November 2025
Summary: Dia de los Muertos cocktail party at 15th Avenue House; dinner at Arquet with Patrick; lunch with Tony, Tadija, Tai, Drew, Phil, and Patrick at Hard Knox Cafe; dinner at Bix with Patrick; encountered Brian and Kelly; dinner party with JY, Adrian, Mark, and Tommy; Wasabi Bistro with Patrick, Jesse, and Remi; Thanksgiving luncheon at home with Patrick, Mom Ryan, Kerry, and Sam
Dates on this page
Sat Nov 1, 2025
Slept in. As I woke, Patrick had returned from martial arts practice with Sam and went immediately to bed because he didn't get enough sleep. After a while I got out of bed. We had essentially nothing in the fridge but drinks and desserts, so I had a late breakfast by myself at The Cove: two eggs scrambled, pork link sausage, hash browns with ketchup, whole wheat toast with butter, coffee with cream and sugar. On the walk home I encountered and introduced myself to neighbors Daniel and Jathen who live in an identically architected building but who are not our condo's neighbors, and we chatted for a few minutes. They seem very nice. Afterwards, I began cleaning from last night's party: vacuuming, swiffing, floor spot removal by hand, electric candle management, began returning objects to their places before they were removed for the party, more vacuuming, laundered microfiber towels. Patrick returned from visiting his mom and brother and also helped clean. I skipped lunch because I wasn't hungry. In the afternoon I did some money management tasks. Later Patrick and I walked to dinner at Pasta Panino: we shared a small order of focaccia and ciabatta with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Patrick had penne bolognese (spicy). I had capellini pomodoro with chicken. Water to drink. No dessert. $50.84 after tax and before a 20% tip for Felipe G. Walked home. Rode Uber to 15th Avenue House for a Dia de los Muertos cocktail party. In attendance: Tai, Drew, Phil, Jesse, Chris, Nate, Jonathan, Quyen, Dave, Cricket, Sean, Igor (but no Leo), Sarah, Boris, Shawn, Quan, Cesar, Tony, Tadija, and others I did not chat with. Rode Uber home. To bed.
Sun Nov 2, 2025
Breakfast at home: two small waffles from frozen with butter, two pork sausage links from frozen, maple syrup, hot water. Reviewed financial and legal documents. Other money management tasks. Lunch: leftover capellini pomodoro with chicken, hot water. Unloaded photos from my iPhone 16 Pro. Shopped for Halloween costumes on sale. Updates for home devices and websites. Caught up on journaling. Dinner at home with Patrick: del Popolo frozen pizza with salami and fresh basil, water. We watched Interview with the Vampire s2:e6 on AMC via Netflix then YouTube. Patrick went to bed. I watched more YouTube before Facetime chat with Lani and Dex.
Mon Nov 3, 2025
Breakfast: Purely Elizabeth ancient grain granola with toasted coconut and sliced half banana; hot water. House chores. Walked and rode Muni to Peak Design in Hayes Valley. I exchanged a Kickstarter-original Everyday Messenger 15-inch Charcoal with a new Everyday Messenger 13-inch Kelp because the plastic on the zipper was flaking away onto all my clothing. Damon helped with my exchange and provided excellent support. Afterwards I visited the city department where you can view the floorplans and other info about the home you live in. I spent several hours there taking notes. I had planned to get printouts, but it would have been around $1,000 for absolutely everything, and I wasn't sure that it would help us, so I didn't get any. Afterwards I walked to Doppio Cafe and had a delicious lox on everything bagel and hot ginger-lemon tisane. The cafe seems brand new and very clean. The menu is large, and there were a lot of customers, many of them working at laptops. Walked and rode Muni home. Relaxed. Dinner at home with Patrick: grilled cheese and creamy tomato soup, cold water, red wine. We watched YouTube including part of SNL s51:e4.
Tue Nov 4, 2025
Breakfast: two-egg scramble with celery and zucchini, one hash brown from frozen, one turkey patty from frozen, one slice of toast with salted butter; hot water. Trash management. Washed the SimpleHuman trash bins. Swept leaves and debris from the front of the home and in the street and nearest gutter. Did some clearing of the gutter by gloved hand. Patrick helped hold a ladder while I climbed to inspect and get info on a malfunctioning light sensor that controls the lights above the outside of our garage door. Later we walked to The Cove for lunch: sourdough special sandwich with cup of white bean soup for Patrick, bbq pulled pork sandwich with cup of chicken rice soup for me, iced tea for both. All food and drink were delicious. Service was excellent. Afterwards we bought holiday stamps at the post office then walked home. Researched door stop and door alignment solutions which included detent door hinges and hinge wrenches. Recharge Medical dev website work: adding jsonld for one page then resolved errors in jsonld introduced by ChatGPT in many other pages. Dinner at home with Patrick: Chinese poached chicken with steamed rice, hot water. While waiting for dinner to cook we watched more of SNL s51:e4. After dinner we watched the remainder of SNL s51:e4 then Loot s3:e5 on Apple TV+ then movie trailers in Apple TV. Patrick went to bed. Recharge Medical website work: more json corrections, installed and configured Shortcode Gallery++, completed one gallery for the Acne page, styled gallery and thumbs.
