Friday, August 27, 2010

Update on Wednesday's Post

I have some information about bus two of my adventure to Big Boy. On Sunday, RTA changed some times on this bus. What I thought was on time was actually three minutes late. This means that if the bus is on time, making the bus that shortens our walk home, should not be a problem.



For the record, I have all our schedules except two. I forgot to grab one, and the Tower City Rapid Station was out of the other. I thought I had a copy of the unavailable schedule on my bus to Midtown, (This bus would also take me towards home.) but it was the previous edition that came out just six weeks earlier. I think a lot of these schedule adjustments are due to the fact that they changed the name of the #20A bus to #20. The letter was not needed anymore because the seasonal #20Z bus to the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo was discontinued less than a year ago.(There are some pictures from Kendal and Hayden's visit to the zoo with Maggie and Mandy on June 8 on the Kendal-Hayden blog.) It was a nice bus that helped avoid the hill to and from the zoo if you used the Pearl Road Entrance.



For the record, Bob and I have planned a trip to the zoo on Monday. However, we plan on walking down to Fulton Parkway (The opposite end of the zoo for those not familiar with our zoo) because we plan on going to Parmatown Mall. (For further reference, go to the RTA web site that will be in the Links section of this blog.) I will let you know if these plans succeed.



Until next time, enjoy the research tips that I give you.

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Back in a Flash

Bob, Maggie, and I made it to Microcenter at Eastgate Shopping Center in Mayfield Heights to pick up our free flash drives or SDHC cards. We had trouble finding the flash drives, but we were told that they were at the registers. There were no problems in attaining our items.

We then went to the nearby Marc's. Bob and I picked up four 12 packs of Coke and two packages of Chips Deluxe cookies. After Marc's, we went to the nearby Wal-Mart to attain our free refill of lens cleaner fluid. Otherwise, we window shopped.

Our final stop was lunch at Roly Poly Sandwiches at nearby Golden Gate Shopping Center. Bob and Maggie had small chicken fajita sandwiches. I had a chicken Cordon Bleu sandwich. Bob also had a cup of potato salad. I had a cup of pasta salad. Maggie did not have a side. We had sides because they were less than half price with a soda (Both of us drank Coke.) purchase. We all had a spoonful of tart yogurt. The food was interesting.

Since we were done shopping, we went home and relaxed. At 3:30, Bob and I went to Big Boy on Brookpark Road in Cleveland. It was a three bus trip. We made all of our connections. I even had time to buy lottery tickets and redeem a small ($3) Mega Millions winner before our second bus. At Big boy, Bob had smothered chicken, a baked potato, green beans, and Pepsi. I had the burger bar (Hamburgers, French Fries (which I skipped), hot dogs, soup, and salad) and Pepsi. The food was quite tasty.

It was a lot better than my last experience at Big Boy in Worcester, MA in 1991. I took Patty and Bob there before we caught our train back home to Cleveland. My fish had bones all over it. I remember nothing else about the food. I do remember that the nearby shopping center looked "old". There was also a nice article about Cleveland on the previous Sunday in the Worcester Telegram & Gazette newspaper. I do remember mentioning this article to the female cashier. She appeared to be indifferent about it. Thankfully, Big Boy left Massachusetts. Bickford's Grille is there now. Ruby Tuesday is also nearby now. The shopping center was rebuilt. The area appears to be classier. It can all be seen on Google Earth (490 Lincoln St. Worcester or Bickford's Worcester should do the trick.).

Fast forward to 2010. After dinner, we crossed the road to catch our first bus. The crosswalk is a little tricky. (Big Boy Cleveland should work on Google Earth.) The bus stop was in a "mandatory" right turn lane. Thankfully, the bus was an unwritten exception to the rule. This bus was also late, but we made our second bus easily. The second bus was surprisingly running a few minutes ahead of schedule, so we made our third bus towards home instead of just missing it. We then relaxed after I put our trash on our tree lawn for tomorrow's collection.

The day was quite interesting. Maggie's driving us to Mayfield Heights saved Bob and me from any "funny" misadventures on a two bus-one train (Rapid) trip. Our evening bus trips were a lot better than expected. The exercise would have been nice, but we appear to be a little more relaxed as a result.

Until next time, enjoy Google Earth for future research.

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Our Plans Evaporated in a "Flash".

Bob and I were planning to go to Microcenter in Mayfield Heights on Wednesday to pick up a free flash drive for myself. As it turns out, two other people will be receiving flash drives as well. Unfortunately, we don't have them yet.

