Friday, May 9, 2008

Stretches. Weight training: superslow lateral raise, superslow wrist curl. Usual oatmeal breakfast. Listserv management followup with Danica regarding 2nd year pathway listservs. Created new binder covers for 2 binders. Mail organization and cleanup. Assigned Eric V a survey to build—he did a great job. Reviewed sessions for Google I/O and was surprised at how much they're doing that I didn't know about. I decided I am not going to go, however. Sessions for An Event Apart should be available soon, so I signed up to be notified. Sent Valerie updated info regarding our MCCA renewal. Flickr groups page updates for Susie. Visited briefly with Sharon Y and Claire L in C-151 before heading to lunch. I returned floral arrangement pieces from graduation bouquets to Claire. Students crowded the counter picking up their midterms results and checking them against the key. Lunch at Bistro 9 (415-753-3919, 1224 9th Avenue, San Francisco, California, USA) with Joel. It was our first time eating here and we were amazed at how charmingly decorated it is inside and also on both the front and back patios. We couldn't remember what was previously in this space, and we don't remember when Bistro 9 had opened its doors. We don't often venture this far out for lunch, but I noticed it after dining at Pacific Catch yesterday and decided it would be a good place to try. When we arrived, a sign asked us to wait to be seated. There was no one at the door to greet us, and it took perhaps 4 minutes before a waitperson seated us at a table. The pace of the staff seemed too leisurely. Eventually, I ordered a burger with fries, and Joel ordered a small salad and a chicken skewer with rice. When our food arrived, I had to remind our waitperson to bring us cutlery which she did promptly. There was some candle wax on the table, which was visually unpleasant upon discovery, but otherwise it did not bother us much. Our dining table was unstable. The restaurant was mostly empty when we ate around 12:30 PM on Friday. The table next to us remained uncleared and unwiped the entire time we were there, even while I peeked around a corner and noticed two waitstaff crouched behind the counter chatting together for several minutes with nothing else to do. (And this while our water glasses remained empty, too.) I ordered my burger medium but it arrived well done. And not only were some of my fries undercooked, but some were also undeniably room temperature and slightly cold—they had obviously been sitting for a while somewhere unevenly heated. The flavors in the food were delicious and a tad on the salty side. There was a long enough delay when waiting to pay our bill that we got up and paid at the bar to find our waitperson on the telephone. About $20 before a $2.50 tip. Our receipt said our server's name was Nina. Despite some problems primarily with the front of house staff and too few people working the front when we ate, I think Bistro 9 is worth at least one more visit, particularly if you want an alfresco lunch. If you go for dinner with a group of 6 to 8 try for the luxurious corner booth that dominates the rear of the front dining room. Over lunch, Joel encouraged me to watch Top Chef, a television show on Bravo he thought I might enjoy. On the way back we stopped at Sunset Stationers where I bought a gift and a card and where Joel bought new tip cards. We also stopped at Starbucks where I got a tall skinny hazelnut latte and I treated Joel to an unsweetened black iced tea and one brownie bite. (Thanks again, ML!) Chatted with Susie and Sue about Flickr. Sent Mark B suggestions on his new POP/IMAP instructions page. Down to 8 items in my inbox—how exciting! Left work a tad early because I've been working through lunch and also late many days this week. It has been very quiet in the office since a lot of people were out, and I got a lot done this week. On a sad note, Lucia's cat Cannibal passed away yesterday. Dinner at home with Patrick: grilled chicken boobs, grilled squash with candied pecans, skinny french fries. Watched the current episode of Top Chef from the web—I didn't like it but endured to the end. Watched an old Star Trek TNG episode (Spock's Brain) from the web. Flickrd.