Steak n' Shake Situation

UPDATE: Steak and Shake replied to my tweet, giving me their customer service line as I expected. I called and explained the situation. They are sending me a $5 gift card. At the time, I thought this was funny since my meal cost $6. So I paid $1 for a great food story.
The next day the district manager called from the Steak n Shake, I give him the story again and he apologized. He asked that I bring the piece in so they could examine it and figure out where it came from. He also said that he was sending me a $20 gift card.
Between everything I feel that the situation was well taken care of by Steak n Shake for my part. I understand that things like this happened, so I didn't want to make a huge deal of it (just wanted compensation and for them to know it happened in case there are other reports or safety hazards).
I will continue to eat at Steak n Shake. In fact I kind of want a milkshake right now...

------------------------------------------------

Every now and then I get weak in the stomach. There is just some manner of food that I have to have right then. This morning it was Steak n' Shake's Country Skillet meal.

It was a wonderful amalgamation of hash-browns, biscuits, sausage, gravy, cheese, scrambled eggs, and awesome goodness.

However, this morning I was disturbed to find an extra topping on my glorious breakfast. It was the metaphorical cherry on top of a Styrofoam dish of happiness.

And by "cherry" I mean "electrical wire" and by "metaphorical" I mean "terrifying real".

It was about my fifth bite in, I noticed a bit that was more crunchy then the contents of the dish usually entails. Curious, I pulled it out and examined the specimen.

Needless to say, I couldn't finish the meal. I couldn't stand the idea that my food was cooks with something like that (which is obviously falling apart and is flaking bits of plastic all around).

I know that we as a people, and I specifically, often eat disgusting things without even realizing it - or even eat things when we know they aren't good for us. Between calorie count and fun facts like "there are chemicals in diet soda that turn into embalming fluid in your body" that make people turn away from foods.

But this is electrical wire. It's plastic covered copper bits. I'd like to think it's a bit different.

 It looks like rat poop.

I tweeted Steak n' Shake and have not received a reply yet. I also e-mailed them.

My husband convinced me to call them. I hate calling people, but I worked up my nerves and did it just to have the employee ask me to call back around noon when a manger will be in the store. I might just call their corporate office.

 I at least want something free out of this. I know things happen, and I'll probably continue to eat at SnS (have you had their Fresco Melt???).

So now we wait.

Celeb Boutique makes [one of the] largest mistakes in Twitter history

Celeb Boutique, a fashion retailer tweeted the following in regards to a trend that their PR team saw on Twitter:

The Aurora trend, in reality, is related to the tragic shooting in Aurora, CO at a midnight premier of "Batman: A Dark Knight Rises".

Naturally, Twitter users have not taken kindly to Celeb Boutique's update.

Many have suggested that the company donate money towards a non-profit organization related to the shooting to further apologize for their mistake.

So far, Celeb Boutique has only responded with tweets stating,

"We didn't check what the trend was about hence the confusion, again we do apologise"

"We are incredibly sorry for our tweet about Aurora - Our PR is NOT US based and had not checked the reason for the trend."

"We have removed the very insensitive tweet and will of course take more care in the future to look into way we say in our tweets." 

Again we do apologise for any offense caused. This was not intentional & will not occur again. Out most sincere apologies for both the tweet and the situation." 

Some have come to the defense of the online retailer, saying it was an honest mistake and they are taking appropriate steps to correct it. However, it's clear that for at least the time being that there will be repercussions.


-----


Personally, I'm still very much upset about the shootings, as I should be. This is coming at a time where "too soon" is an understatement. Whether they intended for it to actually be a joke or not, it couldn't have been a more unfortunate time. To blame it on non-US PR is ridiculous, if you're a company and you're going to hashtag something, look it up first! Otherwise THIS will happen to you.


Some tweets I read were from people canceling their orders and declaring their boycott of the company. I might have even joined in if I thought that I could ever buy products [that would fit me] from them anyways.


I forgive them for their mistake, but the Twitterverse is going to need some time to forget it. For now, they are going to have to do something pretty major if they want to make a positive impact to counteract the drama they've caused.

Loki Fanart

I know I just wrote several entries surrounding my decision to not make anime conventions a priority anymore, but that doesn't mean anime isn't apart of my life at all.

So, since the new movie "Thor" and the "Avengers", there has been an uprising of Loki fans - including myself. However, my love of Loki is nearly five years old and it started with the anime "Mythical Detective Loki: Ragnarok".

To quote Wikipedia on MDL:R (which summarizes things much better than I),

"Loki, the Norse god of mischief, has been exiled to the human world by the god Odin for reasons that he doesn't understand. Along with being exiled, Loki is forced to take the form of a human child, and the only way he can return to the realm of the gods is by collecting the evil auras which take over human hearts. In order to do this, he starts a detective agency which specializes in the paranormal. Loki is assisted by his loyal companion Yamino and the pair are soon joined by a human girl named Mayura who is manic for mysteries and often unwittingly assists him in catching the auras. As time passes, however, other Norse gods and characters appear, some of whom befriend Loki and others of whom are intent on assassinating him. Note: The manga is a good deal darker than the anime."


