Another Year, Another City

A friend recently remarked that the last year and a half has brought too many transitions for me, and there’s a lot of truth there. I’ve blogged through most of my moves and that’s a lot of posts! This year, I’m giving the Pacific Northwest a chance to win me over. I’ve been in WA for three weekends now, having started work a few days ago in Redmond. This past week all my stuff from my home in CA got here and I’ve spent most of this weekend unpacking boxes and finding a place for everything in my new apartment.

Work has been pretty busy already and unlike my previous jobs, the expectation here is that you’ll just carve your own ramp-up plan and get upto speed. This is new for me, but also interesting because it allows me freedom to ask my questions, form my impressions and understanding. Also, for the first time in my career I am not working in a cubicle and that’s a whole new experience. Here everyone gets their own “office” and while that’s great for some privacy and concentration, it’s also really quiet. I like being in the thick of things, where all the action is happening. You learn a lot just by accidentally overhearing a conversation or you’re able to provide clarification easily. Here the quiet time in my office makes me wonder what I’m missing out on that I should be learning. The one constant at my new company is that everyone is really passionate about their product, their company, their job and they work hard everyday to take their vision forward. This is refreshing and inspiring.

The bad news is that I still miss the bay area terribly. Every evening on my drive home, I have to convince myself that I can make it another week without wanting to go back there. There is nothing wrong with Bellevue, it’s nice, it’s green and it rains but I’m indoors anyway so how does that matter?! But it’s lonely, everything’s new, I don’t know where to go for anything and for once, I have no clue what to do on the weekend. Remember, I don’t own a TV either. I hope I figure things out soon enough so that I can stop feeling so displaced all the time.

The big question weighing on my mind these past few days has been what car to buy. I sold my Nissan in California and I’m ready to upgrade to something that’s a little more powerful. Should I get an SUV? Is it too big for me? Is it something I can use in the city?