An overdue post

Has in really been 4 months since my last post on the most glorious of blogs?  Where did the summer go? The answers to those questions are: yes and up my butt and around the corner. Although being in Southern California has kind of messed with my perception of time, since the seasonal differences are absent, it is hard to remember how long ago something was without the perceptions of seasons.

So here's the one sentence summary what has happened in the past 4 months. Carly and I bought a house in San Diego, she moved down, she got a job, we've been traveling a bunch. There's more to it than that, but our time has been filled with trips to the beach, working on the house and friends and family. Just this month, three weekends ago I was up in Vancouver for a bachelor party (smoked a Cuban, which was nice), two weekends ago Carly and I were in NorCal wine country for a wedding and then I went to Chicago for a conference. Last weekend Carly's friends visited (so much estrogen in the house). This weekend Carly is in Seattle for a bachelorette party (thus me getting time to blogggg), and on Friday we go to North Carolina for a week.

It's been a fast and dramatic shift over the past five months. I went from renting a place by the beach with minimal possessions and no responsibility to pretty much the complete opposite. It's not all bad though. I must say that I really like being a home owner and I do enjoy working on projects. In July Carly went on a road trip through like 6 national parks with her brother, and instead of sitting on the couch watching Girl Meets World (which is terrific btw) I decided to re-wire my garage. This weekend I was replacing sprinkler control valves.

I'm sure the question most of you are asking is "how's the Jeep?". The Jeep is good and it just made it down here a few weeks ago. I've been still working on it but I'm hoping to get it all worked out and have the doors and top off it in a few weeks. I'll post some pictures here when I do!

At times it still hits me how surreal it is that I live here. When I take in a good vista I usually think back to my 10th grade algebra class. I sat by the window and spent hours looking at the cold snow outside thinking about how someday I would move to a place that was warm and nice and where I could go to the beach all year round. I guess I made it.

  

One Week in California

It seems like so much has happened in the 2.5 weeks from my since my last post. I've gone from not ready to move at all to being comfortably settled down here in California. So here is a catch-up of what I've been up to.

I was pretty busy getting everything ready up in Seattle. Carly is going to move down here eventually once she finds a new job, so I left most of my possessions in Seattle and we will move everything down at once. My plan was to bring just what I would need for a few months, mostly whatever clothes I could fit in my Camaro.

Picture I took on my walk this morning

I also got my Jeep back running so it would be ready to move down. I also realized that southern California will be the perfect place for the Jeep and an ideal locale to drive it to the beach and such. I ended up having to take it in to get a new carburetor put on it since the old one was worn out beyond repair. I left it with Tyler along with some other things that don't fit at Carly's place.

On Friday the 11th, I left Seattle and drove down to San Francisco. It was a long drive and it gave me ample time to reflect on leaving Washington and about what to expect once I got to California. In San Francisco I stayed with Jello who said he wanted to join on the drive down to San Diego and do the Pacific Coast Highway. I'm always down for a traveling partner so I let him "saddle up" in the Camaro. The drive down CA-1 was terrific. Everyone says the drive going south is better than the one going north. It was breathtaking. We bedded down for the night in Santa Barbara and then finished the drive the next day.

I had set up a place to stay for a week on AirBnB for when I first got down here. So I moved into a room in a house for a week and the other guy who lived there was super cool. He was able to give me some advice on places to live and some cool local things as I looked for a place.

This past Monday I started my new job. It took until Thursday afternoon to get computer access so the first part of the week was a little slow. I read a lot of documentation. But once I got computer access I was able to start doing stuff. Which was mostly training. But I did get to meet most of the people I will be working with and was able to familiarize myself with the new organization. It definitely helped coming into this job with a background in how the Navy works, especially how Naval facilities work.

My new place is in Sunset Cliffs

Each day after work I tried to check out a new part of the city while looking for a place to live after my AirBnB ran out this weekend. After spending many hours on Craigslist I finally found the perfect place on Wednesday. I was looking for a furnished place that was short term and relatively cheap. This was not easy, since most everything was either not short term, not cheap, or not furnished. But eventually I struck gold. I saw a post for an ideal place, and I jumped on it. I moved in on Saturday.

My new living area

The place I'm in now might be one of my favorite things I've ever done. It's up there with being born, seeing a boob and experiencing the miracle of human flight. I'm in a what I guess would be called a Mother-in-Law apartment, or a secondary suite. It's an apartment behind this beautiful house in Ocean Beach. It has its own separate entrance and has everything I need. Whoever built it, really outdid themselves. It has a small but beautiful kitchen and bathroom, a walk in closet, washer and dryer, and a nice sized living/bedroom area with a wall mounted TV. It also has an outdoor patio with a nice grill for me to use. This place is perfect for me.

The kitchen and bathroom

Best of all though is that it is less than 300 feet to the ocean. I can see the water out of my window and can hear the waves crash at night. It's so choice, and surprisingly within my means. I checked the price and the the house sold last fall for $1.5 million. So I'm basically living in a quarter of this 1.5 million dollar home 300 feet from the beach and I'm only paying $1400 a month. That includes all utilities, internet and cable along with a bi-weekly cleaning service that she pays for. The owner is a super nice lady who is in her 40's or 50's who lives in the main house, and I can see the Koi pond from my front door. It's really the perfect set-up for me and I couldn't be happier.

