October 2025
Summary: Violinist Kate Mayfield in recital at The Academy with Patrick. Chris and Andy help us install a kitchen faucet. Castro Wine Walk with Patrick and Paul. Architecture walking tour with Paul. Santa Cruz trip to dine at Shadowbrook and see Jacob Collier perform. Sam's birthday at Harris'. Halloween party at home.
Dates on this page
Wed Oct 1, 2025
Breakfast at home: large veggie two-egg scramble, hot water. Showered. Napped. Vinegar cleaning for the washing machine. Lunch: Purely Elizabeth original ancient grains granola with sliced banana, toasted coconut, and milk. Nap. Dinner at home with Patrick: tuna salad sandwiches with tortilla chips, hot water. I processed dirty dishes and cleaned the kitchen. We watched Alien: Earth s1:e7 on Hulu then The Simpsons s36:e15 on Hulu then various YouTube videos. Patrick went to bed.
Thu Oct 2, 2025
Resolved computer issues for Patrick: printer and missing external hard drives. Installed iPadOS 18.7.1 and iOS 18.7.1 on my devices then backed them up. Breakfast at home: one fried egg over easy on a bed of refried black beans, a half slice of white cheddar, topped with sour cream, smoky mild salsa, and diced green onions; hot water. Vacuumed lower level carpeted areas. Recharge Medical work: added bounced addresses to the suppression list, wrote a tutorial on how to resolve addresses with invalid domains, responded to Drew's requests. Lunch: leftover butternut squash soup and warm butternut squash and caramelized onion tart, cold water. Vacuumed the garage floor and the door to the garage and the inside surfaces of the garage door and the insides of the boxes that receive mail through the mail slots. Walked just to get some exercise. I visited the Vulcan Stairway, Mount Olympus Park, Saturn Street Steps, and Ord and Corbett Park. Did more Recharge Medical work: proposed social media content and paper flyer content for direct-pay primary care. Various afternoon snacks. Dinner at home with Patrick: sticky ginger tempeh with coconut rice, water. We watched Alien: Earth s1:e8 (season finale) on Hulu then various YouTube videos. I processed dirty dishes and cleaned the kitchen.
Fri Oct 3, 2025
Breakfast at home: plain yogurt with toasted coconut, cacao nibs, flax meal, roasted and slivered almonds, granola, and golden raisins. Discovered and killed by hand many tiny gnats found along the sliding glass doors. Continued development website build: switched from media query to container query for table of contents. Lunch with a subset of The Syndicate and guests at Wilkommen on its penultimate day of operation. In attendance: Tim C, Marc, Andy, Scott, Scot, Jose, Brian, Timmy D. We talked about unemployment, plants, long urban hikes, 24-hour hikes, and more. Walked home. Cleaned the door to the garage with dish soap solution. Attempted to remove (deposits?) from the lock on the same door with CLR but it did not work. Continued development website build: wrote landing page copy for Immigration, added pages for Med Spa (formerly Skin Clinic), microneedling, and CoolSculpting and translated all to the other four languages. In the evening Patrick and I walked to Blackbird to see art part of the Art Walk event. He was hoping to see art from an acquaintance, but we did not find it. While walking along Market Street we encountered and chatted briefly with Keith R who was walking the Art Walk. We dined at Takara: snow crab roll, hamachi roll, shrimp tempura roll, spicy tuna roll, hot tea. All food and drink were delicious. Afterwards we walked to Lobby Bar for drinks. We briefly said hello to Grace. Paul met us there a while later. We chatted about Puerto Vallarta, Spain, Folsom Street Fair (none of us went), DoxyPEP, and more. We three left Lobby Bar and while walking down 18th Street we encountered Mark H who introduced Patrick and me to (I think?) Kevin and T.H. Afterwards Patrick, Paul, and I got a round of drinks at Twin Peaks. Paul left to dine, and Patrick and I walked home.
Sat Oct 4, 2025
Breakfast at home: I prepared for myself sauteed vegetables (diced white onion, diced red bell pepper, diced zucchini, sliced carrot, spinach) with leftover cacciatore sauce and leftover seasoned basmati rice, hot water. Various house chores: dusted in the bedroom, vacuumed gnats from along the inside of the sliding glass doors, changed air purifier pre-filters, cleaned the washlet filter. Voted by mail in the forthcoming election (Proposition 50). Lunch at home: toasted sourdough sandwich with roast turkey breast, white cheddar, mayo, baby butterhead lettuce; seaweed snack; cold water. Continued vacuuming gnats throughout the day. Cleaned the bathroom, cut my hair, showered, cleaned the bathroom. Rested. Continued development website build: created new pages for Botox/Xeomin, dermal fillers. In the evening we walked to The Academy to see violinist Kate Mayfield in recital. We ate margherita flatbread and chicken bites with mustard dipping sauce and mixed dipping spices and salts. The performance was excellent. On the way home we stopped at Super Duper. Patrick got chocolate soft-serve in a cone. I got french fries. Home.
