We got the keys to the house last night. We spent about an hour measuring all the rooms and chatting with our new landlady, who is cool.
The question that weighs heavily upon our minds now is whether to put M's desk in the living room or the dining room. So much furniture, so little space. We're lucky these are all the house-related problems we have. Just ask the people in Orleans Parish.
The moving begins Sunday, with the relocation of the desk and the dining room table from my brother's garage to the new house. Both are transplants from New Orleans that we brought up in June 2004, and my brother's family was kind enough to house them until we got a non-apartment place that could hold them. The rest of M's stuff gets moved on November 12 (what would have been my Oma's 100th birthday - missed it by a year and a 3 months), and my stuff will be moved Thanksgiving Friday, if all goes as planned.
Almost there!
Friday, October 28, 2005
Thursday, October 27, 2005
Oh Well
The White Sox went ahead and did a 4-game sweep anyway. A bit anti-climatic, but it still has the desired conclusion.
Two down, one to go!
I saw somewhere that the odds of the White Sox winning in 1917, the Red Sox winning the following year, neither team winning again in the 20th century, then going back-to-back of each other again when they do each chalk up another victory was somewhere in the neighborhood of 18 million to one.
Two down, one to go!
I saw somewhere that the odds of the White Sox winning in 1917, the Red Sox winning the following year, neither team winning again in the 20th century, then going back-to-back of each other again when they do each chalk up another victory was somewhere in the neighborhood of 18 million to one.
Tuesday, October 25, 2005
Covering the Bases
What I'm about the say may draw the ire of many of my readers (both of you), but here goes:
I'd like to see the Houston Astros win a couple games. Literally. Two games.
There's a few reasons for this. One, 4-game sweeps are kinda boring, even when the team you're cheering for is the winner. The Red Sox victory would have meant more last year if they hadn't dominated the Cardinals the way they did (of course, they more than made up for that with their huge comeback against the Yankees).
Second, it would be nice if the fans in Houston could see their team win some World Series games. Tonight is the first time in recorded history that a World Series game has been played in Texas. They've never seen a home team win a World Series game in that state (sidenote: the only remaining state that has an MLB team, but has never hosted a World Series game, is Washington and their Seattle Mariners - this is how I occupied much of my commute this morning: trying to figure out if there are any such states left, now that Texas is off the list.) I have nothing against the Astros, aside from when they get in the way of the Cubs winning the division, so I'd like to see a little bit of love come their way.
Third, and most importantly, I want the White Sox to win the whole shebang in Chicago, where the crowd will be going ikie-balookie. I'd hate to see a White Sox victory be met with relative silence in Houston. I want pandemonium.
Anyway, those are my thoughts on the World Series, as it stands right now.
I'd like to see the Houston Astros win a couple games. Literally. Two games.
There's a few reasons for this. One, 4-game sweeps are kinda boring, even when the team you're cheering for is the winner. The Red Sox victory would have meant more last year if they hadn't dominated the Cardinals the way they did (of course, they more than made up for that with their huge comeback against the Yankees).
Second, it would be nice if the fans in Houston could see their team win some World Series games. Tonight is the first time in recorded history that a World Series game has been played in Texas. They've never seen a home team win a World Series game in that state (sidenote: the only remaining state that has an MLB team, but has never hosted a World Series game, is Washington and their Seattle Mariners - this is how I occupied much of my commute this morning: trying to figure out if there are any such states left, now that Texas is off the list.) I have nothing against the Astros, aside from when they get in the way of the Cubs winning the division, so I'd like to see a little bit of love come their way.
Third, and most importantly, I want the White Sox to win the whole shebang in Chicago, where the crowd will be going ikie-balookie. I'd hate to see a White Sox victory be met with relative silence in Houston. I want pandemonium.
Anyway, those are my thoughts on the World Series, as it stands right now.
Monday, October 24, 2005
Back to The Scene of The Crime
I made a post earlier that never made it through the publishing process, due to some wonkiness somewhere in the post's journey along the Information Superhighway.
I won't go through re-typing the whole thing again, since it really wasn't all that interesting. It can basically be boiled down to: We went back to the restaurant we got married in (first time since the wedding), the wait staff all recognized us, I could have had yummy Shrimp Creole (a fan favorite during the wedding), but chose not to, due to time constraints and portion sizes too voluminous for my appetite at the time.
