Happy Day of Mothers

Good Afternoon Ladies & Gentlemen,

 

It’s been a pretty busy workweek… but yeah, nothing that you’d really be interested in hearing about. Mother’s Day is just around the corner (like 26 hours in some time zones) so hopefully you’ve all got them taken care of. See… this year, I took a notion that my mother taught me. See… flowers, chocolates, balloons, plush animals, all of that stuff are pretty great & the ladies love ‘em… and the companies that sell those things know that… so they’ll make offers that seem fantastic this time of year… and then casually triple the prices with delivery, taxes, special timing fees & what have you… which is great for them… but that’s my pocket book. Besides, if my mom only knows that I love her & care for her because of a teddy bear with a balloon tied to his wrist holding chocolates and leaning against a vase filled with a few dozen tulips draped in baby’s breath, then apparently I’m not doing my job the other 364+ days per year.

 

As I’ve said before on this blog… basically every day should be Mother’s Day… and Father’s Day for that matter… at least for those deserving. That’s why I texted her today (I was at work, otherwise I would’ve called) and just told her that I felt she is the greatest mommy & grandma EVER!!! No offense to any mothers and/or grandmothers out there reading this… but face it, she’s pretty f**king awesome. You have to admit that. Luckily, she replied with “That’s all I need for Mother’s Day!” Which is good… but I have a huge box of chocolates ready for the next time she comes to visit… and hopefully I’ll get to see her in Utah again soon. I do miss her… but then again, that’s why I call her at least once a week… and my dad too. Now it’s just a matter of them answering their damn phones… old people, am I right? Just kidding mama… Happy Mother’s Day!!!

 

On another note, I found out recently that two of my roommates (Batgirl & Nurse) will be moving out in the next few weeks. Batgirl is taking the summer off school & heading back home for a bit… while Nurse is moving into a house with her boyfriend. Honestly, I get the feeling that the third roommate may be moving out soon too… but she hasn’t officially let it be known or anything, just a hunch. What does that mean?

 

• End of an Era - The streak of over two full years with the same three random lady roommates is coming to an end. It’s actually a pretty remarkable run from what I gather in this city. Usually it’s nomadic hippies moving in & out every few months… but we got along pretty well… and now it’s just “the next stages of life” happening all at once. Or maybe it’s something to do with me & they’re just not telling me. I doubt it though… I’m pretty f**king awesome… because I got it from my mama.
• Future Roommate Interviews – There should also be an abundance of potential roommate interviews once again. Remember the last time… with Jackie D & I interviewing the possible stripper Red… and a few others? I’m looking forward to this cross section of modern San Francisco & hopefully finding some great roommates. I’ve been pretty lucky thus far in that regard.
• Random Thought - Wait a minute… Jackie D is going to be visiting… hmm… maybe she’ll want to be a part of the interview process… or at least get a little tipsy with me while their conducted like last time. Heck, if she’s looking to move back to the Bay, she could even get her old room back. This may work out rather well…
• Dude Roommates? – Obviously I’m open to the idea of guy roommates, but I’m also a huge fan of the “Three’s Company” thing that’s been going on the past few years… especially since it’s “Four’s Company”. It’s really Pixie’s call since she’ll be sharing the bathroom with whoever become our new roommates… but yeah, could be pretty awesome. Drinking buddies? Workout buddies? Somebody else who will touch the trash or kill spiders? Who knows?

 

Anyway, that’s just a real quick recap of what’s going on with me… hopefully you all have wonderful Mother’s Day weekend plans. I’ll be spending it with Dizzy (shocker, I know…) but we are doing a quick trip out to Sacramento for her friend’s birthday bash & then we always have other adventures along the way. Wish us luck! Have a great weekend everybody!!!

Boobies Must Be Warm At All Times

Good Afternoon Ladies & Gentlemen,

I HAVE A PLACE TO STAY IN LAKE TAHOE!!! Long story short, after checking out over a dozen places, and finding out a few others were for ski leases only, and after finding out others were already rented out, and calling on a bunch of roommates opportunities, and finding out that some apartment places have waiting lists more than a year in advance, the place that I ended up going for was found just driving around a neighborhood that I was interested in that was convenient to my new job. Basically, it's as close as I can get to my new job without being independently wealthy. First though, do you want me to go over some of the other options? Maybe teach ya a little bit about the area that I'll be living? No? Well, I'm gonna show you a few pictures anyway, just because I'm really excited about this...and I feel like I should share the majesty of the North Lake Tahoe, Truckee, King's Beach, Northstar area with you...so that maybe you'll come visit...especially you ladies during those long, cold winter nights. By the way, did I mention that I have a fireplace? And the starlight is almost blinding there?

