Don’t have anything to write about, really. Which is sort of an odd way to start, but I wanted to write, so I suppose there’s something in the head rattling about.

Work’s interesting – it’s not what I’d necessarily expected going in, and as a result, the first week, I was somewhat disappointed. I’m not sure I’m not still disappointed, but I’ve taken some active steps in turning it into what I want it to be. Which is sort of odd, because the project’s not lasting much longer, and there’ll be something completely different in a month’s time, come hell or high water, because the deadline for this project was fixed long before I ever showed up.

So, that’ll be interesting. The game’s shaping up as well as could be expected, I think.

The commute’s nicer, too – about 15 minutes, door-to-door – the biggest factor in time is the stoplights, and not the traffic. So that’s a good change of pace. Still don’t think I’ve found the optimal route, but that’ll come with time. Gotta try to ride the bicycle to work one of these days. So far, haven’t really mustered up the time to actually do the ride – I suspect it’ll be ~30 minutes or so the first time, ’cause I haven’t ridden my bike, sadly, in years.

I think that’s one thing that would actually change my life for the better, to be perfectly honest. For about eight or nine years, my bike was my primary mode of transportation (starting basically with freshman year in high school). And not just like, from here to the corner store. I’d bike to workouts in Berkeley on a regular basis, I’d bike later from Boston to Harvard to visit my then-girlfriend (which is more like going to the corner store). Everywhere I went, I went by bike. It’s sort of nice. You feel a bit more in touch with your surroundings than you do in a car. Probably because you’re a.) going a lot slower, and b.) have to watch your ass, lest you be killed. So, it’s sort of a time of heightened acuity, where you’re both concentrating on propulsion, and yet have to put aside that zen-like meditative quality you get from the repetition of motion to actively be aware of your surroundings.

Yeah, I miss that feeling. I miss mountain biking, as well – the rush of adrenaline and speed as you’re racing down some hill – your mind working at triple speed to process all the incoming hazards, and work out an optimal way to get from point a to point b, ten feet in front of you. It’s like playing chess while being attacked by ninjas. Fun stuff. The problem with that is that it does require a certain fearlessness that I most certainly no longer possess. I fear crippling injury. I fear death. I like my life. I love my wife, I love my family and friends, my dog – I like spending time with these people, and the risk-taking equation has changed since I was young, and stupider.

Still, I miss it. Riding on the street is sort of the idiot’s equivalent to mountain biking. Ha. Riding through downtown LA traffic in the summer of ’98 was sort of like trying to commit suicide every day and somehow failing, either not being able to get hit by a car, or not breathing in enough toxic fumes to have one’s lungs clog up outright. I mean, it takes a serious misunderstanding of physics and probability to ride around at 20 miles an hour in a crowd of things that weigh 15-30 times what you do, and believe that on the very likely chance one of the two of you screws up, your chances of avoiding serious injury are any good.

Sneh. I suppose I had my moments.

Which reminds me of my knee. It’s been stronger – in many cases feeling better, now that we’ve been working out on at least a somewhat regular basis. On the other hand, it’s feeling worse, as well. If I’m sitting, and I try to extend my leg out in front of me, it’s smooth for the first 40 degrees of motion, or so. Then the last 10 degres, it’s “pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop,” until my knee’s straight. It’s sore when I sleep, hurts when I squat, hurts to straighten out. It’s been more or less like this since the surgery, but I figured it’d eventually go away.

I’ve got a phyiscal scheduled with the doctor – one of those things one does when they’re 30, I suppose. I’ll ask her about it then. Finally settling into the “get a doctor you see more than once every 10 years,” mode. Hell, I’ve even got a dentist I’ve got an appointment with in six months. It’s bizarre.

Eh, so this didn’t really amount to anything interesting, other than one of those posts I’ll read a year from now and go, “Huh. That’s what was happening then.”