clubbin'

Hey all, strap in to your seats and get ready for a bit of an experience. It might run a little long but last night was hilariously awesome so sit back and lemme tell you all about it.

Yesterday's good times started at 4pm when a bunch of people from the team that I work with went down to a lounge/bar area in the building we work in and had a few happy hour martinis! I've never had a real martini, and that's probably true even now coz I had a CHERRY CHOCOLATE MARTINI. Now, if you like the sound of that, you'll probably like the taste even better. It was yummylicious. Well that was the end of my work day, after which I went to work out and then went home. Well I get home and I was thinking I wouldn't do anything but I still had my clothes on thinking perhaps I'd go to the grocery store nearby and get a spatula (gotta make myself some eggs in a basket!!! >.<). That didn't happen though. I got a call from Jeremy (my friend who's also co-op'ing at Sherwin) and he reminds me that the other weekend I wanted to hang out and go out and about too so I say, yeah, cool, let's do it! After this I had dinner (coz I had a hankerin' for some of the spaghetti I'd made the night before) because it was better than spending an inane amount of money at a bar to have some food outside.

So I ate up and waited for Jeremy who was gonna drop by to pick me up and then we'd figure out where to park and where to go. I already had a few places in mind but we knew we just wanted to check out places and hang out wherever we liked. Now as I'm waiting I think to myself, meh, I don't really feel like changing my clothes, my work clothes are nice enough. But then, Jeremy lets me know he's going to take a shower and I begin to think as I wait if I'm gonna go out I might as well do it right. At first I was just gonna change my shirt but then my I eventually changed everything and pimped myself out. I was gonna go with my pin-striped jacket but I opted instead for my cool hat. And, in a while you'll see why this was obviously the better choice. If you wanna see what I wore, check out my facebook for a picture. Anyway, soon after, Jeremy got on his way and picked me up and we started the night.

I live on Saint Clair Avenue, which is intersected by a bunch of roads that go from W9th then W6th and so on and so forth. The places I wanted to check out were mostly in W6th so we tried to find a parking spot there. We found a pretty nice spot where we wouldn't have to pay for parking or anything so that worked for us and we set out. This was around 9:30, which, granted, is pretty darn early to be headin' out but we really didn't have that much to do so we went for it.

First stop: The Mercury Lounge
This place was alright, there really wasn't much going on, and, again, it didn't surprise me because it was really early but we checked it out. We went to get our coats checked but when we went downstairs there was pretty much nothing but the bathrooms and an employee only area there so we went back up and checked out the place a bit more with our jackets on (it was about 18 degrees, by the way). The music was ok but it wasn't very loud, and when we tried going upstairs to see if it would be nicer we were met with some free food! We thought, awesome, but at the same time we realized there was probably some sort of private party going on, so we pretty much booked it outta there. Later on we realized we probably could've melded in there if we hadn't said anything, but even then, we both had just eaten so that's not what we were looking for.

Second stop: Starbuck's
Now, I know what you're thinking: "what the heck, that's not a club!" but if you know me, and chances are if you're reading this you do, then you know I had to get my fix, hehe. It was cool because I had starbucks about 2 days ago and the barista recognized me, though she almost didn't because of the hat. If you must know, I had a tall peppermint mocha (deeelish). I'm actually pretty sure that the other barista, even though she's cute, isn't really that good at making coffee because each time she's made mine it's been "ok", but whatevs. We sat down, sipped some coffee and went on our merry way.

Third stop: My apartment
Now, this was pretty much because we walked down 6th and saw that places weren't really doing much yet so we decided to crash at my place for a little while until it became later. I found out that Jeremy hadn't seen Advent Children (the FFVII movie) and I didn't hesitate to immediately put it on so we saw that for a while until 11 moved around and so we head out again.

Fourth stop: Blind Pig
This place seemed pretty interesting, in spite of its unusual name. When we went in it was pretty packed and the had really loud live music playing Jungle Boogie (paranananaaaa paranananaaa <- the horns section after the line jungle boogie). Upstairs it was too packed so we checked out downstairs so we could check our coats and just to see if there were fewer people. Well there were fewer people and the music was actually different. But there really weren't many people dancing and the music was kinda blah and to top it all off, the coat check cost $3 Jeremy and I were not going to spend so we just bumped that joint (lol, thanks Missy).

