October 2018
Summary: Castro Art Walk with Patrick; Esherick Minimod vacation in Sea Ranch with Paul, Phil, Drew, and Romy; applied for Real ID at the DMV; BADCamp at UC Berkeley; dinner at Finn Town and Halloween in the Castro with Patrick
Dates on this page
Mon Oct 1, 2018
Breakfast at home with Patrick: yogurt with granola and fixins, green tea. Walked and rode Muni to UCSF Laurel Heights. Sprint standup. Met with Grant to resolve markup issues in the pancreas. Worked on support inbox requests and styling work for events following removal of quicktabs all day. Lunch: one bag of no-salt, no-butter microwave popcorn. Errand: bought DampRid at the hardware store. Rode UberX to SoMa. Met Patrick for couples counseling. Rode UberX with Patrick to the Mission. Dinner at Cha Cha Cha: happy hour margarita for me, happy hour sangria for Patrick. Complimentary bread and butter. Tapas: lechon (roasted leg of pork seasoned with adobo criollo with yucca con mojo), arroz con pollo (roasted marinated chicken sauteed with bell peppers, peas, olives, yellow rice and black beans, sour cream), ramica salsa (salsa and chips), spinach empanada (with tossed greens and black bean sauce). My margarita was one of the strongest margaritas I have ever had, and a San Francisco bargain at the $6 happy hour price (which is half off their regular price). Bill total was $61.92 before a $10 tip. Food and service by Gazi were excellent. Rode UberX home with Patrick. Installed DampRid in closets to address mild mold issues.
Tue Oct 2, 2018
Breakfast at home with Patrick: two-egg omelette with feta, sundried tomatoes, and parsley; green tea. I removed a large spider from the kitchen floor with our spider catcher. This spider was larger than the spiders we usually find in our apartment. Walked and rode Muni to UCSF Laurel Heights. 1:1 mtg with Eric. Various task followup. Calendar management. Styling work: events pages following removal of quicktabs by James. Rode Uber Pool to Japantown. While waiting I noticed that at Mums Restaurant the menu displayed was printed on a dot-matrix printer—amazing! Met Patrick at Super Mira for lunch so that I could try a slice of coffee crunch cake which I had bookmarked many months ago after discovering it I think via someone's Instagram. We first ate deli bento from Super Mira: deep-fried shrimp dumplings, potstickers, mixed bento for Patrick, shrimp tempura donburi, iced tea: about $32. It was odd and a bit unpleasant to eat fried food cold. Afterwards I purchased a slice of the coffee crunch cake made by Yasutoshi's Sweet Shop. The nice woman behind the counter told me a secret during the purchase. I replied, "Hmm, that's weird." The coffee crunch cake (I think it was $4.75) was delicious. It's coffee-flavored cake layered with whipped cream and wrapped in toffee. The crunch of the toffee contrasts nicely with the perfect sponginess of the cake and the velvety creaminess of the whipped cream. Afterwards Patrick and I walked through Japantown some, then I rode Uber Pool back to work while he took a walk along Divisadero to Market and Castro. I attended the School of Pharmacy town hall via Zoom. Git branch merge work: master into sop-micro. Walked and rode Muni home. Dinner at home with Patrick: carnitas tacos with pickled onion and avocado, Hint, red wine.
Wed Oct 3, 2018
Breakfast at home with Patrick: croissant from Thoroughbread Bakery, yogurt with granola and fixins, hot earl gray tea with milk. Walked and rode Muni to UCSF Laurel Heights. Task followup. Styling work the rest of the day: microsites identity retheme. Today a mouse reappeared in La'Trece's office causing excitement for a few minutes. The presidential emergency notification test occurred today and I heard it elsewhere in the office. I ignored it. Lunch at desk: leftover seabass from Thai Basil. Walked and rode Muni home. Dinner at home with Patrick: Good Eggs pepperoni pizza with added bell peppers, Hint, red wine. Watched The Standups: Gina Yashere on Netflix instant watch with Patrick—excellent. Recharge Medical web work: posted a blog post about vampire facials.
Thu Oct 4, 2018
Breakfast at home: yogurt with sliced banana, pepitas, and currants; 8 ounces of orange juice. Walked and rode Muni to UCSF Parnassus. Ran an errand at the bank: pick up quarters for laundry. Stopped at the Dean's Office Administration. Chatted briefly with Karen G about directory entry privacy. Wifi wasn't working, so I left and went to an S room. Wifi still wasn't working, so I left and went to the FAMRI garden terrace and worked a bit while a very light drizzle fell. UCSF shuttle from Parnassus to Laurel Heights. Styling work all day: microsites identity retheme. Today outside my window I heard and saw the Blue Angels practicing—cool. Lunch: leftover beef stir fry with sticky rice from Thai Basil. Rode Uber Pool to the Castro. On the ride my co-riders were a dad and his son and the son sounded exactly like Fred Savage in the era of The Princess Bride. Met Patrick at Jane Warner Plaza for this month's Castro Art Walk which takes place every first Thursday. We don't know when this event series began, but I think it was recently. The postcard map for the event is a confusing design. The map markers are in multiple colors, but there is no color key and we could not figure out what the colors meant. The map markers are numbered, but not in any kind of path, so we could not figure out why they were ordered the way they were. I later looked at the designer's website, and her other work is very creative and logical, so I'm chalking up this result to—best guess—design by committee. We arrived at 6 PM for the advertised music in Jane Warner Plaza but there was no music and no musicians setting up. We started with Art Attack and particularly enjoyed the art by Tracy Piper, but honestly everything at Art Attack was great. We continued up Market Street. At Berkshire Hathaway Home Services the door was locked only to be unlocked a few seconds later with an apology that they were a bit late. At Brewcade there was no featured art—we could only guess that the Artwalk intended it to be a food or drink stop along the way. Most if not all of the galleries and places serving as galleries had something complimentary to eat or drink. At The Academy we saw John B getting a haircut and waved. At 3989 17th Street was briefly saw designs for a redesigned Harvey Milk Plaza. We dined at Hamburger Mary's: karen walker cocktail and wagyu cow burger and queen mary option for Patrick, dark and stormy cocktail and grilled chicken breast burger with guacamole BJ option and seasoned fries for me. $67.10 before a $12 tip. Service by Adrian was good.
