dinnertime fussies

My kid loves to eat.  I mean, loooooves to eat.  Beets.  Apples.  Parsnips.  Carrots.  Peas.  Squash.  Plums.  Blue/Rasp/Black/Strawberries.  Peaches.  Mangoes.  Pears.  Zucchini.  Sweet Potatoes.  You name it, he'll eat it.

Except for broccoli, which is really funny to watch him not only bat it away as you approach his mouth with your fork, but also to watch him physically take it off the fork, look at it for a second, then just reach over the edge of the highchair tray and drop it on the floor. 

As if to say, "Get this junk out mah face."

Campbell Isaiah started out on baby formula, store bought, first with Emfamil, then with Gerber Baby, which the latter worked better for us.  The former gave him bad gas and bad, bad spit... the day that I literally went through 10, count them, 10 t-shirts for me and 6, count them, 6 onesies for him is burned into my mind as a day that will live in infamy.  Emfamy.  There was one point when he spit up all over me and my shirt, so I changed, then changed him, and I actually took two steps towards the door with him in my arms when he spit up again.  It was rough that day... I texted The Lovely Steph Leann out of sheer frustration and panic with "I can't do this!" and "Just one.  Never doing this again.  He's an only child."

Looking back, I probably didn't mean it.  But ten shirts with various amounts of baby vomit on it?  Come on now... 

We started making our own formula several months into this parenthood thing, this time using Goat's Milk... we made lots and lots AND LOTS of goats milk, each pitcher with scoops of baby supplements and vitamins and such. 

And eventually, we moved into real food.. we had already decided that we would go natural and organic.  We knew over time that there might be a slight delay with our kid--and we were right--so we wanted to make sure he was as healthy as possible...

So, several nights per week, I pull out my trusty peeler and work on the aforementioned fruits and vegetables... I'll actually be doing some apples tonight.

Campbell is a kid of routine.  He likes routine, he likes familiar.  For instance, he typically knows what to do when we lay him down to change his diaper.  He might cry some, maybe move a little, but mostly he lays there... and when you go to put his pants back on him, most of the time he will lift both legs to make it easy. 

At school, he knows its time for lunch after outside playtime, and he always follows the line perfectly to the class door... he knows its time to eat.

Similarly, here at The Cabana, when his meal is ready, be it a couple of eggs and a 1/2 avocado for breakfast, or an orange, some pineapple, some peas and beets (with almond butter) for lunch, when you say, "Ready to eat?" he heads for the kitchen. 

Not only does he head for the kitchen, he goes straight for the high chair, and starts pawing at the belt buckle.  He will look around, and if he can reach far enough on the kitchen table, he will snatch whatever he can get his hands on, be it a vitamin pill or a bowl full of kiwi, and try to eat it.  Because dinner.

T (we steam it, then freeze it, then thaw and warm upon serving), and take them to the table, along with a juice bottle--prune is his favorite, though he does like cherry juice, grape juice and pear juice too. 

part of what our freezer has looking like for 10d

hen a routine of things happens... we put him in the seat and buckle him in, putting the tray in front of him, snapped into the high chair itself.  We will get the bowls of the food we have just warmed up minutes before

There's a fork we grab, and then we wet a napkin to wipe his face every few bites.  He can be messy sometimes, and by sometimes, I mean all the time.

We aren't perfect, and we forget stuff.  And there's nothing more fearful than forgetting something big, like his prune juice.  Cause he ain't patient, and he ain't caring that you have had a long day... he wants to eat.

For the record, there is not a single time, not one single meal, not one single second that we have just forgotten something and then just not cared.  Not once have we just blown him off, despite his crying, to say, "Whatevs, kid.  You'll live." 

He knows we won't leave.  He knows we have food there, its in small bowls on the table, he knows that he will have that food in just a minute... but no, he wants to cry, and fuss, and smack the tray until he gets what he wants.

Its the same with God, ain't it?

Name a time He has forgotten you, or forsaken you, or just left you behind, saying "Whatevs, kid.  You'll live."

Never.

We get involved in our own little routines, our own way of doing things, and when it doesn't go according to plan, when it doesn't happen EXACTLY like we thing it should, be it we should keep getting bites of almond butter and butternut squash, we pitch our little fits... smack the tray, cry, fuss, tell God that "this isn't how it is supposed to be!" and "where are you, God!" and "why are you doing this to me!?!" with the mindset that His silence is obviously Him walking away, to possibly never return.

When in fact, maybe He did take a step away.  But He is always there.  He never goes far, if at all.  He might just be grabbing a Holy Napkin to wipe the junk off our face.  He might be grabbing some Communion Juice to allow us, after a brief time of nothing, to drink of His Spirit...

Either way, God loves you and I both.  And He would never leave us.  Just like I would never leave Campbell alone and hungry.... I love him too, too much.  And God loves us too, too much.

"Never confuse His silence for His inactivity" is a lesson I learned a long time ago... and some if it was the hard way... how about you?  Is He being quiet?  And how are you handling it?

fresh fries make the difference

Yes, we are fast food fans.  We always have been, and like it or not, we might always be.  I can eat just about anywhere, but I do enjoy Arby's, Sonic, Whataburger, Milo's and Wendy's.  I do eat McDonalds sometimes, but its lower on my list.  The Lovely Steph Leann really only likes Wendy's, and sometimes Burger King... but our Burger King here is just terrible. 

I speak of the one on Hwy 280, right down the way from The Cabana, maybe a mile or so away.  They closed it and refurbed the entire thing a year or two ago, and it looks great.  But the service took a downward spiral fast.  Yes, the Caramel Bacon Sundae is almost worth it... but after ten years of working for Starbucks, plus another 15 years of eating at and experiencing the service at Chik-fila, I don't dig on bad service. 

I kinda quit going to Burger King on 280 altogether... food is not great, and the service team is full of people that just don't give a crap.  Yeah, you can experience "just don't give a crap" in most places, but it seems like they actually work on, and take pride in, their "just don't give a crap"ness.

So, when I went to Wendy's tonight, I was pleasantly surprised.  Their service is just average.  That's not really a knock on Wendy's, as ho-hum service is generally what you get elsewhere... tonight, I walk in and order.

The Lovely Steph Leann gets her burger with ketchup and mustard only.  Value fries and a small drink.  I get my burger with mayo, mustard and ketchup, with cheese.  When I order these meals, it usually blows the mind of whoever is behind the counter.  I get home with the food, and her burger will have cheese and mayo on it, I'll be missing cheese and mustard... or there will mayo on both and cheese is nowhere to be found.  I've actually taken to ordering and paying for them separately, just to keep confusion to a minimum. 

The guy behind the counter was as nice as could be.  He was chatty, friendly, and though I'm not sure of his name, it said "Dakota" on the receipt.  In conversation, I mentioned that our burger had unwanted cheese on it last time, and he said, "Well, let me check to make sure its right..."  He did, and it was, then he replied, "Yeah, our girl working the grill really knows what she's doing." 

He came back with two things of fries, but then stops before placing them in the bag.  He looks at me and says, "Ya know... we have fresh fries cooking.  Two minutes.  Would you like to wait?"  I said, "Sure, I'll wait for fresh fries!" and he says, "Yeah, you don't want these.  They have been sitting there for a while."  Then he just chunks the fries in the trash. 

Perhaps its a small thing, but it was a great gesture.  I feel like most people would have just said "Whatevs", tossed the old fries in the bag and sent me on my way.

Dakota, I thank you.  You made my Wendy's experience actually enjoyable.   

Its the little things, really.

a bacon sundae thursday

When I heard Burger King was doing a Bacon Sundae as part of their summer menu, part of me was completely grossed out, and the other part of me was kind of excited--yet none of me was surprised.  Our nation has become obsessed with nachos, bacon and fro-yo, though popsicles and cupcakes are trending hard by now.

Of course, this is the same company that had this in their window for a
day or so

Naturally, I had to have one.  I stopped at The BK a week or so ago just for this purpose, but there was a sign on the door that said "closed for store meeting", or something to that effect.  Naturally, my hopes were dashed...

So today,  I stopped by during lunch, and lo and behold, they are open.  They have these great video menu boards, kinda like The Rave Motion Picture Theater... the BK videos change and show new stuff, but no mention of the bacon sundae. 

