Return of the Drunk Guy - Episode III

You were waiting for another update on dude, weren't you? Well, here it is.

I was walking Bear a couple days ago and we came to the intersection by DG's house. We could take a left and avoid it altogether, or we could hang a right and take our chances. It had been a very long time since I had seen him or his dog outside. Plus there was a little kids' baseball game going on in the park just past DG's house and I wanted to check it out. And it was a beautiful night, so I figured both Bear and I could use the little extra loop added to our walk. The minute I rounded the corner I saw him and Elle sitting on the stoop. I swore in my head and considered turning back for about 1/2 a second, but figured that would look weird. So we forged ahead. Immediately I could tell something was different. He didn't say anything to me, he didn't call us up to meet his dog. But as we walked past, Elle came out toward the street and Bear was pulling to go see her. So I let them say hi. Of course, dude did NOT remember me again, although we had meet 2x previously! Anyway, the dogs are playing and I notice some differences in our drunk friend:

1) No beer or drink of any kind in his hand
2) No slurred speech
3) No stumbling around on the lawn
4) Clean shaven, hair combed

I'm thinking to myself - Aren't you supposed to be drunk? We chat for a minute about the dogs - he talks about what a hunk Bear is and how Elle would like to have a sleepover with him, but I notice that he has somehow found a filter for his mouth (no doubt due to the soberness) and although he alluded to it, he managed to avoid talking directly about dog humping and the like. And that was it. He didn't say much more. I say goodbye and head down the driveway, half expecting him to start rambling about Bloomington kids being our future, but nothing. Not a word as I walk away. Honestly, it felt a bit strange but believe me it was great.

So that's about it. Yes, anti-climatic, but I thought you all deserved a little update. Chances are he won't stay sober for long - his neighbor said it's kind of a cycle for him. Drunk - rehab - sober - drunk again. But I bet he'll remember meeting me next time, since he wasn't 3 sheets to the wind this time. I suppose we'll see. Stay tuned...

Lion's Tap vs. Five Guys

Ok, so you know I love me some Five Guys. Their burgers are delish and reminiscent of the Woodhouse. But everybody had been telling me I need to try the Lion's Tap burgers, that they are far superior to Five Guys and I didn't know what I was missing. So last night Justin and I made a trip out to Eden Prairie so I could try these famous burgers.

Those of you who have known me for awhile know that I've never really been a burger girl. That was about the last thing I would order when going out to eat. I don't know what it is, old age or something, but burgers have become more and more tasty to me over the last year or so (see Juicy Lucy post from 9/22/09). So I figured it was only right to do another taste test post; here it is.

Five Guys Burgers and Fries

France Ave, Edina

The burger: 'Little' cheeseburger (believe me, you don't need the regular size)

Fixin's: The cool thing about Five Guys is that you can add any of the toppings for free. The list is extensive. My usual includes: lettuce, tomato, raw onions, mushrooms, mayo. I don't get ketchup and mustard, I add those myself later because I have a certain ratio that I follow. It goes a little something like this 3:2:1 (mayo, ketchup, mustard).

This burger is juicy goodness and it is mess. No real noticeable seasoning to the patty but that's ok with me because the flavor of the toppings in combination with the beef really stand out. As I said before, if you have eaten a burger from the Woodhouse, the taste and texture are very similar. Which makes my mouth and belly happy. The bun is a standard bun, Justin doesn't care for it but I like it. It doesn't overwhelm the burger. The juice/grease from this burger cause some blowouts about half way through eating it. I find myself rebuilding it several times during consumption. I love the taste of this burger and always finish the whole thing.

Fries: Fresh, thick-cut fries. You can tell that they just cut the potatoes that day. But they are very thick, mushy in the middle. You have the option of getting cajun fries; we tried it and don't care for them. Overall, I don't really care too much for these fries. Yes they are fresh and I know a lot of people who like thick fries, but I am not one of them. I mostly just eat them because they are there. Too much potato and not enough crunch. However, you get an enormous serving with one order. If you're going with just one other person, DO NOT get the large size, regular will suit you just fine. So in my opinion, these fries leave something to be desired.

I should also mention they have in-the-shell peanuts available to eat while you're waiting for your order. I'm not a big peanut person, but I'm sure this appeals to a lot of people.

