Norman Didn’t Really Contribute

I noted that Norman didn’t really contribute to my getting up at 830.  I made breakfast with the last of the food and kicked him out of the house thinking that he would get lost but he didn’t because he was hungry.  I went back to making coffee and eventually found him.  I gave him a treat.

This is series chronicles my life at regular intervals. This Memo series is meant to be a retrospective of what I have written and experienced. In each of these posts I use my notes in conjunction with memory, mementos and souvenirs to create a snap shot of my life.

Big Bend

On this day I wrote that I my girlfriend Kathryn at the Mint and her friend Christina and other people.  She was singing when I came in and apparently had sung about five songs up to then.  Then she and I went to Visuvio.  Next day we went to breakfast and we set up for Thanksgiving and then left for my house.  We enjoyed coffee with dad, the Dallas game and Scrabble.  Mom took us to the beach for a walk.  Then we had drinks and started eating turkey and ham around 530.  My sister’s family showed up later.

Next morning we got up and drove across the bridge then and on our way to Big Bend.  When we got there Kathryn’s buddy Marina greeted us and we walked around her property.  We saw the well and the barn.  She has a yurt that she sleeps in.  We also looked at her gravity powered pumps and played with tomahawks.  She also has pigs and chickens and she had just slaughtered a piglet.  I remember we were up late that night.

Next morning we were up at 10 and after eating a country breakfast, Kathryn and I drove to the Koske river bridge and Big Bend.  Later we went for a walk in the forest.  We also shot guns and saw Marina’s new pump shelter.  Dinner consisted of soup and quiche.  It being a pig farm, there was a lot of ham in everything.  We drank whisky and talked for hours it seemed. 

We left on the last day with ham and cheese crepes and eggs in our stomachs.  We drove to Big Bend for coffee and took some photos of Shasta.  We made it to SF by 630 and ate and unpacked.  Later I dropped the give off with my mom at the Symphony hall and took transit to Kathryn’s house.

The next morning we had breakfast and Kathryn went to. I took transit to Peet’s at West Portal where I wrote this entry at around 1030 am.

This Memo series chronicles my life at regular intervals and is meant to be a retrospective of what I have written and experienced. In each of these posts I use my notes in conjunction with memory, mementos and souvenirs to create a snap shot of my life.

Talking About POCs

I wrote that the day before I had ridden my bike to Page Street and stopped traffic until some guy moved his car near Masonic.  Kathryn was at Park Chow when I got there.  We had pizza.  We then rode to the Knockout, where I did some drinking and she connected with her buddy Adam, who was the night’s DJ.  We took photos together—it’s in my notebook.

Kathryn and I had been talking about pedestrian over-crossings (POCs) so I asked her to come with me to Potrero Hill.  We stopped by Cancun for a look at the menu (they apparently have Nachos made with Jack).  We salmon-ed Precita to Folsom and then went to Hampshire and 18th to the POC there and went to Wild Oats at 17th.  We passed AT&T Park with our thanksgiving groceries on Embarcadero and climbed from the Hyatt to her place via Sansome and Jackson.  There I made her pesto and cleaned up the cat’s various messes.

This morning we found that Charlie was cleaning the rug Kathryn had tried to clean up.  We met Jaqueline and Charlie left with her.  I took the down comforter to the cleaners and said goodbye to Kathryn.  I spent an hour at Trieste with the paper and rode to Alta and Crossover Drive.  I spent the rest of the day trying to organize my room for Thanksgiving.

This is series chronicles my life at regular intervals. This Memo series is meant to be a retrospective of what I have written and experienced. In each of these posts I use my notes in conjunction with memory, mementos and souvenirs to create a snap shot of my life.

The Google Campus

I wrote that I had spaghetti with mom and dad on the previous Thursday night.  I then watched a bunch of videos of Archer and mom took a nap in the Living Room.  I got up the next day at 730 and did my normal morning routine and made my way to the bike by 930.  I felt I had left late.  As I rode up Pacheco I discovered that the business analyst job I had heard about had called but I passed it up.

I climbed to 22nd and had to cool down at Stern Grove.  I walked across 19th and then rode Junipero Serra to BART.  I took it easy and caught the next train to Milbrea.  There I was a little lost and eventually discovered that I had missed the last train and would have to wait an hour.  I was really angry and rode across El Camino to a coffee shop where I thought I could get wifi but that didn’t happen.

I went to the El Camino bus stop and discovered that the bus was only four times an hour.  I gave up then and waited the hour.  My problem is that with a buffer of one and a half hours I could only afford one hic-up before I didn’t make it on time.  The train came a few tweets later and I secured my bike for the trip to CA Avenue.

Once there I rode CA, Cowper and Loma Verde to the slough and then there is a freeway underpass that connects to the Intuit campus.  I thought I was lost but it was easy to find the Google Campus.  There I asked for the main building and then found the bike stands.  Throughout there were affluent young professionals everywhere.  There were variously Asian and Caucasian but it was a world cast.  A lot of them seemed like H1B Visas.

I found the main building and checked in with Dominique at the front desk.  I sat in the lobby and got on the Wi-fi.  I turned off my devices as Alejandro entered the room.  He was dressed in a down jacket vest and had plugs in his ears.  He was wearing glasses, a beard and had an easy but business like demeanor.  He wasn’t a typical businessman—big blue type.

