Ball Game, Stuff, and Job Report (JPB)

Lately it's been pretty hard to blog. Things are starting to make that magical switch from "New and exciting" to "Part of the routine." Funny thing though, is that if I stop and think about it, everything is still new and exciting. It's just that in the Bay Area, I think "new and exciting" is pretty much normal. So it's a weird feeling. It's like being desensitized to having fun. haha. Anyway. We're still totally loving it here, and things are going well. Yesterday was a big day though, so it's time to fire up the ol' Blog-o-roo and blather.

1) Marlene got her first pay check. Yay! First pay checks are great! As someone who once dabbled in employment myself, I feel like an old salt at the job-game with my solid 8 moths of work history, so it was fun for me to watch the, "Yay! I made so much money, wait a second where the hell is all of it? You mean that's all taxes? Really? What for? But... I... It's... You mean...." Then she said, "All that, and you don't even get healthcare?" touche Canada. Touche... As an American, you should learn to never argue with a Canadian about anything, ever. You may think your, winning, and you may think the topic of Coke v. Pepsi is unrelated, but when a Canadian plays the healthcare card, you have no where left to go really. They solidly believe they have displayed a history of being right about important topics, and you go away thinking "well, I like the taste of Pepsi over Coke, but what do I know? I come from a place that doesn't provide healthcare to all people." It's kind of like the "I know you are, but what am I" argument all grown up. Once it's played, you're done. We're happy to have money flowing in all the same though. "New and exciting" isn't always inexpensive.

2)I got a phone call at 10 am saying, "I'm the mover I wanna deliver your stuff. I'll be there in 2 hours." So maybe I didn't understand this properly, but I thought they said they'd give 24 hours notice. I could be hard of hearing though. Maybe they said 2-4 hours notice. No wait.... they typed that to us. It was definitely 24 hrs, not 2-4 hrs. All the same. I don't really care because I was home when he called so no biggie. It also simultaneously gave me something to do and nothing to do. I got to sit around and wait for the movers, instead of going to do anything else productive. So I can say I did something important all day while mostly trying to keep myself entertained on the internet. Hey! You know, that's EXACTLY like a real ("real") job! Anyway. Long story short. We got our stuff delivered. FINALLY! After 1 month of no pots, 1 pan, free furniture from the side of the road, it's exciting to have our stuff. Sure it's all in boxes, but those boxes are packed full of the promise that all of our earthly possessions have to offer. Sure, that promise might be a little dinged around the edges, and maybe a few of the more fragile bits of promise were shattered when a box or two was dropped, but I can be pissed off about that later. As for now I can sit and dream about eating carbohydrates other than potatoes or bread for the first time in a month. Seriously. I think we are going to just pound through pasta for the next few weeks. Can't cook that on the grill, can you? (For those of you assuming I'm dumb enough to try, you're wrong! HA! I win!)

3) Giants vs. Mets. We went to a MLB game last night and had pretty good seats. 10th row up, right in front of the Giants bullpen. About 3/4 of the way up the 3rd baseline. All thanks to Marlene's work. We think we'll be going to a number of games this year, as it was fun, and free (aside from expensive stadium fare). It was a lot of fun. We had a hot dog, and enough peanuts to kill an elephant. I still feel it today. The 1st inning was definitely the most exciting. Giants batted through the entire rotation. The Mets had to pull their starter, and the Giants hit 2 bombs, one of which was the first MLB HR for a young kid. His 3rd at bat ever. Pretty cool. He's now batting .500. After that things mellowed out. I think we left in the 8th inning when it was 10-2 Giants. It was a fun night, but a late one. When all was said and done, we were home at 11:30. Tonight we're going to go out for dinner in the city, as I have to go back to the HSBC to show them my passport. We figure we need to make the most out of my trip downtown.

4) It's official! I'm starting work on June 16th. I got the final thumbs up from the company last night when I checked my email after the game. The exciting part is that on June 18th (yes, that's right, my 3rd day of work) I get to go to Portland, Oregon for training. I'll be there for 2 days. My impression of this job is that I will hit the ground running, and be going the entire time. That's good though, as it will keep me entertained, and keep me going. I get bored REALLY easily. I have a short attention span, as is quite clear from my long rambling blogs. Anyway, what was I talking about? Traveling for business a few days at a time is fun. Traveling for business for an entire month to Houston is not fun, unless your family comes to visit you, and you go to Austin to see them, and you eat at Chuy's. Then it can be fun. It'll be interesting to compare though. I'm pretty sure that environmental consultants don't get to stay at super fancy suites and eat $150 meals every night like the O&G crowd. That's alright with me though. I'll be just has happy staying at a Comfort Inn and eating at Stucky's or Denny's or any of your other high class restaurants ending with the 'long-e' sound that allow you to order any meal smothered in gravy; or Fuddruckers. They're good too.

Well. That rounds out yesterday, dear reader. Now it's time for me to go start unpacking all the promise I was talking about... Not so excited about getting our stuff now, am I... That's ok. I'll intersperse the unpacking with bike riding.

P.S. Hopefully my camera cable will turn up today so I can start posting pictures, and Rik and stop hassling me. They will show up on flickr sometime in the next few hours to days:

http://flickr.com/photos/jpeterb/