Subfuckia

This is probably the first of many installments of why I hate the suburbs, but here goes.

At my parents' house for Thanksgiving weekend, I was reacquainted with one of the reasons I hate suburbia. Yesterday, the family and I went to do a little light shopping.

On a side note, despite it being "Black Friday," the stores were relatively vacant. This seems interesting because it might be the sign of a week economy. The dollar is very weak these days...

Anyhoo, yesterday we went to seven stores... and drove to and from each of them. Now mind you, two of these stores were in the same "shopping center." And two were "across the street" from each other. And yet, there was still a significant distance between these pairs of stores, that walking would have been feasible, but not "practical". See it was cold and windy and I had not dress appropriately.... Waaaaaaaaaaa. Waaaaa. I know. Whiny.

It was nice to hear my brother say, "Just park here," as we approached a spot that was towards the rear of the lot. "We can walk."

It's sad that suburbian exercise consists of walking from the car to the store and back again. And yet, that is usually cutailed by the endless hunt for the closest spot.

Pinkyless Lucy

Arrrgh! Your Computer Has A Fucking 'Shift' Key! I just saw a blog that has no capital letters in it. The word I is 'i', every sentence begins with a little letter. Don't these fucking people realize it's NOT CUTE! It's quite annoying really.

Once, I read an e-mail that had no capital letters from an acquaintance of mine. It's seemed rather important, like she was asking me for some favor. I read through two sentences before I stopped reading. I replied simply: "If you want me to read this, please learn how to capitalize. If not, may I suggest you return to second grade." She didn't reply. In fact, I don't think she's sent me an e-mail since.

Is it really that fucking hard to use your pinky to hit the 'Shift' key? Will it kill you to move your pinky and take the time to write properly?

Nine Against Ninety-One. I like those odds.

The other day, my friend Lisa's birthday party turned into what most social gatherings turn out to be when they involve my best friend Brian: A Brian-bashing party.

You see it started out in college. When Brian first transferred in from George Mason, he immediately became a punching bag for all of my friends in computer science. They would razz him for his clumsiness, they would laugh at his goofiness, but most of all they would put him down for his lack of abilities.

For some, learning the material computer science came easy, maybe natural even. I for one didn’t fit into that category. However, some of these "friends" of ours would probably fit this description. They would constantly put him down for his lack of computer knowledge.

But what Brian lacked in computer knowledge, he more than made up for in drive and determination. This is what I saw when I recommended to OPNET that he be considered for a job. Some of these same friends questioned me for doing so, but I saw that drive in Brian and now he has proved me right.

I don't know how he took it back then. But, I bet it's the same way he takes it now, when he's being bashed for a completely different reason. Brian is a Republican. Well, for a long time he didn't like being called a Republican -- he'd rather be called someone with conservative views -- but I guess that's changed now.

Being a Republican, in his case, can be forgiven because he's got a good heart. However, Brian lives with me, you see, in one of the most Democratic cities in the nation: Washington, DC. 90% of DC voted for the Democrat, John Kerry, in this past election, while a mere 9% voted for Emperor George Bush. You could say that Republicans are well out-numbered.

Living in DC means, unless you live under a rock, politics enters your life. Whether you were or you weren't political before you got here, you certainly will be soon enough. And that leads to talking about politics in social situations.

And that, in turn, leads to the aforementioned Brian bashing. I admit I participate, and get very heated while participating, yet he still comes back. He still considers me a friend, despite the sometimes brutal bashings I give him.

He was only awarded solace, when another friend at the party said that he thought that bicyclist belong on the sidewalk. This person was immediately assaulted by all the cyclists in the room.

Last Dance In The 'burg?

So I've been up and down on whether I want to go down to Blackburg tomorrow night for the Virginia Tech game against the University of Maryland.

1) Everyone I know that's headed down from the DC area is coming back early Friday. Now, I don't know about you, but driving 9 to 10 hours in less than 24 hours for a football game seems mighty crazy to me. In my younger, more vibrant days maybe, but come on, not now that I'm old and decrepit.

