What Irked You Today?

[highway]

Saturday I won best Junior at the Birmingham Classic,an award that I was extremely honored to revive. Being as this is my last show in the junior category I was very happy to end the category on a positive note.Turns out a few guys on Facebook are claiming I'm 18 years old,which would put me out of the running as a junior. Tommy M. contacted me and asked me if I was really 17 and I told him it was true and he was really polite about it. The sad thing is I would almost bet money as to who did it. I Can't believe (Well I can) that some body would stoop that low to try and strip someone of an award the rightfully earned.

Congrats and sorry to hear that at the same time Austin, sometimes it can be harder competing in the younger categories than one may think. I had a similar experience at a show once long time ago when I was your age, but it was actually started by the younger builder's mom and her trying ti tell the judges that her son's model shouldn't have been beat by mine because I was older and in the wrong age group. The judge then tried to explain that since there were a very limited number of entries in both the Junior (under 13) and Senior (13 to 17) age groups, all under 18 entries were combined by the judges into one Junior group. Then she started arguing that her son's model was just better than mine, and that she still felt his model should have gotten 1st place, not mine, and then the judge finally got so fed up with this mom he looked at her and said "You want to know why we picked that one over your son's? He had his displayed on a mirror and we could see underneath details as well and it simply was just the better of the two!" Then she started that her son's was just as detailed and the judge said "If we could have seen that like we could on the other, maybe it would be a different story, but our decision stands!" and walked off. My mom and I were standing nearby the entire time and both of us couldn't help but looking at each other and sharing a secret laugh! I just have to wonder if that boy ever learned to display his models on mirrors!?!?

Sometimes the well fought wins or the controversial wins are the sweetest and the ones you'll remember for life!

[Austin T]

Thankfully I'm good friends with a bunch of guys in the club and they knew the guy was just trying to get the award for his son,so needless to say the guy got shut up pretty fast.Here's a picture of the winner. It's my revell '57 ford gasser, I think I have a total of 40-45 hours in this guy, It took about six months on and off.

[crazyjim]

And it looks good and SHINY :)

[Greg Myers]

Looks like you did your home work, lots of nice touches. That "Gasser" style bumper is great. Good color combo as well. Looks like a winner to me.

[cobraman]

Love it ! It looks just " right " to me.

[Tom Geiger]

What irked me? My wife and I decided to go to Fridays for dinner. Kinda nudged by a "Free Entrée" coupon. We do go there maybe once a month, and it's usually a good experience. Tonight was like weird...

Saturday night and a store for a national chain like Fridays should be on top of it's game. We go in and while there is usually a wait for tables on the restaurant side, we are astute enough to know we can slide into the bar and get a table. No different, the tables in the bar area are at maybe 30% occupancy. It was chaos in the lobby and we paid no mind to it.

We did get our drink order as usual. Then a lady comes into the bar and tells us (I don't know why people always approach me to complain) that they've stopped seating people because the kitchen is at a one hour turn around (industry standard is 15 minutes). People from the lobby wait list come into the bar and try to sit at the empty tables, but the hostess witches come in and chase them back to the lobby telling them they can't sit here. Now I'm starting to get ticked off watching customers being abused. I look through the glass into the main dining room and I see empty tables there too.

At that point our waitress shows up and drops our meals off (I noticed the absence of a food runner). So I tell her we haven't seen our appetizer yet, and our drinks have been empty for at least 15 minutes. She looks flustered and disappears. So we start to eat. She manages to get us drinks since there is literally no one at the bar. Then a manager type shows up with our appetizer. As he's being friendly, I ask him if he noticed that we are half way through our dinner as he is trying to drop off an appetizer. He is oblivious. So I lay into him, asking how the heck he's turning away customer from a restaurant that's nowhere near full. He stumbles and starts arguing with me that they are really busy. He tells me he was in the kitchen cooking himself to try to catch up. I wave my arm and ask him then what are all these empty tables? I rattle off his kitchen capacity (from my 30 years of facility management), and point out that he's way off on his metrics. And that there's no way he's making his numbers today. Last I see of him he's run off to clear some of the empty tables that haven't had anyone in them for at least a half hour... instead of managing the front end. It was obvious that this restaurant was mismanaged and understaffed.

