Happy Birthday, Mia! Happy Birthday, Jude! I know Mia is going to see "Coraline" and come home for birthday cupcakes. Does Jude get to do something fun? or did he already? or does he think his birthday is sometime after he arrives in Washington?
Every March at Holy Name we have a Read to Kids month. Every Friday local dignataries come in and read to the kids and we all get some schmoozing in.
One of our city councilmen who is also running for mayor just sent in his reservation. We have a two or three sentance introduction (to the class he will read to) for them to fill out - he sent me his vitae!
We took Mia and Catie to the dollar show (well, now it's the two-dollar show) to see "Bolt" this weekend. It was pretty good. Stevo was saying he knew John Travolta did the dog's voice but he was wondering who did the girl and Mia gave him the "duh" look and said, "That's Miley Cyrus!" She was right. She informed us that Miley was also singing the song that was playing over the credits. It's funny - she knew these things but yet she couldn't quite pin down the movie-within-a-movie-which-is-also-a-cartoon concept; she kept asking what was real and I didn't know how to answer what was "real" in a cartoon.
My kids talk about the movie being real and the cartoons being fake... and then when they encounter a variation on the above-mentioned type of thing also ask me what is real... I'm always stumped.
2 corrections: both not bith and sir Jude, I almost forgot your birthday is tomorrow, not today so I hope you have a great day today and especially tomorrow. You and Mia both look awesome in your photos.
Six retired Irishmen were playing poker in O'Leary's apartment when Paddy Murphy loses $500 on a single hand, clutches his chest, and drops dead at the table.
Showing respect for their fallen brother, the other five continue playing standing up.
After the game, Michael O'Connor looks around and announces, ''Well, me boys, someone's got to tell Paddy's wife. Who will it be?'' They ended up drawing straws.
Paul Gallagher picks the short one. The group begins advising him. "Be discreet." "Be gentle." and, "Don't make a bad situation any worse."
''Discreet?? I'm the most discreet Irishmen you'll ever meet. Discretion is me middle name. Leave it to me.'', he grabs his hat, and off he goes.
Gallagher arrives at Murphy's house and knocks on the door. Mrs. Murphy answers, and asks what he wants. Gallagher declares, "Missus, your husband just lost $500, and is afraid to come home.''
''Tell him to drop dead!'', says Mrs. Murphy.
Gallagher nods, tips is hat, and says "I'll go tell him then Missus."
Another awesome success of Donny's to share! When he first arrived and his handwriting was tested...he was at 18% of grade level. Today, he was retested and he's at 97%! WooHoo! :-<>
Yes, I'm sooooooooooo glad. We've worked really hard on this. At this rate and with help throughout the summer...he will learn cursive and be "up to speed" by next school year! :-)
I just found a chart that rates how much seafood you can handle per week according to your weight (a mercury calculator). My 42 pound Mary can eat 3 oz. of chunk light tuna a week. No more. 3 oz. of mixed leftover bits of tuna would put her way over the limit.
I forgot my insulin at home and cannot eat. I am hungry.
Doesn't matter, Cathy. Every vote, contest or referendum on this blog is fixed. I mean, do you remember the Great Limerick Scandal of '08. Mine was the best hands down. But, the "powers the be" said it wasn't so. Despite the national outcry they wouldn't budge.
Happy Birthday, Kids. Hope it's fun. Mia looks like she's coming back from trick or treating at Uncle Bob's house. One year Bob and Deb were handing out kittens from a fresh litter.
A second burner on my stove went out leaving me with only the 2 smallest ones. Does anyone know anything about the induction stoves? Boiling water in 90 seconds and such? I would like gas but that means they would have to go through the finished ceiling of my basement to hook it up. I just want something that cools down quickly. Any suggestions?
I saw a demo of the induction technology when it first came out. Things may have changed since then but at the time you needed to buy special pans in order to use the thing.
Just go get a nice gas stove. That's what we have done at every house we ever bought. (All 2 of them).
Here's yet another link featuring the Cheeto. 17 pages of photo-shopped images. Some pretty funny. Also, an audio report from some guy with too much time on his hands.
