We Braved the Weather

On the twentieth of December I wrote that I was busy writing and typing when my friend came home.  I thought she was at the salon but she had actually gone to meet old coworkers at the old job site to get a fancy coat.  I let her in and her roommate was in the hallway.  My friend thought I was gone but I wanted to dine with her.  We braved the weather to have linguini at Woodbridge.  My friend’s old roommate was there working and she helped us out.  She was ecstatic when she heard about our event.

The meal was delicious.  I said bye and caught and N to the house.  The train had to turn back so I looked into the 7 at Stanyan but was barely able to catch an N to Ninth instead.  I took the bus from there.  I texted my buddy to see if he would be at the event.  At home the room was a mess and I didn’t know what to do about it.

I found the parents upstairs when I came in.  I had been short with them but settled into talking about my friend’s roommates.  I also talked a bit about the coming event.  I noted that mom didn’t really understood what was happening the next day.  They had gone to bed by the time that I sat down for TV watching.  I was in bed at around 12.

The next morning I had trouble waking up so I sent a text message from my dream and my friend called me.  She was off to get flowers.  I got a message from my sister saying that it was really nice out and that the event would do alright.  I went up and had cornflakes and no coffee and returned to the room to make a printout for the celebrant and don my only suit.

I was wearing my black coat and top hat was I walked down 44th with my large umbrella.  Everyone at Andytown commented on my hat but my friend’s old coworker was not there so I got on the N and had coffee at 9th.  I read the Beacon there and then passed by the Shamrock but they were closed.  I sat down for a few ryes and got into a conversation with a man who had moved to SF from Oregon fifty years before.

I texted mom, dad and little sister that I was meeting the celebrant at the Pavilion then.  This tipped my sister off and she let the family know that something was afoot.  On the way I stopped some guy that was driving too fast and honking and told him to calm down.  I got lost after crossing the stone bridge but it turned out fine.

The celebrant was already at the Pavilion and we sat talking for a while.  I had typed up the script and gave it to him.  We chose a spot and discovered later that it was a bit dark.  My friend’s buddy approached a bit later and let us know that my friend was a short distance away with her family.  Shaun said he was only a short distance away.  They walked up later and my family came in only a few minutes later.  I had glimpsed them across the water.  My brother and brother-in-law had gotten lost.

We only had to wait for my nephew and his father who were at a school basketball game.  I noted that things were hard to recall at that point since my friend was intent upon descending and my sister thought we would want to forget about her husband.  However, it turned out fine since they both walked up at the same time.  We began the event then.

My friend’s boss took photos and there were cupcakes.  We ate and drank sparkling wine then.  One of my brothers-in-law to get into family photos then but we kicked him out.  After the photos were done we wrapped up and agreed to meet at various locations.  I told my older brother to meet me at the Shamrock.  My friend and I walked through the park then and saw her family pass us in their different cars.

My friend agreed to meet me and her family at Chow then and my brother bought me a drink.  I forgot my umbrella at the bar on the way to the restaurant.  There I sampled the pizza and the beer and then we again set off to the brewery to meet mom and dad and the rest of the family for her birthday dinner.

I noted early on that my friend’s mom’s table was separate but I complained.  Mom wasn’t happy about that but later the manager moved our table for us.  There were more than enough seats.  I hung out at the bar with my brothers-in-law and later went upstairs and sat with my older brother.  My friend’s family sat nearby but she sat with me too.

One of my cousins showed up then and I only talked to her for a bit but later I talked to her about the reunion and old classmates.  After that we sang mom happy birthday and I ate too much of mom’s ice cream.  I wished my friend’s mom a happy birthday (I stayed away from her ice cream).  Later We went down and had a beer until I realized that I had left my umbrella at the Shamrock.  Everyone had gone at that point so my friend and I took a cab to get the umbrella.

I got up super late the next morning and after initially getting oriented decided to brave the weather and head over to Palmer’s to have brunch with my friend.  However, we went to Whole Foods first and had coffee because we knew we would have to chase a 22 before riding up Fillmore to Washington.  We started to feel a lot better after having food and then we walked around the shops on FIllmore before hopping a bus with a well known man from North Beach.

Later, back at home, I was going through my things when my brother came down.  I went upstairs with him and helped him with Google Voice.  Later mom and dad came back from church and I helped mom make dinner.  We talked about the bypass in Willits then and I tried calling a college classmate.  Another classmate had messaged me and some others had also checked in.  I started writing.

This is an occasional series chronicling my life. This Notebook Analysis series is meant to be contemporaneous piece developed as an agglomeration of my notebook pages. In each of these posts I used my notes to develop my recent thoughts.