My wife just laughs and is worried that I'm about to get up and take over. It bothers me that our experience wasn't great. Nor was there any attempt to make our experience right. Our normal bill came. A good restaurant would have discounted something, noting that an appetizer didn't get eaten since it was delivered after the entrées.

But the businessman in me just boils at how badly this large restaurant, which should be a huge money machine, is being run. It's also obvious to me that the place wasn't filled to capacity, which tells me they have been sucking for a long time, and the customers have gone elsewhere. When I got home I did go to their website and put a complaint in similar to this rant here. Let's see how their corporate folks respond.

Edited March 30, 2014 by Tom Geiger

[Harry P.]

What irked me? My wife and I decided to go to Fridays for dinner. Kinda nudged by a "Free Entrée" coupon. We do go there maybe once a month, and it's usually a good experience. Tonight was like weird...

Saturday night and a store for a national chain like Fridays should be on top of it's game. We go in and while there is usually a wait for tables on the restaurant side, we are astute enough to know we can slide into the bar and get a table. No different, the tables in the bar area are at maybe 30% occupancy. It was chaos in the lobby and we paid no mind to it.

We did get our drink order as usual. Then a lady comes into the bar and tells us (I don't know why people always approach me to complain) that they've stopped seating people because the kitchen is at a one hour turn around (industry standard is 15 minutes). People from the lobby wait list come into the bar and try to sit at the empty tables, but the hostess witches come in and chase them back to the lobby telling them they can't sit here. Now I'm starting to get ticked off watching customers being abused. I look through the glass into the main dining room and I see empty tables there too.

At that point our waitress shows up and drops our meals off (I noticed the absence of a food runner). So I tell her we haven't seen our appetizer yet, and our drinks have been empty for at least 15 minutes. She looks flustered and disappears. So we start to eat. She manages to get us drinks since there is literally no one at the bar. Then a manager type shows up with our appetizer. As he's being friendly, I ask him if he noticed that we are half way through our dinner as he is trying to drop off an appetizer. He is oblivious. So I lay into him, asking how the heck he's turning away customer from a restaurant that's nowhere near full. He stumbles and starts arguing with me that they are really busy. He tells me he was in the kitchen cooking himself to try to catch up. I wave my arm and ask him then what are all these empty tables? I rattle off his kitchen capacity (from my 30 years of facility management), and point out that he's way off on his metrics. And that there's no way he's making his numbers today. Last I see of him he's run off to clear some of the empty tables that haven't had anyone in them for at least a half hour... instead of managing the front end. It was obvious that this restaurant was mismanaged and understaffed.

My wife just laughs and is worried that I'm about to get up and take over. It bothers me that our experience wasn't great. Nor was there any attempt to make our experience right. Our normal bill came. A good restaurant would have discounted something, noting that an appetizer didn't get eaten since it was delivered after the entrées.

But the businessman in me just boils at how badly this large restaurant, which should be a huge money machine, is being run. It's also obvious to me that the place wasn't filled to capacity, which tells me they have been sucking for a long time, and the customers have gone elsewhere. When I got home I did go to their website and put a complaint in similar to this rant here. Let's see how their corporate folks respond.

I wonder how people who are starving and wondering where their next meal is coming from would react to this?

Not to bust your chops, Tom. But sometimes we forget just how good we here in the US have it compared to millions of people across the globe.

[Tom Geiger]

I wonder how people who are starving and wondering where their next meal is coming from would react to this?

Not to bust your chops, Tom. But sometimes we forget just how good we here in the US have it compared to millions of people across the globe.

