I Left My Heart In

I'm back at the office after getting back from the left coast. Here is a brief rundown of what has been up since last posting.

Friday 9/9 – I got up and got ready to head off to the airport. Since I went out the night before to watch the football game I had to finish up all of the last minute packing. Our flight was 2:30 Chicago time so, we headed out around noonish, parked the car, grabbed a shuttle bus and did the curbside check-in thing. We grabbed some Potbelly’s at Midway and boarded our flight, which much to my delight was actually on time.

We touched down in Frisco at 4:30ish Pacific time and grabbed a cab. There we went to meet Marie (Joyce’s friend who was kind enough to let us stay at her pad) at her place of work. There we grabbed the keys to her apartment. We then headed there and got settled in, while we waited for Marie to get off of work. Eventually Marie and her boyfriend Fred picked us up and we all went out to dinner at this French restaurant. I had a filet, which was damn good and I was talked into ordering some kind of lime martini, which was also very good. After dinner Fred gave us a brief tour of the area and we eventually headed home for the evening.

Saturday 9/10 – Marie had to work so, Joyce and I decided to check out the Haight-Ashbury district. I am no hippie nor do I have nostalgia for that culture, yet I still had a huge interest in checking out such a famous and historic intersection. We grabbed a cab and headed over. I was dismayed to find a fucking Gap right on the corner. We than walked over to the Grateful Dead house and grabbed a couple of free tapes that were lying there. Since it was real early, noting was open yet so, we found a place selling crapes and split one. After awhile stores started to open and we headed into a bar so we could use the bathroom. After spending some time there we headed over to a great record store called Ameba. I have been on a vinyl kick for a while and they had tons of it. I grabbed a bunch of records and we than walked down to the Golden Gate Park.

At the park we spotted a bunch of poser’s pretending to be modern hippies, (if there is such a thing) we walked around the park for awhile and then grabbed lunch at a Thai restaurant in the area. After lunch we headed back to Marie’s to wait for her to get off work. Eventually her and Fred picked us up again and we off to Fred’s area of town. Fred lives near the ocean, which while being great for scenery is not great for weather. We did get a good view of the ocean and we found a restaurant in the area and grabbed a bite. At this bar-grill they had a wheel of beer, which we ordered. After dinner and another tour from Fred we headed to his house to play some poker.

Marie and Fred were just learning how to play and asked if we wanted to just play for fun. We did and had a good time (not to brag but I did eventually win all the chips.) Eventually we headed home to Marie’s for the night.

Sunday 9/11 – We got up early and headed to breakfast at the Crape House, a restaurant in the area. It was pretty good and we headed home as we had tickets for the Cub’s-Giant’s game and we headed there with Marie and Fred. SBC Park is really nice and quickly has jumped into the top three ballparks I’ve been to. Even thought they had a Panda Express and offered Sushi with their hot dogs, I still really dug the park. What made the day even better was the Cub’s squeaking out a victory. After the game, Fred had some work to do so Marie, Joyce and I did some more sight seeing. We checked out the Golden Gate and eventually found ourselves in Little Italy. There we grabbed dinner at the Golden Spike. It was pretty damn good and for desert there was this Italian Bakery down the street where I grabbed a couple of cookies. We than walked around the area for a while and checked it out before finally heading home for the evening.

Monday 9/12 – Marie again had to be at work so we scheduled our Alcatraz and city tour for that day. A bus picked us up in the morning and we headed to Fisherman’s Warf. There we connected with our ferry, which dropped us off at the Rock. I was blown away by it and the smallness of those cells. I could not imagine having to have been sent there. After the Alcatraz tour Joyce grabbed some fish from the pier and we waited for the City Tour to begin. We bought souvenirs and all that while waiting and eventually we grabbed the Double Decker tour bus.

The bus took us on a tour of the Golden Gate Bridge. After going over the bridge on the top of an uncovered double decker bus I was starting to question my sanity, as it was windy as hell. The tour took us all around the city and we saw downtown and all of the historic areas of the bay area. After the tour Joyce, who is allergic to shrimp started to fell like she was having a reaction to the fish she ate. My thinking is that they fry the shrimp in the same fryer as the other fish and therefore she was having a reaction. She took a Benadryl which was fine but that always knocks her ass out.

So, we headed home and sure enough she passed out. I took this as an opportunity to check out the Tenderloin area of the city where we were staying. I walked around and got solicited by a transvestite prostitute. After turning him down I found a Turkish restaurant and grabbed some chicken kabobs and humus to go. I brought them back to the apartment and Joyce finally woke up and we spilt the food. Eventually we both walked around a little more before hitting the hay.

Tuesday 9/13 – We got up and headed over to China Town. There we met Marie and grabbled lunch at a dim sum place. It was really good and I filled up on it, as I am a fan of the dish. After eating we walked about the area as Joyce and Marie went in shops, I amused myself by surveying all the crappy merchandise. Eventually we headed downtown and played some virtual bowling (which Joyce kicked ass at) and than grabbed a drink at some sports bar.

We than went back to Marie’s pad to finish packing as we had an 11:30 flight back home. Fred and Marie met us at her house and we headed out to eat at a nice place near Fred’s house. I had some outstanding meat loaf and after dinner and had one last crape foe desert. After eating, Fred was nice enough to run us to the airport.

