Tableau

This is the wallpaper I put on my work laptop that has wi-fi and can go anywhere!

Charmed, I'm Sure

This is my charm bracelet.

Some Photos From Saturday

Here are a few I took Saturday at the Embarcadero. I had walked all the way from 20th and Mission to Market and Van Ness. Then I took the L Taraval to the Embarcadero and got off right by the Ferry Building.
These and many more photos can be seen full size (1280x960 - 336 K) at my PhotoBucket


This is my leg, of course. I love these sox. Erik doesn't like them so much. He doesn't say anything, but I can tell by the smirk on his face. Jr thinks they're ok.



My sandwich. Pastrami with bell peppers, red onions and olives. Breakfast of Champion Photographers.




This woman sat down at the table on the other side of the window I was sitting at eating my eversohealthy sandwich. She spilt her beer at one point. Bummer.




"After the Sandwich" or "The Money Shot" as Peabody calls it over at The Breakfast Blogger.


A building shaped like a Giant Hand. Fascinating.

Ha-Ha! I was just thinking, "wow, I have been working on this silly little post for a long time. Maybe I should be on the safe side and save it as a draft. Five minutes after I saved it, sure enough, the plug popped out and poof, the puter went black.
Go me.


There was a few of these. I don't remember exactly why I chose to take a bad photo of this one, but I did. Every time I arrive in San Francisco, some dirt blows in my eyes. I always feel like there is stuff in my eyes here.


This sculpture is calle "Ying Yang". I can't remember the artist. If you look at it in PhotoBucket you might be able to see Coit Tower in the back. It's not phallic at all.
Nope.

That is the Ferry Building, there at the world famous Port of San Francisco. I was really more interested in the texture and color of the cobblestones, but, eh, whatever. It came together nicely.

Night!

The Weekend In Brief

I had a great weekend.

I saw Spike and Mike's Sick and Twisted Festival of Animation on Friday with Hell, went alone to the Embarcadero and took a tour of a submarine on Saturday and spent quite a few hours in the park and riding the bike on Sunday with Erik and Jr.

I took over a hundred photos but haven't had time to load them so you have to wait.

I'm going to copy and paste this at Diaryland, too. You can still click over if you want. I like to see the hits.

Self-portrait Thursday

Mini cartoon I drew this morning at work

I sold a vest over a month ago. Beautiful, vintage Louis Feraud, leather with a sheepskin collar. Simply gorgeous.
As I do with all my clothing auctions, I stated that the garment was in very good, gently used, vintage condition and could use a cleaning.
The auction ended and the winning bidder paid about $112 for the vest, plus shipping, of course.
When she got it she took it to have it cleaned. The leather cleaner charged her $200.
She emailed us and asked if perhaps we could split the cost of cleaning it with her.
After we got done rolling on the floor laughing, I politely informed her that it was not our policy to help pay for cleaning that the condition of the vest was disclosed in the auction, and that if she wanted to send the vest back, we would issue a refund, minus 20% restocking fee, per our return policy.
We did not hear from her again until last Friday. She emailed again saying if we did not give her a full refund, she would leave bad feedback, even though she did not want to.
My boss immediately reported her to the evilbay authorities, because feedback extortion is against evilbay policy, and it just isn’t very nice.
Then Boss did a little snooping around and found that the buyer was trying to resell the vest and having very bad luck at it.
She started the auction at $75 dollars, put up crappy, dark photo of it, hanging on a door with a bunch of stuff in the background and a crappy title with almost no keywords in it. Just an ugly, dark, little auction. It barely had a chance.
She puts it up for auction once and it does not sell. Amazing to me, this is, because I managed to sell it for $112 dollars and if she would have sent it back, I could have sold it again. She puts it up again and it still is not selling.
She decided at this point to email us again. The email was worded something like, “Is your policy law? I would think you would try to be nice and give me what I want. If you don’t, I am going to leave you bad feedback.”
My boss responded, “You were told you could get a refund per our policy. It has been 35 days since the auction ended. If you need to leave bad feedback, then do what you got to do, girl” (I am paraphrasing, of course. My boss is very professional. Have I told you lately how much I love her? I love her, love her, and love her).
At her wits end the vest person leaves us not only negative feedback, but a comment that says “Avoid this seller, dishonest” and other lovely sentiments.