Harry- This wasn't a post about world hunger. Just my personal rant about how poorly a business was being run. We do go to this restaurant for the half price Happy Hour occasionally during the week. We've noticed how empty this place usually is, and though it was just because we went on weekdays. Now I see how bad it's run on weekends, and fear that the good people who work there will be out of work when the chain shuts it down as an underperforming store.

[High octane]

Guess you and the wife will have to find another restaurant Tom. No matter how much you complain, that restaurant is going to go on, "business as usual," it's that simple.

[Tom Geiger]

Guess you and the wife will have to find another restaurant Tom. No matter how much you complain, that restaurant is going to go on, "business as usual," it's that simple.

True, a Fridays runs on the cheapest labor they can find, and that goes for the managers as well. The guy I spoke to had no idea what he was doing, and no doubt earning a minimal salary. We got lured in with their coupon. The company deserves to fail.

There is a local restaurant we prefer, that is run by an owner and we see the same staff for the four years we've been here, so they must be treating them right. The bartenders remember your name and what you order. The food is reasonably priced and we've never had a bad meal there. The other side of it is that they are wildly popular and no doubt profitable, so it's sometimes tough to get into! But we'll continue to go there because they treat us right.

[crazyjim]

We had a bad experience at Chili's last month - slow service and cold food. We complained to the manager. Chili's receipts provide a code and their web site address, so we went there and complained too. Chili's apologized and sent 2 $20 gift cards and then the manager of the local store emailed and said come on in for a free meal. We went last week and it was a completely different experience - for the good. If I wasn't so full, I would have ordered dessert, too.

[High octane]

Tom, you ought to know by now that Friday's won't fail, they've been in business for years now and the one by me seems to do real well. I've never had a problem there in all the years I've been going there. Having them "fail" is just wishful thinking on your part. If you don't care for Fridays, there are MANY other's to choose from.

[Ace-Garageguy]

My own occasional stupidity...that's what irks me the most often.

[Tom Geiger]

Tom, you ought to know by now that Friday's won't fail, they've been in business for years now and the one by me seems to do real well. I've never had a problem there in all the years I've been going there. Having them "fail" is just wishful thinking on your part. If you don't care for Fridays, there are MANY other's to choose from.

Don't be so sure Nick!

In my post I was referring to the one location in my town failing. Recently my wife went to the Acme Supermarket and found it had closed. So with the performance of this store, I wouldn't be surprised to drive by and see it boarded up. A lot of the Fridays locations are franchises. This past year an operator with 8 stores in New Jersey was fined for swapping cheap liquor into name brand bottles. So stuff happens and the store owners can cause their own holdings to fail.

And a quick web search shows that the parent company of Fridays is trying to sell the chain since November. Theme casual restaurants have a life expectancy, they don't go on forever. Chains that were very popular like Ground Round, Howard Johnsons and others are all but gone. Ruby Tuesdays is circling the bowl right now, bankrupt and trying for a come back. New chains appear like Buffalo Wild Wings that take customers away from the old names. And the same franchise owners who have those older stale chain stores, will buy the new and happening franchises to replace the older ones.

In my area (PA to NJ) the Jimmy Buffet, Cheeseburger in Paradise shut down. It had a nice atmosphere and seemed to do a good business. Some of the locations got replaced with Tilted Kilt restaurants (think Hooters with Kilts) and others became a new chain called "The Pour House". Out with the old stale concepts people have tired of, bring in fresh concepts that again will go through a life cycle.

I do like business and try to follow trends and read a lot on the inside of different types of businesses. Just like I try to know the insides of the model companies.

