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San Francisco -- second part --
9/22/06
A day of spending more for breakfast than I usually spend for lunch, seeing my doctor, and almost making good my threat to buy a pair of shoes that cost $1,000 – if they fit well. Stay tuned – food, shoes, and panicked Visa requiring me to call and admit that I was really me!
We made breakfast simple and ate at the Intermezzo at the Hilton. No crowds, and they had exactly what we wanted pre-ordered (no wait for oatmeal.). The strawberries were divine, and the waitress was darling and snuck us extra bacon. The oatmeal was decent, but the texture was too fine for W. We then prepared for the onslaught – Arthur Beren shoes. One cabbie later, we were seeking the store (based on the address in the yellow pages.) She was possibly Indian-American, new to the area, and said: “I don’t think there are stores in that area.” We went anyway, and it definitely looked like a warehouse area with scattered offices. Fortunately I wrote down the phone number. She handed me her phone, I called and found out they were a mere couple of blocks past Powell. We’re talking definitely walking distance. So she took us in the region of the store.
However, in the serendip of life, when she asked what kind of shoe store I was looking for, I said simply that I had a narrow heel, very high arch, and a slight difference in foot size (we’re talking ½ a size total.) She said quickly that she had a difference, too – a big difference. I asked if she’d found a shoe club where you try to find someone with the opposite sizes for each foot – and similar taste in shoes! She didn’t know such groups existed. Well, I heard about them years ago in a magazine, but I suggested she try Google, because surely some of those clubs had moved online.
I hope that a) I guessed right and b) she is persistent. I can relate in a small way to what she’s dealing with.
Enter Arthur Beren, an upscale and unpretentious shoe and boot store. Some pretty little fluffy things, some classics, some gorgeous boots that would require a new mortgage. A clever woman named Tina, formerly from Greece but now a “City” person, took me in hand. She didn’t believe the stories about my foot size continuing to increase, and checked both feet for herself. Then we selected and tried shoes.
It took a good 30 minutes or more to find them. She said if I wanted a more precise fit, we’d have to go to Europe. I said jokingly that W. would just have to take me there. Mistake – a) she thought I was serious, and started closing the boxes, and b) I hurt her feelings.
Once we established that I was teasing him, I finally narrowed my choice to three pairs. No, I cannot admit to the combined price – let’s just say that I wanted the ankle boots, and I believed Tina when she told me that if she softened the side edges of a dress shoe as she’d done to her own pair of shoes, I’d be able to wear them ten hours. She did it all the time. The pair I regretfully put back was tailored exactly like the men’s shoes my father used to wear, only smaller and slimmer. But there was no getting around it – they were heavily styled toward the masculine end of shoes. There was nothing remotely feminine about them – no way to fake it to wear with a dress of any length. She admitted that they were not good dress shoes. But she had a pair, and she guaranteed they were the most comfortable shoes in the store. Not the priciest – the most comfortable. She said they could keep the Ferragamo shoes – they hurt her feet.
If I win the lotto this year, I will check to see if they still have that style of shoe!
Then came the important meeting the new doctor, and seeing my PA Ginger again. Purpose of the trip accomplished. I’m going to do a ton of blood work, for both Ginger and Dr. Ron’s PA Debbi (in Austin), who is double-checking to make sure there isn’t something else causing problems with my recovery. I took Ginger a copy of KINDRED RITES, and she was very pleased.
I had some excitement at the doctor’s office. They turned down my credit card! As I knew I had a lot of padding on that card, I suspected that the hotel had slapped a three day charge for “incidentals” on the card ($225 dollars!) plus with the two things of makeup and the shoes, the card company might be panicking. So I gave the nurse another card, and we went off with Ginger for lunch at a local diner. I confessed that I didn’t think I was up to sashimi, which was the first choice.
Coincidentally, One of the first LBb patients I met on-line was also there that am! Turns out SS has several friends in CA who were passing her around up and down the state. She, Ginger, W and I went to lunch at Lori’s. It was a fun diner with good food and things I could have, too. Found out I’ve been very lucky with Coriolus – SS has tried it for several months, hoping it will help her CD57 – but no energy boost from it, like I got.
