Let me first say that I'm not a transexual! :) That was, of course, a joke. In fact, I was fairly amazed that some people took it seriously! But it certainly served its purpose - I found out that more people than I'd though are reading my journal. In fact I was completely floored, not to mention touched, by the many emails that came in as a result of the last journal. Thanks so much to everybody who wrote!

Phew. The weekend is over so quickly and I didn't get hardly anything done that I needed to. But I did have a nice weekend, and I suppose that's a fair trade. After work on Friday I met Cecilia at the gym for my usual workout. Things started fine but after half an hour, my energy just seemed to drain away to nothing. We actually had to finish fifteen minutes early. I'd earlier planned to meet some friends for a drink in the Mission District, but I had to strike that idea and head home. I spent the evening lying around on the sofa watching "Seven", an excellent if gruesome detective thriller.

Saturday morning, I managed to drag myself up in time for my usual chatroom hour. But I realized afterwards that 8.00 is now too early for me. This boy needs extra sleep these days. It was nice to see a lot of familiar faces in the chatroom though.

Most Saturday mornings, I play tennis with John. It was warm, and beguilingly sunny, so I decided to arrive early so that I could read the newspaper in the sun.

Waiting for my tennis partner

This being San Francisco, our tennis court is in the center of a park which offers one of the most famous and beautiful views in the world. At times like this I wonder if I'll ever have the heart to leave San Francisco.

The view from where I play tennis

Our game was something of a farce, for the most part, as my energy level started to taper off part way through, just like it had at the gym the night before. And right after this, I was supposed to have another work out with Ceclia! When Cecilia saw me sitting at the entrance to the gym, my shoulders hunched over, she said that we should probably cancel. For once, I obeyed her happily and gave my stomach a work out by taking Cecilia out to brunch at Baghdad Cafe instead - much more fun.

Brunch with Cecilia in lieu of a workout

What did I do Saturday afternoon? I'm trying to remember. I normally reserve the balance of the afternoon after the gym for catching up with chores and paperwork. But, oh yeah, I remember, I made my first phone calls to people with whom I've been emailing back and forth in response to my personals ad on classifieds2000.com. Just two guys, actually, Frank and Jim. The first guy, Frank, I can't say I felt any kind of rapport with. But Jim, on the other hand, I warmed to immediately. He seemed warm, intuitive, funny, sensitive and fun. He looks good in the picture he sent me so I hope we can get to meet each other soon.

As is almost completely normal for Saturday evening, Brett and I got together for a movie. It was, unfortunately for me, my turn to go over to Berkeley. I, of course, much prefer it when he comes over here :) We went to see "Anywhere but Here" with Susan Sarandon and Nattalie Portman, (truly a gorgeous creature). The movie is based on one of my favorite novels, by Mona Simpson, and I enjoyed the movie almost as much as I had the book. But be warned - total chick flick :)

Sunday, I managed to get my act together in time to pump air into my bicycle tires, and squeeze the bike into the back of my jeep and be on the road by 10.00. I was bound for Napa to meet some people from work for a bike ride. It had been years since I'd been to Napa. The last time I'd still been with X and we drove there in the middle of Summer, in 90 degree heat, and drank champagne all afternoon. This time, as I tore through the industrial backside of the Bay Area, the grey clouds spread ominously from a Pacific storm looming in the West, and I shivered in my open car.

It was still cool when I reached the rendezvous - five cars, seven of us - it felt like an expedition. One thing, though, that I've appreciated about the people in my office - they're a nice, fun, friendly bunch, and it was the best of them today on this bike ride.

The rendezvous in Napa

It seemed to take us for ever to actually get moving. By the time we did get out on the road, the temperature had picked up a bit, and the infrequent bursts of Fall foliage reflected a hazy sunshine breaking through an occasional gap in the cloud layer. It was pleasant to spin along the "Lane Bikes" leading past an endless vista of vineyards.

Spinning along the Lane Bikes :)

After getting lost, and biking, about eight miles further than we'd intended to, we made it to Yountville and a very late lunch. We'd all worked up a towering hunger and I broke my normally strict rules and indulged my self with a yummy mix of fats and carbohydrates. Marshell, a straight guy who tends to talk a little too often about his feats of athleticism knocked back two beers. Terry is a neat, cultured woman who sits in the next office to me. Heike is German - witty, intelligent, and natural. Joy, a strong, stylish, aptly-named lesbian organized the whole outing. Randy is a bit of a mystery to me. His official position in the company is fairly unimpressive, yet I'm learning that he's something of a guru and has an important relationship with the president. His girlfriend is Jacqueline; who's a saleswoman in our office.

Lunch in Yountville - Marshell, Terry, Heike, Joy, Randy and Jacqueline

The bike-ride back was a bit of a challenge - there began to be a trickle of rain, and it seemed suddenly all up hill. It was such a relief to see the parking lot - my bony buttocks were quite at their limits! It was even more of a relief to get back to my warm apartment, but, all in all, it had been a great day spent with a lovely group of people.