Macaroni Grill is a Strange Experience

Friday night, Johnnie Does and a male friend (both are straight) got together to share a meal and get caught up on recent happenings in our lives. We decided to break bread at the Macaroni Grill. I use the straight term as my co-worker made a comment that Macaroni Grill is an odd option for a couple of fellas to grab dinner.  He wasn’t wrong.  Some background on Macaroni Grill, it’s an Italian chain that is a rival with Olive Garden.  It offers typical Italian faire, here is the review and my commentary.

Peasant bread

Ambiance:  It has a cool, wine cellar/Italian castle vibe to it.  It’s a dark place, but that’s ok. It seems like a “take a girl out on a date prior to prom place.”  They place a white piece of butcher paper over the table to simulate a white tablecloth dining experience, this was cool.  For a typical table, if you ordered wine, they draw a glass on your table, and after placing the wine on the table, you keep track of your glasses.  I would give it a 6.5/10 as our table had no butcher paper and while the place was basically empty it seemed we were an afterthought.  At 7:30 mind you, closing time is 9.

Create your own pasta #1

Food:  As I mentioned, its classic Italian faire; pasta, fish, steak, ravioli and the like.  The chain 86’d its pizza during Covid for who knows what reason as they have a fired pizza oven in the kitchen.  We both had create your own pasta, you get a choice of noodles, sauce, you pick 3 veggie/type toppings, and meat if you would like it.  You also get a loaf of “peasant bread” and oil and balsamic to dip it in.  Overall, I give the food selection 6.1/10.

Create your own pasta #2

Overall:  It’s a chain, and I have blistering commentary at the bottom here.  The open concept kitchen was cool, the décor was nice, but the menu was just ok.  It’s a typical chain, and as I mentioned, it’s a “take your date there prior to the dance” place.  6.3/10.

Scalding hot-take commentary:  Your experience may vary, but mine was bizarre.  The hostess seemed more interested in texting on her phone than trying to seat us.  We were seated at a barely made-up table.  Our waiter seemed pretty off, like maybe he had a hit or two on the devil’s lettuce during his break.  We placed our order, and he almost immediately came back with our food, like disturbingly quickly.  My friend’s order was perfect, mine was served sans meatballs.  When I made comment, I was told they are there.  Okay, I guess I’ll dig around.  When I confirmed their absence, the waiter ran the whole plate back to the kitchen to have the applicable 4 meat balls tossed on the plate.  Not a big deal, but I mean where is the quality control?  Also, no offer of parmesan cheese!? I figured the waiter likely forgot, or got the munchies and ate it all.  Also, there was a wild move with an employee walking around serenading every single table.  I would have had him more like a “for hire” guy because he just kept walking around the store.  Kind bizarre actually, like you could serenade a table for tips, but oh well.  Oh, and in addition, at the top of the bill, a $2 inflation fee?  F*** outta here!  Make Biden pay it, his dementia laden a** caused this.  The only thing I want to see inflated are Jen Aniston’s tots……okay that’s it, Troll. Quit photo bombing my post.

It’s not fair, but Macaroni Grill is in a lot of trouble as a chain, they only have 41 locations left nation-wide.  They challenged Olive Garden mocking their unlimited salad in an ad, but yikes.  The chain has been sold more times than Troll changes his underwear.  Most recently, in 2015 Red Rock Capital bought the whole chain for 8 million.  The chain filed for BK protection in 2017 and is struggling badly today.  If you have a gift card, use it.

Final note:  I did describe this place to the Blog Father as a poor man’s Olive Garden but it costs more.

Avoid.

Johnnie Does

Johnnie Does:  Nick the Greek

We are back, Covid is declared over….er I mean Putin invaded Ukraine.  But anyways here we go with food reviews again!  Blog Father tripled our salary so we will get these more often.

A new place opened in Elk Grove near the Costco called “Nick the Greek” we love Greek people and Greek food on this blog so here we go.

Ambiance:  It’s a typical fast casual (order at counter, be seated, food brought to you place).  Lots of décor and an outdoor eating area.  Its new, and trendy, but very small.  Think like a Chipotle but smaller.  You can watch the cook crew make/assemble the meals.  Overall, it’s a cool concept 7.2/10

Food:  Typical Greek faire, Gyros, kabobs, souvlaki, bowls, and sides.  Basically, it reminded me of Ariana’s.  I went with the chicken gyro pita, fries and a coke.  This meal sets you back about $15.  The fries I chose were the regular fries, they came with sea salt and herbs.  You also could choose Greek fries, which include feta cheese, or Nick’s fries which include meat, garlic and spicy yogurt.   The chicken gyro pita was solid, it was quite large, and I got a very generous portion of chicken.  I also thought the fries were a generous portion.  A patron next to me got a chicken kabob plate over rice, which I also thought looked great.  Call it 8.7/10.

Overall:  It’s a small regional chain. I learned that they have shops in Roseville and Davis among other locations.  I hope they make it and wish them well.  They were very busy since it was opening weekend, and they had quite a crew working there.  The owner was greeting folks at the door and explaining the menu, I thought this is a needed touchpoint.  Some folks are not as cultured as others and if the menu’s not familiar to them it could cause confusion and a back-up at the order kiosk.  Solid 8.3/10.  We will be back.

Johnnie Does

Is Sports Allegiance the new “politics or religion?”

I came across this article today, I’ll summarize.  A SF 49er fan was beaten to within inches of his life (as of writing) at last weekend’s SF vs LA Rams football game.  He is in a coma, fighting for his life.  Luna owns a restaurant in Oakland and traveled for the game to see his team play in brand new SoFi stadium, the home of the Los Angeles Rams.  The following is from the LA Times article.

