I meant to be back blogging, but our intarwebbery connection is all kinds of funky so I've not been able to log on enough. I'm not sure what's going on; the current theory is that there's something wrong w/the wireless adapter in my laptop, which is the pc that was used to set up the wireless for Kevin & my pc's. I hope to resolve that soon. Being w/o a connection to world wide webbery is like having withdrawal symptoms. It's not pretty.
Kevin & I had a lot of fun in San Francisco a coupla weeks ago. He had some conference to go to there for a couple of days, so I tagged along and we added a couple more days. We got there Tuesday afternoon and left Saturday morning. Kevin was conferring all day Wednesday and part of Thursday, so we only had Tuesday evening, Thursday afternoon and Friday together there.
Kev often moans and groans about how I sleep in. What can I say? I'm not a morning person. I've tried and tried to be a morning person and I stink at it. I don't even mean especially early; 9:00 AM is pretty darn early for me. So anyway Kevin expressed his concern, on several occasions pre-vacation, that I'd end up snoozing the days away in SF. Well, not to worry. I did snooze in a bit on Wednesday and Thursday, but I packed our time together full of stuff.
Tuesday evening we walked down to and waddled along Fisherman's Wharf. Checked out the sea lions. Had dinner. Then dessert at some chocolate store which I can't locate on the web at the moment. Walked around some more. Then back to our hotel. Our hotel, btw, was very much businessperson-oriented. It's the one Kevin's company encourages them to use bc they have some kind of membership thingie w/the hotel, plus there's a reduced rate for the conference attendees, etc., etc.. I'd never stayed in such a focussed hotel. You go in, there are staff there at a front desk, but you can pretty much check yourself in at a kiosk. The rooms are very small and very utilitarian. Double bed. Shower, no tub. Our view was of an alley; I doubt other views were much better. Desk with all kinds of hookups. Fridge with bottled water and a bottled water station with refillable plastic bottles on each floor. A lounge area with pcs and printers. Wireless everywhere. Sun deck on the roof. Small gym. Separate entance to the restaurant next door. Even though it was very streamlined and businesslike, I kinda liked it. You come, you go, you do your thing, you call the guy at the front if you need anything and they take care of it, etc. I like that, which is weird bc I also like staying at cozy little B&Bs. Anyway. Moving on.
Kevin conferred all day next day, all through dinner. True to my nature, I slept in a bit. Before I headed out that day, I called the Marine Mammal Center that oversees the care of the sea lions at Pier 39. The day before when we had been watching the sea lions, there was one youngish sea lion all by himself, far away from any other sea lion. He didn't move much, which wasn't unusual bc they were all lying around like lazy layabouts. But something didn't seem right with this fella. When he did move, he moved differently from the others. He moved using his rear more than his front. The others moved by raising their front and using their front appendages to go forward. This guy kinda moved like a half-inchworm (i.e., like he was half inchworm, not that he was a half-inch worm). I figured the Center must know about it bc it seemed quite obvious that there are a lot of people and agencies concerned about the sea lions, but then I thought, what if everyone wondering about that sea lion figured someone else must have said something, but no one did? So I called. And yes, they were aware of and were watching that sea lion. The woman I spoke with very kindly answered my questions, providing a little insight into caring for those sea lions. IIUC, it's very difficult to get to a sea lion that's out there on the floating docks. It's much easier if they beach themselves, but they kinda have to get themselves in a good position to receive help.
So I waddled up a big long street -- I think it was Market St. -- up to where it meets Van Ness. I was going to see a play thereabouts, but wanted to stop somewhere for a nice dinner and then stop in at the main library branch for a program before going to the play. The dinner pickings got slimmer the further up the street I went. There was always a donut or fast food place, but I was on vacation and wanted someone to wait on me, dammit. But first things first: it was early evening and it was cold. I rummaged in my tote bag only to find that I had left my coat at the hotel. I was not turning around, but figured it should be easy enough to find a place to buy an inexpensive light coat. Not true; light coats were hard to come by. I finally found a cheapo place called Gold Diggers that had about 5 light coats, one of which fit me. It didn't match and I wouldn't have bought it otherwise, seeing as I didn't like it, but it kept me warm.
I took my mismatched self over to The Market Street Grill at the Hotel Whitcomb aka the Ramada. It was pretty nice for a Ramada; looks like it's an old hotel bought up by the Ramada chain. I felt fairly underdressed, but the few others there (it was early for dinner: five o'clock) didn't look very fancy, although their clothes matched. I enjoyed my meal so much I that I decided to linger and skip the library program. I started w/a mushroom bisque that had a small piece of seared salmon and a grilled shrimp in the middle of the bisque. There was also a thin swirl of something white -- cream? -- in the bisque. I decided right away to eat a little of everything so I would have room for a little of everything. Next was a chicken pepperdalle (sp?). Wide, sturdy homemade noodles, chicken, tiny vegetable cuts, raisins (I think), and some other yummy stuff in a thin to medium white sauce. Finished up w/a nice pot o' tea and something chocolate and decadent (okay, I almost finished that). I had a table near the window, allowing me to people-watch the leaving-work crowd when I wasn't enjoying my book. I enjoyed being waited on, including the waiter flourishing the napkin onto my lap. That works.
Having skipped the library program, I did take a few minutes to waddle through the main branch. Quite overwhelming, compared to my little libraries. Then I noodled over to the theatre, which was a small affair, at least physically speaking; don't know about its reputation, draws, etc.. Small is often very nice. Pretty much every seat is a good seat, you can see the actors' expressions, it feels intimate, etc. The play, 'Take Me Out', was fun. Obviously, I'm not a big theatre person bc I hadn't heard of it even though it won the 2003 Tony Award for Best Play (along w/a coupla other Tonys). I'll further embarrass myself as a non-aficionado of the theatre by noting that one of the most memorable things about my night at the theatre was that there was NO line at the womens' restroom during intermission (me and one other woman used the bathroom during the break), but there was QUITE the line at the mens' room. Women take soooo fucking long in the bathroom. If you're peeing, just get in and get out. There's nothing to agonize over in there. You can smooth your top down over your butt once you're out of the stall and that way you can even stand up tall and straight as you look at yourself sideways in the mirror as you perform the smoothing ritual. You know what I'm talking about.
Okay, that's enough vacation chat for now. More later, but bottom line: we really enjoyed our time there, short though it was. Pictures will be up after I figure out what my freakin' internet problem is.
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