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.

Wazabob

In checking this morning's email, I spotted one from Jill, who says she arrived home in Hoosierville at precisely 12:20am Wednesday (after leaving Dallas around noon Tuesday). I guess she didn't stop in Arkansas for boiled green peanuts, as I recommended.

The last night here, we split a pizza (delivered by a member of the Russian mob) and watched Infamous (2006) which came out one year after Capote (2005) and 39 years after In Cold Blood (1967). Hmm .. I wonder why the sudden refascination with Truman Capote (who died just short of his 60th birthday)?

Meanwhile #1: I found out that the local business where I bought my lawnmower makes house calls (sorta). Since the boot (trunk) of my own car is too small to accommodate a lawnmower, I asked them to pick it up for service yesterday. When the gent arrived and I explained the problem, he said he could probably fix it on the spot, and did so in about 30 minutes. The last time I used it (Saturday) it sounded as if the engine was on its last legs, but that wasn't the case .. it just needed someone to give it a swift kick in the bum.

Meanwhile #2: Samantha (my 14-year old black cat) spent the night at the vet, for observation. She's been under the weather the past 3 weeks or so, having "trouble" with the litterbox and generally acting lethargic. The vet suspects some dehydration, although I watch her saunter to the water bowl many times throughout the day. I'll call them when they open, later this morning, to see what they found.

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?

(beep) beep BEEP - enough already!

I have a UPS (not the parcel company) on each of my PCs at home; they don't cost much more than a surge protector and provide nice, clean power so my computers won't gag with the over/undervoltages provided by TXU.

So, after adding Yet Another Random Patch to one of my Windows XP boxes (and the subsequent obligatory reboot), the UPS monitor (APC PowerChute) complained - once too often - that I hadn't replaced the battery in 3+ years. Wanting Instant Gratification, I waddled over to BatteriesPlus with the old battery and waltzed out with a replacement in about 48 seconds, my wallet a mere $29.99 lighter.

I came home, plugged in the 2 connectors (red to red and black to .. uh .. black?) and suddenly the world is a somewhat quieter place. Until at least April 2010 (3 years from now, for you Math Wizards).

In a related note (wha??) Drew-Bob sent an email asking if I wanted to Do Lunch on Wednesday. Sure, I mused .. knowing that I'll get about 15 minutes warning as he leaves his employer's parking lot. Hmm .. what burger establishment will get our business today? (1:45pm answer: Sonny Bryan's BBQ - not exactly a burger place)

historical rewrite

It's not often that I blog about one blogger blogging about another blogger, but .. today I'm making an exception.

A spot on read may be found on Geoff Arnold's blog:
Pharyngula on the impossibility of honest pandering

I wonder what kind of a world we'd live in today if President Morass Debacle Quagmire and His ilk were correct about this being a [White] Christian [Republican] nation? Since their world is only 6100 years old, the museums would first have to be purged of anything suggesting an older age. We could start with most anthropology including ancient Chinese relics; anything inferring the age of The Grand Canyon; various dinosaur exhibits, and work from there.

Rewriting history reminds me of the premise behind George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949).

Aside: I have added Swastika Night (1937) to my wish list, for the next (inevitable) purchase-o-books. It's said this was the basis for Orwell's epic.

We'd also presumably be living in an Amish Paradise, sans 98.6% of the stuff surrounding me at this moment, including these pieces of shaped plastic that my fingers are touching.

Deep thought: I wonder how Karl Rove would do without his "surgically attached Blackberry"?

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.

---

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.

DST part 10 *

It'll be interesting to see how many people have Daylight Saving Time issues tomorrow, when their older devices Spring Forward automagically, after their owners did so manually three weeks ago. I don't think any of my gadgets fall into that category, but .. anything's possible.

I only outed two of my co-workers who thought they'd sidestepped the DST issues by manually adjusting their (Windows XP) PC's clocks. Turns out their email messages appeared out-of-sequence in any message threads where the messages were sent within an hour of their arrival. Busted!

