day 5

2003.07.31 8.43

I am constantly switching from Czech mode to English mode on this keyboard, so you'll have to pardon the brevity of today's entry. We were originally going to take a bus to Karlovy Vary this morning, but ended up oversleeping thanks to a faulty alarm clock. I slept quite soundly. Occasionally I'll hear people up and about and doing crazy things like getting ready to go to work or whatnot, but I've learned to ignore them for the most part. I'm on a very large and sofa that's directly across from the front door. I brought my New Favorite Pillow so that makes all the difference. Anyway, so yeah, the plan for today is shot. Reschedule.

So, what have I been doing in Prague? Lots. Going to the parks, walking the bridges, enjoying all the good food, remarking on how things here have become so much more western-enriched since I was last here in 1992. Not sure if that's a good thing or not, but the place does retain its own personality even though Nescafe vending machines are everywhere. No Starbucks are around. I make due with whatever the cafes serve. That was the one good thing that I did before leaving Canada (i.e. hit the Starbucks). I am not lacking anything other than a decent towel. I bought one from the Tesco fifth floor the other day. That's technically a British store very much like a Wal-Mart, only this one is divided among many floors. You have to pay to take something out of each floor as far as I can tell. Weirdness. We returned there yesterday to buy some groceries (on what floor -- I forget) for the aborted bus trip this morning. Pain in the ass finding cottage cheese. I found something with the word Cottage on it. It has a photo of something vaguely resembling cottage cheese, so I'm hoping for the best. A pack of strawberries will hopefully make it more palatable.

Anyway, we are off to decide what's next. I suspect a trip to the bus station to inquire about the bus tickets and whether or not they are good for an exchange might be happening. I bought this cool knockoff Spider-Man and Harry Potter toys for 250 crowns from the outdoor street vendors that lined the perimeter of the bus station yesterday. That's about 10 bucks to you and me. eBay here I come.

day 4

2003.07.30 5.25

Yesterday continued to Good Food tradition with a visit to the Indian place (i.e. Pakistani place that we call the Indian Place). I don't think it is sitting especially well today, but I'm not afraid to suffer for good food. There was also some sort of rasberry pie and capaccino, along with the standard visit to The Chateau bar for some beers and ample people watching. Lunch was at the aforementioned Bohemia Cafe where I dined on Lox and a bagel with some veggies on the side. Yum.

We are plotting the next move. Either to Karlovy Vary or to Berlin. I think I may go to Karlovy Vary just because it is also in the Czech Republic and I might as well make this an All Czech trip. Berlin and The Wall will wait. There was also talk of perhaps a more serious trip into Poland to see Auschwitz. That would happen if the weather is not agreeable in either of the other two aforementioned towns. We will confer with a book that's still in the flat. Oh in the flat there's also Matt and Rob and Matt's Invisible Girlfriend all residing there. I have video backing up the theory of everything except for the girlfriend. Anyway, so we'll check with the book and then get on with the rest of the trip. All is well and I haven't even spent $200 in all the time I've been here.

Hello again to my family and friends who are reading up on the Adventures of Super Genius in the Czech Republic. Keep coming back and I'll type more.

locks

2003.07.29 8.16

Sitting at the Bohemian Bagel with Kath and Aemelia (interesting spelling, n'est pas?). They are watching me read my boring emails and delete my filthy spams. Then they watched me lounge around my bank account and lament that the sums did not meet my dreams. Okay, well, maybe not exactly that. Kath is working on maintaining balance on a stool. This is a good thing because the other night she lost her cell phone while the balancing part was most challenging. If I gave you her phone number in case of an emergency, you may now throw it away. It is now useless. If you need to get in touch with me there will be a roughly 24 hour delay between now and my next journey to an internet cafe.

We just had a lively discussion over why I use XHTML to code the little line breaks in my comments. I think we came out with no clear winner as far as whether XHTML is stupid or is worthwhile. We shall meet again.

