Cranberry Margaritas
Pure deliciousness follows:
1.25c Cranberry Juice cocktail.5.c sugar
1.5c raw cranberries
.75c lime juice
.75c tequila
.5c triple sec
3c crushed ice Blend and serve
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.5.c sugar 1.5c raw cranberries .75c lime juice .75c tequila .5c triple sec 3c crushed ice Blend and serve HUGE prime rib-eyes I’ve been bantering with folks this morning about the prospect of a rail line running from Boise to Portland. There are some dissenters, of course (happy birthday, @daveredford), but it’s a solution I’d use within a few parameters: I’d want to pay around $100 (round trip) and I’d want to be in Portland in about 6 hours. In short, I’d want the rail ride to be roughly the same cost and time commitment as the drive. What are some pros/cons? It costs about the same as a car trip.Indeed, but I can’t work or sleep in my car if I’m driving. In fact, I’m one of those who can’t really work or sleep as a passenger in a car. Also, if I have to eat, “rest,” or stretch my legs, I have to stop. On a train, I can do all those things without stopping. It costs marginally less than a flight.A flight is about $150-270, depending on when you book. 50-170% isn’t exactly marginal. $100 is still too high.Really? If it costs about $80 or so (25mpg @ $2.50/gal), to drive or $150-270 to fly, why is $100 too much when I can actually use the time I have on a train? Six hours is a long time.My biggest complaint about driving has been that I have to give up two days to do it. I like the drive, but the time I give to make it is a deal-breaker. If I could use that time to work/eat/sleep/relax, that’s a big bonus. I find I can’t really work on a 1-hour flight. I don’t have enough time to really set up a work flow and manage my cranberry juice (or beer on Horizon/Alaska). I’d expect a rail trip to take about 6 hours between our two fair cities. If I were to fly, the time from airport to airport takes about 2-2.5 hours (security, baggage, flight, etc). If I REALLY need those 4 hours, I’ll fly for the extra $50. I rarely need those hours, though, especially on leisure travel. How do I get around once I’m there.You’re kidding, right? The same “problem” exists if you fly, and the solutions are the same: rent a car or take the MAX. OverallI wouldn’t take the train every time. If I could car pool, I would. If I needed to be in Portland at a certain time, I’d fly. But if I’d drive anyway (I like that drive!), I’d rather just take the train and have some usable hours. I’d pay a premium for that. I may have a new favorite burger joint, though the proprietor might take issue with that designation. The Idaho Potato Company is not a burger joint, but a fry joint that serves burgers on the side. After a story last night about how the company is being lawyered into rebranding, I decided it was time to try the spud sellers. Now, I’m no Mike Boss, but the food was outstanding! I had Idaho russet fries, since IFC is one of the only places in Idaho to serve grade A russets. The fries actually taste like…wait for it… potatoes! They’re cooked in peanut oil so they actually have some nutritional value. I went for the classic spud, but you can get sweet potato, white, Yukon Gold, even purple potato fries. They also have them cut four different ways from regular straight cut to curly. The sides ain’t bad either! I had a bacon cheese burger made with unfrozen beef, spring greens, pickled onions and a toasted bun. It was no joke!
Add on a happy hour with 2-for-1 beers and 2-for-1 fries with just a splash of wi-fi, and IFC is pretty legit! Maybe Beer & Blog will have to make a detour over there one of these weeks. A quick tweetup this afternoon overflowed what was already a packed house. They could also use one more fryer. Keeping a fryer hot enough with that many spuds flying through it is a tough feat for anyone, but they manage for now. Once football season fires up, they may have a little trouble keeping up. Now, to touch quickly on the Potato Commission’s decision to forbid IFC from using the term ‘Idaho Fry,’ it’s a mistake. I know a that in order to keep a trademark, its holder has to make a demonstrable effort to assert it. But it’s a single-store diner! The biggest FAIL, though, is that IFC doesn’t merely offer fries, it SHOWCASES them! Potatoes are a commodity, so it’s tough enough to keep Idaho Potato branding strong. But forbidding IFC from using the mark is the wrong way to go. Slap a giant “Grown in Idaho” logo in the window and call it a win! I had the priviledge of interviewing a couple of real entrepreneurs over the past week or so: Tony Schlengen of Wirestone and Brice Sloan of Sloan Security Fencing. I learned a LOT from these guys, but I two lessons stand out. First from Tony, I learned to go whaling, not fishing. Wirestone only serves Fortune 500 clients. Sure, there’s a long tail to be had, but there’s a lot to be said for landing the big fish. Tony put it to me this way
It’s a classic “work smarter not harder” lesson, but Tony put it into practice and is reaping the rewards of not only more money, but really interesting work. From Brice, I learned the classic “do whatever it takes” lesson over again. Following our interview, he asked how Open Access Press was coming along. I told him we have just begun our first rain-making session and admitted to being a little nervous about cold calling. Among other valuable advice, he told me a story of his first sales pitches with Sloan (I didn’t ask permission to share this story; I hope it’s OK, Brice!) Brice used to have a lisp, an especially unfortunate problem when your name is Brice Sloan. In addition, like most of us, he had a tendency to talk really fast when he was nervous, i.e., when he was on a sales call. Apparently it was so bad that a prospect once interrupted him to ask if Brice spoke English. So, what did he do? He used a southern accent when he made sales calls in order slow his speach! I about fell over laughing, but it was the “do whatever it takes” lesson all over again. Brice had to become Colonel Sanders to reach his customers. My thanks again to Tony and Brice. You guys are the real deal! I learned a lot and had a great time picking your brain. |
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