“Police are investigating the apparent beating of a San Francisco 49ers fan found severely injured in the parking lot of SoFi Stadium during Sunday’s NFC championship game against the Rams.

Daniel Luna, a restaurant owner from Oakland, remains hospitalized at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center in what Inglewood police said was a medically induced coma.

Luna, 40, was discovered on the ground by Los Angeles County Fire Department paramedics in the stadium’s Lot L about 4 p.m., half an hour into the Rams-49ers contest, said Inglewood Police Lt. Geoffrey Meeks. Luna was wearing a San Francisco jersey and black pants, Meeks said.”

Police have stated they do not believe the attackers used weapons, just their hands, legs and fists.  Looking at the time when Luna was found, it suggests this savage attack happened just prior or slightly prior to the game’s kickoff, as Luna was not in the stadium he was in the parking lot.  We here at reallyright.com wish him a speedy recovery.

I compare sports allegiance to religion or politics in the sense if you disagree you shut the other person up.  I work with someone who says AOC should be muzzled, and not allowed to speak, completely ignoring the first amendment because it suits him.  If someone takes an opposing view, you get angry, mad, or flat out dismiss or wish ill on them.  In the case of Luna, it could well be death.  This is a scary place to be in a so-called civilized society.  Its far scarier to envision a likely situation of fans of both teams (the stadium was reported as a roughly 50/50 split) walking by the altercation and the aftermath on the way to the game and no one attempted to stop this/call for help.  Again Mr. Luna was put into a coma for simply wearing the other team’s colors in the opponent’s stadium…hardly the crime of the century.

To be fair, I was not there, and to date no security footage was produced to show the events leading up to, and the altercation itself.  Me assuming or writing my thoughts on who or whom were the aggressors is plain wrong.  However, I have been to enough games in person, wearing both the home and visiting teams’ colors to be able to form a likely opinion of what went down.

Luna was at the game by himself, as the article insinuated.  I have been there before whilst wearing the oppositions colors, I can tell you I would never have even a sip of alcohol in me, prior/during/after the game just because I’m completely outmanned and outnumbered.  Luna wearing the opposition colors likely angered some middle aged (40 plus) folks on their way into the game.  Trash talk likely ensued, especially from the Rams fans, as they were the home team, Luna likely responded in kind.  Alcohol played a very large role, drugs may or may not have been included, again no need to speculate on my part, just relying on my experiences.  Trash talk leads to someone likely saying something stupid, and the other side taking offense, again no way of knowing the aggressor/agitator, but I doubt it was the sole 49er fan/business owner.  The other side jumped him, savagely beating him, and leaving him to be discovered later/perish.  Scores of fans and onlookers saw this but didn’t say a word.  I call this the “subway car effect” when many see, but no one wants to be the one who says anything.  As a result, Mr. Luna is in a coma, luckily he was found prior to being killed.

Here is my personal experiences at ballgames in Oakland, and San Francisco.  I can tell you firsthand these games are not safe even for fans of the home team.  I have witnessed Oakland A’s fans beating on each other (shocking), Giants fans, and Angel fans.  I have been to a raider game wearing both raider colors (barf) and my Buccaneer colors.  This was a site to behold, as Raider fans were goading me into fights, throwing beverages at me, and screaming directly into my face.  The game sucked and my team won.  I have been to Giants games both as a A’s fan, and one wearing giants colors.  This was a total clusterfuck as it got to the point in the centerfield bleachers police in riot gear lined the outfield fence.  The situation resembled more of a protest of a dictator then that of a ball game.  As a result, I have not returned to any arena or stadium to take in a game.  It’s flat out not fun anymore, I’ve even been offered free tickets.  I will not go.  Actually, let me rephrase it is dangerous, whether you are a home or away fan.

It used to be if you went to a game, the folks causing a ruckus were mid twenty-year-olds coked out on some form of drug, or frat bros heavily lubricated on alcohol.  The script has changed, and not for the better.  Now its folks old enough to be my parents (notice both genders) who overindulge and are looking for trouble.  This is not the exception it’s the rule.  I’ve had grown women screaming in my face, blocking my movements literally begging for me to instigate something.  I usually got secondhand alcohol off their screaming.  At the raider game the police would stand idly by and laugh even as I was pelted by beverages or shoved.  That is when I figured it out, and at 28 my days going to games were over.

It’s all good though I’m sure LA County DA George Gascon will charge them to the fullest extent of the law when these thugs are caught….

Oh wait, when a dodger fan outside Giant’s stadium was stabbed and killed by Giants fans he looked the other way when he was DA……

San Francisco prosecutors have declined to file charges in a stabbing case stemming from the Giants-Dodgers rivalry that resulted in the death of a 24-year-old Dodgers fan near AT&T Park last year.

District Attorney George Gascón said Friday that his office could not prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Michael Montgomery, 21, of Lodi did not act in self-defense when he stabbed Fort Bragg resident Jonathan Denver in a brawl on Sept. 25.

Authorities say subsequent interviews with witnesses and fight participants conducted over the past six months revealed that Denver and his brother had teamed up against Montgomery before he used a knife to protect himself.

Denver had left a Giants-Dodgers game that night with his father and brother in the eighth inning to go to a bar.

They encountered Montgomery and his friends in front of a liquor store near Third and Harrison streets in the South of Market neighborhood about 11:30 p.m. One of Montgomery’s friends was wearing a Giants cap.

Six months later, prosecutors said the circumstances have changed but charges will still not be filed. Gascón explained that in California, prosecutors not only have to prove their cases beyond a reasonable doubt, but they also have to prove the defendant did not act in “lawful self-defense.”

Evidence from a district attorney’s office investigation determined prosecutors would not be able to prove that.

