Posts Tagged ‘Knoxville’

Back From Vegas

Wednesday, January 13th, 2010

It’s Wednesday morning and I’m back to work. I’ve not had a full work week since mid-December, and still won’t until the end of this month. That says something, considering we are on a 4/10 schedule. It’ll be odd when things finally get back to normal.

For the past week, I’ve been in Las Vegas, NV helping OverclockersClub.com cover the 2010 Consumer Electronics Show. If you have not seen OCC’s coverage, the guys did a heck of a job covering things related to the PC enthusiast market. I say the guys did a heck of a job, because truthfully I did very little by comparison. Sure, I was there to talk to people, and help out as needed but the pictures, writing, and hard work was pretty well covered by the other staff and not me. I feel bad for not doing as much work as the rest of the gang, but I did warn them ahead of time that I had neither a laptop nor a decent digital camera and yet somehow I was still asked to come.  (more…)

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Is the Rocky Top Burger Shoppe Gone?

Tuesday, December 15th, 2009

A while back I ruffled some feathers when I said that Rocky Top Burger Shoppe sucked. I was hoping that the new burger joint would have been a lot more like the awesome place it replaced, Gridiron Burgers. It didn’t and I wasn’t happy. In fact, I didn’t expect the new place to last longer than the summer.

Months came and went, and RTBS was still open. I don’t know how well it did, as it never looked too busy when I drove past, but then I also only gave it notice about half the time. Over the weekend I happened to give it notice, and I saw the lights were out and something was taped to the doors. Is RTBS dead?

If it is dead, I cannot say that I didn’t see this coming… though gotta give the place credit for hanging in there much longer than I expected. Hopefully a new, better tasting burger place will rise from the grill.

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Gridiron Burgers is still dead

Tuesday, July 14th, 2009

Back at the end of April, I wrote that I was upset to see Gridiron Burgers had closed its doors. It was bitter sweet, as a Red Robbin had just opened up down the street from one of the former Gridiron locations. While Red Robin is good, it was my opinion that Gridiron had a superior burger.

I was thrilled when a guest by the name of ‘rockytop’ posted about Rockey Top Burger Shoppe opening in a former Gridiron location, offering a similar menu, with some of the same staff. My hopes were high, and finally after eating there yesterday afternoon, I have to say that I am extremely disappointed. Rocky Top Burger Shop doesn’t hold a candle to what Gridiron Burgers was.

While the burger was good and a bit larger, the onion rings, sauce, and everything else has changed. Sorry, but I don’t think I’ll be visiting again. To be honest, I’ll be really surprised if the place last more than a couple more months. R.I.P. Gridiron :(

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Standing in line

Friday, June 19th, 2009

Today was the release of the iPhone 3G S. If you follow me on Twitter, you know that I stood in line for a good while out at the Apple Store in West Town Mall. While standing around and tweeting, I got a message from Victor @ TUAW. He just happened to standing in line right in front of me. I didn’t talk with him too much, but there were several other people that did, including a reporter for the Knoxville News Sentinel.

Here are some pics I snapped on my iPhone (1st gen):

TUAW has some more pics of the iPhone 3G S launch day, including coverage of Knoxville. Yeah, I wish they had put all the iPhone 3G S stuff in one post today. Oh well. ;) I feel bad for not representing OverclockersClub.com at the event. I had just gotten out of bed 10 minuets before my friend picked me up, and I really wasn’t expecting there to be a big line. Yeah, I should have known better.

Also stood in line today at HHGregg. They had a 19″ LCD HDTV for $148. Sure the TV was a Curtis, a brand I had never heard of, but it is still a pretty sweet deal. Sadly, this is also the first LCD/HD TV that I have purchased. :( I’m still eyeing that 50 inch LED HDTV sitting at Best Buy. ;)

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Goodbye Gridiron Burgers; Hello Red Robin

Tuesday, April 28th, 2009

I was deeply saddened to learn over the weekend that Gridiron Burgers has closed it’s last remaining location. The restaurant, which had been in business for about two years in Knoxville immediately became my favorite place for burger.

