So this is whats going on. I called and pushed my start date back to the 16th. This way my car will get there right when I get there and my stuff will get there a few days later, and I'll still have a few days to unpack and settle before starting. Otherwise I would have had to cut my impending Orlando trip short to come home and meet the movers OR take a day off my first day of work to meet the movers on the other end. This will be better. And I am now calmer.
And I got my graduation present from my parents: a new laptop. It is a HP Pavillion and its really pretty. The screen is awesome and its got a well-reviewed AMD dual core processor and alot of ram and a big hard drive and it was on sale. And it doesn't get hot and scorch my lap like my old one. I'm typing on it right now. Also... built in webcam so if you miss me I can now chat in person. Its cool, I used it this afternoon. And I will be offering virtual tours of my apartment as soon as I get moved in. But now I'm faced with the daunting task of actually setting up this computer. Re-storing all my passwords, transferring my pics and music, and reinstalling all my programs. Priority one was firefox and aim, so thats done but my firefox settings are all wonky. Anyways I'm heading up to Orlando and then I will hopefully have some time to do everything there.
Also, now I'm stuck with Vista because it costs $300 to buy the XP operating system and they were gonna charge $160 to install it. I didn't want to try installing an operating system by myself but $460 seems a little ridiculous for a soon to be unsupported OS just because I'm too lazy and stubborn to learn Vista. So... yucky though it is, I have it. Luckily I still have my old Office disk from my last computer so I don't need to upgrade to 07. New Excel and I will never get along and they will have to forcibly refuse to run 03 on my computer before I give it up. The others are fairly standard but not Excel. Sucks!
And finally, the best news. I'm coming up to Orlando which is exciting but also sad because it'll be my last time there until Homecoming and it'll never be the same again. Its weird having to go to Orlando and not stay in my own bed... I'm crashing with people and plenty have offered to put me up but Orlando really used to feel like home. Especially just this last year, with my job keeping me from coming back to my parents' house so much, and all my coworkers and my friends and my boyfriend all feeling like family. I really felt at home in Orlando. And then I left and now I'm just a visitor. But its good. I'm glad to get to visit. And I hope by the time I spend 4 years in Houston it'll start to feel like home too.
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Sunday, May 18, 2008
Mental Picture
I just want to save last night like a mental picture so I can remember, when I'm all alone in Houston, that things were better. Rami and I went to the baseball game with my parents. We got subs from La Spada which make these ridiculous sandwiches with a ton of meat and a lot of really good veggies then they cover it with more meat so it makes like a pocket of fun inside your food. And the ingredients are all really good... especially the italian meats. Ok anyways, so the food was good and the Marlins won and I just had alot of fun. And it makes me sad that these are 3 people that I'm gonna miss alot. I really enjoyed being my parents' kid, they made it fun (usually) and theyre cool people. And now I have to be a grown up, I know they're not just getting rid of me but it'll never be the same. And I don't know if it will ever be the same for me and Rami either. This could have been the last really great night we'll ever have. I don't want it to be. But I do want to remember it. Just in case...
In other news... PACKING starts tomorrow. I emptied out my car so I have to go through the boxes and see what needs to go to houston and what doesn't, go through my room and pack more stuff, and repack my plates in a bigger box that will actually close around them (theyre too tall for my current boxes). So... yeah should be exciting. By which I mean excruciating. But the sooner I finish, the sooner I can go to Orlando and say goodbye to everyone one last time.
Ok its dinner time. Gotta go while my mom is still willing to feed me.
In other news... PACKING starts tomorrow. I emptied out my car so I have to go through the boxes and see what needs to go to houston and what doesn't, go through my room and pack more stuff, and repack my plates in a bigger box that will actually close around them (theyre too tall for my current boxes). So... yeah should be exciting. By which I mean excruciating. But the sooner I finish, the sooner I can go to Orlando and say goodbye to everyone one last time.
Ok its dinner time. Gotta go while my mom is still willing to feed me.
Saturday, May 17, 2008
Stress!
As in, the only thing I got from my recent apartment hunt. Aside from, of course, an apartment. My mom (thank god she came with me because I would have fucked this up royally if left to my own devices) and I flew into Houston. We first went for a drive around the mall and saw a cute little apartment complex right behind it. Then we went to the hotel and googled it.... and some other things. This was how we found the other apartment complex we saw that day. The first was a little further down the road and was stuffy and expensive ($830 a month). Contrast that with the second place which had a sand volleyball court and a pool table and a little theater in the clubhouse and was about $30 cheaper. The next day we saw a million places. Some were old, some were really new (like still under construction). Some were really expensive (the highest one clocking in at $955... but they had an infinity pool overlooking the lake! hehe like I am moving to Texas for the swimming pools). By the time the day was over I couldn't remember one's crown molding from another vaulted ceiling or one linen closet from an in unit washer and dryer.
