Steve Goes to Court and Makes Six Dollars

I went to Court today! It was a lot of fun. It came with a free bus ticket, but the bus wouldn't take me there when I wanted it to. Then I waited in a line. It took forever! Then I went through Security, just like the airport. I was really sorry when the gate went BEEPBEEPBEEP at me after I walked through it, but the man ignored me. Then I got into a big room with other people. A movie played that talked about why I was there. I felt special. Then a lady told me I could go home. They gave me a certificate and I made $6! Hooray!

JU$TICE

Fried Chicken replacement

William's Fried Chicken downtown at Akard and Elm closed. Big huge frown there. It wasn't a bad walk at all to the fav fried chicken establishment.

But it was a good opportunity to find a replacement. And to that end, I introduce Brother's Fried Chicken in East Dallas. It's at the corner of Gaston and Fitzhugh. The shack features a drive-through and an ordering stand. No seating. And the drive-through was made complicated by the security bars. And the purchase was made complicated by the credit card machine being down. Actually, no. I think it's a good thing I did not try to shove a credit card through those bars.

But daaaaaamn, does their stuff taste good. Nice flavoring in the batter, although my wife says it's too much salt or spice or something. Our family meal came with white bread, and we also ordered fries and okra. Tasty.

I don't know what the heck the Guide is thinking when they rate it a 4-star. That involves a certain level of service and atmosphere. And I would expect the bread to be homemade. But it's good fried chicken.

Compelling Prosticution

This topic is dated a couple weeks, but I feel it must be documented.

So I get this postcard in the mail from the Texas Department of Public Safety, "NOTICE OF HIGH-RISK SEX OFFENDER IN COMMUNITY". Well specifically, my building. It says a dude moved in that is currently on probation. His offense? Compelling prostituion. Age of Victim? 13. He pimped a 13-year old. So much wrong there. 

The next day, each of the residents gets a letter from the building management. Apparently, this guy listed an apartment in the building as his home address, even though he's never lived here. So building management was working with the Dallas Police Department, and a felony arrest warrant was put out for the dude for registering a false address.

It's also nice to know that my building's management would never have rented a place to a sex offender.

I kind of wonder what happened. Hmm. The PD's website only says "Absconded or Disappeared" under his address.

Mignon

Really liked Mignon. Except the location. But Plano just gives me a rash in general. Most folks were dressed business casual, although the few that wore shorts or a t-shirt seemed to feel out of place when they saw the few of us who wore a jacket.

Service was great, including a follow-up by the chef. Our waiter was new, though, so he couldn't dole advice on the whole wine list. Being a full four-stars, I also expected more attention to the flatware (ate my salad with a dinner fork) and the post-course debris.

But who gives a crap. My peppercorn steak was served up medium-rare, according to recommendation, on a bed of spinich-mushroom risotto. I don't normally do the medium-rare, but this worked well. And the risotto's flavor was still in my mind the next day. There was some sort of wine reduction in there. It was nice to be that affected by a flavor.

Silver Fox Richardson

Hmm. What to say about my visit to the Silver Fox steakhouse in Richardson last month. Nice, but not classy sums it up. It's like the wanna-be richer-place. It's located in a Richardson strip center off George Bush. There was no valet. The bartender swore. Dress was casual.

On the up side, it's convenient to that area, it's come as you are, and our waiter, at least, knew exactly what he was doing.

The food was great, although there was some confusion regarding sides since there were no potato-type things listed. Each plate comes with a side, although I can't remember at this point what it was. (My apologies - there were personal issues taking place at the time.) The wine list also features the Messina Hof vineyard in Texas.

Nobu

Went to Nobu for Restaurant Week, although I've had a hard time finding the motivation to write about it. There was much socializing that night, so my focus wasn't on the food. So I'll have to keep this to a brief guide.

1) Nobu is in the Crescent Court. Valet is $4. I think you can park your own car in the garage downstairs, but there is probably also a fee.

2) Although a nice place, men, you don't need a jacket. You won't be out of place with or without one. It was however slightly warm in there.

3) The service was friendly, efficient, and helpful. I would have preferred it to be slightly less intrusive.

4) The dining atmosphere is not intimate, most if not all of the restaurant is in one large room with high ceilings.

As for the food, I only remember it being tasty. Describing it further would be inaccurate. I seem to remember liking the Olivier LaFlaive '04 Chardonnay though.

Road Rash

My previous theory does not seem to be holding. Since riding the train, I haven't encountered the bizarre and unusual as I have in the past. Not even a racial slur. Just a lot of bums chasing me for my change.

But I did have an adventure recently nonetheless. This involved me, my Trek 1000 racing bike, morning traffic, riding parallel to trolley tracks on McKinney, an attempted 30-degree left turn onto Harwood, my thin wheels alternating from falling into the rut between the rail and the asphalt and losing traction on the smooth surface of the rail, both wheels slipping out from underneath me, and the left side of my body slamming onto the asphalt in the middle of McKinney Avenue.

The result is a bloody elbow that's still oozing puss, a strained ab, bruised hip, and a minor cut at my ankle. Well, my bike's important too, so it's going to need its alignment done, and the shifting mechanism got twisted around the handlebar.

Lessons:
1) Cycling in rush hour is stupid, even when it's just a couple miles from the Katy Trail back to your apartment in Downtown Dallas. Uptown is particularly bad since the streets that get you back to Downtown are limited.

2) Crossing streetcar lines with racing tires works best at 90-degree angles. In fact, that may be the only way I care to do that ever again. I would have still taken Harwood, but I would have crossed one street at a time like a pedestrian.

3) I feel stupid, irresponsible, and lucky to be alive.