Sun Oct 5, 2025
Patrick and I inspected a possible leak found in the garage. Breakfast at home: I prepared for myself sauteed vegetables (diced white onion, sliced carrot, spinach) with leftover cacciatore sauce and leftover seasoned basmati rice, hot water. Made changes to improve email deliverability and security. Installed updates for devices and websites. Vacuumed gnats from along the inside of the sliding glass doors and the dining room window throughout the day. Patrick wasn't feeling well and napped. Chris G and Andy T came over to help us install a new Kohler Artifacts kitchen faucet. It took longer than expected because the hole in the wood supporting the marble countertop was slightly too small. I ran to Cliff's in the midst of Castro Street Fair and purchased a wood rasp. They completed the faucet installation, and it is beautiful and works well. Afterwards we all walked a bit of the fair. Patrick went home, then Andy, Chris, and I continued to visit a party in the back yard of Qing's place where we spent several hours socializing in the shade of a fig tree and a (probably) lemon tree. I encountered Mark P and chatted with him a while, meeting Andrew. I met many other men new to me: Philip, Timothee, and more. Later we returned to the fair for a while, then Chris and Andy left to meet another friend for dinner at Nopalito. I walked home. Dinner at home: I prepared for myself tonkatsu-flavored instant ramen with one soft-boiled egg, fried fish cake, spinach, carrot, white onion. Afterwards we watched The Residence s1:e1 on Netflix then SNL s51:e1 on YouTube.
Mon Oct 6, 2025
Breakfast: one egg with onion chives and white cheddar on toasted english muffin, hot water. Troubleshot water issues with the primary bathroom faucet: removed and cleaned the aerator with a toothbrush then a white vinegar soak. Continued development website build: resolved missing metadata, continued building and translating metadata. Lunch: I prepared for myself a roast turkey sandwich on sourdough with white cheddar, baby butterhead lettuce, and mayo; sour cream and onion potato chips; cold water. Recharge Medical work: Built a paper flyer for direct-pay primary care. Dinner at home with Patrick: Chinese chicken salad with Mandarin oranges, water. We watched The Residence s1:e2 on Netflix then various YouTube videos. Patrick went to bed. I continued Recharge Medical work: tried to find a way to override the admin theme so that I could add dark mode for admin, but nothing worked, and I wasted over an hour. Removed TOC from short pages (immigration, acne), added hover styling for searchbox in light and dark modes, translated the trademark notice to the four languages. To bed.
Tue Oct 7, 2025
Breakfast at home: plain yogurt with Mexican vanilla, granola, blueberries, flax meal; hot water. Cleaned the dishwasher filter. Cleaned the washer drain pipe filter. Patrick returned home and we eat ate a slice of pumpkin bread he baked this morning. He left to deliver some slices to Kerry and Mom Ryan, then returned home. Lunch: I prepared for myself noodles with soft-boiled egg and vegetables (baby bok choy, onion chives) with soy sauce and oyster sauce using instant Maruchan noodles (saving the pork flavoring packet for another time). Water to drink. Patrick napped. Sewing projects: repaired holes in both armpits in a long-sleeve t-shirt, repaired holes near the pockets in dark maroon sweatpants. Afternoon snack: carrot sticks, celery sticks, and peanut butter dip. Continued development website build for Recharge Medical: added many new pages. Dinner at home with Patrick: crispy beef and black beans hard shell tacos with avocado and sour cream, water. I processed dirty dishes. Afterwards we watched The Lost Bus on Apple TV+ with Martha Stewart's Movie-Theater-Style Popcorn. Patrick went to bed. I processed dirty dishes and cleaned the kitchen.
Wed Oct 8, 2025
Breakfast at home: pancakes from frozen with blueberries and maple syrup, half-slice of pumpkin bread, hot water. Prepared for and participated in a backflow assembly test for our home. Attended to homeowner paperwork. Continued development website build for Recharge Medical: added pages for kybella and non-surgical laser facelift. Lunch at Castro Tarts with Emery, Scot B, and Tim C. Emery brought unusual snacks from the Philippines as gifts to take home. I had the lemongrass chicken lunch special and a thai iced tea. Everyone else had a bahn mi and either Coke Zero or water. We talked about the Philippines, solar panels, ChatGPT, JetBlue, United, Scot's dog Samson, Orlando, Disneyworld, Walgreens, and more. Afterwards I stopped at a mail service to drop something off. Walked home. Continued website build: added more pages and metadata, more attention to focus styling, reworked some right sidebar links to work more correctly for all languages. Dinner at home with Patrick: tuna salad sandwiches with sour cream and onion-flavored potato chips, water. We watched YouTube then The Residence s1:e3 on Netflix then Big Mouth s2:e5 on Netflix. Patrick went to bed. Continued development website build for Recharge Medical: added a page for varicose veins treatment, did a lot more focus and focus-within styling refinement. I processed dirty dishes and cleaned the kitchen. Late snack: half slice of pumpkin bread, 4 ounces of hot milk.
