Hail to the Chief

Now that my time as President of the temple has come to an end, some of you have been promoting this idea, and I thank you for your support:

Click here. Eric in 08!


Once again, went to Willy’s Steakhouse in Shrewsbury last night. You know, we are never disappointed there. The mark of an attentive restaurant, and one that appreciates your business-when we sat down, the hostess placed two black cloth napkins at the ladies’ seats, and left the white ones at the men’s’. We realized it was because the women were wearing black, and the men were wearing khaki. The white cloth napkins tend to leave lint, which is obvious on dark colors. The hostess didn’t say anything-she just swapped them out. An excellent touch, with an excellent meal, and excellent company.

Its too bad more casual places can’t at least get the basics right. With so many places to choose from for lunch, you would think the quick-dining establishments would be falling over themselves to do the simple things right. Instead, places that I have frequented in the past just keep doing stupid things.

Exhibit A-“Fresh City”: It’s neither fresh, nor a city…discuss. Well, here’s my story. Last week, I ordered the Baja Ranchero salad. It comes with lettuce, tomato, red onion, carrots, shredded cheese, turkey and guacamole. I asked that the dressing be mixed in, even though I was taking it to go. I wasn’t watching the kid, big mistake there, and when I got back to my office and opened up the container, not only was the dressing mixed in, but he had mixed in the scoop of guacamole, instead of just putting on the edge of the salad. Now, I like guacamole just as much as the next person, but between the dressing and the guacamole, I was drowning in condiments! Plus, for $8.49, they should not only make it right, but also come to my office, feed it to me, and wipe my chin with a napkin once I’m done.

Exhibit B-“Boloco”: This place is like Jekyll and Hyde. I like their food, but they keep stumbling in little, yet annoying ways. Friday, we went for lunch. For the first time there, I ordered a salad. When the guy puts it in a bag, he drops it in sideways, so as you can imagine, the whole things shifts to one end of the container. Then, when I get to the office and open it up, there’s no dressing on it, or in the bag. At Fresh City they drown you in dressing, and at Boloco, they don’t give you any. It just doesn’t make sense. If quick-serve places expect you to patronize their shop at lunch, yes you want it quick, but is it too much to ask that it be right, and include the full list of ingredients, like salad dressing?

Keep the change:

Is anyone else puzzled about the “Keep the Change” promotion by Bank of America? I think this is how it works: you buy something and pay for it with your BofA debit card. Bank of America says “keep the change” but how it works is this-if the item costs $5.49 after tax, BofA rounds up to $6.00, and puts the extra 51 cents in your savings account. Basically, they shift the money from checking to savings. Sure, you “keep the change” because you know what? It’s your money to begin with!!! Who the hell do they think we are? How stupid are we to fall for this ridiculous promotion. I will give them some credit, because for the first few months, they match the transferred change, so you make a couple of bucks on it, but after the 3 month promotion period, BofA is just moving your money around from one account to the other, but you’ll be happy to know it’s “free of charge.” You’ll also be happy to know that they’re also offering free air in all their branches, and access to their ATM machines where you'll be given free access to your money.

Lastly, I know I am not alone when I wonder what the hell Peter Cook is thinking. From MSNBC.com regarding the divorce trial from Christie Brinkley: “The trial found Cook admitting to having an affair with then-18-year-old Diana Bianchi and spending thousands of dollars on Internet porn.” Did anyone ever tell him the naked chick lying next to him was CHRISTIE BRINKLEY!!!! Apparently, for reason unknown to us, she might have been his “girl”, but he couldn’t go “uptown.”

You’ve been a great audience; I’ll be here all week. Enjoy Simply Red.