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Entry bubble NASA Helps with Chilean Mine Collapse

By: Jess | September 02, 2010 | Category: General

astronaut in spaceWhen I think of NASA, I think trips to space, landing on the moon, work at the space station, all things way above the Earth's surface. I don't think of NASA as being the experts on handling situations below the Earth's surface.

As it turns out, experts from NASA are just the people to help officials in Chile with the trapped miners. The miners have been trapped underground since Aug. 5, when a mine collapsed in San Jose.

One of the biggest concerns, after providing for the basic physical needs of the miners, like food and water, is helping the miners cope with the isolation. Being trapped underground in a small, dark space is mentally taxing, and can lead to all kinds of problems when boredom and time seem to stretch on forever.

NASA has some expertise in that area, because it's not all that different from astronauts in space being isolated on their trips.

So now NASA experts are working together with ministers in Chile to help provide for the miners' mental well being, while rescuers work to reach the miners. Estimates say the process of getting the miners out could take months.

I'm hoping that NASA's expertise in handling isolation will help keep the miners in a sound state of mind until rescuers reach them.

| Post a Comment | View Comments [0] | envelope E-mail This Entry | Tags: chilean_mine   jess   miners   nasa  

 

Entry bubble Rate this Recipe: Grilled Shrimp

By: Arlene | September 01, 2010 | Category: Home and Family

Lee la versión en español

Ingredients, grilling shrimp, final plateWe’re trying something new here at GovGab – once a month, I'll review a recipe from the government. Think Julie and Julia. Our first recipe is from FDA's Office of Women's Health: Diabetes Recipe Cards (also available in Spanish). You can order this free recipe and other recipes online from the Federal Citizen Information Center.

Recipe: Grilled Shrimp with Pasta and Pineapple Salsa

I made a few tweaks:

  • I bought fresh pineapple, already cut instead of canned.
  • I used half of a green pepper instead of 1 jalapeno pepper.
  • I bought fresh, deveined shrimp; I just had to peel them so it saved me time. You can also buy a package of frozen shrimp already peeled and deveined; thaw it out according to the directions on the package.
  • I bought whole wheat rotini pasta to make it a little healthier. I cooked it according to the package.

Cooking experience:

I don’t own an outdoor grill, so I used an indoor grill pan, sprayed with cooking oil. I set the burner to medium-high.

This recipe required a lot of chopping, so I probably would make this on the weekend unless I pre-chopped everything beforehand. I also used a mini-chop to dice the onions - less tears for me.

It took me about an hour from start to finish. Maybe if my knife skills were better, it would’ve saved me time.

4 wooden spoonsRating: 4 out of 5

Me: "It’s a nice light dish. I definitely would make it again. You could also substitute the pasta with romaine lettuce for a nice salad."

Husband: "This dish would not be out of place at a seaside resort, say Hawaii. It has a great aroma and combination of sweet and crunchy. It’s tricky to get good balance with the pasta. The shrimp holds up well as a leftover."

Son: "Mmm...yummy!" (picked out and ate the pasta only).

So GovGab readers – wanna try this recipe out? Try it with the jalapeno pepper! If you do, let us know what you think and leave a comment on this post.

| Post a Comment | View Comments [8] | envelope E-mail This Entry | Tags: arlene   cooking   food   recipe   taste_test  

 

Entry bubble Califique esta receta: Camarones a la parrilla

By: Arlene | September 01, 2010 | Category: Spanish

Read this blog post in English

Camarones a la parrillaEn GovGab vamos a intentar algo nuevo. Una vez al mes yo voy a probar, tipo Julie y Julia, una receta del Gobierno. Encontré nuestra primera receta en las tarjetas de recetas de la diabetes que publica la Oficina de la Salud de las Mujeres de la FDA (también disponible en inglés). Usted puede ordenar gratis esta y otras recetas del Centro Federal de Información para el Público.

Receta: Camarones a la parrilla con pasta y salsa de piña

Hice algunos cambios:

  • Compré piña fresca cortada en rodajas en lugar de enlatada.
  • Usé la mitad de un pimiento verde en vez de un chile jalapeño.
  • Compré camarones frescos desvenados. Yo solo tuve que pelarlos, lo que me ahorró tiempo. También se puede comprar un paquete de camarones congelados que ya vienen desvenados y pelados. Siga las instrucciones para descongelar el paquete.
  • Decidí comprar pasta rotini integral para que sea un poco más saludable y la cociné siguiendo las instrucciones del paquete.

