meg "deleted contact" w.'s Profile

I showed up here on a referral from my ENT Specialist: Same building, convenient. But they didn't have my appointment on the books. Panic. Did I do something wrong, do I have to come back another day?  Yes, I'll eat three of those hershey kisses prominently displayed on the counter...  But they had my paper work on the day's clipboard.  So, they took me in when I showed up, despite lack of an an appointment.

I was asked background questions, then put in a smaller soundproof room for the actual testing.  The audiologist was pleasant, sensed my want for a quick  fix and adjusted her directives accordingly.

No hard sell on hearing, and this shit's expensive.

*What? No, wait, stand on my good side*
Crap, I hate saying that a thousand times a day.  Three friends know to situate themselves to my left, and then still speak loudly and clearly. And answer on my behalf when I missed it (she'll have well gin, thanks.)

From Dr. Ivor, I've learned that my hearing loss is genetic, not due to shooting guns or listening to the Clash or the White Stripes too loudly too often, although, yeah, neither helped the situation.

At first blush he thought I was a candidate for surgery, then complete recovery.  Sadly, after more thorough testing, no, my issues are not surgically corrective, but he lined me up with an audiologist, and offered great beginner advice to the world of hearing aids.  He's said  more than once "You don't need me there when you get your hearing aid, but I will be for support, if you wish," and I believe him.

Great staff-- receptionist and assistant, all smiles, speaking loudly, clearly, and annunciating.

PS:  The audiologist referral is in the same building, so after that second test, you just dash a few flights up for the results.  Nice.

PPS: Now, only if Insurance would cover my ability to hear.  WTF am I paying for?  Oh, yeah, I can get eyeglasses and perhaps an abortion at least partially covered, but screw my being able to hear.  (Umm, not related to the Good Doctor.)

Jack loves to take the kids for ice cream.  Reno & Cinzia both got strawberry, Jack went for a double scoop, chocolate and butter rum. It was his birthday, afterall.   There was no line (cool, cloudy saturday afternoon), and we had the entire garden area to ourselves to relax and enjoy.

If I were to get anything here, it would be one of the sorbets, beautiful colors!!   I was dangerously eying the Northern Raspberry ... but held strong.  

Go. Here.  I sampled  Jack's and the kids' and all were totally worth it.

Service was great, she totally enjoying bringing a smile to my kids' faces (not that hard when ice cream is involved, but still...)

"Jack!  I need cilantro!!"

So he brings me here of all places. It's HUGE. and Packed.  So now I'm fighting for parking... seriously fighting, complete with *Fuck You's* all around.  SUV vs. smartcar, guess who won that one.  Dude, I had my blinker on for like 15 minutes while some douche actually took that much time emptying his  cart, single bag by single bag, stopping in between each for a rest and a drink of water...  I won.

I'm hesitant to actually go in this place-- I hate crowds. I haven't had a smoke for hours out of respect for Jack. But, despite the crowds, and out of respect for Jack, I walk in.

Cart clusterfucks, bumping, grabbing, aggressive grocery shopping at it's best.

First thing I see after coming out of my personal Post Traumatic Parking Lot Stress Syndrome is the meat section - umm, rabbit's and chicken feet proudly displayed.  Sweet, that's on my list, right after cilantro.   Umm, no.  I really only need cilantro.  Which is not near all the other herbs, but instead situated near the radishes, so directed by the produce guy.  Oh! I get it!  No, I don't.

But yes, we picked up like $40 worth more of things that caught our respective eyes, bc the produce is beautiful here... and they have all these little specialized sections... olives, cheeses, baked goods, sushi, you name it.  I'm not doing this justice... and a cafe, and yeah, whatever else you can think of.  

I was here on a Saturday late afternoon, the crowd was insane, the check-out lines horribly long, the clerk smacked her gum like a cow chews cud.  But my produce is damn good.

If I ever go here again, it will be early in the morning before the East Bay wakes up and fights over parking and carrots.

Pics of chicken and rabbit feet to be posted soon.

A while back I woke up w no effective left hand, no apparent injury.  I went to Urgent Care who gave me a brace and a PT referral, then I saw my real doctor, who thought it much more serious and referred me to RadNet.  With no treatment to date, my  hand mostly works now, but there are lingering *issues* traveling from between my left  pinky and ring fingers up to my left shoulder. Sometimes my right pinky and ring fingers join the party, sending me a random twinge here and there.  There's a few things I still struggle with: zippers, buttons, picking up small or thin things up, but I get by.

I hate dealing w this crap.  I put off medical appointments forever. Add to that, RadNet has a No Appointment Policy, which immediately conjures up images of a waiting room full of broken people waiting for their turn.  Yeah, I'm in no hurry to go here.  I'm right-handed.

Yesterday morning I was bored at work, not a lot of email traffic going on, deadlines met.  My dear friend/secretary says "go to RadNet now, I'll cover." Ok, whatever.  I jump on muni and head on over.

The exterior of the building is not impressive and scared me off a bit - dated architecture, ugly building.  Don't judge a book by it's cover.  I walk in - serenity.  a dimly lit waiting room, calming paint job,  no scrappy magazines strewn about, a stone garden, and a few (light bulb) candles, a very nice receptionist.

