r|wear: the 4th wall & sushi chef

at what point is r|wear not appropriate?

NEVER.

shameless self- promotion

must be extended.

to the masses.
that eat.
sushi.
at ono sushi.

this shwag-experience (vs. the other shwag) has taught me one thing, however. there is a fourth wall at sushi. mark-man (dude with shwag) broke the fourth wall. (and for that, we must coffee-talk ... and for that, i must write.)

at least 4-feet, with a counter in-between us. that is the way we see mark-man. as a torso with arms and a head. in fact, the only reason i know he has legs is because he walks to the sink to wash his hands, pulls stuff out of a rice cooker, takes hot stuff out of an oven or something, and i suppose he uses the restroom - because i'm betting he doesn't have a stadium pal, which, of course, would still require him to have legs. but i digress. (and hey! maybe he does have a stadium pal, so maybe that's another topic for later discussion.)

when mark-man came over to our table (because the sushi bar was not an option for us at the time) to choose the cap he wanted, he was about arms length away. i could touch him, if i wanted to do so, i suppose.

arms length distance?! a bit over 2-feet. away. too close. wrong. fourth wall. go back. danger, will robinson, danger. move, dude, move. what's that funky feeling? ... it was not that special (ahem) roller-coaster feeling (ahem) one gets (ahem, ahem). it was the that do not pass go kind of thing. it's the freakin' fourth wall!!!

counters define that fourth wall - i think that the fourth wall also applies to places where there is a counter or like-kind separation. i'm on one side & you are on the other. bank teller. toll bridge person. fast-food place. DMV. movie theater. stadium ticket taker. i may want to touch you and shake your hand, but it's just not what we do.

my issue? o.k. - maybe it's my issue(s) - confined space, claustrophobia, personal space, whatever ... and maybe it wouldn't be a problem to see if mark-man and them sushi chefs sort of have the same ... funky feeling. counter. space. mine. yours. over there.

lesson(s) learned? none, really. i learned a new term. (thanks, mike MAG!) i reinforced the personal space thing i got going on.

next time i see mark-man ... i suppose i'll ask mark-man if he does have/use a stadium pal. and next time i'll simply thank him for sporting the r|wear. oh! and i'll thank him, on behalf of all the tuesday night sushi goers, for the awesome rolls he has made!

asked & received ...

so i asked at Spinning Girl's Meme Myself & I ...

hmmm ... interesting! if you're still handing out letters, i (another scorpio) will take a random (or not so random) letter and give it a shot.

and Spinning Girl dropped by ... and i received ...

Hello!
I stopped by to give you a letter ...

And the letter shall be:
Y

Enjoy!
tee hee

and now i can occupy my time. Y. out of all the letters. how Y evolved. the letter Y.

[i did a little diggin' to figure out what to do ... Write ten words beginning with that letter in your journal, including an explanation of what the word means to you and why, and then pass out letters to those who want to play along. o.k. - so be it.]

agency kudos?! i just didn't know ...

this is the part of the lobby of the san diego air pollution control district (aka SDAPCD) with whom i work ...

because, as part of my consulting practice, SDAPCD processes the paper(s) that i prepare so that i can get a piece of paper ... or 2 or 27 or 2 x 27 pieces of paper.

i am in this lobby at least 4 times a month (and i'm pretty sure i'm underestimating).

and apparently i have never noticed the recognition the SDAPCD has received. in fact, since the beginning of the year (after the SDAPCD relocated to this new building), i have been in this lobby at least 25 times ... and i guess i'm just not paying attention to the lobby decor.


and then upon seeing there is a National Association of Counties Organization that gives out awards ... admittedly, i had to check the validity of such an organization, and lo and behold (argh, matey!) ... NACO is a real organization that gives out real awards and does other stuff.

this is good to know. this way, i won't have to wonder if someone at the SDAPCD is using something like this

to get ... this ...


or perhaps to self-congratulate for this ...


either way ... SDAPCD is pretty o.k., i suppose. Hmmmm ... i wonder if the OTHER like-kind agencies in the state ...


[source: California Air Resources Board.]

also have awards ... for stuff ... our tax dollars support?

r|break: gassing up

it wasn't this bad ... but it was time to gas-up again.

($3.49 per gallon! SoCal is nutty! the baltimore, md, area was looking good a couple of weeks ago at ~ $3.00/gal.)

but THIS bad-boy ... 50-gallon tank!

[not an endorsement of chevron or coca-cola products,
but if you do visit san diego, try out this tour.]

tenant's truck?! hmmm ...

reconnaissance:
21 MAY 2006, 1043 (PDT)

tenant truck still in driveway

(back story)

when may 31 hits, one of our to-do items, if this truck is still in the driveway ... have it towed after contacting the police department.

