Sayonara sushi

VALedictorian and I met up last night for a last supper before I shove off across the country. I chose a Japanese restaurant because I was craving sushi, but the restaurant we went to specialized in yakitori.

At first, I confused yakitori with teppanyaki, but enjoyed the chance to get some sushi and some little skewers of meat! We ordered the chef's choice yakitori and were presented with six different skewers. They ranged from garlic pork to mushrooms to a weird whole fish, which was difficult to split.

My friendship with VALedictorian has spanned nearly two decades, so I know this little move won't prevent us from remaining friends. It was just another ordinary dinner before our next date!

Adios, healthcare

Well, my career in healthcare appears to have been short-lived since today was my last day of work. For the past few days, I've been receiving very kind notes from my co-workers, praising my work and letting me know that I've had a positive impact on the company.

It's all been very flattering and nice to hear, but I can't help but think that it would have been nice to get this positive feedback earlier in my tenure at the company.

But in the end, it wouldn't have made a difference. I've come to realize that I wanted to understand healthcare from a more academic level, or to get a better understanding of healthcare policy. Building an infrastructure to make healthcare more efficient? I guess it's not something I'm that interested in understanding.

Ultimately, this indifference about our company's purpose prevented me from becoming more engaged in my job and striving to do a better job. Add to that a boss whose blunt style was off-putting and who didn't have an appetite for strategic planning, it's no wonder I lasted less than two years.

My time at the company isn't all regrets, however. I've learned a lot about environmental sustainability and working in a very, very big company with numerous business units. I also appreciated the chance to start something from scratch and having the latitude to focus on the work I wanted. And I really enjoyed working with many of the kind, hard-working people at the company, even if I'll come away with only a few real friends.

So, I've learned that healthcare isn't for me and I'm looking forward to starting the next chapter in my career.

Feline pharmaceuticals

Yesterday morning, when I went to Walgreens to fill a prescription for the cats' anti-anxiety medication (in anticipation of the cross-country flight), the pharmacist looked at the prescription order and then looked up at me, puzzled. She asked, "When is your birthday?" When I told her, she wondered why it was listed as "2008" on the prescription.

When I explained that the prescription was for my cat, and not for me (The vet had forgotten to list a cat's name.), she seemed a bit suspicious, but agreed to call the vet before filling the prescription.

I left the pharmacy and went to work, not really thinking about it. A few hours later, I received an email that began:

"Dear Stefano-Cat,
Your prescription order for Wednesday, January 27th is ready for pickup."

And that made me laugh out loud.

Pad Thai bye bye

Swimsation and I had another farewell meal last night, when I brought over some Thai food to her house. We'd planned to go out and find someplace fun for dinner, but she was hit by a car the other day on her way to (her first day of) work!

Fortunately, she's okay, but what a terrible way to start off a new job!

So, we celebrated our new jobs around her kitchen table and reminisced about the fun times we had when we lived in DC. Her new job will take her back to DC at least once a year, and I hope to convince her to extend that trip to include a little Beantown jaunt.

As I continue on the Panda!!!! Farewell San Francisco Tour 2010, I'm getting sadder and sadder about leaving this city and all my friends.

Dump truck field trip

Today, a few of us went to the San Francisco recycling and waste centers for my last work excursion. It was actually a very fascinating tour of the sorting facilities and the transfer station, apparently one of the most sophisticated and advanced in the world!

It also gave me a chance to wear a fluorescent yellow vest over my clothes and a hardhat for the day!

Our first stop was the recycling center, where enormous machines sort through the 800 tons of recycling that gets processed every day. That's 400 trucks of recycling, bringing in 1.6 million pounds!

The waste goes on huge conveyors that, through different techniques (weight sorting, magnets, electrically charged spinners, optical sorters, humans), organizes recyclables into paper goods, brown glass, green glass, clear glass, aluminum, ferrous metals, plastics and compacts them into bales. The bales are then shipped to different markets around the world to be recycled into new products.

I was awestruck at how automated, organized and efficient this facility was and by the sheer volume of recyclables that come through the center.

We then went to the transfer station, where trash and organics are organized to be shipped for processing. Since there's no landfill in San Francisco, all the trash gets consolidated and trucked to a landfill approximately 60 miles away. The organic matter goes up north and becomes compost for area farmers and vineyards. This part of the tour was not so kind on the olfactory senses, if you know what I mean.

We also learned about the artist in residence program, saw works by the current artists and walked through an impressive sculpture garden of past works.

All in all, it was an informative field trip and a nice way to spend my second-to-last day at work!

