Feeling Flush: Tad's Steaks

Tad's Steaks
152 W 34th St, New York, NY 10001-2102

Tad's Steaks is a place that borders between a fast food joint and a restaurant. I guess I should just call it a fast food place because you wait on a line and get your food on a plastic tray. With this in mind, it's no wonder that their bathroom wasn't the best bathroom to use. Still, it was disappointing to see that the women's room was a complete mess. The floor was wet and toilet paper and paper towels were all over the floor. I had two stalls to choose from and I obviously made the wrong choice because I ended up with a toilet that had bloody toilet paper unflushed from the last person's visit.
Not only did I have a disgusting surprise waiting for me in the toilet, but the trash can inside the stall was filled way over it's limit with paper. Then my next disappointment was with the stall door. There was no way I could secure the door because there was no hole for the lock to go in. Who's idea was it to make a door with a lock, and then not put a hole to hold the lock in place? I had to hold the door close the whole time because if anyone came in, all they had to do was push the door and it would open.

The best I can say is that at least the sink worked and had soap in the dispenser.

Rating:
Cleanliness: 2
Function: 1
Design: 1

Feeling Flush

When you go out, you want to go to a place that has a nice design, is clean, and makes you feel comfortable. Well in my opinion, the restroom of a place is just as important, if not more, so it should be just as presentable as the rest of the place. Just by looking at a restroom, you can really tell a lot about a place. That's why I want to make it my duty to rate the restrooms I come across in the New Jersey/New York area. Ratings will be based on cleanliness, function, and design on a number scale from 1-10. So now I get to take my odd fascination and put it to work!

What a Wonderful World: Toilets

One of the most important things I appreciate when I go out that many might not is a good bathroom. Call it weird, quirky, dysfunctional...whatever, but you can tell a lot about a place by looking at their bathroom. For this reason alone, I loved being in Japan. No matter where I was, every bathroom I went to was absolutely spotless. This experience was almost liberating, because using a public restroom where I come from is usually a nightmare. I mean I really don't understand what people are thinking when they use a public restroom in the United States. Sometimes I think these people are one step away from taking their crap and smearing it all over the walls! I mean it looks like these women come in and think “Oh no it's so disgusting to sit on the seat, so I'm just going to pee all around the seat cover and leave my piss right there for the next person!” Yeah, that is far less disgusting (sarcasm).

In fact, I have a funny story that happened to me this weekend that highlights my point on this issue. I was at a local beer garden with some friends and was very impressed at how nice the place looked. They really did a good job sticking to the German Oktoberfest theme. Then I used their bathroom and my impression quickly changed. Besides the usual splatter of urine on the seat which I am now very use to, my bathroom came with a complimentary mug of beer left on top of the toilet. Then my friend goes into her stall and she sees a large stain of menstrual blood on the floor! I don't even know what kind of woman you have to be to have your blood running onto the floor and you just walk out without cleaning it up!

That's why when I think about the bathrooms in Japan, I can't help but feel wistful. Even the restroom in a 7 eleven was more clean than any restroom in a American public place. It has to do with the type of people who use the restrooms, and the type of workers who clean the restrooms. To me it looks like Japanese people just have more respect and dignity in this area.

Not only are their bathrooms spotless, but their toilets are surprisingly very high tech. The first time I came across their toilet, I was confused and awed. There were so many different buttons, what could they possibly do? A couple buttons make water shoot up your butt at different speeds, then another one dries it, others send out different pleasing smells, and the most useful one, a button that plays sounds so other people can't hear you pee. Yep, it's like they went out of their way to give you the best bathroom experience next to going in your own home.

The only time I was troubled when using their restrooms was when I came across their traditional toilets. The only places I came across these were at old places like shrines, and some modern places that gave you the option to use this toilet or the modern one. A traditional toilet is a toilet thats placed on the ground that's to be used as a squatting toilet. When I first saw it, I thought I had to sit on the toilet on the ground, and that would have been very uncomfortable. I couldn't use these types at all, I have horrible balance and just don't feel comfortable squatting.

Every now and then when I have to use a public restroom I sigh and think back to my fond memories of the cleanest bathrooms I ever used. One day I hope I'm using those bathrooms again.

What a Wonderful World: Closets

My first night staying in Japan I was welcomed with my first cultural shock. I was already well aware that you had to take off your shoes when entering homes, and that you sleep on mats on the floor. My shock came when I entered the room I would be sleeping in and saw...the closet. In Japan, the closets are traditionally two sided sliding doors that are usually white. The inside is very roomy, so it's easy to store a lot, a very convenient closet! So what's my problem? Well when I think about Japanese styled sliding closets, I don't see a closet, I see a death trap!

Since this was my first time visiting Japan, I had certain things associated with what I've seen them from. Unfortunately, I've watched way too many Japanese horror movies! I happen to be a fan of the Ju-on: The Grudge series and when I saw that sliding closet all I could think of was a dead body crawling out of it. It was hard to get this creepy imagery out of my head, and suddenly it felt like I was a kid again afraid of the unknown evils in my room. As embarrassing as it was, I even rearranged the furniture in the room so it could block off the closet...you know, just in case anything wanted to crawl out.

Needless to say, my first night sleeping in this room was very challenging. Even though I was very tired from traveling, I found it very hard to sleep knowing that this closet was next to me. It took me a couple of days to get use to it.

What a Wonderful World Intro

There once was a girl from Jersey who dreamed of nothing more than going to Japan...

