Settling in
Anyway, thankfully I didn't have to miss any more work, and really haven't missed out on anything. In fact, I seem to be settling into a routine. My former co-workers at "Red Chemical" would probably be shocked to learn that I've become a morning person. That's right, folks, I'm up by 6:15AM, out the door within the hour, and am typically sitting at my desk by 7:30! It's a miracle!
Work is going well. I need to write an entry about my new job. I'll do that soon. Just know that THERE IS LIFE AFTER RED CHEMICAL.
At least 3 days a week after work, I've been taking the dogs to Freedom Park. Unfortunately, their Mommies didn't do the greatest job of socializing them to other dogs when we lived in Indy, so at least the first 10 minutes or so during our outings, they totally freak out whenever they see another dog. Or runner. Or cyclist. Or person on roller blades. Freedom Park is an amazing park, though. Acres and acres of paths, and earlier this week, I discovered the "Greenway." I'm sure it has a name (something other than the Freedom Park Greenway) but I just don't know what it is yet. Anyway, it runs sort of parallel to Freedom Park in the Dilworth neighborhood. It's surrounded by trees, which makes it a lot easier in this 95F/35C weather.
Really, so far the only two things I'm not totally digging about Charlotte are: 1) the weather (they've had over 80 days straight of temps above 90F/32C); and 2) the traffic. The traffic here pretty much sucks. OK, really, my commute isn't that bad (25 minutes or so), but it can take me an hour to get out of town on a Friday night, whenever I go to the farm.
Other than that, I have to say I'm loving it. It's so pretty here: the trees, the curvy, winding streets, the well-kept neighborhoods . . . and having been away for 20+ years, I see things with a different set of eyes now.
I LOVE the diversity here. There are so many interesting people from all over, from all walks of life, with all sorts of interesting stories. Of course, anytime you have a great diversity of people, you have amazing food . . . and there's some pretty amazing food here. Everything from down-home Southern to South of the Border and some very authentic Vietnamese and Korean. I'm told there's even a fabulous German/Austrian restaurant nearby. I look forward to checking out as many of these places as I possibly can.
Settling into a routine means that I should be able to find more time to take some photos (such as the one of Phillips Place, above) and write blog entries. So come back again soon!
