Nyx Goldstone

Is Ordering Drinks Without Ice Just a Scam to get More Delicious Beverage? via The Consumerist, sent to me from TrinityLast

Okay, this is a debate I’ve had time and again, though I can’t say I’ve ever had it with the person serving me (thankfully!). I’m a “no ice” person for many reasons, though it usually depends on the situation. I go to a sit-down restaurant, I don’t care about ice. I have a straw and a steady place to sit and drink my drink; plus, I’m more likely to drink it faster because I’m sitting around waiting for my food to show up. But the moment I hit a fast food joint, gone with the ice! NO ICE FOR ME! Why?

Well, I’ll admit, first and foremost, it’s because I don’t want someone to decide that my x-sized drink should actually only be a y-sized drink. Drinks are advertised by volume the cup holds, not volume of the remaining space in the cup. To add to that, I’m ordering an x-sized ROOT BEER (usually), which is pre-mixed in the machine. What I’m not ordering is an x-sized Root Beer-that-actually-is-mostly-water-by-the-end. On top of that, that’s the only amount I’m going to get! Once that’s gone, it’s gone. That’s my first and foremost.

The other reasons are that I do have sensitive teeth and if I’m ordering from a fast food joint, I’m probably going to still be in my car and, by the gods, I’m going to bloody drink it when I want to drink it! Ice has proven, for me, to just be a solid thing that’ll slam the lid of my cup off and slosh everything around more than it needs to…just to turn it into lightly flavored Root Beer water in the end.

So, here’s my school of thought: if I’m ordering a large drink, which the cup is clearly marked at, oh, for the sake of argument, 32 ounces, then that’s the volume I’m paying for. If someone wants ice in their drink, more power to them! They’re the ones deciding to displace that much liquid for the “luxury” of an initially colder drink.

What got me riled up is the commenters who were all “Oh, but if you order a Whopper, you don’t expect them to give you more meat because you told them not lettuce/onions/pickles/cheese.” No, you don’t. Why? Because you know that the burger was supposed to be a certain weight before cooking, you know they’re supposed to put so many leaves of lettuce on it, so many pickles, and so on and so forth. The numbers are right there. So, that being said, why should someone like me feel shamed because I want my full 32 ounces of liquid?

Ice cubes are made by a machine. A machine that is squirting water into a tray that is freezing the ice, then breaking it up and dropping it in a bin. For this argument, I’m ignoring the gross factor of some of the crap found GROWING in machines like that, I’m just focusing on the ice itself. If there’s a specific recipe that needs to be followed, okay… Does that mean that place is hand-making the ice, making sure each cube is exactly the size it should be so Customer A is getting the exact same thing as Customer B, when they both order the same drink? Why do I, a person who feels the pain before my teeth even get near the ice cream bar, have to choose between suffering through watered down drinks or pain? Aren’t I also paying for this beverage? Shouldn’t I be allowed to enjoy it?

One commenter had said that “iced means it’s cold, not that ice is an ingredient.” If you want to require ice be part of the purchase, say “over ice” or something. And the commenters that compared it to ordering drinks at a bar? Really, people?? Weather you order your shots neat or on the rocks, a shot is still 4 ounces (I think… I haven’t ordered shots before, but I think that’s the number). Your alcoholic beverage is measured and THEN poured over ice. I think the bartender would be bludgeoned if he or she tried to stiff people by dropping a cube in a shot glass and telling the customer it’s the same drink, but it has to be this way because they asked for ice.

Try to tell me I’m wrong.

Sorry, readers, for being so quiet last semester. Things have been a little on the rough side, as you can probably tell by the title of this post. So, here’s the story.

About 3 years ago, Tom invited me to stay with his family. It became official when he told Lona “Just bring the damn cat!” I think letting them suck me in was one of the best damn decisions I’ve ever made in my life. Because of Tom’s invite I learned that there’s a career out there for me that I could actually enjoy and achieve. I was finally able to go to school and instead of getting some crap degree just to have a degree, I was encouraged to go ahead and try for that double major in English (to ease the minds of my clients) and Math (to have a more “useful” degree).