I ordered my #1 meal, a Whopper with cheese, mayo, mustard and ketchup only, and patiently waited.  She asked me if I wanted a small, medium or large, and I've learned at BK, and also at Arbys and a few other places, you say "SMALL", or you will be given a 32+ ounce drink that poses for a medium, maybe even a 40+ ounce drink as a large--and these don't fit in your typical cup holder.

Before I paid up, I asked, "I reckon you don't have the bacon sundae, do you?"  She said, "Yes, we have it."  And without haste, I immediately said, "Yeah, gimme one of those!"

I got my food a few minutes later, and then stood in the drink line... they have one of those new fangled big Coke machines that only has one single dispensing spout... but 110 or more different flavors, with a touch screen so you can select the kind of Coke or Sprite or Fanta or Mello Yello or Dr. Pepper or Grapico or whatever you want.  I preferred Vanilla Coke myself, one of my all time favorite beverages. 

It took a while to get to it, though, as what usually happens at these machines was happening here... an older couple was standing in front of it, trying to figure out how to get a glass of Coke.  And they stood, fidgeting, pushing buttons for several minutes until they finally got what they needed--by that time, the line was seven or eight people deep, like we were at the dining hall of Shocco Springs BCM retreat or something.

I waited patiently for my Bacon Sundae, and finally she brought it over.  Looked delicious scrumptious tasty interesting.  Sat down at the little bar counter by the window, bit into my Whopper with Cheese, mayo, mustard and ketchup only, and found that it was just a Whopper with mayo, mustard and ketchup only.   Not deterred, and really not bothered by it, I just went to the counter and simply said, "Ma'am... can I have a slice of cheese?"  She said, "They forgot to put it on your sandwich?" and I nodded, with a smile, "Yes ma'am.  You can just hand it to me on a napkin or with your own hands, I don't really care either way."  As she went to get my cheese, the lady behind me grunted, "You paid fo' it, you should be gettin' it..."  And I did.

I had already eaten most of my fries while standing at the counter awaiting my Bacon Sundae, so I got through my burger quickly... and then, the dessert.  I opened up the lid of the sundae container, and stared at it.  It was simply soft serve ice cream with mocha sauce and caramel sauce drizzled all over it... and with some chips of bacon sprinkled on top and just under the ice cream surface, and to top it off, one strip of bacon standing straight up, like a pole waiting for a flag of obesity to be raised.

My first bite didn't have any bacon in it at all--it was a "Control" bite.  Having seen Mythbusters enough, I knew this was important to have a starting point for comparison.  My next bite, however, had the bacon bits in it.  And it was this strange mix of a hot summer day's dessert relief and an early morning visit to Waffle House.  I don't know how else to describe it.

Another bite, than another, as the bacon, the chocolate, the caramel and the ice cream all blended together and it suddenly became a harmony, albeit unexpected, of flavor.  Finally, about 1/3 of the way into the sundae, I pulled out the bacon strip and used it as a scoop for some ice cream, much like it was a fry diving into a Wendy's Frosty. 

Its interesting to note that I think it would have been better if the bacon itself had been better. I rather enjoyed the mixture of odd flavors, but had this been a Cracker Barrel, or even a Waffle House, where bacon is something they do like no one can, it would have been magnificent... as it was, it was pretty good.

It runs about $2.50 or so, only one size, and tops out at around 510 calories, 18 grams of fat and 60 grams of sugar... lucky for me, though, I wasn't going to gorge myself, so I only ate a little less than half... giving me around 190 calories, 7 grams of fat and 27 grams of sugar. 

I win! 

Excuse me... I have to visit the bathroom.

The July 31 Day Five

more taco bell price wars

Here's the lead up to this story...


I go to Taco Bell a few days later.  Part of it was because I only had 5 bucks for lunch, but a much bigger part now was that I wanted to see if the menu boards had been changed.  I already knew I would be blogging about all of this, so this had the potential to add more to the story.

And, as you can imagine, I was not disappointed.

The same boards were in the same place.  There were two older ladies right ahead of me, and because I was on a time schedule, I was a little fidgety.  Though I wasn't fidgety for this purpose, the older ladies in front of me were kind enough to let me go first, as they didn't know exactly what they wanted.

By this point, I'm just going to have some fun here... I got to the counter and smiled, saying, "I want the Deal #4, please add on a cheesy roll up, and I'd like a Doritos Locos Taco Supreme, no lettuce or tomatoes."  And then I added on, "And I'd like to pay this price [pointing to the promo menu] and not that price [pointing to the other menu three sections down], if you don't mind."

The cashier looked around at both menus, looked back at the screen and looked up again at the promo menu.  "They are two different prices," he observed.

"I know, and I'd rather pay the $1.49, not the $1.69," I said with a pleasant smile.

"Well, I can't do that, because the computer rings it up for $1.69," he started, and I replied, "But you have it on the menu board for $1.49."  He pointed way down to the other side and said, "The price is $1.69, though, cause this one [pointing to promo menu] is old."

Perhaps I should have just paid the 20 cents extra and have been done with it.  Perhaps I should just chalk up the 20 cents as the price for stupid people, or for incompetence, or just as a Taco Bell thing... but no.  Not today.  Not with this.  I'm right.  I don't care about the 20 cents.  I don't care if I pay $1.69 forever.  I just want someone at this stupid fast food place making $7 bucks an hour (too much for some of these guys) to realize that what they are doing is wrong, and somewhat cheating the customer, because until Vivian pointed the other menu out, I had no clue they were two different prices for the same item--seriously, how often do you check your receipt?

"Well, sir, whether its old or not, you have two prices for the same thing, and I'm asking to pay the cheaper price."

"I'll... well, I'll have to get my manager..." he stammered.  I nodded, "That's fine."

While Genius Einstein went to find his manager, I heard the two older ladies behind me with this exchange:

Bertha:  He's right, there are two different prices for that same taco
Batilda: I know!  How stupid is that to leave that up there?
Bertha:  Well, its not his fault they were too lazy to take it down.  He should get the cheaper price.

I smiled, knowing at least I had Bertha and Batilda's support.

Instead of Big Brother Manager, I had Forty Something White Guy come out, and say, "Is there a problem?"

Now, up until now, even though its been a level of mediocre service and slight incompetence, everyone has been at least pleasant.  This guy, however, changed all that.  He didn't want to be there, he didn't like being bothered by something as dumb as a customer being overcharged, and he had this "I'm 44, a shift manager at a Taco Bell on a Tuesday afternoon, where is my life going" air about him.  Don't get me wrong--there is nothing bad about working at a Taco Bell in your 40s, because a job is a job, work is work, and who knows what circumstance led him to be here... but he was bitter.

"Yes sir, I noticed that you have two different prices for the Doritos Locos Taco Supreme, and I am requesting to pay the cheaper price."

Like all the other Bell-hops, he glanced at one board, to the other, and back to the first again.  He looked at the computer, then back up to the menus once more.  "So, you want to pay the $1.49?  The price is $1.69."

"Maybe so, but the menu here says $1.49."

"This is an old menu, sir, and we just haven't taken it down yet."

"Again, maybe so, but there is no expiration date on the promo menu, and because its still up, I think you should honor it."

And then, he said the worst thing possible... he looks at me and said, "Okay.  I can do it for you THIS TIME.  But next time, you'll pay the regular price."

Wait... what?  This time?  Like I'm asking something unreasonable?  Like I am negotiating the price of a taco?  Like I'm trying to wear you down, and I lowballed you for a Quesadilla Supreme by not offering a cent more than $1.08?  This time?  You can do it for me THIS TIME?

I paused for a minute, bit my tongue, and quickly assembled my respectful, yet direct, response.  "Well, sir, until you change the menu, you'll have to do it again, because you are offering this item for $1.49." Seriously?  He'll do it for me this time?

Anyway, it was changed, and my bill went down 20 cents.

My plan is to visit Taco Bell over the next few days and see if the boards are different.  Wanna bet they won't be?  We'll see if Grumpy Manager will do it for me this time again.

PS... I drove by Taco Bell this evening, glancing in the window as I zipped through the parking lot.  Guess which menu boards were still up?  Yup.  I almost went in, not to order, but to just say, "Did you know that you have the same taco up there for two different prices?  Just sayin'..."

paying the price at taco bell

I do love me some Taco Bell.  Mostly because it's cheap, but in addition to that, the food is pretty good.   Okay, let's be real... its almost 99% because its cheap, and the other 1% or so is because of the food.  Its not that good, but the cheapness of it overrides the not good tasteness of it any day.  Why do you think I go to Krystal's sometimes?  Of course, Krystal's isn't cheap either, when you get more than one or two Krystal's, or toss in a Chik or even a Corn Dog Pup, but still...

