Maintaining this site is somewhat like a hobby of mine. I tweak and tinker, but it’s never really complete.

Since Jess and I moved back from California, I knew I needed to update the overall look of the site. “California Love” wasn’t really a fitting name anymore… so I’ve started the transformation.

For the time being, I’ve enabled the default theme as I work on the new styles for the site. Similarly, I’ve decided that I’m going to begin blogging about topics that are more reflective of my tastes. The original purpose of the blog was to keep everyone abreast of our west coast adventures… but now that we’re back, it seemed only fitting to change it up.

So, expect a healthy mix of politics, mac geekery, web nerdiness, and whatever else comes to mind.

Not so long ago, I was the proud owner of a 1999 Volkswagen Jetta. She was the first car I ever purchased, and she treated me well. We spent countless hours, and traversed hundreds of thousands of kilometers together. We had good times and we had bad times. She had been beaten up and put back together, but I loved her. She was my first and I’ll always remember her for that. But sadly, we grew apart.

It was hard to say goodbye, but when I got the opportunity to head out west, it was decided that she’d stay behind. She was getting old and wasn’t sure if she’d fit into the “image conscious” culture of Southern California. She was intimidated by the younger, more powerful cars on the west coast. So we went our separate ways and inevitably, I met someone else.

My next car was fast. She was sleek and sexy. And she was Japanese. I was used to German vehicles, so I wasn’t sure how my new Infiniti G35 Coupe would stack up. She was a different animal, but I loved her even more. She was made for the open roads of Souther California. 300HP hidden beneath a beautiful exterior. 19 inch rims, and 6 gears of pleasure. It was pure enjoyment – windows down, sunroof open, tearing up the Pacific Coast Highway. How could I complain?

But this affair wasn’t meant to last. Reluctantly, she eventually made the trip back to Canada with me. However, once she arrived, reality started to sink in. There are no open roads in the city, and her manual transmission didn’t fare well in the stop-and-go traffic. And the asphalt… it wasn’t smooth like she’d been used to. In fact, it was downright rough – beat up and scarred from the years of winter abuse. And the winter. Ah yes, the snow, ice and salt. Sure, she had heated seats, but she wasn’t up for this. She was too low, and her performance tires wouldn’t hold their own on the icy streets.

Sure, we talked about snow tires for the winter months, but that really wasn’t our biggest issue. It was the cottage. She was ready for the highway driving – in fact, she was looking forward to that – it was the 50 minutes off road that did it. There was no way she’d make it off road. Rocks, ruts, dirt, mud, gravel and water. She couldn’t bare it. That was it. We were done.

With the G35 gone, I felt upset and dejected. I began looking for her replacement, but I didn’t know where to start. So I looked to a broker for help. I needed something that was beautiful, but rugged. Something that could get me to work, and to the cottage. But what? Coming off a Japanese relationship, I started there. But things weren’t the same… It didn’t feel right. Nissan, Toyota and Honda just weren’t cutting it. So I ventured elsewhere. North American? Nope, too unrefined. Swedish? I dug the XC90, but it was a too boring. Korean? Nope, not my style (good warranty though). Feeling rejected, I called on an old friend. Could she help? Would she take me back?

It felt like an arranged marriage. She was purchased at a car auction, and I didn’t actually see her until she was mine. But I’m now the proud owner of a 2004 Volkswagen Touareg. She’s rugged and strong, powerful and refined. And once again, I’m back with a Volkswagen. Only this time, she’s capable of going off road where her predecessor couldn’t.

Ok, I think things are starting to settle down a bit. Now that the dust is starting to settle, I figured I’d post a quick update… Needless to say, it’s been a crazy few weeks.

About 2 weeks ago, Jess and I made our way up to Napa to celebrate our 1 year anniversary – I can’t believe a year has passed already! The weather was horrible, but the area was stunning regardless. We stayed at a bed and breakfast, toured the Opus One winery and enjoyed a number of outstanding meals. We only had a few days, but I’d like to go back a bit later in the season when everything is in bloom.

After Napa, we headed back to SoCal to prepare for the pack. Our car was picked up on Wednesday night, the rest of our house was packed and shipped on Saturday and we departed on Sunday. And this is when the fun starts.

