1391.0 / 20 / na

Another uneventful ride, just getting here. 70 miles so far this week without actually trying for mileage.

Don't Say a Word (2001): "Don't Pay a Dime" to see this movie. Wait for it on TV, if you bother to see it at all.

Actually it started out pretty good, but then fell back on formula. Michael Douglas, who really runs hot and cold (but made $20M for "A Perfect Murder" and must've made at least 10 for this!), sucks pretty bad in this movie as a perpetually concerned father and wundershrink who has to get info from crazy girl Elizabeth Burrows (played very well by Brittany Murphy, who I'm surprised to find I've apparently seen in not-as-memorable roles). Douglas' "wife" (apparently mostly there for T&A value, yet never delivering T *or* A) and "daughter" (god-awful sickly-sweet, preciously-"bright" kid of whom I've already seen too much) are just plain annoying from start to finish, as is the "tough twenty-something female detective with a chip on her shoulder" who does exactly what you expect her to do scene by scene (is there just one person writing this crap-ola, or do they have to learn it when they enter the LA metro area - as if the state-line inspection stations checked not only for fruit, but for originality and ability to develop characters?). Oliver Platt, however, is -- as usual -- a bright spot.

Was thinking, wouldn't it be cool to have a Rules Wizard for real-life personal interaction just like in email, such that I could deflect everything Joe McCarty says into a convenient wastebasket, and put other people's stuff, by subject text, into convenient folders I could visit later?

Sigh.

1375.1 / 19 / na

No exercise today, but for my one-mile walk. Will ride to work tomorrow. Day 20 of freedom from the Addiction that Dare Not Speak Its Name. Supposedly, it gets easier...

Surfing Blogger all morning, recently-updated blogs. Amazing how many high school kids are on this - I suppose that shouldn't be amazing - where else but a free site? Lots of news-link sites. Ha, "that band Anthrax sure is getting a lot of publicity lately."

The irony of Rush Limbaugh's deafness is not escaping many, is it.

There's a point where you just want to throw up your hands and say "whatever." Everyone's got an opinion about this situation; everyone knows precisely what should be done in the Middle East. And I'm really tired of hearing opinions broadcast as fact. They may quote (or annoyingly, link to) hundreds of news sites to support their opinions, but you can find a news writer to back any opinion you like.

Editing this ... thing ... and it's SO poorly written, it's just sad. I don't want to hurt anyone's feelings, and much of it is learned behavior, but it is such a chore to edit this kind of stuff. Have already almost filled two sides of a page with "Global" edits, like:

replace "prior to" w/ "before."

replace "The xx page allows you to..." w/ "Use the xx page to..."

replace "The following table lists the items that appear on the xx page." w/ "The following items appear on the xx page."

replace "...transaction within <the product>" w/ "<product> transaction"

But I still hate to go past these things page by page (200+ pages) without marking them in some way to make sure they get fixed. I've had this thing on my desk for a week now - usually I have no trouble editing 200 pages in a day.

1375.1 / 18 / na

Bolinas Ridge *rocks*! Managed to get about five miles up the road before tiring and turning around. Then, pretty much five uninterrupted miles of pure downhill fun. Brought the camera; there'll be pictures later.

It's worth all the work of making myself ride to work, forcing myself to take that extra-long route or that extra-steep hill, to get to where I can do these off-road runs without too much pain. Big, big fun!

(Oh, oops, I'm sick today. <kaff, kaff!>)

~1365 / 17 / na

Rode home with Toby to watch MNF, and confirm earlier assessments that riding is a solitary pleasure. Most of the time, one or the other is a quarter-mile ahead. Very seldom can you ride side-by-side and talk. Toby tends to push harder uphill, and then go slower downhill, so that I'm straining to keep up on the uphill, and then losing all momentum hitting the brakes if I'm behind him on the downhill. I never stand up on the pedals to get up a hill - I'm not gonna kill myself trying to get up a hill; am content to be sitting down the whole time. I normally stop more often, drink water, enjoy the scenery a bit. It just wasn't pleasant. From last entry, yes, there are trade-offs, but I probably won't bother with this one again.

Red-tail on the wire along 116. Wonder if the hawks are coming back - still don't have a handle on their migration patterns, as some stay and some seem to go...

1349.1 / 16 / 93 min.

A little extra mileage, perhaps, over Orchard Station Rd - actually, even with the big hill, it seems like less (perhaps because of going quite fast on the other side). Though not 80mph.

