So tomorrow is off to rochester, then off to fishkill..

The current schedule is as follows:

Wed (31st) Leave cleveland in morning, get to rochester, run errands, go to Luke + Laura's

Thurs: drive home when we wake up. Do something in evening...

Friday: Pencil'd in hanging out with CHL/Shopping for bridesmaid dresses

Sat: ??

Sun: 9am meeting for MINI meet running around hudson valley... (I'm navigating for someone)

Monday: Drive home

Tuesday: Jen has to work :(

Ok, I can't think of anything else really interesting..

Jay leno has pointed out that despite mad cow, no one has stopped eating fast food. Of course this is logical, since everyone knew fast food could kill anyway, so nothing new.

Ok, I'll maybe update more before monday, but then maybe not. In any case, call my cell (or email, but do it quickly) if you want to fit into the schedule.

You know its a productive day when the most you can say you did was dishes. Really need to improve that tomorrow..

So yeah, LJ friends page, wouldn't that mostly be a pile of links? Or are you referring to the interests thing that cross references? Neither is especially useful, though I could understand their appeal.

umm, so no presents anymore. rather sad. need to wait until my birthday i guess.

i thought there was more interesting stuff to discuss. at the moment the most interesting thing is the garbage dilemma. Garbage goes out wednesday night, except thursday is a holiday, so it should go thursday night, except we're leavng wednesday for a holiday in rochester (ha, british usage) very problematic. It was nice living in an apartment where garbage scheduling wasn't an issue, but oh well, the extra driveway space i guess makes up for it.

i feel like i should write more, but nothing really exciting to write about..

did I mention i got 'work' clothes at old navy? i still need to figure out exactly what I can wear, but at least at $15 for pants, I can experiment a lot and find what works, maybe i'll get more expensive stuff later..

Ok, so presents..

A disposable kodak camera
Two old navy t-shirts
LL Bean flannel sheets
Some Oxo utensils

I think that's it, but I bet I'll get in trouble for forgetting anyway...

So Helen has a new blog, its very exciting. Now who else is left jealous of the excitement that is movable type? ok, good. now maybe I should turn off comments to prevent anyone from actually saying anything.

So in the old (read 1990 dodge that's 100% red/brown. i.e. 75% brownish red paint 25% redish brown rust) van we drove to Ikea in pittsburgh. it was fun, we met Mitch. Who seems to have issues finding pants that fit him, so had jeans that he had to roll up. It was amusing, either that or you had to be there.

Uhrm what else, I bought a bunch of khakis and some more sweaters for work... I hope they work out well, I also got a pair of shoes, which are slightly more dressy bowling shoe/steve madden style things..

Uhrm what else part 2, there isn't tons more interesting. I think I may call and order a MINI tomorrow, but I really need to check my schedule, and see if I should wait until work starts. I won't need to start paying for the car until it arrives, but its always good to be sure. of course that pushes me further into winter.. or out of winter? depends on what your view is.. Maybe I should just take March and Feb off, that'd keep everything nice and not-snowy.

Hrm, I feel I should write more, but there just isn't that much exciting that happened this weekend, just the usual holiday stuff, which isn't really relevant to anything, so I guess this is it. tomorrow should be more exciting, I need to futz with more drywall, and that's always an exciting time for all involved. stupid corners.

quick update.

simpsons monoply game

and monkey ball and namco classic games for the game cube... which required setting up the gamecube again, but never a bad idea for someone who polishes their ass groove like i do, at least for the next 2 weeks.

and ohh, peeing in a cup in mentor takes too long. I was almost tempted to take my business elsewhere - and pee on their bushes.

so I got a vonage email, they now have a new plan. $15 a month for 500 minutes. Considering a quick calculation and looking on back months says I use about 150 minutes a month, seems like a very good deal. So yay, even cheaper phone service is on the horizion.

Umm, tonight's presents:
Homer Simpson slippers
Finding Nemo DVD

so yeah, TOWM showed up, only 36 hours or so late, a fun time was had by all. But I didn't get to continue on the drywall, so I guess that's a small issue. oh well there's always tomorrow.

TOWM's visit prompted an interesting thing, aparently there's some confusion about what 'redoing the bathroom' means. This isn't your usual change the color of the paint and maybe redo the floor. Its more of a R + R. Remove and reinstall, ie there was no floor at one point (hence stuff falling into the kitchen) as well as no walls. Though its all quite nice now. anyway, at least shows we've been doing something for the last few months.

uhh, besides that, it wasn't exactly an exciting day. more mint kit-kats, which are always good, and that's pretty well the extent of the extenting.

