Monday, July 30, 2007
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
The Thing Is...
Anyone who'd like to contradict me is welcome to do so, of course, but...
You know, I almost feel like it doesn't matter that Airport Girl might not be single after all. That whole situation? Inviting me to go out with a group of friends/classmates/coworkers? The more I think about it, the more it seems like I'm already destined to wind up in the friends zone. I mean, if she was interested, is that the kind of plans she'd be trying to make?
You know, I almost feel like it doesn't matter that Airport Girl might not be single after all. That whole situation? Inviting me to go out with a group of friends/classmates/coworkers? The more I think about it, the more it seems like I'm already destined to wind up in the friends zone. I mean, if she was interested, is that the kind of plans she'd be trying to make?
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
Wait... what?
I spoke with Airport Girl earlier this evening - she's headed to Missouri for the bar exam next week so I thought I'd check in, see how things were, wish her luck, etc.
Mentioned that I was going out to see a fun local band at a bar in the city on Friday night and asked if AG wanted to join me, but her flight to Missouri is early Saturday so she had to pass. Then she asked what I'm doing the following weekend once she's back into town. After explaining that I had a ticket to go see a concert that Saturday night but may have accidentally thrown it away, I concluded that I didn't think I had any plans yet. She mentioned that she was thinking of getting some people together to go out that Friday night and asked if I was interested in going along; other people she mentioned she was trying to get together included her friend on Long Island who she's been staying with, another law school friend who lives in the city, a couple of her coworkers, and... her fiancé's aunt and uncle's son? Fiancé? What?
The conversation continued and we'll touch base again once AG is back into the city next Friday, and I managed to keep talking without saying something like "hey, wait a minute, did you say you have a fiancé?" But I'm (understandably, I'd say) confused. At no point in any previous conversation had she said anything to the effect of a fiancé or a boyfriend or a significant other of any sort, not even when we had drinks in a hotel bar the night we met (which would seem to be a time a normal person would mention that). Nor was she wearing a ring - I know well enough to check for that. So, yeah... confused. I guess it's certainly possible that I just heard her wrong.
At any rate, I guess I'll just be patient for the time being - wait to hear from her when she gets back, get together if she asks, and see how people are introduced. If I don't get some clarification from context, I suppose I can just ask then.
Mentioned that I was going out to see a fun local band at a bar in the city on Friday night and asked if AG wanted to join me, but her flight to Missouri is early Saturday so she had to pass. Then she asked what I'm doing the following weekend once she's back into town. After explaining that I had a ticket to go see a concert that Saturday night but may have accidentally thrown it away, I concluded that I didn't think I had any plans yet. She mentioned that she was thinking of getting some people together to go out that Friday night and asked if I was interested in going along; other people she mentioned she was trying to get together included her friend on Long Island who she's been staying with, another law school friend who lives in the city, a couple of her coworkers, and... her fiancé's aunt and uncle's son? Fiancé? What?
The conversation continued and we'll touch base again once AG is back into the city next Friday, and I managed to keep talking without saying something like "hey, wait a minute, did you say you have a fiancé?" But I'm (understandably, I'd say) confused. At no point in any previous conversation had she said anything to the effect of a fiancé or a boyfriend or a significant other of any sort, not even when we had drinks in a hotel bar the night we met (which would seem to be a time a normal person would mention that). Nor was she wearing a ring - I know well enough to check for that. So, yeah... confused. I guess it's certainly possible that I just heard her wrong.
At any rate, I guess I'll just be patient for the time being - wait to hear from her when she gets back, get together if she asks, and see how people are introduced. If I don't get some clarification from context, I suppose I can just ask then.
Question About Tipping
I go to the same Starbucks location essentially every morning. When the weather is hot (as it has been for the past couple of months and will continue to be for the next couple of months), I prefer iced coffee to hot coffee. So, every morning I get the same venti* iced coffee. Every morning it's $2.98. Most mornings I pay with $3.00 even (sometimes with a larger bill), so most mornings I get exactly two pennies in change.
