Here is an awesome picture Marc took on my camera phone at the picture house the other night:
First off, why isn't there a Mister America pageant? Sure, I'd rather look at girls in bikinis than men, but I'm all about equal opportunities for the sexes.
Okay, so I moved in yesterday. I slept in my new apartment last night. I need more furniture. Going from a tiny dorm room to 709 square feet is like a move from a patio home to a...uhhh...larger patio home. You get the idea.
I've been spending the last two days getting stuff organized and all that. Really, it's not all that much, it just takes time. Especially because I take breaks here and there to check my vitals (e-mail, myspace, etc...).
Living in Mission Viejo so far has been like living in a small town. It's got 90 some thousand residents, but everything I need is literally within blocks. Ralph's supermarket is two. Blockbuster is four. I guess my bank is more like a mile and a half. Whoa. The best part is, my office is less than a ten minute drive. I don't even have to get on the freeway!! It's a good thing I'm going to be auditing all over the place not in the office a whole lot, though, or I could see myself not leaving Mission Viejo for weeks at a time. I don't even feel like I'm even in LA/OC because I don't have to use the freeway to go anywhere really. But hey, the nice thing is, San Diego is an hour to the south, Hollywood is 55 miles to the north, and Vegas is 4 hours to the west. Love that.
I'm going to be living without cable television for the first time in my life. Sure, I had about a 6 week stint back when I moved to Texas, before they equipped our rooms, but at least my rabbit ears worked. I tried the antenna last night and I got nothin. The only shows I'll really miss that can't be seen online is reality type stuff. I'll live. I'm hoping by the fall I can sign up for the poor-man's basic cable.
I start work on Monday. I'm a little nervous. I bought a 10-key calculator so I can practice and at least have that down when I start. Marc told me I should stop by the office tomorrow and let my boss know I'm moved and ready to start Monday and all that. I'll try and show up conveniently around lunch time...I'm still a poor college student at heart. I didn't tell y'all...our company's 15 year anniversary is this summer. Everyone is getting flown to Vegas on a Thursday and we're having a company dinner, being put up at the Bellagio for two nights and other tickles and grins. Yes!!
Okay, on to pictures of my apartment and stuff...
Here's some pictures from the last week...
Well, I officially have an address in Orange County, California. Well, kind of officially. I still have to sign the lease on Tuesday, but for all intents and purposes, it's mine. I passed the credit check and all that business. I'd move in sooner, but yeah, it's not ready yet.
The first place Krysti and I went to yesterday was not good. The bathtub had rusty stains around the faucet and the lighting was awful and depressing. No way. It sort of bummed me out and had me thinking the day was going to be a bust. I figured that all the apartments we'd look at would be similarly yuck -- because they were in the same price range.
The second place we went to was only $40 more but 400% better. We drove in and it was already apparent that it was a lot nicer. More what I was expecting. Spacious (not cramped), large palm trees (my favorite), Spanish architecutre (yes!) -- the typical California look. When we saw inside of the unit, it was nice also. Even though the place was built in 1987, I couldn't tell. It smelled new inside and was just overall a nice place...it should be more than it is, although it's already a lot compared to most other states. California doesn't require that fridges be provided to renters, so I'm having to rent that, too. Kinda sucky, but better than buying one right now.
The best part is that I have a wrap-around patio with a view of the hills all full of houses and a nice view of the mountains in the background. I am going to love that. I will post pictures next week or something. Also, there's a man-made lake just down the street than I intend on walking or rollerblading around after work. It's 3.2 miles around. And free. Gym membership be damned!
I would point y'all to the website of the apartment complex, but I don't need any stalkers. I'll just tell you it's in Mission Viejo, 3 miles from work, and 1.5 to Saddleback Church.
That's all for now. I can't believe I'm going to be living in California next week. Dreams can come true. Now, I'm just going to be broke for awhile while as I adjust to the sticker shock of everything here.
