Tuesday, December 30, 2008

I Think I left A Little Out.

Consider this a part deux of the last blog. After sleeping on it, I felt like I left a lot out. Plus there’s new crap to inform you kids about in my cuh-raaaaaa-zeeee life.

So when we got all settled in we kind of realized that we had a huge week in front of us. Kendra went to work and guess what... SO DID I!!! I was really stoked to get started. My first day at Peet's Coffee was pretty straight forward. The usual mumbo jumbo but I got to do my first coffee tasting. Just picture a bunch of winos sitting around making up silly words and putting them into sentences about coffee instead of wine. I’m learning a lot but after today, I think I need to take a break from the caffeine. I was so jacked up on caffeine yesterday that I woke up with a hang over this morning and today I did a tea tasting and had a cup of super tea. I accidently brewed my personal cup of tea way too long and made it a super tea and I was dying at work. I probably looked like a crack addict on the verge of throwing down HJ’s for their fix.

Part of our huge week thus far was getting our keys to the new apartment which included us forking over $2000 for a security deposit for our new place on top of the first months rent at $1100. That’s right kids, I said $1100 a month. You might be thinking, “Daaaaaaaamn, they must live in a castle made with gold bricks surrounded by a mote filled with grape soda. P-I-M-P

Umm, yeah... not so much. It’s a small one bedroom with a tiny kitchen and a medium sized bathroom. It does have a ton of closet space and I’ll be sure to put some pics up of it before we really move in. There is a bus stop right out our front door and we live right above a sushi bar, as I might have mentioned in a previous post. It’s in a really amazing location. We have everything we need with in walking distance and everything else we could ever want is no more than 10 minutes down the road either direction. Including a Volcom store. Oh dear gawd!

Needless to say, we are super pumped and on top of that, we got a sweet designer custom made key for the front door. SNOW WHITE SUCKA!!!!

Monday, December 29, 2008

San Fran Is My Home Again


Well, we made it. Made it back down to the great state of California and honestly, I can say that I am very excited to be back home. My outlook on this dirty ass state has changed a little for the better I think, but not because I had a terrible time back in Oregon. In fact, I had a ton of fun and was so happy to see my family and friends that it made it hard to really leave. These four weeks that I have been away from Oregon, hasn’t really felt like I have “moved” to San Francisco. As we rolled into Eugene, it felt very strange, like I was back home from a long vacation.

Anyway, on the way down I was forewarning all of my friends that we were almost there and contrary to what Ian thinks and says, no one had told me that the company christmas party for the Eugene Dutch Bros. (where I used to work) was going on that night until one of my old co-workers, Laura, asked if I was going. My feelings weren’t hurt in the slightest, because when you work with such awesome people they become more than just co-workers, they become friends and even family. So I had no problem dropping in and saying “What’s up” to all my friends and family.

What was pretty damn cool and probably fueled a little bit by the alcohol everyone was drinking before we got there, was when we walked up to the table everyone was sitting at, the reaction they gave would make anyone feel like a rockstar. Everyone wanted a hug and tell us how much they missed us. There was even a few tears of joy shed. You know who you are and I love you too. :)

We didn’t stay out real late that night because I finally got the okay from the higher ups at Dutch Bros. to pick up a few shifts and had a blast working the very next morning. Even with having to work early, Kendra and I, who have dubbed ourselves Bloody Mary Connoisseurs, had to make our way over to the Horse Head while in Eugene. We make it a point to grab a bloody mary from any restaurant or bar we go to if they serve them just so we can try and find the best bloody mary in the world. It just so happens that the best ones that we have been able to find are at the Horse Head. Please, do yourself a favor and try one from there. Deeee-lish.

I was lucky enough to be home in time to be a part of my best friend’s children’s baptisms. Zach and Abby asked Gabe and I to come and be a part of the ceremony and I was pretty jazzed about it. Zach said it’s basically like being a godfather to their kids, which is pretty much huge. I use the word baptism loosely because, according to this denomination of church, it was more of a dedication and a promise that Zach, Abby, Gabe, and I will help raise their children properly. Regardless of what you want to label it, I was super stoked to be there and am extremely honored.

