Take the Money and Run • Hacker News Board

Re: Take the Money and Run

#131

Post by TeMPOraL » Fri, May 08, 2015, 9:30 PM UTC

nine_k wrote: post #54

waqf wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If there's an item of American culture you may be missing, it's probably that American restaurants can be very cheap.

In particular, a McDonald's is considered a restaurant in the US, and there are restaurants that are lower-key and cheaper than McDonald's. Of course, high-end restaurant also do exist.

> and there are restaurants that are lower-key and cheaper than McDonald's

Key point: apparently McD is cheap in the United States. Not so much in the eastern parts of Europe.

Re: Take the Money and Run

#132

Post by Lord_Zero » Fri, May 08, 2015, 9:32 PM UTC

nikibeth wrote: post #94

Cthulhu_ wrote: post #6

I'm probably being petulant or don't understand American culture, but: > To avoid spending money, we'd been subsisting on a diet consisting largely of soup. [...] But now, we'd gradually started to feel like we might be able to afford to eat at restaurants again. No middle ground?

Co-founder and "soup-maker" here. Not to dwell too much on the soup point, but it was our go-to meal for several reasons. I personally love making soup, especially when it's cold out. I can make it reasonably balanced in terms of meat, veggies, and carbs. It's pretty budget-friendly too because it extends more "expensive" items like lean meats. Lastly, it's convenient to make in between working on marketing content o…

id love a recipe!

Re: Take the Money and Run

#133

Post by pyre » Fri, May 08, 2015, 9:37 PM UTC

logfromblammo wrote: post #82

pyre wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The post states that soup is easy to make in large batches. This is true. Cut up some stuff toss it in a pot with some water, and turn on the stove (for the most part). You're just limited by the size of the pot, and the mechanisms you have for storing the soup. I think it's rather hyperbolic to have some strong association between the word "soup" and cultural icons like "stone soup" stories.

Here's a thought experiment for you. Collect one copy of every restaurant menu written in English. Scan each menu to find food items that are primarily liquid in character. Note the word used to describe it, and the price of the item. Find the median list price for each word. In your thought experiment, does the median price of a "soup" differ significantly from the median prices of "bisque", "stew", "chowder", "brot…

> pho

So when you order pho at a restaurant they have purposely named it pho instead of soup in an attempt to sound more "high class?" I'm sorry, but this seems like an extreme view. Most of those words exist to describe something specific. Do you expect to see "A bunch of vegetables cooked in water" or "vegetable soup" on the menu? Is the later an attempt to charge you more?

Take gazpacho as another example. It's a specific type of soup. You can't complain about this anymore than complaining that the menu says "vegetable soup" instead of just "soup." They have to describe the food adequately to you so that you know what you're getting.

Re: Take the Money and Run

#134

Post by seizethecheese » Fri, May 08, 2015, 9:46 PM UTC

ssharp wrote: post #71

I was a little excited to read about Akron and Sandusky on Hacker News and then, of course, they're used for the backdrop of how "miserable" winters are here in Ohio.

Cities by sunshine:

http://www.currentresults.com/Weather/US/average-annual-suns...

Just thought I'd and some data to inform this discussion.

Re: Take the Money and Run

#135

Post by samstave » Fri, May 08, 2015, 10:14 PM UTC

Lord_Zero wrote: post #132

nikibeth wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Co-founder and "soup-maker" here. Not to dwell too much on the soup point, but it was our go-to meal for several reasons. I personally love making soup, especially when it's cold out. I can make it reasonably balanced in terms of meat, veggies, and carbs. It's pretty budget-friendly too because it extends more "expensive" items like lean meats. Lastly, it's convenient to make in between working on marketing content o…

id love a recipe!

http://www.reddit.com/r/slowcooking

Re: Take the Money and Run

#136

Post by pjlegato » Fri, May 08, 2015, 10:27 PM UTC

gamblor956 wrote: post #119

pjlegato wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

American here. Nobody I know would ever call McDonald's a "restaurant."

American here. Everyone I know calls McDonald's a restaurant. They may choose not to eat there for health or ideological reasons, but everyone agrees that it is a restaurant, and has been a restaurant since its inception decades ago.

If I say to a friend, "What restaurants are around here?" nobody I know would ever reply with "McDonald's." It is a "fast food place," not a "restaurant." A "restaurant" has table service and a higher standard of food quality.

The original comment said that Americans consider McDonald's a restaurant, in implicit contrast to unnamed other places where McDonald's does not qualify as a "restaurant," as a way to suggest that Americans have lower standards than others for food quality.

I am pointing out that, at least among the people I've known my whole life here in the US, this is definitely not the case; McDonald's and other fast food places are not in any sense considered "restaurants," no more than a gas station that sells microwave burritos is a "restaurant."

Re: Take the Money and Run

#137

Post by pjlegato » Fri, May 08, 2015, 10:27 PM UTC

steveklabnik wrote: post #122

gamblor956 wrote: post #119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

American here. Everyone I know calls McDonald's a restaurant. They may choose not to eat there for health or ideological reasons, but everyone agrees that it is a restaurant, and has been a restaurant since its inception decades ago.

The industry calls them "quick serve restaurants" as well.

McDonald's is in some technical, economic sense a "restaurant" in that it serves food for pay. In non-technical everyday usage, the word "restaurant" implies table service, excluding places where you must carry your own food around.

Re: Take the Money and Run

#138

Post by ArkyBeagle » Fri, May 08, 2015, 10:40 PM UTC

albemuth wrote: post #113

ArkyBeagle wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Some people DO know what they're doing, but they're way to the right of that particular distribution. One acqu. I was in (not a founder here, just an humble hireling) - the first one - was part of one of the acquirers' five year plans and it went just like they planned. I kinda doubt impostor syndrome per se. Perhaps I missed something, but sounds like selling was the perfect move here. In any acquisition, there is s…

There are also people that don't know but get lucky.

This is a large multinational with an outstanding track record of acquisitions. The plan was pretty good.

Re: Take the Money and Run

#139

Post by mjcohen » Fri, May 08, 2015, 10:55 PM UTC

matthewrhoden1 wrote: post #39

nkohari wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You might be disappointed at the rest of the story, then. :)

I feel like this is the next episode of game of thrones that I'm waiting on, looking forward to reading it

Red wedding.

Re: Take the Money and Run

#140

Post by steveklabnik » Fri, May 08, 2015, 11:00 PM UTC

pjlegato wrote: post #137

steveklabnik wrote: post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The industry calls them "quick serve restaurants" as well.

McDonald's is in some technical, economic sense a "restaurant" in that it serves food for pay. In non-technical everyday usage, the word "restaurant" implies table service, excluding places where you must carry your own food around.

It really depends. Where I come from, 'Should we go to a restaurant' is rarely used. We'd usually say 'eating out'. And McDonalds was definitely 'eating out'.