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To market, to market

Published July 31, 2014 local , Madisonia 2 Comments

It is not an overstatement to say that I have been obsessed with the City’s plans for a public market and the plans for the Yahara Corridor, as it’s called. I was pretty interested in the former even before we moved to the corner of Busy and Busiest Street that You Can Live On in Madison, but I admit I wasn’t too aware of the latter. In fact, before moving to our current spot, I wasn’t even aware that the City had put in the Yahara River Bike Path that beautifully connects Tenney Park to the Capital City Trail and allows bikers and pedestrians to move between the East Johnson area and the Willy Street area without having to cross the busiest street in ~~America~~ Madison (or what I like to call “home”). Anyway, I’ve been devouring all of the planning materials and thanking my lucky stars for the Internet Age that allows me to do so from the quiet of my couch (seriously, it is pretty quiet). It’s been super fun to look at the plan and recommendations that were published in 1998 and see how it’s played out since then. It’s also been great to see the most recent (I think) proposals for the area. And now, with the public market plan? I mean, it’s almost too much for this city planning-phile to handle.

With regard to the public market, it’s super interesting to me to compare this initial (I think) analysis done in 2010, which advocated for placing the market downtown, with the current version. As I now know with my experience on the Transportation and Parking committee, city staff has been saying that the Government East parking garage – the one on Doty next to the Great Dane – is in desperate need of help. Thus, it made some sense to think about redoing the whole space* and including a market. But, times have changed since then and, perhaps most significantly, the mayor has changed since then and now the collective wisdom says that downtown has enough going for it and maybe we should think about helping out other, slightly-less-awesome areas of the City. It was then with great excitement that I heard from our realtor (after we had moved in) that the City was considering putting the public market near us. Whoah. Had our lemon of a house just turned into a savvy buy? JK. It’s not a lemon nor a savvy buy. It’s a great house that has some issues and that will continue to sit on the busiest street in ~~America~~ Madison. There were still a lot of hurdles to cross, but I followed the stories on the market more closely now. I annoyed all of my friends with my incessant talk that it just made good, honest sense to put that damn market by us. It just did. While I didn’t attend any of the four public meetings on thoughts on location, I did weigh in online with a comment on why I thought a spot by the Yahara would be great. I was pleasantly surprised when another person weighed in online to say how much s/he thought my comment was great; I was downright smitten when I saw that the final report included a bar graph representing the online comments. My voice was heard! Sorta. Anyway, then on Tuesday afternoon, I heard the news that the analysis by the professionals had been finished and that their recommendation was – WAIT FOR IT – the busiest street in ~~America~~ Madison!! Holy bananas was I excited. Deep breaths, Kate: DEEP. BREATHS. There was still so much more to this. The next morning, though, I woke up to an alert on my phone (and a text message from Wendolyn) telling me that the committee overseeing this whole fun (the Local Food Committee, which I didn’t know existed previously) unanimously voted for the East Wash site. [Now, let me just give an aside here: I think all three of the final spots made a lot of sense for all sorts of reasons. I totally understand that I am biased given my home base. I still think, though, that the East Wash site makes the most sense for this project at this time. I do hope that the other two sites are next in line for some sweet redevelopment because both the south side and the north side of the city are well-deserving of some City-funded love.] HOORAY. I was elated! Upon seeing the alert, I screamed, “YES!” in a very dramatic way that would indicate to anyone unlucky enough to have heard me that I had personally prevailed in some sort of Herculean battle of the mind and body. It was a little much, but dammit if I wasn’t excited.

So, what’s next? I think this is a good indication of where the next month will take us and I’m hopeful that this project can now get physically underway. Of course, there are still several obstacles and, of course, it could be blocked for a number of reasons. But. But. But, I’m still taking this as very good news. And if this project is even half as awesome as I think it will be, that assessor who asked me, “Did you look at any other houses?” will be singing a different tune. Well, maybe not, but I will be.

*Don’t get me started on Judge Doyle Square. Actually, you can if you want because I really have no idea what to think about the whole thing and that’s about the extent of my ability to talk about it. Do we need another hotel? No clue. Do we need parking? Yeah, probably. Would it be cool to have more retail kitty-corner from my office? Well, duh. Sounds awfully expensive, though. I’m just glad I don’t need to make a decision on the ultimate plan. Sometimes I realize those poor Council members aren’t really paid enough.