 I've cosplayed (poorly, but it happened) from MDL:R along with one of my friends (who did a very nice adult Loki). He's the one who introduced me to the series in the first place.

In honor of my roots in the fandom, I decided to draw a fanart of the two of them meeting =) Hope you like it!

My Interests (Diagram)

This is a work in-progress. I'm going to make it look pretty, be interactive (links to videos, imdb, wiki), and have a bigger image uploaded to my site.

Why I'm Quitting Anime Conventions, Pt. 4 - Steampunk Symposium

The last entry in this short tail.

Just recently Travis and I ventured to the inaugural Steampunk Symposium. You can read my review over at Steamy Night about the weekend specifically.

We have been involved in the Steampunk community since summer/fall of 2009 and soon decided that if we were ever to get married that it would be a steampunk themed wedding.

I started going to monthly meetings and the occasional gatherings initially, and while there were formal conventions going on they were much too far away for me to attend. Finally, it was Cincinnati's time.

The weekend was amazing. Travis was able to go with me, we both dressed up, I even wore my wedding dress again for a short time.

I'm not going to review it here, like I said - that's over at the other blog. However, I am going to try to explain why this convention has convinced me why I should never go to another anime convention again unless The Antivengers are to assemble for a common purpose.

A lot of it comes to the community. I've mentioned so many times that I went to anime conventions to hang out with my friends and have a good time, not really to go to panels or meet people. I don't find the anime community to be one that I'm interested in investing my time in. A lot of the members are, well, immature to an extreme. This is obviously because a lot of them are in a younger age group and are only into the newer animes. When I realized some of the people I was talking to didn't know what Toonami was, well, it was a sad time.

I have to be fair. Anime is a very wide subject matter and not everyone is going to be on the same page. So I may not know a lot about Gundam Wing, but that doesn't mean I'm going to judge someone who does or look down on someone who may not know what Ronin Warriors is. Though, Heaven forbid the day when I meet a proclaimed "anime fan" that doesn't know what Sailor Moon is. It's in a Barenaked Ladies song for goodness sake.

With Steampunk there are different "factions" a person could generate interest from - literature, music, crafting, and films. The aesthetic originally came from literature, then was replicated in movies, then the rest came when the community grew. However, everyone is still into the same thing - an anachronistic view on history (usually 19th century Victorian Britain).

The community is classy. The "punk" in "steampunk" is typically attributed to the rebellious nature of the politeness Steampunks exude or the the rebellion against factual history. Though, the original term was to be associated with the Cyberpunk community, though Cyberpunks are futuristic in their aesthetic while Steampunks are, obviously, historical.

At this convention I felt like I was at home. While I'm actually socially awkward and working on being more charismatic, I felt more comfortable just talking to people than I normally would. I want to be friends with these people - I want to learn from them both creatively and professionally. I feel like I could grow as a person if I interact with them.

The convention itself was the most well-put-together convention I've ever been to. From registration to the panels, vendors room, and events - I was blown away with my choices. I could have gone by myself and had a great time (though I'm exceedingly happy Travis attended with me - he learned what ascots are and I'm excited for his future wardrobe). For the first time there were panels I wanted to go to - so much so that I often had to decide between several things to attend ("am I going to go to the "Steampunk Dances" workshop or am I going to watch the Nerf Dueling event?").

So, I've decided that if I'm going to spend my money on something it is going to be involved with the Steampunk community. I have fun, learn from them, and have much more potential for involvement.

Though, I'm pretty determined to cosplay Fluttershy at some point, so hopefully the community forgives me for taking a pop culture character and steampunking her, haha.

I felt I had to write out this story whether or not anyone actually reads it. More of a journal entry, if you will. I want to remember this moment in my life. If someone else cares, great, but know that I'm not writing it for you, or them. Just me.

Why I'm Quitting Anime Conventions, Pt. 3 - Detonation

Since my break-up with my first boyfriend, we have only seen each other maybe three times. Not that we aren't friendly with each other, but we just don't hang out with the same people. In fact, about a month into 2009 I only hung out with maybe four of the 15+ people I felt like I knew.

This severely lessened my enjoyment of anime conventions. I believe I've mentioned before, I go for the community and hanging out in a fun environment. I was estranged from the people I normally went with, so even if we went to the same convention it was difficult to hang out with each other.

The friends I did hang out with also started to staff the conventions we normally go to.

I understand why they do this - they meet cool people, they get a free badge (and possibly a room discount), they get to be involved with the convention, etc... but I had no interest in it. Again, because I wanted to hang out. I didn't go to conventions to basically work and not see any of my friends. So this added to the estranged feeling - if I saw a friend and wanted to say hi, I normally couldn't because they were busy.

Ikasucon 2011. Travis got into chain-mailing things (really awesome jewelry and stuff) and decided to have a table in the artist's alley. I was trying to work up on getting a position on staff as the New Media Department Head, so I tried to visit a few panels, the game shows, and videotape people walking around. However, my heart just wasn't in it. I have to say it was the least-fun convention I had ever been to. All of my friends were on staff and my husband was tied to a table - which he was confronted by another group who was selling chain-mail objects and gave him a bit of a critique on what he was selling (ranging from saying the metals he was using  were no good to saying some of the designs they have are patented and he couldn't use them) and that really discouraged him.

