Hello from Antigua

in

Sitting in the small market/deli thing checking email, and figured I'd do a quick update. Here's Antigua in a nutshell: * Hot * Humid * Very pretty * Poor country * No hold 'em, except for the game in our kitchen at night. :-( * Lots of newlyweds and older couples. * British people smoke like it's going out of style. * Never, EVER play something called "rainbow jackpot". * I miss Arizona, and my cats. * The beach life is not for me, but I love the time with my family.

I'll have lots of pictures, but probably not that much in the way of stories, when I get back. I have made poor, poor movie viewing choices in the last few days, but I will say in my defense that I managed to avoid seeing "American Wedding", and I am very happy about that.

You know what's fun?

in

Going into the house and finding piles and piles of black, smelly vomit. Yes, either the puppy I'm watching ate a poop and decided it didn't agree with her (shocker!) or she somehow got herself a chocolate flavored Powerbar or two. I found an empty wrapper on the floor, but that doesn't mean that she ate it.. could have just been an empty wrapper in Paul's gym bag. Clean up the puke, call the vet to find out how likely it is that the dog is going to die. She (the puppy) is just sort of laying on the ground, but doesn't appear to be in any actual distress at the moment. Vet sounds a little concerned, and we set up an appointment for later this afternoon. If the puppy is not more puppy-ish by then, I'll bring her in. Oh, and could I dig back through the garbage to get a sample of the puke? Sure! Why not!?!

An hour or two later, and the puppy is up and wagging, so maybe I won't need to bring her to the vet. Hope not, anyway. I think you can pull the ol' switcharoo with goldfish when they die, but not so likely with a puppy.

Randoms

in , ,

* Leaving this weekend to go on the family vacation to "Antigua":http://www.antigua-barbuda.org/. We'll be staying at a "lovely resort":http://www.eliteislandresorts.com/site/resorts.asp?islandID=1&resortID=11 on the south part of the island. I'm not super into laying on the beach, but there are a few things I think I'll be able to do: 1) Sleep. 2) Do lots of pushups and situps to get my flabby body back into shape in preparation for a winter of "Hueco bouldering":http://feralboy.com/log/archives/001226/. 3) Catch up on some reading. 4) walk around with my climbing shoes and a chalk bag. "Virgin":http://www.geocities.com/tryhardvideo/virgingorda.html "Gorda":http://www.utoledo.edu/~kpugh/VG-guide/ is too far away to take a puddle jumper, but it's the same volcanic formation, I think.. so there's probably at least a little bit of bouldering to be had on the island. 5) The place we're staying "has a casino":http://www.eliteislandresorts.com/site/features.asp?featureID=106&resortID=11&islandID=1, and there's also "a nice looking one":http://www.grandprincessentertainment.com/casino.htm a cab ride away. I figure there will be lots of fishy tourists (not including me, of course), so if I can find some $2/4 hold 'em I'll be very happy. * It's been pretty quiet here. Paul and April got married in New York over the weekend, and are on vacation in Banff and Jasper parks in Canada. I think they come back a week after I get back, and it will be good to see them. I have to order more holds for "the woody":http://feralboy.com/log/archives/001231/, and have some problems set for when they get back.

* Been getting out and about on my fixed-gear bike. It's a whole different kind of riding, but it's really nice to have something that's so cheap and so easy to maintain.

* "Poore Brothers Habanero Potato Chips":http://www.taquitos.net/snacks.php?snack_code=435 are the shit.

* My cat is a one-cat lizard-killing machine. I found 3 small ones scattered around the guest house just yesterday. You know that awful smell when you drive by a dead deer or something on the side of the road? Shrink that down about a fifth, and that's what the little treats are that my special boy is leaving for me.

Rock you like a hurricane (or, more wildlife adventures)

in

Holy motherfucking shit. I was in my little guest house cave, finishing up some last minute "work":http://feralboy.com/log/archives/nizzle/ stuff, when April came running to my window.

"Matt, come outside! There's a huge scorpion out here!"

