Life in San Francisco

That's right, Chris finally got a job. It seems he likes complaining about unemployment so much that he wanted to keep it up even when it doesn't apply to him:)

Since he decided to be all mysterious in his post, I'll explain the offer he got; legal assistant work in a law firm. He'll be working for lawyers who represent start-up companies that create medical devices and techniques. I don't think he knows exactly what the job entails, but it sounds like it includes working directly with clients as well as some administrative stuff. He hasn't taken the offer yet - has a couple of interviews this week with other places - but he probably will. The only down side is that the firm is in Palo Alto, which would mean he would have an hour-long commute.

I've accepted an offer from a non-profit that manages affordable housing and provides all sorts of services to formerly homeless people, such as employment training and tenant organizing. It's a really great organization, I like the people I'll be working with, and the position itself should be very stimulating. My title will be Fund Development Associate, so I'll be writing grants, talking to individual donors, and organizing fundraising events for the organization. I think writing grants will be really interesting because it will mean doing research on homelessness issues, and talking to donors and organizing events means I'll get to interact with a lot of people. Overall, the position is a good way to start out in the nonprofit world.

I don't start for another few weeks, though, so I have to find ways not to go stir crazy. As Chris explained, sitting around the apartment got boring pretty quickly. I'm looking for volunteer opportunities, including a trip to the food bank tonight. I cook often, partly because we don't have enough money to go out to eat, but mostly because I like big projects. I've made calzones, soup, and veggie burgers from scratch, and lots of different kinds of pasta. We also frequently check craigslist and other websites to find free things to do in the city. Last Sunday, we went to what we thought was just your average Labor Day celebration in Golden Gate Park, and it turned out to be a huge reunion of the "Summer of Love." I thought the Summer of Love was 1969, but apparently it was '67 because this was the 40th reunion. All sorts of crazy people were there - it was great. They were handing out love branches, blowing bubbles, setting up teepees, trance-dancing, hula-hooping, and more. Oh, hippies.

Today we got to go on a tour of the Anchor Brewery today for free! I don't like many of the Anchor brews, to be honest, but it was a pretty interesting tour, we got tons of samples at the end (everybody who took the tour was very buzzed), and we met some very nice people.

So that's our San Francisco experience in a nutshell. Although we've been spending far too much time alone in our apartment (we don't have many friends yet), we haven't gotten too sick of each other. I'm a little sick of watching TV, but frankly, I can always watch more episodes of Scrubs. Thanks, Jamie, for getting me hooked on it.