So here it is...short and un-boring. I forgot to adjust some of my voice levels...the music is kind of loud and then when my voice comes on, a little quiet. Adjust accordingly...
Whoa.
Krysti and I went to Cirque du Soleil's presentation of the Beatles "Love" last night at the Mirage here in Las Vegas.
Whoa.
I had no idea what to expect, really. I even avoided seeing the trailer, so nothing would be spoiled for me. Oh boy, was it worth it. I can't even begin to explain it. Just so cool.
Of course they built a whole auditorium just for this show, because it's already been there a year and will probably be there several more. It took the place of Sigfried and Roy's show. It's probably the closest I will come to seeing the Beatles in concert. They used HD images on huge white curtains hanging all over. There are over 6000 speakers in the room...three in each headrest, too!
It started kinda of weird, but that's to be expected. As soon as the first real song kicked in and things really started to happen, I just was overcome with something. It was so awesome. My eyes welled up. I thought, I better not be like this the whole time or it's going to be hard to see.
A big shout out goes to my brolaw Marc for the hookups. He got us these $125 tickets for nothin'! I'm really excited to live only 4-ish hours from Vegas. There are so many shows here. There's four more Cirque shows in town...I would like to see the rest of them in the next couple of years. I told Marc he has a standing invitation to hook me up with tickets. My weekends are free indefinitely. I'd even go see Barry Mannilow.
Jerry Seinfeld is in town later this summer, Jay Leno is in town this weekend. Fun stuff.
What I loove about the idea of living in SoCal is that Los Angeles and Las Vegas are close and anything that's everything happening in entertainment comes to these cities. I dig that I'm going to be living where things are...happenin'. Ooooh!
You have to see a Cirque show before you die. Put it on the list.
I decided that since I need to be watching the budget over the next few months and the fact that I'll be living in California - I need sandals, I'd get the illustrious Faded Glory brand (?) from Wal-Mart. Only $8.96!!
I got them home and was tightening the strap on the buckle, when the poke-through-the-hole thing on the buckle broke. Just popped right off. Faded Glory is just a blip on my fashion radar. I'm done.
My brolaw Marc scored Krysti and I tickets to The Beatles' Love - Cirque Du Soleil show for Friday night at the Mirage. Apparently, it's the hotest ticket in town. I've never been to a Cirque show before, and I hear this is THE one to see. There are some perks for having a brolaw work for a resort in Vegas. Oooh yeah!
I arrived with my Dad in Las Vegas on Monday afternoon. I'm going to be staying here with my sister and brother-in-law for a couple of weeks until I can shop for apartments and find something to move in to. Memorial Day weekend is the target move date.
My car somehow made it through the desert and the mountains of NW Arizona and SE Nevada. It may be her last journey like that; I don't think she needs to go through it again. Mable was a dream, though. She got me West. Just a few more hours to travel.
We've been having problems setting up the wi-fi in this place, and I can't hardwire into the cable modem because of MAC address issues (and no, this is not the MAC as in Macintosh, unrelated). I've been using the neighbor's wi-fi when it's available and when the 6% signal strength can be picked up and held without dropping.
I've been putting together furniture and things and hope to finally relax some today or tomorrow. I have a lot of reading I want to get done, as well as DVD watching. I need to also find out from my work what the dress code is...because I'll need to buy some new clothes.
I intend on spending some time editing my graduation footage into a 2-3 minute video in the next week or so, also. We'll see if that happens.
For now, I'm homeless.
On my list of things to do this week, my last week living in San Antonio, was to rotate my tires. I bought the bad boys last December. They took me to California and back lickety-split. I highly recommend Discount Tire Co./American Tire. They have inexpesive tires (Arazonian radials, anyone?) and free balance and rotations for the life of the tire. How exciting, right?
