June 2013
Summary: Rob's birthday, barhopping with Tony Z, Tina visits, Vancouver vacation with Tina and Patrick, Blush Party.
Dates on this page
Sat Jun 1, 2013
Slept in. Started laundry. Breakfast at home: 2 pieces of leftover korean seafood pancake, 2 hash browns, 3 biscuits from a tube, 12 ounces of orange juice. Vacuumed. Put away bedding from Neil and Neesha's visit. Folded laundry. Drove to Rob and Lani's to celebrate Rob's birthday a little early. I had wanted to get a quick bite to eat on the way and thought about In N Out but instead I chose Banana Island at Westlake Shopping Center where I had papaya salad, iced coffee, tea, and water for $10.55 after tip. It was perfect. Matthew gave me a thank you card for his recent gift: Thermos Crush Proof Lunch Kit - Darth Vader. I swam in the pool with the kids. Max was over for the day. Later we dropped Max off at home then went to dinner at Marie Callendar's because kids eat free per paying adult on Saturdays. Rob had wild mushroom ravioli, Lani had chicken pot pie, Akemi had grilled cheese with fries, Kiana had grilled ham and cheese with fries, Matthew and Jeremy each had turkey dinner, I had mahi mahi cabo tacos with tortilla chips and rice pilaf. Water all around. For dessert we each had a slice of pie, choices were mostly some kind of chocolate with meringue or whipped cream. I had cherry with no topping. My gift to Rob: two Jeffrey Brown books: Darth Vader and Son, Vader's Little Princess. Drove back to their place. Drove home.
Sun Jun 2, 2013
Breakfast at home: 2 hash browns, 2 biscuits from a tube, hot water. Physical banner mockup work for Recharge Spa for Drew. Weight training: front raise. Labeled my bicycle water bottle, cash clip, and Clipper card with my phone number. Cut my hair, showered. Lunch at home: precooked deli pack mac and cheese with solid albacore tuna from a can and white corn off the cob from frozen, hot water. Visited Aggie to help her with some computer issues. Home. Computed. Dinner at Pacific Catch with Patrick: baja ceviche with tortilla chips, cocktails: dark n stormy and lemongrass mojito, wasabi ahi bowl for Patrick, california roll salad (featuring real crab) for me: $63 before tip. Our server was Erica. Service and food were very good. To bed earlyish.
Mon Jun 3, 2013
Had trouble sleeping last night; woke around 2 and couldn't return to sleep for about 90 minutes. Woke. Breakfast: leftover california roll salad from last night. Rode my bike to UCSF Parnassus. Checked in on the IRC, found two unattended USB drives, gave them to Lisa S. Technology training with OSACA and OEIS: Box, VPN. OEIS request followup: VPN access to network folders, Office install for their laptop. Followup with Comm team about the proposed UC policy on web accessibility. Linkchecking, kiosk work. Helped Kim with a Scopia setup. Began supp app building in Jazzee. Lunch to go from Cafe Bellini: veggie pizza slice. Encountered Michael C who shared some $2.50-per-pound Rainier cherries with me. More Jazzee work. Desai Lab website work: lots of changes from Kevin, some styling fixes. Rode my bike home. Dinner at home with Patrick: grilled salmon and mycopia mushrooms and mashed potatoes for me, grilled salmon and leftover rice for Patrick, glass of red wine. Watched the first 61 minutes of Cruising (1980). Began catching up on writing journal entries since May 17. Edited and privately uploaded Drupalcon photos to Flickr. Late snack: blue corn tortilla chips with Sabra spinach and artichoke hummus.
Tue Jun 4, 2013
Breakfast at home: oatmeal with fresh, diced pink lady apple; cinnamon; unsweetened soy milk. Rode my bike to UCSF Laurel Heights. Linkchecking, kiosk work. Management activities. Org chart and /about/admin work: Lisa K, chair. Sent Denetra recent packing slips. Jazzee followup. Lunched during the comm team meeting: veggie sandwich with slice of pickle. Followup with Kevin L about Desai Lab content. Answered a question about how to create video for Cindy. Followup with Alex Y about our laptop repartitioning. Followup with Frances about an Office installation on a laptop. Incapsula work: no way to add a new site, sent a request to support. Followup with Cindy about a student progression database project. Calendar management. Followup with Gallup about an access issue. Followup with Rodney about TreeAge issues. Rode my bike home. Rested. Dinner at home by myself: seaweed crackers, grapes, mixed greens and grated carrot salad with leftover raita as dressing, one dinner roll with butter and salt and pepper, blue corn tortilla chips with Sabra spinach and artichoke hummus, glass of red wine. Weight training: standing dumbbell curl. Sent review requests for Drupalcon photos to John K, Sierra A, Courtney A, and Carl U. Answered a tech reqs question from entering student LS. Updated Silverlight.
