On Friday night, Kate wanted to take me out to dinner for my birthday. We had both heard and seen a new Cameron Mitchell restaurant up at Polaris called Marcella’s and decided that would be a fine choice to try out. Reading briefly what type of place this was online, I had the idea it would be your typical Italian pizza and wine restaurant, but it is quite a bit more than typical.
The idea of Marcella’s, is somewhat similar to Bucca di Beppo’s. At Bucca’s if you have a large group, you order a couple of large “family style” dishes that you all share. At Marcella’s, your typical dish is not nearly as large as a “family style” portion, but the idea of sharing is the same. Your table is provided with a plate stacker, where multiple entries can be placed, and you are constantly provided with stacks of small appetizer plates. Since this was our first time with this new experience, we ordered in typical fashion. An appetizer of calamari and then two entries of rizzuto and a margherita pizza which we both shared. During the meal we picked up on how the actual meal experience was to take place.
The idea is that you keep ordering small dishes that are constantly brought out to you. The typical time from request to on the table is about 10 minutes. The ideal setup would to be to go with a party of 4-6 and everyone kinda orders something to share one after the other or two at a time. Similar to how a Chinese family style restaurant is. Another original aspect Marcella’s has is serving Italian meats and cheeses. We didn’t try any this visit, but the couple next to us did, and I would be up for some testing some with a bigger group. Finally, pricing is very conducive to the type of ordering system just described. Your typical plate costs about $8-12, which would probably cost about $5 more at your normal fancy Italian restaurant.
A couple other notes. We were surprised by the attire of the wait staff. Jeans and t-shirts were the norm. The environment was very noisy and and somewhat cramped, but it didn’t bother us too much. It kinda gave you the feeling of “eating in Grandma’s kitchen” - to quote Kate. Overall, Marcella’s grew on us over the course of the meal, and walking out we both agreed we very much enjoyed it and would love to come back with some more friends.
Last weekend my fair city of Columbus, OH received a record setting snow storm. Kate was up for the week, and was planning to head back to Nashville on Saturday, but ended up staying through Sunday because of how much snow we got. It was kinda fun to feel “trapped” in our house, living in the middle of a metropolis. Here we are almost a week later, and consistent sunny days of 40 degree weather has our nearly 2 feet of frozen fun melted away. But here are some pictures of our fun for those of you out of the area.
I just realized that my site has been running a fairly default layout and theme for almost 6 months now. I really should get on the ball and produce a more customized and visually pleasing timjanderson dot com.
For maybe 2 years now, I use credit to pay for stuff 95% of the time. It’s convenient, it doesn’t take up space, I can easily track my spending, I earn rewards, and since I pay off my balance each month, it doesn’t cost me anything. I usually carry around a little bit of cash, just in case, but I absolutely hate carrying change. It’s annoying, it’s dirty, it makes noise, it’s hard to keep track of, and it serves very little purpose. The worst change of all are Pennies. 1/100th of a dollar. I’ve read a few proposals to get rid of the penny and I often agree with their arguments. But this is one I haven’t seen that makes me hate the penny even more.
Read
Of all things technology related that I enjoy researching, reading and just in general getting excited for, this is one I am very pumped about. Huge strides in bandwidth, internet cost structures, and mobile computing will take place due to this singular event.
Read up.
So there is a new radio station in town (Columbus) that many Columbus area TV viewers or drivers may have seen advertisements for. Its located at 106.7 and is also on the web. It is my new favorite FM station. One of the reasons it is so great is because of its music selection. The station provides a great mix of good established alternative rock from the 90s (Third Eye Blind, Dave Matthews Band, Pearl Jam, Blink 182, Counting Crows, Beastie Boys) combined with current new rock. I grew up listening to KROQ in LA, which is one of the most well known FM stations. They had this same type of mix and I was never able to find it again after moving to Ohio. Until now. And that could very much be because Clear Channel owns KROQ as well as this new station 106.7 and KROQ are both owned by evil overlording companies (thanks commenter).
A second reason 106.7 is great, is because they mix up the commercial layout. Instead of getting 45-50 minutes of “non stop hits” followed by an extended commercial break, they’ll play about 3-5 songs, followed by 1-3 30 second commercials. So far, I totally love this new method. To go along with that, they have very few DJ interruptions except for maybe a traffic or weather update, or a quick “This is 106.7″. So you’ll never go more than 2 minutes without hearing a song, which is awesome. I’m somewhat curious if over the course of an hour I’ll hear the same amount of commercials, just spread out differently, or if they can charge a higher premium to their advertisers, since the listener is a lot more likely to stick around to a radio station that only has a 30 to 90 second interruption, instead of a 10 minute break. It’d be a very interesting marketing study to read.
Usually when I’m in the car I’m listening to 1 of 3 things. My ipod/Cd player, 1460 or other talk radio, or music on some FM station. Over the past week or so, 106.7 has dominated that third option, and I don’t see it changing very soon.
I’m a huge fan of movie posters. There are some that are great pieces of art, and some that are just plain sweet. One film I’m really looking forward to (as well as a lot of other people) is The Dark Knight. Two new international posters were released and both are utterly badass! I’ll be sure to be picking both of these up when I can find them
Tonight we’re going to see the Imax version of I Am Legend. Why the Imax version you ask? Because it will have a 5 minute preview of The Dark Knight, which introduces the Joker. I think I’m more excited about the preview than I am the movie, although I Am Legend should be pretty good.
