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Danny and I have been procrastinating when it comes to getting our driver licenses and car registration in order. We’ve heard the horror stories about how much it costs to register vehicles and pass the smog check. We’ve tried to get our licenses, but they told us that we had to have a certified copy of our birth certificate to do so. So, we wait…. Danny got his certificate in the mail the other day, so we were all primed and ready to go to the DMV at 8 tomorrow morning to get our new DL’s. No such luck - the DMV is only open every third Saturday of the month. Ho hum, time to sleep in.
Last night, I decided that my car was completely too disgusting with the layers of tree sap and dirt that had clung to it after I parked on the street when we initially moved here. Danny and I drove about 10 miles up El Camino Real before we found a working, self-serve carwash. First of all, it never rains here so my car wasn’t going to get washed the usual way. We scrubbed my car down and now it looks a million times better. If only it were legal. *sigh*

Last night, one of my neighbors from across the parking area decided to blare coverage of the Democratic Convention. Today, they or someone near them is blaring Christina Aguilera songs. I think Christina wins the annoying contest. It reminded me of this headline from fark.

One person was responsible for 70 percent of the 2004 viruses and no, it was not Christina Aguilera.

So far, this week has been pretty uneventful. I’ve mostly been doing job hunting stuff. I’m talking to a couple of companies right now. I have a phone interview scheduled with one of them tomorrow and then a regular interview scheduled for next Tuesday. I’m excited about the interviews but I can’t say that I’m excited to be going back to work. Hopefully, the regular paycheck thing will make up for it.
I tried something new the other night: hot yoga. Basically, this is yoga performed in a hot room - not sauna hot, but definitely warm. There is a yoga studio down the street from me and there is a special rate for new students, so I thought I’d check it out. It’s, well, not what I expected. It is a workout in a hot room. You sweat so much that it is difficult to hold a pose because if one part of your body is touching another part of your body, it just slips off. This makes most standing poses rather difficult. It is good though because, when you’re done, you get that nice, warm fuzzy feeling like you’ve just gotten out of the hot tub. I was going to go back today, but I chose to lift weights at the gym for an hour because it was less strenuous.
Last night, Danny and I walked over to Kepler’s Bookstore for a booksigning event. Robert Kurson, the author of Shadow Divers was there talking about the book. I won’t bore you with all of the details, but it’s a true story about two divers who discovered a sunken German Uboat off the coast of New Jersey in 1991. I bought the book, had it signed, and am reading it now. I’m a total sucker for true life adventures (Survive the Savage Sea, The Perfect Storm, Into Thin Air) as long as they aren’t made into crappy movies ala The Perfect Storm.

Yesterday, we got up early and met Danny’s coworkers at the Caltrain station by our apartment. They planned a field trip to a branch office in San Francisco and I was invited to tag along. We all met at the Caltrain station so that people could park there and then ride the Caltrain home if their rides left before they did. Danny and I walked there and caught a ride with a fellow new hire. On the way in, he pointed out the two-tier stretch of highway that collapsed in the ‘89 earthquake as we were driving on it. Happy thoughts.
We made it to SF, parked, and walked down to the branch office. We toured it for about 20 minutes and left to go to lunch at Bucca di Beppo. In my opinion, this restaurant is totally overrated, but we had 16 people and the company was buying. Why complain? This is why Danny’s company is cool: they bought me, a non-employee, lunch AND we had red wine at the meal. The only time I’ve ever had alcohol at a company event was at a Christmas party four years ago.
After eating, we wandered over to the Metreon to catch a movie. Danny and I passed on the Bourne Supremacy (since we haven’t seen the Bourne Identity yet) and watched I, Robot instead. It was a lot better than I expected it to be. I can’t say that I’d recommend it to everyone, but it’s not a waste of two hours. Finally, we wandered around the city for an hour or two and then caught the Caltrain home.
Today, we have done very little. We went and saw Anchorman tonight. It was awesome. I liked it much better than Elf, which probably isn’t saying much. Still, Will Farrell kicks ass.

Will Farrel as Ron Burgundy: [Ron’s dog barks at him] You know I don’t speak Spanish.

Steve Carell as Brick Tamland: [riding a bear] Look, I’m riding a big furry tractor

After getting out of the movie, we went by Albertson’s to get some supplies. Although the prices at the grocery stores have been horrendous thus far, there is something that we do not have in Texas grocery stores: liquor. We walked in at 10pm, picked out some rum, and bought it at the self-checkout line - easy as pie. This is the second time I have not been carded since we moved here. *grin*

