Another one bites the dust

A couple weeks ago, I made reservations at Jeroboam for tonight. I've been wanting to try the restaurant for years now. This evening, being a downtown block party with specials at local restaurants and shops, provided an excellent opportunity to sample the chef's wares at a discount.

Except my wife and I walked over there and there's a piece of paper in the door windows saying that Jeroboam had closed and thanked us for our patronage. That's twice in 6 days.

The rumor's been out for a while that the restaurant was closing. Since it was featured in the Downtown Partnership's flyer, I figured the rumor was going to be untrue at least until the block party season was over. I also figured that when I was making reservations, they could have told me that they weren't actually going to be around then. One big wtf.

So my wife and I wound up at our mainstay Porta di Roma.

Pandora is closed / Fuse for downtown sushi

Emily and I walked to Pandora this evening. We opened the door and there was interior work being done. No reception, no valet. So I guess it's closed. Kind of a bummer since I hadn't even tried it yet.

Wound up at Fuse since we were hankering for sushi. I had the Tex-Asian Gespacho Soup to start. It sounded good on the menu, as it described scallops, avacado, and olive oil. But then I got it and the base was a thick tomato juice. Now if you're into bloody marys then this thing's for you. But I hate those things, and the consistency was not pleasing to my stomach. The waiter, whom I thought was rather helpful, removed the soup from the bill.

I really liked the Savignon Blanc glass I had. I think the vineyard was Forefathers? Nose reminded me of fields of dandelions. Like playing in the grass as a kid.

As for the main course, we had sushi. All I gotta say is that dungeoness crab ownz j00.

Oh right, the music. More Thievery popping up here. Lebanese Blond was played, which Emily says she hears everywhere now that it's been on the Garden State soundtrack. I could swear one of their earlier tracks was also on the list, but if it was it was heavily remixed.

I didn't die last night

Took the blue line to Cedars station (on the south side of downtown) last night to a bar. I was the only white dude on the train. As it went past the convention center, I started remembering the time Mark got his car towed. To south Dallas. And we picked it up at 10:30pm. Which is another story entirely.

But really, the train took me a block and a half from where I was going and there was a giant police station headquarters between the station and the bar. I would have been pissed if I got murdered along the way...dead but pissed.

Chick tried to walk in stupid...omg i'm a dick

So I had taken my seat on the Red Line at St. Paul and started staring out the window when I saw some chick walking along the platform in complicated heels. She wasn't doing too hot and it seemed like she was hobbling. The Nispy demo "Chick tried to walk in stupid shoes" came to mind. And then I realized that she was hobbling because one of her legs was slightly gimped.

I'm such a dick.

Dart's pre-canned apology

Thank you for your e-mail to Dallas Area Rapid Transit.

Rest assured this is not the quality of service DART intends to deliver. A copy of your e-mail will be forwarded to our Transportation staff in order to have the operator identified, counseled and reprimanded. Additionally supervisors will be alerted and assigned to monitor for on-time performance.

Again, please accept our most sincere apologies for any inconvenience experienced. We hope that you will continue to allow us the opportunity to serve your transportation needs.

Sincerely

DART Customer Care

No 8:12 train this morning

Got screwed by DART today.

Every day to work, I take the red line from St. Paul to Arapaho. Then I take the 571 bus from Arapaho which takes me right by my office. Since the bus runs every 30-45 minutes in the morning, I have to time which train I take so I don't stand around waiting for the bus. Today, as usual, I was going to take the 8:12 from St. Paul.

Well today, it didn't show. At all. It wasn't late. It wasn't early. Just nothing until the 8:22am Red Line showed up.

I get to Arapaho just in time to watch the 571 bus leave the station. The next bus wasn't leaving for 45 minutes, so I had to walk it to work. Given the heat at 9am, I arrived at my desk drenched in my own sweat.

The DART website doesn't have any rider alerts for the red line. Will I get screwed again tomorrow? I have no clue.

This isn't the first time something like this has happened since I started my new job. Taking the train already adds maybe an hour onto my commute a day (over driving). I may not buy a September monthly pass.

See you in the funny pages

Normally when someone on the streets is desperately trying to get your attention with the phrase "Excuse me! Excuse me!", the person wants your money for booze or whatever. Except this morning, the guy has a sweet 35mm camera, so I gave him some credit. A bum would have sold the thing for black tar or whatever.

"Are you going to work?"

"Yeah."

(paraphrasing) "I'm a photographer with the Wall Street Journal doing a piece on casual clothes in the workplace. I like your look. Can I take your photo?" I was wearing a zep t-shirt and ripped-up jeans.

So I laughed, walked toward him but looking off somewhere else while he took about a dozen shots.