ABCo.

I <3 this place. I love the atmosphere, I love the employees, I love everything they serve. I love they have 2 locations and one with a 3 dollar movie show.

This week brought us an announcement of the detachment of one of our leaders. We love this guy. He's been a strong hold for us when there are inter office quarrels, a knowledgable resource on all transactions. And more than anything someone who has gained respect from a lot of our customers. Theyre not going to take well to his leaving. We already dealt with the heart wrenching move of another leader in the office, she followed her heart. It was a good move for her, but we still miss her and love her lots. I cant blame her, I'd do the same thing for the right person.

Back to the ABCo. AWBF and myself decided to sit down and discuss office junk with eachother and gossip. She had a fantastic looking Greek Chicken Salad, I had the standard cup of tar, my personal fuel of choice... black coffee.

 Mid discussion, we were distracted by some hot action at the bar. I've only seen it advertised on tv... but this brings it to life.  As seen on Ellen, and on late night infomercials all across America, this man.. this object .. so right and yet, OHHHH so wrong.!!!

The only thing I could think of was this song.. as he shook what his mama gave him...

Oh yes, and not that it went well with coffee... it went well with chip crumbles and half eaten carrot sticks.. go ahead.. make a pig of yourself and go for it. its awesome. its full of garlic, cheese and should be considrered for the top 10 list of things that should be on your plate for your last meal. 

mm mm mmmmmmm yeeaaaayuuuh. beercheese...

Sir, I am so sorry.

I don't know whether or not I should be more embarrassed as Ive taken it upon myself as an ambassador to the town or this officer should be more embarrassed.

Here in Asheville we're big on being green. We're trying to be more friendly to our Mother Earth, and learn to recycle and reuse our resources. One thing Ive found particularly ingenious is the Eco friendly " CopCart." How intimidating can this be? Can you even do a high speed chase in this thing? Are the pedestrians laughing at the supposed criminal in the back, or are they laughing at our officer of the peace?


 I caught him shaking what looked like his Miranda Rights card at this bush for about 10 minutes this week.  I'll let you decide.

One day no lunch.

So lunch brought nothing of delight. Although I did happen to walk down South Lexington to the chocolate shop. Ive heard tales of this place, 3 levels of chocolate decadance. A chocolate lovers dream. Home made treats if you will.. bars of chocolate hewn into shreds of sinful indulgence. Upon arrival. I was greeted by this:

minus all the clever notations added by myself; I wondered.. who is this french broad and what is the " chocolate lounge" how do you lounge in chocolate? do they enrobe you in liquid chocolate and then let you lounge about on their leather couches? and the broad, what does the french broad even have to do with it? im sure theyre only referring to the .. no wait there are some ladies.... hahaha...

Hearing their delight and squeals of " oh hahaha ha , ooooh la la's and, bon jour frenchiiieee montrez-moi le chocolat!!!"


i hesitated to enter.. and sat down on the side walk just pondering what i might be getting myself into.  i waited.. and waited.


until fifteen minutes later. this man came out smiling and looking quite refreshed

I decided to high tail it off Lexington Ave. and book it back to my office, not that I was scared just more shocked. Perhaps sometime later I can go back.. more prepaired, and ready for the explosive chocolate experience.

October Beginnings...

So we started the month of October just like legend says ... in like a polar bear out like a burst of blazing hotter than balls weather. The weather actually took me by surprise. It started out all chilly, and yes, I got excited to feel the nice cool crisp air of fall. The evening lows were down into the high 30s and 40s. Gray skies greeted us every morning. People were showing up in their jackets. Pockets full of mothballs, mistaking them for an old cough drop only to be surprised with something much worse tasting. ( Not saying I would make this mistake, I mean honestly really who eats moth balls these days.. cough cough )

So I started out on monday with a late lunch meet up with my AWBF. We dined outside a local restaurant, Loretta's. This place provides us with not only nutritious savory lunches; it provides us with entertainment from the friendly staff. We love Loretta's and will give full endorsement of something there garunteed to please you whether it be the food or some of the smokin hot employees. Just dont forget to search their website for their celebrity for your free drink. I never tire of asking for a big refreshing glass of Betty White.

AWBF lunch consisted of an " everything and turkey sandwich minus mayo add hummus and some cashew something. I'd reccomend it to about anyone" from Loretta's. I just smiled and turned my head. I brought my own lunch. Wild Rice, Omega 3 Peanut butter, Baby Carrots, and bought a cookie from Loretta's to split with the AWBF so they couldnt say I just comondeered a seat.

nothing monumental happened other than reading Mountain X.

adieu for now... blessings and best lunches... 

