dog paddling my way through life.
Oh, gosh, I don't even know how to recap everything that has happened since I was last here. So, numbered list.
1. We're moving. We're moving? (Apparently, we're moving. (Whee?))
I actually absolutely adore the house we're renting out right now (three fruit trees, nice yard for the dogs, LOTS of windows and sunshine), but my commute is a hellish ~3 hours round trip, so we're moving up to SF proper. Abhi'll have ~40 minutes each way on the freeway, but he loves to drive (weirdo) and he can commute with coworkers who live in the city, if he likes. I'll be doing the walk-subway-walk thing, about 30 minutes each way, which is fine and dandy.
The house we're moving to is ALSO absolutely adorable, and I think I'll end up liking it there, but it's happening fast, so I'm still all, "erm, what?" We saw the place on Craigslist last Thursday, went to the open house Saturday, put in our applications that night, and are signing the lease tomorrow. Which means a trip to the bank today, because between first month's rent, last month's rent, regular deposit, AND pet deposit we're looking at over $11k in upfront costs. O.o I know. Oy vey, San Francisco, I love you as a city, and I love living here, but you're ridiculously priced, and Google & Facebook's hiring sprees are not helping. (Also, dogs, you with your needs for a yard and a pet-friendly living space, you are the ultimate luxury good. I hope you're satisfied with yourselves.)
I'll miss South Bay's sunshine. Also, we need to get a roommate to help with costs (clearly), and I'm slightly leery, but mostly hopeful? Do any of you know a cool someone in SF looking for a room? We're really nice folks, and we have the cutest dogs ever:
This is Kajol, who can sit on a stool like a BOSS. It's one of her many talents - she can also close the door on command, which is very helpful when you're lazy.
This is Panda, who is normally not allowed on the bed, but Sunday morning snuggle sessions are an exception. He's like a walking teddy bear.
2. (How is this only two?) I, um, have a job interview tomorrow. IT IS ALSO VERY SUDDEN AND I AM NOT PREPARED! I applied on Friday, they emailed me on Monday, and since I currently work two blocks from their office, we're just jumping straight to the in-person interview. It's an analyst position at a small non-profit advocacy group in the energy field, and I'm really excited about it. But I'm trying not to jinx it all by getting too excited, you know? The job was sent to me by a coworker who thought it'd be a good fit - all of the mid-level staff in my group are trying to jump ship asap, so we're all searching out jobs & emailing them around to each other late at night - when we're still in the office. Anyway, I'll be studying all of tonight for this interview. And trying to decide what to wear. *crosses fingers*
3. We went on a vacation road trip to the Pacific NW, and it was absolutely fantastic. I think the best moment for me (other than seeing both sets of grandparents) was stepping into the redwood forest and just taking a deep breath. My first strong memory is of playing tag in the redwood forest that my preschool was located in, and that scent just brought all of that "home" feeling back. Crater Lake was the favorite of Abhi's & his parents, unsurprisingly - it's absolutely magnificent, and a must see if you're ever in Oregon. (Oh, and we spent one night in the village of Ferndale CA, which was a vague inspiration for the town of Enterprise in seren_ccd's fantastic Chapel/McCoy fic Take Off Your Kid Gloves. If you haven't read it, you really ought, because it's everything fun PLUS there's some wickedly delightful McCoy imagery.)
And then we came home and all of the work I'd left for a week was still waiting to get done. *headdesk*
4. Fandom! I have lots on my to-do list:
5. We're going back to the east coast next weekend for one of our best friend's wedding. Flying into DC, where I'll be able to work out of my company's HQ for a couple of days (maybe give my 2 weeks notice? eeeeek! *crosses fingers again*), then driving up to NYC. Again, I think it'll be great time, but, man, the timing could not be worse in terms of our finances and general life busyness.
6. I have some more running/exercise/energetic mixes to post! I've actually had them ready to go for a few days, but I didn't want to overwhelm anyone with even more music last week.
7. In my spare moments (hah.) I've been reading through the archives at Mark Watches, which I found out about via fandomsecrets, oddly enough. His enthusiasm is infectious, and now I really want to rewatch BSG & Avatar. And Firefly. And go search out fics in those fandoms, maybe.
1. We're moving. We're moving? (Apparently, we're moving. (Whee?))
I actually absolutely adore the house we're renting out right now (three fruit trees, nice yard for the dogs, LOTS of windows and sunshine), but my commute is a hellish ~3 hours round trip, so we're moving up to SF proper. Abhi'll have ~40 minutes each way on the freeway, but he loves to drive (weirdo) and he can commute with coworkers who live in the city, if he likes. I'll be doing the walk-subway-walk thing, about 30 minutes each way, which is fine and dandy.
