As of this update, we’re up to 104 different places.

This list covers 688 days – 8/23/2008 to 7/12/2010

We eat at a new place approximately once every 6.6 days.

We’ve eaten in 7 different states: GA, CA, PA, IL, TX, FL, NY

22 of 26 letters have been covered – missing letters: Q, V, X, Z

So, here’s a quick round-up of where we’ve been and what we’ve been doing.  This should really be cross-posted to georgeandlinda.com, but that means I actually at some point need to revamp it to make it applicable to post-wedding life (we’re over 9 months now!).

May 28-31 – Memorial Day Weekend.  We were down in Jacksonville, FL for the conference.  It was disgusting hot.  Not Heatpocalypse kind of hot, but uncomfortably warm for the end of May.

June 5-6 – Dallas.  Out there to see my dear grandmother, as well as caught up with some kids that I’ve been completely MIA/out of touch with, not unlike this blog.

June 12-13 – Birmingham.  Took a little road trip out to be with the migration training there.

June 25 – July 5 – California.  Summer training and hanging with the fam and stuffing our faces with more food than should be legally allowable, even in the most liberal of states like California.

So for those of you keeping score at home, that’s right; 5 different states in 6 weeks.  Foursquare was struggling to keep up with my massive number of check ins, and probably at one point thought I was cheating – I mean, does anyone really get boba 7 times in one week?  Yes.  This guy.  *points to self*  And his wife.  *points to wife*

So yeah, once again, here’s my empty promise that is destined to be unfulfilled, which largely explains my lack of readership: I’m going to write more, I promise.  More as in quantity and in quality.  You will be so entertained that you will do nothing but continuously hit refresh until something new comes up.

Disclaimer: I am not responsible for warn out keyboards or mouse buttons.

I think I’m hitting my limit.

All these weekends away are starting to take a toll on me.  I feel like I can go into hibernation mode for a few weeks with no problem.

To give you perspective, I’ve been in 3 different states the past 3 weekends.  One of those states is not Georgia.  We’re staying put this coming weekend, and then we’re off to the semi-annual training.  5 of 6 weekends not in Georgia.  Add in the 40+ hour work weeks of stress sandwiched between these weekends and you’ve got a inevitable mental revolt on your hands.

I don’t want to sound like I’m complaining (though it’s probably coming out that way) – I’ve enjoyed all my trips for their corresponding reasons.  I like my job, even though it makes my brain explode sometimes.  I’m just tired, that’s all.

It doesn’t look like I’m going to get a bona fide vacation this year either.  One day I’ll get enough vacation days (and salary!) to account for conferences and trainings AND a real actual vacation.

This means that I need to find myself an office away from the office.  The real office is just too far of a drive – and too quiet, if there was such a thing, and working at home is far too distracting with all my little toys and whatnot.  No, what I need is a chair, a table, some ambient noise, preferably coffee, and a subtle distraction every now and again.

My ex-go-to-places have started to get overrun by…outsiders.  White Windmill, Maum as a desperate second, even Library Coffee despite them having all of 4 outlets for the entire place.

What I need is a new hidden gem.  Somewhere where I can hide that no one else really knows about.  Somewhere like White Windmill a year or two ago.

Anyone want to share their secret place with me?

Or do I really need to go open one up for myself?

