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Monday 10 August 1998
	Well! My sister Felicia got married to Adam at The Sea Ranch, just south of Mendicino, California. They're now honeymooning in Kaua'i, staying on the south shore. I hope they have good weather. Rose and I are getting ready to move; dealing the tradespeople is taking up much of our time (although I'm making the time to putter in the new gardens). And of course I'm cleaning up the hard drive: notes about Ancient (Web) History (which leads to the mothballed Digital Jungle EShop), snippets about the Haight-Ashbury (and my place on Waller Street), and Pesach in "New Jersey" have been added.
Wednesday 29 July 1998
	Well, it's about time! I finally uploaded all the images for a trip to Kaua'i that I took in May 1996. Stops include Princeville, Hanalei, Anahola, Kapa'a, Hanamaulu, Lihu'e, and Koloa, a helicopter ride, a lu'au, a trip to the fern grotto, and collected panoramae. The text will follow.
Thursday 23 July 1998
	I've heard that some folks are having a hard time finding exactly what they want, things they remember having seen here. Well, check out the new machine-generated Site Map outline. It'll take a few seconds to load all that text. [Update: On each page you'll find a search box, a faster alternative to the site map.] Tweaks to my About Michael 'Mickey' Sattler's Web Site page. Collected some notes about the West Portal neighborhood, home of the Old Krakow restaurant.
Wednesday 22 July 1998
	Ahhhh, finally. Late yesterday we heard the bank had funded our loan. At 0940 this morning the title company called to say the deed had been recorded. We're now the owners of our first home. Where did we go to celebrate? Caffé Luna Piena (the Full Moon Café) in the Castro. The staff celebrated with us. You can't beat the food, the beautiful patio garden, the overhead heat lamps, or 'Ziggy', their feline mascot. Just another reason we like this neighborhood.
Tuesday 21 July 1998
	It's been about three weeks since the seller agreed to sell us the cottage. A week later I asked whether we could speed up the closing period, which we evidently did (with some planning and a bit of luck). We signed the documents yesterday. While I'm waiting to hear whether the bank has funded our home loan I've revamped the Digital Jungle: Home pages.
Thurs 16 July 1998
	Good news! We're going to be parents! Here's a first look at our progeny. Don't ask why the little rugrat-to-be is giving the "Power to the People" raised fist salute. It's good to see that he (or she, we asked not to be told) is already showing awareness of the problems and the desire to work for change. (I've superimposed an outline of the baby's features based upon the physician's description - otherwise it's near to impossible to grok the image.) It's been a long couple of weeks since I've updated this site. I don't believe how fast time flies when I'm doing home-buying and baby-learning stuff in parallel.
Thurs 1 July 1998
	I've started a weblet about our neighborhood, the Castro. I started with Ma Tante Sumi, where the city's best crème brûlée may be found.
Mon 29 June 1998
	We got it, a cottage from the year 1900! We wound up competing with another bid that slipped in just under the wire, convinced the owner that we wouldn't trash the place (the other party wanted to plop a garage on what's now a beautiful front garden), and had our mortgage broker turn around on Friday afternoon to re-fax our bone fides. Less than twenty-four hours later (but what an emotional roller coaster!) we found out our counter-offer had been accepted. This is the second year running that the Gay Pride Parade has seen us celebrating. A year ago we'd just picked out the setting for Rose's engagement ring. Then we walked to Market Street and joined the parade. This year it was colder and overcast, but our enthusiasm wasn't dampened in the least.
Wed 24 June 1998
	Hunting for a house - nay, a home - in San Francisco is a strange and twisted experience. Prices are high, offerings are by and large unimpressive boxy rabbit cages, and speculators are buying what little is left of San Francisco's history and tearing it down to slap up more condominiums, none of which show even a bit of soul. There are many choices in fringe neighborhoods, but I want something safe, where my wife can stoll about without fear about her safety. Something near a hip neighborhood, where we can indulge in the city sensibilities we so love. The Castro has been good to us. In our travels around the Bay Area, and even in some areas of San Francisco, we've felt on vacation, but not at home. Tom Wolfe, in his forthcoming novel "A Man in Full", said it well: One those magical summer evenings in San Francisco when the fog rolls in from the Pacific Ocean and people emerge from the hotels on Nob Hill and go for brave walks down the staggeringly steep slopes of Powell Street and shiver deliciously in the chilly air and listen to the happy clapper clamor of the cable cars and the mournful foghorns of the freights heading out to sea, and all at once life is a lovely little operetta from the year 1910 - at that moment, likely as not, barely five miles to the east, a brutal sun has been roasting Costra Costa county for 13 or 14 hours. We put in an offer on a cottage, built in 1900, overlooking the Castro. It's tiny, but in a good location, and it has possibilites, what with front and rear gardens. Wish us luck.