Fri Oct 5, 2018
Breakfast at home: fruit salad, brioche toast with butter, half of a mini quiche. Walked and rode Muni to UCSF Laurel Heights. Styling work all day: microsites identity retheme. More Blue Angels practicing like yesterday. Lunch from The View Cafe: one egg roll, one shau mai, one ha gow, a snack bag of white cheddar popcorn, water from my Thermos water bottle. Walked and rode Muni home. While on Muni 1BX at Crossover Drive traveling slowly in extremely heavy traffic we passengers heard a loud bang and we all turned to see that the window had shattered but not broken. I and others immediately wondered if it had been a gun, but there was no bullet hole. Someone must have thrown a rock or something like it at the bus. A few seconds later a man walked by, and we don't know if he had been involved. Where I was sitting could have been directly in line with the object or bullet or whatever—scary. I was a bit frightened, but not as frightened as the woman who had also sat adjacent to the strike. For the rest of the ride she chose to stand away from the window, and I don't blame her. I kept my seat partly because I was carrying a large package as well as my heavy bag. The bus continued on its route until Noriega when we were all required to alight so that the bus driver could file a report. I waited a few minutes hoping for another bus but then realized it would take less time to walk to finish my route. I stopped at Brothers Papadopoulos flower stand at 19th and Quintara briefly before continuing home with a bouquet of a dozen yellow roses for Patrick. Dinner at home with Patrick: chicken souvlaki with yogurt sauce, Hint, red wine. We watched s4:e1 of Superstore and then movie trailers on iTunes Movie Trailers via Plex.
Sat Oct 6, 2018
Breakfast at home with Patrick: brioche french toast with powdered sugar, butter, and maple syrup; coffee with milk. Helped Patrick connect his Nektar SE49 electric piano keyboard to his computer. Caught up on journaling. Unloaded photos from my iPhone X, archived them, and uploaded them to Flickr. Lunch: falafel burgers with pickled onions and baby kale, Hint. Packed for a short trip. Recharge Medical work: published a blog post and editing for an email campaign. Patrick and I listened a bit to Matthew Broussard's Pedantic on Spotify. Got picked up by the 15th Avenue boys with Paul. Phil drove us to Thunderbird House. Dinner at Quyen and Dave's. Met Antonio and César and encountered Maneesh, John, Reider, Elfa, Nate, Quyen, Dave, Richard, Mike, Jonathan. My stomach began hurting during the evening, and my best guess is that it was due to the falafel burger I had had at lunch. Returned to 15th Avenue House and stayed overnight because we were departing on a trip tomorrow.
Sun Oct 7, 2018
I dreamt last night that I was an employee in some kind of amusement park or event venue. I wheeled large carts of something into a large, empty room and left them knowing that it was crappy for another employee to find but it was not my job to put the remainder of the stuff on the carts away. I continued on my way because I knew I had to exit the park or venue. I went through other indoor areas, occasionally crossing crowd control barriers which was okay for me to do because I was an employee, but I was aware that it looked odd for others to see me doing it. At times guests were also crossing the barriers at the same time which I knew was wrong, but it was not my job to stop them, and I was intent on leaving. Finally I opened a door and found the path I knew to be the exit. This led to a series of doors set in a series of fences, one door per fence. Each door opened easily, and I walked through, and I was careful to close each door behind me. I got to what I knew was the last door because I could see openness over the fence. A man blocked my path. I attempted to exit, and he grabbed and held me, preventing me from exiting. We grappled for a few seconds, and I struggled to be released. Then I turned and saw a giant hand approaching which to me was exactly like King Kong’s hand. The giant hand reached toward us and grabbed the man. I wiggled free from the struggle, and that’s when I awoke. Esherick Minimod vacation with Paul, Phil, Drew, and Romy day 1 of 3. Coffee. Chatted with Dong-Yi who had stayed overnight and is watching the house and birds. We left at 9:30 AM and easily avoided traffic coming into San Francisco for the Blue Angels and Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival. Phil drove Paul, Romy, Drew, and I to breakfast at Whisk+Skillet in Strawberry Village. (Danny didn’t go because of previous plans to travel to Europe.) Paul had a California omelette with side salad and orange juice. Phil had a breakfast combo (eggs and pancake) and a latte. I had a California omelette with potatoes and a chai latte. Romy had a chicken sandwich with fries. Drew had a veggie omelette. Drew and Romy separately got Starbucks coffee while we ordered. Back on the road. Check-in isn’t until 4 PM so we decided to do some wine tasting. First stop is Unti Vineyards. Paul bought two bottles. I thought some of the wines were good but didn't buy anything. Next is Mauritson Wines where Phil and Drew bought some port. Both wineries are in a region known for zinfandel, one area of which is known as Rockpile which we had never heard of before. We generally liked Mauritson’s wines better than Utni’s. Next we stopped briefly at Alley 6 for some purchases. They have a spiced peach liqueur new to us that is delicious. Stopped at Big John’s Grocery for food and water. Next was a 35-mile drive on a windy road. We emerged onto Highway 1 and drove a little further to find Sea Ranch and our cabin for the next two nights, courtesy of Paul. We snacked on veggie chips and tortilla chips. Romy and I helped Paul play an iOS game called Wordscapes. Everyone napped but me. Dinner at Vue Kitchen at sunset. Paul had osso bucco. Drew had eggplant lasagne. Romy had clam chowder and bouillabaisse. Phil had veggie stir fry. I had fish and chips (local rock cod). Service was very good with the minor exception of water glasses frequently going empty. Afterwards we explored the rest of the public areas, stopping briefly to view a strange light in the night sky which turned out to be a SpaceX launch. Drove back to Esherick Minimod. Watched 4th Man Out via Netflix downloaded video played from my iPhone X through an Apple HDMI to Lightning adapter to the Sony television. I couldn’t get the sound to come out of the Sonos soundbar instead of the television speakers, but afterwards I figured out how.
