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It’s a late Tuesday evening. I’m three hours off my normal time (EST) since I’m in Palo Alto/Mountain View (PST). I got here on Sunday, and it has rained every day. The humidity is confusing my winter-calibrated Canadian self, and while everyone else is walking around in tshirts, I’m huddled in a sweater and my goretex hoodie. Lovin’ my MEC-wear, let me tell you.

I’m in California this week to get started at my new job with the Mozilla Foundation. I’m now solidly equipped with a laptop and a mission. I’ve met a bunch of good people, seen my first Apple store, and am still struggling with jetlag. Work has been interesting so far, and the rest of the week is shaping up to be more interesting still. Right now, approaching the midnight hour, I’m mostly just hoping that the duck (over whose residence my hotel room hangs) doesn’t actually quack its little head off every day from 6:30am until 7:00am like it did this morning. It’s a mallard, for the record, and is cute enough as duckies go.

Two things I’ve noticed about California (that I somehow didn’t notice before): 1) Everyone drives everywhere, and 2) Getting a taxi in downtown Mountain View is more difficult than you might expect. I suspect these are related. I walked 15 mins from the office to a pub for dinner and didn’t see another pedestrian. I think the sidewalks are a symbolic nod to some simpler, non-space-age. Also, the cherry trees are in bloom. That in itself is sort of blowing my mind, given that back home it snowed this morning, and Ottawa won’t see flowering things for a handful of weeks or so.

Apple store quickie review: overrated. They did have Things in Stock, but when actually confronted by the $150 USD pricetag on the Shuffles, my inner-penny-pincher kicked in with a bit of sticker shock. I got a pack of iPod Socks and a laptop bag instead. They didn’t have any bluetooth mice. They didn’t have too many mice at all, really. All in all, I think the online Apple Store is the way to go. The Future is Now for ecommerce, I guess. I think maybe my patience with malls and retail storefronts in general has simply worn to transparency. Someday I’ll post a rant about modern megabookmarts and the quality of customer experience they provide.

That’s really about all the news I have at the moment. I’m here for the rest of the week, then back home very very early Saturday. I’m a bit of a homebody, you see, so I’m already sort of looking forward to getting back, even though the palm trees around here are pretty hella cool. Must remember to take some photos before I leave.