Amish For a While

So SBC decided to lose our payment and we have hence been denied access to the information superhighway. I didn't realize just how connected my life was to the internet until now. I mean, I always knew that I checked my e-mail 50 times a day (at least) but I thought that was normal. But come to find out, I keep in touch with friends, do my banking, pay bills, and all that stuff on the internet. Without it, I'm nothing!

So sorry about the infrequency of postings. I suppose we will all have to cope with my inaccessability to the internet for a while.

On the other hand, I FOUND A PLACE TO LIVE!!! It's beautiful and I'm sharing with just one other guy named Jerry. More information about him and the place to come. I'm going to try to take some pictures soon. I move in on May 15 so I'm really excited.

Anyway, take care, all. And enjoy your internet. There are people in the world who just have to figure out life without it......

Free Day

I should preface this with a brief story.......

On Saturday I was walking around San Francisco looking at various apartments and places to live. Afterwards, I met my friends Ivana and Jacob who work at the hotel with me and also a random guy from Madrid named Alvador who had only been in the U.S. for six days! So when we met up we walked from the Financial District to a cute cafe in North Beach followed by a lengthy walk down to the Mission where we ate at a fantastic restaurant called Alma, followed by a quick drink and some dancing at the Beauty Bar. But that's not the point. The fact is that my foot hurt the entire day we were walking and I couldn't figure out why.

Ok, so I go to the podiatrist yesterday and turns out I had a bit of an ingrown toenail situation. So the doctor takes care of all that and send me on my way. He told me in the morning once the anesthesia wore off that my toe would feel a little sore. So now I know that my doctor likes to minimize things. It hurt like a mother when I woke up this morning. So I called in to work and called in sick. They were extremely understanding, and so here I am sitting on my couch with my laptop just watching the time go by. (Cartwheels are kind of out of the question for the next day or so.) .....................

But nevertheless, I do have a bit of a free day which I don't feel like I've had in ages. It's nice to just sit at home and catch up on the 4th season of West Wing and chat online and do all the stuff that grown-ups don't have time for anymore. But I am going to drag my butt out of the house and look at two more places in the city today, but I'm going to drive so I don't have to hobble all over San Francisco! I figure the $3 for the Bay Bridge is worth the embarrassment. But I will keep everyone updated on how the apartment search is going. I'm really excited about both places today, but we'll see. Take care, everyone.

Neglect

So, I just realized that I haven't shared anything from my humorous and highly random life in well over four days. I have been extremely busy with trying to find a place to live in the city. I think that I've found one, but I'm just waiting to hear back from the two guys who would be my roommates. The apartment is freaking huge by San Francisco standards, and the rent isn't all that outrageous either although anyone not in California would disagree! But more to come, don't stop coming to my blog just because I've neglected you all.

Sidebar, the word "neglect" looks awfully odd. It looks really German and it looks like it should be pronounced with one of those guttural, hock-a-loogie sounds that they make. I don't know. Maybe ask Hilary and she could probably tell you the origin of the word. I swear she's like a human encyclopedia!

Raising the Bar

So today I swam 1400 meters!!! I'm so excited. I tried to write you all from the YMCA directly after this display of athleticism, but the computers were so slow that I almost crashed the entire blog!! Anyways, join me in congratulating myself on a job well done!

A Blast from the Past

Three days ago I received the most random and unexpected phone call. Now for those of you who know me, you know that I'm absolutely the worst when it comes to answering my phone and returning messages, but I promise that I'm getting better. My friend Sloane (who I'm sure you will learn about more in the future) simply hates my phone habits, so I'm honestly trying to improve. Anyway, I was actually sitting on the couch trying to finish my taxes (ha, we know how that's been going) and my phone started to ring. Lo and behold, what did my caller ID reveal? It was my friend Hilary who I went to high school with. Without reservation, I flipped open that LG VX6000 and reunited myself with someone who I hadn't spoken with in over a year.

Hilary is great, everyone. We spent the last two years of high school together after I transferred from a bad school to a performing arts high school in downtown Louisville, Kentucky. Hilary plays the clarinet. She's also a genius. Hilary is one of those people who don't know how to not succeed. When we were all taking our PSAT's, Hilary was the one waving her scores around while mine was tucked neatly in my backpack. Oh, who am I kidding, it was crumpled up in the garbage can is where it was! And let's not forget the ACT's. I studied for two months to bring my score up from an 22 to a 27, and without even breaking a sweat, I think Hilary zinged by with a solid 36. Let's face it, there are people who are intellectually superior to others, and she is definitely in that league. But she's also a great friend. We used to sit next to eachother in Jazz Improvization class and just laugh and talk about Harry Potter, and did I mention laugh?! One year for Christmas she actually bought me pajamas because that was her family tradition. She's awesome. It's sad that I haven't seen her in two years and hadn't spoken with her in over one, but all that's different now. I'm reconnected.

