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The Horse and His Boy

I started reading a new one and it’s pretty good so far. I really enjoy C.S. Lewis’ storytelling ability; his writing seems equally appealing to children and adults alike. That seems like a difficult thing to do properly.

I think I’m going to try and wrap up all the books I’ve only partially read. There’re probably 5 or 6 of them on my bookshelf and I feel like I need to finish those before I start reading new stuff. I don’t think it’ll take me too long to get through them.

Legacy Church

I went to a local church today and enjoyed it quite a bit. The teaching was good and I felt like the worship was good, too. My only beef was that the people in the church seemed almost bored and not very “into it”. I think I’ll eventually end up going back and hopefully I’ll see that they were just having a somber Sunday or something.

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The book buying begins…

When I was here a couple summers ago, I spent most of my free time at Barnes & Noble, either reading or buying books. Well, I went over there today to buy a copy of The World According to Garp and though I couldn’t find it, I managed to find some other books that needed buying. Here’s what I left with:

J. D. Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye
Ralph Ellison’s The Invisible Man
Wendy Northcutt’s The Darwin Awards
The Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook, by Joshua Piven and David Borgenicht
Stephen Viscusi’s On the Job: How to make it in the real world of work
Gabriele Crepaldi’s The Impressionists
and a copy of Car And Driver magazine

I also went to Target and bought a few things including two lamps for my end-tables. I’m afraid the lamps might be a little small, but I have receipts and time, so I’ll get it right eventually.

It’s a Wonderful Life

I am back to watching classics and I really enjoyed this one. I realized that I’ve never watched the entire thing before, mostly because I would gripe and complain any time it was on. Turns out it’s a really good movie that makes a good point in a clever way. Ironically, all I remembered about the movie was the sequence where Clarence, George’s guardian angel, takes George around town to show him what the world would be like if George had never been born. I didn’t realize that was only the last twenty minutes of the movie. It seems there’s also a pretty good hour and a half of movie before that. Who knew?

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Finished Wardrobe

I finished The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe tonight and I’ll be starting The Horse and His Boy tomorrow. I’m not moving through the series as quickly as I’d anticipated, but only because I’ve found other things to occupy my time. I decided I’m headed to Barnes & Noble tomorrow to pick up a copy of The World According to Garp since I began it last semester, but never finished it (the copy I was reading was borrowed). I figure that’ll give me something else to read. I also have a book on poker (The Theory of Poker) to finish up and Stephen Hawking’s A Brief History of Time. I’m sure there are others I’ve partially read, but those are the only ones that come to mind.

Basketball: Vandy vs. Florida

We play Vandy at home tomorrow and I think we’re going to trounce them. I’m predicting we’ll win by 25 points or more. I think we’ll be up by 10 at the half and we’ll get the other 15 in the second half.

Time to sleep.

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Psuedo-visit

I didn’t exactly go to a local church today, but I did listen a sermon from a church that’s about five miles from here. I realized that I could learn a lot about a church from just hearing a sermon (and by hearing one by the senior pastor), so I downloaded one and had a listen today. I decided I’ll visit that church next Sunday morning, so I guess the screening process was good.

Bought the camera

I’m the proud new owner of a FujiFilm Finepix F700 digital camera. It’ll be here in 7 to 10 business days via UPS Ground. I also went ahead and ordered a 256MB picture card, so I’m not cramped for space on the 16MB card that comes with the camera. I just hope I use it a lot and I don’t ultimately feel like I wasted some cash. I am fairly confident that I’ll use it plenty because I can think of numerous occasions when I wished I’d had a digital camera handy. Now I will, so hopefully I’ll use it.

Wrappin’ up the Wardrobe

I figure I’ll be done with Wardrobe by Tuesday (maybe sooner), and then I’ll get to move on to the third book. I’m lovin’ this stuff.

Blog ideas

A friend of mine requested that I write my opinions on the Gator basketball team, so I’ll probably do that in the next day or two. I wish I had seen all our games this year, but I feel I’ve seen enough to formulate educated opinions. I’ll also summarize this year’s team and compare it with teams from the past few years.

Also, I realized that one of the toughest things about the move to Texas was that I had no idea what I was getting into. So, I think I’ll write up a little entry on what all went into my move–planning, cost, things I bought, etc.–so that I have it for future reference. Also, I guess many of my peers will be experiencing a similar transition soon, so maybe they’ll find some useful information here.

