Adventures in California

Canada!

2009-08-21T17:06:00.000-07:00

Just a quick update, because it's 5pm on a Friday, and I should try to wrap things up and get out of here (which, of course, isn't going to happen anyway, so I may as well write here).

Got to take a well-deserved week off last week and hit Seattle, Vancouver, and Victoria. It was really nice being back in Seattle among friends, and the trip as a whole worked out great. We hit the weather just right; it rained in Vancouver on our first day, which was fine because all we really wanted to do was hang out in our nice hotel room after getting up super-early for the train. The next two days were perfect and we got to see more than I ever would have expected. Victoria worked out equally well - the only rain we got was when we were right in the middle of Butchart Gardens, and all it did was thin out how many people stuck around and arguably make the place look even better. I would definitely recommend checking out the pictures Beth put up on Facebook (if you aren't her friend, I'm in the albums, so you can get to them through my profile too).

As a whole, a great way to spend the week, but we were ready to get home after 8 days on the road. No real casualties on the trip, other than me leaving Beth's camera in the car at the airport and having to buy a new one when we got to Seattle (it's ok, her camera was still there when we got back). And the best part of all - I had a valid excuse to turn off my phone for about 5 days. I don't think I've done that since I went to Europe over 4 years ago, and I think it's something I should make an effort to do at least annually.

This weekend we're hitting a 49ers vs Raiders game (Beth's parents are in town, and her cousin is playing on a trial basis for the Raiders during pre-season), followed by a day in Napa on Sunday to look at more wedding places. I think I'm going to need a vacation from all of these vacations sooner or later. If I'm not feeling too lazy maybe I'll fill in on the results of these outings, since I'm sure everyone is dying to know.

Went climbing again, and other things of little interest to just about anyone

2009-07-31T14:31:00.001-07:00

Beth & I made a second visit to Bladium last weekend, and were equally impressed the second time. The great thing about showing up on a Sunday is that it's completely dead, so despite the fact that the variety of climbing routes isn't that plentiful, at least we can use any we want (or, more appropriately, any that we're capable of climbing).

The other activity of interest was a visit to Sonoma on Saturday. Unlike our other trips up there, this one was to scope out possible wedding venues. I would say our success was mixed -- we put 5 places on a list to hit, and of those 5: 1 apparently doesn't exist (there is a building with that address and phone number, but it's a dance studio, so I can't figure out where the "secret garden" would be -- there's nothing behind it!); 1 was a great choice but probably out of our price range; 1 looked like it would be nice but we arrived around 4pm on a Saturday, just as another wedding was getting underway, so we turned around and left; 1 was a definite no after just driving down the backwoods road and seeing a very strange copper sculpture of a cow in the front (we didn't even get out of the car); and 1 was alright and on the cheaper side, but you basically get what you pay for, and we didn't like the idea of some golfers in hawaiian shirts putting right behind our photos. All in all, I know that there is a direct correlation between what you pay and how nice the place will be, but I can't believe how much of a range in quality there is!

We're probably going to scope out places in Napa next, but not for a couple of weeks, because we're leaving for a nice long trip to Seattle/Vancouver/Victoria a week from today. The possibility of having the wedding in NY has also come up, but we don't know how the logistics of that will work.

In other news... there isn't much else to report. I'll get back to work.

Shameless Plug (even though I'm not getting paid for it)

2009-07-24T10:41:00.000-07:00

Since I haven't been posting lately, there have actually been a few things that have happened in my life that I haven't written about here -- some big, like getting engaged, and some not so big, like discovering something actually cool to do on the small island we live on. Today I'm going to write about the latter.

A couple of weekends ago Beth & I decided to finally check out a place called Bladium on the other end of Alameda from us. About a quarter of the island is actually covered by an old Navy base that was closed in 1997, and some businesses have come in and found ways to use the space. We decided to drive over there because I was really in the mood to go climbing, something I hadn't done since last fall (yes, I sucked, but at least I went). Anyway, this place was amazing -- they converted an old air hangar into a gym and it's unbelievable how much is there. We just bought days passes to use the rock wall, but they also have 2 soccer fields, 2 basketball courts, an inline hockey rink, and a boxing ring -- all full size -- plus a full gym upstairs with weights and treadmills, and a bar/restaurant so people can eat & drink while they watch the league games going on down below.

