Random Thoughts That Don't Deserve Their Own Thread Go Here

[flere-imsaho]

People who do this kind of fraud need to die in a fire.

[NobodyHere]

I'm beginning to think that the Chinese restaurant down the street from my work is trying to poison me with sodium chloride.

[Edward64]

Originally Posted by NobodyHere

I'm beginning to think that the Chinese restaurant down the street from my work is trying to poison me with sodium chloride.

Or possibly MSG. Either makes food taste better but to your point, too much of a good thing …

I had a Chinese takeout douse things with pepper. Never went back.

[dubb93]

Was in a patient’s room today while they had fox new on. The anchor on screen summed up the difference between republicans and democrats on China as such: Democrats are primarily concerned about the economic threat of China while the Republicans are primarily concerned about the military threat of China.

That really plays to the base? Wasn’t Trump in a trade war with China? Why are they no longer concerned about the economic issues and more concerned about some imagined military issue?

[stevew]

But of a crazy situation going on in/near East Palestine, Ohio. Train derailment full of toxic stuff and now widespread evacuations.

[GrantDawg]

Originally Posted by stevew

But of a crazy situation going on in/near East Palestine, Ohio. Train derailment full of toxic stuff and now widespread evacuations.

Yeah, that is not good. If it blows, they said shrapnel could fly up to mile, not mention whatever the toxic gas maybe.

[BishopMVP]

I switched phones from Motorola to Samsung and idk if it's a Samsung thing but I'm about to murder the person who designed this autocorrect thing. It keeps changing things like had to has before I type the next word, what are you doing please stop.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by BishopMVP

I switched phones from Motorola to Samsung and idk if it's a Samsung thing but I'm about to murder the person who designed this autocorrect thing. It keeps changing things like had to has before I type the next word, what are you doing please stop.

If it's auto-correct doing it (which is defaulted to Google's version of auto-correct) that's deeply hidden but can be turned off

https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/fix-tu...rrect-android/

If however it's actually not "auto-correct" but "predictive text", that's easier to shut down. Navigate to the keyboard settings & you can turn off predictive text there.

Alas isn't much of a setting for "just do better", only on or off.

[stevew]

Hopefully that train stink cloud doesn’t make it this far. I should be okay but it’s making it’s way north and east

[Atocep]

I saw someone that wasn't familiar with Quiznos review one of their sandwiches today and was surprised at how good it was. It made me think, has there ever been a fast/casual food chain that fucked a good thing up as bad much as quiznos did?

[stevew]

Peeps flavored Pepsi?

[GrantDawg]

I loved Quiznos and Schlotzsky's. Both franchises closed here years ago, but I try to go out of my way to eat there on the rare occasion I see one. Boston Market was another one that was excellent in the day, but their quality nose-dived. The last couple of times I saw one and tried it, it was not good.

[JonInMiddleGA]

re: Quiznos -- after digging into the backstory a bit, I guess "define a 'good thing'" is sorta apt.

I mean, the corporate was fine for a while but it was largely off the sale of food & paper goods to franchisees, who were bleeding money and failing completely at a prodigious clip (40% were losing money, the SBA loan default rate on them was 23% as far back as the early 2000s, compared to less than 5% for Subways). That's really not sustainable, eventually you run out of potential franchisees to make money off, the word gets around.

Throw in a poorly considered leveraged buyout and their failure was pretty much secured. The recession probably only hastened it.

It was a spectacular crash, 90% of locations closed in ten years time ... but maybe it was one destined to happen all along?

[Ksyrup]

We had Quiznos around here but they disappeared. Last one I saw was in downtown Louisville and it shut down because of the pandemic. We still have a Schlotzkys in Lexington.

[Atocep]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

re: Quiznos -- after digging into the backstory a bit, I guess "define a 'good thing'" is sorta apt.

I mean, the corporate was fine for a while but it was largely off the sale of food & paper goods to franchisees, who were bleeding money and failing completely at a prodigious clip (40% were losing money, the SBA loan default rate on them was 23% as far back as the early 2000s, compared to less than 5% for Subways). That's really not sustainable, eventually you run out of potential franchisees to make money off, the word gets around.

Throw in a poorly considered leveraged buyout and their failure was pretty much secured. The recession probably only hastened it.