Celebratory crepes

Charlotte York and I went to one of my favorite SF establishments for dinner last night - a no-frills creperie that makes pretty awesome crepes and salads. And since I'm leaving, I totally splurged with a ginormous seafood salad and a crepe with cheese, mushrooms and an egg!

As usual, we had a lot to chat about: my move, her engagement, our cats, etc. And like the last time we got together, we probably overstayed our welcome at the restaurant, taking up a table for three hours as we poked at our food, talked and laughed.

Last checkup

I took Stefano DiMera and Victor Kiriakis to visit Dickinator's sister this morning for their last SF vet visit. It was Stefano's annual wellness visit, and Victor simply has so much wrong with him that it made sense for him to go as well.

In all, the cats are fine. We got some booster shots, cleaning wipes and news that neither is obese. And it was fun to catch up with Dickinator's sister, who gave some good advice about traveling with cats and prescribed some anti-anxiety medication that we'll be testing on them in the coming days.

While I waited in the lobby for the prescription, a lady came out of another exam room, sobbing. I couldn't get a look at her animal companion, but the exam didn't appear to go well. While she was waiting to pay, a nurse came out to answer a question she'd posed. Apparently, she could finish the round of antibiotics, but it wasn't going to make a difference. SAD!

Even though I'm out an additional 200 smackers, I'm glad Stefano and Victor are healthy critters!

Birthday crabs

To celebrate Roommate A's birthday yesterday, we took over a little Vietnamese/Chinese restaurant known for its salt-baked crabs. About 16 of us took over two large tables and managed to stay relatively calm and civilized. I suspect that, after all the weekend shots, we were pretty wiped out.

In addition to the crabs, we enjoyed some geoduck, fried frogs, pea shoots and garlic noodles. It wasn't a fairly adventurous menu for us, but we really liked it all! And Roommate A seemed to be alert enough to enjoy the evening's celebration!

Mother's day

Mahogany Sparkle's mom was in town for her birthday, and while they weren't busy spending down Mahogany Sparkle's bank account, they managed to get out for a drink on Saturday night.

I'd heard stories about this legendary lady and I was glad to finally meet her, amidst the din of hip hop music, my loud friends and shots of tequila (ick!). And she certainly didn't disappoint - it's clear to me where Mahogany Sparkle gets his ... joie de vivre!

Lunch, coffee, beers?

With one week left in this job, I find it surprising how many people want to hang out and grab coffee, lunch or a beer before I go. These are people I generally like, but have never spent time with outside of meetings and hallway interactions. Why, suddenly, do we need to spend time together during my precious non-work hours that are spent doing busy and important things?

I'm trying to schedule this "free" time to see people who are my actual friends!

What am I, chopped liver?

The head of our department, to whom three of us in cube-land report, comes into the office each morning usually after the rest of us have arrived. And each morning, she announces cheerily, "Good morning, [insert name of one individual]!" and never bothers to say hello to the other two of us.

I think this is something that bothers me.

Lux life

No one should be surprised that I checked out the new CW television show, Life Unexpected, last night. It's being marketed as Juno meets Gilmore Girls, which doesn't necessarily appeal to me as much as the fact that it's on the CW does.

The first episode was very predictable, kind of saccharine-sweet, yet really engaging. I love that Shiri Appleby is on it because I kind of adore her from years ago. I didn't watch her on Roswell (It was on during a very, very strange period of my life when I didn't watch much television.), but I saw her on The Rosie O'Donnell Show and was incredibly charmed by her.

The girl who plays Lux, the requisite teenager with a vocabulary and wit years beyond her age and education, did a very good job as well - another cute blonde to add to my repertoire of fave actresses. But who cast this show? Throughout the entire episode, I couldn't help but think that Lux looks nothing like the actors who play her parents! Maybe there will be some upcoming twist that reveals she's been lying this whole time.

Jamba morning

Oy! My ears are ringing from a fun little event we had in our office building lobby this morning. As part of my work responsibilities to promote environmental sustainability, we passed out reusable mugs and cups to all our employees because we'll no longer stock paper cups in our kitchen areas.

To encourage employees to get in the habit of using these mugs and cups, we invited Jamba Juice to make "free" (paid for out of my budget) smoothies for employees who brought their cups down.

Since I was supposedly the guy in charge, I stayed downstairs for the duration of the event. I have no idea how these kids do it! The blenders were on constantly and started to drive me a little batty! I am an old man who complains about too much noise.

Sleep sleep sleep all day

It's no secret that my life has slowed down considerably in the last few years. Gone are the all-nighters of acting out with friends. Instead are relatively peaceful evenings, with early morning reveille, courtesy of the cats.

