A Year in California

I can tell, actually, some of the ways in which things have come full-circle, at least as far as the weather goes. The sometimes-nightly showers we have, and the dewy feeling in the morning. With things coming into bloom, the area smells like I remember from a year ago, and the trees in the Apple courtyard are flowering, which I remember was so surprising to me in early March last year.

On the other hand, since it's so warm here during the winter, I realized this morning that I'm not going to have that particular experience of the northern climate of opening the windows for the first time after a long winter, or walking and biking around town watching the snow melt and the lakes in Madison thaw. That's something I miss.

I do feel more settled in these days than I did for much of the last year; I've got my routines, and although I continuously kvetch about wanting to move, I at least do not feel totally panicked about living in this urban area where one has to drive to get everywhere.

And there has been a lot to enjoy out here which I didn't find in Madison: Plenty of Major League baseball games to go to, in both leagues; friends who play Bridge; a variety of comic book stores to hit on a regular basis; being able to casually drive by companies sporting logos which I'm used to seeing only on a computer screen, like Apple, Netscape, and HP; the ocean, and the hills.

On the other hand, I definitely don't like the urban sprawly nature of the Bay Area, nor the outrageous housing prices. Having to drive everywhere and being able to just walk almost nowhere is a real drag. Mass transit - at least down in the South Bay where Apple is located - is pretty abysmal. There are - believe it or not - fewer science fiction conventions around here than in the Midwest, and it's proving to be no easier to meet people out here than in Madison (and I'm not just talking about meeting women I might be interested in dating).

Overall I feel that this move has been a big step sideways. The biggest drawback to the move is that I really don't feel like I will spend the rest of my life in the Bay Area (I'll be surprised if I'm still here when I turn 40), whereas in Madison I did feel like I could settle down there for the long haul. So it's difficult for me to feel like I can really put down roots here.

For much of my life I've pretty much lived in the moment, and have figured that the future would work itself out a bit at a time. I've changed that outlook quite a bit over the last few years, but I often feel like I haven't done very well at it. Planning for the long term is not something I do well. Right now I have this vague idea of moving to a better apartment, and then a year from now, if Apple stock is high enough, seeing if I can afford a condo or house somewhere decent. But probably I would only be there for a few years before I decided to move elsewhere (Seattle? Boston? Join my friend Karen in Portland?). Would that be worth it? I dunno.

(Yes, it's difficult to envision being in a serious relationship out here when I don't feel committed to living in this area. Many people in the Bay Area live here because they like the climate or some other characteristic peculiar to Silicon Valley. I definitely prefer a northern climate and don't feel any particular attachment to the things that makes the Valley unique.)

I don't have any expectation of leaving Apple while I'm here, although I do want to move into development, since QA is not what I want to do in the long term. If the right startup offer came along (from where?), or if I were unable to move into development at Apple, then I'd consider leaving. But otherwise, I like working at Apple. (I also just basically enjoy being somewhere for a while and becoming one of the "old guys" who knows everything.)

So overall I feel like I'm still in transition out here. I'm not at all sure where I'm going, where I even want to end up in the long run. There's a lot out here that I enjoy, but I often feel like a lot of it is stuff that only matters to me. (I still haven't made any friends who are anywhere near as into comic books as I am. I just seem to enjoy them in a fundamentally different way from everyone else I know. That's really frustrating, inasmuch as it's my primary hobby, the one I enjoy and pursue most.)

Where to now?

Well, it turned out that Alphacraze didn't have the Baseball Prospectus 2000 in stock, although their Web page didn't say so. So they shipped me the other book I ordered (presumably it's en route) and told me that the BP would be backordered for "1 to 6 weeks". I wrote back and asked them to cancel the backorder because I don't want to wait that long, and I told them I was annoyed that they didn't list its availability on their Web page. (It's also somewhat bizarre to see typos in the automatic e-mail I receive from them; it feels not entirely professional.)

So I'm not certain if I can recommend them or not. My best guess is that for commonly-available stuff you'll get good prices from them, but otherwise stick with Amazon. Amazon does have excellent customer service, which does count for something.

Last night I finished reading Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, which I enjoyed quite a bit. It is definitely a children's book, but it's engaging enough to entertain adults. Comparisons to A Wizard of Earthsea are well-taken, I think. Read my review for more.

This morning I learned something nice: You see, my complex's laundry hours are 8:30 am to 8:30 pm, which sucks, since that covers almost the exact hours that I'm gone during the work day. But the laundry room is only next to two apartments: The one below me, and mine (and I can barely hear it). I met the woman downstairs today and she said that she and her roommate both travel a lot, and are rarely home until late at night, and that it would be okay with her if I did my laundry after 8:30 at night. Which is great - now I can do the odd load during the week, which will make my weekends more flexible. Pretty cool.

Boy am I glad my previous neighbors down there moved out; they were a real pain all around. (No doubt they felt the same about me.)