Life takes Visa*..........

I went to lunch the other day and being as it was Friday and I am Catholic, that narrows down my choice of places I can go. For those who don't know, Catholics aren't supposed to eat meat on Friday's during Lent. So I opted for sushi. Now my sushi options are limited in Hanover, but I have managed to find 2 sushi restaurants in Hanover, PA. The one, Full Moon, I went to earlier in the week on a recommendation from a friend who used to live in Hanover..Hi, Josh. So I decided I would give this other place, Wasabi, a try.

I actually like the sushi at Wasabi a little better than Full Moon's sushi. And thought hey this place is close I might start coming here. That was until they waiter took my check and then asked if I had cash. I said sorry no I don't. He then informed me of a $25.00 minimum to use credit cards. Now come on people, I can take the $5.00 minimum and even a $10.00 minimum, but $25.00! You have to be joking me. My bill was $17.00 and he was giving me a hard time about taking my card. I told him I didn't have any cash so he would have to take the credit card or give me the food for free. He decided to take my credit card, surprise.

He then came back to give me my card back and ask how everything was, I told him the food was good, but the credit card policy sucks! He said there are charges associated with taking credit cards, I told him I understand this, but the charges aren't that much and either they paying to much to be able to accept credit cards or their margins on the food are too low. he then informed me that other customers understood and are ok with the credit card policy. I then told him, if your other customers are ok with the credit card policy, then they don't understand. I then informed him that I would be going to Full Moon for sushi for now on and left. I am sure he didn't care, but I just thought I would let him know anyway and maybe any other customers who weren't aware of the other sushi restaurant. Was I being ridicules or was his Credit Card policy ridicules?


*$25.00 minimum

Railroad Crossings

Driving to work the other day I came to a sudden realization that, man I drive over a lot of rail road tracks. Then I remembered Todd blogging about his commute and the number of traffic lights and stray dogs that he would encounter on his daily commute. So here is my version of his commuting tale.

I now work in Hanover, as I have stated in past blogs. It is about 27 miles from my driveway to the parking lot at Hanover Direct, Inc. or HDI as they seem to call it here. It takes me 45 minutes to get home everyday no matter which of my 5 different ways I go. I like to see which way was the fasted so I plotted 5 different routes and timed each one over the last two weeks. It turns out they are all within 1 minute of each other, for an average time of 45 minutes. So Friday on my way into work I thought man another railroad crossing that must be at least 6. Well on Friday's trip home I decided I would count, and from the parking lot to my driveway I go through 10 railroad crossings or one every 2.7 miles. Is it just me or does that seem like alot for a place with no mass transportation?

Wrong Way

Yesterday on my way home from work, i was sitting on the Mt Rose Ave I-83 North exit ramp. Then I saw this elderly lady driving very slow towards a traffic light which looked odd, not sure why but it caught my eye. Then I notice her turn South on the North bound exit ramp. I am wondering what she is doing, and as she drives by me I try to wave at her to let her know she is going to wrong way, and not only is she going the wrong way, she is heading Southbound to the Northbound side of 83. Then I notice that she knows she is going the wrong way but wants to get on 83 Northbound, so she makes a right onto 83 North. Now I am not saying that she did this because she is old, but I am sure that didn't help. Which is why I think everyone should have to retake their drivers test ever 4 years or so. I even drew a little map of what the lady did, she is the red arrow the green arrows are people going in the correct direction.

Ryan's...

Since working in Hanover I have tried several different eating establishments. The latest one being Ryan's Steak, Buffet and Bakery. It is simular to a Golden Corral or Old Country Buffet, where you pay before you enter and then eat what you want.

What was weird is that when I paid, before I entered, they asked me if I wanted to leave a tip on my card, I paid via Credit Card. I thought this was weird since I haven't even eatten anythign yet, nor do I know how the service is going to be. How am I supposed to tip someone before they serve me? So i just said sure and rounded up to the next dollar plus one dollar (my total was $6.73, so rounded up to $8.00). So I th0ught that was weird, but then comes the better part. The lady gave me $1.27 in cash, which was the amount of the tip. So now I have paid by credit card, left a tip before getting served and they gave me the tip to give to her. I took my money and just sat down at a table.

However, after thinking about it, i guess this is a good way to do it. My wife is always afraid that when you leave a tip on a credit card the waitress never actually gets the money, but this way as long as I remember to leave the money she will get the money. Plus since I had to tell the lady the tip before i got service, if the service is bad I don't have to leave the whole thing. One other advantage is that this is like a free ATM or cash advance. I think if I go again I will say I am going to leave her $100.00 tip this way I get $100.00 in cash without being charged an ATM or cash advance fee. Then I will jsut leave a normal tip amount.

Has anyone else been to a place that uses this method?

Rock and Roll

I really have 2 posts today, but I think I can make them both fit under the same title plus they are both short.

The first one is to congratulate Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five on the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction. It's great to see such a performer inducted.

The second one is that I have been keeping track of my gas mileage I get while driving to Hanover every morning. I have been driving the Ford Explorer since I still have some boxes in it that I need to unload into my new cubicle. Well here are the results of the first week of calculations. I get a whopping 12.3 mpg. How pathetic is that. I really need to start driving the Corolla.

Hanover

As most of you already know I started working in Hanover, PA this week. I kinda expected things to be a littel backwards, but things over here are actually quite current. They have Lowes, Home Depot, Kohl's, Bon Ton, Star Bucks...etc.. Well today I thought I would give the Ruby Tuesday a try. It was good, but when I was leaving I thought I over heard one of the waiters offering a new dessert to one of the customers. Apparently they now sell fresh cookies. Then I heard what I thought couldn't be right, the prices. I thought I heard him say, and keep in mind I am deaf in one ear, 1 for $1.49 or 2 for $2.99. Well i blew it off to I misheard him and he must have said something like 2 for $2.49 or something like that. So as I am walking out I see a sign written on the box of cookies they are displaying, and it says:
1 for $1.49
2 for $2.99

Does anyone else see the issue I am having here? It would actually be cheaper to buy 2 cookies seperately($2.98) than it would to buy them together($2.99). What kind of Hanover good deal math is that. I guess it goes to show you, you can dress up the red neck all you want, but underneath it's still a red neck.

But other than that Hanover has been nice.

Start of a new Journey

Literally, I will start a new journey come Monday. My journey will take me to Hanover, Pa where I will start my new job at Hanover Direct, Inc. After 9 years at Blazenet/SusCom/Comcast I am moving on. It is a sad day, but I think a good one as well. Only time will tell I guess. So I think I will share some good ol' memories of working at Blazenet:

1) Calling the GM/VP a dumb ass
2) Calling the Director of Marketing a bitch, and then get written up for it
3) Playing in the Horse Tournament
4) Beating Rich in the Chili cook off.
5) Being fearful anytime anyone mentioned the word Fornax
6) Being talked to for making creating a hostile enviroment at work, I would joke with one of the guy gays at work and someone else got offended.
7) Playing in the foosball tournament

Those are some of my favorite moments at BlazeNet. If any other former employees have any memories please leave a comment of them. I would like to see what others remember.