Category: November 2018

John just read my last post and is horrified that I called a floating sculpture of a largemouth bass a “carp statue”. Whatever. It doesn’t seem to me like the object of art is good enough to definitively call anything other than “probably a fish.” But apparently it’s not a carp 😉

 

When we first got to Austin on Friday afternoon, we decided to go for a walk on a local hiking trail. We hopped in the van, drove a couple of miles, and parked in a “Best Buy” parking lot. I was dubious. Where are we? Why are we here? Why aren’t we at a trailhead?

John said all we need to do is walk past the enormous liquor store and then along the road for less than a block and there it will be. Meanwhile 3 lanes of traffic crawled bumper to bumper trying to get onto the freeway whizzing overhead. This was not an auspicious start to a hike.

So we walked along the busy road, past a concrete water detention basin and suddenly we were here, and it was beautiful.

I was somewhat taken aback by the chain link fence topped with razor wire but that disappeared after a hundred yards or so. And then the only way you could tell you weren’t deep in the woods was the freeway noise.

It was a heavily used trail, but most of the dogs were leashed. And there wasn’t any dog poop anywhere, which sort of astounded me. So did the beautiful creek that most people seemed to take for granted.

The cactus thriving in the mud among the oaks seemed odd too.

The whole trail was very beautiful.

We walked back along the freeway frontage road to the Best Buy parking lot as it was getting dark.

The next morning we took our bikes down to the trail around Lady Bird Lake. It was a stunning Saturday morning, and half of Austin was down there. I found the bicycling quite challenging, weaving in and out of all the different people and their conveyances. Joggers with kids in strollers and dogs on leashes, and dogs in strollers and kids in carriers, people with canes and walkers, people in large groups, all going different speeds.

Here’s my initial impression of Austin-tonians or whatever they call themselves. (I just looked it up, apparently it’s Austinites.) First, they seem very diverse. It’s not just that one family looks one way and another family looks another way. The diversity is within the families.

It almost felt like Austin was ahead of San Francisco in the tolerance wars, because there seemed to be a comfort level in Austin that just took diversity for granted. Like they weren’t fighting anymore because there was no need to fight anymore. Like the shift had finally happened and it was no longer an issue and there was no longer anything that needed asserted or proved. Unfortunately, I’m sure there are still tensions; I’m not that naïve. But from a surface, outsider’s point of view, everyone seemed very comfortable with gender and racial configurations that did not conform to traditional expectations. Maybe they’re just more polite about it.

Secondly, the dogs are part of the families in an intense way. I saw dogs in backpacks, dogs in baby slings, dogs in strollers, dogs in baby carriers towed behind bicycles, handicapped dogs in hind-quarter wheelchairs, dogs strapped to people’s waists, dogs strapped to people’s bikes, dogs strapped to people’s wrist, dog’s strapped to people’s children…and no dogs peeing or pooping anywhere. I want one of those Austin dogs that doesn’t pee and poop in public. In Singapore it’s illegal to allow your dog to let loose in public. In Austin it’s apparently at least considered in poor taste.

Oh, and one more funny thing. Austin is quite a large city (maybe about 2 million?), and I almost never heard any cars honking. Probably the quietest big-city traffic I’ve ever experienced. Except when they did honk. Every once in awhile someone would finally get pissed enough to honk, and then oh boy. They LEANED on that horn. HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONK. It went on so long I thought that horn would surely run out of air, like a saxophonist drawing that last note out so long it makes you hyperventilate for him.

After biking, we ate lunch at a lakeside cafe. Here’s what came up when I put the generic word “restaurants” into my map app. This is probably not the results you’d get in most parts of Texas (just guessing). What is “Japanese soul food”? And “Eco-chic”? I understand”Health-conscious”. But is “Bohemian vegetarian” any different than regular vegetarian? Apparently “Veggie Heaven” is vegan. Is it called that because all the veggie’s died?

We liked the place we ended up at on the water, because we both love marinas. Plus, fish tacos.

It probably doesn’t look like tacos because they’re “open face”. There’s a couple of tortillas lurking underneath all that fish, salad and rice.

It was warm, but clouding up and getting windy.

That is some sort of enormous carp statue. I was a bit baffled by it. It seemed pretty tacky. I’m sure it has a story. 

These are the guest docks. I guess we didn’t take any photos of the actual marina.

