quick quick update. yay!
check the flickr for pictures! yay!
there's a link on the right side of the screen. yay!
hmmm. that was all actually dictated to me by andrew. now...we arrived back in london this morning. Holland was pretty amazing. had alot of fun there. the weather was gorgeous...and. I don't think I've ever seen so many bicycles in my life. lol.
I got really sick on the ferry last night. that was loads of fun. but andy took good care of me.
I think we're off to the British Museum today. then to meet our second set of couchsurfers, thom and sean. ;) pretty excited about meeting them.
will try to blog again soon.
for now.
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Sunday, May 10, 2009
no title..that I can think of..
quick note, don't have much time. been traveling quite a bit, haven't stopped long in one place. my phone, which I was hoping to use to get online and blog won't charge, so not sure what that's about. only time we have to blog or email is paying for internet at internet cafes. right now we're at the Harwich International Port, having arrived a few minutes ago from Bath, England where we spent 2 nights. we showed up here on the bus, not knowing if they'd let us go anywhere. after much debate over whether or not they "have any room left" on a boat the size of a small city, they decided they could sell us a ticket. we're booked to leave in a few hours on an overnight ferry to Holland. there we'll try and find our way to Amsterdam for a couple of nights, and then back to the coast to ferry back here. then back to london for a few days, and then home. currently we don't know anything about where we're going. I know we're going to a port on the coast, we'll have to find our way to amsterdam by train or bus, and then find our hostel. then retrace our steps back. not sure if we'll have time get on the internet at all. hope to write more in a few days.
oh, and I'm hoping to get some pictures online soon. we'll see.
Andy
oh, and I'm hoping to get some pictures online soon. we'll see.
Andy
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Gap the Mind
First blog post from London. what to say, what to say... I don't really know if I have the energy to write a post..but I've been asked for an update, and so I will oblige. I think I can manage a brief rundown of the 3 days so far and perhaps a few pictures...
Mary-Beth and I flew out of houston at 4pm on Sunday. that went ok, although neither of us had slept much in 2 days. we had a 9 hour flight to get to London, upon which we tried to sleep, (no luck,) and watched a few movies. I watched Bedtime Stories with adam sandler, and thought it was a delight. oh and Valkyrie. wow. good movie. surprised I liked it but I did. very enjoyable.
we arrived in London at 8am on monday. London time. in other words, early. we found our hotel, left our luggage there, but obviously we couldn't check in at 8am. so we explored a bit, went to find Platform 9and3/4s from Harry Potter. idk why, just cause I felt like rubbing it in sarah's face that I'd been there...:P
then we went to a lovely place called Covent Garden, which was an outdoor mall/flea market/preformance square. and we walked around and watched ppl. it was fun, even though we were absolutely exhausted. we were falling asleep every time we sat down. eventually we went a took a wee nap in Hyde park, but it was quite cold, so we went back to our hotel. they let us check in early, so we went to our room, and fell straight asleep. and really didn't get up untill 8am the next morning. occasionally we'd be up for a bit, but there wasn't much to do besides watch british telly, which is rubbish, so we slept mostly.
tuesday morning we got up, and explored London more, hit some of the big tourist spots, Big Ben and so on. we were both still tired though, on the wrong time schedule, we hadn't yet met or heard from the person we were supposed to stay with, and we were a bit grouchy. I personally was feeling that London was a fairly unfriendly town, as we'd yet to talk to a single person. of course, I'm sure some of that was in us, not the fine people of London. so, we went and met Maria, our host for a few nights. she's from Greece, though she's lived in London for a few years now. she was very nice. awesome in fact. I can give more details later, but she took us to dinner for amazing jamaican food, and then to a pub to talk. it was a blast. today, we are back on the town, just visiting various sites we wanted to see. in a few days we plan to leave London, and see a few other places in England. I'll try and find time to write more later.
ps. feel free to email, we do check when we get a chance. laters
Mary-Beth and I flew out of houston at 4pm on Sunday. that went ok, although neither of us had slept much in 2 days. we had a 9 hour flight to get to London, upon which we tried to sleep, (no luck,) and watched a few movies. I watched Bedtime Stories with adam sandler, and thought it was a delight. oh and Valkyrie. wow. good movie. surprised I liked it but I did. very enjoyable.
