Miscellany

Not much excitement going on over here in SF. I started a new rotation at the beginning of March, working in the Microbiology lab at the SF VA Hospital. Learning about and culturing various and sundry bacteria from specimens like blood, poo, and pus is fun. Sort of. I learn mostly from technologists who've been doing their thang for over 20-25 years each, so they're pretty solid teachers. I have learned that a VA is a VA is a VA...I could be back in Philly, for all I know, until I look out the window. The SF VA is in the most ridiculously beautiful location possible--overlooking the Golden Gate, ocean, and bridge.

My newest exercise endeavor is called CrossFit (see www.sanfranciscocrossfit.com). I started back in mid-December, and I'm still going strong three months into it. It's a lot of olympic-style and complex motion weightlifting, anaerobic and aerobic interval training, and bodyweight exercises. It's done in a group/class setting with lots of student and coach encouragement, which is nice because it's as close to a team sport as I can do with my crappy knee. However, my knee seems to have improved on this regimen, so maybe I'll take the soccer ball out one day. I've gotten so much stronger and more muscle-y, though my doctor told me the other day that I needed to lose 4 pounds so that my BMI would be under 25 (which is in the obese category). I almost throttled her for being myopic, looking only at the number and not at my person/physique. "Come over here, Doc, and let me deadlift you!!" I didn't say it, but I wanted to! I "crossfit" outside, near Crissy Field, and here is the view from the parking lot just before class starts. Ridiculous.

Last weekend, George and I stopped by the California Golf Club, the very-private country club in South San Francisco where he worked from April to December last year, completing a restoration of the course to its original 1910s design. The last time I saw it, it was a huge dustbowl of dirt awaiting grass-seed and a growing spell. Now it's all green and looks like an actual course. Here is the clubhouse, which is actually pretty shabby when you get up close. I guess the Masters of the Universe will have another restoration project to tackle when the course gets squared away. Rough life.