Fifth stop: Bar Flyy
This place's music was about the most bouncin' from around all the places we had walked by so we went in to check it out. It wasn't really full but it was going somewhere and it seemed like a good time. Jeremy got a beer and we started the night. We sat around a bit enjoying the music and just hangin' out. I was a bit hesitant about dancing coz I had to take off my jacket, which I hadn't checked and because I was a bit bashful, of course. Jeremy convinced me though by saying he'd take care of my jacket so I found myself with no excuse and I got up there. The music was pretty darn fun and loud, and that's fine with me. It was nice trance/dance mix which I love (honestly, so long as it's not reggaetton!). One thing I noticed, since I'm pretty new to the club scene is women usually at least travel in pairs. Well there were these two girls that were pretty cool. One of them sorta asian looking had either had a bit more to drink than she should've or just wanted to have some crazy fun because she was dancing like a maniac (NO! no footloose reference). Well she noticed my dancing and went up to me with her friend and we danced some, it was fun and funny to me. At one point I was dancing between the two of them haha, TaT sammich. Well after some good fun I was pretty tired so Jeremy and I hit the road again.

Revisit: The Mercury Lounge
I was still curious about the Mercury Lounge coz it's the place I wanted to go to from the get go so we checked it out again, this time much later than the first. Well, it was rather lack-luster again. It was pretty cramped, the music wasn't as loud, there really weren't that many people dancing, and although the party upstairs was over, the only thing waiting up there more of the same as downstairs. Of course, Jeremy and I left that place. On the way back down W6th a guy stops us and asks us what club we recommend. Of course were like the worst people to ask since that was our first night out and we had only recently started living in Cleveland. Still, we tried talked a bit. Jeremy asked him what kind of music he likes and he said hip-hop, which I'm sure made Jeremy pretty excited coz I know he loves it. Well the dude in fact knew more than we did and told us Club Shadow, which is actually right next to my building, but since there was a cover (entrance fee) of $10 at the time the dude told us about we just skipped on it. He also mentioned Spy, but apparently that place had closed down because there were shootings in it twice a year. Gosh.

Revisit: Bar Flyy
Well I really enjoyed Bar Flyy, hehe, so we decided to drop by again. This time we hung out for a longer time. We went downstairs and discovered that the coat check here was free YAY! But there wasn't much downstairs except a free bathroom, which is the reason I went there to begin with. Worthy of mention, I guess, is this hilarious pull quote of the night:
guy A (urinal 1): dude, don't look at my penis it's got bumps
guy B (urinal 2): *lol*
me (urinal 5): *thinks LOL wtf? haha*
Anyway, we drop off our coats and go back up and I get on the dance floor again. At this point the asian lady from earlier was still there and still dancing like a fiend, although at this point I believe she was dancing even more crazily. But there were now more characters on the dance floor. Actually, I forgot to mention him earlier but there was this asian looking dude doing his thing and I'm glad coz then it didn't look like I was the only other dude doing his thing hehe. Now there were these two middle-eastern looking girls and sometimes they would bend and wave their heads in a circle waving their hair everywhere and it was interesting, funny and even funnier when the guy they were dancing with started to do it too. Another occurrence on the dance floor was this guy that was obviously drunk go up to me and ask me some things along the lines of "have you seen this guy's web site?" and I'm like "oh yeah.... lol" then he shook my hand and kept dancing. At this point there were also a trio of asian kids, two guys and a girl and one of the guys, I could tell, could dance, when I first saw him. He was staring at everybody as if measuring their skills not even dancing yet, just standing there staring at everybody. Eventually I did see him bust a move or two and he was poppin' and lockin' like a breaker and it was cool. He was better than me but I didn't care, I wasn't there to compete, I was there to paaaaartay! haha. After dancing until I was parched Jeremy and I went downstairs again to unwind a bit and then we got a drink. I didn't know what a tab was or anything but thankfully Jeremy was more well acquainted with that sort of atmosphere and I got us some drinks and opened a tab and we were happy. Of course, I had a good ol Midori Sour, as delicious as usual (and for $6 it damn well better be!!!) and Jeremy got a gin and tonic, which was strong and interesting. Well we hung out with our drinks a bit and then went up. I finished my drink and got right back on the dance floor. Pretty much we danced till 1ish and that's about the time we were tired enough to call it a night. So we went down to pick up my tab and the coats. As I'm picking up my tab these two attractive blonde girls were next to me as I'm there waiting to get my card. Well they approach me and asked if one of them could borrow my hat and take a picture with me HAH! Therein lies the very reason why the hat was the right choice! Well, I'll never have that picture but at least I'll have the memories and the laughter because I was amused to no end. Se we got our coats and said 'see ya' to Bar Flyy.

