Saturday, February 14, 2015
Breakfast at home: chocolate muffin from Sunset Bakery, cafe (via Bialetti) au lait. Flowerpressing. Minor work because I only seemed to remember this task when at home: edited the tech intro page to add info about mobile devices and to update info about cuda (no longer requires vpn). Lunch at home: leftovers. Since our landlord recently hired a gardener to clear away overgrowth in our back yard, Patrick and I were inspired to do our own gardening and bought supplies at Sloat Garden Center. Nap. Rode UberPOOL to Shotwell Street. Dinner at Shotwell Street with Danny, Romy, Drew, Phil, Quyen, Dave: Phil prepared dinner: mustard brie with smoked salmon and crackers, spinach salad, filet mignon. Afterwards we attended Soundbox: Sticks and Stones at Davies Symphony Hall. We arrived at 8:15 pm for a 9:00 pm show, and there were no more seats. Drew tried to resolve the issue. We were told that it was clear that seating was not guaranteed, and the tickets indeed said that, but I found that the website did not mention this and so this fact might not be entirely clear to those receiving tickets from will call as we did. Also, Drew pointed out that people took all the seats from one table and moved them to another, and the event rep agreed they were not supposed to do that but that they did not have enough staff to police that kind of behavior. In the end, we simply walked out, not wanting to stand for what would probably be two hours (including waiting for the show to begin and then the show itself). A waste of $25 per ticket in our party of six. Thoroughly disappointed, we stopped at Smuggler's Cove for a few drinks, then returned to Shotwell Street for second dessert and more drinks. I rode UberPOOL home. I have been using UberPOOL lately, and it has been a favorable experience. The extra time required is not unbearable, the riders I shared with have been pleasant, and the price cannot be beat: $5 for anywhere in the city. I can't see how Uber is making money from it, so I expect UberPOOL prices to go up eventually. (I later logged in to my account on the Uber website and noticed that the $5 per ride is a special offer. Despite lots of bad press recently, I still find Uber to be the best taxi alternative service followed by Lyft then Sidecar.