Outdoor grill yo!

I'm also really digging Ocean Beach. It's kinda an interesting little beach neighborhood. There is a fair amount of run down little cheap beach houses with the typical beachy/druggie population, but there are also some beautiful homes like the one I'm staying in. There are a bunch of bars by the beach and some little restaurants. It's really a cool place.

The ocean is about 20 seconds away

I've been getting settled in these past few days and I've been enjoying the weather by getting out and walking or jogging around the area. Overall I think I'm going to be really happy in California and I'm excited to get everything else down here and have a more permanent home, although I'm not sure I ever want to leave this place that I have.

The Sunset from Sunset Cliffs

New Year, New City, New Job

2014 is upon us.

Just as 1814 saw the Congress of Vienna redraw the landscape of Europe and the colonial world.

Just as 1914 saw a world war break out that changed the identities of nations and framed the struggle for peace in the 20th century.

Just as 2014 will see a period change from me that will forever be linked with the future of world as we know it. (I suppose this is technically true.)

Last year saw complacency break down into chaos as I left everything and spent 40 weeks wandering (part of which time I was in a desert). This year will see a return to the normality of life, but in a new and improved framework. Yes friends, I am moving away from Seattle and relocating to San Diego. I have accepted a job in San Diego with - surprise - The Navy.  I'm getting back on the same horse, but this time in a different organization doing different work. So it's all the thrill of a new job, but without restarting at the bottom of the totem pole.

I was offered the job right before Christmas and accepted it, and I'm moving down there next week. My girlfriend Carly will stay up in Seattle for the time being and eventually come down when she finds a job. But this means that I need to find a place to live again. So I'm back on the craigslist looking for places. I realized this might be my last new roommate for awhile and I've had quite a few roommates in the past.

In my first "Roommates" post I counted I lived with 20 people over the course of college. That number didn't change much post college until this summer when I moved back into a house in Ann Arbor. So I think it is time for a new count of my total number of roommates. Remember I only count people that I lived with for at least 2 or 3 months so summer sublets count. Someone staying at our place while they were between leases for a couple of weeks doesn't count. Live-in girlfriends don't count either unless they really lived there.

Roommate count by year we started living together:

Pre-2005: Laura, Julie, Mom, Dad - 4

2005: Max -1

2006: Jake, Sara, Rachel, Ross, Pete, Aaron, James, Fritz - 8

2007: Sara, Paul, Courtney, Emily, Brett, Al - 6

2008: Brick, Andy, Jay, Max, Paul, Matt, Zola, - 7

2009: N/A

2010: Tyler - 1

2011: N/A

2012: N/A

2013: Kevin, Tyler, Carly - 3

2014: ?

So I'm at a cool 30 different roommates.  Only five of which I've chronicled in "Roommates" posts. Some may not be worthy, but perhaps I should do a few more of those posts. They are awkward and fun. 

But overall I'm excited about the new job and moving to sunny San Diego. It has all happened pretty suddenly, but I think it will be an exciting life change. So California here I come.

California

It's been a few days since my last post. It's much easier to find the time to write when I'm camping and without distractions. Since I left Yellowstone 5 days ago I've gotten all the way to Phoenix, by way of San Francisco. Let's catch up on the last few days.

After leaving Yellowstone Wednesday and driving by the Grand Tetons I drove west from Jackson, WY and across southern Idaho where my Grandfather was born. I then turned south towards Salt Lake City. As I neared SLC I realized that I would not make it to my goal of Elko, Nevada that night. Unfortunately there isn't really any camping between SLC and Elko so I had to get a hotel just over the border of Nevada in Wendover. I got a room in a casino where I watched the Wings get eliminated from the playoffs.

Thursday I woke up and kept heading west on I-80 through Nevada. It was a long drive and the rugged arid mountains were not as entertaining as the lush green mountains from the day before. Eventually I made it to the California border where the landscape again turned into more appealing forms.

Mackay Stadium - Reno

The American West has so many climates and environments that each day of this trip brings a new type of beauty to me. I'm lucky to have this opportunity to experience it all now because the last 1/2 of my trip will be much flatter and less visually appealing.

That evening I arrived in Berkeley and checked in at the hotel where Carly's brother was getting married. It was a few blocks from the campus of Cal, so after hauling my stuff up to the room I set out on a walk around campus. I then spent the evening with Carly's family while waiting on her to fly in from Seattle.

California Memorial Stadium - Berkeley

On Friday I helped Carly's family set up for the rehearsal dinner which we had in a large park. It took most of the morning to get set up, and then most of the afternoon to go to the rehearsal and most of the evening to enjoy the pizza and beer in the park. As simple as pizza and beer in the park sounds, it was about 2 van-fulls of gear that we had to haul there and get set up and it was a really nice rehearsal dinner complete with drinking game Olympics (boccie ball, croquet, beer pong, cornhole).

