All posts by jason

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Weekend Successes

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Had a real fine summer solstice weekend here in Milwaukee.  The weather was mostly beautiful, with a couple occasional rain showers.  It set up a nice backdrop for outdoor activities…

On Friday, the Justin Roth show at Jen & Joe’s was great.  The hosts provided ample food and beverages (including Spotted Cow on tap), and the music was awesome.  We got to hear a few new songs, and some classic faves like “Dead Horse Trampoline,” “Ones to Hold On To,” and “Fatima’s Waltz.”  Got a chance to chat with Justin a bit, and he said he is starting to work with a new producer on an album– but it sounds like it’s nothing that’s immediately on the horizon (maybe within the next 12 months or so?  Hopefully?).  Also got him to sign the picture that Christy took of him behind the wheel of the Festiva; he chuckled recalling the days when he shaved his head.

It was really cool that a lot of Jen and Joe’s friends who had never seen Justin or Storyhill, et al. were around to take in the show and enjoy it.  That’s been my experience more often than not– if you get a chance to see the talent that these guys have in person, and how much they truly enjoy what they’re doing, it’s hard to not feel that energy and to have a really good time yourself.  Justin sold a ton of CDs afterwards, if you want to use that as a measuring device.  And of course, I took pictures during the show, so I’ll post a few of them here within the next couple days.

On Saturday, Mom, Grandma, the Mundschaus and I all went over to PolishFest for a few hours.  I rode downtown with Mom and Grandma.  We parked at WI & Plankinton, then caught the shuttle down to the grounds, but considering how early we got there, probably could’ve parked right there just as easily.  We ate, drank, shopped for some Polish paraphernalia, and got to catch part of a set by Neal Zunker’s Music Connection, and Eddie Blazonczyk & the Versatones, respectively.  We also ran into our cousin Chris and his buddy Scott, who got some free tickets from Uncle Mark.

Sunday was Michelle’s mom’s 60th birthday shindig at Joey Buona’s on Water Street.  It was EXTREMELY filling, as usual.  Sheryl seemed to have a really nice time; a number of her old high school chums made it out, as well as Michelle aunt & uncle from Sheboygan, among others.  It was a fun party.

Earlier that day, I got to visit with Eric and Christine Kiefer for a while (!!).  Yes, you read that correctly.  I was thinking of them as we got primed for the Justin Roth show, and decided that I had put off actually getting in touch for long enough.  They seem to be doing well, both on a professional and personal level.  They’re staying very busy with 2 young kids around the house, but they seem pretty happy, top-to-bottom.  Hopefully, I’ll be able to stay in touch a little better, particularly since I’m moving to their side of town.  I got to share what limited news I could about myself, and I also spilled the beans about everything going on with everyone I know from back in the Osh Vegas days; didn’t think I was probably spoiling any surprises.

Sunday night, Michelle came over and helped me actually start packing a little bit.  We took everything that was hanging down off the walls, and I began to strike the living room.  I think I’m going to work on finishing that up tonight; I barely watch TV in the summer anyway, and if I really want to veg out, I have a laptop and the Internet.  Packing up always seems daunting when you get started, but once you’re on a roll, it moves along.  I think I’ll pick out my wardrobe for the rest of the week and get clothes packed out of the closet tonight, too…

Got a short week at work this week (took Thursday and Friday off to doing moving business), so I better get to it.

General, Uncategorized

Justin Roth House Concert Today!

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Like I was saying the other day, not a lot of personal news of note, but there is this wee tidbit:  Justin Roth‘s show at the Mundschau house this evening at 8pm!

I know there’s room for you if you’re still interested in making your way over… Jen and Joe live at 6425 W Wisconsin Ave.  Food will be served starting at 7, and the music gets going at 8.  I’m sure it’s going to be a good time.

