Friends.

I guess I have to be honest, although the weather is great here (usually), the main, well, only, real reason I moved here were friends.

Crossing over.

I had the choice of practically anywhere in the US to go. I was starting from ground up and there were no factors I really had to look at. The question of where to go was a huge one I had to face. I gave myself some broad basics. Employment opportunities (and let's save that for another post), livability and weather. However, all three were surpassed by the need to be back with friends.

I have friends around the world from my time living in Europe and from my travels. However, I knew my life was going to drastically transform and my ability to see these friends was going to be curtailed. I had to be someplace where I would have a base, or core, of friends. A ready made support network if you will.

So, That left me with three real choices. South Lake Tahoe, Reno/Carson City/Minden/Gardnerville, or Sacramento.

There is a very interesting thing that happens to people from South Lake Tahoe which is generally, we all can not wait to leave. To be fair, many friends I have are still happily living there. For me though, the town has changed too much. I have no family there anymore, jobs are few and far between, and the cost of living was just too high.

The rest of us from South Lake Tahoe, seemed to have melted down the hill, either east or west.

Biggest Little City

So let's look east, to Reno and what I call Mindenville (the Carson Valley). I have many good friends there and I do love the area. There are jobs, decent cost of living and no state income taxes. BUT, it is windy. I don't mean a slight breeze occasionally, no I mean wind! And frankly, I don't like wind. And it snows there, so, I had to take a pass.

So that leads me to Sacramento.

I have many close friends here. I have been visiting here for so many years, it was easy to keep up. Along with social media, it has been easy to "fall" back into friendship. I have also made new friends as well who I deeply cherish. In the end, it was the correct choice for me to come here, a place I am quite happy to refer to in a single short phrase;

Home

Let's Start with the Weather.

No subject was a better ice breaker (pardon the pun) when I lived in the UK then the weather.

And that is where I will begin.

For my entire life, I have lived in places where it snowed. Some of these were expected (Zurich, South Lake Tahoe) and some surprising (Tucson, and Falmouth).  So when it came time to relocate, I had a seriously important decision to make, I needed to move where this wouldn't happen.

Falmouth, where it "never" snows.

The Alps, where, yes, it's supposed to snow. (Photo credit E Owen-Jones)

No more shoveling. No more scraping ice off of a windshield. No more freezing. I needed to be warm. Where to go.....

There were lots of reasons I chose Sacramento. Weather was one. 

Ah, winter in Sacramento

While my friends and family suffer freezing temperatures, snow drifts, avalanches (or at least the threat of them), I am here, walking my dog in the sun in temperatures of 70f/21c. 

And that is one fabulous reason to move somewhere.

A New Chapter. Actually, It's a New Book.

Where to begin....

As some of you know, this is not my first, or even second blog.

Previously, there was Tech Dude. My attempt at making sense of the IT world for a broader, more educationally minded, audience.

Then there was Takeingtimeoff, which didn't work out.

Now I am here in Sacramento after all those years away in Europe.

Today I was speaking to someone who said to me that there must be some serious culture shock for me after being in Europe for so long. She was correct, and it got me thinking that perhaps it is time to get back to blogging and maybe record some of these strange, new, old and wonderful things i run into on my reintegration into California.

So dear reader, welcome to a new adventure, perhaps the best one so far, and lets see what kind of trouble we can get into and avoid at the same time!