Wed Jun 5, 2013
Breakfast at home: granola with fresh, diced pink lady apple and unsweetened soy milk, 8 ounces of orange juice. Rode my bike to UCSF Laurel Heights. Created a purchase plan for new computers for the OSACA that gradually spaces the purchases evenly apart instead of buying them in two chunks in June and July so that the large cost is spread across two fiscal years. Linkchecking, kiosk work. Registered for three-hour Gallup training that I am not certain in which I need to participate. Set up my new Microsoft Lync voicemail account. Linkchecking, kiosk work. Continued Jazzee work: initial build of PharmD. Lab websites work: Desai Lab research section and various styling fixes. Calendar management. Late lunch at Beautifull: golden quinoa salad, mac and cheese, seasonal vegetable medley, water. Got $10 for free via Spendgo. The mac and cheese wasn't hot enough. Errands: bought coarse sea salt from Bryan's (about $6), bought a chewy salted brown sugar cookie from Cal-Mart ($2). Followup with Cindy about where to upload and share video. More Jazzee followup. Calendar management. Incapsula followup with Eric. Followup with SD about content migration feedback. Rode my bike home. Dinner at home with Patrick: veggie burgers, mixed greens salad. Finished watching Cruising (1980) on Netflix DVD with Patrick. Did more catching up on journaling. Nine days still not fully accounted for.
Thu Jun 6, 2013
Breakfast at home: oatmeal with fresh, diced pink lady apple and cinnamon and almond milk. Began making some Drupalcon photos public after receiving a few permissions reviews. Recharge Spa work for Drew: jobs edits. Rode my bike to UCSF Laurel Heights. Linkchecking, kiosk work. Began Drupal work on search styles and print stylesheets for lab sites. Walked along Sacramento Street. Lunch at Dolce and Salato: turkey and cranberry sandwich on marbled rye, side caesar salad, 16-ounce chai tea latte: about $14. David gave Eric, Greg, and me a ride in his car from Laurel Heights to Parnassus. School of Pharmacy Town Hall meeting. Drupal Users Group meeting. Dinner at home with Patrick: grilled vegetables in marinara sauce over quinoa spaghetti, hot water. Remended my beige courduroy jeans because the mending I did earlier was coming loose. Did more trip planning, considered a Fire Island side trip but then decided against it due to the high cost, purchased my flight from Chicago to New York City, chatted on Facebook with BK about my forthcoming visit. Did some more journaling. Late meal: star-shaped pasta in tomato and cheese sauce from a can.
Fri Jun 7, 2013
Rode Muni to UCSF Parnassus. UCSF shuttle from Parnassus to Laurel Heights. Accidentally skipped breakfast today. Linkchecking, kiosk work. Calendar management. Lab websites work. Michelle K bought donuts for the office, and I ate one: chocolate cake donut with chocolate frosting and chopped peanuts. (This happens to be Patrick's favorite donut.) Jazzee followup. Small web edit for Joel: students with disabilities text. UCSF shuttle from Laurel Heights to Parnassus, chatted with Michael N along the way. Graduation volunteer lunch in the OSACA with food from Pasta Pomodoro: foccacia; roasted butternut squash ravioli with parmesan, brown butter, crispy sage and crumbled amaretti; gemelli pasta with grilled and smoked chicken, sun-dried tomatoes, mushrooms and cream; organic baby lettuces, tomatoes, shaved carrots and premium blue cheese, with balsamic vinaigrette; organic romaine hearts with shaved pecorino and crunchy garlic croutons; and more that I can't remember now. Helped Cindy with testing a public upload folder for Box. Small web update for Shirin: white coat ceremony. Chatted with Susie about hero images and comps. Followup with Lifesize issues. Answered a question about VPN for Kylie L. Lots of OSACA shared office laptop setup and updates. Management activities. Hardware purchasing. Jazzee work: AP test scores and more. Rode Muni home. Dinner: delivery from Taipei Restaurant: hot and sour soup, veggie fried rice, mee fun, potstickers, lemon chicken. Patrick's fortune: Investigate the new opportunity that will soon become an option. My fortune: Eat your fruits and vegetables to strengthen your health. Watched movie trailers on iPad then on iMac.
