Kengo

Kengo is a replacement to sadly closed Yoshi's, in the Van's ACE plaza. It employs the familar faces from Yoshi's days, but the conveyor belt is gone. I have to say, I hardly ever saw anyone picking a plate from the belt. It just wasn't a part of our culture in Tracy. Belt belongs to a faster paced life -- grab and go! The decor also aims at something akin to Bluefin, only without booths. No hanging kimonos either, just still life.

The katsudon at Kengo costs exactly the same $10.95 as Tonkatsu, so that trick no longer works. They serve it in a rather odd hybrid of a bowl and a plate, which is unusual. I thought donbury belonged into a true bowl, otherwise how it would be "over" rice, right? And my, was that thing salty.

Overall, a nice place... But I'll miss Yoshi's.

Thunder but no storm

There was a thunder cloud over my house this afternoon. It even drizzled a little. But it stayed above 100F all along.

Peace and love with J&M Transmissions

As I mentioned before, J&M is an independent transmission shop in Tracy which came with recommendations when I moved in. Unfortunately, one time they returned me the car with a leak from the pan interface. Since then I replaced the ATF myself and learned how difficult it was to secure the pan over the gasket leak-free. The trany case on Galant is aluminum and it's extremely easy to strip. Sweat was pouring from me all over when the torque wrench was reching the recommended limits. The torque felt way past reasonable for such flimsy bolts. So, this time I decided to come back.

Mr. Urtega handled me personally and I confessed to him in my sins, so to speak, and asked him to make sure it was done right. He has done so, and so far everything seems in good shape. Great!

I only forgot to ask if any shavings were in the pan, too late now.

Window replacement update

It turned out that I should have looked in the phonebook under the "Glass", not "Windows". Once there, things went smoother.

Pictured is Bill Simon of Simon Glass & Mirror, taking the necessary measurements.

Window replacement bleg

I need to replace a dual-pane window due to steaming (more like calcium deposits at this point though). As a complication, it's a design that is not produced anymore. I wish I could only replace one sash, but at this point I'll take any solution. Anyone has a reference to a contractor? Phonebook mostly lists people peddling solutions of their corporate masters.

Mr. Pickle

The advertisement worked! The person swinging the Mr. Pickle sign made me to visit the place, located in the small strip mall in front of Kaiser at Grant Line. In short, it's a sandwich place. Quite edible, although nothing distinctive. Its nearest competitor is probably Subway.

ExpressJet and SAC

I already mentioned here that Sacramento airport delivers a way better experience than the tree Bay Area airports. Flying with ExpressJet matches it perfectly. It's a company which avoids big hubs, and so does not fly into Bay Area at all. So much for the better. The seat spacing is a couple cm longer than even at ANA, to say nothing about United. And check-in lines are almost absent.

Cheesecake Factory

This is primarily a restaurant for metrosexuals, complete with confusing menu and extravagant plating. Expensive, too. There's nothing wrong with liking it though. It's a free country!
Our nearest location is at Stoneridge mall, and right next door to it is P.F. Chang.