The Goat Pen

The bane of having a Linkedin account is people that you have nothing to do with endorsing you. I guess they do it to solicit an endorsement back? Like I would pick an advisor/supplier based on Linkedin endorsement?

Nobody has endorsed me...

rule #1

My wife and I were watching Who Wants To Be A Millionaire while we were in bed.
I turned to her and said, 'Do you want to have Sex?'
'No,' she answered. I then said, 'Is that your final answer?'
... She didn't even look at me this time, simply saying, 'Yes..'
So I said, "Then I'd like to phone a friend."
And that's when the fight started...
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I took my wife to a restaurant.
The waiter, for some reason, took my order first.
"I'll have the rump steak, rare, please."
He said, "Aren't you worried about the mad cow?"
"Nah, she can order for herself."
And that's when the fight started.....
_____________________________
My wife and I were sitting at a table at her high school reunion, and she kept staring at a drunken man swigging his drink as he sat alone at a nearby table.
I asked her, "Do you know him?"
"Yes", she sighed,
"He's my old boyfriend. I understand he took to drinking right after we split up those many years ago, and I hear he hasn't been sober since."
"My God!" I said, "Who would think a person could go on celebrating that long?"
And then the fight started...
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When our lawn mower broke and wouldn't run, my wife kept hinting to me that I should get it fixed.
But, somehow I always had something else to take care of first, the shed, the boat, making beer.. Always
something more important to me.
Finally she thought of a clever way to make her point.
When I arrived home one day, I found her seated in the tall grass, busily snipping away with a tiny pair of sewing scissors. I watched silently for a short time and then went into the house. I was gone only a minute, and when I came out again I handed her a toothbrush.
I said, "When you finish cutting the grass, you might as well sweep the driveway."
The doctors say I will walk again, but I will always have a limp.
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My wife sat down next to me as I was flipping channels. She asked, "What's on TV?"
I said, "Dust."
And then the fight started...
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Saturday morning I got up early, quietly dressed, made my lunch, and slipped quietly into the garage. I hooked up the boat up to the van and proceeded to back out into a torrential downpour. The wind was blowing 50 mph, so I pulled back into the garage, turned on the radio, and discovered that the weather would be bad all day.
I went back into the house, quietly undressed, and slipped back into bed. I cuddled up to my wife's back; now with a different anticipation, and whispered, "The weather out there is terrible."
My loving wife of 5 years replied, "And, can you believe my stupid husband is out fishing in that?"
And that's how the fight started...
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My wife was hinting about what she wanted for our upcoming anniversary.
She said, "I want something shiny that goes from 0 to 150 in about 3 seconds."
I bought her a bathroom scale.
And then the fight started......
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After retiring, I went to the Social Security office to apply for Social Security. The woman behind the counter asked me for my driver's License to verify my age. I looked in my pockets and realized I had left my wallet at home. I told the woman that I was very sorry, but I would have to go home and come back later.
The woman said, 'Unbutton your shirt'. So I opened my shirt revealing my curly silver hair.
She said, 'That silver hair on your chest is proof enough for me' and she processed my Social Security application.
When I got home, I excitedly told my wife about my experience at the Social Security office.
She said, 'You should have dropped your pants. You might have gotten disability too.'
And then the fight started...
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My wife was standing nude, looking in the bedroom mirror. She was not happy with what she saw and said to me, "I feel horrible; I look old, fat and ugly. I really need you to pay me a compliment.'
I replied, "Your eyesight's damn near perfect."
And then the fight started........
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I rear-ended a car this morning...the start of a REALLY bad day!
The driver got out of the other car, and he was a DWARF!!
He looked up at me and said 'I am NOT Happy!'
So I said, 'Well, which one ARE you then?'
That's how the fight started.
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One year, I decided to buy my mother-in-law a cemetery plot as a Christmas gift...
The next year, I didn't buy her a gift. When she asked me why, I replied,
"Well, you still haven't used the gift I bought you last year!"
And that's how the fight started.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/python-kill ... ury-hotel/

one for the snake camp

Guess which word in this sentence from the snake attack story made me think of IB:

"People watching the incident were unable or unwilling to help and called the police, who came but failed to save the man."

