This was near the end of a 4 hour debacle ride. Overall the ride was fantastic, but there was some miscommunication (not helped by AT&T phone issues). So close to 4,000 feet of vertical elevation gain later, I met up with a friend's uncle who showed me some of the interesting areas nearby, including a village called Painted Cave. All of the town's mailboxes are here. Must be a bear to figure out where someone lives though if you don't have the mailbox number next to the house...
The wild thing about the ride was hearing about the forest fires that ravaged the area (the hills are different shades of green because of that, and what we are doing to stop them may be making them worse, since there needs to be fires to clear out the light underbrush, and by stopping that it leads to bigger underbrush instead that cannot easily be put out...ah human intervention to the natural order ;)
Apparently Lance Armstrong trains in the mountains behind Santa Barbara. The bike shop i use has his picture!
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Phone and internet are overrated
When we first moved here I could not make phone calls from the apartment (or only sporadically). AT&T's solution? Send me a new SIM card that was California optimized. Of course before I installed it, my phone seemed to start working again, so I ignored it. Until yesterday. 4 dropped calls on the drive home, and I decided to try the new one. Now I can't get data or voice calls most of the time. Why am I spending $100 a month with AT&T again? I wish I could deduct $.20 from my account for every dropped call. I would be paying nothing...
The other fun one is internet. It seems to go in waves, sometimes full signal strength, sometimes nothing. This implies I really should be doing work outside of the home, because having multiple tabs open does not work. In fact, I could not talk with AT&T on Skype yesterday because the connection was so bad. Maybe I am not supposed to be working...
The other fun one is internet. It seems to go in waves, sometimes full signal strength, sometimes nothing. This implies I really should be doing work outside of the home, because having multiple tabs open does not work. In fact, I could not talk with AT&T on Skype yesterday because the connection was so bad. Maybe I am not supposed to be working...
Baby Talk
I spent the weekend in SF, seeing old friends and enjoying the great weather. I even made time for a 2 hour bike ride with my friend Eric Davis. It was exhausting (several hills that took over 15 minutes to climb!) Needless to say I needed a nap later in the day...
A number of my friends have kids now, and it was highly amusing to hear some of the unique phrases. One doesn't say yes, but instead "sure" to everything. "What to go to see trains?"-- "Sure" (it sort of takes away the ability to see if the kid is excited. We figured it out in the end though...)
The other good one was the little girl who had mixed up "I" and "You" if you think about it, parents will always say "I" about themselves and "You" to the child. So I hear in the morning "I am pouring milk on the cereal" from this little one. My foggy mind in the morning pieces it together. "Oh, you mean..."
A number of my friends have kids now, and it was highly amusing to hear some of the unique phrases. One doesn't say yes, but instead "sure" to everything. "What to go to see trains?"-- "Sure" (it sort of takes away the ability to see if the kid is excited. We figured it out in the end though...)
The other good one was the little girl who had mixed up "I" and "You" if you think about it, parents will always say "I" about themselves and "You" to the child. So I hear in the morning "I am pouring milk on the cereal" from this little one. My foggy mind in the morning pieces it together. "Oh, you mean..."
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Random events in SF
My friend Eliot and i were just walking around SF, such a great sunday there, and there happened to be a number of cars in display for a 1,000 mile race around the area. Eliot met one of the founders of Kleiner Perkins. That and we walked into the cable car museum. We even managed to see the second half of my nephew's basketball game!
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Rattlesnake canyon
I decided to do a hike the other day, nicely named Rattlesnake canyon. Thankfully I did not see any snakes, although my way back down wasn't the most direct (I thought i was taking a shortcut, which ended up turning into a dead-end). Instead of turning around (why?) I continued down, only to find more poison oak plants than i realized humanly existed. I got down fairly unscathed, but everything was tossed into the washer, since Michelle does not have a very positive reaction to that "wonderful" plant...
All said and done, the views of the hills, the plants, and ocean were fantastic to look at! Enjoying the days of green hills while they last!
All said and done, the views of the hills, the plants, and ocean were fantastic to look at! Enjoying the days of green hills while they last!
Monday, April 19, 2010
My new ride
After too many weeks of searching, this is what I finally ended on. A Mazda 6 that was 4 years old, with a sunroof (perfect for CA) and a few other nice features. And the best part? They made a decent deal on Michelle's old car. so it all worked out in the end! Now watch Michelle or myself not need a car out there...
Artichokes in the front yard!
So we are pretty psyched about our temporary place, we have artichokes in our front yard (and rosemary and about 10 other herbs scattered around). Add to that an orange tree in our backyard, and life is good!
Creativity that pays
We thought that this was pretty unique and interesting, worth tossing a nickel or two down there! There were about 4-5 blankets with different sayings, cups set up similar to an amusement park (Michelle handed a dime into a cup about 8 feet away!)
Pelican dive bombing
We thought that this was pretty cool, watching a pelican dive from 20-30 feet down to catch a fish! It definitely struck home that we were in a new environment when we saw this! Next time I will return with my SLR to capture the motion in multiple frames!
Friday, April 16, 2010
The number of details
Now I am used to moving, I have averaged approximately 1 move per year since college. It gets tiring, but manageable. The latest addition today though surprised me. AT&T needs to send us a new SIM card, one that is optimized for our new location (ie we cannot make or receive calls most of the time). Now, if this is the case, would that mean i could not travel to the west coast (or vice-versa) and get reception? "Can you hear me now?" At least this has been an easier problem to fix...If only my list of things to do would decrease though!
