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Shop Around Wal-Mart

March 24th, 2010

After you exit the parking lot of most Wal-Mart stores in East Texas you will see a small shopping center, including a small store, Cato and at some Wal-Mart stores you will find the “Cato sister store“, It’s Fashion. Cato and It’s Fashion are women’s fashion store. The small store is crowded with in style clothing.

The circular path leading around the small store seems smaller every time I walk around it. But Cato is sure to only sale the most stylish clothes according to the season of the year.

As I walked through the store I can not help but notice the lack of selection and styles. Although the clothing was very attractive the style was limited to the Cato fashion in other words, church clothes. There was nothing I would really wear on just an average weekday. I think that if a business is a “woman’s attire” business I think they should provide for all women. Cato was lacking in the larger woman clothing selection and had no selection for maternity. I guess it would not make sense to cram all sizes in the small stores, but it seemed like most of the clothes that they were selling were in sizes 6-9, which does not really make sense because “supposedly” the average woman wears a size 14. And most Wal-Mart shoppers wear a much larger size than that. You would think that if there was a demand for larger size outfits that they would meet those demands. I once was shopping at a Cato store for a friend’s bachelorette party. I picked up a cute pair of lacey panties. To understand my frustration of the sales woman, I wear about an 8 in panties and my friend might be able to fit in a 2. I laid down the coupe pairs of underwear and the lady looked at me and kept repeating how little the panties were. Not necessarily saying anything to direct but saying small comments such as “man these are tiny panties”. I just did not say anything to her about it. I guess it was strange if I was buying it for myself, but is it normal for women to have absolutely no idea what size underwear they wear? Why would they think that I, a grown woman, would have no idea what size I wear?

Cato’s neighbor across the street, It’s Fashion, maybe Cato’s sister store but the style is obviously different. While Cato’s Fashion appeals to the career driven woman, It’s Fashion appeals to a whole different generation of woman. This is not the place to shop if describe yourself as “modest”. I do not think I saw a single shirt that did not either cling to every inch of my upper body, or if it did not show sixty percent of my breasts. Jeans that feel like they might split fro how tight they are or breast showing shirts, and a pair of black leather hooker boots, are not quite my style. I felt pretty out of place walking through the store but the sales women were extremely personable and almost made the store bearable. It’s Fashion does have more of a selection in more women’s sizes than Cato. So it was refreshing to see a store catering to all woman’s needs. Even though I did not find anything that suited y everyday life, I did find the shopping experience humorous, since there were only my friends and I there, otherwise it would probably be quite embarrassing.

So if you are looking for that cute outfit for that dinner party or a cute modest skirt for your Sunday morning study group, I would completely recommend that you shop at Cato, if you are a larger set woman than I guess you can hope that they extra stacked in your size. On the other hand, if you are looking for that sexy outfit for a night out in Tyler’s unpopular night clubs filled with bar flies and overweight want-to-be cowboys and small dance floors, then by all means shop at It’s Fashion. Don’t forget that you can complete your outfits and frost yourself in the cute accessories and jewelry at both these stores.

Sonic Fast Food Restaurant

February 15th, 2010

Sonic has several locations here in Tyler, Texas, but the one I am going to talk about is on the corner of Rt 64 W and Loop 323. It is directly across from the Super center Wal Mart. Sonic is a fast food type of place, where you can go and order outside. The have carhops who deliver the order directly to your car.

They have a sandy beach area for volleyball and soccer where you can go play anytime with your friends. Good entertainment and completely free. You don’t have to play on the playground equipment or the sandy beach area, you can just sit and enjoy the weather outside, or get the meal and leave if you prefer. The food is good and if you get the items from the dollar menu, they are very reasonable. Their drink selections are even better than the food menu.

There are other locations at 5611 S Broadway Ave., Tyler ; 2501 W Gentry Parkway; or 3210 Troup Highway, Tyler, Texas. If you would like to find out more about Sonic you can go to their website or any of these locations.

Sonic seems to be quite the hang out place during the summer when people like to go hang out or just play. So Sonic is not the best nutritious place to go, but exciting. If you are trying to work out or loose weight, this is not the place you are looking for. On the other hand, they do have some items that are good for you. Once in awhile it’s ok to go eat food that is fried or high in fat. Their burgers are really good and sometimes they have the brown bag special, where you get two for the price of one. Always nice to pay less and get more for your money.