I haven't joined yet but I was pretty impressed, and it didn't escape me that the place is less than a mile from the ferry that I never bike to, so I could theoretically stop by it on the way home if I wasn't lazy. Here's a link to the place.

End of shameless plug.

Well...

2009-07-23T12:48:00.001-07:00

It should be pretty obvious by now that I'm not going to be very good about updating this blog. That said, I decided I should at least go ahead and change the main title of the page, given that we bought a car over two months ago (a 1996 Civic with 51000 miles on it, for the interested -- and yes, it really was driven by a little old lady that barely used it). So for now we'll call it "Adventures in California", although my main adventure is getting to work courtesy of crazy bus drivers because I'm too lazy to ride that bike I bought to the ferry. (4 miles doesn't sound far, but when the bus is two blocks away and has wi-fi, it's hard to be motivated!).

For my next trick I'll think about changing the url of the blog, since I don't actually live in San Francisco anymore. In the mean time, I don't think my hoards of readers will mind.

Catch-up

2009-02-23T16:28:00.001-08:00

Well, I'll put it mildly: I've been a little lazy about updating this blog. It started out innocently enough: I told myself that I'd write when I had a little more free time. Then a few weeks passed, and I thought that enough time had passed that I should probably sit down on a weekend and really focus on writing a catch-up entry. Finally, it was a couple of months later, and the idea of writing kind of felt like running into someone on the street that you were never that close with -- you'd like to stop and say hi, but you know that it would take far more effort to have the catch-up conversation than it's worth, and you don't really have that much to contribute anyway.

So, here I am. What's new?

- Beth's boss turned out to be a nightmare. When it got to the point of 1AM text messages telling her what time to be in the next morning (for a part-time job, mind you), we got fed up. When she first got approval weeks before, then got harassed about leaving early the day before Thanksgiving to go meet up with her parents, who had just driven into town, it was the last straw. She quit right after that.

- The next few weeks went on mostly without incident, but with Beth's job situation changing, a lot of the disadvantages of living in the apartment started coming to light. We started thinking about moving again for the next few weeks, but didn't really take any action.

- Meanwhile, Beth and I agreed that the best option would be for her to go back to school, so she started looking at local community college programs where she could take prerequisites towards a nursing degree.

- In what felt like no time at all, a co-worker mentioned an area right over the Bay Bridge called Alameda, Beth got admitted into classes there, and we decided to go ahead and move there too. We took the second apartment we saw (more on the first one in a second), an 800 square foot 1-bedroom on the ground floor of a Victorian-style house 3 blocks from the main drag of Alameda. I say Victorian-style because I'm not sure if it counts if the owners spent 4 years gutting the house, down to the foundation, and all that's left is a shell of the original house (needless to say, it's very nice and we were instantly impressed)

- The first place we looked at had an outline on the floor where the body of the former resident had laid for several days until someone came to check on him. We decided not to live there.

- Although I don't walk to work anymore, I do have the option of biking about 4 miles to the ferry, and spending 20 minutes on the water every day, followed by a quick 6 block ride in the city. Unfortunately, due to 30% rain and 70% laziness, I have opted for the bus about 90% of the time since we moved in a month and a half ago. Maybe some day I'll actually use my brand new bike.

- The job is still going well, and the company is surviving, despite the mayhem of the rest of the financial world. I'm feeling a lot more adapted to the day-to-day work, and the schedule has eased up slightly. Not enough to have much of a social life, but enough to not feel drained of all life by the end of the day.

