Drink Preference While Eating Spaghetti

I prefer to have milk when I eat spaghetti.  If I get it at a restaurant, then I don’t get milk.  But otherwise, I always have milk.  I’ve been told that is odd.  What do you drink with your spaghetti dinner?

Mini Ketchup Packets – WHY?

If you were a restaurant owner or ketchup maker, why would you package ketchup in 0.6 oz packets? Have you ever seen a customer take just one packet? No, they end up taking a handful and squirt them all over their tray so they can dip fries in them. Even if you only wanted 0.6 ounces worth of ketchup for your hamburger and you ask the drive-through attendant for ketchup, you know you’re getting a handful of packets.

Why do I care? It seems to be a big waste. Not only in costs and resources to make mini packets, but also in my time to have to open 6 packets to have enough for my fries.

How is Wendy’s Water So Good?

I’m not sure if it’s the extra wide straw, the wax coated cup, or the temperature of the water, but there is something amazing about a cup of water from Wendy’s. Perhaps it’s all three?

It can’t just be the temperature. I can replicate the same thing at home with tap water and ice. Although the temperature may be the least attributable to Wendy’s, this is by far the most important factor.

The cup’s wax coating seems to lend just a hint of flavor to the water. Perhaps not the healthiest, but good nonetheless.

The wide diameter straw is by far my favorite part. While other chains have started to widen the diameter of their straws, Wendy’s has always provided the largest. This allows maximum water flow.

Who knows, maybe it’s something else. But for me, a 16oz cup of water from Wendy’s is gone before you know it.

PF Chang’s Lettuce Wraps

Have you ever had these? They are good, but they always leave me with somewhat of a stomach ache. Looking at the plate, I’m pretty sure the owner of PF Chang’s saw a huge money maker.

Let’s take all the leftover bits of food from each meal, toss it on a plate and serve it with some leafs of lettuce. Customers have already paid for the meal that resulted in the left over food, 5 leafs of lettuce will cost us 30 cents, and we can charge $7 for it as an appetizer

Vending Machine Randomizer

Ever have trouble deciding on what to get from the vending machine? Wouldn’t it be great if there was a randomizer button that would pick for you? You could specify a few options like the row you wanted it to pick from, the type of snack (salty, chocolate), or price range. Some advanced options may even include peanut-free products or healthy options.

Heading out to the vending machine manufacturer now to sell them my idea.

Soda vs. Pop

What word do you use when asking for a “soft-drink”? Some data collected in 2003 shows the varying regional terminology used

I say pop. I’m ok with either, but not a big fan of combining into “soda-pop”.

Eco-Friendly Silverware Utensils Review

Our company just switched to these new eco-friendly utensils. They are made from corn or vegetable oil and other biodegradable components and are supposed replace the wasteful plastic silverware we are used to.

However, these new green products do not compare to their predecessors. The knife, only about 3 inches in length, barely cuts anything. The fork prongs bend when attempting to pierce a piece of meat. And overall, each piece lacks the clean smooth feel that regular plastic utensils have. When you eat something off the new spoon, you get a taste of the texture of the spoon along with your food. Yuck.

One Large Glass of Milk

I went to The Original Pancake House for breakfast this morning and along with my pancake, eggs and bacon meal, I ordered a large milk. The following images depict the size of the ‘large’ milk.

The first compares the size of the glass to a standard syrup container (I’m sure you’ve used one at some point). The second picture shows the same size orange juice. I estimate I got about 12oz of milk.

My issue here is price. The milk was $2.69. I paid for nearly an entire gallon. There are 128 ounces in a gallon, which translates to about 10 glasses per gallon, which translates to $26.90 in total revenue to the store.

Oh, and the OJ, it was only slightly more expensive. $4.39. WOW

UPDATE

July 30th, 1PM PST

Today at lunch, I got a glass that represented exactly what I was expecting when ordering a ‘large’ glass:

The first picture compares the glass to a typical bottle of Tabasco. Not exactly the same scale as the maple syrup dispenser, but at least it’s a reference. The second picture shows the wide mouth of the glass. Huge is the only word to describe it.

Eating enough breakfast?

I was talking an online survey and one question stuck me as odd:

12. How often do you eat breakfast in a typical week?
Never
1 time
2-5 times

The choices presented to me don’t represent my breakfast intake of 7 days a week. Apparently not eating breakfast is very common. So much so, that ‘Never’ and ‘once a week’ make up 2/3 of the options.

Expected Tip

Today at lunch my bill was $7.95. I paid with a $20 and received 12.05 in change. What caught me by surprise however was the change consisted of one $5, seven $1, and a nickel. Did this waiter really expect more than a $2.05 tip? $2.05 on a $7.95 bill is over 25%.

Now some of you may attempt to point out that they may have been out of $10’s or $5’s. Really? The whole restaurant has ONE five and a pile of one’s???