I was amused to read that the right to name Pluto belonged to a man named Vesto Melvin Slipher. Any one of those names would have been great. Headline: "Slipher not really a planet! Intensive investigations by astronomers have revealed that the orbiting body known as Slipher is an imposter. Not only is it not a planet, but it appears to have a mysterious constant companion known only as Charon. The two operate in the same orbits and are often seen together. Harry Potter has been dispatched to investigate"
Happy Birthday Jude! I sent you a letter in the mail. I had a great time last night at the movies and eating pizza and cupcakes afterward, but I'm really excited to go to Des Moines this weekend to visit Ellen and Joe and stay in a hotel and go swimming! My favorite present from last night was the Tinkerbell movie from Nini and Bomps.
Damn! The belt on the roof top heater for the bar area just burned out. Filled the bar with smoke. Guess I'll be up on the roof this afternoon. Too bad this didn't happen yesterday when it was 45 degrees out.
Too bad....I was just about to post a request for Chicken'n'biscuits with sweet pea gravy to go, please. It sounds so comfort-foodie. It's cold here. I'm sure it's colder there and windy. The wind just sucks the warmth out of this building. Good luck aloft.
Did you know that about every 1 in 10,000 times a blower belt breaks that a one inch section of it will get jammed deep in the blower requiring you to call the pros so they can disassemble half the unit just to access the blower and remove that 1 inch section of belt? (Long sentence, eh?)
Anyway, what should have been a $16 do it yourself job (which I've done at least a dozen times) has turned into God-only-knows kind of expense.
Did you know that about one in every 10,000 times that a chunk of belt jams your blower that it also scrambles the bearings requiring the pros to remove and rebuild the blower? Meaning my bar will not have heat tonight.
The earlier consensus was that the heads of US automakers were a bunch of idiots for flying to Washington in private jets in order to ask for bailout money. How dare they live the baron lifestyle when average Americans are suffering. How dare they ask for borrowed money when they burn tens of thousands of dollars for a simple trip to Washington.
I, and most everyone agrees with the above.
If that stunt made them idiots, what does Obama's stunt make him? I'm talking about him flying to Colorado and then Arizona to first simply sign some legislation (the bailout bill in Colorado) and then to Arizona to unveil a housing crisis plan.
The estimated cost of this trip was $600,000 - either your money or borrowed from the Chinese.
I'd say that this makes him an idiot as well. All of this business could have been done in Washington. Instead, he chose to go to politcal battleground states the democrats are trying to secure long term from the republicans.
There are also some anecdotal, off the record reports of congressional members coming back from the oval office saying that when they walk in to the office they are struck by how warm it is. When they ask staffers about it they are told that Obama likes it around 80 having grown up in Hawaii that's what he is used to.
During the campaign he told Americans they need to turn down their thermostats.
The reports are off record so as to not receive any blow back from the Whitehouse.
Working on my new ad. It's going to be ordinary Tom speaking to the ordinary folk of Algona touting the restaurant that serves extra ordinary food for ordinary folk at less than premium prices. My competition touts his place as the premium restaurant in Algona.
Of all the things I griped about Bush, and there were plenty, it never occurred to me to gripe about him visiting different parts of the country he leads, expecially parts afflicted by crisis. Maybe that's because he never went anywhere that's not fun until he absolutely had to (Katrina)?
Also amused about Cheney not doing insider Washington politics as usual - that is, he's not observing the usual courtesy of the previous administration not trashing the new one, at least until a decent interval of time has elapsed. Dog.
Here is some copy I've been working on for a new ad. How dumb is this...
********************* Hi. You’ve seen me around town. No coat and tie here. Usually a hooded sweatshirt, some jeans or a tee shirt with a few stains from the work I do. I’m just a quiet ordinary guy doing all the ordinary things in life.
What do I do for a living? I own and operate Sister Sarah’s. Not easy work, but I like it. My name is Tom. Why am I telling you this? Because there is a misconception about Sarah’s. That it is owned by uppity folk serving uppity customers. Not true. We welcome everyone - including you to our place.
