Burger King now better looking

Before reaching the drive-thru menu, I could see Burger King

has become more modern looking.  This particular restaurant had

some remodeling done this year.  

This Mango Smoothie has a good flavor.  I decided to take a break

from drinking shakes and iced coffee.  The color isn't quite right; 

maybe I can get a better picture during the day.  

Fish Sandwich

Around midnight, I ate this Fish Sandwich at Jack in the Box.  It was a delicious fish sandwich!                                                                                 

I didn't get the COMBO because I didn't want a meal.  

However, I did want an ice cream shake, and it's in the first photo.

OREO Cookie shake it is.

Oh it's 2 AM right now, I'm awake and still drinking shake.  

Fast food cravings

Often busy at night, Taco Bell has lots of drive-thru customers.  This picture was taken last year after the fast food restaurant was remodeled. 

New Queen of Pop?

A Friday not long ago was a lot of fun.  Well, not that much fun, but the food tasted good.  I saw some pretty gals everywhere and I wasn't only imagining it...  I didn't see Rihanna, though (darn! joking), and wasn't looking for that kind of "Birthday Cake".  Just wanted some regular food. Seriously, though, I like that song (and realize a guy sings with her), and Rihanna does have a very good chance of getting one or more songs in my list of pop songs.

Ok it's for sure, and I will bring this up again on The Overcast Inside. Hmm...that blog name sounds kind of gloomy I can imagine to those who love upbeat pop music, so then just think of it as The Overcast Inside plus music to dance all night or until your too tired to stand up. Something like that. haha

As I've already written for that blog, Nicki Minaj's song "Starships" got on the pop songs list immediately (even though the list is not finished) based on comparison to other pop songs that clearly will be on the list, and it may be the fastest a song has reached a major list.  Why is it a major list?  Because I do extensive comparison, listening, and research of songs, and I think about songs day and night, though not all day and all night.

I don't know for sure who would have been fastest to get on my list because I wasn't doing a pop songs list in previous years.  However, the first song was going to get on the list last year, though I think the album it's from was released in 2006.  I know this is confusing so keep reading until the end of this article.

There were a bunch of questions that I was going to ask readers to think about, but I'm not sure the world is ready for such serious thinking in a fast food blog.  Maybe tomorrow (or a paragraph or two later) will be ready.  haha  Oh don't be afraid, keep reading.

I do hope most people can think about who is the modern Queen of Pop vs. the all-time Queen of Pop.  It's pretty obvious to me that Madonna is still way up there in terms of popularity and so many pop hits, and I think she's still the Queen of Pop.  Will that change? Maybe.

Many fans, as far as I can tell from my reading of countless comments on YouTube and elsewhere, think Lady Gaga is the new Queen of Pop, though I'd say Rihanna and Nicki Minaj are right up there too, even though they do songs from other musical genres and styles.

Adele, Katy Perry, Jessie J, and some other female pop stars also are competing for the crown of queen of pop, but it's time for me to quit capitalizing queen and pop until someone really shows me she is deserving of that honor and respect.

There also are transgender pop stars.  Could one of them be the new Queen of Pop?  Venus Flytrap is a Thai pop music group and all the members are transgender women.  I'm not sure what this group is doing now and this is based on what I've read.  Either as a group or individually, they could become quite popular because they are very talented and I think their singing and music sounds great.

I was trying to figure out how to buy their album "Visa for Love" but wasn't able to find it available for purchase.  One of their songs would have gotten on my list of pop songs last year, and that would have been the first song on the list.  But I was busy writing about rock songs and wasn't ready to start the pop songs list.  The first time I heard this song, I was comparing it in my mind to other great pop songs from the past.  That comparison gets their song on my list, so congratulations to Venus Flytrap.

Who is the new Queen of Pop? Let me answer the question with another question... Does she have to be a female from birth?  

This is just another short note to say it's been hard to get online.  Sorry for a spelling error last time and it has been corrected.

Vegan food or fast food, that is an interesting question

Hello.  It's Friday again and I'm driving around in search of fast food and trying to add something to my blog.  I think it's time for iced tea or iced coffee and who knows what else. 

One of the times I came over to Boise this month, I went to the Boise Co-op and bought some Saffron Orzo Pasta in the deli section, then went over to their window seating and ate my supper.  I was told it has Craisins and thought it tasted good with the Saffron Orzo.  I will have to get it again.

I just wanted to make this important announcement

If someone is trying to keep me offline or harm my writing or music career, then consider the fact that I'm considering a lawsuit against that person or persons.  I will not accept this kind of behavior from anyone and I have just as much right to exist and try to make a way for myself as everyone else.

I think all the people who read this blog and all of my friends are very good people, but someone could be causing problems on the Internet, and shame on them.  More than this, they better be very careful, because I'm very upset at these types of people.  

Call this a fast food ritual

When I get to this area, it's usually in the evening and I've been going to this McDonald's in Meridian, ID for the Sweet Tea.  It's been excellent there, very sweet the way I like it and great flavor.  I need some now because my mind isn't sharp but I'll add more later if I think of something else.  In the first picture, it's easy to see this large size Sweet Tea is a good-sized drink, and the second picture shows two entrances to the drive-thru but they quickly become one drive-thru and cars need to be careful.  I like sitting there, sipping my ice-cold drink and relaxing with some music on the radio.  

