Still A Dangerous Job - Be Careful Out There Guys (and Gals)!

Pizza delivery driver abducted during delivery run and found dead in Dillon State Park

This happened in Ohio.

Rising Prices: It's not just gasoline!

Read this article to see how your favorite local pizza store may be affected.

Fan Mail

First off, since I'm not delivering right now, let me recommend a new delivery blog, Diary Of A Pizza Man.  The author seems to be working and updating regularly and will certainly have some stories to tell.

Also, I must be out of the loop becaus I didn't even know Pizza Hut was having a video contest.  I doubt this video will win, but they were the only one that emailed me so they are getting some free publicity here.

More Crime

Sorry, I'm still pretty much retired from driving but here is a story in my local paper about more crime.

Why was this guy carrying this much cash?

Why would the newspaper print the amount?

I expect a flurry of robberies in the area now.

More Crime, Now It's Local

This robbery happened in the next town over.

"The Marco’s manager said the pizza parlor doesn’t have caller ID .... The (driver) said Marco’s does everything they can to protect delivery people."

Does anyone but me see the problem with these 2 statements from the article?

Busted! And Shot!

Well done by the pizza driver who recognized what was going on, and the Columbus Police.

Cleveland Pizza Playoffs

The Cleveland Plain Dealer had a "Pizza Playoffs" contest and the winner is Angelo's of Lakewood.

I don't have much else to say.  I'm in the middle of my teacher training and haven't delivered pizzas since March.

Mouse Attack!

This story is hard to believe!  One pizzeria owner set some mice free in a rival's pizza shop!

Mice are certainly troublesome, we have had a few off and on over the years and we generally keep traps out.  But while they are annoying, I can't imagine they would cause enough trouble that someone would risk getting caught (which he did).

Why not wipe the footprints off the toilet seat?

Catching Up

A few things about New Years Eve:

• My ending mileage was 105,612 (for tax purposes)
• Biggest tip was $5 (twice) and $4 (3 times)
• Stiffed 4 times

• 5 deliveries were to apartment buildings, including 2 to the low-income county building on Chestnut

I bought 3 packs of mardi gras beads at the Dollar Store on Friday morning, figuring I would wear them to be festive and maybe give them out to any young kids that came to the door.  Well I didn't give any out all night, other than a few to some of my co-workers (who also wanted to look festive).  I did get a few remarks but I'm not sure if they increased my tips (like the Santa hat).

Now for tonight:

• We were pretty slow, I did a whole lot of dishes
• I worked 2.35 hours and took only 4 deliveries
• I drove 23 miles and made $6.50 in tips

Christmas:

• I got a magazine for Christmas, Popular Plates Pizza - Across The Country With Roadfood's Jane & Michael Stern.  It has some interesting articles about the origin of pizza, and a list of 100+ pizzerias throughout the US.
• George got a WebKinz and today I played a game online with him, it was pretty fun.  You are running a pizza place and you take orders, make dough, add toppings, put the pizza in the oven, and serve it ... you have to do all of these things quickly before the customer gets upset and leave.  Meanwhile more customers (we got up to 6 at one time) are coming in and waiting to be served.

Police Disguised As Pizza Guy Arrest 3 Punks In My Town

I wish this was how it always worked! This is actually in my town! Well done by the Marco's crew for recognizing the situation and the police for believing them and playing along!
Chronicle Article


WKYC Article

Pizza For Parkinson's Fundraiser

My dad had Parkinson's disease so I have a special interest in it.  Actor Michael J. Fox has become a spokesman and his organization, Team Fox, does alot of fundraising for Parkinson's research.

Well, the week of November 2-5 (Tuesday - Friday), the California Pizza Kitchen restaurant in New York City will donate 20% of the check to the Fox Foundation if you bring the flyier at this link.  I'm not sure how many of my readers are in the NYC area, but if you are, stop in and help out a worthy cause!

Best 24-Hour Pizza Joint

According to this article, the best pizza place open 24 hours is right here in Ohio!  It's Hound Dog's 3 Degree Pizza in Columbus!

I used to like the Flying Tomato in Columbus, but next time I get a chance I will be checking out Hound Dog's!

Still Not Driving

Just as I was considering going back to driving after soccer season ended, we had a family tragedy and I still have not started back to my 2nd job.  However, my wife just lost 2 of her day-care kids (their mom lost her job) so I may pick up a night or 2 in the near future.

Meanwhile, here are a few pizza-related links I have found lately.  First, a video from CNN about a pizza guy (and EMT) who arrived just in time to give CPR and save a life!  What a great story!

The other link is not so great.  It is an article about a local pizza guy getting set up and robbed.  Come on guys, make your call-backs and never go towards an unlit house!

Weird Story

Here is a weird story, sent to me by a reader, about a mix-up in the order, and a strange way the pizza shop chose to resolve the order.

As a driver, I highly doubt any shop would "reuse" (re-sell or even eat) the returned food in any way. More likely they just didn't want the customer getting something for nothing.

Secrets From The Waiter / Waitress

I found this article on Yahoo!, it's pretty interesting. Check it out! The title is 20 Secrets Your Waiter Will Never Tell You. And the very first one is from a pizza waitress!

Robbery

This one is way too close to home. I'm surprised nobody mentioned it on Monday when I worked. Be careful out there my friends.

Weather & Traffic

I'm glad I didn't have to work tonight, it's freezing cold out! I did take the kids to (indoor) soccer practice. I gassed up the car on my way home and then took my wife's van out and filled her tank also.

Meanwhile, my city is changing some lanes and traffic lights, it's in the news! I can't imagine it will affect me much.

Another Robbery

This is the 2nd publicized robbery in my town in less than a week. Not surprising, since the newspaper published a large amount that was stolen the 1st time.

This time there was a gang, they used a gun and took the guy's car (or at least his keys).

I have to admit I'm having 2nd thoughts about going back to work even 1 night / week.

Chinese Food Driver Robbed

I'm on the schedule to work again 1 week from tonight. Unfortunately, this morning I read in the newspaper that a Chinese food deliveryman was robbed in our city.

Doubly unfortunate is that the newspaper chose to publish the amount stolen, and it was ridiculously high. I would not carry even 10% of that amount into that neighborhood if we did deliver there, which we do not!

Pizza Manager Robbed

There was a pizza-related robbery in my area last night. Seems like a set-up. After closing, the pizzeria manager found his car tires flat and was attacked while trying to change his tire. They stole the day's deposit.

You can read more about it here.

In unrelated news, I stopped by our shop last night. Tomorrow was my one night to work in the next month and I'm not on the schedule. Not that I mind.