Wed Nov 5, 2025
Breakfast at home: sourdough toast with salted butter, plain yogurt with mexican vanilla, flax meal, toasted coconut, roasted and slivered almonds, sliced half banana; hot water. Recharge Medical website work all day: photos: coolsculpting, botox; more Shortcode Gallery++ styling. Lunch: Nongshim tonkatsu-flavored ramen with black garlic oil to which I added assorted fish cake. This ramen was thicker and richer than my liking. Midafternoon snack: one stalk of celery with unsalted peanut butter, water. Walked and rode Muni to dinner Arquet. Cocktails: tubthumper for Patrick, golden lucky for me. We shared: appetizers: dungeness crab brioche (with meyer lemon and dill, no caviar), ricotta dumplings (with green garlic, sweet corn, chanterelle), scallion fry bread (with buffalo ricotta, honeycomb, grilled figs, salsa macha); mains: liberty duck confit (five spice, kimchi, asian pear, furikake), mount lassen trout (white miso mustard, artichoke, blue lake beans); dessert: thai tea ice cream. All food and drink and service by Sarah were excellent. Walked and rode Muni home.
Thu Nov 6, 2025
Breakfast at home: plain yogurt with cashew butter and peach granola and toasted coconut; hot water. Recharge Medical website work all day: photos: botox, dermal fillers, Kybella, non-surgical laser facelift, thread lift; began using shortcode tabs and callouts. Lunch: I re-cooked the poached chicken because two nights ago parts of it were still red in the middle then ate that with leftover rice and leftover ginger scallion sauce. Dinner at home with Patrick: cheese ravioli in tomato vegetable soup, hot water, red wine. We watched Interview with the Vampire s2:e7 on AMC via Netflix then Leanne Morgan: Unspeakable Things on Netflix with dessert: Bi-Rite peach cobbler ice cream. Patrick went to bed. I processed dirty dishes and cleaned the kitchen. I continued working on the Recharge Medical dev website. Then later I resolved slow network behavior and broken backups. One network node was offline because I had accidentally jostled it a few days ago and didn't realize the connection had broken. On my computer I had turned remote login off because I didn't remember that I needed it on so that our CCC backups would work. Cutting board wood butter treatment. Trash management.
Fri Nov 7, 2025
Breakfast at home: one-egg sandwich on sourdough with cheddar, salt, pepper; hot water. Spent about two hours ironing Halloween costumes for a forthcoming party. Carpet spot cleaning with dish soap solution. Vacuumed the lower level. Deep-cleaned the little Flex vacuum. Continued working on the Recharge Medical dev website: decided to remove all nearly all text from images in recently inserted image galleries so that the text could appear in the caption and be translated by ChatGPT. This provides a friendlier experience for non-English visitors. Styling for callouts in dark mode. Lunch: leftover chicken and rice with ginger scallion sauce, water. Cleaned the soles of my heated slippers with Dawn PowerWash. Later we walked to Twin Peaks for drinks with a subset of The Syndicate and friends. In attendance: Tim C, Kevin B, John B, Scot B. We sat in the mezzanine and many of us hadn't been either to this bar or to the mezzanine for years. We talked about Nancy Pelosi's recent announcement to retire and about how the government shutdown is affecting air traffic controllers and more. After a few rounds of drinks Kevin departed and the rest of us walked to dinner at Sausage Factory where we had a satisfying meal in the quieter back room. We started with arugula salad and cheesy bread with marinara. John had calzone, Patrick had chicken parm, I had penne primavera. I don't recall what Tim and Scot ordered. Too full for dessert. John and Patrick had leftovers. The group split up, and Patrick and I walked home. I washed a few dishes that had accumulated earlier in the day. Patrick went to bed and read his Kindle for a while before sleeping. I continued working on the Recharge Medical dev website: galleries check, revised acne images to remove unnecessary horizontal whitespace, hover styling for Kybella linked image (with callouts). Made tweaks to my spam filters.
Sat Nov 8, 2025
Breakfast: leftover chicken and rice with ginger scallion sauce, hot water. Wall care: wiped stains with dish soap solution. Floor care: repaired small holes in wood flooring with an epoxy kit. Lunch: 1.5 chicken sandwiches, water. Nap. Dinner at home with Patrick: tuna salad sandwiches and potato chips. In the evening we attended Time Machine Halloween hosted by Cristiano F and Jeff C which included small bites and drinks Prohibition Punch, Studio 54 Spritz, Y2K-tini. We chatted with Caroline who introduced us to two books: Karoo by Steve Tesich and My Absolute Darling by Gabriel Tallent. We also chatted with Do, Reto, and Baptiste. Olivier encouraged us to watch the film One Battle After Another, based on Vineland by Thomas Pynchon. Others we met: Claudio, Gilberto, Andre (who attended without Nico). Gilberto and Cristiano encouraged us to watch Schitt's Creek. Sabine, Jeff C (who attended without David M). Walked home. To bed.
