Decade in Review: 2010 - 2019

I close 2019 and the decade with my personal lows and highs from 2010 to 2019.

2010 started out wonderfully. I had a great job, a reconnected friendship in 2009 that evolved into a relationship. Pretty terrific start at age 50.

Not so fast.

By 2011, the boyfriend part of the relationship ended. Six months into a 3 1/2 year unemployment phase which made the best time in my life go to its worst. The great job in 2010 wasn't so great anymore. I was assigned a new boss and my job duties changed. So I quit.

My spirits got lifted in 2012 when the San Francisco Giants showed their perseverance and resilience in overcoming elimination in 2 post season matches versus the Cincinnati Reds and St. Louis Cardinals. They go to the World Series and sweep the heavily favored Detroit Tigers. It is their second World Series title in 2 years.

In November 2013, my Dad passed away. He had been in and out of the hospital for nearly a year. I’m still unemployed and must consider moving out of San Francisco. Less than 3 weeks after my return from New York for his funeral, my situation began to improve. A company recruiter contacted me on Christmas Eve regarding a job opening I applied to a day earlier on craigslist. I am tendered an offer in January 2014. Next month will be my sixth anniversary.

Flyers offer letter, January 2014

In 2015, 2 big events took place: a wedding, and a funeral.
Sherman and Kat got married in May. Mom passed away Labor Day weekend. It was the same day I made plans to have lunch with the old friend/former boyfriend. This is the last picture I have of Mom. The photo was taken with her sister Sue and Sherman on August 8.

Sherman, Mom (L), Aunt Sue (R)

New Year's Day 2016, I trade in my 2004 BMW 325i for a pre-owned 2012 328i. This is my third blue colored BMW 3-series. In a stick shift, of course.

On to 2017. I bowl for the first and only time (so far?), an officially sanctioned 600 series. I end the season with the highest women's average on my Wednesday night league. It is also my first trip to Europe, a family trip to Rome, then a Mediterranean cruise to Italy, Spain and France.

For 2018, I attended my 40th high school reunion in August. In November, Sherman and Kat give birth to an extraordinary, adorably handsome baby boy.

I end the decade with a return to living solo again in May 2019. I lived with a roommate since October 2014. Along with his girlfriend almost half the time from 2016 to 2019. In June, I drive to Los Angeles to reconnect with Mom's cousin Jack's family at their reunion. It had been 45+ years since I last saw them. Best part was to see pictures of Mom's childhood home in China.

In November, we celebrate golden child's (nephew) first birthday with a family cruise to Mexico, Honduras and Belize.

Have a safe and wonderful New Year. Upward and onward to 60.

Black Friday Delivery Issues

Update on my big ticket Black Friday purchases. I am 0 for 2.

Big ticket item 1: Dining table from Hoot Judkins. Got delivered yesterday. Looks great. I can start using it.
Issue: gear that expands the table is broken. They didn't give me a date as to when they'll come back to fix it. My guess it won't be until after the holidays.

Big ticket item 2: Floyd queen platform bed. Finally pulled it out of the box this past week. I hoped with Ronnie helping out with home repairs yesterday that he could help me assemble the bed. I noticed one of the boxes I got was labeled "headboard".

I didn't order a headboard.

Issue: Steel legs and straps that were supposed to come in a separate box didn't come in. The above picture of the headboard along with 2 other photos of the shipment were emailed to Floyd Home Customer Service yesterday.

Hopefully this will be an afterthought by the time family comes for President's Day weekend.

Law & Order Marathon on WE Network

source: YouTube

Thanks to a Facebook status post from my childhood friend/ex-neighbor Beth, she posted an update of a Law & Order marathon of all 456 episodes on the WE Network.

My favorite detective duo was a short-lived one (less than 2 seasons) Phil Cerreta (Paul Sorvino) and Mike Logan (Chris Noth).

The beginning of the episode always started with the discovery of a human body that died of unnatural causes. A friend of mine who once worked as an Assistant District Attorney in Sacramento said L & O was pretty close to how crimes are actually handled.

Steven Zirnkilton is the person who narrates the introduction.

In the criminal justice system, the people are represented by two separate but equally important groups: the police who investigate crime, and the district attorneys who prosecute the offenders. These are their stories.



He's also done voice over promos when L & O was in syndication on TNT.

Black Friday 2019 aka Support Your Local Businesses

My Black Friday, 2019.
I began the day online shopping. Returned to an old e-commerce retailer that started in 1977. It's also where I began my first full-time job in San Francisco. If you know me well or follow my blog, you already know this company.

The Sharper Image.

The visit to my former employer began after seeing too many pictures of myself from our cruise vacation last week. I noticed the spare tire in my mid-section in too many photos. Time to tone up. Bowling does a great job on my lower body strength, but need toning upper body and waist. No gym. Low impact. Something I can do at home.

Decided to get a portable rower.

source: Sharper Image
portable rowing machine

Compact, sturdy, simple, low impact. I can do it while watching TV.  Point, scan, and click. Done.

All that browsing made me hungry. Time for lunch.