Thanks to Brian for the clarification on the clotting problems that the 30 minute exercise video attempts to resolve -- which I semi-watched on the plane. I will most likely die from clots in the leg until they make a video with a catchier soundtrack, or a better looking ankle model.

We don't know what we're going to do today. But as always, we have the videocamera and will document everything interesting (and everything non-interesting -- most of which will be deleted in post-editing).

prague

2003.07.28 12.58

Katherine is standing one foot away from me, and I have been discouraged at playing around with the settings of Internet Explorer. ''You're wasting time!'' Well.... so I'm at a very sleek Internet Cafe typing away. Just got out of the movies. Saw ''Identity'' -- great film. See it. John Cussack is brilliant. I think this may displace one of my all time top 5 John Cussack films, but I will hold that judgment until a later time. I'm doing a lot of filming with my videocamera, so there will be more of a video journal for you to enjoy when I get back. I'm going to have to make this update short (see start of paragraph regarding not wasting time). :-) I have a lot to say about Prague. And Canada. All of them are positives. Mostly. Except for the weird TV. I don't understand the culture that generates that kind of wacky marketing. Perhaps if I drink more of their beer and converse with more of their single weemin, I will be able to decipher the ultimate meanings that went into their making a 30 minute video (that I had to watch) of a woman exercising her feet while sitting in an airplane seat.

niiiice

2003.07.25 13.17

So I took my replacement ATM card and walked up to an ATM. I slid the card through. I entered my PIN. I waited. I waited some more. Denied. I tried again. Then again. Frustrated that I couldn't activate the freakin' card, I called up Bank of America. ''Ohhhhhh... we probably gave you a new PIN number. It would have been mailed separately.'' ''To my house in Houston?!'' ''Yes.'' ''But I'm in Philly. You overnighted me the card, why didn't you send the PIN?'' DUH! So, the short end of the story is that they sent me along to VISA International to do a wire transfer from my account since I'm leaving the country and won't be around to receive any more of their fabulous overnight packages. Today I went to the grocery store that they (VISA) told me would have a Western Union that would give me cashy cash. I filled out the form. They told me that was too much money. Niiiice. So, now what? A few phone calls to VISA and to Western Union cleared everything up. Now I have to get to a AMEX Travel place to get traveller's checks before 5:30 PM. Whee.

Aside from all of this crap, I also bought a watch off ebay that was never delivered to me. There's a signature confirmation somewhere, but it wasn't me who signed. Very annoyed. It was delivered on Saturday when I was in Texas. The genius guy from ebay I bought it from NEVER wrote me. He just accepted my PayPal payment and that was it. No ''hey it's coming'' or anything. Bastard. Now I think I'm screwed. Here is a link to the watch. Unless it magically shows up this afternoon, which is highly doubtful since it was already supposedly delivered, it looks like I will have to file a claim of some sort. At least my dropping off Chew Chew at the vet went without a hitch this morning. A new record of only 11 minutes of standing around. Way to go, Society Hill Veterinary Hospital. It's Miller Time for you guys.

Oh, hi Corrie. Hey, if anyone wants some more blog, visit Corrie's site. It's gooood. Corrie, it's Miller Time for you, too.

downsize

2003.07.24 13.25

Disappointed to hear that my old team that I helped form back in 1997 is being dissolved. It stuck together after I moved on to other projects three years ago, so I guess that's not too bad. Finding another super genius to replace you is not easily done. I am setting some high goals over the next two years, one of which includes team building. The other goal involves my unknown future girlfriend and peanut butter, but I digress to comment further.

My former landlady tracked me down on the phone this morning. ''INCOMING CALL'' is all I see on the display here. She whined briefly about the Move Out Fee that hadn't been paid. I'll pay it... eventually. I asked for a copy of the billing and I'll see what I can do. She claimed to have a chronic condition that made it impossible for her to pay this ridiculous fee. Whatever. I have a chronic condition called DontWannaPayThatitus.

