ordeal at the drive-thru

Last night, I moseyed over to a local store to fetch some CFLs that were priced at 59c each (I bought 6 of them - for me, that's a lifetime supply of these low-wattage bulbs).

Afterwards, I stopped at a local drive-thru for a sandwich and a drink, and that's when things got interesting.

I happened to arrive moments after two guys in a small white pickup attempted to place their order. Alternating ordering through their window, and opening the truck's door to talk .. they ordered about $30 worth of fast food (it wasn't hard to hear their order - lots of sandwiches with each condiment specified - e.g. "hamburger with lettuce, ketchup and onions .. (long pause) ... cheeseburger with mustard and tomato .." etc.) This should've told me that I was in for a long wait, but .. I decided to stay, since this was the last thing on My Agenda For The Night.

Next, they pulled up to the window and the clerk handed their four (4) drinks to the driver, then waited for the money. Another long pause. I guess Company Policy is that if someone leaves without paying, they didn't lose much since the profit on soda is about 96%. The driver handed two folded bills - one by one - out the window, over his left shoulder, without looking .. since he and the passenger were by then anxiously searching for something inside the cab. I mentally noted their license plate number.

Next, the passenger's door opens halfway, enough for him to stick his legs outside while continuing to search for something inside the truck. Then, the driver exited the cab, presumably to see if he'd been sitting on Whatever. It was then I could see he was wearing knee-length red satin trunks - something a Pimp Basketball team would wear.

Next, the driver got out of the truck completely and proceeded to walk past my car very slowly until he reached the drive-thru's order board. Still not finding what he was looking for, he came alongside my side of the car (by then I had locked the doors) and got back inside the truck, still searching.

At that point, I decided to cut my losses and backup .. perhaps leave. Once I'd backed up, the driver made another inspection of the drive-thru lane, a bit more meticulously than at first.

Now, this is the only drive-thru in Dallas with two lanes (like the In-N-Out Burgers on the west coast). Rather than leave, I decided to switch lanes, even if it meant stretching across the front seat to handle my transaction through the passenger window. Only then could I see that there were two SUVs in front of me. Lovely .. this had already turned into a 10-minute ordeal and was likely to be longer. Backing up from the left lane would be much more challenging. Now, I was stuck.

Eventually (another 5 minutes passed) I reached the window, and handed my cash out the passenger window, explaining to the clerk that I'd switched. "Yes, I noticed" he said, "... sorry about that". He then explained that the two guys in the pickup were Very Drunk and "had been smoking something they shouldn't have". Ah, that explained a lot.

So, the two guys in the little white pickup were drunk and stoned (hence the munchies), and had lost their bag-o-weed, hence the frantic search inside the cab.

This made me wonder what responsibility - if any - the fast food clerk had, to call the police and turn these drunk stoners over before they kill someone. Then again, they may still be at the drive-thru today, searching for Whatever.

the local coffee shop

Before there was Starbucks®, the "local coffee shop" usually meant an independent donut shop. In my case, the only nearby "dedicated coffee shops" are in/near office parks and are open 9-5 weekdays. Starbucks changed all that, extending their hours, creating atmosphere, and putting them on every corner -- hence their current saturation problem.

There are nine (9) Starbucks locations within three (3) miles of my home - two are inside grocery stores. Two of the remaining seven are on The List To Be Closed in the next few months, and only one of the seven has a drive-thru. I was mildly surprised by one of the closures .. Preston/Beltline (actually it's closer to Preston/Alexis) which always seemed to be busy - located between a Blockbuster and Wendy's. Granted, there's another Starbucks a hundred yards away, but it's inside a Tom Thumb grocery store and lacks the ambiance (!) of a Real Starbucks.

I waddled over to the 4th-closest Starbucks yesterday (the nearest one with a drive-thru window) to try their new smoothie - er, Vivanno™. There are only two from which to choose: banana-orange-mango or banana-chocolate. I could definitely taste the "whey protein and fiber powder", but it was otherwise unremarkable. Noteworthy: just like Jamba Juice®, you can add extra stuff (in Starbucks' case, that means a shot of espresso; matcha green tea powder; or substitute nonfat milk to shave 20 calories).

