October 28, 2005
My takeout order (Fresh never gets delivery, hates waiting an hour for the chap on the bicycle to arrive) came in a plastic bag touting DELIVERY.COM, which seems like one of those hilarious and stupid dot coms from the 1990s that did not yet die from massive hemorrhage of cash. OK, you can use a credit card. So what? OK, you get points. So what? OK, they can Save past orders for easy reordering!
Now we come to the Sex & The City moment: Faithful viewers remember that awkward moment Miranda phoned the Chinese restaurant—conveniently on speed dial—to order (yet again) beef & broccoli (a real lao wai dish, second only to General Tso's Historic and Infamous Chicken). The charming lady at the Chinese restaurant giggles, which infuriates Miranda. Of course that lady knows exactly what Miranda will order; she always orders it! When Miranda storms into the restaurant to complain, she duly notes the lady apparently laughs when taking every order. A case of nervous giggling, perhaps.
But that isn't my point: My point is you ought to be embarrassed if you constantly order the same dish from the same restaurant, so frequently that you have the restaurant on speed dial. But since you aren't, great news: Now there is Delivery.com, here to assuage your fear that the charming lady on the other end will laugh that you order the same dish so often. At least until Delivery.com goes broke (how do they make ANY money???), you can (theoretically) order online. (Of course, I doubt your local Chinese restaurant is hooked up, but hey, with a few more millions of seed money @ Delivery.com....) Assuming you want to waste all that time giving your personal data to yet another website (whose data eventually will be compromised by thieves and sold to....just kidding!), you gotta wonder about the time involved. Truly, dear people, you can just pick up your damn cordless phone and dial the restaurant and order much faster than in the time it takes to go online and start recording your favorite restaurants and orders...unless, of course, you are at the office and so bored that even Bored.com no longer excites you.
Here's hoping this blog post elicits even more rage from faithful Delivery.com customers than did the FreshDirect post. Obviously Delivery.com customers are even more challenged at finding fresh food....no, we won't go there....just kidding! Hey, how about buying shares in VC companies growing potted meat in laboratories?
Tags:
chinese restaurants, delivery, fresh direct, miranda, speed dial
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Posted on 10/28/2005
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October 21, 2005
Just how non-existent is Pataki's leadership? When Roland Betts, well-known developer and friend of Bush, quit the Lower Manhattan Development Board yesterday, that giant sucking sound of a vacuum could be heard everywhere. Pataki has failed miserably at providing ongoing stewardship and leadership; buttonholing business community leaders to rebuild with speed, grace and eloquence is critical. We need not rehash the mess over the Freedom Center, but strong leadership could have averted the now sorry state of affairs at Ground Zero.
Pataki already has both feet out the door of his Albany redoubt, and a fascinating article in today's Metro Section explores how Bloomberg is looking downtown to expand his legacy. The man who brought information technology to the mayor's office might yet be the only one left who can wrassle with the new WTC's twin nemeses, Larry Silverstein and the Port Authority.
Meanwhile, a fascinating 5C036 Request For Proposal (RFP) buried deep in the same Metro Section offers further proof that Albany has no intention ever of dismantling the dreaded Thruway Authority, whose continued existence is another giant suction device eliminating quarters and dollars (now made EZier with EZ-Pass) from the state's drivers. This RFP seeks proposals "from experienced and qualified firms" (i.e. ExxonMobil, BP, etc.) "to operate 29 fuel service facilities along the Thruway." It continues: "The contract term shall be for a minimum of 10 (ten) years and shall not exceed 20 (twenty) years inclusive of any permitted renewals."
Oh ho, you say, the proposals are due December 21, a convenient date in our history when oil prices are at record highs. What a fat Christmas turkey, what lovely icing on the cake to serve up a minimum ten-year contract to deliver fuel for this state's morbid toll Thruway and its captive drivers. (Yes, Fresh knows you can exit anywhere from Tonawanda to Woodbury if you don't want to buy gas at Thruway prices.) The point is, a ten- to twenty-year contract at this time is not in the interest of the citizens, and certainly is not evidence of good government. It's a giveaway by yet another state authority well-versed in doling out corporate welfare. Merry Christmas in October!
And back to Bloomberg and leadership: many Democrats these days are weighing their votes, not least considering Bloomberg will spend in excess of $100 per vote this election. But given that he is beholden to no organization or party or politician if he wins again, Lower Manhattan just might thrive in his second term—especially once Pataki disappears to the cornfields of Iowa, hopefully to never return.
Tags:
freedom center, gas, lmdb, oil, pataki, rfp, roland betts, thruway
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Posted on 10/21/2005
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October 19, 2005
FreshDirect is an assault on our senses, our environment, and on thousands of years of history of human food-gathering. Ack, you Luddite! I can hear those skeptics complaining already. But think about it: our air is poisonous enough without those hundreds of additional refrigerated trucks rumbling down the streets every day. But it's so convenient! you whine. Of course it is; so is putting your mouth on a tailpipe and breathing in that fresh carbon monoxide direct. What about all those boxes they won't take back and you are going to recycle? Do you really think everything you throw in the recycling bin really gets recycled? But I'm so busy! you whine. Too busy to actually spend five or ten minutes sourcing your own food? You really like other people touching and packing every single apple, peach, green onion you are going to eat? You really think packing one papaya in a huge cardboard box makes for a more sustainable world? Because it creates jobs? Fresh has tried FreshDirect--the allure of $50 of free groceries was too good to pass up. But a dozen items in four enormous boxes (Fresh chose from a wide variety of categories) was too much to bear. How many trees bit the dust to pack my papaya? And you can't choose your own damn ripe avocado or papaya with FreshDirect either, you whiner. You get hard, unripe fruit. The time you spend online shopping for food (but I created a list I can reuse! I hear you whine already) can be better spent shopping in person. But there are no good stores in my neighborhood! you whine. FreshDirect doesn't deliver to most minority neighborhoods, which haven't got good stores either. So stop whining and get to a store already. Your European friends are laughing at you.
Tags:
fresh, fresh direct, groceries, online
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Posted on 10/19/2005
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October 19, 2005
Fresh visited Lombardi's last Saturday to enjoy the famous pizza made in coal-fired oven. Fresh's buddy asked the waitress after the meal if we could see the oven. "Of course!" she exclaimed, "just head in to the kitchen." Everyone was so friendly and kind, and we had a peek inside the incredible coal-fired oven. Today's New York Post has a nice article about Lombardi's cenutry of history on Spring Street.
FYI: To mark their 100th anniversary, on Nov. 10 Lombardi's will be selling pizzas for 5 cents a pie, so customers can really party like it's 1905. We bet the lines will be around the block that day. Last Saturday at 11:45 am the place was already packed.
Tags:
birthday, coal oven, lombardis, pizza
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Posted on 10/19/2005
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October 04, 2005
Without a $1 per-ride surcharge, the 6,500-member New York Taxi Workers Alliance threatens to strike. What's more, the members don't want GPS tracking devices installed in the cabs, primarily because the cost will be passed on to the taxi fleets (and thus the drivers), and moreover because they fear their excessive speeds will be tracked.
The idea that cabbies could strike is rather intriguing, not least since their industry is in so much trouble, drivers earn so little, and without a majority of drivers participating in the stirke the effects might be negligible. So what's a passenger to do? Do you tip more out of solidarity because the surchage is coming later? Or do nothing?
Tags:
gas, strike, taxi, tlc
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Posted on 10/4/2005
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