charlotte c.'s Profile

Bummer. Such a bummer. First issue: they use a blend of jack and cheddar (or some other orange cheese). Second issue: those of us who are not cool with such a bizarre choice must pay an extra dollar for a skimpy serving of grated swiss instead. Third issue: as if my mounting disappointment over the cheese weren't enough, my ham & cheese galette contained only two thin pieces of ham. I understand expectations are disappointments waiting to happen, but their website did say something about "traditional" crepes that I was really looking forward to. I'm sorry, but shredded cheese blends do not exactly scream l'authenticité française.

It was a lazy night. A Chinese take-out kind of night. So I walked into Kim Thanh and ordered off the dining menu as dictated by the hostess. While I waited, I grabbed a take-out menu to peruse and saw you can order the same stuff as a "rice plate" for about $2.00 less. Crafty! Oh well. Whatever. Next time, right?

No! My ginger chicken had several bits of bone in the mix. Between the trauma of thinking I had broken a tooth and the disgust of spitting out half-chewed chicken and sharp pieces of bone, my stomach is steeled against ever ordering from this place again. The tofu dish I had was decent but a little expensive considering most of the veggies were baby bok choy and cabbage.

If you have any modicum of wit in your personality, the crowd this place attracts will destroy your soul.

Best museum ever!

The folks at Greyhound did what I could not: they held onto my ex's packages - without destroying them - for a whole six months until he picked them up. In honor of their commitment and patience, I wrote this:

"The following is the brief account of the travels of a cardboard box and his friend. The diary was discovered a few weeks ago at a recycling facility in New Jersey. No remains of the boxes were found, but we shall forever remember them for their heroism in the face of exhaust fumes, roadkill, rainwater, stacking, dropping, kicking, and countless other atrocities committed against shipping materials every day in this country. A testament to their grace and integrity, the Boxes never mention their mistreatment, but rather keep a largely positive attitude throughout their arduous journey from California to New York.

Day 1: Sad day! They broke up. We kind of knew this was coming, even though we are just a couple of cardboard boxes. He put all the crap that couldn't fit in his suitcase into us. Her mom brought us to the Greyhound station in Oakland. ROAD TRIP!!!

Day 12: Finally arrived in New York. Port Authority smells terrible, but this holding area is pretty sweet - all sorts of interesting boxes from all over the country! We all tell ghost stories after the cranky employees go home for the night.

Day 14: We overheard the dispatcher talking with her in California because they don't have his phone number. I have a bad feeling about this.

Day 37: Still waiting for him to come pick us up, dispatchers calling both of them now. We keep hearing rumors about some sort of death camp in Dallas for unclaimed packages. Where the heck is Dallas?

Day 93: Dallas. It's in Texas.

Day 94: It's hot.

Day 95: They tried calling her again, no luck. He's not answering. My compadre thinks we'll be here for awhile because he heard they get to charge the addressee a storage fee.

Day 117: Still waiting.

Day 118: Texas is growing on us, but my companion bet and lost all of our storage fees on a game of poker.

Day 138: Back on the bus to New York, reason unknown. No one tells us anything.

Day 143: They keep calling her. Maybe they want her to know we had a fun time in Texas?

Day 170: We were awakened by an 8:00 AM call to California this morning. She sounded pissed.

Day 173: He finally showed up and took us home. It's weird that it took so long, he only lives 3 blocks away.

Day 181: Tragedy strikes! My compadre was broke down and put out on the street today. I fear that I will be next unless he moves out of his parents' house sometime soon."

My first online order with B&H was not ideal, but their customer service rocked my world. The used camera (Canon 5D) I got a screamin' deal on came a few days after ordering it, but the shutter blades decided to break about 50 photos in. Lame! I was so crushed, and without camera.

When I called B&H, they offered to refund my money or have it sent to Canon for repairs at no expense. Although I did have to pay for shipping back to New York, which I thought silly seeing as the issue was hardly my fault. I failed to mention my objection, and in my eagerness to get the camera I paid a boatload for back in my possession, I stormed off to FedEx. But I digress. B&H is fab. I could have found my camera, lens, and various other accessories for a lower price from another online retailer, but I doubt they would have been as helpful and understanding in the same situation.

This is one of those restaurants that "hits the spot," especially 8 hours after you stumble out of the Ruby Room Friday night. You walk in, get a number, and sit down, probably next to an old person, and wait for your turn. What, you don't know how to count in Chinese? Don't panic! They'll call it out in English if no one responds. Then you will be seated, and served yummy food. Then you will get a bill and it will be very small. You will leave happy and full.

Good stuff! It's bad news for the other pizza joints that the first place I ordered from in my new neighborhood was so tasty.

Don't get me wrong, I love my cat. I love her so much that if the terrorists came and had me at gunpoint and made me choose between her and my family I might actually hesitate.

Anyway.

Lisa's Passion For Pets is bad. We'll begin with its sanitation issues. Once I went in to purchase kitten food and nearly stepped in dog poop. A fellow customer actually did step in dog poop, and I felt real bad for her because who the hell expects to step in dog poop INDOORS? Poor thing.

On that fateful adoption day prior to the dog poop incident when I found my lovely kitty cat, I took her right out of a frightfully messy and crowded cage. I get it, it's a shelter-like situation, but this is not a good system for my second grievance with Lisa's: disease.

My cat was infected with no less than three diseases. She had tape worms, cat scratch fever (not just a Ted Nugent song, folks), and giardia. All of those are gross, and highly contagious. When I adopted my kitten, Lisa and one of her colleagues said I would probably spend about $600 a year on her. I spent about $600 in vet bills and kitty anti-biotics in two months. Never mind all the great toys and delicious treats I purchased to cheer her up while she recovered from her illnesses. And because I love her, of course. Sure, I figured she might have something or other wrong with her being a rescue animal from the streets of Oakland, but jamming 10 kittens into a dirty cage isn't a great way to control sickness or improve their life condition. Duh.

Lastly, CA Underdogs is NOT a legit organization. Ok, maybe they are somewhat organized in their own heads, but don't let the letterhead fool you: it ain't official. They don't even have a phone number on their forms, just a yahoo e-mail address. How professional is that? Oddly, I had to fill out an application to prove how responsible I was. When I wrote that the only reason I would ever give up my cat would be if I moved somewhere where I wouldn't be able to bring her (like, Europe), they got all serious and explained I was required to return her to them. Yeah, right.

405 people have already weighed in... I just felt like saying something positive about pizza today.