My original Thanksgiving plans fell through due to a family emergency of the friend who was hosting dinner. Instead of turkey, it was takeout Thai, Lindt chocolates, bowling practice, and lots of catching up on TV I missed while on vacation. Hunger and withdrawal symptoms of no turkey were setting in. Need turkey now.

Jump in the car and head to Redwood City to my favorite place for carved turkey, Harry's Hofbrau. Locally owned. Harry's formerly had locations in Foster City/San Mateo and San Jose. When I worked in Foster City from 1999 to 2007, I must have visited that location at least once a month. Always got turkey. Either as a carved sandwich with dipped wheat roll, turkey dinner, or A La King style (cream sauce with rice).

When I got to the restaurant, I was pleasantly surprised to see a line and hear almost everyone order a turkey dinner or sandwich. The day after Thanksgiving. Realized many in line were probably in the same situation. They craved for carved turkey. I opted for the Turkey A La King. Happy tummy.

Now, off to another locally owned business in Redwood City, Hoot Judkins Furniture. Opened in 1962, it is one of the few remaining family and locally owned furniture stores in the San Francisco Bay Area. I’ve been an admirer of their dining furniture for several years. It started not long after I sold my dining set when I moved out of the Outer Sunset house I rented from Kevin from 2011 to 2014.

HJ’s way of doing business is very retro. All furniture is real wood. No particle board or veneer. Sales staff don't work on commission. No high pressure sales tactics. They know buyers are going to make expensive purchases, so giving people like me time to decide is more likely to result in a sale.

I left the store 2 hours later as the soon-to-be owner of a new dining table and chairs that I'll get in about 4 to 6 weeks. As part of the Black Friday special, they paid my sales tax. It'll be well worth the wait. My dining table has a butterfly leaf that opens with a built in gear that requires little to no effort to expand the table. The chairs have reinforcements between the legs.

source: Hoot Judkins

You can buy a similar table and chairs for about the same price on Wayfair or Overstock. And you'll get it within 2 weeks. But you'll get it in boxes and delivered curbside. I'll get mine delivered inside and fully assembled.

My small contribution to small businesses. With outstanding service and value to boot.

My Transportation Experiences on Vacation

source: Norweigan Cruise Lines

My last vacation for 2019 ended yesterday. It was a 7-day cruise (see above picture) with family and longtime friend Stan to celebrate our nephew's first birthday. We stopped at the same ports not in the same order as Norweigan did.

Despite being eaten alive with insect bites on my legs and arms, the time went too fast. From Miami, we traveled to Costa Maya (Mexico), Harvest Caye (Belize), Roatán Bay Islands (Honduras), and Cozumel (Mexico).

Cindy and Stan got to spend time with the little guy on visits they made to New York in the past 2 months. I was worried he'd be terrified of me since my last visit was in February for Chinese New Year.

Turns out I had nothing to worry about. He smiled and/or laughed almost every time we made eye contact. I could get him to laugh hard whenever I made funny noises. As the youngest passenger, he was probably the most popular person on the cruise aboard the Oceania Insignia.

source: Getty Images

To get to our cruise, I flew non-stop from San Francisco to Miami on American Airlines. I haven't flown on AA in at least 15 years. Like United, I'll do whatever I can to avoid flying with them. As they offered multiple non-stops from San Francisco to Miami, I ended up booking with them. After this trip, my experience only reinforced why I don't fly with them.

AMERICAN AIRLINES SUCKS.

From San Francisco, I went to a kiosk to do a bag drop for a single piece of luggage. The $30 charge is typical of most airlines, so this didn't bother me.
What bothered me was the surly attitude from several service employees.

When I got to the bag drop area, I proceeded to the counter after the passenger before me in line headed to the boarding gate. The counter person then immediately scolded me about coming too soon. He told me next time I should wait until I'm announced.

After the flight took off from SFO, the attendants came around to serve beverages and snacks. I was wearing my earphones watching a movie so I wasn't exactly paying attention to what was being offered. So when the flight attendant got to my row, I asked what was available. He snapped in front of me a packet of biscuits in one hand, then in the other hand with the same snappy attitude, a small bag of pretzels.

On the return flight back, I noticed the newer looking seats. Found out as I was sitting down, there was no viewing screen (learned today it's been this way for newer AA planes since 2017). We were told to download the AA app from one's phone and look for AAinflight as the wi-fi name. I connected to the wi-fi but tried without success to get to the entertainment.  I missed the part about entering aainflight.com in the web browser.

Kind of hard to do when everyone is repeatedly reminded to board a FULL plane to meet an on-time departure. My seat assignment was in the LAST row, 33C.

So I ended up watching no movies, painfully slow wi-fi access and charged $10.99 for it. The constant browser search spinning drained my phone's battery quite quickly. I couldn't charge the phone because the jack to plug in the charger already had the earphones. We received one lousy beverage and food cart service for a 6-hour flight.

AA may have saved plane weight and labor and maintenance costs. I'm all for cost-cutting. But not at the expense of customers. Namely this one.

source: YouTube

To get to and from the airports, I used ride sharing apps.
Up until this month, my ride sharing app was exclusively Lyft. When I upgraded to American Express Platinum in August, I added Uber to take advantage of the $15/month credit.

