We played through the entire program tonight with a rehearsal that lasted until 10 p.m. I still haven't mastered the fast passages in the Sibelius, mov'ts 1 and 3. I may have to skip league tomorrow and practice tomorrow night. I'm also there with the correct tempos, but not quiet.
Racquetball in the morning with Steve, Ari, Glenn, Kommani. Work, then practice for an hour. Also made chicken stew and tidied up a bit. Watched a little of the Warriors Phoenix game. Warriors back on track, winning 123-108.
Up at 7 and back to Oakland to prepare for the ceremony at Cliff's church commemorating the plaque that was made for him. The service was long (2 hours) and full of heavy religious overtones, but I was glad to be there honoring our fellow racquetball player.
Spent the rest of the day practicing, and watching episodes of On Contact with Chris Hedges. I like this show. Learning a lot.
Came over to SF before 7 this morning. We went to Noah's for bagels, then shopping for lunch for Alice's family gathering. Her parents, Bill and Vicki, Elaine and Karen came over. It was our first get together since the wedding cruise. Bill, Vicki and Elaine talked about their trip to Japan. Alice and Karen got all sorts of tips from Elaine on their upcoming trip to Japan in November. Alice made her famous ribs, fish, and squid salad. Karen brought over vegetable. Alice's mom brought over cakes and a delicious custard pie. We ate from noon until 3:30. Afterward, Alice and I cleaned up, then took it easy the rest of the night.
Practiced for two hours after work. Finally able to play parts of the Sibelius at full speed. Barely, though. My fingers just don't move that quickly. The 3rd movement is so tough. Really tough.
Singles league tonight. I went 5-3, losing one game I shouldn't have lost. I did get Steve, which is always an accomplishment. Tyrone's been playing well. Steve and I will be one and two seeds. I don't want to face Tyrone in the semi's if it comes down to that. I wish I had more time to practice certain shots.
Had a quick dinner after I came home, then went right to sleep.
Racquetball was lively this morning. Steve, Ari, Commanal, and Tyrone played. Some good games.
Rehearsal was tonight, and I need to spend more time on the Mozart. The Sibelius is coming along, though the fast passages are still too fast for me. I have two weeks to increase my speed.
Woke up late this morning...7:20 a.m....and rushed to work, making it in only 5 minutes late. Luckily, traffic wasn't too bad. With the year-end billing concluding last week, it's been quiet. I picked up the faulty thumb drive that could not be repaired. I'm frustrated about that. I lost about fifty files. Oh well. Lesson learned.
After work, I practiced for an hour, then had dinner and crashed. I was tired all day.
Watched footage of Hurricane Michael. Ouch! Keep denying, stupid insane global warming deniers.
Spent the day in Sonoma and visited with John and Sara Donnelly, two life-long friends I knew back in my WSU days. They took me and Alice out to dinner at the Swiss Hotel, Jack London's old stomping ground. We had a wonderful meal, but more importantly our time together was such a treat. They are amazing, beautiful, incredible people. Married 55 years, they figured out long ago how to sustain a rich, thoughtful, loving life. They are so wonderful and amazing to me. I love them!
Drove into SF at 5:30 a.m. so that I'd have my car to return to Oakland Monday. After work, Alice took me and Austin to the Beach Chalet at Ocean Beach for our birthday dinners. The food was as wonderful as the sunset and views overlooking the Pacific Ocean.
Such a wonderful dinner. We had seafood pasta, ravioli, fried calamari, salad, and a very good dessert. So nice!
55. Bought a new laptop that I'll keep at work for entries and also to do my own thing. Staples had a good deal and the screen is big and clear. I like it. After I update all the files, it should be just what I need!
Our singles league was tonight and all the heavy hitters were gone (Steve, Tyrone, Ramon), so I cleaned up, going 8-0 and securing 1st place in the ladder for another week.
Chris and Elizabeth sang Happy Birthday later in the evening.
Alice, Austin and I will celebrate our birthdays on Friday.
