Middle of May
Here's an update:
It's Thursday night of finals week and tomorrow at noon is my last exam. Last Monday saw a six hour marathon of tests for Linear Circuits, Physics and Strengths of Materials. Tomorrow's Differential Equations exam intimidates me, but at least it won't take too long.
Then I've got a few hours of work left for Paul, followed by a few hours of work for Chico Chai on Saturday morning.
Saturday night I'll be flying out to JFK where I'll meet up with Xue on Sunday morning. We'll take the Metro North train up to New Haven, but on Wednesday we'll be headed right back down to New York to catch a flight to Japan. A few hours after landing we'll fly out of Tokyo and enter China.
We'll be there for two weeks. This is the most exciting traveling I've ever done and I have very little idea of what to expect. I am going to try to keep as open a mind as I can. I will try as many of the foods as I can and will have a camera in hand as often as I can.
Then, upon returning stateside, I'll be working at The Devil's Gear in Connecticut until late August. I'm shipping my mountain bike out to spend some time on those East coast trails. Several other employees are just getting into trail riding and I'm looking forward to "shredding the gnar" alongside some other rookies.
I emailed Rock Lobster today to get the ball rolling on a custom steel frame, and I hope I didn't come on too strong. Maybe it will be done by the time I come back to California, or maybe a few months after. All I know is that I'm going to have get in shape if I want to do it justice next 'cross season.
Also, if one of the endless trains or planes I'm on explodes and Xue & I die a terrible but instantaneous death, I leave this blog to my brother, Lisa can have my Flickr photostream, and all my bikes go to Quinn. Dylan can have my guitars.
Working Day
Campus was closed today, on account of it being Cesar Chavez Day, so instead of spending my ten to four in class I just worked all day.
It’s been a while since I’ve put in more than three or four hours at work, and today’s nine hours didn’t feel as long as I thought they might. I got so much done, it was really satisfying, and I know I’m lucky to be working where I am.
Emails and adverts and bug fixes and copy writing and photography, ooh the photography
Scott, who’s an incredibly fast ride on the CX team and a very nice guy, brought his Rock Lobster over so I could take some photos of it. It was caked in mud and is fully decked out in our parts, so I had to give it some “lens love”, as they say.
I was pretty happy with the full photo set, and will likely post some more of it to Flickr after it goes up on the gallery.
As is always the case, I am pining for a new bike. Maybe someday I’ll have a Lobster so nice.
S24O 1
Something I've read and heard murmurs about is overnight bike camping. So yesterday I left work an hour early to come home and pack.
It's very exciting to do something new, even if it's not a big thing. Heading out for a sub-24hr-overnight trip made me nervous and excited and hopeful.
As the sun went down over the valley and a nearly-full moon came up over the foothills, I was riding my bike up old 32 to a campsite Lisa mentioned. I was a little worried about finding it in the dark, but everything worked out okay. It turns out there are plenty of good spots up there.
I had my tent pitched and my legs in a sleeping bag by about 8:30 or so. Half a can of Torpedo made it easy to close my eyes and start drifting off. I woke up several times in the night though, mostly due to the lumpiness and slope of the ground my tent was on.
I think the main reason why the park is "day-use only" is that the ground is too full of rocks and bumps to find a comfortable place for a tent.
When I woke up in the morning I watched the orange moon setting over the coastal range. It was surprising how fast it disappeared over the mountains once it was down by the horizon. It's hard to have a proper sense of scale and speed for the moon.
I took some film and camera-phone photos of the park, ate a snack and packed up my things. A few minutes later I was rolling back down the hill towards town, breakfast, and a shower.
What's nice about a short venture like this is that you don't need to stress too much about what to bring along. If you forget something vital you won't be without it for long.
Next time I'm going to bring some warm pajama pants though, and maybe a book.