Friday Randomness

I missed my Friday Randomness last week. I had things to talk about, but the week got away from me. I’ll try not to blather on too much today, though with these posts, the blather is really the point, right?

We celebrated our 33rd anniversary at a very fancy steak place near Union Square in San Francisco, Mastro’s Steak House. The food was delicious, but boy, it was a lot of food. We both wanted the rack of lamb, and had we been paying attention, we would have split an order, because it was 22 oz. Gulp. The baked potato was a pound. Ted’s boss told him that the butter cake was necessary, so we ordered that, and then they sent out an extra dessert, a piece of chocolate cake. These are huge. The silverware up top should give you a hint. We brought SO MUCH food home. The next day was the 4th of July, and we brought our leftover desserts out with us, and shared them with Ted’s parents. Everything was excellent, and we had leftovers for dinner on Sunday.

Speaking of steak, remember a bit ago when I got my Wordle in 2 with PUPPY? I told you then that my rule was that after my first word, PRICE, if the second word could be STEAK, I use STEAK. That paid off for the first (and last?) time ever. Will I keep that rule? Hmmm. I need to think about that, maybe I’ll find another word that works.

San Francisco decided to shoot 4th of July fireworks off of the Golden Gate Bridge, in celebration of the 250th anniversary of the USA. Of course, Karl the fog had other ideas, perhaps a clear indication as to why this is not an annual thing. June and July are the foggiest months in San Francisco, and if it’s foggy anywhere, it will be foggy out by the bridge. Picture taken from the SF Chronicle.

July 5th was the 9th anniversary of my father’s death. UGH. My sister Melissa, who was in Paris a few weeks ago, spent the anniversary in Belluno, Italy, in the Dolamites, where our father died. She sent some photos, and gosh, it’s stunning.

She said it gave her a wonderful sense of peace to see the beautiful place where he died. I am not sure I will ever feel strong enough to go there, but I am really glad she went, and that it gave her some peace. It’s hard to believe that he’s been gone this long. He had 5 grandkids, and Maya is the only one he saw graduate from High School, and he died when she was in college. He had barely retired. I miss him every day.

Just because it’s foggy in San Francisco doesn’t mean it’s cool here. It all depends on the high pressure, and how much it is pushing the fog down. Sometimes it stays out by the coast all day. Sometimes it gets as far as the bay, but doesn’t make it over the Berkeley/Oakland hills. On days like this, it can be a good 30 to 40 mile difference, and it’s only 20 miles away. We had a few of those days this week. I thought it was funny that I had 3 devices that told me 3 different temperatures. I went downstairs and checked the physical thermometer on our kitchen window, and it was a bit over 100, maybe 102 or 103 (it’s analog). And a few days ago, we even had humidity! It’s generally dry here, so the 76% humidity we had the other morning was a shock. If course it mellowed out a bit by afternoon, so when it was in the 90s it was down to about 40%, but still that’s muggy for us. Nothing like the East Coast, but still.

Speaking of weather, wow, a lot of you are suffering from wildfire smoke right now! We have gone through that many times, and it’s horrible. Stay safe, and stay inside. It can play havoc on your health, don’t mess with it.

In other news, this is Mocha, a little dog I saw on my morning walk the other day. Isn’t she adorable? Her person said she always likes to have a stuffy with her when she walks, though it’s not always this one. I love her.

Look at the kitten! There were 5 kittens when I cleaned out the kennels the other day. These orange ones had some really gross poop. I don’t mind cleaning out a cat box, but when it’s on the walls and requires scrubbing, I feel like a saint for doing this stuff.

Remember the huge plumeria cuttings my cousin sent me a few months ago? They were just sticks!

Now look at them, about 2 months later. I am even getting flowers! I didn’t have a pot big enough for the sticks when they got here, so I put them in a big tub I had lying around. Now I have bought them a pot, but I don’t know if it’s a good idea to move them or not. I will keep you updated.

The other morning while I was doing my yoga, I looked out my front window and saw this. Yes, my flowers need deadheading, but what is that? A cob! A corn on the cob that has been eaten and is all dried out. Crazy! My first thought was to wonder what kind of stupid people have been wandering around here, but I then realized that our asshole squirrel George Bush surely left it there. That’s definitely not the worst thing he’s done, so I just cleaned it up and moved on.

Look at the cool literary buttons I saw in a local grab and go type shop in our general neighborhood! I considered buying some and mailing them to you, but do people wear buttons anymore? And shipping them might mean a particular kind of mailer. I’m totally willing to do it, but I have to know you want it. So if you want one, let me know, I’ll go back and get one for you. I can’t decide which one I like best.

I can’t even with politics right now. Between that asshat Platner in Maine, Hegseth and his testosterone BS, Trump and his election BS, all of them exhaust me.

Now that McConnell seems to be alive, it doesn’t seem in such poor taste to share this meme that made me guffaw a bit. Not that I didn’t share it, but not online. This man has done so much damage to our country, all I could think when the rumors were going around that he was brain dead were ‘good, I hope it hurts!’. Which I doubt you feel anything when you’re brain dead, but a person can hope, right? Now I’m wondering if I need to buy another bottle of champagne to keep on hold. The first one is for Trump.

Here’s your palate cleanser after US politics talk. Ted usually cooks on Saturdays, but this last Saturday he had to work, so I thought I would find some delicious fresh veggies from the Farmers’ Market and make a Salad Nicoise. It was absolutely just as good as we wanted it to be.

Tomorrow we’re going to a family party, and it’s finally time to make the Salted Tomatoes with Tomato and White Bean Dip that Melissa wrote about back when it was tomato season in Australia. I’ve been waiting (im)patiently to give this one a try. I’m also making a new potato salad that Ted’s cousin requested, and Ina Garten’s fresh corn salad.

I have some movie and TV updates I guess, and even more book reviews, but that kind of catches you up with life Chez J. What’s exciting where you are? Are you breathing OK? Do you have masks to protect yourself? We have some, they are different than the ones for COVID. Bah.