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Last night in NYC
Michelle and I were extremely excited about one final day in NYC, exploring great shops, food, and relaxing. Unfortunately we did not count on the weather, which happened to be cold and gray, encouraging us to curl up in our hotel and not leave! The highlight of our day (other than picking up our taxes from our accountant, who happened to have a number of mounted animals up on his wall - that was a bit surprising, although you do want your accountant to be willing to tackle any animals, even those from a division of the govt most of us dislike ;)
That evening we went running with Achilles track club, which was the group of visually impaired runners I used to run with in my last year in NYC. A few of my old regulars, Eddie and Hakan were both there that evening, I ran with Eddie and MIchelle ran with Hakan. As it was, I was not sure that the goal of 8 minute miles was something I could handle, but company is more important than hurting legs, so I figured I would try. Turns out we ran 7:30 miles in the end, so much for his tapering for the London Marathon! It was so great to see this group, all of them have such a zest for life, and don't seem to be at all slowed down by a loss of sight. It reminds you to be a little more thankful (or less grouchy when you get a paper cut for example). Eddie did admit that paper cuts bothered him a lot though ;)
To end the night, we talked with a few of the other runners there. There is continual banter back and forth, both on the run and off the run. Cracks about who is more popular with the ladies to who has the fewest brain cells. Dull this group certainly is not. One of them had a guide dog, and I had learned in the past to not pet them (these are working dogs, not playful dogs). Apparently Carmelo's was not quite as well trained however, as he started licking my leg after the run. Of course he shared his love around the group of runners as well. What exactly is he guiding again?
That evening we went running with Achilles track club, which was the group of visually impaired runners I used to run with in my last year in NYC. A few of my old regulars, Eddie and Hakan were both there that evening, I ran with Eddie and MIchelle ran with Hakan. As it was, I was not sure that the goal of 8 minute miles was something I could handle, but company is more important than hurting legs, so I figured I would try. Turns out we ran 7:30 miles in the end, so much for his tapering for the London Marathon! It was so great to see this group, all of them have such a zest for life, and don't seem to be at all slowed down by a loss of sight. It reminds you to be a little more thankful (or less grouchy when you get a paper cut for example). Eddie did admit that paper cuts bothered him a lot though ;)
To end the night, we talked with a few of the other runners there. There is continual banter back and forth, both on the run and off the run. Cracks about who is more popular with the ladies to who has the fewest brain cells. Dull this group certainly is not. One of them had a guide dog, and I had learned in the past to not pet them (these are working dogs, not playful dogs). Apparently Carmelo's was not quite as well trained however, as he started licking my leg after the run. Of course he shared his love around the group of runners as well. What exactly is he guiding again?
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
The best time to move
I will miss Spring, it has been amazing to wander (I mean drive, walking doesn't really work in NJ...) around Chatham and other lovely NJ towns, and to see all of the flowers blooming. Cherry trees among others, all of which seemed to sprout in one day. While my allergies may not like it, it has led to better bike rides and a reminder that it is not simply winter around here! That said, it has been nice to have a few cold days to remind us why we are leaving. It was down to 35 degrees the other night! Sunny Santa Barbara here we come!!
Moving craziness
So yesterday was an absolute whirlwind. Moving people started to come around 8:30 am. The first was a person whose job was simply to box up our TV. Apparently this is for "high-value" items, but would not include: computers, bicycles, Computer monitors, etc. I was scratching my head for a while as my Korean-made TV (with a brand name from Korea, and a menu in Korean) was worth this level of boxing, while both of our road bikes that cost over $1000 were just going to be wrapped in blankets...No comprende...
On the whole though, our movers were great, they were in by 9 or 9:30, and totally done by 2 pm! Not bad for 120 "pieces" It was strange to see our apartment so empty though. We made a tactical mistake in shutting off our power. Around noon I tried to plug in my phone and got nothing. THe phone was less of an issue than a vacuum cleaner however. THANKFULLY building maintenance was understanding and we did not have to do anything (and they did not charge us for issues with the apartment!) I was ready to ask them to wire a cord down to their shop down below, but they were relaxed about it. Funny how it all works (especially after the atrocious experience had at 816 Arlington and our witch of a property manager...you live you learn, right? Or maybe you just hope for the best instead.)
On the whole though, our movers were great, they were in by 9 or 9:30, and totally done by 2 pm! Not bad for 120 "pieces" It was strange to see our apartment so empty though. We made a tactical mistake in shutting off our power. Around noon I tried to plug in my phone and got nothing. THe phone was less of an issue than a vacuum cleaner however. THANKFULLY building maintenance was understanding and we did not have to do anything (and they did not charge us for issues with the apartment!) I was ready to ask them to wire a cord down to their shop down below, but they were relaxed about it. Funny how it all works (especially after the atrocious experience had at 816 Arlington and our witch of a property manager...you live you learn, right? Or maybe you just hope for the best instead.)
eBay and bidding fun
It has been interesting to be on the seller side for eBay. I have bought plenty of things, but man I am starting to feel bad for the sellers now. I have had my second challenging discussion with a buyer. In general, each time I have sold something, people are looking to save a few dollars. First one person doesn't like the merchandise, another person emails me and wants me to drop the "Buy Now" price. And now the last one says one of the products has been opened. And without a way to definitively prove this, it places me in a touch spot. It makes you wonder...Let's just say I don't plan on selling too many more things on eBay. On a side note, the fees charged by eBay and PayPal are ridiculous! I am clearly in the wrong business ;)
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