It's summer time and it makes me want to travel to far away places and experience an entirely new culture. For some reason I'm making the decision to not travel when I probably should while I can. Partly I would like to go with my punkinpie, and he believes that he can't get time off work. Also, I somehow feel like I shouldn't leave work, or rather take more time off work, in the next several months besides our annul mecca to bm. It's ridiculous really. I should just take off and go somewhere while I can. I think soon enough I will have enough real responsibility (not this perceived dedication and loyalty to my company stuff) where I will no longer have this opportunity. Seize the day!

Some friends are going to New Zealand to visit some other friends in October and I've been thinking that maybe I should join in. The only thing is they're talking about a week long bike trip, and I'm way to lazy for that. Or I think I am. I probably would be okay after my butt callused up. I'm kidding. I could handle it, but I'm not sure it's "my speed". I'm more of a walker.

Lately my cooking "focus" has been indian food. I have a co-working who grew up in India and has been giving me cooking advice and tips. I've learned a lot about Indian cooking and it's so fantastic. For a while now (years..) I've always been on the lookout for real Indian cook books. But they don't exist. At least not in the bookstores I wander around in. And not the ones that will teach you how to make food like those found at Naan n' Curry. (The saucy foods best eaten with bread.) But now, I have some pretty darn good ideas how to make what I love and it makes me happy. My next thing is learning how to make samosas and the non-saucy Indian food favorites.

The Day Before the Four Year Plan Begins

Today we woke up pretty late. I thought that since our blinds were angled to allow the sunshine in, we would wake up early. It didn't work out like that. I suppose it had something to do with going to bed at 2 or so in the morning.
I was working this late because there's a bunch of contracting work I wanted to get wrapped up all nice and tidy before I started the Four Year Plan, which officially begins tomorrow. Part one of the Four Year Plan is starting this new full-time, permanent job.
It's actually almost the perfect job for me. (I say almost because nothing is truly perfect, is it?) It's the first job description that I've ever seen where I had exactly all the skill sets listed. It's working for a company doing something that I've already spent large amounts of my hobby time doing - namely writing software related to the real estate industry. Or more specifically helping buyers like me, get all the information they want. I interviewed them really carefully and they interviewed me just as carefully. And it ended up being a good match. I'm going to really miss contracting and the flexibility it provides. But I'm really looking forward to working in a team, in the city, on a project that I think is super cool. I have high hopes for it all.
After we got up late we headed by bike to this new breakfast place we rode by yesterday. It hadn't opened for business yet, and so we settled with breakfast at Cafe Colucci, which was a big mistake.
Well, I'm pretty sure that I suffer from hypoglycemia because I have a lot of weird things that happen when I don't eat soon after waking up. Like a really bad headache, for one. The restaurant we ended up at is usually really great for Ethiopian food, but apparently not breakfast. But you have to go there knowing you won't get quick service. It's just not how it works.
Also, I'm a breakfast person. I like breakfast and encourage our family to go out to get breakfast often. So, I really do care what my breakfast was like, and my breakfast wasn't so good. Actually, it was awful.
When I got home, I worked a bunch. That was pretty much the rest of my day.
Punkinpie did some gardening. Which is really cool, because I really feel like we're starting to make some progress with our home. There was a point, several months ago, when I really started to invest in this place as our long term home. And part of that was gardening. It's looking good.
Also, there's this weird plant phenomenon that's happening in my houseplants. Well, there's two, actually. The newest one are these mushrooms that are growing in one of our houseplants. Could somebody please identify these? There getting bigger, and I'm really enjoying them being here. It reminds me of the Pacific Northwest.

