Notes on the Party and Move
July 27, 2005 @ 03:02 PM
As my mom mentioned in the comments of the last post, I am without an Internet connection at home, which is why I haven't been around online much. As a matter of fact, I was without at television until late last night, when I finally got desperate enough to shove a speaker wire into the coaxial port on the back of the TV and staple the cable to the wall. I now get a grand total of six local channels. This morning I watched Ellen Degenerates interview John Travolta. They were cuddly. I was that starved for entertainment.
So, for those curious, what follows is a brief recap of the move:
I moved stuff on Friday from 8am until around 8pm. I did take a break around noon for about an hour to eat some lunch and watch a portion of A League of Their Own (turns out we had movie channels at the house. Nobody ever told me we ordered them), so really I only moved for 11 hours. I use the term "only" very loosely, as I was pretty dead by 8pm, considering I had to do most of my moving up the back stairs (a glorified fire escape, nearly vertical), the high was around 96 with 70% humidity, and my route was fuddled by a farmer's market, and later, a concert. For dinner I got a Jimmy John's sub and ate it lying in the middle of my living room floor. At that point, lying prostrate on a hardwood floor while eating was easier than standing.
After eating, I showered and headed back home to the party. I was nearly late, as a bunch of my friends showed up about 10 minutes after I did. I was happy, as about a dozen of the people at the party were my peeps. CuteYoungerGirl also came, but I didn't get a chance to talk to her much, so I still don't know if she likes me (*mutter*). I did get to talk a bit with a nice girl named Lisa, not to be confused with the other Lisa, who did not come. Later in the night some asshole kicked out all my friends while I was distracted somewhere. I got really pissed off for a while, and even almost started a fight with some kid that had nothing to do with it (he was in my way and I "moved" him rather rudely), but eventually Goodbuddy Tanner convinced me that this was my last night partying in a house I had been partying in for four years, and I should enjoy it. In the end, I did. :)
My dad's phone call woke me up around 6:30. My alarm had been set for 6:15, but I guess it didn't go off again. I had barely started the coffee by the time he got there, but after a cup, I was ready to go. Quinn showed up right on time and was an amazing amount of help considering he had to leave after a couple of hours. Lorenzo showed up a little later in the morning and stayed until around noon, and was also a great help. Lisa showed up at some point (I didn't see her come in) and stayed longer than anyone. Tanner and Paul were also pretty invaluable, even if it did take me an hour to get them out of bed. ;)
Highlights from the Saturday move:
- The bar is a HEAVY mofo. We barely got it out of the house, and once we did, ~barely~ got it into the apartment. In the end, we had to dismantle the back door, dismantle part of the bar, take the bar out onto the roof, dismantle a window, and lift the bar through the window to get it in. God bless Quinn for figuring that one out, too, otherwise I'd have a really nice bar in the hallway.
- We had to use the back stairs for most of the move because of the parade. Not only did they close down Main Street, but they also closed several streets near Main, meaning we had to drive a decent amount out of our way just to get to the back of my apartment, where there wasn't any parking anyway, because of the parade.
- The temperature got up to 99 in Ames, and I hear the heat index due to humidity was nearly 120. It felt like it, too.
I'm now around 99.8% moved in (I have a few mirrors, a chair, an exercise machine, and a couple of little things to move), but the apartment is far from set up. I'm not going to get much of a chance to finish this week, either, as I'll be spending every evening at the house, cleaning. I was there last night from 5 - 9, and I think my bedroom is nearly Close Enough.
God made books heavy so nerds would look weak.
July 22, 2005 @ 03:39 PM
I've been moving myself into my new apartment since 9am. It's depressing how little difference I seem to have made in that time. *g* However, it's now time to take down the computer, which means I'll be Net-less for a few days (unless I can get wireless on my laptop), so I thought I'd update one last time to let everyone know.