At the end it all we had narrowed it down to two... the cute one from the first day and one from the second day. So we decided we'd go back to both of them. Google maps put one at 6 miles 12 minutes from work and the other at 4 miles 11 minutes. Why two more miles and only one more minute? Traffic. Especially around the mall. While the other is 2 miles on Farm Road 270 which has, as you can imagine, nothing on it. No stop lights, no shopping centers... just a nice view of some swampy lake as you drive. That apartment is a little farther from civilization, though there is a grocery store right down the street (Farm Road 2094) in one direction and a big shopping center in the other: Super Target, Super Wal-Mart, Chili's, Chik-Fil-A, Payless Shoes, and some ubiquitous chain called Darque Tan (I will never understand why people in either Florida or Texas go to tanning beds... I walked to class and felt like I was in a tanning bed, save the paid sun for the people in New Hampshire and Utah). And the Kemah boardwalk which has a ferris wheel and a wooden roller coaster and is like this cute little seaside town with a bunch of seafood restaurants that look only a little sketchy. I guess you can figure by now that this is the one I chose.
And thats where the stress comes in: There were two things the other had going for it. First, it seemed geared a little younger and they had alot of activities already in place, like a card night every month and movies in the clubhouse every week. Second, it was in a really busy place-- this was a pro and a con, as you can see by my discussion on traffic. But it was near the mall and a bunch of restaurants and I wonder if I chose the other subconsciously to avoid being social and being able to go out. Am I putting myself in exile in South Shore when I could have lived nearly on top of a mall surrounded by 20-somethings? Maybe. After all I chose UCF over UF because I wanted to live somewhere with real things going on instead of Hicktown, Florida. This is kinda the opposite decision, to skip traffic and mall rats in favor of the quieter, prettier, just like Amityville-from-Jaws kinda town. So I am stressed over the decisions I made, but I guess its too late now. You want to know what was the biggest reason I chose the one over the other? Furniture placement. There was a place for my TV that left a big wall for my couch AND allowed me to watch TV from the kitchen. I guess I did have to decide whats most important to me. I have one TV and one Tivo and if I can't always watch them, what good are they.
After deciding on an apartment, my mom and I went to Rooms To Go. I found a bed I really like. http://www.roomstogo.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=showRoom&roo_id=1041 And a couch I think will be awesome. It is a sleeper couch of course, so you all can come visit. Its got low armrests so I can lie across is like a bed, and its comfy and microsuedey kind of material and... yeah I'm excited for my real furniture. http://www.roomstogo.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=showItem&ipac_id=14922 Also my parents have a cool table where the top rises up to be like real table level and pivots closer to the couch, perfect for eating on the couch. Since I have always eaten in front of the TV, I don't expect having a real job to change anything. But I dont't know if I can afford one. Or, even if I can, if I want to spend that kind of money right now. But we'll see. Also I went to Ikea yesterday and found a kitchen table with 4 chairs for $99. That place is funny. The Ikea in Houston is really far so I think I might buy the table here and have the movers move it to Houston with the rest of my stuff.
Then on Thursday since all the work was done my mom and I went to the space center. We went on the tram tour and saw the historic mission control and the Astronaut Training Facility. I went to both places... but I got to go in. On the regular people tour they take you to like viewing areas, separated by glass. Haha. So I felt special, showing my mom the places I saw and telling her things I knew that the people giving the tour didn't say. And one guy said "How do you know this?" "I'm gonna be working here," I said. "How much schooling do you need to work for NASA?" "Just a regular 4 year degree... in aerospace engineering." Yeah, I'm smart. So that was fun. Am I full of myself? Maybe just a little. But with the cool job I got I think I have a right to think I'm awesome. What do you think?
So you're thinking, save somethin for the next entry. Alright. That's all folks! ;-)
At the end it all we had narrowed it down to two... the cute one from the first day and one from the second day. So we decided we'd go back to both of them. Google maps put one at 6 miles 12 minutes from work and the other at 4 miles 11 minutes. Why two more miles and only one more minute? Traffic. Especially around the mall. While the other is 2 miles on Farm Road 270 which has, as you can imagine, nothing on it. No stop lights, no shopping centers... just a nice view of some swampy lake as you drive. That apartment is a little farther from civilization, though there is a grocery store right down the street (Farm Road 2094) in one direction and a big shopping center in the other: Super Target, Super Wal-Mart, Chili's, Chik-Fil-A, Payless Shoes, and some ubiquitous chain called Darque Tan (I will never understand why people in either Florida or Texas go to tanning beds... I walked to class and felt like I was in a tanning bed, save the paid sun for the people in New Hampshire and Utah). And the Kemah boardwalk which has a ferris wheel and a wooden roller coaster and is like this cute little seaside town with a bunch of seafood restaurants that look only a little sketchy. I guess you can figure by now that this is the one I chose.
