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Friday, October 29, 2010

Halloween Shows Comeback!

Halloween has returned and for the first time in what seems like ages it's actually noticeable.  Halloween as a holiday has flown way under the radar for years.  I'd say that has something to do with my age and relative maturity.  At the same time I always enjoyed the Halloween "atmosphere" that existed when I was a child and young adult.  In recent years I thought there was a clear lack of that in an America that seems to be rushing to devalue all of its holidays. 

This year I've noticed that many major network shows are featuring Halloween episodes.  Several channels are featuring themed episodes for entire comedy blocks, such as NBC's Thursday comedies and Fox's Sunday animation.  While it's a far cry from the days when the major networks would play one off specials, such as Charlie Brown or Garfield, it's been a big improvement in the Halloween atmosphere this year.  Community had an outstanding zombie episode, on The Office the highlight was Michael Scott's impromptu Daryl costume, and the new Outsourced introduced Halloween to India.  The standout was of course Community and the zombies, Teacher Chang pulling the racist card, zombies again, and a reenactment of Aliens' Ridley in a pseudo-mech suit killing an alien.  The episode was amazing.  I have yet to see the Halloween versions of How I Met Your Mother, The Simpsons, Family Guy, etc since they haven't been on yet.  They will be shown after the 31st for some reason.  Despite that little hiccup there is a great feeling of Halloween on television this year.

Treehouse of Horrors is a yearly Halloween episode on The Simpsons that has become a tradition, however for the last few years it has been a delayed tradition.  The World Series has forced Treehouse of Horrors to be played the week after Halloween despite the holiday having been on Sunday numerous times.  Fox has the rights and feels (probably rightly) that the boring baseball championship is more important.  I really won't get into how immensely boring I find baseball, but my hatred for this pointless sport has grown ever since they've thrown the yearly Halloween specials into November.  Even times when the World Series was finished by Sunday Fox still didn't play Treehouse of Horrors until the next week, steadfastly sticking to their foolish programming schedule.  It is a continual source of aggravation since The Simpsons contributed to the Halloween feeling strongly.  This year all four Sunday night animated shows have Halloween specials but that still isn't enough to see them in October.  Damn baseball.

I don't believe Ashes and I have anything planned for Halloween this year.  Last year we dressed up as Bob and Charlotte from Lost in Translation.  I was hoping we would be able to have somewhere to go this year but alas there was nothing.  I've always liked the idea of dressing up in costume but have never had a reason, since the one day a year it was acceptable I never had anywhere to go.  The only time in the last 15ish years I've done anything was last year with Ashes.  We're not settled in the area enough to have any friends to do stuff with so that puts that to a stop.  Plus I'm working.  Lame.

Enjoy your holiday of horror and candy.  I know I will be enjoying the dark atmosphere.  Despite work of course.  Go kick some ass people!

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Tuesday Night at Home and Employment

I just finished tying a tie for the first time and I will proclaim a roaring success.  I got it on my first try.  With a detailed, step-by-step guide.  Would've been hard to fail.  It's ready to go for tomorrow, though, and I've gained a pointless, if necessary, skill.

This act was necessitated by my return to the working world tomorrow.  I had a "training day" on Saturday but I don't really consider that working.  Tomorrow I get thrown to the wolves and have to start dealing with the public again.  I'm a little bit anxious since I haven't had a job in so long and I don't know what to expect at Macy's.  It's a retail sales job though which means the learning curve is extremely small and I should have a hang of it within a week.  First days at any job, class or position always give me some anxiety the day and night before.  Especially when I'm not 100% sure what I'm going to be doing.  Tomorrow it's something about selling trinkets.  It's some money in my pocket which I desperately need.

Tomorrow it's time to suit up.

 I spent a small portion of tonight browsing through Facebook and checking out people I knew in high school.  The one thing that I learned rather quickly was that the few people I actually stayed in touch with afterwords were the only few that were worth the time.  For the most part it's a regular assortment of success.  Some succeeded, some failed, some moved, some stayed.  That's just the way those sorts of things go I guess.  Didn't really get me nostalgic but it interested me.  Some were married, some weren't.  A lot of people seemed to be living the same life they were in high school.  It was a bit depressing in a way.  It was just a bunch of people getting an education in the same place at the same time to me.  When the reunion rolls around I certainly won't go.  None of these people, aside from the few I've remained friends with, would actually be anyone I'd want to see again.  Or have anything to talk about.  Their lives are no concern of mine since I'm not going to measure my success against theirs.  I'm going to measure my success against standards I set for myself. 