The house we're moving to is ALSO absolutely adorable, and I think I'll end up liking it there, but it's happening fast, so I'm still all, "erm, what?" We saw the place on Craigslist last Thursday, went to the open house Saturday, put in our applications that night, and are signing the lease tomorrow. Which means a trip to the bank today, because between first month's rent, last month's rent, regular deposit, AND pet deposit we're looking at over $11k in upfront costs. O.o I know. Oy vey, San Francisco, I love you as a city, and I love living here, but you're ridiculously priced, and Google & Facebook's hiring sprees are not helping. (Also, dogs, you with your needs for a yard and a pet-friendly living space, you are the ultimate luxury good. I hope you're satisfied with yourselves.)
I'll miss South Bay's sunshine. Also, we need to get a roommate to help with costs (clearly), and I'm slightly leery, but mostly hopeful? Do any of you know a cool someone in SF looking for a room? We're really nice folks, and we have the cutest dogs ever:
This is Kajol, who can sit on a stool like a BOSS. It's one of her many talents - she can also close the door on command, which is very helpful when you're lazy.
This is Panda, who is normally not allowed on the bed, but Sunday morning snuggle sessions are an exception. He's like a walking teddy bear.
2. (How is this only two?) I, um, have a job interview tomorrow. IT IS ALSO VERY SUDDEN AND I AM NOT PREPARED! I applied on Friday, they emailed me on Monday, and since I currently work two blocks from their office, we're just jumping straight to the in-person interview. It's an analyst position at a small non-profit advocacy group in the energy field, and I'm really excited about it. But I'm trying not to jinx it all by getting too excited, you know? The job was sent to me by a coworker who thought it'd be a good fit - all of the mid-level staff in my group are trying to jump ship asap, so we're all searching out jobs & emailing them around to each other late at night - when we're still in the office. Anyway, I'll be studying all of tonight for this interview. And trying to decide what to wear. *crosses fingers*
3. We went on a vacation road trip to the Pacific NW, and it was absolutely fantastic. I think the best moment for me (other than seeing both sets of grandparents) was stepping into the redwood forest and just taking a deep breath. My first strong memory is of playing tag in the redwood forest that my preschool was located in, and that scent just brought all of that "home" feeling back. Crater Lake was the favorite of Abhi's & his parents, unsurprisingly - it's absolutely magnificent, and a must see if you're ever in Oregon. (Oh, and we spent one night in the village of Ferndale CA, which was a vague inspiration for the town of Enterprise in seren_ccd's fantastic Chapel/McCoy fic Take Off Your Kid Gloves. If you haven't read it, you really ought, because it's everything fun PLUS there's some wickedly delightful McCoy imagery.)
And then we came home and all of the work I'd left for a week was still waiting to get done. *headdesk*
4. Fandom! I have lots on my to-do list:
- 2.5 fics more to finish betaing for stbb. I'm really sorry folks, for taking so long - these are number one on my list!
- 1 piece of art to kick into shape well-enough to work as a rough draft AND 3 mixes to get a rough draft going on before Monday. I've got a rough rough draft of the art already, and mental lists of songs for the various mixes, but works needs to be done.
- I'm tickled pink by the prompt I signed up for at space_wrapped: Post-Apocalypse fic! It's been nineteen months since the zombie apocalypse began and all Leonard McCoy wants for Christmas is one day without worrying about killing or being killed. I know exactly where I'm going to go with this, and it's going to be fun! Everything goes better with zombies!
- I also received both my exchange assignments - one for Kirk/Sulu, one for McCoy/Chapel. Currently plotting the second out, and thinking hard about the first.
- I have a half-finished Kirk/Sulu vid that I really want to complete soon, but it'll have to wait until, well, I have a moment to breathe.
- I also have my half-finished Kirk/Rand AU fic to complete, but that's at the back of the pile because I'm feeling rather grumpy about it at the moment.
5. We're going back to the east coast next weekend for one of our best friend's wedding. Flying into DC, where I'll be able to work out of my company's HQ for a couple of days (maybe give my 2 weeks notice? eeeeek! *crosses fingers again*), then driving up to NYC. Again, I think it'll be great time, but, man, the timing could not be worse in terms of our finances and general life busyness.
6. I have some more running/exercise/energetic mixes to post! I've actually had them ready to go for a few days, but I didn't want to overwhelm anyone with even more music last week.
7. In my spare moments (hah.) I've been reading through the archives at Mark Watches, which I found out about via fandomsecrets, oddly enough. His enthusiasm is infectious, and now I really want to rewatch BSG & Avatar. And Firefly. And go search out fics in those fandoms, maybe.