As of yet...

Nothing. I'm only writing this cause I haven't written here in awhile.
Seriously thought I've been having a good time here in Portland. I've had a few interviews with some designers at Nike. Mostly informational interviews but one thing always leads to another. I'm hoping the contacts I'm making there through my Aunt will eventually pay off. Who knows, I may be designing Nike's Snowboard gear in the future.

New Ride

My new bike is super sweet. I got it last Friday after spending a good week test riding, price shopping and fact checking. Specialized FSRxc Comp.
I took it out to NW Portland at Forrest Park. The rain the day before had made the nice trail good and muddy.

Trip Journal

I finished my trip journal and you can see it at fairbanks2portland.blogspot.com.

A Beautiful Ride, Damn it!

It was a beautiful day in Portland yesterday. Clear skies, warm weather and a nice bike ride that ended in tragedy.
It was a really nice ride form my Aunt's house in Beaverton to downtown Portland. My Aunt, her boyfriend Rick and I were going to just take the train or drive downtown but it was such a nice day. We rode up hills, through neighborhoods and down a forest trail. At the bottom of the hill just south of downtown, we stopped at a pub for a beer and a quick bite to eat.
Our ride followed the river into town where we stopped at the Saturday Market to walk around a little. It was crowded but in a good way. All the people were fun to watch and all the booths had interesting mostly artsy things to sell. After awhile we headed back to our bikes to find my lock cut and my bike stolen.
Middle of the day and tons of people everywhere and my lock was cut!? What the f*$%! Rick rode north along the river and I took my aunt's bike south to see if we could find the bike. No luck. First day I get my bike out in Portland and it is stolen.

This happened to me once before. When I first moved to Fairbanks I had brought my bike with me. A month into the school year I was biking with a group into town. We parked the bikes and locked them up only to come back to a cut lock and my bike missing.

Cell phone

Well I finally got a cell phone. A little pre-paid thing I picked up at Wal-Mart; a Motorola C139. Crappy ring tones, lousy pictures and I can't shut off the beeping when I press the buttons. But I really wanted a better ring tone.

I searched online for the notes to the Futurama theme song for a cell phone. That was easy. The hard part was trying to find the correct notes for my phone. After giving up trying to find the notes written correctly for my phone I just used the notes I found for the back up to a guitar rift. The notes had no indication of length or any pauses so I had to figure that out all on my own.

This is what I got: *4#f3r2#f3r1 b4r2b3r2 e3r2e3r1 a4r2a3r2 #f3r2#f3r1 b4r2b3r2 e3r2e3r1 a4r3a4r3&a3r2 f#2r2#f3b3r2&b3r2 e2r2e3a3r2&a3r2 #f2r2#f3b3r2&b3r2 *5#c2r2#c3*4a4r3a4r3&a3r3&a4

My Trip

The first part of this is a reply to my cousin’s question but for the most part I guess everyone ought to know.

Sadly no: The plan right now is I'm leaving Squarebanks on the 15 and heading to A-Town (that's Fairbanks and Anchorage respectively to all the cool kids; whatever). I'll be in Anchorage for a week working a conference and I'll be leaving Anchorage either the 22 or the 24, depending on whether or not I'm sober!

Kidding. Maybe.

From Anchorage I'll be heading through the wilds of Canada! Don't know where I'll stop but I have a few places I'd like to see. Depending how long that takes (3-5 days), I'll eventually arrive at Tranquility Place (I think that’s what we’re calling the Lake House). Correct me if I’m wrong.

I’ll be staying with the Grandparents to help out for a little while but as soon as their sick of me making pancakes; I’ll be leaving for Portland.

Which way will I be taking to Portland? Don’t know ‘cause it’s an adventure!

He's at it again.

Responsibility

This was a little amusing to be honest.

If you have read my back blogs you would know I was in a car accident a while back. The 18 year-old girl that hit me had no insurance. The deductible was $250 and the car rental was $427ish bringing the grand total to $677ish.

Now I waited a good six weeks just to get my car back. During this time I was juggling the phone with the girl and my insurance company. Six weeks is a hell of a long time to wait for anything especially money. So the first thing I did when I did get my car back was drive straight to the local court house to fill out small claims paper work. My friends were telling me to do this several weeks prior but I didn’t because I wanted to give the girl the chance to come clean.