After arriving back in Toronto on Sunday around 12:30 am (I guess that’s actually Monday), I started my first day at Blast in the morning. After a full day of meetings, greetings, and orientation I headed to the airport and flew to Chicago for a few client meetings. The meetings lasted 2 days, and just before midnight on Wednesday night, I arrived back in Toronto. Thursday was another full day of meetings, greetings and orientation, and Friday was a day off! Thank God for Good Friday ;)

So, now that we’re officially back in Toronto for good, I suppose I need to change the name of this blog… It was definitely sad to leave California, but I’m happy to be home.

Something quite trivial happened to me this afternoon that’s got me thinking about who I am as I person, and how the idiosyncrasies I possess will impact me as I strive to succeed in the future. I hadn’t intended this post to be as introspective as I’m sure it’ll undoubtedly come across as, but I digress – it’s a topic that has crossed my mind a number of times in the past, so post I shall.

This afternoon I drove down to the post office to setup the necessary mail-forwarding Jess and I are going to need after we depart next Friday. I hadn’t expected this to take much time to setup, but the large gathering of people waiting inside obviously made me think otherwise. I entered the building, walked up to the Take A Number dispenser, and pulled my lucky ticket. 68. A quick glance at the Now Serving display promptly reveals that I’m going to be here for a while. 49. As I’m about to take a seat and wait my turn, I notice 2 tickets sitting right next to the ticket dispenser. 50 and 52. And as if someone is looking over my shoulder, “Now serving number fifty.” is announced over the PA system.

I picked up the tickets and survey the room. Looking at the faces of those waiting for their number to be called, it’s clear no one wants to be there, and each of them has been waiting for quite some time. Especially longer than I. To some, the decision is easy. Go to the front of the time and save yourself at least 30 minutes. Especially when you’re riding a motorcycle and it looks like it’s about to rain.

I don’t know any of these people, nor will I see them again But I hesitate, 51 is quickly called, and a relieved looking gentlemen makes his way up to the counter with his big parcel. But I’m left standing right where I am, in the exact same situation. Holding 52.

It’s been my perception for quite some time that those who succeed in this world are those who take advantage of the opportunities that they are presented with. Your definition of “success” may vary, but I think the principals are the same. You have to know what you want, and you have to go and get it. You have to be relentless, and you can’t hesitate. You have to be confident and passionate. You have to be bigger than yourself, and bigger than the guy next to you. And when an opportunity presents itself, you have to take it

52 is called, but I’ve already thrown out the ticket. I’ve decided not to make these people wait any longer than they already have, and I’ll wait my turn just like they did. Some people will undoubtedly view my decision as a character strength, while others will view it as a character flaw. And truth be told, I’m still on the fence about it. Obviously, I’m not suggesting that this event will have any meaningful affect on my future, but I’m left wondering how I’ll react when presented with a opportunity of greater magnitude.

In this instance, I think the karma was more valuable than the 30 minutes I saved at the post office. And when a more meaningful opportunity inevitably presents itself, hopefully I can cash in all my accumulated karma for The Big Prize®.

I guess I should wrap up this “look back” series… and maybe I’ll attempt to write a shorter post this time? Yeah, I think so.

Part 3 – Goodbye

It’s been an interesting year to say the least.

Jess and I got married, moved to foreign country, started new jobs, got a few new vehicles, traveled to the other side of the world twice, visited Sin City twice, and enjoyed almost every minute of it. Oh, and Jess got a taste for In-N-Out too (See Exhibit A to the left)!

And after all that, we’re moving home. Yep, the rumors are true – Jess and I are moving back to Canada. When people hear that we’re moving back, it seems the common response is “what?” in that, you know, “you’re joking, right?” tone. Nope, we’re not joking. We’re trading in the warm winters for snow and ice, HBO for TMN, and Bush for Harper.

There were a number of reasons for the move back, but the primary reason was that we simply weren’t happy down here. There are a number of things I like about living here, and a number of things I don’t, but in the end we decided that Toronto was the place we wanted to be. So, off we go… back from which came.

I’ve accepted a job at Blast Radius in Toronto, and will be starting April 10th… so we’ll be back in a few short weeks. But in the meantime, let the crazy whirlwind of packing & moving begin!

