Road Trip
And I'm off, yet again.

Well, I'm leaving tomorrow with my parents to drive out to Joleen and Sunny's and help them move their crap from CA back to MN before they'll ultimately leave for Australia. It'll end up being about an eleven day road trip. I am simultaneously looking forward to it and not looking forward to it.

We leave tomorrow morning at 4am. Yes, 4am. My dad wants to get "an early start." Ok, Shooter. So long as you realize that you'll be the one driving and I'll be the one napping in back. We're taking I-90 through South Dakota and Wyoming and at some point dropping down to I-80. Not sure if we'll take I-90 to Billings, MT and then go down through Idaho and Utah to get to I-80 or if we'll go down to I-80 in Wyoming. The latter choice is quicker, but we think possibly less interesting/scenic. So we'll see.

Then we'll get to Yountville where we'll pack up a U-Haul of what remains of Joleen and Sunny's stuff. From there we're heading to Las Vegas, then down to Phoenix (to see my grandma and possibly pack some of her stuff in the U-Haul since she's temporarily moving in with my parents this November) . From Phoenix we're going to Arches National Park (in Utah...and also possibly Zion National Park. I can't recall). Then we're going to Denver, CO. From there we're booking it back home (through Nebraska and Iowa...joy).

So that's that.

We'll get home on Sunday, Oct. 7th. We get the U-Haul through Monday, so on Monday we're packing my stuff in the U-Haul and bringing it down to my Madison apartment. Which means that not only did I have to pack for the road trip, but I also had to get all my other stuff packed that I want to move to Madison right after we get back. Ugh. Not fun.

I was all prepared to be living in Madison in October (after all, my lease starts Oct. 1 and I'm paying rent). But since my sister and Sunny will be here for most of October before leaving the country for who knows how long, I'll probably be spending a lot of time in Rochester with them. I don't think I'll ever start my actual life. Which, you know, would be fine except for the whole needing to earn money thing. Jobs. Bah.

The new tv season is starting up. It snuck up on me. I had no idea that all the shows were starting. I missed the first episode of Survivor because I had no clue it started last week. Liz asked me the next day if I had watched it. Huh?? No. Oops. But I caught it online, so no biggie. Grey's Anatomy starts tomorrow, so I have my vcr set to record. I was debating if I wanted to continue watching it this year. The end of last season got a bit too drama-filled and angsty for my liking. If it continues on this path I may be forced to stop watching it. Stargate Atlantis premieres on Friday, so I'll be recording that as well. So far, those are the only 3 shows I'm planning on watching. Not too bad. But I think I'm not going to get cable (to save money). So I may only be able to watch the first 2, as Stargate is on the SciFi channel which I wouldn't be able to get via antenna. I guess I'll just have to download that one.

Is there some show I'm forgetting about that I usually watch? Any ideas? And if anyone tells me to watch Dancing With the Stars, I may be forced to hurt you.

I think that's it. I probably won't talk with you all for a week or two, so...au revoir.

I'm Tired
And boring, apparently.

So I was informed by Sarah today that my previous post was boring. Ummm....sorry, I guess. Apparently Tom Kruse does not hold the same entertainment value for all peoples of the world. Onward.

So last week I went to Madison for a few days to look for apartments. I stayed with Sarah. She and Nikki were very nice hosts. Plus, I got to have dinner with Jason, Stephanie, and Owen one night and Phil and Penny another night. Gettin' to know her fam. And I got to dine and drink with Nikki and her boyfriend Lars. And Sarah was along for all of those, as well.

I was there on my bday, so I got a birthday lunch. And through a team effort, we got a free dessert (It was my birthday, Nikki asked the waiter about it, and Sarah...drove us there). It was a huge brownie with ice cream. Yum.

Uh, so I found an apartment that I'm 99% sure I'll be living in starting in Oct. It's a 1 bedroom loft. Lofts make me happy. Now I need to find a job. I'm 99% sure I'll just end up subbing. Ugh.