That would be how my story would start off if this was a fairy tale. Since as young as I can remember, the Japanese culture has fascinated and amazed me. From the Power Rangers, to Sailor Moon, to Pokemon, the most enjoyable shows that I got into obsessively were Japanese.

As I got older, I added Japanese rock to my list of things about Japan I love. It didn't matter if I couldn't understand what they were saying, the music was enjoyable, new, and comforting. When you're a teenager you either try to desperately fit in with everyone else, or desperately try to be different. So since music has a huge impact on a teen's life, it was nice to listen to something that no one else was.

Later on I got into Japanese horror, because they had a unique gift for making a horror movie grotesque and beautiful at the same time. With so much that I loved about Japan, when I got to college I was excited that I could take Japanese as a language. It was such an exhilarating experience learning a new language I was really looking forward to learn. The more I learned the language, the more I learned the culture, and the more I fell in love.

When I finally got the chance to go, I was excited and scared at what I was getting myself into. Then when I was there, it was the greatest feeling of my life. Even though I was only there for ten days, I had the best 10 days ever experiencing Japan as they do. I love Japan because I love that it's a place filled with vibrant colors and cuteness. From the smallest things that go overlooked, they make it unique and new. They also think of ways to make every day happenings more convenient for everyone. This is why I love Japan, even in the littlest ways.

My Goals

I have a list of goals in my mind that I want to accomplish before this year is over. I know 2010 has a long way to go before it's over, but with me you just never know how long things might take. So I think if I write out exactly what I want to get done, I will be able to to actually do them. Right now all my ideas are stuck in my head and I have no clear thought process, so that's why I feel so overwhelmed most of the time. I want to do so many things, but I don't know what to do first, or how to get started. So without procrastinating some more, here are my goals:

Of course since I just graduated college, I really would like to find a job in my field. I don't want any more unpaid internships or websites that want to pay me in free stuff. I need money. So I have to stay diligent and keep looking for jobs every day.

I wanted to start a business online that would ensure that I had money while I wait until I find a job. I need to think of a good product that will sell, write a sales pitch, and design a cover for it.

I want to be crafty and be able to make a profit for it, so I want to make my own jewelry and try and sell it. Granted, this is a market that won't be very lucrative, but it will feel rewarding. Plus I'm hoping my first online business will be enough to cover me for my jewelry making.

I came up with an idea to write my own comic book. I have always been a comic book fan and it would be great if I can write my own. I've already come up with the premise, the characters, and the location, and with the help of one of my friends, we've been getting into the design. I have very little drawing skills so that part will have to be left up to my friend, but I have to get cracking on the manuscript.

So these are all the projects I have lined up in my mind, if only I could get enough motivation to start doing them. It's not really a lack of time, skill, or money, it's a lack of will that I've been fighting. Right now I feel like I want to break through these walls and do something worth doing! I just feel like I'm mentally and physically frozen...but I'm feeling that heat, so I'm hoping to break free any minute.

LOST Final Season Retrospect

When this season of Lost started it looked like this universe was a much happier one for our beloved passengers of flight 815. There was no plane crash, Hurley has had only good luck since his lottery win, and there is no Shannon (sorry girl but your attitude is not wanted). However, first episode aside, this season has been filled with moral dilemmas that seem to be testing the characters to see if they will revert back to who they were on the island or to see if they truly are better off having never crashed.

In last week's episode we see that Ben Linus is no longer an evil mastermind, but a lowly high school History teacher who cares more about the students than the principal. With a helpful suggestion from substitute teacher, John Locke, Ben tries to go after the principal position. Now while the Ben we are more familiar with would have no problem manipulating people to do what he wants, this Ben does. Even when he finds out from his favorite student/former island daughter, Alex, that the principal is having an affair with the school nurse, he's hesitant to go through with the blackmail. The major difference in the two Ben's is that alt world Ben actually thinks of others before himself. He very well could have had that principal position like he wanted, but he chose Alex's happiness over his own. The episode is very bittersweet because while he does seem to be a better man in this universe, he's not happier. If anything, what we've learned from this season so far is that all of these people have problems no matter what universe they're in.

While in hindsight it looked like the island was nothing but a crazy dysfunctional island of chaos, it actually did a lot of good. Without the island, how can Jin become a loving and caring husband? Is he now doomed to be a stressed, angry, sterile husband? Locke will never be able to walk again, Rose will continue to have cancer, and what will happen to Walt?

In this week's episode we finally see a positive change for a character in the alternative universe. We first see Sawyer in bed with a woman once again running his money con, but the twist here is that he's not trying to steal her money, he's trying to arrest her. Ladies and gentleman, Sawyer is now James Ford the cop. In this world he's on the right side of the law with Miles as his partner making this a great buddy cop TV series. While he's a working class citizen now, he's still not happy because he's still plagued by the trauma of his parent's murder suicide caused by the con man Sawyer got his name from. On the island he was able to get his closure and finally kill his demon like he always planned to, here he's still hunting for Anthony Cooper/Sawyer/Locke's dad. So is he better off being a lonely cop still on the hunt for revenge or a surly con man devastated by constantly losing the people he loved?

Well what is happiness anyway? Maybe the whole point of all of this is to show that all of these people can never be happy. They're doomed to be miserable and changing details around isn't going to make a difference. Aww now doesn't that just warm your heart? Maybe they should just release the polar bears again to kill them all.