BH&VI

We went down to the Big House this weekend. I had three things to do. Two out of three isn't bad.

First up: clearing the branches. On one side it's all trees between us and the neighbors (side note: the neighbor lady is a nurse at the state hospital in Pueblo, who went to ... PCC-Fremont, coincidentally T is in the same program! Plus, the lady two doors down from the neighbor also is just finishing the same program! Odds of that?). Anyway, the branches. Here's a before & after.

And from the back. Before, branches and leaves on the roof and actually on the power feed lines. After, now off the roof and off the lines:

#1, check.

Next up: the front door. In the before you can see how crappy it looks. It's old, with that lovely glass pattern. And around the frame is the hardware for a screen door - but no door. Found the door in the workshop. Went to put it on, and it was obvious then why the screen door was taken off - where the hinges attach to the door, yeah the screw holes are about twice as wide as the screws (which were still on the frame on the front door). But I found a way, and the screen door works better than I ever thought it would:

#2, check.

Number 3 was to be the insulation in the attic but the attic access in the ceiling is in the bathroom. That's not a problem, but the access is probably 9"x12". I could fit through, but no chance of a roll of insulation going through. So we'll get some insulation blown in. That's still a high priority item before the winter, but the ceiling is suspended below the actual ceiling so there is some insulating effect there. So no #3.

On the way back on Sunday we went to Village Inn. If you don't know about the pancake promotion, read it here. The first order is nice - 3 good-sized pancakes.


Here is what you better be aware of: any "reorders" you want are their 4" size. And only *2* of them per reorder. Luckily the guy was game and allowed me to get 4 at once:

These are of a perfect size for my mother-in-law. And since she is a senior on a fixed income this promotion at Village Inn is not only delicious but affordable too. After she puts the premium unleaded in her red Audi S4 she can putter over to Village Inn and enjoy some tasty pancakes.

Pancakes Anyone?

If you have a Village Inn by you, read this and then get there. Scoop: you get all-you-can-eat pancakes for the price you pay for a gallon of gas. Through July 31. I'll see you there.

IHOP Part Deux

Last night, IHOP again for more pancakes. I had a specific number in mind going in to it, but this photo of me with my head in my hand shows how it went:



Not that everything didn't start out well...




The four. T, Mommy T, Guapo, me.


Guapo, you're going down bee-otch! He hung tough, though.


Here, it's hard to see how dry the cakes were. It was kind of weird really.


They're drenched in syrup but they still almost crumble when cutting them. And added to that, I had them come plated to me in stacks of 5. I should have gone with how they normally come - in stacks of 3. It's mentally easier I now know to go through 3 per than 5 per. Our waitress was great! When I was done with a plate, she was right there with a fresh plate of steaming cakes! So that was refreshing after the between-plate-waits of last time.


Working on them. If you know me, you have got to know what's next...


Yeah that's real grown up. But they were delicious!

So I ate and ate and ate. Maybe I wanted to go to Casa Bonita a little more than I thought. But I let you all choose. IHOP it was. But it was good, no doubt! And finally meeting the mysterious Guapo Ribinowitz was a treat!


I'm done. 4 plates done. So 20. And then over half, but not quite three-quarters, of the other plate. We scored it 3.5 of that plate of 5. Total: 23.5 pancakes. Dang. And the before weight minus the after weight: 6.5 pounds.



Here's the pancake info again. Keep in mind this is per pancake, before the syrup and butter is added:

Good Choice!

And the winner is...


So we'll be going for early bird dinner. And don't worry, I'll get photos. Thanks to everyone who voted. Here are the final percentages:

58% - IHOP
34% - Casa Bonita
 8% - "wherever you fucking want to go"

That last one was not one of the choices, but I'm all for write-in candidates!

Update on You Choose

5:25PM - Casa Bonita is still in the lead.

11:15AM - Casa Bonita is in the lead.

There's a day left to vote, so vote early and vote often. Casa Bonita or IHOP, you choose (click there to read about it).

* You Choose *

OK, we are going to eat out on Saturday. I'm going to let you guys choose. The two options are:

1. IHOP (all-you-can-eat pancakes, bee-otch!)
2. Casa Bonita (all-you-can-eat "mexican", bee-otch!)

Drop me an email, iamskinyboy at gmail dot com, by the end of the week. I'll tally them up. And we'll go.

IHOP AYCE

It's January 13, 2007. Me, T-bone, mes and Shamalamalama converge on the International House of Pancakes on Parker & Orchard. 4:30pm.

If you haven't had IHOP pancackes before, they are good. Very good.



Here I am before ordering, just thinking about the pancakes:


Last week T & I stopped in at IHOP for a bite. At that time I did not know IHOP was having the all-you-can-eat. I did OK that day, but wanted to try it again..

