Getting Settled? Not really...

Hey guess what? It is like 20 degrees here today! It is so weird to get up in the morning and it feels like early summer in Vancouver and we are still in March. Meg and I are trying to get settled into life here in La Ciudad De Los Angeles (so far I have refused to pronounce the "G" without a Spanish "JEH" accent!) So much to do... finding a nice two bedroom apartment pretty close to the studio and in a nice neighbourhood is going to be difficult and more expensive than I thought! Meg and I have seen a couple that are great - in the "Miami Vice" style circa 1983! But as I said, expensive. It seems that whomever promised me that LA prices were cheaper than SF was not really in possession of all the information because as far as I can tell right now things are much the same here as there. Okay, maybe a few percentage points less, but overall, not too much different. Especially seeing as we will probably not venture out of the Santa Monica and Venice Beach areas. I don't doubt that we will find something nice, I just think it will cost us a few hundred bucks a month more than we thought! We are actually waiting to hear about a flat. It is a largely "perfect" place. If we get it, which depends on a secondary credit check because we are Canadians, it will be equidistant between Santa Monica and Venice Beach in a neighbourhood called Ocean Park. There is tons of shopping and amenities nearby in walking distance and I will be almost exactly 10kms away from the studio (less than 30mins by bike). I can ride almost the entire way on bikes only path. The apartment is in an older building that is heritage and has been redone - we will have new bathroom and kitchen! With a view of the ocean! Pretty ideal! Anyway, wish us luck -- we should know by today or tomorrow. Meg has made some in-roads into teaching opportunities and with some patience and luck I think there will be tons of opportunity for her, and she is happy about that! although not looking forward "having her hands tied" with respect to getting through the credentialing process. She has seen some posts for summer classes in Spanish at a posh school in Santa Monica even! Now, in the meantime, she is looking for sub/short term which apparently doesn't take much to get going... she will have to spend some serious study time as the exams she needs to pass are kinda tough. Personally, I can't imagine having to pass grade 12 algebra again!