KickIdle.com Blog

Thirteen days until Cindy & I head to Moab!

I flew back to Boston today to start working again. It’s certainly great to be back in town so I can see Cindy as well as earning some money. The flight was uneventful, but the landing was awkward. Not that most people would notice, but growing up with a pilot in the family and flying a lot for work, it was obvious. There must have been a cross wind at the last second, because the pilot ended up putting one wheel down and then having to rock the wings to get the other wheel down. She handled it very smoothly, but it was noticeable if you were paying attention.

After I got my luggage, I went to the National Rental Car lot and was greeted with several empty rows. Ever car in the Executive Level and Emerald Club rows was taken (the rows were about 80% to start with). I found a National employee and she was at least helpful about trying to find me a premium class car since they were out. Unfortunately, all the cool premiums were already gone too. Guess they had a big shortage today for some reason.

Eventually I saw a Toyota 4Runner and told her I’d take it as long as it had a MP3 AUX jack. It did, so I threw my bags in the back, plugged in the iPod, and pulled out. Fortunately, I noticed that it appeared to be in 4-wheel drive before I left the lot. I looked around the dash and found a button that looked like it would turn off 4WD. But of course, hitting it actually put the truck into center differential lockout.

For those of you not 4WD savvy, differential lockout is great for super-crappy conditions. Unfortunately, it makes the car virtually impossible to turn on pavement.

So now I was stuck in the center of the National lot trying to figure out how to get this thing out of 4WD before I got to the exit gate. I finally spotted the 2WD/4WD selector and flipped it to 2WD. Naturally, the transmission wasn’t disengaging 4WD. Figuring it was better to pull out of line than take this thing off the lot and possibly be stuck with a bad transmission, I put it through a squeaking, tire jerking turn as I pulled out of the exit line.

Lucky, playing with the transmission for a few minutes finally got it to pop back into 2WD and I could finally leave the lot.

Next, I ventured off into Arlington MA to drop off my Nikon D200 to have the sensor cleaned. I had tried cleaning it myself a few weeks ago with Eclipse sensor wipes but had instead managed to smear crap all over the sensor. So much for being frugal and doing it myself…

After the drop-off, I headed back to Quincy to check-in to the hotel and pickup Cindy. Her face was still numb from the dentist, so we hung out at the hotel for a little while until she wasn’t dribbling water ever time she tried to drink. Then we decided to try Old Country Buffet in Brockton. Cindy is in love with Golden Corral, so she was hoping to find a look-alike in the area.

Overall, I’d say Old Country Buffet does a pretty good job with their buffet, although both our stomachs were upset later this evening. So not sure if we’ll be back there or not.

We’re already trying to plot out what to do with our time in Boston. So far we’re planning on doing lunch/dinner with some of our friends and seeing Ponyo and probably GI Joe at the movies. Since we have a 4WD SUV this time, I think we’ll probably try to go somewhere off-road, maybe up on Plum Island.

Whatever happens, looking forward to doing it with my baby!

CLT and I went to Mimosa last night for a late evening dinner. Eight o’clock on a Sunday night was not a busy time there, so we had the place to ourselves. Arriving, the service was fine, although our waitress forgot about us for a few minutes since we were alone in the restaurant. Other than that lapse, I think the service was friendly and prompt.

Mimosa has gone for a “P. F. Chang’s” style modernist decor, but not really hit the mark. The interior is a mixture of elements that just don’t quite mesh. The booths, tables, and chairs have clean lines and a dark red palette, but aren’t quite edgy enough to match the exposed industrial ceiling and HVAC. There’s three large fish tanks separating the dining space from the bar. But only one of the tanks actually had visible fish, and there wasn’t a real integration of the tanks into the overall decor. The overhead lighting was also a mix of regular light bulbs and compact fluorescents. While I support the use of compact fluorescents from an ecological view point, the management had decide to save a few extra bucks by not getting full-spectrum bulbs. This left us sitting at a table with a faint greenish cast from the light overhead. Greenish color cast is not what you want when ordering sushi!

CLT and I both ordered a sushi roll and a chicken entree. If you’ve eaten sushi, you know that the one thing for which you are absolutely dependent upon the chef is getting a sushi roll cut cleanly so you can pick up pieces with chopsticks. Sushi rolls are delicate creations, and they don’t last long if you have to tug on them to separate the pieces. While the texture and taste was acceptable, my roll wasn’t cut cleanly – blemishing the whole experience.

For the entrees, the taste and presentation were great. Unfortunately, the chicken in both our dishes had a weird spongy texture. I’m not sure what’s going on with the texture of their chicken. This was something I experienced when I ate there a few months ago as well. I decided to change things up and order fried rice instead of white rice this time, which also turned into a disappointment. The fried rice was utterly incapable of sticking together – thus immediately defeating any attempt to eat with chopsticks. CLT’s white rice seemed OK, although I didn’t try any myself to find out. We both decide to pass on dessert and call it a night.

So, I wouldn’t necessarily recommend Mimosa based on their hot entrees – at least with chicken. The sushi was acceptable even if the preparation wasn’t spot on. If I ever do return there, I’ll probably be trying a shrimp dish instead of chicken. Given that some other reviewers seem to think highly of Mimosa, maybe I’ve just caught them on bad nights. Or maybe food in Boston and New York has just spoiled me for restaurants in Winchester. At any rate, your mileage may vary.

Mimosa Fusion Asian Restaurant
202 Grocery Ave
Winchester, VA 22602
(540) 545-8482‎
http://mimosafusion.com/