Friday, July 29, 2005

"It Should Work..."

I'm getting really fucking sick of receiving the response, "It should work..." whenever I tell someone that something (a process, piece of code, etc.) is not working. Yes, I am fully aware that it should work. In fact, if it did work, I wouldn't be requesting some kind of information or assistance from you in order to proceed. Telling me what currently should or shouldn't happen is an offensive waste of time. I am aware of the correct outcome, but right now, it's incorrect and we need to fix it.

What exactly do people expect to accomplish by telling me, "It should work..."? Should I respond, "You know, you're right! It should! Hey, that fixed it. It's doing what it should do now because you said it should work! Thanks!"

No, because then instead of sounding like an annoyed bitch, I'd sound like a snide bitch.

Other than being a futile waste of words, that statement actually sets productivity back. When you respond to someone's problem with "It should work..." you're not only not helping the person (yes I'm using a double-negative; it's a necessity for emphasis), but you've created another obstacle by appearing unwilling to admit that there's even something wrong. That means the person with the problem has to double-back and re-explain the issue while having to unnecessarily convince you that it is problem to begin with.

None of the problems that have yielded such an asinine response are the end of the world (my badge isn't working, something in the Help is broken and I was tasked with fixing it, etc). However, I feel like the people I've asked for assistance have given me a telling glimpse of their personalities. These models of dipshittery might as well wear signs that say, "Hi, I'm [name] and instead of just dealing with problems that are relatively small and easy to fix, I'd rather pretend they don't exist." It may not change things, but at least I'd know what I was getting myself into when I asked a simple question.

posted by platkat @ 9:33 AM  1 million people love The Kat

 

Thursday, July 28, 2005

Picture Day

While I was eating my salad, one of the tines in my plastic fork broke off.



My first thought was, What the fuck is in this salad? But as I spit out the tine, I realized that it couldn't be from the salad, as it had a texture unlike anything I'd ever accidentally imbibed. So now I'm eating a salad with a three-tined fork and it feels really weird.

Also, I saw a dead bird in the parking lot about a week ago.



I found it rather odd that not only were its guts torn out in a bloody mess, but its killer had also taken the head as a souvenier. I showed the picture to some people and they compared me to the guy in American Beauty. When I replied that I don't film wind-swept bags with wide-eyed wonder, they insisted that he recorded images of dead birds as well. I know no one meant any offense, but I knew a guy that looked and acted a lot like the movie character in question, and he was one of the biggest asshats I'll probably ever meet.

posted by platkat @ 12:12 PM  3 million people love The Kat

 

Wednesday, July 27, 2005

Two Good Things

Despite having to part with my beloved canine, today was not entirely craptastic due to two good things:

1. There was some kind of celebration at work in which we received lots of tasty ice cream and toppings, in addition to a free hat.

2. I placed third in a sit-and-go multi-table online poker tournament and won $150. Although I am quite partial to winning money, I'm never going to enter one of these tournaments again. This is what tight limit players do when they want tournament practice because they're scared of the huge regular and special tournaments. People were taking forever and playing like idiots. The play got better when it thinned out to the top five players (who were all going to finish in the money), but before that, I could almost see the hamster wheel rotating in some of my opponents' moronic heads. I made several stupid and rather costly errors and I still placed third.

Okay, so that part about never entering one of those tournaments again is a lie. I'm going to enter another one tomorrow... with higher stakes.

posted by platkat @ 10:32 PM  1 million people love The Kat

 

Air Zo

Ever since Zoey's unfortunate encounter with a neighborhood dog, following her unfortunate encounter in which she bit her playful roommate Woogie, I've been spending my free time trying to find a way to get her back to Austin. I feel so terrible that Zoey is letting her troubled past interfere with how she gets along with the nice dogs here. Even keeping her in my room all day while I'm at work didn't help (I guess she can open doors). So Gus, who is the best boyfriend in the world, offered to take care of her in Austin while I finish my contract here.

