Little missus is back from ten day trip to Japan and Seoul
She likes Japan more
Said United has bad food and no service
Well we knew that
our girl cat did NOT like her japanese dress. she left it in the litter box.
I also like Japan more! I feel that Korea is for extroverts whereas Japan is for introverts. I also just got back from Taiwan and loved it as well.
Labor Day off we drove the TT down for a day trip to 17 mile drive had an expensive lunch at Royâs just to get the 11.50 gate fee back
We donât go often but when we do the excuse is to get our gate fee back but Royâs is a nice rare treat
Didnât walk around back of the hotel this time because although sunny it was windy and a bit uncomfortable to be outdoors in the wind. Seems like a pleasant hotel to spend a few days but rates are 500 ish low season and the skies the limit when events are happening
A guy was surfing though in his wet suit
17 mile has several gorgeous beaches that if it had Hawaii weather it would be stupendous
250 mile round trip was a bit much for a day trip
Had to keep myself from falling asleep behind the wheel and wifey was no help she was supposed to drive the way back but only took the wheel the last 30 miles
She was happily snoozing the miles away
Shame with highway 1s gorgeous scenery
I was so tired I was fighting to stay awake and couldnât drive fast enough to be fun in fear of getting a speeding ticket from Smokey
So really 250 mike day trips even in the TT isnât all that great
I always get a coupla cheap t shirts and I got two shirtsleeve and one long sleeve for 40 good deal
I always enjoy Monterey and Carmel but we used to do overnighters or two nighters and we would take our cat whopper with us but taking three cats we have now who donât travel well would not work
So we would have to plan ahead and have a sitter
That would make it less of a spontaneous thing
Donât know how the camera is able to shrink Tammy to pint size especially how small a car the TT is
Whatâs a TT?
A poet
A rogue
A gentleman
A lover
A fighter
A traveler
A healer
A helper
A joker
âŠ
Or, a car
A moderator 
Cameras lie !!
Mister TT has already explained quite eloquently
Just to add a TT in the audi car world is an icon like an R8 (although not quite with the same status ) so it generally doesnât need more said like Audi TT. Or like the M3 is to BMW.
At least to car guys
TT are for those who would rather have an R8 but are about 159000 short of the 160000 price tag 
Speaking for myself here
Sunday drove down to Palo alto to the shopping mall there more specifically to the Neiman Marcus cafe there
It was a nice occasional treat when we lived close
to the Walnut Creek location
The pandemic brought NM to its knees and they had to close many locations among one the Walnut Creek location
So we had to do without the occasional lunch there
They give everyone a Demi Tasse
Of their awesome chicken consommé gratis along
With a wonderful inimitable pop over with the strawberry whipped
Butter
Simply delicious
A simple but well put together menu is available
I decided on the old fav a burger for 21 and she had the better option of a cup of soup with a half chicken salad
Sandwhich and a salad for 25
I wanted the same but she wanted
The fries from my meal so one has to abide by the wifeâs wishes
Coffee for me and tea for her closed out the lunch
NM has the best service as usual and Iâm glad they exist still in Palo Alto
She went down to the first floor first and I found myself lost as the escalator was broken on the Down side
Made it to the first floor or as our English chaps would say the Ground floor. (Makes sense really )
Tammy was buying a bottle of perfume
I swear these tiny vials the send you works
She parted with 330 for that 100cc
And was absolutely insensed when there were a few thugs came in to the nearby Chanel store and smashed and grabbed some no doubt pricy Chanel items
She said we are paying here and these thugs get away Scott free just robbing as they wish
I had to remind her that the thug life is not attractive and karma is real
Donât understand why America has allowed itself to descend to anarchy These thefts are going to make all stores close as many have already
Drove the 33 miles back in the TT at a good clip and briefly caught up and passed a Mach E going at a good rate
Highway 280 one is allowed to go at an average higher speed apparently as many fancy Porsches and an Aston zoomed by us
I may have been tempted to speed up cept my fear of Smokey
Next up we changed gears and our gear and put our bikes on the 29 bus and headed to Chrissy field for a little bike run
Which went well except one should not bike with someone half your weight and half your age
She said it wasnât even much of a ride even though she rode all the ascents while i panted my way walking the bike up the grades
Iâm going on my own next time !!
