Lee.org

TL;DR, I had a bad experience at Shake Shack at Bay Street, Emeryville. I wrote to them and they gave me an apology and a gift card, so I’ll try going again. That said, Super Duper makes a fantastic burger! And Habit Burgers is a bit different but also delic’!

My letter:

I really was ready for this to be a fun dining experience. A few things stood in the way.

I did not like that my only option was to order on a screen at your Bay Street Mall location, with no one to take my order. The person at the front was busy fulfilling orders.

There is no indoor seating at this location so my only option was to stand in the vestibule, waiting for my food order to be called with many other people, which was not ideal.

It was very busy on a Saturday with a long line out the door. My order took a long time so I stepped out of earshot for a few minutes. I never received a text on my phone telling me that my food was ready, which was unfortunate. When I came back a few minutes later, I did not see my order on the counter so I waited some more. When I finally asked about my order, The cashier found it on the shelf behind the counter. Unfortunately, the food was cold by then.

It was a strange experience seeing all of the fast food workers making meals as fast as they could and they’re not being a buffer between me and them. Normally that would be a counter, a low wall, a cashier, tables and chairs… Etc.

The burgers we received looked and tasted a little.. weary. Maybe that’s just because they had been sitting for several minutes.

My aunt, my dad’s sister, passed away last month. Here is the obituary from Vander May Funeral Home

Rita Obituary

Rita E. Temes (Sonko), of Wayne, New Jersey, passed away peacefully and went home to be with the Lord on Wednesday, January 7, 2026, at the age of 83, with the comfort of her loving family by her side. Rita was born on May 27, 1942, in Elmira, New York to the late Irene Polachek and Lee Sonko. They moved to New Jersey when she was a pre-teen and spent most of her life in Wayne, NJ. She was predeceased by her beloved sister, Marcia, and her brother, Lee.

Rita graduated from Boonton High School and went on to attend business school. She enjoyed a long and successful career as a sales representative for the Mars, Wrigley Jr. Company and later in the pharmaceutical industry.

A devoted and loving mother and grandmother, Rita’s greatest joy was her family. She is survived by her three children: Wendy Sabino and her husband Justin; Craig Temes; and Bart Temes. She was a cherished grandmother to Alexa and Arianna Sabino; Tiffany and Craig Temes; and Jenelle Temes, all of whom brought her immense pride and happiness. she also has family in Pennsylvania.

Rita had a passion for gardening and decorating, and her favorite pastime was shopping. Rita was an awesome cook and even a better baker . She was constantly making home cooked meals for everyone. She baked for every holiday and on weekends making her signature Hungarian desserts. She enjoyed reading, which was one of her favorite pastime hobbies -especially if it was a good mystery novel. Above all else, spending time with her family and grandchildren brought her the greatest excitement and joy. She especially loved family vacations to the Jersey Shore, which held a special place in her heart and created memories that will be treasured forever.

The family will receive friends on Monday, January 12th, from 4:00 to 8:00 p.m. at Vander May Funeral Home, Ratzer Road, Wayne, New Jersey. A funeral service will be held at 5 PM, at the funeral home, during the visiting hours. Cemetery services will be private.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Rita’s memory to the Wayne Memorial First Aid Squad, PO Box 2004, Wayne, NJ 07474, whose compassion and dedication were always there to help her.

Rita will be remembered for her warmth, devotion, kindness and the deep love she shared with her family. She was truly a one -of -a -kind person with such grace and elegance. She will be greatly missed by all who knew and loved her.

I’ve been listening to the Harry Dresden books for the last several years. The Latest, Twelve Months, just came out. Would you join me in a book club reading? That’s us reading a bit and talking a bit about the book.

When I first notice gopher holes, I get a rake and smooth them over. The next day, I go out and look for new, fresh holes. I use the gopherhawk probe (just a 2′ long metal stick) to find the tunnel under the ground; I stick the probe into the ground looking for it being really easy to push through. When I’ve found it, I use the wedge tool to open the hole a bit, stick the trap into the ground, arm it, and walk away.

If I don’t catch the gopher in a day, I start the process anew.

There’s a zillion videos of the Gopherhawk in action online. Here’s one.

Saturday, we went out to Abigail’s choice, Gran Milan Cafe in Richmond for breakfast. It is astounding how terrific their food is!

Then we went indoor skydiving with her friend, Q. Megan and I flew too and it was EPIC!
We made it to Habit Burger before chillaxing the night away, dreaming of flight.