Oh but the night isn't over yet! As we were walking back to Jeremy's car a girl latches on to our arms. "Where are you guys going?" Now, I was like, whoa, but we were honest and just said we were going home. So this girl tells us about how she lost her friends and now she's alone and she has no idea where she is because she's only just started working downtown and so we were nice and offered to help her out. We didn't really know what to do cept offer to take her to her car and we didn't really know where Mulberry is but luckily, Jeremy has a GPS and we made it no problem. Well on the way there we realize that girl (Nicole) was rather drunk. Endlessly saying "look at you guys, you guys are so nice" and being bubbly while extremely floaty, it was truly apparent. Which is why when we got to the parking lot we decided it was probably best to convince her we should drive her home as we didn't want her to die/kill anyone trying to make it there. Well, we finally convinced to take her home and I'm glad we did because she was so drunk she almost didn't remember her address. But we made it there. It was about a 15 minute or so drive and I was just keeping from laughing because she kept asking us if we went downtown often and where we worked. I think she probably asked us about 3-5 times, and it's likely even today she has no idea who we even are haha. She also pretty much told us her life story and it was pretty amusing hearing her rant about the girls at her work place wearing hoochie mama outfits and how she plays volleyball on her job. Again, no idea. On the flip side, she invited us to a party she's having 2 weeks from now at her house and it seems Jeremy and I may have made an unexpected and amusing friend. So we drop her off and head back. On the way back one last interesting thing happened. We were driving down and Jeremy was putting on his seat belt but it was stuck on the door so he opened it slightly to pull it back in. Well, of course the streets are swimming with cops on a night like that and a cop saw it. Well, at the light the cop stopped next to us and asked us if everything was alright. Thankfully we both drank responsibly and were as sober as it gets and it was pretty much done when Jeremy said "oh yeah, I was just putting on my seat belt, it was stuck on the door."And with that, the cops were satisfied and left.

Well last night was an extremely interesting night. I wonder what adventures wait for us next week ^^ Till then, seeeeee ya later!

Sushi Adventure

It's been a while since my last post. I do apologize, to those who are desperately waiting for this post like I'm trying to patiently wait for smash bros brawl. Is there actually any one out there that fits that description? Unlikely. Yes, well, I did want to post something for a while and just couldn't bring myself to do it but today's occurrence begs for a post and here goes the story.

Well last friday I wanted to do something other than stay at the apartment and play video games or do whatever I normally do on friday nights so I made a search online for a restaurant that I could go to and have myself a nice dinner. I chose a restaurant called Tea House Noodle, but unfortunately it was rather far and I wasn't willing to walk that much just for dinner, no sir. So I picked a different restaurant and went there and had a nice pizza and no alcohol, even though it was a bar because it seems there's just no way for people to accept that my extremely legit driver's license from Puerto Rico, is valid as an ID in the US. Not that airports have no problem with it or anything. I'm not bitter! Well, in any case, today I decided I wanted to try that Noodle place out because the location is much closer to my work place than it is to my apartment so after working out I made my way there. Well, sadly, it was closed. However, right next to it lies a place called Sapporo Sushi and I decided to give it a try because I like sushi and, hey, it says Sapporo so it's Japanese.