Thu Oct 9, 2025
Breakfast at home: two-egg omelette with diced deli roasted chicken breast, onion chives, sour cream, spinach; side of half english muffin with salted butter; hot water. Loaded and ran the dishwasher. Successfully applied Minwax red mahogany wood stain to the mule chest (#8812) made by The Michaels Furniture Company and which we purchased in 2000 from Restoration Hardware following wood putty patches in a few places. I applied the stain to blemishes with a small artist's paintbrush and wiped the stain away after a few minutes, which leaves the blemish darker than it was before and which successfully hides tiny and small blemishes. Lunch at home: Sloppy Jose using taco fixin leftovers: english muffin, white cheddar, baby butterhead lettuce, seasoned ground beef, black beans; cold water. Unloaded the dishwasher and washed a few items that did not exit cleanly. Continued development website build for Recharge Medical: added pages for varicose veins, sublative, and laser hair removal. In the evening Patrick and I participated in the inaugural Castro Wine Walk. We paid $70 for two tickets to receive tastings at ten establishments in our neighborhood. The event began at The Academy with souvenir wine glasses and a 2019 Robert Goulart extra brut cava. Our next stop was Canela: 24 Mozas toro where we ordered a bite of food: two Spanish cow cheeses with honeycomb, candied almonds, olives, and bread. Next was La Mediterranee: 2022 Karas Armenian. Paul did not purchase a ticket in time, but he met us here and paid separately from the event. Then we three walked to Blush!: 2022 Cesar Toxqui Cellars pinot noir. We ordered and shared lemon sardines with bread. Next: Swirl: 2023 Red Quartz pinot noir. From Swirl's attached kitchen Heroic Italian we ordered bruschetta and Paul ordered calabrian shrimp. I visited the large garden for the first time and was surprised that it was not more used. Next, Castro Valley Wine Company: 2023 Cobb chardonnay and 2021 West Pole pinot noir. We hit 6 out of 10 but were done for the night. Walked home.
Fri Oct 10, 2025
Breakfast at home: one egg cooked in the microwave with sliced roast chicken breast, salt, and pepper on toasted half english muffin; hot water. Called a plumber to discuss a leak and a drain pipe. Continued development website build for Recharge Medical all day: added safe space notices and translated to four languages. Lunch at home: I prepared for myself a sandwich with roast turkey and sliced roast chicken breast, white cheddar, baby butterhead lettuce, mayo, salt, pepper; cold water. Dinner at home with Patrick: delivery from Slice House: caesar salad, medium 12-inch Paesano pizza. We watched The Residence s1:e4 on Netflix then half of Matt McCusker: A Humble Offering on Netlix. Patrick went to bed. Continued development website build for Recharge Medical: added dark mode for safe space svgs for five languages.
Sat Oct 11, 2025
Breakfast at home: two eggs over easy with sauteed zucchini and mushrooms, two mini biscuits from frozen with butter, hot water. Late morning snack: half slice of pumpkin bread. Walked and rode Muni to meet Paul at the Two Blocks of History architectural building tour, part of an event sponsored by the 2 Blocks of Art Mid-Market Community Benefit District. I met Ken H, Paul's friend who also joined. Lada Kocherovsky, an architect at Page & Turnbull, gave the tour. It included eight historic buildings and was an interesting hour. Lada had a microphone and loudspeaker, which helped overcome the various noises from street performers, busses, and people on the street. The tour ended with complimentary drinks at the ground floor bar at Proper Hotel. Paul and I got palomas and purchased soap and candles from Heavenly Soap Company which had a table on the patio alongside other vendors. Afterwards Ken's friend Ping joined us, and the four of us walked to Mộng Thu Cafe (aka Mong Thu Cafe) for lunch. Everyone else had soup. I had bun thit xao and hot vietnamese coffee. All food and drink were delicious. We talked about Kylie Minogue, Chase Center, The Residence on Netflix, travel, Taiwan, Italy, Switzerland, caring for parents, Global Entry, and more. Afterwards we split up, or so we thought. Paul and I ended up walking they same direction they did, then we caught up with them and Ken joined us to visit the lobby and restroom at Proper Hotel. Paul, Ken, and I visited the lobby of 1075 Market Street to see the Grauman's Imperial Theatre sign. Afterwards this time we did split up. Paul chose to walk home. I walked and rode Muni home. Later Patrick and ate dinner: Patrick had taco leftovers. I had pizza and caesar salad leftovers. We watched The Residence s1:e5 on Netflix then various YouTube videos. Patrick went to bed. I joined a few hours later.