Think twice prior to going to a game whether in your home or away team’s colors, its deadly.  Too much boozing/drugging in the parking lot prior, during, and after.  It’s not worth it.  The game will be on somewhere…. likely a lot safer.

Johnnie Does

More info on this beatdown can be found here

Why I refuse to defend my Sister

I got quite a few texts from relatives of mine and friends regarding my blog lighting my sister on fire.  Most were folks asking why I don’t try to help her or be a true brother. 

Here are the reasons why…

First, she has lied to me so much I never know what the truth is.  She borrowed $5k from me once and claimed she needed it to pay rent and buy groceries.  Of course, she never paid me back, silly me, she told my parents it was a gift.  She claimed to have sold several houses, so I enlisted her to help me buy mine…. another major fail, I got the house but remember bumping into my vendor (it was his parent’s house) and the realtor and talking shop off the record after my offer was accepted.  My loan guy also said she was nearly impossible to reach prior to the hour of 1pm.

She was convicted of drug trafficking a felony, and while on probation convicted of DUI causing an accident while driving to the San Diego airport to catch a flight.  Yes, read the last part again, she was going to be boarding an airplane.  In both cases she had to be placed in a restraint, likely signaling she was on more than just booze.  She never did any jail time, and her fines were waived…. she got a free second and third chance.  The bloggers on this site never could have gotten the DUI as we would be partially through our jail time.  Yet time and time again she never realizes her luck.

She is the most entitled human I know. She owns a bulldog mix type dog, yet claims it’s a service dog.  Yeah, she is one of those.  Sign says no dogs?  Well, she will just eat at your patio.  The dog has never been trained, but who would expect a child to teach a dog any type of trick?  The best is when she flies home, check this out.  She will leave my folks house 30 minutes prior to departure and call southwest airlines and tell them hold the plane she is stuck in traffic!  Guess what?  They do! 

At every family event she attends she is a tertiary character, offering little during set-up, prep, cook, or clean up but is always the first to start drinking and the last to finish.  Ditto for any extended family type events, she can always be found in the photos red faced and full glass in hand.  She makes fun of other people, but that’s ok, because hey she drinks so she is one of us!  My parents shrug it off because, well, drinking to excess at 34 is cool!  Check out the last 3 weddings celebrated in the extended family, the photos are cringeworthy, literally in all of them she is drinking/drunk.  It is well known throughout the family of her arrests, yet no one cares she is drinking to excess?  Even worse they ply her with more drinks?  At the most recent wedding she was back on her BS, rather than RSVP’ing on time, she waited until 3 days before, and wanted to bring a plus one.  Thankfully for her she gets her way all the time, so request granted.  Hopefully they had enough wine for 5 extra people.

Worse yet is her vice problems.  A few years ago, an aunt of ours was in town with my grandmother.  One night my sister and her stayed up until 3am and polished off 5 bottles of the sacrament.  Leading to a rough hungover lasting until early evening.  For my sister this is a slow day of drinking, for my aunt, it was so much she got violently ill.  Keep in mind at the time my sister was 32, my aunt calls it 60.  This behavior is unacceptable for people of those ages, but no one cares. 

The absolute worst is these folks will make every excuse in the book for her, the coddling is off the charts.  They even feel bad that she is a felon and cannot find work.  The truth is she refuses to work.  I have it bad just like all of you because our tax dollars prop up people like this who refuse to contribute to society.  It is horrific to watch.

The behavior continues to this day, she is unrepentant and is typical of those who live in California.  They make excuses for everything.  Never have they been wrong in their lives, it’s sad to watch, but worse yet are the folks who coddle and cover for.

These are the reasons I do not defend her.  She will mess up again, and next time I fear no amount of money will clean the mess up.

A Thanksgiving unlike any other

Hopefully your Turkey Day weekend was better than mine, actually it wouldn’t be hard beat it.  First of all, my felon, DUI sister is in town and as usual she acts the opposite of a 34-year-old adult.  It started with Turkey Day dinner; she was supposed to drive over from Napa (visiting a friend) at 1:00 to assist with the meal.  She rolled in at 4:00 leaving my folks needing to call me over to work my magic to save it.  We pulled it off, but the felon had her whole bevy of tried-and-true excuses ready; my favorite was her alarm didn’t go off.  Yep, so I guess she slept until 1?  Napa is about 1.5 hours away, but let’s just call it 2, that is working on the assumption she left at 2, likely waking up at 1.  She does not work, and her friend works at a winery, again my working assumption is she had a late-night partying, and well, turned in about 3:00 am.  Again, this is a 34-year-old.  She showed up, made a beeline for the wine, poured a large glass, and disappeared.  She was literally given one job, as it was crunch time in the kitchen, watch the potatoes boiling on the stove, naturally she couldn’t even do that right as the fire alarm was activated by the water evaporating, I saved the potatoes the best I could.

The meal was commenced, and the neighbors liked what was served, if they only knew.  However, the resident alcoholic threw down 2 bottles of wine over the course of the meal, yes, as in 7 glasses.  No one else besides my mother drank.  Again, this is a convicted felon, with a DUI on her record, and no one seemed to care.

The following day was when my folks get their tree, we always cut our own in Apple Hill.  We were given orders to be ready at 8am being as I have a truck, I’m kind of mission critical so I got there at 7:30.  My folks were stirring, but there were no signs of life coming from the other sibling of mine, I was not shocked.  She finally rustled awake at 9:30, and we were on the road at 10:30.  Of course she complained the whole way of being on an empty stomach; of course, this would have been remedied easily by waking up but that’s a tall order for her.  Also, I found out the puppy of hers, some type of bulldog mix, needed to make the trip as well.  The dog clawed my center console, climbed on me while driving, and barked and howled the entire time. I found out the dog hadn’t been fed and/or been allowed to relive itself. Obviously her caretaker fails at life and at having a pet.  But thank god she felt she needed one.  Predictably both members of the heavy drinker caucus had no interest in being on a tree lot for more than about 5 minutes. So, my father and I had to visit the lot we stopped at, as well as the one across the street to make a selection.  No help was given as far as putting it in the truck, but the entirety of the trip back home was spent asking when we could stop for food. So, Bert’s Diner it was.

