A few months ago, I stopped setting my alarm. Around that time, Stephanie started waking up earlier to get to work earlier. So now my “alarm” is a kiss on the cheek just before she heads out at 8.

I get out of bed a few minutes later, usually after she’s left. I shower, brush my teeth, shave every other day. Sometimes I turn on a CD. I get dressed, grab a granola bar, fruit if there’s any, lunch or leftovers if there’s any, and then I fill up my water bottle and strap it to my backpack. I put on my riding jacket, backpack, and shoes. I grab my helmet with the gloves inside and head outside to my scooter.

While the scooter is warming up, I put on my helmet and gloves, and then head off down Pine. I turn left on Franklin because the lights are green all the way to Lombard. Once I get through the Lombard lights, there are no more stops all the way to work. The whole trip takes just under 20 minutes. Lately I’ve been getting in around 9 which for me is early. Sometimes I’m the first in (from tech).

I take off all my gear, and head to the bathroom to wash out my mug and fill the electric kettle with water (we’ve got a great view but no kitchen). This is another new “habit” I started around the beginning of the year: morning tea. I was finding it hard to focus on work in the morning, so now I make myself a cup of black tea when I get in. Occasionally the afternoons will call for a small bottle of Tejava iced tea.

So I put on my headphones and turn on Indie Pop Rocks, sip my cup of tea, and eat my granola bar while checking email and blogs and thinking about what I want to do that day. Work happens until around noon when one or more of us emerges from our headphone-induced concentration and cries out “Lunch?” Which most days is a walk to Venice Gourmet Deli, or sometimes Golden Gate Market, or on rare occasions Hamburgers. Good lunch options in Sausalito are surprisingly few and far between. But the walk is nice.

I usually work until after 5, depending on how into things I am, but I try to leave at least before 5:50 so I can make it through the toll plaza by 6, which allows me to skip the $4 toll as a “high-occupancy” commuter. I ride home down Lombard, Van Ness, and Bush, looping around to Pine, and making sure to park on the side of the street that isn’t scheduled for street cleaning the next morning (otherwise a $40 ticket). Sometimes Stephanie and I leave work together, which is funny because she gets to work before me, other times she’s already home.

I like to have a little snack when I get home, usually some nuts or crackers or cheese, and then catch up with Stephanie. A few weeks ago we found that talking about work right after work (given that we work at the same place) sort of created a weird feedback loop that amplified things rather than diffusing them. So we put a moratorium on post-work brain dumps to give ourselves a break. If one of us is feeling inspired, dinner might be a big production, if not, we’ll put together something simple or just do a little grazing.

Most nights I find some some small projects to work on, usually on my laptop, occasionally work related, rarely a grand personal project. Usually just photos or blogging or email. Or chores. Or researching some weekend adventure. Meanwhile Stephanie might be doing the same or at a dance class, but lately she’s really been into her Nintendo DS. She heads to bed around 10, and I usually stay up doing things until midnight. I brush my teeth, wash my face, and slip into bed.