In light of recent posts, controversy, and direct questioning, I will attempt to articulate my preferences in a comparison between Chipotle and Freebirds.  For the sake of brevity, I will only compare burritos, since that is all I've had at either location.  In fact, I will keep the whole comparison within the scope of my personal experience.  I will also not link to their respective websites every time I mention them.  Feel free to correct or refute anything I say.

What I usually get at both establishments is a chicken burrito.  In the case of Freebirds, I get a large cayenne tortilla.  I get rice, cheese, lettuce, and some kind of spicy salsa/sauce.  To most people, this is pretty plain.

On to the comparison, which I will categorize in whatever way comes out as I write it:

• Tortillas (+3 Freebirds)
• Chipotle has only 1 size, 1 “flavor“ of tortilla.
• Freebirds has (I believe) 4 sizes and 4 different “flavors“ of tortillas
• This is a big deal since I've been on a diet for a while.  You can get a smaller serving at Freebirds, which is nice since Becky doesn't usually finish Chipotle.
• Rice (even)
• The rice is hard to compare because it's completely different
• Chipotle has white rice with some green herb stuff in it, and is delicious.
• Freebirds has more Spanish-style rice, and is equally delicious, although completely different.  I have no preference here.
• Meats (even)
• This is another toss-up in my book.  I usually get chicken, but have had the beef as well in their different varieties.  Not alot of difference here.
• Vegetables (even)
• I ranked these even since I don't get much of them, although from what I can tell, Freebirds seems to have a larger selection.
• Salsas/Sauces (+1 Freebirds)
• I get the hottest stuff at Chipotle, and a generous helping of the second-hottest at Freebirds.
• I gave +1 to Freebirds because I feel like I have more control over content.  They always let me tell them “when“ to stop.  They also do a better job of even distribution.
• I will mention that Chipotle makes Chipotle Tabasco available as well.
• Cheese (even)
• Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe Freebirds has more variety of cheese.
• I will score them even, unless I can remember getting different cheeses.
• Service (+2 Freebirds)
• At Freebirds, you get a person assigned to you that takes you through the whole process.
• At Chipotle, the service is not as good (in my experience).
• Atmosphere (+1 Freebirds)
• In my experience, all Chipotle's are the same.  They've got some interesting art, but it's mostly stainless steel and wood everywhere.
• Every Freebirds is different, and they make an effort to make the experience unique.
• Location (with respect to me and my promiment locations. +4 Chipotle)
• There is 2 Chipotle locations less than a 5-minute drive from my house, and one well within “lunch radius“ from work.
• The I-35 Freebirds is over 10 minutes away with good traffic, but it's I-35 we're talking about.  There is a new one off of Mopac that is at the fringe of “lunch radius“ from work.
• Packaging (+1 Freebirds)
• I don't think there can be any argument that Freebirds packages their burritos better.  They are much easier to eat, even if you get a monster.
• Non-Evilness (-1 Chipotle)
• Chipotle is at least partly owned by McDonalds.  I've heard everything from completely owned to mostly owned.
• Freebirds is it's own deal, as far as I know.

So let's tally it up.  Seems Freebirds is up 3 on Chipotle.  The primary reasons I've visited Chipotle more is the convenient location, and Dave really likes it.

Chipotle seems to be one of those marketing genius companies who have some really good advertising and slick packaging, like Apple I guess.  Just check out their website! I can't remember EVER seeing a Freebirds advertisement.  Most of my friends at work don't even know what Freebirds is.

So, Webdell, I guess the answer is I like Freebirds more.

Welcome Heath and the Robinsons! That sounds like a band name.

Heath is another one of my high school friends who went to high school in a different town...Temple.  Later, at Baylor, we were roommates for a while.  We worked at PDI for many school holidays.  In fact, he got me that gig.

Welcome again!

One piece of advice for dasBlog...don't let your categories get out of hand.  I have a ridiculous amount of redundancy in mine.  I also recommend reading blogs in an aggregator like RSSBandit.  With that, you can subscribe to an incredible amount of content.  I'll share some of my favorite sources of information later.  I'm late for work now.

UPDATE: After reading the inaugural post, it seems that we'll be hearing from Courtney the most.  It seems that she is the “me” in merobinson.com.

Several people have asked me where I got the latest version of dasBlog.  What is not readily apparent by looking at their site is that the project is now hosted on GotDotNet Workspaces.  The latest source and binaries are available there.

Since other people are sharing photos, here's a link to some of Jen and Dave's pictures of our Chipotle outing on Friday.  I'm on the lower right stuffing my face with burrito goodness.

This week, I received a check in the mail from some kind of CitiBank class action settlement.  I'm always skeptical of envelopes that say “check enclosed” on them, but it was legit, and on top of that, it was for a grand total of eight cents!  What a waste! Nevertheless, It was the most news-worthy check I've received recently...until today.

Today, Becky received a check from the Screen Actors Guild for $64 for the infamous Unsolved Mysteries episode she “starred” in back in 1990.  Evidently, they played that part of the episode again on some cable special.  My check is crap compared to that!

So no, the title of this entry is not a typo.  We received multiple checks in the mail, not a single check that is currently in the mail.

Now that I'm older, I've come to love the Spring time change.  I got home from work at about 6:00, and it was still bright out.  I went for a run around the pond and it was beautiful.  It poured rain like nobody's business early this morning, so the stream was flowing and everything was green.  It was great.

I went to Belton this weekend to spend some time with my family.  Saturday afternoon, Dad was needing some rest, so Andrew, Zack (Andrew's brother in law), and I went and played some golf at Sammon's in Temple.  I am not a good golfer.  The last time I played golf was at Andrew's bachelor party where I threw one of Zack's clubs into the water.  That's another story altogether.

Sammon's has ALOT of water, and has changed alot since Peter and I used to go swimming at the pool there.  I only lost about 9 balls.  I had a few choice shots including a chip-in from about 30 yards out.  Andrew and I were playing the best ball between us and ended up shooting an 83.  We tied Zack.

Dad is doing very well, you wouldn't have known he almost died on Tuesday, except he keeps bringing it up.  We ate at Chili's Saturday evening.  I have some pictures, but they're not very good because it was pretty dark.

The weekend was cut short when some joker left a weird note in our driveway. (Becky stayed home for some rehearsals)  I had to come home to make her feel better.  It was probably a completely innocent note, but we couldn't figure it out because it was so weird.

OK, Jen and Dave are here.  We're gonna eat left over pizza from our Sunday School party Friday night.

Dad got out of his pacemaker surgery at about 4:30pm yesterday.  I spoke with him on the phone, and he was feeling great, aside from, “an anvil on his shoulder”.  (He was referring to pain at the site of surgery, not an actual anvil)

He's very excited about having such a serious problem fixed.  His EKG is very strong and precise now, much better than it was before.  Since his thyroid surgery years and years ago, his resting heart-rate has been low, and now it cannot drop below 60 bpm.  This should help him have a more active lifestyle.

Anyway, he's doing great and should get to go home this evening.  Thanks for your continued prayers and support.