It is bike-to-work day today, so I decided to join a group of cyclists riding down to Google from San Francisco.

The ride is 40+ miles and takes you down the edge of the bay, past the airports and industrial estates to Palo Alto and then over to Mountain View. Everyone else was on road bikes, so it was tough for me to keep up. Pretty much the whole way I felt like I was flat out in top gear, and if they’d gone any faster I just wouldn’t have been able to maintain the speed.

But I made it and the only things that are really hurting are my arse (I need cycling shorts) and my back (to make it even harder for myself I had a back pack).

Right, off to get a much needed shower.

I’ve been working in the states for 6-months now. Which is crazy. This is the longest I’ve been outside the UK in one go. Things are still good, though it seems I suffer from hay fever in California too :(

Things I’ve done in the last few weeks:

– Visited JJ in Whistler, British Columbia, for 4 days snowboarding

– Seen Blackalicious play

– Seen Yeah Yeah Yeahs at The Warfield in San Francisco

– Jumped out of a plane for the third time (Category C1 sky dive)

– Read The United States of Europe

– Worked a lot

It is crazy to think I’ve been here 6 weeks already! Time is flying. It doesn’t seem long ago that it was summer and I was diving in the Caribbean.

Last Friday night was the Google Holiday Party. It was pretty nuts. Hosted in a huge warehouse on a pier in downtown SF, the theme was Google Air. When we arrived we passed through a pseudo-check-in system, guided by "stewardesses", then once inside we had access to a number of huge rooms. Each room represented a different location; there was Bombay’s Bazaar, Google McDougal’s Irish Pub, Tokyo’s Bento Box, Plaza do Brazil, and (my favourite of course) London’s Underground. Each room had its own food, music, activities and decorations pertaining to the theme. So Ireland had ham sandwiches and real chips (not fries), pool and darts. Japan had sushi and karaoke. London Underground was a dance club in "Baker Station", etc. etc. It was pretty damn cool. It finished at 12 then we went to an after party. I got back around 3 in morning, but then was woken at 7 by pneumatic drills outside my window — headache!

This is my first proper weekend in my apartment, it’s a hell of a relief to have found somewhere to live and to be settling in properly. The next month proves to be very busy in and out of work. I’m not going to mention the work reasons, but outside there are a whole host of parties (my roommate Amy and I are having "Cocktails at Sunset" on our roof) and my family are coming over for Christmas. We have a condo booked on the banks of Lake Tahoe, which should be amazing.

Right, I’m off to climb Twin Peaks and watch the sun set.

I’ve wanted to write something for a while now but have been waiting until I got a better handle on the various policies at work. But now I’ve been here a week I think I know what’s going on.

So I said goodbye to the UK 10-days ago and started work last Monday. It’s been pretty intense, but things are looking good. Work-wise I can’t say much, but there are some crazy things going down here and it’s exciting to be part of it. The learning curve is steep, but everyone’s really friendly and helpful. I’m really liking San Francisco and am looking forward to moving up there; I am currently in temporary housing in Mountain View, which is convenient for getting to work but it’s a pain to drive back to from the city at 2am in the morning :)

One of the coolest things I’ve noticed here is that the sky is nearly always blue, maybe it’s the time of year, but it’s a welcome change from the grey autumns of the UK.

I have uploaded some photos of San Francisco if you’re interested.

So I handed in my resignation today. It’s amazing how free I feel now.

Friends I’ve talked to recently, and previous readers of this site, will know that on 23rd June I am flying to Honduras to work for 3-months on a scientific project in the rainforest. My official title is Computer Systems Manager for Operation Wallacea, where my role is to simply set up computer networks at the two Honduran sites, then maintain them for the duration of the project. When I originally volunteered to work for Op Wall I asked to be a jungle-assistant-type-person, but alas they saw my CV and decided I was more valuable working with the computers. Oh well. It is still going to be incredibly fun and interesting, and there will be a lot more to do out there as general logistics staff.

Anyway, back to the point of this post. Originally I had intended to return after the summer to work at Act e-learning, but following the recent acquisition of the "product division" by Vantage Technologies I have been unhappy with the work.

As luck would have it I was recently offered a job in London. I can’t say much about it at the moment, but as of 1st October I will be based in Windsor working on a very interesting, and big project, that will actually involve some elements from my Artificial Intelligence degree. If — sorry, when — we pull it off it will be a hell of an achievement!!