I go out, and sure enough, there's a big-ass scorpion out there. Like, "Clash of the Titans":http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0082186/ big.

aaaaaugh! big

First Paul is scraping at it with "a broom handle":http://feralboy.com/photoalbum/photos/20040916_scorpion/P1010013.JPG, then trying to "hose the thing down":http://feralboy.com/photoalbum/photos/20040916_scorpion/P1010016.JPG, and the finally "grabs the motherfucker":http://feralboy.com/photoalbum/photos/20040916_scorpion/P1010021.JPG with "chopsticks":http://feralboy.com/photoalbum/photos/20040916_scorpion/P1010022.JPG, which allows me to get a few good pictures of it.

oh my goodness

For all you bleeding-hearts out there, yes, we threw it out into the backyard scrub, where I'm sure it lived to _fright_ another day. Hah! I'm punny!

"All pics of the horrid encounter here":http://feralboy.com/photoalbum/photos/?folder=20040916_scorpion

Another day, another lizard.

in

As "per request":http://feralboy.com/log/archives/001214/#comments, I have some carnage pictures today. Manson brought in another lizard this morning. I can always tell when he's got something, because he's just pleased as can be with himself; making little trilling sounds and rubbing up against my leg. pleased with himself whose alive? not me!

This time I figured I found it too late, as it was dead on it's back. Manson would flip it up in the air occasionally, and it would go plop. Then I noticed that when the cat wasn't looking he would try and sneaky sneaky crawl away. That little fucker was just _playing_ dead! So, rescued this one too, much to kitty's dismay.

c'mere! yeah you. go ahead, i dare ya.

Trouble in paradise

in

Well, it can't _all_ be perfect here in Tucson. I realized yesterday that I have two major gripes: * What the hell is it with everything closing early? I went out the other night to try and get a paint roller to help apply the weatherproofing to the backyard climbing wall (I would have said "backyard woody", but I know "Robn":http://firepile.com/robin/ would have had a field day with that), and the hardward store closed at 6?!?! Luckily there was a Target down the road, and I just barely squeaked in the door before they closed as well. AT SEVEN FUCKING O'CLOCK!!! What if I need some Target-ey goodness at 9? Boned. * Most of the major thoroughfares around town are 3 lanes each way. A rational person would think that the left-hand lane might be for, oh, I don't know... _passing people_ or something. Oh, no... not in Tucson. All three lanes move at exactly the same maddening pace; one mile an hour under the speed limit. Looks like I'll have to brush up on my slaloming skills.

Rrrrrriiiiip!

in

Well, if I thought "last time I got cat scratch fever":http://feralboy.com/log/archives/000470/ was bad, that was nothing compared to yesterday. We were getting ready to go climbing, so I was retrieving all the cats from outside. They always go in the backyard, so if they don't hop up on the little separator wall of their own accord, I need to carry them all the way around the house and through the front gate and courtyard. Unfortunately, the courtyard is where Morgan, the lovable chocolate lab, likes to hang out during the day. And the cats know it. They still haven't figured out that whole "dog" thing yet, so they tend to keep their distance. Anyway, bringing Manson in through the courtyard he started to get fiesty. I guess he wanted to be mobile in case that big snuffling thing showed up, so he started twisting and kicking and tore the everloving shit out of me in the process.

owowowow!

(I have another scratch on the other side from the front claws, but it's not nearly as impressive. It's sorta like the one I got in the first link above.)

In other cat news, they're very much enjoying the outdoors. I'll let them out for brief periods while I'm working, and only during the day. There are coyotes out at night, and I've seen and heard them, and I worry enough about Morgan, whose instinct still is to charge the cats once in awhile.

Mason (the evil eviscerator) even caught a lizard the other day! I managed to get it away from him still alive, although it was short one tail. I've always wanted to have outdoor cats that would bring me little "presents", but I guess I should be careful what I wish for, right?

Settling in

in

Well, I've been in Tucson for a week now, and so far I love it. I'm more or less unpacked, but I'll take a few pictures of the guest house with all my crap in it once I'm fully set up. Just a few random observations about the place so far. First of all, yes, it's hot. It's been about 100 every day so far, but it's really tolerable heat. It doesn't seem to really come on until about 3 in the afternoon, and my little AC unit cranks out the cold if I need it to (or there's always the pool). It gets cooler at night, and it's been quite comfortable sleeping weather; no AC needed.

Haven't gotten to sample too much of the local restaurants, save for a really kickass Mexican place that I took everyone to while Laura was still here. I've seen a couple of cute places, but I still need to try out the local sushi, as well. Oh... I did go to "Beyond Bread":http://www.beyondbread.com/ the other day on the advice of my stepmom (my step-aunt lives here in Tucson), and it was tasty, although completely insanely busy!

