The Thurman Cafe in German Village, Columbus, Ohio

          Three friends and I ate at The Thurman Café, 183 Thurman Ave., in German Village of Columbus, Ohio this past Saturday afternoon.  The Thurman Café is one of the more popular restaurants in German Village, as evidenced by the 45 minute wait we had to experience to get into the place at 2:00 in the afternoon.  Part of the wait though, can be attributed to the small and cramped size of the restaurant.  Only so many people will fit into the place. 

          The Thurman Café is really just a small bar that is being used as a restaurant.  For an interesting touch, the walls are covered in photos and signed dollar bills.  The ceiling is covered with Budweiser beer ads.  We noted that out booth was so cramped that we had to suck in our breath the whole time we were there just to fit into our seats.  The edge of the table uncomfortably dug far into our abdomens.  True, a couple of us were slightly overweight, but, given the fact that most of America is, and that overweight customers are a fat (pun intended) source of income for a restaurant, a couple of more inches between the seat backs and the table would have been gratefully accepted.

          Once we got seated, my friends and I were greeted by friendly and personable waiters who quickly took our orders from a very ample menu and brought them to us in a reasonable time frame.  The restaurant specialty is a 12 ounce hamburger, with more than 20 different burgers to choose from.  There are also coney dogs, pizzas, wings, and many other sandwiches.  The biggest burger is the Thermanator, made from two 12 ounce burgers, bun, and all the trimmings, for $21.99.  Once we saw the softball size burgers, my friends and I decided to order something more suited to our smaller appetites. 

          My friend Susie ordered Sweet Thai Chili chicken wings.  She liked them, especially the sauce.  It was "perfect, with just the right amount of spicyness."  I tasted them.  I liked them too.

          Greg ordered the "Chicken Club".  He liked it, but was not unusually impressed.  When he saw the oversized, traditional corned beef "Reuben" that I had ordered, he suddenly developed a craving for a Reuben of his own.  My sandwich was packed with corned beef.  The cheese and sauerkraut blended perfectly with the meat and the bun, and the thousand island sauce served on the side allowed me to temper the juiciness of the sandwich to my individual taste.  I like sauerkraut so I wouldn't have minded a touch more kraut, but the overall taste of the sandwich was so good, as prepared, that the difference was not enough to pick at.

          Donna ordered the "Breaded Gourmet Onion Rings" and the "Hot Boneless Buffalo Wings".  She loved the rings.  They were "crisp" and tasted good.  She hated the boneless wings.  They tasted more mild than "Hot".  Donna thought that maybe the restaurant had somehow gotten the hot sauce mixed up with a touch of barbeque sauce, ruining the intended taste.  She gave the wings an overall thumbs down. 

          Would we try the Thurman Café again?  Probably.  There were so many items on the menu, and the wait staff were so friendly, that it might be worth giving the restaurant another shot.  However, due to the long wait to be seated, and the unpredictability of the taste of the food, we probably will be giving other restaurants a shot at making us happy first before we rush back to the Thurman Café.

Roosters in Washington C.H., Ohio

          My friend Susie and I ate supper at the new Rooster's restaurant at 120 Crossing Dr., Washington Court House, Fayette County, Ohio this past Wednesday.  They had been open only two days and were doing a booming business.  Our wait time to get a table was about fifteen minutes.  The new restaurant is located in the old Dakota Steakhouse, and except for a few wall decorations, looks pretty much the same as the old restaurant. 

          We ordered the Nachos Deluxe to share, she ordered a Char-grilled sandwich, and I ordered the Roosters Traditional Wings with "Hot" sauce.  The Nachos tasted good, but were not as good as those I've had in other restaurants.  Susie found her sandwich to taste good and to be adequate in all measures, but she still didn't think it was anything to brag about. 

