Sparky's back!

Maybe you've noticed that I'm smiling a lot more these days -- Could it be because Sparky's back?

I told him (and everyone) that things would have been a lot easier if we had met after about six months on my own. It turns out, I was wrong; I only needed three. Yay, Sparky!

We just got back from two weeks of fun, including family time in Denver, a visit from my sister and a side trip with her to Yosemite, and then almost a week in Provincetown and Boston. It was way more fun than any two people deserve to have!!

Now that I'm back I need to hunker down and get some work done, but I'll try and get some posts up about the trip real soon now.

The fat makes you look fat, Peg

Is it possible that my love handles look bigger now that I've lost ten pounds, because fat in easier-to-lose places has disappeared? Or are my love handles actually bigger now?

I hate you, mirror.

Still Getting Things Done

Wow, I finally caved in and dealt with the piles of paper accumulated on my desk at work today. I moved everything into one giant "inbox" which was about two feet tall, no exaggeration. And then went through EVERYTHING and tossed, categorized, or filed every. last. piece.

I now have a completely clean desk, for the first time in at least a year.

And worth a chuckle: While throwing out old to-do lists, I found one from when I moved into my new apartment: 1)Buy flatscreen TV; 2)Buy wireless router; 3)Setup computer; 4)Test poppers & porn

Manzanita Franciscana

This past winter, they found a one-of-a-kind plant in the Presidio that was thought to be extinct. Today, gossip columnists in SF Gate complained that my agency spent "taxpayer dollars" to move it to a safer location.

"Money may not grow on trees, but it sure cost taxpayers a bundle to move a bush that was found growing in the path of the Doyle Drive rebuild."

I cannot tell you how much this irks me. Check out the original article in the same paper, describing the botanist's joy of finding a plant thought utterly extinct for 60 years, just growing by the side of the Golden Gate Bridge. Funny how just a few months can change people.

I hope that little bush finds a new friend and makes lots of baby bushes for our roadside. San Francisco is a better place for it, and Matier and Ross can just suck it.

Car Shedding

Today at work, we were talking about strategies to encourage "Car Shedding" — getting households that currently own cars to sell them. In SF this usually means either a two-car household going down to one, or a one-car household going completely car-free.

It wasn't lost on me or my coworkers that I am a prime candidate for car shedding behavior.

• I own a car;
• It's old (I've had it for eleven years);
• I don't have a parking space at home
• I don't commute with it, since I usually bike to work and otherwise walk or take Muni;
• Both ZipCar and City Car Share have pods within just a few blocks of my house.

I constantly have to shuffle Kitty around to avoid street cleaning tickets. I even think that more than 50% of the times that I start her engine, it is to merely move her a few blocks to avoid a street cleaning ticket.

So, why do I still have my car? Yes, it was paid off years ago and I'm only paying insurance, gas, and maintenance. But seriously, on most days it's more hassle to worry about street cleaning when I get home at night than the benefit of being able to pick up my dry cleaning on Saturday without first reserving a ZipCar online (which takes about 30 seconds).

So, why do I still have my car? When I move later this year, I'm going to reconsider this.

Getting closer!

In my continuing saga to find a new place to hang my hat, I finally found a spot this past weekend that almost fit the bill.

Granted, I really wanted a view, a top-floor flat, and a deck, but apparently those things are way out of my price range. What I found instead was a flat in a new-ish building on the best street in the Mission (just down from LaLo, Mission Minis, and Boogaloos, for those of you who know 22nd Street), with a great kitchen and fabulous clearly-designed-by-a-gay-man bathrooms.

Looks like this one isn't going to work out, but after three months of househunting, to finally find something almost within my reach — with almost everything I wanted — is almost something to be happy about!

Pants pants pants

Today was the third day that I had to use the next hole in my belt; the first couple times I figured it was just a fluke. Now I think it's for real: I'm back to a 34" waist. I have no illusions that I'll ever hit 32" again, but this is a big improvement. Even my 36's were getting awfully tight this winter.

