Long morning of frustrating shit interrupted with a test drive of a baja trike and a taco break in the middle followed by more frustrating shit. Picked up Inn and Out Burgers for dinner (the second time for me- last time was 15 years ago) and I remain unimpressed with the overall taste, but completely impressed with the freshness, price, and cleanliness of the staff. It is unquestionably a better value than BK, McD’s, Wendy’s, etc. The meal here was cheaper than a comparable one in WV at Wendy’s.
My nose has been running for the last three days, and no it is not covid. I know this because I hauled covid tests across country with me because who doesn’t pack those in their medical kit before driving cross country. I got more fucking issues than Readers Digest, I swear.
All the sinus drainage has given me a headache and a sour stomach, so I picked up some candied ginger at Sprouts (along with some asian pears, some flowers and a bottle of wine for Joelle, and some kefir. Gonna settle in for some Breaking Bad in a bit.
Sup with you all?
Alison Rose
I got you beat on that front.
How are the animals doing in the new place/weather?
Adam L Silverman
It is always good when the restaurant’s staff is fresh, reasonably priced, and clean.
Anonymous at Work
I had issues with Arizona on my trip from LACK of humidity. Couldn’t discover a cure, wasn’t that long a trip.
satby
Get the good antihistamine-decongestant you sign for at the pharmacy, not the fake stuff. That’ll help. A lot of people move to AZ and find out that pollen season is year round there.
John Cole
@Alison Rose: Doing well.
Suzanne
@satby: Good advice. Allergens there are not just pollen. Summer and winter grass, olive trees, dust mites, mold spores. And the desert dust has valley fever in it. I was on multiple allergy meds year-round when I lived there, and so was one of the Spawns. And the dry air gave me nosebleeds.
piratedan
just need to eat more salsa on your food. That’ll keep those sinuses clear, pico de gallo doesn’t count.
eclare
@John Cole:
That is so good to read. I’m glad the critters are getting along.
kindness
Out here in the Central Valley of CA, there is a fungus that infects one with something called Valley Fever. High winds kick up the dust/spores. Not sure if it exists in NM.
Suzanne
@kindness: He’s in Tempe, and valley fever is endemic there. My grandfather died from it. It’s absolutely no joke.
Yutsano
And yet again NO PROOF OF LIFE PICTURES COLE!!!
cain
My dude, my favorite remedy for sour stomach or anything is ‘jivan mixture’ – it’s an indian thing and I think it’s some kind of distillation of camphor. It’s pretty damn effective.
You could also make a tea from roasted cumin seeds that is an Ayurvedic concoction.
ETA you can get ‘jivan mixture’ on Amazon.
Article:
https://www.mid-day.com/lifestyle/health-and-fitness/article/javerians-jivan-mixture-is-a-trusted-remedial-ayurvedic-medicine-for-all-type-of-stomach-disorders-23172008
cain
@kindness: Damn, wear a mask, yo.
lamh36
I’ve been to Cali multiple times and I’ve only gotten In and Out a couple of times and I was never impressed by it in any way. I’m pretty sure the only reason I got food from there was because it was near our hotel.
Never again though…bleh
satby
@Yutsano: They had a really cute one on FB from their travels.
Joelle, have John share that one.
NotMax
satby
Yuppers. If the pharmacy has Sudogest (also sold as Perrigo), less than a quarter the price of Sudafed. I happen to get it at Costco’s pharmacy desk; Experience has found the 4 hour pills work better for me than do the 12 hour ones.
Also too, Kirkland brand Aller Flo nasal spray (their version of Flonase) is not only less expensive than the brand name but often on special. Quick look finds Costcos in Tempe and nearby Gilbert and Chandler.
satby
Valley Fever > great, something else to worry about. I knew I didn’t like deserts.
Mai Naem mobile
@NotMax: Flonase is great but there are contraindications to taking Flonase(glaucoma/cataracts.) I bet a lot of people don’t realize that because it’s an OTC.
Ruckus
Sup with you all?
Just had one of the neighbors show up at my door, she’s 97 yrs old, can’t see worth a damn and rides this 4 wheel senior electric thing that is like a 4 wheeled tricycle. Oh and it’s nearly 3 hrs after sundown here. I’ve had to do stuff like this for her before, she had pressed something on her phone and couldn’t make it work. Took about 15-20 minutes figuring it out, fixing it, and attempting to show her how to use it. That last part took by far the longest. This woman is rather amazing. She rode a motorcycle into her 70s. And she rode long distance. She might have more miles on motorcycles than I do and I have over 500,000 miles under my butt. She also seems to have rather limited eyesight. I have no clue how she does much of anything. She was hospitalized during Covid for about 2 weeks and was released and OK. She is one of the most resilient human beings I’ve ever met. I’m 23 yrs younger than her and she just might outlive me and I’m in great health according to my docs. This world can be amazing, frustrating, hard work, fun, etc and just when you think you’ve seen it all, someone comes along and shows you that it can also be something entirely unbelievable.