I had a Spicy California Maki (Roll) as usual and it was deeelicious. There was only one person serving and preparing the sushi at the place: a man of probably his late 30s early 40s who was probably Japanese, seeing as how he ran a Japanese place. Well, after the meal I went to pay and thanked him for the sushi, saying it was very good and giving him a handsome tip because I'm sure it's hard enough doing everything it takes to run that kind of shop on your own, and of course, because the sushi was good. Well, I was pondering it throughout the meal but when it was over I finally mustered enough courage to ask him about a character in Japanese, a Kanji, that I didn't know. I could read the three others in the word but I didn't know that one so I figured I would ask him. Well after I paid I asked him about it. He was a little confused at first so I thought it was just me mumbling but I tried to make myself clear and pointed and read aloud what I knew but he still didn't know. Eventually he realized what I was asking for but just apologized saying "sorry, I don't know". I was taken aback and felt a bit sheepish. Then again, thinking about it, he probably felt even more so because he runs a Japanese restaurant but doesn't know Japanese. That's pretty much the only conclusion I can come to and I really shouldn't be too surprised. In the mall, the Japanese place (sakkio Japan) is also run by people that aren't Japanese. In any case, the sushi really was good so it makes up for the slightly awkward moment. And that was my sushi adventure.

Happy Saturday

This morning I slept in for the first time in the whole week and it felt great. I was practically aching for a nap at work on friday. Not from lack of sleep since I get at the very least 7 hours of sleep every weeknight, but I was just tired yesterday. It might also be worth mentioning that I had been down the past few days, under the weather or what have you. So the morning went by as usual, I did my daily morning exercise routine (which is just a few push ups and sit ups, but it can't hurt ^^) and had some breakfast. I get on the computer and one of the first messages I received as I got on the computer was "Happy Saturday". At first I thought, sure, it may be, but if the past few days were any indication, I'd be down the whole day again. Thankfully, my first feelings were wrong. I played video games for a good bit of the morning then took the camera and took some footage of my apartment during the day and continued to play video games, all the while talking with my friends online. At around 2 I left to get some lunch in the mall because I remembered that on saturdays I would go have breakfast at Panera with Ryan and I do miss that so I went and had a bagel after lunch at the mall (I had Arby's in case you were wondering). Afterwards I hung out at the mall a little, which actually translates to "I went to gamestop, browsed in there a bit and then left". There's actually a little more to the gamestop part of this story. Now, I'm no fan of gamestop but boy did they "meter las patas"* with me today. Basically I went in only to look around at all the games I know I don't want coz I pick my games very carefully as I'm cheap and they're expensive but then I remembered that I had entertained the idea of getting Pikmin as I had gained some interest in it given Olimar's addition to the Smash bros roster. Well after spending several minutes trying to even locate the Gamecube games section of the store, I actually stumbled upon a used copy (which was exactly what I was looking for) and upon taking it to the cashier so that I could take it home, I was met with the disappointment (in Gamestop) of them not having the game, even in spite of the box being on the shelf. Now, I don't know how often this happens, but it's an oversight they had best keep from occurring. Because it was just a whim, I was neither lifted nor sunk at the prospect of not having the game, but imagine, if you will, an eager lad who has been earnestly seeking the game for several days going to different stores and gleefully stumbling upon this box only to be met with soul-crushing disappointment seconds later. Not a pretty picture, let me tell you. Regardless, in the insightful words of my good ex-roommate Dale: "gamestop is run on bad business". At the time of writing this, I'm doing laundry and just enjoying the partial solitude of living in Cleveland. Why partial, you may ask. Nothing complicated, really, it's because I can still freely speak with my good friends. The very reason behind this post proof that this lonesome is not a disconnection.

All in all, even in spite of the pikmin fiasco, it has been a Happy Saturday, if for no other reason, because I've been able to rise out of my gloom and that's something to be truly glad about.

cool thing

Now, I normally wouldn't post about something as simple or short as this, but this was so cool I just thought I might as well put it out there. And besides, if I write it down, it'll make it harder to forget... or maybe, easier to remember. Anyway, I was playing Kingdom Hearts II (one of my favorite games evaaaar) and Sora goes: "Our hearts are connected." or something like that and for a second I tried to imagine what the word would be in japanese. Then the word 繋がる (tsunagaru) popped into my head. I didn't know what it meant but I thought about it. So out of curiosity I look it up and, lo and behold, it means to be connected, to be tied to. It just blew my mind coz I didn't even try to make that connection (no pun intended). And so, it's really cool for me because I wanna be fluent in japanese, and if these sorts of things happen it's probably because some bridges in my head are already beginning to be built (maybe). Frankly, that's exciting to me :)

