Thanks, i'll try to get my hands on it. When i went back to the video store they told me that returner had been checked out. and the other film(s) Ringu and The Eye were also out of stock. Looks like i'm not the only one around here trying to find good Japanese flicks.

 

Day 5: Wednesday continued

Well, i've ben doing alot of sitting around the house today trying to relax. But right now Pete (psoper) is on his way over so the three of us can go out to dinner tonight. We've got a good bottle of wine "breathing" on the counter right now just waiting to be drunk be the three of us. Christina said she would throw together a before dinner plate to snack on before leave the house, there's nothing worse than showing up to a restaurant too hungery. Then you end up (or at least I) getting filled up on bread and such. Oh but i can smell the garlic roasting in the oven behind be as the jazz (60's latin compilation) plays in the background. I hope it'll be a good night. Hell every night we share with Pete ends up being a good night. We just have so much in common, plus Christina and him have really become good friends which makes the whole thing easier. Well signing off for now but you'll hear the rest tomorrow morning.

-rich

 

I'm enjoying reading about your vacation. I grew up in the City but guess I took a lot for granted. There's a lot of things I've never taken the time to see or do and yet I lived in one of the most famous cities in the world.

I remember when the Bank of America and Transamerica Pyramid buildings were under construction. I still have a little black and white brochure that tells about the yet-to-be-completed BART. I remember Whitney's Playland-At-The-Beach and the only time you hear about this place now is in some nostalgic news article.

--
0==WW==0
"…axles of evil…" - george w. bush

 

Wingless, thanks for the link. Which i plan on looking at in the soon future. Christina was looking over my shoulder while i was on line and she was ready to check out what you posted.

Hey i knew i sound lame, but what's your name "wingless wonder"? who i've known since the day i signed up for this sight.

You guys i'm very sleepy (and drunk) right now so i'll write what happened tonight early in the morning. I hope Pete has a safe drive home.a nd is ablw to give his key to the women that is waiting for it.

Pete was a great guest and we had a great time.

see ya in the morning.

-rich

 

Oh man this morning has been hell. I've had to write what happened three different times because this keyboard is haunted and it erased over 5 hours of my life. Well after a few more hours i was able to finally get out what happened last night Wednesday. It's found just a few posts below this one.

-rich

 

good reads rich...helps me pass the boredom here at work...also you're giving me ideas of good restaurants to check out..thanx mang

daniel

 

Next time try this: get a panhandler's cup and a sign that reads "My wifes inside shopping- please help!"

I'm diggin it. I think I'm enjoying it because I'm such an anti-city person that I'd never spend that much time there myself. Mostly well written: a few typos and keyboard mistakes, but who cares? I like your observations on the city.

Mike

 

Day 5: Wednesday final (third attempt)

I woke up this morning just after 7:00 am not feeling quite right. My head was spinning and my stomach was sore. Nothing I'd call a hangover but it was obvious i had a good time last night. My clothes were thown all over the place and the table was covered with empty wine bottles.

It all started around 6:00 pm when i called Pete to see where he was on his way over to the house. Earlier Christina had put a little something together that was now on the end table (soft cheese, crackers, roasted garlic & green olives). While she did that i made dinner reservations at a little Italian place down on Union (between Laguna & Octavia) called "Luisa's" for 7:30pm. Also on the table sat a "breathing" bottle of red wine. B.V 's Reserve "Tapestry" a really go wine for about $32.00 depending on where you find it. When Pete answered the phone he said he was down by Bay St. So that gave us about ten minutes or so before he got here. But we were pretty ready. The house was clean and jazz (60's latin jazz compilation) was playing in the background.

I wanted to make sure he found the house ok so i told Christina i was going outside to flag him down when he pulled up. The weather was perfect, although i knew many people wouldn't agree with me. After all it was summertime and it should be warm outside if not HOT. Instead it was cool and foggy. I was dressed in dark green slacks with black leather dress shoes. A white t-shirt under a tan linen short sleeve shirt. On top of it all i had on a leather jacket, so i wasn't cold at all. I just breathed in the night air and tilted my head back. The wind was blowing fog over the tops of the houses no more twenty feet above me. While out over the bay you could hear the fog horn blowing every ten seconds and every so often a large ship would answer back with a horn of it's own.

