It is hard to believe, but this place is starting to feel like home.  I guess I should not be real surprised, I was raised moving every couple of years, and learned how to quickly become a part of the new place.  I am starting to know people at work and church, and more seem to know who I am which is often how it works.  It was funny in high school, I was not the popular one by any means, but everyone knew who I was.  I am sure it was partly due to my being one of the few white kids, and my dad being a teacher at the school, but I saw the same thing happen in college, and in NYC.  My guess is that I have no problem saying it like it is, and do not really care what anyone else thinks of me, or my opinion.  

The best part is how often I have something to do in the evening besides go home.  Everyday this week I have something going on besides thursday and saturday.  A very different thing compared to NYC where I considered myself lucky to have something every month or so.  It was not because people excluded me, more a matter of work schedule sucked and it took too much time and hassle to get any where much.  No longer the problem now!

I have also gotten most of the house put together.  I am down to mostly details, getting cables sorted from the tangled messes coming from NYC, setting up decorations, putting together the playmobil collection.  I am putting the playmobil last as that will take a month or more at least.  I did not realize just how much I had gathered until I stacked it up and watched it all get boxed.  It will be nice to finally have enough room for all the castles and hopefully to start getting more.

I do not get sick very often, and when I do there is almost never a fever.  However this week broke all the norms.  Wednesday at first I thought I was having a bad med reaction, starting just before lunch I was extremely dizzy and had a start of a headache.  By the time lunch ended I could not see straight.  After lunch I ran the day's tests and bailed towards the home direction.  A quick visit to Walgreens for a thermometer so I could find out just how bad I was doing.  Getting home I broke out the new thermometer and found out I was just below 103ª F.

Lots of sleep, liquids, and 2 days later I think I am back to normal.  And I thought leaving NYC would let me avoid getting sick again this year, I guess it was not to be.

I had forgotten how much fun moving is.  I am sore all over, and every time I need to find something specific it is in some random box that I can not find when I actually need it.  However later there it is when I do not need it any more.  Such is the story with socks this morning.  Thank goodness it was warm enough to wear my Birkenstocks outside.  I have made good progress in the last 2 weeks of having the apartment, only one of it actually living in it though.  It feels like a year already since I came to CA, but it has only been just over a month.  I have the bulk of the boxes unpacked.  Most boxes still full are nicknacks, cloths or books.  Largely books!  I guess I take after my parents in my desire for owning books.  It does not seem like much when on shelves, I remember rooms of books growing up, but most people coming to visit have been impressed if not by the number, by the eclectic nature of the collection.

The best part is I finally found all the parts to my main computer.  I still have some work to do on the other computers, but I at least have my large display, keyboard and mighty mouse.  It is nice to have a real workstation again to start getting back into everything I was working on. There is still a ways to go before I will spend more than a bit of time here and there on the computer at home, but it is getting close.

Sadly there was on casualty to the move.  One of my Apple LCD Displays, the 15" one, had its foot snapped off.  If it were not over 5 years old I could easily get it fixed, but as old as it is there are no more official repair options.  The frustrating part is I had it in perfect condition.  It had a few scratches, but was whole and worked perfectly.  The moving company says they will fix or replace it, but it will not be quite the same.

Enough of a break, I think it has been a long enough break and time to get back to work building shelfs.

When I bought my new Dodge Caliber the sales guy tried to tell me that it was an automatic.  Well it is, kind of, but not really, but it is.  Confusing huh?  Well it still is to me.

Wow! It us amazing but I have already made it through two whole weeks! Time is still at a crawl where every day seems to really be two or three, but at this point I am enjoying it. There is so much to get done and so much to experience!

Friday I went up to San Francisco to go to Mac World. It was not hard to make that choice when my boss made the offer to let me go. I am no where near as good at getting free stuff like what I remember Patty at thebookstore used to bring home, but it was still fun. The best part was running into Max. We usedto work together as two of the first Lead MGs for Fifth Ave. It was rather random as neither of us expected the other to be there.

Besides that I got to see a few of the new tech world things. I also think I managed to find a system for holding my tech gadgets in my new car. As it is I have to either stash them in the cup holders, or a bit of space below the stereo.  Both places work, but it is not safe to try and change songs, or even worse to try and use Google maps. So I will pick up a few mounts from ProClip to fix the problems.  I also managed to catch a live broadcast of one of my original favorite podcasts.  I picked up a lot of others later, but the first podcast was TWIT.  I was disappointed that Dvorak did not make it as he always adds a lot of spice, but it was still fun to catch and see after having listened to tons of hours of them.

