Disappointed..

Recently, after the strawberry contest I mentioned in a previous post, I went up to Annapolis, Maryland with Paul "Porkslap" Arcaria. We both tied for 5th place, my lowest placing in a contest ever. Upset at our performance in Virginia, we decided on doing a challenge and found Ruth And Chicks Delly on eatfeats.com. As it turned out, what was listed (a 6 pound milkshake or a colossal sandwich) wasn't a challenge, but just a list of large food items. We called ahead of time to see if we needed to make reservations and mentioned we were pro-eaters. They let us know that they had a challenge but had not offered it yet because they were waiting for a filming of Man Vs. Food to unveil it, however they would allow us to take the challenge. For those that don't know, Man Vs. Food is a show that is gaining popularity which features an "average guy", Adam, who does restaurant challenges all over the country.
The challenge turned out to be the 6 pound milkshake and a 1 pound burger. This was going to be particularly challenging due to the fact that we just ate almost 5 pounds of strawberries. The good news was that our stomachs were nice and stretched from that contest and we got rid of most of the strawberries after the contest and probably digested most of the rest.

We finally got to the location and the staff was very pleasant and accommodating. They were pretty excited and surprised that someone was doing the challenge. I ordered the Cookies And Cream and Paul ordered classic chocolate. They were absolutely delicious but the burgers were just fine, nothing to write home about.

The Milk Shakes came out as pictured, in Gigantic glasses the size of a flower vase. These things were enormous. Paul requested a smaller glass and they brought us milkshake cups and ladles. Yes, you needed a ladle to scoop out the milkshake, they were so big.

7 pounds of food and a half an hour later, I was finished. I conquered the Ruth And Chick's Delly challenge. Paul was not so lucky. He was not able to get the milkshake down in the 1 hour time limit, but did finish it. The burger was too troublesome though. We paid our tab and they took my picture and I am the first ever to officially finish the challenge.

I recently went to check out their website and saw that they finally announced the challenge and then I realized that I never got the promised T-Shirt. I gave them a call and asked about Man Vs. Food and the assistant manager took my information and told me that they had yet to film and would let me know if I could be involved.

Well the owner of the restaurant Mr. Levitt called me back. He told me that he discussed my finishing the challenge with the Man Vs. Food staff and they were thinking doing the challenge featuring Adam Vs Myself Vs a service man (Annapolis is a naval port). This was exciting news as Man Vs. Food is a great show and is great exposure for competitive eating and would also be great exposure for me and great for my resume. Unfortunately I received an email from Mr. Levitt and they said they were not using that idea and I would not be needed. Simple as that.

Additionally, I contacted Atlas Media about Humanly Impossible. It was previously called Science Impossible, but I believe they changed the name because there was a History Channel program with the same name that would have probably caused some confusion. The reason I called them was because I hadn't heard about the program since the producer contacted me and asked me for my CE stats this past summer. The predicted air date was for late august, but as august is coming to a close, I have searched the cable program guide and have not seen the listing. I was told by the rep that National Geographic has not chosen an air date yet. I do know that the program aired in Australia through a television company called Beyond. I posted the promotional video previously and it looks great, but I need you to actually air Nat Geo!!!

Finally, I'm really disappointed at my job. Employment requires me to be a CUNY student, however the policy was that if you graduate, you had an additional semester to work. I recently graduated with my Associates degree and so the plan was to try and find full time work and if not, I would continue my employment with 311 and go back to school. I spoke to supervisors several times and even emailed the woman in HR and was assured that I would be gainfully employed, at least through to the end of the fall school semester. I then inquired about full time employment and the response was CC'd to the HR person again and I received another email thanking me for inquiring about full time employment and telling me my termination date would be on October 24th. Well there must have been some confusion right? Apparently not. I emailed the manager who I asked about full time employment to say that there must have been some kind of mistake. Nope, I was told "Well, at the time that the original email was sent that WAS the policy, however since then (which was about a week later) the policy has changed and now even if you're a graduate with an associates degree, you're still required to have at least 3 credits." I was livid. How do you assure someone a certain time of termination and then say there was a policy change? If I didn't inquire about full time work would I have just been escorted out the door? The great thing about 311 is that the resources that I need to try and get information are at my fingertips and so when I go back to work on Monday, I will be looking up the number for Labor Law information, to see if this is even legal, and then the lawyer referral service, just in case it's not.

The good news is that I've already had 2 interviews, one is an assistant managers position at an upscale flower shop that estimated a very decent commission on top of salary and a diabetic supply company who liked my customer service experience. We'll see where it goes from there. Wish me luck...