I placed multitudes of Craig's List ads and received many, many responses. People were going near Austin, through Austin, somewhere in the vicinity of Texas... but everyone had some stipulation. One offer was from a guy in Orange County, which is six hours from here. A couple who was moving to Florida would take her, but they needed $300 to mail all their stuff to make room for Zoey. Yet another guy was going to Austin... with another dog. Someone else responded to tell me that I could fly her in a temperature-controlled cabin on Continental for about $300. And thus, for the price of a round-trip ticket for myself, I flew my socially maladjusted dog back to Texas this morning.

Of course, you can't just put a dog on a plane. I had to get her certificate of health yesterday, which was little more than time-consuming. I know the airline needs it to cover their asses, but waiting at the vet is akin to waiting at the doctor's office (time spent waiting/4=time spent with doctor), and in this case, we were the only ones there!

And the day before yesterday, I had to buy a crate. I got a used one, and found out soon after that crates that size (approx. 23x27x38 in.) are around $250 new. Pretty excessive for a large hunk of plastic with a cage door in front. Cost of materials is probably less than 1/10th of that.

I also found out last night when I was making the reservation that I needed food and water bowls that clip into the door of the crate. I went to the crustily crowded Wal-mart, the place to go for cheap plastic thingies. Of course, they didn't have any for individual sale, and the customer service guy who told me this was a complete dousche. I actually considered stealing the bowls out of one of the crates for sale (I had already pulled them out to show the guy what I was looking for). I justified my deviant thoughts by reminding myself that Wal-mart has no problem with robbing their employees of a living wage along with robbing rural and suburban towns of their uniqueness. How would the largest grossing business to ever exist notice a couple of little plastic dog bowls? The smidgen of sense left in me decided that it would be difficult to pull off and it would be a nuisance whether or not they pressed charges. But still, if Wal-mart were human, I would smack him across the face, stab him in the heart 10,000 times, and dump him in a polluted lake. Even that treatment is too good.

I got the bowls for five bucks at Petsmart.

Anyway, bringing her to the airport this morning was really hard. Everyone at the Continental cargo office was really nice, and I'm sure Zoey will be fine, but I feel so bad sending her off like this. I'm sure she'll be much happier by herself with full use of the house and backyard. I, however, will be much sadder. She was one of my best friends here. I just wish she liked dogs as much as she likes people.

posted by platkat @ 12:42 PM  2 million people love The Kat

 

Friday, July 22, 2005

The Most Popular Girl

According to aimfight.com, everyone's jockin' me like they know me. I "fought" a few of my buddies and scored win after win. It felt good, but I wasn't sure why. Then, I found that your score is the result of how many people link to you, (and sequentially, how many people link to them) and it all made sense. I've been on AIM for awhile and use it regularly, so I'm bound to know some other people who know some other people, etc.

I'm just glad that in addition to HotOrNot, Friendster, and MySpace, a couple of bored programmers have created a brand new way for self-indulgent internet whores to reaffirm their social desirability via the indirect signs of approval from their peers. I mean, who wants to make themselves vulnerable by actually telling someone how much they value them? And how can you be cocky about the sheer amount of people who adore you without having the numbers to back it up?

At a whopping 6243, my ranking is below only those of the publisher and promotions guy of the now defunct Feedback Magazine. As well it should be. If I have a greater network of buddies than the guys who ran a bunch of large-scale events in Austin, then that city has a serious problem.

Looks like I can spend the rest of the afternoon happily basking in my own instant-messaging greatness... Surely, I am the most popular girl ever, which I must tell everyone in the chatrooms this Friday night as I play online poker in my dimly lit room wearing pajama pants while eating leftover spaghetti for four or five hours.

posted by platkat @ 12:01 PM  1 million people love The Kat

 

Thursday, July 21, 2005

Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum!

...and a splash of coke

...and a squeeze of lime

...and some ice.

