The First Entry

Welcome, everyone.

What's with the "title" thing on top? I've never seen that before...

Anyway, this is my first blog since I made this page. YEA! I created this as an effort to keep in touch with people better when I move to MA. Also, I figured that I'd put some of the moving process in here, too, so you can appreciate the trill and joy of trying to move one's life to a new state. A few of you have experienced this process and might have some helpful pointers.... right? :>)

Well, the trip to MA was an overall success.

Tuesday, April 19th
I missed my flight out of Oakland. We were a little late getting there b/ I just couldn't wake up. I attempted to do a self check-in at the wrong carrier. I went to Delta and asked a guy for help. No, I couldn't go to the gate w/o a boarding pass and the email confirmation wasn't enough. I told him that my flight was soon, but he made me go to the end of the line. The line took FOREVER b/ everyone had ten tons of baggage to check. I made it to the front and the lady wouldn't help me. She said I missed my flight. I told her no, but she wouldn't check me in. She just said that the plane was already boarding and that I wouldn't make it through security in time. She booked me on the next flight at 705 to Atlanta. I get to security and can't pass. I get checked out. Slooowly. I forgot I was wearing a belt. A BELT! grrr. I hardly ever wear them, and I had to wear it today! I sped walked as fast as my little legs could take me to the very end of terminal 1. My plane was boarding. I made it, sat down, and found a few seconds later that I was in the wrong seat. I was tired, hungry, crabby and didn't argue. I just moved to the window. That was OK. A better seat.

I made it into Boston about an hour and a half later than planned. After walking for miles underground in the new terminal (A) I made it to the surface and found Luke with perfect timing. He swerved over to the curb and I dumped everything in the trunk. We ate dinner at the oldest restaurant in America. That's their claim to fame and I can't remember their name. I liked it. I had my first ever taste of clam chowder. It was good. It wasn't as chewy as expected. Luke says it's one of the best he's had. I had been snacking all day on the airplanes and wasn't as hungry as he was, but the waitress recommended that I get some. That made me feel good that both were right. Luke drove us back to Nashua and we went to bed fairly early. Traveling makes me tired.

Wednesday, April 20th
Having absolutely nothing to eat in the apt, we went out to breakfast to a place called Bickford's. Think Denny's but with an attempt to be more upscale. The waitress informed us that they serve Bloody Marys and Mimosas with breakfast. ooooh. Not in the mood, and I had to be driving that day. We ate quickly and headed up to Manchester Airport (cuz it was cheaper than the place near Luke). I picked up my rental car. B/ I was a tad late, they didn't have the one I ordered in stock. I got an upgrade. It was a Montero Sport. It had leather seats, a sunroof, some sort of digital screen, many many many driving options (reg, 4 wheel, and super delux 4 wheel , and soemthing else. lots.), and a 6 CD changer along with the normal CD player. I got a kick out of the fact that the last person driving it was shorter than me b/ I had to move the seat back. :>) I took Luke back to the parking garage and waited for him to come out. I followed him back to the freeway, but appearently not enough. He called me and said I missed my exit. ooop. I thought I'd gone the right was and that he was heading towards work. nope. I was taking the wrong Hwy 3 South. I needed to be on the Everett Turnpike/3 South instead. I circled back and got going the right way.

Getting to MA wasn't too bad. Luke's map program wasn't too off. I didn't find the roundabout, but there were many stoplights and lanes of traffic to choose from to get on my next freeway. The rest was fairly easy until I reached my destination: Springfield. Forgetting about the exit #, I didn't check the directions until after I'd passed it. My exit was outside the "town limits", meaning that I didn't see the "Welcome to Springfield sign until after my exit. OK. I got off the next exit, but then found myself on another freeway. I got off a few exits later, desparate for a surface street. grrr. I found a liquor store and bought their last Springfield map. I made my way to the hotel w/o any problems. My biggest problems with driving is the lack of sign-age. Most of the intersections don't tell you what road you're one. You're just supposed to know. A few times I've found myself in the right spot w/o knowing it. The exciting problem is the lack of lines for the lanes. They get worn off and not painted. It's a thrill driving in a mob to find that your lane ended and you're now merging with the one next to you.

