Cafeteria ick
I know I've said this before, and I'll probably be saying it again, but I REALLY need to get into the habit of bringing lunch to work.
For a long while there it wasn't all that necessary. Sure it cost time and money to go out for lunch every day, but it was fairly convenient, and there was a lot of variety in the area where I worked.
But now that I'm couped up on a military base all day my options are severely limited. Sure, I can go off base for lunch. But it takes much, much longer to get anywhere worthwhile. And parking is always an issue there.
And then there's the cafeteria. There is a cafeteria in the building where I work. That would be awesome and convenient, except for the fact that it's run by ~*~Sodexho~*~ and is about on par with a college dorm cafeteria if not slightly worse.
First of all, it's hideously overpriced, naturally. There are a few sandwiches that are passable, but not exciting. There's chili that doesn't taste bad (but doesn't have much taste to speak of in the first place). The french fries have no flavor (or much potato in them for that matter). The pizza is soaked in grease. There are virtually no vegetarian options to speak of (I'm not vegetarian, but I've been trying to trend that way when I'm just picking out food for myself). Even the few things that would be considered vegetarian are no good if you're strictly vegetarian since they're clearly being cooked in the same vessels as meat dishes.
There is, of course, a salad bar. But it has pretty slim offerings. Only the most basic things you can imagine, and not even some of them. Today, when I walked into the cafeteria, I was so disgusted by everything in there that I turned to the salad bar as a last resort. Took some mixed greens, broccoli, cucumber, and shredded carrots. Everything looked a bit off. In fairness, it's the first fully operational day for that building in a week and a half, so they probably didn't have much in the way of fresh stock. But still, it was pretty bad. I didn't even touch any of the dressings. Plastic canisters of disgusting gloppy "ranch" and "thousand island" type dressings, crusted over with old drippings. Probably infested with swine flu and botulism. Not healthy stuff in general. There was also oil and vinegar--old. The oil had no flavor and the vinegar was cheap shit that tasted like ass. So I left my "salad" bare. It cost me a little over $2 for no more salad than I could've carried in my bare hands.
Once I got to my seat to eat it, I found that the greens were more wilted than I'd realized, and some of them were outright rotting. The broccoli was edible, but also on its way out. Same with the cucumbers. But the carrots were slimy and sour...not edible at all.
Really don't want to have to bother with that again.
In other news, I worked 10 and a half hours today, and I'm pooped. Still have 2 more hours to make up for this time card. And several more after that. They want me to make up ALL the time lost from last week by March 19, which is ridiculous. I'm going to continue to push for an extension, but so far management and HR have been dumb.
For a long while there it wasn't all that necessary. Sure it cost time and money to go out for lunch every day, but it was fairly convenient, and there was a lot of variety in the area where I worked.
But now that I'm couped up on a military base all day my options are severely limited. Sure, I can go off base for lunch. But it takes much, much longer to get anywhere worthwhile. And parking is always an issue there.
And then there's the cafeteria. There is a cafeteria in the building where I work. That would be awesome and convenient, except for the fact that it's run by ~*~Sodexho~*~ and is about on par with a college dorm cafeteria if not slightly worse.
First of all, it's hideously overpriced, naturally. There are a few sandwiches that are passable, but not exciting. There's chili that doesn't taste bad (but doesn't have much taste to speak of in the first place). The french fries have no flavor (or much potato in them for that matter). The pizza is soaked in grease. There are virtually no vegetarian options to speak of (I'm not vegetarian, but I've been trying to trend that way when I'm just picking out food for myself). Even the few things that would be considered vegetarian are no good if you're strictly vegetarian since they're clearly being cooked in the same vessels as meat dishes.
There is, of course, a salad bar. But it has pretty slim offerings. Only the most basic things you can imagine, and not even some of them. Today, when I walked into the cafeteria, I was so disgusted by everything in there that I turned to the salad bar as a last resort. Took some mixed greens, broccoli, cucumber, and shredded carrots. Everything looked a bit off. In fairness, it's the first fully operational day for that building in a week and a half, so they probably didn't have much in the way of fresh stock. But still, it was pretty bad. I didn't even touch any of the dressings. Plastic canisters of disgusting gloppy "ranch" and "thousand island" type dressings, crusted over with old drippings. Probably infested with swine flu and botulism. Not healthy stuff in general. There was also oil and vinegar--old. The oil had no flavor and the vinegar was cheap shit that tasted like ass. So I left my "salad" bare. It cost me a little over $2 for no more salad than I could've carried in my bare hands.
Once I got to my seat to eat it, I found that the greens were more wilted than I'd realized, and some of them were outright rotting. The broccoli was edible, but also on its way out. Same with the cucumbers. But the carrots were slimy and sour...not edible at all.
Really don't want to have to bother with that again.
In other news, I worked 10 and a half hours today, and I'm pooped. Still have 2 more hours to make up for this time card. And several more after that. They want me to make up ALL the time lost from last week by March 19, which is ridiculous. I'm going to continue to push for an extension, but so far management and HR have been dumb.