Sun Nov 9, 2025
Breakfast: plain yogurt with blueberries, toasted coconut, flax meal, roasted and slivered almonds; hot water. Late morning Patrick and I rode Uber to Land's End for a photoshoot compliments of our real estate agency. Janna, Melissa, and one other whose name we forgot all were great. Afterwards we enjoyed pastries and coffee and chatted a while with Brandea. Patrick and I used the restroom at the nearby visitor's center then rode Uber to Home Coffee Roasters to kill time before lunch. Patrick read from his Kindle; I read news on my phone. We walked to Hard Knox Cafe for lunch with Tony, Tadija, Phil, Drew, and Tai. Later: dinner at home with Patrick: leftovers from lunch. We watched Interview with the Vampire s2:e8 (season finale) on AMC via Netflix. Patrick went to bed. I joined a few hours later.
Mon Nov 10, 2025
Breakfast: I prepared for myself two guacamole and half egg tartines on sourdough, hot water to drink. Accidentally broke a white wine glass while drying it. Swept the outer stairway, the sidewalk and front of house, the street, the patio, and the balcony in preparation for forthcoming rain. Sanded the metal door number and outside door handle of the lower entry door. I used 400 grit for the number and 100 grit for the handle. Lunch: I prepared for myself Maruchan chicken instant ramen but as a veggie stir fry instead of a soup: napa cabbage, shiitake mushrooms, red onion, green onion, Dorot ginger, corn from frozen. Hot water to drink. Removed paint splatters from the primary bathroom sink drain then from a few places on the flooring upstairs. Rode Uber with Patrick to High Horse (582 Washington St) where we thought we might get a drink before dinner but it felt stuffy inside and I wanted someplace different. We walked through Transamerica Redwood Park then ended up at the bar at Bar Sprezzatura which impressed us with its lovely design, tasty drinks, and friendly staff. Sbagliato della terra ($21) for Patrick, spritz del colosseo ($20) for me. We received a complimentary tasting of the olive oil liqueur that was in my drink, which I did not like alone but Patrick enjoyed. Afterwards we walked to dinner at Bix. Cocktails: sbagliato for Patrick, La Floridita daiquiri for me. We shared starters: dungeness crab croquettes ($17) and shrimp cocktail ($20). Mains: Patrick had lobster spaghetti with calabrian chili sofrito, tarragon, and roasted sunchokes ($49); I had American Wagyu New York steak with petite king trumpet mushrooms, porcini jus, and celery root espuma ($64). Wine with the mains: Patrick had a glass of trebbiano ($16); I had a glass of tempranillo ($14). For dessert we shared what they called a warm chocolate brioche bread pudding with hot fudge and chantilly ($14). It seemed more like warm chocolate cake to us, but tasty nonetheless. All food, drink, and service by Jon K were excellent. This was the first time I had sat upstairs. Rode Uber home.
Tue Nov 11, 2025
Slept in. Breakfast: plain yogurt with blueberries, toasted coconut, flax meal, roasted and slivered almonds, mexican vanilla, local honey; hot water. Lunch with a subset of The Syndicate at Hot Johnnie's. In attendance: Emery, Andy M, Scott T, Scot B, Ray F, and Dan. I met Dan for the first time. I had a pork shoulder sandwich on brioche bun with waffle fries and ketchup, can of Coca Cola. I stopped at Cliff's Variety on the way home to purchase more brass quick-connect garden hose connectors. While Patrick napped I installed said connectors onto garden hoses and faucet spouts. Updated medic alert info sheets. Chatted briefly with Michael about the light switch not working in the garage. Patrick and I identified items in the garage to give away, attempt to sell, or donate. Dinner at home with Patrick: pappardelle with porcini and white truffle oil, hot water. We rewatched Moonlighting s3:e6 Big Man on Mulberry Street on Hulu then YouTube then Loot s3:e6 on Apple TV+. Patrick went to bed. I joined a few hours later.
Wed Nov 12, 2025
Breakfast at home: one-egg scramble with shiitake mushrooms and red onion on cheddar on sourdough toast, hot water. Installed an occupancy sensor switch in the primary bedroom closet but found that it didn't work as I needed it to. The switch is on the inside of the closet on the left and I was hoping that opening the right side of the closet and waving my hand would trigger the light, but it did not. Continued working on the Recharge Medical dev website all day: set up blog structure, created first blog page, set up blog index page, created second blog page, added featured images, and styled throughout. At a break I removed paint splatters from certain areas of the hardwood floors and the sliding glass doors with a razor blade. Vacuumed dry crumbs from the spill tray in the Viking oven. Lunch: I prepared for myself whole grain spaghetti with leftover marinara to which I added sauteed shiitake mushrooms and diced celery and a tiny portion of leftover pappardelle from last night. Hot water to drink. Vacuumed portions of the upper level. Reinstalled the DVD player in the media cabinet. In the afternoon I snacked on corn nuts. Dinner at home with Patrick: beef burgers on toasted brioche buns with lettuce, tomato, and sliced cheese with French fries; hot water. We watched various videos then SNL s51:e5 on YouTube. I processed dirty dishes and cleaned the kitchen. Continued web work a while then went to bed.