Anyway, I checked in a little early, drove more towards downtown to find AIC (American International College), didn't like the area of the collge for lack of safe feeling, and had some dinner at Friday's. I like the place. Good atmosphere and the waitress was kind. Eating alone, you get a lot of looks. She got 4 cents shy of a 20% tip. I got some ice cream to go, but passed on their new flavor of chocolate fudge brownie. I hung out in the hotel room for the rest of the night, planning the next day.

Thursday, April 21st
Was tired. Missed my free continental breakfast by 1/2 hr. Drove down to the Quadrangle. No parking, but I parked in a lot for a church nearby. I saw no signs for church parking only, so I took the chance. I wasn't sure if the church was open to the public or not, but it looked beautiful from the outside. It was an old Catholic Church with a lot of stained glass. I walked through the Dr. Seuss Memorial in the center of the Quad. It was a grassy area with a few bronze statues. There was one of Dr. Seuss and The Cat in the Hat a la Walt Disney and Mickey Mouse. My favorite was a huge book with words from The Places You'll Go embossed (?) on one side and the book cover on the other. Around the park were cool artsy benches that were decorated with people and mosaics. Around the Quad was the public library, an art museum, the visitor's center, science museum, technology museum, and something else I went it that had the history/life of Dr. Seuss and stuff on the "roaring 20s". Starving, I asked a local for a good place to eat. I was sent to The Red Rose. Not Chinese food as expected, but Italian. I got a "small" pizza and found myself with waaaay more leftovers than expected. It was good enough for not only dinner but breakfast. Unfortunately, room temperature pizza sucks, and it wasn't too good later that night.

I then attended the Open House for AIC grad students. I talked with the Dean. Nice guy. I got a tour of campus. It was small, but adequate for the small amts of students (which are mostly undergrads). I liked the program there, but the area surrounding the campus wasn't the greatest and the punk-ass kids on campus was a turn off. It may make me a little racist, but I'd rather not be around a certain type of people.

I went to Walgreens and got a pretty pink nail polish for the evening. I painted the toes and called Luke to tell him that this place was a no-go. I watched an edited Pleasantville on TV before going to sleep.

Friday, April 22nd
I set the alarm so I could shower and get breakfast. I checked out of the hotel and found myself in Amherst (north of Springfield) about a 1/2 hr later. It's more rural than urban. A nice change of pace b/ while Springfield had its nicer areas (like where the AAA office was), the place I'd be the most was very urban, ghetto and felt unsafe.

The town outside of Amherst was farm-like and then I hit modernization. Whole Foods, Walmart, Staples, Trader Joe's, etc. I was in love.

I turned onto the next hwy and got off at the U. Mass. exit. I was surprised to be literally dumped onto campus. U. Mass. Amherst is HUGE! They were also having an Open House. I went to the Visitor's Center and found out it was for accepted incoming freshman. Oh well. I got a map and directions to the Graduate Office and to my dept. The Dept office was closed, but the one professor that was there was very helpful. I drove around town a little bit, looking for someplace to eat (and park! too many freshman and parents!). I dont' think that a town that size could be that busy all the time. There is another college in town and three in the surrounding areas, but it felt homey. It felt nice and liberal. The streets were pretty small, but I didn't worry much abotu getting lost...

But, that was appearently for later. I was following the directions that Luke printed out, and I missed the street I needed off the hwy. I circle back and get on the street. I'm in a residential area, a nice residential area. The road was recently repaved. I couldn't find the next street when I realize I'm circling a lake. OK. I'm guessing that I'll just get back on the hwy I left, and I did. I just followed the people in front of me and they (and the freeway signs) took me to the Mass Pike. After I got on the freeway, I look at the directions and they were the same and what I just drove through. I guess I hadn't gone down far enough and there are too many roads named the same thing!