Sun Oct 12, 2025
Breakfast at home: plain yogurt with blueberries, toasted coconut, slivered and roasted almonds, flax meal. Hot water to drink. Various house chores including cutting board wood butter treatment. Continued development website build for Recharge Medical: added five more pages and metadata for five languages each. Lunch: Patrick made short-grain rice with lap cheong and diced shiitake mushrooms and garlic chives. Water to drink. Metadata review and corrections. Ensured all tables have caption elements. Implemented featured image. Patrick attended a cooking class with Gray, Martin, Keith, and William. I did not attend because the dishes they were preparing were all very spicy. Dinner at home by myself: I prepared for myself tonkatsu-flavored Maruchan ramen with assorted fish cake, chopped baby bok choy, chopped spinach, Dorot garlic, Dorot ginger, sliced carrot, sliced zucchini, diced onion chives, mushrooms. Resolved all remaining problems with featured image implementation.
Mon Oct 13, 2025
Slept in. Refined some automations in Apple Shortcuts on my iPhone 16 Pro. Late brunch: two eggs over easy with spinach and red onion, pork sausage patty, hash brown with ketchup, two mini biscuits; hot water. Window cleaning on the upper floor. Inspected the light switch in the laundry room in preparation for installing an occupancy sensor light switch. Lunch: three mandarin oranges. Heavy rain today. Patrick and I spent part of the day clearing drains on our balcony and patio and inspecting water leaking in we think through failed weatherstripping on sliding glass doors. Continued development website build for Recharge Medical. Dinner at home with Patrick: cashew crispy tofu and steamed rice, hot water. We watched The Residence s1:e6 on Netflix then Interview with the Vampire s2:e1 on AMC via Netflix. Continued development website build for Recharge Medical.
Tue Oct 14, 2025
Breakfast at home: two slices of sourdough toast with pear balsamic jam, hot water. Installed two sensor light switches in the laundry room: one for the lights which turns on upon entry and turns off automatically after one minute (occupancy mode), and another for the fan which turns on upon manually pressing the switch and turns off after 15 minutes (vacancy mode). Edited a story for Patrick (TOD) which he is entering into a contest. Pre-lunch: one mandarin. Late lunch: shrimp scampi with toast from Whole Foods deli. Altered a PDF and a social media post image for Drew. Continued development website build for Recharge Medical: began adding featured images. Dinner at home with Patrick: frozen pizza with herbs, water. Cocktails: Patrick prepared a cocktail with apple cider, bourbon, and brandy. We watched The Residence s1:e7 on Netflix then SNL s51:e2 on YouTube. Patrick went to bed. Continued development website build for Recharge Medical: more media query work, including increasing space around link targets on mobile with @media (pointer: coarse).
Wed Oct 15, 2025
Breakfast at home: plain yogurt with blueberries, granola, toasted coconut, flax meal, slivered and roasted almonds; hot water. Sanded then cleaned the lock and door handles of the stairway door to the garage with 400-grit sandpaper to remove (deposits?). It looks almost new now. Swiffed the garage floor to remove footprints following backflow prevention assembly testing and recent heavy rain. Swept the patio and the outer stairwell following recent heavy rain. Packed the small handpainted lamp which we installed atop the mule chest shortly after moving in but which neither of us ever had reason to use since then. Lunch: leftover cashew crispy tofu and steamed rice, three mandarins, cold water. Laundered and dried microfiber towels and air purifier prefilters. Recharge Medical work: deep dive email address validation for one address, followup on requests. Afternoon snack: Thai rice chips, corn nuts. Swept debris following heavy rains from the balcony. Walked to Cliff's Variety and back for gardening supplies. Dinner at home with Patrick: shrimp salad rolls, hot water. Afterwards we watched The Residence s1:e8 (season finale) on Netflix then The Residence extras on YouTube. Patrick went to bed. I joined a few hours later.
Thu Oct 16, 2025
Breakfast at home: two small breakfast tacos each with one egg, diced pork sausage patty, chipotle garlic salsa, grated mixed cheeses, and spinach; hot water to drink. Inspected three patio drains and treated them with white vinegar. Decided that I'm not able to replace them myself since they seem to be sealed in with concrete or grout. Repotted the orchid. Rearranged items in storage in the laundry room and office and garage. Patrick returned from a dental appointment. I walked to Cliff's Variety to recycle a burnt fluorescent light bulb and to purchase a new LED one. I forgot to check the color temperature of the new one and had to walk back and swap it. Replaced the bulb. Midafternoon snack: one It's It strawberry ice cream sandwich. Continued development website build for Recharge Medical: added more featured images. Dinner at home with Patrick: Patrick ate mashed potatoes. I prepared for myself linguine with spinach, diced zucchini, and diced chives in cheddar cream sauce. Water to drink. Afterwards we watched YouTube then Loot s3:e1. Continued development website build for Recharge Medical: began using featherlight gallery but only got it working 80% of the way and could not make it work. Decided to abandon it.