Bert’s has a sign saying no dogs on premises, and for all people “who have” that’s good enough, but if you are a “have not” you go inside anyway and argue with the frontline employee with no decision-making power at all.  My sister literally told her you have an outdoor covered patio; we will just sit out there.  Mind you we hadn’t ordered yet, and these very folks would be crafting our dishes.  Upon taking over the patio area, she went inside and asked for a bowl of water…. yeah, you cannot make this up.  In case you’re wondering, I am not related to Nancy Pelosi or any descendent of Gavin Newsom. Of course, she ordered 2 glasses of wine…because well why not.  This basically sums up California Irony at its finest, the one with nothing made all the rules and wasn’t taking no for an answer.  Upon conclusion, we made the short drive home. As we pulled into the garage, my mother declared she had to use the restroom thus meaning she wasn’t assisting with the tree, and my sister declared her shoulder hurt.  Just in the issue of fairness she found a bottle of wine during her egress into the house and had a fresh glass poured as my father and I walked in after unloading the tree.

After this episode I went home, as I figured I too would be driven to drink, and I gave that stuff up.  I took Saturday off too, I guess in California we would call this a mental health break? LOL

Sunday my phone rang right as my Sunday service let out, I had to come over and make my seafood pasta tonight, my sister requested it.  I figured ok, since I didn’t spend Saturday there, and I know my dad needs help decorating the outside and the tree.  I went over early, and we put up the outside lights, and got the tree into the stand, I needed a break again, and went back home.  At 3:00 my phone began “blowing up” as the kids say these days, literally I heard it ring 5 times while I showered, I figured someone died, my sister was in need of bail again, or Trump got reinstated as President. 

Wrong on all counts, mom needed me to relay to her the ingredients for my seafood pasta.  I did, and literally 5 minutes later she called back asking the same question.  I told her I would get the shrimp, and she had the other ingredients.  I came over at 4, and quickly noticed my mother and sister were 9:00 drunk before 5pm, this was going to be wild.  After handing my mother the shrimp, literally 5 minutes later I was asked where the shrimp was and why I didn’t bring it over.  Yes, I had to walk a 68-year-old woman over the fridge and point to the bag of said shrimp, only to be told I didn’t buy enough.  Yep, that kinda night.  She told me help dad put the ornaments on the tree, and subsequently told us which ones to put where. 

Making matters worse, my sister decided she was going to do invoicing for her “job;” kind of odd at 5pm on a Sunday, and with wine out.  But such is life in this family, the black sheep can tell any tale and the gullible believe it.  After about an hour of this I figured dinner prep needed to start, of course my mother decided to start the pot of boiling water, long before needed (we make fresh pasta) and I needed to shell the shrimp and cut the sausage.  But when you’re hammered, all you care about is a minor contribution.  I offered my dad the role of Sous Chef because I could tell he needed to get the hell out of there, as being the lone sober one is never fun.  He joined me and we “processed” the shrimp and sausage, I had the pasta maker going, and all could be salvaged.  My mom ventured in wondering where she left her wine glass, as is typical for her. Fortunately, they have a house stocked with them, and it’s never hard to find a bottle of wine.  With the pasta extruding my dad said we should put another cup of water into the tree, so my mother walks over, grabs the bottle of water I have and puts it in the tree, yeah you read that right.  No way she had a few too many.

I walk back into the kitchen and witness my mom popping half cooked chicken sausage into her mouth as if it was popcorn at the movie theatre.  I ushered her out, and we got the meal in the pan.  She wants to cook the pasta, so about every 5 minutes she called out the pasta goes into the boiling pot of water.  She is now on wine glass numero 3 since the other 2 walked off on her (no comment on the actual amount of wine consumed).  When it came time to add the pasta, she declared we didn’t have enough water, so she grabbed my now cup of water, and tossed that into the pot.  Yep, I guess we are in a sharing household even as far as germs are concerned.  When it came time to deglaze the pan of seafood and veggies, she insisted on dumping in the remaining half bottle of white wine…. I can envision Gordon Ramsey’s head literally exploding, but this is what a drunk does.  Prior to putting the pasta into a bowl, my mother decided it needed more herbs, so she dumped in an entire bottle of McCormick perfect pinch Basil, and another of Italian Seasoning. 

After saying grace, she and the felon needed to “re-top” their wine glasses, and the meal commenced.  My sister decided it wasn’t flavorful enough, so she added red pepper flakes to the bowl, and hot sauce.  This is perfectly rational behavior, right?  During the meal my mother picked at her dish asking repeatedly where the shrimp were, and whispered to my sister “where is the dog?”  The felon kept adding hot sauce to her meal and needed my help locating the bottle of wine on the table…literally directly in front of her.  What an enjoyable Thanksgiving weekend I had.

The following day I called both out for their behavior, and my mother claimed not to have a drinking problem, and my sister pulled her usual BS and started crying, saying her ex-bf hit her, and has threatened her recently.  Not trying to be a jerk, but I don’t buy it.

