About sixteen years ago, I met him for the first time. My trainwreck sibling brought home this adorable puppy he had no business adopting because he had not one thing in his life that wasn’t a mess. I was furious at my sibling – he didn’t even take care of himself, how could he drag
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July 28, 2013
I think we all know I’m crap at anniversaries, right? Well, I’m pretty sure this was my tenth anniversary of attending Comic-Con. Or 11th. Whichever it was, it was AWESOME.
Welcome to San Diego, Comic-Con Style
We had to make a lot of compromises throughout the Con due to schedule conflicts and I was at least a bit amazed: they were none of them disappointing. I rarely experience that “Fear of Missing Out” except at SDCC when I hate giving up even a minute of hard-earned fun. Other than having to reconcile myself to not getting Preview Night, which wasn’t really a choice, we had barrels of fun. But that’s ok, we spent Wednesday with family friends and then goofing off at the close of the Petco Park exhibits.
Thursday was full of floor time to make up for missing out on the usual Wednesday Night scouting run. I bought seven TPBs, two to give away, commissioned a tiny pet portrait from the talented Katie Cook (@katiecandraw, now of My Little Pony fame), and got to chat with both her and another talented creator, David Peterson (of the gloriously cute MouseGuard). The creator and artists of Elephantmen were again, super funny and super nice. I wished Pia Guerra were there hanging out with them when I stopped by. I missed her if she did.
I blew through one-third of my $300 allowance in a day. !!
Scratching every possible itch I had:
Top left: A DUCK TALES GOLD VAULT TO DIVE INTO.
Top right: Game of Thrones trolley station stops.
Bottom left and right: Dog-Friendly on the floor and across the street. ConDogs were dressed up as Princess Service Dog, Scout Service Dog, BatDog, DogRobin, and casual we’re here to play Dogs.
Top left: Blood Drive at the Omni Hotel
Top right: Molly Lewis, singing about her offer to bear Stephen Fry’s baby
Bottom left: Marian Call, pre-Browncoat song
Bottom right: All the ladies together!
I’ve never been one to go to concerts but lately, indie artists who are both a delight in person and amazing on stage have been creeping their way into my schedule.
My attempt to give blood post-weight gain was denied, but we basked in the musics of Marian Call, The DoubleClicks, and Molly Lewis at a coffeeshop later and that salved my wounded pride of being rejected. I was so excited! And then so dejected. The guy who gave me my consolation t-shirt saw my face said, “Oh nooooo….” Oh well.
The Money Recap
… and “never again”…
After totaling the cash and credit card spending, it looks like I’ve only spent $220 of my $300 personal allowance.
Our hotel rate was bumped up a bit because it was evidently booked wrong, but since we usually share rooms, it keeps our accommodations cost to a reasonable rate. This time, the room-sharing was a bit of a disaster and has gotten one person bumped off my list of “I’d be fine never seeing you again” forever.
By common consent, shared rooms get divvied up into personal zones. You don’t put your stuff on another person’s bed if you’re not either married or related to them, you share the common desk areas and split the use of nightstands down the middle: you get the one you’re closest to and you don’t spill over into someone else’s. And you always respect the sleep! You don’t make noise when anyone is still sleeping, clattering and clanging, slamming doors and such. It doesn’t matter if they’re the last one to wake! (This hasn’t always been me, either.) And snoring? You warn your roommates if you snore. These are all courtesies observed without discussion by all roommates we’ve had, male or female and we’ve generally had decent rooming experiences.
Shared rooms can be a somewhat tight fit and we go out of our way to be more polite: asking if people are night or morning shower-ers and what schedules look like so we don’t cause a bathroom traffic jam, checking to make sure that no one wants the bathroom or shared surfaces when you’re about to monopolize it, etc.
This time? Oh man. We checked into the room after dropping off our stuff, claiming one bed and the area around the bed, furthest in the room to give our next roomies a clear path to the bed by the bathroom and door. We came back later that night to find that Roomie 1 had strewn stuff all over his bed, gone to the far side of our bed and claimed the whole desk with his electronics and food and beer and trash was on our nightstand, the floor, and the desk. He’d basically pooped on every surface. He didn’t shut down the computer until nearly 1 am, took a phone call in the room at 445 am and conducted a full freakin’ conversation, then let his phone alarms go off multiple times until 6am. Then at 630, he decided work at the desk next to our bed instead of taking the laptop back to his bed, so as to put space between us and his clicks, clacks and beeps. Then he acted put out when I lost my temper and asked him to leave the room as he’d keep me up for the past two hours already and I was sick with exhaustion.