Rehearsal went well tonight. Only four more rehearsals. I need another two weeks to get these notes in my head. I still don't have this symphony locked in yet.
Hurricane Michael nears category 5 status as it crosses the Florida panhandle, Georgia, South and North Carolina. These catastrophes have become common place in an increasingly volatile, disruptive world. It will only get worse, thanks to the denial of so many and a corporate world run wild. Once everyone gets on board to do something it'll be too late.
Our own looming natural disaster in SF will be the next big quake, whenever that will be, especially South of Market with all these high rises built on landfill. I sure hope I’m not working in the city the day the next big one rumbles into town. My building is on the list of buildings the NY Times mentioned that are not safe and adequately retrofitted to withstand a 7.0 earthquake.
I went to a place off 5th St that fixes thumb drives. We'll see if mine is salvageable. A long day at work and I'm not awake at all. Came home and practiced for an hour. The fast passages are still very fast, but my fingers are adapting.
I practiced a few hours today and took long naps. Not very productive otherwise, mainly because my thumb drive was stepped on and I can't access a few files. I hope the drive isn't permanently damaged. I wish I'd back up my drive this week. It slipped my mind.
The Bike gang was over for dinner, Jay, Cecilia, Chester, May, Mo and George. Alice prepared several outstanding dishes. Her rack of lamb is always the best. Chester brought his song book and asked me to play with him, so after dinner, I took out my violin and played a few songs. Fun! We'll do that again I'm sure.
Still thinking about Stravinsky...such an array of sounds, rhythms, ideas. So inventive and fun. Rite of Spring still feels other worldly. Thoroughly brilliant, defiant, in-your-face music that ironically has become timeless and forever modern.
Spent the day at Leo & Louanne's for Leo's 80th birthday. All the Pettys were there. Lots of food and drink and of course lots of bonding with the family. Good time as always!
Went to Japan Town for dinner, then the SF Symphony and MTT to hear an all-Stravinsky program. What wonderful, amazing music: Petrushka, Violin Concerto, Rite of Spring. Pure heaven! We sat in the back at Center Terrace. I love sitting behind the orchestra. I heard so many great sounds and instruments that I can't hear as well when sitting in the audience. It was a spectacular evening of music. I've grown to love Stravinsky. So full of energy and life. Wonderful stuff!
Spent all of today listening to and watching the one-day Senate hearing of Christine Blasey Ford and Brett Kavanaugh. Wow, what a day of testimony. I found Ford thoroughly credible. I found Kavanaugh terrified, on the edge of losing everything. It's probable he doesn't remember a thing about her, given the degree of drinking he did. But he also might know exactly what had occurred that summer afternoon so many years ago. I thought it was telling that, like Clarence Thomas, he didn't listen to what she had to say. It's telling because if he were truly innocent he'd want to know what she had to say so he could refute it with absolute conviction. If he knew the details, there's no need to listen to what she had to say. To me, this is such an obvious red flag. Not that it matters. The angry, indignant white guy wins most of the time in this country. Looks like he'll win again after this.
AA Singles league at the club. Played six games and went 4-2.
Dinner with Patrick and Soren at their new house. The food was delicious! They are lots of fun. We brought over wedding pictures to show them. Soren made a yummy cold salad of calamari, cucumber, mint and cilantro with a pickled type of dressing.
Dinner with Howard at Mijori. We talked about the cruise, the how much fun he had and how wonderful the event was. It was a nice dinner. Mijori never disappoints.
Another activity – AA racquetball singles league – starts tonight. 15 players from the club and Mariner Square are in the league. I played 8 games, winning 6 and losing 2. If I can average 20 points each night, I’ll be one of the top two seeds going into the playoffs. That’s all I need to do…Steve will have the other seed. I’d love to face Steve in the playoffs again. We always have good battles. I have a chance to win if I improve my conditioning.
First rehearsal for me after the cruise. Not too bad. We practiced the 4th movement, which isn’t as difficult as the 1st and 3rd. The 3rd movement is so fast. That will take many hours to learn. It’s so fast, but very exciting. What a great symphony!