Saw T3 again last night. Cleared up some confusing elements. I think my coworkers were entertained. It wasn't a particularly ''smart'' movie, but they do blow up a bunch of stuff. Here are some of the more useful quotes from Arnold and the holiday/event that they seem to signify. Sympathy Card: ''Anger is more useful than despair.'' Valentine's Day Card: ''If you were to die, I would become useless.'' Humorous Birthday Card: ''Your levity is good. It releases tension and the fear of death.'' 50th Wedding Anniversery Card: ''Desire is irrelevant.''

welcome to moviefone...

2003.07.23 6.10

Have you read the blog of Mr. Pax as of late? I think the best information about what is going on in Iraq comes out of his blog. The media and the politicians in all countries involved are such poor sources of unbiased news, in my opinion. I plan to add this to my short list of links on the portals page.

And speaking of changes, I've cleaned up my templates so that you can browse my blog entries from previous months. I will still need to do a little more consolidation and template adjustments to make all of them consistent, but that will be happening soon. I was lucky enough to be able to borrow a projector while I was in Houston this weekend and now I work on a 8 foot by 8 foot giant projection of my computer display in my apartment while sitting on my bed/sofa. I guess I should go outside and make sure nobody can see me reading my Outlook email from the street.

Was in Houston this past weekend, as I mentioned before. Went to Number's and had a blast despite it all. Saw The Lafitte's and Kasey and Kat and several other regulars. No sign of Tom. Rich, my wise bartender friend from upstairs is working in Kuwait these days. It occurred to me that 4 or possibly 5 ex-girlfriends could show up at the same time if the stars all aligned correctly. Luckily the stars were minding their own business on Friday. Saturday I got into the DeLorean and couldn't start it. Strange noise. I gave up. Started to drive away, then stopped. I wondered... is the car in gear? Yup. Duh. I put the car in neutral and the noise was gone. I'm sure my clutch appreciated it. Drove the 50 mile Kickapoo Run. Did some errands. My bank has changed their deposits policies. The effect this had on me was that I had to deposit a check, walked to the ATM to withdraw the money, then walked BACK to the counter to get larger bills. I pulled another bonehead and forgot my ATM card in the machine. It ate it. It destroyed it, more accurately. Had to order a new one. Bleah. Got it on Tuesday thanks to Airborn Express.

Went to my sister's housewarming party on Saturday night and ate a lot of unusual food. I got a lot of remarks on being a skinny ass. According to the same medical scale that said I weighed 178 on 5/1/2003, I now (as of 7/19/2003) weighed 158. Woah. I have started my workout program which I hope will eventually prepare me for going to a real gym and hiring a real trainer so I can get the Spider-Man body conversion done going. Take a seat, Miss Dunst, this may take a few months.

Before any gym stuff happens, I'm going to Prague. I leave Saturday. The dog is set to go to lockup on Friday. Everything is aligning. I still need to get some traveller's cheques and pack some clothes. I am supposed to ferry back some of OktoberNight's excess baggage. Joy. I fear I will be carrying a massive mound of stuff into the Hertz bus when I return to Philly. I won't be able to return it until I visit Houston near the end of August, so I assume I will be tasked with transporting The Non-Essentials. I will report here from the Internet cafes in Prague once I arrive on Sunday. Stay tuned.

Going to see T3 tonight with my coworkers. This may serve as a shakedown on what I can and can't handle liquor-wise when I'm in Prague. Dropping 20 pounds has hella-affected my tolerance, not that I wasn't already a cheap date before. Do they have light beer in Czech?

sam sung, we listened

2003.07.16 12.01

I recently bid on another Matrix phone on eBay. I didn't win the auction. I guess I lucked out that I got my phone at cost because they are reselling for $800 to $900 now. I've received my first ever spams from other eBay users as a result. They must be thinking it's O.K. to solicit me to buy something outside the eBay system since I was interested in this phone. Wrong. I've reported every one of them. Some people, man. If the price is high you can always buy a dummy version of the phone from Samsung that has no components inside, but I'm not sure what the attraction is. ''Look at my cool non-functional phone!'' Loser! I'll bet most people who got the real phone keep them sealed. I use mine. A lot. It is set to ring like the hard-line analog telephones from the movie. Once I was standing in the elevator holding my groceries when it started to ring. Other people in the elevator were startled to hear it. I told them not to worry -- the answering machine in my shoe would get it.

