Musings

So today marks the first day of Week 5 on the West Coast, and Week 4 at work. It's been an adjustment.

Fair warning: this post will not be about robots, hugging lions, and/or meth heads.

A few East Coast v West Coast observations:
The food:
- East Coast wins every time on any sort of greasy, unhealthy, delicious food. Fries, pizza, breakfast sandwiches, cheesesteaks.
- West Coast wins on stuff like fruit, bread, veggies, sushi. Cheese, a major part of my diet, remains unchanged--at least so far.
The weather:
- East Coast: Hot, muggy, hazy. How I miss you (sometimes).
- West Coast: Foggy, 50s at night, and people go crazy if it reaches 75 here. Really. Now, this is the Bay Area, so it's a bit skewed from the rest of the region, but still. Sometimes all I want is to not have to wear a jacket at night in June and not know it's summer because it feels like early October.
The people:
- East Coast: Fast walking, fast talking. Two things sorely missing here. Generally more sarcastic, wittier, and motivated (what people here would call 'mean' and 'tense').
- West Coast: I have seen more crazy ass hobos here that I ever have. I feel like people say "Oh, [insert neighborhood name] is really sketchy and full of hobos, but [their neighborhood] is really okay, mostly." Seeing as how this has been said about nearly every single neighborhood in this city, I'm convinced that you can't escape the crazies. Solution? Walk fast and wear sunglasses. People here also talk pretty slowly, and sarcasm is a trait sorely lacking. On the other hand, they're also significantly smiley-er, more easy-going/laid back about stuff.

Any other rampant stereotypes I'm missing?

Work is.........also a big adjustment. I'm starting to think that maybe I'm getting a bit too far from my anthropology/public health roots. More on that later, when I'm not at work.

Random life updates:

After 2 weeks of having a broken bed (thanks, Matt Shiel, for testing out the sturdiness of my bed by leaping on it, elbow first), I got to manhandle a drill yesterday, and now said bed is completely stable. Who am I kidding? I drilled one little piece, Adam did the actual design/work. I swept up the sawdust (hooray gender roles!).

Went to a "Southern" restaurant Saturday night. Great cornbread, good drinks, good okra....worst ribs ever. Like they were covered in pasta sauce. Some of you know how serious I get about my ribs, and I'm sad to say that of the 3 places I've tried here (2 supposedly known for ribs/bbq) I've been disappointed every time. Truly heartbreaking.

After a 2 week quest, discovered that the convenience store across the street from me has Pizza Pringles. Don't judge me.

Also just had Thai Tea (Jenee!!) and Strawberry Basil ice cream. AMAZING. Come visit and I'll take you there.


And for those of you who I haven't spoken to in a while due to various trips across Alaska, working at tea shops in NC, being professional Fools, etc, I promise a phone call/email is coming soon soon soon!

Edit: The East Coast also has my button.