We’re home now, and already missing Austin.

Isn’t that a great picture? And I just snapped it fast with my cell phone while stopped for a second on a bike ride.

Like, I could have stood there and taken the same awesome picture all day long.

But actually, instead I took about a million pictures of trees.

Here I’m pretending to take pictures of the skyline, but I’m actually taking pictures of trees.

Oh, ok, here’s more of the skyline.

My guidebook, when recommending what season to go, says “Sept-Nov: You won’t see any fall foliage, but temperatures will have cooled by now.” I don’t know what they mean by “won’t see any fall foliage,” but obviously they weren’t writing for tourists from the high desert.

All I did was take pictures of trees.

Oh, and the obligatory selfie:

And the obligatory portrait in the portrait spot, where everyone was politely taking turns and offering to take pictures of each other like in Japan. The lighting wasn’t good, but this was apparently THE place to get the picture.

Next we went to the botanical gardens and I took more pictures of trees.

You probably think this is the entrance to the botanical garden, but I’m actually taking a picture of that tree.

Look, even the parking lot has excellent trees.

More trees

OK, not a tree.

Trees

Trees

Trees

Trees (with skyline in background)

Trees!!! (Oh, yeah, and my husband)

Trees!!!

Little tree

What does the guidebook mean, no fall foliage?

Bamboo for Laura:

Fish for John:

Trees!!!

You might think I’m taking a picture of a pond, but it’s actually of trees.

Ok, it’s not a tree. It’s a cat with a leaf on it.

Now it looks like I’m taking pictures of a red blacksmith’s shop, but actually it just happens to be in the trees.

And a cabin.

These next two were taken through the cabin windows, which is why you see trees reflecting at the top of the photos.

Trees!

(parental discretion advised – difficult topics)

I’ve been getting out to jog at dawn every morning this week, just like I said I would in my recent post about winter blues! Even Thanksgiving morning!

I stuck to my regular early morning schedule on Thanksgiving because I had things to do and places to go. John and I were heading to Texas for the long weekend. After jogging, my agenda was to get my truck loaded with my travel bags and drive down to Placitas, where he was waiting with the camper van.

Once out on my jogging trail, I realized that the first light of dawn was darker than normal because of cloud cover. I’m a bit nearsighted and was jogging without any corrective lenses. So it was dim and vague out there.

The second thing I realized was I was the only one on the trail. Usually there’s several joggers and dog-walkers around, hurrying to get out before the workday starts. But with most people not having to rush to work on Thanksgiving, they were apparently figuring their dogs could wait for their walk until it wasn’t quite so dark and freezing. If I were a big guy, maybe I would have enjoyed having the early morning trail to myself. But as a myopic, middle-aged female I was feeling vulnerable in the dim light.

Then I saw a man up ahead on the trail turn and look at me. I’ve never seen him before. A dark-skinned young male in a hoodie sweatshirt. I’m instantly on the alert. He moves into the bushes along the trail and crouches down out of sight. Oh god.

My mind is racing. I’ve got to turn around immediately, pick up my speed and get to the break in the fence where I can get into the subdivision. No, actually, I’ve just passed the fire station. Excellent. There’s EMT’s there 24/7. If I dash straight through the brush and cactus, I could be there in less than a minute. How do I get the EMT’s attention? Do fire stations have doorbells?

Oh wait. Is that a pitbull? Ok, good sign. A man with a dog is much less threatening than a man without a dog. And on a leash? That pitbull is leashed! Such relief! It’s not that I’m afraid of pitbulls. It’s that the type of owner who leashes their dogs is someone who generally observes social conventions (and will probably not leap out of bushes to attack middle aged women).

He’s got second dog! A cute long-haired black and white spaniel with a curly tail. Also leashed. I love spaniels, they’re such friendly dogs. Then the guy stands up and puts a neon green doggie poo bag into the trash can!

Now I’m thinking, Ooooh, look at that hot dude. This guy’s up early to walk his dogs. Poop scooping when it’s not even deposited on the trail. He’s a catch all right. Total. Marriage. Material.

As I cruise by with a slight nod and a mumbled “morning,” I realize that the spaniel has a bright pink leash. That’s a woman’s dog. This hot-looking guy is TAKEN. He’s out there at the crack of dawn walking her dog for her so she can sleep in on Thanksgiving morning. That’s exactly the sort of thing John does. What a perfect guy.