They have "Trader Joe's":http://www.traderjoes.com/ here! We tried out the "2-buck Chuck":http://www.npr.org/features/feature.php?wfId=1963794 (actually 3-buck Chuck here), and it's decent! Must get a case. Also there's a "Wild Oats":http://www.wildoats.com/, so I won't lament a lack of Whole Foods too much.

One thing I wasn't suprised about was the amount of sprawl. Everything is all spread out. Laura explained it thusly: "On the east coast, they build up. Out here, they build _out_." Getting around isn't too bad either; much of the city is a grid layout, but they do weird things with streets that change names, or a same name that skips around without being connected.

I've seen some interesting wildlife as well. So far I've seen a few "HUGE moths":http://feralboy.com/photoalbum/photos/20040907_misc/P1010003.JPG, a small (e.g. one-inch long) scorpion stuck to the bathroom ant trap, a tarantula crossing the road (ew!), countless small lizards scurrying around outside my window, and something squashed on the side of the road that was probably big enough to have only been a "Gila Monster":http://www.desertusa.com/sep97/du_gilamonster.html. No javalinas yet, but I've got my fingers crossed.

Got to go for a couple of bike rides, including a fantastic one at dusk yesterday. There's nothing like rolling down an empty road with the sinking sun setting the mountains afire. It's a super bike-friendly town, with lots of the streets having an explicit bike lane, or at least a wide-ish shoulder. Even on the ones that don't, it seems that cars will give you a wide berth. Still trying to figure out how to fit a daily ride into my schedule; it'll probably be in the evenings around sundown. With Arizona not following daylight savings time(!), right now I'm on west coast time, or 3 hours earlier than Pittsburgh. I've been trying to go to work at 6, so getting up earlier isn't a good option for a workout.

We erected the "frame for a backyard climbing wall":http://feralboy.com/photoalbum/photos/20040907_misc/P1010007.JPG! I'll have pictures of that up shortly as well, but the t-nuts and holds are coming this week; the plywood is already drilled, so we might be climbing on it this weekend!

I've been letting the cats run around a little bit in the courtyard, and they seem to be having a good time with it. They might not enjoy it so much today when Morgan (April's sweetheart chocolate lab) comes back today from an extended puppy play date. I'm hoping they'll at least start pooping outside!

Oh, and people here are so nice that it makes me really uncomfortable. I miss East Coast Rude.

"Fuck everybody, we're bigger" (or, How to Go From Pittsburgh To Tucson In 3 Days)

in

Recap of my moving trip from Pittsburgh, PA to Tucson, AZ. I wasn't aware that the middle of the country was so boring. I thought there was going to be interesting things; that around every corner would be a big ball of twine, or an Elvis museum, or something else equally exciting. Turns out that most of this great land of ours isn't really all that thrilling.

Let's start at the beginning. The last few weeks have been mad packing and making arrangements in general; canceling utilities, setting up forwarding address, yadda yadda.

Friday night Laura was supposed to fly in from Newark, and we'd go out and get some drinks with friends. Turns out her connecting flight from D.C. never got off the ground, so she stayed overnight and came out the following morning. So Friday night was lots of last-minute packing and throwing stuff in the truck. I had promised my friends that were helping me move that it would all just be big stuff: the bed, the TV, etc, and I wanted to stick to that if possible. Caprice and I banged out a whole bunch of boxes and got them loaded. (I had such good moving karma from helping other friends move during my years in PGH that I actually probably didn't have to do anything. I could have just sat and had young nymphs feed me grapes or something while everyone else packed up boxes, but that didn't seem quite fair.)

Saturday morning everyone started showing up at around 9, and I think it all went fairly smoothly. I owe Joshua (and his lovely and talented girl Cynthia), Drew, Brian, Jen and even little Seb (he helped sweep) a huge debt o' gratitude for helping me get everything packed. My sister's flight landed, and I went to pick her up. A quick lunch and some calls to figure out a good course of action to handle the kitties and we were off, at 2:47 p.m. exactly.

The first thing I learned is that if you’re "towing a car(a picture of our rig)":http://feralboy.com/photoalbum/photos/20040830_TuconTrip/P1010022.JPG you really want to make sure that you turn off the alarm. Otherwise as soon as you start driving you’re going to make the car thing it’s being stolen/moved and it’ll start howling its head off.

