Christi and I went to get one of our favorite treats today – a Mexican fast food bonanza at our local Del Taco. I’ve had a long standing addiction to the Del Classic Chicken Burritos and Christi possesses a similar affliction with the chicken quesadilla. Getting to a Del Taco takes a little bit of doing as the closest one is across the border and into Post Falls, ID.
Anyway, while waiting for our food, I noticed a man walk up to the counter carrying a tray of food. He complained to the person behind the counter that his tacos were not acceptable because they had lettuce on them and, since he requested NO lettuce, he wanted replacements immediately.
Now, I completely understand the concept of getting what you ordered and wanting things done correctly but we’re talking about lettuce. We’re not talking about the wrong meat which, of course, would be pretty difficult to ignore. We’re not talking about some incorrectly applied sauce, either. We’re talking about lettuce. You can’t deal with it? Really?
It’s not even real lettuce. It’s fake fast food joint iceberg lettuce. This stuff doesn’t have flavor. Hell, it’s pretty much glorified water. Is such a bland food item really that much an assault against your overly sensitive palate? If your palate is really that sensitive, what the hell are you doing at a Del Taco to begin with?
Even if you couldn’t live with such a dastardly affront to your culinary sensibilities, you couldn’t just, you know, REMOVE the offending vegetable fragments from your food item? Don’t get me wrong, I understand wanting things the way you ordered them but still, don’t you have to pick your battles?
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
The World Wide Leader
As per my custom, I was listening to ESPN radio this morning on my way to work. During this time they happen to air a segment called "This Day in Sports." Today's segment involved Walter Johnson, the great pitcher of the Washington Senators during the 1910s and 1920s. This segment emphasized the myriad records Johnson attained during his lengthy baseball career.
Now, here's where it gets tricky:
The V/O guy said that Johnson managed to establish these great records "despite having pitched his entire career for the mediocre Washington Nationals (Emphasis mine).
Wait a minute. Didn't Walter Johnson pitch for the Washington Senators? What's this "Nationals" nonsense? Weren't the Nationals previously known as the Expos prior to their move from Montreal to Washington D.C. following the 2004 season? Was there, in fact, NO such thing as the Washington Nationals prior to 2005? If Johnson's career took place during the early part of the 20th century, how could he have reached such heights pitching for an organization that didn't exist until 2005?
Well, here's where it gets a bit tricky: It seems that the official name of the Washington D.C. based American League franchise from 1901 until 1960 was, indeed, the Washington Nationals. However, nobody in the baseball world ever embraced the name "Nationals." The media never used that name, the fans never did, and subsequent record books never have either. Sure it may have said WASHINGTON NATIONALS on the team's letterhead but, in the minds of everybody associated with baseball, both then and now, that team is, was, and will always be the Washington Senators.
Just to finish the story, owing to falling attendance (mostly because of historic futility) the Washington Senators took to the road after the 1960 season, and set up shop in the Twin Cities the following year to become the Minnesota Twins, in operation to this very day.
So, the question becomes- why would ESPN use such an obscure reference without any additional explanation? I mean, even a fairly educated baseball fan, upon hearing "Washington Nationals" will think of the current National League franchise in existence since 2005, rather than the "official" name of the old American League franchise that's been extinct for nearly 50 years.
ESPN, you were right to use the name Nationals- technically. Unless you were trying to remain in accordance with some arcane agreement between yourselves and Major League Baseball, however, your obscure reference only severed to confuse this otherwise quite well-informed baseball enthusiast.
Now, here's where it gets tricky:
The V/O guy said that Johnson managed to establish these great records "despite having pitched his entire career for the mediocre Washington Nationals (Emphasis mine).
Wait a minute. Didn't Walter Johnson pitch for the Washington Senators? What's this "Nationals" nonsense? Weren't the Nationals previously known as the Expos prior to their move from Montreal to Washington D.C. following the 2004 season? Was there, in fact, NO such thing as the Washington Nationals prior to 2005? If Johnson's career took place during the early part of the 20th century, how could he have reached such heights pitching for an organization that didn't exist until 2005?