I had to drive to Madison and back today just to sign my lease. That sucked. Plus, I have all kinds of weird car things I need to do to register my car in WI...with shitty timing. Long story that's boring, so I won't explain it. I just hope I don't end up getting fined or something, let's just say that.

I'm going to a wedding this weekend...one of my best friends from middle and high school. I am attending it with Sarah and Liz. Then we're going to the Renaissance Festival on Sunday. Good times.

I don't have any pictures or anything to post. I'm afraid this may be another boring entry, Sarah. My apologies. Hey, what's going on with Stroppy Sheilas?? Bitch.

Jack (Tom?) of All Trades

What a talented man *scoff*

There's this commercial that cracks me up whenever it comes on. I rarely watch commercials...usually my attention is drawn elsewhere and only something (auditorially) interesting grabs my attention. This always grabs my attention:

"I'm Tom Cruise, inventor of the Hoveround."

Wha???

My head whips up to glance at the TV and I see that it's not, in fact, Tom Cruise, but Tom Kruse. Hahaha!!! Then the commercial does its thing and tells you all about the Hoveround and how it's great for old people and such. I just love thinking about 1) Tom Cruise actually inventing the Hoveround. Then he can have infomercials and stuff ala George Foreman and his grill. And 2) Thinking about this guy whose name is Tom Kruse. I wonder if he likes it? I personally think it'd be annoying as hell. Then again, he sells things and his name always gets me looking at the TV. So maybe it's a good thing.

I love how the "motto" or whatever of the Hoveround company is, "You Make Me Love You!" And then a bunch of old people sing it all warbly-like in the commercial. They're frail and can't walk or sustain a musical note. We get it.

Here's a picture of Tom Kruse:

Here's a picture of the Hoveround in action. Look, you can even fill a bird feeder while in the Hoveround! Amazing!!!


Check out how happy this lady is with her new Hoveround. I must get one myself...

Oh, The Horror!!!
I may as well be without an ARM!

So. I spent a lot of time communicating with Dell today. Sarah, feel free not to read this since I already told you the whole boring story via the good ol' fashioned telephone. Anyway.

Back on June 4th I extended my computer warranty with Dell. In doing so, I was promised $75 to spend on the Dell site. Well, it's been 3 months and so far I hadn't received any news on the promised $75. Wtf? I finally got fed up and called to see what the biznatch was up. After calling a billion different numbers (I'm sorry, but you called the wrong dept. Try this number) and being given automated options that had nothing to do with what I wanted to inquire about (I NEED A REAL PERSON HERE, PEOPLE!), I finally reached someone in the correct region of India. Awesome. Tdoomi gkamon atcho? That's "How are you?" in Bengali for all you ignoramuses.

My problem has been given a case number and I am assured that there is a crack team of investigators solving my issue. It better get solved soon, dammit. I want to spend my as-of-yet unreceived money!

So then I got to thinking about my computer. Recently (or actually not so recently) I've been noticing that it gets quite hot after being on for not that long. Hotter than I suspect it should get. I also noticed that the vent to the right of my keyboard was failing to intake air. The right side of my computer is the side that gets exceptionally hot and nearly burns off the flesh from my thigh. So I contacted Dell regarding this problem again. This time I contacted them via online tech support--an online "chat," if you will. Usually they have you run all these diagnostics and shit before finally coming to some sort of conclusion. This time it was like this:

Christopherson JEmily: Yeah, so my computer gets really hot. Hotter than it should. The vent to the right of my keyboard does not intake air. Is this normal?

Jaspreet_117846: Can you clean it with an air can?

Christopherson JEmily: No, I don't have one available. And it does not appear to be clogged.

Jaspreet_117846: Ok, we need to send it to the Depot to be repaired and fixed. We will send DHL to bring you a box in which you will place your computer. Then they will take it from you to be brought in for repairs. You will get your computer back 5-8 days after we receive your computer.

