I’ve taken a couple days off of work to make the long Labor Day weekend even longer. Today, we headed off to visit the North Carolina Museum of Life and Science in Durham, NC. It was a great time. The museum has both inside and outside exhibits, and nearly all of the exhibits are very interactive and kid friendly. The boys had a blast. Jonah made sure that we knew that riding the train was his favorite part of the day. Photos from our visit can be found here.
I was (and still am) a huge Calvin and Hobbes fan growing up. I have many of the books, but even if you don’t you’re in luck. There is an online archive of all 10 years and two months worth of the cartoon strips here. Happy reading!
How do you typically look over a menu? Do you first glance at the top of the right side of the menu (as you open it) and then let your eyes wander to the center of the page? The proprietor of your favorite restaurant thinks so, and uses it to his advantage.
The restaurant business is tough, with lots of competition and thin margins. So naturally, restaurateurs are looking for ways to get you to dole out the cash. Hence, the menu you peruse has some science behind its development.
This site has a post about a recent Forbes Traveler article that talks about the psychology of menu development.
Studies have shown that the first place you look is the top right, so the most profitable dish is typically placed there. The most expensive item is then placed in the center of the page (your second spot to check). You probably won’t buy the most expensive entree, but may certainly end up ordering the one immediately above and below it — again, often some of the more profitable dishes are placed here.
Check it out the next time you are glancing through a menu. I also bet that the nicer the restaurant, the less likely there are pictures of the food in the menu, and the pricing is in whole numbers (i.e. $8 for a Caesar salad at a fine establishment, as opposed to $1.99 to add a side salad at the local sizzler).
The site I linked to also talks about how Red Lobster is becoming more fancy. Could it be that they are returning to a previous strategy? I remember as a kid, we had to get semi-dressed up to go to Red Lobster and it was a big deal… even for a family like ours that went out to eat all the time. I always wondered why they let themselves become so casual over the years, buying into the Chili’s and Applebee’s trend… they lost some differentiation by creating an atmosphere like every other quick-casual restaurant.
I came across this post during some daily reading. The writer found some old Weight Watchers recipe cards from what must have been a crazy time for the WW chefs. Perhaps they were enjoying too many ’shrooms in their food. Check them out. Does any one remember actually making something like these dishes?
So we had a fairly big weekend. First, we took the boys to get their haircut. At the same time. Fortunately, both Anne and I were there, so we played man-to-man and there was minimal incident. Ethan gets into the chair ok, but refuses to wear the cape. Jonah had to be carried over to the chair and placed into it, but kinda enjoys the the cape. (Something about super heroes was mentioned.) It was the first time we had Jonah’s hair completely buzzed, on the top as well as the sides and back. It looks good. And as you can tell from the picture, Ethan really seems to like his haircut.
Today our church broke ground for our new building, which should be ready in about one year. It was incredibly hot (high-90’s), but it was an exciting time. The kids enjoyed hanging out in the dirt, and listening to Dad (that’s me) play the trombone. That’s right… for only the second time since high school, I played the trombone in public. Fortunately, I had three other people playing with me. Any how, the ceremony was followed by a good ‘ole southern pig pick’n. Nothing like some Carolina BBQ to bring people together.
I watched the show i-CAUGHT on ABC tonight. It highlights popular viral videos from YouTube.com and gives you the story behind them — an interesting way network television is leveraging online, consumer created content.
One of the videos shows prisoners in the Phillipines dancing to Michael Jackson’s “Thriller.” Their repertoire also includes The Village People and select songs from the movie Sister Act. The warden of the prison says he started the dancing program to provide the inmates with exercise. The governor of the province in which the jail sits (she is also the warden’s sister) described the prisoners as society’s rejects, but that “these rejects make our province and country proud.”
Here they are, proudly representing dancing inmates everywhere:
At the end of practice, Coach Weis had the freshman class sing the ND alma mater to the crowd (see video below) — it is an ND tradition after each home game to sing the alma mater, with the football team standing in front of the student section. According to Weis, the vocal performance was “marginal.” He indicated this was an improvement over the previous day, which he described as “terrible.” You be the judge.
I don’t often listen to NPR, but I happened to catch the show Marketplace on the way home from work yesterday. The segment that caught my attention was entitled “Did you use that gift card or rebate?”Ian Ayres, a professor at Yale Law School and School of Management, described the issuing of gift cards and rebates by businesses as “bordering on the immoral” because companies don’t disclose to us poor consumers that many of us don’t redeem the rebates or don’t use every last penny on the gift card. Is this really a surprise or shock to any of us?
“Firms are just taking advantage of the fact that consumers underestimate the chance that they’ll fail to use the gift card or send in the rebate.”
Companies are merely banking on humans being humans — that we can be forgetful, lazy and/or lose things. Besides, we, as consumers, know the deal going into the store. I knew I had to mail my “free delivery” rebate into Sears when we bought an appliance a few years back. But life got in the way (we had a baby) and I forgot. I wasn’t happy about missing out on the $45 rebate, but I didn’t blame Sears. I blamed myself.
Now what about the person that sends in the rebate, but it gets lost in the mail? How is that fair? It certainly stinks (I’ve had that happen) but your beef is with the US Postal Service, not the company offering the rebate.
In all, I think Mr. Ayers commentary is another example of the popular sentiment that says it is ok to shirk personal responsibility and accountability, and blame someone else.
If you get a rebate, send it in. If you get a gift card, spend it. Simple, really.
If you need a little pick me up during your potty breaks, check out the Washlet from Toto. Is it a toilet? A bidet? No! It’s an aftermarket toilet seat that rinses and dries your behind at the touch of a button on the included remote control! The website itself is interesting as well with a very engaging and interactive navigation and video tutorials (the one I watched was family friendly, thank goodness). I think the models look just a bit TOO happy, though. Perhaps because they each got a good body double for the other photos.
(In case you were wondering, I doubt if this product finds its way into our next bathroom remodel.)
WARNING: if you find bare bottoms with smiley faces drawn on them (after all, they’re happy) offensive, don’t click on the links in this post. (This public service announcement brought to you by my wife.)
The first official practice of the 2007 season was yesterday. Take a look at Charlie… he isn’t messing around. In fact, when asked if this was a rebuilding year, he said “may God strike me dead if I use that word.” Check out the presser transcripts of coaches and players. Go Irish!
I’ve taken a couple days off of work to make the long Labor Day weekend even longer. Today, we headed off to visit the North Carolina Museum of Life and Science in Durham, NC. It was a great time. The museum has both inside and outside exhibits, and nearly all of the exhibits are very interactive and kid friendly. The boys had a blast. Jonah made sure that we knew that riding the train was his favorite part of the day. Photos from our visit can be found here.
