patrick.net

In my travels the zone of the absolute worst food in all the country exists from roughly 50 miles Southeast of Chicago, extending south to the Ohio River, and East to the border of West Virginia. It's controlled by the evil food Axis: Indianapolis-Columbus.

Peter P,

I am not an expert in Italian food. But my Italian friend highly recommended "Pasta ?", and I like it a lot too.

Randy-

I would say that the Western border of the area you are describing extends as far as Denver, maybe even Las Vegas if Denver is deemed a "gourmet enclave" in a region of bad food.

My wife used to think that the food in Midwestern small towns was delicious home cooking. I tried to warn her, telling her that a restaurant rises to the level of its competiors, and if the only competition within 30 miles is A&W, one should not expect much, but she refused to believe me.

A trip to a diner in Iowa dispelled her of that notion. On the upside, it was a cheap lesson to learn, her Wonder bread-and-Velveeta grilled cheese sandwhich was only $2.00.

Shemend Rick-

Yes, on Figueroa about a block or two north of the Staples Cener/Convention center.

Astrid,
The trick to house sharing with others is to find people that aren't exactly the kinds of people you'd be buddy-buddy with. I've found that people I get along with really well make bad housemates because eventually, you don't get along because you get sick of each other. On the other hand, the guys I live with now are people who are nice, but we don't have anything in common. So we rarely actually see each other. Maybe once a week we'll pass each other in the hall or something. The best part is that the 2 other guys have serious GF's , so they are never home. We practically feel like we're the only ones there. I've never paid more than $500 a month in the 7 years I've lived here. I attribute this to the reason I'm able to save so much.

For gophers, we have an outdoor cat and I can tell you that little guy is so darn productive. I have a log of his victims, pretty much averaging one gopher every month in spring and summer, I am sure my neighbors are very happy with my cat too.

Somehow the wildlife of Norcal is quite amazing. I didn't expect so many deers and cayotes wandering around in a suburban area. Growing up among stacked concrete boxes, the experience of living here is like visiting the zoo every day.

Going back to food... There's something to be said about Memphis Minnie's in SF. Just about all the BBQ joints in California I've been to are the same: dry, tough, charred meat with only one kind of sauce. Memphis Minnie's does it up right. It's almost as good as the stuff back home.

Where do you guys shop groceries apart from farmer's market and Trader Joe's? I like certain items in Wholefoods, but most stuff it carries are really not that much better than Trader Joe's in terms of quality, and certainly not so for price.

tannenbaum :

Are you saing the Alameda and Contra Costa inventory is ober 8K ?? No typo there ? Based on
http://www.benengebreth.org/housingtracker/location/California/SanJose

Santa Clara County has just over 4K.

If you are in Sacramento, I recommend a restaurant named “Tapa the World” featuring you guessed it, spanish tapas. I also recommend the gigantic pitcher of sangria to go with dinner >; )

Yes, it is a pretty good one. Try the rock shrimp tapa!

I would say that the Western border of the area you are describing extends as far as Denver, maybe even Las Vegas if Denver is deemed a “gourmet enclave” in a region of bad food.

Agreed. We'll extend our zone of bad cuisine westward to Las Vegas, excepting Denver and Chicago as gourmet enclaves. I was on a business trip to Columbus with a colleague who thought the same as your wife, fancying Midwestern cooking as something from a storybook. After a breakfast in a Bob Evans (the relative 4-star for the area) one morning, complete with Wonder Bread, gristly sausage, bad coffee, and about 40 tons of second-hand smoke, her eyes were opened. She exclaimed that she had never before seen so many overweight people in one place simultaneously eating and smoking (yes people often smoke *while* they eat there).

SFWoman,

funny that you mentioned rabbit. On my weekend hikes around home, we often see very psyched up rabbits mating, the interesting part is they don't mind human noises at all, just minding their own businesses. I have known the term "f*cking like rabbits" for a long time, just that never got around seeing the real inspiration until I moved here.

