Tuesday, February 27, 2007
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times... in THAT order!!!
Ok, so today was NHL trade deadline. I, unfortunately, had to work most of the day. The deadline was to end at 1pm. I receive text message updates to my cell phone about any Oilers news, and I was anxiously awaiting such a message most of the morning. At about 1:30pm I took my lunch break, and realized that I hadn't heard anything yet, which would be just fine with me, except that there were a few players I'd be reasonably content with trading, so long as we got the better end of the trade. As I'm sitting there, enjoying my Chicken McNuggets (McDonalds is the devil), I feel a little vibration from my cargo pocket on my pants. I reach in, pull out my cell phone and see "Oilers updates" on the screen. I open the message and my jaw dropped as I read "Oilers trade Ryan Smyth to Islanders for Ryan O'Marra, Robert Nilsson, 2007 pick (1st Round)." I don't mean to sound like a whiner or a sourpuss, but that's pathetic! This is Smitty we're talking about! The man who by all accounts (other than his, of course) SHOULD be the Oilers' captain! I suppose I shouldn't be to surprised, I suppose. After all, this is the team that's famous for the "train 'em and trade 'em" philosophy. I guess I just thought that in this new era of the NHL, they might be able to hold on to some of their stars, rather than seeing Smyth follow the likes of Messier (who's being honoured by the team tonight by retiring his jersey), Gretzky, Weight, Guerin, and many, many more to other teams while in the prime of their respective careers. Needless to say, I'm NOT a big Kevin Lowe fan today. I just hope there's some stipulation that hasn't been made public that would make this more of a rental situation than a full on trade. I'd sure like to see Smitty back with the Blue and Copper before too long.
Friday, February 23, 2007
I feel sorta guilty, so I have to vent...
So I feel like I should be a restaurant reviewer today. This evening I went to dinner with some friends at East Side Mario's.
I arrive in the place at about 7:45pm and join my friends' table in the middle of the dinning room. I sit down and the waitress promptly asks me for my drink order. I ask for a ginger ale and continue my conversation with my friends. The drink arrives shortly and we ask for a couple minutes before we order food. I notice that the waitress seems to only be working two or three other tables, so we should be good for service. Boy was I wrong! So after sitting around for about 20 minutes, long enough for me to completely forget what the waitress even looked like, I finally noticed a waitress walk up to our table (again, in the middle of the dinning room), ready to take our order. I was really in the mood for a steak, and I figured I had brought lunch to work today, so I figured I could splurge. It just so happens that the steak (they only have one) is the most expensive thing on the menu. I order it anyway. Now those of you who have been to East Side Mario's should know that they give out free bread while you wait. Well, after the orders were finally taken, we waited a good 20 minutes and no bread. Finally one of the guys at our table knew one of the guys working there, and called him over to chat. While he was at the table, I asked him if we could have some bread. He brought it over quickly. We munched on the bread for about another 20 minutes. (Let's do some quick math here: 20 minutes to order + 20 minutes to get bread + 20 minutes eating bread = 1 hour of wasted time.) Anyway, it occurs to me, through all of this, that the soup for my meal still hasn't arrived. The waitress finally starts to bring out the food, and I mention that I still hadn't gotten my soup. Without a word of apology, she mentions that she forgot, and that she'd bring it right out. So here I am with my steak dinner, with pasta on the side, AND a bowl of soup in front of me at the same time. All this, remember, after ordering the most expensive dish on the menu. Needless to say, I was NOT impressed. If only that was the end of the bad service. However, after a few bites I realize that my ginger ale has been empty for the best part of an hour. I look around and can't see a waitress anywhere. I wait a minute, and see her walk by to help one of her other tables, I see her look at my empty glass and walk right back by. Maybe she didn't see that it was empty, so I move it to the corner of the table to make it obvious. Again I see her walk right by and look at the glass, yet nothing. A few more minutes and she's off in the corner talking with some co-workers. I look intently at her with my glass in my hand and wait for her to glance over. Finally she looks over and walks over, after first walking into the kitchen for a few seconds. She forgot what my drink was (no surprise after an hour), and I had to tell her that I had ginger ale. I think she thought I was drinking water, and so I could just refill with the pitcher at the table. Anyway, as you might be able to tell, I was NOT the happiest customer today. She brought our bills, and mine came out to $22.66. Not I should note that I'm generally a very generous tipper. With good service I might even leave $30 at the table for that bill. At least $26 or $27. I left $23 even, only because I didn't want to wait another 20 minutes to have her come by so I could get change. I don't expect to have someone pay more attention to me just because I ordered the highest price entree they offer, but I do expect decent service for everyone, and perhaps a little more awareness of the service offered when one DOES order the highest priced entree.
