Havasimy

Apparently, Jessica Alba got the role of the invisible girl in the upcoming Fantastic Four movie.  Now, I'm not against this choice.  As far as I'm concerned, she should be in every movie.  The only thing is that the invisible girl was always blonde.  So, is Jessica going to go blonde for the movie?  I think they probably should have went with an actress who looked more like the image from the comic book.  I just don't see Jessica playing the invisible girl unless they do a radical character change, like Daphne in Scooby-Doo.  Of course, in this case, even if the movie sucks, I'll have fun watching it.  Well, atleast during the parts when the invisible girl is visible.

I'm at my place waiting for the phone guy.  I just caught an interview on the today show with P. Diddy about his new get-out-the-vote campaign.  I actually admire his effort on this, but I couldn't help but laugh at one comment.  He actually said that he had today's "cultural leaders" in on this campaign like Ben Affleck and Leonardo DiCaprio.  I'm sorry.  Did he just put "Cultural" and "Affleck" in the same sentence?

For some reason was on my mind for a short period of time on one of my cross-PA drives last week and a interesting thought came to my mind. 

One of the toughest situations in sports must be being a goalie in overtime of game 7 of the stanley cup championship.  A goalie can be amazing the rest of the series.  He could have carried the team on his back.  But at overtime of game 7, one of two things can happen.  The goalie's team can win, in which case the most important play (the game winning goal) will be achieved by a teammate and he will be alone at the other end of the ice, no where near the puck.

The second thing that can happen, is that his team can lose, in which case the game  is lost, atleast partially, because of him, right in front of him.

It's a case of they win far away from him or lose right infront of him.  It has to be a tough situation. 

The more I set up my new place, the more I don't regret getting a land line phone, cable, or internet at my last place.

Friday, I talked with the resident manager at my new apartment.  The intercom system here runs through the phone and doesn't work on cellphones.  So I called up and got the cheapest land package they have.  I'm still going to use my cellphone for most things.  Just use the landline for the intercom and when I can't use my cellphone or don't want to explain why I'm using a pittsburgh area code when I'm living in Jersey.  Anyway, the phone guy is coming tomorrow to hook up the line.

I also signed up for cable and internet via cable modem.  I got my cable modem self-installation kit yesterday.  It was left at the front desk of the apartments.  I got upstairs.  The manual was on a cd-rom in pdf format.  I, unfortunately, never bothered to download the adobe reader.  So I was stuck in a situation where I had to download something from the internet to be able to read the manual on how to hook the computer up to the internet.  Luckily for me, the building has wireless internet in certain public areas.  I took the laptop down to the one room and watched tv as I downloaded the reader.  Came back upstairs and hooked up the cable.  I got it up.  I brought the smaller of my tvs back with me this weekend so I'd have something to test the cable on if it got installed.  I hooked it up and got just static.  I called and left a message at the cable company inquiring when my cable would be turned on.

I got a call today from the cable company saying that my cable should already be turned on and I don't need a converter box.  So they scheduled a service call for tomorrow to see why all I'm getting is static.  I spent lunch on the phone taking care of errands, so I ended up working later.  I came out of work to find the parking lot full of cars with people parking for a concert at the nearby amphitheatre.  There were still tailgaters even though it was a hour after the start of the concert.  It's weird to see people tailgating outside where I work. 

As I was walking to the apartment, the voice mail indicator went off on my phone, despite my phone never ringing.  I tried calling voice mail, but couldn't connect.  Trying calling a few people.  I couldn't get through to anybody.  Not having phone service is a bad thing when you're trying to conduct a move and the phone is the only way for the front desk to let me know if someone, say a phone or cable guy, is there.  I got online and verizon has a chat with customer service feature, but she couldn't fix it and said it must be a hardware issue and I should take it to the verizon store, which was closed for the night by that point. 

I went to try the cable again and it works now.  But the old tv only gets up to channel 125, which is good for basic cable but not digital.  I look at the channel guide and it says that for digital, a converter box is needed.

My phone service actually came on long enough to let me know I had text messages, so I knew it was not a hardware problem.

Finally, the phone service came on for good, hopefully.  I called the cable company and left a message saying that the cable is working but I wanted digital cable and their paper says digital cable requires a converter box. 

