Beyond The Cheddar Curtain

Apartments I have known

2014-04-25T15:16:00.000-04:00

Yeah, I know it's been ages since I posted. A fair bit has happened since I last wrote here - some good (new car); some bad but inevitable (my mother finally succumbed to the Alzheimer's that she had been suffering from for years), but nothing too out of this world. I'll try and write more about the events that have occurred later. For now, having been inspired by an old blog post from someone I read, I thought I would review the rental properties I have lived in.

1.) Motel 391

This was my first "apartment" that wasn't a traditional motel. Well, in fact, it was a motel, but I rented it in Hampton Beach, NH in the middle of the winter, when many of the motels turn into temporary apartments since there aren't any tourists around. It was basically a kitchenette with a nice view of the beach. An older property, in the midst of being renovated, the owner appreciated the income that us winter dwellers provided. The place has a different name now but is still in business. The owner probably would have been willing to let me stay longer if I'd needed to, but I was itching to move out and find an actual apartment. My parents actually ended up renting the same room I had stayed in when they came to visit me later in the year.

2.) Cricket Brook

This was an older property about 10 miles north of where I worked, but I liked the setting and the rent was fairly cheap. I came to discover that was because the maintenance there was awful - there were some minor things wrong with my apartment when I moved in that never got fixed the whole time I was there, and anything that did get repaired, I either did myself or, on one occasion, hired a locksmith. Yes, the place was so cheap that they weren't willing to get me keys that worked in the deadbolt lock. On the bright side, I did get moderately handy with fixing minor household problems, but I was definitely ready to move out when my lease expired.

3.) Cedar Ridge

This apartment was located in Farmington, NM, where my second airline job was located. It was a fairly nice place for the area, and was actually well-maintained. I also had air conditioning and a dishwasher in this unit, plus as a bonus - my utilities were included so I could keep it as cool as I wanted. The place could get a bit noisy on weekend nights if there was a party going on down by the community pool but on the whole, I really liked living there. My time there came to an end when my company moved from Farmington to Phoenix, AZ.

4.) Camino Tomas

One of my favorite apartments, it was very well maintained and had a leasing agent who lived on site and did a good job of keeping it up to snuff. The maintenance guy was only so-so, but the apartment was in good shape when I moved in so I didn't need his services much. There were some memorable events that took place here - one time we had a microburst cause some property damage and fallen trees once, and another time I called the fire department when I smelled something burning after getting off late from work. That ended up just being a pizza that someone had put in their oven and then forgotten about (or passed out because they had been drinking.) While I didn't have a washer/dryer, I did have a nice patio and utilities, like my place in New Mexico, were included - very nice in a hot town like Phoenix. The apartment also had nice amenities, including a pool, hot tub, workout room, pool tables, and a lounge. The owner did start inviting police to come use the lounge as a break room towards the end of my stay there, which I didn't appreciate much, but that only was an issue for a month or so before I found my next job in Las Vegas, NV.

5.) Bay Breeze

One of the odder apartment names, since there was definitely no bay anywhere near unless you counted Lake Mead some 15 miles away. This apartment, while I had a nice view of the pool, I didn't care for much. The carpet hadn't been changed out and smelled of some previous renter's pet. Also, as I overlooked the pool and was working a graveyard shift during my first few months on the new job, I quickly grew tired of the noise of kids screaming down by the pool which seemed to inevitably happen every day after school got out - and earlier on the weekends. At one point, I developed a detailed fantasy about getting a tear gas grenade launcher and firing a few rounds towards the pool area from my patio, then going back inside and going to sleep. I did have a washer/dryer of my own here for the first time, but I also had intermittent bug problems and I quickly grew tired of the place....it just wasn't managed well. Anyhow, when my lease was up, I moved on to...

6.) Sunset Pointe

This was probably my favorite apartment ever. It was a 2 BD/2 BA place with decent square footage, and for the first time I had an "office" to put my computer in. I also had a sweet view of the Strip and the Las Vegas Airport. On a recent visit, I saw that, while the apartment is still there, my view that I had is now blocked by a motel that was built on some vacant land next to the complex. It was kind of noisy due to aircraft noise from planes taking off, but I had a very short commute and I really liked living there. For some reason, I found it much easier to sleep through plane noise than kids screaming by the pool noise. Had I not bought a house, I would have stayed there for the remainder of my stay in Las Vegas, I am sure.

7.) McCarthy Creek

These apartments were at a complex in Appleton, Wisconsin, where I had moved when my Las Vegas airline went out of business. They were a new property, and fairly well constructed, but they didn't have central air conditioning so the bedrooms could get a bit warm in the summer. They did have decent facilities though, and my apartment looked out over a large man-made lake that they stocked with small fish and you could even go swimming in if you liked (which I did a couple times.) However their rent was also pretty high and after about 15 months here, I found a place nearby that had much better prices.

8.) Cold Spring Villas

This was probably my second favorite apartment. While not quite as fancy as McCarthy Creek, it did have central air conditioning, a balcony, and a good square footage. It didn't have a pool/workout room or any amenities like that, but I had found a nearby gym at this point which did, so I wasn't worried about that. The rent was almost $200 less than what I had been paying also, which was a nice touch, and the units were pretty well maintained, although the dryer could be a bit temperamental. Anyhow I liked living there and I'm sure I would have stayed longer had I not finally managed to get hired by a major airline.

9.) Allen House

I found this place through an apartment locator. It was near downtown, where I was working. They had a shuttle bus for residents that ran downtown, which I used a fair bit when I started since I didn't have a car for a few months after my move (it was sold along with some other items when I left Wisconsin.) I actually rented two apartments here, the first of which didn't have a balcony and was a bit noisy being right next to the pool area. When I was looking around for new digs, I was alerted by the office that a larger one bedroom was available that had a balcony and was in a quieter part of the complex - I was happy to make the switch as the new place also had quite a bit more square footage. I still have an "apartment tour" video of this place available on YouTube (if you're curious and want to waste a few minutes, click here for the relevant blog post) which I mainly did as an experiment to see if I could post a video taken from my phone there. I was pretty happy living there at first, but over time all the downstairs neighbors moved out and the people who replaced them mostly had dogs - the downstairs units all had patios which was probably a selling point for pet owners. So, it got quite a bit noisier as people would let their dogs out - I generally didn't mind this, though, unless it happened early in the morning. One morning after a dog had been barking non stop for 20 minutes starting around 0700 I ended up pounding on one lady's door - she had let her dog out while she was getting ready for work. As I got off work late and normally slept late I wasn't real happy about that. Other than the dog noise, it was a nice unit, although it didn't have a washer/dryer either - but there was a laundry room on site as well as a wash/fold place nearby. I probably would have eventually moved out after buying property, but due to airline industry mergers, that was not meant to be, and I ended up staying there until I left for the big city and moved into...

