I have been feeling rather under the weather for the past week or so and just noticed it has been a while since I posted something not pertaining to current events. So continuing with the food theme, I thought I would put together some personal notes about dining. Hopefully this will not deter any possible dates from wishing to go out to dinner with me. Ok, you can stop laughing now. No, really.


Seating
I think I may have already mentioned before my preference for booths over tables. This is especially true in restaurants where the tables are located in the middle of the dining floor. Nothing drives me nuts more in the seating department than being sat at a table in the middle of the restaurant. A table along a wall is not quite a booth, but is certainly doable. And get this: there are a few restaurants in town where I will wait for a seat, passing up already available tables because they make me so uncomfortable.


Take Away
Of the choices offered-up by more and more eateries these days, dine-in, carry out or delivery (where available), I only find one generally acceptable option: dine-in. Sure, like everyone else I enjoy a nice box of delivered pizza to my home, but with that notable exception I really dislike the whole rushed idea of eating on the run.

If given the chance to never eat again, I would take it up because I could really do without it if I never got hungry again. That sadly not being the situation, I feel that dining should be a little break from the rest of your day. Whether eating alone or with others, sitting down and being serviced in a restaurant is great way to relax and take care of that ever-nagging stomach. How people can eat lunch at their desks or in their cars is beyond me. Too busy is your argument? Well enjoy your stress-induced cardiovascular disease at thirty, but I am going to take the time to get away during my allocated eating and break times. On a more technical level, food never tastes the same once you get home as it would have had you eaten it in the restaurant. Finally, I might not be a member of Greenpeace but I try to do my part for the environment and all the packaging required to transport a measly dinner for one is a ridiculous waste if you ask me.


Fast Food
Having stated the above, another exception to my dine-in only rule applies in cases where dine-in is not available, such as the case is often with restaurants open 24 hours via the drive-through only. While I would happily dine at a facility that did offer continual seating, my desire to sit in a restaurant alone has waned over the years. So instead I will make a drive-though run as I did this morning. This action creates another situation, however. I have to get a beverage and side (usually french fries) upgrade because I will inevitably drink half my beverage and eat half my fries on the drive back home. I do not think it is as much a hunger thing as it is a freshness one. You cannot beat fries so fresh the grease stings your fingers as you hold them.


Dinner and a Show
If the occasion does call for eating at home be that from one of the above exceptions or more typically the result of my cooking for myself, I will sit in front of the television whilst doing so. That is usually the only television I end up watching during the course of a week. Recent favourites: Law and Order and The West Wing. While I was not feeling well I watched both The American President and Wonder Boys twice. But I digress.


Miscellaneous
Vegetarianism sounds great in my head, but never really took well in practice. I like my meat medium rare. Lactose is evil. So is the "Insert" key, inconveniently located next to "End," "Delete" and "Backspace" on my laptop keyboard making it a ripe candidate for accidental pressing.