So now John knows why I insist that Rosie and Kira have pink and purple leashes. Because if it were up to John, our dogs would all just have black leashes, which would be much simpler than having to figure out which brightly-colored leash goes to which dog. But a guy with dogs on pink and purple leashes? HE’S NOT AVAILABLE. Sorry all you bitches, he’s mine.

It’s all about signaling, right?

Speaking of fear, prejudice, and signaling, let me digress and talk a moment about public restrooms. You know what I want? When I walk into a women’s restroom, I want everyone in there looking like they could plausibly be female. I don’t care what their chromosomes are, I don’t care what their hormones are, I don’t even care what’s in their pants. In fact, I really DON’T want to know what’s in their pants. I just don’t want to see a full beard. Just make a decent effort to make it seem like everything is as it should be. Signaling matters.

What if some perv dresses up as a women to prey on them? Yes, that could happen, but that’s always been possible throughout history. Being tolerant of trans issues would in no way increase the risk of that. Anyway what’s the likelihood of being attacked in a restroom?

Don’t we realize where women mostly get sexually assaulted? In their own homes by their own close friends and family members. Boyfriends. Spouses. Fathers. Grandfathers. Brothers. Uncles. What are we going do about that? For starters, we have to stop arguing about stupid things and start talking about things that matter.

I’m all for the #metoo movement, because as a society we need to talk about workplace harassment. And I’m really glad the Catholic church is no longer above the law. And we’re finally starting to admit that date rape is actually rape. But when is the last time any of us were in a comfortable, open, nuanced discussion about incest? Can we even read that word without wincing?

Why do we think we don’t know anyone who has experienced incest? Well, we do. I will guarantee we all know more than one. Probably several. Statistics are hard to come by because people don’t even talk about this to their own therapists, much less check the box on the medical intake form (and most medical intake forms don’t even ask), or respond to non-existent surveys.

Has anyone ever asked you if you experienced incest? Then how is society going to know? We’re not being counted. Even if some researcher somewhere got concerned enough to send a survey, then what? Who is going to leave that survey sitting around on the kitchen counter until they get around to filling it out, sticking a stamp on it and sending it in? Oh, that’s just mommy’s survey, no you can’t use it to make a paper airplane.

Do we think incest only happens to occasional publicity-seeking celebrities or random nut cases? The best studies say conservatively 1 in 10 women, probably higher. I’m not talking about some other country. I’m talking about middle class, educated, white Americans. Little girls, little boys, and adults too. So yes, we know them. We probably know a lot of them. Some of our coworkers, some of our neighbors. Friends we’ve known for years.

When is the last time anyone’s published a reasoned, thoughtful mainstream media article about incest? Until we start OPENLY talking about the sexual assault going on in middle class American homes, we have a long way to go yet for women’s – or anyone’s – equality.

Here’s an article my uncle wrote:

https://www.eastbayexpress.com/oakland/californias-nightmare/Content?oid=22985308&fbclid=IwAR2MvU_uOYBurQ9eJBpT5G0EroyeX3NUvXfkttuBv-WLUrkyCfFf3XhrSpA

It’s all about the interconnection between urban planning, housing, and the environment (some of my favorite topics, since I have an MS in Environmental Science and Regional Planning, and a BS in Geography, specifically, natural resource management).

(Thanks, Laura, for sending me the article.)

Here is a link to an excellent animated smoke map that John sent me. It’s very cool. Scroll down past the first map, to the second black one.

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/11/16/upshot/california-smoke-map.html

Here’s a screenshot, but it’s best to click the link above to see the animation effect as it progresses through several days.

That animation only goes from Nov. 12 – 19, but it is still smoky. Here is today’s smoke extent from Airnow.gov.

On Friday Laura and Alex left the Bay Area and are down in Santa Maria, which is near the coast about halfway between San Francisco and Los Angeles, between San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara. They are lucky they both have computer jobs and were allowed to work remotely.

Generally I struggle a little bit with seasonal depression, mostly in the January-March timeframe. But this year, it started at the beginning of October. Once it’s too dark to jog in the morning before work, I think the lack of exercise is a contributor, even though I like autumn.

Also it continues to be stressful at work. I do still like the job, but it has been surprisingly stressful ever since I started a year ago. More turn-over and more office drama and politics than I’m used to.

