(From Lolcats.com - Possibly the funniest collection of cat pictures ever.)
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Monday, July 30, 2007
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
Mayan and Sicko....
Yesterday we saw Sicko at the Mayan Theater (an independent theater a couple of blocks from our apartment). The architecture of the theater is amazing, especially considering it's an independent theater and probably doesn't have terribly deep pockets. The Mayan is part of an independent theater chain called Landmark. They are big supporters of indie film and run an amazing print and online 'zine called FLM. Mandy and I first heard about them in Cincinnati where they ran a small art house called The Esquire and a first-run theater called Mariemont. It turns out there is an Esquire here in Denver too, also run by Landmark. The other cool feature of the Mayan is they run brew-and-a-view movies on Fridays where they show bad sci-fi movies and sell discounted six-packs of beer to help facilitate an atmosphere of reckless abandon.
On to our thoughts about Moore's Sicko. I will try steer away from spoilers insomuch as they exist (pssst! the American heath care system sucks). I am also not going to launch into one of my long, protracted rants about documentary filmmaking; so don't worry.
If you haven't seen the film, you can download it from any number of BitTorrent sites such as PirateBay, ISOHunt, or Mininova. Moore has endorsed the downloading of the film, so long as people aren't making a profit from it. While this may make morally justifyable to download it, the distributors of the film would still sue you. Though, the odds of anyone catching you are so remote, it's definitely worth the insignificant risk. It's really worth watching, whether you like Moore's style or not.
I've read several stories of people spontaneously holding meetings in the halls outside of theaters, writing their congressperson, and punching insurance CEOs in the face. Regardless of his tactics, Moore's made a film that seems to be resonating with almost everyone who sees, red or blue, democrat or republican. That's amazing.
It resonated with Mandy and I because, like 50 million other Americans, we have no insurance. If something catastrophy were to happen to either us, we'd be screwed. Plain and simple. There are two important things to consider when I write this. 1) For the past year we've had good jobs in fortune 500 companies with a combined income of over $100,000 and 2) We've researched and attempted to purchase insurance on our own.
The insurance that was provided by our well-paying jobs sucked. It barely covered prescriptions let alone doctors visits or any kind of out-patient surgery. For example, I've needed an MRI taken of my knee for almost a year now. Even when I did have good insurance provided by my employer, the out-of-pocket cost for the MRI was $2,700. For one knee!?!?
Last year, Mandy and did research on purchasing our in insurance since we were so fed up with our current coverage. We both applied, as a married couple, to an insurance broker who spoke for the six major insurance companies. I was accepted, Mandy was declined. The reason for the denial was her pre-existing condition of endometreosis. This is slightly ironic considering Mandy runs every day, has a body mass index below the standard, and is very good health. I, on the other hand, am overweight, do not regularly exercise, and take daily medication to deal with high blood pressure.
If having a good job and being prudent about trying to procure insurance isn't trying to look out for one's self, I don't know what is. We are the people being screwed over by insurance companies. So the movie resonated with us. I've also discovered that basically every person I've spoken to who's had any real interaction with the health care system has similar stories. It's intensely frustrating since, short of moving to France or Canada, there is little we can do to alleviate our situation let alone help others who are in much more dire positions than we are.
If you haven't seen the movie I strongly urge you to do so.
If you have seen the movie and would like more information about what to do now, check out this site: www.sickocure.org I have about as much faith in web-based petitions and online protests as I do in the Easter Bunny, but it's something, at least. Beyond that, what do we do if we want to foment change? Riot? Strike? Sign online petitions?
On to our thoughts about Moore's Sicko. I will try steer away from spoilers insomuch as they exist (pssst! the American heath care system sucks). I am also not going to launch into one of my long, protracted rants about documentary filmmaking; so don't worry.
If you haven't seen the film, you can download it from any number of BitTorrent sites such as PirateBay, ISOHunt, or Mininova. Moore has endorsed the downloading of the film, so long as people aren't making a profit from it. While this may make morally justifyable to download it, the distributors of the film would still sue you. Though, the odds of anyone catching you are so remote, it's definitely worth the insignificant risk. It's really worth watching, whether you like Moore's style or not.
I've read several stories of people spontaneously holding meetings in the halls outside of theaters, writing their congressperson, and punching insurance CEOs in the face. Regardless of his tactics, Moore's made a film that seems to be resonating with almost everyone who sees, red or blue, democrat or republican. That's amazing.
It resonated with Mandy and I because, like 50 million other Americans, we have no insurance. If something catastrophy were to happen to either us, we'd be screwed. Plain and simple. There are two important things to consider when I write this. 1) For the past year we've had good jobs in fortune 500 companies with a combined income of over $100,000 and 2) We've researched and attempted to purchase insurance on our own.