Welcome to the blocked bidders list, Mrs. Dumbass. There is some good company in there.
You would think that when buying something in an auction that clearly states the garment needs cleaning, that once you had it cleaned so you could try to resell it (and fail because you are a moron), you wouldn’t ask the person (who told you it needed cleaning before you bought it) for a partial refund 35 days later.

At least I rarely have to see the customers face to face. I do not miss smelling the unwashed masses, that’s for sure.

Coincidence, maybe... maybe Divine Intervention.

My lady heads
I've noticed that since I'm not seeing egg anymore my launchcast doesn't play that Frente! song anymore.

Happy?

Yes, I am. But it's 2am so I won't be writing about it at this point.
Check it out. I got a comment from Ben Singer the "founder and operator" of Farmacia Remedios, my favorite store. To bad he didn't leave an addy so I could thank him for the comment and for having such a kick ass store.
Thanks, Ben!

Hellboy and Naked Lady

The Way I See Things

I love the status quo. I don't want anything to change.
I'd like to see him every day.
I'd like to know what's going to happen.
I don't ask because I know everything is sort of up in the air and whatnot.
He's still looking for a place to live because they have to move by the end of
April.
I'm still not sure if he's reading this or not.

We get along well. Nothing about him makes me insane. He's funny, he laughs at my jokes. I've never seen him do a mean thing. Not even one. He is, perhaps one of the nicest people I have ever met. His hand are so soft it's amazing.
He's smooth. The way he moves. The way he parallel parks. Sheesh. I've never been turned on by parallel parking before but, Damn!!

Jr is grumpy at times but we are getting along all right. Last night I was the human coloring book and he colored in my tattoos with markers.

Jr will be falling asleep on one couch and we are sitting on the other watching tv and Jr will say something like "Dad, are you sleeping with her tonight?"
We will be driving in the car and he will say "is she staying over tonight? Can't we take her home now?"
It's good to feel wanted. He slips sometimes and calls me mom.
Scary.



In closing I'd like to mention the fact that comment moderation is on. Someone who wishes to remain stupid and nameless has been leaving less than nice comments.
If it's so bad why would you come back?
Learn some manners, already.

Self-portrait Thursday
Self-portrait Thursday

Crackhead Baby

Crackhead Baby

Comment Moderation

Comment moderation has been enabled. All comments will be approved by me before they are published.

It really did snow last night. About 7pm, I think, just as I was walking out the door, it started coming down, heavy and fast. I jumped in the van and we took off into the blizzard. A few minuntes later it stopped and there was about an inch of thick, wet snow all over the ground. People were outside their houses in jeans and t-shirts having snowball fights. There was enough snow on the porch railing for me to make a 6" tall snowman.
The snowman and all the signs of snow were gone by about 9 am, the ground dry, the sun shining and huge white clouds scattered over the blue sky.

Please Don't Squeeze The Onewetleg.

I Feel Like Onewetleg Tonight.
You Can Really Taste The Onewetleg!
How Do You Eat Your Onewetleg?
Solutions For a Small Onewetleg.
You Need A Onewetleg.
I'm Not Gonna Pay A Lot For This Onewetleg.
Super Onewetleg is Almost Here.
Come See the Softer Side of Onewetleg.
Don't Be Vague. Ask for Onewetleg.
Ho Ho Ho, Green Onewetleg.
Plop, Plop, Fizz, Fizz, Oh, What an Onewetleg it is!
From Our Onewetleg to Yours.
You Need An Onewetleg.
The Advertising Slogan Generator

I'd like to start a new tradition in this here diary.
I'd like to call that tradition

SELF-PORTRAIT THURSDAY

Starting this week and lasting until I forget about it, which will probably be next week.