We said goodbye to SS and Ginger, and headed back to our hotel room. I paid my dollar to call out to a 1-888 number, and was run through every security password my credit card company had on me. Then they double-checked my charges recently (when I discovered the phones calls, etc. was $225) and when I had two Nordstrom purchases and a big Arthur Beren, they froze the card. This was an “unrecognized pattern of spending”. I thanked the customer rep for their sharp eye, and explained that if they looked back within the last two months, they’d find a plane-room package purchase to SF, and that I was here to see a doctor and acquire things I can’t get in Texas – namely, shoes that fit. He apologized for my inconvenience, and said that the shoes were authorized, and I could use my card again. I again assured him that I appreciated their care of my credit rating, and we parted with gracious words on both sides.
Dinner was at Morton’s, and we were delighted with the wonderful Prime Rib, and dismayed to find out that it was a chain a la Ruth Chris’s. It had many of the same strengths and weaknesses – superb meat and average salad, rolls, veggies etc. Alone of the rest of the stuff, the asparagus with balsamic vinegar was quite lovely, but no flourless desserts. We roamed a bit, but the only place we were told had a flourless was something called Zulu’s? And it was a considerable cab ride away. We went in search of H-D, and found that we’d misremembered – Macy’s had Ben n Jerry’s. There was also a Coldstone -- both stores had very few choices and none for me.
We reached H-D too late – they were officially closed, had rung out the register, and the manager looked glassy-eyed. W very annoyed, having wanted to satisfy my occasional sweet lust. I suggested we see if CityScape (46th floor of the Hilton, incredible view) had chocolate or crème brulee.
Well, it turned out they were wrong about chocolate – I got a trio of crème brulees, vanilla, coffee and butterscotch. Quite lovely. W got the lemon with raspberries cheesecake. We’re talking about the size of a paper cup cover at Hiltons – for $9.00 each. The cheesecake was probably the best commercial one I’ve ever tasted, though.
The view was worth the price of admission. We could see the GG bridge one way, and the Bay bridge the other way. It costs a fortune, but it’s a lovely, lovely town.
A day of spending more for breakfast than I usually spend for lunch, seeing my doctor, and almost making good my threat to buy a pair of shoes that cost $1,000 – if they fit well. Stay tuned – food, shoes, and panicked Visa requiring me to call and admit that I was really me!
We made breakfast simple and ate at the Intermezzo at the Hilton. No crowds, and they had exactly what we wanted pre-ordered (no wait for oatmeal.). The strawberries were divine, and the waitress was darling and snuck us extra bacon. The oatmeal was decent, but the texture was too fine for W. We then prepared for the onslaught – Arthur Beren shoes. One cabbie later, we were seeking the store (based on the address in the yellow pages.) She was possibly Indian-American, new to the area, and said: “I don’t think there are stores in that area.” We went anyway, and it definitely looked like a warehouse area with scattered offices. Fortunately I wrote down the phone number. She handed me her phone, I called and found out they were a mere couple of blocks past Powell. We’re talking definitely walking distance. So she took us in the region of the store.
However, in the serendip of life, when she asked what kind of shoe store I was looking for, I said simply that I had a narrow heel, very high arch, and a slight difference in foot size (we’re talking ½ a size total.) She said quickly that she had a difference, too – a big difference. I asked if she’d found a shoe club where you try to find someone with the opposite sizes for each foot – and similar taste in shoes! She didn’t know such groups existed. Well, I heard about them years ago in a magazine, but I suggested she try Google, because surely some of those clubs had moved online.
I hope that a) I guessed right and b) she is persistent. I can relate in a small way to what she’s dealing with.
Enter Arthur Beren, an upscale and unpretentious shoe and boot store. Some pretty little fluffy things, some classics, some gorgeous boots that would require a new mortgage. A clever woman named Tina, formerly from Greece but now a “City” person, took me in hand. She didn’t believe the stories about my foot size continuing to increase, and checked both feet for herself. Then we selected and tried shoes.
It took a good 30 minutes or more to find them. She said if I wanted a more precise fit, we’d have to go to Europe. I said jokingly that W. would just have to take me there. Mistake – a) she thought I was serious, and started closing the boxes, and b) I hurt her feelings.