I’m too nice, I know. It’s a curse.

Before my trip to New York I was given $200 (two days later than she said) by the girl. I think the whole court thing finally scarred it out of her. When she gave me the money she told me she would have $500 for me by Thursday after I got back. Thursday rolled around and no phone call. I didn’t call her because I still had court papers; I didn’t have to.

A week past before I got a call. She claimed to be having trouble at work and her automatic deposit not working. I told her just to keep me informed and get back to me soon. I guess I should have been a little more specific as to how soon. Three weeks go by without a word.

I get a call on Monday and I was already in a poor mood. She told me she been in and out of the hospital for surgery and I would have liked to have said something nice but I didn’t care. I cut her short and told her, “I don’t care about your personal life, you still owe me money.” She quickly changed her tone and told me she would call me back later and she did.

The Tuesday morning meeting didn’t go very smoothly. The girl’s mother came along and proceeded to insult me as soon as we stepped out of the coffee shop we meet in. Apparently I’m a “prick” and a “bastard” for not being understanding of what her daughter is going through. I was smiling through this part. She even brought up my job at the University I’m guessing implying that I didn’t need the money. She has no idea how little I’m paid at this job.

The mother handed me $480 and when I questioned the amount they both got upset. Rightfully so since the paper work from the court system didn’t add in the court fees but those fees were $50 plus. I accepted the $500 offer because I wanted to close this chapter in my life without adding more stress. It was funny when the mother said, “If you want the rest just sue me!” I responded with a chuckle saying that I was already suing.

After more insults which I ignored; the mother said she was “…glad to hear you’re moving away. We could use less ass holes in this state.” That pissed me off.

The daughter was very nice to me and besides delaying everything; I hold no ill will towards her. But now I’m at a fork in the road of this situation. Do I let it all slide since I’ve been paid what’s owed to me or do I continue this battle and get the court fees since the mother was such a bitch?

The Move

“You must be crazy.” That’s what I keep hearing from those I’ve told that I’ll be moving to Portland.

I’m done with Fairbanks is the basic reason. There are a few other reasons but being done with Fairbanks should be sufficient enough. As of now I have no job when I get there but I do have a place to stay. I’m not too worried about the job situation besides I have about two months before I get there.

My journey there should be an interesting one that I intend on documenting as best I can. My first stop is Anchorage, Alaska where I will be spending a week. I’ve planned this trip around a conference for my current job during that week. Right now the details are a little fuzzy as to how to pull this off smoothly. Quitting a job while not in the town you work in is apparently a “bureaucratic nightmare,” so says the administrative assistant in my office. She’ll figure something out.

From Anchorage I will travel thorough Canada to Flathead Lake, Montana where my grandparents live to visit for the end of summer. Should be the beginning of fall when I get there though. After that I’ll be heading to Portland. The whole trip will no doubt ably be littered with detours and sidetracks. After all what’s the rush. I’ve got camping gear, a mountain bike and a kayak to play with!

Build it.

I do have some good news about the car situation. Well it’s not related to the accident but it was put on hold because I had to spend money else where. I finally got my car rack I wanted for cheaper than expected. At full cost it would have run me over $500 and I ended up paying roughly $320.

I got the towers (parts that connect to the car), key cores and bike rack on eBay for a decent price. The bid had two bike racks so I was able to trade one in at my local sports store for a kayak rack for an extra $10. The bars I ended up building myself for the low cost of $8, which I was under charged for.

The actually bars you would buy in the stores are just 2 galvanized steel bars coated in latex costing $60. I built mine out of the pretty much the same materials. I purchased a 3/4” by 10’ galvanized pipe and had it cut in half and threaded for the bars. I had them threaded so I could screw on end caps. Both bars were coated in black plastic spray, couple of coats each to really cover them completely.

At first glance you wouldn’t know that they were hand made. Looking at the real bars (both my sister and mother have them on their vehicles), I think mine are thinker bars which should make them stronger and able to hold more weight. I may build myself a lock box for the roof to go between the kayak and the bike rack. If I do I doubt it will look as sleek as the ones you can buy but it would be skinny enough to fit on the rack even with a kayak and bike already attached.

A month goes by

Another month goes by and little changes…

That’s not true. A lot has happened in the last month and for the life of me I don’t know why it’s not written down. I finally got my car rack but that whole story is for another post.

