Ami Bera Phone Bank

Today was my first experience doing phone banking. Calling up strangers and asking them to vote is not my forte but life is about doing things that are uncomfortable. Otherwise, we stagnate. I checked the bike route to Carmichael and it said 5.9 miles which seemed impossible but I decided to follow the instructions in the route given. Left home at 9:20 AM, went under the Sunrise bridge and crossed over to the north side of the American River. The instructions said right on Bannister. I had no idea where Bannister was and when I crossed over there appeared to be only one street exit from the river access point. Hmm, okay I might as well go up this one, I decided. It was steep but fortunately no cars. There was no street sign to confirm whether I was on the right street until I got to the top of the hill and by then there was no way I was turning around. It ended up being Pennsylvania Ave, exiting to Fair Oaks Blvd near Bob’s Cycles. I was not about to head down Fair Oaks Blvd despite there being a bike lane. No way, not with cars going 50 mph. I found a street I think was called New York Ave. and decided to give it a go, hoping it would not be a dead end. I was pleasantly surprised to be riding through a well paved, bucolic neighborhood with rolling hills, empty fields and lots of trees. This was nice. Stop sign brought me to Winding Way. Not much traffic here so I decided to go east on Winding Way. That turned out to be a good decision. Winding Way has a nice wide bike lane and there aren’t many cars to contend with. I turned right on San Juan and then left on Winding Way again. This was great. Hardly any cars. A little roughly maintained - a few trees poking out into the street but that was easy to navigate through. I thought Manzanita was much farther away than it was because in less than 10 minutes, I had arrived. The address was 4132 Manzanita, Carmichael and I was at 4701. Not knowing which way the numbers were going, I turned right, passing by some jardineros struggling to remove a tree from in front of a gas station. This area has some historical significance because there is a mongolian bbq place across the street which was the very first restaurant we ever ate at after arriving in Sacramento. And it is still there! Okay, wrong direction because the numbers were increasing. I reversed direction and headed down Manzanita. The old Crestview bowling alley, now boarded up and abandoned had a sign that read "We will miss you." A few more blocks and I arrived at my destination which was the Sacramento headquarters of Ami Bera For Congress, tucked away in a small strip mall. Dripping with sweat as usual, I opened the door and was greeted by a young woman who asked me to sign in. Her name was Sarah and she got me setup at one of the computers. Good thing I brought my cell phone because I was going to need it. She explained the procedure - all I had to do was read from a script on the screen, enter the disposition and move on to the next name. The purpose here was to call people to remind them to fill out their vote by mail application and then to vote for Ami Bera who is running against Dan Lungren in my district. The first few calls were a little awkward as I got used to reading the script but after a while it started to come easy. I wasn’t phased by people hanging up on me and no one was rude though a few reminded me that they had already been contacted 3 or 4 times. I am sure I would not have been happy to receive this type of call if it was the 3rd or 4th time for me. I got a rhythm going and made it to around 50 calls. By that time, it was 12 and time to go. I bid farewell and they begged me to come back next week. I didn’t commit but told them I would check my calendar. Next stop was either Dollar Tree or 99 Cent store. Fortunately, there was a Dollar Tree nearby and I loaded up on soap, toothpaste and some other miscellaneous items. I continued down Fair Oaks because Manzanita turns into Fair Oaks and was pleasantly surprised to see a Big Lots store. This was cool because I have been looking for one and the one on Folsom closed. Bought some socks and maple syrup and a mouse pad for 80 cents.My backpack was now around 20 pounds so I decided time to go home. The ride back was enjoyable. Fair Oaks and Carmichael are beautiful areas. I passed by some horse pastures, large estates where I couldn’t even see the houses, they were so well hidden. No traffic and lots of trees. Heading back I found Bannister Ave which was where I was supposed to turn. It said river access so I gladly turned off of Fair Oaks Blvd just before it turned into a roller coaster. Trail led me back to where I originally went up and then I made it home. Total adventure time was 4 hours.