Arianna in Plano

I'd never been to a book-signing before, so when I heard that legendary Arianna Huffington (of HuffingtonPost.com fame) was going to be in town, I decided it was High Time for me to cross another item from my personal bucket list. The event was sponsored by The North Dallas Democratic Women. Oddly, there were very few Republic Party members there, even though Plano is the epicenter of their North Texas lair.

Since she participated in an interview on KERA (90.1 in Dallas) on Tuesday, I already knew most of her talking points, and thus wasn't surprised when she stayed On Message during the lecture followed by Q&A.

Only one (acknowledged) Republic Party member was brave enough to approach the microphone and ask Arianna a question, and she ever-so-graciously gave him a copy of her book (Right Is Wrong) .. for him to examine his own rationale for supporting John McCain. As she explained, the primary target for this book are the 20% of the people "in the gap" between the die-hard Bushies (28%) and those who say they'll consider voting for McCain in November. She hopes the book erases all remaining doubt that McCain (2008 version) is a terrible choice (I've just started reading it, so please allow a few moments for me to analyze this epic).

Bonus: Arianna looked better in person than on TV! She mentioned that she'll be on Steven Colbert's little TV show tonight, so I suppose I should program the TiVo event, then plan to sit about one foot away (as close as I was during the autographing) and make that comparison. Too bad I don't have HD .. hmmm.

Note to Arianna: I hope your DFW-NYC flight was uneventful. Come back real soon?

juxtaposition in Plano

After seeing Geoff's posting about juxtaposition, it reminded me to post a photo of my favorite local one: Plano Youth Soccer is conveniently located next to a business where you can buy a replacement leg.

Live Green in .. Plano??

Given the various demonstrations of solar and wind power at today's Live Green in Plano Expo, the last thing I expected to see was a portable generator, but .. there it was. Inside, the air conditioning was keeping everyone from sweating (the humidity was 90%+) yet the exterior doors were wide open .. I didn't know it was possible to cool the outside of a building.

I only stayed about an hour - being around that many Right Wingers was starting to give me hives. The only place in the MetroPlex that's further Right than Plano is The Park Cities - which surround the ultra-right Southern Methodist University.

Anyway, I did find some entertaining stuff at the Expo:

Aggie (Texas A&M) Horticulture - advised me on a "grass problem" that I have;
Computer Take Back - recycling old PCs (we talked about RoHS a bit);
Collin County Master Gardeners;
Dallas Organic Garden Club;
Eco Dallas - biodegradable forks, spoons, plates;
Foil Barrier Insulation;
Nature Maids (only green products);
Texas Campaign for the Environment.

I spotted a couple guys (part of the Event Staff?) riding on Segways, but couldn't get close enough to take a picture. They were whipping around the outdoor part of the Expo (hybrid cars, wind+solar demonstrations, faux grass) at a high rate of speed.

Three Days of the William

I've seen William-Bob 3 times in 3 days, which is a new record. First, it was lunch with he and John-Bob at Snookie's (they still have ostrich burgers on the menu, although I went for The Wednesday Special which was a turkey and guacamole wrap). I was surprised to find No Waiting, which was certainly due to the cold (2C) which turns Texas Natives into cowering wimps. I've surmised that if you dangle about 20 snowflakes in front of a native, they'll go running home to mommy; it's amazing. I watched as drivers clutched their steering wheels with a Death Grip, just in case they encountered an icy spot on the mostly dry roads.

At lunch, the three of us Solved World Hunger, after which W.B. thoughtfully pointed me to the Mister Deity website, which provided a few moments of frolic (the guy's trying to stoke an audience for a half-hour TV show -- uh, Good Luck With That, except maybe on FOX which provides Wholesome Family Entertainment™ - like The Family Guy; American Dad; etc.)

My second Brush With Greatness was at Thursday night's Unix User Group meeting, in their temporary space at BNI in Plano. Their meeting room holds about 40 people, cozily. The speaker was a local Red Hat "Guru" (I use the term loosely) who wasn't prepared for this crowd, which is known to eat presenters alive and toss their carcasses in the dumpster amidst the pizza box remnants. Why some people feel they can face a technical audience with a sales-marketing pitch is beyond me. I'm not sure I learned much about the upcoming (15 March 2007) RHEL5 release that I didn't already know, but did score a 3-pack of Red Hat Golf Balls, to be used at some future time.