“I love Will Smith” - Newbs
So I’ve been curious in finding ways to have some “extra” income outside of my job’s normal pay. I’ve been selling off some stuff that I don’t use anymore on craigslist and eBay, but that can only last as long as I have stuff to sell. A popular option for some passive income is usually to have a blog and sell advertisement. But we all know based on the fact that I can’t seem to keep any sort of normal schedule for a personal blog, there is no way I’d be able to produce good content on a blog that would generate advertisement revenue. So I’ve been search for other alternatives.
One that has come up recently and somewhat paid off already is participating in surveying. A few months back I signed up for a a few survey websites that send you various surveys based on your demographic to have you fill out, and for your time you are compensated. The best ones send you cash to a PayPal account, but there are some that run off a point system that is then translated into gift certificates or mileage credit. So far, over the past…. 2 months I’d say I’ve taken maybe 2 hours worth of surveys, probably less. Most are less than 5 minutes and even if you don’t qualify, will get partial credit just for filling out your age, job function and income level. For those two hours of work I’ve received $30 worth of PayPal funds and a bunch of points that I can cash out at anytime for quite a few miles on an airline of my choosing. Not bad!
More recently, I was talking to a friend at work who participated in a little more advanced surveying that paid much better. She sent me the email address of a woman that contracts the taste testing for Wendy’s International. Since Wendy’s is based in Columbus, when they are getting ready to release a new product, they need to test it against the market to see what kind of response they can expect and to see if the product needs any adjustment based on consumer feedback. I sent my information to the testing contractor, and this past Wednesday did my first taste testing. It was the easiest money I’ve ever made. I drove a couple minutes away from where I live to Wendy’s headquarters, walked and signed in. A few minutes after I arrived (along with 20 or so other people), we were led back to a lab type area where we were seated in front of a computer screen and desk. A food item (I signed an agreement not to disclose what it was exactly) was distributed and as we ate it, were instructed to complete a survey on the computer. It took me around 10 minutes to eat and complete the survey (the item was quite delicious) and as I walked out, was handed $25 in cold hard cash! I practically skipped to my car that was so easy.
I’m definitely going to keep my eye out for more opportunities like that. I’ve heard of things like mystery shopping and mystery dining, where your meal is paid for, for trying out a new restaurant and reporting on it. The Midwest (especially Columbus) is the middle of test market USA, and I don’t know why I haven’t discovered these opportunities until now.
Popular Mechanics released a list last month of 25 skills they believe every man should know. They are as follows (full list and article available here) :
1. Patch a radiator hose
2. Protect your computer
3. Rescue a boater who has capsized
4. Frame a wall
5. Retouch digital photos
6. Back up a trailer
7. Build a campfire
8. Fix a dead outlet
9. Navigate with a map and compass
10. Use a torque wrench
11. Sharpen a knife
12. Perform CPR
13. Fillet a fish
14. Maneuver a car out of a skid
15. Get a car unstuck
16. Back up data
17. Paint a room
18. Mix concrete
19. Clean a bolt-action rifle
20. Change oil and filter
21. Hook up an HDTV
22. Bleed brakes
23. Paddle a canoe
24. Fix a bike flat
25. Extend your wireless network
Looking through it I knew a lot of them, but not all. To spare my manliness I won’t specify each one, but I will tell you the following:
- 18 of the 25 I have performed before
- 23 of the 25 I’m pretty sure I know how to do without instruction
- 2 of the 25 I would not know how to do, but being a man would attempt without caution and probably end up either hurting myself or someone, or destroying something.
The article was later updated to describe how to carry out all of the skills listed. Some of their solutions were more quick fixes and low level skill knowledge, which I guess is all that you would need in most situations. I found it very interesting (and I guess was kind of the point of the article) that there are at least 5 items on that list that deal with technology. I guess I never realized all my computer tinkering and tech interest was increasing my manliness. Now if only blogging was on the list.
How many of these skills do you know how to do?
Full Article
I realized that the site was starting to wear down a bit in different areas, so over the next few weeks I’m going to update my theme and layout a bit. We’ll revert back to the default arrangement until then.
Buckeye football is a little over half-way completed, and Ohio State is already looking at running for another National Championship. This season has been very different for me for a few reasons. First of all, no one really expected our team to do this well, or be #1 in the rankings so soon. Secondly, I have been very aware that this is probably my last season having a ticket to all the home games, and also the last time (at least for the next few years) that I will be in Columbus for nearly every gameday.
I’ve really started to realize some of the small things that I’m sure I’ll miss about Ohio State football in Columbus. Whether it is the constant radio promos supporting the buckeyes, the AM talk stations analyzing the team non-stop, restaurant and store OSU merchandise giveaways, or just the constant Buckeye spirit throughout the city, I foresee this being one of the harder things to adjust to. I’ve been down in Nashville now for two college football Saturdays and although it’s not the same as being in Columbus, it hasn’t been too bad. Kate and I went to watch one game at the local Alumni Club viewing and that was a lot of fun. Also, you get called out and recognized at lot more by wearing your Ohio State gear around town, because not everyone around you is an Ohio State fan (especially in SEC country). It makes for a lot of random greetings and hazings by spontaneous college football fans. I like this aspect a lot.
Go Bucks!
PS - Bree & Jess have entered the blog-0-shpere. Check out their site here. Let’s hope they keep up a little better than a few others. 
