28 May 2007

Bubble Tea!

I had bubble tea yesterday for the first time ever!
It's good, except that you have to be careful because the boba will shoot up into your mouth. Shocking! I got tired of chewing before I was done, but it was good. I'm going to look for some boba so I can make my own. The only place in St. Louis that sells bubble tea is far away. :( also it's expensive.
On the other hand, I could totally make some milky iced tea. Which, except for the boba, that's what it is.

Also, I got to visit with my friends Shaun and Miranda who had many stories and presents from their trip to Toronto. (They brought Anne and I some Miranda cheese :) )

25 May 2007

Bicycle commuting

I took my first bicycle commuting trip yesterday!
In the interest of not knowing how long it would take, and being on time to work, I got a ride out to work, then biked back after.
It's over 20 miles to work, so it's outside my abilities to bicycle all the way. On the other hand, there is a metro (the St. Louis light rail) station an easy ride from our house, then it's five miles from the end of the line to work. That's pretty do-able for me. It took me ~90 minutes to get home last night, but was pretty fun. It's too bad it takes so much longer. I would like to do it all the time, but the drive is only about 30 min. The savings via public transit are significant, though. The Metro pass would cost me $60/month, and the not driving 40 miles/day would save me about half the gas I burn, which would be about $20-25/week. Or, if you use the old equation for 32.5 cents per mile, it's $292.50 per month to drive a 40 mile round trip to work five times a week. Wow! That's a lot of savings. The difference in cost there would buy you a new commuting bicycle EVERY MONTH.
I think if I stick with it, I'll be able to shave my initial five mile ride down to taking less time, and possibly catch an earlier train. I'm going to try to stick with this, do my part towards using less oil, and save myself some money.

Maybe we'll be able to make our old van last a while longer after all.

So in short, "Yay, my team!"

weekend visitors

We had some friends, Miranda and Shaun over last weekend. It was really fun!
We went to parks, did some cooking, visited a lot, and generally just had a good time.
With my new job, I've been working Saturdays. It's not my favorite, but I have been getting Sunday and Mondays off. I have to work this Monday, which is not my favorite. I would like to have a Memorial day. Alas, it is not to be.

On the other hand, Anne and I have a fun plan for Sunday! We're going to ride the metro downtown, then ride our bikes around, and look at cool architecture. Maybe we'll pack a picnic lunch.

I am going to buy Anne a slightly early anniversary present today. I'm going to give her a new bicycle. I can get a good deal on bikes and such now that I work at the bike shop, so I'm going to give her a good one. A sunfire 3.0 I would look into the 2.0, but I am not very familiar with those, and I would have to order one in her size. I know we have a 3.0 in the store which is her size.

16 May 2007

Macedonians

Here are some pictures of the Alexandrian Successors I have been painting.
I am mediocre at the painting, but I like them anyway.
Here are a couple, you can see the rest at my flickr page.


Here is one of my elephants. Tremble before it's splendor!

15 May 2007

If I ever become an evil overlord

I found the old top 100 things to do if I ever become an evil overlord list.
It's really funny, though I suspect you've all read it, I'll post it anyway.

overlord

12 May 2007

Where has the week gone?

I started my new job this week, and Anne was at a conference.
I thought I would have tons of time, but she's coming home this afternoon, and I haven't done anything of interest, really.
I did get to go see my friend, Laminator_X last night, and that was fun. I also got to help with a house decorating with sheet steel project on Wednesday, and that was allright.
I did some cleaning this morning, in preparation for Anne's return.

The new job is good, even though my days off seem to be Monday and Friday. Oh, well. Hopefully I won't have to work every weekend ad infinitum.

Anne seems to be enjoying the conference. (Cell phones are fantastic!) I've gotten to talk with here while she's been gone.

I somehow thought this week would be more exciting, but it has not been.
That's okay. It's been pretty good.

05 May 2007

Like the best thing ever!



This guy is apparently called "Scroobius Pip" This is so cool!

On the Schedule...

So, after my rigmarole with jobs (see, well, April) I have continued to be a squeaky wheel over there. The owner returned from his trip to France, so I badgered him.
The short story is that I'm supposed to start Tuesday!
Yay I guess. Crazy crap.

Anne keeps telling me that it is possible to work places that are not run remarkably badly, but my experience certainly does not bear that out. Every where I work or try to work, run like the old Shrine Club. (my first job, my boss was an alcoholic, and crazy)


Not much else has happened of note.
(isn't that enough though?)

02 May 2007

My letter to Clair McCaskill

I figured that if I'm going to send letters to Senators I disagree with, maybe I should send letters to politicans who are actually doing something I like. They probably don't get enough "good job, keep it up" sorts of letters.
Here is a text of the email I just sent to McCaskill.
Really! Send your own! Just click here


First of all, I am a voting constituent.
I would like to thank you for sticking to your guns on the Iraq war spending bill. Thank you for helping the Senate do what the people asked. Do not give in to Jr. Bush.
Hopefully in time, everyone will see who is on the side of America and who is on the side of Haliburton.