"Vacation" Day #4

Red's Donuts....they have aplace in Monterey (shown) and in Seaside. I grew up on these donuts. And they made me a donut snob. These are the gold...no, the platinum standard for donuts...

Been awhile since I have seen the number of sea lions in the wharf area as we saw today. Wonder if it is mating season? But I have to tell you, after our late lunch, I was envious of these guys cause that is all I wanted to do...

If you love squid - now known exclusively as calamari - like we do, this is where you go. They also have excellant sand dabs! My hubby's favorite dish has been taken off themenu - why???? - but they will still make it if you request it.

The Feast of Lanterns in PG (Pacific Grove). This has been a festival forever - I think someone said 115 years? Was always a really big thing - and very fun. Parade....all the stores decorated with the lanterns....fireworks. This year at the last minute they 'realized' they had run out of money too late to do anything about it. No parade. No fireworks. A little ceremony in the park. So sad.

And on our way home....don't you jsut love the colors?

So we checked out the house - made sure the dryer had arrived okay - looked at the patio roof repair the tenant had done - the yard and all. Then we hit some garage sales. Very disappointing - the lack of them - and the lack of anything good. I think we spent less than $10. Got another large pyrex mixing bowl to replace the one I had that broke many years ago - a large peach colored metal tray with roses, so pretty - a pair of dinosaur earrings for me to wear when I see the grandson who adores dinosaurs - and some marbles for one of them. That was it. Very disappointing that there were no garage sales in Pebble Beach.

Dropped off knitted squares at the yarn store where we learned about the very disappointing fate of the Feast of Lanterns. We had lunch on the wharf - all the parking lots were full but we found a street parking place. Walked thru the little arts and crafts fair.

Afterwards we went and visited friends - it was good to see how well our friend Marilyn looked. And then home....home for hubby to sit in his chair and me not be able to sit in my chair :-(

"Vacation" Day #3

At 9 PM we finally recieved our delivery from Ashley Home Store in Fremont CA - that we placed on June 4 of this year.



Here is my chair.

Here is hubby enjoying his chair.

Yup - they did it to us again. They delivered ONE of the TWO chairs we ordered and paid for. And late enough at night that there is nothing we can do about it.....emailed the BBB about the 'resolution' of this....Monday hubby will call KPIX back.....

"Vacation" Day #2

This is where we went today. Hubby went with daughter and her family a week ago and knew I would love it (I had to work that day). So we went and I loved it!!! 170+ photos worth!

Haven't seen nasturtiums in a long long time!

Another photo for Katie -

I know there is no way to prove it was the same one - but it just seemed like this same grey Harbor Seal kept watching me watch him!

Didnt plan for two postings, but blogspot froze up on me and wouldnt let me post any more photos.

We had lunch at a cute little coffee shop that hubby has told me about for years. It was empty - but apparently it is SRO for breakfast. Very very very good clam chowder. If you are ever in Pacifica - eat at Kerri's Coffee Shop in the mall that has Hallmark and RadioShack.

"Vacation" Day #2

Isn't he cute - him watching me watch him?

Almost a sunflower for Katie...

Have no idea what it is - starting to fossilize?

Day One of Summer "Vacation"

Because I was out so long last year, I didnt get my vacation requests turned in in a timely manner. Therefore I ended up being totally unable to get any summer vacation this year - EXCEPT - I did take my birthday weekend off...

I just came off a 4 days stretch - mostly good except for one especially grueling day - something I usually never do - but it enabled me to have a 6 day stretch off. And that has enabled me to have a 'vacation', or, as they are calling them these days, a 'staycation'.

So yesterday started out with going back and picking out another frame for my new glasses - since the original pair had been discontinued - the color I chose - even tho they kept it on their website.

Then we stopped by and picked up my 3 fair entries - 1 an honorable mention and 1 a second place - and a check! Made back my entry fee + some which along with my free ticket makes it all worthwhile!

Then we climbed aboard BART and headed for the city. Did very little shopping and had a slice of pizz at Blondies - love their pizza AND the place always reminds me of when my son first became aware of homosexuals!!! The look on his 10 year old face was priceless (maybe he was 11).

Then to the theater to see Young Frankenstein. It was as silly as the movie - and the 2 main actresses had the prettiest voices ever! Some really great special effects - and we enjoyed it very much.

Then hop on the bus and over to North Beach Restuarant. Now - we started going to this place years and years ago. They are way over priced and their attitude sucks.....I mean, c'mon, charging for REFILLS of ice tea???? But they have one dish that we really enjoy and have been trying to copy. So we went back to try again....

We were both hungry so we ate what we were served - but it wasnt what we ordered. And when we asked the waiter when and why they changed the recipe - I must admit - he was very quick with his comeback.

You see, we always order SPAGHETTINI (which, according to Wikipedia and other dictionaries, is very thin spaghetti which can be called angel hair in English) LORENZO - a simple dish - garlic, oil, tomatoes, and basil.

Well this time it came in a very small serving ... it is usually a large serving which I always say I can't finish but I always manage to finish ... with oil, very little garlic, one basil leaf, and a strange, almost marinara sauce. Not bad - but not good.

Anyway, the waiter told us it always comes SPAGHETTI but you can order it with any type of pasta. And we disaggreed with him - but he told us the other waiters must just order it differently. HA! (You can read my review on www.yelp.com and I am going to be complaining to the restuarant).

None of the usual waiters, bartender (this woman poured a very light handed glass of wine - which is already over priced - you can almost buy a bottle of wine for what they charger per glass) so I am wondering if they are new owners?

The service was worse than usual ... hubby was almost done with his (again very over priced) salad (truth in advertising - mixed greens and that is all it is - nothing else added) .... and they didnt bother to clean the table between courses either.

Wonder if the waiter realized why he got a poor-ish tip?

Even the cannoli across the street wasnt as good as usual!

Oh well, the day in SF was beautiful and the play was fun!

FRUSTRATION

On June 5 we ordered 2 chairs. Then 1.5 weeks later, we ordered a couch (same company, different store).

The chairs were due 6/24. The couch was due 6/30.

We got rid of our broken chair. Took our couch to our daughter on 6/18.

We got our couch the week after Father's Day.

We were told our chairs would arrive 6/30.

Then we were told July.

Then we tried calling the store manager - who was on vacation. So we emailed the company and got back a blah blah blah email.

Finally spoke with the store manager who said she would look into it and get back to us.

Still have never heard from her.

Then we were told they would be here 7/9.

So on Wednesday we called to check - and were told that delivery was still expected 7/9.

So with this Mehserle Verdict coming in - and the need for our babysitting services - I cancelled my MD appt for 7/9 and we called to see if we could find out if it would be AM or PM.

They couldnt find our order.

When they did - they told us they had no idea when the chairs were expected in. But they would look into it and call us back by 5 PM.

Yep, you got it. NO phone call.

So - emails to: cbs5.com Consumer Advice; the company; Better Business Bureau; posting on Facebook and Yelp.com. And this.

My advice: DONT BUY FROM ASHLEY FURNITURE!!!

AND NEVER EVER NEVER PAY CASH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hubby is convinced it is because they realized they sold them to us too cheaply and then threw in free delivery.....