My question is, should I throw those pennies into the tip container they have on the counter by the registers? From the standpoint of satisfaction with service I have no problem with the concept; the workers at that Starbucks are always courteous and get orders out quickly despite lines that are often long in the morning rush. But what I mean is, is it rude to tip two cents? You'd never leave a two-cent tip at a restaurant unless you were trying to convey the message that you thought the service was shitty, which obviously isn't my goal. But on the other hand, I don't really need those two pennies (other than last night when my tab at Walgreen's came to exactly $6.02), and they jingle against my keys in my pocket all day long until I bring them home to put them with the rest. On top of that, I feel a little bit stingy when I take them and put them in my pocket rather than just throwing them in the tip jar. So, should I tip with those pennies every morning? I'm leaning towards yes, but I'm open to feedback.
Note: For what it's worth, I do tip at Starbucks if I order something more complicated than an iced coffee, or sometimes when I order the iced coffee but pay with a $5 or more.
* I'm not going to go into the obnoxiousness of "venti" here; conclude what you will from the fact that I saw fit to include this footnote a
My question is, should I throw those pennies into the tip container they have on the counter by the registers? From the standpoint of satisfaction with service I have no problem with the concept; the workers at that Starbucks are always courteous and get orders out quickly despite lines that are often long in the morning rush. But what I mean is, is it rude to tip two cents? You'd never leave a two-cent tip at a restaurant unless you were trying to convey the message that you thought the service was shitty, which obviously isn't my goal. But on the other hand, I don't really need those two pennies (other than last night when my tab at Walgreen's came to exactly $6.02), and they jingle against my keys in my pocket all day long until I bring them home to put them with the rest. On top of that, I feel a little bit stingy when I take them and put them in my pocket rather than just throwing them in the tip jar. So, should I tip with those pennies every morning? I'm leaning towards yes, but I'm open to feedback.
Note: For what it's worth, I do tip at Starbucks if I order something more complicated than an iced coffee, or sometimes when I order the iced coffee but pay with a $5 or more.
* I'm not going to go into the obnoxiousness of "venti" here; conclude what you will from the fact that I saw fit to include this footnote a
Monday, July 16, 2007
I'm Confused
So if anybody knows, please tell me:
What the hell kind of accent is that woman in the Daisy May's commercial supposed to have?
What the hell kind of accent is that woman in the Daisy May's commercial supposed to have?
Thursday, July 12, 2007
Tasty Tasty Food
I've been enjoying reading Midtown Lunch lately, so I thought I'd write every now and then about what I'm eating for lunch downtown, and maybe wind up convincing myself to eat some more interesting food rather than so be repetitive at lunchtime while I'm at it. At some point, if it gets any momentum, maybe I'll spin this off into its own blog, but for now this is where my lunch commentary will reside.
Yesterday's lunch probably isn't the best starting point, because, well, I don't actually know the NAME of the lunch truck we went to. On the other hand, since my coworker John and I enjoy it so much that we actually had to set a limit of one trip per week, maybe it's a pretty decent starting point after all.
Lower Manhattan is, of course, replete with various trucks and carts that complement all of our other brick-and-mortar options. (Sam's Falafel is one of the best-known but the long lines have always been a turn-off for me.) The fact that we started (and continue) to go to this particular one is, I suppose, as much out of convenience as anything; more specifically, parked on Cedar Street just east of Broadway, it was close enough to my office to try one afternoon last winter when it was too cold to walk anywhere further.
The menu of Nameless Lunch Truck is typical of the genre. Basic options are lamb gyro, chicken, or falafel, all available in a sandwich on pita or (my preference and that of all my coworkers) in a platter (well, ok, a styrofoam container) over rice with various veggies on the side. (They also make a cheesesteak, but if you're in lower Manhattan and that's what you want for lunch, you're SO MUCH better off going to Carl's Steaks on Chambers between Broadway and Church, not far from the northwest corner of City Hall Park. Best I've had in New York.)
I haven't had the falafel myself, because I'm not a huge fan of falafel in general, so I don't have much to say about that. The lamb is excellent - I'm not sure if they have the skewer which I'm such a fan of, but at any rate it always is finished on a flat grill with some onions and peppers. It's nicely seasoned as well. Chicken is cooked in the same way; you can tell that they really just took a chicken and hacked it apart because there's occasionally some bits of connective tissue in there, and it's a bit more fatty than I'd prefer.