I had called around noon and the flight was still on time so, I was not prepared for what awaited us. I got to the ATA desk and saw our flight number with a departure time of 4 AM. We checked in and my worst fear was realized, we were stuck at the airport all night. ATA did give us free roundtrip tickets for anywhere in the United States for the inconvenience so it wasn’t all bad. However we were stuck in the airport which takes us to,

Wednesday 9/14 – We got through security and went to the gate. ATA handed out blankets and we tried to get some sleep as the airport itself closed down. I am a light sleeper so, I knew I was in trouble. I grabbed the book I was reading and finished it. I did try to catch some zzz’s but between everybody else snoring and the automated security announcement every ten minutes I was doomed. So, I amused myself until the ATA agent came in and told us that the flight would now be delayed until 6 AM.

So, I waited it out until the coffee bar opened at five and grabbed water and a danish. I was still in the same underwear and badly needed a change of clothes but what could I do? Finally at long last the plane arrived and we were off back home. I also could not sleep much on the plane so by the time we landed I was a zombie. We grabbed the bags and picked up the car and finally arrived at home. I was running on adrenalin for a while but I finally crashed around three in the afternoon waking up around eight. At that point the day was a wash so, I popped in Suspect Zero made some popcorn for dinner and headed back to bed after watching it.

Thursday 9/15 – Joyce had to go back to work so I got up and grabbed a salad from Dominick’s. I then mowed the lawn and ran some errands. Joyce got home and she made some weight watchers crap while I grabbed a pizza. I tried to un-wind watching the Cub’s (never a good idea to unwind watching them) and eventually watched Beyond the Sea. It was kind of a disappointment but I was still not tired at that point. I than stayed up when Boogie Nights came on the dish. I watched that and then The Accused came on. For some reason I could not fall asleep and watched that finally going to bed at 4 AM.

Friday 9/16 – After sleeping until noon I got up and grabbed some chicken from Jewel. I farted around the house until it was time for me to go to Matteson to check out the vehicles at the Chase Family Auto Sale. We were in the market for a new car and my work was selling back a bunch of leased vehicles. By working the event I had first crack at the selection. The only problem was that Joyce had to meet me there after work. So, as I looked around at the selection I was talking to the wife on the phone chatting up each car. I had to list four cars on this card they gave me. The names were drawn via a lottery and once you name is called you can take the vehicle for a test drive.

Luck was on my side as my name was the third one called, and just as it was called Joyce walked in. I had listed a Volkswagen Passat as my first choice but as soon as we saw this Mazda Tribute we both kind of liked it and took that for a test drive. I really liked the way it drove and even though we weren’t in the market for a bigger car like that, we were both in agreement that we liked it. We had to make up our minds rather quickly. We got the car for 11,600 minus 100 for me working the event. It had 43,000 miles on it but after financing our payment is a little over $200 a month, which is not that bad. We closed the deal and headed home. Once we got back to the homestead we just grabbed some Pepe’s and went to bed.

Saturday 9/17 – I had to get up early and head back to Matteson to be a test driver for the auto sale the bank was having. Since I already had my car I wanted, my job was to drive others to the test-drive track who were showing up for the sale. My first test drive was a Toyota Sienna for this couple. They could not make up their minds and hum and hawed forever. Finally the wife convinced her husband that it was a good deal and they bought the van. Next, I had a guy who wanted to drive an Infiniti. He liked it but in the end did not wind up purchasing the vehicle. We didn’t have a lot of business so, I than was tasked to clean off the sold cars and eventually I was whisked away to sign my loan papers on my car and I was off to the homestead.

There Joyce and I got ready to go to my friend Bob’s house and he was having a cookout. There he had a bean bad tournament going on. It is guy-girl on each team with the women drawing a man’s name out of a hat. My friend Wally’s girlfriend’s mom, Kathy grabbed my name and we were paired. Bag’s is usually my game but I was put up against a good team in the first round and sadly for the first time in the four-year history of this tournament, I bowed out in the first round. Joyce did a little better as her and Mr. Phelps (Wally’s Dad) won their first game before losing to the eventual tourney champs. We stayed around and had a couple of drinks and grabbed some burgers that Bob made and we were off to Lemont for my Aunt’s birthday.

There we met up with the family and I ate some corn fritters and knocked back a couple more Miller's. After yucking it up with the clan we played some Texas Hold’em. I was playing good and had the chip lead in the end when it was just John and myself left. Than the last two hands killed me. John won one hand with a king high to take the chip lead. Then the next hand, after I was dealt King-Jack suited I went all in and John called me with Big Slick, Ace-King. When an ace came up on the flop I knew I was dead. John took home the hand and the game. At that point I was mentally and physically exhausted so we headed home for the evening.

Sunday 9/18 – I got up early and ran to Marshall’s to get a gift certificate for the wife for her birthday and than to Walgreen’s to get a card. I ran back home briefly and than headed out to Papa T’s in Burbank to catch the Bears game. Our old Sunday football haunt the Dome sadly closed its doors in May and we are still without a permanent home.

Papa T’s was decent as the drinks and food are OK, but they don’t have a lot of seating and the set-up of the TV’s leaves something to be desired. The game itself was great as the Bears kicked some ass however my fantasy team got its ass kicked by Wally’s. After knocking back a few after the three o'clock games were winding down I headed home.

There Joyce had made some ginger pork and we ate dinner and I settled down to watch the Simpson’s and Family Guy before going off to bed for the night in anticipation of getting back to the grind.

All in all it was a good vacation and I loved San Francisco. I don’t think I could ever live there, but the weather and the city itself are really nice. San Fran is as liberal as city as they come and with me being the commie fascist leftistthat I am, I love. Also, that Alcatraz tour alone is worth the trip. I also want to send one last shout out to Marie and Fred for putting us up and chauffeuring us around town. Next time you guys are in Chicago we owe you one.

Here is a link to the San Fran photo's we took.

sanfrancisco