Work was reasonable. I listened to the Sibelius and practiced once I was home. This symphony is difficult. There are many fast, tricky passages that will take time to incorporate into my fingers. The most exciting moments of the first movement are also the most difficult. Third movement is also really fast. With six weeks to practice, I’ll have time to learn these passages.
Up early for breakfast and check-out. Drove with Chris & Elizabeth to the Vancouver airport. Instead of rain we actually had a little sun, making the drive as beautiful as a trip to Switzerland. I flew home at 5 and was home in SF by 8:45. Now I had Sibelius and rehearsals to think about.
Woke up at 3 a.m. for my 6 a.m. flight to OAK airport. Picked up Lyft at 4:15. Flight was fine, arriving in Seattle around 8:30 or so. Caught a 10 a.m. flight into Kelowna, arriving around 11:15. Chris and Elizabeth picked me up at the Kelowna airport. We also picked up mom’s bag that somehow didn’t arrive with her the night before.
At Uncle Bob’s I saw Bobby and Lisa for the first time in many years. It was a somber but necessary occasion. Having so many Pettys in attendance lifted Uncle Bob’s spirits. I’ve always really liked Uncle Bob. He’s naturally witty and a down-to-earth nice man. Kim, Chris Jr. and I had a great talk about our family and the dynamics involved when introducing someone new to the Petty clan. It can be a tough crowd. We’re good at sizing people up, accessing positives and negatives. Our red flag detectors are spot on most of the time. When someone is a good person and good for our family members, we’re fully accepting.
Bob, Bobby and Lisa presented a touching memorial for Alice. She had an aggressive form of dementia the last few years of her life, which made it hard on the family.
It’s a good thing Bob did not go on the cruise. That would have been a disaster.
We stayed at the house for a few hours, then headed back to our hotel for dinner. We ate at Montana’s BBQ & Bar, near our hotel. My ribs were delicious.
We talked about Alice & Bob, the cruise, and other family stuff. It was a great evening with lots of laughter.
Our club doubles tournament was today from 8-noon.I played with Heather Colon, a very
good female player who's usually reliable on the right hand side.We had a chance to make the playoffs but just
couldn’t close out our last game.We
played Carlos and Roger, who were on when they played us. Tyrone and Ramon ended up winning the tournament, beating Freddy and
Mike Lippett in a close game to 15.
Another fairly quiet day at work. I slept well last night, but still feel wiped out from the weekend. Maybe with so much adrenalin flowing through my body it takes a while to balance everything out. Tomorrow I have a doubles tournament to play in, then I fly back to B.C. for Auntie Alice’s funeral.
My first day back at work.I was still very fatigued.Luckily, there wasn’t all that much to do.I was grateful.
I received my new E-Force gear today and the new Take Over racquet. I received two 170g racquets this year and they really feel nice! I love the new designs and bags. Very cool!
After work, I came home to Alice’s and went to bed early.
A full day of rest in SF. We slept, did laundry, looked at pictures. I didn’t do much more than that today. I was able to relieve the entire weekend in my mind, which I did a couple of times. It struck me how little I saw my sister Jill and how preoccupied she was with her drink package and slot machines. I could have used her help on Sunday and would have enjoyed more time with her over the course of the weekend. That bothered me, especially since I was already a sister down. Everything else was a perfect dream. The weekend really went so beautifully!
I really felt the lack of sleep this morning. I woke up at 5, packed things up, had a little breakfast, then took our bags to the Wheelhouse Bar where our bus party planned to meet. We had 65 passengers going from the San Pedro cruise port to LAX. At exactly 7:50, we left the ship and made our way to the buses lined up near the terminal. Our bus was waiting for us. They were afraid they'd need more seats, so they asked for another small bus. We managed to fit everyone on the bus with all their luggage (barely), and away we went.
