50 50 Finally!!!

Here it FINALLY is, the pics & my take on Slater's 50/50 Burger!!! The pictures were from just over a year back, which was the last time I was there. Stacked, I'd been to more recently, but it's closer (more on that later) and the wait is usually less.

First food shot is their vampire dip, which is amazing. Roasted garlic, cheese & artichoke dip! Served in a sourdough bread bowl with fried pita chips, cut & pasted from their website (the description, not the photo). Damn, now I want some!!! Probably shouldn't be doing a food post when I'm hungry!!!

Next shot is my first born's creation. Sloppy!!! Almost always translates to delicious, and this was no exception.

And there's the wife with the younger, and her creation.

It's been more than a year, so I don't remember most of it, but I think it was their featured Cinco de Mayo burger, I want to say with chorizo instead of bacon in the 50/50 blend, but don't quote me. Probably jalapenos and it sure looks like black bean and corn salsa.

There I am, with my creation. Don't know what all it had for sure, but I know this: bleu cheese, garlic aioli (which spell check doesn't seem to recognize,but suggests ravioli, which might be pretty good!!!), and grilled onions were in there!!!

Next shot reveals that dill pickle and tomato were also involved, which sounds like what I'd get!!! Probably more than that, in sauces, as baconnaise is also on the menu. In the background is the first born's again, and in the center was the subject of that particular shot, a little sample of their chili!!! It sounded too much to have on the burger with all the other deliciousness involved, but almost every time I go to a place with chili, I want to see how they've done. I think my consensus was fairly tasty but nothing that would put it over the top. In other words, nothing like mine or Tommy Burgers!!! Good of them to let me try a taste, tho!!!

Funny thing, though, for all the bacon included in the burger patty, I really don't taste it that much... kinda defeats the purpose!!!

And the younger, what does he get??? Grilled cheese!!! Not a bigly adventurous eater (although I'm pretty sure he had some vampire dip, and probably ate of the bread bowl containing it), but look at how he's attacking his food!!! Probably had more to do with the 45 minute drive to get there and the two hour wait once you're there!!! But hey, the burgers are made with 50% sirloin and 50% bacon!!!

So why now do I finally do a post on Slater's 50/50 Burger??? Because I recently found out about another build-a-burger spot nearby, The Counter. WAY closer to home for me than either 50/50 or Stacked, and when we made it there yesterday, there was no waiting for a table!!! Looking at 50/50's website so I could link to it in this post, however, and I see there's now another location, probably a mile closer than The Counter!!! Of course, it's in Old Town Pasadena, where it's going to cost you to park, and if it's like the other ones I've been to, there's the wait. Also, I think that The Counter ended up being just a tad less pricey than Stacked, and a fair amount less than 50/50. Probably the next time I visit The Counter I'll bring along my camera and feature it!!!

But, oh, that vampire dip!!!

A Little Random

Several things happen between posts. Here's a few!!!

My older boy had his birthday celebration. Once again, the torch has been passed, and he did his own cake. A bit thick on the lettering (he needs to do a smaller hole in the bag), but it was pretty decent.

If you don't know, it's the Black Star logo from Soul Eater.

On a slightly related topic, one of the guys at work was asking me if I was into Manga and Anime. I reply that my boys are, and he starts going on about Bleach and how he's recently gotten into it and how there's like 250 or more of them.

Also related: the boys think they should dress as the brothers from Full Metal Alchemist for Halloween this year. The size scale between them is about right. Geek it up to the max!!!

Something we got him, a pair of Fila Skele-toes. Yes, he only has four toes. Four per foot, that is, he isn't some kind of freak or anything. Well, not a four toed freak, anyway.

Took my younger boy to his first Dodger game today. It turned out to be a real good game, not a shame. They haven't been doing that great this season, but they pulled out a 5-3 win over the Cardinals. Good times!!!

This little doodle is from one of the guys at work. He did a similar one on one of my cover sheets with "EZ $" written next to him. "Easy money!!!" is one of those things I say when I get an easy batch at work (or a difficult one, in scarcasim).

SO, my younger boy had his turn to do some white board artwork. He had no idea what to do, so I showed him this one, and told him to do his rendition. Not bad, and he added a few personal touches!!!

That very day he was doing some Biology or Health homework. Beneath it he drew a pretty good rendition of the human eye!!!

Finally, a little scrap of paper that was in with some product at work. I though, when I first saw it, that it was a picture of a despondent robot!!! Don't know what it actually was, for all I know it might just have been!!!

Renaissance, Man!!!

Last weekend the boys and I did something I think about most every year, but until then never managed to do. We went to the Renaissance Pleasure Faire!!! It was a great time!!!

It gave us a chance to geek it up a little, too. I had a white shirt with a black and white pattern on either side of the opening that was plausible. The older broke out his ninja gauntlets and boots, tied bandannas around the ankles (they're kinda small now...) and found a black shirt with white on either side of the opening, kinda opposite to mine. The younger had the shoulder guard and cape from last year's Halloween, this time with a dark hoodie, that came out pretty good!!!

First place we saw right after entering was an eatery. However, they had a helmet on the table that the younger wanted to try on. Went pretty good with his outfit, actually!!!

Next place we stopped in at was a couple of brothers doing a juggling act!!! They were great, both at juggling and at the routine and theatrics!!! As witness to their juggling skills, the wooden battle ax wasn't part of their props, but something the kid in the front row was holding!!!

But THIS was one of the main attractions for the older boy!!!

Turkey leg!!! I bought myself a bratwurst with sauteed onions.

Down to the bone!!! Which he saved, originally thinking to give it to the neighbor's dog, but now he's thinking knife handle.

The younger had wanted to bring a bow and arrows... This worked out better, I think!!!

Aye, the only picture I got of myself!!!

Geese and goslings in the pond there. Another first, the grounds there I've been driving by for more than 20 years, probably, and this was the first time I've actually been in!!! I've got more pictures I may do as another post...

And there's the older, wearing the younger's shoulder guard & cape arrangement. Works nicely, huh???

The younger had to take it off, to go on the trampoline-bungee cord rig there!!!

Dr. Who reference FTW!!! There was a tad of that other places here and there, too. In fact, the older had been considering going as the Dr. to this event, too.

One of the other things we were impressed by was the falconry show.

Owls, hawks, and a peregrine falcon. The peregrine falcon went off on a little tangent a couple of times, going after other birds flying through the area!!!

The joust "to the death" was a great spectacle, too. Hint for photography, though, don't get a seat directly behind a pole!!!

After one was knocked from his steed, various other combat ensued. Not only implementing a bullwhip, but lighting it on fire!!! The first few cracks after dousing and igniting it produced impressive balls of fire!!!

What, exactly, are you proposing here???

Fairly late in the afternoon... he wasn't just putting it on, he was OUT!!!

Confused???

Steampunk goes just fine at the faire, too!!!

And one (well, two) last things as an attraction...

Pushed up,

pushed together,

and displayed nicely!!!

Upskirt Beatdown

One of the girls I work with related this true story that had recently happened in her family. I loved it, as did most everyone I've shared it with, and thought it was one of the best I've heard in a while. I will do my best to relate it here:

She has several kids. One of them it a first grade girl. One day, she is wearing a skirt to school. A boy classmate gets it in his head to take a peek up her skirt to see if she's got on shorts or panties, and proceeds to do so. She took exception to this, and to express her displeasure with the situation, gives the boy a black eye!!!

Naturally, this does not go unnoticed by the powers that be at the school, and the parents all get called in. The school has decided not to exact any types of punishments against either of the kids. The boy's mother was quite upset, and the girl's mother tells her that her boy got off easy, her girl knows how to aim for balls!!! Anyway, no punishments by the school, but (to my co-worker) "You should have a talk with your daughter about more appropriate ways to deal with this."

She takes her daughter out for ice cream, and tells her, "Good job, you did just fine."

The Color of Money

First off: I withdrew a fair sum of cash to purchase a car. My older boy tells me, "You've got to do the obligatory pose with the cash!!!"

So here it is!!! $2,500, now that's gangsta!!!

That's been a couple weeks now. I've been looking since. The first one that I really liked (from the description) was from a company that auctions off charity donation vehicles. It's a 1998 Saturn SW2, same year as my SC2. Has the leather interior, power windows & locks, and cruise control, but the big selling point for me was that it only had 43,000 miles!!!

As you can see, it looks like it's in great condition, too. Turned out to be slightly less in person, with a series of scratches on the back quarter and scraped up bumper corners. More troubling was a screech from the water pump area when it was first fired up. It did go away after running around ten minutes. Both back windows weren't working right, and the passenger side one had clear RTV silicone on the bottom edge. The parking brake was lacking, too.

