Sunday, August 19, 2012.
Like Losing One's Soul. Better Than Average Copeland's.
The first thing I discovered was that the problems with the U-Verse television reception had spread to the internet. Nothing was coming or going on any computer in the house. I had a good bit of work that didn't require my being on line, but still, the handicap upset me more than it should have. Sure, my main business requires web access. But I can go places where I can keep everything up and running.
Still, it got under my skin, in a way comparable to my lifelong reaction to car problems. When I was fifteen, I once was so vexed by my 1960 VW Beetle's failure to start that I punched a hole in my bedroom wall. My mother thought I was losing my mind, and started saying Our Fathers and Hail Marys. Of course, it was just hormones. At that age, a car is an extension of one's manhood. Owning a car gave me a leg up on the other Jesuit boys, few of whom did. Losing that distinction lacerated my soul. To this day, automobile issues loom far larger in my life than they really are.
Then the AT&T guy showed up. (On a Sunday? Wow.) He confirmed that the modem controlling everything was "throwing out errors," no doubt as a result of a near lightning strike yesterday. He replaced it and all was well.
To lunch/dinner with Mary Leigh. (MA was at a baby shower.) Of the list of possibilities I offered Mary Leigh she chose Copeland's. I used to be a big fan of Copeland's, but during the last decade or two it hasn't kept up with the times. (Which, coming from me, is a mouthful.) But I keep checking every now and then, hoping that rumors of improvements are true.
We got lucky. Mary Leigh had a Caesar salad and (what else?) a bunless cheeseburger, all of which suited her fine. For me, a take on a Cobb salad (no chicken, but I could have asked for it; if there were blue cheese in there, it was not visible, But a good salad by any measure.
Copeland's did well by adding, some twenty years ago, a steak aspect somewhere between Steak Nite in a neighborhood joint and Ruth's Chris. The price is reasonably low--about $25 for an eight-ounce filet, with a side. The latter because they claim to serve USDA Prime beef (actually, the only cut I saw that specifically claimed that pedigree was a top sirloin, a good piece of beef but not a strip sirloin). And because they serve steaks sizzling in butter on a hot plate.
It was a good little filet, cooked as ordered, a little crisp around the edges, the way I like it. Glad I got it. A filet does little harm to the weight-loss program.
The side dish was red beans and rice. My consistent experience with Copeland's red beans is that they're either too soupy or too gloppy. Today was a gloppy day. They should have thrown this batch away long ago.
The best part of the meal was the laugh-packed banter with my daughter. We don't have these all the time, but today's was very entertaining. She had a charged subject: this Thursday night, Mary Ann and I are to meet The Boy for the first time. ML wanted to give me instructions on how I was to behave. (The main one is "Please don't sing!") I must get to work to figure a way around this. She says the guy has a sharp sense of humor, which is all I ask of a potential friend.
Every minute of the rest of the day was spent uploading, one by one, all the 500 Best New Orleans Restaurant Dishes to the website. At the rate this is going, it won't be until next weekend that I can proudly say I've given birth.
Copeland's. Covington: 680 N US 190 (Causeway Blvd). 985-809-9659.
