Friday Randomness
I started out thinking I’d do ‘Friday 5’, but as usual, things got out of hand quickly.
Thanks Obama
Gasbuddy tells me there is cheaper gas around, closer to $5.19 a gallon. Our gas powered car is at 1/2 tank. Do I fill her now, because prices are going to keep going up? Or do I wait in hopes they will go down? We don’t drive this car far, the electric car does most of the driving around here. This picture is at about 7:15am, thanks to the time change it’s still a little dark. I walked over to Sprouts to buy creatine and probiotics.
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Flowering Trees
This picture was taken about 1/2 hour later on my way home before work. I think it would have been a better photo if I could wait until the trees were out of the shadows, but I had to get to work. See the planter with the large rocks in front of the office building? It used to be a fountain, which came on at 7am. Mulder and I were walking past one day when it started spewing water up, and he almost jumped out of his fur. Still makes me laugh when I walk by. There’s a little cafe in the back of the building where you can get a tasty breakfast burrito, which pretty much counteracts the probiotics and creatine. Or maybe they balance it out?
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Gross BART Behavior
I was reading an article in the NY Times the other day about the financial woes of our local transit systems, and came across this quote. I had to wonder, is Mr. Laub referring to one person who was smoking crack AND cutting their toenails? Or are these separate incidents? To be clear, I have absolutely no desire to see anyone cut their toenails in public, but it’s not exactly on par with smoking crack. I did a little google search (why didn’t I just look at the article?) to find a picture of Mr. Laub with his dog…are dogs allowed on BART? And found this amazing Reddit conversation.
Next I went back to the NYT article, and found the picture of Mr. Laub and his lovely dog.
Turns out that yes, dogs are allowed on BART – Service dogs on a leash, and pets if they are contained in an appropriate pet carrier. Emotional support dogs are considered pets, not service animals. I would argue that this dog is lovely and very sweet, but that unrestrained dogs are more dangerous than people cutting their toenails. I would MUCH rather see the dog, but Mr. Laub is clearly flouting the rules himself.
The BART issue is that ridership is way down since the pandemic. People do not want to pay $7 each way if they can work from home, plus of course the time it takes to get from the suburbs to San Francisco. The downtown area has definitely not recovered. Even with Return to Office mandates, lots of companies only require employees to be in the office 2 or 3 days a week. The article says that many cities pay much more into their transportation systems, whereas BART has always been mainly funded by fares. (When it first started, the story was that it would be free after the first few years.) So BART is saying, we are $400 million in the hole (per year) right now, so we need a sales tax increase or BART is going to go away. That would really suck. Sigh.
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Soft Serve
A couple of weeks ago, I was walking in one of our local parks, and came across this Mr. Softee ice cream truck. I considered stopping for a cone, but I had just had breakfast and wasn’t hungry. Also, I had no idea whether Mr. Softee is any good or not. So I looked it up, and sure, it’s good, but the burger place downtown near the pet store where I volunteer is even better. Plus, they sell a kids size cone, so if I want a sweet treat, I don’t have to go all in.
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Awesome Yoga for Upper Back Posture
Wednesdays I generally go take care of cats on my lunch hour, but since Julia was adopted on Tuesday (YAY again!) I had the hour to myself. Yoga to the rescue…and wow, was this practice JUST what my neck and back needed. She starts off lying on a rolled up blanket, and I was shocked at how great that felt. My chest was tight from chest presses the day before, and also I sit in front of a computer all day, so I definitely hunch. Really, really good, highly recommended very gentle practice.
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Winner Winner Chicken Dinner
Suzanne mentioned making this recipe and I decided to give it a try. I feel like one of those people who comments on a recipe and says ‘I didn’t have sugar so I subbed in tuna, not a fan, 1 star.’. I mean, I didn’t do anything that dumb, but the recipe says to cook your chicken in a 425 oven for 40 – 45 minutes. That sounded like too long to me, so I took it out when it hit an appropriate internal temperature. It didn’t brown or get crispy bits, even though I had it under the broiler for the last 5 minutes or so. I don’t know how long I had it in there, actually, but when I cut into it, it was juicy and very tasty, but just barely done. Likely if I had left it in for 10 more minutes I would have had better luck. I used boneless skinless thighs, so drying out wouldn’t be too much of an issue. I made a double batch and froze 1/2 in the marinade, so future me won’t have to figure out what’s for dinner. I think I might try grilling it outside next time. My oven is touchy and doesn’t do the best job browning things.