Nothing sounds like a WRX. I could tell even before seeing the car it was close by. He turned the corner and pulled in front of the house. Before Pete even was out of the car he was handing me a book. One he just finished reading and the next one I'd be reading. It was "Cannonball: world's greatest outlaw road race" by Brock Yates. I was more than happy to borrow it from him. I'll bet it'll be a great read.

Inside the house we dove into the wine and snacks. Most of the conversation was about putting together a road rally that would follow the route of the famous 49 mile drive here in SF. If it was run early enough on a Saturday we may not have to deal with traffic. And it is such a famous route that we most likely have one hell of a turn out. The first bottle didn't last that long so we had to open up a second one. A good priced Pinot Noir from Edna Valley Vineyard. I've had it on many occations and for the price it's not bad.

At 7:15 i said it was time for us to be on our way. Earlier in the day Christina & I timed ourselves walking down there and it took just under twenty minutes, so if we're late by 3 minutes or so it should be ok.

Along the way we talked about the Yreka rally and why i placed so poorly. I know if we did it again i would win my class hands down. It really came down to me and my co-driver not having good communication. Just thinking about it kinda pisses me off. But i will have time in my life to redeem myself for such a crappy score.

Once we got to Luisa's restaurant we walked inside. Just four minutes late, not bad. I just didn't want to be early. Early is something i do everywhere in life. For just once in my life lets try to see how it would be to be just a few minutes late. To my suprize the place wasn't packed. Each time in the past if we happened to walk by, the place would be crowded. Man this night is going perfectly. Because it was so slow there we ended up having two waiters. One was a young man that was clearly Italian and the other was a female with blonde hair (clearly American). Both were very nice and friendly. Taking time to stay at the table and talk to the customers about whatever came up. Right away we told the Italian waiter that we would be having a "true" Italian dinner that we wanted to last close to three hours. He said he wouldn't have it any other way. Even their timing was perfect there. They neer rushed your eating and wouldn't start cooking your next course until the plates were cleared from the table. I truely felt like i was back in Italia sitting in a tiny restaurante down some back rome. Like "Restaurante 33" in Rome hidden down a side street about a half a mile from the Spanish Steps.

We started with an excellent bottle of wine. A 2000 red wine from the Tuscan region called "St. Vincenti" It was perfectly balanced and went well with the food. Our Antipasti we choise was Breschetta and Fresh mozzerella with tomatoes and basil. We desided to share the two plates and save room for the main course. Part way through the bottle of wine the girl waitress said that this was the last one in stock and that the table next to us had just tried to order one for themselves. When they were told it was the last the tried to get the waitress to come over and steel ours. Now if that's not a good review i don't know what is.

All along we talked mostly about car racing / driving and how Christina should try to be a driver on a TSD rally sometime. Her driving isn't bad but she has a problem being a co-driver because she can't read while being in a moving car. That usually doesn't make for a good co-driver.

After the first bottle was done we desided we needed a second (this is now our forth bottle on the night). I looked over the wine list again a picked a wine. A 1999 red wine also from the Tuscany region called "Terrabianca". Our waiter said that it was an excellent choise and his personal favorite wine they carried.

Then our main dishes came. Christina got the homemade raviolli stuffed with spinach. Pete got what i almost got which was the gnocchi with both a red sause and a white sause. i got a glazed veal over polenta. We did the smart thing and gave each other little helping of our plates so we knew what everything taste like. The other day when christina and i were walking down the street we bumped into the owner of the restaurant Luisa herself. She saw us looking in the window and she came up behind us and said "That's a very good restaurant. You should come and have dinner here. Afterall i am the best. No-one makes better raviolli." And she wasn't lying either. They were the best. With a close second place being taking by the gnocchi.

You may not get a chance to run into Luisa yourself at the restaurant, but you can't miss her. Every picture that covers the wall has her in it. From the days in her prime when she was just a teenager, to my marrage, to now when she's old shaking the hands of celebrities. On a scale from one to ten I'd give the place a (nine). And whould urge each of you to go there and see for yourselves just how good it is.

