Unruly Behavior

It has been a very odd week around here. Some things and places are very normal, some places look like the hurricane hit yesterday. And there is no rhyme or reason to the patterns. The Wal-Mart on my end of town is business as usual. The Wal-Mart at the other end of town still does not have full power or perishable groceries.

After a week like last week, you begin to notice the odd things you missed. Speed Racer The Movie came out on DVD last Tuesday. I didn't get to take advantage of the release week Sale Price becuase no stores were open to sell it to me, and none of them would have had stock anyway I think. Wonder why they didn't extend sale prices on things like this for their customers. Oh well, I'll have to wait till it goes on sale to see Christina Ricci as Trixie again I guess.



Meanwhile, I've had my first visit from a Nationwide Insurance adjuster. Spent less than five minutes at my house, taking pictures and then just left, didn't say bye, didn't leave a business card. Nice. Called Nationwide just to be sure he was really one of their employees. Nationwide has been nearly worthless in this experience. I've been passed around by adjusters, then told I had to file my own claim with the Texas Wind Insurance Agency. Contacted them, they said my agent had to file. My agent doesn't answer his phone, and his voice mail box is full. The 800 claims number from Nationwide couldn't help me, the adjustor couldn't help me, I finally had to push and file with TWIA on my own. I'm thinking I should find a Homeowners/Windstorm/Flood insurance agent far from here, say San Antonio or Dallas. Somewhere that if I have a problem, they aren't likely to have the same problem or worse. Next time you hear that commercial that says "Nationwide is on your side", be glad. I can't imagine what they would be doing to me if they were not on my side.

Things at work are sort of back to normal. Last week while we were on generator power, we had to rig up some workstations with Extension cords and power strips. One of our genius users unplugged a working system, re-wired it, then called us when it was not working. The picture is below. Yep, they plugged one power strip into another, then a thrid daisy chained off the loop. Wondered why they had no power to the devices on these strips. No kidding, true story.



Those of us that worked the hurricane got a $1000 bonus today. About $800 after taxes. I took $100 of it to the Spec's Liquor Warehouse and got a 750ml bottle of Don Juilo Tequila for shooting. A 1.75L bottle of Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville Tequila for making drinks. And a 24 pack of Red Stripe for my wife, who sent me text saying, "Don't come home without Red Stripe beer or I will kill you." At least she knows how to negoiate. Also saw the funniest brand of Tequila ever, "Don Nacho". Would someone actually buy this, thinking Nacho is good? Sure, Nacho makes a great Cheese, but Tequila?

One of Jamica's finest exports. And a good way to keep the wife from killing me...

Labels: beer, dvd, hurricane, speed racer, stupid users, tequila

Or time to cut and run?

I'm in Dallas this week, taking the accelearated VMware training course that only the self loathing would sign up for in any case. Two 32 hour classes rolled into one 50 hour week. I'm just that self abusive.

So, I'm staying at the Lincoln Center Hilton, across from the Dallas Galleria, with no rental car. The hotel offers a free, hourly shuttle to the mall. Cool, I'll go there for dinner.

I wandered around for a bit, then saw a sign for the New "Grill on the Alley", sounded interesting, so I followed the signs and found the resturant. It looked nice, and had a menu outside.



So, I checked out the menu, hmmm.... Meatloaf, that sounds good. I'll have dinner here tonight.



So, into the resturant I went, only to be handed a completely different menu, no meatloaf, and signifigantly higher prices than on the menu outside. So I called the waiter over to inquire. He then informed me that the menu outside was their Lunch menu, and that Meatloaf was not available for dinner. So I left. $18.95 for a chicken pot pie? What the hell, it better have either real pot or be served by a stripper for that price. What a crappy way to do business.




So, back into the mall I went. I wandered around some more till I found a little Mexican place by the Sakting Rink, Mi Cocina. They had a menu up, with " Tacos de Camaron", or Shrimp Tacos. I love Shrimp Tacos, so into their resturant I went.



The meal started out with some killer, hot red sauce and really thick, crunchy chips. The shrimp tacos came out and were different, with some big, grilled shrimp and fresh avacodo slices. They were delicious. I also had a killer margarita with the meal that kicked my ass, I'm glad I was taking the shuttle back to the hotel, I couldn't have driven there.



So, the night wasn't a total loss, and maybe "The Grill On The Alley" can learn something from "Mi Cocina".

Labels: Dallas, dining, review, scam, tequila, travel, work

No photo could do justice to just how pretty it is outside today.

And I'm stuck with chores, studying for a test and other stuff indoors.

Studying for 70-297 from Microsoft, at the Goodyear (free wireless at West Pearland Tire & Auto) getting my oil changed, heading for a haircut next, then back home for more studying.

But I'm going to make up for it the evening. I'm stopping at the grocery store on the way home and getting something I can grill tonight and I'm going to sit out on the porch, cook, eat, drink and enjoy the lovely weahter. Maybe I'll post a picture then.

If you want to joing me for a drink, here is my Dren's World Famous Margurita instructions.

2 Parts Tequila
1 Part Triple Sec
2 Parts Rosie's Sweetened Lime Juice
Fresh Lime Slices

Fill a tall (20 OZ glass with ice cubes after salting the rim. Pour in Tequila, Triple Sec, Lime juice and stir a bit. Squeeze a couple of the lime slices on top.

Salt the rim of a shot glass, pour a shot of Tequila, shoot the tequila, then suck on a lime slice.

Now drink the Margurita.

Repeat as needed till you find your head on the floor.

Labels: certification, microsoft, tequila, vehicle