Starting last clue of Mystery Stole 3 - and Barbara has a job!

Last night I finished all but the last wrong-side row of Clue 6. I didn't work on it over the weekend because Steve and I took a long weekend up to Lake Tahoe, and I don't chance this project in the car nor in less than ideal lighting-and-setup conditions. I hope I'll post a few pictures later of the trip -- although I forgot my good digital camera. All we had was the cheapie emergency digital camera in Steve's car -- for example, to take a picture of a fender-bender if that were to happen.

My eyes felt sunburned all day, despite wearing sunglasses and a visor all weekend. So I didn't even feel like starting knitting until now. Maybe I'll get a few rows done before turning in to bed.

The best thing that happened yesterday, however, was that Barbara was offered a one-year contract to teach a first grade class in the Union school district in San Jose at Lietz School. Here's a map.

Whew! That was a close one. She rushed over after her part-time hotel job in Santa Cruz to sign the contract and pick up paperwork. The district had new-teacher orientation today and tomorrow, and starts with an in-service day on Thursday. Classes start next Tuesday. She's been assigned a room in a modular (lots of the schools have these, because school districts sold off property during a drop in enrollments in the 70s/80s, and had to expand on existing properties this way when enrollments zoomed again). The room has desks, chairs and textbooks. Barbara was stressing out today about what to do to get the room ready -- hopefully, some of the other teachers and staff will help her get set up!

She needs to give notice at the hotel, although she feels obligated to work for them on weekends through September, since she had told them that's what she would do when she got the job in June. But she's not teaching in Santa Cruz -- and as a first-time teacher, I think she's going to need her weekends. But since she lost out on some income earlier, and is motivated to pay off her student loan from grad school -- maybe she has an extra agenda she's not sharing. I just hope she'll handle the workload with grace. I hope they'll tell her she doesn't need to work every weekend through September when she gives notice.

Birthday Celebration with a Treat in the morning!

Steve treated us to a Segway (amazing personal transportation with gyroscopes) Tour of the San Francisco Waterfront as a birthday treat (Mark declined to come, Barbara enthusiastically joined). We took the 9am tour - and finished up about noon.

We started off with personal and group training, and a movie. We started up our Segways with a key that limits speed to 4.5 MPH.

Then we headed out in two groups of about 10 people each. We went up and down some hills in style. The tour guide talked to us over walkie-talkies that were strapped into the packs on the front of our units as we "rode", and stopped to talk to us in groups at certain stops.

When we got over the biggest hill, at Fort Mason, the guide let us zoom around the mostly empty parking lot. He usually gave such practice at a pier before the hill that leads to Fort Mason -- but it was closed. Then we shut down our Segways and restarted with a key that limits speed to 8 - 8.5 MPH. (There's third key that we didn't have -- that can let you start at the max of about 12 MPH.)

Before departing Fort Mason, we paused at an overlook to Alcatraz.
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We ended the first direction of our tour at the Marina Green. We then retraced our route, except that we went a little longer way back, going around Fisherman's Wharf. San Francisco doesn't allow Segways on sidewalks (we could use pedestrian/bike paths most of the way) -- so we were in the streets in the vicinity of Fisherman's Wharf. We made a cute little parade. We had a lovely day -- the fog was pretty much burned off except at the Golden Gate. We all had a great time.


We ended the day with dinner out at an Italian restaurant, and a raspberry-chocolate torte from Safeway.