I am watching Last Restaurant Standing on BBC America right now but it has gotten me thinking about something.  Have our expectations on what to get out of a restaurant been elevated to impossible levels?  I ask that because I am looking at some of the plates being critiqued and wonder if people just feel like they have to find something wrong with everything.  There were times when I agreed sure but there were other times when I felt what they said was unwarranted.  For instance, there was this beautiful plate of lamb skewers that literally made my mouth salivate just by looking at it and the critic said the plate was messy.  Is he crazy?  I felt it was so beautiful that it literally made me hungry. 

I must be honest here, it does not take much to make me a happy diner.  I want friendly service,  good attention ( if my drink is empty then please refill it without making me flag you down ) and tasty food done correctly.  Some people though are just never happy with a restaurant it seems. 

The same show though highlights what a restaurant owner can do wrong.  It showed people waiting over an hour, orders lost, and others just plain incorrect.  Those are all things that would upset me as well.  It's a fine line though between greatness and failure when it comes to dining out.  What are some of your best and worst experiences at a restaurant?

My wife and I watched the Running Man the other night because I had not seen it since I was in high school and she had not ever seen it.  I was amazed though how creepy it was and believable it is becoming. 

The whole idea behind it is that the news tells you what they want you to hear which is almost never the truth.  Then on that same station they have the most watched game show on television which is The Running Man.  A violent reality game show where convicts attempt to complete a course while outsmarting or outrunning a " stalker " who is steroid pumped, over done, hostile maniac with a weapon.  The idea is if they complete all 4 courses in 3 hours alive they get their freedom. 

There is a resistance underground trying to expose all the lies that this game show and the news on the same station spit out though.  They just need the satellite codes to broadcast their message of truth. 

I say it is creepy how believable it is because just look at stations like Fox News, the rise in reality television, and the amount of violence in America already.  Now obviously this movie is an exaggeration but it raises many good points and I would encourage everyone to watch it at least once.  There are parts you will laugh at because it has some great one liners, but the general idea and concept are right on target and this movie was made in 1987 which is over 20 years ago.  Just creepy how some movies hit a little to close to home.

I am often compared to celebrities.  People say I look like Michael Shanks ( Daniel Jackson on Stargate SG1 ) or chef Tyler Florence, and most recently Matt Parkman from Heroes.  I have included their pictures down below for reference.  It's funny too because people will swear that I am just like these Celebrites.  Not just in looks but personality as well.  I don't mind at all as it is flattering.  Now if people said I looked like Homer Simpson or Peter Griffen then perhaps I would have a problem.  As long as people compare me to these guys then I am cool with it.  Has anyone ever compared you to a celebrity and what did you think of it?

Edit:  I forgot to include an actual picture of me below so I added it.  What do you think? 

I just answered this Featured Question; you can answer it too!

You ever feel like writing but then draw a blank on why you want to write or what to write about.  I do this a lot which is why I struggle with updating regularly.  I got to thinking about this and I might have an answer.  I do not have a lot of money so I don't get out much.  I work in a place where I can't talk about what I do because it is all
" Internal use only " which is a big portion of my day.  Outside of work I come home and spend time with my wife and dog.  It's great but not much to write about.  I got to thinking that maybe the real problem is that I over analyze things ( it's part of my personality ) which holds me back from writing about every day things just because I find them boring.  I am not sure but one thing I am sure of is that I really have to update more because the act of writing on here really makes me feel good.  Any body else ever face this and if you do how do you over come it?

http://www.xanga.com/the_real_anna/691265320/the-xanga-web-awards---here-are-your-winners/

So today in the good state of MO we got hit with a snowstorm that has been going on for a full day now.  I was fortunate enough to have advanced in my career enough to where I now have a position that allows me to work from home on days like today.  I no longer have to risk life and limb just because a boss says I do.  It did get me thinking about a few things though.

All day long they have had school closings at the bottom of the screen for NBC.  I get having it on last night and this morning but when I was watching the news at noon and it was still there I had to wonder why.  Are their kids or parents checking the noon news to find out if their school is closed.  Do they not know at that point?  I can only imagine some poor kid freezing at a bus stop all morning till his parents  see the noon news and pick him up to take him home.  Probably have to chisel the ice off of him first.

What does it take too for a place to worry about it's associates safety.  I understand some places need to be staffed such as helpdesk areas because you need people to take calls but when do you need to find a better way to have people available without risking safety?  Is there a better way?

It also got me thinking that this is one pro to school.  It usually closes easily and if your in college you can just say screw it I am not going in.  No one can stop you and the worst a teacher can do is threaten a lower grade.  I would sometimes take a lower grade. 

Anyways those were my thoughts about bad weather days.  Do you have to go in to work no matter the weather?  Did you ever skip school because of weather?

When I got Married I quickly realized I would need to get creative with Gift Ideas.  Let me explain why.

In December we have Christmas, January is a month off, February is Valentines Day, March is my wife's birthday, and April is our Anniversary.  Whew!  I have one month off but then 4 months close together of gift giving.  Here are some ideas I have come up with though to handle this otherwise difficult situation.

One of the first ideas I had was to take my wife to Sephora.  Not to buy anything but to try out perfume and see what she likes.  I then kept a note of anything she liked so that I would have plenty of Perfume to buy for her without wondering if she would like it or if it would smell good on her skin. Even better is that if she runs out of a particularly favorites scent ( she usually does ) I can re-buy it for her and she loves it as much as a branch new scent.  This is the idea that has the potential to never end.