Drink: I always get orange soda. They have your typical fountain soda, plus some teas. They also have Mello Yello (which gets points from me) but I generally stick with the orange. No alcohol offered.

Atmosphere: Fast-foodish. Small place, you order at the counter, no server. An in-and-out type of place. Always hoppin'.

Price: Right around $15 for the two of us to eat. Pretty reasonable.

Lion's Tap

Flying Cloud Dr., Eden Prairie

The burger: I got the California cheeseburger (single).

Fixin's: California means lettuce and tomato, then I added mushrooms and raw onions. Extra $.80 for the 'shrooms.

The patty was seasoned and that was noticeable on the first bite. Very flavorful. Pefect juiciness, not a mess but just the right amount of juice. The mushrooms were very fresh with a strong flavor, which I really liked. This burger was much richer than 5 Guys due to the seasoned patty. So I would say I would be much more likely (if my belly could handle it) to eat 2 5G's burgers vs. 2 LT burgers. Bun was comparable to 5G's in my opinion, Justin think Lion's buns are better. The burger stayed together very well while eating, no major blowouts. I ate every bite of it.

Fries: Crinkle-cut, Justin told me to ask for them crispy. Perfect portion size for me, but I'm sure others may wish they had more. Perfect ratio of crisp to potato. Good flavor. I really liked these fries. Dipped them in a ketchup/mayo mixture. Far superior to 5G's fries. I ate them cuz I liked them, not because they were there.

Drink: We ordered a pitcher of their premium draft root beer. Very good. I'm not a huge root beer fan, so I can't say it was better than the orange I get from 5G's. But Lion's Tap also has orange soda among others. Another bonus here - you can order beer!

Atmosphere: Bar atmosphere. This is a sit-down restaurant with that homey, local feeling. Servers who were busy but attentive and friendly. Busy in there, loud, but I felt like I could hang out there longer. Definitely not a fast-food feeling.

Price: We spent over $30 (including tip) for our meal. A little on the pricey side.

And the winner is.....................

Lion's Tap!

But this was a very, VERY close race. If the two restaurants were right next to each other, I would probably wind up going to Lion's Tap more. But Five Guy's is about 10 mins away, Lion's Tap a good 20 mins. The burgers themselves were almost a tie, but there was no competition in the fry dept. Although pricier, the atmosphere of the Lion's Tap is more ideal. I felt like this was more of a 'dinner' than Five Guys. And, any place where you can get a beer is going to be a plus in my book!

So if any of you are in the cities, I recommend you check out both and make the decision for yourself! And call me, because I would love having an excuse to eat either.

Happy Burger Season!

He Loves His Pillows

Bear loves to sleep with a 'pillow' of some sort - here are some examples.

Oh, he's so handsome. This is what happens when you don't have kids - you blog about your dog. :)

Drunk Guy Update

So I was out rollerblading with Bear on this glorious 60 degree day and I passed by Drunk Guy's house again. Lo and behold, I see him and his pup, Elle, sitting in their front yard. He sees us coming and says, "Come on up here!" What's the first thing I notice? He's got a Budweiser in his hand. Big shocker there. He's slurring his speech and kinda stumbling around. So the dogs greet each other (they love each other) and he proceeds to talk my ear off for the next 15 minutes. Here are a few things I learned about good ol' Bob:

