March 26 – Sunday

7p Channing Club. See April 23. (RSE 4 Su)

27 – Monday

6p Online Board Games. See April 17.

29 – Wednesday

6p Genius of Birds Book Discussion. Join us for a discussion of The Genius of Birds by Jennifer Ackerman one chapter at a time. This week we’re reading Chapter 5, Four Hundred Tongues: Vocal Virtuosity. This is a Zoom event. The login details are listed on Meetup. Hosted by Pia Smith. PC (RSE W)

April 1 – Saturday

10a Rooftop Helipad Vacuum Bag Bingo at SFRM Plaza, 98 Bolondok Napja Parkway, San Jose. At one time or another we’ve all heard that clunk while vacuuming and wondered if it was one of those spilled cashews, fumbled watch battery, COVID19 nasal swab, missing tiara-ruby or that long-lost Krugerrand. Let’s have fun finding out! Bring your vacuum cleaner bag to SFRM’s third annual Vacuum Bag Bingo. One at a time, we’ll take an object from our bag and see if anyone has the same object. Each match earns one point. Because of prior dust complaints, we’ve reserved SFRM Plaza’s rooftop helipad for our exclusive use until 1 PM. Winner gets use of the LocSec Cabana at our indoor pool for a month and a photo spread of their matched objects in the May Intelligencer. Note: all vacuum bags MUST BE CONTAINED until we reach the rooftop. Because of their larger size, shop-vac contents must be played as three individual bags, and have no toxic contents; sawdust is OK. RSVPs are optional. Information: Gary Koerzendorfer, vcbag/a/t/dslextreme.com, (303) 499-7111, if you have questions about the time. PC, NMPCW, NS, FE

6p Start the Month Right. At Elna and Adrian Tymes’ home in Mountain View. Come celebrate the 43rd year and longest running monthly social event in all of American Mensa (at Elna’s home every month since 1981)! Potluck dinner, unstructured socializing, games, and talk. We provide the main dish; you bring salad, bread, or dessert to share and YOB. $1 donation requested. No reservations needed. Info (650) 969-6650. Guests of Mensans must be accompanied by the member. Masks optional. PC, SO, WBC, WCD, C/D (RSE 1 Sat)

6p In-Person Teton Tea. In addition to the existing Zoom Teton Tea Party we will begin having an in-person Teton Tea on the first Saturday of each month, from 6p to 9p, starting April 1 (a planned March Tea was rained out). We are meeting at the Berkeley home of Annie Hallatt, phone (510) 548-8252. She writes: “Enter on the east side of the house, into the backyard. I will have a bonfire in the brick fireplace and chairs to sit around and sing. We can also go inside of Annie’s Hall if the weather gets wet or windy. We will have Teton Tea (wine, tea, raspberries, lemons, and sugar, served hot) and would love you to bring treats to share. I also have a wood stove to keep the space warm if we need it. I will put a sign out to let you know you have arrived at the house. I have a piano if someone wants to play it. I look forward to sharing our songs. Bring songs and music to share.” Please be fully vaxxed and boosted and bring a mask for when we’re not eating or singing. Hosted by Kevin Langdon. PC (RSE 1 Sa)

2 – Sunday

4p Albany Hill Hike. Join us for a one-hour scenic and historic hike up and around Albany Hill. The trail is steep in spots, but the views are expansive. Special bonus: We have scheduled the Sather Tower Solar Beacon to shine directly upon us as we arrive at the top of the hill. Meet under Pacific East Mall Jumbotron just behind the bus stop on the east side of Pierce St. between Central Ave. in El Cerrito and Washington Ave. in Albany. Free parking is available in the mall lot, which is seven tenths of a mile from the El Cerrito Plaza BART station. Please contact Roberta Maguire to make sure she is in town at robertamaguire/a/t/hotmail.com or (510) 292-6370. PC, ACW, NMPCW, NS, WCI, NXM (RSE 1 Su)

4 – Tuesday

5p Tuesday Tipplers will meet at San Rafael Joe’s, 931 4th St., San Rafael 94901, at 5p for drinks in the bar and then move on to dinner in the dining room after an hour. Park on the street or in the city garage behind the restaurant. If you have questions e-mail Ed Sabrack at edsabrack/a/t/comcast.net or call (415) 472-3725. PC (RSE 1 Tu)