we arrived in London at 8am on monday. London time. in other words, early. we found our hotel, left our luggage there, but obviously we couldn't check in at 8am. so we explored a bit, went to find Platform 9and3/4s from Harry Potter. idk why, just cause I felt like rubbing it in sarah's face that I'd been there...:P
then we went to a lovely place called Covent Garden, which was an outdoor mall/flea market/preformance square. and we walked around and watched ppl. it was fun, even though we were absolutely exhausted. we were falling asleep every time we sat down. eventually we went a took a wee nap in Hyde park, but it was quite cold, so we went back to our hotel. they let us check in early, so we went to our room, and fell straight asleep. and really didn't get up untill 8am the next morning. occasionally we'd be up for a bit, but there wasn't much to do besides watch british telly, which is rubbish, so we slept mostly.
tuesday morning we got up, and explored London more, hit some of the big tourist spots, Big Ben and so on. we were both still tired though, on the wrong time schedule, we hadn't yet met or heard from the person we were supposed to stay with, and we were a bit grouchy. I personally was feeling that London was a fairly unfriendly town, as we'd yet to talk to a single person. of course, I'm sure some of that was in us, not the fine people of London. so, we went and met Maria, our host for a few nights. she's from Greece, though she's lived in London for a few years now. she was very nice. awesome in fact. I can give more details later, but she took us to dinner for amazing jamaican food, and then to a pub to talk. it was a blast. today, we are back on the town, just visiting various sites we wanted to see. in a few days we plan to leave London, and see a few other places in England. I'll try and find time to write more later.
ps. feel free to email, we do check when we get a chance. laters
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
On the road again...
For you that don't know. I moved to California. And am now in Canada for a bit.
Let us recap for a moment... 'us' meaning me. Hmm.. the TV just flashed a strange white light at me. what does this mean? i dont know. moving on...
Got up around 0430 monday. Headed to the airport via Sbux. Realized at the metal detectors that I had retardly packed all my toiletries in my carryon. Why are they called toiletries? My toothpaste has nothing to do with the toilet!
Anyway. So I lost my shaving cream, hair gel, and toothpaste.
But I got to keep my razor.
Hmmmm. Strange rules, these. oh well.
Flight was nice. 1.75 hours. not bad. The lady doing the annoucements inflight was hilarious! I dont think most ppl were paying attention but it was quite funny. Harbuck kind of humor.
I like early morning flights. They're on time. My luggage was already at the baggage claim by the time I got there. sweeeet. I then grabbed a taxi to the Ferry Terminal. I was really hoping for a taxi driver that wasn't middle eastern just so I could say I met one that wasn't. Alas, no luck there.
Made it to the ferry on time. Which was good cuz if i missed it i would have never made it to the final ferry for canada. They even had wireless onboard.
Ferry took about an hour. Then I went looking for the bus. No bus but there were a bunch of people standing around looking bored, so I joined them. Yay, a bus came. Glory be.
Bus #1. not much to tell. At least the driver annouced the stops so I sorta knew were I was... when I could understand him, that is. rode for about 30 min. jumped off. immediately got on next bus.
Bus #2. took about an hour. this driver did not announce ANY stops. So i had no idea where I was. but as it turns out the lady in front of me was going the same place I was... and asked the driver about it. So I found out.
Bus #3. This bus stop was in the middle of nowhere. well not nowhere.. just the middle of backcountry redneckville. I was afraid for my life.
Bus #4. Ah, good times. The man across from me had just gotten out of jail a few minutes before. For beating a man. At this point I was even more afraid for my life. Him and the fellow next to him had a lengthy conversations about their run-ins with the law, time served, and such pleasantries. I attempted to avoid direct eye contact just for good measure. meanwhile, this bus driver also did not announce stops. But luckily the good Lord saw fit to grace me with a keen eye, and I happened to notice the small sign for the black ball ferry line.
Getting on the ferry was quite simple. Guy barely looked at my passport.
I forgot to mention earlier that I was 2 seals in the lake from a bridge we went over earlier. I think thats the first time I'd ever saw a seal. Unless Andy and I saw one on our east coast trip and I've forgotten it.
Anyway. Ferry took about an hour and a half. Now rememeber, that I'm carring a laptop bag, a backpack, and a heavy duffle bag. So anywhere I go, I have to carry all these around. Even the bathroom. I cant set them down and go look around the ferry. I have to lug them around with me. By the end of the day I was quite fatigued. mostly my shoulders. took about 90 minutes to get to Victoria.
Customs.
good times.