Sonic has some great tater tots with or without chilli, mozzarella sticks, corn dogs, chilli and fries, and so much more. Their blizzards are good or their slushy’s plus their flavored teas. If you want quick and tasty, Sonic is it. If you have not tried Sonic yet, then maybe its time.

Narc That Car

February 11th, 2010

Narc Your Car Work From Home Business or Ponzi Scheme?

There is a new work from home business that is more of an online only type of thing that even people who did not know much about the internet could participate in until it was shut down for being a scam. Narc That Car wanted to build up a very large database of car and truck license plate information but in reality a few at the top likely made a lot of money at the expense of their reps.

This license plate information was supposed to be combined with the address location where you may have seen the car. You could simply snap some car license plate photos with your cell phone. Once you get home you just type that license plate information into the Narc That Car website along with the address information where you saw the car. To many it sounded too good to be true to get paid for this type of work and it turns out it was.

So why would an online database company want to pay people for something as simple as narcing a cars license plate and location information? The reason has to do with lien holders finding this information extremely valuable. Another reason could be that this company knew they could keep people confused about this long enough to reap a ton of profits. There are Tyler Texas automobile owners who default on their car payments yet keep driving their car anyway and for many it made sense to to have this type of service. Narc That Car Instead of returning their car to the local Tyler Texas car dealer they bought it from they pretend as if nothing is wrong. Narc Your Car claimed to be able to help people find these cars and offered an opportunity to pay you for your assistance.

The car license plate database company would pay you for each license plate you entered into their system. In theory you could make a nice little side income by doing a simple task like this. There are a lot of database companies using conventional means by hiring people to call you and ask you consumer informational questions. The Narc That Car website is a simpler more affordable way for a database company to get this niche specialized information without paying as much as a traditional method would cost or it is a clever ponzi scheme. As time played out it appears this company was nothing more than a basic ponzi scam.

The Narc That Car concept didn’t allow for traditional means of getting to this information since they need onsite eyeballs finding these cars and reporting them. You could report any car you might find. For instance, if you were at a Wal-Mart parking lot Narc That Car would pay you for every car you reported on their website however many people in the company complained of not getting paid.

Narc That Car seems to have been completely scraped from the web as there is no more information about this company coming from an official company source.

McDonalds in the Wal-Mart Supercenter on HWY 64

February 1st, 2010

McDonald’s

3820 Hwy 64 West
Tyler, TX 75704

McDonald’s is able to maintain a standard nationwide. In fact, I know that McDonald’s in Chiang Mai, Thailand is almost exactly like McDonald’s here in the United States. So, if you’ve been to one McDonald’s restaurant, then you pretty much know what they are like everywhere.

This restaurant branch is a little different only because of its location. The busiest fast food restaurant is located in the busiest retail super store. So there are a few things to know about this location before you decide to take your girlfriend out on a date to it. The high business traffic leads to a couple of issues. The first is that the seating area tends to be messy beyond all reason. I basically don’t want to touch any of the surfaces near the soda machines and ketchup station, due to the straw wrappers, ketchup smears and high volumes of salt poured everywhere.

This mess continues on to the tables which happen to be very comfortable booths with ergonomically designed back supports. The same stuff makes the tables a little unappealing. There will often be leftover napkins, ketchup smears and salt hiding all over the table waiting to stick to your arm when you finally relax and get ready to eat. This all may because of the weird hours in which my life and schedule find me eating. Nevertheless, it does not make me want to sit and relax over a wonderful fast food meal.

Another lame thing about this McDonald’s is that there are always so many people standing around the register. I’m not claustrophobic, but I always feel crowded and awkward waiting in line. One problem that adds to this is the high number of Wal-Mart employees who are trying to squeeze in a whole meal during their short break from their shift. I had one very awkward time about a year ago, when a cashier waiting in line behind me was in a hurry and letting me know with huffs, forced laughs and comments about how far back I was standing from the register. This extreme only happened once, though.

The restaurant is located right after the busiest entrance of this Wal-Mart Super Center near the deli and produce section. This leads to another awkward experience. It feels like the whole world sees what you are ordering and that you are doing a poor job juggling the groceries you just bought from Wal-Mart.

As for the good things about this store: it is a full fledged McDonald’s. That should be enough said. There is a reason McDonald’s has stood the test of time and maintained their status as the most popular fast food chain. The food is so good and almost addictive. The thing that makes this McDonald’s have some negatives is also a positive. It is in Wal-Mart. When I am in a hurry running errands, I couldn’t ask for a more convenient location for a quick and very affordable meal. The employees are all nice enough and very efficient and timely. It is a well-oiled machine.