I got some water from the kitchen with him and we went into a conference room.  He basically asked about my job experience.  I started with the San Bruno incident and stopped at my experience with Recology.  He seemed keen on my experiences up to then.  I told him why I loved Geography.  I told him the story about the AAA maps that pops brought me as a kid and how that taught me what scale meant.  I talked about going to the high mountains as a kid with my uncle.

I went over MAOP and we got into my experiences as a coordinator and essentially said a GIS analyst is a coordinator and an administrative assistant.  I sort of was just glossing over a lot of stuff and until I sat down to write up these notes I hadn’t really thought about whether the interview had gone very well.  For the last 20 minutes I think we just did a rehash of the conversation.  When I wrote this I felt like there was a lot of stuff conveyed but didn’t really remember.  I also wrote that I talk too much and that there were a lot about academics that I could have done without.

Alejandro said that geography was unrepresented in the area that Google was involved but not anymore.  He also felt that I was going to be doing rote work.  We ran out of time and finished the interview in the hallway.  I wanted to get to know him but never cared to try.  I returned to the bike and rode back to Intuit.

I saw a Google bike there and left mine to ride it.  I had some contractor on his own Google bike to photo me.  I called G Security to have the bikes picked up.  I went to the bay marsh and stood and caught my breath.  There I discovered I still had wifi so I looked at the front entrance to the building I was near and discovered it was a Google-like daycare or residence.  The building was fully a mile from the campus.

I continued riding the same route back to the Caltrain station.  I followed the power lines a little bit.  Later I went to California Street on the west side of the station.  I explored the coffee shops and Radio Shack.  I discovered that Kathryn’s TV is not compatible with iOS.  I then went to Painters but had to use the Wi-Fi from the Nuthouse across the street.  I then rode across El Camino and through Stanford University and then caught an express train.

In SF I went to the Dogpatch Saloon and had a Junipero Martini.  It is good.  I then rode through the SOMA to meet Kathryn at the Flying Pig at 15th and South Van Ness.  Megan from APBP and Mike H, Gordon H, Sue McNulty, Steph and Jessica K were all there.  I think I met people named Drew and Alex too.  Eventually I fell into a conversation with Kathryn’s boss Jay.  He wanted to find out who I was.  I talk too much.  It felt like an interview.

Kathryn and I rode to Hayes Valley crossing Market at Octavia.  Shaun said he would meet us.  I had forgotten my bag though and made the circuit to get it and back.  In the meantime Kathryn ranted on FB about bad drivers.  We were going to go to get sushi but had a beer at Momi Toby’s and Place Pigale.  Eventually we had pizza at Patxi’s.  We then had more beer at Place Pigale.

Kathryn and I then went to McAlester and market.  At the China Town Gate some Range Rover turned into a problem for us.  Kathryn was pissed.  I noted that that night came in fits and starts.  I had trouble sleeping.  In the morning we went to Stella and Kathryn cleaned her room while I wrote in my notebook at Savoy Tivoli listening to Mal Sharpe.

This is series chronicles my life at regular intervals. This Memo series is meant to be a retrospective of what I have written and experienced. In each of these posts I use my notes in conjunction with memory, mementos and souvenirs to create a snap shot of my life.

Jessica’s Wedding

I wrote that I had quit writing about my trip to Amador the day before because I was at the hospital for Kathryn’s appointment.  I had been relating my time at Jessica’s wedding.  We were sitting on the Forest and Christina’s front porch.  She had been complaining about being around some of the younger teenage guests because of their immature behavior.  We were talking to Annie’s son and her date Tobias.  Kathryn made the mistake of petting the barn cat in the corner.

Frank Gato and a few others came over then.  I think I went looking for beer.  Kathryn and I ended up interacting with Evan and his wife Carly.  I met Josh Evans then down on the flats.  I ended up seeing Amy T and she introduced me to her roommate Denise.  I maneuvered Kathryn down to the flats and found a seat for her and April.  Then Elizabeth, Christina and other ladies took seats in front of us.  I stood with Gibbles.

The ceremony began.  Kathryn had made mention later that Jess was accompanied by both Forrest and another man.  I found out that this was a good friend of her late father.  I was a bit overdressed in comparison to the groomsmen.  They had green collared Shirts on.  The bridesmaids, Annie, Faith, Tonia and Jess’s sister from Toledo were in purple.

When Jess came out she had a look of authority but immediately began to cry.  The ceremony was presided over by a couple.  The minister was from the church of the dude.  Jess’ vows included the phrase “you can’t tell me what to do.”

I got to interact with Jess, Tonia and Faith.  Faith’s grandma liked my outfit.  We took the first van out.  When we got to Fiddletown hall I hung out with Carly and Evan.  Frank and his buddy Art showed up and the hors d’oeuvres were wonderful.  We all sat at the same table almost at the back.  Kathryn and Frank got along.  We stood on the back porch a few times.  I finally met the mother of the bride and her half-brother.  I didn’t get to meet the half-sister until later in the evening but I didn’t remember her name.

