Ahh! Summertime.

It’s a time when you can sit on your porch swing at night with a cold, tall glass of homemade lemonade and look at the constellations in the sky, listen to the crickets chirp, and bitch about how frickin’ hot it is.

It’s a time when the mercury in the thermometer rises straight up, like it’s just taken a couple of Viagra. It’s so hot, even Kevin Federline sweats while sitting on the couch and staring at the television all day.

To beat the heat, there are many things we could do.

For example, we could play with a Slip ‘N’ Slide. It’s a great way to cool down, except when you get caught by your neighbors for using their water spigot or when you get chafed nipples from all the sliding.

Another great way to cool down would be to go to the beach or swimming pool, which are crowded this time of year. You can get instant cooling satisfaction by jumping into the water. Of course, this is great until you hit a warm spot in the water, which makes you wonder if it’s warm because of the sun or because all the little kids are peeing in the water.

Perhaps the best way to cool down, without fear of chafed nipples or little kids peeing in the water, is to drink something cold. Fortunately, Jack in the Box has brought out Jack’s Root Beer Float, made with Barq’s Root Beer and “real vanilla ice cream.”

Why is “real vanilla ice cream” in quotes?

You’ll read why later, but it’s sort of like the reason why “straight” is always in quotes when people write about Tom Cruise.

Recently, it’s been getting into the low 90s, and I’ve been feeling the heat. I would’ve brought out the Slip ‘N’ Slide, but my nipples were chafed from (insert your imagination here). Instead, I decided to drive to the nearest Jack in the Box and pick up their Root Beer Float.

I decided to use the drive-thru, because I ain’t steppin’ outside.

When I got to the drive-thru window, I could see them making my Root Beer Float. First, they put in the “real vanilla ice cream,” which unfortunately was the sort of fake, comes-in-a-bag soft-serve vanilla ice cream. It’s the same stuff Jack in the Box uses for their milkshakes, which isn’t very dense, so it melts pretty quickly and it’s smarter than me.

Next they added the root beer, which thankfully was Barq’s Root Beer, one of my favorites.

When I received it, the ice cream remained at the bottom, which, if you’re familiar with root beer floats, was where it shouldn’t have been. After flicking the cup a couple of times, the ice cream quickly rose to the top, proving once again the saying, “Cream always rises to the top, except when the creme is used to get rid of zits or herpes.”

After drinking the Jack in the Box Root Beer Float, I have to say that I wasn’t very impressed with it. It was decent, but anyone could make a better one at home.

Plus, they didn’t even give me a frickin’ spoon.

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Item: Jack in the Box Root Beer Float
Purchase Price: $2.29
Rating: 2.5 out of 5
Pros: Decent. Barq’s Root Beer. Cup has a red racing stripe.
Cons: Uses soft serve ice cream. No frickin’ spoon. I can make a better one at home.

If I’ve learned anything in my life, it’s that I should never judge a book by its cover, never trust a big butt and a smile, never let a jury in California decide a celebrity murder or child molestation case, and never believe the food from fast food restaurants will look the way they do in their advertisements.

Here at The Impulsive Buy, I like to keep it real. I don’t show you digitally enhance photos of beautifully well-crafted burgers that took hours to create. Instead I show you improperly color balanced photos of sloppily made burgers that took seconds to slap together by either a sixteen or seventy year old.

Now take a look below at the digitally enhanced photo of the new Jack in the Box Ciabatta Bacon ‘n’ Cheese, with its thick, perfectly shaped patties, two slices of cheese that are perfectly melted, three strips of red, juicy bacon that are the perfect length of the burger, colorful red onions and tomatoes layered perfectly on top of each other, green leaf lettuce with its perfectly placed beads of moisture, and a smothering of smoky cheddar mayo perfectly spread across the inside of the perfectly toasted Ciabatta bread.

Yum-O!

I don’t know about you, but that picture makes me want to pick one up, put on a black bikini, and wash a luxury car while eating it.

Now look at the improperly color balanced photo above of the Jack in the Box Ciabatta Bacon ‘n’ Cheese. It doesn’t look very appetizing, does it?

The two patties look like they’ve been molded together with the two slices of cheese. It looks like there’s only one slice of bacon. The red onions look like it came from parents who were having some interracial cross-pollination. The tomatoes look like they’re trying to run away from the rest of the burger.

Holy crap! The lettuce is ACTUALLY GREEN! The apocalypse is upon us!

Oh wait. The heat from the patties made the lettuce wilt. Everything is fine, it’s not green anymore.

