Betting on the Future

Last year (or maybe it was earlier this year, which makes it almost last year in a couple more days) I read the book "The Wisdom of Crowds" by James Surowiecki. One of the theories espoused in the book was the concept of futures trading for events, not just companies. The idea is that people buy stock or place bets on the outcome of future events. Want to know who will be the next President? Don't poll a bunch of people and ask who they are going to vote for, ask them to put five dollars on the candidate they think is going to win. Apparently using this method with 100 people in some small town USA, was more accurate than any of the polls.

Popular Science Magazine has taken this concept and turned it into an interactive online stock exchange. They call it the Popsci Predictions Exchange. The stocks range from near term, like will HD-DVD outsell Blu-Ray this year, to very long term, like will a team of androids beat a world cup team at soccer by 2050. At the end of the term (when the time limit expires or the outcome is determined) the stocks will have a value of either 100, if true, or 0 if false. So you can buy or sell the stocks based on where the current price is.

The theory is that if the average person thinks the outcome is 60% likely, then the stock price should hover about $60. When an event occurs that might influence the chances, then the stock holders will buy/sell based on the news. It's kind of pointless, but fun as well.

And just like in a real stock market, what you are really betting on isn't what you actually think will happen, but what you think the average stock-holder thinks will happen. Right now I'm buying the EVOTE stock, which says that there will be a problem with US elections due to electronic voting malfunctions. I don't actually think this will happen, but I bet plenty of other people think so. So, now I'm buying. When it gets close to the election, I'll probably sell my shares and short the stock.

On a more personal note: I hate artificial sweeteners. They make me sick, literally.

Completing the Massification

I finally got my car registered in Massachusetts today. It was actually a really painless process as far as these things go. Probably because my last experience was with California which has the worst DMV system I've ever encountered (out of 5 states, but who's counting). I still have to get the car inspected, but at least now people won't look at my car and curse me for being a stupid driver from California. Instead they will curse me for being just another car on the road (if you haven't driven in Boston, you might not understand).

I also went boot shopping today. Unsuccessfully. It seems like most of my attempts at finding footwear are unsuccessful. Maybe because I have to shop in the 13 and up section, instead of the parts of the store that have whole shelves to one size of shoe. It doesn't help that I have a slightly strange shape of foot: the distance from my heel to the closest part of the top of my foot is very long compared to the length of my foot, high arches maybe? I sometimes wonder if my feet have an odd shape because I always outgrew my shoes so quickly. They are a couple of sizes smaller than they should be for my height.

On another shopping note... I went to the grocery store today and hit the peanut butter aisle. Alright, so it was the aisle that had a bunch of stuff including peanut butter. *gasp* They didn't have Peter Pan. I left the cart in the middle of the aisle and went to find where I could put in a request. I ended up talking to the manager and he said they hadn't stocked it since the recall and weren't going to be ordering any more. Ever. So I left and didn't do my grocery shopping. I'll just have to go to another store which stocks Peter Pan Peanut butter, that's all. But the good news is that when coming back from Hilltop Steakhouse (more on that later) I decided to take a little detour and hit Big Lots. I'd never been but knew it was in that general vicinity. Much to my surprise they actually had Peter Pan! Of course, it was only the medium small size jars, so I had to buy a whole pack of 12.

So Hilltop steakhouse... I hadn't been there in about a decade. But they still have the same place mats that are a butcher's chart of where which cuts of meat come from in the cow. Along with such facts as that a 1000 lbs steer will only give you 75 lbs of steak. Actually, Hilltop in a way was the inspiration for my idea of the World's Largest Steakhouse. They have a few different dining rooms, each as large or larger than most steakhouses. I think they can seat close to a thousand people all told. Oh, and they have a butcher's shop so you can get steaks to grill at home. Anyway, my idea is something even bigger, so big that the only possible name is The World's Largest Steakhouse. With a name like that though, it makes it difficult to franchise.

P.S. I nearly forgot. At Big Lots, they had "Rap Snacks" I could hardly believe my eyes. They are apparently potato chips that are endorsed by various rappers/groups.

Family Birthday Party

This weekend we had a bit of a family reunion in Kentucky, ostensibly to celebrate some birthdays. My great uncle turned 80, one of my mom's cousins turned 50, and a couple of others turned something or other.

Anyway, we had about 30-40 members of my mom's side of the family (descendants of my mother's grandparents). It was quite interesting hearing stories about my parents from when they were dating, especially because those stories weren't always told the way my parents told them. I think most of it was that my mom put a more romantic spin on things.

But, I also learn things, or hear tell of things that I had never heard before. According to one of my mom's cousins, I might be 1/32 Native American. Which is all news to me. Of course, looking back at some old pictures of my great grandmother, and my grandmother, there might be some truth to it. But if so, it's so watered down in me that it hardly matters. I still get sunburned in less than 15 minutes.

I was actually really lucky weather-wise. The forecast for the trip down said there might be quite inclement weather in Lexington which worried me for arriving. Then there was supposed to be a huge snowstorm in Boston today which would have made returning home difficult. But the delay going to Lexington was only long enough for me to get food between planes. If it hadn't been delayed I would have had to rush just to make the plane. On the way back, there was a bit of a delay in Charlotte because they had to kick the standby passengers off the plane. Apparently there is a weight restriction flying into Boston, and because they had to carry extra fuel in case of a diversion this meant we couldn't fly with a full plane of people.