I’ll end with this, these are classic behaviors out of both my felon sister and my mom.  Neither ever take the blame or responsibility, because it cannot be their fault.  This is classic behavior of addicts, with my mother, it’s too late, this is who she has become in the last 10 years.  She has zero patience when drinking, and literally, like her mother, thinks I am dumb.  I have always been asked numerous times “if I understand” or “did you remember?” They will never understand but that cuts pretty deep.  I always find while cooking over there the burners get turned to “hi” when I’m not looking simply because one of the two addicts is hungry.  Not being able to locate your wine glass is textbook you’ve had too much, but nope, just grab another and let someone else figure it out later.  As for my sister, she has always displayed entitled behavior and never been told “no” before in her life, so she never takes it as a final answer, always looking to go over someone’s head.  She never learned from her felony drug arrest, or DUI causing an accident arrest, so she will never learn.  The fact she still acts the same way is disturbing…. almost as disturbing as my parents turning their heads the other way.  The excessive drinking and staying up until the wee hours of the morning tell me she’s up to even worse after the adults go to bed.  Not getting up until 10am backs up my hypothesis.  She cares about no one but herself, as far as the ex-bf goes, I think she is either a) a liar, or b) they both engaged in excessive partying, and it always got out of hand.  Heads or tails, it’s not a good look.  Frankly her refusal to consider a restraining order tells me all I need to know.

Addiction……

First Date Follies

Like the title says I went on what has to be the craziest first date I’ve been on in a long while.  Not anything she wore, did, or ate/drank made it strange.  What was wild was the look into her lifestyle and her definition of the word “busy.” 

First some backstory. We had been texting for a few weeks and we had been in the “lets pick a date” stage for about 10 days.  She was the busy one, I can respect that as my “busy” evolves from work, and extra-curricular events, such as church and gym.  I figured she had legit reasons, so I let it go.  D-Day finally came, I showed up early, as did she.  Things got off to a good start but then things went awry.  I inquired as to her work, and she obliged.  She was a young professional working for the county; however, this is where things got odd.  She was describing her job as a typical 8-5 desk job, while she was explaining her work, I noticed she appeared to be wearing some kind of war paint, as she had brown smears on her cheeks. Turns out after she realized her makeup malfunction that she excused herself to use the lady’s room. She did properly “put on her face” and then returned to our table.  I guess no harm no foul. First dates can be hectic, and most guys have it pretty easy in this regard, as most of us don’t spend much time on getting ready.  After she returned, we tried finding common ground but very little was found.

The Fonz

Then things took a turn for the bizarre in my opinion.  I asked her what she liked doing for fun, and she replied, “she is always very busy.” When I asked about hobbies, I got the same response.  Ditto for places she wants to go, and things she wants to do.  That being said, I basically asked what goes on in your life outside of your 8-5?  Keep in mind I already had mentioned all my goings on.  She went on to mention she watches the SF Giants baseball team religiously, never misses a pitch.  Also watches; The Voice, America’s Got Talent, The Bachelor/Bachelorette, America’s Next Top Model, Shark Tank, Top Chef, and to be honest I quit paying attention after that.  This girl isn’t busy with life, she is busy with fantasy land TV shows.  Just by my count, Giants games are roughly 3 hours, and the other plethora of shows are about an hour long each.  While I will readily admit I doubt all these shows run on same days/seasons we can all agree that’s a lot of T.V.  The night continued and after dinner she offered to pay, she actually insisted going as far as grabbing the bill.  Her card was returned/declined/rejected twice.  I picked up the tab.

The night ended with her driving me back to my car. I was parked about 3 blocks away.  Her car was messy and trashed.  I wished her good night and we exchanged “we both had a great time.”  She texted the following day how much fun she had, but I could not let this go any farther.

To wrap this up, here is my reasoning and why I call it a bad first date.  First, I don’t let the makeup thing become a deal breaker, I believe she was rushed; however, I think it was her “prep time” interfered with “show watching time.”  The idea of all these TV shows paints a bad picture.  It paints a picture of her being glued to the couch whilst watching one show after another.  Embracing fantasy land as opposed to real world things.  None of the shows she watched except maybe the ball game are even based on the real world.  The cards being declined is a peek into the way she manages her life, no regard for money, buy now pay later.  The car being trashed is just icing on the proverbial cake, she lives on an “I’ll get around to it basis.”  If the car is trashed what does the apartment look like?  Nice girl, but she comes off as a 24-year-old recent college grad as opposed to a working professional.  The TV is always on, and personal finance and hygiene take a back seat.  I wish her the best, but this was doomed to fail badly.

When looking for a match, having very little in common isn’t a deal breaker, but the “busy” in her life were things she has chosen to be busy with.  I cannot fathom sitting in front of a TV with a messy car, and my financial house not in order while watching shows that are of little significance to my life.  Not to mention the “after shows” that usually take place following.

Johnnie Does

A Sad Story of Alcoholism

Sad stories aren’t typically reserved for a Friday afternoon, hopefully this blog airs some other time.  But this blog will showcase alcoholism and how it affects a person, a family, and their inner circle. 

A close friend of mine from back in the day used to live kitty corner from us. We were thick as thieves, the two of us were.  Best friends, our parent’s best friends as well.  It seemed we did everything together or were always with the other one’s parents going/doing something.  My mother hired his mother, and my dad and his dad were always working on a project or working on a 12 pack.  Everything was great until I went off to college.  Suddenly his parents were having major relationship issues.  I never really understood it, but in a sense, I chalked it up to him being a hot-headed prison guard and her being a strong woman.  Anyhow the relationship started boiling over very quickly.  Suddenly the arguments almost came to fisticuffs, nasty exchanges were the regular.  He could not get away from her quickly enough or stay away long enough.  I never really understood it.  They eventually had the world’s messiest divorce, literally fighting over the smallest things.

Things started becoming clearer after a couple years, my mom would never be able to see her because she was “sick all the time.”  Literally plans made weeks/days/months in advance were cancelled, at the last minute…. sometimes literally the last minute.  There were rumors of heavy drinking, but in all honesty, the household and groups I grew up around, most parents enjoyed a drink or two after work.  Nothing out of the ordinary.   I found out later she was actually guilty 3 separate times of taking a break at work, going to her car and sipping on a flask.  Keep in mind she worked for my mother.  She was caught all 3 times by parents at the school, never once was she disciplined.

