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Day’s Verse:
“And if you give yourself to the hungry
And satisfy the desire of the afflicted,
Then your light will rise in darkness
And your gloom will become like midday.”
Isaiah 58:10
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First of all, I forgot to mention that the open house at the Bike Alliance on Thursday went incredibly well. I set up a table outside on the sidewalk and offered everybody who went by a free neon-yellow sticker. An amazing number of people not only took the sticker, but stopped to talk with me about bicycling and the Bike Alliance. I spent probably 3 hours outside on my feet cheerfully and energetically greeting people, and by the time I stopped I felt completely bushed. I think some of the people I talked to did go in, and now maybe 45 more people know about the Bike Alliance than did before. I’m estimating 15 people an hour, although that could be totally off. Gary and Deborah came, as did four of the Seattle-based AmeriCorps interns, and of course Ian and Dad. It was great, but I’m sure glad we don’t do that every day.

The next day Every and I tabled at a transportation fair put on by Gilead Sciences (a CRL client, oddly enough) for their employees. We talked to maybe 30 people about bike or bike/bus commuting, and at least a couple expressed serious interest. I really am enjoying the outreach aspect of my new job. I really do feel like I’m living the dream, even when it’s sometimes difficult or tiring. Even though I feel exhausted at the end of an outreach event, engaging with people satisfies me in a way writing lab reports never did. Funny thing.

This was the view Ian and I had from the top of Norway Hill yesterday. I think that’s Mt. Baker out there. We went for a nice long walk in the incredibly gorgeous weather and Ian patiently endured all my “I can’t believe how nice it is!” comments. The sun shone, the birds sang, trees budded, weeds flowered, and we both felt too warm with even light jackets on. Innumerable bicyclists rode by up and down the hill. We discussed the wide variety of architectural styles exhibited by the homes on the hill.

When we got home, I ate lunch and then went for a meander by bike with Mom. We took the long way to Kirkland Bike Shop, stopping to see a woodpecker and pet an enormous Newfoundland. At the bike shop, they eventually sold me a pair of Sidis that were on sale for $220. Eeep! Eeep! Also, sales tax in Washington kills me. I keep forgetting it’s so high. However, we’ve spent next to no money since Christmas and I had worn out the heels and soles of my previous shoes. Also my toes have started getting very sore, I think from hitting the fronts of my old shoes. They’ve really gone beyond “broken in” and have started in on the “floppy rags” stage. After Kirkland Bike Shop, we just had to stop at Royal India to pick up some fresh naan bread (I’ve got to try making that some day. It can’t be harder than pitas) that smelled so delicious I drooled the rest of the way home.

I also spent a good portion of the day going through old backups of my computer, deleting duplicated or unnecessary files and generally reorganizing. I have so many duplicate pictures (don’t ask how) I’m overwhelmed. I feel like Picasa should help me find and delete the duplicates, but it organizes pictures by folder rather than by name. If anybody knows of a way to easily find and delete duplicate pictures – or files in general – let me know. Ugghh. What a nasty mess.

Today we have to leave early to go to Seattle to retrieve a file I accidentally left at work. I’m interviewing a guy from Outdoors For All at 9:00 on Monday and foolishly forgot my list of interview questions back at the Bike Alliance. I love going in to Seattle extra times! Then church and I’m thinking of making pitas fresh and working with Ian on my new blog. My legs and bike get the day off.