This is day 2 at the Zen Center if you don't count Sunday pm as a "day." I have made less progress on finalizing chapter one, but I have completed a good amount of "onsite work" here, and I want to make the most of being here. I was "doshi" this morning and felt good about hitting at least 80% of the routine. I will try tomorrow for 100%. It feels good to be learning this aspect of the rituals. I am not typically a "ritual" guy, but I have come to understand the value of setting aside time each day to revisit your ideology and intentions, to remind yourself what you want to be and how you want to live, and to align your actions with your goals—a daily compass check of sorts. Many Sutras contain timeless wisdom and insight from centuries past. As for highlights of my time, along with the "doshi" role, I slightly improved the wifi with some resets and repositioning. I wantto do more, but I am blocked by the way the underside of the building has no access to the walls to run ethernet efficiently. I have a few other ideas to try tomorrow. It was nice having Hogan onsite. I appreciate his character and will write about him separately. Tom, a visiting priest, was also good to get to know. Tom taught me the doshi process. Michael just ordained him. I ran into Eric Remmington and discussed his history with Jkoji, Mid-Peninsula open space, and Koko the gorilla. It wasfascinating stuff. Loc reached out and I assumed he was rethinking he's asking price for the mini but it turns out he was calling because after the inspection, the next day, it was leaking fluid and smoking! Jesus. Awkward! It was a AAA inspection facility we mutually agreed on in Mountain View at his request, the car never left his hands. and it ran fine after he left. I feel bad and also, sadly, wary of being somehow considered responsible. Yet, had I bought it and had the issues surfaced Sunday, I might have felt duped. Sometimes, trust is challenging. But I rose to the occasion, got him all the contact info and he returned to them about it with seemingly reasonable results. I may arele back Enday and check in on the outcome. Tommy reached out yesterday and we met for lunch at Alice's. I ran back to the house to drop a burger, see Jen and grab a few things for my continued efforts here. We played condemania with Sheila who had simply forgotten to add it to her calendar. I took a short quick hike to the ridge to see the sunset, but my distain for ticks was in full gear. The grass is crazy overgrown there just as it is at the center. The sunset was stellar. I may venture out tomorrow to hit the overlook of hwy 9 if the sky warrants doing so. I am Ino tomorrow which means the 6:30 bell ringing and overseeing things onsite.