He's 62 years old.
He fought in Vietnam.
He's retired.
He is divorced but was married to his wife for 30 years.
He didn't want the divorce, but she did.
He has three kids, 2 girls and a boy. The boy is a civil engineer. One of his girls is a teacher in the Scottsdale School district in Arizona. The other is an art student.
His wife is a very smart lady and graduated magna cum laude from St. Scholastica (a "very prestigious college").
He got Elle from his son and daughter-in-law when they moved to Hawaii. You see, it would have cost them $2000 to fly here to HI, so he took her instead. They paid $20 for her at the shelter.
He has no idea what kind of dog she is.
She is very gun shy so he can't take her hunting.
4th of July is really hard for her because of the noise from the fireworks. She hides downstairs under the bench and although she's really sweet, she'll try to bite him if he tries to pull her out.
Elle loves big dogs, the bigger the better.
One of his daughters has a jack russell that he took care of for 2 years because it was too wild for his dtr to handle. He did all sorts of training with it, took it for walks everyday, but it never really calmed down because those jack russells are just so "headstrong".
Elle is fixed, but if she wasn't, and if Bear wasn't, those two would go at it and he'd "bust her bones" like crazy. *He then spent about 5 minutes talking about dog sex. Apparently he has a friend that breeds some kind of dog and charges $1000 for the pups, but he was going to be able to get one for about $600.
Since Elle is too afraid to go hunting, he wants to get another dog. He can get a "pointer lab" for about $400. It would be the runt of the litter but that's ok.
He delivered two babies when he was in Vietnam. Apparently two Vietnamese women went into labor during an explosion and he had to deliver the babies. But he said he didn't have to do much work, the women did most of it. This conversation led to another about having kids. He said it's the greatest thing ever and watching a baby being born is amazing. He asked me if I had kids, and when I said no, he told me I should get going on that. "Bloomington needs more kids. They are our future. This old guy isn't." First he said I should have 5, I said no, that's too many. He said a couple would be fine. He told me that there's a lot of guys out there that are no good, but if my husband is a good guy, then we should have kids because he'd take responsibility and help me raise them. He proceeded to tell me about 6 times that I need to get going on having kids. Then he said I should have 20. He gave me his permission to start trying.
He also told me about 15 times how sweet his dog is. "Have you ever met a dog this sweet?" He also told me how handsome Bear is (well, he really is).
So all this time I'm slowly trying to work my way to the street to continue our rollerblading. This dude was completely oblivious to my body language and continued to talk to me as I'm wheeling away.
So there's your update. Aren't you glad you know so much about Bob too? He had absolutely no idea that we met a couple summers ago or that I came into his house a few months ago and woke his drunk ass up. Life sure is entertaining sometimes, isn't it?

Happy Spring, everyone!

My Thoughts About UNC

Bad Things:

1. Turnovers - seriously dudes, you're killing me! I can take better care of the ball than you can and I'm a girl.

2. Lack of fast breaks - I guess I was spoiled last year, but that was one thing that always sparked the team and set them apart from so many other teams. And if we do get fast breaks, they are just out of control, which leads me to my next point...

3. Chickens with their heads cut off - The guards are fast, but completely out of control and can't manage the ball (see #1) or the game.

4. Defense - You don't have to be very smart to realize that there's more to winning a game than just offense. Not to toot my own horn, but I was a pretty good defensive player in HS, so to see the lack of effort in running down the court or getting out to defend the perimeter shots (especially with a team like Duke) kills me. And boxing out - isn't that one of the fundamentals of basketball?!? Way too many offensive rebounds for the opposing teams.

5. Free throws - These are gimmes!! It's a free (hence the name), wide open shot. You should be hitting AT LEAST 70%. I don't care if you're a big man or not. Point in case: Tyler Hansbrough broke the NCAA free throw record in '09.

6. Losing at home - This isn't due to a lack of support from the crowd. The Dean Dome will always deliver. No one should have as terrible a record at home as the 'heels do. There's no excuse for it.

7. Poor shooting - I don't know what to say about this. Not one single person on the team is reliable. For being a 'seasoned' vet, Ginyard has really let me down. I don't buy the injury excuse. And Davis is like 12 feet tall and is still hit or miss, literally. Graves has hit some big 3's, but I don't have a lot of confidence in him, yet.

Ok, time for some good things:

1. Speed - Yeah, this is a good thing and a bad thing (see #3). But this bodes well for the future. Once they get more experienced, this will hopefully help with the fast breaks and get us more points in transition.

2. Height - Davis (soph), Zeller (soph), Henson (fresh), the Wear brothers (fresh). All this height and a lot of diaper dandies. Again, looking ahead here.

3. Recruits - The #1 small forward, the #2 shooting guard, and the #6 point guard in the nation have all committed to UNC.

4. Roy Williams - Dean Smith was the man, but good ol' Roy is a damn fine coach. You can only do so much as a coach to motivate the players. He has more class than most coaches in the NCAA. He's an excellent leader and his win percentage is undeniable. Any team would be lucky to have him as a coach and would benefit from his skill and experience.