There is no dress code at Sarah’s We don’t check your credit at the door There is no need for a reservation And we are the best dining value in town
In fact Sarah’s offers over 60 items for 9.95 and less. Steaks, Seafood, Pastas and a wide variety of sandwiches. From kind of fancy to the very simple. You will be surprised what 9.95 can get you.
Sister Sarah’s - premium food and service at Joe Six Pack prices.
I might leave out the stains and possibly Joe Six-pack. I think it's a great way to get people who have an impression that it's for "rich" people. At the same time you don't want to turn off people who want to go out to a "nice" restaurant and you still want to emphasize the quality of your food. Oh, yeah - have you ever done a Prom promotion?
Who is your competition, by the way? It's hard - you don't want to let them force you to redefine yourselves, but you still have to adapt to your market.
Anywhere food dollars are spent...is our competition. I think we should realy focus on our great Pub Burgers and cold beer...we have "cold" beer...right Tom? Sometimes, we don't...stupid antiquated cooler. Perhaps, we should market "Awesome Pub Burgers and Tepid Beer!"
I think Cathy's right about the range of clientele you can attract. You don't want to lose those that go out for a nice meal...I wouold feature both in the same ad. Date night dining plus hanging out "after the game" or whatever. You can still feature the idea of great food while not breaking the bank.
Keep running the ad you're running...it takes months for people to change their habits...the quality at a cheap price...it's a good commercial. Also...you might approach Irael and Pinky and the 3 of you do a joint ad campaign...the best 3 in town...the best "American" the best Chinese and the best Mexican...because those 2 aren't really your competition...it's the idiots who go to Primetime and Family Table, Chrome, etc...who are you problems, I think...you could do a joint coupon, etc.
Mike and I were chosen to be delegates to the Iowa Cultural Caucus in Des Moines, it was yesterday. It was interesting and alot of fun. We proposed resolutions for the State Lawmakers regarding the Arts in Iowa. We had lunch with our Rep. Delores Mertz (in their lunchroom!) and then there was a "Cabaret" from 5-8 with free food and drinks at the State Historical Museum. Plus, we were paid $100 each to attend and $100 for gas!!! I would do it again!
Stevo just brought me a Whopper value meal with an extra Whopper and a large pop for us to split (i have to do a teaching tonight) and it cost over $12. Sheesh - we split a prime rib dinner and a pitcher of beer at the Railway for $17 on Valentines day and they gave us two salads.
My mother in law is in town as of yesterday. I was opening up a bottle of wine for her (and me) last night and was havign trouble with the cork. Suddenly it broke and my hand flew up and I punched myself in the face.
What do you do with Swedish potato sausage? I bought some at Eishen's Sausage Haus and want to know wahat all of you do with Swedish potata sausage. You know, when you have it.
That was on the other night and I saw the beginning and the end and not a single dance. The night before last night we were watching Stranger than Fiction (courtesy of Brianne and Joe) and just as it was reaching its climax the DVD player went on the fritz. I have yet to find time to go down to the (cold) basement to finish it, but it was good. I've decided I like Will Farrell way better than Jim Carrey (sp?). He seems to come from a simpler kinder, less frantic place, even if some of his movies are just as totally goofy. Anyway, movie worth renting.
WE arrived in Arlington Thursday night. Jude had a pretty boring birthday on the road, but we celebrated before we left MN. He had a cool batman cake - which I did not make. He got a superfriends video and I had no idea what a value it was when I bought it. It is the same Superfirends that we watched in the 70s and 80s. He loves it and it cost me $12 and has 8 hours of video. On our trip I can't tell you how many times I heard, "Meanwhile, back at the Halls of Justice..." Another funny line I heard was Wonder Woman saying, "This wasp is damaging my shrunken invisivble jet, Aquaman!" It's really funny. We have a new Justice League video too and the Wonder Woman in the 70s version looks pudgy compared to 21st century wonder woman. Sick!
Today we went to the Iwo Jima memorial and Arlington Cemetery. Cemeteries are great place to look for names. We watched the changing of the guard at the tomb of the unknown soldier and Jude thought that was pretty cool.
