They just keep getting worse
Impertinent commentary from the TSA
Remember that one of the great lies is “We’re from the government and we’re here to help”.
A woman traveling on business found the above note in her luggage upon arrival, perhaps because she had packed a vibrator. Seems the TSA isn’t only looking for weapons, they’re looking for titillation.
Spencer Ackerman wrote, regarding this foolishness:
TSA has yet to prove that its invasions of privacy have stopped a single terrorist. Would-be underwear bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab snuck explosives onto a U.S.-bound plane — precisely the scenario TSA exists to prevent — but TSA has successfully forced a disabled four-year old to walk through a scanner without his leg braces, and investigated its critics. And just this weekend, TSA failed to spot a loaded .38 in a duffel bag checked through at LAX. The new-ish TSA chief, John Pistole, says he’slooking to shake up the agency. But Filipovic’s tale is a reminder that TSA’s security professionals don’t mind letting you know what they think of the items you pack on your trip.
Don’t we all feel safer now?
Office Min
I love stationery stores. It always seems like I could have a use for everything I see there; it’s all so practical and useful. For some time, my favorite has been Office Max: I like the store, I like the staff, I just like the place.
So this week, when we needed a new computer for the office, I headed off to my favorite place. We only need the most basic, bottom of the line computer–our office worker does most of her work online; we don’t need any great computing power. Office Max had a great deal–a simple basic computer on sale for $279. this was an easy choice, then I remembered we needed to Find Meeting Room Chairs at IOF as well, so we also ordered them online.
Here’s how it went:
Me: I want to buy this computer.
Scraggly bearded skinny young sales droid: What are you going to use it for?
Me: Simple office work. I want this one.
Sbsysd: Are you going to be doing spreadsheets or databases? This is a very basic computer….
Me: I want to buy this one
Sbsysd: Do you have a monitor? Will you need a wireless mouse?
Me: I want to buy this computer.
Sbsysd: Do you have an anti-virus program?
Me: Do you want to sell me this computer or not? Wrap it up and stop trying to sell me more.
Sbsysd: I’ll do a stock lookup. Do you need a
Me: Stop selling and get me the computer.
Five minutes later
Sbsysd: We’re out of stock on this. You can order it or I can check other stores…
Incessantly trying to sell me more things is a huge pain–I didn’t need or want his advice, I wanted to buy a computer. The fact that they didn’t have one made it worse. The good news is that what I wanted was in stock in Emeryville, so off I went.
Emeryville Store
Me: I want to buy this computer.
A totally different sales droid: Sure, I’ll get it right now.
Hey, this is the way it’s supposed to work!!
Atdsd returns, carrying the box. He sets it down at the cash register, then says “I’ll be right back”, and disappears.
And stays disappeared. Minutes go by. More minutes. There is nobody at the cash registers. Then another employee appears, and I ask him where Atdsd has gone. He says to open the back door–I got the only guy who has the key.
More minutes go by. I’m drinking a Coke out of the cooler, reading the magazines. Every now and then I ask the other employee what’s happening.
Eventually, other employee breaks down and says he can check me out. Wow!! What a concept–help the customer who has been standing there for 15 minutes.
The good news is that our new computer cost $304, out the door. I never did pay for the Coke.
The bad news is that Office Max has fallen many, many degrees in my estimation. The service in two of their stores this week was execrable. I’d complain, but if anybody in management cared the situation wouldn’t exist in the first place. Heck, the guy in the Emeryville with the keys probably was the management.
The economy is bad, business is down, don’t you think companies would realize that treating the customer is the cheapest and most cost effective tool they have? I’ll probably buy my next computer at Fry’s.
Tried it again, liked it again
Back to 54 Mint tonight. It isn’t the fanciest of restaurant, and it certainly has no magic in it’s location there in the middle of a suburban shopping center facing the parking lot, but it has character. And a couple of genuine Italian guys busting their buns to make it work for you.
I don’t need to write another review, I just loved my dinner so much I want to show you a photo.
Fresh cod, cherry tomatoes, olives, capers, potato galette, sauteed spinach. It looks wonderful and tasted better.
Gail scarfed all of her lasagna. I had the caprese salad again, but then that’s what I always have. If you want good local Italian without pretense, this is the place.
Big news–if you are a local restaurant lover, at least.
Dinner tonight at Metro, our new sort-of favorite place in Lafayette. We went out with Mike Rippey and his sweetie, Gretchen.
The cute one is Gretchen. Notice how nice the patio at Metro is on a warm evening. Or a cool one, with the heaters right there.
All of a sudden, walking through the dining area, I recognize the big good looking guy in the chef’s coat. It’s Arnold, the chef at Va Da Vi. Except we aren’t at Va Da Vi. What’s going on?
Chef Arnold in his new workplace.
Yep, the big news on the local food scene is that Arnold has moved to Metro. Already the menu seems to have more small plates, his signature touch.
Mike had the beet salad–and it’s just a work of art:
Beet salad, or painter's palette?