It was a spectacular crash, 90% of locations closed in ten years time ... but maybe it was one destined to happen all along?

I remember them being enormously popular around 2005 and the quality of food was honestly outstanding for fast/casual. The peppercorn prime rib, chicken bacon ranch, and black angus were great. Around that time it was far and away my favorite lunch spot and they were always packed.

IIRC they were charging franchises out the ass, though, so the profits for stores were slim to non-existent. They had some marketing mistakes. Then during the recession they started cutting costs by going to noticeably lower quality ingredients and then subway rolled out the $5 footlongs and they couldn't compete.

[stevew]

I feel like Popeyes has fallen off quite a bit. Their sandwich is good but the fried chicken has been terrible the last half dozen times I’ve tried it.

[stevew]

“Teenage Dirtbag” gives me a significant Mandela Effect. I guess it came out in 2000 but I coulda sworn it was from high school.

[Ksyrup]

Finally tracked down the Zero version of Dr. Pepper Strawberries and Cream. I approve.

[Edward64]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

Finally tracked down the Zero version of Dr. Pepper Strawberries and Cream. I approve.

That does sound good, didn’t know they made that.

Is the zero formula really a new diet formula or same old diet Dr Pepper stuff?

[Ksyrup]

I'm not exactly sure what "zero sugar" means or what kind of formula it is, but it is closer to the regular flavor of pretty much anything I've had it in than the older diet flavors.

In the case of Dr. Pepper, they still make the old diet DP.

[Critch]

There have been a lot of bad reboots and remakes, but rebooting Fawlty Towers with an 80 year old John Cleese as Basil Fawlty might be the worst. Pretty much everybody in the original is dead, or is a John Cleese ex-wife.

[Coffee Warlord]

WTB fast forward button to get out of pre-teen "I Must Argue About Everything Because You Are Clearly Stupid" phase, please.

[Atocep]

Originally Posted by Coffee Warlord

WTB fast forward button to get out of pre-teen "I Must Argue About Everything Because You Are Clearly Stupid" phase, please.

That's a lot years you're potentially skipping.

[Ksyrup]

One of our local news stations started running a new feature a few weeks ago called Good Question where people send them questions about pretty much anything and they answer them. I am so, SO tempted to send in the question, "Why do people send questions to a TV station to maybe answer in a few days or weeks instead of using Google?"

[Ksyrup]

You should be proud of me. I placed my first DoorDash order today. Mainly due to the power being out. I've just never had the need before but with one of my credit cards, I get a free DoorDash Plus (or whatever they call it) subscription through 2024 which means their fee is waived on every order, plus I get a $5 monthly credit, plus they have a 40% off your first 2 orders deal right now, plus I added an additional 10% off benefit from my credit card. So for a $25 order, I end up paying like $7.50. Why not?

[thesloppy]

All those sweet, sweet introductory offers are now off the able for me (cuz Iused them all) so now all my delivery offers are contingent on ordering 50+ dollars worth of food, which is not quite feasbile for a single dude.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

You should be proud of me. I placed my first DoorDash order today. Mainly due to the power being out. I've just never had the need before but with one of my credit cards, I get a free DoorDash Plus (or whatever they call it) subscription through 2024 which means their fee is waived on every order, plus I get a $5 monthly credit, plus they have a 40% off your first 2 orders deal right now, plus I added an additional 10% off benefit from my credit card. So for a $25 order, I end up paying like $7.50. Why not?

The "free membership" stuff does make a difference.

I paid to sub to Instacart Plus ... which included 1 yr GrubHubPlus as a free benefit.

Literally the only reason I've used GH at all for the past year, gonna miss that when it expires.

Also, once you use a service(s) a few times, you should see frequent (every 4-6 weeks) short-term digital coupon offers in your email. Typical from UberEats is something like "40% off up to three orders (min order $25)" ... which the tricky part being that the coupon expires in about seven days from getting it.

Also, with those, be careful to make sure that wherever you're trying to order from is eligibile for the coupon. A lot of times they'll either be all local or mostly chain, pretty much never just "everybody"

[thesloppy]

Iget GrubHub+ too as a Prime subscriber or something & I've used them several times to avoid the fees of other services, but seems like Iend up paying for it in quality and time, I'm somehow always the second stop & their drivers seem to be a lot more 'challenged' than athose from the other services. Had one hand me my pizza upside down the other day.