I loved Stranger than Fiction. And I have no idea what to do with potato sausage, but pierogies go well with all kinds of sausage. And I agree with Pat that you should tout Sarahs as the place to go for a burger or a special night out.
By the way, I only have computer access through the business center at the place we're staying, so I won't be on as much. I know you'll all miss me. I need to let Jude see his and Mia's pictures though. Thanks, Molly!
I've been away from the boards for a while (busy this week on this freelance gig in San Fran).
Tom, I like your script. I don't know if you've recorded it yet but I like your approach. Maybe you can tell people you're from Algona in the beginning as well, like:
"Like many of you, I grew up right here in Algona. And like some of you, my name is Tom."
I might approach the uppity thing a little differently. Maybe treat is as more of a "did you know...?" rather than be super overt about the misconception and let people draw their own conclusions.
Also, I like your hook about the menu vs. price. I wonder if you simplify it to make it more memorable, like: 60 menu items under 10, or something.
Just a reminder--Three days till Ash Wednesday. No meat for everyone and nothing between meals if you are under 59. Also, don't wipe the ashes off as soon as you leave church. We are looking forward to seeing Pete and Mely this week. Last evening we drove down to Boca where Pat did some wonderful hamburgers in their grill. Josh's Mom was visiting so it was nice to see her again. Love, Mom and Dad
96 comments:
Happy Birthday Mia and Jude! Be Loud! Have a great day!
Happy Birthday 4 year olds! I hope you have an awesome car ride birthday Jude, and Mia, I hope you get some cool presents.
p
Happy Birthday to you both. Those are great pictures.
You both look GREAAAT!
Have a super-fun birthday, Mia and Jude.
Jude - are you having an intolerably long trip for your birthday?
Dorothy - will you take me to see the wizard?
Love
lisa
Happy Birthday Miss Mia.
Happy Birthday Mr. Jude.
Have a great day!
Happy Birthday, Mia!
Happy Birthday, Jude!
I know Mia is going to see "Coraline" and come home for birthday cupcakes. Does Jude get to do something fun? or did he already? or does he think his birthday is sometime after he arrives in Washington?
Every March at Holy Name we have a Read to Kids month. Every Friday local dignataries come in and read to the kids and we all get some schmoozing in.
One of our city councilmen who is also running for mayor just sent in his reservation. We have a two or three sentance introduction (to the class he will read to) for them to fill out - he sent me his vitae!
Lisa
We took Mia and Catie to the dollar show (well, now it's the two-dollar show) to see "Bolt" this weekend. It was pretty good. Stevo was saying he knew John Travolta did the dog's voice but he was wondering who did the girl and Mia gave him the "duh" look and said, "That's Miley Cyrus!" She was right. She informed us that Miley was also singing the song that was playing over the credits. It's funny - she knew these things but yet she couldn't quite pin down the movie-within-a-movie-which-is-also-a-cartoon concept; she kept asking what was real and I didn't know how to answer what was "real" in a cartoon.
My kids talk about the movie being real and the cartoons being fake... and then when they encounter a variation on the above-mentioned type of thing also ask me what is real... I'm always stumped.
Lisa
Hey Cathy - are you at work? Please check your e-mail (regards Holy Communion blessing cups)
Lisa
Hey! How come Polk's not on the list?
Happy birthday miss Mia!
Happy birthday sir Jude!
I hope you bith have great birthdays today.
Mia, thank you for the drawing you left for me in my office last night.
2 corrections: both not bith and
sir Jude, I almost forgot your birthday is tomorrow, not today so I hope you have a great day today and especially tomorrow. You and Mia both look awesome in your photos.
SOME IRISH LEVITY............
Six retired Irishmen were playing poker in O'Leary's apartment when Paddy Murphy loses $500 on a single hand, clutches his chest, and drops dead at the table.
Showing respect for their fallen brother, the other five continue playing standing up.
After the game, Michael O'Connor looks around and announces, ''Well, me boys, someone's got to tell Paddy's wife. Who will it be?'' They ended up drawing straws.
Paul Gallagher picks the short one. The group begins advising him. "Be discreet." "Be gentle." and, "Don't make a bad situation any worse."