The insurance that was provided by our well-paying jobs sucked. It barely covered prescriptions let alone doctors visits or any kind of out-patient surgery. For example, I've needed an MRI taken of my knee for almost a year now. Even when I did have good insurance provided by my employer, the out-of-pocket cost for the MRI was $2,700. For one knee!?!?
Last year, Mandy and did research on purchasing our in insurance since we were so fed up with our current coverage. We both applied, as a married couple, to an insurance broker who spoke for the six major insurance companies. I was accepted, Mandy was declined. The reason for the denial was her pre-existing condition of endometreosis. This is slightly ironic considering Mandy runs every day, has a body mass index below the standard, and is very good health. I, on the other hand, am overweight, do not regularly exercise, and take daily medication to deal with high blood pressure.
If having a good job and being prudent about trying to procure insurance isn't trying to look out for one's self, I don't know what is. We are the people being screwed over by insurance companies. So the movie resonated with us. I've also discovered that basically every person I've spoken to who's had any real interaction with the health care system has similar stories. It's intensely frustrating since, short of moving to France or Canada, there is little we can do to alleviate our situation let alone help others who are in much more dire positions than we are.
If you haven't seen the movie I strongly urge you to do so.
If you have seen the movie and would like more information about what to do now, check out this site: www.sickocure.org I have about as much faith in web-based petitions and online protests as I do in the Easter Bunny, but it's something, at least. Beyond that, what do we do if we want to foment change? Riot? Strike? Sign online petitions?
Monday, July 23, 2007
Not humid.....but still hot!
Before moving to Denver, I did research on what elevation does to most people, so I would be prepared if I came across symptoms that I was having. Although both Matt and I went through an intestinal yucky and slight headache period, I was not ready for the biggest change in my environment. I was so focused on the elevation that I totally skipped over the semi-arid part of the description of Denver found here. If you are from the mid-West and are used to high humidity keep this in mind in visiting or moving to a semi-arid area....it's dry. Now that may seem pretty obvious, but not for me.
Many of you know that my nose has been broken many times during high school sports. I had nose surgery a few years ago to fix the septum (or nose separation) in order to help me breathe - which it did wonders. I hardly had any problems and I could tell a distinct difference in how much I had to breathe. After being here a couple of days I found that not only does it take more effort to breathe, but it is so dry which dries out your sinuses - I keep saline spray close at hand.
Just over a year ago I had lasik surgery for my eyes. During the prep period, they check how dry your eyes are: 20-15 normal, 15-10 dry....both my eyes were a 5. I carry around eye drops in my purse, have some in the bathroom, and when it's not too hot or cold have some in the car. I have never had my eyes feel so dry and painful as I have after being here for 2 days.
I am not telling you to deter you, but more to give advice to take the necessary precautions. This seems like a great city in which we have been finding new and exciting things to do all of the time. We look forward to exploring and enjoying many more things in the coming weeks, months, and years and updating everyone when we do!
Many of you know that my nose has been broken many times during high school sports. I had nose surgery a few years ago to fix the septum (or nose separation) in order to help me breathe - which it did wonders. I hardly had any problems and I could tell a distinct difference in how much I had to breathe. After being here a couple of days I found that not only does it take more effort to breathe, but it is so dry which dries out your sinuses - I keep saline spray close at hand.
Just over a year ago I had lasik surgery for my eyes. During the prep period, they check how dry your eyes are: 20-15 normal, 15-10 dry....both my eyes were a 5. I carry around eye drops in my purse, have some in the bathroom, and when it's not too hot or cold have some in the car. I have never had my eyes feel so dry and painful as I have after being here for 2 days.
I am not telling you to deter you, but more to give advice to take the necessary precautions. This seems like a great city in which we have been finding new and exciting things to do all of the time. We look forward to exploring and enjoying many more things in the coming weeks, months, and years and updating everyone when we do!
Sunday, July 22, 2007
Random Video Collection
Here is a collage of random videos I've shot over the past month or so. There's not much point to the video apart from feeling justified in spending the time shooing them. If you watch, I am vindicated.
(Teh 'mazing)
Online and Kickin' it
The Qwest guy showed up and did his thing with the thing and now we're online! Use your favorite chat client to... chat.
Saturday, July 21, 2007
Petite Update #2: Getting Old
Still fighting with Qwest and Forethought.net to get the DSL modem working. We hung around the apartment until noon waiting for a technitian to show up and check the lines. When he didn't show, I called the ISP who called Qwest who said the ticket had been returned and they were still checking the lines at "The Central Office" and that I should wait another three hours, call or be called back to setup another appointment or to recheck the lines.