:-/

I wouldn't make a very good pirate, huh?

posted by platkat @ 4:19 PM  1 million people love The Kat

 

Wednesday, July 20, 2005

Share the Road

The slogan in this entry title is popular among cyclists, but whenever I have the unfortunate chagrin of getting stuck behind one, I often want to say the same thing to him. Just to be clear, I'm not one of those crazy assholes that tails cyclists, blasting her horn and shouting obscenities just to be a jerk. I love bikes. I think they're a healthy, sometimes easy way to commute, and there's no doubt that Mother Earth smiles upon the good folks who ride them.

But sometimes, cyclists can be just as irascible as the drivers they annoy. I had to deal with it in Austin more than I do here because there are fewer bike lines there. Some places in Austin were truly terrible. Cyclists would consume an entire lane of rush hour traffic, riding at half the pace of the posted speed limit, yet they expected to be treated as if they were in a car. When you're caged in a five-ton hunk of metal that can move faster than me, I'll treat you like you're in a car. Until then, stay the hell out of my way.

Anyway, today, instead of sanctimoniously taking up an entire chunk of space in front of me, a cyclist did something really cool. The cyclist in front of me and I were approaching a red light. We both stop, and he is appropriately situated in the bike lane. I want to turn right, where the bike lane is. He wants to go straight so he was stopped. Seeing that I was behind him, he scooted over to the far edge of his lane so I could pass. I yelled my most chipper "thank you" as I passed (yes, some of us have to make an effort to be chipper) and he replied "you're welcome." Made my fuckin' day.

posted by platkat @ 8:09 PM  0 million people love The Kat

 

Tuesday, July 19, 2005

Death to Diet Coke Drinkers!

Hey, it wasn't my idea. Today's Something Awful is a real treat. If Coke can remove rust from cars and stains from china, what do you think it's doing to your intestines?

*chugs a bottle of Gatorade and continues practicing dance moves*

This crazy tangental rant also got me thinking, Is KMFDM even a band anymore? So I went to KMFDM DOT KOM and not only are they still around, they're touring... in places I don't go, like Canada and Europe. It seemed to me like industrial died awhile ago, but if these places are keeping it alive by packing big concert halls to see KMFDM, perhaps I should move.

posted by platkat @ 12:55 PM  0 million people love The Kat

 

Monday, July 18, 2005

Kat's Life Grab Bag #2

1. Someone pointed me to a cute letter to the Kansas School Board regarding whether they'll allow the teaching of Intelligent Design in science classes. While the writer promoted the teaching of the Flying Spaghetti Monster creationist theory, in which I do not believe at this time, I applaud him for his aspiration to creatively question the system.

2. I went to the store and bought Guittard French Vanilla Chocolate. Not ice cream, not "flavored" anything, just a big ol' chocolate chunk of the French vanilla variety. If someone were to ask, "What's the opposite of chocolate?" I think most of us would reply, "Vanilla." So what's this oxymoronic food about? Tastiness. That's what.

3. I was invited to another work-people gathering, despite my growing reputation as a shitfaced lunatic (from the South!).

Or maybe that's why I was invited...

posted by platkat @ 4:11 PM  1 million people love The Kat

 

Sunday, July 17, 2005

What a Workout!

I did it. I cracked under the pressure of my growing waistline and copious amounts of free time and joined the gym nearby. I don't like public gyms. I think they charge too much and bank on the fact that most of the people who sign up won't stick with it.

Having received two phone calls from gym personnel before I even set foot in there, I knew they were going to be pushy. I knew they were going to try to set me up with the most expensive plan possible. I knew I would have to be firm in what I was willing to pay and possibly haggle a bit. I went in there like I was buying a car from a dealership. I don't like those either.

I was greeted by your standard gym meathead who showed me every part of the facility I could ever possibly want to see. I believe I can count on two hands the number of times I said, "I just want to use the treadmill." I let him lead me around anyway, pretending to be interested in the lap pool and aerobics classes.

