Yeah so I've found in my first week here I have found myself still recouping from the drive out West. I must admit it's a little different here than back east. For instance, there really aren't trees here nor does it really get all that green. I must admit that I miss seeing the monuments. Granted I didn't go into the district all that much but you could still see them from across the river. This particular picture was taken during the Thanksgiving holiday when I went into to do a brief tour of the monuments with my sister Amy and her now husband Jeff. Which reminds me, after touring the Mall briefly I dropped Amy and Jeff off North of town and proceeded to get extremely lost in DC. I have learned, with my limited knowledge of the simple gird system of Utah, that it is way easier to maneuver out west. I was planning on using the mountains as
a marker for figuring out where East is but apparently mountains are all over the place (and I think they outnumber the amount of trees out here 3:1).Driving into Utah I took the picture on the left. I should caution anyone that you should probably not drive and take pictures at the same time. Fortunately I am just that talented (or I like to think so). Look at all those trees... So I was expecting snow when I came out. And it has snowed a decent amount. One thing that caught me off guard was stupidity while driving. I have seen my fair share of stupidity (or just aggression) when it comes to driving back East. When it snows back East you know it's bad when you see flurries and people are panicking that it's "snowing." So I thought, "Hey, it's snows here quite a bit and for a number of months. So people should know how to drive." Boy was I wrong. I thought the biggest offenders of running red lights was in DC. Nope. Utah drivers have DC and Maryland drivers beat by a long shot. In fact, I was in turning right coming of the ramp from I-15. I in the left right turn lane stopped at the red light having people honk behind me. So naturally I thought it snows here practically half the year. How hard could it be, right? Apparently pretty stinking hard. First rule of thumb: If it is snowing, continue driving fast. Second: Tailgating is permitted during inclement weather. Third: Just because the road is cleared up in one county or city doesn't mean that the next county/city will have done much.
Enough of that. Utah is pretty with the snow-capped mountains and all. That is going to take some getting used to. Right now life is pretty boring. I don't know too many people. I haven't found a permanent place to live as of yet (though Provo is tempting, that would be a loooooong commute to Sandy). Right now I am looking at either Draper or Murray. Right now the Crains have been kind enough to let me stay in their pretty awesome basement. The cool things I have done so far have involved showing my mom Park City and some of Salt Lake City. I went to Trolley Square and was enjoying myself there until a friend told me of it's recent history. And I have been to Provo. Lovely, lovely Provo. Righ........t. It's a fun place, don't get me wrong but it's a trek driving back and forth all the time. One thing I am having a hard time getting used to is the time difference and the altitude. Hopefully I won't have the urge to go to sleep at 9:30pm too much longer.
As for the new job, I love it so far. After only a week, it feels like I made the right decision. It's nice to be back in the financial services industry. Not only that, the people in my training class are way cool and the people I have met so far are pretty chill. Hopefully I will update this blog a little more regularly then a couple weeks. If not, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!
