i took the suggested google maps bicycle route, crossing the longfellow bridge, down charles street, snaking through beacon hill, then taking a right by the state house along winter and summer to 101 arch street. what's ironic is that for a place we affectionately call the chicken shack, i actually think their chicken sandwiches are on the bland side: what i prefer is the beef sandwich, which is what i got today (unlike the last time, when i must've gotten).
today was a hot day (80-90's), and combine that with the high humidity and an approaching storm front, it was a recipe for some serious weather later in the afternoon. i was hoping i'd get back home before that happened, but brought along a poncho stuffed in my bag anyway, in case i get caught in the rain. actually, i think was thinking more like horizontal rains and a gauntlet of falling branches.
from downtown crossing i cut through chinatown and then the theatre district to get to copley square. i found 101 huntington avenue, but the doors were locked. i called elias, we told me to walk around to the entrance on the other side of the building. two ladies taking a smoking break outside overheard my conversation and let me into the building with their security card. they also got me a ride on the elevator, which required a card to get to the lobby, where i took another elevator to reach the 22nd floor.
dan was already waiting for me at the glass door office entrance. their company had recently relocated to this new space, after having previously resided in the prudential tower. dan saw that i was all wet and asked if it was raining already. "no, that's just sweat," i told him, explaining how i bicycled into the city. from the 22nd floor they had a pretty good view of boston.
i figured we'd just eat in the office, where there seemed to be plenty of conference areas that could become makeshift lunch tables, but since they spend most of their time in the office, they naturally wanted to leave. we went downstairs into the prudential mall to a secret (so they said) glass window eating place with tables and chairs, right next to the prudential gardens. there we had lunch, along with complimentary canned sodas courtesy of their office snack bar.
after lunch i left through a side door since i couldn't go back the way i came in without a security card. google maps suggested a very windy route out of boston; i decided to just go up "mister belvedere" street until i hit mass avenue then a straight shot back into cambridge across the MIT bridge. approaching central square, i made my way up columbia street, to hampshire street, to inman square, then all the way home. there were big cumulous clouds hanging around in the sky but i got back before the rain.
greeting me at the door was a check from client E for the flash work i did last month. now all that's left is a very overdue check from client N for work i did back in february, and i still have to invoice client P, even though i have this sickening feeling they won't be able to pay me. but at least i have a little bit of money in the bank now. looks like i'll survive yet another month!
i wanted to deposit the check at my bank in harvard square, but i was waiting for the torrential downpours to arrive so i could get photos of people getting caught up in the rain (i'm a bad person). however, the storm clouds seemed to be taking forever to arrive according to the doppler radar, so i finally left the house at 4:00 to deposit the check. the day seemed to be getting hotter, and i moved deliberately slow to expend as little energy as possible and not break out into a sweat. some cooling rain would be a welcomed comfort. walking across harvard campus, i was stopped by two young men. "hey, can i ask you a question? would you be interested in meeting once a week to discuss religious issues?" i was shaking my head, "i wouldn't be interested, sorry." "why not?" he asked. "because i'm not religious," i replied.
the severe storms didn't arrive until after 5:00, when the sky suddenly darkened. even though, the downpour only lasted a few minutes, before it became a light drizzle, and then clearing up. i ran out to beacon street in the hopes of at least catching some commuting bicyclists getting caught in the rain. a lot of sandals too, which i think is a bad idea. i wore flip flops riding into harvard square, and i had a hard time reversing the crank arms because the metal teeth of the pedals would dig into the top of my feet.
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just standing outside for 5-7 minutes i managed to capture a few cyclists (beacon street in somerville is a major thoroughfare for bike commuters into and out of boston). the rain had pretty much stopped by then, but many were already soaked from earlier. most wore helmets, and many had 700c road tires. i wonder if that makes a big difference for commuting?
for dinner i had some hot dogs. i caught two new summer shows on ABC: rookie blue and boston med. rookie blue is like grey's anatomy but with cops instead of doctors. it's got missy peregrym (whom i'm a big fan of) and shows some promise, even though it conflicts with burn notice on USA at 9:00. next is boston med, a reality show following doctors, so basically kind of like grey's anatomy, but for real. the commercial for the show featured one doctor asking out another doctor, so they're definitely trying to push the personal lives angle. you can be sure that all medical students will be watching this show if they're not studying, especially since it takes place in boston, where there's like a million medical schools in the area.