Category: Misc

Oversized sunglasses catch a break

Go Girl! Energy Drink

Ok, kissmekate, you’re officially off the hook. That is, my latest “enough already” thing is with energy drinks. It’s bad enough that you can’t find a picture of Demi Moore or Britney Spears NOT holding a can of this stuff, but now there are so many wannabe energy drinks hitting the market I just can’t take it. I thought Kabbalah Energy Drink was the worst of the worst (the link has a great review, btw, check it out) but today at Rite Aid on Alhambra I found a display of the all new Go Girl! energy drink.

Although Go Girlâ„¢ is not marketed as a mixer, many women enjoy it with vodka and other fun mixers. Go Girlâ„¢ is a functional drink that enhances the body and mind. If you have over indulged the night before try a Go Girlâ„¢.

Ugh.

UPDATE: As runnergirl1971 noticed, Go Girl is distributed by Nor-Cal Beverage Co. of West Sacramento. Apparently the drink is being well received. I guess there really is no accounting for lightly carbonated with a fruit-punch flavor, a natural herbal appetite suppressant, vitamins geared toward women, and about the same amount of caffeine as a cup of coffee, taste.

Macaroni Mayhem

Had some friends over for dinner this weekend. It was sort of a busy day leading up to dinner that we decided to use a gift card we had for the Macaroni Grill (yeah, yeah, I know). So we call up the place with our order. Decide to use the “curbside pick-up” feature which apparently is better than driving to the restaurant and going in and picking up the food and leaving. No, no, they understand you are in a hurry and so after describing your car to them they will meet you out front with your order and you’re all set. Yep, all set.

Before I continue, would someone please explain how to navigate the Alta Arden, Ethan Way, Arden Mall layout? You know what I mean, if not, let Google help you out. Try making sense of those arrows. I came in on Arden, exited on Alta Arden and within 2 minutes was leaving town on Business 80 toward San Francisco…
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Support your local post office

With the holiday season fast approaching (yes, I refuse to admit that it is upon us already) I wanted to provide you with a recommendation (a new Sac Rag category you’ll notice) on where to go to ship those presents and returns.

We all know we have many options when it comes to shipping. You have your Fed Ex, your UPS, your DHL, but what if you don’t want to pay a premium price AND be treated like you’re a bother? Give the new United States Postal Service a shot. Specifically, give your local USPS branch at 1618 Alhambra Blvd a looksee. I’ve been finding myself needing to send packages a lot recently so I stopped by this branch a while back on my lunch break. I’ve been back 3 or 4 times since and I’ll be damned if the folks there aren’t the nicest, if not a little odd, guys in town. And if Norris serves you, you’re really in luck. Plus, they employ the feeder line system with grace and efficiency.

It used to be that going to the Post Office was a death wish. You avoided it like Wal Mart (waa waa waa). But they’ve stepped it up and really provide some great prices and great service. And if your package is of normal size and weight you can even use their self service machine which is a real plus when you’re in a hurry. Easy to use, easy to pay, the works. And the delivery times are impressive.

Fiat Fog

Glancing out the window on the way back to my desk I notice that the fog has settled on our fair city. See you in April!

UPDATE: My snark was premature, as it’s a wonderful day today.

Please form a line

The Feeder Line in Action
The “Feeder Line” in
Action at Del Taco

You know when you’re in the checkout line at the grocery store and it starts to back up the cashier will call for assistance on the PA system and a new cashier will appear and walk up to the next person in line and basically escort them to the newly opened register? I wish they had this process everywhere as I’ve been noticing a trend lately from coffee shops to drug stores: The Feeder Line.
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‘Cueing in the Central Valley

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This post is a littled dated but I wanted to share this photo from my Thanksgiving in Merced in the lovely and bountiful central valley. Pictured is a “deep pit” barbecue, which consists of a 6-foot section of sewer pipe dug into the ground like a well. Into the pit goes burning tree branches and kindling, which are allowed to burn down to hot embers. Then goes the meat. Oh-ho-ho, the meat. Huge pieces of anything meaty–whole turkeys, sides of beef, whole pigs, what have you. The meat is wrapped in plastic and towels or burlap, bound with wire, and put in the pit overnight. The pit is sealed and actually covered with a few feet of dirt. The result is hot, juicy, earthy, and if you plan it right, ready just in time to spoil turkey dinner.

In addition to the deep pit I got to see the new UC Merced campus, which looks like a set out of a video game–a slowing rendering blank landscape of earth-toned polygons and then suddenly a futuristic building pops up out of the fog. Only instead of infiltrating some sort of zombie-infested research lab gone haywire you get a … college dorm, okay that’s pretty much the same thing.

Young, Old Hardest Hit

Just in time for rainy season, the News and Review is here to cheer us up with an examination of worst-case flood scenarios, and how they might affect the most vulnerable Sacramentans–the “very young and very old.” Be careful when you read this, because, in the spirit of Orson Welles, much of the emergency sections of it are told in present tense, with only that helpful phrase “as an example” stuck in there at the beginning to save them from being sued by me when I blow my life savings on a giant raft to save my family from the flood waters the paper has assured me are flowing toward my home.

I’m glad SNR had the courage to focus on how those in the community who need 24 hour care and monitoring might fare in such a catastrophe, because usually preschoolers and the elderly can kinda be left alone to figure stuff out.