This time it’s really happening!
May 8, 2007, 5:19 AM
It only took, what, two years to make it up, but we are finally going to run the DC trip that was originally scheduled for February 2, 2005. This will be the trip where I take Katie with me to Washington. This time it’s really happening. This time, there is no pilonidal cyst to get in the way. As I said to Katie, my butt is in tip-top shape.
And it’s going to be a fun trip, as Katie experiences the Metro for the first time. So that means she’ll get to experience my friends Rohr, Breda, CAF, and Alstom, and get to know what Randi Miller sounds like.
So now, I’ll see you in DC!
Look what I found!
May 7, 2007, 12:06 PM
I’m going through and cleaning stuff out in preparation for the big move to DC, and I found this:
Continue reading…Categories: Childhood, Elementary school, Move to DC area
Now I really know where I’m living!
May 5, 2007, 4:50 PM
After the first apartment deal fell through, and we found out what a bunch of slimeballs they were, I found another apartment up the road from the other one, and I can move in immediately. And unlike the first one, the new place showed me the actual apartment – not a model. Top floor, private balcony, and a huge walk-in closet. And rather than being nine pages, this application was only one page and took two minutes to do.
And as I mentioned, I can move in immediately. That means that when I go to DC on Tuesday with Katie, I can finalize the deal and start moving in. And I can go right to the apartment, and not spend a week with Matthew Tilley in Reston (though that would have been fun).
So rather than go to Ikea, since the first apartment deal fell through, Mom and I went to Wheaton and did more apartment hunting. And I think I’m going to enjoy it in Wheaton. Nice area.
And now, I have to move…
Categories: DC trips, Move to DC area
So will it be the “girl room”, or the “man room”?
May 2, 2007, 6:31 PM
That’s the question I’ve posed to my parents about my soon-to-be-former room once I completely vacate it. But first there’s a back-story to it.
When Uncle Johnny and Aunt Beth came to visit two weeks ago, they described about how they repurposed their three children’s former bedrooms now that they had all moved out. The idea was that rather than referring to the rooms by who’s not in them (i.e. “Kate’s old room”, “Jesse’s old room”, and “Jan’s old room”), they would refer to them by what they were now using the rooms for. Thus one bedroom became the “girl room”, another one became the “man room”, and the third became the “sewing room”.
Now in our family, there are only two children – Sis and me. And since no one in our family sews, we can scratch off “sewing room”. Thus if we were to follow Uncle Johnny and Aunt Beth’s naming system, we’d have a “girl room” and a “man room”. One will become fully vacant by June (I get the apartment on the 20th, but there is no way in hell that I am moving everything at once), and the other room will be vacant in August when Sis moves to Chicago with Chris, with whom she is engaged to be engaged.
In case this month’s splash page photo shocked you…
May 2, 2007, 9:07 AM
In case the May splash page photo shocked you, where I had considerably less hair than usual, I can explain. Like many men, I am slowly but surely losing my hair. I just have to look at my father to see what the future has in store for me.
This photo actually marks the beginning of what I consider to be a major about-face in what I’ve called my “hair policy”. You see, when it was only a little thin spot, I used the airbrush tool to fill it in. The result was hardly noticeable. Then as the hairline continued to recede, it became like what happens when people lie, as you have to tell more lies to cover for the original lie, and eventually it snowballs out of control. Likewise for the photos. I’ve been “fixing” the bald spot as it’s gotten bigger and bigger, and it’s not exactly been easy to do.
Looking back at my splash pages, my first chop job was January 2004. Then February 2004 was genuine, so you can see what I was covering. Then the next time you got to see the hairline untouched was for November 2005, where I accidentally “outed” my receding hairline in the Thnikkaman costume. I also let a genuine one go through in May 2006 with the elevator shot.
But now I’ve decided to go natural on here, since editing the hair has started to get somewhat cumbersome as it’s become harder and harder to hide it. And this is the right thing to do anyway, especially since even I wasn’t convinced that some of the airbrush jobs looked all that authentic. Some yes, others no. Depended on how much hair I had to give myself.
So now I’ve come clean about the hair. I feel better now.
Update: All of the photos where the hairline was manipulated were replaced with the original unmanipulated versions during a site overhaul in mid 2012.
Categories: Myself, Schumin Web meta
Bet you haven’t seen this before…
May 1, 2007, 6:06 PM
Categories: DC trips, Harrisonburg, WMATA
And it looks like I know where I’m going to be living in DC…
April 30, 2007, 7:35 PM
As things presently stand, it looks like I’m going to be living in Wheaton, Maryland. The apartment is going to be nice. It’s got one bedroom and one bathroom, a good-sized living room, an eat-in kitchen, another separate dining area, and – the best part – a balcony. The balcony was the clincher for this deal. One thing I never liked about dorm life was having to go halfway across the building to be able to go outside. Now, I’ll be able to go out onto a balcony right off the living room. Sweetness on a stick.