Also we, saw Wallace and Gromit and The Curse of The Wererabbit after dinner. It was a very good movie.
Edit: The missing post finally made blogfall when this post published. I guess I just needed to send something else through to dislodge the blockage. I deleted the earlier post, due to redundancy.
I won't go through re-typing the whole thing again, since it really wasn't all that interesting. It can basically be boiled down to: We went back to the restaurant we got married in (first time since the wedding), the wait staff all recognized us, I could have had yummy Shrimp Creole (a fan favorite during the wedding), but chose not to, due to time constraints and portion sizes too voluminous for my appetite at the time.
Also we, saw Wallace and Gromit and The Curse of The Wererabbit after dinner. It was a very good movie.
Edit: The missing post finally made blogfall when this post published. I guess I just needed to send something else through to dislodge the blockage. I deleted the earlier post, due to redundancy.
Tuesday, October 18, 2005
Mr. and Mrs. Trackrick Are In The Hiz-oose!
Word came in last night: we got the house. The nice house with all the pretty-colored walls and the built-in computer desk in the basement (which I failed to mention before). House #5 in the previously posted Rental Hunt adventure.
We move in November 1!
We move in November 1!
Monday, October 17, 2005
Two Years and Counting
On October 17, 2003, I opened up my e-mail to find a message from Match.com. It was a notification that I had received a Wink from a young lady, the profile of whom was provided so I could decide whether or not to respond. I decided to respond, but further decided to wait a few days until my head cold made me a little less loopy. When I finally had my wits about me, I sent her an e-mail through Match, telling her that her Wink had brightened my day.
The officiant at our wedding made a reference to that little sentiment.
Happy anniversary, Sweetpea!
The officiant at our wedding made a reference to that little sentiment.
Happy anniversary, Sweetpea!
A Respite from Lucasian Drivel
A few months ago I saw a movie I really wanted to like, yet afterwards I felt empty and a little bit violated.
That movie was Revenge of The Sith.
[I should mention now, before you scroll down too much, that plotpoints of the aformentioned movie will be touched upon a few paragraphs from now. If you're waiting for the DVD before seeing the movie, and you don't want to know details, then considered yourself duly warned.]
A short time later, while standing around the book section of the local Target, waiting for M to finish her shopping, I had occasion to page through the novelization of the movie. From the 2 pages I read, I could tell that the author had at least a casual grasp on the concepts of characterization and drama, something G. Lucas lost at some point between 1983 and whenever he got it in his head that Greedo was a lousy shot. As good as the book seemed, the $20 price tag precluded purchasing it. I decided to bide my time and wait for the price to come down on Half.com.
Over the months, I forgot about it until the day after my wedding, when M, her 2nd cousin, and I found ourselves in an antique shop (more like a secondhand shop, but I'm pretty sure they had the word "antique" in their name). We were in a bit of a hurry, since the cousin had a flight that needed catching, but The Force told me I needed to puruse the bookshelf first.
As you may have guessed from all the set-up, the novelization of Revenge of The Sith was on that bookshelf for a low, low price. $4. Cha-ching!
I am now just up to the part where Anakin stops Palpatine's arrest, but before he gets his new name (rhymes with Garth Paid Her). And let me tell you, the conversion of Mr. Skywalker makes a lot more sense after reading about it. The writer does a good job of fleshing out the bare bones that were thrown up on the screen. I still haven't gotten to the part where Vader slaughters 6 year olds, so I'm not completely sold on the direction Lucas chose to take in telling the story of Anakin's conversion, but now I really get why he turns against the actual Jedi.
I expect I'll get to the part with the 6 year olds during lunch today (not the best time to read about such things, but beggars can't be choosers), so maybe I'll have more insight in my next post.
That movie was Revenge of The Sith.
[I should mention now, before you scroll down too much, that plotpoints of the aformentioned movie will be touched upon a few paragraphs from now. If you're waiting for the DVD before seeing the movie, and you don't want to know details, then considered yourself duly warned.]