I think I detect an ever-so-slight lessening of belly. Yesterday only ate McDonald's lunch and lean pocket dinner - probably still a zillion calories, but less than what I might usually do on a Sunday.

Weatherman so far says all clear all week. Toby riding with me after work, I think, to watch what is likely to be a virtually meaningless and unexciting football game (Rams vs. Lions). The more I think about it, the more I sorta regret inviting him. Much of bike riding, for me, is a solitary pleasure - much of tonight's ride, in fact, will by necessity be single-file, and then I have to match his speed. Be it faster or slower than MY speed, it's a pain in the ass either way. Oh well. You don't want to go thru life friendless, and sometimes there are trade-offs.

So, now I'm carrying another half-pound of crap, but am better prepared to keep it rolling.

Didn't try for any speed records today; it's really annoying how, even with my newly-buff legs, I get a lot of muscle pain starting out in the morning. Like my legs are going to resist getting in shape every step of the way. But once I get going, not too bad. I get *very* winded on a couple of the hills, but again, a relatively short stop at the top and I'm good to go onward.

Will NOT ride tomorrow. No I won't. I've earned a day off, I guess.

~1334 / 15 / na

Well, after 115 miles on the week, couldn't go through the weekend without at least a *short* ride today to keep the gains made so far.

While the beer gut still remains, I can feel almost no fat and a lot of "new" muscle on my legs. As if to prove it...

Loma Alta!

This was only about 5 miles round trip, but it was off-road, and - as you see at bottom - up some pretty significant climbs. Just when I was starting to think I don't really need that #1 gear on the front, I find a use for it. I actually only walked the bike twice, for about 50 feet each time. (At the point where I turned around, the road gets *really* steep, topping out at one of the highest peaks in Marin County.)

And the downhill reward! I'm still a little iffy on the reliability of the brakes in dirt, but did let go a few times for a some rather intense-but-pleasant momentum rolls... Fun!

Also got a quick lesson from "the bike guy" on repairing a flat on the road, so I won't get stuck again (unless I get two flats at once). From now on, I'll carry an extra tube and my new tire pump.

1327.1 / 13.5 / na

So, 115 miles on the week. I sure didn't get much work done.

1321.5 / 13 / ??

At precisely 1311.7, there on the wire beside Blank Road was a red-shouldered hawk, head feathers all fluffed up as if to say, "you can have a big head - you rode 100 miles this week!"

Mapped (links to large JPG) and profiled (links to small GIF) my new standard route this morning. The elevation seems less than I expected, but 460 feet is nothing to sneeze at, I suppose.

Right wrist a little sore - I try to remember not to rest my weight on the handlebars too much, but tend to do so anyway - at any rate, I overrode my goal this week by 10%, so likely won't be doing the full ride home tonight (and will end up with 115 miles from four days' riding).

It feels good, and the ride was relatively easy to do today. Though I took my time about it.

Early reports of 25-pound weight loss *might've* been exaggerated (but maybe not) - I actually feel lighter, even though I don't perceive any difference in the way I look - still have disgusting, too-large belly, and will need to do something other than biking to really have any effect on THAT.

T is also riding to work. Even though it's "only" a two-mile round trip, it *is* consistent exercise, and I applaud you, T, my faithful and only reader... <g>

Thus we leave road rash for this week (maybe I'll post that last five miles tonite, but...)

1305.1 / 12.5 / 85 mins.

Same route as the morning, and surprise! same time. Will pass 100 miles at about 1311.7, if I remember correctly - maybe I will treat myself to a bus ride home tomorrow.

Really kinda forced myself to make the whole trip this evening, in spite of significant weariness and possible rain, so that it wouldn't be a stretch to make 100 tomorrow. 100 miles is a *fucking* long ride on a bicycle, really, and it'll probably be a while before I attempt it in a 5-day week again.

Two different hawks, both red-tails, that I've seen now a few days running in the same places. They seem to be nonplussed by this wheeled being that passes beneath their wires/phone poles... Along the ride, cattle, sheep, llamas, and on yesterday's side-trip, emus... Not to mention the odd "sleeping" skunk/possum/raccoon in the road...

1288.7 / 12 days / 85 mins.

Slightly different route (actually, my standard homeward route, backwards), eliminates a couple of miles of hwy 116, at the cost of an additional hill or two.