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Plano: Day 13

First off, I’ve decided to stop the monotonous “day count” at 14. I figure after that, everything will be best chronicled normally. Other than that, I don’t have too much goin’ on. I didn’t go to church today because I’m trying to find churches to visit, but I didn’t find anything for this morning. I’m sure I’ll find somewhere to go for next Sunday morning. I mostly just laid around watching TV, playing GameCube and messin’ with TiVo for most of the day. In fact, I don’t think I left the apartment.

I spoke with a couple friends on the phone and that was nice, as always. It’s good to know that I have allies back east and that they’re thinking of, praying for and lookin’ out for me. It sounds like a friend of mine is coming out sometime in March, near the end of “Spring Break” (for the college kids). I figure I’ll be getting back to Plano around that time, so I should get to hang out both here and there with friends from there. That should be a good week.

Digital Camera shopping

I don’t know how soon I’ll buy one, but it seems like I should go ahead and get one while my life is still in transition. As I look around me, I see things that are so ridiculous that they need to be captured on film. The pile of boxes in my dining room is so big, a friend of mine said, “You buildin’ a fort?”, as soon as he saw it. I’m sitting in a computer desk chair with my feet propped up on a coffee table. My computer is to my left and my TV is in front of me. I’ve been sitting here, checking e-mail, surfing the web, doing some online shopping and messing with TiVo for several hours now. Not to mention that the place is a total wreck and I don’t see an end to that coming for a few weeks now (as that’s when the rest of my furniture will be arriving).

More work

It’s midnight and I’m still up, though I’m finally getting tired. I’ll be up at 7 for another day at work and I’m hoping to be doing something interesting soon. So far, I’ve just been reading documents, looking over drawings and looking through some training material related to my project. Once I’ve ingested all that background stuff, I should be ready to head out and start working with the actual equipment. Hopefully, that’ll happen tomorrow.

More Wardrobe

I’m still reading the Chronicles of Narnia and enjoying them very much. I’ve slowed down recently–mostly ’cause I haven’t been home much during the week–but I intend to get back on track this week. I’m having to pace myself, though, ’cause I don’t want to exhaust this source of intellectual entertainment too quickly.

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Plano: Day 8

TGIF: I’m scheduled To Get Internet, Friday

After about 11 days without internet, I should be online sometime Friday. It’ll be nice because that means I’m back on Instant Messenger and that means I can chat it up with my friends. I’ve been having a hard time keepin’ in touch ’cause I ran outta’ cell minutes about a week ago and I can only make so many calls between 9 pm and when I go to sleep (seems to be about midnight, so far). Also, shopping for stuff and finding good deals will be a relief, since I’ve been sort of wandering around in the dark while buying all the stuff I’ve been buying lately.

Speaking of buying stuff…

I decided to go with the Olive sofa/loveseat combo. I took a survey of seven or eight people and all but one said the olive is probably the best solution for my living room. Plus, I feel the olive will be more daring whereas the hazelnut woulda’ been kinda’ normal and blah. Of course, there’s something to be said for normal and blah, but I’d rather save my saying for the crazy olive I’ve chosen.

I am still buying necessities and other stuff for my apartment. I went to The RoomStore today and bought a coffee (“cocktail”) table and two end tables. That was just after I’d blown 100 bucks at Wal-Mart. I feel like all the stuff I bought was good: Toaster Oven, knives (six steak knives and some other big ones that all came in a big wooden block), a little “kitchen kit” sorta thing with a couple spatulas, a bottle opener, can opener, measuring cups and spoons, and then stuff like dish soap and sponges for scrubbin’ the dishes. I felt like I needed all of it and I’ve decided my kitchen finally looks “lived in”. I still need a dining room set, but I think I know which one I’m going to get; I just have to talk myself into going over to Ashley Furniture and signing the papers.

Good credit is super duper

I got my first credit cards about five years ago. Since, I’ve made sure to pay my bill in full every month (with a couple small exceptions–mostly just me forgetting to pay the bill or something stupid) and I’ve made sure to pay all my utility bills and rent on time and stuff. I always figured it would help to build my credit and now I’m finding out why that was so important. For a lot of the furniture I’m buying, I basically just show up at the store, pick something out and then, when it comes time to pay, I say, “I’m hoping to take advantage of your financing option.” Then, they run my info. through a computer and come back to tell me I don’t have to pay for the stuff for several months . It’s such a relief that I don’t have to find ways to pay for this stuff now since I’m so busy trying to get settled and since my finances are in such a transitional state. I generally don’t like the idea of buying stuff with credit, but when I’m not going to pay any interest and I know I won’t have any problem paying for it in the allotted time, it just gives me some breathing room to get everything else in order right now. I guess good credit was responsible for helping me get an apartment with no deposit, electricity, cable and DSL with no deposit, and my cable turned on even though I forgot to leave the check for the technician when he came0. I’m glad I got those credit cards and paid ’em off every month. I thought it was nice just getting my “cash back bonus” at the end of the year, but it has other benefits as well.