For dessert Pete and I had "grappa" and Christina had "lemonchello" Both hard alcohol. So as you can imagine i was feeling pretty good.

Shorty afterwards we said our goodbyes to people that seemed like our new friends (the waiters) and stumbled out into the night air. Union wasn't quite dead but it surely wasn't jumping and as we walked past bar after bar i said i wanted one more thing. So we stopped off at "Left At Albuquerque" @ 2140 union and had our final round. I had a shot of Patron Silver and Pete and Christina both had margiritas (spelling) That was good. just where i wanted to be. We were only there for about ten minutes and then it was back to climbing up the hill to the house.

This was another night to remember and it'll remain in my thoughts fro years to come. i just hope Pete had as good as a time.

-rich

 

wow did that last one kill me writing. It had gotten erased twice when i was close to being done and i had to start over. I'm just happy i got it out althoug my day is now shot

 

For the record, we are good friends, but not that close- we dove into the WINE and snacks,

and yeah it was a great dinner and very fun evening, although I have to admit to feeling a little less than my best this AM too, I blame the grappa.

 

Thanks for pointing out the mistake there Pete. I laughed my a$$ off when i saw the post. But atfer all i had been through alot just trying to type all that stuff out so i can make a few mistakes

and i don't blame the grappa forme i blame the tequilla.

-rich

 

I knew there are many spelling problems mixed into the story. But i'm moving what i've writen and placing it in "word" There i'm doing all the corrections for myself. But thankyou all for taking the time to read this. It's been fun dong it.

 

Great stuff, thanks for taking the time to share all this!

I'm taking mental notes of the restaurant recommendations because usually I just never know where the truly good eats are when i go to the city... now at least I have some pointers for Japanese and Italian places (which are my favorite kinds of food, too)!

 

Day 6: Thursday

Well just from reading above you probably know already that Thursday was a very hard day for my. First i get out of bed around 7:00 am and i have the slightest bit of a hang-over. Ok that not bad and I know i totally deserved it. Drinking as much as i did and not being sure to follow each glass of wine with a glass of water, i was looking for trouble. And od course i should have taking some asprin or something before getting into bed.

But that's not the bad part. Hell with in an hour or two i felt fine again. So there i was typing away on the computer for over two hours. Christina had just gotten up and was now sitting on the couch reading her latest book. Just over two hours of writing time had passed and i made a small spelling error that i caught. So not looking down at the keyboard i reached for the "delete" button to back over the word so i could type it again. But instead of backing up the entire screen goes plank. At first i thought taht maybe something strange happened that threw me down a few lines. Believing that was what happened i hit the same button again and nothing happened. So this is when i finally looked down and noticed that my finger wasn't on the delete button at all, but instead it was on the one just a half an inch to the right. This button is called "clear". Now my keyboard at home does not have this button. Mine only gives you a "num lock" option and not a clear. My head was about to explode. The mixer of emotions that were going through me were all bad. I either wanted to break something like this damn keyboard or just sit in a corner and shut myself off from the world.

Christina now felt very sorry for me and she said "Why don't we go out for breakfast. I'm starting to get hungry and maybe it'll help to try and take your mind off of it." She was right. Why just sit here in the house and brood over this. When i could go out into the world and complain about the people around me. "I can't believe how bad that persons driving." Or "Look at how bad that person parks, oh my god." Then there's always the one "Oh man does this old woman next to me have too much perfume on. I have to move to another table." Or a million other stupid things to complain about i hopes of trying to make myself feel better about me and the computer problem.

After getting ready, which took no time as all. Giving myself a quick "****** bath" and putting on a new pair of underwear i'm ready to go. It's a little warmer today but i still have a sweatshirt on as i hold Christina's hand as we walk down the street. Our destination this morning is one of my morning favorites anywhere. It's a place called "Rose's" on the corner of Union and Steiner. Oh my do they have good food. I've been going there for over five years and they have changed now and again, but no matter how they change it remains a wonderful place to eat.

