Elena's birhday, The Last Chance Saloon.

Elena came home on the afternoon of her birthday. She stayed with Matt until late, so her birthday celebration was moved to Saturday. ChoCho San was booked so we moved to the Japanese restaurant in the Palisades Center, Little Buddha.

We were a group of eight, so we didn’t share a table with anyone else. Matt and Elena, Nastia and Sean, Nancy, Teri, my mother and myself rounded out the group. I sat next to my mom and we talked about the last time she was here and she didn’t remember. At 89, I worry it’s the start of something, but she is also 89 and at 89 I’ll be dead twenty years most likely, so don't worry.

One of the chefs walks by our table and recognizes Nastia. It seems there is not a place on God's green earth where we can go that someone doesn't remember Nastia and stops to say hello.

At the Last Chance Saloon, the bartender comes around the bar to give her a big hug. At the pizza parlor down the street from the bar, a woman comes from behind the counter to give her a big hug. There seems to be not a person who has met her that doesn’t love her.

She tells the chef, “Remember I only like broccoli.” and he asks a waitress to get extra broccoli. We wait for the chef to appear. Because we wait longer than normal, management gives us free sake. I finish my beer and experience sake. I’ve experienced sake before, you know when the chef squirts a spray of it in your month.I guess that just barely qualifies. They warm it to almost a tea temperature and that is an odd experience for me. The outside of the small carafe is so hot, you either wait for it to cool or pour it quickly. I poured it quickly.

The menu is the same in every place, the jokes are slightly different. It is fun evening. Everyone is told to order what they wanted and they do. Some order steak, others order salmon and some order a combination. I have chicken and steak, it is very good. After dinner, the girls, Matt and Sean, are going to the Last Chance Saloon. They invited me. I wander down a little later, after they have left. I play a couple games of pool. I buy some alcohol for the girls and myself. Around 11:30 it began to rain and everyone walked from the house. Sean and Nastia head out just after it stops. Elena and I finish our game of pool, then head out. Her and I have to wait for a train to finish before we can head up the hill to the house. She is feeling no pain and I took a couple of videos of her. I have offered to not publish them if she pays me cash. If you want to counter the offer, please enclose a self addressed stamped envelope. Yeah, I know it’s a joke from a former post, but classics don’t die. Plus all of those millennials, I love to watch them scratch their heads, look confused and then ask what a stamp is and how do you get one to attach to an email. Life is just too short to not have this much fun.