Cici’s Pizza Store in Tyler, TX over by Wal-Mart on 64

February 1st, 2010

211 Texas 323 Loop
Tyler, TX 75702-8727
(903) 526-9494‎
Hours 11AM-11PM

Cici’s Pizza is located on the West side of Loop 323 near the Brookshire’s and Starbucks. It is easy to get to and turn into the parking lot. Leaving can be a real challenge if you need to turn left as there is only one exit, and it is sitting directly on Loop 323 which is very busy at all hours of the day. I often have to turn right and do a u-turn to get home.

The most important part of a pizza restaurant is how the pizza tastes and compares to other pizza places. Cici’s is wonderful pizza. It is not on par with expensive pizza restaurants, but for its price range it does really well. You can pay five dollars for a large one topping pizza. I do this often for dinner for my family and when we have friends over last minute. I call ahead and order my pizzas then drive up right to the window. It’s the only pizza place I’ve ever known to have a drive up take out window. When these five dollar pizzas are hot, they are very impressive in taste and texture. When we get Cici’s takeout we usually order either a large with just pepperoni or a large with just green peppers. If you’ve never had a green peppers pizza, try it at Cici’s. You’ll have to order it special since it isn’t a standard pizza on the buffet.

As for the buffet, I think you’ll be impressed. I’ve heard people joke about how horrible Cici’s pizza buffet is, but I think they are just making it up. It is very affordable. The buffet is about five dollars per person, and then drinks are a little over a dollar for a fountain drink or tea. Maybe the price makes Cici’s seem too good to be true. But I think that is just it. I don’t know how it’s possible to offer such great food for so cheap and make it all you can eat to boot.

The buffet starts with a very nice but small salad bar. You have the choice of Caesar salad or a standard tossed salad with about eight different extra toppings and about four different salad dressings. We always get a Caesar with Caesar dressing, and we’ve never been disappointed. Then there is a pasta section. Here you can get pasta with either red sauce or a creamy alfredo sauce. There are also cheese covered bread sticks here. A little tip: fill a bowl with red sauce from this section and dip your crust or bread sticks into it.

Then comes the pizza. This is when I begin to really smile. They have all of the standard pizzas: pepperoni, sausage, hamburger, mushroom, cheese, Hawaiian pineapple and ham. I especially love their sausage pizza. But the cool thing about Cici’s is that they have way more than the traditional pizzas. They have at least four or five specialty pizzas that you can only get at Cici’s. My favorite is a buffalo wing pizza. It uses buffalo hot wing sauce instead of pizza sauce, bits of chicken and mozzarella cheese. It is incredible if you like the hot wing flavor. Then they have their popular creamy spinach pizza. This one uses alfredo sauce instead of red sauce. They also have a barbeque pizza, a taco pizza, and a cheese steak pizza. I usually get lots of the spinach and buffalo pizza. It seems like each of my friends and family has a different favorite of these specialty pizzas.

Next at the bar comes the dessert section. These desserts are amazing. I’ve never heard people complain about the dessert at Cici’s Pizza. They have something for everyone. There are basic chewy brownies covered in powdered sugar. There is usually some kind of super sweet apple crumble coffee cake, and then there is this thing that I am not sure what to call it. It is shaped like the cheesy bread sticks, but the consistency is like a donut or a beignet. Then it is smothered in some kind of caramel or butterscotch sauce. It is beyond good. I am not sure what it is at all, but you’ll know when you see it. You won’t be disappointed.

A really cool feature of this Cici’s is that if you don’t see what you like at the bar, you just ask an employee to make it. They don’t care how weird the toppings you ask for are. They will make it and bring it directly to your table. The customer service is incredible for such a low cost dining restaurant. Often it will be the actual manager who brings it out with a smile and makes sure you don’t need anything else.

The restaurant stays very clean. I’ve seen pizza buffets where the employees don’t seem to care. Pizza can be very messy, and pizza attracts small kids. Small kids can be very messy. But you will not find a mess at this Cici’s that isn’t currently being cleaned up. The busboys are apparently very fast and efficient. There are plenty of booths and even two televisions playing non-offensive shows.

All in all, for five or six dollars per person, you can’t do better for dine in food in Tyler, unless you don’t like pizza. But only a true pizza lover like you and me would have read this whole review. So, try out Cici’s. I promise you’ll be impressed.