The meal was halibut.  Eventually dancing started and I had quit drinking.  The bride and groom did their thing all night with the girls occupying the floor and Jeff at the door most of the night.  Eventually Kathryn and I were at April and Gibble’s table and I then said bye to everyone when the band stopped.  We saw a sheriff’s car outside so waited to leave.  I also saw a Two Rivers Employee with the cop.  We hung out with Amy T, Denise, Gibbles and April for a bit while we waited for the cop to leave.  The ride back to Amador City was uneventful.  We got to bed around 11.

I wrote that Jess’ wedding went well.  I felt that for once I not only wasn’t relying upon pre-existing relationships but standing on my own as an individual.  That night the ride home was easy and I think the night went alright.  I noted that Kathryn is the ideal companion.

I wrote that next morning we skipped breakfast at the Imperial and rushed to breakfast at Amy’s house.  The first thing they asked was how the wedding was.  We ate pancakes and talked about it.  We did a little bit of catch up and I got to know Harvey.  Lisa, who had been running returned and Kathryn, Milo and Ethan went on a walk with me.  We looked at the views, the gardens, the wicker thatched fences, the chickens and all the old architecture the previous owner of Ethans property had left behind.  Bear had left his Motorcycle at Ethan’s and as we were walking back to Amy’s Steve and his girlfriend, an ex-Marine at Columbia Community College, were coming in with the dog.

We said bye to everyone after playing a bit of music.  Amy told me Emily and Beck were getting married.  Kathryn said she wanted to see stuff so we stopped at a pumpkin patch in Sloughhouse.  Later we went to Ira’s house and had coffee.  He showed us around the house.  We then walked to the UC Bike Barn from downtown Davis and later had Czech food.

I noted that the ride to SF was easy and Kathryn was tired.  I dropped her off around 830 and was in bed at 10.  I wrote that the next day I finished organizing my stuff after breakfast at 1030 and by 130 I was editing my contacts.  However, I didn’t really care about the job search.  By 330 I had talked with mom about borrowing the car and went to the grocery store.  I drove then to the Halloween store to drop the tails and then parked on Scott to have falafel and write.  That was where I stopped writing the last entry.

I quit writing abruptly because Kathryn had finished with her doctor’s appointment and I had agreed to get her.  We drove to Hyde and California and she and I bought stuff at Trader Joes and the pet shop.  Then we went to her house.  I found parking and stayed for dinner.  I left after a little TV.  I found out that it was Charlie’s birthday the day before.  I got home around 930.

I had been concerned about the BART strike so I got up at 4 and left a little later and took a nap in the parking lot at Peet’s in Walnut Creek.  I sat and wrote in Peets until eight and then went to my old job for an interview.  I was there from around eight until 1030.  I gave them my application and sat in the conference room.  Brian introduced himself and we talked about my experience.  He said that my SQL experience was strong and wanted to know about my cartographic experience.  He was also interested in my communication skills.

I thought that it was sad that they didn’t even consider the fact that I had applied for a job in the Mission District.

Dave walked me around the facility and eventually I saw all the old faces.  I said bye after confirming with Dave that they had made no decision.  Justin and Brian are the unit for which they had considered me for in San Ramone.  I left at 930 and immediately Kathryn wanted to know how it had gone.  I told her I didn’t know yet but that I wasn’t broken hearted.  I went to Peet’s the Walnut Creek town center.

Later I wrote about my job search priorities.  I decided that looking through my emails is a good way to do my job search but that I also needed to look into my bibliographies as well.  I also wrote that they bibs are useful but also started to realize that having three was difficult to manage.  I decided that the master simply needs to be expanded and the annotated needed to be “reworked.”

I noted that Craigslist, Monster and Career Builder are important when it comes to the bibliographies.  I noted that these three items constituted my “search base” and while there are others I noted that they were the most recognizable.  I went on to note that there were several other bibliographic types: recruiters, companies, government agencies and entities.  I also noted that there were staffing agencies.  This brought me to the government exams.  I noted that to apply for a GIS job with the government I needed to take an exam.  I also noted then that I had an interview coming up in Burlingame.  I then went through my email job lists and the Craigslist feeds I built with Yahoo Pipes.  I only found the job for which I had just interviewed.  I then went through my short bibliography.  I skipped Craigslist, Monster and started to shorten Career Builder.  I noted that I was seeing an empirical analysis emerging.

Later I went upstairs to read and have a drink.  I wrote that I needed to rewrite the Career Builder item before I looked through the site.  I then noted that I would need to update Monster and Craigslist.  I then went through my sent emails list and a few other things and identified jobs that I had not recorded in my master bibliography.

This is series chronicles my life at regular intervals. This Memo series is meant to be a retrospective of what I have written and experienced. In each of these posts I use my notes in conjunction with memory, mementos and souvenirs to create a snap shot of my life.

A Lot of Vinyl

I wrote that the day before I went out for air and visited BofA and then WF.  I stopped at Yumma sandwich.  I hopped a 7 o’clock train to Lake Merritt.  I sat at a door with my bike in a cage and waited for Shaun and Kathryn.  After they showed up, Jessica, Kathryn’s coworker was there too.  We also saw Brendan, Ted, Gordon and a couple of others.  The ride went down Embarcadero to Park and entered Santa Clara to 8^th.  We went to some beach Crown Memorial.  We didn’t see Brendan or Ted.  It was Jessica, Shaun, Kathryn and I.  We found out later that Gordon left when we got lost on Otis.  We took that street all the way to Bay Fair Island.  Shaun got lost but later I noted that followed the ride back home and the rest of us caught a Fruitvale train.  Kathryn and I got off at Montgomery.  On the morning I wrote this I was up at 715 and cooked bacon and made an omelet.  At 11 Kathryn was doing work on Polk.  I rode home.  I met my neighbor who had a lot of Vinyl.