Did my first upper body workout yesterday. Very sore today. I'm working on de-scrawning the physique. Getting a Spider-Man body is the final goal. I will not be crawling up the sides of buildings to prepare, however. Making out with Kirsten Dunst in the rain, however, works for me.

To make things more interesting, I recently got a short summer haircut and have been spiking up my hair. Right after I did it Spike Lee threatened to sue me for misusing his name. What's his freakin' deal?

On Monday I received a very weird message from some dude pissed off that I had mentioned Anne Murray's name in a less than positive tone. He had been reading entries I'd posted in 2001, but that didn't matter to this joker. He called me a freak, told me to leave ''Annie'' alone, and then threatened me with more taunts of freak and that my whole web site sucked. Riiiight. So, I wrote his ISP, forwarded them his messages with full headers, and let them know this guy was harassing me and had violated their End User Agreement. So, a word to the wise, to eBay spammers, and to people with nothing better to do than defend Anne Murray -- don't F with the Super Genius.

phenomenon

2003.07.15 12.54

Four coworkers and myself traveled to King of Prussia, PA to see ''Matrix Reloaded'' on the IMAX. We briefly visited the Champs restaurant and bar. Good looking crowd for the most part (i.e. ''good looking crowd'' is what I say... ''hot chicks abounded'' is what I thought). This was my first experience at seeing the new processing done to normal film that allowed it to be properly shown at the IMAX. It was amazing! So sharp. So clear. They got the aspect ratio to almost match up with the IMAX screen (just some minor unused screen area at the top and bottom). What a great way to watch a movie! I am ready to go see it there again. When will T3 get this treatment? Lord of the Rings? Back to the Future? Hey, I can dream, can't I?

The weekend has also come and gone. I don't recall doing anything of consequence on Friday night. Saturday I went to Buddahfest 6 which was held at a little pub off 15th and South. Fellow coworkers and I imbibed and listened to the bands play. We then proceeded to The Ministry of Information. I'd never been there, but I had visions of high tech coolness. It was located in Northern Liberties -- one of the many sub-areas of downtown Philly which itself is called Center City. We came to the corner of our destination and I remarked that the pub with chain link fence on the windows was so ghetto. It couldn't have been the Star Trek-esque Ministry of Information that I had imagined. Wrong. We went in. Total dive. I didn't have to stay there long. We eventually found our way back to Silk City diner and had a snack before taking cabs back to our respective homes and/or cars. On Sunday I had a splitting headache for most of the day and didn't accomplish anything outside of whining about aforementioned headache and wondering aloud how quickly the Tylenol gelcaps dissolve in my belly.

dude, where's my rental car?

2003.07.10 12.03

Last night I bought some free weights, a jump rope, and a medicine ball from Dick's Sporting Goods. I parked in this spot in the back of my building that I highly covet. It is often taken but not last night. I went inside and was quite happy. I woke up this morning quite happy. I walked the dog and picked up some coffee... while quite happy. I returned the dog and walked outside to get in my car. Car not there. Oops. I had one of those heart skip moments. Then I called the two private towing firms -- neither had my car. They recommended I call the Philadelphia Parking Authority. Car there. I took a taxi to 2501 Weccacoe. Showed my license and rental car keys to 3 different people. Paid $100 to release car. Got $25 parking ticket as souvineer of my trip. Drove to work... not quite happy. I'm going on a paid parking place hunt when I get home late tonight. Going to see ''The Matrix Reloaded: IMAX Experience'' with some friends from work. When I post again I will reveal my secret nearly fat free pizza snack recipe. Pizza snacks make me quite happy. Tow truck drivers suck, however. That is all. Please return in 24 hours (everyone except Renee).

damaged

2003.07.09 11.08

Getting injured left and right. Yesterday the rental car scraped my right thumb when I shoved my computer bag out of sight under the dash. Later at home I lost my balance while undressing and landed on my left foot. No OH- was involved, either. Good thing I am self-repairing.