As a passenger, I found Lyft to be faster and cheaper than Uber in San Francisco. I found Uber much more responsive in Miami. I used Uber from the airport to the hotel, and from the hotel to the Port of Miami.

The biggest highlights of the vacation:

• bonding time with nephew
• unlimited availability of char-grilled steak and lobster tail at the dinner buffet
• ziplining in Roatán

I'm not yet ready to go back to work tomorrow. But it will be less painful as it'll be a short work week due to the Thanksgiving Holiday.

Switch to Toric Contact Lenses

L: Dailies AquaComfort Plus (Toric)
R: Dailies (Classic) 

I first began wearing contact lenses a few months before I turned 16. My dad didn't want me to get them. He thought I was too young to handle wearing them. I told him with as much sports that I played, I'd break eyeglasses. Plus, with my flat nose bridge, I fog up lenses constantly. Dad couldn't put up much of an argument.

Diagnosed with astigmatism, the optometrist recommended hard lenses. I wore blue tinted ones (easier to see when putting them in). I then moved to gas permeable hard lenses until 2002 or so, when allergies constantly left deposits on my lenses making them uncomfortable to wear.

From there, I moved to daily disposables, Alcon's Focus Dailies.
So much better. No weekly cleaning. No worries about replacing lost lenses. Every day, a new pair of fresh, clean lenses to wear.

I picked up a 2-week sample of a new type of daily disposable lenses, Toric Dailies AquaComfort Plus. Toric lenses are specially designed for astigmatism. Which I've had most of my life and only has gotten worse over time.

Wore the new toric lenses for the first time today. With a stronger prescription, I can definitely see a difference. Comfort level is good. Biggest differences between standard disposables and torics:

• Thicker lens
• Insertion of lenses are in a specific position
• Higher cost due to more details required for the prescription

Whether or not this will be a long-term solution remains to be, ahem, seen.

Lots of Gray in the Gig Economy

Three days ago, I shared on LinkedIn New York Times writer Patricia Cohen's article "Lots of Job Hunting, but No Job". Ms. Cohen has been with the New York Times since 1997.

Laura Ward is the woman pictured in the article. Ms. Ward has been unable to find permanent full-time employment for the past 3.5 years.

Sounds awfully familiar.

I resigned willingly from my job in June 2010. I didn't return to full-time work until January 2014 (see February 6, 2014 entry). I probably applied to 200 different jobs.

Before 2010, it never took me more than 6 months to find a new employer.

During my job hunting phase, I told everyone I knew I was looking for a job. Managed to get a few referrals from friends and former colleagues that led nowhere. Secured promising phone interviews every 2 to 3 months. A handful of those made it to a second interview. If I really got lucky, my third interview would result in a face-to-face. Got about 6 of those in the 3.5 year span I was looking. A few of them were notably large well-known companies such as VISA, BART, and Dignity Health.

But no offers. Many rejection emails, sometimes a rejection phone call.
Most times, absolutely, positively nothing.

Here are my top 3 reasons why I didn't get the job:

1. Lacked the qualifications
2. Wasn't a cultural fit (too old)
3. Overqualified (too experienced)

My sister was laid off her job after 27 years in 2017. She finally returned to work to her former employer in another division. She's among thousands of others that were/are unable to find a full-time permanent job that pays a livable wage.

As of this writing, Ms. Cohen's article shared on LinkedIn has been viewed over 80,000 times in 3 days. That's 41% of my total views on this 13-year old blog.

Public Safety Power Shutdown (PSPS) - California

Due to weather forecasts of high winds with low humidity, Pacific Gas and Electric (PGE) imposed a massive power shutdown in the San Francisco Bay Area.

My neighbors to the north in Marin County and many down south in San Mateo County had their power shutoff around 8:20 pm last night. Approximately 1 in 6 San Francisco Bay Area residents are without power.

Power is not expected to come back until at least tomorrow morning. Therefore, no bowling practice this morning. And who knows if I'll bowl league tomorrow. Bel Mateo also had their power out.

I was lucky. San Francisco County was not affected. Neither was my office at the Oyster Point Marina in South San Francisco.

The high winds containing ash, pollen and other particles is wreaking havoc with my sinuses. Lots of sneezing with a runny nose.

Welcome to a new week.

DIY Weekend

source: Amazon
Skil Compact Cordless Screwdriver

From the time I returned to the single world in 2011, I'm slowly but surely gathering household tools to help me tackle DIY projects that previously would have intimidated the crap out of me.

Like my rant about the lack of women's choices in bowling shoes, I can say the same about suitable tools for women.

Choices are out there, but it takes some digging. As a former history major/current operations and finance analyst, this is well within my skill set.

Started out with a Stanley hammer and a 5-in-1 screwdriver with a donated tool box from Pauline. The most basic of house tools. During my time as an account manager on Lubricant account visits, I bought a tape measure and goggles (I somehow now have 3).

