Changes are afoot in the US, and my arrival is now one of them. I am leaving Vancouver and moving to the Seattle area to take a job with Microsoft … and you can Blame Canada for part of it! There are many things I will miss, and many that I won’t:

What I will miss

Friends: I’ve lived in Vancouver since 1981. I attended UBC and have many dear friends both new and old. I hope they will come visit me in Seattle!

Urban Living: I’ve gotten used to be able to walk to the store for groceries, walk to the theatre to watch movies and walk to local restaurants for great dining.

Restaurants: Vancouver has many amazing restaurants, and I have had the pleasure of becoming friends with many people in the industry. Boneta, Chambar, Chill Winston, Jules and Salt are the ones within walking distance.

Province of BC: We have a great government in power in BC. Gordon Campbell and the Liberal party have done a great job of improving the quality of life in BC, and the new slogan, "The Best Place on Earth" captures the ambitious vision they have.

Vancouver: This is a beautiful city. The mountains are right there. Not off in the distance. They are right there. Often when looking at downtown, you see the mountains above the tops of the towers. It is a cosmopolitan city that is still polite and humble. And the waterfront. It is everywhere. Visitors often mention "towards the water", not realizing that is almost every direction. With the new developments around the Olympic Village, there are miles and miles of seawall to explore.

What I won’t miss

Weather: I’d like to miss some of the weather, but I will still be on the coast of the Pacific Northwest. Dreary, gray days will continue to be in the weather forecast more often then I prefer.

Pro Basketball: I had floor seats for the Grizzlies when they were in Vancouver. I really enjoyed live basketball. The Sonics left last year. Damn.

Unsophisticated investors: I have had a few unsophisticated investors that have been painful. I had four in Sxip that have been making my life miserable for the last 10 months. Sure, people have differences of opinion — but refusing to meet to work things out is so unprofessional.

Canadian politics: while entertaining, the current federal fiascos are embarrassing. I used to tease my Americans friends that they should get a real democracy with more then two parties so that ideas can evolve. I keep my mouth shut now.

Vancouver Politics: the new mayor of Vancouver is also an embarrassment. He refused to pay his Skytrain fine. WTF? He has this "great vision" of solving homelessness and having developers build low cost housing. Sounds great, who would not agree? But where is the plan. I’m moving, I can stop ranting now.

Jennifer: my fiance will be coming with me!

What I look forward to

Change.gov: The new federal administration looks exciting and is more aligned with my social values then previous administrations. I look forward to experiencing the impact as a participant, rather then as a spectator.

New friends: I look forward to meeting new, interesting people. Hopefully fun, interesting people will want to meet me!

Cool services: As a US resident I will now get access to cool things that roll out in the US without having to feel like a 2nd class citizen waiting for iTunes, Netflix, iPhones etc. being available.

Smart People: I am really looking forward to working with a bunch of smart people.

New Home: Jennifer and I will be moving into a home together. We hope to find a place near the Microsoft campus with some property around it. Having a big garage and house will be a big change from the loft where we live now.

New Job: I am really looking forward to working with a bunch of smart people at Microsoft and learning about working in Big Enterprise and Big Software. For more about the job, read my Identity 2.0 post.