It's been over a month since I last posted and I hardly realized it. On the other hand, I don't believe that the wedding was less than two months ago. Not because I don't like being married but it was so very nice to have all that over with.
We just got home from San Francisco last night. It amuses me to think of Colin needing training on how to talk to people but then again it was mandatory for everyone who is presenting at the conference next month. Annoying that they (still) can't let him know in a more reasonable amount of time in advance but this time Colin was much more determined that I come along after having been so sick the last time he went.
What did I do? Well, I rode a lot of public transportation, for one, which I didn't mind. Sitting, watching the landscape go by, doing crossword puzzles, and reading is much preferred over driving in a strange place. On Monday I went and visited Kelsay. Since she was north of SF and I was in Redwood City, it took almost two hours one way to get there. We had a great time catching up. She took me to a couple of cool eats in her area (a shotglass of gazpacho, anyone?) and then we went back to her apartment for a bit. It was nice to see her cat Kiki again who she'd gotten while in Kzoo.
Colin and I went to a Thai restaurant near the hotel that was amazingly good. The awkward teenage boy who served us reminded me of my brother. My food came out on top of a dish with charcoal bits in it still burning so it continued boiling for quite some time. Colin had the leftovers for the next two lunches and never got tired of it.
Tuesday I went to the Winchester Mystery House near San Jose. It took even longer to get there because I mistakenly assumed that the light rail ended at the house but instead it ended at the neighborhood named Winchester. No problem, just had to catch a bus. While waiting, I went across the street to a Safeway and grabbed up some quick lunch bites. By the time the tour was done, I had very little spare time and decided just to start heading back to Redwood City. So didn't see as much as I had anticipated seeing but I enjoyed the day and that was (and always is) the point. I did, however, stress out slightly (mostly with the fact that I was running later than I'd planned and my phone was dead) when I tried to take a different walking route back to the hotel and found myself going on a fairly large detour through a Latino neighborhood. Thankfully, Colin didn't worry; he got to the room a couple minutes after I did. That night we went to a American/German restaurant where I had grilled chicken and mashed potatoes. We took a slice of a chocolate pie back to the hotel for dessert.
Wednesday I decided to go back to San Jose but this time straight to downtown. Colin didn't need to pick up one of his coworkers so we had a nice breakfast at Cafe La Tartine before I dropped him off and parked at the next train stop south (saving 4 bucks on the ticket - and I didn't have to pay for parking). I had anticipated using the "daily" pass which I'd gotten Tuesday and didn't expire until 3 PM but when I went to board the bus to downtown, I saw that there was a free shuttle going to exactly where I wanted to go: the San Jose Library.
Yes, I am totally a library geek. And yes, I pretty much spent all day there. It's an awesome library - 8 floors, gazillions of desks with power outlets at each one, sunlight throughout the whole building, and gorgeous views of the city and the mountains beyond ... It is a unique library, too; it serves as both the San Jose University's and the public's library and I've gotta say it pulls it off very well.
I found a letterbox which sadly didn't contain its stamp but I stamped in anyway. I looked around in the room dedicated to Salinger (I really like his little portable typewriter) and then in the one for Beethoven. I was actually given an impromptu tour by one of the librarians in the Beethoven library (including the display with a lock of the composer's hair) and then told that someone would be giving a performance that afternoon on the various piano predecessors. I immediately scrapped all other plans and ran out for a quick lunch of sushi (which was delicious even if they were so big I could barely chew them).
After that, I walked over to where the Peralta Adobe and the Fallon House were then continued on to the train station. It was not a terribly long walk but it was hot (90 degrees), sunny, and dry, so I stopped to get a frozen drink that was possibly the best coconut drink I have ever had. Upon reaching the station, I realized I'd missed all the trains I thought I might be able to catch (it was too hot to walk any faster) and the next was in half an hour. Sitting still in the air conditioned room was blissful. I arrived early near where Colin was, and found a public access area on the water. There was a very steady wind from the northeast which made me chilly (big change from San Jose!). I sat and read until Colin was ready to go. Dinner was at a Mexican restaurant where we shared a tortilla dish.
Thursday (yesterday) our flight was boarding at noon and we were both worn out so we just took it easy getting going. We sat in a Peet's for a little bit before heading to the car rental place. On our flight, we played with the Chromebooks that were being lent out. I was mostly neutral about it; while it's true the vast majority of my computer time is online, I don't want everything through the browser. The price is a bit higher than I care for, too. I had to love the long battery life, of course. Things were running slowly and the free onboard wifi cut out a couple times. I spent time looking around at options for my next computer (my current one gave me a scare recently) and then switched to reading an analog book.
After the four hour flight and no lunch, we were ravenous and had Applebee's before heading home. Slept well last night, despite suddenly waking myself up, with Colin sitting and reading next to me. He gave me the strangest look and asked what I'd been dreaming about. I couldn't remember and he said that I'd been talking a lot of gibberish (which I sometimes do especially when really tired). "Oh. Okay," and then I crashed back to sleep.
After the four hour flight and no lunch, we were ravenous and had Applebee's before heading home. Slept well last night, despite suddenly waking myself up, with Colin sitting and reading next to me. He gave me the strangest look and asked what I'd been dreaming about. I couldn't remember and he said that I'd been talking a lot of gibberish (which I sometimes do especially when really tired). "Oh. Okay," and then I crashed back to sleep.
I think I'll post pictures and a couple other stories later ... this is quite long enough as it is. Oh, and perhaps I'll talk about what else is going on these days, sooner rather than later (oy).
