Last of 2009

It is New Years Eve, 2010 approaching fast. To think I spent almost half my year away from home and school, friends and family makes me wonder how I had done it. What a great experience, and how much I have missed in Alfred.

2010 will be a good year. I will try to lose at least 15 pounds and eat healthier in the next year. I get to share a place with a good friend of mine from freshman year with a room to myself, and I will be starting a new music project after not writing much for over 8 months.

Every year pushes me closer and closer to becoming the person I want to be, without knowing exactly who that person is yet.

Merry Christmas!

(New Toy!)

In Limbo

I have been home for a few days, and so far my animal allergies haven't gotten the best of me. Sarah came to visit, and is leaving today, while I will see some of my friends tonight and give them the presents I bought the other day. The rest I have to wrap for the family. We leave tomorrow morning for North Carolina, and my dad plans on letterboxing on the way down, so our 13 hour trip is going to be a bit longer...

3 days 'til Christmas. 22 days (approx.) until I head back to Alfred.

All Dressed Up

This makes me laugh. Everytime.

Poem of My Day

Pipefitter was working without a hardhat.
I asked him where it was.
He had taken it off to reach between pipes.
He spat when he talked.
He forgot to put it back on, so he put it on then.
It was loud; he spoke to my ear.
He asked if I was going to tell on him.
I was not going to tell on him.
But thanks for the shower.

Brrr....

19 Degrees, wind chill near 0. What kind of southern weather is this?!

Last Week in Muncie

This week wasn’t too bad for my last week in Muncie. Found enough to keep myself occupied at work, most of the time. But the best part was staying in the Saint Gobain Guest House, and driving around in “my” bright yellow Chevy Cobalt, blasting Daft Punk’s “Alive” album all the while.

The Guest House used to belong to the Ball family, whose mansion is just next door. For most nights, I had the entire place to myself, though I usually stuck to my bedroom. Wondering around the large house at night, alone, is quite eerie, and if you want to raid the kitchen at night for juice and snacks, you try not to think about what could be hanging out in the large dark rooms you pass along the way.

Yesterday evening after work I decided to explore through the main rooms and take some pictures. I don’t think there is anything there, but I still was a little shaky upon getting back to my room. However, next door at the Ball Mansion, who knows what family members still visit…

Happy Thanksgiving!

I took a week off of work for Thanksgiving break, driving my car back from Muncie, Indiana to New York on Friday, spending three nights in Alfred, one night at home, one night at Sarah’s house (after stopping by her grandmothers in PA), two nights in Connecticut for Thanksgiving Day, back home for 3 more nights, and flew back to Muncie early Monday morning, just to fly to Sapulpa, Oklahoma the next Friday, later this week. Travel, travel, travel. When do I get do sleep?

Steve (my Alfred roommate), Sarah, and I spent a day painting my room. It was pale blue, covered with spackle, and had sheet/mattress marks on the wall. Our landlord Brennan out of the blue decided to reinstall my carpet just before I got back, which is great, but makes Steve envious. I hope he gets his revamped over break (among the list of things Steve has got for Brennan to fix, including a skunk who thinks he shares the place with us).

On Thanksgiving morning, my family went Letterboxing down the hill from where my Grandparents old condo was located, which they are selling and we were staying at for the holiday. I think we picked up ten along one trail. At the end of the trail, there were remains to an old gun cotton factory, almost completely made up of stone. Only a partial stone dam and a single wall remained, but the wall was covered in windows and still stood about 5 stories tall. It was amazing to see such a large old structure in the middle of nowhere. We stood in awe, but could not approach it, separated by a flowing creek (my dad wanted the letterbox in the ruins on the other side).

I’m now at work, it’s the end of the day, I’ve completed my assignments for the week, and I have enough to keep myself busy maybe half the day tomorrow. Only 2 and a half more weeks. Wow.

End Chapter: Muncie Apt

As I pack up my final things, it's time for some procrastination before scrubbing the in and outs of the toilet.

Although I still have a month left before my co-op is over, I move out of my apartment completely tomorrow. My neighbor is kind of bummed we never got to hang out, but he happily took the food I had left in my fridge, along with an unwanted lamp and headphones. I suppose in return, I've got his vacuum for 24 hours.

The trunk is completely packed, and my instruments will go in the backseat as soon as Rent-A-Center picks up their things tomorrow afternoon.

I haven't much considered this a home, but just a space. I had some things to kill boredom, and put most of my furniture rental toward a comfortable king-sized bed (totally worth it!). I hadn't realized until yesterday when my neighbor came in and told me how lonely it seemed in here, but I got by.