- Finally, and most importantly, my last blog post about climbing was the first and only time I've climbed since arriving here. It was fun, but a little crowded, and not laid out the way I'm used to. I think I might try to find another gym eventually. There's a place on Alameda called Bladium that supposedly has rock walls (and indoor soccer/hockey stadiums) built out of old abandoned Navy hangars. I might check it out at some point.

Climbing

2008-11-12T10:39:00.000-08:00

Going climbing tonight for the first time in months. It's going to be scary and embarrassing.

The trip back to Phx this weekend was fun. I got to hit all of the old spots (Four Peaks, Chino Bandito, etc), play some flipcup with old kickball friends, and get away from city noise for a little while. All in all, a good first trip back. Now will begin the constant harassment to get everyone to come up here.

Napa was awesome

2008-10-28T15:40:00.000-07:00

Over the weekend I took Beth to Calistoga (in Napa Valley) for a birthday she doesn't want to admit she had. Since she took all of the pictures I can't post them (at least not yet), but here's the link to where we stayed: http://www.winewayinn.com/.

It was the first time either of us have stayed in a bed and breakfast, and it was pretty fun. The place was walking distance from the town, which basically has a half-mile Main Street and that's it. Calistoga is the northernmost of the five towns that make up the area, and from what I could tell, also the smallest and quietest. I hadn't realized until the first night when we were going to sleep with the window open how long it had been since I had heard complete quiet. I love living and working in the city, but it made me realize that I can probably stand to get away from it once in a while.

All in all, the breakfast was fantastic, and the small touches were a nice change from the usual chain hotels I normally stay at (compare this place to the Holiday Inn Express on the 10th Street bridge in Pittsburgh and you'll probably agree). However, I'm not sure Beth & I are cut out for being really talkative to strangers at breakfast. We mostly kept to ourselves while the other guests (who were mostly much older than us) chattered away.

We hit tastings at 2 wineries on Saturday, and another 6 or so on Sunday. Most of them were pretty good, and by the end we both started feeling pretty confident about knowing what we liked and didn't like. We ended up buying bottles to take home from 4 of them. Definitely a side trip I'd recommend to anyone coming up to the bay area in the future.

A few of the places we hit:

http://www.rutherfordhill.com/ (The first place we hit. A little more on the corporate side.)
http://www.vsattui.com/ (REALLY corporate and huge. It's nice because you can buy food and have a picnic on their grounds, but we had to wait a while just to do a tasting. We ended up buying a bottle of port, but I don't think we'd go back, unless we can find a less crowded day.)
http://www.bennettlane.com/ (This place was really nice. It was completely empty when we hit it first thing Sunday morning, and we ended up buying a bottle of red. At the end of the day we decided we liked one of their whites better than any other one we'd had that day, and should have bought that too.)
http://www.augustbriggswines.com/ (We didn't like their wines very much, although the people were very nice, and they didn't charge for tastings.)
http://mummnapa.com (Sparking wines are apparently different from champagne. It was a nice change after sitting several wineries that morning, but not our favorite.)
http://www.dutchhenry.com/ (Our last stop, and probably the funniest. The owner had pictures of himself and other guys reenacting old western scenes, and wore cowboy boots. We ended up buying a bottle of chardonnay.)

Back to PHX 11/6 - 11/9

2008-10-28T15:34:00.000-07:00

For those who I haven't had the chance to tell yet, I'll be making a pitstop back in Phoenix next week. The plan is to fly in Thursday night, hit up kickball for a while, and fill Friday and Saturday running around trying to see people. On Sunday Beth & I will be headed up to Payson for the day, and then we're out.

Other than sitting on the patio at Four Peaks for as many hours as I can stand it Friday afternoon, there aren't any solid plans for the weekend. Let me know if you're around and have a great idea for something to do, or just want to meet up somewhere.

Garbage Truck

2008-10-20T13:44:00.000-07:00

I actually don't know if it was a garbage truck or the street cleaners, but last night around midnight, and also 6, and some time in between when I was too delirious to look at a clock, someone decided it would be a great idea to sit just below our bedroom window and incessantly raise and drop what I have to guess was a huge garbage dumpster. We usually hear this on Thursday mornings when the trash is picked up, but never on a Sunday night, and never 3 times in a night. Sleeping in the city is fun!

