Totally Unauthorized

If the premise of your restaurant is to offer big portions and low prices, you have to move the people in and out as fast as possible–profits lie in turning the tables over early and often.  Which is just what they want to do in a prison:  feed the masses rapidly and get them moving on out.

I’m thinking of this, of course, after tonight’s dinner.  We ate at Calhouns, Home of America’s Best Ribs.  That isn’t an endorsement, it’s their name.  The ribs are so-so, at best.

The service is world class, if you like fast.  Seconds after we sat down our drink orders were taken.  In two minutes the waiter was back with the drinks, ready to take the dinner orders.

6 minutes after the dinner orders were taken, the food arrived–salad, bread, entrees, the whole shebang.  Don’t think of sipping your drink, then enjoying a salad before you savor your dinner.  At this joint, you are expected to wolf your food like a starving Armenian, as mother used to say.  Those laid back Southern ways are to be checked at the door.

The good news is that it was cheap–a half slab of ribs, a house salad and iced tea (unsweetened), came to $24.00 with tax and tip.

Bridge, you ask?  Okay, bridge.

We won the second round of the morning KO.  Since it’s a 3 day event, tomorrow is the finals.  I won’t be there, so the team has a great chance.

Bob M and I played pairs today.  A poor game followed by a mediocre game.  There were 3 sections of open pairs, and for some happy reason they played 26 boards both times.  Here is the Mid Atlantic Bridge Conference, pairs events are most often 24 boards, which is just silly but it gets the directors out to dinner earlier.  The field was surprisingly tough, and I didn’t play all that well.

The other four guys started a new KO, and won both matches; the first by 2 and the second by 6.  Our guys keep winning, but the aren’t any blow-outs.

I out of here in the morning for Auburn, AL.  Then pick Gail up at the airport in Atlanta and head off to the wedding.  Bob M is heading to Nashville to pick up Nancy and also go to a wedding.  The rest of the gang will be home on Monday.