I have a new car

I have been the proud owner of a brand new Scion xA for three weeks now, which has shaved my ludicrous 1.5 hour morning commute down to a puny 40 minutes. Thank you Scion, for finally figuring out how to make a car as hip as I am, for 38mpg highway fuel efficiency, and for giving me enough trunk space to hold one grocery bag from Trader Joes.

In terms of the impending leap to suburbia, these last few weeks are truly a time of transition, where Sheena and I have been able to live in the city at last year's rents but with next year's car. This has meant taking frantic apartment-hunting trips to the South Bay, but it has also meant getting to visit interesting spots closer to home, like Bernal Heights. Being a sucker for "spectacular vistas" and an avid map buff, I have always had my eye on Bernal Heights Park. I love the sudden way it slopes upward between the houses in the landscape, and the way its rolling grass surface changes color with the seasons, more intensely than other open spaces. This picture is from the brief hike to the top, which was a little on the scary side. We also walked around Bernal Heights' Cortland Street, where we saw some of the coolest dogs ever, checked out Red Hill Books (see post about bookstores), and ate at Moonlight Cafe.

In other news, this morning while driving to work I found my car had been violated when I looked over at my right side view mirror and found that it was missing. I spent a few minutes being fascinated that it took me 15 minutes to use my right side view mirror just once, but then I got angry. Three weeks is all it took for something like this to happen? I started to think maybe this is why people move to the suburbs. I think my mind is halfway to Cupertino already...