Thu Nov 13, 2025
Breakfast: plain yogurt with blueberries, toasted coconut, flax meal, roasted and slivered almonds, mexican vanilla, local honey; hot water. More epoxy floor repair. Attended to leaks discovered during today's rain by the sliding glass doors. Attended to the clogged balcony drain with a plunger. Cleaned the bathroom, cut my hair, showered, cleaned the bathroom. Lunch: leftover whole wheat spaghetti with leftover marinara which included one leftover ravioli, hot water. Continued working on the Recharge Medical dev website: changed my mind and undid some styling I had put in: hover and focus behaviors on links that included images. Spam management. Purchased new toilet plungers after realizing there are different plungers for toilets than there are for sinks and bathtubs. At dinnertime Patrick and I walked to La Taqueria to find a very long line. We instead walked to Bottega. We waited just inside the entrance. There was no one at the host station. Several employees walked past us over the next two or three minutes but none greeted us. Finally I spoke to one, and within the next two minutes we were finally greeted and seated. Wine: Patrick had a glass of Montepulciano ($12), I had a glass of Sangiovese ($12). Appetizers: we shared caesar salad ($12) and three arancini ($14). Main: we shared pizza salsiccia ($22). Dessert: their version of a millefogli ($11). I thought all food and drink were delicious. Patrick did not like that the millefogli had been refrigerated, so it was missing its crispness. Service by Giovanni at outdoor table 7 was very good. $92.67 before a 20% tip. Walked home.
Fri Nov 14, 2025
Breakfast at home: two-egg fritatta with diced tomato, spinach, red onion, and diced link sausage; half banana; hot water. Continued working on the Recharge Medical dev website all day: hover and focus behaviors on links that included images. Put three Korky BeehiveMAX Hideaway toilet plungers into service. Before doing so I removed a label by hand then removed remaining residue with GooGone. I also used my Dremel-like tool with a cylindrical sanding attachment to remove a sharp point in the top of the handle from the plastic molding process. Lunch at home with Patrick: last night's leftovers from Bottega. Swept the outer stairwell of dark clay that appeared after yesterday's rain from the first entry landing down. Patrick and I plunged the empty drains on the balcony. Two drains were obviously connected, so I had him hold one plunger over one while I plunged the other. We did this when it was not wet, and it's unclear if our efforts had any effect. Patrick held the ladder while I installed an Intermatic EK4336S photoelectric light switch above our garage door which controls lights above the garage door. It replaces an Intermatic K4321. I connected black to black, red to red, and white to white, but when we tested it the EK4336S blinked off and on repeatedly. This indicates a wiring error. I turned the power off, swapped the red and black wires, and now it works as expected. Later Patrick and I walked to dinner at Tanglad. Crispy spring rolls to share. Patrick had chicken pho and water. I had five-spice chicken with garlic noodles and thai iced tea. On the walk home at Market and Castro we encountered Brian and Kelly who were in town a few days on their way to Australia. Our walking path took us literally right in front of them, and I stopped and turned and recognized them. We chatted a bit before inviting them to see our new place. We gave them a tour then sat in the living room and caught up. We talked about appliances (Viking ranges, Sub-Zero refrigerators), home maintenance, powder rooms, bars in Seattle, food, Tim, Australia, Jenn, Chris and Nate, and more. After a while they left to meet a friend for dinner.
Sat Nov 15, 2025
Breakfast at home: one fried egg with sauteed diced half tomato and one chopped pork link sausage, one hash brown from frozen, one slice of sourdough toast with salted butter, hot water. More epoxy floor and dining table repair. For lunch, Patrick and I walked to Zona Rosa, but they were closed. We ate instead at La Tucan: pollo asada super burrito no rice with pinto for Patrick, cali burrito for me. I could eat only two-thirds of mine. Included tortilla chips. Melon agua fresca for each. We walked to Mollie Stone's for a few grocery items, and we noticed Zona Rosa was open. Walked home. I documented yesterday's installation of the Intermatic EK4336S photoelectric light switch. Continued working on the Recharge Medical dev website all day: finished hover and focus behaviors on links that included images. In the afternoon I sanded the metal door number and outside door handle of the upper entry door. Later I got on the ladder to inspect outside above the sliding glass doors to see if I could see where our leaks might be, but I couldn't tell anything for certain. I wanted to put in place a temporary fix to test whether the source of the leaks could be identified, but it was already starting to rain, and I couldn't be certain that any test I put in place would be effective, so I abandoned the idea for now since we have a few days of rain ahead. We recently discovered that the Toto toilet in our half bath has a damaged tank lid, and I identified the model and ordered a replacement. Did a bit of shopping for replacement toilet levers since the one in the half bath is in a corroded condition and the others on the lower level toilets don't have a feel of quality to them. Dinner at home with Patrick: delivery from 4505 Burgers and BBQ: fried chicken sandwich for Patrick, cheeseburger for me, we shared an order of fries with ketchup. Hot water to drink. Weeded browser bookmarks. Patrick spent much of the day preparing for a dinner party tomorrow night. Had planned to go out tonight, but instead fell tired due to poor sleep last night and went to bed early.