I will miss the huge, comfy bed. I will miss the walk-in closet, the air conditioner when it was hot, the stable ceiling fan, garbage-disposal, and free internet. I will miss the clean fridge, clean carpets, back porch, good water pressure, and friendly neighbors.

I will not miss the constant sirens outside, the bird in my air conditioner, the draft entering the bedroom through the air conditioner, the stubborn door lock, and the plain empty white rooms.

I will not miss having to scrub my toilet. And on that thought, better get to it!

Kiroli Park

Went Letterboxing, enjoyed the sun. This park was neat. Wanted to share the experience.

See the letterbox? It's "at the base of the large pine."

Busyness and Business

Last weekend I visited Sarah. It was much needed, I miss her so much. She also has a pool which is great!

We wen't to the beach, had good drinks at some outdoor bar patio thing that had a live guitar player, and shared sushi with a handful of her family. It was a nice relaxing weekend, but it had to end sooner or later.

The day after I flew back in, I flew out with my boss to Rustin, LA for a project kick-off meeting. Met a lot of guys I will be working with, a really fun group to be around. To think I'll be down there full time in just a couple weeks.

When I arrived back home to my apartment Thursday, my friends Tim and Katie were already here. Nice to have some company. We plan on visiting Indianapolis, and Tim has golf clubs in his car, so we will be hitting the course sometime this weekend, most likely in the morning when Katie is asleep.

Up on the plane to Sarah's, I saw New York City for the first time from the sky in the evening. It was amazing. It was lit up, with golden streets and colorful spires of buildings. I was so in awe I forgot to take a picture! And coming back, I watch late night NY lightning storms from above the clouds, which was again a remarkable experience. I tried to capture it on video, but it didn't work so well.

Started writing more lyrics on the plane. I have developed a new writing style, which is more free flowing but should still work with music. Most of the things I am writing now will become songs inspired by Deathcab for Cutie, Nine Inch Nails, and Postal Service, with a more synthetic sound.

Delaware County Fair

Right next to Minnetrista is the fair grounds, and the whole last week the grounds were filled with rides, locals, and greasy expensive food. I spent Monday through Thursday in Oklahoma for a contractor bid meeting at one of the Saint Gobain plants, and when I got back, noticed that the fair was in town!



I walked down Friday, but nothing was really going on. I didn't want to spend my money because of the prices, didn't want to spend money on tickets, and didn't want to spend money to get into the grandstands, so I left and got chinese food at the corner (I was in the mood for unhealthy food at this point).

I went online and found that the derby was on Saturday, the last day of the fair, so I walked over yesterday and got myself a wristband for the grandstand. Quick sad story: the women working the booth said I was the only person to ask how they were doing all week!

I accidentally arrived early, and hour early, so my butt was about as sore as it could be without falling off before the event even started. However, my time advantage put me in a great spot for viewing, and the stands were completely packed for the show.




I stayed for the whole event, which was a lot of fun, and come to think of it, the only derby I have ever watched. Below are some more pictures, which I will talk about a little bit. All pictures can be clicked on to enlarge them, which come out pretty well for a cell phone!




From the first derby picture, this car did not make it, among a few others. It was fun to watch the carcasses be pulled out of the pit.




This was round two. The poor guy almost behind that pole was hit so hard (by a few cars) he pushed the wall out and got shoved on top so that all 4 wheels were off the ground.



This was the deciding round. At this point, all cars are out of commission except the two head to head smoking furiously. They fought and fought for first place, getting stuck multiple times on each other. They got stuck again, which meant the last car to hit the other would win. The drivers communicated to each other from their cars, and called it quits, shaking hands after. The green car on the left won!



This shot is of the last round. All the working losing cars got one more chance to be runner up. 10 cars competed. One car drove away.



I didn't stay to watch cleanup, or eat disgustingly good food. I was ready to go home and fold my laundry.

Apartment

Real quick, these are a bunch of pictures I took with my camcorder and stuck together so you can see the whole room. The first conglomeration is my main room (standing at front door) and the second is my bedroom, from the corner.






Yes, the white square is odd. To lazy to get rid of it.

Town of Muncie (and then some)

I am doing well in Muncie. Work seems very slow at times. I'm constantly looking for something to do, and the guys I am working with/for are looking for things for me to do. I'm really hoping things will pick up at some point. They want to find something for me to do, there just isn't anything available. I'm trying to bother them enough to know that I'm looking for work, while also keeping from getting on anyone's nerves. Hopefully Ruston will keep me busy, but its two months off, and at the moment I don't feel like it will be much different.

