Cheeburger Cheeburger Review

This one's for my sister.

About a month ago, I took my grandmother to one of the newer restaurants in the rapidly growing metropolis of Mechanicsburg.  Cheeburger Cheeburger is a burger chain that recently arrived at Silver Spring Square.  Their "thing" is burgers and shakes, in a "retro-themed" dining environment.

We arrived and were seated in a fairly timely fashion.  The hostess asked us if we had ever been there before and upon finding out we were novices, she gave us some tips and suggestions.  A few moments later our waitress came out to take our drink orders.  Among other things, they do flavored sodas and teas.  I tried the blueberry tea ($2.19), while my grandmother went with a root beer ($1.99).  Since burgers are their thing, the menu revolves around them, with I think five different size burgers (from a quarter-pound to a pound).  Along with your burger, you get a choice of toppings (much like Five Guys) and a choice of cheese.  The biggest thing is the plethora of options they have for the burger.  You have the option of six different cheeses and about 30 different toppings.

We both got the "Semi-Serious" burger ($6.29), cooked medium-well, and decided to split a small order of onion rings.  Our food came in in a relatively short time.  Unfortunately, I had left the camera at home, so no pictures to go with these words.  The burger was not good.  It was overcooked and the bun was a little on the small side.  And the bun was not toasted.  I'm a big fan of toasted buns because it provides a little extra structural support if your condiments soak into the bun.  However, I will say that the onion rings were good.  They were thin and the batter they used was pretty decent.

We decided to see if some dessert would make us forget the burgers.  Not so much.  My grandmother ordered a hot fudge sundae and they did not use hot fudge.  They used plain old chocolate syrup and when informed of their error, they made no move to correct it.  I went with a caramel apple shake, which was pretty much vanilla ice cream with apple and caramel syrup.  It was good.  Nothing special, but it hit the spot.

Altogether, the bill came to $29.48.  Too much for the average food that was served to us.  Will I be back?  Most likely not.  After all, there's now a Chick-fil-A just across the parking lot.

I went bowling last week

The purpose of this post is not necessarily to tell you that I went bowling, but rather to tell you where I went bowling and my experience there.

 

Some friends and I went to the Coliseum to do some bowling.  I wouldn't get close to this place on the weekends because it's something like $4.00 per game.  However, on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday nights, games are only $2.00 each.  Figure in an extra $2.50 for shoe rental.  We found the bowling area to be pretty clean and not nearly as noisy as I expected it to be.  But the real kicker is the fact that there was no smoking allowed on the premises.  Having come home from the bowling alley on many occasions smelling like the smoker I wasn't, I can't emphasize how important this is to me.

 

From a pure bowling perspective, there was a little bit to be desired because while the lanes were oiled, the approach was not.  So if you're used to sliding on your approach (which many bowlers do), you'll be in for a rude awakening.  That was a disappointment for me (I use a five-step approach) and meant that I pretty much just stepped up to the line and released the ball in one slightly-less-than-fluid release.

 

But, it was the first time that I had been bowling in at least a year.  And I enjoyed myself.  And I hope to go back soon.  So if you're looking for a cheap mid-week activity, consider bowling at the Coliseum

Movie Review - Vantage Point

Over the weekend, I got out to the movies to see a film that had piqued my curiosity.  "Vantage Point" is a movie that centers around an assassination attempt on the President.  The title lends itself to the fact that movie examines the story from multiple perspectives, from an American tourist, to a terrorist, to the President himself.  Spoilers ahead.....

 

The film starts by showing the 23 minutes or so of action that the movie revolves around.  Then they rewind the scene and they start over, from a new perspective.  They continue to do this until you have a firm grasp on who the key players and what they did that brought them to this place. And once you have an idea on who everybody is, they start to expand the story and you see not only how all the players come together for the assassination attempt, but you see the different (and sometimes concurrent) paths that they take afterwards.

 

If you're a big fan of layers and details, you'll like this movie.  There's some big names in the movie (Susan Sarandon, Matthew Fox, Forest Whittaker, and Dennis Quaid), but they're all playing ensemble roles  The pacing of the movie is quick and there is a lot of attention paid to details.  I found myself comparing the various playbacks to see if certain details lined up (and they did).  And, there are some very unique twists that give the plot a little extra something over your run-of-the-mill action movies.  I'm giving this movie a "9," despite the fact there was no Indiana Jones trailer in front of it.

