Breakfast for less than Four dollars!

You can get grits, Eggs, Sausage Links, Toast and a few slices of fresh fruit for $3.95 plus tax.  Where?

Showmars restaurant in Huntersville, NC.  This breakfast deal is only Monday through Friday before 11am.

Don't like grits or sausage links?  Showmars does offer some other meat options as well as another substitute for the grits.  However, your drink or beverage is NOT included, but a glass of water is no extra charge.

The ambience reminds you of a family diner.  The restaurant is not new and fancy, but it's clean and comfortable.  For the price, food quality, friendly service, it is well worth the four bucks!

Parenting Rules surrounding Mobile Phone Usage

Parenting Rules to consider:

1. Only children with driver's license need a mobile phone in case of emergency.
2.  Eighth grade seems to be the youngest age that parents will give children their own mobile phone.
3. Set up a phone curfew which can coincide with the home landline curfew.
4. Set up a charging station in the kitchen.
5. Check the phones to see if call logs are being erased during a certain timeframe past curfew.
6. Restrict the children from having smartphones.  Basic mobile phones will serve fine in cases of emergency.
7. Certain cell phone providers (like Verizon) can allow parents to disable phone service during certain specified hours (like 10pm to 7am).
8. Restrict the phone for weekend usage only.
9.  The iPod can be used as a preliminary tryout before assigning the child an actual mobile phone.

Happy Parenting!

Uncle Louie G Italian Ice in Huntersville, NC

When I first heard the owner mention this italian ice, I imagined a popsicle.  To my surprise, Uncle Louie G's Italian Ice is a homemade and gourmet italian ice imported from Brooklyn, NY!  I got the Coney Island Cotton Candy flavor.  Oh yeah!  It tasted just like "cotton candy!" It was also light and creamy.  It is half the calories of ice cream.  I'm in love.  Frozen yogurt doesn't even compare!

The Huntersville, NC location of Uncle Louie G is near where the Publix will be opening soon off Exit 23 and Interstate 77.  Their Business hours are 12:30pm to 9pm Monday through Saturday, and 12:30pm to 6pm on Sunday.  They have sample scoops to try out their many flavors.  The Italian ice is dairy-free.  They also have ice cream options if all else fails.

By the way, the owner is supercool!  Try it out!!!!!

Abita Root Beer in a Bottle

I do not like the taste of beer, but I feel like I fit in with the crowd with this bottled root beer.  The brand is Abita.  So far, Killington's restaurant in Huntersville, NC offers it.  They even give you a frosted glass to pour it in if you want to feel like you are really doing something!  LOL!  The root beer bottle looks like a regular beer bottle.  The cost is around $2.25.

Lunch/Dinner for less than Seven Dollars

1) Bojangles/Huntersville, NC:  2 piece dark, 2 fixin's, biscuit, and drink for $5.69 plus tax.  Just ask to Bo size the $5.00 two piece dark special!

I will be adding on to this list as I discover other affordable dining out options.

Signs of the Times 2013

Cigarettes and Condoms . . . I saw this condom box and cigarette butt in a parking lot.  

Apparently, the owner of these items had other priorities besides worrying about littering?

Yet, another condom package was found near another public transit bus stop.  How about discretion?

Most of these pay phone booths have no phones in them.  However, there are still some operational pay phones around Charlotte, NC.  They are $.25 for local calls.

Well, this message was in the women's bathroom at a movie theater.  "No Adult diapers; feminine products only"  Wow!  Does this include the Poise pads?

Increasing Movie Theater Attendance: The Driving Force

If anyone saw Pacific Rim in IMAX 3D, then they would probably laugh at the success of Gravity in IMAX 3D.  There was dead silence in parts of the "Gravity"movie where as "Pacific Rim" was a lot of "BOOM BOOM BOOM."

Both are great movies, but they do draw totally different audiences.

Apparently, most people who are used to watching movies on Netflix, Redbox, or On-Demand, etc - made an exception to go see Gravity in IMAX 3D because it was the best way to see such a movie that involved space and partial silence.  So Gravity seems to be a huge success!

I also was told that with digital technology, the films no longer lose quality each time they are played.  So if you see the movie during week one then the quality of the film is as good as week 52.

Even many of the bootleg films have extremely good quality.

So either pay $15 to see a movie during opening weekend or see the same movie for free on HBO the next year?

So Hollywood has to begin producing more films that people do not want to see at home because only the theaters can give them the full effect of the film.  Well, the public has spoken and raised the bar in film making.