Sooo, I showed my passport. answered the man's questions. why i was here, where i was going and such. Of course I can't tell him I'm coming to work. Then he asks how I know the guy im going to see. Which of course I've never even met the guy and i dont know where he lives. So... i make up something. my brains going at the speed of light here trying to make up something that sounds plausible and halfway true if possible and also remember what i'm not suppose to tell him and try to anticipate what's coming next. He just nods and says ok. Hands me back my passport.
Whew. I'm through.
"Sir, you've been randomly selected by the computer for.... blah blah blah"
Translation: little interrogation room
"Randomly selected" my foot.
*le sigh* (to borrow from the master)
So, I get all my bags searched.. guy's asking me about all my stuff. I really should have prepared for something like this. But who cares. Im winging it.
And the questions just start coming rapid fire. about everything. Who I am. Where I come from. What my job is. Where I'm going. Why I'm going. Who Im going to see. I stupidly put down 21 days as my length of visit. Which is a long time to just visit, i guess. Then he asks me how I know the guy i'm going to see. Truthfully, I DON'T know the guy. never met him and only talked like twice on the phone. But of course I can't say that. So I sorta made up something. It was almost the truth... but not really. Close enough I think. And about halfway through my explanation I realize I told the other guy something totally different about how I knew the guy. Crap. Too late to change now. Let's hope they don't talk to each other. Then he starts asking me how much cash I brought. And how much I could get my hands on. What? why does he need to know how much cash I can get my hands on? I sorta made up something there too. I wasnt gonna tell him how much money i had. Then he starts asking about my credit cards.. debit cards.. blah blah.... meanwhile asking me about all the stuff in my bags.
but eventually I got out. I guess I wasn't suspicious enough.
Got out. Met Dave. Went to Red Robins for a burger. DELICIOUS. Left my bags and laptop in the back of his truck to see if anyone would take them. I actually remembered shortly after we went in. And I thought about for at least 10 minutes. And finally I decided not to go back out there. If all my stuff gets stolen.... well then maybe I'm not supposed to have it.
Yes I know its weird. But I was strangely ok with it.
No one stole anything. So I guess I'm supposed to have my stuff for awhile longer.
Drove around the city a bit. sorta took the scenic route to Dave's place. really nice place. tons of people out walking and biking. everywhere.
Got to the house. met the peeps. went to walmart. replaced my toiletries. and pickup up a webcam so i can talk to the folks back home. As using my cell phone up here is like 80cent/minute. Which is RETARDED.
Not much else. Worked today. I'm exhausted.
Canada's cool. I give it a thumbs up. May have to stay if US's economy crashes.
here's to new adventures.
Let us recap for a moment... 'us' meaning me. Hmm.. the TV just flashed a strange white light at me. what does this mean? i dont know. moving on...
Got up around 0430 monday. Headed to the airport via Sbux. Realized at the metal detectors that I had retardly packed all my toiletries in my carryon. Why are they called toiletries? My toothpaste has nothing to do with the toilet!
Anyway. So I lost my shaving cream, hair gel, and toothpaste.
But I got to keep my razor.
Hmmmm. Strange rules, these. oh well.
Flight was nice. 1.75 hours. not bad. The lady doing the annoucements inflight was hilarious! I dont think most ppl were paying attention but it was quite funny. Harbuck kind of humor.
I like early morning flights. They're on time. My luggage was already at the baggage claim by the time I got there. sweeeet. I then grabbed a taxi to the Ferry Terminal. I was really hoping for a taxi driver that wasn't middle eastern just so I could say I met one that wasn't. Alas, no luck there.
Made it to the ferry on time. Which was good cuz if i missed it i would have never made it to the final ferry for canada. They even had wireless onboard.
Ferry took about an hour. Then I went looking for the bus. No bus but there were a bunch of people standing around looking bored, so I joined them. Yay, a bus came. Glory be.
Bus #1. not much to tell. At least the driver annouced the stops so I sorta knew were I was... when I could understand him, that is. rode for about 30 min. jumped off. immediately got on next bus.
Bus #2. took about an hour. this driver did not announce ANY stops. So i had no idea where I was. but as it turns out the lady in front of me was going the same place I was... and asked the driver about it. So I found out.
Bus #3. This bus stop was in the middle of nowhere. well not nowhere.. just the middle of backcountry redneckville. I was afraid for my life.
Bus #4. Ah, good times. The man across from me had just gotten out of jail a few minutes before. For beating a man. At this point I was even more afraid for my life. Him and the fellow next to him had a lengthy conversations about their run-ins with the law, time served, and such pleasantries. I attempted to avoid direct eye contact just for good measure. meanwhile, this bus driver also did not announce stops. But luckily the good Lord saw fit to grace me with a keen eye, and I happened to notice the small sign for the black ball ferry line.
