Well the dog days are upon me, if not in a traditional "it's too hot to move sense" but more that the mind numbing routines of Summer have worn me down.
Don't get me wrong, I love sunshine and all that crap but I can't wait for Fall, and school starting.
The civic strike has screwed my summer over in a huge way because the pools are closed and daughter is a "water child", previously in the summer there was no issue of "What are we going to do today?" instead it was "What time are we going to the pool?". This year I am constantly trying to either:
1) Find things for an 8 year old to do.
or
2) Deal with a bored 8 year old.
Neither one of these options is a great one - I keep waiting for Monte Hall to offer up Door #3 but that hasn't happened.
There is no end in sight to the civic strike for a number of reasons, not the least of which there is no leadership in City Hall. The Unions are so full of bluster and self serving rhetoric that I fully expect Lisa Simpson to show up and lead campfire sing-a-longs any day now. The summer is gone and I really don't care if they ever settle the strike, my only desires are that there be absolutely no "signing bonus" involved and zero overtime for 6 months following the settlement.
I mean if these assholes want a nice 8 week vacation then let them pay for it - they've spent much of the summer screwing over the people who pay their wages so tighten the belts a little comrades. My favourite complaint is the "we want wage parity with the private sector" - hey here's an idea, if the private sector is so fabulous why not join it ? Oh, yeah because all those other benefits like "job security", 87 paid sick days a year and "bring your pet to work month" are missing in the private sector.
Hey that's my cake - can I have it and eat it too ?
The Red Sox are now officially doomed. In his greatest act ever as a Yankee icon, Phil Rizzuto died in the middle of a pennant race. The new arm bands are just the last stroke the Yankees needed to put them over the top.
Why, if there are no fish left, has the price of Fresh Wild Salmon remained relatively unchanged for the last decade ? I bought fresh Wild Coho last week for $4.50 a pound (whole fish) and the week before IGA had fresh Pink for less than $3 a pound.
At some point shouldn't supply and demand create higher prices ?
It's End of the Summer European tourist season - which means it's kind of like Russian Roulette at work every night. Are you going to get the "Thanks very much , that was brilliant here's a $10 tip on our $250 bill" ? or have your Euro's travelled enough to know that servers in North America exist on tips not wages.
Generally it's a bit of both, last night my first two "Euro Deuces" left me a combined $22 on $345, which barely covers tip out, but my final "Euro 4 Top" left me $75 on $350.
On Saturday the local "non-broadsheet rag masquerading as a newspaper" published an article by noted Washington Post columnist Michael Wilbon regarding the David Beckham situation. The second paragraph of "Mr. Wilbon's column" was a mention of Beckham's upcoming visit to Vancouver. I was surprised to see this so I checked the online Post and discovered no mention of Vancouver in Wilbon's column, so I questioned this to the sports department of the Sun. Much to my surprise I received a phone call from "Lionel" informing me that it was inserted by the Sun, that it was just a factual addition and that "that's what you do when you edit stories".
First off - no it's not what you do when you edit stories, you don't add your own copy,"factual reference" or otherwise, and pass it off as another person's work
Secondly - Does Michael Wilbon know that "Lionel from the Sun" is editing his work ?
On the beverage front, Pilsner Urquell is on sale - other than that it's mostly House Wine and Rumbo season.
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
Great BBQ, good Spanish Red and poor stolen kitties
Friday past, the 13th for those with Paraskevidekatriaphobia, saw witness to one of the great outdoor food events of this summer.
Dinner at Dieter und Heidi's was unbelievably good, from the prosciutto and melon to start right through to strawberry shortcake to finish. Main course was about 10 pounds of T-bones, grilled perfectly medium rare then sliced and drizzled with balsamic a la Toscana accompanied by cedar planked scallops as big as a small child's fist and fresh heirloom tomatoes bathed in nought but salt, pepper and good olive oil.
Bubble and Guinness to start then an incredibly delicate Reserve Cabernet from Nederburg vintage 1982. When first tasted I was worried about the old wine but 45 minutes of air brought out the fruit and it was a delight, sour cherry and prunes to be sure but still lovely with the beef, next up was a 1998 Single Vineyard Malbec from Valdevieso - the last from my cellar - and it was still vibrant and ballsy and a perfect compliment to grilled beef.
I doubt you would be able to find either of these wines anywhere but they did show the complex beauty of older wines as opposed to the full throttle wines we tend to drink regularly. Also served a bottle of Penny's Hill Red Dot Shiraz-Viognier which is available in limited distribution in BCLDB stores for $21.95 (CSPC#151670) which would have benefited from another year in bottle but is perfectly acceptable for those who like the "fruit Bomb" style.
