A day in the life....

Woke up at 3…..hit snooze...then, woke up again several times due to the cacophony of alarms surrounding me (one on right bedside table, one on left bedside table, cell phone in bed beside me, travel alarm in the bathroom, work blackberry upstairs)

I know...it's slightly crazy.  If I would just get out of bed the instant the first alarm sounded, I wouldn't have this weird problem.  But, I don't get up.  Not when I'm alone anyway.  I like my warm nest too much.  I relish being surrounded by a warm, down comforter, and reverting back to a dream world.  

Today was my latest start yet, though I wasn't late to work, thankfully.

I got up at 4am…made new kind of coffee that I recently bought....it is Starbucks Natural Fusions Cinnamon....ground arabica beans infused w/ cinnamon.....this is my security blanket once I actually get out of bed …and, cinnamon spice oatmeal w/ blueberries.  I guess I am addicted to cinnamon.  Perhaps in my past life, I was a wild cinnamon tree in Zanzibar.  But, I digress...

While I was sleepily sipping on my cinnamon coffee, and eating my warm cinnamon oatmeal...I read the a.m. news news online…world news, business news, venturebeat, and techcrunch.  Then, bounded down the stairs at the last possible minute to splash around quickly in the shower, hastily applied some eyeliner, blush and lip gloss..threw on a dress and heels, then careened back up the steps and out the door.  I quickly took trash out…marveled at the sunrise over the water…snapped some photos of the dawning day with my cell phone...and noticed how though the sun was rising, I could still see the stars.  Through the peaceful quiet, I Iistened to the dog barking in the distance, and then opened my car, and got in behind the wheel.  

After letting my windshield wipers clear the moisture off my windshield so I could see out, and turning on the front and rear defrosters, and lowering all four windows of the car..like I do every morning in order to see where I am going (the fog and marine moisture creates this conundrum)...I looked over my shoulder, put the car in reverse, and successfully backed off the roof into the street without denting my fender or damaging another parked car...and, drove down the winding and rocky, narrow streets and headed towards highway 101 as if I were some half-awake formula one racer driving recklessly in Monaco.  The day had just started, and already I had a whole list of accomplishments....though I get an 'F' in run-on sentences.   

Drove up the headlands to the bridge….and realized that there seemed to be virtually no fog this morning…in the distance, I saw a beautiful and twinkling silhouette of the city….and, I watched carefully for cyclists on the shoulders of the road.  

Every day while driving to work, I drive across the Golden Gate Bridge.  Some days, you can hardly see it, because it is almost completely shrouded in dense fog.  On those days, it doesn't even seem as if you're crossing a bridge.  Other days (like this morning), it is absolutely majestic, and I  am always in awe as I drive across.  It can be a little intimidating at times also, if you think about what an engineering miracle it is...how long it is...think about the fact that it is a suspension bridge...realize how high we are above the water, and how deep and cold the water is below..etc.  On those days, I am glad to reach the other side.  

Driving across on a clear morning, it is so pretty to see the lights of the bridge, the lights of the city...the pinks and oranges of the dawn, and the gigantic red towers and cables of the bridge.  Then, once on the other side, I pass the Presideo and the domed pantheon of the Fine Arts Museum and drive through the city streets to my parking garage a block away from my office.  

At such an early hour, traffic is almost non-existant.  But today, I did get impatient w/ some slow drivers…and just drove around them.  I made it to the garage by 6:30am…rode in elevator w/ a distinguished older looking gentleman (possibly an investment banker?)…and he said to me ‘it’s gonna be HOT today..to which I replied..Oh, I didn’t watch the weather yet’.  It still amuses me to hear people in San Francisco use the word 'hot'.  Coming from Texas, I can confidently state the the residents here have no idea what the true definition of 'hot' is.  

Once out of the parking garage, I walked down the street and quickly glanced and smiled at the blue collar workers filing into the corner 7-11 for coffee…looked in the window at the counter at these people eating their breakfast...drinking coffee out of cardboard cups,  and reading the paper seated on stools, while facing out the window.  Many of these faces are here every day.  

After rounding the corner, I walked under scaffolding and avoided the sparks of the welders….scurried across Kearny St., into my office building..said 'good morning' to security, and was swept away up the executive express elevator bank to the 37^th floor after swiping my security card…

I tossed my bag into my chair...…logged into my computer…got coffee from the kitchen and said 'good morning' to some of the junior investment bankers who had literally been working all night…and then made my way back at my desk.  I gazed out the window to the cityscape, the dome of the Civic Center, twin peaks, and beyond to the blue Pacific Ocean.  Sometimes, the view is totally clear…other times, you can see the fog start to roll in from the Pacific into the city during the day, and across the bay.  Eventually, it covers everything, and it is thick as pea soup.  I read more about the phenomenon to try and understand this crazy weather we have here, and it is called ‘advection fog’, which is a specific type of sea fog.  It's really amazing to observe.  

So, as I sat at my desk and read the news, and said ‘hello’ to my boss as he came in, I gave him the messages from the night before, and early morning…and, reviewed all of his business and upcoming meetings and conf calls with him. 

Then, it seemed that just soon as the day had begun, it was just as quickly over....and, I realized that as of tomorrow (9/2/10), I have worked here a month already.  I left the building at 3:30pm, and walked to the corner Starbucks...got a tall frappucino, and got in my car...went back across the bridge...to my borrowed yet cozy cottage up on the hill in Sausalito.  Another great thing about this place is that there seem to be virtually no bugs most of the time...so, when I get home, I throw open the sliding glass doors to let the fresh sea breeze in, and look at the amazing view of the water, and the surrounding hillside covered with other cottages and flowers and trees.  

Anyway...that was a recap of my day....I don't think I left much out.  Signing off for now, and attaching a photo from this morning of the sunrise, as well as a song that I just heard that I kinda like.

'til next time.........

Fistful of Mercy from Fistful of Mercy on Vimeo.