10.) The Highrise

For my most recent move to the big city, I wanted a place with a nice view, so I rented a one bedroom place in a highrise south of work. It was kind of pricey and looking back I should have gotten a bigger unit. I didn't mind my stay here - they did have good maintenance - but I never really got completely unpacked either. I quickly grew tired of the part of town the highrise was located in - things could get sketchy after dark although I never had any problems of my own - and after a few months there, I engaged the services of a realtor who found my current place, which is larger, has a washer/dryer, and is in a much safer part of town. I didn't mind my time at the highrise - they did have some nice amenities - but I think I knew from the start I wouldn't be there long-term, a feeling only reinforced when I saw how much they wanted to raise my rent after I'd been there a year. I was ready to leave the view behind and become a property owner again. I do have to admit though, it was probably the nicest view I've ever had.

11.) Where I Am Now

Although it feels like an apartment in some ways, I have a condo now - which I have written about previously here. I like it pretty well, although anything that needs fixing in the interior of my unit has to be taken care of by me and not by a building maintenance guy. Still, it's worth it to be building some equity again. I have a nice (deeded) heated garage parking space, as well as an outdoor space I don't use often, along with a storage unit. The good thing is that as I moved up to a two bedroom, I have a place to store boxes. The bad thing is, since I can shut the door to that room, I haven't unpacked completely yet. But I'm getting there. Unlike my last apartment, I think I'm going to be here a while - possibly until I retire. Which, after moving a dozen or so times in the last 15 years, would suit me just fine. Below you can see the view from my living room, along with a local neighbor. Not nearly as spectacular as my last view, but still very nice.

Remembering

2013-09-11T12:24:00.000-04:00

Yup, here's me, who hasn't been posting. Not going to talk about that today though. As an airline employee, I traditionally do a post on 9/11 with the names of the employees who lost their lives that day. I'm going to do that today also. I will say, for better or worse, this is probably the first time where it seemed close to "just another day" for me. Trust me, while I will never forget it, perhaps that is a good thing...just to remember the day without being overwhelmed by it. I don't think anyone in my industry will ever forget it though. Anyhow, hope everyone has a good day, and if you have time to take a moment for quiet reflection, I think that would be a good thing.

American 11 (Boston to Los Angeles)
Crashed into World Trade Center
John Ogonowski, Dracut, Mass., Captain; Thomas McGuinness, Portsmouth, N.H., First Officer; Barbara Arestegui, flight attendant; Jeffrey Collman, flight attendant; Sara Low, flight attendant; Karen Martin, flight attendant; Kathleen Nicosia, flight attendant; Betty Ong, flight attendant; Jean Roger, flight attendant; Dianne Snyder, flight attendant; Madeline Sweeney, flight attendant

United 175 (Boston to Los Angeles)
Crashed into World Trade Center
Victor J. Saracini, Lower Makefield Township, Pa., Captain; Michael Horrocks, First Officer; Amy Jarret, flight attendant; Al Marchand, flight attendant; Amy King, flight attendant; Kathryn Laborie, flight attendant; Michael Tarrou, flight attendant; Alicia Titus, flight attendant

American 77 (Washington/Dulles to Los Angeles)
Crashed into the Pentagon
Charles Burlingame, Captain; David Charlebois, First Officer; Michele Heidenberger, flight attendant; Jennifer Lewis, flight attendant; Kenneth Lewis, flight attendant; and Renee May, flight attendant

United 93 (Newark to San Francisco)
Crashed in Shanksville, Pennsylvania
Jason Dahl, Colorado, Captain; Leroy Homer, Marlton, N.J., First Officer; Sandy Bradshaw, flight attendant; CeeCee Lyles, flight attendant; Lorraine Bay, flight attendant; Wanda Green, flight attendant; Deborah Welsh, flight attendant

Another Moving Day

2013-07-09T11:49:00.002-04:00

If you ever have moving needs, and you see me coming your way with a recommendation for a moving company, you would best be advised to cover your ears and run as fast as possible in the opposite direction. At least, that is what I felt like last week on the day of my big (albeit local) move.

As long-time readers may recall, I have not had very good luck with movers. At least not when I pick the moving company. My move back to the Midwest from Texas, while stressful, was fairly uneventful since my company picked and paid for the moving company. However, I've been living here for over a year now, and as my employer just signed a 25-year lease on our current office building, I thought it was finally safe to buy some property again. Also, I needed more space, wanted a washer/dryer, and I was tired of paying rent.

The whole process of my finding a place, securing a loan, and agreeing to a closing date has been recounted here but I'll just say for now that it was a quite lengthy process that seemed to have minor complications occurring right up to closing day. On a positive note, I found out I needed far less money to close than I had originally planned for, so I used some of that leftover money to pay off my car. Anyhow, after closing on Thursday, June 27, I was scheduled to move on Monday, July 1. My apartment building had agreed to give me a couple days to move at the start of the month since the end of the month occurred on a weekend.

For this move, I had picked a moving company that had a Daily Deal with Amazon. I saw the deal, and I had an upcoming move, and I figured that hey, Amazon surely wouldn't pick anyone disreputable to deal with, would they? You've probably already figured out the answer to that question.

I got up early the morning of the move to finish getting my apartment ready. And by "finish" I mean "do everything I should have already done over the weekend." Still, I labored away, throwing away a lot of trash and moving kitchen items and clothes down to my car, until I reached the end of the time period "window" in which the movers were supposed to show up. I tried calling the number on the voucher - no answer. I looked up the company online and called that number - which went to an answering machine. The answering machine gave me another number to call if you were calling about a move in progress. I tried that one - disconnected.

At this point it was about an hour after the movers were supposed to show and I was panicking. I then made my best decision of the day and went to the concierge desk at my apartment complex. The guy working the desk has worked there for decades and knows a lot of people. I told him, hey man, I'm desperate here. Do you know anyone that might be able to handle a last minute move? He did have a guy for me to call, who was available to do the work. The guy's quote was not cheap but it wasn't highway robbery either, so I gladly accepted.

The mover and his crew arrived a few hours later and began moving stuff downstairs via the freight elevator. While I had a nice view in my old apartment, I had known shortly after moving in that it really wasn't a big enough place for me and I didn't want to stay there long-term, so a lot of boxes (books and things) I had never unpacked. They did have to pack up my kitchen dishes and such but that didn't take too long. I arranged to meet the movers at my new place around 6 PM.

When we got to the new place and they set up and began unloading, we were greeted with severe frowns by the building residents. I was soon met by the condo association president who seemed very flustered and informed me that the movers had to come in through the garage, not the reception area, and that we needed to put pads up in the elevator. Evidently, I was also supposed to have scheduled my move time in advance and paid a $250 deposit.

I assured the building president (who seemed like a nice enough guy, to be fair...and I ended up never having to pay that deposit) that the movers had been very professional, and that I didn't have a huge amount of stuff and that we would be finished soon. I also told him that I had no knowledge that scheduling the move in advance was required, and at any rate, my original move company had done a no-show that morning. He did set up the pads in the elevator for us and let us continue the move.