Sunday we hosted 8 of her friends at Urban Air in Concord, where they had giant indoor ziplines, lasertag, obstacle courses, towering climbing structures, and trampolines! Instead of cake, we had an amazing selection of primo cupcakes from Cupcakin’.

After the ziplines, pizza and flashing lights, we chilled at home for a few hours, waiting for 3 friends to come over for a sleepover party! There was caramel popcorn popping, a Bluey mini-marathon, and a wedding in the hot tub! The party-goers had fun late into the night. The next morning, there were pancakes, sausages, and Wii Sports Resort. As the overnighters left, Abigail’s long time friend L arrived and they played Minecraft on a local server for a while, building a beautiful house in the mountains.

It was a great party weekend for our now-11-year-old!

A few weeks ago we went to a model rocket launching event called LUNAR with 4-H.

Our whole family had a fantastic time at the LUNAR launch! Seeing all the different types of big rockets was a blast. And launching our own smaller rockets (with giant-er engines than in El Cerrito!) was a thrill! The people were all nice and there was good a mix of old and young people. Definitely recommended.
Just the drive there was enjoyable: certainly more country than we’ve seen in a while. And stopping to see the “Really Good Jerkey” guy was fun.

If you’re going, remember that it can be cold so bring layers and BYO lunch.
The Hobby Lobby in Stockton was about 10 minutes off our route and had rocket engines, and getting lunch at the Togo Sandwich Shop was good.

I just got back from the best dentist appointment. (never thought I’d say THAT!)

My new hygienist, Bianca at Dentists of El Cerrito, was great.
First, she was nice.
She did a cleaning and…. it… didn’t… hurt! What????
I noticed that the ultrasonic tool she used sounded different… a bit quieter than I’ve heard/felt in the past. I asked her after the treatment and she talked about how some people turn the machine up or down and press harder or less. Well, whatever she did, I’m happy!

There were a few moments of zinging nerve pain, about a “6” on the pain-o-meter, but other than that, the pain level was all 1-3 on a scale from 1-10!

Of course, I popped 3 ibuprofen before the appointment, as normal. (call it a pro-tip?)

But the best part was that she said, “You don’t have to come back in 4 months. I want to see you in 6 months.” What?! It’s a good teeth day!

My brushing regimen:

• Brushing about 10 times a week
• Flossing about 5 times a week (I use a floss holder and almost never change the floss, I just wipe it on my tongue)
• Water pik about 5 times a week (set to 9 out of 10. Watching the food gunk fall out of my mouth is so revealing)
• High fluoride toothpaste about 2 times a week (my dentist said “why do you want that?” I said “’cause it can’t hurt”

My last hygienist, Sheena, was good too. But this visit was the most painless eva’. Before that, I went to a dentist where the hygenist used a different power tool and a lot more manual scraping and it hurt A LOT. I’d track the pain as a constant 5-6 with a few spectacular 7’s and 8’s. After I asked a bit, they gave me a lidocaine gel. That helped, bringing the pain down to 3’s and 4’s. They also tried giving me Cyclorinse but that didn’t help the pain at all.

I’ve got some gingival pockets from not flossing until I was about 30 years old. So I’ve been kind of obsessed with having not-that-bad teeth.

Tonight Megan and I had a really fun game night!
While Abigail played Minecraft all night, building fantastic worlds, we played Rummy 500 and Scrabble!

Yesterday we worked on the most enjoyable cluster puzzle with 300 Kawaii Creatures. The most fun was us having to identify the creatures to one another across the table, “I’m looking for a yellow teddy-bat about to hug.” “Oo! Here it is! heheh!”

And the other day, the three of us had rousing games of Sleeping Queens and Hive!

Screenshot

I just called the service desk at my local Honda dealership to schedule regular service on my car. I got an AI attendant from start to finish. It freaked me out.

It got the job done but every bit of the call screamed “The robots in the uncanny valley are coming to kill you!!”

It had fake call-center noise in the background, “she” was unfathomably cheery, and she got things wrong in the same way that descriptions of products on Amazon are wrong but right.

I didn’t like it.

I welcome you call call Skynet Honda Service Desk at 510-804-2348

Calvin Trampleasure was a teacher in the local school district and at Madera Elementary School for a very long time. He passed away in 2022 from cancer. I never met him but gained something by reading his autobiographical blog here

A mural was painted in his honor on the upper yard at Madera.