Also, I'm getting all the non-payperview premium channel when all i signed up for was hbo and showtime, but that could just be a special.

So, as it stands now, the phone guy is coming before noon tomorrow.  The cable guy is coming between 11am and 5pm, unless they get my message and let me know I dont' need a box, which means I'll be paying for digital cable for ten days with a tv that can't get those channels.  And sometime between then, I need to find time to go to work.

I got my key yesterday.  I also got my parking space at my apartment.  It's not where I expected it to be.  It's across a side road from the apartment complex.  It's a little farther than I expected and I have to walk outside the gated area to get into the building.  But it's still a shorter outdoor walk than my current place.  My parking space is only about 20 yards from the edge of my work parking lot.  So, atleast parking is no problem.
 
My place has a guy manning the front desk at all times.  It's for security purposes as well as general help-the-tenants purposes.  I talked to the guy who mans the day shift.  I told him I had temp housing in Philly and he asked where in Philly.  I told him and he replied that he knew where that was and started to tell me wierd facts about a couple of the businesses near where I'm at.  It's stuff I didn't know and don't really have a want or need to know.  Let's just say, some of what he told me involved illegal activities.  It was too much info.  Also, this is a classy  place (way out of my legal, actually.)  and it didn't quite fit in with the classy image.  Maybe if it was the night shift desk guy.  But this is the guy that's at the desk when perspective tenants come to the rental office.  The closest I could describe him would be the doorman at the hotel at the end of the movie That Thing You Do.  Really nice guy.  I would advise him not to tell people he just met about the "hidden" businesses he knows about.
 
Otherwise, my apartment is cool.  There's actually a good internal wall where I can hang my electronic dartboard.  Don't have to worry about the impact of the dart board annoying the neighbors.  I do have to worry about people missing the dartboard by a couple feet on top and having it fly over the wall onto the stove top.  New apartment rule: when darts are in progress: microwave cooking only.
 
 
 

In an effort to try to get some audience participation on this blog, I offer the following question: what is your favorite song that you do not own a copy of?

And by "copy of", I mean either hard media like cds, tapes or electronic media like mp3s. For people with big cd or mp3 collections, it could be a tough questions. I personally have a big enough cd collection that I own most songs I like. Bill's probably in the same boat as me.

For me, it's probably "House of the Rising Sun" by the Animals. I just never picked that one up. For the longest while, the answer would have been "I'm no Angel" by Gregg Allman, but a compilation not so long ago solved that. I could count a newly released song, but I don't consider a song a favorite until I heard it enough time that the novelty has worn off.

My car hit 100,000 miles on my drive back to Philly sunday evening. As soon as I get settled into my new locale, I'll probably look into getting a new one. I don't think I'll get to it in August, though. August is already going to be an eventful month. I have a birthday and I've found out that I'll be an uncle again at the end of the month.

I get the key to my new place today. The movers called me today to tell me that they won't be able to move my stuff into the new place until July 29th. I have to be out of my temp housing on the 19th, so it looks like I'll be sleeping on an air mattress (thanks Bill) from the 19th through the 28th.

One thing I’ve been meaning to write about is a bar that just opened up near where my old apartment is. Before it opened, it was a small restaurant that closed down right only a month before the new place opened. So, it essentially closed just to remodel and rename. Now that it’s reopened, there’s a bunch of signs on the front of the building advertising the different events. Most of them are standard stuff. One’s a karaoke night. One’s a pool tournament. But there’s also a sign for a weekly Beer Pong tournament. Apparently you pay an entry fee and you compete and all the beer is included in the price of the entry fee. This got me a laugh because I don’t think I’ve seen Beer Pong outside of a frat party or other college drinking party. I’ve never seen it in anything but a severely informal environment. They might hold it with extreme elegance, but seeing that a place does Beer Pong gives me a low impression of the class of the place.