Transformations and Topologies

On the eighteenth of December there was a delay.  My friend made it to her place before me. She was on the phone so I left her alone.  When she was done we looked over our lines for the event until our acquaintance the celebrant came by.  I ran up to Kinkos to get a print out and then edited, practiced and talked.

We went to the ramen place nearby then and just talked about a few things on the way.  We discussed my friend’s sister and her buddy until the restaurant.  I engaged the celebrant over n-dimensional transformations and topologies while we ate.  Later we picked up my friend's farm box and then headed to her apartment where we said bye to our acquaintance.  He said he would see me at the Pavilion on Saturday.  My friend and I spent the rest of the night talking in the kitchen.

Around 7 we walked over to Blue Bottle and then to CIty Hall where we licensed our event.  It turned out that my brother wouldn’t be around until Saturday and that was a bit discouraging.  While we were with the clerk my brother-in-law called from out of town.  I called him back when we had finished up and told him to bring my nephew by on Saturday.  We walked to the Mercury for a breakfast of eggies and biscuits and after a short walk we agreed to meet later.  I caught a 38 to Union Square.

There were a lot of shoppers and they all got off at Powell.  I got off at Grant and walked to Post to pick up my purchases for the event. The attendant made small talk and I made nice.  Later I walked to Sutter and tried the White Horse but it was closed.  I took the bus to Divisadero then and while I was waiting I noticed that the information kiosk had ipads with a Twitter app.  I took a look and found that the person who had set up the app had not blocked it’s usage.  I used her account to retweet everything from the last five days and follow myself.

My friend walked up to me with a funny face and I noticed it but she didn’t say anything until we were on the bus.  Some high school girl was totally listening to our conversation and that was rather awkward.  We visited the kitchen store and bought some whisky glasses before stopping by Whole Foods for a sandwich.

This is an occasional series chronicling my life. This Notebook Analysis series is meant to be contemporaneous piece developed as an agglomeration of my notebook pages. In each of these posts I used my notes to develop my recent thoughts.

Paid for a Round

On the thirteenth of December I wrote that I rode the Wiggle to Duboce where a U turning driver was being dangerous.  My friend said her roommate he would join us for dinner.  Her other roommate came in afterwards.  I looked out the window and walked to the bar.

Some acquaintances were there and I later learned that someone had paid for a round.  I met a lady and some girls had approached my seat to charge their phone.  I met some new people.  One of the bartender’s husband was there.  He told me his professors want him to enroll in a PhD program.  I was in bed at 1.

In the morning of the day that I wrote this my friend made me breakfast and I sat with her roommate and ate French toast.  They were discussing Maple syrup.  After finishing the meal it was raining pretty heavy.  I went to FedEx later and sat at a console.  I had some addresses together and got a bit of help.  That was when I discovered I needed to include an email with the letter I was writing.  I had sent it but the blocking was wrong.

My friend went to find my riding buddy’s wife around then and I wanted to meet up with them.  Everything was going glacially slow then.  They texted to say where they were and I let them know that I was getting the cards printed.  I had to wait for the final cut and getting onto the train was horrible.  When I finally boarded the girls were at the bar already.

When I arrived the emperor was there and took us to Ghirardelli and I had the opportunity to interact with some Twitter friend’s.  Later I talked to some of the event organizers about the Boothby cocktail.  I showed them a book he had written.  My other Twitter friend came in then and we got a drink but it was too late for the toast.  We went up stairs and all of my new acquaintances got to talk about organizing a ride.  I interacted with a guy that was in my line of work and said bye to people on the way out.

I went with the girls to another bar and had bar food.  We chatted about our holiday party experience and they discussed organizing a new the ride and other things.  We walked to the J and said bye at Van Ness.

This is an occasional series chronicling my life. This Notebook Analysis series is meant to be contemporaneous piece developed as an agglomeration of my notebook pages. In each of these posts I used my notes to develop my recent thoughts.

Moved his Mog

I left the office making the mental note to do my timecard and took the shuttle and then the CT to Bayshore.  I noted that I needed to clean my windows.  The walk to the T is not fun.  I went to the frame builder and discovered that I needed cash so he gave me my bike and I ran over to Walgreens.

He then showed me a n 1800 dollar frame, an old rockhopper and a newly built bike.  I was really happy with the new weld.  I rode to Jarrold and then to New Hampshire.  I had no light or lock but I was fine.  I had to ride the wrong way on 14th.

Later I walked to 16th with my friend and took a cab to a Holiday Party.  We saw a lot of acquaintances.  There was a petting zoo and a bunch of games like ping pong.  My friend’s old boss moved his Mog and there was a taco truck.  One of the engineers had bought cheeses.  We bumped into an executive and her friends who were trying to get a coworker a ride home.  I found a cocktail and the old boss showed me the brass knuckles that he had given his team.  I gave out a few hugs.

