Original Pancake House: Smothered Chicken Sandwich

I didn't plan on going here, since I wasn't in the mood for pancakes or eggs, and hey, what else do they serve? Fortunately, they have a lunch menu with sandwiches and salads and such. I chose the Smothered Chicken Sandwich. Grilled chicken breast topped with bell pepper, sauteed onion, Bacon and Cheddar Cheese and served on a Kaiser roll. The benefit of it being a breakfast place is that I could get hash browns instead of french fries with it.

The sandwich was very good. there were three thick slices of bacon on it, hanging a little bit off the side, as well as the bell peppers and onions. The cheddar cheese was melted over the vegetables. Also a plus, the sandwich wasn't greasy. The hashbrowns were also excellent. Lots of shredded potatoes fried to a golden brown crisp on the top and bottom. They even brought me hot sauce with the catsup. As a bonus, this was one of the cheapest sandwiches on the menu.

The wrap up? I will no longer avoid this place. The do have good options if you don't want pancakes. There are many locations across the country, but only two Original pancake houses in my area, 7700 Wisconsin Avenue Bethesda, MD and 12224 Rockville Pike Rockville, MD. I went to the bethesda one which is at Bethesda Place Plaza.

The George W. Bush Sewage Plant

Those nutty folks in San Francisco are putting a measure on the ballot to change the name of the Oceanside Water Pollution Control Plant to the The George W. Bush Sewage Plant. Funny but pointless. A couple words more at CNN

Dispense As Written (DAW)

The other day I got a prescription, and on it was a note to the doctor "IF you don't want this prescription substituted with a generic, write DAW in the box below" I thought it odd, but the doctor is French, so I figured it may be a French word, even though it looks more German than French. Today I just found out that D.A.W. stands for "Dispense As Written", ie. don't substitute a generic.

Norkys Rotisserie Chicken: Norkys chicken breast sandwich

Norkey's is a new rotisserie chicken restaurant on Old Georgetown Rd in Bethesda. I had the Chicken Breast Sandwich. It is a pretty simple sandwich, chunks of rotisserie chicken on a baguette with lettuce and onions (and Mayo, but I didn't get that) My first impression was that it was larger than I expected. It was pretty tasty, chicken with a lightly charred taste that helped the flavor. The chicken chunks were a good size and moist. It was pretty reasonably priced for what you get too. The only negative was that the onions should have been separated better, I'd occassionally get a bite with too much onion in it. It also came with a small side of spicy mayonaise sauce. I tried it, but the spiciness overwhelmed the light flavor of the chicken.

This was my first trip to Norkies chicken, but probably won't be my last. The location isn't the best, and it is more geared towards carry-out than eating there, so keep that in mind. They also deliver (limited area, minimum order, blah blah). Another note, the sides you can get with the rotisserie chicken are pretty much all starches, fries, rice, and potatoes, stuff like that. It is located 7812 Old Georgetown Rd, Bethesda, MD. They also have online ordering options, but I haven't tried that.

To be a bee in Bethesda

I was walking through the plaza over Bethesda metro station and saw a nice bee swarm on one of the maple trees. It is right on the plaza and they have yellow 'No Parking' tape blocking off the area so it is easy to find. these swarms only last a few days before they move on, so this is a rare chance to see a swarm in a very convenient place. Bees aren't as aggressive as they are swarming, so you can probably get fairly close without any problems, but if you are allergic, you might want to bring your epipen.

Location: Bethesda Place Plaza, Bethesda, Maryland
What: Bees, glorious bees
Why: Because it's spring

I view perl like..

I see perl as much like a leatherman tool, except, in addition to the usual complement of screwdrivers, pliers, and knives, it also has a lockpick set and a microscope. And a chainsaw, and an arc welder. And a limitless supply of duct tape.

And just in case you don't know, perl is a programming language, though, if you don't know that, this post probably isn't relevant to you.

