Name Game: Didn't Even Try

I've made many of these posts on variations of my name and the misspellings I have seen. We all have had our name misspelled at the very least once. If you haven't then you are extremely lucky. Anyway a month or so ago (almost 2) on one of my visits to Chick-Fil-A and their standard asking you for your name for your order. I thought things were sort of normal. The cashier asked my name I gave it to him and he even asked to spell it. Then I saw what was on the receipt and it was not my name spelled correctly. It was a note to the order preps to give the cashier the order for him to give it to me.

Chick-Fil-A receipt

That is right instead of my name which I spelled out for him "K-I-R-K" he put in "G-I-V-E-2-J-E-F-R-Y". Hmm I wonder if he spelled his name right? Does he use one "F" or two?

Chick-Fil-A order sticker for bag

As you can see on the sticker for the order's bag they even have a line to identify the customer by a brief description of what they are wearing, under the line that tells them if the order is dine-in, take out, or a delivery service like DoorDash or Uber Eats. I could have been wearing a green long sleeved t-shirt, or green long sleeved sweater, but I wasn't.

Name Game: Kirok In A Hard Place

 OK so this latest "is this the last one?" misspelling of my name isn't "Kirok" from The Star Trek Original Series (TOS) episode "The Paradise Syndrome", but it is sort of close. 

This time the Chick-Fil-A cashier, where most of these fun misspellings happen, forget that stuffy room in Philadelphia with that Mr. Hamilton guy, was as I said similar. Except it was with a "c" CERCK. 

I AM CE-RCK HEAR ME ROAR!

I wonder what the next one will be? I don't think I have actually seen the KI-ROK one, maybe one day.

An Update? Name Game and Nantucket Nectars

 I guess this will be an update post.

So in the "Name Game" area nothing really new but maybe a parallel variant? At Chick-Fil-A where they use your name for the order ID, and the source for many of my misspellings. I got a "Kurrk" with TWO "R"s. Usually I just get it with one "R". Good thing it wasn't "Talk Like A Pirate Day" or it would have been at least 4 "R"s.

In the ever popular "Who Really Cares?" category the latest plastic bottle top from a "Nantucket Nectars" Island Orange juice the underside of the cap was "When looking for a place to live, or anything else on Nantucket, the bulletin board at the Hub might be your best bet." Oh the previous cap I had gotten (I think from a Peach Orange bottle) was "The winning pumpkin at Nantucket 2002 Island Fair pumpkin contest was approximately 660 lbs."

Name Game: Kent Clark Kent

 It happened again. I think this name variant has happened before, but I'm not sure. I thought I had enunciated my name properly, then again I was wearing one of those COVID KN-95 masks and had my glasses on. So I was sort of incognito. 

Christopher Reeve as Clark Kent in "Superman"

Yep this time the cashier thought I had said my name was CLARK. I had to listen for this vastly different name to be called to pickup my order. Usually with the other names they are similar enough to mine that I can sort of tune out the difference in pronunciation. I could sort of do that with this too, but I always have to check to see what the ticket spells out and listen for that name. It is tempting sometime to give a wildly fictitious name. The problem though it can't be too crazy because then the person who has to call out the names wouldn't be able to pronounce it correctly. I would also have to remember whatever name I gave. I have toyed with giving "Captain Kirk" as my name, which isn't too far off from the truth. I would just have to worry about getting caught impersonating an officer or accused of stolen valor.

Nantucket Nectars: Bottle Cap Facts

So what is "under the hood"?

The subject of this post is a bit odd but I'm not the first to ponder it. A not so quick Google search landed me with just about all the dang links in this post. OK so let me start at a sort of beginning...

A few years ago, I forget exactly when, after discovering this trivia topping thing I started to collect a little bit. To clarify a little of this vagueness. I acquired a liking to the various fruit juice flavors from the Nantucket Nectars Brand. The company prints facts about the island of Nantucket (and people although I don't recall seeing any about people) on the inside of the bottle caps. This practice of printing facts on the inside of bottle caps seems to first been done by Snapple. At least they claim that, the practice might go back farther. Well now as in currently the mother company that owns/runs Snapple owns/runs Nantucket Nectars. According to the online sources I found there have been over 750 different Nantucket facts printed with 100 some being produced in any one year. In doing some poking around I found this "Put a lid on it" article which is interesting.

When I was first trying to figure out how many different ones there were I discovered this 101 Things Blog from a 2011 post which updated her 2010 post on the subject. Back then she seems to have 70 some caps. I found an archived list that someone else came up with that has 257 caps on their blog from sometime earlier. That is the largest list I have seen from the semi-quick research Googling I did for this post.