Moving on.

I've been writing!  Short story stuff but it's a big step forward.  I've been reading!  But I always read.

Our apartment is finally feeling cozy.  The television has about 10 more channels than before which isn't great but it's something.  The internet is fixed but I'm coping.  Our stuff is unpacked and in place and everything is in order, which has is actually very calming.  Without the chaos of boxes and clutter everywhere it is much easier to unwind and relax in what is really a basement.  Making the room comfortable is extremely valuable now that I'm working since I'll need some place to escape the inevitable drudgery that it will produce.  I better not get so down on this job before it has even begun.

Western Massachusetts is amazingly beautiful in Autumn, especially here in the Pioneer Valley.  There are mountains and hills in every direction that are covered in a fiery smattering of changing trees.  Incredible views are around every corner of so many roads with little to obstruct the line of sight.  These same roads are often canopied and lined with a carpet of fallen yellow leaves.  Streams here and there line the land with their shallow beds and leaf lined banks.  This place is brilliant in a way that Maine just was not.  There's something about Maine which limits the appeal during fall.  It wasn't as easy to find a spectacular view as it is out this way.  Perhaps I'm biased because I had been down on Maine for a long time but if any Bangor area Mainer came down here I think they'd agree.  Even more reasons to love this place.

I really want to start supplementing these posts with pictures.

That's all I have on my plate for today.  Just trying to get some of the discord in my brain out in writing.  Tomorrow it's back into the working world for a little while.  I'm still searching for a career or my way in life, but tomorrow I make money.  Oh yeah!

Saturday, October 23, 2010

Friendly Ducks and Asshole Geese

In an earlier post I mentioned how Ashes and I have been particularly active since moving.  Well the place that we go to most often is Stanley Park, a large block of land in the suburbs with gardens and ponds.  It's quite unlike any parks we had in Maine, at least in the Bangor area.  This is a park that actually drives us to get up and go to it on a near daily basis.  We have already had a few denizens of this park, which I will talk about in a bit.

Hearing About It and Finding It
We came to Massachusetts at just the perfect time to still be active outdoors without the need for heavy jackets or shovels to clear a path.  Ashes had known about Stanley Park since her family had taken her their when she was younger.  So she was excited even before we moved to go back to this place she remembered from her childhood.  I guess I was looking forward to going to the park a bit myself.  She built it up to be a cool place and it delivered.  It was a bit of luck that the park was only a few miles down the road by car.  A bit of trial and error on the back roads led us right to the entrance on the second or third day after our arrival. 

First Impressions
We parked our car right by a small Japanese torii gate.  Already I knew this was going to be a good place just by seeing that within the first five seconds.  Under the gate we went onto a stone pathway that led us through some sculpted, but dying, gardens.  All around us could be heard small animals scurrying in the shrubs.  Chipmunks, squirrels and tiny birds were all playing in the woods around us without fear.  Clearly these animals were used to humans and weren't about to stop their capering just because we were walking through their home.  The little buggers would run right in front of us on the path constantly.  It made this place feel really alive, and I like that in a park.  To me it can't just be about the scenery it has to be about all of nature.  Stanley Park drew me in from the get go and has become one of my favorite places in the area.

The small animals along the paths weren't the only residents of Stanley Park.  Beyond the Japanese garden, past the pathways, down a hill via stairways and next to the waterwheel are three ponds.  In these ponds live several dozen ducks, a handful of geese and a swan.  Ashley says she remembers there being more swans but all that is left now is just the one.  They can be heard loudly quacking as you approach these ponds from any direction and are most likely declaring their dominance to any passersby.  The top pond, which has the waterwheel attached to a house, is most often where the ducks can be found.  The middle pond, which has a New England-style covered bridge, has quite a few ducks but is the stomping ground of the geese.  Those geese own the area, but I'll get into that in a bit.  The third pond has a wooden walkway encircling it and only has a few ducks at any given time, but is often home to the swan.  The bottom pond is full of lilypads and has a high arching stone walking bridge over it.  I've only seen ducks in there once.