So, there's a story that happened on the bus. Alice and I sat at the very front of the bus. Dorian, Richard, Cappy, Glenn, and a few other folks were way in the back. I went back there to hand out a few final decks of playing cards, as well as making sure everything was all right with everyone. A few minutes into the ride, I smelled something unpleasant. It didn't last too long, but it was annoying. I gave D a call.
“D, everything all right back there?” I asked.
“No, Mike,” he said. “It’s not. It’s not good back here. Not good at all.”
“How come? What’s going on?”
“Oh, man,” D said, “you would not believe this shit.”
“Tell me, D, what's going on.”
“Man, one of your childhood friends made the executive decision to go to the bathroom on the bus. But the thing is the toilet ain’t flushing, Mike. The toilet ain’t flushing.”
“Oh, no.”
“We dying back here, Mike. We dying back here.”
I turned to the bus driver. “Alberto, the toilet isn’t working. It’s not flushing.”
“Yes, is, flushing” Alberto insisted. “Is working.”
“D, Alberto says the toilet’s working. You got a bunch of engineers back there. The toilet’s operational. You need to designate a back-of-the-bus master flusher to remedy this situation now!”
“Mike, Mike, Mike,” D said, “ain’t nobody going in there, man. Ain’t nobody going in there but the friend of yours who started this shit in the first place. He musta spent about 20 minutes trying to get the toilet to flush, man, but it’s a no-go situation. Seriously, Mike, we dying back here.”
“D, I think I may have a solution,” I said. “Alice brought some VIPpooh drops for the Grand Suite because she knew the poker players would use the toilet. The drops are supposed to neutralize any and all situations. Do you need the VIPpooh drops?”
“Come on, man, what you think? Bring us the damn VIP drops ASAP!”
I looked in a bag for the VIP drops, but realized where they were. “My bad, D. The VIP drops are packed in a carry-on bag down in storage. Sorry, D, I can’t get to the drops.”
“Mike, Mike, Mike, I’m beginning to think you don’t fully appreciate the severity of this situation we’re dealing with back here. This is no joke. As a matter of fact, I would say this is about as serious a situation as any I’ve ever encountered in such a confined space with no windows going down, you feel me? I’m not saying this has ruined the cruise, but come on, man, this is having a profound negative impact on the quality of our ride to the airport.”
“That’s why you need a master flusher to flush away the situation.”
“Mike, ain’t nobody and I mean nobody going in there. We’re almost at the airport so we’re just gonna tough it out and hope a few weeks aren’t being chipped away from our time on earth. Seriously, Mike, what kinda childhood friend handle their business on a bus anyway? I mean, come on, man. Come on. This shit ain’t right, Mike. It ain’t right!”
Throughout the entire conversation, I was laughing so hard I was crying. Alice asked me what was wrong and when I told her said said, "That is not funny, Hagan. Someone could be hurt." I was too tired and delirious to care. Everytime I think of our bus ride to LAX, I'll think of my conversation with Dorian. That was too funny.
Finally, we made it to LAX. The bus stopped at terminal 1, International terminal and terminal 7. Our flight was with United, but because Alice had purchased some super budget tickets that didn't include bags, we had to pay something like $350 for baggage. I didn't care. All I wanted was sleep. Our bags were taken away and we waited 45 minutes for our flight. Once in SFO, we collected our bags, hailed Uber, and came home. It was nice to be back. It was sunny and beautiful and all our luggage was sprawled out on the floor in the living room. Austin picked up some Vietnamese sandwiches. I looked at pictures and slept the rest of the day.
The weekend weekend was officially over. I had the rest of my life to reflect on this amazing, incredible weekend. I never forget the amazing wedding of my sweet Alice Wu!
Up at 6:30 for pickle ball at 7 on top of the ship with Susan, Jay, Tiger, Glenn, Mugs and Uncle Steve. It wasn’t too windy in the morning and the sun was out. The only issue was the wet court which was slippery. Nearly everyone slipped and fell at least once. Paddle ball ran from 7-8:30. We played games to 7, then rotated in. It was fun!
