2 new kids

I've been in Minnesota for 3 days. The two children here, ages 1 and 2, have adopted me already. Once they latch on, there is no escape. I'm here until the 30th. People keep telling me I'm good with kids, but I have no idea what they're talking about.

Nature can be such a wuss

So, anyone hear about that *biiiiiiiiiiig* storm that hit the northeast yesterday? The day I was supposed to drive from Syracuse to Rochester to catch a flight to Minnesota?

3 hours in the car, followed by 6 hours flying/ hanging out in airports. Well I got there. My flight landed near 1AM central (2AM in my head). You call that a storm? HA!

Green

So I'm back in Syracuse. The semester is over (I don't miss it). I'm here for a week until I fly out to Minnesota for awhile. My brother, through various* means, has a Playstation 3. Knowing that I've been trying to get my hands on a copy of Fallout 3 (moreso, a computer that can run it. I'm not much of a console gamer), he decided that whatever I'm pining for is good enough for him.

He plays. His 3 year old son thinks it's better than TV, so he watches. A silent figure on the floor near the TV, taking it all in. Then, when my brother feels it, he hands the controller to the boy. Oh sure, the violence, blood, and gore are never a part of what jr does. He just runs in circles and gets himself killed by a mole rat, but still...

My nephew has played more Fallout 3 than I have. I N V

Thanksgiving

*obligatory comment about food*
*followup about travel*
*remark about family*
*mention my level of food intake*
*witty closing remark*

SAD

Seasonal affective disorder: that sad feeling you get because of lack of light, or something.

Sorry everyone, I never experienced that. In fact, quite the opposite. Once leaves turn and snow starts to fall, I get happier. The first snowfall, to me, marks the beginning of things start to happen and life is wonderful season. I become a notably happier person.

Having said that, I woke up to a light cover of snow hiding the grass. (That was a well needed injection of happy in the bloodstream)

Excuse me, I need to go buy kerosene.

Idle hands

Have you ever set something down, went somewhere to pick something else up, and couldn't find it?

Yea... not seeing it.

Honesty box - a timeline

7:15 Wake up:

7:45 Check e-mail:

Honesty box message in Facebook? The color is blue, so it's a guy.

"you are charlie bartlet"

?

7:47 - Google - "charlie bartlet"

7:50 - Pirate Bay - "charlie bartlet"

7:51 - Open Bit Torrent

8:40 - Download finished.

Crap, I have to be somewhere at 10, and if I start watching, this movie will be over at 10:10

11:14 - get home. Start watching movie

12:45 - credit roll.

o_O

Looks like the only things I'm missing are millionaire parents and Kat Dennings pointing her lipstick at me.

High School Reunion

They set up a website. - decent.
The website listed people that were going to the reunion - also decent.
Seven or so people on that list were the only ones I really wanted to see. - Nice.
None of them actually showed up.

It was interesting, to say the least. Last Saturday, I found myself surrounded by people from high school. Back then, I played the role of observer. I watched people, and never really joined the conversations. I've become far more outgoing since then, but the very fact that I'm writing this means that wasn't the case last week. No, I spent most of the time keeping to myself. Not that I wanted to, no. Everyone knew I was the quiet one, and they acted like it. (I can't blame them, really)

I'm calling you out Jason, where were you? And you Sarina, what's your excuse? Shannon, Patrick, Kerry, Adam, and who can forget "All that Pat". None of you were there, what gives?

Back to the checklist.
Open bar - why? If I know these guys, they'll just be getting drunk all night.
People still in high school - check.

It's been how long? and some of you guys are still acting like a bunch of idiot teenagers, albeit more subtle.

Don't get me wrong. Some of you guys were great. Long time no see. But you were far outshone. Some of the best conversation I had last week was with the SO's of actual classmates.

I've changed a lot since high school. Heck, the half way point was a drastic change. But since it didn't really show, I felt like I was back in high school. It was pretty surreal.