          My wings tasted good, but were nothing to brag about either.  They were supposed to have been tossed in "Hot" sauce, but their clean and dry appearance showed that they were not.  The "Hot" sauce that was in a pool at the bottom of my dish was more of a mild sauce.  It was so mild tasting that I personally considered Rooster's "Hot" sauce category to be false advertising.  In an attempt to make the wings spicier, I liberally sprinkled some of Rooster's hot cayenne pepper sauce directly from the bottle onto my wings, but even that sauce was relatively mild.  It wasn't even half as hot as the normal cayenne hot pepper sauce you can buy in any grocery store!  I decided right then and there that if I ever go back to Rooster's, I will order the hottest sauce possible the next time and see if that sauce is as spicy as it is supposed to be.  I do have to say though, that, considering the price of chicken wings in today's market, the serving size was adequate for the price. 

          I found the service at Rooster's to be problematic.  The waitress was very welcoming and friendly, and very efficient, for her part.  However, there seemed to be problems in the kitchen that translated to problems with my order of wings.  I was served the wrong thing, and it took far too long to get the order straightened out.  When I finally did get my wings, the waitress told me that, because of the mistake and long delay, I would not be charged for them.  Restaurant management charged me anyway.  I didn't care about having to pay for the bad service, because I expect to pay for my meal when I eat at a restaurant anyway, but misleading promises and this kind of inconsistency are totally unacceptable. 

          One small service that would make the restaurant better too, would be that they provide wet wipes for their patrons' sticky hands after they eat all those messy chicken wings.  A dry old paper napkin just won't do the job! 

          Even though I found this visit to Rooster's to be disappointing, I have to note that this particular restaurant had been open for only two days.  One has to expect somewhat of a learning curve, within reason, until employees get more efficient and used to their jobs.  It also seemed like everybody in town was trying the new restaurant this night, and all that traffic had to have had a draining effect on service.  Maybe things will get better in the future as restaurant management and workers get more experienced.  I hope so.      

          In the meantime, Susie and I agreed that we would go back to Rooster's again in the hope that our next experience will be much better.  After all, everybody deserves a second chance … most of the time.

Lunch at the General Denver in Wilmington, Ohio

          Good food, good service, and a reasonable price.  That's what I found the day before Valentine's Day this year at the historic General Denver Pub at 81 W. Main St.; Wilmington, Ohio.  This past Saturday seemed like a good day for me to get a date and try out the pub for the first time.  We decided to try the noon meal.

          The four story General Denver was built in 1928 and was named after General James William Denver, a hero of the Civil and Mexican Wars, and the namesake for the city of Denver, Colorado.  The brick Tudor Revival style building was originally built as a full service hotel and had a formal restaurant with a dining room, and a pub/bar.  All three areas are still in use today, but the food is mostly now served in the pub, along with a wide selection of drinks.  A friendly atmosphere is accentuated by the friendly, prompt service, dark wood framed walls, traditional old wooden bar and shelves, and toasty fireplace on the far wall.  American style pub cuisine is served every day of the week except Monday.  The menu leans heavily on sandwiches, mostly burgers, but also consists of the usual salads, pasta, seafoods, and steak.  With a few exceptions, most meals range from $7.00 to $15.00.   

          My date ordered the "Lamb Burger", consisting of ground lamb, feta cheese, roasted red peppers, herbs, fresh arugula, remoulade, mozzarella cheese, and fried green tomato, all on ciabatta bread. She loved it.  She thought her sandwich was flavorful, with just the right ingredients, and was the right size for her appetite.  She was particularly impressed that she could get onion straws as her side dish without having to pay extra for them.  Some people are not hard to please.  I tasted her sandwich, and I liked it too.  The taste of the lamb meat was a welcome change from a regular beef hamburger.

          I ordered "The Dirt Bag" burger, consisting of 1/3 pound of ground beef, a sautéed pepper blend, sautéed onions, mushrooms, bacon strips, bleu cheese crumbles, provolone cheese, pickles, lettuce, raw onions, and tomatoes, all on a multi-grain bun.  I found my sandwich to taste perfectly adequate, but I couldn't say that it was exceptional.  My biggest complaint was that the spicy jalapeño peppers overwhelmed the myriad of other tastes available in the sandwich.  If I were to ever order this sandwich again, I would ask them to leave off the jalapeños.  I ordered regular fries with my sandwich.  The fries were crisp, hot, fresh, and satisfying.  What more can you ask from fries?                