Jess is currently asleep on the couch. It’s kind of her thing really. Around an hour after we eat, we usually find ourselves watching something on TV. Perhaps it’s something recorded on our PVR. Maybe a movie from NetFlix. On the odd occasion, it’s something live on TV. But it really doesn’t matter what it is, because whatever happens to be playing the TV is nothing but a lullaby for my wife. Gun fire, explosions, yelling, screaming, crying, simple dialog – it matters not, and it’ll put her to sleep. By my estimations, I’d say Jess sleeps an average of 10 hours a night. 7 in bed, and 3 on the couch. The funniest thing is when she wakes up. “Disoriented” is by no means an accurate description. She stumbles around, eyes glassed over, speaking in broken sentences – “I Sleep Now” – and has what I like to call “hair explosion”. And as if these words disturbed her current slumber, she literally just sat up, proclaimed something in what I think was english, took off her glasses, slumped back over and kicked a leg out from under the blanket.

And I wouldn’t have it any other way… I think it’s one of those things you come to love about a person the longer you’re with them.

Anyway, where was I? Oh yes, I was reflecting.

Part 2 – The Cost of Living

In response to Drew’s comment, I thought I’d address the cost of living in California.

On the surface, I’d say it costs a lot less to live in Orange County when compared to Toronto. Now, that doesn’t necessarily mean that we’re actually spending less – if anything, we’re spending more. So let me explain.

The only thing that appears to significantly cost more is real estate. The market here is out of control. If I’m not mistaken, I believe the median price for a home in OC was somewhere in the neighborhood of $710,000 – that puts us at number 2 on the most expensive list. The coastline is more or less spoken for with every viable piece of land (and some not) under development, and it’s quickly moving further inland.

But if you can look past the real estate inflation, you’ll quickly see inexpensive underbelly. For example, I currently drive an Infiniti G35 Coupe 6MT which in the US retails for $37,650. In Canada, the same model will run you $51,972 – that’s about $7,000 difference once you do the conversion.

Some other examples would be the weekly necessities. We shop almost exclusively at Trader Joe’s for our groceries, and as far as I’m concerned, it’s by far the best and cheapest grocery stores around. Target is a favorite of Jess’ – I don’t have the deep-in-my-soul love for it like she does (but I much prefer it to Wal-Mart). Costco may be available in Canada, but down here you can buy massive bottles of vodka for a fraction of the cost… which has to count for something. Hell, even Starbucks will sell you a Grande Latte for less.

Taxes are obviously lower, but that was to be expected. Hydro, gas, water, etc. are all about the same I suppose. Internet and cable are competitive too (with the must-have-all-services-with-one-company bundle). We signed up for Vonage when we got here (in hopes of keeping our old number), which is much less than Bell was back home.

Looking at that, you’d think we’d be saving a ton down here. But that’s not the case. Being that this is California, my take on it was “enjoy it while we’ve got it”. And that’s what I set out to do. So I got the sports car. And the motorcycle. We rented a much larger place down here which costs more than our place in Toronto. We’ve done some traveling (admittedly, a good chunk was covered through work), and if we go out for dinner, we go out! – I think that’s our of our weaknesses really. We both enjoy a good meal.

In the grand scheme of things, I’d say the cost of living is more or less the same as Toronto when you work real estate into the equation. I suppose you could get away with paying less if you decided to live about 20 miles inland, somewhere along the 71 in Chino – but anyone who’s watched the OC knows that’s not the place to be when you’re living in Orange County. There’s a reason MTV picked Laguna Beach.

So Terry, Rowan and I drove up to the Laguna Seca speedway just outside of Monterey this weekend to check out the A1 Grand Prix of Nations. Admittedly, I’m not much of a racing fan, so I wasn’t quite sure what to expect – I figured we’d drive the 6 hours, park in some random field and sit in the grandstands hundreds of feet away from the track, all while drinking 22 ounce cans of Bud Light and high-five’ing each other as cars crashed into the wall after a missed turn. And I’m pretty sure that’s what would have happened had Rowan not managed to talk himself into 3 FREE all-access press passes and VIP parking for us. That’s right racing fans, I got to enjoy my first race down in the pits.

So here’s the story – Sometime last week, Rowan makes a few phone calls pleading his case for media credentials. “We’re an online ad agency who’s sending 3 guys to cover the race with plans of posting a detailed account of the event online to help generate awareness of the sport Stateside” (A1 is apparently very popular in Europe). That totally sounds legit, right? Well, apparently not as he didn’t have much luck over the phone. But he did manage to get a few names… names of seemingly important people which were promptly dropped when we arrived at the media registration office early Friday morning.