I had mentioned in a previous post (the one I didn’t want to write: Waiting on Parts) that I had made some loose plans for the 4^th of July break. The break was short but skipping a day of “work” would have given me a 5 day weekend so I could go camping. Well those plans were depending on me getting my car back.

I didn’t get my car back until Friday the 6^th and I spent the whole day filling out paper work at the court house to sue the gal who hit me. Small claims, nothing major but it was money I shouldn’t have had to spend.

That Saturday I get a phone call from her claiming that she would have some of the money to me by the end of next week. Better than nothing and I needed some cash for the trip to New York I was about to take. The end of the week rolls around and she did get me $200.

That next weekend was my Mother’s 50^th birthday and she came to town to visit my sister and me. We think- we know she came to us to hide from her three younger siblings who were hoping she would come to the family home in Montana. Our family is full of jokesters and good natured fun in a variety of embarrassing ways. To bad she didn’t suspect her children to hire a stripper monkey.

My sister and I left for New York the morning after our Mother’s birthday. We met up with our dad in Seattle before heading to Newark. Our Father’s side of the family is a mystery to my sister and I. We met a lot of relatives for the first time on the trip and tried to recall the ones we had met the last time we were there over 18 years ago.

The New York trip had other exciting attractions as well. The Soccer Hall of Fame in Oneonta, the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown and seeing a Yankees game in Yankee Stadium, which is being replaced next year.

I think that summed up the past month well.

Gum USB Drive

I've done it again. An old USB drive of mine has been turned into a pack of gum!
This took a little less effort than the Lego USB dive I made last month but it took a little more concentrating to finish. I started off with a pack of Winterfresh and cut it where I wanted it to open.
The individually wrapped gum was also cut at the same spot so I could use the metalic wrappers on the inside. I used construction paper and double sided foam tape for padding and to keep the blue gum look. Not exactly the same color but it worked.

You can see above that the cap has a couple of "sticks of gum" extending out. This allows the cap to fit into the frame for the USB drive.

Beginning, Middle or End?

Hooray! The Summer Solstice has arrived and (officially) that means the start of summer for most of the Northern Hemisphere. I only say most because that’s where everyone tends to live. For those who live closer to the North Pole, the Summer Solstice holds another meaning; winter is coming.

It’s true and you can’t avoid it. In another three months or so we will start feeling the cooler temperatures and finding early morning frost on the ground. Does this depress you? Probably but for some it is exciting and only means a change of toys.

The kayak will be put away in exchange for a snowboard; shorts and swimming trunks for pants and long johns; treaded bike tires for studs. The rotation of the seasonal storage won’t happen for another couple of months but it is already on the minds of some.

I just hope I don’t forget where I put all my stuff.

Waiting on Parts

I did my best to keep the following off my blog but it has reached the point of being ridiculous.

On March 15 I was in a car accident. I was a couple of blocks from my house when it happened. I was crossing through an intersection and was hit by a gal who missed the yield sign. My right side rear panel was damaged along with the bumper and right rear tire. Nobody was injured and the damage was assumed minor.

The next day I took the car into the shop to get an estimate. Roughly $3000 of damage and they would have it done by the June 6; about what I expected. My insurance deductible is set, like most, at $500 I would have to pay out of pocket but since it was not my fault the other driver’s insurance usually would cover it. However, after my insurance company did their investigation, they found out the other driver was not insured. This is only the start of the problems.

Because of the lack of insurance by the other driver, my insurance company cuts the deductible in half so I don’t get screwed by having to pay it. I was glad about this and figured I could get the $250 from the girl who hit me. I finally got a hold of her after several phone calls and many messages. She was less than friendly about the situation. She claimed to have insurance with the same company as mine and I should talk to them. Currently, they are still looking into the matter.

As for my car: It’s still in the shop today. Why? “Waiting on parts.” I called on June 6 and was told that my car wouldn’t be ready because the parts they needed were not shipped when they were suppose to be shipped. I was OK with this since I usually bike to work. I figured I would have to wait another week or so. A week rolls around and still no word. So I give the shop a call again and still they are waiting on parts.