Appetite for China’s 100 Chinese Foods to Try Before You Die

1. Almond milk
2. Ants Climbing a Tree (poetic, not literal, name)
3. Asian pear
4. Baby bok choy
5. Baijiu
6. Beef brisket
7. Beggar’s Chicken
8. Bingtang hulu
9. Bitter melon
10. Bubble tea
11. Buddha’s Delight
12. Cantonese roast duck
13. Century egg, or thousand-year egg
14. Cha siu (Cantonese roast pork)
15. Char kway teow
16. Chicken feet
17. Chinese sausage
18. Chow mein
19. Chrysanthemum tea
20. Claypot rice
21. Congee
22. Conpoy (dried scallops)
23. Crab rangoon
24. Dan Dan noodles
25. Dragonfruit
26. Dragon’s Beard candy
27. Dried cuttlefish
28. Drunken chicken
29. Dry-fried green beans
30. Egg drop soup
31. Egg rolls
32. Egg tart, Cantonese or Macanese
33. Fresh bamboo shoots
34. Fortune cookies
35. Fried milk
36. Fried rice
37. Gai lan (Chinese broccoli)
38. General Tso’s Chicken
39. Gobi Manchurian
40. Goji berries (Chinese wolfberries)
41. Grass jelly
42. Hainan chicken rice
43. Hand-pulled noodles
44. Har gau (steamed shrimp dumplings in translucent wrappers)
45. Haw flakes
46. Hibiscus tea
47. Hong Kong-style Milk Tea
48. Hot and sour soup
49. Hot Coca-Cola with Ginger
50. Hot Pot
51. Iron Goddess tea (Tieguanyin)
52. Jellyfish
53. Kosher Chinese food
    
54. Kung Pao Chicken
55. Lamb skewers (yangrou chua’r)
56. Lion’s Head meatballs
57. Lomo Saltado
58. Longan fruit
59. Lychee
60. Macaroni in soup with Spam
61. Malatang
62. Mantou, especially if fried and dipped in sweetened condensed milk
63. Mapo Tofu
64. Mock meat
65. Mooncake (bonus points for the snow-skin variety)
66. Nor mai gai (chicken and sticky rice in lotus leaf)
67. Pan-fried jiaozi
68. Peking duck
69. Pineapple bun
70. Prawn crackers
71. Pu’er tea
72. Rambutan
73. Red bean in dessert form
74. Red bayberry
75. Red cooked pork
76. Roast pigeon
77. Rose tea
78. Roujiamo
79. Scallion pancake
80. Shaved ice dessert
81. Sesame chicken
82. Sichuan pepper in any dish
83. Sichuan preserved vegetable (zhacai)
84. Silken tofu
85. Soy milk, freshly made
86. Steamed egg custard
87. Stinky tofu
88. Sugar cane juice
89. Sweet and sour pork, chicken, or shrimp
90. Taro
91. Tea eggs
92. Tea-smoked duck
93. Turnip cake (law bok gau)
94. Twice-cooked pork
95. Water chestnut cake (mati gau)
96. Wonton noodle soup
97. Wood ear
98. Xiaolongbao (soup dumplings)
99. Yuanyang (half coffee, half tea, Hong Kong style)
100. Yunnan goat cheese

85/100.  That’s a little more like it.

Taken from here:

Here’s what I want you to do:

1) Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
3) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.
4) Optional extra: Post a comment here at www.verygoodtaste.co.uk linking to your results.

The VGT Omnivore’s Hundred:

1. Venison
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile
6. Black pudding
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari
12. Pho
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart
16. Epoisses
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Foie gras
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn, or head cheese
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl
33. Salted lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac with a fat cigar
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects
43. Phaal
44. Goat’s milk
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
46. Fugu
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini
58. Beer above 8% ABV
59. Poutine
60. Carob chips
61. S’mores
62. Sweetbreads
63. Kaolin
64. Currywurst
65. Durian
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost, or brunost
75. Roadkill
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant.
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake

Only 55.  Somewhat disappointing.

Hi George!

We’re the creators of the site Thisiswhyyourefat.com –
we celebrate over the top food on our site (and have been
covered by The New York Times, CNN, The Today Show and
more!).

We are currently writing the book version of our site for
Harper Collins and would like to feature your amazing Krispy
Kreme Milkshake images and recipe with credit given to you.

Is this something we could get your okay on?

All contributors to the book will be named and have their
creations in print, and it will likely bring even more
attention to you or your blog or Flickr account!

If you’d like to be a part of the book version of our
site, we would need images to be as hi-res as possible, so
could you send us images as large as possible? That and a
recipe/ingredient list (if there is one) would be amazing!

Hope we can work with you and feature this killer thing in
our book!

Talk soon,

Jessica Amason & Richard Blakeley

Wow.  I got in contact with them and sent them full-res copies of the photo.  If they DO decide to use it, it’ll be kinda cool to see a picture that I took in a published book!  It’s actually kind of exciting.  Though, I’ll be first to admit, it’s not one of my best food pictures.  But at least this validates all those times I pull out the camera when sitting down to eat.

