If you don't take the risk, you'll regret not trying. How often do you have the opportunity to make your dreams come true?

Keep in mind, that *any* job on the Bay Area is 18 months or less. Not because of turnover, but because you're expected to use your current job as a springboard for the next. If you stay longer than 18 months and you're not part of the IPO team, or one of the founders, people will think there's something wrong with you. You're expected to play this game until you reach 40, at which point, you're either supposed to be independently wealthy, starting up your own company, or moving out of the Bay Area to a cushy retirement job somewhere else.

Adapt to this. It's rarely anything personal.

You are also expected to party. And I *do* mean, PARTY. Pot and booze are normal, and if your boss likes you, coke and smack may be on offer as well. I say *maybe,* because that's when the boss really likes you.

This is personal. Use caution.

Work relationships on the West Coast are as shallow as a soap dish; you are a "friend" so long as you are useful. Any *true* friends you make there, probably won't actually *be* from the Bay Area, they'll have moved in from somewhere else.

Always be nice, but remember: snark is king.

There is no "rent" in the Bay Area. There is only blood and chores. If you make enough money, "rent" is just a monthly chore that you have to suffer through tapping enough buttons on your iPhone on your way to the next social event. If you don't make enough, it is your very life blood, and it gushes from your arteries like a fountain. There is no inbetween.

$3000 per month is cheap.

There are lots of "Snowflakes".

But there are also a lot of really, seriously cool people.

Being from the East Coast, you will have very good bullshit filters, and you'll smell the bullshit the moment the wheels touch the runway, because they're plowing furrows through the stuff when you land. Keep your bullshit filters set high, so you spot it when you see/hear/feel it? But make sure you adjust your tolerance levels to high, too. Because nothing pisses off a West Coast Bullshit Artist more than getting called on their bullshit.

And you might need them at some point.

Remember: friends at work are rare. Most of the time, you are nothing more than a tool or stepping stone. Your bullshit filters will help you determine if you are a friend, tool, stepping stone, or a good place to dispose of a rusty knife by sticking it in your back.

Avoid using people, but always be aware of how you are being used.

You are in foodie heaven. It is delicious, it is beautiful, it is fresh, and can be extremely expensive. Don't hesitate to drop $200, just for yourself. It will be an experience you never forget, and will want to share with others.

If you eat at a fast-food joint more than once a year, you're slumming.

And finally, whatever you decide to do, go at it full tilt.

San Francisco demands nothing less.