Excuse me, I need to hunt down the no-shows.

A bowl of lead

Ok, I came from a small college in Syracuse. The classes weren't exactly murder, and I had a lot of down time. Down time spent with friends goes by quickly, so it never felt like much.

Now I'm in a large university in Buffalo. I figured things would be largely the same, only bigger. That was half true. Some of it is bigger, but the workload my professors expect of me is exponentially bigger. (One history class alone requires us to read three books, none of them short, one of them by a poet in a rough translation from Latin)

Now, I took into account estimated workload when figuring out what kind of down time I'd have. To be frank, I miscalculated. I'm insanely busy at some times, then at others I have painfully long stretches of having nothing to do but read.

Screw you, Ovid. Screw you.

Indoor suburban exploring

So... I haven't had anything to do all week. I got back into Buffalo last Sunday, and there was nothing. Sure, UB threw a party, but that was one day. Out of seven. It's been very... very... quiet.

My apartment is the bottom floor of a house. The upper apartment is vacant right now. I'm not sure anyone is moving in, because classes start Monday, and nobody's there yet. Unless they plan on moving in Sunday, I don't have a neighbor. It's somewhat surreal, though. The house, I mean. The basement is a dark pit of the loathsome. A dank hole at best. The attic is just a large open space with a small room in the front of the house. Neither apartment lays claim to these spaces. Anyone can use them. Why anyone would want to I'm not sure. The attic room has a few pages of a gaming magazine taped to the walls, and it looks like an art student started something. I'll try to get some pics, the lighting is terrible up there. The walls in that room have giant gaping holes in them, the likes of which you think something is staring at you through. It has a little closet with a glass door. I'm surprised it's in one piece.

The basement looks like it's been abandoned for decades. It opens into a room that looks like it was once finished, but fell into deep disrepair. Three fluorescent fixtures dot the room, only one of them has a bulb. I don't know if they have any power, and the bulb looks like it's been there since the early 80's. You can tell a drop ceiling was installed at one point, but all that remains are the thin remnants pressed into place by the ancient light fixtures. The back wall appears to have been painted at one time, but it both faded and crumbled. The thin wall built to separate this room looks like it's taken a beating, but somehow still holding. Several old lamps, a stair stepper, a construction light, the wood frame from a futon, and a CRT monitor all appear to be new tenants.

The other section, the larger room, is a mess. Near the breaker boxes are a pair of extra wide closets. Dusty plywood doors open to reveal collapsing shelves. Anything that was once in there is unrecognizable. A laundry sink sits at the side of the room with an endless drip. I can't get it to stop, no amount of force turns the knob. From the looks of the sink basin, it's been dripping for a long time. It's forming a calcium mound in the spot. The utility sink nearby is covered in dust and cobwebs. It's clear nobody's touched it in years.

There are two desks down here. Old, dusty, and each one holding up spare windows the landlord brought in.

The furnaces and water tanks are in the middle of the room, and right by the entrance, so it blocks off the area behind it. Nothing is back there, so there's no reason to go there. Venturing back, I found what looks like an old cabinet mounted on the wall. Some writing here and there, but empty and broken. The door hangs loosely. Next to it is a window to the outside. Faded orange curtains (clearly 70's issue) block the view, and the dust is so thick on the cobwebs that I wouldn't dare try to open them.

I clearly did not take the basement into consideration when choosing this apartment.

This leads me to the machines. My landlord had some company install laundry machines down there. That's good. I have to put quarters into it. That's bad. This company maintains the machines. That's good. They draw water and power from MY UTILITIES. That's bad. I'm already paying to run the machine, why should I then pay to run the machine while someone else runs off with my quarters? My landlord never intended to tell me this. I learned the details after I discovered where the hookups were and shot him a rather... strong e-mail about it.

The last thing I want to do is have my laundry in that basement anyway. I closed the water valve and hit the switch on the breaker. If I have a neighbor, they'll likely not want to use those machines either. Especially since they won't run.

