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drive-by posting
Apr. 23rd, 2010 02:17 pmHad a successful bike move. Was very surreal seeing twenty-seven people, all carrying my stuff (on trailers, cargo bikes, racks...).
Advantage of sitting in front window of Bipartisan Cafe in order to use wifi: seeing good-looking people arrive at bike corral (definition: a former car parking space now taken up with bike racks) to lock up. Also: Vegan pie!! Had strawberry-rhubarb. Nom nom nom.
Disadvantage: light very bright. May get a headache from squinting at screen. Plus, I end up drinking an iced coffee, which means I'm bouncing off the walls.
Pluses to the laptop I own (which I got for Christmas a couple years ago): Big screen!
Minuses: Insanely heavy. Ugh.
Pros of not having internet access at home: finally getting around to reading overdue library books. Spending more time unpacking/cleaning.
Cons: Feeling out of the loop. I hate that. Also, it means I have to carry it to the Bipartisan Cafe in order to check my email. Have I mentioned that it's heavy?
Last night I told some chorus people that I feel like I'm playing house--I have never lived with just a significant other, in a place that's new to both of us. They pointed out that in a way, I am playing house.
Speaking of chorus, it's 7 miles from my house to rehearsal. I took the max train home, since the 102nd stop is pretty close to my new place, and it's pretty much entirely uphill on the way home. Although....damn, Stark out past I-205 suddenly turns really seedy. And I wonder if I shouldn't light myself up the way people do who bicycle in the suburbs. In inner Portland, a headlight + taillight and I feel fine. Out near I-205 at night, I feel like I should cover myself and my bike with things that blink. Everyone is driving so fast on Stark! WTF. It's not a highway, people.
I don't ride on Stark that often, don't worry. Mostly I take Yamhill or Mill, which both are residential, but have lights at 82nd.
When waiting in the left part of the lane for the light to turn at 92nd (I was even signaling a left turn), after the light went green, the guy behind me yelled, "You're not a car!" NO SHIT, SHERLOCK. I need to get one of those stickers that says "Bicycles have right to full use of lane" with the ORS number and stick it somewhere, like the back of my helmet, so people behind me in cars can see it. Gah! I know I shouldn't let idiots like that bother me, and as someone pointed out--if they yell at you, at least it means they saw you--but jeezus, the ignorance, it burns.
Did my administrative stuff for the Census job. Insanely tedious. Had to swear to uphold the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic, so help me god. Filled out eighty pages of paperwork and got fingerprinted. It was like being at the DMV in some ways (paperwork, waiting in lines, boring office, huge variety of people), except it suddenly occurred to me that I was surrounded by people that had all demonstrated a specific amount of intelligence, since we all had to get perfect scores on the exam to even be there.
Advantage of sitting in front window of Bipartisan Cafe in order to use wifi: seeing good-looking people arrive at bike corral (definition: a former car parking space now taken up with bike racks) to lock up. Also: Vegan pie!! Had strawberry-rhubarb. Nom nom nom.
Disadvantage: light very bright. May get a headache from squinting at screen. Plus, I end up drinking an iced coffee, which means I'm bouncing off the walls.
Pluses to the laptop I own (which I got for Christmas a couple years ago): Big screen!
Minuses: Insanely heavy. Ugh.
Pros of not having internet access at home: finally getting around to reading overdue library books. Spending more time unpacking/cleaning.
Cons: Feeling out of the loop. I hate that. Also, it means I have to carry it to the Bipartisan Cafe in order to check my email. Have I mentioned that it's heavy?
Last night I told some chorus people that I feel like I'm playing house--I have never lived with just a significant other, in a place that's new to both of us. They pointed out that in a way, I am playing house.
Speaking of chorus, it's 7 miles from my house to rehearsal. I took the max train home, since the 102nd stop is pretty close to my new place, and it's pretty much entirely uphill on the way home. Although....damn, Stark out past I-205 suddenly turns really seedy. And I wonder if I shouldn't light myself up the way people do who bicycle in the suburbs. In inner Portland, a headlight + taillight and I feel fine. Out near I-205 at night, I feel like I should cover myself and my bike with things that blink. Everyone is driving so fast on Stark! WTF. It's not a highway, people.
I don't ride on Stark that often, don't worry. Mostly I take Yamhill or Mill, which both are residential, but have lights at 82nd.
When waiting in the left part of the lane for the light to turn at 92nd (I was even signaling a left turn), after the light went green, the guy behind me yelled, "You're not a car!" NO SHIT, SHERLOCK. I need to get one of those stickers that says "Bicycles have right to full use of lane" with the ORS number and stick it somewhere, like the back of my helmet, so people behind me in cars can see it. Gah! I know I shouldn't let idiots like that bother me, and as someone pointed out--if they yell at you, at least it means they saw you--but jeezus, the ignorance, it burns.
Did my administrative stuff for the Census job. Insanely tedious. Had to swear to uphold the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic, so help me god. Filled out eighty pages of paperwork and got fingerprinted. It was like being at the DMV in some ways (paperwork, waiting in lines, boring office, huge variety of people), except it suddenly occurred to me that I was surrounded by people that had all demonstrated a specific amount of intelligence, since we all had to get perfect scores on the exam to even be there.
