February 05, 2006
Superbowl
So, after a hard afternoon of working from home and eating cheap crap, I decided that I would like some high quality crap for dinner. I was in the mood for steak.
So, I just go down to my local Outback steakhouse. This is in hope that it being Sunday that it wouldn't be too busy. And when I get there, sure enough, it isn't. I just walk right in. I get seated in booth 24. I'm right next to a group of filipino folks. I recognized the Tagalog. They were a bunch of couples, I guess, and at least 3 kids. 2 babys and a toddler who liked to be chased around the restaurant by some older female mommy-type person.
My waitress is some younger curly haired female. She's kinda perky and friendly as waitresses ought to be. I've read the menu and found a lot of interesting things. I order my regular unsweetened iced tea. But, on the drive there, I had many chances to turn away from my first urge to have steak. I stayed the course and I was there. I ordered the Outback Special: 9-ounce version with a Caesar salad and the jacket potato with only butter on it. The steak would be medium which the waitress described as being pink inside with some red in the middle. I said that was fine. Right before leaving the table, she asked me if I wanted any bread and I said yes.
I got my tea and bread. I had out my Palm and I was trying to do a medium level sudoku. I buttered a butt end of black bread and found it difficult to work the palm and eat bread. Man, I'm getting tired of writing this. But, I am committed to writing more in my blog. And so I shall.
I had planned to do sudoku before I ate. For reading, I brought my current library book, Settling Accounts: Drive to the East by Harry Turtledove. This is my practice when I eat alone. But the food was there, the sudoku wasn't finished. And then the salad came.
For salad, I must put away the palm and open the book. Salad can be easily eaten with one hand. I like Caesar's salad. I like the cheesiness. And in Outback, they have these largish croutons that defy being stabbed by the fork. I feel that the croutons make the salad. I hate vegetables. Salad is only palatable due to the dressing and croutons. And it is kinda annoying that the strategy for eating this salad was of using the fork to shovel the salad more than stabbing it. So, I shoveled the salad for a while. And I began the second chapter of my book.
I've almost finished the salad when the steak and potato comes. There was maybe one crouton and a couple more shovels of salad left. But I'm tired of it. And I really wanted steak. The steak is a chubby roundish sirloin. The potato had a couple rounded lumps of butter in it. The first thing I do is to scoop out the butter and put it on my bread plate. I'm doing bad enough eating steak, there's no reason to add insult to injury. I cut up my potato. And then I cut up the steak. It's hard enough to read while eating. It's nigh impossible when you have to cut steak at the same time. So, I cut up the food first so I can read my book and eat at the same time.
So, I read and eat for a while. I'm down to the last couple pieces of steak and potato when over by the bar I hear some clapping. On one of the tv screens I can see some guy running. I turn back to my book and finish my meal.
When the waitress takes the stuff away she asks if I want dessert or anything else. I said just the check and she brings it. I use my cell phone to calculate the tip. And I leave my credit card in the little folder that keeps the check. She takes it away a while and comes back while I read a few more paragraphs. Dammit! I'm not done with the chapter and I'm in the middle of scene. But, I sign the check and I happen to leave just as the filipinos are leaving.
One of the mommy-types is holding a baby boy as I'm putting on my coat. He's looking at me. I think that I want to say hi to the kid, but I don't. I just smile. And I go back to the parking garage and drive home.
Posted by joel at February 5, 2006 09:42 PM