Alright, back at home this weekend. As I mentioned before, we went to S's parents in South Carolina for a baby shower last weekend. It was fun, but it's so much driving. We drove all day Friday, hung out and had the baby shower, then drove all day Sunday. It would've been nice to stay one more day, but we need to stockpile leave for when the baby comes.
When you're driving south you can always tell how far you're getting by the number of Waffle Houses you pass on the way. There was an Onion headline once that read, "Mason-Dixon Line Renamed IHOP-Waffle House Line", which is pretty hilarious.
We didn't eat at a Waffle House, but we did eat at Bob Evans on the way there and Friendly's on the way back. They gave me a free sundae with my meal at Friendly's. It's funny how people will almost always take something if it's "free". I didn't really want a sundae. It had nothing to do with money. I'm sure we could've managed the $2.00 it costs to buy one if I did want one. I just didn't feel like it -- I had been eating like crap all weekend. But, when the waitress offered me a "free" sundae (which just means it's built into the price of the meals), I thought, "Free sundae?! Heck yeah!" So I took it, even though, again, nothing changed from earlier when I intentionally didn't order a sundae, other than the nominally price, which we could have covered from the loose change in our dash.
Giving people fake discounts is a pretty common and from what I can tell effective marketing strategy. I talked about it before in this blog entry. Basically when it comes to businesses, there is no such thing as free, that's why they're businesses, not charities. But pretending there is -- like Southwest Airline's "Bags Fly Free" promotion of Friendly's free sundae deal -- can apparently entice people, even if they know it's BS.
Anyway, on to the baby shower. It was fun. It was Indian-style, so there was way too much food (that's a staple in any cultural festivity, I think, but in this case it was Indian food), there was a lot of banter in dialects I don't understand, and there was a little ceremony that involved touching gifts and having rice thrown on my head. These Indian events usually evolve so that all the men are in one section, all the women are in another section, and then I'm just wandering around. I started playing with the kids after a while, although that's primarily just because I like playing with kids. Few things are more fun than wrestling ten little kids at once.
I also spent some time talking to a couple other whiteys -- a good friend of S has a brother who lives in SC, near S's parents, so he came with his girlfriend. They're pretty cool. They both in the military -- the Army Reserves, or something that. I didn't quite understand it, but I got the impression that they aren't seeing a combat zone anytime soon. It's funny because the guy was eating some pakoras (spicy deep fried vegetables, they're really good), and he suddenly made a face, opened him mouth, and started fanning his mouth and breaking out in a sweat, "Holy Jesus! These things are hot! My mouth is on fire."
I was chowing them down like nothing, "You think these are hot?"
"Uh, ye-ah... I'm sweating here."
"Hmm... I hadn't noticed," I shrugged my shoulders.
I've become that guy. The guy who acts like super spicy food isn't spicy and makes it a point to pretentiously comment on just how un-spicy it is. I've never liked that guy. But the thing is, it honestly didn't even register that they were hot. I wasn't being pretentious; I was being genuine. S puts chilies in just about everything she makes, literally. Mixed vegetable and couscous -- chilies; quiche -- chilies; scrambled eggs -- chilies; guacamole -- chilies; biryani -- well, you get the idea. You just get used to it after a while. In fact, I sometimes get a little worried that I'll become too used to it, and non-spicy things will taste bland to me. I actually make it a point to not eat spicy things very often other than the dinners S makes. I don't want to get to the point where I'm dumping hot sauce in soup or crushed red pepper flakes on pizza, just to make them not taste boring.
Anyway, that's all the time I have this week. But before I go, I want to mention that for those of you who know my brother, he wrote a book. It's a sci-fi / fantasy novella. You should all check it out. You can find info about it on Facebook, just search for my brother's name followed by "(Author)" -- it should come up. (By the way, is the never-ending scroll bar on Facebook not one of the most annoying things in the world?)
Until next time...
When you're driving south you can always tell how far you're getting by the number of Waffle Houses you pass on the way. There was an Onion headline once that read, "Mason-Dixon Line Renamed IHOP-Waffle House Line", which is pretty hilarious.
[Yep, heading south.]
