Monday, January 28, 2008

xkcd.com

Sunday, January 27, 2008

"Tell me where you are, Josh!"

Bwahaha. Seems like Blair Witch Project was just yesterday.

But no, just yesterday was Cloverfield, which Holly and I saw and which I'm glad we saw several hours before bedtime. Gadzooks. I didn't get motion sick or even close, but I was thoroughly unsettled. I recommend it anyway.

... So I'm living at the shore with my aunt and uncle in Stone Harbor until I theoretically become allowed to move into my room in a Brigantine beach house with two other twentysomethings. It's owned by a guy who has zero role in the rental; that's what he pays a local realtor for. But for some reason, 10 days after I applied to take over a departed tenant's lease, it hasn't yet been accepted because the owner still retains veto power over lease changes and either: A) the realtor hasn't gotten ahold of him to get approval, or B) the realtor HAS gotten ahold of him and he's just not bothering to produce an answer. For that, I say: GFY, landlord man.

That said, I still want to live there. It's a relaxed but adult living situation, it's affordable, it's in an ubersafe area and it's two blocks from a great beach. And it's 15 minutes from work and 5 minutes from an 18-hole links course uptown. So I can swallow my pride and frustration, as long as this thing gets resolved professionally and cordially. Otherwise, I'm back on the market.

... The job is good. More responsibility and money, but more to do, and it was a stressful first week.

... Holly was in for 36 hours this weekend, and it was fantastic to have her here. We saw the movie, toured Brigantine, got some Wawa there and got a nice dinner in Cape May. Also played Guitar Hero at Duc's. It sucked to put her on a train back to civilization (Louisville) but I'll head out there in a month and we'll keep stringing visits together until it's wedding time.

In the meantime, I've got a few weekends to fill, so I'm on the prowl for cheap non-gambling entertainment in the AC-Philly pipeline. If you've got any suggestions, lay 'em on me.

Monday, January 7, 2008

Well, that was a first

It's 11:15 p.m., I'm driving home from work. I'm on Broadway in Louisville, three blocks from our apartment building. As I cross Sixth Street, a cop car with a siren on goes sailing past in the opposite direction, but I don't really notice. I coast to the red light at Fifth in the left lane, with another car to my right and a car to his right.

Then in a half-second, I see three cop cars pull up behind us and two more cut us off from the front. All with sirens blazing, all squealing to a halt at the same moment. The officers in the two front cruisers, in one motion, jump out of the driver-side doors and point don't-even-think-about-it guns at the car next to me.

"Put your hands where I can see 'em!"

The guy does -- thanks, hoss, very much appreciated by those of us trying to avoid peeing our pants -- then he gets out of the car five seconds later and another officer handcuffs him. I sit there for another minute or two, sporting Sailor Moon saucer eyes, until the one cop moves his car out of my way and waves me the hell out of there.

So I can check that off my to-do list: be pinned in by police cars and shiny guns. Word.

Sunday, January 6, 2008

The tightening noose

I've been telling people that this move to Jersey is bittersweet, and that's true, but this week I'm afraid I'll be consumed by the bitter. I'm stressed about having to sell my car, find a new apartment, finish my projects in Indiana, pack most everything I own and say goodbye to my girl.

Man, I would like to get the tough stuff over with, but I also can't get past a desire to procrastinate and stretch my last week out for the good stuff.

Thursday, January 3, 2008

God help us

Mike Huckabee, the presumptive Republican nominee for president? Please, no. Well chosen, Iowa. Dummies.

Obama won for the Democrats, which I don't know how I feel about. I'm far from picking my horse in that race.

Luckily, two of my nine favorite days in the sports calendar are at hand: NFL wild-card Saturday and Sunday. The other seven are NFL divisional Saturday and Sunday, the first four days of March Madness (48 games) and baseball's Opening Day.