Before i even get there i already know what I'm going to get. A breakfast pizza with a side of potatoes. Now there breakfast pizza kick SO much a$$. They are made on the thinnest of crust and baked in a wood burning stove. Topped with cheese, ham and two eggs (sunny side up). There potatoes are just as good. Large hunks of perfectly deep fried golden potatoes that had to be cooked it garlic olive oil. Because each bite is filled with the sensation of garlic. Then they spinkle the top in fresh chopped herbs.

The place looks pretty much the same inside. Yellow feux painted walls covered in modern classic Japanese art. Kinda like a comic book but done in old style Japanese painting. The people are always the same in there. Talking about music, world travels, business etc. But i have yet to walk in there and see any employee more than once. Maybe that's because they are always open and always packed.

Our waitress comes over and i order a Cafe Mocha. I love these because they come to the table in a large bowl with no handle. So you just feel cool drinking out of them. Christina orders a cappacino. Both taste perfect right now but i'm really into mine. On the side of my bowl you can see a little drip of chocolate so you know it was made with the real stuff and not just powered coco. After a long while Christina finally desides on what she's going to get and when the waitress comes over just as she's about to say what she wants i see that look on her face. She's changing her mind again. In mid sentence to the waitress so says to me "Oh why don't you order first." and then she dives back into the menu to make sure what she want's is on the menu. (* menu is very small. They with specialize in just a hand full of things and mix them up avery season. *) She ends up ordering scambled eggs and toast with a side of bacon. Which is not a bad thing. Roses does make all their own breads and their toast is wonderful.

The only bad thing about Rose's if i had to pick something is the cost of things. For lunch or dinner you would expect to pay a alot more. But when it comes to breakfast you would think it wouldn't be so much. That's not the case at here. Not that it's rediculously over priced, no it's just not cheap.

Ah, now after a good breakfast i'm ready to jump back ito writing and finish the story of our Wednesday night adventure. There i am typing away while Christina is back to her book. She says it's really good and she can't put it down. So that perfect for me. That way she doesn't have to feel like I'm ignoring her. She's happy over there. All we have to do is look up to remember that each of us is right across the room. About 75 minutes pass and i'm writing away. Not believing the story to be as good as the first one but it's not bad.

Then a wrong botton is hit and........................................ everything is gone again. What the F\/ck, ****, f\/ck ****, f\/ck etc etc etc. Now i just wanted to start crying. I give up please just let me live through this. Is the big one coming and i going to drop from a heart attack or have a stroke or better yet just internally combust.

This was the point when Christina realized we should just get out of the house for the day and do something fun. This was not an option for me anymore. I knew now that i had to stay (because i didn't want to see people because in my Irish nature i would have been looking for a fight at this point) And if i didn't finish this damn nights journal something bad was going to happen. She left me alone and took her book down to Chestnut St. to the Coffee Roasters. There she could have some peace to try and finish the novel without me being pissed off over in my corner.

There i was by myself and ready to do it all over (for a 3rd time). Thankfully i was able to get it all out. Sure it killed the whole friggin day but i got it off my chest. Out of the three drafts the last one was my least favorite but F\/ck it. I wasn't going back to do it a fourth time.

Later in the day i watched that anime "Toyko Godfathers" and cried my eyes out. Sure it was a sweet story that pulled at your heart strings but after today i just needed the release.

For dinner we got Thai take out. Just down the street on Lombard at a place called "Yukol Place" which over the years had won many SF awards and received very high scores in the Zagat's book of reviews. I walked down there and rented a few more DVD's. And to my joy "Returner" was in stock. The "Eye" was still out and they didn't carry "Brother(s)". The food was very good. We got the Todd Mon Kow Poad, Param Gai Kung and Kaeng Karee Gai. And there's left overs still in the fridge.

We walked Returner which was very good. It's like a Terimator story where the future sends back a girl to save the future. That mixed with some good gun play (Matix style) Shortly after the film it was time for bed.

talk to ya later.

-rich

 

Rich, I enjoyed reading Thursday's installment and hope today goes well.

About your special 'clear' key - what happens if you press CTRL+Z immediately after clearing the text? Does it restore the text like it does in other documents, or is it gone for good?

--
0==WW==0
"…axles of evil…" - george w. bush