Getting on the ferry was quite simple. Guy barely looked at my passport.
I forgot to mention earlier that I was 2 seals in the lake from a bridge we went over earlier. I think thats the first time I'd ever saw a seal. Unless Andy and I saw one on our east coast trip and I've forgotten it.
Anyway. Ferry took about an hour and a half. Now rememeber, that I'm carring a laptop bag, a backpack, and a heavy duffle bag. So anywhere I go, I have to carry all these around. Even the bathroom. I cant set them down and go look around the ferry. I have to lug them around with me. By the end of the day I was quite fatigued. mostly my shoulders. took about 90 minutes to get to Victoria.
Customs.
good times.
Sooo, I showed my passport. answered the man's questions. why i was here, where i was going and such. Of course I can't tell him I'm coming to work. Then he asks how I know the guy im going to see. Which of course I've never even met the guy and i dont know where he lives. So... i make up something. my brains going at the speed of light here trying to make up something that sounds plausible and halfway true if possible and also remember what i'm not suppose to tell him and try to anticipate what's coming next. He just nods and says ok. Hands me back my passport.
Whew. I'm through.
"Sir, you've been randomly selected by the computer for.... blah blah blah"
Translation: little interrogation room
"Randomly selected" my foot.
*le sigh* (to borrow from the master)
So, I get all my bags searched.. guy's asking me about all my stuff. I really should have prepared for something like this. But who cares. Im winging it.
And the questions just start coming rapid fire. about everything. Who I am. Where I come from. What my job is. Where I'm going. Why I'm going. Who Im going to see. I stupidly put down 21 days as my length of visit. Which is a long time to just visit, i guess. Then he asks me how I know the guy i'm going to see. Truthfully, I DON'T know the guy. never met him and only talked like twice on the phone. But of course I can't say that. So I sorta made up something. It was almost the truth... but not really. Close enough I think. And about halfway through my explanation I realize I told the other guy something totally different about how I knew the guy. Crap. Too late to change now. Let's hope they don't talk to each other. Then he starts asking me how much cash I brought. And how much I could get my hands on. What? why does he need to know how much cash I can get my hands on? I sorta made up something there too. I wasnt gonna tell him how much money i had. Then he starts asking about my credit cards.. debit cards.. blah blah.... meanwhile asking me about all the stuff in my bags.
but eventually I got out. I guess I wasn't suspicious enough.
Got out. Met Dave. Went to Red Robins for a burger. DELICIOUS. Left my bags and laptop in the back of his truck to see if anyone would take them. I actually remembered shortly after we went in. And I thought about for at least 10 minutes. And finally I decided not to go back out there. If all my stuff gets stolen.... well then maybe I'm not supposed to have it.
Yes I know its weird. But I was strangely ok with it.
No one stole anything. So I guess I'm supposed to have my stuff for awhile longer.
Drove around the city a bit. sorta took the scenic route to Dave's place. really nice place. tons of people out walking and biking. everywhere.
Got to the house. met the peeps. went to walmart. replaced my toiletries. and pickup up a webcam so i can talk to the folks back home. As using my cell phone up here is like 80cent/minute. Which is RETARDED.
Not much else. Worked today. I'm exhausted.
Canada's cool. I give it a thumbs up. May have to stay if US's economy crashes.
here's to new adventures.
Friday, June 27, 2008
Street Rider
A few days ago, someone walked up to me on the street and asked me this question: "What's the sexiest mode of transportation?" I told him and I'll tell you. Scooter. I think I know a little bit about this. In march of this year, I moved back from Austin to Lufkin, and since that time, I've traveled almost exclusively by scooter. sure, every once in a while I borrow a car from Philip or Sam, and run downtown to go to the bank or something. However, it's rare. I work 5-6 days of the week, (still at Blockbuster, just a different store) and I get there and back riding a scooter. Check out me in action.
Try to tell me that's not sexy. actually, don't. if you don't think that scooter is sexy, just stop reading. never come back to this blog. I have logged your IP address, and if you ever come back here I will know. Not only will I know, I will tell other people, so everyone knows, and we will share a hearty laugh at your expense. so yeah... probably best if you didn't come back....