Back those few years ago I was going to try to collect them all before I discovered there were over 100 per year made at any one time and a grand total of 750 or more. I don't know why I have kept the ones I do have, other than to write up a post about the phenomenon of it. I wonder if I can sell the collection on Ebay? Or find out if the 101 Things Blogger Amy still collects them. Maybe I have some she doesn't.

More recently I noticed they now use plastic recyclable bottles with plastic caps. They still print local facts about Nantucket under the plastic caps. The caps are dark purple and the facts are printed in white or light gray which makes it difficult to read the facts now.

NOTE: This post has been sitting in my drafts folder for ages and ages. When I first began the draft for this post the company was still using glass bottles with metal caps. I don't know when they made the switch from glass to plastic. The switch to plastic bottles takes some of the fun out of getting the juices. I tried adjusting the plastic images to read the inside sayings better but I'm not an expert at photo editing. Sorry those don't look right.

Name Game: Why Haven't I Seen This One?

 

It has been quite a while since I had one of these. The last time or two I thought I had seen every possible way my name could be perverted or messed up. Well a few months back in October Me my sibs and my blood nephew were having a Family VaCay in Virginia Beach, VA off season. One day for late lunch almost dinner we stopped at Starbucks. Now I'm not a coffee guy so I rarely get anything coffee I don't like it straight I need it either Mocha style with enough cocoa to drown out the coffee bean "burned water" flavor that I hate coffee for (just as smoking is like sucking ash) or have some caramel in the mix. So anyway they had some kind of Apple Cider/ Apple Crisp type flavor. I think it was a limited time flavor. It was pretty good. I think I'll stick to Mocha style though. The hint of apple seemed a bit off.

Anyway the purpose of this post is that a variation of my name was used, as you can see from the scan of the sticker that was on the cup. "KERT". Now at times I could have sworn that I had maybe seen this variant but usually it is the "CERT" or "CURT" or maybe even "KURT" that I have seen. OK Whatever.

Pop-Tarts Another Taste Test: Frosted Crisp Apple

 OK so here I am, well was a few months back, with another taste test of what I hope will be a restoration of childhood nostalgia. Once again I saw a different Apple of Pop-Tart on the grocery store shelves. This time it was FROSTED CRISP APPLE. Yum!

Now if you have read all my posts on this blog you might remember I have done a couple of Pop-Tart taste posts. One was for another apple flavor "Frosted Orchard Apple Cinnamon" and the other was of all things Fruit Loops. Back to this "Crisp Apple". On the surface it looks like another Kellogg's attempt to bring back the favorite "Frosted Dutch Apple". Right? Wrong. Well sort of. I don't know if they intentionally keep introducing apple flavors that are similar to the original Dutch Apple flavor or not.

As with many other Pop-Tart flavors this one is a bit dry due to the pastry part. The filling part was so-so unheated, but slightly edible when heated up (toasted). OH well.

I have come to the conclusion that due to the recipe changes of the pastry over the years, and the use of  dryer chemical sugar substitutes particularly in the frostings, they will never revive my old favorite flavor FROSTED DUTCH APPLE.

Pop-Tarts Limited Edition Taste Test: Froot Loops

OK so once again I was tempted by the evil Pop-Tarts demon. This time it was a new limited edition flavor for kids "Froot Loops". Based on the Kellogg's breakfast cereal of the same name. I think I had seen this flavor on the shelves before but didn't feel the urge to try it until just recently. I bought a box of 8 pastries at my Safeway.

I didn't know what to think of the things. I wasn't expecting anything super great, and I was right. They taste pretty much like you would expect them to. My first bite of the first one I tasted was awful. Sure it had a bit of the "fruit" flavor of the cereal and the filling and frosting do sort of have the Froot Loop flavor, but mixed with the new awful dry floury taste of the pastry's base dough it was hideous. I guess I started to get used to them after the first two, which I didn't think I would even be able to get through the first one let alone two that first morning. The following days they weren't as bad but they still weren't enjoyable.

To attract the kids to beg their parents to buy these things there are six different patterns/designs drawn on the frosting. I only come across 4 of the 6 designs. Well maybe 5. Not sure about that first design in the upper left showing the group of six or seven however many of the cereal "loops", but I definitely did not get the one that says "I'm with Sam". I got three of the spoon and 2 or 3 of Sam himself only 1 bow tie and 1 of the "glasses".

I'm sure to kids these things taste great, and for the kids that are Froot Loop freaks they can't go wrong. However for me and probably most adults they are to be avoided. Blah.