Sat Jun 8, 2013
Missed having Apple Front Row, so I installed XBMC and Plex. Tried to install the Rapier theme for XBMC and failed—the instructions were not very clear and I gave up on the manual install when it mentioned dependencies but didn't say how to install them. Stopped at Rex Garage to get some issues resolved, talked with Jackie. The engine check light on was due to repeated problems from before with the catalytic converter. He adjusted clips on the right door guard—they had been coming loose. He recommends 4 new clips. He suggested I order some other parts I needed: a BMW emblem for the back (which was flaking) and a new clock (whose display was not displaying correctly). Drove to Bevmo Colma, bought a lot of items, particularly those part of their 5-cent sale—buy one bottle at regular price and get the second for 5 cents. In the store they had a wine tasting in which I chose to participate for $2. While talking about New York City, one of the other participants suggested that I check out Woodberry Common Premium Outlets—great for shopping, a unique selection of stores, some of which do not typically have outlets. Stopped at Chipotle for a late afternoon meal: sofritas salad, pom-cherry Nantucket Nectars, chips: $10.90. Sara took my order. The outdoor seating at Chipotle is poorly situated adjacent to the cars waiting in line for the drive-thru. I realized later I should have taken my food to the unused, sunny Starbucks tables on the other side of the building. Home. 45-minute nap. Dressed. Checked NextBus: I just missed an L train and the next one was in 18 minutes. Drove to the Castro, got there in 10 minutes, found a parking space on Eureka easily. Met a Tony new to me for drinks and a night out: Toad Hall, The Mix, OMG, QBAR. Encountered Jeff N, Rob C, Josh A, and Chris N in the Castro on the sidewalk on our way to OMG, chatted briefly. The OMG event was the inaugural night of Folsom Invades OMG by Folsom Street Events. We drove there in Tony's car and got pizza slices at Pranzo Pizza after trying to eat at Miss Saigon, which had closed at 10 PM. We chatted briefly with Coung at Miss Saigon. The OMG event ad boasted a "spectacular audio-visual dome ceiling" and "like nothing you've experienced" and it was correct. The dome is formed perfectly of white mesh and five projectors display various images on it which makes for an interesting and unusual dance floor. The crowd was friendly, reaching about 40 people at its largest. We drank a saffron martini and an unusual cocktail that included chai spices called a Hi Chai and met and chatted briefly with michael, jesse, and alton. Many men were dressed in leather or other Folsom Street Fair outfits. Drinks were about $8 each, coat check was $1, cover was $5. The DJ's name was not advertised, and whoever they used did an excellent job. I liked the music a lot. The only two issues: (a) there weren't enough guys, probably due to (b) the location, adjacent to one of the seediest intersections in San Francisco at 6th and Mission. We left and returned to the Castro. The lines for Badlands and Toad Hall were longer than we wanted to wait, so we ended up at QBAR where they were having an underwear dance party with DJ Brian Maier. Encountered David N and Leo. Music was excellent, and the crowd was mixed. I met blake, sebastian, robert f, paul, will. At closing, I chatted for a bit with Robert F in the clothes check. Tony had left around 2. While walking back to my car I encountered a stranger Timothy who needed directions to the Haight. I helped him but in doing so realized that he wouldn't be able to get there easily since he could not afford a cab, so I gave him a ride in my car. He was very polite and appreciative. To bed very late.
Sun Jun 9, 2013
Removed burnt fabric from the iron using a solution provided on Amazon Askville. (The instructions provided with the iron were pictures only and not helpful at all.) Drove to the Mission. Breakfast at PDDR's with Danny, Drew, Romy, Phil, Paul M. We drove in the Infiniti to Filoli and visited the gardens and mansion. It took about 4 hours. The weather was perfect: warm and sunny with occasional cool, gentle breezes. Roses were starting to bloom. Afterwards we ate a late lunch at Five Guys Belmont. It was the first time visiting Five Guys for each of us. Drew and I thought that it was just a burger, nothing special. Phil thought In N Out was more flavorful than Five Guys. Paul thought Five Guys was more flavorful than In N Out. Drove back to PDDR's. Paul walked home. I drove home. Unloaded photos from the camera and charged the battery. Reviewed photos. Dinner: grubhub delivery from Layaly Mediterranean Grill: dolma, cup of lentil soup, falafel, pomegranate chicken, rice. $31.70 including tip. Delivery took a very long time: 1 hour and 40 minutes. Dessert: one warm chocolate cookie each. More catching up with journaling. All caught up except for 6 days around Drupalcon. Weight training: various advanced push-ups: one-legged, staggered hands, wide.
Mon Jun 10, 2013
Breakfast at home: granola with fresh, diced nectarine and soy milk. Rode Muni to UCSF Parnassus. UCSF shuttle from Parnassus to Laurel Heights. Chatted briefly with Sierra in front of the building entrance. Linkchecking, kiosk work. Lots of Drupal work: styling, multiple browsers and platforms testing. Web edits and a new page for Joel: admissions interviews, fall 2014 admissions calendar. Susie drove Paula, Eric, and me to UCSF Parnassus. WCWG meeting. Susie drove Paula and me back. We talked about The Grand on Netflix; Susie recommended watching at least the first four episodes to get into it. Eric got lunch at Parnassus. More styling. Management activities. UCSF shuttle from Laurel Heights to Parnassus. Rode Muni home. Dinner at home with Patrick: leftovers and blue tortilla chips and hummus for me, a large salad with parboiled asparagus for Patrick. Dessert: one warm chocolate chip cookie, hot chocolate with a shot of frangelico for me, hot soy milk with a shot of frangelico for Patrick. Watched 29 minutes of Cirque du Soleil: Worlds Away on Netflix DVD with Patrick. Edited and uploaded photos from when Neil and Neesha's visit. Weight training: advanced side plank.
