Postponed Steak

So, as you are all tuning in to hear of the big plans that were hatched last night, you tune in for disappointment. Yes, the plans did not come to fruition. We were on our way somewhere that I had hoped to give me such a more interesting story. Alas, they were canceled at the very last minute.

I won't tell you were those plans led, as I would spoil the plans for tonight. Yup, there's the silver lining on the cloud. The plans were just postponed. Unfortunately for you, that means the update wont hit the 'net until Monday when I have my internet connection back.

John and I had plans to go...somewhere (you thought I was going to say something, didn't you). I was reviewing the plan with Gary and Tim at the office and they said that my driving directions were a bit off. There was a better way to get there. Gary asked what time we were supposed to be there and I responded about 6:30ish. He almost laughed at me. It was a couple minutes before five and he said that we should have left an hour ago if we had that time frame. Tim confirmed that our best bet would be to take the train. We'd have to switch lines a couple times and get onto a line that I'd never been on before. However, they said that we should be able to get there in the time alloted.

Well, off John and I tool down the road. We stop off at the hotel to change into some warmer, more comfortable clothes (it had rained pretty hard a couple hours ago and it was fairly cold outside). When we got to the train station, I paid for parking and we walked into the terminal. I get up to the counter when I can overhear John on the phone making assurances that we would be there, albeit late (as I usually am).

Seems the whole plan was postponed for tomorrow. Bah! So, John and I take the consolation prize of a steak at Outback. Sadly, the best steakhouse I've found out here. The service absolutely sucked at the bar. We were not even *actively* ignored. That would have been better, in my opinion. It's more like we were forgotten completely. Really sad as we were sitting right in front of the damned bartender. I started off with an Australian beer (Coopers) because the only thing they had on tap (I was told) was Budweiser and Fosters. Well, I'm not drinking either of those! John went with a Stella.

My buddy Marc loves Stella. He sings it's praises to me every chance I bring that beer up. I'm not especially thrilled with it, myself. It's OK. But, that's it. It's just OK. John seems to like it as well. So, I don't give him any crap about ordering it. Even though there are a number of different beers available here...

I asked for a Tooheys. Although advertised in the bar at Outback, they do not serve it. I am not amused. So, I move onto a Victoria Bitter before my food arrives. I have not had one of these since I was "down under" back in 1999. I remember it being...better. Good even. This is neither. But, it was completely worth it as it made the inattentive bartender have to go into the back cooler to get a couple bottles of it. We move to a table so as not to have to deal with that heartless wench any longer. Service improves.

The steak is as expected. Nothing fancy. In the States, this steak would be ::shrugs shoulders:: eh...passable. Here in the UK, it's a good steak. John apparently had one at the hotel last night with room service (I wasn't real hungry when we got back to the hotel and so waited until later to get a bite in the pub). He said that it looked like the cut of meat had been sat on by somebody and left there for several days. Yup, that's English steaks. Nothing like the mouth-watering, succulent gloriousness that can be had back home.

I polish off a Crown lager (also from Australia). Nothing to write home about...but, that obviously isn't stopping me :). During the last of the beers that I will consume here tonight we watch the end of the Bolton v Munich game. This had more injuries in it than most of the Ultimate Fighting Championships. Everyone was getting injured. I was sure they were going to have to add another 20 minutes of injury time to the game.

So, the plans were a little postponed. I said that there were exciting plans in the work for the night. I didn't lie...there were plans. I never said the plans would be guaranteed to be executed :). However, I did tell you that I wasn't going to count out beer and football.