Actually, my flight down was even more exciting than I made out. The woman two seats in front of me had called the steward because of a draft (at least that's what I gathered from what I could see). Apparently the guy in front of me objected to the woman reclining her seat. So in retaliation he turned on his air vent to blow onto her. The steward found the source of the draft and turned it off. The man in front of me objected and complained about her seat. The steward told the man she had the right to recline her seat and the man didn't have the right to harass her. So the guy turned the vent back on. The steward turned it back off and they snapped at each other some more. I was really afraid the plane was going to get diverted because the guy was being unruly. For an old guy he was very immature.

I don't know why the guy was complaining so much. It wasn't like the seat was banging into his knees or anything like that. I object when people recline their seats because it causes me physical pain when their seat smashes into my knees, for this guy it meant he couldn't read his paper as comfortably.

Last note... I had some weird dreams last night. It seems to happen when I get a really poor night's sleep (no dreams) one night, and then get a relatively good night's sleep the next night. I won't go into too many details, but what really made it odd was that in a main part of my dream I went into a catatonic state. I was just lying there (in the dream) and I could see and hear everything that was going on, but I wasn't moving. It felt like I could move if I wanted to, but I had no desire to move and so didn't.

Roller Derby

Last night I went to the Roller Derby! My friend Alicia's sister is a player on the Cosmonaughties (Alicia, her sister "Ivanna Clobber" and Alicia's twins) and they were having a match against the Nutcrackers. It was a lot of fun, and not nearly as violent as I thought it would be. Probably because I remember watching roller derby on TV years ago, and that was one step removed from pro-wrestling. This was much more of a competition. Also, although they played hard, there was a lot of camaraderie between the two teams. It could have something to do with there being only three teams in the league.

Anyway, it is definitely something I'll go to again, probably try to drag some other people along as well.

Yeah, I suck at taking pictures. Of course, it isn't easy when they are moving fast and they have the lights down.

Media Powerhouse

So I finally got my directv hooked up yesterday. Yippee! Now I can watch all kinds of fun and exciting things. It only took the guy 3 hours to get it installed because of the wiring in the building being all funky. Apparently the contractor didn't label anything in the basement so it was a jumbled mess, then there are issues inside. Also, for some reason the HD channels aren't coming in, so I have to get that fixed.

Speaking of HD. I got an high definition DVD player today. Actually, I got a PlayStation 3, but it has a blu-ray player, so I can watch blu-ray movies. Yeehaa! The odd/cool thing is that the PS3 costs the same as stand alone blu-ray players. Doesn't make a ton of sense to me. But I suppose they make up for it with the games being over priced. Right now, I'm sitting here waiting for it to down load the system update. Probably should have just started playing, but...

In my last blog posting I referred to becoming political... I just see so much stupidity in government and so much dishonesty. If I had to pick two common human failings which annoy me most, stupidity and dishonesty would be the ones. There should be more engineers in office, rocket scientists even more so. So in 2012, Petromagne for President! I'm proud of my real name, but I'm also proud of my Internet alias which I've been using as long as I could vote. So I'll be sure to get a lot of the young vote just for that. What do you think?

Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving! I hope everyone had an enjoyable day.

Last night/this morning, I drove to my Dad's for Thanksgiving. I was originally going to leave right after work, but... For one thing, traffic was absolutely terrible at that time and for another thing I was a bit tired. A coworker was surprised I was going to drive right after work and suggested going home for a few hours, taking a nap. After she said that, I suddenly got tired.

Anyway, I left about 10pm and got in this morning at 5am. The first four hours were through super thick fog. It was kind of spooky driving through fog that thick; I felt so detached from reality. When I stopped in NJ to get gas, I had a really hard time navigating the rest area. Especially trying to get back on the turnpike since I couldn't read the signs to tell me which way to go until I had nearly missed the turn. When I was supposed to get a ticket for the turnpike, I couldn't even see the signs that said which lane was which, and ended up picking an EZ-pass lane. It didn't really matter in the end since, I traveled the entire length of the turnpike and paid the same for a "lost" ticket that I would have paid if I had the ticket.

Speaking of fog... I heard that Steven King likes the new ending for "The Mist" that they made for the movie version. I actually read the book on the way to my sister's for her bonfire party. It was one of his short stories, so it was only about 200 pages. Anyway, I wasn't that excited about the movie's prospects until I heard about Steven King's reaction. Apparently he was quoted as saying that anyone who reveals the last 5 minutes of the movie should be hung from the neck until dead.

Actually, there are quite a few movies (suddenly) that I'm interested in seeing. This is going to make it hard for me to finish unpacking, but it's a price I'm willing to pay.

Oh, I've also failed to mention that I finally got the DSL installed at my condo. I actually had to come home from work twice to let the Verizon guys in, but I now have Internet at home. I also installed a new wireless router. My old router was rather unreliable so I went ahead and got a new one that seems to be working much better. I know it's not really exciting news, but it's a huge step for me.

In other news, I'm thinking about getting political. Not like super political, but at least a little bit. But I won't talk about a lot on this blog, at least not without posting a warning if I'm going to be saying something.