Vivanno verdict: it's okay but not sure $4.06 (with tax) for 16 ounces is something I'd go out of the way for. I found McDonald's Iced Coffee more refreshing at less than half the price (also more healthy if you opt for the sugar-free vanilla flavor -- 60 calories). I suspect I should compare it with an offering from the local Jamba Juice (co located with Whole Foods), smoothie-to-smoothie:

16 oz. Vivanno (banana-orange-mango): 250 calories, 16 grams protein, 6 grams fiber, 2 grams fat, 1 fruit serving. (No artificial colors, artificial sweeteners or high fructose corn syrup.)

16 oz. Banana Berry™ (Jamba Juice): 280 calories, 3 grams protein, 3 grams fiber, 1 gram fat, 2 fruit servings. For comparison, add the "whey boost" to get ~16 grams protein and 4 grams fiber.

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For an apples-to-oranges (er, banana-to-coffee) comparison, here's the info on the McCoffee:

16 oz. McDonald's Iced Coffee: 60 calories, no fiber or protein.

Premium Roast Coffee. Light Cream: Milk, cream, sodium phosphate, sodium polyphosphate, DATEM, sodium stearoyl lactylate, tetra sodium pyrophosphate, sodium hexametaphosphate, sodium citrate, carrageenan. CONTAINS: MILK. Sugar Free Vanilla Syrup: Water, erythritol, natural (plant source) and artificial flavors, cellulose gum, sucralose, salt, malic acid, potassium sorbate (preservative), acesulfame potassium, caramel color (with sulfites). Ice.

red BBQ in a blue city

I didn't know there were any overtly Republic Party barbeque places in Dallas, but I just discovered one -- near downtown Dallas. It is Sammy's BAR-B-Q; I know it's owned by Republics because they're hosting a fundraiser for John McBush tomorrow night, when The Presumptive Republic Party Nominee comes to town (7pm).

Note to self: cross Sammy's off my list of restaurants to ever dine in

Then again, it may not be well-attended because the tickets donations are so cheap (only $230 versus the $2,300 ticket to see McBush at the 5pm soiree at The Belo Mansion). For those of you who don't live here, Belo is the local media magnate, controlling the only daily newspaper, one of the TV stations, and whatever else they're allowed to own under FCC rules. No surprise they're backing the Republics because of their greed, desire to maintain power, etc.

I suspect the McBush Party's food will be prepared by undoc'd Mexican waitstaff, and served by $5.85*/hour Africans, while their Bentleys and Rolls-Royces are parked by White Teenage Republics (can't let the Darkies or the Wetbacks touch Their Cars, you see).

Related: Bill Moyers' latest show explores the growing divide between rich and poor in this country. None of the attendees at The McBush Fundraiser will have seen it, because to do so would have to admit that their whole lives are little more than a sham -- to con the middle class into paying the bulk of the taxes.

* only recently raised from $5.35/hour, after the Democrats pushed the Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2007. Also worth noting: Bill Moyers made the point that if The Minimum Wage had kept pace with inflation, it would now be $9.88/hour instead of $5.85 (after all these years of Republic Party rule).

cabrito? check!

I can now cross another item from my Bucket List: eating cabrito.

Mary was in town this weekend and wanted to check out a museum, so we sauntered over to the Dallas Museum of Art. It turns out that The Nasher is closed on Sunday, and logistics dictated we not try the Kimball or Amon Carter Museums in Fort Worth. While the DMA's featured J.M.W.Turner paintings didn't do much for either of us, the crowd was respectable -- so this must be one of those "beauty in the eye of the beholder" things.

After that, we made a quick stop at Northpark Center for some haute shampoo (something about the 3oz TSA limit was said), followed up by dinner at Javier's Gourmet Mexicano Restaurant, where the waiter explained that "the entire menu is available" .. meaning, to me, that I'd finally get to sample cabrito (seasonally available). Sadly, I wasn't impressed, and can now affirm that goat tacos won't be my usual, henceforth. Maybe this regional delicacy simply lost something in translation as it crossed the border into Téjas. Or maybe it just needed more ketchup.

what a deal! (unless you can do math)

I just got an email from Baskin-Robbins, saying:

Participating Baskin-Robbins stores will reduce prices of small ice cream scoops to 31 cents.*

*2.5oz scoops are 31 cents plus tax where applicable. Limit 10 scoops per person, per purchase. Available Wednesday 4/30/08, from 5pm to 10pm, at your local Baskin-Robbins while supplies last.