The next couple of days was spent back and fourth between the families and trying to soak up as much of them as possible during the day and then hanging out with the friends at night. Which meant me playing video games with my old house mates or going out and grabbing a drink with friends. I know Kendra and I didn’t get to hang out with everyone that we wanted to and wish we could of had more time with the people that we did hang out with, but that would be too unrealistic and are happy we saw who we did.

One night, a large group of us went to the theater and saw Role Models. It’s got Paul Rudd (Brian Fantana: Anchorman), Sean William Scott (Chester Greenburg: Dude, Where’s My Car) and that nerdy kid named Christopher Mintz-Plasse (Fogell: Superbad). Perhaps something is wrong with me but I was dying the whole time I watched this movie and I guess it didn’t do to well. I thought it was an absolute riot. There were things said in that movie that made me think of my brother. What I’m trying to say is go see it, rent it, or what ever, just make sure you have an open mind. Funny stuff.

One last thing, my parents love me way too much and got me a Flip Cam. If you don’t know what it is, it’s a small hand held digital camcorder. But it’s beyond simple. There is no memory cards, tapes, or even software to run it. Everything you need comes built into the camera. On top of that it has surprisingly good quality. I wanted to make a stupid short film from the seat of my pants and came up with this. 

(Keep in mind, I did this in 20 minutes so there isn’t a huge amount of production value.)

Saturday, December 20, 2008

541, REPRESENT!


Home sweet home, here we come. Kendra and I are super stoked on seeing the family. I’m actually writing this in Thug Passion as we are trucking along I-5. Earlier, we stopped in Fairfield to pick up some tire chains at Les Schwab. I just hope we don’t have to use them, the weather report says we don’t have to but we have to carry them. Ugh.

Last night we went to a birthday party in Nob Hill at a chill bar named, Rye. This being the first time we had been out to a bar since my arrival down here, I’m glad it was at the Rye. On the back wall, just past the single pool table, the whole wall was a chalk board decorated with sketched sea life and other peoples personal drawings and I think a few random phone numbers of people hoping to get lucky. On the wall we stood in front of for the picture with Shashi and Laura, was their wine collection. Pretty rad place is what I’m trying to get at.

I was doubling over from laughter for a good portion of the night due to Shashi and how enthusiastically adamant about where he shops. The three stores that he sees fit to grace them with his presence are Costco, Trader Joe’s, and Amazon.com. So much to the point were he apparently is the easiest person to shop for in the world. Laura said that all he wanted for his birthday was a gift card to Amazon.com and seeing his eyes light up when Amazon.com was mentioned in the conversation was all the proof I needed to believe that. I’m not really one for purchasing things online too often but after hearing how terribly passionate Shashi was about Amazon, I just might have to check it out now.

The only thing that I don’t like about going to the city for the bars is the parking. We lucked out I think only having to walk 5 blocks back to our car but I feel like it’s not always that way.

Kendra and I decided to take advantage of the fact that we were alone for one more night down here and exchanged Christmas presents. She got me a new jacket that I had my eye on at one of my new favorite stores called Dapper. This store is totally my style.... if I had tons of money to blow on clothes. It’s the jacket that I’m wearing in the pic. Super sweet.

Anyhow, call me. We’re going to be in Eugene until the 28th.

Thursday, December 18, 2008

Something is burning

For those of you that didn’t hear, I decided to tidy up the kitchen and do the dishes. I had finished and was in the middle of filling out some paperwork when the house started to smell like the inside of a concentration camp. At first I was stricken with panic. I thought, “FIRE!” but then realized the only thing actually powered on in the house was the dishwasher. I quickly ran over to the dishwasher and when I opened it I was greeted by a face full of hot steam and smoke. After I let the cloud clear, I realized that a plastic spatula had worked it’s way down to the very bottom of the dishwasher and landed on the heating coil, which warms the water. As you can see, the heating coil means business and it would seem that it gets extraordinarily hot. It melted the poor spatula right in half and the house has ever since smelled like the inside of a wooden leg. Thank you Whirlpool.

I’m sure that I have experienced this before but I can’t remember it ever being this drastic. It seems that life will push you until you until you are just about to crack. Right to the point where you are just about to give up. Then life slaps you in the face with exactly what you are looking for just in the nick of time. Well, I was there and I seriously couldn’t tell you how pumped I was to finally get a call from someone offering me a job. But this morning, I got another call from a different possible employer offering me a job. So what’s the opposite of the saying, “When it rains, it pours”? Whatever, I’m just happy to have a job and finally get my life started down here.