The rental truck wasn't that hard to drive, either. It felt like a van after awhile; granted, a really really BIG van, but just a van. We used the size to our advantage, too. Laura's mantra anytime we were in a weird intersection situation? "Fuck everybody, we're bigger!"

The drive out of Pittsburgh was uneventful. We took the same route as when I would go climbing in WV, so that meant I knew where the hell I was going. Get on 70, and go west, west, west. We cut through about 5 miles of WV, and then get into Ohio (people _live_ there?). We started to get some really good thunderstorms/lightning/heavy rain around Columbus, which cooled everything down enough to let the cats run around free in the car. Indiana was next, and we wound up stopping there for the night, in Terra Haute (hereafter referred to as “Terra Hate”). I was hoping to make St. Louis that night, but we got off to a later start than I expected. Anyway, we saw a sign for a Motel 6 on the highway, and figured that would be good, cheap place, as well as somewhere that it would be easy to sneak the cats into. Get off the highway, follow the little blue sign with the arrow, and start driving. And driving. And driving. Finally got to the end of the main drag, and no sign of the Motel 6. WTF? Ok, so we start heading back towards the highway, pass the highway, and nothing. Then we loop back around and finally see it; it’s hidden behind like 3 gas stations. Pull in, and go to the night desk. Nobody there, and no buzzer to call. We look around some more, then get annoyed and leave. At this point we’ve been driving around Terra Hate for at least 45 minutes just looking for a place to crash. Back out onto the main drag, and start down again. All the big name hotel/motels are booked solid. We finally find a little hole in the wall motel that’s relatively cheap. Bonus: pets are ok; just $5 per! Our room was pretty gross… pizza on the walls, and strange soap for the shower.

Turns out the reason there were so many people in town is that there was a truck show or something that weekend. Funny, I just figured there was always that amount of rednecks with “dick rigs” was par for the course in Terra Hate.

Sunday was a perfect day to drive; "overcast(Sunday morning in Terra Hate)":http://feralboy.com/photoalbum/photos/20040830_TuconTrip/P1010023.JPG and not very hot. We let the cats "run around in the car loose(a cat's eye view)":http://feralboy.com/photoalbum/photos/20040830_TuconTrip/P1010034.JPG all day long. I was really, REALLY worried about them before we started the drive, and Saturday we had them in carriers with the windows way down until we hit the rain in Ohio and it was cool enough for them to be out and about with the windows up enough so they couldn’t squeeze their fat bodies out. Sunday was cool enough so not bother with strapping them in, so we were off. We spent a ton of time "on 70(aaah, route 70)":http://feralboy.com/photoalbum/photos/20040830_TuconTrip/P1010027.JPG; through Il-annoyed, then St. Louis. Pick up 44 south there, and then Springfield, and then onto 40 in Tulsa, OK. Got "a cool hat":http://moblog.co.uk/view.php?id=21791 at a truck stop in OK, too! Finally stopped at Amarillo, TX at about 4 in the morning, after putting on at least 1000 miles that day. Stayed at a "La Quinta":http://www.lq.com/, which supposedly has free internet, but I was so tired I didn’t bother to try and find out anything about it.

As an aside, it seems that people are Way Into Jesus as you make your way west (hence "Bible Belt", right?). It was interesting to see the weird sort of moral fight going on between adult shops and "religious organizations(a big cross silo)":http://feralboy.com/photoalbum/photos/20040830_TuconTrip/P1010028.JPG. I first saw it in St. Clair Minnesota; there was a billboard advertising an adult mart at the next exit, and then right behind it one saying "porn ruins lives".

Monday was the big push… heading all the way from Amarillo to Tucson. I stumbled out of bed, loaded up the truck, and loaded Laura and the cats in and we were off. We were making great time, until we were about 2 hours east of Albuquerque. We were driving through some construction, when I started to notice the truck seemed to be pulling really hard, and wouldn’t kick into overdrive gear. Then on a long uphill, I noticed some smoke coming from the one wheel on the car carrier. Uh, oh. Pull off to the side, and there’s smoke everywhere. Brake fluid is "leaking onto the brakes(the naughty wheel)":http://feralboy.com/photoalbum/photos/20040830_TuconTrip/P1010036.JPG, which are smoking hot, as are the brakes on the other 3 tires. Just. Fucking. Great. I figured the carrier’s disc brakes must have gotten stuck or something, so I called Penske service to figure out what we should do. Their roadside assistance was actually great; they called me back within about 10 minutes to let me know a repair truck was on the way, and he was only about "15 minutes later(help arrives)":http://feralboy.com/photoalbum/photos/20040830_TuconTrip/P1010035.JPG than they said he’d be.