I first attended the DFW UUG's meeting at SGI (Silicon Graphics) near Preston/LBJ. When that location closed, the group moved to a nice space in the "JC Penney basement" (near Coit/LBJ) and were there for many years until being forced to relocate to Nerd Books in Richardson. The owner there decided he didn't want to stay late, so the group is meeting in Plano, but seeking a new location. User groups traditionally get the short end of the meeting space stick, fer sher.

Finally (well, the week's not over yet) I got an IM from William-Bob alerting me to the presence of 00E (a/k/a Bryan) who is visiting - one of his monthly trips from Maryland. Bryan was a -Bob until a few years ago. Yesterday, he bought a couple T-shirts from Poor Richard's after we fed there (me: veggie omelet Mit Grits). Only a few times in my life have I felt amused enough to buy a restaurant's T-shirt. Thinking about my current closet, the only ones promoting such places are in support of Dairy Queen (the institution).

Now, it's time to mosey over to Hollywood Video (across the street from Blockbuster) and rent a copy of Three Days of the Condor to see if William-Bob bears (bares) any similarities.

Aside: I finally Bit The Bullet and switched to the New! Improved! Blogger interface; if you spot anything peculiar, let me know. So far, I'm seeing minimal differences in the editor; it appears to post much faster, but that could be a Saturday morning aberration. I do like the improved Spell Check interface. And (oh yes) the Labels. I must make good use of The Labels.

the curse of Joe Btfsplk

It's gotta be JB's fault.

Today, we met for lunch. We decided on Souper Salad in Plano: a place we'd been before. Or so we thought. Using hindsight, we'd met previously at a Fresh Choice salad place, which has closed* and is now a Potbelly location (maybe split with a T-Mobile store). When I arrived and saw Potbelly's sign, I called 411 and soon connected with Souper Salad. "Did you move?", I asked. "No; we've been here 12 years."

It was only a mile or so away, so our rendezvous at Souper Salad - behind a Chipotle on the 75-Central access road - wasn't painful. Even so, I'm starting to wonder if JB has a curse on places - this is the second time within a month that we've found a restaurant destination closed!

*The Fresh Choice in Addison (in front of Sam's Club) converted to a WingHouse several months ago, so I assume their Plano location went away at the same time.

A couple of us used to meet at Big Dog's in Addison for lunch - until they stopped serving lunch. Then we'd meet at LongShots, until it was gutted and replaced with .. uh .. something else. Maybe it's just the fickle nature of the restaurant business. Or maybe JB is a distant relative of that infamous character from Li'l Abner after all?

Hell-o, Costco!

My Sam's Club membership came up for renewal today, so I decided it was time to make the switch to Costco, so I did. Here's the result:



On the surface, you might think I've lost my mind, since the two Costco locations (in Plano) are about 10 miles away, while the nearest Sam's Club locations are only half as far. But, I decided many months ago that it was time to cut the cord to Wal-Mart, which donates way too much to the Bush Regime. Now, (due to the distance) I'll simply plan my Warehouse Shopping Experiences more carefully .. no more impulse trips.

It's also pretty well documented that Costco pays its employees better, and is considered a much better place to work. I've strolled through their warehouses before and the product mix is similar (well, okay, Costco has more organics, far fewer unhealthy foods .. stuff I couldn't find at Sam's Club) so .. I made the switch.

I already did that with my gasoline purchases, when I started buying only Shell products (they also contribute too much to the Bush Regime, but it's much more equal than the others). See buyblue.org for details, if you're curious.

The quest for the elusive Dilly Bar

Yesterday after work, Jill-Bob [JB] & I went in search of a simpler time: we were hunting Dilly® Bars. You know, Day-ree Queen. It wasn't as easy as you'd think.

For those of you uncivilized city-dwellers who don't know the history behind the name "Dilly Bar", it's absurdly silly.

Plan A

Since it was still technically rush hour, we took "the back road" (partially) toward Van Alsytne, TX, where JB remembered seeing a Dairy Queen. Sure, there was one in Plano, but this destination - away from The Big City - offered a spirit of adventure, and a return to Simpler Times.

Needless to say, what we found was not quite what we expected:

the abandoned Dairy Queen in Van Alstyne, Texas. Our hearts sank. We pulled into the parking lot and just stared. In disbelief.

Some of you might say we should've checked the web first .. either Dairy Queen.com or the lesser-known DQTexas, Home of Texas Dairy Queens. In hindsight, that would've been a Real Good Idea. But, we both knew that every small town has at least one Dairy Queen. How else would small towns conduct their official business? In Texas, the mayor, city council, police chiefs, and other city staff gather with the ordinary citizens at Dairy Queen for breakfast.

