Coronavirus and Construction

We got back in our house this past weekend after a week in SF, just in time to shelter in place.  In hindsight, that week of restaurant touring may not have been the best idea, but the closures started to peak this week, with six Bay Area counties announced earlier this week and the entire state yesterday. I’ll give you the daily restaurant reviews to start, since none of us will be having a nice meal out for a while.

Monday brought us to Mama Ji’s down the hill. For some reason we ordered the Hot-and-Numbing Fish, which was as advertised. It consisted of tasty white fish in a broth topped by a mountain of chili peppers.  My wife burnt her tongue, as she does not have my many years of experience eating at Henry’s Hunan.  The walk back to the house was rigorous enough, and the beginning of some geezer hip pain I’m still working through.

https://www.mamajissf.com/

Tuesday brought us to Padrecito, where we ordered two Padrecitos that consisted of blanco tequila, mezcal, lime and agave.  I can’t remember what we ate but it was pretty good, and it fortified me for the hilly walk home. 

https://www.padrecitosf.com/home

Wednesday’s dinner was at Canela on Market. It is a Spanish restaurant that we went to years ago when the #1s first got their place on Corbett. Did you know that canela in Spanish means cinnamon?  Watch this space for future language lessons.  We met Son of Wig #2 and his girlfriend at Canela.  They were prompt and already seated by the time we got there.  We greeted them with an elbow bump and started our tour of the tapas menu.  We decided to limit ourselves to twelve or so choices.  The boquerones, white anchovies, brought me back to Madrid fall 1980, where I’d have them with a draft beer while standing in a small bar near my house on Paseo de Santa Maria de la Cabeza. About half-way through the meal I ordered a second bottle of wine, unaware at the time that Young Wig was going to snatch the check. I appreciate that the young man is as generous as his father, and I realize he is making decent dough at The Google, but I still think he should have let the boomer cash take care of it.

https://canelasf.com/

Our last dinner was at Takara in the Castro.  We first stopped at Toad Hall for a Manhattan and then dug into the sushi.  They have quite an array of rolls, and we had several, leaning towards the unagi.  If someone had told me when I was 15 or 20 that “Hey, you will dig chowing down on eel in the future”, I’d be troubled. I was sheltered.  I should have at least been exposed to fried calamari as a mezza italiano, but I’m grateful for my introduction to olive oil at a young age.  It is the reason I’ve always loved salad.  By the way, our friends at Takara do not have a web site.

We came back to our beloved suburb last Friday.  We spent the night with Unc and Mashie and I did Saturday night there while the wife headed back up to the city for a birthday celebration.  I brought over some Amici’s pie for pi day.  We settled in and watched Yesterday.  I stayed up past 10pm, a rarity.

We got back into the house on Sunday and immediately ran into some excitement with the water heater.  It started to flash and make loud noises.  Apparently, it was trying to light the pilot and failing.  But what the hell do I know.  I went into clueless panic mode and shut down the gas to the entire house.  Then I consulted with Unc and turned off the water heater so I could cook dinner that night.  I also sent Unc some pics of the water heater.  I had it replaced the next day and asked Unc if he’d like some pics of my new water heater, but he was uninterested.

Sunday night we watched a little of the Democratic debate, but after hearing “national crisis” and “Ebola” about ten times, I tuned out.  It looks like Joe will be our guy.  Just get that moron Trump OUT.

The construction guys were here all day yesterday but other than that we have been on our own.  I’m sure our mid-April completion date will slide out, but we have a bedroom, bathroom, kitchen as well as our array of computers in the dining room so we are comfortable.  I’ll leave out my recent grocery shopping experiences as you have all been through the same. I’m grateful that I am not compromised, at least physically. Yesterday was skype with the kids day.  They are well but getting cabin fever like the rest of us.  Hang in people!

Rainy Saturday

My wife has taken a powder to hang with her girlfriends in Monterey and I awoke to our first rain in over a month. Fortunately, I had a session with my personable trainer at 7am today.  He inspired me to write this blog.  He’s a big fan of DJ’s Detritus, so I’m sure we’ll go through this post with a fine-tooth comb at our next session.

Afterwards, I stopped at Safeway for a few items.  I went there yesterday, and it was a zoo, with at least 10-15 people waiting in the self-check line.  I got the hell outta there and got my stuff today.  It was certainly busier than the usual Saturday at 8:15am.  One guy with a mask had a boatload of paper products and bottled water in his cart.  I avoided him but still had a short wait at check out.  I hear Costco is out of tons of stuff, but Costco is the wife’s job.