Bought Morpheus, Trinity and Neo figures by McFarlane Toys last week. They are sitting on my desk unopened. I think I will free Morpheus first.

I am thisclose to buying my ticket to Prague. I have been playing mail tag with the passport office. The new passport will supposedly appear just a week before my departure. Nothing like cutting it close. That seems to be the defacto standard if you are a Real World cast member. I only watch because the Osbournes follow it. Last night's new Osbournes episode, by the way, was so damn funny. Ozzy has finally mastered the ''Radio On'' and ''Radio Off'' command for his car. A bonus episode followed called ''Jack Osbourne: Back from Rehab.'' It was interesting for about 10 minutes, but the repetition got tedious and turned me off. My cable modem was not responding so I played the Comcast ''Please Fix My Modem'' game. Total Playing Time: 35 minutes. Not bad. We began our match with a session of ''Why You Can't Find My Account'' and then followed with a round of ''My Name Is Misspelled Can You Fix It?'' We later moved on to match wits playing ''Let Me Help You Help Me.'' Before I knew it we were in the middle of ''Please Stop Talking And Let Me Hang Up'' and it was over. Good times.

stub

2003.07.07 16.39

So this morning I am walking the dog and wearing flip flops, stone colored pants, and a white shirt. The air is clean and brisk. On the way out I notice the trashcan that has been overflowing for the last six days. It continue to runneth over. The chemical backhand smell of fresh paint is in the air. There are moron painters painting the building. Do they know it rained all last night? Do they care that it's supposed to rain again tonight? Oh well, not my problem, right? I finish the walk and return to the building. The elevator opens. Some dude carrying 8 or so heavy steel 2x4's stumbles out of the elevator. This brilliant lad has decided to save himself some time and has put long copper pipes inside the steel 2x4's. As he exits I am nearly swiped across the head. ''Ha ha. What a way to get a workout, right,'' he says as he attempts to stumble his way out into the hall. I'm about to say something when suddenly, just as the doors are closing, one of the pipes SMACKS me on the big toe as I sidestep the dude as he rapidly loses his balance. I figured that was close... until I see a pool of blood spurting out of my foot. Nice. My dog of course is oblivious and proceeds to check me out. Down doggy! Down! I'm so pissy I smack the inside of the elevator. Everything was going so well. I limp into my apartment and bleed for something like 15 minutes. I eventually figure out a way to leave. I'm still upset at this point and thoughts of a lawsuit are dancing about in my head. No such luck. The accidental workout guy is long gone. A kind friend offered stinging alcohol and a bandaid once I got to work. I think I've got a couple of years without owning a bandaid. Even the aforementioned moving injuries didn't require one. I don't think they make bandaids for your busted lip. I am feeling better now, but I'm still pissed -- I want that skin back.

Saw ''Terminator 3'' and ''Charles Angels: Full Throttle'' over the long weekend. They were both great. Really nice to see Arnold back in his signature role. The door is wide open for T4 which I like a lot. Of course the door was wide open for Alien 5 but that doesn't seem to be surfacing any time soon. I still have a few others to see. In the meantime I am keeping myself busy trying to shoot my way out of the city post office thanks to ''Enter The Matrix.'' At least I'm able to fly forward in slow motion through the air in a corkscrew motion and shoot two guns at the same time with deadly precision. It's the little things, right?

subtle settle seatle

2003.07.03 15.46

Forgot to mention this. The highlight of my first night after moving in happened at 3 AM. A couple was attempting to guide their seriously inebriated female friend down the sidewalk. The drunkard fell to the ground. There was some yelling from the male. He threw his hands up in the air and walked off. The female spent a few moments steadying her friend. After a few missteps, they were both walking down the street again. All of this right in front of my window (albeit three floors below). Niiice! And yesterday afternoon some guy screamed at the cars in front of him when they didn't move fast enough after the green. Does the fun ever stop?