僕たちの心は繋がります。

Ashigaikohoh

(a-SHE-guy-caw-huh *in a low raspy voice*) Well before I even begin I might as well demystify the title. It's merely a phrase High Templars from Starcraft say. It's amusing to me and that's why I wrote it and saying it is fun. Besides that, an alternate title may have been "From 80 to 8" or "24 hour Range", which I just made up right now because of what I'm about to write about.

Well the vacations in Puerto Rico where really nice. I got to see my back home peeps for some darn good fun and had some great food. Near the end of the break I got my tummy mad at me and we weren't on happy terms until after I left. It may be an unusual aversion to gigantic meatballs but this would be the second time that meatballs cause my stomach to become cross with me. Additionally, it wasn't fully healed when I left PR but I got to Cleveland and got a cold for a day. I left the sunny island's winter time at around 80 degrees and Cleveland welcomed me with a rather cold wintry morning of about 9 degrees. Hence the "From 80 to 8" title (although it was really 9, artistic license allows me the degree of separation). My first day back at work I was sniffling with a runny, stuffy nose and sneezing my way threw the whole day. Thankfully by then my stomach was on good terms with me again but the cold was annoying. On an even brighter side, by friday I was practically completely back to normal again, YAY!

So today I got up super early after going to sleep at 3ish AM (darn you bio-clock). But I tried to sleep in for a few more hours before I got bored with just laying in bed awake and then went to take a shower and go pay my rent for the first time. Woot. It feels like such a momentous occasion. *pats self on the back* But truly, I'm just glad God's made so much provision. I got the job, a place to stay and after paying all the bills I still have enough to save, help pay off the plane ticket back home (^.^'), and even some left over for me.

Wow, today I'm actually not gonna ramble on for 10 more paragraphs like I usually do. Although I could coz I haven't blogged in a while but I'll leave it at this. Until next time, friends and fam and friends that are like fam.

♡

Two Milestones

I'll try to keep this one short coz I have to pack, but today I received my first paycheck from Sherwin and my first bill (electricity, if you must know). I was extremely glad to have received my check today and was glad when I saw the bill, because even though they only charged me for a week, it was still mad cheap. I already started to write a budget and I'm excited to finally begin to truly be self-sufficient! Also "tax is a ho"! Taxes docked about 260 bucks off my paycheck. Yes, that really sucks, but what can you do? I actually thought it would be a bit less, but I guess that's not too bad, and at the very least, I'll still be pretty comfortable, even after paying everything. So, hope everything works out :D

and now for something completely different

OK, so maybe it's not completely different. After all, it's still me silly banter again, however, this time, with some form! As I've nothing particularly out of the ordinary to report - save walking a few miles to the bank on saturday and taking the train back( but that's about all that happened) - I've decided to share a haiku with you all. Now, ever since like the second day of work I've decided that my away message for aim for my non-work screen name is to be a haiku, different every day. If I remember it correctly the following is what today's was.

Actually, allow me one line of origin explanation. Basically, it was at church this sunday and one of the people speaking from the altar said jokingly "perhaps God really is a woman" and I thought "well that isn't the case simply because God is neither male nor female. He made both and in His image. Therefore, if man is to complement woman and vice versa, it is because they are, in a way, two halves of the whole that is God's image". Now, I'm no theologian and I'm sure there is errata in my line of thought, however, I like the romantic image that that displayed and furthermore, inspired the following Haiku:

He is who He is
so God, being who He is,
complements Himself.

I know it's not groundbreaking and personally I don't really care, it's just a simple thought that popped into my head given the formerly explained line of thought. If you like it though, I'm glad. :D

Living on my own

Well now, what neglect! I haven't written a thing in practically a week! For shame! Well, I have to say, one thing about having a 9-5 is that nights seem awfully short. In part because I'm going to sleep rather early and also because by the time work is done it's practically night and about 3/4ths of the day are over. Of course, it has its virtues in contrast to university. Take, for instance, the fact that, while you often only need to go to class for 4-6 hours a day, the rest of the day is possibly spent doing school work. Not to mention, weekends are also met with the same kind of industry, whereas in the workplace, the weekend is yours in its entirety.