Back to Taco Bell.

I'm a creature of frugal habit, and at Taco Bell, I dig on The Deal #4.  Its a burrito with a bag of Doritos and a drink for like, $2.39 or something.  I add on a 99 cent cheesy roll-up and up until recently, I'd add on a regular soft taco for 89 cents and my entire meal tops out at around 5 bucks, tax included.

Lately, however, I've been on this Doritos Locos Taco kick... if you don't know much about it, its simply a regular hard shell taco, yet the shell is made of an actual Dorito, all cheesy and greasy and fattening and everything else.  I'm personally a Cool Ranch Dorito guy myself, so the day they come out with that puppy will be the day I'll be living at Taco Bell, but I digress.

I also enjoy sour cream on my Mexican food.  Tacos are not any different, even when its fake Mexican like Taco Bell... the problem at The Bell, however, is sour cream comes at a premium.  Its 45 cents extra to get sour cream, and they essentially take what must be an actual tea spoon, scoop out a slight dot of sour cream and glop it right in the middle of your taco.  So for your 45 cents, you get two bites of your taco that taste normal, one glorious, sour cream filled bite in the middle, then two more regular, bland bites.  I must also tell you that I ask for no lettuce on my taco, so it really is just a meat and cheese experience.

So the first time I got my Deal #4 at Taco Bell, I added on my cheesy roll up, and decided to try the Doritos Locos Taco... the food was good, as usual, but the Doritos Locos Taco was marvelous.  So the next time, I figured I'd get the same thing, but added on the 45 cent sour cream.  Again, it was awesome, though that one single bite with the glop of sour cream right in the middle was marvelouser.  So, so good.

The next time I visited Taco Bell--mind you, this is over a matter of weeks, lest you think I'm just kicking it Bell School nine times per week--I did something a little different.  I noticed the price of the Doritos Locos Taco was $1.29.  The Doritos Locos Taco Supreme, however, was $1.49.  For you math scholars out there, that's a 20 cent different.  Add the 45 cents to the $1.29 price, and I'm paying $1.74 per taco...

however comma...

...the Doritos Locos Taco Supreme comes WITH the sour cream in that $1.49 price.  And they don't just drip it on in a minuscule amount... nay nay, since the sour cream is an actual ingredient in the recipe, they use that big sour cream tubey thing and smear it from one end of that crunchy Doritos shell to the other.  So this day, I ordered a Doritos Locos Taco Supreme with no lettuce or tomato for $1.49.  How smart am I, right?

Now, what kind of blog post would this be were there not some conflict?  And I'm not just talking internally with stomach issues later, 3 to 5 hours after dinner...

The view, standing at the middle register and
looking at the menus.

About a week ago, I went in with intentions on getting my Deal #4, and this time, skipping the cheesy roll up for two of the Doritos Locos Taco Supreme, minus the lettuce and tomato.  I'm not going to give you the location (Highway 280) of the one I visited, but when you stand at the register, you can look up and dead center to you is a menu panel that says the words "FEATURED: DORITOS LOCOS TACOS", with pictures of the supreme and a few of the tacos in a box.  Below that are your options... the regular ($1.29), the supreme ($1.49) and the box ($5.00).  Its important to note that this is so plainly right in front of you, so remember this.

I don't remember the little 50-something white lady I talked to, but we'll call her Vivian...

Vivian:  What can we get for you?
Me: I want to get a Deal #4 please, and please add on two Doritos Locos Taco Supremes, minus the lettuce and tomato on both.
Vivian:  You know its the lettuce and tomato that make the supreme, right?
Me:  Yes, but it also has sour cream on it.  If I get the regular, its an additional 45 cents for a very small amount.  Or, I can pay only 20 cents more and get a larger amount included.
Vivian:  Oh, okay, I guess that makes sense.

She rings me up, I pay, and then stand off to the side with my receipt.  Had Vivian stopped there, I don't know that this post would exist, because I honestly can't tell you I'd be any the wiser... but she didn't stop there.

As I stood over to the side, she came over and said, "You know, if you wanted to, you could just get a 45 cup of sour cream on the side..." and I replied, "That's true, but then I'd have to put it on the taco myself, and its just easier to take off the lettuce and tomato from the supreme."  She then said, "Well, if you get a couple of them, it would be a little cheaper than the $1.69 price in the long run..." She pointed not to the Featured Doritos menu board, but to another menu board about two sections of the left of middle.

The board also had pictures of the Doritos Locos Taco with "$1.29" beside it, but then it had a Doritos Locos Taco Supreme, not priced at $1.49, but $1.69.

Wait... what?

I stared at this menu for several seconds, then took three or four steps to my right, back to the middle and stared at that board.  I looked down at my receipt, looked back up at both boards, stared again at the middle board searching for something that said "Offer good from -- to --", saw none, then looked back at the other board.  They were the exact same items offered for two different prices.

I looked again at my receipt, did the quick math and realized that I paid the $1.69 price, not the $1.49 price for both Doritos Locos Taco Supreme.

"Um," I asked, "can you tell me why you have the same item offered for two different prices?"

This was taken from the cafe, as they were suspiciously eyeing me after
I snapped the earlier photo.  You can't see the prices, but you can see on
the far left board in the pic, the fuzzy image of the Doritos Locos Tacos.
And on the far right, you can see part of the promo board.

Vivian, who was wiping the counter, looked up at me in confusion.  I continued, "Ma'am, I ordered the Doritos Locos Taco Supreme, for $1.49 each, as you have on the menu.  But you charged me $1.69 for each one, the price on that menu board."

She stepped back and looked at both boards, then back at me.  "Well, how about that?  I guess that's a mistake.  We should probably pull this menu board [the cheaper one] down."

I chuckled, knowing this would be the response, and replied, "Maybe so, but you overcharged me."

Her smile faded slightly, and said, "Well, its $1.69 in the computer, and that's what I have to charge you."

Now, understand, this is not about the 38 cents I would save.  In fact, I told her that I didn't want a refund... but this is about the principle that I, as the consumer, am being overcharged for an item they are offering at a lower price.  Its also important to note I was being very respectful and kept my tone very light while saying all of this, so please don't think I was being a jerk.

"Well, ma'am, first, I've worked retail and fast food in my days, and can pretty much guarantee there is a function on that register to change an amount on an item," I said.  "Secondly, you overcharged me.  You are offering the same item for two different prices, and are charging me the higher price."

"You have a valid point, I'll definitely take it up with my manager."

"Understand, I don't want a refund, but I want you to see that its wrong to show an item for two different prices then charge the higher price.  If you went to a steakhouse and ordered a steak dinner for $12, then saw the same steak dinner on another page of the menu, you wouldn't be happy if they charged you $16 instead of the $12 you ordered."

"You have a valid point, I'll definitely take it up with my manager," she said again.

Knowing that she would forget this entire thing as soon as I was 10 feet from the counter, I said, "Well, may I say something to your manager?"

Her smile was now completely gone, as she walked over to a large black dude in the kitchen.  I heard her say something to the effect of, "I've shown him the price and he wants to pay a cheaper price...", which really annoyed me.

Big Manager Brother came over and asked me, "What's the problem, sir?"  I said, "Well, its not necessarily a problem, but I wanted you to know that you have a the same item for two different prices, and I don't think its right to charge me the higher price, especially when your promo menu doesn't have any sort of expiration date on it."

He looked carefully at both menus for a moment, and then said, "Wow, your right.  Same taco."

I said, "Yep."

He said, "We shoulda already taken this promo menu down."

I said, "Perhaps, but your failure to take it down isn't my fault.  Again, I don't want a refund, but if I come in again, I'll ask to pay the $1.49 price and expect you guys to honor it, if both menus are still up."

He said, "Oh, we will get this down tonight, cause we can't have both of these up..."

Vivian just smiled, somewhat fake, and waited for me to leave.  Yes, I had a valid point.

And I did go back in a few days later.  And here's what happened...

And No Sauce: A Dinner Out Lament

Why is it that I can't get a great experience while eating out?  I mean, I can't complain too much--I'm eating out.  I'm eating food, good food, and I've got the money to do so.  I'm sure those kids in Darfur would love to have some Full Moon BBQ chicken, sauce or not, for dinner.