Saturday, I flew into Reno (biggest little city in the world), picked up my G6 rental car and made way to hotel where I would spend the first night, the Hampton Inn Truckee. Nice place...and the staff was more than accommodating (and I'm pretty sure that the cutie at the front desk was checking me out a few times...and that may have played into it). When their business center computer was on the fritz, they let me use there's in the back-of-house office area to check on locations in the area. Also, the breakfast was pretty good too. I highly recommend them...especially since they don't have a whole lot of competition right there in the immediate Truckee area. Now, for a little background on the city of Truckee, California, located just off I-80 about thirty minutes west of Reno, directly north of Lake Tahoe. It's basically a small quiet mountain town with a Historic Downtown with a few restaurants, bars, art galleries located along the Truckee River...and train tracks run right along the main street, Donner Pass Road. There are also neighborhoods that range from trailer parks to low income housing to condos to luxurious log cabins to million dollar homes. The best part is though, you can hardly tell from how beautiful the surroundings are. I think there's only like 15,000 people in the city. Pretty small town feel and everything. This is my new home, or rather center of operations. I spent the day driving around town to get familiar with the streets (before the walls of snow come into play) and setting up appointments to check out places. Even saw one later in the day...but it would require me to have roommates...and was a bit out of the way. Here are some pictures...

First place, not bad...but needed roommates to afford

Oh yeah, that's diamond plated cabinets

The hot tub would've been nice...

Outhouses? Nope. Storage.

Sunday, I woke up nice & early, had a hearty breakfast and set out to find a home. My first few stops were in the King's Beach area. Now, King's Beach...is pretty cool. It's located on the northern shore of Lake Tahoe with, as the name would imply, plenty of beached recreation areas. The housing is...a little lower scale. It's not horrible by any means...but it's the more affordable area of town. It kind of looks like where there was once a campground with little individual cabins...that were converted into homes. A lot of small motels, A-frame homes, pretty basic homes...but like I said, it's affordable and located right on the northern shore. The one drawback really...was the steep drive up Northstar Mountain that I would have to do everyday (ala Parley's Canyon to get to Park City) whereas Truckee has a more horizontal approach. Here are some pictures...

Best thing about this area

The Beach is a few blocks away

This was a close one, favorite in King's Beach

Met neighbor Patty & her dog too

Then I was shown a few VERY small places

Later in the day, I met up with new Boss Lady B for the first time...and she's just AWESOME!!! She's a spunky, funny Kiwi who was really excited to get to know me, help me find a place, cooked me dinner TWICE, made sure that I had a clean bed to sleep in and...just AWESOME!!! She also had a black lab mix named Sadie...and she really liked me too. What can I say? B**ches love me. After meeting her & Sadie for the first time, I looked at a few more properties...and here are those pictures...

Saw two of the exact same layout but different prices

This one was on Northstar Mountain but

was furnished...apparently for an elderly couple

Monday, I woke up with a good feeling. I hadn't really found anything that was a sureshot for a new home...but I had more to see...and I just had a good feeling. You know how it is, right? Anyway, I continued my search...and stumbled upon a For Rent sign by a place on the list...and it proved to be intriguing. Anyway, here are the pictures...

Love that this sign was up at my new job

Now you know about the entry title

Sawmill Heights - Very small accommodations

Typically for temporary workers in the area

Affordable though...so it was high on the list

These next two pictures...are the entire studio

This one had an open layout...but a major 70's feel to it

Also, I'm not sure if this was supposed to be

storage or a loft for a twin bed...but it's the only window

Ready to see my new apartment?

Pretty standard kitchen

Nice, big living room...with a fireplace...

...and a BIG DECK!!!