The Return of Apple Pop-Tarts?

"When I was younger just a bad little kid..."

Original Frosted Pop-Tarts Flavors

OK forget those "Little Shop of Horrors" lyrics. I'm reaching back to when I was a kid and a favorite snack food. Not really a "junk food" snack but one of those sort of good for you things. I'm talking about Kellogg's Pop-Tarts. When I was little just about all the flavors they made had two versions the plain "good for you" unfrosted version and then the frosted version of that same flavor. 

Original box design for Frosted Dutch Apple Flavor (1968-1970something?)

Many of the same flavors available today were around back then; Strawberry, Cherry, Blueberry, Brown Sugar Cinnamon, Chocolate Fudge, and a few others. My favorite of all time was one that is discontinued for whatever reason I don't know the Frosted Dutch Apple.

Newer box design for Frosted Dutch Apple Flavor (1970something to 1980something?)

I recall it had a deep rich flavor with plenty of cinnamon flavor. Also back then when they said FROSTED they meant FROSTED. Good tasty frosting as well. Now the frosting is just a light glaze sometimes not even that and has barely any taste to it. Of course any sweet food stuff made before the mid 1980s was sugar ladened with real sugar not some chemical substitute. The newer sugar substitutes and lower fat sugars have ruined the sweetness flavor of many things. The pastry part of modern Pop Tarts sometimes is a bit dry, or too floured flavored, or possibly unsalted?

I don't recall when they pulled the Dutch Apple flavor (early 1980s?). I didn't notice it right away it may have been at least a year or two before I realized it was gone. Isn't that the way it always goes? Then for many years there was no such thing as Apple flavored Pop-Tarts or for that matter much of  anything apple flavored. Maybe there was an Apple Flavor scare like in the late 70s Red Dye #3 or 6 or whatever red dye was supposedly bad for you.

Recently while doing a Target Run I noticed an Apple flavored Pop-Tart box, it was a true Kellogg's Pop-Tarts not some off brand or the Target house brand. The flavor "Orchard Apple Cinnamon", um OK not DUTCH APPLE but hey it was frosted so I had to get a box and give it a try.

NEW Orchard Apple Cinnamon Pop-Tarts

IT is OK, not great, and I was a bit bummed when I saw the green apples on the box design. This flavor is a bit tart, thus the green apples instead of red ones I guess. I hope someday they do bring back the Dutch Apple flavor as close to the same recipe as possible.

Note: All images except for the new Orchard Apple Cinnamon image were found from a Google search for "Kellogg's pop tarts frosted dutch apple". Orchard Apple Cinnamon image scanned from my test box.

Twizzling Dr Pepper Licorice

OK so I had seen this some time ago at my local dollar store (Dollar Tree) and wondered about it. Dr. Pepper flavored Licorice. Dr. Pepper Twizzlers? What The? Eventually I decided to get a package and try it.

Not bad. Not great either.

It does sort of have the flavor of Dr. Pepper upon the first bite or two, then it just becomes a jaw battle against a stick of licorice. I'm not sure if the DP flavor is mixed in with the licorice while it's being made or whether it is in the glossy and sticky sugar glaze on the sticks. I suspect the latter.

Overall it is a nice little piece of just edible nostalgia for a 120-some year old soda/pop/cola/soft drink.

I scanned the package a few weeks after opening and eating most of the contents so that is why in the front image the bag isn't full.

Adding To The Name Mix

Time for another installment of the order taker mishearing my name and coming up with something completely different. This time actually it isn't too bad if I were giving a last name I guess.

The misspelling this time was:

 C-O-O-K

Captain James Cook image from:

https://www.royalacademy.org.uk/art-artists/work-of-art/portrait-of-captain-james-cook

Yep cook. Guess I'm using my last name now huh?

Previous ways my first name Kirk has been misspelled.

Previous Misspellings:
Akirk *
Cark
Cirk *
Cork
Cruk
Curck
Curk *
Curt *
Herk
Kart
Kick *
Kirl
Kirt *
Kurk *
Kurt *
Kurth
Rick *
Turk

* Links to an older post with multiple misspellings.

The Cruk of The Name

So just when I think I've seen and heard them all... Yep another misspelling of my name pops up when I place an order at a food place that asks for your name for your order (early March of this year). Well this time I get to the crux of the problem of the Crock of... OK so this time my name was spelled:

C-R-U-K

Now what does that have to do with me?
Hey I'm a cancer research center in the UK.

