The Perfect Bagel

I tend to go to Panera a lot.  For those that don't know (including the Russian spammers reading this) Panera is a bakery, known among other things for bagels, including an outstanding Asiago cheese bagel.

Any spammers from Israel wouldn't recognize our bagels, which are loaded with fat and sugar and cheese, in this case.  They are wonderful, but rarely perfect.  Panera usually undercooks them, doesn't toast them well enough, or slices them like the guy from the Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

But sometimes, quite rarely, they produce and prepare the perfect bagel.  See attached photo. Certainly worth going back to try to repeat. Enjoy vicariously.

McDonalds: All Soft Drinks are a Dollar

At some McDonald's I have visited, they advertise that all the soft drinks are the same price.  Small, medium and large sodas are all one dollar.  (Price may vary in your locale).

I have no idea what the logic is behind this idea.  Why would anyone order a small if they can get large for the same price?  Or, would they say "I'm not really thirsty today, I will just order a medium.."

Can you really be sure how thirsty you will be?  I think most people would err on the safe side and order the largest soda they had for the same price.  I suppose I could hang around McDonald's (more than I already do) and watch what people order and take a survey:

"Hey stupid, did you know you get 20 more ounces of that poorly mixed, funny tasting crap for free?"
 
What really fries my burger is that if order the combo, you automatically get a medium. You have to pay extra to get a large. 

If you figure this out, or if you have some inside information, drop me a line at notamused2@aol.com.

Is there any legroom on a plane?

For all the benefits of air travel, they certainly begin when you get off the plane.  For economy passengers, the time spent on board is an advanced from of torture.   Something the CIA could learn a few things from. 

Leg room (or is it legroom) is a case in point.  I can personally vouch for the space on a United Airlines Airbus 319 in economy.  There is, for all intents and purposes (or a friend used to say, intensive purposes), none.

United touts the extra legroom in their business class seats, but it appears that they gained that space by squeezing the legroom in economy.  The planes are no bigger.  Maybe they took out a row of seats.  Maybe.

Under any circumstances, it is really tight in there.  (See attached photo.)  It is worse when the seat in the next row is reclined. 

That tiny space there?  That's what is called leg-room.   I pity taller people. 

TSA Screening Lines

It seems to me that the TSA screening at the airport is set up so there is always a long line.  They open late, so that people have gathered to board early flights, so that there is a long line.

Then they don't open any more lanes until the line is out the door.   As soon as the line gets lower, they close or two lanes until the line builds up again.

It's the opposite of Target or WalMart, who open new lanes when a few people are waiting.  The goal of TSA is to make sure someone always has a long wait. 

It does make it so that you can hear the "all shoes must be removed" a few hundred times. 

Shopping Carts at Wal-Mart

So, the question is: How difficult is it to push the carts 25 feet to the cart corral?  This rudeness is common is a lot of places, but seems to take on an art form at WalMart.  Notice the beautiful symmetry of the carts in relation to the nearby corral.  Obviously, these little doggies got loose.

The only thing ruder I recall is when I saw someone shoving a cart into a handicapped parking space.  Classy.

A Slice of LIfe Picture

When did Pizza Hut start cutting their large pizza into 8 slices?  I remember when it was 12. 

And if the guy who cut this into eight had tried for 12, how bad would it have been?

Surgery is not likely in his future.  At least not as the one holding the scalpel.