The movers finally finished about 9 PM and I did give them a tip on top of the original charge. I also invited them to have a beer if they wanted and two of them did. They did a really good job, no paint damage or walls run into (I did some of that myself the next day inside my unit, but such is life. I've got touch-up paint.)

On a semi-positive note, the original move company did call me and apologize the same day, although it was after I had hired the new movers. Evidently they had had at least one person (maybe more? I wasn't quite sure) quit over the weekend and that had thrown their schedule into chaos. I thanked them for calling but told them I had already called Amazon to cancel their voucher and found a replacement company. I also told them that if they knew in advance there would be issues, they really should have let me know before the day of the move. They apologized and said the owner would be calling me in the next day or two (which so far, he has not.) I also got an email from the property management company of my new condominium building a couple days after I moved in asking me to fill out a form with my planned moved date which I thought was amusing (I did reply to that one saying it was too late, but the management company didn't have a problem with it once I explained the circumstances.)

The day after my move, I had hired a cleaning service to come and do a move-out cleaning for me. They showed up right on time and did an excellent job. I then turned in my keys and wrote my final check for the utilities there before heading back to my new place to unload all the junk that was still in my car. I finished that and due to having an extra bedroom at my new condo, I already feel more moved in there than I ever did in my apartment. Of course, I have a lot of boxes to unpack and go through, but I'll get there.

I don't want to include a link with my exact address but I will share a picture I took from the courtyard of the building outside my back door. I think I will like living here. At the very least, I am looking forward to not having to move again for a very long time.

Go Blackhawks! Also, I won a bet.

2013-06-25T19:53:00.002-04:00

So, I presume most people reading this post have heard about this happening...

I am not a huge hockey fan...in fact, I was at work the night game six was on and I had given up hope. Rather than staying after my shift to watch the game's end, I headed out to my car and missed one of the greatest hockey comebacks of all time. Ah well....anyhow, this is a very big deal in my neck of the woods, and I had a bet on this one that I made with Jim Sullivan of Suldog fame. He has graciously made good the terms of our wager on his blog here.

Thanks Jim, it was nice betting with you! Thanks for the linkage.

Summerland - Kickin' It Old School

2013-06-24T09:43:00.000-04:00

So as promised, here is my review of the Summerland concert I went to over the weekend. Summerland was organized by Everclear and featured acts by Sponge, Live, Filter, and Everclear. As I am a big Everclear fan (and a fan of Sponge, Filter, and Live as well) I was very excited to hear about this show so I ponied up money for a VIP ticket. What this ticket got me was a pre-show meet and greet with Everclear which included a short acoustic performance by them, along with a "goodie bag" that included their latest CD and some other schwag.

I was a bit nervous to meet Art, who is one of my personal musical heroes, but he was totally cool and very friendly and approachable. Some people might say, well yeah, you were paying to meet him so of course he would be! However, I think he wasn't acting - he really did seem like a very cool, laid back rock star. I didn't say a whole lot to him as everyone at the meet and greet also wanted to say hi, but I did thank him for following me on Twitter. I was wearing an old Everclear tour t-shirt that I'd gotten back in 2001 or so, and he said he liked my shirt, that it was "old school." I also got to meet all of his band members, who were equally friendly, nice, and approachable. I also got photos of myself with Art, along with the band.

In his photo I am laughing because Art was joking about how much taller I was than the band and said something like, "OK everybody, get on your tiptoes now!"

I was also able to record the band's acoustic performance of "I Will Buy You A New Life" which I have shared below. In hindsight of course, I should have turned the camera so it would post better on YouTube but in the spur of the moment I didn't think of it. Anyhow, other than that, the video turned out pretty well.

The regular show started about twenty minutes after the meet and greet event ended. I won't go into details for every act, but I thought ALL the bands rocked, all the sets were great, and every set felt like it was the right length. There was also a nice break time between sets so you never had to miss any music while waiting in line for the bathroom or whatever. Seriously, great show and great sound by all the performers.

I am probably...ok, defintitely prejudiced because I liked all the bands, but it was one of the best concerts I've ever been to. As another reviewer pointed out, none of the bands performing featured their original lineup, and Live did not feature their original lead singer, but I didn't mind in the least or notice in the performance of their songs.

It was kind of funny observing the crowd - now that all of us original fans are in our thirties and forties, it was definitely a more mellow watching experience than some of the concerts I went to in my youth. While far from a sellout crowd, it was still good sized and everyone really seemed to enjoy the music.

I won't try to include videos by all the bands that performed - anyone interested can do a search on YouTube to find the music - but I will say, if you do like the bands, try and support them by buying their music, even if it's just individual tracks. But if you DO like the bands, why not pony up some cash for a CD to show your love?

I do want to include this video of a cover of "Happy Together" by Filter as I think it's an interesting, well-done take on the song and I also think it's an excellent video. I guess it's gotten some more airplay recently since it was featured on the soundtrack for the new Great Gatsby movie, and I'm happy for the band that it has.

In short, I thought Summerland was an awesome show, and I hope Art brings it back again next year. For more information on tour dates, you can go to click here and see if it's coming to your town. More linky goodness...to follow Live on Twitter, click here. To follow Sponge, click here. To follow Filter, click here. To follow Everclear, click here. Art also has an individual Twitter feed you can access here.

I write like...

2013-06-23T06:26:00.000-04:00

So, this is kind of cool...

I write like
Chuck Palahniuk

I Write Like. Analyze your writing!

The only book I've read by him is Fight Club but it was very good. And, it's always nice to find out that a computer thinks my style is similar to a famous person also named Chuck.

I just saw Everclear, Sponge, Live, and Filter in an awesome concert organized by Art Alexakis called Summerland. I want to do a post with the pictures and video that I took but I also want to do a decent job of writing it, so give me a few days and then check back here for details. If you're a fan of alternative rock and want to see if the show is coming to your town, go check out www.summerlandtour.net for information.

A Friendly Wager

2013-06-12T12:46:00.000-04:00

As I am now a Midwest resident once again, and the Chicago Blackhawks are in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, I have agreed to an online bet with Jim Sullivan of Suldog fame. If the Bruins win, I am obligated to write a post complimenting Boston and the Bruins, along with displaying their team logo. If the Hawks win, Jim is obligated to do the same for Chicago and the Blackhawks on his blog. He said it would bring more traffic to our blogs, but since he is a regular blog updater and has hundreds of followers I think that it will benefit me more than him...still, I'm happy to take his bet. Jim is a great guy and a really good writer, and I look forward to reading about Chicago on his blog once the series is over.

Real Estate: The Agony and the Ecstasy

2013-06-08T16:39:00.000-04:00

I am currently looking to become a property owner again. I guess technically a homeowner, although the property that I'm trying to buy is a condominium. HOPEFULLY, this will be happening soon, like within a week or so. As I will describe, though, with all that's happened so far in the process, I am not counting on anything until the closing takes place.