Intelligencer Deadline. Deadline for calendar events, advertising, members’ free ads, and all other content. See above for information on submitting events. PC (RSE Tu after 1 Sa)

5 – Wednesday

6p Genius of Birds Book Discussion. Join us for a discussion of The Genius of Birds by Jennifer Ackerman one chapter at a time. This week we’re reading Chapter 6, The Bird Artist: Aesthetic Aptitude. This is a Zoom event. The login details are listed on Meetup. Hosted by Pia Smith. PC (RSE W)

8 – Saturday

1:30p Robotics Competition at San Jose State Event Center, 290 S. 7th St., San Jose 95112. Sixty high schools bring their robot to compete at the Silicon Valley FIRST Robotics Regional Competition, including teams from Australia, Canada, Mexico, and Taipei. 57 Kg (125 Lb.) student-designed, built, wired, and programmed robots compete in two “Alliances” of three robots each; teams that are alliance partners in one match will be opponents in others. Robots score cones or cubes in goals, and extra points by balancing robot(s) on a tilting platform. See a game animation at www.youtube.com/watch?v=0zpflsYc4PA. Robots operate autonomously at the beginning of each match. Mensan Gary Koerzendorfer mentors team 2643 “Dark Matter” from Santa Teresa HS in San Jose. Matches run 12n to 6:30p Thursday April 6, 9a to 5:45p Friday, and 9a to 4p Saturday, with playoff and final matches Saturday at 1:30p. Admission is free and masks are encouraged. PC, NS, NXM

4p Big Ideas Reading Group: A Series of Fortunate Events: Chance and the Making of the Planet, Life, and You by Sean B. Carroll (the biologist, not the physicist Carroll). On Zoom. A Series of Fortunate Events tells the story of the awesome power of chance and how it is the surprising source of all the beauty and diversity in the living world. It is shocking just how many things – any of which might never have occurred – had to happen in certain ways for any of us to exist. We are all here through an astonishing series of fortunate events. And chance continues to reign every day over the razor-thin line between our life and death. For May 13 on Zoom: Existential Physics: A Scientist’s Guide to Life’s Biggest Questions by Sabine Hossenfelder. We have a list of books read at www.bigideasreadinggroup.com/BIRG2.html. For questions and invitations to our Zoom meetings please contact Chris Boyd at snoboyd/a/t/sbcglobal.net. PC, NMPCW, NXM (RSE 2 Sa)

10 – Monday

4p San Francisco Pub Get-Together. Stop by after work or, if you don’t work downtown, just come anyway. All Mensans and their guests are welcome, provided that they are at least 21, at Patriot House in 2 Embarcadero Center (Sacramento St. between Front St. and Davis St.), SF 94111. Take the inside escalator to the 2nd floor, turn right twice, and then follow the sign to the stairs to the 3rd floor. The restaurant’s entrance is near the top of those stairs on the 3rd floor. Look for the Mensa logo on our table or ask one of the waitresses to find us. Starting at 4p, but arrive when you can and leave when you’re ready. We will be there for several hours. They have a Happy Hour from 4p until 6p, with the kitchen closing at 9p and the bar closing at 10p. RSVP preferred on Mensa’s Meetup site at www.meetup.com/SFMensa, less preferred by e-mail to Barry Krasner at bwkbwk/a/t/pacbell.net. If you find that you can’t come after RSVPing “Yes”, please change your RSVP to “No” before the event takes place. PC, NC, NS, NMPCW (RSE 2 M)

11 – Tuesday

6:45p Puzzled Pint. Who likes PUZZLES? The kind where part of the game is to figure out what you need to be doing in the first place? Want to do it as part of a team, so you can bounce ideas off each other, and let someone else do the parts that you find uninteresting? This is a monthly event held in the Bay Area (and simultaneously elsewhere in the world), at a convenient pub where we might order food and drink before or during the game. RSVP to Karl Heuer at puzzles/a/t/sfmensa.org or (650) 648-3594 (voice or text) to reserve your spot and learn the address; it’s almost always either Sunnyvale or Mountain View, near Central Expressway. PC, NMPCW, NS, NXM (RSE 2 Tu)

12 – Wednesday

6p Genius of Birds Book Discussion. Join us for a discussion of The Genius of Birds by Jennifer Ackerman one chapter at a time. This week we’re reading Chapter 7, A Mapping Mind: Spatial (and Temporal) Ingenuity. This is a Zoom event. The login details are listed on Meetup. Hosted by Pia Smith. PC (RSE W)

