Travel Day

Todays paper was just as I predicted all week. Lousy. Light on info, light on entertainment, light on sports. Under ten minute read. Ghastly. That might describe it.

Emily is leaving for Sacramento in a few minutes. She has a yoga event to go to with sister Dee. They enjoy these things together. On the way, a little shopping must be done. Some Christmas, some household. There is a very short porch until the holidays are here. We would like to get ready and be ready. I even called our son Michael to find out what he is doing at Thanksgiving and Christmas. We need to know. He would never say and just show up when he wants and leave whenever he wants. He has no concept of planning. I would also say he doesnt care. Difficult to ascertain, he does not talk much. Everything happens between his ears and is seldom shared.

Anyhow, I called him today to discuss the holidays and what he planned on doing. We want to get ready. And, I need to discuss what came of his watch repair. He shipped it to me for repair because the clasp broke. And its a Rolex, gift from grandpa, and fixing a Rolex costs a fortune and he does not want to pay. Shocking. He cant afford it on a students salary. Lol. But he needs to hear about it. I wonder if he will call back? Its as if he has forgotten how to make a phone call.

In the meantime I am going to the hardware store for a specialty bulb. Then time for mow lawn and sweep driveway. Oh, joy! Gotta keep the streak going. Emily will be back 430 and we can head out to Emeryville for dinner.

I just finished two hours of mowing and pushing broom (no 8×10 four bit room) and Im kinda tired. The sweeping is murder, the dustpan pick up of all the piles is insane. Mowing, not so bad. Winter sucks because of all these damn leaves and branches. The mess is never ending. Next place, no real yard yet so no clean up. I wont be needing a very large riding mower. Thats a bonus.

While I was out working, the restaurant called to confirm my reservation. Just wanted to be sure we were coming. I have never had that happen. I figure they need business or they are so full they are looking for gaps. Crazy. But no problem, I am confirmed.

Well, outside work is done. Had a light lunch at 4 oclock and toodled around the house doing laundry and other crap. Emily got home around 430. We both changed for dinner and managed to get out around 5. Turns out thats a good thing. The normal 45 minute drive was an hour and 40 minute drive. Traffic everywhere. Lovely. We ended up calling the restaurant to say we were late. Worst part of the trip, I had to drive. This is normally Emilys job, and she is fantastic. But, for some reason tonight I had to drive. Maybe she figured she would be too drunk to drive home?

We arrived near 645. Valet grabbed our car. On the way in I had said where the hell can I park? Well, valet solved it. I like valet. They do so much better of a job than the normal drunk slobs do. Hey, heres an idea: Uber Valet. Guy shows up anywhere just to park your car. Ball game, drop yourself off at the gate Uber Val takes ur car. Airport, no more long term parking, UberVal takes ur car. A brilliant idea. Just a few issues with car insurance and bailments, etc, etc. I dont want to work on it, its a give away and the managers of the company just need to hire me and give me a 10% stake. Then Im happy.

Inside the restaurant it was so LOUD. Salsa band going crazy and large crowd in the bar salsa dancing. I say large, they filled the bar. You could not hear yourself think. It was loud where we sat in the back. It did quiet down later.

This being Trader Vics, we both ordered original Mai Tais. Its a thing. I have to say, I use his original recipe and mine are better. Oops. On my second round, i mentioned to the waitress my feelings and she brought me a slightly different version with a float of 151. That worked. We ordered a crab artichoke dip appetizer. Wow was that the bomb. And, they served it hotter than hell, my favorite temperature. Also, instead of bread, they brought some crispy flatbread and crackers with coconut peanut butter. Sweet. Original dish. I recommend it, and they bring it anyway.

The menu was not huge, so selections were not to numerous. Choose a meal, choose small bites, or luau size which may feed the whole table. But, again, not too many selections. Does make it easier. We ended up choosing individual dinners. Emily rack of lamb and I had moo shu duck. When we were done we had no room for dessert. Just coffee. I say just coffee, it was more of an Americano served with raw sugar cubes. And the cups were cups, not coffee cups. Immediately reminded me of Morocco and how they served their coffee, exactly the same. And the coffee here was excellent. Emily wants to bring Marika and maybe a larger crowd next time. If we get here in the daylight we could also wander around the marina. It is huge. Thousand boats or more. I was here two weeks ago picking up Renees boat.

We had a fast ride home, no traffic. Where the hell did they all go? I have my new FasTrak so I don’t even stop for the toll anymore. Thats gotta save at least two minutes. The trip was half the time of the drive down. Pleasant.

We got home a little after ten. And it is a school night, so watered the dogs and went to bed.

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