Adventures in Tampa, Fl Fast Food Dining

Adventures in Tampa, Fl Fast Food Dining

     This is NO joke!  Today in Tampa Steph and I had one of the most "unusual" dining experiences ever.  We went into a chain establishment and I ordered a number 16 and Steph ordered a number 19.
The employee: Ok, a number 16 and a number 18.
Me:  No, a number 16 and a number 19.
Employee:    Ok, a number 16 and a number 17.
Me:  No, a number 16 and a number 19.
Employee:  Ok, a number 15 and a number 18.
Me:  No, a number 16 and a number 19.
Employee:  Ok, a number 15 and a number 18.
Me:  No, a number 16 and a number 19.
Employee:  Ok, a number 15 and a number 21.
(Me in my mind:  For goodness sakes at least stick to the teen numbers.  13 through 19.  At least get the teen right at the end!!!!!!!!)
Me:  No, a number 16 and a number 19.
Employee:  Ok, a number 16 and a number 13.
(Me in my mind:  Please just give me 2 sandwiches wrapped in paper.)
Me:  No, a number 16 and a number 19.
Employee:  Ok, a number 15 and a number 17.
(Me in my mind:  I am just going to start yelling random numbers out.  It can't get any worse.)
Me:  No, a number 16 and a number 19.
Employee:  Ummmmmm  and flapping arms in a snow angel fashion.
Second employee:  What numbers?
Me:  A number 16 and a number 19.
Second employee:  Ok

Second employee to first employee:  I need 2 large cokes for the drive-thru.
First employee:  1 coke and 1 diet Dr. Pepper.

Second employee to first employee:  This food is for the drive-thru and this is for them (pointing at Steph).
First employee:  (Startled that Steph was standing waiting for the food.  He forgot she was there.)  Here's your food.
Second employee to first employee:  That's for the drive-thru.  This other one is for them.

The entire time the employee wasn't talking to us, he was making baskets and baskets of curly fries.  I would bet that restaurant holds the world record for amount of fries used.  Basket after basket of fries in the frier and dumped in the bin.  All for Steph and me and 1 car at the drive-thru.  American business at its best!

It's Been A Long Time

A lot has happened since my last post. Life has changed. My wonderful husband Steve has passed away. What a wonderful husband to me and father of our two daughters he was. He lived his life always thinking of others and putting himself last. He found his true calling after retirement from IBM when he became a teacher. He loved imparting his knowledge to his students. He was the most brilliant person I have ever known. Even though he had many inventions to his credit dealing with cryogenics, his true brilliance was his broad knowledge of a lot of topics. He loved learning and life. He was always so excited to find a new scrap of information that he didn't know. He dove into growing rare and tropical fruit here in Florida. We joined organizations dedicated to growing and propagating them and he loved learning and the people that we came to know in the clubs.
As I was mowing our back fields today, I noticed that Steve's persimmon trees were budding out and the citrus had new flowers and a new flush of leaves. It suddenly hit me with a physical force that he wasn't there to share the new season with me or our family. He wasn't there to share Amanda's joy on being engaged to a wonderful man. He wasn't there to share in Steph's new adventures. He wasn't there to tell me, "She is just perfect." Tears blinded me as I tried to mow. The tractor's roar covered my sobs. We had scattered Steve's ashes across our property but especially on the plants and areas that he loved the most. I feel his hand on my shoulder as I continue to mow. I know he loved us. I know he loved our life.
I hope I can continue to be a good custodian of our land. I hope that I can support our daughters as Steve would have. I will try hard. I miss him lots. He was just perfect.

Hip Oldsters

Now I know that not only old people need hearing aids, but as I was sitting in Sam's Club "people watching" next to the hearing aid booth, I had a brilliant idea. It seems that everyone is trying to make their hearing aids as small and inconspicuous as possible. The wearing of a hearing aid seems to mean you are getting old and so the manufacturers try to hide them. Why don't they go the other way! All the hip and cool people are wearing blue tooth ear pieces. Make your hearing aids resemble them! Or better yet, have a dual purpose hearing aid. Allow you to hear better and answer your phone at the same time and if you really want an awesome device include an MP3 player. As I was looking over the sea of older people at Sam's Club I thought how funny would it be to have a bunch of senior citizens pretending to be cool. OK, I know it isn't going to happen, but it did give me a chuckle.

