a 3-1/2 year old Yelp Review draws fire from "Miguel"

Indigo Indian Bistro - Upper West Side - New York, NY

So on 06FEB2007 I wrote this review:

Sign says 50% off lunch, dine in only.  Sounds good.  I sit down in the empty restaurant and scan the menu.  The supper menu.  OK, got it, lunch is 1/2 price of the supper menu.  I order the Chicken Tikka Masala (which says Basmati Rice Included).  Guy says, "You want rice with that?"

"It's included" I replied.

"Not at this price"

Whatever.  The food comes out.  The rice was good, as was the naan (which was $1.50 ... OK at that price, $3 normal is a rip off) but the tikka masala was awful.  A thin gravy that tasted like Campbells tomato soup with some chili powder mixed in.

The place is tiny, and the waiter (owner?) stood there, with his hands free cell phone ear bud firmly plugged in, yammering away, staring at me while I ate.

Don't waste your time.

Got this today, from Miguel M, a message with this subject:  wrong place

you sent a bad revue to the wrong restaurant. I have been eating at Indigo for years and the rice has always been free with lunch. There is another restaurant nearby that does 50% off on lunch, I think its bukhara grill. I have been a patron of Indigo for years and take exception of you being so lazy and ignorant as to write a hurtful review to the wrong restaurant

Love the internets.

getting closer

observations concerning dirty dishes

The microwave was invented, primarily, as a way to avoid having to wash pots.

The quantity of wine one has consumed on any given night is proportional to the tolerance of dirty dishes in the sink, especially after one has satiated "drunk munchies."

Inventory of clean dishes vs. having to wash said dishes is equivalent to inventory of clean underwear vs. having to do laundry.

If you had to carry your dirty dishes down the basement of your apartment building, as you do with your laundry, you would be far more likely to stand in front of the sink and eat directly from the pot.

Kids want a clean glass every time they want a drink of water because parents typically don't make/trust their kids to wash the dishes.

Fingerprints on the bowl of a wine glass are a crime.

Air drying vs. towel drying is basically a calculation of how many guests did you have over vs. how big is your dish rack, influenced however by the willingness of said guests to "help out in the kitchen."

Whether you put your dishes away vs. just leave them in the dish rack until they're used again is not a proxy for neatness but rather an indication of available counter space.

15%

That's my score on the SWPL site ... though by posting this I risk becoming cliched.

here are my white vices:
1.     Coffee
5.     Farmer's Markets
11.   Asian Girls
24.   Wine
26.   Manhattan
28.   Not having TV
37.   Renovations
40.   Apple
42.   Sushi
54.   Kitchen Gadgets
63.   Expensive Sandwiches
78.   Multilingual children
83.   Bad memories of High school
90.   Dinner parties
96.   New Balance
99.   Grammar
112. Hummus
116.  Jazz
122.  Moleskine Notebooks
128.  Camping

Obama is ...

they're right

nice

Hi Jonathan,

There was a long time ago (2002) when we were sailing on the LNG Gemini. I was 3rd Eng, one of the most ambitious engineers (you said that). I become a Chief Engineer three years ago, one of the best, in one way owing to you Jonathan. The LNG Gemini is
still nice ship.

You were the person who recognized my ability and some kind of turning point in my life.

This is my last contract with Pronav. All ships will not be employed after New Year, as their efficiency is not good enough comparing them with new buildings. The owner is not able to find cargo for them, at all.

Hope that you are OK? Did you marry your schoolteacher? Have you got kids? What are you doing, still sailing.

Thanks for something what can not be easily described using a keyboard.

Brgds,

Pero Radibratovic

will the bells ring at 4am? update

The Ground Zero Mosque.  In the News.  Hearing an add by NY State Governor wannabee Carl Paladino on the radio really pissed me off.  [btw, doesn't he look just like Alan Alda?]

I'll use the power of eminent domain and seize the site, turn it into a farm where we can grow magic beans and raise unicorns.