Anyways, I like to watch the tire guys work through the window, mainly because it displaces boredom. I never really understood how they balance tires, or even what it really meant. I had an idea in my mind. Well, seeing how they do it is nothing like I envisioned. They put the tire in this big incubator type thing, that spins it around and somehow decides which side needs more weight on it. And then they pound these metal weights on the rim. Who knew? Kind of interesting. While he was waiting to open up the balancer, the guy was twirling around his pounder tool (maybe it was a hammer) kind of like a drummer twirls his drumstick. Rock star? Not quite. Cool? Very.
These guys look like they have a good time, too. If I was in for a life of off-white collar work, I might think of that place. I wouldn't fit in, no, but they are always busy and I'm sure their work lives go by fast. What more can you ask for? Well, probably a lot, but a quick 9-5 day is a start.
On to another topic: Tom Green.
Most of you associate him with his show on MTV from way back when. If you ask someone on the street to describe Tom Green in one word, it would be "obnoxious" or possibly "annoying." I'd even go as far as to say "annoyingly obnoxious" or "obnoxiously annoying." Anyways...since he's been off of MTV and gotten over his brief marriage to Drew Barrymore (not bad for a dork from Canada), he's been kind of quiet.
I rediscovered him during the Winter Olympics in Torino, Italy in 2006. He was doing segments for the Tonight Show (yes, I know, I am one of the rare twentysomethings that thinks Jay Leno is funny). It was weird to see Tom Green not being the wild and crazy Tom Green. His humor was toned down quite a bit. Maybe just not as outrageous..or...disgusting. I think he's wonderful at just being a normal guy and interacting with locals.
Now he's doing his own show again. Live, on the internet, out of his living room. It's actually pretty groundbreaking; he's a pioneer of sorts. I haven't been able to really watch it much, because my internets at school are stinkier than the smell of breakfast. That's going to change soon, though. Recently, he's been traveling across Canada in an old Lincoln Continental, talking to locals and just doing his thing. He's been filming during the day and editing/uploading video at night. I think he got that idea from my road blogs, but I'm not going to spend months in litigation with that.
I'm really enjoying the more grown-up Tom Green. He said he wants to do some of his old antics while on this trip, just to get it out of his system. Like buying 12 cheese pizzas, lay them all out on the sidewalk and roll around in them saying "my bum is on the pizza" while people walk by with confused looks on their faces. I am all for that, just as long as it's not his main schtick.
It's kind of inspiring for me, too. I really enjoy taking my video camera on the road and being able to edit the video in my hotel room or whatever. I know I haven't done it much at all, except for my first "Get a Job" video blog, but I have ambitions to do so. It'd probably be easier if I had a video guy with me, and I could be on camera, but I gotta work with what I've got. I'm hoping I become less timid with my video capturing.
I had a guy scold me on Hollywood Blvd last August because he was performing an impromptu rap on the sidewalk and said I could only record if I paid him. This, of course, is not true. He has no legal right to tell me that. But I was a wuss and was afraid he would send his posse after me...who were all probably wearing those big "Cat and the Hat" type hats you buy at Six Flags, just like the one he was wearing.
TomGreen.com
One of my roommates cooked breakfast this morning. Like bacon and eggs or something. I hate the smell of breakfast. It wouldn't go away all day. And now, at midnight, he's making it again.
I move out on Friday.
I move out in a week. It's great. It's hard for me to sit and concentrate when I'm watching teevee, though. I'm constantly thinking what I can put in the 3-4 boxes I have left, to maximize their use. I'm NOT going to buy boxes. I think it will work out.
I'm going to trash a lot of my kitchen stuff -
a) because it's nasty and,
b) to conserve space.
I tried to pay my rent on Tuesday, but they told me I didn't owe anything for this month!! Yay! That will pay for my gas for the move!!
Until I had to get Mable's compressor fixed yesterday...for $870. It's okay though, it's like she's got a new set of lungs.
Today = more studying. My first final is tomorrow night at 5. Then one Monday, Thursday and Friday. I graduate Saturday at 1. I can almost taste it.
My Q-tips are almost gone (If you've been reading my blog for over a year, you know what I'm talking about)!!!
