Labor Day Weekend I spent Saturday here-Dolores Park in the Mission dist in SF. My friend Christine lives 2 blocks from the park. I'd never been to the Park. It has a fabulous view from the top of a hill. When we were there, there were a lot of people with dogs. So we were checking out all the dogs-big, little, hairy, hairless. Little dogs chasing big dogs... Anyway, it's a nice park and it was a nice, sunny day.

The Mission is a colorful district with great food. Esp if you love rich, spicy Mexican food. We actually went to a cute, little Spanish tapas bar for lunch. I forget the name but the spciy green beans were great. There's lots of murals on buildings which always reminds me of my old Latino neighborhood in Fresno. Also a lot like the Fruitvale district in Oakland. Funny story about Fruitvale...

I had to get a TB test done before I could start teaching at Assumption (the Catholic school with the 3rd graders). Everybody does before teaching anywhere. Since I don't have health insurance currently (but I can go to the SFSU health center during the school year) I had to find somewhere to have it done before the end of Aug. There are free clinics in Berkeley but I've been to those before and had felt like I was in an East German prison hospital. They're very dark inside with what looks like WWII era, dungeon torture equipment. It doesn't put one's mind at ease. So I found this place online, Quickhealth, in Fruitvale. It was in a Mexican pharmacy and right next to BART. Unlike the free clinics, it's well-lit, clean and modern. Fortunately, the personnel speak English. Drawback, no air conditioning... story of our lives this summer ;) Anyway, it was just like a pharmacy in a grocery store except they did basic medical tests, like TB. And it was only $29 for the uninsured masses...

Even though I work very close to 20 hrs a week (19.5) I don't get benefits at Assumption which really sucks. You get them at 20 hrs. I'm trying to see what I can do about it. The other thing that's going on is my Grandma fell again and broke her hip again. She's in the hospital and will have hip replacement on Monday (tomorrow). So please think of/pray for her and my Grandpa when you can.