Knickknacks....

The hardest part about furnishing a place is not the furniture, tables, chairs, and couches.  It is always about the little things.  That is when you really start to get nickel and dimed.  Cleaning supplies, laundry detergent, hangers, a rack for this, a clothing hamper, etc... etc... These little things add up in a big way.  This past weekend Ali and I tried to figure out what more we needed to purchase in the way of making our place feel more homey.  Right now we have two large rooms that are virtually empty and lots of storage in the way of closets that we do not know how to fill even when all of our stuff gets here.

So we started buying some smaller things that we think we will need but are not quite sure because the rest of our belongings are in transit.  We cannot remember everything we packed considering it was almost 3 weeks ago.  I know that we will end up with some duplicate stuff once our belongings arrive, but we are both getting to the point of giving in and buying some stuff we know we have (i.e., dishes and cooking supplies). 

We are currently without pots, pans, silverware, and cups.  We broke down on the weekend and purchased to plastic cups from Walmart.  We are doing our best to avoid buying pots and pans as we have a ton of each in a truck somewhere in the United States.  We have been using plastic silverware and bowls to get by to this point.  Microwave dinners have been our best friends, along with PB&J and cereal.

Soon enough the microwave dinners will come off the list because I will be in San Fran permanantly starting later this week and our microwave is on a truck.  Perhaps I should make a mockumentary song to "On A Boat" about where our ish is and I can call it "On A Truck."  I will think about it.

I promised pictures of the place, but you will have to wait a little bit longer.  My USB for my camera is in SF and I am in RoPo.  I am heading back to SF on Thurs if not before so they will be up before the weekend.  But in all reality it is a white-walled apartment with hardwood floors.  Pics might be best after our stuff gets here.

Until next time...

-Justin

DAYS 1 & 2...

A quick recap of days 1 and 2 at my new job (in bullet format like always).

1. My job is awesome!!
2. I finally have an office to myself. It may only be "The Cube" but it is my own space and has multiple chairs and a couch.  Also, I was finally to put up everything that I wanted to and did not need to keep things packed.
3. I have lots of storage (book shelfs and filing cabinets). They will be put to use.
4. I owe my easy transition into the position almost entirely to Courtney Snow. Sadly, she is leaving the office next Friday.  Courtney was integral to making sure that my orientation stuff was ready and will continue to help me as I transition.  Also, she did not force me to write all of this about her. :-)
5. Almost 65% of the chapters have a semester and/or cumulative GPA of 2.9 or higher.
6. 75% of the club sports teams have a semester and/or cumulative GPA of 2.9 or higher.
7. I have a bunch of cool interactive stuff up for my students.  Well, it is cool to me and I hope that they take advantage of it.
8. The office uses outlook express and meeting maker.  These are archaic and suck.
9. I am getting a new computer soonish.  Hopefully, I can convince them to let me keep both monitors.
10. Alison Marie Mathe finally decided to join me out here in California.  It only took her an additional 9 days.
11. I got to participate in my first #sachat today and really enjoyed it.  An hour has been carved out in my schedule each week to tweet it up.

Now that I am thinking about more, much of the past two days has been a blur.  Just a lot going on.  Learning a lot.  Lots of paperwork and documents to go through.  Lots of unpacking.  Just lots of changing and new things.

I am excited to see how things will continue to unravel over the next couple of weeks.  Next post should be about the new apartment in San Francisco.  Did I mention we are moving in during PRIDE weekend?  Also, I am working on getting pics of the office, campus, and new apartment.  I will probably load them up to Picasa so they can be on here.  If not, definitely to the facebook account. 
Friend me: http://www.facebook.com/justin.m.sipes

Until next time...

-Justin

Day 1...is tomorrow.

I have been out in Cali for about a week and a half now and enjoying just about every second of it.  Tomorrow will be my first day in the office.  It begins at 9:00 a.m. where I will be taken to Employee Services to do your and my favorite thing: PAPER WORK!! From there, a little trip over to IT to get my passwords and other technology related things in order.  Then back to the office to get my area set-up and organized.  Hopefully, lunch will be right around the corner.  I am sure I will be tuckered out from doing so much work at that point especially since I have done NOTHING the last couple of weeks.  After lunch, it is back to the office to meet with Heather and figure out what I will be doing over the next couple days, weeks, months, and years.