Tue Jun 11, 2013
Today I stopped using my left orthotic on a doctor's recommendation because I complained via the health care's messaging system of on and off stiffness in my left foot. Still using the orthotic in my right shoe. Started reading Huck Magazine issue 38 on issuu.com on my iMac, had a great experience. Pre-breakfast at home: a nectarine. Rode Muni to UCSF Parnassus. Tried to continue reading Huck Magazine issue 38 on issuu.com on my iPhone 3GS but it failed to load quickly and failed to display text clearly. For some reason the text stayed blurry even after the page seemed to have finished loading; an awful experience. Bought a plain bagel with cream cheese at Cafe Bellini. UCSF shuttle from Parnassus to Laurel Heights. Said hello to Sierra again waiting for the shuttle. Ate my bagel. Linkchecking, kiosk work. Removed /mph after notifying Cindy of a broken link. Followup with ITS about ICRD setup. Lots of Drupal work: print stylesheets for lab sites. Micromeeting with Susie and Eric. 1-on-1 with Susie. 1-on-1 with Eric. Quick lunch from The View Cafe: vegetable stir-fry with brown rice, ate it in Eric's office while he brought me up to date on people content type work. UCSF shuttle from Laurel Heights to Parnassus. Jazzee update meeting: Lisa and Jon demoed our build thus far, and we made some decisions about how to proceed. Retried a failed Dell purchase in BearBuy. I don't recall being aware that we stopped using the equote method. Success. Jazzee followup. Dialed in to the full faculty meeting at Mission Bay. I listened to it for a while but I wasn't certain if the meeting I was hearing was the right meeting. It seemed to end an hour early, which was weird. Did some Jazzee work but then later realized that my changes were lost because Lisa was also in the system at the same time working on our setup. UCSF shuttle from Laurel Heights to Parnassus. Went home early due to a power outage on campus and no network. Rode Muni home, buying two apple turnovers and two cream sodas on the way. Nap. Dinner at home with Patrick: grilled salmon, microwaved Japanese sweet potato with non-dairy butter. On my plate I added a package of 90-second rice from a pouch. We shared an orange cream soda and a black cherry cream soda, both by Virgil's. Very tasty and creamy. Watched 80 more minutes of Cirque du Soleil: Worlds Away on Netflix DVD with Patrick. Travel planning. Booked a room for Fire Island Pines.
Wed Jun 12, 2013
Weight training: seated dumbbell curl, wrist curl. Breakfast: apple turnover. Missed the bus because it was 3 minutes early. Rode Muni to UCSF Parnassus. Linkchecking, kiosk work. Followup with Al B about printer installs. Followup with Cindy about computer purchases. Jazzee followup: Cashnet accounts. Sent Michelle A a reminder about the content draft she has for review/approval. Minor edit for pcweb: Danica's email address. OSACA staff meeting. Encountered and met Debbie A in the elevator, chatted briefly. Lunch from Carmelina's: two salmon tacos, yellow Vitamin water. Reported to UCSF Police a presumably homeless man asking people for leftovers and digging in trash and recycling cans for food. Introduction to OrgSync with Jennifer R. UCSF shuttle from Parnassus to Laurel Heights. Finalized and sent Shirin the orientation handout for computing services. Reset my Radian6 password. Reset my drupal.org password. Calendar management. Asked Cindy if we could discuss faxing at our next staff meeting. I'm wanting to see if we can stop sending and receiving fax completely or switch to software fax instead of dedicated machines. Some Drupal styling adjustments. Jazzee work, encountered some problems, recorded a QuickTime screen recording. UCSF shuttle from Laurel Heights to Parnassus. Rode Muni home. Dinner at home with Patrick: appetizer: banana split martinis, blue corn tortilla chips and saltine crackers with Sabra spinach and artichoke hummus; corn-quinoa penne with leftover marinara. Finished watching Cirque du Soleil: Worlds Away on Netflix DVD with Patrick, loved it. Finished browsing Huck 38.