Here is an awesome picture Marc took on my camera phone at the picture house the other night:
First off, why isn't there a Mister America pageant? Sure, I'd rather look at girls in bikinis than men, but I'm all about equal opportunities for the sexes.
Okay, so I moved in yesterday. I slept in my new apartment last night. I need more furniture. Going from a tiny dorm room to 709 square feet is like a move from a patio home to a...uhhh...larger patio home. You get the idea.
I've been spending the last two days getting stuff organized and all that. Really, it's not all that much, it just takes time. Especially because I take breaks here and there to check my vitals (e-mail, myspace, etc...).
Living in Mission Viejo so far has been like living in a small town. It's got 90 some thousand residents, but everything I need is literally within blocks. Ralph's supermarket is two. Blockbuster is four. I guess my bank is more like a mile and a half. Whoa. The best part is, my office is less than a ten minute drive. I don't even have to get on the freeway!! It's a good thing I'm going to be auditing all over the place not in the office a whole lot, though, or I could see myself not leaving Mission Viejo for weeks at a time. I don't even feel like I'm even in LA/OC because I don't have to use the freeway to go anywhere really. But hey, the nice thing is, San Diego is an hour to the south, Hollywood is 55 miles to the north, and Vegas is 4 hours to the west. Love that.
I'm going to be living without cable television for the first time in my life. Sure, I had about a 6 week stint back when I moved to Texas, before they equipped our rooms, but at least my rabbit ears worked. I tried the antenna last night and I got nothin. The only shows I'll really miss that can't be seen online is reality type stuff. I'll live. I'm hoping by the fall I can sign up for the poor-man's basic cable.
I start work on Monday. I'm a little nervous. I bought a 10-key calculator so I can practice and at least have that down when I start. Marc told me I should stop by the office tomorrow and let my boss know I'm moved and ready to start Monday and all that. I'll try and show up conveniently around lunch time...I'm still a poor college student at heart. I didn't tell y'all...our company's 15 year anniversary is this summer. Everyone is getting flown to Vegas on a Thursday and we're having a company dinner, being put up at the Bellagio for two nights and other tickles and grins. Yes!!
Okay, on to pictures of my apartment and stuff...
Here's some pictures from the last week...
Well, I officially have an address in Orange County, California. Well, kind of officially. I still have to sign the lease on Tuesday, but for all intents and purposes, it's mine. I passed the credit check and all that business. I'd move in sooner, but yeah, it's not ready yet.
The first place Krysti and I went to yesterday was not good. The bathtub had rusty stains around the faucet and the lighting was awful and depressing. No way. It sort of bummed me out and had me thinking the day was going to be a bust. I figured that all the apartments we'd look at would be similarly yuck -- because they were in the same price range.
The second place we went to was only $40 more but 400% better. We drove in and it was already apparent that it was a lot nicer. More what I was expecting. Spacious (not cramped), large palm trees (my favorite), Spanish architecutre (yes!) -- the typical California look. When we saw inside of the unit, it was nice also. Even though the place was built in 1987, I couldn't tell. It smelled new inside and was just overall a nice place...it should be more than it is, although it's already a lot compared to most other states. California doesn't require that fridges be provided to renters, so I'm having to rent that, too. Kinda sucky, but better than buying one right now.
The best part is that I have a wrap-around patio with a view of the hills all full of houses and a nice view of the mountains in the background. I am going to love that. I will post pictures next week or something. Also, there's a man-made lake just down the street than I intend on walking or rollerblading around after work. It's 3.2 miles around. And free. Gym membership be damned!
I would point y'all to the website of the apartment complex, but I don't need any stalkers. I'll just tell you it's in Mission Viejo, 3 miles from work, and 1.5 to Saddleback Church.
That's all for now. I can't believe I'm going to be living in California next week. Dreams can come true. Now, I'm just going to be broke for awhile while as I adjust to the sticker shock of everything here.
