Dinner Saturday evening at Sage. We weren't all that thrilled the last time we ate at Sage. but it is one of our favorites so decided to give it another shot. We both ordered the Flounder Almondine. It was fantastic! I don't know how they made the sauce but it was simply magnificent. I wish I had taken a photo. For dessert, we both had the Cafe Gourmand...expresso with four small desserts; crême brulée, chocolate cake, melon ice cream and something I didn't recognize (like a cup of whipped cream). I don't know if they got a new chef or what, but this was the best we've had there in quite a long time.
As recently as last year, I was a football fanatic. If there was a football game on TV you just didn't bother trying to talk to me, except maybe during the commercials. But something has changed and now I simply can't stand having to sit through all the commercials. I tried watching a game the other day and after the second set of commercials, I turned it off. That is also the main reason I don't watch regular TV. And now they're trying to do the same thing with the internet. Haven't any of you noticed that every time you try to see a You Tube video, there's a damned ad that you either have to ignore or X-out? It really pisses me off, so I try to just not even attempt to look at the videos. We need a new internet with NO COMMERCIALS!
EDIT - SURPRISE! SURPRISE! Wandering around the internet, I happened to chance upon a fantastic site. If, like me, you hate all those ads that pop-up when you try to watch a You Tube video, you'll be happy to learn there is a thing named ADBLOCK PLUS. They claim it's free but ask for a donation. There is a version for just about any browser you may have (I have three - Chrome, Firefox and Opera _ actually I have four including IE 8, which I never use). It is added as an extension of each browser. I added it to all three. I haven't really tested it yet, but have high hopes.
A friend who used to live next door to us at the condo, and his boyfriend, opened a restaurant named Angel's Cafe on the main drag in Wilton Manors. We finally got around to going on Sunday night. I had read some reviews of the place and they weren't very good, but we thought they've been open for several months, they must surely have gotten the bugs out by now. The first thing that strikes you when you enter, is the over-decoration. A thing for which Alan is infamous. He can't seem to do anything without going way over the top. and he apparently applied that formula to decorating the cafe. When we checked the menu, it was mostly chicken dishes with a few steak dishes and one (count it) pasta dish. Robb opted for the pork chop. I decided on the only pasta dish. Robb's opinion of the pork chop was "tough". My pasta was supposed to be with shrimp and after searching under the pasta, I did find about six. There was a lot of broccoli on top of the pasta, which was not cooked enough for my liking. When we called for the reservation, we were told there was to be a "show" at 20h00, so we decided to get there in time for that. There were only a few tables occupied when we arrived, but as it got closer to showtime, the place started to fill up. Another unfortunate problem, was that it is right next door to The Village Pub with its loud, thumping bar music. So when the show finally started about thirty to forty minutes late, there was the too loud show in the cafe and the thumping from the Pub next door. Not an environment conducive to enjoying a meal. To make it even worse, they had no espresso machine and the waiter didn't even ask if we wanted dessert. I considered writing a review but decided against it. There's nothing I could say that hadn't already been said.
Friday we had planned to take the Duck Tour. Jumped up at the crack of dawn (for me that's about 10h00) only to find another cold, rainy day. I didn't want to take the chance, so I called and arranged to take the tour tomorrow. Here's hoping we get a good day!! For dinner, Robb walked up to the Japanese place which closes around 19h00 during the week, and got some take out to bring back to the apartment. We'll eat it somewhere around 21h00. Once again I had no idea what we were eating, but it was really good. Half of it was very spicy. I didn't know Japanese food was spicy. Live and learn!
Saturday we awoke (around 09h45) to a world bathed in sunshine and several degrees warmer. We called the taxi and asked them to pick us up at noon because we had to get to the Duck Tour pick-up spot at the Museum of Science by 12h30. We left the apartment, walked up the bazilllion steps to the street around 11h50. The Green Taxi was already there waiting, and eating his lunch. It only took about twenty minutes to get to our destination. There was no trouble checking in using the information I had stored on my Samsung Infuse. Around 12h45, we boarded our Duck vehicle, which according to our very knowledgeable driver, cost about $385,000. I guess that makes sense because it is amphibian. The Duck was roomy and wide open...no windows. The driver, whose name I cannot remember, kept up a non-stop commentary during the entire hour and a half ride. We pretty much covered all the main historic sites of the city and a few of the surrounding areas like Cambridge, Back Bay and the North End (also known as Little Italy). The last portion of the tour was a ride on the Charles River. I didn't take that many pictures because the shots available to me weren't all that good. I did get a shot of the Museum of Science from the river and the Longfellow Bridge. For dinner, Robb walked up to the Greek Corner Restaurant and got the vegetarian take out. Again it was excellent!
