Saturday, September 24, 2005
From a news story titled "Astronomers discover most Earthlike planet yet" in the UC Santa Cruz Review, Fall 2005 (best read aloud): "All of the nearly 150 other extrasolar planets discovered to date around normal stars have been larger than Uranus, an ice giant 15 times the mass of Earth." I applied caulk today to a squeegee I had bought recently from Cole Hardware. The squeegee is made by Diversified Designs Inc. in Cleveland, Ohio. We like this squeegee because it's 12 inches long so it saves us time over shorter squeegees. However, it is problematic because over time water seeps in to the transparent plastic housing the white rubber blade and it becomes moldy. You can't clean the mold out because the blade is sealed in too tightly. Fortunately, the squeegee is inexpensive—only $5. So to make it last longer, I bought a new one and am caulking it to prevent the mold from affecting the new squeegee. I finally advertised my bike on the free stuff section of craigslist.org. Today Mom Ryan and Patrick and I got brunch at Rain Tree Cafe in West Portal. After that Patrick dropped off some clothes at the dry cleaners. Mom Ryan opened a bank account. I got free advice from a financial consultant (very friendly and helpful) regarding a savings bond. (He suggested I take it to Charles Schwab, but Schwab was closed today.) We all went to Bed Bath and Beyond in Colma where Mom Ryan bought some things needed for her new studio apartment. I was so tired I took a nap in the car while they shopped. We browsed for telephones and TVs for her at Best Buy and I found out how much was on the gift card I received from a student—$20. Couldn't think of anything I wanted, though, except they had something I'd never seen before: The Simpsons on DVD, Season 6, for $42. Didn't get it, though. I had intended to meet up with Galen to go to the Loveparade, but I didn't realize how long our shopping activities would take. We got frappuccinos at Barnes and Noble—$10. I bought Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Book 6, 30% off) to read while I'm in Hawaii. Mom Ryan bought a carful of goods at BBB, so afterwards we took everything to her new place. She had gotten the key to her new place on Friday (I think). Today was the first time I'd seen her new home. It's in a former Catholic girls' high school. A grand staircase leads up to a long building 2 or 3 stories tall. Inside, the clean hallways have benches and small tables, high ceilings, and—my only objection—fluorescent lighting. The doors to each apartment include a mysterious door hanger that says "I'm OK" with a thumbs up symbol. (I was afraid to see what the reverse side of the door hanger said, but I flipped one over and it was blank!) Her apartment is a little under 400 square feet, has a small kitchen, and a large bathroom with lots of handrails in the tub and toilet areas. Emergency pull cords to summon help exist in the bathroom and in one corner of the apartment where presumably the bed might go. Her windows look out onto a neighboring schoolyard. We moved things in—it took 2 trips. Patrick unpacked the bathroom cabinet we bought and started figuring out what was needed to put it together. We visited the home's aviary—charming and relaxing. We said hello to her neighbor Gene and to another neighbor in her wing. Around the time we were leaving, Galen had called to say he was done with Loveparade and that he and Peter were headed to the Castro to hang out. We ended up going to the Castro too so that Mom Ryan could get her hair done—something she had been wanting to do for weeks. We took her to It's All About You (415-621-2965, 4051 18th Street). While she got her hair done, I got some toiletries from Walgreens. Dinner at House of Chen (415-861-6868, 335 Noe St): wor won ton soup, ginger fish, mu shu pork, governor's chicken, gai lan with garlic, steamed rice. Galen's fortune: Your future is as boundless as the lofty heaven. Patrick's fortune: Working hard will make you live a happy life. Peter's fortune: You are kind and friendly. My fortune: Every friend joys in your success.