 December 18, 2010 - 2:08pm | Ah back to SF there was a time and in alot of places still is a place where a restaraunt did not have any servers. They were called Automats and pretty simple. More automats put the food in vending style machines... Fixed that for ya. And quite frankly, the future scares me in that regard. Not so much for employment means, but for culinary means. The thought of actually paying for powdered food heated in a microwave makes my stomach churn more than food poisoning ever could accomplish... It reminds me of a line from one of the old Marvel Star Wars comics. Two brothers are plotting against Vader, one is an officer commanding a Star Destroyer and another runs an intergalactic merchant clan or something like that. They're discussing plots over dinner, the officer is talking down to the merchant brother saying "Your barbaric nature precedes you. Why anyone would waste their time with animal meat when science provides something as nurturing as food paste is beyond me." Yeah, that's what I'm talking about..."food paste". I just can't get excited about that idea, I'll take the animal meat, prepped and served by humans! (P.S. the aforementioned Pizza Hut is one or two steps away from becoming "Food Paste Hut". Their product, still prepared by humans, already resembles paste...) people tell their waiters things they'd never tell their bartenders.... Not to one up that, but people SHOW their Room Service waiters things they'd never show their regular waiters and bartenders. Room Service: it's not just a job, it's an adventure. P.S. I missed the part last night about "right to work" states. Nevada is one of them, but Las Vegas has a strong union presence. The union I belong to is over 60,000 strong, at least before the recession hit it was over 60K. There are a few non-union houses on the Strip, well, it's down to two now but I used to work at one of them. And I can honestly say there is hardly any difference in working at one over the other (aside from the union benefits anyways). |
.jpg "Red's picture") December 18, 2010 - 2:23pm | I'm going out of the box (and country) here and saying that back when I used to live in Tokyo, I rather liked the coffee that came out of the vending machines on the street. And in the winter, you could buy two cans of coffee and use them in your coat pockets to keep your hands warm. http://www.dgsociety.com/ Bring out yer dead games!  http://www.20thcenturygeek.com Gaming and geekdom of the last millennium! |
 December 18, 2010 - 3:15pm | Fixed that for ya. And quite frankly, the future scares me in that regard. Not so much for employment means, but for culinary means. The thought of actually paying for powdered food heated in a microwave makes my stomach churn more than food poisoning ever could accomplish... One word. MacDonald's. That being said, I agree with you. Automation in food service doesn't have to mean food paste nuked in the microwave, but that's the direction it will go, simply because hoarded gold(and hoarded power) is valued more in our society than food and cheer and song. On the other hand, not all Pizza Huts have gone the way of Food Paste Hut, least not yet. The fare at the Wagoner Pizza Hut is halfway decent(though the sweet tea tastes like it's been in the urn since Bob Willis and the Texas Playboys last performed....)and, sometimes, even tasty, like food should be. Naturally, of course, their only waitstaff are teenage females with chest pimples showing prominently through tight T-shirts, all for the benefit of old men too cheap to frequent the...ah, night spots, in downtown Tulsa..... That being said,I direct my fellow Frontiersmen to http://marshallbrain.com/manna1.htm, where you can read at least the first chapter of the novel Manna, which shows pretty clearly how automation will be misused in the food service industry. Ah, I see, a second case of one law for Vegas(for all intents and purposes), and another for Nevada. @Red Must have some pretty damn good vending machines in Tokyo. Vending machine coffee here has only ever tasted like mud. " 'Beware the Beast, Man, for he is the Devil's pawn. Alone among God's primates, he kills for sport, for lust, for greed. Yea, he will murder his brother to possess his brother's land. Let him not breed in great numbers, for he will make a desert of his home and yours. Shun him; drive him back into his jungle lair, for he is the harbinger of death." |
 December 18, 2010 - 6:27pm | Shadow Shack mentioned. Yeah, that's what I'm talking about..."food paste". I just can't get excited about that idea, I'll take the animal meat, prepped and served by humans! (P.S. the aforementioned But for our futuristic friends we have cloning. No not whole creature living being cloning but the cloning in protien vats of parts of animals for comsumption. Think Black Angus Beef hunches endlessly expanded. Same thing could work for fruits. If you don't mind every strawberry looking exactly the same. Sounds like a great job but where did you say we had to go? |
