 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Today starts the Dog Days of Summer, as listed in the Old Farmer's Almanac. It lasts for 40 days from July 3-August 11; these are the days of the year when rainfall is at its lowest (also some of the hottest days of the year too). It's been a while since my last update, since that time I have done few things. I am currently at my Parent's house in the mountains, gracing my presence for Independence Weekend. Today been annoying though, I was suppose to do some lab stuff at the Doctor's office today; they said Friday was okay, but they are on holiday today. The lab stuff relates to stuff they want to follow-up from my physical, just to make sure I'm healthy, physically speaking. Arrive at my Parent's around 5pm, and already they have the list of things I need to do. Fix the computer, help buy a new printer tomorrow, take pictures of flowers for them, and have dinner at Stonewalls (which I hate, it gives me bad gas every time I eat there). Also, I have to wear a suit to the fourth of July festivities, because it's at the country club. Next year, I want to go to a place where I can just show-up without dressing-up. I return to Charlotte on Sunday, already counting the seconds. For the rest of July, I will be going to Otakon and then back to my Parent's house end-of-the-month to see them and my sister's family (who's visiting at that time). Between that will be the usual work and Final Fantasy XI. A staffer from Animazement contacted me today on AIM (forgot the name). They saw my pictures online and wanted to use them on there site since they didn't take any pictures themselves. I said sure. They were excited about my approval and promised to credit me. My one year price lock has ended with Time Warner Cable, my new bill is up $20 now. I will probably just cancel my premium package of Stars/Showtime to save money. AT&T U-Verse isn't offered in my neighborhood yet, though it is offered to some neighborhoods just two miles down the road. However, there is almost no savings with that service either and Dish Network/Direct TV isn't any better. Oh well... Tags: animazement, ffxi, health, otakon, twc
Current Location: Sugar Mountain, North Carolina
Current Mood:  annoyed
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
My pictures are now up, I loaded a total of 420 onto Picasa. Here is the link: http://picasaweb.google.com/washuotaku/2009TokyoVacationStill have to add captions, location markers, and tags on them; but I think I'm happy with the pictures I posted on there out of 1,145 I saved out of 1,300+. I am also doing a smaller Facebook album which features more friends and a few other pictures from the trip. Then after those two are done, I'll post a couple of the videos I captured of the Rockabillies and Trains whizzing pass me. Yep, yep, fun stuff. Still haven't adjusted yet with my sleeping pattern; though I am sleepy at night, I still wake up at around 5am. It is very annoying. Well, off to work I go. Tags: japan, pictures
Current Mood:  accomplished
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
http://www.facebook.com/washuotakuThat should give people direct access to my Facebook page or something like that. I'm up this morning because I slept for 15+ hours Friday... I'm still a little screwed up on the sleep time. Been cataloging my pictures from Japan, so far I have completed three days or 478 pictures and videos. I hope to post'em soon once I complete my cataloging; some might go on Facebook, but most will be on Picasa. This will obviously take a few days to complete. Overall, I had a wonderful time in Tokyo. As always, there are a lot of things to do and not enough time to do it all. The worse day of the trip, besides flying, was probably Monday because a lot of places like museums, tourist sites, and some businesses were closed that day; also we teamed up with other friends that were staying in Japan, but working in a big group caused a lot of logistic issues. The best day of the trip was Sunday, which by chance was the only sunny day of the whole trip (got a light sunburn). http://picasaweb.google.com/washuotaku/2009TokyoVacationTags: facebook, japan, pictures
Current Mood:  creative
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
As you know, I rode Amtrak from Charlotte to Raleigh and back for $66; which I guess I saved a few dollars from that. The station in Raleigh is probably the most ridiculous of them all since it covers the second largest city and I simply got off and on from the street (not even once entered the small building at the station). It is though conveniently located a block from the new Raleigh Convention Center, where Animazement was held, which was nice. The Raleigh Convention Center is very nice, though I wish they would have left the escalators on, there are a lot of stairs at the place. It has the usual art stuff floating around, some history stuff that nobody cared for, and a cool statue of Sir Walter Raleigh at the corner of the building. It had a underground connector to the Raleigh Marriott across the street, but honestly there was little traffic on the road between the buildings, so it was easier to just walk across the street than under it. The only negative I guess is that they serve crappy chicken fingers. The Marriott Hotel was very nice. Brand spanken' new with very nice rooms, a gym/pool/laundry area down the hall from me, and a excellent Italian restaurant on the main floor. The nearby construction on Fayetteville Street didn't detract it at all. The most amusing thing a saw while at the hotel was a segway tour of Raleigh that went buy as I ate lunch. I would most likely stay at that hotel again, if I go again next year. My friends that live in Raleigh was gracious enough to put up with me; they took me to a decent cajun restaurant in downtown Raleigh (not a fan of cajun food, but what I got was good), then later to some gay place that was OK, but very smoky... I got kind of cranky there because of all the smoke (also, Gay guys apparently all shop at the same stores, which is gay). Some of my friends were also attending or running the convention; hung around them most of the time. My friend, ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) josephowens, took me up the BB&T Tower where I took several shots of the Raleigh skyline, very cool. Overall, I took over 800 shots during the trip, which went down to 554 in total after