I had the butternut squash soup, among other delicious small dishes:
Healthy soup can still taste really good.
And we ate and talked for a couple of hours. The sun set, the lights came on, the patio got even more pleasant:
I'm only slightly in love with my new little camera.
Metro was good before. Now with Chef Arnold, it may well soar to the top of the local foodies lists. Give it a try.
Fresh salmon on the hoof
Jack and Carol Scott have a cabin at South Lake Tahoe, and we spend a weekend every year playing Doop (duplicate bridge for four people), cursing the state of the nation and trying new restaurants. When I was a kid Tahoe meant either skiing or gambling. I’m too old for the former and too smart for the latter, so doop and dinner are about as exciting as I get.
This afternoon, I wanted to stretch my legs and said I was headed for the outlet mall to wander around a bit and see if there was anything I couldn’t live without, but swiftly found myself outvoted when Jack suggested going to Taylor Creek to see the running of the salmon.
If I had known about his before we left, I’d have the big camera with me. Fortunately, my new little Canon is a miracle of photographic design, so I got some good shots.
Taylor creek is on the west side of the lake, 3 or 4 miles north of the Y. The creek leads to wetlands that lead to the lake; it’s all state park, well marked with informative signs. After a 300 yard stroll looking at the pines and aspens, you end up at a gravel creekside and see some real nature in action.
These are kokanee salmon, little guys you won’t ever find on your dinner plate. They’re mostly red; the females have greenish heads, the males are a bit larger and have a humped back, which they develop just prior to spawning. If you need more fishy details, ask Lorin Waxman, he’s the fishiest guy I know.
Spawning salmon in the crystal clear waters of the creek
The waters are also filled with ducks, who follow the fish around and try to eat the eggs. They get a bit more prominence here on the blog because they are easier to photograph, and I like ducks.
Duck floating
Duck grubbing for salmon roe.
Husband and wife
Nature girls on the walk
Going fish watching was more fun than shopping would have been. We’re lucky that this is just the right time of year for spawning, we’re lucky to have friend like Jack and Carol, they’re lucky to have this funky old cabin we can hang out in and play cards. Life is good.
Walking around the town
Dinner tonight was something special–Mike and Linda took us on a walk around downtown Walnut Creek, stopping at various restaurants for a bite of the specialty of the house.
The occasion was the 14th annual “Taste of Walnut Creek”, a charity event where you buy a booklet of coupons good for a snack at 20 or so different places. The money goes to a conglomeration of churches, synagogues, community centers and the AAUW, the restaurants get a couple of hundred visitors who become potential customers, the customers get a nice walk and a chance to try out many new places for a tiny amount of money. Everybody wins.
We started out at the Walnut Creek Yacht Club, with a shrimp cocktail. They offered their own house-made habanero sauce, but I passed. Gail liked it, but she’s tougher than I am.
Shrimp cocktails at the Yacht Club--the yellow bottle is the hot sauce. Muy caliente!!
Crossing the street, we stopped at Hubcaps. They were offering both chili and chocolate milk shakes. You could have one of each or two of just one. Micky, Gail and Linda tried the chili. I, on the other hand:
A little, tiny milk shake smothered in whipped cream. Two of them just hit the spot.
Next was Massimos. We go there often, since it is just across the street from the Lesher Center and most convenient for a pre-theater dinner. To my horror, they offered ravioli. Mushroom ravioli. I could only watch as my friends risked their lives eating the diabolical fungus:
Mother tried to get me to eat mushrooms by saying they had no taste. Then why bother?, I wondered.
Massimo’s also offered half glasses of wine for $3, which is a considerable temptation for lovers of the fermented grape.
Next up was Lettuce, and butternut squash soup:
It was a lovely, balmy evening. Mike didn't really need that jacket.
Rounding the corner on Civic and then walking down to Main, we the headed back downtown, stopping at 1515, which was listed on the contents page of the book but didn’t have a coupon–somebody made a major oversight. It’s a good thing we stopped there, because they had a phenomenal lobster chowder. So good Linda enjoyed it even though it contained the dreaded “cream” she avoids so assiduously. We sat down there for a few minutes to have a glass of wine (Gail), beer (Mike), water (Linda) and Diet Coke (moi). There was some baseball game on the TV that seemed to have people’s attention.
Then came Modern China, where we had spring rolls and pot stickers:
Just your standard Chinese food, reasonably well prepared.
Next we had a bite of pizza at the Pizza Place. Since I run a pizza joint in Berkeley, I’m pretty particular on the topic, but this was good stuff.
Not exactly Fat Slice pizza, but pretty darned good nonetheless.
On to Silk Road, and a nosh of pita and hummus and chicken:
A little mid-Eastern food for the road.
The group was headed for PF Changs, but I had to hustle back to my car and feed the meter. I was parked in one of the lots managed by Regional Parking, may they be infested by the fleas of 1000 camels. Trying to catch up with everyone, I passed Tomatinos, which was offering salad and garlic rolls. I didn’t stop, because I thought we would all go there later. Little did I know that the others did stop there while I was doing my chores, and I would never ever get to enjoy the good food at Tomatinos. My heart was only a little broken……………
But PF Changs was good, and that helped to assuage the pain. We had some shredded chicken in a lettuce roll thing, and a fortune cookie. I’m apparently soon to be very rich, so you should be nice to me.
