The Office

With my part-time state job, I work from home most of the time, but I'm required to go into the office once a week. (If I were full-time, I'd have to go in every day.) Our office building is an old building, and it's not a very nice building at that. I was delighted this week to get a new office space! Our old office was small with fluorescent lighting, and the only window was in a closet that the building folks kept locked. I likened it to the January of the building—dark, cold, and unpleasant.

Our new office space is large and has a nice window. So much better! Many of our colleagues are moving into the newly finished North Capitol Building, so this room opened up. We will be here until June, at which point we will move to a different building altogether.

Being single and gay comes with a great deal of existential crisis, but one advantage is that I only have to support myself, which means I kind of have a disposable income. As I've been biking in the last month, I've been annoyed to discover I had a slow leak in my front tire. As I contemplated getting a new tube, I realized that I haven't had it tuned up since 2018. That doesn't sound like a long time, but eight years sounds like a long time. So Wednesday I took my bike to Bountiful Bicycles (it's always nice to support local businesses) so I can get it tuned up. I think they're replacing the chain, and also I'm going to try out an insert in the tire that prevents punctures. All the repairs will be costly, so I'm glad I can afford it. 

Thursday, my dad informed me that there were eagles circling above our house. I do hear that February is the month they pass through Utah. So I went outside to see them. It was hard, because they were flying near where the sun was shining, but I did get to see them. I don't know whether they were bald eagles or golden eagles.

Just seeing this picture makes me want to squint, even though of course it's not going to hurt my eyes

On Friday, the Bountiful library was having a book sale before they close for renovations, and I went over to see what they had. Back in the 1990s, the Utah State Historical Society (now Utah Historical Society, my employer) published a newsletter called Beehive History with very short history articles. The library was selling a set for five dollars, so I texted my boss to ask if we could use it.

I looked at other books while I awaited her reply. She responded that it might be useful (she had never seen bound copies before), so I went back to get them. There was a woman standing next to them with a stack of picture books. As I started to put them in my tote, she said, "I was just about to buy those." I explained that I work for the Utah Historical Society, which produced them, and she let me have them. I said, "I feel bad," and I almost said, "You can have them if you want"—but I stopped myself. I have always had a mindset that other people's needs come before mine. I have no idea what this woman planned to do with these brief 1990s history publications, but whatever it was, I am 95 percent confident that I have a better use for them.

I also bought a Thanksgiving cookbook and a Daughters of Utah Pioneers book of pioneer songs. I also bought six CDs: Keith Urban, New Christy Minstrels, Tony Bennett's duets with various singers (including Lady Gaga and Carrie Underwood), Backstreet Boys' Christmas album, and two patriotic albums for my Fourth of July playlist. 

Yesterday I took my parents to Great Salt Lake State Park to see the mirabilite mounds, which are special mineral deposits that only form a few places in the world (and they only form here under certain conditions, including low lake level, unfortunately). I went with my dad last year, but my mom hadn't seen them. I don't think they were as cool as they were last year. I found myself sad and worried about the environmental conditions: the low lake level, the abundant patches of invasive phragmites, the warm February weather, the visible smog. Will we be able to save our planet?

In the afternoon, I went on a street run. (The trails have snow, the pool was closed, and the bike was in the shop, so I had no other cardio options!) I went to a neighborhood near Mueller Park, where I hadn't been before. It was very steep, and I had to take some breaks, especially since I didn't know how long the steep would last. There was a random bench overlooking a gully and part of a football field next to it.

It would be fun to explore more of this neighborhood on a different day. Unfortunately, on my way home, when I hit eight miles, I could feel my IT band starting to act up. I feel like I do a decent job of cross-training! Oh well, it doesn't usually bother me when I'm on the trails, which is really what I prefer.

Do you ever remember something random in the middle of the night? Last night for me, it was this queer-coded scene from Get Smart in 1968.