5. Well, peeps, I'm grasping at straws here. I can't think of many more positives about this team. But, it's North Carolina. We may have an off year, but we'll rebound. We'll always have talent, good recruits, and a great name. There's no team that's going to have a good showing the year after losing so much talent.

So, I will always have faith in my team. I will always be a supporter. And I will always hate Duke! It's tough to be a UNC fan this year, but it'll get better. There's always next year!
Go 'heels!!

Interesting Saturday Dog Walk

So I was taking Bear for a walk today on one of our usual routes. We passed by the house where his puppy girlfriend lives (one of the many!). Her name is Elle, she's about 4 or 5, some kind of mutt, but she's gorgeous. From the minute they met a couple years ago, they loved each other. We walk by and she comes bolting out to the street to see Bear. She's off leash and just running around the yard. We say hi and 'visit' for a bit. Then we try to keep walking, but she wants to play and she's following us down the block. No owner in sight. So we take her back to the house and knock on the screen door. The front door is open and I can hear the TV blasting. I knock on the door several times - no answer. There isn't a doorbell. So I pound louder and louder, still no answer. So I look in through the screen door and I can see someone laying on the couch. I open the door a little and call out to the guy and knock really hard on the inside door. Nothing. I'm starting to get a little worried, but I can see him breathing. So I yell out to him, "Excuse me sir!" I'm literally like a foot from his head. He stirs a little but that's about it. I bring Elle inside and notice an open bag of dog food by the door. Well, now I know he's alive, so I decide to continue on my walk. I get Bear home and get showered up cuz I was running some errands. I decided to go back and check on the guy, make sure everything was kosher. I was also concerned that Elle was going to eat all that dog food since the bag was open. I know Bear would probably eat himself to death in that situation! So I go back and when I pull up I see Elle at the door, licking her lips. She was probably munching away on that food. Anyway, I knock on the door really loud again. I can see him still laying on the couch. So this time I go in. I'm about 6 inches from his face, practically yelling at him. Finally I shake him, he wakes up a little and looks at me. I ask him if he's alright and he mutters 'yeah' but then rolls right back over. I shake him again and ask him if he's a diabetic (thinking maybe his blood sugars are too low and he's in a diabetic coma). I think he said 'no'. He's still not getting up, so I close the bag of dog food and decide to go talk to his neighbors. So his neighbor tells me the guy is a huge drunk and has done this several times. Apparently, there's been many occasions when they've had to let Elle in so she doesn't freeze to death outside. I guess he's been taken to the hospital a bunch and tried rehab but it didn't work. The neighbor said there's a lady that comes and checks on him sometimes, and he called her earlier but said he was going to call her again. So, that's my interesting Saturday Dog Walk. You know, it's funny because you walk by all these houses when you're out walking the dog, and you never know people's stories until something like this happens. Well, I'll let you know if I find out anything more about what happened. Poor Elle, I want to adopt her. I think she'd have a better life with us.

Get Your Drank On

Hello all! A gloomy Saturday it is. Rain, freezing rain, sleet, and wind - all day long. Managed to get the dog walked in the hour window that it wasn't doing any of the above. So apparently my blog posting theory was proven wrong. Oh well. All I can say is I'll do my best.

I have to say that I absolutely LOVE Saturdays. I love the weekend. I love not working. I love sleeping in (yeah, sometimes till 11:30 and I'm not ashamed). I love making big breakfasts. I love drinking coffee and relaxing on the couch. I love couch time in the evening and drinking adult beverages. I love staying up late.

So, tonight I made a little trip to a liquor store down in Burnsville, about 20 mins SE of us, called Blue Max Liquors. They have something like 1200 different kinds of beer. Justin had been there awhile ago and got me this delicious strawberry beer, so I decided to go get me some more. Here she is:

While I was there, I also picked up a bottle of Samuel Smith's Organic Cider. Thought that would be yummy too. Take a looksy:

Well, I'm ready to crack open a bottle and go get my drank on. Have a wonderful night. GO VIKES!

I'll leave you with (yeah, you guessed it) a pic of my precious, handsome, dingleberry of a dog.