Today's one of those days when I need to crank up the Yahoo music player full blast on the metal station. One, it relaxes me. Two, it drowns out all of the inane chatter. Lovely. I'm surprised by the bands they play on the metal station - it's a great selection.
So how 'bout that snow? I swear, if you stayed in your house with the blinds drawn and watched Fox 2, you'd think we got feet of snow, not mere inches. All this talk about digging out and black ice is going to make me ill. Come on, people. Driving wasn't even that bad. Get a grip. We could be in parts of the northeast right now where over ten feet of snow has fallen in the last week. People are digging out there for real, if they can get out of their houses. We actually got out of work on Tuesday at 2. I'm not complaining, and believe me, I took full advantage and left at 2 on the nose, but it was wholly unnecessary.
I wish we could go back to the good old days when we'd get feet of snow. What happened? Somehow the Lou manages to squeeze itself between the big fronts and always miss out. Not only would the city totally shut down, but we'd gain some perspective on what it's like to exist during a major storm.
Blah - the news is still talking about this two days later. It's sickening. I actually miss hearing about Anna Nicole's unbelievably rich baby.
Thursday, February 15, 2007
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
mmmmm...microbrews
Q and I went to dinner with my big sister Moo last Saturday night. We always have fun with Moo - we manage to talk and laugh well into the night. We met at Square One, a brewery in Lafayette Square. They've got a great selection, and all the beer is delicious. The food is good too. My favorite is the open faced portabella sandwich - it's awesome. Their single malt scotch ale is amazing.
Next we moved on to Bailey's Chocolate Bar. I tried to make reservations, but they don't take them, and they told me it'd probably be really busy at 9. It was around 9, but we decided to try anyway. Moo insanely gives up chocolate each year for lent, so she was hoping to get her fix before that time comes. We walked in, and were told it'd be 45 minutes to an hour wait. The front wasn't very crowded like it usually is, so we hemmed and hawed for a minute or two, trying to decide if it was worthwhile to wait. Ultimately we decided no, and were just about to push open the door when a woman came with menus and asked if we were ready to be seated. Hmmm. I asked if she was talking to us - she was looking right at us - and she said yes. So it was a very short 45 minutes to an hour.
We had yummy desserts, and yummy beverages. They have chocolate-themed beverages, but also surprisingly have a wide selection of unusual drinks - beers, wines, etc. Moo and I had a Unibroue cranberry wheat beer - amazing. I decided on that as opposed to a dessert wine made with moldy grapes that I had coincidentally learned about that afternoon on PBS called Noble One, but it was $9/glass, and I'm cheap, so I had to pass. Maybe next time.
As Q and I sat at the bar at Square One waiting for Moo drinking a frosty beverage (well Q's wasn't so frosty because his was a cask ale, served at room temperature), I decided I love beer. I mean I knew it already, but I really love beer. Not because it gets me drunk, but because the taste is amazing. When it's done right, that is. I prefer microbrews. There's something so rich, so drinkable about them. I despise Anheuser, and most large production beers. Ever since drinking more and more microbrews, I can't even bear to drink the other crap. It's intolerable. I guess that's true about a lot of things.
If you haven't been to Square One, go. It's a really neat place, and in my opinion, the best microbrewery in the area.
Next we moved on to Bailey's Chocolate Bar. I tried to make reservations, but they don't take them, and they told me it'd probably be really busy at 9. It was around 9, but we decided to try anyway. Moo insanely gives up chocolate each year for lent, so she was hoping to get her fix before that time comes. We walked in, and were told it'd be 45 minutes to an hour wait. The front wasn't very crowded like it usually is, so we hemmed and hawed for a minute or two, trying to decide if it was worthwhile to wait. Ultimately we decided no, and were just about to push open the door when a woman came with menus and asked if we were ready to be seated. Hmmm. I asked if she was talking to us - she was looking right at us - and she said yes. So it was a very short 45 minutes to an hour.
We had yummy desserts, and yummy beverages. They have chocolate-themed beverages, but also surprisingly have a wide selection of unusual drinks - beers, wines, etc. Moo and I had a Unibroue cranberry wheat beer - amazing. I decided on that as opposed to a dessert wine made with moldy grapes that I had coincidentally learned about that afternoon on PBS called Noble One, but it was $9/glass, and I'm cheap, so I had to pass. Maybe next time.
As Q and I sat at the bar at Square One waiting for Moo drinking a frosty beverage (well Q's wasn't so frosty because his was a cask ale, served at room temperature), I decided I love beer. I mean I knew it already, but I really love beer. Not because it gets me drunk, but because the taste is amazing. When it's done right, that is. I prefer microbrews. There's something so rich, so drinkable about them. I despise Anheuser, and most large production beers. Ever since drinking more and more microbrews, I can't even bear to drink the other crap. It's intolerable. I guess that's true about a lot of things.
If you haven't been to Square One, go. It's a really neat place, and in my opinion, the best microbrewery in the area.
Thursday, February 08, 2007
need a good car repair shop?
I had a great experience Tuesday night. My headlight has been out for weeks now, and though Q can usually fix these sort of things, he had a ton of trouble with it. Apparently my particular model of car is difficult. Shocking. I turned to the local tire/auto store, a few blocks away from our house. We'd been there a few times before and hadn't had a bad experience yet, which is hard to find in the big city. I called the shop and asked if someone there could put in the light if I brought my car up after work one day. He asked what kind of car it was, and I told him, and he chuckled. Seems they have trouble with that model also (much to Q's satisfaction). Sure, they'd do it, no problem.
I drove it up there and the familiar faces were working that night - a big old fat guy and the owner, who is always there, but was on his way out the door. There's something heartening about the owner of a shop actually working. The big man told me it'd be ten minutes or so until the mechanic could do it, that he was replacing a battery at the moment. No problem. I sat back to wait, watching Brian Williams on TV. Without warning the owner opened the door and stuck his hand out in my direction. I assumed he wanted the part, which I handed over. He did. He walked to my car and without saying a word changed out the bulb. The big guy went to check on him, and a few minutes later, walked in and said 'You're all done.' I asked how much I owed, and he smiled and said 'nothing'. I asked if he was sure, and he said he was. I thanked him twice then went outside to thank the owner, but he'd already driven off in his truck.
How great is that? How many places would do that? It's nice to have a place right around the corner that we can totally trust, especially a car place - that's hard to find in the city. That place, by the way, is Bayless Tire & Auto, on the corner of Morganford and Weber. Check them out if you live nearby.
That's my story for the week. Without that happening this week would be totally useless and crappy.
I drove it up there and the familiar faces were working that night - a big old fat guy and the owner, who is always there, but was on his way out the door. There's something heartening about the owner of a shop actually working. The big man told me it'd be ten minutes or so until the mechanic could do it, that he was replacing a battery at the moment. No problem. I sat back to wait, watching Brian Williams on TV. Without warning the owner opened the door and stuck his hand out in my direction. I assumed he wanted the part, which I handed over. He did. He walked to my car and without saying a word changed out the bulb. The big guy went to check on him, and a few minutes later, walked in and said 'You're all done.' I asked how much I owed, and he smiled and said 'nothing'. I asked if he was sure, and he said he was. I thanked him twice then went outside to thank the owner, but he'd already driven off in his truck.
How great is that? How many places would do that? It's nice to have a place right around the corner that we can totally trust, especially a car place - that's hard to find in the city. That place, by the way, is Bayless Tire & Auto, on the corner of Morganford and Weber. Check them out if you live nearby.
That's my story for the week. Without that happening this week would be totally useless and crappy.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)