#post-exam blues

[tenthousandmealstogether]

Entry#??

Monday, May 9, 2011: Late-lunch

The Sett at Union South, Madison, WI

I just finished my Tox 626 exam of terrible doom (which went from 12:25pm-2:30pm) and I was super hungry and not at all in the mood to trudge home to my empty fridge.  I've been surviving on frozen dumplings and cereal all weekend long as I studied so I was totally in the mood for something else.

Turns out, Carlos was also in the mood for some real food.  So, while other people left the exam to be hungry (I suppose) we struck up a plan and went to the Sett, the go-to pub-munchy-joint at the newly opened Union South.  I've actually only been to Union South once before, to watch a free movie and snag a bite of ice cream, so I was curious to try out what their food was like.

I thought it was amusing that they had a "Sett Menu".  Maybe I'm just cheesy like that :P

I ended up ordering their Rooster burger, which is basically a hefty slab of chicken, grilled, with the usual offering of tomatoes, lettuce, onions, and their special "Sett sauce".  It came with some good-and-greasy fries, the kind that are really best with beer.  I thought the burger was pretty good.  The chicken wasn't dry at all, though I kind of wish there was more "Sett sauce."  My burger came in a cheese bun, the kind where the cheese was baked into the bread, which kind of made it look like my bun was growing some malignant tumors...oh no, I really have been studying too much toxicology... >,>"

Carlos got the Badger burger.  It looked like a good, classic burger: beef, stuff, cheese. You know, the usual.  Oh, and he also got a chocolate fudge milk shake.  Looked good and rich.

We sat around being brain-lazy, shooting the breeze, as they say.  The Sett is pretty nice, actually.  Wide open space, with a stage area, big screens that I imagine are always tuned into ESPN, and a bar with several beers on tap (it is Wisconsin, after all).  I learned a bit more about baseball and boxing as I munched.  Apparently, they are the 2 biggest sports in Puerto Rico.  We also talked about Miss Universe, which is something totally random, now that I think about it.

It was nice to wind down after an exam.  I had a faint plan to finish the online exam after my exam, but hanging out and eating was a much better use of my time.  I'm sure someone out there approves of my priorities, haha.

[tenthousandmealstogether]

Entry#??

Thursday, February 24, 2011: Dinner

Quaker Steak & Lube, Madison, WI

Oh man, if ever there was a need to kick back...! @_@"

So, I just finished an exam for my Tox 626 class and...well, how can I put it lightly?  It was a nightmare! D:  Originally, it was supposed to be 2 hours, but there was no way we could deign to finish it in such a short amount of time, so our teacher allowed us an extra 30mins.  Still, even with the extra time I left the exam feeling drained and all sorts of physical misery--mostly because I hadn't eaten a real meal in about 9 hrs.

Thus, when Carlos asked if I wanted to go grab a drink with him (no doubt so we could both drown our sorrows the Wisconsin way) I immediately thought, "where there's beer there is often munchies to go with it!"  and agreed whole-heartedly.  We got a quick ride from Brian (thanks, man! it's cold out!) and settled on Quaker Steak & Lube because it's near and they have good burgers.  At least, that's what Carlos said.  I've only been there once before and it was only briefly for trivia.  That time I only ordered a soda, I think.

We sat down near the bar and wasted no time in getting some drinks (a pint each of Spotted Cow).  As per Carlos' recommendation, I ordered the Lube-burger.  He got some chicken nuggets.

Wow, I am so glad I was hungry when that burger arrived because it's quite a mouthful!  I wouldn't say it's really big--larger than a regular burger, but I've seen bigger than this before.  But, it's definitely a heavy hitter.  A generous beef patty with cheese, bacon, tomato, lettuce, and their "special" BBQ sauce that I thought was just the right bit of tangy.  And, of course, a side of fries.  Who-wee.  It was very satisfying to bite into that burger, sink my teeth in real good, and guzzle it.  I guess I'm good at eating my sorrows away.  I couldn't finish all my fries and offered them to the others.

I say "others" because one of Carlos' friends from his summer program also joined us.  His name was James and he's currently visiting the school for grad school interviews.  Quite a nice fellow.  We kind of passed the time making small talk, about the recent protests, a bit about grad school stuff, a bit about how we know each other and so on.  I guess the pint made me a bit more talkative than usual, ha ha.  Before we knew it, it was nearing midnight.  I guess that's always a good sign, aye?  Time flies when you're having fun--that sort of thing?  Or, when you're stuffing your face with burger and beer?

Belly very pleasantly satiated and trying not to think too much about bombing my exam, we got our bill and headed back out into the cold.  On a random note, they give out twizzler sticks instead of the usual peppermint with the bill here.