Old Neighborhood, Old Friends

Was surprised to find out that Justin was in town, and we made some last minute plans to hang out after work. We were going to meet Howard for dinner near his place (on Division), and decided to grab a drink at Rainbo.

We geeked out a while, talking tech and swapping stories about our respective jobs. Justin is a fully remote worker (digital nomad, if you want to use the fancy name) and it’s always interesting to hear about the affordances and constraints of that lifestyle. With my team at work, we’re somewhat distributed, and it still catches me by surprise how commonplace (and easy) this has become.

After an hour or so, Howard joined us and we hung out for another drink – catching up about our jobs and lives, and talking a bit about the old neighborhood. I passed a Target on my way down Division, which was very new to me. I heard that Happy Village might not be long for this world.

I was remembering Rob’s old studio space, which was located above the Miller Lumber store (which sadly is no more).

Digging through some old blog archives now, as I’m writing this. I found an old post with the three of us hanging out at Rainbo, circa 2005. Back in the day.

Per Howard’s recommendation, we went over to Sushi Taku, an all-you-can-eat sushi place. I was a little skeptical, but was thinking “well, at least we’re not going on a Monday.”

Interesting side note: this place was right across the street from Liz’s old apartment.

The interesting thing about the setup here: you can buy things individually, or pay about $25 for the “all you can eat” approach. With the second option, you can order as much as you want and as many times as you want.

The catch: you are charged, per piece, for anything you don’t consume. Which I thought was a pretty savvy move. For each piece left over, it was $0.50 or $1.00. I’m remembering now a saying that Bob used to hear, when he was a kid: “Take all you want, but eat all you take.”

The sushi was… good. I’m no expert, but I could tell some of the pieces were less than stellar. I don’t get sushi all that often (Liz is not a fan), so whenever I do it does feel like a treat.

Collectively, I think we put away maybe 100 pieces. And several bowls of miso soup. We were pushing things a little near the end, as the third round of food took a while before it arrived. What I wish I would have photographed, though, was the table behind us. It was a group of young students, and the server brought over this literal boat of sushi. And then later, came by with a ton of salmon (easily 30 pieces), resting on a plate the size of a large cutting board.

Post dinner, we said our goodbyes and I caught a Lyft home. It’s been a fairly hectic week, so it was nice to be able to squeeze in a quick visit.

Related:
Revisiting Ukranian Village with Justin
An Evening Along Damen Avenue with Justin