Sunday, a fun day

September 29, 2008 at 7:59 am (Charlotte, Clothing, Dog, Football, Janice, Laney, Life, Lifestyle, Moving)
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Yesterday was a fun and important day, maybe the first day I actually felt settled here in Charlotte.  First, I finally got a washer and dryer.  I can’t emphasize enough how much more like home it feels to be able to do my laundry in my own townhouse.  Up until now I had been using Kevin’s and then Janice’s washer and dryer, usually doing one load per week and keeping most of my wardrobe benched out of convenience.  Now, I can wash all my clothes, my towels, etc.  It’s great!  I really never appreciated how much of a livability factor this would be.

Next, Janice and I went to Big Daddy’s Burger Bar near my place for lunch.  It was fun and very tasty.  We were pleased to find they have black bean burgers there (more for Janice’s sake than my own).  I’d been there once before, but I liked it even more this time.  The nicest thing is how you can completely custom-build your burger.

Next, we took Laney to Freedom Park since the weather was so beautiful.  She had a good time and got her usual smathering of compliments from passers-by.  She also barked at more than a few fellow canines.  I used to opportunity to try out my new digital camera, a Panasonic Lumix TZ5.  Janice snapped this great shot of Laney and me atop a rock:

 

Sean and Laney at Freedom Park

Sean and Laney at Freedom Park

 

After that, we came back and watched a little football, then went to Home Depot and Target to pick up some washer/dryer-related needs and a few other things.  Then Janice went home and I hooked up my new appliances and began washing all my stuff while hanging up a bunch of pictures.  My living room feels so much more lived-in now with a little decor.  All that I need in there now is a new TV.

So that was my Sunday.  It was hardly spectacular, but therein lies the greatness of it.  Just having “normal” days again is wonderful.  Enjoying them as much as I did yesterday is even better!

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The Great Charlotte Gas “Crisis”

September 25, 2008 at 7:58 am (Anger, Charlotte)
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So here in Charlotte, the local media have started a panic by claiming all the gas stations are out of petrol, which of course is not true.  Some are, some aren’t.  The result, however, is that everyone panics and goes out and waits in line for hours and hours to fill up their tanks with the gas that supposedly does not exist.  This in itself would be humorous, but for one thing:  These frickin’ idiots are so selfish that they are actually extending the lines out into the streets, creating total gridlock at any intersection with a gas station.  On my 1 mile commute this morning, I saw two stations where there were approximately 20-30 cars in line, maybe 10 of them in the street.  This is a new low for selfish driving behavior.  The rule is fairly simple, and should be intuitive:  If you are doing something that blocks the flow of traffic, stop doing that thing!

I’m glad my commute is so short, as I’ll just walk to work (and to lunch and dinner) when I run low on gas.

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My dog has a great sense of humor!

September 22, 2008 at 1:06 pm (Dog, Humor, Laney)
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I came home for lunch today and here’s what I found, compliments of Laney Dog.  She picked pretty much the funniest thing in the whole house to destroy:

 

Laneys teeth are at it again...

Laney's teeth are at it again...

 

Look closer at what she chose:

 

Ahh yes, now shell never have to learn!

Ahh yes, now she'll never have to learn!

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Dog Days of Summer

September 15, 2008 at 11:02 am (Charlotte, Dog, Laney)
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The only really painful thing about leaving life in Blacksburg for Charlotte is that I had to say goodbye to my pets, Jimmie, Henry, and Stench.  Well, as of Friday, I have a new dog!  She’s a ~1 year old brindle-and-white whippet mix that I have named Laney.  I think her other half is probably pit bull terrier.  She’s real sweetie, crate and house trained, friendly to adults and children, and so far as only tried to chew toys I have given her.  She has already become attached to me, which is great as long as she doesn’t start suffering from separation anxiety when I leave.  This week will be the real test, though, as I will be leaving her alone between 8am-1pm and 2pm-5pm when I go to work.

 

Laney Dog

Laney Dog

More pictures of Laney

I adopted her through Project HALO, which is a rescue group with some wonderful people helping to save animals who are about to be put to sleep.  Laney and her brother were saved the day before they were to be put down.

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Now I have a backstory

September 5, 2008 at 7:47 am (Blacksburg, Charlotte, Moving, Virginia Tech)
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During the three millennia I spent in Blacksburg (oh wait, it was 14 years but it felt like 3000), I never really had ‘a story’ when I met people.  My life story up until a month or so ago was that I was born and raised in Tidewater, went to Virginia Tech, and stayed in Blacksburg to work.  32.5 years summed up by that.  Finis.  Now that I’m a transplant Charlottean, a recent divorcee, and I didn’t go to the same school as every person I meet (and in fact am not even from the same state as most of them), I seem to be more interesting to people.  I’m not from ’round here.  I grew up somewhere they’ve never been, went to school somewhere they’ve never been, and had a whole different life behind me.  Sure, it’s not like traveling to Kenya and swapping life journeys with a safari guide, but at least it’s not, “Yeah, I graduated from Tech the year after you did.”

Charlotte is a good city for me right now because it’s a mini melting pot for the East Coast.  There are so few natives that they are themselves a novelty.  But everyone has a story, a past life.  Some like me are working on their second chance, while some just ended up here through other means.  But it’s nice because it’s not the homogenous pile of goo that Blacksburg turned into for me, where everyone went to VT, everyone has a VT sticker on their car, everyone came from the same 3-4 metropolitan areas in the state, etc.

Friday’s here.  Feels early since it’s a short week.  But I’ll take it!

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Back to…trying to get things to normal

September 2, 2008 at 9:32 am (Charlotte, Football, Friends, Virginia Tech)
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Finally, the VT-ECU game weekend has come and gone.  While it was a unique opportunity to get some folks down to Charlotte and intermingle with the people down here, the timing for me personally was horrible, as I had just begun my lease the weekend before and was still in the process of moving in and buying things I needed.  I also have been dealing with work, new bank accounts, an automobile accident, health insurance changeover, divorce papers, and several other things.  Needless to say, it’s been a busy month.  I’m still not done with all of these things, but at least I can concentrate on them without the looming spectre of a game weekend with company visiting.  Time to get working on that list!

Oh yeah, “BeamerBall” strikes again.  Another choke that was pretty easy to see coming.  It’s getting pretty humorous.

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