Day 1744 - Depart San Francisco

Sunday, October 22, 2017

Alice and I left for  our one-week cruise out of San Francisco this afternoon at 12:30.  We took Lyft to Pier 27.  So convenient.  Our cabin is small but comfortable.  It's my kind of route, easy and relaxing.  This week we're doing all the things we want to and nothing at all...a perfect week off.

Itinerary

Day 1743

Saturday, October 21, 2017

Woke up early and got everything ready for tomorrow's cruise.  Alice arrived at 9:30 and we headed for IKEA.  She's turning her downstairs in-law into an Air B&B and wanted some ideas for the rooms.  I think she'll do very well as an Air B&B host.

We arrived in Fairfield at noon for Louanne and Chris's 70th birthday party.  It was a swell affair with lots of family, food, drink and great bonding as always.  Leo & Louanne have such a comfortable back yard.  The weather was perfect.  I ate way too much food, but I couldn't help myself.  Chris's potato salad and Louanne's coleslaw were like a seriously addictive food drug that I couldn't stop eating.  It didn't matter how many calories they were.  By the time cake and ice cream arrived, I was done.  Good times seeing my mom and her brothers together!

Day 1742

Friday, October 20, 2017

Sore all day from last night's grueling play.  Now I have a week to prepare for the playoffs.  I'm looking forward to my routine on the ship next week.

Came home, did laundry and packed up.  Went to bed early.  Hope to read a lot of material on the Grand Princess.  Weather should be perfect!

Day 1741

Thursday, October 20, 2017

Tonight was our last league night at Active Sports and I finished strong, losing only one game to Noah and winning the rest.  I should finish second in the league and will play Ramon, Noah or Carlos in the quarter-finals in two weeks.  Steve and probably Tyrone will in all likelihood round out the top three and Kirk and Ron will be seeded 4 and 5.  I think that's how it will play out.  I'm hoping to get in a lot of strength training and weights on the cruise next week.

Day 1740

Wednesday, October 18, 2017

Received the violin part to Maher's 4th today and printed off the pages.  There are some sections that will be tricky, but I think I can handle most of the symphony.  I'm really looking forward to playing in a symphony again.  It's been about 28 years! 

Chris and I talked in the evening.  He and Elizabeth leave for Fairfied tomorrow for his and Louanne's 70th birthday party.  That should be a lots of fun. 

The Harvey Weinstein stories are still coming out.  

Day 1739

Tuesday, October 17, 2017

A busy day at work today with IPD documents from start to finish.  I was so tired when I came home that after dinner I went to bed at 8:15.  That's early, even for me!

Day 1738

Monday, October 16, 2017

Racquetball in the a.m., work, dinner, relaxing.  Bed at 10.

Day 1737

Sunday, October 15, 2017

I had the day to myself, so I talked with Margaret at Starbuck's, then met Richard and Lisa.  We chatted about the NFL and their stance on taking a knee.  I think they'll do the right thing.  I spent the rest of the day cleaning up and organizing things.  Enjoyable day today.

Day 1736

Saturday, October 14, 2017

The weekend is already going by so quickly.  We did our Saturday thing, chores, food, dinner, more chores.  Next week we're on our cruise, which will be so relaxing.  I can't wait!

Day 1735

Friday, October 13, 2017

Went into work early this morning and then met with Alice and Dr. Chan at 10:45.  Dr. Chan gave Alice a complete exam and took an X-Ray to see how her hip has improved.  Her x-ray looked very good, so there was nothing to really explain why she continues to experience so much pain.  He'll write a detailed note that will override the checked box he marked last month, which will greatly help in our appeal to Alice's long term disability insurance.  I anticipate she'll be on long term disability most if not all of next year.  She's in all likelihood looking at a hip replacement.  According to nearly everyone I've talked to, these procedures are very routine these days.  Alice has a lot of anxiety about the procedure, but I think it will dramatically improve her life. 

Went to dinner with Lillian and Murry at Mona Lisa after work and that was great fun.  It's wonderful hanging out on Columbus St.  I don't do that as much as I should.  Murry had some choice Wendel stories to share that kept Lillian and me laughing nonstop.  Some things never change!  We had a nice walk back to BART and home for me by 10:15 or so.  I talked to Alice, then went straight to bed.  Tomorrow morning I'm in San Ramon for their club racquetball tournament.