Ashes Tries to Make Friends
These ducks living in the ponds are very friendly.  They know who feeds them and therefore will always be willing to make friends with the public in hopes of getting some bread or seed to nibble on.  Often this works for them.  We went to see the ducks on a holiday and the place was overcrowded with kids and elderly people throwing entire loaves of bread into the water, much to the delight of these ducks.  The ground was littered with bread and the water had chunks floating everywhere.  Yes, these ducks do quite well.  So anyway we went up on a different day and were passing by the ducks.  They were mostly on land and kept right where they were as we walked by them.  Ashes, overcome by their cuteness, decided she had to make friends with a duck that was quietly quacking at us.  Slowly she approached it with her arm outstretched hoping to pet it (or rip a feather off, I'm not quite sure).  The duck was taken aback by this approach and waddled to the water and hopped in.  I discouraged Ashes from trying to make any more feathered friends and, to her sadness, we kept walking.

Attack of the Feather People
On a different day we decided we wanted to feed the ducks.  We chose a midday on a weekday and brought some bread along.  I'm sure the ducks would've preferred seed but all we had was bread.  When we got to the top pond and tossed the bread in for the ducks, which was gobbled up right quick, we caught the attention of somebody else. We heard loud honking quacks and looked off to our left as an entire troop of geese started plodding towards us.  We were sort of shocked at the sight of about 10 geese all marching at us loudly honking.  We tossed them a piece of bread to placate them but it didn't slow them down at all.  We actually turned tail and ran in the other direction when the geese showed no sign of slowing down.  Fear of being trampled or attacked by this marching attack squad of geese was enough to keep us running.  We threw them the other pieces of bread as we ran off.  It wasn't until we were out of their sight in the bamboo groves that they stopped following us.  Ashes and I couldn't stop from laughing for minutes.  Those damned geese won the day, but we'll get them back!

I love Stanley Park.

Thursday, October 21, 2010

Madison Avenue

Success - Working Man
Finally it's back to work for me after nine months unemployed.  As I had predicted it is a retail job at a place where I'd been offered a job before, Macy's.  This isn't the most glamorous place to work but my life was getting a bit ridiculous without any work or income.  They hired me on the spot for a seasonal position so this isn't guaranteed to be something I'll hold into next year.  For now though it provides sorely needed money.

The job puts me back into a retail environment which is not my favorite, but at least it's familiar.  I didn't enjoy my time at Walmart entirely yet I was able to adapt and master my duties.  That gives me confidence that I'll get the hang of this job in short order.  I applied mostly to retail jobs after moving down since I knew it was an area I was most likely to get offered a job.  Two interviews in two weeks wasn't bad since I had that many over eight months in Maine.  I was offered the Macy's right after the interview.  Experience is clearly key when it comes to snagging a job which really worries me about finding something better.  I don't want to be a retail associate/manager for the rest of my life but I'm worried that my lack of experience in any other field will limit my options.  I had applied for basic office jobs along with the retail jobs but never heard back from a single place.  I was shooting for the moon... well shooting for a distant island but didn't even come close.  I know that everybody hates office jobs yet I still want to give at try someday.   That's really not asking much at all.

Fancy Dress
There is at least one positive from this new job, it requires me to really dress nice.  Walmart didn't expect anything out of me or it's associates so I dressed for comfort.  At my new job I have to wear shirt, tie and jacket which really makes me happy.  I rarely had opportunities to dress up in my life so I can't wait to get started.  Our move cost us most of our money so I'll have to scramble together some money in order to purchase a jacket and some ties.  After about a week of working at Macy's I will have doubled the amount of times I've worn a tie in my life.  Now I'll always have that option in the future.  It really bothers me that I don't own any ties.  Are they relatively insignificant pieces of clothing?  Sure.  I feel like I should have some those damn things by this point in my life.  I will now so whatever.

Finances
Time to build the bank account back up after our move wiped us out.  It cost around $1500 to move to Westfield and left us with practically nothing.  Ashes and I have decided to combine our bank accounts which will certainly help rebuild the our finances quicker.  I'm not worried about the money since I knew employment was inevitable.  There is just a feeling of security by having some money in the bank.  We're not doing great but we're surviving.  I'm working on getting a writing/freelancing side career going but I'm hitting tons of roadblocks.  A lack of knowledge is proving to be the biggest problem in that pursuit.