To celebrate the three-day weekend (and my looming departure), I threw caution to the wind on Sunday and went out as hard as my poor, old body would let me. We drank, we danced, we screamed ... I crashed.

Yesterday was practically wasted - I didn't do anything productive except order Indian food for dinner. And now it's two days later and I had the most difficult time getting out of bed this morning. All I can do is think of returning to bed and resting my head on the panda pillowcases that Cousin Steppynose got me for Christmas.

Motherland birthday

Last night, Puppy and I went to a birthday party where there were trays and trays of Chinese finger foods like pot stickers, pork buns and egg rolls. There were other things like vegetables and chips, but I was definitely most impressed by the array of dim sum.

EnviroBoy was there as well, so it was nice to catch up with him and discuss the pluses and minuses of moving to Boston. It all feels like part of the Panda!!!! Farewell Tour '10.

Meterstick

The AP article below is interesting to me for two reasons.

Porn video shown on Moscow highway billboard
By NATALIYA VASILYEVA, Associated Press Writer
Friday, January 15, 2010

Drivers in downtown Moscow squinted in disbelief as an electronic highway billboard blazed a two-minute pornographic video instead of its regular advertising clips.

Late-night traffic on one of the Russian capital's busiest roads slowed Thursday as a couple's explicit escapades appeared on the 9-by-6-meter (yard) display.

Some people took pictures of the sight with their mobile phones and posted them on the Internet.

Passer-by Alyona Prokulatova told The Associated Press that she was "so shocked that I couldn't even shoot video or take a picture of it."

The screen's owner, 3 Stars, told the AP that a hacker attack was likely to blame. Police were investigating the incident.

First, obviously, is that someone managed to show porn on a billboard during a heavy traffic time!

Second, who decided that "yard" is an acceptable equivalent to "meter"?

More like "Nein"

Another tradition has come to an end. My last Movie "Mondays" with BoomKat transpired last night when we and her roommate had a nice dinner and saw the movie Nine.

As we reminisced over dinner (as I'm now prone to do since I'm moving and all), we realized that we've been friends for five years, which seems like a very long time, given that we started out as work buddies in neighboring cubes. Neither of us works for the company where we met, and there's a high probability that we'll both be on the East Coast by year's end, so that was comforting.

Nine is kind of a mess. A boring, snoozey mess. I didn't care at all for the protagonist and I was eager for it to wrap up so I could go home. Essentially, this is a movie about writer's block!

There were some nice moments, and Marion Cotillard's performance is pretty great. Surprisingly, of all the Academy Award-winners in the movie, my favorite performances were by Fergie and Kate Hudson. It's probably because their scenes are essentially music videos and I enjoyed their songs the best.

Final supper

For the past few years, Dyson, Gerbil, GarGar and I have been trying to set aside one night each month to get together and eat out. The original intent was to try a new restaurant each month, but as time went on and budgets constricted, it became an attempt to feast on as much food as possible for the least amount of money.

Last night, we returned to one of our staples - a divey Vietnamese restaurant with a flamboyant server - and we ordered a mountain of food for less than $30 each. Seriously, the food we ordered could have easily fed three large families in Vietnam, but we managed to put it all away between the four of us.

It looks like it was my last monthly dinner with them, since my move to Boston is coming up more quickly than I'd like to admit. Sad.

Fancy pasta

Dickinator was in town for 36 hours and I was lucky to be one of the few people she set aside time to see (the others being her sister and her sister's fiance)! The four of us met up at a nice Italian joint for a night of catching up and making fun of friends and family.

I don't get to see Dickinator nearly as much as I'd like - and certainly not as much as when we were in college and people thought we were dating - but that should change when I'm much closer to her New York digs.

Dinner was also kind of interesting, with some pasta types I'd never heard of before. Dickinator had, in my opinion, the most interesting one: a pasta that was like a giant sheet, folded upon itself several times and smothered with a delicious pesto. It made my spaghetti seem so ... ordinary.

Homeownership joys

Who ever said that homeownership was a good thing? My neighbor called this morning to let me know that the garage ceiling is leaking. Apparently, water (I hope it's water) was dripping through a pipe and light fixture onto my parking spot.

So, I've been trying to get in touch with a plumber who can come to the house, check it out and give me a quote that hopefully won't be too outrageous. I'm not sure the repair job will be too fun, but I guess it has to be done.

In addition, one of the burners on my stove completely flamed out. For that, I have no one to blame but myself, but I still would rather not deal with the hassle.