A short time later, while standing around the book section of the local Target, waiting for M to finish her shopping, I had occasion to page through the novelization of the movie. From the 2 pages I read, I could tell that the author had at least a casual grasp on the concepts of characterization and drama, something G. Lucas lost at some point between 1983 and whenever he got it in his head that Greedo was a lousy shot. As good as the book seemed, the $20 price tag precluded purchasing it. I decided to bide my time and wait for the price to come down on Half.com.
Over the months, I forgot about it until the day after my wedding, when M, her 2nd cousin, and I found ourselves in an antique shop (more like a secondhand shop, but I'm pretty sure they had the word "antique" in their name). We were in a bit of a hurry, since the cousin had a flight that needed catching, but The Force told me I needed to puruse the bookshelf first.
As you may have guessed from all the set-up, the novelization of Revenge of The Sith was on that bookshelf for a low, low price. $4. Cha-ching!
I am now just up to the part where Anakin stops Palpatine's arrest, but before he gets his new name (rhymes with Garth Paid Her). And let me tell you, the conversion of Mr. Skywalker makes a lot more sense after reading about it. The writer does a good job of fleshing out the bare bones that were thrown up on the screen. I still haven't gotten to the part where Vader slaughters 6 year olds, so I'm not completely sold on the direction Lucas chose to take in telling the story of Anakin's conversion, but now I really get why he turns against the actual Jedi.
I expect I'll get to the part with the 6 year olds during lunch today (not the best time to read about such things, but beggars can't be choosers), so maybe I'll have more insight in my next post.
Thursday, October 13, 2005
Thine Plotline Doth Create Confusions of A Most Objectionable Humour
M and I went to see a stage production of King Lear last night. I wouldn't go so far as to say it was a delightful evening, but I don't regret the experience either.
For a change, I got to M's apartment in a timely manner (though, now that we're married, I guess we could call it "our apartment in the city"), so there was plenty of time to dine and basically chill. Unfortunately, a faulty clock caused us to have to rush to the theater at the last minute anyway. The swift journey from the car to the theater doors (to say nothing of the 3 or 4 flights of stairs to the upstairs theater) showed me just how out of shape I have become.
Our seats, as it turns out, were in the second row, all the way on the left side. Not the best location, considering that it was a wide stage with stuff happening all across it that required a lot of head-turning to see. Also, the actors were projecting their voices to be heard 100 rows behind us, so the volume from where we were sitting was a bit loud.
The dialogue was in English, of course, but I still couldn't figure out what was going on. Subtitles would have been nice. When Intermission began, M told me that she had once worked on a production of King Lear, and she still has no idea what's going on.
There seemed to be some set directions that were pointless, aside from the opportunity for the set designers to show off what they could do. At one point, King Lear starts a-yellin', and one of the background walls falls with a mighty kablam (waking up a few sleepy theater patrons in the process). At first, I thought that some horrible accident had occurred, and the actors were just keeping their composure remarkably well and continuing to stay in character. But then, a few minutes later, Lear goes into another rage, and the other background wall falls with another kablam. That's when I was sure that, for some reason, the director wanted the walls to fall. Symbolism of the House of Lear falling apart? Who knows.
Then, they had actual rain during the Out In The Rain scene. But since they didn't want to get the whole stage wet, they had one of Lear's servants open up a hatch in the stage, and a narrow waterfall of rain fell into that. So Lear and The Fool are standing in a 6 or 7 foot wide hole in the stage, with only their knees on up showing, while a narrow band of rain falls on them. Then, Lear's knave shows up with an umbrella, but by then Lear has moved to the edge of the hole, and the umbrella is really only stopping the outer drizzle. It was kinda silly. But the set designer was probably kissing his or her own butt over the brilliant special effects. Real water in the rainy scene! Brilliant!
During Intermission, we had blackberry soda and peanut butter cookies, both of which were delicious. As we went to re-enter the theater, we noticed a sign saying that the running time was 3 hours. At this point, it was 9:30, the play was only half-over, and we still had a 25 minute drive back to our apartment in the suburbs ahead of us. So we decided to just leave while we still could. Going down the stairs, we passed a couple of actors coming up, one of whom was still wet from the masterful Rain Scene. I felt a little bad, and felt like assuring them that it was nothing personal that we were bugging out halfway through their performance. But I said nothing, since they were probably all in the moment and everything.
