collecting trophies for the songs they wrote while we lived in the shadow of the moon

I am back in ye olde Iowa after a v. long but uneventful travel day. I was able to get sufficient sleep last night to make up for Thursday's shenanigans, and I grabbed a bit of breakfast and some coffee downstairs before showering and putting my last things in my suitcase to head to the airport. My hotel last night was <10min by uber to the airport, and I went through Terminal 2 to avoid the construction chaos of Terminal 3, so this travel day was much smoother than my last attempt to depart SFO.

My flight to Denver was uneventful, and I spent my layover in Denver eating nachos and drinking a margarita at Cantina Grill, which is exactly how a layover should be spent. My flight to Des Moines was also uneventful, and I landed a little before 9pm CT - so after stopping for gas, I got home around 10:30. Then I talked to [censored] for a bit, and then I came upstairs to do a small bit of day job stuff that I probably should have done on the plane (but I preferred to sleep on the plane, so no real regrets there). And now I need to go to bed so I can do a million tings tomorrow - goodnight!

we're as simple as we want it to be

I had an excellent day yesterday - a lot of work, but also they got me cake and treats from Mariposa, which was great. We all went out for happy hour at 5:30... Which turned into far more than a happy hour because Adit, Geoff, Timothy and I stayed out until midnight.

So, I was dragging today, but I survived. I woke at five to say goodbye to Chandlord, who was leaving before I needed to, and then I went back to bed. Eventually I got up, and then I packed everything in to my bag and then to the office. Jamie, Jackie and I were the only ones who came in, so we did a variety of tings together. It was all pretty painful since I was short on sleep and also didn't eat enough yesterday, but c'est la vie. 

And now I need to sleep  - goodnight!

synaesthesia

I had a pretty lovely day, all in all. I got enough sleep, woke up early, and went to Philz to work for a couple of hours before my meetings started. Then I slogged all day (with some entertaining side conversations with Adit about T-shirts, which are somehow part of our job responsibilities), and it was all generally fine.

And then I caught a waymo to Ocean Beach to see Veronica and Adam. I took a waymo even though they tend to be a little slower (since they have to obey stop signs and speed limits) because it's almost forty minutes to get across the city and I didn't want to be exposed to a driver's conversation and cologne for that long. Veronica and I had a v tasty Indian takeout dinner, and the place she ordered from had gluten free naan, which was a rare delight. And of course catching up was great, so I'm glad I made the trek to the far west side of the city of sin.

And now I'm safely ensconced in Chandlord's guest room and ready to sleep - goodnight!

shake shake shake

I'm too tired to blog - I got up sometime after five but before six and showered, then took an Uber to the Philz closest to my office so that I could get some early morning work done in peace (and with the biggest coffee possible). I was at the office for an eight am meeting, and I slogged until four, when I took a break to go to Burlingame and have dinner. Of course, I was very early to dinner since I was so desperate for a break, so I did a bit of window shopping and then sat at Starbucks for 90mins and did some minor work tasks that were appropriate for the level of thinking I was capable of. 

Then I met up with Anne, Barbara, and Veronica for dinner at Pizzeria Delfina. The service continues to be weird, but I had a v tasty pasta (instead of my usual gf mushroom pizza) and it was a delight. And it was great to see my writer friends, even if we were missing Grace and people were going through various calamities. Anne gave me a v unnecessary ride (from Safeway back to delfina), and then I took an interesting Uber ride with a Nepalese guy and we talked about the revolution. And now, I desperately need to sleep - goodnight!

Then I took an Uber home

young dirty love, come get us strung

I'm safely ensconced in Chandlord's house, sacrificing my hotel room because hotels are $1000-5000/night this week due to a conference (SF is so back). Today was a bit disjointed as a result - I didn't sleep super well, and so got out of bed later than planned, and then had to grab coffee, shower, pack, etc. 