Tasting Jack in the Box Bacon Shake, part fun

I did this in two parts, both will be part fun, instead of part one and part two.  Yeah, I don't have to try to hard to be different.  I'm joking, and I had something else funny to add but thought I better not.  However, this is a bacon-flavored shake that I'm writing about and if it were a strawberry shake or chocolate or vanilla, or other usual flavors, I would be much more straight-faced when writing about it.

I do like this Bacon Shake and I'm not a big fan of bacon, although I do eat it more often due to eating the JITB Jumbo Breakfast Platter with bacon.  

It's a bacon flavor syrup they use to make the shake, and the girl who took my order said there's no bacon in the shake.  She did seem to indicate that they could put bacon bits in it but I said no, though I think she was joking.  While I'm on this subject, I should point out that I hope to meet a girl with a sense of humor.  Oh yeah, this isn't the dating and mating blog, but I do have make it clear that Jack in the Box got me going again, thinking about getting married.  Some guy in a Jack in the Box commercial marrying bacon is very funny, and of course it would help to show mom the commercial because then -- by comparison -- any girl/young woman that I tell her I'm going to marry will be accepted with no problems.  And yes, I would marry a real person, probably female, maybe even from Earth.  Maybe.  No, right at this moment I'm not under the influence of a Bacon Shake.  I just drank some water.  I'm human. 

Most of this article was written more than three weeks ago.  So if the girl that smiled at me yesterday reads this post,  I wasn't thinking about you too much then, that is if you're single, and now might be a different story.  Are you single?  I'm joking, kinda, or at least as a I wrote many times, I'm trying to make people want to read what I write so I'm not just trying to get attention. 

P.S. The song I sang in the drive-thru last night was original and I wrote it in the car just before I went to the drive thru for a shake.  So then, consider that the debut of the song.  Sorry I can't post it over on the other blog right now because I had to go somewhere else to finish this article.  Will I become a drive-thru singer?  No, and it's not a new genre.  Yet.

Nice smile

Connected to fast food in some way, which is only for me and the other person to know, the other day I saw a pretty girl and she smiled and waved at me.  That's before I smiled at her.  Thank you, it made me feel good

Internet sucks

Talk about lousy Internet service.  It is causing me to say that I won't be here all the time, but I will try to be here more than that by writing short posts for now.  I have to go to some other place to write my articles which means I care.

More of me

Hello.  It's Friday, so have a nice weekend!  I'm not sure what I'm going to eat but I just got to Boise.  Am I in the mood for fast food?  Probably, though I'd like some Thai food too, however I don't want to sit down all by myself, just me and an empty chair across from me.  No, I'm not feeling sorry for myself.  I'm a writer and we have to think of something interesting to keep the reader's attention.  I could have written 'readers' but maybe I only have one.  So then, haha.  Whatever.  Just keep reading and something should be worth your while here, though I don't promise anything.  Take care.

More Shamrock Shakes

There will be more green shake days than the McDonald's guy told me, and that's a very nice way to prepare for St. Patrick's Day, not that I ever prepare for it.  Well, maybe the guy who said the shake was going to finish at the end of February was a Leprechaun.  No, I think he was just a worker that didn't know for sure.  Like a couple of days ago, when another Mc guy at perhaps another McDonald's said it goes until THAT holiday, and I think he meant the official green shake holiday. I said St. Patrick's Day, and he said "yeah that's it". Ok this post is more full of it than facts. 

I did order the Shamrock Shake again yesterday evening, and each time has a less and less strong flavor, so maybe there's not as much syrup in the shake because:  (a) that's just how it is, (b) they are trying to have enough for as long as supplies last (yes, I stated that in a humorous way on purpose), or (c) you can blame a leprechaun. 

Here's my take on the Shamrock Shake:  Well, I like it but the way we were, me and shamy shake is changing slightly over time, just like a relationship, not that I have a recent relationship for comparison. I can now somewhat agree that it's a minty shake but the first time it was a very powerful, somewhat mysterious flavor...

...like several flavors 'on top of one another', and I don't know much about that either.  

Please refer to modern hip-hop pop songs for some reference, such as "Birthday Cake" by Rihanna.  She is yummy in a different way! I like the song, just to take my mind off not getting that kind of birthday cake for awhile, even if I don't know 'all' of what the song is about.  Yes, I'm naive and innocent in my own way.  Not really.

Back to the flavor of the shamy shake, it's a reminder of (though different in flavor than when I bought the cereal) Lucky Charms, and that might have been last year but that does test my memory.  I wanted a cereal I hadn't eaten in a long time so that's why I bought it.  So I put some LC in a bowl and poured milk on it and waited for it to get soft, and there was kinda like a new color that sort of matched a new flavor which was created.  

That's the way I felt about the Shamrock Shake when I drank it the first time this year, but I remember having it a long time ago, or was that a dream with a leprechaun in it.  Maybe Bigfoot was in that dream too, and the Loch Ness Monster... and space aliens?  No. I'm still hoping to have that dream. I better stop for now because this post is already strange enough.

Main thing is the McCafe Shamrock Shake is still available at McDonald's, as I was told by the Mc guy (guy working at McDonald's drive-thru), and that's while supplies last.  I really do need to go into McDonald's more often to see who I'm talking to.  Ok everyone, be happy!

