The biggest adjustment this week has been that my wife’s trip to visit me here in the US came to an end. It came unexpectedly early when her original flight was cancelled due to mechanical issues. After a frantic number of phone calls, we had her rescheduled, but approximately half a day early.
She wasn’t here for that long, but it totally changed the routines and the feel of the place and now that she’s back in Melbourne, I’ve spent the better part of the week re-adjusting to how empty the place feels. As she pointed out, the total time away for the sabbatical will be the longest we’ve been apart since we’ve been married. I suppose distance does make the heart grow fonder?
On the sabbatical front, this week has been… irregular. The structure of having a class to attend is gone due to the end of the Data Sci course. The next set of classes don’t begin til it’s almost time for me to leave which leaves a bit of a conundrum as to what to spend the time on. One side quest has come from one of the amazing faculty members I met a few weeks ago. He advised that I should start my own VC fund – it was not advice I’d received before so I’ve been chatting to everyone in that space to see what exactly this involves.
In doing so, I think I finally “get” why people revere Silicon Valley and the Bay Area so much: it’s the sheer concentration of people in this space is probably higher than most other places on the planet. Questions on start-ups, technology, AI, venture capital very quickly lead to “oh, you should talk to my friend x, they do exactly this!”
And you’re off to the races. Instead of having to figure it out by reading or watching videos, it’s more about having a coffee and picking someone’s brain: it’s just a more human/fun way to learn about topics.
In other news, my brother is going to be visiting me in a few days! He’s only stopping by for 2 or 3 nights so will have to show him some of the highlights of this place. I’m thinking maybe, just maybe, we go and hire a Cybertruck and drive around. Afterall, when else am I going to be able to try one? The only thing that scares me is just how BIG it is compared to my normal car 😂