Those of you who can help me move: the starting time has been set at 7am in order to avoid as much of the heat as possible. Also, I discovered earlier today that there is going to be a ~parade~ down Main street at 10:30am, and they're bound to block off the street at some point, so this should be an interesting move all around. :)
For those of you coming to the party tonight, show up anytime around dusk and stay until dawn. Cups will be $4, and the keg will be Miller Light (the roommies voted down my Guinness). There will be music, friends, games, and air conditioning to be enjoyed by all. If you're in the area and I didn't get a chance to formally invite you, you're still invited*, so stop by.
The map below shows exactly how far I'm moving, from 525 6th ~all~ the way to 308 1/2 Main. I've driven between my house and my apartment at total of six times so far today. I've made it through two songs on my CD player. :)
*Offer excludes my mom and grandparents.
Dumbest Shit I've Done, July 15 - 21
July 21, 2005 @ 03:46 PM
NOTE: This is part two of a (hopefully) two part series. Don't forget to scroll down to the next entry to read the rest.
Well, I suppose the second dumbest thing I've done in the last week is that I forgot to post the dumbest thing I've done in the last entry. So, without further adieu (we've too much adieu as it is), here's the dumbest thing that I've done this week (and possibly so far in 2005):
Last night I decided I should do a couple loads of laundry. I'd been purposefully putting it off so that most of my stuff would be clean when I moved (meaning most of my stuff was dirty), because the idea of packing dirty laundry seems odd.
Normally, when I do laundry, I check all of my pants pockets. This time, I did not. I even ~noticed~, at the time, that I did not. I thought to myself, "hmm… I'm not checking the pockets. Ah well, there's never anything in them anyway." Except this time, there was. There were in fact two things in my pockets.
When I pulled my clothes out of the washer to put them in the dryer, I found the first thing. It was my USB flash drive, my sole repository of far too many of my more important files. And I'd run it through the washing machine. I'd even used hot water for good measure. Amazingly, I took it upstairs, and it still works. It still goes down as one of my dumber moments.
When I pulled my clothes out of the dryer to take them upstairs to fold, I found thing number two: a black gel pen. Well, it ~was~ a black gel pen. By the time it'd made it through the washer and dryer, it was empty. Guess where all the ink was? On my clothes! That's right. I washed, and dried, my clothes with a big black gel pen. I threw that set of clothes back in the washer in hopes the ink would come out, and put the second set in the dryer. Turns out there was a decent amount of ink left in the dryer, because a few of those came out splotched as well. And the ink didn't come out upon rewashing.
In short, I managed to visually mar most of my favorite clothing in one go. None of the clothing was particularly ~expensive~, per se, but in terms of quantity I still probably managed to ruin a good $300 worth of clothing. Undergarments I could care less about, but now four or five pairs of jeans and probably at least a dozen of my shirts have big nasty black splotches on them. They don't look artsy. They look, in fact, like some idiot left a big black pen in with the laundry.
When I get home from work tonight I plan to go through my stuff and determine what is salvageable and what is not. Sounds like one of the more depressing ways to spend a Thursday night. Especially considering how fun last Thursday was.
Dumb Shit I've Done, July 15 - 21
July 21, 2005 @ 09:52 AM
The following is a list of some of the dumb shit I've done in the last week. It's not ordered in any particular manner.
Last Friday I missed two busses by less than a second. I didn't even know that this was possible, but they both pulled away WITH ME AT THE DOOR. That pissed me off. Twice. Unfortunately, I had an 8am meeting and didn't have time to be pissed off, so I drove to campus and parked in a metered lot. I put enough money in the meter to keep me paid for an hour and 20 minutes. I was parked for about 9 hours. I got a ticket. Even better, I forgot that I'd driven to campus and took the bus home, so I had to take the bus ~back~ to campus just to get my car.
