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.