Ok, so I've got some more complaining to do about AT&T. So I finally got the DSL hooked up, and it works most of the time. Occasionally, the 2Wire modem/wireless router (the one the AT&T guy gave me) will have a brain fart and flip out & shit, dropping the internet connection. It's only for maybe 10 seconds, then it remembers "oh yeah, I'm a fucking modem & wifi router!! go go internets go!". It's a bit annoying, but I suppose I can live with it. Shann, on the other hand, plays a lot of games online, and every time it does that, he gets booted from his game. So yeah not quite the happy camper.

Quality of my internet connection is something that I shouldn't have to worry about. Then again, it is AT&T, so I shouldn't be too surprised. This almost makes me want to move to an area that offers Comcast. But all the other perks of living here (right on the bus line being the major one) outweigh this one minor annoyance. If something were to come up, like a 20% rent increase, any kind of car vandalism, or anything major like that, then I'd consider moving. But just because of bad internet? Nope. Shann's just gonna have to deal with it.

I haz internets!! Such a freakin' relief. But like everything else with this whole process, it didn't come without some drama.

The AT&T repair guy, Rick, is a really nice guy. He calls me up at work around 12pm, and says that the line going into the apartment is fine (he was calling from it), so it had to be an issue with the wiring inside the apartment. He was kind enough to come back when I got home from work. So he looks at the main wiring panel, that's oddly placed above the door of my walk-in closet, and notices that the wiring was all messed up. And also after looking behind some the wall jacks, some of them weren't even wired up! It makes you wonder if the people who lived in this apartment before me even had internet/phone/cable service, or if when they moved out, they fucked with all the wiring just to make it difficult for the next tenants.

So Rick rewires everything and we finally get a dial tone on the phone line. My modem & router were already set up and ready to go, so everything was all good, right? Not exactly. My modem, which I got from AT&T about 7 years ago, although still in good working condition, apparently is a little dated and no longer works with AT&T's current implementation of DSL. Not wanting to leave me hanging, Rick goes down to his truck and gives me a 2Wire modem/wifi-router. For free. So he says. I'll truly believe it when I don't get charged for it when the first bill comes.

So yeah, now I haz internets. The connections been a bit wonky for the first couple of hours, like I've gotten a few weird AT&T error messages. But otherwise, I guess it's ok. Not as fast as Comcast, but it'll have to do.

Friday:
Took a half-day at work, then drove down around lunchtime. I got there around 730ish. No traffic at all. I told Tony I was in the mood for man-steaks, so he took me to  Libra Brazilian Steakhouse in Culver City. It was all-you-can-eat Brazilian meats goodness. And he happened to have a Groupon, so it was hella worth it.

Saturday:
Had breakfast at Vee's Cafe, cause he had a Groupon. Perfectly filling for a pre unlimited beerfest meal. So afterwards, we head over to Lantern Bay Park in Long Beach for Taste of Brews, a beer festival that included unlimited craft beer tastes and food samples. It was pretty awesome, as expected. My favorite beers were Hanger 24's Orange Wheat, Kona Brewing Company's Wailua Wheat, and Lindeman's Peach Lambic. We had the 4 hour VIP tickets, but I only really lasted maybe 2 hours. I had a hard time pacing myself with all these different beers around me and no one telling me to stop. But most importantly, I "maintained" and did not yak. Mission Accomplished!

pics or it didn't happen:

The brewery's tents all lined up

The Evans Premium Lager bottle mascots. They were walking around everywhere the whole time.

View of the harbor from the lawn. It was a nice place to chill in the breezy shade, a nice resting point between beer samples.

No, psshhh.....I was NOT trying to drink out of the giant inflatable beer bottle. I may or may not have been drunk when this picture was taken.

All the schwag, mostly coasters & bottle openers.

All in all, it was hella fun. It was way better than all the beer fests that I've been to in the Bay, even the one's where I got in for free or for hella cheap. This one had free food samples, free coconut juice & free water. It was right on the water that had a cool breeze, and there were hella places to sit & just chill. At the end, there was a 1 hour cool down, sober-up time. The beer fests in the Bay, you gotta pay for food & non-alcoholic drinks, no places to sit & chill, and when the event is over they just kick you out. So that's why I believe it was well worth the $40.

