Day - 1941

Sunday, September 2, 2018

Woke up at 5:25 and drove home to pack clothes and pick up my backpack with the thumb drive for all my labels.  It took about three hours to pack, shower, and head back to SF.  Alice was still asleep when I arrived, but woke up soon after. We went to Peet's and Noah's for breakfast, then came back and set to work on another solid day of wedding favors.  We didn't finish until 8 p.m. So glad the assembly is behind me!  I have to say, they look great! 

All 66 of these fit in two big bags, my PartyPoker suitcase (fully expanded) and the new Fat Boy Jr. 40" Cargo duffle. 

I then printed out all the wine list menus for Saturday and Sunday, all receipts that will be attached to the bag on the ship, and then cleaned up.  Bed by 10:15.  Exhausted.

Day - 1942

Saturday, September 1, 2018

Day - 1943

Friday, August 31, 2018

Day - 1944

Thursday, August 30, 2018

Day - 1945

Wednesday, August 29, 2018

Day - 1946

Tuesday, August 28, 2018

Day - 1947

Monday, August 27, 2018

Day - 1948

Sunday, August 26, 2018

Day - 1949

Saturday, August 25, 2018

Day - 1950

Friday, August 24, 2018

Day - 1951

Thursday, August 23, 2018

Tyrone and I won our doubles finals match in three tonight, 15-7, 7-15, 11-4.  T played well and the match lasted an hour and 15 minutes.  T played the lefthand side and I played right.  Our opponents were Gary and David.  They played very well the second game, but lost their focus in the tie-breaker.  We won 80-minute massages!  Nice.

Day - 1952

Wednesday, August 22, 2018

The Con in Chief implosion continues.  Have we reached a tipping point?  Maybe.  Cohen's guilty plea feels like a game changer.  His guilty plea has overshadowed the Manafort conviction by a mile.  It's all anyone talked about today.  

Day - 1953

Tuesday, August 21, 2018

Bad day for Con in Chief.  And it's only going to get worse for him.  Manafort guilty and now a convicted felon, and Cohen chirping like a song bird.  We'll see how much longer the pathological liar lasts.  His resilience is impressive, considering the forces against him.  And yet his enablers carry on.  Gotta admire their stubbornness in the face of the inevitable and historic taint that will forever envelop Trumpty and his ilk.  They want their conservative supreme court justice, and want nothing to stop that from happening.  The Machiavellian party has no soul.

Day - 1954

Monday, August 20, 2018

Woke up an hour late for racquetball and so wasn't able to play.  All day long I was fatigued and had no energy.  Awful.  

Day - 1955

Sunday, August 19, 2018

Most of what we need for the cruise is ordered and coming.  We'll assemble the gift bags next week and Labor Day weekend. 

Day - 1956

Saturday, August 18, 2018

Woke up at 7:30 after a late night of cards (1:45 a.m.), then came over to Alice's and spent most of the day packaging candies, ordering playing cards, and visualizing how I'm going to pack everything for the weekend.  I'm not sure yet how everything's going to fit inside luggage, but where there's a will, there's a way.

Up until 10:30, then to bed.

Day - 1957

Friday, August 17, 2018

Formatted some stickers for the gift bags, did a little brainstorming, and came up with a final list of supplies.  In the evening I played poker at Mark's and was up and down all evening, ending up $6 ahead.  I haven't had a good run in a long time, but at least I was dealt interesting cards.

Renewed my NY Times subscription so after the cruise I'll plug back in.  Can't say I miss anything though.  You know the country's complete jumped the shark when everyone's reporting about Trump vs. Omarosa.  Sad times.  

Day - 1958

Thursday, August 16, 2018

Tomorrow's Friday already?  How is that possible?  This week has been relentless and today was the worst day of all.  I knew I'd be busy at work, but it came from all directions from 10-3, and I had a presentation to give at 3 that I hadn't even started until 9:30.  No lunch today, no breaks, no side tasks to complete, just work, and PowerPoint slides for the presentation I gave to the Trust & Estates group.  It went fine, but I wish I had more time to prepare.  At least I have a new set of presentation slides.

After work, I had my quarter- and semi-final doubles match with Tyrone.  We played George and Bert first and beat them 15-6, 15-8, then played Aaron and Roger in the semis.  We crushed them 15-6 in game one, but game two was different. They stepped up their game and Aaron was making some great serves.  We were down 8-14 when we took a timeout, plotted strategy, and somehow managed to rattle off 8 points in-a-row to take the game and the match.  It was a sweet come-from-behind victory.  We play David and Gary in the finals next Thursday.

Way past my bedtime to off to bed.

