Christmas at Home

After such a whirlwind for the past 2 months, I made it back to Chattanooga to see the family. I haven’t seen them since my journey to Australia for my masters degree in July 2005. Luckily, everything’s well and Chattanooga is growing. It’s amazing how many faces after all these years, I can still recognize going about their lives. Here’s wishing everyone a wonderful safe holiday, and hopefully Globetrotter Journeys to be up and running at full speed next year!

Back up and Running!

Wow, it has been a whirlwind of the past four months. As you can see with the new version of Globetrotter, a lot has changed. The end of 2006 wrapped up quickly, but here’s the lowdown:

• Started my job search in September–Had phone interviews as I was still in Australia, and happened across an Australian company looking for someone for their newly opened San Francisco office.
• University of Sydney Finals–My final semester of my Master’s Degree.
• Offer from the Australian company to relocate to San Francisco–just 2 days after I finished my last final.
• Arrived in San Francisco, start work the next day to see a tradeshow for the industry.
• Apartment Hunt.
• Christmas back home to see family (First time in over 18 months!).
• Move to new apartment.
• Return to Australia for 2 week visit for work.
• Start settling in.
• Breathe.

I’ve found the best apartment that has made me so happy. Work is going great–I’m learning a lot every day. I’ve almost settled completely in to the apartment–still waiting on my couch to be delivered! So, if anyone is visiting San Francisco, please get in touch as I have a great place to put you up! Hope everyone had a safe New Year’s, and I plan to see many of you this year, as work takes me around the globe!

And for those of you wondering about my book, I’m sorry for the delay, but I hope to have a final copy in my hands by my birthday (in March!) :)

THE view

The best thing I’ve enjoyed about my new apartment is a fantastic view. Even in Sydney when I was living in Potts Point, to wake up every morning and see the Opera House was truly amazing. Now, I feel the same excitement when I wake up, to roll over and look out the window to this view. But what’s really interesting is seeing the bridge in all different weather. Stay tuned for the housewarming on Saturday!

How sweet it is..

What a fun early birthday present. After several weeks of researching and learning about plasma/lcd tvs, I took the plunge and decided on purchasing the Samsung 46″ LCD TV. Now, going to BestBuy and CircuitCity and such, I would talk to the sales people and discuss what I’d researched on the web, and after several conversations, I was convinced that using the internet is absolutely the best way to find the most unbiased research. On top of that, using pricegrabber.com I was able to find the best price on the TV. I ended up paying $600 less than what I would have spent at BestBuy. When I ordered, I was told that the shipment would be sent by consolidated shipper, and to not expect my TV for 12 – 21 days. That night however, I got an email confirmation number with a FedEx tracking number, and the next day, it had already made it from New Jersey to Oakland CA. It then got moved to the San Francisco FedEx hub, and I called them to place a hold on it–as I would not be home to sign for the package and wanted to just go there and pick it up. So last night, a friend and I went to pick up the TV, and last night, I was watching HDTV over the airwaves. Yes, that too people don’t seem to know about–you DON’T have to pay for HDTV :)

Shipping soon!

I’ve finally finished my book. After almost a year, I completed the first volume of Globetrotter Images, and it is currently printing.  For those who preordered the book, I’ll be in touch soon for completing the order!

San Diego Convention

This week has been such a long and trying week. My first tradeshow with Ellex kicked off this week at the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons in San Diego. Luckily, everything went as planned, and everyone seemed happy with our work. Another convention was going on at the same time–the Democratic Convention with Obama, Hilary, and others, along with a huge crowd coming to support them. On my way to lunch one afternoon, I walked by my friend Luke, who happened to be attending the democratic convention, which as most of you know, I run into the most people in such random ways! Friday night I went out with Lucas and Eve, two friends from my time in Sydney. We went to the most delicious sushi restaurant in La Jolla, and it was fantastic. It was great to catch up and see them and talk about how things are going with everyone.

Pot Luck

This weekend I put together a Pot Luck to have friends over who still hadn’t seen my apartment. I seemed to have spent all day cleaning the place, even though it’s not that dirty, but making sure everything’s neat and tidy really takes up a lot of time. Luckily, this party was a success, and people came right at 7 brining food from pizza, friend chicken, to brownies, tiramisu, and the appetizer type stuff of breads, dips and cheeses. So, I was very happy that everyone came around, and we had a nice evening filled with food. Even more exciting is showing off my new paint job in the Den/Dining Rooms. I’ll have to plan for the next one soon. Thanks to everyone who came by!

Zipcar — Caught

Last weekend when I had my potluck, I had rented my zipcar to run the errands. This was the first time that I had waited out in front of my zipcar garage and not had the car waiting on me. Not only was it not there, but it took an extra 30 minutes before I got it (I contacted Zipcar and they said the other person was late). I thought it was odd that I wasn’t compensated for having to sit there for another 30 minutes waiting for this car, nor was I offered a driving credit–they simply just moved my reservation to the next time slot.

Anyhow, after I finished my errands, I made it back to my apartment in perfect timing to have the car back. So I parked it out front with the hazard lights as I went to deliver my items to my refrigerator.  Once inside, the phone rang and I started talking about the evening, then I put the groceries away, then I wandered into my bedroom and continued picking up things. I then went for a shower, and you know, just took my time hanging out in my apartment making sure everything was ready. All the while, my little zipcar was sitting out front, completely abandoned, and completely charging me an arm and a leg for being late :(.

Right when I realized what I had done (it was only until I was walking outside to get a bag of ice, and saw my car sitting there, I raced as fast I could to drop the car off thinking, maybe they wouldn’t know, or that I could say, i was parked in the right spot, but I forgot to check it in, but nope. I couldn’t think of anything that would save this fault–My bill came and I was charged $100 late fee :( Lesson learned! PARK THE CAR!

Ginny’s Holiday Party

Tonight was Ginny’s Holiday party. When I arrived, there was a beautiful spread of great appetizers including meatballs, cheeses and crackers, all the while Charlie Brown’s Christmas Story was playing on the theater screen. I also saw another old colleague from APL, so it was a nice reunion for me. It was such a nice get together, and I look forward to our bowling night in January!

I Finally Got the iPhone :)

I finally got the iPhone! After over a year of patiently waiting for a hardware that could support faster speeds, I’m glad I waited. Surprisingly, I felt I’d be the only one with a white one, but I’ve seen more people with white ones than black ones. It’s been a great way to connect my PC with contacts, get everyone’s info up-to-date, and have the city of San Francisco at my fingertips–no pun intended. I’ve been able to find my way with my scooter all over the town now complete with real time GPS assistance if I’ve happened to make a dreadful turn on a one way that lead me somewhere I wasn’t intending to be. I’m also able to find restaurants, gas stations, and just about anything you can think of when you’re out and about. It’s been a great gadget to customize and I’m looking forward to traveling with it!