Eleven Questions

Amy Green recently emailed me with a really random set of questions about the latest in my life, work, future plans, etc, and after inundating her with a point-by-point response, I realized that it would make for a good blog post, especially since I don't write too much about this kind of stuff. So here goes, in the order the questions originally appeared. (I did edit a bit between my original email to her and what's in here, but that's mostly just because I was disparaging Daniel in every other sentence.)

So, do you know how long it takes to get mail there?
From the East Coast, it's been a pretty consistent seven days. From the West, I'd say about five or six.

How is work?
It's alright. Definitely has its good days (or weeks) and its bad ones. I'm still trying to find my way a bit, because the differences between this agency and my old one are like night and day. The old one was small and everyone chipped in to get a job done. The new one is huge and there are so many processes and defined roles that it takes forever to get anything done. It can become a bit of a bureaucratic nightmare, with everyone getting really territorial about their responsibilities. Throw some cultural differences on top of that and it's been a bit of a challenge at times. I'd say I'm 80% of the way there, but that last 20% might take a while to master.

How is life?
Outside of the occasional rough patch at work, things are going really well. I have a great, great group of friends and have been slowly meeting more. Been traveling a lot (I've actually managed to keep up with my goal of one trip a month!) and on Thursday night will be flying to Melbourne for a long weekend. Very excited for that... it's supposed to be a great city. Weekends generally consist of a few drinks on Friday, a run on Saturday morning (or playing cricket with some of my friends in their weekly game) a barbecue in the afternoon, going out to a bar at night and then detoxing on Sunday. Then it's Monday again.

Why are you moving?
[Guess I should preface the answer to this question to announce on the blog, that yes, I'm moving houses soon. That's all you really need to know in advance of my answer.]

I never intended to stay at this place for more than a few months, so I've always been keeping an eye open for other places. But then a week or two ago, my landlord tells everyone in the house that she's moving in with her family at the beginning of March! That would be her, her husband, her niece, her daughter and her deranged little dog. And that really doesn't appeal to me. So the search is on. Right now, I'm trying to decide if I want to move into this place (assuming the two guys already in there offer it to me) or move in with some friends for about half the cost. The first place is amazing (check out some of those pictures!) and in a nice area, but a bit pricey. My friends' place is a bit run down and isn't in as good of an area, but it's half the price, and most of my other best friends live in three other houses that aren't more than a three minute walk away. So I've been struggling a bit with this decision.

[For the record, Amy has since emailed me with the following on this topic: "You definitely should take the one bedroom apartment. It looks AMAZING!!! Definitely way better than sharing a run down place with a bunch of guys. You are not in a frat; you are an adult with a good job, and you should have a cool place." Does this sway my opinion? Perhaps.]

Has your family come to visit yet?
My uncle and aunt were here for about a week in January, but no one else. The parents might come in March or April but that's looking increasingly unlikely. We'll see.

When can I come to visit?
Whenever! Well, almost whenever. My friend Sarah is coming in July and then I'll be in the US for most of August, so avoid those times. But any time up through June or September onwards should be fine. There are others who are also thinking of coming, but no one has actually booked their flights, so the way I see it, first come first serve!

When are you coming home to visit?
Uhhhhh, see above. Fly into LA on August 1 and then out to New York sometime around August 6. Will spend about a week there, then a week on Martha's Vineyard for my uncle's 70th birthday party, then back to LA for a few more days until I fly back here around August 23. Nothing is booked yet except for my flight from Sydney to LA, but that's the general plan.

What do you wear to work?
Sadly, this is another one of the big contrasts between this job and my old one. It's a suit. Every. Single. Day. Well, almost every day. Friday's are casual, so I guess I can wear khakis or jeans then. But other than that, it's a suit all the time because my client's offices are literally a five minute walk from mine, so you never know when you're going to have to hop on over. Annoying.

What do you eat for lunch?
Among a group of random questions, this one reigns as being supremely random! Where did this come from? Anyway, I've been in a mode for the last few months where I'll go to the market on Sunday afternoon, cook a big dinner that night and then eat that food throughout the week. It's generally a pasta dish, and for lunches, it generally lasts me for two or three days. The other days I generally buy a salad from the food court close to my office. Home-cooked pasta dishes, salad... what's happening to me??!?

Who do you hang out with?
Beyond the aforementioned group of friends with whom I spend most of my free time, I also hang out with an American that I actually used to work with in New York as well as some other Americans who I met through a mutual friend. I'll also go out with my housemates every once in a while, but generally, we all just do our own thing.

What do you do on the weekends?
I'm getting tired here, so fortunately I can refer to my answer to How is life? on this one. Pretty much covers the general weekend activities.

Hmmmm, that worked pretty well. Do I dare play around with this format and open it up to other questions from other people? What the hell. Feel free to ask any other questions in the comments section below, and if I get more than three, I might even answer them in a future entry.