But I took a couple of meetings from the hotel, then went into the office to take more meetings, have lunch with Adit and Baz, and generally do various work things.. Then I came to Chandlord's, unpacked, went across the street to one of my old favorite cafes, and worked for a couple of hours before ordering Thai and generally chilling. 

And now I need to go to bed so I can slog tomorrow - goodnight!

peace of mind

I have had a v. eventful few days. Work continues to be a slog, which is why I haven’t had the energy to post at the end of the day - but it’s a (mostly) fun slog, so I am not that resentful of the increased demands on my time.

So, let’s see what we missed (what you missed in reading + what I missed in documenting):

Thursday was my birthday (#neverforget), and I celebrated as soon as I woke up by having a funfetti cupcake instead of a granola bar with my coffee. I spent the day slogging through a variety of tings and also fielding texts from a variety of people - the advantage of a 9/11 birthday is that it is remembered by people even if they don’t have it on their calendars, so I feel like I hear from more people than average (and then feel guilty because I definitely don’t remember everyone else’s birthdays).

After I was done with work, my mom, [censored] and I went to Garden Grove to celebrate my birthday at one of the only restaurants around that was open. I always love their cheese curds and fried pickles even though they certainly are not gluten free; I also had a southern Iowa lemonade, and the bourbon made up for the fact that my burger wasn’t as good as it usually is. So, we had a nice birthday dinner, and I ended the day feeling very loved (especially because someone at work refused to add me to a 9-11pm meeting because it was my birthday, so I went to bed while everyone else slogged).

Friday was chaotic = I got up and went into town to get allergy shots, and then I slogged through more meetings than I like to have on Fridays. I also had to pack to leave for SF, which made things more chaotic. But since I was originally supposed to fly out Friday night, the fact that I didn’t leave until Saturday morning made it just a wee bit more manageable. So I got packed up, watered all my plants and gardens, organized things, and also made dinner - I baked some chicken breasts, cooked the last of a pack of bacon that was going to go bad before my return, sliced up some fresh tomatoes and some leftover mozzarella, and [censored] and I had a surprisingly delicious dinner (and I left him with leftovers, assuaging my guilt at also leaving him with plants to water).

Saturday, I flew to SF. My flight was at 9, which meant leaving home at 6…and I only left twenty minutes later than planned, which is luckily not a problem when flying out of Des Moines. I parked in the garage, walked straight through security with my carry-on, and had time for a glass of nerve-calming rosé at the bar before boarding on time. My flights were both smooth from a timing standpoint, but unfortunately I was banking on eating on the Denver->SF flight, and they didn’t end up offering any food because there was too much turbulence.

So I landed in SF early but starving. Since I didn’t have to pick up a checked bag, I grabbed a late lunch at a restaurant at the airport before taking an uber into the city. I checked into my hotel, fully unpacked, and then went to my absolute favorite mani/pedi place, were they cleaned up my hands and feet and made me feel ready to seize a week of girlbossing in the city of sin. After that was done, I came back to my hotel, took a much needed twenty-minute nap, put on fresh clothes, and rendezvoused for some much-needed family time.

Adit (no one calls him the cat), Chandlord, Claude and I met up at True Laurel for drinks (aka cacktales), and my boulevardier went a long way toward restoring me after my travels. Then we had dinner at Flour + Water, which has gotten v. good for gluten free. The four of us now arrange our seating by our joint dietary preferences - Claude and I avoid gluten and eat meat to compensate, while Adit and Chandlord are veg only but eat as much gluten as possible. We split all the veg/gluten free salads on the menus, and then Claude and I split an excellent gf pasta + some salmon. This might be my new fave gf pasta in the city, which is v exciting since a place called Flour + Water is not typically welcoming of our gf sensitivities.

We also (of course) ordered a bottle of wine + another couple of glasses after. This is sedate compared to the outings of our twenties and thirties, but still felt like going big given our advanced ages. We spent most of dinner playing a game we dubbed ‘Vibe Check’ - the person in the hotseat had to pick a number between 1-10, where 1 is worst and 10 is best. The other three then went around and asked category questions - e.g., if someone asked ‘Biblical characters’ (as Claude did of me), then the main person had to name something within that category that matched the number/ranking they were thinking of.