Thu Jun 13, 2013
Made public some photos on Flickr, uploaded some photos to Facebook. Pre-breakfast: one nectarine, one orange. Drove to the auto body shop, dropped off the car with Robert. Breakfast at Palio: egg and cheese on plain bagel, water: about $4. UCSF shuttle from Parnassus to Laurel Heights. Calendar management. Orientation handout followup with Shirin. Jazzee followup. Desai lab site followup with Kevin L. Editorial review meeting with Eric, David, and Susie: pharm chem research: chembio and medchem. Lunch at the JCC: sandwich special: cheese on foccacia, vegetable soup, water. Linkchecking, kiosk work. Listened in on the IT Forum meeting. Jazzee work: built out the prereqs section, removed the test sections (e.g., OLD), and moved all text that was in Leading Text into Form Instructions. UCSF shuttle from Laurel Heights to Parnassus. Picked up the car from the auto body shop. Dinner at home with Patrick: homemade vegetable soup, bread with soy spread and parmesan cheese, red wine. Recharge Spa work for Drew and Phil: make/change an appointment split, lytebox upgrade, removed two images dealing with the gifts collection.
Fri Jun 14, 2013
Pre-breakfast: one pear. Rode Muni to UCSF Parnassus. Muni fails me again tonight. I decided today that the Asana iPhone app is worthless because it is so slow. Breakfast at Palio: egg and cheese on plain bagel. UCSF shuttle from Parnassus to Laurel Heights. Facilities guys removed my old, oak furniture today. I'm getting new furniture on Monday. Linkchecking, kiosk work. Orientation handout followup with Shirin. Jazzee followup. Tried to connect today with ITS for OLPPS install, but it did not work out. Desai lab edits for Susie. Jazzee work. Pointed Joel and Rick to our draft Jazzee build for initial review. Room scheduling and calendar management for student progression database kickoff meeting for Cindy. Lots of Jazzee work. Lunch in the building courtyard: leftover penne, water. Jazzee work. Org chart meeting with Susie and Eric. Jazzee work. Orientation handout edits for Shirin. Chatted with Eric. Org chart work. Helped Joel with PharmAdMIT issues via WebEx. Calendar management. Followup about images for chem bio and med chem page for David. Rode my bike home. Dinner at home with Patrick: leftover vegetable soup, toast with soy spread, red wine. Recharge Spa work for Drew and Phil: make/change an appointment split adjustments.
Sat Jun 15, 2013
Laundry. Breakfast at home: 2 hash browns, 2 eggs scrambled with sliced green onions, 1 toast with soy spread, hot water. Shopped online. Patrick made vanilla rice pudding topped with sliced bananas. Spent some time with Dan's Olympus OM-D EM-5 shooting some photos (lens = Panasonic H-H020 - Lumix G 20mm / F1.7 ASPH). Lunch at home with Patrick: two veggie burgers on hamburger buns and cream soda for me, one veggie burger on ancient grain bread slices and ginger ale for Patrick. Patrick napped. Cut my hair, showered. Napped for about 3 hours. Weight training: door pullups. Vacuumed. Patrick made us evening cocktails: martian martinis but on the rocks (instead of strained) and in DOFs instead of martini glasses (which we do not have) and with lime (for which the recipe does not call). I didn't like it that much, but it was okay. Patrick liked it. Second cocktail: junior mint: rumple minze and creme de cacao in equal portions on the rocks in DOFs. Dinner at home with Patrick: I made mac and cheese from a box and added white sweet corn from frozen, tofu crumble, and fresh, sliced green onions.
Sun Jun 16, 2013
Breakfast at home: leftovers from dinner last night, water. More EM-5 setup and user manual and taking photos. Drove to the Castro in the mid-afternoon, parked at a meter. I met Patrick and Aaron at Moby Dick, then got a pizza slice at Escape From New York: tomato balsamic, water. Moved the car to a non-metered space. Encountered Remy A in a crosswalk, said hello. Dinner at Samovar in the Castro: Japanese tea service. For dessert we shared an order of pot de creme with gingerbread cookie. Drove home. Edited Filoli images, starting to see the power of shooting raw, particularly in controlling overexposure. Posted updated journal entries even tho the Drupalcon days are still unfinished. Late meal: veggie burger with leftover sauce from indian food delivery.
Mon Jun 17, 2013
Weight training: advanced side plank. Breakfast at home: granola with soy milk. Rode Muni to UCSF Parnassus, chatted with Bill S along the way, mostly about the new Superman film called Man of Steel. Forgot my phone today. UCSF shuttle from Parnassus to Laurel Heights. Management activities. Calendar management. Linkchecking, kiosk work. Jazzee work, reported some character translation issues. Calendar management. Followup with Charles K about my static IP address request. Flickr account management. Set up my Redmine account for Jazzee issue tracking. Furniture installers arrived. Lunch at Pasta Pomodoro: verdure (grilled mixed seasonal vegetables) with farro, hot water, used a $5 off coupon because I joined their club, lunch today was about $10 after a $3 tip. My server was Tanya. Took a few photos with Dan's camera. Set up my computer and put away my belongings. Incapsula work related to supp app. Continued building Michelle A's lab website. Chatted briefly with Eric. Announced a reminder of the forthcoming listserv rotation. UCSF shuttle from Laurel Heights to Parnassus. Rode Muni home. Dinner at home with Patrick: thai food delivery from Sri: tofu mussaman curry, fresh rolls, steamed rice, grilled chicken. Patrick made cocktails: ginger juice with coconut rum on the rocks in DOFs. Watched part of Pineapple Express (2008) on Netflix DVD with Patrick. Recharge Spa work for Drew: grocery bag.
