Food, glorious food

Random fact of the day: The clothes at the Carter's outlet aren't any cheaper than the Carter's that Kohl's carries. Save yourselves the trip, friends.

Hearing aids: When I'm eating out on my own, I surprise myself sometimes by how often I use my hearing aids to make my culinary decisions for me. For example, I used to loathe food places that required me to direct someone behind the counter how to make my meal. Subway. Chipotle. Etc. It's stressful trying to to juggle the part of my brain that's still in the process of figuring out what I want to eat and the part that's trying to keep up with what the person behind the counter is asking. I've pretty much gotten over this at Chipotle. I have it all memorized. "What can I get for you? What kind of beans? What kind of meat? What kind of salsa? Cheese? Sour cream? Anything else?" (answers would be: burrito bol, no beans, chicken, mild, just a little cheese, lettuce. And chips and salsa. Mild. Please and thank you). See, I've got it down to a science. I mean really, Chipotle is just so heavenly that any communication obstacles I endure are well worth it.

Subway, on the other hand, seems to be primarily employed by the surliest people in America. I don't think they like their jobs there. Anyway, it's stressful trying to keep track of what kind of bread and what kind of cheese and which one of the four different kinds of chicken and do I want it toasted and what constitutes a $5 footlong AND trying to not piss off the person behind the counter by asking them to repeat themselves every time they ask a question. Pass.

I love Planet Sub but I gotta say, not wild about their method of delivery. I like it when we order P-Sub at work because then the order is in one person's name, we all go down (it's one floor below us at work) to pick it up (paying separately) and all I have to do is wait for my co-workers to point to me so I know it's my turn to pay. Otherwise, if you order something at Planet Sub, they give you a card - as in a card from a deck of playing cards - then you have to listen to them call out the card name. Queen of hearts, jack of spades, five of diamonds, etc. Lordy, I can't even hear them call my NAME at Panera much less have to listen to the name of a card. Pass.

And at Panera, if I'm not with a friend who can listen for my name for me, I just watch the food counter like a hawk and grab what I hope is my plate and hope and pray no one else ordered the exact same thing! ;)

I've blogged before about the perils of drive-thrus. But at the end of the day, I figure this isn't a horrible thing. I eat out less because going INTO a fast food restaurant is just too much work and I'm not brave enough to bypass the drive-thru and go straight to the window to place my order. So I cook more or at least I can console myself with the fact that Chipotle is fresher than most other places. All you calorie counters can just hush right now.

In other news: I seriously need a dog. Or a subscription to eHarmony. All this alone doing isn't boding well, friends. I'm thinking about volunteering at a hospital. The application is mostly ready, I just need to send it in. The reasons for the delay are twofold: 1) the application is buried somewhere on my desk and I'm too lazy to look for it and 2) I'm planning to send it in after my brother's wedding. Weekends are filling up fast already with showers and such. Let the festivities begin!

A month or so ago, I decided to reserve a couple of movies at my local friendly Redbox kiosk. But when I got there, the machine wasn't working, so I went to the nearest Redbox down the block and luckily, they had the titles I wanted, so I got them there instead. I emailed Redbox to report the problem and ask for a refund for the amount the debited me at the first Redbox for movies I never picked up. Instead, they sent me four free codes to use. So basically, four free movies. I redeemed two of them this weekend and let me just say I'm glad they were free.

The Invention of Lying - I was expecting more from this one but I just felt kind of angry when it was over. It gave the impression - in my opinion, at least - that religion is a lie and just something we use to make ourselves feel better. And it wasn't that funny, which I thought was odd considering it had people like Tina Fey, Ricky Gervais and Jonah Hill in it. But maybe that humor was just lost on me.

Love Happens - wasn't terrible, just kind of long. The ending was good, but it took a while to get there. And I kept getting distracted thinking about how much Aaron Eckhart looks like Andy Samberg.

Anyone else been watching Parenthood on NBC? Love it. Makes me laugh and cry all at once.

The big question looming over me lately: What do I want to do with my life? Besides take over the world and all that jazz, of course.

Good night, interwebs.