3.26.2010

This blog has moved


This blog is now located at http://argustblog.blogspot.com/.
You will be automatically redirected in 30 seconds, or you may click here.

For feed subscribers, please update your feed subscriptions to
http://argustblog.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default.

2.25.2010

Jimmy Johns supports false advertisement







For those of you in certain parts of america, there is a little sandwich shop known as Jimmy Johns.

I was first introduced to their product as a freshman in college. I lived in Eigenmann dorm, which is across the street from a Jimmy Johns that stayed open until 4 am. I bought many a sub on those late freshman nights.

My first issue with Jimmy Johns came a few years ago whenever my friend Trad and I took our guitars to play on the streets in front of their Kirkwood Avenue restaurant. I bought a drink, and we sat on the sidewalk outside their store playing guitar and singing. Soon thereafter, the manager came out and told us that he would call the cops if we didn't leave.

But for some reason, my hunger and cheapness got the best of me and I started eating there again this year. I always order a "slim" because all of their sandwiches are overpriced, and most of their extra ingredients don't appeal to me. The slim comes only with meat and cheese. They give packets of mayonnaise upon request, but nothing else.

One day, while ordering my slim, I confirmed a line on their menu with my memory. There is a line under "Side Items" that lists "Hot Peppers ..... Free". Here is an actual scan of the Bloomington Jimmy Johns menu taken from the local student newspaper. The Jimmy Johns in Bloomington list a side order of hot peppers as "Free".


Here is the full menu that this section was taken from (for all of the idiots who don't believe my story):



One would assume that this means that I can get free hot peppers on the side with my slim sandwich. So I ask for hot peppers on the side. The lady starts to argue, but then turns to the sandwich maker and tells him to give me a side order of peppers. Excellent! I can now get hot peppers with my sub! The next time I go in there, I try the same thing. This time a goofy looking and likely not too bright kid says that they can't give out hot peppers with a slim. I ask him what the line on his menu means and he ignores me, saying that the slims are meat and cheese only. I ask to speak to his manager, and he says that he is the manager. Realizing that if he is the boss than I stand no chance, I turn around and leave the store, frustrated and angry.

I immediately write to Jimmy Johns through two different contacts on their site and try to figure out why the hell I can't get free hot peppers with my slim. After a round of emails where my question was completely avoided, I finally got a real response from someone:

Andrew, you are correct. This line is a "loop hole" or idiosyncrasy in the menu. The goal of our menu and policy is not to offer any items on the side. We want to keep our concept simple and efficient and to offer the fastest and most accurate service for our customer. What you are asking adds a complexity to our operation. I will inform our corporate office of your concerns and work to correct this error.

Thank you, Sincerely,
Clay Longardner


followed by

Just to clarify one issue. Hot peppers are to be placed on the sandwich. All other side items are not put on the sandwich. Hot peppers should not be listed as a side item.
Clay


HE SAID IT! "Hot peppers should not be listed as a side item."

So wait. Not only are peppers not free, but they shouldn't be a side item all together. Even in Jimmy Johns that charge for their side order of hot peppers cannot sell the peppers on the side anymore?

What I know is this: Jimmy Johns claims to have the worlds greatest sandwich. This is in no way true. What you get from Jimmy Johns is cheap shitty food, stuck up managers, and reformed corporate businessmen that decided that giving free hot peppers isn't a good idea anymore, but are too cheap, forgetful, lazy, or oblivious to change their menus.

And so, again, I have effectively terminated eating at Jimmy Johns. Every now and again I get that craving for their cheap little carb-bombs, but I resist. And I strongly encourage you to resist as well.

To help me fight this injustice, contact your local Jimmy Johns or contact their head offices atthis page . I have received a response by filling out that form, and also by filling out the comment/suggestion form linked to on that page.

Go ahead, ask them why they advertise free peppers if they aren't allowed to give them!

Until this problem is solved by Jimmy Johns, I will continue to boycott. Please join me.

Labels:

1.01.2010

2010

Yes, another year. 2010. Another decade. This is a good turning point. Time to buckle in and write my thesis. Time to improve myself and my life. This sounds like a typical resolution but it is sincere. There is to much to do before we die and I have no time to waste. I must put the past behind me and make the most out of my world. Today marks the beginning of the rest of my life.