I noticed the first location, on Clinton Highway, had closed around the first of the year. A simple note was taped to the door that read “thanks for a wonderful two years, but we’ve closed this location.” A similar note is taped to the door of the now closed Turkey Creek location.

It’s a real shame to see the place go, everyone I knew loved their burgers. Every time I’d visit, the place would be packed. Which leads me to believe the closing is more akin to extremely poor management than anything else.

It isn’t all bad news. Over the last couple of weeks, a new eatery has opened in Turkey Creek called Red Robin. I visited the place for the first time yesterday at lunch with a co-worker, and I was quite impressed. So much, that despite being overly stuffed, I took the wife there a few hours later for dinner.

At about $10 a pop for a burger, Red Robin isn’t the cheapest place to eat, but you do get your money’s worth. The burgers, sandwiches, and wraps come with “bottomless fries”. Basically all you can eat, seasoned, steak fries. I’ve yet to be able to eat more than my initial order… and I like to eat.

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Na na na na, na na na na, hey hey-ey, goodbye!

Monday, November 3rd, 2008

I was actually hoping for an angry mob with torches and pitchforks, but I guess a resignation will have to do. The University of Tennessee’s (Knoxville) head [football] coach Phillip Fulmer (aka Fat Phil) has decided to resign after this season.

Good bye!

Read more @ WBIR and WATE

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Grrr: It Is Not Medium

Wednesday, October 8th, 2008

Over the last few days, with the help of McDonald’s, I have discovered something that really annoys the crap out of me…. mater of fact, it annoys me more than when they get my order wrong. This of course could simply be because McDonald’s in the greater Knoxville area appear to be incapable of getting an order correct.

Anyway… Monday (and again today) the wife and I went to McDonald’s with the intention of ordering a nice iced coffee. To be honest, when (in the rare occasion) they get it right, actually tasted better that Starbucks (IMO). I made the mistake of ordering a “small” iced coffee. To which, I was promptly informed, “we only have medium and large.”

Now, the Merriam-Webster’s dictionary defines medium as:

a: something in a middle position b: a middle condition or degree
Pronunciation:  \ˈmē-dē-əm\
Etymology: Latin, from neuter of medius middle — more at mid

In order for this size to be in the middle (and classify as a medium), they need to offer a minimum of three sizes. They don’t, they offer two. Therefore they should call it a small and a large, or a regular and a large. Either way, it’s not a fraking medium.

Ok, I feel better now.

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When Ice Comes To Knoxville

Tuesday, January 22nd, 2008

It’s amazing how crazy things get around Knoxville when you get a little ice or snow. This morning we had a bit of freezing rain, which to no surprise ended up as ice on the roads.

Just so you know how bad Knoxville drivers are when the weather is anything but sunny, we ended up with 232 wrecks between 6:30 and 10:00 am. At one point this morning, the city of Knoxville and Rural Metro had no ambulances to dispatch. Speaking of Rural Metro, there were 4 wrecks involving one of their ambulances.

Sadly two crashes today were fatal. One in Oak Ridge and the other in Loudon County. I’m surprised things were not a lot worse.

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Knoxville’s Oceanic Air Billboard “Vandalized”

Monday, January 7th, 2008

Thanks to Dave of the Dave and Thomas blog for pointing out that the Knoxville Oceanic Air billboard has been vandalized. Doc Arzt’s LOST Blog and DarkUFO are both reporting that the billboard in Miami has also been hit, and possibly even the one in Portland. On the billboards, it appears that someone has spray painted “find815.com”. (more…)

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It’s Snowing

Sunday, December 16th, 2007

It’s Sunday and it is snowing outside. It isn’t a heavy snow, and it looks more like a wet snow or at least a rainy mix. Now, usually I wouldn’t think much about it, after all most people expect to see snow around Christmas. It’s just so odd to see it right now, especially since on Tuesday I was outside wearing shorts and mowing the yard.

Maybe there is a chance that we’ll have snow for the holidays. I cannot remember the last “White Christmas” we had here in Knoxville.

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