Here's an interesting one. When I first saw Buffalo Wild Wings, they had one in the Nanuet, NY mall and one in Brooklyn. I worked near Nanuet and went there for lunch. I thought it was a cool concept so I went to their website to look at their franchise deal. They had less than 25 stores open at that point, but the entire USA, except for Alaska and Wyoming, was sold out! So you know the franchises were instantly bought by large companies that owned a bunch of restaurants of different chains. And as they popped in, they were being put freestanding on the same lot as a competing brand. The one they built in West Chester, PA shares a lot with an Olive Garden owned by the same parent company. On Route 202 right over the Delaware boarder, there is a lot with four different chain restaurants on the same lot. No doubt common ownership again.

[crazyjim]

We used to hit the Friday's in downtown Washington, DC until we got sick of their attitudes and service. Never been back. I plan to try that Tilted Kilt place sometime. As long as Taco Bell stays open, I'll be OK.

[jrherald420]

Tilted Kilt looks nice on the inside (really nice) but the food at the Louisville KY location was garbage.

[Greg Myers]

Tom, you ought to know by now that Friday's won't fail, they've been in business for years now and the one by me seems to do real well. I've never had a problem there in all the years I've been going there. Having them "fail" is just wishful thinking on your part. If you don't care for Fridays, there are MANY other's to choose from.

They closed one down here last year. There's a bank there now. Tore down the building and put up a bank.

[High octane]

Greg, the cities & towns don't like banks because they don't generate any tax revenues. Jim, The Tilted Kilt is another sports bar chain, and the ones in my area have good food. If the TGI Friday's chain ever closes down, I'll just go somewhere else to eat as there is PLENTY to choose from around her. No sweat.

[Danno]

TGIFriday's has a restaurant just 2 miles from here.

Went there when it first opened (about 9 years ago). Lousy food and lousier service. Tried it again about 6 months later, thinking they may have had newby-blues. Second time was even worse than the first. Haven't been back since, and do not miss it at all. Who needs to waste good money on a loser?

There are tons of other restaurants around here ~ TGIFUBAR is only one ~ and all of the rest consistently crank out excellent customer service and good to great food.

[Rob Hall]

With the vast number of good local restaurants in the Phoenix metro I usually avoid the national chains...

[Agent G]

When you run a restaurant in a city known for it's entertainment and fine dining, you better get off your rear end and produce.

What irked me?

Personnel transfers came out. All three of my squad mates were moved. I alone stayed on the day shift. I've been with these guys for a few years now, and learned their behavior patterns inside and out. When you work the streets that means a lot. I inherited a good bunch, but man I really hate starting completely over.

G

[Austin T]

In Murfreesboro every subway is owned by the same man. He has been known to randomly fire people because of their race and then cover it up with a silly excuse. Also is you pay attention the guy has upped the preset register tax to around 13-15% instead of our normal tax of around 9-ish. You never see anyone work there a solid year and hours are cut constantly. I like subway but I refuse to visit a Murfreesboro store because of the owners lack of ethics and morals.

[Danno]

In Murfreesboro every subway is owned by the same man. He has been known to randomly fire people because of their race and then cover it up with a silly excuse. Also is you pay attention the guy has upped the preset register tax to around 13-15% instead of our normal tax of around 9-ish. You never see anyone work there a solid year and hours are cut constantly. I like subway but I refuse to visit a Murfreesboro store because of the owners lack of ethics and morals.

IF that's true about overcharging sales tax, notify the state or city revenue department. It's illegal.

If it's not true, one ought not publish the accusation on the internet.

[Ace-Garageguy]

Listen to Danno. Fiddling the sales tax is a SURE FIRE way to get shut down. My state misplaced a decimal point on one of my sales-tax returns during data entry many years ago. My business was padlocked by the sheriff, and ALL my bank-accounts locked until I could prove it was THEIR mistake.

Edited March 30, 2014 by Ace-Garageguy

[Scott Colmer]

Bad, Bad neighbor. Been going on for almost a year.

We will call him Mick. He was a good neighbor. So much that I would actually tell him how lucky we felt that he lived next door to us. The was always pleasant and helpful. Loaned me anything I needed, which I returned in the same condition. He even gave my wife a part time job while she looked for a teaching position. (He was fine when she got the position and left, so we are sure that is not the reason.) If I saw him working on something I would go over and help. We even raked our leaves that fell in his yard.