Want to see the picture?  Go here:

Granted, working in the field, technical support is the equivalency of fry-o-lator operator at McDonald’s in our world.

But even the fry-o-lator operators get paid their wages.

You can call me selfish, you can call me greedy, you can call me a lover of money – but the I stand behind every word of the following rant.

I get selflessly volunteered a lot by people to fix their computers.  Many people I know.  Some people I don’t.

When I was in college, I used to do IT-related stuff for this rich Jewish guy.  I no longer remember his name, but I do remember he owned all kinds of beachfront properties and he was Jewish.  Hence, he was affectionately titled “Rich Jewish Guy”.  The best part of RJG was that I felt like part of his little Jewish mafia when I worked for him.  I’d get this call – sometimes from him, sometimes from one of his “people” – to meet him at his house (read: mansion) or his office.  I’d show up, I’d get my instructions, I’d do my job, and then he’d pay me – always in a sealed envelope, despite it being check or cash.  I was never disappointed when I opened the envelope.  It always averaged to about $40-$50/hour, which is ridiculous for a college student.

I’d also get volunteered for people I know.  Those were done out of favor – there were never any sealed envelopes on my way out the door.  A requisite comment of gratitude and I was out, anxious to get home to try to salvage the 3 hours of my evening I just donated.  Sometimes meals were given for “payment”, but I really didn’t consider them as payment as I was usually sharing that meal with 5 other people; people who didn’t spend hours trying to rescue their computers from the deep unknown.

I was actually pretty okay with this through college, and even some into the training.  Today, I’m working in the industry.  I’m no longer trying to rescue people’s computers from the evil clutches of malware and spyware and the like, but the people who do that don’t sit too far away.  This is my job, my making of a living, my livelihood.

We all have our jobs.  We have our skills.  We’ve been blessed with something that we’re good at, or learning to be better at.  In my eyes, my job is no different than a doctor, a chef, or a janitor.  Even if what we do for a job isn’t always our first choice, we’re only still doing what we’re doing because we’re good enough at it not to get fired.

So after all this, here’s the conundrum: Why is it that people don’t expect doctors to come and treat them for free just because they’re good at it?  Why is it that it’s awkward if I asked a chef to come cook for me as a favor because they know how?  Why would it be offensive if you called your janitor friend over to clean your mess because he has the skill and ability to do it well?

Think about that for a second.

Now think about this:

Why would it be okay for you to call me over to fix your computer?

6am : out the door en route to poll location

6:12am – 7am : waiting in line at the Heritage Educational Center, Nintendo DS probable

7am – 8am : fighting through the old decrepit Republican-types who would let Sarah Palin within the District of Columbia limits to place my vote for whoever Barack Obama is voting for

8:09am : trying to get out of the parking lot without getting hit by some blind old lady who voted for McCain because they “like Sarah Palin for her personality”

8:43am : at a Starbucks claiming my free election day coffee

8:58am : hopefully at the office

11:48am : Shane’s Rib Shack on Perimeter Center Dr, claiming my free chicken tender meal

12:25pm : Krispy Kreme in Roswell for my free donut

1:32pm : food coma from lunch kicking in

2:56pm : random baseless political debate amongst coworkers – “yeah, but Tina Fey played Sarah Palin and Tina Fey is kinda hot”

5:02pm : Ben and Jerry’s on Windward Pkwy. getting my free ice cream

5:48pm : Shane’s Rib Shack on Windward Pkwy, getting another free chicken tender meal

6:54pm : home, flipping through channels looking for an unbiased report on election results

7:21pm : giving up on finding an unbiased report and America as a society in general, off to another Starbucks for another free cup of coffee

7:58pm : back at home, watching networks spend tons of money on pretty displays merely to color in different parts of the country a deep blue.

sometime later : asleep, while Barack Obama keeps Sarah Palin back in Alaska, where she can continue to keep an eye on those Russians to further her foreign policy experience.

Yeah, it never got done.

