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October 31, 2006
Home in the hills
I wouldn't mind walking in my front door to see this view. Oak and olive trees, a sprawling canyon, hawks and coyotes. Not too bad. And it can be yours for just under 1.2 million dollars!
It's in the foothills above Claremont, California, where I grew up. This is a town where drivers wave and swing a wide arc around pedestrians in the street. Where a nice lady doing her gardening might offer a runner a glass of water in the mid-day heat. Where the stick-figure cyclists painted onto the bike lanes in the road wear stick-figure helmets. Where you can grow tomatoes in January. Where there is always, always somewhere to park.
But then there are days, like Sunday, as I headed back north, when you can't see the 10,000' mountains looming over the valley because the smog is opaque. That's why I always come back to San Francisco.
October 29, 2006
Pier 36
I've been keeping a separate food blog for a while, mostly as a place to keep track of things I make for dinner. Generally it feels like I make about five different things for dinner over and over. But I figure if I write it all down, maybe I'll realize that that is not entirely true, and I'll be inspired to keep trying new recipes. Maybe? Anyway, Julie asked to see it, so here it is.
October 26, 2006
Crunchy and salty, what's not to like?
While the pumpkin butter may have been so-so, the roasted seeds are truly to die for. Goodness gracious, I have never had such yummy pumpkin seeds. Thanks again to Sean at Hedonia for the idea!
In other news, I seem to have grievously injured my right arm and shoulder by pouring and handing out thousands of cups of liquid on Sunday. I can hardly lift it above shoulder height. That's a sports-related injury I never expected. Ow.
October 25, 2006
Sugary orange love in a jar
I have always wanted to try canning. My mom has made jellies, jams and pickles for as long as I can remember, so my cupboard is brimming with empty mason jars and lid bands. Yesterday I made my first foray into mummifying fresh food with a batch of spiced pumpkin butter. I got the recipe at Hedonia.
I made a huge mess. Huuuuge. Possibly the biggest mess I've ever made preparing a single food. Forcing ten pounds of fairly tough, fibrous cooked pumpkin through the millimeter-wide holes of a hand-crank food mill tends to splatter stringy blobs of pumpkin everywhere.
In other words, it was a lot of work.
The verdict? The stuff I sampled coming out of the pot tasted a little too much like pumpkin pie spice and not enough like the local, organic sugar pumpkin I schlepped from the farmer's market. Still pretty tasty, though.
Even though I would not consider this first attempt a raging success, it makes me very happy to have a dozen neat, sealed jars of something I made that will last until long after the fresh pumpkins are gone. I'm excited to try something else. Maybe I can find a recipe to approximate the apricot-fig chutney I so happily buy for $9 per jar.
October 22, 2006
Water girls
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Today I helped set up, fill, and distribute approximately one gazillion paper cups full of Gatorade and water. Then I raked up the empties and painstakingly picked up countless numbers of those infernal little scaps of metallic plastic that flit to the ground when a runner tears open a gel pack. Damn those things.
The Nike Women's Marathon was in town. It was pretty cool to volunteer at a race in which the vast majority of the participants are female. I did not hear a single complaint, grunt, or whine of dissatisfaction the entire day. Not one racer was unhappy that her Gatorade cup was not exactly 55% full or that her water was not the exact correct temperature. You know why? Because women go with the flow. They go out of their way to thank the volunteers. I have volunteered at co-ed races and I hate to say it, guys, but generally men (particularly at the front of the pack) are not nearly as pleasant when it comes to receiving help. Once while volunteering at a big, big triathlon in town, I heard a guy yell at a volunteer because the banana halves being handed out were not pre-peeled. When the volunteer tried to hand them out with the peels off, another guy squawked just as loudly. Not that women are perfect. But sheesh.
Anyway, it was a great way to spend seven and a half hours (!) on a Sunday, enjoying the fog out by the beach. I hope all the folks who came to the race from Iowa, West Virginia, New Mexico, Oregon, Wisconsin, Texas, Indiana, and all the other states I saw realize that they got a classic San Francisco day.
October 20, 2006
Hungry?
October 19, 2006
I'm the quiet one
While perusing the list of NaBloPoMo participants, I noticed that just 13 lines above this web site's address is listed outsidevoice.net: "out loud. on purpose." This makes me think that the author and I are probably complete opposites, but we actually have a few things in common as tall Jewish women who love the Food Network.