Reaching Out

Today I witnessed a most wonderful thing. I was sitting in a waiting room at the Moffitt Cancer Center in the Radiation area waiting for Steve to return from his treatment. There were several people and their families waiting for their treatments. The schedule calls for the patient to see one of the radiation Dr.'s at least once a week - first you go to radiation, go back to the waiting room and then go in to see the Dr. A Dr. came into the waiting room and came up to his patient. Explained he was there early and if the patient wanted he would see him/her then so he/she wouldn't have to wait around. Of course he/she said "Sure!" As he/she got up he/she was a little unsteady. The Dr. said, "Oh here, take my hand and we can walk to my office." They walked off down the hall hand in hand.

Such kindness from an unexpected place. Remember, each time you reach out your hand to touch someone, you may be affecting more than that one person.

What a Blockbuster

And here is my pitch. We have been losing millions of dollars running these stores that rent movies. We have to pay for the physical plant in terms of rent and electricity and insurance and all the other associated costs. We have to pay for personnel to run our stores and personnel to manage the personnel that run our stores. These cost add up to $400 million. We are now taking in a total of $50 million a year on our rentals. We are now losing a total of $350 million on these stores. My solution is to save money by losing less. How you say? Well, we will close all our retail stores and fire all our personnel! We will open unmanned booths in all the Publix Supermarkets. They will rent movies at a cost of $1 for each movie per night. And the best part, we will post a code on the machines that allows you to rent each movie for free! Just think of the customers we will get! My cost savings adds up to a total of only a $70 million loss each year. I am saving this company $280 million dollars!

And they bought it. You can now rent movies at Publix for free.

Cash For Clunkers

We have spent the last couple of days looking at cheap cars. We have a 1997 Jeep Grand Cherokee with 270,000 miles on it that qualifies for the Cash For Clunkers program and since the gov. is giving you from $3500 to $4500 to trade in your car, now is the perfect time to do so. The car will only be used to get Steve back and forth to work, so cheap is called for. The stories we had when I looked for my mini-van and Amanda looked for her Mustang are legendary. A salesman who was a clone of Doug Heffernan (sp) from the King of Queens (wearing shorts too) complete with backpack stuffed with water in case he got thirsty in the car lot, try to help us choose us car, but we laughed so much it was hopeless and we had to leave. At another dealer we tried to put money down on a car, but the salesman wanted to have us talk to his manager (again!). Amanda had to be at work. We finally had to walk out without finding anyone to take the check. Needless to say we didn't go back to deal with a bunch of incompetent idiots who wasted our time. So far we have been to a Nissan dealer, a Hyundai dealer, a Suzuki dealer, a Mazda dealer, a Kia dealer, a Subaru dealer, a Nissan dealer, a Toyota dealer and another Hyundai dealer. Our little spiel when the salesperson comes up to us is:
We are looking for the cheapest car they have with air conditioning, power transmission, and power door locks. NOTHING else matters. We are turning in a car in the gov. program and are looking for cheap.
Here is what we have found out. There is a central clearing house for car salespeople. 1) The first thing is to show you a car they want and you should need. Or the car you are standing next to. I am not sure the reasoning for this I guess if I thought it was intentional I would say they were trying to up-sell you. I don't think it is that calculating though cause the salespeople don't know the prices of anything! Both Nissan dealers were the best informed about their cars. The Suzuki dealer also had a clue and was helpful. 2) As soon as they get you in the showroom and at "their" office you sit down and they disappear. In all cases but one this happened. Maybe there is a contest to see how many minutes their chairs can be occupied during the day or something. The salespeople leave you alone with no literature, info, or water! I really was starting to appreciate "Doug". At one Hyundai dealership the salesperson inputted our name and info into his computer and then left to go see his supervisor. He walked across the showroom floor to an office with 4 guys in it, talked to them for a while and then came back and said he lost our info and needed it again. We gave it to him and off he went back to his buddies. For the next 10 minutes or so (seemed like an hour) he proceeded to talk and laugh with his buddies. We had NO idea what he was doing. So, we stood up and then decided we had enough so slowly walked out (just in case he couldn't run to catch us). We got in our car and drove away. I think in this economy I would have been running down the street after a customer! What is with the disappearing salesmen? At one other dealership there was a couple looking at cars and they were all alone too wondering what was happening. It seems to me one of the keys to selling is to establish some sort of bond with your customer and keep talking. No wonder they don't sell cars. In all the dealerships, I think there were only 2 other couples looking at cars. A note to car salesmen is to talk to the people who are actually in your business!
One funny thing we noticed at the Hyundai dealer was a sticker on the car that detailed where the parts came from. We are wondering if the price is cheaper for some cars because 2 % isn't there!

Let Me Tick This Off My List

On the ABC Evening News tonight there was a story about flea and tick treatments causing illness and death in dogs. I am sure that the reporter didn't have to say "There has been in uptick in reporting problems...." For real, he did say that.