I’m staying with my friend Nathan at Claremont. We worked pretty hard all day. I built a program for my dad’s doctors office. It’s great having little projects to work on and practice and explore different programming skills. This one was in C# with some file structure manipulation, recursion, and of course a GUI. I also typed up instructions and posted everything online – so I got to do a little bit of HTML too.
These little projects and tutoring are great because I can do them from anywhere and make a little bit of pocket money to support my nomadic lifestyle.
In the evening, Nathan, Annie, Michelle, and I went to an overlook in the hills above Los Angeles. I’m didn’t get many great pictures, but Michelle brought a really nice camera and here’s a post with her pics.
Los Angeles at night
My German roommates saw me off.
Chris and Oliver
The bus to LA was late, or “en loitaf” – according to the Frenchman I met at the stop.
“Go West” – Horace Greeley
No outlets on the bus, so I’m powering off to save energy. I’ve got to call my friend when I get there.
Some fantastic views from the road
Made it to Los Angeles, Union Station
Drink Comrade! Drink!
Fruit Snacks
Hanging with new friends at Claremont Mckenna
Support Portland local businesses!
Okay, Funday is an exaggeration. Back to the library for me. On the way, I soaked in the usual city entertainment:
I think my friend Matt has this shirt
Such an artistic city
Herbs so fresh I could smell them a block away
I was also invited to play a chess match, offered drugs again. I stopped by The Warfield concert hall and saw that Wolfgang Gartner is playing on Saturday. I just might go for $30.
Walking around I passed the end of the Dew Tour.
Huge mounds from the dirt bike competition.
Some tight rope tricksters
This is amazing
I walked up near the top of San Francisco, the corner of Mason and California.
Up here
The view from there was spectacular.
Pictures don’t do it justice, but I tried:
Big news! My friend Nathan called me back and I’m going to Los Angeles tomorrow to spend a few days with him. I’m pumped – I haven’t seen him in at least a year. My family called too to catch up. It was nice to hear from them.
I tutored my friend for a few hours until we were both burned out on physics and then bought my bus ticket to LA. I read my book a bit more and tried to finish all the food I bought so I don’t have to take it with me. I saved enough for a sandwich for my 8 hour bus ride. It’s definitely going to be a long, boring day.
I had a bit of a lazy morning. I was up around 8:30 but I didn’t leave the hostel until after 11. I had a lot on my mind, so to clear my head I went to the park.
Union Square Park
There was some kind of Korean-American fesitval going on
Some great ethnic garb
A statue to my namesake – the great Commodore George Dewey
I came across a walking tour of San Francisco
The city’s got a lot of heart…And monkeys playing classical guitar.
I felt better after a while and headed back to the library. More “productive facebooking” if that’s what you call it. I realized that I should try to make any money that I can, so I picked up my old job tutoring a friend in physics. I spent the next couple of hours making worksheets.
I haven’t had a good meal in a while, so I decided to splurge on some hot food. I stopped by Piccolo Italia Pizza and got the fattest philly chicken for $6.
The Fattest:
So many weird things happen in the city. I was crossing the street when someone shouted “Blimp!”
Sure enough
Back at the hostel I tutored my friend for a couple of hours. Afterwards, I heard a fight break out downstairs. Someone was just way too drunk. It’s incidents like this that remind me I need to stay productive so I can move to a nicer and safer part of California. I went to the front desk and added one more day to my stay here and headed to bed.
I went on walk while waiting for the library to open. Out of the blue I ran into J from last nights social media class. We laughed about how strange it was to run into each other and I joked that maybe I would run into him again tomorrow. Seeing someone I knew, even just an acquaintance, brightened my day.
I walked by an antique vehicle showcase
I could see myself on one of these some day
I also stopped by Goodwill and found some cheap books I might come back for
Some about the world, some about growth
Back at the library I started applying what I had learned at last night’s social media class. First, I hammered out about a page of resume material. I’m not sure how to explain what happened next. I hit a roadblock and started to procrastinate – something everyone has done. After a while of cleaning out my inbox and watching YouTube videos, I realized that I procrastinating Facebook! When i realized how ridiculous it was, I got on and started updating and cleaning up my page.
It’s no secret that when you get someone’s job app or even hear of them, the first thing you do is Google their name. The idea behind social media branding is to show some personality and uniqueness on your page rather than a blank profile. And most importantly, you shouldn’t show anything condemning.
The slides from the presentation:
http://www.slideshare.net/mobile/lollodollo/social-job-search-11379779
I Facebooked for a few hours and around 5 I almost jumped out of my seat when J approached me again. He handed me his contact info and I added him on Facebook – that’s networking.
