Still in SF w/pix

The wall in D's garden


Was planned to move to Napa today but brother decided he could fix the black tank right here on the street. So he took out the black tank (after some swearing and stripped screws). This also entailed undoing the toilet (which we're going to put back in at a slightly new angle, both to bite the screws into new wood and to keep my knees from banging the wall). Anyhow, the outlet pipe has such a big crack it would have come off fairly soon. Turns out the tank isn't supported very well so that join flexed a lot. Much fiberglass and cement later, he's outside putting it all back together.

He's a really good guy (but I really owe him now).

Yesterday, I rode along with Deborah down to the Dahlia Dell in Golden Gate Park, which she keeps up, along with some volunteers. I wanted to get my hair cut so we found a listing for one not too far away from there. She gave me directions, which I attempted to follow but managed not to. So instead of coming out at 9th and Fulton, I came out at 19th and Irving. Not good, I said to myself. I also didn't have her cell phone number, so I called my brother, who was working on his boat, to tell him to call Deborah and have her call me. By the end of all this, I was hot, tired, thirsty, hungry, and pissed. So I hailed a cab and rode back to the Dahlia Dell and collapsed on a bench at the step by this conservatory next to the dell.



She was so nice, and horrified at how wrong I'd gone, that she drove me to the salon, put me out, found a parking place, bought a drink and brought it to me and waiting through my haircut. She's a sweetie, too. The cut isn't the best I've ever had, and I wound up looking like Julius Caesar as played by Richard Burton. But I washed and dried it myself today and it looks much better.

Then there was the plan to sail the Bay over to the big fireworks display to be held at 9pm, eat a picnic on board, and sail back. At night. So it was about 6pm when we started out, into a fairly hefty wind and really choppy water (up, boom boom, thud, splash). The jibsail came loose she H had to go forward to deal with it, D had to pilot and quickly got soaking wet. After about an hour of this (H had put on his foul weather gear; D and I didn't have such), we all agreed this was not fun. So back to the marina. Back to the house for dry clothes. Off in the car to the top of a hill where we sat in the car and ate our picnic and then the fireworks came and they were definitely spectacular (but dry is even better).

Red flowers in D's garden


Calla lily in D's garden --