At a Minimum or Is it worth an hour?

 Combination Gas Station Convenience Store.  As with most convenience stores you tend to pay more for the convenience. A few things that seem to be a good value.  Pizza if you like lots of toppings.  They have a large Piazza for $10.  The Detroit Style is 8 x 10.  Fountain Drinks and Coffee, they almost always have some kind of $.99 special.   Detroit Style Cheese-steak Ranch Pizza Fuel, become a member and save $.10 per gallon.

  Bradley St.  Watertown, NY 2024 who knows, the price on the board said one thing the girl charged me something else. I questioned her and she the prices went up.   2023 Baby Sunday $3.  Same great value. 2022, Baby Sunday $3.  Hot Fudge Baby Sundae. Baby Raspberry Sundae, Delish $3 Prices are up substantially from 2020.  My favorite Baby Sundae is up a $1.00 from $2 to $3.  Easy to understand why.  Minimum wage increase and extra expenses related to Covid compliance. Be prepared for a long wait.  Since Covid they seem to be running everything out of 1 window.   Medium soft serve, 12 oz for 3.25 Actual weight with cup and spoon 9 oz. Baby Chocolate with Spanish Peanuts

 A New Cafe.  Great little Cafe.  I visited on a Saturday morning just prior to closing.  They still had a nice selection of bakery items.   It's difficult to really rate a place that's so new after one short visit.  I can see myself coming back occasionally to enjoy a treat and a coffee or stopping if I worked in the are to grab something to go.  It seems like a good place to meet a group of friends.   Coffee prices range from $2 to over $5 and most bakery items around $3, so it is certainly possible to get a nice treat or light breakfast. I am not sure how the traffic flow will work if they were really busy.  The bakery items are past the register, so I had to step out of line to make a selection.   $3.25 for a delicious 3.7 oz. Nutella Stuffed Cookie.

  The pizza was good, but pricey for chain pizza.  We decided on Papa John's because we had a coupon for a buy one "1 topping pizza", get one free.  The offer was not valid for the specialty crusts.  We opted for a mushroom with red sauce and chicken with alfredo.  The two pizzas with tax were close to $19.  Not bad for two pizza's, however without the coupon it would have been close to $40 and in my opinion that was way overpriced for 16 slices.   It is possible to eat here for an hours worth of pay.  Yes, one pizza would have easily fed 2 people, so even at full price it can be done.  We would go again if we had a coupon or if they were offering a special.  Probably would not go out of my way to visit unless they were having specials. Nice Touch: The included a pepperoncini pepper and a small garlic dipping sauce in with each order.     Slices are just under 5 ounces. A large pie is 14 inches

  Wow, just wow.  I didn't realize how long it has been since I have touched this blog.  The minimum wage has gone from $9.70 in 2017 to $10.40 in 2018 to  $11.10 in 2019, $11.80 in 2020 to $12.50 in 2021.  There is a push to raise the federal minimum wage from $7.25 to $15.   I can honestly say that I am financially worse of than I was when the wage was $9.70.   Cost of everything has increased.  Taxes have increased.  Yes, minimum wage has increased, but the non minimum wage has not kept pace.  Health care cost continue to skyrocket.  Add a pandemic and many more people are trying to survive below the poverty level.  

We found this little place heading north on route 11 just past Pulaski.  We were drawn in by the colorful flags that promised "Ice Cream".  It turned out to be an enjoyable stop.  Looking at the building it looks like a nice house with a small restaurant where the garage would be located.  Nestled between the house and the restaurant where a breeze way is expected is this charming area with a little ice cream stand.  What a clever pleasant use of space. We had already had a large meal and were looking for a little sweet to top it off.  We asked the young lady about the sizes.  My instinct told me that I wanted a baby cone.  Based on her description I ordered two smalls. I should have gone with my instinct.  The small was more than I needed or wanted.  That being said it was very good.   They also have picnic tables for those who prefer something more open.    I couldn't resist taking a peak in the restaur...

 Daddy Ed's We happened on this little place by accident, so we ate here on a whim.  Turned out to be a great find.  I love small hometown restaurants where the locals eat.  I got the sense that most of the people eating had been there before.  We chose a table by the window and the waitress came over and provided menus loaded with good basic American fare at reasonable prices. Today's special was chicken and biscuits.  the waitress returned with drinks and was ready to take our order. I was torn between several items on the menu and still hadn't made a choice so I asked what the special came with. She looked blank and said chicken and biscuits. I thought it was odd that it didn't come with anything else, but caved at the last minute and ordered it anyway. I thought it was odd that it didn't come with anything else vegetable some type of side. it turned out to be an excellent choice the vegetables were actually incorporated into the chicken and biscu...