It's clear!! Jack in the Box OREO Cookie Ice Cream Shake will be on best fast-food shakes list

Jack in the Box OREO Cookie Ice Cream Shake is the first shake to get on my best shakes list.  Ok there's no actual list yet and it won't be a top 10 or some other easy number to remember.

This picture was taken two weeks ago.  There were lots of very small cookie pieces in the shake. I've lost track of how many times I've had this shake.  I'm never disappointed and always happy to try to drink it though the straw. It's important to know there is a lot of calories and fat in this large shake according to the nutrition facts on the Jack in the Box website.  I am not telling anyone to have shakes all the time or on a regular basis. I consider drinking a shake to be a treat and not for every day.  Also, realize that I write about fast food and can't write reviews, make comparisons, or come up with these 'best of' lists unless I eat fast food and drink the soft drinks.

The number this shake will be on the list, like the other shakes, has not been decided.  I don't know how many shakes will be on the list or when the list will be finished.  It probably won't be a total like 10 or 20 but there won't be any fractions or decimal points, for example 22 1/2 shakes or 8.77 shakes.  I wouldn't do that to a shake. haha

Congratulations to Jack in the Box.  Now, what's the next shake on the list?  Don't know and if I did, I wouldn't tell. That's all for now.                          

Friesday night

I decided to eat the Carl's Jr. french fries on Friday evening.  They tasted pretty good while I was sitting there in my car eating them and listening to music.  But I had a bad headache and didn't get rid of it until later, when I took a pain pill similar to Excedrin but not that one because I couldn't find it at Walmart.  I'm not sure what's going on with that brand as it's not on the shelf.  I'm sure that's in the news, or maybe not, since you know, the mainstream news doesn't seem to report a lot of big stories, such as why was Congress really trying to stop free speech, which includes writing on the internet.  I decided not to capitalize internet because I believe it's for everyone on Earth and not just for the so-called powerful and rich people.  Someone is trying to stop me from getting on the internet and they are making a mistake because I stand for freedom.

Well, I haven't reached any conclusion on which fries are best, so that's more thinking for me to do.

Bean & Cheese Burrito

Bean & Cheese Burrito is one of the Green Burrito menu choices at this Carl's Jr. This is a good snack when it's hard to wait 'til supper.  I like it with hot sauce.

McDonald's McCafe Shamrock Shake

It's way up on my mental list of tasty treats but maybe absence (it's only for a limited time) will also make my taste buds grow even fonder of this shake.  One McDonald's advertisement I saw online refers to the McCafe Shamrock Shake as having a minty flavor, but it's difficult for me to name the flavor.

Did a Leprechaun have anything to do with making this a delightfully flavorful, somewhat strong, but almost perfect flavored shake?  I doubt it because that would mean I believed Leprechauns actually exist.  I've never actually seen one and maybe that's because they are way too busy to be seen by us simple folk. However, similar to someone telling his or her buddy about a leprechaun he really, really saw a few minutes ago, and then when they get there it's gone, the Shamrock Shake won't be there by the time most people try to find it, according to what I read in the advertisement.  One of the the workers at a McDonald's told me the shake would only be sold there until the 28th or 29th of this month.  I hope he meant the 29th because I'm going to McDonald's right now. 

Now, even though I don't really believe in them, I suppose Leprechauns will start googling my blog.  Just so they don't complain or cause any serious problems for me, and agree to helping me become rich and famous (joking), I suppose we can become friends.

Jack in the Box Bacon Shake (part fun)

I was sitting in the parking lot, in a vehicle of course, after going through the drive-thru, and just wanted to hear my own voice. Well no, I didn't really want to hear my own voice and that's not the reason for me talking instead of only writing about the shake. 

My voice not exactly wanted I to hear ... and now that I've stopped writing kinda like how a certain sci-fi movie character (you know who) talks, I can also write that a female voice would be better to hear while I was drinking the shake, which would mean I was on a date (or listening to the radio when a female DJ was talking) and I know that the date thing wouldn't have been real.  By comparison, the Bacon Shake is real, or sort of real, well at least the nice girls working there told me it's made with bacon-flavored syrup and ice cream.  Hmm.. what else?  Oh, they said nobody had ordered one yet, but I think they meant at that specific Jack in the Box restaurant, and that was over two weeks ago so I'm sure others tried this shake by now.  

In my opinion, there are better shake flavors but I like this enough to get it again, though first I would either have to get tired of their OREO Cookie Shake or they would have to stop making it.  Please don't because I'll never get tired of it.

There's another part to this review of the Bacon Shake, also with the title "Jack in the Box Bacon Shake (part fun)".  Well, I'd call these part one and part two, but that would be boring.  Can I publish two different posts with the same title?  I don't know.  First, though, maybe I'll post some other stuff.

Cold Stone Creamery "Cream de Menthe" shake

I was standing out in the parking lot and had just bought this Cream de Menthe ice cream shake at Cold Stone Creamery in Meridian, Idaho.  This is the large size and the girl working there said it's okay to call it "Gotta Have It" though I'm not really sure I needed such a big shake. It cost $5.59, but I didn't eat anything in the way of a meal for dinner, so in terms of money spent and calories, fat, and carbs that I put into my body, I was still well within reasonable limits.  (Also, as it turned out, I didn't drink all of the shake.) There's no alcohol in the shake because I asked the girl working there and that's what she said. This shake was a good choice, but I thought it would be green in color because of the menu description: "Mint Ice Cream & Chocolate Shavings".  I could taste the mint flavor, enjoyed how it tasted, and I usually like mint and chocolate flavors together.  It wasn't a thick shake and my tongue didn't feel the texture of chocolate shavings, but it was a good shake made with what appeared to be good quality ice cream.  

