You may know that I am a big fan of Denny's (Restaurant? Diner? Eatery?).

Some of my favorite Denny's locations:

- Bolingbrook, Illinois, where I once ate a meal at noon on Thursday, continued to St. Louis, watched a rock and roll show Thursday night, returned North to Chicago, and ate at 7 a.m. on a Friday, being served by the same waiter. Same shift, different day.

- Des Plaines River Road in, I guess, Prospect Heights, Illinois, where I drank many a Cherry Coke in high school. I was there drunk this past December, and ordered hash browns with Tabasco. It was at this Denny's where I first ordered hash browns with Tabasco, but while sober.

- Near Kansas City, Missouri, by a Motel 6. This was a memorable Denny's experience, but not for good reasons; this Denny's closed at midnight. I don't recall what I ate. The Boy and I didn't realize they were closing, so we took our sweet time and departed at 12:40, followed shortly by the manager (and, I seem to recall, her three-or-so-year-old daughter).

- West Lafayette, Indiana, the most segregated Denny's I've ever been to. I ate Moons Over My Hammy, because that's what you're supposed to eat at Denny's.

This is tangentially related to my week, but only tangentially.

On Monday morning, I reported to work at 7:10 a.m. I was to dress up as a lovable bear, visit some schools, and give a bunch of kids prizes. It's a good cause. There were two scheduled appearances, one at 8:10, and another at 10:30.

As we were heading to the first one, trip leader said, "Do you guys [myself, leader, another] want to head back to the office between visits, or do you want to go somewhere to get breakfast?"

I had eaten my bowl of shredded wheat already, but, given the options, the answer is always breakfast.

We finished the appearance; out by 8:42.

"I'm feeling like some hash browns and eggs," leader said. [Duh. What else would you feel like eating for breakfast?]

"Are there any Denny's around here?" I ask.

"Yes, I think so," she said. "Denny's work for you?" she asked "another."

"Sure," said "another."

So we wind through town, and head towards one of the major arteries west of town. As we're winding around, I think to myself, I've been this way before. Often. I've never seen a Denny's. Hmmm.

And then we cruise through a light, and then leader flips on her left blinker, and then she says, "Oh, I was thinking it was Denny's. I guess it's Big Boy."

Big Boy?! Deflating, no?

- - - - - -

I ordered only coffee. Leader ordered two scrambled eggs, hash browns "extra crispy," bacon, and rye toast, with coffee. "Another" ordered a ham and cheese sandwich and fries, with a Diet Pepsi. She really likes french fries.

Oddly, mine was the only order that had any problems. My cream was rotten. I stirred the chunky coffee with cream, showed it to the waitress, and she responded, "Oh, you got a bad one, eh?" and immediately got me a new cup of coffee and some "fresh" cream. I'd think that rotten cream would be cause for more alarm but, alas, it's not like we were at Denny's or something.

Sigh.

- - - - - - - -

It's easy to complain about doctors, because they poke and prod and generally make you do things that, while certainly potentially helpful, are sometimes painful or certainly annoying.

I have had a great experience with my opthamoligist here, though.

I've had three appointments - a vision check, a lens fitting, and a lens-fitting follow-up.

Why I like the doctor:

He shook my hand and introduced himself as "Kevin."

He has odd-looking glasses.

He was very thorough in explaining the details of what he was doing. ("That flatter lens just doesn't move enough. Your vision's right, but the fit's not.")

I've been wearing a new lens for about two weeks, and Tuesday was the check-up to see if it's fitting to his (and my) satisfaction. He decided that it wasn't. So, no charge, we'll try a different size next week, and we'll schedule a follow-up after you've been wearing the new one for a week.

I think Kevin's a good doctor because he a) had a cool suction-based tool that easily removed my left contact lens, and b) told me what he was doing, and c) said, "This lens could probably work for you, but I think we can find a better fit. You always have to consider what your colleagues would think of your work, and I think they could find fault if we kept this lens."

I think that gurs and jenny will be great doctors, too. Pretty exciting.