Partially Sunny in Los Angeles

In the midst of busy season and me already on the verge of crying (it normally doesn’t happened until mid-February) the powers to be (aka the Partners of my firm) decided I had time in my schedule to go down to Los Angeles to help out another team prior to their press release. In the partner’s defense I had stupidly told my fellow managers that I had some capacity in my schedule and could help out if they needed it…this was of course before I got assigned three new areas (a manager had just quit) and I meant a few hours, not two whole weeks…lesson learned.

So last Monday, I flew down to “sunny” Los Angeles for the 10 day assignment. Within the first few days, I knew I was in trouble…while the team was great, I was in overhead when it came to the technical issues, the team was working well into the early hours of the morning and I still had stuff to deal with back in SF. But work aside, I hate to admit it…I actually kind of enjoyed myself in the city of angels.

To begin with, I am from the Bay Area, Northern California, and as a Nor Cal girl, I was properly raised to despise all things south of Santa Barbara, specifically Los Angeles - I may or may not have passed this trait on to Martin, who now involuntarily yells out F-ing Dodgers at the thought of LA.

But after only a couple of days, I began to understand the appeal of the city - the downtown/financial district was clean, with plenty of open space; the constant airing of infomercials and commercials for gyms, weight loss programs, diet pills, laser treatment and plastic surgery motivated me hit the gym (3 times) and finally use my Crest White Strips; after feeling healthier from working out, I didn’t hesitate to indulge in guilty pleasures such as McDonald’s egg McMuffins, ice cream sundaes, and buffalo wings all conveniently available under the client’s office building; after hanging out with the homeless and general crazies in LA City Library Park on Sunday I gained the confidence needed to go see a movie by myself (and without the judging eye of a companion, I continued the binge and ordered popcorn, a hot dog and soda foregoing the junior mints since they didn’t have the right sized box); and the film crew outside my hotel reminded me that I still have a shot at fame, or at least my 15 minutes of it. Even the weather couldn’t stop me from enjoying myself… the usually sunny Los Angeles was allegedly hit with torrential down pour, flood warnings with possible evacuations, freeway closures due to flooding and tornados – yes, tornados. I say allegedly since I didn’t actually see the storm - I had spent the entire duration of the 6 day storm in a windowless conference room.

After 10 days, I left the city, not in love (I am still not a huge fan of the urban sprawl, constant traffic and need to drive everywhere, let alone the pressure to look good all of the time or LA scene,) but no longer in hate either….that is until San Francisco has to play the Dodgers again in baseball next season.

I Ran Into a Pole

No, I did not run into a Polish friend on the street. I literally ran into a pole, a steel telephone pole to be exact. And, considering it has been a week and I still have a severe headache, a lump on my left temple, and a bruise on my right knee, I figured it was worth telling the quick story:

Last Sunday, like most Sundays in my prior San Francisco life, I headed over to my friends, the Hardings' house to watch football and celebrate Sunday Funday. This time around Sunday Funday included mimosas, donuts, fried chicken, biscuits and meatballs (although the meatballs weren't served until much later - at 2pm) along with the mandatory beer and shots of Zwack, the Hungarian liquor that is best described as Jaeger with a dirt after taste.

After arriving at 11am and watching the two playoff games, I left their place at 7pm happy, slightly intoxicated and having thoroughly enjoyed myself…it was the first time I had really had a chance to catch up with my favorite married couple since moving back. I was so happy I practically skipped down the street trying to hail a cab. And with my ability to find cabs when none exist, I proceeded down the street, walking backwards, with my arm raised high and with the confidence of someone who owns the city….and then I turned to walk down to the next corner. Unfortunately for me, my city sense failed me and I turned directly into a pole. To clarify, I didn’t just turn, I rotated in a half run, half leap, head first into a steel telephone pole. And my momentum was so great that even after initial contact, my body continued the rotation resulting in a left temple, right knee combo.

I ricocheted off the pole, tried to figure out what attacked me, all the while slightly rocking back and forth, shaking my head, trying to come back to my senses. I pulled myself together enough to subsequently hail a cab, remember my address and finally get home, however once at home it took me an additional 3 hours to begin to feel somewhat back to normal. And when 11pm rolled around I realized that my fear of falling asleep with a potential concussion wasn’t enough to keep me from my bed – I was exhausted and in pain.

A full week later, I can still feel the pain of initial contact and can now think I know what it is like to get into a fight with a stationery object…a fight I clearly lost.