But enough about such trifles! And what's with this scholastic tone? haha. Anyway, this week has been pretty normal at work. Save for monday, where we had the office party. That was fun. I was able to leave work a bit early, which is fine in its own right, but then I truly feasted at the party. My goodness, such a large amount of delicious food. There was a spinach lasagna and some chicken parmigiana (sp?) and some really good home fries like potatoes and salad and bread and it was just great. Afterwards, they took the covers off of the tables to reveal a bunch of pool tables... and brought in dessert!!! Two courses worth, but I had had so much food that I barely had enough space in my stomach for some of the first course, which, frankly, was good enough for me: marshmallows, crackers, chocolate cookies, strawberries and whatnot, and next to it... melted chocolaaaaaate!!!! Oh, also that night, after losing 2 games of pool and winning another one, I played table-top shuffle for the very first time. It was fun and cool.

I know I'm backtracking now but I remembered that I went to church on sunday and that was notable but I was already talking about monday so I kept on talking about it but now I wanna go back to sunday, k? ok! Well yes, sunday morning I went to church. I had to walk to it but it's not all that far away and the weather was fair so I decided to go for it. I found the church with no problem and it was a nice experience. I was given a ride back, which is good coz at that point it was raining and walking back under the rain would've been kind of bad. The service was interesting too. It was far more liturgical and protocol based than I'm used to but still enjoyable. I had previously had dinner with the pastor and his personality gave me a completely different image than I saw at the service. Not at all in terms of hypocrisy or anything like that. It's just he was so lively and youthful and I normally connect such liturgical style services with elderly, serious priests. Still, I like hymns so, at least, the music was to my liking, hehe. Ah yes, and the pastor lent me a jacket coz I left all my big ones at Rochester. Thankfully, the other co-op went to rochester randomly that night and was thoughtful enough to get me my jackets! He's a cool guy.

Oh, I also did laundry on sunday and, lo and behold, I spent more money than I normally would have had to and the dryers did suck. At least the one I used for 1 of my loads. I spent more money because 1) one of the washers ate like 3 of my quarters T_T and 2) because I had to run the dryer twice for one of the loads. Rawr, but what can I do? At least I got my clothes clean and dry and put awa- ok, not yet and omg, I know it's thursday and I haven't put my clothes away, what a terrible habit! Ah but as I said at the beginning, living on your own has its virtues :P. Anywho, work is going well. It's work after all, but at the very least, I'm learning a lot and being useful, even if little by little. I'm a bit :/ because my teammates haven't really "integrated" me into the group. I still very much feel like an outsider, but of course, that's because I am, I'm just an intern that's gonna be there for 6 months and I've only been there for a week and a half. I would, however, appreciate being asked to go to lunch with them every so often. In part it makes me wonder if it's me that's not doing something, but I'm sure it's just the fact that they're already a strong clique and I'm certainly not in there to break that. So, I suppose there's nothing for me to do but wait until I slowly meld in as part of the troupe. Thankfully, I'm not really in there alone, and there's the other co-op dude and we go to lunch together sometimes. In any case, I don't feel bad about not being part of the group yet. I know it's only a matter of time, and even if it's not, I don't feel lonely or anything. This is still a very transitional period and I understand that so having IM and a phone is good enough until I make some local friends :D

Ah, I'm sure there's probably things I'm leaving out, but I think it'll be ok for now. Ta-ta~

after a week

As the title says, it's been a whole week since I moved to cleveland. To the day, of course, since at this time 7 days ago I was still on the road here. The first week has had its ups and downs but, as I thought, things continue to even out. I'm sure before long I'll be so used to it I won't even think about it. Haven't done much but things are going well. There's a holiday office party on monday, which I'm sure will be fun and a good opportunity to start making friends.