The last-minute cancellations continued but things took yet another turn for the worse.  She had moved in with her mother to save money and continued her drinking ways.  Worse yet, hiding it from her 87-year-old mother.  When my mother and I would visit, it was not uncommon to see her taking bathroom breaks or pouring something from behind the cover of the fridge door directly into a coffee cup.  Clearly this was the rule not the exception. 

My friend came home for a long weekend, flew in from out of state (upper Midwest) to visit his mother, he knew it wasn’t great, but felt obligated as any son would.  I dropped him off, and saw his mother on a small trike, as she had broken her foot from falling (likely alcohol induced, but I cannot say for sure.)  She fell repeatedly off her trike, and I decided after about 15 minutes, that it was time for me to leave.  It was 9 AM.  Not long after, my mother received a call as my friend had “disappeared.” I called him and he was driving (his own car was left here) back to the upper Midwest.  Yeah, he had seen enough after a short stay.

The DUI charges also began racking up, with 4 happening over a 20-year period.  She called me once to ask for a tow company while not knowing where she was saying only “I’m on the side of a freeway.”  Folks Sacramento doesn’t have too many freeways, the northeast corner has even fewer.  I cannot recall a time when I didn’t know where I was whilst stranded on the side of the roadway.  This story led to bracelets around her wrists and a trip to the blue roof inn to detox.

She has been in and out of rehab more times than anyone can count.  When my mother would visit, she would routinely smell booze on her breath and be told, “there is more being drank inside these walls than outside.”  Sad but there is far more, and it only gets worse.

After about 3 years, my mother finally figured she just had to show up unannounced.  She did, and likely regretted it.  Her friend had the front door open only the screen closed, it wasn’t locked.  She found her friend on the couch, half clothed.  Jack in the Box burger and partial order of uneaten fries on the table.  She claimed it was her lunch, the time was 3:45.  Two drained bottles of wine rested not far from where she was seated.  My mother inquired as to how she obtained the beverage and food.  The response was door dash for the food, and AM PM delivers wine.  Most disturbingly, she said she just can’t help herself in regard to drinking.  Her friend had finally lost her license after several major surgeries and DUI’s.  She had bruises on her body, from falling.  Her friend used to be a well-built woman, not fat or heavy by any means, and was always on the cutting edge of fashion.  Now she ambles around with a walker, and likely weighs 100 lbs. while being 6’3.  Her legs are the size of golf balls, she is all skin and bone.  She refuses additional help, or rehab, and my mother was quickly whisked away.  Her son does not wish to see her again, but she wants to leave all kinds of money behind for him so he can love her.

In conclusion this is what addiction does to the human body.  My mom’s friend likely won’t last until Christmas, and it is no fault of anyone but her own.  She didn’t want to work for the State anymore despite being only a few years way from being fully vested, instead she went to work for my mother.  She became parttime worker, fulltime drinker.  Any amount of the grape or beer or hard liquor will eventually cause major damage to the human body.  The DUI’s just put the toll in real dollars as opposed to physical appearance.  She ruined her marriage, her relationship with her son, and all her friends because her world revolved around drinking.  It’s sad but it happens quite often.  She couldn’t even slow herself down when her son visited …because like any other addict, they do not care.  Most disturbing was the comment about having AM/PM, a gas station by the way, delivering your beverage of choice.  If there is such thing as a rock bottom, that has to be scraping pretty close to it.

At 74, I’m sure this was not her idea of the glory years unless happiness is staring at a bottle and hoping to drain it in one night.  College days are over, and you have ignored warnings from the health community, you had parts of your colon, and stomach removed, and you are still refusing to change your ways.  Lunch isn’t served at 3:00, that only happens after passing out from drinking on an empty stomach.  The empty calories “filled you up” and your body is lying to you as far as being full.  The going to sleep isn’t because you need rest, it’s because your body can not take it any longer and needs a shut down.  DUI may be a badge of honor at 25; it’s a sad story after 35.  It’s flat depressing after 55, and unconscionable after 65.  A lesson never learned.  Now you are in serious peril of not making it to the next year.  Friendships, marriage, and your only child, all lost because you couldn’t put the bottle down, even after several trips to rehab.  It’s so bad folks that even her only brother is done with her, she moved in with her niece and was kicked out after 90 days due to you guessed it, her drinking.  Addiction kills, sadly for this person. At least without a driver’s license, it won’t make her kill anyone else.

Johnnie Does

The Covid Conundrum

You may have heard the rumors, but there is no sense is letting them continue unchecked.  I have Covid-19.  While I was not tested to confirm, there is no point.  Friday night I went to bed with a “feeling of nausea” and woke up Saturday morning in a world of hurt.  In essence making it from the bed to the toilet had me completely winded, I had no appetite, actually since Saturday morning I have eaten a grand total of 2 Oreo cookies, and sipped on water.  My head feels like a vice is squeezing it, and I alternate between fever and the chills based on whether or not the ceiling fan above my bed in on or not.  I get the sweats simply standing up.  My body aches all over, almost like I took some sort of medieval torture.  My cough is a barking cough that leaves me reaching for cough syrup with each unproductive expellatory breath.  Nyquil has become my best friend, since I have zero energy all I can do is sleep.  When I waken, or as I put it, when the NyQuil runs out, I simply roll over, turn the pillow around and poof I’m out like a newborn. 

Johnnie Does Nyquil

I still have a sense of smell and taste, so you’re asking how I know I have Covid 19?  Simple, and it never had to happen, honestly while I won’t do it, my legal partner has told me to look into potential OSHA violations relating to this disease.