The funny thing is I wouldn't be surprised if any and all of those things actually happened to Rat

Bitch

They're replaying the table on the WSOP where the announcer said "He left a little value on the table, kinda like drafting DeMarcus Cousins." I wonder if Auggie will dispute it again?

I got out of my bed this morning and looked at my wife.
And then the fighting started...

reading about the problems at Red Lobster has got me thinking about how I've become more of a food snob in the last few years.

I took a group to Red Lobster a few years back on the company dime, but that is the only time I've gone there in at least 6 years. I can't remember the last time I took my family there for a meal. Its not that I consciously thought Red Lobster sucked but as I've been able to travel a bit over the years I've come to realize that you can't really compare frozen seafood to fresh. When I was in my early 20's, Red Lobster or Olive Garden wasn't high fare but it was considered a good dining experience. Probably like buying a suit at Men's Warehouse is considered high fashion.

I've been that way with steak for years now too - there isn't a place that serves sub $75 steaks that I think are worth eating , they're all shit and I can get a good tray of New York strips from the butcher for $40, grill them with hickory chips and dales steak sauce and its far better than a $100 meal at Longhorn or Outback.

I'm less critical of Italian - although I find Olive Garden bland, Maggiano's, as we've discussed on here before, is good food and good value. The last time I ate there, we spent like $70 for 2 of us but they also gave us another set of entree's uncooked to bring home. Plus, its hard to fuck up pasta and bread. I can whip up a pretty mean alfredo dish at the house too.

But its clear to me after thinking about it what lengths they've gone to at places like Red Lobster and Olive Garden to cut costs. The food is just the cheapest stuff they can find and dish out - and the customer experience is pretty low on their list of priorities.

I think that's probably why fast food is so popular - because I'm not interested in the cost or time required to make taco's, burgers or pizza - as long as it isn't Donkey meat tainted with red fox, it is pretty much cost effective for me to get it and I understand the trade off for eating cheap food, but if I take the family to Olive Garden, Red Lobster, Outback, whatever - I'm going to drop $80 - $120 for a meal and few times if any do I walk away talking about how good the food is. Its mostly just get in, get fed and get out in the quickest way possible.

so now I'm always on the lookout for the mom-n-pop diner or local landmark restaurants, like Terry's Turf Club or Mount Washington Chili here in Cinci - reasonably priced food that wasn't designed in a test kitchen and then mass shipped all over the United States because I think they represent the best value/meal options out there. I'm not saying I won't go to a chain sit down restaurant, but it will be a last resort.

I also have started putting more into my kitchen - 2 years ago we redid our kitchen and I switched over to gas, bought some nice appliances and some good cookware. I also bought an infra-red grill that sears meat and have got into smoking the meat with hickory. Its really improved the taste of the meals and with Jungle Jim's just down the road from me, we've really expanded our home dining.

On a similar and slightly absurd note, my wife got me a set of these for Xmas
http://www.buystufz.com/

I've already tried my hand at blue cheese bacon burgers that come in at about 3/4 of a pound each.


The one thing I can't match at home - mainly because I don't have the time , is good bar-b-q. Its also a good value as long as you don't go in with the mindset of its competing with fast food. I don't have the time or the inclination to sit around a smoker turning meat when I can get a good slab of ribs for $20 at City BBQ.

had a damn good guacamole burger at chiles

popeyes chicken is pretty damn good

taco bell replaced whitecastle for my drunk at 1am want something hangout

if i want a steak id rather go to texas roadhouse and pay 60 bucks for 2 of us including drinks then capital grill /mortons--paying 200 bucks for something only slightly more appealing

my wife is a good cook but cooking for just two is difficult

we had baked spaghetti with lots of cheese homemade bread, wonderful salad with boulevard keg holiday ale keg 7.4% for yesterdays colts/chiefs game and i swear it was the best meal i had all week. being only 1 of 2 indy fans in a crowd of 15 kc fans didn't hurt either--combined with the state win over okie state

yesterday was a damn good day

ecat, you sound like you opt for chains over local places. I'd prefer to never eat at chains but here, like probably everywhere else, they comprise more than half of the dining options.

