Inclusion at McDonalds (and Other Topics)

Busy day for me today. First, I spent four hours at my daughter's house (Megan) helping her and visiting. By the time I got home I was ready for a nap; however, Joe needed help with online applications. I sneaked in a McDonald's Big Mac which was a treat for me. I had a hankering for one for two weeks and kept putting it off. 

I had not been at McDonalds since I took the kids there after a movie in August. At the time I did not notice these signs in the drive-up window.

The first sign reads: Hearing/Speech Impaired Assistance Available at This Window. The second sign reads: Braille and Picture Menus Available. The third decal is for St. Michael-Albertville Schools (STMA) with "Excellence is our tradition" as their slogan. Anyway, I thought it was cool that McDonalds is inclusive of people. Now, obviously a person who is blind is not going to be driving a car, but their friend, partner, or caretaker can read the sign and let a person who is blind know they can read the menu in braille. Years ago, I had two adult students I taught to read. I thought of them today when I saw picture menus are available.

Does anyone know if all McDonalds are offering hearing/speech assistance and menus available in braille and pictures?

The first two boxes of my Pampered Chef sales kit arrived this evening. Joe helped me unbox, wash, and set up the Deluxe Multi Cooker. We are running a test run and then I will cook garbanzo beans this evening. Tomorrow I will clean and put away the other items I received. One of the things I appreciate most about Pampered Chef is the instructions for use and cleaning inserts they provide with most products. It makes it easier to figure out how items are used. Example: A few weeks back I purchased the store and serve because we love salads. Before the store and serve, I would pre-chop veggies to last two or three days and put them in Tupperware containers.

The problem with the Tupperware is that I would have to open the container to clearly see what veggie was in which container, then I'd have to hunt around to make sure I had all of the containers. Since Joe shares the fridge, containers would get moved. The store and serve lets me see what is in the containers AND everything is in one place. I love this so much, I have ordered another one. BUT, when I received the first one I did not read the instructions. How hard could it be to fill up the containers and stick them in the fridge?

What I finally figured out this week was that the drain trays on the lid popped off and were for the bottom of the tray. Duh ... NOW, I read those handy dandy inserts from Pampered Chef when the product comes in. They write them for a reason.

I am excited to see how the garbanzo beans turn out. Usually when Joe cooks beans, he does it early in the morning before I am up - the smell of cooking beans makes me nauseous. Plus, he has tended to forget he has them on the stove even though he will set a timer on his phone. The beans have never burned because when they start smelling up the house I ask him about them. Cooking the beans in the Multi Cooker means they will stop cooking at the time set on the cooker. Then I can hit the pressure release button and wait ten minutes before opening the lid.

Finally, to keep things exciting around our house, Joe helped me to rearrange small appliances in the kitchen. After almost six months in our house, I think I finally have figured out the best place for the coffee maker, microwave, air fryer, and stand mixer. While Joe has decided to go back to work (he is in the application process) it is NOT because I want to rearrange stuff. He wants to earn more money to continue to buy equipment for his home machine shop. Honest.