Anyway, despite looking like a 1980’s Cyndi Lauper hairdo gone bad, the Ciabatta Bacon ‘n’ Cheese was surprisingly really good. This tastiness was mostly due to the really good smokey cheddar mayo and the bacon.

Now that I think about it, the Ciabatta Bacon ‘n’ Cheese is sort like Dr. Ruth, on the outside she may not be the prettiest thing to look at, but on the inside, she’s a surprisingly crazy carnal animal that could rock my world.

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Item: Ciabatta Bacon ‘n’ Cheese
Purchase Price: $3.99 (Burger only)
Rating: 4 out of 5
Pros: Tasty. Good smokey cheddar mayo. Dr. Ruth lovemaking abilities.
Cons: Green lettuce wilts quickly from the burger’s heat. Looks like a 1980’s Cyndi Lauper hairdo gone bad. A big butt and a smile.

Just like certain health clubs and establishments with 50 cent peepshow booths, one of the great things about Jack in the Box is the fact that it’s open 24 hours a day. Even better is the fact that I can order anything from their breakfast menu at any time of day.

I wouldn’t be surprised if Jack in the Box is where all the guys coming out of the establishments with 50 cent peepshow booths go, because Jack in the Box would be the ideal place to go to after jackin’ the cock.

Anyway, after coming out of an establishment with 50 cent peepshow booths at two in the morning, I had an urge for a milkshake, so I headed to the nearest Jack in the Box. While looking at the drive-thru’s menu I noticed the new Jack in the Box Meaty Breakfast Burrito. I instantly knew I had to have one with my Oreo milkshake.

When I got to the drive-thru window all I had was quarters. Lots and lots of quarters. Fortunately, fast food is even more convenient since most fast food places now accept credit cards. So I whipped my credit card out and paid for my post-peepshow meal.

Stuffed in the flour tortilla of the Meaty Breakfast Burrito was ham, little balls of sausage, bacon, scrambled eggs, cheddar cheese, and pepperjack cheese. It also came with a small container of salsa, which looked more like marinara sauce than salsa.

Despite all of that stuffing, the Meaty Breakfast Burrito was kind of small. I was hoping for something the size of a bean burrito from Taco Bell, but it was only slightly bigger than a regular soft taco.

Another thing I noticed about it was its burrito form could make it easy to eat while driving to work. Although when I ate it on my couch, somehow the little balls of sausage ended up on my lap.

(Editor’s Note: Despite its burrito form that makes it easy to eat while driving, The Impulsive Buy encourages you to NOT eat while driving, especially Chicken McNuggets, popsicles, and anything that involves a fork.)

Overall, it was meatastic, eggcellent and cheesealicious. Or in other words, it was just as good as the Burger King Enormous Omelet Sandwich.

As for the salsa, it didn’t add much to the taste, plus Jack in the Box was pretty stingy with the amount given. I ran out of salsa halfway through the Meaty Breakfast Burrito.

Because the Jack in the Box Meaty Breakfast Burrito is smaller than the Enormous Omelet Sandwich, it’s a bit healthier.

Although, the 490 calories, 29 grams of fat, 345 milligrams of cholesterol, and 1,310 milligrams of sodium are still enough to possibly make your heart want to seek revenge the next time you’re in need of blood for an erection, like when you’re in a 50 cent peepshow booth.

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Item: Jack in the Box Meaty Breakfast Burrito
Purchase Price: $2.19
Rating: 3.5 out of 5
Pros: Good. Meatastic. Eggcellent. Cheesealicious. 24-hour drive-thru. 24-hour peepshow booths. Using credit cards to purchase fast food.
Cons: Not enough of the crappy salsa. Kind of smallish. Too many quarters.

(Editor’s Note: It’s the final day of Salad Week here at The Impulsive Buy. It was an interesting week filled drive-thru windows, black plastic bowls with clear plastic covers, way too much iceberg lettuce, and a lot of salad tossing. Today’s final salad review comes from my favorite fast food place, Jack in the Box. Enjoy.)

Being Asian, I felt I had to represent and try the Asian Chicken Salad from Jack in the Box. However, I also had another reason for picking it up: I needed more Asian in me and I was hoping that this salad could give it to me.

You see, my ethnicity is Japanese, but I am probably the most un-Japanese Japanese person in the world. I can’t use chopsticks very well. I don’t like sushi. I definitely don’t karaoke. I remember six words from the two years of Japanese language I took in college (In case you were wondering, the six words are: Hai (yes), iie (no), sake (rice wine), sushi, karaoke, and geri (diarrhea).)