The bedrooms aren't big...but big enough...and deck access

So basically, after all that research & investigation, I ended up going with a place that I just kind of stumbled upon driving around the neighborhood I was interested in. It just goes to show, it all happens for a reason. So I'm really excited to get over there and get started with my new job and my new surroundings. I'm absolutely going to miss Slick City...and my current job...and my family & friends who all live here...but I'll be visiting when I get the chance. I want to see my niece & nephew grow up. I want to see my mom, my dad, my brother, my friends, all of them...but I'm just needing to progress in this career of mine and, times being what they are, apparently I have to move to ski resort towns and hang out with snow bunnies. It's a rough life but somebody has to live it. Besides, now you all have a hookup in Lake Tahoe. Have a great day everybody!!!

Weekend in Utah

Good Afternoon Ladies & Gentlemen,

Big thanks & much Love to everybody out there for wishing me a happy 28th birthday yesterday...and for those of you who forgot, damn the whole lot of you. I'm just kidding of course. Not usually the kind to throw a big deal about my birthday...other than an excuse to have fun and a few drinks. "What do you want for your birthday?" "I don't know. Rent money?" "What? No really, what do you want?" "Honestly, you showing up is fantastic. The best present that I can ask for. Hmm, and maybe an adult beverage." "Sold." Anyway, here's a brief summary of the past weekend...then I have to get back to packing & calling a bunch of people who want my money or owe me money.

Wednesday

Fairly uneventful day in Denver, just made a few calls to set up apartments to check out the next day, some more light packing, etc. Then I got on an airplane for the 82-minute flight from Denver to Salt Lake City...and sat next to this nice lady, probably in her forties. Well, the issue of Spirit (or whatever the Southwest in-flight magazine is) was the same that I had read earlier in the month when going to/from Cali, so I was bored...and noticed that she was knitting. "What's that you're making? Little bootsies or something?" "Haha, no. Actually it's gauze. See, I work with this organization that makes this hand-sewn gauze for people with Hansen's Disease (leprosy) and this stuff made by hand has been shown to do better than the usual surgical gauze because it's more...from the heart and they feel that human connection." So we instantly hit it off because I dig people with a cause...and I'm charming, so we got to talking about our travels, our families a bit since we were both going home to Utah, and then the conversation really got awesome.

"You probably get this a lot...but you look a LOT like a young Dennis Quaid." I was stunned. "Really? Wow! Thanks, you just made my day." So apparently, this lovely lady on the airplane won the Look-Alike contest proposed in my last entry...with the submission of a young Dennis Quaid...like Big Easy, Inner Space, tappin' Meg Ryan in her prime, nothing to do with his crazy brother Randy, Dennis Quaid. I'll take that. Gladly. So yeah, that night just hung around with my dad & stepmom catching up and getting ready for the next day.

Thursday

I woke up bright & early, grabbed some bagels & Tootsie Rolls for breakfast (that's how I roll), met up with JL Clyde and we went apartment searching for me (wanted a second opinion). We looked through a LOT of places in the Avenues, downtown, West Valley and Murray areas...but I didn't really take a whole lot of pictures...so thankfully I don't have to bore you with analysis like the Denver version. Let's just say that I saw a lot...and they all had their good qualities and not-so-great qualities...but nothing REALLY stood out. There were three possibilities at the end of this day...and more to check out on Friday.

After the search though, we got lunch at Yoshi's which meant deep fried sushi rolls and green tea ice cream (delicious) then I dropped JL Clyde off at work...and thought I'd stop in and say howdy to the former coworkers like the Mad Scientist, Boss Lady J, Mother Tucker, Brooklyn and others...and apparently that lasted about three hours. Then I went to my dad's for dinner and some NBA playoffs. Little did I know that my brother had shown up there...and brought my niece & nephew, so I got to play with them for a few hours. They've grown so much since I seen them last. Vinny didn't recognize me at first...but Kairi was excited. She's under 18, so it's a given (and the lady who said I looked like Dennis Quaid was over 40...so my theory still holds true). Good times.

Friday

Went to see a few places in the morning and early afternoon...but by about 3 PM, I had decided to go with...drum roll please...the Palladio Apartments in downtown (teaser picture to the left). Sure the bedroom's a little smaller than I was hoping for...but that just makes it more cozy...and the great qualities include a large living room, great kitchen with island for bartending atmosphere, large balcony on the 4th floor, 24-hour fitness center, pool & hot tub, and a great location in the heart of downtown...and really it wasn't a huge difference in price from basically the exact some thing ten to fifteen minutes away, so yeah, despite being shown the property by a Barbie Doll that described everything as "super cute", I see great potential in this place...at least for the next six months. I'll let you all know when the Housewarming Party is.

