[I know I've been posting way too infrequently... or, uh, at all, really... but every time I log in, it seems the WordPress interface has changed...]
I suppose it’s time that I write an update, if for no other reason to remind myself that this little blog exists and that I really should be writing more on it. Not really out of a sense of obligation, but because I remember writing being something that once brought me a lot of joy.
Besides, I bought the domain name last year.
It’s been a crazy few weeks since my last post. Starting a new job. Moving to a new city. Trying to get over the girl.
The move itself was relatively straightforward. I never really “moved into” the place I had in Sacramento in the first place, since I was never sure if I would end up staying there or moving somewhere else. As a result of that choice, the vast majority of my stuff stayed in boxes and in the storage facility.
A friend from L.A. flew up a couple of days before the move to help out. When we’d booked the flight, neither of us knew that I would be dumped a mere few days before his arrival, so the timing was surprisingly good. Being able to sit on the back porch for a couple of warm Sacramento nights and drink beers with a good friend while lamenting love lost may not have fixed anything (loss takes time, of course), but was a pretty lucky coincidence nonetheless.
Anyway, between his help and the help of the Parentage, the move went smoothly. It’s been the task of setting up the household that’s proven more challenging. Given that I’d pared down my belongings to the barest minimum before I started traveling (heck, for two years, nearly everything I owned fit into a 75 square foot storage room), there’s a lot of stuff I don’t have. While I’ve never been particularly enamored of having lots of things (and less so after the last couple of years of traveling), there are a few items I can’t deny that I need. Things like a bed. A dining room table. A couch.
[The upside of knowing that the acquisition of things doesn't float my proverbial boat? I never feel the need to shop my way out of a depression. So, you know, financial bonus.]
So instead of doing really exciting things, such as exploring my new area, my weekends have generally been filled with thrills like: furniture shopping! Unpacking boxes! Getting the apartment organized! More furniture shopping! And… well, you get the idea. And anyone who has done it knows: shopping for furniture and finding something that appeals to you and your personal sense of style is much easier said than done. Since you really can’t start decorating or hanging pictures until you know where the furniture is going to be, it may be a while before this new apartment transforms from “crash-pad” to “home.”
* * *
In the meantime, I’ve been trying to build out my social circle a bit.
I joined the local backpacking group, for starters. I haven’t actually backpacked with them yet, but I’ve done a couple of day hikes and signed up for a car camping trip up to the Sierra’s for this upcoming weekend. Some of the best friends I’ve ever made came out of my time with the backpacking group in L.A., and while there’s no guarantee history will repeat itself, of course, you never know.
I also joined a local tabletop gaming group, which meets mid-week. I suppose between the two, I’m managing to address both my geeky side and my outdoorsy side.
And, if nothing else, it gets me out of the house.
* * *
The job is going okay. I don’t know that it’s exactly what I was hoping for or looking for but, at the very least, I have good co-workers and the workplace, while having its fair share of internal politics (as all workplaces do) doesn’t have the bad vibe my last workplace did. It’s a good job, and I’m happy to be there. Whatever the future may hold, for now the job is interesting and I’m learning some new stuff, which is never a bad thing.
I suppose any lack of enthusiasm comes from the fact that I’m prone to wondering about alternate timelines, about what might have been. What might have happened if I got the job I’d hoped for back in December? Would I now be living in the Bay Area? Would I have been able to keep the girl? Would I have been happier, or might that job have been an illusion, and I ended up unhappier as a result? It’s hard not to ponder the possibilities, and doing so (whether a good idea or not) tends to be one of the things I’m best at.
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I had a birthday last week. I’m officially forty. I should probably update my About page, but, really, I’m just feeling too lazy to do it.
I don’t think I’m depressed about turning forty. I’m not really feeling the onset of a midlife crisis yet… well, at the moment I don’t have any urge to buy a little red sports car, begin wearing Hawaiian shirts with lots of gold chains, and start dating a bubbly 20-year-old gold-digging blonde with gigantic fake breasts. Well, not yet, at least.
At the same time, when I ponder what the next ten years might prospectively bring, I’m not exactly filled with positive thoughts. My parent’s getting older and requiring more care. Heck, Dad is going in for surgery next month and, while it’s completely routine stuff, it’s also the type of thing that is likely to be occurring more and more in the future. My career getting more and more locked in as I shift in life to a more conservative financial position looking at retirement (if that’s even possible in this country any more) down the road. And I’m a single guy with graying hair in a town filled with twenty-somethings who is too poor to be a viable sugar-daddy.
And I’ll be perfectly honest: getting dumped a month before your fortieth doesn’t help much either.
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{This section of the post is reserved for a long, whiny ramble about 1Cent. Meh, I’m sure you can fill in the blanks.}
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So, that’s where things stand now. There’s been a few other things on my mind, but this post has been enough of a brain-dump as it is.
Maybe next week. It’ll give me some motivation to write again. Heck, who knows, maybe I’ll even get out for a hike and write about it. 