We were standing with a financial officer when I saw a department head. I introduced everyone. Later we stood in line for tacos and I found out that a lady I knew was now working there so I found her and introduced her to my friend.  It turned out that they knew each other from coffee.  The CEO had me play ping pong with one of the youngsters in the shop.  After a brief review of each drama in the house, we found ourselves helping our friend get a ride home.  At his house we played with cats and later took a cab home.

In the morning of the day that I wrote this I was up at five but we got up at 8.  I went to Four Barrel and texted my friend while she was on BART.  I spent time on social media but was alone so I rode the RH up to Wiggle Bikes.  I had to negotiate fire trucks on Overlook and then I asked the guys at the bike shop about the Concord’s rim.  I showed them the new weld.

Back at home I noted that I would head back after typing.  I noted too that I had wanted to got to Oakland.

This is an occasional series chronicling my life. This Notebook Analysis series is meant to be contemporaneous piece developed as an agglomeration of my notebook pages. In each of these posts I used my notes to develop my recent thoughts.

Travel by Approximation

On the eleventh of December I wrote that I ran to CT from the shuttle and walked to the bank at 16th.  I had a bit of trouble getting to professional holiday talk but was early.  I had a drink at Bar and stopped by Walgreens.  Once inside I stood with my distributed computing friend for a while, looked at the displays and drank wine.  I interacted with a hydrology mapper and an organizer for a bit.

I ate the food and sat with a lady who was studying at SF State.  I got another drink and sat when the five talks got started.  The first few were ok.  The main ones were about Colorado River Plane Mapping and Travel by Approximation.  I interacted with my operations friend and his colleagues after the proceedings and saw some old acquaintances.  I interacted with some colleagues too.

I walked around saying bye around then and told the director that I was interested in collaborating to get more Silicon Valley people involved.  It was raining pretty hard when I said bye to to the organizers at the door on the way out.  There was a barking dog on the bus, which I took only a short way.

This is an occasional series chronicling my life. This Notebook Analysis series is meant to be contemporaneous piece developed as an agglomeration of my notebook pages. In each of these posts I used my notes to develop my recent thoughts.

There was a Memorial

On the sixth of December I wrote that I went to CT and took the train around 3 to DC for the Rockhopper and then went to Balboa.  I had to find the 29.  I texted my friend and my buddy then.  On the way through McLaren Park my friend revealed he wouldn’t be at Bike Party.  The bus let me off at the spot where a young man had been gunned down by cops the day before.  There was a memorial placed there.  I walked the bike up 3rd to Yosemite and found the welder’s shop.  I interacted with him and then ran for the T Line.

I spent the whole time calculating my ETA until Civic.  The train took 30 minutes.  I found my friend at around 615 outside Martuni’s.  We walked to Orenchi.  We started planning our event then and what the venue was.  I had had a beer and had decided that I wouldn’t be going to Bike Party.  I spent the rest of the night watching Kim Deal, Sonic Youth, the Pixies and Are You Being Served.

In the morning of the next day my friend made me breakfast.  Her roommate Brett came in later and had coffee with us.  My friend and I spent a lot of time talking about the event.  I noted that I very likely wrote up a document then.

I went to the bank and then Whole Foods and got Triple Cream.  Eventually we walked to the house of her dance comrade and had cheese and crackers with her and her husband.  We got to know the cats as our host talked about traveling to Rome and Lisboa.  Later our hostess Yumi started going through her closet with my friend and I got to know the host.  

We took 12th back to my friend's place and I helped set up the ext device for her wifi.  She had a bunch of homework to do and made dinner for her and her roommate.  

An aquaintance of mine told me we should meet up so I arranged to go meet her at Farmer John’s.  I took the subway to Powell and we sat at the bar.  I ordered a rye and the chicken.  She showed me an article on the rock star she was hanging out with and we discussed the lifestyle.  Later she explained that she wasn’t like him in the same respect but that she had a hard time differentiating herself.  We reflected on her life and eventually she talked about her relationship status.  We looked at pictures of of a mutual acquaintance .

In the morning of the day that I wrote this I was up late and my friend texted me late saying that her old work buddy would meet us at Four Barrel.  Later it turned out it was just his wife and his kid.  We sat with with them for a while and later I met a guy with a Betabrand sweatshirt.  Her boy was going to start preschool.  We walked with them to Guererro and then went to her place.

Later we took the F Market to Grant and went to de La Presse.  There we talked about the venue for our event and came to a conclusion about the rest.  We spent some time walking around Union Square and through Macy*s then.

Later I rode the Wiggle and then Page.  I went down Irving to 40th.  At home I sat down for dinner with the parents and told them about the planned event in combination with mom’s birthday party.   I started writing a bit later and ended up watching TV.