The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe

I’m going to start reading it now.

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Plano: Day 5

I’m almost done with The Magician’s Nephew; I figure I’ll be through it tonight. I can already see that, as soon as I’m done with it, I’ll be compelled to begin the next book. This is some good stuff.

My TV got here a couple hours ago and, as I expected, it’s good ‘n’ big. I was going to get the smaller version of the same TV, but Best Buy didn’t have it in any of their stores around here and they couldn’t deliver it (“limited delivery area” for that particular TV or something). Anyway, I decided I’d just go ahead and get the bigger version. I figure it’ll be a little more fun anyway.

I tried to play around with the DVD-player/TiVo I bought, but I can’t use it until I perform the initial setup on it… Problem is the initial setup requires a phone line, which I don’t have. So, I’m trying to think of a way to get to a phone line that I can use for an hour while plugging my TiVo into a television, so I can see what I’m doing. I’m still not sure what I’ll do.

I let those jokers at Best Buy talk me into buying the super-expensive Monster Cables (component video and RCA audio) rather than the cheaper Acoustic Research versions of the same cables. After thinking about it and talking to friend, I’m going to take the unopened cables back and get the Acoustic Research ones instead. I doubt I’ll be able to tell the difference in quality, but I’m sure I’ll notice the difference in the quantity of money in my bank account.

In a little bit, some friends are driving over from Ft. Worth for some lunch and then they’re going to help me decide what furniture to get. After three straight days of browsing furniture stores, I’d experienced information overload and couldn’t seem to make a rational decision. Hopefully, some objectivity and good taste will help me decide on something.

All done with Book 1: The Magician’s Nephew

I’m through the first book and that leaves six more. I really enjoyed re-reading the history of Narnia (I had read this book when I was 10 or so, but didn’t remember much of it) and I’m excited to re-read The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe over the next few days. What a good use of my time.

Furniture bust

Well, after a few hours and several stores, I decided on a furniture set I really liked. I had actually been looking at the set for a few days, trying to decide if I liked it and what color I’d prefer. This afternoon, I decided I did like the set and that I preferred khaki (over olive and cherry). About 30 seconds after I’d declared my decision to my friends, a salesperson walked up and said, “Oh, you like this set? It’s been discontinued. I think they’re all out of the khaki loveseats.” Of course. The one color of the one set I decided on is discontinued and can’t be found anywhere. So, I’m basically back to square-one. I’m headed back there on Monday to see if they found any of those loveseats, or if maybe one of their warehouses is holding one or couldn’t deliver one or something. It’s all wishful thinking, mostly; I essentially have to just be patient and hope that a local store gets something that I like in soon. Until then, I’ll keep using my leather office chair for all my sitting needs.

Vineyard

I’m going to a Vineyard church tomorrow. I don’t know what to expect, but I hope I enjoy it and meet some people.

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Plano: Day 4

I spent most of the day laying around and watching TV. It’s a good thing it took me a few days to figure out that I could watch the tube with my computer, or I wouldn’t have gotten anything done since I moved here.

Anyway, the major thing I accomplished was getting my car an oil change and a “state inspection”, which is apparently a way that Texas gets lots of annual revenue from everyone who wants to drive a car in the state. The whole deal shoulda’ taken about a half hour, but there was a little misunderstanding that cost me about an hour-and-a-half more: After they’d finished the oil change and had begun the inspection, the guy came inside and said, “You know, one of your wiper blades–I guess it’s a refill or something–is leaving a couple little streaks on the windshield ’cause it’s not making contact or something. Do you want us to put a new one on the driver’s side for ya’?” And, thinking they’d charge me ten bucks or so to install a one-dollar part, I said, “Naw, that’s ok. I’ll just do it myself.” So, a few minutes later, the guy comes in and says, “It’ll be…dollars for the oil change and the inspection, which you failed.” “Failed?”, I said. “Yeah, ’cause of that wiper blade.” And, of course, if I’d known I was going to fail the stupid inspection because of the “little streaks” the wiper blade was leaving, I’d have gone ahead and gotten gouged for the stupid wiper blade. But, because he didn’t explain that I was gonna’ fail the inspection if they didn’t replace that blade, I had to go to Wal-Mart, get blade refills, change the blades in the parking lot, drive back over and wait an hour-and-a-half for the jokers to look at the new blade, give it a test run and decide my car passed.