On a completely different note, possibly by the end of the week we will have a P.O. Box. When I find out what the actual address is, I’ll be sure to let you guys know so you can send us letters and the old fashioned way. Drenched in perfumes or full of cash. Which ever you prefer.

We still haven’t gotten a call from our latest rental application and we are starting to get worried.... again. I just hope that this little string of good luck is going to last us until we get an apartment. Otherwise we will be annoying the hell out of our families this upcoming week because the both of us will be glued to CraigsList trying to land an apartment.

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

It'll Be Okay. Abby Said So.

Well it’s about time I had a good day. I had a chance to talk to the boys at the 956 (my old house). Nice to hear what’s going on in other peoples lives because it seems like all I do here is talk about mine. Also, I wanted to say thank you to Abby for sending me an amazing message today. I read it 4 times cause it was that good. For everyone else out there, just know that Abby’s children are terribly lucky to have her as a mother. Talk about uplifting. Geez.

Anyway, last night we really needed to figure out what we were going to do for a place to live. The lease is almost up which means we have to be out of here by the 1st of the year. So last night we went to a local internet cafe and made a list of the places (ala CraigsList) we thought I should go check out while Kendra was at work. It just so happens that one of the places was having an open house right then and we decided to take advantage of the fact that we were out in that area already and went and checked it out.

When we walked in, the couple who is still currently living there welcomed us in and Kendra said, “Whoa, it’s bigger than I thought.” The couple replied with, “Really?!” It’s a small one bedroom apartment right above a sushi bar and if anyone knows anything about me, you know that living above a sushi bar is pretty much a dream for me.

So this morning I went to the property owners place and got applications and dropped them back off almost immediately and really tried my best to sell Kendra and myself to them as best as I could. So we have high hopes and feel pretty good about this one. It sounded like only one other person looked at the place according to the current residents. And as far as I had gathered, no one had turned in an application yet. Needless to say, our fingers are crossed.

On another note, I have basically given up trying to find a job here in the Bay Area. I figure that I should probably focus my attention on trying to get Kendra into a place before we left up north for the holidays. So I wrote a letter to the manager of the coffee shop (the one I had been interviewed twice for and basically my only lead) letting her know my intentions. I told her that I was still very interested in working for them but was going to head back north to try and work because of how bad the economy has been. Since it was so dang nice out today, I decided to longboard down there and drop off the letter. I also decided to snap a photo of it. I was actually surpirsed I didn’t get mauled by a bus after taking the photo because as some of you may know, double yellow lines are only found in the middle of the road. Smart, I know.

Not more than an hour had passed from dropping off the letter when I got a phone call from the manager of the cafe and she offered me a job. I am scheduled for a meeting at 2:00 pm tomorrow to go do the paperwork and other you-have-a-job mumbo jumbo and I can’t wait.

I honestly haven’t been so relieved. I wish everyone that reads this could understand how much I hate not having a job. I believe that even if I was some sort of million billionaire, I would still need a job to keep me busy. I’d eventually go stir crazy and end up like Michael Jackson... the buying stupid, useless, and expensive things, NOT the molesting children part.

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

In regards to my P.S.

So that was interesting. While posting the last blog post, I happened to notice this dude who walked in and kinda didn’t look like he was interested in buying coffee from the cafe I was at. He walked back and forth in the lobby a couple of times and then left.

About 10 minutes later he happened to show up right in front of me and I payed him no mind. I just assumed that he was waiting for a ride or someone else to show up.

WRONG!

That ballsy asshole walked over to a gentleman who was sitting to my left and snatched his laptop and bolted out the door. Without thinking I reached for him as he ran past me but only barely even touched the back of his shirt. The gentleman then ran out the door chasing him and I wasn’t really sure what to do. I have had enough of my personal things stolen to where I wasn’t about to help run down this jerk off and leave my own computer laying there for anyone to snatch up for themselves. So I just gathered up the victims laptop power cord and wrapped it up for him and put it with the rest of his stuff.