Surprised that this was only 16.3 miles, actually, since the Hessel Road part I did this morning more or less "squares" the diagonal of 116... maybe I didn't get last night's mileage correct.

At any rate, have now done about 78 miles from Monday thru today. Probably will not do the whole ride home tonite, 5 miles to the bus stop is plenty'nuff.

Late yesterday, some wally scheduled a 9:15am meeting for today, so I sat theu an hour-long meeting with sweat cooling on me, and am just now getting around to getting ready to take a shower. There have been days when I was going to lunch by now...

1272.4 / 11.5 days / didn't time it.

It's windy even at 2 in the afternoon - maybe it's alway windy westbound.

As the mileage would indicate, I took another "shortcut" today, on a street that didn't have a "Not a Through Street" sign but deadended anyway. Added almost 3 miles to the trip home. But I wasn't in a big hurry, and now I know about Volkaart Road, so no big deal. Remembered that we pay monthly rent to live here; nothing going on at work anyway, so opted to get home and deal with the bank and realtor.

After today's 35 miles, no worries about hitting 100 by end of day Friday...

1253.9 / 11 days / 76 minutes garage to desk (let's start tracking this, too)

Foggy and misty. Glasses get all sparkly and pretty soon you can't see the road two feet ahead. Have to stop, try to wipe off glasses, proceed. On a longish downhill, you don't want to stop, so you push it a bit... finally, just pushed the glasses down on my nose so I could see with naked eyeballs.

Actually feels LESS dangerous, in the fog, than in the dark or daylight.

$80 later, bike is tuned up, with new tube and a new taillight that's significantly brighter than the old one. And I still have the old one - it fell off in the garage, and I though it had fallen off while the bike was on the rack on the car yesterday... So now we have an extra taillight, and $20 less than we would've had if we'd known the old taillight was still around...

Again had the pleasure of passing another cyclist - I'm NOT the slowest one in the world! I was stopped at the light at Mecham/Stony Point, he rode through just as the light changed. I stayed back for a while, thinking he was going to get up to speed and leave me behind, but he seemed to reach cruising speed while I was still only in 3-5 or so.

By the way, I never use the #1 front gear anymore, and actually only get out of #3 two or three times during the ride. The lowest I go is maybe 2-2, on the biggest hill (Blank road).

Weird how some times I feel quite healthy and "up," and others not - no decipherable reason. Even though it was less painful than it's been in a long time, starting out on the bike this morning, I feel really blah. Whereas on Monday, I was on top of the world, though it WAS quite painful pedalling those first few miles (not to mention the Blank Road hill). I don't know what governs this; wish I did so I could stay home in bed when it's not working to my advantage...

Have ridden 42 miles this week, including Monday's riding and walking - if I ride all the way home today, easily on track for 100 miles (barring further pneumatic "incidents").

"Zoolander" (2001) at the theatre last night. Good clean sillly stupid fun, and I think we needed a laugh like that. Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson really pretty funny as rival male models, and Milla Jovovich surprisingly not eastern-european-seeming as seemingly-American-imitating-eastern-european villainess Katinka. Stiller always cracks me up; he has absolutely the perfect mug for the kind of sad-sack comedy he does. As one Alternetter says, could be the next Austin Powers (though not as many catch-phrases; more like "catch-looks").

Have no idea what I'm doing here all day, but brought "Have a Nice Decade: the 70s Pop Culture box," which arrived in the mail yesterday. So, can listen to (some of) that...

1237.3, and 10 days.

Just when you start getting going...

Had thought to take a slightly-longer route, and sure enough, five miles out of town yesterday on Pepper Road, flat fucking tire. I count the four miles of walking the bike as legitimate mileage towards my vague, yet ever-nearer cycling goals. Will attempt today to get the tire fixed and get a tune-up, such that I can ride tomorrow, thursday, and friday. I need, at the least, a tire repair kit; at best, puncture-proof tires -- in fact, I'm just gonna go ahead and look into the GreenTyres. I have already spent, in a little over a year, almost the price of those tires in fixing and/or trying to avoid flats on this bike. The damned star-thistles are exverywhere, and when it's not those it's some stupid little nail or something. Without the liner, and the green goo, I'd probably be averaging one flat per month. Even with these preventive measures, it's about one every three months. One saving grace w/this bike, with the double-sidewall tires I can at least coast the downhills with a flat, keeping my weight as much as possible on the good tire, without damaging the tube (I think). Yeah, gonna get the greentyres.