Plan B

After we found the DQ in Van Alstyne closed, we decided to continue north on US-75, since there'd be another DQ in the next town. Well, that didn't happen. We got as far as Sherman, then Denison, then Durant. Up ahead, we could see the Red River and the promised land that is Oklahoma. It was time to turn around, and try some of the small towns, away from the freeway. That almost worked; we found another closed Dairy Queen, this one converted to "Queen Burger" (206 W Texas St) in Denison. Okay, that was the last straw.

Plan C

The goal now was to find most anything edible. JB suggested haute cuisine, in the form of the Snuffers location in McKinney, not far from where we started. Along the freeway exit, the GAS/FOOD/LODGING sign came into view. JB gasped for breath, and pointed. I was caught offguard, and didn't immediately understand that she had spotted .. The Holy Grail. On the roadsign were the two simple words: DAIRY QUEEN. Probably 10 miles from where we started. Oy, vey.

Exiting the freeway, we spotted the arrow directing us to The Destination. Just ahead on the right. A row of pickups were queued at the Drive-Thru. It was time to park, and go inside. To experience The Joy That Is Dairy Queen. JB wanted a soft serve cone, and she plucked a Dilly Bar from the freezer. We sat down to enjoy our find, and share a moment with Every Screaming Child In McKinney, who had come there to dine. It was nothing short of Fabulous.


on the left, the paper-bag version (made in the store). on the right, the plastic-encased version (made by child labor in Malaysia, no doubt).

Epilogue

Today, I ventured onto their website and found a DQ a weeee bit closer to home: like, uh, 4.2 miles away. Throwing caution to the wind, I drove over and bought Another Dilly Bar. This one was wrapped in a paper sack of sorts. It wasn't precision cast, like the plastic-encased one last night. But oh, the smooth, creamy goodness was all there. I even spotted a machine to make a Mister Misty, although it wasn't on the menu marquee. The only thing missing were the Squealing Rugrats.

those 4 little letters every girl wants to hear

Trish-Bob and I rendezvoused at Escapé (an Internet cafe+bakery in Plano) last night after I taunted her with an IM: "boba".

Rumor has it that Trish lept out of her PJs into something fashionable (leopard?) and sprinted out the back door .. and I still beat her there by a minute or two (the traffic lights know when I'm coming).

Escapé was out of lychee (although the adjoining grocery had a fresh basket of them), so I opted for a MANGO boba -- "easy on the pearl" -- which was waaay refreshing. Great way to end the week, eh?

I thought seriously about a white bean pastry, but ended up with one of those weird corn pastries instead (fresh corn baked in, on top).

Deep thought: I wonder what my Mifipi relatives would think of this kind of corn bread?

This northeast corner of Coit/Park has an interesting mix of Asian food-related stores, interconnected (not obvious from the street): Shabu Shabu restaurant; May Hua grocery; Emma Bakery; Joy Luck BBQ (freshly baked ducks - with heads intact - hanging in the window); a Korean food court; Escapé (a Lollicup boba franchise). And oh yes, a gift shop, which had a few of the new Hidamari No Tami solar-powered people. Too bad I already have one, from Bonane (next to Korea House restaurant on Harry Hines/Royal).

Watts Up?

Karl was in town for The Derby, and we rendezvoused at Poor Richard's Cafe in Plano. I've heard about this Fine Dining Establishment for several years; Eric (the Redneck) was the first one to Clue Me In. They only seat 260 (so says the sign) so I was amused that there was no waiting for our party of six. And we even scored a jumbo-booth: woo hoo.

After feeding on Ranch Eggs (Huevos Rancheros), I moseyed over to Fry's. And I do mean Mosey in the real connotation. That's often dangerous for me, as I often Shop Like A Guy: go straight for The Thing and then aim straight for The Register. So, I suppose I got off light .. $156 later I strolled out with a 3-pack of air, a replacement spotlight (for locating Beta the Wonder Dog at 3am) and a power meter called a watts up? PRO.

Naturally, once I got the power meter home, I discovered it used an oh-so-quaint DB9 connector, instead of USB. So, it was back to the store for a converter. You'd think by now my Closet Of Horrors would have every adapter known to man, but .. no.

I'm sure I'll blog on this in gory detail Real Soon Now, but playing with the watts up? has already taught me:

1- my reading light uses more watts (100) than my TV (65) and TiVo (11) combined;

2- the old Pentium laptop uses 3 watts while charging; 23 when in use; and 35 when the CPU is maxed out (UD Agent). If I disable the Wireless-G adapter it saves a mere 1.3 watts.