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My Thoughts on Iran, Trump, Epstein, Ukraine, etc.
I mean, we don’t get cicadas around here, but they seem to have the right idea.
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The Age of Innocence
Last thoughts on The Age of Innocence, which we read for Engie’s book club. As I mentioned last week, I went all in…I read the physical book along with everyone, then I watched the movie (twice), and then I listened to the audiobook. I was struck, while listening to the audiobook, by a few bookended passages (from the first and final chapters) that I felt summed up the novel.
Chapter 1 – Newland has arrived at the opera late, on purpose.
“The second reason for his delay was a personal one. He had dawdled over his cigar because he was at heart a dilettante, and thinking over a pleasure to come often gave him a subtler satisfaction than its realisation.”
Chapter 34 – Newland and his son, Dallas, are in Paris, and Dallas has just told his father that they are going to meet up with Madame Olenska. It turns out that May told Dallas about Ellen on her deathbed, and that Newland had given her up because May asked. When Newland states that May never asked, Dallas replies:
”No. I forgot. You never did ask each other anything, did you? And you never told each other anything. You just sat and watched each other, and guessed at what was going on underneath. A deaf-and-dumb asylum, in fact!”
And of course, on the last page of the novel. Dallas has gone up to meet with Madame Olenska, and Newland has decided to stay downstairs on a bench with his memories and dreams.
”It’s more real to me here than if I went up,” he suddenly heard himself say; and the fear lest that last shadow of reality should lose its edge kept him rooted to his seat as the minutes succeeded each other.”
Sublime. I know quite a few of us loved this novel, while some tolerated it and a few DNF. I loved it and am sad to leave it behind.
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Weekend Plans
Last year for Maya’s birthday, one of her gifts was a promise to go get pedicures and manicures together (why does it bother me to say ‘mani-pedi’? I don’t know, it’s so much quicker, but I don’t like it.) Well, her birthday is the end of this month, and we never did it, so that’s what we’re doing tomorrow. In addition, we’re going to lunch at a Roman/Italian restaurant downtown. I’ve been there before, they have amazing cacio e pepe. Maya hasn’t been, but we saw them on Check Please, Bay Area the other day, and she wants to try their Margherita pinsa (similar to pizza, but authentic Roman style).
In the meantime, my plans today are mostly to pop up a bowl of popcorn and watch Hamnet, since my DVD arrived the other day.
38 Comments
Jenny
Enjoy your mani-pedis! Haha… I don’t like saying that either and I’m trying to figure out why.
Sigh, Age of Innocence. It’s funny how so many people did NOT like that book, and then our faction really loved it. The line that keeps coming back to me is “There were a hundred million tickets in his lottery, and there was only one prize; the chances had been too decidedly against him.” So sad!
That yoga video looks really good (I say, as I hunch over my computer). I’ll check it out. And… WOW GAS IS EXPENSIVE WHERE YOU ARE. It’s less than $4 a gallon here.
J
What are your thoughts on the term ‘fro-yo’? I feel like if you can say fro-yo, you can say mani-pedi. I don’t like either term.
I loved Age of Innocence, and yeah, that last chapter, where we found out what a wonderful life he had had, and yet he never enjoyed it 100% because of that lottery ticket. Very sad indeed. And May, living her life, knowing he loved Ellen. SIGH.
Yes, gas is very expensive here. There are SO MANY people in California, we have to be pretty strict to bring down pollution (which has worked pretty well, it’s MUCH better than it used to be) which means additives to our gas, which raises the prices. Also we tax it pretty highly, so that adds to the price as well. Life in California is spendy.
Diane
Maybe it’s just me, but saying anything remotely like “pedophile” gives me the squicks. Hence pedicure vs. pedi….
J
Oh, interesting. I’ve never put those two together!
AC
We were once visited by a fellow whom I hadn’t seen for years. As we sat on the deck on a fine summer’s eve, he attended to his toes. It was very strange.
J
That is very weird. At least it wasn’t at a restaurant! HA!
Nicole MacPherson
J, my cousin was the founder of GasBuddy!!! I remember when he started it, I was like “how is he making money off of that” but wasn’t I wrong. He sold it years ago for a boatload of money. Anyway, I like to tell people that because it’s kind of exciting when a family member has an idea and that idea turns out to be gold!
I was thinking of you the last couple of days because I read a book called Abundance, and there is quite a bit about a high-speed train that was going to be built from SF to LA, and the costs ballooned so much that it just didn’t happen. I’m sure you know more about it than I do, but it was an interesting book, about the incredible bureaucracies that basically make good ideas unaffordable. It’s a very economics-heavy book, which is my jam. Anyway SF is much-discussed in that book, especially in terms of housing costs and general unaffordability and homelessness.