Then we went back into a little office to discuss terms. He had this cute little binder with all of these shiny laminated pages bearing numbers that made me laugh when I looked at them. Oh, the fun we had! When the amusement portion of our discussion was over, I explained once again that I am a contractor and will probably only be in town for another two months and I just need a place to run, so I'm not looking to spend a lot. They had a deal on the internet that I liked, if I could change the terms from three to two months and pay 2/3 of the price. Deal.

In addition to my tour and haggling, I also got to answer some fun questions in which my host could make me feel like an important individual with special needs and goals that his facility would be happy to accomodate, while at the same time he could gather information about me and see how much I was likely to spend to feel good about myself.

What he asked: Which body type/work out regime best describes you? (From a choice of four categories.)
What he meant: How high is your self-confidence?

What he asked: What are your goals for working out here?
What he meant: I really hope you need some help with goal-setting because we have a staff of personal trainers here who will try to give you some (for a fee, of course).

What he asked: Have you ever worked with a personal trainer before?
What he meant: You should totally work with a personal trainer!

What he asked: How is your diet? Do you take any vitamins?
What he meant: Are you going to pass out from malnutrition on one of our machines and sue us for a lot of money? Should we expect to hear you purging in the locker room before working out for four hours at a time?

What he asked: What made you come in today? (As opposed to last week or yesterday.)
What he meant: What triggered your sudden desire to work out? Do you clothes not fit you anymore? Did your boyfriend call you fat?

What he asked: What do you do for a living?
What he meant: How much money do you make?

I love telling salespeople I'm a tech writer because they don't know what to make of it. I said "tech," so it could be a lucrative field, but I also said "writer" and they're a dime a dozen and usually don't make jack. I'm glad he was too proud to ask me what I write because I really hate getting into that with people who aren't in the tech industry.

Anyway, after doing three miles on the elliptical (oh, how I've missed you!) and a mile and a half on the treadmill, I was pretty well spent. I had left my credit card at Subway yesterday, so I walked there, retrieved it after some language difficulties (Mexifornia in effect!), and went back to pay my membership fee. Then I walked to Safeway to get some healthy food. Then I went home only so FongFong could ask me to buy some carpet cleaner because one of the dogs peed in the living room and she was out. So, I heeled it over to Target to make use of that awesome gift card that Aunt Carol gave me for Christmas. When I finally returned home, I was able to relax, eat some food, and play cards, at which I am currently sucking.

All in all, I feel like I got a lot done today, even if it meant spending money I didn't want to and cleaning up dog pee.

posted by platkat @ 2:31 PM  0 million people love The Kat

 

Thursday, July 14, 2005

Office Etiquette

Your alarm clock flips to 8:00 and begins buzzing. As you roll out of bed, ready to face the hazy California morning, you feel groggy, incomplete. The shave and shower were nice, but your demanding physical system requires more to jumpstart your day. Crawling into your 1992 Honda Civic, you light up a Marlboro Red 100 and suck it down like a cup of coffee. Ahhh, you are truly in flavor country. After successively inhaling a few more of those bad boys, you find yourself pulling into work, smelling like a shady nightclub. What to do? Why, this giant spray bottle of Bod cologne should do the trick...

STOP.

The only thing worse than coming to work smelling like a shady nightclub is coming to work smelling like the runt doorman at a shady nightclub. You can buy ionizers that sit on your dashboard for around $40 at Sharper Image. Now is the time to invest in one.

Many people can come to work after a cigarette and somehow avoid the lingering stench of burnt leaves clinging to every fiber of their clothes and every cell in their skin. You are not one of those people, my friend. Covering yourself in cheap cologne does little to hide this fact. So try to preserve some of your dignity and overall appearance by either a) quitting smoking or b) walking in here smelling like death itself and not giving a flying fuck what anyone thinks about it. Both options will earn you more respect and keep my gag reflex at bay.

posted by platkat @ 1:58 PM  4 million people love The Kat

 

Tuesday, July 12, 2005

Summer Gutbuster?