Uhh...ok. One and a half hours later some dude arrived and took my computer. I'm a bit freaked out that a) something will go wrong and all my data will be lost. b) DHL guy didn't properly seal or label my box and it will get lost. He seemed a bit incompetent and left my house with the box completely unlabeled and untaped. I hope he fixed it all up in his truck.

So anyway, long story short, I am without my computer for a week. AHHHHHH!!! What will I do?!?!? I feel like an appendage has been ripped off my body. Everything moved so fast! I hope most of my stuff is backed up on cds/dvds/my iPod. Huh.

I need to look for apartments in Madison.

I need a fucking job.

I need my computer back!!!

Signed, Sealed, Delivered
I'm yours!

Look at all my pretty autographed photos! Autographs make me laugh. I mean, wtf am I going to do with any of these? Answer: stick them in a folder in my closet. What's the point, really? The point being they came with my ticket so I may as well get my money's worth! And in the case of Michael Shanks, it's another opportunity to get close to him. :)

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This here is Morena Baccarin. Her character is evil. In a religious fanatic type of way.

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This is Paul McGillion. He insisted upon personalizing everyone's autograph even though it was holding the line up and the event organizers were getting a bit angry at him for it. After he signed the photo I said to him, "Thanks a million, McGillion!" I thought it was pretty clever as it just popped into my head. His response?--"Oh, like I've never heard that one before!" :) He's Scottish, but doesn't really have an accent (I think he grew up in Canada or something). He has a Scottish accent on the show, however. I was really taken aback at the Breakfast when he sat down at our table and spoke in a "normal" accent. I had to ask him if he was toning his accent down or if he exaggerated it on the show. The answer was the latter.

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This is Teryl Rothery. She had to cancel at the 'last minute' (a couple weeks prior) due to work obligations. Which was a bummer because I like her and I heard she's a riot at conventions. Oh well. They gave us all pre-signed photos of her, which was nice.

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This is Carmen Argenziano. His autograph line also took forever because he was personalizing them all.

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This is Cliff Simon, the dude from South Africa. Liz and I were trying to figure out what that thing on his neck is. We still haven't figured it out. I think it looks like a mini triceratops. But Stargate has never had an episode featuring dinosaurs, nonetheless mini dinosaurs, so I don't think that's it. Can anyone tell what it might be? I asked him as he was signing it. He also didn't know.

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Here is Jay Acovone. There was only one photo available to buy to have him sign. Neither Liz nor I liked it. It had the portion you see above, plus another picture of him attacking Samantha Carter. It was just weird because that part seemed to feature Sam more than him. So I cropped it out for online purposes. Hmm, I meant to take out the text on top (name of the episode the pics are from), but I forgot. Whatev.

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Last, but definitely not least, is Michael Shanks. I think he looks cute in this picture, but the black bar thing along the bottom kind of annoyed Liz and I. We were hoping maybe he'd sign on it, but he didn't. It's a picture from an episode. I think he might be standing in front of a railing, or something.

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And this is what our tickets looked like. Awesome, I know. As you can see, my seat was F12 (or F13 since Liz and I switched around).

B-O-R-I-N-G

I went to my cabin. Now I'm back. I don't have any pictures or stories as it was quite boring. Relaxing, but boring. It was kinda cold, like lower 60s and windy. I hear it was blazin' hot down in southern MN. Not so in northern MN. I didn't go swimming and barely used the jet ski.

Although once when I was out on the jet ski I saw a bald eagle soaring overhead (they really do soar as opposed to fly...not sure I've ever seen them actually flap their wings). I followed it around the lake a bit. It almost made me proud to be an American. *gag vomit*

So there's a story for you. I feel like there was something else I wanted to note, but I can't recall what that would have been. Huh. My mom backed into a tree with our car. That was a good time.

Yep.

That's about it.