visiting: San Francisco, Folsom, and Monterey

I’ve been wicked tired since going to San Francisco (two weeks ago now). As soon as I got back, both my work and my social lives picked up their paces.

San Francisco was great: I got to go sailing on the Alma (more) out in the Bay with Brendan and his dad and a whole bunch of other people, we walked up, down, and over the city, and had donuts at “Chinese & Donuts” in the Mission. I missed two busses getting back, and was so tired on Monday that I was late to work on Thursday. Also, we pretty much missed the bluegrass festival, because of laziness and my Greyhound schedule.

Both of my main projects at work are really exciting. Before I went to SF I was feeling like it was dragging. It has picked up since then, maybe a little too much as I am not done with a project (the website) I fully expected to have something to show for this Thursday. On the other hand, I’ve been working with two other people on putting together a searchable database of inclusionary housing policies from California communities. The three of us were meeting about it, and my supervisor was sitting at the table eating a piece of cake, and during a pause in a conversation he said, “man, I will be so happy when this is done, it will be so useful, I will use it every day.” Or something. Whatever he actually said, it turned an exciting project into an even more exciting project.

I had a big plan to go on a long bikeride this weekend. It didn’t turn out as long as I wanted. I took the light rail out to Folsom, where there are hills! Hills are why I can’t imagine getting a fixed gear bike: why should I limit my not-at-peak-fitness self to the flats? It was 80 degrees and still, with hills covered in long yellow grass like in Westerns, and I biked out for about an hour. In Folsom itself there was a short, steep hill, then later there were one or two longish steepish hills, but by and large it seemed reasonable. There were some spots that seemed like the road went down. But after the hour I stopped for lunch, and turned around. It turned out that I had been going uphill for the entire hour. As I started down the hill, I was muttering “sweet…” and “yeah!” but soon enough I tried out a tiny “yee haw”; by the end of the grade, it turned into “YEEEEE HAW!” I think the whole ride turned out to be something like 15 miles. I did not make it to the apple cider donuts that I have been so obsessed with.

For the end of this week, my work is holding a summit on rural housing. I will be down in Monterey Wednesday afternoon through Friday. On Friday, I am going to San Francisco again. I’ll be back to Sacramento on Sunday.