I hadn’t noticed but the manager of the cafe had bolted out the back to try and head off the thief. She came back through the front door and asked if anyone could I.D. the thief and everyone around nodded. Just so happens that a police officer from the Oakland Police Department later came over to me and asked me if I would go with him in his car and I.D. the thief and give a statement. Hence the picture. The cop had a ton of stuff in his front passenger seat and asked if I minded sitting in the back and I of course replied “Heck no I don’t mind.” I mean who doesn’t want to have the chance to sit in the back of a cop car and not actually be in trouble. Makes you feel like a bad ass.... right?

So we drove over to the makeshift line up and I I.D.’d the thief and gave my statement from the back of the cop car. It was basically rad and just the excitement that I needed in my life to take my mind off of my own stress.

And yes mom, the cops in Oakland have AR-15’s in their cars too. I told him how excited you were to get yours up at EPD.

I know that last post was terribly dreadful but in all honesty, that’s how things have been going here. During the day I’ve been searching for jobs and places to live but it seems that the weekends when Kendra is home is when the fun happens. So don’t think that I’m slipping into this downward spiral of depression. Things are tough for everybody and I realize that now and am willing to do what it takes to make it through this crappy economy.

Ah Crap!

Much to my dismay, I have been denied the opportunity to work in the great state of California thus far. As I have said before, I have been relentless in my search for gainful employment and it seems that it was mostly in vain.

I say mostly because everywhere that I have had the opportunity to have an interview, I have, not to sound boastful, blown them out of the water. I have no problem telling you that I am an amazing worker and I am really good at selling myself to an employer. So it seems that every interview that I have been a part of ends in, "We really want to hire you but we can't right now. We'll give you a call in January." This failing economy has finally materialized itself in front of me and I am unfortunately on the receiving end of it.

With that said, Kendra and I have found it clear that we have no known scheduling conflicts with a trip back up north for a much needed visit with friends and family. We are both so excited and really stressed about it too. Stressed because we have been denied once again in our search for a new place to live. Not only was the dude we had to deal with a old burnt out hippie that thought he owned the whole city of Oakland but it took him the better part of a week and 6 phone calls from me to finally give us an answer.

The best part was that while we were looking at the apartment the dude was telling us of the previous tenants and how the “younger COUPLE” had been there for 8 years. His reason for denying us the apartment was only because he and his “partner” felt more comfortable giving the apartment to a single person rather than a couple.

Anyway, with our trip north I am going to try and make a few calls and work while I am home. If any of my old Dutchies are reading this, put in the word that I’ll be in Eugene in the need of some work.

On a lighter note, I can’t wait to see you guys and hope everyone is driving safe in all that snow that’s been dumping on you up there.


P.S.
Something absolutely insane just happened while I was posting this. I'll repost something in a couple of hours. I gotta go talk to the cops right now.

Sunday, December 14, 2008

Dependancies and Driving

I can’t begin to tell you how annoying it is to not have reliable internet connection. Hence, not being able to keep this blog updated as much as I would like. Even more annoying is how dependent on a connection to the world wide web we are. Although, I find it slightly humorous when I’m sitting in a cafe getting things done on the internet and the connection craps out, stay calm and you can just sit back and watch the parade of the panicked. Slowly but surely, each person comes to the realization that the computer they are hypnotized by doesn’t have the ability to bring them the information that they need.

Yesterday we had a ton of fun. We decided to drive across both of the bridges (Bay Bridge and Golden Gate) and head over to Muir Woods area just past Sausalito, which is a “National Recreation Area”. Unfortunately we drove to the entrance of the Muir Woods and they wanted roughly $80.00 per person... well more like $5.00 per adult but we were just stubborn. We think we shouldn’t have to pay a fee to look at some trees, but that's neither here nor there.

So we had this great idea to drive even further up the road, which by the way was quite possibly the windiest road I have even ventured up. When we got to the top we ended up stopping off at this overlook which was absolutely beautiful. Steep rock faces right into the ocean and you could see the city to our left and there were patches of dark and ominous clouds out above the ocean that made for some cool pics.


After we got tired of getting blown around we decided to DRIVE some more. So off we went, up a road that was even windier than the previous. I soon came to realize that we were now traveling on Highway 1. Here’s where it gets really fun. If you know anything about Kendra’s past, you would know that she used to get pretty car sick if given the right conditions. You know the situation. We’ve all been there at one time or another, reading a book while in the back seat of the family van. Which is a big YUCK for just about anyone I believe. Well, this road was so bumpy and windy that her skin had turned to a ghoulish green and she was fighting back the urge to jettison her breakfast.

