At Last...

Small change for those who regularly read the blog...I am moving all of my future blogposts to my Tumblr account.  For those who aren't aware, I currently write five blogs, in five different voices, it seems.  I'm hoping to consolidate all to one voice, at one location.

It should probably also be noted that my online presence will start to be more streamlined, too, at least for the holiday season (and I'm hoping beyond).  At present I post all over the map, constantly trying to catch up, constantly trying to remind others that I'm still there and still listening.  My life has turned into more of what "it looks like" than "what it is."  Moving forward, most of my postings will be on Tumblr, and even those will be limited.

I'm still here, reading everyone else.  Believe it or don't.  I'm also out finding life.  The mentality that I might "miss something on the 'net if I don't tune in" has moved to "I might miss life if I don't limit my internet time."

Thanks for reading.  Onward.

Fail: Hostess Brands, Inc.

I'm snobby about my baked goods.  I like breads with lots of grains in them, have never been a fan of white bread, and if I'm having a snack, it's more than likely nuts or candy.  I've enjoyed pastries for breakfast in the past, but only if they come from a local bakery.

So when Hostess announced this past week that they were ending production of their products, I shrugged.  The last time I had a Twinkie was probably in college, either on a dare, on a munchies binge, or because the bakery I loved wasn't open and the gas station where I was refueling my car was open.

My thought of Hostess's failure over the news this past week wasn't just from accounts of mismanagement and union battles.  It was because I've never thought that a Hostess snack was worth the calories, or that a sandwich made with Wonderbread was worth giving up the texture of, say, a nine-grain or wheat or rye alternative.  It's not only that I know that Hostess products are bad for me, but that they don't even taste good enough to cheat on a diet for.

Homemade semi-sweet cookies from west coast chain Specialty's bakery?  Yep, I'd cheat on a diet for one of those.  French toast flavored bagels from Panera bread with hazelnut spread?  There's another brand I'd leave my health code for, for just a moment.

Hostess is fighting all kinds of battles: nutritional, financial, managerial.  But maybe all of that would be less of a blow if the brand was less of a joke and more of a crafted item that the leadership wanted to fight for and the employees had some satisfaction in creating.  It wouldn't necessarily have to be better for all of us.  Ask the mom-and-pop bakeries across the country, those who are "recreating" the Ho-Ho and the Twinkie...and actually making it irresistible.

The folks who find Hostess's current products irresistible?  Their other bakery isn't open...or doesn't exist.

Fail: Extraordinary Desserts, San Diego, CA

I really, REALLY wanted to love Extraordinary Desserts.  Why?

• The hype about this place all over San Diego County is phenomenal;
• 1,991 people on Yelp give it an average rating of four stars;
• Come on, LOOK at that picture.  How can you not love this place?
• My friends and I reached this destination hot and hopeful for refreshment, so the business didn't have far to go to reach goal;
• Did you see the picture?

Actually, I snapped lots of pictures like that...until I came to the realization that the place was not air conditioned or poorly air-conditioned.  There was a crowd at the door.  There were empty tables.  And then my biggest realization:  this restaurant was doing what restaurants do if they are a tourist destination or if they have high ratings on the social network:  they "teach" the customer how to settle for less in portions of their experience.

Restaurants are probably the biggest proponent of this experience short-fall, although I have seen other businesses do it as well.  Businesses who do it usually don't last long unless they are restaurants--which only last marginally longer.  The customer is supposed to feel grateful to be in the presence of cakes that look like they were designed by sculptors and shortbread cookies that are bigger than one's hand.  The customer is supposed to be part of a tradition, and not perpetuating the tradition themselves by bringing their experience to the location.  (I've seen this as well in Las Vegas, where the customer is supposed to be grateful for the chance to dine at Bobby Flay's restaurant or have an ice cream sundae that three people who are starving couldn't finish.)  

On the other hand...Is the experience supposed to be absolutely flawless?  Shouldn't we expect some level of inconvenience with a popular place to visit?

