n e n i e

Dude, my bachelor party was two years ago tomorrow.

Here's a tip for all you youngsters out there. Have major life events coincide with the MLB trade deadline. That way, you'll never forget.

It's been a pretty solid weekend here in El Capital. Yesterday morning we drove down to The Q to help Nena's mom out at the flower shop. They had a wicked huge wedding (seriously, like I could buy a wicked nice replacement for 'Turo with what was spent). Whenever the shop has a wedding like that it means all hands on deck. So we were down there by 9:30 so Nena could run the store while I drove vans from the shop to the site and back leaving all the actual paid employees to stay on-site setting things up.

I know I'm biased, but dollar for dollar flowers are one of the best things you can spend money on at a wedding. The photographer is the best return on your investment, and a videographer is the worst. But flowers, a definite second place. You may not remember what the flowers at a wedding, but you will remember the way they made the place feel.

This is why Jen is one of the all-time most brilliant people I know. A wedding IN A GARDEN! BRILLIANT!

By 1p we were done so we bailed on the shop and went to go see John Tucker Must Die. Nena convinced me to see it by saying it was the new Mean Girls. All in all, a solid film. Definitely funny, definitely in the Mean Girls vein. Some minor plot wholes and underdeveloped characters. But definitely worth the money if you're into the genre.

Though, Mean Girls was better. We can't decide if it was better just because Tina Fey wrote it, or if it was because of that and the presence of Lindsey Lohan

That said, Nena was the most dressed female in the place that wasn't someone's mom. (Though she was more covered up than some moms in there) And we were definitely the oldest people in the theater that weren't someone's parents. (Again, though there were parents in there younger than us.)

Yeah. If I stopped to think about things any more, I'd definitely be sketched out by sitting in that theater.

After that we headed over to the west side to help our friend Antonio walk precincts. We spent a few hours going door to door talking to people and getting his message out. It was totally a good time, and something that I think we'll be doing again soon.

Though the whole thing was rather enjoyable, the definite highlight was getting to meet his gf, who just happens to be Al's neighbor from grad school.

For those of you keeping score at home. Antonio is Nena's brother's best friend from hs who just happened to be dating a woman who lived next door to Al in Cambridge. Yup, sometimes life's just awesome. Oh, and the gf/ex-neighbor is freakin' amazing. Definitely an asset to the crew.

After walking the district, having a few beers and decompressing we went out for some Cosmic Bowling at the Santa Ana Star Casino. Yes, a bowling alley in a casino. Yes, Cosmic Bowling. Damn, I can't remember the last time I went Cosmic Bowling. I think it was with Alphasarah back in NFLD. Which, yknow, means a LONG time ago.

Yeah, we had a really good time, I had a 98 two game average and I had beer in a bowling pin shaped bottle. Though, I was saddened because NO ONE ELSE HAD ONE! "But it's Bud" they'd say. SO? IT'S IN A BOWLING PIN SHAPED BOTTLE!!! How is that NOT worth it?

Oh well. I'll definitely have to go back there and find a way to smuggle one out of there. Cuz, like, bowling alleys are notoriously loathe to let those bad boys out.

Anyway, we were in bed by 1:30a this morning and I snuck out before Nena woke up later in the morning to run down to the store to get the supplies for a great big breakfast. We had bacon, we had spinach and cheese omelets, we had coffee, we had orange juice, we had it around noon...yeah. Life is pretty awesome out here.

OK, so that's an update the likes of which I hadn't done in a while. I think I'm gonna get back in the habit of more regular updates here soon...

Posted by nenie at 05:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

"Ice cream isn't food. It's yummy deliciousness that melts in your mouth and floats down to your heart."

-Nena replying to my assertion that she had to be too full from breakfast to eat ice cream.

Posted by nenie at 05:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

(This is long, under the cut are the stats from my trip to Santa Fe.)

Every morning I get up and think "today I'm going to update the blog."

Seriously, that's what I do every morning.

Then I eat breakfast, hang out with Nena before she leaves for work and sit down to work on the mammoth blog entry that will herald my return to the universe.

But, that never happens. I'm just not feeling the post. It was going to be a long one about driving down from Chicago to Santa Fe and all the things I thought and felt along the way. Maybe I'll finish it some day. But I don't really think so.

The drive down from Chicago was amazing and cathartic. I spent the first day thinking about high school and the person I was when I was an 18 year old kid who didn't know shit about shit. I passed exit signs for hometowns of people I used to know and who used to know me. I thought about things that didn't matter 10 years ago and matter even less now, like who I went to prom with and people I was nice to and mean pranks we never did pull off on people that deserved them only because they were teenagers like us, occupying the same histo-industrial space as we did.

