Bennigans and Steak & Ale

The 93-year old German bought Bennigan's and Steak & Ale and then spent the remaining time between then and now running them into the ground. The way he did it was to progressively degrade the menu, service, and decor over twenty-plus years. Steak & Ale suffered the least of the two, but Bennigan's was devastated. Someone could pick them up at a fire sale price and make them into good restaurants, again, very easily. They only ended up in this state by really wrong-minded management. Bennigan's went from a favorite to a place that I rarely visited. Even Chili's is doing some of the same things that the Bennigan's management did, but so far, they have not flipped over the precipice. Screw healthy menu choices. People want food that tastes good. Being good for you is secondary. The restaurants should be a place that is friendly and a nice place to be in, and the food and atmosphere should be good. You need many menu choices, not too few. At both Steak & Ale and Bennigan's, you should have been able to get a regular slice of hot pecan or apple pie, with ice cream. Doing away with that option was alone, a killer.

Tom Elia shows the kind of hotdog I like

Tom Elia, at The New Editor, shows what a good, Chicago-style hot dog looks like. This is the kind that I like.

Bennigans-Steak & Ale filed for bankruptcy

Another "wow"! The corporation that owns Bennigans and Steak & Ale filed for bankruptcy protection.

Wow!: Bennigans is closing down (perhaps just corporate "stores")

The host scoop here in the Dallas area is that Bennigans is closing down their "stores" (I would call them restaurants). We think that they got off on a health kick which meant that they discontinued good menu items that we and others liked. They USED to have home-made potato chips and good queso and chips, for example. UPDATE: I hear that it is just corporate-owned restaurants, not the franchisees.

Windows Vista

As I have written, I have a brand new Compaq Presario 770 US laptop computer. The computer has Windows Vista Home Premium edition. The computer has 2GB of RAM and a dual core processor, so Vista is "snappy". My wife has a Toshiba with only 512MB of RAM and with that, Vista is a dog. It "outta be" a crime to sell a computer with both Vista and only 512MB of RAM.

At Former Naval Person, I have plenty of Rielle Hunter

Before I went wall-to-wall Emma Watson fakes, I also had celebrity news on Former Naval Person blog (now largely NSFW). I have two posts there about Rielle Hunter. This is the last, when the MSM and Google tried to purge any mention of Rielle Hunter from the Internet. This is the one with more pictures of Rielle, prior to the pregnancy. John Edwards is really a bad person. I am not sure how else to put it. He got Rielle Hunter pregnant while his wife is battling cancer to stay alive a little while longer.

Is Spam protected speech?

I just heard about this convicted spammer who killed his wife and child and then committed suicide. I waste a lot of time dealing with spam, but my opinion is that it is protected speech. I have the benefit of not being a lawyer, but I am really concerned about how courts decide that free speech can be curtailed when there is a consensus that it should be, regardless of the constitution.

My Staples deal beats Amazon by a tidy amount

I went looking for Compaq Presario 770 US laptop computers for sale. Amazon will sell you one for $609.99 before the rebate. The mail-in rebate reduces the price to $579.99. I paid 479.99 at Staples and have a further $30 rebate to mail in. That deal is only good through today, apparently, "in-store".

A good deal

I had stopped by the small Stapels store in east Dallas near loop 12 and I-30. They had an advertisement that caught my eye, immediately. It was for a Compaq laptop with 2GB of RAM, a dual-core processor, and a 160GB disk...for about $450 after an instant rebate and a $30 mail in rebate. We talked about it and I went back tonight and bought one! I have been planning to replace my oldest desktop computer with a new box, but this looks better than what I had expected to be able to buy. I also picked up the deal to get Microsoft Office 2007 Home and Student Edition for about $80. I had not been happy at the prospect of having to use "Open Office", as their Word substitute was not up to par when I tried it last. This deal apparently ends tomorrow. The notebook computer is a Compaq Presario 770US with an the Intel dual-core mobile processor. Presumably, it is OK to talk about it.

Perhaps we will finally see justice done

A Grand Jury in Texas just handed down the initial indictments in the "Yearning for Zion" case involving the Morman polygamists. Finally, we are seeing the possibility of justice being done in this case. I still can't explain why these guys got away with this deal for so long. They appear to have protected by local authorities who knew what was happening in the compound.

Stephen den Beste

Stephen den Beste was one of the early blogger stars. He writes about his current non-participation. I was one of many readers who was sorry to see Stephen stop blogging. If his health and enthusiasm had allowed him to continue, I think that he would be a super-star on the level with Glenn Reynolds and Power Line. Of course, the big lefty bloggers are in a universe of their own. Stephen illustrates that you don't have to be part of "Big Media" or be a university professor (or even have a degree) to have a substantial audience, if you write well and have interesting things to say.

Shades of the Great Depression

Where have we heard about runs on banks? Ans: the Great Depression. Here we go again.

People are starting to catch on that Barack Obama is a fake candidate

Barack Obama decided to run for president when he realized how positively he was perceived by people who knew nothing of his experience and background. He had crafted a cover story about his childhood and early adulthood that played well with progressive voters. The cracks are starting to appear as Barack Obama's shifts in position have alienated many of his progressive support.

Gasoline as a political issue?

I bought two new rear tires for my car, yesterday. While I was waiting, I spoke with an electrician who was also buying tires. He had just moved into town from a town 60 miles to the northeast. He comes into contact with many working people in his work. Much of his work in the recent past had been from wiring new homes. Now, all the work was making repairs and improvements to existing homes, as well as businesses. This man asserted that many people are "teetering on the edge" and a higher price for gas will push them over the edge. When I talked to my wife, when I got back, she thought that the price of gas will be a political issue. This is one issue that the Democrats seem to have wrong and should pay a price for opposing new oil drilling in the U.S. Can the Democrats demagogue their way out of this one?

Internet Connection speed tests

I just tried a speed test and was pleased with the result:

Download Speed: 5605 kbps (700.6 KB/sec transfer rate)
Upload Speed:   1647 kbps (205.9 KB/sec transfer rate)

This was the SpeakEasy speed test.
I also tried the CNET Bandwidth Meter and got a similar download speed:

5326.4 Kbps

We use Cool Access for our Internet provider, which is a north Texas business, but expanding south and to the northeast. We have done business with them for four years.