Cheese + cake + factory

Equals the nationally preferred restaurant among Black females in my humble opinion. Why? I honestly don't know. I never knew they liked cheesecake that much. Matter of fact, I don't think they do. I mean, I never see them indulging in cheesecake in numbers to indicate that it is the cheesecake that attracts them to this establishment in droves. Personally, I think it is a combination of the large portions and numerous menu offerings that brings them out in Obama rally numbers.

With regards to the numerous menu offerings, logically this should not be a reason for Black females to love Cheesecake Factory. Seriously speaking, is it just me or don't they pretty much get the same thing everytime they are there? I mean, they all claim to have 3 favorites but that is just part of the scam they give you so they can act like they have reason to browse through the menu. And this is where I have to give the good folks at Cheesecake Factory mad props. These guys are fully aware of this phenomenon and as a result they fill their menu with ads to capitalize.

Everytime I am there I just sit across the table and watch her flip back and forth from page to page while telling me to turn to this page and that page while she pretends to rack her brain deciding between her three favorite entrees. All this time I am hungry like a dog and this is holding me up from ordering and making the waitress smile and say, "Don't worry, take your time, I will be back to take your order when you're ready." Somewhere around this point is where I say, "You should just go ahead and get __(the one she always get)__. You know you want it." And her response is always, "Yeah, but I had it last time I was here. I want to try something different this time." And in the interest of time, I say, "Well, I will get __(one of her other two faves)__ and you can have some of mine." This my friend, is what she was waiting for all along. You knew it and you know she knows you knew it. But I guess in some sense you were trying to wean her from eating off your plate for the hundredth time. Sadly, you give in, as you always do, because the hunger is becoming too much to bear.

Now the food arrives and of course she eats off your plate and nibbles on hers like you knew she would. Ten mnutes later your plate looks as clean as it did when it came out of the dishwasher because of your hunger and the two of you racing to eat as much food from YOUR plate as possible. You don't even mind sharing your meal with her that much but what grates your last nerve is when you look over at her plate it is at least half-filled. And right on cue she spots you eyeing her half-filled plate and says, "I am stuffed...I think I should get the rest to go." This is when you want to comment but better judgement prevails and you SMILE and say, "Yeah, they sure gave us a lot of food."

So now she tells the waitress that she would like to take the leftovers home as if this wasn't part of her master plan. Yeah, the plan that includes leaving half on her plate so she can get the leftovers to go for the purpose of WALKING AROUND THE MALL with the Cheesecake Factory bag in her hand and taking the leftovers to work the following day TO FRONT ON HER CO-WORKERS. Hey, it could be worse, she may try to get YOU to carry the Cheesecake Factory bag filled with leftovers through the mall.

But HA! This is why you exercised better judgement my friend. Middle of the night when you get hungry again because you were never full in the first place on account of HER RAIDING YOUR PLATE you wake up, go the fridge and spot that ubiquitous Cheesecake Factory bag. After roughly three microwave minutes it is you, SportsCenter, and the Cheesecake Factory leftovers. Ten minutes later you proceed back to bed with a SMILE on your face thinking about the scream that will erupt in the morning when she realizes you foiled her plan to take the leftovers to work. But alas, we both know that even if it means she may run a little late she will make a quick lunch and pack it in that cursed Cheesecake Factory bag!

PS: If this blog entry made you get a taste for some Cheesecake Factory then here is my gift to you in honor of their 30th year anniversary: a complimentary slice of cheesecake with the purchase of two entrees between 6/23/2008 - 6/26/2008.

Motorcycle madness

That time of the year again when I start thinking that I need to get a motorcycle. And this time I have the perfect excuse, gas prices.

But since I don't know how to ride to the point where I am comfortable on government roads I will have to take a class and test. Let me break down the total cost to see if this really makes sense:

Motorcyle permit: $30
Motorcycle class & test: $275
Motorcyle: <= $3K
Motorcycle insurance: No clue??

Assuming I pass the class and test I will be looking for something in the dirt cheap range with my spending limit being $3K and that is including sales tax, title and registration. With that price limit in mind, my skills as a rider, and the fact that I don't want anything older than a 2005 (ideally a 2006) would mean that I will be getting a used Kawasaki Ninja 250R. And from all the research that I have performed gas mileage looks to be in the 60mpg range. Hey, that is more than double what I do now in my 2 door coupe.

But hey, this will be a great entry level bike in which if it doesn't work out I won't be set back too much. Now the big issue is where will I be able to find a helmet to fit MY head??

The Belmont Stakes

Drove all the way from mASS yesterday to the Belmont Stakes in Elmont, NY. Over 4 hours and roughly 200 miles later I arrive smack dab in the middle of what America is all about: diversity. Folks from all walks of life came together somewhere around the number of 100K to see Big Brown vie for the Triple Crown.

The way the whole establishment is setup you cannot help but to get caught up in the demographics. There were so many different sections for different folks depending on how much they were willing to pay and also their status (official, press, etc). There were places that you were allowed into by having a certain stamp on your hand or card around your neck or even sticker on the card around your neck. And I simply didn't understand where I could sit, stand or even buy a drink for most of the day. I did notice that the one of the most comfortable areas I found in the whole place was also the most exclusive as well. On the very top floor of the Belmont a private party was taking place in which there were bodyguards in suits and earpieces (you know, Secret Service style) guarding the entrance. The air conditioning emanating from the room was so cool that my travel companions decided to park themselves in some chairs right outside the door. While they were busy cooling themselves off on this 90+ degree weather day I just sat their and observed the bodyguards doing their jobs allowing and disallowing folks based on the card around their necks and/or the stickers on said cards. Even up to now I still don't know what is on the sticker or card that allowed access. Sad.