I almost drove up the San Francisco, but finally decided to listen to a friend's advice and took the CalTrain (Thanks Arion!).  It was a much better ride than what the subway ever offered, although the price was not quite as nice.  I had forgotten that trains could be quite to ride in, rather than the mass noise that the NYC subway tends to be.  The ride up I met some random person who was just as lost as I was.  We chatted most of the ride up about families, work, places we have been etc.  I guess NYC did some good, it made me a little better at talking to random people.

After I got back from Mac World I went and signed the lease on my new apartment. I had originally planned on getting a two bedroom in the 800 - 900 square foot range. That way I could have not only a bedroom but a good sized office space also. I was suprised to find a one bedroom in that size that will give me the same ability. This place has a HUGE bedroom, and a HUGE livingroom. My current first layout plan will put both the office and the bedroom in the bedroom, skimping on neither space. The living room will have two halves, one centered around the entertainment center and the other looking out the porch over a small lake. It is a man made lake, but still very good looking and really adds to the atmosphere of the complex. The kitchen is a bit small but I will be able to make up for it by having a bunch of cabenets and drawers in the dining room to put dishes and such in.  Gotta love the selection at Ikea!

After getting the apartment squared away I went sushi hunting. I think I found a place I can call my regular. It was written up as a neighborhood place that had been around for a while. Nothing fancy but good, and it has my favorite, the vegas roll. They call it something else, but it is the same basic thing, and the chef is willing to experiment also a good thing. I tracked down the place in Mountain View that I went to while in training so I will try that again also, but that one will be a lot harder parking wise.

Later that evening I also went to my first LDS style dance in along time. It was not an official one so it was in someone's home but it was the same basic thing. LDS dances are a rather odd breed. They kind of remind me a lot of a high school dance from the late 80s. It is all about having some fun and meeting/talking to a lot of people. There also tends to be more people dancing and in general everyone is welcome in any group. Which leads to the other odd thing, there is more group dancing then couples. Going to other dancing venues it always seemed to be more about two people dancing with each other. They might trade some but not a lot. At an LDS dance it will be 5 - 10 people, sometimes more all dancing, ussually in a circlish shape. It was fun and I got to talk to a few people I had already meet and a good number of people I had not.

I guess by now you can tell that Friday was rather busy!  It sure was a good day though!

One of the things I was looking forward to getting into over here in CA was a life outside of work.  NYC has a great night life and bar scene, or so I am told, but that is not my thing.  I do not drink, and I am not much of a party goer when there will be tons of drinking going on.  Plus I always felt trapped going to stuff in NYC.  If I was coming from home it would take me an hour to get where ever, and an hour sometimes even two for the journey home.  Public transit is good during the day, but late night it gets few and far between.  With a car however I do not have to wonder when and if I will get home after being out for the evening.

I managed to find a good Single's Ward for the area.  Unlike most I have been to in the past this one is the perfect age range, 26 - 35.  This means I am not the old fart hanging out with all the little kids, nor am I the youngest in the group of a bunch of even older farts.  The other nice thing is the ward seems very active.  It is a large group and both non-church activities I have been to had a great turn out.  That and there seems to be something going on many nights, not just every few weeks.  Last night was a welcome to the ward party they throw every so often for new people, today was a regional dodge ball tournament, and tomorrow is institute class and dinner/music afterwards.  I was amazed that this ward had the biggest showing out of all the wards in the region.  I am not sure how many singles wards there are in the area, but it is nice to be going to a very active one.

Sally was curious enough to send questions.  Anyone else is also welcome to send them also.  I am not sure how much of what people are interested in.  The only rule is I can not tell  you about the details of what I am working on or any other Apple project.  You think government is bad for top secret you should try Apple.  Although I guess at least I do not have to worry about jail time.  But I just got this job and want to keep it.  So round one of questions:

I managed to get the server back fully online, a whole month earlier than I thought I would.  The temporary housing has better internet than I thought it would.  I was not even sure if there would be any connection, let alone one that would let me setup and get the server going.  I am not sure about speeds as of yet.  I have not had much of a chance to do testing, but it seems fast enough.  At this point something is better than nothing!

