I bought a house. right before the rates popped :) there was this mossy quiet house nestled in a forest meadow I always dreamed of, in a good school for the kid, and close enough to a city & airport & broadband so I went for it
so I'm in my dream house, back closer to family and friends from 15+ years ago, some I'm in touch with, others I hope to find again
as tradition demands, I must slag the bay area. my house payment is 40% lower than I was paying in rent there. some friends moved away. some relationships changed. I found my local network was pretty small, and the tradeoffs of living in the bay no longer made sense.
my work will have me in the bay regularly, and I'll be in SF for at least one conference next year (SRECon NA), so really I'll be seeing folks just as often or more, and perhaps I'll take a trip now & then and really get away
