The place where we are staying in Oakland is a small one-bedroom apartment in a building with about 8 other units. Stella, the woman we are renting it from, normally lives there but she is planning a trip away and wants to rent it out while she is gone. When we originally planned to rent the apartment she informed us that she would be in town at her boyfriend’s for a couple of weeks and then would be leaving to do some traveling in Europe. She was wondering if it would be okay if she dropped by before she left for Europe to pick up a few things she would need for her trip. She said she might also need to come by one or two other times if she had forgotten something. We didn’t see any reason to oppose this request. Although, after the 3rd time she called to come by I started to get a bit tired of seeing her.
One day she was going to a costume party and wanted to come by to pick up a few things for her outfit. She had a large bag stuffed behind the bedroom door filled with dress up clothes from her recent trip to Burning Man and wanted to come and get it. I was glad because that stupid bag made it impossible to get through the bedroom door without turning sideways. There are a lot of things like that in the apartment, things that make you feel slightly claustrophobic and a little bit grossed out—rotten food in the fridge, thick layers of dust on the shelves, no dish rags—the kinds of things you only really notice once you’re living somewhere. Steve calls it “bohemian”, “she’s French, that’s how French people are”, he says. “Oh”, I say, “I just thought she was dirty, but I guess it’s okay if she’s French.” Anyway, she came and got the bag and left after a brief visit. A few seconds later she popped back in and grabbed a few more things she forgot. Minutes later, when I was in the bathroom, she had forgotten a pair of boots. You get the idea. Two days later she dropped the bag back off at the apartment.
Earlier this week she text messaged Steve saying she would have to park her car at the apartment for the last four days of our stay because she was leaving for Europe. We have been parking our car in a gated parkade at the building—this was a major selling feature of the apartment, along with the price. Street parking is hard to find around here and you often have to move your car for sweeping etc. I’m not sure why she hadn’t told us this detail earlier but regardless Steve called her and arranged for her to park somewhere else until we would leave—then we would move her car into the parkade when we moved out.
So today is the day Steve arranged to meet up and get the keys. Stella said she would come by at 12 so I planned to be out. When Freddie and I got back to the apartment at 2 Steve told me that Stella had to change her plans; she said she’d be here at 2 now instead. This news made me quite irritated. I had planned on letting Freddie watch a bit of TV while I lay down for a short nap. Steve said not to worry because he would just meet her outside; I believed him. I lay down and moments later there was a knock on the door. Of course it is Stella’s house so we can’t really keep her from coming in—she came in. At this moment I was sitting in the bedroom with Freddie while she watched her show. “Blah, blah, blah.” I heard Steve and Stella talking in the kitchen. The door to the bedroom was mostly closed due to the costume bag wedged behind it. A few moments later Steve came into the bedroom and I asked “did she leave?” “Ummm, no,” Steve shrugged and smirked, “uhh, she’s having a shower.”
Steve is definitely an accommodating person, a quality of his most people find attractive—usually because he’s accommodating them. I, unfortunately for him, did not find it to be an attractive quality at that moment. “What was I supposed to do?” he said. “She said she was sweaty from the drive over and asked if she could she have a shower.” As I think back about it I realize it was definitely a difficult position to be put in, but at that moment I had no sympathy for Steve and I let him have a piece of my mind (something I probably should have saved for Stella). It’s funny what you can get away with if you just ask, especially if you ask Steve. I like to think that if she would have asked me I would have said “NO!” and “What were you doing on the drive over that made you so sweaty?” and “Go away! What’s the matter with you?” I feel bad for getting mad at Steve, but wouldn’t you have done the same thing? After all, whose towel did she use?
March. 24 Saturday
During the first month of this trip it was easy to keep this journal updated. We were in the car a lot and so I would write while we drove. We saw a lot of things so there were a lot of pictures to show and talk about. Since we’ve been in Oakland it’s been harder to find the time to sit down and write. Now we are heading off on our way south to Oceanside for the last month of our trip. I suspect the same will be true there, if not more so. The cottage we are going to be staying at is right on the beach and I think Freddie and I will be spending a lot of time in the sand and less time close to a computer (lucky us!). Maybe you want to come and visit and spend some time on the beach too? If so, here’s the link to the cottages, we’d love a visit! www.robertscottages.com
One one of our last days in Oakland Freddie put on Stella's boa and pretended to be a chicken.
We are here! After a 9 hour day of driving on Saturday we made it to Oceanside California. Here was the back of the car when we left Oakland. Freddie did not look this happy a few hours later with another half a day of driving ahead of us.
Here is the view from our cottage.
Yesterday was a rainy day but the forecast for the week is a daily high of 18 degrees and sunny. Steve is going to try surfing. I was thinking about trying too but my paralyzing fear of sharks and other creatures under the water has gotten the better of me, at least for now. Instead I think I will do some fishing off the pier. Saturday night I went for a walk along the beach and up onto the pier. It was a calm and warm evening and there were a lot of people out enjoying the weather. I talked to a guy on the pier, he was fishing and I asked him what a person catches out here. He said there were Herring, but mainly at this time of the year people are fishing for Thresher Sharks. This confirmed my decision not to surf, but I wouldn’t mind catching some Herring for dinner.
Thresher Shark
