Brunch The Third

After a break of a few weeks we went for brunch today. This time the location was Scotts in Walnut Creek; a city with a truly staggering number of places to eat for a population of only 65,000. We sat on the shaded patio by the waterfalls that you can see below.

Inside the restaurant a jazz band played, the volume muted by the windows to the perfect level. The service was good, with regular top ups of champagne which I had to decline as I was driving. The food was the best of the three brunches. The desserts were served in tiny portions that allowed one to sample a wide range. Tantalizing pictures below.

Saturday DIY

My brother-in-law was here today and so a whole lot of DIY projects were done. Although in this case the doing was done by someone else. The parasol is now mounted in the grill island, the earhquake damage tiles were replaced, and a new light fitting in the garage. The mandatory trip to Home Depot was made and for once we got all the items we needed in a single trip.

Huckerby Comes to California

For the past several seasons Darren Huckerby has been a star for Norwich City, the football team that I support. At the end of last season his contract was not renewed; a sad end to his Canary career. Today I read that he has signed for the San Jose Earthquakes, the local MLS team. I am not sure when he will play his first game, but his presence in the team will be a motivation to go and see the Earthquakes play. I shall certainly plan to go and see them when they play the Galaxy at Oakland.

This is the Eathquakes first season back in MLS after the team moved to Houston at the end of the 2005 season. The new franchise plays in the same colour shirts, with the same logos, and the records of the original Earthquakes. All of this seems a little odd to me, but sport is different here. I do not have to worry about supporting a too successful team, they have scored ten goals in their first fifteen games and are firmly bottom of the Western Standings.

The Thing on the Doorstep

On Wednesday evening I realized that I had lost my ATM card. I am not sure when or where I had mislaid it. I guess that I may have left it in the last ATM that I had used. US machines give you the money first, rather than requiring you to take the card before dispensing the cash.

I rang my bank who after verifying my identity said that the old card was stopped and that a new card was on its way. Friday being a holiday, the card would be with me Saturday. This seemed excellent service. I was therefore less irritated than I might otherwise have been when trying to check my balance on Thursday morning access to my online account was blocked until I entered details of the new ATM card, which I clearly not received.

The card arrived Saturday, but I did not collect it until Monday. It had been delivered by Fedex and left under the doormat. We generally leave the house via the garage so we had not noticed it until I left for my walk to work. I do think that packages of this kind, especially as it my bank’s name as the sender should probably not be left in the open. I do not know why a signature was not required.

The Buffalo and the High Pressure Salesman

Saturday was spent looking at cars for my wife. We are looking at “crossover” SUVs, these are smaller than a traditional Jeep or Range Rover, drive more like a car, but offer the four wheel drive capability that would be ideal for going up into the mountains during the winter season. I recognise that car sales in the US in general and those on larger vehicles in particular are slow, but that is no excuse for the overly pushy approach at the Toyota dealer.

We have made no decision about which vehicle to buy and in fact the choice is now rather more complicated as we were impressed by the Acura car and by the dealer attitude. So now we are looking at that as well as the Lexus and the Mercedes.

We took a break for lunch and went to Fuddruckers for lunch. Be careful saying that after a few beers. It looked like a regular burger joint, but offered the option of burgers made from buffalo which is lower in calories, fat, and cholesterol than beef. It was extremely tasty, though smothering it in cheese and eating it with a large side of french fries may have offset some of the health benefits. The restaurant at which we ate also offered elk and ostrich burgers.

Cute Cats

The Internet was clearly created as a method for showing pictures of cats. There are lolcats and just today I was reminded of a site I found a while back; Kittenwar. You will be shown two random pictures of kittens and asked to vote on the cutest one. I am not sure about the taste of the voting public; how can anyone not think that this is one of the cutest kittens you have seen, although I do see why Sam & Sinatra are up there on the winningest (And that is not a word) list.

Eating Healthy

As a Doctor* I think I am qualified to offer dietary advice. It is generally accepted that fruit is healthy. It follows that food is healthier if you add fruit. If you are concerned about eating a bowl with scoops of ice cream then just top it off with a piece of fruit – voila instant healthy food.

I was also once assured by a biology teacher that we have a second stomach for dessert; no matter who much we ate for the main course, there is always room for the sweet course.

Likewise oatmeal is good for you, so the combination of fruit and oatmeal known as oatmeal raisin cookies are extra healthy.

You can also rest assured that Candy Floss (Cotton Candy) is on the list of healthy alternatives, at least if you go to a US carnival. This article in Newsweek lists unhealthy fairground foods and at 200 calories, Candy Floss seems positively benign compared to the deep fried cookies and chocolate.

* Actually a Doctor Who Fan, but the last couple of words seemed like unnecessary detail to add in the main post.

Fourth of July Quiz

This is an interesting quiz and appropriate for today, the fourth of July. Most of the questions are from the citizenship quiz, so all Americans should know the answer. There are ten questions that are trickier. I got all of the basic twenty correct and most of the remaining ten correct, but there were three that caught me off guard – one of which I feel I should have known.

Streets of San Francisco

This blog has performed useful public service in the past by advising against recreating famous movie automotive moments. There are other websites that are less responsible. This site uses Google maps to provide you with the route through SF taken in the car chase in the Steve McQueen movie Bullitt. This is certainly enabling if not actively encouraging recreation. I doubt you would see so little traffic if you tried this today and I don’t that it would be good for your car’s suspension.

Not Qualified

I lived in the UK as an adult for over twenty years. In that time I did not receive one jury summons. I have not been in the US for two full years and have received a summons. The database that the court uses to determine who to call is obviously flawed, as only US citizens can serve. I filled in the relevant part of the form that described me as unqualified and returned it. I wonder if that will cause them to update their records or if I will continue to receive invites every year or so.