I’m uneasy about the government’s response to the coronavirus but I am confident the new chief of staff will get things going in the right direction. I realize that Trump has significant experience in epidemiology, but his hunch about the WHO numbers gave me pause.  A hunch would be something like thinking #16 UMBC was going to beat #1 Virginia in the 2018 NCAA tourney.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yNfmTMdoao0&fbclid=IwAR3_40jja33yNcWOcN4_I23QT6YXYmUgZLjE7o9RP7mtWLAgTRK1LAhxqe8

Sticking with the medical theme, is anyone as upset as I am about this?  I’m not upset about this episode’s content.  I was just pissed to be reminded that this rubbish was still on the air.

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/alex-karev-fate-angers-fans-greys-anatomy_n_5e622293c5b601904ea8bc27

Tonight, I’m going over to my sister’s place to help her set her clocks back and chow down on one of her delicious creations.  We are celebrating my brother’s 65th birthday.  My brother is a lean, mean fighting machine, a solid 6’ and well under 180 lbs. He has always been hale and hearty, but it is his emotional maturity that concerns me.

The re-model project has begun.  We are bailing out Monday morning to head up to #1’s joint in SF.  If his wi-fi is not screaming at a minimum of 100MB, he will be receiving a sternly worded email.  The abatement company comes in early Monday to scrape the popcorn off the ceilings.  If we are lucky, we may be able to move back into one of the bedrooms on Friday.  If not, we have tons of friends that would love to have us come stay with them.

In addition to the indoor work, we will be having the entire backyard re-done in the next few months.  The concrete will be replaced by pavers and we will have several planter boxes instead of a lawn.  The biggest item from my perspective is the new pergola.  Ever since I was a small boy, I’ve wanted my own pergola, and now my dream is coming true.  And it will have heaters.  Every time within the last 10 years that I have broached the topic of getting outdoor heating installed, my wife would push back with “Hey, I have an idea.  If it is too cold outside, let’s go inside”.  But I’ve finally won the battle.

I called The Wolv yesterday.  He was waiting for his better half to come over for a martini.  We discussed the fine art of mixing martinis.  He is a Beefeater man, which is a fine choice.  We talked of some of the old SF days, but I became a little perturbed when he started making fun of my pergola.  We see him come July, so he’ll be able to bust my chops in person then.

Here’s the master bedroom.

Sunday Funday

I'm sitting at my dining room table where I have moved all my computer equipment.  We are beginning a remodel adventure, hopefully tomorrow.  We have cleared all the furniture from the bedrooms so we can have the popcorn ceilings scraped, recessed lighting installed, and everything repainted.  The bulk of the work will take place in the master bedroom, where we are having a new bathroom installed.  The dual sink vanity and larger shower will give us a little space to spread out.

I could blame having to prepare for this event for my one for February blog performance, but that would be disingenuous.  I have not felt the burning passion to write two or three paragraphs lately, but I can let my readership down for only so long.  So, I'll catch you up on the latest happenings.

We flew to Portland last Saturday to spend some time with the girl for her 27th birthday weekend.  We went to Great Notion Brewing and Barrel House for lunch.  I unwisely decided to have a second IPA, so I had to nap for a few hours when we returned to our Airbnb.  Dinner that night was at 3 Doors Down, a nice Italian place that the women made me trek to.  OK, it was only about a mile walk.

The next day I was charged with making macaroni and cheese for dinner for several of the girl's friends from her grad program and some Foster City folks that moved to Portland several years ago. We miscalculated the required quantities. That second pan was not really needed, so I gave the guests a plastic bag to hold open while I shoveled mac and cheese into it for them to take home.  The girl got the rest of the second pan.

We were blessed with good weather for the trip.  There was rain on Monday but that was a workday for me, so I was snuggled inside.  Dinner that evening was at La Moule, where we had eaten on our last Portland trip.  We were accompanied by a family friend who is a professor at Portland State.  The chow was good.

Speaking of good chow, we went to a Leap Day disco birthday party last night for Mrs. TCG.  Happy 16th! Oh boy, I ate too much.  The salmon sushi was killer, the chicken skewers delish, and the filet mignon sliders outstanding.  We all had our disco gear on.  I was chastised for having a t-shirt on under my Huckapoo style shirt, but I'm a little shy about exposing my bounty of chest hair.

Switching gears, there is quite a hullabaloo as concerns the royal family.  I read today that Meghan is leaving Archie back home while she joins Harry in the UK "for their last round of royal engagements".  It looks like Meghan also is trying to get a Marvel role.  What a life!  I am eternally grateful that I am an anonymous chucklehead with a few bucks in the bank, a great family and contingent of friends, and no assholes outside my house trying to snap pictures of me.

Uncle Joe took the SC primary yesterday so Super Tuesday should be an interesting day.  I read an article today from Never Trumper Rick Wilson stating that is was time for Barack to endorse Joe.  That would piss off my Bernie Bro son, but I'm going to have to agree.  It is time for that umber 239 pound+ sack of grievance and hostility to go.