The crowds were considerable everywhere we went.
That was enough for Mike and Linda, who had parked near the theaters. So we strolled back up to Locust Street and said goodbye, as they headed for one last taste at a Coco Swirl, a frozen yogurt to finish off their evening.
Gail and I stopped at Lift for a quesadilla and some sweet potato fries, the made our last stop at the San Francisco Creamery, where we were entitled to a “junior” scoop of ice cream
Their definition of a "junior" scoop. Pecan praline on the left, vanilla on the right.
The line in front of the ice cream place was humungous, but well worth the wait.
Everybody likes ice cream.
That wasn’t every restaurant available on the tour, just the ones we had the energy and the appetite to get to. There were another 8 or 10 we missed, including McCoveys, Salvatores, Kacha, Chicken and Waffles,Tiki Toms and the Buckhorn Grill. You’d have to start right at 6 pm and race to get to all of them in one evening, and I don’t know how you’d manage to pack away all the food offered.
We considered the night a smashing success, and look forward to doing it again next year. Talk to Mike about getting your book of coupons, it’s only $30 and we easily ate more than that.
Lesher Center Gala
The Lesher Center, that big theater house at the corner of Locust and Civic, is one of the great treasures of Walnut Creek and the entire Diablo Valley. A first rate complex with 3 separate theaters hosting dozens of productions every year to suit all tastes. We see theater, ballet, opera, dance, comedy and an excellent speaker series.
Begun with generous funding from Dean Lesher, former publisher of the Contra Costa Times, the Lesher Center has been supporting the arts in this area for 21 years.
This kind of thing doesn’t come cheap, and ticket prices don’t cover the costs. Hence, the annual On Broadway gala. We were fortunate enough to be invited to go as the guests of Dick and Sally Ingram, who we know from the Ruth Bancroft Garden. In a small town like this, there are only so many people willing to be on the boards of the various organizations, and they tend to interlock quite a bit.
Sally and Dick Ingram, our hosts for the evening
Locust Street was blocked off for the evening, so a tent could be erected for the event. There were 560 people attending, eating dinner in the 75000 square foot tent.
"Horns up", I cried, and the fanfare began
We got there before 6, to enjoy the cocktail hour and check out the silent auction–these events are all about fundraising, and if you go you are expected to at least look at all the goodies they have for sale. First, though, we had to get a drink, and we found a bar but no bartender, so I retreated to form, stepped behind the counter and started mixing drinks. Gail’s white wine was easy, and I still remembered how to make a gin and tonic for Sally. Fortunately, the real pro showed up and I could go try to spend money.
Technology is changing everything–where the gala we went to 2 weeks ago had long sheets of paper to enter your bid on, here we were given an iPod with special software to make it a bidding device. You could look up any one of the items offered, see the current price and make your bid–it was all tied into a wireless network that instantly updated the auction and warned you if you were outbid on anything so you could raise your offer. It’s a brilliant system, simplifying the process and making it easier to make more bids on more items in less time with no running around. The company that does it, bidpal.com, also does the checking in at the door, getting the credit cards on file and collecting the money. I suppose they get a percentage of the handle, but it sure is a great system.
You get issued one of these when you check in. No, it doesn't play music.
Hat Day at the Club
So sometimes Vicki Chang likes to wear big fancy interesting maybe antique hats. She looks great, and it gets everyone talking.
Today, Iris declared it “Hat Day”, and asked the players to come in interesting hats. Some did, some didn’t, that’s the way it goes. Here are the photos from the ones who did, starting with Vicki and her antique:
You should always ask
My man Denny
We’re going to some fancy gala tonight, and I thought I should have a decent suit. The ones I already own seem to have shrunk in the closet, so it was time for something that fit.
Off we went last week to the Mens Warehouse, and I picked something out. Went back today to pick it up after the alterations were complete.
In the meantime, the store started advertising a 2 for 1 sale, which made me cranky since I didn’t get in on it. So when we got there this afternoon, I asked if they would extend the sale back and include me–lots of stores do this when things prices are marked down right after you make a purchase.
And they said yes. So I got to pick something else out, which was fortunate because it finally dawned on me that tonight’s affair is formal, and I’d feel like George Gobel if I showed up in a blue suit at a black tie dinner. Right there on the rack was a lovely Calvin Klein tuxedo, which is now hanging in my closet. Well, the coat is. The pants are still at the store awaiting shortening, but I’ve got other formal pants. Naturally, I had to buy a new shirt (got two on the 2 for 1 sale) and some new studs (got an extra pair of cufflinks on the sale). Still, I got out of there with a new tuxedo, shirts and jewelry for about $200, which is a steal.
It pays to speak up.
Totally Unauthorized 