Sun Nov 16, 2025
Slept in. Late breakfast: leftover one third of yesterday's cali burrito from El Tucan. Cleaned, vacuumed, and tidied. Dried and folded laundry that Patrick had put in the washer earlier. Walked to the hardware store to pick up an online order. Encountered Sonny along the way returning from the gym. Hardware store pickup was fast and easy despite a seemingly long line at the registers. On the walk home I encountered JY going to the gym. Along the way I stopped to pick up a sandwich at Rossi's Deli. On the walk home I encountered Tim and Tom. We chatted about the day's plans and hosting dinner parties and holiday parties. Home. Lunch with Patrick: we shared a roast turkey and swiss on sweet roll sandwich. Afterwards I cleaned the outer stairwell, using for the first time three 25-foot hoses connected with brass quick connectors. One of the two joining connectors leaked, but I resolved that with teflon tape. Patrick had been in the kitchen all morning. I helped with his meal prep and washed dishes. Dinner party with Patrick, Adrian, Jonathan, Mark H, and Tommy H. We had been planning this for a while and were unable to add more people on short notice. Patrick prepared kale and butternut squash salad with maple cider vinaigrette, Commander's garlic bread, meatballs and squared spaghetti in red gravy, and caramelized almond cake. We drank Imagery wine and talked about politics (Nancy Pelosi, Scott Weiner, Saikat Chakrabarti), cooking, cooking shows including The Great British Baking Show, drag shows, comedians (including John Mulaney and Louis C.K.), home maintenance, past friends and acquaintances, how we all met, Adobe, Aldus, Canva, musicals, heart health, and more. Patrick and I cleaned. Patrick went to bed. Installed computer and device updates. Around 10:50 p.m. it started raining, so I took steps to minimize potential water damage from known leaks.
Mon Nov 17, 2025
Leak watch: no leaks. I started laundry: bed sheets and pillowcases. Breakfast: leftover whole wheat spaghetti from four days ago. All day I sanded the marble countertop in the primary bathroom. At lunch I took a break. Sam came over, and he and Patrick and I ate leftovers from last night's dinner. I continued sanding. For dinner Patrick and I ate leftovers: leftover chicken pho from Tanglad, leftover roast turkey and swiss sandwich from Rossi's, leftover salad from last night's dinner. Afterwards we played a game of Finders Seekers and completed it after reading a lot of the hints. To bed early.
Tue Nov 18, 2025
Woke to an internet outage where the problem lie with the service provider. Breakfast: a slice of leftover caramelized almond cake, hot milk with a splash of coffee. Continued working on the Recharge Medical dev website all day: added more blog posts and began translating them, removed outdated content from live site and inserted appropriate redirects. Outage resolved around 9:00 a.m. Lunch at home: leftovers. In the afternoon Patrick napped. Dinner at home with Patrick: BBQ pulled pork sandwiches with shredded lettuce, tomato, and a side of potato chips; hot water. Tried to nap but only rested instead. Later Patrick came to bed. I went to underwear night at Beaux. They did a great job creating the right environment, but I counted only two or three people who weren't staff who chose to go in underwear. I was prepared to do so, but with no critical mass, I decided against it. After around 75 or 90 minutes I left, wandering from bar to bar seeing what was happening, and it wasn't much. Home late.
Wed Nov 19, 2025
Breakfast: two-egg omelette with leftover pulled pork, diced red onion, shiitake mushrooms, and spinach. Continued working on the Recharge Medical dev website: added more blog posts with translations. Lunch: tonkatsu-flavored ramen with spinach, chopped napa cabbage, sliced carrot, diced red onion. Swept the lower stairway, the sidewalk, and the gutter. Partially cleared the nearby gutter grate which had nearly been matted over with mud and rocks and leaves. Removed old caulk from the primary bathroom sink where it meets the wall. Removed grime and paint chips from tile and cabinets in the primary bathroom. Dinner at home with Patrick: focaccia margherita pizza. Trash management. Dessert: TJ's toffee chips. We watched Loot s3:e7 on Apple TV+ then SNL s51:e6 Glen Powell on YouTube.