First power tool, a compact cordless screwdriver by Skil (see 1st photo). I bought it to assemble a platform bed for the spare room I rented out a few times in the Outer Sunset.

source: Amazon
3-step ladder with tray

Next, 3-step ladder. Bought this a few months ago. After Wil moved to Florida with Jen, all I had was a folding step stool. Knew there'd be ceiling lights I'd have to change and replace. Came in handy for changing smoke alarm batteries at 2 am. Equally useful for yesterday's DIY project for hanging curtain rods.

The curtain brackets that came with the rods did not require drilling. It came with nails to hammer directly in the wall. Easy concept. Not so easy to implement. I found it hard to pound the nail fully flush to the wall with the 16 inch Stanley hammer.

With one more curtain rod not yet installed, I began a search for hammers with short handles. I see several "stubby" hammers from Craftsman, Pittsburgh, Stalwart, and the brand that really catches my eye,
Apollo Tools.

source: Apollo Tools
4 piece Stubby Set

Click the link to see the vast selection of tools they offer. Most of the tools are made with soft grip handles.

Another great reason to support Apollo Tools is a portion of their sales is contributed to breast cancer research (many tools come in pink).

I originally intended only to look for the hammer, but when I saw the soft grip stubby wrench and screwdrivers, I had to have them all.

More tools. For an already stuffed tool box. Time for a bigger one.

I ordered that from Home Depot tonight.
My Stanley hammer, Stanley tape measure, Dewalt goggles, picture frame nails, glue, sanding block, 5-in-1 screwdriver and soon-to-be stubby tools will all share the same home.

I suspect the stubby ones will be out often, to the point they'll need to be put on curfew.

Hawaiian Invitational at Gold Coast Las Vegas

2019 Hawaiian Invitational
Gold Coast, Las Vegas

Last weekend, I headed to Las Vegas to bowl in my fourth Hawaiian Invitational, the second year at Gold Coast. My previous two Hawaiians were at the Orleans (see October 30, 2016 entry).

I went into this tournament with little expectations. I have yet to bowl a series at my average. This year wasn't any different. My overall 8-game average was about 10 pins below my entry average.

What was different this year was a couple of minor, but notable inconveniences.

Upon arriving in Las Vegas, I got my luggage from baggage claim. Grabbed my suitcase and my bowling bag. Found the retractable handle on my bowling bag was stuck. After a few tries of moving the handle back and forth, I got the handle to lock. When I got to the cab, the release wouldn't retract the handle. The cab driver was very accommodating and put the bowling bag in the trunk as is.

Now at the hotel, it took me less than 10 minutes to check-in. Got my room keys (see photo) with the tournament's logo. Entered my room and immediately noticed the room is stuffy. I tried to turn on the air conditioning from the wall thermostat and nothing came on. Thermometer reads 79F. I called the front desk, woman on phone said Engineering will be in about 45 minutes to look at the air conditioning unit. They're currently working on another issue.

Almost an hour later and no one's come. I called the front desk again and told them I want to be put in another room if this can't be fixed. As soon as I'm off the phone, 2 men from Engineering knocked on the door. They got the fan turned on, tell me to wait about 15 minutes for the room to cool.

I left the room for about 20 minutes to give it time to cool down. Thermometer has gone down to 75F but won't get any cooler. There's barely any air coming from the unit. I really didn't notice until I saw the bedside clock radio read 2 am. I was too occupied trying to fix the bowling bag handle.

Damn. Suck it up, Lani. The handle is broken. Go to sleep. Go to the pro shop before the 2 pm squad. Buy a new bag. It's the second accessory I have to replace in less than 2 years (replaced my shoes 3 weeks earlier - see September 22 entry).

i woke up around 8:30. Texted my Bel Mateo teammate Ronnie to confirm he made it in from his drive from Redwood Shores to Vegas. Grabbed breakfast at TGIF's. Come back to the room. Thermometer now reads 78F.  Called the front desk again.

Within 15 minutes, a different person from Engineering knocked on the door. Walked over to the unit, puts his hand above the vent. Told me right away he has to take the unit apart to fix it. Perfect time to head to the pro shop.

At the pro shop, I immediately eyed the bag in the new color I found online. It's the same price as the lowest priced one listed online. I played with the retractable handle to make sure it worked, then bring it to the register to buy it. I casually mentioned to the pro shop guy I'm here for the Hawaiian Tournament. Gave me a 10% discount.

Storm Rolling Thunder 2

Bag is the same size and dimensions as the current bag. It'll be an easy transfer to move everything from the not-so-old bag to the new bag.

Mini woo-hoo.

After the Saturday afternoon squad, I met my Bel Mateo Monday night league mates Ronnie, Will and Julina for a fun Cantonese dinner.

When our 2nd and final squad ended late Sunday morning, I tagged along with  teammates Jason and Darrick to the airport. We were on the same incoming and outgoing flights. Killed for our first time before our flight at The Centurion Lounge, thanks to a recent upgrade to an American Express Platinum Card. Buffet style menu and wide selection of alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages. For FREE.

Nice way to end the weekend trip.

Thank You Boch!

source: KNBR

Today marked the end of the 2019 season for the San Francisco Giants and the last game in a managerial position for Bruce Bochy.