We were running late this morning. The #35 bus was running a little bit early. We missed it by about a minute. We walked down to Broadview and Pearl Roads to catch the #20A (soon to be #20) bus. Our bus was on time, but we wouldn't have made our train to University Circle from Tower City. After we visited the ATM for Bob, (I visited the ATM on Tuesday.) we headed for the Rapid station. I looked for schedules that will go into effect on Sunday. I struck out on that goal. Since we would have missed our bus to Mayfield Heights by about a minute if we took the next train eastbound. We changed our plans by going to Great Northern Mall and Plaza. The westbound train showed up at a reasonable time, so we made our bus to the mall.

After departing the bus on Great Northern Boulevard, we went to Penn Station East Coast Subs for lunch. They were offering a small order of French Fries for free. Since the promotion wasn't heavily advertised, the lines were not ridiculously long. In addition to the fries, I had a Chicken Cordon Bleu Sub, Pepsi, and Mug Root Beer, and Bob had a Cheesesteak Sub and Pepsi. We enjoyed our food immensely.

After lunch, we walked to the mall. Our only purchases at the Mall and Plaza were lottery tickets for Wednesday's and Friday's drawings. We still had fun, though.

After the mall, we headed for Steelyard Commons. Before eating, we did some more window shopping at the plaza. We then went to IHOP. I had grilled tilapia Hollandaise, mashed potatoes, (With butter that is not normally provided, but without the expected gravy) broccoli, garlic toast, and Mountain Dew. Bob had balsamic-glazed chicken with red skin potatoes, (I should have had them, but I made a substitution.) broccoli, garlic toast, and Lipton Raspberry Iced Tea. Once again, we enjoyed our food.

After IHOP, we went home. I put our trash on the lawn. Bob mopped the kitchen floor. We then relaxed for the rest of the night.

Our day did not go according to plan, but we can try again next week. Roly Poly at nearby Golden Gate Shopping Center is the planned destination for lunch, but plans do change. Tune in to find out for full details.

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Famous Gyro George

I finally made it to Famous Gyro George today. I took the #35 bus up to Famous Gyro George on Broadview Road. I ordered our gyros to go. Since the next bus would be coming from Snow/Rockside Road, which means the bus wouldn't be going past Famous Gyro George, I walked down to Snow Road (It becomes Rockside a little later on eastbound.) to catch the bus home. I only made the bus with a few minutes to spare. This would not have been a problem if the bus to Famous Gyro George wouldn't have been six minutes late. Thankfully, I didn't have the misadventures that I mentioned two weeks ago.

I came home. Bob and I ate our gyros. It was o.k. It was worth it at BOGO pricing. There is a place on Ridge Road (between Pearl and Snow Roads) in Parma named Fergie's Place that loads the meat on their gyros so much that it requires two sittings to eat it all. It would be fun to eat there for dinner one night, since my only exposure is when Bob used to bring gyros home when he and his friends went there after work. Tune in to find out if we make it there.

For dinner tonight, we ate at Steak 'N' Shake near Parmatown Mall. We had double steakburgers, baked beans, and Reese's Peanut Butter Cup shakes. In addition, Bob had vegetable beef soup, and I had cottage cheese with a pineapple ring. It was all tasty.

Before dinner, we looked at Target, Kohl's, and PetsMart. After dinner, we went to Giant Eagle. After Giant Eagle, we took the #20A bus to State and Ruby and walked home from there. We could have taken the bus to Pearl and Broadview, but we determined that walking home would get us home quicker. We then rested for the rest of the night.

Tomorrow, I am getting a free flash drive from Microcenter in Mayfield Heights, OH. Free French Fries from Penn Station will also happen. Details are to follow soon.

Sunday, August 15, 2010

It Wasn't Very Smooth.

This afternoon, I picked up lunch at McDonald's at Pearl and Denison in Cleveland. There was a coupon for a free smoothie or frappe in Parade Magazine that was expiring today. I also had a coupon for a BOGO Angus that had appeared in either The Plain Dealer or in the ads that usually come on Tuesdays. In addition to the burgers and a smoothie, I bought a small bag of French fries for Bob and a side salad with Lite Italian dressing and garlic and butter croutons for myself. I thought the only problem that I would have was that I had originally neglected to buy Bob's fries, but I caught that error when the bill was $5.00 instead of $6.00. When the order came, there were two bags of food and the smoothie. To make my life easier, I put the smoothie in with the salad. I should have asked for a bag for the smoothie. I learned this lesson the hard way.

