CTLX 2005

I got back from DLX on Wednesday morning. On Friday morning, I hopped on a plane to go to CTLX. In hindsight, this was a bad idea. I just didn't give myself enough time at home to recover from DLX to really be able to enjoy CTLX. I also spent an extra 4 hours in the Kansas City airport, which didn't help. Kansas City quite possibly has the worst designed airport....ever. I thought DFW was bad, and it is, but Kansas City is much worse. It even sucks more than Tulsa's airport.

I finally got to New York at about 10pm (I was supposed to get there at 6pm). Then, after a quick bite to eat with a very patient woman, we both hopped on the train to Connecticut. At a little after 1am, I finally arrive at the train station in CT. I missed the first dance at the exchange. Bollocks! Not only that, but I had only been able to eat crappy airport food all day, so I was incredibly malnourished. Fortunately, the late night dance was at a sushi restaurant. That raw fish made me feel so much better.

The extreme humidity (and all humidity over 10 or 15% is extreme to me) prevented me from dancing much the rest of the weekend. I still managed to have a good time, though.

Denver Lindy Exchange

Hanging Lake
Originally uploaded by qortez.

Denver is 2 for 2 so far. I had a fantastic time this past weekend.

The weekend started with a missed flight. After fighting the horrible DFW parking (and losing), we still managed to get to the ticket counter 15 minutes before the plane was supposed to leave, and there was absolutely no line at security. Yet, the airline representative refused to work with us and wouldn't let us on the plane. So we had to kill an extra 2.5 hours at the airport. Blah.

Friday brought a hike to the beautiful hanging lake. The hike was only marred by massive amounts of rainfall and hail (we started before the rain). This, of course, made the trail muddy and slippery (and really cold). I always like an added sense of danger. As the photos can attest, the trip was worth it. And so began the long sequence of punishment my body would have to endure over the weekend.

Saturday and Sunday were filled with much dancing and merriment. Monday was a good relaxing day, as was much of Tuesday. Tuesday night was my last night to dance in Denver this trip and, surprise, was a good time.

So yeah, thumbs up to DLX 2005.

Update

My insurance has decided to give a green light to fixing the car. They gave me an estimate that was quite a bit lower than what the shop gave me. Don't know where that difference comes from. Although it is tempting to not fix my car and get a new one, I think I'll go ahead and keep it for a while longer (since I've got no income right now).

Maybe my car will be ready by the time I get back from Denver. Here's hoping, I hate that rental car.

Dammit!

That's my rim.
Originally uploaded by qortez.

So I'm just driving along, minding my own business when this white car decides that they want in my lane. Apparently, they wanted in there now, and didn't think that the lane might be occupied.

I had to swerve to avoid hitting the guy, unfortunately, this left me going the wrong way, toward oncoming traffic. So I decided my best course of action would be to go into the median. Unfortunately, doing so destroyed my rim, ripped up my tire, and broke my front panel. Of course, the white car didn't stop.

This happened late on Saturday night, so all the tire places were closed. So I have to wait until Tuesday morning to get the darn thing fixed.

Stupid white car.

New York City

I did another silly thing last weekend. I traveled to New York City without planning much of anything. I didn't even arrange for a place to stay. I just kinda figured the lindy hoppers there would take care of me. Luckily, they did, at least in the sleep department. I did spend my days alone in the city. That was fine, however, as I got to explore the city the way I wanted to (excepting that my feet/legs/ankle/knees were complaining everywhere I went). Not quite the trip I wanted, but still a good trip. I'm glad I went.

I saw another one!

While I've spent nearly 5 years in the Dallas area, I had never seen a possum until this year. Now I see one every couple of weeks, it seems. There is probably a family of them living in my apartment complex, since that usually where I see them. Ugly buggers, they are.

Craziness!!

I drove down to Austin yesterday, danced a bit, got a little bit of sleep. Then I drove back home today.

It was worth it, though. It was the best dancing I've done in quite some time. Something has just been off for me lately, not sure what, or why, but I wasn't having any of that trouble last night. Hopefully, I don't get off again.

NO Jazz Fest

I went to the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival last weekend (well 1 day of it). Saw me some James Taylor among other musical peeps. I also got to see some of my friends while I was out there, plus I made a few more. All in all, a good time. I always enjoy visiting New Orleans.

I also took some pictures of Tulane University while I was down there. Here the are.

Now where did I leave my brain?

It's got to be around here somewhere. I spent the weekend in St. Louis at their Cheap Thrills weekend. My lack of brain functionality made itself apparent when I left to go to the airport. I ended up going the wrong way to pick up Tommy. My enjoy of the weekend was also limitted by not having a brain. However, the end of the weekend topped it all. In a fit of laziness, I decided to have Ami and Jered drive my big bag back to Dallas (I hated carrying that damn thing all over on the way to St. Louis. A few hours after they left, I realized that my keys (to my car, parked at the airport, and my apartment), were in my bag, in Ami's car, on its way to Dallas.

Crap.

Luckily, I have a spare car key, there was just the tiny issue of my car alarm. So after I steal my car from the airport, I start a traffic filled drive to Denton, to pick up my keys. The Office Space traffic was in full effect. The lane I was in was always the lane that wasn't moving. After an hour and a half, I finally made it, now I only had another 45 minute drive home.

I made it home just fine, and promptly crashed for about 6 or 7 hours. Now its nearly 2am, and I'm not tired. Oh well.

I took a couple of pictures over the weekend. They be here.

I hope I'm making the right decision

I'm now officially on a 3 month leave of absence. 3 months with no work....and no income. My plan is to have a bunch of fun travelling and stuff. Let's see how well that goes.

Google Maps r0x0rZ

Google has added satellite images to their mapping website. I seem to remember MapQuest having this feature at some point, but it was removed.

I will prevail (I hope)

There are certain factions that would have me stay working passed the end of next week. I shall not quit without a fight! (wait...).

In other news....links!

http://www.thinkgeek.com/stuff/41/icopulate.shtml
http://www.zug.com/pranks/media/

Tommy plays with audio blog...

Somebody please kill the incompetence fairies!

I've had all the incompetance I can take for the day, and it all happened at lunch. I hate McKinney.