Thu Nov 20, 2025
Breakfast: plain yogurt with blueberries, toasted coconut, roasted and slivered almonds, mexican vanilla; hot water. Home maintenance all day. Removed the half bath toilet tank lid which had some big chips alongside one edge and replaced it with a new lid which looks and fits perfectly. Applied tile grout and silicone sealant along the primary bathroom countertop edges. Foot care. Cleaned the soles of my heated slippers with Dawn PowerWash. Installed a self-closing door hinge on the half bath door. After we moved in, I had installed a hinge pin door stop on the middle of three door hinges. I removed this door stop and moved it to the lowest hinge. Then I removed the middle hinge. The new hinge didn't fit the cutout exactly; it was off by about 2 millimeters on one side. It didn't make sense why this difference existed, but I could see no way to resolve it except to chisel away 1.75 inch × 2 mm, and I did this on the door rather than the door frame. I chiseled with a tiny flathead screwdriver because I didn't have a chisel. The cuts did the job, but it didn't look very clean, so I used my Dremel-like tool with a circle saw attachment to clean it up. The hinge then fit, and I installed it and adjusted its tension. It works! Last thing to do: The new hinge had corners that were more rounded than the old hinge, so I filled the gaps with white wood putty. It was tricky cleaning after the putty application so that the hinges did not have wood putty on them and without disturbing the putty that was in the correct place. At one point I used a needle to scrape wood putty from a screw hole and from a screw head. The chiseling accidentally removed a tiny part of the door that was exposed and could be seen when standing in the half bath, so wood putty was needed there as well. The new hinge does make a squeak or squeal sound when the door autocloses from 6 inches or less open, but it's not so bad that I need to return it. Listed the old, chipped toilet tank lid for sale online. Lunch: Maruchan instant yakisoba to which I added sliced napa cabbage; water. Later, dinner at home with Patrick: penne with cannellini beans, red onion, and fennel-almond pesto, hot water. Dessert: earlier today Patrick made orange amaretti, which we ate with shots of Bailey's on ice (Patrick) and Kahlua on ice (me). Afterwards we watched Prehistoric Planet s1:e3 on Apple TV+ then 44 minutes of Atsuko Okatsuka: Father on Hulu. Patrick went to bed. I processed dirty dishes and cleaned the kitchen. Late snack: TJ's corn nuts, one dark chocolate toffee chip, salted cashews, water. Later snack: one slice of dried peach, water.
Fri Nov 21, 2025
Breakfast: one-egg scramble with spinach, diced tomato, and shallots on focaccia herb slab, hot water. It has been two months since Apple released macOS 26 Tahoe, and I attempted to see if it was safe to install, but Adobe has released no information at all about compatibility with its apps. It's compatibility page doesn't mention Tahoe at all. So I decided to wait two more months and check again. Research for purchasing a pressure washer. Tried to nap but rested and didn't actually fall asleep. Patrick and I just missed the bus by a minute, so we instead walked to dinner at Otra (682 Haight Street). It was about a 12- to 14-minute walk, faster and easier than I had imagined to get to Haight Street. Cocktails: mezcal margarita ($14) for Patrick, old oaxacan ($14) for me. We shared two fried cod tacos with one side of rice and beans ($22) and two pork al pastor tacos without rice and beans ($15). Dessert: buttermilk churros ($8). Food and drink menus here seem very well considered. There's a large mezcal menu and flight offerings. All three desserts (the other two were toasted coconut flan and tres leches cake) were $8 each, which is notably less expensive than other comparable restaurants in San Francisco. Service by Jenny V and the entire team was excellent. $94.34 after a $15 tip. Walked home, encountering much nightlife along Divisidero Street. We watched the remainder of Atsuko Okatsuka: Father on Hulu then YouTube. Patrick went to bed. I continued watching YouTube a while then went to bed.
Sat Nov 22, 2025
While my morning script ran, I encountered Apple Shortcuts error "Please choose a value for each parameter in this action." The affected action was one that was working fine and I recently modified it to add "Time is before 06:00" to an if condition that had already included "Time is after 20:00". There appeared to be nothing wrong with what I added. After a few minutes, I deleted "Time is before 06:00" and readded it exactly how I had it before, and now the shortcut works as expected. Apple Shortcuts also sometimes fails to use the voice specified in the action. For example, I have all mine set to Aaron but sometimes it will use Samantha instead. Breakfast: biscuit from frozen with chicken sausage patty from frozen, hot water. Everything cooked in the microwave and tasted decent—a very fast breakfast. House chores: laundered and dried microfiber towels, washed sliding glass door exterior windows, removed splattered paint and other residues and even smeared silicone sealant from sliding glass door exterior windows. Lunch: I prepared for myself a black forest ham sandwich with cheddar, baby butterhead lettuce, mayo; side of Patrick's fries leftover from 4505 Burgers and BBQ. Sanded our mailbox flap on the garage door. Later we met Tony, Phil, and Drew at an outside table at Copper for drinks, tater tots, and french fries. We talked for a few hours. Patrick and I returned home. Too full to now have dinner, we had microwave butter popcorn while watching The Roses on Hulu. Patrick went to bed. I joined a few hours later.