I am patiently awaiting the release of the movie, Strangers with Candy, to US theatres. Tick-tock, tick-tock. So far, it has only been screened at the Sundance Film Festival, which is a bit of a trek for me. And I'd have to scam my way in.



The movie is a prequel to the show, so I'm not sure if I'm going to like it. I'm generally wary of movies spawned from TV shows ("Hey, Mr. Bean was a funny PBS show, so maybe it will be funny for 2 hours!!"), but I guess Rugrats was good. I've actually sat and watched over 2 hours' worth of "Strangers with Candy" episodes with Gus. Rarely do we tire of the absurd (but possible?) plotlines and the characters' awkward, ridiculous antics. Didn't your principal take a shower in his office?

I guess what the tv-watching counter-culture of today has to worry about more is a Napolean Dynamite TV show with a cast of inadequate mimics of the original characters and a staff of writers who just graduated from some prestigious school and think they know the formula for "funny". With my luck, some Harvard grad just read this and is asking his mumsy for her investment right now. How about a cut of the royalties, Sharky Von Vanderscrapple?

posted by platkat @ 10:19 AM  3 million people love The Kat

 

Monday, July 11, 2005

Higher Standards

Why does every romantic comedy ever written have some scene near the middle where the couple is just starting to fall in love and they do something really mundane and stupid, but have "such a fabulous time" anyway because they're so in love with each other? What a bunch of horseradish!

My recently viewed, extremely pathetic examples include 40 Days and 40 Nights, where our adventurous young couple rides a bus across town, and Nadine in Date Land, where the zany 30-somethings troll around a grocery store. Both scenes, while designed to portray the characters as innocent and freewheeling, end up looking contrived and stupid. The actors work really hard to make throwing paper products at their desired mate seem darling and fun, but if you look deep into their eyes, they're really thinking, "Why the hell did I even pick up this script?" And you find yourself in the middle of the montage thinking, "Why the hell am I watching this anyway?"

If someone's gonna sweep me off my feet, it's not happening in a place where whores ride to keep warm or where mothers bring their three kids to buy economy-sized boxes of cereal. We're creative young adults with extra cash and some free time. Let's at least eat at a nice restaurant and go dancing afterward. In San Francisco, where 40 Days takes place, there is so much to do your head could explode. They could have gone for a scenic bike ride or a hike in the mountains or a swim at the beach... something for the folks at home to vicariously enjoy. Plus, as a couple of young hipsters, they have the run of the entire city. Go to a goth club or a hippie festival or a wine bar... again, something most people can't do because they've resigned themselves to a life of monotony in the suburbs. Nadine also takes place somewhere urban. Plus, the object of her affection was loaded. The sky's the limit! Forget the grocery store, go to the best restaurant in town and dance on the roof in smurf costumes!

That said, I must admit that the onset of my current relationship was not without one of these obnoxiously simple moments. It involved driving my younger sister Seguin (aka, where fun goes to die) to see a guy she was semi-involved with and way too good for. As Gus and I were having a decent time doing nothing together, this guy's actual plan was nothing. I spent all that time doing nothing with the guy I love just so she could do nothing with some dork. I gave the dork in question a verbal bitch slap, and Gus and I headed back to Austin for a night on the town, hoping to never do nothing again.

posted by platkat @ 5:05 PM  0 million people love The Kat

 

So I'm a Bit of Wine-r...

After hastily making some plans on Friday, I headed to Los Gatos with some work-friends to sample some wine at the David Bruce and Byingtons Wineries. I was expecting to join four people in one car instead of five people in two cars, which appeared at my place mini-caravan-style a little before noon. The latter wouldn't have been a problem, except car number two broke down before we arrived at the David Bruce Winery. Besides trying a blush wine there that was surprisingly good (never could get into blushes; they almost taste like a wine that can't make up its mind), I also got to take in a healthy dose of the mountainous surroundings while Kevin was hosing down his car.

