Project Streetfighter Single Speed, Part I
Posted by Sam at 2:32 PM

Part I: Streetfighter... what the!?

Over the past week, my housemate and I enjoyed a steady flow of low-brow humor. Subjects like mounting and dismounting, cranks, and lube furnished us with an endless onslaught of snickering and that's what she said's (it really does not take much to amuse us). The inspiration for this middle-school-like hilarity was provided to us by Project Streetfighter Single Speed. Yes, quite a mouthful (that's what she said), I know... but bear with me. The Streetfighter isn't as complex as her name implies. In fact, one of the the main objectives during the conception of the Streetfighter was to make her as simple and unencumbered as possible.

So, what is the Streetfighter? This question is better answered by explaining what the Streetfighter once was: A Raleigh Technium 440 road bicycle from the early eighties (I think). During the 440's heyday, it was a quality road bike. Aluminum frame, down tube shifting, twelve speeds, surface to air nuclear rocket mounts, etc... Currently however, the 440 is held together almost entirely by duct tape, and for the past I-have-no-idea-how-many years, the bike just sat quietly in my former apartment's basement... collecting rust and patiently waiting (and hoping) to die. But I just couldn't let that happen. Assisted suicide is still illegal in this state, and until I'm told otherwise, it's my civic duty to prolong life... no matter how much pain, suffering, and misery the subject is experiencing. Nope... death is something you earn, you wuss. Suck it up and deal. No fear! Extreme sports! Et cetera, et cetera... Anyway, I brought the 440 with me to my new location, where I was determined to breathe new life into her tired, thermal-bonded, aluminum composite frame. I figured, while I was enjoying my retirement... er, unemployment, the 440 would make a superb project bike.

Thanks for the enthralling history lesson, but I still don't know what the heck the Streetfighter is? Ok, ok... keep your pants on. The Streetfighter is a single speed road bike. Essentially, this is a road bike (You remember the ten-speed you had as a kid, right? Well, that style of bicycle is called a road bike. And, it probably had more than ten speeds. But for some reason, we all called them "ten speeds.") with all of the gears and all of the deurailers (the mechanism that moves the chain from gear to gear) and all of the shifters and everything related, removed. In their place, only one chainring (bigger gear in the front, near the pedals) and one cog (smaller gear mounted on the rear wheel hub) remain. This makes the bike ride similarly to a BMX bike, in that there is no shifting. This bike has a freewheel installed (which allows me to pedal backwards without actually going backwards). Some more adventurous cyclists ride what is called a "fixed gear." That is when the rear cog is mounted in place and cannot freewheel. So, if one were to pedal backwards on a fixed gear bike, the bike would actually travel backwards. On this type of bicycle, the rider is constantly pedaling when the bike is moving. In fact, the only time the pedals are at rest is when the bicycle is at rest. This is great for track bikes and, as I've mentioned, more adventurous riders. However, this is not the kind of riding that I wanted to do. And thus, the single speed freewheel alternative is the perfect solution for me.

Ok... a single speed. I get it. But why would you want to ride a single speed? Aren't those gears there to make cycling more efficient and enjoyable? Well, yes... but there's more to it than that. The single speed bicycle is what I believe to be the ideal bike for urban conditions. There's a lot of starting and stopping during city riding. In certain situations, there's little time to think, let alone shift gears. Abrupt stops are to be expected in city riding. Stopping at traffic light in a high gear sucks. When you start up again, you are about as fast as a slug stuck in Hartford rush hour traffic. This isn't a concern on a single speed. The gear ratio (customized for each rider's style and size) is set in such a way that starts are smooth yet the cyclist is not required to sacrifice a respectable top speed. Theoretically, the bike is lighter too. There's nothing on it that doesn't need to be there. And incidentally, there's much less that can break.

In short, riding a single speed road bike is one of the easiest types of bicycles to ride and maintain. Especially, if city riding is your main focus. As an added bonus, the single speed's inherent simplicity enables any schmo (myself included) the ability to build one from entirely used/old/cheap parts... as you will no doubt discover while reading on.