We didn't move to Denver. We moved to Terry Gilliam's Brazil. More to come.
We didn't move to Denver. We moved to Terry Gilliam's Brazil. More to come.
Friday, July 20, 2007
Bread: How Not to Make
This is from associate contributer Theory_of_MAF. I assume no responsibility for what watching this clip may lead you to do. I laughed. A lot.
Another Quick Update: Denver
We've arrived in Denver after two days of driving. The cats were good, perfect in fact. The second day (yesterday) we didn't drug them and they were quiet the entire 7 1/2 hour drive. Bonus!
Our connection should be coming alive today. If it does, I will put up another post to let everyone know we're back with constant access. If not, I'll post an entry detailing why we weren't online.
Keep it real!
Our connection should be coming alive today. If it does, I will put up another post to let everyone know we're back with constant access. If not, I'll post an entry detailing why we weren't online.
Keep it real!
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
Quick Travel Update: Omaha
Just a quick update. We made it to Omaha, NE. We're staying in a KOA "Kabin" tonight and finishing the rest of the trek tomorrow. We're about 7 hours away from Denver, by Google reckoning, plus we gain (or is it lose?) an hour when we cross into the mountain time zone at the Nebraska / Colorado border.
I'm sending this update from a small cabin, in a corn-field in Nebraska on a wireless network. In the words of Dean, "It is the 21st century!"
We'll update again when we get to a connection... it looks like it may be a while before we get the home line set up due to all kinds craziness between Qwest and a local ISP we're trying to use.
P.S. I will continue with the next installment of the trip out here when time and connections are available.
I'm sending this update from a small cabin, in a corn-field in Nebraska on a wireless network. In the words of Dean, "It is the 21st century!"
We'll update again when we get to a connection... it looks like it may be a while before we get the home line set up due to all kinds craziness between Qwest and a local ISP we're trying to use.
P.S. I will continue with the next installment of the trip out here when time and connections are available.
Thursday, July 12, 2007
Convoy Part 1: The Beginning
Wednesday, June 20th
Hamilton, OH
5:00PM EST
In the midst of all of this packing, we found a few minutes to rest and surf the web. On a lark, I looked up some reviews of the moving company we're going to use. It turns out this company doesn't come highly recommended. The incredibly long list of complaints sent into the Better Businessman's Bureau has us both concerned. There are several written reports by users of the moving service about items missing, boxing being rummaged through, and expensive home-theater equipment simply disappearing. The paltry insurance the company provides pays claims based on weight: The more something weighs, the more you get for it. We figured if someone walked off with our 42' LCD TV, we could (after fighting) be compensated to the tune of $60.00
Ugh. Just canceled the service. Looking into alternatives.
Wednesday, June 20th
Hamilton, OH
8:00PM EST
Just canceled our reservation with the moving company. We decided to go at it ourselves. We've reserved a truck through U-Haul and asked Mandy's parents if they wouldn't mind helping us with the packing. I think this is a good solution because A) We will know where our stuff is at all times and B) When we're done with the move, we can actually relax when we get back to Grand Rapids.
Mandy's parents will be arriving tomorrow night around 8:00. We've got a ton of packing to get through between now and then.
Thursday, June 21st
Hamilton, OH
9:00PM EST
Though we're not done packing by a long shot, we have moved lots of our stuff around and that's kind of like packing. Mandy's parents arrived an hour ago and we're all discussing the details of the moving process over a burrito we picked up at the amazing Taquero Mercado Mexican restaurant not far from our home. It was a bitter-sweet dinner since we were saying goodbye to people we have become good friends with during our stay in the 'nasti. All will be missed, though our paths will cross again (and not to far in the future actually).
We're going to pick up the U-Haul truck tomorrow morning at 8:30AM, and hopefully be done packing by noon or 1. The weather's been great these past few days, so it shouldn't be too bad.
Friday, June 22nd
Hamilton, OH
10:00AM EST
We picked up the U-Haul truck this morning. It's a piece of shit. Since we reserved a 17" truck, you can imagine my surprise when they told me to pull a 24" truck out of the lot. I politely asked the service lady, who's hang-over was quite apparent, "What the hell is this?"
"It's your truck."
"We reserved a 17-foot truck. This is not a 17-foot truck. Ergo, not my truck."
"Oh. You were upgraded."
"Upgraded?"
"At no extra cost." She attempted to smile, but quickly turned to hang-over nausea. She started to sway back and forth.
"Except the hundreds more we'll spend on gas, it's free, right?"
"Right." Again, the smile.
"Ok, then."
I drove the monster to the apartment. On the way back, it began to downpour. At least the temperature has dropped off a little and we can get some of the stuff down to the truck.
