Doing Normal Things

This week end I did several normal things.  It felt good to go somewhere other than Kaiser. It also was very tiring. 

Since I was hospitalized my goal was to make it to the A Team event.  For newbies the A Team is a group of us who were neighbors and liked to cook and dine together.  We all became very close, at time as if we were family.  Because we no longer all live in the same city, getting together is hard to arrange.  We had the date and the menu.  Now I had to be well enough to go.

Saturday I started making my Chipotle Shrimp appetizer.  I don't remember it being that tiring to cook shrimp, and chop up herbs and veggies.  It took me forever to get it made.  And then I had to go rest.  The plan was to get there at 6:00, I would eat what I could, and drink water. Marty could eat all the wonderful food and drink some wine.   Then we would go home around 9:00.  I didn't  think I could last longer than that. 

We were meeting at one of the couples' loft in San Francisco.  This meant we would drive across the new span of the Bay Bridge for our first time.  This bridge is beautiful and with the low sides (which scare me more than a little) the views are spectacular.  I took pictures with my IPhone and with Marty's.  The pictures are a little blurry because we were moving around 45 MPH. 

 

It is late afternoon and I was shooting directly into that huge white light, the sun.  I had no idea if I was getting good or bad pictures, I was blinded by the sun.  This is just as we started onto the bridge.

 

Here you can see into the Marin Headlands and the Bay.  Stunning views.  And see what I mean by low sides?  I feel as if we will topple over.

 

 

The old bridge to the left.  It will take a couple of years for it to be torn down.  In front of you is the tower that holds all the suspension cables. 

 

Past the tower and headed for the tunnel on Yerba Buena. 

 



We go into the city and spend a lovely evening with our friends.  I had such a good time and we didn't leave at 9:00 as planned.  It was so normal to sit and talk and I loved it.

 

 

This is us (well you can't see me) having a great time.  Starting on the left and going counter clockwise: Nancy, Hank, Thom, Marty, and Lew.  I love the shadows on the floors.  And behind Thom is a window reflecting one of their wonderful pieces of Art.  Yes, their pictures are Art with a capital A. 

 

We laughed and there was a little crying maybe.  We do get emotional sometimes.  Fabulous time with the A Team.  We did not get home until after midnight.  Big normal night for me.

 

 

If you thought the bridge was pretty in the daytime, take a trip across at night with the funky lights.

 

 

Just look at this, gorgeous!

 

 

With the 18 wheeler you can see how huge the cables are.  I think this is my favorite night picture.

 

I got to  bed at 12:30 and was up at 6:30.  This time we are off to church and then to Kaiser for a blood draw. Marty took me to lunch (boy is it hard to order healthy in a sports' bar), and then home.  I was exhausted from all the fun of the Saturday and Sunday.  So a two hour nap was taken. 

 

Normal is very tiring, but normal helps me on the road to recovery.  Normal makes me really happy. Today's normal was not fun, but I felt very saintly for doing this normal.  I dusted our apartment. 

 

Then I sent Marty a text to tell him how wonderful I am.  He agrees with me.  

 







The Irony of It

The San Francisco/Bay Area was preparing for a BART strike to happen today.  Something like 500,000 people a day ride BART.  Extra ferries and buses were ready to help.  But nothing can handle that many extra people trying to get to work.  When they went out on strike in July, it was gridlock on all highways and surface streets even though it was a holiday week.  Driving was a total nightmare.  We were preparing for a bigger mess today because there's no holiday, therefore more people would be on the roads.

Last night Governor Brown called for a 7 day inquiry into the contract negotiations, and the unions can not strike during this period.  Huge sigh of relief, people will have a normal commute.  No gridlock, trains and  ferries running, traffic normal  all is right with the world.  Sounds good doesn't it?

This morning around 6:30 a big rig caught fire on the Bay Bridge, the main bridge between the East Bay and San Francisco.  Two lanes are blocked and the others are intermittently closed.  Every highway you can think of 80, 880, 24, 580 are jammed up for miles.  It will be into the afternoon commute before the big rig is pulled off the bridge, the road cleaned, and Cal Trans says the road is safe to use.

The irony of all this . . .  people are being told to use BART and not to drive.  Don't you love it?