Schemes o' Mice an' Men....

To paraphrase Robert Burns, “gang aft agley” sometimes results in good things.…I was obligated to take some training (for a local community service organization) in Laurel, MD on Saturday morning beginning at a punishing 7:15 am. Not wanting to arise in time for a 0530 launch, we decided we’d go up the night before and stay over. So we contacted a DC friend asking if he would be interested in a dinner before we retired to the hotel where the training was to be held. He agreed, and so that was plan A. After a surprisingly adept (and unusual) performance at negotiating the Suitland Parkway, south capitol street, etc., we arrived in the area. As readers will remember, Friday evening was extremely cold with wind chills in single digits, and after finally finding a parking place “nearby” and walked to his building. we were nearly frozen. As we thawed enjoying wine and some lovely (Eastern Market) cheese and olives, the thought of venturing out again began to lose its allure. Our host suggested he peek in the fridge and see what was within. What resulted was a wonderful little meal of “four cheese” ravioli in marinara sauce, with a lovely little “waldorf-like” salad of apples and dried grapes and almond chips. And we paired it with a beatiful Barolo d’Alba, followed by Kaldi Coffee. No “Hi I’m”…, no “are you still working on that?” to deal with, just a warming evening with a good friend, good wine and lovely music. Sometimes you don’t have to pay to have a good meal!

We then spent a harrowing half hour driving up the Anacostia Freeway to the beltway to I95 and finally the hotel. It was an aging Holiday Inn. Unfortunately it obtained its toilets from the same purveyor as supplied the HI Express in Baraboo, another annoyance. And, have you stayed at a h/motel within the last 4 years that has a straight curtain rod in the shower? I really don’t see the advantage of the curved one now so common. An engineering evaluation notes that the bulging curtain provides a moment to the supports which invariably sag and become loose. Speaking of engineering, here we are in a country that can design chips the size of a pin holding multi -terabytes of data and able to send a man to the moon (trite, but you get my drift), but we cannot come up with a heating system for hotel rooms that doesn’t eject air at 80 mph and sounds like a wind tunnel. And you can’t win. If you set the fan to low (continuous operation) it won’t heat. Set it to “auto” and you get sporadic shut downs only to be followed by a sudden explosion of air that almost makes you sit bolt upright in bed. MFO termed The breakfast buffet that took advantage of “Some of the worst food I’ve ever had” Ah, the joys of travel….

This and that…

They are now building a rather stout fence around the Olive Garden. One has to wonder if it is to keep people out…. Or in…

Did you hear there was a stabbing outside of Catamaran’s on Friday? “Hi I’m ….. and I’ll be stabbing you tonight.”

Although I don’t read it much, yesterday’s Parade has one of those insipid articles about how their life changed for the better for some reason, this one by/about Harrison Ford (for whom I have pretty much respect). Part of it talks about various jobs he has had when he first came to hollywood, crewing boats, a carpenter, and a waiter! “Being a waiter was my favorite job! It was so easy to do well, and so few people do it well. Do you just slap the plate in front of them or just wait a second….and slide that sucker in there. Do you keep your eyes open and know what’s going on in your room and know where people are (sic) at in their meals? It keeps you busy, and it’s so much fun”. No wonder he succeeded. And, I’ll bet he always

DFD

Postscript: Attended the Maryland Basketball game last night (a win, go Terps!) and on the way back to SOMD, a sudden thirst attack led us to stopping at Jasper’s American Grille – (why the “e” I have no idea) in Prince Frederick. I had had a few mostly positive reports so it was a good chance to give a quick look. I really am not (this is me, doesn’t have to be you) a big fan of dining/eating in one of those restaurants that features smoked and barbeque items. The smoke aroma is sort of warming at first, but after a while it sort of turns cloying to me. Anyway, it was a rather late Sunday night, and there weren’t many patrons, so that may have resulted in my reaction that the service was even below what we have come to expect in SOMD. Complete “Hi, I'm….” treatment from beginning to “are you still working on that” with long pauses to fill a simple drink order of some (much needed) beers and sodas despite the fact that were feet from the bar. Depending on your personal preferences, there are many, many, many, many, flat and projection screens in the bar, making available everything from sports to network TV (CSI last night). They apparently have added a few things to the “bar” menu and we mostly selected from that. When finally the food was delivered (3 out of 4 dishes, then five more minutes for dash 4), it actually was better than I had feared. I had a (barbequed) chicken quesadilla that, despite caution from the server (“that’s really small”), was just right for me and the occasion. Other people at the table more or less enjoyed their selections. Maybe worth a visit if you want that sports bar atmosphere along with the smoke. You decide. Not sure if you have to really be

DFD (oh, I said that already)