Maybe on one level.  But Extraordinary Desserts inconvenienced me on the following levels:

• Chaotic, over-heated waiting area for seating;
• Desserts that, while huge and dressed up, didn't really have a depth or subtlety of flavors beyond sugar and flour (or, in the case of ice cream, sugar and cream);
• Two different servers, and the second one was far less invested in the table than the first;
• No air circulation beyond opening up a back door.

I guess I can say that I ate there, wearing the experience like a badge.  But I can't say that I would be eager to repeat the experience until Extraordinary Desserts works out the kinks in their system...if they want to.

Fail: But I Have No Idea Who the Company Is...Or What They Are Rejecting Me For...

Imagine getting this email when you check your account:

"Delivery Agent?"  "(JOB TITLE)?"

Is it just me, or have hiring personnel hit the ultimate level of laziness?  I think no response at all would be even better than this.

To add insult to injury, it should be noted that this email was sent to the email address that I utilized last year for job searches.  So...not only is this "person" rejecting me for an "unspecified" job, but they aren't getting around to it until at least EIGHT months after my application.

Can't say that I wanted to work in that company's culture, anyway, but employers?  Please do better than this.

Fail: Time Warner Cable

I haven't conducted a job search yet on this, but I'm willing to bet that Time Warner Cable is looking for a new director of programming.

My bet comes from coverage of TWC's snafu in missing "Linsanity" in New York City with the New York Nets, and, much to my chagrin as a baseball fan, they are now missing opening week in San Diego with lack of Padres' coverage.

Since I'm new to San Diego County I didn't find this out until yesterday afternoon, at game time.

I have to wonder...with problems like this on two coasts...how many bars/businesses/etc have dropped Time Warner because they don't show the local sports teams?  How long until Time Warner is sued by its San Diego customers too?

Maybe Time Warner is banking on San Diego not caring about the Padres.

No Soup For You

Last week I visited a new coffee shop in Carlsbad called It's A Grind.  The coffee shop faces the ocean, has plenty of tables and bar seating, and is clean.

I wrote a review of It's A Grind for Yelp, and now I regret what I wrote.  Not in a bad way, but in a good way.  I think I shortchanged the review--all for what is good about the business.

*****

In San Francisco the funkier a place is, the more likely it is to have a following.  Sometimes staff at these places can get away with bloody murder because their place is the most popular place to be--I'm distinctly remembering The Grove in Hayes Valley (and it was only moderately funky) and the Berry street location of Philz Coffee in China Basin.  San Franciscans learn quickly to judge a book by its used and abused cover, and not for its comforts.

When I visited Its A Grind last Friday, the first thing that struck me is how clean and new the place is.  It had been a while since I had experienced clean and new, even in new restaurants in San Francisco.  Most restaurants there are the lucky inheritance of someone else going under.  But Its A Grind looked like it had been built new from the foundation.  And it was CLEAN.  What gives?

As an added bonus to a new cafe, the place was staffed with friendly people.  The coffee was inventive, the cafe well-designed, and the people didn't care if this was the hip place to be--they were going to treat me like they wanted to make me happy.

I classified this sum total in my review as "characterless," as though in order to be a good cafe or restaurant the patrons had to experience the equivalent of Seinfeld's "No soup for you."  I forgot what character was for a moment--to treat others as you would like to be treated--in exchange for being at a place that made me comfortable instead of making me compete.

You can bet that will get changed.

Finds: Senor Grubby’s and Shakespeare’s Pub & Grill, San Diego County, CA

Yelp hasn’t actually found all of San Diego County yet, not like it’s found it’s parent city of San Francisco.  Still, folks still utilize it, even if they are utilizing it in smaller numbers.

You would think that the smaller numbers would make business owners less likely to address their customers’ concerns, but that hasn’t been my experience here.  In the short nine weeks that I’ve been in San Diego County, two proprietors have sent me a personalized message for my feedback on Yelp, and both businesses don’t have a tremendous reporting volume on Yelp.  When I lived in San Francisco, only one manager reached out to me for my review, as though everyone else is too busy to listen to the voice of their customer.  Maybe customers were getting read in San Francisco, but they weren’t being acknowledged for their efforts.