As it turns out, we know each other quite well - they got that I had picked a 4 (for reference: my biblical characters was Paul bc I acknowledge his role in promoting the church and writing great letters, but do not appreciate his misogyny or how judgy he was after his Damascus conversion - and Claude guessed exactly how I felt; my other answers were all similarly mid), and for the rest of our rounds we all got within 1 of the person’s number. As games go it was quite fun and not nearly as dangerous as games involving shots, so I would 100% recommend.

Sssanyway, after we finished dinner (with an excellent chocolate budino), we walked a few blocks to meet up with Michael, who is friends with Chandlord and Claude. We hung out in his lobby with him and his partner, and drank some truly atrocious canned Paloma drink (lukewarm 52-proof tequila and grapefruit is really not good, but I drank it anyway because I’m polite and also have no boundaries). We chatted about a variety of topics related to book bindings, house renovations, SF neighborhoods, etc., and it was all generally delightful.

Adit and Chandlord then went with Michael to the Stud (and later to Grubstake, which I’m very sad to have missed, but I couldn’t have survived until 1:30am PT / 3:30am CT after waking up at 5am CT). I walked Claudia back to her car, grabbed an uber from there, and then came to my hotel and fell asleep with the lights on because I was too tired to think.

Today was a great recovery day though. I woke up fairly early, grabbed coffee downstairs, and then chilled and ordered room service breakfast. I also ran over to Chandlord’s to get a set of keys from her - SF hotels are cheap this weekend but out of control this week, so I’m checking out tomorrow and staying with her. Then I came back to my hotel, showered, and walked to the Embarcadero…

…where I had lunch (don’t call it brunch) with John and Jess at Coqueta. I was in the mood for tapas and paella, which I never get in ye olde Iowa, and Coqueta delivered. My salt air margarita was perfect, and the paella was fantastic - and the patatas bravas (fried potatoes if you’re Iowan) were so good that we got a second order. It’s warm in the city right now, so we sat outside, and we people-watched and water-watched and caught up on life in general, and it was all a delight.

After we parted ways, I did basically nothing for a couple of hours (and finally gave up and took a proper nap). Then I grabbed a chai from the Yemeni coffee shop down the street, came back to my room, and wrote for a couple of hours. Eventually I realized I was finally hungry again, so I grabbed a burger and a glass of wine from the hotel bar. And now, I need to start unwinding so that I can hit the work slog hard tomorrow - goodnight!

you could show a little grace, but maybe things just went a bit too far

I had another v v busy day, but things weren't quite as bonkers as yesterday, so I'll take it. I also had smoked salmon and cream cheese on toast for lunch, which made me quite delighted - there are advantages to going to Des Moines and having new types of food in the fridge as a result. And I snuck out at 4:20 to go to town for a library board meeting, so at least I got out of the house and saw more people than just the same usual suspects that I see on video all day every day.

When I got home, I did some laundry, made myself some gluten free funfetti cupcakes for reasons that will become apparent tomorrow (#neverforget), walked downtown to pay my water bill(s), and did a variety of other tings. I also spent half an hour on a late work call while eating leftover curry (better the second day, as is often the case), and then I talked to [censored], and then I did some more work.

And now I need to go to bed - goodnight!

grab your wings, this is a storm we're meant to ride

I have had an absolutely insane couple of days at work, which is not how I like to live these days, but c'est la vie. Yesterday was a long and brutal slog, and I went to bed early in hopes of getting up early so I could get tings done today. But I woke up unexpectedly at 4am feeling migraine-ish, and so I canceled on a local board meeting and stayed in bed until eight.