This isn't a self-portrait of me, so this may be cheating, I haven't made up the rules yet.


Co-worker #1

That is co-worker #1 inadvertently posting a photo of himself on evilbay. He didn't know he did it until I pointed it out. He also doesn't know I put this here so don't tell him, ok? (I'm talking to you, Hell)

I had a lot of adjectives yesterday, but I really don't know how I feel today. I guess a little empty. Cold, I feel cold.

I am:
elated
confused
a little buzzed
self-sufficient
unsure
lonely
happy
cold
proud of myself
smart
funny
considerate
selfish
shy
adoring
intolerant
easily amused
quick to anger
quick to forgive
obsessive
bold
worried
ashamed
silly
organized

my co worker offered to buy me a steak dinner tomorrow because I have been buying him lunch this week since he's broke (why am I always buying men things? why?)
He said "let's go get a nice steak."
"But I don't really like steak that much."
"You are the hardest woman to please I have ever met."
"No, really, I'm not."
I will never understand why people think buying me things I don't want is nice.
Or why when I say, "I don't like that", people want to point out how different I am.
I had a conversation with a friend today about eating food without meat in it. She said she just doesn't get full unless the food she eats has red meat in it.
I'm not a vegetarian, but meat, eh, I can take it or leave it. That's the way I was raised. Most of the meat we ate was animals from our own farm. Chicken, rabbit, goat. Very little beef.
I like the stuff. It's delicious. But to sit and eat a whole steak? ghh. Even for a big girl like me, thats a lot of beef.
I can go for days without eating meat and not even think about it.

================================================

Work is lovely.
Sales are good.
I love my job more than I ever have in my life.
My boss is an angel from heaven and my co-workers, while they can be annoying, are smart and funny and I wouldn't trade them for all the money in the world.

=================================================

I just remembered that I'm very good at communicating with people that speak another language.
Maybe I should volunteer to teach ESL

This weekend and some of today

Friday night he called me and asked if I wanted to tag along on a drive to Treasure island to pick up Jr's big brother for his weekend home visit (big bro is in the Job Corps). It was a nice drive, Treasure Island has a gorgeous view of the city. We went to this restaurant (I can't remember the name (not on Treasure Island)) and got crab sandwiches.
Oh, they were good! White bread with about two inches thick of crab meat, more bread on top and hollandaise sauce over the whole thing. So yumm.