I'm paraphrasing.  Barely.  He doesn't get it.  The power of eminent domain isn't his to use as a battering ram against unfavored groups.  Oppose the mosque if you like.  Rail against it.  Picket it.  Make it very uncomfortable (without doing anything illegal) for people to go there.  But it's not the place of the state to pick and choose who does what.

No better than NY State grabbing bits of Brooklyn to hand to Ratner or the Columbia land grab a few blocks north of me.

Carl, you've lost my vote. [not that you had a chance to win anyway ... but as one of 7 registered republicans on the UWS, you could have had something].  Can't vote for Cuomo.  And Lazio is a putz as well [I still remember him invading Hilary's space at that debate so many moons ago].  At least Patterson vetoed that 12 foot high stack of bills ... which reminds me, gotta buy some clothes before the permanently repealed sales tax gets reinstated in October ... or maybe just go to NJ ... they never get it.  Pineapples.

update

this is more like it

marinara sauce

I made a pot of marinara sauce that I think is maybe my finest ever:

3 cans of Cento Crushed Tomatoes (didn't feel like dealing with the blender)
2 Beef short ribs
$0.25 worth of basil, parsley, and oregano
a healthy splash of molasses
about 2 glasses of wine, today was Tall Poppy Merlot
a cup of turkey stock that I needed to use
2 medium onions
one grated carrot
3 healthy cloves of garlic
kosher salt
fresh ground pepper
olive oil

in some extra virgin olive oil on medium high heat, I browned the short ribs extensively, almost to the point where they looked nearly burnt.  Removed the beef and tossed in the onions and sauteed until caramelized then added the garlic for about a minute.

In with the tomatoes, the wine, the molasses, the carrot, herbs, salt/pepper, everything else, returned the beef, then simmered for a couple of hours, stirring every ten minutes.

Yum.

This is my congressman!

Ace of Spades HQ

The Honorable Jerry Nadler.

Airport pickup semi FAIL

The nephew ... ink still wet on his driver's license, scheduled to pick me up at Reagan National.  The plane lands and I text him:

JC:   just landed
DF:  OK im at home waiting for a key to the car should be leaving soon
JC:   WTF?
DF:  On my way now
JC:   got my bags

This was the email I sent him from Toronto:

I'm in Toronto, flight is on time. I cleared Customs here, so I just have to pick up my bags and I'll be our right away. Figure by 10:15 am or so.

Air Canada is the airline. Terminal A at Ronald Reagan National. My phone is 917-XXX-XXXX. Send me a text when you're on your way, so when I land your number will be waiting for my phone.

see you soon.

JC

Had my bags at 1010.  Tired.  Little sleep on the flight.  Restless passenger next to me.

He claims "Dad" took the only key with him to work.

I say, what's more important than picking up your uncle?

need a nap.  Maybe things will look brighter later.

The Prisoner

2008 Orin Swift Cellars The Prisoner by Orin Swift Cellars (Zinfandel Red Wine)

I'm drinking this right now at a place called Tapastree.  My last supper in Vancouver, if you exclude the airport tomorrow.

Grenouilles in Coconut cream.

so few?

Zinfandel

Drinking this right now.  OK, not worth what they charge in BC. 

NYC in another week.  Headed to  Northern VA first, visit the sis and family.  Nephew will pick me up from the airport.  He's old enough to drive.  Good Lord, I'm old.

Canada Day

The office is empty today.  Something about "Canada Day."  Seems in Canada they celebrate the 4th of July on the 1st.  Figured with the Loonie being at more or less parity with the dollar, we'd be synchronized.  Maybe July is a metric month in Canada?  At least it's quiet here in the office.  And if Canada day is their Independence Day, how come the Queens face is on the coins in my pocket?  NYC in 2 weeks!

I can't complain

When you download a movie from bittorrent, and the movie is a bit ... choppy ... spinning wheel of death and all ... you can't complain.