Shutting the Hell Up
 I've got a job which means this won't be a sad unemployment blog for at least a few months!  Huzzah!  I just wanted to write about finally getting a (crappy) job because it has picked my spirits up a bit.  I'll leave it at that and get back to something more interesting next time around.  Double huzzahs!

Monday, October 18, 2010

Bean Town

Yesterday Ashes and I made our first trip to Boston since moving to Mass.  Actually it was her first trip to Boston ever so it was that much bigger for her.

Sitting Still is for Suckers
Since arriving in our new home there has rarely been a day that we haven't gone somewhere.  In a mere two weeks we've hardly had a day where we lazily sat around.  That, my friends, is a very good thing.  We took a trip down a road the other day and it ended up taking us into Connecticut was actually a lot of fun.  Most mornings we go to nearby Stanley Park just to walk around.  However we could hardly live in Massachusetts without visiting the unofficial capital of New England, Boston.

Decisions
Our motivation was little more than Ashes receiving her first pay check.  We came up with a quick itinerary that included the New England Aquarium and Chinatown.  Neither of us wishing to a) drive in Boston or b) park in Boston meant we had to come up with an alternative form of travel.  Our best option, as suggested by several people, was to park our car and take the subway into downtown.  We drove down 90 into Newton, which honestly took less than two hours, and the station was less than a mile off the MassPike.  Parking was cheap and ample since it was Sunday.  We purchased a subway day pass for nine dollars each that covered as many trips as we wanted.  Honestly a great deal considering parking in a garage would've been at least that much. 

The T - Green Line
The trip from Riverside station was awesome.  I'm a big, big fan of rail travel in general and was psyched I got a chance to ride.  The Green Line was what we took into Boston and it is a light rail system that starts above ground and goes below the surface just past Brooklin.  The car we were in seemed to be somewhat newer than ones we would ride later in the day on the Orange line, though older than the Blue line trains.  The train went through neighborhoods and golf courses.  At one point Boston College was visible across a lake.  I was a bit disappointed by the announcements.  I know it's an odd thing to complain about but it matters!  The last transit system I was on was the London Underground which has a pleasant female voice informing you of the destinations.  The updates in London were more informative and it seemed so modern compared to the Boston T, despite being the oldest subway in the world.  Plus you always hear a calm voice telling you to "Mind the Gap."  The stations we stopped at in Boston were in some disrepair and seemed dirty.  I know it must be hard to keep an entire subway system clean, but a little more money to upkeep would be nice.  Compared to other underground stations in the world Boston is way behind.

The Aquarium
I need to stop talking about the subway!  I don't want to bore anybody and I certainly don't expect others to be as excited about mass transit as I get.  After transferring to the blue line and going one station up we got off at the Aquarium station which brought us up right in front of it.  The wharf area was nice and provided a good view of the harbor and the skyline.  We went over and purchased our tickets to the aquarium and headed towards the front door.  Just before the door was a tank with seals swimming around which was nice.  As soon as we entered we saw a giant pool with artificial rocks covered with tiny penguins who were all standing still as they got a nice shower from the sprinklers.  It was an odd sight to see so many stationary penguins and at first didn't look real.  The main attraction was the giant fish tank in the center with a spiral walkway around it.  The last time I visited the aquarium I was probably under ten years old so the tank seemed much smaller than I remembered.  That's always the way of course.   Still it was cool to see all sorts of giant fish swimming around.  Giant sea turtles ended up being the stars of the show for me.  The mammal portion was closed which made me feel like I was ripped off a little bit.  They really shouldn't charge full price when a significant portion of the place is closed.  Overall it was fun, though.

Chinatown
After the aquarium it was well past lunch time and we needed to eat.  We went up the road a bit and decided to just head over to Chinatown for lunch since we were planning on going there anyway.  We took the subway to Chinatown station and started looking for a place to eat.  The place was definitely pulsing with a really cool energy, which sounds stupid but I assure you it was!  We decided to go to a place that Ashes picked based on... something?  I don't remember.  We ordered a double order of szechuan chicken and bubble tea.  Bubble tea was everywhere, and I do mean everywhere, in Chinatown.  I saw at least 10 places that offered it.  It was amazing since I had gone so long without ever being able to find any.  Dozens of people were just walking around sucking on a bubble tea. 