Fine, fine, fine. But why "The Streetfighter" moniker? Ahhh... there you go. Good question. For this one, I can only give a cryptic answer. You see, I don't know the exact origins of the name "Streetfighter" but I can explain how it came into my world: A good friend of mine... we'll call him Brendan M. No, that's too obvious. How 'bout B. Miller? Let's just refer to him as "Miller Genuine Draft." MGD for short... A good friend of mine, MGD, always spoke (no pun intended) of the Streetfighter ___________. The blank is the placeholder for whatever project he happened to be involved with at the moment. At one time it was the Streetfighter Drum Set. Then there was the Streetfighter Motorcycle. As I recall, there was even the Streetfighter Toolbox that aided MGD on these elaborate undertakings. So, in short, the Streetfighter prefix has less to do with the actual subject of the project and more to do with its general character. You see, Streetfighter projects tended to be... how should I say this... not pretty. Yep, there was nothing attractive about a Streetfighter anything. Most of the time, a Streetfighter project was downright ugly. Parts were often yoinked from other projects (sometimes other Streetfighters). Most parts had to be retrofit for use on the project at hand. Colors never matched. Paint was always chipped. But, the one redeeming factor, the glue that held all Streetfighters together, was the first-rate craftsmanship and all around well-built nature of the Streetfighters. They were solid. Rugged and raw. Hardcore.

As is Project Streetfighter Single Speed.

(Stay tuned for Project Streetfighter Single Speed, Part II: Construction Woes and Triumphs, and Bicycle Themed Wine... coming atchya as soon as I get off my lazy butt and write it.)

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Sambot Got Fixed... Sort Of
Posted by Sam at 9:39 PM

Well, sambot.com got fixed. Mostly fixed, anyway. I rearranged some code and got things to look almost all better. I'm viewing this as a temporary solution. Hopefully Blogger will work some stuff out in the near future.

Anyway, my solution is a backassword workaround, but it does work. I was going to post the fix here, but I'm so annoyed by the whole thing that I really don't want to think about it anymore.

Old post are still going to look funky... readable, but funky. The only other thing that is still wrong is the space directly underneath the post body. But, it's a small annoyance... one that I'm willing to live with.

A few other things did come out of this ordeal... neither good nor bad, just things... barely worth mentioning really. But nevertheless, here they are: I learned a bit about some of the other blogging options: Wordpress, Movable Type, etc... and discovered that Blogger is just so gosh darn easy to use. I hope that they get their act together fairly quickly because making the transition from Blogger to one of the other options seems... time consuming. The other thing that I learned is that sambot looks like ass on the PC. Well, maybe not entirely like ass. More like polished butt than full-fledged ass. The point is that the font treatment on the PC is way different than its Mac counterpart. I know that I double-checked sambot on the PC during the development stages. I must have just overlooked it or was willing to ignore it for a while and then forgot about it. Maybe I'll fix it. Maybe you should just get Mac? Maybe I should end this post now... I'm starting to feel violent.

Oh... one more thing: if anything looks weird on your particular system, or if there's something that I've overlooked, please let me know. Thanks!

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Quote of the... Yesterday?
Posted by Sam at 2:02 PM

"There's not enough puppets on television trying to sell me things anymore." - Mike

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What The?!
Posted by Sam at 12:03 AM

Ok... Sambot got funky. All by itself. I don't have time to look into this now. I'll fix it soon though. In the mean time, if anyone has any ideas as to what happened, you should run them by me. Did blogger change something?

UPDATE: Yep, Blogger changed something. This is a big annoying problem. Apparently, it's affecting lots of Blogger users who use custom templates. The word on the street is, "Blogger's working on it." Right. Anyway, the problem has something to do with some extraneous code bits that Blogger is inserting at the beginning and end of each post body... this <div style="clear:both;"></div>, to be exact. There are a few workarounds floating around this here interweb... none of which fix sambot. I guess that I'll just have to wait it out. In the mean time, sorry about the mess.

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New Haven: The Continuing Saga
Posted by Sam at 11:51 PM

I found myself wandering around New Haven today... yes, again (this time however, I managed to suppress my inner trespasser). I went with an agenda, and time was short. Nevertheless, I found more cool stuff. This city (dare I say, "my new stomping grounds?") continues to impress.

Apparently, on the last Friday of every month, there's a gigantic critical mass (sponsored by The Devil's Gear). Too bad Project Streetfighter Single Speed isn't complete yet. She'll be ready in the next few days. More on that later...

Also, down on the city green, there seems to be a permanent stage area for daily live music. I really don't know what it's all about, but every time I've been in New Haven there's a live and free show. Nice!