This is series chronicles my life at regular intervals. This Memo series is meant to be a retrospective of what I have written and experienced. In each of these posts I use my notes in conjunction with memory, mementos and souvenirs to create a snap shot of my life.

At the Buffalo Paddock

I wrote that on Thursday night Kathryn had had trouble getting to sleep as I was going to bed.  We had made plans to meet downtown and then go to Oakland but by the time we were about to meet we nixed that.  We met at 6 and walked our bikes to Rainbow.  We were blown away that they didn’t have any meat.  We rode to her house and made dinner.  I wrote that we had purchased some meat and bourbon in North Beach and drank a little while watching TV.  I texted Shaun and Ethan around then about Tour de Fat and Fiddle Town.  The dinner took forever.

The next morning most of the bourbon was gone.  Charlie had consumed it.  He was working on the landing to clear stuff for a TIC inspection.  The rain was heavy that day and we were worried about Tour de Fat but it calmed down by the time we had eaten.  Shaun said he would meet us there.  Kathryn and I rode over Pac Heights to the park and walked around the event.  We were watching Jenga when Shaun showed up.  While we were there we talked to three coalition staffers including Frank.

We hung out for another three hours.  Kathryn said she wanted to go to the beach so we told Shaun we would see him later in Hayes Valley.  The ride to the beach was interesting.  We walked out to the waves and looked at the headlands.  Later I took her to Safeway where she got us water and coffee grounds.

We stopped for some air at the buffalo paddock and we also got a look at the event breaking down.  We took the Wiggle to Hayes Valley.  There we ate food and Shaun watched us drink beer.  We made plans for the next weekend and Kathryn and I took McAllester to Market and went to her house.  I drank a lot of water and felt shitty.  That night I woke up and saw Charlie working late—four in the morning.  He said I’m sorry but I told him it wasn’t a big deal.

Next morning, I had been planning on just leaving because Charlie and Kathryn were going to work but he was still asleep so we went to café Divine and read the paper.  Then we went to Washington Square and finished it.  When we got back Charlie was up so I rode home.  That night I got a little bit of the Thesis done on the morning that I wrote this as well.

This is series chronicles my life at regular intervals. This Memo series is meant to be a retrospective of what I have written and experienced. In each of these posts I use my notes in conjunction with memory, mementos and souvenirs to create a snap shot of my life.

The Sunday Streets Fundraiser

I wrote that on the Tuesday previous I rode to the print shop.  I had some trouble at Arguello or Stanyan.  I rode to Goden Gate.  I went the print shop they gave me a bound volume of the thesis.  I sat at Peets and read and highlighted for two hours.  I went to the MTA and met Kathryn.  I saw Andy Thornley.  We went to the Sunday Streets fundraiser.

Ross Mirkarimi, three board members and the mayor were there.  I introduced her to DJ, Liza and Jessica.  We sat through a lot but wanted to leave at 9.  We got the bikes and rode to her place.  The night kind of ended there even though we wanted to go to karaoke.

Next morning we went to Little Griddle.  I said bye to her and went to Café Flore and continued reading.  I spent two hours there and spoke to Everybody Bikes about repairs.  I went home and looked over things.  I had received an email from the Library and then I said eff all this and went to Celia’s.  There I met and appraiser who didn’t seem interesting at all.  The Giants won.  I picked a flower on the way home it went witlty quick.  I traded messages with Kathryn and we talked.  I watched some TV and went to bed at 1030.

On the morning I wrote this I got up at 830 and worked until 2.

This is series chronicles my life at regular intervals. This Memo series is meant to be a retrospective of what I have written and experienced. In each of these posts I use my notes in conjunction with memory, mementos and souvenirs to create a snap shot of my life.

A Little Double Wide

I wrote that I went to OR.  I had written in the previous post (and notebook) that how I got to OR.  I wrote about getting there.  On the way there I stopped in Redding and stayed at Joe’s.  I had a rental and my cot.  In the morning I had breakfast and went to Cave Junction.  That was the 22^nd of August—a week before.  When I wrote that, I had down loaded .Net to the Pink Computer.  Eventually I had to leave the coffee shop.  I got some print outs from the print shop and went to O’brien.  On the way Joe told me his band practice would be at Chinook bar and not his place.  Mom and dad were at the rental house—a little double wide at an RV park.

I got settled in there and went to Chinook Bar afterwards to get my bike.  On the next day, I rode to Joe’s and spent the whole day on Regina’s computer making a map.  I up loaded the data from GPS to Google, organized it and then made photos which referenced on another.  Then I made a power point and placed them in there.  I made a vector shape for each image piled them up and made a PDF.

This didn’t work on Margaret’s printer so I had to make everything darker.  Eventually the print out worked and I rode to the RV park to get the GPS and returned for a walk with Edgar.  That was fun since we took he took me up a new trail and we managed to find three parcel corners—both Joe’s and his.  I then sat around Joe’s place on the 23^rd and watched them prepare for their party.  The next day I was lazy and showed up at 2 at Joes after puttering around the RV park.  I bumped into Keith and Nelly on the road biking.