Yeah!

I wouldn't normally write a blog entry from work, but this was too good to pass up.

IT'S SNOWING!

I'm doing a little happy dance.

Too busy for movies?!?!?

I came to a rather sad realization a week ago, and have yet to rectify the situation. I haven't been to the movies since I've been in Boston. I didn't go for a week or so before I left, which means its been more than two months since I went to the movies! Two months, for a guy who usually never goes more than 2 weeks.

Of course, there are two reasons I haven't been to the movies. The first is that I've been a bit busy, what with moving and all. The second is that there haven't been many good movies to go to, since I would make time for something that looked appealing.

On a related note, I'm still on the antennae for TV! It kind of amazes me that it took me more than a week to setup my TV in the first place, but to still be on broadcast TV! Well, that isn't exactly my fault. I tried to get DirecTV but I didn't know how the system in the building works, where there is a deal with a company to set all of that up. So the Directv guy called the day of and canceled, and now its going to be another few days at least. Maybe by December.

I also don't have Internet yet. I'm borrowing wi-fi for the time being. Verizon was supposed to turn on my DSL on Friday, but they didn't. Oh, and the UPS delivery for the modem didn't go through because my name wasn't on the box yet. So I had to go to the UPS facility. It's 0.7 miles from me according to Google maps, so I thought I would just hoof it. Unfortunately half of those 0.7 miles are industrial, meaning overgrown sidewalks (weeds 4-6 ft high) where there were sidewalks, and no streetlamps. Anyway, I got the box and waited for the turn on date. Now the modem is sitting there saying there's no signal. I did all the troubleshooting the CD suggested, and called customer service. They wanted me to go through all the troubleshooting again! Eventually they agreed with my assessment that it hasn't been hooked up yet. So maybe on Monday.

Anyway, I'm making progress on unpacking. I think I might actually have as many boxes emptied as full. And that's saying a lot since some of the boxes I opened but I'm leaving full. I haven't figured out what sort of bookshelf situation I'm going to go for, so I'm leaving all my books in their boxes for the time being. Well, the books that were in boxes. The dozen or so that were in random boxes and the other dozen or so I've purchased since, are going on the shelves.

Jiggedy-jig... Back Again

I made it back from the bonfire in one piece, nothing singed, and nothing frozen. For those who haven't attended a bonfire on a near freezing night, it is a constant war between being too close to the fire and feeling like you're cooking, and being too far and be freezing. The difference can even be as little as a foot or two, since while sitting in a lawn chair, my shins were definitely toasting, while my body was comfortable.

Although, apparently I wasn't nearly entertaining enough this year. So my sister had to bring out all the stories of my escapades from previous years, much to the delight of the fellow revelers. I did take the opportunity to set the record straight about the time I stepped over the log that contained the fire. I didn't almost fall into the fire, I did in fact step into the fire and then back out, without any harm done.

My flight back was a bit entertaining. Since there are no direct flights from Knoxville to Boston, I had to switch planes in DC. Originally I was scheduled for the 9:30PM flight which would have meant a three and a half hour layover. I asked for an earlier connection, since I knew that there was an hourly shuttle between DC and Boston. I did have to pay $25 bucks, but at the time I thought it was worth it. So, according to the new itinerary, I had about 5 minutes between when my first plane landed and boarding for the second plane began.

Landing 15 minutes early, I thought I would have plenty of time, enough to even stretch my legs. But then we were delayed 20 minutes while we waited for the bus to take us to the terminal. Apparently they don't plan on planes being early and can't arrange transportation for such contingencies. Anyway, since boarding is a 30 minutes process, I knew I would still be fine.

I get to the terminal and found one of the handy screens to tell me what gate my flight was leaving from. For a second I couldn't find it, until I realized I was looking at predicted departure times and not scheduled. My flight was delayed an hour an a half. So, in fact, the 7:30 plane was now estimated to leave before my new 6:30 flight. I thought about asking to change to the earlier flight, but when I saw the length of the line, and contemplated whether the frustration was worth 30 minutes, I decided I would wait for my flight.

Luckily, they moved the estimated time forward again, and it ended up leaving only about 10 minutes after the 7:30 flight. The really enjoyable part for me, was that so many people had switched to the "earlier" flight that my flight ended up being nearly empty. In fact, I had half the emergency exit row to myself. So I availed myself of the window seat which allowed my to fully extend my legs, while still maintaining the convenience of not having anyone sitting between me and the aisle, so I could make good my escape from the plane, and ease of trips to the restroom should they be required.

Anyway, it's past my bedtime.

Bonfire

I have been in my new place for less than a week, and I'm already leaving. Although it's only for the weekend. My sister is having her annual bonfire party which I have attended faithfully every year. Yes, even when I was on the left coast, I made it 4/5 of the way across the country to celebrate man's earliest invention: fire.

I should probably have spent the weekend unpacking. My place is... well, while there are pathways to and from everything, more than half the floor space is full of boxes or paper, or things that are more or less in their correct places. But I have time to unpack and arrange things. Although I really should get curtains soon. Walking around naked is so much more interesting when you forget to close your curtains rather than not having any. BTW, I'm kidding about that, I just want to get a good night's sleep without light pouring into the window. Really.

