Weekend Update

I’m hanging out being bored right now, so I decided to post an update.

Friday night Paco and I were supposed to go see a movie, Kung Fu Panda, at the Alamo Drafthouse, but it was sold out. We were going to see The Hulk instead, but we would have had to sit in the front row. Bleh.

So we went to dinner instead and just relaxed and talked. We went to the Texican Cafe at Lakeline, which was nice, but our service was SO slow. The food came out really quick, but the service WAS SLOW. I’ve waited tables enough to know when the service just sucks, and when it’s because the place is busy. I would say the service just sucked. It bothers me when you are eating somewhere and the waitstaff doesn’t help each other out.

Various members of the waitstaff walked by our table and looked at our empty glasses and never offered to fill them. In fact, they would look at the table then avert their eyes so you couldn’t even catch their attention to ask them for refills. That kind of service is an example of bad management. Everyone should be helping everyone clear tables and refill drinks. It promotes a happy working environment and better tips for everyone. DUH.

At Estancia Churrascaria so many people are waiting on you, bringing you food, filling your drinks, taking your plates, and so on that it’s hard to even know who actually is your waitperson. That is the way it should be.

Saturday I got up kind of late (9:30) and realized I had nothing to do. I did a lot of browsing at Target, HEB, and Wal-Mart. There were a few things I needed, but basically I was killing time. I normally hate the Wal-Mart, but I was bored!

Our HEB (grocery store) is getting totally remodeled into a huge store with all kinds of neat things, like a demonstration kitchen, cheese bar, organic section, and sushi bar. I’m really surprised that they built it without this stuff to begin with. There are lots of snooty rich people in the area. I’m betting they only did it because a Super Wal-Mart moved in and is probably taking away some business.

Later on I started watching a movie at home, Amar Te Duele. It was starting off kind of slow and boring, so when Robert texted me and asked me to go hang out at the pool with him at a nice big house on Mt Bonnell, I quickly agreed.

We hung out and had a few beers with his straight friends. It was a really nice house in a great location and it had a cool small pool in the back with three little waterfalls. Robert may be moving in to the guesthouse above the garage later this year… so I might be over there a little more often.

The bad part was that I got stung a million times by some bugs. I don’t think they were mosquitos because the bumps/bites are gone today, but they sure did itch and swell up yesterday. Robert got bit a few times, but I was the only one getting really eaten up. It must be because I’m super delicious.

Saturday evening Paco and I went to dinner at PF Changs. He’s been wanting to go there for a while because he’s never been. He says I never suggest anywhere new, as if he hasn’t been living in this city for 4 years and can’t think of any place new himself.

He totally fell in love with it and now it’s on his list of top 5 favorite restaurants, along with Estancia Churrascaria, La Fonda San Miguel, Manuels, and who knows what else. I used to love PF Changs, but Brenna and I ate there a ton when they first opened and it just got old. Plus my favorite dish is the Mongolian Beef and I can get that at Pei Wei for a lot less and without having to wait 45 minutes for a table. SNAPS!

There are way too many great restaurants in Austin to be waiting 45 minutes and more to eat anywhere… especially a chain restaurant.

I finished watching Amar Te Duele last night and it got a little better, but then ended super cliche. It’s a story about a boy who is poor that falls in love with a rich girl and their groups of friends are at war with each other over social prejudices. It seemed to be a little more over dramatized than could possible by reality, but then I don’t really know how it is in Mexico, so maybe it’s factual.

In the movie the main rich girl has an evil sister that HATES poor people and she refers to them as “trash.” She also calls them “aborigines,” which is pretty darn harsh. It’s interesting in the movie how it seems everyone knows the poor people are poor because of how they look. I’m not talking about the way they dress, because they dress just like the rich kids. I’d say the first clue is that their skin is darker, but I guess you could say they look a little more indigenous, but I would never say aborigine. Technically aborigine refers to an indigenous people, but the word, “aborigine”, just seems to have the connotation of trying to imply an uneducated savage. Several characters in the movie do use the word “savages” to describe the poor people… so I guess that was what they intended to imply by saying aborigines.

Of course it ends with one of the rich girl’s friends shooting her while trying to shoot the poor boyfriend. I saw that coming from the second her rich friend showed everyone that he had a gun in the early parts of the movie. This scenario has been played out MANY MANY times.

Today I woke up at 8:30 and haven’t really done much. I had breakfast, went to Starbucks, and basically that’s it. It’s nice to have quiet alone time.