Muncie is an odd town. It has Ball State, whose campus looks REALLY nice, but not many students at the moment. Downtown has a street with a few resturants, and I just drove through another part near the campus that has some more "college friendly" shops and food. I have to check that out more later.

There are probably almost a dozen parks set up all over the place. Very nice parks, half with frisbee golf courses. I haven't yet found much reason to venture out to them. Planting letterboxes in them would be a kool idea, since there are maybe 2 in town.

There's probably lots to go out and do, I just need to motivate myself to go out alone. You don't get lonely until the weekend, and then you notice how quiet the apartment gets, so I tend to venture out then. Two weekends I spent at my cousin Bobby's (non-consecutive). It's fun to go down there to watch movies, eat great pizza, cruise around in the jeep, and jam out in his basement (I'm getting better at drums!).

Sarah just visited for the 4th of July weekend, which I took off Thursday and had a company holiday on Friday. We drove aimlessly around Muncie, visiting some of the parks, finding nice locations for meals, and went an a walk to this nice development right around the corner. I suggest you look it up. It's called Minnetrista, and used to be the neighborhood the Ball family lived in. It has their old mansion, along with a cultural center, nature preserve, gardens and the Saint-Gobain guest house I stayed in during my first visit here.


Sarah and I drove over to their cultural center to see fireworks we heard would be nearby. There were lots of people, there, and in the surrounding areas (sports fields and the county fairgrounds). The fireworks were right in front of us! We had a great view, and a great night (she was willing to play a racing game on the PlayStation, so of course I bought one immediately).

I took these pictures with my new phone, and they actually came out a lot better than I expected. I can take decent pictures without my camcorder now. Maybe I'll take some pictures of town and put them up here!

That's it for right now.

Long Trip... Month Early?

I just drove 10 hours to Muncie, Indiana, where I will be spending some time during my 6-month Co-op with Saint-Gobain Containers, Inc. The ride wasn't as bad as expected, and stayed sunny after hitting the Ohio border (New York looks like rain all week!)

When I arrived at my hotel (where I will stay until I find an apartment in the next week), the desk clerk told me I wasn't scheduled until July 7th. I told him it must have been an error, and I was definitely getting my room!

He was able to switch the date and give me a key. However, I began to worry that I had driven down a month early (the only date I had was in an email statement confirming my hotel, which when I looked at closer, had the July date also!)

I was able to get a hold of my HR contact and she confirmed that I started work tomorrow. Thank goodness!

Sad People

I went to The Giant, a local grocery ring where my friend Katie works to visit because I was just next door buying a carry-on bag for my new co-op I am soon to start.

Entering the store, a small, old woman approached me in a quiet, agitated rambling in which I think she was asking for a ride back home with her groceries and was offering me money, and I politely told her I had things I needed to do. I went inside and the woman slowly followed.

Katie works in the office at the front of the store behind the big counter wall. I said hello, and the woman kept insisting that she needed help, was low on cash, was feeling dizzy. She did not seem to have a steady mind about things and would talk as if her sentences never ended. She asked Katie to use a phone, which she would have to ask the manager.

I told the woman that she could you my cell phone, and she said her eyes weren't so good so she wanted me to call 411 to find the number for a taxi service. I asked Katie for a phonebook, which she had several, and looked up taxi services, all while the woman was complaining how people don't listen to her and I reassured her that I would find the taxi number.

I dialed the number for the taxi service she uses and gave her the phone. She talked to the man on the other end and gave me back the phone. She then went on her spiel about everything she had been discussing with us, and how everything was wrong. Politely I just listened, not being able to really put the sentences together. At that point Katie must have gotten hold of a manager and he took the woman back outside to wait for her taxi.

What troubles me about the whole scenario is that she didn't seem to even notice I was helping her, instead spoke to me like I was a kid throwing rocks at windows.

I hope that when I grow old, I never lose the ability to receive kindness from others.

Lazy Days are Here to Stay Forever

I'm in Sarasota, Florida today, enjoying the great sunny non-humid weather. It's in the 80's with a breeze and leaves me sleepy. Its nice to relax and do nothing after mid-terms week. That was brutal.

3 Tests , 3 assignments, a lab write-up and project proposal all due in one week is not fun to complete. I was frustrated, staying up late at night and seeming to not gain any leeway after hours of work.

It finally all got done, went back home. Sarah visited, I saw my friends and family for a little while, and now my dad and I are visiting his parents down in Florida. We're going to enjoy good food tonight and golf tomorrow evening.

I'm hoping I didn't get any sunburns in the pool today.