A New Year on Our New Adventure

It's hard to believe that 2008 is already here!

Six months ago, Christy and I set out on this new adventure. The holidays led to some... odd difficulties. Most notably was the lack of holiday related products here in California that we had become used to from back in Indiana and the weather. First among these was Reems brand frozen egg noodles. It seems no one around here has even heard of them. A holiday favorite of ours since the early days of our marriage was Turkey & Noodles made with leftover turkey, Reems noodles, chicken broth, some mixed veggies and seasonings all cooked together on the stove-top. The bags of dried egg noodles just don't compare to these delicious, home-style noodles. The people here just don't know what they're missing.

Then there's the weather. It's been in the high 50s to mid 60s since November, which relates to the temps of early Autumn back home. We were totally out of the mood for Halloween as it was just too warm. Thanksgiving rolls around and it's finally feeling like Fall but no Reems frozen noodles, no Bob Evan's dinner rolls and no sugar cream pie to be found. Combined with being away from family and it just wasn't a holiday. We had a turkey breast, spring mix salad and some skin-on mashed potatoes. The mild temperatures continued into December, which made it hard to get into the Christmas spirit. Still, we managed to get together gifts to send back home, a mix of hand-crafted items, low-cost purchases and a selection of good stuff from the local farmer's market. On Christmas Eve we took a walk around downtown Los Gatos. The town was lit with holiday lights and decorations and there was finally that Winter crispness in the air! It finally felt like Christmas. We were unable to return home for Christmas due to the high costs of holiday travel. However, Dad sent us a web cam and we were able to be at my brother's house virtually, thanks to Yahoo! Messenger's voice conference function. This was my first Christmas away from family but being able to see and speak to them helped. The New Year came with little fanfare.

Last week, we got what the locals term a bad winter storm. There were strong winds, gusting to around 50-60 mph, and a couple of inches of rain. This resulted in lots of fallen branches and even some trees which led to mass power outages (nearly half a million for the whole Bay area) and flooding. We lost power at our apartment for about four hours on Friday.

I admit, it was a strong storm. Anything that results in large limbs or whole trees falling is noteworthy. Still, for me it was like a standard big spring storm back home, without the lightning and tornado possibilities. On Saturday, it continued to rain but the winds dropped off to 20-30 mph gusts. We went to the mall where people continued to be concerned with the "Big Storm" and "cold weather." Christy wore her company hoodie and I had on my fleece pull-over. When we left, the door from the elevator to the top level of the parking garage (where our car was parked) was "locked because of weather." It wasn't locked when we arrived and it was just raining the same as it was when we got there. C'mon people, it's only rain! So, we had to go down a floor and take the stairs up to the top level. I don't get what the big deal was.

Then there was the issue with traffic lights that were just flashing red or out altogether...

Now, this is something that Indiana drivers just can't seem to get either. When the traffic signal is out or flashing red in all directions, treat it like a stop sign! That means, come to a complete stop. When in doubt, yield right of way to the driver on you right. Those going straight and making right turns go first, followed by those turning left and then the cross street repeats the same process. We encountered people failing to stop, failing to yield right of way when turning left and even failing to go when others were stopped and yielding for them. It's just one of my pet peeves.

So, in my experience, winter in the bay Area is like a mix of autumn and spring in Indiana, without tornadoes. Hopefully, by next year we'll be in sync with local patterns to be able to enjoy the holidays more than this year.

On the economic side of things, we still haven't sold our house. We've extended the listing contract in hopes that we can get it sold before the foreclosure finalizes. With the market in its current slump, we have no chance of seeing any money from the sale but we would like to avoid the credit rating hit of a foreclosure. Still, we're in California and not likely to buy real estate any time soon, so a foreclosure isn't devastating. In any case, our options were limited from the point where our neighborhood lost 25+% of its market value last year.

I'm still seeking employment. I've had an interview for a Library Assistant position with the Los Gatos Public Library but I haven't heard anything more from them. I applied and took the test for a Quality Assurance position at Cryptic Studios and am still waiting to hear more. I also applied for a couple of other positions from which I've heard nothing. I found out about a part-time, temporary Quality Tester position with Google and applied for that today. Hopefully, one of these will pan out soon.

Well, that's what the holidays and the New Year have brought us. It remains to be seen what the future holds but I remain optimistic. I'll update things here as new developments arise.

Best wishes to all!