I caught the #20A bus because the #35 bus was not due until about twenty-five minutes after the #20A. After the short bus ride, I got off at State and Germaine (one street from Honey Hut) . As I was crossing the street, my smoothie and salad bag collapsed. The cover came off the smoothie. About half, if not more, of the smoothie ended up in the street. Since the cover was "damaged", I had to be extra careful for the fifteen minute walk home. Fortunately, the rest of my food survived the trip. (I tripped on an "uneven" sidewalk on Portman Avenue. I also dropped my silverware as I was either crossing Schaaf Road, or walking through the Brooklyn Heights United Church of Christ parking lot (Bob and I vote at this church. My Census training was also located here.). Bob and I enjoyed our food (I heated his. I didn't heat mine because I thought that it was warm enough.). We then divided the Wild Berry smoothie. (Bob put his share in a small juice glass. I enjoyed my allotment in the original cup.) Since I screwed up, I promised a smoothie for Bob (I might even enjoy one, if it's BOGO.). I think I have learned that an extra bag would be a good idea.

This wasn't my last spill of the day. I later spilled Stars and Stripes Cola (Deals, Dollar Tree) while I was pouring it for Bob (in a glass) on the coffee table in our living room. It bubbled over. Unfortunately, I do this all the time. I'll try to restrict my pouring to the kitchen, in addition to being more careful.

Before I spill the beans, I will sign out for the night.

Friday, August 13, 2010

For the Record

Yesterday's post was really posted just before my computer's clock changed to 12:00 AM. Blogger's clock is ten minutes slow. I investigated trying to fix it, but I haven't found a way to fix it yet. Tune in to find out if I can fix the blog's clock. I doubt it, but you never know.

Thursday, August 12, 2010

Happy Birthday, Amy

I would like to wish my niece Amy a happy birthday. I hope that she and her husband Dave celebrate her birthday in a fun way. I know that our present will be appreciated.

She'll be seeing her brother Patrick this weekend because he is doing some work as a DJ (I assume!) at an event in Hartford being broadcast on NBC. I hope that Patty and Dan Sr. will see him, too. When I check Patrick and Amy's Facebook Pages, I will mention any commentary.

Until next time, have fun.

Happy Birthday, Joe

I would like to wish a belated Happy birthday to my brother Joe. His birthday was yesterday. I hope that he had a nice birthday. Our sister Maggie wishes him a happy birthday, too. (She was present while I was writing this.)

I will be posting another message later today.

Monday, August 9, 2010

Multiply

Last year, I had moved this blog to Multiply. Fortunately, the old site did not go away. As an experiment, I attempted a post to this blog via Multiply. A simple link to my Blogger page was promised, but it failed. I then "cut and pasted" what I wrote, so I could share the post about Kathleen's 2009 birthday party with my readers here at Blogger (Blogspot).

On a lark, I decided to revisit Multiply today. All my recent posts are still going there. If you want a "less cluttered" experience, you can visit my Multiply page at http://billmcdonnell.multiply.com. The widgets did not make the trip, but you can still see them on the old page.

For the record, I also have a Facebook page, My Space page, and a Twitter page. Facebook was for research on Kelley Tuthill, a cancer survivor who works at WCVB Television in Boston. Her former co-worker, Gail Huff, is married to U.S. Senator Scott Brown of Massachusetts. (By the way, U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (No relation, I assume.) of Ohio is married to Plain Dealer\syndicated columnist\Pulitzer Prize Winner Connie Schultz.) My My Space and Twitter accounts are mostly for "research" purposes. Facebook is also used for "research" purposes, but I also learn family insights as well.

Most of my insights will stay here (Blogspot & Multiply). I hope that you continue to enjoy this blog (Widgets or No Widgets). Right now, I am going to "tweet".

Saturday, August 7, 2010

My "Real" Playlist

billmcdonnell

The above link will get into the promised playlist. I hope that you enjoy this playlist more than you "enjoyed'"yesterday's playlist. I am sorry for the error.

The next post will be more family related.

My Real MySpace Playlist

Yesterday, I sent you to an empty playlist. So I don't have to eliminate the link, I will eventually add some material to yesterday's link. Until then, enjoy the forthcoming playlist.

My Other Playlist

billmcdonnell playlist by William Frederick

This is my playlist from my MySpace account. Most of the material was either not available at Playlist, or it was found while I was enjoying MySpace. It's a shorter list, but I haven't had it as long as I have had my Playlist. I hope that you enjoy this playlist as much as you enjoy the previous one.

For the record, my readers now know my middle name since it's in the link to the new playlist.