Right after the beerfest, I got a text for Elway saying that HP was having a fire sale on their recently discontinued Touchpad, and the 16GB was going for $99 and the 32GB for $149. Not having any plans, me & Tones decide to go hunt for one. Since we were in Long Beach and Tones lived near Santa Monica, we decided to stop by the 7 (!!!) Best Buys that were on the way home. We got lucky at 2 of them and we got 4 total: 16GB for Elway, and 3 32GBs for Tones, myself, and one lucky person in my family. I actually have no idea who I'm going to end up selling that last one to. Yet. It should figure itself out, right?

For dinner, we went to a hole in the wall burger joint literally named Hole in the Wall Burger Joint.

The descriptions of their condiments are awesome, as well as yummy.

I had a cheeseburger on a pretzel bun. The bun tasted like a pretzel (duh, Captain Obvious). It sorta crazy how surprised I was every time I took a bite, cause I hella don't associate pretzels with burgers or vice versa. It was hella good, but I wished I could taste the cranberry mayo spread more.

For the nightcap, we went to Diddy Reese for their $1.50 ice cream sandwiches. You can't beat that price, nor say no to it. You just can't. I dare anyone to try.

Sunday:
Before driving back up, we had breakfast at Rutt's Hawaiian Cafe. Good stuff. I wish they had a place up in the Bay like that, or just more places that serve Portuguese sausage, Kahlua pork, and Hawaiian sweet bread. Come on L&L, get on it!

Stopped by a couple of places on the drive back: Bakersfield & Visalia - to check for Touchpads at Best Buy, Merced - to gas up at Costco, and Stockon - to grab a bite to eat before I fell asleep at the wheel. No traffic on the way, smooth sailing the whole way up.

And that was my birthday weekend: about 14 hours behind the wheel, 2 hours of unlimited beer tastings, and hunting down HP Touchpads. Hello, dirty 30s.

*note: posting this from Barnes & Noble, since AT&T still hasn't hooked up the internets at my apartment. I don't think I can be any more angry at them than I already am. The anger is to the max. They're supposedly sending someone to fix it tomorrow (they said the same exact thing last night, and no one came today). We'll see. More likely than not, they'll follow their current trend of being lying sacs of shit and I'll never have internets at the apartment. One alternative is Verizon 4G mobile broadband, but it's $80/month with a cap of 5GB. It's a shitty alternative, but I may not have a choice. Stupid AT&T.....

Last Tuesday (Aug 9), after checking out the apartment and committing to it by paying the application fees and security deposit, I called AT&T to set up internet service. I prefer Comcast, but apparently Comcast didn't lay down cable lines when the Natomas area was built. I would normally think that that so-called "reason" was full of shit, but I had lived in the area before, albeit 6 years ago, and (then-)SBC was the only option available. You'd figure Comcast would get it's shit together and provide service out to one of the newer, growing areas in town, but 6 years later, they're still not available. So I called AT&T and they said the soonest they could have someone come out and activate my service was this Tuesday, Aug 16. I really didn't mind, since I was moving in on that previous Friday but not officially staying there till Sunday night, so it would be only 1 full day of no internet, and 1 day I could totally handle.

Well, today was my service activation date. Last night, I set up my DSL modem, that I still had from my previous service 6 years ago, as well as the wireless router. Everything was set up so that by the time I got home, everything  would be good to go. So I get back to the apartment, and the modem wasn't receiving any signal from any of the wall outlets that I tested. WTF.

So I called AT&T customer fucking service and wait 15 minutes to actually talk to someone. I talk to the service rep for maybe 2 minutes and he puts me on hold again, maybe for another 10 minutes. When he finally gets back on the line and tells me that he can't find any record of me in their system and that he wants to transfer me to another department that may be able to help me. Having made plans with Haile already, and kind of running late, I told the service rep that I didn't have any time to be put on hold for unknown amounts of time, that I had to go and that I'd call back later. He insisted that it would be an instant transfer to an actual person and that I did not have to wait or be put on hold. I ask him "are you sure?" and again, insists that I would not be put on hold. So I was like, Ok fine, transfer me.