It ended up being a good idea to leave early. By 11 pm, around the time the play was ending, we were both pretty much asleep. Lucky thing the tickets were free! I'm pretty sure they were free.
For a change, I got to M's apartment in a timely manner (though, now that we're married, I guess we could call it "our apartment in the city"), so there was plenty of time to dine and basically chill. Unfortunately, a faulty clock caused us to have to rush to the theater at the last minute anyway. The swift journey from the car to the theater doors (to say nothing of the 3 or 4 flights of stairs to the upstairs theater) showed me just how out of shape I have become.
Our seats, as it turns out, were in the second row, all the way on the left side. Not the best location, considering that it was a wide stage with stuff happening all across it that required a lot of head-turning to see. Also, the actors were projecting their voices to be heard 100 rows behind us, so the volume from where we were sitting was a bit loud.
The dialogue was in English, of course, but I still couldn't figure out what was going on. Subtitles would have been nice. When Intermission began, M told me that she had once worked on a production of King Lear, and she still has no idea what's going on.
There seemed to be some set directions that were pointless, aside from the opportunity for the set designers to show off what they could do. At one point, King Lear starts a-yellin', and one of the background walls falls with a mighty kablam (waking up a few sleepy theater patrons in the process). At first, I thought that some horrible accident had occurred, and the actors were just keeping their composure remarkably well and continuing to stay in character. But then, a few minutes later, Lear goes into another rage, and the other background wall falls with another kablam. That's when I was sure that, for some reason, the director wanted the walls to fall. Symbolism of the House of Lear falling apart? Who knows.
Then, they had actual rain during the Out In The Rain scene. But since they didn't want to get the whole stage wet, they had one of Lear's servants open up a hatch in the stage, and a narrow waterfall of rain fell into that. So Lear and The Fool are standing in a 6 or 7 foot wide hole in the stage, with only their knees on up showing, while a narrow band of rain falls on them. Then, Lear's knave shows up with an umbrella, but by then Lear has moved to the edge of the hole, and the umbrella is really only stopping the outer drizzle. It was kinda silly. But the set designer was probably kissing his or her own butt over the brilliant special effects. Real water in the rainy scene! Brilliant!
During Intermission, we had blackberry soda and peanut butter cookies, both of which were delicious. As we went to re-enter the theater, we noticed a sign saying that the running time was 3 hours. At this point, it was 9:30, the play was only half-over, and we still had a 25 minute drive back to our apartment in the suburbs ahead of us. So we decided to just leave while we still could. Going down the stairs, we passed a couple of actors coming up, one of whom was still wet from the masterful Rain Scene. I felt a little bad, and felt like assuring them that it was nothing personal that we were bugging out halfway through their performance. But I said nothing, since they were probably all in the moment and everything.
It ended up being a good idea to leave early. By 11 pm, around the time the play was ending, we were both pretty much asleep. Lucky thing the tickets were free! I'm pretty sure they were free.
Wednesday, October 12, 2005
Stalking the Wily Rental
Now that the wedding and the honeymoon have come and gone, the next Big Step has arrived: finding a place to live after our leases run out at the end of November.
The original plan was to buy a house. That plan got scrapped as soon as we realized how much else we'd be dealing with in these early autumn months. M is against the notion of moving into an apartment (I can take 'em or leave 'em), so we've begun looking for houses to rent. This past Sunday, we made calls and made appointments to see four houses that afternoon, plus an appointment to see a house on Tuesday.
The first house was right up my alley. Electrical sockets everywhere. A finished basement with not one, but two cable jacks in the wall - one for TV and the other for a cable modem. The master bedroom had a remote control for the ceiling fan and light. There were skylights in the upstairs hall and bathroom (translucent skylights, not windows - no peeping toms around this joint!) The kitchen had tons of counter space and a built-in cookbook holder. It looked great to me, but the location was lousy. Not convenient to either of our jobs. Although, nothing is really convenient to my job, being as my office is 60 miles away. It also seemed, I don't know, too modern in the architecture.