I have owned real estate just once before in my life. That was in Nevada, in the early 2000s. In that case, I decided to buy a single-family home, even though I didn't need all the space, since I thought it would be a better investment. While I was waiting to buy the house, the airline that I was working for there went into Chapter 11. I ended up deciding to buy the house anyway, even though I liked my apartment that I was living in at the time, and closed on it in April of 2001. Great timing! As I'm sure everyone reading this is aware, 9/11 happened later that year and the airline I was working for, already struggling, never did emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Still, they did keep flying until late 2002.

My first job that I found after that airline went under was in Wisconsin. My new employer did include a paid move but I still kind of hoped to keep living in Nevada, so I decided to rent out my house there initially. I had fairly good renters but my goal of getting a job with another Nevada-based airline never panned out, so I ended up selling the house after I had rented it out for about a year. Fortunately during that year the property values went up a lot, and I ended up making money on it - not a fortune or anything but it was better than the alternative. However, the whole experience of being forced to move, rent, etc. left me a little gun-shy with regards to owning property, and I had no desire to buy any sort of real estate in Wisconsin - because I had no big desire to keep living there. As long-term readers know, I ended up getting a job in Texas after about three years of living in Wisconsin.

I did look at some properties when I was living in Texas after I'd been living there for a while. One in particular I did really like, but I also felt like I couldn't afford, so I never pursued financing or anything. Shortly after we got a new contact at my workplace, thus enabling me to afford to buy something, they announced our merger and pending move to the Midwest, the kaboshing any interest I had in buying a place once again for a couple more years.

I decided I would like to buy a place where I am living now, and I don't expect to be moving again until I retire, but I didn't want to buy right away either. In my experience, it's always best to live somewhere for a while first to get to know the good and bad areas. Plus, I don't like being rushed when working with a realtor, especially if I decide I want to switch realtors. Anyhow, several months into living here, I did find a realtor I liked and started looking at places - townhomes and condominiums. I couldn't find any townhomes here that I liked but we did finally locate a condo that I am pretty fond of. After several rounds of negotiating with the buyer, we agreed on a purchase price.

Now comes the rub - the whole financing process. As I am a veteran, I wanted to buy the property with a VA loan. Banks usually like this, you have to put less money down, and you don't have to pay any mortgage insurance because it's insured by the government. Closing costs can be a bit higher but overall it's usually a good way to go. When I got my house in Nevada, the process was pretty easy, and I don't remember having to put much money down beyond my initial earnest money on the house and a little bit more at closing. So, I wanted to get the same kind of loan for my condominium.

The VA has certain requirements for condominium buildings, and while my potential property easily met all of them, this particular condominium association also has a requirement that all the units be either owner-occupied, or only rented to a relative. That requirement doomed my chances with the VA. I was informed that they require renting the unit to be an option in case the veteran who buys the unit is forced to deploy with the military. Even though there is zero chance of that happening in my case, as I have long since left the inactive reserves, the VA does not make exceptions to this rule. So, I was stuck with conventional financing, or finding a new place.

I decided to go for conventional financing even though it was quite a bit more money down (5% of the purchase price required) since that is the only path I saw towards getting this particular unit. I went over things with the banker my realtor had recommended, and he told me how much money I'd need. I am doing a 401K loan for that money, so in essence I'm financing the whole purchase, but from two different sources. The banker assured me this would not be a problem based on my current income and expenses.

I had to do a LOT of paperwork for this loan - far more than I remember doing in 2001 for my old house - but after a few weeks, I finally got a letter from the bank saying my loan was approved. There were some other hiccups - we had to extend the closing date a couple of times, which at one point we thought the seller was not agreeing to, but ultimately everything seemed to be on schedule. I had the money for the down payment deposited in my bank account, and things were looking good.

Earlier this week while getting ready for work, the bank called. "Well, I have some good news and some not so good news," said my banker. "The good news is, you're all approved, but the bad news is that you're going to need $4000 more than I said you would when we started the process. I don't know if you need to get more money from your 401K, or what you want to do there." As I was in the middle of walking out the door I told him I'd call back. I did initially consider a couple different ways to get the extra money, but the more I thought about it, the angrier I became. I was especially annoyed with the casual way that the banker had referred to me getting more money, like it was no big deal and whoops, well, these things happen, you know?

I called my realtor after I got to work and left him a message. I let him know that I was tired of all the paperwork and running around, and that I was not interested in putting down any more money than what I had already been told I'd need, and that if I couldn't close with that amount then I felt like I probably shouldn't close on the property. This got a fast response, as he called the banker (the guy he had recommended to me) and I guess read him the riot act. The banker suddenly was able to find a way so that I could close with the amount I'd been planning on, although it will raise my APR slightly. So for now, everything is on track (again.)

I hope it works out since my apartment lease is ending at the end of the month (although I could extend it if I have to) and I really would like to get this deal done so I can get moved. In the meantime, if anyone is looking to buy a house, I wish you the best of luck but be prepared for lots of paperwork and negotiations! Hopefully I will be able to update soon with good news.

Twitter

2013-04-13T11:55:00.000-04:00

For anyone interested, I also have a Twitter account, as many people seem to these days. The link to my account is in the sidebar of this blog. I still have no clue what I am doing there, but I try and have fun with it.

The other day one of those fun events occurred when I discovered that the band Filter, who tweet as @OfficialFilter, are now following me there. I am not sure why since, while I like their music, I'd never mentioned them on Twitter before to my knowledge. I was also at one time briefly followed by Art Alexakis of Everclear, but that didn't last.

I harbor no ill will towards anyone who doesn't follow me, or briefly followed me and then unfollowed me, as it's just Twitter and I try not to take it too seriously. Still, when I find a well-known person is following me, it does give me a little ego boost - and we can all use those once in a while, can't we?

My favorite song by Filter is probably Hey Man, Nice Shot which was featured prominently in the movie The Cable Guy, among other places. However, it's not the most uplifting song. Here is what I found out about it from Wikipedia:

The song was written about the January 22, 1987, public suicide of Pennsylvania state treasurer R. Budd Dwyer. Dwyer had been convicted on bribery charges in December 1986, and was expected to receive a long sentence from U.S. District Court Judge Malcolm Muir. Professing his innocence and decrying the legal system, Dwyer shot himself with a .357 Magnum during a press conference. Although singer and songwriter Richard Patrick frequently clarified this in interviews, as well as the fact that he had first written the song in 1991 before the band even had a record deal, the song's popularity was augmented by a widespread perception that it was about the 1994 suicide of Kurt Cobain.

And on that cheery note, here is the official video for it. See you later!

Why I Am Still Single

2013-04-09T22:41:00.002-04:00

Figured it was time to shake the dust off my keyboard and post something here. A friend of mine has recently started a blog (hi, PJ!) and another friend just wrote a post on hers and so forth. I really have no reason for being away so long. I have moved to the Midwest as I had said I would - I'm currently living in an apartment with a nice view but looking to move into a condo if the VA ever approves the building. I have no good excuse like MM did of writing a book or anything. I just stopped posting for a while. But I'm back, at least for now.

