MOTD

I've been enjoying Nick's experiment in bringing together a critical mass of blogs on a single subject. Since one feed cross-references another a single update from one feed generates enough traffic to push everything else out of the Laziness view. The downside is that I can no longer use Laziness to catch up on the latest versions of the toons that it used to receive. I haven't managed to catch Spamusement on the Laziness page in weeks. The sad thing is that one picture of a city rail station sign is cute, poignant, art, whatever but several dozen per day is just sad. The cross-linking emphasises the lack of original material. Hopefully the same exercise can be repeated with a more specialised interest group.

Life is pretty good at the moment, so good that I am getting suspicious. My new colleagues are great but I can't get used to having really competent management above me. I keep expecting them to drop the mask and start acting solely to promote themselves. Similarly I can't get used to how competent the drivers are here. I am not saying they are perfect but they do odd things like stopping at red lights and using their turn signals. The crazy thing is that people also anticipate what others are doing and will make space and slow down or whatever. Back in Lake County Illinois people are so self-centred that the idea of cooperative behaviour just doesn't cross their mind. I realise that they absolutely do not typify mid-westerners but I loathe them all and condemn them to a lifetime of having to deal with each other. The bad thing is that I have to go back there this weekend to close up my old apartment. Naturally the rental agency is trying to screw me out of my deposit. I'll definitely be shaking the dust from my feet when I finally leave. Good riddance! Mercifully the new manager at my old job is apparently acting more and more crazy so people are leaving in all directions. Two more friends will be joining me in the Bay Area (at other companies) before the end of the year. It also turns out that the insane manager has a long history of acting the way they do. They were managed out of three jobs in rapid succession (the explanation of "I had to move to follow my spouse" is complete crap. I knew my previous company was on the way down hill but this is more than a coup de grace. This is dancing on the grave.

This weekend had me on an intensive tour of the peninsula and city with the aim of finding places to rent and/or (ahem) buy. My guide chosen by the relocation agency was great fun and showed me some of the hidden gems both down here in San Mateo county and in some of the neighbourhoods in the city. While I had previously travelled all over I still had plenty to learn. I wasn't aware of towns like Redwood Shores (wouldn't want to live there, but good to know that it exists) and was amazed at how the Mission Bay area has changed over the years. I haven't decided on my final plan but I don't have to move from my temporary housing for another couple of months so I don't have to rush. I definitely need to move nearer the city, or at least within BART distance. I haven't tried Caltrain yet.

The only negative thing that has happened to the area since I left is the increase in traffic. Since I don't have to face a horrible daily commute (I am currently 5 minutes from work) this doesn't affect me too much. One Sunday I made my obligatory pilgrimage to Point Reyes and CA1 was still eminently drivable and the beach (Limantour) still large enough to swallow the visiting humanity.

No, moving back here was definitely not a mistake.