And thats where the stress comes in: There were two things the other had going for it. First, it seemed geared a little younger and they had alot of activities already in place, like a card night every month and movies in the clubhouse every week. Second, it was in a really busy place-- this was a pro and a con, as you can see by my discussion on traffic. But it was near the mall and a bunch of restaurants and I wonder if I chose the other subconsciously to avoid being social and being able to go out. Am I putting myself in exile in South Shore when I could have lived nearly on top of a mall surrounded by 20-somethings? Maybe. After all I chose UCF over UF because I wanted to live somewhere with real things going on instead of Hicktown, Florida. This is kinda the opposite decision, to skip traffic and mall rats in favor of the quieter, prettier, just like Amityville-from-Jaws kinda town. So I am stressed over the decisions I made, but I guess its too late now. You want to know what was the biggest reason I chose the one over the other? Furniture placement. There was a place for my TV that left a big wall for my couch AND allowed me to watch TV from the kitchen. I guess I did have to decide whats most important to me. I have one TV and one Tivo and if I can't always watch them, what good are they.
After deciding on an apartment, my mom and I went to Rooms To Go. I found a bed I really like. http://www.roomstogo.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=showRoom&roo_id=1041 And a couch I think will be awesome. It is a sleeper couch of course, so you all can come visit. Its got low armrests so I can lie across is like a bed, and its comfy and microsuedey kind of material and... yeah I'm excited for my real furniture. http://www.roomstogo.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=showItem&ipac_id=14922 Also my parents have a cool table where the top rises up to be like real table level and pivots closer to the couch, perfect for eating on the couch. Since I have always eaten in front of the TV, I don't expect having a real job to change anything. But I dont't know if I can afford one. Or, even if I can, if I want to spend that kind of money right now. But we'll see. Also I went to Ikea yesterday and found a kitchen table with 4 chairs for $99. That place is funny. The Ikea in Houston is really far so I think I might buy the table here and have the movers move it to Houston with the rest of my stuff.
Then on Thursday since all the work was done my mom and I went to the space center. We went on the tram tour and saw the historic mission control and the Astronaut Training Facility. I went to both places... but I got to go in. On the regular people tour they take you to like viewing areas, separated by glass. Haha. So I felt special, showing my mom the places I saw and telling her things I knew that the people giving the tour didn't say. And one guy said "How do you know this?" "I'm gonna be working here," I said. "How much schooling do you need to work for NASA?" "Just a regular 4 year degree... in aerospace engineering." Yeah, I'm smart. So that was fun. Am I full of myself? Maybe just a little. But with the cool job I got I think I have a right to think I'm awesome. What do you think?
So you're thinking, save somethin for the next entry. Alright. That's all folks! ;-)
Thursday, May 8, 2008
Can I go back to college now?
Ok so I graduated. By which I mean I squeaked by with a D- in propulsions (that guy is crazy!) and walked across a stage in a black smock that made me look quite dumpy. Heh. But anyways, I have decided that since I'm an "adult" maybe its time to leave Xanga behind and go for something more sophisticated. Something where the font is prettier and and the url is less jumbled and the archives are not full of my depressed teenaged ramblings about asshole ex boyfriends and stupid things I've done. Besides, it leaves more room for stories of current stupid things I'm doing.
So I graduated. And I have pretty much my dream job starting in a month. But theres plenty of crazy things to do first, and plenty of crap to complain about. So you'll hear it all... the friends I left behind, the boyfriend I miss, the packing, the unpacking, the search for the perfect pullout couch and my first big girl bed. Oh, and theres the tiny matter of finding an apartment. Eek. Its scary but I hope exciting enough.
Comment excessively please, as always. See you in the next post!
So I graduated. And I have pretty much my dream job starting in a month. But theres plenty of crazy things to do first, and plenty of crap to complain about. So you'll hear it all... the friends I left behind, the boyfriend I miss, the packing, the unpacking, the search for the perfect pullout couch and my first big girl bed. Oh, and theres the tiny matter of finding an apartment. Eek. Its scary but I hope exciting enough.
Comment excessively please, as always. See you in the next post!
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