On the menu there are 4 ayce options. 3 options have eggs, hash browns and meats. The 4th option is pancakes only. The first 3 options start you out with 2 pancakes, and then you can reorder by stacks of 3. The 4th options begins with 5 cakes:




Now stacks of 3:


mes




Wow, these are good! This is my first reorder still so they are good now.




The syrup is delicious but very sweet. Thanks for the alternatives, guys. 2nd reorder. 9, 10, 11:




3rd reorder. Still good. 12, 13, 14:




4th reorder. 15, 16, 17:




5th. 18, 19, 20:


Still good. See:




6th. 21, 22, 23:


7th. 24, 25, 26:


OK, on 26 it's getting to me. Sugar overload I think. Well that and all the pancakes:




This is what's left. I had reordered one more time. So 27, 28, 29. And then had them add on 1 more cake. 30.


But I only could get down half of the final four before a little bit came back up. Thankfully it stayed in the mouth but that was a good point to stop. So I ate only half of the final four, so we deducted 2. 28.








T's sheet keeping track of the inhumanity:


Looking back on it, I do think I would have passed 30 if the reorders were ready and brought to me in any timely fashion. Seriously, I'd ask for each reorder when a reorder was brought to me thinking that would make it so a new reorder was ready and waiting when I was done with the previous stack. But no. I'd finish a stack and it was always 4, 5, or 6 minutes before another stack was in front of me. We determined that the problem was not with the server. They'd put in for another reorder right away. Both in the computer and with the cook. The problem was with the cook. I guess he did not believe the server when they reordered so he never cooked anything until he was told again. Mas rapdi, por favor! But whatever. It won't be that way next time!

Here's the pancake info again. Keep in mind this is per pancake, before the syrup and butter is added:

Rock On, PPP!

Hey anyone out there who can (and wants to) join payperpost better have done so by now! It is without a doubt the easiest way out there to make bank! All you do is post about things you love! You’re going to post anyway, so why not get paid for doing so! If you use the payperpost affiliate button on the right side, I get a little kickback that I would halve with you! So use the button! We will both get to enjoy it! It is all about the Benjamins, right!

What am I doing with the easy cash I have made through payperpost? I’m going to IHOP today, bee-otches! They are in the middle of their all you can eat pancake dealie. After all this hard, tough work for payperpost I deserve some hoecakes. That is a joke – payperpost is so friggin easy!

So the bottom line of this whole PPP is this. Get in now while the gettin's good! Some people may bellyache about selling out, or cluttering up blogs, or the moral depravity of PPP. Whatever. I will be laughing all the way to the bank while those people b*tch and moan. Get started for yourself by clicking the PPP affiliate button. Just watching out for you!

Drive In, Drive Out

Here is a rather short trip report to New Mexico - September 22nd & 23rd - for the GoldenPalace.net World Green Chile Grilled Cheese Eating Championship.

I got a Chevy Aveo from Enterprise and headed to Santa Fe. T, her mom, and Shamalama were there. We'd meet up Friday, and go to the competition on Saturday.


Crossing into New Mexico.


Nice crepuscular rays. For the meteorologist in us all.


This is the hotel in Santa Fe. You can barely make out the snow on the mountains in the background.

I don't know that I've ever seen this sign:



And look here...


There's the sign in the foreground, and then another sign maybe 50 yards later.

But you do get some warning about what's coming up:



Fortunately I saw nobody. Maybe they were too tired.

In Santa Fe just about everything is in a faux-pueblo building. The McDonald's:



The IHOP:



Courtyard Marriot:



A photo of an aspen tree against a deep blue sky.



Another aspen, with the sun shining through.



As for the contest, due to some logistical problems I did not have my digital camera and Tommye had the digital video camera but I was not able to warn her about how when you use the zoom it totally blurs the picture. She zoomed. It did get good sound, though! And with Mike Castellano tearing it up on stage that sound is gold! Gold! Mike kicks ass!

So there were 10 competitors. Four New Mexico locals, Allan, Russ, Mongo, Rich, Joey and me. Russ & Mongo are from the Denver area, too. That's cool. (If either read this, send me an email - iamskinnyboy at gmail dot com). Intros. On my right is Mongo, and on my left is ... Rich! WOW! For someone who has been following the scene for a few years, well, being at the table and *next* to him is pretty cool! In other competitions I have been at the table with Sonya, Pat, Badlands, and others, but getting to stand, and elbow, and eat next to HIM is nothing short of a moment. I cannot tell you how big of a Locust fan I am! I think I am only an even bigger fan of the lovely Carlene! I will strive to have him on my left and HER on my right! One day. One day.

The contest finished: Joey 34.5, Rich 28, Mongo 14, me & Allan 13.5, and on down. But did I mention Rich was on my left!