I arrived in Auburn, a little south of Worcester (wuh-ster) and check-in. I go to the mall and kill some time. I go find dinner at a place I didn't really like. It was supposed to be good Chinese, but I got the wrong dish (it was a tad more spicy than I wanted) and the waiter wasn't too nice. He didn't bring me any tea (which wasn't extra) and I think he was bummed at get a table for one. OH well. Deal with it. The resturant wasn't that busy and I made sure to go in before they'd get busy. I gave my dish of pineapple (which looked very good) to the couple next to me to avoid temptation and future canker sore pain. When I got my change, I wanted the quarters for the freeway, but I felt bad just leaving a $1 tip. That's just sad. I wasn't that displeased with my experience so I pulled out another $1 and left.

Saturday, April 23rd
I took a nice long shower and checked out in time for breakfast. I went in search of a local paper so I could cruise by apts and check out the areas. Not a paper to be found. Not at gas stations, not at the Dunkin' Doughnuts, not at Shaw's. I doubled back to the Starbucks and get a tastey white mocha. Bummed and wet from the rain, I head to the car. Called Luke to tell him of my change of plans and head north.

Has anyone noticed that the tow trucks in CA drive with their lights flashing? Is it only when towing? I've never noticed that before, but I followed a tow truck to the border with all of his lights flashing in the grey stormy day.

I arrive at Luke's and follow him to the airport. I return the car w/o any problems and we head to a local driving range. I learned how to "play" golf under the security and dryness of a covered driving range. Towards the end, I almost hit the target I wanted and one ball even flew past! Very cool. We went home and I did some laundry. It took longer than expected b/ it was a stacked washer/dryer and you couldn't run both pieces at once b/ it shakes too much. Other oddities of the old contraption was that it only really washed clothes on "cold" and dried on "very low".... it took all night. For dinner, we heated up some fondue. It was store-bought, but it was a chance to break-in the fondue set from a Christmas or two ago. It wasn't very bad. I liked it with the onion added. Another recommendation was pickles. Luke only dipped those so as to not contaminate the whole pot for me. We watched A Beautiful Mind. A good movie. Kinda creepy, though.

Sunday, April 24th
We drove to the coast. To get there, we had to drive down into MA, and then back up to NH. Everything was still really wet. We went to this little tourist spot. IT wasn't totally open for business yet, but it reminded me of Santa Cruz. There was the Atlantic Ocean, small strip of beach (bummer), the road and parking lot, and then all the store fronts. We walked around in the wind. I enjoyed being outside. I watched some surfers and looked for seashells. I found it a tad daunting that I could barely see over the seawall. It was up to my nose! I could barely see over it - kinda like a Togo's counter. We headed back to the car and decided to go up to Maine. We crossed the border and had to turn around. Bummer. At least I can say I've been there. That was the point. I'll have to make another trip up the coast after I move out there. We headed back to MA to catch our movie date. Luke had bought the tickets online earlier that day and they were non-refundable or exchangeable. We had to make the show. We saw The Interpreter. I liked it. It was a tad confusing. Lots of African names and a lot of characters to keep track of. Overall a good movie. That night was more down-time. I got to check my email to see what was going on in my world. Not much. Most my emails came from Dayni's SUDs.

Monday, April 25th
Anyone tired of reading yet? Anyone still reading? I'm getting tired of typing.... I promise to make these next few days short. Just the basics, OK?

So, this was the day I'd planned to see Boston. I wanted to check out job sites of places I'd have applied to and to find out the public transit options aound them and to find out where they went into the suburbs. Well, since I was so busy with work, I didn't get this part done either. Instead, we drove around Northeastern b/of lack of parking. It looks like a nice, busy area. Lots of public transit options. It's clumped into an area with 3 other colleges. In fact, on one side of a street is Northeastern, the other side was the baseball diamond for Wentworth Institute of Technology. I wanted to see the area for possible job prospects. I still didn't apply, nor did I take Jen's advice and call the school to see if they were still open. I ran out of time and the time difference was against me.