Mon Oct 8, 2018
Esherick Minimod vacation with Paul, Phil, Drew, and Romy day 2 of 3. Paul prepared breakfast, and I helped. Spinach and tomato omelette, twice-cooked bacon, sausage, sourdough toast, sardines in oil, pate, orange juice, mango juice blend. Romy cleaned and I helped. Architectural sightseeing: Moonraker Recreation Center designed by Charles Moore / MLTW. Some women were repainting the locker rooms. Paul asked if we could just peek inside and was granted permission. Barbara Stauffacher Solomon was onsite directing the painting, and we chatted with her briefly. Afterwards we tried to visit The Sea Ranch Chapel but it appeared to be closed for a private event. We saw the fire station where a meeting was in progress, and we did not approach it on foot. We drove back to Gualala and stopped at Surf Market for a few items. We drove south to Timber Cove Lodge for lunch at Coast Kitchen. We all shared four items: charcuterie platter (assorted cured meats, house made mustard, cherry peppers, cornichons, pickled grapes, crackers, grilled bread), artisan cheese board (local cowgirl creamery cheeses, marcona almonds, honeycomb, onion jam, grilled bread, fruit chutney), baby gem lettuce caesar (anchovy aioli, parmesan, crispy quinoa, balsamic reduction), and shrimp sliders which came with a side of french fries. After lunch we explored the grounds, stopping briefly at the fire pit. Paul had inquired about hosting an event, and we enjoyed chatting with David who gave us a tour of a standard room and two different suites. We stayed for a round of drinks in the bar. We drove back to Esherick Minimod. Others rested while I enjoyed the hot tub. Phil prepared an early dinner, and I helped: fried rice, rib-eye steak, salad, sautéed potatoes, steamed white rice. Afterwards we watched 33 minutes of King Cobra and then stopped because the group was not enjoying it—the story was not that interesting. We then watched I Love You, Man, which everyone enjoyed. We tried watching Simplemente Manu NNa but decided after 5 minutes that something was lost in translation and it was not for us. Lastly we watched s3:e1 of Black Mirror: Nosedive, which everyone enjoyed. To bed.
Tue Oct 9, 2018
Esherick Minimod vacation with Paul, Phil, Drew, and Romy day 3 of 3. Paul prepared breakfast from leftovers. We packed, tidied, and departed. We drove Highway 1 south, missed the turn off Valley Ford Road, double-backed, and continued. The views were often obscured by heavy fog, finally clearing after we had driven south enough. We stopped at Hog Island Oyster Company for Phil and Paul to eat shuck-your-own oysters. We sat outdoors in what is called The Boat and the unreserved section was pretty full. Romy, Drew, and I don't enjoy raw oysters, so we waited for them to finish. Paul inquired about hosting an event. We all then drove back north a bit to Nick’s Cove (415-663-1033, 2320 State Route One, Marshall, CA) for lunch: cioppino for Paul, grilled oysters rockefeller for Drew, clam chowder and cast-iron mac and cheese for Phil, Romy and I split maryland-style crab cakes, Romy also had a dungeness crab benedict, and I also had a wagyu burger add cheddar with kennebec fries. Kitchen service was notably slow. The food was very good. Some loud construction was taking place nearby and maybe downstairs? We could hear it only sometimes when a door to a neighboring patio room was opened. It did not bother us much. From the architecture and decor this restaurant feels like it has been around for at least 50 years or so. It looks dated in places yet feels classic and comfortable. $149.39 before a $25 tip. Phil drove us back to 15th Avenue House. I rode UberX home. Rested a bit. Mounted our 32-inch TCL 32S305 Roku TV on the wall using a no-stud Hangman mount. It took about 45 minutes and was not hard. Dinner at home with Patrick: Good Eggs potato pizza with smoked mozzarella and greens, Hint. Edited and uploaded photos to Flickr. We opened and enjoyed the Alley 6 peach liqueur on the rocks. Unpacked. Washed dishes.
