Tuesday, March 16, 2010

California Rocks My World - Literally

So obviously, yesterday was a rough day. I was so bothered with everything that I didn't even feel tired enough to attempt sleep until 2am. Once I did lay down I actually fell asleep quickly. However, a peaceful night's rest was not meant to be. Not long later I woke up to the sound of lamps and miscellaneous desk items rattling, and the floor and my bed shaking up and down. I'll admit, I was confused. I tried to think of the reasons why such motion would be happening while I rolled over and looked at the clock on my phone. 4:04am. The neighbors couldn't make the apartment floor jump like that and there is no highway close enough to be disturbed by semi-trucks trying to gain mileage while the roads are clear. Wait a minute (the light bulb above my head clicked on), I live in California now - land of earthquakes.

REALLY?? I wasn't sure if I was thinking straight, but it freaked me out anyway - I mean, with all the publicity on the news about earthquakes lately I immediately decided that the fastest and probably the safest way out of the apartment was through the sliding glass door on to the back porch. But I did hesitate; there's no exit off of the porch (by the way - the shaking had stopped by now). I was proud of my next move. Without hardly a thought I was on my knees on my bed and praying for safety and calmness, and for the ability to follow the Lord's guidance in case I needed to get out of the building. But still, I needed to know for sure what I had felt.

On went my bedside lamp and I bee-lined for my laptop. Yep. A quick search confirmed that LA had experienced a 4.4 earthquake at 4:04am. So, since my heart wouldn't stop pounding for the next 40 minutes I browsed the USGS website looking at maps and forecasts, earthquake records and definitions of terms.

Welcome to California.

When The Going Gets Tough - I Break Down

Once upon a time I had dreams of grandeur. As I entered my last year of college I talked about moving to California one day to be a successful band manager or talent scout...basically someone important to the entertainment world. However as I got involved in a few internships I managed to line up a pretty great job for myself upon graduation, and I left for Christmas break feeling pretty great about my future. I even got used to the idea of staying in Vegas for a few more years; it would give me a good foothold of experience before heading out to a larger market in California - which would happen eventually, just not then. Then the company downsized. And took back my offer of employment (I'm pretty sure I've talked about this before). Anyway, with the way things worked out California now seemed to be the best place to find a full-time job and I never felt like I shouldn't move. So, I moved.

I've been in LA for just over 48 hours now, and for the most part I am NOT enjoying it.

I don't like that most of my belongings are still in boxes because I have no where to put them even if I did unpack them. It's hard not having any friends to call upon when I'm bored and want to do something. I hate having to remember which side of the street gets cleaned on what day between what times, and waking up early to move my car before it gets towed out of the sweeper's way. I hate that there's heavy traffic nearly ALL day; it makes me want to stay inside all the time so I don't have to deal with it. It bothers me each time my brother and his wife comment that they no longer have space to do their P90X exercizes in the second bedroom, or say "I didn't know we were losing the WHOLE bedroom." YOU try moving an entire house into one room; it's not easy! The whole reason I moved in here was because it was offered to me; I hate, hate, HATE feeling like I'm a bother to someone else. I don't feel qualified for any position that I've heard about, and hesitate to send in my resume for fear of rejection (stupid, right?). I hate that I haven't memorized my new address yet; it's really not complicated. I want to go home, but when I think about going home I don't know if I mean Colorado or Las Vegas.

I hate that I hate California right now. This was supposed to be a good thing.