Blogger Note: Identities and locations are being changed as to prevent any additional “C&D letters from lawyers who work on Sunday evenings.”

On Saturday last week the office partner of Johnnie Does returned from a trip to Washington State.  He came into the office at the beginning of the work week and was coughing and hacking like crazy.  He was double vaccinated (Moderna) so it didn’t matter that he was sick, it wasn’t Covid.  This continued. On Wednesday I asked him to get tested. He moved at a glacial pace.  He kept saying there are no clinics to get tested.  This is a lie, I found a ton with a cursory Google search, including 2 literally walking distance from here.  Thursday he finally set an appointment up, for Friday no less.  His cough was worse, he had a fever, the chills and no appetite.  Finally, Friday came, and he went and got tested.  He returned saying, he was positive.  He went to his office, and then proceeded to go down the hallway to get the mail, and to make a run to Panda Express for lunch!  Yes, you read that correctly.  Mask less, because he was vaccinated.

Panda Express the proven choice of vaccinated super spreaders.

Friday night I get the symptoms described above; all of them.

Do not get me wrong, I feel we will all get Covid one way or another and maybe Rick Santelli of CNBC was on to something saying we should just get it over with.  My beef is why I deserved to get treated like this.  The office is small it’s a 3-man weave, mostly though its 2 of us.  Anything breaching the office door gets passed around.  I am now a statistic, more so, I am an innocent bystander, no more than collateral damage in someone’s arcane game of life.  He wasn’t even working the week he returned. He spend the time sleeping and ignoring the calls of anyone who called.  This could have been done from home, but let’s not make this about me.  Let’s take a step back and look at the others I may have harmed, depending on when I became contagious.

Thursday, I have a group meeting of about 35 guys who are all 70 plus, we remanence and shoot the… (you know what).  This group is highly likely to die of Covid according to Fauci.  My own parents, I spent all of Friday with them, both are immunocompromised after bouts with cancer.  Ditto according to Fauci. 

This is why this virus is spreading. Stupid people who have no regard for others.  The office was a petri dish, and I was going to be infected, no way around it.  My doctor is aware, and we are monitoring my situation daily, and sometimes hour by hour, as being hard to breath and getting winded is not easy.  I feel as if I will pull through just fine, but it could be a tough couple of weeks.  Sadly, I was informed by my doctor I might suffer permanent organ damage as a result of this lab created virus. This would be a real shame. Working out and being active is a major part of my life and frankly I do not know what will happen to me if I lose that.  Demons in my past may reappear.  Hoping for a good outcome but I think this one may be bumpy.

Johnnie Does

Democrats Continue to Prove being First is all that Matters

In what passes for journalism and reporting in the 24/7 news cycle, it doesn’t matter if you are right, it matters if you report it first.  Don’t believe me?  Just watch the local or even major news networks as they stumble over each other to be “first.”  They do not care about the truth as long as they can strike first blood in the ratings war. If they are wrong, they will ignore it, brush it under the table, blame an anonymous “source,” or issue a retraction several days later on the page where the obituaries are listed.  Ironic as those listed in that section are brand new Democrat voters!

Now to the story which prompted my ire.  On June 19th in Wilton Manor (Ft Lauderdale) the Stonewall Democrats (a far left LBGTQIAHSUHNCKMAHNXLANAETS 1 issue club) had their annual Pride Parade.  Present were Congressperson Debbie Wasserman-Schultz and Ft Lauderdale mayor Dean Trantalis.  The parade was a typical one, floats, bands, walking, etc.  The procession was about to begin when a white pickup truck rammed into the waiting participants killing 1 and injuring 2. 

Debbie Wasserman-Schultz

All would agree this is a tragedy, now to my point….. Trantalis, like most Democrats, are far superior to the unwashed so he decided to run to the press with this statement.

“This is a terrorist attack against the LGBT community,” Trantalis told Local 10 News. “This is exactly what it is. Hardly an accident. It was deliberate, it was premeditated, and it was targeted against a specific person. Luckily they missed that person, but unfortunately, they hit two other people.” 

Play video in this Twitter post

Tragedy Strikes Wilton Manors Pride – Story Still Unfolding

Of course, the folks at MSNBC ran with it.  I happened to see their report while paying a visit to a local gym. The narrative quickly turned into a white male driver (this part was true) Trump supporter who hates gay rights rammed the parade.  Only things left out were “MAGA hat wearing, AR-15 holding, male making out with wife, mows down pride parade participants.”  Wasserman-Schultz was devastated, the parade was cancelled.  It wasn’t until the following day when things got a little more clear.  The man driving the car was a white male, 77-year-old Fred Johnson Jr. His truck emblazoned with a rainbow-colored pride flag flying from it.  MSNBC doctored the photo to not show the flag; remember it’s about optics and a narrative, truth before facts folks.  Johnson Jr. was later shown wearing a pride shirt and was identified as “one of us” by members of the gay man’s chorus.  Johnson Jr. has a handicap, so he was chosen to drive for the parade.  Maybe not such a great idea looking back on it?

Once the facts started leaking out, the Democrat media machine took over.  This was much ado about nothing, and an unfortunate accident.  The police began to investigate, I find this odd since police types are generally not allowed near Democrat events…oh wait it as a white man who did the deed…proceed!  The men’s chorus even put out this statement, because well … it was just an unfortunate thing.

“This was a horrible accident,” he said. “I offer my sincere regret to those who were impacted. I love my chorus family and the community. I would never do anything to intentionally harm anyone.”

Trantalis issued a kind of apology, mostly just walking it back slightly, and now it’s all a non-story.  Mostly because it doesn’t fit the narrative any longer.  Why beat on one of their own, it’s more fun to do it to the other side.  End of story.  Anyone wonder why the ratings for left leaning news, and readership of daily newspapers are falling fast?  There is your answer.