Sun Nov 23, 2025
Repaired one small pit that I had missed earlier in the primary bathroom marble countertop using epoxy. Breakfast: granola with sliced banana, plain yogurt with blueberries and cinnamon, hot water. Began working in the living room with the ironing board as a makeshift desk but with a dining chair instead of standing. I switched to this after also trying sitting on the couch and putting the laptop on books on the coffee table, which seemed to give me trouble with my back. Continued working on the Recharge Medical dev website all day: added more blog posts with translations. Lunch at home with Patrick: prepared sliced chicken breast which I fried with shallots in pita with hummus and baby butterhead lettuce and thinly sliced tomato; water. The epoxy from this morning had cured, so I sanded it by hand, and the repair turned out well. Trash management. Later Patrick and I walked to dinner at Wasabi Bistro to meet Remi and Jesse who were in town for a few days and whom we hadn't seen since February 28, 2024. We did not know they offer $10 all-you-can-drink alcoholic drinks within 90 minutes, which seems like a great deal. Afterwards we stopped at Hot Cookie for cookies to go then we all walked to our place. We gave them a tour and sat at the dining table with milk to go with our cookies and chatted. After a while they had to leave because they needed to work in the morning, so we said our goodbyes. Another fine evening. To bed.
Mon Nov 24, 2025
Breakfast: plain yogurt with blueberries, toasted coconut, roasted and slivered almonds, flax meal; hot water. In the primary bathroom I reapplied a line of grout because I noticed that the grout I applied four days ago had cracked. Spot vacuumed upper and lower levels and stairs. Continued working on the Recharge Medical dev website most of the day: added more blog posts with translations. Midmorning snack: cured ham on slice of multigrain bread. Lunch at home: I prepared for myself brown rice udon noodles in a stir-fry with napa cabbage, shallots, spinach, carrot, garlic, and soy sauce. Hot water to drink. Polished the marble countertop in the primary bathroom. More web work. Dinner at home with Patrick: frozen pizza with herbs and cured meats, hot water. We watched YouTube. Patrick went to bed. Weeded browser bookmarks. I joined a few hours later.
Tue Nov 25, 2025
Breakfast at home: I prepared for myself two hash browns from frozen, two small pork link sausages from frozen, and a two-egg veggie scramble with diced zucchini, celery, white onion, green onion, parsley. Continued sanding the mailbox flaps. Sanded the metal house numbers, changing them from dark brown to shiny gold. Trimmed creeping vines away from the garage door. Confirmed that the garage door opener has LED light bulbs. Swept in front of the house: driveway, sidewalk, street. Lunch at home: yesterday's leftover brown rice udon noodles, cold water. Continued working on the Recharge Medical dev website: shortened slugs. Dinner at home with Patrick: delivery from Perilla via DoorDash: five-spice chicken vermicelli for Patrick, five-spice chicken with garlic noodles for me, we shared imperial rolls. We watched Loot s3:e8 on Apple TV+ then we began rewatching Wicked: Part 1 on Amazon Prime Video. Patrick went to bed. I unloaded photos from my iPhone 16 Pro. To bed late.
Wed Nov 26, 2025
Breakfast at home: biscuit from frozen with pork sausage patty from frozen with a quarter of a slice of cheddar cheese, hot water. Identified new mailbox numbers and a plan to install them. Many months ago I purchased an Oxo Good Grips Compact Dustpan and Brush Set online. It arrived with a damaged lip. But the big problem was that I was unable to remove the brush from the pan. Eventually I was able to after using a significant—and dangerous—amount of force. I submitted a request to return it, and the response was that my money would be refunded but I could keep the item. I decided then to give it away or throw it in the trash. It sat in our laundry room for months. Today I used a Dremel-like tool to wear down the plastic nubs that held the brush in place, and now it operates more as I expect. The lip doesn't seem as damaged as I first remember, and lips on dustpans wear down eventually anyway. So I'm keeping it for now. Financial accounting work for the HOA: began process to create a separate bank account, attempted to resolve access issues with a utility but failed and then gave up because their website is so awful. Ordered a pillow insert for our ruched pillow in the bedroom. The one it has is smaller that it ought to be. The sizings for these are not precise, so I'm ordering larger than needed just in case. Continued working on the Recharge Medical dev website all afternoon: added another blog post with translations. Attended an economics webinar. Dinner at home with Patrick: delivery from The Little Chihuahua via DoorDash: watermelon mint agua frescas for both, Patrick had a TLC burrito (flour, chile verde chicken, refried pinto beans, no cabbage salad, no mucho chile salsa), I had enchiladas (carnitas, smothered red guajillo sauce, refried black beans). We shared tortilla chips with pico de gallo. The chips were at the early stage of stale, but I didn't complain to DoorDash about it. The red sauce on my enchiladas was not spicy. There was something occasionally spicy in the pico de gallo, but I was able to tolerate it. Afterwards we continued rewatching Wicked: Part 1 on Amazon Prime Video until 50 minutes remained. Patrick went to bed. Continued working on the Recharge Medical dev website: styling minor fixes, added the sitemap html page then styled it.