Back to the topic. scooting saves me quite a bit of time. I've walked to work, and scootered to work. scootering gets me there in anywhere from 1/2 to 1/3rd the time it takes to walk. it's quite fast, and that time adds up. I do get stopped on a fairly regular basis by "fans" who want to ask me questions about scootering. often they try to sell me a bicycle. It's my impression these people actually believe that I have never considered a bike before. While it's thoughtful of them to try and help, I have considered a bike. it's impractical for 2 reasons. #1. I don't have a convenient place to keep it at home. I could, in theory, carry it up the stairs every day, and through the apartment, and on to the balcony. however, that reeks of effort. I routinely sling my scooter on my back, and it will fit in the corner of the room and not bother anyone. Reason #2. I have no place to put a bike at work. there's no place to chain it outside, and I'd have to wheel it through the entire store to get it back to the storage room. Reason #3, the bonus reason, is that scootering is just so damn sexy. biking is just nerdy.
Now of course, scootering isn't for everyone. Indeed, it can be quite dangerous at times. in the past 2 weeks, I've had eggs thrown at me, water balloons hit me, run off the road by a car trying to hit me, and pulled over. by the cops. real cops. with uniforms and badges and everything. all of these events happened on the way home from work, scooting at 12:30 am, in the middle of the night. so maybe it's understandable. none of them bothered me too much. the getting pulled over actually amused me quite a bit. the cops were fairly friendly, just stopped the car, and when I went by, got out and asked me to come over. I was worried for a minute, as I'm slightly unsure of which roads I can legally scoot on. Fortunately, this wasn't why they were pulling me over. they said "we see you around this time of night a lot, and we just wanted to make sure you don't have any murder warrants out." I swear, that is an exact quote the senior of the two officers made. murder warrant. as I said, the whole episode was quite amusing to me.
Anyway, I'll leave you with that. if anyone is up to the challenge, borrow some kids scooter and scoot around for the day. let me know how it goes.
When I was looking for a blog title, I googled "street rider", and came across this picture. it's perfect. http://www.flickr.com/photos/ohcaptain/2138758011/
Try to tell me that's not sexy. actually, don't. if you don't think that scooter is sexy, just stop reading. never come back to this blog. I have logged your IP address, and if you ever come back here I will know. Not only will I know, I will tell other people, so everyone knows, and we will share a hearty laugh at your expense. so yeah... probably best if you didn't come back....
Back to the topic. scooting saves me quite a bit of time. I've walked to work, and scootered to work. scootering gets me there in anywhere from 1/2 to 1/3rd the time it takes to walk. it's quite fast, and that time adds up. I do get stopped on a fairly regular basis by "fans" who want to ask me questions about scootering. often they try to sell me a bicycle. It's my impression these people actually believe that I have never considered a bike before. While it's thoughtful of them to try and help, I have considered a bike. it's impractical for 2 reasons. #1. I don't have a convenient place to keep it at home. I could, in theory, carry it up the stairs every day, and through the apartment, and on to the balcony. however, that reeks of effort. I routinely sling my scooter on my back, and it will fit in the corner of the room and not bother anyone. Reason #2. I have no place to put a bike at work. there's no place to chain it outside, and I'd have to wheel it through the entire store to get it back to the storage room. Reason #3, the bonus reason, is that scootering is just so damn sexy. biking is just nerdy.
Now of course, scootering isn't for everyone. Indeed, it can be quite dangerous at times. in the past 2 weeks, I've had eggs thrown at me, water balloons hit me, run off the road by a car trying to hit me, and pulled over. by the cops. real cops. with uniforms and badges and everything. all of these events happened on the way home from work, scooting at 12:30 am, in the middle of the night. so maybe it's understandable. none of them bothered me too much. the getting pulled over actually amused me quite a bit. the cops were fairly friendly, just stopped the car, and when I went by, got out and asked me to come over. I was worried for a minute, as I'm slightly unsure of which roads I can legally scoot on. Fortunately, this wasn't why they were pulling me over. they said "we see you around this time of night a lot, and we just wanted to make sure you don't have any murder warrants out." I swear, that is an exact quote the senior of the two officers made. murder warrant. as I said, the whole episode was quite amusing to me.
Anyway, I'll leave you with that. if anyone is up to the challenge, borrow some kids scooter and scoot around for the day. let me know how it goes.
When I was looking for a blog title, I googled "street rider", and came across this picture. it's perfect. http://www.flickr.com/photos/ohcaptain/2138758011/
Friday, June 20, 2008
WherethehellisMatt?
hey guys, I know I posted about this here, when it first happened, but I figured I'd do a recap. Here's Matt's new video, which I participated in when he stopped in Santa Monica, CA.
and afterwards, just Matt and I.
and afterwards, just Matt and I.
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