The first Restaurant Week of 2009 is complete in Washington, and Debbie and I decided to take part in it, visiting The Oval Room for a wonderful meal last Wednesday.

The Oval Room is a favorite of Senators and powerbrokers in Washington, and it's easy to see why. With a grand menu of fantastic choices, the fare was amazing.

Restaurant Week is a cooperation between local restaurants and OpenTable to provide discounted three-course meals (appetizer, main dish, and dessert) to residents who might not otherwise try out a particular restaurant. Many of the finest restaurants in the city participate, and Restaurant Week can be found in many different cities (like New York and Philadelphia). It happens twice a year.

Debbie and I enjoyed a meal that was absolutely amazing. Debbie enjoyed a beet dish, while I had shrimp chorizo (shrimp that had been pressed into what looked like chorizo sausages). Our second course consisted of a wonderful piece of salmon for Debbie, and Chilean Sea Bass for myself, both prepared with excellent sides and a great sauce. For the dessert course, Debbie enjoyed a candied pineapple with "sexy sugar" (we're still not sure what that is) and I had a chocolate brownie with Vietnamese coffee ice cream (which gets better as you eat more of it).

The entire meal cost around $100, when the gratuity was considered, which is far below the price for this particular restaurant, and the value of the meal we ate. Still, it was a great advertisement for the restaurant, as we'll most certainly be back for special occasions (and we might go if we're in the mood for some expensive but amazing drinks). In all, it was a great experience, and one I'm looking forward to again during the August Restaurant Week.

8:48 am | Comment (1) | Print | Categories: Washington, DC

See, everything went fine until Comcast's incompetent accountants got involved here in Washington.

I tweeted to the Comcast team that I was moving, and they got the move set up. With the exception of the need to drill a new hole in my wall, everything was great. The service worked, the tech was on time and professional, and everything was great.

I paid my Comcast bill today via credit card. And what do I get in my mail today? Another Comcast bill!

Huh?

I take a quick look and I'm not behind in my bills. Must be some mistake.

Nope.

I guess the people in the Comcast office figure that what people *really* want when they move is to pay TWO Comcast bills - one for their old place and one for their new place. And they really want a new account. Oh, and please bill them extra too. Really. Because we all have too much money.

It took me a couple minutes to figure out that they'd screwed up. My old account number was "09529 177521-02-1" and my new account number is "05929 177752-01-4" which made me wonder if it was a typo. Apparently it's not. Comcast expects me to pay for service from February 1st through February 28th - twice.

And this was going so well, too...

Update: ComcastBill from Twitter helped straighten this out early this week. The Comcast Twitter team is fantastic!

Updated at 2/11/2009 @ 10:09 am

11:44 pm | Comment (0) | Print | Categories: Comcast, Comcraptic

12:50 pm | Comment (3) | Print

So the Republicans want to threaten a filibuster on the stimulus package. Why not let them?

Let's get real: Democrats are riding high on election wins, people want the stimulus, and they are pretty much anti-Republican still after eight years of Bush. So let's call their bluff and make them filibuster the bill if they want to stop it.

That's exactly what the American people would loathe to see: Republicans grinding government to a halt, reading the phone book into the record, while thousands lose their jobs. If they played it right, the Democrats could look like the saviors of the economy while the Republicans stand in the doorway, blocking help for poor people. Yeah, that's the image the Republicans want to put forward.

Unfortunately Harry Reid doesn't seem to have a pair and would never force the Republicans to actually carry a cookbook up to the dais. If he did this would be easier. Eventually the Republican support would crack, and since it only takes two Senators in states where they have a 50% chance of losing next election (see Arlen Specter [R-PA]) the Republican caucus will crumble in about a day and a half.

My message: call their bluff, Senator Reid. Make them do it. Let them grind the government to a halt and embarrass themselves. You have everything to gain and nothing to lose.

10:36 am | Comment (2) | Print | Categories: Economics, Politics