After our host, Craig (his buddies call him "Smith"), saw us off, we traveled a hundred yards down the road to the Byingtons Winery. The sprawling mansion had picnic tables and a bocce ball court in front. I enjoyed the wine for its high alcoholic content, but was only moderately impressed with the flavor. Our hostess was a funny, outgoing young woman who encouraged us to play bocce ball out front when we were finished. Just when I thought I'd run out of sports to play poorly.

When we were through, we ate at Scopazzi's, an Italian restaurant in teeny downtown Felton. I ordered the special, a tasty concoction of chicken and pesto, but some of the other folks in my party weren't so lucky, so I guess I'd say the place was hit-or-miss. But we all enjoyed the quiet, shady patio seating and attentive service. I also tried the Staiger Chardonnay from Boulder Creek there, which was pretty dry on its own, but complemented my meal nicely.

We had planned on sampling at one more winery in Felton, but instead, Mike wanted to drive to Santa Cruz to check out a disc golf course. I didn't know this meant we were actually going to play a few holes, but it turns out Mike has two dozen discs in his trunk for occassions such as this. Being a good sport, I threw my frisbee in the vicinity of the hole, pretending to have the slightest clue how to aim for such things.

I was happy to have a pre-existing reason to leave (poker game at 7), so we headed back to Mountain View, I with my legs crunched under me in the back of Mike's Nissan Sentra. I have nothing against Sentras, but I do have something against sitting in the back of one behind a driver who is 6'2" tall. I wish I had known we were taking two cars so I could have taken one or two other people in mine. For obvious reasons, I prefer that other people drive to events involving alcohol, but this was a pretty tame afternoon wine-tasting activity, so I would have been okay. Never had I been so excited about the chance to drive my own car to Redwood City in my life. Leg room and a friendly poker game—it's really the little things in life that you have to appreciate!

posted by platkat @ 7:33 AM  0 million people love The Kat

 

Friday, July 08, 2005

Every time I see a pizza sitting out, like by a conference room or at a party, I gotta eyeball it just a little longer than normal. And then in a deep sexy voice, I say, "Hey, Pizza. You lookin' goooood."

posted by platkat @ 3:09 PM  5 million people love The Kat

 

Thursday, July 07, 2005

Whoops, Typo



Hey, I did mean that! Thanks, Google!

posted by platkat @ 3:16 PM  1 million people love The Kat

 

Start Your Day Off Stupid

I bought a terrible TV Tuner for my computer from PCTek Online (no link, don't even waste your time) and I'm trying to return it/exchange it/get some sort of compensation for the absolute crap that is this board. Why is it so terrible? Besides having a crappy user interface for the installation software, and probably a faulty driver, since I installed all 50 million that came on the cd, the board just flat out doesn't work, no matter what driver you install with it (we tried some on the internet). The installation instructions were abysmal, poorly translated drivel that didn't even match the crappy user interface.

Last line of defense? Gus, of course. If a driver developer can't even install the driver for your product, then your product is garbage.

I tried e-mailing the PCTek to tell them this and received no response. I saw that they were in New Jersey, so I called this morning. I'm assuming the number for their customer service line is not current because the guy who answered the phone had all the manners of a below-average code monkey. Our conversation:

Him: (rushed, muttered greeting)

Me: Yes, I bought a board from you and I'd like to exchange it or get a refund.

Him: Did you e-mail? You need to e-mail.

Me: Yes, I attempted to e-mail you, but received no response.

Him: When did you do it? Yesterday? Last night?

Me: Yesterday morning, yes.

Him: (seeming exasperated that I would expect a response in 24 hours) Richard does the RMAs. He'll be here at 12. You should call back then.