Fri Oct 17, 2025
Breakfast at home: I prepared for myself two small shrimp rolls using leftover filling. Met with Drew by telephone and Zoom to discuss Recharge Medical work. Pushed a minor top nav change to the website: swapped COOL with LABS. Prepped flu shot social media posts. Pre-lunch: Patrick made us banana-blueberry smoothies. Lunch: I prepared for myself fried rice with diced celery, diced chinese sausage, minced garlic, Dorot garlic, Dorot ginger, onion chives, peas from frozen, corn off the cob from frozen. Cold water to drink. Researched plumbers and window and door repair providers. Posted social media posts. I prepared dinner for us: tuna mac and cheese with peas, water. We watched YouTube then Interview with the Vampire s2:e2 on AMC via Netflix then The Simpsons s36:e16 on Hulu. Patrick went to bed. Late snack: one corndog from frozen with ketchup, water.
Sat Oct 18, 2025
This morning Patrick showed me a crumb drawer in the Wolf range that we didn't know existed even after living here for about 7 months. Breakfast at home: two small waffles from frozen, hot water. Cleaned the outside windows of the sliding glass doors with vinegar solution to remove water spots from the recent heavy rains. Cleaned the bathroom, cut my hair, showered, cleaned the bathroom. Dusted the dining room chandelier. Lunch at home: leftover fried rice, water. Afternoon snack: Patrick made us cocoa-banana smoothies. Patrick helped me with ladder work on the balcony: sealed flashing with silicone sealer, inspected the light fixture which is broken at the top. Afterwards I rewired switches in the laundry room and in the secondary bathroom. The laundry room exhaust fan is still not removing moisture satisfactorily while the dryer runs, so I removed the Lutron MS-OPS2 switch and replaced it with the same manual switch we had before since the MS-OPS2 has a maximum 30-minute timeout and we need the fan on for the entire run of the dryer. I moved the MS-OPS2 to the switch for the fan in the secondary bathroom and set it for vacancy mode and a 15-minute timeout. Dinner at home with Patrick: delivery from Mamahuhu and Bi-Rite Grocery via DoorDash: we shared eggplant tofu, sweet and sour chicken, tomato garlic chow mein, and jasmine rice. Dessert from Bi-Rite: chocolate ice cream and peach cobbler ice cream. There was a small error in our Doordash order. Patrick reported it, and we received a credit to our account. Water to drink. We watched 1 hour and 42 minutes of John Wick: Chapter 4 on Hulu, breaking a few minutes in to watch a recap of chapters 1, 2, and 3 on ScreenCrush via YouTube. Patrick went to bed.
Sun Oct 19, 2025
Breakfast at home: leftover tuna mac and cheese, hot water. Patrick and I walked to Kerry and Mom Ryan's place and visited with them. Today she was able to get up from her chair without help—great progress following her fall in late May. Patrick and I walked with Kerry and her in the hallway before the two of us left for brunch at Cove Cafe. Patrick had pancakes and sausage. I had Irish omelette (corned beef hash) with hash browns. Coffee for both. Walked home. All day: shopped online for an outdoor wall light to replace one that is partly broken. Dinner at home with Patrick: leftover Mamahuhu. Dessert for Patrick only: chocolate ice cream. Afterwards we watched YouTube then the remainder of John Wick: Chapter 4 on Hulu then more of SNL s51:e3 on YouTube. Patrick went to bed. I chatted with Lani and Dex on Facetime. Did some weeding and organizing of aliases in zsh. Continued troubleshooting permissions problems with an external drive.
Mon Oct 20, 2025
Started laundry: sheets. Breakfast at home: plain yogurt with flax meal, blueberries, toasted coconut, roasted and slivered almonds. Washed and dried bed sheets. Mended a hole in one sheet. Troubleshot problems with strange stains on sheets discovered after removing them from the dryer. Vacuumed the lower level. Washed and cleaned the lower outer stairwell. Lunch: leftover tuna mac and cheese, water. Afternoon snack: four mandarins. Web work: On Patrick's website I removed the long-unused right sidebar and installed updates. Troubleshot issues with rsync. Recharge Medical work: sent direct-pay primary care email campaign batch 2, some new website images work, prepped direct-pay primary care followup email campaign. Dinner at home with Patrick: mushroom and pinto bean quesadillas, water. Afterwards we shared cocoa-banana smoothies, mine with a shot of rum. We watched the remainder of SNL s51:e3 on YouTube then other YouTube videos. Continued development website build for Recharge Medical: inserted primary images. Late snack: corn dog from frozen with ketchup.
Tue Oct 21, 2025
Shortcuts "programming" on my iPhone 16 Pro: made refinements to brightness fade in and brightness fade out scripts. Breakfast at home: leftover tuna mac and cheese, leftovers from Mamahuhu, hot water. Maintenance for Tina's website. Continued development website build for Recharge Medical: inserted primary images. Lunch: Patrick prepared leftovers with newly cooked orzo. I prepared a cow cheeseburger from frozen with lettuce and white cheddar. Water to drink. Nap for me. Dinner at home with Patrick: I walked to Thai House Express for a pickup: garlic shrimp, salmon in banana leaf, chicken pad thai, steamed white rice. We watched Loot s3:e3 on Apple TV+ then YouTube then trailers on Apple TV+. Patrick went to bed.
