Special – Page 2 – AllisonYax.com

New Name

Your prize (or mine), Work, Fishing, Shopping, and Apple.

So, the prize I promised is… nicholasyax.com. atomicow.org will continue to work until is expires on October 07, 2008. I realized mostly that atomicow says nothing about me, and my actually name says alot about me, so why not. At some point in the next 4 months you should change the link you have saved, though for right now going to nicholasyax.com actually redirects you atomicow.org. I should have that changed in the next few days or so. I will also start to push the point more in about August, possibly with JavaScript popups to those that go to the old address (if I can figure out how).

At work, I am starting to figure out what I am doing. Working with Quality department for now, doing capability studies on gages and processes as needed, and starting on some process documentation. Has been going smooth so far, though it’s hard not having a computer yet to do work yet.

On Saturday, Jenn and I went to Grand Rapids for some shopping. I needed some shirts for work, and we felt like some non-Big Rapids dining. We went to the chinese buffet that was so good last time, but this time was a little more disappointing. I did get 5 new shirts though.

Jenn and I went fishing Sunday and I actually managed to hook something. Unfortunatley, I did not hook it very well and it got off. Fish nibbled a few more times, but I never managed to bring anything in. Will try again next weekend likely. There is actually talk of me meeting my Dad in Clare as Jenn will be working all weekend and he will be at my Grandma’s trailer in Gladwin.

Apple started their Back-To-School promotion today, and since they hate me, are giving away a free 8GB iPod touch to students with a computer purchase, or $299 off any iPod. Oh well.

OK, that is pretty good for now. Later…

nick

Five Years!

Five Years Old!!!!!

Well, I survived the first day of work. Still not real sure what I do, but I am doing it. Today was a lot of orientation, not much actual doing actually. Will learn more over the week.

So, Five years. That’s a lot. I should be at 609 posts, based on every 3 days, but that went out a long time ago. I am happy with this being 540.

Not a whole lot else. Worked all day and kind of not feeling like a long pst, and not much to say anyway. Will try for more later in the week. And maybe a prize?!

nick

The Last of 2007

Post Christmas travels.

With just 3 hours left in the year, I think I can safely say this will be my last post of 2007. Here it is.

Friday, Jenn and I left for Alpena about 1:00. Just our luck, the snow rolled in about 1:00, so that made it more interesting. There were a few times where visibility couldn’t have been more than 500 ft, and others where it was not bad at all. The biggest annoyance was people being way too cautious, and going 25 in a 55 when the road was totally clean.

Once in Alpena, we had our gift exchange. We got new dishes, a new digital camera (Olympus FE-230), a few candles, some Christmas ornaments, a gallon of Hawaiian Punch, a set of binoculars, a pair of gloves and a scarf, a hoodie, and memory cards for out phones. That was the stuff for Jenn and I, and for just me. There was some more for just Jenn, but I don’t really remember that. We gave Jenn’s family their presents too, including a Transformers voice changing helmet for Johnny, which turned out to be the most annoying gift possible. After gifts, we had dinner, sat around and played with everything, then went to bed.

Saturday morning we awoke, had a little breakfast, and headed down to Bay City. It was the first time we went from Alpena to Bay City since Easter. Once in Bay City, we exchanged gifts with my Mom, played with the Wii for a little bit, then went to Kingfish for dinner. Following that, we went to see my Grandma and Dad and exchange gifts with them, then back home and a little more Wii.

Sunday we woke up and headed to Rudy J’s for dinner, then to Midland for a little shopping. We realized we didn’t really need anything and continued on home. I never got to see my brother as he was out of town, and got back a little after we had left.

Today we sat around. Jenn works tomorrow so in bad early, no new years celebration here.

I will update tomorrow with some things I have been forgetting to mention, and to make the first post of the year.

nick

Merry Christmas

Christmas Stuff.

So, Jenn and I spent Christmas together yesterday. We woke up, exchanged gifts, talked about making breakfast, played with our gifts, took a nap, made dinner, ate, and watched TV. I got her a bathroom water filter with drinking fountain and a video adapter for her MacBook. She got me a new wallet, a Lego set, and a watch. After assembling the Legos, I spent far too much time looking up Legos online.

Our Christmas dinner consisted of sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes with gravy, roasted pork loin, biscuits, apple pie, green bean casserole, and jellied cranberries. It was pretty good.