Day - 1959

Wednesday, August 15, 2018

Alice participated in her dream wedding today.  Her latest Airbnb guests asked her to drive them to the wind mill at Ocean Beach for their wedding ceremony.  Alice ended up being their limo driver, wedding photographer, and witness.  It was as simple an affair as a wedding can be, the bride, the groom, the minister, and Alice as witness.  A bit different from the spectacle we've put together in September!

Day - 1960

Tuesday, August 14, 2018

Day - 1961

Monday, August 13, 2018

Quiet at work, which was nice.  I brainstormed wedding favor ideas all day and created some of the print material I'm putting together.  The wine lists look good.  All I need is good paper to print on, maybe card stock. 

I have a presentation I need to put together for Thursday.

Day - 1962

Sunday, August 12, 2018

I spent the afternoon thinking of wedding favor ideas.  I'd created a list of projects and ideas but everything came together when I thought of a receipt on a paper bag similar to the receipts on Chinese takeout orders as gift tags for the wedding favors.

Once I thought of this, everything else fell into place.  The idea is to have a bunch of brown paper takeout orders as favor gifts with the big gift being the custom chopsticks inside.  It'll be so nice!  I'll have fun putting this together.

Day - 1963

Saturday, August 11, 2018

Day - 1964

Friday, August 10, 2018

Day - 1965

Thursday, August 9, 2018

Our final night of hit-n-switch doubles before the playoffs next week and I managed to sweep the tables, winning all the games I played and finishing 3rd in the standings.  It was a fun night and I was hitting well right from the beginning.  I need to play well for the remainder of the month.  I'm paired up with Heather Colon in September for our in-house doubles tournament.  We could do well if I'm on.  She's always on. 

Came home at 10, had dinner, and didn't fall asleep until midnight.  

Day - 1966

Wednesday, August 8, 2018

Day - 1967

Tuesday, August 7, 2018

Day - 1968

Monday, August 6, 2018

This entire day was derailed 20 minutes after getting up from bed.  I left Alice's at 4:05 to play racquetball and wandered into this on the Bay Bridge, a three-hour wait due to a 2:30 shooting just in front of Treasure Island.  All five lanes were blocked for the investigation.  I didn't get off the bridge until 7.  Horrible.  The bridge constantly shakes.  Luckily, work wasn't that busy.  

Day - 1969

Sunday, August 5, 2018

Had a yummy waffle breakfast with Leo and Louanne after our morning walk around the neighborhood.  They left around 10:30 or so and we cleaned up the airbnb and took it easy the rest of the day.  In the afternoon, we headed over to Bill and Vicky's with last night's leftovers.  Everyone's getting excited for the cruise, which is only a month away.

Day - 1970

Saturday, August 4, 2018

Came over to Alice's at 7 this morning.  We prepped the place for my Uncle Leo and Louanne's visit.  They arrived around 1.  We had Vietnamese bbq pork sandwiches for them, which they loved.  We walked around the neighborhood, chatting constantly, had a little wine, took a nap, and of course played some crib.  Alice and I weren't too kind to our guests on the crib board.  I skunked Leo, Alice beat Leo, and I beat Louanne.  Merciless.  Alice got one of her patent 24-point hands (4-4-5-6-6) to steal one from Leo.  Alice made ribs for dinner.  For dessert we had mango ice cream and brownie.  Delish!  What a fun day!

Day - 1971

Friday, August 3, 2018

Racquetball, work, home, dinner, sleep.  That's basically all I did today, oh and I did read fifty or so pages of this book I'm reading and really enjoying:

Day - 1972

Thursday, August 2, 2018

Work, home, racquetball where I won five and I think lost 3.  This will boost my rankings a few slots.  Maybe 3 or 4.  Place is still clean.  Love it.

The plaque Robbie ordered for Cliff that will be hung at Eden Baptist Church in West Oakland turned out really nice.  This is such a nice way to commemorate such a great guy!

Day - 1973

Wednesday, August 1, 2018

Ah, the place to myself again.  Racquetball, work, home to clean, wash, do a load of laundry, organize, all the stuff that makes owning my heavenly apt. so wonderful.  

Day - 1974

Tuesday, July 31, 2018

Work, then home for dinner at Mijori with Amanda and Jake for our final night together.

I ordered three rolls and a few pieces of sushi.  Very good.  We came home and watched an early comedy special by John Mulaney which was good.  (New in Town).  He's like a young Jerry Seinfeld.  Good stuff.

Hosting duties are over tomorrow.

Day - 1975

Monday, July 30, 2018

Racquetball, work, Alice's after work.  I slept after dinner and went to work early the next morning.  It was sort of a day of rest for me.

Day - 1976

Sunday, July 29, 2018

After getting our scones and pastries at Arizmendi and Peet's we got in the MINI and drove across the Bay Bridge, Golden Gate Bridge, and Richmond Bridge.

