17 August 2009
Working in Foster City
Posted by Roland under: Personal .
Route to/from home/work and all things in between
Since I’ve been working in Salt Lake City for the good part of a year (I’ve been consulting there for a year? Wait, I’ve been consulting for a year?) company policy dictates that I have to spend a month in my home office, for tax reasons. Mainly because while we work in Utah, we charge our time as Utah non-residents. But, if you charge 12 months of time in a place, then you’re basically a resident, which loses you on a lot of fancy tax breaks.
So for everyone’s benefit (maybe not the state of Utah) I was told to work in Foster City from early August to Labor Day. But wait a minute, wouldn’t my home office be San Francisco? This is true. But because we had some other team members coming from San Jose, we all figured that Foster City would be the nice happy medium in between SF and SJ (it more or less is actually). If anything, I would be charging time to the great state of California.
I actually really like the situation I have working in Foster City. True, it’s not a cushy with all the flight/hotel points and free meals, but after 11 months of doing that, it’s actually very nice to be able to worry about how much dinner costs, drive myself to work, and sleep in my tiny twin sized bed. I don’t think I was getting spoiled enjoying the life out there in SLC, since I was always aware that someone (our client) was paying for everything, but as my Japan study abroad in 2005 taught me, I do enjoy the simple things.
I think it really helps that the commute to Foster City is not terrible at all, as it is a reverse commute from most people (trying to get into SF in the morning, get out at night). Foster City only clocks in at 30 minutes and you’re treated with a nice view of the water along the way. Pair that with a good selection of music from an Ipod on shuffle and you’re good to go.
The biggest change that has come through has probably been in the eating habits. For the better or worse, I’m not sure, as I’m still not really watching what I’m eating but I would imagine cooked food is better than restaurant/hotel room service. Although, I do miss the weekly sushi trips in SLC, I’ll have to make do with my curry bowls and yakisoba. There are an inordinate amount of Japanese markets/restaurants in nearby San Mateo, so I’ve eaten my fair share of Japanese food these last couple days.
But alas, the main problem with consulting is that there is so much instability. I won’t be doing this nice work situation forever. Come post Labor Day, if I’m still on my Utah project, it’s Utah bound I am.