Better Man

"I started biking to work. Josh does it, and he lives a lot farther away than I do. And also, it saves gas money, keeps me in shape, helps the environment, and now I know it makes me really sweaty for work."

- Jim Halpert from The Office

Hello again after a long break. And as you may have guessed, one thing that I started doing is riding my bike to work. For the first time since like elementary school, I am riding my bike to school/work. Part of the reason is that I have been bikeless the past couple of years. So let's rewind to a few weeks ago. CWP$ and DJ were looking for bikes because they are signing up to do a triathon. So CWP$ asked if I wanted to tag along to look for bikes. So I said yeah and we went to a few bike stores. Eventually, we found a store, Calmar Cycles that actually knew what they were talking about. I ended up getting a hybrid bike (mountain bike body with more road bike tires). I like it alot. My ride to work is about 30 minutes. And yes, riding to work in the morning and back home in the afternoon does make me really sweaty. In addition, wearing my bike helmet also gives me helmet hair. Perhaps I should look into a getting a hairmet.

So what else is going on? Well the rest of the Vancouver trip was a hoot. Olga and I decided to go to Chinatown so we walked there. Now we had met up with a relative of a Googler earlier who told us there was one street we should avoid but neither of us remembered what it was (on a side note, I do remember that he has a girlfriend, a fact he mentioned many many times). So we ended up walking down said bad street (for anyone who wants to know it is called Hastings Street). So you know you are heading into a bad neighborhood when you start seeing pawn shops and check cashing joints. And then cannibus clubs. And then people smoking marijuana on the street. And then meth addicts standing on the street. And then drug addicts actually smoking crack on the street. And then two guys trying tubes around their arms either to shoot-up or to show off their non-existent biceps. But eventuallly we made it to Chinatown. When I got back from Vancouver, I had to fix some stuff with car. Before I left from Vancouver, my tire blew out, ironically, when I was pulling into the parking lot to Calmar Cycles. So when I got back from my trip, I tried to get it fixed. Unfortunately, I left the light on in my car before I left thus draining my battery. So yeah I had to get it jumped to then take it to the tire shop. So yeah, maybe it is a good thing that I am riding my bike more.

Last weekend, I went to Doris's birthday in the city. Note to self in the future, make sure to keep track of the number of bottles of wine your party is consuming, especially if they are 70 bucks a bottle. Earlier in that day, I went to Half Moon Bay and the beach. The best thing about the beach is when you stand where the tide comes in, the current takes away the sand under your feet. It is a cool feeling. In other news, I haven't exactly been in a rut but I guess I have been feeling like I had been at a stand still (unlike some people who have directions in ther lives, so you better get out of the way.) Yeah, so biking to work is part of a more wholesale effort to try some new things out. So yeah, I am planning on actually volunteering on the weekends, upgrading my wardrobe which consists of about a dozen Google shirts and basically the best of what is left of my clothes from grad school, and possibly doing a relay or sprint triathon. Yeah I realized I have gotten into a routine, which is basically going to work, going to boot camp, then hanging out with my friends and/or vegging out on my couch on the weekends. Not there is anything wrong with that. I just feel that I should try doing something different and new. And in that vein, I may have what someone may construe as a "date" this weekend. Needless to say, my track record in that area has not been good as of late. But hey, it is something different than what I normally. And I guess that is good for me.

Anyway, hope everyone is having a swell summer. Until next time, peace on earth.