Speaking of shows, Thurday, June 30, Toad's Place is hosting the LOCAL METAL SHOWCASE! I wonder how the New Haven metal scene fares against that of Western Mass (couldn't be any worse)? And, July 7 at Toad's, Digable Planets. I had no idea those guys were still alive, let alone still a band. Anyway, I'll be at both shows. And the critical mass. You should go. Come find me and say, "hi." How will you know who I am? I'll be the guy wearing the mesh shirt and speedo... and consequently, there'll be a large radius of empty space encircling my person where no one dares to enter.

(I'm pretty sure that I just lost about half of my regular readers... as for the other half? Well, they're probably telling their friends right now. Sambot.com reader attendance will quadruple by morning. I love the internet.)

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Urban Spelunking, Connecticut Edition
Posted by Sam at 10:57 PM

Today can be considered my first true day of Connecticut urban exploration. I'm in New Haven, in a Starbucks. I'm in a Starbucks because the first coffee shop that I attempted to exploit had a problem with their free wifi. That being, they didn't offer free wifi. I discovered this following the purchase of a coffee, of course. So, after inhaling the coffee (if there's one thing that I cannot see go to waste, it's a good cup of coffee), I found the nearest Starbucks. Another coffee was purchased. The laptop was opened. A wifi network was found. T-Mobile Hotspot. Please enter your username and password? What? Since when does Starbucks charge for their wifi? Grrr. Anyway...

I arrived here via Connecticut public transit. A.K.A. the bus. I've always said, "If you want to know the people, ride the bus." After this afternoon's experience however, I'm changing that adage to, "If you want to know the crazy people, ride the bus." No, it was a good ride. I made a friend too. I never got her name (only a grunt-like approximation), but I did find out that one of her main interests is cutting herself so that later, she can be amused by picking at some really well developed scabs. Good to know. I'll be sure to add her blood soaked business card to my roll-a-dex.

Downtown New Haven is a really interesting place. Home of Yale University. One of, if not the oldest university in the country. The architecture is phenomenal. It's old and gothic and creepy. I sort of feel like the Yale campus could have easily been used to film parts of the Harry Potter movies. Its got that hidden-secret-satanist-society feel to it. There is stained glass and painted glass work everywhere, elaborate stone carvings, hidden alcoves and mysterious doors too.

I ventured onto campus through the first open gateway that I could find. The resulting courtyard was incredibly lavish. Ahhh... the decadence of the intellectual elite. It seemed that I had found a dormitory area. Most doors where locked (after all, it is the summer). However, where there's a will, there's a way. I found a building that seemed as though it was undergoing heavy internal reconstruction. The side door was completely unlocked. So, without hesitation, I went in.

My first impression of the interior of a ripped-up-for-construction Yale University dormitory was this: What the!? Even with this place, in its torn-to-pieces state, it is still way nicer than any spot on my undergrad college's campus... by far. Don't get me wrong, I value my undergraduate education, but my school's architect had a little too much love for the right angle. It would have been nice to walk down halls like these on my way to class.

Goal Numero Uno for any urban spelunking adventure is to ascend to the highest point available. Climb baby, climb! The view is better, the area is less traveled, there is more to discover, and the air is thinner (I don't know why this last one is a benefit, but I felt it worth mentioning). So, I found some stairs, and I climbed and climbed. Five flights up and the regular stairwell turned into three more flights of a spiral staircase. The climb concluded on the eighth floor with a locked door and this foreboding message, written in blood: CAUTION! Trap Door in floor. Clearly it was a ploy... like those beware of dog signs that mark houses where obviously no dog lives... only an old widowed woman who doesn't believe in the banking system, so she hoards cash in used plastic shopping bags under her bed... not that I would know... but, anyway... The view was spectacular from up there. Each dorm room had its own fireplace too (like I said, straight out of Harry Potter).

The adventure was cut short by the sound of maintenance people doing that thing that they do... you know, maintaining stuff, yelling at trespassers, etc... I didn't want to get caught and have to say something like, "Ummm... I think I'm a little lost. Is this the mall? I was trying to find Hot Topic." Mainly though, I didn't want my stuff confiscated. So, I hauled ass down many flights of stairs, made a lot of noise, was very un-ninja-like, and found the nearest exit.

And now, here I am... highly caffeinated and without internet.