That meant that today's slog started literally as soon as I got out of bed, headache or no. So I took a shower, fueled up with a bunch of coffee, and had many many hours of meetings (while also trying to multitask during some of them). I took a break around seven to make dinner, which turned out surprisingly well - I had an expired can of green curry paste in the basement that I'd never tried to cook with, but while I was awake at 4am I had read some tips for how to doctor it (including many people who said that most thai restaurants in the US use this brand of canned curry paste instead of making their own). So I cooked it up with eggplant from my garden, some chicken, and some fresh basil, and it turned out amazingly well. It was just on the verge of spicier than I wanted, but it was quite good, so I'll have to try their other pastes.

However, after I ate, I had to get back to the slog, including a 10pm meeting with an hour of debrief after. The only advantage of any of this, frankly, was that today was the four-month anniversary of Dad's death and I was too busy to think for most of the day, which I guess is maybe better than the alternative? Or maybe it's not, but workaholism certainly does help mask some things occasionally.

And now I am well and truly done (mentally, not task-wise) and am going to bed. Goodnight!

ensenada on my mind

I had a lovely day in the city of corn - I slept surprisingly well and deeply last night despite being in a strange place and also having a pretty stressful week, so I woke up later than planned and quite refreshed. The "later than planned" timing was by doubt influenced by the fact that I set my alarm...but it was my bedside alarm (at home) instead of my phone. At least [censored] wasn't home and hearing what sounded like a bird had gotten into my bedroom, so no one was alarmed (pin intended).

Anyway, I got ready, checked out, and went to the mall shortly after it opened, where I happily browsed many stores, bought a pair of black jeans (accomplishing my main mission), and had a slow late lunch at cheesecake factory. Then I went to Target, browsed a couple more stores, did a minor stock up at whole foods, and headed south.

[Censored] happened to land in Des Moines around the time I was wrapping up, so we met for a v tasty Mexican dinner in Indianola. Then I drove home, unloaded, and chilled until I started to fall asleep while looking at my phone. And now it's time for bed - goodnight!

I will possess your heart

I had an unexpectedly chaotic day - I woke up thinking it would be chill, but instead I had many meetings and many discussions. It wasn't all day job, though - I also got allergy shots and mailed things and took care of some courthouse business, so at least I got that done.

At 5:30 I decided to play hooky and drive to Des Moines - I want to do a big shopping run tomorrow, and I decided to come up tonight so I could see Drewbaby and Sammie. They picked up Thai food and we drank some wine while watching the Chiefs game (against the Chargers in Brazil) on one TV and the North Polk game on another. The Chiefs game was disappointing, but Drewbaby's alma mater won, so the night wasn't a total wash.

Then I drove to West Des Moines and checked into a hotel so that I can hit the shopping early and hard tomorrow. Goodnight!

i play my music in the sun

I stayed up way too late working last night, which made this morning a bit of a slog. I've been strangely enjoying getting up early enough to get a head start on my day, and that didn't happen today - I still had time for coffee, of course, but I was definitely not feeling in it to win it. It didn't help that I had a million meetings and many important tings were happening in all of them, which left me feeling wrung out and headachy (but also strangely motivated) by the end of it.

But I did make myself some v. tasty bacon and eggs and toast for lunch while listening to a meeting, so that felt like a real win. I also slacked off at 5:45, checked my garden (more eggplant incoming!), and then went with Mom to water the planters in town. We also had dinner together - we changed cars after watering (since the watering jugs were in her trunk, but I would rather drive to dinner) and went to Seymour for ribeye. I also stocked up on their after-dinner mints since I don't have them in my life as often as I used it. The building next to them looks like it's about to collapse, which gives me pause about lingering outside too long, but at least the food is still good.

Then we came home, and I spent the rest of the evening chilling/procrastinating and then doing about an hour of work to get ahead of tomorrow. And now I need to sleep - goodnight!

like the old days

I have nothing to report - I have been slogging hard the last two days to take advantage of some focus time while [censored] is gallivanting off in Orlando like the world traveler that he secretly wants to be. Yesterday I did manage to get out of the house and tend to the town's planters with my mom - but there was no need to water today, since we got rain off and on throughout.