I'm not sure when I'll next blog, I feel I should get vacation time as well as major holidays off. though i'll probably be bored christmas eve, so maybe i'll do something then. I was pondering a movie (and chinese food, as that's the jewish fashion) any suggestions on good movies? And no, I'm not seeing lord of the rings, because I fell asleep during the first one.

Ok, so the listing of presents commence (to keep it simple I won't list who things are from)

Hopefully I can remember everything, I should have blogged over the weekend. oh well.

Day 1.
Spieglau red + white wine glasses
Demotivators Wall Calendar
Hanukkah Candles
Mouse engineer figure

Day 2.
Kiehl's 'product' (skin moisturizer + cleaner)
Demotivators 'half empty' mug
Honorary donation to hunger charity

Day 3.
Lodge Logic cast iron pan
Memphis BBQ T-shirt (pork joke)
Non Sequitor Page-a-day Calendar

I think that's everything. Speaking of everything, I was so busy this weekend (lots of drywall stuff and cleaning done) I forgot to thank Helen + Walter for their presents. So they get a public Thank You. Hint, their presents involve demotivation.

I didn't link anything else besides kiehls because I knew what everything else was, go google anything you don't know, or complain and I'll dig up a link. either works.

Uhh, what else. TOWM was supposed to arrive yesterday on his way to MN. In 'typical' fashionably late style, he's still not here, but is probably somewhere west of Erie.

Speaking of TOWM, so everyone (I think..) knows that NY and several other east coast states don't have the auto lock thing on gas pumps. I figure this must be some sort of law, unless there's been a rash of drive offs with the pumps on that I never heard of. So.. should we all ponder the resident law student's ability to find any laws on NY or other state's books about gas pump locky thingies? Ok, so TOWM quasi-suggested this topic, and its related to TOM, so makes sense now doesn't it?

Ok, what else, I'm not really sure, I'm busy watching trick pool on ESPN. Maybe its seasonal, but it seems to always be on, and is interesting. probably because I'm really bad at pool anyway, I'm even worse at trick shooting.

Ok, this is plenty long enough, I'm sure I've forgotten something anyway, so need to leave excitement for tomorrow it seems.

Ohh, my grandmother sent me a card as well, I guess I should mention that on the presents list, but its not exactly something anyone else cares about.

So Mitch called, which got me noticing 2 things. A. its really light outside, probably due to the snow, B. There must be other things available at an In-n-Out burger besides 'Animal Style' and 'Fries Well'

Therefore, with extensive searching, I have found this webpage:

Of course its an MT blog, so I feel like I should trackback it, but its weird to do that to a random site. At least in my view. Thoughts?

Anyway, so there, you have many more options if you're on the west coast and don't feel like ordering something normal. Now back to your regularly scheduled blog.

Oh yeah, how burgers related to Mitch. He tends to call when he leaves work, so this time he stopped to get food, at Del Taco, which is gross, and thus I pondered In-n-Out being a much better idea for drive through food, though slower.

anyway, i really should write more, but you know, its almost the weekend, so i feel like i can slack a bit. And happy hanukkah to anyone keeping track since I won't blog again until next week. spiffy stuff i know. I'll try and keep track of presents as well, inquiring minds want to know.

Here's a link to In-n-out for those of you not in the know . (reference to pulp fiction not included - but you have all seen kill bill by now, right?)

You know, being in OH I should mentioned the excitement of 2 wrights making an airplane. Also handily, the history channel has a show on it, so they bothered to point out specifics. I had never realize the logic of balancing on bicycle vs. balancing an airplane. Just one of a bunch of things they knew how to do because they were bicycle mechanics, and not just general schlubs. It also pointed out that after Dec 3 1903, they gave up the kitty hawk crap since they didn't need wind, so they just moved back to dayton. yay OH. screw NC, and such.

umm, what else, i dono i really don't have tons of thing to discuss, but i feel like if i don't write at least a small amount of stuff, you're not getting your whatever you don't pay's worth.

well, maybe i'll think of other things to write about, but at the moment, not much is happening.

on the random candy front, i found mint kit kats, and honey reese peanut butter cups. updates if anyone cares after they've been eaten.

ok, so aparently (through not posted comments) i'm not supposed to blog during commericals, because I don't write enough, and therefore the mornings aren't exciting enough. I'm glad i get some constructive critisism, so i guess i should take it and do something.

