Bike Showroom

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.