2) I'd really like to save the money. It'll cost a few hundred in lodging, transportation, and food. With a trip to Russia, mounting anticipation of leaving work to travel the world, and various other nitpicky things (it is almost Krishnamas time,) I'd really like to save some money.

Plus, if I didn't go, I could make a killing on my tickets. I could have one of my friends scalp tickets for my and make face-plus on the tickets.

3) I'd mess up my workout schedule. I've got a really good schedule going and I'm afraid to interupt it. I know that I can bring my sneakers with me. I know I can say I'm going to at leastgo for a run while I'm there. But face it, it's rare that it'll happen. I know me.

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Then, as I was talking to my friend Dom about it, it dawned on me. This may be my last trip down there until at least fall 2006. And THAT'S a big maybe too! I mean, if I end up living in say Australia, don't think I'll be making many trips to Blacksburg, let alone America!

Another thing just dawned on me! I could use my Blog to start piecing together my plans for my world trip. Well, it's more and more looking like my European trip + India.

More on that later, now back to the 'burg.

Blacksburg is an amazing town. It's a little college town situated in the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains. I remember visiting colleges when I was a junior in high school. I fell in love with Virginia Tech before I even stepped foot on the campus. The drive to Tech was amazing enough. Then the campus was situated dead smack in the middle of these hills. It was a no-brainer to me then, it's a no-brainer to me now.

It's a funny thing about the football team. The year I was visiting, the team was a pathetic 2-8-1. No one had ever heard of "Virginia Tech." (Those that did knew it by its initials "VPI" which stands for Virginia Polytechnic Institute. Actually, its official name is Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (VPI&SU) which is one of the longest names for an academic institution).

I was the only the second graduate of my high school to ever go to Virginia Tech. I obviously went there for its academics and topology (good cycling hills!).

Then that first year I was there, the Hokies went to its first bowl game in over 20 years. They haven't stopped yet! They went on to play in a national championship game in 1999, and now are perennial powerhouses, almost always in the top twenty-five.

I don't know if this would be a true statement, but I think I'm going to make it: I think I'd be a fan even if they sucked.

So here I go down to Blacksburg. I will be going to the game. I will be able to sell one of my tickets. I will enjoy the game win or lose. I will have myself a Blacksburger... but I'm going to run in the morning!

GO HOKIES!

Unos, Dos, Tres, Catorce???

Okay, Megan pointed it out to me once and now it just flat out annoys me. Bono sings in U2's latest song, "Unos, Dos, Tres, Catorce." It such a bad screw up (or is it?) that even Shakira fans are pointing it out (even though they can't spell catorce (cuatorce?).

Here's why it drives me crazy. Translate what he's saying to English and you get "Some, Two, Three, Fourteen."

There are some interesting theories out there. From a biblical reference John 3:14 to just plain screwing around or just a flat out mix up. I tell you one thing though: if it was thrown in deliberately, it's genius marketing on U2's part. If you go to the Google link above, he's stirred up quite a lot of Blogs.

The Seventh Continent

I did absolutely nothing this weekend... and I loved it. Well that's not true. I did laundry, vacuumed and took out the trash. I ran in the mornings....

Okay, I didn't do anything, but I spent no money this weekend!

Yes, I have little to write about, I just wanted to let you know why!

I found an article about Japanese capsule-style hotels in London. They're 5 pounds a night for a bed a bathroom and a small charge for the Internets. It sounds great. Mostly, it made me realize that I should be on the look out for things like that. I'm going to need it as I travel for 5 months through Eurasia and Oceania...

Yes, Oceania is the new name for what once was Australia and Southwest Asia. Somehow a new continent has decided to form since we learned the continents in first grade.

BTW, my stupid 'h' key keeps getting stuck. I have to smack at it to get it to work!

