From Drop Box

Nearly two years ago I met Rob from The Hot Dog Truck. I think I had the best hot dogs ever at his truck. Rob used to run a Hot Dog Truck in Marlboro, MA. He’s no longer doing that but he is still talking Hot Dogs and doing pretty well at it. Hot Dog Man, as he is known, is an example of someone who has found a niche and passion and who is doing something with it. His blog, The Hot Dog Truck, had been dormant for over a year and continued to gather traffic because of what it offers people. Rob recently started cranking the blog back up and when he did he contacted me to talk about blogging and of course hot dogs.

So, what better place to meet than at a local hot dog place The Hot Dog Trolley (soon to be renamed and rebranded). The place is a quick 8 minute walk from work and well worth it. The dogs were delicious and priced right. Get this signature dog + Chips, Cookie and Soda, $4.00, and what is better Hot Dog Man got me my lunch, what a great guy.

As I sat down to dig into my Dogs He said that he needed to get a photo of my Hot Dog Money Shot. Well, I got one of him as well.

From Drop Box

While we were there it was Talk Like a Pirate Day (something I informed Mike, the owner, that was actually a holiday on September 19, I celebrate every year) and they were trying out a new dog called the Scurvy Dog, a dog with a BBQ sauce/Onion Sauce mixture. They also made cannonballs (meatballs in the special pirate sauce) and gave us each a container to try. I was so stuffed I almost had to roll back to work.

If you are in Framingham/Natick check out The Hot Dog Trolley over on Speen Street. Tell Mike and the crew that BenSpark sent you.

From Drop Box

I buy a ton of stuff from Amazon.com. If you do please buy through our links and help support BenSpark.com. Thank you.

Copyright (c) 2010 Blog Consultant, Photo-A-Day Photographer & Daddy Blogger - BenSpark.com - Everyday Pictures... Every... Day

Lunch with The Hot Dog Man

From Drop Box

The other day I did a blog post about Boloco and Chipotle and what I thought of both restaurants. I received a direct e-mail from John S. Pepper the CEO & Co-Founder of Boloco complete with direct phone line and e-mail and twitter.

John wrote a detailed and heartfelt e-mail to me referencing everything that I posted on my blog post. John gets it, he got me and my issues with the ‘pay first’ vs ‘walk the line’ concept. He offered reasoning as to why Boloco is set up this way and also alerted me to a new concept that is going to happen at Boloco called “goloco” where you can voluntarily walk the line and chose what you want in your burrito. This message showed me that I as one voice, one person who even thought he had a free burrito was worth talking to.Here is the e-mail John sent me:

“Hi Ben,

John S. Pepper
CEO & Co-Founder
Boloco“

From Drop Box

John offered me a couple more burritos to come on back and try out Boloco again. Getting freebies is cool but when someone validates your complaints and really listens to your issues is so much better. I’ll certainly take John up on his offer and go back to Boloco for those burritos. I did enjoy the taste of my burrito and look forward to my next one. Now that I understand the process of Boloco even more I see it with different eyes and I’m going to give a it a much finer look.

Conversely, Hotel chain Marriott gets things all wrong again and again. Here is an e-mail that my friend Maureen received from Marriott.

“Dear Maureen,

J.W. Marriott, Jr.
Chairman and CEO
Marriott International, Inc.“

Here is the laughable part of this letter. “our focus on taking care of you never waivered“. You might have read about what happened to Maureen after IZEAFest. Then you might have read about what I did to help get her back her money. Marriott certainly does not get it, they are too big to care about an individual guest that they sincerely wronged on so many fronts.

Marriott can certainly take a lesson from John Pepper of Boloco on Customer Service. John didn’t just gloss over my issues, he addressed them directly. His letter was not a form letter that was completely impersonal like the Marriott one that Maureen received. The Marriott letter was pretty much a slap in the face considering the tremendous amount of trouble they put her through.

Watch for my future Boloco posts.

I buy a ton of stuff from Amazon.com. If you do please buy through our links and help support BenSpark.com. Thank you.

Copyright (c) 2010 Blog Consultant, Photo-A-Day Photographer & Daddy Blogger - BenSpark.com - Everyday Pictures... Every... Day

Boloco gets Customer Service Right. Marriot Still Does Not.

Photo-A-Day #1438

I swear, between what we order online and what I win online UPS, USPS and FedEx is staying in business. Today I received the copy of the FuelMyBlog Global Cookbook that I won. Ten winners were randomly selected and we each won a hard cover copy of this very nice cookbook. I’m still kicking myself for not submitting something like a Fry Sauce Recipe or something. Also it would have been nice to have one of my photos and a recipe part of a hardcover book. This time around FuelMyBlog is raising money for Stop Hunger, appropriate, with sales from this book. You can purchase your copy by going to Blurb at http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/485233.

This book arrives at a great time since Allison and I have started to really get better about planning out meals for the week by using recipes. I’m sure we’ll find something worth making from this book.

I buy a ton of stuff from Amazon.com. If you do please buy through our links and help support BenSpark.com. Thank you.