I've been catching up on stuff I hadn't had the chance to do while in school, since I have a lot of free time now. I've read a ton of manga and seen some anime. Namely, tons of One Piece, a bit of shichinin no nana and sailor moon and some bleach and naruto. I need to get me an RF Modulator so I can get back to playing some vid games. I can't wait to get my hands on Super Mario Galaxy, but that might have to wait until Christmas. I suppose that's ok. I'll have even more time to play it then since I'll be vacationing at home! I'm also looking forward to NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams and going crazy over Smash Bros Brawl, although I have to wait like another two months for that one u_u.

I should try and do some laundry today, as I'm gonna run out of undergarments soon. That way I can see for myself just how crappy the dryers really are, hah. I might go out today and hang out with the other co-op dude. We'll see. I'm also hoping to go to church tomorrow.

Well there's not much to say, or not much in mind right now so I think this'll be a short one today. 'Till next time :)

You look like you could use a long one

Long blog that is, of course! Goodness, there is much too much to say! On top of it all, the network connection I am on is borrowed, but I suppose perhaps I shall get to that. Anywho, this post will be, inasmuch as I can muster the will to once more recount the past 3-4 days, an update. That is because I've already shared these stories with various people. Incidentally the people who generally read this blog, but alas, I am compelled to write these things here. For posterity's sake, perhaps.

I suppose it would be best to start on Saturday. Saturday morning I finished packing my things into the U-HAUL truck with the help of Bucky, Ryan and Summer. After which the guys and I went to Panera for some breakfast to then hit the road. Driving a truck in semi-snowy conditions of Henrietta (in Rochester) was somewhat horrifying but at the very least, once we left the city things were fine and the road was perfectly clear, in some places even dry, and the Lord blessed us with great weather the whole way to Cleveland. Also, Ryan was nice enough to ride with me in the u-haul and that helped ease the tension of driving a truck and just kept me company and we surfed the radio which was hilarious at times (like the grinch song hahaha!) Well we got to Cleveland with no problems or mishaps, albeit at a high expense of gasoline for the truck >.<, but that was inescapable. Once we hit Cleveland we made it to the apartments with ease and went up to the offices to find out we weren't home free just yet (and to what extent I would soon discover). Basically, we had to run a bit of an errand even after reaching the apartments but the guys were patient and super great so we got everything done and proceeded to move me into my apartment. After I was done moved in the question of what I would do with the u-haul lingered above me like a dark cloud darkening a rather bright day. I knew the guys had to go back and that we even had skipped the lunch in Cleveland that we had planned because we ran late. However, one last time, they saved me and took me to the u-haul place, which mind you, is in a sha~dy area, and this no less, at night. But we did that and then they dropped me back off at the apartment where we said our goodbyes. :'( The rest of the night I spent arranging things in the apartment but was urged by mum to go and get some groceries, which I did, and it was a good thing. Then I went to sleep somewhat early as I was exhausted from the trip.

Sunday: I woke up rather early and proceeded to make some breakfast and relax on the day before work began. I would've liked to go to church but it was already a bit late for me to do that but I did get in touch with a pastor who is willing to have lunch with me some time this week and I hope to visit his and maybe some other churches in the search for a church for my time here. After being at my apartment not doing much for a good time, and taking a shower with no shower curtain >.<, I decided to check out where the Sherwin-Williams offices are: my soon-to-be daily commute. So using google earth (and after readjusting my living place in google earth, as I had it wrong) I realized that the distance from my apartment to work is rather shorter than I initially thought it was, much to my pleasant surprise. So I calculated a route and made my way to the building. I discovered what I believe to be the nearest Starbucks, which makes me happy but is sure to impact my wallet, although for now I won't have any because I have to save my money. So I reached the work-place, which I recognized thanks to Max's dad having driven us oven back when I came with him to set things up in Crittenden Court (the apartments). One thing I was also glad to discover is that there is a mall right next to the workplace! This was good for me as I was in need of some things I needed for my apartment, of which a shower curtain was of utmost urgency. Well I walked around the whole mall just perusing and seeing what kinds of stores they have. Eventually, as I was walking to the food court where I would have lunch I came across a dollar store and felt like I should check it out. Well it's a good thing I did because I was able to get some plates and cups (which I also needed), and a shower curtain and some rings to hold it all. All these things for a dollar each were great for me and I was extremely glad. I had lunch and head back with renewed vigor, as saturday had been a bit of a downer day with plentiful occurrence and a good bit of stress, not to mention having to say good-bye to close friends, if only for a while. That night I decided to dig out some old anime I hadn't seen (courtesy of Alex, who had been kind enough to give me some and I simply had never gotten around to it) and saw some Shichinin no Nana and a Sailor Moon Movie. I then went to sleep somewhat early.

