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Dim Sum and some dim bulbs

On our way home from a Dim Sum lunch at Yank Sing, we decided to stop at Safeway to pick up some dinner stuff (if you're interested, we're making pork chops with a mushroom sauce, aspragus and wild rice pilaf&#41. The shopping went by quickly and uneventfully, though the selection of shallots was horrible.
As we got to the checkout line, the bagger asked "Paper or Plastic". I responded, "double plastic, and please pack them light because we have to walk"… the same response I use every time at Safeway. I guess the bagger was some kind of superwoman because she packed them to the point where the bags were about to rip. A note to all baggers reading this scowl: packing 2 large bottles of All Sport and a 2 liter bottle of Storm Soda is NOT packing a bag lightly! So, Janet and I go to the next check-stand and start re-bagging the groceries. Superwoman bagger notices what we were doing and flippantly says (in between chewing and popping her gum&#41 "Oh, I didn't pack them light enough." I couldn't even dignify that comment with a response.

Posted in Scowls.

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By Avery – August 30, 1998

Archived Smirk

As you know from the 8/28 Smirk, last Friday we went to the HORDE concert to see the Barenaked Ladies in concert. They were fantastic. Out of a set of  10-12 songs, only three songs were from their latest CD (I'll Be That Girl, One Week, Alcohol&#41. Most of the songs were the older classics (Jane, Brian Wilson, If I Had a Million Dollars, Old Apartment, Straw Hat and Dirty Hank&#41, which made me very happy, because I tend to like their older stuff better.
After the show, we stayed at the Hotel Sofitel in Redwood City. The Sofitel is part of a chain of French hotels, and though I do not have any particular fondness for the French, the service was fantastic. The room service was prompt, the wine was reasonably priced and the chocolate croissants are to die for. If you are ever traveling and happen to be in a city with a Sofitel, I highly recommend staying there.
On Saturday, we went to Janet's office picnic in Ross, where I promptly lost two consecutive games of backgammon. Oh well, that's not too bad, considering that I haven't played in a few years. On the way back we stopped at the Beverages and More in San Rafael and picked up some: Anchor Small Beer, Lindeman's Framboise Lambic Ale, Mort Subite Cassis Lambic Ale and a Stone Brewing Arrogant Bastard Ale. Unfortunately, this BevMo was out of Peychaud Bitters… the last ingredient that we need to find in order to make our favorite drink, a Sazerac. If any of you readers happen to find a bottle of Peychaud Bitters, pleeeease let us know!

Posted in Smirks.

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By Avery – August 30, 1998

No Update

Unfortunately, since Janet and I were still feeling a bit under the weather, we didn’t go out drinking. Hopefully, by next weekend, we will feel good enough to go out to the Toronado again.

Posted in The Barfly Chronicles.

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By Avery – August 30, 1998

Poor construction

Due to the poor construction and implementation of the automated train routing system, all subway cars in San Francisco were shut down this morning. They are expected to come back online soon, but according to a report on the morning news, it is expected that San Franciscans will have to deal with this for “a long time” and no short-term relief is in sight.
I have a solution: just turn the freaking system off and go back to the manual routing system in the interim until it’s debugged!

Posted in Muni Chronicles.

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By Avery – August 28, 1998

Archived Smirk

Talk about a day with some potential… not only do we get to see the Barenaked Ladies, but we also go to an In-n-Out Burger in Mountain View on our way to Shoreline Amphitheatre. If you don't like in California, you're missing quite possibly the best burgers in the world. To all of the Californians out there, I'm getting two double-doubles, one animal style, and fries, well done… and if you don't know what I mean… I'm not going to tell you! Hah!

Posted in Smirks.

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By Avery – August 28, 1998

Scoot Back!

In the past few days I’ve all of a sudden noticed that trying to get from the Financial District to home is a real trial. Yesterday I started to go underground to take MUNI home from work, and promptly turned around when I saw a thousand people fuming on the platform. I went above ground and tried to get on a bus to no avail, as they were all packed full of people, which was weird because the Financial District is practically the beginning of the line. I had no choice but to cram on with the rest of ’em, and then had to endure the desperate people at each stop who seemed to think that as long as they managed to get one foot onto the steps of the bus, that they could magically fit the rest of themselves into that foot-sized space. And what ride would be complete without that one loud-mouthed hates-her-life middle-aged woman who shrieks “Could you please SCOOT BACK?” For some reason a person shouting orders which include the words “scoot back” to a bunch of adults makes me cringe. On a thank-god-it’s-not-just-me note, the rest of the MUNI-riding community is also miffed at the new Jetsons-esque “automatic” trains. So miffed, in fact, that some of them actually got tired of waiting for the damn thing to move, broke the glass around the “push only in an emergency” button, opened the doors themselves and got out in the tunnel. There’s gonna be a revolution soon.

Posted in Muni Chronicles.

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By Janet – August 26, 1998