31fps by Sam Purtill A blog about business, technology, and life

What I’ve learned so far

I moved to SF a few weeks ago (I think it's been a little over two now), and it's been a fun journey so far. A lot has happened, I've been way too busy to blog. I have some time right now. Which means that... my room is clean, laundry is done, dishes are done, bathroom is clean, work is done [well, put on hold], freelance is done, and I don't feel like reading right now. Speaking of reading, I finally subscribed to The Economist, Newsweek, Business Week, and the WSJ today. Anyways, let's get back to the point of this post:

What have I learned so far?

1) Living on my own is not as hard as everyone made it out to be
I thought I was going to be screwed, living on my own for the first time, especially since I skipped the transition that most kids make by going to college and having everything taken care of. But it's actually really not that hard. The list is pretty short of things you have to do... Laundry, dishes, bed, bathroom. Just keep things clean and live with awesome roommates (they're awesome, I assure you) and everything is a breeze. Plus having a job that pays all the bills so you don't have to worry about money is always a good thing.

2) People have a very false perception of San Francisco
I thought I was going to get jumped every time I walked outside at night time. I've gotten scared once when I was walking under a bridge at 11pm by myself, with my laptop in my backpack (which is so old it needs to get stolen so I have an excuse to buy a MacBook Pro). I was also told that San Francisco is the capital of gays and gayness. For everyone that told me that and made it sound like it was such a OMGZ TERRIBLE problem, you need to open your eyes to the human race because you are a little troglodyte. It's been a real eye opener for me, especially coming from Vacaville which has this truck-driving-i-am-mr-homophobic mentality.

3) Don't worry about who got _______ out/dirty, get it finished and move on
The most annoying thing I have found is when people find a dish/towel/fill in the blank left out and then start asking who left it out. STFU and just put it away, it takes way more time to interrogate everyone to find out who took it out than to just stop being a bitch and put it away. Need I say more?

4) TV is a waste of life
Enough said. I could go on a massive rant but I am refraining.

5) Video games are a waste of life
Unless the names of the video games are Grand Theft Auto or Gran Turismo

6) Yankees Suck Ass
Enough said... Boston FTW!

7) Rugby is an amazing sport
Bob and I drove around SF looking for a pub to watch the England/France match last Saturday, and all of them were packed (and charging $20/person!). So we went over to Kirill's and watched it there. I only got to catch the second half, but it was one of the most interesting/engaging events I have ever seen. The caveman on France is a beast!!

8) Not a big fan of "networking", but I guess I'm doing it...
I had this perception that "networking" meant going out and handing your business card to every schmuck at a Web 2.0 event. The "networking" that I am doing is by no means being done on a macro scale, I don't want to have a ton of people that barely know me. I want a strong network of people that know me very well, and I am slowly getting to know a lot of [very important] people in Silicon Valley.

9) Waking up isn't as hard as it used to be
My mom used to yell at me/pour water on me/punch me on the face (ok not really) for me to get out of bed. The reason? I was waking up to go to school, and school was boring as hell! I would have never thought, but I am generally getting to work around 8/8:30am (yes, I'm shocked). But why? Because work doesn't suck! It's fun to wake up in the morning, I have something to look forward to, I get to actually do something that matters.

10) In the time that I've sat down to write a blog post, a TV show has come to an end and I really have to cut it short to go to the gym and run (no weights, don't need strong arms to type 120 WPM hehe).

11) Oh, one more thing. Kirill beats me at everything, which I've found to be a good thing.
And our programmers are a billion times better at programming than me. And everyone is smarter than me, faster than me, etc etc. I'm SO glad you have no idea, I want to be a small fish in a big pond, because it makes me work my ass off so I can try to stay at the level of these guys.

This list could go on for so long, I've learned a lot and feel like I am adapting very well.

And if you're in town tomorrow, there's a big party for Mochi Media (we're on same floor). Hit me up, 415-367-5181.