This is an occasional series chronicling my life. This Notebook Analysis series is meant to be contemporaneous piece developed as an agglomeration of my notebook pages. In each of these posts I used my notes to develop my recent thoughts.

Bell Made for Aficionados

On the fourth of December I wrote that I left on the shuttle and was able to get all the way to 16th no problem.  I was alone for twenty minutes until my friend arrived.  I left her alone to get a farm box.  She was dressed up nice for the bike fundraiser.  We brought our umbrellas though the rain had stopped for the night.

We walked to the J talking about hairdressers and walked up Valley to the house.  Our buddies greeted us upon entering.  One of the staffers signed the two of us up to be members and I told her that I had met her at her bike rides.  We talked about Midnight Ridazz.  I sat away from my friend because we were in different circles.  The host started speaking while my buddy and I were trying his scotch.  He had a special bell made for whiskey aficionados.

The host introduced a prominent engineer who showed a PowerPoint of his and his wife’s fun times in Germany.  There was a lot of discussion over Dutch and Danish mode share.  Then the director touted the organization’s accomplishments.  He introduced a couple of well placed politicians who both said something about being an ally to the cycling community.  I noted that the director had become a magnet for attending to transportation policy.

One thing I noticed about the crowd was the preponderance of young unaccompanied men and older women in power.  I thought that was striking given the politicos in the audience.  I sat with the people I knew while staff flogged the crowd for money.  

I seemed to remember in here having scotch with the prominent engineer who had skipped the happy hour because he had attended work and other events that were similar to the one we were attending.  I told him that when I was in Frankfurt I was impressed with the cyclists there and noted that that was years before the current movement towards livable cities and complete streets.

I tried some of the beer the host recommended and talked with some acquaintances from a bike ride I had blogged about years ago.  Later I talked to a guy about retiring from his job at the university when the politician from the federal government took over.  He said that he thought she would become senator after the next presidential election.

I told my friend to meet me in the front.  On the way out I finally caught up to another cyclist acquaintance.  They seemed to think that the host’s proposed new brew pub would be a great venue for any subsequent ride.  I introduced them to my friend and then we walked to the 24 with our buddies and the prominent engineer.

When we said bye at Castro and Market we walked to Park Chow and I had a lot of water and ginger ale.  I was in bed at about 1130.

This is an occasional series chronicling my life. This Notebook Analysis series is meant to be contemporaneous piece developed as an agglomeration of my notebook pages. In each of these posts I used my notes to develop my recent thoughts.

My Empanadas at Zeitgeist

On the third of December I wrote that I left at 330 and rode to CT.  I made it to 16th.  I rode to the empanaderia and went to see a friend but she was headed to a training.  A few minutes later I was seated with a well known journalist eating my empanadas at Zeitgeist until a well known professor showed up.  Then went out and sat in the chill air and talked about bike rides.

The journalist talked about writing for a paper in Santa Barbara/SLO where he is from.  He had gone to a bunch of parties.  The professor and I talked about his presentation in Chicago.  I talked a bit about my brother's log cabin.  I told the professor about my upcoming presentation in SF and he said that he wanted to do a bike ride for the conference.

He stayed behind when the journalist and I said bye at the door.  I walked to Walgreens and Ace.  I bought photos, a frame and lights.  I went to my friend’s and set my purchases up with her roommate.  However, I ran out at that point because I had been in contact with an acquaintance of mine.  We met at Smuggler’s and after briefly recounting where we had last seen each other months before she shared her current malaise with me.  She said that her friends had all moved to other states and she had been feeling pretty consistently rudderless.

I was conciliatory but only a moment later she recounted how she had been dating a nineties rock star and traveling all over the US.  I told her that she needed to sit down and write it out.  There were other rock stars that she had interacted with since I had last seen her as well as connecting her rock star beau with famous people.

I told her about my life but it paled in comparison.  I was struck by how she wanted to move to New York because of opportunity and family.  I was in bed around 1100.

This is an occasional series chronicling my life. This Notebook Analysis series is meant to be contemporaneous piece developed as an agglomeration of my notebook pages. In each of these posts I used my notes to develop my recent thoughts.

At the Welfare League

On the twenty-eighth of November I wrote that the ride to Santa Rosa was fine after San Rafael.  The driver had a buddy from his platoon in the seat behind him.  We arrived at four and had coffee.  I was frustrated.  We looked in at the Welfare League but had to settle for Hot Couture where I found a tweedish suit that was near what I wanted.

We picked up some lights and rode to my friend’s mom’s. Her sister had brought her boyfriend and they greeted us at the door.  I settled in to watch a bit of a James Bond film with the man of the house while the ladies made dinner.  Later I cut yams.  The rest of the TV watching was really terrible.  Thankfully I sat down with my sparkling wine to eat a meal heavy with veggies only a moment later.

