I was just ready to send up the next post (01.06) when I realized that I started talking about where I lived, and I haven't really told you those details. You might not be interested in my personal life, but it's relevant to the story, as you'll find out later.
I live in a small town in Northern California called Auburn. (Well, it's where I lived before the Problem.) It's about 30 miles northeast of Sacramento, which is the capital of California. A lot of people are surprised that I live in Auburn, rather than Silicon Valley or the San Francisco Bay area. But "Silly Valley" is much too expensive and much too crowded.
Auburn is in the foothills, about 1100 feet elevation. It's not a large town: it's mostly rural, with some subdivisions. It has quite a bit of history, too. Gold was discovered in Coloma, which is just a short distance away from Auburn. The transcontinental railroad goes through Auburn, as does Interstate 80, the U.S.'s main east-west highway.
My house is in a quiet area a bit west of Auburn. It's a subdivision called "Corwin Estates", but a bit higher class than most. The lots are 1-3 acres, although the houses are close enough that you can see your neighbor, but far enough that they don't bother you much. And since the houses are a bit up-scale, the families there are mostly older occupants, so there aren't lots of little kids screaming outside all day long.
I find it a great place to live, and since I also work out of my house, it's a pretty good place to work. It's pretty quiet, and pretty: there are lots of mature trees and green grass in the area. And the weather is usually pleasant. The elevation is not high enough for snow, summers are generally in the 90's with low humidity (although sometimes it will get a bit hotter, but it cools off nicely most evenings). It's also above the fog that Sacramento gets in November and December. So it's a really nice place to live.
And it's close enough to the clients I have in Sacramento, Roseville/Rocklin (which is about half-way between Sacramento and Auburn, and where a lot of high-tech companies relocated to get away from the high cost and congestion of "Silly Valley"). I also have a few clients up in Grass Valley/Nevada City, which is roughly north of Auburn. You'll learn a bit about those clients later.
So that's where I live. Or where I used to live.