Back to the bay

The weekend was over before I could blink. Flew in Friday evening, dropped some stuff off at my mom's place, and hopped on the train to SF.

D's birthday party was ridiculous. Good music, good drinks, and good company; what more could you want? My decision making definitely left something to be desired, but what's life without risk? Thumbs up to catching a ride on the back of a motorcycle to the afterparty (thanks, Kip!), but thumbs down to the sketchy guy who tried to lure me into a bathroom when the party was winding down. I was thoroughly impressed by D's biking skills- I was convinced there was a 100% chance we were going to bite it when he insisted on riding double on his mountain bike down hilly SF streets to get back to his apartment at the end of the night. He got us there safe and sound, though, dodging the sleeping homeless guys with astonishing ease. Impressive, especially considering the time of night (or morning, depending on how you count it) and our lack of sobriety.

Unsurprisingly, we didn't get to the bluegrass festival the next day until late afternoon. The musicians were incredible, and the weather was unbeatable. Things were going great until I attempted to head to Berkeley for dinner. Let me tell you, navigating public transit on a packed bus when semi-drunk and unsure of where you're going is not a good time. In the end it all worked out, even though I was an hour and a half late and inconvenienced the entire dinner group by having them pick me up at a farther away BART station so I wouldn't have to transfer trains. It was great to see Mo, Katie, and Justin, even if it was only for a little while.

I hauled myself out of bed early Sunday to get dim sum with my grandma in the Sunset District. It was good to see her, even if she was overly concerned about my lack of a boyfriend. "When I was your age, I already have *three* daughter..." Thanks, Grandma.

Hit up the bluegrass festival again on Sunday, and before I knew it it was time to catch the last train back to my mom's place. D insisted on driving me home, though, so we shared a leisurely dinner in SF before heading south. I felt pretty guilty about having him drive all the way to Palo Alto just to drive back to SF, but I enjoyed spending more time with him before I had to hop back down to LA.

Gotta keep the good times rolling and post a strong finish to the Best Year Ever: Next up is Decompression, followed by San Diego for a weekend and then it's my first LA Halloween. Down time? Who needs that...

California, here we come

I drove down to LA last Thursday, to search for housing before starting work. So far I've visited 6 places, of which only 2 were places I would consider. I was hoping to live with girls, but there seems to be a gender imbalance on craigslist and most of the posts are made by guys. Luckily, work will pay for up to a month in a hotel while I search, so I'm in no huge rush to find a place right away but I do worry that the condo I'm currently considering will be taken by someone else if I wait too long.

The past few days have been relaxed, most of my time has been spent looking at housing and shopping and stocking up on groceries (my hotel room has a kitchen). I saw Helen and Flo on Thursday night, they're sharing a condo a block off the sand in Manhattan Beach. I'd like to find a place in that area, but rent prices are outrageous and parking is scarce.

My family's cat is 15 and we recently found he is blind- one detached retina, and one torn retina. My mom was planning on selling the townhouse this summer, but now she claims she can't move the cat anywhere since he's blind and won't know his way around the new house. She's already put down money for having carpets put in and storage space rented, which she's going to lose. A couple of days ago, she tried to convince her health care provider that the cat is her dependent and thus his blood thinner meds (cats are given the same meds as people) should be covered by her health care. My mom means well, even though she's crazy.

First day of work tomorrow. I'm nervous, excited, and anxious.

Düsseldorf (3/3 to 3/5)

The first Europe stop on my trip was to Düsseldorf to visit family from my dad’s side- Uncle Bill, Aunt Anya, and cousins Jack, 13, and Charlie, 6. Jack is now taller than me, and his English has improved a lot since I last saw him two years ago. He was very excited that >I knew a little bit about the new video game consoles, and spent most of my visit telling me about the PS3 he’ll get in two weeks which he pre-ordered 5 months ago. He has a countdown to the PS3 release next to his bed, and he has a list of all the games he wants and when he’ll have enough money saved up to buy each one. Charlie is full of energy and always singing or dancing around. His constant attempt to be the center of attention would be annoying, but he’s so charming no one seems to mind. Bill rented Snakes On A Plane, which was much more enjoyable than I thought it would be. It was nice to see the family, the boys change so much even over just a year or two.

I spoke too soon about managing to stay healthy in Thailand- right after I left I was hit with persistent stomach aches, cramps, and associated aliments that need not be mentioned in detail for about 6 days. It wasn’t bad enough to keep me bedridden, but annoying and uncomfortable nonetheless.

We were never really big on Father's Day, anyway.

The (very) few people here in L.A. who know tell me they think I'm doing very well, considering the circumstances. I think I'm just good at keeping up appearances.

I still can't bring myself to delete his number from my cell.

My mom wants to hire someone to put together furniture my sister bought from IKEA.

How a Mech E ever came out of my family is still beyond me.

I have done almost a full semester's worth of OB reading in the past 6 hours. I will be greatly dissapointed if I don't own that exam tomorrow.

I've done absolutely no studying for my Statics exam, but it's not until 1:30PM. Which is practically ages from now, all things considered.