Do you remember earlier this week when it was just raining cats and dogs? Great Googly-Moogly! It just so happened that the timing was pretty awesome because my wife had tracked down one of those guys that sits on the corner in a truck with a flatbed trailer full of sod. So, she had him bring over a couple of pallets worth to cover the mistake we made when we tilled up the backyard only to make the weeds grow better.
Anyway, with the grass firmly in place, the sky opened up and we had two solid days of rain, and though that left for crappy driving and lots of closed roads, but the grass is starting to take, and I like that. I should have taken a picture to show here, but I didn't think about it until now and it is already dark outside. Sorry.
So anyway, it was during the first day of rain when I didn't fully appreciate that the tiny little break in downpour wasn't the end of it. I had suggested to my wife that we drive about three miles south on Culebra to that Joe's Pizza & Pasta place that I had misled people into believing was open. A drive that would normally take just a few minutes, even during heavy traffic took us almost half an hour. Of course, it is always fun to blame it on crappy drivers, but in fact, the street lights at both Westover Hills Blvd and Old Grissom were out. Not flashing Red or Yellow, just out!
So, we finally get into this Joe's place and get out of the truck in the now, once again pouring rain. We can see the lights on in the place and even can see tables with place settings on them. Sure enough, as I pulled on the door to open it, I could see taped to the inside of the mirrored glass the sign that says they are closed for two weeks.
The worst part of it is, as we were pulling out, another couple was pulling on the same door we had and reading the sign. I told my wife that I sure hoped they hadn't gone to try the place on my lousy information! They looked a lot hungrier than we did. 'Course, I generally look like I just ate a big meal anyway, so that doesn't mean a whole lot.
It doesn't end there though. We decided that heading back up Culebra with all the jacked-up traffic mess was not the way to go, so we decided to go west on Potranco toward Highway 151 in hopes of finding some vittles. And as we were driving, of course the traffic people come on the radio and tell us that there is a huge wreck at Potranco and 151. That would explain the back-up.
So we cut through Richland Hills, over to Wiseman Road and picked up 151 just before 1604. It occurs to me that readers unfamiliar with San Antonio have no idea what I am even talking about here. Suffice it to say, we took a big huge circle and another half an hour to get through the rain and traffic to end up at the new Pizza Hut on Grissom and Timber Path, not a quarter mile from Silver Creek 78250!
You'll recall we ate at this Pizza Hut before. This time, we decided to skip the pizza itself and split one of those special Supremo sandwiches. Do not, I repeat, DO NOT waste your time on the Supremo. I've had bologna sandwiches that were better. But we do love that cheese bread they serve. As we were sitting there waiting for our food, I looked across the street and could see Mr. Cod through the rain. I casually mentioned to my wife that we should give them another try, now that they have been in business for several months without closing down.
I guess that was the hint my wife needed because when I walked in the door this afternoon, she was ready for a fish sandwich. Instead of taking a long circuitous route around San Antonio, we drove straight from the house to Mr. Cod and both ordered the #5 which is a fish sandwich, fries and a drink.
I have to tell you, while it was a bit of a wait (they don't cook your stuff 'til you order it), it was a welcome surprise. The fish sandwich is huge and served on very fresh bread like a submarine sandwich or something. And it was fully cooked!
As usual, the place is remarkably clean and the owner recognized my wife from our first visits back when they opened.
The fries are different now. These are not what I recall as the "chips" they served originally. I guess that just didn't go over well. But they were hot, not over cooked, and good, especially with malt vinegar on them. Of course, as they say on the Internet, your mileage may vary.
Hey, I don't want to make a big deal of this and I'm only even posting it because I found the whole thing to be kind of odd - even strange.
I was on my way home from Home Depot (which I'll tell you about in a minute) and I was driving down Timber Path through Emerald Valley, The Commons, and Ridge Creek on my way to Silver Creek. Anyway, I saw several of these bandit signs dotting the landscape. Besides the fact that these signs are against San Antonio city code and against our HOA deed restrictions, I wasn't ready to pull over and start tossing them into my truck for later disposal.
But when I was at the stoplight at Tezel and Timber Path, I got a close enough view to read the sign. Apparently, this Origin Church is setting up shop at Fernandez Elementary School. Even then, I thought perhaps it was just some sort of rummage sale or something like that, but I went to the web page and sure enough, according to their own web page, Fernandez Elementary is their new home.
Now don't attempt to paint me as one of those separation of church and state people. It's crap like that that makes our students come home saying things like Winter Festival instead of Christmas or Fall Celebration instead of Thanksgiving. But are you serious? Has the North side Independent School District gotten so short of cash that we are now renting out the school as a church on weekends? WTF?
Oh, I had to stop into Home Depot today to grab some sheetrock for a project I'm working on. I always save time when I leave by driving back behind Home Depot and HEB and Party City so I can avoid all the traffic of people darting out into the parking lot and such.
