A post in which I go out with the boys

I made good progress at work today.  I actually finished up that huge Canadian account - well the break-down on the big one anyway.  Now there is just the rest of the six related accounts to process, and the rest of the write-off.  But I was glad to get that big'un done.

I decided to go to the Thursday dinner night tonight with the guys.  It was at a place called The Trappe Door in downtown.  Having looked at the menu and hearing a rave review from one of the women at work, I was pretty stoked about going. 

I was there a bit early and found free princess parking (a rarity downtown) and went in to wait.  Lee and Joel were already there, so I talked to them while we waited.  There was drama a-brewin'.  Bill was out of town, so I figured John wouldn't come, but in he walked. That wouldn't have been a problem, but Jake was coming too - yikes.  These were the three involved in the big internet drama last week.  Fortunately, John is less overtly dramatic than Bill - John is sneaky, but wouldn't cause a scene.  Unfortunately, as it turned out during the seating shuffle, Jake and Bill ended up sitting right next to each other.  I offered to change places with John, but he turned me down.  Oh well.

I did try to talk to John, but I had Todd on my other side and I hadn't seen him in a while.  I had a great time at the dinner, and if it was awkward between John and Jake, they were quiet about it.  The company was great.  I can't say the same for the food.  Having heard the rave from the woman at work, I had high expectations.  I will say that the other people's food looked better than mine.  It's hard to eat vegetarian Irish food.  Logan had the fish and chips which looked fabulous, and Brian had a crab and blue cheese 'fondue' that while being light on the blue cheese (and about as Irish as a stir-fry) was delicious.  The fries were excellent, but the 'flavored mayonaise' which was served with the, and which had been praised, was a distinct let-down for yours truly.  They were either bland or odd. 

I had an bowl of pasta that was under-dressed (and under mushroomed for that matter).  I also had a beer chosen (with help from the hunk-a-licious heavily bearded waiter) from the bewildering multi-paged book of choices (the beer and wine list was much more extensive than the menu).  The beer was good.  It wasn't great, but it was good.  Logan had a cherry beer that was amazing - so again, I just ordered the wrong thing.  For this meal, I paid $30.  I could easily have prepared the same meal for four for that price, the pasta would have had more sauce, and it would have been better.  I could easily have had as good a meal at Applebee's.  Seriously. 

But of course the reason that you go isn't for the food, it's for the company, and I really enjoyed seeing all the guys.  I really had a good time.  I just think about these things more now with money being as tight as it is.  It really pisses me off to buy a meal and pay the premium when I could have made something better and cheaper.  It didn't help that I knew there was a gorgeously delicious mushroom hoagie available cheaper, right next door at Barley's.