Alive and Having Fun!

I am alive! Corporate America has kept me away from my blog but here I am. This year has been the most eventful of my life. It was scary and stressful but worth every nervous breakdown. In a short period of time, we have made San Francisco ‘home’. There are no words to express how much I love this city. It’s young, vibrant, and entirely fulfills my urbanite needs. We eat out way too much. We drink way too much. We don’t sleep enough. But we are having fun!

Despite my heavy workload, we do manage to have a fun social life. We have a group of friends who enjoy wine, travel, and politics as much as we do. Funny enough, we have more friends in SF than we did in Ottawa! Demographically speaking, it’s much easier to find people ‘like us’. Most of our friends are single and it’s very refreshing to hang out with people who don’t care about un-matching dishware and furniture!

San Francisco feels much smaller than it used to. I don’t even need a map anymore! I feel like I am in Sex and the City every time I flag a cab when I get off work late.

My job is extremely demanding. However, I discovered that I really thrive in that kind of fast-paced environment. As crazy as it may sound, I heart deadlines! I enjoy seeing that my work is valued and used in a concrete way. My bubbliness even led to a comparison with the one and only Mary Poppins. “In every job that must be done, there is an element of fun. You find the fun and SNAP! The job’s a game!” I have identified many differences between working in Canada compared to the US:

Outsourcing: The amount of outsourcing done in the US is insane. Account Executives get mad when we process a job in the US if it can be done in India for much cheaper.

Time Zones: My company has offices in multiple states and over 70 countries. This means that I have to deal with at least 5 different time zones every day (including India). As a result, I get in around 6:30am. I also have to check my emails before going to bed to make sure everyone is set and the job will get done throughout the night (India, for example).

The rudeness. I am trying hard not to take nasty emails personal. “Did you choose those colours cuz they’re horrible I am gonna change them”. Euh, how hard is it to say “Do you mind if I change the colours, I’d prefer them lighter”. People on the East coast are the rudeness. Blame it on my Canadianess, I am polite.

Impact: Some of the biggest companies in the world are among our clients. It’s so exciting to know that the CEO of a large retail chain is using my report!

Workload: Oye. I get in around 6:30am and leave… Well, whenever I can. It’s usually around 5pm. If I do leave earlier, that means I’ll have to work from home later.

This is me in a nutshell. We’re off to Morocco at the end of the week and will celebrate the New Year in Marrakesh. What do we have in store for 2008? Honestly, I’d be happy with status quo. I am so very content right now! We’re hoping to spend a month in Africa in the fall. We’re considering buying a condo but that will depend on the credit/real estate mess the US is currently experiencing. I want to finish the certificate I started for ‘fun’ last year. I have to say that my idea of ‘fun’ has evolved dramatically and studying while working over 50 hours/week no longer qualifies as ‘fun’!

Happy new year everyone!

Lights Out San Francisco!

Lights Out San Francisco is a citywide energy conservation event that took place tonight between 8 and 9pm. Residents of San Francisco were invited to turn off their lights for one hour in oder to save 15% of the energy that is normally used on an average Saturday night and to encourage energy conservation.

I watched the lights of the Golden Gate go off from Greens, one of my favorite restaurant in the city.

On.

Off.

Even Google lit out in the Bay Area.

It's the Little Differences: The Umbrella Bag

Speaking of rain...

This is what I am used to seeing in the lobby of my office building in mid-October.


This is what I came to this morning.

Rain is the New Snow

It rained today for the first time since we moved to San Francisco almost 6 months ago. Is it winter yet? Days are getting shorter, but it's not getting colder. Très, très bizarre.

Sold!

Our preference was obviously to sell our condo before moving to SF. However, our contract prevented us from selling until the builder had sold all of their units in our building. In July, they finally did. We immediately put the condo on Grapevine (sale by owner site) and sold three weeks later for our asking price.

Once again, we have proven that real estate agents are overrated. We sold our ex-house through Grapevine in 2004 (picture) and saved ourselves big $$$. We did it again this time. I simply cannot imagine giving thousands and thousands of dollars away for something I can do myself.

The tenant moved out last weekend and the closing was yesterday. CRA is keeping 25% of the money (!!!) until they are sure we don’t owe them anything, bastards. The process takes about 8 weeks. The annoyance. As such, we were able to exchange only part of our money this morning. Hang in there loonie!

Thanks for the info but I am not American

Our trip to Morocco is coming up fast. We’re leaving in less than three months. Last week, I got an email from the travel agency we have been dealing with over there. Due to “unusual behaviour towards Americans”, they can no longer place us at the hotel we were booked at. I am super disappointed because the place looks amazing.