And speaking of cooking, I have finally mopped the kitchen floor. I can walk barefoot without my feet sticking to the 60-year-old linoleum. The top item on my to-
October 17, 2006
Crack and peel
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October 16, 2006
I know you don't care what I had for lunch
But since a couple of people have asked, here's what I did during my first official day of unemployment:
- drove Dave to work*
- went shopping at Bed Bath & Beyond**, Trader Joe's, and Rainbow Grocery
- went for a run (one hour)
- cleaned bathroom thoroughly
- showered
- made lunch (leftover mustard pork loin/tomato/arugula sandwich on rosemary bread - YUM!)
- started making dinner (mushroom-shallot quiche, butternut squash soup)
- got a pedicure
- finishing making dinner
- enjoyed dinner with Sara***, Dave, and a bottle of fine pinot I received as a parting gift from a coworker
- washed dishes
- sat down at computer to pay bills and do this
My number one goal for the day was to get the pedicure. So, mission accomplished. Plus a bunch of other stuff. But tomorrow I think I'll try to go somewhere outside my well-beaten path.
* This was almost like driving myself to work, as Dave's office is just a few blocks from my old gig. Well, sorta. OK, not really.
** I was the first customer to walk in after they unlocked the doors at 8:59am. The staff was just wrapping up their morning meeting and they broke into applause and cheers as I walked in. I waved graciously as though they were clapping for me, but sadly, having been in this position before at 8:59 on another weekday morning, I knew that they do this every morning and that's just the way they end their meeting. A cheerful bunch, they are. And by the way, I was there to buy a $4 whiteboard for the fridge for the purpose of planning dinners ahead of time. Although I did linger for a while near the $80 KitchenAid ice cream maker attachment.
*** Sara moved back to the Bay Area about a year ago, but before that she lived in New York. In the last few years, Dave traveled to NY frequently for work, and he went out with Sara a lot. I joked that he had a NY girlfriend. She came over tonight not for primarily dinner but rather because she and Dave had a date to go to a show I didn't really want to see. Just like old times.
October 15, 2006
Jump!
I volunteered at the TI2Y swim yesterday and got to ride on the boat out to the start. Unlike last year, I also got to ride the boat back to the dock.
More photos here.
October 13, 2006
Last Day
I've been cleaning up here, and I just checked the office fridge to make sure I didn't leave anything in there. People leaving stuff in the fridge to rot for months is a pet peeve of mine. I found an unopened pint of cottage cheese in the back with my name on it. The expiration date was November 29. Ah great, I thought, I could use a snack. I took one bite and realized that it must have been November 29 of last year.
"When one door closes, another opens;" -- I have heard this quote many times in the last week. But the oft-forgotten second half, I think, is the most important part:
"...but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the one which has opened for us.”
In just a little while I'm out of here. I'm a little sad and a little bewildered that I'm actually leaving after 7.97 years. It'll all be good. I did choose this course; I closed the door myself. But it's still bittersweet to say goodbye.
October 11, 2006
Missing, not missing
Things my colleagues at the old job will miss:
- My bottle of Advil and my dental floss.
- My dry wit.
- My weekend warrior stories. (Typical Monday morning questions: "Ariel, did you run any marathons this weekend?" "Ariel, did you crash your bike this weekend?")
Things my colleagues put dibs on within five minutes of me announcing my impending departure:
- My flat-panel monitor.
- My pencil sharpener.
- My small collection of model commercial airplanes, which I inherited from someone who left before me, who inherited it from someone else.
No one has claimed:
- My teetering tower of approximately 150 java jackets, which for some reason I am unable to throw away.
Things I will not miss about this place:
- Ducking from flying nerf footballs.
- The constant discussion about getting A's tickets.
- Having restaurants that serve giant burritos, take-out Indian food, and sinful mac 'n' cheese all within half a block. It's just too much temptation.
Things I will miss:
- The Fruit Guys delivery every Monday. When else am I going to eat a kiwi?
- The people. My people.
- Working from home on Wednesdays.
- The guy on the right:
October 9, 2006
Three weeks to myself. Scary!
I'll be taking taking three weeks off of work between my last day at my old job and my first day at the new job. I would love to hop on a plane and spend all that time in Kauai or perhaps Australia, but since (a) my husband has to work, and (b) I will not be getting paid during these three weeks, that is impractical.
So I'm trying to decide how to spend that time in a way that I won't regret.
