Saturday, March 20, 2004
The #2 Burger in the Triangle
Several weeks ago, I heard a peculiar Hardee's ad on the radio. They were claiming they were the #2 burger in the triangle. And they were quite proud of it. Later I saw a similar television commercial. Sure enough, there were lots of cities crawling by on the screen with quotes of "Best Burger in Houston", "#1 in Atlanta", etc. Then "#2 in the Triangle".
I thought it a bit odd to have an entire ad campaign centered around being #2. At the end of the commercials, though, they tried to put it all in perspective. They said "and that's not bad when #1 is Char-grill". Now I think most everyone will agree that you can't beat a burger from Chargrill. So I had to give Hardee's credit that they knew their place and they were comfortable with it. And with my fondness of Chargrill, it was a statement that stuck in my head.
Thursday at the NCAA round 1 game, I decided to try the Hardee's kiosk at the RBC Center. I hadn't eaten at Hardee's in a few years. At the game the food was ridiculously expensive, but I had to give the burger credit. It was Angus beef and chargrilled. Quite tasty. Today I gave my local Hardee's 1/3 bacon cheesburger a try at a much more reasonable price. Without hesitation, I'd agree that they've got the second best burger in the Triangle.
Unfortunately, I'm not always near a Chargrill when I want a good burger. Now I'll look to Hardee's as well.
I thought it a bit odd to have an entire ad campaign centered around being #2. At the end of the commercials, though, they tried to put it all in perspective. They said "and that's not bad when #1 is Char-grill". Now I think most everyone will agree that you can't beat a burger from Chargrill. So I had to give Hardee's credit that they knew their place and they were comfortable with it. And with my fondness of Chargrill, it was a statement that stuck in my head.
Thursday at the NCAA round 1 game, I decided to try the Hardee's kiosk at the RBC Center. I hadn't eaten at Hardee's in a few years. At the game the food was ridiculously expensive, but I had to give the burger credit. It was Angus beef and chargrilled. Quite tasty. Today I gave my local Hardee's 1/3 bacon cheesburger a try at a much more reasonable price. Without hesitation, I'd agree that they've got the second best burger in the Triangle.
Unfortunately, I'm not always near a Chargrill when I want a good burger. Now I'll look to Hardee's as well.
Wednesday, March 17, 2004
I'm Goin' To The Big Dance
After failing to actually buy tickets before the sold out, today I won a ticket to the NCAA first session, first round games at RBC Center!
Quintessential Erector Set Complete! (almost)
On Sunday, we completed the playset. Well, basically...almost...pretty much...for the most part....practically. Yes, practically. It's practically complete.
What does this mean? The whole thing is put together and usable. And it's already being enjoyed by the girls, but what's left?
Any volunteers?
What does this mean? The whole thing is put together and usable. And it's already being enjoyed by the girls, but what's left?
- Apply sealer to the roof and monkey bar dowels
- Sand a few rough spots
- Create a safe play surface. This is the big one. We're going to line the area with 4x4 posts anchored to the ground with rebar. Then we'll kill the grass (what little there is), lay down landscape fabric, and then cover it with 3-4 inches of playground mulch.
- Lay stepping stones to the play area. Since the backyard wasn't sodded, it would be nice to have temporary stepping stones from the deck and gate to the playarea.
Any volunteers?
Permalinks Fixed
In site news....I fixed the permalinks. So if you've ever added a link to one of our posts (Dave, you're probably the only one), then revisit the post and grab the permalink again. It should work fine now.
Previously, URLKeeper was ignoring the bookmark and always taking you to the front page instead of the specific post.
Previously, URLKeeper was ignoring the bookmark and always taking you to the front page instead of the specific post.
Tuesday, March 16, 2004
I thought I loved Thin Mints - but who knew you could ebay them?
Need Help Spring Cleaning?
Victoria's hourly rates are sky-high, but she's worth it. She's closer to the floor to really find those hidden dirty spots and clean them up before they grow large enough to become visible to an adult eye.Monday, March 15, 2004
Market Turnaround?
I don't know if the market has turned around or is turning around or will turnaround. But I know that my CEO's income has turned around. EMC more than doubles CEO's 2003 bonus. I also know that my bonus didn't double.
The Borg are Coming
I've heard about professor Steve Mann and his attempts at integrating technology with the human body. He is the cutting edge of wearable computers.