So here it is...short and un-boring. I forgot to adjust some of my voice levels...the music is kind of loud and then when my voice comes on, a little quiet. Adjust accordingly...
Whoa.
Krysti and I went to Cirque du Soleil's presentation of the Beatles "Love" last night at the Mirage here in Las Vegas.
Whoa.
I had no idea what to expect, really. I even avoided seeing the trailer, so nothing would be spoiled for me. Oh boy, was it worth it. I can't even begin to explain it. Just so cool.
Of course they built a whole auditorium just for this show, because it's already been there a year and will probably be there several more. It took the place of Sigfried and Roy's show. It's probably the closest I will come to seeing the Beatles in concert. They used HD images on huge white curtains hanging all over. There are over 6000 speakers in the room...three in each headrest, too!
It started kinda of weird, but that's to be expected. As soon as the first real song kicked in and things really started to happen, I just was overcome with something. It was so awesome. My eyes welled up. I thought, I better not be like this the whole time or it's going to be hard to see.
A big shout out goes to my brolaw Marc for the hookups. He got us these $125 tickets for nothin'! I'm really excited to live only 4-ish hours from Vegas. There are so many shows here. There's four more Cirque shows in town...I would like to see the rest of them in the next couple of years. I told Marc he has a standing invitation to hook me up with tickets. My weekends are free indefinitely. I'd even go see Barry Mannilow.
Jerry Seinfeld is in town later this summer, Jay Leno is in town this weekend. Fun stuff.
What I loove about the idea of living in SoCal is that Los Angeles and Las Vegas are close and anything that's everything happening in entertainment comes to these cities. I dig that I'm going to be living where things are...happenin'. Ooooh!
You have to see a Cirque show before you die. Put it on the list.
I decided that since I need to be watching the budget over the next few months and the fact that I'll be living in California - I need sandals, I'd get the illustrious Faded Glory brand (?) from Wal-Mart. Only $8.96!!
I got them home and was tightening the strap on the buckle, when the poke-through-the-hole thing on the buckle broke. Just popped right off. Faded Glory is just a blip on my fashion radar. I'm done.
My brolaw Marc scored Krysti and I tickets to The Beatles' Love - Cirque Du Soleil show for Friday night at the Mirage. Apparently, it's the hotest ticket in town. I've never been to a Cirque show before, and I hear this is THE one to see. There are some perks for having a brolaw work for a resort in Vegas. Oooh yeah!
I arrived with my Dad in Las Vegas on Monday afternoon. I'm going to be staying here with my sister and brother-in-law for a couple of weeks until I can shop for apartments and find something to move in to. Memorial Day weekend is the target move date.
My car somehow made it through the desert and the mountains of NW Arizona and SE Nevada. It may be her last journey like that; I don't think she needs to go through it again. Mable was a dream, though. She got me West. Just a few more hours to travel.
We've been having problems setting up the wi-fi in this place, and I can't hardwire into the cable modem because of MAC address issues (and no, this is not the MAC as in Macintosh, unrelated). I've been using the neighbor's wi-fi when it's available and when the 6% signal strength can be picked up and held without dropping.
I've been putting together furniture and things and hope to finally relax some today or tomorrow. I have a lot of reading I want to get done, as well as DVD watching. I need to also find out from my work what the dress code is...because I'll need to buy some new clothes.
I intend on spending some time editing my graduation footage into a 2-3 minute video in the next week or so, also. We'll see if that happens.
For now, I'm homeless.
On my list of things to do this week, my last week living in San Antonio, was to rotate my tires. I bought the bad boys last December. They took me to California and back lickety-split. I highly recommend Discount Tire Co./American Tire. They have inexpesive tires (Arazonian radials, anyone?) and free balance and rotations for the life of the tire. How exciting, right?