I didn't make it to the movies. Had a headache and was still behind on sleep. Earlier on the way home I'd hit the Fresh Fields (a grocery store here) and bought food items as I had none. My dinner consisted of fake crabmeat sprayed with the concoction known as ''I Can't Believe It's Not Butter'' and mini peeled carrots which I dipped in lumpfish caviar. Crackers are bad, mmm'kay? Two Tylenols (for the aforementioned headache) and a diet Cherry Coke topped it off. Gross, you say? Nuh uh! It's a lifestyle change, not a diet. That's my new mantra. My old mantra was that ''Big Mac, Filet of Fish, Quarter Pounder, French Fries'' song.

plug me in

2003.07.02 16.00

Trying to get this done soon. Did I mention that Mujiber -- the same Mujiber and Sirajul who worked in the store next to the David Letterman Theater -- took the photo that I will be using? Isn't that special?

Going to see Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines tonight! So excited. Going solo (of course). Woo. Reminded of 1991 when my dad and I saw T2 on opening night. The next day we decided to see it again, but being the Ferris Bueller types that we are, we decided to see if my dad could re-use the ticket from last night by just covering up the date. My challenge was to pick up a ticket from the parking lot and cover up the time. We both got in. Ahhhh. Good times. There's nothing like committing minor petty theft with the parent, right?

Done moving. Feel tired and achey. Finished moving objects at 4 AM. Returned to my old apartment this morning and cleaned up for a couple of hours. The damage of moving?

• 1 cut index finger (on some kitchen packaging)
• 1 split lip (while dismanteling the base on a monitor)
• 6 trips moving my smallish objects packed inside my 2 suitcases
• 2 trips moving my newly acquired black leather sofa and chair
• 1 trip moving aforementioned lip splitting monitor and my dog crate
• 1 trip moving pine IKEA desk easily
• 1 horrible, slow, painful trip moving the mattress
• 1 not-so-horrible trip moving the bedspring
• Developed impending sense of dread everytime I had to roll my moving dolly over cobblestone
• Donated my uncomfortable pine chair, pine dinner tray, pine shelving, and small table to the concierge who agreed to back up my story of ''Hey, I didn't move. I was just going to the airport.''

all the latest three days after it happens

2003.07.01 10.15

Munching on beef jerky and a rice cake while drinking coffee from the ''Caf.'' There's this little self-serve Starbucks counter there and 5 big containers of coffee. Almost all of them were empty. I did manage to fill 18 ounces of my 20 ounce (Venti) cup with 4 of the normal coffees. I went ahead and topped off the last 2 with decaf. I hope I make it on only 18 ounces of caffeine.

I signed all of the apartment papers this past week and got my keys last night. The move out and move in is happening so fast that the apartment I am entering is kinda dirty. I will try to get my place as clean as possible. One jacked up thing is that my complex has a Move Out fee of $100. What is this for? Is someone going to help me for that much money? I didn't pay a Move In fee (even though I hear they have one). All I brought with me when I moved in was a freaking suitcase. I have to pay $100 to bring up my suitcase? What if I took it outside and put it in the car later that day. Another fee? So stupid. Stupid, stupid. The new place doesn't have the fee, although I hear they arbitrarily reinstate it whenever they feel like it. I'm not sure if I will suffer a double F'ing of fees or not. I plan to claim Texas has a No Move Out Fee law that covers its citizens abroad. If that doesn't work I'm sure moving in the dead of night will work as Plan B.