My wait was about 5 minutes.  I expected the serenity to escape once I left the waiting room, but it continued on into the changing rooms and hallways.  

A very friendly tech guided me to the actual XRay room.   She was very gentle at positioning me just right for about 8 or 10 XRays, and even faked a laugh when I made the obvious joke about  mug-shots as she took the face forward shots.

I was back at work, not even missed,  in about 1.5 hours, including to/from buses.

So now, I'm putting off my follow-up Doctor Visit to learn what these Xrays have to say.

Tonight.

"...The 2010 wolf moon will appear 30 percent brighter and 14 percent larger than any other full moon this year, because our cosmic neighbor will actually be closer to Earth than usual.  The moon will be at its closest perigee--the nearest it gets to our planet during its egg-shaped orbit--for 2010...

... And in a remarkable coincidence, Mars is at opposition tonight--directly opposite to the sun in the sky--so that as the sun sets in the southwest, Mars rises in the northeast.   ... and it will... appear remarkably bright during tonight's sky show."

Gorgeous.

Enjoyed even more-so thanks to a gift from a former-perhaps-reinstated Best Friend.  Yeah, well... protection mode.

Seriously, I got another First Review on a Starbucks?

Confess: I was horribly late getting to work today.  Which means I got in during morning Rush Hour.  Dashing from the bus to 1EC, I glanced in every Peets and every Starbucks I passed, only to see a long line of the typical commute hour crowd.  Pass On By.

But then I remembered this Starbucks location... I rolled the dice, thinking, it's just a hair past the major office buildings, not really on the bart/muni underground path, and only one kitty-corner street-crossing away from my office.  Genius.

Not only was there nobody in line, there were three (3 !!!) baristas dying to help me.  I got my usual half-caf which was starbuck-typical weak.  Since I didn't have my usual breakfast from home with me, I splurged and got a turkey-bacon (!!) egg sandwich.  It was four layers of  cardboard, boasted as some type of bread, turkey-bacon, egg, and cheese.  There was a fair attempt at heating this clay pigeon.  Then it was stuffed in a paper bag, complete with my name scrawled in Sharpie (or perhaps eyeliner.) Don't waste any of your day's caloric-intake on this. This cost me 350.  I had to douse it w sriracha to taste anything at all.

All that said, this will be my go-to coffee house when I'm out-of-routine.  Coffee only.

Per the website locater: "Wireless Hotspot Available.  Oven-Warmed Food"

My first time here we had one drink, agreed the place smelled like old sweat socks and took our leave.

Last night we didn't notice the smell, but that may have more to do with the condition our condition was in than with Dada itself.  Jury's out.

It's dark, yay. There was next to nobody here on a Thursday around 9.30p.  The bartender was nice.  Two well-drinks ran us ten bucks.  

Big, roomy bathroom, always appreciated.

I'll start by giving John Colins a dig. I hate John Colins. I've been dragged there several times by well-intentioned friends only to be met by a douche sitting next to a velvet rope in a pee-reeking alley  keeping the riff raff away from all the suits inside.  Suits who stand in an extremely loud, crowded little room, screaming to other suits. I've never had more than one drink here and I always drank it right-quick to get the hell out.

So, yes, I was a bit sheepish about heading over to Eve.  

I get to the entrance and am met with David Bowie, on a huge screen, at his best Ziggy Stardust.  Yes.  I'll go in.  Awesome.  The DJ was brilliant, the music playing for the next two hours or so was equally awesome - mostly alternative, some from 10-20 years ago, some current.  All good.  Well Done.  The screen, now projecting Rumble Fish (err, thanks kash) -- more awesome.

Drinks were drinks... they didn't screw them up.  Service was ok.  Hot platinum blond bartender was fun to look at, had a great fashion sense in her teeny tiny black dress (umm, shirt?) and huge studded belt wrapped around her bum.  [I left my card at the bar, and she was nice enough to work through the crowd and bring it to me at my table.]  They could stand to bring another bartender in, and perhaps provide drink-service at your table, if you're lucky to get a table.

I'm torn on the seating.  One side of the bar is a long bench-style couch with big tree stump-y things situated as tables. That's cool, but the stumps don't move, and depending on the crowd or your party, they may not be placed quite right.  Opposite of the bench are little cubes serving as more seating.  These are just bad, uncomfortable, awkward.

Based on John Colins, I expected to hate the crowd.  Not so!  There was a good variety here, mostly guys, so yay!  We were here a bit early on a Thursday (5:30ish - 8ish perhaps) The crowd came and went, then came again.  The doorman didn't offend, but wasn't friendly. Happy Hour drink prices a bit above what I like to see.

It's a dark place, light pink lights scattered about.  Nicely done, I think.

Clothes, shoes on the floor. And not much of interest. I've a pile of gift cards to redeem and this one's closest, so here i was. Jack sums it up nicely: "save it, we'll go to the City"
A sad little Macy's.
But today, right at the entrance, I got to see a young mother, pushing her stroller, get nailed for shoplifting. Her friends, also w strollers, seemed to have no idea.... That was fun.