Anyways, I like to watch the tire guys work through the window, mainly because it displaces boredom. I never really understood how they balance tires, or even what it really meant. I had an idea in my mind. Well, seeing how they do it is nothing like I envisioned. They put the tire in this big incubator type thing, that spins it around and somehow decides which side needs more weight on it. And then they pound these metal weights on the rim. Who knew? Kind of interesting. While he was waiting to open up the balancer, the guy was twirling around his pounder tool (maybe it was a hammer) kind of like a drummer twirls his drumstick. Rock star? Not quite. Cool? Very.
These guys look like they have a good time, too. If I was in for a life of off-white collar work, I might think of that place. I wouldn't fit in, no, but they are always busy and I'm sure their work lives go by fast. What more can you ask for? Well, probably a lot, but a quick 9-5 day is a start.
On to another topic: Tom Green.
Most of you associate him with his show on MTV from way back when. If you ask someone on the street to describe Tom Green in one word, it would be "obnoxious" or possibly "annoying." I'd even go as far as to say "annoyingly obnoxious" or "obnoxiously annoying." Anyways...since he's been off of MTV and gotten over his brief marriage to Drew Barrymore (not bad for a dork from Canada), he's been kind of quiet.
I rediscovered him during the Winter Olympics in Torino, Italy in 2006. He was doing segments for the Tonight Show (yes, I know, I am one of the rare twentysomethings that thinks Jay Leno is funny). It was weird to see Tom Green not being the wild and crazy Tom Green. His humor was toned down quite a bit. Maybe just not as outrageous..or...disgusting. I think he's wonderful at just being a normal guy and interacting with locals.
Now he's doing his own show again. Live, on the internet, out of his living room. It's actually pretty groundbreaking; he's a pioneer of sorts. I haven't been able to really watch it much, because my internets at school are stinkier than the smell of breakfast. That's going to change soon, though. Recently, he's been traveling across Canada in an old Lincoln Continental, talking to locals and just doing his thing. He's been filming during the day and editing/uploading video at night. I think he got that idea from my road blogs, but I'm not going to spend months in litigation with that.
I'm really enjoying the more grown-up Tom Green. He said he wants to do some of his old antics while on this trip, just to get it out of his system. Like buying 12 cheese pizzas, lay them all out on the sidewalk and roll around in them saying "my bum is on the pizza" while people walk by with confused looks on their faces. I am all for that, just as long as it's not his main schtick.
It's kind of inspiring for me, too. I really enjoy taking my video camera on the road and being able to edit the video in my hotel room or whatever. I know I haven't done it much at all, except for my first "Get a Job" video blog, but I have ambitions to do so. It'd probably be easier if I had a video guy with me, and I could be on camera, but I gotta work with what I've got. I'm hoping I become less timid with my video capturing.
I had a guy scold me on Hollywood Blvd last August because he was performing an impromptu rap on the sidewalk and said I could only record if I paid him. This, of course, is not true. He has no legal right to tell me that. But I was a wuss and was afraid he would send his posse after me...who were all probably wearing those big "Cat and the Hat" type hats you buy at Six Flags, just like the one he was wearing.
TomGreen.com
One of my roommates cooked breakfast this morning. Like bacon and eggs or something. I hate the smell of breakfast. It wouldn't go away all day. And now, at midnight, he's making it again.
I move out on Friday.
I move out in a week. It's great. It's hard for me to sit and concentrate when I'm watching teevee, though. I'm constantly thinking what I can put in the 3-4 boxes I have left, to maximize their use. I'm NOT going to buy boxes. I think it will work out.
I'm going to trash a lot of my kitchen stuff -
a) because it's nasty and,
b) to conserve space.
I tried to pay my rent on Tuesday, but they told me I didn't owe anything for this month!! Yay! That will pay for my gas for the move!!
Until I had to get Mable's compressor fixed yesterday...for $870. It's okay though, it's like she's got a new set of lungs.
Today = more studying. My first final is tomorrow night at 5. Then one Monday, Thursday and Friday. I graduate Saturday at 1. I can almost taste it.
My Q-tips are almost gone (If you've been reading my blog for over a year, you know what I'm talking about)!!!