John, I’ve been on this site for a very long time and you have always been an interesting person. I’m glad you found someone who can and is willing to put up with your crap. That seems to be one of the hardest things in life to actually do, something many of us struggle with, something that many seem to fail at.
Hmmmm, maybe if we didn’t have so much crap it would be easier…… I learned when I was a mental health counselor decades ago that it is.
It’s the universal human issue, hanging on to our crap because it’s supposedly easier than growing up.
It isn’t.
Doc Sardonic
Valley Fever……Cole gets that and it slides over into Boogie Fever, it’s gonna be lit.
Jackie
@John Cole: Was today the kitties meet the pups? If so, hopefully it went “ok.”
We are impatiently waiting for proof of life photos!
Mai Naem mobile
@satby: i have a friend whose elderly mom was having respiratory issues along with loss of appetite and memory loss. It was assumed that she was developing dementia. Ended up an ER doc thought it might be Valley fever and sure enough that’s what it was. Got treated and ended up recovering.
TaMara
A humidifier is your friend if you don’t have one. I run one overnight in the winter. And during the day, I’ll throw a pan of water on the stove with some essential oils to humidify the place and get rid of the bad dog smells.
Suzanne
@Mai Naem mobile: My uncle had it and recovered. It’s like mono for most people. But it can attack the bones or the brain in people who are already old or unwell, it can be severe.
lamh36
It’s really sad to hear the story about the former Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson and the possiblilty of medical negligence leading to her death.
Ya’ll know I work in clinical micro lab and we work wound care cases alot and number of wound care samples I have worked up with bacteria that was def NOT normal bact but found outside flora it’s supposed to be in, makes this story VERY easy to believe…smh.
I hope the family gets justice!
Heres a link to the thread describing what the family alledges:
https://twitter.com/MissBeaE/status/1743036086924759089
JGreen
@Ruckus: I know you’ve turned down suggestions that you write your memoir before, but I swear you should do it. Mental health counselor? How many careers have you had anyway? And you write about them and other subjects very well. If there’s anyone that should be writing about their life experiences, it’s you.
Martin
In-N-Out isn’t franchised and I think that’s key to them being well run and cheap.
If you’re in the real estate business, you don’t really care how much a cheeseburger is, you care how much rent you can squeeze out of a franchisee. The price of a cheeseburger is the franchisees problem.
Martin
BTW, Cole, next time cheeseburger animal style, extra well fries.
Princess
@satby: I’ve never been to AZ but I’ve never been as allergic in my life as I was on one weekend visit to NM in April. I was in agony from something.
Bupalos
Cheap ass meat is ripping the guts out of the planet’s lungs and drowning the climate in cow farts. And it’s terrible for you. Which of course we all know, but just friendly nag as the climate gets scarier by the day. I’m going down to venison and occasional chicken.
Sister Golden Bear
I’m taking Monday/Tuesday off and headed up to Lake Tahoe for a long weekend. Originally the plan was to leave early Saturday but had to change that because there’s a big snow storm hitting that day. First of the predictions were up to 3 inches, this morning it was 6 inches, and now it’s 10 inches.
Needless to say, I don’t want to drive in those conditions—if Highway 50 is even open—so now I’m leaving Friday. Hopefully around 4 if I get the delayed delivery of snow chains. But can’t leave until they arrive.
Which means trying to leave the Bay Area at rush hour. Pray for me.
Poe Larity
Braving airports and demon tubes probably filled with Covid this weekend for Niece Wedding II and then eye surgery Monday.
Can’t wait to be ablr to read again.
Also, too, simce we’re talking about burgers, here is the nutritional latest:
https://www.consumerreports.org/health/food-contaminants/the-plastic-chemicals-hiding-in-your-food-a7358224781/
Redshift
Day was pretty good except for dealing with Dyson customer support, which is unbelievably bad. We got a warm/cool fan from them for Ms. Redshift’s desk, which is in the coldest corner of the house. We’ve have a couple of their fans and like them, but this one just didn’t work when we set it up.
Customer support involved an hour wait on hold, then connected to an agent with not great English working in a very crowded call center with constant crosstalk of other voices, so neither of us could understand each other. I could go on, but in short it was a frustrating conversation ending in no resolution and the promise of a return shipping label by email that never arrived.