Hilary plans to visit me in SF over the summer, so I'll be sure to take some pictures and post them for all to see. I'm so excited. Everyone needs a Hilary in their lives. If you don't yet have yours, I suggest that you find her as soon as possible. I love you, Hilary.

The Rude Lady Returns

So today after work, as normal I returned to the YMCA to get in my 1300 meters. After having taken both Thursday and Friday off, it felt really good to get back in the water and work off some of that fat. But my health is by far not the point of this story. I saw the Rude Lady again. If you're just now tuning into my blog, you should skip down a bit and read about my incident with her. But today was classic. I was just bobbing at the end of the lane reflecting on how awesome I felt after my workout when I noticed one of the lifeguards talking to a lady in the hot tub. At first it seemed like just a friendly conversation and then I started to hone in my eavesdropping skills. The lady was apologizing for something that she had said to the lifeguard, and the lifeguard was not accepting her apology. She kept talking and finally the lifeguard just looked at her and waved his arms much like a runway attendant would control a 747 Jumbo Jet to not proceed. He was saying with his voice raised, "No! No!" So I was thinking to myself that the lifeguard was awfully harsh to the lady in the pool, when I noticed who she was...the rude lady. From that instant, my puzzled look transformed into a look a sheer joy and happiness just like a five-year-old boy's when he unwraps that deep red fire truck for Christmas. The rude lady finally got what was coming to her, and I couldn't have been more elated. I know that on some or perhaps many levels that I shouldn't feel happy when other people are feeling pain, but she was mean to me and I'm just glad that it came back to get her. Thanks for reading. As always, your questions, comments, or own experiences with the Rude Lady are welcomed and encouraged.

Tax Time

So let me just say that I have been trying to finish my taxes for more than two months now. At first I tried to do it on Turbo Tax's website, but I had to pay them $24.95 to activate it and then randomly they charged my debit card another $24.95 just a few days ago, so needless to say, I'm done with them. So then I had the bright idea that I would just go to an H&R Block representative and have them do my taxes, because I temporarily forgot that I'm lazy. So, that never happened. So here I am, a week away from the deadline, and I still don't have them finished. Zach (the roommate) suggested another website that is much more affordable so I entered all the information in last night. Only to discover something rather shocking....

Apparently I owe the state of Kentucky (I moved to San Francisco about 7 months ago) nearly $500!!!!! I was in shock. So now I am procrastinating submitting my information because I don't want to let go of the half a grand. But I'm pretty sure it's a mistake (because I'm such a financial whiz) and I'm going to get to the bottom of this. Heck, I have a week to discover what's wrong. It will just take a little brain........i'm in trouble.

The Rude Lady

So today I had the entire medium lane to myself. I swim at the YMCA on Steuart Street down by the Embarcadero. Usually the pool is crowded with health nuts and overly in-shape guys strutting their stuff wearing nothing but a Speedo and a smile. And then there's me. I do what I can, and I actually feel like I'm a good swimmer, but I guess that's all relative to whoever you're swimming with. But anyways, I was getting in my 1300M today and I was just finishing up my last little lap when a lady plopped into my lane. I didn't mind because I knew I was getting out of the pool. When I got to the end, I wanted to say something to her that was friendly and to let her know there was no need to share the lane since I was getting out. So I said to her, "That was perfect timing. I'm finished so the lane's all yours." And the lady looks back at me with a smirk and retorts, "Well, I really doubt the ownership is yours to bestow," and then she took off swimming. I'm really glad that she was fat and unattractive or that really could have scarred me. I'll just blow it off as ugly people being rude to attractive people such as myself. Your comments are greatly appreciated in this matter. Was what I said rude in any way?

The Onion

In case you've never had the pleasure of reading this highly-respected journalistic website, check it out.

Kristin (revisited)

Just kidding everyone....Kristin is da bomb (and she doesn't normally look like that either, unfortunately).

Kristin

So I know that everyone has been worried about the type of people that I will be hanging out with in San Francisco so I wanted to put everyone's mind at ease and show everyone one such friend. World, I would like you to meet the lovely Kristin. Kristin works with me at the exciting hotel. Just in case you're wondering (which I'm sure you are), this is in fact Kristin's regular expression. It takes some getting used to, but you should see her when she actually gets confused! Anyway, just wanted to share.

Check Out the Official Blog of "The Four"

Blonkers!!!!

Check out this Blog everyone. You've heard me mention The Four, and you've seen their picture, but now you have the unique opportunity to witness our lives in a way never-before imagined....interactively! Read this new blog religiously and I guarantee you'll be skipping down the street, whistling, and saying Hallah to everyone you see!

Barbecue Pork

This is just a quick tip to all --- Beware the appeal of the barbecue pork that sits in the cafeteria at your place of employment.

Don't ask.....

Gmail turns 1 today!

Welcome to Gmail

Today Gmail celebrates it's 1st birthday. And they are giving everyone an extra gig of storage. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, GMAIL!