10.09.2009

The last hour and a half has been spent trying to use my computer. I now remember why I leave it on for weeks at a time, despite the fact that I hate wasting energy. My wireless connection had been established for 22 days before I turned my computer off this morning.

And there is no good reason for turning the thing off, it isn't like a few hours will make a difference if I leave it on for nearly a month before then. I just gave it a chance to sleep. And in this cold house (62F) the old hard drive grew chilly. The metal components cooled and the metal casing and parts contracted. This hard drive has lived through at least three power sources, three processors, and three motherboards. The DVD drive hasn't worked for over a year so I couldn't repair or reformat the operating system without a major hardware upgrade. And with a system this old, what is the point? I couldn't get an XP disk anymore, anyway.

I have already purchased a copy of Windows 7 Ultimate (well before its release date and for practically nothing) thanks to IU and my student status. I got a 64 bit version, but I am still waiting for the prices of quad-core processors to drop a little. I do have limited funds, however there is no sense in buying a lower frequency processor...I want the most out of the cores.

So how long can this last? The first several times that I tried to boot up the computer today, it started checking the hardware and then stalled. I let it still try to load, because even if the hard drive isn't booting, at least things are spinning and the metal components are heating up and expanding. It is frightening how long it takes for the hard drive to warm up before it is able to boot windows xp. NOW I REMEMBER.

This time I am not shutting down unless it freezes, and then I will be sure to restart before the hardware cools. Even when this beast is on, it takes 15 minutes to load windows and once loaded I am lucky to run more than one program at once. Google chrome usually does pretty well once it is established, but occasionally it will have a brain-fart. Any heavy image or video editing is out of the question, and even viewing videos can be troublesome at times.

I could use my laptop, but I tripped on its cord last spring and knocked it on the floor, busting one of the hinges. With continued gimpy use, the hinge eventually broke completely off, with help from gravity again. It still works, but the screen is quite annoying. I could use the laptop and plug my monitor into it, only I removed the extra gig of ram from the laptop in order to boost the performance of its twin brother, the stand-in internet "television" for a house without cable tv. So even if I did fire up my laptop, its performance would be no better than this beast I currently use. But like I said, once it is running, it keeps running...

I just hope it will hold out until I can afford a decent quad-core processor. Everything else is pretty cheap now, unless I go for a nice video card. I hope to do some video editing with my new camera if I ever get a break, but I know that won't happen for months. So whats the rush? I don't need to distract myself with the trials of building a new system right now anyway. I just hope this guy stays on for a year or so.

In other news, grad school sucks. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

9.27.2009

America the obese

So I want to be healthier. I want to resist temptations and eat the right foods and have an active lifestyle. But I am in grad school and working on my thesis and the spare time just isn't very forthcoming. To make matters worse, I have a 3 mile commute from the south side of town to the geology building, and back, every day.

So what? This is a short drive so I cannot blame that for my lack of time. However, along this 3 mile drive, there are a ridiculous number of eateries. Places that (mostly) don't care about how healthy a food is. Regardless, places that overcharge for the convenience of making food for you. And It is near impossible to resist stopping at some of these places when I am tired and hungry and depressed.

Here is a quick tally of what I drive within 500 feet of every day

2 Taco Bells
1 Dairy Queen
1 McDonalds
1 Wendys
1 Burger King
1 Arbys
1 Rallys
1 Waffle House
1 Ice cream Shoppe
2+ chinese restaurants
3+ Starbucks/coffee shops
2 Subways
2 Dominos Pizzas
2 Pizza Huts
2 Papa Johns
1 Avers Pizza
1 Pizza X
1 Rockits pizza
1 Mad Mushroom Pizza
1 Square Donuts
1 Sonic
1 King Gyros
1+ Diners
10+ Bars, most which serve food
1+ Food Courts on campus
3+ Liquor Stores!

There are probably several that I missed, especially if I include the downtown area and all of the restaurants I forgot there. I just wanted to hit the major chain places so you can see how gross my commute is. I am tempted by 30 different restaurants every day while driving six miles.

There is also a supermarket along the way...and a couple gas stations. The grad school life is pretty rough...No time to waste time, too much work to get done. Another exam in remote sensing Tuesday, and lots of grading remaining. At least I don't have to pay rent!

Labels: , , , , , ,