Carroll County Meet-up 10/11/14

[Bolts Rock]

And when a guest speaker is speaking, people shouldn't be flapping their gums. Flame ON!

Yeah, that rubbed me the wrong way too; sorta' showing complete disrespect.

10 minutes is pushing it for a campaign speech, he went on for at least 15.

 

[ma_deuce]

That's a good question so you should infiltrate those "other extremist groups" and attend their meet-ups to gather intel and report back with your findings.

Does it count if I attend a Brown fundraiser?

 

[eruby]

10 minutes is pushing it for a campaign speech, he went on for at least 15.

True, but people were cackling pretty much from the start.

 

[Vile Shadow]

10 minutes is pushing it for a campaign speech, he went on for at least 15.

Obviously Carroll county folks have to do what they think is best for them.

But I can't say I was too impressed with him. I thought he was too much "politician" and not enough "sheriff", especially once he mentioned "militarization of the police". Sounds to me like he wants to take something that's a non-issue and make an issue out of it, much like Mr. Brown and his anti-"assault weapon" campaign.

 

[fabsroman]

Fabs, I would personally go with something like this one. Subtle, yet classy. Also it shouldn't be too reflective in the dark.

http://www.tungstenfashions.com/Marvo-Black-Tungsten-Carbide-Ring-8mm_p_99.html#.VDtvQGpMVxs

Yeah, the black tungsten carbide rings have me very interested in them. Thinking about one for my right hand. However, I am stuck with the silver tungsten carbide ring on my left hand that the priest blessed at my wedding. This one has a line of white gold down the center of it, and the white gold is scratched to hell while the tungsten is still shiny and smooth as can be.

 

[fabsroman]

Don't think there are enough bunnies in Carroll County to feed this bunch! Maybe Fabsroman can contribute a chunk of his next elk?

Can't wait for the next CC gathering, and everyone come on out to Jailbreak on the 21st.

Shafted,

It was great seeing you at the meetup. Wish we could have talked more than a quick hello. Did not even see when you left so I wasn't able to say goodbye. The weirdest thing for me at meetups like this one, is trying to figure out whether to call somebody by their screen name or their real name.

Yeah, we might need something more than an elk to feed that many people. Maybe a moose.

 

[fabsroman]

Obviously Carroll county folks have to do what they think is best for them.

But I can't say I was too impressed with him. I thought he was too much "politician" and not enough "sheriff", especially once he mentioned "militarization of the police". Sounds to me like he wants to take something that's a non-issue and make an issue out of it, much like Mr. Brown and his anti-"assault weapon" campaign.

I'm in Howard County, so will not be voting for him one way or another. However, initially I was turned off by him with his reasoning for running on a Democratic ticket. His reasoning was that he was doing it because he had the greatest chance of getting through the primary that way. Well, you still need to face the winner of the Republican primary in the general, so what does it matter whether you face him as a Republican on the primary ticket or as a Democrat on the general ticket?

The thing that swayed me in favor of him is that he wasn't for the militarization of the police department, which is a hot topic nowadays. I might be able to understand why a dedicated SWAT team is needed in Baltimore City, but it is really hard for me to understand why one is needed in Carroll County as I drive past farm after farm to get to its "capital" which isn't very big as far as cities go. Maybe in 50+ years there might be some justification for it.

Another thing that impressed me with him was that he was in tune to doing things with the budget that he had. My only issue there is that he wanted a unit dedicated to heroine, and my point was going to be if there is no money in the budget for a dedicated SWAT team, where would the money come from for a dedicated heroine unit? I didn't have a dog in the fight, so I asked the question of PO2012 who gave me a good answer. Much easier to fund a unit for heroine versus SWAT. Of course, my position is legalize all the drugs, spend the money on drug education, make them available at the local pharmacy, and get rid of all the crap drugs that can kill people even without an overdose. People will find ways to commit suicide even if guns are not available and they will find drugs on the street even though they have been illegal for 40+ years.

 

[fabsroman]

True, but people were cackling pretty much from the start.