Thu Nov 27, 2025
Breakfast: leftovers from last night's dinner, hot water. Housecleaning: vacuumed, cleaned the primary bathroom tub and shower glass. Prepared for Thanksgiving luncheon. Patrick has been cooking for the past several days. Our menu: roasted maple-glazed turkey breast with cider gravy, buttermilk drop biscuits, roasted carrot soup, shrimp-stuffed mirlitons, green beans almondine, buttery corn-on-the-cob with chives, pumpkin pie with whipped cream, bourbon pecan pie with whipped cream. To drink: sparkling waters. A month ago we weren't sure if Mom would be able to make it up the stairs after her fall in late May, but she did great. Simmone was a maybe for this event and ultimately did not make it. Patrick and Sam dropped off leftovers at her place after dropping Kerry and Mom at home. I processed dirty dishes and cleaned the kitchen. Nap. Dinner at home with Patrick: Thanksgiving leftovers. Afterwards we finished rewatching Wicked: Part 1 on Amazon Prime Video. Patrick went to bed. I continued watching YouTube a while before going to bed. I processed dirty dishes and cleaned the kitchen.
Fri Nov 28, 2025
Breakfast: Thanksgiving leftovers, hot water. We had plans to see Wicked: For Good tonight, but our plans changed because Patrick came down with a cold, and we did not go. Cleaned the secondary bathroom, cut my hair, showered, cleaned the secondary bathroom. Shopped online for gifts and for clothes for me. Lunch: turkey sandwich with baby butterhead lettuce, tomato, cheddar, and mayo and a side of tortilla chips with The Little Chihuahua's too-spicy pico de gallo. While Patrick napped I tested the new pressure washer on the balcony. It seems to work well clearing grime from wall surfaces and grout in the slate tile flooring. While working the drain plugged again and so I used the pressure washer on the drain. Sometimes it would clear and then a moment later become plugged again. Other times the pressure washer wouldn't clear it at all. It's a mystery still. But looking inside it seems obvious something is clinging to the inside of the pipe and reducing its throughput by more than half. I previously thought it was impossible to remove the grate covering the drain because it looks like grout or cement was sealing the edges and some of it got inside the head of one screw, but I'll need to try again. Another day, though. Later, dinner at home with Patrick: delivery from Gai Chicken Rice via DoorDash. Patrick had lean gai with hainan ginger onion sauce with extra soup and no habanero; hot water to drink. I had gai noodle soup with chicken no habanero and a side of broccoli and a thai iced tea. All food and drink were delicious. Afterwards we watched Moonlighting s2:e4 The Dream Sequence Always Rings Twice on Hulu. Patrick went to bed. I stayed up shopping for clothes online.
Sat Nov 29, 2025
Breakfast: Gai Chicken Rice leftovers from last night. Folded laundry that I had washed yesterday. Continued working on the Recharge Medical dev website all morning: added more blog posts with translations. Lunch: pita with chicken breast, hummus, baby butterhead lettuce, tomato; side of leftover corn on the cob; hot water. Dinner at home with Patrick: I prepared for us quesadillas with chicken breast, grated mixed cheeses, guacamole, sour cream, leftover pico de gallo. Hot water to drink. Dessert: we shared a slice of leftover pumpkin pie. Afterwards we watched another recap of seasons 1 through 4 of Stranger Things then Stranger Things s5:e1 on Netflix then various YouTube videos. I processed dirty dishes and cleaned the kitchen. Patrick went to bed. I joined a few hours later. We had plans to attend a Friendsgiving at John and Gary's, but our plans changed because Patrick came down with a cold, and we did not go.
Sun Nov 30, 2025
Breakfast: plain yogurt with sliced whole banana, local honey, toasted coconut, roasted and slivered almonds, flax meal; hot water. Replaced a pillow insert for our ruched pillow in the primary bedroom. The pillow cover was 18 inches square. The old insert was 18 inches square and the new insert was 20 inches square. All dimensions mentioned are what the manufacturers specified. This slight difference is what changes a pillow's mood from slightly sad to just right. So the lesson is that you sometimes need to choose a larger size for it to look correct. Spent about two hours removing the drain cover to the left (east) drain on the balcony. Removing the drain grate revealed that the drain was severely clogged with some kind of hard organic matter. I could chip away at it with a flathead screwdriver, but it really just needed to be entirely snaked since there was no way to know how far down it went. This is something the home warranty might cover, so I stopped working on it. Lunch at home: I prepared for myself farfalle with Better Cheddar cheese powder sauce with carrot, white onion, green onion, zucchini, and parsley. Hot water to drink. I processed dirty dishes and cleaned the kitchen. Trash management. Photo management. Patrick and I moved the Christmas tree and decorations from the garage to the living room but did not yet unpack them. Dinner at home: I prepared grilled cheese with cheddar, chives, and pear balsamic jam. Hot water to drink. We watched Stranger Things s5:e2 on Netflix then YouTube then Prehistoric Planet s1:e4 on Apple TV+. Patrick went to bed. I joined a few hours later.