Joe and his band mates were already playing.  There were about 15 people there.  Eventually another 10 people came.  Lots of children were there.  I met Doug and Shane.  They are associated with KS Wild.  Joe and Deb brought their friend Randy.  Joe’s buddies Shaun and Farrell were there too.  I ate a lot and Regina had made soda drinks to consume.  It was mostly between the deck, the car port and the Gazebo/platform.  The party was on for about 10 hours.  Mom and dad left at around 8 and I rode with David to the RV park.

The next morning I rode back to Joe’s and hungout with the three couples that had stayed with their kids.  Apple and Sable had two crazy kids.  There was another couple of ladies with kids.  Stew and his girlfriend had children too.  Stew knew some Columbia people.  When they had gone Joe and I went for a walk.  He texted Regina a few times to see if mom and dad had arrived.

Later I wrote that we really just walked to Whoville and then the bike path.  Later Joe went running back to the house because mom, Regina, he and I were going to Takilma for a hike.  I was drinking ginger beer.

The hike was interesting.  Takilma reminds me a little of Kennedy Meadows.  There is a trailhead at the end.  Randal, Joe’s bandmatesaid that the road was paved all the way to Happy Camp.  When we were done we went to the RV park and met the Morton’s with Dad.  We sat around and talked sports and looked at the books.  I went with Joe, Regina and the Morton’s to the house and we ate the left overs.  Apparently dad had gone to McGrew’s to see the Niners preseason and mom was alone to discover she had no keys.  She used my rental and when she arrived we are more food.  I got the printouts I had made Joe and Edgar and they came up with ideas for the KS Wild benefit.  I rode back to the RV and used the computer for the last time.

The next morning the computer was permanently broken.  I had coffee and packed and then rode the bike to Joe’s.  Then mom and dad and I said bye to Regina together.  They went to CJ and wasn’t very good at saying goodbye.

I stopped in Cresent City and texted Josh and Owen.  At that point it had begun to set in that I was jobless and single and in the middle of nowhere again which I should have been working towards employment and graduation.  That made me grumpy.  However, I understood it would be necessary to check in with mom.

I drove to Arcata and ate at Hey Juan’s.  Stormy didn’t say anything to me when I came through.  I then went to Couple Cups (aka Muddy’s) and read the paper.  That place was way different.  I did some laundry at Emerald and walked to the Plaza and then I went to the Bike Library.  I switched the laundry and went to the bookstore.

Owen texted me and I stopped at Josh’s place on the way to meet him.  Owen and I went to Humboldt Brewery and had dinner.  I saw Nicole’s friend Jennifer.  We walked around and then went to the Shanty.  There Owen and I had some phone calls.  Josh showed up in a bit and I started to drive Owen home.

I noticed that my rental had its lights on but then realized that I had looked at the wrong car.  Then I drove a couple of blocks and got pulled over for not having my lights on.  The cop asked if I had been drinking and I said I had had a beer at dinner.  He let me go.  I kicked myself.  I dropped Owen at his place and returned to the Shanty and told Josh about it.

I hung out with Tomi Rae that night and crashed out.  Then the next morning I saw the kids and had breakfast with Mary Ann and Josh at the waterfront.  They told me they would be in the city in a few weeks.  I started to drive home then but had to stop in Garberville because I was sleepy from the food.  Then in Willits I wanted to look at CDs.

I drove the rest to Gordo on 25^th and then went home and unloaded.  After that I put the bike in the car and gassed up.  Then I brought the car to Enterprise and dickered over the bille.  I rode San Bruno Bl to BART and Junipero Serra to Ulloa on the bike.

I had a nap but watched TV.  I had been grumpy because of the trip for a few days.  Probably because of school.  The day after I got back I went to Java Beach and then went through my stuff.  I got a little organized.  I ate with mom and dad and had another food nap.  That was twice in a week.  I noted my wonder at this phenomenon.  I watched TV again and made words with mom and dad.  I wrote that it seemed like all we do is argue and that looking for help only makes it worse.

The morning I wrote this I went to Java Beach and then fielded a call from CSULB.  I had to print out a change of graduation form and then send in a check.  I noted the Pink Computer was a gonner.  I had a sandwich that didn’t sit well in my stomach.  Later while writing these words mom sad she wasn’t happy that I had left food out.

This is series chronicles my life at regular intervals. This Memo series is meant to be a retrospective of what I have written and experienced. In each of these posts I use my notes in conjunction with memory, mementos and souvenirs to create a snap shot of my life.

Some Girl Named Kathryn

I wrote that I had been putting a lot of effort into the thesis.  On the Thursday before I gave up and had beers.  I was at the Shamrock.  I had also been trying to get through the movies before they were due back.  Mom and dad had left that day and Friday—possibly separately.  I noted that I may have made plans to meet Shaun on the Tuesday before to meet Shaun in Oakland, so on Friday after breakfast I texted him that I would head to Oakland around one.  I got there at four.  We talked and I got his keys and made copies.  I then got a bagel.  We were at Farley’s on Grand.  I told him I would text him.

