you haul? yes.
2006.02.23 12.20
I spent the last weekend packing up things into boxes I procured from Lowe's. I did manage to hang out with my friends Kevin and Steve on Friday night, only to be negatively affected from a mix of intoxicants. I should have never opened that bottle of Yellowtail Chiraz! Ugh. I recovered enough on Sunday to complete everything necessary... until... I slammed my head into a corner walking full speed. There's a skylight in the ceiling on the 3rd floor loft in the house. Normally I'm inclined to stoop whenever I'm up there. For some reason I was standing straight up in the space where the skylight is. My mind was elsewhere -- as I soon realized when my upper right forehead made a giant THUNK sound. Lucky for me, my head if enormous and well crafted from solid skull. I winced briefly then went down to the ground. I quickly recovered and wobbled down the staircase into the kitchen where I filled up two glad sandwich bags full of ice. I returned to my room, turned down the lights, and decided the night was over. Minor whimpering ensued and I briefly wished my mommy was there.The next day was much better. The giant knot on my head had gone down and I was determined to arrive in Minneapolis by Tuesday. I'm leaving for Mardi Gras on Friday so I really need to get two solid days of work in this week. After some confusion on my part about where the 25 Septa bus was, I arrived at a seedy U-Haul rental shop with two chatty women who were pitching all sorts of unnecessary things to me. The pitches included: insurance (bah!), storage in Minneapolis (for what?) and a wicker hat (I hate wicker!). By 4 PM I'd completely loaded the truck and was on my way with Chew sitting shotgun, albeit on the floorboard of the truck. He wasn't interested in the passenger seat. Not enough room for his basset hound fanny, apparently.
I'd planned on filming the highlights of my trip for a possible podcast. I tossed out this idea after I realized there would be no highlights. It was quite the boring trip. I drove 8 hours and eventually stopped at a Motel 6 in Ohio. They're pet-friendly at Motel 6. Good to know. Chew got a fresh set of pillows to sleep on and I managed to squeeze in 7 semi-good hours of sleepy time.
We were off and away the next morning. The drive to Minneapolis took an additional 12 hours to complete. I had to make 5 stops for gas along the way with an average cost of $65 per tank. Ouch. I sampled Salt and Vinegar pork rinds in Illinois. They were yum! Trust me on this. Chew also dabbled with the rinds, but I think the sour aspect confused him. He's a simple dog.
Is there a shorter name for Minneapolis? Minny, perhaps? Well, when I arrived in Minny, I unloaded the truck in just under an hour in 20 degree weather. My apartment window faces the street, so I was able to toss my softer items such as bags of clothes, pillows and parts of my bed (!?) through the open window. My only massive item was the pinball machine body which probably weights 100 pounds. I treated it like a deadlift and had absolutely no problems. My IKEA sofa was no problem as well, although transporting my bed's mattress is always a challenge to sanity. I assembled a few things here and there and then crashed once again.
The next morning I awoke at 6 AM because the truck had to be moved off the street by 7 AM. Parking outside is not permitted between 7 - 9 AM and 4 - 6 PM. I'd originally planned to return the truck that morning, but since this is a 6 day / 1430 mile limit rental, I figured I'd drive it to work instead. Why not? People I know here remembered that I'd driven into town and figured it was my truck. It could also be that I'm the only person using their U-Haul truck as a rental car, but eh, you do what you've got to do.
packing up is hard to do
2006.02.17 6.22
I had a couple of experiences in the last two weeks that made me wonder about the local moniker City of Brotherly Love. I'll just touch on the highlights.- I was asking a guy sitting next to an empty bench if he planned to sit down. He said no. Just as I was about to sit down, some total other guy walked right in front of me and sat down exactly where I was about to park. I explained my situation and he told me he didn't care. Too bad.
- I was buying something at the local deli and they were running my debit card. I stepped aside so this guy next to me could check out. He moved in the direction I moved, so I moved the other way -- and then he moved the other way, too. I was thinking this guy is a moron -- but I was thinking it silently. He pipes up and says, ''Stop friggin' dancing.'' Isn't that nice?
- I buy something from Cinnebon and realize I need a plastic fork. I take a fork from this chinese buffet place dispenser that I'm standing next to. The guy at the buffet starts yelling at me and threatening to call mall security. Admittedly, I think this was the only real breach of etiquette that I crossed, but I didn't think it deserved contact with The Man. I quickly left -- still in possession of my pilfered plastic fork.
