Place: Golden Corral
Lunch: Lunch buffet, Pepsi
I love buffets. I'm not one of those people who pile up plates of food that look ridiculous...I make a few trips getting small samples of stuff. It's like every trip is a treasure hunt. Particularly in recent years when the quality of food offered at buffets has increased substantially, largely thanks to improvements by Golden Corral, forcing the competition to step up.
My goal for 2009 was to fly under the radar. To go through the year with nobody dying. No major moves. Just a year of normalcy. A year where all that was new is now routine. Blissfully uncomplicated. Yes. That's the ticket.
Somehow, it happened.
Here's a reflection of random moments that defined 2009...
Speaking of buffets...I'm driving down I-15 in Las Vegas this summer when I see a banner hanging off a downtown casino advertising "Las Vegas's only seafood buffet". But I don't go there...I go to the buffet at the Wynn. While waiting for the hostess to seat me, I listen to the phone conversation she's having with somebody. "No, we don't have a seafood buffet. We have stations with (this food, that food, this food...) So she seats me, my server gets my drink, and I head to the non-seafood buffet that includes: Chilled crab legs, chilled shrimp, smoked salmon, smoked trout, grilled salmon, grilled halibut, some sort of seafood stew, a salmon salad, some sort of fried fish, and about a half dozen other items from the sea. But since that encompassed maybe a fourth of the offerings, I guess they don't technically have a 'seafood buffet'. The Wynn buffet may be expensive, but it's worth every penny.
Space for my Ladder - I bought it at Costco when I moved last year. It's one of those ladders that folds from a step ladder to large regular ladder with lots of options in between. It's big. It's heavy. And it's almost never needed anywhere but the third floor, and there was nowhere to store it on the third floor. Until the day I thought to see if it would fit under the bed. You know what? It does. Chester did not approve of this idea as it disturbed one of his hangouts.
Star Trek - The big movie redux hit a home run. Multiple viewings at the multiplex.
Kentucky Grilled Chicken - I tried it. It was okay, I guess. Haven't had it since. Health factor is a moot point since I ate it at a KFC-Taco Bell alongside some nachos and a couple of tacos.
Odd Habits- Ever hear of people dipping their fries in their milk shake? A co-worker said her daughter dips her fries in her Wendy's frosty. I'd never heard of such a thing. Naturally, and almost immediately, Wendy's put a commercial on the air validating this bizarre behavior.
Twitter - I'm hopelessly addicted. It's almost like having actual friends. I love my Tweeps.
Cancel My Service - My DirecTV receiver lost signal. Checked DirecTV tech forums (on their own website) and discovered it's not only a known issue, but they issued a recall on my model receiver a YEAR ago. Thanks for telling ME! So I call to get a replacement. Long story short...I argue with various reps over nearly a week's time until I say those magic words..."cancel my service"...and finally they send me a scratched up used replacement that they can't activate on my account because it's active on somebody ELSE'S account. The rep's response to this? "It's an honest mistake, SIR." "Cancel my account, MISS." Retention fixes the problem immediately. Moral of this story..."Cancel My Service" are the only words that will ever get anything accomplished at DirecTV. Even if you're calling to change your billing address, say "Cancel my service" at the opening prompt or you will be put through hell. Oh...And the new receiver sucks.
You Light Up My Life - So I'm in Dillon's Marketplace in the furniture area when Debby Boone's one and only hit plays over the store's sound system. I haven't heard this song in decades. And the strangest thing happened...It completely grabbed me. I had to have it. I have no idea why. So I found it on an old out-of-print Billboard "Top Movie Hits" compilation. It ended up having an awesome collection of 70's movie themes on it, including that sort of disco-ish Close Encounters theme.
About a Dozen - Number of times co-worker Donette called me and said "Sorry, I didn't mean to call you" when I answered.