Tue Jun 18, 2013
Purchased my return flight from New York. Breakfast at home: two hash browns, two slices of spelt toast, two eggs scrambled with green onions and smoked tofu, 8 ounces of orange juice, hot water. Uploaded photos to Facebook. Work calendar management. Retirement planning webinar by Jon H of Fidelity Investments, did weight training while listening: seated dumbbell curl, wrist curl, reverse wrist curl. Recharge Spa work for Drew: grocery bag attempt #2, lightbox research. Took the car to Rex Garage - ongoing problems with the catalytic converter. Lunch at a Vietnamese noodle house on Noriega: pho ga. Planned for various car repairs. Recharge Spa work for Drew: grocery bag. Changed my Yahoo! account password to one that is 32 characters long and set up the login seal. Dinner at home with Patrick: leftovers with steamed white rice, hot water. Finished watching Pineapple Express (2008) on Netflix DVD with Patrick. I thought the second half was much funnier than the first half. Tina is expected to arrive early tomorrow morning. Recharge Spa work for Drew: new outdoor sign.
Wed Jun 19, 2013
Tina arrives. A small bite: nectarine, queen anne cherries, marble bread, coffee for Tina, earl grey tea for me. Dropped my car off at the auto body shop. Parked near Robyn's place. I met Robyn, Caitlin, and Scout. Robyn, Tina, and I walked to Zazie for brunch then back to Robyn's to pick up Scout then to Corona Heights Park. We walked around the park and then visited the Randall Museum. Walked back to Robyn's. Picked up my car. I accidentally gave Tina slightly incorrect directions to return home and she got lost but eventually she found us. Home. Grocery shopping at Safeway with Tina and Patrick. Tina, Patrick, and I prepared dinner. Dinner at home with Tina, Robyn, Danny, Drew, Phil, and Patrick. Robyn brought and prepared brie baked in phyllo, DDP brought a bottle of Viansa cab. Patrick prepared linguine with pig sausage sauce. Tina prepared garlic bread, a mixed greens salad and dessert: gourmet cakes that Robyn brought arranged with macerated stone fruit assortment nectarine, white donut peach, and rainier cherries marinated in honey and vanilla bean. I helped with everything.
Thu Jun 20, 2013
Coffee. Snack: sliced pink lady apple. Tina baked turnovers with brie and macerated stone fruits from yesterday. Recharge Spa work for Drew: new outdoor sign. Took the car to the repair shop. Scott looked at it for about 15 minutes and the car needs new spark plugs and a new catalytic converter. Bought a blue raspberry rush slurpee at 7-Eleven. Recharge Spa work for Drew: new outdoor sign. Late afternoon meal: leftover salad, bread. Went to Hi Tops with Tina to watch the NBA finals game 7, San Antonio Spurs versus Miami Heat. We drank beer and ate pretzel, grilled cheese with fries and ranch, and spicy chicken wings. Watched until halftime before we had to leave. Stopped at Peet's before I gave her a lift to Amtrak Embarcadero. Home. Packed.
Fri Jun 21, 2013
Resolved a problem with Straight Talk wireless settings. Fyi, to reset the settings, connect to wifi or insert a different sim then visit http://iapnupdateatt.straighttalk.com . Air Canada flight to Vancouver (YVR) with Patrick. We checked in to Sheraton Wall Centre then visited a drug store for some needed items. We stopped at Breka for a snack: we shared a steak and cheese sandwich and a large chai latte. I bought Belgian chocolate brownie cookies to have later. We stopped at a Virgin Mobile store where a service agent was unable make my phone connect to their service. Long nap for both. Dinner with Patrick at a Japanese restaurant: sushi combos and wild salmon yakisoba, hot green tea. Hotel wifi speedtest = .49 Mbps down and up—poor but not quite miserable speed. Tina arrived in the very early morning at 2:30 AM. Chatted briefly on Facebook with Seb. To bed.