There is this little patch of trees where I occasionally see panhandlers taking a break and sipping a quart before they had back out to the Alamo Ranch intersection at 1604 and Culebra to relieve you charitable types (fools) of your hard earned change. (I'm just kidding; I pass out five dollar bills to the unfortunate vagrants all the time.)*
Anyway, I spotted this TV parked up on that little clearing and thought to myself, I wonder where they plug it in. Strange.
*I was kidding the second time. Don't give money to these people, they really drive Cadillacs and drink better beer than I do.
I was back in the Five Oh earlier than normal today and my wife and I thought it would be a perfect time to grab a quick bite from the recently moved and opened Pizza Hut-Wing Street place on Grissom Road at Timber Path. Seriously, just ban me from the place right now.
A quick note about pizza. I love pizza. I could seriously eat an entire pizza, and the greasier the better. The problem is, I am ready to fall asleep three bites into the first slice. The dough, especially the hand tossed, and really thick pan types just do me in. Just bust out a 1000mg of Metformin, and maybe I'll be okay.
But if you take the time to add the name Wing Street to a place called Pizza Hut, now I am forced to try not only the pizza, but also the wings. Is there a cardiologist in the house?
And of course, as promised, my wife and I are attempting to use the Entertainment Book coupons everywhere we dine now, and it just so happens that we had a coupon for a free order of cheesy bread sticks (or whatever the Pizza Hut name for them is) as well as a pitcher of soda.
The place is sparkly and new. I originally thought that it was smaller, but come to find out, it takes up half of the new building built in front of Stacy's Sports Bar on Grissom. I like the set-up inside. Very modern sports bar look with flat panels everywhere and a serious Texas and San Antonio theme.
I'll keep this short. Using our coupon, we got the bread stick things. They are so good that you just can't help but want to eat all of them before your pizza arrives. But we didn't. Instead, I think we ate one each and if I am correct, they are sitting in my refrigerator next to the microwave as we speak.
By the way, instead of getting a pitcher of soda free with the coupon, my wife asked the waiter to just knock off the price of her Iced Tea. He agreed, but now that I think about it, I don't think he did. I ordered a single Mich Ultra at $4.00 for 12 little ounces. Hey, maybe in Stacy's where I am told that the waitresses are scantily clad, but at Pizza Hut? Really? Note to management: Get some draft on tap and save us a buck.
I had to order the wings mild so my wife could try them. She no-likey the hot stuff. I thought the wings were excellent - not overcooked as some tend to be, and they were nice and meaty. I think it was $6.99 for 10 of them, and with the little tub of Ranch dressing, I thought the price was fair.
Our coupon for the free bread sticks stipulated that we had to purchase the large pizza as opposed to a medium (They don't have small). The large is what I suspect a medium was back in the day. Don't get me wrong, it isn't that there wasn't way more than enough for two, even four people, but I'm just telling you, it is smaller than I recall.
And that brings me to the point of why I rarely go to pizza hut. I love the pizza. They make a reasonably good product, but for the price, I just get the feeling like I have been to a regular full scale restaurant. After the coupon and before the tip, the bill was $27.01. Granted, we wouldn't have ordered both the pizza and the wings had we not known that we would be taking at least half of it to-go, but still, we could eat at Texas Roadhouse for that.
No complaints about the food, service, or atmosphere at the new Pizza Hut - Wing Street on Grissom, but if I'm going to eat myself into a coma, I'll spend a lot less and just go to Papa Murphy's.
Am I an utter cheapskate? Someone, set me straight here!
I know. Just like you, I have also been speculating wildly about the restaurant opening up in place of the recently abandoned Pizza Hut on Grissom Road near Timber Path.
A few weeks ago, one of our readers sent me the answer: Mr. Cod. Yea, she walked in and asked the people working on the place, who they worked for. Now, thanks to my thriving network of blog reporters, I get a call from regular reader Anon E. Mouse, reporting that new signage is going up. So of course, pictures are necessary!
Today, reader Brenty lets me know that we have an actual website for Mr. Cod, and in fact, this is a company based out of the UK. Check them out here.
I don't mean to get all giddy here, but we could seriously have some awesome authentic fish & chips less than five minutes from the house. Naturally, I'll report when warranted.
Do you recall the speculation we had going on here about the Pizza Hut located on Grissom at Timber Path and how at first, we thought they were mistakenly building a new one in the wrong parking lot and later we thought maybe they would tear down the Pizza Hut to put in a new bridge over the low water crossing? You 'member!
Well as I was checking messages on my way home from work today, I got a call from regular reader Anon E. Mouse, that there was some painting taking place at Pizza Hut. Of course I proceeded with caution, camera at the ready!
And now friends, who is hungry for some fish? The Pizza Hut has been given a fresh scrubbing, some new paint and a sign with a fish on it that says, "Coming Soon". Oh sure, I'd like it to be a catfish restaurant, but without a name, for all we know, it could be a place that sells fish for your aquarium. Either way, it's good eatin', right?
And in case you are nervous about the loss of Pizza Hut, the new one is almost ready...
Got any speculation on the name of the new fish place on Grissom? Can you get me some coupons for free samples? Tell me what you know or leave a comment here.