Before you think "what a deal!" be advised that's some very expensive ice cream (versus just buying a gallon).

The math: there are 128 ounces/gallon, hence 51.2 of those 2.5 ounce scoops per gallon. At 31 cents each, that means the ice cream is $15.87 per gallon (not including sales tax). That makes $4/gallon gasoline look attractive.

Deep thought: I wonder if anyone ever made gasoline-flavored ice cream?

Full disclosure: there's a charity involved, so it's not like they're totally evil:

A donation of $100,000 will be made by Baskin-Robbins to the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation. At select stores throughout the country, you may also have a chance to donate to your local fire station.

Mexican Fusion

The local Pollo Feliz ("The Happy Chicken") has closed -- too bad. Now I don't know where I'll go for an iguana platter (they offered it on the weekend). In its place has risen Burger Bueno ("Good Burger").

I think this is the second attempt at Mexican Fusion here, following Pizza Patrón which is like most other pizza places, except they offer La Mexicana Pizza with chorizo and jalepeños (among other standard ingredients).

got sign?

Tomorrow is Super (Duper) Tuesday, but you'd never know it in Texas. Our primary is March 4th, and I don't recall seeing any political yard signs (except for Ron Paul -- who inspires the crazies), which are the staple of campaigns here. I suspect most campaigns are waiting to see whether they're still viable after tomorrow.

Texas Governor PrettyHair (Rick Perry) endorsed Rudy Giuliani, who promptly dropped out of the race. Ever the opportunist (ala Hillary Clinton), PrettyHair then endorsed John McCain - probably because he's the Lead GOPher at the moment, and Perry's desperate to back a winner, to salvage his own political future.

A few days ago, I had the car radio on and heard a politician whose voice I didn't immediately recognize .. turns out it was Barack Obama, who's as articulate as any human I've known. Odds are that I'll endorse him by the time the Texas (open) primary rolls around, unless I feel the need to seriously mess with anything happening over on the Repugnican side (assuming Mitt Romney hasn't thrown in the towel by then).

Politics aside .. Judy-Bob wandered by yesterday afternoon and wanted to feed with Joe-Bob at Genghis Grill (what's more traditional than Mongolian BBQ during the Super Bowl?) .. but we arrived to find them closed (horrors!!). Plan B became Pei Wei, which was open to only a handful of customers - the staff easily outnumbered the customers. I sampled the Pad Thai which was quite acceptable, thank you very much.

Meanwhile, Miles (and his mom) are here for one more week - they're due to mosey back to Phoenix on Saturday, I think. Since Judy-Bob and Janice-Bob played "Thelma and Louise" last week, taking US-287 to I-40 (en route Albuquerque), Paula's thinking about taking that route home, for a change of pace from the I-20 to I-10 boredom.

Rudy's has come to town!!! (yawn)

Today's lunch at a customer site was catered by Rudy's Bar-B-Q of Frisco, TX. While that didn't mean anything to me, one of the people started salivating when she heard that Rudy's (apparently of Austin, TX fame) has come to Dallas (actually, a suburb 25 miles north of downtown).

I guess I ain't no BBQ purist, since it tasted like most every other BBQ I've had here. Hmmm.

Unrelated: an article in the Dallas Managed News (Sunday) said that the new foods available at this year's Texas State Fair -- coming Real Soon Now -- are all Deep Fried. That mimics the past few years, where Fried Coke and Fried Avocadoes reigned. Supposedly this year's Most Desired Food will either be

1. Deep Fried Latte
2. Fernie's Fried Chili Frito Burrito
3. B.W.'s Original Fried Banana Pudding
4. Mama's Fried Sweet Potato Pie

Why doesn't this Fried Food Fascination not surFrise me?

The Perfect (August Baking) Storm

Got a call from Judy-Bob on Saturday, muttering something about Baking On Sunday. I may have been comatose at the time, and don't recall understanding that this would be an all-day effort. When the temperature's flirting with 100 (Fahrenheit). And the humidity (thanks, Tropical Storm Erin) is Off The Scale. Oy, vey. Couldn't this have waited until February?

