Cheap Burgers and Furniture

Place: White Castle
Lunch: Six White Castles, regular Fish Nibblers, and a free Snickerdoodle cookie.

I ordered my White Castles and the Fish Nibblers, and the clerk mumbled something about a free cookie for ordering...uh...something. I'm not sure why, but I got a free cookie. As did everybody who ordered after me. I'm not sure what THEY ordered either.

So here's how I eat White Castles...I take two sandwiches, discard the top buns, and make double-patty burgers. The reason I discard the top bun is because the bottom buns are steamed on top of the meat as it cooks, so it absorbs the flavor. Removing the top bun greatly increases the overal flavor of the burger. Yes? Yes. Yes indeed. Plus you can save the top buns to feed to birds.

After lunch, I went to IKEA, the Swedish furniture kings of cheap "assemble it yourself" modern furniture made out of presswood with faux veneer wood finishes. They do furniture, kitchen cabinets, desks, media centers, and more. They have some self-branded appliances as well, which I CERTAINLY hope don't require assembly.

Anyway, this was my first time. It was neato and totally unique. The showroom is one winding designated path with occasional mapped shortcuts. People wind through the showroom carrying yellow courtesy bags ("They hold a lot", the sign says) writing item numbers down on scratch pads so they can find the stuff they want to buy in the warehouse at the end of the path. Yes, the massive warehouse is self-service.

I managed to get through there without spending any money. Mostly because I don't HAVE any...

5 & Zero

Place: 5 & Diner
Lunch: Chicken-fried steak, 2 eggs, biscuits

Brunch, technically. Whatever.

The 5 & Diner sucks. The burgers suck. The breakfast sucks. The strawberry lemonade sucks. The chili REALLY sucks. My point is...It sucks.

One of the waitresses is quietly freaking out about some customer. She's peeking around the corner and pointing to somebody with another waitress. They're being really secretive. They're probably saying to each other "They actually seem to LIKE our food!" I sure don't.

It's Christmas Eve and the snow has mostly melted. After a month or more of a white Christmas season, the actual day is looking brown.

Traffic has been crazy for the past couple of days, and not just at the Popeye's drive-thru (which is STILL doing a ridiculous amount of business). Last-minute Christmas shoppers are cramming the stores looking for whatever it is they're looking for. I officially finished shopping on Tuesday.

But when I'm done here, I can go home and not leave the house again until after Christmas if I so choose. Just watch football and enjoy the holiday.

Probably watch lots of Christmas movies.

Or something.