![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Reasons to be happy...
Jul. 15th, 2008 09:11 pmI should have made this post last night, but I was insanely tired, I could barely keep my eyes open to function.
Anyway...
1. We got the keys to the new apartment. Got an email on Sunday from the landlord and we rushed right out to grab 'em, spent a bit of time wandering around the apartment, starting to plan where to put stuff. We were absolutely delighted to find out that it was not ridiculously hot waaaay up there on the 4th floor, and even standing in the hallway right beside the door, where there is no window anywhere nearby, we could feel air moving through the apartment...yes, air, moving!!! (The buildings on the block are taller than the ones on the immediately flanking blocks, so I'm figuring that it allows a lot more of the moving air outside to get through).
The landlord was painting in the kitchen when we got there, painting over the bright salmon kitchen in an equally bright but considerably lighter lemon yellow. Much of the trim remains salmon. The place still looks like Crayola hurled. But we don't care.
Oh, and I want to hang up my big old vinyl five-flavor iMac banner, nabbed from the office when the Apple contract died. I've been lugging it around ever since because I keep wanting to put it up. Just need to figure out how to rig it up cause it's a bit heavier than your average rock band poster.
And here is a picture of our new block, snapped on my cell phone camera:
2. Yesterday I got to the light rail stop by the office and realized that something was a little different. It took me a minute to realize that Holy Cow Oh My Fucking Traffic Gods WTFBBQ!!!!!!onetwoeleven there, standing in the late evening sun at the corner of Gilroy and Beaver Dam was a brand-spankin' new traffic light.
I could have died. Instead, I snapped a picture.
What's so special about a traffic light? You might ask. Well...if you've ever been by the Gilroy road light rail stop, especially anytime during normal business hours, you know that it's unfuckingbelievably ridiculous because well, busy four-way intersection + train stop and no traffic light= endless clusterfuck.
I can't tell you how many times I've had to wait ten minutes or more (no this is not an exaggeration) to cross a blasted street, and even then it's often still taking my life in my hands to some extent or other.(crossing Beaver Dam is especially bad, crossing Gilroy, not usually much of a problem unless there's a line of fifty cars waiting to turn onto Gilroy from Beaver Dam, which is not at all uncommon). I can't tell you how many trains I've missed because of this. I've had more very-near hits from cars than I'd like to recall, including one around 9pm on a winter night from a black car that came out of nowhere, no lights on, easily doing 90, which came no more than six inches from hitting me as I stepped back just in time.
I've been periodically sending bitchy emails to the county, and making occasional calls about this (I wrote about it here a few times back when I first started my crusade, but gave up pretty quickly when my emails and phone calls were going unanswered.) It's onl been about three years since I first started. I'd like to think I played some small part in this (just go with it, humor me, don't rain on my massive tickertape parade here, 'kay?)
But anyway, I give you this picture of the traffic light, complete with street lights on top, to admire and fawn over.
Ze traffick light, she ees a theeng of beeeyooty and vonder, yah?
You just don't understand how giddy I was when I saw this yesterday, I almost started dancing right there at the intersection. Instead, I called Gavin and babbled excitedly about it for a minute or two.
Anyway...
1. We got the keys to the new apartment. Got an email on Sunday from the landlord and we rushed right out to grab 'em, spent a bit of time wandering around the apartment, starting to plan where to put stuff. We were absolutely delighted to find out that it was not ridiculously hot waaaay up there on the 4th floor, and even standing in the hallway right beside the door, where there is no window anywhere nearby, we could feel air moving through the apartment...yes, air, moving!!! (The buildings on the block are taller than the ones on the immediately flanking blocks, so I'm figuring that it allows a lot more of the moving air outside to get through).
The landlord was painting in the kitchen when we got there, painting over the bright salmon kitchen in an equally bright but considerably lighter lemon yellow. Much of the trim remains salmon. The place still looks like Crayola hurled. But we don't care.
Oh, and I want to hang up my big old vinyl five-flavor iMac banner, nabbed from the office when the Apple contract died. I've been lugging it around ever since because I keep wanting to put it up. Just need to figure out how to rig it up cause it's a bit heavier than your average rock band poster.
And here is a picture of our new block, snapped on my cell phone camera:
2. Yesterday I got to the light rail stop by the office and realized that something was a little different. It took me a minute to realize that Holy Cow Oh My Fucking Traffic Gods WTFBBQ!!!!!!onetwoeleven there, standing in the late evening sun at the corner of Gilroy and Beaver Dam was a brand-spankin' new traffic light.
I could have died. Instead, I snapped a picture.
What's so special about a traffic light? You might ask. Well...if you've ever been by the Gilroy road light rail stop, especially anytime during normal business hours, you know that it's unfuckingbelievably ridiculous because well, busy four-way intersection + train stop and no traffic light= endless clusterfuck.
I can't tell you how many times I've had to wait ten minutes or more (no this is not an exaggeration) to cross a blasted street, and even then it's often still taking my life in my hands to some extent or other.(crossing Beaver Dam is especially bad, crossing Gilroy, not usually much of a problem unless there's a line of fifty cars waiting to turn onto Gilroy from Beaver Dam, which is not at all uncommon). I can't tell you how many trains I've missed because of this. I've had more very-near hits from cars than I'd like to recall, including one around 9pm on a winter night from a black car that came out of nowhere, no lights on, easily doing 90, which came no more than six inches from hitting me as I stepped back just in time.
I've been periodically sending bitchy emails to the county, and making occasional calls about this (I wrote about it here a few times back when I first started my crusade, but gave up pretty quickly when my emails and phone calls were going unanswered.) It's onl been about three years since I first started. I'd like to think I played some small part in this (just go with it, humor me, don't rain on my massive tickertape parade here, 'kay?)
But anyway, I give you this picture of the traffic light, complete with street lights on top, to admire and fawn over.
Ze traffick light, she ees a theeng of beeeyooty and vonder, yah?
You just don't understand how giddy I was when I saw this yesterday, I almost started dancing right there at the intersection. Instead, I called Gavin and babbled excitedly about it for a minute or two.