Saturday he picked me up and took me to Golden Gate Park for a birthday party. It was chilly, but clear and after dark there were some fireworks. Lots of people, lots of kids. Lots of fun. Then we piled in the van and went to his house. We had something to eat there. Oh, yeah, fish. With pasta. Jr passed out on the loveseat and we were snuggy on the couch watching Panic Room. He asked me if I was tired and I said yeah. So he took me to bed (shhh. it was lovely. quiet and on a fold out couch (squeek, aqueek), but lovely, nonetheless).
Jr woke up around 2am and came in to wake up his dad, none to please to see me sleeping in his usual spot. So, then there were three in the fold out bed. My back had settled on "dull ache with intermittetent spasms" setting and I tried to stay as far over as I could but I kept sliding down the mattress to the middle and ugh. It was uncomfortable.
We all woke up around 8am Sunday and got dressed (I brilliantly wore jammies under my pants that day so I didn't have to wear my pants to bed! Go me!). I was sitting at the livingroom window smoking and Jr comes in, he wants to play a game.
Game? I'm down with games. How about a hot round of Candyland? I kicked his ass at Candyland and then we played with the game pieces and the board. I was King Candy so I took him all around and got candy from all the nice folk in Candyland. When we found ourselves face down in the Molasses Swamp I figured it was time for something else. We played Go Fish for a while and then I said, what about War? You know how to play War? He did and we did. Then he wanted to play Battleship but I didn't want to so I played solitaire and watched him play solitaire Battleship. We kicked a foam ball around the living room for a while, just barely missing breaking a bunch of stuff.
Then it was time to go out in the big, bad world. We put on coats and hats and he let me put his shoes on him.
"Hey, Jr, are theses laces too tight?"
"I don't care, I never care if my laces are too tight."
"Ok, well, I don't want to hear later 'oooo my shoes are too tight! Who tied these darn laces so tight! Oh, no, LACES ARE TOOOOOOO TIGHT!!!"
He laughed and assured me that the laces were not too tight.
We went to IHOP. The same one I used to go to with Bruce all the time. I didn't say anything. The boy had chicken strips, dad had harvest nut pancakes and I had eggs, hashbrowns and sausage, of course.
Then the adventure began.
Jr had recieved a gift card from Toysareus because he had found a cell phone and turned it in. The phones owner gave him the card as a reward. Pretty sweet. $45 bucks.
We drove to the local TRU here and guess what? They R Closing. Last day. Everything 90% off. Woo hoo.
There were virtually no toys. Accessories for obscure toys, controllers for crappy video game consoles and the like. I snuck behind the shelves and found two small balls and a crusty pencil. I figured something was better than nothing.
We left the store empty handed except for the balls and the pencil and drove to the next nearest TRU.
Same deal. No toys. I peeked behind the shelves, but there wasn't even any scavenging to be had. Clean as a whistle.
Next TRU is across the Bay Bridge. Damn the torpedos. We went. Dad is a driving fool. And a good driver, too. I have seen him pull into parking spaces in ways that made me hot. Really. Very smooth.
Jr and I played Rock Paper Scissors all the way there. We made up some new ones too. Lighter. Fist with thumb up, that one is. Lighter burns paper, but rock crushes it and scissors can cut the wick off.
Vulcan. Fingers separated in the Spock manner. I can't remember off hand what it beat. Maybe only scissors, because it's like two scissors.
Finally, we are there. This one is also closing, same deal, 90% off. We went in and it was the same stuff as the other store, but more of it, I suppose because they are out of town and didn't get hit as hard, or something.
They found two dragon-type dealies that they thought Jr might like. One had light and sounds. Also two video games, one rollercoaster making one for the pc and one poker for the gameboy.
I'm going to teach Jr to play poker as soon as possible. I really miss playing cards.

Then we drove back to the city. Jr fell asleep in the van and we had nice quiet grown up time. Not a lot of talking, but the silence is nice after a day of playing with the boy.
He dropped me off at home and went on his way.
Sunday night. At home. So happy.

Egg just yelled at my window for the first time in days. He asked me to come and smoke a cigarette with him and I went. When I got downstairs he hugged me and said "Coney, I miss you and I want you to be my girlfriend again. I miss you being my girlfriend."
I told him, "I'm sorry, I can't do that."
"Why, Coney? I miss you being my girlfriend and I want you to come over and sleep with me tonight."
"No, Egg, I can't."
"But, Coney, I miss you."
"I have a new boyfriend, now."
"Ohhh, Coney, why did you do that?"
"Because you were unavailable. I told you I wanted a boyfriend and you told me no."
"Is he dumb?"
(Huh?)
"No, he's smart."
"I bet he's not as smart as me."
"Maybe, maybe not, but he's nice to me and he doesn't call me names."
"I always call you names, huh, Coney?"
"Yup."
"That's because you're mean to me."
"Ok, whatever."
"Coney, I made pancakes this morning, but they weren't as good as yours. I put eggs and milk like you did, but they just weren't as good as yours."
"That's because I am the best pancake maker in the world."
"You are, Coney. Come and be my girlfriend again, I miss having you for my girlfriend."
"But you always called me names and then you threw me away like trash." I made a drop kicking motion with my hand and foot.
"No, Coney, don't say that. I called you names because you were mean to me."
Then he wanted to use my phone.
"Ah, it's always something, Egg."
"Oh, Coney, no it isn't, don't be that way."
"Yeah, it's never, 'coney how are you? how's your day? how do you feel?' it's always, coney, I need, I need, will you, can you?"
He called his brother and left a message, so I figure I should be getting a call from eggbro anytime now. ghh.
He hugged me and I made him give me a kiss, just a little one, just for the hell of it.
He made his plea for me to come over one more time, told me his room was all clean and that he had rearranged everything, but I walked away.
It's still too scary to think about.