Amusingly, both appeared shocked (shocked, I tell you!) that I easily figured out that they didn't patch their systems. Turns out neither of them Trusts Microsoft so they routinely go through life not running Windows Update and thus having fully patched systems. Idiots, both.

* 10 in binary = 2 in decimal. But, you knew that, right?

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.

Yet Another Big Project Weekend

It seems like I have a Big Project every weekend. This one's going much slower than most, although I'm getting work done concurrently.

What's up? Well, I finally cracked open the "USB turntable" I bought a few months ago .. the iTTUSB from Ion Audio. Turns out this may will be significantly more tedious than when I dumped all my CDs to iTunes (last month). In the case of the CD media, I was able to read at speeds up to 20x (mostly were half that). As I'm moving the LPs (remember the 12" vinyl discs?) to my PowerBook, the speed's more 1:1 although the manual does explain how I can record at 45rpm and playback at 33-1/3 (likewise if I stumble across any of my dad's old 78rpm music).

This process also requires more BabySitting, due to dealing with aging vinyl media. Stuff about vinyl that I'd forgotten:

1. records skip when there's an imperfection - when it happens the whole track's useless - if I really want it, I'll buy that song from iTunes for 99c each;


2. setting up a turntable means having to deal with counterweights;


3. it's truly a balancing act -- the iTTUSB stylus wants 4 grams of pressure (± 1 gram);


4. most LPs hold about 22 minutes of music per side, so I can't stray far;


5. bits of dust, lint, etc. contribute to snaps, crackles and pops;


6. vinyl has what Trish-Bob calls a "richer sound" - no doubt;


7. a Discwasher is very useful, removing Stuff from the LP itself, although I could stand some new solution - now D4+;


8. vibration near the turntable is a problem - I can't toss stuff around during the recording process, like I do with an iPod or even CD media;


9. unlike (most?) CDs, LPs usually are two-sided! the 2nd side is often called the "flip side" because you have to manually turn it over when the first side has finished playing: wow.

I was surprised to see some OSS [Open Source Software] being used as the default audio-editing application. The iTTUSB uses Audacity which has sufficient bells and whistles to get me into a lot of trouble if I stray too far from the defaults. I had to install a LAME library separately, to perform the transformation from AIFF to MP3, but even that's documented well.

Granted, I could just Cough Up The Cash and buy most of these albums off the web (some never made it to CD), but I'm enjoying listening to albums I haven't heard in 20+ years, so I'm okay with it, up to a point. There will also be some amount of post-processing, involving track separation and labeling (ID3 tags) which wasn't required with CD-ROM.

Seated next to the slowly-moving stack of albums is a stack of magazines (and eventually books) that have been in my [To Read] pile for much too long, so it'll work out well. That said, I suspect it'll take much longer to dump fewer albums than it took for my 500 or so CDs. Odds are this will turn into a multi-week effort, as I have a few hundred LPs to migrate, and am moving 4 albums every 3 hours.

---

The WeatherGuy is still predicting plenty (defined as 1/2" inch+) of ice during the current WinterWeatherEvent here. We'll see if the DallasHeatIsland allows the bulk of it to skip over the city and paralyze the nearby rural areas instead of us CityFolk.

the end of an era

Just about now, Jill-Bob is losing her -Bob status, crossing from Texas into The Great Abyss. Part of this is due to global warming, you see, as the Texas summers just got to be Too Much To Bear. You see, she discovered that it's far more pleasant to run in 40F weather, than 80F. So, she packed up her duds and critters and moved north, perhaps a few miles closer to Medicine Hat.

I've known Jill since, uh .. 1993, when I moved here from Los Angeles. It'll be weird knowing that she ain't within (easy) driving distance. Will The Saucer Crowd fade into extinction without her Maternal Guidance? Time will tell.