''Discreet?? I'm the most discreet Irishmen you'll ever meet. Discretion is me middle name. Leave it to me.'', he grabs his hat, and off he goes.
Gallagher arrives at Murphy's house and knocks on the door. Mrs. Murphy answers, and asks what he wants. Gallagher declares, "Missus, your husband just lost $500, and is afraid to come home.''
''Tell him to drop dead!'', says Mrs. Murphy.
Gallagher nods, tips is hat, and says "I'll go tell him then Missus."
Lisa
:-) Happy Birthday Mia and Jude! :-)
Another awesome success of Donny's to share! When he first arrived and his handwriting was tested...he was at 18% of grade level. Today, he was retested and he's at 97%! WooHoo! :-<>
Whoa! Good for Donny!
Yes, I'm sooooooooooo glad. We've worked really hard on this. At this rate and with help throughout the summer...he will learn cursive and be "up to speed" by next school year! :-)
I just found a chart that rates how much seafood you can handle per week according to your weight (a mercury calculator). My 42 pound Mary can eat 3 oz. of chunk light tuna a week. No more. 3 oz. of mixed leftover bits of tuna would put her way over the limit.
I forgot my insulin at home and cannot eat. I am hungry.
Lisa
Hey Mike Lavelle-there's a photo of you on p. 170 of the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue. Who's that friendly girl you're with?
do you have that magazine at work with you?
lisa
Duh, it's Mary.
So that's where Mike is.
He's actually teaching the E-Hawks math today.
So does S.I. pose a barely clad 20 year old girl next to a 55 year old guy?
Oh, I don't think our culture sells 20-year-old sexiness to middle-aged men, do you?
Oh, by the way, you go, Demi!
She's clad in a bathrobe. And the hug she's giving Mike is polite, but not too sexy. Man, the Dominican Republic sounds nice right now.
I'm not complaining that SI sends me the swimsuit issue. But I still don't know if I should leave it laying out with the other magazines.
Since Mike and I are the same age I'm glad to hear we are only 55.
That's his story and he's stickin' to it.
Oh, man, I didn't vote!
Doesn't matter, Cathy. Every vote, contest or referendum on this blog is fixed. I mean, do you remember the Great Limerick Scandal of '08. Mine was the best hands down. But, the "powers the be" said it wasn't so. Despite the national outcry they wouldn't budge.
Happy Birthday, Kids. Hope it's fun. Mia looks like she's coming back from trick or treating at Uncle Bob's house. One year Bob and Deb were handing out kittens from a fresh litter.
Tom
A second burner on my stove went out leaving me with only the 2 smallest ones. Does anyone know anything about the induction stoves? Boiling water in 90 seconds and such? I would like gas but that means they would have to go through the finished ceiling of my basement to hook it up. I just want something that cools down quickly. Any suggestions?
Monica
I saw a demo of the induction technology when it first came out. Things may have changed since then but at the time you needed to buy special pans in order to use the thing.
Just go get a nice gas stove. That's what we have done at every house we ever bought. (All 2 of them).
Tom
Here's yet another link featuring the Cheeto. 17 pages of photo-shopped images. Some pretty funny. Also, an audio report from some guy with too much time on his hands.
http://themountainfold.com/?p=305
Tom
Happy Birthday Jude. Have a fun filled car ride.
Mia I hope you got lots of great gifts. What was you favorite one?
Monica
Some of those Cheeto pictures are pretty funny. I didn't realize the Cheeto got around so much.
I was amused to read that the right to name Pluto belonged to a man named Vesto Melvin Slipher. Any one of those names would have been great. Headline: "Slipher not really a planet! Intensive investigations by astronomers have revealed that the orbiting body known as Slipher is an imposter. Not only is it not a planet, but it appears to have a mysterious constant companion known only as Charon. The two operate in the same orbits and are often seen together. Harry Potter has been dispatched to investigate"
If your last name was Slipher, would you name your kid Vesto? Or worse, Vesto Melvin? Only if you wanted him to grow up to be an evil clown.
Happy Birthday Jude! I sent you a letter in the mail. I had a great time last night at the movies and eating pizza and cupcakes afterward, but I'm really excited to go to Des Moines this weekend to visit Ellen and Joe and stay in a hotel and go swimming! My favorite present from last night was the Tinkerbell movie from Nini and Bomps.