Sat Jun 22, 2013
Breakfast: oatmeal from a packet in the room. We noticed a farmer's market from our hotel room window, so we checked it out and found it quite charming, bought and ate a few pastries. We then toured the West End on foot, stopping for lunch at Legendary Noodle (lemon chicken dumplings in spicy peanut sauce; juicy pork dumplings; pork with black bean and minced mushrooms sauce and housemade noodles; three hot teas: chrysanthemum for Patrick, pearl jasmine for Tina, green for me) and for snacks and gifts at Ayoub's Dried Fruits and Nuts. Nap. Snack: leftovers from yesterday. Cab to Cloud 9 where we had drinks and appetizers and watched the sun set and the supermoon rise. Cloud 9 reminded me of the Space Needle Restaurant before a renovation, and it feels slightly smaller in diameter. Our appetizers and second round of drinks were extremely slow coming out. Our server hinted that we might receive some items we ordered for free but when the bill arrived nothing was comped and we did not complain. Cab to the Chinatown Night Market. Walked to dinner at a donair restaurant where they got my order wrong because the number 15 did not correspond to the same item in the system. Even after I received my order it was not correct (I received iceberg salad instead of couscous), but I did not bother complaining about it. Back to the hotel. Tina and Patrick went to bed, and I went out on my own, spending about an 90 minutes at Oasis where I met Raz who introduced me to Mike, Michelle, and two others whose names I didn't get or cannot recall. The music was mostly a mix of music from the 1970s and 1980s, and I enjoyed hearing and dancing to something other than house music on a Saturday night. The crowd was almost all gay, about half men and half women. Cover charge was $5, coat check was $3. I did not have a drink.
Sun Jun 23, 2013
Slept in. Walked Davie, ate breakfast on the porch at Hamburger Mary's. We took a taxi to Granville Island where we had severe difficulty finding washrooms that we not closed for cleaning or with an unbearable line, shopped and ate gelato from Bridges. Took a taxi to Hamburger Mary's where I retrieved my credit card which I had forgotten to remove from the payment machine. Nap. Patrick and Tina made reservations for spa treatments for all of us. Dinner at the hotel restaurant Cafe One: crab cakes and butter leaf lettuce salad to share, mushroom ravioli with braised shallots and wild mushrooms, roast chicken for Patrick, grilled sable with mixed grilled vegetables for me. Service was very good, and food quality was excellent. We had a 50% discount on the food portion of the bill by way of Tina's affiliation to the hotel chain. Our finest meal in Vancouver on this trip. Back to the room. Watched broadcast television which included very long commercial breaks: Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life (2003) then Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007). Television is awful. To bed late.
Mon Jun 24, 2013
Slept in. Breakfast from groceries in the hotel room: double order of plain oatmeal from packets, 8 ounces of orange juice, one baby banana. Treatments for all of us at the hotel spa, Vidal Spa. Afterwards we enjoyed the hot tub, pool, and sauna. Back to the room to refresh. Walked Granville Street to Canada Place, where a Disney cruise ship was docked, ate a late lunch at an Italian restaurant offering 50% off pizzas. Caprese salad and two pizzas. Walked back to Robson Street, stopped at Breka for coffee drinks. I was very tired, so we returned to the hotel room. Patrick and I napped. Tina packed and went to bed, has to be up at 3:33 AM to catch a bus to Seattle then a train to SF. Patrick and I ate a late dinner at Stepho's: small chicken souvlakia and bartender's root beer for me, small lamb souvlakia and blushing margarita for Patrick. Back to the room. finished the remainder of a bottle of red wine.
Tue Jun 25, 2013
Tina missed her bus to Seattle, so shortly after I awoke I received a call on the hotel phone from her. We arranged that she would return to the room and book a flight home. Pre-breakfast in the hotel room: a baby banana, double order of plain oatmeal from packets, orange juice. Breakfast at Cafe One: corned beef hash for Tina, eggs benedict for Patrick, waffle with strawberry compote and whipped cream for me, coffees all around. Back to the room. Nap. Taxi to YVR. Air Canada flight to SFO with Patrick. Unpacked, unloaded photos from two cameras. Dinner at home with Patrick: indian food delivery from Clay Oven West Portal: mushroom masala, chicken jal-frazie, kashmiri naan, fish tandoori, rice.
Wed Jun 26, 2013
Hot earl grey tea. Breakfast at Trolleys Cafe with Tina: coffee and lemon pound cake with icing to share, hot tomato and cheddar sandwich for me. We rode Muni to Embarcadero Station and Tina got her Amtrak refund. We visited the Ferry Building Marketplace. Tina bought stone fruits and a cherry tart from Frog Hollow. We bought beverages from another store in the building. Walked to Gap Inc courtyard, met Mom Ryan who joined us there. We watched Patrick teach his tai chi class to Gap employees in the courtyard. Afterwards we ate dim sum brunch at Yank Sing. Home. I sunbathed and napped in the back yard, then showered. Snack: sliced stone fruits and madeleines and cherry tart. Tina and I rode Muni to Castro Street Station where thousands of people had gathered to celebrate this morning's Supreme Court decision that the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) was unconstitutional. I met with Tony Z, and he introduced me to someone named Christian. I lost Tina in the crowd, and Tony Z and I wandered a bit before I left him with another friend at Hi Tops. At times the crowd was very pushy and ruined the good vibe of the day's news. I was not able to find Tina. Tried unsuccessfully to meet with Sebastien. All messaging—sms, imessage, Facebook—seemed broken or severely delayed. It seemed impossible to connect with anyone else via phone probably because the networks were overloaded in this area. Rode Muni home by myself, learned later that Tina had taken Muni to West Portal and had pizza at Mozzarella di Bufala (cheese, fresh tomato, linguica). Dinner at home: indian food leftovers, water.