December 18, 2010 - 6:56pm | Derr, I completely forgot about cloning. Now, what would PETA think of cloned hamburgers? It's not as if any animals were harmed in the process.... " 'Beware the Beast, Man, for he is the Devil's pawn. Alone among God's primates, he kills for sport, for lust, for greed. Yea, he will murder his brother to possess his brother's land. Let him not breed in great numbers, for he will make a desert of his home and yours. Shun him; drive him back into his jungle lair, for he is the harbinger of death." |
December 19, 2010 - 3:44am | Must have some pretty damn good vending machines in Tokyo. Vending machine coffee here has only ever tasted like mud. Not to be a smart-azz, but land is pretty rare in Japan. Moreso for farmland, and when there is farmland it is used to cultivate rice. Coffee beans just don't exist there. Given the choice between no coffee and vending machine coffee...if you're jonesing for it enough the latter might actually be pretty good. But for our futuristic friends we have cloning. No not whole creature living being cloning but the cloning in protien vats of parts of animals for comsumption. Think Black Angus Beef hunches endlessly expanded. Same thing could work for fruits. If you don't mind every strawberry looking exactly the same. Sounds too much like synthetic heroin. Too easy to mess with the formula, make it more "right" or, most likely, more wrong. And considering how cloning would all but mandate government regulation...I'm guessing I might enjoy synthetic heroin more (at least I'd have the delusion of being satisfied  ).Now, what would PETA think of cloned hamburgers? It's not as if any animals were harmed in the process.... The same thing they think about current hamburgers. You still have to kill one cow in order to clone its ground beef...PETA doesn't want any cows killed. One is still too much. Instead they want us to kill vegetables, which only hacks off the tree-huggers. Tree-huggers tend to resort to violence, PETA tends to be pacifists. Besides, vegetables are what food eats --- in the end, the tree-huggers kill the cows for eating their vegetables, PETA gets hacked off, the tree-huggers whack PETA, the slaughterhouses collect already-dead cows to process, and we all win. |
December 19, 2010 - 5:26am | Shadow Shachk Says "Sounds too much like synthetic heroin. Too easy to mess with the formula, make it more "right"" Well of course they are going to make it more right. Each culture would want their meat differently prepared spiced or even "fed" so they would grow it differently. Note I said culture not race. Yazirians might be Yazirians but each clan would have their own recipes. Oh and don't forget that economic conditions would change things too. Beef is number one in America because of all the open land. BUT the most eaten meat in the world is actually Goat meat (don't know the pleasant name for it). Given all the races and subcultures menus would be truly gigantic. Anyone got a copy of the Hitchhiker's Guide to help? Sounds like a great job but where did you say we had to go? |
December 19, 2010 - 10:34am | Must have some pretty damn good vending machines in Tokyo. Vending machine coffee here has only ever tasted like mud. Not to be a smart-azz, but land is pretty rare in Japan. Moreso for farmland, and when there is farmland it is used to cultivate rice. Coffee beans just don't exist there. Given the choice between no coffee and vending machine coffee...if you're jonesing for it enough the latter might actually be pretty good. Like almost everything else, they have to import their coffee. Most of Japan's non-rice produce(including beer), and almost all of its beef come from the northern island of Hokkiado(sp), whose prefecture capital of Sapporo gives the name to one of its most famous brands of beer. BTW, I'd rather do with no coffee than vending machine coffee. Or I'd just smuggle three pounds of Maxwell House into the country. Sounds too much like synthetic heroin. Too easy to mess with the formula, make it more "right" or, most likely, more wrong. And considering how cloning would all but mandate government regulation...I'm guessing I might enjoy synthetic heroin more (at least I'd have the delusion of being satisfied ).That can(and is)said of pretty much anything you eat, though. Frankenfood is here, whether we like it or not. But, yeah, bioteching our eats is going to mean more government regulation, but, then again, so would synthetic heroin. The same thing they think about current hamburgers. You still have to kill one cow in order to clone its ground beef...PETA doesn't want any cows killed. One is still too much. Actually, you don't have to kill the cow to clone more beef(or milk, for