Found myself awed by the number of former players from the time Boch was hired as the Giants manager in 2007.

If you're a Giants fan and missed the live broadcast as I did, it's already available on YouTube.



Wish you well in retirement, Boch. We already miss you.

Channeling Riley Morrison - Lack of Color Options in Women's Bowling Shoes

Same pair of shoes
September 2019
AFTER

Women's Dexter SST 8
February 2018
BEFORE

In the left photo are the new bowling shoes I bought in February 2018 to replace my stolen ones (see February 4, 2018 entry). In the right photo, the same pair of shoes 19 months later. My last pair of SST 8's lasted about 2.5 years. The amount of bowling I do hasn't changed much in 5 years, so it disappoints me to see these shoes haven't held up as well.

The part of the shoe I wear out most is where my feet bend. I stand with my feet together which causes the shoes to rub against each other when I walk on the approach to bowl. This also causes the inner bottom part of the toe cap to come loose. I usually keep a small tube of glue handy to seal the piece back in.

Time for new shoes. I ordered a new pair last weekend. Although my current Dexter Bowling shoe style is still available, I wanted to upgrade to The 9's. I held off until now because the women's line only came in 3 colors:

• white/gray
• gray/pink/blue
• gray/pink/periwinkle

Ugh. I'll repeat what I wrote 2 years ago (see August 27, 2017 entry).
I DON'T DO WHITE SHOES. Pastel colored shoes look hideous on me.

source: Dexter Bowling

My frustration with lack of color choices isn't so different than Riley Morrison, who wrote to Steph Curry last year: 'My dad and I visited the Under Armour website and were disappointed to see there were no Curry 5's under the girls section. However, they did have them in the boy's (sic) section, even to customize.'

Then last month, Dexter finally released a women's The 9 in BLACK. Almost too much black. With some sparkly crap to boot. But not a deal breaker to keep me from buying them. I'd pay extra to have the option to customize colors in the SST 8 or The 9's. To give my new 9's a little bit more pop, I replaced the original black/white laces with the aqua/black ones that came with my recently retired SST 8's.

Women's Dexter The 9 - Black

View from top

While I may whine incessantly about the colors, I remain loyal to Dexter Bowling shoes because of the comfort and design. Like Riley's admiration for Steph, my favorite current PBA bowlers, Dom Barrett and Marshall Kent, are both on Team Dexter.

Which leads me to my next gripe. Why is Carolyn Dorin-Ballard the only female professional bowler on the Team Dexter website?

Business Blazer Flashback

source: Netflix, AMC
Kerry Bishé as Donna Clark
Halt and Catch Fire

Vitus and me, 1988

About 20 minutes ago, I completed Season 3 of AMC's Halt and Catch Fire on Netflix. In the closing scene which takes place in 1990, I couldn't stop fixating on Donna Emerson Clark's blazer (played by Kerry Bishé, left photo).

That's because I wore the exact same jacket in 1988 (right photo).

Kudos to the wardrobe folks on finding the blazer. 

Goodbye KFOG

source: San Jose Mercury News

At midnight, Friday, September 6, longtime San Francisco's FM station, KFOG, went off the air. It is now a simulcast with AM 680 KNBR Sports Radio.

I was a faithful 10+ year listener of KFOG's Morning Show featuring Dave Morey, Peter Finch, Irish Greg McQuaid and Renee Richards. It was clear how much they liked each other. Over the years, I knew their spouses/significant other's names and enjoyed hearing what they did in their free time off the air. Real conversation with real people playing a combination of classic rock and adult alternative music. In the afternoons and evenings I'd hear John Grappone, Rosalie Howarth, Bonnie Simmons and Big Rick Stewart. Last but not least, let's not forget another favorite, "you wonderful human being" Annalisa.

I loved 10@10, Peter Finch's Fogfiles, the live air appearances from music artists such as The Tragically Hip, Luce, Jake Shimabukuro, Toad the Wet Sprocket and so many more. My friend and former Sharper Image colleague Roger Bensinger once made an on-air appearance promoting some of the high-tech gadgets we were once known to sell.

Not long after Dave Morey announced his retirement, my listening days with the station came to end. What was previously an easy conversation between on-air personalities now sounded hollow and forced. So it came as no surprise to me that the station's days were numbered.

These days, it's a combination of NPR via KQED and downloaded music from my 10 year old CD's and phone app. I find most local music stations these days beyond annoying.

Netflix Binge Watch - Halt and Catch Fire

source: imdb.com
L to R: Mackenzie Davis, Scoot McNairy, Lee Pace

I restarted my Netflix subscription about 3 months ago. There were a few movies I watched, but had a hard time finding anything bingeworthy as many others have.

That changed late last week. I caught a brief mention from a NY Times writer who said she was totally hooked on AMC TV series Halt and Catch Fire (2014-2017).

Started watching last week. The first 4 episodes of season 1 are a bit slow, but it's necessary to watch to build the story and characters.

By episode 5, I binge watched 3 episodes at 10:30 pm. Tonight, I finished up season 1 and am currently watching season 2, episode 2.  It's 40 episodes across 4 seasons.