After eating we browsed some shops in the area.  Ashes picked up another lucky cat and something for her sister.  I didn't end up finding anything I wanted, but I had fun looking.  We found a print club machine in the back of one shop but it hadn't worked in a long time.  Hello Kitty was to be found in nearly every shop.  There was a store selling all manner of martial arts equipment, how-to guides and weaponry.  It had, I swear to god, a shrine to Guan Yu on the wall which is something I had never seen before but loved.  To me he's a video game character but I know enough to understand he's revered in certain aspects of Chinese culture.  We went into a couple Asian grocery stores looking for snacks and Ashes was appalled to find live fish and chickens for sale.  I assured her that's the only way to ensure freshness!  She still didn't like it.  I ended up getting a Calpis Lychee drink which was pretty good.  I was tempted by a Korean Aloe drink for a minute but didn't know how that would taste, so I went with Lychee which is a flavor I liked.

Heading Out
After Chinatown we headed back to the subway.  It was getting late in the day so we skipped going to Boston Common and just headed back to Riverside Station.  Oddly enough we took the exact same train back that we took in.  We even sat in the exact same seats!  The ride back was filled with the chatter of two college girls going on and on about everything from douchebags to basketball to boob sizes.  It added a bit of color to the short trip out.  I noticed the route we took back had the train line going through neighborhoods not unlike the one I grew up in.  It's so odd to think of a commuter train going right behind these people's back yards.  I had a freight line not far from my home, but to think of so many people going by these homes is odd to me.  I'm a small town guy and I'm getting used to these big city things.  It makes me smile.  We got back to Riverside and it was still light out which was a plus for us.

It was a great day overall.  The first of certainly many trips into Boston was a success.  We had no trouble navigating or figuring anything out.  I can't wait to go back which probably won't be too far down the road.

Monday, October 11, 2010

My Cave Story?

There have been a few little road bumps that I've run into since coming to Massachusetts.  These haven't really been issues with the state or the area but my situation in particular.  We moved in to the basement of a relative of Ashes'.  This set up was financially beneficial considering a) I don't have any income ATM and b) We don't plan on staying a full year because Ashes' will be applying for teaching jobs in the spring.  We aren't tied down with a 'contract' and can leave at any time it's convenient for us.  Also we are paying far less then the average apartment would be around here.  Springfield/Westfield isn't the most expensive area, especially compared to Boston, but it is not cheap.  So we are pretty well off for now.

The living situation does have a few little catches.  Most importantly for me, being the pop culture junkie that I am is the television.  Namely the absence of channels.  This relative of Ashes' isn't an avid television viewer and only has absolute basic, and I do mean basic, cable to go along with her high speed internet.  We have 13, count them THIR-TEEN, channels to chose from.  Two of them are the same and one is constantly out.  This leaves us with a horrifying 11 channels to watch.  I'm pretty sure cave men had more to watch.  I've just come from having 300 channels and an interactive menu to help me plan out my evenings/days/time at home when Ashes has the car.  Now I have to get up, walk over to the TV and cycle through nothing!  The last time I had access to so few channels was in the 80s.  No joking!  On Sunday the only option was football.  On Saturday the only option was football again!  I hate football.  I'm not in love with this but I'm willing to make the sacrifice for now.  I have other stuff to keep my occupied.  Like the internet... except...

The internet connection in our basement rooms is terrible.  Browsing is a nightmare on a connection that is rarely above 3 bars and half the time refuses to load.  Streaming videos on Hulu, Netflix and Youtube is now impossible since they simply crash and never start back up.  I was an annoying lesson to learn my first few days here.  I found out about the TV problem I figured "This sucks, but I still have stuff to watch on the internet."  Of course that would be too easy.  Most sites that are graphically intense load slowly especially if I have multiple tabs open.  I find myself rebooting pages about once every five page loads because nothing ever showed up.  This problem may have to do with our position in the basement since on the ground floor their aren't as many problems.  I'm guessing that if I bought a signal booster we would be able to fix that problem.  I can fix it but it still vexes my attempts at relaxation, job search and entertainment.

It's like living in a cave down here.  Other than the lack of television and internet there also isn't much light.  Our bedroom doesn't have any windows, which means mornings are as dark as night.  And day is as dark as night.  Darkness all the time is a little depressing even with lights.  Waking up in the morning is hard for us if we don't have the sun shining in to pull us out of bed.  We've been sleeping far later than at my parents house and our apartment, which might partly be due to Ashes' late night schedule.  Living in basement is a bit depressing but it's not terrible.  Our living room does have small windows to let in some light which makes it livable in the day.  It's not a dank basement which is good. 