          My date said that she would definitely like to go back to this restaurant/pub again.  I liked it well enough myself to return someday, and from the number of local patrons that dined at the same time we did, other people obviously feel the same way.  On a zero to five scale, my date said that she would rate the pub at a 4.  I think I would go with a healthy 3 myself.  I recommend that you try out this restaurant yourself, and see what you think. 

Sunday Buffet at Golden Corral in Chillicothe, Ohio.

         Endless buffet . . . enormous variety . . . outstanding hospitality.  That's how Golden Corral restaurant chain describes itself in its web site.  My date Susie and I ate at their Chillicothe, Ohio restaurant Sunday (2 February 2016), and I can say they are not too far off.  Nothing is endless, including Golden Corral's buffet, but the exaggeration can be forgiven because they actually do have an enormous variety of food dishes.  They have so many dishes, in fact, that I hold them, and my many trips to their restaurants, as partially responsible for my excess weight gain over the past few years!  Managers, cashiers and table attendants are efficient, polite, and attentive for the most part, and do much to make sure that the buffet dining experience is satisfying.  Golden Corral is of one of my favorite restaurant chains for casual, sit down buffet dining.           
         You can usually find a Golden Corral just about anywhere in this part of the country (Ohio) nowadays.  I like that they have almost all of the American style meats, sides, breads, salads, and deserts that I could want from a casual restaurant.  I especially like that I can get a grilled-to-order, all-you-can-eat steak at a reasonable price (currently $11.59 for seniors) with the evening and weekend buffets.  I usually start my excursion through the buffet line by first picking up my medium rare steak from the chef at the hot grill, and then by going from one end of the buffet to the other while I put a small bite of all the meat dishes and seafood on my plate.  I then take that back to my table to eat before I go back again to fill another plate with equally small spoonfuls of whatever sides, fruits, and deserts that I want.  I love the salad buffet too at Golden Corral, but I'm a carnivore, and with so many of the other good meats and foods on the buffet, I don’t always make it to the salads.  I like to finish my meal with some fruit to aid digestion and a taste of ice cream from the self-serve machine to satisfy my sweet tooth.  I usually unsuccessfully try to avoid the desserts, as good as they are, in order to cut down on my sugar intake.                                                                    
        The Golden Corral in Chillicothe, Ross County, Ohio is a very popular spot for families to eat on weekends.  We arrived at 2:00 p.m. this past Sunday, usually a slow time, and found the restaurant stuffed full of customers.  The cashier moved us politely, quickly, and efficiently through the check-in line, and we found a table right away.  Getting my steak hot off the grill and surfing the buffet went quickly, and well.  My date met me back at our table where we were able to enjoy our food and each other's company just as if we were in a less crowded restaurant.  The food was delicious, and, was, with a couple of exceptions (my steak had a lot of gristle and was more rare than I had asked for, and the Bourbon Chicken tasted like it had chemicals in it), everything we hoped it would be.  I would rate this particular visit to the Chillicothe Golden Corral on this particular day a 4 out of 5, and recommend it to those who like to eat at buffets.

The New Star Wars Movie - Nothing New!

        A friend and I saw the new "Star Wars - The Force Awakens" movie today (20 December 2015).  I was disappointed with the movie.  My friend was too.  It seemed to me to just be a second class remake of the very first Star Wars movie to come out.  Two people meet in the desert, join up with a smuggler and his Wookie, meet the princess/general, and lead a resistance rebellion against a death star in order to save the universe.   Father and son fight.  Been there, saw that  . . .  in the first Star Wars movie!  Didn't really need to see it again.  Sure they added a few characters and had a wonderful family reunion the next generation, but the basic plot was still the old same-o, same-o.  In addition, the acting was pretty wooden, and the spirituality written into the original movie as the "Force" was sadly lacking.  Moving a few things and reading a few thoughts hardly imparts the original wisdom of the Jedi and the "Force" that was inherent in the original movie.  