If you want to have an image as a fancy brand, maybe don’t make it obvious that you’re agreeing m shelling out the bare minimum for customer support.
Hungry Joe
JC — The COVID that hammered me a couple of weeks ago presented as a bad head cold for 2 1/2 days. Tested negative on Day 2. Got sicker (cough, sore throat) and tested positive on Day 4.
Much better, but recovery is s-l-o-w.
jackmac
Is Reader’s Digest still a thing?
Marmot
@Bupalos:
Belches, but otherwise right. You know, lots of tasty food doesn’t depend on meat.
Alison Rose
@kindness: I thought Valley Fever was what happens when you spend a few months living in Modesto and realize you desperately need to get back to civilization before you choke a random stranger on the street.
Maybe that was just my brother and sister-in-law’s experience.
Wallis Lane
Cole, you’re going to the wrong Cali-based burger chain. Fatburger beats the over-rated In n Out hands down, and there’s one in Tempe. Much tastier burger, and they’re pretty well run too.
Ruckus
@JGreen:
Thought about it. Haven’t convinced myself. Yet. And thank you!
I think I say at least dabbled in 5.
Started working in a machine shop at 12 – dad’s.
Was in the navy for 3 1/2 yrs, my specialty was electronics.
After discharge I attended college – pre med. And worked as a volunteer mental health counselor – not as much fun as it sounds…
Then back to machine work and then owned dad’s business. Earthquake didn’t do that any good.
Worked in professional motorcycle racing, was technical manager for 10 yrs.
Owned a bicycle shop for 6 yrs, built titanium frames.
Then back to machine work. As an employee.
Retired after 60 yrs of working
Martin
@Bupalos: Good point. Cole, next time grilled cheese animal style, extra well fries.
mrmoshpotato
@Adam L Silverman:
Agreed. Though the “reasonable priced” part raises concerns.
Ruckus
@lamh36:
My dad was in the Shriners and was on a train to LV once and a man sat next to him and said his first name. Dad replied, same name. Last name next, dad replied with, same last name. Middle initial next, dad replied with same. He had a son whose name ended with the second, II. Dad – same. Now on to the point, this man was in upper management at In and Out. Which no, isn’t all that. It was better long, long ago. However, as burger chains go here in SoCal it still isn’t all that bad, especially at the price.
What’s better?
BigJimSlade
But if your issues were more like National Geographic, your issues would have collectors, too!
Brachiator
@Martin:
A McDonald’s cheeseburger is relatively inexpensive. The In N Out cheeseburger costs more, but is bigger, juicier and a better value.
Or better, cheeseburger animal style with extra grilled onions. Skip the fries.
BigJimSlade
The best thing about In-N-Out was their bumper stickers, which we’re common in the early 80s around LA, if properly edited.
In-N-Out
Burger
had 2 letters cut out to make it
In-N-Out
urge
https://timcastro.blogspot.com/2009/09/in-n-out-thats-what-bumper-sticker-is.html
DN
I do find the In-N-Out burgers tasty, but the owners seem to be anti-vax nuts. San Francisco closed their SF store down due to their ignoring health regulations in 2021. (Articles are easily googleable: “covid In-N-Out San Francisco”.) I’ve been avoiding them since.
lurker
in-n-out varies some, and is definitely a matter of taste. One approach – double meat, no cheese, or a double-single – double meat, one slice of cheese. ALWAYS GET THE GRILLED ONIONS
Never a big fan of Kraft cheese after I made it past about age 12, so the cheese slices at in-n-out do not do it for me (first tried in-n-out well into my twenties). But the combination of a good mix of salt and a bit of pepper for the ground beef at in-n-out makes them a good match for my taste buds. Keep in mind though, this is not some place where you pay $10-15 for a burger, it is still fast food.
For your sinuses, allergy meds are a must in many dry areas. Plenty of people I know moved out of the Central Valley (Modesto-Fresno-Bakersfield) to the SF Bay Area just to get better humidity and relief from sinus issues. I effectively did that as well, although there were other motivations (e.g. college) and considerations. Which meds and what else you need to do are very individual, so you probably want to consult an allergist. Might be able to get a good combination of meds and other therapy such as a humidifier figured out by March [ ; – )
ETA: Also, Readers Digest … pretty sure that was/is a monthly … Newsweek, for example is a weekly. There are newspapers that are dailies … some have morning and afternoon editions … if you want to have issues…
NotMax
@Wallis Lane
There was a Fatburger here which opened and closed in less than a year.