I left my job at Gymboree in 1998 to work for an e-commerce startup. I returned to corporate retail in 2001. Which is what compelled me to watch. I'll likely finish watching the series on or around Labor Day.

Here's the trailer:

Dasha Kovalova - 2019 PWBA Louisville Championship 300 Game

source: Bowl.com
Dasha Kovalova

Last week, former Wichita State standout bowler Dasha Kovalova won her second PWBA title of the 2019 season.

Dasha did a lot more than just win the tournament. She bowled a perfect game in the championship match. She is only the fourth female to bowl a perfect game in a PWBA event on TV.

Michelle Feldman, Cara Honeychurch and Dasha's opponent, Liz Johnson, preceded Dasha.

To top it off, Dasha's mom Oksana watched the game front and center. It was the first time Oksana got to see Dasha bowl on TV in the United States.

CBS Sports posted on Facebook a great video clip highlighting each of Dasha's 12 strikes. Dasha's Wichita State teammate and longtime Team Singapore phenom Jazreel Tan can be seen at the end of the clip standing next to Oksana.

Congratulations again, Dasha.

1989 San Francisco Giants 30th Reunion

source: AP
Will Clark

This afternoon at Oracle Park,  members of the 1989 National League Champions San Francisco Giants held their 30th reunion.

For me, 1989 remains forever etched in memory, specifically, October 17. Game 3 of the Bay Bridge World Series.

At 5:04 pm, the Loma Prieta Earthquake happened. Jeff took me to the airport earlier in the day for my flight to Columbus.

Among the former Giants who attended today's reunion: Kevin Mitchell, Dave Dravecky, Mike Krukow, manager Roger Craig, former owner Bob Lurie, Robby Thompson and Will "The Thrill" Clark. Current Giants CEO Larry Baer announced Clark's 22 jersey will be retired after the 2019 season. In my opinion, it was long overdue.

Clark follows legends such as Willie Mays, Mel Ott (4), Juan Marichal (27), Willie McCovey (44), Orlando Cepeda (30), and most recently, Barry Bonds (25).

If you missed it earlier, here's today's ceremony:

Sunday Bloody Sunday

Last week: Gilroy, California Garlic Festival. Yesterday, Cielo Vista Mall, El Paso, Texas. This morning, Dayton, Ohio Oregon Historic District. As of today, there have been 251 mass shootings in 219 days of 2019.

Enough is enough. I fully understand it isn't that easy to enact legislation, but no more excuses. Action must be taken to restrict military assault weapons to civilians.

U2's Sunday Bloody Sunday was released 36 years ago in 1983, but the lyrics couldn't be any more accurate today.

2019 PWBA US Open Champion - Danielle McEwan

source: PWBA
2019 PWBA US Open Champion - Danielle McEwan

Better late than never. But it's Danielle.

Last month as the #2 seed coming into stepladder finals of the 2019 PWBA US Open, Danielle defeated #3 seed Shannon O'Keefe and top seed/tour roommate Tannya Roumimper to win her first green jacket and second major championship. Grace under pressure, Danielle needed to bowl consecutive strikes in her semi-final and final matches to win.

I watched the entire broadcast live on the edge of my seat screaming at the TV. I have since watched it 2 more times on my DVR.

You can see it here:

The Farewell: Based On An Actual Lie

source: Deadline
clockwise: Tzi Ma, Lulu Wang, Awkwafina, Diana Lin

I first saw the trailer for The Farewell movie about 2 months ago. I knew immediately that this would be on my must-see list.

Farewell premiered in New York and Los Angeles in limited release last week. This weekend, it was in San Francisco. I bought my tickets online on Friday to see Saturday's first showing at Landmark's Embarcadero Center Cinema.

Extra tissues stored in purse, I ended up not using as many as I thought I would. Not to say that won't happen when I see it again.

For me, it didn't pack the emotional wallop that Crazy Rich Asians or Joy Luck Club. But it doesn't mean it had any less impact on me. It depicted Americanized/American born children of Chinese immigrant families in a very realistic, funny and poignant way.

If you're an American born child of Chinese parents, you absolutely, positively must see the movie.
Here's the trailer:

Yee Reunion, Chapter 2

L to R: Cindy, Helen, me

Yee reunion, Chapter 2.

While I was in Los Angeles meeting up with the Vancouver Yees, Helen messaged me and said she would be in Oakland and Yosemite after the Fourth of July. She asked if I'd be available.

Me: Yes!!! I last saw Helen in 1982, not long after my Ohio State graduation and hers from Ohio Dominican College.

On Saturday, July 6 (Helen's birthday), she and her girlfriend Cindy, drive in to San Francisco from their Yosemite trip. They take me up on my offer to stay in the spare empty bedroom (with Aerobed) in lieu of a hotel. I order Thai for delivery to give us more time to catch up.

Cindy has never been to San Francisco and wanted to see the touristy spots. I hate crowds and didn't want to contend with weekend traffic. Happy medium found. Booked online a private 4-hour tour with Viator, a subsidiary of TripAdvisor.

Well worth the cost.