Wed Oct 10, 2018
Walked and rode Muni to UCSF Laurel Heights. Sprint standup. HR mailing list update. Spent the day prepping and delivering an html email for Shalimar: MAK Seed Award now open for applications. Lunch from The View Cafe: small order of veggie stir-fry with brown rice, one egg roll, water from my water bottle. Calpoison content strategy kickoff meeting with Dana, Judy, Eric, Cassandra, Ellen, Stu, and, remotely, Terry, Ruben, and Rais V. Styling work: microsites identity retheme. Susie gave me a ride home. We talked about online history courses, Spain, Esherick Minimod, Halloween, horror movies, the forthcoming Gibson Memorial event. Dinner at home with Patrick: Good Eggs thai coconut chicken soup, Hint. Dessert: one shortbread cookie, one glass of dessert wine.
Thu Oct 11, 2018
My vagrant developer environment had gotten corrupted, and I spent some time trying and failing to resolve it. James drove Eric and me to MCB. Web services pharmacy work session with Eric G, John K, Dana A, Austen, Eric, and James. Rode Muni 33 to the Castro. Got a large, slightly sweet chai tea latte at Philz and added metadata to some of my recently uploaded Flickr photos for Esherick Minimod. Patrick arrived. We killed time shopping at Buffalo Grocery then Walgreens. We went to Castro Village Wine Company for a tasting by Lioco, chatting with owner Matt Licklider. We bought two bottles. Dinner at Indo: carneros pinot noir by the glass for both, murtabak, bali ribs, roti prata, gado gado. Dessert: pisang goreng. $87.56 before a $17 tip. Food and service were excellent. While there we encountered Larry, Chris, and Mikey, who were finishing a meal, and we chatted with them a bit about San Diego and Atlantis cruises. Rode UberX home. Continued troubleshooting the vagrant problems and resolved them with help received from James H after today's meeting. Created Golden Gate Bridge images for Drew and sent them to him for review and approval.
Fri Oct 12, 2018
Breakfast at home: leftover thai coconut chicken soup. Worked from home for half of a day on microsite identity retheme styling. Walked and rode Muni to UCSF Parnassus. Helped with the School of Pharmacy Bob Gibson Memorial in Millberry Union, standing for 80 minutes in the ACC breezeway with a sign so that people could approach me to get directions to Millberry Union East then again for about two hours until the event ended. Walked and rode Muni home. Dinner at home with Patrick: Good Eggs tofu stir fry with sweet potato and baby shiitakes, Royal milk tea. Dessert: Petit Pot chocolate pot de creme. For me only: dessert wine. Watched Superstore s4:e2 on Hulu Basic Plan then The Standups: Rachel Feinstein on Netflix instant watch with Patrick.
Sat Oct 13, 2018
I prepared breakfast for Patrick and me: eggs over easy with garlic chives and leftover pork rib meat from Indo, biscuits from a can with butter, hash brown, ginger tisane for Patrick, peach cobbler tea for me. We had planned to go to the Japanese Tea Garden in Golden Gate Park followed by a visit to Kabuki spa but changed our plans. Recharge Medical work in InDesign then switched to Illustrator because there seemed to be no easy way to export a path from Photoshop to InDesign such that you could use it for what you intended. I created a gym flyer for CoolSculpting, sent it to Alyssa for review and approval. Mounted a large mirror on the wall next to the dining table. Late lunch: leftovers from Indo. Nap. Began updating my earthquake planning and supplies which have not been reviewed since winter 2014. Dinner at home with Patrick: delivery from Seniore's Pizza via Slice: Seniore's Special 14-inch, small caesar salad with caesar dressing and croutons. The lettuce was shredded like a chiffonade which was a little weird but I kind of like that since it's easier to insert into the mouth but it's kind of weird because it's reminiscent of eating a taco without the shell or other fillings. Pizza was good as usual. They delivered in about 30 minutes. We ate dinner in the living room while trying to watch The Post on Netflix DVD, but it failed to play so we instead watched The Standups on Netflix instant watch: Brent Morin and Aparna Nancherla. Troubleshot the DVD problems and was unable to resolve them. Discovered that iDrive unexpectedly stopped backing up to my network hard drive and reconfigured the settings to correct the problem.
Sun Oct 14, 2018
Slept in. Breakfast at home with Patrick: Patrick prepared beignets (starting last night) using a recipe that he was testing. We ate them with instant coffee with milk. Patrick napped while I did house chores: retrieved and unpacked the Good Eggs delivery, retrieved and folded some laundry, washed some dishes. Cut my hair, showered. Nap. Late afternoon small meal: leftover thai coconut chicken soup, Fritos corn chips. Finished metatagging Flickr photos from the Esherick Minimod vacation. Dinner at home with Patrick: Good Eggs one-pan roasted chicken and broccolini, Hint. Watched Twin Peaks: A Limited Event Series part 12 on purchased DVD with Patrick.
