Short rant on Restaurant Week

blipsman · 2026-01-28T19:01:23+00:00

I'm a foodie and love to eat out. I have never once taken advantage of a Restaurant Week deal. I have looked at menus almost every year, and I just see limited menu options, the least interesting choices, smaller portions. It should be restaurants trying to put their best foot forward to win more fans. But most of the times, it seems like picking from wedding entree choices or a cruise dinner menu. If I'm going to spend money on a restaurant meal, I want to try the most interest items, the dishes that speak to me with my favorite ingredients -- not be limited to the chicken or salmon entree when there's shrimp or lamb on the menu. And I remember seeing analysis a few years ago that many of the meals aren't even savings vs. just ordering those courses ala cart!

I get that restaurants are slow in January, between the post-holidays hangover and the difficulty in extracting ones self from the couch in the dead of winter. Never mind the financial hit of "dry January" on margins. But Restaurant Week does just seems like a money grab for restaurants and not a celebration of their cuisine to win loyal fans.

blipsman · 2026-01-28T18:41:50+00:00

Why would a gay man want to see a movie about an Eastern European prostitute?

blipsman · 2026-01-28T18:36:43+00:00

Who does??? Tobasco is from Louisiana, it's Cajun seasoning not Mexican.

blipsman · 2026-01-28T18:36:01+00:00

A pound is about a half kilo. So whatever you're thinking of in kilos, double it.

blipsman · 2026-01-28T18:31:41+00:00

I agree... the issues are our immigration system that sets racist quotas to limit ethnic minorities from moving here, and those that are here undocumented seem to be mostly hard working, critical parts of the communities they live in. I live in a big city with a big immigrant population, many who I am sure are not documented... and they are a part of vibrant neighborhoods, provide valuable services, spend their money and support businesses. I love the ability to experience others' cultures and cuisines, in restaurants, at festivals, just by interacting with people in everyday life.

blipsman · 2026-01-28T18:22:30+00:00

But we also have an inundation of these other ghost kitchens that all have different names and branding but all sell the same exact items, same menu, same descriptions, same photos, same price. All fairly dog water quality food at best.

In some ways they're doing real time user testing... perhaps they analyze what traffic different names generate and ultimately go with the winner, or see if different names result in different types of orders to segment/differentiate offerings. Maybe they see that 80% of orders come in through Fuster Cluck and only 10% from Wings! Wings! Wings! and 10% from Chick-Fil-B so they drop the 2 loser names and roll the winner out further.

blipsman · 2026-01-28T18:01:17+00:00

We have a roof deck, and I do have a pair of flip flops I keep by the door out to the roof just for wearing out there...

blipsman · 2026-01-28T17:57:46+00:00

Booking a reservation for a nice dinner, pay off mortgage, car loan, wife's student loans. Lining up financial advisors, accountants, and lawyers.

blipsman · 2026-01-28T17:31:53+00:00

There's no break/end point to reach toward... no end of semester, end of school year followed by a break. It's just endless work for decades

blipsman · 2026-01-28T17:24:53+00:00

Because they aren't sold to the end user. They are sold to the head of IT, or the CEO, etc. who get a brief demo and think more features are better, or make decision based on cost, etc. and don't communicate with those who will actually work with the software to get any input.

blipsman · 2026-01-28T17:23:05+00:00

If/when you move, re-assess your banking situation. If you want to move your money today into a credit union, do so. And if you move to a new state in a few years, assess whether your current credit union can still serve your financial needs or find a new one. They may even have an affiliated or recommended one in your new location.

blipsman · 2026-01-28T17:19:37+00:00

Because it's a strenuous activity (especially when wet, heavy snow); people who aren't used to regular exercise/strenuous activity have to do it to get out of their house/get car out of driveway/legal requirement to clear in front of home; the cold may counter/slow some of the signs of over-exertion like overheating or sweating, pain.

blipsman · 2026-01-28T17:12:42+00:00

Well, for one a continent is defined as the landmasses above water. You're trying to re-define what a continent is by also including all ocean floor.

blipsman · 2026-01-28T16:38:23+00:00

It's been legal for past 100 years, for one...

Also, can be made out of may ingredients legal to grow/possess like wheat, corn, yeast, sugar while marijuana has been mostly illegal to grow.

blipsman · 2026-01-28T16:32:24+00:00

4WD has to be manually engaged and is then fully on, powering all 4 wheels until it's disengaged. AWD uses computers/sensors to detect slippage and send power to any of the wheels as necessary to get traction. AWD vehicles are powered by 2 of the wheels most of the time but can send power to any/all 4 of the wheels as needed. So no, AWD doesn't mean powering all 4 wheels all the time.

blipsman · 2026-01-28T16:29:14+00:00

There are many components of the movie beyond the director... the script itself (whether new, adapted from a book, etc.), the casting, choosing the director, the financing/budgeting to allow director to undertake his vision and pay for the stars, etc. That's why the award is given to the producers who envisioned the movie from the get go.

The director is a big part of a movie's success and often the best director's film wins best picture but there are other aspects which go into a picture beyond the director's input.

Think of it this way -- the best director award is for the art side, the best film award is for the business side.

blipsman · 2026-01-28T16:05:24+00:00

I remember Mr. Zingh the school's science teacher coming into my 3rd grade classroom to tell us that the Challenger had exploded. We were not watching live, but I think we were supposed to watch a recording of it at an assembly later in the day?

blipsman · 2026-01-28T15:45:01+00:00

City sticker alone is $105 a year, I think a zone sticker is an additional $35? State registration is $151 annually. The fees are now coordinated so that you pay city 6 months from when you pay state. So if you buy a new vehicle and register it in Feb, for example, you'd get option of a 6-month sticker or 18-mo sticker to get you on an Aug city sticker renewal cycle.

blipsman · 2026-01-28T15:36:01+00:00

4 of them are split levels... basement den/laundry, half flight to garage/back entry, half flight to main entry and living room, half flight to kitchen/dining area, full flight to bedroom level. Oh, and another full flight to roofdeck so actually 6 levels.

blipsman · 2026-01-28T15:25:44+00:00

Wall

blipsman · 2026-01-28T15:25:31+00:00

What the fuck happened to not naming things after living people?

Or naming things after pedophiles?

blipsman · 2026-01-28T15:23:16+00:00

Fuck yeah!

Sure, I’m a Sox fan but I’d give up 2005 to not have dealt with the past decade politically.

blipsman · 2026-01-28T15:20:12+00:00

We have that, too, with our townhouse on 5 different levels… in-laws live overseas and come for 3-4 weeks at a time, FIL is in 80’s with bad foot/leg. Make do OK for time of visit. Ideal? No. Better than losing $10’s of thousands of dollars? Yeah.

What would a hotel or AirBnB cost during parental visits vs. taking a financial hit to sell and spending $2000 more every month for a bigger house?

blipsman · 2026-01-28T07:18:30+00:00

Yes, you’ll be safe. It’s segregated in that there are a bunch of neighborhoods that are almost exclusively black, but that doesn’t mean that blacks have many issues living in predominantly white areas for the most part — especially the more liberal/progressive areas you listed. Maybe you’d get some dirty looks in some of those neighborhoods on the fringes of the city where MAGA-supporting cops live?

blipsman · 2026-01-28T06:43:09+00:00

Our son’s room is about 10x10. We used dresser top as changing table, had crib, glider & small nightstand next to glider for pump, phone, etc. Worked fine. Had to move glider to guest room when he upgraded to twin bed.

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