Weird bigger-than-usual craving when I got in the car this morning - can expect to have these from time to time for the next 20 years, probably - you just hang on tight and it passes.

Stupid drivers who stay in the left lane through Sebastopol until the last minute, then cut in rudely when the lane ends - they KNOW the lane's gonna end; they get all of two or three vehicles ahead, and are still ultimately stuck behind SOMEone on the slow-moving 116, and so they end up with the people they cut off, still fuming, right behind them for ten miles. You risked an accident, possible injury, for this? You morons! Makes me grit my teeth, and I try to mellow out and forget about it, but there they are in front of me for ten miles, and when we get to the legitimate passing lane, there they are in the left lane passing oh so slowly... I must try to avoid this passive-aggressive behavior, though.

Overall, feel good. I feel like I AM losing weight, ounce by ounce, slow but sure, and in a healthy,. positive, way. Still don't know what I'll do when the rainy season starts, but will think of something.

1227.2, and 9 days.

Nothing major, and the ride is pretty routine now, even after a weekend of mostly inactivity. Snake parts everywhere. Red Tail on a telepost along Roblar didn't bother to move as I went by.

We did get about 5.5 miles in at the Coast Trail on Saturday. Last week's hike, as it turns out, was much longer and with much more total altitude gain/loss (see elevation profile at bottom) than originally estimated.

Warm this weekend and this morning. I didn't get started till well after sunrise - almost 8:00, actually - is way too easy to dawdle at the computer in the morning (and to be fair, I did update some of my Born Today index pages - timelines and alphas.

I'm thinking maybe I'll try to ride every day this week and get an honest 100 miles, but we'll see as the week wears on, eh? Today, might make the entire ride home instead of "wimping out" at the five-mile bus stop point. It's nice to get a lot of miles on Monday, and if I slack off later in the week I don't feel so bad. I'm SO sick of being like 25-30 lbs. overweight; I don't like myself this way, and it's something I think I can change with relative ease (non-drinking, actually, will probably take care of most of it), if I just apply myself to this regular exercise. Gotta come up with something, though, for the rain...

The addiction-which-dare-not-mention-its-name has not reared its ugly head *quite* as much over the weekend as during last week. I don't feel like the various bandaids are contributing that much (not as much as I've felt they contributed in past attempts [which didn't stick anyway...]), but I also feel it doesn't matter -- breaking down, giving in, fucking up, are simply not options this time. It feels SO good to be free of it, even partially free as we are now. This will work, and we will be clear of this hurdle for good. Still, have been grouchy as hell, and could literally end up killing someone if allowed to drive much.

Okay then; to the shower!

1200.0 precisely, and 6 days.

Am proud of the amount of riding I've done in the past few weeks - two hundred miles, most of it in the two weeks since 9/17. If I can keep this up, I may actually lose weight in the coming months. Hope the rainy season doesn't start too soon.

Not much of a ride today really, but had to take the car in for what never seems allowed to be simple & cheap. Tie-rod ends, allegedly, are worn down, and unfixable via lube = $175 (and wouldn't you know, Dave has just gotten a fresh supply of tie-rod ends! I think this is my last visit to Dave's - I always get the feeling they're laughing with glee as soon as I leave). And I still will need to get the front end aligned after that.

To jam or not to jam tonite? Since my music partner doesn't smoke or drink, it's probably okay. But since I had another weird semi-sleep last night, I probably won't be exactly rarin' to rock'n'roll.

Weird, conversations again with old "classmates." Some I look forward to, and hope to keep running; others I can take or leave - it's just as good to do the email equivalent of nodding as you pass, just acknowledging remembrance.