Alert the press: I have taken the day off so my wife and I can get some much needed pre-Christmas actions completed. Most importantly, I need to hit the Walgreen's and purchase some Christmas presents before all of the last minute people get the good gifts.
I took our dog Gracie, to the groomers just moments ago and have a nice stream of blood coming out of my arm where she inadvertently scratched the crap out of me. I suppose it really is time to get her nails cut. Oh, and if any of you fall for that scam called PediPaws or whatever, I'll be happy to sell you ours. It has never been used, not even once. Yea, that's $30 plus shipping I'll never get back - unless one of you would like to buy it from me.
The thing is, those dogs they show on TV are apparently trained professional model dogs who have also probably been heavily sedated. The instructions actually tell you that the dog won't be happy about it (so much for the TV commercial), and they recommend you physically lay on top of the dog to restrain it. Yea, I didn't see that in the commercial either. Oh well.
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Remember the other day I posted a picture of the street closure signs for Timber Path? Okay, and remember the time a reader sent in a theory about the Pizza Hut that was being built across the street from the old one? Well my neighbor Gus has a theory about the bigger story.
We had already established that in fact, they are building a new Pizza Hut directly across the street from the old one. What we didn't know was that the old Pizza Hut will be torn down. Why wouldn't they just open a new Mexican restaurant there? Well, Gus has looked at an aerial view of the area and concluded that perhaps the new bridge being built over the low water crossing is in fact going to come out directly on top of the old Pizza Hut.
Look at the picture and tell me what you think of this theory. It works for me. Though I won't be happy unless they also move the other side of Timber Path to meet the new road.
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I didn't really want to mention it until I had gone at least a month without giving up on it, but I am back to walking on the tread mill again. I know it would be better to just go out and run a marathon or something, but my wife is afraid of me getting a few miles from the house and losing consciousness or something. When I was walking before, I had a few seriously low blood sugar incidents that warranted me calling her - slightly disoriented - to come and pick me up on some street starting with Timber. Not very helpful even if you are familiar with the area. So for now, I'm on the treadmill in the safety of our home. And I keep a donut handy in case I feel queasy. Just kidding.
Anyway, I had this bright idea of building a shelf in front of the tread mill so I could set my laptop on it and listen to podcasts of my favorite radio programs. My wife didn't like that idea at all because she had this image of me putting up some huge desk-sized shelf there. Then, she promptly moved the treadmill to the side of the room where you can either stare at pictures or look out the French doors into our front yard (or neighbors can drive by and see the fat guy walking).
So something caught my eye and I moved a few pictures over and sure enough, I can fit the laptop on top of the shelf already in place! I turned on the computer, turned on one of the podcasts I had been saving and things were good to go. Then, it hit me. The shelf was at the perfect height to where I could walk and actually look straight up into the screen. Oh sure, you can't surf the net while walking on a tread mill (well, I can't), but after my neighbor Myrl showed me something called Hulu TV, I was in like Flynn!
So there I was after work yesterday, walking on the tread mill, watching the pilot episode of Sons of Anarchy. Just how lazy are we as a society that we have to watch TV while exercising? Hey, I just call it good time management.
There is something strange going on in the parking lot of the Great Northwest Shopping Center over on Grissom Road. For several weeks now, they have had a section, directly in front of Stacy's blocked off, and all sorts of digging and such going on.
Just like that, the holes are covered and things seem to have come to a stop.
Then, as one who writes a blog about the neighborhood occasionally does, I got a tip from a reader who reports the following: I was told, third hand, that the construction in the parking lot over there at Grissom & Timber Path, was a massive screw-up. Supposedly the construction folks showed up one day, start digging up the parking lot for a new Pizza Hut, and found out later they were in the wrong shopping center. Is it true? Time will tell.
Who knows? You know how these urban legends get started. But the really strange thing is, literally across the street from this little construction mess is, yep, you guessed it, a Pizza Hut! You have to wonder how many times the construction workers took a break for lunch and wandered in for the noon buffet and never made the connection.My wife would be happy if they would build a Starbucks there. Got the real scoop? Tell me about it and we can all know.
I have to tell you, while it was a bit of a wait (they don't cook your stuff 'til you order it), it was a welcome surprise. The fish sandwich is huge and served on very fresh bread like a submarine sandwich or something. And it was fully cooked!
As usual, the place is remarkably clean and the owner recognized my wife from our first visits back when they opened.
The fries are different now. These are not what I recall as the "chips" they served originally. I guess that just didn't go over well. But they were hot, not over cooked, and good, especially with malt vinegar on them. Of course, as they say on the Internet, your mileage may vary.
But when I was at the stoplight at Tezel and Timber Path, I got a close enough view to read the sign. Apparently, this Origin Church is setting up shop at Fernandez Elementary School. Even then, I thought perhaps it was just some sort of rummage sale or something like that, but I went to the web page and sure enough, according to their own web page, Fernandez Elementary is their new home.
Anyway, I spotted this TV parked up on that little clearing and thought to myself, I wonder where they plug it in. Strange.