Now I’m a little nervous because I had a big weekend coming up that was planned out months ago; drive down Friday, a wedding on Saturday, spending Sunday with my dad for Father’s Day and finally driving back on Monday. The other reason I wanted my car for this trip was the cargo space. My dad is lending me space at his house to store some of my larger boxes of stuff. I really didn’t want to rent a car because I knew I would need the same amount of cargo space to move my stuff which means renting something larger and pricier. The shop said my car may be done before my trip but I reserved the rental anyways.

And I needed it. I called the shop the morning I was to head out and they said it was not ready but should be done on Monday. I had a good weekend but returning the rental on Tuesday morning at $430 put a nice thorn in my side. Oh and my car was not done on Monday.

On Thursday (today) I received a call from my roommate telling me that the shop called. They were finishing up with the alignment and discovered something else wrong and had to order another part. It has been over a month now and no car. I still have plans for the 4^th of July and I’m hoping it will be done by than.

I may have just cursed myself by saying that.

Simple.

The post prior to this describes a headache. The problem with a Navbar that I tried to fix many different ways with script and html and java and other methods. I even tried to change the color of the div but that didn't work.
The solution came when I put the background image into the table that holds the images. That simplified everything. With the zipper background in the table I was able to close the gap by placing another background image into the main page (34px height if you need to do the same). I now get to keep the Navbar and still have the layout I like.

Lego USB Drive

Yeah, that's right.
The Lego pieces were difficult to hollow out. I didn't have a small enough blade for the Dremel to really get inside the blocks. I had to use what was available and it worked out just fine. Taking a 512MB USB drive apart was a little nerve racking. To get the USB drive inside the Lego block, I had to shave the edges of the board. I wasn't sure if I was going to damage the hardware. I padded the inside with tape so everything would fit nicely. The bottom pieces were super glued on.

This is the first (probably the last) time that I've every purposefully damaged or glued a Lego piece.

The Flies!

The Flies! are here and they're bugging the hell out of you. Shoot them down before you run out of Shots. Check out my latest game on my site.
Yeah yeah. I know it's not Dave but I got burnt out on it last week. So i doodled around for awhile and started working on The Flies! on Monday. Yes, that quickly. I basically spit this game out of my brain cause it was simple to do. But sometimes the easiest of ideas make the best things.

Dave's Adventure

Another month goes by and I still don't write in this thing. I have been sorta busy though. If you have visited my Web site, alesserevil.com, you may have clicked on the game page and found a lack of games but a few descriptions of games yet to be finished.
Do to the death of Susanne, a lot of information was lost including those games. Fear not for I have been spending some/most/all of my spare time working on the new and improved Dave's Adventure. Like Dave's Quest but I made some improvements on the gaming functions and at this point I'm happy to report my excellent progress. The Town Map is done and now I'm working on getting some of the gaming details and the story built. It's a slow process but well worth it.
This is a screen shot of Dave's town. Lots of places to explore, inside and out!

Frankenstein

A part is part when they’re going into a computer. Right? Just doesn’t seem right to be calling her Susanne anymore since there is a totally different brain running everything.

Since Susanne is dead I’ve decided to resurrect Simone. She’s a little smaller than Susanne was but she has a couple of friends to back her up. When shopping for a new hard drive I also purchased a pair of external drives for backing my data. “In life we learn from death.” Somebody said that I’m sure but I’m saying it now.

Meltdown

Well that's a horrible title but fitting. Susanne died yesterday morning. For those who don't know, Susanne is my laptop and yesterday morning she didn't wake up. I gave her to my IT roommate and he explained it as “hard drive failure.” And yesterday was the day I had scheduled to back everything up.

Luckily some of the newer things I had been working on were saved at my office computer or on my thumb drive. However, Dave’s Quest (see game section), is going to have to be rebuilt from scratch.

Bad Coffee

I am almost all ways the first one in at my office. Strong work ethic, perhaps but it's more like I don't have anything else better to do. That's not the point of this posting. The point is bad coffee.
As the first person in I usually start the day making a pot of coffee for people in the area I work in. My office is in a sea of cubicals and we all share the kitchen where the coffee pot is. For the past month or two someone else has volunteered to make the coffee in the morning since he usually partakes in the pots I make.
The coffee was good for a a while but than one day it was really crappy. I thought it might have been burnt or something like that so I didn't think anything of it. This lasted a week until I realized the guy making the coffee had bough a new coffee grind (a main brand that i wont mention here) after running out of the other stuff my office purchases and provides.
I like my coffee black. But lately there really hasn't been enough cream and sugar to hide the taste of bad coffee.

