Cheesy Quintessence

In a late celebration of 2006, today we went to Chili’s for the first time ever. That will probably be the last time ever, too, due to the miserable experience there.

To start things off, we were seated in the bar without being asked. Not only that, we were attempted to be seated at a high table rather than a normal table or booth. Now, when we go to other restaurants, we get asked before being seated in the bar; what’s Chili’s problem? After being seated in a booth in the bar, our waiter showed up for our drinks, which took them several minutes to get out to us. After that, refills of our drinks weren’t too prompt either.

Then came the food. It was mediocre. Considering the prices, it was poor. My parents didn’t like their food much, though mine was okay; the corn was pretty good, the fries were good except for being soggy, and the chicken was really tender, but some of the pieces were soggy. I’d have much rather had a similar dish at Cheddar’s for $2 less.

When we were finally done with our food, disgusted by how long it took to get service out of our waiter, we asked for some more to drink, only to have the waiter almost spill water on us by trying to carry too much stuff at once. We wanted dessert, and they seemed to have an inviting dessert, but we decided we didn’t wish to give them any more money. But before we could even pay, we had to go tell them we were ready to pay, because they’d take all day to come back around to give us the bill!

The bill turned out to be about $36. My father left them a tip of $0.16. After that miserable experience, we went on to Cheddar’s for dessert. Therein, the service was fast, courteous, and the dessert was excellent. Our waiter there got a bigger tip on a $4 cake than the waiter at Chili’s got on that $36 meal.

We’ve been having some very cold weather here in Texas lately. It’s been in the 30s all day for the past few days, and it may even snow soon.

I, however, get to express my defiance. My friends know how much I hate cold weather. When the unusually cold weather hit, we uncovered and cleaned up the propane-based Dearborn heater in my room. I had never imagined how much warmth this heater could provide. Right now, it is a chilling 30 degrees Fahrenheit outside. Within the boundaries of my room, however, it is a comfortable 88 degrees. I would go for 90+, but there’s no sense in wasting propane when the current speed is sufficient to provide enough warmth.

Today is my 18th birthday, and I must say that it has been quite excellent. The day started off great at midnight when I opened a package to find a Palm Tungsten E handheld computer. The gorgeous color display on it is absolutely stunning. The fonts are very easy to read, and the interface is amazingly intuitive. My father is very skeptical about the usefulness of these devices, but I have already impressed him by installing a nice calculator and a King James Bible. Having the ability to take notes, make plans, draw, use a calculator, and read the Bible all in a pocket sized device is undoubtedly useful.

Being 18, I can now have an instruction permit for driving without participating in any of that Driver’s Education BS. I passed the test, and have already done some practicing on some county roads. I did not die, obviously, and I did not have a wreck either.

After passing my test, we went to eat at my favorite restaurant, Cheddar’s. As usual, it was most excellent. Cheddar’s, a “casual cafe,” has a selection of American food. The servings are huge, the food is delicious, and the service is fantabulous.

When I got home from my driving practice, I found that I finally have five referrals on freeipods.com, exactly one month after I started! I have already ordered my iPod, so I should be getting it in a few weeks. Hooray!

Today was the first day of the annual Texas tax exemption weekend, meaning all clothes under $100 can be bought without sales tax. While looking for clothes at Wal-Mart, I found a shirt more awesome than anything I’d have ever imagined finding there. Blue with an ancient computer on it, it reads in a computer-like font, “I like it when you talk nerdy.” I will definitely be wearing that one a lot.

But today was more than just shopping for dry goods. While there was no sales tax, I was to be taxed in another way. Today was the day that we were scheduled to go see a baseball game in Round Rock. My father insisted that I, having never experienced a ball game in my life, needed to get to go to one so I could know what it was like. Of course, I brought the cell phone with AIM-GPRS, having only a little knowledge of the traits of the event that I was about to be in…

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We got a new kitten today, and my mother has decided to name him “Zane.”