02 May: Royale with Cheese
This afternoon, we decided to divide and conquer to get some necessities done (like laundry and shopping for a bit of dinner in the apartment tonight--the first time we've taken advantage of the in-house kitchen). While Mrs. F hauled a couple of bags of dirty laundry a couple of blocks to the laundromat, I stopped at the neighborhood McDonalds to take advantage of the wi-fi, which is advertised as free and unlimited.

To play my part in this commercial exchange, I stood in line with a bunch of hungry teenagers looking for a snack after school to make my order. While I wanted to order a Royal with Cheese, a la Pulp Fiction, I instead ordered the oddest thing I could find on the menu--Le Petit Oriental, a small hamburger patty in a pita with some odd, vaguely Asian/Indian flavoured sauce and onions. I also tried to order an Orangina, but found that it was out--so I had to choose a bit of my favorite liquid heroin, Sprite (a treat I don't give myself too often, as I don't drink sugared pop/soda back in the States).

I went upstairs and was happy to see a community table with a number of laptops opened. I flipped up the hood on my PowerBook and turned on the Airport to find... nothing. Absolutely nothing. I found a private network, but nothing remotely free and unlimited. After finishing my Le Petit Oriental, I went downstairs, thinking I might have to get a wi-fi pass like at the HotCafe locations. But then I spied a sign that designated a wi-fi zone right in the glass-enclosed greenhouse-like front facade. There, I caught an Airport signal right away, but had to sit through a commercial for the Haagen Dazs establishment next door for about a minute. Then I was told I had 30 minutes free. I suppose when that time was up, I'd have to look at another web ad, perhaps for the gyro place down the block.