A Blistering Loss

Yesterday was the perfect autumn day for a game against the Vikings, and I had the privilege of attending the game with my friend Peter, who wore three Seahawks shirts despite the fact that he hails from Minnesota. We met my friend Erik and took our seats for a contest that sidelined Hasselbeck and caused the 12th Man a rare, embarrassing loss at home.

Fine day. Excellent company. Great seats. Good food. Blistering loss. Four out of five ain't bad.

The President, or the First Officer?

George Bush was today’s guest on This Week with George Stephanopoulos. Feeling that my daughter should know who our president is, I asked her:

“Do you know who that is?
“No.”
“You should know who that is.”
“Is that Spock?”
“No! That’s the president of the Unites States.”
“George Bush? On TV? NOW?”

I have refrained from drawing any conclusions and dropped the subject then and there without fully understanding her response.

A Funny Jerry

I think perhaps one of the funniest episodes of Seinfeld is the episode entitled "The Gum." In it, the gang jumps through hoops, at Kramer's urging, in order to avoid sending Lloyd Braun back to the mental institution by mentioning words like "crazy" or "nuts."

Incidentally, the Braun character appears in or is referenced in eleven episodes of Seinfeld. In this one, Jerry pretends to be a glasses-wearer in Braun's presence, and his inability to read the amounts on US currency results in Braun buying Jerry $100 worth of gum.

In "The Gum," Larry David appears in a cameo delivering what may be my favorite line from the show:

"I beg your pardon your majesty, but we don't accept bills with lipstick on the president."

A Reply from Ronald

A few weeks ago, I posted a copy of a letter I wrote to the McDonald's Corporation complaining about receiving TANG in a Happy Meal Cup when I had ordered orange juice off the McDonald's breakfast menu.

The good folks at the Golden Arches were quick to reply, attempting to buy off my frustration with a coupon good for one complimentary breakfast sandwich.

In their letter, they said they were "sorry to hear that you're disappointed with our Orange Juice" and that I should "be assured that at McDonald's, we continually review our menu to ensure that we serve the products our customers will enjoy the most."

There was nothing in their letter about my being served TANG in a Ronald McDonald Happy Meal cup, nor was there any explanation as to why such a beverage was being marketed as "orange juice."

What they did do was report that they served 50 million people each day, and in doing so I was reminded that perhaps my little complaint about the orange juice is small beans when one considers the big picture. 50 million customers - that's not chump change. And at least the good folks at McDonald's had the decency to return my letter, and for that I am grateful.

Which is more than I can say about the folks at Burger King, who have yet to respond to my complaint about allowing panhandlers to shake down customers (including children!) in one of their Seattle stores.

The battle rages on...