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Jul
20
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After almost six years in Northern California; early next week, me, my wife, two kids and two cats will be relocating to Cary, North Carolina. The decision was a tough one to make. It takes a lot to draw anyone away from the perfect climate, stunning natural beauty and the friends we've made here in the Bay Area - the insane property prices and less than stellar school system finally did it though.
We've been researching the move out of the Bay Area for about a year - we looked at a couple of options - including moving back to the UK (but everyone we know in the UK managed to talk us out of that) and relocating to Austin. We finally decided on North Carolina for a number of reasons - firstly it gets us a little closer to the UK; second it has really good public school system and last but not least the size and quality of the property we can afford (compared to the Bay Area) was absolutely jaw dropping.
So about month ago we took a
little vacation to North Carolina; 15 viewings later; we bought a
little fixer-upper 
in the leafy burbs of Cary and if everything goes
according to plan we'll get the keys next Wednesday.
Making a
move of this magnitude shouldn't be underestimated. When we moved from
the UK to the US, we had the help of relocation company; this time
we're on our own. Fortunately my wife seems to have everything under
control and has managed to handle the logistics while keeping two kids
(out of school) under control. It also really helps having some friends
in North Carolina to help out - so a big thanks to the Grays and the Adams.
Anyway - I'll be off-line for the next week or so; hopefully when I return I'll be able to report an uneventful move.
It will be interesting to see how we get on with the "thick air" in North Carolina - apparently, if we can survive August we should be OK
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Feb
24
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Well, it seems I was right about something; there was more snow in Chicago than Lake Tahoe (though I never actually made it to Chicago to see for myself). The good news was that our drive was pretty good (driving there : less than 5 hours with a lunch stop and about 4.5 hours on the way back). We had to get way above 6k feet to find decent snow - we took the kids up to Heavenly in the Gondola and drove up to Mount Rose. Looks like they'll be getting a dump this week - relief for the local economy. Pictures to follow.
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Jan
12
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I've been following some of the Beckham news over the last couple of days.
Not everyone gets it yet. The move isn't about directly raising the standard of soccer in the US - it's about raising the profile so it can compete with the other major franchises. It's about showing the US that soccer too has it's share of Ferrari driving rock stars, earning 8-figure salaries (and even more from promotion and advertising).
At the level that Beckham is used to playing at - he's at the end of his career (as a player) - he's 32 years old !! He's been warming the bench at Real Madrid and hasn't won anything for 3-4 years. Moving to the US is a fairly well trodden retirement plan for European soccer players
So, don't expect him to make a big splash on the pitch - he's not a one-man-team like George Best, Pele, Maradona and Ronaldo. His impact will be on greater acceptance of Soccer in the US. For that I'm thankful - even if we have to put up with a couple of years of obnoxious Beckham Frenzy.
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Jul
25
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Well it looks as though the temperatures are dropping a bit and we finally have electricty back on (it's been out since Sunday) so things are getting back to normal.
There are still a lot of people without power and the PG&E guy who fixed our street's transformer expected to be working flat out for at least a couple more days.
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Jul
23
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Just after I took this picture - the thermometer went up to 109.4 F - for us a new record (we usually get a couple of days a year at or close to 100 F but this has been the fourth day where it's been well into the 100's.
Yesterday we headed off to Natural Bridges beach where the cool ocean breeze keept it down to the high 70's - unfortunately it took us 2 hours to drive back home - I guess everyone had the same idea as us.
My advice is to drink plenty - even non-alchoholic drinks will help :)
Cheers, Rich
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Feb
27
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... a bit of rain for a couple of days hits the headlines as "A Major Winter Storm" and your usual 30 minute commute takes at least twice as long.
Bay-area driving is pretty poor at the best of times but when it rains it all goes horribly wrong - heaven forbid we ever get ice or snow in the Bay Area - I think the entire economy would collapse.
Also a bit of advice for people on 87 this morning - if you can't see the car in front of you because of the rain and spray - driving closer is the WRONG thing to do; instead drop back and THINK about putting your lights on so the person behind doesn't have the same problem.
There, I feel better.
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Nov
13
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On Saturday I drove about an hour and a half South to Pinnacles National Monument (just past Hollister, CA). I must admit, I'd never even heard of Pinnacles until a friend told me about it. It's a pretty amazing landscape and some decent walking though it probably gets way too hot in the summer months.
We we're fortunate to see the recently released California Condors - they put on a great soaring display for us but my camera predictably scared them away so I didn't get any decent pictures.
There was some pretty decent top-roping and bouldering and a decent camp ground nearby so it'd make a great place to introduce the kids to climbing next year.