Wed Oct 22, 2025
Breakfast at home: one egg, one hash brown from frozen, one turkey sausage patty from frozen, guacamole toast, hot water. All day: organized digital accounting paperwork for HOA and our unit. Lunch: leftover chicken pad thai. Repaired a yellow-orange hoodie whose cord had come out of the hood area. I first tried a chopstick, but it was too thick. I switched to a bbq skewer and after a few attempts it worked. Dinner at home with Patrick: pepperoni pizza from frozen to which Patrick added minced rosemary and oregano. Hot water to drink. We watched YouTube then Interview with the Vampire s2:e3 on AMC via Netflix. Patrick went to bed. Late snack: three mandarins. I joined a while later.
Thu Oct 23, 2025
Breakfast at home: one fried egg with pinto beans and salmon in a corn-flour tortilla with guacamole, mixed grated cheeses, and sour cream. Cold water to drink. Vacuumed upper level and inside stairs. Organized digital accounting paperwork. Continued development website build for Recharge Medical: primary image gathering. Lunch: leftover garlic shrimp with steamed rice, hot water. More web work: primary image insertion. Swept tree and plant debris from the balcony and from the upper outer stairway. Swept rocks and larger debris from the gutter and sidewalk. More web work: primary image insertion. Dinner at home with Patrick: delivery from Sanguchon Peruvian via DoorDash: aji de gallina with rice bowl for Patrick, pork adobo with rice bowl for me. We watched Interview with the Vampire s2:e4 on AMC via Netflix then The Simpsons s36:e17 with blueberry-banana smoothies. More web work: reworked content on the Med Spa page to resolve broken urls and to restructure and rewrite content to be from the audience's point of view.
Fri Oct 24, 2025
Breakfast at home: taco (no egg): pinto beans, leftover salmon, mixed grated cheeses, guacamole; hot water. Cleaned heated slippers with Dawn PowerWash. Cleaned the tub and doors in the primary bathroom. Spot-vacuumed the upper level. Removed from the dryer and laid flat laundry that Patrick had started earlier then folded the socks and underwear. Cleared the drain spout at the end of the patio first with a straw brush then with jets of water from a hose. Discovered that the emergency fire escape was loose at the bottom. Patrick accidentally sent a package to our old address, so he went and successfully retrieved it. I forgot to eat lunch. Midafternoon snack: pinto bean and mixed grated cheeses taco with guacamole, cold water. Packed for a short trip. Walked to dinner at Tanglad with Patrick: Patrick had five-spice chicken and rice. I had bun rieu. We shared imperial rolls. Thai iced tea for both. $50.51 after tax and before tip. All food and drink were delicious. Walked home. We watched Michelle Wolf: The Well on Netflix then YouTube.
Sat Oct 25, 2025
Breakfast: I had Tanglad leftovers. Our rental car became available a little later than expected, so the owner dropped it off at our place instead of us picking it up. Patrick and I drove to Santa Cruz in the rain for a very short trip—too short to make plans to visit friends in the area. We took highway 1. Along the way we saw some areas that seemed burnt by fires some time ago. We arrived at West Cliff Inn ahead of check-in time and dropped our luggage with Shauntay. Patrick and I drove to lunch at The Midway. Coffee with cream for both. We shared $16 sour cream pancakes (with blackberries, poached pears, and candied almonds) and $19 aged cheddar grilled cheese (with house-made sourdough, braised greens, ricotta, roasted onion) and side salad and pickles. Service by Sydney was great. We returned to the hotel and parked then walked to the Dream Inn and briefly looked in at the bar called Jack O'Neill's. We walked along the beach with umbrellas in light rain and saw a volleyball competition in progress. We walked along part of the boardwalk, encountering a chili competition. We walked to Pacific Garden Mall and stopped in at Om Gallery but didn't buy anything. We stopped at Santa Cruz Coffee Roasting Company to share a cardamom latte and use the bathroom. We bought cards at Paper Vision, then walked back to West Cliff Inn. Carlos checked us in. We received room 5, which includes a surprisingly large balcony with a hot tub, and the bathroom sink stunningly receives very hot water in about two seconds. Rested. Drove to dinner at Shadowbrook (aka Shadow-Brook), which oddly seems like it's in the middle of a residential district. We rode the funicular down. There was a small wait—perhaps 10 or 15 minutes—despite having a reservation. Our server was Ethan. Drinks: glass of Luli pinot noir for Patrick, ginger manhattan for me. We shared the four-piece bacon-wrapped shrimp. Artichoke soup for Patrick. Wedge salad for me. The salad was huge, big enough for four people to share, and had I finished it I would not have been confident I could also eat my forthcoming main dish. Top sirloin 10-ounce for Patrick. (He could not finish it.) Lobster tail for me. Mud pie to share. Espresso for Patrick. We both very much enjoyed the meal and experience. All food and drink and service were perfect. Walked the stairs up, which is also charming. Drove back to the hotel. If we return another time, we should go during the day.