I am closing on 45 years old this year and I am still single. For some reason, me and relationships just don't go well together. I've only ever dated one person I would have liked to get really serious with, and that was only briefly as it happened while I was temporarily attending school in Denver. For tonight's episode, we will go over a friendship that I felt might have developed into something more, but crashed and burned instead.

It started off when a person emailed me out of the blue. She was a fan of a review blog that we both were commenting on. (Hi, Marvo!) We had several email exchanges - a bit flirty perhaps but nothing really serious. She did seem like a nice gal though. The emails proceeded to phone calls and then things dropped off for a while. However, we did still continue to stay in touch, albeit intermittently. She lived in Columbus.

Last year, I drove to Pittsburgh to attend a wedding. As I was driving through Columbus, I tried to get in touch. I got no reply until I was at my friend's wedding but then she did call back, so we arranged to meet on my way back from Pittsburgh. My nephew lives in Columbus also right now (attending medical school) and I was already planning to see him, so it was not out of my way. I had lunch with my nephew and then went back to my motel and called her.

She gave me directions to her apartment, and we talked for a bit before going out for dinner. We had a very nice meal and conversation - she asked if I wanted to go to a club or something, but I was getting over a cold and I said I'd rather just watch Breaking Bad with her at her place. So, that's what we did. Nothing else happened although I did get a goodnight kiss on the cheek. I didn't return it since I didn't want to give her my cold.

Anyhow, we talked once or twice more after that - I called her when I was on vacation in Orlando last fall and said that my nephew was now engaged and I'd be attending his wedding, and that I would like to see her again when I was there. She sounded receptive to all of this. I then made what was probably a mistake and invited her to come to the wedding with me via email - but I also said if she didn't want to come I understood and maybe we could just get together for lunch or whatever. Anyhow, I got zero response to this. I tried calling - same thing, it always went to her voicemail.

The weekend of the wedding finally arrived and it was a very nice ceremony and reception. I saw some family members I hadn't seen in a while and had a good time. But of course, still no response from this gal. We were friends on Facebook and the day after the wedding, I noticed she had posted a link about going to some club the night before and what an awesome time she'd had. For some reason, this pushed me over the edge, and I wrote, "Have a nice life!" as a comment to that post and unfriended her. Shortly after this, she finally called my phone. I didn't answer the call. She didn't leave a message.

This whole exchange seems to sum up me and the relationships I've had or attempted to have - not that I really expected this one to develop into anything serious, since we were living in different cities and all - but I did want to stay friends and I have no idea why I got the total cold shoulder on my last trip there. Ah well, life goes on. I have discovered that generally speaking, I am happier being single and not dealing with all the baggage a relationship brings with it. Of course, things may change in the future but for now, I am happy with bachelorhood.

Your Monday moment of Zen...

2011-09-26T12:45:00.000-04:00

Elephant vs. midgets. And people say reality TV isn't educational!

More Gloom & Doom

2011-09-19T09:43:00.000-04:00

So. One of my co-workers (same job title as me) went to the Reno Air Races last week, and was killed when the plane crashed into the crowd. He was with two other people, one of whom was unharmed by the crash, and the other who was seriously injured but is expected to make a full recovery. Evidently, right before the crash occurred, my co-worker had gone forward (in front of the stands) to take some pictures, and he was standing very close to where the plane impacted the ground.

At first, he was just considered missing - his family held out some hope that he might have been taken to a hospital without ID on him or something. However, his wife flew out there the next day and ruled that possibility out. Also, although no remains have been found yet, they did find some of his personal effects (wallet, etc.) at the crash site. Unfortunately, the crash was so bad that I don't think there is much left of him other than that.

I guess I'm still feeling a bit stunned by it. You don't think much about mortality when you're still in your forties. And, I have to admit that the guy who was killed was not a close friend of mine - we didn't get along that great, to be honest. I won't go into the particular reasons for that right now, but I guess it does make it harder to sort out how I feel. However, I do feel awful for his wife and kids. They had adopted two children (a boy and girl) who are elementary school age. My co-worker used to work the 6 AM to 2 PM shift, and I heard he would call them every morning while he was at work, before they went to school. He was very enthusiastic about aviation and seemed to be good at his job. So - he will be missed.

I think men are worse than women when it comes to grief and dealing with death. I know that after my father died, I did a horrible job with the grieving process and tried to carry on like nothing had happened. That worked - for a while - but after several months I had a few incidents involving anger and behavior that, quite honestly, is nothing I was proud of. I was able to eventually move past that but it took a while. To be totally honest, I think some of the problems I was having with my last job were related to this (although not all of them) and it was definitely time for me to move on when I did. Hell, even if I'd been having zero problems with my last job, I would have left there to go to a major in a heartbeat.

While I am not an extremely religious person, I also am not an atheist, and I have heard people at work asking what God was thinking with regards to this tragedy. I don't know that, but it does seem to me that when you have a man over 70 years old flying a heavily modified high performance aircraft at 50 feet above the ground, passing directly over a crowd of people watching - this is not safe behavior. And, I suppose the pilots involved know it's risky, as several of them have been killed over the years, and they accept that risk - but I hope in future, assuming that the race resumes, that more steps are taken to protect the crowd, even if it means they don't have quite as good a view.

I will definitely be attending my co-worker's funeral, if I can, and a bunch of us from work are getting together Tuesday night to have a few drinks in my fallen co-worker's honor. And I would advise those people reading to remember that life is precious, and to try not to take your daily existence for granted.

9/11, Ten Years Later

2011-09-11T11:36:00.000-04:00

I suppose this is as fitting a date as any to start posting again, and I'm sorry I've been gone so long. I've already posted before about what I was doing on the date of the 9/11 attacks, details can be found here if you are interested. I don't have that much else to say, except that time really does fly - but two airlines later, I'm still working in this crazy industry and mostly enjoying it. I will try to have a more substantive post up soon about what I've been doing since my last post many months ago, so stay tuned. Continuing a tradition, here are the names of the airline employees killed in the 9/11 attacks. May they rest in peace.

American 11 (Boston to Los Angeles)
Crashed into World Trade Center
John Ogonowski, Dracut, Mass., Captain; Thomas McGuinness, Portsmouth, N.H., First Officer; Barbara Arestegui, flight attendant; Jeffrey Collman, flight attendant; Sara Low, flight attendant; Karen Martin, flight attendant; Kathleen Nicosia, flight attendant; Betty Ong, flight attendant; Jean Roger, flight attendant; Dianne Snyder, flight attendant; Madeline Sweeney, flight attendant

United 175 (Boston to Los Angeles)
Crashed into World Trade Center
Victor J. Saracini, Lower Makefield Township, Pa., Captain; Michael Horrocks, First Officer; Amy Jarret, flight attendant; Al Marchand, flight attendant; Amy King, flight attendant; Kathryn Laborie, flight attendant; Michael Tarrou, flight attendant; Alicia Titus, flight attendant

American 77 (Washington/Dulles to Los Angeles)
Crashed into the Pentagon
Charles Burlingame, Captain; David Charlebois, First Officer; Michele Heidenberger, flight attendant; Jennifer Lewis, flight attendant; Kenneth Lewis, flight attendant; and Renee May, flight attendant

United 93 (Newark to San Francisco)
Crashed in Shanksville, Pennsylvania
Jason Dahl, Colorado, Captain; Leroy Homer, Marlton, N.J., First Officer; Sandy Bradshaw, flight attendant; CeeCee Lyles, flight attendant; Lorraine Bay, flight attendant; Wanda Green, flight attendant; Deborah Welsh, flight attendant

Imitation, the sincerest form of flattery...