The final countdown

Published July 11, 2014 local , Madisonia , toddler stuff 3 Comments

As our days with Gertie are dwindling to just a couple, I decided that I needed more terror in my life. So, last night we went to La Fete de Marquette, which has returned to the vastly improved Central Park, just a few blocks from our new abode. What was so scary about the festival?

Molly on her first Ferris wheel ride, that’s what. Oy vey. I couldn’t get more pics because (a) my phone keeps telling me it’s at photo capacity (note to self: do something about that) and (b) everytime I looked at them, I went weak in the knees and started to cry. Literally, I cried. Please come down, I internally shouted. But Molly? Grinning from ear to ear and, when Aaron told her the ride was ending and they’d have to get off, shouted, “No!!!”

A very unhappy fathers’ day brunch

Published June 15, 2014 bling blog , craptastic treatment , customer service , Madisonia , toddler stuff 6 Comments
Tags: customer service, Tex Tubb's

Ugh. What a disappointment.

Last December, I signed AO up for a sausage-making class in Chicago scheduled for the Saturday of Fathers’ Day weekend. I had thought we’d all make a weekend of it, but that was before we moved into the house that’s needed a lot of money spent on it, before the GAOOG generation set the date for her wedding and before we adopted a crazy dog. So, AO went it alone and trekked solo back & forth to Chicago on Saturday to make sausage. Of course Sunday, not Saturday, was Fathers’ Day, so I still felt we needed to do something to mark the occasion, but we’ve both been spent and overwhelmed by the house, the dog & the 2-year old, so I knew we weren’t up for much. Neighborhood brunch seemed doable and pleasant and something we’d been meaning to do for awhile. We decided on Tex Tubb’s Taco Palace, which is just a few blocks away. Neither of us had been in years and while we both remembered the food being kinda meh, we decided to give it a go. Boy, were we wrong.

The food, once I got some, was fairly delicious. The service and organization? Just shy of a fiasco. When we walked in, we were greeted rather indifferently by a hostess who put us at a table with menus and crayons. Crayons are always a nice touch, so despite the laissez faire attitude, I was optimistic. But then we were left to ourselves for a significant amount of time. Tick, tock. No water, no coffee, no server. People around us were served, coffees were refilled, food was delivered, people were asked if everything was going ok. We were not spoken to. Tick. Tock. I decided I needed to go ask the indifferent hostess what was going on. I was so thirsty and needed coffee! While the place had lots of other patrons, there were also many empty tables so I didn’t feel like it was a “Argh, we’re overwhelmed, please be patient” situation. It felt like we were in no man’s land server-wise. It started to feel very weird. And with a 2-year old, I always feel like we’re on borrowed time, so I decided action needed to be taken. So, I went back up to the front and asked the indifferent hostess. She asked me where we were sitting. I told her we were in the other room, along the back wall. She needed me to be more specific. Honestly, it’s not that big of a place and everyone else in the room had a server. I wanted to say, “At the table with no food, water or a server,” but instead told her it was the middle table. A short time later, a very nice woman with red hair brought us two waters (sorry, Molly) and told us our server would be with us shortly. After that, our server came by – without explanation or apology – and asked us if we wanted anything to drink. We did. We also ordered breakfast. Huevos rancheros for AO, migas sans sour cream for me & an egg in a slice of Madison Sourdough toast with a slice of bacon for Bear. All three dishes are served with breakfast potatoes.