I just saw today that Jem is out on DVD. Is there really enough nostalgia for that cartoon to warrant a Jem DVD? Or do enough current kids even know about it? Now I understand G.I. Joe cartoon coming out on DVD. That had huge toy tie-in, a running story line and is probably one of the top cartoons for boys in my lifetime. But Jem? And I’m not being sexist here, either. I would also question the Rambo cartoon coming out on DVD? And I wouldn’t question Care Bears or My Little Pony coming out on DVD. Especially since I’ve seen an increase in the Care Bears merchandising in the store recently. Did Jem make any long term impact? I do admit that I watched a few episodes of it. (I had no cable and I wanted to watch cartoons on weekend afternoons. That left channel 22 (and possible channel 53 if I wanted to fuss with the antenna) as the only source of cartoons.

Speaking of dangerous things from my youth, I saw safety lawn darts in a toy store last weekend. For those that don’t know about lawn darts (or Jarts as the most famous brand was called), they were little metal-tipped colored-plastic-winged javelins that you threw like horseshoes only instead of a post on each side, you had a plastic loop that you tried to get the Jart to stick into the ground within. They got discontinued when a few kids apparently ran underneath them and got skewered. So, since some people couldn’t play safely, they got labeled a dangerous toy and discontinued. Of course, horseshoes are played the same way and can also do major damage if someone walks underneath them, but, maybe because they lacked bright colors, they were considered adult toys. Occasionally, old Jarts will come up on eBay and get taken down because dangerous stuff isn’t allowed to be sold. (Dangerous is subjective, I guess. I could probably find old New Kids on the Block cds on eBay.) The safety lawn darts were also available back then, but seemed to disappear along with the regular ones. Instead of a point, they had a rounded cup on the end of them. The set we had had a tulip them because they (vaguely) looked like tulips (if the petals grew facing down). They were waited in front to allow the same type of flying, but you couldn’t get them to stick in the ground. So they were just like horseshoes with more altitude. Which just reminded me of one of the reasons why they were seen as more dangerous than horseshoes. They were lighter than horse shoes so they could get more altitude and since they were lighter (and more brightly colored) kids tended to play with them more. And there was always that one kid who went to throw it and didn’t leave go in time and threw it straight up, causing everyone around to run for their lives. I should dig out my parents’ Jarts next time I’m invited to a picnic. I believe they still have a set.

My temporary housing comes with an answering machine. This week I’ve gotten two messages left on the machine. Both from satellite TV companies. The first had an offer for installation in four rooms free. That would put a satellite receiver in the main room, the bathroom, and the two closets. Of course, one of the closets has a dresser in it, so you couldn’t really fit a person in it or even a reasonable sized TV. Anyway, the second message on the answering machine was from a different satellite installer. Similar messages only with five rooms free. You’d think they’d find a way to check to see if the people they were calling were living in an apartment. I’ve lived in a few different houses and I don’t think I would see a need for five hookups in any of them. My parents place and the place where Bill and Terri still live are the only places that had five rooms where you would want a TV with satellites. My parents have had five rooms with cable, just not all at one time. Once both my brother had moved out of state and I didn’t spend the night there as much, we moved the cable from the smallest bedroom out to the kitchen. Their house is the only place I’ve lived where I could warrant a TV in the kitchen, just because it’s the only place with a kitchen big enough to have a regular-sized kitchen table in it with room for people to sit around it and still leave enough room for people to move around the kitchen.

I see that Land of the Lost is either on DVD now or will be soon.

I got Joe Schmo show on DVD. I only watched a few episodes when it ran because it was on cable, but I can't help but love a show that has a simple guy from Pittsburgh and shows actual pride in coming from here. Of course, I'd watch the show just for Molly, but I'm not sure it I'd buy the DVD just for her.

Bill mentioned my nephew's birthday party last week. Present-wise, I have moved away from the noisy presents and onto projectile presents. One of the things I got him was a nerf crossbow. Unfortunately, my sister-in-law Rachael's eight? (ten? maybe) year old nephew (who was visiting from Seattle along with Rachael's niece and mom) had apparently been wanting one for some time. He saw that and immediately was pestering my brother to be allowed to open it. Even before the rest of the presents were unwrapped. He finally got possession of it and refused to share it with the other kids, including my nephew whose present it actually was. I had to leave to head back to Philly, so I'm not sure how it turned out, but the crossbow was cool. I might get one for myself.