2011-04-23T23:49:00.001-04:00

As you may or may not know, I am a science fiction fan. Not to the extreme that I have an entire room devoted to sci-fi memorabilia or anything, but I do like it. Also, although I no longer read them often, I was a pretty big comic book fan as a kid, especially Marvel books. Thus, I really liked the following two commercials. The first one is a VW commercial that premiered in the Superbowl I like to call "Little Vader" (although its actual title is "The Force") which I'm sure that most people have seen already. Just in case you haven't, here it is:

The next commercial I just saw today. It's an ad for the upcoming Marvel movie, Thor, based on the comic book. Basically it's a shot-for-shot recreation of the first commercial, but with some added material, and I think it may be my favorite commercial of all time (and I say this as a guy who really likes funny commercials.) Hope you enjoy it also!

Spam Amusement

2011-04-20T19:49:00.001-04:00

I just got an email supposedly from someone who had seen my profile on a social networking site that I hadn't logged onto for so long, my account has been suspended there. Spam is often amusing but I really thought this was hilarious for some reason:

Hello my new friend:) My name's Anastasia.
I write to you because I want serious relations.
I saw your profile on dating site quechup.com.
Therefore I write to you now. I think, that you are good man and I hope,
that my heart does not deceive me. I search true relations for creation family.
I write to you and I hope, that you write to me also.
If you are interested, please write to me on my this e-mail.
I shall be glad, if you will answer me.
I shall wait your message with impatience.
your Anastasia:)

Of course, the requisite photo of an attractive female was attached. Also attached was the message "Email Marketing by iContact. Try it free!" Just as a tip for all those lonely Anastasias out there...probably a good idea to not include that last bit in your "marketing" email.

My reply, were I to send one:

Hello Anastasia my hot Russian babe that I have never seen before, I have known all my life we were destined to meet even though I did not know you existed until today. I know this because I seek professional nude jello wrestling partner for trade shows. Money is awesome but I have been out of work since my last partner dislocated her shoulder while performing the beautiful "Hiru-Kiru" body slam move in order to pin me. As I am large man I need partner with beefy arms to perform the more difficult moves and from your photo I know you will excel. Plus, I think you might be my soul mate or something. I look forward to our sparring sessions!

I kind of doubt I'd hear back from her if I were to send that reply though, so I guess she'll have to find some other ~~sucker~~ soul mate to fulfill her desires.

Site Maintenance and the state of blogging in 2011

2011-04-20T03:25:00.000-04:00

Greetings all, not a whole lot to report here. If anyone is looking for an update from my latest mini-series, I decided to take it down momentarily and unify it as a single post, so look for some sort of update to that in a week or so. Life continues on here in Texas with lots of hot, dry weather. We really could use some rain.

In other blogging news, Suldog has announced that he is ceasing active blogging. He was one of the most frequent commenters on this site, and I always enjoyed reading his blog. I'm sorry to see him go, but he is keeping his blog online, so I hope we see some more posts from him eventually.

I started this blog out after some encouragement from one of my favorite bloggers, Magazine Man. He's got a ton of great stuff to peruse in his archives, but he hasn't posted in a while either...and please understand, I am NOT criticizing anyone for not posting blog entries. Hell, I've been guilty of not posting for weeks at a time myself now and then. Real life is always more important than blogging, and I know MM (as his fans refer to him) has been extremely busy with starting a new job, selling his old house, and moving his family to their new house. It just seems that...I don't know, when all your friends are posting on THEIR blogs, it makes you more likely to want to post on YOUR blog, if you know what I mean.

Back when blogging was really popular (and I think it probably hit its peak in the 2004-2005 time frame) I saw many people would begin blogs, post a few entries, and then never update them again. While this blog has had its share of blank spots, I am proud I've never let it go completely "dark" like that. I think that Twitter and Facebook have replaced blogging as the "in" thing to do...because it honestly is more of a challenge to write an interesting blog post than it is to fire off a Twitter update or a Facebook update.

Anyhow, just some late night musings from yours truly...hope everyone is doing well, and look back soon (as Suldog was always fond of saying) for more better stuff.

Various Happenings

2011-02-24T23:57:00.010-05:00

My mother was just in the hospital (again) for a similar issue to the last time, but fortunately only had to stay for one day. They think they might have figured out the problem and have adjusted her medications accordingly...I hope they are right. The hospital that they sent her to was not the same one she went to last time and things were kind of a goat rope there...I had to spend the night with her last night because the hospital did not provide a sitter (which we really wanted, due to Mom's dementia.) However she is back at home now and appears to be doing well.

I am flying out of town tomorrow for a couple days to do may annual cockpit observation time. I'm flying to Trinidad and staying for a couple days (the hotel expense will be on my dime, but I figure why not have a little fun since I've got the time off?) If I take any good pictures I will share them here. I'm glad I don't have to worry about Mom while I'm gone. I would of course have delayed this trip if I had to, but since everything was already set up and she's back at her assisted living place and doing well, I'm going ahead with it.

Lastly, I would like to share a picture of a sign somebody posted in the men's at work, above the urinals. Yes, men are slobs. I thought it was funny though.

Car Stuff, With Bonus Video

2011-02-02T11:26:00.017-05:00

Not much going on here. I had my first post-operation hearing test yesterday, and the results were encouraging with significant improvement seen...but as my doctor said, it can take several months before the full effect is realized. I'm happy I had the surgery done, though, and glad the post-operative dizziness is over.

I do feel sorry for my ENT doctor...she is pregnant with twins, and being of fairly short stature, that's slowed her down a lot (part of why I got my surgery done when I did was that she's not doing surgery now until after she has her babies due to becoming rather huge.) Sometime after my surgery, while walking around her examining room one day, she tripped on a cable and broke her foot. Poor thing! I admire her for still soldiering on and seeing her patients with one foot in a cast...hope she is all recovered before her twins arrive in March, but I imagine she will be.

The new car is doing well. I took it on its first road trip to see my relative Rex last weekend, and it averaged over 38 mpg on my trip up there. Rex's sister was having her 85th birthday and he had arranged a surprise luncheon for her at one a nice restaurant, which was fun. She was just expecting to have lunch with him and a friend of hers, and got to the restaurant to find about 20 friends from her church there waiting for her.

