OK—I have the chicken thawed and ready to be assembled by some Interns earning extra credit for weekend shift work while the major air campaign enters its sixth cycle of days.

Our thoughts go out to everyone involved, along with the sad news that at least two more Americans have been lost to drones launched by the fanatical IRGC.

So, there is real stuff in progress overseas and more strange events unfolding here at home. We talked about the recent remarks on election security and the wild claims flying around about tens of thousands of non-citizens voting in our elections. Then there are reports of Chinese nationals opening credit-card accounts in the names of some of the 180 million Americans who pay taxes.

That was how the day started.

Now, I am getting the Russell stovetop griddle fired up in the Café kitchen just off the patio. The match starts at five, and it promises to be another wild installment in the series of unusual events we have watched from down there this summer.

The smoke is clearing, and it almost looks as though there is some blue sky behind the lighter haze.

I came up in and out of some fine dining establishments, so I follow the trade magazines to stay current on crossover ideas. The one I liked today in Gastronomica summed things up nicely:

Olive Garden: How to Snag a Never-Ending Pasta Pass

They announced last Wednesday they were bringing back the Never-Ending Pasta Pass, a promotion last offered six years ago. People have been asking for it ever since.
Only 10,000 passes were offered nationwide. They cost $100 apiece and provide 13 weeks of unlimited pasta, homemade sauces and protein toppings, accompanied by never-ending soup or salad and breadsticks.

They were released Thursday at two in the afternoon through the dedicated Pasta Pass website.

They are already gone.

That sparked some turmoil down in the Café as I started the big pots of water boiling for the Chicken Lo Mein intended to feed the gang at halftime. Holly reminded me that they had traced the nasty intestinal disease going around to Taco Bell’s supplier Taylor Fresh Foods, of Salinas, California
The question was this: If you are seated with a Pasta Pass holder, can that person share with the rest of the table? Or must everyone order separately?

Jaime Bunker, Olive Garden’s senior vice president of marketing, issued a statement of clarification:

“We require customers to show a photo ID with their Pasta Pass to prevent non-transferable, fraudulent sharing of the deal.”

There was general agreement in the Galley that this was a perfectly reasonable precaution if the company wished to remain in business while maintaining its fresh and delicious streams of pasta.

What Mr. Bunker may not have realized was that his simple declaration had entered Olive Garden into the national voter-ID debate.

White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller summed it up succinctly:

“We’ve reached a point in society where access to fettuccine at Olive Garden is vastly more secure than deciding who is Commander-in-Chief of the country.”

That is the most succinct thing I have heard about anything today.

The English and the French face off in twenty minutes. I need to get the Chicken Lo Mein going.

More in the morning!

Go England, mes amis!

Copyright 2026 Vic Socotra
www.vicsocotra.com