And then we waited. It took awhile to get our coffees because, apparently, the pot ran out and they needed to brew more. Ok, I thought, at least they explained themselves. But odd. I mean, they serve breakfast starting at 8. It was 10ish. Seemed like things should be well-oiled by that time. Anyway, we keep waiting. Eventually, a third server brought AO’s huevos rancheros, but with rice & beans instead of potatoes (no explanation given) and Bear’s egg in toast with a small bowl of potatoes and no bacon (no explanation given). The server asked me if I had ordered anything. I told her, why yes, I had. “Oh, the migas!” she said. She then left us and we never saw her again. I asked AO & Molly to start eating. Why wait? It’ll be here soon. Uh, no. More than five minutes go by when I realized no one is coming back. Our server isn’t the least bit interested in us and neither is anyone else. I trudge back to the front (again) and ask if I’m going to be served. I almost started to cry because this was getting so embarrassing and felt like it was deliberate. I’d recently heard a This American Life episode in which David Sedaris tells Ira that he observes people being treated badly or ignored in restaurants and then makes fun of them in his stories (he was talking about how it took him a very long time to go out to eat alone because he feared he’d be ignored and end up the subject of a David Sedaris-esque story in someone else’s life). I worried this was happening to me. I ask the redhead and the hostess – who were together – about my meal and Bear’s bacon. The hostess pretty much immediately left to go into the kitchen. The kind redhead asked what I ordered and after I tell her, says, strangely, “Well, this is embarrassing, but we ran out of breakfast potatoes. Would you like sweet potato fries?” What? Aside from the fact that I never want sweet potato fries, what does this have to do with my migas? At that point, I didn’t even remember potatoes were supposed to come with the migas. I. Just. Want. Eggs. And Molly’s bacon. She asked if rice & beans would be ok instead. Sure. I stumbled back to the table, confused. After I relayed the perplexing explanation to AO, he said, “So, for the huevos rancheros, they just automatically subbed out the potatoes for the rice and beans I got, but they were totally stumped on how to handle the migas?” Argh. A short time later, the nice redhead came over to tell me that they would comp the cost of the migas. Which still hadn’t arrived. We ask for more coffee, though at this point I notice the bottom of my cup is full of coffee grounds. This request, too, is a production because the coffee mugs apparently have to be taken elsewhere to be refilled. There’s no portable pot to bring around. Coffee is then returned to us.

And still we wait. Molly is done with her breakfast, and AO is pushing things around his plate so I will still have someone to eat with if those eggs ever do come. Eventually, they arrive. And a sour creamy thing is in abundance on my plate. AO swiftly grabs my plate to remove the offending white stuff. The eggs, though, they’re tasty, but I’m feeling rushed because we’ve been there over an hour and we have a two-year old with us. Thankfully, Molly’s bacon also arrived (and then some – three strips instead of one), which bought us a little more time out of her.

All in all, the food was great, but the service ruined the whole thing. You see, I’m pretty forgiving. Especially when it comes to service mix ups. All I need is a sincere apology. And maybe an explanation. I’ve waited tables. At a Food Fight restaurant, no less! And I made mistakes. And I apologized and did my best to make up for it. I make mistakes every day: at work, with Molly, with AO, with the dog, with strangers, with the universe. Heck, I’m probably making a mistake right now. I don’t think I ask too much. Yesterday, though, Tex Tubb’s asked too much of me. And it didn’t feel good.

Closing time

Published April 18, 2014 home improvements , local , Madisonia 2 Comments

It’s been more than nine years since my first and only house closing (I’m not counting all the refinancing that’s been done) and today – gasp! as long as everything goes according to plan – marks the first time I’ve ever sold a house! That’s right, loyal readers, at 2 p.m. today, we sell the only home I’ve ever owned and at 3 p.m., we buy our first single-family, more-than-one-bedroom, backyard-having, free-standing forever home. At least that’s the idea. Wish us luck?

Is there anyone in the world who doesn’t like a dumpling?

Published April 15, 2014 local , Madisonia 2 Comments

For whatever reason, today has been particularly hard. So, to distract myself from my grief, I asked AO to go on a walk with me at lunch. I wanted to walk down to the furniture store on West Wash in the hopes of finding all of the perfect pieces to fill up our new home. That didn’t happen, but I do like the shop (and am excited about the new consignment companion shop they’re in the process of opening) and the walk was nice. On the way back up the hill to work, I suggested we take a detour and check out Paul’s Pel’meni restaurant that we always talk about going to, but never do. It was sort of a strange choice for me because I ate AO’s homemade pelmeni the night before. But, really, who could ever eat enough dumplings? Actually, at this very moment, I’ll say that I am dumpling-sated. Maybe even saturated. These dumplings are taste-a-licious, though, and I highly suggest you get over there and get yourself some.

Very simple menu. Do you want meat or potatoes or both? Obviously, both is the right answer. Do you want the works? If you’re me, who is boring, you don’t chance it, but you sample AO’s (sans sour cream) instead. If you’re everyone else in the world, you probably do the works.