Today has been a good day for spots. Street-cleaning is this morning from 8-11 on one side of Diamond Street, so I had to move my car. I took it around the block once; coming back down my stretch of the street, a woman parked on the Wednesday street-cleaning side was just leaving. Then on the MUNI (the underground subway that I take to work) I was standing on the side of the train whose doors open two stops after mine with a backpack (going to the gym with Leslie today) and a purse. I noticed as we approached the inopportune stop that the middle of the car was slightly clearer, so as the train pulled in I moved out of the way of the door -- just as one young man cleared his seat to get off at that stop. Excellent! Now, if only SFHP's "spot" would officially open...for those of you who don't know, I did officially apply on Tuesday for the position I'm temporarily filling in. The reason you haven't heard anything more is because I haven't either, but I'll be sure to let you know when I do!! In the meantime I'm staying cautiously optimistic...

One last quasi-lucky thing happened today. I've been stopping in at Harvest and Rowe all month -- you know, the (delicious organic) coffee joint (well, bakery/organic deli that serves coffee for $1 in the morning) one always stops at in the morning, where the Barrista you know best always pour the coffee as soon as you walk in, always leaves room for cream, and always asking how your night was? The woman behind the counter knew me on sight within three days. She had her arm in a sling from a broken collar bone, and I remember that day she could only lift it a couple inches from her side. Today, she could rotate the whole thing; it's been 6 weeks since her accident (if I recall correctly she was hit by a car). She warned me when she took a long weekend to Seattle so that I wouldn't wonder where she was. We talked about the civil disobedience on the anniversary of going to war with Iraq; we talked about good restaurants; sometimes we just talked about how tired we were. The end of last week and Monday of this one of the other bakers was tending the counter. Tuesday I had a free coupon to another shop; Wednesday I went back because they had great cinnamon buns; yesterday I was running late and didn't buy coffee at all. Today I walked in and there she was. She revealed a few things -- a) that she had been the manager this whole time -- who knew? She seemed not much older than me, not that that means much -- and b) that she was leaving for a different job, and today was her last day. I congratulated her and wished her good luck. The good luck to me was that I caught her on her last day.

And that, folks, was my first barrista relationship. I don't know that anyone can take her place...