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

My Day

Today is a day that will be hard to forget. It started with a trip to Acme Supermarket at Pleasant Valley and Broadview Roads in Parma. I bought some hot dogs and cereal (Honey Nut Cheerios and Golden Grahams (Unlike my birthday, Golden Grahams (in the on sale size) were in stock on the last day of a sale.). The hot dogs were supposedly three for the price of one. The ad said meat franks. The label did not use that title, but the ad showed what was on sale. The display area did not have the sale sign in question. After a couple of looks at the ad, I had selected All Beef Franks since the specific item was not clear. Once I had reached the cashier (No self-check!), I interrogated the cashier about the hot dogs. She scanned the item and quoted the "on sale price" of $3.00. It was only the pictured item that was three for the price of one. Since Bob likes All Beef hot dogs, I bought them anyways. Fortunately, I had a coupon for $.75 off of any two Ball Park Franks. I bought all three packs instead of the two packs that I would have bought in a normal sale. The cereals' dollar off of two coupons were no problem. I then headed for home. The bus was eight minutes late coming and going. Late buses would become a theme later in the day.

Ninety minutes later, Bob and I headed for Parmatown. Unfortunately, the bus was so late that Bob went home because we wouldn't have made our second bus. Bob sent me to go get gyros at Famous Gyro George's on Broadview Road in Parma. I expected to catch the bus and get off at Broadview and Snow Roads because the route splits at this point. Once again the bus was late. After calling Bob with a change of plans, the bus arrived. The bus ride was uneventful until the bus stopped at the corner of Broadview and Snow instead of turning on Snow/Rockside Road. I thought that the driver was offering a courtesy stop to a wheelchair bound passenger. It wasn't until I saw my expected bus turning on to Snow/Rockside Road that I realized both buses were very late. If I had stayed on the bus, I would have avoided a short walk to the restaurant.

When the bus was late, I had decided on a nearby Arby's after calling Bob. Unfortunately, it was closed for a few days for construction. (The Walgreen's next door is close to completion. More details will follow in a future post.) I called Bob again to tell him that I was coming home as the Northbound bus was coming soon. I then realized that I was just on that bus, so I called Bob again to tell him that I was going to Taco Bell (co-branded with Long John Silvers).

I ordered my food first because I was shooting for a sure thing, as far as buses go. I ordered two Cantina Tacos that were supposed to be discounted for buying two instead of one. I was not charged the discount rate. The problem was fixed so well that the soda that I ordered was not charged. My guilty conscience wouldn't allow the free soda, but the clerk wouldn't take the money. I ate my tacos, which were very tiny. In addition, the shell's taste was unappealing, even for a soft shell. They had skipped the lime, but I didn't miss it. There was no lettuce or tomato included (I withheld the onions.). I'll stick with the crispy or the regular soft taco in the future.

I went to get a soda refill. Unfortunately, the soda wouldn't stop flowing. I was going to alert an employee, but another customer beat me to it. I then ordered a Chalupa for Bob. I then headed to the bus stop to go home. Since I had time, I mailed some bills that Bob wanted to be mailed. The bus was late, but not too late. I came home and told my story to Bob. He told me that a water main break in Broadview Heights was the cause for the lateness for that branch of the route. (The other branch's lateness was just the routine lateness.) This day cannot get any more interesting.

Bob and I went to Friendly's in Parma Heights for dinner. We had BOGO burgers (Mine was Boca.) After we were finished, we sprinted to make a bus. If the bus is on time, we make our bus towards home. Even with the fun of the day's buses, the bus was late enough to make coordination risky. Bob had already decided to go to Honey Hut, so we did. We got off the bus at Pearl and Oak Park and walked to Honey Hut. I had two scoops of Honey Graham Ice Cream in a cup. Bob had a scoop each of Coconut and Chocolate Peanut Butter Ice Creams in one cup. The ice cream was quite tasty. We then walked home as we usually do after Honey Hut. We then relaxed the rest of the night.

Thankfully the end of the day worked better than the start of the day. I know it's hard to believe, but you can't make all this stuff up. It would need a genius to perform the miracle.

Until next time, be creative.

Monday, August 2, 2010

Happy Birthday, Laura

Today is my niece-in-law Laura's birthday. I hope that she has a nice birthday. I am sure that Dan JR., Amy Marie, and Emily will do their best to insure that it happens.

Bob and I gave her a gift card for Best Buy. I was considering O'Charley's in Niles, OH (The Gift Cards are sold at our local Wal-Mart Supercenter at Steelyard Commons.), but a babysitter (for the girls!) may be a problem. It may not be a "family" restaurant, but the other patrons probably need some "entertainment''. Perhaps, we will keep this in mind for next year.

Until my next post, enjoy life.