High hope for tall flavor

Still trying to figure out which fast-food chain currently has the best iced coffee, I went to a Boise, Idaho Jack in the Box on Wednesday.  I had expected it to taste similar to the iced coffee I got at the Ontario, Oregon Jack in the Box, one time not long ago -- it was very good at the Ontario, OR Jack in the Box.   I was somewhat disappointed with the iced coffee at this Boise area Jack in the Box.  The iced coffee seemed too weak, didn't have enough coffee and vanilla flavor, and it wasn't sweet enough compared to other iced coffees.  (Note: I took this picture before starting to drink this iced coffee, which explains why the headline is about "high hope", but it didn't live up to my high hope or my high expectation.)

I will go back there again because I do like that area and that Jack in the Box, and whether people understand this or not, I try my best to get around to many fast food restaurants because I want to decide which are among the best and most consistent fast foods, iced coffees, beverages, shakes, desserts, and much more.

See! Happy!

My choice was an ice cream shake at Carl's Jr. in Boise after driving there on Wednesday.  It was the middle of the afternoon and this OREO Cookie Shake was what I wanted.  It's hard to tell what shake flavor it is and I don't see crumbles or tiny pieces of cookie, but it did have that texture against my tongue.  Obviously, it's not larger than the Happy Star, but this shake was enough for me, until later when I ate more fast food at another place.

This shake has a good flavor and was what I wanted in the middle of afternoon.  

However, I was already drinking iced coffee from a Jack in the Box restaurant down the road from there. I was somewhat disappointed with the iced coffee as it was too weak, didn't have enough vanilla flavor, and wasn't very sweet.  The Ontario, Oregon Jack in the Box made much better iced coffee when I went there not long ago.  

The Jack in the Box OREO Cookie Shake is, in my opinion, among the top fast-food shakes!  It has great flavor, texture, and is a lot of fun to drink using a straw.  It's a thick shake and takes a long time to drink, though I could use the plastic spoon they keep giving me.  (Yes, I've written this before and I will probably write it again.)  I don't think I've ever used the spoon because that wouldn't be as much fun and would make the shake be gone too fast.  

Honestly, I think the Jack in the Box OREO Cookie Shake is better than OREO Cookie Shakes from other fast-food restaurants (so far), including Carl's Jr., but my comparisons of shakes are only beginning, and of course Carl's Jr. had one of the best shakes with their Banana Chocolate Chip Shake, which I wrote about in 2010.  But there are other shakes that will be on the Fast Food Yummy shakes list.  I'm not sure how many shakes will be on the list, so maybe I'll just pick the shakes that deserve to be on the list and that will determine how many shakes.

Either that or the fast-food mascots could arm wrestle with one arm while drinking a shake with the other arm.  No forget it...  sounds too messy!  

Lots of choices

Before going through the drive-thru of this Carl's Jr. in Boise, Idaho. 

Congratulations to the New York Giants

It was a great Super Bowl and a lot of fun to watch all four quarters.  I would have to say this is one of the best Super Bowls I've seen, with many great plays on offense and defense by both teams.  The New York Giants beat the New England Patriots 21-17 as they came back from down 17-9 by getting two field goals and then the winning touchdown near the end of the game.

Giants quarterback Eli Manning was the Most Valuable Player and his fourth quarter heroics and passing stats made him very deserving of the MVP Award.  I really like that Eli is humble and gave credit to his receivers and other teammates.  That's outstanding and a classy thing to do.  I hope more players will do this.  And of course he's right too, because the Giants did win as a team and a number of guys made important contributions, including fantastic catches by receivers which really kept this game exciting from start to finish.

The cheesecake below was to celebrate my birthday, but we had to eat it the next night (pictured below) because after going out for dinner, we were too full.

Yes to cheesecake

             Cheesecake to celebrate my birthday

Do I know what will happen in the future? Well no, but does anyone remember this...

Sunday, November 20, 2011
Because for me, football 'talk' goes with food
(I quote my writing.)

"The defending Super Bowl champion Packers are a great team and still the team to beat, but can anybody keep them from repeating as champions? I don't know. Once the playoffs start, maybe the motivation for other playoff teams to try and knock off the Packers will be looking back at what happened to the New England Patriots in their undefeated 16-0 season four years ago when they also won their AFC playoffs games, then lost a very close Super Bowl to the New York Giants, who won the big game on the heroics of Giants quarterback Eli Manning."

It almost seems as though both teams were reading my blog -- or something -- because both teams are going to the Super Bowl.

And yes, and as it turned out, the team that kept the Green Bay Packers from repeating as champions was the New York Giants because they knocked the Packers out of the playoffs in their NFC divisional playoff game.

Then yesterday, in the NFC championship game, the Giants (9-7 regular season record) in overtime beat the San Francisco 49ers (13-3 regular season). In the AFC championship game, The New England Patriots also won a close game, over the Baltimore Ravens. The Patriots had no problem against the Denver Broncos the week before, but weren't so dominant on Sunday.

