Another Six

If my birthday this year was six-squared, then today was another six: Six years since I moved to California.

I'm not sure why this date has stuck in my head like this. I don't remember the exact date when I moved to New Orleans for college, or to Madison for grad school. (Late August in both cases, I think. I do remember Madison was in the middle of a horrible heat wave when I arrived.) But February 24th sticks in my head as the date I moved to California, and March 1st as the date I started working at Apple. (Okay, the fact that I wasn't journalling when the first two moves happened may have something to do with it.) Of course, I have an additional incentive for keeping track of my start date at work, since I get additional benefits each year (though at this point I think I have all the benefits except for a few days of vacation time).

I marked today mainly by being completely exhausted from Ultimate last night. And by picking up this week's comics - a day late, but it turns out to have been a great week, with new issues of GrimJack, Battle Hymn (the first issue, actually), Boneyard, B.P.R.D.: The Dead, Powers (which I'm buying as a series - rather than in paperback collections - for the first time in a long time), and the GrimJack hardcover collection of the early stories from 20 years ago. (I'm a little honked off that later collections will only be in paperback, though.)

So that was good.

But otherwise I was just this side of being a zombie today.

California's been good to me so far. A good job, a great girlfriend, a nice house, and lots and lots to do. I've remarked on several occasions that I don't think I'm ever likely to get bored at Apple; there's so much going on there I can keep busy and interested for, well, probably for the rest of my life (presuming computers don't become plain obsolete before then!).

And there's still plenty in the Bay Area I've only seen once, if at all. I've never been to the Oakland Zoo, I've only been to Point Reyes once, I've never done the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, or hiked in Big Sur, or been to Lick Observatory. I've only been to Napa twice and Sonoma once. I've never been to SF-MOMA, or seen the San Jose Giants, or been to Wondercon. There's just so much to do here!

Fortunately, I have Debbi to do all of this stuff with. Or at least most of it! She's not going anywhere, so we've got plenty of time...