Anyway, I generally like to leave decent tips, and I feel a little guilty about leaving a mere 34 cents, and so I had to vent.
I arrive in the place at about 7:45pm and join my friends' table in the middle of the dinning room. I sit down and the waitress promptly asks me for my drink order. I ask for a ginger ale and continue my conversation with my friends. The drink arrives shortly and we ask for a couple minutes before we order food. I notice that the waitress seems to only be working two or three other tables, so we should be good for service. Boy was I wrong! So after sitting around for about 20 minutes, long enough for me to completely forget what the waitress even looked like, I finally noticed a waitress walk up to our table (again, in the middle of the dinning room), ready to take our order. I was really in the mood for a steak, and I figured I had brought lunch to work today, so I figured I could splurge. It just so happens that the steak (they only have one) is the most expensive thing on the menu. I order it anyway. Now those of you who have been to East Side Mario's should know that they give out free bread while you wait. Well, after the orders were finally taken, we waited a good 20 minutes and no bread. Finally one of the guys at our table knew one of the guys working there, and called him over to chat. While he was at the table, I asked him if we could have some bread. He brought it over quickly. We munched on the bread for about another 20 minutes. (Let's do some quick math here: 20 minutes to order + 20 minutes to get bread + 20 minutes eating bread = 1 hour of wasted time.) Anyway, it occurs to me, through all of this, that the soup for my meal still hasn't arrived. The waitress finally starts to bring out the food, and I mention that I still hadn't gotten my soup. Without a word of apology, she mentions that she forgot, and that she'd bring it right out. So here I am with my steak dinner, with pasta on the side, AND a bowl of soup in front of me at the same time. All this, remember, after ordering the most expensive dish on the menu. Needless to say, I was NOT impressed. If only that was the end of the bad service. However, after a few bites I realize that my ginger ale has been empty for the best part of an hour. I look around and can't see a waitress anywhere. I wait a minute, and see her walk by to help one of her other tables, I see her look at my empty glass and walk right back by. Maybe she didn't see that it was empty, so I move it to the corner of the table to make it obvious. Again I see her walk right by and look at the glass, yet nothing. A few more minutes and she's off in the corner talking with some co-workers. I look intently at her with my glass in my hand and wait for her to glance over. Finally she looks over and walks over, after first walking into the kitchen for a few seconds. She forgot what my drink was (no surprise after an hour), and I had to tell her that I had ginger ale. I think she thought I was drinking water, and so I could just refill with the pitcher at the table. Anyway, as you might be able to tell, I was NOT the happiest customer today. She brought our bills, and mine came out to $22.66. Not I should note that I'm generally a very generous tipper. With good service I might even leave $30 at the table for that bill. At least $26 or $27. I left $23 even, only because I didn't want to wait another 20 minutes to have her come by so I could get change. I don't expect to have someone pay more attention to me just because I ordered the highest price entree they offer, but I do expect decent service for everyone, and perhaps a little more awareness of the service offered when one DOES order the highest priced entree.
Anyway, I generally like to leave decent tips, and I feel a little guilty about leaving a mere 34 cents, and so I had to vent.
Sunday, February 18, 2007
Hockey talk...
So, the Oilers are having a rough road trip so far. I'd sure like to see them turn this around, but they took a step in the wrong direction today, in my opinion. That is, unless they're just prepping for a better move. Here's the scoop...