High School Reunion

2008-10-16T14:29:00.000-07:00

My 10 year high school reunion is this weekend (I think... I haven't been following up too closely, but I know that some of my friends are headed to Phoenix around now, so I have to assume it's this weekend). As much as I can complain that I'm working long hours at the new job, or praise how great living in the city is, the most notable thing I can think of today when I consider the effects of moving away is this: I have a valid excuse to not have to attend a stupid reunion!

It's amazing that it's been 10 years, but I don't see the need to spend hundreds of dollars to reminisce about a time that really wasn't that great to begin with. If there are one or two people that I really am curious to see, they're probably just a facebook friend request away (but I can't think of anyone at the moment).

Interesting Day

2008-10-13T14:44:00.001-07:00

Everything worked out fine, but an exciting mid-afternoon break in my building today:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/10/13/MNLR13G92M.DTL&tsp=1
http://www.ktvu.com/news/17705898/detail.html
http://flickr.com/photos/eston/2939645796/

Yes, he did this because he was pissed that he had not been picked to be on the game show The Price Is Right (for those paying attention at home, no one on the 30th floor of my building is in any way associated with that or any other game show.)

Okay, back to work.

Startup

2008-10-06T15:32:00.001-07:00

Most of you know that while I was going ahead and making a major life change by moving here, I decided to take things a step further and make a significant career change by trying life at a startup. Now that I've been here for about a month, I can say that day-to-day life is definitely different than at the behemoth I used to work for, and not just because there's free snacks in the kitchen. (As a sidenote, I received a registered letter from my former behemoth employer today, informing me that I owe them $135 to cover books from when I took a class last year. When I was getting ready to leave the company I checked with _both_ HR and Education Assistance to make sure everything was ok, and they told me there was nothing to worry about. Then, weeks later, I receive a letter threatening legal action if I don't pay them for something they didn't tell me I owed them for, something they could have easily withheld from my last paycheck. If they ever wanted me to even consider going back, they certainly don't know how to be convincing.)

Anyway, back to the main topic: What I've found in the last few weeks is that working for a startup still in survival mode is very much an always-on job. It's not that everyone works 24 hours a day, but we are all aware of work at all times, and can't really leave work at the office after 5 (or 7, or 10, as the case may be). The reality is that one seemingly minor wrong move could change the perception of some large customers we're starting to sign on, and from there it would be a quick slope towards looking for a new job.

Some of you may or may not know that I'm now working in the retail industry, in a way. Our CEO sat us all down last week with some very good news about some very big customers we're making progress on, and then laid it on the line for us: "Call your families and tell them you'll see them on December 26." The retail industry does the vast majority of its business in Q4, and the next 3 months are going to determine whether this place makes it big or falls on its face. Considering that on my previous project, I wrote code for almost two and a half years that never saw the light of day, it's amazing (and frightening!) to be in a situation where what I do actually makes a difference.

No Scooter Yet...

2008-10-06T15:31:00.000-07:00

Still debating. I'll update with pictures when I finally break. :)

Scooter!

2008-09-29T19:54:00.001-07:00

First and foremost, for those that are wondering, yes, I survived this weekend's festivities. I basically avoided entering the physical space surrounding the fair (luckily they blocked off the back alley that leads to the entrance of my building), but Beth & I did get a chance to go up on the roof of our building with some people and watch from up there for a while. That was good enough for me.

In other news, when we were coming home from Berkeley Sunday afternoon we walked by a store that I see all of the time that sells electric scooters. They happened to have a sign up that the models they're selling, which normally go for $2500, are on sale for $1195 because the manufacturer is trying to promote them. As you all know, it's been less than a month since I arrived here, and I haven't been exactly carless when you consider all of the weekend trips to Target/CostCo/etc, but I'm thinking this might be a nice option for occasional trips to the other side of the city. They can go up to 30mph (which should be fast enough to keep up with most city traffic), are legal to ride in traffic OR the bike lane, are completely electric (no gas), and most importantly, look pretty dorky. They're perfect!

