Brightrock

Yes, I know that I've been a bit slow to update the blog lately - actually, it's been three months since I've had a chance to write anything up here.  There are a couple of reasons for the quiet period.  I've been busy with work, without the luxury of the occasional week (or two) off that I enjoyed when I was teaching on a contract basis. I also haven't been traveling quite so much - travel provided lots of low-hanging fruit for blogging. 

So, a couple of things just to bring things up to date:

• I've been continuing to take the train to the office almost every day.  I'm lucky - it takes me almost exactly the same amount of time to get to the office, door-to-door, whether I drive or take the train.  With gas going for as much as $3.45/gallon in San Diego, and with a subsidy from my employer for my Coaster pass, it just doesn't make any sense to drive in.  
• I've ridden home from the office on my bike once so far.  I should have worked my way up to the full 23.38 miles in small increments over the course of a couple of weeks, but instead I decided to bike the whole way home (I had done a couple of 8-9 mile weekend rides).  Unfortunately, I ended up pinching a nerve in my lower back so I'll have to wait a couple of weeks before trying again.  I will try again, though.  No reason that I can't work at least 30 biking miles per week into my commute. At a minimum, I should at least be leaving my car in the garage and riding my bike down to the station (exactly 1.0 miles according to my bike computer).

   

• I made my first trip to Petco Park, seeing the Padres lose to the Dodgers in 17 innings, so I had plenty of time to check out the ballpark.  I like the park, but it wasn't exactly what I expected - far more old-fashioned and utilitarian than I expected, especially when compared to other recently-built ballparks like Minute Maid or Bank One Ballpark. 

  

• I walked down to the Spring Carlsbad Street Faire a few Sundays ago.  Good people watching, although the vendors seemed to have the same assortment of junk you see at most of these street fairs.

  

• Moving into my new apartment was my first opportunity to sort through some of the boxes that I've had in storage since I moved out of the Redan house - Goodwill enjoyed a nice little dividend.
   
• And, of course, I'm still enjoying sunsets on the beach as often as I can.

  

Overall, the adjustment to my new life in California has been going well.  I definitely miss family and friends back in Texas, but I am also convinced that this was the right move for me.  There have definitely been some challenges, but on the whole it has been a good first half of 2007. 

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 16th, 2007 at 8:10 pm and is filed under daily life. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.