But if I'm paying hard earned money, can I not just get what I want, especially if I speak clearly, friendly enough and with concise ordering perfection?

Case 1... Taco Bell
I've discussed this at length in previous posts, but I just don't understand how hard it is to leave something off.  I mean, I'm not asking for a precise amount of lettuce on my taco, I'm actually asking you to do LESS work.  Not putting lettuce on my taco is a step you don't have to take.  Just don't do it. 

But IF you do, then you need to be nice enough about it to say, "Oh, hey, my bad dawg... let me fix you another one real quick like..." because while I've never worked at a Taco Bell, I've watched from my perch on the other side of the counter, and let me tell ya, it ain't hard.  It ain't rocket science.

But the worse thing is not only when they screw it up, they actually leave it out of the bag.  Twice.  TWICE have I gotten home without my entire order.  And TWICE have I gotten back in my car to go back and get my paid for but not received food... the first was a soft shell taco, only meat and cheese, and the second was a cheesy roll up.  Both times did I say, "Hey, I got home and realized I didn't have my (insert which one at that time), so I came back up here to get it", and both times I was greeted with a simple sigh, a fake smile, and a piece of food tossed at me with a "sorryboutthat".  And I don't think they meant it.

When I left, I'm fairly certain that they were probably telling each other how dumb I was for, "coming all the way back up here for a taco?  man, is it that important?  it ain't but 89 cents..."

Yes, its that important.  Its the principle. 

But, with the couldn't-care-less resolution, I didn't leave a satisfied customer.

Case 2... Full Moon BBQ
Out of the three main BBQ places here in town, I think Full Moon is my favorite.  Jim-n-Nicks is good, and their cheddar biscuits are the bomb diggity dot org, but Jim-n-Nicks has two things against it--its pricey and its usually overly crowded.  Sunday lunch for two is a commitment, usually taking well over an hour and resulting in a bill of about $25 to $30--and that's two sweet teas, and two plates, and maybe sharing a piece of pie, maybe not.  The other known place in town is Johnny Ray's, and I tend to find their chicken to be a bit dry.  Its good, just not great. 

Our dear Aunt Becky is here this weekend, and Thursday night, I was given the task of going to get dinner at Full Moon. I like this place because its right down Hwy 280 from The Cabana, its reasonably priced and... well, the food is excellent. 

But I don't like BBQ sauce.  Sorry, I just don't.  I don't like sweet sauce, I don't dig on tangy sauce, or hot sauce or honey sauce or anything else... hence, I don't eat ribs often.  That's just the way I'm built. 

So when I order my BBQ chicken, I use the words "and no sauce" about four or five times in the conversation.  I use it often enough to hear the cashier repeat the words back to me, letting me know that she understands "and no sauce".

A few minutes later, my order comes up, and stupid me, I don't check it.  I get home, give Aunt Becky her pulled pork plate, I give The Lovely Steph Leann her veggie plate, and am ready to open up my own plate and chow down...

...again, not that I'm complaining, but this is an evening that followed a day that had me up at 3am (i must be lonely), picking up Hot Manager Melanie at 350a, picking up a few other managers and going to Atlanta to tour stores.  So, I've driven 350+ miles and I'm just flat out tired, not to mention that I have to be back up at 4am on Friday morning to work all day. 

I open the plate, and there's a big heaping helping of thick, what I can presume to be tasty but I wouldn't know, dark BBQ sauce all over the chicken.  This is actually the third time this has happened, though the other two times I wasn't doing the picking up and was far enough away from Full Moon to not make a return trip viable.  However, this night, I'm at The Cabana. I just frown, close the lid, put it back in the bag and walk right back out to the garage.

Its right at 9p, and they are closing.  However, I make it in the door before she locks it (I think she was headed that way) and the chick who rang me up recognized me.  "Is everything okay?" she asks, already knowing the answer.  "Well... I asked for no sauce, and there is BBQ sauce all over my chicken.  I need to get a new plate."

She responds friendly enough, and I follow her to the counter.  The manager comes up, I politely explain the situation, and he apologizes about four times.  One of the Full Moon'ers offers me some tea, and I gladly accept.  Meanwhile, I hear the manager in the back saying loudly, "And NO SAUCE on that chicken!  NO SAUCE!!"  He offers me an extra side, then a piece of pie... both of which I politely refuse.  Yes, extra fries would have been good, and a piece of chocolate pie would have been good, but I didn't need either, and I really just wanted my chicken, to go home and have dinner, then go to bed.

Perhaps next time I should lead with "And no sauce on the chicken I'm ordering right now."

However, I did leave a satisfied customer.

CASE 3... PABLO'S
Don't get me wrong, I love Pablos.  I love the atmosphere, I love the band that plays, I love the fun servers that are there, I love the deck, and the food is exceptional.  

But for whatever reason, sour cream eludes my order.  See, I don't like lettuce.  And I don't like spicy things.  But I do like tacos and quesadillas, and what makes it all better is sour cream.  Enough sour cream on any Mexican dish, and its a tasty meal.  But when I order my meal, and always order it with sour cream on the side, one of two things happen... either the plop a little dollop of sour cream atop a bed of shredded lettuce, which makes it hard to separate what I love and what I hate, or they just forget it altogether, and by the time I remind them and they bring it, everyone is half done with their food, and mine is only lukewarm.  Having said that, understand that Pablos is my favorite authentic Americanized Mexican cuisine--but this is the only area where they are grouped with others... all Mexican places forget my sour cream.  If fact, we visited the genuine Mexican place at Epcot... no, not the pyramid, the other one.  And guess what?  They forgot my sour cream.

By the way, Pablo's was still better.  Just sayin'.


Last time at Pablo's, they got the sour cream part right.  A bowl of the white heavenly condiment topping came out with my meal, my fish tacos ordered with "NO LETTUCE", and it was great.  However, in my tacos--Lettuce.  Tons of it.  And its mixed with the shredded cheese.  So removing the lettuce removes 94% of any cheese on the tacos. 

I didn't ask for another taco, I just went with it.  Sigh.

The company was more than satisfactory.  The dinner was satisfactory.  The lettuce was not. 


CASE 4... THE PIZZA PLACE
There's a new pizza place in town, but I'm afraid to mention it, because I don't want the following anecdote to dissuade you from going--its excellent pizza, and I will go back because it is such a good meal at a good price... so rather than call it Marco's, I'll just call it The Pizza Place.

...but never again on a Friday night.  Once again, I was sent out to retrieve dinner for The Lovely Steph Leann and Aunt Becky, and once again, it wasn't as easy as I wanted it to be.  I arrived at The Pizza Place at 739p, and made my order at 746p.  Its busy, so I'm thinking that it might be a good 20 or 30 minutes before my pizza, sub and cheezybread would be ready.

Time ticks slowly by, as I hear a woman come in who has "three starving children, so can I go ahead and order cheezybread?  Please get that in, and then I'll order the pizza..." and another guy who came in and said, "Yep, I just want some cheezybread and a large pepperoni..."

I can tell, however, that things aren't going as swimmingly as it should be, as the people behind the counter seem a bit frantic.  There is a nearby restaurant that I also frequent for lunch, and the couple who run that establishment apparently are the aunt and uncle of the owner of The Pizza Place, and the uncle was there telling me how they never expected to be as busy as they are.  Their cafe is rather small, but it wasn't meant to hold a ton of people--the expectations were they would have pretty good delivery/carry out, and a cafe to hold a few patrons.

And when they started doing gangbusters, the whole staff was caught off guard. 

The aunt of the owner saw me and said hello, and asked me how long I had been waiting. I looked at the receipt, did the quick math and replied, "about 45 minutes." Then, still politely, I added, "you know, you probably should tell people it's going to be awhile for food--I probably wouldn't have ordered if I had known it would take this long."

Now, I must mention to you Brenda, across the counter. I'm sure she is a very nice lady, and I'm going to give her doubt's benefit in saying she was probably stressed, but she had the bedside manner of a wet mop. At the moment I was talking to Auntie, and giving my "truth about the wait" suggestion, I heard Brenda finish up an order on the phone by saying, "oh, it will be about 20 minutes." When Brenda hung up, Auntie said, "he's right. Don't tell people 20. You need to be saying 45 or 50."

The wait continued.  A few minutes later, the lady with the three kids who were starving came back up... "Um... we've been here for 45 minutes, and we don't even have cheezybread.  You didn't say it would take so long... my kids are still starving..." and at the same time, the dude who just wanted some cheezybread and pepperoni came up, saying, "Yeah, so we never got our bread.  Our pizza is half eaten already, so can we just cancel the bread?"

