Minor Commute Adjustments and other Notes.

Day 2 of the commute went well. A minor adjustment from day one was that I left at 8:15 a.m. and left work at 6:00 pm. This put me on the road after everyone who needs to be at work at 8:00 was already there and after the 5:00 pm rush.

The weather has been glorious for this kind of thing. Nice mist in the morning (not a San Francisco fog for sure) but enough to provide some evaporative cooling on the ride in. The evenings have been hot (but not as hot as my folks in Richmond) hovering around 90, but with a nice breeze.

The last time I commuted regularly was during my Ph.D. at the University of Florida...there was a couple of years there when I had no car (don't feel too bad for me I had a nice girlfriend at the time who was very generous with her truck). You can't have too many friends with trucks.

I had forgotten how nice it is to arrive at work refreshed instead of stressed. When I commute in my little car bubble I listen to NPR which I love, but as of late there has just been too much bad news piping through those speakers. Also driving a car does not take as much brain power as riding a bike, so I think about what needs to get done that day instead of the great scenery around me. The commute is just long enough that I can leave most of that behind when I go home to...the hills are a tremendous stress releaser.

In other notes, I know that many of you are regular travelers (in need of things to do in airports and on planes) and enjoy a good book and drink once in a while (or maybe a little more often for some of you :-) A history of the world in six glasses by Tom Standage is a great (and quick maybe 2 hour) read on how beer, wine, whiskey, coffee, tea, and coca-cola altered human history. I heard about it on CBS sunday morning news last fall and finally got around to reading it. I am one of those awful folks who always has a mountain of books to read and run about 3-4 months behind because I only read about one a week. The stack doesn't bother me, but you may have work with your significant other on working with you on your addiction.

My favorite factoid from this book is that (according to the author..there are other suggested origins) Rum is short for Rumbullion...which refers to a great tumult or uproar.

I also took time to watch a movie that I had been wanting to see for a while, The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada which is basically a personal project of Tommy Lee Jones. It is described as a dark comedy, but I think of it more as an insight into the mistakes that are part and parcel of being human and the possible albeit painful redemption that comes with a lot of soul searching...with a few human dark comedic moments thrown in. Definitely worth watching...warning not necessarily for those with weak stomachs. There are no good guys; there are no bad guys kind of a movie.