But here is what is even more sad. After spending $20 to be in the Clubhouse versus the $10 to be in the Grandstand we still ended up watching the race from the Grandstand. Well, I wouldn't really say we watched the race exactly. We watched the monitor that they have on the track instead of the actual race itself due to the large and very boisterous crowd standing on benches throughout the entire race. And what a crap race it was. Matter of fact I will end this blog here before I get all up in arms once again thinking about my roundtrip-8-hour-drive-400-miles, chipped-windshield, $30-bet-wasted, Casino-Drive-scratched, Big-Brown-finishing-dead-last, no-Triple-Crown-yet-again, Belmont Stakes trip.

But we all made it back safe and for that I am thankful. :)

Sticking with it

That life is really about sticking with it. Whatever it is. Set your goal, make a plan on how you will accomplish it and the rest is just implementation. Yeah, it may take a little longer than you planned. Yeah, it may be harder than you estimated. And yeah, there are times when you won't make it. But trust me, if you do this a lot, you will succeed a lot. Plain and simple.

Every once in a while I have to remind myself of that. It seems I always fall for the get rich quick, get abs quick, get educated quick schemes that exist. And is it just me or do those schemes work just often enough so that an eedyiat show-self friend of mine can get it to work for them and brag all day about it. So of course now my ego kicks in and I, the fool I am, tries the scheme. Sad part is when the shite falls apart I am the least surprised. Hell, I expected it.

Two words: emotional discipline.

When you have your goals set, course charted, plans in place and you are on the road to success it is the lack of emotional discipline that causes us, well at least me, to veer away from my charted course. Yeah, there are times that there are stuff outside of your control in life that will knock you off the course. But more often than not it is just a simple lack of emotional discipline.

It may be as simple as avoiding that pint of Chocolate Fudge Brownie, ignoring a Cramer stock pick, and/or it may be as simple as turning off the TV.

How do I become more disciplined in my emotions?

Time to get back into shape...

Yep, got up this morning and hit the gym. I mean I hit it. Hit it like it stole my lunch money. And I will keep hitting it until I get my lunch money back. See what had happened is that on my recent vacation to St. Thomas I sort of stood out at the beach if you know what I mean. Hey, I'll be honest with you and sum up my day at the beach in 5 words: GUYS SHOULD NOT HAVE BREASTS! (aka "man-boobs" like my NOT FAVORITE niece referred to them)

Yep, there I was keeping my shirt on for the better part of the day in blistering heat. I did remove it to swim but when I came out of the water I quickly dried off and replaced my shirt. And you know what? When I laid in bed this morning thinking about skipping the gym that memory motivated me to MOVE. And publicizing my embarrasment on this medium will only motivate me further. What's motivating you?

PS: Next time you see me, ask me about my abs. :)

Did someone say free?

So of course me being the cheap bastard that I am was all over McDonald's FREE southern styled chicken sandwiches (assuming you buy a drink) today. And both times I was presently surprised. And no, it didn't have anything to do with the chicken.

For breakfast I did the small coffee which was enough to get me my free chicken biscuit that tasted a bit dry and left my stomach feeling somewhat funny. However, the coffee was damn good if I may say so. First time having their coffee since they switched to their new premium roast.

For lunch, I figured they weren't going to jack me the $1.50 for a medium drink so I did the $1 Sweet Tea. The sandwich is like 2 steps down from Chick-fil-A's (the originator, none greater) but the sweet tea was off the charts. They give it to you in a big-32-oz-styrofoam (shhh, don't tell the tree-hugging-spread-love-Liberals) cup and it is good right off the bat but even better when you pour out some tea and fill it back up with some Minute Maid lemon aid from the drink stand. Yeah it was some good old fashioned southern style eating going on in mASS since I capped it off with 2 apple pies for $1. I was instantly put into a red state of mind if you know what I mean. :)

Lunch:
Drink: Arnold Palmer ($1)
Entree: Southern Styled chicken sandwich (free)
Dessert: 2 apple pies ($1)

Total w/ tax: $2.10 and you can't beat that with a hungry stick!

PS: Today is also free iced coffee day at Dunkin Donuts but I think I will pass on that. :)

School over, donkey turnover...

Hell yeah! I remember singing that when I was a kid. Don't know what it means but every year around this time I would sing it at the top of my lungs. And I sing today my friends.

Had my last final exam for the semester last night in Financial Accounting. Tough stuff, most especially when you aren't allowed to bring any notes (cheat-sheet) to the exam. I mean, who the hell gives you closed-notes-closed-book exams at grad level? Yeah, I could see for Medical or Law school but just straight Finance?? Give me a break.

The one good thing about college at the end of the semester is that you get to sell back your books for cents on the dollar. Set ah thief!! But hey, I took it. Would you like to know why I would do something so rash? Because, like you, I have kept way too many a text without ever so much as a long glance in its general direction over the course of many years. And then after lugging these things with you on move after move you finally give up and unceremoniously toss them in the trash. I figured for the cents on the dollar I would definitely put that money to good use right away. So of course when I am at the campus bookstore and I get back that small chump change you would think I would dump it into one of my many savings accounts right?

Hell to the no!

While standing in line to get my money I eyed a baseball cap with the school's motto/insignia/whatever and bought it. Hi, my name is Troy and I am a SUCKA!!