I still haven't made a final decision, but the sale supposedly ends tomorrow. I may have to change the title of this blog to "Adventures On A Green Bee Scooter" if temptation gets the best of me.

Preparing

2008-09-25T15:35:00.000-07:00

This weekend is the Folsom Street Fair, which apparently if you're from around here is something you've at least heard of (and if you're not from here, you can read about: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Folsom_Street_Fair). As it turns out, our apartment is centered right in the middle of the area where the fair is held, and we'll be able to watch most of the action from our balcony (just because you can do something doesn't mean you have to or want to).

I'm prepared for this event, but I thought I'd post now about it since I may be too traumatized on Monday to talk about it.

Beth and I are also planning to sneak out to Berkeley again this weekend, where another festival is going on called "How Berkeley Can You Be?". I just happened to be in town last year visiting my mom while this was going on, so I'm familiar with it. The most memorable part was the car show, and in particular this car: http://www.sashimitabernaclechoir.org/ (watch one of the videos).

Wish me luck!

I Guess He Really Wanted A Bagel!

2008-09-23T08:53:00.000-07:00

This morning I had one of my first reminders that I'm actually living in the city, and not just some tourist trap with good restaurants and pretty scenery. After walking 2 miles to work like I do every morning, today I decided that I needed some food if I was going to make it to lunch, so I stopped in the Noah's Bagels down the block from my office. When I walked in it was pretty crowded, and I couldn't tell who was waiting for their food and who hadn't ordered yet. I made my way past a few people so I could take a look at the board and decide what to order, and next thing I knew the girl behind the counter was pointing at me and rushing me to order. I turned towards her, and before I could even open my mouth, a very short, very bald man behind me with Very Short Very Bald Man Syndrome (VSVBMS) started SCREAMING about how I had cut him in line. (Nevermind the fact that there was another girl behind the counter already motioning for him to come up and order through her.)

Normally I might have just ignored him, but for some reason today I was particularly bothered by this behavior, so I instantly backed up and said something to the effect of "I didn't see you there, but since you want to make SUCH a big deal about it, go ahead and order!" As is typical of very short, very bald men with VSVBMS when you actually stand up to them, he got quiet and refused to step up to the counter. The standoff lasted about 10 seconds, with me repeating "No, come on, it was such a big deal to you" and him motioning for the guy behind him to go ahead of him, but he finally did step up and order. I then ordered with the other woman, still standing there, and by the time I turned around to pay, the guy was gone. I kind of hope he ran out of the store in embarrassment.

I still love the city, but I guess I need to remember that I'm going to run into more self-important people here than I'm used to. Trust me, they exist in Phoenix too, but they're usually sitting in their BMWs on the 101 instead of harassing me while I'm getting breakfast.

I Hate Target

2008-09-15T13:41:00.000-07:00

Before two weeks ago, I hadn't moved in over 5 years (and the last time I was just out of school, so I didn't have a ton of money to spend on luxuries like furniture). I'm still learning just how much _crap_ you have to buy when you move into a new place -- especially when you got rid of a lot of stuff that wouldn't have survived a long-distance move. Beth & I have had to make three trips to Target in the last two weeks, and after this weekend's venture, I officially hate Target.

This time we had to drag my mom with us because, as you all know, I don't have a car. The premise of the trip was that we had to return one of the two bookshelves we bought, because the geniuses that made it forgot to drill the pre-drilled holes in one of the sides of the frame. While we were there, we ended up picking up three more bookshelves (one to replace the defective one), a whole bunch of stackable pieces that will form two dressers, and a microwave. We only got around to opening the microwave box yesterday, and found that the top of it is totally dented in. After that I just didn't have the energy to open any of the other boxes.