Sun Oct 26, 2025
Breakfast in the hotel, which included potato strata as the hot dish. Patrick and I walked the wharf and saw the sea lions. We were about halfway back to shore when we saw lifeguards hurrying to dress in diving suits and then a surprising number of emergency vehicles headed toward the end of the wharf. We later learned that a few minutes after we had passed Mariani's a car had driven over the edge of the wharf. Back at the hotel we relaxed in the hot tub awhile before driving to Soquel Vineyards where we bought a case of wine at a great price ($120) and two more bottles at $50 each. Back to the hotel. Nap. Drove to dinner at Hanloh Thai (1101 Cedar Street) inside the bookstore called Bad Animal. I don't think I have ever eaten at a restaurant inside a bookstore before. We were pleasantly surprised to find that our server was again Sydney whom we had as server yesterday at The Midway. Drink: glass of Domaine Oudart Fabaccae for Patrick, glass of La Patience Rose for me. We shared mieng (four pieces, plum, ginger, shallots, peanuts, lime, toasted coconut, tossed with tamarind caramel dressing, served over nasturtium leaves, $11), roti martabak (pan-seared roti stuffed with carmelized onions, garlic, and curry-spiced yukon gold and sweet potatoes, served with cucumber relish, $19), gai tod prik khang (double-fried boneless chicken thighs marinated in coriander, fish sauce, and garlic; normally brushed with red curry but we asked for them to omit this; served with fried shallots, basil, sweet and sour sauce, and cucumbers, $31), and jasmine rice ($5). Dessert: we shared vietnamese coffee creme brulee with sweetened condensed milk ($10). The mieng was pretty to the eyes and delightful on the tongue; we had never tasted anything like it before. The entire meal was essentially perfect. Afterwards we walked to Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium to see Jacob Collier perform. It was the first time for both of us seeing him perform. This was the first time I saw someone play the guitar and piano at the same time. This was also the first time I saw someone create an improvised choir from the audience for multiple songs and for extended durations. He touchingly sang Somewhere Over the Rainbow for a 101-year-old woman in the audience. We had started to leave but then there was an encore which included Queen's We Will Rock You mixed in with other songs. Afterwards we tried to get ice cream at Penny but the line was long and not moving even after a few minutes so we abandoned and returned to the hotel. Patrick got a chocolate chip cookie from the cookie jar and I had a bite.
Mon Oct 27, 2025
We notice this morning we can hear the sea lions from our room. Breakfast in the hotel at which the hot dish was Greek eggs. Packed. Checked out of the hotel. Stopped at Ferrell's for donuts to go. Got three large and five small pumpkins or squash at the Rodondi Farms pumpkin patch. Express car wash at a gas station in Colma. We stopped for lunch at Stonestown Galleria: Shake Shack for cheeseburgers and shakes. Then we got some groceries at Trader Joe's before driving home. No evidence of water damage following light rain while we were away. Unpacked. Processed snail mail. Updated anti-spam rules. Archived documents. House chores: vacuuming, trash management. Unloaded photos from my phone. Did some catching up on journaling. Dinner at home with Patrick: we shared prepared meals from Trader Joe's: one was mushroom linguine, and the other was chicken with wild rice and roasted vegetables. Hot water to drink. We looked at our trip photos on the television. Lately our new Kohler Artifacts kitchen faucet has had water spraying in odd directions. A few weeks ago I tried cleaning it but doing so did not resolve the problem. I cleaned it again today with dish soap and a new toothbrush and doing so did resolve the problem which seemed to have been caused by visible black specks of sediment. Later we watched video on Instagram and YouTube about the car that drove off the wharf at Santa Cruz on Saturday moments after Patrick and I had walked in that area. One person in the vehicle died. A dog found in the water nearby is alive and being cared for. A police investigation is in progress. We watched other YouTube videos. Dessert: we each had a chocolate cake donut from Ferrell's with hot milk. Patrick went to bed. I watched more YouTube until late.
Tue Oct 28, 2025
Slept in. Breakfast: hot milk with a splash of decaf coffee, Ferrell's yeast doughnut with maple frosting and Halloween sprinkles. More catching up on journaling. Prepared a retrospective list of what Patrick and I did for Sam's birthday every year. Recharge Medical work: continued editing new content (USCIS hardship support exam and Medical Exam for Foreign Service (Form DS-1843)), scheduled a followup email campaign (direct-pay primary care). More catching up on journaling. Recharge Medical work: added more med spa content so that people can find a treatment based on the issue they have, then translated to four other languages. Also created a new outdoor sign draft in InDesign and sent it to Drew for review and approval. No lunch. Midafternoon snack: one slice of leftover pizza, water. For dinner, Sam came over, opened gifts from Far West Fungi Santa Cruz, and we all drove to Harris' Restaurant - The San Francisco Steakhouse. Three glasses of bordeaux by the glass. We shared a wedge salad. Sam got Steak Diane, medium. Patrick got the 12-ounce petit filet, medium. I got the 8-ounce petit filet, medium. For dessert we shared a pumpkin spice baked alaska. All food, drink, and service were excellent. Sam drove us home.
