ME In MV

Thought it might be novel to post something about me on my blog. So lets see how this goes...

I'm feeling fairly settled in to the new apartment. Last weekend I purchased the final key touches, a lamp for the bedroom so I could stop stumbling around in the dark was the most key - although really in a sub 600 sq ft apartment turning on a light in any room pretty much covers the whole place. I also bought two small plants for my little patio area, if they live then the plan is to scale up a bit (I hope things will go better for these plants since they are out front instead of out back so less easy to forget about). I do have a kitchen table with no chairs, but cheap chairs don't seem worth it and I can't spend much money on chairs I'll almost never use since any time I eat at home it is on the couch. I imagine one day I'll actually have people over and I'll run out to target to get some cheap chairs. Ok, this has turned way too mundane.

Moving on... I'm really liking mountain view's downtown street, nothing too big, but good food. I've also been good about walking to the farmer's market to get my organic vegetables and tofu (I'm not really bragging since I only cook midnight snacks and maybe one meal a week so it is not that radical to be an organic vegetarian at home). I've been listening to the San Francisco channel of npr in the morning while I get out of bed (so I get hours of npr each day). I'm not in San Francisco, but I'm counting it as close enough so now I just need to get a volvo and start drinking lattes (with soy milk of course) and I'll be a FOX News certified elitist! Speaking of coffee with soy milk - if you take the time between jobs as a chance to go no coffee and if you had no caffeine tolerance to begin with and then at work think - gee I'd like to try my first cappuccino since they'll make it with soy milk and hey, it's free why not and then drink the whole thing - you may need to drink half a bottle of sake when you get home just to keep your heart from exploding. I would never do this, but just like to warn others of potential dangers.

Now that my apartment is all setup I do want to get out and see the bay area. I know I want to go see Berkley to see the crazies and I want to get to the San Jose Museum of Art while they still have the robots exhibition (Oh Silicon Valley, only you could make me want to go to an art museum other than to see what everyone else makes such a big fuss about). But I'm not that sure what else to go see. I'm looking for suggestions. I've spent time in San Francisco, but not really as a tourist. I think Napa is probably more of a group event. As it gets warmer I'll probably go find the ocean and maybe give Great America a try.

A while ago it was revealed to me that the origin of the name Silicon Valley is not universally known. Silicon is the element that is used to make semiconductors aka computer chips (yes, they also have to use some amount of other materials, and yes some copper and aluminum for wiring, and yes there are numerous ways to make semiconductors without silicon but overwhelmingly silicon is the key ingredient). And Silicon Valley is where the transistor was invented and a few people around here made a few bucks off that.

At work things are going well. Right now, especially because I'm new, it is a sit at your desk and do your work type of job - which can be really nice because I can concentrate for long periods and spend time trying different things out. I don't want to get into too many specifics of what I'm doing because the company I'm at has a bit of the Silicon Valley secrecy thing going on. Not that I wouldn't tell anyone I know directly much more. But I'm designing a transmitter (the amplifier that drives the antenna or an off chip amplifier) for WiFi 802.11 a and n. There's stuff about the fab technology for the chip that I'm happy to be designing in, but I'll skip those details more to avoid putting people to sleep than secrecy. I'm starting to get to know the people in my group, but it is not a super social environment, and honestly I haven't pushed it too much.

It was good to see Julie who was kind enough to grace me with her presence before heading off for the Summer (insert predictable joke about her leaving soon after I moved here).

Here's something that seems obvious on reflection, but I only recently realized. If you see someone from a foreign country eating a dish from their country that looks super adventurous to you, that is not a sign they are an adventurous eater - it's the person from far away who is eating a hamburger or a BBQ sandwich that's an adventurous eater. Although the first person has better taste (that's a fact, not an opinion) and will probably live longer. I was going to add fried chicken to the adventurous list, but that seems to be a surprisingly universal dish.