It begins.
Friday, June 22nd
Hamilton, OH
5:00PM EST
Nearly everything is packed. The freak thunderstorms have been good to us. The temp has dropped to a much more reasonable temperature and we've made steady progress. Casey and I headed out into the city to return the cable modem, stop by our bank, and pick up some pottery we painted with the aforementioned friends a couple weeks back. With the cable modem gone, there's no way I can post anymore of these updates, but since I'm writing this after-the-fact, that shouldn't be a problem.
Her parents have generously agreed to stay on another night and help with the final load and cleaning tomorrow. We hope to be on the road by 7:00AM and make it all the way to Salina, KS. That's a 12 hour trek by Google's reckoning, but I'm more than a little leery about the ability of the U-Haul truck (henceforth dubbed: "The Suck") to make very good time. Oh, I am hoping the gas mileage isn't as bad as I hope. Off to sleep. 'Till the marrow.
Hamilton, OH
5:00PM EST
In the midst of all of this packing, we found a few minutes to rest and surf the web. On a lark, I looked up some reviews of the moving company we're going to use. It turns out this company doesn't come highly recommended. The incredibly long list of complaints sent into the Better Businessman's Bureau has us both concerned. There are several written reports by users of the moving service about items missing, boxing being rummaged through, and expensive home-theater equipment simply disappearing. The paltry insurance the company provides pays claims based on weight: The more something weighs, the more you get for it. We figured if someone walked off with our 42' LCD TV, we could (after fighting) be compensated to the tune of $60.00
Ugh. Just canceled the service. Looking into alternatives.
Wednesday, June 20th
Hamilton, OH
8:00PM EST
Just canceled our reservation with the moving company. We decided to go at it ourselves. We've reserved a truck through U-Haul and asked Mandy's parents if they wouldn't mind helping us with the packing. I think this is a good solution because A) We will know where our stuff is at all times and B) When we're done with the move, we can actually relax when we get back to Grand Rapids.
Mandy's parents will be arriving tomorrow night around 8:00. We've got a ton of packing to get through between now and then.
Thursday, June 21st
Hamilton, OH
9:00PM EST
Though we're not done packing by a long shot, we have moved lots of our stuff around and that's kind of like packing. Mandy's parents arrived an hour ago and we're all discussing the details of the moving process over a burrito we picked up at the amazing Taquero Mercado Mexican restaurant not far from our home. It was a bitter-sweet dinner since we were saying goodbye to people we have become good friends with during our stay in the 'nasti. All will be missed, though our paths will cross again (and not to far in the future actually).
We're going to pick up the U-Haul truck tomorrow morning at 8:30AM, and hopefully be done packing by noon or 1. The weather's been great these past few days, so it shouldn't be too bad.
Friday, June 22nd
Hamilton, OH
10:00AM EST
We picked up the U-Haul truck this morning. It's a piece of shit. Since we reserved a 17" truck, you can imagine my surprise when they told me to pull a 24" truck out of the lot. I politely asked the service lady, who's hang-over was quite apparent, "What the hell is this?"
"It's your truck."
"We reserved a 17-foot truck. This is not a 17-foot truck. Ergo, not my truck."
"Oh. You were upgraded."
"Upgraded?"
"At no extra cost." She attempted to smile, but quickly turned to hang-over nausea. She started to sway back and forth.
"Except the hundreds more we'll spend on gas, it's free, right?"
"Right." Again, the smile.
"Ok, then."
I drove the monster to the apartment. On the way back, it began to downpour. At least the temperature has dropped off a little and we can get some of the stuff down to the truck.
It begins.
Friday, June 22nd
Hamilton, OH
5:00PM EST
Nearly everything is packed. The freak thunderstorms have been good to us. The temp has dropped to a much more reasonable temperature and we've made steady progress. Casey and I headed out into the city to return the cable modem, stop by our bank, and pick up some pottery we painted with the aforementioned friends a couple weeks back. With the cable modem gone, there's no way I can post anymore of these updates, but since I'm writing this after-the-fact, that shouldn't be a problem.
Her parents have generously agreed to stay on another night and help with the final load and cleaning tomorrow. We hope to be on the road by 7:00AM and make it all the way to Salina, KS. That's a 12 hour trek by Google's reckoning, but I'm more than a little leery about the ability of the U-Haul truck (henceforth dubbed: "The Suck") to make very good time. Oh, I am hoping the gas mileage isn't as bad as I hope. Off to sleep. 'Till the marrow.