I really enjoy The Age of Innocence and I realized recently that I’ve never read House of Mirth, so I put it on hold at the library.
J
Very cool that your cousin invented Gas Buddy! Glad that they made a boatload of money off of it too. I don’t actually use it myself, unless I’m bitching about gas prices on my blog. I generally know the places to go, and the one pictured is NOT one of them. But the price is pretty representative of the mainstream gas places around here.
Oh, Ezra Klein! I love listening to his podcast. We went and saw him speak once, about affordability and so on. Yes, California is full of beurocracy, some of which is good (cleaner air) but comes at a cost (higher gas prices because of additives to the gas to make the cleaner air). That fucking train. I doubt it will ever be completed, which makes me really angry because we’ve spent SO MUCH on it. Then again, we’re spending a shit ton of money on bombing Iran, and that’s so much worse, so I just have to let it go, right?
I hope you like House of Mirth. It’s so sad. I loved it though.
nance
HONK HONK!! I loved Mr. Softee as a kid. That truck used to come down our street in South Lorain all the time in the summer. It was a huge treat if we could get a cone. My sister used to make fun of her best friend Curt because he always got the biggest cone they had in vanilla. He only ate vanilla ice cream, and she simply could not abide that.
Like you, I do NOT say mani-pedi or fro-yo. First of all, I am almost 67 years old and a Defender Of The Language (my superhero alter ego). Secondly, must we try to shorten every single thing? Can we not simply Use Our Words? We have so many of them–wonderful things!–at our disposal. I’m all for language evolving, but not DEvolving.
We get cicadas in Ohio. I used to be deathly afraid of them as a child. Most people around our area called them locusts. However, I do think the meme has the right idea (I’ve been doing the same thing for over a year now).
Ah, the Age of Innocence! We are sympatico regarding that book. I listened to the movie’s soundtrack the other day when I needed to relax. Now I want to reread House of Mirth, but I’m already reading two other books.
Love the post header image. Too bad the blanket wasn’t entirely over him.
J
Perhaps we should do a post about terms like fro-yo and mani-pedi that annoy us, but then we might be seen as OLDS. Of course, I’m 60, you’re 66, so perhaps it’s apt.
My BIL also will order vanilla at an ice cream store with 30+ options. I love vanilla, so I criticize no one. I’ve never had Mr. Softee. Are they new here? No idea.
We had cicadas in Philly too, and I think people called them locusts too. My vanilla ice cream eating BIL called them ‘hot bugs’ because it was hot and humid when he was visiting us, and they were making a lot of noise. (I was barely pregnant with Maya at the time and felt like shit and the humidity SMELLED HORRIBLE and made me feel nauseated, I can still remember it. Apropos of nothing, but there you go.)
You and Jenny can do a House of Mirth re-read. So good, so sad. Did you see the excellent film version with Gillian Anderson as Lucy Bart? Really good.
DB Stewart
Six weeks of screaming sounds about right. Sigh.
J
SIGH.
Coco
You can still order DVD? That reminds me of Netflix early days!
Love the cicada meme, quite accurate.
I love kids size cones, just enough to satisfy the craving without ruining appetite for proper meal.
J
I don’t know of anywhere to rent them, unless I can borrow them from the library. But I can still buy them from Amazon. I have been avoiding Amazon because I dislike the CEO, but I could not find any other options. I wanted to own a physical copy, not a download.
Margaret
Only six weeks of screaming? I think I’ll need longer than that. John uses Gas Buddy a lot; I always go to my Safeway which usually has gas prices comparable to the tribal station; then I often have points from shopping that I can use. I don’t drive much so I’m much more concerned about gas shortages than prices. My brother drives to Seattle for work (in a big truck) and I don’t know how he’s going to manage. I do say mani-pedi but never fro-yo. For a long time, I didn’t even know what it was! (not being a fan of frozen yogurt)
J
LOL, yes, the meme is pretty optimistic, isn’t it? Only 6 weeks.
We sometimes get our gas at Safeway too. It’s the best price, especially with points, as you say, but it’s not convenient for us. There are 3 Safeways that are closer but do not have gas stations.
Michelle G.
I watched The Age of Innocence after listening to the book, and I really enjoyed it! Your chicken dish looks delicious. Hmmm. I guess I don’t have strong feelings about mani-pedi. I would have strong feelings about someone clipping their toenails on public transit! Aaaak. I enjoyed your randomness!