I went out drinking Monday night with Nick "As Seen On TV" Recker (see the sidebar) and a few of his friends. Now, I'm actually glad I did this, as I had a really good time, finally got to meet Nick's girlfriend, and met a CuteYoungerGirl to boot (I don't think she likes me though). However, I did ~not~ wake up the next morning. I maintain that my alarm did not go off, but (very) unfortunately there was nobody else in the room to verify this, so I'm stuck with the blame. I was supposed to get up at 6am. I woke up just after 11am. I slept through an 8am meeting with Quinn, the Towers implosion at 10am, and the first few minutes of work.
Yesterday, I tripped going up the stairs to Ross. Twice. In a row. Never mind the fact that I've been using these stairs for six full years now. Luckily, the laughter of one A.E. Striker (to use Sarahbrown's awesome nomenclature) was there to soften my fall.
I have not yet picked up any boxes for my move, even though said move begins in roughly 23 1/2 hours. That's right: in 23 1/2 hours, Friday morning, I'm supposed to start moving boxes so that it'll be easier to move furniture on Saturday.
We're having a big party at our house Friday night, as it is Sammie's birthday and also the last full weekend we have the house (if you're under 40, you're invited! If you're Soc, you're still invited!). This means we'll probably be moving furniture around sleeping bodies, because…
My mom wants us to start the move very early Saturday as it is going to be hella hot and she has a tendency to nearly die any time the thermometer reads 90 or above. My goal is to have enough help that I can leave her in the conditioned apartment where she will remain undead (the undead keep better in the cold), but I have fewer willing volunteers the earlier in the day we go. Which means I'll be doing a lot more heavy lifting than I was hoping. All this means that I should probably get a very good night's sleep tonight, as it'll probably be the last time I sleep until Saturday night.
I scheduled a doctor's appointment for 7:30am tomorrow morning, meaning I won't be getting much sleep.
Yesterday was the last day of my Linguistics class. I did not remember to tell VeryCuteGirl that, if the whole marriage and child thing didn't work out, I'd still be around for another year. *sigh*
In which Rob exclaims! A lot!
July 18, 2005 @ 03:58 PM
It's been really busy in the office the last week! Busy for me, but especially busy for other people. It's nearing the end of summer semester, so every grad student who will be graduating in the next few weeks is making a couple of passes through the office in anticipation of the Big Day. Until today, I had thought of this as a rather nice positive change, as there are suddenly lots of attractive women around my age in the office. Today, I realized that these women are in the office because they are Leaving. And suddenly, I have realized a major downfall of my job: the only graduate students I really have an opportunity to meet are those who are going away. Until the last month or two of graduate school, the vast majority of graduate students have no real use for the Graduate College.
In news that doesn't depress me and bore others, I have a new tent! And it's a BIG bugger! It's an early birthday gift from my parents and grandparents, and it puts most other tents and some apartments *cough UniversityVillage cough* to shame in terms of size. I parked my car next to it and suddenly realized I have a rather small car. I set up my air mattress inside and laughed at how little room I took up. To make myself feel better about the waste of space, I divided the tent into a bedroom, living room, and office. I think I need more camp-friendly friends to help take up space. Anybody want to go camping?
I move in less than a week! I am excited! I think I'm going to start organizing and "packing" tonight. That, and studying for my linguistics final Wednesday. Packing is in quotation marks because I currently do not own any boxes that are not already filled with things that I moved from my last apartment and never unpacked. Some of these things could probably be thrown away. Others, such as most of my dishes, simply weren't needed in the house but will be sorely needed in my new apartment.
I just realized that I have many, many pounds of kitchen stuffs that have been sitting in boxes, many of which were opened, for over a year. And because I don't have a dishwasher in the new place, I'll probably end up washing them by hand. Yikes.
I plan on going to Target the day I move in and buying things I think I need. High on this list are a new white comforter, cleaning supplies, picture frames, and many other things I've suddenly forgotten now that I've tried to list them. I'll try again later. For now, it's time to go home. Adieu.
We should have Drunken Game Night every night!