It's always a good thing to explore beyond the surface of a new environment (for me, anyway). I feel like it's more my home now that I've dug into it a bit. We'll see what else I discover in the next few months of exploration. For now though, I'm satisfied. And, I must say, I'm liking my new locale more and more as I explore deeper and deeper. And, one of these days, I will finish unpacking my stuff. Then, it will truly feel like home. Although, the bedroom full of boxes is a unique (lazy?) decorating element. Don't you think?

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Arnold, In Three Sentences or Less
Posted by Sam at 11:26 PM

Sambot.com's three sentence review of The Running Man:

It's Arnold in spandex. What's not to like? Plus, more one-liners than you can shake your little, weakling, girly-man finger at.

Score: 10 out of 10

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Boiled or Fried: The Georgia Experience
Posted by Sam at 12:54 AM

This is it... my last day here in Georgia with my little sister. She's in a video conference meeting thingy, so guess what I'm doing? Yep, feeding the addiction. Coffee. Internet. Scone. (Yes, I know... "Scone" isn't typically part of the addict's holy trinity. But damn, that pastry looked so good. I couldn't resist.)

I've taken ten bizillion photos this week. Most of which are of the puppy chewing on stuff... however, some are of me chewing on stuff. The photo's are all nicely tucked away in iPhoto. During the ridiculously out of the way trip home (Jacksonville, FL to Detroit, MI to Hartford, CT), I'll sort through them (and, with the help of this awesome and free little plugin for iPhoto, I might give flickr a once over).

So anyway, about Georgia... ummm... er, that's about all I've got.

No, Georgia is a warm place full of rich culture and southern ideals. Lots of "y'all." Lots of waffle restaurants. Oh... and vultures. I saw lots of vultures.

Could I live here? Probably not. I've lived in New England for the majority of my life. I've got too much New England blood flowing through my veins. The South (at least this part of Georgia (but I can stereotype the entire South based on one visit to one small corner, right?)) is the complete American antithesis of my New England experience. Life here is slow, the landscape is flat, the roads are all highways, and the peanuts are either boiled or fried prior to their consumption.

The Georgian folk are a kind lot though. Kind, friendly, generous... so much so, that upon first encounter, I assumed them all to be under the influence of some sort of mind-numbing medication... Soma, if you will. Of course, my next thought was, "where do I get some of this beautiful product? Do I have to be a Georgia citizen? 'Cause, for the right meds, I could do that." But no, as it turns out they are simply good-hearted people... who happen to boil peanuts. I don't know. It's just something they do. Odd at first, but soon it becomes an endearing part of the Georgian way of life.

It was wonderful to visit my sister, her fiance, and their puppy. It will however, be wonderful to return to civilization.

Oh... worth noting is that my sister's next domicile will be Seattle, WA. No doubt a huge contrast to life in Georgia. She'll be moving in October. I've never been to Seattle. Concerning the west coast, I've never passed Portland, OR as a northernly destination. I am excited for her to move, but my excitement is of a selfish nature. Her being in Seattle gives me a solid reason to visit and explore that city. Sweet. I'll be sure to pack as many flannel shirts as my worn-in-just-the-right-places, purchased-at-the-army/navy-store, 100%-military-issue army bag will allow.

Grunge ground zero, here I come!

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All of That Foreboding Doom Stuff
Posted by Sam at 11:17 AM

I was without internet for so long during the move. It was a sad, emotionally trying time for me. No email. No news. No connection with the outside world... unless I wanted to actually venture into the outside world (*shudder*). It was painful, especially considering the bombshell that Apple dropped on Monday at the WWDC. Intel processors in Macs by 2007? WTF? And I didn't even find out until the following day. I'm slipping in my elder years. It's tragic really. But, I digress...

How do I feel about this? I'm not really sure yet. Betrayed at first. Then confused... remember when Apple bombarded us with all of those megahertz myth stories? "A 1.2 ghz G4 is just as fast as a 3.6 ghz Pentium because... velocity engine, alti-vec, blah blah blah..." So, what does that mean now? Were you lying to us, Apple? No. I don't think that I could believe that. The G3/G4/G5 versus a Pentium chip is like comparing Apples and oranges (I do have to say though, it seemed a little sketchy at the time. But, we all know about my unnatural and undying love for this product. And thus, I am more than willing to give my favorite hardware/software company the benefit of the doubt). Now that Apple machines and Windows machines will be running off of the same CPU, the playing field will be level. This will allow OS X to really shine without any uncertainty encouraged by hardware differences. Or, to be fair, maybe Windows will be the one to shine? Hahaha! Oh my... Hahaha!!! Ok, ok. Sorry... I couldn't say that one with a straight face.