And it’s within walking distance of Glenmont Metro.
However, here’s the kicker – the apartment won’t be available until May 20. The job starts May 14. This is when you find out who your true friends are. Matthew Tilley and his mother are letting me stay with them for that week before the apartment becomes available. So for a week, I’ll be living in Reston, and taking Metro to work from Vienna. Then that Friday, I’m going back to Stuarts Draft, getting a whole lot of stuff together on Saturday, and then moving into my apartment on Sunday. That will be when Wheaton becomes “home”, and Stuarts Draft officially becomes “my parents’ house”.
Categories: DC trips, Matthew, Move to DC area
Hello from… Rosslyn?
April 30, 2007, 11:45 AM
Yeah. Hello from Rosslyn. I’ve found out that Rosslyn Center is just teeming with wireless access points. CommuterStore on the second floor has a free wireless hotspot, and it works in most of the first and second levels of Rosslyn Center. This is good to know for future reference, like if I’m meeting Matthew Tilley on a future railfan trip where the Lappy would play a role (we’ve discussed such a possibility). However, the CommuterStore link, or any other link for that matter, does not work in my favorite part of the building – the way back of the food court, near the windows. I usually go there to read the Express if I couldn’t finish on the Metro. That location is presumably too far away. There’s also a free wireless connection at Tivoli on the first floor. All I have to say is, sweet! about finding wireless connectivity here.
Next mission is to see if I can find a free wireless hotspot over at Pentagon Row. Now that would be nice, to be able to sit outside and get online there…
As a former RA myself…
April 29, 2007, 7:26 PM
Since the shooting spree at Virginia Tech, I’ve been doing my usual rounds along the AM dial, catching all the different talk show hosts. And one thing that was mentioned time and time again was that the second victim was Ryan C. Clark – an RA at West Ambler Johnston Hall, who was killed in the line of duty, while responding to the situation. I consider that something of a heroic death, as a former RA myself.
You know what Tech ought to do? Name a building in honor of Mr. Clark. And considering the situation, it needs to be a dormitory building. Not necessarily Ambler Johnston, where he was killed, but possibly the next new dormitory to be constructed, or one that isn’t already named after a person or group of people.
If nothing else, it’s a nice thought, and it would certainly be a fitting tribute to someone who ultimately gave his life in the performance of his RA duties for the school.
Categories: Radio, Virginia local news
This slogan generator is something else…
April 28, 2007, 7:07 PM
On my discussion forums recently, a user linked us to a site called The Advertising Slogan Generator. Basically, you put a word in, and it gives you slogans with that word in it. The results run the range from boring to odd to somewhat questionable depending on how active your imagination is. I tested it with “Schumin” and copied the results:
- “Schumin – It Looks Good on You.”
- “They’re Yummy For Your Schumin.”
- “How Many Licks Does it Take to Get to the Center of a Schumin?”
- “Did Somebody Say Schumin?”
- “Let Your Fingers Do the Walking Through the Schumin.”
- “Recommended By Dr. Schumin.”
- “If You Want To Get Ahead, Get A Schumin.”
- “Grab Life by the Schumin.”
- “Full Of Eastern Schumin.”
- “The Dirt says Hot, The Label says Schumin.”
- “Fresh from the Captain’s Schumin.”
- “Mild Green Schumin Liquid.”
- “Gee, Your Schumin Smells Terrific.”
Take these as you wish, but the first one kind of sounds like it might be useful in the online store. Who knows.
The whole word-insertion thing kind of reminds me of when, on Pee-wee’s Playhouse, the secret word was “Zyzzybalubah“, and Pee-wee asked Ms. Yvonne, “And may I take your zyzzybalubah?” Pee-wee had no clue what “zyzzybalubah” was at that point, and so he put it to use. And it seems about as nonsensical as some of these slogans.
Categories: Amusing
The trick is, coffee in moderation, or if no self control, decaf.
April 28, 2007, 6:49 PM
Let’s talk about last night. I went to Daily Grind in Staunton last night and stayed until closing, which is what I’ve been doing lately. I had two cups of coffee, sweetened with Equal (tastes slightly better than Splenda). And when they closed at 10:00, I went home. I presume that two cups of coffee must have hit the spot, as you shall see.