Later in the weekend I had a bottle of lovely Spanish Red - Espelt Saulo 2005 from the Costa Brava in north-east Spain this blend of Grenache and Carignan was perfect with Bison burgers. The wine has lots of red fruit flavours and soft tannins with a great mouth feel and nice finish. The Espelt retails for $14.99 (CSPC#151332) and has wide distribution. I'm beginning to think that Spain is the new Australia in that I am constantly impressed with the quality of wines in the $12-$18 range, and also that the wines are becoming popular very quickly so the prices will rise accordingly.
On another, entirely unrelated note, the local newspaper group is raising the subscription prices of Vancouver's two daily papers. Well worth it I say, after all one of the lead features in today's Province (page 4) was a quarter page story, with colour photo, about four stolen kittens and the heartbreak it is causing a Surrey teenager - that's right folks world hunger and damaged nukes in Japan take a backseat to stolen kitties ......... well worth the extra dollar a month I say.
Dinner at Dieter und Heidi's was unbelievably good, from the prosciutto and melon to start right through to strawberry shortcake to finish. Main course was about 10 pounds of T-bones, grilled perfectly medium rare then sliced and drizzled with balsamic a la Toscana accompanied by cedar planked scallops as big as a small child's fist and fresh heirloom tomatoes bathed in nought but salt, pepper and good olive oil.
Bubble and Guinness to start then an incredibly delicate Reserve Cabernet from Nederburg vintage 1982. When first tasted I was worried about the old wine but 45 minutes of air brought out the fruit and it was a delight, sour cherry and prunes to be sure but still lovely with the beef, next up was a 1998 Single Vineyard Malbec from Valdevieso - the last from my cellar - and it was still vibrant and ballsy and a perfect compliment to grilled beef.
I doubt you would be able to find either of these wines anywhere but they did show the complex beauty of older wines as opposed to the full throttle wines we tend to drink regularly. Also served a bottle of Penny's Hill Red Dot Shiraz-Viognier which is available in limited distribution in BCLDB stores for $21.95 (CSPC#151670) which would have benefited from another year in bottle but is perfectly acceptable for those who like the "fruit Bomb" style.
Later in the weekend I had a bottle of lovely Spanish Red - Espelt Saulo 2005 from the Costa Brava in north-east Spain this blend of Grenache and Carignan was perfect with Bison burgers. The wine has lots of red fruit flavours and soft tannins with a great mouth feel and nice finish. The Espelt retails for $14.99 (CSPC#151332) and has wide distribution. I'm beginning to think that Spain is the new Australia in that I am constantly impressed with the quality of wines in the $12-$18 range, and also that the wines are becoming popular very quickly so the prices will rise accordingly.
On another, entirely unrelated note, the local newspaper group is raising the subscription prices of Vancouver's two daily papers. Well worth it I say, after all one of the lead features in today's Province (page 4) was a quarter page story, with colour photo, about four stolen kittens and the heartbreak it is causing a Surrey teenager - that's right folks world hunger and damaged nukes in Japan take a backseat to stolen kitties ......... well worth the extra dollar a month I say.
Friday, July 06, 2007
'Roid Rage Customer and the "Pool Pool"
Amazing scene at work last night as our patio was virtually held hostage by an absolute Asshole.
This guy is well known, and loathed, in Vancouver restaurant circles and is a former (failed) restaurateur who now peddles stocks and spurious "internet lottery/gambling" sites. Unfortunately he has money and so is pandered to by many establishments, ours included. Among his many attributes are a loud abrasive, aggressive personality couples with years of cocaine and steroid use to go along with an impressive physique, a violent temper and extensive martial arts training.
As I arrived at work last night around 4:30 he was showing up with a group of rounders to hold court on the Patio, generally the worst you have to put up with is mild to medium abusive language, lots of "advice"( "at my restaurants we used to ....", to which I always want to reply "And is that why your restaurants went broke?" but never do), the occasional noise complaint from surrounding tables and a 20% tip. Last night however things went sideways as an inexperienced server tugged on Superman's cape.
In the vicinity of "The Asshole" was a group that included an attractive woman dining with her husband, this woman apparently struck A-Hole's fancy and his leers were less than subtle. Around 9 pm the woman mentioned to her server that AssHole's unwanted attention was making her uncomfortable ........ and this is where it all unravels. The server, female, approached Asshole and commented to him that the woman was uncomfortable with his actions and would he please refrain.