We didn't eat at a Waffle House, but we did eat at Bob Evans on the way there and Friendly's on the way back. They gave me a free sundae with my meal at Friendly's. It's funny how people will almost always take something if it's "free". I didn't really want a sundae. It had nothing to do with money. I'm sure we could've managed the $2.00 it costs to buy one if I did want one. I just didn't feel like it -- I had been eating like crap all weekend. But, when the waitress offered me a "free" sundae (which just means it's built into the price of the meals), I thought, "Free sundae?! Heck yeah!" So I took it, even though, again, nothing changed from earlier when I intentionally didn't order a sundae, other than the nominally price, which we could have covered from the loose change in our dash.
Giving people fake discounts is a pretty common and from what I can tell effective marketing strategy. I talked about it before in this blog entry. Basically when it comes to businesses, there is no such thing as free, that's why they're businesses, not charities. But pretending there is -- like Southwest Airline's "Bags Fly Free" promotion of Friendly's free sundae deal -- can apparently entice people, even if they know it's BS.
[View from the baby shower venue. It looks like a great place to hang out, except it was 100 frickin' degrees outside. It's just as bad in DC. I'm ready for this oppressive heat to be done.]
Anyway, on to the baby shower. It was fun. It was Indian-style, so there was way too much food (that's a staple in any cultural festivity, I think, but in this case it was Indian food), there was a lot of banter in dialects I don't understand, and there was a little ceremony that involved touching gifts and having rice thrown on my head. These Indian events usually evolve so that all the men are in one section, all the women are in another section, and then I'm just wandering around. I started playing with the kids after a while, although that's primarily just because I like playing with kids. Few things are more fun than wrestling ten little kids at once.
I also spent some time talking to a couple other whiteys -- a good friend of S has a brother who lives in SC, near S's parents, so he came with his girlfriend. They're pretty cool. They both in the military -- the Army Reserves, or something that. I didn't quite understand it, but I got the impression that they aren't seeing a combat zone anytime soon. It's funny because the guy was eating some pakoras (spicy deep fried vegetables, they're really good), and he suddenly made a face, opened him mouth, and started fanning his mouth and breaking out in a sweat, "Holy Jesus! These things are hot! My mouth is on fire."
I was chowing them down like nothing, "You think these are hot?"
"Uh, ye-ah... I'm sweating here."
"Hmm... I hadn't noticed," I shrugged my shoulders.
[Baby shower paraphernalia.]
I've become that guy. The guy who acts like super spicy food isn't spicy and makes it a point to pretentiously comment on just how un-spicy it is. I've never liked that guy. But the thing is, it honestly didn't even register that they were hot. I wasn't being pretentious; I was being genuine. S puts chilies in just about everything she makes, literally. Mixed vegetable and couscous -- chilies; quiche -- chilies; scrambled eggs -- chilies; guacamole -- chilies; biryani -- well, you get the idea. You just get used to it after a while. In fact, I sometimes get a little worried that I'll become too used to it, and non-spicy things will taste bland to me. I actually make it a point to not eat spicy things very often other than the dinners S makes. I don't want to get to the point where I'm dumping hot sauce in soup or crushed red pepper flakes on pizza, just to make them not taste boring.
Anyway, that's all the time I have this week. But before I go, I want to mention that for those of you who know my brother, he wrote a book. It's a sci-fi / fantasy novella. You should all check it out. You can find info about it on Facebook, just search for my brother's name followed by "(Author)" -- it should come up. (By the way, is the never-ending scroll bar on Facebook not one of the most annoying things in the world?)
Until next time...
I appreciation the shout-out, but novella? It's 80,000+ words. Novellas are generally considered less than 40,000.
ReplyDeleteIt's a novel dude! :)
Sorry, homes. I read it using Google viewer on the iPad, so it didn't have page numbers or anything. Guess I misjudged the length.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, to everybody else, check out my brother's cool novel.
Yes, it is a novel and it's a fun read. Great for summer when you want something creative and engaging.
ReplyDeleteWell, I just bought a print copy from Amazon, so this "novel" will be proudly displayed on my bookshelf.
ReplyDeleteright on!
ReplyDelete...now just need someone to buy 10,000 more and I'll be sent.