Weekly Green Challenge (triple dose)

Last week’s challenge was to give your car some loving, and below I’ve given couple of simple and obvious suggestions.  Check out the honor roll for more ideas.

With the time change and checking your smoke detectors’ batteries, you should also think about getting the car a tune up.  In addition to saving gas money, routine maintenance will either help you over the 200,000 mile threshold or help you get a better trade-in credit.  Of course keeping the air filter and oil changed is important, but also be sure to have the tires rotated and their pressure checked.  Proper tire inflation helps with their wear and your gas mileage.

Our household is into our sixty-second week of being a one car household!  With our one year milestone and our return from walking hilly San Francisco, we decided to park the car one day a week.  If you have public transit, use it!  Not only will it reduce your footprint, but you are also providing a good job to someone in your community and decreasing the congestion for someone else.

This week’s challenge to have zero food waste is second nature for me, thanks to my mom’s super frugal habits.  Dinners’ leftovers became either lunch or a late night snack, and I carry on the tradition in our home.  If I don’t eat it, my husband will most likely throw it in a burrito wrapper with cheese to finish it off.  My biggest problem with food waste are those ingredients I buy to make special recipes then fail to incorporate into our weekly meal plans.  This week I have a portion of cream cheese left over from the super awesome peanut butter chocolate cake I made for our wedding anniversary, but other recipes include my favorite golden sesame tofu that leaves me with pineapple juice or the plethora of recipes that call for just egg whites or egg yolks.

Regarding the reclaimed or recycled challenge, I did go for Marcal’s Small Steps because it was half the cost of the Seventh Generation pack, and I don’t mind it (and my honey hasn’t complained yet either).  Thanks for your thoughts!

Chinatown and Top of the Mark

On Wednesday, my honey dubbed me Drill Sergeant because I was determined to take in as much of the city as we could during our week stay (with days eaten by travel, wedding events, and weather) so before we had to get ready for the 40 minute BART ride to Pleasant Hill, we checked out Union Square and Chinatown.  My favorite part about San Francisco’s and Vancouver’s Chinatowns were the gates and the bilingual street signs (although Vancouver has a better gate).  I also loved how CitiBank and Bank of America gussied up their buildings (the Bank of America we drove past in the Castro actually had rainbow flags hanging in the lobby).  For his lunch and dim sum fix, my honey ate at the Four Seas; I did not partake as I was not yet hungry, but the service was abysmal.  Although we arrived at lunch, he only saw two dim sum trays before our time constraints required us to leave.  After several minutes of being by passed I gave my credit card to the hostess which she delivered to the wait staff; we waited another several minutes for someone to appear with the receipt.  A lady we had not seen arrived with our check, but rather than drop it she hovered over our table while my husband completed it.

After all the waiting and watching him eat, I realized that I might not be eating for several hours (depending on the wedding reception fare) so we wondered around Chinatown making our way back to North Beach, but Italian wasn’t calling my name.  Somehow (I cannot be trusted to navigate), we missed Portsmouth Square but (walked several blocks north and out of the way and) found Washington Square and St Peter and St Paul Church so we caught a bus back down Columbus where I did take this neato shoot of Cafe Zoetrope and the TransAmerica Pyramid.

Heading back to the apartment, we caught the California car that led us to the Top of the Mark which we had missed on our previous day’s itinerary as a drink spot.  I am glad we visited during the day as my honey took some gorgeous photographs of the city.  I enjoyed a lovely fourteen dollar Valley salad (baby spinach, grilled endive, Point Reyes Bleu, tomatoes, and candied walnuts)  along with my fourteen dollar a glass pinot noir.  I must say that the salad was delicious with a surprisingly generous portion, and my pinot noir was rather tasty (Gloria Ferrar).  I decided to forgo the $23 a glass Moet White Star (please note this bottle retails for around $60), but I did understand that I was paying for the breath taking views not whatever was being served.  In fact our server assumed we just wanted to take the pretty pictures as he brought us our drinks and the check before I had a chance to order lunch.

