Since 2014

Nothing like starting a new blog only to find that you already had one that had not been updated since 2014.

Then to now has had a lot of adventures & significant change. I can guarantee that since then I have done three things: lived in the East Bay, walk my dog & work.

After paying Sallie-Mae off in 2015 I moved near Lake Merrit in Oakland to live the bachelor life in a couple difference apartments where a lot was changing. Growing up, Oakland was always on the news as the murder capital of America and some people still choose to perceive it that way. My mother would never take us there. What Oakland really is, is one of the most multi-cultural cities in CA that is passionate about its diversity and proud of past with a lot of original businesses trying to keep up. The problem in Oakland is that with the tech industry booming across the bay and limited space to live in San Francisco, Oakland became the new Brooklyn to SF’s Manhattan.

The area has been heavily gentrified up to now and locals despise it while all the new folks wonder why people are so jaded to the change. This can best be seen in the 2018 film Blindspotting. It’s an interesting conundrum that while I am a local, I’m part of the problem. Because I can afford to live in Adams Point I am pricing someone from there out. If ima pay rent, I want to be in a cool, clean area, that is safe with places to go and things to see. Bars, restaurants, coffee, Whole Foods… I need it. Homeless, theft, litter… Hate to see it. But thats the process many cities are going through. In short, the people who tough’d it out while Oakland was rough should be the first to enjoy it but now that its thriving, they’re the first to have to go. Have had this convo with many a Lyft driver who was from Oakland but now had to move to Manteca cause of pricing. More can be done. More should be done. Lets get it done.

I’m just trying to do my part at raising awareness to Oakland’s edge & its roots.

All this writing about Oakland and I don’t even live there anymore! But being there & having a big east bay framily shaped me the most since 2014. The memories and experiences I have had and continue to have there are just Grand.

The reason I’m back on the blog is because, like the blog, I felt as though my life had been in an idle state. Definitely haven’t changed much from the ‘me’ that wrote the Intro and the fun has indeed been super fun. But while I’ve lived a good life in this period, having a lot of the little things in life accounted wasn’t creating any satisfaction yet. Dam you West World for making me think of the elaborate loop we all live in! Like here is a section of life, what have I accomplished? Compound that with the 24hr news cycle of the world ending and everyone in charge is too incompetent to do anything was pretty effective propaganda…

So I moved home, quit my job and retired before 30. My American Dream.

This blog is now dedicated to sharing a lot of the thoughts that went into making that decision and all the little decisions I have made since then that [IMO] have drastically improved my life.