July 25, 2007
The Good Word
The guy that people refer to as Swan (at least I think that's the guy) sits in and outside of the bookstore on 16th a lot. Yesterday he was handing out some poetry. The girl in front of me didn't take it, but I did.
Keep that in mind, worthless human.
July 19, 2007
Apparently, It Doesn't Have to Suck
So, I’ve given notice and you’d think I’d have loads of free time to sit around. Not so. I am finishing up two days a week at the old place, and doing some contracting a couple days a week at a new place. So far, I’m really still fully employed. This is good financially, but it’s my sleep debts I’m more interested in paying…
Some pleasant changes:
To get to the Old Job I either take the 49 from 15th and Mission up to Sutter, or I take the 14 and transfer at S. Van Ness to a bus up to Sutter, or I walk down Valencia to Market to Van Ness and hop a bus. To get home I walk Van Ness to Market and then to my house. The busses are crowded, often jam-packed standing room only. Full of stinky humanity, bums and junkies, school kids, people going to work. It stinks, it’s noisy, and it’s unpleasant. The bus stops are disgusting, often there is vomit or shit in or near them. The buses are on no discernable schedule, the wait may be long or short. The walk (since I have to avoid the more pleasant Franklin St. thanks to getting mugged there) is down dirty streets, past homeless camps, panhandlers, decaying businesses. Bikes charge at me in crosswalks. It is uphill both ways.
To get to the New Job I check the route schedule for the 37, and then I rush over to the corner of Market and Church and find the bus waiting, or I wait and it arrives right on time. Sometimes I’m the only one on it. Sometimes there are 3 or 4 others. The bus is clean, there are plenty of seats. It winds its way up the hill through mostly charming neighborhoods, there’s a view along the Portola section. It doesn’t smell bad. To get home I can catch that same bus the other way, walk Clipper to 24th to Church and either continue walking or take a bus, or I can walk Portola down to Castro and on to 15th. While it’s crazy uphill on the way there, it’s all down on the return. The streets are mostly clean and lined with charming homes.
At the Old Job I am constantly barraged by perfumes. I gave up complaining after about a year. I was fine until someone came in with one that made me sneeze for 8 hours straight… it seemed to trigger some death gene in my body. I started getting migraines with auras that made me unable to see for 10 minutes. Everyone still wears them, no one is going to stop. Instead they installed two new air vents above my desk area. This is apparently more convenient than not wearing toxic chemicals. The new vents help, but I still get some headaches.
At the New Job the other day I started to smell a strong lily scent. I tried to ignore it, thinking maybe it was coming in through a window, but finally when my sinuses could take it no longer, I asked whether someone had a lily. Turns out, someone had brought a potted one in and put it on the desk when I was out of the room. They kindly moved it into the garage. When I came back the following week, the boss told me that he removed all of the lilies from the bathroom for me!
Turns out, life doesn’t have to suck if you don’t want it to. Keep that in mind.