It's not the ideal situation but the negatives are either fixable or can be lived with.  We won't be here forever so I can deal with these little inconveniences for the time being.  Once I'm working, which seems like it will be soon, it won't even matter so much.  There's enough around here for us to do that keeps us out of the house that it isn't a big problem.  In the week we've been here there has only been one day we didn't go out.  I'll make it.

Sunday, October 10, 2010

Wild Week












Mello Yello has reappeared. I never even really noticed it disappear and was never a fan of the soda. I remember it being available in Maine at some point and I know that, some years ago, I used to buy it every so often. It was a soft disappearance, just something I didn't really care about. Yet all of a sudden it's my drink of choice. I was drawn to it in a convenience store since it was one of the drinks I hadn't seen in Maine. I noticed that it had a different, retro, label than the one I last remember seeing. I was a fan of the throwback sodas that Pepsi was putting out last year and decided to try one. That was the first one, about 8 Mello Yellos later it has (alongside coffee) become my official "settling into Massachusetts life" drink.

I've had my flirtations with soft drinks before, and I've eventually left them all behind. I'm a person who really feels compelled to try the new flavors that come along at least once. So many of these oddly named beverages have I guzzled down. Sodas like Vault, Surge, Citra and so on. I'm sure I'll get over Mello Yello real quick, but I am wont to have a "drink of the moment" so I'll stick with it for a few months.

The odd thing was that it is even found on tap at fast food places down here! I guess it's just one of those things that pulled out of Maine. Oh Maine, you don't know how little you have. I found it on tap at Five Guys Burgers and Fries in Enfield, CT. That in itself was a fun excursion that I must talk about.


Five Guys Burgers and Fries is a fast food restaurant that I had never heard of, and that is saying something.  I thought I'd heard of all the major American chains including the ones that weren't in the northeast.  Whataburger, Carl's Jr., Chick-fil-A, White Castle, and all the Californian brands were places I could only dream about.  At least I knew the names of those brands.  I heard about Five Guys three days ago from a list of highest rated fast food places I found online.  I researched Five Guys on their website and Wikipedia.  I texted Ashes and told her that we were going there for lunch the next day.  I found the closest one over the border in Enfield, CT.  The prospect of going to another state for lunch is unusual for someone like me that spent their entire life living in central Maine.  However it's not an entirely unfamiliar concept since we often went to Canada for lunch when visiting Ashes' parents in northern Maine.  Still, the closest Five Guys was 30 minutes away in Enfield.

When we got to the location we entered a store that was packed with people ordering and waiting for their orders.  All the burgers were being prepared out in the open and the lobby was filled with bags of potatoes that would be turned into fries.  We got in line to order from the extremely simple menu.  The only options were burger, double burger and hot dogs.  From their you customized every topping.  The blank slate was burger and you decided what to add rather than remove.  I ordered a double cheeseburger with pickles and green peppers.  We also got an order of small fries.  We waited for our meal (20th in the order) which didn't take very long.  Our food came in a plain brown bag with extra fries shoveled in for good measure.  What I ate was by far one of the best fast food burgers I've ever had.  The patties were ground beef.  The cheese melted on in gooey goodness.  The fries were cut potatoes with a bit of spice and salt tossed on.  Five Guys is one of the top three fast food places I've ever been to and will probably take other people here if I get visitors.

Loving the food and drink and Massachusetts.  So that's a little summary of some of the little unimportant stuff that's going here in my new life.  It might not seem exciting but to me it truly is.  Living in the same small town for 27 years means that the small differences and new options make me happy.  There will most likely be a great deal of posts about minor and seemingly inconsequential stuff for this reason.  Get ready for it people.

Thursday, October 7, 2010

Settling In, Mellowing Out

It hasn't even been a full week but I'm finally settling into my new home. Moving to Massachusetts is actually proving to be a smart option and has really brought a spark into my life that had been missing in Maine.

It is amazing how quickly the move to Mass has made a difference. Within three days of moving here I got an interview for a job. It has been months since I've had an interview in Maine or even heard back from any place I had applied to work. The job I have an interview for isn't the most glamorous, it's a jump back into retail just like I figured. At the same time it's not the worst thing in the world to do and if (god willing!) I manage to get the job I'm not going to let go. I really want to land on my feet down here and I'm confident that it will happen!