I rode to Newhall Street and Ed let me in.  I met Jay the resident there.  There were about 15 people there: some girl named Kathryn and some other ladies.  We were getting ready to leave when four other ladies showed up with their guy friend.  That made twenty of us.  We went to Ashby and caught the train to Fruitvale.  I got to know Eva and Kathryn on the way and when we got off I got Kathryn and some others a cue sheet.  I met Kathryn’s friend Liz.

We rode to the Port side of Jack London.  There were a few new people.  I collected some trash and Ed noted that the music system for the ride was wireless.  We rode to West Oakland via downtown and it was ok and the park we went to was pretty big.  I went and found Maud and one of the four girls that had shown up late.

Kathryn and Liz were with Ed, Brendan and Tim the whole way.  From there we rode through MacArthur to Broadway and ended up at Lake Merritt.  I had the only beer.  Ed, Brendan and Jessica went back to Jay's and Kathryn and I had tacos.  I went to Shaun’s around 1 and tried to be quiet because he had an early flight.

I got up and went to Farley’s and had coffee and read the paper.  The barista was named Paige.  I then went to the bank and the store.  I got some money for Shaun and some beer.  I returned to Shaun’s, got my stuff and went to Civic Center.  I went to Momi Toby’s and sat next to some beautiful school teacher wearing Converse.  I then rode home and yelled at double parkers on the way.  I couldn’t do much on the thesis.

I watched the Menagerie episodes of Star Trek.  That was amusing.  Eventually, I admitted to myself that I needed to eat so I went to Le Vid with my movies and then Gordo.  I ended up at the Shamrock and saw one of the ladies that I would so often catch the morning bus to work with the summer before.  I also saw Hillary from SF State Geography all those years ago.  She was coming back from Outside Lands.  I saw about 100 bus loads of people coming back from the show while I was sitting there.

I rode home about 1115 and on the day that I wrote this I had to get up around 5 to turn off all the lights in the house.  I got about three hours of work in and had to quit for food.  I was planning a trip to get a haircut and wrote this entry at Java Beach coffee shop.

This is series chronicles my life at regular intervals. This Memo series is meant to be a retrospective of what I have written and experienced. In each of these posts I use my notes in conjunction with memory, mementos and souvenirs to create a snap shot of my life.

Honked at on International

I wrote that I went for a beer at Yancy’s on the Monday before and had trouble sleeping.  I got to the thesis on Tuesday and mom and I made cookies with the nephew.  Nora took him home, ate dinner and watched TV all night.  On Wednesday I had coffee in the morning and worked on the thesis.  At four I rode through the park and encountered a huge blockage.  I thought they were contractors.  I told three of the drivers that they were in the way and one them said complain.  I took photos and called it in.  Later I stopped by the coalition and told Marc about it.

I rode to Embarcadero and bought Nicole a Bike Link card.  Then I caught a Rockridge train.  I was in a crowded car.  At Rockridge I rode through Clairmont Country Club.  I noted that Broadway Terrace was too steep for her.  On the other side I looked at Temescal and noted that Golden Gate to Temescal might have been a better choice.

I rode to Mountain Lane.  Another issue that came up was Mountain Lane is a bit hillier than the street that was named Glen something.  I ended up in Montclair and had some food and then I went to Park street Via Trafalgar.  I checked out the park and noted that there was a gate there and was likely impossible.  I took Park to Leifert and then crossed the bridge there to look at the neighborhood there but there was no park access.  I ended up on 13^th and took Beaumont.  I took 21 street to 21 avenue and then to Fruitvale on International.

I noted that I should have stayed on the other side of the bridge since Fruitvale heads straight to Dimond Park.  I got honked at on International.  I talked to the guy at the Bike Station but he was not friendly.  I noted that I rode through the Plaza and thought the place was a hellhole.  I took the train to Civic Center and went for a taco at Chihuahua and then watched a Giants game at the Page.  I was home at 11.  I noted that mom and dad were at the hospital.

This is series chronicles my life at regular intervals. This Memo series is meant to be a retrospective of what I have written and experienced. In each of these posts I use my notes in conjunction with memory, mementos and souvenirs to create a snap shot of my life.

Won a Game Finally

I wrote that I dropped a video off at Le Vid and got some tacos.  I went to Wells and then to Yancy’s.  We finally won a game finally.  I went home and watched Family Guy.  On the morning of the day that I wrote this I got up and read the paper and started work.  I had been complaining about the wifi transmitter.  I wrote that I thought that I could also check if it wasn’t really working.  In the meantime I had been writing up the changes I had made before the bike ride the night before and had had the beginnings of a breakthrough.  However, I got bored so I started labeling my notebooks.  I had developed a process just a little while before this.  I wrote my labeling in my notebook log and noted in the log about where the label went

This is series chronicles my life at regular intervals. This Memo series is meant to be a retrospective of what I have written and experienced. In each of these posts I use my notes in conjunction with memory, mementos and souvenirs to create a snap shot of my life.

The Joels

I wrote that I hadn’t taken notes for a few days and had to go back as far as the morning of the 15^th.  Around nine I spoke with JF and Sarah about having a meeting.  I spent most of the day with the command line trying to build a batch rename.  I interacted a lot with the Joels; one gave me a copy of his article; and I talked with the other about job numbers.  I rode to Pleasant Hill and stopped to catch my breath.  I then rode to Walnut Creek and had a light lunch and water.  I rode to Lafayette.  On the way I noted some stuff about the intersection of Newell and Olympic.

