The Visible Woman...July 12, 2003

Things weren't always as planned but they were interesting and in the end just fine.

We had thought of taking a tour but our friend had offered a chance at the beach with her dog. It's always so much nicer to do something with a local than go on a tour. And of course we wanted to see the dog.

So we spent the morning doing nothing much, just shopping and buying a few things and eating at a French place we found in an alley. L'Anjou I think it was called.

Our friend picked us up and we set out for the beach. We were on a paved trail for a while, Scout wandering here and there, greeting other dogs and picking up 'pee-mail.' Then we went down a steep hill of sand to the beach and walked down the beach, Scout picking up sticks, playing in the surf and trying to dig holes that filled with water. Our friend decided we should try to climb over some pipes when the surf was out and continue down the beach. Apparently so that we wouldn't have to walk back up the steep sandy hill. It didn't work, though, and we ended up with very wet shoes and jeans. Water poured over the top of my waterproof hiking boots and I had to dump water out. But we went back to the steep hill and went up. I was out of breath a little but I can tell I'm in shape from that. Our friend used a towel to get the sand off our shoes to save the Four Seasons carpets and her car from the worst of it. It was fun and an adventure. But FFP wanted his socks dry for his workout and my jeans and his chinos were wet. So...we sent them to the Four Seasons laundry and they did them up nicely and I used the hair dryer to get his sneakers dry. My hiking boots will eventually dry out. I'm sure of it! [The density of my still damp hiking boots and our damp workout clothes caused a bag to be opened by security on Monday. That's my theory, anyway. They used white cable ties to close the bag again replacing the yellow and snipped off ones I used. Just so you know.]

We cleaned up and our friend somehow went home (thirty minutes away), washed her dog, cleaned her car out, got showered and dressed and drove back to get us for our evening out. We had a leisurely time cleaning up, drinking some room service coffee, getting housekeeping to come for our laundry.

We thought we'd go to the Top of the Mark but there was no parking so we went to a bar next to the restaurant where we were going...no problem. Our reservation was honored at Boulevard in short order. We had a wonderful meal and wonderful wine and a great talk with our friend. So it didn't really matter that you couldn't park up on Nob Hill. We were down near Embarcadero and we just took a walk around to settle our food after the great meal and all was well. And our clean socks were in a basket on our bed with ribbons around them when we got back. My jeans and his chinos hanging in the closet with tissue to protect them from the hangers. I won't mention what that cost! What fun.

Saturday, July 12, 2003

A Journal from Austin, Texas. A Project of LBFFP Stealth Publishing.
food	reading	writing	time	exercise	health and mood

Scout enjoys the beach sign in an alley near Union Square socks clean and dry	things work out Things weren't always as planned but they were interesting and in the end just fine. We had thought of taking a tour but our friend had offered a chance at the beach with her dog. It's always so much nicer to do something with a local than go on a tour. And of course we wanted to see the dog. So we spent the morning doing nothing much, just shopping and buying a few things and eating at a French place we found in an alley. L'Anjou I think it was called. Our friend picked us up and we set out for the beach. We were on a paved trail for a while, Scout wandering here and there, greeting other dogs and picking up 'pee-mail.' Then we went down a steep hill of sand to the beach and walked down the beach, Scout picking up sticks, playing in the surf and trying to dig holes that filled with water. Our friend decided we should try to climb over some pipes when the surf was out and continue down the beach. Apparently so that we wouldn't have to walk back up the steep sandy hill. It didn't work, though, and we ended up with very wet shoes and jeans. Water poured over the top of my waterproof hiking boots and I had to dump water out. But we went back to the steep hill and went up. I was out of breath a little but I can tell I'm in shape from that. Our friend used a towel to get the sand off our shoes to save the Four Seasons carpets and her car from the worst of it. It was fun and an adventure. But FFP wanted his socks dry for his workout and my jeans and his chinos were wet. So...we sent them to the Four Seasons laundry and they did them up nicely and I used the hair dryer to get his sneakers dry. My hiking boots will eventually dry out. I'm sure of it! [The density of my still damp hiking boots and our damp workout clothes caused a bag to be opened by security on Monday. That's my theory, anyway. They used white cable ties to close the bag again replacing the yellow and snipped off ones I used. Just so you know.] We cleaned up and our friend somehow went home (thirty minutes away), washed her dog, cleaned her car out, got showered and dressed and drove back to get us for our evening out. We had a leisurely time cleaning up, drinking some room service coffee, getting housekeeping to come for our laundry. We thought we'd go to the Top of the Mark but there was no parking so we went to a bar next to the restaurant where we were going...no problem. Our reservation was honored at Boulevard in short order. We had a wonderful meal and wonderful wine and a great talk with our friend. So it didn't really matter that you couldn't park up on Nob Hill. We were down near Embarcadero and we just took a walk around to settle our food after the great meal and all was well. And our clean socks were in a basket on our bed with ribbons around them when we got back. My jeans and his chinos hanging in the closet with tissue to protect them from the hangers. I won't mention what that cost! What fun.
JUST TYPING It's great to see. What others see. How they lead their lives. A trip to the beach with the dog. A nice restaurant. Their business. Your prospective.
		Food Diary. Four slices of turkey bacon. Bread and butter. Cup of artichoke pistachio soup. Glass of Vouvray. Mushroom ravioli with a cream sauce. Vodka Gimlet. Sip of Manhattan. One third bottle of wine. (A Pinot, I think.) Three raw oysters and three baked in some cream stuff. Sea bass with spinach and capers. About one and a half ounces of cheese and bread. Probably some other bread.
		Time flies.... Shopping and 'shop-looking' can fill time. Walking on the beach, too. Eating and drinking, talking. But such fun.

		Reading. The Pleasure of Finding Things Out, The Best Short Works of Richard P. Feynman is almost completed. I'm not learning physics but I'm learning that I'm completely ignorant about most science and, I think, Richard would have considered that the first lesson.
		I'm on the road and I wrote the journal...what do you want from me?
		Exercise An hour biking to nowhere. A walk on the beach. The bit uphill in the sand was good exercise.
	.	Things didn't bother me today...wet shoes, sand? No problem? No parking here? No problem. I'm learning to relax. Perhaps.