V-Day, 2008

I hope that you and your romantically loved one(s) had a great day yesterday. I went to a meeting and spent most of the time wondering why I was there (but at least was getting paid to be). I had to bring the HB because the client didn't have a phone in the conference room. He was on great behavior, kept himself amused, and ate most of a chocolate chip scone which was about as big as his head.

After getting back from the meeting, my wife came back from work and I scooted with a buddy to the golf tournament. I'm not a huge golf fan, but seeing it live is better than you would expect. For instance, you can walk all over the place with a beer in your hand (in this case, 24oz). You can also get so close to the players as to hold a conversation with them. Being in such proximity really gives you a sense of who these guys are. Lastly, seeing a golf ball smacked 325 yards is pretty amazing.

We left the course at about 5 hoping that we would get home (less than 15 miles away) by 7. You read that sentence correctly. There's a shuttle service that runs from the course to the VA parking lot, but if there is worse traffic in LA than the Brentwood/Pacific Palisades area, I'm unaware of it. My buddy and I agreed that was one good reason for us living in the area where we do. I think I walked in the door at about 7:10.

My wife and I gave up on going out for dinner on Valentine's Day at least 10 years ago. When we lived in Boston we were DYING to go to Olives right after it opened. The problem was that this restaurant, like most in Boston, didn't take reservations (I'm sure you recall how I've called Boston the LEAST user friendly city in the country) and it's not like we had the time to get there in horrendous Boston traffic at 4:30 when it opened to get a 7:30 reservation, or some such shit.

One year, the local NPR station offered gift certificates that came with reservation privileges during their begfest. We gave them money anyway, so this seemed like a win-win. So, we got the certificate and decided to make a reservation on Valentine's Day. We get there and the place is JAM packed. We sit practically within erection distance of the couple next to us and are presented with a completely unimaginative and price gouged for the holiday prix fixe menu. I don't even remember what they were serving. That tells you how good the food was. And the service was for shit. I don't think that we've gone out for dinner on Valentine's since.

As a post-script, we did go to the Olives in Vegas a few years back. The night before we had gone to Le Cirque, which was amazing. So much so, in fact, that it was one of the two times in the 24 years I've known my wife that seafood crossed her lips. At any rate, I don't know if it was the contrast, bitterness from our previous experience, or just their quality, but I was not impressed with Olives in the desert.

Last night, my wife got us bread, cheeses, meats and a great bottle of wine (recommended by Jen at the outrageously expensive fancy supermarket). So, after we got the HB in bed, we enjoyed dinner in front of a fire. After the post-dinner chit-chat, we went upstairs and made love listening to the White Stripe's Elephant. Not a bad way to spend the day.