More fascinating observations as I continue playing ...

mind boggle in Plano

HayJax bailed on us Friday night, so Jill-Bob and I ended up at The End Zone in Plano, which is roughly equidistant. The End Zone's a typical smoke-filled neighborhood sports bar complete with pool tables, dartboards, an under-used mini-buffet and a mysterious Back Room. An odd blue canopy juts into the strip-mall parking lot.

Jill has decided to write a book entitled "The Cheese Fries of America" and (as part of the research) sampled the Cheddar Fries (you can read a review on her blog Real Soon Now). I had a Dickweed Burger, named after the world-famous Dickweed Motorcycle Club, which gathers there Thursday night. The waitress barely batted an eye when she asked for my order. "I feel like a Dickweed," I said. She didn't ask how I wanted it cooked. I guess it only comes one way: medium. Also: pity she's only 22.

After viewing their website, JB noted:

"There's KARAOKE on Tuesday and Friday nights for all you singers out there."

Pity we didn't hang around that long. The thought of Gene-Bob and Jill-Bob singing "Feelings" to a karaoke machine is just too mind-boggling ...

destination: Plano

It just makes you feel good to be alive, doesn't it? Naturally, I'm talking about David Letterman's dramatic reading of the lyrics to Love Train (by The O'Jays) on Monday night's show. Ah, the air smells crisper, and the birds are chirping sweeter this morning. The dew is a bit damper, and Tom DeLay is marginally slimy-er. It's a new day in America!

In unrelated news, I moseyed by The Bowling Alley last night to watch The Crumbleys in inaction, along with the other Pin Pals. While the lanes themselves are smoke-free, the lounge (bar/pool tables) area is not, and I was a bit surprised that it's turned into a destination unto itself. I felt that I'd momentarily taken a wrong turn and ended up in a strange, foreign land. Then I realized that, yes - I was in Plano.

Note to self: someday Real Soon Now, go to Poor Richard's (fine dining establishment) and see what all the fuss is about.

Metroplex Mystery

There must've been something going on today; many stores were closed and the parking lots were empty. Maybe there'll be a story about this in tomorrow's paper?

Judy-Bob and I started the day at Kirin Court (Richardson, dim sum) which was packed, as usual. Ran into Billy Bob and Lay Wah Bob on the way out. Next, we stopped at Sarah Bakery (Richardson, Islamic grocery/bakery/restaurant) for some pistachio baklava; Medjool dates; baba ghanouj (ghanoush/ghanoosh); and a can of Unium's "Luncheon Loaf" (looks suspiciously like Spam®, but without the pork). Then, it was off to scan some photos for a promotional thing that J-B's doing, then back to watch To Kill A Mockingbird (1962), followed by a little TiVo. At about 10pm, I realized that I was supposed to go to Plano to see Trish-Bob, but I suspect she had her hands full with a visiting FIL and her new friend, the walking cane.

All in all, it was a productive day. If only I can figure out why the parking lots (except movie theatres) were empty, and why the highways were unusually free of vehicles. Maybe the Dallas Cowboys were playing, although I thought they were officially out of the playoffs. Hmmm.

Costco: run by a human being?

There's an interesting story about a piece set to run tonight on ABC's 20/20 about Costco, which competes with Wal-Mart's Sams Club (a Radical Right Wing operation). When I lived in California, I shopped at Costco, but avoided it here because it's a bit out of the way (hey, who wants to travel to Plano if you don't have to?).

At any rate, the article has some interesting comparisons with their competitor: Costco CEO Finds Decency Is Compatible With Profitability. It's even more apropos given the recent release of "The Wal-Mart Movie" which was produced by a pro-union group (my copy of the DVD arrived prior to Thanksgiving, so it provided Turkey Day entertainment for a couple of us this year).

Unrelated # sqrt(-Pi): The Ctrl-Enter Browser Trick works in Firefox, just like MS-IE (Internet Exploder). Try it: pick any www.FOO.com address and type ONLY the "FOO" part in the browser's Address box, then press Ctrl-Enter. Voila!

Unrelated # Zed: I did breakfast with HayJax at Deli-News, Too (southwest corner of Preston/LBJ-635) this morning. Ahh. There's nothing like a plate of eggs-and-spinach, with a salt bagel and hot cwah-fee, to start the day. Did I mention the waitress who migrated from Gilbert's to Bagelstein's to Deli-News? Small world ...

running the gauntlet

One of today's tasks was to take a friend to DFW. That accomplished, I tried the "Olympus Blvd" exit from 635-LBJ and found myself in the Fry's Electronics parking lot; funny how that works. Noting that there were no SABR*s outside, I decided to mosey inside and do some shopping.