July 14, 2005 @ 03:58 PM
I had a really good time last night, even though I didn't do what I'd planned on doing. I'd ~planned~ on going to Doug's going-away party, as he is going (-) away. To Texas. Which is pretty much the same as going to another country. Except I've been to Texas. And once I was in Canada briefly, and everybody had a really funny accent, and we were all like, "Canada, eh?" and nobody got it. It was great. But now I'm sidetracked.
Instead of going to Doug's going-away party, I ended up hanging out with Scott, Alicia, and Lisa at Alicia's apartment for a "Drunken Game Night," as it was described to me. The description turned out to be fairly apt. Originally, I was going to hang out with SAL (you figure it out) for a couple of hours, then bail and head to Doug's party. I got to Alicia's around 8pm and left around 3:30am, though, so that plan sorta fell through.
We started out playing Cranium, which turns out to be a really fun game. Way cooler than Trivial Pursuit. Actually, I bet I'd like Trivial Pursuit were I any good at it, but alas, I suck like a 'cuum. I was pretty good at the trivial pursuit-esque part of Cranium though, so I don't know what was up with that. Scott and I were on a team first, and we kicked arse. Alicia and I were on a team the second game, and our arses were kicked. I don't exactly remember what the drinking rules of the game were (I didn't see them in the instructions, but Scott said he'd played it before, and who am I to question his judgment?), but I either won or lost that part, depending on how you wanna look at it.
The two rounds of Cranium took a few hours, and I probably should have taken off to Doug's party at that point, but I was in no condition to walk to my car (hehe), and nobody else was much better, so we decided that Drunken Game Night would continue! Exclamation point! So we switched from Cranium to Cards. I thoroughly lost my shirt in poker, but it was pretty fun regardless. Actually, I lost my belt too. No, really. Like, I'm pretty positive I wore one there and I didn't wear one home. I think I killed a spider with it and forgot to put it back on. Well, I know I killed the spider with it, but I'm not sure if that's when I lost my belt or not. Seems like a pretty logical place, though.
Sidetracked again, sorry. After poker, we switched to a drinking game called Waterfall or something like that. I've played before (I'm told I even played with that exact same group, at my house, on Halloween), but I can never remember the name and/or rules. I don't think I won or lost that one, really, but I also don't think competition is at the heart of most drinking games.
By the time Waterfall ran out of juice, it was around 2:30am. We hung around talking for a while, then went to bed. I got into bed around 3:30am, and woke up again at 7:30am. Fun, fun stuff. It's made for a loopy day thus far.
Testing my theory that I do not bruise.
July 12, 2005 @ 03:09 PM
I had a pretty good yesterday. At the time, it was a pretty good today, but that time has passed. I went to class, which was pretty much the same as it always is, except more homework than usual was assigned. I went to work, where I didn't accomplish all that much. I drove Lisa home from the car repair place, as she's finally getting her window fixed. She then helped me clean the upstairs bathroom for almost two hours. It is now whiter than it was when I moved in. She and then celebrated our incredible cleaning abilities by eating out at the Olde Main Brewery. I had a bacon cheeseburger cooked very rare (I was impressed) and a couple of glasses of beer. Their wheat ale is too fruity this time around, but the milk stout is superb. We finished off with a piece of their legendary chocolate cake (which isn't really legendary, but I'm trying to make it so). We left after an hour and a half, half an hour after they closed. Whoops. I then did some Linguistics homework and went to bed.
I don't know what made that day a good day, but it certainly wasn't a bad day. And I generally enjoyed it. And that's good enough for me.
I also had a good time last weekend. I saw my Uncle Alan and Aunt Leisa, whom I hadn't seen since spring break. I also saw my cousin Ryan, whom I hadn't seen since he was three or four. He's seventeen now, and taller than me by a good four inches. I ate too much food at my grandma's house. Then, Sunday, Lisa and I had lunch at the King Buffet, and I ate too much again.