When I got home, I spent some time fiddling around on the computer. I figured I’d go until I got tired and then go to bed. I did Wikipedia, I went other places online, and I played with some effects on Paint Shop Pro to see if I could come up with anything I liked. Those two cups of coffee must have been supercharged or something, because the next thing I knew, it was light out. Oops.
I basically forced myself to go to bed at around 7:30 in the morning, and took a two-and-a-half hour nap. I got back up at 10:00. Right there is where it felt like Saturday. For me, the day doesn’t change until I wake up. When I go on my DC trips, on, say, Wednesday, and get back really late, it doesn’t become Thursday for me until I go to sleep and wake up again.
Now I’m back at Daily Grind again, having a cup of “Sinful Delight” coffee, which is flavored like chocolate and caramel. And unleaded. I will sleep tonight. No coffee-induced buzzes for me this evening…
Categories: Food and drink
The Skyline Parkway Motel has finally been demolished.
April 25, 2007, 5:04 PM
Afton Mountain now presents a slightly more picturesque view to those who visit it, as the Skyline Parkway Motel was demolished in the last week or so. In doing so, they not only removed the main building, which had been the target of an arson attack in 2004, but they also removed the row of cabins next to the main building. The cabins had never been torched, but had been abandoned for some time, and were in hideous shape.
And of course, here are photos:
Straight-on view of the former motel.
Categories: Afton Mountain, Howard Johnson's, Skyline Parkway Motel
A few quick things…
April 24, 2007, 1:02 AM
First of all, the photos of the now-demolished Skyline Parkway Motel are officially in the can, and I will be posting those on Wednesday, after I get back from apartment hunting in DC on Tuesday.
Secondly, does anyone have a good recipe for green slime? I want to do a homage to You Can’t Do That On Television for the splash page, and so I need to make some slime. In making the slime, the finished product can’t be clear. It needs to be opaque and somewhat thick, and it also can’t be completely smooth. I want something authentic poured on my head when I say “I don’t know.” And of course, to get clean again after getting slimed, you just have to mention “water”.
Meanwhile, to be truly authentic, I’d need to find an old-style metal jungle gym to do the shoot at.
Categories: Afton Mountain, Photography, Skyline Parkway Motel, Television
After dropping Sis off in Blacksburg…
April 23, 2007, 9:36 AM
After dropping Sis off in Blacksburg after a weekend at home with everyone, I took a side trip into Roanoke on the way back home. I considered it to be somewhat important to swing into Roanoke. You see, Roanoke is currently about 85 miles away from me, and a straight shot down I-81. Once I move to Washington, it will be 240 miles – a little bit out of my travel range. So this will likely be my last trip to Roanoke for quite some time.
So I went up to the Roanoke Star to get some photos. I was quite surprised to find that they had changed the lighting pattern from the red-white-blue combination that it had been showing for five or so years. Now it was lit in all-white, which as I understand it, is the “traditional” color for the star. So here’s what it looks like:
Categories: Roanoke
So for today, it’s like I’m five again…
April 21, 2007, 8:22 PM
First of all, don’t get me wrong – I love seeing relatives. Uncle Johnny (Mom’s brother) and Aunt Beth came down from Connecticut to visit for the weekend, and I love seeing them, talking to them, etc. They’re a lot of fun.
However, I do take offense to the way my parents get when relatives come over. All of a sudden, it’s like I’m five years old again. They’ve treated me like a child in almost every way today except cut my food for me. My father actually said “good night” like he was trying to order me to bed last night, for one thing. Then today, they really have gotten on my nerves. We went to Charlottesville today and took the Sienna, since it was the only one that would comfortably seat six people. Since I was the only one who knew exactly how to get where we were going, I figured I’d be navigating from the passenger seat. I was surprised to hear Dad tell me I was driving. I’m like, okay. I prefer to drive anyway. I’d rather just do it than tell someone how to do it. It’s about the only adult thing I got to do all day. And even then, my parents won’t trust my driving, as both parents decided to be back-seat drivers. Mom justified her back-seat driving by saying she wanted to “get there in one piece.”
Now mind you, I’m driving a car that I don’t drive regularly, it doesn’t fit me well (pedals are too far back), and that rides a lot higher than what I’m used to. And a number of controls are in different places, too. After all, I’m now used to driving a Mercury (basically a Ford) station wagon. And here I am driving a Toyota minivan. And I think I did a great job driving it, despite having less-than-awesome equipment. Something’s wrong with the brakes on there, because every time I’d hit the brake pedal, the pedal would shake, and so would the rest of the car. Sable doesn’t do that. Plus the van’s a lot heavier than the Sable. Still, they nagged me about my speed. They nagged me about what lane I was in. Everything.
Categories: Family