We came back to my place, then went to In-n-Out Burger in Alameda for lunch, following by two twos of pinball at the Pacific Pinball Museum.

After pinball, we went to the Grand Lake Theater to see Blindspotting, a film set in Oakland about a convicted felon's last three days of probation in Oakland...excellent film!

Miles and Jackson joined us for dinner at Star Pizza.  We ordered one deep dish and one thin crust
pizza, and one large salad.  Terrific as always at Star!

The full day was capped off with episode 3 of Sacha Baron Cohen's Who is America?

Bad, strange, silly, ridiculous, incomprehensible, but also pretty fascinating and sometimes very funny show about the worst of the worst within America's idiotocracy.  

Day - 1977

Saturday, July 28, 2018

We started our day at Fog City  Bakehouse on Grand (replacing La Parisienne) with chocolate croissants, then headed to Peet's for beverages at the newly remodeled Peet's on Lakeshore.  Amanda shared a story I just love.  When she and Jake first started dating at 16, she found him a bit reserved, shy and not very talkative around her family.  He was too inside his shell.  So she sat him down and gave him the bottom line.  She said, "Jake, if you want this to continue long term, you need to be more outgoing with my family.  You need to tell better stories."  I asked Jake if he knew what she meant when she said that to him.  He sort, "Not really, but over time I did."  Jake came through for Amanda.  He tells very good stories now!

We walked around the Grandlake farmer's market at 9:30, then at 10 we made our way to Shakewell for a very special brunch, Richard & Lisa's 30th wedding anniversary.  Margaret set up the brunch but wasn't able to attend (she was at a family reunion back east).  Along with Richard & Lisa and me and my guests were Miles, Mattie, and Annette.
 

Lisa and Mattie

Annette and Richard

Miles and Jake

Jake and Amanda

Shakewell appetizers

Non-stop appetizers came to the table, at least six total before we even ordered.  Champagne was also flowing.  It was such a wonderful celebration.  After brunch, we headed over to the Youngs backyard and had iced tea, listened to Richard and Miles play together, and digested our food while enjoying another perfect Oakland summer Saturday.  So nice!

Richard and Miles jamming in the back yard

Shakewell french toast

Around 1 or so, Amanda, Jake and I headed back to my place for a 30-minute nap, then made our way to SF for a Giants game against the Brewers.  The game was a blowout, 1-7 for the visiting team, but it's always fun to hang out at AT&T park.  Our seats were high above home plate, very pleasant.  I had a hot dog and kettle corn.  Unfortunately, during batting practice, while walking along Levis Landing, a ball hit deep into right field clipped my right elbow and ricocheted into nearby seats.  Damn that hurt like hell the rest of the day, so much so that I had to use my left hand to hold my cell phone, pay for food, pretty much everything.  Not fun.

At AT&T Park Saturday afternoon

Day - 1978

Friday, July 27, 2018

Work, then home to continue a massive deep clean for my visitors Amanda and Jake, who flew in from Seattle this evening at 9:30.  They took BART to West Oakland and I picked them up around 10:15.  We stopped at Colonial Donuts for a late-night snack, chatted a bit, then went to bed.  Amanda is Brenda's eldest daughter, a lot like Brenda, full of life and thoughts and vitality.  She and Jake have been married two years.  I don't know Jake all that well, so I'm really looking forward to spending time with him this weekend.  To bed by 11:30.  Tomorrow's a full day!

Day - 1979

Thursday, July 26, 2018

A full day of work, cruise planning, then the hit and switch league in the evening.  Came home at 9:45, had dinner, folded two loads of laundry and planned for tomorrow's weekend guests before going to bed.

Day - 1980

Wednesday, July 25, 2018

Racquetball in the morning, followed by updates to the seating chart, calls to Charmain and Julianne.  With the seating charts and all the booking details behind me, it's now time to shift to details on the cruise itself, wedding favors, games, prizes, what to wear, etc.

Day - 1981

Tuesday, July 24, 2018

I couldn't get up this morning...so I rushed to get to work on time.  Luckily, I made it in at 8:31.  I had several short assignments to take care of this morning, then the rest of the day was quiet.  We had our second quarter firm meeting today.  Everything's good.  Came home, caught up on a few things, then went to bed early.  Reading Grant's memoirs.  Enjoying them.

Day - 1982

Monday, July 23, 2018

Up at 4, racquetball with Steve, Glenn, Ari, and Tiger until 6:30, then slow going to work, but found my groove by 10 a.m. or so.  I was busy all morning, which made the day go quickly.  Went to The Gap and bought $50 worth of clothing for $5 (two reward cards I redeemed, thanks to my Banana Republic card).  Everything I bought was on sale and looks cool!