Mon Oct 15, 2018
Breakfast at home with Patrick: leftover beignets with autumn spices, yogurt with diced autumn fruits and nuts. Walked and rode Muni to UCSF Laurel Heights. Today Patrick took our Picasso chair in to be reupholstered. We had purchased the chair from Restoration Hardware in 2000 and purchased fabric from Britex on August 18 and only now have been able to find time to take it in. Sprint standup. Microsites work: UCSF-Genentech and UCSF-Actelion for Jen C and Leslie F, making UCSF-Genentech live. Lunch at Beautifull!: smoked tea salmon bowl with brown rice, vegetables, and miso broth; cold green tea. Errand: Walgreens but they didn't have what I needed. Styling work: master fixes and microsites identity retheme. Rode UberX to SoMa. Met Patrick for couples counseling. Rode UberX with Patrick to Divisidero. Dinner with Patrick at 4505 Burgers and BBQ (705 Divisidero St): two of plate #1. One was brisket with cole slaw and potato salad, the other was pulled pork with fries and baked beans. Sweet iced tea for Patrick, pint of pale ale for me. $44.48 before a small counter order tip. Rode UberX home. Watched part of Neal Brennan's 3 Mics followed by half of James Acaster's Repertoire on Netflix instant watch. Recharge Medical work: editing. Asana stopped working for me and now I'm unable to log in. I tried clearing cookies like it said, but it still doesn't work. I suspect it's a problem on their end since I haven't been doing anything unusual.
Tue Oct 16, 2018
Breakfast at home with Patrick: small omelette, cornbread with butter, yogurt with diced fruit, 8 ounces of orange juice. Had a terrible time on Muni because busses didn't appear when expected according to Nextbus predictions, took me over an hour to get to work. 1:1 with Eric. Styling work: microsites identity retheme. Helped Levi do a red eye removal in Photoshop CC. It was harder than I had expected. UCSF shuttle from Laurel Heights to Mt. Zion. Walked to lunch at Tacobar: one chicken taco, one baja fish taco, watermelon agua fresca: about $14 before a $1 counter service tip. Errand: Spice Ace. UCSF shuttle from Mt. Zion to Laurel Heights. Helped Levi post a news story. Walked and rode Muni home. Good Eggs pasta salad with cherry tomatoes and fresh mozzarella, Hint.
Wed Oct 17, 2018
Breakfast at home with Patrick: two-egg omelette, hash brown, toast with butter. Walked and rode Muni to UCSF Laurel Heights. Sprint standup. Styling work: microsites identity retheme. Chatted with James about a task to resolve the inability to tab to search and menu objects at mobile widths. Lunch from The View Cafe: small fried rice with ha gow. Web-based training: Security Awareness for Privileged Users. The training failed with an error at screen 4. Web-based training: SANS Cyber Security Awareness refresher—completed. Left my bag and laptop at work. Rode UberX to the Castro. Met Patrick. We visited the GLBT History Museum which featured A Picture Is a Word: The Posters of Rex Ray and The Briggs Initiative: A Scary Proposition — both excellent. Dinner with Patrick at Poesia: San Pell and happy hour negroni sbagliato (campari, sweet vermouth carpano, prosecco) for Patrick, tap water and happy hour Diablo rum cocktail for me, warm ciabatta with dipping pesto. Two small plates from the happy hour menu: crostini di carciofi (toasted bread topped with marinated artichokes hearts, whipped lemon burrata, black olives, mint) and rustico (puff pastry with tomato sauce and cheese). For the remainder of the dinner we split a side of polenta e funghi and a daily special of broccolini ravioli in a cream sauce with diced filet mignon — heavenly. For dessert we shared a chocolate and pistachio cannolo, and Patrick had an espresso. All the food is always fantastic enough here to forgive the sometimes slow but very friendly service. $88.97 before an $18 tip. Afterwards we visited Papi Rico which had advertised that they would begin playing the film Sister Act at 7 PM, but we arrived shortly after 7 PM and there was no Sister Act playing nor any mention of the event. This was the third time we tried to visit Papi Rico with the intention of enjoying ourselves, and every time it just didn’t work out. I’m ready to give up on the place even though it seems like it has potential. We rode UberX home in a ride that was stocked with the most snacks I have ever seen in an Uber. We continued playing Samarost 3. The game is cute but we have a really hard time solving the puzzles.
Thu Oct 18, 2018
This morning I had an appointment at the DMV on Fell Street to obtain my Real ID — a new thing which is required if you want to travel domestically by plane without having to carry your passport. I prefer less bulk whenever possible and especially when traveling, so for me it’s a must to get this new kind of ID card. I prepared all my documents in advance. I rode UberX there. My appointment was for 9:20 am. I arrived 12 minutes early. There was a line of maybe 25 people from the outer door but I knew this was not my line since I had an appointment. Inside there was a shorter line which I quickly learned was the correct line for people with appointments. This is altogether not clear when one walks up. I waited in that line for perhaps 20 minutes. The despair is thick because everyone knows the DMV is a cruelly inefficient experience. The younger employees seemed to be making the best of it. The older ones seemed resigned to their fates and seemed lacking of joy in their lives. A woman examined my paperwork then a few minutes later handed me some of my paperwork stuffed into a red file folder and a sheet of paper with a code handwritten on it. I was instructed to go to the sign labelled F. At window F another woman took my red file folder and instructed me to sit and I would be called. After about 10 minutes I noticed my code appeared on a television display overhead seemingly instructing me to go to window 13. I went, but someone was already at window 13, so I waited behind that person. Ten or so minutes went by and the woman at window 14 asked me why I was standing there and I told her why. She then asked me to talk to the man at window 12. The man at window 12 was busy with someone else and I didn't feel I should interrupt so I continued waiting. The woman at window 14 continued talking to another customer. I