That was Day 1. If you wonder if I had strangled him by Day 3, that’d be a valid question. He was passive-aggressive when he wasn’t being downright rude, talking through me to PiC. What a jerk. Once we get his repayment for the room, I wash my hands of him. You can be certain that I set a deadline for that payment.
The rest of the Con was fantastic and worth every penny. But I will likely never allow someone to room with us again without a full background check. I’d simply say no roomies ever again but it’s such a good way to save money and hang out with good friend-roomies that I don’t hate it.
July 4, 2013
It feels like keeping atop, or even just immersed in, the news of late has been one hell of a roller coaster. Maybe it’s age that compels me to think: didn’t things used to be simpler?
They were, years ago. But it seems like all that ended after 2000… dirty and useless politics and pandering, social pressures moving away from what I think are sensible, a roller coaster economy. (I’m sure it was just more obvious, not that things were really better before 2000.)
In a fit of sanity, some 8 years ago, I told a frazzled friend: it’s no use waiting for things to become clearer. As we get older, life’s just going to be more complicated and shades of grey.
In a lot of ways, that’s held true, though I’ve made it a point to cut out complications where and when I can because I value my limited ability to function. 😉
So while not ignoring the bad, the scary, and the really hard things to swallow, I’d like to focus on some good and beauty in the world on this Fourth of July.
My friend, Christopher Daley, is fundraising for his charity run for the Boston Children’s Hospital. He’s 1/3 of the way there as of today!
A Vietnam vet, James Hensinger, took some really amazing long exposure photos 40 years ago and has finally shared them with the world.
This man spent 2 years creating this absolutely incredible video of the San Francisco Fog. I’ve had the pleasure of watching this fog roil and bubble, flow and rush over the mountains, through the city and into our lives for years. This is a most spectacular way of seeing it all over the Bay Area.
July 1, 2013
PiC and I have a new tradition of sorts, a weekly dinner with one singlet friend, and a every couple of months dinner with another singlet* friend. Both are friends from years back, Ye Olden Youth Dayes. I don’t know if it’s weird that we never tried to seek out couple friends specifically now that we’re married but it’s just never been a priority. A friend’s a friend, whether single or doubled up. And I like that, paired or not, our friends feel comfortable with us, paired or not.
*Singlet denoting the fact that they may not actually be single, but they hang out with us sans partner for these regular shindigs.
We’ve gone out to explore weird little joints, relaxed with easy take out, and experimented with new recipes. The responsibility or privilege of deciding what to do next has been alternated like a hot potato, back and forth, but I always feel like since we’re feeding three in total, two of whom are a couple, isn’t it more fair if we paid 2 times out of 3 outings?
Sounds logical to me, but the singlets we dine with usually gives me an odd look when I venture forth with this theory. Granted, we rarely have terribly expensive meals, ranging from $5-20 per person depending on whether we’ve cooked, did take out or dined out, but it does still feel a bit unfair from my perspective.
:: Am I being overly aware or would you feel the same way? What if you were the single one? What if you were part of the couple?
June 26, 2013
The Exhibitor list for this year’s Comic-Con has been posted. Time to start plotting who to visit, which booths to patronize.
Does this ever get old? Normally the answer would be *insane cackle* “Of course not.” And in a lot of ways, nope. It really doesn’t. Mecca, after all.
But even I have to admit, after the Badging Debacle of 2011 (wherein my intrepid beloved never-to-be-sufficiently-thanked husband sat up ALL NIGHT among hordes of other similarly intrepid fans to buy our tickets for 2012’s SDCC solely because he knew that the prospect of not going to SDCC the next year would cause me *hic hic hic* “But .. but .. ok .. but but” *hic hic* speech-impaired grief), and after the Sit at the Computer Ready for Anything and losing out on Preview Night 4-day passes Debacle of 2012, a little of my pure, shining, glorious joy in going to Mecca has been tarnished.
I hate crowds, I’m not a huge fan of people in general and you know how I feel about paying ridiculous prices. And yet I’ll plow headfirst into every one of those conditions for Comic-Con, because there’d always been something utterly uplifting about going to SD just for fun. The one time in my year when work wasn’t allowed, when it was completely about fun and nothing else. When it was ok to spend money on myself if I wanted to, and not spend 3 days looking for a bargain first, and then talking myself out of it.