Well, guess what fucking happened? Dude transfers me, and I IMMEDIATELY GET PUT ON FUCKING HOLD WITH THAT STUPID FUCKING ANNOYING ASS "HOLD MUSIC". Fucking lying sack of shit. I wish I had gotten that service reps name so that I could call back, request for him, and tell him that he's a fucking lying sack of shit to his fucking face. Fucking A.....

edit:
I called back today to see what was up with my non-activated service. Apparently, the shit-for-brains ass-hat who initially took my order FUCKING FORGET TO PUT DOWN MY APARTMENT NUMBER, so they canceled my order. And who-the-fuck-ever put in the cancellation didn't even call me to ask for my apartment number or notify me of the cancellation. So scheduled another "activation of service". It's supposedly going down tomorrow between 8am-12pm. We'll see they actually get it right this time.

Please don't mind all the CAPS and swearing. I'm just that fuckin' serious about my damn internet connection. And I really hate it when simple things go horribly wrong. (No apartment number? Or cancellation notification? Really?!?!)

edit #2:
FUCKING LYING SACKS OF SHIT. Can you guess what didn't fucking happen today?!?! FUCK.

My original plan was to go to the Raiders/Niners preseason game at Candlestick, tailgate & stuff, then after the game go drink somewhere in the city, but then my friends couldn't make it and I really didn't want to put in the effort to try and plan that out with my cousins, since I had already planned the Monterey trip. Then Chris suggested going down to SoCal for Stone Brewing Company's 15th anniversary & international beer festival, and I was like "ok, sure" since I wasn't doing anything else anyways. So the new plan was to leave straight after work on Friday and drive to Merced, then ride with Chris down to SoCal. I called up Tones in Santa Monica and made plans to crash at his place while we're down there. When everything was more or less set, Chris texts me saying he can't go anymore cause of work or something. But fuck it if I'm going to change my plans again to nothing again. So I'm still going down, but now I have to drive the whole way down, 7+ hours, by myself. But whatever. It'll probably be worth it. But birthday weekends aren't supposed be this difficult right?

edit:
Minor change in the plans. Instead of going all the way down to San Marcos for the Stone Brewing Co. event, we're just going to go to the Taste of Brews in Long Beach. It's also a beer festival, but it's unlimited tastings, unlike Stone's free tasting limit. Stone has better beers, but we can drink more at the other one, and not have to worry about driving hella far.

Spent the whole weekend moving. Took Friday off to sign for the keys and move some small stuff over, whatever could fit in the X5. Then on Saturday, I had to go back up to Sac to help out Haile with his computer, so I figured I’d pack whatever else I could into the X and bring it up. Surprisingly enough, the papasan, corner desk, couch & matching chair all fit in there, along with my pc tower, 26” LCD monitor, sound bar, & subwoofer. It was easy for the big stuff to fit, since most of them are from Ikea and could be easily disassemled with some power tools (Ikea & Makita FTW!!). Then on Sunday, I borrowed the Avalanche to bring the big stuff, along with Shann’s stuff. We ended up not being able to fit everything (dining room table w/ chairs), so I guess we’ll bring that up another weekend.

also:
friday:
-Buffalo Wild Wings w/ Jaymi
-Fry’s & Target w/ Mikey

sat:
-BJ’s Restaurant w/ Haile
-bbq short ribs @ Jay’s house

sun:
-Costco, Ikea & Target w/ Shann
-Ramen @ Jaymi’s house

Found a place up in Sac. It’s not one of the places that I was initially going for, but it was my #1 backup option and it has some upsides that my primary options lacked.

I basically limited my search to the Natomas area, since it’s one the newer areas in Sac, relatively safe, and I’ve lived there before. It had to be a 2 bedroom. 2 bath would’ve been nice, but 1 would suffice. Washer & dryer in unit was a must. If the place didn’t have a garage, it had to be a controlled, gated community.

After much searching online, I was sold on renting a condo. The monthly rent was about the same as an equivalent apartment, and in some cases the place was bigger (more square footage). And with condos, the HOA (home owner association) fees include the water, sewage, & garbage utilities, and that is paid by the owner, not the renter. The major downside is the ridiculous security deposit amount. It’s usually the same price as the monthly rent, if not more. But I was willing to pay that amount. (in retrospect, i dunno. paying an extra $600-700 security deposit, to save mabye $100/month on utilities?)

Scouring through Craigslist, I applied to all the condos that fit my criteria, but I was never quick enough to respond and always ended up on a wait list, usually 3rd or lower. With Shann starting school on Aug 29, I couldn’t afford to wait long.