But, at least I got the oil change and inspection done, so I don’t have to knock off work to get it done later. Tomorrow, I’m going with some friends (who lived in Gainesville and moved out here a little over a year ago) to try to make a final decision on the furniture I’ve been trying to buy.

The Magician’s Nephew is coming along nicely and I’m really enjoying the adventure. C.S. Lewis has a super knack for telling a great, vivid story with very few words. I’ve only read about 100 pages and I feel like Iï¿½ve been part of the kids’ adventure for months.

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Plano: Day 2

I haven’t been this exhausted in a while… I didn’t sleep well or long last night, thanks to my own restlessness and the lawn maintenance guys. I woke up pretty early (around 9) and got back to running errands, making phone calls, browsing–furniture, mostly–and buying stuff for my apartment. I’ve spent about $150 at Target over the past couple days and I still haven’t even got pots ‘n’ pans and things like that. All I’ve bought is various soaps, stuff for the bathroom, a Foreman Grill and some other little things I needed.

Seems like furniture shopping’s a little trickier than I’d hoped. I’ve been to a few stores and none of them have exactly what I want–style, color, comfort, price–but all of the stores have some of what I want. I guess compromise will be the name of the game and it ain’t gonna’ be as cheap a game as I’d hoped.

My cable’s turned on, but I don’t have a TV yet, so I’m enjoying looking at the little black chord coming from the wall. I don’t have any idea when my internet will be turned on, so that’s making it even more difficult to do all my shopping and furniture buying and such. Also, I have about 15 “anytime” minutes to get me through next Tuesday (although the weekend will be free, so I’m having a hard time getting a hold of everyone I need to and I’ve been ignoring a lot of calls during the day.

As I’ve driven around Plano, I’ve noticed things that remind me of home and I’m thankful I’m so busy because I’d probably get pretty down if I allowed those things to cause me to stop and think about what I left behind. In fact, even this blog entry is more of a voluntary distraction than a necessity. I find myself taking solace in the fact that I know I won’t be here, doing this, forever.

The Chronicles of Narnia

I finally bought the box set at Christmas Conference, but I wouldn’t allow myself to begin reading them until I was here in Dallas. As I suspected, I’m already having a hard time putting them down; I had to pull myself away to go brush my teeth a little while ago. I’d forgotten how much fun C.S. Lewis’ stories are to read and I’m already totally engrossed in the plot. I’m surprised how similar the basic premise is to Tolkein’s Lord of the Rings stories: people touch gold rings and suddenly disappear; other people look after those with the rings.

Anyway, I’m really looking forward to plowing through these books as I’ve been anticipating it for some time now.

Buying stuff

I’m glad I left a week buffer before my start-date to do some shopping and furnish my apartment. Already, I’ve found I haven’t enough time in the day to run all the errands and buy all the stuff I need. I’ve been to Target several times and I browsed several furniture stores today. Best Buy is my new home-away-from-home and I spent a good deal of time looking at stuff in other electronics stores (although, surprisingly, Best Buy has the best prices on basically everything). The thing that is most difficult about shopping right now is that I don’t have an internet connection, so I can’t do the research I usually do. It’s rare that I’ll buy something without spending a fair amount of time browsing the web for specs, reviews and bargains; but, without an internet connection, my only recourse is to drive around looking for stores that might sell the stuff I’m after. I generally have a pen and paper in hand and I just write down whatever I need to remember that piece of furniture or electronic thing, so I can make comparisons later. It’s painstaking, frustrating and pretty imprecise.

But the most frustrating thing is that I’m buying only the things I think I’ll need to feel at home, but I still feel like I’m just blowing money. I mean, I’ll be bringing home a decent paycheck soon, but I’m definitely already spending some of that money before I’ve earned it. I’m not accustomed to spending money I don’t have, but I guess it’s ok to make an exception in this situation. I’m trying to exercise as much self-control as possible, so hopefully it’ll pay off.

Friends

I’m realizing how fortunate I am to have a large group of friends thinking of me back home. I spent quite a while on the phone tonight with several people and I felt very encouraged while I spoke with them. Some friends, I was just shooting the breeze, seein’ what’s up back home; some friends, I was asking for advice on whether to buy this or that; some friends, I was looking for pointers to help me make this transition as smooth as possible. But all my conversations were encouraging to me and made me thankful that I have such good friends who care about me and are praying for me. I’m sure their prayers and concern will make this time much easier for me.