After such delightful daytime views, I insisted we return for evening views.  Unfortunately, the loudest New Englanders imaginable sat one table away recalling their days of drunken debauchery; however, I did get to sample a 12 year old Jameson pour with my molten chocolate cake.  The pour wasn’t as enjoyable as I wanted (it was more like scotch than my beloved Jameson), and the cake was dry and missing the super chocolate divinity of the last molten cake I enjoyed (thanks Rezaz).  My honey did enjoy his $13 Mojito more than his $10 chardonnay from our previous visit.

Solo Friday

Friday left me unexpectedly flying solo due to a change in the pre wedding events.  Being the shirking violet that I am, I decided to stick to familiar territory.  I caught MUNI 71 to the Haight in order to capture my super touristy Haight-Ashbury photo and get my mom “something hippy” (this was her verbatim request).  Although I arrived three hours later than our first outing, I still could not bring myself to photograph the sign nor could I purchase something hippy for my mom since it all seemed like shit I could I easily and cheaply get in Asheville.  However,  I did hit the Conservatory of Flowers that we had skipped on Wednesday due to our need for food.  It was pretty much the same as visiting the Biltmore Estate’s conservatory, albeit for much less money (five dollar admission).  They had orchids galore as well as a number of pitcher plants, but in the final wing, I was so hot that I cut my tour short.

I walked through the Haight to the much under rated (at least in the travel books I read) Buena Vista Park.  The climb is steep (very San Francisco) and shady, but the views are well worth it.  I did not arrive early enough to catch the bridge before the fog rolled in, but I still snagged some awesome city views with the bridge peeking out.  All of the parks make Asheville and the National Parks Service seem so draconian; none of the handful of parks we visited required dogs to be leased in all areas (and I’m not talking about a fenced-in mud pit either).  I then proceeded to get lost in my attempt to enjoy an afternoon tea at Samovar Tea Lounge; I knew the Haight-Noriega bus drove right by it on Wednesday after our Golden Gate Park outing, but I could not recall the address (and I repeatedly failed to write it down or take down a phone number).  So I ended up riding right past it, then waiting for the next outbound 71 (they were only fifteen minutes apart) and getting off a stop too early then walking a few blocks around and finally arriving for my afternoon tea sweaty with my windblown hair giving me a crazy lady look.  The service was slow; I found my own menu on the counter while the staff discussed their weekend plans (at the end of my meal I left my table for the bar to get the check).  I did enjoy the nice spring mix salad  with the veggie quiche; the fruit plate was disappointing with bland figs, strawberries, and melon.  The scone was delightful, even without the clotted cream and jam.  I also enjoyed the black tea plain, with sugar, with milk, and with sugar and milk; I’ve been craving a scone and tea every afternoon since we returned!

After taming my hair and showering, my honey and I strolled down to his must eat restaurant, Millennium.  We arrived at their door thirty minutes early, so we decided to have a cocktail at the Grand Cafe (same name as the place we held our wedding luncheon in Key West and where I enjoyed my first dark and stormy).  Elderberry liqueur appeared on seemingly every cocktail menu in the city so I decided to enjoy a nice aperitif of sparkling wine and the liqueur de rigueur.  I repeated this selection a few times, and I enjoyed it equally at each stop.  The bar was busy, and as such our service reflected it; the menu looked pricey but interesting, and the interior was grand with its pretty wood and high ceilings.  The dining room proper was elevated from the bar area so it probably afforded a much lovelier atmosphere for a date; the bar area had tables squeezed in wherever they could which was fine for our pre dinner drink.

