Hit The North

2 feet on the ground???

2005-12-11T21:33:00.000-05:00

perhaps i missed something but in order to be taken out of the final chalange you had to have both feet hit the ground right? WHY NOT LAY ON THE GROUND WITH ONE FOOT ON SOMETHING ELSE?

sorry this has beccome a survivor blog, not that anyone reads this stuff but next week expect pics and dateing news.

survivor picks

2005-12-10T08:19:00.000-05:00

i figured i would go off topic here and post survivor predictions. since we will have a winner Sunday

Lydia: She's first because she's the easiest to talk about. She has no chance of winning. Even if she did make it into the final 2 (which i doubt) i can only see her winning if she was up against steph (and even that is kinda doubtful) mainly because the is the most undeserving survivor ever and EVERYONE KNOWES IT (and have been talking about it since the merge).

Stephanie: very little chance to win mainly because she has pissed off the majority of the jury. I don't see Judd, Gary, Jamie, Bobby John or Cindy voting for her under ANY circumstances unless she brings Lydia with her to the final 4. She's done well but the Jury is going to kill her if she gets to the final 2.

Danni: this is my pick to win it all mainly because if she makes it to the final 2 she'll win the vote against anyone (and if she does so against Lydia or steph it will be the first 7-0 jury vote on survivor ever.). THe only problem is that she'll have to win 2 challenges in a row to get to the final because the rest of the players know she'll mop up the jury. However i can see Rafe pulling a Colby and bringing her along, he seems to be a drama queen like that.

Rafe: probably the 2'nd most likely to win, the only reasons he might not is because he's pissed off jury people and secondly he may not be smart enough to bring the right person (aka the person he can win against) to the final 2 if he gets the chance to do so. Also what was with that speech about being the first open gay man on survivor? what about Rich from season 1 who set the fricking model of how to play the game?

insane TV

2005-11-29T21:32:00.000-05:00

Public access is certainly more interesting up here. Once of the most apeshit insane things i have ever seen is glengora who fills up hours of time with inane rambling, poorly told jokes, commentary on what is going on outside her window, and various legal fights against cable companies that try to trim her show down. FOr an example of the insanity you can look at http://www.achatwithglendora.com/

words can simply not describe this madness.

Black Friday in NYC

2005-11-25T19:56:00.000-05:00

Well i went to the city today for the firs time since moving up here. After forking out 17 bucks for a round trip train tix (honestly the cheapest way to go into the city parting was 8 bucks an hour at most places i saw and a taxie would have been even more) and 6 bucks for parking at the train station i took the express into grand central station itself an amazing place to look at. From there i went to the empire state building (passing the public library which looked much bigger in the day after tomorrow, BTW if you didn't think the whole boat in front of the library thing was bullshit before you will after seeing the area around the library), which was closed for some damn reason. After that i walked up 5'th aveto Rockefeller center to watch people skate (certainly didn't seem all that magical or anything but it was cool looking) and then walked over to times square.

By this point i felt i was missing out on BLACK TUESDAY SHOPPING MADNESS so i gave myself a concentrated fix by going into the huge 4 story toys are us in time square (with a full sized Farris wheel) after that bit of madness it was time for lunch which was fulfilled at the heartland brewpub and grill which had a really good oatmeal stout and a good black lager but who's red ale was pretty blah. The steak sandwich however was very good, i like that when i ask for a steak medium they make it pretty bloody, i would normally like to order steaks Rare but a history of doing so with my speech problem has taught me that it always comes out cooked to hell and back because it sound like i am saying well.

So after by drinks and lunch it was time to venture into international territory and visit the UN. after going though a airport like security screening i signed up for a tour which was kinda neet, the entire place reeks of 50-60 decoration style, they could use some updating.

After that it was back to the subway and back home, next time i head into town I'll hit the central park museum district. I'll have some pics up as soon as i stop being lazy and upload them.

The bagel Nazi

2005-11-23T18:00:00.000-05:00

I am finding Seinfeld a lot funnier since moving up here since i can see where the jokes comes from. Wednesday i think i ran into the bagel equivalent of the soup Nazi who got pissed at me because i didn't request a toaster bagel the right way. apparently it's supposed to be Toasted with i messed up and said toasted which apparently causes problems because the order taker's brain shuts off after hearing the type of spread and they never hear you say toasted until it's too late and they've already made your bagel. The bagel Nazi also didn't like it when i said "but i did say toasted. but at least i wasn't refused service or anything.