Terrorism Spreads Like a Disease

          Originally written 16 December 2015:  Like everyone else, I’ve thought a lot lately about terrorism and the reasons behind it.  Terrorism seems to stem from frustration, anger, and hatred, and/or mental disability.  Ignorance, misinformation, greed, and power hungry villains are its enablers.   Violence, pain, fear, and suffering are its results. 

          People get frustrated and angry when economic conditions and educational opportunities are so unequal that others live in luxury while they themselves can’t even get a job to feed their families.  They learn to hate when others hold their hardships and situation over their head and deny them the opportunity to advance themselves.  Many such victims turn to terrorism in their feelings of hopelessness and frustration.  And, of course, there are always the mentally disabled, those who are disconnected from reality, the ones who hurt in ways unimaginable to most of us, and who want others to notice them and feel the same kind of pain that they do.  Some such mentally disabled people want an out, any kind of out, from the world in which they find themselves, and many don't mind taking many others with them when they go.  Such people make perfect terrorists.              
          Pseudo religious leaders who teach and lead a perverted form of religion rather than spirituality,  power hungry tyrants who will do and say anything to claw their way to the top of the heap, and the greedy, self appointed aristocrats who want the riches of others because they think their money gives them control and makes them better than others, are the ones who enable the conditions, frustrations, and insanities that lead to terrorism.  They use others to practice terrorism and self destruction while they themselves sit back and reap the results.
          I've noticed that frustration, anger, and hatred, whether expressed through terrorism or other means, are spread very similarly to a communicable disease.  Whomever these things touch, they infect.  Anger, hate, fear, and violence beget anger, hate, fear, and violence.  That is the way diseases operate too.  They are communicable.  They spread to others, through their victims and the ones in contact with their victims, and then reproduce.  
          Think about it.  Terrorists attack other people like a lethal disease attacks the body (think Ebola, for example).  Their victims either then die, or they survive with injuries and psychological damage from which they may or may not ever recover.  Such damage can be irrational fear, hatred of the attacker, and an uncontrollable desire to strike back at the thing that hurt them.  The same feelings can also infect the victims' family members, friends, and group members.  These victims and secondary victims then take on the same anger, hatred, fear, and desire for violence that the original terrorists displayed, and redirect it toward those that they feel has attacked them.  Thus, the disease (terrorism) spreads back and forth, from victim to victim, from crowd to crowd, and nation to nation.  Eventually, when the disease has reached enough people and has done enough damage, it becomes an epidemic that affects everyone in one way or another.  
         Since terrorism is like a disease, then applying the principles for the control of communicable diseases should be useful.  In controlling an infectious disease, we identify the source, find the method of transmission, isolate those infected, develop and apply treatments, prevent further transmission, and destroy the cause if possible.  We are already employing many of these ideas in our fight against terrorism, some of which are working, and some of which are not.  I am not going to explore those things now.  They are for discussion at another time.  After all, I'm just writing a blog post, not a book. 

Introduction and Copyright Notice

         My purpose in creating this blog is to provide an outlet for the thoughts that arise from my observations, opinions, and life experiences.  My hope is that you will find this blog to be interesting, entertaining, and enlightening.  If you agree with me . . . great!  If not, then let's agree to disagree.  If you don't agree with me, I don't mind a bit. Life doesn't require everybody to always see eye to eye.                                                                      
        Thanks for visiting my blog.  I hope you will visit this site again, and that you will tell your friends to visit too. Like everyone else, I'm just trying to find the meaning of life, as life applies to me.  Please check back often. I'm sure the site will be changing and evolving as circumstances dictate.  For now, I'll just do the best I can.                                             
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