J
Yeah, no clipping your toenails on public transit. Also, NO SMOKING CRACK!
Suzanne
Wow, the whole BART saga sounds complicated and frustrating. That dog is cute, though, even if he is clearly NOT a service animal.
I am so cheered that you enjoyed AoI the movie enough to watch it twice! I want to watch it!
One of the fitness people I follow on Instagram occasionally posts about preventing a back/neck hump, and of course then the post disappears forever into the ether. So I am very glad to know that good ol’ Adriene has a video on the same topic! I am SUCH a sloucher. A hump feels inevitable at this point. (That sounds dirty, but I know you will take it the way I intended.) (Omg that sounds dirty TOO.) I am going to stop now before things get worse.
J
LOL, you said hump. I was surprised at how much my shoulders and chest felt that stretch laying on the rolled up blanket.
That dog is NOT a service animal, and is very cute. I thought it was funny that this guy was interviewed about people flouting the rules, while flouting the rules.
I hope you enjoy the film. It’s definitely of its era. You can pay to watch it on several services, but if you still have a DVD player, hit up your library.
Sue
Great post! I am up North in CA and our prices aren’t quite this high yet, but I was in Stanford while my daughter was in the hospital and it was already over $6 a gallon there last weekend! :0 I loved Edith Wharton when I was an English major! I read House of Mirth and Age of Innocence and her short story Ethan Frome. They were all so good. Her writing always seemed a little poetic and well-phrased.
It is so funny that the toenail cutting came up. The other day we were talking about a student who frequents our Undeclared Lounge and when he first started coming, he was found cutting his toenails in that area. I was SHOCKED!! But, at least he wasn’t smoking crack in there! Lol. People are strange – and lack some social graces at times.
I am sad to hear about BART. I grew up in Vallejo and BART was such an exciting idea when I was young. I think we thought it was going to go further out than it ended up going, but riding a train that went under the Bay seemed so futuristic! We just went to Seattle last month and their train system seemed so much better and was only $6 to go anywhere in the city all day. We rode it from our hotel to the airport for $6! The Uber we took when we arrived (not knowing how close the stop was to our hotel) was $65! I wish we could get our act together on mass transit in America. We are such a car culture. It is difficult to imagine a better way.
J
I wonder how Seattle pays for the metro system there? If it is mostly paid for by fairs, like BART, or if they subsidize it more through taxes? I would love it if BART would have a flat rate and if it were reasonable, like $6. We don’t live anywhere near the airport, and it’s closer to $11 for us. Which I guess isn’t bad considering it’s over an hour and would cost a LOT in an Uber or Lyft or Taxi.
StephLove
My mom lives in Davis and she was telling me how expensive gas is in California these days. I mean it’s expensive everywhere, but especially there.
We are on the cusp of flowering tree season here (just the one crazy tree on my block that blooms way before the rest has gotten started) and I am so here for it. I love them.
I have never clipped my toenails nor smoked crack on the Metro in the almost 35 years I’ve been riding it. I did not realize this was an accomplishment, but I will take it.
J
LOL, yes, take that accomplishment!
Those first flowering trees are so welcome, right? Especially if you live somewhere with snow, as you do.
Diane
Gas in California is in another universe then gas anywhere else. Every so often my father will text me a picture of gas prices in Los Angeles (where he lives) and I just wonder how people afford that.
I really loved the writing in Age of Innocence – I’m such a sucker for a well crafted sentence. I think more than anything the writing was what kept me reading that novel. The characters were all kind of “meh”.
J
Regarding gas, yes, and we vote for it. We vote for additives that make it cleaner, we vote for taxes on gas to maintain roads and so on. Not that our roads are especially good, they are not. So I almost always vote for these taxes because I believe in the projects they support, but it certainly does hurt when we have to fill up our tanks.
I agree about Age of Innocence. There were no characters that I loved, though perhaps I might have if I had seen them from a different perspective than Newland’s. But the writing was chef’s kiss for sure.
Lisa’s Yarns
I am one of the DNF’rs. But I do not do well with classic works. The language and pace don’t tend to work for me. And I no longer will suffer through something that isn’t working, even for a book club. My TBR list is just too long. But I am glad it was successful for many!
Our gas prices are not nearly as high as yours! I never put gas in the car – that’s something Phil takes care of. Luckily we do not have to fill our tank much since we don’t put on much mileage each week. He did debate putting gas in our cars the weekend the conflict started since it was likely prices would really escalate.