[Lathum]

We spend at least 1K a month on doordash. It is horrible.

[thesloppy]

Damn,!

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by thesloppy

Iget GrubHub+ too as a Prime subscriber or something & I've used them several times to avoid the fees of other services, but seems like Iend up paying for it in quality and time, I'm somehow always the second stop & their drivers seem to be a lot more 'challenged' than athose from the other services. Had one hand me my pizza upside down the other day.

Well damn. Ours are probably 90% the same people, though GH clearly has fewer drivers. The lack of a "priority delivery" option does hurt them here at times though.

The past three months or so, for the first time I'm getting a fair bit of "no drivers available" even with UberEats (which is clearly the most staffed of any of the delivery services around here). Sunday nights are next to impossible anymore, Fri & Sat you can kinda forget it too unless you're ordering early.

I gather than people passengers are a better deal for the drivers than doing food on the weekend and then most of 'em take Sunday night off to recover from Fri/Sat.

[stevew]

Pax is way better than delivery. Way less variables.

[Lathum]

Originally Posted by thesloppy

Damn,!

yeah. I have tried to curb it. Honestly in the summer we were probably over 2K a month. Just don't wanna cook after being out with the kids all day or hanging by the pool.

wife and I have an arrangement. I sleep in Saturdays and she sleeps in Sundays. That way we both get one day. She NEVER makes the kids breakfast Saturdays. always door dashes, which annoys me because shes spending $60 on donuts or pancakes. That being said, she earns the money and if she wants to not cook Saturdays so be it, but right there that puts us at $200-250/month.

We then either DD or eat out Saturday and Sunday night. Sometimes a lunch. Occasionally during the week.

[JonInMiddleGA]

I'm actually pretty good at getting multiple meals, hell, multiple days of meals out of one delivery.

That's the only reason my delivery costs are manageable tbh. Well that and the fact that I'm still price resistant (within the constraints of the niche anyway).

Consider that I've only eaten out in person 3 times since the kid left 3.5 weeks ago ... and only one of those involved a waitress. (buffett & counterserve the other two). My current state is such that if I don't do delivery, I'd likely not eat rather than deal with other alternatives. I'm scuffling just to make myself leave the basement to retrieve the stuff from the front porch as it is. I leave the house only to reload my cigarettes, try to multi-task those outings when I can. Otherwise, "eh, fuck it" is my default attitude.

[Edward64]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

I'm actually pretty good at getting multiple meals, hell, multiple days of meals out of one delivery.

FWIW I think Chinese keeps pretty well in the fridge.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Edward64

FWIW I think Chinese keeps pretty well in the fridge.

Now THAT triggers a suitably random thought from me lol

I find it ironic (or something) that the two primary delivery foods in the U.S. for many years -- chinese and pizza -- are now consistently among the least reasonably priced foods for delivery, usually now carrying the most punitive fees

Not sure if that's evolution or simply shortsightedness

[Edward64]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

Now THAT triggers a suitably random thought from me lol

I find it ironic (or something) that the two primary delivery foods in the U.S. for many years -- chinese and pizza -- are now consistently among the least reasonably priced foods for delivery, usually now carrying the most punitive fees

Not sure if that's evolution or simply shortsightedness

Didn’t know there was a premium. There’s got to be one with 1-2 miles of you, maybe go out 2 times more a week.

I’ve told wife it would be great to live within a block or two walking distance of a nice open air mall with a bunch of restaurants. Closest one to us is 2 miles so not doable.

[thesloppy]

Pizza around me is all over the board. I found a joint that I can get a legit great pizza from for like $28 delivered, which is a great price in Portland even if I had to pick it up,while other places are starting to charge almost $40 a pie & the chains will throw on $20 in random hidden fees.

[sterlingice]

Originally Posted by Edward64

FWIW I think Chinese keeps pretty well in the fridge.

This. Order an extra plate or two and you're good for a couple of meals

SI

[NobodyHere]

I had a 102 degree fever yesterday. I tried to cure it with more cowbell but it didn't work. In fact it just made my headache worse.