waited another 10 minutes or so before the customer ahead of me at window 13 left. The man at window 13 then told me that the display is sometimes incorrect and that I should only approach the window when I hear the automated voice call my code. I sat and waited. Eventually my code was called to window 18. A woman processed my forms and returned all my paperwork. It took about 10 minutes. I was instructed to go to window B where my photo was taken. The man at window B then directed me to a line near the start where two people were ahead of me. The woman serving this line was also serving another line for the written exam area. She appeared to not realize for a few minutes that the man at window B was feeding her customers because someone else was on break, so there was some delay due to that. Finally she processed the papers for the woman ahead of me as well as me. I received a temporary ID, and my real Real ID is expected to arrive in the mail. I emerged from the DMV, thankfully surprised that I still had my sanity. Total time: about one hour. All while I waited I could tell how anxious all the customers were due to disorientation (where do I go now?) and unfairness. During my waiting I also overhead someone on his phone explaining how his appointment was canceled because he didn't have the right documents. I spent a few minutes outside the DMV recovering then decided that I needed a short break before going to work. I walked to Sightglass Coffee on Divisidero Street. I had never been there before. It's a beautiful space. I asked for a dirty chai but they didn't have chai so I ordered a latte instead. A small bite as well: a seasonal muffin which turned out to be blueberry. I'm not sure why they call it seasonal when blueberries are readily available in San Francisco year-round, but whatever. Price for these two items was $9.49—a bit pricey, I thought, but both items were indeed perfect. After using the restroom and finishing my refreshments I was physically and psychologically ready to be on my way. I rode Muni 24 and 1 to UCSF Laurel Heights. At work I washed my hands again—after visiting the DMV it seems like the prudent thing to do over and over again. Styling work: microsites identity retheme and resolving 'mobile primary nav menu and search menu not keyboard accessible at browser widths less than 800px'. Walked and rode Muni home. Dinner at home with Patrick: Good Eggs bockwurst with pretzel rolls and root veggie slaw, sparkling water for Patrick, Hint for me, Oktoberfest-Marzen lager for both. Watched Star Trek: Discovery Short Treks: Runaway on CBS All Access with Patrick followed by two season 2 trailers. Watched 22 minutes of Kathleen Madigan: Gone Madigan on Amazon Prime with Patrick. House chores. Installed fresh batteries in candles, finding that one battery had exploded inside one candle and that candle is now broken. I tried to fix it but failed. Organized mail and reconfigured mail filters. Caught up on journaling.
Fri Oct 19, 2018
Breakfast at home with Patrick: two eggs over easy, two sausage patties, toast with butter, hot tea. Walked and rode Muni to UCSF Laurel Heights. Sprint standup. Styling work: microsites identity retheme. Worked with James on resolving a few issues. Lunch: leftovers from home. Prepped some content for Leslie F for a new CPT microsite. Walked and rode Muni home. Posted an item for sale on Craigslist: a black nightstand. Dinner at home with Patrick: spaghetti bolognese with green salad, Hint, red wine. Watched Love, Simon on Netflix DVD with Patrick.
Sat Oct 20, 2018
Prepped for installation of speaker mounts for the living room. Breakfast at home with Patrick: breakfast hash, scrambled eggs, buttermilk drop biscuits, 8 ounces of orange juice. Lots of home improvement today. I waxed the kitchen table. Listed Patrick's Crate and Barrel Fulton Desk online for sale on Craigslist. Installed speaker mounts and a cord cover raceway in the living room; it turned out well. Vacuumed. Tightened the fitting of the bathroom sink faucet which had become loose over time. Patrick reheated for me a late lunch: leftover chicken with beans and broccolini and polenta. Covered some logos on various things with blank adhesive labels. Used Sugru to repair some iPhone Lightning to USB-A cables that had broken from normal use. Repaired the tape that blocked light indicators on my handwarmers that had fallen off due to normal use. Archived the majority of my dress shirt collection because I had stopped wearing dress shirts regularly for some time now. The archiving process is that I folded each shirt then put them into ziploc bags which have a coverable spout for a vacuum cleaner to suck all the air out then I stored them in the garage. Now if I need a dress shirt, I go to the garage, find the bundle that has the one I need, and remove it and replace the bundle. It doesn't happen very often now. This will free some space in the closet. Shower. Dinner at home with Patrick: steak and potatoes with sauteed spinach, red wine, Hint. Afterwards we watched the extras from the Love, Simon Netflix DVD.
Sun Oct 21, 2018
Breakfast at home: one sliced green apple, Siggi's pumpkin and spice icelandic-style skyr, pumpkin spice rooibos with ginger syrup, two small leftover buttermilk drop biscuits with butter. Removed stuffing from my adjustable-stuffing Nest Easy Breather side sleeper pillow in an attempt to see if it resolves issues with numbness in the fingertips. For part of breakfast I chatted with Tina via Facetime on my MacBook Pro and Patrick joined us after he got home from practice and grocery shopping with Sam. Removed and rinsed gardening supplies to give to Phil since we weren't using them. Patrick made cannoli and red beans and rice today. Recharge Medical work: two posters: gym flyer revision, refer a friend update. Began reviewing materials for the forthcoming midterm election. Snack: tortilla chips. Got tired, took a nap. Dinner at home with Patrick: red beans and rice with smoked sausage with olive bread, cherry lemonade, Hint pineapple. Washed dishes. Spent some time prepping home websites for an upgrade from PHP 5.6 to PHP 7.0—long overdue. Bluehost doesn't seem to support higher than 7.0. It took a fair amount of work. The simple function changes were easy. Harder was figuring out the MySQL function issues.