I am excited to get working.  It has been too long since I had something meaningful to do with my life (about 2 weeks).  As sad as it sounds, I really want to work again.  Since I got out to California, I have strongly considered getting a part time job for a couple of weeks to keep busy.  Yes, it may seem crazy but I was starting to get desperate.  I don't know what to do with myself when I have nothing to do.  All of my books are packed away, so I had nothing to read.  All of the kitchenware is packed, so cooking has been limited and I have no money to go out and eat.  Three seasons of The X-Files is fine and dandy but probably a little too much.

So tomorrow is the beginning of me being a full-time professional again and it could not have come any sooner as my sanity is slowly escaping me.  Some pics of the office will be posted too.  Maybe some of campus in the near future.  I have not decided yet.

Until next time...

-Justin

Transitioning...

So I am still in a state of transitioning.  I am set-up in some beautiful temporary housing (Thanks SSU!) for another week or two until I get settled into my new place in San Francisco.  Things out here have been going well.  It has been a little frustrating as I realize that things I could have used (kitchen stuff, cables, car title, different wires, etc...) are all packed with the belongings supposedly coming with the moving company.  Having some of these things would help to make the transition seem more like a move and less like a vacation.  I am stuck to using my computer as my sole source of electronic entertainment, which is not bad except for the fact that my speakers are on a truck and I am forced to listen to things through headphones with a minimal amount of give.  My life for the past week has focused around the bedroom and the computer.  I have been catching up on missed seasons of The X-Files so it isn't all that bad.

I like to use lists, so below are some things that I absolutely love about California so far:

1. It is always sunny here.  It is rare to see clouds in the sky.  Just blue skies for miles.
2. It is surprisingly not that warm here.  Most days are high-70's to mid-80's.  Perfect weather!!  Also, there is a casual, gentle breeze that is always blowing.
3. The place I am staying in is baller for on-campus housing.  It is a townhouse and everything is brand new. Four bedrooms with each one having its own private bathroom. Some pics here: http://www.facebook.com/#!/album.php?id=41401969&aid=2038042
4. I can wear just about whatever I want to work.  For someone like me who loves to wear shorts, polos, and flipflops, this is the best news I could ever get.  I still have dress pants, button down shirts, and ties when I need them, but to not have to wear them everyday is money.
5. Sonoma Valley Bagel (SVB) - It is definitely no THB but better than Nellie's.  This is my new weekend breakfast place.  Well, at least my one for Sonoma that is.

There will definitely be more things to share in the upcoming weeks.  I have not done too much exploring as I am waiting for Ali to get here first.  This way we can explore together.  I have found some stuff around Rohnert Park, but have yet to venture into San Francisco or surrounding communities of Petaluma, Santa Rosa, San Marin, or Sausalito.  Soon enough people.  Soon enough.

Until next time...

-Justin

CALIFORNIA...

A quick recap of my trip out west:

1. Utah was absolutely beautiful and only took 3 hours to drive through with no rain.
2. Nebraska was horrible to drive through and I will never do it again.
3. Nevada is full of casinos. They are EVERYWHERE, even gas stations.
4. For 18+ hours I did not see a single cop while driving on I-80.
5. I got to drive in the rain for almost 10 straight hours, not fun.
6. I did not kill a single animal.
7. My car held up for the entire trip.
8. I only needed to fill-up 8 times and probably could have done less.
9. Nothing is open in Salt Lake City on Sundays.
10. Cruise control makes long drives more comfortable but kills gas mileage.
11. There are lots of mountains in the northwest US.
12. I never appreciated what the pioneers of the western United States did until I made this drive.  What I did in three days took them 6 months (thanks Jeff).
13. The northwest US is absolutely beautiful and scenic.  Too bad that is all it has going for it.
14. It did not rain only one day.  The other two days were full of it and crazy thunderstorms at that.
15. I did not get a single ticket.
16. I drove for 36 hours and almost 2400 miles.
17. I woke up every day at 2:30 a.m. to be on the road by 3:00 a.m.
18. Driving in the rain in the pitch black darkness of night is no picnic.
19. The only traffic I hit was in California and it was congestion around Sacramento.
20. There is a lot of road work being done to I-80, especially in Nevada and the eastern parts of Cali around Lake Tahoe.
21. Reno is only 3.5 hours from where I will be living. :-)

Finally, I am glad to be out in California and starting this new part of my life.

There will be more frequent updates over the next couple of days, especially as I convert over to being a resident of CAL-I-FORN-I-A.

Until next time...

-Justin