Those moments when I finally solve a problem that I've been beating my head against for a while, only to discover the solution is rather simple, are quite bittersweet. I feel awesome and triumphant, because I've found my answer and I don't need to worry about it anymore, but I also feel like an idiot for not taking so long to come up a now-obvious ( Read more... )

Let's try this again. Continued from last entry, here are some more pictures from my trip to Monterey Bay.

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Last weekend's installment of my explorations of California found us in Monterey Bay. It's a town on the coast, south of Santa Cruz.
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Because I am determined to document my time there in California, I'm (hopefully) going to be posting a series of entries, mostly about the touristy type stuff I've been up to on the weekends.

( Saturday Febuary 8 )

When I arrived here in the statees, I opened a bank account at Wells Fargo. A couple weeks later I received a letter informing me that to comply with section x.y of the US Patriot Act, they acquired 'Additional Document' from me. I'd shown them my passport and driver's licence, what more could they need. The next weekend I went to the bank and the ( Read more... )

The other day at work, a PM and a graphic designer were discussing what to name something-or-other, I think it was the next phase of the designing. The office layout is pretty open, so half the office was participating, or at least listening, to the conversation. The previous phase (or whatever) was flashy and sexy without much substance, so it was ( Read more... )

Not knowing about US-specific holidays,I was not aware that I would have this Monday (the 19th) until midway through the week before. However, holidays down here don't work the some way they do in the land of ice and snow. Not everybody gets the day off, and those who do work are not entitled to extra pay. I was amongst those who had didn't have to ( Read more... )

This week, Tessa brillantly bought a nutmeg, a spice which she will never use, thinking it was the much more useful italian seasoning. Dan, trusting Tessa's ability to read labels, picked the nutmeg and sprinkled some into meatloaf mixture ( Read more... )

My work is completely a Mac shop. I'm sure there are a couple of VM's with windows on them in the depths of QA, but other than that there is not a PC to be found. It's annoying because is its a new platform to get used to, and don't get me started on those bloody mice. Now, when typing on my laptop at home, which runs Vista, I find myself reaching ( Read more... )

After another crazy Saturday of running errands I now have a new cell phone, a US bank account and a toaster. (Toaster was $6 at Goodwill. I take pride in my thrift.) At this point, I can pretty well say that I'm settle here in my temporary home. All that's left is the semi-folding couch and chair thing to arrive from Walmart ( Read more... )