Starbucks, Here We Come

PAPARAZZI?
I don’t mean to brag, but we’ve become rather famous in certain circles. When we step into line at the Chipotle, the servers say “We know you!”. When we get ready to order at Starbucks, the cashier yells, “The soy family is here! Load up on soy!” When we go to P.F. Changs, the waiter says, “Don’t I know you? I used to work at Starbucks and see you there all the time.” We just say, "No photographs please." That's what happens when you eat at restaurants every single meal, day after day, week after week... well, you get the picture.

CLOSING EARLY
The boys want to eat dinner with their friends at a pizza place, so David and I go out to P.F. Changs for a date. David and the waiter remember one another from the last time we ate here. He’s the one who’s still trying to get his scuba diving certification and is into spear fishing. They exchange photos on their iPhones of the fish they’ve seen and the places they’ve been to. Okay now, let’s break this love-fest up and get me some dinner! After dinner, we go to Starbucks. As usual, they’re about to close. I miss Chicago at times like this when there is no nightlife. A police officer comes in for a coffee and jokes around with an employee and us. I ask him if I can ask him a question outside. He obliges; he just finished telling us it is unusually slow for this time of night. (This is around the time of the Arizona upheaval with the federal vs. state immigration law.) My question is about immigration – not about drivers, but if he is allowed to ask pedestrians suspicious of a crime if they are in the U.S. legally even if he suspects they aren’t. He replies, “No, even though the federal law says he is”. The only way he can take someone through the illegal immigration process, is if he arrests them for a criminal action, and suspects them of being an illegal alien because they had no U.S. address, for example, and turns them over to I.N.S.. The police officer goes on to talk about what officers have to deal with just to be in acceptance of the public’s image of them: 1) The police can only use single shot revolvers. This puts them in grave danger at times. 2) Their B & W cars make them sitting ducks. Their opposition knows when they’re coming. Word gets around the community like wildfire before they get anywhere close. 3) They even have to wear polyester uniforms. He says to me. “You as a woman can understand how I feel.” I laugh. “It’s hot!” he says. The officer was dismayed how the world has been heading in the past 20 years since he’s been an officer. He’s just doing his part to slow down the process. The officer had been listening to his earpiece while we were talking and needed to go. He ends by telling us not to be afraid to call 911 if we think we should. “If you’re on the highway, 911 will transfer you to the sheriff from the highway patrol.” I think that officer really needed to be heard, and I’m glad I am there to listen.

GRANITE CHASE
David picks out this gray, marble-looking granite at Bedrosians months ago. We weren’t necessarily looking for gray, but it was the only one we found in our price range that looked like marble and didn’t stain like marble. Bedrosians granite is too thick, so I take a long time finding the same granite by email at other granite yards. I find “Super White” at MSI. It’s not leather finished, but it’s 2cc. When it comes time to choose our slabs, our family goes to Anaheim and is amazed on how large MSI is. David is now open for different slabs. I have my heart set on Super White. Now we have 4 slabs to consider. We don’t know if they are in our price range because MSI won’t tell us the prices. We get a hold of our project manager’s manager. He tells MSI to give us the contractor prices so we can make our decision. I somehow convince David to be open to “Super White” and “Via Appia”. They may even look good together if we decide to use two granite slabs. That is what happens in the end. Hey now — David likes them more than I do!

NEXT POST
The story starts at the bottom. Check back next Monday for more restaurant stories and our kitchen remodel progression! Scroll down for the photos.