Life isn’t nearly so bleak these days 🙂 but there’s something about keeping the traditions originally built into the Annual Pilgrimage that’s homey and comforting. I started out watching every penny, parking out back of beyond, staying with friends because they’re awesome, and buying gifts for people six months early because you can find unique gifts there. Most of it sort of stuck.
It’s the one time in the year we spend quality time with certain friends; it’s awesome if we can find good presents, or at least ideas, well ahead of Christmas; walking the Con floor from end to end is like navigating an obstacle course collecting bonus gifts on the way. It’s really too bad we can’t hit a box for bonus coins or lives but this is good enough.
In recent years, the Con has grown exponentially, promotional events and booths spilling over the edges of the Convention Center itself into neighboring hotels, into the Gaslamp District and clear through to PetCo Park. It’s a sight to see, I tell you.
The main casualty of this growth is their ability to properly sell tickets. It’s become a situation where attendees can’t buy tickets in a sane manner on site for the next year, the vendor managing sales cannot serve up tickets online only without servers collapsing under the weight of anxious buyers and no one knows how many of what kind of tickets will be sold at any given time. It’s a bit of a mess.
There’s no longer a guarantee that this year won’t be the last year that we can get tickets and that’s terribly dispiriting. It seems easier to get a ticket if you went the previous year because you get two shots at the ticket purchasing gauntlet so once you drop out of attending, you almost can’t plan to go back. (Pessimist.)
On the other hand, if this is the last year, we’re going to make the most of it. (And look, I typed that whole statement without having to hold my breath or tearing up. I’m finally making my peace with it. Probably.)
Which means: we’re staying at a hotel in the Gaslamp District at conference rates (only hotel we could get at the time), sharing out the cost by rooming with friends, and planning to make the most of what little time we have left. I have a lot more flexibility with regard to work than I ever have before, so there’s that.
:: Have you got any travel/fun-only traditions? Any that you’re going to have to (or have had to) let go of?
June 24, 2013
Pardon the really dark photos of the sushi, they don’t do the food justice.
The burger craving is an intense and life-enhancing phenomenon. So is the sushi craving, but I hammer that one down more often than not, sushi’s too expensive in the Bay Area to enjoy frequently.
Usually, the need for burgers means we have to trek out to one diner or another and pay about $25 for a couple of burgers and fries. It’s mostly good but not so amazing that I don’t get a little squinty-eyed over the cost vs my satisfaction.
Then miracle of miracles: a mega sale on ground turkey AND I found the most amazing, simple turkey burger recipe. With a few Just Because alterations and voila! Magic!
Makes 8 fat round patties
2 lbs ground turkey ($5)
1/2 onion, diced finely ($0.25)
1/2 garlic bulb, diced finely ($0.30)*
1 egg white ($0.40)
2/3 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
2 Tbsp breadcrumbs ($0.20)
Burger buns ($2.49)
Combine all ingredients in a bowl and form into 8 patties. Cook over medium heat until they reach an internal temp of 180 degrees.
I made the patties, and the potato salad, then let PiC do the cooking and prep of the condiments and sides. His execution was flawless: he made surprise bacon! I danced with glee.
Sides: sprouts, cheddar cheese slices, grilled onions, sliced tomatoes, thinly sliced red onions, sliced avocado, grilled mushrooms, bacon, ketchup, mayo.
These burgers were, I kid you not, the best burgers ever. Perfectly cooked, delicious, way more flavorful than turkey burgers I’ve gotten at any diner. Three bites in and I was already worrying about my next portion because clearly, I can’t have just one.
Total: $8.64 for eight burgers
*Strictly speaking, the recipe only called for a couple cloves of garlic. But you know me, I’m constitutionally incapable of using less than 4 times the recommended amount.
Potato Salad
1 lb sliced fingerling potatoes
Vinaigrette
1 Tbsp dijon mustard
1 Tbsp red wine vinegar
1 Tbsp water used to boil potatoes
1 Tbsp diced capers
(2 sweet onions) – used 1 shallot and 1/2 green onion
Boil potatoes until tender, 6-8 minutes. Reserve 1 Tbsp of the boiling water for the vinaigrette. Pour potatoes into a medium mixing bowl. Prep the vinaigrette ingredients: mustard, vinegar, water, in a separate bowl and whisk until mixed thoroughly. Pour over the potatoes, add capers, shallots and green onion (or sweet onion), mix evenly. Add salt and pepper to taste. I didn’t use any.
