Strange Days
So I've moved. Again. California was great, but it really didn't feel like the place for me. A gradually-increasing combination of lonliness, poverty and worry about the condition of my family back home finally pushed me into going back to the place I started from. I have mixed feelings about it all, but overall I think-- at least temporarily-- it was the better decision.
It's strange being back. I wasn't gone a particularly long time, but everything feels different. Different faces, different places. So many changes, even amongst my old friends. They all seem so... defeated. It's almost eerie seeing them again.
Getting home was in itself an adventure as well: I checked the fluids in my car for the 1200-mile drive home, and apparently forgot to fully tighten my radiator cap. As a result, my car decided to lose coolant, overheat and die. In the middle of LA. As I watched two cops chase a mexican man down the street, I suddenly realized this was not exactly the place I want to be sitting on the side of the road. Fortunately I came prepared for such a scenario, and I had myself back in optimum condition in about a half-hour. After that, the rest of the drive was smooth sailing.
Had a chance to drive through San Luis Obispo, CA, which was Former Home #1. That one was particularly odd. I'm sure everyone else is used to it, but nostalgia is kind of a new one for me. It's such a bizarre feeling to have your brain telling you "Hey, you're home," but at the same time knowing that a place holds nothing for you. San Luis was "home" for nearly 14 years, but now there was nothing there to provide any value to me. It was just a collection of buildings in a place that had once been important to me. What a weird feeling that one is.
It's strange being back. I wasn't gone a particularly long time, but everything feels different. Different faces, different places. So many changes, even amongst my old friends. They all seem so... defeated. It's almost eerie seeing them again.
Getting home was in itself an adventure as well: I checked the fluids in my car for the 1200-mile drive home, and apparently forgot to fully tighten my radiator cap. As a result, my car decided to lose coolant, overheat and die. In the middle of LA. As I watched two cops chase a mexican man down the street, I suddenly realized this was not exactly the place I want to be sitting on the side of the road. Fortunately I came prepared for such a scenario, and I had myself back in optimum condition in about a half-hour. After that, the rest of the drive was smooth sailing.
Had a chance to drive through San Luis Obispo, CA, which was Former Home #1. That one was particularly odd. I'm sure everyone else is used to it, but nostalgia is kind of a new one for me. It's such a bizarre feeling to have your brain telling you "Hey, you're home," but at the same time knowing that a place holds nothing for you. San Luis was "home" for nearly 14 years, but now there was nothing there to provide any value to me. It was just a collection of buildings in a place that had once been important to me. What a weird feeling that one is.