Jason R.'s Profile

A grilled cheese for breakfast?  Ok!  Plus some ok generic coffee and a bit o' fruit, and I'm a happy camper.  Better than hotel "continental" breakfasts.  The square is a nice place to sit and eat, too.

Food court food that didn't plant me in the restroom for the entire afternoon.  Suffices when you're dragged to this food court because people in next-door office buildings don't realize they don't need to head to a food court.  sigh.  But I have to rate it as OK given the food court context.  I expect physical illness, and I did not become ill.

Flavor exists in the "throw spices at it" sense.  Not much more than that.

Oh, yes.  This makes these blocks of Arlington more palatable.  Solid food, cheap prices, and an easy way to make a few bucks on your per diem.  Or at least save it for the booze this area requires.

The proprietor made sure I understood that my chicken biryani was spicy.  It was a bit spicy.  Not hugely, but enough to be fun.  Not as spicy as the conversation within a review panel, but that's another story.

Not bad. Not Brad.

I'm here often.  It's on my commute, so I pick up an apple as a homeward-bound snack or some deodorant as co-worker relief.

This Publix is tight but sufficient.  I suppose someone would be surprised by the beer, wine, and fried chicken selection, but then one wouldn't realize the number of students within stumbling distance.  The folks working here are quite nice considering that whole stumbling aspect.  And I know a few of us live in the floors above...  Definitely nice considering that.

I can't speak towards the wash & dry part, but we have used a U-Haul from these folks.  They were really nice, up-front about everything, and quite efficient.  Everything went smoothly.  This isn't a major U-Haul place but a little franchise, so things aren't quite as... um... formal?  Not quite the right word, but the trucks have a few dings, and the owners already know about them and don't try to scam you.

If we need a laundromat run for some reason, they're high on the list.  The area doesn't feel like the best, and I admit I'll never leave anything out of eyesight, but the laundromat itself looked better than some we remember from CA.  There's a side play area for kids, even.

Coming off a long international flight, customs typically is painful. You come off a flying septic tank into a smelly, stale room and wait while being admonished about all the things you mustn't do.  Here?  You walk off the septic tank into... an open-air airport.  Hallelujah!  Fresh air!  Sunlight (even if my body thinks it's the middle of the night)!  Quick, friendly customs!

Once in the main airport, you can stop at the nearly identical gift shops, the blah food places, or *the garden*!  The garden's wonderful.  Plants and fish and birds and pretty much no other person because they're all too busy griping about the non-garden parts.  The food's worth the griping, but not really the stores.  You can buy cuttings that can be tricky to obtain on the mainland.  We'll see if these plumeria grow as well as E-Bay and Home Despot ones...  

Plus, you can buy the magic that gets you out of tricky situations (snippets of actual conversations):
 Her: "You spent *what* on a dinner?"
 Me: "And the airport had three different Li Hing Mui varieties.  Wasn't sure which you wanted, so I picked up all three."
 Her: "So you DO love me!"

My opinions may differ should I ever encounter a breeze-less day here.  But I loved finding fresh air in an airport without being tackled by security.

If they had free wi-fi, I'd be even happier... *cough*

This place saved my butt.  I needed a decent, healthy meal and a good walk.  I underestimated the distance from the FQ, so my walk was more a hike.  But it was worth it for inexpensive yet still good grocery store sushi.  The sushi's part of the fresh fish counter, which ideally means they just grab the fresh fish and start slicing...  I don't want to know otherwise.  Tasted and felt fresh, and left me feeling good.  Wide selection of cold, healthy beverages nearby, too.

Overall the store seems great.  Fresh produce provided a great snack for later.

Writing another review reminded me to look up Big John's.  There's gas up front, biscuits'n'gravy in back, ammo behind the counter, and a smile if you have one.  Gas pumps were re-done a bit ago to take cards, which is kind of a shame.  Saying hello makes stopping for gas a bit nicer.

The address is right, but the map's way off.  It's at the intersection of Rich Valley and US-58 (Porterfield).  Rather important considering that people will give directions by houses and stores rather than streets, and even more important once they realize you don't know who lived where 30+ years ago.  They'll keep trying for recognizable names, and then they hit Big John's.  The intersection has the stoplight between Abingdon and Hansonville (Family Bluegrass, Tri-County Driving Academy, or, as Facebook says, "No places found").

Oh, and note that the speed limit drops along 58 at this intersection.  Also important...

oooohhhh... A free-standing Bass Pro that isn't attached to an ultra-discount mall.  Perhaps it'll be as good as a similar-age Cabella's?  Nope.  No deli.  No fudge.  No air-gun range, paddocks, kennels, ...

It's a Bass Pro but without the Saks Off-Fifth next door.  The aquarium is perhaps a tad larger than other Bass Pro Shops, but it's not large enough for fishing demos.  The discount area may have good deals sometimes, but we live far enough away not to stop regularly.  No need to travel here, but if you're in the neighborhood and have no local hunting supply stores (damn Walmart and other mega-marts), might be worth a stop.

Let's say you need to stay way under your per diem for a day for some odd reason.  And let's say that you are *done* with being away from home.  And you're staying in the French Quarter.  Where do you fill up on relatively inexpensive, hearty, home-style food?  This is a good choice.  Best basic red beans & rice I've had so far in New Orleans, and the serving is enough for two.  I didn't have problems with the people there, but I wasn't exactly in the mood for conversation anyways.