Sun Is Out (12/29/12)

So the sun has decided to come back and make in an appearance over the city of Simpsonville. It sure is nice to see it out even though it isn't all that warm out there. I just made my way to the kitchen to grab a beverage (LOL) and I looked outside through the mini-window next to the front door and I saw some glorious rays. For the last couple of weeks, sightings of the sun have been few to say the least. I especially notice it at work as I am maybe 15 feet from a huge panoramic view and all I have been seeing is grey and blackish skies and clouds. Ugh. Not exactly uplifting.

I need to get past this ennui that I feel these days. Spending Christmas alone was not a smart move on my part. I should have gone south and find some beach that I could have spent a couple of peaceful days in what I call my happy place. Salt water and I are one. It is the pisces in me. LOL.

Uh oh Houston we have a problem. I just took a sip of my RJ Rocker's Patriot Pale and set the bottle down and it fizzed up and we have a fizz field over my computer table. Time to get a paper towel. Okay all cleaned up!

So this isn't a Schlewing's World blog if I don't include the music that I am listening to right now as I type this. I have Peter Gabriel's "Secret World" concert that was taped in Modena, Italy in November 1993 that is playing on the DVD player on my desktop. Peter Gabriel is an artist! Simply amazing. This show is incredible. The songs, the musicianship, the choreography and Paula Cole. I think I am infatuated with Paula Cole. Ha. Now the world knows that Paula Cole is aces in my book. She has that thing.

Okay back to the present. I have to prep some chicken breasts that I want to have Greek-style but I will have to make a grocery store run and get some lemons. I'm out of lemons. You can't have Greek-style chicken without lemons. It just can't be done. So I am going to get some lemons and solve today's major issue in Schlewing's World.

After that I am going to fire up the work laptop and try to get my year-end targets.

That's it for now. Peace Out!

This And That

So here I am typing away on early Friday evening while I am being serenaded by the hard-rocking pipes of one Bruce Dickinson of Iron Maiden. I am in a head-banging mood right now. Started off with the "Flight of Icarus" which led to "Hallowed Be Thy Name" leading into "The Trooper" live from Tokyo. True balls to the wall vocals, guitar shredding and the oh so powerful drumming Nicko McBrain. What a cool name for a heavy metal drummer. Definitely not in the mood for Phil Collins right now. Ha!

My plan this weekend is to be super-productive around the house. I have to fix the toilet in H's bathroom as water seems to be leaking. Just got the water bill to prove it as it 2.5 times higher than usual. Like I have money to flush down the toliet. Pardon the pun. I gave myself an opening there. I should come clean here. I will buy the part to fix in the bathroom but my construction engineer to be son will fix that important piece of porcelain. I would likely hurt myself using a screwdriver or wrench.

I have a load of whites going in the washer and after I finish this quick blog I'm going to prep some chicken breasts Greek-style for some grilling tomorrow for souvlakis.

A live version of Styx's "Crystal Ball" with the Cleveland Contemporary Youth

Orchestra just came on. This version is great. Actually any version of that song is great. Definitely in my top three Styx songs ever.

I have lots of leaf mowing or raking to do this weekend as the never-ending dance macabre with my trees and their foliage continues. Hopefully the weather will hold out tomorrow. I have some work-work to do in my never-ending quest to make my numbers for this month-end.

Ah cool song now. The Angels and their classic hit "Marseilles" from way back in 1980. This song effin' rocks! As I type this paragraph I wonder how many people down here heard of this band. Another one of my down under bands that I seem to like so much.They were known as "Angel City" up north in Mtl. for copyright reasons and they had a couple of albums in the late 70s, early 80s that were pretty effin' good.

I was playing too much air guitar there. Now the song is over and Stephen Stills with the rest of the boys in Buffalo Springfield are singing "For What It's Worth". That song is 45 years old and is still absolutely amazing. Man oh man music is awesome.

I also have to get rid of stuff in my garage to free some space up. I have a broken down lawn mower, a leaf blower that never worked and old wall units that have seen their better days. In fact those wall units saw their better days back in the 80s when the Angels were coming out with songs like "Marseilles", "Face The Day" and "Fashion". LOL.

Weird this blog about this and that became a blog of the music I am hearing as I hunt and peck away. Time to prep some chicken and then maybe I can convince H that we go and grab a bite to eat somewhere.

Ramblings from the 24th of November

So this kind of like a day off for me as I logged on remotely to take care of stuff going on in the Canadian portfolio. I've been doing laundry and I'm about to prep some Greek style garlic chicken breasts to grill tomorrow when all the shoppers are out and about accumulating more stuff. The late great George Carlin had an amazing bit on people and their stuff. YouTube it and you will laugh out loud. Okay back to the chicken. This is the first time I'm going to use that recipe. Hopefully it will come out well. If not, I guess we're going out for supper.