It's been a while.

Wow. I hadn't realized how long I've been gone. I was out for half of February (which isn't saying much since it's the shortest month). First week was spent in Juneau, Alaska and the another week and a few extra days spent in Oregon.
Oregon was nice. Mt. Bachelor, Bend, Portland, Mt. Hood and the Nike Campus were some of my main stops. Certainly thinking this whole moving thing over again.

SPOILER WARNING!!!

The story bellow, "Purple Ivory," is a little long and the ending is frustrating for some. HAHA! That's mostly why I tell it. However there are alternate story lines. Somewhere in the story I have told it with the boy accessing the internet and having the computer he was using burn out or crash beyond repair.
I have also ended the story with the old lady (instead of whore) asking for a Coke from across the street. That ends with the moral being, "Look both ways before you cross the street." The reason I changed it for this posting was that I just watched "Thank You for Smoking." Good flick if every care to see it.

Purple Ivory

Purple Ivory
Written by Matt Walker
A story once told to me from another now forgotten.

On the way to the bus stop a boy saw in a neighbor’s yard a sign that read in large simple print, “Purple Ivory.” The boy passed the sign and stopped suddenly realizing he had no idea what the sign meant. He stared at the sign for a short while and without a solution he continued to the bus stop to wait for his morning ride to school.
Already waiting at the bus stop was the girl the boy had had a crush on for some time now. They said their hellos and chatted for awhile before the bus showed up. Just as the bus stopped the boy asked the girl about the sign he had seen earlier. He said, “I saw this sign earlier and I have no idea what it meant.”
“What did the sign say?” asked the girl.
“Purple Ivory.”

The bus doors opened and without warning she burst into tears and ran onto the bus screaming. Completely stunned the boy stood there before the open doors of the bus. The bus driver looked back at the still hysteric girl than looked down at the boy and ask what had happen. The boy snapped to attention and climbed onto the bus just as it was starting to rain. The bus driver stopped the boy at the top step and asked, “What happened?”
“I was walking to school and saw this sign and didn’t know what it meant. So I asked her about it and she freaked out then ran onto the bus.”
“What did the sign say?” asked the bus driver.
“Purple Ivory.”

The bus driver turned in his seat, lifted his leg and kicked the boy to the sidewalk. The boy landed in a puddle as the bus doors closed and the bus sped away. The rain was starting to get worse when the boy got up from the puddle and began walking to school. He arrived to class dripping wet when his teacher stopped him. “What happened?”
“I was walking to school and saw this sign and didn’t know what it meant. So I asked this girl about it and she freaked out then ran onto the bus. The bus driver asked me what had happen then he kicked me out of the bus and I had to walk to school in the rain.”
“What did the sign say?” asked the teacher.
“Purple Ivory.”

The students in class gasped and the teacher escorted the boy to the principal’s office. The teacher sat the boy down in a chair in main office and talked with the staff. The boy received many glances of disapproval from staff while waiting outside the office for the principal. He was still soaked when he walked into the office and was offered a towel by the principal to drive off with. “What happened?”
“I was walking to school and saw this sign and didn’t know what it meant. So I asked this girl about it and she freaked out then ran onto the bus. The bus driver asked me what had happen then he kicked me out of the bus and I had to walk to school in the rain. I arrived to class late soaking wet and when I told the teacher what had happen she brought me here.”
“What did the sign say?” asked the principal.
“Purple Ivory.”

The principal reached for the phone and spoke quickly into the receiver. Moments latter a security officer pulled the boy from office as the principal said he was expelled and would not be allowed to return. The security officer threw the boy out of the front doors of the school. It was raining harder as the boy made his way back home. The boy’s mother was in the kitchen as he walked in though the back door. “What happened?”
“I was walking to school and saw this sign and didn’t know what it meant. So I asked this girl about it and she freaked out then ran onto the bus. The bus driver asked me what had happen then he kicked me out of the bus and I had to walk to school in the rain. I arrived to class late soaking wet and when I told the teacher what had happen she took me to the principal’s office. The principal expelled me from school after learning what happen.”
“What did the sign say?” asked the boy’s mother.
“Purple Ivory.”