Is that Kosher with you?

Check out this article in today's Washington Post which talks about what's required of restaurants which choose to be designated as kosher.  Very interesting stuff..

Your Hair is Like a Flock of Goats

Friday night and Saturday morning, I was at the Everlasting Love Conference, that was put on by Song of Solomon Conferences.  The conference was hosted by LCBC, and it was led by Pastor Andy Quigley, from Dallas, TX.  It was very informative.  One of the things I learned this weekend was that the subject of this post passed as a really nice compliment back in Israel's formative years.  But I learned more than that.

The conference was broken down into five sessions.  Each session varied in length, but always included a worship set by Matt Goss.  There were probably 700-800 folks in attendance and it seemed to be 65% married couples and 35% singles.  The first session was on "The Art of Attraction and Dating."  In it, Andy talked about what to look for in a potential mate and what kind of standards you need to create.  The second session was all about "The Art of Intimacy."  It was the sermon you always wanted to hear, but you'll probably never hear it on a Sunday morning.  This quote summarizes this particular session:  

"Sex belongs to God, so God's people should have the best sex!"

The third session was on "The Art of Conflict."  In this session, Andy talked about the best way to handle conflict, not just in a marriage relationship, but in all your relationships.  He talked a lot about reconciliation and why it's so important.  The fourth session was all about romance and the role that plays over the life of your marriage.  The last session was all about commitment.  Specifically, what commitment means not only to your spouse, but to God.

I really enjoyed this conference.  There was some good information given and it was done in an easy-to-understand format.  The speaker was likeable and relatable (except for the fact that he was a Cowboys fan).  If you ever have the opportunity to attend this conference, I would recommend it.

Upcoming Conference

This weekend, I'm headed to the Everlasting Love conference.  The highly-respected Lackey attended this conference a couple of years ago and recommended that I should go if it ever came back to the area.  So I'm going and I'm looking forward to it.  The conference is put on by a ministry called Song of Solomon.  If you're in the area and don't have any other plans, perhaps you would like to consider attending.  Regardless, I will be posting a follow-up next week to recap the conference.  So stay tuned for that.

New Coach

My Washington Redskins have made their decision regarding the next head coach. They have hired Jim Zorn, the quarterback coach of the Seattle Seahawks. I am excited about the potential that he brings and what we'll be able to do with our new staff.

That is all.

Lent

Yesterday was the first day of Lent.  Over the past few years I have really started to try to make this period a focused time of reflection and prayer.  I make a point to fast from certain staples of my life (food or otherwise) and I just try to slow down and think.  I think about all manners of things, whether it be my blessings or my areas of opportunity or what God is doing in my life.  I should really be doing this all the time, but I don't do it as often as I should.

 

I attended the Ash Wednesday service at my church last night, and for the first time ever, they administered the "imposition of ashes."  That was a pretty big step for a church like mine (IMHO) and I'm glad they did it.  In addition, they will be publishing daily Lenten meditations on the church website.  If you're interested, you can find them here.

 

I hope that you will choose to use this period to reflect on and pray for the important things in your life.

A Plug for the MC Service and Missions Teams

Every year, the Agape Center sells a discount card that can be used at local business in the greater-Grantham area.  The card is good through 02/01/09 and proceeds from the sale of the card benefit the service and mission teams that Messiah College sends out through the Agape Center.  Check out some of the discounts:

 

Juice and Java - Buy any whole Sandwich or Wrap and get the second at half-price

Friday's - $5.00 off a purchase of $25.00 or more

Papa John's - Large Pizza, Buy One Get One Free

Subway - Buy one 6" sub and a medium drink and get another 6" sub free

Maggie Moo's - 20% off your total purchase

Pakha's Thai House - 10% off your total purchase

Cornerstone Coffeehouse - 10% off any hot beverage

El Rodeo - 10% off total purchase

 

There's a bunch more discounts as well.  The card costs $10.00 and for more information, you can contact the Agape Center at 766-2511, x7255.