* SABR - Salvation Army Bell Ringer

This was different from the Fry's in Plano - I wonder if They track the impact of SABRs on store sales? Presumably, some people will shop only at SABR-equipped stores. I make a point of avoiding the SABRs when possible. Mentally, I must equate passing one of them to crossing a picket line; one of my ancestors must've been a union scab.

I also equate SABR donations to giving spare change to someone at a street intersection - I just don't do it. Some may be truly in need (homeless, etc.) but I think most of them beg because it pays better than working at the McDonalds down the street. Then again, they may have a Criminal Background Check issue which precludes working at The Golden Arches.

Normally, I don't grocery-shop at Albertsons, but I noticed the one near my home is SABR-free so I may go there for the next few weeks (assuming Whole Foods Market doesn't qualify).

30/11/5 update: The Dallas Managed News had an article about SABRs today .. says there are 421 approved locations in the four-county area but only 272 employees (they are not volunteers - they're paid $6+/hour). The 6-week Red Kettle drive nets $1.1M for the local chapter. I have to wonder if this is as cost-effective as Direct Mail?

use the web, Luke ...

Yesterday I moseyed to a nearby store to fetch some DVDs that have been on my Wish List for many months. After All Was Said And Done, I paid ~2% more than the Best Price I could find on the web, and got immediate delivery of most of the films on my list. Sure, these are "used DVDs" but unless they're scratched I'll never know the difference. It's not like a VHS copy that wasn't rewound at the end of every viewing.

To effect a fair cost comparison, I added sales tax to my local purchase (and deducted their in-store promotional discount) then compared that with shipping charges from the web merchant. I did not add 45¢/mile for travel (or whatever the going rate is for petrol these days).

My local purchase comes with a 30-day guarantee from the merchant (Moving Trading Company at 5907 Beltline - west of Preston). If I ever need to wring their necks, they're in easy range.

The thing that drives me to the web in the first place is that I loathe driving around town looking for what I want. I suppose If I Shopped Like A Woman (walking through stores, day-after-day, aimlessly looking for Random Crap With Which To Fill My Home) I'd have a different attitude. But most of the time, I know exactly what I want, since I've thoroughly researched my purchase in advance.

If I do make the mistake of going to a Brick & Mortar store, odds are that what I want is either:
- not in stock
- located somewhere that only a sociopath would think to hide it*

* stock clerk: I'll put the frozen tater tots in the section marked "videotapes"

unrelated #98.6: Stores should have SABR-free day each week when the Salvation Army Bell Ringer won't be annoying customers needing to shop. I started to grab something at Fry's in Plano yesterday, but made a U-turn when I saw The Bell and decided my purchase can wait until January.

unrelated #867-5309: Rambo's come for a visit .. not sure how many days. He and Beta will probably stay up all night and have a pajama party.

a night with Mrs. Venom

I attended a public hearing at a local high school last night. It started at 7 and I left about 9:10 .. people were still commenting, 3 minutes at a time. I sat next to a woman who came full of venom, and had to offer her comments of disagreement to anyone seated within 2-3 chairs.

Maybe I don't attend enough public hearings (ha!) but this one -- concerning a proposed commuter rail line stretching from DFW Airport to Plano -- brought out the worst in the crowd. Any speaker who was in favor was subject to immediate disdain by Mrs. Venom, and a few others who appear to know each other. They continued to mutter that this was a waste of time, and that the rail line will go through no matter what the public had to say. Only one of "her crowd" spoke (apparently a lawyer), and the moderator attempted to silence his excessive comments after about 4 minutes, while Mrs. Venom started yelling "LET HIM SPEAK!" as if it were okay to extend the comments if you were on her side, but unacceptable if you were for the new rail service.

Personally, I feel that the ushers (?) should have been provided Duct Tape to apply to the mouths of anyone who couldn't sit and listen. Since when did it become acceptable to bully people around by shouting them down? I guess that's been going on for centuries, but it's still sad to think that crowds lower themselves to this with little afterthought.