So that's all I've got for you, since I need to wind down and go to bed - goodnight!

go slow

I had a v lazy couple of days, which wasn't my intent, but c'est la vie. Yesterday I did a whole lot of nothing, from what I can recall - although I did make potatoes au gratin to eat with the leftover pulled pork for dinner, which was pretty tasty. And [censored] and I watched the second half of the Billy Joel documentary, which was pretty great. Oh, and I met my latest great-niece - Allie and Chris came down and brought Mya, who is less than three weeks old and v v cute (and somehow already trying to roll over, which is shocking).

Today I attempted to be more productive, with mixed results. I was prepared to get after it, and then [censored] for a text from Cheri offering him some stuff out of their shed before they tear it down. Since their shed was Gram and Granddad's shed, I decided to go along for the ride and check tings out. There were a couple of old metal signs that were cool, and Jake had found our dad's initials and handprint in some concrete that was poured in 1978, so that was bittersweet.

After we came home, I messed around in my garden and harvested my only butternut squash. Mom and I also went downtown to water planters, since it's our week to water. And I spent the afternoon journaling, planning, and taking care of various lists - not completely productive, but I have a better handle on what I need to get done. 

And now I need to sleep so I can get up early and do all the things I should have done this weekend - goodnight!

tonight I'm cleaning out my closet

I had a v hectic week, so today I was pretty chill in an effort to offset. Yesterday was decent, though - I only had four hours of scheduled meetings + a couple of hours of people needing to talk in an impromptu way, so I was able to get a little bit of work done. And then I drove to the next town over to have dinner with Hannah. I took some of my leftover pulled pork, and we made nachos and hung out on her patio for a couple of hours. It was nice to see her, and hopefully I'll see her again before the weather precludes outdoor activities. 

Today, as I said, was chill - I woke up, made coffee, did some paperwork type things, showered, walked to the lumber yard, and then went to town to run a couple of errands. I wasn't super productive after that - mostly because I was doing random things until going with my mom to Virginia's 100th birthday party. We didn't stay long, but it was good to see her, and they had a v nice turnout.

I then spent the rest of the afternoon starting to clean out my office closet, which means I have a huge mess in my office. At some point I picked up pizza, which Mom and [censored] and I ate together. And now I need to sleep - goodnight!

and i've known you all my life but i knew you long before that tune

I have had a brain-melting couple of days at work, which is too bad because I would rather lie in a hammock and read a book and maybe write the book that is just barely starting to percolate behind my eyeballs. It's not all bad, since I generally like the people and the problems are interesting, but I could use a few fewer meetings/candidate interviews and a few more hours to get work done.

But Tuesday and Wednesday were fine, and I ate some tasty things in there (a BLTA with a tomato from my garden, some fish tacos that I made last night). Today, I roasted a pork butt, which means the house smelled like roasting pork for ten hours. But it was #worthit, since the pork turned out perfectly. I used the digital thermometer that I got for Christmas, which bluetooths to my phone, which was great because when my temperature alarm went off on my phone in the middle of a meeting that I deeply wanted to get out of (at 6:15pm), they all heard it and I was off the hook.

So I wrapped the pork in foil, tidied up, shucked some corn, and boiled it while shredding the pork. Mom came into town to join me and [censored], so we had a v. nice dinner. And then I cleaned up, was going to relax, instead talked to a coworker for an hour, finally did relax for a bit, and then sent a couple of work emails (one of which took way longer than it should have).

And now I really need to sleep - goodnight!

i need you to come on, come on, come on, come on

Apologies for not blogging for a couple of days - I had a v. hectic travel day on Saturday, and I needed some extreme downtime to catch up. I slept slightly later Saturday morning than intended, and that should have been fine because I'm pretty capable of getting through SF quickly (on a normal day). But first I spilled a bottle of water in my backpack as I was leaving the hotel. Luckily, I had stolen two new backpacks (and a duffel to put them in) from the swag closet at the office, so I swapped all my stuff into a new, dry backpack and tossed the other backpack into the duffel. But this set me back a few precious minutes...