I don’t even think I have enough Asian in me to make the pick up line, “Do you have Asian in you? Would you like some?” work for me.

Although, I do drive a Toyota, which kind of makes me more Asian. But then again, just because Carrie Underwood won American Idol, doesn’t mean she’s very good, and also doesn’t mean Ruben Studdard can’t eat her.

Anyway, the Jack in the Box Asian Chicken Salad is a very colorful salad, as you can see in the picture above. It has green leaf lettuce, some fancy red/green leaf thing, baby spinach, red onion slices, shredded carrots, mandarin orange slices, pieces of grilled white meat chicken, wonton strips, roasted slivered almonds, Asian sesame dressing, and white-ass iceberg lettuce.

After I mixed the salad in a bigger bowl, I took a few bites of it using a fork and then switched to chopsticks to see if I had gained the Asian powers to wield them properly.

When several mandarin orange slices and leafs of lettuce ended up on the carpet, I knew the art of using chopsticks wasn’t meant to be. I guess my once fast fingers’ past as “The Human Vibrators” has messed up any chances of me using chopsticks properly.

The salad was very tasty, which was due to the very good Asian sesame dressing. I also liked the various textures the salad had. From the crunchiness of the wonton strips and almonds to the soft mandarin oranges and pieces of chicken. It’s probably the best fast food salad I’ve had so far, and I’m not being biased because I’m Asian.

Despite the 590 calories, 33 grams of fat, and 1306 milligrams of sodium, the Asian Chicken Salad is surprisingly the most healthiest specialty salad on the Jack in the Box menu. It also has a whole lot of potassium and dietary fiber, which are good for you.

After eating the entire salad, which was very filling, I realized that eating Asian foods won’t ever help make me more Asian.

So now I’ll take another approach and hopefully I can become more Asian by watching lots and lots of anime porn.

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Item: Jack in the Box Asian Chicken Salad
Purchase Price: $4.99
Rating: 4 out of 5
Pros: Tasty. Good dressing. Lots of potassium and dietary fiber. The healthiest speciality salad on the Jack in the Box menu. Filling salad. Salad Week is over, which means back to REALLY unhealthy stuff.
Cons: Didn’t make me more Asian. High in sodium and fat. Abusing my fingers from those “Human Vibrator” years.

Oh Jack in the Box, when will you learn?

You can’t give your food items funny names without them getting teased. First it was Pannido? Now it’s Ciabatta? What are you trying to do, get them beat up?

Well, now that I think about it, it shouldn’t be so surprising coming from Crack in the Box…Oh, wait, I mean, Crap in the Box…I mean, Wack in the Box…

Anyway, here are a couple of examples of how poor Ciabatta could be teased:

Hakuna Ciabatta! What a wonderful phrase. Hakuna Ciabatta! Ain’t no passing craze. It means no worries for the rest of your days. It’s our problem-free philosophy. Hakuna Ciabatta!

Or someone could say, “Hey Ciabatta! Where’s Han Solo and the Millennium Falcon?”

If there’s anyone who knows what it’s like to have their name teased it would be me. For example, there’s Marvo the Retardo, Marvo the Bizzaro, Marvo the Lardo, Marvo the Farto…

STOP TEASING ME!!! LEAVE ME ALONE!!!

WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO ME!?!

STOP! STOP! I’M NOT CRYING!!!

NO, NO, NOT A WEDGIE!!!

AAAGH!!!

NO, THOSE AREN’T SKIDMARKS!!!

Oh sorry, I was having a schoolyard flashback.

Anyway, the Jack in the Box Classic Chicken Ciabatta is a new sandwich with a grilled chicken breast on a lightly toasted ciabatta bun with reduced fat herb mayo, sliced tomatoes, green leaf lettuce, and red onion slices.

Of course, the highlight of the sandwich is the Ciabatta, a bread with a crispy hard crust and a soft center, which is much like regular Italian bread and my pale body when it’s been out in the sun for too long.

Unfortunately, the Ciabatta bread didn’t add anything to the taste of the sandwich. Neither did the reduced fat herb mayo. At least it’s high in protein, which will help me build some muscles on my pale body.

It’s sure a whole lot easier than shooting steroids into my ass.

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Item: Jack in the Box Classic Chicken Ciabatta
Purchase Price: $5.79 (small combo)
Rating: 2.5 out of 5
Pros: Ciabatta bread was fluffy, like hair styles from the 1980s. High in protein.
Cons: Pricey. Ciabatta bread doesn’t add to the taste. Reduced herb mayo was bland. Easy name to make fun of. Hakuna Ciabatta!