The day started innocently enough, with Sunday breakfast. I decided to try sliding into Cindi's New York Deli which often has a long queue, but today we were lucky* and were seated immediately, although they were full soon thereafter.

* there were two firetrucks outside; we were told there had just been a "minor event" in an air conditioning vent but there was no danger. Despite the lack of air conditioning (did I mention this is August in Texas?) the meal was near-perfect, nicely assisted by a rare Perfect Waitress.

After sampling latkes for the first time ever (yes, there are still some unsampled foods out there on My List) we moseyed to the remaining Albertsons location in the area (2 of 3 have closed within the year) and fetched some fresh fruit for The Baking. In this case, we opted for bananas; blueberries; dates and walnuts which are required by the recipe targets (banana bread; blueberry coffee cake; date-nut bread; applesauce cake; molasses-ginger cookies).

While we waited for the oven to do its magic, we watched two classic DVDs: The Terror of Tiny Town (a 1938 western with an "all midget cast") and The Triumph of the Will (the 1935 Nazi propaganda film which still reminds me of a Republican National Convention).

We didn't finish baking (and cleaning up) until 8:30p or so, having made good use of many of the kitchen gadgets in my collection. Judy-Bob brought some stuff I didn't have -- a bundt pan; small loaf pans; sundry spices -- but I suspect she was mildly shocked to discover that my kitchen is as well-equipped as it is.

Alas, it's now Monday morning and I need to find a Good Home for these baked goods. Maybe I'll waddle over to the office and leave them in an unsuspecting break room?

Mmm .. doughnut !

Although it was a Dark And Stormy Day yesterday, I moseyed about 6 miles south to take in the conversion of a local 7-Eleven to a Kwik-E-Mart. This is proving to be quite a marketing coup, as even the rain couldn't keep the crowd away from the Squishees; Krusty-O cereal; Buzz Cola and (of course!) the pink Sprinklicious doughnuts.

Outside, a local radio station (Mix 102.9) has setup a Simpsons couch complete with the main characters, where you could have your own photo taken, provided you had a camera of your own handy.

Inside, the clerks were wearing green uniforms and one of them had an [Apu] nametag. Sadly, they were completely SOLD OUT of Krusty-O's and Buzz Cola, although Squishees and Pink Doughnuts were still available. But not for long.

Only 12 locations across the country were converted, and apparently only for the month of July (when The Simpsons Movie debuts). I suspect one of their competitors (Circle K, etc) could have come up with this idea first, but they didn't. Kudos, 7-Eleven.

Back Yard Burgers

I think I found a fast food burger that Jill Wazabob would enjoy: Back Yard Burgers. There's only one of these QSRs in Dallas, but it's not that far from me, so I moseyed down to fetch one from their drive-thru window. In a word: yummm. Rumor has it they're about to go private (like Burger King did). No clue how that will impact their expansion.

Trivia: an old-timer told me that there was once a White Castle location (maybe more than one) in Dallas. But, it didn't do well and has been Long Gone. I suspect that's why the White Castle Wannabe (Krystal) hasn't expanded beyound its outpost in Carrollton, Texas. "Dainty burgers" just don't sell well here, except in the frozen food section of the grocery stores (microwaved Sliders just ain't the same).

Unrelated: The Political and Selective Use of Data: Cherry-Picking Climate Information in the White House is an interesting read. Naturally, it Cannot Possibly Be True because Everybody Knows™ that no one in The Bush Regime would ever Distort Information, especially about Global Warming (or what the Radical Right Republic Party prefers to call "Climate Change").

another winning speech by Bill Moyers

I finally got around to watching the (2 hour, including analysis) speech that Bill Moyers gave to the National Conference on Media Reform in Memphis in January 2007. This link gives you access to the transcript as well as the audio (MP3) and video (stream) .. well worth watching, if you have the cycles.

