Category: San Francisco Life (2002-2005)

So my vacation finally came to a close. Now with dark tanned skin, bleached blond hair, and my luck of dark blue eyes, I have the great summer look to start the new season :)

Too bad that it’s not how it was where summer marked the beginning of a long relaxing break from school. Does working not get monotonous? I don’t see how people do it, seriously. There’s no end in sight.

Anyhow, the Mexico pages will be built hopefully within the week so new friends and old can take a peek into my latest journey.

This weekend, Andrew gave me a call as he was returning from an errand. He said, have you been outside? I said, no, I was just getting ready to go get some lunch. He said, look out your window. There’s a crazy man threatening to jump off of the Stockton Sutter Garage. So, I go to my window, and sure enough is this crazy Asian man at the corner of the garage waivering. We’re not quite sure if he was homeless, but he drew quite a crowd, closed off Bush, Stockton, up to Powell streets, just for his little stunt. He was finally pursuaded to come back to safety at about 5pm yesterday. We were watching with binoculars from my living room his final bout with the police officer.

I swear, this has been the worse season in my life for sickness. If it wasn’t stomach issues, it’s been sinuses, or strep throat, or something else. I’ve now had sinus issues for a week now, which makes going to work hell. There’s nothing worse than sitting in a stale office, when your back and neck are tight from sinus pressure. Thank goodness it’s the weekend. I’m getting excited for Mexico, I’ll leave on Friday. It’ll be so nice to relax and enjoy the sun. Work has been pretty busy. I helped with interviewing a new class of Management Trainees, and found that it’s amazing of how the process goes. What are they looking for? How much do they really know of the person they’re hiring? I think my view is pretty good for them to see, because as they may see them as employees, I see them as potential teammates, and I watched carefully how they interacted with one another, and gave full feedback to the group. I think 6 of the people I had on my list were chosen of 9.

Tonight, Andrew, his father and I, all went out to Easter Dinner. It was over in Little Italy at a great place called Moose’s. The food was absolutely a wonderful dining experience. Everything from the first salad to the decadent dessert, was such a masterpiece. If I move from SF, I will definitely be missing the wonderful foods here.

Tonight I went to see the independent film of Goodbye, Lenin. This movie was excellent! Having traveled to Berlin, I found it a great story and helped me visualize even more, what it would have been like to been in that situation. I remember when the Berlin Wall came down, yet I had no ability to fathom what it meant socially for people living on both sides. If you’re looking for a good Inde Film, this is a must see!

Get this. Three of my friends and I are eating dinner in the Little Italy district in North Beach, at a great place called Panta Rei. As I’m eating, the slowest eater, the other plates were taken off the table, and I would assume dessert would be offered as soon as I’m finished. As I continue eating the last few portions of my Risoto with Lobster, a 28-30 year old woman approaches our table.

We all looked up as she started her message with saying, “I know this may be rude, but. . .” I was so curious as to what would follow.

“but… we’ve been waiting for a while to be seated, and would you guys mind finishing up so we can sit?”

As I take the fork out of my mouth and swallow the FOOD, we all looked at one another, and I said, “Are you kidding me? Who put you up to this?”

“No one did”.

“You can’t possibly be that rude to think that was ok to ask, can you? Where are you from?!”

“I’m from Sacramento, and FYI, city people are ruder!”

“I’m from Tennessee, and I’m a sweetie, so don’t pin anything like that on me.”

Then one of the guys we were eating with said something to the effect of, “Leave. We don’t want you here cause you’re rude.”

“Well you’re rude too, @#%%##%@.”

So, after this amazing witness to the social decline of courtesy, we decided to continue our dinner, onto a free dessert for my birthday. At least it ended on a sweet note :)

So, today, I celebrated turning 25. I decided to have a fun evening at a famous restaurant with 18 of my friends here. So, we met up at 7:30, everyone was there, and we started the dinner. The food was great, it’s an asian fusion type place. The shows were hilarious. I had a permanent smile on my face the entire night. I couldn’t believe how I really looked at all the nice friends I’ve made since moving here. I got so many nice cards and gifts, that I really did not expect. Our dinner tab was a whopping $1100. After the dinner, and having fun with the show and waitresses, we went downstairs to the club. Everyone was mingling, and dancing, and drinking, and it was just a nice time. about 11 o’clock, the dance floor was emptied, and we all wanted to leave, so we decided to go to the Castro to dance some more.

Once we got to the Castro, I was already so tired that I was ready to go home! We danced and mingled for an hour or so, and then Andrew and I went to go get some breakfast. Unfortunately, we didn’t think before we went in, that the restaurant was a cash only establishment, and we had a $14 tab. So, we put down our last cash = $12, and ran out, and had to WALK the entire way home. It was hilarious.

So all in all, I rang in my 25th year with quite a social bang, and have had the best birthday ever.

I’m ready for a kitten finally. After several years of really thinking about it, and wondering, oh should I, or should I not, I’ve decided that life’s too short to go without having something you want. So, when I return from Mexico in May, I will go to the adopt a center near work, and get myself a perfect kitten.

Last night Sam came over for the Apprentice Night at Andrew’s. Unfortunately for Andrew, he has a little satan in cat’s clothing. While trying to pet/play with Scout, both Sam and I got mamed. I always joke with Andrew that Scout needs to be put down.

I’m going to get a book on how to make sure my cat is playful and kind. Don’t you just have to manhandle it from day one?

San Francisco’s on fire! This weather is unbelievable! For the past week, the weather has been so nice and warm in the city even at nights. If I didn’t love SF before, I love it now even more, because I can walk up and down the streets in the neighborhoods at night. It’s so lively, and I love just enjoying the views of the houses, the water, the bridges, everything. What a great time I’m having here! Last night, Andrew and I spent a couple of hours just wandering the streets. It was so nice. The only thing that gets in the way of these beautiful days is of course, work. Bah.

On Saturday, my grandmother of 83 years passed away. So, Sunday, I traveled back to Tennessee to attend the funeral. The funeral was to be held in Elberton, Georgia, the place my grandparents had lived for so many years. As a child, we would always travel to this very small southern town to visit them.

My grandmother had an annurism in her brain that pretty much killed her. She had already baked a cake that day and delivered to friends, and already engaged for the night for her game of Bridge. I’m very envious of being so involved as she was, and really not knowing what hit you. Because of this, the funeral became less solemn, but more a celebration of who she was and what an amazingly long, healthy life she lead.

Retruning to the South, not just Chattanooga (as that’s not as Southern as Elberton), was very interesting. There were so many things I saw that made me either chuckle, or realize what a different region of the country this is. After living in one of the best cities for dining, coming to the few choices that are available down there was tiring. I did see some funny signs: On a Taco Bell Sign, below the burrito special, it said : God is Good. Another sign said: TGIF : Thank God I’m Forgiven. But the funniest: Dogs and Cats can’t add or subtract, but they can multiply! Have your cats/dogs spayed or neutered. An Ingle’s Grocery store had a big, ‘American Owned’ on the front of the store. Too funny.

After the funeral, another thing that was quite touching to see, was the courtesy of EVERY car we passed during the procession. There was not one car that didn’t stop, nor one policeman that didnt’ have his hat off, and hand crossing his heart. It was truly memorable.

So, all in all, though my travel was long, it was great to partake in the celebration of all that was my grandmother, and I was so happy that I had come home for Thanksgiving, to see her one last time. I can only hope I’ll be so lucky to live a long, healthy life as she did.