Bytes and Bites...with a Pint

Before a pint, a quick update on the technology “upgrade”.  This edition is being created with the Lenovo, which pretty much successfully transitioned to W10 and even made my Lightroom (economical Adobe Photoshop) behave.  So there is some hope for the big boy laptops return (read on).

As is probably abundantly apparent, I am pretty much a Luddite when it comes to this stuff.  We did have an initial return of said Laptop the other day, and on a trial run of Lightroom, it appeared that ALL my images (which are stored on an external hard drive and connected through a USB port) were GONE.  Fortunately the automatic backup to a NAS device had them, but it made my heart stop for a minute.  Well, it turns out, that although you would think a simple USB connection wouldn’t care about the operating system,  it  certainly does.. windows 10 somehow closes the window (get it?) on the ports and you have to have another driver (not the Miss Daisy type) to allow the computer to “see” them.  Our techy guy worked long and hard but couldn’t make them work, so the machine had to go back to the shop for further work.  On top of that, when it was upgraded to “10” a bunch of programs didn’t “translate” as expected so they had to be reinstalled from scratch, one of which was Lightroom.  So, once the port issue is settled I will have a vanilla copy to begin with.  There are a lot of “pre-sets” associated with export and import of images, etc., and those will maybe have to be re created.  I realize that most of the readership will respond with “who the hell cares?” and only a small percentage who either know me well, or also push a lot of words around will realized the angst this causes me.

Okay, speaking of pushing words around, lets push a few in the direction of

Why did they choose THAT airplane for their logo?  Argghhhh

The “just right” team of three converged there yesterday for an initial looksee at the place, and of course lunch.  Going in, we (I) knew it was not eligible to join the honor roll of “just right” mostly because it is very new, recently remodeled, etc., etc.  And when I say that, if you have ever been in the space in its many incarnations over the years, you might not notice much different.  Same layout – pretty plain..

I arrived as the first of our triumvirate and was presented with the menu and also the beverage list.  Since the place has “ale house” in the name, one would expect that there would be a nice selection of fermented beverages.  And, indeed they do have quite a few options

Although bud light appears there are some interesting labels, including some “local” breweries like Mully’s, DuClaw, and Heavy Seas, so you should be able to find something to your taste.

I am not (to borrow a local club’s name) a “hop head”, so IPA’s and the like are not to my liking.  I prefer a darker brew, like Guinness, or a stout of some sort.  So I selected the “Left Hand Nitro Milk Stout”, from Colorado.  All the (draft) taps are lined up behind the bar

But if you don’t want to squint at the list or read the taps, all the beers are colorfully listed on the wall!

About this time, our second teammate arrived and he selected the Kentucky Bourbon Barrel brew from Lexington, Kentucky.   Conversation like the suds flowed and pretty soon we were full strength, and turned our attention to the food menu, a one sheet menu serves all, with everything from appetizers to sandwiches to entrees somewhere on the two sided menu…  the burger selection is pretty standard (which you probably can’t read)

While perusing the menu I discovered either an oddity or a flat out mistake.  Here’s the top two burgers from the menu somewhat enlarged

The entry under “Ale House Burger” at the top of the list which should be their featured dish, says it has CAB, and seasoned ground lamb, and Tzatziki sauce!. Somehow, that doesn’t sound like a good old American burger.  Reading on, below that, is the “Hellenic” Delight is composed of the CAB and feta, along with Mozzarella and other burger stuff.. Now if I’m not mistaken, Hellenic generally refers to Greece and it’s culture.  And when you think of Greece and a sandwich, what comes to mind?   A Gyro (Hee – ro, NOT Jiiii-Ro) which is generally made with ground lamb, and ground beef, spices, etc., and finished with….Tzatziki sauce!!  So the Hellenic Delight only gives a nod to Hellenic culture by adding Feta cheese to an otherwise good old American burger.  Methinks they may have transposed things.  I didn’t mention the possibility to our server who was fairly attentive without being pushy or “cute”.   Anyway, I ordered the Patty Melt, and we rounded out the table with a Chicken Pot Pie, a Greek Salad and a Chicken Pita.

Mercifully she asked how I wanted my meat cooked, and didn’t point to some menu note saying they only “served well done meat to ensure…..”

The food was brought out by a runner who didn’t know “who had the…?” which is not hard to arrange, but we all got what we ordered.   My Patty Melt was sizable, cooked right, but served on that culinary abomination, marble rye.  We’ve had that discussion before in relation to a Reuben, but a patty melt should never sport that ugly stuff.  The interior was good enough, caramelized onions, and melted cheese.  The fries while probably food service in origin were fairly tasty.  

Another oddity was those tiny pickle chips in the corner of the plate

What their purpose is, I’m not sure.  What are you supposed to do with them?

The pot pie was described as delicious

With plenty of chicken and a good crunchy crust.   Salad and Pita were good, probably borrowed the Tzatziki from the Ale House burger.

It had been a while since we were able to mesh travel, work and social schedules, so it was fun to get together.  As for the venue, I wouldn’t by any means NOT go there, but wouldn’t particularly go out of my way, although it’s probably fine if you just want to try some interesting beers, and eat something to dilute the alcohol..(all based on one visit mind you)

And based on what we saw I wouldn’t worry too much about
DFD

PS… You know how things like “Grandparents Day” are one of those “holidays” contrived by the Hallmark folks?   Well, here’s another… Fox Sports channel began running commercials with NASCAR vehicles in the background, informing me that it was only X days to “Daytona Day”.  I never heard of that before… Daytona Day?  Good Grief!  It’s an auto race for heaven’s sake. And from what I understand, this race is the biggest race of the season, which begins today.  Sort of like playing the Super Bowl before the regular season. I’m not a big NASCAR fan, but I know a lot of people are, so have fun.  I do enjoy an occasional open wheel race once in a while, like the Monaco Grand Prix.  At least they turn left AND right..