My goal for the day was to feed myself off of groceries rather than the dollar menu. On the way home I stopped by a few markets until I found bread and goober.
My first groceries!
On the walk home I must have been offered drugs at least five times. Guys will walk by and as they pass they mutter different narcotics. “Vicodin, pot, cocaine,” is what I kept hearing along the way. I’m surprised that drugs are so available here, or maybe I’ve just never listened when I walk around other cities.
I got back to the hostel and learned some german from my dorm mates. Ich muchte ein beer a bet plutsley, ode Ich trete deir in dim arsch!
They translated some more German phrases that came up in my book, and then we jammed to English/German hip hop and met our new room mate Tyler. We listened to: sido, eminem, artifacts, and shiml among others.
Make your own pancakes for breakfast!
On the way to the library I passed some artists
Is it possible to look helpful? Back in Charlottesville people would always stop me to ask for directions. It happened again here! A couple pulled over and I helped them find Van Ness street. Maybe this city isn’t so confusing after all.
The UN Plaza had a farmers market
They honey combs were tempting, but I can’t afford luxury buys yet. I headed over to the library, but it opens late on Fridays.
Library hours
So I went back to UN Plaza and watched the birds.
This one likes chicken
There’s always at least one of these
I learned something about chickens too
I made it to the library, but spent most of my time cleaning up my blog from my computer as opposed to just my phone. I’ll admit, it wasn’t the best use of time, but while I was there I surfed the library site for jobs and resources. A class on “Job Searching with Social Media” caught my eye. Even better – it was tonight.
Inside SF Public Library
While I waited I applied to a paid research study, but I wasn’t a match.
The class was phenomenal, truly enlightening. It was led by Zach Cole and Patrick Stern, both active members of the tech world. For me, those two were a good fit and I was able to tailor my questions to my field. The audience contributed a lot too. I realized that a resume isn’t really a singular item. Instead, it changes for every job application. I have a much better idea of what and even how to work tomorrow.
On the way out I checked out fliers for other free classes. There’s one Sunday discussing enlightenment era composers. If I don’t have other plans / responsibilities, I’ll probably stop by.
I got back to the room and passed the time with my German dorm mates Ollie and Chris.
The experts helped me with a German phrase in my book
On the way to the library I passed through the United Nations Plaza,
where some bros where tap dancing to Michael Jackson.
Then I happened upon the Dew Tour outside of town hall.
Tightrope or Ninja Kick?
The Green Tortoise in the background
From the alley behind The Green Tortoise
More from GTA
One last look at The Green Tortoise
Hostels are filling up for the weekend, so I had to find a new place to stay. I headed downtown.
SF International Hostel
I booked this place until Sunday. It’s not as nice or homey as The Green Tortoise, but it’ll do. It’s also closer to downtown.
Inside the SF International Hostel
I also took some pics around town.
Ukie Flag!
Chinatown
Now it’s time to hit up a cafe and start looking for places to rent and work.
Wall of text with a tl;dr
I made it to San Francisco. San Francisco was not built with a plan. I learned that the 300 block isn’t between 3rd and 4th streets. It’s actually between 4th and 5th. After getting all turned around I jumped a bus to my hostel. It’s just past Chinatown and across from an adult film store, but it’s home tonight.
VTech fans in Chinatown?
I checked in right before dinner, so I got to meet people right away. Sunna, Kathryn, and I got pretty political. Sunna is from Holland so her perspective was new to me. She says from the outside looking in, Obama and the democrats would have a better effect globally. She also criticized republicans saying their ideation a rely on a ‘survival of the fittest’ model which no longer applies. Kathryn is much older and from California. She’s pretty jaded on politics and essentially points to money’s affect on politics as a stranglehold on the system.
Sunna said that in Holland they get all of our TV shows and learn English in school, which is why her language was so good. Interestingly, she compared the difference between Flemish Dutch spoken in Belgium and Hollandish Dutch to the differentiation between English and our own Americanized version.
I love the culture here. volunteers help cook dinner and then everyone washes their own plate. I met Adiago (I think) the Italian chef here, and Steve from Essex who dried dishes with me. Unfortunately Steve and Sunna are leaving tomorrow, so I won’t get to see them again.
tl;dr: I made it to the hostel. Met some cool foreigners. Talked politics. Kicked back.
I’m kicking back in my room. This place has such a weird setup. I have a window to an enclosed atrium.
Room is compact with 4 bunks.
Hallways are narrow and just begging for cartwheels.
I’m toast from the long day, but I’ll add in a picture of the front tomorrow
Deliberately Indefinite 