We did learn though, that Christmas is not the same alone. It just seemed like it was done really fast. We really didn’t have a lot of choice though. Jenn worked the day before and day after, so driving to Bay City or Alpena were out, and I wasn’t going to go home and leave her completely alone on Christmas. Next year hopefully will work out better.

Friday morning we plan to leave for Alpena, spend the day and night there, then down to Bay City Saturday and spend the night there, then back here Sunday for a rest on Monday.

I think that about covers it.

Maybe an update before we leave if something good happens, if not when we return Sunday or Monday.

nick

Thanksgivings

A Thanksgiving here, a Thanksgiving there, and some stuff in between.

I guess I am a little late, so alot to go over.

First Thanksgiving was at Jenn’s parents last weekend. We left here Friday afternoon and took 10 across to Clare, then 127 up to Gaylord where we stopped at Jays for a look around. From there, we took 32 across to Alpena where we arrived after 7. Friday night was mostly sitting around, played Trouble with Johnny, and went to bed.

Saturday we ran to Staples for no particular reason, had lunch at Applebees, and spent time with her family. The neighbors were up from Detroit and their son shot his first deer, and a friend of Jenn’s family and his wife came over and she got her first deer as well.

Sunday we had our dinner, mostly appetizers and the like. Jenn’s sister and boyfriend and her 2 were over as well, and it was fun. Around 2 or 3 we left for home, and decided to take 33 down to 72 and across to Greyling. We missed 72 though, and ended up going through Rose City and having to take 55 through Houghton Lake to 127. It really wasn’t out of the way, as there is no good route, and going south then west or west then south makes no real difference. All told, it is 4 hours, 200 miles between, plus or minus a little depending on the route.

Monday and Tuesday was class, that’s about it. Jenn was off both days, and made me Beef Tips and Noodles Monday, then we went to Bungalow for all you can eat spaghetti Tuesday, which was a good deal at $6.95. By 8:30 I was in bed with a headache, and quickly asleep.

Wednesday morning Jenn did work, so got up at 5, and out the door by 5:30. Having been to bed so early the night before, I was up with her, and unable to fall back asleep. I managed to wait until about 7, then got antsy and left for Bay City. I made a stop in Evart at McDonald’s for breakfast, then continued on arriving in Bay City about 9. Most of the morning I spent with my mom, then went to visit my dad for a while, then shopping with mom. I installed a new blind, new thermostat, and fixed her stereo that wasn’t working right. While we were out getting everything, we had Old Great Wall too.

Thursday I helped out some with dinner, then my Dad came over and we ate. The standard dinner, turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, dressing, squash, sweet potatoes, rolls, cranberry sauce. The stuffing was pecan and dried cherry, I rather enjoyed it. After dinner, we watched Happy Feet on one of the premium channels, then Live Free or Die Hard that I had rented with my dad the night before. Both movies were good, but Die Hard was freaking sweet. While we watched, my mom brought us some shrimp and cocktail sauce that was held back from dinner as we decided there had been enough. The sauce was made with very fresh horseradish, and we had to add more ketchup 2 or 3 times to get it right. Strong is good, but for eating a lot, a little weaker is better. After the movie, I headed home, about 7:30 or so. I got back to Big Rapids a few minutes before 9. While in Bay City, I picked up our Christmas Tree and a few other things, so Jenn helped me bring those in.

Interestingly, I turned on Z93 while in Bay City, and it actually came in all the way here, not going out until, I swear, I parked my car. It works somewhat around town, but just barely. For some reason though, where I park my car, I just get silence. Weird.

Friday morning, we went shopping: Staples, Menards, Big Lots, and Meijer, plus Family Video. Then we came home, watched I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry, and set up the tree. After adding the lights we bought, we realized we needed more, so out to Lowes and Meijer again. Back home, we finished the tree, had some drinks, ordered a pizza, and watched part of Shrek 3.

Saturday, Jenn worked and I sat around doing nothing. When she got home we finished Shrek, which I returned afterward and that was the night.

Today, same as yesterday. When Jenn gets home we will have dinner (pork cutlet, squash, augratin potatoes) and watch Ocean’s 13. I will do some homework soon too.

While shopping friday, we got memory cards for our phones, an inflatable coleman mattress that converts into a king, double high twin, 2 twins, or a couch, some glasses for Jenn’s sister, a japanese rice bowl set for my dad (2 bowls, 2 pair chopsticks, and 2 soup spoons), ornaments, lights, candles, and a wreath. We kind of wanted the digital photo frame from Meijer, for $29, but were long gone when we got there.