I noted that the ride up the path to St Mary’s was idyllic.  When I got to Moraga I was surprised to find that the path came out in a different place than I had anticipated.  I bought an apple juice at Safeway and then circled the Fire Station looking for the path.  I was also surprised to find so many apartments in the area.  I followed the trail to Canyon Bl and then rode up Pinehurst to the town of Canyon.  I stopped a lot.  At the main switchback there were a couple of cyclists following me.  I strained my self getting to the top and they almost passed me.

I drank the rest of my water at the top there.  I texted Shaun and he rode up Moraga Rd to meet me in Montclair.  The ride to meet him was awesome.  I found myself on Shepard and Gunn wondering where the bike path was.  When I found it I was on an old train right of way.  There were commemorative plaques and at Snake road there was a bridge.  I met Shaun at La Salle and we went looking for the tunnel that the rail road should have gone through but had no success.

We had some tacos and then took La Salle to Mandana and went to some bar on Lake Shore.  The bartender was surly but Shaun thought ske liked me.  We met one of the owners too.  In time I had to go and we said bye at 20^th and Broadway.  I caught the midnight train and also caught a 5 back to Park Presidio and rode home.

The next day I was achy from the travels but got up and went to Java Beach.  I read the NY Times and had a bagel.  I went home and worked on the thesis.  That was where I continued on the path of describing what I had written up to then.  I had meen making an index.  Mom had to pick dad up and Nicole wanted to see me.  I touched base with mom and at some point I quit working on the thesis.

Mom took me to BART and I roe to San Bruno.  I met Nicole there and we went to Celia’s in San Bruno.  I told her about how my contract was indeed ending.  We talked about it at length we watched Anchorman and played Monopoly.  The next day we went to West Portal and she went to her parents after coffee.  I got a haircut and had a breakthrough later while working on my thesis.  The parents and I had Father’s Day dinner and Joe called.  We had pictures and cake.

The next morning I caught the earliest bus and the train to my bike.  I ate breakfast bars and coffee from Starbucks until I met with JF and Sarah to discuss the cleanup folder and procedures Joel Sipe and I had developed.  I showed them some stuff with Access.  I noted also that I had an email that details what I was working on.  I also noted that I needed to start migrating queries between databases.

This is series chronicles my life at regular intervals. This Memo series is meant to be a retrospective of what I have written and experienced. In each of these posts I use my notes in conjunction with memory, mementos and souvenirs to create a snap shot of my life.

Same ol' same ol'

I made a note of the call I had received from Fred at Tower Tours. He told me that I should come down to see him on 865 Beach Street between Polk and Larkin and talk about his business.

I noted that I hadn't written anything else since then because I had been trying to get all of the items I have on my agenda done at the same time.  I went to see Fred and he put me on the City Tour. I rode around and around. That night I ate at Suppen Kutche, I was happy to have a job.

I wrote that the next day was filled with class work and little else. I went out for tacos. I noted that I had started two days before at the Tour agency. At the end of work Thursday I was able to come home and paste a picture of the Fisher results that Rodrigue gave me and then I was off to the galleries. I went and saw Dave at Visuvio. I wrote “Same ol' same ol'”. On the way home form that I found these Japanese partition panels and I thought they were pretty cool. I emailed John Arata.

I noted that I tried Bike Party! on for size the night before.  I was sad it was wet out.  I remember that I had met Derrek that night.  I also noted that it had been raining a lot. I also noted that I would be attending a safety class that Bert asked me to help with. I noted that if it rained all day that day it would be more difficult.

I made some notes on the thesis and many of the comments had told me to properly reference tables.  I had already been addressing Fisher’s Chi Square.  I was both fixing stuff and verifying stuff.  I had made an equation.  I was still using a flawed analysis that I eventually abandoned.

This is series chronicles my life at regular intervals. This Memo series is meant to be a retrospective of what I have written and experienced. In each of these posts I use my notes in conjunction with memory, mementos and souvenirs to create a snap shot of my life.

for Bing Ma Yong

I wrote that I worked on an assignment for David until around 1130.  I sent it to David and asked Joel had the process for linear match was working.  I ate a meal.  When I got back David had a change.  I went and talked to Ripal.  When I got back I started on David’s request.  I had to separate the DBs.  I left at 330.  Joel said he would run the match up and then not be in on Friday.

I noted that the ride was uninteresting.  Patelco was closed.  I met Nicole at JCrew and mom came a bit later.  From there we tried for a cab but walked to Asian Art instead.  We found our way in and then went into the first room for Bing Ma Yong.  This room was introductory.  It was where most of the warriors were.  There were descriptions.  We sat at a table and looked at Xi’an in a book.  We went into the second room and watched a video time line of Qin’s empire.  There was a ding.  We then went to the third room and looked at bronze birds.

We ate at the café and I sampled their meals.  We talked about going to Patelco on Saturday.  We went and looked at Buddhas and other stuff on the top floor and walked to BART.  Nicole and I went to 711 and went to bed after a beer.  I was exhausted.

The morning of the day that I wrote this I had a hard time getting up.  I got coffee in the morning and got to the office before the meeting.  Joel was out but Beth was in.  In the meeting we had there were some IT people and Beth’s design group.  David wrote an email and before sending it he was editing it for us to see his laundry list.  He was talking about MAC and collisions with the cleanup group.  There are a bunch of sketches on the page and I’ll try to explain them.