J
We don’t have to fill up often either, thankfully. We have an electric car that gets most of the mileage, and there are places where you can (slowly) charge for free, for like 4 hours which gives you about a quarter of a ‘tank’. So my husband will park the car there at work, charge for the 4 allowed hours, then move the car on his lunch break. And some places are inside a parking garage, so there is a small charge, but he can get 1/4 ‘tank’ for about $4. The rapid chargers are still cheaper than gas, but not as much as one might hope.
Jeanie
Hi J,
Thanks for stopping by my blog from Lisa’s. I suspect you are a morning person, hence the DST frustration. (I’m one for keeping the daylight going into the evening! I shut down when it gets dark!). Don’t worry — it won’t be long before it’s full-on bright mornings! I thought we were feeling your gas pain, but at $3.54, I won’t complain. The good news is that usually until summer I can get about three weeks on a tank, but still, pretty shocking. Your prices all the more so. (I hear you on the cicadas! A great way to put it.) And that’s very interesting about the BART and the decrease in riders since the pandemic. But it makes sense about working from home vs. $7 each way!
Finally, thanks for sending on the Margaret Fishbeck poem! It’s delightful — and I’m glad you enjoyed “Lillian Boxfish.” Have a wonderful day!
J
LOL, yes, I’m a morning person. I don’t mind the sun in the afternoons, I just get thrown off when the time changes.
We are lucky in that we have 2 cars, and one is electric. The gas car doesn’t get driven nearly as much as the electric car. Of course, electricity prices are going through the roof, and we don’t have a way to charge at home, so we have to play games like finding free chargers and so on.
I loved Lillian Boxfish!
Jeanie
One other thing! I was looking down your blog and found your review of “Hamnet.” I know I will see the movie someday but having read that powerfully written book, I haven’t been able to take myself there again. The grief is so strong, so powerful that I was a mess just reading the final chapters of the book, and if the film is as remarkable as people say it is, I know that would hang with me for a little longer than I can handle right now. But yes, I agree — a magnificent book, though I found the name misleading! Even though Hamnet is the catalyst for the conclusion and the grief, it was such an amazing character study of a remarkable woman. I know people have mixed feelings on this one — I’m glad it was one that affected you.
J
OK, so not sure if you read my post, but I read the book, then saw the film, then listened to the book, then on Friday I watched the film again (got the DVD). I liked it the first time (physical book) but LOVED it every other time. Having just listened to the book before my second viewing of the film, I would suggest waiting awhile so the details are not as sharp in your mind. They have to cut out a lot, and it goes pretty fast. It’s still 2 hours, as it should be. I think what’s important when making a film out of a book is to capture the story and the feeling, not all of the details, because it’s a totally different medium, and they did an amazing job of that. And you’re right, it’s Agnes’ story, not Hamnet’s. I loved it and am glad I bought the DVD (which made me cry, of course. The grief…)
Melissa
I was in the swimming pool change rooms, getting the kids changed after swimming lessons one day, and there was a woman sitting there cutting her toenails and every time she clipped, the clipping went flying off across the room. BARF!! Toenails should not be clipped in public, and the clippings should not be left anywhere except in the bin.
I hardly ever fill up the car because I hardly do any of the driving, but my daughter is always looking to see which petrol station has the lowest price. She would be very happy with your expensive prices though.
I also enjoyed The Age of Innocence. It seems like people either loved or hated it.
J
I’m happy with our high prices if it means good elections in November. Otherwise, they suck. 🙂
ernie
OMG – I was thinking the same thing. Is this person cutting toenails also smoking crack? How’s that working out? What a ridiculous quote. I love the cover me meme. Gas prices are sucking – just as we are getting ready to drive to Florida next week. Dang. I love soft serve ice cream, so I’d be all about trying all.the.places – just to know the true best, you know?
J
When it’s hot out, I sometimes get a craving for soft serve. I remember a couple of times years ago I really wanted soft serve but didn’t know where to go for it. So now I’m glad there is a place that has opened that has good quality soft serve downtown. Maybe I’ll get one on Friday when I’m running errands downtown. It’s supposed to be hot here, so it will be extra good.
Ugh, a long road trip with current gas prices sounds like a BAD thing. Thanks Trump. 🙁
Alex
I’m the same way! I don’t like calling it mani-pedis and I don’t know why! There’s just something about it. I hope you have a fun time going to get your nails done!
J
Yeah, what is it? No mani-pedi, no fro-yo, right?