The only good things out of the weekend were the moments where I was able to help with the staff, actually. Since I wasn't interested in going to much without my husband or friends, I was available to assist with the dealer's room where others were sort of "dropping the ball". I was glad to be useful.

The very last convention I went to was with my husband and three of the four guys that live in our house Friday nights (playing Dungeons and Dragons of course). It was Ohayocon 2012 and we only went for a day. I took my camera, but nothing exciting enough happened. I was in my Steampunk outfit most of the time anyways. And that's pretty much it.

Now, the position for Ikasucon that I mentioned earlier. We did work on it, my friend who was running Public Relations and I, but between my lack of emotion towards the convention, not having any direction, being busy with my own life, and all of those other "x" factors life throws at you - things didn't get lifted off the ground much. And I have to say, it seem like it happens a lot with that convention.

I'm not trying to give a review on Ikasucon, because it was honestly my favorite convention next to Ohayocon, but the more I know people who work the convention and the more I hear about the happenings behind it, the more I understand why nothing ever gets done. They've been talking about changing the website from it's fantastic 1999-chic look for probably five years now, but they feel they need a committee of people to decide on the look and function of the site. Then those people, like many of the staff members, often drop off the face of the Earth and are not to be found for months. So nothing gets done, and nobody gets "fired" because they are "important" positions, and the communication is non-existent.

Also, Travis became the head of the Art Department - he was suppose to manage the artists and create the promotional materials, etc... Once I parted ways from being the Media Department Head and decided not to go this year, Travis wasn't about to be involved if I wasn't going to be. I tried to convince him to stay, but he hadn't even heard from our PR friend to know what his next project was so he was going to quite. I was then told by another friend that PR guys assistant was suppose to get in contact with Travis because his co-department-head (there was a chick who ran it before him that did the whole "fall-off-the-face-of-the-Earth" thing, but they didn't want to "fire" her...well...) had been "fired". Travis never heard anything from anyone. Apparently PR friend also said that he's been sending Travis messages through the Ikasucon webmail function, but Travis says he never got the login information for his account.

Anyways, I still hadn't sworn off anime conventions at this point. The guys and I... eh, I'm just going to call us the Antivengers. We were talking about last night how we're 5 guys and 1 girl, thus similar to the Avengers.

So long as I'm Thor, because I bring the thunder.

Why I'm Quitting Anime Conventions, Pt. 2 - ANKU and Cons

ANKU has changed my life and has molded me into a person that I am happy to have become.

During the vast majority of my involvement with ANKU the club met every-other Friday from 7 (or later, 6)pm and lasted until 1 (or later, midnight)am before "breaking", and by "breaking" I mean "everyone who has money or someone they can bum off of goes to Applebee's for happy hour". Then the first Saturday of every month there was a meeting from noon to midnight.

It was a ritual for me. If I applied for a job, I made sure that I could make it to the entirety of the Friday meetings and the majority of the Saturday. It was really the only socialization I had. I've never been a party-goer, overly outgoing, or even charismatic, so finding a group of nerds who were about as socially awkward as me was thrilling.

For a time I was the secretary for the group. I intended on building a new website, keeping track of all the animes we watched, cataloging them, and attending different on-campus functions to keep our involvement steady. There was a small group of members, including me, that really wanted to expand ANKU outside of just being a group of friends and acquaintances that just watched anime. However, the organization we talked about was not widely accepted by the other 15-20 active/frequent members of the group. Either that, or they just didn't care enough to help us take the changes into fruition.

Of course there is bound to be drama in that large of a group that see each other so often, but most of that is irrelevant to the purpose of why I am writing. What is relevant is that I lived in an apartment with Myra and two gentlemen from ANKU for a year.

During this time, I went to my second anime convention - Anime Punch in Columbus, OH. It was a great weekend with great friends. I cosplayed, purchased a lot of art from artist alley, and enjoyed a few panels. The same basic principle occurred over the course of the next seven conventions I went to.

It was 2009, I began dating a guy who I met through ANKU and the group of friends I had developed through the organization. During the course of that year, I went to three anime conventions and two of those were as a couple. Being a couple at a convention can be challenging if you have different interests within the anime category. He would want to go to a panel, I'd want to go to the gameshow or just hangout. Also, honestly, that was my first relationship - ever. Being homeschool until high school, then as socially awkward as I was, I never really caught onto dating.

Anyways, so anime conventions lost their luster when I felt like I was manipulating my boyfriend into not doing things that he wanted to do just because I didn't want to do them. We broke up the day after Christmas. I asked him if he ever considered me to actually be his girlfriend, he said he tried for while, but no.

It was fine, and I was happier because I didn't have to worry about a failing relationship. We remained friends and went to dinner with a mutual friend that night.

Later in the month of January, I met a wonderful man in my Japanese class. We started dating soon after I went to Ohayocon in 2010. Ohayocon was a blast; however, this began the diversion of the group that I normally hung out with.