Young man, gone west
It's been over a month since my last update here, and a week and one day since I started here at my new job in sunny California. So, I figure it's about time I make some sort of peep.
Along the way - in fact in the midst of our move - I upgraded this blog to WP 2.0 and broke a number of things. Hopefully, things are stabilized enough now to offer you this exercise to compare recent experiences in Michigan and California:
| Michigan | California |
|---|---|
| GMT-5 | GMT-8 |
| Partly cloudy, warm summer sun | Not a cloud in the sky, daystar bakery |
| Moist air, scents of green dew and cut suburban grass | Warm, dry air carrying scents of magnolia? (I guess that's what it is, anyway - correct me if I'm wrong!) |
| Two-story 1100 sqft townhouse in Royal Oak, MI, with a spacious basement, full of our stuff | Second-floor 950 sqft apartment in Santa Clara, CA, with a small balcony, devoid of our stuff |
| Two spotted ocicats and two dwarf bunnies | Two spotted ocicats and two dwarf bunnies - thank goodness! |
| 15 minute commute, driving down Woodward in a Ford Focus ZX3, listening to podcasts | 30 minute commute, with a walk of 3 blocks and a surprisingly non-scary bus ride, listening to podcasts |
| Free Starbucks coffee at work | Free Bean Trees barista-crafted latte at work |
| Zipping around a familiar town in a nimble Ford Focus ZX3 | Lumbering around an unfamiliar town in a clumsy Pontiac Montana rental |
| Sleeping in a canopy bed, with cushy pillow top mattress | Sleeping on leaky air mattresses - the girl's in particular has failed spectacularly |
| Friends and family close by, though we hermits rarely venture out to visit | Friends and family far away, we hermits wishing we'd gotten out more |
| Familiar default choices for lazy take-out dinner | Every night's dinner is an adventure into the unknown |
| White Castle is a purveyor of evil gut bombs | Weinerschnitzel is a purveyor of evil gut bombs |
| Dairy Deluxe in Birmingham, MI is good frozen yogurt | Yumi Yogurt in Santa Clara, CA is good frozen yogurt |
| Steady internet access | Frustratingly intermittent cable modem connection |
As you can see, this is a study in sudden unfamiliarities. Our Focus actually arrived this past Monday night, and we returned the Montana to the airport last night - so that chapter of the move has closed. I hear that our stuff will arrive tomorrow, so hopefully we'll be on our way to finally settling in by this weekend.
After that... I don't know. I'm hoping we can finally establish a home base of some stability, then consider venturing out to the wonderful nearby city and maybe start to meet some people in the area. And I hope we find a good lazy default dinner choice - we miss our local Zumba for addictive and cheap Mexican-esque food.
(My new bride and I are so enamoured of Zumbas in Royal Oak, MI, that you'll find mention of them included in my new book, in Chapter 6, p140.)
Archived Comments
Somehow I let you move to California without ever meeting you while you were working 15 minutes away from me... I feel undersocialized and regretful. :)
Les, you should talk to Leonard Lin, in the Upcoming group over with you guys at Y! . He's an old friend of mine, and he's also thought a lot about intelligent feedreaders.