Deuces

Having knocked off the Sunday NYT crossword in 22 minutes and 22 seconds, I’ve decided it is time to give back, so you’re getting a post.

I could start with some celebrity snark, but the Daily Beast is just making it too damn easy for me.

I was in the big city Friday night. The wife and I stayed at one of her work friend’s houses on 29th St. It was a chilly evening, and I felt like curling up on the heated bathroom floor when we got back from our outing. This consisted of a dinner at the Tonga Room with the numbers and Hotelier and their better halves, followed by a Sarah MacLachlan concert. The Fairmont was hopping with tourists and there were plenty in the Tonga Room, which some may refer to as a tourist trap, but we chose it for its locale, not its cuisine, which was OK. The wife and I stuck to straight Tanqueray, which they served up cold, strong and without vermouth, just the way we like it. Others got a cloyingly sweet margarita that they had to cut with some water and ice. I was not sitting near the Hotelier, so we didn’t have a chance to chat, and I didn’t see him at the concert either. I imagine he was quite disappointed.

It was a quick two-block walk to the Masonic to see Sarah. In a nod to the SJ Merc’s review, her show was better than chocolate. We ended up in the cheap seats as it was sort of a last-minute arrangement, but the show was excellent. Although you may be aching for a detailed review from DJ, I’ll give you an excerpt from the Merc which I completely agree with.

"During the course of nearly two hours, and running through 20 songs from more than 30 years of her stellar career, McLachlan’s voice was nothing short of exquisite, divine, miraculous, wondrous — take your pick of highly complementary adjectives, since they all pretty much work in this situation."

My wife called an Uber as soon as we stepped out of the Masonic. My plan would have been to walk to the Mark Hopkins to get away from the crowd a bit.  That was one of the several things we argued about discussed during our urban adventure.  In any case, we went to the designated Uber spot with about half of the other audience members. Lo and behold, our first two Uber requests got cancelled and we were assessed a $5 cancellation fee. My wife was adamant that she would recoup that, and I wished her the best of luck in her quest. From there a shivering DJ took over, we went to the Mark Hopkins and secured a ride home. I talked some Spanish with our Venezuelan driver but decided not to discuss our esteemed President’s position on his country.

The next morning, we ambled to Four Chairs on Mission for breakfast. I understand they usually have a line out the door on weekends, but we think lots of folks were out of town, letting us get seated right away. We almost walked out the door in a huff when we found out they did not serve cappuccinos, but we decided to stay and enjoyed breakfast. I did not peruse the bill well enough so I may have been overcharged on one item. I need to be a little more careful with the boomer cash.

The Niners are shortly against the Browns in Cleveland. Per Rich Eisen, they have not won there since 1984. I fear my pick of our home team may add to another loss to my current 0-4 record for week 13.

I’ll close with a correction on my 11/24 post. I had mentioned that I thought Toast in Town was the only breakfast option in FC. My daughter pointed out that there is and has long been an IHOP on FC Boulevard. I’ve even eaten there once so I have no excuses for my error. Even DJ gets it wrong once in a while.