*The original recipe called for 5 cornichons sliced thinly and 1/3 cup of olive oil for the vinaigrette but I don’t know what cornichons are and I just plain forgot the olive oil. It was good anyway!
That’s the burger craving taken care of … about that sushi!
Now Serving: Sushi
We found Sushi Tomi in Mountain View with four star ratings from 1000+ reviews; that was promising. We ordered a soba, a hamachi don, and a sunomono with octopus.
The nine hamachi slices topping the sushi rice were thick slabs of fresh, delicious fish. I haven’t seen sashimi that size ever. The sunomono was full of great big pieces of octopus, not fried, but a little on the chewy and unseasoned side. Possibly how it’s meant to be but I was rather expecting to see the salad be dressed in some way. It was good enough not to induce regrets but I won’t order that again.
PiC’s soba was good, but since he always uses a bit of wasabi, slightly off-putting to me. The perils of sharing food! 🙂 It was tasty and flavorful even if I thought the portion was on the small side.
The bill would have been more reasonable except I misunderstood PiC saying he had added tip but not tax. That’s backwards to how I do it, adding tax to the main bill we split and then adding tip afterward, so our miscommunication led to a $50 bill. Not the end of the world, but pretty irritating that it went right over my head. Be more careful next time!
And speaking of next time, we wouldn’t make the drive just for the sushi but if we were in the area, we’d definitely go back and try other things.
Final assessment: I’m not the kitcheny genius that @mochimac is, so we’re not going to master the art of Japanese cooking anytime soon but perhaps that should be a project on our list.
Egads but I love good food. I’ll eat not great food too, but I really really appreciate amazing food. And more so when we learn how to make it at home. Mom was always a whiz at that. She could taste a meal once or twice and with some experimentation, reproduce it exactly or better.
:: Am I the only one for whom food is a wondrous thing?
June 19, 2013
We recently had the fire alarms go off midday when I was hanging out with Doggle and it wasn’t clear if it was just a drill/test or if it was the real thing. Of course the first thing I did was what you’re not supposed to do: went to open the front door without feeling it first to see if there was heat behind it.
In my defense, I knew it was a bit stupid to do at the exact moment of doing it, but I could hear neighbors’ voices very nearby so it was more of a calculated risk than just a stupid impulse.
It wasn’t clear from the babble if anyone knew what on earth was going on but since Doggle and I were already prepping for our walk, we poked out around outside to see if there was any reason to believe there was really an emergency. All we saw were confused neighbors milling about asking if I spoke their language and chattering to one another.
We meandered until we found a repairman apologizing profusely for the false alarm and lack of advance notice. About 30 times over, because every resident in the crowd interrogating him had to ask the same questions that were asked before:
1. This is a test?
Yes.
2. Why didn’t anyone tell us?
I don’t know but I’m really sorry about the inconvenience and for alarming you.
Poor guy. The false alarm was annoying but it was even more annoying not to be able to ask my legitimate and original question over the clamor.
What have we learned?
- A lot of our neighbors are panicky and annoying.
- We aren’t prepared at all for an actual evacuate-now emergency.
I immediately sat down and started a list of emergency packs I should make up in case we ever do have such a calamity. It’s most likely to be an earthquake considering we ARE in the Bay Area, but anything could happen. All of these have to be portable in case only one of us is home at the time. And I pray that one of us IS home if anything happens, I can’t imagine Doggle figuring out how to find us, microchip or not.
- Doggle, on leash
- Doggle’s pack (that I wish he could carry for himself) prepacked with: 5 lb bag of food rations, 1 L water bottle, 2 travel bowls, paw gloves in case of bad footing, extra leash, a dog blanket, 1 large and 1 small towel, poop bags.
- People pack: Water, food bars, (2) changes of clothes, towels, hygiene pack (toothbrush, toothpaste, mouthwash, contact solution, nail clippers), Swiss Army knife, med kit (bandaids, triple antibiotic ointment, gauze, med tape, antibiotic wipes), water purifier, flashlight, extra batteries.
- Mini Radio?
To pack on the fly/seasonal stuff:
1. Information pack: computers, external hard drives, charger pack, phone charters, passports.
2. Jackets, gloves, hats, extra socks and shoes.
We don’t have everything on hand so these won’t come together right away but most of Doggle’s pack is done.
It feels like I should have stuff that I associate with the wilderness/camping like a shovel, matches/lighter, can opener but maybe that’s overkill?
:: How prepared are you for a disaster? What should I add or remove from my packs?