The girls had a pretty involved discussion and everyone really enjoyed the kale and couscous.  After the meal there was more TV and the ladies did dishes until I took them away.  My friend used that moment as an excuse to take the guests home and was left alone with the TV. That went on until the beginning of a Hawaii 5.0 episode.  Much later we sat discussing things.  I remembered that there was a lot of discussion over family that I had not anticipated, especially the last evening’s dinner.  We said good night around then.

In the morning my brother texted me and my friend and I met him at Flying Goat a few minutes after he had arrived.  Over coffee he recounted how his life affected by his tiny log cabin in Oregon.  He also told us that how his wife’s in Louisiana would allow him to organize his stuff.  

When he left, we returned to see her mom.  She wanted to know what some Chinese meant so I missed out on reviewing some of the Hawaii photos.  I had another cup of coffee before the TV came on.  I had determined we would need to go at ten so we packed up and said goodbye.

The ride down the bike path to the bus stop was easy.  The place where the bikes went on the bus though was different than we were used to.  I folded my bike up and the driver yelled at me about it.  

I wrote for a while and called my sister.  At San Rafael we had been looking at the paths dreaming and looking at wifi when shift change brought some girls on chewing gum.  We switched seats.  The view from the bridge was lovely.  At Van Ness we got ready and on Golden Gate we got no help when we disembarked.

We went to Hayes and locked up.  We had Greek sausage and fries with sparkling wine.  Later we went to gather for some SF Made stuff and talked Tweed.  Later we walked to the bikes, packed and headed to Charlie’s then where we unpacked and lazed around.

I had planned on meeting my older sister in the Sunset but her husband called and said to come to the younger sister’s house instead.  I took the Wiggle home and then walked and ran to the train.  When I got in I was ten minutes late for dinner.

When we sat down to eat my brother-in-law and Dad talked about the house.  I was the butt of some of their jokes.  However, I did learn that dad stopped bringing the family to his parent’s house when I got older and that his mother didn’t much enjoy my presence.  I thought that made sense considering my mother’s mom.

The kids had a magic show then.  I noted that I no longer fit in.  The kids were not little anymore.  I was weirded out by their organization.  I thought they were still too young and underdeveloped to be entertaining to anyone other than their parents but they were still capable of stealing the show.  I walked in when the boys had finished the show and literally disappeared.  That was when my eldest niece did a card trick and I noted that the younger one had run out of the room crying.

After that I sat with the parents and sisters talking about the past few days.  My sisters had been with my brother the night before.  My younger sister was still recovering from that night.  I tried on an old jacket as the parents were leaving,  

This is an occasional series chronicling my life. This Notebook Analysis series is meant to be contemporaneous piece developed as an agglomeration of my notebook pages. In each of these posts I used my notes to develop my recent thoughts.

Sat in The Square

On the twenty-seventh of November I wrote that I was up at 930 on Thanksgiving and tried out Blue Bottle but they were closed.  My friend and I went to Ritual and sat in the square.  We walked back to her place later and made breakfast with her roommate.  He said he would wait to prepare Thanksgiving dishes because he was leaving later.  When we were nearly done with the broccoli we did dishes and were ready to go.  

We walked to Church, put money on Clipper and hopped a K with some interesting characters.  We switched at West Portal and made it to my sister’s about ten minutes late for the party.  the family was at the door but my brother was in the kitchen.  I stole my nephew’s seat and had a drink.  We whipped cream and later I sat in the living room.  My niece turned into a performance.  

It was only a short bit later that we sat down for dinner.  We were given place tags and there were pictures of turkeys at each spot.  I stole the chocolate from the table and my neice screamed about that until she got it back.  The yams were good and my friend provided us with tarts and chia.

By the time the Scrabble game had made it past the first round my friend was basically playing my hand even though she had not been interested in playing.  She had played a couple of good hands but my brother’s second word was too good.  When the game was almost done I started looking at the images I had posted to FB and noted that quite a few people had seen my images.

On the next day I went to Four Barrel with my friend in the morning and had a cup.  Her roommate let us know later that he wanted a cup so we brought him a bunch.  Later I shot the breeze for a bit in the living room until it was time to pack for our trip to Santa Rosa.

I got the Brompton and put stuff in my saddle bag.  My friend had a lot of veggies for us.  We passed a cop on Market and toot Polk to Macallister.  The bus driver yelled at me because the Brompton was rather bulky but he got off at San Rafael. The new driver was easier to deal with and I was able to re-seat myself in a place where I could see my friend’s bike.