If you've got TechTV, here's your chance to see more. Could this be what the future holds? Catch 'Nerd Nation' today at 9pm or Wed at 2pm or Saturday at 7pm.
If you've got TechTV, here's your chance to see more. Could this be what the future holds? Catch 'Nerd Nation' today at 9pm or Wed at 2pm or Saturday at 7pm.
Monday Morning Flats
As I was about to leave for work today, I noticed the rear tire on the driver's side was flat. "Oh well, I'm going to be late(r) for work." I inflated it and drove to visit the fine folks at Colony Tire.
The car was overdue for an oil change and tire rotation so while I was there and since they had an opening, I had them go ahead and do that while fixing the flat. OK, a little later for work now, but I was going to have to go in late for getting the oil changed anyway, why not do it all at once?
During the tire rotation, they found that I needed front brake pads. Not a surprise to me, but not a welcome discovery either. "OK, go ahead and replace those, too", I say thinking I'll just miss a half day of work.
Then they call me back to the shop to "show me something". This is never good news. Not once have I been called back there to take a look at the fantastic job someone did repairing my car and being so happy with it that it was free. Not once.
The front brake caliper was missing its boot that is supposed to keep dirt and grime out. So there was dirt and grime in.
"Is that bad?"
"Well, it's not good."
"Does it have to be fixed?"
"Won't know until we reassemble and test drive. May work fine. May not. It appears to have never had a boot."
OK, what next? Oh, the air filter is way overdue for a change. And yes, it was. Unbeknownest to me, I was suffocating my own car - slowly. "Yeah, absolutely change that....while I'm here."
By now, I was hungry and obviously wasn't going to make it to work by lunch, so I walked over to Wendy's for a bite to eat. I was a little scare to come back. What would I be faced with?
The test drive went ok, but one of my turn signal lights was out. Yeah, I knew about that too. Can you tell that car maintenance isn't at the top of my list? "Please, I would love to pay you to replace that as well. Do you have the time?"
Now, I've dealt with John and the folks at Colony Tire for several years and they're good, honest people. Even cutting me deals at times. But if I had any doubts about them, today would have just added fuel to the fire. Truthfully, all of this stuff needed to be done but I just did it all at once, unexpectedly, on a Monday morning, after a flat tire.
The Damage Report: Since I originally bought the tires there, both the rotation and flat repair were free. The oil change, air filter, brake pads, and light were not. $246.
Ouch. And Monday's only half over.
The car was overdue for an oil change and tire rotation so while I was there and since they had an opening, I had them go ahead and do that while fixing the flat. OK, a little later for work now, but I was going to have to go in late for getting the oil changed anyway, why not do it all at once?
During the tire rotation, they found that I needed front brake pads. Not a surprise to me, but not a welcome discovery either. "OK, go ahead and replace those, too", I say thinking I'll just miss a half day of work.
Then they call me back to the shop to "show me something". This is never good news. Not once have I been called back there to take a look at the fantastic job someone did repairing my car and being so happy with it that it was free. Not once.
The front brake caliper was missing its boot that is supposed to keep dirt and grime out. So there was dirt and grime in.
"Is that bad?"
"Well, it's not good."
"Does it have to be fixed?"
"Won't know until we reassemble and test drive. May work fine. May not. It appears to have never had a boot."
OK, what next? Oh, the air filter is way overdue for a change. And yes, it was. Unbeknownest to me, I was suffocating my own car - slowly. "Yeah, absolutely change that....while I'm here."
By now, I was hungry and obviously wasn't going to make it to work by lunch, so I walked over to Wendy's for a bite to eat. I was a little scare to come back. What would I be faced with?
The test drive went ok, but one of my turn signal lights was out. Yeah, I knew about that too. Can you tell that car maintenance isn't at the top of my list? "Please, I would love to pay you to replace that as well. Do you have the time?"
Now, I've dealt with John and the folks at Colony Tire for several years and they're good, honest people. Even cutting me deals at times. But if I had any doubts about them, today would have just added fuel to the fire. Truthfully, all of this stuff needed to be done but I just did it all at once, unexpectedly, on a Monday morning, after a flat tire.
The Damage Report: Since I originally bought the tires there, both the rotation and flat repair were free. The oil change, air filter, brake pads, and light were not. $246.
Ouch. And Monday's only half over.