This old house goes bump in the night.

The rent is proportional

I've come to the conclusion that staying with my parents for the 6 weeks I've been here has cost me more than I realized. Most houses have what we collectively refer to as a "junk drawer". You know, that place where random crap goes. What used to be my room has turned into the biggest junk drawer I've ever seen. Every time I came to visit, you could not see my old bed. It was constantly covered with junk. My mother put a great deal of work into simply emptying the bed so I could sleep.

Going to bed early is not an option. It's a split level house, and the room is on the bottom. So is the room with the TV. In fact, the TV is pretty much right next to the door. There is always someone watching something, and gaining sleep before EVERYONE IN THE HOUSE puts up for the night is a feat to behold.

Sleeping in does not work. My niece (5 years old) and my nephew (3 years old - biggest set of lungs you've ever heard) wake up in the morning. She's not so loud, just very, very fast. She does not realize the impact she has on the house when she jumps down stairs and runs across the room. He, not so much. He could jump on my head and I would not realize it. The kid's smaller than a bean. But he's loud. Olympic crowds have asked him to quiet down.

Taking naps is impossible. I sleep in the junk drawer. People open the drawer to get crap all the time. Forget knocking.

Oh, sleeping at night. That's a neat trick. That mattress used to be comfortable. Not only is it small (twin), but it's been covered in crap (heavy crap) for so long that it's disjointed. I feel like I'm sleeping on a sack of potatoes. I wake up stiff and sore. I'm tired all day. I want my bed.

I'll go back to it on Sunday. My brother flew into town, so I'm putting up with it a few more days so I can hang out with him.

Turn off the lights, I'm outta here

Today was my last day at work. Ever. I've been there so long it felt like the last day of school. A couple weeks and I finally get the ball rolling in Buffalo. What a pain.

Oh, my matchbox car failed inspection. Stupid New York State putting red tape everywhere.

I drive a matchbox car.

Last August, I bought my car. I was driving a 98 Contour for awhile, but it wasn't really mine, and I needed something that I knew was still there. So in the middle of the August heat, I bought a 95 Geo Prism. It needed new exhaust (still does), the rear left door doesn't open, spot cracks on the windshield, the vents wouldn't stay in place (the ones on the dash), the rear view mirror sometimes shows you what's behind the car, the filler neck was broken (the guy i bought it from "fixed" that), the fuel gauge doesn't work, and it had a funny smell. But I still bought it.

Why?

When I took it on that brief test drive, the air conditioner worked. Not only did it work, I needed a parka and gloves. Now, a year later, the AC is still cold. I mean bitter cold. My tiny little car is a piece of junk, but it's a cold piece of junk. Surprisingly, the only repairs I needed to do was replacing the fuel line. $40 total. It's not even pretty. It's an ugly car. I call it my little chameleon. Now all the back and forth between Syracuse and Buffalo is killing it. I don't know what I would do without my crap cooler.

... I'm bored.

+1

My sister just had her baby today. Yay her, right?

Most newborns, despite what almost everyone says, are hideous. They're typically a color unknown on humans, their skin is saggy and lumpy, and their faces often resemble Popeye. Seriously, newborn babies look like sausages. Give them a week or two to get used to breathing and by then their skin won't look like it was just soaked for the last nine months.

Oddly enough, this baby did not meet my expectations. Then again, my sister was always like that.

Pretty boom

I thought I would be back in Syracuse for July 4th. I didn't want to spend the day in Buffalo. I still don't know anyone out in Buffalo, and the idea of a solo BBQ just didn't fly. Alas, things did not turn out as I hoped. My family went to the beach, my friends grilled the day away... and I kept unpacking.

They didn't see any fireworks. UB put on one impressive display. I'm calling it a wash.

The ambiguous address

Moving was not as hard as I thought. The two weeks leading up to it sucked - but the actual two days of loading and unloading a truck was, by comparison, cake.