Tonight, I waddled down to the Granada theatre (south of Mockingbird) to watch PetFlix 2007 (the SPCA's 3rd annual) .. one of the workers told me that 500+ people attended, which ain't half bad. Most of the films (related to cats and dogs, natch) were entertaining, although a few missed the mark. I never was much of a film critic, so I'll wait for the inevitable "official review" in one of the newspapers (probably the Dallas Observer) later this week.

Earlier in the day (1pm?) Judy Bob came by with another can for my Award Winning Spam Collection (actually - canned meat collection would be a better descriptor, since only about 10 cans are made by Hormel - the other are .. uh .. Spam Wannabees). I simply must start documenting these .. perhaps they need a Blog Of Their Own? After making the delivery, we moseyed up to Richardson to sample the Burger Street Café, which is an upscale (?) version of the Burger Street drive-thru, which is sorta-kinda like the In-N-Out Burger chain out west (minus both the Perky Worker Bees and - thankfully - the religious overtones).

National Day of Reason

Today, I donated blood and voted (early voting is underway for the 12 May election). Both were for a good cause: the National Day of Reason.

I also accomplished one other notable task: I finally located a pint of Americone Dream (after looking for the past several weeks). Sadly, it is now but a fond memory. Thanks, Ben. Thanks, Jerry. Thanks, Stephen.

all shopped out

Jill was in own this week, to visit her dentist and take in a Stars game, and .. to shop. We started off at Kampai (sushi), then moseyed to Northpark Center (Eddie Bauer and the Apple store), then onto West Elm (furniture); Trinity Hall (nourishment); Pokey O's (dessert) and Half-Price Books (to buy vs. sell). No idea when she leaves or gets home.

Today it was Judy's turn: we fed at the Waffle House, then onto Saigon-Taipei (grocery); Hiep-Thai (grocery); Gateway Travel; watch a DVD (A Good Year); and Half-Price Books (to sell vs. buy).

I now think I'm All Retailed Out for awhile. Tomorrow, most stores will probably be closed (Easter Sunday in The Bible Belt) and it's a bit chilly (1°C tonight) so I'll probably be able to kick back and Read A Good Book tomorrow.

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Unrelated: today's Texas Idiot Of the Day is Dan Patrick, who walked out on a different (than His own) religion's prayer. Patrick is a Texas state senator from Houston, and fulltime White Christian Republican radio talkshow host. I'm guessing he'd like better ratings, which is why he pulled this stunt.

playing with DICE

After mowing the grass yesterday morning ("there's no local storage on a lawnmower") I decided to push (!) the car out of the garage and install The iPod Connector. This will only be the second (probably last) modification I make to the car. Soon after I bought it in 2001, I installed a factory alarm system (mostly plugging into the existing wiring), although much disassembly/reassembly was required. This time would prove similar.

(rewind about 4 weeks)

Most of the iPod<->CarAudio devices use a weak FM transmitter, but I wanted one that integrated well with the steering-wheel controls, so this meant stringing cables. I looked around at the local retailers, but only found übercheap stuff - few of them stock anything of quality since Most Americans Only Want Cheap, Not Good.

After asking around (the local car club was useful, as always), I opted for the iPod Car Integration Kit from DICE Electronics. A few weeks ago I bought the stuff from Bavarian Soundwerks in Atlanta, and it's been sitting on my kitchen table waiting for an opportunity.

Their 15-step instructions were mostly helpful, and I had everything done in an hour or so .. although I had to cheat a bit since the last step involved testing my iPod (which has local storage) with the stereo.

Next, it was time to install the spec.dock (from a company called 2point5™); this mostly low-tech gadget allows me to dock my iPod into the ashtray space, rather than leave the iPod inside the glove compartment, or (worse) dangling from a cable. The instructions from 2point5 weren't as good as for the DICE module, and this resulted in the two Band-Aids adhesive bandages now on my fingers. Once I began interpreting the directions instead of following them, things became much easier.



This morning, I made the Annual Pilgrimmage to Carl's Jr. (a west-coast QSR chain that is replicated at the Love's Truck Stops here in Texas) and played with my new toy en route. It sounds great, absent a few odd clicking sounds that may be part of The Learning Curve. Since it ties into the CD changer/amplifier in the trunk, it requires pressing [CD] twice to activate it, then the radio buttons [1-6] to do things like "select next album" (button 3) or "select next playlist" (button 2).

dust storm

At first, I thought it was mid-afternoon fog, but then Janice-Bob said it was dust blowing in from west Texas. Indeed, there was enough to drive my contact lenses crazy, and the sun was somewhat obscured, leading to a surreal effect (shown in the photo).