Beth and I have already agreed that we're going to live with a dented microwave if it turns out that all of the other things we bought are fine. Anyone want to take a bet that I'll be heading back to Target next weekend?

(On a positive note, we finally got internet in the apartment this weekend.)

The apartment is (basically) done

2008-09-11T08:45:00.001-07:00

I came home pretty late last night (after meeting up for drinks with some old co-workers from Pittsburgh that happened to be in the area), and the apartment felt like a different place. Beth has put in a ton of work unpacking the rest of our stuff for the last two days, and yesterday she put up most of our pictures. That little finishing touch made the place really feel like a place someone lives in (even if I'm not quite yet recognizing it as my home... that will happen when I know how to navigate in the dark).

All that's left is to buy a couple more dressers/bookshelves to store the rest of our crap, and we're done with the moving process!

Microclimates

2008-09-10T14:01:00.001-07:00

I'd heard before that weather in San Francisco is different, but I really think you have to be here for a little while to experience it. Back in Phoenix, if you check the weather and it says 80 degrees (or 180 degrees), it's that temperature throughout the city. Here, walking two blocks can make a major difference.

Last night Beth and I went with two of her friends to see the Giants and Diamondbacks play at AT&T Park. The stadium happens to be right on the southeastern edge of the city, up against the water. I had walked to work (as usual) in the morning, bringing only a light jacket, and was fine all day. I didn't realize notice a difference until we actually got to our seats, but holy crap is it cold at the stadium! We spent about 3 hours getting pounded by the wind from the Bay (and drinking beer) -- but as soon as we made it a few blocks on our walk home, it was back to manageable again.

Lesson learned: You don't check the weather for the city here. You check it for whatever corner you happen to be standing on.

I Found Chipotle

2008-09-10T08:12:00.000-07:00

All can be right in the world... yesterday, during my walk to work, I happened to stumble upon that sight that most hungry people dream about. It's 5 blocks away from my work, if that.

I know it isn't your typical Los Betos style grease, but for now I'll take it! I guess I can survive here.

I'm here!

2008-09-09T15:46:00.000-07:00

I wanted to give everyone (all 0 of you that are reading this as of now) a quick update on life, but this one is going to have to be somewhat short, because I actually have work to do. I'm still the new guy, and I need to at least attempt to make a good impression!

In a nutshell, after about 10 years of talking about it, all planning went out the window and I moved to San Francisco on a whim.

- For July 4th weekend, Beth and I came up to the Bay Area to visit my mom. During the trip we talked about how awesome it would be to live here, but since I had said that about a million times before, I figured we were just dreaming.
- During that same trip, one of Beth's closest friends (who lives in the city) mentioned that she could get us an amazing deal on an apartment in her building. I still figured we were just dreaming out loud.
- After returning back to Phoenix, we talked about it some more, and after a couple of weeks I posted my resume on dice just to see what kind of response I would get (still thinking this would go nowhere).
- During the next three weeks, things were a blur. I was pretty much bombarded, mostly with recruiters, and spent about 1-2 hours per day doing phone screens with many of the recruiters/companies that contacted me, somehow fitting it all in before and after work.
- I ultimately lined up interviews with three of the companies, and flew up to San Francisco the morning of August 7th, stuffing in _long_ interviews with all 3 companies on the 7th and 8th. The first company I met with, the evening of the 7th, ended up making me an offer the same day.
- Beth then flew up to meet me on the 9th, we signed the lease paperwork at the apartment, and on the 10th we drove back to Phoenix in my mom's car, which she was nice enough to loan me for a few weeks.

After that, the rest is history. We sold both of our cars, rented out our houses (to friends), quit our jobs, and got everything loaded into a UHaul, all in about 3 weeks. We finally left AZ the morning of the 3rd, arrived in SF on the 4th, and we (okay, mostly Beth) have been unpacking ever since. I started the new job yesterday, and still can't believe it was only two months ago that this whole thing started.

Gotta run, but I'll just end by saying that walking to work and living in the city is pretty damn awesome.