"Ricky(my homeslice Ricky)":http://feralboy.com/photoalbum/photos/20040830_TuconTrip/P1010038.JPG got there, "jacked up the trailer(hoist it up)":http://feralboy.com/photoalbum/photos/20040830_TuconTrip/P1010040.JPG, and started "poking and prodding(poking and prodding)":http://feralboy.com/photoalbum/photos/20040830_TuconTrip/P1010041.JPG around. He said they might have gotten half-stuck just from me pressing the brakes and them not releasing, or from getting jostled hitting the skidplate of the trailer in a dip or something. We all decided that driving the trailer probably wasn’t a good idea, so we took the car off, and Laura drove that into Albuquerque where we picked up a new trailer. On the way we hit a "_torrential_(bad rain)":http://feralboy.com/photoalbum/photos/20040830_TuconTrip/P1010054.JPG "storm(more bad rain)":http://feralboy.com/photoalbum/photos/20040830_TuconTrip/P1010055.JPG; like with sleet and everything. It was fairly un-fun, especially driving the moving truck. Got to Abq, got the trailer, and we were on our way, probably only losing about 2 hours of time (since it was on our way anyway). Oh, just an interesting note, Albuquerque has a "minor-league baseball team":http://www.albuquerquebaseball.com/, the "Isotopes":http://www.abqtrib.com/archives/sports02/090402_sports_isotopes.shtml.

The rest of New Mexico was big, pretty, and funny (e.g. "Elephant Butte(Elephant Butte)":http://feralboy.com/photoalbum/photos/20040830_TuconTrip/P1010059.JPG). A few INS(Immigration and Naturalization Services) checkpoints along the way, and one "spectacular sunset(purty)":http://feralboy.com/photoalbum/photos/20040830_TuconTrip/P1010062.JPG, and we were into Arizona.

Finally pulled up at around 11 p.m., where Paul and April were waiting with champagne! Woo! It was a fun drive, but I wish I would have been able to see some stuff along the way, like Carlsbad Caverns or something. Maybe next time.

Moving contest!

in

bq. *Update:* If this were the Price Is Right, I'd first make that buzzer noise and tell you that you all overbid. It's up to you guys what you want to do... everyone can either re-guess less than $375 (the lowest bid, but still over), or I can just give it to the winner (Jason D.) now. Either way is fine, because I didn't clarify beforehand (although k did ask about PIR(Price Is Right) rules while I was already en route). Thoughts? Ok, I thought of something fun for everyone to do while I'm driving my way across this lovely country of ours starting tomorrow morning... a contest!

Here's the deal: I want you to guess how much my total gasoline bill will be. I've got a "15' moving truck":http://www.pensketruckrental.com/personal_rental/15ft.html, and we're going "roughly 2100 miles":http://tinyurl.com/547go. I'm towing my car, so I'll have that additional weight. Whoever guesses the closest will win something good, but I'm not sure what that is yet (I'll have plenty of time to think of something appropriate on the drive).

Extra Special Bonus Info: Depending on the whole cat situation, we might wind up driving both the rental truck AND the car, so that might throw your careful calculations off.

Anyway, leave your guess in the comments, and when I fill the truck back up to drop it off I'll have a final tally for you... sometime early next week, if all goes well.

Moving update

in

Yesterday was a crazy day. First thing in the morning I had a lovely bike ride into Oakland to pick up the rental truck. It was perfect weather; already warm, not too humid, and I was just gliding along the newly-paved 5th Avenue. A nice way to have my "last bike ride here":http://feralboy.com/log/archives/001172/ for awhile. While waiting to fill out the paperwork for the truck a guy from the coroner's office was dropping off his Jeep to have it inspected. I took a snap of "his personalized plate":http://moblog.co.uk/view.php?id=21243; talk about a morbid sense of humor.