First Night

Last night was my first night in my new place. I was debating whether to spend the night at the apartment I'm renting or go ahead and crash here. The problem with crashing here was that I had to unpack enough stuff to spend the night. But, I decided to go for it, and I'm glad I did. Even though I woke up a number of times during the night, I woke up more refreshed than I have in a while.

To get me through the night, and the following morning, I went to the store and bought the necessary things, like toilet paper, soap, and peanut-butter. I was so overjoyed that they had Peter Pan peanut-butter than I bought three large jars. To some that might sound extreme, but for me, it's par for the course. Of course, when I got back to my place, I realized I would have to find my silverware! It is very tricky making a peanut-butter sandwich without a knife! So I unpacked until I had a glass for my milk, and a knife for the sandwich. I also unpacked my bedding, and did a quick load of laundry, since some of it smelled a bit musty after being in storage and transit.

I think it is going to take me a while to unpack and get rid of all these boxes... Speaking of the boxes!

So yesterday wasn't just the first night in my place, it was also move in day. I got here about 8:45, since the truck was supposed to arrive between 9 and 10. In front of the building they had put up signs warning that there was no parking for the day, between 7am and 5pm. Oops, there were not 1, not 2, but 3 cars in the designated area. So when the truck came, he double parked them in. Then the cops were called. I didn't realize there was so much drama going on until I went back down to see why it was taking so long to get the moving started.

While the cop and the movers were figuring out what to do, the washer/dryer delivery men showed up to install my washer and dryer. When he looked at the closet for the laundry, he asked me if I wanted them side by side or stacked. I said I didn't think they would fit side-by-side, and he said he didn't think they would fit stacked. Uh-oh, I thought. The guy on the phone had said they were 36 inches each, plus 1 inch for the stacking kit. The area for the laundry has a shelf on top for the water heater, but with 74 inches of clearance. So after a couple of measurements to be sure, they finally went ahead and assembled the equipment, and without much further ado, they had my laundry machines installed.

So, in the time it took the appliance delivery men to haul in the washer and dryer, assemble them, install all the hoses and what-not, one might think that the other delivery would be sorted out. I went outside to check on the progress, and there were still two cars (apparently one guy wised up and left) the cop, and the two delivery trucks. After much more waiting, the comedy relief showed up. A guy in a huge black SUV with big chrome rims decided that the nice parking spot in front of the yellow curb and the no parking sign was a good place to park. He got out of his car and the cop flash his lights and flipped his siren on for a beat. He told the guy he was already going to have the other two cars towed. The genius actually kept walking toward the curb, apparently he didn't believe the cop. But he did believe the sign that he'd parked directly in front of. Anyway, eventually a couple of tow trucks came and took the offending cars away.

Don't worry, they weren't my neighbors. Well, the cars weren't registered to anyone in my building. Apparently the cops do check and knock on doors, just in case the signs weren't sufficiently clear.

The unloading thus didn't start until nearly 11am. So I didn't get to work until 2pm. I was going to try to get at least six hours in, but by 6pm the day proved to be too much. Oh, if I fast forwarded through the actual moving in... Well, it's moving things in. A few items were missing (like my dresser which apparently broke apart when it was taken off the truck from California), one of my floor lamps was broken (the staff broke), ironically I opened the box that had the glass bowl (randomly, really) and it was broken as well! And the TV, media center had the top taken off, and the pieces that hold the top to the bottom are missing. So there will be a claim for this moving experience.

Anyway, now it's about time for night 2!

P.S. I am stealing wifi because the DSL won't be ready until next week. And I won't get satellite until next week either (which is just as well since I haven't set the TV up yet).

Closed on my condo!

At long last, I finally closed on my condo. It only required signing and initialling about a hundred pages of documents and forking over yet another big check. But, in exchange for all the signing, I received a set of keys, keys which go to my new condo!

Another bit of excitement was that I finally drove my car in Boston! It's actually been an entire month since I've driven (not including driving my car 3 floors to park it at the office after it was dropped off outside my office). I drove it straight through Boston to my condo. It was also odd adding gas to the tank, since it has been well more than a month since I've done that. I was shocked at the price, then I realized that even buying the highest octane (instead of the middle) I paid less in Boston than I paid in California.

Closing on Monday

Monday is the big day! That's when I'll be closing on my condo. Then Tuesday is the next big day when all my stuff gets moved in. It will be nice to have my things about me again (although saying that in that way reminds me of Maureen O'Hara in The Quiet Man. For those who haven't seen it, it's excellent and has a great brawl scene).

Then on Saturday of next week is my sister's bonfire party. I think I should get some kind of award for racking up the most miles to attend. The first year or two was only travelling from Virginia, but then two years in California and now from Boston.

In non-home related news, I took a trip down memory lane tonight. I stopped by my fraternity house for a visit. I had been delaying the trip for some sort of psychological reasons, but tonight was the night to stop by. I am glad I did, since they are close to completing preparations for the blacklight party. It has evolved since the days when I lived there, but these things happen. Although a lot of things have changed, many things have stayed the same.

Hrmmmm... I think that is about enough for tonight. Actually that is probably more than enough tonight, since the nice bartender at Whiskey's has been plying me with drinks all night. I'll chalk it up to practice for the bonfire, even if I don't plan to live up to the nickname "Timber."

