Weblog

Today Adam, Jen, Devaki, and Jan helped me move my furniture from storage into the new apartment. 1/3 of the move is complete.

While I sat on the floor assembling my new cocktail and side tables, I realized that the new place was definitely growing on me. It all goes together quite well, and I think I’ll like it there.

Even the naughty and lascivious two person shower has a certain charm to it!

Since I know you’ve all been waiting for pictures, you can find them after the jump.

Read the rest of this entry »

Well, I have my keys, and its all mine now. The move is starting from my current place and my storage shed this weekend.

Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to get a picture of the dual shower. There were some creepy guys in my bathroom installing enormous wall mirrors. So now I have a two-person shower surrounded by mirrors… oh it just keeps getting weirder.

There are some photos of the rest of the place to tide you over after the jump:

Read the rest of this entry »

So I’ve done a walkthrough of my new apartmnet, and I’ve been told that I can move in as soon as next week. The apartment is finished, but the rest of the building is not at all. You have to walk across boards over unpaved walkways, down stairs with no railings, under balconies being finished, and around large piles of materials.

The apartment itself is great. I’m afraid that I will not be able to fit all of my furniture, but I figured as much when I bought it all. The apartment is one of the largest they have, and the largest that is scheduled to be finished before June so I’ll have to make do.

The one thing it does have that I wasn’t expecting at all is a 2 person shower. They told me up front that it would have two showerheads, and I pictured something like a single person shower with multiple streams of water. but when I arrived and saw what looked a bit like a shower at the gym, I turned to my landlady and gave her a dirty look. She seemed amused! I bet there are cameras in there too.

When I get back over there with my camera, you can all see some pictures. That link above doesn’t do the "double shower" idea justice… especially since they cut the right side off.

I’ve added a bit of a countdown list for my own usage after the break.

Read the rest of this entry »

The Onion predicted it all long ago.

Gillette has created a razor with 5 blades… 6 if you count the one of the back that they had to add because you can’t shave a mustache with a razor bigger than your upper lip.

Its all part of America’s insatiable thirst for more.

Which is why I’ll be picking up one of these razors, a King sized beverage, a PowerMac Quad G5 and my new 2 bedroom apartment.

I finally have confirmation of my new apartment.

Date for move-in is scheduled for March 1st.

I still have to work out all of my moving issues, changes of address, setting up utilities, etc. I have to move from 3 different places into this apartment. My bedroom is in Douglassville, my living room is in a storage shed in Poughkeepsie, and my computer and clothes are here in my current apartment.

I will post more information as I get it, so stay tuned.

I am of the firm belief that one should support the standards before attempting to add to them.

Some people feel differently.

Reminds me of 1998.

Today, I got insurance, retitled, and registered my car in NY.

Unfortunately, my attempt at finding a custom plate didn’t work out so well.

The lady at the DMV pulled two license plates out of this mystical drawer next to the counter. It was quite bizarre. I asked about custom plates, and she said I’d still need those as temp ones anyway, so I guess I’m still taking suggestions on the “Top Rated” page.

Well, it’s been quite a while. This year I’ve made several New Year’s resolutions; the first of which is to update and maintain my website.

To that end, here I am writing in my weblog. I plan to continue to update this weblog on a regular basis with anything and everything I find interesting.

Next, I have been working on my travelogue in the background while no one was watching. At the moment, I am writing it as one big story (it’s easier for me that way). After it is finished, I will be uploading it complete with pictures for your amusement.

Stay tuned. There are other resolutions to come.

Are you still reading my weblog? Have you been waiting for me to make my pictures more accessible? Do you want a Travelogue that both has content, and can be viewed (somewhat) properly in Internet Explorer?

Well, I’m getting there. I’ve just started my job at IBM in Poughkeepsie, NY and now that most of the moving is finished and I can settle down into a routine, I’ve been working on getting this site “optimized”.

Firstly, the images are now all shrunk to a decent “Internet-friendly” size. The important and relevant ones will soon have names that make sense (no more IMGP0951.jpg). I’m still working on getting galleries up so that people can see a slideshow and thumbnails, but most of the systems designed for that purpose seem fairly unpleasant.

Secondly, You may have noticed a few site-wide design changes. I’m working on making this site appear a little better to users of IE, and I’m adding more pages to the Travelogue section so you can all “hear the story straight from my mouth”.

I’ve also upgraded the weblog software so that I can clear out some of that online-poker spam that has been creeping into the comments. The Archives are pretty much up and running now too, so you can look back at my previous posts. The main page will only display the last 10 posts, so if you haven’t been keeping up, you better check out the archives. The archives themselves display 10 posts at a time, and you can click the little “previous posts” link at the bottom to see more. And, as always, they all run in reverse chronological order, so the most recent update is right at the top for you to view.

Give me a little more time, and I’ll have this place running great. If you have any ideas or comments, feel free to leave them below.

I am writing this post from my computer at home in Douglassville, PA USA. It is currently 78 days since I started this trip, and as of this moment, I am finished.

The PA DMV apologized for not being more helpful, and offered to fax me a copy of my driving record if I needed it. I told them to mail it to my house where I plan to add it to my scrapbook of other papers from the trip.

I could not justify waiting so long to start the trip across country, and so I boarded a flight to Philadelphia and, for the last time, put on my backpack and set out.

Amtrak was an option early on, but unfortunately my finances are not what they were when I started the trip; only for an outrageous price with several connections and only coach seating for days would I have been able to get an Amtrak ticket.

Leaving Tuesday from San Francisco with my driveaway car would have been possible but would have cost more than the plane ticket and extended my trip far past the 80 day mark, leaving me unprepared for my move to Poughkeepsie.

Besides, I missed my MINI.

It’s been a great trip. I will tell you all about it as I add my pictures (full size versions up now, edited versions soon) and finish my travelogue. I’ve come to realize (while trying to write it on my laptop during the journey) that it is far too much information to stick onto a few pages. Compressing it down just makes it sound like a boring journal without any of the delightful “mikeyoung-isms” you all know and love. So, expect to see that whole section expanded and filled… especially with witty photo capitions.

For now, give me a shout/comment telling me that you’re still alive. Let me know where you are living now (for those of you who have moved) and what you are up to. I’m going to try to catch up with the world I’ve missed over the next few weeks and your assistance would be greatly appreciated.