To all the men out there with kids, or who are the fatherly role models to kids, Happy Fathers Day.
Winco Carts
The Winco on Fairview finally got new shopping carts. Thanks, Winco.
Idaho Fry Company Visited
Okay, I couldn’t wait any longer. The thought of having a nice juicy hamburger was starting to get to me.
I had some errands to run which took me over to the east side of town. Coincidentally this is where the Idaho Fry Company is located. I found it up by the intersection of Warm Springs and Broadway in that little strip mall on the South West corner. I parked my car and walked on in. There were 2 people eating inside and 2 people eating outside. I walked up to the counter and the cashier asked if I had ever been in before. “No” of course, but she didn’t know that. I politely said no and she then explained the menu. I ended up getting the special which was a hamburger, small fries, and a drink. Doctor Pepper. The fries were country style Russets.
The place was a bit sterile. Meaning it lacked some character. There is a flat screen on the wall but I noticed very little else. I believe there was some art for sale. The prices were pretty steep. $200 and up.
I got my hamburger and fries (sorry, no picture) . The drink came before the meal which I don’t mind. The burger wasn’t Carl’s Junior big but it wasn’t White Castle small, either. It was about average size. The bun wasn’t your standard bun. It had some flavor to it. I think the hamburger patty was hand formed. It didn’t appear like it was delivered by a truck, frozen solid to the wax paper that separated it from a thousand other patties. The lettuce and onions were crisp and fresh. The fries were hot and served in a cone of all things. Kinda weird but, it worked. Who am I to complain. Food is food.
The fries were good. They were your standard fries. Not like Wendys or McDonalds, Crisp little potato nails you dipped in the secret sauce. These were thick and pliable and hot. You actually thought you were eating something that came from a potato. I got the Chipotle fry sauce. YUMMY.
I will complain about the platter upon which the burger was served. It was a small 4″ x 8″ (or so it seemed) cutting board. No lip on this thing and no paper either. Just a flat piece of plastic… with a hole on one side. Yeah. That didn’t work for me. But hey, it didn’t affect the taste of the burger which was good.
I bit into the burger and it was good as far as burgers go. It wasn’t VERY good. But, it was good. There was something missing to the burger though. I didn’t really figure it out until earlier today. The burger was too… clean. Too neat. The pieces and parts didn’t fit together if that makes any sense. If you go to a barbecue and you get a burger there it always seems like the best burger. The buns are big, the patty is thick and juicy and hot. When the bun, patty, and condiments are all combined, it seems like they were made for each other. The bun is soaking up the meats juices. And with every bite it seems to get juicier and messier. The cheese starts to slide around giving the onion a chance to escape. That is a burger. The burger I got behaved itself. If that is what you like. Go for it. The taste was good. I would go back for another meal. The cost was about $8.00.
Idaho Fry Company
I ran across the name of a new local eatery, the Idaho Fry Company, and wanted to find out where it was located since I had never heard of it and I really like going to new places. So, I did a search on Google and found an article at the Idaho Statesman that discussed the Idaho Potato Commissions insistence that the Idaho Fry Company change its name.
This piqued my curiosity. I’m an “armchair lawyer” and enjoy inserting my legal opinion on most things. This means I have no formal education in the law. Quite frankly, I have NO education in the law.
I am gathering from the article I read that there is some sort of trademark violation concerning the term “Idaho Fry”. Or, actually, there is a possible trademark violation. The article wasn’t very clear on the matter so I went to the “the Idaho Fry Company” website and found out exactly what the problem is. Apparently the Idaho Potato Commission has a trademark on the word “Idaho”.
“Blake – This name is a problem. Idaho™ is our trade name.”
How can you trademark the name of a state? In addition how can you ask a business in Idaho not to use the word Idaho in the name of their business? Has the IPC contacted the State and asked them to change their name to maybe… “An Idaho” and not “The Idaho” as is implied simply by calling itself Idaho?
I think the IPC should only have a problem if the Idaho Fry Company advertised that they were the sole distributor of fried Idaho potatoes since it seems to me the IPC is more centered around the potato and not Idaho specifically. If I started a business called “the Idaho T-Shirt Company” would this be a problem? I doubt it.
If they do change their name I have two suggestions… “the Boise Fry Company”, or “the Northwest Fry Company”.
I just hope nobody has claim to “Boise” or “Northwest”.
I’m gonna find my way over to the Idaho Fry Company sometime this week and try a hamburger. I’m a big fan of the burger.
Is blogging dead?
Seriously. Is Blogging dead? There are countless blogs out there so the answer is obviously no. But that isn’t really the answer I was looking for. There are millions of blogs. Some blogs were started to give a voice to the author. Some were started to convey information to the reader. Some were started to make money. Of all those started how many no longer do it? How many blogs are sitting there gathering dust. Nobody has posted to it in months or even a year or more?
Sure, blogs are started everyday. how many more of them are abandoned everyday.
This blog will sometimes go for a month without a post. That my friends is a no-no in the blogging world. But, hey, so what. I’m still typing the words now and then. I have nobody relying on this to get them through the day. so, no biggie.
Back to the question. Is Blogging DEAD? I’m gonna stick my neck out and say that if it isn’t dead. It is dying.
If that is the truth. Then what is coming along to replace it? Twitter? I hope not.
Just a thought that crossed my mind. I thought I would throw it out there for some conversation. Let me know what you think.
I’ve Seen Them
I’ve seen these dogs. They aren’t your average lap dog.
Where are the Electric Cars?
I ran into a fella one day while I was out working. He used to sell cars here in Boise. To make a long story short he tells me that he tried to sell electric cars here a short while ago but was denied permission from whomever it is that gives permission.
New theme
A new theme. I think I’ll stick with this one and work with it a bit more.
Whats up with the blogs?
I was slinking around the internet today and ran across a huge list of websites. This one was listed in it as well. I also noticed another domain name with the words ‘Boise’ and ‘blog’ in it. Not fearing competition I decided to do a search of all the domains listed with those two words in them. Their were quite a few. 23 in this list to be exact. I decided to look at most of them to see what they were writing about. The majority covered real estate.
Why are there so many real estate blogs? I know the internet is a good way to get the word out but it seems to me that the real estate marketers are kinda saturating the blog aspect of real estate marketing. Those sites were just the ones with the two words I mentioned earlier. How many other real estate blogs are out there?
A bit of a boring subject, I know. Get over it.
Oh, wanted to throw a shout out to my 3 faithful readers out there… Thanks Mom, Dad, and that crazy person who keeps sending me e-mails, raving about my literary skills.
It’s the economy, Stupid.
So. I had been walking around recently with my head screwed on straight. My future looking bright. I had always thought that in my line of work, I would always be needed and I wouldn’t have to worry about the economy having an effect on me. It has had an effect on me but not to the extent I thought it would until yesterday morning.
I found out Monday morning that the company I work for is losing one of its contracts. We still have another, but the one we are losing accounts for about 3/4ths of my income. This isn’t a good sign. However, I’m not one of those whiney SOB’s that think I deserve a job or that I deserve anything but the opportunity to do well.
I’m really kinda playing it by ear and seeing what is going to happen in the next week or two before I start making any plans on whether to stay and hope all works out, or to get out there and start finding another job.
I’ll probably go back to what I had been doing a few years ago to supplement my income. That would be buying junk and turning it around and selling it on ebay. I always made a few extra bucks doing that.
I’ll keep you up to date on what happens.