Did the Patriots (13-3 regular season) peak too early again, the way they did the season when they were undefeated, and the Giants beat them in the Super Bowl? Will it be Eli Manning, the Giants quarterback, or Patriots quarterback Tom Brady who will provide the game-winning heroics this time? Or another football player? And, which team will win the Super Bowl? To all questions: I don't know.

But what I didn't know in November (plus my football analysis) made more sense than what some football writers and analysts think they do know. Of course that's not saying much.

My Wish for all Dogs to be loved

I plan to come back and have many more posts this year about fast food.  However, I decided to leave my writing about the dog up at the top as long as possible.  It's very serious and matters to me.

It's my belief that we should respect life and rights of all people and animals.  My wish for 2012 and always is that all dogs would be loved, including stray or homeless dogs, and I hope people will be nice to them.

Scott

Happy New Year!!!

Wander wins person of the year on YouTube for 2011-2012

It's an award to honor someone, although this actually is to honor a dog.  I don't have any plan to pick a person of the year every year, but I chose to name this person of the year because dogs are very important in our world. It will be for 2011 to some month in 2012 but I don't know if there will any other chosen unless I think it's important to honor someone else. Here is why this dog should be remembered this way.

Wander was a badly abused dog, who loved people and she passed away in 2011. I only found out about this beautiful dog in the early morning hours of Dec. 31 and this is my hand-written story about why I feel this dog was so special to everyone, even though I never met her, and feel she was better than most people these days, especially on YouTube.  Some of those people leaving comments all over that website (below videos) were very hateful, racist, mean, and nasty, but by contrast Wander was a sweet dog, who loved more than most people do or even try to, so she wins person of the year on YouTube although she was a dog.  God bless her and I know she is with God in heaven now.

I wrote the following story by hand in the evening around 7:30 pm or about that time (maybe the time on the computer is a bit off) of what I learned about this wonderful dog.  It's around 1:30 am right now on New Year's Day. It's dark outside, I'm getting a bit tired, and I'm still sad but wanted to publish this right away at the very beginning of 2012.  Click to enlarge the photo if you want to read what I wrote.

Detroit Lions will be in the Playoffs

The Detroit Lions will be in the playoffs after getting in as a wild-card team.  I've been a fan of the Lions for a long time, so this feels great and I'm very happy for them!  My congratulations to the Lions and I wish them the best in the playoffs.  

Friday night Iced Coffee winner: Burger King gets a win over McDonald's on Fri. Dec. 23

Tonight the iced coffee at Burger King was better than at McDonald's.

I will write more later about why I thought Burger King had the better iced coffee drink

Note: I do not work for either fast food company or restaurant, and I do not make money for this opinion.

Note:  Sorry. I'm having problems with alignment of paragraphs and also with spaces showing up unexpectedly when I publish posts and have to deal with those problems from time to time. I don't like having to know a lot about blogging, and don't want to keep worrying about why the blog doesn't function sometimes. I like writing and blogs are just the way for me to do my writing and make it available for reading.

Burger King wants us to try their New Fries

The sign lets people know there will be "FREE FRIES FRIDAY" at Burger King and that's tomorrow, Friday, December 16.  The world famous fast-food chain describes its "NEW FRIES" as having "Thicker cut, more flavor".

These fries are a big improvement for Burger King.  That's my opinion anyway. I've ordered (and eaten) the new fries on at least three different days.  The new fries are best when fresh, hot to very warm, tender and easy to chew.  I don't know if I'll be there on Friesday -- I mean Friday -- but if I am, I will probably buy the large fries.  Then I can share with someone, or not.

My meal at Dairy Queen...sort of a part 2, after the peanut butter shake

                                          Me

                              Mountain Dew

                                  DQ Meal

               Closer view of the sandwich and fries

Last time, I wrote about the peanut butter shake at Dairy Queen. It was a large shake, I was just getting started drinking it but wanted more, so I asked if they had a cheese sandwich meal.  She said they could make it a meal. Here are some my pictures.  I liked this meal very much and will probably order it again.

DQ Peanut Butter Shake among my longtime favorites

I wanted to go to Dairy Queen today (Saturday) and invited my mother to go with me. We each bought our own treats, and I ordered a meal there after starting to drink this yummy peanut butter shake.  I liked peanut butter on just about everything in times many years before Fast Food Yummy. (B.F.F.Y.) LOL And I recall ordering peanut butter shakes at Dairy Queen in those days of much time ago.  I hope no future civilizations -- due to boredom or because they lost all historical records except my fast food blog -- base their calendar on when this blog started.  However, if I ever write an autobiography, which would mean I'd be famous, I will try to figure out when I drank my first peanut butter shake at Dairy Queen, and to the best of my ability be honest about when that was. (Before peanut butter shakes, I liked strawberry shakes and still do, but that really is ancient history.) It means you'd know my age, but it would be okay if you bought my autobiography, which would make me rich, to go along with famous.  I'm kidding.  I won't ever tell you my age and in exchange you can keep the fame and fortune.  But you can't have my peanut butter shake.

Smiled to remember a great shake

I miss Iceberg Drive Inn and the great shake I had there about a month ago. 

Thank you, Iceberg Drive Inn workers.

Iceberg Drive Inn to get great review

Monday was an interesting day.  I went, I ate, I drank, but first I felt some sadness because a fast food restaurant that I enjoyed about a month ago was closed.  I'm not sure what the word 'closed' means as it's used in the sentence "Iceberg Drive Inn Is Now Closed", which is what the note on their drive-thru menu said.

