A Hardee lunch...

So I had a hamfest today in Odenton. Didn't make nearly as much as I hoped. Afterwords, I went to Ollie's, an odd-lot discounter, and then grabbed some lunch. Pasadena is home of one of the few Hardee's restaurants in Maryland. I don't think I've been in a Hardees since I was a kid on vacations with the parents.

This is the "portabello ThickBurger" combo meal. It was pretty good - definitely better than, say, McDonalds - but not quite as good as, say, 5 guys. It also was a little more expensive than other fast food places, and not as fast - they actually bring the food to your table. They also have a pretty diverse menu, including fried chicken, a bunch of burger and chicken varieties, and hot ham sandwiches. They also had signs advertising their breakfast menu, including a fried bologna and egg sandwich.

I wouldn't go out of my way to go there, but maybe I'll stop by next year...

My new $140 coffeepot...

So I like coffee. A lot. I'm so addicted to caffeine that I get headaches and go through withdrawal if I don't get it. It's like crack, except there isn't free crack in the break room at work, unless you are a drug dealer.

So last weekend my Cuisinart Grind and Brew was giving me trouble - I couldn't get the basket out. So I decided it was time for a new machine, and that I was going to splurge. I'd read good things about Capresso grind and brew machines, so I looked for one. It's normally $200 but I found a refurb at J&R for $140.

Finally hooked it up last night and used it this morning. I'm impressed - it looks cool and makes a great cup of coffee. I don't usually like thermal pots since I can't see how much coffee is in it, but this is growing on me. The main basket swings from grinder to brewer by itself, which is cool. Programing controls aren't the most intuitive, though.

It's the time of year when things turn pink...

I hate this time of year. It's cold, making me bundle up, making my hands bleed, making me scrape ice off the window and drive around with the windows closed and the heat on. And it's also the time of year for my least favorite holiday, Valentine's Day.

I've heard that Valentine's Day is great for people who are in a relationship, but since I seem to repel women like I have my own force field, I wouldn't know. I do know that two isles of Target are now full of so much pink and red and white that I don't know if I want to vomit or sob.

I was trying to take this pic without letting people know I was taking a pic and getting odd looks from disgustingly lovesick couples wondering why I was taking the picture, which is why it's blurry. But I think it came out kind of cool.

I suffer from yellow pickup envy...

When you drive a small pickup like my Ranger, you feel like you tower over ordinary cars - but that bigger "real" full-size trucks tower over you. But I saw a pickup today that will make even a Super Duty F-450 owner feel inadequate. I spotted this truck on my afternoon drive around the Baltimore Beltway to the gym. It's an International CXT - basically a commercial truck chassis with a pickup bed on the back.

Unlike the one owned by Ashton Kutcher, this one actually was being used for heavy-duty work - it was towing an empty boat trailer, and had the name of a marine-services company on the back window.

Saucy!

So I came back a few days before I needed to go back to work after Christmas break. One of the reasons was that I wanted to do some cleaning, along with a list of other chores and errands. Of course, I didn't get as much done as I would have liked, but I still got quite a bit done.

One of the things I did was clean out my collection of fast-food condiments from my silverware and cutlery drawer. I'm not sure what I ever though I would do with all these Taco Bell and soy sauce packets. It's especially puzzling that I accumulated all this, since I don't even get fast food all that often...