Sunday, 28 July, back to Fort Ladeda. Our apartment agreement indicated we had to vacate by 11h00, which seemed a bit early to me, but I realize they have to clean the place before the next renter shows up. We can't complain, it is a really nice apartment in an area that turned out to be a lot better than I was expecting from my Google street tour. There were a lot of stores and restaurants along Massachusetts Avenue which was only a block away. Unfortunately for us, our plane doesn't leave until 17h58, which means we'll have to spend six hours at the airport. That wasn't so bad for me, but Robb would be climbing the walls after an hour or so. Spirit Airlines refused to accept our bags until 14h40, so we took our baggage cart (for which we had to pay) to the nearest seats and started our long, long wait. Finally, after three hours, we checked in our bags only to find that they were charging me an extra $25 because one bag was 5 pounds over the limit, so it cost us $115 for our luggage on top of the airfare!. These are the exact same two bags, with the exact amount of stuff we had when we flew up at no extra charge. So if you have a choice, and you always will, DO NOT FLY Spirit.
We love Boston. The apartment was really nice although there were a couple of very minor problems. There was one major problem. In order to get to or leave the apartment, we had to climb a bazillion steps down to what would have been the basement in any other house, except, while it was downstairs, it was not under the house.. Most of the buildings in our area looked much the same.
Dumb Law of the Week: In Oxford, Ohio, it is illegal for a woman to disrobe in front of a man's picture.
Monday evening the plan was to meet the lovely Blocked and her handsome husband some place for dinner, but wouldn't you know Spirit Airlines called and said they were going to deliver Robb's bag "sometime" during the day. So we came up with an alternate plan. Robb would meet them at the Greek Corner Restaurant, they would get take-out and we would have dinner in the apartment. So that's what we did. They got two take-out sampler dinners; one meat and one vegetarian. Other than the stuffed grape leaves and the hummus, I had no idea what we were eating, but it was super delicious. Robb stopped at the liquor store and got a bottle of wine, but had to go back to get another. That too, though it was a name I had not known before, was quite good. All in all, it was an excellent evening and we really enjoyed getting together with Blocked and her hubby again. They are very delightful people. It's too bad we live so far apart (did I mention they live in England?). Robb would like us to go to London and see them there, but I'm not sure I can do that. We'll see how it turns out. Oh, it was after midnight before the guy from Spirit arrived with Robb's bag!
Tuesday, Robb got a virus on his laptop. It was something called System Care. I tried to run the anti-virus program, but the SC wouldn't let me load it. I tried to get on the internet, but it wouldn't let me do that either. So I got on my laptop to see what kind of information I could find about getting rid of it. I found a few sites that addressed the issue and checked one. They provided a phone number, so I called. That was my first mistake. The guy at Advanced Tech said they could clean the laptop for only $199! I don't know what I was thinking, but I agreed! Mistake number 2. They accessed Robb's laptop remotely and began doing whatever it is they do. Well, it took forever and several hours later it still wasn't done. It was around this time I started thinking maybe they were part of the scam. I went back onto my laptop and checked. That's when I saw something that I should have thought of in the first place: simply shut down the laptop, wait a few minutes, turn it on again, hit F8 and get on using Safe Mode, then run System Restore. Why I didn't think of it at first, I have no idea. But that's what I did and Robb's laptop was back to normal within a few minutes. Then I decided to call Advanced Tech to get my money back. I didn't really believe I had a snowball's chance, but figured what did I have to lose? Surprisingly, they gave me no hassle at all. So Robb's laptop is working again and I saved $200! For dinner, I had discovered a Japanese Restaurant on Massachusetts Avenue and wanted to go there because I LOVE their ramen noodle soup! Sadly, they closed at 19h00! I couldn't believe a restaurant would close that early, but it seemed most of the restaurants along the avenue were already closed. So we returned to the apartment where we ended up eating some of the Chinese food we had brought home Sunday night. It was a bit tastier this time.
Wednesday evening, we called a taxi and went to the Boston Museum of Fine Arts because Robb wanted to see their Impressionist section.. Entrance to the museum is rather expensive, so just getting there and getting in cost us $75. But it was worth it because they had one of the largest Monet collections I've ever seen anywhere. The bonus for me was that I was able to get a wheelchair and didn't have to walk around the whole place. It is a large museum. Since it was almost 20h00, we decided to have dinner at the museum. They have two restaurants and two snack cafes. We dined in the Bravo restaurant (scroll down, click on "Bravo" - the red-haired guy in the bottom photo was our waiter). Robb had salmon and I had the Red Snapper. I drank Sauvignon Blanc. Robb had a wine recommended by our waiter (Loimer Lois Grüner Veltliner 2011), who was very knowledgeable about the food and the wine (he normally works behind the bar). Robb loved the wine. For dessert, we both had Mocha Crême Caramel. The dinner was not too expensive and everything was excellent. If you're ever in the Boston MFA at dinnertime, we highly recommend it.
