Scott James Remnant

Hey Everyone,

For years I’ve been warned about the DMV; friends advised me to take plenty of water, a packed lunch, and perhaps even an emergency sleeping bag in case the queues were too long; even the Simpsons and Family Guy spun scary stories about the place.

Yesterday my appointment finally arrived, and it was time to head along to get my temporary driver license/permit; this involves filling in forms, having my fingerprints and picture taken, and sitting written multiple-choice tests — I had to take two because I’m applying for both a Car and Motorbike licence.

And to be honest, I was disappointed. I didn’t find it any more or less insanely bureaucratic than I was expecting. Yes, you had to queue after the door for a man who checked you had an appointment, and then gave you a number. Yes if you had forms to fill in, you had to queue to get those, then queue to get the number after you filled it in. Yes, you have to wait for your number to call. Yes there are more queues, and more waiting between each. And yes, I was there about five hours in total.

But growing up in the UK prepared me for this. It wasn’t any difference to a trip to the Post Office really; or A&E. I’m British, we know how to queue!

So now I have the necessary temporary license and permit, the next step is to do the Motorcycle training course (pretty much like our CBP) and then take the ordinary Driving Test for the car. And that’s actually pretty much it for paperwork.

Bye for now,

Scott

Hey Everyone,

It finally feels like I’m settling in here; I’ve even made some changes to the apartment (including the TV) so it feels more like home. Of course, this means it’s now time to start apartment hunting for my own place as it’s just six weeks to go until my time in corporate housing runs out!

By far the biggest decision is going to be whether to get a place of my own, or whether to get somewhere with a roommate. A place on my own is going to be rather smaller and much more expensive, but moving in to someone else’s spare room isn’t going to feel like my own place. The option of having a larger place and finding a roommate is probably not yet an option. And while I’ve met a few people locally, and made some friends, none of them want to move to the city just yet.

Talking of the city, I had my first proper night out in the Castro on Saturday night hanging out at a couple of the main bars on 18th St and ending up in Badlands. Everywhere in SF closes at 2am, which is going to take a little bit of getting used to; I guess there’s a large house party culture here after the bars kick out. Or people like Sunday mornings.

Bye for now,

Scott

Hey Everyone,

It’s now been six weeks since I arrived, which puts me almost exactly half way through my stint of living in the valley, also known as the bay; the area known locally as just about any term except that which the rest of the world calls it: Silicon Valley. And if few people like to use that name, even fewer admit to that thing that all of us geeks are guilty of: Silicon Valley Tourism.

On almost every street corner in the area, you’ll find the headquarters and engineering offices of just about every technology company you’ve ever heard of. A walk around my apartment complex takes me into the heart of the headquarters of Cisco Systems; a drive to the cinema takes me past Yahoo!; and the sat-nav may as well say “turn left at eBay” if I drive down into San Jose.

And it’s not just offices: other sights are the house in Palo Alto where Facebook camped out for the first summer (that part of the movie is probably the most accurate); the garage in Menlo Park where Google started (now owned by Google) and the ghost of the Netscape campus in Mountain View (now Symantec).

On top of all that there’s the Stanford Linear Accelerator, Onizuka Air Force Station, the Telescopes on Mount Hamilton (about which I’ve already written) and the giant blimp hangers at Moffett Field.

If you’re a geek, it’s hard to drive around the area without a camera. If you’re a normal person, don’t mind us…

By for now,

Scott

Hey Everyone,

I gave in at last and bought a TV and PS3 after looking at them so much. This wasn’t just a case of geek impulse, but a friend was out shopping and texted to tell me that the Best Buy in Palo Alto had a bunch of stock clearance deals on as they are going to refurbish, so I headed up and discovered they had the exact TV I wanted for $800 off. Sensible buying after all.

Likewise the PS3 was a good deal on the bundle, so I’ve saved money by buying now rather than later.

Things have been going pretty well; finally feeling like I live here, though the apartment obviously still feels somewhat temporary. Have met quite a few more people in the area too.

On Friday evening there was the “Gayglers Happy Hour” up in the city, so I took one of the SF shuttle buses for the first time and the last Caltrain back. Met quite a few people there, both Googlers and their boyfriends. Then on Saturday went out down in San Jose with some other people I know here, and bumped into someone I’ve known for ages.

Bye for now,

Scott

Hey Everyone,

The rest of my Presidents Day weekend was spent shopping too! Well, window shopping actually mostly. Since I’m now in my 5th week here, and I only have the corporate housing apartment for another 7-8 weeks, I’m starting slowly to plan apartment hunting up in the city.

This doesn’t just involve finding a place, but getting together enough money to put the deposit down & pay the first month’s rent and then actually furnish it, such as buying beds, sofas, a TV, etc.

So I spent Monday going around various places getting an idea of the prices for the various things I need, so I have a much better idea of the amount of money I’ll need to save up and how to prioritize things. Obviously having a bed to sleep on is going to be more important than a PS3 to play games on, wait, did I get that the right way round?

Of course, this also gave me an excuse to go to Fry’s; love it, or hate it, it’s like geek church. Geek church with a cowboy theme, anyway, if you go to the one in Palo Alto. To those in the UK who’ve never been to one, Fry’s is like Costco for technology; somewhere you can buy RAM chips, a Kettle, a Television and toys for the kids all in one shop. It’s fun.