This weekend, I went to Lowe's and bought packing boxes and sarah wrap tape. You wind this around things to protect them, plus it's not sticky. It's a little unwieldy, but I'm getting used to it. My truck for moving is scheduled for pickup first thing Monday morning. The trip that I'm going to take will easily take up two days. I'm going to have my SIRIUS S50 satellite receiver in the car to keep me entertained. I'll also have Chew Chew strapped into the passenger seat. I'm thinking about calling him Fred temporarily. I'll ask him to hang on to his *ss whenever the Bandit shows up, perhaps. I'm going to turn my move from PA to MN into my next podcast, so stay tuned. Marky and the Bandit, anyone?
mini soda update
2006.02.08 14.49
Pete the pit bull got dropped off at the PSPCA a few days before I had to leave for Minnesota. I'll miss Pete. They totally wanted me to drop him off at this other place that is well known for holding pit bulls for two days and then putting them to sleep. Forget that! I took him to PSPCA and played up how he might be injured and how they needed to look him over and nurse the little guy back to health. That's the cruel truth with those places -- the animal has to be injured for you to get them into the No-Kill place, but if they are healthy then the other place will take them. It's messed up, I know. I gave Pete a good bath the night before I took him in. I also carried him into the admissions complex when they finally relented and let me check him in to PSPCA. I think holding him made him look safer. I could hear him growl at some other dogs when they took him into the dog holding area, but that didn't seem to phase the girl that walked him over there. Still, I hope things turned out okay for the little guy.I'm sitting in my new cube in my new office building here in Minnesota and recovering from lunch. Pepitos. I had Chipotle yesterday, so essentially it was more of the same. Right now I'm waiting for Rational Application Developer (RAD) to install some optional tools. RAD is the version of Java software that IBM sells that essentially replaces WebSphere. I'm creating a test portlet using RAD by following this procedure. The cool part about this new project is that we're going to create a central hub of contact that any part of the business can plug into and share their business logic via portlets and/or web services. In plain English, we're building something like MyYahoo -- only for my client's industry. I'm stoked! It's makin' me smarter. I like that.
This is the place I'm looking at getting:
Date: 2006-01-31, 2:34PM CST Fantastic 1+ bedroom classic apartment in the Heart of Uptown! 1 unit is available NOW! The other for 4/1/06. I can hold the unit for 30 days with a partial deposit. LOCATED JUST 2 BLOCKS west of Hennepin on Lagoon Ave, you are close to EVERYTHING! Calhoun Square, Chino Latino, Williams, Lagoon Theater, Zeno, Figlio, Lunds, Design Within Reach, Ragstock, Dunn Brothers, Brueggers... the list goes on and on! If you love Uptown, this is your new apartment! Approx. 1,000 sq/ft, this unit has great hardwood floors, very cool oak built-ins, a ridiculous amount of windows and an extra sunroom! Dogs and cats are welcome, additional pet fees apply. Additional storage in the basement included in rent. Laundry in the building, 24hr on-call maintenance, we pay for heat, water and trash. yes -- cats are OK - purrr yes -- dogs are OK - wooof
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kfc test marketing chicken bowls
2006.02.01 14.08
My good buddies Joel and Duc were down for some KFC cookin' today. We planned an 11:30 AM trip away from The Big Insurance Company where I consult and they work. Actually, I work, too. Okay, that's confusing. Moving on. I still call KFC Kentucky Fried Chicken regardless of what their marketing department thinks. How did they surreptitiously slip the letters KFC in place of their former lengthy name? I've heard this was done because people think fried food will kill you. I'm sure it will, but then again, so will a drunk driver. I don't see them changing the name of alcoholic beverages. If they do then I'll have a DM with GG, please. Ummm. We ordered our meals and sat down to enjoy our food when we were interrupted by a marketing gal that was trolling the dining area. She was looking for volunteers to test a new food item that corporate was thinking about introducing. At least I think they were thinking. Maybe you won't think they were thinking when you read the rest of this. Our reward would be a $10 KFC gift cheque in exchange for our time. Of course, we signed up right there. First, they gave us a short paragraph that would introduce us to the product. I can't remember the exact words used, but I think ''convenience'' and ''lunch'' were there along with ''easy'' and ''delicious.'' It said this was a chicken bowl or chicken in a bowl meal or bowl of chicken or something. We then answered a few questions about our reaction to the paragraph. After that, they gave us a cracker and some water. This was meant to assure that our mouths would ''forget'' anything we had put in them earlier. Who decided a cracker and water were what did this? Give me some cash and I'll forget my mom's name, okay? Anyway, I ate the cracker and drank the water. I briefly considered doing the holy trinity thing with my hand, but I didn't want to be rude, so I digressed. I was quite disappointed by the heavy ass ingredients I saw when the fabled chicken bowl was finally presented to me. They started off with a base layer of mashed potatoes. On top of that was a layer of corn. Then on top and in the center of that was a biscuit. The biscuit was covered in what appeared to be gravy and then topped with melted cheese. Four or five fried chicken nuggets adorned the perimeter of the biscuit. I call this area The Biscuit-To-Bowl No Man's Land. We were given forks to try out this wacky concoction. After eating ''as much as we wanted to,'' we then answered a bazillion questions about if this was the food we were expecting (no) and if the ingredients were good (no) and if I had any suggestions (yes) and if each layer was of a consistency and flavor level to my satisfaction (sorta). I ate less than half the bowl. We had to reveal our name and phone numbers at the end of the test so I suspect a follow-up phone call may one day occur. Maybe. I wouldn't buy something so heavy in carbs and starch, so this chicken bowl thing isn't going to make it on my list of Must Have Foods anytime soon. Despite all that, the test marketing experience was sorta fun and I do have a nice $10 coupon on me. If you're hungry, let me know and I'll hook you up with my crazy KFC money.