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Convoy: Prologue
After a week-long hiatus, I feel the time to start winding the tale of our journey has come. It should be told in three parts, though I'm leaving room for a fourth or an epilogue of some sort. My goal is to fashion each story with pictures and video, making some use of the cool formating features of blogger and giving the reader something to look at and (slightly) interact with. I'm thinking the best narrative style to communicate the journey is through a faux-travelogue. It will be told in the first person, and in real-time as if I were writing it during the journey.
I hope to have Part 1 up by tomorrow night, but it will likely be Thursday before it appears. In the meantime, I'm going to start putting up random posts just to get back in the habit of doing it, so keep an eye to the RSS feed or on the link you used to arrive here.
Peace n' love!
I hope to have Part 1 up by tomorrow night, but it will likely be Thursday before it appears. In the meantime, I'm going to start putting up random posts just to get back in the habit of doing it, so keep an eye to the RSS feed or on the link you used to arrive here.
Peace n' love!
Thursday, June 28, 2007
Nous sommes arrives
We have arrived in Grand Rapids. A long-winded account of the trip will be coming in the next few days, but I will post the basics here:
1. We packed all of our belongings
2. We closed out our lease at Shadow Creek
3. We moved all of our belongings to Denver, CO
4. We unpacked (aprox. 75% done)
5. We drove to Grand Rapids
More details to come. If anyone wants to hook up, chill out, or blow stuff up, just email or ring us on the telly.
1. We packed all of our belongings
2. We closed out our lease at Shadow Creek
3. We moved all of our belongings to Denver, CO
4. We unpacked (aprox. 75% done)
5. We drove to Grand Rapids
More details to come. If anyone wants to hook up, chill out, or blow stuff up, just email or ring us on the telly.
Thursday, June 21, 2007
Ok... Disregard
So, that last post, ignore that. It's wrong. We decided against using the moving company. We read several bad reviews of them on various forums, and just felt uneasy about entrusting all of our worldly possessions with a company. The insurance on the items sucked. For example, if our TV were to turn up missing (which happened often, according to various reviews) we would only be able to recoup the $450 worth of damages. The insurance is based on weight, you see.
Anyway, as is our style, at the last second we changed plans and are now driving a U-Haul truck out to Denver, dragging the Contour behind. Mandy parents, wonderful people they are, are driving down from GR tonight to help us pack tomorrow (Friday). We're going to have everything packed into the U-Haul by tomorrow afternoon, run some errands in the evening, then leave Saturday morning around 6:00AM. The shot from Cinci to Denver is about 18 (based on Google Maps), but that's not considering driving a fully loaded U-Haul dragging a car. We're hoping to hit either Topeka or Saline, KS Saturday night around 7:00PM. Go to sleep. Then finish the last 6 hours early Sunday, arriving at our place mid-afternoon. We'll unpack some of the stuff Sunday, the rest on Monday, drop off the U-Haul and be done. Damn it.
Then, we're heading back to Grand Rapids in the Contour either Tuesday or Wednesday. Another two drive puts us in GR Thursday or Friday of next week. By that point, we will have packed, unpacked, and driven over 2,500 miles in a U-Haul and Contour. We'll deserve a vacation at that point, and a vacation we'll have. We plan to stick around GR for at least two weeks, hanging out with peeps and relaxing. Then we'll pack the two beeping cats in the car and drive back out to Denver.
Yes, it's crazy. Yes, gas is ridiculously high. And yes, it's going to be awesome.
We're dropping the broadband modem off tomorrow, so Mandy and I will be pretty much offline for the next week or so while we traverse the country in various vehicles. We'll post updates as time and internet access provides. If you're bored at any time starting Saturday, please give us a call. We'll have lots of talking time on our hands.
"Good mornin' America, how are you?
Don't you know me? I'm your native son!
I'm the train they call the City of New Orleans
I'll be gone 500 miles when the day is done." -Arlo Guthrie
Anyway, as is our style, at the last second we changed plans and are now driving a U-Haul truck out to Denver, dragging the Contour behind. Mandy parents, wonderful people they are, are driving down from GR tonight to help us pack tomorrow (Friday). We're going to have everything packed into the U-Haul by tomorrow afternoon, run some errands in the evening, then leave Saturday morning around 6:00AM. The shot from Cinci to Denver is about 18 (based on Google Maps), but that's not considering driving a fully loaded U-Haul dragging a car. We're hoping to hit either Topeka or Saline, KS Saturday night around 7:00PM. Go to sleep. Then finish the last 6 hours early Sunday, arriving at our place mid-afternoon. We'll unpack some of the stuff Sunday, the rest on Monday, drop off the U-Haul and be done. Damn it.