Copyright (c) 2010 Blog Consultant, Photo-A-Day Photographer & Daddy Blogger - BenSpark.com - Everyday Pictures... Every... Day

FuelMyBlog Global Cookbook has Arrived

Yesterday I went to see Watchmen with my friend Ryan. I was supposed to go with my Brother-In-Law and my friend Mike too, however work came up for both of them. That sucks when the weekend still requires you to work. Weekends are short enough as it is without work stepping in and screwing it up.

So, I met Ryan at Five Guys Burgers and Fries. Talk about organized chaos. The place is insane. Insanely good! When I got there Ryan had already placed his order and was scouting a table. Here is the setup. You walk into the shop and there are a bunch of 4 person tables spread out all over the place. They are very tightly packed together. You walk around the tables and get in line. The menu is simple. Burgers and Fries. There are some hot dogs too. You can order a regular burger (two patties) or a little burger (I’m assuming 1 pattie) and then you can order fries, large or small. Go with the small, there are plenty. I got the large, it was too much. You order and then move down and watch the coordinated efforts of people frantically putting together order after order of burgers. What makes each burger unique is that you can put whatever toppings you want on the burger, and there are many.

I watched this take place and it was pretty cool. The burgers are simple, cooked well, and then placed on the buns that have been prepped with all the toppings. The burger is wrapped up in a foil wrapper and then added to the bag. Fries are put in to a cup and added to the bag and then additional fries are dumped into the bag (that’s why it is okay to order small). I got my fries Cajun style. They were good, I wanted to try 5 guys style too but didn’t. I already had enough fries.

Five Guys also has bulk peanuts around so you can eat those at will as well. I am ashamed that I did not take any photos at all when I went to Five Guys. I even had my Canon SD and my Flip HD, so ashamed. I’ve found some great photos on Flickr that people have put up, so if you want to see some amazing Five Guys photos check this out. Five Guys on Flickr.

After our dinner we headed over to see Watchmen. We saw it at Showcase Cinemas at Patriot Place in Foxboro, MA. Patriot place is a sweet shopping area. I’ve gone to nice outdoor places like this all over the country and I am glad that there is one like this close to us.

The theater itself is pretty cool where they have what is called the LUX level. That is where they have plush leather seats and people to bring you food and drinks. It costs a bit more than a regular ticket. I had never seen the LUX level before and I am glad I did. the LUX level is in the same theater as the one we were in, it is separated by a railing. I don’t really think that is really worth it.I’d rather be in a theater that is all LUX. That works much better.

The movie was really well done. Visually it is amazing and the people who made it painstakingly recreated locations and characters from the graphic novel. My favorite character was Rorschach played amazingly well by Jackie Earle Haley. Of all the characters in the graphic novel Rorschach is the one who maintains a completely black and white outlook. Good and Evil, that’s it, no grey whatsoever. I think the movie handled his backstory very well. Jackie Earle Haley certainly brought this character to life.

I was discussing the movie with my friend John who is also a big fan. The one thing he did not like and I agree was that the movie made it seem like all the characters had superpowers. The thing that works in the graphic novel is that the characters are all human with human limitations except for Dr. Manhattan, he is a super hero with super abilities. All the rest of the characters are very human.

There were many scenes, especially with Silk Spectre II and Nite Owl II where they characters performed like they had super powers and had super reflexes and super strength. The violence was very graphic, the comic pulls no punches and neither did the movie.

In all it was a very good story. The graphic novel is incredible, there was a change to the ending of the novel, and say what you will I liked it. I liked how it remained true but at the same time was changed slightly. It worked better for me than the ending of the graphic novel. I will talk about my thoughts on the ending at the bottom, it is a spoiler so please take note that if you haven’t read the graphic novel or seen the movie you might not want to read my take on the ending until such time as you have seen and read.

At the very end of the movie the projector stopped working. Everyone was wondering what happened. A few people went out to complain. Then a member of the Showcase Staff came in and made an announcement. He stated that they were aware of the problem and it would be fixed in 5 -10 minutes. He then started to say that if anyone wanted a refund, then he stopped and said better yet on your way out you will receive a free ticket to come back.

I went for a quick bathroom break and when I came back the movie had been restarted and by the time I got up to my seat, seconds, there was only 3 minutes left of the movie. It ended and we got our free tickets. Showcase really made an effort to maintain good customer service. I was impressed.
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*************Spoiler Alert**************
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*

The ending of the graphic novel had New York as the target for the incredible loss of life. In the movie there were several locations that were attacked. I don’t see how an attack on one nation could sustain a collaboration of peace with all nations.

We had an attack on September 11, 2001 and for a while the world was behind us in our mourning. However the world is not unified, wars are not over just because of an incredible loss of life in New York. No, it made more sense that attacks occurred across the world and thus unified nations against a common enemy. That was a big change to the novel and it wasn’t a giant squid made to look like an alien but rather it was attacks that looked like they came from Dr. Manhattan. It really made much more sense.