The best... slash... funniest... slash... actually worst part of the whole situation is that we failed to use or fancy iPhones to see where the hell good old Highway 1 led to. We just assumed that it would eventually lead to a real highway. Who would have guessed it actually goes for another 56 miles north until a tiny podunk town named Olema. At about the point when Kendra felt the need to clear out the Safeway plastic grocery bag of our road munchies for a barf bag I figured that it might be a good time to just turn around and carefully make our way back to civilization.

Luckily for Thug Passion, Kendra never lost her guts and we stopped at a way random 7-11 and scooped up a bottle of Sprite to calm her stomach.

After all that, we figured it would be a good idea to just chill at home and watch a movie, but we didn’t have one that sounded that good so we went and picked up a great movie I would recommend to anyone that doesn’t mind a tiny bit of violence. Green Street Hooligans. One of my favorites and I am surprised I hadn’t picked it up earlier. It stars Elijah Woods and is the second movie he did after the last of the epic trilogy Lord of the Rings. The first movie he did after LOTR, was another of my all time favorites, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. I feel like I’m trying to sell these movies but today is the first day that it has rained since I’ve been here and it kinda feels like a good time to grab a movie and chill at home. That and word on the street, or the weather application on my iPhone, says that it’s snowing back home and I am pretty jealous.

On that note, I would really like it if anyone from home could save some snow for me and maybe just mail it to me. Any inquiries for an address may be directed and answered in the comments section of this blog. Please and thank you.

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

I Have a Serious Addiction

This may not come to a surprise to some of my closest friends and family who have been in it with me through the thick and the thin. Those of you who I hold dear to my heart and share my darkest secrets with, there is no reason to be incredulous about my current situation.

I have an addiction. An addiction that is not easily overcome. Oh RedBull, sweet sweet RedBull. Nectar of the gods. If not of the gods, it is at least approved by the gods. Upon inspection and a little research on the RedBull website, I found that RedBull is Kosher and Halal. Apparently “the production site and the origin of the ingredients were inspected and checked by the responsible organizations”. Good to know.

Enough nonsense, I have a meeting today with my the head of financial aid at SFSDF today and I really hope that we are going to figure out how to get to that $30,000 goal. Or maybe part of it.

On a more creative note, I have recently found out that my Sony Cyber-shot camera actually takes very clear digital video footage and I have been having fun with that around town and maybe I’ll post something up in a week or so. I only have a 2GB memory card so I have to take the highest possible quality of footage and then dump that info on to my computer and take more. I’m sure I can come up with something to make sure that my editing skills don’t get too rusty. So keep an eye out for that next week possibly.

One more thing, my mom just had surgery. Nothing major, but she’s a bad ass and I just wanted to make sure everyone knew that. If you know her at all, you should send her an email, text, or ring her up an wish her well. Knowing my mom, who is quite active and is stuck off of her feet for about 6 weeks, she’ll be going stir crazy around the end of this week. So say hi or bake her some chocolate cake. She probably love you forever.

Monday, December 8, 2008

Mac and Cheese Equals Mythological Creatures?

Yesterday I mentioned that Kendra and I have been cooking at home, but last night it was brought to a whole new level. Not necessarily a higher level of complexity but more of a higher level of, “Oh my god this tastes like little drops of heaven sprinkled with unicorns and fairy dust”. A couple of nights ago Kendra had this craving for some mac and cheese and if you grew up like I did, the first thing that would have popped into your head would have been the crap that tastes like the cardboard box it comes in. You know the one, blue box, gold lettering... damn it I used to love that garbage.

Well apparently her mom makes this amazing homemade mac and cheese so she got the recipe and let me just tell you, ho-ly-crap. Needless to say I was saddened that my bowl was empty but that just meant that breakfast and lunch was going to be filled with warm, cheesy, gooey goodness.

Earlier today I was seriously contemplating on walking across the street and applying at Burger King but Ian randomly called me and cheered me up a little bit with some encouraging words. With spirits knocked up a few notches I made my way out to a few places that I had applied and made it known that I am freaking awesome and they should seriously consider hiring me. Which actually helped calm my nerves because I was honestly teetering on a razors edge of pulling my hair out from being so stressed.