removing some bad and duplicates from the list. I also took the time to pass out Pixi Stix to people at the convention on Friday and Saturday nights. Though there was an apparent food policy at the convention, nobody was really enforcing it. People seem to enjoy the sugar in a straw greatly and even had one girl hit on me from it (nothing came from, she said "meet me at the dance," but the dance was slammed with people, no chance). I did check out a couple of the anime titles showing in the video rooms and saw a couple of performances like the drummers and judo contest. I was also in the game room playing Bomberman (always a classic) The Dealer's Room was somewhat lacking, probably because several other conventions are going on and the dealers are spread out between them. I also had no gain to buy anything there since I am leaving for Japan next week. As for the cosplayers, several I have seen before at other conventions since we are all geographically in same area. The biggest cosplay group was no doubt Bleach. Please check my pictures at Picasa. Overall, I give the convention high marks this year. In other news, so far this week, work has been steady; trying to make sure things are going smoothly before I am gone for a week and half. I have already setup my phone to work in Japan; I will have a unlimited data plan while there so I can check email, instant message, tweet, facebook, and allow people to track me using Google Latitude. My phone does accept voice calls too, but at $2 a minute, I request nobody call me unless its an emergency. The phone will receive SMS (text) messages, but I can't return them. I will be flying out of Raleigh to Tokyo on June 3, returning on June 11 (via American Airlines and Japan Airlines). I will be staying at the fabulous Hotel Sunroute Plaza Shinjuku, right next to the Shinjuku Station. Though we haven't planned yet what attractions, places or things we will do while there; it is safe to say we will visit Akihabra and Harajuku and eat sushi (something we couldn't do last year). I'll probably have a better plan this weekend as well as start packing then. I've been very excited about this trip since I came back from Animazment. Back to work tomorrow, then a weekend to pack my stuff. Tags: animazement, japan, photography
Current Mood:  ecstatic
Current Music: The Black Eyed Peas - Boom Boom Pow
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
So I am officially flying to Otakon this year instead of driving; I was able to get round-trip tickets to Baltimore for $97, which is damn good. The only catch is I'll be staying in Baltimore till my flight leaves on Sunday at 8pm, so I guess I'll take that extra time by visiting some of the tourist stuff that Baltimore has to offer. Should be fun! Going to get an oil change tomorrow, that's pretty much the extent of my weekend plans. Next weekend is Speed Street and Animazement. In two and a half weeks, I'll be off to Japan again. Been skill leveling staff on Final Fantasy XI, so not been doing much lately in the game. Got test results from the blood work done on me and my ANA levels are still high; going to see a Rheumatologiest on Tuesday. The doctor also noted my sugar level was a little low, which makes no sense since I have a sugary diet. Today at work we had our Fire Drill, and since I'm the Emergency Representative for my area, I had to make sure everyone left the floor. Had a couple of guys that were not budging from there cubical till I told them the $500 fine they would personally get... that moved them; there was two other guys just chillin' in the restroom, had to chase them out too. Though nobody brought coffee this time down the stairs, apparently a few had to urge to text-message while going down stairs, slowing down the progress of the evacuation. I hope in a real emergency, I get to toss the people out the window instead. Tags: animazement, e-rep, ffxi, health, otakon, speed street
Current Mood:  bouncy
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
This morning I'm at my parent's house, typing on my notebook which is using a clothes hamper as a stand in my old room. Indeed, I've come to visit again for Mother's day. Since I came in late Friday, we did stuff on Saturday including lunch at Dos Amigos and a little shopping at the Boone Mall. I purchased some new sneakers from a brand I normally don't buy from, New Balance, giving them a shot. Anyway, we had dinner at Stonewalls again... but I'm totally sick of there food now, it's always Stonewalls when I visit. Apparently it was Prom night up in the mountains too with several people dressed up. Though I brought my camera with me, the area has just started to go Spring, so a lot of plants and such are beginning to sprout now... doesn't look very colorful. Usually June is the best time because of all the flowers and such. Haven't watched any TV while up here for some reason, though I have kept myself busy by watching K-ON! and other anime titles on my computer. For Mother's Day, I gave Mom flowers on Friday. As for today, I have a card with a few small Yankee candle gift box for her. I guess I feel extra nice this year. Today is also my Parent's wedding anniversary, though I didn't get them anything for that; they each got themselves cards for it. Later today I leave back to Charlotte and then plan ahead for a few trips like what to do in Japan and if I will fly up to Baltimore this year (which seems likely). Also gotta get back on my game, it's been over 60 hours since I last been gaming and I'm starting to have withdrawal pains. Fun times. Tags: flowers, mom, mountains, photography
Current Location: Sugar Mountain, North Carolina
Current Mood:  bored
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Which is a damn lie, I was at home playing FFXI and watching the Mentalist... but maybe you were hoping, so I played you. Anyway, going up to the mountains this weekend for Mother's Day Weekend, not much to say beyond that. This week has been pretty lack luster so far, though I did complete my Nashira set in FFXI, so I'm happy. I'm debating to fly up to Otakon this year instead of driving, it cost more but it shaves off several hours of travel time. Beyond all the rain we have had here in Charlotte, there isn't much else to say. Tags: ffxi, otakon, sex
Current Mood:  blah
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Previous
awake
amused
content
indifferent
tired
cranky
pensive
anxious
gloomy