EDIT: Oh, I actually knew that I was going to be closing on Monday yesterday, but I didn't put it in my blog because I didn't want to upstage my sister's birthday. Of course, she'll probably just hit me in the stomach for adding this edit...

Happy Birthday Melanie

Today's blog is dedicated to my sister Melanie, who had a birthday today. She's the best sister and best friend a person could hope for.

Walk through and phone calls

I had the walk through on the condo today. Basically just checking to make sure the things that were supposed to be fixed had been fixed. Very exciting, I know. While doing the walkthrough my broker called my agent and said that everything was good to go as soon as I turned in my paystub. But...

A few hours later I got a call from the mortgage broker that said the verification of employment (VoE) didn't include salary information. So either I needed my last paystub and my W-2 from 2005 or I had to find a way to get the verification of salary. My w-2 from 2005 is in storage, so that would be a little hard to find. My paystubs were all online, and once my resignation took effect, I didn't have access to the website any longer, making the paystub hard to track down.

I called Lockheed's employee service center and talked to them about it, no much help. They steered me toward the website where I can get the salary VoE. Then the problem became that I need a pin number, so I had to call Lockheed again to get that. They gave me a pin number that didn't work (actually three pin numbers to try). So then I called the place to get the VoE again, but they don't have a button to press to get a live person. In fact, a number of things I tried instead ended up just disconnecting me. I tried the website, managed to lock out my account trying the pin numbers. Again I called, and eventually figured out how to get a live person. The live person kind of helped, but confirmed that the pin numbers I had really didn't work. But she was able to make it so that I could log in without the pin number (answering a bunch of questions instead). Then I called Lockheed again to try to figure out how to get my pin number corrected, but the guy I talked to wasn't any help and kept telling me all I had to do was visit that website.

If that took a long time to read it took much much longer to get through. From now on, whenever I move, I am packing all of my financial information in my suitcase to take with me. Either that, or win the lottery so I don't have to deal with mortgages ever again.

Finally, I would like to wish my cousin Elizabeth and my cousin Erica a very happy birthday. I would also like to wish everyone else a happpy Halloween.

Appraisal

Raise your hand if you knew there were this many hoops to jump through to purchase a home! The latest hoop that I successfully navigated was the home appraisal. The home appraisal is where the bank that's lending me the money ensures that the home is actually worth enough to cover them if I were to fail to pay. From what I understand the appraisal almost always comes in right at the contract price, since being too far off either way raises a lot of flags. Of course, that isn't to say if there is something flag worthy they don't raise a flag.

In more interesting news, I got a visit from my brother and his family. My nephew is stationed in CT although he is supposed to be reployed somewhere else sometime soon. We met in Charlestown (my brother was particularly impressed that people actually say Charles-town instead of charleston, since people in Massachusetts love saying things oddly) and had lunch at the Warren Tavern. Apparently it's been around since before the Revolution. Although considering the low ceilings and how long it took to get a table, I think one visit is enough.

We also went to see Old Ironsides, the USS Constitution. It's quite something that the Constitution is the oldest commisioned ship at sea. I kind of wonder what the oldest ship at sea might be, I forgot to ask on the tour. Apparently the limey's have a commisioned ship that's older but it is permanently dry-docked. I did ask how much of the ship is original, afterall, being in 33 battles, even if you win them all, will take its toll, the answer was 10-15%, apparently the keel and not much else.

Ah... it's good to be back someplace with some history. Although I realize that Boston has nothing on a lot of European cities, it has a distinct edge on just about anywhere in the Americas.

Pictures

I finally got the pictures loaded onto my computer. I uploaded them to flickr. I felt pretty stupid when I figured out how to get the pictures onto my computer. I thought I had to use the cable that I packed, instead I just took the card out of my camera and put it in the little slot on the computer.

The first is a picture of the building from the park across the street. On the left of the building you can see where the elevator was added at some point. My condo will be the second from the top with the balcony and the elevator shaft. The second photo looks back the the park and the Boston skyline.

Here's a picture of the kitchen. All the pretty stainless steel appliances and solid wood cabinetry. Oh, and you can't even see the ceilings because they are 12ft! The doorway you can see on the right goes out to the balcony. Check out the rest of the photos on flickr.

Big Check

So today was the day where I had to write a very big check as a deposit on the condo I'm buying. First I had to sign all the mortgage documents at the broker's which was something on the order of a dozen "sign and date here's". Then I had to print and execute 4 copies of the purchase and sale document, with riders. That meant initialing and signing every page of a 23 page document and then repeating an additional three times. So all told, I probably wrote my initials four score times and my signature another two dozen times.

Phew!

Oh, and the bank that's getting me the loan is pretty obnoxious about things. Well, I guess I can't say they are too obnoxious since they are loaning me a bunch of money at a good rate. Anyway, the annoying factor in this case is that a letter from my company that says I am indeed employed and I am indeed getting the salary I said isn't good enough. So to make a long story short, they want a paystub. The problem is, since I get paid every other week, and I started at the very beginning of a pay cycle, my first paycheck won't come out till next Friday (a little less than three weeks after I started work). So, again trying to be brief and failing, this means the closing is pushed out at least two days.