And yes, I got a nerf crossbow for a three-year-old, but he's smart for his age, and is bigger than kids years older. He rode the Jackrabbit roller coaster and the log jammer at Kennywood a week after his second birthday. He also plays well and holds his own playing with older kids. He has no fear, which I've seen can be both a good and bad thing. Anyway, I figured, the crossbow would make a good toy for the outdoors or in the screened-in porch. Sure, it could be used to break things, but I knew my brother would not let him have it indoors. I also got him one of the big Styrofoam airplanes that are "virtually indestructible" despite there being a couple broken ones in the bin in the store. I don't know if he has used that yet.

My temp housing is starting getting to me. It's basically a hotel room with a kitchenette. But the biggest thing I won't miss about the temp housing is the parking. I park a short block away in a garage with parking attendants. They seem like nice enough people, but I like having my car keys with me at night and I like being able to get something out of my car without dealing with anyone.

Bydaway, it took me less than a day on the job to gain possession of a ballcap with my company's logo. One of my many useless talents: the ability to get free ballcaps.

By the way, with all the driving back and forth with the move, my car will hit the 100,000 miles mark by the end of the month. The auto insurance clusterfuck in New Jersey that I mentioned in an earlier post, has apparently gotten better. I was talking to a co-worker and he told me what he pays and it was comparable to where I'm moving from. Even though, my apartment is secured and in a nice area, the rest of the town itself has a not very nice reputation. If the car insurance isn't too bad on my car, I'm going to start looking for a new one in late August. Either way, there's a good chance I'll have a nicer car later this year, whether by trading in the old one or getting it stolen. I'm going to miss that car. Somehow, I don't think Tiff will.

So far, the job has been mostly reading. I have to program C#, which I have never did, but it's a hybrid of C++ and Java, both of which I'm good with. The tougher thing is programming for the Microsoft .Net framework on visual studio. I'm more of a text-editor/commandline-compiler type programmer. Getting use to an IDE is going to take some getting use to. Also taking some getting use to is the difference is computer support. My last job, we had no system administrator on site. We took care of our computers ourselves. We downloaded, installed, and screwed-up our computer ourselves. Here's, it's the exact opposite. They don't even allow us to have administrator access. This is just one of the ways this place is the most structured place I've worked, which will be better, I think, in the long run.

Another interesting aspect of the job, is there's a union (actually a professional organization with union-like power) for the engineers. Just another example of why it seems this job will reverse the trend of how long I last at a job. It's nice to work somewhere where people have worked for 30+ years. I 'm not sure if my first three companies were 30 years old combined.

I can't wait til this month is over. By this time in August, I'll be in my new place, out of my old place and the temporary place totally, and the only thing left to deal with move-wise, will be changing driver's license and car registration. The timeline stands as this:
- July 8th - officially sign lease for my new apartment.
- July 14th - get key to new place.
- July 19th - move out of temporary housing (yes, there’s a reason why there's a 5 day overlap between the temp and new place. Anything under 30 days in a place, and they can charge you hotel tax. So it's actually cheaper for me to stay longer in temp housing. Besides, since the movers aren't scheduled to bring the stuff until the 26th, I won’t have a bed in the new place for almost two weeks. Even with me keeping the temp place til the 19th, and factoring in nights spent back west, I’ll still spend at least five nights in the new place without a bed.
- July 23rd - Movers come and get my stuff from my old place
- July 26th - Movers bring my stuff to my new place
- July 30th - Friday night, empty old apartment, and so close to my birthday, I'm thinking a help clean my place/empty house party. Actually, I have a feeling that my folks might do a cleaning invasion of my old place the last week in July. They've been threatening it for two years now. I might let them now that they can't criticize how much crap
I own.
- July 31st - Lease ends at old place.

I did find a place. It's right across the street from my work and it's a new luxury loft apartments. The lobby looks like it's a hotel. I would post the link to the place, but I'm unsure I want to let everyone on the internet know where I live and work. But it's also next to a commuter train station, so I won't have to drive much. It is in New Jersey (sorry matt) but I did the long commute at my last job and I think it took its toll. I'll save money on gas and tolls. And I can go home to eat rather than eat the sometimes-questionable food in the cafeteria.

Okay, I haven't posted for a while. Over the weekend, I typed out alot of the things I've been meaning to blog about. I had no internet connection, though. So I saved them and am posting them now.