Also possibly due to the high winds (and today's Red Flag Warning), the Thai restaurant [Thai Tanee] -- where we'd just sat down to peruse the menu -- lost power due to a blown transformer. We started to leave, but the owner said they cook with gas, so we ordered and had a splendid meal, uneventful if not for the lack of background music and the weird dust effect going on outside.

As written on the Dallas Managed News site: "Dust was also a hazard, and the National Weather Service issued a blowing dust advisory, the first one Weather Service official could remember. "We don't usually see west winds this strong," said Weather Service spokeswoman Jessica Schultz. She said the wind's direction was responsible for the dust, which caused visibility to drop to as low as a quarter-mile in some areas. She said strong southerly winds blew through the area back in October, but it has been about 20 years since westerly winds were as strong as they were Saturday."

When I got home, there was a message from HayJax asking if my power was out, so I suspect she was In The Dark, too (yet, two miles from the restaurant). I called her cellphone and lied - saying that my power was out so I had to watch TV by candlelight. We'll see if she bought that fish story.

The Perfect Storm

Last week, I decided to experiment with the Celsius settings in my car. It's mildly odd to see the inside temperature of 21, knowing that's toasty. This morning (en route a customer) it said -3, and had inched all the way up to +1 before I returned home. The scale's been easy for me to adapt to, so I'm still puzzled by America's inability to switch from the oh-so-quaint Fahrenheit scale. Not to mention the equally quaint ounces-pounds-gallons volume measurements. Bah.

Unrelated: I had lunch with Jill Wazzabob (who was in town for a visit) and Drew-Bob on Tuesday. Jill called at 11:27 and offered to meet here at 1pm. Then, Drew called at 12:12 saying he was just leaving his employer's parking lot. So, all 3 of us ended up at Chuck's Burgers, Solving World Hunger. Fascinating.

Now, Jill's back in Hoosierville where it's nice and warm, unlike here, where it's -4. Yes, Celsius.

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.

in search of L-tryptophan

There's a new QSR chain in town called Raising Cane’s that's not far from me (NW corner of Campbell/Coit). Their specialty? Chicken Fingers. Yes, you heard right. Every time I've driven by, there's been a long line at the drive-thru, so I tried it at 3pm today and was only 3rd in line (tolerable).

My verdict: not half bad. The "fingers" seemed larger than most, and the fact that they were made from fresh chicken left them juicier than expected. Also noteworthy: they have the old-style "crinkle cut" French fries. I'm sure I'll return, but have to wonder how well they'll do with such a limited menu. Reminds me of the original McDonald's, or White Castle, or In-N-Out Burger (all of whose menus experienced creeping featurism as the years passed).

Anyhoo, Turkey Day's coming soon, so I'll have to stop by the grocery and fetch some turkey hotdogs or turkey bologna, to get my dose of L-tryptophan. Cane's ain't got no turkey on the menu.

remembering The Q

There is ONE photo on the Q Center's website which shows the type room I was in (The Q Tower) and I'm not sure how they got such a wide-angle lens (the facility is said to have been a former Catholic Girls School dormitory, before Accenture bought-then-sold it). While not palatial amenities, it's nice to have a room to yourself, not having to share with someone you barely know.


(some participants at The Q Center on a coffee break)

It was good to see so many colleagues .. many new faces and some from years gone by. There are enough of us (1300) that it was split into two waves (the second arriving within hours of our departure). The "memo on the pillow" said we had to vacate our rooms (roughly the size of the sleeper on a train) by 7:45.

The Q's food wasn't bad .. I pigged out on breakfast Tuesday and didn't even want to think about PseudoDinner (hors' de oeuvres at The Partner Pavilion) that night!

Worth noting: one of the buildings - 4 stories - has inverted the floor numbers, such that [1] is on top and [4] is at ground level. I suspect there's a logical explanation, although I had to resort to the elevator to figure out where my 2nd meeting was on Monday.