06/18/08

Best Fries in Downtown San Francisco

Ayola, on 114 New Montgomery Street, has the best fries within a three block radius of 2nd and Howard in downtown San Francisco. They are meaty and large to chew and seasoned well. You come away surprised when you realize they are originally frozen; most likely purchased from a bulk wholesaler.

But, their frozen starting state does not deter me from ordering the fries every time I go to Ayola for lunch. The frozen fries are dumped into a metal tray and slid into the Fry Master 4000 (?). Three to five minutes later, they spit out toasty hot. The overseer seasons the hot batch of fries considerably and then scoops a load full into the brown paper bag to go along with the rest of the order.

Sometimes I forgo the rest of the order and just get the fries to go along with food I purchased from another establishment. I am not a big fan of the texture of the meat in the gyros. They seem packed to me. If I had to choose though, I usually get the Chicken Shawarma.

06/17/08

Highly Recommended Optometrist

For those working in the financial district in San Francisco, I highly recommend Dr. Marc Lester for all your optometry needs. I needed a new pair of glasses due to my old pair losing its integrity; the waxy part that sits on the nose.

Dr. Lester came highly recommended by my co-workers and the positive reviews on Yelp are absolutely glowing.

Dr. Lester was easy-going and personable while also being efficient and professional. While other optometrists would extend the visit unnecessarily by talking about their day, their kids, and their love life, Dr. Lester was all business. He gave me the checkup and helped pick out my new glasses in under 20 minutes. A perfect pace for those on the go.
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06/16/08

Book Review: Khi to Freedom

I picked up Ardath Mayhar’s Khi to Freedom for the novelty of it. I have a friend whose name matches exactly to the first word in the title.

The plot of the book compares favorably to a combination of Star Trek: The Next Generation and the Matrix. The book follows a human, Hale Enbo, as he works as a planetary scout exploring and documenting new races and species.
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06/16/08

Goooooooooooooooooal!!!

Saturday was my first time watching soccer live and I have to admit, I enjoyed the game.

Prior to attending, I had many misconceptions of the game. Based on watching the game on television, my thoughts were that the game was slow and boring. The players just seemed to kick the ball back and forth between themselves in the middle of the field with the occasional kick from the corner.

At the time, soccer was like watching hockey except on a wider field with less scoring and no fights.

Coming into the match, I had no expectations. I left my thoughts and beliefs back in the City.
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06/14/08

At the old ballgame…

Treated a buddy of mine to a baseball game between the Bay Area rivals, the San Francisco Giants and Oakland Athletics, at AT&T Park for his birthday.

The night started out pleasantly enough. We nabbed ourselves an orange jersey t-shirt during the free giveaway and made our way to our seats. I have never sat so close to the action before. Usually I sit way up in the rafters. Sitting in the first couple of rows on the lower level is whole another experience.
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06/11/08

Rick Roll’d by KOIT

The clock hand was pushing past the midnight hour as I laid in bed waiting for the Sandman to claim me. Thirty minutes of waiting came up fruitless. I turned to one of my favorite remedies; listening to soft rock on the radio station KOIT 96.5 AM always seem to do the trick.

I was in my happy place near the end of England Dan/JF Conley’s I’d Really Love To See You; my mind had let go of all the daily worries. I was at my most vulnerable moment. Unconciousness was only moments away.

1:18 AM

I hear this filing into my empty head, breaking my trance:
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06/10/08

Clicking Madness in Opera

I usually use the Opera browser for administrative purposes as part of my work. Firefox and Internet Explorer are relugated to their status as test browsers.

Anyhow, while madly clicking away on the Opera window, I noticed the pages would jump back and forth. Turns out that holding down the right button while clicking the left button will go back one page and vice versa for holding down the left button while clicking the right button.

Improvements upon the user interface continue to make large strides forward!

06/9/08

Book Review: Halo – The Fall of Reach

After a little prodding from an anonymous commentator, Wutaku seems to be on a crusade to improve his writing skills which have fallen pretty far from his college days.

One of the best ways to expand ones vocabulary and improve on grammar is to read books, newspapers, and listen to NPR. But seeing as how journalists are getting lazier in proofreading their work and the topics on NPR are just so dry, reading books is the way to go.

Personally, I have not read a book in over a decade; textbooks notwithstanding.
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06/4/08

No Surprises in Election Results

Tonight’s election results had absolutely no surprises; the turnout for the election was decent for a summer deal.

California Propositions

Prop. 98: Government Acquisition, Regulation of Private Property. Constitutional Amendment. failed with 2,091,890 (61%) NO votes to the 1,342,655 (39%) YES votes. Rent control remains intact.

Prop. 99: Eminent Domain. Acquisition of Owner-Occupied Residence. Constitutional Amendment. passed with 2,129,247 (62%) YES votes compared with 1,282,763 (38%) NO votes making things a little bit more difficult for the government to take homes using eminent domain.
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06/2/08

Summer Election Predictions

I was 8 for 10 in my last election predictions, so I am feeling pretty good about my predictions for the coming June 3, 2008 election.

California Propositions

Prop. 98: Government Acquisition, Regulation of Private Property. Constitutional Amendment.
Proposition 98 will make it tougher for the government to take property under eminent domain and phase out rent control.
Vote: No
Prediction: No

Prop. 99: Eminent Domain. Acquisition of Owner-Occupied Residence. Constitutional Amendment.
Proposition 99 would restrict the government from taking residential homes under the eminent domain flag.
Vote: Yes
Prediction: Yes

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