Day 1734

Thursday, October 12, 2017

Tomorrow, Alice and I see her operating doctor Dr. Chan to discuss Unum denying Alice any long term disability coverage because of one checked box Dr. Chan made on a form Unum sent him.  Hopefully, the appointment will go smoothly.  I spent my lunch hour reading more Unum documents and it has been a real education seeing how these insurance companies manipulate details, omit details, and cherry pick facts to make their case to deny coverage to clients.  They will stop at nothing to make their case.  In our appeal, we will hit this unethical company with we have and scream bloody murder until Alice is properly protected and entitled to what she deserves.  If I were going through what Alice has gone through this year, there's no way in hell they'd deny me coverage.  It's another privilege that comes with being a white male.  Everything takes what you say seriously instead of minimizing and dismissing it, as Unum has with Alice.

We had our 6th league night tonight and I won the first 7 games, but ran out of gas and lost the last two.  Still, I'll take the score. I have one final regular season league night next week before the playoffs.  I played well overall and my shot selection improved.  My passing shot were accurate tonight.  I play better when I have 20-30 minutes to warm up. 

I came home at 10:30, had a quick dinner, talked to Alice, then went right to bed.

Day 1733

October 11, 2017

It was a very simple, quick birthday, my favorite kind.  I went to Alice's after dinner and we had ramon noodle before going to the movies to see the new Blade Runner film.

The tone and atmosphere were spot on in the film and Ryan Gosling is really fantastic as always.  He's consistently a great actor.  The storyline was intriguing and certainly captured the spirit of the original.  It's a long film, however, and the final third could have been trimmed a bit...it felt like an art house film in the same way The Arrival felt atmospheric and moody.  I liked the music.  All-in-all, I enjoyed the film but it did feel slow toward the end.  The conclusion was satisfying.  I need to see more films.  I don't get out as much as I used to.

Day 1732

Tuesday, October 10, 2017

Tomorrow is bulky pickup day.  After work, Justin and I helped move an old TV and old rug out into the sidewalk.  The downstairs crawl space is not pretty empty.  Studying Alice's insurance documents.  The fires in Northern California are horrendous and have destroyed entire neighborhoods.  It's worse that the Berkeley Hills fire in 1991.  It's stunning how devastating these fires have been.  I still can't believe some of the images I've seen.

Day 1731

Tuesday, October 10, 2017

Oh these fires are unbelievable, destroying entire neighborhoods in Santa Rosa and Sonoma.  SF was so smoky today.  I renewed my driver's license and took a written test in Pittsburg in the morning.  Glad that's behind me.  Some of the images of the barren neighborhood blocks are so heartbreaking.  These fires happened so quickly Sunday night.  Monday morning I could smell what seemed like a lingering barbecue smell even inside the racquetball courts.

The there's the Hollywood fire with more women coming out about Harvey Weinstein.  What a monster.  Talented monster, but still a monster.  His company is no more.  He was the company, so it's done. 

Day 1730

Monday, October 9, 2017

This morning when when left for racquetball, the air was so smoky I thought someone still had a barbecue going.  And at the club, the air was so bad my eyes were watering.  Steve, Kirk and Glenn also mentioned the smoky air and the fires that were going on in Napa and Sonoma.  It wasn't until later in the evening that I learned the extent of the destruction and how unmanageable these fires were.  The world is angry not letting up these days.

Came home and took care of a few things before going to bed early.

Day 1729

Sunday, October 8, 2017

I left San Francisco after getting my haircut from Ivy and spent the day organizing all my belongings underneath the crawl space.  We're doing a bulky pickup on Wednesday and getting rid of all kinds of things.  I don't have a lot of stuff down there, but it's enough.  Then in the evening, I went out for dinner at Shakewell with Howard Varinsky.  It's always great hearing his insights about the world and this country.  We spent a lot of time talking about Ken Burns's Vietnam War series.  To Howard, that war was the most profound event of his young life and it still riles him up when he talks about it.  That's when he learned never to trust the government.  We spent a couple of hours together.  It was a very enjoyable evening.

