Macaroni Grill review

I have eaten at the Macaroni Grill a dozen times, with less and less frequency lately. They have always been pretentious, but the food was good. That has changed in the last year though. Now they are both pretentious and have bad food. The service is still decent, but service isn't a reason to go to a restaurant.

I like good Italian food, even moderately okay Italian food. The food at Macaroni Grill lately isn't either of those. I don't know why they have changed, but the food I have been served lately is poorly cooked.

Recently I thought I would give them one more try. I ordered Chicken Parmesan, a dish that I though nobody could screw up. They screwed it up. The chicken breast was overcooked, dry on the inside and actually burnt on the edges. The spaghetti sauce contained pieces of garlic so raw I think it was added after the sauce was cooked. They even managed to screw up the appetizer, although that is easier to do.

I will have to try to find a decent Italian place now. Someplace that understands the concept that a restaurant is about food.

Losing control of people's personal information

It seems like every month now I hear of another breach of security that has release people's personal information into the world for crooks to use. Sometimes it is crooks that have broken into a company's computer to steal the information. Sometimes it is a mistake by a company or government agency that allows the information to get published on the internet. Sometimes it is a stolen laptop.

Of all these ways for people's personal information to get released having a laptop stolen is the most preventable. A work laptop should never contain data. Ever. It should contain programs to access the data but the data should never be stored on the laptop. If for some reason it absolutely must be stored on the laptop it should be encrypted.

The next most preventable mistake is allowing crooks to steal the information. A company or government agency should have people protecting their computers. Their software should have the latest security patches and the access of data should be constantly monitored for suspicious activity.

The least preventable is mistakes. These are preventable but will always happen. It doesn't mean they should be tolerated, and certainly all efforts should be made to prevent them.

I think we should have laws to protect people's information. I think a company that loses control of a person's information and reports it immediately should pay the person a huge amount of money. A company that loses control and doesn't report it should pay that same amount for each day it went unreported. Government agencies that lose control should pay the same huge amount but also require firing of all involved up through and including the president of the country if necessary. And if the agency doesn't report the lose then jail terms of one week for every day before the incident was reported should be imposed.

Will it ever happen? No. But that is what should happen.

A bit of insanity

I read a news story today about an 83 year old Wal-Mart greeter who ended his shift, put on a disguise, and went back in to hold up the store. They caught him of course. The real question is why did he do it? After discussing it a bit with someone we came up with a simple truth - it was cheaper than a nursing home and he will probably get better care at a prison than in a privately run nursing home. Of course he probably won't get prison but still it points out a bit of insanity about how our lives our structured. An elderly person who isn't wealthy is better off in prison than "free". Rather sad commentary.

Enough with the snow already!

Stop the snow, I have had enough. You know why retirees move south for the winter? Because they can.

As I am sure I have said before - The older I get the less I like winter. This winter has had lots of snow. Nowhere near what others have gotten but more than enough for me. Stop it. Now.

Politeness seen as lack of interest or as a weakness

Sometimes people mistake politeness as a lack of interest or as a weakness. Just because I don't stare at your breasts does not mean I am not interested, I might just be polite. Just because I don't assert myself at every instance doesn't mean I am afraid of you, I might just be polite.

This is one of those "first impression" type of things that annoy me. You should not make grand assumptions on first impressions. First impressions are often wrong. You should reserve judgement until you know more about a person or situation.

I guess this is one of my shorter posts. I really don't understand why people would make grand assumptions based on little evidence, I just know that they do and that they often mistake politeness for something else.

The difference between negativity and telling the truth

A couple of years ago the IT department where I work was given a software package and told to make it work. The software was garbage. During training at the company's own facilities it would crash with only a couple of people using it. It didn't do what the salespeople said and it couldn't be made to do what the salespeople said.

So the software was garbage and I said so, several times. I was told I was being negative and was taken to task by several managers. Much to my relief I was kicked off the project. After several million dollars were spent the software was quietly canned because it couldn't be made to work.

Many of the classic management books say you must have a positive attitude and instill in your people a positive attitude. I have no real problem with this statement but some managers feel that a positive attitude is more important than recognizing reality and this I have a problem with. A positive attitude will not make garbage software better. A positive attitude will not stop a train wreck.

Keeping a positive attitude does not mean you have to ignore reality. People who say negative things may not have a negative attitude, they might just be aware that the reality of the situation is negative and are willing to point it out. Punishing people who point out reality is counterproductive. You need people who are willing to speak out and not meekly follow the crowd over the cliff.

My points here are:

• There is a difference between being negative and telling the truth.
• A positive attitude will not fix a problem.
• A negative attitude will not fix a problem.
• Recognizing reality and that a problem exists is the first step to fixing a problem.
• Punishing people who try to get you to recognize a problem is counter productive.

Running too close to the edge

I keep a large cash buffer in my bank account for emergencies. It is a practice I recommend to everyone. Having a buffer means you won't have to panic when your car breaks down or several large bills come due at once. Of course you need the income and discipline to create the buffer and maintain it, but once you have it it makes life much better.

I see lots of people living too close to the edge of their income. They don't have a buffer and one setback causes them to depend on credit cards or pay late fees which then leads into a downward spiral of more late fees. Living too close to the edge is a bad thing.

It is bad when an individual runs too close to the edge but when a group of people do it in the problem is much worse. In the last few years I have seen state and city governments, businesses, and several types co-operatives spend money without proper consideration for an unusual event. A larger than normal snowfall has caused several groups to spend more money on snow removal than they had budgeted. This level of snowfall isn't unheard of it just hasn't happened recently, and because it hasn't happened recently many groups didn't budget accordingly and will how be short on cash. The floods that will come in the spring will show other groups that have skimped on water pumps and flood prevention, dam repairs and insurance.

When a group runs out of cash because they chose to run too close to the edge the members of the group pay for it but usually the general public pays for it too. The insurance payouts after a flood cause everyones insurance costs to go up, not just those that should have maintained the dam better. The financial bailouts and no-interest loans needed to prop up businesses end up costing the general public because the money has to come from somewhere and it usually means other programs must be cut back.

If I had my way groups would be required to plan for the unusual events that don't happen often but are proven to happen. The leaders of groups that failed to plan would be held criminally accountable for failing to protect the public. But of course I won't get my way, so those that skimp by hoping for the best and demanding rescue when the best doesn't happen will continue to do as they have.