We started on 19th Avenue across the Golden Gate Bridge, got our picture taken (see above photo). Once we came back across the Golden Gate Bridge, I had the driver take us pretty much in this order: Presidio, Palace of Fine Arts, Marina Green, Ghirardelli Square, Fisherman's Wharf, Lombard Street, North Beach, Chinatown, Union Square, Japantown, Alamo Square, the Castro, Haight Ashbury, Golden Gate Park, and Ocean Beach.

Ended the day with an early dinner of yummy udon and tempura across the street from my place.

It's my hope my next Yee gathering will be a reunion in Columbus with the Cleveland cousins, Sherman, Kat and son, and the Vancouver cousins.

Yee Family Pride

2019 Columbus Ohio Pride Day Parade
Helen is on the far left

No entries for the past 2 weeks.

June 7: Spent the day in Modesto at McHenry Lanes bowling the 5-game Peach Classic Tournament.

June 14: On the road returning from a weekend trip to Los Angeles to meet long lost cousins from Vancouver who were in town for a family reunion.

Which leads into today's blog entry, my childhood friend, Helen Yee. While I was in Los Angeles having dim sum with the Yee family from Vancouver, Helen was leading the Columbus LGBT Pride parade. We couldn't have been more proud of her.

Helen and I grew up together. Our moms were longtime mahjong friends. We are only a week apart in age. Helen and the Yee cousins from Vancouver are first cousins. Helen's late dad Peter and my cousins' mom, Fong, are brother and sister. Their father Jack and my mom Susan, are first cousins. Uncle Jack's father and my mom's father are brothers.

It had been 45+ years since I last saw the Yees. Not only did we catch up, they showed me pictures from their 2010 China Trip that included a trip to Guangdong province. They visited the homes of where Uncle Jack's and Mom's families lived, and where Mom was born.

Up until last weekend, I knew very little about Mom's time before she came to the United States. This visit and seeing those pictures filled a big void.

As I reach the end of another decade next week, it's more important than ever for me to stay connected to my family roots.

Always Be My Maybe

source: imdb.com

Released on Friday and now available on Netfilx.
Movie summary:

• Asian-American childhood friends in San Francisco.
• Grew up in the Sunset District. 
• Lost touch, then reconnected after 15 years.
• Still care for each other but lives are going in different paths.

Watched the trailer with tears streaming down my face. Too close to my own personal experience. Several of you already know who he is.

Think I'll have to see it.

Check out the trailer here:

2019 USBC Queens Champion - Dasha Kovalova

source: USBC
Dasha Kovalova, 2019 USBC Queens Champion

Congratulations to former Wichita State women's bowling phenom Dasha Kovalova on winning her first PWBA title, the USBC Queens,

This year's tournament was held at Northrock Lanes in Wichita, Dasha's home turf.

Two of the other finalists, Clara Guerrero and Tannya Roumimper, also bowled at Wichita State.

I first wrote about Dasha in 2013 (see June 8, 2013 entry) as one of the outstanding female bowlers on the European tour.

At the time I wrote the entry, the PWBA tour had closed operations in 2003. It relaunched in 2015. All the bowlers I mentioned: Shayna Ng, Jazreel Tan and Dasha's opponent in the European Women's Champtionship, Birgit Poppler, are ALL currently on this year's PWBA tour.
All have at least one PWBA title.

Here's Dasha's match against #2 Jane Sin (also known as Sin Jane Li):

Eight Years Ago

For the past 8 years, May 19 will always bring me back to Spock's quote to Kirk, "I have been and always shall be your friend."

Focused: Conversations with Fran Healy - PBA episode

source: imdb.com

Hoping all moms out there enjoyed their day.

At about the time the PBA Playoffs began, Focused TV aired a mini-documentary on the PBA Tour. It includes interviews with PBA Commissioner Tom Clark, current PBA members Jason Belmonte, Bill O'Neill, Kyle Troup and Norm Duke.

If you don't follow the PBA, or haven't in some time, the interviews will help you bridge the old versus the new PBA. If you have about 20 minutes, it's worth a watch.

Remembering John Havlicek

source: Columbus Dispatch
L to R: Larry Siegfried, Mel Nowell, Joe Roberts, Jerry Lucas, John Havlicek

No blog post from last week as I was at the San Francisco USBC City Tournament all weekend.

On April 25, 2019, Boston Celtics legend John Havlicek passed away at the age of 79. While best known for his prolific 16-year NBA career entirely in Boston, he was also an integral part of the 1959-60 NCAA Championship team with my alma mater, The Ohio State University.

His number 5 jersey at Ohio State and 17 with the Boston Celtics are both retired.

He remains the all-time leading scorer in Celtics history with 26,395 points.

2019 BMW 3 Series - No Manual Transmission

source: Motor Trend

I'm 6 months late to this news. It was announced in October 2018 that the next generation (G20) 2019 BMW 3 series released last month will be the first not to offer a manual transmission.

No no no no no!

Currently, other German sedans in the same class, the Audi A4 and the 'C' Class Mercedes have also stopped offering manual transmissions.

