Looking back

This has been the first decade I've been an adult (legally, at any rate) all the way through. It's seen a fair bit of change in me, too.

At the start of 2000, I was in university, failing a chemistry degree. I changed to a geology degree, but eventually failed at that too, and dropped out in 2004. Along the way, I discovered computers and the internet, became a computer gamer (I even bought games at release), and didn't really make much progress figuring out who I really was. Once I was on my own, I did get a job, I started a long-distance relationship over the internet, and I lost interest in the latest and greatest games. For one thing, I couldn't afford to keep up with the power curve.

Between trouble staying in work (jobs on short-term contracts are less than ideal) and difficulty resisting the temptation to spend money, I spent a couple of years stuck in limbo, from 2005 to 2007. Eventually, I got myself out of debt and could allow myself to come over to the US. This was originally going to be a brief visit, but after advice from an immigration attorney, the LA and I tied the knot on February 29th 2008 at the LAX courthouse. We started the paperwork to get me a green card, and also started planning a reception. That took place in August 2008, and the paperwork was done a month later. Since then, I've become a volunteer for a theatre group in Berkeley, I've learned to drive, I've become the half-owner of an aging Volvo, I've switched my gaming interests from computers to tabletop (on the grounds that even if the table was bought in the 70s to eat dinner from, it doesn't need an upgrade to play the latest and greatest game of 2009), and I've not had a haircut in five years.

I'm happy with where I am right now. I know myself a lot better than I did ten years or even five years ago, and I've a lot more friends now than I did then. Naturally, there are areas I'd like to improve on, but the general picture is good.

Here's to a successful 2010 for everyone!

And we're just about ready!

All the gifts are achieved (whether made or bought) and wrapped. The cats are still allowing the tree to stand. The game room table has been cleared, in case people want to play games. Arrangements have been made.

I even have everything I need for a special dinner on Sunday which will put me firmly in the LA's good books (and I'm not going to spoil it!)

We celebrate Christmas as a cultural thing. It's good to have a party when the nights have drawn in (although the sun never gets as low here as it does in the UK; I'm still feeling as though it's roughly October, based on the hours of daylight) and it's nice to give gifts.

I am a chauffeur.

The LA prefers to sit in the front seat. She gets a better view, she avoids motion sickness, and in my car, that seat has a heating grid under the seat squab and in the lower backrest, which she makes use of. Unfortunately, the front passenger seat of my car is currently out of commission. The seatbelt latch has given up the ghost.

Yes, you read that correctly. A part related to safety has worn out, on a Volvo!

Some people have been urging me to replace it myself. I'm not wanting to do that because a) it's a safety part, and I don't have that much confidence in my wrench-turning skills, and b) replacing it would require removing the seat, which thanks to the aforementioned heating grids is a task and a half. For the moment, she's riding in the back if she rides at all, but as soon as the shop opens on Monday, I shall be calling for an estimate on bilateral replacement of front seatbelt latches. After all, the passenger belt has had less use than the driver's belt, and the wear shown is very similar.

Thanksgiving

It's been a good year, and for Thanksgiving, the LA and I were invited to a friend's house. We decided to accept; the serving of goose was not a small factor in that decision. We spent the day playing games, and had a great deal of fun.

Then, on Friday (traditionally the day on which you Don't Go Shopping if you have any sense; America starts its January sales the day after Thanksgiving, for the British folks, and the Americans need no explanation of Black Friday), I spent the morning removing the centre console from my car, dismounting the switch for the driver's side seat heater, which was sticking because of a soda incident some years earlier, and cleaning it so as to make it switchable again. Astoundingly, I succeeded despite having to service a non-user-serviceable part.

Sociability, and not drowning but waving

I haven't been saying much. It seems that how much I have to say here is inversely proportional to how much time I spend with people out in the real world - and that has significantly increased lately, as I've taken to attending the regular Tuesday night board games sessions at the local gaming store. It's generally an older-feeling crowd than Magic or D&D seem to attract (which does mean that I fit in quite well) and between the games and the company, it works out as a very good thing for my balance.

Also, I've just acquired Google Wave. This is new technology, stretches this computer to its limit, and is very very shiny.

Which makes it such a shame that the major use for it is likely to be shopping lists and suchlike.

What insurance really is.

It seems a lot of people have trouble understanding insurance. However, I'm pretty sure everyone understands the concept of a bet, and that's all insurance really is. You say to the insurance company, "I bet that I will need money to repair my car after an accident". The car insurance company looks at your driving record, and at the records of other drivers similar to you, and at their books, and says "I will take your bet. Your stake is [the amount of your premium], and we don't think you'll need a payout." Naturally, sometimes they're wrong. This is why they take thousands of such bets; on almost all of them, they're right. The income from the stakes they get to keep pays for the smaller number of times they're wrong, and if they guess right, they wind up with a profit overall.

That's an example using car insurance. There are specialised car insurers who work with classic cars, which don't fit into the normal car insurer's accounting procedures well; they can still make profits, because the owners of classic cars are careful with them. They don't make '64 Corvettes any more, so you're not going to treat your '64 Corvette with disdain. You'll garage it, you'll keep it clean, not drive it in the rain, and lavish care on it, because it's effectively irreplaceable. Meanwhile, your Corolla that you get the groceries in is a commodity; there's always another Japanese econobox.

Today, I saw somebody advocating, for health insurance reform, simply removing the ability of health insurers to deny coverage based on pre-existing conditions. While this would possibly improve matters for victims of rape and domestic violence, it's not a solution. Since insurance is a bet, taking on someone that you can know for a fact will need to make claims makes you a sucker. I've even seen suggestions that new insurance companies will arise to offer coverage to those with pre-existing conditions, like the car insurance companies which cater to classic cars.

I want to know what colour the sky is on his world.

It's the little things.

Small details that make the difference.

In general, food shopping here is very similar to in the UK. However, some things differ. For instance, vegetables. I cannot find runner beans here. It's as if they don't exist. On the other hand, celeriac is easy to find, if only I had a really good use for it.

Sausages; I can't find sausages such as I grew up with. Nor can I find back bacon.

Lamb is very rarely found, although I'm not concerned about that since I dislike lamb.

Cheese is much restricted in its selection.

And on another note entirely, we have a new contender in the "classiest clothing" award: an oversized sleeveless t-shirt advertising a bail bond service. Stay classy, sir!