Baby We Were Born to Run

I haven't written in a few weeks, but I have an excuse: all of that adult-type crap that absolutely no one likes doing that I've put off for months and finally figured I should get done. You know what I'm talking about. The things that drive us to drink, which is the only really awesome thing you can do as an adult. That and hookers. Those are fun things. The things I've been doing? Not fun things. 

Here's the short list:

1. Bills

They keep coming. Every month. Bills are worse than periods. Chocolate cures one. HANDING OVER ALL OF YOUR MONEY cures the other. 

2. Federal Taxes

Apparently the 4 months I spent contract-teaching for KSU counted as a second job, so being a productive young person RAPED MY WALLET. 

3. State Taxes

No, I didn't film a motion picture in the state of Ohio. But there is a YouTube video of me dancing on a table at a bar. Can I have a deduction anyway?

4. Local Taxes

Which I totally didn't completely forget about and do in a 20 minute frenzy on the bus on the way to work...

5. DMV - Driver's License

Is it legal to smoke in a car with a child in it if the windows are down?  Because obviously, knowing the answer to this question will prevent someone from splattering my brains all over the freeway. 

6. DMV - Registration

Part #2. Because the first time I went, I assumed that me being me and having my passport was enough. But apparently I need to have my own signature notarized. Right...

7. DMV - SMOG Testing

CA equivalent of E-check. Inexplicably, the shop I went to raised turtles in a plastic tub in the hallway. 

8. Auto Insurance

"Can you send us your college transcript so we can verify a minimum 3.0 GPA while you were in school?"

9. Picking a Doctor

And yes, I think I found the only practitioner in the state of California that did residency at the Cleveland Clinic.

10. Stock

I got in contact with my brokerage firm and asked a couple questions about my plan, vesting, etc. I was, in turn sent a 60 page book about my stock. I don't understand any of this crap. 

11. 401K

Apparently, it's unheard of for a young person to be interested in designing their own investment strategy and I should just click a little box and let that box click manage my money. After the hours of this, I drank wine. I guess I should save my money now for when I'm too old to have any cool interests (I tease, I know there are plenty of interesting seniors). 



And essentially, throughout that mix, things stayed the same. I worked 5 days a week, I worked out a lot. I had two visits: one briefly from a family friend (it felt strangely comforting to have a dad around, even if it wasn't my own dad), and one weekend visit from a friend that was spending the week in LA. 

I did have a few adventures. I went olive oil tasting up near Sonoma...

And checking out some of the local shops...

Visiting a really great local bar with weird fresh sausages for a friend's birthday...

And taking a pretty delightful self-portrait with his dog...

Followed by a visit to the local whacky donut shop...

And I tried all kinds of fresh lychee, which is the closest thing possible to eating an eyeball...

And my most recent adventure was a trip to Half Moon Bay...

 

Where we stumbled upon a shipwreck...

And looted pure irony from the wreckage...

But in general, things are falling into patterns. I don't need to use a GPS to get to my office, my favorite bar, or Rachel/Dave's apartment anymore. And I have a small handful of people that want to do things with me on weekend that (and here's the shocker) I think are good humans!

Here's a picture of two of my girl-pals from our bike ride this evening. We're a Jew, a black chick, and an Asian girl, so when we hang out it looks like a Benetton ad. 

Well, that's all for now. Sunsets here are beautiful, I caught this one from the bus ride home.