Once we established that I was teasing him, I finally narrowed my choice to three pairs. No, I cannot admit to the combined price – let’s just say that I wanted the ankle boots, and I believed Tina when she told me that if she softened the side edges of a dress shoe as she’d done to her own pair of shoes, I’d be able to wear them ten hours. She did it all the time. The pair I regretfully put back was tailored exactly like the men’s shoes my father used to wear, only smaller and slimmer. But there was no getting around it – they were heavily styled toward the masculine end of shoes. There was nothing remotely feminine about them – no way to fake it to wear with a dress of any length. She admitted that they were not good dress shoes. But she had a pair, and she guaranteed they were the most comfortable shoes in the store. Not the priciest – the most comfortable. She said they could keep the Ferragamo shoes – they hurt her feet.
If I win the lotto this year, I will check to see if they still have that style of shoe!
Then came the important meeting the new doctor, and seeing my PA Ginger again. Purpose of the trip accomplished. I’m going to do a ton of blood work, for both Ginger and Dr. Ron’s PA Debbi (in Austin), who is double-checking to make sure there isn’t something else causing problems with my recovery. I took Ginger a copy of KINDRED RITES, and she was very pleased.
I had some excitement at the doctor’s office. They turned down my credit card! As I knew I had a lot of padding on that card, I suspected that the hotel had slapped a three day charge for “incidentals” on the card ($225 dollars!) plus with the two things of makeup and the shoes, the card company might be panicking. So I gave the nurse another card, and we went off with Ginger for lunch at a local diner. I confessed that I didn’t think I was up to sashimi, which was the first choice.
Coincidentally, One of the first LBb patients I met on-line was also there that am! Turns out SS has several friends in CA who were passing her around up and down the state. She, Ginger, W and I went to lunch at Lori’s. It was a fun diner with good food and things I could have, too. Found out I’ve been very lucky with Coriolus – SS has tried it for several months, hoping it will help her CD57 – but no energy boost from it, like I got.
We said goodbye to SS and Ginger, and headed back to our hotel room. I paid my dollar to call out to a 1-888 number, and was run through every security password my credit card company had on me. Then they double-checked my charges recently (when I discovered the phones calls, etc. was $225) and when I had two Nordstrom purchases and a big Arthur Beren, they froze the card. This was an “unrecognized pattern of spending”. I thanked the customer rep for their sharp eye, and explained that if they looked back within the last two months, they’d find a plane-room package purchase to SF, and that I was here to see a doctor and acquire things I can’t get in Texas – namely, shoes that fit. He apologized for my inconvenience, and said that the shoes were authorized, and I could use my card again. I again assured him that I appreciated their care of my credit rating, and we parted with gracious words on both sides.
Dinner was at Morton’s, and we were delighted with the wonderful Prime Rib, and dismayed to find out that it was a chain a la Ruth Chris’s. It had many of the same strengths and weaknesses – superb meat and average salad, rolls, veggies etc. Alone of the rest of the stuff, the asparagus with balsamic vinegar was quite lovely, but no flourless desserts. We roamed a bit, but the only place we were told had a flourless was something called Zulu’s? And it was a considerable cab ride away. We went in search of H-D, and found that we’d misremembered – Macy’s had Ben n Jerry’s. There was also a Coldstone -- both stores had very few choices and none for me.
We reached H-D too late – they were officially closed, had rung out the register, and the manager looked glassy-eyed. W very annoyed, having wanted to satisfy my occasional sweet lust. I suggested we see if CityScape (46th floor of the Hilton, incredible view) had chocolate or crème brulee.
Well, it turned out they were wrong about chocolate – I got a trio of crème brulees, vanilla, coffee and butterscotch. Quite lovely. W got the lemon with raspberries cheesecake. We’re talking about the size of a paper cup cover at Hiltons – for $9.00 each. The cheesecake was probably the best commercial one I’ve ever tasted, though.
The view was worth the price of admission. We could see the GG bridge one way, and the Bay bridge the other way. It costs a fortune, but it’s a lovely, lovely town.
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I love my bank. They saved my butt earlier this year when the county clerk's office didn't deposit my check for SIX WEEKS -- called me to inquire, and transferred enough to cover it from savings for me. I considered an overdraft charge a small price to pay for not having that one bounce!
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