A Review and Random Events

Last night I went to one of Greensboro's favorite hole-in-the-wall Italian joints, Giovanni's. The ladies and I waltzed in after a baseball game at school, in which one of my students hit one out of the park, and another hit a double, followed by stealing home (this is par for the course for these boys). Needless to say, we were leading 12-1 when we left in the 4th inning. Anyway, so Giovanni's. I have heard a lot about this place as a good singles' kind of hang out. The atmosphere is nice, and mirrors along the back wall make the restaurant look freakin' huge. We took one look at the menu and nearly walked out because the price was outrageously expensive. We're talking like $30 for an ordinary Italian entre. So we found the $12 basic pasta dishes and found something palatable on there. However, the Penne Rustica listed traditional and not-so-traditional ingredients, namely placenta. Yes, placenta. I couldn't let this go and asked the waitress if my eyes were deceiving me. Somehow, it was supposed to be "piccata." Not sure how the typo got that out of control.

Anyway, the service at this place was terrible. Our waitress never came by to refill our glasses or ask if we wanted bread while we were waiting; meanwhile, a group of people who got seated 20 minutes after us got bread. Not sure how that works. The dipping sauce for the bread (when we finally got it) was a hodgepodge - all on one plate. They had oil, balsamic vinegar, garlic, herbs, and parmesan cheese all globbed together. It was neither pretty nor conducive to dipping. We got our meals a few minutes after we got our bread. And they were just ok - nothing special or unique at all. And my salad and antipasta came out with the meal. The waitress said, "I brought them out with the meal because I figured you didn't want to eat while the others didn't have anything." I wanted to say, "Why don't you let me be the judge of that?" One of my friends was charged $2 extra than what the menu said her meal should cost, and another friend paid $8 for an ordinary piece of chocolate cake. We were all nonplussed by the entire experience. As we were leaving, one of the managers asked us if we enjoyed the food, to which I replied, "It was alright." "Just alright?" "Yes, just alright." And we left.

In other news, I spent a rather productive afternoon grading at Holly's in Bur-vegas. On the way home, I had a little flirting game with a car-full of rather good-looking guys (who started it, by the way). They waved at me, and I waved back. Then they smiled and stared, and I laughed. The next time they passed me, the guys on the right side of the car flexed their muscles for me. I was rolling. I love it when people make asses out of themselves for a little flirtation.

When I got home, I heard fire truck sirens behind me as I pulled into a parking space. The fire truck zoomed around the corner and promptly hooked up to a hydrant, while another truck pulled up from a different direction. There are no buildings aflame, to the best of my curious-bystander knowledge, but I saw some smoke coming from the woods, which completely surround us. I don't think it should be too hard to handle, especially since we've had so much rain lately. Will let you know if my place burns down.