I am on my 3rd BMW 3 series. All in various shades of blue.
1. 1997 318ti E36 (hatchback)
2. 2004 325i E46 (sedan)
3. 2012 328i F30 (sedan) - my current ride

I took great pains to ensure above all else, my BMW would have a stick shift transmission. It's a long shot, but perhaps by some miracle when the next generation is released in 2026 or so, they'll bring back the stick shift.

Fat chance. I can only hope.

Oh well. There's always the 2 Series coupe.

Should I Stay Or Should I Go?

Lakeside, San Francisco

On May 31, 2019, the current 1-year lease my roommate and I signed will end. Roommate will be leaving the San Francisco Bay Area for the East Coast to be nearer to his aging parents. Date not yet set. His current work set up is remote, so relocating out-of-state will not be an issue for him.

For now, I've made the decision to remain until the roommate has moved out. My best option would be to find another roommate. But after 5 roommates in 5 years (all but the current roommate were temporary), I don't want another roommate. Yet I can't afford the full rent. In 2 years or so, I might.

I met with the property manager last weekend to discuss a few options. She's agreed we'll chat again once the roommate has moved out.

I have looked at other places that I can afford but run into the following:
1. Size.
Most 1 bedrooms I can afford are too small. Ideally, I'd like a living area at least 700 square feet. I gave up a beautiful dining table that seated up to 8 because I didn't think I'd have room for it. In hindsight, I should have kept it. If I am going to move again, I am not giving up any more furniture.

2. Minimum income requirement.
I saw a 2 bedroom flat in the Inner Sunset I really liked. But the income requirement was 3 times my gross monthly salary. My official monthly salary doesn't meet the minimum. I do have other sources of income, but for privacy reasons won't disclose them.

3. Parking and non-coin operated laundry facilities.
Yes, I'm being very nit-picky about both. I gave up a garage to move to where I am. Although I have the option of driveway parking, I only use it when it's absolutely necessary. (Don't even get me started on roommate's girlfriend's car parked nearly every fucking weekend in the driveway).

A few Saturdays ago, I looked at 2 places. One had parking but no laundry facilities. The other, laundry facilities but no parking. I haven't used a coin-operated laundry machine since 2010. I'm too old, spoiled and lazy to have to go back to one.

Surprisingly, one of the places I looked at last month has not yet rented.  The homeowner/landlord emailed me yesterday asked if I'd reconsider with a reduced rent rate. I explained as much as I like the place, it's too small.

My vent about rent must come to an end. Gotta get cleaned up, showered and ready for work tomorrow. Stay tuned.

San Francisco USBC Open Tournament - Apri 27 and 28, 2019

source: San Francisco USBC

For all San Francisco Bay Area league bowlers, the San Francisco USBC is hosting our 13th Annual Open Championships at Classic Bowl in Daly City on Saturday, April 27 and Sunday, April 28.

Teams can be comprised of all men, all women or mixed. If you are not a San Francisco USBC league bowler with membership and bowl in another SF Bay Area sanctioned league, you will be required to pay a $10 local association fee.  Click here to download a tournament entry form.

Dates and squad times:
Saturday, April 27:
1:00 pm Doubles/Singles, 5:00 pm Team.

Sunday, April 28:
11:00 am Team, 3:00 pm Doubles/Singles

Check-in begins 1 hour before squad time.
Entry fee: $30/event. Please note Doubles/Singles are considered separate events but you are required to bowl both events.

I will be there both days. On Saturday, I'll be fulfilling my Board of Directors duties helping Stephanie with the tournament. On Sunday, I will be bowling all 3 squads with my team.

Hope to see you there.

Bowling Tournament Venues Downsized

source: Trip Advisor
Grand Sierra Bowling Center
Reno, Nevada

It started in with the Hawaiian Tournament in Las Vegas. Usually held at the Orleans with 72 lanes, it was moved to Gold Coast Bowling Center. No real change, as Gold Coast has 70 lanes.

Since the Orleans renovation, the number of lanes has gone down from 72 to 52. Not yet official, the venue for future Hawaiian Classic tournaments will likely move permanently to Gold Coast.

This year's Asian tournaments in Reno, the Reno Asian (July) and Labor Day (September) will move to Grand Sierra due to renovations at National Bowling Stadium.

National Bowing Stadium has 78 lanes. Grand Sierra, 50.

For frame of reference, a few other well-known bowling centers in the United States:

• Thunderbowl Lanes, Allen Park, Michigan. 90 lanes. Site of last week's World Series of Bowling, 90 lanes. Largest in the United States.
• South Point, Las Vegas, Nevada. 64 lanes. Where I bowled Women's Nationals in 2016 and former PBA World Series of Bowling venue, 32 lanes on 2 sides.
• Red Rock Lanes, Las Vegas, Nevada. 72 lanes. Site of numerous PBA events and a popular destination for tournament bowlers.

Compared to where I regularly bowl Sunday practice and Wednesday night league:

• Classic Bowl, Daly City, California, 60 lanes.

The largest bowling center in the world is 116 lanes, Inazawa Grand Bowl in Inazawa, Aichi Prefecture, Japan.

source: pinterest, bowlingdigital.com
Inazawa Grand Bowl