I’m writing this as a whole month because I’m doing nothing else but working 12 hours a day. During this time, I’ve created 55 brochures in 5 1/2 weeks. The atmosphere is hectic, fast paced and high pressured: I love it. During this time, Paul Wellstone died. This hit the office hard. Several people cried. To me, he seemed like one of very few people in office with strong principles for the common good, as opposed to many others’ strong principles for special interests.
The first day
I start my first day for the midterm election by taking a cab filled with a Powermac to the Financial District. After introductions, I work for 11 hours. Yow. I’ve never done that before. They weren’t kidding, and remind me that the next six weeks of my life is basically theirs. I don’t mind, oddly. Apart from the studies at New College, I have no other distractions. The situation has an almost meditative quality to it.After work, I meet Ernesto. He’s kind of a quiet guy and shows me the room at the residence at 18th and Capp. Definitely a guy’s place – it has that sweat smell, but it’ll be fine for the time I’m here. The neighborhood is a bit sketchy, and it has that sewage smell that seems to permeate SF’s streets. What’s nice is that this apartment is only two blocks from New College. The lines of gentrification have been drawn, and it’s a much different world at 19th and Valencia than it is at 18th and Capp.
Flight
Sick of driving, I fly out of Seattle. My friend Nancy is watching my place, and I’ve taken a minimal amount of clothing to get me through November. I’m nervous, and excited.
The sublet
I’ve lined up a place to stay in the Mission, while I work for the upcoming midterm election, with a person who needs someone to temporarily sublet a room. It turns out that the dates more of less coincide exactly with the dates I need. I get in contact with Ernesto (roommate of Jeremy, the person’s room I’ve been offered), and even though neither of us have seen each other, we agree to do this. That’s a load off my mind.