At the same time, I observed a couple who came in, and told Brenda, "We ordered our pizza an hour and 10 minutes ago for delivery... well, we only live 5 minutes away, so we figured we would just come get it."  Brenda gave a big sigh, and said, "What's your name and house number?"

Baseball players like Wes gotta eat too

Over in the corner, Major League Baseball player Wes Helms sat with a buddy.  He saw me and we both waved.  "Waiting for your pizza?" I asked.  "Yeah, man, been here for about an hour."

The one common denominator for all of these stories is simply this:  We LOVE the pizza, but didn't want to wait this long.  And its true--The Pizza Place has great pizza, so much so that we chose this on Friday over just ordering Papa John's across the street from The Cabana. 

Finally, 56 minutes after I placed my order, I was given a pizza, a sub and a box of cheezybread.  For my troubles, I was also given a good coupon for next time, a cup to get myself a refreshing beverage, and a two-liter to take home. 

In short, I waited forever, and was starving by the time I got home.  But the steak-n-cheese sub was excellent, and the pizza for Aunt Becky and The Lovely Steph Leann was great, according to them, so we were satisfied customers.

So there ya go.  Four cases of food service travails.  White people problems?  Sure.  First world problems?  Absolutely.  Blessed life troubles?  Yup.

But problems and troubles nonetheless.  I would imagine much of life's problems would be fixed, though, if they'd just include the cheesy roll-up, leave off the lettuce and warn me that my food might take almost an hour to prepare.

Oh, and leave off the sauce.

Just Like a Prayer

Tonight, we met little Clara Hope.  Our friends Dave and Mandi Tuck's first, a little girl all wrapped snug in pink, looking as cutie-patootie as you could possibly imagine.  Mommy was good, and we met Daddy's own parents--Tuck's pop is awesome, complete with a bow tie and high socks, with his khakis stuffed into his socks, looking like he just stepped out of a 1958 television set--even though Tuck himself was in law class. 

Clara Hope being so cute is just one more piece of evidence in our theory that there is only so much cuteness to go around, and The Lovely Steph Leann and I are sorely afraid that we won't get any for our own kid.  Cause, whether you admit it or not, there are in fact ugly babies out there, and even though we'd like to think we could recognize an unattractive baby if we had one, we both know that we'll think our baby is gorgeous.   We'll listen for key words like "Precious" and "So sweet" to let us know that you think our child is a troll. 

Bear with me, I'll come back to this...

So, the other day, I'm wandering around behind the bar at work, humming and singing to myself as I am wont to do sometimes... the song of choice was Madonna's hit from 1992, "Like a Prayer".   I was softly singing, "Life is a mystery... and we all must stand alone... I hear you call my name... and it feels like... home... when you call my name, it's like a little prayer, I'm down on my knees, I want to take you there, in the midnight hour, I can feel your power, just like a prayer, you know I'll take you there..."

And for whatever reason, I stopped singing.  Then I slowly began to recite the words in my mind and came to a stark realization... this song is kinda dirty.  Like, really, really dirty.  Like, its all about sex.  So, for almost 20 years, I've been singing this song without a clue.

I guess it makes sense, I just never really paid much attention to it.  But it gave me true pause, because I was like "Wow... I guess I'll listen a little differently to this now..."  I did mention this to Melanie right after, and she stared at me. "Uh... duh.  Why do you think the Catholics went nuts over that song?  It was all dirty and stuff."

So, back to the Tucks.  We dropped off a meal at their house tonight... in our Sunday School Life Connection Class at Valleydale Church (an sbc fellowship), when a couple in our class has a baby, we all sign up and bring them meals.   Of course, The Lovely Steph Leann and I both agree that we won't get much food when Camp/Lorelei shows up, because in all our years of babies in our class, we've taken meals to two couples... The Halperts and The Tucks.  And The Halperts just moved back to Houston, so we've crossed them off the list.  Hey, The Tucks, we like pasta, and I love cheesecake.

After we left The Tuckstead, we went off to find our own dinner, and we got into a discussion between Olive Garden and O'Charley's.  She asked me if I'd rather have one or the other, and I simply replied, "Either, don't care.  Kinda the same, aren't they?"

Pause.

"Huh?" The Lovely Steph Leann asked.

"O'Charley's and Olive Garden... kind of the same, aren't they?  Like, I can't really tell them apart," I shrugged.

"Holy crap, d$, Olive Garden is Italian!  O'Charley's is American.  They aren't anything alike!  You really don't know the difference?"

"Ah.  So the endless pasta bowl is..."

"Olive Garden, the Italian Place."

"So, which one is it that when you are there, you are family?"

"Olive Garden.  Wow.  You really don't know?"

"Sorry," I shrugged again, "just never paid much attention."

So, we ended up a O'Charley's, because it wasn't out of the way like Olive Garden (we were on 31, traveling from Pelham, headed to our home on 280, so 119 was the easiest route).  For the record, dinner wasn't that great, she had a salad which she liked, but some potato soup which was drenched in cheese, while my baked potato wasn't fully cooked, and some seafood which was straight out the white bag that you get fish sticks from, in the frozen food section of Publix.  The bread was good, though it took forever to get any, then took another set of forevers to get another basket. 

During dinner conversation, I did mention the "Like a Prayer" revelation, and how it took me 18 years for it to click concerning the meaning of this.  The Lovely Steph Leann laughed, then said, "That doesn't surprise me."

Wait... what?

"Well," she explained, "you don't really think like that.  That's not how your mind works."  I explained that, you know, I'm a boy, so I think dumb stuff all the time, and she replied, "I didn't say it was necessarily a bad thing, to not think that way."  Essentially, she was saying I can be a bit naive.  And, as observed with the O'Charleys vs Olive Garden conversation, many times I also and extremely unobservant.

The waitress came over, and brought our food, and left.  The Lovely Steph Leann whispered to me to look at the waitress to see if she reminded me of someone that I knew.  When the waitress came back around to refill the tea glass, and then left, The Lovely Steph Leann said, "Did you see it?" and I, of course, replied, "Did I see what?"  And I wasn't joking.  I completely forgot about looking at the waitress.

Naive, forgetful and unobservant.  Sigh.  Guess that is true.  I'm always saying things that are taken entirely in a different, sometimes, negative thing that I didn't mean.  Many times I'll do things that are also taken completely out of the context in which I meant it... which is to say, I speak and act before I think about it, many times.

And it tends to bite me.  Especially in the blogging world.  Now, I'm 760+ posts into Clouds in My Coffee, six years later, and I've written a lot.  Like, a lot a lot.  Like, a whole bunch a lot.  And I've gone back and read many things I've written and thought to myself, "Did I really say that?" or "Wow, that's a little bold..." or "Um... I probably shouldn't have said that either."  And there are many things that I have written out of complete innocence, without a negative thought in the world that I read later and think, "Yeah, I meant that this way... but I can totally see how it can be taken that way."

I'm completely committed to my darling wife (love you much baby doll), completely loyal to her, but I've come upon a few sentences here and there written in years past that, if you didn't know me or just stumbled upon that one single post without reading anything else, you might think, "Hmmm... whats going on with this guy?"  I've found myself doing some editing and "fixing" from years past, just to make sure that if you do stumble upon such things, you won't have that "hmmm" moment.

I guess years ago, when the blog first started, and like, ten people per day was pulling this up, it wasn't a big deal because, who's going to read this?  Nobody, right?  But now?  The Summer of Blogging is pulling down 100+ hits per day, and with that comes the random person surfing the site and who knows what they will find.  I've got 100 people that know me that will read what I write and know I'm joking, they will know I'm not being malicious or out of bounds... but there's always those few people who don't know me well enough.  Then again, that's on me... I should say and do things that no one has a chance to question, right?  Right. 

Thus is the eternal struggle to be funny and myself to those who know me, and yet be above reproach and appealing for those who don't. 

Does this make sense?  I guess I don't want my own blog to be a stumbling block to me or anyone else, and especially glorifying--at the least, honorable--to Christ.  Perhaps it would help if I just paid attention to what I was saying or doing.   I mean, heck... Naive + Speaking before thinking x unobservant = lots of defending myself.  Not good times.  Bad times indeed. 