This is an occasional series chronicling my life. This Notebook Analysis series is meant to be contemporaneous piece developed as an agglomeration of my notebook pages. In each of these posts I used my notes to develop my recent thoughts.

Ironed Out the Melodrama

On the twenty-fifth of November I had to run for the train and at DC I went home.  It was dark and cold.  I had dinner with the parents but immediately had trouble interacting with them.  Dad thought I was upset about the ticket I had received in the mail.  I ironed out the melodrama before I went to my room alone and did work.  Later I came upstairs again after all the activity upstairs had calmed down and watched TV for an hour before going to bed.

In the morning of the day that I wrote this I got up at 930 and started looking through my stuff to identify things I needed for my day: a pair of pants and a book for my friend.  I had to check with mom so waited upstairs before returning to the room to tidy up.

I rode to Nomad then and they told me to straighten my derailleur.  I rode to Page and down to Noe where I went to Peets and had some coffee while looking for followers.  Later I went to Best Buy and looked at phones and laptops.  Later I put my bike away and interacted with my friend’s roommate.  He was finishing up with the phone company guy.  It had taken four hours to install a new wifi system.  We talked about the shopping he needed.  When he left I took the foldie to the shop and then went to Whole Foods where I got a lot of food.  I even had to stop at Safeway.  I dropped the food off and then got the bike.

I rode to the Embarcadero and noted that the ride was a bit tedious.  I noted too that my friend was there waiting for me.  After a brief discussion of later plans we decided to pay her roommate a visit at work on Geary.  I noted that that ride was only a bit easier.  He was getting into work.  We talked to the people and on the way out I stopped at the liquor store before we rode to Hyde.

Back at my friend’s house I spoke to my brother on the phone and I went and found him near Market.  We hung out eating leek soup.  Later my friend’s roommate did her comedy hour.

Eventually my brother and I went to visit the Residence.  We looked at the bike mural on the way.  No Country for Old Men was playing.  We had some Anchor and I told him my job was alright but I glossed over things.  Later he said stuff about his life.  I knew he wasn’t thrilled about some stuff.

We tried to go into the Church Street station and the trains were not running.  I was pissed because nether Next Bus or the regular schedule said anything.

This is an occasional series chronicling my life. This Notebook Analysis series is meant to be contemporaneous piece developed as an agglomeration of my notebook pages. In each of these posts I used my notes to develop my recent thoughts.

The Yuba River Bridge

In the morning of the twenty-third of November I woke with a start and sat in the bed.  I knew I would go to sleep if I lay down again.  Amtrak sent me a message saying the train was late.  We got ready to go and rode to the station.  We stood in the middle of the platform but ended up moving a couple of times before boarding from the center of the platform.  The conductor didn’t have our names because we had purchased our tickets at eleven the night before.

On board we had to stuff our bikes in places and the conductor took our information before sending us to the lounge.  There we broke out the whisky as a second conductor approached.  He asked us for a ticket and the first one entered to say we were ok.  My companion tethered my iPod and we looked at photos for a while.  Eventually, we could see out the window because there were lights on some of the buildings.  I saw the Yuba River Bridge.

We moved to the east side of the train when Sacramento came up and the train stopped for about 45 minutes.  I got us coffee and when the train was making to leave I checked on the dining car and got my companion and I a seat.  Initially she wanted to talk about organizing tweed and other things but we had a visitor from Bernal Heights.  She found us very interesting.  She and I had the special and my companion had the omlette.

When we were done I left my companion alone for a minute to read her book.  A bit later the two of us ended up sitting in business class.  The conductor came by and let us stay.  I immediately fell asleep and when I came to we were nearing Emeryville and would have to get off the train soon.

We went to find our bikes and talked to the conductor about accents.  When we got off we bundled our things and tried to escape the fumes in the station so we could fold our bikes back together.We had missed the ferry so went to a coffee shop called Modern near 12th.  In the meantime my companion’s roommate had let us know that the handyman had come by so we headed to BART to catch him.

At Civic Center we rode to the apartment and up.  My companion paid him and we unpacked.   Later we went for a walk through Duboce Park to Divis and looked at some shops.  I also passed some time at Walgreens and and read a bit from a copy of the MIT tech review.  I read a few pages from an article titled “Who Owns the Robots” and realized that there was absolutely no discussion of robot ownership.

I tried to show my companion the kitchen store but it was closed.  So instead we looked into a couple of other shops and even traced the labyrinth in Duboce Park before going to the natural foods store.  Later I kicked off my shoes and started writing while she made pasta and salad for me.  We wrote up a list of bike rides to take: Pt Reyes, Santa Cruz, Gilroy (SJ and Palasades), Antiques (Napa, Sonoma), Henry Coe, SF Tweed, Chico Tweed, Sac Tweed, Folsom or Zephyr, Lady’s Ride and the Seer Sucker.  I noted that listing of writing them would save time but they really needed to grow or build organically.

