big smiles after a good meal with good friends 

at the station 

nice old stairs 

real art deco design 

the tower and the lagoon 

Mr. Forrest 

at the station 

at the station 

at the station 

at the station 

steve and friend 

nice kitty 

cool old stuff 

Rare RCA tube display case with merch. 

custom metasonix work 

wow 

console 

console 

console 

Steve n Eric 

Dream greenhouse..also seen on my walk 

arty shot of a nice old apt. bldg around the corner from the H-Inn 

proof we made out of Lake Co. alive 

Big fire the day we left 

Trip to Berkeley

To kick off my birthday weekend, I started it with a trip to Berkeley to visit a friend of Eric's and meet some antique radio collectors at the U.S.'s oldest radio station, KRE in the Berkeley Marina.

The trip, including the traffic and parking(!) went smooth as silk. Full moon and good weather to boot. Eric kindly indulged my whims and it took him all over hell and back! We crammed a few days worth of stuff into 28 hours.

After checking into the H-Inn, I wanted to satisfy my sushi craving, and went to Sushi A'Float on Shattuck. I picked it because it reminded me of my beloved Isobune in Japantown. It was suprisingly empty when we got there. The fish was very fresh and the chef was friendly. Yum! I even got Eric to try some.

The next morning i woke up way to early, so I krept down to the lobby. I sat at a table with a woman who was there for "the big game". She was rooting for IL. She is a mech. engineer-which was a great story of how she made it. She cant wait to retire and move back to the midwest. The lobby began to fill up with midwesterners, and Fox sNews (bah!)was on, i couldnt take it anymore, so i went for a walk. Just as I was returning, there was Eric (:-)). We had breakfast with his buddy Steve, and got an impromtu tour of some of his collection of antique radios and HI-Fi.

We headed over to Downhome Records, but it wasnt open yet. Across the street was a double sidewalk sale for art and for lighting. I picked up a pr of beautifully detailed metal decorations for outside of the house. Victorian looking woman's head.

Next was Ikea. I had been there before with Sue and Helen, and this was his first time. Fun!

We went over to the KRE building to look around, to talk to any of the members who came for the meeting/work party.

Next was seeing March of the Penguins. Very fascinating film. Made human parenting trials trivial compared to what the Emperor Penguins go through to raise a single chick.

We met up with Sue in Pt. Richmond at a very good chinese/asian restaurant, Shuzuo.

I drove to Hopland from there - and didn't scare Eric too badly with my driving. We swtiched back for the rest of the drive over 175 since i am still in rookie stage (my choice). The Taurus held up just fine and there were no problems.

Safe at home, it was time for a welcomed rest.
Now, off to Las Vegas!