Part of our wedding cruise package included breakfast for two in our suite. Alice ate with her family, so Miles shared breakfast with me. We had all kinds of delicious food: fresh fruit, an egg dish and bacon, bagel, cream cheese and smoked salmon, and champagne. Breakfast arrived at 9. Alice and her family arrived around 9:30. She ate half a bagel with cream cheese.
Ross and Sydney stopped by.
There was still plenty of wedding cake so people had slices. The cribbage tournament got under way around noon. Kara helped me run it, but I wasn’t as organized as I would have liked. I was feeling tired and felt the need to push on throughout the day, conversing with my family and friends, knowing the day would pass any by tomorrow everyone would be on their way again.
That’s the strange thing about your own wedding…you’re at the center and know everyone in your party, but there’s too little time to fully embrace the entirety of the moment. It’s just too massive, too overwhelming, so what you’re left with is a sort of randomized series of interactions with whoever may be near you at any given time.
I played one game of crib and lost against John by one point. Ouch! I tried to keep the tournament going, but there were too many distractions throughout the afternoon. By dinner, with the tournament still going, it was hard to wrap it up. John never played Neal, who he’d been waiting to play all afternoon. It was a bit of a bust, unfortunately. I had too many distractions and couldn't keep the thing going. I also really needed was a nap, but that was out of the question.
Dinner was low key and quiet. About 20 or so guests ate at specialty restaurants or some over venue. Cappy and Melissa ate alone, so I sat with them during dinner. It was so nice catching up with them. Cappy had a nice bottle of wine that we enjoyed.
I was chatting so much I ran out of time to order dessert and my baked Alaska. Alice and I needed to go to the photo department to pick up our photographs and review our wedding video. It was stunning how good it was. Erick, the editor, did such a masterful job. I was so impressed.
We spent nearly an hour at the photo department. It took longer than I'd anticipated. Unfortunately, our room was locked, so people who swung by didn't bother to return. We arrived around 9 and had a small crowd gather until 11 or so. Alice went to Skywalkers to dance and called me to join her. I went up around 11:30 after chatting with the Young, Steve and Matt, and a few other people. We danced at Skywalkers for 30 minutes, then came back to our suite around midnight. I cleaned up a bit and started packing. I had no energy left by 1 a.m., and went to sleep for a few hours, prepared to get up early to pack things up and meet everyone at the Wheelhouse bar by 7:45 a.m.
Wow, what a day, one of the most satisfying ever , as well as one of the more stressful, especially before the big event.
The day began early at 5:30 a.m. I'd only slept a few hours but I had so much on my mind that staying in bed wouldn't have been productive. I really needed to meet the wedding coordinator and touch base on how everything would play out. I was told she wouldn't be available until 8:30 a.m. so I went to Horizon Court for breakfast. No one was there, but after breakfast I ran into Neil Bason. We spent a good 45 minutes together, walking around the ship, checking out his suite on the Sun Deck (very nice!). was great having some one-on-one time with him. We saw Murry a little later, then Rossana. We hung out at the atrium, sipping coffees, until it was time for me to meet with my wedding coordinator Beryl.
We sat on a bench in front of the Princess Theater and went over all the logistics. I wanted to make sure there would be enough staff to take care of drinks and food. She assured me there would be. We scheduled a rehearsal for 1 p.m., which seemed a bit late but there were no other alternatives. I had CDs of all the music and a thumb drive of the slideshow I'd put together Wednesday and Thursday for the production team.
After meeting with Beryl, I met with the photo/video department: Chito, Erick, Ben, Chelsea. I told them I wanted all their resources and let them decide what shots to best use. I had a list of groups I wanted to get, but didn't have time to print it out, unfortunately.
When I was done with the photo department, I met with Carlos the matre d at Canaletto Dining. We spent 40 minutes going over every table seating, making sure everything is in their proper seat. Once that was taken care of, I returned to the Grand Suite. By then it was lunch.