Am I naive?  Probably.  Is that something to be ashamed of?  I dunno.  Maybe.  Maybe not.  Unobservant?  I'm sorry, what was the question?

When you read my blog, its like a little prayer, I'm down on my keyboard I want to take... well, never mind.  Let's not even go there.

The Summer of Blogging Day Fifty One

My Caylee Anthony Opinion

Alright, so here are my thoughts on the whole Casey Anthony thing.

I don't really care.

I feel bad that a baby died, be it intentional or by accident, but babies die every day by both causes, and this just happened to be one that we focused on.  I won't play the race card and tell you that I was intrigued by an opinion piece that asked, "If Caylee Anthony was black, would we care?", because truly... I don't care.  Sorry. 

I know, this sounds harsh.  I guess I hate saying "I don't care", but I know so little about the case, its hard to form an opinion one way or the other.  Since 98% of Facebook got their law degrees on the same day of the acquittal (why else would everyone else have the right answer?), it would be easy to ascertain that Casey is guilty... though a few rogue opinions say its Grandpa.  Heck, I didn't even know the baby died in a pool until after the verdict was read.  So, instead of coming late to the baby party, I figured I would just... well, not pay attention to it.  Or for lack of a better term, not care.  That's just me.

So the other night, its all kind of raining, and The Lovely Steph Leann comes in from her weekend away with Mama Ruthless, and we are both pretty hungry.  What to do?  Order a pizza!

Hop onto Papa John's online and order our pizza... now, I'm easy when it comes to pizza.  The perfect pizza for me includes four things... first, pepperoni.  Not too much, don't kill it, but some is good.  Next is mushrooms.  Next, black olives.  And its all baked atop a thick layer of extra cheese. 

We typically go the Papa John's route because its more often than not cheaper than Pizza Hut, and neither one of us are fans of Dominos.  Little Caesar's is only a choice if you are desperate, broke or at church . Or all three.

Anyway, The Lovely Steph Leann makes it easier because she is very low maintenance--she just wants cheese on it.  She used to go pepperoni, but now its just cheese.  So when I order, I get extra cheese on the whole thing, pepperoni, black olives and mushrooms on one side.  That's it, that's all, order, click, submit, and wait for the pizza to get there.

Forty five minutes later, a ding at the door tells me it has arrived.  I tossed on an overly priced 2 liter of Coke... it was $2.29, when at CVS about 1/5th of a mile away, its $1.09, but that would require me to get up, and we can't have that, can we?

The bill was just over $16, I gave the guy a 20 and told him to keep it (if that doesn't seem like a big tip, please know that I could walk to the Papa John's in about 15 minutes--and I only mention the bill and tip because this parlays into the story a little later).  I immediately walked it into the kitchen, pulled out a couple of cups, iced them, poured in some refreshing crisp Co-Cola for myself, and some lame caffeine free Co-Cola for her, took the drinks and napkins into the living room, then went back to the kitchen for pizza.

The aroma of cheese filled the air, the heat from the box emanating and warming my hands even before I touched that sacred cardboard, that holder of dinner, that box that would soon bring forth, upon opening, a cornucopia, nay, a cavalcade of wonder, flavor, fat and taste... I opened the box and immediately took a whiff of the cheese, the pepperoni, the onions...

(cue record screeching sound)

...the onions?

I glanced on the right side, and its just cheese.  Doesn't look like extra cheese, just cheese.  But on the left side... there are onions.  And peppers?  Peppers!  Peppers!!  I don't do peppers!  Peppers!  Not only do peppers infect the entire pizza with their spicy destruction, the mere presence of onions signifies so much time spent rooting and pulling out onions...

I called Papa John's immediately, was put on hold, waiting about 90 seconds, hung up, called back and predictably was put on hold again.  Finally, they came back to me, and I told them, very nicely I might add, "So, I was delivered the wrong pizza.  Wanted to call you back and let you resolve it."

Was put on hold.  Again.  Finally, a dude that sounded as if he had a little more authority came back on.  He asked my address, and I answered.  He asked me what was actually on the box that was delivered, and I replied, "Martha Calen, 1124 Inverness Cove Lane.  Not me."  He told me they'd send another one out pretty quickly.

I knew The Lovely Steph Leann was hungry, so I cut her out a piece from the cheese side of the mistake pizza... she expressed concern, but my argument was simply that they delivered the wrong pizza--surely they weren't going to take it back.  I certainly wouldn't want any pizza that had been in someone else's house... I mean, I trust us, but I don't trust strangers in strange houses.

I brought her a plate with a few pieces of cheese pizza, and sat down, awaiting the other pizza, the right pizza, to arrive.  A few minutes later, I got a phone call... from the driver.  He asked me what the box he'd delivered had printed on its front.  I told him the Inverness Cove Lane address, and he said, "Yeah, I'm sorry about that, I only had two on this route, yours and theirs... and I must have just grabbed the wrong one.  You mind if I swing back by?"

"I hope you don't mean to pick up the other pizza, cause... well, eew," I replied.  He said, "Naw, I was just going to drop this one by."

Now, I know mistakes can be made, and certainly it is to be expected that anyone delivering a few dozen pizzas night after night is bound to make a mistake.  But at the same time, I did pay for my pizza, and I wanted it to be as hot as possible, and by this time, it had been at least 30 to 40 minutes since he'd dropped off the wrong pizza.  Meaning my pizza had been in his car for at least 50 minutes, maybe an hour.

"Well, that's fine, but I already called Papa John's and they are supposed to send us another pizza."  Got a "Oh" on the other end.

A little while later, our delivery guy showed up and rang the doorbell.  When I opened the door, he just kinda tossed it at me, said, "Here ya go, no charge," and walked off.  I actually cannot be positive it was the same guy, he was gone so fast.  I closed the door, and The Lovely Steph Leann looked up.

"I would sure hope its free," she remarked. 

So, dinner was finally here, and it was tasty. 

You may not care much about my pizza story, but I really didn't want to talk about Caylee Anthony.  Partly because I know so little about the case...

...and partly because... well, I don't care.  Does this make me a bad person?  Hope not.

The Summer of Blogging Day Thirty Six

The Subway Fresh Conversation

Walking into Subway, wanting to eat fresh, picking up a sandwich for myself and for my awesome manager...

Habeeb, in broken English:  Can I help you, sir?
Me: Yes, I need to get two sandwiches.

Habeeb, in broken English:  Yes, what two sandwiches would you like sir?
Me:  I need to get two sandwiches, both are six inch.  One is turkey on white, the other is chicken on parmesan oregano

Habeeb, in broken English:  Okay, turkey. Foot long or six inch?
Me:  Six inch.  They are both six inch subs

Habeeb, in broken English:  Okay, turkey on six inch.  What bread?
Me: White

Habeeb, in broken English:  Okay, cheecken?  Foot long?
Me:  Six inch.  Parmesan oregano bread

Habeeb, in broken English:  Turkey on white, cheecken on oregano.  Both six inch?
Me:  Yes, both six inch.

Habeeb gets bread and cuts.  He places chicken on one bread, turkey on the other.

Habeeb, in broken English:   Cheese?
Me: Yes, please.  Cheddar on both, please, and both toasted.
Habeeb, in broken English:  Okay, cheddar cheese.

Habeeb places cheddar cheese on the turkey.

Habeeb, in broken English:  Cheese on other?  What kind?
Me:  Cheddar.  On that one too.

Habeeb, in broken English:  You want toasted? 
Me:  Yes, please.  Both of them.

Habeeb, in broken English:  Cheecken toastes.  You want turkey toasted?
Me:  Yes, please.  Both of them.

Habeeb places both sandwiches in oven for 15 seconds.  Both sandwiches come out, looking fresh. 

Habeeb, in broken English:  Okay, what on turkey?
Me, speaking each ingredient slowly so as to allow him time to build the sandwich:  Mustard... Lettuce... Tomato... Banana Peppers... Oil & Vinegar

Habeeb, places all these things on the turkey sandwich.  I cringe as the same gloves used to pick up banana peppers with the juice dripping off are now placed on my own chicken sandwich.

Habeeb, in broken English:  Okay, what on cheecken?
Me:  Mustard...

I watch as Habeeb uses an almost empty bottle of mustard to squeeze a blob of mustard onto one end of the sandwich, accompanied by that farting noise an empty bottle is wont to make.

Me:  Mayo

I watch as Habeeb uses an overly full mayo bottle to squeeze out a line of mayo, from one end of the sandwich to the other, a line that looks about two inches wide.

