If you think Ramen is a cheap food, you are not making it right.
Cup Ramen don't count here since they lack half the stuff.
This looks like a good Ramen
http://extras.mnginteractive.com/live/media/site569/2013/0225/20130225__130228eat-ramen.jpg
Damn that looks good. I've done my share of dressed-up noodle dishes over the years, but not as much lately since DW isn't a soup girl.
Makes me wanna get back to it though, maybe next time she travels solo...
Except if you are one of those people who are more happy and more healthy with a pet.
Yeah, I seriously credit my dogs with a huge positive fitness/health impact. A few years into adulthood, after a pet-free military career, I settled down and got a puppy, and my mom sent me one of Cesar Millan's books. He may be right about some things and wrong about others, but I'll defend his view on dog exercise till I die... because it's kept my dogs healthy and happy, and because it also meant I get out 2-3 times a day with virtually no exceptions for the past decade, maybe 20 minutes on a busy day but generally 30+ and often over an hour. Without dogs, my baseline activity level could easily have been more like "nothing" for much of that time, but knowing that their health and well-being depended on it was enough to get me out there. And even when I'm doing well and rocking a much more intensive fitness routine, it still adds some calorie burn and basic toning, and helps me form and maintain connections with neighbors that so many people are lacking in these times. I could say more, but I don't wanna drone on forever...
I work in an area where I see people walking there dogs regularly. The sad thing I see are so many that have not trained there dog to walk on a leash. They have them on a leash and the dog never stops pulling on the leash. It can not be joyful to constantly having the the dog pulling on your arm. It can't be fun for the dog to have it collar constantly pulling on it's neck either.
Train your dogs for a joyful walk people!
I've been working on that for 8 years, sigh. We're getting there, unless a squirrel or dog or cat or god forbid a rabbit runs by. The newer dog does much better at not pulling. She's MUCH better at spotting cats, but just stops and stares when she sees them.
The fact is that not all dogs can be trained. See: 75% of goldendoodles/labradoodles. Just batshit crazy dogs that no amount of obedience training will help. That doesn't make them bad dogs. That just means that they may not be good for an unaware owner/handler, or one that isn't capable of restraining them in a serious situation.
No I'm not a dog trainer, but I've had purebred Goldens (British and American), purebred Great Pyrenees, a lab/mountain cur (we think) mix, and a Samoyed/Aussie (we think) mix. I've had significant experience (watching for at least 2 weeks total for each) with Great Danes, miniature dauchunds, poodles, pit mixes, a Chow/Lab mix, GSD, English bulldogs, labs, and schitzu's. All of them have had responsible (or at least once-responsible before dementia) owners. Not all have been trainable--sure, you could train nearly any of them to sit, but getting them to heal doesn't always happen. And some (like Great Pyrenees) are not supposed to be trained.
And I refuse to watch labradoodles or goldendoodles except for very specific cases. Almost all of them are just batshit crazy and unpredictable.
My older dog is a bit of a riddle. He's certainly trainable, but getting him to calmly enjoy walks on a leash is tough. He can sit, stay, close the door, find his toy, put his toys away, figure 8, jump, give me a hug, paw, dance, find my niece, come, lie down, go to bed, wait, leave the treat alone when I say 'mine', roll over, turn around, go under, jump over, go pee and poop on demand, scent tracking, keep completely quiet while hunting, and a dozen other fun tricks. But walking beside me calmly on a leash, omg that seems to be torture for him. If we go on walks through the forest where he's allowed off leash he runs to and fro and checks in on occasion, and comes when I call him if he gets out of sight, but if that leash is on, things are tough, especially if other animals around around.
Yet I don't mind walking him because I know him well enough I can read his body language, predict his behavior, avoid stressful situations, and work on getting better. Lately he's been doing much better. He will see a cat, react and jump around, but still keep moving in the direction we are walking, at the same speed, while twisting around to see the cat. I also know when he's about to lunge before he does when it happens and I get a little upper body workout from it. But I get nervous when other people want to walk him.