Unlike in the books and movies, there’s no epic life-changing moment. It was slow and gradual as I learned to accept that it was okay that I wanted to try for these goals. Claudia and Tom both treated me like a daughter. Right down to Tom deciding at some point that instead of demanding that I wake his wife, I was an okay alternative to call when he finished his gigs and was coming home; if nothing else to ask if we needed something picked up from the grocery store. Tom was a musician. If you’re a So Cal local who frequented Knott’s Berry Farm, Tom was Fingers in the Calico Saloon up until about three years ago. He also preformed in places such as French 75, Savannah’s Chophouse, and other awesome places that still offer live music. He really was a local celebrity and an awesome pianist.

Tom could talk your ear off. I’d get so lost when he would come in and talk about a movie that he saw and suddenly that conversation became about the gig he was on, then it was about the movie again, which somehow became about some other musician he knew back in the day, and this was about the time I got lost.

It was only a few months ago. First it was pancreatitis, then a bleeding ulcer… Then suddenly it was stage 4 liver cancer. Just as suddenly he was gone at around 10:30 Monday morning, barely a month after his diagnosis. I still don’t know how I feel beside upset that I knew Tom for only three years.

However, I’d like to invite everyone to his memorial service and the benefit concerts that will follow. I will be speaking as will many of Tom’s friends. The concerts will be at a restraint, so there will be food and probably more musicians playing live music than you’ve ever had a chance to experience before. It won’t be like anything you’ve ever seen before. Or, as Tom would always say to me: “If you haven’t seen this, you’re going to see something you haven’t seen before.”

Memorial Service:
Wednesday July 7th, 2010 @ 2pm
Congregation Shir Ha-Ma’alot
3652 Michelson Drive
Irvine, CA
949-857-2226

Benefit Concerts:
Wednesday July 7th, 2010 @ 6pm AND Sunday July 11th, 2010 @ 4pm
Gentiles in Corto De Caza
23331 Via Venado
Corto De Caza, CA 92679-3905
949-713-5600

If you find you can’t make it, but still want to send something to help the family, there’s a donate button on the right side of my site here. Just click that and follow the directions. Thanks in advance, either for donating or joining us.

Yesterday the book requirements were posted for my school.  …Yay?

This semester is book-light for me, since I took a couple of easy art classes. I planned on re-taking Claudia Suzanne‘s Ghostwriter Certification Training class, but that schedule and my schedule didn’t mesh. So, I’m not gonna be as burned out this semester, which is still a yay! I managed to squeeze my way into both photography and the required ceramics class before I can take a wheel-throwing class. I love wheel-throwing.

So, what am I doing to get ready for the new semester?

Well, I started yesterday by working the internet hard and finding the best deals in textbooks. One of my housemates had previously sent me a link that worked wonders. Textbook Price Comparison isn’t the end all, be-all of textbook searching, but it gave me a good place to start. My range came out to between $130 and $213, depending on if I wanted to go to sites I didn’t know and trust such as Course Smart and Textbooks Now or if I had to buy all new from the school itself.

My next step is one where I sit and wait impatiently for all my end-of-year tax info stuff to come in. I hate waiting… I just want to fill out the stupid forms to tell the Government that I make no money so they can confirm to FAFSA that they need to give me money so I can go to school. You’d think this would be really easy. Actually, once you’re past 24, it is.

My dad refused to help me through school, so I figured I’d work full time to pay for that full time schooling. I bombed that. Still, at 23, the Government needed my parents’ tax information because I was still classified as a “dependent.” Yeah, kids, that’s right. They’ll not only need but base your award on your parents’ taxes until you’re the ripe old age of 25. I was rejected every year for FAFSA because my dad made too much, which was the salt in the wound since I had to fight every step for my dad’s tax info and I was paying for everything myself.

I think I digressed…

So, yeah, the big things are no where near done, but I’m busying myself with little things: school supplies, making sure I don’t forget my schedule, griping about how there’s only two weeks left before I have to start school again…the usual stuff!