Fall 2013 October 20

39 degrees this morning.  Didn't seem to be that bad, exercise went fine. 

Weekend half over.  We tried a new place for breakfast yesterday "Brother Juniper's" .  We have a wide variety of excellent restaurants within two or three miles, so we hardly ever get out of our area to eat out anymore.  However, after we decided to stop eating at Starbucks (we'll still enjoy the coffee!), we thought we would try something different.  Brother Juniper's has been rated as the "Best Breakfast" in Memphis.  It was certainly enjoyable and the service was excellent.  Parking was non-existent and there was a 30 minute wait at 8 a.m. (not a bad wait, coffee was available, some seating if you moved fast and some paintings to look at, but don't try it if you're in a hurry).  

My major yardstick, the coffee, rated five stars.  A different taste, but excellent and the service was really outstanding.  Coffee was refilled constantly, which I appreciate.

Speaking of coffee, some of the best coffee places are Starbucks, Steak n Shake, and Firebirds.  Bob Evans and Cracker Barrel coffee isn't quite as good (to me) for some reason, I definitely will drink it, it just isn't quite as good as the others.

 J. Alexanders coffee is luckwarm and undrinkable, just eat there and go across the street to Starbucks.  Also, forget it at On the Border, they just don't know how to do it.  

TGIFridays and Bahama Breeze seem to use some  type of instant coffee which is almost undrinkable.  Save your money.  I don't eat at Logan's Roadhouse much (no reason, just don't, I love their meat loaf) but I believe the coffee is usually ok.  I have learned to just not order coffee at any Mexican or Chinese/Japanese/Thia etc. restaurant.  You're either get some junky instant coffee or they just don't know how to do coffee.

Ruby Tuesday's also has excellent coffee.  Perkins has so so coffee, just tastes somewhat like Cracker Barrel and Bob Evans.  Rafferty's has excellent coffee, just insist on it being fresh (same at Firebirds).  The Blue Plate always has  excellent coffee, although we hardly eat there anymore (too far to drive).  After a weird experience with the Manager at the Texas Roadhouse (she is gluten intolerant and was more or less told to eat elsewhere by the Manager,) we haven't been back, but I seem to remember their coffee was ok.  O'Charlie's is uneven, if you insist on hot fresh coffee you will get it and it is good.

Macaroni Grill can have excellent coffee, but they seem to have a no refill policy, so I just save my money.  Red Lobster?  If I remember correctly, save your money, like almost any seafood place.  

What I resent most is paying $2 to $3 for a cup of coffee and then getting a tepid, old cup of coffee or not getting refills.  I assume the coffee doesn't cost much and they make a big profit on it.  I don't care, I'll pay, I just want a fresh cup of hot coffee with reasonably frequent refills!  

I could go over iced tea, but it is difficult to get tea as strong as I like it, but Steak n Shake has excellent strong tea. Most places in Memphis have good tea.  I don't even think about ordering tea in Oklahoma City, all you will get is slightly favored water.  

It has been a cool, but nice weekend.  I have my annual "audiocardigram" (or something like that) tomorrow.  Like the annual physical, I always am slightly stressed about the Doctor saying "I see a problem", but I believe it is better to know, than not know, if there actually is a problem.  

I have always had a very low heartbeat (38-40) and I'm not that worried about it, but I recently read in Dr.K about how it can indicate problems.  Of course, every new Doctor I sees checks it out and it is just normal for me.  

Looking forward to a day of slightly flexible time.  I have some things to catch up on etc., but at least I can do it on my own schedule.