I also listen carefully to her.  My Wife is very vocal and while she is never hinting at gift ideas she always gives ideas.  Recently she commented that she needed more bras for instance.  I am not going to even try and figure out what she wants, the sizes etc so I got her a Victoria's Secret gift card and she got to pick out everything herself.  She was ecstatic and I got brownie points for listening to a problem and then offering a solution.

There is also the home made solutions.  One Valentines Day I got a giant red poster board, cut it out in the shape of a heart, and on one side I wrote my own letter and on the other side I posted some of my favorite notes she wrote me so she would know they fill my heart.  It cost me very little but had a very profound effect.  Get creative and think outside the box.  The mere fact you tried is enough to make her go wild.

If you have the money then have flowers delivered to her at work.  Not only will she be completley surprised but then she gets to show it off to everyone she works with making you the hero of the day.  When you get home and see her she will be beaming with happiness and pride that you did something so nice.  This is a big one that has never failed.

Finally there is the all to easy Amazon Wish List.  Sometimes I buy right off of it and sometimes I use it as a guide to find things she may not know about but would love.  It's easy so while it will make her happy, be careful with it because it can also say you did not put much thought into it. Never a bad idea though if your not sure what your significant other wants.  The most important thing though is to just listen and you will find that gift ideas never run low.  By paying attention to her interest and hobbies I can come up with plenty of ideas on how to make a gift out of it. 

What have you done that has worked as a great gift idea?

I have thought about this and why I crave Pizza Hut so often.  You see it's easy to see why when you look back.

When I was a kid we had the book it program at school.  For those of you who are not sure what this is it is basically an incentive program setup to get kids to read.  Here is some more information on Book It.  I loved pizza as a kid ( who didn't though right? ) and did not mind reading.  My parents were both avid readers and always read to me as a kid.  So the teacher would set some goals of what we needed to read and if we met that goal by the end of the month then you would get a coupon for a free personal pan pizza.  There was not a month that went by where I did not meet this goal.  In fact at some point I get a medal because in all the years I was involved with book it I never missed a goal.  To me there was no better incentive than a delicious pan pizza all to myself.  I would even remind my parents about my free coupon when it was on the fridge.  I could never wait.  That was how at a young age Pizza Hut was associate with Reward to me.  More than that it became associated with warm feelings.  I worked hard, achieved a goal, made my parents proud, and I get a pizza to enjoy.

As if all that was not enough I grew up in the age of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.  Can anybody tell me what pizza chain was in the TMNT video game on the NES system.  That's right it was Pizza Hut.  Now we have tossed into the mix the coolness factor where the Turtles and Pizza Hut are linked.  The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles eat at Pizza Hut so I must too.  Anybody remember the original VHS copy of the first live action Turtles movie as well?  There was a pizza hut commercial before the movie played.  It was the one where the kid was bored in left field but then the ball comes out to him, and he is freaked.  He closes his eyes and puts his glove in the air and catches the ball winning his team the game.  They all cheer and congratulate him and then celebrate at Pizza Hut.  I am 25, and have not seen that VHS in at least 15 years.  I still remember it vividly though.

This trend of Pizza Hut as good and a reward followed me through out my life.  When I was in high school my parents would occasionally go out of town, which meant I was stuck at home and could not have anyone over.  I did once and got busted because the neighbors are spies.  Anyways what I would do instead is rent movies, have soda, and you guessed it order Pizza Hut.  Again this was a way of comforting myself and making a bad situation good.  I got a whole pizza to myself and watch horror movies no one else would like.

When In College my roomate and I who lived on the same dorm floor and then moved into a house together where we lived for 2 years would order Pizza Hut to have fun. That's right we didn't have much money so Pizza Hut would make us salivate like Coyotes who had not eaten in days.  Coyotes who now spot a wounded animal that they can take.  It's insane I realize but when you can't afford much Pizza Hut can be a real treat. 

So how do you break this chain?  How do you convince yourself you do not want something that you really really do want even though you are fully aware that it is terrible for you?  My whole life this chain has been a reward and something to enjoy but it should not continue this way.  Do you have something like this for yourselves?

This is one I really had to think about.  You see I am a Tech Nerd.  I have my bachelors degree in Computer Science and continue to work in my field.  I get to play with, break, and then develop troubleshooting steps for new technology as my job.  I always want the latest and greatest in gadgets even though I can almost never afford it.  With that in mind the choice seemed obvious.

It's my laptop of course.  It is so multi-functional and without it I cannot pay my bills ( I give a hoot and e-bill...okay so it doesn't rhyme ) and of course use it to access Xanga.  This is my portal to so much and allows me a creative outlet in so many ways that I would lose my mind without my laptop.  This is all on the basis that the Internet is not a gadget but a tool used in conjunction with the laptop.  I use this everyday and it helps calm my mind down after racing at work through so many problems, emergencies, and other daily situations.  Tomorrow morning myself and others I have been working with are meeting with the CIO of our company ( it is a major financial firm worth billions and let's leave it at that ) along with other senior directors.  It is to demo the video solution we are delivering to our financial advisors.  You do something like that and not feel a bit wired.  If it wasn't for my laptop and Xanga I don't know what I would do.  This is the gadget I could not live without.

Would you consider the internet a gadget?  Why or why not and if not then what defines a gadget?

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As a kid living at home I was not interested in the least in cooking.  I mean I can but just did not want to.  As I got older though and began to watch Food Network I found that cooking can be fun and enjoyable.  That network actually excited me into cooking.  Since then I have found some truly delicious recipes that I thought I would share with you today.  Here are two delicious recipes for shrimp that I recommend you all try.