I suspect Jill's a pioneer of sorts, as past mass-migrations from the cold northern climes to the sunny beaches begin to reverse. Within our lifetime, we may see the extinction of the polar bear from the wild parts of the world, relegated only to zoos where they may be supplied an uninterrupted food supply. I also heard that the European ski resorts are having a tough time, given both a shorter season and less of their product (snow) to go around.

Politically, I have to wonder if the red-blue divide will turn into a north-south pattern, versus the current coastline-interior split. Those who remain in denial about global warming will stay in the south, sprinting from air-conditioned vehicles to air-conditioned buildings, while scarce energy continues to influence an upward price spiral. Eventually they may realize that there's a price to pay for those lofted ceilings and entryways, in the form of the BTUs needed to keep the human occupants comfortable. Eventually, but not yet. For now, the typically red-voting southerner will be happy to buy another Hummer (or F250 clone) to haul around whatever it is they haul around. Naturally, the elevation of those vehicles provides them ample opportunity to (literally) look down upon The Little People.

And the divide widens.

Back to present day reality: I suspect Jill will be rolling into her new digs around midnight* with Marvin, Simone and the others seeking a warm place to whiz. Good luck with The Grand Adventure, Jill-Bob.

* not being a classic Morning Person, it didn't surprise me that her 7am start time came and went.

Today, it's already 71F and aiming for a high of 81F. In mid-December. Go figure. Meanwhile, I programmed my TiVo to record the 8pm (24 Dec) [Spotlight] on LinkTV (DirecTV 375), titled "Global Warming: Bush's Climate of Fear". Sounds like a cheery way to celebrate The Holidays, eh?

no victory at Victory

Check another "thing I've never done before" off the list: I rendezvoused with a DART train (34°F on the platform) so that Jill-Bob and I could ride to a Dallas Stars game. Following her directions closely, I allowed a Red Line train to pass, then hopped onto the one which goes directly to Victory Station at the American Airlines Center. Voila!

Here's the view of the rink from our seats in section 312:


The only one doing any scoring (the Stars lost 0-2) was Jill-Bob, who scored a free Chipotle burrito coupon:

from the Chipotle blimp (doing acrobatics a few feet above our heads):

Jill-Bob was entertained by the guys from a local radio station (the "Jack FM Speedo Team"):

while I was entertained by the Dallas Stars Ice Girls. I wonder if they make house calls? I have some snow that needs shoveling too!

Aside: one of the advertisers was Yet Another Energy Drink : HAVOC. Isn't that market (pardon the pun) oversaturated?

status quo no mo

As of late tonight, the news is that the Democrats control both the House and Senate, for the first time in many years. Now they face the challenge of acting responsibly so they don't find themselves with The Short Straw 2 years from now.

So much for my prediction last week, that the Republican Get Out The Vote Machine would flatten the Democrats again. At least my phone will stop ringing with those (anonymous) Out Of Area calls from Republicans wanting me to vote for their incumbents. Rick "Pretty Hair" Perry was re-elected as Texas Governor (39%), but Democrat Chris Bell won the Dallas County vote 40-35%.

Ref: dalcoelections.org

Even the Right Wing Dallas Morning News (they back Republicans about 70% of the time) had this to say today:

"Voters swept aside years of Republican domination in Dallas County on Tuesday, electing the county's first black district attorney, dumping the favored Republican county judge and giving dozens of GOP judgeships to Democrats. The upheaval was probably a surprise for many Republicans, including Dallas County Judge Margaret Keliher, who lost a squeaker to Democrat Jim Foster."

These "4x4" signs were not uncommon during the election.

Bad news: I still don't have a state Representative, since the ethically-challenged Republican incumbent won 52-46% (after running a smear campaign). Well, he'll show his face in another 2 years when he runs again .. until then, we won't see him (he'll be hiding in his gated community, if anyone cares).

Heck, it looks like even the Virginia racists (led by incumbent Senator Macaca (R-VA)) will lose, while Santorum (R-PA) went down in flames Big Time. Tester (D) beat Burns (R) in Montana. It's too bad Tennessee didn't elect Harold Ford, but the Republican challenger's racist TV ad snuffed that chance: this goes to show that the Deep South still won't elect a non-white to the US Senate, 141 years after The War Of Northern Aggression ended (1865).