Damn! The belt on the roof top heater for the bar area just burned out. Filled the bar with smoke. Guess I'll be up on the roof this afternoon. Too bad this didn't happen yesterday when it was 45 degrees out.
Tom
Too bad....I was just about to post a request for Chicken'n'biscuits with sweet pea gravy to go, please. It sounds so comfort-foodie. It's cold here. I'm sure it's colder there and windy. The wind just sucks the warmth out of this building. Good luck aloft.
Emily, I dare you to name the baby Vesto.
Did you know that about every 1 in 10,000 times a blower belt breaks that a one inch section of it will get jammed deep in the blower requiring you to call the pros so they can disassemble half the unit just to access the blower and remove that 1 inch section of belt? (Long sentence, eh?)
Anyway, what should have been a $16 do it yourself job (which I've done at least a dozen times) has turned into God-only-knows kind of expense.
Tom
Update:
Did you know that about one in every 10,000 times that a chunk of belt jams your blower that it also scrambles the bearings requiring the pros to remove and rebuild the blower? Meaning my bar will not have heat tonight.
Tom
Good thing you have a fireplace.
That doesn't work either.
Tom
The earlier consensus was that the heads of US automakers were a bunch of idiots for flying to Washington in private jets in order to ask for bailout money. How dare they live the baron lifestyle when average Americans are suffering. How dare they ask for borrowed money when they burn tens of thousands of dollars for a simple trip to Washington.
I, and most everyone agrees with the above.
If that stunt made them idiots, what does Obama's stunt make him? I'm talking about him flying to Colorado and then Arizona to first simply sign some legislation (the bailout bill in Colorado) and then to Arizona to unveil a housing crisis plan.
The estimated cost of this trip was $600,000 - either your money or borrowed from the Chinese.
I'd say that this makes him an idiot as well. All of this business could have been done in Washington. Instead, he chose to go to politcal battleground states the democrats are trying to secure long term from the republicans.
Tom
Well, maybe, and I guess every single head of state before him.
p
Right! So I'm just wondering what happened to "no more of the usual Washington insider politics."
Tom
There are also some anecdotal, off the record reports of congressional members coming back from the oval office saying that when they walk in to the office they are struck by how warm it is. When they ask staffers about it they are told that Obama likes it around 80 having grown up in Hawaii that's what he is used to.
During the campaign he told Americans they need to turn down their thermostats.
The reports are off record so as to not receive any blow back from the Whitehouse.
Tom
He's gotta keep his pet chimp warm.
Working on my new ad. It's going to be ordinary Tom speaking to the ordinary folk of Algona touting the restaurant that serves extra ordinary food for ordinary folk at less than premium prices. My competition touts his place as the premium restaurant in Algona.
Tom
That's an extraordinary idea.
Ahhh. No one is sick. Joe is gone until Sunday. Two whole days of quietness.
Monica
That's hilarious. That with Joe gone you get some quiet.
p
If Sister Sara's isn't the premium restaurant in Algona, what is! I'm flummoxed.
Anyway, you have a good, ordinary response to his touting.
Lisa
Of all the things I griped about Bush, and there were plenty, it never occurred to me to gripe about him visiting different parts of the country he leads, expecially parts afflicted by crisis. Maybe that's because he never went anywhere that's not fun until he absolutely had to (Katrina)?
Also amused about Cheney not doing insider Washington politics as usual - that is, he's not observing the usual courtesy of the previous administration not trashing the new one, at least until a decent interval of time has elapsed. Dog.
Emily -
Here's what I would want to name a son if I were ever to have another kid: Freddy.
Lisa
or, Thomas.
or, Nance.
or, Patrick.
Here is some copy I've been working on for a new ad. How dumb is this...
*********************
Hi. You’ve seen me around town. No coat and tie here. Usually a hooded sweatshirt, some jeans or a tee shirt with a few stains from the work I do. I’m just a quiet ordinary guy doing all the ordinary things in life.