[cuervo72]

Originally Posted by sterlingice

This. Order an extra plate or two and you're good for a couple of meals

SI

A couple of friends had their reception catered by a Chinese place when they got married (ages ago, and yes they are of Chinese descent). They left for their honeymoon right from the reception and had a good amount of food left over. Everyone else in the family or wedding party had flown in, so they offered me some of it. I ate off a huge untouched tin of lo mein for over a week.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Edward64

Didn’t know there was a premium. There’s got to be one with 1-2 miles of you, maybe go out 2 times more a week.

I’ve told wife it would be great to live within a block or two walking distance of a nice open air mall with a bunch of restaurants. Closest one to us is 2 miles so not doable.

Actually, we're struggling for Chinese food around here for the past few years.

The "cheap Chinese" buffet joint fell to unbearably quality some years back

The remaining buffet joint (housed in a wonderfully cheesy faux pagoda building) never reinstated their buffet after Covid and simply isn't worth the near $20 entree pricing otherwise.

The next best option is a pickup-only place. Ends up being pretty pricy to do though is a couple times a year option when I just absolutely have to have Mongolian Beef and egg drop soup.

There are, I think, 1 or 2 other traditional Chinese restaurants here. One is on the opposite side of town and a non-starter for me because of that, the other is within 5 minutes but has consistently been considering by all accounts the House of Meh. I think I've eaten there ... once? Simply nothing noteworthy about the food and nothing to justify their price point.

On the other end of the spectrum however are the various "Asian bowls" and poke options here. Almost an (over) abundance of them really. They're a regular go-to for delivery for here through most of the past year, though really it's a substitute for sushi rather than for classic Chinese food.

[albionmoonlight]

I've switched to takeout from our local pizza place b/c it is only a five minute drive from our house. And the delivery fee, plus the tip, plus the convenience fee, plus the fuck you just because we can fee were way too much.

But if you go to pick it up, those fees all go away.

[flere-imsaho]

We've had nothing but lousy experiences with GH/DD/UE/etc... so aside from our local pizza place (who still do their own deliveries), we just drive an pick up stuff. But we're in a pretty dense suburb, so it's not like these are long trips.

But we also cook dinner 5/6 days a week, so....

[Ghost Econ]

Originally Posted by NobodyHere

I had a 102 degree fever yesterday. I tried to cure it with more cowbell but it didn't work. In fact it just made my headache worse.

Yeah, I'm sitting here working at home shvitzing like an Airedale. Not sure what it is. COVID negative, but I slept about 2 hours last night and currently my office chair is a puddle of sweat.

[Edward64]

Originally Posted by albionmoonlight

I've switched to takeout from our local pizza place b/c it is only a five minute drive from our house. And the delivery fee, plus the tip, plus the convenience fee, plus the fuck you just because we can fee were way too much.

But if you go to pick it up, those fees all go away.

Mellow Mushroom is our go to pizza place and is 2 miles away. We always do the pickup vs delivery because it ends up costing +20-25%. Principal of the thing

[Edward64]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

The "cheap Chinese" buffet joint fell to unbearably quality some years back.

Yeah, Chinese buffets are the worst. I don’t mind the Indian buffets though, I think they’re still decent. I try to avoid sushi buffets too, more rice than fish.

[NobodyHere]

Originally Posted by Edward64

Mellow Mushroom is our go to pizza place and is 2 miles away. We always do the pickup vs delivery because it ends up costing +20-25%. Principal of the thing

I avoid delivery just because I don't like tipping culture.

[stevew]

4.99 delivery fee plus a $5 tip just kills delivery pizza for me.

[cuervo72]

I pick up from our local pizza placen (easy drive), and leave a tip.

(Though I actually feel a little bad about it from the standpoint of our former local pizza place. With that place, I would often get pizza when it was the $8.99 1-topping special; under a certain amount they wouldn't print out a receipt for me to sign, so I could only tip in cash, which I might not have or might have too-large bills*. So tipping was hit or miss. This new place I always have to sign for, AND I'm usually buying pizzas at normal price. But...seems like it's worth it, as this new place loads on cheese and toppings and doesn't overcook the f'ing pizza. I mean, the old place didn't exactly burn it, but if you have a NY-style pizza where the crust is done enough where it doesn't bend but mostly stays flat or cracks if you try to fold it...that's not great.)


* Too large for tip, but not always enough to pay in cash. Think $10 for a two-pizza order, or $20 for two pizzas and a sub.