The boy’s mother dropped the freshly backed cookies she just pulled from the oven and began to sob uncontrollably. All she could do was point upstairs and the boy knew he would have to wait for his father to come home. The boy’s father was concerned as he entered the boy’s room. “What happened?”
“I was walking to school and saw this sign and didn’t know what it meant. So I asked this girl about it and she freaked out then ran onto the bus. The bus driver asked me what had happen then he kicked me out of the bus and I had to walk to school in the rain. I arrived to class late soaking wet and when I told the teacher what had happen she took me to the principal’s office. The principal expelled me from school after learning what happen. I walked back home in the rain and explained things to mom and she sent me up here.”
“What did the sign say?” asked the boy’s father.
“Purple Ivory.”

The boy’s father walked slowly up to his son and grabbed him by the shirt collar pulling the boy out of the house. The boy was tossed into the front lawn as his father shut the door and locked it behind him. Two weeks passed before a priest found the boy sleeping behind some boxes behind the church. The boy was malnourished and obviously hadn’t showered in a while as he sat up. The man went inside and brought out a glass of water and a bite to eat. “What happened?”
“I was walking to school two weeks ago and saw this sign and didn’t know what it meant. So I asked this girl about it and she freaked out then ran onto the bus. The bus driver asked me what had happen then he kicked me out of the bus and I had to walk to school in the rain. I arrived to class late soaking wet and when I told the teacher what had happen she took me to the principal’s office. The principal expelled me from school after learning what happen. I walked back home in the rain and explained things to mom and she sent me to my room. I then told my father and he kicked me out of the house.”
“What did the sign say?” asked the priest. The boy hesitated for a moment in telling the priest.
“Purple Ivory.”

The priest walked back inside the church and returned with a shotgun. The boy ran down the alley dodging shots and could hear the priest yelling versus behind him. 20 years went by and the boy had grown into a man surviving on handouts and moving from one shelter to another. After receiving a generous tip from washing a car window at a stop light the man walked into a local pub. The man sat at the bar and ordered a drink. Just before the drink arrived an elderly, out of work and over made-up prostitute sat down next to him. “Hi, Hun,” said the old whore as she took a puff on her cigarette, “You look like you’ve got a story to tell.”
The bartender set the drink in front of the man and took his money. “Lady, I just want to drink this in peace and be left alone.” He reached for the glass and took a sip of his beer.
“No,” said the old whore, “I think you have a hell of a story to tell.”
“Not mine. It brings nothing but trouble every time I tell it so I won’t be telling it to you.” The man took a drink of his beer.
“Come on. It can’t be all that bad.”
“No.”
The man than through back the last of his beer and stood from the bar stool. The old whore stopped the man from leaving and reached into her open shirt and pulled some cash from her sagging bra. “How ‘bout for another pint.”
The man paused for a moment than took the money and sat back down on the stool. The bartender filled another glass and took the man’s money again. The man took a sip and sighed as the old whore sat down next to him once again. “You give me the whole story and I’ll make sure that glass doesn’t empties. Now, what happened?”
“I was walking to school 20 years weeks ago and saw this sign and didn’t know what it meant. So I asked this girl about it and she freaked out then ran onto the bus. The bus driver asked me what had happen then he kicked me out of the bus and I had to walk to school in the rain. I arrived to class late soaking wet and when I told the teacher what had happen she took me to the principal’s office. The principal expelled me from school after learning what happen. I walked back home in the rain and explained things to mom and she sent me to my room. I then told my father and he kicked me out of the house. Two weeks went by and a priest found me sleeping behind his church and after listening to my story he shot at me with a shotgun. A month later I had changed towns when-”
“Hold on,” interrupted the old whore. “What did the sign say?”
“I’m not telling you ‘cause that will just bring trouble again.” The man looked up at the bartender standing close by listening in as he wiped down a glass. The bartender moved to the far end of the bar after the old whore shot him a glance.
The old whore leaned in closer to the man and said, “Hun, I’ve seen more things in my life that I would rather forget than you ever will. I might be able to help you out. What did the sign say?” The man sighed and finished the last of his third beer. He looked around the bar and leaned in close to the old whore.
“Purple Ivory.”

The old whore smiled as she slapped the man on the back and started to laugh. “That’s it? That’s what you were afraid of telling me?”
“Damn it lady, tell me what it means!”
“Yeah, I’ll tell you but first you have to do me a quick favor.”
“Lady, after twenty years I’m willing to do anything. I mean anything!”
“Relax,” she laughed. She reached into her bra again and pulled out a dollar. “Take this and run across the street to the store there and by me some more smokes.” The man grabbed the money out of her hand and ran across the street to buy the cigarettes. On his way back across the street the man was hit by a bus and killed.

