Weather: Nice night for it
Stops: Groceries, natch
Driver: Terrified
The funny thing about biking with traffic is that the more scared a driver is of me as a cyclist, the more scared I am of the driver. One section of my ride home occurs on a three-lane road: one lane each direction, a shared left-turn lane in the center, and a bike lane on each side. Let me make this crystal clear: not only did I have my own bike lane, but there was a neutral center lane as well (which most drivers will slide ~half into as they pass me). This person would not pass me until the oncoming car was long gone, at which point they pulled entirely into the center lane to get around me. Made me feel SO safe.
The funny thing about working in a city is that there's so much light pollution that looking up at night you often can't see the stars at all. I recall reading about a Los Angeles blackout several years ago; apparently the police fielded multiple calls from residents panicked about a bizarre anomaly in the sky. It was the Milky Way. So tonight was a nice night for biking, and as I looked up to gauge just how nice, I realized I couldn't make out whether it was clear or cloudy until I'd gotten out to the suburbs where the stars finally managed to overcome the lessened artificial lighting. Nice night. Only one slug.
The future. For some reason, difficult to predict.
This weekend is looking pretty good, future-wise. I actually have plans BOTH days - Pathfinder on Saturday, and seeing a friend on Sunday for I know not what. My go to would be a nice cocktail bar but he's off booze in preparation for a half-marathon, a sacrifice I choose not to comprehend. Throw in some games with the lady, and my weekend is pretty much spoken for, which is a good feeling. One significant concern about chasing a job to a new city (across the country) was that I wouldn't have any social support, and that seems to be working out. Yay. (:
But I did say "reply hazy," because the future kind of has a way of doing that. Today at work, it was announced that my shift lead had been promoted to full-time employee. Our studio has three classifications: contract (me, hourly with no benefits for the duration of a contract and/or "project"), full-time project (hourly with benefits for the duration of a project), and full time employee (salary + benefits, and you're there till you get fired or leave). So pretty great news for him. Personally, I'm about a week away from my three-month anniversary here, which I've been told is when I will be evaluated for promotion to FTP. Unfortunately my contract is only four months, so while I'll hopefully get a verdict soon, I'm also running out of time. I've got an application out in space that would be a dream to get, though I'd honestly be torn between it and my current job (assuming I got to stay on). I like Seattle a lot, though I suspect the summer is lulling me into a false sense of weather-related security. I definitely think I'd prefer it to Los Angeles, as I'm generally a cold-weather person. On the other hand I really ought to try to not get ahead of myself; my current trajectory is unemployment in 5 weeks, along with a plane ride back to Boston in defeat. Hopefully that doesn't happen.
Speaking of Boston, my fiancee and two dear friends are coming from there to visit me NEXT WEEKEND, which is fantastic. So while the magic eight ball isn't giving me anything concrete yet, at least there are bright spots on the horizon. I'm just going to keep shaking it until I get the answer I want.
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