Thursday = RAIN!!!!
Dumb Law of the Week: In Minnesota, it is illegal to tease skunks.
We are in Boston again. We left Fort Lauderdale on Spirit Airlines around 09h45 and got into Boston arround 12h30. My bag was the very last one to come out. Robb's bag never arrived. When he checked with the baggage attendant, they told him his bag was still in Fort Lauderdale. Then they made up some odd excuse about us arriving too late at the check-in, but we were there at least an hour ahead of time. So they're trying to make him come back to the Logan Airport to retrieve his bag...if and when it shows up. He called today but now they say they don't know where it is. Out first dinner in Boston was at Qingdao Garden, a Chinese restaurant. The food was plentiful, but rather bland.
I got my laptop to the point where everything worked except a couple of letters on the far left of the keyboard. No matter what I tried, I couldn't get it to work. I finally had to take it to the shop where they charged me twice as much as the first guy estimated.
Dinner at Ruth's Chris Steak House because Robb has been talking about going there for years. It's just around the corner from us but we've never been. We rarely eat steak. Robb started with Mushrooms Stuffed with Crabmeat, they were large and probably would have been a whole meal for me. I had the Grilled Scallops, there were two (count ém...2) grilled scallops on a small plate with absolutely nothing else. Which seems to be the way they serve things in this well-known, expensive restaurant. We both decided on the filet mignon. The filet comes in two sizes, 11 ounce and 8 ounce. We opted for the 8 ounce. They too, came on a small plate with nothing else. They don't seem to understand presentation at Ruth's Chris. For dessert, I had Crème Brûlée and Robb had a chocolate drink with some kind of whiskey. The Crème Brûlée was passable, but not great by a long shot. Robb wants to go back, but I don't care if we never return.
I'm very close to fixing my laptop. I just need to figure out one more step and I'll be able to do it!
Le Tour de France is currently in progress. In the US (sadly) you can watch the eight hour race squeezed into three hours from 20h00 to 23h00 on NBCSN. Of course, since it is US television, during those three hours, you get an hour and a half of race and an hour and a half of commercials. If I didn't like the race so much, I wouldn't even bother watching. I first watched in France several years ago and became a fan. But on European TV they have this great way of showing the commercials at the very beginning and the end of the show. You're not inundated with them throughout the entire broadcast. The preponderance of commercials is the main reason I almost never watch American TV. It's so damned annoying! Five minutes of race, five minutes of commercials, ad infinitum!!!
So I broke my laptop! I have an Acer Aspire laptop with a 17.3 screen. That seems like a big screen...right? But it's really about the same size as a 15-inch screen. They just stretched the thing to make it 17.3. Oh well, to get back to my main thought...the letter "N" is broken. I tried and tried to get it to sit back in place but it just won't stay. So I went to CompUSA. The guy there said no problem, they can fix it for about $50. I agreed and went home waiting for him to call. After a month of not hearing from him, I started checking the internet. Without much trouble, I found a place that sold new keyboards for $15, so I ordered one. I also found a video showing how to take out the old keyboard and put in the new one. A piece of cake! Any fool can do that! Any fool except this fool. First, it was nowhere as easy to remove the old keyboard as they made it look in the video. Second, when trying to remove the cable, I broke the part that keeps the cable in place. Bottom line...I have to take it someplace to have it done and it will probably cost more than the $50 the guy at CompUSA estimated!
Dumb Law of the Week: In Florida, In Florida, it is illegal to tie an elephant to a parking meter, unless the parking fee is paid just as for a vehicle.
I purchased a portable oxygen concentrating machine because I have reached a point at which I can barely walk a hundred feet without feeling exhausted. I first bought a Inogen One G3, because it advertised itself as the smallest. Not only is it not smallest, it is also very noisy and pretty heavy. I emailed the company and told them I wanted to return it. They suggested sending me a different model which would be a lot quieter, the G2. It was a lot quieter, but it also was a lot heavier. I will not be that person you see pulling the machine around behind him because it's too heavy to carry. So I sent back both the G2 and the G3. I then found, on the internet of course, a unit calledAirSep Focus. It weighs about half of the G3 and is almost half as small. It is a little more noisy than I would like, but I'll put up with a little more noise to have something that is more easily carried. The first real test will be when we go to Boston in July. I'm so hoping it works as advertised, because that would mean we can go to Europe again.
Saturday we had dinner at Candela. I had the Grouper with veggies and a Gazpacho Sauce, while Robb had the Red Snapper with Shrimp.
