I spent a small portion of my relocation funds on new storage space for my computer. I ended up with 2 500GB SATA drives, which I added to my system in a RAID0 stripe. Click here to see the resulting disk space. :)

Typically a week is defined as 7 consecutive days. The work week is generally 5 consecutive days long, broken up by a "weekend" of 2 days. For me, this week has been 10 days long, and my weekend is today and tomorrow.

I've often been frustrated on those days where I sit at home with nothing to do but sleep, but my plans for today are just that. I may get up and around and take care of some cleaning or other stuff to finish this process of moving, but I just have no inclination to do much of anything.

On a somewhat related note, who told the Xkcd guy how I was trying to get internet?

Back in Indiana, we always had problems with mice and chipmunks. Here in Houston, it's a little different:



Meet "Liz". I'm not sure what kind of lizard it is, but it's one of the many that run around the courtyard outside my apartment. This one was sitting on my doorstep just now when I got back from the grocery store.

It's almost the end of week #1 here in Houston. It hasn't been too terrible, but it has most definitely been a challenge. From watching Mom and Dad leave on the bus to the train to Indiana, all the way down to sitting in my apartment ready to pass out after swimming 5 laps in the pool, it's been an interesting week.

I spent most of the evening Wednesday trying to figure out something for internet here. I ended up throwing together the repeater I mentioned in the previous entry, which (knock on wood) has been okay so far. It has dropped connection several times, which has been right in the middle of me trying to do something. I've learned from that to not do anything too important over this "free" connection. I had one case where I needed to change some settings on this server, and actually had the sense to use 'screen' for it so when the connection did drop, I didn't lose whatever I had started.

I have been working this week in others' cubicles, because the shipment of LCD's hasn't arrived for our department yet. I don't know if Edouard held them up or what, but it is quite frustrating to have to stop in the middle of something so the next person can get to work. I guess that's a small blessing though, because it means I don't have to work as late. :P We're supposed to get the rest of the screens sometime by Monday, so I'll probably be back to working long hours again soon.

Because of the weak internet here at the apartment, I still haven't uploaded any more pictures. As soon as I get my DSL connection though, the 200MB worth of images is going straight to the gallery.

Well, I'm going to spend tonight as I have every other night this week: Falling asleep to a random movie from my collection. You are all more than welcome to e-mail me or call (if you have the number), or attempt to talk with me over one of the various messenger services I use (AOL, Yahoo, MSN, Google, Smoke Signal, Semaphore). I look forward to hearing from you.

Do you have a wireless router? Do you constantly fight to get the best signal from your wifi? Maybe you should consider getting a Linksys WRT-54GL, dumping DD-WRT on it, and setting it up like this. I did, and so far it's working great!

I decided you may want to see the route we took from Rensselaer to Houston. We stopped in West Memphis on the first night, then headed off to Lufkin the second, and made it to Houston on the third. It could have been done in 2 days, but I couldn't move in until the 1st and Mom didn't want to drive 10 hours on the second day.

I forgot to mention, Tropical Storm Edouard is on his way here and we should see some rain from it tomorrow. Right now though, it's amazing outside.

I haven't spent much time at the computer over the last few days, because I figured I should spend as much time as I could with Mom and Dad while they were here. I put them on the bus at the Amtrak station (it's a bus trip to the train station where they will head to Chicago) just about an hour ago, and have been fighting to regain myself. It's quite an emotional time, because it's such a big change for all of us.

I have been leeching off a neighbor's wireless since I got here, and from the looks of things I may be for quite a while longer. I ended up giving Comcast the wrong address for the transfer, and when I e-mailed them to fix it, they told me to open a chat. I opened the chat, then the rep I talked to told me I had to call. UGH! I told him I wasn't very pleased, but he didn't offer much recompense. I suppose I will try the "on-hold" game later tonight and give them a call. If I can't get it straightened out though, I may be doing this leeching game for another week.

If you know me very well, you know I'm pretty close with my family. I love my family and hold each one of them dear to me. This transition to a place a thousand miles away is starting to show its difficult side, and I'm trying to deal with it as best as I can. Old calm, laid-back, and monotone me has been having a really hard time with it.

I miss all the things I have known and been so close to already, including all my friends. I just hope I'll be able to adjust and adapt to this big city living soon.

You probably want to see more pictures, of which I do have plenty. It's just going to be a little while before I find a stable wireless connection to use while I push the 200MB worth of images out to the gallery. Be ye patient, though. I will get it done.

Another short post: I'm in Houston and am moving in. I'll post more from this leeched wireless later.

Quick post before I go hit the pool.

Long drive.
It's hot.
I'm tired.
The first hotel sucked.
This hotel is nice.
I'm moving in tomorrow.
We're in Lufkin, TX right now (2 hours from Houston).
There are pictures.