Officially a Utah driver

On Monday, I officially became a Utah driver. Nope, didn't get a Utah Drivers license (which I already have) but my driving skills have become Utahnized. Let me explain.

So there I was on I-15 enjoying my cruising speed courtesy of my cruise control, on the fast lane (which is the far left lane for those unfamiliar with fast lanes in the States) when all of a sudden a lady on the middle lane merged onto my lane.

I didn't mind her merging, what I didn't care for too much was her maintaining the same speed she had on the middle lane. Had I not decelarated, I would have kissed her bumper more than I cared for. Simply put I believe she confused the left lane for the slow lane as everyone passed her from her right.

Other cars got onto the same lane as I was pushing me back a few cars away, that's when I began to think that perhaps there was something I missed when I took the drivers ed course in California. Perhaps I didn't get the memo about the change made in the driving courtesy rules.

But eventually all the cars passed the lady by merging onto the middle lane, passing her from the right and then merging again to the left lane as they passed her. I thought that to be the silliest thing I've ever seen. But when the lady continued to maintain the slow speed she was on and traffic on the right kept passing her, I thought it was time for me to act. So act I did. I came closer to her but she didn't budge. I flickered my headlights to let her know I was right behind her. From my experience with the art of California driving, those two signals alone would have caused the slow driver to merge right. But after several attempts of flickering my high beams, and not getting any response, I decided to try what the other drivers did-- I merged back onto the right lane to pass her and merged back to the left lane.

So that was my Monday experience.

Also, I found an Onsen I can go to, and finally a Japanese restaurant that have authentic folks cooking without costing an arm and a leg. I thought they were Japanese but they too thought I was Japanese. After hearing them talk I realized they were Korean. Still, the presentation was good and it was close to being Japanese.

I'm disappointed that many of the Japanese restaurants here limit their selection of Japanese food to Sushi and Sashimi. There is so much more to Japanese food than raw fish and rolled fish in rice.

On another bit of good news, I moved to SLC yesterday with a guy and will move into an apartment in January. I met this guy through networking. I made several phone calls, emails and asked a lot of questions. I'm staying with him until the apartment I am moving into in January opens. This apartment has 2 other guys living with me As soon as I find a full time job, I will move into my own 2 bedroom apt or house.

No luck yet with any job prospects.

I am also learning that those that say Utah isn't diverse enough probably have never left the comfort of their own room. I've been surprised by the diversity of folks here. In the SLC libary alone, there are several transients that use this facility. I've also seen and met many from India, Pakistan, Korea, Japan, Thailand, Africa, California, Canada, Polynesia and other countries. Nope, I'm not talking about those that have visited those places but genuine folks from those countries.

One thing I have noticed though is that you find people by whom you associate with. I guess it's just my luck that I find Utah to be much more diverse than what others have said or described it as such.

I have also noticed that there are several community where certain ethnicity tends to collect themselves as a group. Unfortunately, those places are often associated with criminal activities or negative press.

But anyone that's lived in San Francisco or even have visited that would also note the same thing with Market Street or the Haight-Ashbury community.

Well, until next time, I'm off to another doctor's appointment...