I ate with the the Youngs but we didn't have a lot of time. Time was flying by. Time was against me today. I ordered a burger and fries, but only had a few minutes to eat. was beginning to feel tired and fatigued, but the adrenaline was still going.
At 1, Alice, the Youngs and I met Chris and Elizabath, Kevin and Elaine and Mathew for our rehearsal. It took about fifteen minutes for everyone to get together. Meanwhile, the entire space was being transformed for the reception. It was like being backstage in a show. There was all sorts of activity. I was calm, but also a little stressed. I could have used my sister Jill to help me think straight. I really could have used Gwen before the reception. She would have helped me get through all the details. Beryl was as helpful as she could be, but she seemed very passive and wasn't able to take charge of the rehearsal and get things going swiftly.
We were running out of time again. We didn't finish making decisions until 1:45, 45 minutes before the the reception started. We took a couple of great pictures during rehearsal, then went to our suite with the videographers and photographers.
Thankfully, Mathew was with me to get dressed. He tied an Oxford knot for me, put my suspenders on, and clipped on my cuff links.
At around 2, we headed to Skywalkers. I could hear the music playing, Chicago's Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is, so we had about ten minutes before we'd make our grand entrance using the automatic ramp.
Halfway through George Harrison's What is Life, Kevin and Elaine hit the ramp. followed by me and Alice. Our grand entrance went off well.
Seeing all my family and friends together was a highlight. 93 of my favorite people in the world were in one room at one time. It was a moment I’ll never forget. I’d mentioned to my racquetball friends that this was my wedding and my funeral, my one big party in life to celebrate all that had been given to me. Everything else that came after this moment was bonus gravy. This was the ultimate achievement for me, to have survived 50 years and maintain so many wonderful friendships in celebration of the union of me and Alice. It was such a joyous, happy, thrilling occasion.
By design, the ceremony was short and sweet with few if any lines for me and Alice to say. Uncle Chris penned an elegant, fitting two-minute message that went over well (with a couple quality laughs!) Dorian concluded the ceremony with a wonderful blessing. It was everything I could have asked for, touching, memorable, fun. Alice was happy.
It hadn’t really occurred to me that Jill wouldn’t be around to help out, knowing all that was involved, especially before the reception/ceremony. Luckily, it all went off well enough so that no one noticed the little things that didn’t get done. Only I noticed. We ended up leaving Skywalkers around 4:20 or so, after we collected as many group pictures as possible. We missed getting a group picture of everyone and a few other pictures with specific people. I wish I’d printed out my list of photos. Oh, well.
From 4:25 to 5:15, we returned to our suite and prepared for dinner. Alice changed into her red dress. We then prepared the tables for guests, using confetti and the wife cakes Elaine picked up Friday night.
Dinner was wonderful. The chefs made a special pasta dish especially for us (it was Italian night on the ship). I still had a lot of energy and visited each of our 16 tables. The tables seatings were now correct. Elaine was a big help in decorating all the tables. I also handed out the wine lists for the evening. The wine was flowing tonight.
Kevin made a magnificent best man speech. Unfortunately, without a microphone it was difficult to hear him. I left me seat and stood in front of him near the wedding cake. It was satisfying hearing a speech of such depth from someone who has known me since the age of 11.
The cake was fantastic. Everyone raved about it. It was so fresh, so good, and so beautiful. It was also very large, much larger than we needed. We ate about half the cake! I wish I had room for another slice!
After cake, our photographers asked us to follow them outside for some great sunset pictures and pictures around the ship. Alice didn't want to leave the dining room, but we went anyway. I'm glad we did. The pictures we took outside were amazing, and the sunset was really beautiful. Our photographers were so outstanding. We really lucked out with all of them.
After our photographs were taken, we went back to our suite, where I remained the rest of the night. People came in and out and the party went on until 2:30 or so. I lasted until 1:30, then went to bed. I was so wiped out that I couldn't stay up anymore. Poker players continued playing in the dining room while Alice and I slept. I didn't hear them at all.
What an amazing day! So full, so stressful, so glorious and happy, so satisfying, and so much fun!
