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We’re back at JR and Ashley’s house, taking a break between (possibly) visiting another property. Apartment hunting here is a frustrating exercise, but not in the ways I was expecting. When I read accounts of looking for living quarters, my mind was filled with visions of settling for the first place that didn’t horrify you and desperately throwing yourself at the mercy of the landlord, praying they would have mercy on your poor, renting soul and allow you to pay them thousands of dollars a month.

In reality, it is just harder to find a place that you feel comfortable putting that kind of cash into. Every property has something wrong with it. Apartment A is in a great neighborhood, but it feels like a maze inside, the “backyard” smells like dog piss and is mostly concrete, and the kitchen is laid out in such a way that you feel like you would go batshit crazy trying to cook your first breakfast. Apartment B is clean, spacious and has beautiful natural light, but it’s in a neighborhood that feels like it was built by the Stepford wives. Apartment C is mind-destroyingly charming, with great details in the hardwood flooring, natural light out the wazoo, and laundry, but you have to park on a 25% grade and the owner is twitchy, socially awkward and obsessive compulsive.

Apartment D looks perfect on paper: located in Noe Valley, within walking distance from our only friends in the city, garage parking, laundry in the building, owner is OK with our dog, shared backyard. But… but…. (there is always one of these) we can’t see inside it until Tuesday, at which point it will be our only choice, as the other properties will most likely have been rented. It may not be too late to make an offer on one of the others, but you never know. We will, however, not have any competition, as the owners know JR and Ashley and are giving us first choice.

So, we may just go to Golden Gate Park and listen to house music in lieu of searching for more living quarters today.

Right now I think I might go outside and drink a beer and smoke a cigar to take some of the edge off. I just want a place to live. Oh, and I don’t want to hate it.

Posted at 4:18 pm.
1 Comment

You will score his entry in the GMail/Threadless tshirt design contest.

Posted at 11:10 am.
4 Comments

Beginning September 17, 2007 I will be an official employee of Cisco, working for IronPort as a Software Engineer.  This will close my 6 years as an employee of That Company and begin my life as a person who can say they live in the Bay Area.

And so begins the frantic search for an apartment, the quashing of the waves and waves of panic as Shannon and I begin to decide just how much of accumulated stuff we must abandon in order to fit comfortably into a 900 sq. ft. apartment that costs around $2,000.

But, I’m very excited.  My last day at That Company is August 17.  I believe that Sandoval will be planning some kind of shindig to send me off, and I expect that it will occur close to the end of the month.

It’s been a wild, crazy, stressful, frustrating and rewarding ride so far, and I’m sure it’s only going to get better.

Posted at 4:53 pm.
5 Comments