13 – Thursday

11:45a South Bay Lunch. Meet at Scrambl’z, 5055 Almaden Expressway, San Jose 95118 (near Hwys. 85 & 87), (408) 269-2900. Voted one of the best breakfast restaurants around. Extensive menu online at www.scramblzalmaden.com. Sandra Anderson, (408) 997-3187. Vaccinated only, please. PC, NMPCW, WCE (RSE 2,4 Th)

Thursday Munchers is cancelled for April. PC (RSE Th after 2 Tu)

14 – Friday

6:30p Palo Alto Dining at The Fish Market. Located at 3150 El Camino Real, Palo Alto 94306 (across from Portage Ave.), our restaurant this month serves … wait for it … fish. Join us for good food and good conversation. To reserve, contact Susan Heimlich at susan.heimlich/a/t/gmail.com or call/text (650) 714-4972 by Wednesday, April 12. Be sure to get a confirmation. Please bring cash. Please notice start time of 6:30p, as the restaurant closes at 8p. For last minute changes, call (650) 714-4972. Vaccinated people only. PC, NMPCW

15 – Saturday

7p Teton Tea. Teton Tea Parties are folk-singing parties going back to the 1950s. We welcome both traditional folk singing and singer/songwriters. Our 3rd Saturday meetings are currently on Zoom. Join the Zoom meeting: us02web.zoom.us/j/6912937135?pwd=WVlpMEs1SCs0c1FoZk5seUhoREVaZz09. Meeting ID: 691 293 7135. Password: berkeley. Hosted by Kevin Langdon, kevinlangdon86/a/t/yahoo.com. PC (RSE 3 Sa)

17 — Monday

6p Online Board Games. Come explore some board games that can be played on the Web. If you’re new, please create a (free) account at boardgamearena.com and follow the setup instructions. We’ll meet online with Zoom to establish voice contact, and then we’ll decide on a game to try out. RSVP on the Meetup calendar if possible, otherwise contact Karl Heuer at puzzles/a/t/sfmensa.org or (650) 648-3594. PC, NMPCW, ACW

19 – Wednesday

5:30p Re-BORG. Berkeley-Oakland Restaurant Group is reborn and revived in honor of the incomparable Cathy Roha, who initiated this event and hosted it for many years. Assimilate delicious food and interesting conversation at a good restaurant somewhere in the central East Bay. Bring cash, your vaccination card, and a mask. Limited seating. E-mail or call ahead for location up to a week ahead. RSVP by 3p on Tuesday, April 18. Roberta Maguire, robertamaguire/a/t/hotmail.com, (510) 292-6370. PC, NS, NMPCW, ACW (RSE 3 W)

6p Genius of Birds Book Discussion. Join us for a discussion of The Genius of Birds by Jennifer Ackerman one chapter at a time. This week we’re reading Chapter 8, Sparrowville: Adaptive Genius. This is a Zoom event. The login details are listed on Meetup. Hosted by Pia Smith. PC (RSE W)

23 – Sunday

7p Channing Club is a wide-ranging discussion group which has been meeting, in one form or another, for over half a century. There are no assigned topics; we discuss whatever is on participants’ minds. Our meetings are currently on Zoom. Join the Zoom meeting: us02web.zoom.us/j/6912937135?pwd=WVlpMEs1SCs0c1FoZk5seUhoREVaZz09. Meeting ID: 691 293 7135. Password: berkeley. Hosted by Kevin Langdon, kevinlangdon86/a/t/yahoo.com. PC (RSE 4 Su)

27 – Thursday

11:45a South Bay Lunch. See April 13. (RSE 2,4 Th)

28 – Friday

6:30p Virtual Happy Hour. Mix up your favorite beverage. Bring out some happy-hour munchies and join us for a virtual relaxing time. RSVP on Meetup for the Zoom Link. Hosted by Judy Unger, junger2040/a/t/gmail.com. PC (RSE 4 F)

29 – Saturday

6p Online Board Games. See April 17.

May 2 – Tuesday

5p Tuesday Tipplers. See April 4. (RSE 1 Tu)

6 – Saturday

6p Start The Month Right. See April 1. (RSE 1 Sa)

6p In-Person Teton Tea. See April 1. (RSE 1 Sa)