I had a bad feeling about the restaurant as soon as we arrived. Actually, as soon as I learned we were going there. But family were in town and they wanted to eat at a place with a view of the ocean, and a menu that would appeal to both adults and children.
The entrance was so crowded it took a few minutes to get to the hostess. We were led upstairs to a closed-in veranda overlooking the ocean. We ordered drinks and then food, which included blackened mahi mahi and chicken tenders. We caught up on news. A half hour passed. Forty-five minutes. An hour.
“I’m going to go to the men’s room,” I announced. “Usually when you go to the men’s room the food arrives.”
I returned from the men’s room to a hungry table. Hania went to the ladies room, and returned, with no food in sight. I headed back downstairs to the hostess to tell her of our marathon wait. She said she’d send the manager up.
Returning to our table, I found the manager, and our food being served.
It was not very good.
Today is Fat Tuesday and Chinese New Year. Crayfish in sweet and sour sauce.
We had coffee yesterday with our friend Joe, who not long ago had an MRI. Hania asked if he had felt claustrophobic.
“It wasn’t too bad,” he said. “Perhaps if other people had been in there. ‘So, what are you in here for?’”
I watched some of the U.S.-Latvia hockey game yesterday and found myself partly pulling for Latvia. When I visited the country in 2001, I learned that ice hockey is to Latvia what soccer is to Brazil. One young woman told me that when Latvia beat Russia in the World Championship in 2000, hundreds of joyous Latvians marched to the Russian embassy in Riga and laid a wreath outside the gate.
Considering what’s happening in this country now, they could lay a wreath – unironically – outside the U.S. embassy.
I’m writing this blog on my new computer, seeing it appear on my new monitor, and typing it on my old keyboard. Despite Hania’s objections, and the technician’s puzzlement, I insisted on keeping the dusty old instrument. Now I can still write without having to think about what my fingers are doing (a detriment to any composition).
So, here in the office, my life has improved immeasurably. I even like the new version of Outlook, though email still clutters my inbox and editors continue to keep a low profile.
Last week at this time we were busy washing sheets, cleaning the apartment, and stocking the fridge for our friends from Philly who were coming for the weekend. We loved seeing them, and very much enjoyed showing them around, and it occurred to me that hosting guests is like having a colonoscopy - only the preparation is unpleasant.
Though of course it depends on the guests.