One bad/annoying thing did happen this weekend: my phone was disconnected. So, for those of you who probably think I was ignoring you this weekend (and there is a surprisingly large number of you): I wasn't ignoring you, I simply couldn't call. Now, I'm not normally one to blame people, but this one is mostly a certain ex's fault. Well, that and Verizon decided to be pickier than normal. I paid them an exorbitant sum of money this morning to have my line turned back on, so that I could function normally again. I plan on working out the rest of this problem very soon.
This afternoon, I'm playing racquetball with Doug. Doug is going to both hurt me and embarrass me, but it's something that needs to be done. He is a good friend who is leaving for a job in Texas next week, and we have never played racquetball together despite (or perhaps because of) the fact he plays competitively and practices almost every day. I haven't played in several weeks. Gonna hurt tomorrow. :) Not sure how I'm going to finish my homework tonight, either, because that often involves using one's arms.
Office and Extra-Office Relationships (Yet Another Girl Post)
July 06, 2005 @ 03:58 PM
One of my coworkers asked my age a few minutes ago. Then, when I said I was 23-almost-24, she asked if I was single. When I said I was, she mentioned that she thought I was a really nice guy and that her now-19 year old daughter was also single.
Several things ran through my mind at this point. In no particular order:
- It's good to know I'm fooling people into thinking I'm a nice guy
- Does this mean I'm allowed to date the daughters of coworkers (a lá CuteOfficeGirl)?
- Are there any chocolate covered cherries left?
- Just turned 19… that's about the same age as my ex-students.
- Why doesn't that bother me?
- Am I allowed to arrange dates through a girl's mom? I wouldn't let my mom do that (really (I mean it (cut it out))). ;)
She even showed me the girl's picture. Of course, it was on the front of her High School Graduation Reception invite, which freaked me out a little. Do I have anything in common with a girl that age? I don't know anymore. I've noticed I'm more emotionally attracted to older (or at least more mature) girls these days. I don't mean women in their 40s or anything, but late 20s is a nice number. Of course, it seems like they're all either married, not interested in dating in general, or not interested in dating me specifically.
On that tangent, I noticed today that I was still (or again) attracted to an older girl I thought I had finally gotten rid of all non-friendlike feelings for. Of course, she is in a relationship. Otherwise, I don't think I would be attracted to her. I'm beginning to think that's how it works.
I'm not going to post the results of the "Cutest Girl I Saw on the Internets" game today, because the winner probably violates a previously-mentioned rule that I've not yet entirely decided I'm going to abandon. I realize that's really confusing. I'm trying to be more open about my personal life on my blog (if you haven't noticed), but that still requires a certain level of self-censorship. I have to decide what I'm allowed to say, given my audience, and what I am not. Or ignore audience considerations entirely. But I bet that would get me yelled at in real life.
I think my hair is growing inwards.
July 05, 2005 @ 03:40 PM
So I got some more hairs cut this weekend, as you can tell from the picture I've provided. Why is it that I never smile in the pictures I take of myself? It's really hard to make myself smile when I know I'm taking a picture of me, and when I do, it always looks false. So I'm using this picture, even though I'm not smiling, even though it's not a very flattering shot, and even though it's not even the best picture I have of my hair. My eyes look cool in it. The end.
I really like my new haircut, though. I'm already fond of it, and I've only had it since Sunday afternoon. I never really got used to my last haircut, so this time the transition wasn't nearly as traumatic, even though I think I've officially fallen out of the long hair category. It's longer than most guys' hair, sure, but this style doesn't count as long hair in my book. For one, it stays out of my eyes, mouth, and every other orifice I possess of its own volition. I appreciate that, though my wrist now feels naked without a rubber band on it.
I had a good time this weekend, though I don't remember most of it. And not because of alcohol, either. I never really got drunk this weekend that I can remember. Lisa did, though. She fell down and skinned her knee Sunday night. I was proud of myself: I didn't laugh. I didn't have much sympathy either, though, so I've still got a ways to go before I'm functioning as a normal human being.