The next house was just like the first one, only without all the gadgets and with sky-blue siding. Next.
House #3 had a better location to both our jobs, but all of the houses in the neighborhood were brown. I got flashbacks to the apartments near my house back when I was a kid in the 70's. It all had too much of a lava lamp vibe to me. But, assuming I could get over that, the house was acceptable.
On our way to house #4, we drove past the house we'd be seeing on Tuesday. Old-style rowhouse. Nice-looking neighborhood. Convenient to the major highways. We decided to keep the appointment.
House #4 was more or less in the woods. Most of the houses on that street were rich-people houses, but this one had a bit of an old cabin vibe to it, though most of the appliances were brand-new. There's no mail service in that area (except for the high-falootin' judge up the hill), so you have to go to the local post office to pick up your mail. The guy renting out the house tried to make that seem like a good thing. Gotta give him credit for trying. He seemed very desperate to get the house rented out.
Finally on Tuesday, we went to see house #5. The walls were painted in nice colors (though M is not crazy about the red bathroom), as opposed to all the white we'd been seeing. It has a deck. The closet space is a bit limited, but there are tons of cabinets in the basement. And it reminded me of the house my brother, a friend, and I rented back in the mid-90's. This was no doubt due to it having an almost identical floor plan (except that the upstairs hallway on this house is more spacious). I loved that house. M loves this house. So we seem to have reached an agreement on which house to rent. We just gotta make sure we get it before someone else does.
If all goes well, we'll be moving around November 1!
The original plan was to buy a house. That plan got scrapped as soon as we realized how much else we'd be dealing with in these early autumn months. M is against the notion of moving into an apartment (I can take 'em or leave 'em), so we've begun looking for houses to rent. This past Sunday, we made calls and made appointments to see four houses that afternoon, plus an appointment to see a house on Tuesday.
The first house was right up my alley. Electrical sockets everywhere. A finished basement with not one, but two cable jacks in the wall - one for TV and the other for a cable modem. The master bedroom had a remote control for the ceiling fan and light. There were skylights in the upstairs hall and bathroom (translucent skylights, not windows - no peeping toms around this joint!) The kitchen had tons of counter space and a built-in cookbook holder. It looked great to me, but the location was lousy. Not convenient to either of our jobs. Although, nothing is really convenient to my job, being as my office is 60 miles away. It also seemed, I don't know, too modern in the architecture.
The next house was just like the first one, only without all the gadgets and with sky-blue siding. Next.
House #3 had a better location to both our jobs, but all of the houses in the neighborhood were brown. I got flashbacks to the apartments near my house back when I was a kid in the 70's. It all had too much of a lava lamp vibe to me. But, assuming I could get over that, the house was acceptable.
On our way to house #4, we drove past the house we'd be seeing on Tuesday. Old-style rowhouse. Nice-looking neighborhood. Convenient to the major highways. We decided to keep the appointment.
House #4 was more or less in the woods. Most of the houses on that street were rich-people houses, but this one had a bit of an old cabin vibe to it, though most of the appliances were brand-new. There's no mail service in that area (except for the high-falootin' judge up the hill), so you have to go to the local post office to pick up your mail. The guy renting out the house tried to make that seem like a good thing. Gotta give him credit for trying. He seemed very desperate to get the house rented out.
Finally on Tuesday, we went to see house #5. The walls were painted in nice colors (though M is not crazy about the red bathroom), as opposed to all the white we'd been seeing. It has a deck. The closet space is a bit limited, but there are tons of cabinets in the basement. And it reminded me of the house my brother, a friend, and I rented back in the mid-90's. This was no doubt due to it having an almost identical floor plan (except that the upstairs hallway on this house is more spacious). I loved that house. M loves this house. So we seem to have reached an agreement on which house to rent. We just gotta make sure we get it before someone else does.
If all goes well, we'll be moving around November 1!
Monday, October 10, 2005
The Dark Season Is Upon Us
The weather has starting going cold. It's just a matter of time before the cold, dry air starts drying out my hands, causing the skin to crack (yes, yes, I know I can always put lotion on, but I don't like having my hands all greasy). Soon, I'll be cringing everytime I have to touch a doorknob, knowing that static electrocution awaits me. Washing my hands will become an ordeal, as I wage a constant battle to keep my rolled-up sweater sleeves from unrolling their inexorable descent into wetness. In just a few weeks, the clocks will change, and I'll be driving home from work in the dark, blinded by the headlights of my fellow commuters. And then the snows will come, and the roads will become deathtraps. Then comes the soul-crushing cold.