Let me now offer my “first take” on this story, and if I’m wrong, we may or may not issue a retraction, but if the libs can do it, I will too.

Far left deranged, whacko, white, male, Fred Johnson Jr. fled his old person home, revved up his truck, overdosed on opioids, and rammed a far-left demonstration.  Johnson was unhappy about his role in the gay man’s chorus and decided he had enough.  He rammed 5 innocent folks, killing 1, seriously injuring four.  He was aiming for the mayor and congresswomen but like most Democrats, his aim was horrific.  Johnson, for his part, admitted being gay afterwards, but everyone knows that’s just a lie.  His actions led to a far-right militia of folks to show up with lights flashing and the words “police” inscribed on their cars.  Thankfully no black or brown folks were around as massacre would have taken place. 

Johnson must be held accountable for his actions.  As a white man, this was a hate crime, and it took place on June 19, the new federal holiday to celebrate Juneteenth, as a result he must hate black people.  Sentence him to death ASAP, no trial, no counsel to be provided.  This deranged human must be wiped from earth.  Also, Johnson Jr. needs to pay reparations for what he did, on Juneteenth mind you!

Bill Cardoza, Sue Blake, Tom Hudson, Russell Gray, Justin Hardcastle, Angela Azevedo and Todd Freeman Support Child Abuse

Not that anyone cares about the pathetic life of Jorge Riley, and we here at reallyright.com hate piling on but I came across this gem of a story the other night.  Jorge Riley was back in court again last month on 4/16, not for his federal charges but for charges filed in Sacramento, his home county.  However, this hearing had to do with Riley turning himself in to police as a bench warrant had been issued since he skipped his court appearance 3/16.  For those of you scoring at home, skipping court is one of the stupidest things you can do.  Think about it, a judge, and a prosecutor waited around, and you decided to skip, so a bench warrant is issued, and the local sheriff/PD tries to track you down.

Why did I mention the names above?  Well coincidently on March 9 Riley was being honored at the SRA monthly meeting.  Bill Cardoza made sure to put the photos all over Facebook.  The people mentioned are all pictured in several photos.  Folks Jorge has a known history of being an alcoholic and having admitted to being a huge marijuana smoker.  He was always verbally abusive to any women around him, and it is unknown how many children he has.  Read on to see what Mr. Riley was charged with.

Local SRA and California Republican Assembly (CRA) leaders gathered to pay tribute to Jorge for both his service on the SRA as well as the CRA board of directors. From left, 8th SRA President Angela Azevedo, Immediate Past CRA President Tom Hudson, CRA National Committeeman Bill Cardoza (me), 4th SRA President Russell Gray, current and 15th SRA President Dr. Justin Hardcastle, 7th SRA President Sue Blake, and current SRA Vice President Todd Freeman who also served as SRA’s 2nd and 3rd vice president. — Bill Cardoza Facebook page 03/09/2021

A week later he skipped court.  I want to focus on a statement his lawyer made:

 
Riley was before the court for missing a court appearance March 16 on two outstanding felony child endangerment charges—his bail, after Friday’s hearing, is $250,000. It was $500,000 but he claimed he’s homeless and used a $600 government stimulus check to fly to D.C. in January.

According Russ Miller, Riley’s court-appointed attorney, Riley had left the state to protest at the capital and when he came back, all of his property, including electronics, were confiscated by the FBI.

Basically homeless at this point, his attorney claims, Riley had to stay at a friend’s place where he awaited the Zoom information to attend court and a working laptop to video chat.

Sacramento Man Arrested for U.S. Capitol Insurrection in Court about Child Endangerment Charges, Bail $250,000

This is what we call a lie folks, take another gander at that photograph, does the man in the middle look homeless or “basically homeless?”  Looks pretty well groomed to me. So the government stole all his clothes and other stuff?  Come on, Jorge looks just fine in the photo shared above, with a “drunken glare” I may add, so obviously someone in the photo sprang for the sacrament prior or during this event!  Lovely.

Jorge is known to share everything about his personal life, he likely bragged about court being just a couple days away.  I find it very hard to believe not a single person there knew about his pending court date, also I had heard rumors of these charges many months before now.  Here is what he is charged with:

One Riley felony charge involves an incident where his child nearly drowned when the two went kayaking, and another charge accuses Riley of beating his son in front of bystanders for nearly six minutes straight while intoxicated.

Bill Cardoza has admitted to driving Jorge around and trying to help Jorge legally, as mentioned before Tom Hudson and Sue Blake are licensed attorneys, and Angela Azevedo had a long career in justice.  I don’t know much of anything about Justin Hardcastle, Russell Gray or Todd Freeman but tethering yourself to Jorge is not a very wise move.  Hat tip to Bill Cardoza for taking this photo, showing a “very homeless” Jorge a week before he skipped court, you can always count on the worthless, useless, idiot Bill to have his camera out.

To quote Joe Biden “What the hell is wrong with these guys?”

By the way, here is the prosecutor of the case on how much trouble Jorge is in:

Deputy District Attorney Daniel Jensen argued Friday Riley is in deep trouble on his Sacramento felony charges, too.

According to Jensen, there were many attempts to contact Riley by calling him and messaging him, and his previous Sacramento attorney even gave him the Zoom information. It wasn’t until Riley was told there was a warrant for his arrest three days later that he actually responded. He turned himself in on March 25.

We will just go ahead and say it, Jorge you can check out, but you can never leave. Sounds like the feds and the state are going to crack the whip on you.  Get used to jail house oatmeal buddy.  “You will be eating on the payers for a while, but sadly you have lived off the payers for most of your life so not a big deal for you.”