A day in Pleasanton

Though it has been good for Leina's pocketbook to have a full-time job it has been hard on it in some ways. Her department is very tightly knit, and even though Leina hasn't been there for even one year, she has been embraced with open arms. The problem is that with all these new friends come new obligations to celebrate. Every few weeks someone is getting married, or engaged, or pregnant, or newly unpregnant, or moving, or something which is deemed worthy of a celebration. So Leina finds herself constantly ponying up her $15 contribution towards a sheetcake and a banner for the breakroom as well as some sort of a 'gift from the office.'

Which she doesn't mind all that much, but when it comes to driving to Pleasanton, makes it much more of a hassle.

So when someone was having a baby shower, Leina decided to go. It was being hosted by a coworker of Leina's who decorates her cubicle with a great deal of Tigger (from Winnie the Pooh) apparel and knicknacks. Leina would have been more hesitant to go but she couldn't resist learning whether this workmate's house was as Tigger-laden as her office was.

So Leina drove from Marin (see next post), across the Richmond San Rafael bridge and out 680, and went to the party. There was not so much Tigger as she had thought there would be, which was disappointing but somewhat reassuring to her. And somehow she stayed really late and then realized that she spent the whole afternoon there, which saddened her. But it was an okay party and probably worth her time.