I'm talking about the Iceberg Drive Inn on North Milwaukee Street, Boise, Idaho.  I don't read the Idaho newspapers much or watch the local (Idaho) news, so I don't usually follow what Idaho businesses are doing.

Not wanting to give up, I went to another Iceberg restaurant location and found that it was gone and a new restaurant was there instead. I was disappointed and also getting hungry.

Iceberg Drive Inn will still get a great review, which was basically written in November.  I hadn't posted it yet because I was hoping to get a photo of the shake, like the one I ate about a month ago.  It was a delicious Ice Cream Shake and their fries were very tasty.  The radio program that I was listening to at the same time was about one of my favorite bands from the '70s, and it was a very pleasant surprise.  Everything seemed too good to be true, so I had to ask myself whether this had just been a dream.  I'm sure it was real.  We just need more of reality to be like those rare dreamlike occasions.

Борщ

 

Borshch (also spelled Borscht) is delicious! 

This morning I made this Borshch.  The bowl of borshch has a Bay Leaf on top.  Don't Eat the Bay Leaves. The borshch was cooked in the pot (as pictured above) and has cabbage, potatoes, beet, carrot, etc. 

I ate this soup today for lunch, but it was my first meal of the day, so I guess it was like a brunch or breakfast borshch.  I can eat it anytime. 

This note explains the last post about McDonald's Sweet Tea

I wanted to add to my last post that I meant the first time when I paid for this specific cup of Sweet Tea, that the tea was too weak.  Earlier in the evening, I went to another McDonald's and the Sweet Tea was even weaker and when I took the lid off, the tea almost looked like water with ice.  Not good!  Then I went to this other McDonald's and the first tea there was great!  Then, I forget what I did but, just listened to songs on the radio, then when I ran out of Sweet Tea, I went back to buy another one since it's only a dollar, and the first one of those was too weak.  The picture was taken after she remade the tea drink somehow.  I liked it better.

A large McDonald's Sweet Tea for a dollar

The McDonald's Sweet Tea this evening was too weak the first time, but this picture is after the girl at the drive-thru window made it again.  I'm not sure if she added more tea or replaced it completely with a new cup of Sweet Tea.  It's a sweet iced tea, and it's very good when they make it correctly. 

Mentioned in the article (below), this is my Egg Nog Shake from McDonald's this evening

I went to McDonald's and am still trying to finish drinking this shake as I post this picture.  I was parked outside McDonald's when I snapped this picture and was trying to think what to do later.  Writing is about all I could think of.  Well, that and playing guitar, so I've been doing both, and I'll listen to more songs on the radio too.  I was listening to a radio station that plays hit songs of the '70s and '80s, and that was kinda fun.  

Is pre-Black Friday like a taste of hell after the Thanksgiving feast?

I drove to see if the McDonald's near the freeway entrance in Ontario, Oregon was open on Thanksgiving night, after finding that the one on the other side of town wasn't open, but that McDonald's wasn't open either, and neither was Burger King, as far as I could tell.

Across the street, it looked like Carl's Jr. had lights on, but I didn't think it was open. Oh, by the way, the sign at McDonald's said they were open for breakfast, but I was busy watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, and then the Packers-Lions game, so, you know, I was doing what was most important. The Packers won and I'm not making any excuses.  They were the better team and deserved to win.

I'm a Lions fan and also a fan of the Redskins and Jets, which I previously wrote about in this blog, but knew the Lions would have to play their best to win. They weren't quite at that level on Thursday.

However, I thought the Lions played great in the first half, though they had several penalties which prevented them from scoring a touchdown or field goals in that first half. The score was 7-0 Packers at halftime, and the Lions were staying close. But then in the second half, the Packers got their amazing offense going the way they have most of the season and of course going back to last season leading to their Super Bowl win.

The Lions fell far behind in the second half but didn't give up, and that's admirable. It's a game they clearly will learn from and hopefully it will make them better.

In my opinion, too much has been made of the Ndamukong Suh being ejected from the game in the third quarter, and almost as though writers think it helped swing the momentum over to the Packers. I don't think the momentum changed because the Lions never had the momentum.  But losing Suh for the rest of the game was a problem. So many penalties were a bigger problem.

But let's not forget that some of the great teams of the past at times had lots of penalties and they kept winning. Tough, aggressive play will result in penalties, however there is such a thing as too many penalties especially when playing the best team, and that's what the Packers are right now.

Some of those great teams in NFL history also had tough players who made some very questionable and controversial hits on opponents, some were fair and within the rules of the game and other hits appeared like they were trying to intentionally injure an opponent. That was the worst part of the NFL, in my opinion! However, most football players were and are just playing the game and it is a very rough, physical sport. Suh is a great player and I hope everything works out for him, and that he figures out how to continue playing at the high level he's reached without too many penalties and distractions for his teammates.  I think he can continue to be great and play within the rules.

Well, getting back to what was and was not open last night... There was the local Wal-Mart superstore with more action than a football game.

In small towns, people go to Walmart the same way they used to pack into shopping malls. I have no idea where everybody is hanging out these days but don't see much going on at malls except for during the pre-holiday shopping blitz. Many people, I suppose, just sit at the computer, which is fairly safe, though that can be quite boring too.

