created massive problems for people who use pain drugs legally.

The news organization provided the story of Hank Skinner, 79, of Alexandria, Va., who has had seven shoulder surgeries, lung cancer, open-heart surgery, a blown-out knee, and lifelong complications from a clubfoot. He has a fentanyl patch on his belly to treat his chronic shoulder pain. He replaces the patch every three days, supplementing the slow-release fentanyl with pills containing hydrocodone.

“But to the Skinners’ dismay, Hank is now going through what is known as a forced taper. That’s when a chronic pain patient has to switch to a lower dosage of medication. His doctor, Hank says, has cut his fentanyl dosage by 50 percent — and Hank’s not happy about it. He already struggles to sleep through the night, as Carol can attest,” The Post reported.

Tami Mark, senior director of RTI International, a North Carolina think tank, said the changes in drug prescriptions might be a serious mistake. She has conducted one of the few formal studies of forced programs to cut back on legal prescriptions.

“This national effort at ‘de-prescribing’ is again being undertaken with limited research on how best to taper people off opioid medications,” Mark told The Post. “You can’t just cut off the spigot of a highly addictive medication that rewires your brain in complex ways and not anticipate negative public health consequences.”

The opioid “crisis” is a classic example of how government underreacts to a problem and then overreacts to it, leaving people angry and confused. These people—like me—aren’t drug addicts or criminals. They’re people with pain who were just following a doctor’s orders.