this weekend was very active.

we went bike shopping with john. ryan and i may buy bikes soon. looks like we’re both eyeing steel-frame road bikes. ryan’s eyes are on a surly. me? probably a bianchi.

at the suggestion of my coworker chris, i went down to santa clara early on sunday to check out an electronics surplus sale. i picked up a bunch of goodies, including a wire-wrap board labeled “tactical control and status”. i found some new items that would go well with this vintage-electronic series i’ve got going.

also managed to make a few open-houses, to re-wet our feet. one place we saw, the entryway reaked of urine and the place was not that great. on our way out, a car was coming down the alleyway but had to stop because there was a guy laying down on the street. and once we were on our way out of the alley? we noticed this place was just around the corner from 1015 folsom. ya, no on all accounts. no wonder it was listed cheaply. i dont think i’d even rent it.

sunday we returned to bike shops to mull things over, test ride some bianchi bikes, and discuss our thoughts. on the way home (wayyyy out of the way) we stopped by irving to shop for monday dinner. cooking indonesian again, new dishes (straits-inspired) this time.

this short amendment is such a pain in the ass.

(483×650, 595×800)

this is a westinghouse 6bd4a tube, a high-voltage, low current regulator. probably for a television power supply.. i love its simplicity, two elements that do not touch. it reminds you that electrons can travel without an tangible conductor.

from the sylvania spec sheet from their 6bd4a – “Operation of the 6BD4 at plate voltages above 16,000 volts (absolute value) results in the production of X-rays which can constitute a health hazard unless adequately shielded.” — yikes!

i debated the placement of this one. there’s an octagon-shaped logo silk-screened onto the front of the tube. i debated rotating the tube around so the logo was off to the side in the rear. that, or scraping it off completely.

front light – novatron, about 30 w-s. back light – speedotron 202vf, dialed all the way down to about 70 w-s. the usual paper-and-glass treatment, though this time the glass is elevated off the table a few inches to hopefully make the edge of the glass disappear.

i meant to take time in photographing the bottles from last night, but it was so late when i did it. this looks really washed out on my monitor at work.. anyways..

last night we had some friends over for a hot pot dinner. it’s awesome to have good friends over, consume lots of tasty beverages, and enjoy a dinner you cook together (which spans so much time you take an intermission between courses!).

after some divide-and-conquer to restore our place to a reasonable state (hotpot generates a good amount of garbage and a ton of dishes), it was nice to sit down and relax. thanks for the oranges, patrick!

to our credit, the largest bottle in the top picture was not full when we started – it had only a small amount of sake in it which was used for the broth. the rest, however, was consumed by seven of us. good times.

here’s the recipe for the spicy sesame sauce i made for the dinner –

1/2 cup sesame paste
1/3 cup rice vinegar
1/3 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup sugar
1-1/2 tablespoon sesame oil
1 tablespool chili oil
1 teaspoon ground chili flakes

put all ingredients in a bowl and whisk until creamy and smooth (it will take a long while for the sesame paste to loosen up).

i live in an old house. there’s a small gate at the sidewalk that leads you down a few steps to a walkway into the downstairs where i live. next to the house is a large live/work loft building with vines growing up the face. there are a lot of dog owners in the neighborhood, particularly in the loft building. and.. there’s something about the vines that the dogs love (convenient location?) and they all pee on it. on the curb at the street. and, for some reason, right in the middle of the sidewalk just outside my gate. for a while, there was a hand-written sign placed behind the vines asking people to not let their dog pee on the plants (i noticed that sign is gone now).

anyways, last night i was driving home from dinner when i saw a car parked at a weird angle in front of my gate. the driver’s side door was open and there was someone standing there facing the car. i could see in plain sight the entirety of this person’s ass. their boxers and jeans were pulled way down. was something lewd happening right in front of my home? was there some sort of sex act going on, or were they sick? needless to say, i decided to park a few cars further down the hill.

by the time i walked up the car was on its way. i looked at the street where the car was. there was a puddle with a stream going down the hill. did guy just take a long piss on the street in front?

it’s bad enough that all the dogs do it, and perpetuate a urine smell in the area. but a person?