Packing out of the apartment in West New York was a very weird feeling.  I always knew that I would be leaving someday, and I actually ended up being there longer than I had planned.  I was so nervous about it I hardly even slept the night before.  I knew that I was ready, but I kept thinking about all the things that went wrong in the move out from AZ, and I did not want that to happen again.  Other than the cold everything went smooth as silk!  When the packing day first started showing on the five day and week away weather predictions it was suppose to be in the 40s range, it ended up in the 20s and I think even down into the 10s.  The hardest part was I had to leave all the doors open so there was only the bathroom where I had Arwen locked up that was warm enough.  Everything managed to fit into the truck, barely! the packers were amazed at how well I had managed to fit everything into the apartment.  All I kept thinking is I can not wait until I have a nice two bedroom again!

Flying out was rather uneventful.  I was pleasantly surprised at how well Arwen did.  When she flew last time the vet gave her tranquilizers to calm her down, sometime between policy changed and pets are no longer allowed to be tranquillized to fly.  Those who have met her know how easily she freaks out, she will not deal with anyone but me, and will hide as soon as strangers show up.  And here I was dragging her into a place full of them!  The only real excitement on the flight was for the landing.  The bay area had the biggest storm in 20 years still hitting it and we flew right into it, the flight went from smooth, to roller coaster.  The plane was being blown up down and side to side, just a tad freaky.  It reminded me of the jumper flights between Flagstaff and Phoenix, or San Francisco and Sacramento.  We started coming in for the landing and instead of the stewards/esses collecting all the final garbage they told us to stick it into the seat pocket as they were not going to be able to come down the aisle.  Then all of a sudden the turbulence stopped, the stewards/esses hurried through and picked everything up and we came in for an easy landing.

Getting to CA was rather a shock.  I have been into San Jose a few times over the years for various reasons, but this time I was coming home.  I have also lived up in Sacramento area, but that was for a mission and I knew exactly how long I had.  This time, it is all unknown!  A good thing, I have always dreamed of this, however a weird thing.  I got the rental car and drove to the temporary apartment.  I knew it would be something nice as Apple is usually pretty good about these kinds of things, but even still I was surprised.  The place is VERY nice!  It is a large two bedroom, and it feels rather weird having so much space after living in a tiny one bedroom for so long.  I am sure my stuff would all fit in here and make it feel full, but with just the provided furniture, I am rattling around.

The new job is amazing!  I can not talk much about the details, but it is the perfect fit for me.  A bit of hardware tinkering, some coding, some investigation, and a lot of fun.  It will be an intense job, and will be a lot of work, but it looks like I will enjoy it to no end.  Everyone I have met so far in typical Apple fashion is very nice and considerate, always willing to help.  I even get a real office with a window out onto the center of Apple campus.  WOW!  The hours are very flexible, which feels weird after working retail for so long.  I generally show up somewhere around 10, and leave somewhere around 7.  As long as I make it in by 11 and get my work done, the exact hours are up to me.  Of course I have meetings to go to, but so far there does not seem to be much of those, but then it is my first week.  My new boss is very nice and I can tell he has high expectations, but is very willing to help and explain things.  I am sure it will all be for the good, it has been a long time since I had a job that was actually challenging in more ways than just frustrating.  Ahhh the days of no more yelling customers!

The rule of the night for me was, stay until everyone else decided to leave.  It has been a lot of years since I stayed to the end of a party, however I figured since it was for me it would be a good idea.  It was actually pretty fun.  We gathered at SoHo Billiards for an evening of pool and drinks.  I was pleasantly surprised by the number of people who showed up.  Darin brought a cake saying thanks in binary.  The picture did not turn out so great, something about trying to hold a light take a picture, and talk to people all at the same time.  Everything ended at around 2:30 am, perfect timing to get on the 3:30 bus home.

It was hard to say good bye, but it is time to move on to new things.  

It was an odd feeling today to buy only a one week pass for the train rather than a one month.  

I have been buying a one month pass since the first day I made a trek into NYC.  All I remember of it now is how lost I felt.  It was my first few days in NYC and time to go to SoHo to report for my first meeting.  On the way there I could not find the subway.  Saying that now almost makes me feel stupid, but at the time I was more confused than anything else.  Now I feel like an old pro, I know every turn and path on the most common routes, and even going to new stations I know how to read the signs and nuances so I do not get confused.  Going to San Jose I will be right back into that unknown mode.  At least I have a few trips to the area under my belt so I know a bit of the lay of the land.  My first time to the area for MG training the three of us in my group ended up lost almost every night.  Good thing I now have an iPhone and google maps.