Somedays are Like That ...

This was not a good day. In fact, it was one of those days when very little good occurred.

The day started off badly at lunch. We went to a restaurant that we occasionally frequent. It was not our first time there. In fact we go about once a month. And yes, I'm going to call them out by name. Provinos in Kennesaw, Georgia. The food that was ordered came out badly. As the name would suggest it is an Italian restaurant. The dish that was served to me had burnt cheese on top and the "lasagna" that was supposed to be part of the combination amounted to three half noodles and some tomato sauce. It took 15 minutes for us to get the attention of our server, one who had waited on us before. She had a large party and us in her room. I finally had to go have someone track her down for us.

When I asked her to remove the dish, uneaten, she did so. The "proprietor", as he was later identified to us, came over to the table and asked about the issue. I explained the problem and he rather snottily says "No one else has had a problem, just you." He then, very put out, asks if he can bring me something else. I told him that fifteen-twenty minutes ago when the problem was first notice, perhaps, but not now as my SO had finished eating and we were ready to leave. He then says that the server is a sweetheart who has been with him from the beginning.

Now the only complaint I had against the server was the fact that I spent the extended period of time waiting for her to reenter the room so I could flag her down and eventually had to go ask someone to find her. As the "proprietor" walked away he nastily says, "I'll be sure to reprimand her."

My response across the room was, "And you'll be a smart-ass while you do it too, I'm sure."

Ultimately you would have expected the dish to have been removed from our bill, right? No. It wasn't. I informed the server who he sent back in to deal with us and the bill that he, not her, had just lost them two semi-regular customers as we won't be back and we will make sure to tell everyone we know about how we were treated. So, I'd suggest everyone else try the Olive Garden across the street.

But the day was not over.

Have you ever wondered what happens when there is a severe weather warning while you are in a large department store? Unfortunately today I found out. Now, where I grew up, if the civil defense siren went off it meant there was a tornado coming and you had a matter of seconds-minutes to get to safety. Where I live now the blow the blasted thing for any type of weather "emergency".

It has been a rainy day. The rain was actually so heavy that we could hear it from inside, pounding down on the roof of our local WalMart. And while we were shopping at Wally-World the sirens went off. Mind you they did this just after I'd finally convinced the SO that you actually needed to try on clothes before you bought them so I don't have to make return trips and exchange them. So while my dearest was in the dressing room....Sirens!

Okay, that part was funny.

The announcement came over the intercom that there was a severe thunderstorm warning. No duh! We've been listening to the severe thunderstorm boom thunder and pour rain, while watching the lights flicker. So what is the response? The customers are rounded up along with the staff and asked to crowd around the fitting rooms. I looked at my SO in shock. They must be kidding. They weren't. Finally, the warning was downgraded to a watch and we were allowed to resume our shopping.

Our natural response after such a run of rotten luck was to seek out that Mecca of peace and revitalization known as the book store. My SO had just learned about the must read "Ghost Hunting" by the tv guys. That's okay. While hanging out in the paranormal section I ran across an encyclopedia of werewolves. Guess what went in my half of the shopping basket?


And on a completely unrelated topic.

I don't watch television. I don't have cable or satellite. My television operates only to play dvds.

Thanks to Blockbuster, I finally have gotten a chance to see the first three episodes of the first season of The Tudors. I love this time period in history. I adore it. I devour biographies of that time period and the Elizabethan era that followed. I’m not so much on the romanticized historical fiction set there, but the history fascinates me.

Well, the series is quite enjoyable if taken as fiction. At least they’ve gotten the names of the characters correct. I keep having to explain the historical inaccuracies to my SO who will tolerate this particular obsession and who has even agreed to go see The Other Boleyn Girl with me later this month. (I suspect this has more to do with Natalie Portman than an interest in the film itself.) But with some suspended disbelief it is quite interesting.

There is just one troubling point…I really doubt that everyone walked around naked or half naked at King Henry VIII’s court. Good heavens I know Henry was a lusty fellow but I doubt the women of his court ran about naked to this degree. Of course I know there are those who would not complain if Jonathan Rhys Meyers and Henry Cavill ran about naked a bit more.

You must admit, sometimes fiction beats the hell out of history…