But contacting the Tholens - that's pretty special. Haven't seen any one of them for 30 years - and have looked. Jennifer is the only one I've "spoken" to so far, though she is trying to contact others. These people were my local "crowd" in formative years - age 6-13. Though formative, that's only 1/7th of my life to date, and it's a very old 7th. And trying to address Jenny in any meaningful fashion, having been absent from each other's lives for 30 years, me basically writing to the 12-yr-old I last saw (and reverting somewhat to the 13-yr-old I was when I last saw her) but knowing she has had an entire life - all the mistakes and correct moves one makes in that time: being sent to boarding school, three kids, husband died three years ago, having moved up & down the eastern seaboard, finding her natural parents, losing her adoptive parents, now selling real estate in MD... Trying to reconcile these two poles of *her* life to date. And I really want a friendship there, opportunity to give/receive something of value - this is the closest I'll get to any meaningful contact with my "roots" - so I'm walking a tightrope in some ways, making a new friend out of an old friend. She sent a picture yesterday - I hadn't asked for one - a great help in bringing it all into the present. Her middle daughter looks about like the Jenny I picture - Jenny herself looks completely different. Of course, I have web pages with a jillion pictures from all angles, of me, my wife, my cat, my life. She only logs on at work, so can't write much, so I tend to feel like I'm *pushing* to make things happen, and perhaps overwhelming her, because of course I can sit for hours writing (even at work, like now!), and I write "gushingly," almost at the speed of talking, where she isn't necessarily that kind of writer and may be nonplussed by this whole thing once the initial glow of remembrance wears. And maybe that's as it should be with these things, I don't know. (I guess this all begs the question; this *isn't* a gender thing, and there was never any sexual/relationship-type thing with Jenny; she was younger and sister-like through those years. I was taken in by this family, after schooldays, when nobody was home at my house till 5 or 6.)

I realize that I regret not having stayed in touch with Jimmy AND Jenny - and I realize I'll be going thru much the same stuff with Jim if and when I hear from him. Wonder if he still eats those awful "peanutbutter tunafish catsup and mayonnaise" sandwiches he used to like, now that he makes $100k/yr loaning money to corporations.

I suppose the glaze is already somewhat off the doughnut. I was really preoccupied with "what do I expect from this/what do they expect?" earlier. Now it's sort of settled and I'm accepting what happens.

I have always looked for them over the past 30 years, but had never thought much about what we'd have to say to each other when I found them!

Maybe THIS will cure me of that delving-into-the-past -- I can't think of anyone farther back.

BTW: MUCH more offensive to me than Maher - who does not pretend to be serious - is the "Buddy Lee" commercial on TV showing the stupid little mascot-doll with a bandage on its arm as if it has given blood. This strikes me as wildly inappropriate for a company attempting to make money from their television advertising.

Maher's individual comments did not carry the kind of crassly comercial subtext that a TV ad carries by its very nature.

1190.2 and 4 days.

Tried a different route this morning, actually hitting part of my old 3.5-mile route. Instead of going thru Cotati on Old Redwood Hwy, went down Stony Point to Jewett, over Center Road, to Rainsville and back to Stony Point. (That south end of Stony Point has a lot of traffic and almost no shoulder, so I avoid it.)

Sunny morning. I should leave earlier to avoid direct sun in my face (and in the faces of drivers who don't always notice they're sharing the road with me), but it's nice to have that crisp and clear weather. Still sweating like a pig when I finish my ride to work or home (or even the five miles to the bus stop) - thus Toby 's comments, which aren't at all meant to be mean, but "Hello, sweaty stinky old man" is NOT what I want to hear -- and though I sweat a lot, at this point there's not a lot of impurity in it, and honestly, I don't think I stink, not even of "sweat." When I put the shirt back on in the afternoon, it's a little stiff from salt but doesn't smell of anything. Doesn't bug me THAT much, but given my current state, he could get his head ripped off one day.

Unable to sleep normal hours lately - spending time awake from 11:30 or 12:00 to 2:00 or so, updating "Born Today" pages (never can resist a chance to plug it!), and then falling asleep on the futon with the TV on. Oh well; whatever it takes to get through the next few weeks/months/years...

Need to have discipline in my life; like to structure my days. Trying to ride the bike Mon/Wed/Fri is part of that, as it is part of trying to improve lung power, get in shape, maintain a sane weight, save wear&tear on the car, save gas, and expend personal energy.

Both local mom'n'pops have "failed" me in terms of daily latte service. Now I go to Starbuck's, and though almost everything about them annoys me, they can reliably make the same latte every time - even at 5am, if I should ever get in that early - without blasting their stupid family-values opinions at me.

Speaking of which, How 'bout the backlash to Bill Maher's comments! People are getting WAY too sensitive behind this thing. Don't people understand (rhetorical question) that the function of a good, not to say GREAT, comic - as of any good entertainer (and this includes "infotainers" like columnists and talking heads) - is to push the envelope, to push our buttons and see which produce a ringing sound? Especially a comic whose TV show is called "Politically Incorrect"!! Maher has always pushed those buttons. People desperately need to get a sense of humor. And a sense of perspective. Truth be told, he's right, to some extent: it does take a certain courage to fly an airliner directly into a building. These people were NOT cowards in that sense - they were highly-committed individuals, believers in their religion. (So sue me!) However, there are cowards behind them.

