So I have been in Washington DC for over three months and someone just asked me recently how I am liking my new job, new apartment, new city, etc. etc. And my initial thoughts were “great everything is great,” but I realized I was quickly answering it without really putting much thought into it. And today while sitting on the couch or should I say couch surfing, I put some real thought into it.

New Job. It is going good, I like my new coworkers and I think that this is a great opportunity for me to try something new and different. So far the work is challenging and interesting, which is good. I do however sometimes feel slightly overwhelmed by everything, since at my old job we didn’t do as much paperwork and documentation as we do here. I was used to conducting data gathering, analyzing the data, and then writing a report. Here it is similiar but we have a documentation part that is very, very meticulous. I guess that is the difference between a technology and management consulting firm and an accounting firm.

New Apartment. I like the new place, it is a bit pricey compared to San Diego, but it is spacious enough for me and I enjoy the fact I am on floor from the top floor. Although since I am mildly scared of heights, standing on my balacony 20+ stories up is a bit nervewracking. However, I am westward facing I can see the sunset and think of my friends on the West Coast. In fact, I like my new flatscreen and my HD DVR (I mentioned it once before) so much that I sometimes I tend to stay home more than go out and explore. That is the negative side to having a place you like to live in, you don’t mind staying home more.

New City. Well I don’t know really what I think about DC. It is different, but yet familiar. The commute reminds me of London and riding the Underground. The people are like a mix of California and London, people are in their own world like London and not as friendly as California. On the flipside, people in DC are less flakey than people from California. Here if they say they’ll meet you for happy hour, they’ll meet you for happy hour. Life here is fast paced, a little superficial, and very status focused. Other than that, its not so bad yet, but I do miss a lot of things from California: amazing sushi, great Hawaiian food, knowing where to drive and how to get there, and my friends.

Let’s see how I feel in 3 months.

Once again the Season of Christmas is upon us. I have as always faffed about getting my H0liday Cards out. This year I repeated the Christmas Newsletter (versus the Christmas Letter), because I felt it really added to the whole “Holiday Card” thing. I was able to take this year’s photo while in London at the Borough Market (thanks to a good friend of mine who took the photo).

I must say, I have started to really give some thought into what my New Years resolutions are going to be, maybe workout? Lose weight? Get a new job? Who knows. I will tackle that one in the next month or so. Until then, it is time to stuff my face with the Holiday Baked Goods and Delicious Family Meals.

Someone asked me the other day why would I want to live in London and as I sit here in the lounge in Heathrow Airport I start to wonder that myself.

“Why would I want to live in London?”

It is 5,000 miles from my family. It is a LOT colder here right now in the winter. It is 2x as expensive as the US (actually with the exchange rate is more like 2.5x). The people are more unfriendly in the UK than the US. Sushi (my favorite food) is almost unaffordable.

Although on the flip side…

The Indian food here is much better than the US. I have some great friends here in the UK, while my friends in San Diego have all moved away mostly. The Guinness tastes better here than in the US. My MBA has more value here than the US (or at least that is what I feel sometimes). The nightlife and culture is better here than San Diego.

Wow…I can see a whole new entry for the future. London vs. San Diego…

So I went to the condo today and it was a miracle. The fire came within 100 feet of the condo complex. Here is the photo I took to show you how amazing it was that the complex I am staying at was missed…

It was so damn close. I was in awe when I saw it.

I normally have lame excuses for not posting on my Blog, but this week I had a REALLY good reason. I self-evacuated from the condo I was staying at here at 430AM and the general evacuation order came in an hour later.

I have been holed up in a hotel in Downtown San Diego, just going to work and pretending that the rest of San Diego was not burning around me. The wildfires in San Diego has burned 700 square miles, which in my little mind is inconceivable. The winds on Sunday and Monday were whipping around at 60mph.

Remember my previous rant on Katrina? Well amazingly enough San Diego didn’t experience the breakdown of New Orleans. We had over half a million people displaced by Wednesday, the Qualcomm Stadium was at one point housing about ten thousand people (at their last count). Senior Leaders of San Diego mobilized and managed to take a REALLY bad situation, and turn it into a success story.

I am exhausted, I haven’t slept much…been glued to the TV and been in awe of everything. The people of San Diego really reached out to everyone, donations were in such enormity that Qualcomm stadium at one point said, “Please stop, we have enough…!” The say the Reverse 911 was the major thing that saved so many lives…

I read about people who were volunteering to drive up and pick up people’s horses (San Diego if you didn’t know has a lot of people who like to build ranches), school buses were driving to areas to help in the evacuation. It was an orderly evacuation with cars at times not even moving…with the fire licking at their heels. I can’t believe it…what you see on the news, about how great people were in San Diego and the response of the community…it is only 1/2 of the true story. You have to be here to see it.

So I am finally back in San Diego and slowly getting back into the swing of things. I have been swamped at work, and to be honest when I get off of work the last thing I really want to do is blog. So now I have been trying to pick times during the day at work when I can have a moment to post quickly to the site.

I have so many mini-projects that I want to complete. I want to get my photos up, which has been a lagging effort of pinnacle proportions. I also want to create a few alumni sites for some organizations I have been actively involved in, but that has taken a back burner as well. So much to do, and such little time to do it all in.

So I have finally gotten settled in San Diego. I rented for the month a great 2 bedroom condo that is in South Mission Beach on a peninsula. So on one side is the ocean and on the other side is the bay. It is very beachy in decoration, but it is nice. I haven’t enjoyed it to its fullest yet since I have been getting home late, but this weekend I am planning on having a small BBQ and will use the patio/sun deck this weekend.

On a side note, I have decided to get back into playing Paintball. It has been almost a year since I have played and I am looking forward to getting back into the swing of things. This Saturday is my first game in ages, so that should be good fun.