I told the travel agent that despite the fact that we live in SF, we are not American so we don’t care. Second, being fluent in French we could even pretend to be French if needs be! They wouldn’t budge. The new hotel looks cute, but definitely not in a 5-star kind of way.

Curious Moi spent some time this weekend trying to find out what that “unusual behaviour” was. Great success, as Borat would say. What happened is that the hotel increased their price from 180 Euros to 720 Euros per night even for guests who booked months ago (like us). When an American traveler called to argue, he was told by the French manager: “If you Americans don’t like, you should stay home and do the world a favor!”

Now Boarding Flight to Honolulu, Hawaii

Aloha! It all started on Wednesday (Aug 29). I work 50 to 60 hours a week. I am exhausted and stressed out. After dealing with too many survey disasters in one morning, I decided I needed a break. I called R and said let’s go to Hawaii. Less than two days later, we were laying on a beach and soaking up the sunshine. What better way to spend the Labour Day weekend! Three and half days of paradise.

Choosing which island to go to was easy. On such a short notice, it’s rather difficult to be picky. Flights to Honolulu were the most convenient so Oahu we choose. It was the least amount of research I have ever done for a trip.

We stayed at the Hilton Hawaiian Village Beach Resort and Spa on Waikiki Beach. It was much nicer than any Sandals I’ve been to. I am not sure if the beach is private or not but it is at the end of the strip which makes access difficult if you don’t stay at the resort. There were even African penguins and flamingos to keep us company.

Our flight was delayed (boo) so we arrived in Hawaii at 3pm. We hung out by the beach, had our first cocktail (those are addictive!), and relaxed.

Saturday, we walked along Waikiki beach and vegetated some more on the beach.

Sunday, we rented a car and drove around the island. Oahu is small enough that it is actually possible to do a full a circle in one day. Renting a car is the way to go. Organized day trips are grossly overpriced.

Dole Plantation

(Excuse the tackiness!)

Waimea Falls

If your time in Hawaii is limited, skip the Dole Plantation and Waimea Falls. It's nothing to write home about.

Now, here's the only reason I would go back to Oahu: Giovanni's shrimp truck in Kahuku.

Best. Shrimp. Ever. ($12)

North Shore (In-land)

North Shore (Along the coast)


Kailua Beach (East Shore)



South Shore

All good things must come to an end, apparently. More beach for us on Monday before going to the airport to catch the red-eye back to San Francisco. We got here Tuesday at 6am. Three days later and I need another vacation!

More

Veni, Vidi, Vici

Ever since we decided to move to SF, finding employment has been my main preoccupation. I love research and the thought of not being able to work anymore was heartbreaking. I was worried that my visa situation, or my "all Canadian" education/experience, or my recent government experience would make an employer hesitant to hire me.

I was also very sad to leave DND. I loved my job and I loved my colleagues. The fear of the unknown made it even harder for me to finally make that decision. But sometimes, you just gotta look at the bigger picture.

Since I couldn't work until my paperwork was processed, I immediately started to volunteer at a small market research company. I knew that I needed to keep busy otherwise I'd go to the dark side (and that's not pretty). This was an eye-opening experience in many ways but the most important was to confirm that my motivation to excel is entirely intrinsic. In other words, being financially compensated has zero impact on my commitment, satisfaction, and happiness.

Now back to reality. Until I can pay rent with intrinsic rewards, I need to get paid! While volunteering, I was looking for a job. I was surprised to discover that my fears were not well-founded. After a month of searching and interviewing, I was fortunate enough to choose among several offers.

My priories were: Job responsibilities, career advancement opportunities, location, environment, and money. In the end, I accepted a Research Associate position with a large market research company. It's located in the Financial District; right in front of R's building! If I had time, we could do lunch together.

So welcome Moi to Corporate America! Corporate America has been hard on me to say the least. I work 60 hours/week, but I am having fun. I am either exhausted or drunk. We are part of two wine tasting groups here. Seriously, if I am not working, I am drinking!

Road Trip: Sausolito, CA

Last week, R rented a car for his driving test. Not only Canadians need to take the written test, but the driving test is also necessary to switch to a Californian driving license. Since we had the car, we decided to go to Sausolito for dinner. Sausolito is a small coastal town right outside of San Francisco. We had yummy Italian food at Frantoio in Mill Valley (5 minutes drive from Sausolito).

Road Trip: Yosemite National Park, CA

On our way to Yosemite National Park

Yosemite National Park -Half Dome

Yosemite National Park - Vernal Falls

Yosemite National Park - From Glacier Point