We’ve been in San Mateo for less than a full day, but we have already taken care of important business. We met our downstairs neighbors, both of whom are flight attendants, and and chatted with them. Ed, our landlord, came up and fixed a faucet, did some paperwork with us, and gave me a cold beer. We sat on our second-story deck drinking beer and watching the neighbors go by, a mix of whites, Hispanics, and East Asians. We looked at rice cookers at the Japanese housewares store in downtown San Mateo, although we didn’t buy anything. Carol got invited to go to a writing group with Ms. M. And we watched a pair of hummingbirds fly by our apartment.