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November 21, 2005
Indian Winter
Last night i made a list of all the places i'd like to move to, and the reasons why i wanted to move to those places. mostly those reasons had to do with being closer to friends or learning new languages.
Seems i'm always trying to figure out where to go next. i guess i get restless or worried i'll settle somewhere and not keep exploring. That said, San Francisco is treating me so well these days, i feel ungrateful to be thinking about wanting to move away. the last week and a half has felt like the summer we didn't get in August, with clear skies, t-shirt and shorts weather, tons of parties, and the nicest conditions for bike riding i can remember. My new job is working out well and i'm happy there, and everyday i work someone tells me how lucky i am not be stuck in an office. usually i smile and agree, but i know i'll be singing a different song in a few weeks when it's raining like hell and i'm soaked to the bone from the minute i walk out my door until i come home and throw my soggy clothes in the dryer. not gonna think about that now.
going to Reno on Thursday for Thanksgiving, looking forward to seeing the family and hanging out with all the other Reno kids who moved away and who i only see on holidays.
this japanese guy yodeled and sang country songs. colin loves him.
180 capri suns, injected with vodka. i drank more then a few. peter looks silly in this photo.
cyclocross race in Golden Gate Park.
why don't i live in the mission? it's a good question. this little girl looked happy eating her popsicle.
the romance of the unicorn and the narwhale.
Posted by bendan at 07:43 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
November 17, 2005
looming judge alito
Posted by bendan at 07:09 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
November 13, 2005
welcome to the family
so yesterday i got my new bike. it's a de bernardi track frame, and i'm quite excited about it. last night i went to this party at the one year anniversary of boxdog bike store, and my friends were all keen on how pretty the bike is, i felt like a parent taking a newborn for a stroll. i managed to reuse the seat, the handlebars, the stem, the lockring and the front wheel from my old bike, so the only stuff i purchased new were the frame, the bottom bracket (i splurged and went with phil wood), the cranks and the rear wheel. this means that i have a little less then half my settlement left, and i think i'm gonna get a new laptop next week. once i get these purchased out of the way, i can begin saving in earnest for whatever trip i decide to do over the winter, the first rain day last week at work made me remember that SF is much better appreciated from abroad during the rain months, abroad meaning from a warm beach somewhere.
forgot to mention, started my new job last monday at Jetset Courier. Jetset is a much smaller company then the 2 others i'd worked for previously, and it operates a bit differently. whereas before i had a dispatcher telling me where to go to pick up and drop off stuff, at Jetset they have an open radio channel, and someone reads the deliveries, or tags, over the channel. the riders all should know who is closest to each of the pickups, and then call over the open channel for the tags and plan their own runs. it's a much more cooperative atmosphere, for instance if i am in the mission with a delivery for the point, and someone else is south of market heading for a downtown delivery and a point delivery, we will plan to meet somewhere in between and they will hand off the point delivery to me. it will take me a bit more time to become comfortable processing the stream of information, ideally at any given point i can tell you where i'm going, how much time my tags have left on them, where the other 3 or 4 riders are, where they're heading, and how much time they have. combine this with the dispatcher preferring to read the business name as opposed to the street adress over the radio, and i figure i'll need a couple weeks to a month before i'm adept at the system. that said, i improved a ton from monday to friday, and i'm looking forward to going back to work tomorrow. the open call makes messengering much more complex, and much more interesting.
Posted by bendan at 09:18 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
November 03, 2005
settled my claim.
after being all stressed out about getting compensated for my old bike, i finally had the money conversation with the property claims adjustor today. my claim was for 2,400$, and she said they only wanted to give me 1,980$. i told her i needed at least 2,200$, and finally we settled on 2,100$. it's a fair sum, i'll be able to get a nice new bike out of it. still wish i had my old bike though.
i'll post photos of the new bike soon as i get it.
also, i'm doing this thing called streetwars. check it out, it looks like a ton of fun. i'm gonna be carlos the jackelope.
Posted by bendan at 06:40 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack