Short-Lived Privacy

My new place is nice and private because it's not on the street, the owner doesn't come in the back yard much at all and the neighbors behind the fence aren't too visible because of plenty of trees.

That privacy, however, is going to be short-lived. When I filled out the application for the place, I was informed that there will be some houses going up on another side of the fence, in a lot that has been empty for years. The neighbors are all very excited and I was fine with it. I have found that the workers sometimes start working a little before 8 on the weekdays, but it's only quiet tapping until after 8 and I'm usually smart enough to shut my windows so they won't bother me. The dual-paned glass filters out the sound well enough to become mostly background noise. On the weekends, they don't seem to start up until 9 or later, so again, I don't mind it much.

What I didn't realize, and probably should have, is that the houses are going to be two-stories tall. The frames are being built and now that the workers are on the second floor setting up support beams and the like, the sounds are a little louder, not having to filter over the fence. The biggest problem I have with this is that my privacy is now basically gone unless the workers are not around. So where I was able to leave the blinds open to let in light or the windows and door open to let in air, I now need to be very aware of what I'm wearing as I traipse about in my place. This is not going to go away with construction completion as I can already see 3 different window frames that look right into the back yard of my place. I think this will give Gary, the guy who lives in the front house, even more reason to avoid the back yard and I'm sure he'll use his two sliding glass doors a little less for light and air, which will be a bummer for him.

Oh well. It's still a nice place even though I won't have as much privacy. I just have to be more careful now, which I was enjoying not having to do.

Just wanted to share that odd tidbit with you all. :)

SF Sailing

This one will be more of a photo post (most of the pictures are ones that Chris took. Yaay!). Last week was Chris's 30th birthday. Many weeks ago he had said that he wanted to do something a little different for his birthday, since it was a big milestone. I few ideas were thrown around. Sailing came up and it seemed to be good for everyone as well as being something most of us had rarely, if ever, done. Chris left the birthday plans in Ryan's hands, so we all told Chris we were going to San Francisco, but nothing else. Chris and Ryan came to my place, then Wade and Marisa and Pete carpooled up to my place, and with three to a car, we drove to Pier 39 as a small caravan of two cars. Everett met us at Pier 39. We wandered along Pier 39 for a while, then walked down to Ghirardelli Square for a desserty bite to eat. On our way there we saw something that I had to take a picture of: an orange motorbike with a batman logo on it. So it's a Batmobike? A Batbike? Whatever. It was pretty spiffy looking, though I'm sure it's crazy noisy when it's running.

After Ghirardelli, we went down to the park nearby to sit and relax and enjoy the sun. Wade and Marisa took off for a bit to find real food as they hadn't eaten much that day. I took out my camera and snapped a few shots of the guys and the beach. Chris did too:

Chris bought me a flower.

Wade and Marisa came back, ate their food, then we headed back to Pier 39 to wander a tiny bit more before we had to go to the loading dock where our catamaran, the Adventure Cat, was waiting. We checked in and waited to board for our sunset sailing adventure:

We headed on board and found places to sit while we waited to head out of the docking area. We saw a plethora of sea lions, no surprise, and Chris had some fun behind the camera:

We eventually got out on the water, though some noisy drunks got on at the last minute and they ended up making the trip a little less fun, but it was still a really good, albeit cold and windy, time:

The Adventure Cat

The Golden Gate Bridge, behind Alcatraz

Everett, standing at the right front, where his pants got soaked. Fun!

A clear shot of the Golden Gate Bridge

A windblown and chilly Marisa

Chris and Ryan, with the Golden Gate Bridge behind them

Pete and me, with the Golden Gate Bridge behind us. I still had the flower Chris bought me. :)

Big tanker that passed under the bridge

Cold Ryan enjoying a beer

Chilly people. Chris is warming up his hands in Pete's armpits.

Ev, checking out the bridge

Heading back under the Golden Gate bridge

Back on the other side of the bridge

Bye-bye bridge

Wade and Marisa being cute and cuddly in the cabin area, where the food and drinks were served

Sunset reflecting off some of the San Francisco building windows

Water spraying up from the point of one of the hulls

Pretty sunset behind us

The Ghirardelli sign, marking where we were earlier that day

Enjoying the view and trying to stay warm

He doesn't look very cold, does he? The fun balanced out the cold.

More sunset loveliness

Sunset, trees, birds

We got back to the loading dock and moved to a nearby empty dock to take some group photos:

That was the end of the day, photo-wise. Chris, having had a little too much wine on board (darn those free drink tickets), put the camera away and we helped him around the rest of the evening. We walked to a nearby restaurant, Ceasar's (quite good italian food), then walked back and Chris basically passed out in the back seat of the car on the drive back to Redwood City to drop me off. All in all, it was a good day. Beautiful weather. Couldn't have asked for better. Gorgeous sunset. I got a little bit of sun, but not bad at all. It was lots of fun.