The rice is great too - it's actually the reason I prefer this truck to others. It's orangish, nicely seasoned (though I couldn't tell you with what). It's a little bit greasy, but not overly so. The platters also come with lettuce, tomato, and (depending what they have on hand), pickles, jalapeño slices, and/or banana peppers. The white sauce is standard and the hot sauce is genuinely hot. They also offer BBQ sauce but I have no idea why you'd put that on. (Nonetheless, I've seen people do so.) Platters are $5 for more than enough food; sandwiches are $4; cans of soda are $1. I think falafel platters and sandwiches are $1 less than their meaty counterparts; I'll look at the menu today to be certain. Perhaps if I get a chance I'll bring in my camera and take some photos as well.
Pros:
Tasty
Cheap
Cons:
Probably not all that healthy
Your stomach will occasionally not be happy with you
The line can be long when the weather is nice
Yesterday's lunch probably isn't the best starting point, because, well, I don't actually know the NAME of the lunch truck we went to. On the other hand, since my coworker John and I enjoy it so much that we actually had to set a limit of one trip per week, maybe it's a pretty decent starting point after all.
Lower Manhattan is, of course, replete with various trucks and carts that complement all of our other brick-and-mortar options. (Sam's Falafel is one of the best-known but the long lines have always been a turn-off for me.) The fact that we started (and continue) to go to this particular one is, I suppose, as much out of convenience as anything; more specifically, parked on Cedar Street just east of Broadway, it was close enough to my office to try one afternoon last winter when it was too cold to walk anywhere further.
The menu of Nameless Lunch Truck is typical of the genre. Basic options are lamb gyro, chicken, or falafel, all available in a sandwich on pita or (my preference and that of all my coworkers) in a platter (well, ok, a styrofoam container) over rice with various veggies on the side. (They also make a cheesesteak, but if you're in lower Manhattan and that's what you want for lunch, you're SO MUCH better off going to Carl's Steaks on Chambers between Broadway and Church, not far from the northwest corner of City Hall Park. Best I've had in New York.)
I haven't had the falafel myself, because I'm not a huge fan of falafel in general, so I don't have much to say about that. The lamb is excellent - I'm not sure if they have the skewer which I'm such a fan of, but at any rate it always is finished on a flat grill with some onions and peppers. It's nicely seasoned as well. Chicken is cooked in the same way; you can tell that they really just took a chicken and hacked it apart because there's occasionally some bits of connective tissue in there, and it's a bit more fatty than I'd prefer.
The rice is great too - it's actually the reason I prefer this truck to others. It's orangish, nicely seasoned (though I couldn't tell you with what). It's a little bit greasy, but not overly so. The platters also come with lettuce, tomato, and (depending what they have on hand), pickles, jalapeño slices, and/or banana peppers. The white sauce is standard and the hot sauce is genuinely hot. They also offer BBQ sauce but I have no idea why you'd put that on. (Nonetheless, I've seen people do so.) Platters are $5 for more than enough food; sandwiches are $4; cans of soda are $1. I think falafel platters and sandwiches are $1 less than their meaty counterparts; I'll look at the menu today to be certain. Perhaps if I get a chance I'll bring in my camera and take some photos as well.
Pros:
Tasty
Cheap
Cons:
Probably not all that healthy
Your stomach will occasionally not be happy with you
The line can be long when the weather is nice
Thursday, July 5, 2007
NYC Gym Memberships = Pain in the Ass
You know... do gyms have to make it so hard to get even the slightest amount of information? I called NYSC's central membership line to try to make a change to my membership. I'd signed up while I lived in Manhattan, so my "home club" is the on East 34th near where I lived a few years ago. The rate play that I currently have costs me $82.45/month and I can use any club at any time. It was an appealing feature to have at that point because I wanted to be able to use both the club near my apartment and the one near school and I kept pretty odd hours during the first year of law school, so that's what I signed up for.