“Hi, I believe there’s been a mixup. I spoke with Sally and she said I needed to talk with Steve who mentioned that I needed to come here and see Suzan about getting our media passes…” Being that Steve was Suzan’s boss, she conveniently overlooked the fact that we clearly weren’t on the list, and promptly handed us the registration forms. To top it off, she gave us 2 photographer’s bibs which gave us almost complete access to the race track. Oh, and that VIP parking pass which allowed us to park right down on the paddock. So, off we went to do “document” the race, which ironically I ended up doing.

With my camera in tow, I ended up packing away 544 photos in total. Of course I haven’t posted all 544 of them, but instead have weeded it down to a mere 52 for you all to enjoy. We spent some time at the “Andretti Hairpin” and the famous Corkscrew – which my photos don’t do justice. It’s crazy how much of an elevation drop there is, and from the drivers perspective, you can’t see the road as you make the corner. But those vantage points are for the average “general admission” spectators – Not us, we have pit passes! So as expected, we spent the majority if our time down in the pits.

With my extremely fashionable photography bib on (and the knowledge that I had signed a lengthy waiver), we could get right out onto the track and pretty much go wherever we wanted. Obviously we had to keep an eye out for oncoming traffic – which is, by the way, moving WAY faster than you think it is… it’s one thing to see it on TV, it’s something completely different in person. Regardless, it was awesome to have the freedom to watch and capture the race from that perspective. But that said, I was laughably outgunned in comparison to the actual photographers covering the race. Jess called it when I told her we got the press passes – “umm, it’s going to be pretty clear you’re not an actual photographer when you pull out that peashooter”. Nothing was said to my face, but I’m pretty sure the big boys were snickering in the back. Whatever, I think this is where I say something about the motion of the ocean and tuck my little Olympus under my arm and walk away.

I think I’ve got a solid handle on how to use an SLR now, and with the recent revelation that yes, photography is my official hobby, I’m starting to consider the upgrade. I don’t think it’s necessary quite yet, but I’ve definitely reached the limitations of my current body+lens combination. The problem is that the next step is one that will require a pretty sizable investment in some hardware, and I’m pretty sure I want that investment to be made on the Canon platform. Sorry my little friend, but things have changed and it just isn’t going to work between you and I. It’s me, not you… I hope you understand.

Anyway, I suppose that’s a discussion for another time. This was to be about racing, not photography. I know you’ve been teetering on the edge of your seat, so how about I wrap this up? Mexico won.

As of Monday, I have been down in California for exactly 1 year… and I’m still amazed how quickly that year has passed. It’s definitely been an interesting year for Jess and I – a year of firsts really. From our first year of marriage to my first time on a motorcycle, a lot of ground has been covered. So to commemorate the event, I figured it would be fitting to do a multi-part series reflecting on this passing year.

Living in California

A common question I get is “what’s it like living in California”? It’s really not all that different than living in Toronto, but there are some obvious differences – the weather being the clearest standout.

Southern California has unbelievable weather. It’s warm year round, and being close to the coast, it’s usually very consistent – 72° and sunny with a cool breeze. It’s been a bit cooler in the “winter” months, especially at night where we’ll easily see a 30° swing in temperature. But I can’t really complain because last I checked, there’s no snow (although sometimes there is frost).

Living in Dana Point and working in Laguna Beach has kept us close to the ocean. It’s not uncommon to have lunch or meetings down at the beach, and my commute to work is a 15 drive along the coast. The irony is that it appears that Jess and I really aren’t “beach” people now I look back on it. It’s one thing to go and sit on a bench at lunch, but it’s something completely different to fish the sand out of your ass after spending an afternoon lounging on a towel. And lest I forget that I almost stepped on a stingray when I last ventured out into the water. Like I said… we’re not beach people.

Laguna Beach is an interesting little town. For the most part, it’s nothing more than a small shopping district that surrounds a small beach (Ocean Ave and PCH). There is always an interesting cross-section of people down in Laguna, often a healthy mix of tourists, locals and the homeless. You’ll often find at least 1 homeless guy gazing upon the ocean, just taking it all in; A cluster of genetically-perfect men and women playing beach volleyball or lubing-up to bake in the sun; Or a small family of tourists working on their awkward tans despite the overcast skies, choppy waters and cool tempratures. People, please – if you’re on vacation and find yourself alone at the beach, it’s probably because it’s a bad beach day. There’s no shame in waiting a few days and coming back when the weather is better!