Curiosity killed the cat

( ack )

Edit: I guess we'll be making the trip to Buffalo and back tonight to drop him off, after his open house, and after picking mechanchaos up from work. This makes the appointment in the morning much more bearable, but it keeps the stress on stressing tonight. Tomorrow afternoon I'm likely going to take a nice long bath, and slather myself in Chrysanthemum Moon. Yay for mostly-natural highs.

Today I went to Brueggers Bagels for the first time. Unfortunatly, I'm coming away from it with more cynicism about how companies rip off their customers.

( A little background... )

So, I stand back and scan the menu. I know I'm interested in a sandwich, since I've been walking and havn't had much today. I like the idea of a meat and vegetable to go along with my bagel. I can tell them to hold the cream cheese, since that stuff vaguely reminds me of mayo. I mean, I eat it - rarely - but that's a recent phenomenon. I grew up slathering my bagels with butter or some butter-like spread.

Then a menu item catches my eye. Chicken Fajita Sandwich, more specifically "chunks of grilled chicken". My mouth waters picturing small cubes or strips of marinated chicken, some with little burn marks on them from the cooking. I order it, making sure to leave in the part about no cream cheese. Then I watch with horror as he picks up a scoop and places a huge dollop of chicken salad on my sun-dried tomato bagel. I hasten to ask him whether it has mayo in it. He assures me it does not, and points to the other bin with "chicken salad" in it. He calls the stuff on my bagel "dry chicken salad". That heap of scooped meat reminds me of every greying cafeteria I've ever been in. It is only one step away from being chicken salad with mayo. Its consistency has more in common with canned tuna than with grilled anything.

Maybe it's just me, but I'm having difficulty getting over the discrepancy between the menu description and what I got.

Yes, I ate the thing. Yes, it was edible. I didn't gag. It didn't taste yucky. But it bears very, very little resemblance to chicken fajitas. I had trouble not thinking about mayonnaise while I was eating it. Getting a customer in the mood for one kind of item and serving up that cheap facsimile creates a disharmonious experience. How much profit would they lose by putting the real thing in there? Aren't fajitas all about marinated and grilled meat, peppers, and onions? Jalapeno cream cheese and tomato relish does not turn "dry chicken salad" into "chunks of grilled chicken", not even with fresh sliced peppers, onions and lettuce. I doubt it would harm their profit margins much to keep a small, warm bin of pre-made "fajita filler" around.

I found a comment page on their website and have posted an abridged version of this rant.

Generally I like to let things like this go. Posting about it will help with that. I don't like false advertising, though. I don't like feeling like I've been taken for a ride, and I certainly don't want others to be taken for the same ride I have - if I can help it.

***

On a much more positive note, I got out of the house and into the sun today! dawnstar and I went window-shopping around Monroe. We did go inside too, but I was good and didn't buy anything. Not even in Archimage. It was a great walk, and it was my first major venture out and about since our automobile went caput. Thank you thank you thank you to dawnstar for the ride home too!

Equally positive, Aidan got his homework done in a reasonable time, so I got to walk outside some more. This time, I was not so good. Tops had a two-for-one sale on Breyers... At least I can share those with Aidan and mechanchaos!

Oh, and I got a letter from MCC. Saying that my A.S. in Liberal Arts General Studies will also bear the inscription "With Distinction," as will my student records. Tee hee! The down side is that I need to wait about two months before they mail it out. Eh, at least they sent me a letter letting me know my ducks are in a row. It stops me from getting antsy waiting.

( merry fucking xmas )

Edit: gray_wolf is my hero for 12/22/2005. I have a ride to my calc exam! There was one point earlier where I was thinking, "Gifts aside, all I want for Xmas is a ride to the exam!" A hearty thank-you to gray_wolf!

(Why, yes, I am spamming the exclamation points. This made me very happy.)

( online class tech rant )

I think the only thing that balances this out is knowing I had some kick-ass questions to the physics professor today about mystical connections with physical cosmology. That class is fun, and it goes surprisingly well with the Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance seminar.

I have a feeling the rescue effort would go more smoothly if a number of the victims would, say, cease taking pot shots at the rescuers with their (NRA-lobbied-for) guns. I think mobbing every helicopter and bus that comes in doesn't help either...

( local rantiness )

OK the big pile of rain-soaked camping laundry can go away now...

mysterious sex change
-ganked from the Circle of All Paths mailing list

Some Rochester city planner must be examining the patterns of shit clinging to the inside of his rectum rather than doing his job. Traffic is restricted at Lake and Driving park. Lake has been down to 2 lanes for ages. East and West 104 near the bridge are being worked on and extensively limited. Now 3 out of 4 Maplewood entrances / exits to 104 are closed. Traffic was backed up for almost a mile down Lake Ave. I don't know about ridge and ridgeway, but I doubt they're better. Good luck getting over the 104 bridge in less than 15 minutes. Most of this morning the cars were even bumper-to-bumper down our usually quiet little sidestreet with people confused and angry that their onramps were closed and their detours were assvaccuuming conflagrations of diseased suck.

I think the traffic has cleared somewhat on our street. I need to get out of here.