Two things I’m looking forward to– I have to get Justin to sign a photo of himself that Christy took a number of years ago.  He’s sitting behind the wheel of my Festiva.  It’s a funny picture.  I’m also going to FINALLY buy Shine, which I have borrowed from people, but never actually purchased myself.  Oops.

Back to work for the time being…

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Not Lazy, Just Not a Lot to Report

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Let me tell you this right here– work is crazy nuts right now.  Freshman orientation is probably the most hellish time of the year.  Combine that with all the paperwork, and, well… there are things happening.  Not as much time to look at or think about the interwebs of late.

Continuing to work on my thesis and move along on that whole deal.  Trying to get my committee all put together and my prospectus done so that I can actually register for the thesis credits.  After that, it’s kind of just a matter of deciding that the work is done…

As I’m working on that prospectus this evening, I’ve also got an ear on the Brewers, and a Firefox on the Cubs.  I would really like the Cubs to keep on losing whenever they wanna get around to it.  The Crew continues to slowly but surely climb, record-wise at least, but Chicago just doesn’t seem to want to lose.  It’s kind of frustrating.

Hey– Mike Cameron just hit another one.

Also officially got a letter in the mail today saying, “Hey– you can has apartment!”  I did think it was funny that the form letter I received encouraged me to get my phone service locally through Ameritech, because “other telephone carriers may charge an additional connection fee to access the Ameritech owned lines.”  Yeah.  Well, y’know, that first merger only happened about 10 years ago, so they might not have updated the template on that WordPerfect 5.0 floppy.

OK, so I’m going to get back to work on this bibliography.

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More Moving Tidbits

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I made sure that I got home in time to do some spot-cleaning around the apartment last night– I knew Marty was showing the place this afternoon, and I figure the better it shows, the fewer times somebody else will be trouncing around your apartment before it’s rented again.  That strategy seemed to pay off, as I got back from work and found Marty with a couple in the kitchen, filling out a lease.  Suh-weeeet.

I also called up WE Energies today and got the ‘lectrics set up for my new place.  Check this out (blew my mind, but I’m the one writing the checks): budget plan at my current place: $106 per month.  Budget plan at my new place: $25 per month.  Holy.  Balls.

I’m also going to look into DSL as an option for Internet rather than cable, because AT&T seems to have Time Warner beat on price at this point.  And now that they’ll let you get DSL without a contract or an existing phone line, well… hey.

13 days to go…

General, Sports, Uncategorized

Quick Notes Slash Recap

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Hi.

Successful weekend for the most part, but I still have more to get done this evening…

  • Brewers took until today to win a game, but at least they avoided the sweep.  What the hell is with the Cubs?  How long do you think they’re going to wait to start losing?  All-Star break?  Maybe.
  • Here is my new address, effective June 28: 4121 N Ardmore Ave, Apt 9, Radio City, WI, 53211.
  • Grandma’s floor is back, it’s dry, and it only took about 4 hours to finish up.
  • Since Marty and Lise are going to start showing my place tomorrow, I have to go now and get some stuff picked up around here.
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Twinkies and the Weekend

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Schrubbe couldn’t make it to the baseball game last night, because of the flooding up in Oshkosh.  He didn’t miss much.  Just 12-20 thousand g-damn Twins fans making a ruckus and the Brewers doing exactly squat at the plate.  Seems like they’ve had a tendancy to make average or below-average pitchers look like Cy Young a lot this season…

Anyway, Michelle went with me to the game instead, and we still had a good time.  It was hat day, so we got those, and the weather was really nice for a game.  Summer is 100% officially here, and I don’t mind one bit.

I have to make a run today over to my new apartment building to confirm which unit I want– the one that I’ll probably move into is occupied right now, so I wasn’t able to see it the other day.  Worst-case scenario, if there is something horrific about this one (I don’t anticipate that, but…) I will take the other that I saw on Thursday.

