Does anybody read these?

Fine Dining and Job-hunt update...

I went on a business trip with my aunt last night. She's in meetings right now, and I'm one of those folks who bilks every single minute out of a hotel before it's time to check out. I just wish that I'd have read the profile for the right hotel online so I'd have known there was a fitness center and a hot tub. Everyone who knows me knows that if I go to a hotel with those amenities my gym bag comes with me. It'll be going with me to Nashville next week. I try not to get out of my workout routine if I can.

Last night my aunt and I went to a chain restaurant that was attached to the hotel. It was kind of a middle-of-the-line kind of chain, apparently well-known for its barbecue ribs. It has a sports bar kind of feel to it. It was nice. The drinks were great, and I taught the waitress about the Porn Star (half Razzmatazz and half blue curacao), but I had the electric lemonade (gin, vodka, rum, blue curacao and sweet and sour). Generally, if you put blue curacao in a drink, I'm in. Which is one way I'm different from Rosalie; she HATES blue drinks. Craziness.

Anyhow, the appetizer we had was some sort of spicy egg rolls. Very good. Then dinner came, and it went downhill for me. I am addicted to barbecue pork. It is probably my favorite sandwich to get when I am at a restaurant. I already told Amy that she should expect some good southern barbecue when we're in Tennessee next week. Once the Hard Rock Cafe opened in Detroit, I got addicted to their Pig Sandwich, which is barbecue pork with fries, baked beans and cole slaw. The barbecue sauce on that sandwich is absolutely perfect. I guess I must be spoiled. I'm one of those folks who actually likes the food at the Hard Rock, so I'll eat there when I am around one. Well, I figured a place that specialized in barbecue ribs could probably make one helluva pulled pork sandwich. Oh, how wrong I was. It tasted like that barbecue pork you can get in the fridge case at the grocery store. Totally processed and disappointing. But, it wasn't that expensive and it was OK, so I didn't say anything.

Unlike the guy at the table next to me. He was complaining about everything. Why did they only have broccoli as a vegetable? Could he get this instead of that? Wah wah wah wah. Finally I see the manager come over to his table. Then he asked to talk to her boss. And all I could think was, "Buddy, this is not a fancy place. For what you're paying and where you are, this place is not bad. It's not like you are at Ruth's Chris or something." I think that is my pet peeve about restaurant patrons. I used to know this girl that when we went to ANY restaurant, from Burger King to Olive Garden, she was amazingly demanding and asked 80 million questions. It bugged the hell out of me and made me not want to go out to eat with her.

In Detroit, there is this neighborhood restaurant called Ram's Horn, that is kinda along the lines of Denny's or Big Boy but the food is better at most locations. My friend Lori and I used to go there every Tuesday night. And people would get such attitude about the quality of their food. I just wanted to go to their tables and ask them what they really expected from an $8 steak dinner and tell them to stop abusing the waitresses. If I am getting bad service or my order is wrong or my food is not edible, I will complain. But if food seems like it's up to par with what you're paying, I don't see the point in complaining. If it's what they promised but not exactly what I expected, that's my fault. There have been times I've told waitresses off or asked to see the manager, but 9 times out of 10, I find they are delivering what they promised.

Maybe I should be more demanding. But generally I think that I'm just pretty easygoing and generally tend to enjoy most dining experiences for what they're worth. I guess no matter how many times I see it, I am still annoyed and a little pissed off when I see people who act like children because they went to a two-star restaurant and expected a four-star experience.

One last note on restaurants. Whenever I come to the big city, I like to go to all the restaurants I miss from living in Detroit. I can't wait until I am in Nashville and can go to places like Panera whenever I want. So, driving around this morning I saw some locations of some of my old haunts. It's amazing how much you miss a place like Caribou Coffee when you live in the middle of nowhere.

I promised a job-hunt update. I got a GREAT lead yesterday. There's a job opening in the publicity department of a record label in Nashville. A BIG label. I am sure a zillion people will apply for it, but I am going to toss my name into the hunt. I don't think I am going to have any trouble finding a job there, and I think I am going to totally be in my element living in the Music City.

Also, this morning while I was in the shower I got a great idea for my little communications firm I'm starting. (NO, it was not a name, unfortunately.) It will just be one component of the work that I am doing, and I'm pretty excited about it. If I can pull it off. I'll be doing more research while I'm done there next week. I am hoping that I'll be able to get the ball rolling and y'all will hear about it first, just as soon as I get all my irons in the fire. We'll see...

While I'm on that subject, I wanted to thank all of my dear readers and friends who have been encouraging me and praying for me during the job search. We are nowhere near the point where we should be panicking about the job situation, but I appreciate all the good thoughts coming my way. I cannot wait until I get a new opportunity so we can all celebrate together.

posted by Laura at 8:49 AM