June 14, 2013
“We have to get this guy a house.”
Back from our various vacationtimes, we immediately saw that, while Doggle was thrilled to see us, he was also happier, peppier and more engaged than ever before. He’d been hanging his shingle in a house with a yard, kids and other pets for a week and amid the shameless spoiling, it was clear that he’d been taking dog lessons from someone.
Apparently the quiet life in a small apartment with DINKs doesn’t quite inspire the still-reticent Zendog to come out from his shell and do a doggy dance, or dash around happily pouncing on his toys four times a day nearly so much as the chaos of a full house does. It’s probably too much to hope that he’d picked up the notion of catch, but we actually have hope now that he might try.
So are we serious about getting a house for the dog?
Well, we’d been kicking around the idea of buying a house for some time now, and we designed our budget this year with a specific goal to save for a new down payment. It does feel like providing a yard is the next best thing we can do for our beloved Doggle. And yes, we want it for ourselves too, but let’s be honest, we’re doting parents and the dog is our happy excuse for a lot of things.
But … real estate around here is absurd.
Early explorations of Zillow and Trulia revealed real estate listings that are literally jawdropping.
We’re planning to stay outside the city. Many 20 and 30-somethings may find it appalling that people would actually prefer suburbs to the bustling city, but it’s true of us. We love visiting the city but it doesn’t feel like home to either of us. Between the traffic, the lack of (free) parking, the tight quarters, we’re just not city people. And with the tech industry out here, and the salaries they pay, we couldn’t afford the city if we wanted! So, y’know…
We’d like to be within fifteen or twenty miles of the city for reasonable commutes, which also suits my need for a warmer microclimate, so that was our first search parameter. We’d definitely be paying more for the luxury of better weather and saving time on a daily basis. If we were willing to be in say, Hayward, where I know the weather is as hot as even I would like, prices would be far closer to reasonable. But the compromise is better weather for me, not great for me and utterly crappy weather for him. For this, we shall pay.
We’re looking for at least two bedrooms, we’d really like two bathrooms and a two car garage, and a decently large kitchen is important to me. If there was a room I could start converting into my own private library (The Dream), that’d be the best but I will settle for a good amount of wall space and storage. We have no storage where we are now.
Last, PiC is reminding me to keep searching in specific areas where the schools are better. Which is sensible, this may be where we stay for a really long time. It needs to be a pretty safe neighborhood with some staying power. Which also means we probably should look at more than 2 bedrooms if we’re going to have any spawn. I grew up in a small 2 bedroom apartment but as an adult, I don’t really want to do that again, albeit from the other side, if I don’t have to. It might be character building but I’ll find another way to impart that.
Search results: moderately horrifying
We’re finding one and two bedroom, one bathroom, one car garage single family homes in moderately close/decent neighborhoods are starting at A. Million. Dollars. Seriously.
This shouldn’t be any surprise when in some neighborhoods, $800k hardly gets you more than a two bedroom, x bathroom(s) condo or apartment.
And three bedroom, two bathroom with garage SFHs run more like 700K-3M.
*gulp*
The estimated monthly payments on those homes that are 3k-7k (in more extreme cases) are almost beside the point. I’d only feel comfortable to committing to a new loan if we had 200K in cash with a healthy uncommitted cash flow. We do not have 200K in cash.
We could make a pretty good run at it but it’s not going to happen overnight and as much as I fantasize about taking another job, that’s not going to happen either. Freelancing, maybe. A whole other job would be crazy and crazy-making.
Making it happen
We still hold hope this can work and maybe even in the next year or so. Not that I expect the market to get much friendlier over the next year, but we have steps to take to increase our buying power, and reduce our stress.
1. Reduce our current fixed expenses, including the current mortgage to make a significant dent in the down payment goal. We’re refinancing and going over all the other expenses to trim back.
2. Keep those fixed expenses low – I don’t want to commit ourselves to either too much house (payment) or too strict a budget. After nine+ years of living on a shoestring income to debt ratio, I refuse to find ourselves coming up empty on cash for the sake of a house.
3. When we get a decent cash cushion in place, I’ll focus on foreclosures to see if we can’t stretch our buying power.
4. Hope hope hope that mortgage rates aren’t abominable twelve to twenty four months from now.
It’s time to dig deep and turn on the saving engines again. It’s not worth cutting off our allowances, I don’t think, since it’s not much per month anyway, but I’d love to pull back a little bit everywhere.
::What else should we be doing?