Cali is Cool

Hey y'all!  I have not written in a while b/c a lot has been going on.  I thought that it would take a while for me to feel lonely out here, but after beginning to work nights it happened almost immediately.  Sure I was meeting people at work, but there are other things I want to do during the day besides sleep, and I never saw Eric.  So I have been busy quitting my job and looking for another one, plus getting involved in stuff out here.

I got a day job at Desert Regional Medical Center, which is the biggest hospital in the valley.  It is a trauma center so I figure I'll learn a lot.  The unit I will be working on is a new Telemetry and Med-Surg unit with a new supervisor and all new people, which is good b/c no one has seniority.  It used to be open only during season (Oct-May), but since people are moving to the valley and staying, they decided to keep it open and get some full time people.  I saw an ad for it before I left, actually.  This is the 4th job offer I've had, which is crazy!  All I have to do is walk in and say I want to work and that's it!  I was talking to a nurse today who is a traveler (she gets paid to move every 13 weeks), and she was telling me that the nursing strikes are all over, even in Southern CA.  I guess I just haven't seen anything here.  She was signed up to fly to Northern CA to work during a strike.  I'm not sure I could do that with a clear conscience.

Anyway, Eric and I saw our first sandstorm last week.  It was so weird.  There is this drainage canal that runs through the city (dry of course), and some streets go down so they are level with it, then come back up.  We were driving down one of these streets and it looked like fog ahead.  It was actually sand from the canal.  We didn't know what it was until we were in the middle of it, so we kept going and came out with a dirty car!  It was quite surreal.  What else.  We went hiking two days this week in the mountains and at Joshua Tree National Park.  The mountains were pretty and cool (for a change!).  The desert was beautiful, and it was quite relaxing to drive through the park.  It is so quiet in the desert... it was nice to get away from the noise.  A joshua tree looks like a big spiny cactus posing as a tree.  They grow every which way and are actually pretty.

Tom (the chef) and Naomi got married Saturday and Eric cooked for the reception, which was nice.  I enjoyed eating what he cooked, but was lacking a date, so one of Naomi's friends said he would be my date.  He was really the only person I had met before, but it was cool to have someone to dance with.  Then Eric came out and danced with me a couple times until Tom made some crack about the chef being "on the clock".  They are in St. Thomas for 15 days... must be nice and wish I was on the beach!  You know the desert is like the beach, lots of sand, but no water!!

We found a bar we liked (this is of utmost importance, of course).  The people are young, which is rare in this town, and the bartender knows how to pour a flaming Dr. Pepper, which of course Eric loved.  The only problem is that they close promptly at 2am, whether you are finished your pool game or not!  They actually turn the lights on and kick everyone out!  It reminds me of going out in Fort Worth.  It also served as a reminder that there really is nothing to do here at night, which was another good reason for quitting my job, besides that it made me depressed.  So anyway, that is what is going on!  I hope you all are well and I will try to keep you posted more often!