I buy a ton of stuff from Amazon.com. If you do please buy through our links and help support BenSpark.com. Thank you.

Copyright (c) 2010 Blog Consultant, Photo-A-Day Photographer & Daddy Blogger - BenSpark.com - Everyday Pictures... Every... Day

I Watched The Watchmen

I travel for my job, I travel a whole bunch and I eat horribly. Not bad tasting food but rather tons of things that were high in fat and calories. At least I did eat like that until I found out that I have type two diabetes. For five years I’ve traveled all over the country and when I was running late for a flight or a demo I would make the poorest choices around. I’d eat at those large chain fast food restaurants. You know the one, with that crazy clown or demented fake royalty pushing his burgers and all. I’m not saying that eating there gave me the disease because that is not how things work but all that garbage in my system contributed to making me fat. Ultimately it was my own fault and my own choices of course but my choice to eat fatty greasy food is what helped to put on 50 pounds quickly when I started traveling. I told myself that I could have a meal from those burger joints once in a while. Eventually it became something I did every trip and then multiple times on the same trip. I convinced myself that that was the best option for me because of how pressed for time I was.

I was wrong.

My lab results and bathroom scale proved that. So now I am eating healthier and making sure that I think about the things that I eat. I got some coupons in the mail for SUBWAY® the other day and it got me to thinking about Jared Fogle. I had been to SUBWAY® many times in the past and even wanted to try to do what Jared Fogle did. You know, the guy who ate at subway twice a day and also began a healthy lifestyle of walking and other exercise. The guy is inspiring because he was just some guy at 425lbs that decided to take a step in the right direction. Jared has even written a book, “Winning Through Losing” and you can read the first chapter of it on the SUBWAY® FRESHBUZZâ„¢ page. I was reading the first chapter and I can see how I was very much like Jared in grade school and high school. I would come home and polish off a sleeve of Ritz crackers or Premium saltines or even Chips Ahoy and Oreo cookies. And then I would play Nintendo for hours. I still like my Ritz but now I only have 5 at a time with some Smart Balance peanut butter on them to get some Omega 3s. I could certainly sympathize with Jared’s story about the pizza he ordered as a kid. I’d like to continue reading that book.

As a kid, one thing that I really looked forward to was a happy meal. I think about that now and while it may make my kids happy to have one and heck it may make me happy to have one on the road, I know it isn’t something I want to make me or my kids happy. All of the fat and calories in such a small meal is no good for me or my kids. Kids are becoming more and more obese and so are adults. I know I am not a model of health and fitness but I have a choice to stay fit and while my daughter cannot make her own choices on meals for quite some time to come I can at least make healthy choices for her. Healthy choices can include the new SUBWAY® FRESH FITâ„¢ meals for kids. There are many choices that kids and parents have for their SUBWAY® FRESH FITâ„¢ meals. And I mean many choices. Get this there are eight sandwiches to choose from with less than six grams of fat. Less than 6 grams of fat, that is a very significant number. And you can get great tasting sides like yogurt, Baked Lays, raisins, and apples, and to drink, ice cold water, 1% milk, or diet soda. Many choices and each one makes you come out a winner.

When Eva is old enough to eat a sandwich I can take her to SUBWAY® and we can order some SUBWAY FRESH FIT™ meals. One of the fun things about this Father/Daughter trip will be picking our fresh and healthy toppings for our sandwiches. I am a fan of pickles, lettuce, tomatoes, jalapeño peppers, and green peppers and you can load up on those and still be healthy. Mustard is also a tangy and delicious alternative to the added fat from mayo. But if you are not a mustard fan SUBWAY has some fat free toppings like the Sweet Onion sauce. That sauce is delicious. Today I asked Allison to take the coupons that we got in the mail and go to SUBWAY® and get me a 6 inch Sweet Onion Chicken Terriyaki on whole wheat, a Dasani Water and some Baked Lays. Here is my delicious lunch.

If you haven’t been to the SUBWAY® site in a while or ever before you have to see the SUBWAY FRESH FITâ„¢ website and you have to stop at Burger Town. With choices like “Muffin Top”, “Manboobs” and a “Spare Tire” you will certainly think over your next choice for lunches and dinners at fast food places. You can even compare how much fat is in the SUBWAY FRESH FITâ„¢ meals vs. the meals from McDonald’s and Burger King. The Sweet Onion Chicken Terriyaki that I had today has 5 grams of fat. A McDonald’s Big Mac has 30 grams. That is six times more fat. And you don’t even want to know how many calories or grams of fat are in a Whopper.

Get out, exercise and eat right. Adding some SUBWAY FRESH FITâ„¢ to your diet instead of greasy burgers and fatty sides is a step in the right direction.

I buy a ton of stuff from Amazon.com. If you do please buy through our links and help support BenSpark.com. Thank you.

Copyright (c) 2010 Blog Consultant, Photo-A-Day Photographer & Daddy Blogger - BenSpark.com - Everyday Pictures... Every... Day

Sweet Onion Chicken Terriyaki – I feel Fresh and Fit…