Day Seventy-six: Bay area dining

I conveniently had everyone scattered all over the Sacramento area that was coming to the bay area meet us where I was staying. Well, since I was staying with my youngest daughter and her husband, synching up there was the best place because everyone wanted a tour to see the barn owls and most importantly, the canoe they refurbished.

Due to late arrivals, we got started late to my house in Pacifica. But, we went there anyway. Then rushed to have lunch from El Toro Loco so we could make it to Beach Blanket Babylon on time. This is a must see by every vistor and resident of the San Francisco Bay Area at least once. This made my fourth or fifth trip in twenty years and each of them have been worth it, although the ones paid for by my employer were cheaper. Even the two of my brothers-in-law who were able to attend were "singing" its praises.

They weren't so praising of my dining choice after the show, but I felt it was also an experience they should have. I took them to Cafe Gratitude. It probably wouldn't have been so bad for them if we hadn't had such a long wait outside the restaurant, allowing them to enhale many lung fulls of the next door's pizza smells.

Not everybody had to put on a game face. We vegans and vegetarians truly liked the food, particularly the no milk milkshakes and the desserts. While my father didn't particularly like the "live" bread, he seemed to put away the cashew butter icecream just fine.

Even though there were 13 of us at the table, I don't think it was my, or anyone else's at the table, last supper. It certainly wasn't my last vegan supper in this Life-after-Layoff.

Day Sixty-nine: Day of change

My Living Room now looks a lot more like one and a lot less like a sofa display in a furniture store hallway. To get it this way took a lot of work and a trip to IKEA with the maximum number of occupants in a Ford Ranger XLT, five. It made the Internet report of supposedly 22 miles one way seem like a lot more. We also made it more by trying to stop at an organic Thai restaurant for lunch, Sirayvah, that was only open for dinner.

We then drove directly to a completely different kind of restaurant in Pacifica, El Toro Loco. I think most of us had eaten there before, or at least food from there. It has an interesting combination of Central and South American foods. I don't know how authentic it is, but it is good.

Then we went back home and proceeded to make not only the change above, but my son and future daughter in-law, six days future, really cleaned the yard. Unfortunately, I had already filled the green bin and the green pick up is in seven days. So, what wouldn't fit in the available alternatives, are in piles along the concrete walk in my backyard. Even the zip line has been put into extra duty as a clothes line.

It was great crowding into the "in your dreams" five passenger truck. We all obeyed California's seat belt law but it was a tight fit. It was great having two of my children with their significant others. Their presence was enough of a joy in this Life after Layoff, but they made their presence into a present for a much longer joy with all the work they did.

One final note: As I dropped the state quarters I had recently received in change into the state quarter can, I could only think back and laugh at myself for continuing this tradition. My mother started "collecting" bicentennial quarters soon after they started coming out. As they became scarce in circulation, all of her children started looking for them for her. One of the ways I would find them would be to gamble at the quarter slots when they were quarter slots rather than paper slots of a quarter value. One such trip, infrequent because Marilyn didn't like to gamble and I never seemed to get away on my own (which continues even now as I have yet to go gambling even with all this supposed time I have in my Life after Layoff), I found around $20 worth of bicentennial quarters.

Marilyn saw in this two opportunities: she knew that looking for specific quarters would slow my gambling down and pulling out more quarters would guarantee that I would leave the casinos with more money. So, she had me start "collecting" state quarters for her, which had yet another benefit: she got the money. She looked on the quarter fund as disaster money. It was part of her disaster preparation to maintain a little cash should some earthquake knock out electricity, phones, ... and we needed to buy something. The quarter "collection" served double duty.

Oh, when I say collection, I don't mean one of each. I mean every state quarter that made its way into my hands, made it into hers.

(This last portion will definitely one of my entries in my Memories of Marilyn blog coming September 23, 2008.)