The Grass is Always Greener

While living in Switzerland, it was easy to compare (and sometimes complain) about the various aspects of work in Zurich as compared to San Francisco. When anything went wrong, it was easy to exclaim...“that would never happen at home” or “why can't they do things like the US”…. I was less than happy about my job in San Francisco when I left for Zurich, but after a few weeks in Switzerland, I couldn’t stop singing its praises…how does the saying go “You don’t know what you’ve got, til it’s gone.” And now, after a month of working back in San Francisco, I have to apologize to my Swiss counterparts; they definitely got some things right over there. My bias towards San Francisco was, in some instances, unwarranted and it became all too obvious as soon as I stepped on public transportation for my daily commute. So in an effort to even the score -

• While in Switzerland, I never gave a thought to the always on time and clean trams, although I never hesitated to give the locals a hard time for throwing elbows to get on and off the tram or never giving up their seat to a lady (whether old, pregnant or in uncomfortable shoes). Back in San Francisco, I was immediately excited when people allowed me to get on the bus before them and I almost fainted when a gentleman offered his seat to me. Although that joy was short lived...come quitting time, I was unable to get a bus home due to overcrowded and always late public transportation. San Francisco only redeemed itself with the abundance of cheap and available cabs.
• While in Switzerland, it took me a few months to build up a repore with my team, co-workers, admins and favorite lunch ladies. I had clearly taken advantage of the fact that everyone knew me in the San Francisco office...but they should, I had spent 4 years there, on the social committee, Involve committee and Local Action Committee... I don't have a real excuse as to why or how my breakfast burrito lady recognized me after 2 and a half years (I thought I only went there when I was hung over, so I am not sure if I was that memorable or always that hung over). But I am thankful that those relationships in Zurich finally did develop and my impatient desire to speed up the process was a bit unrealistic
• While in Switzerland, I initially complained about the excessive coffee breaks taken by the team (I could never find anyone around 4pm) but I ended up embracing them (if you can't beat em...). Back in San Francisco, I have tried to re-instate the coffee breaks, although it is more of a coffee walk to get the goods and some fresh air, rather than a proper coffee break.
• The Emergency Martinis enjoyed by my co-workers and I in Switzerland are only trumped by the quantity of people who attend the happy hours in San Francisco - quantity and maybe classiness. Emergency martinis were primarily with just a few people and held at a posh hotel bar which attracted business men and high class hookers alike, our happy hours in San Francisco include everyone, including their roommates, friends and uncles, and are at the local dive bars… and we may or may not have recently had an an ugly x-mas sweater themed one during the holidays.
• And to tip the scale in favor of Zurich, technology and accounting support in San Francisco has far surpassed my belief as to how long it takes to get something done. In Zurich, I received a blackberry on my very first day, without asking and never had a problem with back office support. In contrast, I have tried for the past four weeks to order a Blackberry via Tech Support and IT still can't get it together, plus accounting messed up my payroll, tax withholdings and job title, all of which had to be sorted out through numerous phone calls and emails.

When it is all said and done, I would call it a tie. Both locations have equally great and frustrating things which you can only fully appreciate after being gone.

Merry Christmas and a Snuggie New Year

Happy New Years everyone! Another great year has passed and another exciting year to look forward to. And despite the Airing of Grievances from a couple of weeks ago, this past holiday season showed me I had plenty to be thankful for both reflecting back on 2009 and looking forward to 2010. Just to name a few things, in 2009: I lived in Europe, fell in love, took a five-month sabbatical from work, became an auntie to so many new babies (Baby Block, Peyer, Colt, Mark, and am still waiting on Baby Worl) reconnected with old friends and met a few new ones in the process, and moved back to San Francisco and right back into my old job and life here. In 2010, I can look forward to many more trips back to Europe, my thirtieth birthday in France, the hope of Martin moving out to California and, as always, catching up with new and old friends where ever they may be.

So what sparked this change of heart, you might ask. It is as simple as spending the holidays in California with friends and family and having Martin come visit for New Years. It also helped that after three grueling weeks at work, I had 9 days off to recover. In the past two weeks I overcame the nightmare of Christmas shopping with a simple, yet festive cab; enjoyed the sunny and warm weather in California knowing it was snowing and cold in Europe (although I did slightly miss having a White Christmas from the past two years): made homemade raviolis on Christmas Eve to compliment the fresh dungenous crab; overdosed on MSG at Dim Sum with the family on Boxing Day; was reminded of the sheer joy and anticipation of Christmas after seeing my 9 year old cousin tear threw her presents in San Luis Obispo; and introduced Martin not only to my new home and neighborhood (with a local happy hour, dinners cooked in and walks along the marina) but to a proper San Francisco style theme party on New Years Eve– Cocktail Attire with Snuggies (the epitome of American culture).

To properly visualize the cab and Snuggies, I have included pictures.

Happy New Years, and hopefully 2010 can live up to the hype.