Then, we're heading back to Grand Rapids in the Contour either Tuesday or Wednesday. Another two drive puts us in GR Thursday or Friday of next week. By that point, we will have packed, unpacked, and driven over 2,500 miles in a U-Haul and Contour. We'll deserve a vacation at that point, and a vacation we'll have. We plan to stick around GR for at least two weeks, hanging out with peeps and relaxing. Then we'll pack the two beeping cats in the car and drive back out to Denver.
Yes, it's crazy. Yes, gas is ridiculously high. And yes, it's going to be awesome.
We're dropping the broadband modem off tomorrow, so Mandy and I will be pretty much offline for the next week or so while we traverse the country in various vehicles. We'll post updates as time and internet access provides. If you're bored at any time starting Saturday, please give us a call. We'll have lots of talking time on our hands.
"Good mornin' America, how are you?
Don't you know me? I'm your native son!
I'm the train they call the City of New Orleans
I'll be gone 500 miles when the day is done." -Arlo Guthrie
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Travel Schedule
As promised in yesterday's post, here is our updated and semi-permanent travel schedule. The times and dates are subject to change, though, by this point, it's a pretty safe assumption that most are solid.
June 19-25 - Packing / Cleaning
June 26 or 27 - Moving company shows up, loads all of our worldy possessions on their truck and drives away.
June 28 - Turn in our keys, drive to GR
June 28 - July ?? - Hang out in GR
July ?? - Drive to Denver with cats (woot) await moving truck
That's as solid as it gets. I'll periodically update this week with some amazing, vibrant pics of us packing and cleaning our apartment. I can feel the anticipation from here.
June 19-25 - Packing / Cleaning
June 26 or 27 - Moving company shows up, loads all of our worldy possessions on their truck and drives away.
June 28 - Turn in our keys, drive to GR
June 28 - July ?? - Hang out in GR
July ?? - Drive to Denver with cats (woot) await moving truck
That's as solid as it gets. I'll periodically update this week with some amazing, vibrant pics of us packing and cleaning our apartment. I can feel the anticipation from here.
Monday, June 18, 2007
Trip Update
I was planning to put this post up last night, but Mandy and I got stuck in a Paper Mario marathon that lasted until 1:00AM. You'll all be happy to know that we beat the game this afternoon, and Count Bleck was defeated. Rest assured.
We arrived back in Cinci Friday night about 11:30PM. After collecting our bags, we made it home about 1:30AM. The flight wasn't too bad apart from a death dive that happened about 15 minutes into the flight when the plane hit some turbulence that caused the plane to bank about 45 degrees to starboard. Everyone on the plane gasped, a few screamed, and I sighed. Other than that, the flight was good. We even landed about 10 minutes early.
An apartment has been procured. We signed the lease Friday, and after much wrangling with the certifiably insane landlady, we were handed our keys. Here is a link to the apartment on Google Maps.
The apartment is located south of Denver, in a neighborhood called Platt Park. It's a very eclectic area, complete with books stores, coffee shops, bars, live music venues, and a movie theater about five blocks away. Another very cool aspect of the location is that is near both the bus line and the light-rail transit system. Mandy's school is about 8 miles away, so that's really cool.
The apartment is in a single building. It has two bedrooms, a small kitchen, and lots of windows. The cost is a little shy of $200 less than what we are paying to live in Cinci, so that's good, especially considering neither us have jobs yet. It's also cool because it's a 6-month lease, and when the lease is up, it goes month-to-month with no additional charge. We're kind of looking at it as a place to hold up, get better aquainted with the city, and find our semi-permanent place. If we end up really liking it, we'll probably stay on through Spring. The only major downside is the fact that's ground-level and we can't have a dog, but that's being pretty nit-picky.
Here's a short video I shot of the apartment. Keep in mind it was shot on our little Cannon Powershot, so the quality totally sucks.
Here are a few more pictures from the trip. I'll update the blog with more info on our moving schedule tomorrow. The important part is we're having a company move our stuff to Denver and we'll be back in GR for about two weeks over the 4th of July holiday. Hooray! This will likely be the last time we're in town until Thanksgiving.
(Hard at work looking for apartments)
(King of the mountain)
(A creek running through the Rockies)
(One of many shots of the Rockies driving W I-70)
(A comparison of the SUV we rented and the Canyonaro from The Simpsons)
(Looking on towards a bright and shining future)
We arrived back in Cinci Friday night about 11:30PM. After collecting our bags, we made it home about 1:30AM. The flight wasn't too bad apart from a death dive that happened about 15 minutes into the flight when the plane hit some turbulence that caused the plane to bank about 45 degrees to starboard. Everyone on the plane gasped, a few screamed, and I sighed. Other than that, the flight was good. We even landed about 10 minutes early.
An apartment has been procured. We signed the lease Friday, and after much wrangling with the certifiably insane landlady, we were handed our keys. Here is a link to the apartment on Google Maps.