This is an occasional series chronicling my life. This Notebook Analysis series is meant to be contemporaneous piece developed as an agglomeration of my notebook pages. In each of these posts I used my notes to develop my recent thoughts.

Plus Four Riding Suits

On the twenty second of November I wrote that I had finished writing and made ready to leave home.  I went to say bye to dad and he told me to wait for mom.  She was in a bit later.  Later I wrote that I took Irving and continued to Page Street, Guerrero and Duboce.  At my my companion’s I had to wind down to eat dinner, which was squash, chevre and kale salad.  Later I had to wind up for the trip to Chico.

It turned out our train was late so we sat through two Monty Python episodes before riding to our borrowed foldable bikes to Civic Center.  We missed a Pittsburgh train and considered West Oakland but settled for riding  Broadway from 12th to Jack London Square.  We tried a winery and the bowling alley before settling on a hotel restaurant for a beer.  We had to spend about a half an hour in the station before the Coast Starlight arrived around 1.

On the train the conductors had a problem with the girl across the way.  She was really loud but was headed to Sacramento so it was alright.  There was no wifi so I walked around the train while my companion was sleeping.  We were cold but did get a bit of sleep during the six hour ride.

At Chico we rode to our motel and took a four hour nap.  We were left by 10 and went to Naked Cafe where we interacted with a guy in tweed and watched college students while drinking coffee.  Then we rode to the square for the Chico Tweed ride and stood with our friends from Sacramento while discussing London plus four riding suits and breits-- a type of pant cuff with buttons.

The organizer said a few words and then the sponsor, a radio station, did too.  I rode away from the square with a lady and a few others headed for Bridwell.  I then took a seat at the lead of the ride and count about 450 riders.  I followed from behind and saw a pair siblings who were also from Sacramento.  I led them to five mile and eventually found my companion and the others.

They had a blanket out with tea and a lot of snacks.  I had a bit of bubbly and then some crackers and tea.  Later I treated them to some port I found on the blanket.  While we were talking one of the siblings found us the perfect spot for the coming photos and she was able to wrap a few of the organizers into a smaller group pic. We also talked a guy named who had a dog and asked why I had been counting.

I went for a walk to catch my breath and my companion and I took rides on a tandem where the stoker was backwards.  Later we promised an older couple that we would show them our foldables.  After saying thank you to the organizers we returned and the couple actually rode the bikes a bit.  After that a local lead us to Chapmantown via Humboldt and the bike underpass.

On the way I met a few more locals.  Our groups parted but one of the siblings was left behind so his sister and I had to go back to get him.  Later on Humboldt I met still another well dressed local who said she knew an alternate route to Sierra Nevada Brewery.

When we arrived at the brewery one of my Sacramento friends wanted to fold my bike and then took it inside.  Once in there I spied a table that we tried to sit at but we took a bigger table instead.  There were nine of us once our new found lady friends appeared and I pretty quickly fell into conversation with one of them about her background in geography and education.

It was around then that I went over to the bar and got to know some mechanics who told me to stop by their shop near the Christmas faire downtown that night.  About ten of us headed that way once my acquaintance from Sacramento had unfolded my bike and the rest of us had mounted.  We broke up at the faire and my companion and I parked our bikes at the valet before heading to to Duffy’s.

A little later I left our small group to check out the bike shop I had heard about at the brewery.  There I met still more interesting people.  They gave me a beverage and I talked to one of them about a local business.  I gave one of them my pin.

I found my companion near the antique store and then we went to a store but our Sacramento friends had to go.  The siblings went with us then to Madison Bear Garden where they told us about their backgrounds.  We left them a little later and went to our motel.  I had forgotten to get train tickets so after calling Amtrak I ended up packing till late.

This is an occasional series chronicling my life. This Notebook Analysis series is meant to be contemporaneous piece developed as an agglomeration of my notebook pages. In each of these posts I used my notes to develop my recent thoughts.

Morphed into a Plenary

On the nineteenth of November I wrote that I had left the day before at 330 and got the bike before heading to Berkeley.  I climbed to Mulford and parked and sat in a classroom.  The talk was about dengue.  Afterwards I walked around looking at posters before sitting through a few more sessions.

I sat with colleagues and afterwards introduced myself to a well known academic.  Later I was introduced to someone I needed to meet.  I suggested we meet sometime.  I talked to a few others before returning to the presentations, which had morphed into a plenary of six groups with one question at the end (mine).

I got the guys to meet up at Jupiter with a group moderator.  I fed them pizza and we talked shop.  A couple of us went to Civic Center after that and then I rode to my friend’s place where I had some great conversation and watched an episode of Dr Who.

