settling in

It seems that all the pieces are starting to fall into place.  Apartment? Check. Car? Check. New friends? In progress.

The car buying experience really reinforced that I am an extremely unskilled negotiator. I purposely avoided taking negotiations class in college because the thought of having to prepare for a graded negotiation every week made me nervous, but in retrospect, those classes would have been a hell of a lot more useful than, say, chronobiology. I think my problem is that I have difficulty putting myself in another person's shoes. I mean, to me, negotiation is all about understanding where the other person is coming from so you can use that to your advantage. I wonder if that's something you can learn...? At the very least, the next time I make a major purchase, I'm doing my research beforehand. If I can't understand people, I should at least understand the product I'm buying :P

Tonight's dinner by the waterfront was a perfect ending to a beautiful (and HOT) weekend. I'm still amazed that I can see this view from my apartment. I hope I never become desensitized to this beauty...I'm reminded of a quote from into the wild:

"I’ve decided that I’m going to live this life for some time to come. The freedom and simple beauty of it is just too good to pass up.”