Tuesday’s visit to the alma mater (well, the pre-Stanford one) was marred by the fact that two of former teachers I’d meant to see weren’t in. So today was a chance to try again, in the afternoon. One was in, the other wasn’t, so I’ll either have to go up for a third time, or call it quits. Still, HMBHS looks like it’s in good hands, and indeed in what appears to be early spring, in mid-afternoon, it’s actually a pretty pleasant sight.

My next uncompleted activity was a solo dash to Montara Mountain. My brilliant scheme to race to the top and back before sunset, met hard realities in the form of headache and unsettled stomach. There are times when eating lunch (and breakfast) is more than merely a nice idea. Ditto wearing sunglasses.

So I took my disgruntled self to Princeton, and after a few false turns (and a nearly flattened bicyclist) I situated myself on the trail that takes you below the radar dish to Pillar Point. The scene was ocean, harbor, cliffs, birds, people, and really the whole kaboodle. Sunset added a certain touch, the wind added more than just a touch, so I made peace with headache, almost slipped on some sea anemones, and called it an afternoon.

A few hours later, it was off to a movie with the old gang of Y-, Z- and L-. Despite having not gone to a movie in ages as a group, the whole event felt wonderfully routine to me. Meet up at Coffee Company (okay, the 36 degree weather was slightly less routine), pile into somebody’s car, drive over 92 to the movie theater (San Mateo, not Redwood City, also an innovation), kill some time waiting for the movie (buying vodka in Draeger’s) and finally sit on our butts for an hour or two in the theater watching Hollywood’s finest.

Aside from the mounting seat prices (up $0.50 since last I was at such a theater) and the personal announcement by a rather jaded looking fellow about cell phones and talking (apparently, they can’t afford to tape such messages any more), this could have been half-a-dozen years ago and I wouldn’t have noticed much of a difference. Okay, Daniel Craig as James Bond and Eva Green as Vesper Lynd are also recent innovations, but of a more positive sort.

And now, I have about 5 hours to sleep before tomorrow’s Point Reyes adventure. And I haven’t had dinner yet. More unfinished business, what?