I have been busy with work, apartment hunting, car hunting and unpacking my things that arrived from Bloomington. I gave up on the plan for staying alone for a while because of the high rents near the Microsoft campus. So I spent more time finding an apartment where I was mostly certain of finding a suitable roommate. I am now settled and unpacked in a 2 BR condo near Bellevue downtown. Its about 10 min drive to where I work. The only problem with the place is that I cannot bike either way. Its steep and way too tiring for me judging by the look of it. That would mean driving to some bike trail & biking. I wonder if I will do that.

I now have a *real* car, its a volkswagen passat glx. The good thing about it is that its fully loaded, all bells & whistles. Small change from my first car. I knew nothing about cars a month ago, and now I actually know a fair amount. No technical details, but about model/make and such. I learnt that the favorite desi car is Toyota Corolla. Next probably the honda cars. I am already thinking about what my next car will be. I am tempted to get a convertible, it will be fun in the summers. But we'll think about it when we get there. Winter is creeping in and I need to buy some new winter gear. My Bloomington snow jackets etc will probably be of no use here.

I am yet to explore Seattle like a tourist. I am hoping to do it on my own or with other newbies. There are three things that I put on my (stretch) goal list when I moved in.

1. To go to a gym

2. To go to office early & get out early (along 8-5 lines) and

3. To make more women friends.

I have failed in all 3 so far. Well actually, making women friends has probably been a success as in I do hang out with women more than I did ever since high school. That is one flip side of being a part of computer science. As an engineering student, the men:women ratio was very high during my undergrad, same with work life & grad school. And so, during my vacation I sat down and thought about the fun discussions that I have had in the past in women only groups... and I decided that I should do something to ensure that I do not miss out completely on those.