So, politics…on my way to work one day I noticed the car in front of me had an old “OBAMACARE” sticker. But they had altered it with a marker, adding a “D” on the end so it read, “OBAMACARED”. And suddenly, I just started crying. Like, literally sobbing in my car on the way to work. I know they’re all politicians, but it really did seem like he actually cared. And I certainly don’t feel cared for by the current administration.

Then a few of weekends ago when I first got the terrible news about my kid’s brother, I was in really bad shape, and I haven’t fully recovered yet. So, here’s what I’m going to do (this is what life coaches call accountability):

• My coworker gave me the name of a therapist, who is covered by my insurance, and I’m going to call her and I’m going to go.
• John and I are going to figure out how to go back to living together during the work week. The options are: both of us changing jobs, one of us changing jobs, both of us having a long commute, or one of us having a super-long commute.
• I made an appointment with an expensive medical doctor (who isn’t covered by my insurance), because I’ve heard she’s good. I’m hoping she can help with migraines and energy level.
• I’m going to get outside every day.
• I’m going to exercise every day that I don’t have a migraine, even though it’s dark.

A big issue with exercise is it can trigger migraines. I mean, it’s hard enough, right? To get your butt out there and exercise? Without thinking it could cause a migraine. So I’m going to exercise every day that I’m not actively treating an existing migraine. Yes, I’ll probably trigger a few extra migraines that I might not have gotten otherwise. But I’ve got to exercise.

I’m exhausted after work and it’s dark and I don’t exercise. I don’t even do my dishes. I just sit on the couch and read magazines. Then in the morning, instead of exercising, I do my dishes and chores that I should have done the previous evening.

On Friday I was talking to a coworker who is my age (at least), and she bicycles 12 miles to work. 12 miles each way! That’s 24 miles. Ok…fine. She’s a biker. Well then it turns out she also swims a mile at lunchtime. That’s 70 laps! She does it in 40 minutes! I’m like…damn. I need to get my shit together. I’ll never bike 24 miles and I can’t even swim one lap, much less 70. But maybe I could jog a couple of miles, slow?

I’ve put new alarms on my phone. I used to have just one, to get up at 6:00 in the morning, and I had the alarm titled something sappy like “grateful for this day”. Here’s my new alarms:

My boss resigned. He gave 3 days notice and was gone. I didn’t even have time to post a blog titled, “My boss is leaving”; he’s already gone.

So now what? I have no idea. Chaos, so far. There’s no clear successor, and our Bureau Chief is not appointing anyone to be temporarily acting in his position. She’s just going to advertise it as fast as she can.

Unfortunately, she probably can’t get the position filled very quickly. Not only is it holiday season, but both of our key HR personnel left for other jobs last month.

And we just elected a new governor. The previous administration has already left, so we’re basically without administration management until mid-January when the new administration gets going. The higher level positions (my boss was a section chief) aren’t typically filled without administration approval. And with no administration, that may not happen. In fact, frequently the Bureau Chiefs are rotated to other Bureaus when a new administration starts. My entire management chain could change.

It’s never boring at this job.

Despite the short notice, we did manage to buy my boss a couple of going-away gag gifts. By “we”, I mean a coworker of mine managed to buy him gag gifts and give him a friendly “roasting” at our last meeting. I was impressed – I don’t have that kind of humor and wouldn’t have been able to pull that one off. Here he is in his special new glasses and fake mustache.

I did manage to buy him a card that everyone signed. And we co-opted our Fall Luncheon to become a going-away party.

Here he is with our Bureau Chief in front of the buffet table.

We have at least one staff member uncomfortable with the designation of “Thanksgiving Celebration” so it became “Fall Luncheon” and then after my boss gave notice our luncheon degenerated into just “Oh, shit, today is his last day!” Complete with turkey, cranberry sauce, pies and someone managed to get a certificate framed for him. Here is the Bureau Chief presenting him the certificate (with a worried-looking colleague in the background).

Best of luck with your new job!

 

I’m mainly posting this for Laura, but the rest of you might be interested too.

I love the title on the graph showing net migration out of the area – “Too dear, so departed”

It’s not just that it’s become too expensive to live. There’s several other business reasons why it’s no longer necessarily the best place for a startup.

https://www.economist.com/briefing/2018/09/01/silicon-valley-is-changing-and-its-lead-over-other-tech-hubs-narrowing