Wendy’s opens in Hesperia

Jenn and I went to the new Wendy’s at Main Street and I Avenue for lunch today.

This is a bigger deal than it might seem. Hesperia used to have a Wendy’s years ago, but it closed down long before I came here. I think the building, closer to downtown, might still be vacant, I can’t recall. There’s now one far, far to the west, at a truck stop on I-15 (Main Street traffic makes it further than it might appear to be), but that’s hardly convenient (and, frankly, it’s hard to drive past In-N-Out to get a hamburger somewhere else). As a result, Jenn is crazy for Wendy’s. My medical tests in 2004 taking place in Apple Valley had a silver lining: “We can stop and get you Wendy’s after.” (I had a real loss of appetite at the height of my first sarcoidosis episode.) I just like them because they’re a lot less common out here than they were on the east coast.

In any case, the new location is open, and has the cleanliness and customer service that you typically only get when the regional managers are in the kitchen with you, training everyone. (That’s not totally true, though: The Baker’s across from In-N-Out at Main Street and I-15 has tables you could perform surgery on and astonishingly good customer service, particularly for a fast food restaurant.) Wendy’s has moved away from the old fashioned classified ads on tables and as wallpaper and the new store has an interesting (although not necessarily convincingly functional) use of smoked glass to divide the relatively small eating area up.

Since everyone’s just getting trained up, none of Wendy’s limited time items are available, but everything was tasty and delicious. It’s very nice getting another option on Main Street. Naturally, it comes just as Jenn and I are talking about eating better and working out again in the new year.

• Speaking of sarcoidosis, it’s been a little more than a week that I’ve been on the Prevacid NarpaPAC and so far, it’s been great. No heartburn whatsoever, either from the painkillers or otherwise, and while it hasn’t completely eliminated my joint pain, it’s made a significant dent in it. This looks like a good solution until my situation gets dramatically worse.

The return of Joe Gibbs

When I was a young lad, the (even then, obviously wildly politically incorrect) Redskins were the lords of Washington, and Joe Gibbs was their king. I graduated high school and then college, and Gibbs retired and the ‘skins faded away.

Now, Gibbs is back, and the ‘skins are in the playoffs. Gibbs, of course, is winning by being Gibbs. Having moved to LA, the land of Kobe Bryant and other dubious sports “personalities,” it’s nice to see that being a class act can still get you to the top.

Where this is all going: Today, the Washington Post has a nice write-up about Gibbs’ return.

And now, a word from Kasey

(Jenn’s sister Kelly’s daughter.)

“PBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBLT!”

NPR interviews the Times-Picayune editor

Fresh Air (“Jazz hands!”) interviewed Jim Amoss, the editor of the New Orleans Times-Picayune, about reporting during Katrina and after.

The newsroom Jim Amoss leads was widely praised for its unflinching coverage of the government’s response to Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath. In a piece one month ago, Amoss said “New Orleans has become two cities — an enclave of survivors clustered along the Mississippi River’s crescent and a vast and sprawling shadow city where the water stood, devoid of power and people.”

Definitely worth a listen.

Cold and flu season

… has reached the Yarbrough residence. That is all.