This is an occasional series chronicling my life. This Notebook Analysis series is meant to be contemporaneous piece developed as an agglomeration of my notebook pages. In each of these posts I used my notes to develop my recent thoughts.

Boneshaker

On the fifteenth of November I wrote that I finished typing and told my freind i was headed to her house.  I organized my bikes and got my extra jacket.  I rode to Judah thinking I needed to fill the Trucker’s tires.  I caught an N shuttle and rode to 9th from where I rode my bike.  I brought my bike in and she was making spaghetti squash and finishing preparations for the Tweed Ride.

In the morning of the day that I wrote this I was up at 830 and around 1030.  I met my friend at Patricia’s Green.  She was with the previous years prize winners.  I started talking to a participant about his boneshaker.  An acquaintance came by and I introduced them to each other.  A lot of people showed up around then.  I listed out a few people in my mind but had a hard time remembering names.

We rode to Grove and I noted that a few people hadn’t arrived.  We rode to Polk then.  I noted that some stragglers had had trouble but we had made it to Polk and Post.  Two people sent me messages and that caused me no end of troubles.

We topped out at Leavenworth and descended to Union Square and made it through to Market--one of the participants and I stopped traffic at Post and Kearny using these signs that my friend had made.  She did some dangerous stuff on Post using them and I told her that I would take care of those things while sweeping.

On Market one of the photographers pointed out that a participant had a popped tire and I tried to help them with it but was not quite successful.  That was when several of the stragglers showed up.  the participant sent the group of us to the next stop-- the Market Street Railway Museum-- and said he would see us soon.  When we arrived at the plaza I fretted about it until I noted that his friends had retrieved him.

My friend and another person had parked in a funny place.  The group went to do the museum tour.  I had tea with one of the previous year’s prize winners and shot the breeze with an organizer until my friend went across the way to the Ferry Building to meet some others.  Later I watched the bikes with some acquaintances.

When my friend returned we went to pier 14 to take a group photo.  I was worried about the bikes but some lady was there watching.  I left a bit early to go ride the Embarcadero and rode slowly until the leadership took over.  I talked to acquaintances as we rode around AT&T park and I got to know a few others.  We passed through Willie Mays and then headed down Townsend.  Later we went all the way around showplace circle and I occupied as much space as possible--even walking at times-- to send the message to motorists on 13th.  There were a few cops and even an ambulance in a couple of places as we crossed from the protected lanes and headed up Harrison.

We went to twenty-second and I stopped a couple of times to stay with people when they had troubles.  In one place a motorcyclist yelled at a guy.  I followed in the back for a few blocks but headed to the front when my friend took over as sweep.

My piano playing freidn had been inside trying to make the piano work but the bartender nixed the idea.  Others were waiting at the bar as well.  I bought a few of us a toast and then we all got to know each other.  I even tried to give one of the photographers a tweed jacket.

After I had a sandwich I saw the MC Sandra and she bought me and my friend a drink.  They went to the podium.  Later I stepped out for a breather as the room had become pretty loud with clapping and stood with a new acquaintance when I came back in.  I gave the winners a hug and then hung out with the photographer.

I ended up standing with the boneshaker for a while and then went back inside to stand with the photographer for a bit.  Later I took photos of with the ladies.  As the afternoon died down I sat with my riding partner and buddy drinking beer beer.  When the last couple was getting ready to go my friend and I them to Octavia.  I had a bag on my arm and that was really cumbersome but the rest of the ride was alright.

Back at my friend’s place I wrote up the day's experience and then we got the bikes and went to Winterfest.  At the valet on Mission there was a band playing and the leader had been on the Tweed Ride.  He waved at us.

We dropped our bikes and went inside.  One canvasser was at the door and warned us about the board vote.  We saw a Tweed Ride person as we entered.  I got a new membership and we dropped our coats off.  We said hi to the art curators and got a small meal.  We had sat next to a lady my friend knew from Tango.  After that we went to get beers and made pictures.  We caught people I knew from the Tweed ride and the bike valet there.

We were trying to look at the art displays but kept bumping into people that we knew.  We formed a Tweed knot for a while and I talked to a valet on break.  Eventually, we crossed the floor interacting with more people until we were able to look at the art curator’s piece of Cesar Chavez.  That was where we bumped into other friends.

When the announcements began I fell into a conversation with a teacher I knew and I told him I would email him.  We had another drink then and started to leave but bumped into a freind who I gave my last nickel to.

This is an occasional series chronicling my life. This Notebook Analysis series is meant to be contemporaneous piece developed as an agglomeration of my notebook pages. In each of these posts I used my notes to develop my recent thoughts.