I wrote that I dawdled on the way out of
the office on Friday. I got my bike and
rode to PHill. Kathryn and I had plans
to meet but we had to figure that out on the way. I found her at the library. We rode to Buchanan and then Steiner. We locked up at Florio and sat down. We split everything. The host told us that handholding was not
allowed. We had fish and salad and it
was really good. Our waiter was really
cool.
We walked to Elite and a couple of other
places but settled on the Wine Jar. We
had beer and then walked to the Kabuki to see Grand Budapest Hotel. I was goofy before the show. The movie was very good. It had an all-star cast and featured hard
hitting topics. It was a story within a
story. We left via the elevator, walked
to the bikes and rode through the tunnel.
We went to sleep at 1130.
In the morning on the 22nd we went to
Station for breakfast. It is a bike
showroom and the service was poor.
Afterwards we rode to Embarcadero and met Kathryn’s Friend Zef. They went shopping and I watched the bikes
reading my paper. Kathryn brought me a
coffee and eventually we walked to Beale.
I caught an L home and Zef took my bike.
When I got home they were at the
supermarket. I got my bike together and
then left for Golden Gate Park by 300.
Kathryn and Zef were already there.
Zef was talking to Brendan and Kathryn and Steph were playing croquette
with Alex, whose birthday it was, and another coworker named Drew. I got to know Alex’s friends.
Kathryn, Brendan, Zef and I rode through
the park then. Kathryn just had to write
a ticket for two cars on the way. At
market we said bye to Brendan and to Zef at BART. We then put the extra bike in the locker
there and then went to her house. We
walked to Trader Joes after that and got some fresh air and after stopping at
the house we walked to Tosca.
The table took an hour and we even had a
hard time finding a seat at the bar. The
meal was awesome. When it was time to
pay I screwed the tip up and Kathyrn went ballistic outside. In reality the drinks were expensive and I
should have paid my tab at the bar before the meal. Also, I remember a drink on the bill that was
rather expensive. I never followed up
because I had to talk Kathryn down.
On the morning of the 23rd we went to
Rockridge and walked College to get some coffee and we got a bagel too. We got a call from Shaun and got him one as
well. At the station there was Beth from
Maptime, Andrew from the office and a guy named Preston. We all got our things and met at the cars in front
of Trader Joe’s and we drove to Danville and then Blackrock. We made jokes the whole way. At the parking lot we met more people from
Nerd’s for Nature and 25 of us went off to get lost in the mountain.
At a T intersection we gathered and
Shaun made a decision. Ken—the
director—introduced us to this Boy Scout who gave us directions. Beth, Shaun, Preston, Kathryn and I fell into
step and we didn’t notice that the rest had fallen behind. We stopped then—just in time to catch a
glimpse of the group disappearing into the brush. Beth turned back then and we decided to go
forward. At the Balancing Rock we saw
the Boy Scout again. He showed us the
way to a new trail and then disappeared.
We followed an arroyo back to the intersection we had originally seen
him at. It was difficult and we ran out
of water. We finished off my snacks and
then headed back.
A lot of people had quit at this point
we said bye to Ken and then Andrew, Preston, Kathryn, Shaun and I went to the
top of the mountain. That was where we
bumped into Katie Gallagher at the Beacon observation deck. I thought that this was weird but not
surprising. It seems Katie hadn’t had
much traction since graduation but she was getting along. She liked the opportunity to talk to the
guys. Kathryn went to find shade and I
went with her for a bit but I came back up.
They were still looking at the view.
We looked a while longer. Kathryn
returned and the conversation turned from Katie’s background at LB to the
view. Katie had a map and Kathryn went
back below for a nap. Eventually the
guys and I went into the beacon tower and Katie left.
We got back in the car and drove through
Walnut Creek to Oakland. My phone was
dying but I texted Katie. I knew it was
not really worth it but I gave her Shaun’s number. She was bummed but asked to be kept in the
loop. We dropped Andrew at Rockridge and
went to Shaun’s to drop off food. Then
we went to Lake Merritt where we found a share car parked in Shaun’s share
space—the wrong one. We then walked to a
bar at Jack London and met Andrew. We
went for Pizza then.
Andrew drove us to 12th and Shaun went
home. Preston rode BART with us to
Montgomery where we said bye. I had been
calling him Russell for some reason.
Kathryn and I took the eight to her house where we found that Charlie
was on a trip. We went to bed at 1130.
On the morning I wrote this I dressed a
pillow up as myself for Kathryn to snuggle with. I got ready to go and left with my Surly at
700. I didn’t get the Rockhopper from
the station but did get a coffee and a paper.
I caught the Concord train and was in the office at 815 where I saw
Andrew and still later I went for another coffee.
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.