The second weird plant thing is the ants. They invaded yet another plant, except this time instead of re potting the plant and washing away all the soil, I just put poison nearby. They seem to be gone now. I guess that means there's a lot of dead ant bodies in that one plant now. What exactly happens to ant colonies when you poison them? I'm curious.
I woke up a little sore today. Probably from the yoga on Friday and then the bike riding the past two days. I feel really good.
I forgot about explaining the Four Year Plan. Basically it goes like this. I don't want to raise kids here. Actually, that's not entirely true. I wouldn't mind raising kids here, but we need a lot more money to do it. I want both of us to have time to spend with our kids. And I don't mean after working full-time. I think it's ridiculous that we can't both own a home and have both of us work only part time. Where I used to live, this wouldn't be a problem. How are we supposed to be attentive parents if we can't be around for our kids in their formative years? Well, as I've mentioned, I have high hopes for this startup company that I'm going to start working for tomorrow. I took a little less money for more stocks. And I vest in four years. So, in my perfect world, this company will do well, and I'll make money off of it - think Google. I will stay there for four years to get all that stock, and then Punkinpie and I will possibly move. We have an agreement to talk very seriously about moving. The fact is that we could probably live on half of one income in Olympia, WA if we lived frugally, or on two halves easily. I'd like to move somewhere cheaper and raise our kids in a more mellow, much cheaper area. In Olympia, you can still buy a house where the rent pays the mortgage. That's a ridiculous concept here in the Bay Area. I'm willing to give up the glitz and glory of this area for a chiller, mellower, and more down time filled life. We'll see what we decide in four years. But that's our plan and agreement right now: To talk seriously about moving somewhere cheaper where we could both work less than full-time. And that might not even be Olympia, but then, it might. Only time will tell.

Cool Links for Today:
Grafiti and Media linked together
Optimize Your Life
Scratch That Travel Itch
World Music Festival. If they ever play the states again, get here.
Investment Sense
The Mother Load of Mortgage Calculators

Weekend Bikes and Shoes

Punkinpie and I woke up and had a lazy morning in bed. It was pretty nice.
We also had a "date" night last night too.
It's a tradition that I really like for several reasons. First, it declares that you are both going to give your undivided attention to the other. It can be pretty frustration for either person if you're not on the same page about this. Second, it gives us the opportunity to try a new place to eat, because usually we go out to eat on a "date" night. Third, there's just something fun about still thinking about dating, when we've been living together for years now. We still date!
We walked up to Rockridge and had dinner at Pearl for our "date" night. The food actually was really good, except for what happened afterwards. I woke up in the middle of the night and was really glad that we had indoor plumbing. (I actually lived for many years with a composting toilet that was only accessible by walking outside. I was in a school bus for part of that, but here's one of the cabins on that land.) I think the problem was these greens that we couldn't identify. Though looked really cool, with their spiral stems, but I'm not so sure my body could deal with whatever they were.
I took a shower while Punkinpie went and got some milk at the corner store. He normally drinks rice milk, and so do I by default. Though I prefer soy milk. It's just easier to use what's in the fridge.
I went downstairs and made breakfast, which today was farina. When that was done and Punkinpie wasn't home yet, I occupied my time by taking the recycling out from the kitchen. And for some reason I decided to keep the bottles that have returns separate. I ended up putting them in a paper bag and putting them on the street. (I think I secretly hope that everybody starts doing that so we don't have to hear the homeless types digging through our recycling can at three in the morning on garbage night. They're really loud with their grocery carts, and all those bottles clanking at night.)
When I got back inside Punkinpie was back and he had bought me a decaf mocha from the neighborhood coffee shop! That's the sweetest thing ever. He also had a deliciously purple blueberry smoothy too.
We ate breakfast and I went back to my office and worked some on various contract projects.
Punkinpie popped in and asked if I wanted to join him on a bike ride up Telegraph Ave to look for shoes. So we were off doing that.
It's so nice to ride bikes. I really enjoy it. I probably should wear my helmet more because I basically never wear it. I used to have really strong opinions about folks who didn't wear helmets, but now I've become one of them. It's pretty stupid not to wear one, really. Maybe I'll start wearing one now.
We roamed telegraph and went through various stores and didn't really find much except for this one cool screen printed t-shirt that this one street vendor had. It was a picture of the city of oakland sign (like this), except at the bottom it had a bike locked to the sign. The best part was that the bike was stripped. Classic.
Finally we had lunch at Smart Alec, and it was good. I realized I was late for meeting a friend, and headed out on my bike to her house. We walked to this costume shop near her house and tried on some potential wedding costumes. I didn't really find much that amazed me. But she did give me a couple ideas of stores to look in next.
Then I came home and worked on the house. I sanded the spots I had spackled last night, and re-spackled them. I think they'll be ready to paint tomorrow.
Now, after finishing this blog entry, I'm going to work some more. I can't think of anything else that I really want to do right now. So I might as well bill some hours.

Cool Links for Today:
Reviews for just about anything