My vision of a relaxing Saturday morning evaporated when I woke up yesterday realizing that I was sleeping in a puddle. Victor had a very rare accident. Usually I don’t think of it as a big deal but in this case every single one of our blankets was involved including the dry clean only bedspread. I already had nearly 50 pounds of laundry that had been languishing in the back in the car for a month and a half so adding it all together I knew we had a project ahead of us.
I was very cranky leaving the house after loading two kids and four more bags of laundry into the car. I wasn’t sure where we were going to do laundry but I had a enough experience dragging bags of laundry down the street to know that parking in front was non-negotiable. I thought maybe Wash Quarters down the street from work would be good if I strategically used the 10 minute parking zone in front but it was not available when we drove by. I kept driving down Irving Street looking for Laundromats until we were practically at the ocean. The broken plastic splash guard underneath the car’s bumper had fallen down and was scrapping the ground mortifying Vida who wanted to hide as people started to wave and stare. I stopped, fixed the car and turned around and started down Judah Street. Finally At 28th and Judah there was a Laundromat with a parking space. I was thrilled but Vida was horrified with my choice and begged me to keep driving. I stood my ground and we unloaded into a spare but clean Laundromat. I got my first $20 in quarters and the kids started to get into a better mood loading the machines and putting the quarters in. We had so many loads that the first ones were almost done washing by the time we finished putting all the laundry in. When Vida declared that “doing laundry was fun” I cheered up immediately and was grateful for her positive attitude. Except for some running around and craziness on Vic’s part things were looking up.
I was about to use our 10th washer, a triple loader when my last $10 bill got stuck in the changer. We were in the middle of nowhere so finding an ATM would require driving and losing the parking place. I called the “emergency number” and spoke to the owner who fortunately was coming into town from the East Bay and would be there relatively soon. While we were waiting we walked across the street the Judah Mini Market. They weren’t kidding about the “mini” part, the ceilings were so low it felt like we were in a cellar. Just beyond the entrance there was a shelf of “sale” books for $1.00. A basic merchandising precept is to put the items you want to sell a lot of in a central location. The “book sale” pretty much said it all. We followed the Heinken footsteps down the narrow aisle past partially stocked shelves filled mostly with soup and salsa and back to the coolers. I chose a Miller High Life in a 12 oz can even though it was just after noon and I got the discrete brown paper bag to go with it. Vida picked out an Orangina in a can. As we went around to the front I got a better look at a small counter near the front where they had a coffee station of sorts set up and a small hot plate where the women working there were making some ramen for lunch. We chose some Smartfood cheese popcorn and Vida’s new favorite snack, some sunflower seeds.
We went back to the laundry and the kids relaxed on a bench eating their snacks while I started folding. After a few minutes they went to go sit in the car. As I was folding I could see Victor climbing from the front to back seat. For some reason he had stripped down to his underwear. Vida found a old book in the trunk and had the seat in full recline while she read also in her underwear. When I went to check on them Vic said he had to go to the bathroom so we started walking down the block looking for one. A sad café down the block said they didn’t have one so we ended up in Yan Yan Seafood. I didn’t think we could just ask to use the bathroom and the kids were hungry anyway so we decided to stay for lunch. Vida was anxious to see if they had pepper salt squid. We were the only non-Asian people in the restaurant. The various menu items were hanging from cards on the walls—some of them had English translations but most didn’t, certain to deter the uninitiated from ordering some of the more challenging items they served.
I ordered Victor some chicken fried rice. It was just right, no weird frozen vegetables, nice pieces of chicken and not swimming in soy. Vida’s squid on the other hand came covered in red pepper flakes and slices of jalapeno. I have ordered pepper salt squid many times before and never seen this style before. Vida was surprisingly calm as I fished out pieces that had the least amount spice. I on the other hand was very excited and although I don’t usually eat lunch I couldn’t resist the squid pieces with the slices of jalapeno. Our waitress was hilarious. She made faces and chatted with Victor and he gave her a few of his sillier looks. She brought back a couple of jello like cups for both kids as a treat. Taking our substantial leftovers we went back to the laundry to fold the last few loads.
Restaurant Total: 273
Vic’s Snack—Smartfood Vida’s Snack—Orangina and Sunflower Seeds—Beer of the Day 12 oz Miller High Life Can
(This post was written for both Dinner With Vida and Vic’s Market)
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