Now, at this point, I'm basically only using the club near my place in Brooklyn, and occasionally the one near my parents' house in NJ. So what I wanted to do is change my "home club" to the one near me, and then change to a rate plan that allows me to use the home club at any time, and other clubs only during off-peak hours (weekdays during the day except during lunch hour, weekday evenings after 8:30, and weekends). First thing I did was look at the website, but you can't make that kind of change online. So I got the phone numbers off the website for their central membership line (because it says "Sports Clubs Member Services Department administers customer accounts from a centralized call center") and my local club. I called the 800 line for the centralized call center, waited on hold for about 25 minutes, and was told that I couldn't make those changes with the call center; I had to speak to my local club. You know, if you're going to make people wait on hold for that long, you should at least be able to handle their inquiries. And not, you know, misleadingly tell them to use that call line on your website.
So then I called my local club, and was able to speak to someone in the membership department with a minimum of delay. When I told the nice woman that I wanted to change my home club, though, she told me that there was a $40 fee to do so.
*pause*
"What?" I asked. So, to make a change to my membership that would basically be a minor change to my computer entry, and would result in no change to my usage habits or my billing plan, and you want to charge me half of my monthly fee? That just makes no sense.
So after that I explained that I was on their "passport" plan (as described above) and that I wanted to change to their "gold" plan. She told me that A) I would also be charged a $40 fee for that change, and B) the difference would only be about $3 per month. I didn't really have the patience to attempt to negotiate a lower fee, so I thanked for her time and then hung up.
Afterwards I went online to look into other gyms in my area. They almost never have their rates on their websites. I think that's because they want to get you to come in to their locations so they can give you the hard sell. And, as it turns out, from info courtesy of Gothamist, what I'm paying basically is the going rate for a multiple-location gym (NYSC, Crunch, Equinox, etc.) in New York. It's just a lot of money and that's the way it is, like everything else here.
Says a lot that my customer service experience with Time Warner Cable was far, far more pleasant.
This was all brought on by some stuff earlier in the day that I'll maybe write more about later, if I'm feeling up to it.
Now, at this point, I'm basically only using the club near my place in Brooklyn, and occasionally the one near my parents' house in NJ. So what I wanted to do is change my "home club" to the one near me, and then change to a rate plan that allows me to use the home club at any time, and other clubs only during off-peak hours (weekdays during the day except during lunch hour, weekday evenings after 8:30, and weekends). First thing I did was look at the website, but you can't make that kind of change online. So I got the phone numbers off the website for their central membership line (because it says "Sports Clubs Member Services Department administers customer accounts from a centralized call center") and my local club. I called the 800 line for the centralized call center, waited on hold for about 25 minutes, and was told that I couldn't make those changes with the call center; I had to speak to my local club. You know, if you're going to make people wait on hold for that long, you should at least be able to handle their inquiries. And not, you know, misleadingly tell them to use that call line on your website.
So then I called my local club, and was able to speak to someone in the membership department with a minimum of delay. When I told the nice woman that I wanted to change my home club, though, she told me that there was a $40 fee to do so.
*pause*
"What?" I asked. So, to make a change to my membership that would basically be a minor change to my computer entry, and would result in no change to my usage habits or my billing plan, and you want to charge me half of my monthly fee? That just makes no sense.
So after that I explained that I was on their "passport" plan (as described above) and that I wanted to change to their "gold" plan. She told me that A) I would also be charged a $40 fee for that change, and B) the difference would only be about $3 per month. I didn't really have the patience to attempt to negotiate a lower fee, so I thanked for her time and then hung up.
Afterwards I went online to look into other gyms in my area. They almost never have their rates on their websites. I think that's because they want to get you to come in to their locations so they can give you the hard sell. And, as it turns out, from info courtesy of Gothamist, what I'm paying basically is the going rate for a multiple-location gym (NYSC, Crunch, Equinox, etc.) in New York. It's just a lot of money and that's the way it is, like everything else here.
Says a lot that my customer service experience with Time Warner Cable was far, far more pleasant.
This was all brought on by some stuff earlier in the day that I'll maybe write more about later, if I'm feeling up to it.
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