Me:  A little bit of ranch

I watch as Habeeb squeezes the ranch bottle a little too tightly, giving an enormous amount of ranch on one side, then realizing his mistake, he uses just a trickle to cover the other five inches

Me:  Black olives

I watch as Habeeb grabs a few pieces of black olives and drops them right in the middle of the sandwich.

Me:  Would you mind adding just a few more?  Thank you.

I watch as Habeeb now grabs a handful and covers 94% of the sandwich in a inch and a half thick layer of black olives.

Me:  And just a few pickles

I watch as Habeeb then grabs all the pickles his hand will hold, and drops them onto my sandwich.  He's been burned already by having to go back to the black olive well, he's bound and determined to make this single pickle allotment the only pickle allotment needed.

Me:  And that's all. 

I watch as Habeeb folds my sandwich, using gloves that are drenched with banana peppers and black olive juice and pickle droppings.

Me:  Okay, just make one sandwich into a combo, if you don't mind.  Thanks.

Pause

Habeeb, in broken English, now standing at the register: Okay, what sandwiches you have again?

Anybody else? 

The Summer of Blogging Day Twenty Six

The Love Is Magical Pin Event

The main reason we wanted to go to Disney World in February was that its now a tradition... not sure how many years have to go by before something becomes a "tradition", but this has been our third year, so we'll go with that.

Our time to go usually is right around the last few days of January into the first week of February, but this time around it was a little different.  There was... a pin event.  A Disney Pin Trading Event, which we had heard about but never been too. 

Okay, first, let me tell you about Disney Pins.  They are pins, not pens, and there are by now probably close to 100,000 different pins out there... all sizes, shapes, complexities, characters, and anything Disney related you can think of.  Long story short, you can trade them while you are there.  The Lovely Steph Leann and I choose to wear lanyards with pins adorning the left and right side, but some people carry small (and big) books, put them on hats, vests and any number of personal possessions.  Some people buy them just to trade them, others buy them as collectables only and still others do a combo of both, like us.

It started in Disneyland back in the late 90s, caught on at other parks, and because of Walt Disney World's size and sheer volume of guests every year, it exploded into this huge hobby and pasttime. 

My very first pin.  Its on one of our many bulletin boards,
and will never be traded.

The Lovely Steph Leann bought her first pin on a pre-marriage vacation she took with her mama and sister and family in the fall of 2003, and I purchased mine on our honeymoon in March of 2004.  I just asked her what her first pin was, and she said, "Oh... I dunno... probably a wedding pin or something..." referring to the several Mickey and Minnie bride and groom pins that she picked up.  I, however, know my first pin.  The abominable snowman from Monster's Inc, complete with yellow sno-cones.

Since then, she and I have spent hundreds... oh, who am I kidding, thousands of dollars on Disney Pins.  When I worked at The Happiest Place in the Mall, I got a huge discount at the park, which made buying pins even cheaper, which ended up costing us more money because we spent more than we would have otherwise.

For anyone who has visited The Cabana, they can tell you about our 6+ large boards full of pins, mostly grouped by character, or theme park, or whatever.  She loves classic pins like the princesses and the dwarfs and anything else she finds "cute!", while I have a huge collection of Tinkerbell pins, Incredibles pins and Hercules pins.

So, when I found out that they were doing a pin event on February 5th, I told The Lovely Steph Leann that we were going and our trip was going to be based around that day.  Well, we thought it would be good to go to the event early in the trip, especially since we had some friends coming down later that week, so we arrived on February 3rd (told in this post), and went to Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios on Friday, the 4th (told in this post).

Saturday morning, we got our pins together, me in my "pin messenger bag" and she in her "pin backpack".  We could tell that there were a lot of other people there for the event because guests were arriving with suitcases and big boxes and crates literally rolled in on hand trucks and such.  She and I carried with us maybe 50, 75 pins each, these people had 100s of pins with them.

When the gates opened at 9a, I dashed on over and got Soarin' fast passes while The Lovely Steph Leann walked over to the old Wonders of Life Pavilion to get in line, which was good because we ended up being about 10th in line to get in, and the line got rather long behind us as 10am approached.

 

The theme to the event, featuring Duffy the Disney Bear, who I think is
kind of stupid.


 We go in, finally, handing over our passes--which, by the way, I feel like should more than an email confirmation... I mean, we paid like, $50 each to do this event, and we got a sheet of paper that essentiall said "Let 'em in."  Just like when you buy Annual Passes, I feel like they should be harder plastic, making it harder to mess them up, instead of the paper cards we got.  They dispatch four thousand plastic cards per day for room keys, can they not do something for people who pay $50 for tickets, or $495 for an annual pass?  Just sayin.

Where was I?

Oh yeah, we go in, and get in line immediately for our pre-purchased pins.  There were pins and pin sets you had to order ahead of time to ensure you got them, which we did, and we picked them up right off the bat. 

You know how you are planning for something, but because you don't know alot about it, you kind of have to feel your way around it and actually experience it to "get it"?  That was this event for us... we didn't know what to expect, so when we walked around the corner and saw the rows and rows of empty tables, we weren't sure exactly how to approach it.



Pin traders in action

 We did find a spot to put our stuff down, but again, we only brought a limited number of pins with us, so we weren't prepared to spread out and be real traders.   When you trade with a Cast Member, they have to take whatever you give them as long as the pin you are handing over is one they don't have, or its obviously a pin that isn't from Disney.  With these pin traders, these are pins that are from their own personal collections... so they aren't obliged to take anything you offer. 

There were sourpusses for sure, people that you try to talk to and they wanted to take advantage of you, asking for your best pins for something that you would be able to find elsewhere... and there were nice people to, people who had books of pins that were just their extras, and as long as they didnt have a bunch of the pin you would try to trade them, they were more than happy to help you finish a set.

Pin traders were only part of it, though.  As part of your ticket package, you got four coupons for pin boards, and the pin wheel. 

In the back of the room, they had several cute backgrounds set up with different Disney scenes, including one where several characters were coming out of a mine in a car.



The Tunnel of Love display.  Mickey and Minnie were in a nearby set up.

  

The Mine of Love, as its called.  This is right near one of the Pin Board lines


There were actually six lines to choose from, and five were just alike, so really it was a crapshoot.  Here's how this works... you get in line, and when you get up to the front, you get to trade two pins off of this big board sitting on an easel.  But the board is facing the other way, so you don't know what it looks like until you get up there... and they trade it out every 20 minutes or so, so its being refreshed with new pins.  The trick is trying to be someone who gets there right after they refresh it, because if you get there right before they bring a new board out, its usually pretty picked over.  Why not wait and take your time?  Because you only get 60 seconds behind the board to choose.

The sixth, though, was something a little different.  It was a pin wheel... we got in this line first, and because we lined up before the pin boards opened up, we were pretty quick to the front. 


Me, making the hard decisions


Its a wheel with 8 covered compartments.  You get there and stand on the X, and spin the wheel.  Whatever compartment comes to you when it stops, the panel opens and you choose out of those pins.  From what I remember, there wasn't much to choose from when I was at the wheel, but I think The Lovely Steph Leann found something cool, though she spun to a different section.

After the wheel, we got in the longer line for another board, this time a regular board. 




Time is ticking away, tick tick ticking away, as The Lovely Steph Leann tries
to choose wisely

This is what took much longer.  We decided to divide into two lines the second time around, and really, it didn't make much difference.   It took both of us forever to get to the front of each line we were in, so after that, we just stuck together. 


This is early in the pin board activity time... it got much busier





I hope you don't imagine all pin traders to look like big'un there in the blue... He is at the front of a long line, about to trade on the board--he should be more excited!  The Lovely Steph Leann, who is third in this line, is ready to sit down.


After the pin wheel and separating for a line, we just stayed together in the other two lines we went into... this part took up most of our afternoon, which is okay because it did start to rain. 

My only complaint was really that there wasn't a food place offered in the pavilion.  Being the old Wonders of Life, they had, even visible, a set up where they could serve food--but only offered desserts. 

For $50, you would think that they would give you a boxed lunch, but that's wrong... but I'd have been willing to pay Disney prices ($9 for a burger and fries) for lunch if it was offered in the buidling.  Instead, I had to leave the pavilion, walk all the way down to The Electric Umbrella, stand in line, get lunch and drinks, then walk all the way back... for those of you who are a little sketchy on what I'm talking about, imagine starting at Test Track--or behind it--then walking halfway to Soarin', getting food, then hurrying back.  No bueno.