My stuff is in Buffalo, but I'm not. I'm staying at my parent's place so I can keep working for a little while. The money is alright, but I'd be going stir crazy with nothing to do for 6 weeks. Adjusting to a new apartment doesn't take very long. Assuming, of course, that you're there for it.

Don't worry, I'll have something real to write about soon enough.

Cheap tape and Uhaul

My current employer likes me. I received a great deal of packing tape. Normally that would be a great thing, seeing as I'm moving. Turns out they got the wrong tape, it's flimsy. They need to get rid of it, and I'm the perfect guy for it.

By flimsy, I mean it can't hold one hundred pounds of the various materials we ship out.

I move next week. Packing the truck on Thursday, and unpacking in Buffalo Friday. Can't write much more than that - I'm pretty tired from packing. And the lack of sleep. Mostly the latter.

Cardboard jungle

My apartment is filled with boxes. They're everywhere - on top of the couch, in front of the TV, piled onto the round chair I veg out on when I'm glued to my GameCube - I can't get away from them. What makes it worse is that I don't have enough. I need more. More will come, of course, but... I don't hate it as much as I thought I would.

I'm just stricken with my need for more cardboard.

Google ads is a shill

I went to New York City last February. Long story, maybe later. I had time to kill, and saw ads for a Buddhist art gallery. Had a couple of friends with me, we went. Many of the paintings and sculptures had a person on them that was making a variety of hand gestures. How many pairs of hands they had varied. They kept repeating through the gallery. Didn't know what they meant, wasn't that concerned. One of the aforementioned friends apparently learned what they were called.

Mudras?

The point? I use Gmail, and the ads on the side were for Buddhist ring tones.

No sir, you can't relax.

Some guys hold stress in their shoulders. My dad is one of those, so whenever he gets stressed out, a backrub can take care of that. My mother holds stress in her stomach. My dad has it easy on that one, because whenever my mom's freakin out, she feels sick.

Guess which one I take after?

I like moving. Hauling furniture and taking boxes back and forth, it's a nice workout. And generally doesn't happen that often, so that's a plus. A change of scenery is always welcome.

When I lived out west, I didn't worry about anything. The part that made that truly stupid was that I had entirely too much to worry about, and it got me into trouble. Lots of trouble. Moving back to Syracuse simplified everything. Everything. I moved back in with my parents, so I didn't even have to think about whether I was going out that night. Even when I moved out of the basement and into my weird little apartment it was still easy. Still surrounded by everyone I ever knew? Check. After my abysmal failure in the desert, I was surrounded by this massive safety net. Last fall semester was pretty tight - I could almost afford food. My parents pantry doubled as a Wegmans for 3 months. I almost bought my mom one of those aprons the employees always wear. I hadn't really thought about how close it's all been, and it recently began to sink in.

And now I'm queasy. This isn't helping, really. Why did I have to take after mom?

I'm Finished

I took my last test today at Onondaga. It's an odd feeling, knowing that I need never set foot on campus again. I'm more or less set up at UB for the fall, so I wasn't even distracted by that. I made a lot of friends up here, which is weird because I never thought I would have fallen in with such a lot. I met them on accident, really. I was introduced by one of my skeevy acquaintances, and I was adopted pretty quick. Long story short, I made some friends.

And now I'm half nostalgic. When I left campus today, I had the image of a Ron Howard movie ending, where everyone leaves in a different direction while he narrates what happens to everyone. I don't even like Ron Howard. (See what movie culture does to people?)

Leaving Syracuse is going to be even stranger. I was born here. I've always been the one to watch people come and go, and I always still had the ones that were going to stay awhile longer while I got to know the ones that just arrived. Now I'm going in cold. Definitely an odd feeling. Last time I did that was in Utah, and the culture shock was bad enough. (Water doesn't come from the sky in Utah, it comes out of the ground from metal things. They always make sure to put sprinklers that spray 180 degrees right at the edge of the lawn to make sure they water the roads, too. Just ignore that drought, we'll be fine)