I really don't like winter.
I really don't like winter.
Thursday, October 06, 2005
I Have Returned
The honeymoon is over (literally, not metaphorically), and I have returned to Real Life. I believe my post on Tuesday held the promise of a more specific account of our trip. Here come the highlights!
* Time it takes to drive to Buffalo = about 9 or 10 hours. Time it takes to fly to Buffalo = just over 1 hour. Hooray for the Wright Brothers!
* The border patrol guys are very no-nonsense. We felt like we were being grilled. Are you traveling together? Where are you going? How long are you going to be there? Are you bringing anything besides your clothes? To make things a little more tense, a Coke bottle I was holding chose that moment to topple forward onto my lap. The cap was on, but not tightly enough to fully contain the eruption of fizz that resulted from the contents being sloshed to and fro during the toppling. So I was sticking a volcano of cola goodness out the door of the Niagara Airbus van right next to the border guy as he was interrogating the nice old ladies sitting in front of us. He was kind enough to completely ignore the situation and close the door on me when he was done, leaving me with a still-erupting bottle inside the confines of the van.
* As I mentioned before, the view from our hotel was spectacular. Also the bed was soft and the bathtub was huge (and jacuzzirific). The fireplace ended up being an elaborate ruse. It looked like a real fireplace, but I don't think any real fire was used. It still got the desired effect across, I suppose.
* The Canadian side of the Falls is very touristy. I'd guess that a good chunk of the world's neon supply is used there.
* Have you ever seen Rick Moranis and Dave Thomas do their McKenzie Brothers bit? Well, the constant use of the word "eh" that they do is not an exaggeration if our cab driver to Niagara-On-The-Lake was any indication.
* While we were waiting for the Niagara Airbus to pick us up to take us back to the airport, I realized that I only had $20 bills, and we wanted to tip the driver $10. So I went to the Starbucks stand in the lobby to buy a cream soda and break the $20. I knew going in that I would have to get Canadian money as change, but since I knew the driver was Canadian, I wasn't worried. Unfortunately, due to the exchange rate, I gave them $20 US, got the soda, and got a $20 Canadian bill in change. They didn't have anything smaller, so I had to go to the front desk to break the Canadian $20.
* The border patrol guy on the way back was slightly more easygoing. There was still a lot of interrogating, but when he saw that Margaret had roses with her, he asked, very pointedly, if they were fake. She got the hint and told him they were.
* As soon as we landed in Baltimore, we went directly to the nearby movie theater to see Serenity. It was, of course, very good. However, it did make me really wish the TV series had not been cancelled, or, at least, that there was a way for the TV series to be brought back (contractual obligations prevent that, apparently).
And that's pretty much all I can think of. Now, I must return to work!
* Time it takes to drive to Buffalo = about 9 or 10 hours. Time it takes to fly to Buffalo = just over 1 hour. Hooray for the Wright Brothers!
* The border patrol guys are very no-nonsense. We felt like we were being grilled. Are you traveling together? Where are you going? How long are you going to be there? Are you bringing anything besides your clothes? To make things a little more tense, a Coke bottle I was holding chose that moment to topple forward onto my lap. The cap was on, but not tightly enough to fully contain the eruption of fizz that resulted from the contents being sloshed to and fro during the toppling. So I was sticking a volcano of cola goodness out the door of the Niagara Airbus van right next to the border guy as he was interrogating the nice old ladies sitting in front of us. He was kind enough to completely ignore the situation and close the door on me when he was done, leaving me with a still-erupting bottle inside the confines of the van.
* As I mentioned before, the view from our hotel was spectacular. Also the bed was soft and the bathtub was huge (and jacuzzirific). The fireplace ended up being an elaborate ruse. It looked like a real fireplace, but I don't think any real fire was used. It still got the desired effect across, I suppose.