1950's Postcard

I was shopping for new merchandise for my store today and I found a beat up envelope. I could see there were some pictures inside so I pulled it out and opened it up. The first thing I saw was a picture postcard of the Bay Bridge. I thumbed through it and I saw that it was full of picture postcards, in excellent shape and all looking like they were from the fifties.
I scooped them up with my other treasures and took them back to the room. I put them aside and pretty much forgot about them, listing other stuff, trying to make goal, throwing things across the room, had lunch and then finally got around to looking at them.
It's about 50 cards, or so, from places all over the US. Niagra Falls, Maine, Rhode Island, Vermont, Las Vegas, and a lot from the Bay Area. Fisherman's Wharf, the Bay Bridge, Golden Gate Bridge, Lombard Street, the Cliff House, cable cars, the marina.
One is a pop-up type of affair. On the outside is a drawing of a crab. When you open it there is a little crab stand down on Fisherman's Wharf and a crab goes in a pot of water. Very interesting stuff.
I only found one date, 1957. All are mint and near mint condition. No creases, tears, writing or stamps. Some of them were sold in packets and the glue has stuck on the envelopes a little.
There is a brochure from the Rock Island Line with wonderful illustrations of people riding in the different cars, all smiling, eating, drinking, enjoying the view. The women look like Grace Kelly and the men look like Ward Cleaver.
There is a street map of San Francisco. Pristine. No holes or stains.
All of it mint condition. It's really a nice collection.

I have been sort of stressing about how I should post it. How to photograph it and what to write.
I will probably use in the description some of what I wrote above. I'll have to count them and categorize them. That will take time. Time, time, time.

I upgraded my phone today so now I have caller id and voicemail. Texting, too. The whole upgrade came to a little over ten dollars.

I went out with the New Guy tonight. He and Jr came and picked me up
Jr in a bad mood. Jr said he didn't want me in the van and I had to move him to crawl into the back seat.
Whatever.
He was resisting me but fell victim to my charms in a while. The man had to stop and look at an apartment, because he needs to move and I waited in the car with the none to happy to be left in the car Jr. He cried. Dad came back pretty quick and said the place smelled like pee and was dinky. Welcome to San Francisco.
I made a crappy paper airplane that would fly about one foot. When you're in a vehicle one foot is far enough to actually seem kind of ok. Kind of. Jr liked it for a while. I tried to engage Jr in conversation and get him to talk about himself as much as I could. We talked about birthdays and paper airplanes and motorhomes. We looked at interesting stuff driving by. I enjoyed it.
We went to the Bashful Bull Too. That's a diner. In the Sunset dist, I think. They have a great sign outside of a cartoony bull's head with flashing cartoony eyes. They have a bunch of great signs inside, too. The table where we were sitting had a beautiful view of the street where the L Taraval train kept going by.
The meal went pretty well. I had eggs, scrambled, hash browns and sausage. I like breakfast. Jr had a chocolate milkshake and a grilled ham and cheese sandwich. I can't rememeber what the man had. Some kind of sandwich with onion rings and a coffee milkshake.
After dinner we got in the van and drove around. Through Golden Gate park and up and down Haight St.
Jr fell asleep in the back and then we had a chance to talk grown up talk, which was nice. I like that guy. I really like both of those guys.