I drove that first day thinking about who I was and who I've been during my time in the Midwest, and who I was as I left this region of the country that I've always called home.

By the time I got to Fesser's place in Springfield, it felt good to be there. Good to be spending time with an old friend that'd never disappear like those exit signs along I-39 or 55. We spent the evening doing things we've never really done, but should have started doing long ago. We sat around and drank beer and watched the Home Run Derby (one of my favorite sporting events of the year) and talked about things that didn't really matter.

The same way I spent much of my month in Chicago hanging out with Gunder and ChückGünder talking about nothing important and everything that matters, I spent a night in Springfield making up for lost time with a friend I don't spend nearly enough time with.

When I left in the morning it was raining, not a hard rain, but one hard enough to make the drive out of town an adventure. As I sped up, the rain began to pick up speed to match me and by the time I was wondering what the hell kind of directions Fesser had given me (really good ones as it turned out) visibility was a luxury I couldn't really afford.

I made my way across St. Louis, cursing my lack of familiarity with the city and the way it killed my chance to stop and fully take in the beauty of New Busch and the Arch. I know I'm a Cubs fan and I'm supposed to hate all things redbird, but I'll be damned if that isn't a beautiful new stadium.

And on and on across the Mississippi Valley one more time. On this day I found myself wishing that someplace, somewhere I'd taken the time to read a geologic history of the United States. Something that explains how things got to be the way they are and what things were before they were what they appear to be today. Something about glaciers and pressure and time. I think I'd like that book, though I don't think I'll ever be in a position to write that book.

By the time I got to Springfield, I was amused with myself. Two quick drives down in as many days and a nice place to stay in another town named Springfield.

It was good to see Cheryl and meet her new friends and sample her new life, but I couldn't help but feel slightly out of place the entire time. This isn't a knock on Cheryl or her hospitality at all, but, well. Springfield wasn't where I wanted to be. A bar in downtown was even less where I needed to be. I'd much rather be home with my wife, or catching up with old friends and this was, in reality, neither of those things.

That's why I went to bed mentally preparing myself for one last day on the road, a non-stop shot from Springfield, to Santa Fe.

I got up the next morning and drove. I drove it like I stole it, I drove like my life depended on it. Artoo was in fine form and Maxi proved himself a fitting successor to 'Turo, though I still missed him dearly the entire way.

As I made my way across Oklahoma I found myself thinking "wow, this place is really beautiful." And it is.

I stopped in Tulsa at the sketchiest Citgo on the planet and bought a few Snickers bars and Monster drinks and some salty snacks meant to get me to Santa Fe in one piece. An hour later I was stopped at a Cracker Barrel in OKC for my only real meal of the day before heading out across the plains again.

Western OK, The Panhandle, Amarillo where I stopped for gas one last time and decided that this was it, I was ballsing it all the way home. It was early in the evening and I could be home before 10p if I hustled.

And I did. Into New Mexico and up the gut to Santa Fe.

Now I'm home, wondering what I'm going to do now, what comes next and how long we can afford to have me unemployed. The answer is not long so we're working on that. I don't think I'll be teaching again this year, but hope springs eternal. And now that I have the monkey of this entry off my back maybe I can get back to other blogging.

Day One- Elgin, IL to Springfield, IL

Gas:

Elgin, IL to McClean, IL

175.9 Miles on 6.025 Gallons

29.1 MPG

Day Two- Springfield, IL to Springfield, MO

Gas:

McClean, IL to Troy, IL

130.8 Miles on 5.205 Gallons

26 MPG

Day Three-Springfield, MO to Santa Fe, NM

Gas:

Troy, IL to Tulsa, OK

419.3 Miles on 15.924 Gallons

26.33 MPG

Tulsa, OK to Amarillo, TX

362.3 Miles on 13.38 Gallons

27.08 MPG

Amarillo, TX to Santa Fe, NM

268.5 Miles on 10.225 Gallons

26.26 MPG

Trip Averages:

Posted by nenie at 02:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

Here.

Made it.

Living in Santa Fe.

Managed an AMAZING 13+ hr run yesterday to get home before bedtime.

Details in the coming days...after the COMCASM hits our humbled adobe.

Posted by nenie at 05:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Quick update from Fesser's Broadband Basement, more detailed update hopefully coming later today...

