Settling In

So I've been in Palo Alto for just about 24 hours at this point. Everything went very smoothly at the San Francisco airport - I always get a kick out of seeing a driver waiting for me with my name on a sign (even thought it's only happened a few times). It makes me feel like I'm a professional business man. We had to wait a few minutes for my luggage, and then it was off to pick up my keys at the office until finally getting to the apartment. It's a pretty cool complex, I would say maybe 50-75 apartments all together, only a couple stories tall. I found my apartment pretty easily, and also discovered I was the first of my roommates to arrive. This gave me the chance to take some pictures and get settled without having to tiptoe around anyone else.

The living room is REALLY nice. They set us up with a decent cable TV package, as well as wifi. There's a couch, a couple other comfy chairs, a coffee table, and a dining room table with some more chairs. Sunday is a day for Law & Order marathons, so naturally that's what you see me watching.

Yes - OREOs were one of my first purchases here

Even though SVU can be intense, it's still Law & Order

Dining Room and door to the balcony

View from the balcony

I spent all of yesterday adjusting to my new surroundings and trying to get through the jetlag. Another perk of being the first person here is that I got to choose my bed. I went with the one that was most comfortable to me, in the bigger room, and near outlets and the nice desk. It's near a window that faces the street, but I've gotten pretty good at sleeping through noisy streets, roommates, etc.

In the morning I watched the finals of the French Open. I was really hoping Federer would make a historic comeback, but I guess Nadal's left bicep is just too much. Once that was done, I headed to downtown. It's literally a straight shot from my apartment to where all the shops are, and only a 5-8 minute walk. There's all sorts of stuff here: Borders, GameStop, Apple Store, CVS, Walgreens, theaters, and more. Both of my banks have branches locally, which is really convenient as well. My first stop was to make sure I new how to get to the office and how long it would take me to get there. The people who organize the apartments said it was about an 18 minute walk, and that was pretty much spot on. I'll have a bike later this week so that will drastically cut down on my "commute."

I wandered around the area for a bit, and then decided to get some basic supplies at CVS and Walgreens. I stocked up on some milk and cereal, and some plastic bowls and utensils. The office has a cafeteria where I can eat whatever I want whenever I want, but over the next couple of days I'm on my own. I also got some cereal bars and the like since I know I'll be hungry when I'm not at the office. I've gotten really used to the apartment in Somerville where there's always a LOT of food since we need to have enough for 5-6 guys. The kitchen started to look a little more full after I put some of my stuff away.

Cereal on top of the fridge makes it feel like home

I also bought my very first manual razor and shaving cream while I was out. Anyone that knows me even somewhat knows I can be lazy when it comes to shaving, but you might not be aware that I've only ever used an electric razor to shave. That process can be a little arduous, so I figured I could try something else. Hopefully I don't have any trouble, although I'm expecting at least 1 or 2 cuts the first few times I try.

Later tonight, I'm planning to meet a friend from school for dinner. He's also out here working for the same company, but on a different product. He started last Wednesday, so I'm sure he'll have some good advice and insights as to how things work at the office. The current plan is for him to stop by here and check out the apartment, then we'll head back downtown somewhere - he was gonna ask around for recommendations on where to go.

I have one final day off tomorrow before starting work on Tuesday morning. I'll get to stay up to date on all the E3 stuff, which will be occurring just about 300 miles away. Too bad it's not open to the public, otherwise that is where I would be.