Does not matter if the man was up there talking for 15 minutes, 30 minutes, or an hour. Courtesy demands that we be quiet. It wasn't only for him, but for others too. Lou, Mopar, and SNI had a tough time talking up front sometimes. Thing is, it was a big room, there were a lot of people, and I know I was excited about seeing those I already knew and meeting others from the board that I only knew via screen name and avatar. I'd blame the alcohol, but I don't drink. lol

 

[eruby]

True, but people were cackling pretty much from the start.

Does not matter if the man was up there talking for 15 minutes, 30 minutes, or an hour. Courtesy demands that we be quiet. It wasn't only for him, but for others too. Lou, Mopar, and SNI had a tough time talking up front sometimes. Thing is, it was a big room, there were a lot of people, and I know I was excited about seeing those I already knew and meeting others from the board that I only knew via screen name and avatar. I'd blame the alcohol, but I don't drink. lol

I thought about after I posted but got sidetracked and never updated my post

You are 100% correct.

 

[tsmith1499]

My wife and I were talking about the serving situation the other night after the meetup. If they were to assign 1 server to each area of tables I think it would have been much better. For instance I would break the room up into 4 area's. The front 3 rows of tables, left, center, right and the small area of tables in the back corner. It would have also helped if they had the same amount of servers from beginning to end. When we got there at 7 it appeared as though there were only 2 servers. To the point that a few people at our table went to the bar to get our first round of drinks.

My other issue is the fact that there was already an 18% gratuity added to each of our bills. At least it was to mine. So let's just say each "couple had a separate bill with an "average" tip of $10.00. There were almost 60 people there = 30 "couples" = about $300.00 in tips added to our bills.

Now I don't know how they split up tips there on a deal like this and that's not really our problem. Did the servers make more with us than they could have waiting on other tables? I don't think so because after the baseball game was over, other than the bar, it was a ghost town out at the other tables.

Just my thoughts and $.02 on the matter.

 

[PO2012]

But I can't say I was too impressed with him. I thought he was too much "politician" and not enough "sheriff", especially once he mentioned "militarization of the police". Sounds to me like he wants to take something that's a non-issue and make an issue out of it, much like Mr. Brown and his anti-"assault weapon" campaign.

Word on the street is that Jim DeWees intends to stand up a full time SWAT unit as well as a motorcycle unit, among other grandiose plans - something I specifically asked Pacelli about and which is what led to the mention of militarization. Whatever else Jim DeWees might do should he be elected Sheriff I can all but guarantee that you will see a dramatic increase in traffic enforcement and SWAT call outs. In my opinion, Carroll County doesn't need either. Neither one is going to reverse the tide of crime. The only way to do that is with community involvement and good intelligence gathering.

 

[mopar92]

My wife and I were talking about the serving situation the other night after the meetup. If they were to assign 1 server to each area of tables I think it would have been much better. For instance I would break the room up into 4 area's. The front 3 rows of tables, left, center, right and the small area of tables in the back corner. It would have also helped if they had the same amount of servers from beginning to end. When we got there at 7 it appeared as though there were only 2 servers. To the point that a few people at our table went to the bar to get our first round of drinks.

My other issue is the fact that there was already an 18% gratuity added to each of our bills. At least it was to mine. So let's just say each "couple had a separate bill with an "average" tip of $10.00. There were almost 60 people there = 30 "couples" = about $300.00 in tips added to our bills.

Now I don't know how they split up tips there on a deal like this and that's not really our problem. Did the servers make more with us than they could have waiting on other tables? I don't think so because after the baseball game was over, other than the bar, it was a ghost town out at the other tables.

Just my thoughts and $.02 on the matter.

We had two servers slotted for us.
Per mine and Miss Sarah's conversation, the problem with our group is that we are so punctual. A group of 50+ people arriving at the same time throws the server schedule askew. If we trickled in as most groups do then they would be able to attend to each group as they enter.
As for the gratuity fee, that's standard in the "higher class" restaurant industry. Unfortunately that is the status quo.
As per the speaker, I'm not gaining warm fuzzies from him but he's drastically better than the alternative.

