Sunday, December 16, 2007

A sick child is a real bad feeling

If there is a worse feeling in the world for an adult parent than the crying of a five year old who is sick and in pain, I don't know what it is. I had a slight fever the other day that Alex must have caught. I know getting sick is part of life and natural and all, but God is it horrible to see a five year old feverish and ill. He had chicken pox last month and really suffered with it as well. I can't even imagine the pain of parents with small children with serious illnesses like cancer and such. I just don't see how they both handle it.
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For any teacher with those lousy Gateway silver laptops PSS purchased a few years back, remember to back up your data. Those things are awful. I had my second crash with one this weekend. I only lost a bit of data this time.
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The revolving 360 Restaurant at the Nauru building is pretty damn good. I went there Friday night. They are opening for lunch next week, which I also look forward to. That must be a spectacular view in the daytime as well. The food is very good and very reasonable in price, and Rick Jones wears a tie and seems to be a lot busier than he was at Java Joes. Go Rick.
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Harry Blalock shaved his goatee and looks like he could enter the witness protection program, as he is damn near impossible to recognize now. Cynthia thought it might be him at 360, I took three looks said nah it isn't him, but only the sight of Kelli, blocked at first by angle from where I was standing, gave it away.
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Taco Bell has people lined up out the door. I can't believe the clamoring over this place, but it does show there are investments that can work in Saipan. The early returns have that place doing big time business. It does taste similar to the Bell in the states, which I never thought the case to be with KFC here. I wonder if KFC will improve now as well. Shelly's Pizza changed locations to Susupe now. I believe they are next to Ebisuya now. I'll have more options than my not so beloved Subway.
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I finished the second season of HBO's Rome series. That was one heavy show that presented an amazing take on the Ancient world. Even in the wealthiest, most successful empire of antiquity, life really was lousy back then -- unless you were in the aristocracy, and even that had issues as well. I was just astonished by this series.

11 comments:

Bruce A. Bateman said...

Taco Bell: I wonder if it will impact McDonalds business for more than just a few days or weeks while people try out the new kid on the block? I haven't been to one in a couple of decades or more. Once you taste real Mexican food, or real SW fusion food, or real TexMex food, Taco Bell and it's bland Kansas corn pie taste just is not much of an option anymore.

I can remember thinking as a boy that Taco Bell was really Mexican food (and mexican TV dinners). I felt pretty sorry for those poor Mexicans. In Florida Spanish food was available and Cuban food was available but no Mexican food. Later when I tasted real Mexican food I thought Taco Bell should be hung for even claiming kinship to Mexican food.

All that being said. I'll go down there and try it out in a couple of weeks to see if it is as bad as I remember it being. Taste sometimes changes. Hey, if I can eat spaghetti with sugar and hot dogs in it, I may be able to learn to like most anything.

Rick Jones said...

Jeff,

Thanks for coming in, and I'm glad you and Cynthia enjoyed it. I think we are doing very well for our first week open, although we will be changing and refining things as we go along. One of these days, I might actually get a day off.

Bruce,

One of my first jobs was at a Taco Bell in California. Back then, we prepared virtually everything by hand, including cutting fresh tomatoes, onions, and lettuce every day. It was actually a pretty good product, about the only thing not actually made at the store were the taco shells.

Haven't been to the one here yet, I'm sure it's about the same as any Taco Bell anywhere, and even if is crap mexican food, it's still nice to be able to go in for a few dollars and pick up a bag of dinner.

Bruce A. Bateman said...

Hi Rick,
Olive and I are looking forward to visiting your new place, enjoying the food and checking out the 360 view.

Congrats on your start up and may it be a huge success!

bigsoxfan said...

Hey Jeff, sorry about the Gore rant. It's more a personality conflict for me, than a total unbelief that we are screwing up the planet. Plus, I figured it was the only way to get my mom to visit my blog.

I never did publish a post on why we left Saipan, but our reasons had a lot to do with the rise of sea levels in the Pacific. Nah, just kidding, I'll explain soon. Taco Bell, sucks. just plain sucks. I'd rather have a burrito from seven eleven warmed up on the manifold of my car than anything there. Unless it was late at night and I'd been drinking excessively, real excessively. Note to the DPS; set up your driving checkpoints with a couple of blocks of taco bell at a reasonable hour. like fifteen minutes after the bars close. Might close the deficit within a couple of weeks.

Betty said...

Is Alex feeling better? Teresa had difficulty recovering from chicken pox at the age of three and it turned out she had epstein barr virus, which can affect the immune system. Might be something to look into, if he doesn't snap back. Every parent in the world can relate to that sick to your stomach feeling you get when your baby is hurting and you can't make it go away. (Even if your "baby" is 22!)

Tried Taco Bell this weekend. Although it has never been my favorite restaurant, but found the ingredients to be fresh and line moved quickly.

Went to 360 for appetizers this weekend. Service was excellent, as was the food. Ambience put me in the mind of the restaruant at the top of the space needle in Seattle. It is a bit pricy, but reasonable for an "upscale" restaurant. I am most excited about menu items not easily found elsewhere in the CNNI.

As far as the lap tops go, teachers are complaining at our school too, but apparently there are issues with the new laptops as well.
I wonder why we weren't given some professional development on proper use, care, and procedures for back up, etc. when they were delivered? Seems that might have helped address some of the concerns.

Bon said...

Alex is my sweetie pie, sorry to hear he was sick:( I hope Tony and I get a chance to go to 360 before he leaves. Took the crumbsnatchers to TB today and forced myself to eat too. I'd still rather eat a 75 cent Tijuana hotdog at 3 in the morning, but the Bell is a welcome addition to our island.

BTW, I checked with HRO and OPA and we are within our rights to read the newspaper, scan a magazine, and yes even comment on blogs during breaks. Still, vigilance is key, especially since we are who we are. Oh well, I guess it sucks not being able to hide behind the protection of anonymity.

The laptops? No comment, I'm a Mac girl myself and don't mess with anything else.

Hey, how's Cyn? Say hi will ya?

Anonymous said...

I am sorry about the kid getting ill, Mr. T. I hope he gets well soon enough for the holidays.

Brad Ruszala said...

"I can remember thinking as a boy that Taco Bell was really Mexican food (and mexican TV dinners)."

had taco bell really been around that long? like liberty bell long?




...always like to get the cheap shot in. remember bruce, no malice there. i'm just in it for the cheap laugh.

Bruce A. Bateman said...

Yep, Brad, they had TB (perfect signature letters) back then, but the ovens used dinasour dung as fuel and the meat was brontosaurus.

saipanboonieman said...

bruce, it is as bad as you remember it. but i too had to see for myself, so enjoy the false hope of it tasting better than it really does!

360 was fun! last time i went there, it wasnt even rotating! but being up there brought back many fond memories of an island long gone. i was thinking that it would be a pretty cool place for a new years countdown....

sorry about your child, i hate that feeling of helplessness too. hope he gets better soon....

Jeff said...

Thanks for the concern on my kids. They are both ok, but both very feverish. It isn't a bad illness, but I'm relatively new as a parent, and was relating the pain of seeing your kids sick.

Yaba daba doo bruce.

The bell is less wretched than I recall it being. It's something in a pinch.