Sunday, March 1, 2015

New Notebook

On the thirteenth of February I wrote that my last notebook started in October of 2014 and ended two days before I wrote this.  I noted that in the beginning I was working in Walnut Creek, where we were doing case studies.  I got to know a guy from the Centerlines group on the bus when it rained one day.  I was eating at Park Chow on the way home from work regularly and the World Series was on.  I got laid off at the end of the year.

I spent a lot of time in North Beach and saw a high school friend a lot.  I went to Car Free Happy Hour in December and had gingerbread cookies.  One night after work a bike party friend and I hung out at Latin America and then Shotwell’s and afterwards I went to Uptown and talked about Geography with a middle school teacher.

Over Christmas I played Scrabble with the family a few times.  I rode my bike to Corta Madera to REI once.  I went to the Jazz Center to see Duke Ellington performed.  I went to the Edwardian Ball and thrift stores.  I ended up having a lot of interviews and talked a lot about FME.

Over the week before I wrote this I had just returned from Soda Springs, where I had gotten to know new friends.  I had interacted with recruiters a few times.  Then two nights before I wrote this I had taken the closet in my room apart

I was in a rush to meet an old coworker for dinner.  I rode the Surly to the Park and then to Civic Center via Grove.  I noted that the traffic is different in the evenings.  I transferred at Mac and went to a restaurant on the Ohlone trail at Gilman.  It was a for a Brazilian style biergarten.  We did some catch up and I learned that we had applied for the same job but he was clearly a mathc for it.  I related to him the stories regarding my applications.

Both had been canceled and they had all been suggested and even lightly guaranteed to me.  Nearly 30 jobs were canceled.  I noted that it was likely because of the regulator stepping down and told him that his skepticism was warranted.  I learned that he had consulted for a job that I knew a lot about.  Apparently he is the only GIS guy in his company.  I thought that was terrible.  We discussed my replacement and how he was a terrible worker.

By this time my friend had sent a lot of messages to me about meeting at the dance club and so I said goodbye making a comment in passing about a bike ride.  I was late.  I rode from 24th.  She had sat out the class she had signed up for but it was because had had misgivings.  We danced to the band afterwards and it was fun.

I had coffee the next morning on Valencia at 18th and was ambivalent about going to the SFTRU event.  I rode to Central Coffee.  I posted a lot about the mandatory helmet legislation—that got me followers.  I read the paper and went home.

I put the room together over the next few hours.  I made a valentines.  I called a friend to say that I would in fact go on the crawl.  I ate dinner with the parents and then stopped by the sister’s house to drop something off.  I rode to West Portal, caught a 48 to Clipper and rode down 28th to El Rio.  I saw a lot of people there.  I interacted with the old ED for Sunday Streets about interacting with Gavin Newsom as a Green.  We agreed to interact via email.

I then followed the group up to St Mary’s bar and it was obvious that the bartender was waiting for them.  I interacted with my friend there about his blog and we got to know the SFTRU interim director.  The organization’s staffer handed out prizes and spoke to the crowd.  I made a donation.  I saw a guy I had met at a happy hour then and then got to know a cyclist.  We rode to the final bar—Pissed Off Pete’s.

There I talked to a guy about Chicago and about a NIMBY Conference.  I learned that one of the group had need for a GIS person—in Sri Lnaka.  I had been passing out flyers all night and the staff noticed.  That was when I said that they needed to make a better push at upping membership and provided ideas.  I left the bike at Glen Park and then took the bus to Lincoln where I transferred to an N.  I was in bed at 100.


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.

No comments:

Post a Comment