The War on Photography

Bruce Schneier has a good essay on the increasing restrictions on photography and how the reason given is security and preventing terrorism, but it really doesn't do either.

We've been repeatedly told to watch out for photographers, especially suspicious ones. Clearly any terrorist is going to first photograph his target, so vigilance is required.

Except that it's nonsense. The 9/11 terrorists didn't photograph anything. Nor did the London transport bombers, the Madrid subway bombers, or the liquid bombers arrested in 2006. Timothy McVeigh didn't photograph the Oklahoma City Federal Building. The Unabomber didn't photograph anything; neither did shoe-bomber Richard Reid...

You can read the full article about Photography and security on his web site.

Even if terrorists did photograph something what do you think they would use, a big obvious camera, or a cellphone camera, or maybe one hidden in their sunglasses? The people who are hassled for taking a picture aren't terrorists, you'd never notice the bad guys taking pictures.

South Beach Livng: Savory Pork

One of Kraft's South Beach living microwave meals. Chunks of pork, onions, and celery in a savory sauce with pecans. The pork was nice and firm, the chunks neither too large or too small. The pork depended on the sauce for flavor, not having much of its own. Suprisingly, the celery retained some of it's own flavor, usually you don't see that. The sauce was thin and lightly flavored, but this wasn't a bad thing, it went well with the other flavors in the dish. The pecans were more of a garnish, but added a nice bit of crunch now and then. They were a welcome addition. The Vegetables are green beans with yellow bell peppers. The green beans were decent, the yellow peppers were, as is often the case, mushy. Some of the sauce from the meat side spilled over and livened up the vegetables quite a bit.

The dish is split into two sections, the smaller one was filled to the brim with the meat, the larger one was less than half full with the vegetables. I have to wonder if this was deliberate or if the just mixed something up. I think this tv dinner ended up being ok, certainly not a standout, but not bad either. (230 calories, 9g fat; 13g carbs; 22g protein; 28% sodium)

South Beach Living: Kung Pao Chicken

One of Kraft's South Beach Living brand of microwave meals. Diced meat chicken, red peppers and peanuts in kung pao sauce with a side of broccoli, water chestnuts and Yellow peppers. The vegetable side is mostly broccoli with a a decent number of slices of water chestnuts and small squares of yellow bell pepper. The broccoli was firm, not too overcooked, but not crunchy either. For some reason, many of the flowers were removed from the stems, it didn't affect the taste, but was unexpected. The water chestnuts added some nice crunch, there was no sauce on the vegetables.

The chicken was diced, not cut in strips like the box said, but that is probably for the better, as I didn't need a knife it had a decent texture but not much flavor. Once piece of chicken I got had a piece of bone in it. The box says it is mildly spiced and they aren't kidding, there isn't a whole lot of flavor to the sauce except some bites would be a tiny bit hot. The peanuts add crunch, but again, not much to the flavor, and the red bell pepper bits add color only.

Overall, I'd say they have quality control issues (for both the broccoli and the chicken). The tv dinner was bland, certainly not the rich flavor I would expect in Kung Pao Chicken. (250 calories; 9g fat; 14g carbs; 25g protein; 26% sodium)

Thimian Thai: Chicken Pad Ka Pow

This is a pretty new Thai restaurant in downtown Bethesda. I went there for lunch and had chicken Pad Kapow, thin strips of chicken stir-fried with thin strips of red and green peppers, onions, and basil, all in a brown sauce. This dish is somewhat spicy. The peppers and onions were perfectly cooked, still with some crunch to them. The chicken was also good. The sauce was really, really, good. Just enough heat to really let you know it was there, but nowhere close to overwhelming it. It was also very flavorful and really soaked into the rice. The yellow walls of the restaurant don't add to the atmosphere, but the food was excellent and I plan on going back there.

Thimian Thai is located at 7525 Old Georgetown Road, Bethesda, MD. Directly across the street from the Clark Building. Restaurants in the location prior to this one include Gator Alley and Uncle Jed's Roadhouse.