8:00pm - I'm watching the Super Bowl (sort of) as I try to type my first blog entry in nearly a week. It's very distracting. This is going to be a very disjoint piece of writing. Maybe if I turn down the sound. Ah, that's better.
It was a lovely day today, sunny and in the high 40s. I drove to Safeway at Four Corners around 9am where I met Evelyn who had walked there. We figured we'd have to go grocery shopping pretty early to beat the Super Bowl rush. We were mostly right. Seems a lot of folks had the same idea and got there at just about the same time. Fortunately, they opened a new line just as we were ready to check out so we got lucky. We celebrated after loading up the trunk with over $100 worth of groceries (quite a bit of money considering we really didn't need very much food) by walking to Starbucks. We sat and chatted for a while, and then parted ways. I drove back and unpacked the groceries and Evelyn walked home. (Field goal for the Steelers: it's now 14-3, Green Bay).
Next, I headed off to the Parkway Deli to meet with Elias, Prasad, and Philip. Philip and I have a longstanding tradition by which we celebrate our respective new years by dining at opposing ethnic eateries. This time, we invited Elias and Prasad to tag along on our brunch date to celebrate the Chinese New Year. We were to meet at 11:30am, and I had promised to get there early to hold a place in what I felt pretty sure was going to be a long line. I had no idea how long it would be. It stretched from the restaurant section in the back all the way to the front door, basically, the entire depth of the facility. It took us about 20 minutes to get a seat, by which time everyone had showed up. My fear up to that time was that we wouldn't be let in until all of us arrived. Because of the delay, that was not a problem.
Being that we were dining at a New York-like deli, it was assumed that I would be able to guide my international constituency (from Ethiopia, Sri Lanka, and Taiwan) to some delectable Jewish delights. I suggested we order a round of potato pancakes, but other than that, everyone was on their own. I ordered whitefish (with lots of tiny bones), Philip ordered a Reuben, Elias ordered nova, and Prasad ordered tuna (I think). Between bites, we spent much of the time discussing the costs and benefits of various political systems and the value of money. A fascinating global perspective which ranged from the kings of capitalism (as epitomized by Bill Gates) to the comrades of communism (mostly unnamed Chinese disciples of Marx and Lenin). On our way out, I stopped off at the bakery counter and purchased four poppy seed hamentashen (which should last the week), and Philip and Elias purchased one each as well. (Touchdown Green Bay, 21-3.)
I drove home from the restaurant and began checking my email. I had a few messages regarding my computer, which I had put on craigslist at a reduced price on craigslist yesterday. I called back one person, but he had already purchased a computer from someone else. I responded "no thanks" to a second email from a guy who wanted to offer my half of what I was asking, and asked a third person to call me if she was still interested. Apparently she's not.
Then Evelyn and I watched an American film from the early 1930s with Ruth Chatterton playing a San Francisco madam who would rather die than ruin her son's career. Very racy, which is why I love pre-code movies. It ended just as the Super Bowl began, and now there are less than two minutes remaining before halftime, despite what seems an endless spate of extremely expensive and expensively produced commercial interruptions (Touchdown, Pittsburgh, 21-10).
Tomorrow begins the second week at my new job, and as I glance at the email that has appeared in my inbox since Friday, I can see that I will have my fair share of work to do after I arrive at the office energized and alert--and after I make my coffee. Half time for the Packers and Steelers, but it's all over for me.
Sunday, February 6, 2011
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