...which became material when traffic around the terminals was incredibly backed up, and there was no way to avoid it because ubers can only drop off in a specific location. When I did get out, I discovered that the lines at terminal 3 were massive, and I had to stand in one of them because I had to check the aforementioned stolen duffel with one stolen backpack and one wet preowned backpack. Since I was standing in line anyway, I also checked my roll-aboard. But the checked bag line was long even with premier access, and then I discovered (to my chagrin) that they removed the CLEAR lanes in terminal 3, so I had to stand in the regular precheck line like a peasant. In fact, I was still in that line when my plane started to board...

...but I quickly escaped security and had time to grab a coffee before boarding. It was a mediocre coffee from one of the worse cafes since I didn't have time to stand in line, but it saved me.

So I flew to Denver with no issues, but I had to switch from the B terminal to the A terminal, which is always an unwelcome development. I just had time to grab some chips and guac before boarding, which I snarfed on the plane. And then I got to Des Moines with no issues, other than the fact that one of my bags did not make it with me. I knew this in Denver, since the app now says these tings, but I didn't know which bag went with which tag. So I waited at the baggage claim with baited breath to find out whether I had all my real belongings (in my rollaboard) or a bunch of backpacks (and also, strangely, a pair of Carhartt overalls in my size that I also absconded with from the office) in a stolen duffel bag. Luckily my real belongings arrived, and so I submitted a claim via the app for my stolen duffel and was on my way.

I drove home with no issues, and a couple of stops to wash my car, pick up Starbucks at the beautiful new Starbucks in Indianola, and pick up sweet corn. Then I got home in time to have dinner with Mom and [censored] - Mom made chicken and noodles, which were v. tasty. And then I slept the sleep of the dead for many hours.

Yesterday was basically a wash - I was wiped out from traveling, and while I intended to do a million things, I instead unpacked (a win), did a bit of garden stuff, and also did a whole lot of nothing. I did make cheeseburgers to go with some sweet corn, and I even toasted the buns (which made my freezer burned gluten free bun almost edible), so at least there was that.

Today was basically a slog - I got up early and was not productive enough this morning, but I made up for it by working until 7:45ish. Then I made baked some frozen french fries to go with my leftover cheeseburger (which was way more satisfying than it sounds) and watched a couple of episodes of SOMEBODY SOMEWHERE, which has been recommended to me many times by many people. And now I need to go to bed - goodnight!

show me an open door

I had a nice but hectic last day in the city of sin. I didn't sleep well, woke up too early, got ready, and walked to work with a stop at Philz to pick up my last gigantic coffee of the trip. Then I did some work, did some interviews, took a walk with Adit and got a pretty tasty gluten free Korean savory pastry, ate a v quick lunch (salmon and rice), did some more interviews, did a bunch more work, and finally left a little after five.

When I got back to my hotel, I hurriedly packed - as usual I am taking back much more than I came with, so I'm checking a bag, but at least the wait in Des Moines usually isn't too bad. I also laid down for seven minutes before pursuing my next plan - I went over to Adit and Priyanka's for dinner. Claudia and Chandlord came too, and each time one of us walked in, the kids demanded to know which "crazy lady" this was.

So we hung out with the kids for a bit (my favorite was when Kaaviya said her name was Cowviya in a past life, and then rammed me in my belly like she had horns). Then we ate a variety of snacks, drank a variety of artisanal wines, ate takeout pasta, and had ice cream bars that I determined, with v little evidence, were gluten free.

And now, I desperately need to go to bed since my flight leaves in nine hours. Goodnight!

take it easy on my heart

I had another wonderful, extremely hectic day in the city of sin. I didn't sleep well last night, but I forced myself to stay in bed until 6:45. Then I got ready, took a call, walked to work (with a stop at Philz), and had an absolute jam packed day of meetings. 