So I ended up just getting a regular apartment. It fit all my previously stated criteria, with an added bonus: it’s right on the bus line. I don’t have to drive to the Natomas Marketplace park & ride to catch the bus (as I would’ve had to do if I rented a condo). Utilities weren’t included in the rent, but at least the security deposit isn’t going to break the bank. And it’s literally right across the street from Arco Arena (it will always be Arco Arena. fuck that Power Balance Pavilion bullshit), so we don’t have to pay for parking when we go see Kings games.

Official move-in day is Friday, so I’ll sign for the keys and move in just the small stuff cause Shann’s out of town till Saturday, so we won’t move the big stuff till Sunday. I pulled out the good ol’ Ikea couch set from storage. I bought this set way back in the summer of 2001, when I moved out of the dorms and into my very 1st apartment. And the last time I used them was in 2005 when I was living up in Roseville. So for being 10 years old, and in storage for the last 6 years, it still looks good. I’d like to get a newer set, but I suppose I should save my money. But we’ll see how they hold up after they get some actual use.

I only plan on staying a year, the duration of the lease. Hopefully, during that time, I can save enough so that when the lease is up, I’ll have enough money to buy my own place. Nothing too fancy, just a small little condo or townhouse for myself, so that instead of paying rent, I’d be paying for a mortgage, and I wouldn’t have to worry about fucking shit up and not getting my security deposit back.

Ok, so I can’t really help myself with this one. Generally, it’s more or less super quiet in my office. You can hear other people’s conversations within a 2-cubical radius, especially the cube closest to me. I don’t really talk to her, but I feel like I know all about her life because it seems like everyone stops by her cube and talks to her. I hear her tell the same stories over & over as different people ask her the same questions. And even when she’s trying to use the “low whisper so no one can hear” voice, I can still kinda hear (cause she’s in the cube across from me, and the opening/entry to our cubes are right across from each other, no barriers, so her voice travels right into my cube). When she’s using that voice, it’s hella distracting cause I really have to concentrate to try and make out what she’s saying. Not that I WANT to be listening, it’s just that when they’re talking normally and then suddenly go into ninja whisper mode, I sorta get curious cause they’re obviously tyring to keep that portion of the convo on the DL. So yeah. I find it weird that I know so much about someone without ever saying more than “hello” to that person.

Out of all the weird things I have on my desk, this is the only one that anyone's asked me about:

Usually, with a confused look on their face, they ask the equivalent of "What the flying fuck is that thing supposed to be?!?!"

I then remove the quad coffee sleeve crown and ask them what it looks like now?

Still utterly confused, I tell them it's a ceramic garden gnome, and they make the "oh shit, yeah, I totally see it now. duh" face.

Gnomie my homie (original, i know. i just came up with it right now) is courtesy of my previous job, Pronto Games. They were $1 each at Ikea, and they bought roughly a shit ton of them. There was one on just about everyone's desks, and I remember one of the window offices had the entire window lined with them. I should've grabbed more than one, cause Ikea doesn't sell them anymore

Also on my desk & in my cube, I have a Quagmire bobblehead, Buddy Christ figure (from Kevin Smith's movie, Dogma), a mini file cabinet (meant to store business cards), 4 different Oakland A's branded items, and an Apple Magic Trackpad (on a Win XP PC). But it's the stupid little Ikea garden gnome that gets all the attention.

Mikey's sister Rachelle got married on Saturday. The ceremony was at the Cathedral Basilica of St. Joseph in San Jose. It's a very beautiful cathedral.

The main color of the wedding was green. Awesome.

The reception was at the Casa Real at Ruby Hill Winery. Very fancy. Here's a pic of the dinner table place setting. The jack & coke was courtesy of the open bar (ftw!).

I sat at the Kanye West table. At first, I didn't get it, but they named all the tables after different significant events in their relationship, and apparently they went to a Kanye West concert. And the wedding favors they gave out, a lemon-shape soap bar, had your name on it and the name of your table. Pretty unique idea. Me likey.

They also had a photo booth, but it wasn't in an actual booth, so we had more space to move around. Good times.

My only two request for my wedding: photo book & open bar. I totally don't expect it, but I'd be so lucky if one of the wedding colors was green.