Wed Oct 29, 2025
Breakfast: one leftover pizza slice, hot water. Candle cleaning and battery replacement. Vacuumed gnats discovered in the dining room window. Vacuumed plant debris from the sliding glass door tracks. Trash management. Created labels for the desserts Patrick began making today for a forthcoming party. Recharge Medical work: revisions for outdoor sign. Lunch at Hot Johnnie's where I ordered from a screen: 4-ounce smashburger and waffle fries, cold unsweetened iced tea: about $18. Stopped at Cliff's Variety to purchase a set of brass hose quick connectors. Cleaned eight pumpkins. Created a map of more brass hose quick connectors we need. Patrick made three desserts today and was too exhausted to cook dinner. Dinner at home with Patrick: delivery from We Be Sushi via DoorDash: hamachi with green onion, ebi-ten, california roll, spider roll, kakiage roll. All food was delicious. We watched Interview with the Vampire s2:e5 on AMC via Netflix then various YouTube videos. Patrick went to bed. I made refinements to the hose quick connectors map and decided on an expansion plan. Recharge Medical work: made small changes to focus-within styling, made a change to simplesearch_results.json.twig so that no-results behavior would be better.
Thu Oct 30, 2025
Breakfast at home: plain yogurt with blueberries, toasted coconut, roasted and slivered almonds; hot water; side of half orange. Researched Halloween trivia in preparation for making trivia signs for a forthcoming party. Recharge Medical work: tried to find more images but had a hard time. We have access to some free images via Adobe Stock, but, for example, whereas it's really easy to find a wide selection of photos of a middle-aged white woman looking at herself in a mirror, it's not easy to find the same of a middle-aged Vietnamese woman. Some images say the woman is Vietnamese but the woman obviously does not appear Vietnamese. Or, some images say "Asian" without saying what nationality or region. Or some images say "Asian" as well as three nationalities. Or some show a Vietnamese woman wearing a traditional dress (áo dài) and a traditional hat (nón lá). Lunch: I dropped off batteries to be recycled at Cliff's Variety then walked to Rossi's Deli and got us a turkey club sandwich on soft roll with a bunch of different packages of chips. Water to drink. Today our neighbor to the east hired tree trimming for their property, and a lot of tree debris and dirt fell onto our balcony and outer stairwell, so I spent a few hours sweeping it all away. Today Patrick and I found a gas shut-off valve we didn't know existed before Pang let us know in an email a few days ago. Dinner at home with Patrick: I prepared mushroom ravioli with alfredo sauce. We watched YouTube then Loot s3:e4 on Apple TV+.
Fri Oct 31, 2025
Breakfast at home: plain yogurt with one sliced banana, toasted coconut, flax meal, roasted and slivered almonds, mexican vanilla; hot water. Ironed Halloween costumes. Tested the new brass quick connect hose connectors set. All was fine except there was a leak at the faucet, which I resolved using teflon tape. Party preparation all morning. Published two new web pages for Recharge Medical then also added them to the dev website. After making a home network change things were broken and I had forgotten that I had encountered and resolved the same problem in March. Lunch: delivery from The Little Chihuahua via DoorDash: regular pollo asado burrito for Patrick, regular carne asada burrito no beans for me. I spent over an hour trying to get an Apple HomePod trying to rejoin the network, failing in seemingly every way possible. The fix was to temporarily turn off WPA3 and reset the Homepod and rejoin it. Halloween party at home from 6 to 11 p.m., which was event-adjacent to Castro Night Market from 5 to 10 p.m. We were worried that our place would become too crowded with a large number of attendees, but it turned out okay. In attendance: me, Patrick, Tai, Drew, Phil, Chris, Nate, Jonathan, Quyen, Dave, Scott T, Andy M, John B, John T, JY, Emery, Ray F, Galen, Dave R, Ryan M, Jeff N, Christopher N, Keith R, Chris G, Andy T, Tyler, Scot B, Dan B, Marck (who happened to be in town from Germany), Shawn, Quan, Suzan, Simon, Iona, David M, Jeff C, Cristiano F, another Jeff C, Paul, Irene, Stephanie, Sabine, Tony H, Ken S, Tim D, Tom H, Gary, John R, and possibly more that I couldn't recall. Patrick made seven desserts: Apple Dapple Cake with pecans and caramel glaze, Dutch Cocoa Cookies, Pistachio Cake with pistachio cream and toasted pistachios, Scotcheroos (a honey, peanut butter, butterscotch, chocolatey twist on a rice krispie treat), Pumpkin Cheesecake with a gingersnap-walnut crust, Orange Cardamom Olive Oil Cake with candied orange slices and honey glaze, Whiskey-Soaked Dark Chocolate Bundt Cake.