* The Canadian side of the Falls is very touristy. I'd guess that a good chunk of the world's neon supply is used there.
* Have you ever seen Rick Moranis and Dave Thomas do their McKenzie Brothers bit? Well, the constant use of the word "eh" that they do is not an exaggeration if our cab driver to Niagara-On-The-Lake was any indication.
* While we were waiting for the Niagara Airbus to pick us up to take us back to the airport, I realized that I only had $20 bills, and we wanted to tip the driver $10. So I went to the Starbucks stand in the lobby to buy a cream soda and break the $20. I knew going in that I would have to get Canadian money as change, but since I knew the driver was Canadian, I wasn't worried. Unfortunately, due to the exchange rate, I gave them $20 US, got the soda, and got a $20 Canadian bill in change. They didn't have anything smaller, so I had to go to the front desk to break the Canadian $20.
* The border patrol guy on the way back was slightly more easygoing. There was still a lot of interrogating, but when he saw that Margaret had roses with her, he asked, very pointedly, if they were fake. She got the hint and told him they were.
* As soon as we landed in Baltimore, we went directly to the nearby movie theater to see Serenity. It was, of course, very good. However, it did make me really wish the TV series had not been cancelled, or, at least, that there was a way for the TV series to be brought back (contractual obligations prevent that, apparently).
And that's pretty much all I can think of. Now, I must return to work!
Tuesday, October 04, 2005
Greetings From Niagara Falls
Hey all. Thought I'd just check in to keep things current.
I'm at an internet kiosk at the Marriott Fallsview on the Canadian side. We have a room with a spectacular view of the Falls. Pretty sweet.
A longer description will be provided once I get home. I only bought 20 minutes access here, and I still need to do my Southwest online check-in tonight at midnight.
Oh yeah, I forgot to mention before that we ended up too tired to go see Serenity on our wedding night. We ended up having dinner with family instead. A better time was had, I think. We also canceled plans to see Serenity on Sunday night so we could hang out with M's sister. We're hoping to see it when we get home tomorrow.
OK, definitely gotta go now!
I'm at an internet kiosk at the Marriott Fallsview on the Canadian side. We have a room with a spectacular view of the Falls. Pretty sweet.
A longer description will be provided once I get home. I only bought 20 minutes access here, and I still need to do my Southwest online check-in tonight at midnight.
Oh yeah, I forgot to mention before that we ended up too tired to go see Serenity on our wedding night. We ended up having dinner with family instead. A better time was had, I think. We also canceled plans to see Serenity on Sunday night so we could hang out with M's sister. We're hoping to see it when we get home tomorrow.
OK, definitely gotta go now!
Sunday, October 02, 2005
The Wedding
This is my first post as a married man.
OK, first thing's, first: I went with the Star Wars music. The consensus among those in attendence is that it was a very good choice. There was a slight snafu wherein the music did not come on when it was supposed to. And when it did come on, the volume was too low. I started making a thumbs-up gesture to the girl managing the wedding to bump up the volume, but she thought I was just giving the thumbs-up indicating approval at first. So the first few seconds of the music was kinda quiet. Otherwise, it went over very well. The Star Wars geeks in attendence really loved it. One told me that I was her hero.
Now, going backwards in time a little. I ended up cutting it really, really close as far as my planned arrival time was concerned. I wanted to get there at 10:45 or 10:50 at the latest. I got there at 10:55 or so. As it turned out, Margaret was at the Zodiac (the restaurant where we got married) until a little after 10:50, so it ended up working out I was a little late, since I wasn't supposed to see her before the wedding.
Once I got there, I was so focused on getting the CDs up and running, helping my soon-to-be cousin-in-law get the flowers to the appropriate people, and hobnobbing with relatives, that I managed not to let the impending event sink in and freak me out. Of course, I did insist on putting "Going To The Chapel" at the end of the pre-ceremony CD, so that kinda drove it all home at the last minute.
So the ceremony went well (except for the minor glitch with the Star Wars recessional), as did the reception. The choices for the buffet met with widespread approval (a couple of Karenworlders wanted to go back that night for more shrimp creole.)