The truck is nice (it better be... I'm going to be living in it for about 3 days straight), and new (only like 18k miles; Penske has a policy that none of their trucks can be more than 3 years old). The "car carrier":http://www.pensketruckrental.com/personal_rental/towing/carcarrier.html is a little scary tho; the sticker on it saying to not go above 45 mph has me a little worried. Oh well, I went about 60 on the way from the pickup place to my apartment, and it didn't flip. I definitely don't want to do the drive at 45; it'll take a full day more. I also don't want to die, tho... so we'll see how the balancing act plays out.

After work and before poker last night I tried to get as many packed boxes as I could into the truck, and I think I got all of them. It was hot, sweaty work. I would take a batch of boxes, shove them along the floor to the elevator, ride the elevator down, shove them along the floor to the front door, and repeat. When I had a nice big stack of boxes I propped "the front doors(the doors)":http://feralboy.com/photoalbum/photos/20010707_parents/P7070024.JPG open, and hustle all the boxes into the truck.

Tonight I need to try and pack/move everything possible into the truck, so when the cleaning people come tomorrow they don't have to move a lot of stuff around.

Busy, busy, busy...

in

Lots of moving prep this past weekend. My home theatre is half packed up. Finding all the chewed wires was a treat. As was the nice crystalized dried cat pee. I'm going to just throw out all the speaker wires (one of them really loves chewing on the soft rubber coating), and then buy new ones when I finally find a house and get everything set up. I might try a little home improvement and try and do a closet and wire everything up through there so there's not loose wires. Barring that, at least make sure I've put "wire covers":http://bunnyluv.com/wirewrap.html on everything important.

Computer and "desk":http://www.anthro.com/_AC_LargeAnthroCarts.asp are getting broken down at some point today or tomorrow. That's most everything major, and just leaves clothes that I actually wear (which I'll probably just leave in the dresser drawers)

I also caved and scheduled a cleaning service for my move-out clean. The woman was there this a.m. to do a walkthrough and give me the sales pitch. I just don't really have the time to do a good cleaning before I move out, so I figured it's $200 well spent, and probably I'll make that back in the security deposit. My landlord has been really nice to me, so I don't want to leave him a shithole. I'm getting the moving truck Wednesday, and they'll be there Friday a.m., so I'll try and have most everything already packed into the truck by then and out of the way.

Laura is flying in Friday night, moving party (with beer and chips) Saturday morning, and then we're going to get on the road as soon as possible. Still lots of concern about the cats and their comfort level, but I bought some new carriers this weekend, so worst-case I bring all of them into the truck cab with us, or have Laura drive the car behind the truck.

I hope to be able to do some good documentation of the trip on the way down; when I'm not driving I can take pictures and keep a journal. My stepmom specifically requested a trip write-up, so I can't dissapoint.

In other news, I watched all of "the DVD Paul and April sent":http://feralboy.com/log/archives/001171/; man, you think I was excited about the move _before_?! Everything out there looks amazing; I've already got a list of problems to tick off just from how cool they look.

Also, we had a little work going away dealie at Michael's house on Friday; the spread was obscene (but in a good way)! They even made me "a cake":http://moblog.co.uk/view.php?id=20647... very sweet.

First and last and always

in

With only about a week and a half before I shuffle off this rustbelt coil, it makes me think about all the things that I do, and wondering which time will be the last. The last trip back to NJ by car (already happened). The last time bouldering at Coopers (this weekend when "my sister":http://www.livejournal.com/users/fuzzyfruit/ comes into town). The last time I'll "see":http://anklebiter.net/ "my":http://bigbrit.blogspot.com/ "friends":http://thisamericanstrife.blogspot.com/ before I go. The last "poker":http://feralboy.com/log/archives/poker/ game. The last "bike ride":http://feralboy.com/log/archives/bike/ to work. I'm thoroughly excited about my move and about all the new fun stuff I'm going to be experiencing, but I can't deny that I've had an awesome time here for the last 4 years, and all of my friends will be sorely missed.

Tucson house pics

in

Well, things continue to move forward with moving. Let's see... address change put in at the post office? Check. Sorting out some boxes of clothes to give to Goodwill? Check. Have the washing machine "flood":http://feralboy.com/log/archives/000793/ again? Check. Boo. I have some realtor pictures of Paul and April's house, where I'll be staying while I do some house-shopping of my own.

