Ken's Week in Review

With a second school year in swing since I ended my academic career, and about a week has passed since I posted, I figure now is a good time to make a new post. Here are some updates:

Katrina - Barely a Category 1 storm when it hit Florida, it became a category 5 just before hitting New Orleans. The structural damage to the Big Easy may be permanent. Ouch.

Kennita - My friend from college and an inspiration for one of the main characters in the Adams trilogy visited again yesterday. Yea! Nick and I chatted with her and laughed at old memories. It was nice to see her - now how about the rest of you? LOL.

Ken - I have vacated the old apartment completely and am nearly done with the unpacking to the new place. All I need to do know is laundry and setting up an accent table I bought during the move.

Nick - Mr. Capezza is in his first week of a real job. Congrats to him and I hope he can keep up the schedule. Soon enough, he'll be a big and powerful lawyer. Otherwise, he'd just be big. Haha, just kidding.

I'm in a funny mood, can't you tell? See ya!

Moving Sucks

I've spent the weekend moving to my new apartment at 5730-A Reading Avenue. God, I hate moving! My body aches, all my stuff is out of place and cluttered everywhere. I have to call companies to sign up for utilities, etc. If I ever have to move ever again, please let it be during a week of cool weather, not during an August heat wave.

But if I'm really wishing for stuff, let me never move again.

That was fast!

I got a call from my new apartment complex, Hillwood at Mark Center, asking me to come by and sign the lease this week. Let's recap - last Wednesday discovered need to leave the apartment, last Friday began apartment hunting, Saturday fell in love with this apartment, Sunday signed papers, Tuesday got the approval. Friday I'll sign the lease and begin moving in. In the less than 10 days - that was fast!

Haloscan Expert?

Is any one out there a Haloscan expert? My trackback function isn't working that well...

Ken At Mark Center

Alright, so I didn't win (or lose) big money from my own gambling on my over-night trip to Atlantic City. But when I came back - on my birthday - I found out that I needed to move out as quickly as possible. [Not least of all because my roach control problem has not been resolved by my landlord nor has the inadequate a/c.] By Sunday, I found this cute ground-floor one-bedroom place that's a bit bigger than my current place, for more money. Assuming my credit check went fine, I should know this week if I am moving to Hillwood at Mark Center, which is the apartment complex right behind the Giant grocery store closest to my current place.

It allows cats, so Tabitha and Ashley will join me, and even has a full-length window out to the patio, giving them a nice place to curl up and watch for my arrival.

So, knock on wood, pet your rabbit feet, set up some crystals, and wish me luck. For, if all goes well, by the end of the month I would have moved into a much nicer place - that has no pests and some quality air conditioning.

Birthday Madness

My sister, brother, mother's long-term boyfriend, and even a cousin I never met have all had their birthdays in the last 3 weeks.

MY TURN! MY TURN!

Hehe. I turn - gasp?!? - 24 tomorrow, on the 10th. Nick and I are travelling to Atlantic City for a few hours of (his) gambling as an excuse to get me out of the Beltway for a while. Here are some recent or upcoming personal milestones:

8 years being an Internet junkie (April 1997)
8 years having a personal webpage (July 1997)
8 years since I founded a still-living "virtual commonwealth" (July 1997)
6 years since graduating high school (June 1999)
3 years since graduating college (May 2002)
2.5 years since landing first "real" job (December 2002)
2 years since 1st draft of 1st novel finished (August 2003)
1 year since getting my masters (May 2004)
7 months since releasing 1st novel (January 2005)
4 months since the promotion at work (April 2005)

What are some of your personal milestones?

Pet Peeves

Here's a list of some more recent pet peeves of mine. Regular blog viewers may recognize one or two:

1) D.C. Commuters - Why on earth would you barge your way to the front of the subway car before it even rolls into your station? Why, afterward, would you slowly get off so that people have to walk around you? Moreover, why on earth would you stand in the middle of the doorway and force people to try to squeeze out of the train - can you not spare that last ounce of energy to move the f*** out of our way? Finally, why would you, in walking or getting on a bus/train, rush past oncoming traffic or push your way into a sardine can of a train, when the next light or bus/train is coming in a minute or two? I hate D.C. commuters; I may be one, but I appear to be a small minority of those who bring my common sense to the daily routine.

2) Nunca hable ingles aqui - Just yesterday, I got into a Subway restaraunt to order lunch and had to repeat myself six or seven times asking for lettuce. Either the food service lady can't hear, didn't listen, or can't speak English. Regardless, I really didn't want to scream my request for lettuce that seventh time, but it seemed to be the only thing that worked. (Granted, the place was a little loud with customers, but still...)

3) Second floor yahoos - My apartment building has 16 floors. 3 elevators and a stairwell. The petpeeve that bothers me the most is seeing a bunch of young, skinny yahoos going from the 1st to the 2nd floors, or vice versa. Physically fit residents should have no trouble walking down a flight of stairs. Save the elevator time for those of us having to go up a dozen floors, would ya please?