From bankrupt state to bankrupt state

If you don't know by now, MacTroll works for a large company based out of the Bay area in California. He loves his job and according to his last review, his manager seems to really like him. But a repeating sentence has been being said to him for the last two years, "If you want to move up, you'll have to move to California."

The idea makes me wince. I'd much rather move to the other large corporate location for his company in Austin. No one has made any promises or set any time tables, but MacTroll and I are coming around to the idea that it would probably behoove us to start thinking or accepting the prospect that something might happen sooner or later. I hate suburbs. I hate miles and miles of concrete with people driving on it. I'm either suited for city where people walk and have mass transit or I'm suited for small town. Plus, I hate giant highway systems. Driving 95 on the East Coast used to give me road rage so bad that when I was pregnant and heading from Baltimore to Philadelphia, I almost took out two assholes at the rest area because they couldn't freaking hold a door open for an elderly person with a walker. They just let it slam in her face. Forget please and thank yous. Forget driving less than 80 mph. Forget turn signals. There are just too many damn people -- who appear to feel somehow entitled to ignoring everyone else. Such behavior goes against my midwestern sensitivities. It's no different outside Chicago, though. Or LA. Or Miami. Or any other suburb area I've ever driven.

The Bay area hits me as one big suburb. One big suburb that is overpriced and overpopulated. In November, MacTroll has some crazy conference where he'll be working from 7 a.m. until 2 a.m. every day. Since I'm a single parent most days, I figured it was a good a time as any to get my bearings. So, X-man and I are heading to San José for three days. We'll arrive Sunday and hopefully get some time with MacTroll's brother and his family. Then X-man and I will have Monday to explore. I'm not sure if I'll drive down to Monterey or maybe to Santa Cruz or possibly even just around San José and Santa Clara. I can check out neighborhoods, park systems, crowd issues...

Then on Tuesday, X-man and I were thinking children's museum, IMAX theater and possibly an NHL game that night. We'd fly out of SFO in the morning. (Yes, San José has an airport, but all the seats were full using mileage to get us out there.)

So we'll explore, take pictures, jot down our thoughts and try to have some fun. And maybe, if we're lucky, we'll wake up just enough when MacTroll comes into the room at 2 a.m. and kisses us both on our foreheads.