The apartment is located south of Denver, in a neighborhood called Platt Park. It's a very eclectic area, complete with books stores, coffee shops, bars, live music venues, and a movie theater about five blocks away. Another very cool aspect of the location is that is near both the bus line and the light-rail transit system. Mandy's school is about 8 miles away, so that's really cool.
The apartment is in a single building. It has two bedrooms, a small kitchen, and lots of windows. The cost is a little shy of $200 less than what we are paying to live in Cinci, so that's good, especially considering neither us have jobs yet. It's also cool because it's a 6-month lease, and when the lease is up, it goes month-to-month with no additional charge. We're kind of looking at it as a place to hold up, get better aquainted with the city, and find our semi-permanent place. If we end up really liking it, we'll probably stay on through Spring. The only major downside is the fact that's ground-level and we can't have a dog, but that's being pretty nit-picky.
Here's a short video I shot of the apartment. Keep in mind it was shot on our little Cannon Powershot, so the quality totally sucks.
(An amazing tour of the new apartment)
Here are a few more pictures from the trip. I'll update the blog with more info on our moving schedule tomorrow. The important part is we're having a company move our stuff to Denver and we'll be back in GR for about two weeks over the 4th of July holiday. Hooray! This will likely be the last time we're in town until Thanksgiving.
(Hard at work looking for apartments)
(King of the mountain)
(A creek running through the Rockies)
(One of many shots of the Rockies driving W I-70)
(A comparison of the SUV we rented and the Canyonaro from The Simpsons)
(Looking on towards a bright and shining future)
Thursday, June 14, 2007
Clear Air
The hunt is on. We continue to seek out apartments and cool places to see. We've found a couple places that are really good looking. They're on the pricey side, but nothing we can't handle. One is in a more urban setting, walking distance to restaurants, bars, and coffee shops. It is complete with hardwood floors, lots of windows, and all utilities are included. It's a bit of a hike to the school Mandy will be attending, so that's a concern.
The other place is a townhouse. It's beautiful, spacious, clean, and right near her school. It's more expensive than the first, which probably puts it out of the running. The other catch is it's in really suburban area. Chain restaurants, malls, and auto places are on every corner. It's right next to the mountains, and it really laid out nicely. It's a tough call either way.
We're trying to find more places to check out today, but we're not getting many responses from people. Hopefully, we'll have our decision made this afternoon and have our appliation and deposit off to the place we want to stay.
Here are a few pictures of the city.
(View of the Rockies to the west)
(One of the many beautiful homes downtown Denver)
(Driving into Denver)
The other place is a townhouse. It's beautiful, spacious, clean, and right near her school. It's more expensive than the first, which probably puts it out of the running. The other catch is it's in really suburban area. Chain restaurants, malls, and auto places are on every corner. It's right next to the mountains, and it really laid out nicely. It's a tough call either way.
We're trying to find more places to check out today, but we're not getting many responses from people. Hopefully, we'll have our decision made this afternoon and have our appliation and deposit off to the place we want to stay.
Here are a few pictures of the city.
(View of the Rockies to the west)
(One of the many beautiful homes downtown Denver)
(Driving into Denver)
The other great thing about the area is what's going on. There are so many events, nature trails, and festivals, it's been hard for us to pick which ones to check out. For example; there's a Breckenridge Film Festival tonight. This is a seasonal event where local filmmakers get together to watch films... in the beer gardens behind a microbrewery. There are little mini-magazine I've picked up that just show what's playing in the many locals film houses. The print edition of The Onion is free, it's everywhere.
The trick is going to be making enough money that we don't have to always be dipping into our savings to pay for rent and other necessities. With all the opportunity in this area, those prospects are looking good. More to come...
The trick is going to be making enough money that we don't have to always be dipping into our savings to pay for rent and other necessities. With all the opportunity in this area, those prospects are looking good. More to come...
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Maybe the sun will shine today...
Good news on all fronts!
Last night, Athena returned to Mandy's parent's place. A portion of tuna fish was left on their doorstep while her dad looked on from the windows. She came back around 3:30 in the morning and he snatched her up and locked her in a safe in the basement. Crazy thanks go out to the Sterk parents for an entire day of hunting for the little bugger. Good job, and thanks again!
With Athena back in custody, we were able to turn our thoughts to other things. Namely: How, what, and where we're planning to spend the next two years.