After doing some paperwork for the apartment, I went to my brother's house to hang out with him...since he basically has no friends since my sister-in-law scared them all away. We'll just skip my feelings on her for right now...but I assure you, they're negative. So we had fun...and played Rock Band 2...and shot some people to relieve stress. Virtual people, of course...then I slept with Tinker Bell. I know, I know. She's a cold-hearted mythical b**ch who's surprisingly famous and adored for trying to have a teenage girl killed and an entire group of children ravaged by pirates (it's true, watch Peter Pan again if you need to) but damn it, she's just hot...and happened to be all over the sheets & blanket of my niece Kairi's bed, which I slept in that night.

Saturday

Spent the morning with my brother, then drove back to Salt Lake City to go clothes shopping. See, I had $150 in Men's Wearhouse gift certificates from my suit purchases six months ago that were going to expire...and so I had to use them...but I don't have a whole lot of fashion sense. I know what I like...and I apparently watched a lot of blaxploitation films like Dolemite & Willie Dynamite & the Mack & Superfly growing up and said, "That could be me." So I brought JL Clyde along for assistance...and basically with sales they were having, I ended up with two dress shirts, four ties and a a nice silk T-shirt for my birthday party...for eleven bucks. Nice. After that, we ate at Noodles & Company and then I got ready for my party.

I arrived at the Bayou right on time and who was there to greet me...but the lovely Bone Junior (who is STILL the only person that bought me a drink for my birthday...but more on that later). While waiting for others to show up, we had a nice little meal and caught up on on-goings. Great times. Then we were joined by my mom, my aunt pat, Brooklyn & Nic, Erica & Ruben, JL Clyde, & Mr Wong...and just had a great time catching up and having a few drinks. Then my mom & aunt went home...and stiffed me with their bill. I'm not joking. Apparently that was their present for me. How bad is it when your mom ditches you with her drink tab...on your birthday? Love ya mom!!!

Sunday

Woke up and caught up on the NFL Draft while hanging with my dad. The Eagles did pretty good...theoretically, but that's the thing with the Draft, especially in the NFL. We'll see in like three to five years if they did any good...but I think they chose a great playmaker receiver in Jeremy Maclin, a great running back in LeSean McCoy...and used a few picks to get a Pro Bowl tackle to block McNabb's in Jason Peters and a great cornerback in Ellis Hobbs too. Are they going to the Super Bowl next year? ABSOLUTELY!!!

Also, I found out that Boss Lady D had her child...and so we share the same birthday...but I have yet to hear whether it is a boy or a girl...or if she took my suggestion for a baby name...but I'm assuming that she did in fact name her first born son Optimus Prime...or her first born daughter Jem, because that would be truly outrageous. Truly, truly, TRULY outrageous. Anyway, my dad & stepmom also took me to dinner at Chili's and that was a lot of fun...so yeah, then I hopped on a flight back to Denver.

Do you know the one thing that I'm absolutely not going to miss about Denver? The drive to the airport. Why is it about forty minutes outside of town? There's literally twenty minutes of windy nothing between the airport and the nearest homes. Why? Too convenient? So yeah, it was snowing...and because it was the eastern plains of Colorado, it was windy...and it was around midnight. Not the worst drive ever...but just really inconvenient...and could've been very easily avoided with proper planning by city & state officials...but hey, they gotta get their money from somewhere. Also, what the f**k is up with that evil horse statue that I guess is meant to scare off horse thieves or something? This blue mustang is just ridiculous...and pointless. It doesn't even have a souped-up engine like Bone Junior's blue mustang. Anyway, not going to miss that whole place at all.

So yeah, that was my weekend...and the next few days are just a hectic mix of packing and trying to get other people what they want to. Frustrated is a good word to describe it...but I'll get over it...because I had a great weekend with some great family & friends (even though the Mad Scientist totally didn't show up to my party) and by this time next week, I'll be moved into my new apartment (pictures tomorrow probably) and starting my new job. Thanks again to everybody for a fantastic time...and I hope to see all of you again very soon. Have a great day everybody!!!