Thursday, December 2, 2004
Helped Joel reinstall his audio drivers and update iTunes. Helped Melissa and James retrieve a file from his computer remotely. Met with Cindy—a short meeting. CAPSLEAD poster project for Chris. Helped Melissa with a question about Yahoo! e-mail attachments. Lunch: cheddar cheeseburger, fries from the cafeteria: $4.19. Installed SpyBot S&D 1.3 on all computers. Updated SpywareBlaster on all computers. Ensured that Retrospect warnings are disabled on all computers. After work I hopped an outbound N-Judah train to meet Patrick for dinner. I boarded in the middle of the first car because it seemed the least crowded, and when I stepped up I instantly knew why. It reeked of something awful—urine or perhaps worse. Doing my nonchalant streetwise looking around the car while walking through it, I was scared to find that there no less than 3 people who dressed like homeless people. The bad smell was so strong that it was best to simply leave the car entirely. Fortunately there was some delay and I was able to exit the rear doors without stopping. I hopped on the second car before the doors closed, and all smelled well here. Wait. No, it smells like... marijuana! It's not my favorite smell, but I'll take it over fecal matter anytime. People in the second car were rubbernecking the first car, and we all laughed when we saw a woman in the first car with her back to us clearly waving her hand across her face to indicate unpleasant odors. Dinner out on a whim at So (415-731- 3143, 2240 Irving Street between 23th and 24th Avenues) with Patrick. We had decided on this restaurant over instant messaging and the bad puns flew. After all, who names a restaurant after two-letter adverbs? So be it. Make it So. OK, we go to So, no? I hope So is not so-so. Deep-fried shrimp dumplings with spicy garlic soy sauce, deep-fried mushrooms, noodles with shredded chicken and garlic, hot tea, edamame. The prices are pretty reasonable here—$6 for each of the dishes, and with larger than expected portions. The dumplings and mushrooms dishes came with about 9 of them each. The noodles dish came in a pile on a plate about 8 inches square. The edamame and tea were included at no charge. Our waiter was repeatedly slow to refill our tea cups, but he was friendly and helpful when we got him. The mushrooms normally come spicy but the menu doesn't indicate that—just like our last San Tung. But unlike San Tung, our waiter exchanged it for a non-spicy version with no fuss and at no charge. They don't take Amex here. Patrick had a glass of sake. $29.95 after a $5.00 tip. We'll be coming back here even though the tea was slow because I prefer to reward restaurants which treat customers fairly. It wasn't until I got home that I found on the web that So is run by the son of the woman who runs San Tung. Dessert at home: fresh blackberries, dried apricots, topped with whipped cream and cinnamon. Checked on my eBay auction—someone bought the rackmount case I was selling! I didn't make a profit (wasn't expecting to) but at least I lost less money than if I took it back to the store. (They had a 15% restocking fee.)