The day of the wedding Carly had to leave early to be with the bride. I walked around Berkeley and then got ready. The wedding was a full catholic mass but as a reward for all the sitting and standing, the reception had a Manhattan as their signature cocktail which I enjoyed thoroughly. It was ie to meet some of Carly's friends and family including her host parents from when she studied abroad in Denmark. I spent a good deal of time with them and sat with them at the wedding. I think if  I make it to Copenhagen this fall I will visit them.

Rose Bowl - Pasadena

On Sunday I had to say goodbye to Carly for the next 4 months which was really hard. Luckily as a man I have mastered my emotions, but it wasn't easy knowing we wouldn't see each other all summer.

I drove south through the California Valley towards LA and then east. I was going to stay in Seqouia national park but I made such good time that I got all the way to Joshua Tree. Which was good because it made it an easy drive today and Joshua Tree was amazing. Desert camping is way different than woodland camping and it was pretty warm all night. I got to sleep without my rain-fly on my tent and stare at the stars. Sunset and nighttime in the desert was awesome. I can totally see why people go there do their drugs.

Today I made a quick 5 hour drive to Phoenix where I spent the afternoon at my Aunt and Uncle's house in Scottsdale. They have a pool, shower, laundry facilities, wi-fi and beer. Talk about hospitality. We are going to go out to dinner and then afterwards I'm going over to my old co-workers Jon's house for the night. Jon was a big inspiration for the trip and I've only seen him once since he moved down here from Seattle last year.

Joshua Tree Campsite

California Road Trip

Every once in awhile an opportunity comes up to take a road trip simply for the sake of taking a road trip. Usually the purpose of those trips are to drive 3 hours to the nearest Sonic. This weekend I had the opportunity to drive down to California so my girlfriend could get her car smog tested. Apparently due to her insurance rates it makes more sense to drive down to California every other year than to register her car in Washington. I had Friday off work for Veterans day (big ups to my federal employees) and not much else planned so I decided to join her.

The trip got off on the wrong foot. To get to Seattle I usually park at the Indian Casino (fo free) and take a bus to the ferry terminal. When I got to the terminal I realized that I was without my trusty cell phone. This was a serious problem. I've been on many road trips, most of which are written about in this blog. The best tool on a road trip is the iPhone. It's as useful for getting directions as it is for settling silly debates that arise during long drives.

*Side note: My first thought when I realized that I didn't have my phone was that it would be really cool to tweet all the things that I couldn't do over the course of the trip due to the lack of iPhone. I immediately realized that the first tweet would be "Can't tweet without my phone".

My more pressing problem was that I had neglected to tell the GF what ferry I would be on and when she should pick me up. Since I don't carry around an address book at all times I couldn't have even called her on a pay phone. It really made me realize how useless I felt without my phone. I've touched on my generations dependence on technology before but I couldn't even perform a simple task like arraigning a pick up from the ferry without my phone. Luckily I had my laptop, and was able to email her iPhone to let her know when I would arrive but I still felt pretty useless waiting at the terminal not knowing if she was coming or not.

On Friday we left Seattle at 5 AM. As the old adage goes "Some people just aren't cut out for life on the road". I was that people, and instantly fell asleep until we got to Portland around 9 AM. We made good time and got to Califorinia around 2 PM, we went to the first auto shop over the border and got the smog test and paperwork along with a very awkward post-smog-test hug from the inspector. With that complete we were on to the next portion of our adventure.

My girlfriends grandparents used to live in Medford, Oregon just across the border from California. Her grandmother was a hoarder to such an extent that her grandparents had two houses completely full of random stuff including every item ever sold on an infomercial. I could have walked away with a Big Mouth Billy Bass and a NuWave Oven if I had wanted. Her grandparents have both been moved to homes 2 years ago, and her parents have taken 6 trips to clear out their houses and filled up 7 large dumpsters. This was to be the last trip where they would clear out the rest of the house and take the valuables down to California.

Her parents had arrived 5 days before to start the final cleanup. Among the items that we were to be packing up was a collection of over 100 unopened Barbie Dolls that had been growing for over 5 decades. Everything in the house smelled real funky. But after a few hours on Saturday morning we had everything done. We then started our drive home. But before we could get too far we had to stop to watch the Michigan game.

We chose a sports bar in the dusty town of Medford. It was an interesting place to say the least. I wish I could have taken a picture of it but alas I was phone-less. The sort of place where patrons would come in order two Budweiser's, drink them and leave. The bartender seemed to know everyone that came in except us. This one feller comes in and sits next to me at the bar and orders a double well vodka and a bud back. He finished the double and then he orders another single well vodka. Finishes that, chugs the rest of his beer and leaves. Couldn't have been in the place more that 10 minutes. We finished watching Michigan win and then got on the road. We stayed the night in Eugene, and mad it back to Seattle this afternoon.

Not a bad 3-day 1,000 mile adventure. Next stop is Florida on Tuesday.