Flickr

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

september 29

greetings

no photos today but i do have one or two to upload, ive been too lazy to get it done.

the weather has been mild and generally uncooperative for dining out doors. the past week has brought the cooler and more enjoyable temperatures. it has also brought a short monsoon season along with it. thus washing the dirt and filth from the local sleeper gangs ( youve seen them im sure especially if youve been downtown at 7 am) - im not much of a fan of going back to work and being a soggy bottomed girl.

the lunch faire has yelded sumptuous courses from the homestead consisting of home grown bosc pears, store bought oranges and leftovers such as the greek classic moussaka ( which im quite positive tastes nothing like moose caca... but i could be wrong). ive enjoyed the pears quite a bit as theyre still firm and crisp with a light flavor. yes i know its not ripe enough to qualify as enjoyable to most but it fit the bill so to speak this week. my mother grew them in her yard. i picked my own with some long arm with a basket apparatus ... seemed a bit safer than me scaling a ladder on a hill leaning sideways whilst my mother trembled in fear.

today has been filled with the monotanous tones of checks running through the machines and customers shuffling their feet. pretty quiet if you ask me. welcome to fall... the leaves have refused to change their colors as of yet. meh.

September 22, 2009

First and foremost, I grew up here, I live here, I work here. I can speak my open opinion about this town and how its grown for the good and bad. I work at a pretty AWESOME bank; and have AMAZING co workers. There are three best parts of our day: the moment that the customer actually " goes there" ( you know when you think they couldnt possibly reveal any more personal information or even make any more crazy bodily functions occur ), our lunch hour ( of course where we recap what has happened thus far in the day), and closing time. Based in Asheville, NC ( one of the strangest melting pots in the south ) it will be a blog filled with pictures ( if i can get them to load ), and real quotes from real co workers, and other people. 

The main focus of this blog will probably shift about these subjects and times... and as I feel compelled- will share this with the interwebs.  It's called BenchBeat because this idea was brainstormed up between a co worker ( my at work best friend - do you have an at work best friend? because if you dont there is a questionairre for that ) and myself.  We got this great idea to start touring the benches of town on our lunch hour. Little did we know what we might get ourselves into. 

BENCH: –noun

1.

a long seat for several persons: a bench in the park.

2.

a seat occupied by an official, esp. a judge.

3.

such a seat as a symbol of the office and dignity of anindividual judge or the judiciary.

4.

the office or dignity of various other officials, or the officialsthemselves.

5.

Sports .

a.

the seat on which the players of a team sit during agame while not playing.

b.

thequality and number of the players of a team who areusually used as substitutes: A weak bench hurt theirchances for the championship.

6.

Informal . bench press.

7.

Also called workbench. the strong worktable of a carpenteror other mechanic.

8.

a platform on which animals are placed for exhibition, esp. ata dog show.

9.

a contest or exhibition of dogs; dog show.

10.

Physical Geography . a shelflike area of rock with steepslopes above and below.

Although the grammar is atrocious, feel free to correct me- dont expect me to change it though.  Enjoy...

September 22 2010

Lunch date with the at work best friend ( i still need to show her this blog ) .  

Weather : Perfect (about 80F ) with a slight breeze and sunny

Location : 7 Pack Square SW... not in the restaurant - we sat outside on the bench of course!

Lunches : 

AWBF - PB&J  ( NO MAYO!!! hahahaa inside joke.. ), Green Apple, and Grapefruit Yogurt.

Me: Black Bean and Corn Salad with what I had yet to find out was a bad cup of Peaches & Cream Whipped Yogurt ( theres a reason why i dont buy this stuff- but it was left in my fridge and needed to be eaten.) 

Drinks:  2 waters we brought our own. 

When we arrived the bench was perfect, open- and unoccupied. Situated under a perfect shady tree with a nice view of the square. There was a man who I am fairly sure was channeling his inner John Denver and Willie Nelson. Not a half bad singer, he sang us a few American folk songs and some classic hippie rock. We sat back, chatted it up, people watched and took in the fresh air.

the view, the man, the legend...

sorry, had to censor him.. i didnt ask to take his picture.

After a few minutes of gabbing and shooting the breeze, we decided to take a walk, although not completely documented, we walked to the rock shop to see some acquaintances and earthy experts. Upon leaving I swore I saw a dead body. 

Much to my surprise ( and no I did not poke him with a stick or umbrella ) he was alive and just taking a break from work, customers and life in general.

And randomly out of order.. this happened before the walk to the rock shop: I had some cheezit crumbs in a zip lock bag. Pigeons eat anything! They especially love, and I mean LOVE to be fed! Crackers are a first.. and a piece of corn too.

Following this Corn kernel eatin' Pigeon was his gang.. whom I refer to as the PGs...

Thanks for reading this not so important, environmentally unfriendly blog. Just kidding! But really, thanks for reading, Im going to try to keep this jam updated as much as possible. If you know of any awesome benches out there, or great lunches on the cheap ( c'mon give us a discount too.. you know, the "downtown discount" )  downtown- let a sista' know! Co workers and myself would be more than willing to give it a try.