Not that I would use bittorrent ... just something I heard.

No rest

This reminded me of this.

via Instapundit.

Streaming Jazz

Listen to Free Jazz Radio Online | Jazz24

at the office, editing the Teekay NS5 excessively long and complicated Shipboard User Guide.

Jamie Cullum is singing "Get Your Way"

CULLUM!

OK, back to MS Word.

When the Cat's away

Sometimes the mice get more work done, as they're not being bothered by the cat.

They don't get it

Sometimes they just don't get it.  Can you press on, regardless?  If not, then what?

Jones Act

Instapundit » Blog Archive » DAVID WARREN: “We learned a simple thing this week: that the BP clean-up effort in the Gulf of Mexi…

When I started at Kings Point in July 1987, I heard much about The Jones Act. 

In a nutshell, the schpeel went something like this:

The Jones Act is the most important piece of legislation related to American Shipping.  Without the Jones Act, you wouldn't have a job.  Without the Jones Act, there would be no American Ships.  Without the Jones Act, your pathetic life would be short, nasty and brutish.  Evil people want to gut the Jones Act.  They want to give your jobs away to cheap, unskilled, irresponsible peasants who will put the entire world at risk.  The only thing that maintains the earths polarity is the Jones Act.  Support it.  With your life, if necessary.

When I got out school and joined the Union, the rhetoric was even more fantastic.  And the ships on which I worked in those days?  Tankers with steam plants built in the late 1960's, still running in 1991.  Why was I working on 25 year old ships?  Why was my first ship, the SS King with AHL, built in 1953 and which had a sound tube to the pumproom ("I NEED MORE STEAM!!!  I'M GIVIN' HER ALL I GOT!") still in operation (and then modified to a double hull tanker in response to OPA90)?  The Jones Act.

The Jones Act says that any cargo transported between any two American Ports must be carried on an American Flagged, American crewed, built in America ship.  If there's no American ship available, then you can hire who you like.  So, in 1995, the chartering department of OMI somehow knew that my ship, the OMI Willamette, was the only ship available to carry a cargo of jet fuel from Anacortes to Honolulu, if we could get to Anacortes by such and such a time on such and such a day.  Typical tankers rates were? I don't know, something like $13,000/day at the time.  OMI said, "We'll do it for $45,000/day" or some such insane number.  And we got the charter.  Why?  'cause Company A who contracted to bring jet fuel from Anacortes to Honolulu for Company B didn't anticipate that there would be only one American Flag ship available.  And the Jones Act forced his hand.

Companies such as Lykes Brothers (RIP) were operating steam breakbulk ships into the early '90's because they couldn't afford to have new container ships built in American yards.  Hvide ordered a bunch of "Double Eagle" class tankers from Newport News and went belly up.  TOTE upgraded their ships with some new ones built in San Diego, but probably could have gotten better and cheaper ships built in Korea.  But couldn't.  The Jones Act.

Ironically, I sort of owe my job today to the Jones Act.  I'm working with a multinational company in their international fleet, on an LNG carrier ... and the reason they hired me was because I had extensive steam experience ... due to the perverse incentives of the Jones Act which made it rational for American companies to keep operating inefficient ancient ships manned by Americans.

But the Jones Act is like Rent Control.  Or an even better example:  the mortgage interest deduction.  Sure, we should get rid of it.  It distorts the market. BUT!  It would kill me, because I made my decision to buy my apartment based on the calculation that I could deduct my mortgage interest.  The transition costs would be heaped upon those who, following the current rules, made business decisions.  TOTE would go out of business if anyone could move trailers between Tacoma and Anchorage, not just American built American Flagged American crewed ships.  Why should TOTE be punished?

I'm sure some smart economist somewhere could develop a transition plan.  But the political pressures to keep the Jones Act (and the mortgage interest deduction) in place are formidable.

But the law of unintended consequences is just as strict as the law of gravity.