I suppose I should write more about the whole car-buying experience but it was pretty low-key, for the most part. Ford has a program called X-plan pricing (which can be viewed at www.fordpartner.com) where they arrange for employees of certain large corporations they do business with to receive a new car at a very good price...the only way to get a better price is to work for Ford itself. So, there wasn't very much haggling, except on the trade-in, and when they offered me a price within $200 of what I originally asked for my old car, I was satisfied with that. I got a loan arranged through the dealer at a pretty good interest rate and everything was just about set. The salesman went to talk to his manager about something, so I wandered around the showroom while I was waiting.

I decided to sit in a new Fiesta that was in the showroom next to my salesman's cubicle. Unlike mine, it had an armrest/center console, which I really liked. The standard Fiesta does not include a front seat armrest, which I think is a mistake on Ford's part. I told the salesman that I was interested in having that armrest added on to my car, and he started going on about how that wasn't really a standard option, and that the car on the floor had been modified by the body shop to have the windows tinted, ground effects added, and so on. I really didn't care about the ground effects (which help make the car more aerodynamic, evidently) and I knew I could get the windows tinted myself (which I did about a week after I bought the car) but I really wanted the armrest. So I told the salesman, "Well, if I can't get that armrest added on, I don't think I'm going to be interested in buying the car." Suddenly, he was able to call the body shop and arrange for them to add it on that same day. I didn't get it for free...I think I paid about $300 or so extra for it...but it was funny how it went from being an unavailable option to easily available after I said that.

If you have a few minutes and are easily amused, check out this rather inspired mock commercial for the Ford Fiesta, which was one of the first places I saw it. My car is the same model as the one in this video, but with cloth seats, a manual transmission, and a more boring dark gray color (all of which I prefer.)

Quick Update

2011-01-15T14:01:00.002-05:00

OK, I know this is overdue, but wanted to get something out there. My operation went fine, I'm not quite 100% yet but I'm back at work. Of course, I managed to get some kind of minor stomach bug on my days off last week but I'm feeling better today so returning to work this afternoon. Hearing in the operated-on ear seems to be much improved but the sound is still a bit muffled...however that will clear up with time as the ear heals.

Also...I got a new car. I probably should have waited another year or so with my old car to justify the money I put into it last year, but I found one I liked quite well so I went ahead and took the plunge. My thinking was something like, well, this current car is 15 years old almost, so what if it breaks down badly this year and is worth nothing? As it was I got about what I expected on the trade-in, and I'm quite happy with the new ride. It's a lot smaller which makes for easier parking at work and gets much better gas mileage...but it's pretty versatile and fun to drive, as well as having a nice stereo system! I haven't taken any pictures of it yet but here is a photo of a similar one I found on the web. 2011 Ford Fiesta, if you were wondering which kind. And even though I'm fairly tall, I fit into it just fine...that being said, I don't think there's room for anyone to sit behind me much. However, it's rare for me to carry more than one or at the most two people in my car so I doubt it will be much of an issue. And, the rear seats fold down, making the cargo area big enough for me to carry my bike in...which for various reasons I couldn't do with either of my prior two cars.

OK time for me to get ready for work here. More later. Hope everyone is having a great 2011 so far!

Seasons Greetings

2010-12-24T13:37:00.010-05:00

Image courtesy of shirt.woot.com and yes, I did buy the t-shirt. :)

Sorry for the lack of a regular post this month, it's just been a rather busy one. On the Saturday after Thanksgiving, my mother was admitted to the hospital. She had a similar period of unresponsiveness to the last time she was sent there about six months ago. However, after extensive tests they could find no evidence of stroke or TMI...but they did detect some heart arrhythmia so she's been put on medicine for that and seems to be doing all right now.

Rex, my godfather, came down for a visit mid-month and we went to a Christmas family dinner thing at my Mom's assisted living place, but she wasn't having a good day and seemed very disoriented that night so we didn't stay for the full event. However, she often does better earlier in the day, so I am hoping that tomorrow goes well, when I will take her to my sister's for gift exchanges, prior to leaving for work.
Mom is hard to shop for so I ended up getting a Snuggie, which I think she'll like.

Work has been busy as well, since I primarily work Europe flights and I'm sure everyone has heard how bad the weather was over there. This week I'm dealing with Latin America flights, though, although there have been some places with fog, you never have to worry about snow on that desk this time of year.

Finally, I decided to get my other ear fixed with the same procedure I had done a few years ago. I'm having that done soon after Christmas, on the 28th, so good thoughts will be appreciated. I'm taking some time off work for recovery after that so I will take the unusual step (for me) of PROMISING a good blog post within the next two weeks, since I'll be homebound for a week or more afterwards.

Hope everyone has an awesome Christmas/New Year's/Haunakah/Festivus/etc. and see you back here soon!

More fun with panhandlers

2010-11-27T12:39:00.004-05:00

As promised, here is a regular blog post, if somewhat later than I planned it.

Instead of trying to catch up all at once, I think a series of shorter posts will get things going more easily. Long time readers will recall my last encounter with someone asking for money. This time was a bit less amusing, but more satisfying. Let me explain.

Working in the airline industry, which is 24/7/365, I often have to work holidays. Such was the case on this Thanksgiving. It's not all bad as we do get extra vacation days to use throughout the year in lieu of regular holidays, and they always feed us at work. Normally I would take my mother to my sister's place, but she was out of town this year. I still wanted to do something with Mom for the holiday. Since I didn't have to be at work until the afternoon, I took her to lunch at Luby's.

As we walked in, there was a man sitting in the entryway. His clothes looked a little ragged. He said, "Sir, do you have any money, so I could buy some food?" I offered to buy him dinner. He was taken aback slightly. "Oh, I can't go in there..." he replied and then kind of trailed off.

I should add that while his clothes were slightly ragged, his personal appearance was fine and it didn't look like he hadn't showered for weeks or anything...he certainly COULD have gone in to the cafeteria if he'd wanted. However, I didn't press the issue. Perhaps I could get him a plate of food to go, I offered. "Never mind," he said, with a resigned look on his face, and we walked on in.

I know a lot of people ARE down on their luck these days, but I also don't want to enable someone's addiction by giving him money for beer or wine or whatever he wanted money for, that is probably the reason he is panhandling in the first place. Actually it was his loss, as the food was pretty good. The panhandler was gone by the time we left.

I took Mom back to her place after our meal and relayed the story to one of the employees there. She liked my story. "You called his bluff! Good job! I gave money to a man one time at Kroger and I saw him an hour later drinking beer and talking on a cell phone!" Oh well. I really was serious about my offer to buy the guy dinner...but I guess I've learned my technique for next time this happens.

Hope everyone is having a great Thanksgiving weekend, whether you have to work or not. I had to work Thursday and Friday but I'm off until Tuesday now, so I'm looking forward to having a lazy stretch of days off. I've been working a lot of overtime lately so it will be nice to just relax and not worry about going anywhere.