They traded Marc-Andre Bergeron today to the NY Islanders for some prospective defenceman named Denis Grebeshkov, who's not expected to play at the NHL level at all this season. I mean, I'm as impressed with their calling up Zach Stortini as the next guy, but they've been struggling on defence all season. And I was just starting to warm up to Bergeron, after the grudge I had against him for being responsible for the injury to Roli in the finals that, in my opinion, as well as many others opinions, made the difference in allowing Carolina to take the cup. Anyway, I'm just hoping that the reason they've made this trade is to open up some salary cap room to do two things: re-sign Ryan Smyth, and acquire a bigger defenceman. What I really hope they haven't done is give up on the season and resigned themselves to
rebuilding for next season.
They traded Marc-Andre Bergeron today to the NY Islanders for some prospective defenceman named Denis Grebeshkov, who's not expected to play at the NHL level at all this season. I mean, I'm as impressed with their calling up Zach Stortini as the next guy, but they've been struggling on defence all season. And I was just starting to warm up to Bergeron, after the grudge I had against him for being responsible for the injury to Roli in the finals that, in my opinion, as well as many others opinions, made the difference in allowing Carolina to take the cup. Anyway, I'm just hoping that the reason they've made this trade is to open up some salary cap room to do two things: re-sign Ryan Smyth, and acquire a bigger defenceman. What I really hope they haven't done is give up on the season and resigned themselves to
rebuilding for next season.
Thursday, February 1, 2007
Another month...
Alright, it's February, and I know you've all been rapt in anticipation of my next instalment so here it is.
I really don't have a whole lot of news, except that I tore a muscle in my shoulder at work the other day. I was lifting a desk into a car (when are people going to learn to bring a truck or van when shopping for furniture, or else let us deliver, since we do it for free) into which it refused to fit. This happened to be a rather heavy desk (it said it was a two man job on the box) but I'm a stud do I figured I'd do it myself. Anyway, it didn't fit, so I put it back on the dolly and wheeled it back into the store. On the way back in I noticed that my shoulder was hurting, but I figured I just strained the muscle a bit, and that I'd be fine. Within about five minutes I realized that the pain was only getting worse, and that I couldn't use my left arm at all. I filled out a WCB form, went home, iced it, went to the clinic, got told by the doctor that I tore a muscle, and now I have an excuse to be a wimp at work for a week or two. (I can't lift anything more than 10 lbs with my left arm. Doctor's orders!) I'll be fine, it just hurts a bit, and I might pick up some muscle relaxants if it continues to bug me.
Aside from that, the new Windows OS is out (Windows Vista). I get to play around with it at work, and as amazing as it is, with all the great new features and enhancements, I just like the new ink-ball game that's included. I'm such a dork!
I really don't have a whole lot of news, except that I tore a muscle in my shoulder at work the other day. I was lifting a desk into a car (when are people going to learn to bring a truck or van when shopping for furniture, or else let us deliver, since we do it for free) into which it refused to fit. This happened to be a rather heavy desk (it said it was a two man job on the box) but I'm a stud do I figured I'd do it myself. Anyway, it didn't fit, so I put it back on the dolly and wheeled it back into the store. On the way back in I noticed that my shoulder was hurting, but I figured I just strained the muscle a bit, and that I'd be fine. Within about five minutes I realized that the pain was only getting worse, and that I couldn't use my left arm at all. I filled out a WCB form, went home, iced it, went to the clinic, got told by the doctor that I tore a muscle, and now I have an excuse to be a wimp at work for a week or two. (I can't lift anything more than 10 lbs with my left arm. Doctor's orders!) I'll be fine, it just hurts a bit, and I might pick up some muscle relaxants if it continues to bug me.
Aside from that, the new Windows OS is out (Windows Vista). I get to play around with it at work, and as amazing as it is, with all the great new features and enhancements, I just like the new ink-ball game that's included. I'm such a dork!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
