Settling In

So, my second week is complete. I think I will stop counting from now on and just settle in. Last week at work was good. I was actually getting *real* work to do and that felt good. Visiting users in different buildings, barns (!!!), off campus offices, etc. My area is the southside with an emphasis on the Base of Campus -- which I will now refer to as, simply, Base Camp. There are a bunch of offices that the southies support off-campus and I will be the Mac person for the off-campus people. I like being the Mac person.

I haven't set up my permanent shop at the Palace (trailer) yet, but last week I spent two days there with a loaner laptop (a little buddy) and it was awesome. I also started riding my bike to work finally. It took me a while to get a pump for my tires and just get motivated to ride that long way up. And I do mean up. And I do mean long. Holy moly! It's a wonderful ride though. There are a couple of steep inclines to get through town, but those are nothing. High St. is the hardest. It is SO steep and SO long and you just put it in a low gear and spin. Sometimes I feel like an old dude with a walker could pass me, but I make it so I don't care. When my home is set at the Palace, after High St., I'll just have a small incline and I'm at the base. But, when I work at the top, I have a HUGE hill to climb. It's pretty rad and beautiful and all of that, but my gods is it steep. When you finally get to the top you feel like there's nothing you can't do for the rest of the day. So, while I go on and on and on about how hard it is, I really do love it. I feel alive at the top!

Now, the best part is the ride down. There's a path that runs down the middle of campus and it's kind of like a roller coaster. First of all, the view is unreal. On a clear day you can see Monterrey. And when you set out, you go a little down, then a little up, like a roller coaster and then STRAIGHT DOWN. You have a dedicated path going one direction so there is nothing to get in your way. I get down in about 3 minutes and it's the most awesome feeling ever. It's your big reward for riding up that morning.

The other thing I am noticing about cycling here is their infrastructure is really really progressive. There are bike lanes EVERYWHERE, share the road signs, walk your bike on the sidewalk signs, bike racks on ALL buses including UCSC shuttle buses and UCSC VanPool vans. When you are riding with traffic, you really feel like you are part of traffic. The cars and bikes just seems to work well together. Now, it's not perfect, but it's the best I've felt so far. It's also the best way to get around town. At 5pm, man, there is a LOT of traffic. And I fly by it all on the ol' C-Dale.

Miriam and I went to CrossFit today and I signed up for a permanent schedule - finally. I'll be going Tuesday and Thursday at 6am and Sundays at 10am. I think it's going to be great when I get back into shape with that. I'm also going to join this racquetball club at UCSC's Wellness Center on Tuesday nights. I'm hoping I'll find a partner equal to Ron (but you will never be replaced, of course) so I can play more during the week. Then everything will be perfect. Miriam is going to join a league basketball team on Mondays and I'm very excited to go out and watch them play!

What else? Glynnis and Rosalie came up to visit on Thursday night and we went out to the Red Room for dinner and drinks. It was SO wonderful to see both of them and it meant so much that they came. We had a wonderful time and laughed and talked and ate really good food. On Friday Lisa, Chris and Lexa came down from SF and we hung out at our apartment with a bunch of tacos and beer. It was Miriam and my first dinner party. Now we know we can have 6 people and a baby and it's not too terribly crowded.

Glynnis took tons of photos, including some on campus, so when she sends them out, I will post a few here. I've been really bad about taking pics, but will try and get better.

Last night Miriam and I went to see her high schoolers perform MacBeth in San Jose. We went with two of her colleagues, Erin and Chris and went to this really great dumpling house before the play. Yummy. The play was good -- the kids did a great job -- but damn, it was like watching a play in German. Ahem, I think I need to figure out a little of what they're saying. It would definitely make the play more interesting. But, it was nice to go out and meet some of Miriam's friends.

So, that's the big report from here. It was a really nice week. I feel like I'm settling in and our apartment is really coming together -- I cannot emphasize enough how important that bookshelf is. THANK YOU!!!!!

Hope to hear from you soon. Write, call, something. Just please stay in touch. I think of you often.

Love,
Neile