I cook at home quite a bit. I made some awesome chicken-fried steak the other night and then, with Thai curry paste I bought at the Asian grocery in Raleigh, some kickass Masaman curry that was as good as any I've had in a Thai restaurant, which in NC tend to be more expensive than in larger cities. I guess because it's sort of a novelty here.

Plus at Chilis, it's 2fer on the ice cold beer. Popeye's is the best chicken joint. And a filet at Ruth's Crist Steakhouse isn't $50 better than the 7 oz filet Outback.

There's no cut of steak on the planet worth more than $50 ... unless it's got a piece of crack stuck on it.

Saint wrote:ecat, you sound like you opt for chains over local places. I'd prefer to never eat at chains but here, like probably everywhere else, they comprise more than half of the dining options.

I cook at home quite a bit. I made some awesome chicken-fried steak the other night and then, with Thai curry paste I bought at the Asian grocery in Raleigh, some kickass Masaman curry that was as good as any I've had in a Thai restaurant, which in NC tend to be more expensive than in larger cities. I guess because it's sort of a novelty here.

yea, several years ago but over the years I've got to the point where I try to avoid them as much as I can - at least as far as sit down places go.

I am starting to feel like Ecat. I would rather find the hole in the walls, greasy spoons, or mom and pops stuff now instead of the chain stuff. My best friend and I went to grab something before the game. We were discussing our options like Chili's and such and just wasn't excited over it. Then he mentions a little joint that was up the road from his house and always wanted to try it. It was called Beefcake burgers and was delicious. They also make hand dipped milkshakes that were fantastic. Probably the best that I have ever had.

And as far as steaks go, I have had one really good steak at St. Elmos and it was free.

Most of the time you can get decent steaks and with good seasoning, good grill, and good toppings like the steak sauce and a little grilled mushroom and onions and that is good enough for me. Hell, most of the time I use marinated pork steak and is just as good for a fraction of the price.

I can't stand chains, either. The only time I am gung ho over a chain is Buffalo Wild Wings, but more because of the atmosphere than food.

In Charlotte, one of my favorites is Merts Heart and Soul. Also, a little Thai place called Basil. La'Unica in Indian Trail for authentic Mexican. No real good barbecue place here, IMO. I have distanced myself from steak so I have no favorite in that either.

I can't believe there aren't plenty of really good non-chain places in a city as big as Cinci. As far as steaks, we've talked about the Beef Master here in Wilson and I'd put it up against anything I've ever had anywhere. They bring the whole side of beef over to the table and slide the knife across it until you tell them to stop, and that's the steak you get. Very reasonably priced, too (under $30, unless you're getting something bigger than 16 oz). Not alot of frills (they have a good salad bar, and you get a potato with your steak and a grilled onion if you request it, but that's it), but again, it's as good as any steak as I've had anywhere...

"The one thing I can't match at home - mainly because I don't have the time , is good bar-b-q."

Truce on the ketchup vs. vinegar for the moment, just trust me on this. Go get you a whole pork butt (which is actually the shoulder) or picnic (which is the front leg portion), stick it in a large roasting pan, pour some vinegar over it (so there's about a quarter inch or so in the bottom of the pan) and put it in the over on 350 and leave it in there uncovered for about 4 or 5 hours. Pull it out, shred it up (it'll fall apart easily with just a fork) and season it however you like. You won't find anything better in any restaurant, and it'll feed 8 people for about $12. Or hell, slather whatever type of ketchup sauce you like on it before you put it in the oven, you can't fuck it up, just let it cook for at least 4 hours and you'll be a hero...