Kansas City Blows

That is the only good thing about going to Overland Park to be in the qualifier for the Nathan's Famous 4th of July Hot Dog Eating Contest.

Southwest Airlines blows. They have a new seating policy that blows. The kid who sandbagged while boarding, and then coughed the whole flight to Kansas City blows. Avis blows. I reserved a compact for $9. Give me that, not this:

Chrysler blows. The Gardner, Kansas police blow. Here's a photo of the stop sign I blew right through:

At 12:40am you couldn't see the sign. Otherwise I would have stopped, duh. $95? You and your police friends blow. (Actually I always say any police or any fireman or any nurse or any teacher kicks ass. Why do monkeys tapping on keyboards make more than those true heroes?)

After an incredible workout Saturday morning at the aforementioned Anytime Fitness, I make my way to the contest venue at the Sam's Club:

The crowd grew a bit more. George Shea started up:

First up was an eating contest for Sam's associates. Some guy brought his actual dog up to eat:

Whew, good thing George put the kibosh on that. No tarnishing a respectable hot dog eating contest with a dog eating and having fun. The guy who won ate 3 hot dogs and buns in 1:37.

Then there was the neat eating contest for kids. Everyone tied! (But for the record, Sam's had one grand prize. I think George changed it around to give all the winners a prize and have a raffle for the grand prize. That was a pretty good thing to do.)

We were up next. The hot dogs were the skinless bun-length Nathan's dogs you can buy in most food stores. They weren't grilled, maybe boiled, but not prepared on site. Not hot, but not cold either. Just right, actually. And delicious. I've had hot dogs since last June but not a Nathan's dog - flavorful, garlicky, perfect. And what's with the "two cup" rule? Rules are rules, and whatever, but be consistent and apply that to everyone. Some had pitchers, some had more cups, some had big containers. That blows. But we ate.

Everyone began with 2 plates.

Right on the money.

Results: winner 24, 2nd ate 23, 3rd ate 21.

Two more things that blow:

1. Avis again. What's up with the big ass keys? And why do they put two of them on the ring? It's not like you can take apart the key ring, so what's the purpose?

2. A two-parter. Kansas City International airport.

Above, the terminal design. Each terminal has on the west side stores, restrooms, etc, and gates on the east side. It's complicated to explain why it blows, but it blows. The photo below is of a restroom inside a gate. The faucets look OK, but they are like Walmart streams of water. That blows.


Kansas City blows.

A full slideshow of photos is here.