Outing with Jae and Adena

I just barely made it back from purchasing my bed in time to go to our tennis match today. Actually, I wasn’t in time because I just walked in and still had to change and get my video equipment ready.

Jae drove us to the courts. Adena and I weren’t going to play for the team but we brought our rackets so we could play if there was an open court. Jae won his match. Adena and I had a chance to hit for a while. We worked on a pretty fun volley drill where we kept hitting it back to each other hard and as soon as we got a weak shot hit to us, we could just smash it down. It was then our goal to defend against the smash. We both were sweating pretty hard after this exercise. It was a lot if fun.

Jae and his partner, John, won their match pretty easily. Our first two teams won easily but we lost our third match. It was a close on though and it looked like they all had fun.

After the match, Jae, Adena and I went to Pho Anh Dao for dinner. They both got pho but I got a combination fried rice. I missed good fried rice after spending so much time in DC. I didn’t get a photo this time but it was much better than the one I got from that terrible Chinese restaurant in DC.

We talked a little about politics. Basically, we will be surprised if Obama does not win. Whoever wins this race will inherit a deficit. Too bad. What if you could inherit a deficit from your parents? How terrible would that be? Yeah, sure it’s a totally different scale but the concept is the same. Economy, wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, health care, … That’s going to be inherited.

Fire hydrant

On my walk to the BART station from the mattress store, I found this fire hydrant.  It’s parked right in the middle of a sidewalk on 40th street in Oakland.  Does this make any sense at all?  I’m pretty sure this thing is functional and not just sitting here.  Maybe it was just rolled over here.  I didn’t try to move it after I noticed the bolts but maybe it’s all just one piece.  That’s really the only explanation for putting a fire hydrant in the middle of the sidewalk isn’t it?

Buying bed

Ordered a Tempur-Pedic Original bed today in Full size. It should arrive some time tomorrow. Mattress stores have pretty sleezy employees. It’s like they’re selling used cars and it’s probably something like it to given that people don’t buy mattresses that often. I already knew what I wanted so it was just a matter if finding a local place who sold it. Tempur-Pedic is known for strict pricing on their beds at all retailers so it’s difficult to get a discount on them. They didn’t charge me tax and delivery fee but that’s about what they all do anyway. In the end, it came out to $999.

Notes:

Khalil Nazhi
Delivery tomorrow
$999 won’t charge tax
Will call later today to give estimated delivery tomorrow. Three hour window. Will call one hour before delivery.

Update 20:00

I didn’t get a call from them so I called at around 18:50.  They told me that the bed will be delivered between 15:00 and 18:00 tomorrow.  At around 20:00, someone from the delivery company called.  She said, “Your mattress will be delivered between 3 and 6.”  That was it.  She didn’t say “hello” and she didn’t say who she was or anything.  It was very strange.  They called.  Let’s see if they can keep their promise to call an hour before they come and deliver…or deliver at all.

Quick lunch

Had a quick lunch at Chipotle’s. Had to be quick because I had ten minutes until my next bus so I could go from REI to the mattress store. Using nextbus.com really makes public transit more efficient.

Daily View

The weather this morning I’d pretty much perfect. This is a view of Lake Merrit just down the street from the cafe.

Breakfast Thoughts

Time for breakfast at my local coffee shop. I’m having what I usually get which is a toasted sesame bagel with a light coating of butter and a small coffee.

This morning, I had to go to the bank first because I need to pay Jae back and also have some cash available for myself. The bank is on the opposite side of town from the cafe and there were other places open to eat in Chibatown already. I guess it’s because it’s a three day weekend that the stores are open so early. I wanted to come here for breakfast though so I made the extra walk.

On my way back, I saw James packing up to move to LA. He’s one of the first people I met at my apartment complex. He was there with his girlfriend, Sayaka, who is attending UCLA as an undergrad. I’m not sure what she’s studying though. They were literally on their way out. It was good to say goodbye. I’ve got his information so I’ll definitely give him a ring next time I’m down there.

So my back hurts this morning. It’s the first time it’s hurt since going to DC. That’s a pretty convincing argument that it’s the lack of a bed that’s causing my problem. I thought for a while that maybe it was the packing and flight but I packed and flew when we first got to DC. I have a tennis match to attend this afternoon. Maybe I’ll look around for beds after the match.

Today is the second day in a row that I’m testing out these new contact lenses. They are Acuview lenses which feel much softer than the previous kind. They went in pretty well this morning. I had a little difficulty with my left eye but after removing it once and putting it back in, it worked fine. That’s much better than the pair I had before. I’ll wear these until Tuesday and then will go in for a check again. If these are okay, I’ll switch boxes with them.