So, time for new pants! I've lost 10 pounds in six weeks, which I hope is slow and steady enough that my metabolism will keep the pounds off as long as I continue the exercise. I just wonder if I should keep these fat pants around in case I lapse. Crossing fingers.

Bay to Breakers 2010

So a funny thing happened Wednesday night. I flew back from the big conference in Arizona, only to realize that I had left my bike at Sparky's house the weekend before. I had to pick it up immediately, because a whole gaggle of coworkers had agreed to meet me Thursday morning for the annual BIKE TO WORK DAY. I convinced them all to go to my favorite diner "Boogaloos" at 8am for early breakfast and mimosas before we all biked into work together. (I know... mimosas before the office, but hey it's only once a year!)

The problem was, I had already told a friend I would meet him out that night to hear his DJ set straight from the Belgian clubs circa 1988-1990. Serious narrowcasting, yes, but it was his gig and I did actually enjoy that music the first time around, so I figured "why not?". Michalis (a friend from work) came with, and Sparky tagged along as well. We got to drinking... and then all of the sudden we had agreed to run this damn 12k race together that Sunday. As in, a 12k race in just four days with no training. Of course I had no intention of actually running, I just thought we were drunkplanning. As in, notplanning.

Bay to Breakers is a 7.5 mile (12k) race from the downtown SF bay waterfront all the way to the ocean breakers, hence the race name. This was the third time I've run the race; neither Sparky nor Michalis had ever run it. It's more of a street party than a race; it's more an excuse to drink early on a Sunday morning, in a tiger costume or perhaps completely naked, than a real run. It's a bit of a San Francisco tradition, too, this being the 99th year of the race!

Anyhooo, I've been running like a fiend at the gym since Sparky and I broke up at the beginning of April, so I didn't actually think this was going to be a tough race. And lo and behold, all three of us managed to run the entire race without stopping or walking, although we did lose track of Michalis at the beginning but found him again on one of the curves.

It was a great day. After the race we had burgers and beers in the Sunset, and other than Sparky losing his house keys somewhere along the way, I think we managed to pull off the whole spectacle without a hitch.

I can't wait for the 100th annual race, next May. Time to start planning my ouchfit...

Phoenix Liveblogging

Welcome to Arizona! I've heard Phoenix is like Los Angeles without Hollywood or the beach. So far... well, it's not quite THAT bad.

I arrived yesterday, here for four days to present some transportation research at the "Innovations in Travel Modeling" conference. My first experience was in the cab ride to the conference hotel, and the cabbie said he hates it here and is moving to Chicago next week. According to him, more than 40 conferences have cancelled due to the draconian anti-immigrant law that was passed last week, and he can't get any business. I was his third fare in 14 hours. He may have been exaggerating about the fare, but he was definitely leaving town.

Yesterday afternoon was the only free time I had here before the conference got underway, so I decided to sample the local flora and fauna by walking to the one gay bar close the hotel... well, "close" is relative because it was about a two-mile walk. But still, there are indeed sidewalks in Phoenix, a big step up from Houston. The place was nice enough; a bit like the Lone Star in SF with very friendly attitude-free guys. That's always a plus. In fact, I have to say I'm a bit surprised that the bar was actually fun.

Today's presentation on our bike route-choice model went fantastic, and we got lots of comments and positive reaction. I hope some other cities pick up on the research we did and take it further. Tomorrow is our downtown parking price research, and then Wednesday one last preso on advanced traffic analysis methods ("DTA") -- after which I can finally come home.

So far, so good! More to report soon.

Facebook isn't enough.

Bet you didn't think you'd be hearing from me again, did you? :-)

While no one blogs anymore (they're all on Facebook now), I'm finding that FB is just too limiting. Every community has its norms and customs; this is expected. And at Facebook, there is subtle but direct pressure to keep things cheery, light, and short. It's basically like a noisy, fun bar at happy hour: easy to meet new people, everyone's a bit tipsy and being goofy, but it's hard to have a real conversation.

So, I'll keep my Facebook account for "Oh what a fun night last night! Check out our photos!", it's apparent that I need another outlet for things that have a bit more depth. We'll see if I can post a blog item or two every now and again.

More to come.