You know how I had mentioned before about new things coming down the pipeline?

Yeah, it never got done.

You know how I had mentioned before about writing more?

Yeah, it never got done.

You know how I had mentioned before about not being a slacker?

Yeah.  It really really never got done.

I will be accepting the following in lieu of last second gifts that you all procrastinated on (in order of preference):

1.  cash
2.  cashier’s checks
3.  Visa gift cards
4.  gift cards to stores I actually buy things from
5.  gift certificates to local upscale restaurants
6.  airline certificates
7.  mail-order brides

Let’s review year 26, shall we?

In the 26th year George has been on this earth, we have seen:

- a full year of being employed
- discovering new motivations
- discovering new Korean coffee shop/bakeries
- how weak I really am
- how unhappy I can be
- how happy I could be
- starting a dedicated reading schedule
- getting behind and quitting the dedicated reading schedule
- starting another dedicated reading schedule
- yes, bailing out on another reading schedule
- dealing with emotional loss
- dealing with physical loss
- the realization that it’s okay to be hands-off
- an enamor with Google Reader
- xkcd.com
- the death of Ringo
- the increasing popularity of Facebook in its wake
- Flickr Pro
- some really fast cars
- Yuri
- understanding how important our past is
- lots of weddings
- Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Dallas
- CHANGed Concepts
- the joys of playing Mario Kart for an entire Saturday afternoon
- roasting coffee
- baking bread
- building a smoker
- wonderment at how I had lived so long without cast iron pots
- how fickle my heart is
- that I have my own agenda even if I don’t want to admit to it
- friends who have moved on
- that I haven’t moved anywhere
- a happiness that I had never seen from my father before
- coming to terms that the next list 362 days from now needs to be more positive

People who know where I go must think I’m crazy to know this.  The places I shop at are busy, crowded, multi-cultural, patience-lacking, shopping-cart-ramming food affairs.  Yet, that’s what I love.  I love seeing what other people buy.  I love the crazy family discussions regarding fish.  I love watching the awkward gawking from the obviously single guys in the instant noodle aisle every time a cute girl walks by.

Most of all, I love wandering the aisles.  There’s nothing like taking in all the sights and smells (not always a good thing) of a world of food.  There are always those things that I wish I could afford to buy – huge gorgeous scallops, sashimi-grade fatty tuna, deep colored saffron, huge chunk of Parmigiano Reggiano.  One day, I should splurge and pick up one or three of these things.

The problem is, I always come home with all this random food, then I find myself eating just so the stuff I buy doesn’t go bad and go to waste.  I need either a) self-control, b) people to feed, or c) better ways to use all this food.  Then I find myself with a dwindling fridge and an excuse to go to the market.  It’s a vicious cycle.

I’m going to go eat something.

Via xkcd.com:

This place may be one of the best chain coffee shops there is.  Their coffee is pretty good, the iced coffee is cold brewed, and their iced tea is surprisingly good that I find myself ordering that fairly often.

The Caribou Coffee nearby my office used to be my little lunch hang-out spot.  I’d grab something to eat real quick, head to Caribou with a book, and drain my lunch break poured over a book and a cup of coffee.  It’s a nice change from a desk and a screen.

Well, I took a little break from my lunch routine for a few weeks just because it got a little busy at work, but when I showed up at my lunch-time hide-out, there was an immediate sense of distance, rather than coming back to a familiar home.  The signage was gone.  There weren’t any cars in the parking lot.  Then it struck me – they closed down.  All in a matter of weeks.  I had to suck it up and go to Starbucks.

There’s another Caribou closer to where I live, near Toco Hills.  That’s where I’m at right now.  I guess there’s some amount of karma involved, since I was greeted by signs indicating the newly-established 24-hour-ness of the place to appease the emotional anguish from losing the other one.  Where was this when I was in college?  Though, with all the studying I’ve been doing lately, I kind of feel like I’m back in college.  Well, not really, since I didn’t study nearly this much in college.

Some grad student just came by to ask me to fill out a survey for her research.  She, like a lot of other random girls coming through here tonight, is actually pretty easy on the eyes.  I wonder when Emory starts up again…