It's a restaurant. Mary Alice and Montgomery ate there and liked it. I have eaten there before. It is right next to Trader Joe's where we buy our two-buck Chuck wines and other delicacies when we're passing by Santa Rosa. Since it was about a good city block from the Motel 6 where I was staying, I decided on it for dinner. Service was abysmal. I was fairly quickly seated, and ordered a good glass of red wine. Nice start. It was all downhill from there. Once in Mazotti's I got seated at a table out of the line of sight of the waiters, and it took about 1/2 hour to get an order in. This time at PV I was right in the main room, and there were waiters bustling about. A large table of 8 or 10 was nearby celebrating a birthday and everyone sang for them, then they did something that involved the waitress banging each glass on the table twice as she served each person a drink. Very colorful. The mariachis were all standing around outside the front door and never came in - a small mercy. I read the Chronicle for a while. Got through the first section. Nothing. Got into the B part, which is shorter and duller if you don't live in SF. Finally someone took my order. I ordered pork loin. Finished the B part, Food section, Home section (these are quick for me) glaced at the Volvos in the class ads, then Datebook. At last the order came. The pork loin was tough. Food was tasty but the meat was tough and it shouldn't be. The Dos Equis was the green bottle, not the amber. When I was done I became more aggressive. I know about the squeaky wheel and all that, but I don't go to restaurants to exercise my kill or be killed skills. I'm buying food and I want reasonable service. I did manage to get someone to bring the bill eventually. Without thinking I tipped 20%. Not what I intended. I wish I had gone with several friends and we had a lot to catch up on, then I wouldn't have noticed the slow service. But I didn't, and I'm unlikely to go back again.

Until recently I had a very long ethernet cable in my computer carrier. Its gone missing, and in Fairfield I had to borrow one from the front desk of the motel. In Santa Rosa I'm using a modem connetion via the phone cord and a dedicated wall plug. I'm also getting a lot of involuntary disconnects.I used to carry a fairly elaborate modem kit which allowed a variety of hookups, but my main motel went wireless and the kit scattered. Almost everywhere I go is wireless these days.

Speaking of which, the 2nd floor of the Humboldt County courthouse is wireless, but its pay to play. The law library, 2 floors down, is not wireless. Does this make sense? The Mendocino Courthouse does not seem to be wireless at all. I can hardly wait for universal wirelessness. I understand the town of Rio Dell is going wireless - if that small town can do it, surely the larger cities can.

I've stayed in 5-star hotels in exotic capitals, but when it comes to road trips as a lawyer there is no substitute for location. When I have a case in Santa Rosa the location is anywhere within walking distance of the Sonoma County Courthouse, and the ideal space is filled by the Motel 6 at Bicentenial Ave's overpass of US 101. I always stay here when I'm going to morning court in Santa Rosa, and for some reason the only court time I seem to get here is morning.

Its luxury lite. I have a bathtub at the Motel 6, which the Economy Inn in Ukiah does not offer, and I have internet service - but it is dial up. I have to disconnect the phone to get a cord to use the dedicated wall plug for the internet, but as the song goes, I'm surfing just the same. (Well, it goes something like that, it was written in the early 20th century). Otherwise the room here has a bed, a table, a desk, bathroom, sink, rack to hang clothes - the works. Well, no holder to set the suitcase on, and no icebox or microwave. I never use those appliances, or even the TV, which there is one of, so its ok with me.

I'm paying $50 a night here, with all the taxes added in, because I booked the room on the internet - while drinking a tea at Schatt's in Ukiah late this morning. Saved five bucks. Which paid for my Starbucks drive-thru Chai Latte with Vanilla that I got when I took the wrong turn in Ukiah. Think of it. It wasn't long ago that I'd never been to a Starbucks. Now I'm using the drive-thru. Man is the great adapter.

PS Blogstream's spellcheck is unaware of "internet" and "ok" as valid English words