Jill-Bob was amused to hear that I voted for quite a few Libertarians yesterday. Turns out that there were only Republican-vs-Libertarian candidates in many local races, so I voted against The Rovians at every opportunity (in those races, Libertarians consistently got 20-25%). Their base remains small, though .. in races against a sole Democratic challenger, they got about 3% on average (only a handful polled more than 10% versus a Democrat).

Me, well .. I'm still in favor of abolishing political parties so that voters will have to choose based on the candidate and not the party. And I'd still love to see term limits for the US Senate and Congress. I know .. dream on.

Finally (not to be missed): Politicians Sweep Midterm Elections / Resounding Victories In All States, Counties, Cities, Towns. Oh, how I adore The Onion!

Saturday in the park

Michelle swooped into town Friday afternoon*, for a couple days' visit. We're taking in some of the culinary delights, amongst other stuff, which gave me a chance to sample places I haven't visited before (since my 13+ years here in Dallas).

*Just before she arrived, I dropped by St Paul's Hospital to see how Trish-Bob was doing after her surgery. Turns out I was the First Visitor Of The Day - woo hoo! By the way, it turns out that St. Paul's Hospital is unrelated to Mrs. Paul's Fish Sticks - whoda thunkit?

One of these is Luby's Cafeteria, a chain with lots of Texas history. Not unexpectedly, we were the youngest ones there at the 6pm dinnertime (by at least 20 years). Notable: a very large analog clock on the wall, so that even the most vision-challenged senior wouldn't have trouble knowing the time. I had baked sole almandine along with some broccoli and other veggies, which wasn't half bad. No complaints.

The next day, we waited 20 minutes (Saturday-noon) to have a late breakfast at Cindi's New York Delicatessen (four locations). I had a veggie omelet which came with real hashbrowns (unlike Deli News) and a short stack-o-pancakes. That was plenty to keep me going until we fed again, around 8pm at Spring Creek Barbecue, where we skillfully dodged The Bread Girl's repeated attempt to fatten us up.


Between feedings, we nosed around Saigon-Taipei market (Garland) and scored a couple dragonfruit, and then Michelle found a coolie hat at Hiep Thai market (Garland) to close out the ensemble.

Richardson ambience

It's not often that I find a hole-in-the-wall burger place. Part of the reason is that it's still about location-location-location. Most small burger places just couldn't compete with the chains, and have all but disappeared from the landscape. Or, at least it seems that way. Maybe there are more of these out there, but they're just so .. invisible.

A few Sundays ago I was in Richardson searching for a Japanese snack store that LayWah-Bob told me about (Aji Ichiban is at 201 S Greenville). After taking a wrong turn, I somehow found myself staring at:

Del's Charcoal Burgers
110 S McKinney Street, Richardson

This is one of those places you're unlikely to find unless you're looking for it. It's at the corner of Polk & McKinney - but this is a 3-block long McKinney Street - not in the same league as McKinney Avenue in downtown Dallas. Del's is closed on Sunday, but I promised myself I'd mosey back sometime soon. Today was the day; William-Bob and I met there to discuss The Future of Western Civilization, and feed our faces.

Unrelated: Del's Lemonade, somewhere in Rhode Island


Del's Charcoal Burgers, Richardson

Del's seats about 30 people, orders are placed/received from the counter, yet there is a TV in the corner (not tuned to FOX "News" - thankyouverymuch). The menu's pretty simple, and I have to wonder how they can support 3 employees, but .. it's been there many years so they're doing something right. I was mesmorized by the faux brick (atop concrete blocks) with life-size images of John Wayne, James Dean and Marilyn Monroe. The Christmas lights (luminarias?) add additional ambience, and it's obvious many of the clientele are regulars. Somehow, I was hoping Norm would drop in. Also noteworthy: "root beer refills - 50 cents"; green hot sauce at the table; lunch-only hours. Richardson is a dry city, with many restaurants avoiding it.