Sugar Sugar - Pepsi rolled out "throwback" versions of their flagship soda and Mountain Dew. It was a limited time thing, but I bought a whole bunch of Pepsi. Even though I already have regular access to real sugar Pepsi in glass bottles at my local Mexican grocer. They did a lousy job of promoting it, though, and grocers typically put it anywhere in the store but the soda section, as if they were hiding it. Jerks. They brought it out again at Christmas in retro packaging that is much easier to distinguish and far more awesome looking. You should be able to find it for the next eight weeks or so. And if that isn't enough, I just heard that there's a limited-time real sugar Dr. Pepper under the guise of "Heritage Dr. Pepper" in stores now. From what I hear, it's probably made from cheaper sugar than the cane sugar that Dublin Dr. Pepper uses and doesn't quite taste the same, but is much better than the HFCS version. I've also heard that original Pibb fans think it tastes close to their long lost favorite. If Coke brought back a limited-edition retro real sugar Mr. Pibb, it might just cause a stampede. Specialty distributors are even making real sugar versions of Moxie, Nehi, and Faygo flavors, as well as Dad's root beer and cream soda, and even Bubble-Up, all in glass bottles. Real sugar sodas may be a specialty market, but it really seems to have come to the forefront this year.
Musical Artist Discovery of the Year - Greg Laswell. Who ISN'T new this year...just new to ME.
McDonald's Angus burger line - I'd rather not remember this, actually.
Bad Use of a Classic Rock Pun - I saw a billboard in Minnesota for a minivan that described it as an "Oreo Speedwagon".
Bad Marketing Evolution - Remember when drink cup game pieces showed you if you were a winner instead of making you register a number at a website?
Bad Choice in Bumper Stickers - "Bad boys drive bad toys"...on a beat up old Geo Metro.
Bad Lodging - LaQuinta: Spanish for "We still make carbons of your credit cards".
Bad Local Television - STILL no local HD newscasts.
New M&M's Flavor of the Year - "Strawberried Peanut Butter". They were good, actually.
Other New M&M's Flavor of the Year - Coconut. Really? Yes.
I'll have a 1/3 pound Mushroom-Swiss, side of Haystacks, and a Dr Pepper please - Our HuHot franchisee brought in a smashburger franchise that instantly caught on. I hadn't been terribly impressed with smashburger previously, but the local one is REALLY well run and for some reason makes burgers that are tastier than the other stores.
Another reason the government shouldn't have bailed out GM - Chevrolet is bringing back the Caprice brand on a new sedan exclusively for police fleets. And they'll have an "undercover" version. Of a car EXCLUSIVELY SOLD TO POLICE.
But do they have fry sauce? - The Salt Lake City market...an area with more burger chains than anywhere I know of...gets In-N-Out Burger, the chain with the best reputation. Not the best burgers, mind you, but don't tell Californians that. The only thing more amazing than the traffic the first two stores were doing when I was in town (two weeks after they opened) was the fact that none of the other burger joints around town seemed to be affected.
Frameless wiper blades - Have you seen these? They're awesome! At least the Bosch ICONs are...
WinCo Foods Enters the Salt Lake City market - This eliminates road trips to Pocatello for Tillamook and Santiam products. I mean, I like Pocatello just fine, but...
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince - I gave it three stars and watched it six times during its theatrical run. And even though I watched it six times, every time I watched it, I thought "I was right at three stars".
Keep Clam - The home version of Ivar's clam chowder was reformulated so that the non-dairy creamer is built in. Previously, you added milk or your own non-dairy creamer. The result was nothing like the restaurant chowder. The new result is VERY much like the restaurant chowder, one of my favorite tastes in the world.
Relocate Clam - Utah's last Skipper's...the one in Murray...closed. But the Orem store re-opened after a two-year hiatus. The Orem store is in better shape anyway.
"What other orchestra would have this in their catalog?" asked the Kentucky Symphony Orchestra conductor as he and Over the Rhine tore into the Eurythmics "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)". This July evening at Devou Park in Covington, Kentucky was the highlight of the summer. An amazing performance with some great surprises.
There you have it. How can 2010 possibly top this?
I have a few ideas, but I'm not telling...