BTW they don't go easy on the cream cheese up here, i swear they slather on a 2 inch thick base of cream cheese, order the light cheese or the fat free cheese so you don't have an heart attack

Retard drivers

2005-11-17T19:41:00.000-05:00

I am constantly amazed at how bad the driving is up here, it's not just that people go to fast (they really don't) or reckless, most people here are very good. What's amazing is the number of totally obvious drivers that don't pay attention to what's happening around them. The worst example I've seen was a few days ago when a woman missed an entrance to barns and nobles and decided to slam on her breaks (this was on a really bust street, one of the mail ones going from Yonkers to white plans). To make matters worse she put her car into reverse and drove backwards at nearly full speed into a car that had to stop for her because she had stopped in front of him.

Another great moment in driving was in Yonkers. I had pulled into a pizzeria Uno for lunch and say in the intersection (same busy road at this point it's 6 lanes ) a car get honked at in the middle of a turn, the car stopped and blocked the south bound lane and the driver got out to go yell at the guy that honed at him, who himself got out and started yelling at each other like bobby john and Jamie if they had grown up in the hood instead of in bumfuck redneckville. after a bit of yelling their women got out and started yelling at each other (with plenty of head shaking and talk to the hands fly). This goes on for at least 5-10 minutes until the cops come in and start arresting people.

all and all it was a very entertaining piece of drama to watch, the bartender even jokes he was going to charge everyone at the bar a PPV price.

'Bed' + 'XXX' = ':)'

2005-11-01T21:41:00.000-05:00

just got the bed set up and a few Molson XXX in me... I am really looking forward to not sleeping on the damn floor.

i would take pictures (esp since the cats look happier than they have in a long time and are looking cute as heck sleeping on the bed right now) but i left my camera usb cable in Greenville.

FInally some good news

2005-11-01T18:26:00.000-05:00

well finally stuff is looking up. THe past few nights have sucked because I've been sleeping on the floor of my new place and overall have felt pretty down and stressed out. However stuff is starting to fall into place, I purchased a mattress and bed today which should be here sometime this evening so I'll finally have a decent nights sleep tonight. PLus it looks like i will have my stuff up here before the weekend. THe moving people FINALLY called me today and said he was picking up tomorrow and would drop it off on Thursday. so YAY and all that. I still haven't found a great place to et drinks at or a place that has an insane beer selection like specks in Houston but I'm keeping my hopes up. Besides i did find a place that sells THE BEST DAMN BEER EVER!!!! so I'm happy, plus i can get molson XXX pretty much anywhere (which is pretty strong stuff at 7.3% alc).

Oh i found a pretty kick ass sushi place today for carryout close to the office. It was a tiny place (perhaps 10 people could sit in it) but the sushi was good with a TON of fish in the rolls, no shortchanging with damn cucumbers or any of that lame junk.

new apartment

2005-10-30T08:55:00.000-05:00

New Apartment

well i found an place i kinda like and I've moved in. It would be considered a studio with a bedroom, the kitchen is a part of the living room but it has a separate bedroom. THe bathroom is small and only has a shower in it instead of a tub with shower (which sucks for someone like me who likes baths instead of showers). It's in the basement of an nice Chinese couples house, they gave me a map of the area since i keep on getting lost :)

However my first night sucked, since i do not have my furniture yet i have to sleep on a air mattress i brought with me, air mattresses and cats do not go well together, during the night one of the cats poked a hole in it (making said cat to go off matrix style, from what i remember the hissing sound made it run up one wall, walk across the ceiling and run down another wall.) and i was virtually sleeping on the floor... Overall the cats were out of control last night and kept me up, they kept on trying to claw their was to see out the windows (which are high up) and made a racket and they kept on trying to get in the closed closet door. Hopefully once my stuff gets here they will chill out a bit.

THe moving of my stuff here is turning into a stressor, the relocation broker were closed last week because of the hurricane but they never modified their VM to tell people that so all i knew was that they were not answering their phones. Eventually they got back in touch with me on Friday and everything became cool. THen the moving people called me and wanted to know if they could pick up a few days early which i don't mind but i need to organize with my mother on that and i never got back in touch with them so i don't know if they are showing up today or not, i did go ahead and have my mother go to my place in case they show up.

well off to get some tools today so i can put my desk together. Not to mention going to church. i'll have some pics up later to my empty audience.

Church is strange when you are a stranger

2005-10-23T18:08:00.000-05:00

Well I'm here, not much to tell other than apartments are DAMN small here (and cost a shitload) and i am constantly getting lost around here. Culturally the most shocking difference I've seen (other than driving style which i like) was when i went o church today with a local presbyterian PCA church.