I wonder when Del's will add WiFi and valet parking?

TWOT

I caught a piece on one of the national news feeds saying that Fantasy Football was good for office morale, "only" requires an hour a day to participate, and that employers should encourage this behavior.

Well, excuse me, but I always thought the workplace was for work and not chewing up company bandwidth (and stockholder profits) on this - or any other Total Waste Of Time (TWOT). Then again, I find the vast majority of workplace conversations to be TWOTs. People seem okay on spending hours talking about their:

• latest real estate/automobile/home appliance purchase
• sports of any kind
• poor child being misunderstood when he ran a red light and got an automated ticket
• you name it -- absolutely zero talk about working with customers.

It must just be me; I don't get it. Sure, these conversations shouldn't be banned, but should be the exception, rather than the rule. If employers only paid for actual work performed, I suspect the 8-hour day would drop to less than two, easily.



Today's the day that Rambo goes back to his home. Here's a photo of him in his new diaper.

Unrelated: Paula and I dined with Jill-Bob at the Bavarian Grill last night (the lamb und Brussel Sprouts were tasty).

what a zoo!

menagerie \muh-NAJ-uh-ree; -NAZH-\, noun:
1. A collection of wild or unusual animals, especially for exhibition.
2. An enclosure where wild or unusual animals are kept or exhibited.
3. A diverse or varied group.

Normally, it's just me, Beta (the wonder dog) and a paracats. Then (Monday night) that expanded by two when Miles and his mom arrived for a visit.

I was off to work when one of the sales critters asked if I would feed with them and a customer. Sure, fine .. we ended up at Blue Fish (18149 Dallas Pkwy) for sushi. Back at the office (1:30?), I spotted an email from HayJax that she'd be dropping Rambo off at 2pm. Eek! Fortunately she was late, but the current tally is now:

3 dogs
2 cats
2 humans

The cats - now outnumbered for the first time in their (9) lives - have gone into hiding For The Duration.

I stopped at The Pet Store to get some supplies (diapers for Rambo - who whizzes on everything; treats for Beta; and a new toy (!) for me: a FURminator deShedding Tool ("it is not a brush" says the marketing propaganda). I wonder if it's time to bring out Larry The Laser Pointer to keep them all occupied?

The Deli News Conspiracy

HayJax and I fed at Deli News Too this morning. It's a self-proclaimed "New York style deli" which is about as authentic as you can get in Dallas, now that Gilbert's went under.

I've been generally happy with Deli News, except for the hash browns. Call me mistaken, but aren't real hash browns supposed to be thinly chopped potatoes? The ones Deli News serves are more like their usual sliced (1/16? 1/8?) potatoes .. nothing special. Otherwise, they do try hard to please .. special orders seem to be the norm here, and the kitchen staff does a credible job.

I was mildly surprised how busy they were on a Sunday morning, smack dab in the middle of Labor Day weekend. Several of the usuals were there, along with several families with small children (what a disturbing trend!). Jill-Bob would hate the place for additional reasons: no cheese fries anywhere on the menu, and no beer.

Once, I asked why it's not named Deli News Also instead of Deli News Too, and didn't get a satisfactory answer. I smell a conspiracy. And it doesn't smell anything like real hash browns.

Speaking of The Saucer Crowd, only Tim, HayJax and I made it to Fish on Fire this past Friday. It's been open for several years and usually has a full parking lot, so a couple of us decided to give it a go. I had the [Wild-Caught Salmon Burger] which wasn't bad, although something other than French Fries would've been nice. It's casual .. reminds me of The Flying Fish in Addison a bit, except .. Fish on Fire kept the prior tenant's drive-thru window. It's the only seafood restaurant I know with such a feature*.

*Long John Silver's doesn't qualify; their "food" is mostly deep-fried breading with a little bit of fish/clams/chicken buried somewhere in the middle.

Meanwhile, there's this insignificant news item.

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?

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.