One is how the taps on a pipe are included.  Another is a PCF.  Gabe asked about hybrid events.  I also wrote change in using cans and fitting grades; segment-able elbows.  I drew a picture of a large grade pipe and a lower grade pipe and there are arrows with newer and older pipe.  I also must note that the pipes don’t easily go together.  I noted that transition cans (another picture) may not be tested by the MAOP report but they should be.  I went on to write that we were talking about how the 10 year window on material codes is approximate.  I also noted that the meeting would be moving to Wednesdays.  I also wrote under a picture about dropping caps in situations for cut offs where there isn’t a lot of information.  I drew a piture of a pup and a sleeve.  David Weiler brought up a situation he say where the builder couldn’t tell if there was a pup.

This is series chronicles my life at regular intervals. This Memo series is meant to be a retrospective of what I have written and experienced. In each of these posts I use my notes in conjunction with memory, mementos and souvenirs to create a snap shot of my life.

Ran Out Halfway Through

I wrote that the pen I was using on the Wednesday before ran out halfway through the training.  I wrote that my memory was faded from there.  I took the bike home that day and then I left around 4.  Joel was helping Sibo’s buddy with a conditional formatting problem.  We agreed to meet the next morning.

On the path some guy nearly hit me from behind during a pass.  I caught the five bus to Divis and it struck me that all was chaos but really my mind had been in turmoil over work, the commute and sleep.  I rode Irving and did the turn above Sunset.  I was home at 645 and mom was out.

I then noted that I got to bed by 10 or nine and then for some reason woke up believing that I had to go.  I got up the next day at 530 and waited at UC until 630.  Joel showed up but there wasn’t a table set up for Bike to Work Day.  Joel’s GF Lori showed up around Wilard in front of Joel’s place.  We read the paper on the train.  There were table in the East Bay—I noted about 8.

We were working at around 8.  I did the rounds.  Most of the day was spent visioning the macro.  I know I had a bunch of stuff to do that day but my memory was hazy.  There was an input session for Intrepid.  Lori talked to David after that.  Jessie Jennings said some stuff to me.  I started to add comments to the macro at that point and continued till 630.  That was around when Joel and I left for PHill.  We were waiting when he suggested we to the Mission.  I said cool we left our bikes in the station.

Alex was there.  So was Clair.  Wen and his wife were there and Lori’s roomie and her BF were too.  I got stuff to eat and drink.  The waitress was named Tracy and looked a lot like the Tracy I had dated the summer before.  I got home and was in bed at 12.

On the next morning I caught the N and should have ridden the bike.  I got to work fine.  There was a meeting at 730.  I was running the macro on samples until 4 or 5.  I then made a list of things that the macro does.  During the course of the day Joel and I had several conversations involving Dave W., Mat and others.  We were considering proportional corrections.  However, I made other notes to offset this.  There were three steps in the process a length check, a match collection and a decision step.  We never came up with any final solutions though.

Eventually Joel and I quit. And when I left at around nine I sent David a mixed up dataset.  I thought it was terrible but didn’t say as much.  I was worried about making him think I was doing nothing.  I went for dinner in here somewhere and asked the janitor to let me in.  Mike Ragsdale left right before me and no one was there.  I had to walk three miles to PHill and I had misplaced my keys and wrote worried notes about it but knew they were at work.  I caught an L and went to Brothers for pizza and at the Riptide I saw Isam Dudum.  I walked home and Joe and Regina had yet to arrive.

The next morning I wrote Regina woke me after the alarm.  She opened the windows and Joe made omelets.  It pissed me off that he had to travel to Oakland three times in 28 hours.  When everyone was on their way to the Giants game I was working on the thesis.  I was doing laundry but I had to go.  I had an extra ticket and told Shaun to text me.  I noted that Mary was coming into town and wanted to stay.

I nearly forgot about the tickets.  I met Nicole at Caltrain and we had beers at Amici til Shaun showed up.  We went in and got stuff, met the family and sat down.  Mom came later.  Joe and Ed apparently had the wrong tickets for the boat.

The giants won.  Nicole and I moved around a lot.  I got to know my neighbors.  I wanted the group to take the boat but they flaked so just Nicole and I did.  We got there first.  Before we left Shaun at the stadium he had suggested a restaurant.  Everyone met us there.  Mom and dad drove Ed and Calea.  Joe and Regina took BART.  The food was okay.  Regina left with mom and dad.  Nicole, Joe, Ed and I dropped Calea off and went to the Trappist.  Shaun met us there.  Joe, Nicole and I said bye to Nicole and I said bye to Ed and Shaun at 12^th BART.  I was getting on Nicoles nerves but we were exhausted.

On the morning of the day that I wrote this Nicole and I woke at 730 but were not capable of much.  I noted that we were still motivated.  We walked to her office and picked up her car by 1015.  I had brunch with the Birminghams and Joe and Regina.  I noted that I had been organizing the room.

This is series chronicles my life at regular intervals. This Memo series is meant to be a retrospective of what I have written and experienced. In each of these posts I use my notes in conjunction with memory, mementos and souvenirs to create a snap shot of my life.