Mon Oct 22, 2018
Breakfast at home: leftovers. Walked and rode Muni to UCSF Laurel Heights. Eric shared news about a scary-looking auto collision that had occurred over the weekend. Orgchart work. Basic with people work. Various task followup. Lunch at desk: leftover spaghetti with meat sauce. Rode Uber Pool Express to SoMa. Met Patrick for couples counseling. Rode UberX with Patrick to the Castro. Dinner at Hi Tops: blackened ahi burger with fries for Patrick, corn on the cob and pork chop on a stick for me, beer for both. Rode UberX home.
Tue Oct 23, 2018
Breakfast at home with Patrick: scrambled eggs with cheddar; toast with butter; hash brown; fruit salad with ginger syrup, mint, and lime juice; green tea with lemongrass and spearmint. Walked and rode Muni to UCSF Laurel Heights. 1:1 with Eric. People with Basic conversions and other styling fixes. Lunch from The View Cafe: small fried rice plate, water. Email followup for disappearing contact info due to UCSF Only privacy setting. Microsites work: CPT followup. Walked and rode Muni home. Dinner at home with Patrick: shrimp tacos with avocado and refried beans, Hint.
Wed Oct 24, 2018
BADCamp 2018 day 1 of 4. Breakfast at home with Patrick: yogurt with nuts and fresh fruit, orange juice. Walked and rode Muni and BART to Berkeley. Encountered and chatted briefly with Larry H while on Muni. On BART nearly all of the displays in Civic Center Station were blank. Opening panel session. I enjoyed chatting with Melissa M. from Ohio State University about orgcharts and living in the Bay Area. Snack: conference coffee, a pretzel from 1951 Coffee. Anthony Ribieri of Y3ti aka Yeti demonstrated a decoupled version of a Drupal 8 project built for CSU Bakersfield that uses Vue.js. Lunch provided by Stanford University: pizza. Lightning talks: DIY a11y checklists, Google Data Studio (Andrew M), web governance (John K). Breakout sessions by topic I chose PatternLab and Design (Mark M). Breakout sessions by university system. Afterwards many of us got a drink courtesy of Acquia at the basement of Tap Haus. I enjoyed chatted with Rich L. from Duo Consulting, Inc. about faculty/lab websites, multilingual sites using Domain Access, Chicago, the fast-changing landscape of front-end development, and lots more. Met Patrick. We dined at Taste of the Himalayas (510-849-4983, 1700 Shattuck Ave) which was recommended by James H and which I thought was delicious and Patrick agreed except for some shrimp he thought was overcooked. Chicken tikka masala with onion naan, salmon and shrimp tandoor with rice, chai for me, sweet lassi for Patrick. $50.75 before an $11 tip. Long ride home on BART then Muni, back around 9 PM.
Thu Oct 25, 2018
Today was BADCamp 2018 day 2 of 4, but I did not attend on this day. Breakfast at home: leftover slice of apple, leftover half of a banana, leftover ravioli with steak, leftover filet mignon with spinach. Walked and rode Muni to UCSF Laurel Heights. Various Asana task followup. CPT work, including chatting with Sandra S. For lunch I decided to see if the JCC Cafe had changed. A while back it had stopped hot kitchen services so I stopped dining there. Indeed, they had switched providers and rebranded their cafe as Cup+Fork. I had a steak sandwich with fries with water. While I ordered and ate, a really terrific dance performance was in progress in the adjacent hall. I looked it up later: Garret + Moulton Productions presents FREE-FOR-ALL. Proofread a story for Grant and Levi. Styling work: responsive images related to microsites identity retheme. Walked and rode Muni home. Dinner at home with Patrick: beef burgers with french fries, Hint blackberry. Watched Superstore s4:e3 on Hulu Basic Plan with Patrick.
Fri Oct 26, 2018
BADCamp 2018 day 3 of 4. Breakfast at home with Patrick: oatmeal with fixins, 8 ounces of orange juice. Walked and rode Muni and BART to UC Berkeley. Sessions. During a break I waited in line for a free waffle and chatted briefly with some of the Kalamuna team including Rob L and Cris B and someone whose name I now can't recall. The waffle people had a problem with getting power to the waffle irons, so the wait ended up being longer than expected, and I bailed. Lunch at Sumo Roll: oki california burrito. Sessions, chatting with Eric G, Jayson J, and Austen briefly before and after one session. Rode BART then Muni home. It took 120 minutes for a trip that is normally about 80 to 90 minutes due to delays in the tunnel caused by a medical emergency at West Portal Station as well as a wheelchair rider needing to exit at 24th and Taraval. On Muni the train was pretty full, so many riders including me had to stand for the entire trip. Tired. Late dinner at home with Patrick: roasted chicken breast with persimmons and creamy polenta, red wine, Hint blackberry. Watched clips on YouTube.
Sat Oct 27, 2018
BADCamp 2018 day 4 of 4. Woke around 2 AM and couldn't sleep. Finished watching King Cobra on Netflix downloaded video on my iPhone X. It seemed well-intentioned, but it didn't have enough of the right elements to be a film I recommend. Meal: leftover spaghetti with meat sauce. Back to bed around 6 AM. Decided that because of yesterday's Muni fiasco I would not attend BADCamp today for only three sessions I had picked. Emerged from bed at 12:20 PM. Breakfast at home with Patrick: Patrick made an iced coconut cake and served it with french pressed Kona coffee with milk. House chores: rinsed trash bins, washed windows. Snack: tortilla chips. I made for Patrick and me margaritas with Trader Joe's inca sun salt. Pressed some fallen orchid blossoms in my flower press. Dinner at home with Patrick: leftovers. Afterwards we watched Superstore s4:e4 (Costume Competition) and a few clips on YouTube, including Nico's HRC visibility award acceptance speech, which was just terrific for combining eloquence with humor.