that matter), just get a cell sample(blood, hair, stomach lining)every once in a while, and Elsie can go on living a full life peddling Borden products. Instead they want us to kill vegetables, which only hacks off the tree-huggers. Tree-huggers tend to resort to violence, PETA tends to be pacifists. Besides, vegetables are what food eats --- in the end, the tree-huggers kill the cows for eating their vegetables, PETA gets hacked off, the tree-huggers whack PETA, the slaughterhouses collect already-dead cows to process, and we all win. Any solution which leads to more beef and less AR people and shrubbies is good enough for me. " 'Beware the Beast, Man, for he is the Devil's pawn. Alone among God's primates, he kills for sport, for lust, for greed. Yea, he will murder his brother to possess his brother's land. Let him not breed in great numbers, for he will make a desert of his home and yours. Shun him; drive him back into his jungle lair, for he is the harbinger of death." |
December 19, 2010 - 10:37am | Shadow Shachk Says "Sounds too much like synthetic heroin. Too easy to mess with the formula, make it more "right"" Well of course they are going to make it more right. Each culture would want their meat differently prepared spiced or even "fed" so they would grow it differently. Note I said culture not race. Yazirians might be Yazirians but each clan would have their own recipes. Oh and don't forget that economic conditions would change things too. Beef is number one in America because of all the open land. BUT the most eaten meat in the world is actually Goat meat (don't know the pleasant name for it). Given all the races and subcultures menus would be truly gigantic. Anyone got a copy of the Hitchhiker's Guide to help? I love my steak, but barbecued goat is good too. Plus, you can breed goats. Can't breed lawn mowers.  " 'Beware the Beast, Man, for he is the Devil's pawn. Alone among God's primates, he kills for sport, for lust, for greed. Yea, he will murder his brother to possess his brother's land. Let him not breed in great numbers, for he will make a desert of his home and yours. Shun him; drive him back into his jungle lair, for he is the harbinger of death." |
December 19, 2010 - 2:19pm | But, yeah, bioteching our eats is going to mean more government regulation, but, then again, so would synthetic heroin. Government doesn't regulate heroin, they just make it illegal. So if you want to enjoy it, a few back-room deals are in order and you can have it how you want it. Long live the future beef bootleggers! |
December 19, 2010 - 2:54pm | Found it Goat meat is called Chevron Sounds like a great job but where did you say we had to go? |
December 19, 2010 - 3:43pm | Chevron?! No wonder goat meat gives you gas. " 'Beware the Beast, Man, for he is the Devil's pawn. Alone among God's primates, he kills for sport, for lust, for greed. Yea, he will murder his brother to possess his brother's land. Let him not breed in great numbers, for he will make a desert of his home and yours. Shun him; drive him back into his jungle lair, for he is the harbinger of death." |
December 20, 2010 - 2:15am | <rimshot> |
December 21, 2010 - 2:59am | It was there waiting. I couldn't resist. " 'Beware the Beast, Man, for he is the Devil's pawn. Alone among God's primates, he kills for sport, for lust, for greed. Yea, he will murder his brother to possess his brother's land. Let him not breed in great numbers, for he will make a desert of his home and yours. Shun him; drive him back into his jungle lair, for he is the harbinger of death." |
 August 9, 2020 - 4:46am | Met a woman "on line". We started chatting while I was at work and talking by phone after work but couldn't tear ourselves away from each other over the phone such that by 2:30 am I suggested we meet at the Dennys half way between our two houses. Why Denny's? Its absolutely attrocious but its the only thing open in my state at 2:30 am. Long story short it was love at first sight, married that woman and she's the love of my life. I'll say Dennys even if the IHOP is cleaner. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
August 14, 2020 - 5:22pm | My shift doesn't permit me to wake up early enough for breakfast. Out here we have Blueberry Hill restaraunts that simply mop their floors with Denny's & IHOP.
Back in my "intestines of iron" college days, I found that Denny's had cuter waitresses with skirts compared to IHOP's baggy pants and apron servers...so that's how I determined which one I'd frequent. I can amend my answer now after ten years. Blueberry Hill has two out of three restaraunts open 24 hours, and I work day shift now so the third is also an option. That said, between the two choices I can now replace Denny's with IHOP's hours too. And Denny's servers are wearing baggy pants & aprons now, so even my former younger self can drop that answer too! |