We did have an unexpected change of plans, thanks to the photographer. Margaret had instructed him to just take candid shots, but he insisted on posing all kinds of pictures for a long time. So long, that we didn't get to spend as much time with friends and family as we would have liked, and the shrimp creole was all gone by the time we got to the buffet. The chef made us each a full plate of shrimp creole, so that worked out, but we couldn't get the lost time back. But on the plus side, we'll have a lot of pictures to remember the day by. So it will probably be a wash in the end.
All in all, the day went off very well indeed. Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves.
The ring still feels a little weird on my finger, and it still feels a little unexpected when she refers to me as her husband. I'm sure that will all pass soon enough.
OK, first thing's, first: I went with the Star Wars music. The consensus among those in attendence is that it was a very good choice. There was a slight snafu wherein the music did not come on when it was supposed to. And when it did come on, the volume was too low. I started making a thumbs-up gesture to the girl managing the wedding to bump up the volume, but she thought I was just giving the thumbs-up indicating approval at first. So the first few seconds of the music was kinda quiet. Otherwise, it went over very well. The Star Wars geeks in attendence really loved it. One told me that I was her hero.
Now, going backwards in time a little. I ended up cutting it really, really close as far as my planned arrival time was concerned. I wanted to get there at 10:45 or 10:50 at the latest. I got there at 10:55 or so. As it turned out, Margaret was at the Zodiac (the restaurant where we got married) until a little after 10:50, so it ended up working out I was a little late, since I wasn't supposed to see her before the wedding.
Once I got there, I was so focused on getting the CDs up and running, helping my soon-to-be cousin-in-law get the flowers to the appropriate people, and hobnobbing with relatives, that I managed not to let the impending event sink in and freak me out. Of course, I did insist on putting "Going To The Chapel" at the end of the pre-ceremony CD, so that kinda drove it all home at the last minute.
So the ceremony went well (except for the minor glitch with the Star Wars recessional), as did the reception. The choices for the buffet met with widespread approval (a couple of Karenworlders wanted to go back that night for more shrimp creole.)
We did have an unexpected change of plans, thanks to the photographer. Margaret had instructed him to just take candid shots, but he insisted on posing all kinds of pictures for a long time. So long, that we didn't get to spend as much time with friends and family as we would have liked, and the shrimp creole was all gone by the time we got to the buffet. The chef made us each a full plate of shrimp creole, so that worked out, but we couldn't get the lost time back. But on the plus side, we'll have a lot of pictures to remember the day by. So it will probably be a wash in the end.
All in all, the day went off very well indeed. Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves.
The ring still feels a little weird on my finger, and it still feels a little unexpected when she refers to me as her husband. I'm sure that will all pass soon enough.
Saturday, October 01, 2005
And Here We Are
I woke up this morning feeling something close to terror. It's the same feeling I get when I something important is happening that day, and my participation therein might make or break the success of it (company convention, job interview, now a wedding). I got over it once I was out of bed (which happened about 50 minutes after I woke up), and I had more pressing things to deal with, such as finding my flannel shirt to cover up because it was fa-reakin' cold in my bedroom.
The CDs are done, after numerous burnings and re-burnings as new and better ideas occurred to me. I have my dress shirt in the dryer, trying to get the wrinkles out. Somehow, my iron got sand in it, so ironing quickly proved to be the less desirable option for wrinkle removal. My other clothes are laid out and ready to be put on. I got a nice razor yesterday, so I should have an especially clean and close shave today. Now all I have to do is get ready!
So I'd better wrap this up. Especially since I just realized that I still have to pack some regular clothes for the next couple of days (staying at Margaret's apartment in the city tonight).
This will be my last post as a single guy. I'm outta here.
The CDs are done, after numerous burnings and re-burnings as new and better ideas occurred to me. I have my dress shirt in the dryer, trying to get the wrinkles out. Somehow, my iron got sand in it, so ironing quickly proved to be the less desirable option for wrinkle removal. My other clothes are laid out and ready to be put on. I got a nice razor yesterday, so I should have an especially clean and close shave today. Now all I have to do is get ready!
So I'd better wrap this up. Especially since I just realized that I still have to pack some regular clothes for the next couple of days (staying at Margaret's apartment in the city tonight).
This will be my last post as a single guy. I'm outta here.
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