Anyway, when I reached the Walmart parking lot, it was almost like looking for a parking space at a football game or a rock concert. In other words, a real pain in butt. Also good for causing tension headaches. Dammit! I knew shopping on Black Friday would be way too much stress for me -- on Friday (and I didn't go shopping Friday) -- but I had no idea there would be so many people on Thanksgiving night.

I drove over near Carl's Jr. through another large parking lot. I think all the small stores over there were closed for the night because it was around 10 pm.  Most of this other parking lot was filling up with vehicles just like the Walmart parking lot. I wondered if maybe there was something *interesting* (that would be a different and very limited definition of interesting) going on in Walmart, such as -- I was imagining -- what if a rock band is there. Don't get on me about an overactive imagination, because daydreaming helps me survive.

It turned out Thanksgiving, by Thursday night is only the beginning of Black Friday. Holidays have taken a backseat to money-making in America. We even forget which day it is now.

That noted, I got out of the vehicle and walked through two parking lots, and for some reason I had an earache. I saw many people walking there. A few were almost the size of football linemen, and maybe two or three looked capable of 'unsportsmanlike conduct' -- though shopping should never become a sport. But it's okay with me if searching everywhere on a holiday for open fast food restaurants becomes a sport. I could start training early next year and maybe even improve my shopping statistics. Oh yeah, I don't think there are statistics in shopping! So then I'm just kidding.

I'm also glad I didn't get tackled at Walmart, fumble my wallet, or get sacked by shoppers coming in when I realized I couldn't walk much of anywhere inside there, and decided to leave after about two minutes of absolute shock and horror caused by seeing so many people packed into one building. I don't know what the specials or discounts were but they must have been good.

I said there could be people getting into fights, and if there were a fire, it would be very dangerous and people could get hurt or die. Why doesn't Wal-Mart have managers who think this through ahead of time. I'm not a prophet or psychic, okay sometimes I get it right, but when I turned on Google News on Friday afternoon, the top story was about violence, fighting, and people getting pepper sprayed at Wal-Mart stores on Black Friday.  Not the local store, but still it's a problem that Walmart has created and needs to solve.

Shopping is a sport if the measure of a sport is how physical and tough the participants are but maybe it's closer to "Rollerball" or "The Running Man", or "Planet of the Apes", but I guess that last one wasn't a sport, though violent at times. (Of course all were movies.) Get your hands off of me, you d$$$ d$$$$ Walmart shoppers.  Just kidding. Oh well, I tried to bring this back to some kind of sense of humor though 'common sense' isn't too common and it's not something I want to mention in regard to the Walmart crowds and the Walmart management.  They'll have to show me they can do better first.

I'm not ready to refer to shoppers as athletes, but it might help to be one in order to go shopping these days. I'm a writer, sometimes in the past I picked which teams I thought would win (I'm opposed to gambling, I only wrote about it) and my best guess is that the shoppers on Monday or Tuesday will win more than the ones on Black Friday! I don't consider saving money and at the same time putting oneself in harms way to be winning.  I hate shopping a little bit more each day!  Yes, I used to like shopping but this year on pre-Black Friday, what I saw was just plain awful.

In case someone was curious, I ordered the Supreme Croissant at the Jack in the Box drive-thru the night of Thanksgiving, between 10 pm and 10:30 pm.  Remember, I said I would go out but not for any specific reason.

First, I wanted to see if McDonald's was open because Sweet Tea would have tasted good. It wasn't open.

However tonight, Saturday evening that is, I finally had the Sweet Tea at McDonald's, but I do have a mixed opinion about this menu item. The tea was weak and not sweet at all the first time.  This has happened before too.  I drank some sips and then threw it away because it was like drinking water and if I wanted water, I could just go to the kitchen.  Also, I could make better iced tea but I like the Sweet Tea when they make it right.  So I didn't give up as the night was still young.

I went to another McDonald's across town.  The Sweet Tea was great the first time at that McDonald's location, and I liked it so much I ordered it again about an hour later, but the tea was weak and not good.  I also ordered an Egg Nog Shake and it was very good.

But I had to go back through the drive-thru to tell the girl working there that the tea was weak.  She did it over and it was a little bit better.  I'm still drinking both drinks as I type this article.

This is an article, by the way, and I'm a great writer, even if some losers don't like my writing and even if some people wanted to keep me from getting a job as a writer.  They lose, I win.  I'm great, and they suck!

Anyway, the girl at the drive-thru window said that the Sweet Tea was weak because they were running out of tea.  I'm glad she remade my Sweet Tea... but Hmm... the shift manager or supervisor, or whoever is in charge needs to make sure that the tea is consistent, otherwise customers will be unsatisfied and go to another fast food restaurant.  Consistent fast-food beverages are an important part of attracting customers and keeping customers happy. I thought it necessary for me to emphasize this right now while it's fresh in my mind.  It's definitely something I concerned about.

I will writer more next time, and I'll attempt to finish this article with what happened on Thanksgiving when I went out.  I wish I hadn't...gone out that is.  What a bummer early Black Friday is, and perhaps the dumbest American tradition.

It's all about money, people only care about money these days, not all people, but far too many people.  It's sick!

I notice how nobody listens to me or thinks I have anything worth saying.  Yeah, that makes me depressed.

Is fast food becoming a modern Thanksgiving tradition?