Cancer Reserach UK

Cool cruk your hands together, well now we have reached a real cruk of s...

For these name posts I don't mention where I went to, or scan the receipt. I don't think that really matters. Plus some of the places I go others might not like and may think there food is worse than a cruk of crap. Sometimes I even think their food is worse than that.

Is That A Fact? Cracker Jack?

This post has nothing to do with researching or quoting actual "facts" about the snack food Cracker Jack as the title might suggest. It is just a telling of a snack eating event and possibly the reasoning behind doing it in the first place.

Actual bag I got from snack machine.

On Wed 09 May I got a pack of Cracker Jack. I got the snack pack from a vending machine at work. [in recent months our company has been bought out and the vending machines will go away soon.] It had been a long time since I had any Cracker Jack - Candy coated popcorn, peanuts and a prize. To show you how long ago it was, or I think it was, the last time I had a "pack" of Cracker Jack it was actually a BOX of Cracker Jack.

This is close to how I remember the Cracker Jack Boxes

Back in the day Cracker Jack was sold in individual serving cardboard boxes in a couple of sizes and I think a huge family box. Not sure how many sizes they had but usually you would get a small box that was like 6"x 4"x 1" or close to that size. As a child in the 1970s the mix of popcorn to peanuts was usually in favor of the peanuts but close to being evenly distributed. This time it was a small foil package like a potato chips bag and the popcorn to peanuts was pretty much a minimum of 90% popcorn. I'm not complaining I wasn't in the mood for peanuts especially with the skin or seed coat still on, but I was Jonezin for The Jack. Taste wise it is about what I remember but like most other classic treats not as sugary as it was back then. It didn't stick between my teeth as much as popcorn or the old CJ used to. Now days popcorn usually sticks between my teeth more often as I get older because of the teeth not the snack. That is also why I rarely even eat popcorn products. I was never much of a nuts or peanuts guy but liked CJ for the caramel covered popcorn.

I knew years ago when they switched over from boxes to bags/packs. That was no surprise, the little Cracker Jack Sailor mascot image however has changed in recent years. That was a little surprising. I'm too lazy right now to research that change and quite frankly not that determined to figure it out. Branding on products change and that is NOT a "Mandela Effect" as some might want to claim.

This is the current Cracker Jack Sailor and his dog.

Oh yeah and the "Prize". It was a little CJ branded sticker that has some promo for what they call "Blipp a Surprise". It has something to do with some silly smart phone app you download and "scan" your sticker or whatever to find out what you have won if you win anything.

 Front of Prize.

Inside of Prize. The quality of the image on the sticker is pretty bad. This enlargement doesn't help, but didn't hurt much either.

Name Game: We Need A Real Earthy Sounding Name This Time

Well I thought I had seen, heard, and otherwise all the different ways to mess up my name. Never say Never and Never think you have heard the last butchering of your name. The usual suspect a cashier at a food place where they ask for your name to identify your order. This time early in November I must have listpth or sthumthing because the name sounded like Mork & Mindy's Offspring Mearth as played by Jonathan Winters.

The name this time was Kurth for what it was worth. Hmm sounds like a Klingon actually.

Captian K'rth

Fryday Fourtoon: Numba 99

"You will be showered with good luck."

Daily Numbers 1 8 9
Lotto Six #'s 24 20 41 43 18 3

*Fortunes and Lottery Numbers just posted for entertainment purposes only.

Fryday Fourtoon: Numba 98

"A wise man knows everything a shrewd one, everybody."

Daily Numbers 8 3 7
Lotto Six #'s 23 47 29 46 26 16

*Fortunes and Lottery Numbers just posted for entertainment purposes only.

Fryday Fourtoon: Numba 97

"You will be called upon to help a friend in trouble."

Daily Numbers 2 8 2

Lotto Six #'s 45 23 17 21 6 15

*Fortunes and Lottery Numbers just posted for entertainment purposes only.

Fryday Fourtoon: Numba 96

"Good news will come to you by mail."

Daily Numbers 0 3 1
Lotto Six #'s 12 3 27 9 37 30

*Fortunes and Lottery Numbers just posted for entertainment purposes only.

Fryday Fourtoon: Numba 95

"Your heart is pure, and your mind is clear."

2 25 29 36 38 40
5 8 9

*Fortunes and Lottery Numbers just posted for entertainment purposes only.

Fryday Fortune: Numba 94

"Culture and customs of China attract you."

Daily Numbers 6 9 2
Lotto Six #'s 45 21 34 35 40 1

*Fortunes and Lottery Numbers just posted for entertainment purposes only.