So, I think that is it. I am off to do my homework, and get ready for the second to last week of class (this week and next week of class, then 3 days of exams).

Scott, aren’t you done soon? You never called back after I called about forgetting your birthday.

Ok, bye!

nick

Five Hundred!!!!!

The 500th post! Who cares what it’s about, it’s the 500th post!

It would have been cool to name it ! (500 times), but that would be really long and time consuming to count.

So, for the 500th I figures something good was in order. After much thinking, I came up with it, then put it off, then put it off more. But, now, I am here to do it. For the 500th, I will do something that was a fundamental part of the founding of this blog, and it’s first several posts. Sadly, I have not done it in a while, and that needs to be remedied. Yes, I am going to bitch.

For anyone who has ever lived in Big Rapids, a fundamental flaw in the area is the radio stations. Somehow, they all suck. Not like “ehh, there are 20 stations and I only like 1 a lot, but there are 5 I will listen too” like, no, no this is “there are 10, and I will listen to 2 sometimes, but end up flipping more than listening to any of them”. I hadn’t really noticed for 5 months because I had no radio in the neon, but it is now a major pain in the ass. Yes, I have a 6 disc cd changer, but I don’t want to listen to one artist for 12 straight songs, and I don’t want to burn 20 discs. I should be able to listen to decent radio. And, worse, Ferris has a radio station that I really like, but it isn’t actually a radio station, it is on a TV channel and online only, not over actual radio. WTF?

Of the stations that there are, the vast majority are country. There are also 2 top 40 and 2 oldies (I think). The top 40 stations literally only play 40 songs, if that. Maybe they are each top 20 stations and thought it would work out, I don’t know. The oldies stations had a chance, as I will listen to some oldies, but they just rather suck. Maybe I grew out of it, maybe Oldies 96 was just a better oldies station.

Either way, I wanted to bitch about that.

Also to bitch about, is the people who go 35 down Perry, which is a 55. Why did they even make it a 55? The right lane everyone goes 35, the left there are people going anywhere from 45 to 60. Yes, I am more pissed at the people that go 35 than the road engineers, but maybe it would be better if it was a 45? I doubt it will change though, and until it does, I am going to be cussing at people going 35 up the hill because their K-car can’t make it.

What else can I bitch about? If I can bitch for 9000 words or so, I can get the 150,000 word in the 500th post. That would take forever and be boring as hell though, for you to read and me to write.

OK, enough bitching I guess.

Jenn and I went to Mt. Pleasant yesterday and got ChiChii (notice 2 i’s at end, indicating 2, hahahahahahahah). She is really tiny compared to other fish, but getting along fine. I think is just right size of too small for others to worry about, but too big to be food. We also ate at the Italian Oven, which Jenn had never had and I haven’t had since they were on Euclid about 10 years ago. Thank got they don’t use the noodle straws anymore. They were kind of cool, but tasted funny.

I think that is all.

501, later this week.

nick

New Car!!!

Mostly all about my new car.

I bought a new car yesterday. You should be able to look at it for a while here. The neon was being a real pain in the ass.

Tomorrow I need to run to campus safety to transfer my parking permit, go to class, go get new insurance, check the proof of my student business card, sit for a while, then back to class. Yes, I said student business cards. A. They’re cool, B. Student Employment sold me on them.

Tuesday, I get to pick up my final cards, pick up my suit, and class of course.

Wednesday will be standard class only, so far.

Thursday Jenn leaves for Arizona to see Gwen. Her flight leaves at 5:40ish. Also, is Ferris’s career fair. With any luck I might find my summer internship there.

Friday I have class.

At some point, either Friday or Saturday, I might head to Bay City. There was mention that my Dad would come over to Baldwin for salmon fishing, in which case I would stick around here and go fishing with him. Otherwise though, i will be in Bay City at some point.

Jenn will be back on Tuesday, at 5:40ish PM also.

OK, more on the car. Friday, while being sick, I ran out for some Hawaiian Punch (2 gallons, which are now gone) when the brake rotor decided to lock up. For whatever reason, it decided to lock up worse than normal and I had to pull over and sit and wait for it to cool down. After alot of shit, I was really pissed off, and decided I would have a new car the next day. Saturday morning, we went to the dealership, asked if they had found a car for me yet (after 1 month of having them look) and when they said no, I asked what kind of deal they could make me on something on the lot in leu. I had liked the green-grey / titanium green colored four door for about a month, and after driving it around I decided it was the one. I brought the neon there, and they decided $500 was the best they could offer. Seeing as how I bought in 16 months ago and only paid $1000, a $500 decrease was not really that bad. I hadn’t even put 5000 miles on it yet, it was at 166011 when I signed it over, and had bout with 161300 something. Still, there was a crapload wrong, and $500 was reasonable.