Brown Out Party

Last night the building and presumably some other locations went semi-dark. We had a brown out. No I had nothing to do with it.

Why does it take a crisis, it's a crisis because beer was getting warm, for Americans to get out and meet our neighbors?

I met more of my neighbors last night, than I had previously in the four months that I've been living in the building.

The brown out had its downsides though. My security alarm kept resetting. Each time it had to beep annoyingly until I hit the reset button. Finally, I called the company that installed it and they walked me through the process of shutting it down. It was like diffusing a bomb.

Here's pretty much what the conversation was like:

Technician: "Hi you called about your security alarm."
me: "Yes it keeps going off because we had a brown out."
Technician: "Okay, here's what you need to do: There should be a box, inside a panel, inside a closet, inside your unit."
me: "ehhh... okay."
Technician: "Unscrew the screws and open the panel. Carefully, remove the battery and remove the red wire."
me: "I'm sweating."
Technician: "Don't worry sir. You can do this."
me: "What about the black wire?"
Technician: "DON"T TOUCH THAT!"
me: "Okay. I've detached the red wire."
Technician: "Good. Now, find a monkey. If you don't have a monkey, a rat will do."
me: "Ehh.. A monkey? What about a chimp?"
Technician: "Naw. That won't work. They're too stringy. Do you have a cat?"
me: "Actually, yes. Two of them."
Technician: "Okay. Tie a string to the tail of one of the cats. Once you've done that, go outside and find a leaf."
me: "What's the leaf for?"
Technician: "To tie to the other end of the string."
me: "Oh. Okay."

Later back with the leaf.
me: "Okay, the leaf is attached to the cat. It's running around trying to catch the leaf."
Technician: "Yeah, isn't that exciting."
me: "Yeah. What about the alarm?"
Technician: "Oh. I forgot. Now in a completely different closet, probably in your neighbor's place, you need to unplug a transformer from the thingy..."
me: "Wait, wait. Did you say 'thingy'?"
Technician: "Yeah, you know a thingy. It looks like a face with two eyes and a mouth."
me: "Do you mean an electrical outlet?"
Technician: "Ooh, Mr. Smartypants knows the technical term for the thingy! If you're so smart why don't you turn off the alarm yourself!?"

me: "Riiight. Okay, I've found the transformer. It's attached via a screw to the outlet. I guess I need to unscrew that first?"
Technician: "I don't know. I'll have to check with my supervisor. Can you hold?"
me: "Look. It's 1:00 in the morning. I just want to get back to bed. Is this the last thing I need to do, or what?"

Technician: "Errr.. yeah... yeah... that's it. Sure. Okay. Buh-bye."

27 Degrees

Ouch!

As my radio came on this morning, the first thing I heard was that it was 27 degrees at Dulles Airport. I promptly decided that my Heavenly Bed is a far better place to be than out in the cold.

I also am really sore today. I hit the weights for the first time in who knows how long. But its a good sore. The kind where you know you did some good. I slept like a baby.

Post 11/02

It's been nearly a week since the 2004 election. I've gone from severly depressed to extremely angry, extremely let down and ready to leave the country to wondering if there's reason to stay and fight.

I think it'll end up being a combination of the two. I may have the opportunity to live in Australia for six months for work. This is both great and bad. It's great because I get to get out of here for awhile. It's bad because it'd be doing what I do now. This is bad because, more than anything, I think I most need a change from what I'm doing.

I think that if I ended up living in DC but working for another company, doing something different, it would be a better than different location same old shit.

I've decided to start up the blog again because I need a space to sort stuff out. The woman's off on her adventure through France. Later this month, she'll end up in St. Petersburg, Russia for at least a year. Where she goes from there is up in the air.

I've started thinking about places I'd like to live. Here's a short, incomplete list of locations on the roster:

• Toronto, ON, Canada
• Boston, MA, USA
• Helsinki, Finland
• Sydney, NSW, Australia