1) choir. The church I've been going to does not have a choirs yet but once i do i doubt it will be like the one this church had. It was very much like what you would associate with a black Baptist church or a 'spirit filled' church which is fine muscly but i found it too masturbatory in a worship service and overall very distracting. And the congregation even applauded after each song which really seems against the god praising focus i associate presbyterian churches with.. Interestingly enough i noticed the majority of the elders were acting like me, not applauding and overall looking grumpy.. just like me :)

2) communion. Overall Communion seemed more ritualized, it seems like they do it weekly and overall it is very much more formal than what i had been getting at my last church. Plus they used actual wine from chalices which is unthinkable outside of Catholic churches in the south. Again I'm damn ignorant about churches so i don't know if this is a regional thing because of the influence of the Catholic church in the area or if the south is just odd in what they do (for the record i went with the wimp communion option with grape juice mainly because i didn't want to look stupid not knowing what to do with the wine and chalice and stuff)

Very odd experience however the gospel message was the same, that's a good sign (esp the preachers comment that focusing on the why were we selected for salvation was backwards thinking instead of thinking what we should do with out salvation).

The Cats

2005-10-15T08:33:00.000-05:00

Since the move isn't really in full swing yet (and I don't have much to post until I really get on the road) I figured I'd post about the other 2 things moving with me, my Cats (just in case anyone actually reads this crap). They are a little over 2 years old and are sisters (my friend John got them for me). For cats they are pretty laid back and friendly. They are named Rei and Misato.

here is Rei

and here is misato

Fat lady has sung

2005-10-14T20:10:00.000-05:00

well it must be official... i got the first half of my moving money from the company today much of it went right out the door to cover the moving company deposit and some of the late fees of me apartment lease breaking. I am really taking it hard up the ass from my apartment complex, on top of a 60 day notice i have to pay a month and a half of late fees and repay 120 for each month i have lived here because i have to repay the rent discount. I could have avoided all this by paying a extra 500 when i signed the lease but for some reason i figured my job was stable and i wasn't going to be moving. Money is going to a challenge, the company i am going to work for pays monthly so my first real check is going to be in December... November is going to be a tight ass month esp since i'll have to pay rent deposits. I'm going to have to take cash from my annuity to give myself breathing room.

I also picked up sat radio today. It was a tight choice between Sirius and XM but i chose XM mainly because of the better talk radio and NPR news.

This weekend is going to be damn busy on top of getting ready to move i have a friend from knoxville coming in to hang out before i head to NY Likely playing some disk golf, hanging out at the fall for greenville downtown, getting some sushi, and drinking. I'm going to try and talk him into church on sunday but that's kinda doubtful (his opinion of church is about like mine a few months ago).

Too many moves make Joel something something

2005-10-08T13:29:00.000-05:00

I HATE MOVEING!. THis is the 2'nd movie I've done this year and it sucks ass because of the sheer amount of CRAP i have. From my stupid fez collection to the ton of books i don't care to have to the tons of cd cases i never use because I'm too lazy to put cd's back into the cases to the stupid toys my mom gets me every year that just adds to the clutter. HECK i still have VHS tapes... why do i need them. And i won't even mention the computer parts and boxes that i don't need.

Since i am moving to a smaller place i am going to dump A LOT of this junk either try to sell it or haul it to the dump, Unforunally my mom is coming down to help and i expect a ton of nagging about stuff i am tossing out.

What is going on here

2005-10-08T07:32:00.000-05:00

I figure my first post should explain a bit about who i am, and what this Blog is about. My name is Joel (aka Harlock_jds on many forums) and i currently Live in Greenville South Carolina. What has prompted me to start this journal is that in about a week and a half i will be moving to somewhere in the area of Westchester County in New York. For those of you that don't know where that it is just north of New York City (about 35 mins from manhattan via rail). I figured i would start a journal of this experience in hopes that a 'southerner moves to the big bad Yankee city' blog might be amusing. Let me cover some questions people may have.

Why am I moveing? Pretty much the only reason i am moving is for employment. I Was let go from my last job at the beginning of august because of lagging sales and a moving away from technical customer training and this is the only job i have been able to find.
Am i aware that it's really expensive to live where i am moving. Am i aware that it's really expensive to live where i am moving. Yep i am fully aware of that and it has been my #1 concern in this process. My new job is paying me significantly more than my last one (to the tune of 20K more not including bonuses) and looking at some cost of living salary conversions i will be making slightly more there than here. Just about the only sacrifice I'll have to make is that i am living in a really nice apartment here in Greenville (2 BR, W/D hookup, Screened in porch, 9 foot ceilings) and i will have to get a downscaled place in NY which means getting rid of a lot of my stuff.
How can i afford to move?The company is paying for most of it including a place to stay for 3 weeks while i find another place. The only thing they aren't covering is some early termination fees i face down here.

That's it for now, next week is packing madness and selling crap i don't need.