The lesson in this story is that cigarettes can kill you.

...

This was fun. click here if you dare.

Too cold.

The weather in my town is all kinds of fucked up. After I got over the most of my cold from Monday I came to work on Tuesday and the temperature was minus 43 which would translate to freaking cold. On Tuesday it warmed up to minus 35. This would tell most people to stay in bed or move away and never come back but for whatever reason we live here still.

Happiness came on Wednesday when the temperature slowly rose from minus 15 to 10 above. People (mostly lower 48’ers) think you’re crazy when you tell them you’re glad that it’s minus 10. After experiencing a single day of below minus 30 temperatures, you too will understand the difference when it warms up to minus 10.

With this happiness came the thought of snowboarding and when the temperature was 15 on Thursday, the weekend starts looking very nice. The current temperature this morning is 7 and is expected to rise and stay around 5 to 15 degrees all weekend. When you live in a place that can get that cold you learn to love the teen temperatures as if it was summer.

With my snowboard freshly waxed last night I will be on the hill all weekend.

Cold sucks

I only had a cold for four days but it still sucks to lie around and not be doing anything. But what is worse; lying around during the week missing out of work and not getting paid or lying around over the weekend during your personal free time.

Either way it still sucks. I only missed one day of work (Monday) and all of my weekend but I felt like crap on Friday. It sucked missing Monday only because I knew it would have been an easy day and nothing really important was going on. It wasn’t so bad missing the weekend only because if had been well I still wouldn’t have gone out side. It was bellow minus 30 the entire weekend.

A cold weekend like this last is only well spent sitting at home reading or watching movies or television or playing your room mates game consol while he isn’t around! And I did just that. What I should have been doing was all my chores that I keep telling myself that I need to do. Like laundry, cleaning my room, working on the car or waxing my snowboard. But with a cold like this weekend brought, all motivation is lost. Hopefully I’ll get more done over the week or next weekend.

It is a new year.

The adventure that is life continues! I never needed a car for the years I spent in college. I got around mostly by bike or bus or just walked. I’ve been done with school for awhile now and the idea of a car continued to creep around in the back of my head for months. I tried to ignore it but it kept banging around back there.

Last month I decided to do something about my lack of transportation and I got myself a loan. That took some effort on my part considering I have loans still for school: More debt, wonderful. But now I had the loan and started shopping around. I looked at SUV’s and small cars and even a couple of trucks before I narrowed down what I really wanted out of a vehicle. I new I wanted something that could survive a Fairbanks, Alaska winter; something that could handle a load of gear (bikes, snowboards, maybe a kayak); still have room to hold a few people and something in my budget: $10K - $15K.

These options made me take a look at some mid-sized SUV’s. I looked at the Ford Escape, the Kia Sorento and the Mazda Tribute ranging from 2002-2005, mostly because this was what was available at the used car dealers in town. If you know anything about these cars you know that the Ford and the Mazda is practically the same car with interchangeable parts. The Kia has a stigma in the States of being an unreliable vehicle but my research gave me a good impression of the car. The stigma was mostly mid-‘90s thing.

Weeks went buy and I didn’t commit to anything. This was partly because I had some trouble getting rides to the dealers and one weekend of being sick. Finally winter break came around and my mother came up to visit me for X-mas. After the holiday I drove back down to Anchorage with her to hang out with her, my dad and some friends down there. I also ended up going to a used car dealer.

There I found a 2001 Subaru Forester in excellent condition with 68K miles. The car was very well taken care of and looked like it had barely been driven. It’s a smaller vehicle than the others but I felt comfortable with it during the test drive. The next day I bought it.

I have had it for a week now and it has been nothing but excellent. I changed all the fluids out, gave it new windshield wipers and installed a block and oil pan heater. I drove it down to Girdwood to go snowboarding with a friend in nearly white-out conditions, drove it all over Anchorage, back-and-forth from Peter’s Creek and drove 360 miles back up to Fairbanks.

My room mate insists on naming it Ginger since its red; I prefer Donna. I you have actually read this give me your suggestion for a name. Thanks.