And this is on top of the dishwasher and shower repairs I had done in November. Cash money, out the door!

Hopefully, I'll change my tune when my taxes are done this year.

Pantless subway

Yesterday was pantless subway day in several cities, including San Francisco. I was in the bar with the usual suspects when all these people paraded in without any pants on! I wish they had stayed on the subways and not spilled over into fine establishments like bars. It was awkward and embarrassing and I have no idea how they endured the cold weather.

I suppose the SF version is warmer than the NYC version, though.

Friday night frights

After a taxing day, Puppy wanted to visit the Castro bars for a drink last night, so I obliged and we went out on one of the first Fridays I can remember in a long time. It was clear that people had been out enjoying happy hour for a while because people were wasted!

I quickly became mesmerized by this obese man, dancing as hard as he could on a bench while an equally obese girl with long, ratty hair grinded up on him. At times, she was twisting and turning, writhing on the floor, vacant expression in her eyes, but clearly having fun. I tried on several occasions to take her photo, but I wasn't quick enough.

More than a feeling

So, the reason I took a little trip to the East Coast last week is because I was interviewing with a company based in MA. Yesterday, I received a job offer from the company, which I'm very seriously considering.

After eight great years back in the Bay Area, it's hard for me to think that I might return to the East Coast, but this may be a reality I'll be facing in a few weeks.

Paying more don't mean better

VALedictorian and I hit up a new(ish) food joint last night. It claimed to be a Chinese-style "noodle house" and comes from a chef with a pedigree of very tasty restaurants. As soon as she arrived (I was early), she exclaimed, "I'm so hungry!" thanks to a big workout she'd endured.

So, we sat promptly and ordered ourselves several dishes: Shanghai dumplings, crispy duck, pea shoots and lamb stew. We dove into the "catching up" portion of the evening: holidays, travels, recent failed dates, worky, and realized that it was 40 minutes later and no food had arrived.

Our waitress told us that there was a "problem" with the dumplings and that they were on their way. And when they finally arrived, we gobbled them up and devoured the rest of the food as it came.

Having grown up with Chinese food all my life (the grandparents even ran two fine establishments during my youth), I feel like I can tell the good from the bad. This was the meh. Well, to be fair, it was on the better side, but for the prices advertised on Le Menu, you'd expect a bit more pizazz. Maybe something a bit more creative. Not just the type of food you can get in Chinatown for half the price.

Nonetheless, it was great catching up and filling my stomach. Not so great waiting for a muni to arrive because it was much later in the evening than normal people get out of dinner on a school night.

Panda!!!! Warbucks

I just got a random call on my work phone from a private wealth manager at Morgan Stanley who hoped I could take a meeting with his boss. His boss specializes in helping people with at least $250,000 to invest.

I told him I was afraid I don't qualify and felt the shame of the poor.

Smash him with a phone

Since all my television stories are on hiatus, I started watching Better Off Ted, a little sitcom about a monolithic company and the drones that work within it. Given my own work within Fortune 500 companies, I can totes relate to the show and am sad that I didn't watch last season when it premiered.

I'm also sad that it seems to be in its home stretch since ABC is burning through episodes at the rate of 2-3 per week! I guess I'll just have to savor each moment that Portia de Rossi delivers as an unfeeling executive who cares only for increased productivity and lowering costs. She really is brilliant in this role.

Spreadsheet delight

This is an afternoon where I'm spending nearly all my time going through spreadsheets that other people made, trying to make sense of them and glean some relevant data for my own purposes. It's one of my least favorite things to do, therefore, I blog!

At least it's a focused and rather mindless activity (the data mining part) that will keep me productive and off the internets for the most part.

Tipsy gypsy

Selives was in town for the past few days, celebrating the New Year with an "annual tipsy gypsy pub crawl," a tradition that apparently began on Saturday night.

It was like old times, watching Selives, Mattress and Runyonce get dressed up in ugly drag (shawls, ratty wigs, lace things), apply tooth black to their beautiful smiles and severe makeup. Mahogany Sparkle, Roommates A&J, Puppy and I left the pre-party, went to a little cocktail get-together, then met up with the gypsies back in the Castro, where people were going crazy and insisting on taking photos with the vagabonds.

It was just like old times.

It's Mario time

Puppy impulsively bought himself a Wii for a new year's gift yesterday and we've been back in the world of Super Mario Brothers. Not only did he get the new Super Mario Wii game, but he also downloaded the classic games, which look like stick figures moving across the television screen. As if I needed another reason to park myself in front of the TV!