There is a new vietnamese fusion restaurant on Castro street in Mountain View called Xanh. It is a pleasant surprise. The grapefruit salad is pretty good. Pricing is very reasonable too.

I went to Las Vegas once for a surprise party for a friend. I was shocked at the number of very fat people, and the number of smokers, but we did have a couple of very good meals in restaurants.

If I move there I will be the first person to go broke there without gambling. Food in LV (esp on the strip) is pretty good but is very expensive.

I’m sure there were tons of bad ones as well, but the ones we had dinner in were very good.

SFWoman, do you happen to remember which are the good ones?

The food is still cheap in Reno, as are the hotels. You can get a really nice room at the Circus-Circus Reno for $40 a night. And the buffet at the Silver Legacy is great!

Of course it's Reno, but if I had to pick which area has more depressing people, the Vegas Strip or downtown Reno, it would be a toss-up. And Reno is close to Tahoe, you can stay at the casinos in Reno and go skiing in Tahoe.

Randy-

Would you make an excepion for Perkins? I would, it's not bad.

Hey, I'm not prejudiced, I eat thier nachos and all, but those New Mexicans had better stay on their side of the border!

Sushi in MV: Robata Grill, in Shelter Bay

Chinese in Saulalito: Tommy's Wok, just off the main drag, near the highway.

Midwestern food for times when you're feeling you're just too close to your target weight and need some saturated fats, Buckeye Roadhouse, on the southbound onramp to 101 at Hwy 1. Actually not that bad, lots of good middle-american food but with a California twist. You just have to look past all those annoying Marinerati there.

Sushi in Redwood City/Belmont/San Carlos: Aya Sushi. Holly & El Camino (other side of County Road east of tracks). **Only good when Peter, the owner is working. Tell him Randy sent you and I'm sorry that we haven't been back in a long time**

Avoid Naomi Sushi in Menlo Park (on El Camino). Overpriced, and not all that great for the $.

One was an outpost of Aqua (I think) in the Bellagio, and the other was a New York outpost.

The good thing about LV is that many famous restaurants have outposts there.

Russian Vodka Room, 52nd & 8th, Midtown. Great for a few shots of good vodka and a bad attitude after a blown meeting with arrogant Wall Street IB types.

Midtown Sushi: Hakata Japanese Restaurant, 48th between 7th and 8th. Take out a HELOC first unless you want to wash dishes.

Chicago Italian:

Clark Street Bistro, 2600 N Clark (Lincoln Park/Lakeview area)

Scoozi, Huron St, Downtown/Gold Coast (?) area. A bit flashy, but nice atmosphere and incredible food.

Are people aware of their surroundings when they drive? Do people use their rear view mirror while they drive?
I get soo pissed when you are driving on a two lane highway and your fast approaching a car that has been dangling behind a big rig. Right when you get up to them, they put their blinkers on and move to the left lane to pass. And do they pass?.. no!! they drive with the big rig for like a mile, and finally pull in front of the rig and brake. Cant they see in their rear view mirror that someone is approaching them faster than they are going? Are they soo unaware of their surroundings? I freak out that I have to drive behind them and next to a big rig for another mile. Most people dont understand the dangers of driving next to a rig. I have seen it upfront once and that is more than enough. I will speed even if i am being watched by a cop just so that I am not in the vicinity of a rig.
Just wanted to vent...

Maybe it's becuase my dad drove a cab, but I have never for the life of me understood why truckers have a bad reputation. They are decent, hardworking people. I don't think they are reckless at all, on the contrary they are generally the most cautious drivers on the road.

Are people aware of their surroundings when they drive? Do people use their rear view mirror while they drive?

I do.

Most people dont understand the dangers of driving next to a rig.

My wife insists that we drive two lanes away from a big rig, if at all possible. I never pass a big rig on a curve.

I will speed even if i am being watched by a cop just so that I am not in the vicinity of a rig.

