springtime in Berkeley

Okay. .. I moved to Berkeley in February 2009. Moving is lots of work. Then I went out of town for three weeks. Then I was sick for two weeks when I got back.

Then a few days ago, it got hot and sunny. I was feeling well again. And I resumed my daily exercise, which had been getting pretty hit and miss for awhile. For anyone (ha!) reading who might not know, I try to swim an hour or more every day. And I ride my bike to the pool and back for exercise, too.

It's hard getting adjusted to a new pool, new travel to the pool, new lap schedule. Everybody likes routine, right? It is soothing to have things stay the same, maybe, sorta, kinda. Maybe?

Changing swimming pools has felt like the hardest part of my move. The pools in Berkeley are no where near as nice as Eagle Park Pool in Mountain View. A swimming pool, outdoors, with clean water and sunshine, is about the same, once you are in the water. But dingy, old shower rooms enervate me. The locker room at Eagle was like a private country club nice.

I've been at a few pools now, talked about pools. I have not explored all my options. There are lots of pools here. In MV, there was only Eagle so I guess it was lucky Eagle was very nice.

Anyway, I have more pool research to do. But in the meantime, I am so loving Berkeley.

I love everything about it. People here are different than in Mountain View. People in MV are friendlier than anywhere I have ever lived. I guess California is friendly country. But in in Berkeley, people in general are really awesome.

I can't wait until I knit myself lots of new friends and activities.

There are also way more homeless people. There are homeless in MV but they don't panhandle much and you don't see them much. In Berkeley, every block with lots of pedestrians also has lots of panhandlers. As i walk the same blocks each day, I see that most of the homeless panhandlers are 'regulars'. Many of the regular homeless have stopped asking me for money because, I have surmised, they know I am a regular, too.

But just as many homeless beggars ask everyone that passes by. And if I pass them ten times in one day, which I might, coming and going as I live my day, running errands, going here and there, some of these people will ask me ten times. I think many panhandlers block out people. I am imagining that it is easier to beg if they disassociate a little bit, not really paying attention to the passsersby, blocking them out of their consciousness. I don't mind being asked again and again, because I believe many chronically homeless have mental health issues. They aren't being obnoxious intentionally, I tell myself.

But every once in awhile, a panhandler is scary.

There is one old man that I am thinking of. I say old because his hair is fully white and he looks old. He almost gives off sparks he is so angry. I've seen him trying to get bus drivers to let him ride buses for free. I don't think this guy is homeless. Destitute, probably, but he has no stuff with him. I don't really know but he gives off the vibe of having a home base. He always seemed showered, clean clothes. And he always has a paper cup that he is always holding out. This guy has asked me for money dozens of times.

Today, as I emerged from an AT&T store, he came up to me and said "Can you help the homeless today?" And I heard his question literally and I said "No I cannot". I was a little stressed. My telephone line is not working and I went to the store to use a phone to call customer service. I am poor myself. I did not want to spend eighteen cents a minute using my pay-as-you-go cell phone to call AT&T on their 800 customer service number. My home phone won't work so I can't call AT&T at home so I went to AT&T.

Maybe this old, angry homeless guy concludes that everyone going into a store that sells cell phones has money?

Whe I said that No, I cannot help the homeless, this guy got angry. I am sure I was not the first person who said no to him today. He said "Kiss my black ass. Who do you think you are?" And he sputtered and muttered and said more stuff but I have forgotten it. One of my good traits is I tend to forget unkind comments quickly. Maybe it is denial. Maybe it is good coping? He kept ranting at me and just for a second, his anger hooked me. I said "I answered your question, I was polite, what else can I do?" I saw that he was gonna stay angry for awhile so I went on.

It was very upsetting. It seems to me that there is a bit of a bargain between panhandlers and society. It is okay if they beg so long as they are polite and do not scare people?

So. My day had a blemish.

Mostly, this was a super great day. It is hot. Many people are complaining about the heat but I am loving it. It is great to be in the pool when it is hot.

I lost the kryptonite lock for my bike today. It was on my handle bars when I left the pool, gone when I got home. I don't know what happened and I was a little spent. I didn't have the exercise to ride over the route I had traversed. Maybe I'll retrace my steps.

But I went to the Bike Co-Op in my neighborhood and bought a new one. And I got a lesson on how to put the chain back on my bike. My chain came off yesterday, after my swim, and I walked my bike home. Then, near my place I asked a couple of bikers if they would tell me what to do and a cute young guy fixed it. It is easy to rethread the chain: there is a release on my bike. Easy as pie. I feel so handy now that I can do it myself.

And I feel like such a jock when I am out on my bike. All my neighbors know I am the lady with the bike.

I am happy today. Yeah. Oral surgery tomorrow. Ugh.