Monday: I woke up at 7 and got ready and made my way to work. Got there with no problems and went through orientation. Let me just say that from the get-go, this co-op feels better than my previous one. Of course, this company has a co-op program and is just a bigger company altogether, so it would figure but everything just felt right. The orientation was interesting but of particular hilarity were some of the videos we had to see, which were clearly from the early 90's late 80's, as was evidenced by the hair and clothing styles. All this on top of a little intro in that very video which featured computers and TVs crashing into each other and exploding, it felt out of place but was so funny I couldn't help but chuckle. After all the orientation time I got to have lunch. I went to the adjacent mall's (the one from sunday) food court and had food with the other Co-op, which also happens to be a 4th year IT major from RIT. Also serendipitously, one of the people we had lunch with is an alumnus of RIT, which I recognized because he was in the RIT singers and one of the a cappella groups. So after that, we went back and Meghan, my social mentor and person I'm here because of (she was the scouter at the career fair) and she gave me and Jeremy, the other co-op, the building(s) tour and we got our pictures taken for our badges/IDs/keys to places around the building. After this we got set up in our individual stations and I started tinkering with the options on the computer which is to be my work station. Work got out, I said 'see ya tomorrow' to everyone but then I went out with Jeremy and we went to a few places. Basically, I had mentioned to him that I needed to go to Target or something and get myself an iron and an ironing board and he has a car so he offered to take me to Target but we didn't stop there (coz the cheap irons were sold out), we went to a super strange but super cheap grocery store and then Walmart where I ended up getting the iron and board for less than 20 bucks! Then we hung out at his place for a while where I got online for the first time since saturday night (because I don't have internet in the apartment quite yet) and just went nuts checking my e-mails and whatnot. After just chillin at his place for a while he drove me back to crittenden and I made myself a quick dinner and went to sleep after looking at random old pictures on the comp.

Tuesday: (don't worry, this is where this blog ends haha) Well I went through the usual morning grind and got to work. Settled in my work station and kept on tinkering with it. Finally got the updates I didn't get yesterday. Basically, the mac I'm on got reformatted on monday and although the internet was working I couldn't get the updates to the os or even iTunes at all, but it all worked first thing in the morning on tuesday. At some point during the morning Meghan asks me what I want for lunch today. I was kind of taken for a loop but after a while they got out of me what I like to eat. My first thing I said was italian food so they went with that and we ended up choosing this upscale super fancy italian RISTORANTE in the mall called Bice (pronounced "bee-cheh", much to the team's enjoyment). The lunch was very tasty and the conversation and interaction with the team was a ton of fun! After the lunch we all went back into work and into work mode and my tech mentor hooked me up with some work to try my hand at. Real stuff for the first time!!! So that's what I worked on for the rest of the day and much to my self-fulfillment, I finished one of the tasks I had been charged with. After that I left work (a half hour early coz the lunch threw me off hahaha, but that's alright, I'll just make up for it tomorrow), and made my way to the dollar store again to get some things I needed (namely a can opener) and I also got some other things I thought would be good to have, again for a killer price. Unfortunately the can opener sucked but oh well, it was only a dollar haha, and maybe it was just the can of tuna being gimp. So I came back home, saw another sailor moon movie (haha) and had dinner. Then I made got back on the computer and lo and behold: INTERNET! So I got on, checked my e-mails and decided I just had to blog about this crazy experience I've been having. And that's what this blog was.

So that's that. Boy that was a type-full. hehe, Aaaaaanyway, I'm calling it a day on this one. Hopefully I'll get internet at my place tomorrow and won't have to resort to mega-ton blogs every few days.

Love y'all ;)