Winter in CA
A promised week of showers has started. Surprisingly enough it is not any colder so far. As for the rain itself.. Honestly, on my way home I felt as a tiny rat in a barrel of water and I believe my trousers will be getting dry for a couple of days. And by the way then it will be evident how clear it is (or not) outside. Such a dirty check worked in France and Spain so I assume it will be a proper indicator on this side of the pond as well.
I have received my Blue Cross medical insurance card. Dental, vision care and life insurance application are in progress. Unfortunately, my ATM card and SS card are still on their way but this is just a nuisance. A 401K plan is open for joining quarterly so in this respect there will be no news until April.
The real topic of the week is moving to my first real apartment. On the positive side, craigslist turned out to be a true mother of all good bargains. Anything can be found there (sometimes even for free). On the flip side, it is usually necessary to pick up the item within a day or two. As you might imagine a queen size mattress or even a trivial desk with chairs require a little bit more than a couple of hands. As a matter of fact, anything less than a truck will be found wanting.
So my latest idea is to rent a cargo van on Sat. In such a case I will be able to pick up some furniture on my way from hotel to the apartment. This is a very dynamic situation because I have not made a van reservation yet and I am not sure how many pieces of furniture I will find in the remaining two days. I am slightly nervous.
After relocation my agenda is likely to shift towards looking for a bike and getting a local driver license. A truly stubborn person can live without a car even in a suburb but this is not an easy lifestyle. A bike seems to be a must .. at least on a dry day :)
A totally unrelated but amazing fact - in my town there are dealerships of Porsche, Volvo, Mazda, GM. In a few miles from me BMW, Harley-Davidson, a big dealership of diverse American brands. It is simply stunning to see dozens of luxury cars simply parked near those dealerships. I wonder how few criminals must be here if those cars not only are not stolen but even not vandalized at night.
As usual, an anecdote concerning uniformed Americans. In the evening I was coming home from pizzeria. As usual, there were absolutely no walking people. I was passing a car pulled over by a police officer. He was standing near his car apparently running a check through his computer. I do not know about you but usually I get a little bit nervous going near cops. I even briefly considered the possibility of him stopping me and checking my documents (I had nothing with me). Now I approach him, he turns, looks at me, _SMILES_, even makes a weak hailing gesture with his hand and returns to his business. No comments.
I have received my Blue Cross medical insurance card. Dental, vision care and life insurance application are in progress. Unfortunately, my ATM card and SS card are still on their way but this is just a nuisance. A 401K plan is open for joining quarterly so in this respect there will be no news until April.
The real topic of the week is moving to my first real apartment. On the positive side, craigslist turned out to be a true mother of all good bargains. Anything can be found there (sometimes even for free). On the flip side, it is usually necessary to pick up the item within a day or two. As you might imagine a queen size mattress or even a trivial desk with chairs require a little bit more than a couple of hands. As a matter of fact, anything less than a truck will be found wanting.
So my latest idea is to rent a cargo van on Sat. In such a case I will be able to pick up some furniture on my way from hotel to the apartment. This is a very dynamic situation because I have not made a van reservation yet and I am not sure how many pieces of furniture I will find in the remaining two days. I am slightly nervous.
After relocation my agenda is likely to shift towards looking for a bike and getting a local driver license. A truly stubborn person can live without a car even in a suburb but this is not an easy lifestyle. A bike seems to be a must .. at least on a dry day :)
A totally unrelated but amazing fact - in my town there are dealerships of Porsche, Volvo, Mazda, GM. In a few miles from me BMW, Harley-Davidson, a big dealership of diverse American brands. It is simply stunning to see dozens of luxury cars simply parked near those dealerships. I wonder how few criminals must be here if those cars not only are not stolen but even not vandalized at night.
As usual, an anecdote concerning uniformed Americans. In the evening I was coming home from pizzeria. As usual, there were absolutely no walking people. I was passing a car pulled over by a police officer. He was standing near his car apparently running a check through his computer. I do not know about you but usually I get a little bit nervous going near cops. I even briefly considered the possibility of him stopping me and checking my documents (I had nothing with me). Now I approach him, he turns, looks at me, _SMILES_, even makes a weak hailing gesture with his hand and returns to his business. No comments.
posted by Nick at 8:31 PM
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