When I get home, I think I’m going to get busy with packing.  I’m going to pull all my stuff down from the hotter-than-hell attic, and see if there’s anything there that I can get rid of.  If not, it’ll just be time to start putting stuff back in boxes and getting it set to move.  Two weeks to go, and I’ll be on my way out.  After this afternoon, I’ll know my exact new address, too, so I could make calls to arrange for moving my electricity and cable services, forward my mail… I could probably get the trailer booked, too.  So I’ll be busy.

Tomorrow, Joe and I are putting Grandma’s kitchen floor back together.  So, y’know, fun weekend top-to-bottom.

General, Uncategorized

You Can Really Actually Call Off the Dogs Officially This Time– No Kidding, I Am Absolutely Certain

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I’m going to be moving into the place I looked at yesterday afternoon on Ardmore Avenue in Shorewood.

A few of the major features that sold me on it:

  • Less money overall per month than the one I saw on Knapp the day before, and more space
  • wood floors– look nice, easy to take care of (the other one had carpeting)
  • I am dead serious– the storage unit in the basement is about TEN FEET by TEN FEET.  It’s frakking huge.
  • Parking readily available, and cheap
  • Month-to-month.  If it becomes necessary, I can check out at will, with a scant 28-day notice.

More on this as info becomes available.  To my peeps in Osh Vegas: stay the course, good luck bailing out, things will get back to normal.

See you at the Brewers game later if you end up there…

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Scrambling

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So I found out on Monday morning that I did NOT get the apartment on Capitol Drive.  Since that afternoon, I’ve been working madly (with some help from Jen) to try to find another place, and soon– I’ve got just 18 days left on Wright Street.

I told the manager at 1029 E Knapp yesterday that I would take one in that building.  I wanted to secure something as a backup, and since that building is owned by the same folks as the one on Capitol that I didn’t get, they already had my application and a security deposit.  They don’t have a signed lease yet, though, so I’m still going to take a look at this place on Ardmore Ave in Shorewood.  This place that I’m going to see this afternoon could be a LOT cheaper per month overall (50 bucks or so).  An extra 600 clams in your pocket at the end of the year makes a diff, y’know?  The description is a little frightening, though: “small but charming.”  In apartment hunting for me, size is going to matter a bit, and if it is somehow smaller than the place on Knapp, well… I’ll have to cough up that 600 bucks.

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Well, Let's Try That Again

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Like I said the other day, I’ve got a handful of new pictures that I’m putting up.  I noticed today that I forgot to “re-size” them, so they were taking an agonizingly long time to load (a 2-meg photo will do that on a residential connection).  They’re fixed now, so if you tried earlier to look and ended up closing your browser in frustration mumbling, “goddammit Bocko…” you can go back now and enjoy.

Also, I could go for a sandwich.

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A Welcome Addition

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A part of me is very afraid of all the information that Google is collecting.  The scariest part is that unlike people, who reach a certain capacity point and then begin to purge (“Whoops, closet’s full– what can I get rid of..?”), Google is just looking to find ways to store MORE information.  They never throw anything out.  What are you going to do with all of that in the long run, y’know?

That being said, I am a frequent user of serveral of their software products.  By default, I use both their search engine and their map software.  An addition to the latter that is just AWESOME in my book is the “public transit” map option that just recently debuted for Milwaukee.

I pay about 30 bucks a month for an UNLIMITED bus pass through the university.  It’s great, because I don’t need to pay for parking at work or worry about finding a space, and I also save the gas money and wear-and-tear on the car.  However, I really don’t use the bus other that for getting to work (and occasionally to Michelle’s), in large part because figuring out how to get from point A to point B on a particular schedule is sort of pain.

No longer a problem with the public-transit-google-mapping.  Tell it where I want to start from, where I need to go, and what time I need to get there, and it gives me all the info I need.  VERY cool and FANTASTICALLY convenient.  I just might start driving even less…

Try it out– here’s just an example of a route I have to take to go see an  apartment tomorrow morning (different unit in the same building I mentioned last week).