Day 1

I woke up at 6:45am today. Why would I do such a thing to myself? Free Continental breakfast at Best Western: El Rancho!

Little did I realize that the Continental breakfast would feature neither eggs, bacon, waffles, pancakes, or anything else remotely resembling breakfast. I had a bagel, which is basically a roll that some cheap bastard cut a hole out of to save some dough, and then went to find a rental car so that I could drive to the mall.

An hour of buses and trains later, I learned a little-known fact: rental car dealers don't accept debit cards.

The weather went from foggy and cold to clear and almost unbearably sunny during my 45 minute walk to the mall. People were still holding their coats close to them while I was browsing for tank tops and shorts at Sears. Not what I expected from a population governed by the freaking Terminator. Anyway, I bought some clothes (because, of course, I didn't bring any with me when moving all the way across the country) and began the hour-long walk back to my room.

Now, it's difficult to describe winter in California versus winter in Massachusetts without pissing some people off, so I'll do it as briefly and as generally as possible. The difference is basically this:

Then, of course, there's all that green stuff. And the palm trees. And the lack of an impenetrable pall of soulless gray that sucks the life out of you for six months out of the year while you wait for an interminable chill to give way to a brief and fickle summer.

Anyway, I finally got home and checked out my wares. My favorite buy was my new contact lens case - the Kaba clip. It took a few moments to figure out how it goes on, but I think I got it.

The rest of my stuff was just clothes, which my new employer may be expecting me to wear. This whole 9-5 thing is a definitely a transition. By the way, Stafford shirts are almost as awesome as the Kaba clip. And more comfortable.

Damn, I'm going to look good. I'm starting to kind of feel like Daniel-San from the Karate Kid.. you know, when he moves from New Jersey to California and he's all dislocated in paradise. I'm just waiting to run into Mr. Miyagi, although if I do I'm going to freak the hell out because, dude, didn't he die like 10 years ago?

Anyway, it's time to call it a night. Tomorrow I will be taking a look at an apartment!