Food rules. I'm pretty open to trying just about anything and everything. Though if it has olives on it, forget about it. Don't know why, but I've always hated olives. Doesn't matter if they're green or black. They're all nasty. I used to hate mushrooms as a kid too and now I love them. So every year or so I try an olive again hoping that it won't taste like I just licked a dirty carpet, but it's always a let down. Too bad, because my wife loves olives.

While we're talking about food, I'm a huge fan of sushi. Again, just about any kind except mackerel (just tastes too fishy) and some yellow tin. But about 8 years ago or so when I was a young pup fairly fresh out of college and working at a semi 9 to 6 job with a lot of young guys, we got to talking about sushi. And boasting. And before we knew it, we were all involved in a "Sushi Eat Off" contest! Four of us entered, each with a "spotter." We went to one of those Japanese buffet places where they make the sushi right in front of you and put it out. So you don't really have to wait long. The rules were simple. You could whatever you wanted (including Miso soup, salad, dumplings or any of the other hot food), but only sushi rolls and sushi pieces counted. Your spotter would count actual pieces eaten and help motivate you. And there was a 1 hour time limit put on the event.

I'm proud to say that I ate a whopping 56 pieces of sushi that fateful night. But sadly... I came in third! Guy ahead of me ended at 60. And I might've been able to catch up to him eventually, but the winner clocked in at 65 and would have kept going all night. It was also his first time ever eating sushi. "I just don't lose eating contests," was his game plan. Sigh.

Anyways, now that you've chewed on that little tale, here's an unbelievably insane coupon for Restaurant.com, a site that lets you purchase dining certificates at a discount. Fairly cheap stuff to begin with, but with these coupons, you're nuts not to take advantage, especially if you eat out at the valid restaurants regularly.

Extra 70% off Dining Certificates at Restaurant.com
Use discount code PRESENT. Valid through: July 31, 2007
This discount is in addition to the everyday discounts at Restaurants.com. So if you buy a $25 Certificate for $10 and use a 70% off coupon, you pay only $3!