How nice of this so-called customer service operator to be concerned enough to tell me to take further action because he is unable to do his job. Sometimes, when idiots annoy me, I like to ask them questions I know the answer to, just to reaffirm their idiocity.

Me: Okay, what time is it there?

Him: One hour later.

Me: I see. Well it's 8:00 here. Let me ask you again, what time is it there?

Him: One hour later, 11:00.

Me: Thanks, I'll call back.

I'm trying to remember the last time I was this unhappy with a purchase. I can't. I'm also trying to remember the last time I was unhappy with any purchase and it was handled this poorly. It's been a long time. I hope ol' Richard can help me out when I call him today.

posted by platkat @ 8:02 AM  0 million people love The Kat

 

Wednesday, July 06, 2005

Whatever It Is, It's Good Eatin'

Someone I don't know just came to my desk and said, "There's LOTS of dim sum upstairs." The timing was a little off and I had just eaten lunch, but since when does that stop me? I went upstairs and found dim sum, along with many different kinds of ethnic food. Ones I can't even name or list the ingredients of. I grabbed some noodley stuff and rice ball thingies and squishy bread slices and headed back to my desk. Tonight's dinner is all set.

posted by platkat @ 3:15 PM  0 million people love The Kat

 

Friday, July 01, 2005

This Relationship... It Makes Me Want to Scream!

I haven't posted in awhile because Blogger made me angry. I'm not supposed to complain too loud because it's still in beta (as are all Google products, forevermore), but now I'm wishing I had just read LiveJournal's open source manual and tried that. I haven't had a chance to thoroughly examine the template or adjust my .css, and I won't do it in the next few days because Gus is here.

So far, we've visited ValleyFair Mall so I could hit up the Clinique counter for a darker shade of powder now that I'm sporting a hot (natural!) California tan. I managed to land a free gift, even though Clinique Bonus Week is officially over. Nothing like a make-up bag full of crap I'll use half of and forget about to make me feel like a VIP customer.

Then, Gus and I listened to reggae at Music in the Other Park. The tunes were great and the crowd was diverse and lively. Like almost every other Bay Area event I've attended, this free show reminded me what a minority I am. An overly-clean, yuppie minority, at that.

Further narrowing it down, I'm in a tiny group of Bay Area dwellers who isn't trying to pull off a look. I don't dress up, I don't wear copious amounts of accessories, and, with the new job, I don't dye my hair rad colors and wear my nosering. It's much more attention-whorish in San Francisco; in San Jose, people mostly dress up in trendy outfits I don't like.

Gus says the look people are trying to pull off here is "rich". I would have to nix that theory for at least 90% of the girls (who wear whatever Charlotte Russe and Forever 21 sell for the standard $14.99) and even if it's more true for the guys we see out, there's nothing attractive about some choad who's all about his watch and his shirt. Yeah, there are more hot cars here than in Austin, but there are more people here too. Plus, people in cities generally don't have children, so they spend their extra money on sports cars and crap they don't need. I'm sure one of us will turn 30 and buy a ridiculously expensive car. I'd rather have that than a ridiculously expensive kid. So put that in yer pipe and smoke it.

On tap for the rest of the weekend is a drive past Sonoma to pick up a bottle of Pinot Noir and then we'll double-back for a wine-tasting in Sonoma and some jazz music. Then, onto San Francisco, where we'll spend a couple of nights in the old US travel standard, Holiday Inn. I used to have a flyswatter from there, which I found to be an odd and humorous promotional item. ("Holiday Inn. There may be flies here, but we got your back.")

Fireworks? Yeah, we'll see some fireworks. Nothing can top the fireworks I saw at Ka-Boom on Memorial Day, so we're probably just going to stay here. Out of the 8 zillion places to see them, the ones at the amphitheatre down the street should do just fine.

posted by platkat @ 9:52 AM  0 million people love The Kat

 

 

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