Tuesday, 06 December 2011
This evening, we removed four sets of mini-blinds from their respective windows and washed them in the tub. I did most of the blind washing, actually, while Jennifer dusted, washed, and oiled the window sills. We washed all three windows in the kitchen and the dirtiest (according to Owen) one in the living room.
It’s amazing how dirty they were. Owen held the shower nozzle while I held up the blinds, and the water shooting out the other side was positively gray. The bathroom smelled like dust. We then laid the blinds down on a towel and the rags we used to wipe them off also turned gray. When I brought the blinds back downstairs, Jennifer’s work on the windows yielded immediate significant improvements.
Coupled with the three windows in the office, and the two windows in Owen’s room, we have now finished washing nine windows + their treatments. This leaves eleven more windows + blinds, not counting the small windows in the doors, dining room, and basement.
In other news: Here’s my review of John Rawles’ opus The Matter With Us.
Wednesday, 07 December 2011
Today, the cafeteria staff at my place of employment treated all the employees to their yearly free holiday meal. About an hour before the luncheon began, they sent out a site-wide email to everyone reminding them about the complimentary lunch and providing a menu. The menu listed chicken as the main entree, but noted there was a vegetarian option. Other items listed included mashed potatoes, vegetables, desserts, and a beverage.
So, at lunchtime, there I was waiting in line. The line moved pretty fast so, when I got to the front of the line, I requested the vegetarian option. The server placed some sort of tortilla-wrapped cheese on the plate, then filled over 50% of the plate with veggies. As she handed me the plate, I asked, “Can I have the mashed potatoes, too?”
She answered, “No, sorry.”
What the heck is with that? Did they think vegetarian = only eats piles of corn and peas? Why couldn’t I have veggies and potatoes, just as the chicken consumers were also having veggies and potatoes? And even if that’s not their standard practice, why not just do it for me? After all, my vegetarian option was undoubtedly cheaper than the cost of a chicken meal, so it’s not like I would have been costing them extra money. What I should have done was just taken the chicken meal, then taken the chicken off my plate and just set it on the counter. But hindsight is … (oops, almost delivered a stupid cliche’ there). Anyway, the meal was free, so it’s not like I could piss and moan that much.
But I notice this at other restaurants, too. I say, “I don’t want chicken or steak on my salad, but can you add extra guacamole?” And they say, “Sure, for $200 more.” I think, the next time some restaurant pulls that cockamamie reasoning, I’ll respond by asking if the salad (or whatever) will be cheaper since I don’t want the steak or chicken.
In other news: If you look to the right, you will see I’ve added a new link category titled “People I Know in Real Life.” These are links to the blogs or websites of friends that I actually know in real life (and I don’t mean the Reallife Church). If your site isn’t listed here, let me know and, if you’d like, I’ll add it – as long as I know you in real life. The links are listed alphabetically, so no whining about where your site is positioned in the list. If you don’t like it, change the name of your website to AAAAA.com. Conversely, if your site is listed to the right, and you’d rather it not be, just let me know. I’ll remove it; no problem (though I will laugh at you when you’re not around).
Perhaps you did not know that potatos are apparently made of meat. She was correct in refusing your request. She did it for your own good!
Chipotle is good for vegetarians. They give you the guacamole for free when you order tacos/burritos without meat.
Sometimes at Perkins I’ve gotten them to give the kids fruit, instead of the meat that comes with the meal, at no extra charge. So sometimes restaurants aren’t too terrible about it.
I like Chipotle, or any restaurant that actually has a vegetarian option. As for the others, I haven’t been able to get any of them to substitute for the meat, aside from giving me extra black beans with my tacos at one place. It is pretty strange I think since the meat costs the most out of everything in the meal.