yeah, so the excitement of today, (besides realizing that the simple way to eat fish on america's north coast is by buying very cheap (less then $6/lb) frozen fish at trader joes. minus the advance planning to defrost, its very good stuff.

oh wait, i was supposed to talk about the excitement. Ok, so I got the official packet from steris. But that's contributed to a few more problems, like I need to choose a Dr at some point. Its not exactly a huge rush, since my benefits don't start until February, (this feb, in case you were wondering) but still, so many decisions. I don't even know if I'd prefer male or female, its so confusing. well not really, but it just needs to be dealt with.

i found the wrist rest, it was sitting on the corner of my desk. i'm not sure how i ignored it, but lets just be happy i found it.

uhrm, what else, i started more taping and such on the drywall upstairs, progressing reasonably well, but not very exciting, unless you like playing with white goop that seems to get everywhere, and then you step in it, and then realize its not smooth anyway, so screw it, and just wait until it dries and you can fix it later.

i need to do some shopping tomorrow, hopefully that will work well. other then that, its about it for exciting stuff, so i should probably quit while i'm ahead.

so another one of those fun updates when i try to do it all during a commerical. you'd think of course with not needing to look for a job each evening I'd have more time, but somehow there's always house stuff to do now, so it doesn't really work well.

radio shack is busy advertising RF modulators again. i'm thrilled.

so what's exciting today. I updated my phone, and by update, bought a new faceplate and keypad. I guess it doesn't make a ton of sense, but as Mitch has pointed out, its not like my phone is huge or anything else big and problematic. Its still being sold, except that its blue now. so now it looks spiffy, and stylish, and will hopefully hold out for a few more months until i find something else i want. no sense in upgrading if its not a real upgrade.

i can't seem to find my wrist rest, it seems to be lost under my desk somewhere, but the annoying part is my hands hurt from typing without it, so i really do need to find it tomorrow.

hrm, what else, i'm not really sure. i need to do more shopping tomorrow.. stupid capitalism requiring purchasing things.

ok, about it for me, commericals are over. if i get a tivo i dono how this will work, so i better get good at it before then.

well after all that excitement, i'm not sure what i can say that will be interesting... For those of you who didn't keep track, the job is in Mentor, which is 30 miles or so away, so not a great commute, but not awful.

Umm, ask other questions about what you want to know, but I don't know a lot of details, I should get a package of info on monday.

not exciting weekend, home improvement stuff, a minor snow storm, shoveling the few inches, etc, etc

uhrm, i knew there was some odd stuff to mention,.

oh, cream of tartar. i bet you thought it was just for eggs, but I saw a recipe for Irish scones, which used 2 TB for a dozen or so, rather odd, those crazy Irish.

ok that was random, but you know, informative, so same difference.

someone on CIF took pictures, and emailed them out, except the funny thing is (barring missing something on my part) they're like 320x240 resolution. So the entire page looks like thumbnails, but is in fact very poor quality pictures that are small, and lack a flash. but hey, who can complain about random pictures I guess, not like mine are much better.

well this is long enough, so go read something else. or throw a brick at walter, (i haven't nagged in a while, so i feel obligated..)

Steris called, they offered me a mechanical engineer position starting on jan 12th... i need to call them back tomorrow, but quite handy! and that's all i have to say about that at the moment.

So the interview went well, it was more of a group interview. The exciting part is they said they'd called me tomorrow or friday, so i guess i don't need to wait.

not much else happening. Trader Joe's chicken brats are pretty good, and economical too.

i really should think of other things to discuss, but i can't think of anything, today was basically wake up, get oil change, be happy they vacuumed, since i forgot they did that with the oil change, go to interview and take out garbage. i guess in randomly interesting things, i managed to throw out the sink. well, stuck it in a bag, assisted a bit with some heavy metal, and bam, a bag full of sink pieces. Lets hope it leaves tomorrow morning. ok, enough excitement, maybe steris will call and i can have more to talk about tomorrow.

do you ever wonder why every website has a contact us link? i dono, i feel the blog needs one too...

i'm trying to blog during one commerical break during queer eye. but aparently this will be quick, since i don't have all that much to talk about...

i priced out a new MINI, it'll be a bit under $24k, i think i should ask Steris for more money tomorrow so I can pay for it. though i dono what tomorrow will be anyway. i think i'm meeting with the same people, so why do i need a 2nd interview? maybe i'll meet with higher ups, i'll let everyone know the gorey details tomorrow..

and how the $35 tie works out of course, i know inquiring minds want to know.

med institute didn't call, and i'll update when they do, its getting boring, though it does fill a line.

