In case someone stumbles upon this page: 2008 had a happy ending, even if it took a bit into 2009. I now live in the lower Haight, having spent a good portion of the past year traveling, and have beat the economy by accepting a good position at a Bay Area biotech company. I’ve attached a picture of my kitchen.
I also bought my dream touring bike for 100$. Got it set up as a nice singlespeed now, and will try and tour on it this spring/summer. Picture attached.
I put my notice in today. I was nervous to the point of sweating. It’s all good. My last day is the 25th.
I paid rent for an apartment in Sweden today. I also decided to buy a new front rack that can accomodate my brakes on my bike.
I think these are good signs that I’m reaching my goals.
I still need panniers, bike tools, and apparently a new hard drive (so I can achieve my music goals).
I’m looking up stock form letters for giving notice. I’ll print one out tomorrow and throw it in an envelope before visiting my boss. Scary!
I remembered why I haven’t been recording music lately – my DAW’s harddrive is screwed. It won’t load Windows, and it’s constantly trying to spin up whenever I try to power on. I’m kind of sad that I had most of my personal pictures from the past year or so unbacked up, but if they aren’t salvageable, 2007 wasn’t that great anyways. I’m taking a camera with me everywhere this year, and am even considering a flickr account. A huge consolation is that I’m basically a genius and have all my recorded music on a seperate harddrive, so I hopefully haven’t lost any projects. I’m going to nab a 80 dollar Fry’s special and throw Windows on it, and reinstall what I need, and I should be back to where I started, minus a few pictures here and there.
Today I went to the Turf Club for dinner, an institution in my neighborhood. Knowing how rarely I’ve been visiting lately, I can’t say if I’ll ever be back (last week I went to my first bar in about a month and a half), but I’ll miss it and my friends who work there and stay smiling no matter how much attitude the greased-hair, striped-shirt, lost Gaslampers give them. Keep on trucking!
I spent about three hours trying to send my rent money to my new Swedish roomate today – Western Union is a terrible institution. I visited a location, and the teller had never HEARD of Sweden. It’s not like I’m trying to send money to Bhutan or anything! He couldn’t understand that I wanted to send an amount in Swedish Kroner rather than US Dollars. Failing that, the internet transfer back at home didn’t work for the third time in as many days. After an hour on the phone (how 1980s), talking with 5 different people, I was getting hopeful before I was instructed to hang up so they could call me back – of course they called the WRONG NUMBER, and according to policy, I didn’t pick up the phone, so they promptly cancelled my payment. Another call, talking to 3 more people, explaining the situation yet again. It would have gone through perfectly this time, except they told me after everything that the transfer was not authorized, and could tell me nothing else, except to try in person at a Western Union location. My two options are the gentleman down the street who has never heard of Sweden and cannot figure out why I want to send money in a currency other than the powerful USD, or the friendly corner liquor store down in the ghetto with a crudely handpainted shop sign reading “David’s FREINDLY Liquor”. I’ll try to find a reputable agent in the suburbs tomorrow after work.
Can’t wait to start recording!
I’ve been really slacking on recording music lately. Having a laptop and being able to lounge around the living room slugging back a Diet Coke WHILE TOTALLY SURFIN’ THE WEB is too appealing, so my drum parts sit unfinished (I’m having trouble with a particular blastbeat that’s going to be doubled in stereo and distorted and thrown under a slow, growling organ, that’s right). I even watched some UNIVERSAL SOLDIER last night instead of compositing takes like I said I would.
I have plane tickets. I’m leaving on the 7th and arriving in Lund on the 8th. The first thing I do after dropping stuff off at my place (all confirmed, just need Western Union to take my money) is head up the street to Willy’s to buy milk, yogurt, granola, ice cream, and candy. Here’s what’s in store for me:
When I get a wild hair up my ass and decide to for once pay the exorbitant prices for milk here, I am faced with a conundrum: refreshing but admittedly watered-down 1%? Or creamy, delicious, frothy 2% that sits like some liquid kind of rock in your stomach for the rest of the day? Once again, Sweden destroys all other countries, EVER, in the dairy field. Introducing 1,5% Fetthalt. That comma is the same thing as a decimal, in case you’re wondering. They found the perfect balance of 1 and 2 percentage milks, while the rest of the western world is twiddling their thumbs and complaining about lactose intolerance.
For some reason, Sweden is the only country that does fruit-mixed yogurt right. Yoggi’s “light” yogurt doesn’t have the sweetener aftertaste that the Dannon’s does here. The current US dairy culture (YES I JUST SAID THAT) decrees that the health-conscious yogurt buyer may have either that artificially sweetened, “light” variety of yogurt, or a fat free yogurt bursting with high-glycemic index sugars. Yoggi takes the best of both worlds, takes away any shortcomings or compromises, and delivers the best yogurt known to man. Note the ingenious Tetra-Pak-ing of the product. Real talk.
Sia are ice cream masters. Their knäckebröd ice cream is the most perfect dairy confection known to man. I’d bring everybody back some on the plane if it were possible.
See that yellow piece in the corner? The red ones are strawberry, the center is a creamy marshmallow-type candy, and by eating one you are looking down the flavor barrel of a JORDGUBB PISTOL. A Strawberry Pistol. I will (and have in the past) be eating these by the pounds. My favorite candy ever.
Other than that, I’ll be putting in my notice for sure on Friday. Nervous and happy (after today’s 16.75 hour work day).
After posting last night, I looked up the proper etiquette for putting in a notice. The internet told me, almost unanimously, that two weeks notice is appropriate and more (I was planning on a month) was not only overkill but potentially dangerous as an at-will employee (I could be fired even after handing in a written notice). So, I arrived at work today knowing I wouldn’t be putting in a notice. I’ll hold off until April – a good three weeks notice. If they want to let me go then and there (they wouldn’t ever do something like that, but just in case), then I’ll be alright with it.
EDITED on Mar. 23rd for whininess.