Millennium is a high end vegan restaurant.  Much to my initial dismay the entire table had to participate in the tasting menu which my husband was set on; however, it all worked out for a delicious dining experience.  Our first course was a trio of ceviche, and unfortunately, I cannot recall anything other than it was delightful and left me eagerly awaiting the upcoming courses.  Although I didn’t recognize it, the menu lists hearts of palm, but how can a sustainable restaurant serve hearts of palm?  The second course was poori, and again my memory fails other than my disappointment at the serving size.  The main course was the best; I had a tamale stuffed with scrumptious chanterelle mushrooms, edamame, and jasmine rice (the menu also mentions nectarines but I don’t see how I would have forgotten my favorite fruit).  He enjoyed the fingerling potato roulade, and while pototoes that aren’t deep fried aren’t generally my cup of tea (I do make an exception for the Noodle Shop’s slivered and vinegared potatoes amuse bouche) I almost wanted to switch plates with him.  The potatoes were cooked perfectly and seasoned divinely; again, I have been craving them ever since.  My adulation of the main course has washed all traces of the dessert from my memory, but my honey said he was shocked at the massive chunk of cake (he also said he really enjoyed it).  Millennium was to be our splurge dinner (although all of our meals were pretty pricey), and it was disappointing that their layout has their two tops crammed together with one person sitting on a banquet and the other facing in a chair.  About mid-way through our entrees, the other two tables had left so we were finally able to enjoy each other’s conversation without having to drown out the neighboring conversations.  Our server was busy with a larger table and a busy section to really bother with our meager little two top, but the buser attended to our drinks and prompt plate removal.  While taking our drink order, she seemed annoyed to have to explain the difference between “sustainable” and “biodynamic” wines; maybe she expected me to know, but neither term has a legal definition so the onus is on those using the term to define it.  However, snotty server or not, the food was great, and I would certainly return.

Climate Change

The facts supporting climate change have been widely reported across numerous media outlets; I wanted to post this to add one more blog to the list in support of making drastic changes to our lifestyles.

Climate change is just one of the many ills our society suffers because of our addiction with fossil fuels.  Looking for purportedly cheap coal, we send fellow citizens to work in coal mines; once the vein dies or becomes too expensive, we raze the mountains and dump the top into the surrounding valleys creating wastelands in lieu of forested habitats.  Those stream beds supply someone’s water somewhere in the chain are then filled with poisons and waste from the mining, and during rainy years like this one the fills can create huge landslides (which if it doesn’t kill you isn’t covered under a homeowner’s policy).

Our love of the automobile has lead us to build massive expanses of blacktop.  The power of the car has allowed us to move further and further from work and commercial centers which leads to more traffic congestion then demand for less congested roadways.  The fuel for these vehicles will not last forever, and even if it did, its exhaust is killing us.  Furthermore is the fuel worth the national security risk; what would the economy do if for whatever crazy reason OPEC decided to stick it to us tomorrow?  Public transportation was squashed by domestic automakers, and many people still argue public transportation will never be self-sustaining (thanks for a good jab, Doug Gibson!).  Funny how the sweetheart lease deals we make with big oil doesn’t impugn them.  However, as our population grows the stress on the current roadways will increase while the demand for housing increases, and no one wants to live near the noise and smell of major roadway.

Our food is tied closely to energy prices because almost everything Americans eat is soaked in oil starting from the time the seeds are delivered from Monsanto to their drive to your home in plastic bags in the back of your car.  If you are eating processed foods then you have even more oil on your hands not to mention the spare tire around your middle.

Even if our elected officials refuse to act, we can each do something small like grow some food, bring your own boxes and bags to the store, do without the car, or insulate your home.  These little things when compounded will help, but a phone call or email to elected officials can’t hurt.

Wednesday in the Park

On our first full day we woke early to buy our seven day MUNI passes ($24 a piece for unlimited rides, including the $5 per ride cable cars!) and catch the 71 bus down to the Haight-Ashbury for my totally touristy photo and our adventures in Golden Gate Park.  We arrived too early in the morning for the Haight; the entire population consisted of bums and closed store fronts so I was too afraid to take my touristy photo for fear of drawing the pan handlers.  We walked around a bit waiting for the San Francisco Cyclery to open at 10am.  The morning was cold and foggy (and it didn’t really change as the day progressed), but we were prepared with jackets and pants.  We visited the serene beauty of the AIDS Memorial Grove;  it was much larger than I had envisioned.  My honey took some lovely photos with my favorite below.