Some views of the outside of the house:

house exterior house exterior

The pool, where I'm sure wireless broadband will come in quite handy:

pool shot pool shot

Some interior shots:

inside house inside house

And look! Here's an exterior and interior of the guest house, where I'll be staying! Not huge, but plenty good to sleep and work:

guest house exterior guest house interior

And they live on a dirt road! From April:

bq. Trails are way better than streets or lanes or roads. woohoo!! FYI, the "trail" we're on is privately owned. Meaning, if the road has potholes, the 8 peeps that live on it chip in to fill them in, we have to haul our garbage cans out to the main road, and our mailboxes are also all at the main road...all lined up like you see on those little dirt roads going off to nowhere outside of those mtn towns. I think that's all soooo cool. I guess that would also mean that if we had a huge snowstorm, we'd all have to shovel our road out...yikes. Good thing that won't ever happen.

Dirt road also means tearing ass home in the "Scooby":http://scoobytuner.com/, which should be a blast.

Slacker

in ,

Well, you know it's been too long between posts when my page layout starts to break. Well, let's see what's been going on: * My moving plans are pretty much solidified. Leaving the glorious state of Pennsylvania and the even more glorious city of Pittsburgh the last weekend of August. My "sister(my darling sister at xmas last year)":http://feralboy.com/photoalbum/photos/20031225_xmas/P1010026.jpg is going to come out and help me do the drive down, which is awesome. I've got the truck rental reservation, and I keep checking and the price keeps dropping, so I have them update my rental. Down $700 so far from what is was initially going to be. I nearly shit my pants the other day when it looked like it had dropped $2000, but then I realized I had typed in "Tucson, AZ 15221 (which is a Pittsburgh zip code)" and it thought I was doing a local move. Ooops. Gonna get a trailer for the "new car":http://edmunds.com/new/2004/subaru/impreza/100273633/researchlanding.html (which has been loads of fun, BTW), and load the cats in the car and let them yowl for all they're worth back where I can't hear them. The heat is a bit of a concern, but I'll try and get sunshades in all the windows, do as much of the driving at night as possible, and of course I'm sure I'll be pulling over every 5 seconds to check on them anyway.

* My "audit":http://feralboy.com/log/archives/001139/ with Pittsburgh so far has been suprisingly easy. Called the city person on the phone, told her what was going on, and I'm just in the process of retrieving all my W-2s from my various employers from the last few years. Yes, I know I'm supposed to keep 7 years worth, but that's what former employers or payroll companies are for, right? Anyway, so far it looks like I was paying in the correct amount for every job besides this one, so I shouldn't get dinged too badly. I must say that for a city in the "middle of a fiscal crisis":http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/tribune-review/specialreports/pghincrisis/, they don't seem to be too eager to get their money.

* The plans for Tucson are already shaping up to be fantastic. "Paul and April(Paul and April at her birthday party)":http://feralboy.com/photoalbum/photos/20030331_aprils_birthday/P3312882.JPG are all excited for me to get out there, and we've got reservations at "Hueco":http://0friction.com/thumbz.php?area_id=45 pretty much every weekend of the winter. They keep telling me that it's better than Bishop, so I can't wait to check it out. There's some things I want to make sure I do while in AZ, like 1) Drink "more water":http://feralboy.com/log/archives/000861/. 2) Make sure to take my "psyllium husk":http://feralboy.com/log/archives/000793/ every day. 3) Convert my "cyclocross bike":http://feralboy.com/log/archives/000012/ into a "single-speed":http://www.singlespeedsanonymous.com/ to make my daily rides more fun.

* Poker has been good. My play at limit raise has been horrible, both online and during the "weekly events":http://feralboy.com/log/archives/poker/ (which unfortunately have been less than weekly lately). I'm convinced that most of limit play is pure luck; you either get the cards or you don't. However, I've been kicking ass and taking names at the $10 SNG(Sit-n-Go) single table tournaments on PartyPoker. I've cashed in probably 75% of the tourneys I've been in, and even won a couple for $50. Certainly it's the most consistantly profitible playing I've done. I might even be able to make gas money out of it! Oh! I'm also playing in a $50 buy-in tourney next weekend a little north of the city. Should be a good time, and I'll try and remember more than the hand I bust out on to write it up.