Anyway, we found ourselves at Boston Commons. Luke parked and we got out and walked around. Nice park. Nice Botanical Gardens. Tastey Starbucks for the cold and wind-blown walkers. We got back into the car and drove across the river to MIT. Again, no parking, but a nice looking campus. The area around it wasn't too shabby. Urban, but not sending warning signals like Springfield. Luke drove us by the new Computer Dept building. It was in the papers and all. Very cool looking. I don't remember who designed it, but it was a famous person in the world of architecture. Unable to get on the freeway to go home, we decided to stay in town to eat. I wanted to go to the Quincy Market. It was fun. Had some Indian food. Went shopping a little and got something for Mom's birthday in a few days. I didn't want to go tourist shopping due to it being late and the little spare room I have in my bags. By the time we headed back to the freeway, it was no problem getting on and we zipped home.

Tuesday, April 26th
Luke went to work early so that he could take a 1/2 day with me later. I layed in bed and enjoyed the semi quiet of his apt. I was dead tired and had no desire to get up. I had spent a lot of the night awake b/ of allegies and asthma problems. Luke didn't sleep much either. Poor guy. When I got up I took a really hot shower to clear out my lungs a little. It worked. I went in search of food and found the waffle iron out and a note saying there was batter in the fridge. Cool. Waffles for breakfast. I puttered around, figured out how to work the stereo/DVD player (it plays CDs too) and read a little. I searched for scattered belongings throughout the apt. By the time Luke got back from work, I was napping (unintentionally). oops. We got ready to go to the Museum of Science in Boston, but then realized that by the time we got there that there'd be little to do before they closed. :>( It wasn't worth the $14 for an hour or two. I hung out, Luke napped. We went to dinner at a Thai place down the street. Very tastey. There were leftovers for Luke's lunch the next day. We ran some errands (gas for the morning!) and went for a walk at Mine Falls Park. It has a bunch of soccer fields and trails to walk and bike. It goes along a stagnant river and all the trails go under the freeway. Oddly, it was quietest (and darkest) under the freeway. It was like it didn't exist. Out from underneath, there was the soft roar of the cars passing... Kinda like being at Carolyn's parents' house. We went home and I packed. I watched most of the Red Sox game before I went to bed. I was tired.

Wednesday, April 27th
I got up at 4am to catch my plane. I wasn't joking around this time. I slowly got dressed and then woke Luke up. He was dressed faster than I put on my shoes! How do y'all do that? Anyway, we left the house by 5am so I could be at the airport by 545am - exactly one hr before my flight. Even though I had my email confirmation, security sent me back to the check-in desk. I guess they don't allow the email confirmations anymore. I made it through security fine, bought a bagel (which was very good) and as I was doing so, I heard that they were boarding my plane! Dude. I thought I had more time. Me and my short legs! Nothing like rushing.

My plane arrived at Salt Lake City a 1/2 hr early. We couldn't park at our gate b/ there was still a plane there. We couldn't park at one of the closer gates were all were looking at b/ all those planes were set to arrive in a few minutes.... Instead, we sat in, what I guess was, the parking area for homeless planes. We got to the gate about 10 min early, but being at the back of the plane, for me, the plane was on-time. I had time to kill so I checked out the terminal I was in. I got some veggie pizza and drank from the most miniture water cup on the planet. It must have held, like, 4 oz. I'm not kidding. I stood at the soda machine and drank my "cup" of water and then filled it again and sat down. I did the same thing twice. I wanted some free water and I was determined to get it. In my rush earlier that day, I had bought sparking water instead of regular. Supid Polar Spring and their cool looking (and cheaper) bottle than Fiji water! So, I was a tad thirsty. Carbonated water is harsh on the throat and tates salty to me. I made my plane and had no troubles getting home. I took a nice long shower and killed the daylight with nothing much... just waiting for a good bedtime so I didn't wake up too early. I went to bed around 1030pm CA time. That means I'd been up since 1am CA time. Twas a long day, but it was worth it. I had a good trip and got to do some de-stressing touristy things as well.

eeee-gads. It's taken me about 2hrs to write this! This better post. Blogger better like me today.