SITREP
So it's my second weekend here in Montebello, and I realized I haven't really mentioned much about where I've gone or wtf it is that I do to pass my time here. Long story short, a lot of job hunting, a bit of biking around doing errands and getting excercise and sun, and diving and other good stuff on weekends.
I live in a gated community of townhouses right off of "the" 60, which itself is off of 5. It's just like Brians condo the way it's set up inside:
Living room.
Kitchen and dining room. To the right is the pantry, bathroom, and door out to the garage.
Stairway to heaven. Well... Not really.
My new room.
View out the window at night.
Everything is pretty fresh right down to the carpet and paint, and I'm pretty happy with the accommodations here. I've brought a few comforts from home as well - my room is sort of the mini HD theater, with 600W 5.1 surround, and my 22" LCD display switches over to the PS3 at 720P (only 1050 pixels on PC monitors) via an HDMI auto switch. DVD's, Blu-Ray, games, you name it, all in HD and Dolby 5.1, Pro Logic, or DTS 5.1 sound. The PS3 has its own wireless keyboard and mouse for use with Linux, making it it's own fully functional computer as well. My old bed, a comfy barrel chair, and my trusty guitar, and I got pretty much all I need here. Speaking of guitar, one of my new roomies, you'll recognize him. Matt's the other roomie, he's an architectural student at UCLA and never sleeps, and is rarely home. His mom is the landlord but lives off in San Jose.
Steven plays air guitar, but the kind with a real guitar.
Been trying to do a nightly practice/jam session which will quickly polish the guitar skills and teach me new stuff. Hopefully I'll have a few new songs and some new tricks next time I'm back! Then there's Walson and Chris who work with Steven. I met Chris a couple years ago while he and Steven were both still at UCLA. Walson's been dropping by on Friday, and we'll all get stuff to cook, drink some beers, and play games and stuff. He's also been the driver when we've gone out freediving as well. It's been chill and a lot of fun.
LA is still seems like the magic place, doesn't seem to have worn off, since every time I go outside and look around, I still get that sense that I'm this land of hope and endless opportunity. Everything is 0-45 minutes away. I can bike to Walmart, Vons, and Costco. Oh yeah and the combo of spring, and LA girls wandering around should almost be illegal. Seriously.
The majority of my time here though, I've been job hunting. First thing I noticed is that the pay is lower than I'm used to, but my cost of living ain't bad at all, either. Must be all the mexicans - you just can't beat those guys. My records show I've cranked out about 15 applications since 4/7 - mind you these are carefully chosen to be something I can do and that'll pay the bills. I haven't recieved a single reply. Not one. Normally it takes a couple days to a couple weeks, but it's sort of a sobering experience knowing that I'm working on borrowed time against a bleak economic situation. I may be back in a month or two of my funds run out on me.
There's not a whole lot much more to mention. Steven and I are going to hit the junkyard tomorrow and meeting up with Chris to find parts we need, and will take the 2 hour trip to tehachapi, where the new West Coast Fiero shop is located. They're pretty cool dudes over there, and they have the equipment to do any swap or other work on our cars. They also have a turbocharged ITB aurora 4.0L V8 that the owner just fired up for the first time in his car - bad ass.
But yeah. More updates as they come. Don't step on sea urchins. Later!
I live in a gated community of townhouses right off of "the" 60, which itself is off of 5. It's just like Brians condo the way it's set up inside:
Living room.
Kitchen and dining room. To the right is the pantry, bathroom, and door out to the garage.
Stairway to heaven. Well... Not really.
My new room.
View out the window at night.
Everything is pretty fresh right down to the carpet and paint, and I'm pretty happy with the accommodations here. I've brought a few comforts from home as well - my room is sort of the mini HD theater, with 600W 5.1 surround, and my 22" LCD display switches over to the PS3 at 720P (only 1050 pixels on PC monitors) via an HDMI auto switch. DVD's, Blu-Ray, games, you name it, all in HD and Dolby 5.1, Pro Logic, or DTS 5.1 sound. The PS3 has its own wireless keyboard and mouse for use with Linux, making it it's own fully functional computer as well. My old bed, a comfy barrel chair, and my trusty guitar, and I got pretty much all I need here. Speaking of guitar, one of my new roomies, you'll recognize him. Matt's the other roomie, he's an architectural student at UCLA and never sleeps, and is rarely home. His mom is the landlord but lives off in San Jose.
Steven plays air guitar, but the kind with a real guitar.
Been trying to do a nightly practice/jam session which will quickly polish the guitar skills and teach me new stuff. Hopefully I'll have a few new songs and some new tricks next time I'm back! Then there's Walson and Chris who work with Steven. I met Chris a couple years ago while he and Steven were both still at UCLA. Walson's been dropping by on Friday, and we'll all get stuff to cook, drink some beers, and play games and stuff. He's also been the driver when we've gone out freediving as well. It's been chill and a lot of fun.
LA is still seems like the magic place, doesn't seem to have worn off, since every time I go outside and look around, I still get that sense that I'm this land of hope and endless opportunity. Everything is 0-45 minutes away. I can bike to Walmart, Vons, and Costco. Oh yeah and the combo of spring, and LA girls wandering around should almost be illegal. Seriously.
The majority of my time here though, I've been job hunting. First thing I noticed is that the pay is lower than I'm used to, but my cost of living ain't bad at all, either. Must be all the mexicans - you just can't beat those guys. My records show I've cranked out about 15 applications since 4/7 - mind you these are carefully chosen to be something I can do and that'll pay the bills. I haven't recieved a single reply. Not one. Normally it takes a couple days to a couple weeks, but it's sort of a sobering experience knowing that I'm working on borrowed time against a bleak economic situation. I may be back in a month or two of my funds run out on me.
There's not a whole lot much more to mention. Steven and I are going to hit the junkyard tomorrow and meeting up with Chris to find parts we need, and will take the 2 hour trip to tehachapi, where the new West Coast Fiero shop is located. They're pretty cool dudes over there, and they have the equipment to do any swap or other work on our cars. They also have a turbocharged ITB aurora 4.0L V8 that the owner just fired up for the first time in his car - bad ass.
But yeah. More updates as they come. Don't step on sea urchins. Later!