Secrets of the City

Wednesday will be a miserable day on the non-suburban buses as the drivers have to explain to 50% of the cash paying riders that the fare went up and that they have to pay more. It will be a long ride home that day.

The smoking ban appears to have had no impact at a couple of Brainerd bars. The three I visited over the weekend were busy … busier than last year at this time. I suspect though that several of the imbibers I encountered had replaced tobacco with meth. lol

Have we considered mandatory secession for Wisconsin?

Wednesday is going to fucking blow. I almost forgot about the fare increase because October seemed so far away.

The smoking ban appears to have had no impact at a couple of Brainerd bars. The three I visited over the weekend were busy … busier than last year at this time.

The pro-smoke zealots are still pitching their crazy “400 bars closed” line to the media and on the blogs and chat rooms, but no one is biting on that any longer. Sue Jeffers has her own radio show now, so if you want to hear her continue to flog this dead horse issue, be my guest.

Sue Jeffers…The woman that couldn’t make money selling beer to college students.

What Dougie_D is referring to.

Sue Jeffers can flog my dead horse anytime.

I had always avoided Stub and Herbs, but I went there the other night for a beer and a burger after working late, and damned if they didn’t have an impressive beer list and a mighty fine burger. Of course, the place smelled kinda funny and was full of white baseball hats, but you can’t win ‘em all I guess.

Others doing reviews in the BeerAdvocate agree with you, jeffk. The last burger I had there was sublime — and the beer list is much improved.

They still need to renovate that nightmarish basement level (where the funky smell comes from), but overall, a big improvement. They are going to make money hand over fist when the new football stadium opens.

Do they still have NTN trivia? I always thought the Turkey burger was good but that glassed in patio had temp issues.

I love how the ‘CCO story is illustrated with a stock photo of a roll of duct tape.

I went to Stub and Herb’s only twice during the Jeffers era…once to see Shjon Podein and the Stanley Cup, and only once before that. On that occasion, our group requested a couple of bowls of peanuts, thinking they were complimentary. We were charged $3 a bowl…that $6 cost that place my patronage from then on.

Stub and Herb’s is doing whatever they can to make the bar NOT a college, even though it’s on campus. I think they’re doing it right, too. They aren’t going to make their money from college students, that’s for sure. I don’t remember being able to spend $5-$6 on one pint of beer, even if that pint is freaking awesome.

I was there for a beer event on Thursday night, and it’s just a different vibe. Beer geeks are there to just have fun and talk beer. Nobody is an ass. Also, the $2.50-$3 half pints are great for me. Sometimes I don’t always want a full pint of a 9% IPA.

They kept the turkey burger on the menu, and now have a large outdoor deck in the back, Dougie_D.

Wasn’t there a case where a Wisconsin guy duct taped a jersey on to his kid or am I completely making that up?

The PiPress article on the 1-year anniversary of the Freedom To Breathe Act (smoking ban) taking effect drew the usual crazy commenters. But this comment, in the Rochester Post-Bulletin, tops them all:

“Freedom to Breathe” is not a local “grass roots” movement, it is a United Nations program, designed and implemented to undermine the Sovereignty of our Nation and our Citizens. Anyone, including and espeically those on “payroll” to enact and/or promote it are Traitors to our fellow citizens and our Country.

Wow.

Was the city requiring code upgrades, or what does this mean?:

Sue Jeffers, the previous owner of Stub & Herbs for more than 30 years, said she sold it because she didn’t have the energy to invest in the renovations the restaurant would need when the new football stadium opened.

Does the place still have the 1 pound burger?

Without going into details, quasi-government groups like the World Health Organization have been trying to limit The Rat’s ability to make a living in an indirect way for several years, now.

I guess you’ll just have to make a living in a direct way, like everyone else!

New from Dr. Suess: “The Rat Fears A WHO”

Gotta put food on the table like everyone else.

We should invest in wind turbines, Rat. If T. Boone Pickins says it, it must be true.

If you have the money. But I couldn’t say if T. Boone Pickens posses the truth any more than anyone else does.

I spoke in snark. I’m beginning to suspect that old T. Boone is the King of the Greenwashers.

And no, I don’t have much money to invest…especially now.

Funny. I just put “greenwash” on my list of Made Up Words an hour ago, knowing it would likely soon become very common (like “webinar” a few years ago).

The other word I added today was “greenfluencer.” Come to think of it, I heard/saw both terms in a webinar!