~1173.0.

Made it almost to the bus stop after work before plit. plit. plit, then plitplitplitplit and I'm getting soaked. Major thunder and lightning off to the west - cool when you don't get to see it much (and when there's like 20, 30 seconds between lightning and thunder so you know it's pretty far away).

Called T from the payphone with genuine downpour soaking everything in my wallet while I located her card.

Then, power goes out at the gas station, and for the traffic lights nearby, so everything gets really messy.

Still, got my 21 bike miles yesterday.

Raging raw nerves. Took a longish walk around the block, which helped - actually helped more than M&Ms or tic-tacs. Onward!

Supposed to be good weather for the rest of the week. Hope so; hope to get another 50 miles by friday evening!

1168.6.

Actually starting to feel the benefit (after feeling the detriment Saturday) of all this exercise, and not only got to work a *teeny* bit quicker, but was able to keep up a relatively strong pace through the entire 16 miles (except for the major hills) this morning. Also "sprinted" (for me anything over 20mph) the last mile or so to work. Toby, seeing me newly-arrived, said I looked "ruined." If I could somehow get it down to an hour - e.g. averaging 16mph - that would be pretty cool. As it is, I average between 11 and 12 mph, I guess...

Not much new seen on today's ride, but for dead deer and garbage bag along the shoulder of 116 that I saw from the car yesterday so was already watching to avoid. But the ride definitely felt more doable than it has (and more so than I had been imagining during my bike hiatus).

Saturday, 10-mile hike seemed to take out my right leg, but it was okay sunday and today - just a little muscle soreness (which one can generally expect after a 10-mile hike that includes at least 1000 ft of altitude changes, if one hasn't been doing such hikes regularly). Really, Lake Ranch and Ridge trails are very nice, and I'll do 'em again -- slower -- someday.

Not gonna talk right now about the item that is newly missing from my life (though just noticed I mentioned it earlier anyway, so...). Maybe later. Feeling it quite acutely, but will prevail this time, dammit. Underestimated, somewhat, the amount of habituality I've developed at work over a year and a half...

The bus-in-the-afternoon plan seems to work pretty well, though I'm still not sure what happens if the bus arrives with two bikes already on it. The stop is located such that I'm looking at 15 more miles if the bus is full. Well, there are always pay phones nearby, and hell, if I keep up the pace I've done the past two weeks, another 15 won't be a big deal.

1146.9!!

Riding the 16 miles to work (and 16 back) was starting to seem impossible. A few things made me start again:
- being a total wimp on a couple of recent hikes.
- planning to quit smoking.
- dependency on oil from the middle east.

So, while it took less than a year to get to 1000 miles, it took another four months to get the next hundred (and only two days' riding to get fifty more).

Sunday, took the bike up to Armstrong Woods, rode all the rideable roads, and then attempted the road up to Bullfrog Pond. This is an extremely steep, winding road. I made it about a mile (and about 600 ft elevation, I think) before turning around.

Monday, I rode to work and back, getting slightly lost on the way back, for a total of 34 miles. Decided I will ride all the way IN to work in the morning when it's not windy, and do the partial-bus ride home in the afternoon when it's windy, for around 22 miles - a respectable distance to ride every couple of days or so, hopefully enough to get and keep me in a little better shape. The wind is SO friggin annoying! Kills any momentum I get -- and 225-lb pack-a-day me, I need all the momentum I can get!

This morning, started out in the dark at 6am, and paid and paid for the 9.1 beers I drank last night while pedalling the 16.1 miles to work. But actually made it in what I think is record time - just a little over an hour. Actually haven't had a real strong urge to drink, but have sorta felt I "should" since I won't be drinking for awhile after tomorrow night. Stupid? Perhaps, but I only get two more days' worth of stupid.

Light mist dots my glasses, forcing periodic stops to wipe lenses... It's actually more likely cars will see me when it's dark, I think, with my blinking taillight more contrasting against darkness than against light... Red-shouldered hawk crossed my path (about twenty feet in front of me) on Old Redwood, swooping up onto the top of a phone pole with some little morsel I couldn't quite make out - mouse or lizard, likely. A treat.

DSL connection - finally - appears to be more or less permanent on my home machine. Was able to surf and email and FTP to heart's content last night.