But, this does mean that my procrastination on arranging for the movers to come is fully justified. Since I was planning on them coming the day I am now likely to be closing. So, sometimes putting things off until tomorrow can work out.

More condo news and some blogging...

I had the home inspection today and it went really well. There were a few really minor things that need to get taken care of, but other than that things are look good. Of course, there is still a lot of things to get done on the legal and finacial side of things. Sometimes it amazes me that people ever buy anything, let alone something as complicated as a condo.

In other news, I finished my first week of work. It was an interesting week. There was, of course, the usual orientation aspects with forms to fill out and policies to learn. Of course, the difference was that I did it all remotely. While I am going to be sitting in the Cambridge office, I am primarily going to be reporting to the Manassas office. This means for HR purposes, I'm virtually a Manassas employee. Depending on who you ask, I'm either a guinea pig or a pioneer.

We also had our monthly Ops review, so I got to see the different projects that are going on in the company, as well as the forecast for the coming year, finacial plans etc. It was a very educational experience, since in my previous work such things were very far removed from my daily efforts.

Finally there was the Open House. The Cambridge office hasn't been open for very long. The actually office space that we are using has been around for only a few months. So there was an open house to invite people in the community (predominately community in the sense of scientific community, students, professors etc) to see the facility and fill them in on what we are doing. It was interesting to see a few of my old professors coming to the open house. I also saw a girl I met at a conference three years ago, and one of my fraternity brothers (he was pledging as I was finished my Master's degree). Most didn't recognize me at first, must be the shaved head.

After work today, I went to the Cambridge Galleria. It's been quite a few years since I've been there, so it has changed, especially the anchor stores. Lechmere is now a Best Buy (at least as memory serves the Best Buy is located where Lechmere used to be). It also seemed a bit smaller and darker, although that could be because of the rain.

Oddly enough, the last time I remember being at the Galleria, must have been the same time of year. As I was walking around, I found it very odd how many people were near my height, and in a few cases taller. It wasn't until I saw a group of such individuals that I remembered the article I had seen, briefly on the subway, that the Head of the Charles Regatta is this weekend. I remember having the same revelation a number of years ago, probably my last fall in Boston. It seems that when people come to town to row, they need to check out the local mall.

Actually, that reminds me of another thought that occured to me. Boston is an incredibly cosmopolitan city. Walking around I hear all sorts of accents and people talking in other languages. San Francisco was much the same, except it seemed to be in pockets with different groups sticking to themselves. There don't entirely blend together in Boston, but there is much more intermingling, at least it seems to me.

Countered and Accepted

I made an offer on a condo yesterday, and last night they countered. The counter was actually what I was thinking might be best. Although at least part of that is because it is a much rounder number than my original offer or the asking price. I really hate prices that end in 9. Like 149 is so much less than 150. Can't we all be grownup about it? Although when the nine is followed by three zeros, it is a much bigger deal than when it is a matter of cents.

I also made arrangements for an inspector to come by the place on Friday morning. I'm going to take the oppurtunity to snap a couple of pictures. I might not post them right away because I want to get closer to having everything as finalized as possible. Actually, now that I think about it, I might not be able to put them up for a while anyway, since I think my cable might be in storage.

The excitement builds!

Made an offer

As the title implies, I made an offer on a condo today. But I'm still waiting for word on whether it got accepted, if there is a counter offer, etc. Even if it is accepted, there is so much to do, getting inspections, going over contracts, mortgages, insurance, etc. But, if all goes smoothly, I should be closing on Halloween.

I'd also like to wish my brother a Happy Birthday!

First day of work

I started work today. Well, I did the orientation and met the other people in the office which I suppose counts as work. I have a little more orientation tomorrow, and then I might start doing real work. Although later this week is some sort of review, and then on Thursday is a big open house.

I noticed something kind of odd today. Everywhere I looked, I thought I recognized people. It took me a little while to realize that I wasn't recognizing the people, but their body language, the way they moved. When I was in college, I learned to recognize the foreign students by the way they dressed, and the way they moved. There was a difference in posture and even a different way of walking. I've come to realize there is a regional accent to body language as well. People in California just don't move the same as people on the east coast.

That could be one of the reasons I immediately felt so comfortable when I came back to Boston. I recognized the people that were around me. Although, some of the body language difference could also simply be the temperature difference. People act differently when the air temperature is in the 40's or low 50's than when it's in the 60's.

Narrowing it down

I took a second look at four places that had taken my fancy on the first time through. Three of the places held up to the initial reactions and one didn't. The three that are left are each quite different from each other, if falling into the same category.

The first is a renovated school building with super high ceilings (exposed beams) and super thick walls. The second place is large and feels divided into two areas the entry is more modern and the back area is typical loft. The third place is in the swanky development and is more quirky than the other two.

I hope to be able to decide pretty soon.

More home hunting

I'm using the term home hunting for a couple of reasons... The first is that I'm not looking for houses, I'm looking for condos/lofts. The second reason, is I'm not looking for something to tide me over for a little while, I want somewhere that feels like home.

I've never been good at making decisions based on cost benefit analysis when it comes to my own life. I'm much too conservative in my judgements and in many ways risk averse. But coming to Boston, starting with a new company... I wouldn't say it's risky, but it is definitely a deeper decision than my past moves.

