Tuesday, May 24, 2011

I Would Prefer Bill Knapps

I have one more day to enjoy being 57. Actually less than that, since it’s Tuesday evening and my birthday starts at midnight. Fifty-eight-years-old???!! Bring on the dancing girls.

What did I accomplish this past year? Not much, I guess:

1. Became a grandpa but I didn’t have much to do with that, not this past year anyway.
2. Worked on my retirement nest egg but that stands about where it did last year at this time.
3. Bought a new mini-van but that didn’t help my retirement nest egg (see 2.)

Anyway, does anybody else sign up to become a member at these websites where you get a free gift coupon on your birthday? Maybe I’m just getting cranky in my old age but the gifts seem to get chintzier with each passing year--hea, spell check doesn’t object to chintzier, but it doesn’t like “hea.”

Red Lobster sent me an e-mail with a coupon for $5 off two adult dinners. Okay, so Wendy and I went. The check at the end of it all still seemed a bit pricy. I calculated that the $5 probably paid for one short domestic beer with taxes and tip. Woo hoo! Party down, man. Hmmm, spell check is okay with “woo” but not “hoo.”

I also got a birthday coupon worth one free personal pizza at a pub Wendy and I frequent. But the pizzas to choose from??? A Greek salad pizza with fresh greens, Caribbean jerk pizza with scallions, Bistro arugula pizza with baby arugula or Margherita pizza with fresh basil.

For my birthday, I want a pizza oozing cheese and meat bi-products. Fresh greens? Arugula? I'm a man, not a rabbit. Is a Greek salad pizza supposed to be trendy or something? Don't think so. I guarantee you that you won’t see a Greek salad burger coming anytime soon to your local McDonalds.

Bring back Bill Knapps. Now there’s a restaurant chain that knew how to handle your birthday. They deducted your age as a percentage off your meal (so that would be 58 percent for me--boo-yeah, still can do the math) AND a free birthday cake. And I don’t even think they had arugula, baby or adult, on the menu.

12 Comments:

Blogger Lynilu said...

I hope the pizza coupon can be applied to a larger pizza that you can both eat. And one of your own description. I have to tell you, none of those offered sound too whippy to me. Well, I like Margherita alright, but they are not what I would expect to be offered for a birthday. Oh, wait! Maybe they aren't offering those meat by-products and cheeses because they know your age??

And spell check??? I KNOW!!!

7:56 PM  
Blogger Jan said...

I once had a blind date with a Mediterranean jerk, but I don't think there were scallions.

Seriously arugula on pizza?

9:26 PM  
Blogger Big Dave T said...

LYNILU--I thought of that, nothing too high in cholesterol because of my age. Wendy said she might be to blame too because she filled out a comment card last time we were there asking for healthier choices.

JAN--Yes, arugula. A blind date with a Mediterranean? That would take some courage I think. I hear some of them don't even like dogs.

6:38 AM  
Blogger Carine-what's cooking? said...

Happy Birthday Dave! We love those b-day meal coupons! Steve and I have had so many-we barely eat home for the entire week!

I don't eat pizza, but I think, given my love of veggies-I'd like the arugula myself!

1:02 PM  
Blogger Big Dave T said...

CARINE--You would love all these pizzas then. They had grape tomatoes, roasted red peppers, and lots of other fresh veggies. The only vegetable I'm fond of on my pizza is mushrooms. I don't even care for onions or green peppers.

3:55 AM  
Blogger CiCi said...

Hope your birthday was still a celebration of life for you and Wendy. For me, I would like the Margherita pizza with fresh basil, have had that and like it.

Never heard of Kill Knapps. Probably because I never lived in one of the five states the restaurant could be found. I watched a You Tube video of a commercial for Bill Knapps restaurants. Made me hungry.

5:59 AM  
Blogger Big Dave T said...

TECHNOBABE--Bill Knapps was popular with seniors as they had good comfort food. I enjoyed their fried chicken. Comedian Tim Allen did a funny routine on Bill Knapps; one of his lines claimed that the waitresses all had to be qualified in CPR.

9:16 AM  
Blogger CiCi said...

Dave, I think our little Corner Cafe might be similar to the Bill Knapps restaurants. From the pics I found on Google they even look similar. The fried chicken at the Corner Cafe is the best I have ever tasted.

3:51 AM  
Blogger Kacey said...

You are right, Dave. Bill Knapp's had the best deal ever for birthdays. Children 10 and under not only got the free cake, but everyone at the table got free ice cream, too. All three of my children totally paid for college by working at Knapp's. Tips were great and tables turned over rapidly, because they didn't serve alcohol. Nobody ever had better chicken and biscuits, or cheeseburgers in a basket. The chain started in Michigan with family style food and spread clear to southern Florida, before the second generation of management thought they should improve on a winning menu and drove the whole chain right into the ground. I still make their bean soup from the receipe found online. About the time you were a teenager, we would always eat at the Knapp's in Flint when we were heading for Boyne Mountain for skiing and the bill would be about $7.00 for all five of us. Kids' meals were 79 cents and included the drink. Boy, what great memories. Happy Birthday....you are still young!

12:28 PM  
Blogger Merle said...

Hi Dave ~~ I hope you enjoyed your free pizza. We don't get free meals
like that here. Not in my world but
maybe in business.
I am glad you had a good birthday and Grant didn't let the side down.One of my grandsons used to bawl his eyes out the moment his Mum left hime to go shopping and he kept it up until she came home. The loudest wail I had heard. He is in his 20s now, Take care my friend, Regards, Merle.

3:30 AM  
Blogger Big Dave T said...

TECHNOBABE--I'm always up for some good fried chicken. I Googled the Corner Cafe but there are too many of them.

KACEY--Great to hear from you! And thanks for jogging my memory. I'd forgotten about Bill Knapps great bean soup too and their dinners in a basket. Hope you're doing well there in Ohio. Big news out of Ohio today ;-)

MERLE--Haven't had the pizza yet. Maybe today. We were on a long weekend trip to Ithaca, New York to see our youngest graduate. Our grandson was on a trip up north. Wonder how he did up there with the heat and sun and all. Very warm here.

3:53 AM  
Blogger Nankin said...

A little late, but happy birthday anyway. I'm staring down 64 in July. Oh where did all those years go? Arugula pizza??? Give me cheese and pepperoni something good for the soul.

7:09 AM  

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