Thu Jun 27, 2013
Breakfast at home: oatmeal and raisins with unsweetened soymilk. Tina and Spike left for home. Rode my bike to work at Laurel Heights. Calendar management. First pass at the inbox. Jazzee followup. Quick edit to a kiosk image which I had generated incorrectly but did not realize it at the time. Caught up with Eric on some issues while I was on vacation. Second pass at the inbox. Orgchart followup. Followup with Alex Y about computer upgrades. Late lunch: veggie california sandwich on rye, water from my Contigo water bottle, ate in the courtyard in the sun. Calendar management. SOP IT wiki work: Jazzee, Supp App. Installed IETester and Utilu IE Collection in Windows 7. Lab sites testing in IE. Worked late. Rode my bike home. Dinner at home: leftover basmati rice from delivery with leftover Patrick's sausage spaghetti sauce from frozen. Recharge Spa work: outdoor sign, price list. Created a Flipboard account, added ucfiatlux magazine.
Fri Jun 28, 2013
Breakfast at home: oatmeal with unsweetened soymilk. Nap. Rode my bike to UCSF Laurel Heights. Linkchecking, kiosk work. Social media work: ucfiatlux first look. Drupal work: browser testing and analytics review. Incapsula followup for renaming of apply. Followup for access for Rodney to LHTS 415. Followup with Justin R about access to a server. Followup with Debbie A, Nancy Jane W, and ITS about my access to OLPPS and ICRD. Followup with Lalit L in ITS about chat. SOP IT wiki work: created Drupal control change process. Pulled new UC Ready documents for Joe G to put into ACORN. Late lunch at Noah's Bagels: veggie melt, potato salad, pickle, Honest Tea half and half. Helped Greg with connecting to the staging server for the CP site with command line so that he can run grep. More browser testing and analytics review in Drupal. More ICRD request and access followup. I received word today that my grandmother passed away today at 4:16 PM. Rode my bike to UCSF Parnassus. Picked up packages and checked on a few office things. Worked very late. Rode my bike home. Dinner at home: same as yesterday. Watched Wallace & Gromit: A Matter of Loaf and Death on Netflix instant watch. Edited Filoli photos.
Sat Jun 29, 2013
Breakfast at home: oatmeal with cinnamon, raisins, and unsweetened soymilk. Repaired one of Patrick's favorite t-shirts with the sewing machine. Cut my hair, showered. Lunch: same as dinner yesterday but with leftover salmon, onions, and red bell pepper tandoori. Nap. Veggie burger with thickly grated pecorino, heirloom tomato slice, mayo, earth balance mindful mayo, and stone-ground mustard; water. Encountered Chris G and Theora while waiting for Muni, chatted briefly. Rode Muni to the Castro, attended Blush Party hosted by Jeff N, Chris N, Josh A, and Rob C. Aside from many from the Syndicate, I met or encountered jason damien daniel kobi chris steven sam (wearing the kilt) jason s james c scott casey mike s john alan q rick dalon ian gonzalo sam t mike dave tin william steve h steven joshua andrii kyle kevin mike scott miles b andré robert zach laurent brendan dwight conner sander matt albert cody carly jakki ricky k. At this party, among other things, I learned what a sporran was. I happened to be alongside Emery while leaving the party, and we encountered drunk strangers needing help with directions. We walked them to 18th and Castro where we happened upon the friend with whom they were staying. Pizza slice with Emery at Escape from New York Pizza: pepperoni and diet coke for him, pesto for me. (They did not offer water for some reason.) Rode Muni L-OWL home, chatting with Shawn P on the way.
Sun Jun 30, 2013
Breakfast at home: veggie scramble with diced heirloom tomato, diced red onion, alba clamshell mushrooms; spelt toast with earth balance spread; two hash browns with ketchup; hot water; 8 ounces of orange juice. Began travel planning for the forthcoming memorial service for my grandmother. Nap. Late afternoon meal: GreeNoodle with chard, brown clamshell mushrooms, red onion; hot water. NMore travel planning. Early evening cocktail with Patrick: he made melon margaritas (on the rocks in DOFs with no salt). Dinner at home with Patrick: prepared cornmealcrust mushroom pizza with added heirloom tomato, red onion, and pecorino.