One decision that goes into the move is deciding where to live. Rather than go the safe route and getting a house in the suburbs, I'm going to be an urban dweller. Living in the city is what made Boston so enjoyable to me. And I know that if I lived in the suburbs, I would just stay home all the time because it is convenient. Oh, and I'm going to get a lot more exercise since I'll be walking/public transport/walking to work, and likely walking to get meals (if I don't cook).

The home hunting itself is going well. Unlike when I was looking in California, here the problem isn't finding something I could live with, it's trying to decide which of the possibilities I really want. There are some I've eliminated because they just weren't right for me, but there are still a lot that are really wonderful and more I haven't seen yet.

More places to look at tomorrow and perhaps revisits to the ones that I've liked the best. Then I have to figure things out... How much do I like having a car, is it worth a few hundred a month for parking if I hardly use it? Balancing neighborhood versus living space, etc. But, surprisingly this decision isn't stressing me out, at least not yet.

Home hunting

I think I should start by saying that it's raining on my birthday! That isn't an exclaimation point of disgust, but actually one of enthusiasm. Real weather on my birthday, and not the same weather that had been happening for the previous two weeks. I'm sure next year, I might be bummed to have rain on my birthday, but this year, it's wonderful.

I started my home hunting today, and saw a half dozen or so lofts. It definately looks like I am going to be able to find something that will make me happy. Actually I saw two places that could definitely work for me. It's odd though, lofts have a weird feeling of being large and small at the same time. Small in that they don't have a lot of rooms, but large when I actually think about how much stuff fits comfortably in the space.

I'll probably post again tonight, after watching the Yankees game. Hopefully, I won't get attacked for wearing my Yankees cap.

Boston Lyrics...

I almost forgot... For those who don't know the song Boston my Augustana, it really kind of fits my move in a lot of ways. Not entirely, since he is singing about a girl moving to Boston, and she says it's somewhere no one knows her name, whereas I'm a guy and I actually know people here... But there are some things that really ring true

She said I think I'll go to Boston...

I think I'll start a new life,

I think I'll start it over,

where no one knows my name,

I'll get out of California,

I'm tired of the weather,

I think I'll get a lover and fly em out to Spain...

I think I'll go to Boston,

I think that I'm just tired

I think I need a new town,

to leave this all behind...

I think I need a sunrise,

I'm tired of the sunset,

I hear it's nice in the Summer,

some snow would be nice... oh yeah,

Made it!

It's been a long couple of days, and today was especially long, but I made it to Boston. That was after an inauspicious start to the day. Well, not quite the start, but the first leg of my flight. The day itself started much too early, after much too little sleep. But I dropped off the rental car and made it to the airport in plenty of time.

Then the benefits of first class flying really started becoming apparent. The checkin line was long, over fifty people. The first class checkin line was short, one person who was in the wrong lane. Then of course there is getting on the plane before everyone else.

But then there were some problems. I tried to raise the headrest so it wasn't poking me in the back, and the whole thing came off. I then made the mistake of asking the stewardess to help rather than just putting it back on myself. Apparently she's not allowed to do that sort of thing and they had to get a technician on the plane. But they had to call the technician anyway because some panel in the cockpit wasn't doing something properly. Eventually we started pushing back from the gate, only to quickly return. The left engine wasn't starting with the automatic starter so they had to get the technicians to use a manual starter. We ended up leaving about 40 minutes late, which wasn't so bad after having a drink (another perk of first class).

I half dozed, half read, and half listened to music on the flight to Chicago. Yeah, that's too many halves, but I was multitasking. I just wasn't quite awake enough to read much, and not positioned so that I could sleep. But I didn't have to worry about someone slamming their chair into my knees.

The second leg of the trip was much better. I sat next to a nice woman who had herself just moved to Boston from San Francisco area. Although she's had a month head start. The steward and stewardess were very proactive plying me with drinks, and by the time we landed I was quite happy. I would have been happy even without the drinks though.

I'm starting to nod off, even though my body should think it is 7:40. But between the sleep deprivation, the long day of travel, the meal I just ate, and the soak in the hotel's hot tub...

So goodnight from Boston!

My bags are packed...

Actually, everything is packed, but I don't leave on the jet plane until tomorrow morning. Early tomorrow morning, at least by my current standards. 7:50 isn't really that early for a flight to the East Coast, but recently I've been sleeping until 9:00 or so. Or at least trying to. Trying to get any sleep actually, but more about that later.

Wednesday I got my couch out of storage. A bit of an adventure, but nothing too crazy. My couch wouldn't fit into my apartment because it was too big. So, I've had it in storage. Then it spent Wednesday night in my parking spot, while my car had to spend the night outside. What a terrible burden for my car.

Yesterday morning, bright and early, the movers showed up to take my stuff, and the tow truck driver came to take my car. What a fun day. It took the movers all day to pack my stuff and load it on the truck. And since the tow truck driver came so early, I was stranded at my apartment all day. Then the packers stayed all afternoon, and didn't get done until about 7:30. By that time the rental car company where I was going to pick up a car for yesterday and today was already closed, so I had a friend drive me to the airport to get a car there.