 

[Oldcarjunkie]

I wasnt impressed with the food myself, small crab cake and somewhat burnt. I enjoyed meeting the people i did meet but it was so crowded it was mainly restricted to my table and the next over. The speaker was directly behind me, i gave him 10 mins and got bored. Especially since im not in his area.

 

[Lou45]

We had two servers slotted for us.
Per mine and Miss Sarah's conversation, the problem with our group is that we are so punctual. A group of 50+ people arriving at the same time throws the server schedule askew. If we trickled in as most groups do then they would be able to attend to each group as they enter.
As for the gratuity fee, that's standard in the "higher class" restaurant industry. Unfortunately that is the status quo.
As per the speaker, I'm not gaining warm fuzzies from him but he's drastically better than the alternative.

This ^^^.

 

[tsmith1499]

We had two servers slotted for us.
Per mine and Miss Sarah's conversation, the problem with our group is that we are so punctual. A group of 50+ people arriving at the same time throws the server schedule askew. If we trickled in as most groups do then they would be able to attend to each group as they enter.
As for the gratuity fee, that's standard in the "higher class" restaurant industry. Unfortunately that is the status quo.
As per the speaker, I'm not gaining warm fuzzies from him but he's drastically better than the alternative.

Don't get me wrong, I like this place. The only issue we have ever had is the lack of enough wait staff. Now we have a good track record of saying if "X" amount is showing up 99% of the time "X" shows up.

Knowing we are a punctual group and going by past experience, I would think they would try and adjust the staff accordingly. Just my thoughts.

Standard gratuity I understand and have no issue with that provided the service is up to par.

As for the speaker. Hey. I got my own problems living in Monkey County. You guys are on your own on that one!! To bad Chris didn't win. HIM I trusted from the first time I met him. Lou introduced him in a parking lot in Westminster and Lou has never steered me wrong .......yet.

 

[DaemonAssassin]

They completely blanked on the entree I ordered, until I asked about it about an hour later. Whatever.

I had more fun with people than I did eating.

 

[fabsroman]

All I have to say is that I had a great time. Sure, there is always something to complain about. I mean, I had to walk a ways from the parking lot. It was night time. I had to drive there. The room was packed when I got there (which is actually great to see that many people turn out). And the list of pet peeves can go on and on. Oh yeah, I had to cross a busy street to get there from the public parking lot. Luckily, meters weren't in effect because that would have broke my wallet.

Plus, you cannot make 50+ people happy all of the time.

It was a good time, period, and I would attend again knowing that the service would be the same and the room would be just as crowded. Sure, things can always be better, but they can also be worse. Even if the thing were to be a buffet, I would attend again. No idea where they would put the buffet, but I am sure they would figure it out. Next time, I hope to see 100 people there such that we have to sit all over the place. The more the merrier.

 

[fabsroman]

They completely blanked on the entree I ordered, until I asked about it about an hour later. Whatever.

I had more fun with people than I did eating.

I was going to mention that, but we are beating a dead horse into pulp.

 

[tsmith1499]

All I have to say is that I had a great time. Sure, there is always something to complain about. I mean, I had to walk a ways from the parking lot. It was night time. I had to drive there. The room was packed when I got there (which is actually great to see that many people turn out). And the list of pet peeves can go on and on. Oh yeah, I had to cross a busy street to get there from the public parking lot. Luckily, meters weren't in effect because that would have broke my wallet.

Plus, you cannot make 50+ people happy all of the time.

It was a good time, period, and I would attend again knowing that the service would be the same and the room would be just as crowded. Sure, things can always be better, but they can also be worse. Even if the thing were to be a buffet, I would attend again. No idea where they would put the buffet, but I am sure they would figure it out. Next time, I hope to see 100 people there such that we have to sit all over the place. The more the merrier.

 

[ShallNotInfringe]

Maybe next time if the CC Meetup turn out is going to be so big, a different venue and caterer might be a better solution.

That room can't handle more than 50 and apparently the waitstaff and kitchen can't either. But to be honest, I went for the people not the food. Left satisfied.