Happy Boredom

I frequently drive past an Arby’s in South San Francisco. Every time i see it I think to myself ‘Damn I want to get my five on’ but I never do.

If you are unfamiliar with ‘getting your five on’ familiarize yourself with their wondrous marketing of five items for $5.95 (I think i got the pricing right). They have the same basic menu items as any other dollar menu but each item costs 20 cents more. The 20 cents is worth it, however, because Arby’s has some pretty special stuff. Take for example the jalapeno poppers, mozzarella sticks, or curly fries. Just thinking about it makes my arteries jump for joy.

Fortunately for me I live near one of only four Arby’s restaurants on the Peninsula. The next closest Arby’s locations are in San Francisco, Menlo Park, and Sunnyvale. That’s only 4 Arby’s on a 40-mile stretch of the Bay Area! Ten miles per Arby! It would appear that the franchising gods at Arby’s corporate headquarters are much more selective about their territories. These guys have rarity down to a science.

The next time I pass that Arby’s in South SF I’m stopping in for a mocha shake, some jalapeno poppers, mozzarella sticks, a cheddar melt, and a junior roast beef. How much is that going to cost? $5.95 + tax. Awwwwww yeah.

Find an Arby’s near you

The Avalon Park area is near the golf course and bleeds into San Bruno near the big military cemetery. Avalon Park is pretty much directly in the flight path of SFO. It can be very loud as 747s take off overhead. Be sure to look for houses with good sound insulation. Double-pane windows advised.

Notable employers nearby include Genentech, Gap world headquarters (San Bruno), and Youtube (San Bruno).

Local Merchant Circle highlights:

• My Asian grocer of choice is Pacific Supermarket at Westborough and el Camino Real.
• For general retail you’ll end up at Target and Tanforan Shopping Center in San Bruno.
• Good Chinese noodles at New Mandarin Garden
• Great sandwiches at Little Lucca Sandwich Shop

• The only Arby’s on the Peninsula is a few blocks away. There next closest Arby’s locations are in San Francisco, Menlo Park, and Sunnyvale.

At the outskirts of Pontiac, Waterford, Michigan is home of Summit Place Mall the mall I practically grew up in. In its heyday I used to go to Summit Place at least once a week during the summers when I was a kid. I went primarily for two things: Babbage’s and arcades.

Summit Place Mall on Merchant Circle

Most importantly was the Babbage’s computer store. An Electronics Boutique opened in the mall a short time later. I liked EB but I never loved it as much as I loved Babbage’s. From about age 8 to 15 Babbage’s was paradise for me. I fondly remember buying several Sega Master System, Sega Genesis, and PC games from them: Ghostbusters, Streets of Rage, Golden Axe, and so on. I used to go to the store and look at the box covers of just about every single game there, even for systems I didn’t have. I think the smartest thing Babbage’s used to have was pre-recorded loop of in-game footage for a handful of games. I would stand around and watch the medley of game clips loop over and over. The funny thing was they never had a sale. Games rarely dropped in price like they do now, especially not as fast. Back in the day (late 80s or early 90s) games cost $50 and stayed $50 for a very long time. Nowadays a hit game will drop from full retail within a few months.

Second, they had two sweet arcades. Summit Place had a generic arcade in the food court and another arcade called Aladdin’s Castle. I didn’t go to Aladdin’s Castle much because it was only in the mall for a couple years and it was on the far side of the mall near Montgomery Ward. I went to a few birthday parties there which was awesome because one friend of mine rented out the entire arcade so we could play all the games for free. The employees there had to open the machines and give credits or set them to free play. Twenty years later I still look back on that birthday party with fond memories. Aladdin’s Castle had a few games I rarely saw anywhere else like Ninja Warriors and Strider. The generic arcade was also quite good. I fondly remember wasting lots of money there playing Final Fight, 720 degrees, Operation Wolf, Hard Drivin’, APB, Ninja Gaiden, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Outrun, and P.O.W. there. I forgot to mention Wrestlemania, Punch-Out, After Burner, Rolling Thunder, Midnight Resistance, Ikari Warriors, Off Road, Championship Sprint and Double Dragon. Just remembering this list of great arcade games leaves me yearning. Thank goodness for MAME.

Summit Place was one of many playgrounds in my consumerist youth. Even though it has been reduced to a craphole I will remember it fondly.