I got the car, grabbed some food really quickly and headed to Karaoke. It was a good time, even if it was so crowded I only got in three songs. But I got to sing Wonderboy, which became my trademark song, and the Piano Man which everything always loves to sing along with. I also got to say goodbye to a last bunch of people.

It's odd, with all of the goodbyes I've been saying, I feel more popular than I thought I was...

Now, if only I can get some sleep. I haven't been sleeping well for a while now, and the past week or two has been terrible. A couple of times I was still awake well after 3am, and couldn't manage to sleep until 9. And now I'm going to be losing three hours with the cross country travel. Actually, since my sleep is dominated by the sun more than the clock, I'm losing even more than that because of how far west I currently am, and how far east I'm going to be.

I don't know if this quite counts as trivia, since I'm being a bit arbitrary about it, but moving from the Bay Area, Boston is the furthest major US city I could be moving to. Further than Miami, further than Alaska or Hawaii. Sure there are plenty of places in the US that are further, but not big cities.

Blah blah blah. This is turning more bloggy than mere travel updates. So for those just looking for info, I apologize. Although this will evolve into a blog (if I keep writing) in the coming weeks and months.

A funny thing happened on the way to lunch

So today was the going away lunch with the people I formerly worked with. It was a little strange having a going away lunch after already leaving, but it was only by a couple of days. Lunch was good, although some people weren't able to make it. But I did get a chance to pass out some of my personal cards. I had them made up so I wouldn't have to jot down email or phone number on the back of napkins or on corners of paper.

I'll be passing out more at the Blue Bonnet on Thursday. Karoake night and the last chance to really hang out with people from this area. Maybe I'll even get the DJ to say, "Wonderboy has left the building." For those not in the know, Wonderboy (by Tenacious D) is one of my go-to karoake songs, and a crowd favorite.

Anyway, back to the lunch story. When I got in my car this morning and turned it on, the engine coolant light came on. Again. A few months ago I took my car in because it was low on coolant and they couldn't find the leak. Now it's low again. So I had to drop it off at the dealership and hurry to lunch. I got there a minute or two late, and was still the first person there! The other guest of honor showed up like half an hour late. But I still enjoyed it.

Other news... The movers and packers are coming on Thursday and Friday. It is possible that both could happen on Thursday, but I am guessing that won't be the case. In any case, Friday night I'll check into one of the airport hotels so I can get to my flight Saturday morning. I splurged and went first class which my knees will thank me for later, and probably my back. Although my liver won't be so happy.

That's all for now... I apologize that these posts are getting less coherent.

Severed

It sometimes amazes me how quickly momentous things can happen, even when little things still seem to take forever. Just a few hours ago I was officially severed from work. Originally it was supposed to happen tomorrow, but to keep the paperwork a little simpler (I was on a 4x10 schedule, so my schedule said I wasn't supposed to be in tomorrow) they moved it up to today. So, in the blink of an eye, I went from counting the days to counting the hours. Now, I'm at T+ hours, as they would say in rocket science land.

But, even though my last day has already happened, my going away lunch with my coworkers doesn't happen until Monday. I'll also still be around a few more days as I arrange the movers and the various service disconnects. Oh, and find a place to live once I get to Boston. The small things.

Paper Work

So the paperwork accepting my new job is officially in, my resignation is officially in, and I've been un-WARNed. Because more than 50 people were affected at work at the same time I was, the California WARN act went into action. Over a month ago I got a WARN notice saying that I had 60 days left and then if I hadn't found a new position I would be severed from the company. Well, they didn't say severed but a severance package is all about severing.

Anyway, because at one point during those 60 days I received a job offer from another group at work, that meant I was no longer eligible for severance. So I'm not going to get my seven weeks (one per year of service) plus two weeks on top of that. Instead I'll just get a last pay check with my accrued vacation cashed out. Actually that adds up to quite a bit since I have been a bit slack with taking time off. Also, I actually earned most of the vacation time at a much lower salary grade, so many of those hours I will be paid out at 40% more than I earned them.

I also got a hold of the moving service and started that rolling. Only a few more big things to take care of, and then all the little things.

Oh, I also ordered cards. Personal cards so I can give people my contact info without having to scribble an email address on the back of a receipt.

Resign

I find the double meaning of the word resign oddly fitting for my current situation. I have submitted a letter of resignation, and have resigned myself to the next phase of my life. Of course, saying I'm resigned to my fate is much more melodramatic than the situation actually merits.

I have been in California for nearly two years now. Actually, I believe tomorrow will be the two year anniversary of my time in California. I understand how some can find living in California an attractive proposition, just as I understood after living in Texas the appeal it had, neither place is for me.

So, I'm moving to Boston. Well, I'll be working in Cambridge but I plan to live in Boston. Much as when I was in college I went to school in Cambridge but lived in Boston. As my sister reminded me, those were the times in my life when I've been the happiest. I think it is the age of the city, and the youth of the people. Of course, I'm also the odd duck who enjoys cold windy weather.

Anyway, since I'm going to rather frantically accomplishing little things like canceling my cable, forwarding my mail and moving a few thousand miles, I thought I would start a blog to keep people who might care up to date on how the move is going.

Also, as a caveat, since this is being posted in the Public domain, I won't be posting updates such as my new address, except to say that I have found one. I hope that this will help reduce the amount of email forwarding as my news travels to friends and relatives.

-Peter