Then he started playing his music really, really loud. We have acre lots and he filled ours with his rock radio station. We let it go because we thought it was a passing thing. Then one Sunday morning at 7am he woke us up with the blaring music.

(The teaching job my wife got was far away. She would get up at 5am and return home at 6:30pm and grade papers until she went to bed. Sleeping in on weekends was precious to her.)

My wife went first, and met the neighbor from the other side of us walking over as well. (Remember - 1 acre lots!) They could not find Mick so she returned to our house. The noise continued, so I went over. I found Mick in the side yard adjacent ours with the other neighbor - music still blaring. My assumption was that this neighbor had already said something to Mick. I asked Mick if he was going to turn the music down. He said "No" and he "resented me telling him to turn it down." I said I am asking him to turn it down. Mick said "Request denied! I asked what had happened. He was the best neighbor. He said the music is not too loud and that we are just light sleepers and that he was not breaking any laws. I told him he was. Mick said call the cops. When I told my wife what happened she got upset and went into his front yard and turned the music down. I was pretty upset about that because she should not be touching his property.

We let it go for the rest of the weekend figuring he would calm down and go back to they way he was. The next weekend Mick started again so early that we were woken up by the radio church services before the music. I called the cops. They did talk to him. So he started at 7am with a leaf blower in the spot closest to our bedroom window (maybe 15 leaves there.) followed by a chain saw to trim a 3ft bush. I went over to talk to Mick. He was irritated that I called the cops (??!!) and that my wife had gone into his yard and turned down the music. I apologized for my wife and OFFERED TO BUY HIM AN IPOD for his music. He said no thanks . We shook hands and he said he really did not feel like cutting that bush anyway.

I was very proud of myself for diffusing the situation before it go worse.

The next weekend Mick put the speakers in his back yard at 7:30 am and started the music. My wife went over to see what it was this time. He just shook his head and drove away.

We no longer talk to Mick and have endured lawnmowers, chainsaws, wood chippers, etc at 7am. We even let the music go.

Two Saturdays ago, it was blasting louder then usual. My wife went over to get the address so we could call the police and found that he had pointed the speakers towards our house and LEFT! I was so mad that I hung up while I was on hold to the police. I did not want to go on a rant and seem like part of the problem.

Last Saturday I called the police when the music was so loud we had to turn the TV up to hear it. I told my wife, we better sleep downstairs on the couch because he's going to run some power tool at 7am. Sure enough Sunday 7am Mick had his riding mower going back and forth along the DIRT area next to the chain link fence near our bedroom window. He let it sit idling while he raked a small pile of leaves.

This Saturday, he ran his diesel bus RV from 7am to 8am. He was sure to load it up so It shakes our house. He ran the lawn tractor at the same time. Then the music started at 9am. It was in the house and every part of the yard. We called the Sheriff to ask for direction dealing with Mick. They said the the power tools are enforced by the county code, but they can start giving him fines for the music. We explained why we feel he is harassing us. But it looks like at this point, we have to find another means of getting help for the use of the power tools. The county code says you can use leaf blowers, etc starting at 7am. But harassment laws are left vague enough to allow for activities such as his.

This morning at 7am was some banging on something, then more banging at 7:30 followed by 15 minutes of chainsaw.

This was supposed to be our last house, our dream house and we really do not want to move. But the sanctity of our home is being driven away. Every Friday when I drive down to our house, I pray that the Mick's RV is gone and we will not have to deal with him for the weekend.I have some video recordings of his blaring music and morning power tool usage. Street justice is a bad idea. I think he wants a confrontation so he can use it later to defend his actions. It will be a bummer if we have to hire a lawyer to get this guy to leave us alone.

Scott

Edited March 30, 2014 by Scott Colmer