Rising Above Mediocrity
by Benjamin Geiger

Over this past weekend, I’ve been introduced to two dining experiences of differing styles.

Friday night, Bonnie took me with her to a friend’s birthday celebration at Dish, a choose-your-own-food grill located in downtown St. Petersburg, FL. Basically, you walk around the perimeter of the “kitchen” and choose the ingredients you want (one sauce and as much meat and veggies as you can fit into a bowl) and take it to the center, where the chefs will sauté it as you watch. It’s all-you-can-eat, so you can make as many trips as you want.

I would recommend it to anyone looking for an unusual buffet restaurant.

The other restaurant I had a chance to try was not nearly as trendy, but certainly just as delicious: Chipotle. I was afraid it would be McTacoBell (Chipotle is owned by McDonald’s) but I was pleasantly surprised.

Take McDonald’s efficiency in ordering and apply it to food that actually tastes like food. That’s Chipotle.

Actually, that’s not quite fair. The ordering process is actually closer to Subway’s, but without the immense number of choices. There are only five meal options: burritos, fajita burritos, “burrito bols”, tacos (hard or soft), or salads. There are four meats: chicken, steak, “carnitas” (pork barbecue), “barbacoa” (beef barbecue), and a vegetarian option. And the food is not expensive; it’s about what you’d pay for an Extra Value Meal at McDs.

I just wish there were a Chipotle nearer to my house (they have restaurants in the Tampa/St. Pete area, and Orlando/Kissimmee, but not really anywhere in between. (Oh, and I wish Bonnie would start pronouncing it properly. It’s chee-POTE-lay, dammit.)

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to head out to Chipotle while I have a chance.

Here’s something that everyone either knows or refuses to accept: The rest of the world does not like the United States anymore. Even most Americans don’t like the US government anymore. It’s fairly clear that the Bush administration has lost the respect of the entire world, and his poll numbers here in the US are a hair’s breadth above where Nixon’s were when he resigned.

There’s more! (click here to read)

Less than two weeks into hurricane season, and Alberto is already on his way through the state.

Don’t worry, we’re fine. Bonnie lost power last night, and even USF Lakeland has been subject to a few power blinks, but there has been no real damage to speak of… no wind-related damage, that is. Bonnie’s NIC got fried in a power surge, but Bright House replaced it.

Just when I thought I had left Magic and AD&D behind… they sneak up on me again.

There’s more! (click here to read)

I am currently the owner of two USB thumbdrives.

I had originally purchased the first drive (a SanDisk Cruzer Mini 512MB) a few weeks ago to store various documents I needed for work (the gradebook and my timesheets, primarily) while my computer is out of commission. It was fulfilling that need suitably.

Then I lost it.

There’s more! (click here to read)