I do NOT want to sleep until noon every day, spend hours reading blogs and random Wikipedia entries, drink late into the evening, sleep, and repeat. But that is the pattern I could easily fall into if I don't try a little harder.
I think I should try to do something that I couldn't do in normal circumstances. Something that will leave me feeling refreshed and recharged, creatively and physically. But without the ability to travel (or travel far), I'm having a hard time coming up with ideas.
Some projects I have considered:
- Going on a new hike or trail run every day, taking advantage of ample weekday parking and unclogged trails.
- Starting a quilt; seeing how far I can get in three weeks.
- Learning how to bake really good bread.
- Working on a couple of web site ideas I've been mulling for months, although that might be too much like real work.
- Embarking on some sort of photo project.
- Roasting a whole turkey, which is something I have never done, and have never wanted to spend a precious weekend day doing.
- Taking a surfing lesson or two.
- Doing something involving wine. Lots of wine. Good wine.
- Washing the kitchen floor. Glamorous, I know.
Realistically, I think I should be happy to accomplish one of these things. Maybe I'll just aim for the kitchen floor.
October 5, 2006
Cashing out
me: hey! I have 539 exercisable options of company stock priced at $23.11...
me: and the closing price today was a whopping $23.32!!!
dave: no WAY!
dave: *gets out the calculator*
dave: that's a nice dinner!
me: lunch.
me: net proceeds: $16.40 after taxes.
dave: oh.
me: and transaction fees.
dave: oh.
October 4, 2006
Out of practice
me: I can jump off a boat in the middle of the bay without a second thought. for crying out loud.
j: but you've practiced what it's like to be in the bay...you haven't practiced switching jobs.
me: yeah, very good point.
j: just think about what would happen if you'd never swum in the bay before & some jerk pushes you off the ferry.
I am jumping ship. After working at my current job for 7 years and 49 weeks, I have given my notice. I am giving up my corporate job and corporate benefits and substantial industry perks for life at a startup. And as I sort through nearly 8 years of accumulated detritus at the old office, I'm experiencing some fear of the unknown.
My job has been like home to me for nearly eight years. My coworkers are like family in many ways. I have been very comfortable here. This place has been a rock for me during six years of majorly life-changing athletic endeavors. But I'm ready for new challenges and a different environment.
What makes me doubly sad is that I'll probably have to leave my health club as well. My heart aches at the thought of leaving my beloved Embarcadero YMCA. I will miss the treadmills with the billion-dollar view of the waterfront and the Bay Bridge. I will miss spin classes taught by my friends. I will even miss the crowded, overheated pool. I've entered that gym many times before sunrise and stepped out after a long workout into a brilliant (or sometimes gray and foggy) new day. I always run into friends there, and I know many of the staff. But it's not very convenient to where I'll be working starting in November.
It's a lot of change for me to stomach all at once. But it's exciting! Switching jobs is not necessarily something I want to get better at. But it probably wouldn't hurt if I learned to embrace change.
October 3, 2006
More off season
Other things I can do now that generally don't happen while training for an Ironman:
- Go see Culann's Hounds play at the Plough and Stars until well after midnight. They are awesome. AWESOME!
- Sleep until 8:04am every day.
- Plan to go out for drinks on a Thursday night knowing that I don't have to swim 4000m at 6:30 the next morning.
- BRUNCH!
- OK, I have not had brunch yet, but the possibility makes me giddy.
- Volunteer at other races.
- Work out every other day instead of 1.5 times per day (on average).
Sit around and pine for my IM training days. Rest on my laurels.
October 1, 2006
Off season
Yesterday I remembered what it is I do when I'm not biking and running all weekend. I COOK. For lunch I whipped up split-pea soup and onion-cheese biscuits. To make the biscuits, I used buttermilk pancake mix (the trans-fat-free stuff from Trader Joe's), followed the regular biscuit recipe, and threw in about five chopped green onions and a handful of shredded cheese. Yum!
I am a batter addict. I think I love to bake because I love to eat raw batter. Biscuits, pancakes, cookies, cakes, you name it, I love batter. Often I prefer it to the final baked product. Weird, I know.
Then for dinner I made an Indian feast using recipes I got earlier this week at a cooking class I took with friends. Chicken tikka masala, curried chickpeas (and green beans -- my addition), mango chutney, raita and brown rice. Wow. That was a lot of really good food.
Which is probably why today I was inspired to start counting Weight Watchers points again. Oy.