What do I do for a living? I own and operate Sister Sarah’s. Not easy work, but I like it. My name is Tom. Why am I telling you this? Because there is a misconception about Sarah’s. That it is owned by uppity folk serving uppity customers. Not true. We welcome everyone - including you to our place.
There is no dress code at Sarah’s
We don’t check your credit at the door
There is no need for a reservation
And we are the best dining value in town
In fact Sarah’s offers over 60 items for 9.95 and less. Steaks, Seafood, Pastas and a wide variety of sandwiches. From kind of fancy to the very simple. You will be surprised what 9.95 can get you.
Sister Sarah’s - premium food and service at Joe Six Pack prices.
***********************
Tom
That was about 5 minutes worth of writing so I open it to complete scrutiny. Should I dump this approach? Keep it & polish it up?
Tom
I might leave out the stains and possibly Joe Six-pack. I think it's a great way to get people who have an impression that it's for "rich" people. At the same time you don't want to turn off people who want to go out to a "nice" restaurant and you still want to emphasize the quality of your food. Oh, yeah - have you ever done a Prom promotion?
Who is your competition, by the way? It's hard - you don't want to let them force you to redefine yourselves, but you still have to adapt to your market.
Anywhere food dollars are spent...is our competition. I think we should realy focus on our great Pub Burgers and cold beer...we have "cold" beer...right Tom? Sometimes, we don't...stupid antiquated cooler. Perhaps, we should market "Awesome Pub Burgers and Tepid Beer!"
I think Cathy's right about the range of clientele you can attract. You don't want to lose those that go out for a nice meal...I wouold feature both in the same ad. Date night dining plus hanging out "after the game" or whatever. You can still feature the idea of great food while not breaking the bank.
P
Don't do it Tom!!
Keep running the ad you're running...it takes months for people to change their habits...the quality at a cheap price...it's a good commercial.
Also...you might approach Irael and Pinky and the 3 of you do a joint ad campaign...the best 3 in town...the best "American" the best Chinese and the best Mexican...because those 2 aren't really your competition...it's the idiots who go to Primetime and Family Table, Chrome, etc...who are you problems, I think...you could do a joint coupon, etc.
Like..."GOOD THINGS COME IN THREES"
Like the best restaurants in Algona!
Like three coupons for you!
Mike and I were chosen to be delegates to the Iowa Cultural Caucus in Des Moines, it was yesterday. It was interesting and alot of fun. We proposed resolutions for the State Lawmakers regarding the Arts in Iowa. We had lunch with our Rep. Delores Mertz (in their lunchroom!) and then there was a "Cabaret" from 5-8 with free food and drinks at the State Historical Museum. Plus, we were paid $100 each to attend and $100 for gas!!! I would do it again!
Hey-there's nothing wrong with the Chrome. For breakfasts, liver 'n onions, hot turkey sndwiches,etc. it's the place to go. Very good truck stop food.
It's pricey truck stop food...many menu items now over $12.
I know. If I remember right some of his omelets are around $10 with no side of hashbrowns.
Tom
What!!! No hashbrowns? What are they thinking?
Stevo just brought me a Whopper value meal with an extra Whopper and a large pop for us to split (i have to do a teaching tonight) and it cost over $12. Sheesh - we split a prime rib dinner and a pitcher of beer at the Railway for $17 on Valentines day and they gave us two salads.
Dunkin Donuts now has a breakfast sandwich that is two mini waffles with egg and sausage between them.
Can't wait to try one.
Do you put syrup on it?
My mother in law is in town as of yesterday. I was opening up a bottle of wine for her (and me) last night and was havign trouble with the cork. Suddenly it broke and my hand flew up and I punched myself in the face.
p
You gotta quit drinking so much.
Monica
Quit beating yourself up Pat!
Sarah's was BUSY last night...Is the prime Rib sand. selling? Mike and I each had one, and Joe3.
Are you wearing sunglasses today, Pat?
lisa
Ok -
I may have damaged my children. We let them watch 7 brides for 7 brothers and they liked it so much they asked for it 3 days in a row.