R|ReLo #20b: moving boxes arrived!

Hello Shirley,

Your order #28634312, has shipped.

*Orders with multiple items may arrive in separate packages.

*View the status of your order by logging into my account.

*For frequently asked questions or further assistance click here.

Thank you for your purchase.

Respectfully,

Customer Care
Overstock.com

family event - 1st communion

my nephew's 1st communion (it's a catholic thing) ...

and this is his little banner that he made. it was hung on the pew that was reserved for family.

each kid had something a little different - and my guess is the little items on the bottom right are his 'personal touches' - y'think?


after the event, there were refreshments (so the kids could be pumped full of sugar). then we headed to chevy's for lunch (and margaritas - ha!).

and as if that wasn't enough food & drink, over to my brother's for cake, ice cream, soda (uh ... and beer).

pic is of (top L to R) ... me, my bro, his wife, her mom, my mom, my niece, and little patrick. hmmm ...? who does he take after?

R|ReLo #20a: moving boxes ordered!

moving in motion. ordered boxes. here is an excerpt of the confirmation i received from overstock.com. (thanks, maritess, for the tip on overstock.com!) ...

Hello Shirley,

We received your order.

The following item(s) are included with this order:

Order No.	Item	Quantity
28634312	Convenient Moving Kit	2
28634312	Wardrobe Boxes	1
28634312	Kitchen Moving Boxes	1

what WILL I DO with my squalor?!

R|ReLo #19c: and the point of this sh**

now, what is the point
of leaving this sh** in the home?

3-bananas ... on the kitchen counter?

a container of comet ... in the master bathroom?

R|ReLo#19b: eviction notice

posted at the front door entrance

[some info 'whited-out' (thanks to tanya!) to protect the innocent ... uh ... and guilty]

can you see on the 'eviction date' line item ... where there is actual 'white out' ... perhaps of the original 05/10 lockout date?! thanks again to the cast of characters!

R|ReLo #19a: got lockout? yes!

lockout happened!

cast of characters: locksmith (rodney, sylvia), deputy sheriffs (p, t), my mom & me.

approaching ... as we drove up (05/16 ~ 11:20), this is what we saw (pic to the right) ... one of the tenant's two vehicles. this vehicle. unmarked. no license plates. presumably the tenant's vehicle.

drama? not. ... for a moment, we thought ... how exciting! if the tenant is here, the sheriff's department will have to "extract" him.


sheriffs in town ... deputy sheriffs p & t arrived. (we were hanging out with rodney & sylvia across the street.) no excitement. tenant wasn't there.

sheriff handed us paperwork.

we all went in after sheriffs said it was o.k.

locksmith got prepped.

sheriff said bye-bye. we all (locksmiths, mom, me) checked-out the place. locksmith got busy.

a few more words on checking out the place in a later post.

next milestone: may 30th

R|ReLo #18b: taking a break

... post tomorrow (with pics) on the relo saga. today's major milestone - locks changed on my future digs.

short story - locksmith (husband (rodney)/wife (sylvia) team) came, we came, deputy sheriffs (deputy p & deputy t) came, sheriff's entered home, tenant was not in home, sheriff waved us in. some stuff left over in garage & here/there. truck in driveway. said "bye" to sheriffs. locksmith did their thing. got new keys. locksmith left. secured the home. left. no drama.

next milestone: may 30

airport convenience

when i "google-mapped"

now ...
SD Start address: <office address>
End address: SAN - San Diego Intl Airport
Distance: 4.1 mi (about 8 mins)
pro: no freeway time
con: uh ... train tracks

later ...
BA Start address: <office address>
End address: OAK - Metropolitan Oakland Intl Airport
Distance: 14.6 mi (about 18 mins)
pro: freeway with a carpool lane
con: freeway that has 2 other junctions

r|break: funky-monkey

it's pretty straightforward ... and fun (enough)
monk-e-mail
enjoy!

r|break: hello sunshine!

given tomorrow's upcoming event ...
i had to pull a card

You Are The Sun

You represent the best of life - vitality, success, and and truth. You tend to have a strong, centered, balanced personality. Inspiration and discovery are your fortes. You are very mentally strong. A talented mind, you tend to excel at math, philosophy, and music. Your fortune: As well as you have done in the past, the future is going to be filled with more success. A new creative project is coming your way. Feed it, and it will grow into something huge. Great riches, recognition, prosperity, or happiness is coming your way. And it's possible that a fantastic vacation, or a new baby, is coming sooner than you think.

What Tarot Card Are You?

nice boost for the afternoon!