The knee-skinning story helps me remember a bit. Lisa and I went out to the bar Sunday night, though we didn't stay very long and only had a pitcher of Amber Bock. Nobody was around, and we were home by midnight. Saturday I think I must have stayed in and sat around by myself. I think I made hamburgers. Last night I did homework, watched Starship Troopers, and sat out on my front lawn to watch the fireworks. I have no idea what I did Friday, but I think I may have played Far Cry at some point. I also have no idea why these days didn't align themselves chronologically.
Are these brain lapses normal? Why is it that I can never remember what I've done just the day before? Should I be worried? Why has some guy standing at the front desk taken like a dozen pictures of me in the last ten minutes? Life is full of questions.
Life also has answers! One of those answers is Hanna Marti. I have no idea who Hanna Marti is aside from the information you see there (which you can only see if you're a Facebook member). And I have no idea what she would be the answer to, aside from the question, "who is the cutest girl Robby stumbled across on the internet today?" I think it would be fun to mention the cutest girl I see online every day. I figure, worst case scenario, someone Googles themselves and receives an inadvertent compliment. Or becomes concerned they have a stalker, I guess, which is a silly fear when you advertise yourself online. Point is, Hanna is verrah verrah cute. She also has a boyfriend (who is also cute). I gave him a 9 on hotornot, so I figure he can't be too pissed about me calling his girlfriend cute.
The internet is a fun, random place. Which is why I fit in so well.
Even my female invisible friends have boyfriends.
July 01, 2005 @ 03:01 PM
Alright, my lovely little spider monkeys, this entry is going to be a little random because my brain is only firing on two cylinders today. I have no idea how many I've got normally, but it certainly feels I'm missing at least two.
As mommydearest mentioned, Lisa and I went camping with my 'rents (and eventually the grand'rents) last weekend. We both ended up with sunburns. Her sunburn has faded into a nice tan. Mine is still in the process of peeling. What the effing ay? I was way tanner than her to begin with, and she burned worse. I'm blaming it on the fact that I seem to have misplaced my aloe vera gel.
I have a really good idea as to what "effing" stands for in that last paragraph, but I haven't a clue as to what the "ay" stands for. It just seemed to fit at the time, and done bun can't be undone.
I made a new friend via Match.com. I assure you, the story is a lot better than that intro makes it sound. Unfortunately, I won't be giving the whole story here, because I'm a stinker or something. The breakdown is a little like this, though: I found a great profile on match.com, emailed the girl, found out that the girl didn't exist (sigh), emailed her again to let her know I was okay with the fact that she didn't exist, got her IM name so we could chat, and now have a very real nonexistent friend. And, as the gods would have it (seriously! I'm beginning to think they're, like, jealous of me or something), she has a boyfriend. I even strike out with fake girls.
I have no real plans for the 4th of July weekend just yet, other than the fact that I'm hoping to get a(nother) haircut. I'll let you know how it goes. If it doesn't go well, I might end up with short hair, which is a frightening thought. Pray to the god of long hair that all goes well.
Would that be Fabio?
My new favorite television show is Scrubs. I'd previously only seen part of one episode (I think it was in the third season somewhere), so I didn't really get into it, but enough people told me it rocked their prospective worlds that I decided I'd better see it from start to finish. I've now made it through the first season and half of the second, and I'm loving it. It makes me laugh constantly, and tear up occasionally. Good mixture.
CuteOfficeGirl does not have a husband. Or, as far as I can tell (that is, extract subtly from her mother), a boyfriend. Unfortunately, she also lives in Colorado, and is only here to take a couple summer classes, and then off she goes to the land of the big rocks. Which is where ex Debs is leaving for today. I'll miss them both. Debs probably a little more, but you get the idea. Colorado's stealin' all my sugar.
Can't believe I just said that.
Speaking of, people at work need to quit providing me with sweets. I'm going to become Tubby McTubs in no time working here at this rate. No offense, Tubby.