AIDS Grove dry stream bed

Upon our return to our bikes (they are not allowed in the hallowed ground of the grove), we promptly biked right past our next destination, the Japanese Tea Garden.  After our confrontation with 19th Avenue we turned around and found the entrance.  The Japanese Tea Garden is quite lovely, although not as lovely as the Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden in Vancouver.  However, there is a funding difference (the Chinese Garden cost double the Japanese Garden), and the Japanese Tea Garden was full of pretty scenes.

round bridge in the Japanese Tea Garden at Golden Gate Park

Due to time constraints, we by-passed the De Young Museum (although missing Tutankhamun was surely a mistake) and skipped across the Temple of Music Pavilion to the California Academy of Sciences.  The twenty-five dollar admission for adults (discounted by $3 for using public transit!) covers the entire building which houses the  Steinburg Aquarium, Morrison Planetarium, the Living Roof, and the Rainforest.  We both fell asleep during the Planetarium, but otherwise I felt the money was well spent.  The main draw for me was the Steinburg Aquarium, and I was not disappointed (I still prefer Vancouver’s Aquarium).  When you add the four story rainforest, it was certainly worth it.  My wonderful husband took these photos from the aquarium and rainforest.

The fare at the California Academy of Sciences cafeteria brought to mind ski resort food, so famished we rode down JFK Avenue to Rainbow Falls in route to the windmills when the groom called to arrange a meet up after they obtained their marriage license (sadly they drank across the bay).  My original itinerary had called for a lunch near Stow Lake, but we didn’t pack a picnic; with the fog we would not have been able to enjoy sunset at the Cliff House either so we turned around and headed back to the to the Conservatory of Flowers.  I oohed and ahhed over the free outdoor dahlia garden, but my husband insisted sustenance was the next order of business so we skipped the conservatory, returned the bikes, and hoped on the 71 Muni back to Union Square.  Below are a few of my favorite dahlias.

After a few cold ones back at the apartment, my honey was ready to get his raw on so we walked to Swan Oyster Depot only to be turned away.  They close start breaking down at around 4:30 and close the door at 5!  We stopped into the nearest doorway for a consolatory drink and something, anything for our empty bellies.  We sat at the bar in an attempt to get more prompt service, but alas, twas not the case.  The bartender was friendly enough, but she was kept busy by a large party elsewhere in the restaurant so we were attended by her and a manager.  I hadn’t really settled into a drink groove yet, so I perused their specialities and settled on a San Francisco sunrise (grapefruit juice, tequila, and grenadine) while my partner in dine had a local beer.  While we were waiting for the appetizers we had ordered we watched the manager restock the bar.  First she pulled out the big bottle of Patron and filled then fifth up and returned it to its place, then I watched as she took down a small bottle of Bailey’s and restocked it from a handle of Carolans!  With coffee, Carolans and Baileys are close enough; with a rocks pour, however, the difference is major, not to mention the price difference.  I’m not naive enough to think that restaurants don’t pull the old switcheroo, but a complimentary bottle of ketchup is a far cry from a $7 drink.  The food was fine (raw oysters for him and eggplant rollatini for me), but it wasn’t anything that one could not find in any number of restaurants in any number of cities across the country.  The service left much to be desired, and the deception made us regret ordering our food.