Well, here's where it gets a bit tricky: It seems that the official name of the Washington D.C. based American League franchise from 1901 until 1960 was, indeed, the Washington Nationals. However, nobody in the baseball world ever embraced the name "Nationals." The media never used that name, the fans never did, and subsequent record books never have either. Sure it may have said WASHINGTON NATIONALS on the team's letterhead but, in the minds of everybody associated with baseball, both then and now, that team is, was, and will always be the Washington Senators.
Just to finish the story, owing to falling attendance (mostly because of historic futility) the Washington Senators took to the road after the 1960 season, and set up shop in the Twin Cities the following year to become the Minnesota Twins, in operation to this very day.
So, the question becomes- why would ESPN use such an obscure reference without any additional explanation? I mean, even a fairly educated baseball fan, upon hearing "Washington Nationals" will think of the current National League franchise in existence since 2005, rather than the "official" name of the old American League franchise that's been extinct for nearly 50 years.
ESPN, you were right to use the name Nationals- technically. Unless you were trying to remain in accordance with some arcane agreement between yourselves and Major League Baseball, however, your obscure reference only severed to confuse this otherwise quite well-informed baseball enthusiast.
Monday, July 20, 2009
Greetings
Hello. For those of you who may not know me, my name is Bill.
So, I've never done this before. Blog, I mean.
I used to post things on a MySpace page but MySpace, not to put too fine a point on it, sucks. It's slow, it's buggy (our laptop was laid out by a virus just because my wife used it to visit MySpace), and I'm really tired of being inundated with porn requests. It's disheartening to get a message reading "Vyxxen wants to be your friend" only to discover that in fact, no, Vyxxen doesn't want to be your friend. Vyxxen, whose breasts create their own gravitational pull- skittles and M&Ms orbit about them, doesn't even exist. Vyxxen is merely a phantasm created to increase traffic to some porno site. You've been "spammed" (I believe that's the term). A man can only take so much frustration.
I'm told by many people that I should write more- not because I'm depriving the world of some colossal talent, but because writing is conducive to sanity maintenance. You see, I am subject to random ideas, notions, and brain farts which, if left unexpressed, just rattle around my undersized cranium like socks in a dryer. Gotta get that stuff out of my head or I'll go loopy (Well, maybe loopier than I already am).
So here I am.
There will probably be items in this space focusing mostly on things like sports (especially baseball), movies, music, and history. There will very likely also be items regarding any number of things. I'm drawn to very random and disparate topics. You see, I was one of those weird kids who used to read reference books for enjoyment. Give me an atlas, encyclopedia, dictionary, or thesaurus, and you wouldn't hear from me for several hours. I'm still the same way but now, my playground is the internet.
Anyway, if you like what you read here, let me know. If not, you can still let me know- just be polite.
And if you're reading this, Vyxxen, please know that you broke my heart. Strumpet.
So, I've never done this before. Blog, I mean.
I used to post things on a MySpace page but MySpace, not to put too fine a point on it, sucks. It's slow, it's buggy (our laptop was laid out by a virus just because my wife used it to visit MySpace), and I'm really tired of being inundated with porn requests. It's disheartening to get a message reading "Vyxxen wants to be your friend" only to discover that in fact, no, Vyxxen doesn't want to be your friend. Vyxxen, whose breasts create their own gravitational pull- skittles and M&Ms orbit about them, doesn't even exist. Vyxxen is merely a phantasm created to increase traffic to some porno site. You've been "spammed" (I believe that's the term). A man can only take so much frustration.
I'm told by many people that I should write more- not because I'm depriving the world of some colossal talent, but because writing is conducive to sanity maintenance. You see, I am subject to random ideas, notions, and brain farts which, if left unexpressed, just rattle around my undersized cranium like socks in a dryer. Gotta get that stuff out of my head or I'll go loopy (Well, maybe loopier than I already am).
So here I am.
There will probably be items in this space focusing mostly on things like sports (especially baseball), movies, music, and history. There will very likely also be items regarding any number of things. I'm drawn to very random and disparate topics. You see, I was one of those weird kids who used to read reference books for enjoyment. Give me an atlas, encyclopedia, dictionary, or thesaurus, and you wouldn't hear from me for several hours. I'm still the same way but now, my playground is the internet.
Anyway, if you like what you read here, let me know. If not, you can still let me know- just be polite.
And if you're reading this, Vyxxen, please know that you broke my heart. Strumpet.
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