Hope this includes evening and late-night

It's almost 8:30 pm on Thanksgiving, I already ate turkey and the other traditional Thanksgiving foods about 6 hours ago, and now I'll go out, not for any special reason except to see what's open.  The drive-thru at Jack in the Box --  where its sign (pictured above) promises "OPEN THANKSGIVING DAY" -- will be one of my stops.  I'll find out if it includes tonight.  We already had Egg Nog shakes from Jack in the Box at about 10:30 pm last night.  (There were three of us and three shakes, and I'd call that fair.) So, what should I eat from there this time? Oh well, I won't put in much thought on that one.

This picture was not the most recent time I was there.  However, Mom and I did drink Egg Nog shakes that time too, and this picture was to help us remember that JITB would be open for Thanksgiving. 

I think a lot of stores were open today, though I just don't get it. It's Thanksgiving Day, you know, and shouldn't people take a time for rest and relaxation!  Clearly stores are open because they want us to buy, buy, buy and spend a lot of money.  

Honestly, I don't like the human obsession with money, and reality is getting to be quite annoying, so I hope there's something else, for example heaven, or a dimension where all beings are nice and aren't superficial or self-centered.  If not, that would be very sad to think about.  

Also, while I'm at it, I hope that if there is something else, heaven or a similar type of beautiful paradise where everyone feels happy and cares about everyone else, then I hope fast food is served on Thanksgiving, not necessarily the main meal because I still want turkey with the rest of the holiday feast, even if they don't have Thanksgiving there. After all, if they do let Americans in (and everyone else too, but right now Thanksgiving and Americans are the subject of my writing), hopefully they will care about what we like and want to please us. haha, indeed. 

We humans just can't separate from our self-centered thoughts, and for me it's important to eat what I want, when I want it, and that's the way it's gonna be!  Sorry!  I'm kidding. But don't downplay the importance of humor in dealing with difficulty in life.  I think it's time to stop thinking for a couple of hours, and going out for fast food will give me a chance to do just that, and less.  Hmm...just have fun!  I need to listen to myself more often.

Because for me, football 'talk' goes with food

I ate a little pizza, sipped some coffee, and have gone back to drinking a shake, and thinking about football just to provide some variety in thought life and my writing.  As I wrote before, topics that typically might be discussed while hanging out with friends -- at a fast food restaurant -- will be written about here from time to time.  The NFL this time of year is one of the more interesting topics, in my opinion.

The Detroit Lions (7-3) are much better this year than they've been in a long time. I checked today's box scores & stats and decided to let fans know how the Lions did today.  Pretty good.

Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford was 28 out of 36, passing the football for 335 yards and 5 touchdown passes in the 49-35 win over the Carolina Panthers.  That's great!  The only problem for us Lions fans, besides that the Lions were pounded last week by the Chicago Bears, is that Thanksgiving Day game on Thursday is against the Green Bay Packers who are the NFL's only undefeated (10-0) team.  The Lions play at home in front of their fans but will that prove to be enough of an advantage?

The defending Super Bowl champion Packers are a great team and still the team to beat, but can anybody keep them from repeating as champions?  I don't know.  Once the playoffs start, maybe the motivation for other playoff teams to try and knock off the Packers will be looking back at what happened to the New England Patriots in their undefeated 16-0 season four years ago when they also won their AFC playoffs games, then lost a very close Super Bowl to the New York Giants, who won the big game on the heroics of Giants quarterback Eli Manning.

Am I implying that mean all playoff teams are equal?  Uh not really, but even if most teams can't hope for a Super Bowl championship this year, they can hope for some hope.  I was going to attempt to recite some Emily Dickinson poetry but aren't you glad I didn't.  Sorry, I'm tired.

Long story longer...

Well, I'm happy the Lions are back to being a contender but they will have to play their best football to win on Thanksgiving.  It's not a must-win game though they need to keep winning to have a chance to reach the playoffs as a wild-card.  The Bears (7-3) are and exciting team, and some other NFC teams are coming on strong as the wild-card chase gets interesting.  I'm not going to say anything is for sure for the Lions, however I'm glad they are an improved football team and hope they'll be good for years to come.  We'll have to wait and see!

Scott McLean ".tVog n't NyETbody" (original) - new

Scott McLean: Singer, Songwriter
Prog-rockapella, progressive rock, spontaneous, semi-spontaneous, impromptu, extemporaneous, improv, classical, medieval, strange lyrics and vocal style, themes include Internet, freedom of speech, government trying to be like a god, God, philosophical nonsense. Some of my influences include Progressive Rock, Grunge, Gothic Metal, while specific influences are the bands Gentle Giant, Family, Yes, Yezda Urfa, Nirvana, Lacuna Coil, and many others, also Hymns, even a few Hers, especially my Mom's singing from the time I was a kid up 'til now, and of course Scott McLean (me), which means my earlier singing and songs (mostly unreleased) influenced this song.

Try to figure out the song title:

".tVog n't NyETbody" by Scott McLean

Breakfast is just as good at night

Here's a Jack in the Box breakfast meal for only $2.99... it's the Jumbo Breakfast Platter with Bacon.

I couldn't eat all the food that night even with a little help from a not-so-little friend, but I ate enough to make me feel better. I had a stomach problem earlier in the evening, perhaps from eating something (before, and not from a restaurant) that didn't agree with me.

So in some sense, this breakfast meal helped my stomach.

Read my mind

No new taxes! Just kidding. Do you have my Jack in the Box order?

Not on Halloween but still looks a bit scary!