California June

As you no doubt already know if you are reading this blog (and thereby know me), I am no longer residing in the state of Utah.  I, being the brave girl who never stresses out at all (guffaw), packed my bags and came out here to California knowing nobody. I've now been here for five weeks and things get better every day. I now have a house and a bed and am eating semi-regularly, which is more than I could say when I got here.

Without further ado, my observations about California.

1) There are skylights everywhere. Very thrilling first observation, is it not? I guess when snow caving in your roof is not a threat, you can have windows in the ceiling. This has caused me problems. I have an incessant habit of making sure the lights are turned off and the sunlight tricks me into thinking there are lights on. Darn you sun! A few days ago, I was grabbing breakfast when the room suddenly went dark. Instead of a logical explanation (such as a plane), my immediate thought was 'Godzilla!' Nice one, self.

2) Traffic is a beast. This goes without saying. The word association between 'California' and 'hellish traffic nightmare' is strong, and for good reason. Motorcyclists can drive between lanes legally here, making me hate them even more when they fly past me and I'm stuck waiting behind cars that don't know how to pull off to the side of the road to turn right. Every stoplight is equipped with cameras, which only adds to my paranoia that my first traffic violation of any kind will be me running a yellow light. Don't question my paranoia.

Also, I can only turn left at stop lights and I hate the oppression.

3) People know nothing about what I know. I say this in regards to Utah and Mormons. One roommate of mine didn't know where Utah was. When I first moved in, somehow the rumor was spread throughout the three of them that Mormons don't celebrate birthdays. I'm sorry, I have Harry Potter and Jersey Shore birthday parties I've attended that will highly dispute that claim. So the most I can do is answer questions (and politely decline the offer to get a tattoo).

4) Bay area radio stations are worse than Cache Valley stations. Gasp. I know, hang in there with me. I finally got around to figuring out some radio presets for my car this week. Going through all the radio stations twice, I found eight that had songs I at least recognized. Little did I know that six of these stations seemingly share the same eight song playlist. I was in the car a total of forty minutes today and heard "Starships" by Nicki Minaj seven times. Not even exaggerating. After the third time I started counting to make sure. The other stations play soft rock, and I might have to deal with that. And get some new music on my phone before I go crazy.

5) It's not hot here. Today was 82 degrees. Compared to the rest of the country, which is seemingly being swallowed by Hell itself lately, it's wonderful. But it gets cold at night, much colder than I'm used to in the summer. If I tried to sleep outside here I would probably be killed, and if I wasn't, I would be an icicle (don't worry, Mom, I'm just slightly exaggerating the risk of my murder!)

All-in-all, life in California is different, but not entirely terrible. I'm grateful to have a job and a place to live. And internet, so I can keep up on my celebrity gossip.

Peace and blessings.