Or with one of my fellow geriatrics
For shameâŠI kick my wifeâs ass on bike rides. 
You didnât tell me she was double your age and double your weight
OR you had an electric bike ??!!
Well, sheâs 11 years younger and 70% of my weightâŠbut still. 
You must be fit as a fiddle
Remind me not to ride with you too until I get my electric bike
More like a cello, but I have been riding regularly for years.
Well in my defense vis a vis the wifey she does regularly jump off 30 mins on the stair climb into a 30 min fast jog while I do three mins each and Iâm ready for a beer 
This may be the key point. My wife just does yoga.
Today monsieur TT stayed home cept was taken out to the movies at the mall nearby when Tammy got home. The REGAL cinema nearby has a deal where you pay about 23/month and you get to see all the movies once. Pretty awesome deal , so Tammy and her movie bud/work colleague go to see every movie the place shows no matter what the movie. Itâs a good deal as tickets are usually 14 per movie there ! Myself I prefer to jet over to concord to the really nice cinema there on Tuesdays when itâs movie Tuesday and itâs 6 bucks a show all day/night long. Except itâs 80
Miles round trip so near 10 bucks in gas and a 7 dollar toll making the movie there 23 dollars so not doing that often unless I also want to take in my gym there which is nicer than the branch near me now
Meantime, i had the day off today and i did a buncha chores and runs . Just so you get an idea of life here in SF. Our trash day is wednesday night (that is the grey garbage bin and the blue recycle bin and the green compostable bin have to be put out before heading to Z land so tomo morning the trucks can come empty them. For this we pay about 60/month for the service. There is only one garbage company per area so there is no competition.
Which means also for tommy, its a run to the luckys supermarket nearby to get two packs of cat sand for about 20 bucks and empty out the old cat box and wash it and reload. Weekly chore. Cats are full time jobs really. You have to pay them a lot of attention, feed them good stuff and take care of their treats and regular food, et et al, plus trips to the vet for annual checkup and shots and worse if they are sick.
We have three of those munchkins up from the one prior (whopper).
And on the subject of oil changes , which nobody asked about , but I will endeavor to enlighten you nonetheless.
so you dont need to even ask.
SO a lot of cars are on 100pct synthetic oil now and most makers tout 10k between changes with 100pct synthetic oil. I am thinking maybe 10k is a bit long . The Audi I bought what is called Audi Care which the first package is the best and covers a once a yaer or 10k miles whichever comes first for 4 years for about 1300 IIRC. And that is roughly half of what it would cost for those 4 services. Now i always maintain go to the makers service centers while the car is under warranty. You can go anywhere after the warranty runs out.
So the toyota i had been using a mechanic at a gas station near where i used to live and he puts up with a lot of nonsense from me. Basically a fast lube place will charge about 130 bucks these days for up to 5 quarts of 100pct synthetic and change the oil for you . NOrmal oil runs bout 55/service. But the prius uses 0/20 (same as TT). and although I am given to understand 5/20 is basically the same as 0/20 except 0/20 is only available as a 100pct synthetic.
The toyota oil change indicator goes off every five K miles so i really wanted to just go to the fast lube place and pay my 55 and get 5/20 oil and have it changed plenty fast and do this every 5k miles.
but im thinking the wont allow this because they must go with what the placard says.
so my mechanic used to charge me 60 to bring my own oil and this way i can buy a premium brand like Mobile 1 or Castro 100pct sythetic at walmart for just under 30 bucks and bring that to the shop where they will change the oil for me and do a tire rotation.
today he raised it to 70âŠ
good thing its once every 10,000 miles for me.
The TT i have gotten its first service at the local audi dealer. but im thinking i dont want to go 10k miles between changes as I read thats not the best.
so i may buy this oil extractor thingamajig for bout 100 dollar and do one oil change myself and have new oil every 5k miles for the TT. The toyota uses electricity about 1/3 of the time in traffic so its not mission critical if i do 10k changes on it. 10k is more like 7k for the Prius as the gas engine does zero idling and over all only 2/3 of the miles it seems
Wow, I didnât realize Lucky still existed. The one on Shattuck in Berkeley is long gone. I still have fond memories of the place because thatâs where I learned to shoplift.
Well apparently groups of people regularly help themselves at stores now with no seeming repercussion