As I continue my search for a new rental somewhere in San Carlos and Belmont, I recalled some experiences that my colleagues and friends have had renting in Redmond/Bellevue, WA and some of my visits there.

Let’s just say that if I were moving from WA to the Bay Area, I’d be pretty appalled at generally how old, small, unkept, and cruddy most of the rental stock around here is. The times I’ve visited rental homes there, I’d always been impressed by how nice they were.

But the most interesting difference is this rumor I’ve heard that some complexes actually waive the security deposit if you’re a Microsoft employee. If that’s true, that completely blows my mind . Having rented in California for 7 years, and knowing many other rents, I’ve long come to expect that security deposits were nothing more than an additional $300-$1xxx on revenue for the landlord. Could this possibly mean in other places, you actually get back your full security deposit? Or that it’s actually held for… security?

Of course, there’s also the general price difference (~$1380 vs ~$2170 for a comparable 2 bedroom) – but that’s no surprise.

Between that and the income tax (0% WA vs 9.3% CA), I’m sometimes surprised more people haven’t moved to Redmond already. Me? I’ll never move there – people drive too slow there.

Yesterday I was at looking at the traffic map at work at 7pm when I noticed that it seemed worse than usual. Now, there were 2 small non-accidents on 101 – but it got me thinking: was traffic worse because of Valentine’s Day?

Unfortunately I didn’t think of this on 2/13 – but here are 2 screen captures: Valentine’s Day, and V-Day+1:

Unfortunately, the incidents on 101 contaminates the data, but some roads like 680 seem noticably worse.

I’m not sure this proved anything. Did you think traffic was worse than usual?

It was bound to happen, after 6.5 years of daily driving to work – and for the last year and a half, passing one of the more frantic interchanges in the Bay Area.

Those of you familiar with Highway 85 at 237 would probably grok what happened right way. That area is dangerous every morning – cars trying to exit the freeway (to 237) which is often backed up to a standstill, while cars are trying to enter the freeway right behind it (from El Camino), while cars are flying by on the other lanes of 85. And if that weren’t bad enough, cars cutting in add an additional level of chaos. I think the responding CHP officer said that he had this “pre-sketched”. I wouldn’t be surprised if there were a template for this – nearly every day I see near misses. The tow truck driver said that he was just there last week. The Merc has this as #9 of the 12 Worst Interchanges in the Bay Area.

Fortunately, there were no injuries. Phew.

While I was at the auto body shop, the person there tried to cheer me up by noting that at least my car wasn’t total-ed. She pointed out some cars that were total-ed. They were in bad shape: roofs crushed in. Apparently, 2 of the worst damaged cars were due to the driver falling asleep. A sobering reminder of how being drowsy while driving is truly dangerous.

Life sure isn’t fun when the power is out. Good thing I still have an analog phone line!

Phew! I drove 240 miles today. I never realized Stockton was so far!

I have new found respect for my former coworker who used to commute 4 days a week from Stockton.

So the WSJ published this chart today, showing where top-ranked professionals and executives live:

Hey I see Manhasset and I see Menlo Park. I know both of those places. (FWIW, Manhasset is where East Egg is, in the Great Gatsby.) Let’s take a quick look at two properties at around the same price.

First Menlo Park:

Now Manhasset:

Almost equivalent… almost.

To access La Avenida and the Microsoft Campus: (Flyer available in building lobbies)

§ Proceed north on Shoreline Boulevard past La Avenida

§ Turn right on Pear Avenue (opposite Century Theater entrance)

§ Turn right on Inigo Way

§ Turn left on La Avenida and proceed to SVC

Here’s a map I created:

And now you know.

I do proclaim this house, the House of the Day!

Yeah it’s a little pricey. But you’re getting .25 to .5 acres in East Palo Alto! Just look your neighborhood!