However, it wasn't all bad - some of the meetings were fun, some were unintentionally fun, and all were fine. I snuck out a three for a quick glass of wine with Baz, and then I led a rebellion and lured the rest of the office out for happy hour around five (I kept telling them it was 6:45 in Iowa to make it seem more respectable). Six of us had drinks in the basement of a nearby bar, and it was a v entertaining conversation.

Then I came back to my hotel, ordered a pizza, should have done a bunch of work, and crashed instead. And now I need to sleep - goodnight!

i found someone to carry me home tonight

I had a hectic day, but it was bookended by some quite moments. I had trouble staying asleep last night, so I finally rolled out of bed at 5:45 (45mins before my alarm, and three hours before I prefer to wake up), went downstairs, and had some coffee while journaling and also planning my day. Then I showered, took the muni to the office, walked around the corner to grab an iced latte and a v. tasty gf lemon loaf, and then settled in to slog.

My day was almost entirely meetings, which was more meeting time than I wanted, and not nearly enough work time, but c'est la vie. I also spent quite a bit of time dealing with various construction matters - which was fun, but also deadly because the hvac seems to have given up the ghost and it was like 84 degrees (not exagerrating) on that side of our office. But I absconded with a new-old-stock sweatshirt that was given out an event from before my time and that I've coveted since I joined, so at least there is some reward for being involved in this remodel (beyond virtue, which is supposedly its own reward I guess). And after I do some more office stuff tomorrow and Friday, I will feel like my trip out here was a success.

When I was finally done, I caught the muni back to my hotel, where I v. uncharacteristically decided to read a book instead of immediately guilting myself into working. So I sat in the hotel bar, had some guac and chips, had some carnitas tacos, and had some pinot noir while reading REMARKABLY BRIGHT CREATURES. It's technically almost work since we're reading it for book club, but I'm enjoying it so far. And it was certainly a better way to spend an hour than reading Reddit.

Eventually, I brought my second glass of wine upstairs (despite knowing I prob wouldn't finish it, which has proven true), and I had a long and v. overdue chat with Katie. We haven't talked in ages, so it was good to catch up (and tell her all the ridiculous turns my career has taken recently). And then I did log on to do some desultory work and get ahead of tomorrow (if such a thing is possible). And now I'm going to sleep - goodnight!

urban coyote

I was surprisingly energetic for how relatively little I slept last night - I got up around 6:45 #inittowinit, and went ahead and showered, made some coffee, and ordered a breakfast burrito from the cafe downstairs. In true "San Francisco is living in the future" vibes, it was delivered to me by the hotel's robot, which looks like a trash can on top of a roomba and has an opening from which to retrieve your food. All in all it was a v. pleasant experience and I would use it again, even if it was apparently drunk and stuck in the hallway tonight when I got off the elevator.

I ate the insides of said burrito with a fork while participating in my first call of the day, and then I threw away the tortilla and walked to the office (with a stop for Philz coffee along the way). Then I slogged relentlessly all day, because I had a million meetings (you gotta pay the cost to be the boss). All in all the meetings were good, but I was starting to hit a wall by the end - mostly because our office was, for some reason, eighty degrees, which is about 10-15 degrees hotter than I was expecting to be in San Francisco in August.

Anyway, once I wrapped up meetings, the finance team and I (did I mention I'm now somehow running the finance team??) went out for a team dinner. We ended up going to the restaurant at Restoration Hardware - it's a bit of a bizarre thing that they have a restaurant, since they're a furniture store, but then Nordstrom also has a great line of cafes within their stores, so I suppose there is some precedent. Of course, Restoration Hardware's restaurant has palm trees growing inside and almost every surface is covered in marble, so that was a bit wild.

So the three of us had a very fun, leisurely dinner and were there over three hours, which I think counts as team bonding. And then I walked back to my hotel (past the remaining pedestrians pouring out of the Valkyries game), and now I'm going to go to bed early for SF and late for Iowa. Goodnight!