Welcome Fred :)

Two months after helping me move into the Maples, Fred moved into the complex himself this morning. I guess he can be my proxy-Tomlin for a couple years until his nomad bug gives him a bite and he's off to see the world. Welcome to the nicer side of the Maples, Fred!

It was a bit embarrasing arriving to help him move a bit later than planned this morning. I went to bed late last night and tossed and turned a long while before falling asleep. Getting out of bed was a bit of a chore this morning because of the lack of sleep, but my mind has never been clearer. The things I didn't understand last night are crystal clear now. I've just got to let things go sometimes--can't win everything, and some battles aren't worth fighting. Pick your battles, I always say.


Your Favorite Jerk

PVR: changing the way I watch TV

When I moved in two months ago, I hadn't planned on getting cable installed at all. But alas, after reading about the opportunity to get a free PVR for two years, I succombed and now I am back in the grasp of cable television. How I managed to get a free PVR from Ted Rogers is a long and convuluted story, whose details are too boring and insignificant for us to dwell on. Suffice it to say, I had to do some smooth talking...and purchase a used satelite receiver from two very friendly gentlemen on Craigslist--like I said, very boring stuff.

Anyways, this new PVR has changed the way I watch television. Instead of aimlessly channel surfing for something tolerable to entertain me, I now select the shows I want to watch in advance and the machine automatically stores in on its harddrive. Since getting this machine, I haven't watched a single commercial; I just press fast-forward three times and I've banked two and a half minutes--time I can use doing something more useful, like reading papers...or not reading papers.

Yesterday, I came home to three hours of pre-recorded Frasier, a show I used to watch with some frequency. But rather than being entertained, I was saddened to find the reruns uninteresting, a rehash of old jokes and misadventures. It is perhaps an interesting reflection of my current mood: bored and unhappy about an uninteresting rehash of problems I thought had been solved and complaints I thought had been addressed. Too bad life doesn't have a fast-forward button.


Your Favorite Jerk

A brief update

I apologize for the lack of posts lately; I've been busy catching up on sleep after my three week vacation. The bulk of my three weeks was spent driving around in a minivan in search of furniture for my new place. When Tiffy and I get all the pictures up on the walls, I will try to post some pictures of what the place looks like--I think you'll be quite pleased with the final product. While it's no Extreme Makeover with Ty Pennington, it's certainly quite comfortable for a student like me.

More later.

Your Favorite Jerk

Back from cruisin'

I spent the last five days aboard a floating buffet in the Gulf of Mexico, and I've returned with an extra 10lbs around the waist. The weather was quite pleasant for the most part, but the heat in Mexico was unbearable. I had sweat pouring down my face the whole time I was in Playa Del Carmen--they don't even build washrooms there because you can just sweat the urine right out like some sort of ancient Mayan detox ritual. On the plus side, Coronas were very cheap, and since we were told to avoid drinking Mexican water, I downed mostly Coronas at 20 pesos a pop.

Back aboard the ship, I enjoyed the late night buffets even as the waves buffeted our ship--sorry, I've wanted to write that sentence ever since I saw it used as an example for the dual-meaning word 'buffet' while studying for the GRE but never had a chance to until now.

In short, I had a great time on the cruise, spending time with my folks and winning big at the Casino--back to back Blackjacks, baby! I'll write more when I have some more time, but I'll be away the next four days at my uncle's cottage, fishing...and paper writing (boo!).

Your Favorite Jerk

P.S.
Tiffy had nothing to worry about. The folks get along fine with her, and they marvel fondly at her ability to polish off large bowls of soup :)