Still, with that low of miles, I figured it'd be worth at least $2,700, and I was prepared to go all the way up to $3,250 or so. Mostly I was hoping that no one would be interested in a 15 year old station wagon. I got a couple of bids in, but it quickly went higher than I was willing to go. I've never been to a vehicle auction before, it was pretty cool. However, in addition to whatever you bid, they tack on an additional 10%. And $55 for the smog check. AND $55 for a paperwork fee. I was taking that into account while the bidding commenced.

After that, I looked around to see what else there was (although I've been keeping a pretty close eye on CraigsList) and a new one had popped up. Similar to the one at the auction, but a 2001 model with a lot more miles on it. The asking price was $2,200, and there were no pictures.

We went over that evening to check it out. The owners were a senior couple from England, the original owners. It ran just fine, and has its share of dings and such, but I thought it was well worth the asking price. It hadn't been smogged yet, so I was ready to leave a deposit contingent on them getting a smog check. The guy asks me what I thought of the price, and I told him I thought it was completely in line with what he was selling. He said he'd knock $200 off to take it and get it painted. You may have noticed the corners of the bumper have been painted where it had been scraped up.

I put her in Paint Shop Pro, and was attempting to modify it into a sedan delivery, but it came out looking more like dark tint. That's OK, I had been thinking that needed to be done, too.

My wife is over the moon about her new car. I told her "Happy Birthday!!!" As you can see, she's not the only one!!!

The Happy Easter Post

Going a little random here, as I am wont to do!!!

To start off with, a couple of whiteboard artworks!!! The first is by my firstborn, the ancient enigma!!!

The second is my own creation. The text is from the examine of the mysterious statues in Runescape, "it's eyes stare off into the distance..."

I liked the mysterious statues better before the graphical update.

Not a lot new in the old cup art department, but I did do up this design for my 512 on my current one. I liked the way it came out. I was aiming for a bit of a Southwest look, but it missed by a bit, I think. Still like it.

The next shot is related to the boy's Birthday post. With his birthday money he bought himself a skateboard that he'd really wanted. He used it quite a bit at first, but has tapered off a lot. Seems like the wheel bearings are shot on it already, I'll see about some replacements if he promises to practice on it some more.

Finally onto the Easter festivities, here's a couple of shots of the egg hunt!!! In a move reminiscent of one seven years ago, I hid one in plain sight. It took quite a bit of hot and cold before he found it.

You can see the enlightenment on his face as he spots it!!! One of those classic perfect timing shots!!!

Good times!!!

In other not so good times news, poor Janices' transmission seems to be on it's last legs. I'm no expert, but I think it's lost the high gear band or bands, as the case may be. Naturally, right after I replace the battery again!!! Once again, I'm no expert, but I'm thinking around $1500 to have the trans done, and it's just not worth it to me. I'd totally get another one (being as I've got a good running engine in her, lifetime starter albeit not that great at staying working, and lifetime motor mounts albeit in need of being replaced already, and good tires and fresh rear axle shafts and good brakes and a new radio... all things I'd at least consider swapping over) AND there's a guy selling the rarer and more coveted 2-door coupe version in great condition (with the exception of a blown engine) with a fresh rebuilt trans for $1000... I really didn't want to get into another project like that!!! ANyway, my wife drives her more than I do (somehow that became her car) and since diesel fuel has been consistently higher than gasoline for the past few years... she's up for something else. She'd like a small, fuel efficient 4-door with decent hauling room, and even seems to more inclined towards a wagon of some kind. Ideally, I think (and she likes the idea, too) a low miles Saturn SW wagon of around the vintage of Baby would be awesome. We are quite pleased with the reliability, performance and mileage of our current Saturn, and I've got a couple of lifetime parts on her already. Alternatively, I've always liked the Subaru Legacy wagons and have heard good of their reliability. VW Passat, Escort (or better yet Mercury Tracer), or perhaps even Focus or Accord wagons might be acceptable, if we were to find nice condition, fairly low mile, and well optioned models in our price range. So far I've attempted to get in touch with four. One kept bouncing my E-mails back and undeliverable, another I left a message and never heard back, another was actually a stone's throw from our home and I cruised by and saw the guy getting out of it. Rolled down the window and asked if he wanted to sell it, and he said he'd changed his mind!!! The fourth was already sold. Sigh, car shopping.