So, I applied for a loan, got one, and we got all the paperwork signed. We got home about 4 after stopping for dinner, and I ended up sleeping for several hours because I was still pretty sick.

Since I just transfered my old insurance from the neon, I don’t have collision on it until tomorrow afternoon. Because of that, I haven’t actually driven it since I got it home. I would obviously be really pissed if something happened.

What else…

So, the car itself, for when the dealership pulls it from Auto Trader…
2005 Ford Focus SE, 23,000 miles, 6 disk MP3 CD changer, 16″ aluminum wheels, rear spoiler, heated seats and lumbar, working air conditioning, working brakes, working suspension, working transmission, working radio, steering wheel mounted stereo controls, working fog lights, and factory warranty until March 31. I actually bought the extended warranty until 2010, since it was only about $10 more per month. That will last until about the time I have graduated, have a decent job, and am looking for a new car by then.

OK, that’s enough.

Till next time…

nick

The Wedding

Todd and Ashley’s Wedding.

So, after I got out of class Friday (that was just class, nothing great, though we joked a lot, was kind of fun) I came home and Jenn and I packed quickly to leave. We got on the road, and arrived in Auburn around 5:00. Having an hour until rehearsal, we continued on to Bay City, getting to the mall at 5:25, leaving us 10 minutes to get my tux and her to find shoes. Fifteen minutes later, I had my tux (like we would make it on time) and had tried it on, and headed out to Auburn again. Rehearsal went well, about an hour or so. We were certainly not the only ones late so that was OK. Most everyone else went to the hall to setup, but I was excused to go out for my birthday. Before we left, I received my wedding party gift, an engraved beer mug from Things Remembered, the rest received theirs at the hall, the girls got wine goblets. So, Jenn and I went to Famous Dave’s. I called my mom, brother, and dad, but they had already eaten. We enjoyed our dinner, then headed to our hotel (the Quality Inn downtown Bay City, used to be Holiday Inn). Once there, after our stomachs settled, we got bored and went out for some last minute items, including black socks for me.

Saturday morning we got up, I showered and dressed, and Jenn took me out to the church for pics at 12. She headed back to the hotel to get dressed, get her hair done, and all that. Just after I arrived, all the groomsmen took Todd to the Auburn Motel for a drink, though we all just had coke. We got our pics taken and all that, and finally 2:00 rolled around for the ceremony. Ceremony went well. During vows, Todd was smiling ear to ear and nearly giggling, while Ashley was tearing up. Afterward we hung out as everyone left, then boarded the party bus. While enjoying various drinks, we went to the Waterfall Park, the Friendship Shell, and State Park for pictures. At the Waterfall Park, one of the groomsmen ran into the Tiki Lounge for more drinks, and we forgot he was gone, so he isn’t in any of those pictures. A second wedding party also arrived for their own pictures while we were there. Wenona Park we got everyone in the pictures, and got a Captain pose in too. State Park we never actually got out, not sure on the reason for that. We then stopped off at Northland Bar (I think that was name, maybe Northwoods?) on State Park Drive and we all ran in to the restrooms. We tried to get some drinks, but the girls had no ID, so they wouldn’t serve us.

Finally at the hall, we greeted everyone as they came in, then made our way in and to the head table. I was paired with Todd’s sister Holly (the only person in the wedding party I knew, other than the bride and groom) and we were first, and had no idea how to get across the hall. You would think that at a wedding reception, they would make a path for the wedding party to come across the room, and that the people would get out of the way when they saw the wedding party coming through. Nope. Anyway, we finally made it, and the rest of the party followed. Once at the table, it was time for toasts, with the mugs we had gotten the night before, mine being in Jenn’s back seat, who was not yet at the hall. We improvised and it was OK. Next was food. It is nice being able to eat first. Ashley’s Aunt catered, and did a very good job. Following eating the groomsmen cleared away the head table to make room for dancing, the cake was cut, and the fun began. As much as I hate dancing, I tried. I will only slow dance, because you basically stand there and slide your feet around. During the first dance, as Todd and Ashley were dancing before the rest of the wedding party started, we were watching Todd sing the sing into Ashley’s ear, and she was pouring tears.