At the beginning of June, while in Santa Fe and before heading to Chicago for El Mundial, I took the New Mexico Basic Skills Assessment for Teachers. Thanks to NCLB, everyone now has to take this test to even be considered for a teaching job, or take classes towards a teaching degree/license.

Right, so it's a bit long test, with reading comp, math and composition sections.

Scores came in over the weekend. I scored a 298/300.

Who da MAN?!?

Highest score either of my parents has ever heard of (though I'm sure some people ace this thing)
And yes, higher than my father's score. Buy a bit...though he DID ace the section I miss all of my points in. So...he thinks he has me there. Only, not really. Cuz I still spanked him overall.

WHOO!

OK, now to get in Maxi and face the rain. It's not pretty, yo.

Posted by nenie at 08:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (7) | TrackBacks (0)

Yeah, I have a lot to say about El Mundial...But I'm going to hold off on discussion of that and the BAM button for a little while.

In a few hours I'm leaving for New Mexico, beginning the next phase of my life. I know it's a bit melodramatic, but...yeah.

It feels kinda strange hitting the road without 'Turo...but that relationship has run its course. Instead, I'm leaving today in my interim ride- Maxamilliano Caceres. My mom's 99 Maxima. Maxi and I should have a lot of good times on the road. So, yknow....word.

Anyway, hopefully there will be a few Traveling posts going up sporadically. I should be able to post from the road, which is good.

So then, here is the itinerary for Nenie's NEW LIFE SUMMER 06 ROADTRIP

July 10-
Elgin, IL to Springfield, IL- 235mi

July 11-
Springfield, IL to Springfield, MO- 316mi

July 12-
Springfield, MO to Amarillo, TX- 544mi

July 13-
Amarillo, TX to Santa Fe, NM- 280mi

Posted by nenie at 09:13 AM | Permalink | Comments (5) | TrackBacks (0)

One of the little things I hate about moving, is getting the utilities set up. The worst of these utilities being Broadband. Say what you will, but TV/Internet is a utility now, deal with it.

Anyway, I had Nena call Ye Comcastic Onez to set up an install for next Friday, the 14th. Afterward, she sent me an email saying "OK, done. But I think I got us too much TV. You'd better call in the morning and make sure we're OK."

Lest I wander into a Berenstain Bears book about the ills of The Sopranos I called this morning to check out what was going on. This is my conversation with the wonderful and helpful woman on the phone.

(No, really, she was a rockstar. Professional, friendly, laughed at my jokes about the temptations of The Sopranos and Big Love.)

Me: So what are we signed up for right now?

Helpful Lady: You currently have the Digital Silver package which includes HBO and On Demand. It's on special right now for $54 a month.

Me: OK, so can we move down to the Basic Plus package then?

HL: Why? This is the special, you get HBO and a savings of $20 a month.

Me: Right, but your special is $10 more than what I actually want/need.

HL: OH, good point.

That's right, being a bargain whore might be Comcastic, but it's just not cool.

Posted by nenie at 11:33 AM | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBacks (0)

Damn, doooo youuu beeeeelieve iiiiiit?

Seriously, that was perhaps the nuttiest quarterfinals I can remember. Perennial powers squaring off and lots of PKs settling it.

First off, I dig PKs, I think they're a good way to settle things if you haven't gotten the job done after 120 minutes. By then, kicking PKs is the only part of the game that hasn't been tested and if you're kicking these things after playing for 120 minutes, shit's hard.

But anyway, here are the picks, with commentary on how the teams go there

Germany v. Italy- Italy
I know, I know, I need to stop hating on the hosts, betting against them at every turn. I need to NOT put a Portuguese special on these guys saying they're too gassed to get it done. But I'm done picking teams that haven't been cruising. I'm done picking teams who have gutted out wins and persevered. Because when you do that...you pick England. I'm also done picking teams that are pacing themselves. Because that's what Brazil was all about. Nothing left to do here but pick the Azurri.

Portugal v. France- Portugal
I really should stop picking against both of these teams, but sadly I have to pick against one of them.

It's hard, yo. On one hand you have the Zidane farewell tour. But retirement in soccer is about as legit as retirement in pro wrestling, so we'll see about that.

On the other hand you have a Portuguese team that believes in themselves and has consistently done those little things that keeps them from becoming a truly elite team. This year is the 40th anniversary of a guy from Mozambique named Eusebio carrying Portugal farther than they'd ever gone before. To celebrate, these boys are going past France and then past whomever they get in the final.

Yup, these kidz are going all the way baby.

Posted by nenie at 08:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)