Friday Five

The Excuse

Alas, Friday just didn’t work out timing wise. So it’s now Tuesday and I’m getting it posted. That’s progress, right?

The Week

I’ve mentioned before that there are weeks when I get to go to cool places. And then there are weeks when I wind up in Livermore, CA. Add to that the fact that I was at a research facility. A secured research facility. A secured research facility without public internet access.

Yes – I spent the entire week disconnected from the world.

Trust me – nobody was more shocked by the fact that I came out on the other end of that alive than me.

But I did.

One of the parts of the week that did work out well was the fact that the area is right next to wine country. This made for a great little run (7 miles) through the vineyards. Great area to go run in, even if it was a bit hilly.

The other great part was I got to do dinner with Sheri. I hadn’t had one-on-one time with her in forever, so it was nice to be able to sneak up to San Francisco for dinner at Perbacco.

The Restaurant Cocktail Bar

I’ve been searching for a great cocktail bar in San Diego. We’re finally starting to see a cocktail scene emerging there, but it’s still relatively early. As of now, the best place that I’ve been to is a bar called Craft & Commerce.

Let me get the couple of bad things out of the way right up front. First – the place is relatively small compared to the number of people they cram into there. In particular, there is one side of the bar that has no stools. While that isn’t a huge issue for me as I tend to stand after a few drinks, there isn’t a bar to rest your foot on at the bar. As a result, it’s just not comfortable standing after a while. Second – getting water is a bit of an issue. If I’m having more than a couple of cocktails, I do like to mix in a couple of glasses of water. After all, hydration is one of the keys to healthy living, right?

That said, this place makes great classic cocktails. One of my favorite features, and proof of that, is they have no vodka. Yes – no vodka. Vodka in a cocktail is a relatively recent addition, and frankly brings nothing to the party but alcohol. Using a spirit like gin, which certainly brings flavor to the part, adds more character to the drink. They also take their time to measure all ingredients. While some may think this is a way for the bar to be stingy (and I’m sure there is a part of that), the real reason to measure is to make sure you make the cocktail correctly. After all, when you’re dealing with small amounts, being off just a little can throw off the final result by quite a bit.

The Travel Note

I don’t mind airlines charging extra for something that’s out of the ordinary. Continental, for instance, charges $6 for DirecTV. That’s a value-add and I’m fine with that. Or seats with extra legroom.

What I do mind, however, is paying for things that aren’t a value-add. Which is why I will never fly US Airways again. If you want a normal seat in the front half of the plane, a seat that isn’t any different from any other coach seat except it’s located in the front half of the plane, you have to pay for that right.

The Five

Couldn’t figure out something good on my own, so I went to www.friday5.org for help. The questions from them for this week are:

1. What’s something you have an unreasonable fear of?
   Snakes. And no, it’s not funny.^[1]
2. What’s something you have an unreasonable fondness for?
   Many inanimate objects. Facebook for one. My sneakers for another. After all, I wind up spending quite a bit of time with my running shoes.
3. What’s something you have an unreasonable disliking for?
   Nancy Grace I suppose. Although I think it’s completely justified.
4. Who’s most likely to bring out the unreasonable in you?
   Karin. This isn’t on Karin, it’s just simply a function of being married for as long as we have. I forget that she’s always got the best of intentions, and always feel like a heel when I figure that out.
5. Who’s the least unreasonable person you know?
   Karin. A more level-headed person I’ve never met.

^[1] And I am not kidding about this. Fastest way to lose me as a friend is to pull that prank on me.