Stratospheric prices, plus whatever gunk they inject into the patties to make them “juicy” also made them taste salty as heck. Yuckoroonie.
lurker
@lurker: the other interesting thing about in-n-out is that the drive thru line will likely look really long and move surprisingly fast, but the best move is to go inside most times and order at the register, which will feel slow but actually move faster.
ronno2018
I love in and out too but still love my homemade burgers more! Enjoy your time in the SW!
lurker
@ronno2018: agreed … homemade burgers beat just about everything else…
weasel
How you liking Sprouts? I miss it so, saved me a fortune on parsley and green leaf lettuce. Bunnies eat me out of house and home
Joelle
@Ruckus: I was just telling Cole what great respect I have for bike shop owners. Tempe used to have a bunch of bike shops… but most have closed due to high overhead making it impossible for them to be profitable. As a former frame builder… any advice for Cole on his bike purchase?
VeniceRiley
If there is a Farmer Bros nearby, that’s the ticket for a local sourced fresh burger chain!
Trust me.
Up early to give Kilo a pill and potty both dogs.
Ruckus
@Joelle:
I’ve been out of the business for over a decade now so really not much, other than if you are actually going to ride a lot of miles buy quality. You don’t have to go to the top of the component pile but second level is actually close and a lot less expensive. Stores that sell everything and put bikes in the back with the “sporting goods” very likely have about zero concept of what, why, how and why not this one. Go to an established bike shop that sells more than one brand. If the sales person is talking out of the sales literature – WALK AWAY. Generally a small not chain store is better, because it has to be. The big stores/chains may be good, maybe not so much. A small store that talks to you, finds out your history, your needs/desires, is often a lot better. But. Never forget that a store, any store, large/small, single owner/chain, is in business to make money. But best is a store that makes money by providing the customer the best bang for their buck, the most useful item for their use. And lets the customer know that if they don’t have/sell what is best for the customer, where to go to get that.
matt
These days my favorite fast food burger comes from Shake Shack.
Ramalama
@Ruckus:
Not just bikes! I use this philosophy when talking to clients about web hosting, premium plugins, domain purchasing, email hosting, and so on. Customer service is where it’s at 92% of the time for me.
Betty
@Hungry Joe: My experience has included a bad stomach as well. It could be that new strain. JN.1
Mike S. (Now with a Democratic Congressperson!)
For dry air try any drugstore brand of plain saline nasal spray. It also helps with nasal congestion and there are no side effects. I use the CVS brand as I can get that free with my Aetna Medicare plan.
Super Dave
John, I suggest you try Ted’s Hot Dogs at the corner of Broadway and S McLintock. You won’t be sorry. You’re welcome.
misterpuff
When I lived on the East Coast, I always loved going to In N Out when I was in Vegas, fresh and clean tasting.
But once I moved to Southern California 5 years ago, they didn’t taste the same. 1. They just taste better fresh in the store, even waiting 15 minutes to get home and eat, they seem to degrade. 2. Order without the onion. The onions seem to override the basic greatness of the cheeseburger.
I know, sacrilege, but that’s my take. Double Double with Cheese No Onion and get the fries. Consume immediately.
Super Dave
On our regular drives from Carson City, Nevada to our condo in Gilbert, Arizona, the Inn-N-Out on Ramon Road right off I-10 near Palm Springs was a convenient stop to gas up the car and the people in the car almost simultaneously. On one stop, there was a group of folks outside the Inn-N-Out talking to some Inn-N-Out employees. Curious, I asked one of the employees what was going on. He told me they were doing a group interview for prospective new workers. I jokingly asked if I had the necessary qualifications for getting hired. The very nice young man politely asked, “Can you smile?” I said yes, but why? He told me the first thing they look for is a friendly smile. He said, “We can train anyone to do all the jobs in the restaurant, but if you can’t smile and be friendly, you can’t work here.”
I knew they had tremendous control over the consistency of their food because the stores are not franchised, but I had always wondered how they also achieved such consistently good service. The answer was surprisingly simple. It also caused me to wonder why more businesses, run by the supposedly “smartest guys in the room” have never figured out this simple way to screen prospective new hires.
BruceJ
Valley Fever also affects dogs; most have only minor symptoms, and it resolves without issues, but I’ve had four over the years who got it badly enough to require treatment (they all got infections in their joints). They had to take fluconazole for a lengthy time.
Work is proceeding on a vaccine valley-fever-dogs
I had it as a teenager but got over it with no lasting effects.
The Lodger
@matt: Their burgers are good, the shakes are better, but the fries are f$&(&#*@ing mush.
MichiganderGail
@TaMara: An ENT once told me to get and religiously use a Saline Nasal Spray. Hydrates those tissues, keeps ‘em from cracking and helps prevent infections and nose bleeds. Cheap, easy, portable, and very effective.