Monday we had dinner at Dapur because they gave me a $15 coupon for my birthday. We started with the Shrimp Martini and followed that with the Crispy Duck. You may have noticed we have the duck almost every time we go to Dapur. We do that because it's very good and there are only a couple of places in Fort Lauderdale where we can get it. When we were seated, the waiter informed us that the kitchen would be closing in about two minutes. Even so, they only rushed us a little and it was basically our fault for waiting so late to go out.
Dinner at Thai Spice because this is my birth-month and they offered a free(?) entrée (with a $40 purchase). We did not get the FREE entrée because they only offered five and we didn't care for any of them. But we both had the Chillien Sea Bass. with (according to the menu) coconut cream sauce, which turned out to be a curry sauce. It was excellent. For dessert, I had the White Chocolate Cheesecake and I don't remember what Robb might have had (it was almost a week ago). I don't think we've ever been disappointed at Thai Spice although they are following what seems to be a trend in South Florida...every place is becoming a restaurant/lounge. I guess that sits well with the under thirty crowd, but I prefer quieter surroundings when I have dinner.
Is anyone following the Bradley Manning fiasco? In case you don't know, Bradley Manning is a 25-year-old Army intelligence analyst. He shared a lot of so-called "classified" material with Wikileaks and is now, after being held with no charges for three years, on trial for "aiding the enemy", among other ridiculous charges.
One of the most damaging things he shared was One of the most damaging things he shared was a classified video of a United States Apache helicopter firing on civilians in New Baghdad in 2007. The video, available at www.collateralmurder.com, shows Americans shooting and killing 11 individuals who do not return fire. Two of those killed were Reuters’ employees, including 22 year old Reuters’ photojournalist Namir Noor-Eldeen and his driver, 40 year old Saeed Chmagh.
The video includes an audio recording of the internal commentary by the American soldiers before, during and after the shooting. The soldiers repeatedly request and are granted permission to open fire, encourage one another and joke about the dead and dying civilians.
A total of 11 adults were killed. Two children, passengers in a van that arrived on the scene after the first bout of gunfire had ceased, were seriously injured when the Apache helicopter opened fire on their van.
In 2007, Reuters called for an investigation into the attack. In response, a spokesman for the multinational forces in Baghdad stated: “There is no question that coalition forces were clearly engaged in combat operations against a hostile force.”
Is it just me, or has anyone else noticed the huge number of people who post on Facebook and Twitter who can't spell, or use the wrong word? I'm not taking about typos of which we're all guilty at some time or other. How often have you seen someone use 'there' instead of 'they're', or 'your' instead of 'you're'? Another favorite is the use of 'were' when they mean 'where'. My all-time favorite was the guy who held up a sign calling us (gays) 'morons', but he misspelled it!
Dinner at home. If you think pasta is only good with spaghetti sauce, or meat sauce, you haven't tried Bob's Pasta. Yum yum, miam miam.
Dumb Law of the Week: In Washington: It is mandatory for a motorist with criminal intentions to stop at the city limits and telephone the chief of police as he is entering the town.
Dinner at Dapur on Saturday. We started with the Shrimp Martini, Tiger shrimp wrapped in rice paper with a pineapple-peach chutney. Very good! Our main course, was the usual Crispy Duck which was excellent as always.
It is becoming a chore to keep this thing going. When I first started on Open Diary, there were a lot of people that I read and posts on which I left comments, and who, for the most part, read and commented on my diary. But most of them are now gone. A couple died, but most have just disappeared into the internet ether-world. In the past six months, I haven't gotten as many comments as I used to get on a daily basis. For a couple weeks in a row I got absolutely no comments and only one of two people even bothered to post anything. I suppose I'll keep it going (though sporadically) for my own amusement and a way to check back and see how we were getting through the days.
The other day after viewing a video on You Tube, I was given the option of about a dozen or so other videos. One of those happened to be the video of Bush LYING about seeing the first plane hit the WTC tower on 9/11. This, of course, lead me to watch other videos about 9/11 and seemingly logical comments by experts in various fields of architecture and building stress. It still disturbs me to this day that the American people have bought into the government's obvious campaign to make it seem as though we had actually been attacked by a group of Saudis on a suicide mission. You may recall, that most of the so-called suicide people were later seen alive and well in Morocco! Supposedly, they were American Airline planes that had been hi-jacked, but if you look at the videos, you'll see they were NOT American Airline jets and there were actually no markings on them at all. Then, if you check out the so-called plane flying into the Pentagon, you see there WAS NO PLANE. The most obvious reason for the attack was the $300 Billion in gold bars in storage under the buildings of which little was recovered! View the accusatory videos for yourself and think about it objectively. I'm curious to know what you decide.