This morning, I felt suddenly queasy and briefly vomited (very unusual). Could this be Cause and Effect from sitting next to Mrs. Venom last night?

dense

I've been watching/reading the different views of the Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, and continue to be baffled by the difference in population density. I'm not going to attempt repeating what's been written elsewhere (see Palestinian Technical Team: FAQ About Israel's Unilateral Disengagement if you're interested), but ...

depending on which numbers you use, it appears that the Israeli Jews in the Gaza Strip were living in some of the lowest population densities on Earth. No wonder they didn't want to move! It took significant searching for me to find a nearby area (Ellis County) with a similar low density:

Los Angeles CA           7,400/mi²
Gaza Strip/Arab          7,222/mi²
Plano TX                 3,101/mi²
Lucas TX                   345/mi²
Gaza Strip/Jew             162/mi²
Ellis County TX            118/mi²

Bottom line? The Gaza Strip Palestinians are living in a density similar to that of Los Angeles, while the Jews "across the street" were living in a density about half that of Lucas, Texas.

quit fooling! who said that?

July 27 (Wednesday): am late for an evening, informal meeting. waddle into the bathroom, put left contact lens in eye. remove right lens, watch as it pops under the lens strainer. attempt to gently coax it to the surface. dreadful feeling as I watch the lens go down the drain, literally. decide not to attend meeting.

July 28 (Thursday): it's been 15 months since my last eye exam. decide to change from an optometrist in Plano to an opthalmologist in Richardson. call office, advise i'm a new patient. was told next available appointment is Thursday, August 11. i mention the reason i'm calling is due to lost contact lens. Hmm .. within seconds I'm told that they can see me Monday morning at 9am. go figure.

August 1 (Monday): eye exam is mostly uneventful, save for one itsy-bitsy detail: doc says i'm borderline for glaucoma. mom has it (the drug Xalatan was the clue .. a fact I'd stored on my ever-present PDA) and I'm nearsighted, so I'm "at risk". Bloody splendid. My eye pressure is 24 mm Hg but this could be a fluke; he wants to retest next week. He's aghast that the Plano doc didn't pick up on it. We did the dilation thing, took some eyeball photos, and (after signing a form to allow release of my records) doc says he'll get my prior retina/cornea/whetever photos for comparison. I leave, wearing a pair of those fashionable plastic-film sunglasses atop my glasses (post-dilation, the eyes are very light sensitive).

August 3 (Wednesday): doc's office calls my cell, leaves a message. I often go days between checking cellphone v-mail but today's an exception. replacement contact lens has arrived. I can go out in public again without the Coke™ bottles: woo hoo. Am now reading what I can (pre-Braille) about glaucoma, hoping to Ace The Test next week. If not, will investigate having Beta retrained to be a Seeing Eye Dog.

cold, battery, crescent

What's with the cool weather - a high of only 74F? Isn't this supposed to be July in Dallas - home of the Poached Egg On A Sidewalk?

My UPS battery arrived via UPS today, and I am speechless with delight .. almost to the point of driving a $20 bill to Plano (yes, Trish-Bob .. that quip's for you). After installing the UPS battery (a task requiring about 30 seconds total) I took the old one to the BatteriesPlus store (Beltline @ Midway) and asked if they'd recycle the old one. Sure!, they said .. and asked how much I paid for the battery (curiosity). Turns out they stock UPS batteries, and even had my prehistoric one in stock .. their price with tax was more than buying via the web and paying shipping, but not by a huge sum.

This afternoon, I moseyed to downtown Dallas to locate the Crescent Office Complex - ha! This 18-story monster's hard to miss, once you've left the Woodall Rodgers Freeway (the mostly nameless thing that links 75-Central and I-35E).

The mirror is often a good friend.

As any student of real Chinese food knows, fortune cookies are an American addition (abomination?) to the cuisine. But, there I was, feeding on dim sum at midnight Friday, and was presented with a fortune cookie at the end. Mine read "The mirror is often a good friend" (in bed). These originated from a factory in Houston, and included the obligatory sets of lottery numbers on the back.

As far as I know, Lucky House Restaurant (1301 Custer @ 15th Street in Plano) is the only area place that serves dim sum outside the 11am-3pm Window Of Opportunity. And yes, they serve it waaay outside the normal window. Granted, this place is small -- nothing like Kirin Court or Maxim's (Richardson) or Arc en Ciel (Garland) -- so the dim sum is ordered a la cart .. even if there aren't roving carts prowling the aisles with Chinese delicacies. Having a "dim sum menu" was odd, but it seemed to work.

Lucky House is near a 24-hour McDonalds and an Albertsons grocery, so maybe 15th & Custer in Plano is where the Late Night action happens up there. Outside (trendy) downtown Plano, natch.