Day 3, Friday.
Woke up and went to breakfast with the clinic managers in Santa Barbara. This is the most beautiful town I have ever seen. After breakfast I changed into shorts and sandals and checked out the beach and wharf.
Merry Xmas (iz decemberz?):
Just the nicest place I have seen in mainland North America, period. I love the clinic and the people, love the town. I feel really passionate about everything there...the $$ is likely going to be less than half of what I can make elsewhere and the cost of living is high. I'm so torn about it right now, will likely get the offer tomorrow or the next day.
Off to The OC which is the county south of LA.
LA is disgusting. As soon as you get close there is a thick haze making the sky grey -- I felt like I was in Escape From LA, it is seriously post-apocalypticesque. I have no idea if this haze is a constant or a seasonal thing but it is depressing.
In my mind The OC is going to look like San Diego. Blue skies, palm trees, quaint areas, some green spaces. It looks like a continuation of LA. It is very urban, concrete and densely populated.
I have never seen the show The OC. But for fuck sake if you name a show after a place where affluent people live it should be nice. Class action suit?
The beach -- note no blue sky, these pics are late afternoon and are unfiltered:
I interviewed with the clinic there and they gave me a very good offer $$ wise which could exceed the job I left. I don't think I can live there.
4pm off to Vegas. I thought MAYBE I could beat the traffic at 4pm on a Friday afternoon. Nice try. My fault, but the timing was what it was -- fucking horrid. Traffic probably rates in my top 5 least favorite things in this order:
Things me no like:
1. traffic
2. traffic
3. traffic
4. traffic
5. lots 'o cars between me and my destination that are prone to inertia
2 hours in this shit after only sleeping 5 hours last night and not eating much all day. I'm like a bipolar woman on her period, a mix between Michael Douglas in Falling Down and a sobbing flaccid mess.
Got to Vegas a few hours ago after exceeding 100mph at times -- made the 3h trip in just over 4.5 hours. Relaxing at Place Station for a few nights (I wanted to be off the strip and Rio was way overpriced for the weekend for some reason) and then will move to the Rio for 4-5 nights. I opted for the deluxe tower room vs the courtyard room -- it is actually quite a nice, modern room. Unfortunately, the highest floor available was the 7th -- if I were higher up I would have a nice unobstructed-by-the-parking-structure view. Still, not bad. They screw you over with a $16/night resort fee surcharge when you check in and, of course, internet is never free in Vegas hotel rooms, but only $6/24h here is the cheapest I've seen.
I've always liked Vegas aside from poker. I like the clear skies, the fresh air and the open desert. I like Red Rock and Valley of Fire parks. I'm going to see a clinic here on Tuesday which would be a 4 day a week daytime job with average pay, which is really good money in Vegas. If it is a good clinic then the debate will be Vegas which would be easy financially since it's dirt cheap to live here (could buy a nice house for 1.5x my annual income excluding poker or a very nice house for 2x) and I can make extra money with poker vs Santa Barbara which would be more of a struggle financially since cost of living is high and the closest decent poker is all the way in LA 2 hours south. I truly don't know what to do.
I'm going to try and relax for a few days as this is all that I've been thinking of for over a week now. Hoping that a workout and some low limit 1/3 will help me relax a bit...if not, which way to the bunny ranch?
Pokering will start tomorrow.