Also, I contacted the head of the financial aid department of my hopeful school (SFSDF) and set up another meeting to figure out how to get my hands on $30,000. By the way, I’m still taking suggestions, other than exchanging sexual favors for money. However I am thankful for that suggestion Ian.

One more thing, I got bored late last night and started making new iPhone/iPod Touch wall papers on Photoshop. What do you think? Slightly conceded? Let’s just say that if I were to rule China, this would probably be the replacement of their silly and boring flag.

Sunday, December 7, 2008

Hey! If you're hiring, call me... please.

So like I said, I dominated the first interview and had a second one to go to the very next day. Well, once again, I ruled that one as well. Here’s where the problem comes in. They told me, “I think you should work here.” What the hell is that supposed to mean? They told me they were going to call me that very day of my second interview and if not it would be the first thing the next morning.

Yeah well, nothing so far. Kinda bummed but honestly I can’t let it get to me too much. I’ve just been continuing my search for employment and hope something comes up real quick.

Lately, Kendra and I have been trying our hand at cooking our own meals and it’s actually really fun. Our first meal was actually awesome. We made a Pad Thai and it was bomb. Yes, I said bomb. Although we made a ridiculous amount of noodles and are in desperate need of a few more pans or maybe just one bigger one... and some tupperware. The only mishap we have had was with the split pea soup. We still ate it but it was a little... well, a lot burnt. Nothing a butt-load of salt and pepper couldn’t cover up.

This weekend was a very relaxed one. We started watching the BBC series, Planet Earth which is unbelievable. We have a seriously shitty TV and have it playing on my Xbox 360 and the picture quality is unreal. Having minimal experience in working with video cameras, it boggles my mind at how they have achieved most of the shots in the show. Other than that we grabbed a bottle of this really cool vodka from Trader Joe’s and made a few drinks this weekend. It's called 360 Vodka. It had a really cool old fashioned cap and actually finishes pretty smooth... well, smooth for vodka.

The weather down here is amazing. Winter is kind of like the beginning of fall in Eugene. I’m curious to see what the summer will be like. Please Jesus, I hope I have a job by then.

Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Interview Killer


Today I had my interview and I’m gonna go ahead and put this out there... I freaking killed it... like super ninja assassin style. I did so well and I’m actually going to go back in tomorrow at 11am for a second interview. I have never had an interview, let alone a second interview where I didn’t get the job. I just hope I can get the time off to come home and see the friends and family for Christmas.

Tomorrow my old manager from Dutch Bros. is coming into town with his little brother to go see an AC/DC concert and they are crashing at our place. Pretty stoked to see someone from the Euge. It’s only been about 2 1/2 weeks but I feel like I’ve been gone forever. It’ll be nice hang out with them.

Also I have a mixer/social thing for the school (SFSDF) that I applied for later that night.

P.S.
Does anyone have $30,000 lying around?

Monday, December 1, 2008

Interview.... please and thank you

At long last, I have an interview for a barista position only but a short walk from the condo. Needless to say I am very excited and feel that it is long over due for me to have some sort of income. Although I am very appreciative and thankful that my lovely lady friend is willing and able to basically pay for everything we do and says she can help me with my bills until I get a job, I really don’t want it to come to that.

I have too much of my parents work ethic engrained in me that I feel like a complete bum if I’m not holding down a full time job and contributing to society. What can I say, I guess they raised me proper.

Something that I have recently realized is how dependent I am on the internet. Currently, each weekday morning I wake up shortly after Kendra and drive her to the B.A.R.T. station and then with my laptop strapped to my back I find the nearest internet cafe (more often than not, Spasso) so that I can continue my job searching, keep up to date on current events, and stay in touch with friends and family.

So dependent that when I am at the condo and “need” to be online and don’t feel like using the old iPhone, I resort to stepping out on the balcony and try and snake someone else’s wi-fi connection. Sad really, but “that’s how we be ballin’ on a budget.”

It will only be like this for a little while longer though. This last weekend we went out and searched one of the areas we like for a new place to live. We are both very excited to have our own place and not have to worry about our shared parking spot and a sub-lease.