SURVEY CHANGES

Last week I wrote a post about a survey being sent out to employees at the studio about how satisfied they were with the new food services company running the cafeteria.

I don’t know if it’s just coincidence but there changes visible earlier this week. On Monday morning, the breakfast station for wraps, sandwich, and other prepackaged items turned into “grab and go” just like it was with the last company. The new company, however, decided that it wanted employees to ask them for a wrap or sandwich, they’d then grab the item from the tray (which was right in front of the employee) and then hand it to the employee. It was ridiculous and because the person running the line had to hear what each person wanted, long lines started to form in the morning. Everyone could clearly see the item they wanted but they couldn’t just grab and go. It took three months but they finally changed it back, hopefully because we complained in the survey.

Lastly, the stupid breakfast “potatoes” are now gone. The new company replaced the traditional hash browns with small, whole nugget potatoes which no one I talked to enjoy in the slightest. Like who wants to eat a whole roasted potato for breakfast? So on Monday, actual diced hash browns were available.

I hope there are more changes ahead because they didn’t even touch lunch service which has the most problems.

PLANNING ITALY

I’ve written before that Conan took Jordan Schlansky to Italy but the video above actually shows how Conan revealed to Jordan that they would be going. Also, near the end of the video, Jordan does something that has rarely been captured on camera. It’s amazing.

BACK TO WINTER

I know it’s technically “spring” now but the government meteorologists have issued a special weather statement saying that snow is a possibility at some of the higher elevations in the greater Vancouver area.

This evening, I put my fleece liner back into my North Face shell because the temperatures have dipped back to near freezing again. I forget if that groundhog saw his shadow or not but it’s gonna be cold this weekend.

NOSTALGIA

This week EA released Burnout Paradise Remastered, a remastered version of the game with the same name from 2008. I played the hell out of it a decade ago and it’s been one of my favourite racing games of all time.

When I loaded it up on PS4 this week, I was instantly brought back in time ten years ago. I was in my third year of my career as a software engineer and I had only shipped one console game at the time. I was playing the game on my Xbox 360 using the very first LCD monitor I’d ever bought. I remember the game came out in late January, which meant I played it during the winter months. It was cold out but warm inside as I raced around the city. I also remember playing it so much that my ass and legs fell asleep from sitting so long. I distinctly remember getting up on to my chair into a squat position just to move my muscles and to get the blood flowing again.

There are lots of triggers that bring back memories but it’s very cool that video games can also be one of them. I was so young and fresh-faced back then. Ah, good times…

SURVEY SAYS

Last year, company management at work decided to go with another food services provider to run the studio cafeteria. The previous company was ok but not great and they definitely had some areas to improve in. The news that another company was coming to make the cafeteria better was well received by many of my fellow employees.

It’s been three months now since Restaurant Associates started running the cafeteria. I would say they’ve done a worse job than the previous company. The Slack channel for the studio was filled with complaints about the cafeteria for several long weeks. For days and days, it was the main topic as everyone seemed to be disappointed with the food.

The general consensus, which I agree with, is that the food quality is lower now, you get less food, the prices are higher, and you have to wait much longer to pay for your food (the cashier lines are ridiculously long now).

Today, a survey was sent out to all studio employees regarding the satisfaction level with the new food services provider. I couldn’t wait to fill out the survey. I was polite but firm and clear with what I thought was wrong with the cafeteria now. If I’m reading the feelings of many other employees correctly, I would say there will much more negative sentiment than there will be positive.

I’m eager to see what changes will occur because of the employee feedback. I’m hoping it’s extensive because it needs to be!

COLA ADDICT

I recently stumbled upon a series of YouTube videos that feature people with extreme dietary habits. The videos are from a TLC show called Freaky Eaters. The shows were aired seven to eight years ago so it’s been a while since these people faced their extreme diets.

In the episode above, a young lady named Amy drinks somewhere between 20-30 cans of cola a day. These are non-diet colas too. That’s about two pounds of sugar a day from just cola. You should also see what the rest of her diet consists of. I haven’t seen the rest of the episode but I really want to know how she’s doing now, nearly eight years on.

DOMAIN RENEWAL

On this Saturday, this domain turns eighteen years old. Yeah, barely legal baby! Seriously though, it’s amazing that I’ve had this domain for this long. Sure, it’s not anywhere close to the oldest domains in history but for a personal domain, eighteen years is fairly impressive.

I wish I could say I’ve used this domain to secure fame and fortune but that’s ok. This was a really cool hobby I’ve had for nearly two decades. Alright, I’m gonna go change my web host to GeoCities now.

LUNCH UPDATE

For the last two weeks I’ve changed up my lunch routine a bit. Previously, I’d been having pre-packaged salads and a soup. Before the new year, the pre-packaged salads were actually quite good. They had leafy, dark green, and crisp spinach, an acceptable amount of protein, and a bit sweetness from dried cranberries. Since the new year, the new food services company has lowered the quality of the salads and increased the prices. They use cheap iceberg lettuce which has less nutritional value and they cut back on the amount of protein.

I’ve since gone to a sandwich and salad everyday. I also get the same sandwich too. It’s a poached salmon sandwich, grilled for a few minutes to crisp up the bread and heat up the filling. It’s a generous amount of salmon and it’s quite good for you. The salad at the sandwich station consists of spinach too, so it’s also healthy. Sometimes if I’m really hungry, I’ll get a soup as well. I understand the two slices of bread are a bit carb heavy but oh well.

This lunch may seem boring but at least it’s tasty and relatively healthy.