We flew out of Cincinnati this morning on an express United Skywest flight. The flight was mostly crap. There are bands of storms raging across the planes states and flew through all of them. Anticipating my hatred of flying in a tiny Canadair 700 and its tendency to be tossed about like so much salad, I popped a zanax prescribed my doctor a year or so ago. It worked like a charm. It really is a bizarre drug. When I sat down to fly, I felt tense, fidgety, and keyed up. About 10 minutes after taking it, the plane could've smashed into a mountain and I doubt I would've noticed. It's especially strange because it didn't really do anything to deal my mental side, just the physical. I still had my paranoid thoughts, its just there was no physical reaction to them. For about 45 minutes, I let the plane's constant buffeting turbulence lull me to sleep. Very strange.
We arrived about 10:30AM (MDT) and proceeded to check out a house and an apartment. The house was sub-ghetto. Complete with low-hung ceilings and a neighborhood of houses beset with all manner of gates, bars, and alarm systems. The landlady seemed nice, but the cost, house, and neighborhood just didn't add up to anything promising.
The apartment we checked out was in really cool neighborhood. Near a huge park, lots of little shops, bars, and restaurants. We could fully flex our hipster legs in such a place... if it weren't so friggen small. It was about 600 sq/ft and only one bedroom. We are planning to downsize our belongings and go back to in-college mode for a while, but I'm not sure how we could happily pare down to this size. We'll see.
Tomorrow we have an appointment to check out a property at 10:00AM MDT (that's 8:00AM EST), another at 3:30PM and a couple that we can show up to look at anytime we please. We're hoping to see either a neighborhood or apartment/house that we can concentrate on on Thursday, leaving us Friday to drive out to Rocky Mountains or some such.
I'm writing from a business-center PC, so I'll have to post pics tomorrow when I can get my laptop connected to another network.
From Denver, with much love.
Last night, Athena returned to Mandy's parent's place. A portion of tuna fish was left on their doorstep while her dad looked on from the windows. She came back around 3:30 in the morning and he snatched her up and locked her in a safe in the basement. Crazy thanks go out to the Sterk parents for an entire day of hunting for the little bugger. Good job, and thanks again!
With Athena back in custody, we were able to turn our thoughts to other things. Namely: How, what, and where we're planning to spend the next two years.
We flew out of Cincinnati this morning on an express United Skywest flight. The flight was mostly crap. There are bands of storms raging across the planes states and flew through all of them. Anticipating my hatred of flying in a tiny Canadair 700 and its tendency to be tossed about like so much salad, I popped a zanax prescribed my doctor a year or so ago. It worked like a charm. It really is a bizarre drug. When I sat down to fly, I felt tense, fidgety, and keyed up. About 10 minutes after taking it, the plane could've smashed into a mountain and I doubt I would've noticed. It's especially strange because it didn't really do anything to deal my mental side, just the physical. I still had my paranoid thoughts, its just there was no physical reaction to them. For about 45 minutes, I let the plane's constant buffeting turbulence lull me to sleep. Very strange.
We arrived about 10:30AM (MDT) and proceeded to check out a house and an apartment. The house was sub-ghetto. Complete with low-hung ceilings and a neighborhood of houses beset with all manner of gates, bars, and alarm systems. The landlady seemed nice, but the cost, house, and neighborhood just didn't add up to anything promising.
The apartment we checked out was in really cool neighborhood. Near a huge park, lots of little shops, bars, and restaurants. We could fully flex our hipster legs in such a place... if it weren't so friggen small. It was about 600 sq/ft and only one bedroom. We are planning to downsize our belongings and go back to in-college mode for a while, but I'm not sure how we could happily pare down to this size. We'll see.
Tomorrow we have an appointment to check out a property at 10:00AM MDT (that's 8:00AM EST), another at 3:30PM and a couple that we can show up to look at anytime we please. We're hoping to see either a neighborhood or apartment/house that we can concentrate on on Thursday, leaving us Friday to drive out to Rocky Mountains or some such.
I'm writing from a business-center PC, so I'll have to post pics tomorrow when I can get my laptop connected to another network.
From Denver, with much love.
Monday, June 11, 2007
"Well I'm going out west where the wind blow tall..." -Tom Waits
(Denver at Twilight)
I'll post some pics and thoughts as they come about.
On a sad note, our cat Athena has escaped from Mandy's parent's house and is lost somewhere in their neighborhood. The little bugger loves to dart out of open doors, run away, and hide. Our guess is she's hiding somewhere in the neighborhood right now. It's really crappy timing considering how we have to concentrate on our apartment hunting, but now we're totally distracted by the missing cat. Ah life. So full of little twisty turns.
We'll keep everyone updated on both the trip and Athena.
"And I'll be high as a kite by then." -Elton John
Wednesday, June 06, 2007
Reject Wii Games
I really don't have any to add. It's hilarious. My personal favorite is "Seal Hunter." I'd play that.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
