1. What is your favorite restaurant and why? Hmm.. tough one. Do I choose the Italian Village, which is small and intimate and has great food? Do I choose Lump's, which had the best hotdogs around? Do I choose Huck's which is always open and is cheap? Decisions, decisions...
I think I have to go with White Fence Farm, because it's such an event. The whole family will go there once or twice a year, early on a Sunday. It's huge and crowded and you stand around looking at the old cars in the museum and drinking cocktails while waiting to be seated. It's pretty much a given that everyone will get the family platter of chicken which comes with lots of good sides... kidney bean salad and french fries and coleslaw and hush puppies. And you'll get into an argument with your great-aunt over the musical talents of George Strait, and Jennifer will spill something on her, and Lori will eat all the hush puppies, and you'll just have a really great time.
2. What fast food restaurant are you partial to? There cannot be only one! I like Panera with their yummy soups (going there today for some much-needed chicken soup). I also really enjoy the Golden Arch Restaurant. No, seriously, that's really what it's named! There's a plaque and everything! The food's just okay, but the atmosphere is perfect for people-watching and writing, so it's a favorite. Boston Market is a staple for dinner, Burger King has the best burgers, Wendy's has the best chicken nuggets and french fries, and Subway is just plain good. Oh, and every once in a while you just gotta have Taco Bell. (Yeah, I eat out a lot).
3. What are your standards and rules for tipping? It's really, really complicated... I start with a base of 10% of the bill. Add 3% if the waitperson flirts with me. Subtract 2.5% if my meal was cold, burned, or took a long time. Subtract 5% if I got the wrong meal. Add .5% for each time (up to 3) the waitperson asked me how my meal was, subtract 2% for each time thereafter. Subtract 2% if there was a child screaming during my meal. Add 3% if the restaurant had something to entertain me (like video card games) while waiting for a table. Add 1% times the roll of 1d6. Subtract 2% if dining out on a day that has a u in it. Add 1% if the waitperson's name starts with an A or a J. Subtract 1.5% if there's a full moon. Add 2% if Cassiopeia is visible in the sky.
Okay, no, it's not really that complicated. I usually do 15% or more, especially if I'm eating alone. I'm generous.
4. Do you usually order an appetizer and/or dessert? No. I like to jump right to the main course. And dessert's waiting for me at home. *grin*
5. What do you usually order to drink at a restaurant? Water, usually. Or Dr. Pepper, or root beer, or ginger ale. If I'm dining out on a night when the full moon falls on Friday the 13th, then I will order an White Russian or an Amaretto Sour.
I got a really cute haircut. My hairdresser recently got engaged! I just may have found a new car. It's a beautiful spring night and I have my balcony door open. Cassie Claire has posted the seventh chapter of Draco Veritas.
x is sick She's sick sick sick x is sick She's sick with ick
Okay, I don't really have ick as that's a fish disease (and yes, I did test out as a cold dead fish but I'm pretty sure that was metaphorical, because if I was really a cold dead fish I'd be pretty stinky and, well, DEAD, which I'm not, at least I don't think I am). I do, however, have a sore throat which hasn't gone away all day. Pretty sure it's a combination of a germy cubiclemate and stress. Yay me.
Soon I will be taking walks during lunch, enjoying the sunshine and the geese honking at me, and delighting in the soft breeze on my skin that feels oh so heavenly. Whee!
Soon I will be wearing my summer dresses. The comfy cotton ones with the slit up the side that shows off my legs and when I drive home it's so damn hot in the car I hike up my skirt as much as decency allows and all the truck drivers get a show. Whee! (and the truck drivers all say: WHEE!)
This weekend I have the opportunity to go on a retreat. I also need to buy a new car Real Soon Now because I am borrowing my mom's and she really wants hers back.
Now, the retreat satisfies Habit 7 (Sharpen the Saw). I've been feeling very stressed lately; the retreat will give me a chance to rest and refocus. It's also a Habit 1 activity (Be Proactive), because by taking time to rest now, I can possibly prevent a breakdown in the near future.
Yet if I go to the retreat, I won't be able to get a new car this weekend. And the longer I keep my mom's car, the more I subtract from my Emotional Bank Account with her. So going car shopping this weekend would be win-win (Habit 4); I'd get a new car that I desperately need, and my mom will be happy to have her car back.
It all comes down to Habit 3: First Things First. Which is the most important thing to do in this situation? I know I need to take care of myself, and I know at times I need to be a bit selfish to do that. Yet I feel that no matter what I do this weekend, it won't be the right thing.
I feel the need to reread Covey. Unfortunately, my copy of 7 Habits is in the trunk of my car, which is at my mom's house.
WHEE! Looks like Fantasy Flight Games is going to be putting out the call for AGOT CCG playtesters sometime this week. Playtesters will download a set of cards and play over the Internet.
Hmm... might have to get a cable modem sooner than planned.
Lately traffic has really backed up in the mornings on the ramp from one expressway to another. This is never a good thing, but is especially bad for me since I am usually running late.
This morning I was late again as usual, so I thought I'd get off the expressway a bit early and take the side streets to work. On a good day it takes just a minute or two more than the expressway.
First thing I notice is the left-hand turning lane is unusually long. I sit in it anyway, and after three cycles of the traffic signals (there's a rallye term for ya) I finally make the turn, only to discover the traffic is completely stopped for a WHOLE. FRICKIN'. MILE.
I don't have time for this!
So I turn around (illegally) and get back on the expressway to sit on the backed-up ramp which at least is moving, if slowly, and arrive to work 30 minutes late. If I had just stayed on the expressway I'd have only been 15 minutes late.
Grrr. Argh.
A little light reading
Wanna know how to win a million dollars? Just solve this problem concerning the Minesweeper game.
Probably won't win this, either.
Unfinished business
Got a letter in the mail yesterday from Writer's Digest School. I've been taking a correspondence class with them; it was supposed to be completed in two years. Twenty-three months after receiving the course materials, I'm still on Section two out of six. *sigh* But wait! If I send them $85 they will extend the course another year!
I'm wondering at this point if I should even bother.
Seems like I have many projects that get dropped by the wayside. Can't tell you how many emails I have never sent, replies I have never posted, or blogs I never finished writing, all because I got in the way of myself. It's kinda frustrating.
I have a Dead Blogs Section on my hard drive. Thinking about posting them somewhere here, as-is, just so I can stop feeling guilty about their demise.
What is it about the workweek? As soon as Monday comes I start getting depressed again. Sit at work, get nothing accomplished, send my timesheet in incredibly late. Maybe I need to find a new job?
Would I be enjoying today's rainy weather if I wasn't stuck here at work?
What's Raina (my kittycat) doing right now?
Where the heck did the BIW thread disappear to?
Will I ever get my timesheet signed and faxed when it's supposed to be done?
Maybe I should take a writing class again this summer. I've been rereading old journals from when I was in classes and my writing sounds much more intelligent in them.
Will I ever finish WDS?
Is it too late to cancel my membership to the singles group I was in for a while?
Maybe I should just forget about the Indy mini. Haven't been training at all and I don't have a room res yet.
Why is my hair always unbelievable frizzy at work?
When is Cassie going to post the next chapter of Draco Veritas?
Why am I so incredibly sleepy right now?
Why do I start so many posts, emails, and blog entries that I never complete?
Will I ever catch up on my emails?
Why do I always reply "the ceiling" when V. asks me what's up?
What's Eric up to these days? And also Andrea, Ramon, Bruce, Cris, Kathy, Josh, Ben, Mabel, and hell, just about everyone I used to know but have lost touch with.