Day 1728

Saturday, October 7, 2017

The Blue Angels are in town and Alice and I watched from Bill and Vicky's porch on Green Street.  It was a great show and they flew over our heads at least three or four times.  Very loud and thrilling.  It took 30 minutes or so to find parking.  I think we located the last remaining MINI spot in the area.  After the show, we headed back to Alice's for a bit, then went to a dance performance to see one of Marissa's choreographed pieces.  It was an interesting evening featuring several dancers and choreographers.  We got home around 10 and I took a shower and fell fast asleep.

Day 1727

Friday, October 6, 2017

I love Billy Crystal.  He's so good on Bill Maher tonight.

Clearing up my iTunes tonight.  It always takes longer than I'd like.

Day 1726

Thursday, October 5, 2017

So the New York Times has a story of Harvey Weinstein and his tales of sexual harassment.  And he writes an "I'm sorry" letter in response, hoping to be a better person.  Whatever.  I don't have much faith in white men in power changing their ways.  Just like Fox News folks.  Just like Roger Ailes.  Just like Bill O'Reilly.....White males in power wanting to bully and intimidate.  This is a type of Bill Cosby predator...sick, selfish, abusive.  I'm getting real tired of these sociopaths.  Over and over, we see old white males using their power and authority to.  And we turn the other cheek.  In Silicon Valley.  In Washington D.C.  And we have this white male narcissist in the White House who's cut very much the same way.  Where are his tales of sexual harassment and do we even care anymore?  You know who's almost as bad as these sick white male fucks?  Their pathetic weak low-life enablers.

I channeled a little of my outrage on the racquetball court tonight in our AA league and went 9-2 again.  Nice.  Catching up, slowly but surely.

 

Day 1725

Wednesday, October 4, 2017

Seriously?  What an ass.  What a total loser.  Tossing paper towels into a crowd of citizens who have lost everything and are looking at $80 Billion in damage on their destroyed island?  What kind of human being does this?  I know I shouldn't watch such jaw dropping examples of boorish inhumanity, because it only depresses me.  What is wrong with this nation?  Instead of tapping the best and brightest to lead this country, we're stuck with the absolute worst.  With the gun laws as they are and no call to action from our leaders, we have to endure a sense of shame and embarrassment that this nation is broken and run by con artists, sellouts, and billionaires who lack all sense of common decency and humanity.  Paper towel toss.  What kind of ugly, empty, pathetic human does such a thing?  Anyone who supports this man is reprehensible to me. 

Day 1724

Tuesday, October 3, 2017

My feelings exactly!

If Only Stephen Paddock Were a Muslim


RIP Charlie T. Wilbury, Jr.

Day 1723

Monday, October 2, 2017

There's something wrong with this country.  Really wrong.  Profoundly wrong.  I'd heard about the Las Vegas incident last night on television, but had no idea 58 people had died and another 500 were injured.  When I read about the details I thought only in America with the gun laws the way they are.  I don't know what it will take for logic and reason to return to us.  It's as if everything's turned upside down.  It's so depressing and discouraging.  The gun laws in this country are insane.  I feel so badly for the victims of last night's evil carnage.  It's unbelievable that these sorts of events happen at all in the real world.

Day 1722

Sunday, October 1, 2017

Another morning painting the deck.  In the afternoon, I rested and watched a little football.  Pete and Carol came over with cocktails and it was fun chatting with them for an hour or so.  Alice made her famous ribs for dinner.  I spent a few hours this weekend reading through Alice's disability report from her disability insurance company.  Due to a technicality outside Alice's control, she was denied long term disability insurance.  We're appealing that horrendous decision.  It's interesting to read through all the internet memos by the insurance company.  They engaged in a very clear strategy to cherry pick details and find any reason within their arsenal to deny Alice's claim.  It's disgraceful, but unfortunately the law of the land in the business world in the year 2017. 

Day 1721

Saturday, September 30, 2017

October already?  Wow.  Went to Alice's at 6:30 and met up with her at 9th and Irving for coffee and bagel.  We then went to Home Depot for paint supplies.  We spent the morning putting a coat of solid weather stain on the back deck.  After noon, we went to the Dim Sum Club with Vicky and Bill.  Marissa was there was well!  It was nice catching up with her.  We left around 2:30 and I came home and took a long nap.  We ate so much for lunch that we just had cereal for dinner.  We watched the first hour of SNL.  Funny!  I thought the cold open was hilarious.