tomorrow is chipotle's something or other for coats for something, so i think i'll get lunch from them, i also need an oil change, which i could do myself, but is a pain, so i'll have them do it, but i need to put the car back together, so they don't think it got broken into. half in the middle of the wiper switch replacement... anyway commerical is over, so that's it...

so i succedded in finding a tie. and only $35 from dillards. rather exciting i'm sure you are all much calmer knowing this.

uhh, what else. i bought the new cover for my phone. for $2 i think it was a good investment, and now it will look trendy! though i still may replace it when motorola comes out with a camera phone, we'll see.

what else, i'm running out of exciting stuff, i got a haircut. i bought some bagels. neither was especially exciting. i got gas. the guy next to me left his car running while doing it, i was going to say something, but if he's stupid enough to do that, i didn't want to get shot or something since he probably also keeps a loaded shotgun under his seat.

besides those interesting tidbits, and some unpacking, it was a generally uneventful day. med institute didn't call, which was a bit weird.

on the upside, adelphia is going to be offering a DVR service in the next week or so. so barring moving, this could be good, i'm not sure how it'll relate to Tivo, and it feels a bit odd going with the competition, but we'll see. Tivo really should have found some patentable stuff in the whole DVR world...they'll get their butts kicked with all of the cable companies doing their own thing, they'll only have the DirectTV people left.

most importantly. the site should look normal again, because the links won't be all screwy. I think that's the key.

what else. so as i said when it rains it pours. except its neither raining, nor pouring, but it did snow a bit (a few inches over the entire weekend, nothing exciting), but enough of the analogy stuff. i got a call from Med Institute (the Indiana people) who want to interview me sometime. I expect to get a better schedule on that monday or tuesday. Then like an hour later, Steris called, and I have a 2nd interview (according to the HR guy this should be the last one, according to manager guy he wants 3 interviews, I think 2 will be it) wednesday at 3. so well, its shaping up in the job front.

what else, nothing really too exciting. I had the concerts over the weekend, i offered 2 bottles of charles shaw for door prizes, aparently people were thrilled to get them, i hope they don't find out they cost $3.59. I also noticed that one piece we were playing had split parts for tubas, and finally figured out why i was playing different stuff from the people sitting next to me. always a good thing to find out at the concert, but better late then never i suppose.

umm, nothing else really interesting to report. i need to buy another tie because i can't wear the same tie to steris twice, though i think my white shirt can handle double duty.

ok, enough excitment for today. no band tomorrow! so a fully exciting monday, maybe including the aforementioned tie shopping.

Ok, so I'm back from California, which isn't amazingly exciting, except that now I can continue unpacking. Of course it also means that I can update once, and then again next week. Very exciting for all of you. Of course since the Steris lead is going nowhere, (I called them today and left a message, no results yet, but its only been a few hours) I keep thinking I'll find a job somewhere else, and have to move all over again. Very annoying.

Hrm, what else, nothing too exciting really. I have a concert tomorrow, which is repeated saturday, so you can still make it! If you're so inclined of course. Also means it'll be difficult to squeeze in shopping at the market and the rehearsal, so i'm not sure how that will work out. perhaps shopping on saturday is in order, i'll just have to check my schedule.

The trip was uneventful, since several people seem to be asking how it was. it did rain a few days, which wasn't so bad, as it wasn't very cold to begin with, at least by ohio or NE standards. We went to a few wineries, etc. I didn't get the switch for my car, so I'll need to look into that tomorow or saturday, whenever I have time. I'm still catching up with the job search stuff I missed over the weekend, so when that's done I might have a bit more time for random other things.

The only interesting part of the flight, besides too little legroom even in exit rows was someone was sitting typing an email as we were landing and a few thousand feet above cleveland (the landing pattern is a bit odd, so it takes 15 min or so to go and then turn around, etc) and i turned to him and asked if he was planning on turning off his computer so he didn't cause the navigation system to fail and us to crash. He said something like 'no, i'll throw it at your head for being so rude' the flight attendant was directly behind me, so stepped in and told him to put the computer away, they had already asked twice. About the end of the story, though the random 3rd person in the row said perhaps the computer guy would like handcuffs for disobeying orders. I guess if i had planned better i would have checked that the attendant was behind me, but i didn't, just good luck i guess.

Ok, enough discussion, its late, and i'm still a bit jet lagged by a few hours so i'm tired. except that's not how jet lag works in this direction, but you can ignore that if you haven't been to california. perhaps i'll discuss more about the trip on monday, though it really wasn't that exciting.