R|ReLo #18a: flight out for 05/16 lockout

just as the recent post says, tomorrow (tues, may 16) is the lockout with the alameda county sheriff's department. this has been confirmed as of 11:00 AM this morning.

almost like the f'shizzle post, i'll fly out early tomorrow - but decided on:

• 7:20 AM out of SAN
  
• 8:45 AM arrival into OAK
• by 11:15, meet up with locksmith at my future digs




• by 11:30, joined by sheriff department's deputy p and his partner at the future digs
• AND ... within 20-ish minutes or so (by noon-ish tomorrow), tenant is out (really. i hope. out.)
  

needless to say ... i will have my camera and be attentive, and hopefully any 'damages' to the property are minimal and not too dramatic or different from the 01/23 last walk-thru of the home. we already know that we'll be fixing up one of 2 bathrooms.

[not a smiley face; just a tub waiting to be replaced
... along with whatever other damage comes along with this]

R|ReLo#18: new lockout date

almost ... it's ALMOST over
tuesday, may 16th

[lisa from the law firm called to inform us of the new lockout date]

what next? ... it's like that movie groundhog's day, but we only lived the events vicariously (via blog posts, i suppose) ... going forward ... a little about the back story

• why the original lockout date of may 10 changed ... here
• the original countdown ... here with some other details of some of the process
• short and long versions of the march 24 court event that led to the original april 21 date for tenant to vacate
  

so on may 15, the post may look something like this.

breathe.
breathe deeply.
relax. and breathe.

mitch! i almost forgot 'bout him

i'm a bad, bad pet owner. bad.

it's been almost 2 weeks since i last checked.

on mitch.

my eco-sphere office mate/roomie.
still alive. eating. upside down. alive.

happy mom's (& auntie's) day 2006!

me, mom & some aunties

top l to r: me, mom, auntie flor
bottom: auntie gloria, ninang nandie

just a quick "happy mother's day" to my mom and a few of her friends. [pic from my ninang's 70th birthday. luau theme, y'think?]

r|trip: backtrack to nathan's

upon request by visor-r|wear-pjb ... our host (while at nathan's) was proudly wearing this pin. see - the one for which i'm pointing.

what? you can't read it.

lemme help you out ... u.s. secret service soccer club. (i was not successful at ripping it off his lapel for my own ... o.k. - i didn't try, but i thought about it.)

r|wear: d.c. last week at nathan's

monday night at nathan's in georgetown
[a.k.a. half-price wine list! yum on the peachy canyon zinfandel]

a l'il r|wear here and there ...
eric with the polo & paul with the golf visor.
coolio!

R|ReLo #17: oops! never mind (sh**!)

may 10 lockout NOT! ... so i literally JUST GOT A CALL from our lawyer ... get this (!!!)

• stay?! ... tenant filed with the court a request for a stay (which would have allowed him 40 - yes, before 41 and after 39), something that is a legal avenue ... something about some 'emergency reason' (... something that is potentially untrue)
  
• 4 days more ... the judge (who originally stipulated an april 21 vacate date) did not allow up to 40-days but allowed 4 (yes, before 5 and after 3) days.
• payment from tenant ... the tenant must pay the court for 4-days of rent while tenant stays on the premises (for which the payment then eventually makes its way back to us - and ultimately will end up toward compensating the law firm we retained)
• may 15 ... the expected & rescheduled lockout date

so i'm not flying up to the BA until the weekend ... and i will take up the cause to make sure there are more landlord rights that can prevail.

bright side?
i'm leaving work right now & getting a drink w/some friends!

R|ReLo #16a: May 10 lockout, f'shizzle

it started with the lawyer telling us the next steps

and then ...

5 calendar days ago, tenant was served with notice ... posted on the premises. additionally, a letter was sent to tenant.

tomorrow ... may 10

• 6:35 AM flight out of SAN ... 8:05 AM arrival in OAK.
• 11:15 AM ... locksmith will be present here and more specifically here.
• 11:30 AM ... "Deputy P" (and another Alameda County Sheriff) will be present at the premises to get this dude off and out the property.

to recap ... i will be moving into the home that my family has rented to the tenant for nearly 15 years. (there will be some remodeling and fixing up, needless to say ... and we haven't been on the premises since jan 23rd for a prelim inspection of the home.)

the tenant did not move out as legally notified via a non-renewal of the lease agreement and subsequent notifications. we sought legal representation to have tenant vacate the premises. a court trial was requested and resulted in some back/forth between our lawyer & tenant. and then the process continued to unfold.

keep you posted ... camera in hand ... wifi cafe nearby

... post to blog, f'shizzle.

question mark man sighting

friday afternoon sighting. saw this fellow at the panera bread (free wifi, as well as tasty eats) in friendship hts/chevy chase area.