Sun Oct 28, 2018
Filed clothing and linens that Patrick had washed earlier. Dusted in the office. Breakfast at home: leftovers. Patched holes in the wall in the office then vacuumed. Created Golden Gate Bridge images for Drew and sent them to him for review and approval. Recharge Medical work: appts page live mockup. Attempted to remove some dirt from one living room wall with dish soap and water. It helped, but only a little. Dinner at home with Patrick: grilled yellowfin tuna with bacon shells and cheese. Watched Serial Mom (1994) on Netflix DVD with Patrick. Afterwards I watched some of the DVD extras by myself and found it interesting to see how John Waters' fascination with and observation of American media making celebrities out of accused murderers could have influenced—25 years later—the March For Our Lives request for media to stop using the names of accused murderers. Why did it take us so long? And how was John Waters so ahead of his time?
Mon Oct 29, 2018
Breakfast at home with Patrick: scrambled eggs, bacon, half english muffin with butter, 8 ounces of orange juice. Walked and rode Muni to UCSF Laurel Heights. Styling work: resolved some homepage problems, microsite identity retheme, briefly chatting with James H. Filed pcard paperwork. Lunch at the JCC: adult grilled cheese with tomato soup and fries. Afterwards I visited the Katz Snyder Gallery and viewed a great exhibit called Connecting Threads: Quilts from the Social Justice Sewing Academy. Also near the entrance I spent a few minutes to observe a bittersweet memorial for the victims of the Tree of Life Synagogue mass shooting which had occurred in Pittsburgh two days ago. Rode UberX to SoMa. Met Patrick for couples counseling. Rode UberX with Patrick to the Mission. Dinner at Hawker Fare: drinks: painkiller navy for me, son of feather serpent for Patrick. We encountered some difficulty when ordering because it was a bit hard to find items that weren't spicy. Eventually we decided and shared chicken and rice, satay beef short ribs, sticky rice. We had ordered the chicken and rice with crack but it did not arrive with the crack and we weren't charged for the crack. Service was very slow. The food was delicious. Some of it was indeed spicy even though we had ordered dishes that were supposed to be mild. If avoiding spicy food, it's a safe bet to avoid all the accompanying dipping sauces. $72.70. Rode UberX home. Watched Demetri Martin: The Overthinker (2018) on Netflix instant watch; recommended.
Tue Oct 30, 2018
Breakfast at home with Patrick: fresh fruit and dried fruit salad, half english muffin with butter, boiled egg with salt and pepper, 8 ounces of orange juice. Walked and rode Muni to UCSF Laurel Heights. 1:1 with Eric. Styling work: microsites identity retheme and image sizes, consulting briefly with James H. Lunch at Eliza's: egg drop soup, crispy noodles with vegetables, hot tea. $13.10 before a $2.50 tip. My fortune: Follow your heart for success in the coming week. Resolved content and other issues related to the Beyond the PharmD page and a CERSI fellowship page. Chatted briefly with Eric, Grant, and Levi. Levi told a story about how heating his iPhone on his Mac Mini strangely enabled it to recover from battery charging failure. UCSF shuttle from Laurel Heights to Parnassus. Stopped by the Dean's Office Administration office to say hello to Liana and Karen and to pick up a bottle of wine as a gift for helping at the recent Gibson memorial. Rode Uber Pool home since the Nextbus indicated that one bus on Muni route 66 was unavailable. Dinner at home with Patrick: chicken enchiladas with black beans, red wine.
Wed Oct 31, 2018
Breakfast at home with Patrick: scrambled eggs, hash browns with vegetables, half english muffin with butter, 8 ounces of orange juice. Walked and rode Muni to UCSF Laurel Heights. Styling work: microsites identity retheme and image sizes, consulting briefly with James H. CPT followup. Lunch from The View Cafe: steamed white rice with tofu and vegetables. Calpoison meeting with Eric, Judy, and Dana. Styling work: microsites identity retheme and image sizes. Chatted with Eric and Levi about wildlife, Yosemite, San Diego Zoo, rock climbing, Meru, and Free Solo. Rode Uber Pool to the Castro. Met Patrick for dinner at Finn Town. Drinks: caged bird for Patrick, contradiction for me. My drink was described as an alcoholic agua fresca, and it was, but it had way too much ice and was weak. After only a few sips I ordered a caged bird for myself as well. We shared a fried chicken sandwich with fries and a short rib platter with mashed potatoes and broccolini. Dessert: we shared a butterscotch parfait. Service by Evelyn was very good. Aside from the one disappointing weak drink, the meal was a delight. Evelyn offered to remove the drink from the bill, but I declined her offer since the drink was indeed what they described but it just wasn't what I had hoped. On their televisions Finn Town played the 1993 film called Hocus Pocus, which was fun to see. Bette Midler seemed to have had so much fun playing her role. Afterwards we walked in the Castro observing Halloween revelers displaying their costumes. Rode UberX home. Played more of Shadowmatic on my iPad Pro after not having played it for a long time.