Home at 6, made stew, planned to speak with Julianne at 7:30 regarding cruise details, but it's been postponed to Wednesday at 2:30.

To bed early.

Day - 1983

Sunday, July 22, 2018

Sunday - Haircut with Ivy at 9:15. Gas at Costco. Home, French toast (delicious!), Sunset Super for tonight’s dinner (Jay and Cecilia coming over) and Home Depo for garden trash bags. Spent the day revising wedding website, adding new material for the latest email on Tuesday. Jay and Cecilia came over at 5:15 and Alice made one last pitch for the cruise. I hope they come.  They’re on the fence about it because Jay's mother is nearing the end of her life (she's 94), and Jay, who takes care of her, doesn't want to leave for the weekend with her in such frail condition.  Apparently, she's 65 pounds and has had Alzheimer's now for 20 years. Alice made ribs, rice, peppers, and green vegetables.  J & C brought over a very decadent Whole Foods Chocolate Cheese Cake that was insanely good.  I don't need to eat any of that stuff prior to the cruise!  They left at 8:30 and I spent the next 90 minutes revising our website before bed.

Day - 1984

Saturday, July 21, 2018

At Alice's all day, updating our wedding site, finishing up the seating charts, sending emails, etc.  We went to a ramen place in Stonestown for lunch...good!  

Day - 1985

Friday, July 20, 2018

Had some time today to finalize seating charts for the cruise.  Somehow it all worked out.  The key was to make the head table the remainder table.  We have five table groups of 8-6-4 top tables each, and the remainder table has on 8-top.  If the Golden Princess can place the remainder table in the middle like a hub and have all the other table groups surround it, that would be ideal.  Hopefully, they'l be able to do that and keep the 6- and 4-top tables empty in our table group.  That case if any last minute guests show up, we'll have seats for them.

Seating Assignments Done

I like the new refrigerator magnet!

I had a few hours to organize after work, then called it a night around 9.

Day - 1986

Thursday, July 19, 2018

I started my seating chart process for the cruise.  I have 96 guests and need to place folks in tables of 8, 6 and 4.  Some of the seatings are easy, others not so much.  This will be for Saturday, Sunday and Monday dinner.  I'm dividing everyone into six groups of 18 and using playing cards and Avery labels to help visualize the assignments.  We'll see how it goes. 

Rather than listen to another Bruckner symphony, I felt the need to listen to one of my absolute favorite symphonies of all time, Dvorak's Symphony No. 7.  I never get tired of this symphony.  Maybe critics consider it his best.  I consider the 7th his best.  It's magnificent.  So many wonderful passages and melodies. 

It was a busy night after work.  I came home, grabbed my racquetball gear, played in our hit and switch league until 8:30, then headed over to Mark's for a few hours of cards.  I had some good hands and there was a lot of action all night.  I ended up on the losing side of things with some unfortunate situations that came up and draws that didn't go my way.  Maybe next month!  I didn't get home until 12:45.  Tomorrow's going to be tough going from lack of sleep.

Day - 1987

Wednesday, July 18, 2018

It was just me and Ari at the raquetball courts this morning.  Tiger showed up a little later.  Work was very busy today.  In the afternoon, I listened to Bruckner's Symphony No. 9.  It's very dense and romantic.  I hear Mahler influences.  I liked it.  It'd need to hear it again to fully digest it.  I like Bruckner.  I know none of his pieces except for the scherzo from the Zero Symphony.

Day - 1988

Tuesday, July 17, 2018

I listened to Bruckner's Symphony No. 7 today while at work.  I don't know Bruckner's music at all, but the 7th and sometimes the 9th is on several Best Symphonies Ever Written lists.  So I listened.  It's very nice.  He reminds me of Mahler, but he's not Mahler.   The sounds are all-encompassing and maybe even over-the-top in a wonderfully romantic way.  I enjoyed listening to the piece.  There are so many pieces I've never listened to before.

Day - 1989

Monday, July 16, 2018

It felt good playing racquetball for the first time in two weeks.  Just Glenn and I showed up the first hour, then Luke came in, followed by Tiger.  Luke and I managed to win two games by one before it was time to go.  When to work and wasn't sure what my password was, but after a few minutes I remembered.  I have a presentation to give tomorrow, so I need to put it together.  Work was really busy today, not surprisingly.  During lunch, I called Jan and Charmain about cruise details. I'll speak with Julianne later this week or early next week.  I came home at 6 and wasn't too productive after dinner, so I called it a night early and went to bed around 9:30 after talking with Alice.

Day - 1990

Sunday, July 15, 2018

Alice drove me home early and I spent the day unpacking, organizing, and preparing for the week.  Lots going on this week now that Calgary is behind me.