9 days, 22 months
Yesterday I left work ten minutes early to ride my bike up to the U District and see the movie Nine Days at the AMC Seattle 10 theater, formerly known as Sundance Cinemas, formerly known as Landmark's Metro Cinemas. It took roughly forty minutes to bike up there, and I was trying to remember the last time I rode this particular route, from this waterfront office work location to the U District. It would have to be the last time I saw a movie at that particular theater.
Okay, or maybe not: judging by my Google Calendar, my last time seeing a movie at that theater was when I went to see Downhill on February 16, 2020—less than two weeks before Shobhit and I left for Australia, after which I did not see any movies in a theater again until May of this year. Being February, it's doubtful I rode my bike there. I just found the blog post that confirms I took the bus there that day.
What would be the most likely day prior to that when I might have ridden my bike there from work, then? I would guess when I saw Lucy in the Sky there on October 11, 2019. My blog about that day makes no mention of how I got there, but the showing was at 5:30 and the weather history indicates we hit 64° that day—perfectly ideal for cycling. I'm going to assume that was the day, the last time I rode this route to the AMC Seattle 10. And if that's the case, then yesterday was the first time I rode that route in nearly two years. A year and ten months, to be exact.
A lot is different now. A ton of new construction in the South Lake Union neighborhood. A fantastic, new, two-way dedicated bike lane on the west side of Fairview Avenue N, which had me confused on Google Maps at first; the bike route Google Maps shows me even now has the route continuing along closer to the lakeshore up Fairview Avenue E, which I did not figure out at all while riding without assistance yesterday; I continued up Eastlake instead. Next time I may actually run the directions in my AirPods. Well, except that when I still change the route to continue on Eastlake, the time estimate goes down from 37 minutes to 34 minutes. Hmm.
I kept thinking I had ridden part of this route more recently, and that was when I remembered when I had ridden part of the same route through the U District, and then largely my old bike commute back home: it was when I rode up to Claudia and Dylan's place to hang out, distanced and in their backyard, on October 6 of last year. That did not include the route from work to the U District, however; for that ride I rode from home and back. So, it was only the bit through the U District on the way there, and then from the U District and back on my return ride, that the route was at all familiar. The route I took yesterday from work, up to Mercer, then over to South Lake Union and up to the U District via Eastlake—all that, I hadn't done since 2019. It's amazing how much things can change in a city in just two years.
Anyway. The movie was . . . fine. I would have loved to have seen it with someone, like Laney maybe, so we could have discussion about it. Nine Days is ripe for discussion, as I noted in my review. You can read that for any further detailed thoughts of mine about it.
The movie had way too many trailers beforehand, and was already slightly over two hours long. I had estimated to Shobhit that I'd be home around 7:30, but by the time I got home it was closer to 7:50. Riding what used to be my typical bike commute home from the old office location, which I did between 2008 and 2016, was . . . interesting. A lot of change there as well, nut in this case not so much for the better, as it was in neighborhoods not getting any new construction, and as a result was comparatively neglected. I could not believe how rough the pavement of those roads were, especially the residential stretches. I don't remember them being that bad before. The pavement was so gritty and bumpy I wondered if my tires were deflating, but then once I was on smooth pavement again my tires seemed fine.
That route is really a challenge, though. The stretch between the University Bridge and home is a pretty steep incline on average: a 342 ft elevation gain. Well, shit! This surprises me: the average elevation gain from the current location is actually steeper: 354 ft. The route from the U District still seems harder, because it has shorter but much steeper stretches.
Once I did get home, Shobhit was nearly finished making grilled cheese sandwiches for us for dinner, while he was still on his Project Management classroom virtual call. Ivan was still making his own dinner at the same time, so that made the kitchen a bit crowded when I went in there, which is try I try to avoid making meals at the same time he is. I did chat with Ivan a bit while he ate his dinner once he was done making it. He seems pretty happy, so far at least, with his new job. And I found a VOD movie I hope he'll want to watch with me.
Once I ate the sandwich, though, I retired to the bedroom to write the movie review, which took up most of the rest of the evening before it was time to start getting ready for bed.
[posted 12:30 pm]