If I cannot pass I make sure that I am at least 5 seconds behind the truck.

I have seen it upfront once and that is more than enough.

Can you describe what happened, if you feel comfortable to?

Maybe it’s becuase my dad drove a cab, but I have never for the life of me understood why truckers have a bad reputation. They are decent, hardworking people. I don’t think they are reckless at all, on the contrary they are generally the most cautious drivers on the road.

I agree totally.

We passed her and she was yacking on her cell phone, totally oblivious to the fact that she was almost killed by a double tanker truck.

A tanker? She could have caused an explosion and killed many more people than just herself!

Depending on the roadway design, 45mph may not be too slow a merging speed, but she would have to yield to main road traffic.

Every time I see someone driving badly...they're on the cellphone. Weren't they going to pass a law about that?

For a great camping vacation...go where the Virgin Island locals go...
Cinnamon Bay on the Isle of St. John. They have tents set up in a coconut grove, gorgeous beach, sunset sails. You are in the middle of a tropical jungle and the sounds are AMAZING. The sweet jungle smells are AMAZING. This place is truly magical.

The Bay Area is one of the few places on the planet where you can find mind-boggling diversity of choice when you want to eat.

Las Vegas has mind-boggling diversity of food choices on just one street.

I am not into outdoor activities at all. My dream vacation would be an around-the-world cruise. :)

Or if you want to stay in S Cali go to Jalama just north of Santa Barbara.But it's first come, first serve. Camp on the beach.Great for kids.

Last year I travelled down the coast from Eureka with a surf-rat friend. We camped our way down the coast along Hwy.1. We were coming from a wedding and the trek by surf-rat-van was to teach my kid to surf...and of course to show him that some of the best things in life are free. This was such a great experience. I've lived in CA from birth and have never done it. Most of us don't travel by surf-rat-van, but I will tell you, there is a whole subculture of very cool, friendly,happy surfers that I would never have met, had we taken my benz. ;)

Perhaps when I am 65...

I believe this thread is to be a positve thread.
No need to pick on Astrid.
Read the thread...she already retracted any negativity perceived in that statement.

Peter P.
My husband is also happier in a 5 star hotel. You don't strike me as the 'camper type'. That's why I camp with friends and don't try to drag the unwilling along!

I HAVE to comment on this.
The tapeworm diet.
I howled when I read this.
My husband is a comedy writer.
I'll have to tell him about it.
Can you imagine the commercial?
'After she lost 150 lbs. a 3 mile long tapeworm was remove from her digestive tract.'
EEEEEEW :0

nomadtoons2 Says:

"...Well much can be said about my 2nd car- a a 1955 Mercury with what you can really call “bumpers” because they’re made out of 1/4″ thick steel... I’ve actually nailed a gaurd rail with this thing and it did no noticeable damage to the car..."

Hahaha!

Awesome!

In the global political situation that we find ourselves in ’simply live’ might be a better motto.

"Simply Live" sounds a bit too close to a strange little cult in Columbus OH that my wife's college roommate has been entrapped by for a decade and a half called Simply Living. OK, so I'm a bit biased (being a market fundamentalist and all), but these guys are way out there. They used to run a non-money collective exchange system called SimplyHOURS, where people used hours-worked (regardless of whether you were a doctor or a storyteller; all work = all other work) to barter for goods and services instead of using evil money. It didn't work (for obvious reasons of economic externalities), so they tried to set up a HOURS-USD fixed exchange to provide for access to needed external resources.

I tried to explain a bit to one guy about how allocation of resources works and the inevitable collapse of a fixed exchange system (especially such a weak one), but these guys just had it all worked out and I was just too invested in narrow-minded capitalist thought indoctrination. Anyway, it all collapsed after an economics-literate person who will remain nameless taught a couple of their teenagers how to trade their HOURS for USD, then arbitrage against HOURS until they broke the "central bank".