Bye for now,

Scott

Hey Everyone,

This week has been a really busy one, it really felt like a normal week of work and routine. What’s more, I even more officially exist now, because my Social Security Card arrived with the all-important Social Security Number on it. Not only does this number mean I can be paid and pay taxes like a normal person, but it’s pretty much mandatory for signing up to anything in America such as getting credit or even accessing my cell phone account online!

Talking of which I also have a US Credit Card now, and have already maxed out the $2,500 limit they gave me! No, I’m not spending stupidly. It’s holding the car rental for me until Google reimburse me for it. It also means that by making the payments on it, that I start generating a credit rating! That’s important here, even apartment rentals credit check you!

The weather has turned decidedly wet here, when it rains here, it does it properly! None of the British drizzle, it heads straight for downpour and the freeways turn into deathtraps. It makes me smile actually; everyone complains how British airports close in the rare snow because we’ve never spent the money on the equipment, but it’s just the same here except with rain. Even SFO shuts a runway!

Braved the rain last night to go up into the city with some new friends I’ve made here for a little bar crawl along the Castro and into Folsom. It was a good night out, and crashed on a sofa up in the city so was able to hang out today for brunch and a little light shopping.

I’m trying to introduce a little variety into my t-shirt collection, while A&F and Hollister were good for back in the UK, here they’re pretty common so I’ve been shopping elsewhere for the most part. And you know how A&F and Hollister are very expensive in the UK and cheap here, it turns out that the opposite is true for SuperDry! So I know where I’ll be hitting when back in the UK, to Cult!

This weekend is a holiday weekend here, so I get Monday off too!

Bye for now,

Scott

Hey Everyone,

Yesterday I had a bit of a drive around to explore some of the local area. My primary reason at first was to find somewhere interesting for lunch, as thanks to the Google Cafes I haven’t actually got much in the house to eat.

The place I found is the one pictured here, and it definitely qualified as interesting! To get to took a drive up a windy mountain road, into the Redwood forests on the mountains above silicon valley. The restaurant itself is at the crossroads of that windy mountain road with Skyline Blvd, the road that runs along the top of them.

It’s a haven for bikers and sports car drivers, with a healthy selection of both parked outside, coming and going. The burgers aren’t too bad either.

While sat outside there was a wonderfully Californian moment; a bride and groom showed up, in full wedding dress, to have their pictures taken.

After that I wandered into downtown Palo Alto for a mooch around, popped into Fry’s but managed not to buy anything, and a few other places.

Bye for now,

Scott

Hey Everyone,

I did warn you that I wouldn’t be doing daily postcards ;-) actually I haven’t really got that much to report this week. It’s been the first “normal” working week, where I’m at my desk working on my starter project, attending team meetings, and learning the ropes of the job.

Have been trying to regularly wander around different parts of the Google Campus, to get a bit of an idea where things are. There’s plenty of unusual things to see, including the model of Space Ship One hanging in the lobby pictured here. Another goal has been to eat at least once in each of the different cafes on campus, which means I’ve had to also make sure I go to the gym to work it all off again!

Bye for now,

Scott

Hey Everyone,

So you’ve probably noticed that I’m not doing daily postcards now, since I’ve been here a couple of weeks and things are starting to set into a routine. But don’t worry, I’ll be still doing them every time I have anything interesting to write.

Since the weather this weekend was absolutely beautiful, I spent very little of it inside near a computer! On Saturday I met up with Harley & Chris for lunch in Los Altos, and wandered around the Stanford Shopping Center with them for a bit. In the evening we had a BBQ and card games with another couple from their same apartment complex, which was great fun.

On Sunday Robey finally deigned to meet for lunch, along with Rus; we went to another little village complex near my place. They mentioned somewhere they’d driven to, and since I had the afternoon free, I decided to do the same.

On top of Mount Hamilton (4,200ft), just to the East of San Jose, is an observatory complex - Lick Observatory. This is pretty famous at the moment as the 120” reflector telescope there is one of the main ones being used to detect extra-solar planets. The drive up was an awesome twisty mountain road, climbing and occasionally dropping into valleys, until eventually reaching the observatory at the top.

The view was amazing, as it was such a clear day, you could see all of Silicon Valley and even up the bay to San Francisco. And the observatory itself was pretty interesting, with a bunch of exhibits and a tour of both the older 36” refractor and the 120” reflector.

Definitely worth the visit!

Bye for now,

Scott

Kung hei fat choy, everyone!

Yesterday was the Chinese New Year, and Google Taiwan put on a small celebration around the campus with lion dances, special food and gifts. I now have Google chopsticks!

I also applied for my Social Security Number (and card) yesterday; since the weather was so nice, Jeff suggested we bike from the campus down to the office together since he had an appointment at another place in the same building. So I borrowed one of the decent Google Visitor Bikes and we raced down the awesome Stevens Creek Trail. While it was distinctly more urbanized than similar trails in the UK, with proper bridges and suchlike, it was refreshing that such things exist in America.

As Jeff pointed out, the bay area is a special part of California, and California is a special part of America.

Talking of exercise, had my fitness assessment today at the Google Gym. Apparently I’m about normal for health and fitness for somebody my age, so at least I’m not going to die. Talked through a program to get me up to “fit” levels again.

Still no solid plans for the weekend yet, it does look like it’s going to be rather a nice one though!

Bye for now,

Scott