Later, though, they did a great dessert buffet.

Don't mistake me.. the dessert was great, but it wasn't lunch

All in all, it was a lot of fun, something that I hope we can do again.  Like I said, some things have to be experienced to truly know what to do next time, and this was a perfect example.  Next time, we'll take more pins with us.  Next time, we'll know how to do the boards.  Next time, we'll be aware of the special pins available for purchase that we didnt even see...

Yeah, forgot that part.  So, off to the side of the big room they had a table set up, selling "mystery pins", or pins in a solid colored pouch for purchase.  There were two sets of pins, each with at least 12 pins in the set, and each set had a companion set that had a "Chaser" or a variation of that pin... hope that made sense.  Anyway, by the time we found out that they were for sale, most of the pins had sold out. 

I guess that is a good thing, though, because we also found out that each mystery pin was $15.95, and I can only imagine how many we would have purchased... because The Lovely Steph Leann found them to be so cute.  And when she thinks its cute, we usually end up going home with those pins.

About to enjoy a big plate of seafood and steak, surrounded by a
bajillion gallon tank (on my right, anyway)

We left the pin event in mid-evening, maybe 6ish, finally rode Soarin' and ended up eating dinner at The Coral Reef Restaurant, which was awesome. 

There is another pin event coming in September, though I'm not sure we are going to it... I would love it, because its called "The Florida Project", and its all about the 40 anniversary of Walt Disney World--but unfortunately, bills have to get paid.  And our AC went out--though it was an easy fix, it makes us remember that we need to have a little more money for emergencies, not pins.

All in all, a great first weekend to our trip, a trip that had an Africa Trek (Sunday), a lunch with an Imagineer (Monday), Melanie (Tuesday), Cirque de Soleil (Wednesday), Harry Potter (Friday) and a ride around Epcot on a Segway (Saturday). 

I'm glad this is the summer of blogging (day four!) because it might take me that long to get to all of it... and then, there's Disneyland to discuss! 

Keep reading!!!

Speaking of Random Thoughts

So, this is the stuff I was thinking about while watching Episode 7 of Season 6 of "Grey's Anatomy", sitting at my table with my laptop, while The Lovely Steph Leann stretches out comfortably on the couch...

He's not Colin Firth, but he's Top Five for
The Lovely Steph Leann

She loves her some Dr. Bailey, and Patrick Dempsey is a key member of Firth's administration in The Colin Firth Club, while I think Mark Sloan rocks, and dig Arizona Robbins... wait, did I just say any of that?  Forget I wrote that...

Speaking of Disney World...

So, here's the reason I've been so lagging in blogging in the last few weeks.  About a month ago, our pastor at Valleydale Church (an sbc fellowship) and his family asked The Lovely Steph Leann and I for some pointers on Disney World.  Pastor Calvin and his wife, daughter Hillary and her hubby and 2 year old girl and daughter Alissa and hubby Joey and their two boys are all headed that way, and its a combination of "never been" and "haven't been in a few years" and "haven't been in a long time"...

Well, after a three hour lunch meeting, we were just getting going.  Alissa had written about five pages of jumbled notes and such, and I'm not sure she understood everything we were saying (she had Mickey's PhilharMagic spelled Mickey's Filler Magic... I laughed heartily) so at the end, when we were running out of time, I said, "Let me write your notes." 

And over the course of a month, I wrote some notes.  And more notes.  And more notes.  And I added sections.  And then chapters.  And then a table of contents.  And at the end, it was a 53 page not-even comprehensive guide to Disney World from our perspective. 

The Lovely Steph Leann took it to edit, and after three days of assembly, it was bound in a folder, with the great title "DISNEY ON A DOLLAR"... that was the name she created for the Disney Travel Agency that we had discussed...

Personally, I think its a great guide.  And The Lovely Steph Leann says simply, "We aren't giving this out to anyone.  If they want it, they have to hang out with us.  Maybe treat us to dinner!".  So there ya go. 

But that's a completed project, so I'm back!  Rock on. 

Speaking of syrup on the fingers...

I hate having my hands sticky.  Like, really sticky.  Or even partly sticky.  When I'm standing at the espresso bar, and I reach over and pump four shots of vanilla, it sometimes drips on the back of my hand.  Or I have mocha on my fingers.  Or moving the frappuccino pumps around, it drips on my palm.  Hate it, hate it, hate it.  I consider that to be one of the things I'd probably hate most about being on Survivor--my hands getting sticky and not being able to wash it off.

Don't get me wrong.. I don't mind "dirty".  I can put my hands in mud and dirt, I've potted many plants and cleaned many drains and scrubbed many toilets and so on, so I have no opposition to getting my hands dirty.  As long as they aren't sticky. 

Speaking of making messes...

I would love to tell you the following is a fake, but its not.  I would love to tell you that the following is needless and silly, and maybe it is... but I can see the use for it. 

Its called The Slobstopper, and its a real commercial, and sure to be found at Target, Kohls and Wal-Mart in that crazy "As Seen On TV" aisle and/or end-cap soon enough.  What is the Slobstopper?  Its a bib for adults.



Sometimes for a mid-afternoon, or an after work snack, I'll drop by Daylight Donuts and grab a donut and a small bottle of whole milk, and what I've learned the hard way is when you open the whole milk, it spills out the top.  Its done this twice, in my car as I was driving.  The first time, I had a nearby cloth towel and was able to wipe most of the mess away.  Of course, it was good that I had that cloth because I was also munching on a coconut cream filled turnover, and that cream splurted out onto my shirt, my shorts and on the fairly new seats of Red Robin. 

If I have a complaint about my Kia Soul, and I have very, very few, one would be that the seats get dirty really easily.  Just add coconut cream.  And whole milk.

The second time, I was less prepared, and though I had no coconut cream filled turnover, the milk spilled even worse, and I only had a Starbucks apron within reach.  I guess there is no use crying over it.

But had I Slobstopper?  My problems would melt away... as would the milk and coconut cream.

Speaking of being tired...

You know you are tired when you wake up at butt-thirty in the morning and are already looking forward to laying down in the afternoon for a little rest spell.

Speaking of doing puzzles...

I'm not much of a "fighting style" video game guy, like "Red Dead Redemption" and "Halo" and all that rot.  Not that I don't really understand them, its just too many buttons on most controllers.  My fingers aren't that dexterious.

However, I do like puzzles and puzzle games on video.  And in a book.  Mazes rule.  I love mazes.  Crosswords are fun too. 

Word searches are fun, but only if the list is fun.  Like, when I pick up a word search puzzle, I'll flip past "Architectural Designs" or "French Military Victories", but if I see something cool like "Russell Crowe Movies", I'm like "Where you at 'Gladiator'?!".

By the way, the "French Military Victories puzzle has like, one or two things to find. 

Speaking of holding your breath...

When I'm watching a film and a character has to swim underwater, I always hold my breath as long as they do to see if I would make it.  I usually die. 

Speaking of good food...

Had dinner the other night at a joint called Rags downtown, in the Lakeview District.  Let's be honest, I only know its the Lakeview District because when we pulled up, I was told that it was the Lakeview District by our double dates for the night, Melanie and Chris Z.  It was Chris' birthday, so he was in fine spirits, Melanie looked great as always, The Lovely Steph Leann is always nice to have on the arm, so it was a great night.

The food was reasonably priced, and the atmostphere was fun.  Its a former hair salon turned into a bar/cafe, which contains a bar and five tables.  We had to wait for a table for a few minutes, but we were able to sit down and munch on Italian type food and appetizers. 

After we all shared a big plate of fried green beans, I ate shrimp pesto pasta and it was really great.  Dinner with friends is always great. 

Speaking of The Deucecast...

In case you don't know me or haven't heard me, we done been starting us a podcasty thing.  A podcast called The Deucecast.  You can find it on iTunes under "The Deucecast" and download individual 'casts (I recommend Episode -1... that's negative one... and Episode III: Podcast of the Sith) or subscribe to all of them. 

You can also find it on our website The Deucecast, and get show notes and download shows, see a few pics, and find some other fun stuff as we progress.  Find us on Facebook and like us, too.

What's it about?  Pop culture stuff.  Movies, music, entertainment news, gaming stuff, and lots of humor.  Hosted by Mikey, Matty and myself, new episodes are usually available for download on Fridays by midday.  Come join us!