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Blah, I’ve been sick since Friday night. Some sinus burnage that fled to my chest over the past couple of days. Last night was the first night I got a whole night’s rest, feeling better finally.

In the process of being sick I finished cleaning out my old apartment and turned in my keys Sunday. Making progress in putting my stuff away, I can now see my livingroom floor. Still several crates of documents from the old company I need to deal with.

I love having cable and this new fangled thing they call a ‘DVR’. Watching CNBC and Becca Quick in the morning makes waking up worthwhile. When I get home at night, I can watch the opening of the Australian markets, then Asia, then repeat the next morning!

Need to figure out how I’m going to get a washer and dryer moved to my apartment. More importantly, I need to find a laundrymat to wash my overflowing hamper o’ clothes in the meantime.

Out of jury duty!

Good news!

The jury trial you were assigned to in the 299th District Court on Wednesday, September 17, 2008 has been canceled. You are released without needing to do anything further until the next time you are summoned by our office. Your jury service is now complete.

yay internets

Hoooray, internets!!11 Time Warner showed up today and fixed whatever problem there was. I don’t know how a normal working joe handles this many channels. Tried running coax to the other end of the apartment with my antenna, didn’t help OTA reception. Looks like I’ll be chipping in for HD channels now.

Went up to IKEA tonight to look for a new dresser and desk. Found a set I liked, but boxes were way too heavy for me to lug home.

New apartment

Poolside internetI moved into the new apartment today. Plenty of wind today, but not any rain. This afternoon the wind died down, then it got hot and sticky. Today was not without its annoyances. I found out at the last minute the movers wouldn’t take anything not in a sealed box, including 6 milk crates full of books, my vacuum, and some UPSes. There’s still probably a truckload of stuff to bring up.

New place is pretty much a disaster, but at least I got my bed and TV setup. Annoyance #2 is that my internets + cable don’t work at all. Annoyance #3 is that with my current antenna, I get no HD OTA or even analogue channels. Presumably because my apartment sits between the antenna and the towers further south on 360. So, I’m typing this while sitting out by the pool, leeching off the property’s wireless.

I tried to get as much moved today since I knew I’d be sore and tired tomorrow. Heat got the best of me, I gave up and went home to unpack. Note to self, make sure you know which box you pack the towels in.

Renter’s remorse

I’m thinking moving to the new place was a mistake. I picked up my keys today and took a look at the apartment. Several annoying things, quite frankly AMLI has spoiled me. This new place just isn’t nowhere as nice as where I am now.

  • I could’ve sworn I asked for first floor, but they gave me a second floor
  • The painting is sloppy around the trim, looks like it’s several coats thick
  • The front door looks like it’s been whacked around, all scratched up
  • Lack of cat5 in the walls, making it harder to run internets
  • Lack of cable demarc inside, which means my cable modem and fuh will have to go in the bedroom
  • There appears to be only three parking spots in front of the building, the rest are all for garages. Parking is going to be a pain
  • Closets are way smaller, going to have to give up my Christmas tree to make room
  • Lack of shelving, going to need to visit Home Depot to solve
  • I already know they don’t answer their phones
  • Layout of bedroom is going to make it interesting to fit in a desk

Several of these problems I should’ve paid more attention to when I moved in. I’m already considering handing in my notice to vacate a year early.

This morning started off so well, I was up at 8 to get an oil change and arrange return of the van. Ran a few errands, replaced the fuel filter in my truck. One of these days I’ll figure out how to replace it without spraying gasoline over everything. The afternoon started going downhill after seeing the apartment. Then I got assigned for jury duty for 9/17 – 9/24.

I’m still having an idle and AC problem with the truck. This morning it stalled out a few times while it was idiling and in gear. Replacing the fuel filter and PCV valve helped some. It doesn’t outright stall now, but comes close. I guess next is to check for vacuum leaks or something. I also discovered there’s an Advance Auto Parts store a mile away in Oak Hill, after I made several trips this week to stores all over town getting stuff for the pump replacement.

dammit hell, argh.

Last night was spent hanging out at a fire station downtown visiting some of Lorie’s friends/acquaintenances. Great night for sitting outside chattering and people watching. Some of the more memorable people:

  • All the girls on their way to 6th street wearing high heels and very short “skirts”
  • All the girls who shouldn’t be wearing skirts at all
  • The guy pissing on 5th street in the open
  • The guy and girl who couldn’t go 10 meters without stopping to suck face and grope each other for a few minutes
  • All the girls leaving 6th street in pain from wearing high heels hobbling along and/or catching piggy-back rides from their dates and/or going barefoot
  • The woman who stood across the street for a few minutes eyeing the firemen until she summons up the nerve to come over and ask to take her picture with them
  • The Secret Service people who parked a couple of rigs in the station parking lot for Bush’s anticipated visit to Gustav evacuees at the convention center
  • The pair of whiny girls standing on the corner trying unsuccessfully to summon taxis occupied with fares on a thru street, later screaming into their cell phones how they couldn’t get a cab and failing to walk across the street where all taxis were having to stop at the light.

Sad water pump

Water pumpsThings in my life that require cooling aren’t having a very good month. First my MBP fans break, now the water pump went out in my truck (so I think). Coming back from San Antonio yesterday, the engine was running a couple marks hotter than usual. As I went to Rob’s later that night the truck was griping about low coolant again. Before leaving I dumped in the remaining jug of dexcool and headed home. A mile down the street it complained of low coolant again and the temperature really shot up. Engine was running fine so I crept the extra mile home, which was probably unwise. Looking underneath, coolant was steadily dripping out the bottom. blah.

Looking at it today, there’s dried up coolant all over the bottom of the truck. Alix graciously lended me their van to get me through the rest of the holiday. The van is awesome, I set up higher than my truck did and I can leer down at SUV drivers now. I studied over the Haynes today, I could probably replace it myself, but I’m not mechanically inclined enough to look for any other problems. So, Tuesday I’ll have to find a way to tow it the mile down the street to the mechanic and let them fix it along with a few other things that need attention. Here’s to hoping I didn’t damage the engine already!

Hurricane GustavHurricane Gustav is creeping its way toward LA/TX. It’s all over the news, waiting to see if it smears NOLA out of existence again.

Lorie is in town visiting for a few days, I’ve been showing her all the promising local Austin hot spots and meeting up with friends. It remains to be seen if Gustav will change her travel plans.

Vacation

Hoooray, five days off! I don’t think I’ve been off this long with the new job yet.

Catching up

wann.net news ticker
Sara Boberg sets standard for new idealized girl … Zagg invisibleSHIELD is a must-have for all iPhone owners … CCNA test got considerably more difficult over the past eight years … loopt, twitter, clouds, kites, social networking is hard … iPhone is great device for looking up lodging while on the road … Obama / Biden, Osama bin Laden, coincidence? … Sandra Bullock called up for jury duty too … waking up and watching CNBC at 5 AM is awesome … CNBC Squawk Box “Dallas” intro is more awesome … Burning Man is going on without me ###

Jury summons

Also,
State of Texas, County of Travis, City of Austin
Dear Prospective Juror: You are hereby summoned for jury service as set out below:

I’ve never been summoned for jury duty before. Three people have told me they wished they got it. I don’t look forward to it, since it’s right in the middle of my moving plans and I’d have to take unpaid leave from work for however long a trial would be. It could be a new OJ or Enron for all I know. The county says most jurors should expect their trial to last a week. Hopefully I’m lucky and I’m not needed.

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