I'm glad they didn't ask why the dads had their rifles at the wedding.
lisa
Ok -
I may have damaged my children. We let them watch 7 brides for 7 brothers and they liked it so much they asked for it 3 days in a row.
I'm glad they didn't ask why the dads had their rifles at the wedding.
lisa
Quit beating yourself up, Lisa.
What do you do with Swedish potato sausage? I bought some at Eishen's Sausage Haus and want to know wahat all of you do with Swedish potata sausage. You know, when you have it.
That was on the other night and I saw the beginning and the end and not a single dance.
The night before last night we were watching Stranger than Fiction (courtesy of Brianne and Joe) and just as it was reaching its climax the DVD player went on the fritz. I have yet to find time to go down to the (cold) basement to finish it, but it was good. I've decided I like Will Farrell way better than Jim Carrey (sp?). He seems to come from a simpler kinder, less frantic place, even if some of his movies are just as totally goofy. Anyway, movie worth renting.
Ok Joe.
I just googled Swedish potato sausage menu.
They say to brown the sausage then simmer it in a skillet for about 20 -30 minutes.
Here's what some Lutheran church (In I think Wisconsin) serves with it: turnips, coleslaw, cranberry & orange relish.
You could make onion gravy and serve the sausage with the gravy on top of mashed potatos.
i love to google.
Lisa
You still have your authentic andouille sausage in my freezer!
Yesterday was Kelli's birthday, she was a Sarah's last night and then we all went to Joe's game.
it's better to google than ogle, but don't get all googly-eyed, and great googly-moogly that sounds like a delicious dinner.
has everyone figured out what they're giving up for Lent?
im thinking about tv
i'm thinking about giving up red meat, but only if i can categorize bacon as a fruit.
If you buy it in the form of smoked side meat it's more grayish tan than red.
I gave up all meat last year and lost 4 lbs. I'm doing it again this year. Gained it back right away.
Monica
My work is connected to an outdoor amphitheater. I'm watching (and listening to) Hall and Oates practice. p
WE arrived in Arlington Thursday night. Jude had a pretty boring birthday on the road, but we celebrated before we left MN. He had a cool batman cake - which I did not make. He got a superfriends video and I had no idea what a value it was when I bought it. It is the same Superfirends that we watched in the 70s and 80s. He loves it and it cost me $12 and has 8 hours of video. On our trip I can't tell you how many times I heard, "Meanwhile, back at the Halls of Justice..." Another funny line I heard was Wonder Woman saying, "This wasp is damaging my shrunken invisivble jet, Aquaman!" It's really funny. We have a new Justice League video too and the Wonder Woman in the 70s version looks pudgy compared to 21st century wonder woman. Sick!
Today we went to the Iwo Jima memorial and Arlington Cemetery. Cemeteries are great place to look for names. We watched the changing of the guard at the tomb of the unknown soldier and Jude thought that was pretty cool.
I loved Stranger than Fiction. And I have no idea what to do with potato sausage, but pierogies go well with all kinds of sausage. And I agree with Pat that you should tout Sarahs as the place to go for a burger or a special night out.
By the way, I only have computer access through the business center at the place we're staying, so I won't be on as much. I know you'll all miss me. I need to let Jude see his and Mia's pictures though. Thanks, Molly!
I've been away from the boards for a while (busy this week on this freelance gig in San Fran).
Tom, I like your script. I don't know if you've recorded it yet but I like your approach. Maybe you can tell people you're from Algona in the beginning as well, like:
"Like many of you, I grew up right here in Algona. And like some of you, my name is Tom."
I might approach the uppity thing a little differently. Maybe treat is as more of a "did you know...?" rather than be super overt about the misconception and let people draw their own conclusions.
Also, I like your hook about the menu vs. price. I wonder if you simplify it to make it more memorable, like: 60 menu items under 10, or something.
Just a reminder--Three days till Ash Wednesday. No meat for everyone and nothing between meals if you are under 59. Also, don't wipe the ashes off as soon as you leave church.
We are looking forward to seeing Pete and Mely this week. Last evening we drove down to Boca where Pat did some wonderful hamburgers in their grill. Josh's Mom was visiting so it was nice to see her again.
Love, Mom and Dad
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