J & I are going to head out soon for a traditional Thanksgiving gathering and I am really looking forward to overindulging food-wise. Turned out to be another beautiful sunny day in the low 60s here in Simpsonville. Not too hard to take. Smiles.

This is where the picture at the top of the blog comes in as the rest of my ramblings are related to that phrase.

As many of you know in the last year or so I've often hung out at the Zone in Mauldin especially on Wednesday nights to play trivia. I would say that in the last six to eight months the place has gone down the drain somewhat. I don't think that I am exaggerating there. In fact the latest rumor is that the place will be closing down soon.

This place should be doing gonzo business I think but the present management there has no clue on how to run a business and make money. I truly think that every decision that this guy has made has been the wrong one. What gets me is that the manager does not have a financial stake in the business. The guy who does own the business is never there and is truly not seeing what is going on I think.

This business at one point had three locations. One closed a little over a year ago because the rent was jacked up sky-high or so I was told. The manager from that location came to this location and hence the beginning of the end.

The Fairview Rd. location now has a microbrewery type casual dining business in its' place under different owners. I need to check it out next time I am down that way. Problem is that Fairview Rd. to me is like Woodruff Rd. One of those roads that you want to avoid unless you absolutely have to be on it.

So anyways it looks like the Butler Rd. location is about to close. It may occur at this month-end. They will have a great Saturday I would think as Clemson-SC is on the table and that will draw a full house. It will be like the final supper for someone on death row. Ugh terrible comparison but it actually works. Knowing how this manager works he will be probably shut down the kitchen right after the game or in the 3rd quarter like he did for the Super Bowl. Clueless management.

I remember thinking on Super Bowl Sunday that the manager did not have a clue. A full house and he was giving free table spaces to a hip hop urban musis station that they decided to partner with to drum up business. Problem was that the current patrons of the establishment were country and classic rock listeners. LOL. It was hilarious to see and hear.

At half-time he turned over the audio to the music station instead of pumping up the volume on the TVs. In fact they should have had the volume as loud as possible during the game because one of the reasons that the game is so popular is the new commercials that the advertisers are spending dearly on.

Hang out by a watercooler on the Monday after a Super Bowl. People are talking about the ads and not about the game usually because Super Bowls typically game-wise aren't that entertaining.

This place is supposed to be a sports bar of sorts but it only has five screens. And only two are of the large variety. Nowadays one is being used to advertise their weekly activities which makes no sense whatsoever. They can actually use posters in several wall areas to do the same. And use that screen for Habs TV. Ha. LOL. Just kidding. Seriously NHL Center Ice could be a draw. Serve steamies and poutine and have specials on Molson Canadian and Labatt Blue. Shoot you can get a 12-pack for $11here.

Anyways they used to get 8-12 teams playing trivia on Wednesdays. I would hazard the guess that the average ticket for these teams would be anywhere from anywhere between $40 to $60 with some tables easily around $100. This isn't counting people that are just there to socialize or hang around with their friends.

I stopped going about 3-4 weeks ago because the trivia quizmaster was sexist, stupid and rude. If I wanted to hear his thought process non-stop for three hours I would listen to the verbal diarrhea spewers from 8 to 11 on Fox News rather than this ill-informed pig. Can you tell that I don't like this guy? I wouldn't want my daughter (if I had one), girlfriend, female friends, etc. etc. listen to his sexist commentary. I would be embarrassed just like I would be if I hung out in one of the lcoal gentlemen's clubs (i.e. strip joints). Gentlemen uh nope. Sleazebag club. LOL. Okay that would be a whole new blog to go on about.

Anyways a week ago Wednesday they cancelled trivia as they had one guy wanting to play. One guy? Last night the place was crowded as those that were not traveling for Thanksgiving had a Wednesday night which became a weekend night due to everyone having the day off here. What does management decide? Nah we aren't having trivia tonight. LOL. Three quarters of the place emptied by 830 when we left. Last year same night place was jammed. Best turnout for trivia ever even with a Thanksgiving theme which this Canadian sucked at. LOL. Nevertheless it was fun. By 845 we were watching Habs-Hurricanes at J's house.

So anyways for the last day or so, I've been thinking about going into the restaurant and bar business if the opportunity presents itself at that location. I've been running numbers through what passes off as my brain. Checked the costs of liquor license. Staff salaries. Rent. Menu options. I have some great food ideas. Pricing options. How to bring in people. People that spend money. Not people that don't spend money like I have seen over the last couple of months frequenting the place. How to get back people in the place. I know that lots of people would come back under new management. I'm sure of that. Okay enough hunting and pecking on the keyboard. Time to prep the chicken.