More soon.

Why Our Economy Is Screwed

2010-11-15T01:31:00.003-05:00

A brilliant video.

I know I'm overdue for a proper blog post, which will hopefully be forthcoming this week. It's been a busy month. But things are slowly getting back to normal here.

Boring Internet Stuff

2010-10-04T02:07:00.004-04:00

I've never really been a fan of this site's blogspot address. I mean, it WORKS, but...I chose the name made spontaneously, while searching for a name that hadn't been taken yet, back before I even knew I'd be actively blogging. Plus, the made-up word bacosaurus refers to my previous employer, and even if I still worked for them (which I don't, thank God) that particular aircraft isn't even flown by them anymore.

Anyhow, I am not abandoning Blogger and the old site address of bacosaurus.blogspot.com will continue to work. However, I did decide to splurge, spend ten bucks, and purchase a domain name. From now on, if you can't remember the blogspot address, just type in www.chuckmann.net or chuckmann.net and you'll be taken here directly. The domain name should come in handy if I ever decide to move the blog to a different service also (not that I have any plans of doing that, but who can tell what the future may bring?)

Now back to our regularly scheduled blogging. Also, hope everyone had a great weekend.

More Car Stuff

2010-09-30T21:40:00.004-04:00

Nothing serious this time, thankfully. My car has a stereo with an antenna that automatically extends/retracts when you turn it on or off. While driving around yesterday, I noticed the antenna hadn't fully retracted. This has happened before and I've been able to get it working with some WD-40, but after 15 years this time it gave up the ghost...dead antenna.

I happened to be driving past an auto tint/car alarm/car stereo place later that same day and made note of their number. When I called, they told me they could replace the antenna and gave me an estimate. Since I'd been wanting to get the windows tinted for a while, I got an estimate for that as well, and went ahead and got both things done at once today. I left to go get some food while they did the work and came back a couple hours later. When I got back they were done, and the installer asked me if I'd just bought the car. I told him no, that I'd had it for a while. "Really?" he said. "Damn, man, that is one really nice ride you have. Clean as a whistle." The shop owner complimented me on the car as well. That makes me feel good, that all the money I've spent on the thing this year hasn't been spent in vain. And believe me, after all the money I've spent I have no intention of getting a new car any time soon.

Now I just have to remember not to lower my windows for three days due to the newly applied window tinting; I guess it's like a "cure" time for the newly applied tint. No fast food drive through food for me for the next couple days! It's something I should avoid anyhow.

Random Adventures

2010-09-29T13:15:00.003-04:00

Greetings everyone. Not a whole lot has been happening here other than, work, which isn't too exciting. Well, I did have another in-flight medical diversion and those are always fun, but for the most part things have been pretty quiet. However, some things happened this week I thought were were worth blogging about.

Adventure One: I was getting some gasoline after work and this guy walked up and asked if I could give him a ride about a mile north so he could catch a bus home. I initially said no, but then I changed my mind as he seemed kind of desperate, and he didn't seem too suspicious. He was trying to call his sponsor, etc. I suppose I did it because he seemed like he had been down on his luck, but was trying to get his life together, and also because I had no car when I first moved here and I remember how much it sucks. All that being said, I never begged for rides either. After I dropped him off, I thought, hmmm, you know, if he had just started walking to his destination rather than begging for rides, he probably would have gotten there almost as quickly. However, it was getting kind of late, so I will give him the benefit of the doubt in wanting to get there and make sure to catch the bus before it stopped running for the night...but all the same, I probably won't do that again. As a general rule, I never pick up hitchhikers.

Adventure Two: I had a couple of gift certificates for Best Buy, so I decided to buy some color ink for my printer since it's running out. My printer is a rather old HP Deskjet model, which used to belong to my mother...I want to say she bought it in 1999, perhaps? I don't do a lot of printing with it, but it still works like a champ. However, I didn't have the old cartridge with me when I went to the store, so I asked the clerk on duty there which cartridge I needed...he had to look it up online, and he had trouble looking it up because the printer is no longer made, but he finally told me it was a "78" type. I went ahead and bought the VERY PRICEY ink, then got home and tried to plug it in. It fit fine but I kept getting an error message...finally realized that although they are very similar in shape, I needed a "23" type and not a "78" type. Thanks, Best Buy! Fortunately I did save the receipt, so I'll be returning that incorrect cartridge today and using the credit to help buy a laptop backpack I saw there and liked. Also, I found a OEM ink cartridge (the RIGHT one) for sale online that cost about 1/3 what the HP brand did, and included free shipping so, lesson learned.

Adventure Three: I worked last night, volunteering for a graveyard overtime shift. That was probably a mistake. I believe they call those shifts "graveyard" because you feel like you belong in one when the shift is over...it's hard for me to believe I worked those exclusively for a year back when I started working on the international desks a few years ago. It didn't help that I didn't get a good nap in before work, or that the particular shift I was working had very little to do up until about an hour before shift's end, so I was definitely feeling like a zombie and I had a lot more caffeine than I normally do in an attempt to stay awake. I also had some trouble getting signed in, and one airport had low visibility right when I got there...but once I finally got signed in, the fog lifted enough for the one flight I was concerned about to land, and the shift was pretty uneventful after that.

I decided to reward myself with a Denny's breakfast after the shift was over, which I used to do quite often at the end of my workweek, back when I worked graveyard shifts all the time. I ordered something that was no longer on the menu, which the manager had told me when I visited previously wouldn't be a problem to order. The waitress didn't remember how much it cost, however, and seemed to be really confused about how much to charge me. I told her what it cost, and she thought it was more....so I told her, well, if you want to charge me the price of this similar item currently on the menu, that's fine, but I definitely want to get this particular item if I can. So, she ended up bringing me the similar item of food, and not what I ordered. I told her that what I got wasn't what I ordered and she got all flummoxed and started asking other employees what the item I wanted cost. I was waiting for her to take my plate back to the kitchen and she says to me, "You're sure you don't want this?" I probably normally would have been more polite, but I was rather grumpy after being up all night and tired of arguing about it so I just said, "Never mind! I'm leaving!" I got up and walked out (since all I'd had at that point was ice water, I didn't owe anything.) I hate it when someone I am ordering stuff from (be it food or some other kind of merchandise) starts arguing with me when they are the ones who made the mistake. Fortunately, my favorite bagel shop was open, so I just got a breakfast sandwich there instead (which was honestly probably all I really needed.)

Not a whole lot else going on here. After reading about them some on another blog, I have decided to order a GPS for my car as an early birthday present to myself (I turn 42 next month, so I'm thinking of having a Hitchiker's Guide themed day.) Also planning a trip up to see my relative Rex for a few days over my birthday weekend, so that should be a good chance to try out the GPS. Later on, in November, I'm attending Wurstfest in New Braunfels. I went last year and it was a really fun time.

Hope everyone is doing well, and I promise an update on how I like the GPS, once it arrives here.