Watchman and Priest

No, not the superheroes from the excellent graphic novel. I know many of you assume that with my stunning good looks, glasses, and "mild-manneredness" coupled with the fact that I work a metropolitan newspaper by day means that I've got a secret identity, but at this point I can neither confirm nor deny these rumors. Today's post is about another adventure into the city I love, San Francisco.

I called a nearby jewelry store to see about getting a watch battery replaced and while they did not offer this service themselves, they gladly suggested I call Jewelry by Stephen, another local jeweler. I did so and left a message a couple of days ago. Stephen himself called me back the next day and when I asked about battery replacement, he said that is shouldn't be a problem. He gave me directions to his store which is on the 7th floor of the Phelan Building on Market St. I made it there and a doorman at a hotel nearby led me to the right place. I went up in the elevator and was met with loads of doors. Stephen was in suite 747 ("like the jet"he slyly told me on the phone) and I found him sitting inside through the glass of his door with the window open and some salsa music blaring. He's an older Jewish man so I'm not sure why that was his music of choice but to each his own, right? The window was open I imagine so he could smoke in there as it smelled like he had just finished one when I came in. I go in, he looks at my watch and tells me how nice it is and that Pulsars have an excellent movements. Stephen was a super nice guy, but he proceeds to show me his stock of jewelry that he makes which is the focus of his business. I'm not sure if he doesn't do watch battery replacement or if he didn't have a battery for my particular model, but it seems like the former. The office was really small and there was one glass case with all of his wares which looked really nice. He said he cuts the stones, makes the gold and everything and that I should keep him in mind if I needed something "for a special girl, or for myself". Basically I think he just wanted to have me come to his office on the off chance I might be talked into a purchase. So he then tells me that there's a watch maker he uses and that they would be able to swap the battery out for me while I waited. He gave me directions (I passed the place on the way to him) to Seregin's Fine Timepieces which was in a shop with five vendors within, all jewelry. They were able to swap it out for me in about 10 minutes and it only cost me $14. It was interesting to see the office on the 7th floor, but it was really just a waste of my time. I have a feeling that Stephen usually just accepts the watch and then shops the repair out to Mr. Seregin but decided that I probably wouldn't want to wait (I'm speculating wildly here) and he was right.

I left there and was in the mood for Mexican so I went to a Del Taco I saw on the way there. I thought I'd never been there before and that it would be a new California experience. Plus Traci and I tried to find one the other night, but failed. When I walked in I realized I had indeed been to one before, with my nephew Jordan in Orlando by UCF. It was just ok. I actually think Taco Bell is better (except for their sour cream which I can't stand).

On my way back to the office, I was stopped by two guys I had seen a couple of times who were outside a Walgreen's "on dey grind, tryin' ta hustle dey CDs" to use the parlance. I am a big fan of hip-hop, and they caught me in an extremely good mood. It was Friday, I was in my favorite city on Earth, It was a nicely overcast, cool day, and my work day was half over. So I stopped and looked at one guy's CD and he said it was $10 and I just happened to have some cash for once and bought it. Then his friend came over and offered his CD for only $5 so I bought that one too. Now I have some official Bay Area underground hip hop from "Priest The U.G.K." and "Just Manish". Priest's CD is pretty good for local hip-hop but some of the tracks on the label for his home-burned CD were mislabeled. I fully intend to find him again and let him know that it's wrong, cuz I think will be an interesting conversation. I'l l be sure to report back when adn if that happens. I corrected them when importing to iTunes and uploaded the track names in case anyone else buys the disc and imports it. Just Mannish' track names were already up there. I haven't listened to his CD yet, but I am putting it on the iPod for my next trip to work!

Well I guess that's mission accomplished and I even made it back before my lunch hour was up so all in all a great day. Oh and I found the Game Stop which is closest to me and is in walking distance. Score!