Mi experiencia cocinando:

Yo no tengo una parrilla al aire libre, así que usé una sartén plancha que rocié con aceite. Puse la hornilla a temperatura media-alta.

Esta receta requiere que uno pique muchos ingredientes, así que probablemente la volvería a hacer durante un fin de semana a menos que ya haya picado todo de antemano. También usé una picadora para la cebolla y me ahorré algunas lágrimas.

Me tomó cerca de una hora de principio a fin. Tal vez si fuera más hábil con el cuchillo, me hubiera ahorrado tiempo.

Ingredients for the recipe, grilling the shrimp, final dishCalificación: 4 sobre 5

Yo: "Es un plato ligero y agradable. Definitivamente lo volvería a hacer de nuevo. También podría sustituir la pasta con lechuga romana para hacer una buena ensalada."

Esposo: "Este plato no estaría fuera de lugar en un balneario, por ejemplo Hawái. Tiene un gran aroma y la combinación de dulce y crujiente. Es difícil conseguir un buen equilibrio con la pasta. El camarón también se defiende solo".

Hijo: "¡Qué rico!" (Él se limitó a separar y comer solo la pasta).

Lectores de GovGab, ¿quieren probar esta receta? Pruébenla con el chile jalapeño. Si se deciden a prepararla, díganos lo que piensa y déjenos un comentario a continuación.

| Post a Comment | View Comments [0] | envelope E-mail This Entry | Tags: alimentos   arlene   califique   camarones   cocina  

 

Entry bubble Student Jobs

By: Joanne | August 31, 2010 | Category: Money

woman taking an order from a customer at a restaurantWhen I was in high school and college I almost always had a part-time job. I worked at the mall, in department stores, sold shoes, lifeguarded, and did some office work in an academic office on campus. I always avoided being a waitress. I’m so clumsy that I would have surely dropped a tray of drinks in someone’s lap.

All of these jobs lined my pockets with a little extra cash, but it was really that job in the academic office in college that was something that gave me the skills and experience I needed to enter the workforce. And who would guess that it was a federal work study job that would get me started? The university got the money to pay me through a federal grant program.

Students looking for a job have a lot of options. I wish I knew about all these different programs when I was in school.

If you’re looking for a paying position like I had at the university, talk to the people in your financial aid office. They know where the work study jobs are. If you want to branch out a bit, I recommend looking at the student jobs section of usajobs.gov, the official source for federal government jobs.

Internships are also a great place to gain experience, and sometimes they pay too. There are many internship opportunities with government and non-government organizations.

And if you’re really not in it for the money, think about volunteer opportunities like Job Corps or Peace Corps that offer rich life experiences.

What was your favorite student job? I think the one that I really liked the most was teaching swimming lessons.

| Post a Comment | View Comments [0] | envelope E-mail This Entry | Tags: employment   internship   joanne   job   school   student   volunteer  

 

Entry bubble Consumer Help from the FCC

By: Jake | August 30, 2010 | Category: Money

Every week we receive many calls at the National Contact Center from people looking to file a complaint with the Federal Communications Commission because they have a  problem with a cell phone, internet and/or cable company. 

 I was happy to see that the FCC launched their Consumer Help Center earlier this month. The new website's FCC consumer complaint form will be very helpful for our callers and the public but the FCC created the website to help people get the best value out of their phone, TV and internet services.

You can watch the video I posted in this blog to learn more about the site, but I wanted to highlight some features. If you are confused with advertisements about broadband speed,  the new page has a resource to figure out what you need and you can even test your current broadband speed. My favorite section is the one on "bill shock," which happens when you get a bill with unexpected charges. Here you can learn how to avoid it and see how the FCC is taking steps to prevent it.

What do you think of the FCC's Consumer Help Center?

| Post a Comment | View Comments [1] | envelope E-mail This Entry | Tags: broadband_testing   consumer_help   fcc   jake  

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