17°F has been our high lately, here in New Hampshire... But, Maggie, you're just not supposed to have to deal with such temperatures! Ach! It's like those poor snow-inexperienced people in Atlanta (and other place) who have neither the tires nor the skills to drive through even the small amount of snow that we denizens of New Hampshire don't even slow down for. (Though we should -- nothing worse than an over-confident driver of a 4-wheel drive SUV...)

I took Jeri out to lunch yesterday (for playing with the cats and keeping an eye on the house, etc. while I was in Milwaukee) and, since we were both hungry for steak, we went to the local Bugaboo Creek (I wanted to try the onion strings so see how they stacked up against "haystack onions").

The food was decent. The filet was tender and tasty. But why, exactly, does a restaurant have at least SIX large screen TVs each tuned to a different channel in just our smaller section of the dining area? AND loud and more or less inappropriate "music" piped in? (Forgive me, one of my pet peeves is restaurant music that bears no relationship to the type of food being served. I'd rather hear oriental music in a Chinese restaurant than light rock, or opera in an Italian restaurant rather than country or blues...)

It was very distracting and I'm not sure which was more distracting, the constant jangling of motion on six screens or the over loud "music". What's the matter with being able to pay attention to your meal and your dining companion?

Thank you for indulging my rant...

Linn