I was surprised yesterday when Andrew and I went to pick up a pizza and I was asked for my ID before I could purchase it. Apparently, at the Papa John's Pizzerias in Rochester, NY (and quite likely elsewhere) it is now a requirement that a customer show government issued identification if paying with a Credit Card or Check Card (Debit Card). Before showing my ID I asked about the new policy and the man at the counter explained it to me and showed me the memo. He agreed that it was unwise. My friend Steve does not drive, and until very recently did not have a valid government issued ID. But he does have a credit card, and a check card, and would not be able to use them to buy pizza from Papa John's under their new policy. In many cases that could be a customer lost. If you've seen the Visa Check Card commercials on TV, then you know the entire selling point for them is that you DO NOT need to show ID to use the card. I wonder if Papa John's will run into many issues related to this. I hope so.
After an 8 hour drive in the rain and fog, I have arrived home. I spent the weekend with the most wonderful person in the world, Cassie. The past couple weeks have been very stressful for me. Work for RIT has been insane, and with the ice storm, midterms, etc. I had not been doing well. Seeing Cassie has made me feel a lot better. I love her so much.
Friday night at approximately 11:00pm the power went out here at GeekHaus. An rather nasty storm had been raining down ice upon Rochester since Thusday morning and the power lines all over Monroe County were encased in 1-2 inches of ice. This caused major power outages all over the county, and with the weather so cold, it was a major problem. Losing out power ment we lost our heat, hot water, light, internet, and ability to cook food. Obviously the server was down and the 13 websites it hosts were offline. The power was restored about 11:00am Monday morning. The server came back up with no problems, and mail that had been queued for days was accepted. Unfortunately, the power fluctuations also killed Steve's computer's power supply. So his machine is dead and he's 400 miles away in Boston.
This quarter is going well so far, but things are a bit different around here now. Steve is not here this quarter, so that leaves Andrew, Melissa, and myself. I have gotten to know Andrew quite a bit better this quarter. Things are pretty good here except for the usual need for harddrive space. Everyone seems to be doing well this quarter and my classes are going well. I like all of my professors very much. This quarter is a lot of work and pretty much all of my time has been spent on things for RIT.
Mitchell and I have been systematically trying all of the Garbage Plates in Rochester and may put up a Garbage Plate review in the near future. For those who don't know, a Garbage Plate is a plate with Mac Salad, Fries/Potatoes, Hamburgers/Hotdogs, chili, mustard, onions, and other such things all ground up and lumped together. They are really quite tasty. They have become a phenomenon in Rochester. Nick Tahoe's served the first ones, but now there serveral imitations available at diners and fast food places around the area.