So, the rest of the night was dancing and this and that. I actually missed the cake cutting, the garter, the bouquet, and I am sure more. Not sure how really. At some point Todd announced to all that it was my birthday. I had thought they were going to do around the cake cutting, but I guess was wrong. At the end of the night, Ashley gave me my birthday cake. I brought it back to hotel, and then to my Mom’s Sunday morning. I really didn’t want on my lap all the way back here, so ate some and left it there. It was very good, but was a big cake and no box. Other than that, my Brother and Dad showed up for reception, my Dad was at ceremony too. We went to Stretch’s after the reception since they kicked us out at 12. Sunday I visited mom and got my birthday present, then we headed home.

My Mom got me a dwarf orange tree, and I got a card from Dad and Grandma. I am 25, so don’t expect from many people anymore. Jenn got me nothing, but is OK, because I got her nothing, and she put out a lot of money on travel and gifts and such for my friends wedding (although I keep telling her Todd is her friend too).

So, we are home. I was too tired to update Sunday evening, and hosting company was relocating yesterday so servers were down. Right now, Todd and Ashley are in Hawaii somewhere.

I guess that is all. Another update in a few days.

I have a few pics, will try and get those up soon.

nick

I'm Back!

The joys of moving.

So, where do we begin. Let’s start with me not being connected to the internet as I write this, but more on that later.

Anyway, Saturday was Jenn’s graduation ceremony at SVSU. I didn’t really know anybody else graduating, and it was a little boring, but considering the number of people who were walking I was impressed with the overall speed. Afterward her parents, her, and I went to Krysiak’s (sp?) for dinner, then to Saginaw to their hotel and to develop photos.

Sunday we were running around packing all the rest of everything left. Everything but what I was wearing tomorrow was what I was figuring, Jenn left a little more till Monday, but she did have more than me to pack up. Dinner Sunday was a Mother’s Day special, grilled sirloins and crab strips, salad, roasted potatoes, cauliflower, bread sticks, and chocolate cake. By the end of the day I had 99.9% of everything I owned in boxes on our front porch waiting.

Monday morning (after not enough sleep, due to up late and nervous insomnia) we went to pick up the U-Haul at 9:30 and then loaded up my stuff, then over to Jenn’s to get all of her stuff. By 2:30 we were on the road with a few cleaning items and miscellany that didn’t quite fit left at Jenn’s apartment. Jenn drove the truck and I followed in her Escape. She had quite a bit of fun, as the truck had poor alignment, and the winds were rather strong, requiring her to keep about a 5˚ turn constantly in order to maintain a straight line.

After arriving in Big Rapids around 4:15, we left the U-Haul at our apartment and went to get the keys. On our way we called our parents to let them know we were safe, and Jenn’s parents response was “oh, we’re at the Quality Inn south of town, we’ll grab a pizza and be right over”. They had actually beaten us here. So, they helped up unload the truck, then headed home.

Tuesday was a lot of unpacking, and enjoying the cable the previous tenant hadn’t turned off. A little exploring town as well. Wednesday was much the same.

Overall impressions are people are much friendlier than in Bay City. Meijer cashiers certainly are anyway. There are just a few at the Essexville store that come off a little course. Snyder’s meat market has some pretty nice people as well. They kept offering us samples, but we had just eaten. We will return though.

Late Wednesday night, we headed back to Bay City. We actually made it in about 90 minutes, arriving at around 1 AM, thanks to very little traffic. We slept on my old futon mattress which we had left on Jenn’s bedroom floor for just this occasion. Come morning, Jenn’s Mom and Aunt arrived to kelp us clean the place up and hand over the keys, then accompany us to Rudy J’s for lunch. Jenn and her family then went shopping while I spent time at home.

Then came the fun, would my $1000 car make it 100 miles on a freeway and highway? It had never been attempted, by me anyway. Recall, of course, that it doesn’t like to shift when the transmission gets warm, and refuses to go over about 45 once this occurs. Well, there were some nervous moments, but it did make it OK, though hasn’t been driven since to know how OK it really is.

So, our gift when we returned, was that the cable was out. Charter had come while we were gone and turned it off, so we missed Grey’s Anatomy and er, Jenn’s 2 favorite shows of the week. Grey’s is online, but er is a loss until it reruns in August or September before new season starts. Of course, we haven’t had any internet access since the guy took his cable modem with him, and now have no service at all. We called and they will be out to set everything up between 1 and 5 Tuesday. You should be able to read this shortly after.