Asshole leaps up and starts screaming at the server drops the "C" bomb and generally reduces her to a shambles in 30 seconds.
Now the "correct" course of action would have been to get a manager involved as soon as the woman complained, not talk directly to AssHole, that's what the suits get paid for. But you can't go back in time so the fuse was lit. This is doubly problematic as we have an inexperienced manager on the Patio and our General Manager doesn't immediately grasp AssHole's condition ( 5 hours of cocktails on top of his surly disposition and likely a line of blow or two) and thinks he can reason with him.
The upshoot is we have to stop seating our principle revenue source to let AssHole vent, leave him at his table, transfer waiters and piss off dozens of guests. Now don't get me wrong, our GM chose the correct course in "discretion is the better part of valour" , had we tried to remove AssHole or called authorities things would have been even worse and physical damage would have occurred but the scene was surreal to say the least.
What also amazed me was that the other people at AssHole's table, with one exception, just sat there continuing their evening including the women at the table. Now I'm sorry but if I'm a woman and some nutjob at the table I'm at stands up and calls our waitress a cunt loudly in public then I'm out of there, but these bimbos just sat there giggling and drinking the cocktails the "Broker boys' kept buying.
We all know that "AssHole" is past redemption but the women should've walked immediately and the "Men" at the table need to grow a pair and set "AssHole" straight.
On a happier note the sun is out again today so daughter and I will be going to the pool again, making it 7 days out of 8 for the summer holidays. "Slightly deranged expeditor" has suggested that I take bets on the pool visits so I will consider setting up an over/under line on Summer 2007 pool visits ........... my advice is take the over.
This guy is well known, and loathed, in Vancouver restaurant circles and is a former (failed) restaurateur who now peddles stocks and spurious "internet lottery/gambling" sites. Unfortunately he has money and so is pandered to by many establishments, ours included. Among his many attributes are a loud abrasive, aggressive personality couples with years of cocaine and steroid use to go along with an impressive physique, a violent temper and extensive martial arts training.
As I arrived at work last night around 4:30 he was showing up with a group of rounders to hold court on the Patio, generally the worst you have to put up with is mild to medium abusive language, lots of "advice"( "at my restaurants we used to ....", to which I always want to reply "And is that why your restaurants went broke?" but never do), the occasional noise complaint from surrounding tables and a 20% tip. Last night however things went sideways as an inexperienced server tugged on Superman's cape.
In the vicinity of "The Asshole" was a group that included an attractive woman dining with her husband, this woman apparently struck A-Hole's fancy and his leers were less than subtle. Around 9 pm the woman mentioned to her server that AssHole's unwanted attention was making her uncomfortable ........ and this is where it all unravels. The server, female, approached Asshole and commented to him that the woman was uncomfortable with his actions and would he please refrain.
Asshole leaps up and starts screaming at the server drops the "C" bomb and generally reduces her to a shambles in 30 seconds.
Now the "correct" course of action would have been to get a manager involved as soon as the woman complained, not talk directly to AssHole, that's what the suits get paid for. But you can't go back in time so the fuse was lit. This is doubly problematic as we have an inexperienced manager on the Patio and our General Manager doesn't immediately grasp AssHole's condition ( 5 hours of cocktails on top of his surly disposition and likely a line of blow or two) and thinks he can reason with him.
The upshoot is we have to stop seating our principle revenue source to let AssHole vent, leave him at his table, transfer waiters and piss off dozens of guests. Now don't get me wrong, our GM chose the correct course in "discretion is the better part of valour" , had we tried to remove AssHole or called authorities things would have been even worse and physical damage would have occurred but the scene was surreal to say the least.
What also amazed me was that the other people at AssHole's table, with one exception, just sat there continuing their evening including the women at the table. Now I'm sorry but if I'm a woman and some nutjob at the table I'm at stands up and calls our waitress a cunt loudly in public then I'm out of there, but these bimbos just sat there giggling and drinking the cocktails the "Broker boys' kept buying.
We all know that "AssHole" is past redemption but the women should've walked immediately and the "Men" at the table need to grow a pair and set "AssHole" straight.
On a happier note the sun is out again today so daughter and I will be going to the pool again, making it 7 days out of 8 for the summer holidays. "Slightly deranged expeditor" has suggested that I take bets on the pool visits so I will consider setting up an over/under line on Summer 2007 pool visits ........... my advice is take the over.
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