jfin is here…

… you’re settling in somewhere for a while.  And in this place, the weather at least will make me happy.  Saturday was a brilliant day, sunny and warm, so I got up early and drove around town for a while.  Went out to Campbell, found a good bike shop (Trailhead Cycles), and test-rode the Specialized Epic.  Very nice, I think I might have to spend a little less on a car so I can afford it. :)

Toddled off to up the freeway to Palo Alto (north of San Jose) and Ikea, a huuuuge furniture store.  Found a bed base / mattress / duvet / sheets (yes Mum I bought sheets) / pillows combination I liked, picked up all the boxes and paid ($619 .. cheap as chips), and then spent 30 minutes pushing my oversize-trolley around different levels on the carpark because I couldn’t remember where I’d left my car.  My rental car locking-remote has a button on it that makes the horn go, which proved helpful in the end.  Everything fit in the car nicely … they sure do know how to compress mattresses!

Took it off to my new house, which I’m sharing with three others.  Assembled the bed over the course of an hour, then shot off to watch a DVD (X-Men) with some people from homegroup who live nearby.  Back to the apartment and in bed by 9.30, just what was needed.

Sunday morning .. heading off to church shortly.

Having access to the Apple iTunes music store, which lets you download individual tracks for 0.99c each.  Very convenient… have just picked up Chris Tomlin ‘Indescribable’ and ‘How Great Is Our God’, from the comfort of my own bed.  And there is a huuuuuge amount of music there.  Danger, Will Robinson… danger.

Saturday up Squaw, riding deep and heavy spring slush.  Sunday up Heavenly, riding fresh pow on their last day of operation for the season.  Let’s just say I’ll definitely be buying a season pass for Heavenly next year. :)  Highlight of the day would have been Mott Canyon, just awesome.

Photos in the gallery.

Starting to feel like I’m getting somewhere.  Social security number, check.  Bank account, check.  Place to live, check.  Church, check.  First pay check, check.  Drivers license, check (passed the California state theory test with a blinding 29 correct out of 30 questions, practical yet to come).  Next on the list .. corporate credit card, mobile phone, a car and a bike.

Off to the City today (San Francisco) to help out at Project Open Hand.  They help out homebound / critically ill people, especially those with HIV/AIDS, by providing groceries and meals among other things.  My employer sends a group of employees to help out there for a day once every few months.

Then heading up to Tahoe for the weekend .. it’s their last weekend for the season at Heavenly, so best we make the most of it.  Quite looking forward to some decent summer weather.

… Shift by Eight.  Love the lyrics…

Keep on moving, you bring me back
Falling forwards, we’re right on track
Even if I, change my mind
In a little while, we realign and get back up again

Describes life as a Christian quite well, I guess.  At the moment am also very much liking the two Fly My Pretties albums.  Fantastic sounds, very Kiwi. (Thanks Dave! :) )

For the last two weeks in the office here I’ve been using the toilet (oops, sorry, the restroom) every now and then, and, as every good boy does, washing my hands afterwards.  However, I was thinking that it was a bit odd that they provided two forms of liquid soap .. one was in a soap dispenser right next to each basin - nice creamy white stuff - and the other was much more watery, green and nice smelling, from a dispenser in the middle of the basin counter thing.  I settled on using the green stuff regularly, because I like the smell and because it dried off your hands nice and quickly - felt like it contained some alcohol.  

Anyway, this morning I went to use the facilities as I often do.  And, while I was washing my hands, noticed that there are some little disposable plastic cups next to the dispenser-of-green-stuff.  I was standing there, thinking to myself, what on earth do these crazy Americans use the little plastic cups for?  Do they need to take their soap somewhere?  Do they use the soap to wash their mouths out when they use expletitives?  And then, suddenly, it came to me.  The green stuff that I have been using to wash my hands for the past two weeks is Listerine, or some other form of mouthwash.  I like the smell because, well, I like mint.  Hmmm.. interesting. :)

I guess life is one big set of tensions, that we are always forced to balance off against each other.  Conflicting ideals, priorities, and goals that we are always trading off against.

So I figure, why not add another tension to the mix.  The balance between what to share on the big bad Interweb-thingy, and what to .. umm .. not share.  I figure this’ll mostly be a travel diary and place to share photos but you never know, it might get interesting at times.

If all you want is the photos then just click the ‘Gallery’ link in the sidebar. :)