Getting used to Ashes' work hours has been rough. I'm adjusting to her new schedule, which is very similar to my old closing shift, without much difficulty. It gives me twelve hours of "free time". I'm sure she'd just love me categorizing the time she's away as "free time", but to that I'll just stick out my tongue at her. I manage to fill the time with my hobbies, internet and DVDs. I just got The Saboteur for 360 and have put a lot of time into that game. I make sure to wait up for her every night just in case of zombie or zepplin attacks. She'll need me awake if those happen! Her shift ends at ~1 a.m. and it leaves me to worrying just slightly, so I stay up to make sure she makes it home safe. From zombies and zepplins of course.

The first full day I was down here I fell ill with some sort of sickness that I can only describe as flu-lite. It was as sick as I'd been in several years and I was left incapacitated for the entire day. I was only able to stay awake for small amounts of time throughout the day, waking up just long enough to roll around with my stomach pains and head to the bathroom. One time I woke up to puke. Hadn't done that in a few years. Did I mention that while I was rolling around in pain, vomit, and angry cat stares Ashes and her entire family were off at eastern Massachusetts' biggest fair? I don't hold it against them as I would've buggered off and left my sick acquaintance abed as well. I can't count the times I've left a feeble sickly Silas alone while I gallavanted off on some excursion. After they returned from the fair Ashes took me out for some Mickey D's. This was now 8 or 9 at night and I was truly waking up for the first time and needed food. We also looked for chairs.

That day aside the rest of my time here has been great. Both Ashes and I have quickly gotten used to the basic layout of our new hometown, Westfield. Ashes is getting a handle for it quicker since she has the car most of the time. We went to the Holyoke Mall which puts any mall in Maine to utter shame. I ate at the malls equivalent of Sarku and loved it. I walked away from the experience with a small sense of satisfaction. America's mall craze in the 90s never really came to Maine and left us with some sorry shells, like the Bangor Mall. And the Bangor Airport Mall, which is a hilariously depressing shopping center. Down here in Mass it's monuments to consumerism. I didn't pick anything up for myself, well a couple of games, but I enjoyed the experience. I almost got an Andre the Giant "OBEY" t-shirt but they didn't have my size.

There's one thing that I can say for Massachusetts it's that this state puts Maine to shame when it comes to food. Already we've had so many options. Tomorrow we're going to Five Guys Burger and Fries in Enfield, CT. I'd never heard of the place so I can't wait to try it out.

It's going to be a hell of a ride down here and I know that things are going to start to turn around. There's a certain energy down here, a spirit of positivity that isn't present in Maine. I don't know what it is but Massachusetts seems like the place to have a brighter future and it's about damn time I felt that way about my life. Years of bleakness are behind me.

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Can't Quit This

I really feel a need to blog, to talk, to write and since this is the only place for me to go I'm going to continue writing this blog.  I've got a lot on my plate at the moment with a ton of changes (and too much staying the same) in my life lately.

So in the next week or so I'm going to revitalize this blog. A few simple things need updating, the layout and links are only two examples. A little change in the blog is all I need to get going. The next few posts will most likely be light articles followed by some stuff about my life. I promise to not let this become an "unemployment blog" which I've dangerously veered towards in the past.

So look forward to my blog coming into a new life in the next week or so. I'm going to be on my (terrible) laptop a lot looking for jobs in my new area which means I'll probably have a tab open to Blogger at all times. Maybe there will be some good news coming to this blog in the future! One can only hope right?

I may not have many regular readers but that doesn't bug me since that was never what I wanted here, really. I will read back on these sometime in the distant future and see what my life was like during these darkest of times in my life. I've never been at such a low point, but things are starting to look up. It's documented here on this blog (somewhat) for me to see in when I finally get this life of mine together.

I'm hammering out some Simpsons in the background while typing this up. I've watched half of season 11 today. With Ashes gone 12 hours at a time and taking my only means of transportation I have a LOT of down time. Considering that nothing is really set up (game consoles, television, streaming web, etc) I have been filling my time watching DVDs of The Simpsons. Season 10 and 11 in the last two days alone! I could rewatch these episodes a hundred times over and never get tired of them! One day I want to be able to create something to keep a person entertained the way The Simpsons entertains me.

Starting in one week (or so) this blog is going to have a new life. Look forward to it!

Globally Ignored