So more unpacking and sorting, and moving and unpacking. We take breaks to go explore town, run to Meijer, get food, etc…

Apartment is nice, very roomy. No room is particularly big, but there is a lot of space between the rooms. It’s kind of hard to explain maybe. We did have a few problems. First, the toilet would not flush completely unless it came up to about 1/4 inch from overflowing, and even then would leave quite a bit behind. Second, the shower had very low pressure, and you actually spent about 10 minutes just trying to feel wet. Third, was some missing and broken stuff: torn screen, missing stove drip pan, 8 missing light bulbs… nothing major, but surprising for just moving in. Well, at some point Friday maintenance came and fixed the drain issue, which had affected the bathroom sink as well. We bought a new shower head at Menards that fixed the pressure issue Friday as well. The light bulbs and drip pan Jenn bought at Meijer Tuesday morning, as they were hard to live without. We are going tomorrow to get the screen fixed. We had considered turning all the receipts in for reimbursement, but they only came to a few dollars total, and aren’t really enough to make a big difference.

So, that is the past week, up to Friday night at 1:37:53 AM.

Will update on Saturday – Present when I get internet.

nick

Un-Homeless

Apartment search and Bon-fire.

We have a home now, yay!

We went to Big Rapids yesterday morning and started Silvernail Realty’s office. They took us first to an apartment that was in a rather crappy house, and the apartment had just been left by the previous tenant. It was very dirty, and just not up to out expectations anyway. The next apartment was the best we had seen yet, though still had a few issues. It was an older house, and had a rather small kitchen, but was certainly a possibility. The third apartment was north of town, but only about 5 minutes to Ferris. It was in a newer building designed as an apartment building rather than a converted house. It’s a little bigger that Jenn’s place now, and seemed to have real potential. We told the realtor we were going for lunch and would let her know.

Before lunch though, we went looking for other options. We drove around town looking for Hillcrest-Oakwood’s office, talked to them to find out where Hillcrest was (they are 2 bedroom, Oakwood is 4), stopped at what looked like a converted motel, then went to Hillcrest, which we found behind K-Mart. Hillcrest was quite nice, big apartments and some other things we liked. Time to go make decisions.

So, off we went to Applebee’s for lunch. We debated the pro’s and con’s of the 2 frontrunners. Hillcrest was cheaper, but looked like party central, and we didn’t really want that. The Silvernail building (something bluff’s, I can’t remember) is near the river (can see out window, 200 ft away?) and is out of traffic area. Both offer Jenn good freeway access, and both are far nicer than others we had seen.

Following lunch, with some leaning but no clear answer, we decided to go have a look at a house we had planned to see on our first trip, but had gotten car sick and skipped. It was south of town and right on the dam pond. We pulled up to it and realized it was small, the size of an average garage. The single bedroom was 8×8, barely enough room for a bed, and certainly no dresser in there with it. There was a small living room with a wood stove, a small kitchen, and a small bathroom. There was a closet, but we were not sure if it was for clothes, or the water heater/furnace as we were just looking through the windows. Why is this house worth $600 a month, or buy for $100,000+? The view. It sits 30 ft above the shore of the pond, with a walkway going down. We could have stood on the deck for a long time just staring out. It was a gorgeous view, but still not enough to make up for the very cramped quarters inside.

So, we drove back through town and looked at the Silvernail property again, and decided on that. We went back to their office and signed the lease, and it shall be ours by the 14th. There is currently a guy from Midland in it, whose lease lasts till August, but he wanted to move back to Midland for a summer job and end lease, so he will be out about the 7th. We may get sooner, but 14th latest.

So last night, we were looking at maps, and resolved one of my tiny issues with the place. Being off the highway out of town, biking was looking difficult. But, it turns out, the White-Pine Trail crosses over the river just half a mile or so north-east of apartment, so that means easy access to trail and riding without fighting traffic on Northland.

In other news, Todd had a bon-fire last night. Sadly, as always, he kept throwing in crap so it was hard to sit close and enjoy. He put an airbag in at one point. That was cool to watch, but took 5 minutes to go off, and you had to stand 50 ft back while waiting so as not to be hit by burning debris whenever it did decide to deploy.

OK, that’s all for now folks.

nick