So today I got up the courage to ride my bike to Stanford. I’m not afraid of riding the bike. I’m just afraid of the drivers who might not SEE me riding my bike. Anyway, I found some neighborhood streets and bike paths to take and I made it there in about 25 minutes.
As I was settling down on a stone bench in a nice, secluded courtyard, I heard babbling children coming close. It turns out that when school is out on college campuses, kids attend summer camp there. I wasn’t really bothered by the kids, but it was a little unnerving when about thirty of them would walk by all at once. Still, I got to read my book, No Touch Monkey, and enjoy riding around the campus. The best part though was when I got back to the apartment, I went and jumped in the pool. It is usually too cool here to swim, but I was so hot that it didn’t matter. Besides, the water was at least 10 degrees warmer than Barton Springs, so I was fine.
Tonight, Danny and I checked out a local Indian food restaurant for dinner. We’ve been jonesing for some good old Indian food, buffet style, but were dismayed to learn that the restaurant we visited only has the dinner buffet on Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Tuesday nights. How silly of us to expect a buffet dinner on a Monday, Wednesday, or Thursday! Anyway, we found some good food on the menu and chowed down. Afterwards, we met some of Danny’s coworkers for a late happy-hour gathering at the bar Nola near the Stanford campus. It was terribly trendy and really packed, so we wandered down to the the Blue Chalk Cafe which was much less crowded. I had a good time and met his coworker’s girlfriend who is also unemployed and wants to get together sometime and go sight-seeing.

So, my new Kyocera phone came in the mail today. Since my existing cell phone is practically a fossil (circa 2001) I decided it was time to update. The new one has *gasp* a color screen. I’ve finally moved into the 21st century. Check it out here.
This weekend was busy although it didn’t feel like it. Saturday night, Danny and I went to a barbecue at Greg’s (Aasma’s boyfriend) parents house in San Francisco. Danny and I didn’t get to chat much with Greg who was being the ever-gracious host. We did get to chat with another one of Aasma’s friends whom I had met in Austin. She gave us the scoop on where to eat, check out live music, and plenty of other useful information. On Sunday, we put that advice to good use by going back to SF and eating pizza at Tomasso’s. It was so good that I promise to take whomever comes to visit us out to eat there and then across the street to Enrico’s for mojito’s.

Ok, so maybe that isn’t that earth-shattering of a statement, but I haven’t ridden a bike since 1998, so I’m pretty proud of myself. Last weekend, Danny went to Target with me to get a helmet, bike pump, reflector/blinking back light (butt-blinker), and a lock. Why do I need all of this crap? Because it’s me vs. the SUV and I want to be as tacky and eyecatching as possible.
So anyway, Danny checked my bike last night and took it for a test drive. My plan is to ride my bike down to Stanford soon and toodle around the campus. Before doing that, I decided to try it out in my neighborhood first. I was a little shaky, but then started smoothly cruising down the road. I felt like Forrest Gump when he learns to run and the braces break off his legs. It was fun.

On Sunday night, my uncle Butch from Dallas called to tell me that he’d be in San Jose for business and wanted to take Danny and I out for dinner. We agreed to meet him at his hotel and then go someplace nice to eat. We ended up eating at one of his favorite local spots, Brandons. It was sooo good. That’s all I have to say. My mere words cannot do the seafood or wine justice.
Here we are looking stuffed and happy.





My uncle is one of my favorite relatives whom I only get to see on holidays or at the occasional birthday celebration.
After we told him about our cross-country adventures getting all of our stuff from Texas to the west coast, he shared some stories about the trips he, my dad, aunt, and grandparents took while he was a kid. Mind you, this was BEFORE air-conditioning. Now I believe it when my Dad says “aw, you kids have it easy these days.” Dad, I think I finally understand and am amazed you survived those wretched summer months without AC. Hats off to you.

I had my first phone interview today. I’ve gotten several emails about work, but no calls yet. This guy is interested in hiring a few techwriters for a company in Fremont. While that’s not near Menlo Park, it is still doable. I’m supposed to get a call-back in a week, so we’ll see what happens.
Danny had his first day of work today. To celebrate, we ate dinner at Chili’s. I do like Chili’s, but we’ve been trying to find good, local restaurants. We are, however, having the hardest time finding chile con queso at any mexican food places nearby. Chili’s has some sort of cheese, meat, and gravy combo that is a pretty good substitute, but not as good as the real thing. I guess some habits die hard.

So, I am now one of the numerous individuals to have a blog. Although I am excited about this, I am approaching it with a bit of trepidation. I’ve read too many blogs that are simply someone’s regurgitation of the news or an excruciatingly detailed description of how they came to find out that their best friend’s pet chinchilla is chronically depressed. Actually, no I never read that one, but the point is that they went to great lengths to describe something hopelessly useless and boring. I will strive not to do that. If I have to write something that painfully dull, I’ll email it to one of my more understanding friends who will read it, delete it, and think nothing of it. I will choose not to share it with you, the masses - err, dozens. So, with that in mind, let’s begin.
I’ve recently moved to California with my boyfriend and am currently unemployed. He starts his job tomorrow and I start my job of wandering around the neighborhood, drinking coffee and reading. Oh, the reading I will do! Sorry, but I’m really looking forward to all of the reading that I now have time to enjoy. I’d like to start a job sometime in August, so if you know of anyone hiring techwriters in the bay area, just let me know.
That’s all I’ve got for now. If you’re still interested, check out the pictures at http://pausebreak.com/gallery.