NOW i remember the t.v. commercials.

apparently, he's a regular. lesko. yeah - if you clicked the hyperlink - that dude.

spoke with him for several minutes. my opening remarks?
[using my natural, harding-hitting, god-given, journalistic talents]

"hey there! just had to come over. so, what's up with the purple suit and question marks? and how many of these suits do you have?"

chit/chat tidbit info - his son lives in SD area (something about software program stuff). he visits son here/there. he has nine other question mark suits (different colors). i have his business card.

this other pic...

what's up - aside from the too heavy laptop backpack, handy karine dupont bag (soooo wonderful!), skirt (uh ... skirt?! yeah ... skirt!), and a floral skirt, at that???

my friend and i believe (deduced) this just may be mr. lesko's mode o'transport. thought of getting on it, but just now sure if i wanted a suede purple sneaker kicking my shin.

R|ReLo #16: sheriff & locksmith

spoke with lawyer today ... and the next steps:

short version - tenant will be out of the home on May 10 and leftover belongings secured for 15-days until ... the lawyer tells us what else to do.

longer version -
what we know today ...

we ... schedule with a locksmith to be available Wed, May 10

lawyer ... awaits call from Sheriff's department when we should prepare for arrival of Sheriff at property

tenant ... is still living at property illegally

what we will do next week ...

we ... will hang out with locksmith on May 10 at the property

lawyer ... will call us to tell us the specific timeframe (e.g., all day, morning, afternoon) that Sheriff will be at property

we ... will hang out with sheriff and locksmith when they do their thing

tenant ... will leave, whether he likes it or not

and i will post another blog entry.

other tidbits ...
- our key ... if the key fits the locks (e.g., if the tenant has not changed the lock), sheriff will go in to secure the premises.
- locksmith ... will go around and change all the locks.
- tenant leftover belongings ... will be "stored" for 15-days in a safe place. if tenant leave belongings in front or backyard or any place outside, we still need to store, etc.

shy? or witness protection program?

yeah ... this is (can't list his name), my friend, dropping me off at my hotel.

we met his friend, lyn, and we went to Clarendon Ballrooom for drinks. And as lyn put it ... "nameless friend thinks we're still in our 20s." (we are not.)

[nameless friend requested i not post his pic. i will obey.]

so ... i think nameless friend had a decent time. it's not like he's flipping me off, eh.

east coast trip - lbj room

as part of my biz trip back east ...
... got to spend time at a reception hosted in the LBJ room,
which is on the Senate side of the Capitol Building.

R|ReLo #15: COUNTDOWN

[03 may 2006, ~ 10AM (PST)]
lawyer man says:

"Hi Shirley, Amanda left you a message yesterday. I am not sure what number she called. But the lockout is scheduled for May 10 [emphasis added]. That was the earliest they could schedule the lockout for."

[27 april 2006, 16:55]
lawyer man says:

"As soon as we get a writ of possession from the court, we will contact the sheriff to schedule a lock-out for the unit. Hopefully this can all be done within 10-14 days. That's the usual turn around time. I know this may be frustrating but it's the way the legal process works." [longer description of process]

AAARGH!!!
for April & May 2006

Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun before 17 then 18 was 19 ago 20 leave! 21 LEAVE! 22 LEAVE! 23 laywer! 24 STILL! 25 SAME! 26 oink! 27 ditto! 28 artist! 29 UGH! 30 squatter! 01 geez! 02 still! 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 c-ya! 10!!! 11 12 13 14

days. numbers. tenant.
[29 apr 2006] taking a small break for daytime fun.

word on the street,
tenant is STILL there, woof!
... says moki.







you've got to ask yourself one question: woof! do you feel lucky? well, do ya, punk? ... woof, woof!






... we now can surmise that tenant still pays his electricity bills - and gasoline for his work vehicles.

and i am where?

should be a l'il obvious, eh?!
(btw, the service at this place has been GREAT(!!!) so far.)

SD artwalk: visited w/2 artists

this is adolfo ...
and more about him
on his site.

met him 2 years ago,

and he still remembers!

... and this is kelly.
more about her
on her site.

i stalk her (j/k). saw her stuff 2 or 3 years ago.
something about her work by which i am moved.

what i don't have pix of ... having drinks with todd and john at indigo grill. it started as a harmless "just one drink" before i have to get back to pack for my trip. 3 drinks later and a shrimp and scallop ceviche or something like that. uh - right ... like i packed that night. sure.

SD artwalk in l'il italy - people watching

29 may 2006 - in little italy for SD's artwalk


could this kid be any
more cool than
he already is in his
striped polo,
plaid shorts,
and matching tennies?!

crossed paths with this couple
here & there
throughout the afternoon.