Hearty, filling Italian seemed like the best possible meal after our chilling day of biking around the park so North Beach beckoned.  I also got to go to City Lights and purchase a book.  We walked a few blocks from City Lights to Trattoria Pinochio.  Although I did not find the service at any of the other restaurants stellar, the staff of Trattoria Pinochio was on point.  They were exceptionally professional and timely without any annoying hovering; plates and silverware were removed once we were done, and our drinks (both water and adult) were filled as needed.  I do believe that the Kir Royale (I couldn’t drink enough sparkling wine the entire trip) I ordered was actually the Pinocchio Fantasia (the umbiquitous elderberry flower liqueur and sparkling wine) that I ordered later in the meal, but that was the only perceived service gaffe.  I ordered the caesar salad, but I ended up eating a good portion of his calamari.  The calamari was breaded lightly (not as lightly as Nona Mia’s) and served with an aioli and marinara; the marina was a perfect mix of spicy and tomato, and the aioli tasted much like I remember store bought mayonnaise tasting (albeit with herbs and a touch more lemon flavor).  My caesar was forgettable.  My gnocchi made up for the caesar with its pillowy texture, but much to my dismay the marinara served with my gnocchi wasn’t the same as the calamari sauce.  Instead I received an overly sweetened sauce, but I still enjoyed the dish overall.  Even though the portions of each course were generous, I still had tiramisu for dessert; while it didn’t live up to my La Caterina Trattoria memory it was better than most.

Thirsty Monk South!!!

These pictures are not the best or most clear, but fuck it!  I drank good beer in South Asheville after nine pm (actually all of these photos were taken after 11:30 pm)!

In addition to the expected bar stools, Thirsty Monk South has a couch and coffee table area, two dart boards (with plenty of other board games), and a dog friendly patio (also smoker friendly).  I played some cricket with my honey, and he schooled me.  In my defense he was the designated driver.

We are so stoked about good beer in South Asheville, even if we still cannot catch the bus back home.  One step at a time.

Forty-Five Weeks!

We are at forty-five weeks with the one car household, and we are going strong.  We are now trying to decide how to celebrate the upcoming one year anniversary, and this week’s Change the World Wednesday Challenge from Small Footprints at Reduce Footprints is to park the car for twenty-four hours.  With our household, the car normally doesn’t get parked that long unless we are out of town.  My hope is that we can both use alternate means of transportation at least three times in the upcoming calendar week.  The humidity and no showers at work make this difficult, but if we ever hope to have a better public transportation system we have to use what we have and demand better.

One Car Household Week 40!

Frankly, I am a bit shocked that we have made it this far without seriously thinking about buying another car.  We have not had one conversation about even looking at cars aside from some day dreaming in which we get some fast and nimble little car that I can haul ass up and down back country roads (and in this fantasy I could so without endangering anyone, getting a ticket, or  wasting gas).  From the onset my honey has sacrificed the most by riding the bus and walking more than I have, but this week I have walked and/or rode the bus in five out of eight commutes!  My calves are singing in that good muscle building way, and I like to think I am getting less winded than when I started around Strive not to Drive.  Another benefit is that the stress that builds in my shoulders, arms, and wrists from typing all day seems to disperse by the time I get home; I don’t know if it is the endorphines or increased blood flow, but I certainly appreciate it.  I even walked home in the rain and stayed dry (although I have yet to try Beth’s bubble umbrella idea).

Strive Not to Drive results

Overall I fared better than in previous years, but I only walked home three out of ten opportunities.  Today I blame the weather, but Thursday I no good reason other than the snooze button.  I also forgot to bring the camera so I could complain about the dearth of sidewalks, but I guess I will have ample opportunities as I hope to continue walking more.  My goal is to actually have both of us commute some way other driving at least one a week.  With gas prices on their annual summer up swing and swim suit season fast approaching, we should have plenty of reasons to leave the car parked.

Strive Not to Drive Progress

Monday: I failed.  The rain kept me from walking, and I didn’t get any bus tickets.  Although we are almost a mile from the bus stop so even cutting the trip in half leaves a good bit of walking in the elements.

Tuesday:  I had half success.  While I did not get out of bed early enough to drive to work on time much less walk, I did roll my slacks up and walk home.  The weather was great this afternoon, and I really enjoyed the sunshine.  With the rain reprieve, everyone seemed to be mowing their yards so I sneezed most of the way home.

Wednesday looks good, but the rest of week has rainy evening forecasts.