I guess, as far as the Mac as a product is concerned, I am pretty excited about this. The only thing that was holding back this entire computing experience, is speed. The OS rocks. The hardware rocks. But sometimes, during certain processor intensive tasks, this machine can be a slug. Conceivably, this processor switch will solve everything.

So, it's all good, right? I'm not quite sold... yet.

Will we be able to run OS X on any ol' beige PC box? Apple says no... but it will happen. Maybe it won't be an Apple authorized thing, but it will happen. It's just a matter of time. The main hurdle in the way of migrating OS X to the PC platform is the difference in processor architecture (from my understanding, anyway). If Apple does this for us, whatever transformation is left will be easily hacked....

And this, is what I'm frightened of.

One of my favorite things about the Mac, is that Apple is the hardware and the software manufacturer. They build their components with the entire package in mind. The hardware is made for the software, and vice versa. This is so important for what makes the Mac such a solid computer. This is what makes it such a good computing environment. Everything just works. There are no surprises because Apple knows what the machine is going to be. I never boot up my Mac and find that the sound card isn't recognized, or that I don't have the right drivers for some integral piece of the system. Again, to be fair, Windows has advanced by leaps and bounds in this category... but still, there are millions of components out there whose combination makes a functioning PC, capable (in theory) of running Windows. But will it successfully? Will this motherboard be happy with this video card running this version of Windows? When I buy a Mac from the Apple store, I don't have to think about this.

I believe that this is one of the foremost contributing factors to the friendliness of the Apple experience... the idea that one buys a Mac, boots the Mac, and everything just works. I'm afraid that OS X on any self-built, beige box, PC is just going to dilute this ideal of quality.

Remember the clones (you may be too young... I am just barely old enough). For a few years in the mid-ninties, Apple licensed out their OS for use on clone computers (the companies that I can remember were called PowerComputing and Umax. This was during the time that our fearless leader, Steve Jobs, was away from Apple). Anyway, the clones sucked. They were buggy and suffered from constant driver mishaps. I remember updating the OS on a Umax machine from Mac OS 8.1 to 8.5 and rebooting only to find that NOTHING WORKED ANYMORE. The hard drives were not recognized, the cd-rom was not recognized, smoke was billowing from the back of the machine... the only thing that worked was the floppy drive. Yee-haw! I'm afraid that this is what our future will bring. (That and legions of cyborg zombies thriving in a post-apocalyptic nuclear winter... but that's a different fear for a different future.)

It really doesn't make sense for me to worry about something like this though. OS X on a generic PC box is not going to be Apple authorized... so why even fear its potential? I don't know. I just don't want my (future) Mac taken away from me.

Having said all of that foreboding doom stuff, I think (hope?) that this will actually be a good move for Apple. A faster Mac is a better Mac. If nothing else, Intel is dedicated to constantly making their chips faster and better. Apple having access to that can only be a good thing... right?

I'm curious to know what your thoughts are? Intel inside... a Mac? Good? Bad? Not really an issue?

(Also, If anyone wants to fact check this post, that would be awesome...)

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Fluffy Bunny Blogging
Posted by Sam at 10:33 PM

Well, here I am. On a plane to Georgia. I'm off to visit my little sister, her fiance, and their puppy.

I do enjoy traveling and flying, however this morning's events were just slightly off-putting. Apparently, I'm on the exclusive "National Do Not Fly List." Or maybe one notch beneath that anyway. While detained at the baggage check, I was told that I've been flagged as a potential threat. Great.

How did I get on that list? Sambot.com perhaps? I know the controversial things we discuss here at sambot are... well, controversial. I mean things like footwear, coffee, audio cassettes... I knew my hard-hitting, muckraking, blog style would lead to my demise. From now on, it's nothing but fluffy bunny blogging for me.

The rest of the morning was mostly uneventful. Aside from the stripping down to almost nothing for the amusement of the security/x-ray/metal detector people, the voyage has been smooth sailing.

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Mexican 2000
Posted by Sam at 10:45 PM

Those who know me know how much of an utter necessity the burrito is to my livelihood. Next to coffee, it's the substance that I can't imagine living without. In fact, if I was Jesus Christ, and I died on a cross for your sins, you would be drinking coffee and eating a burrito in representation of the blood and body of Sam, your savior, during communion. Ok. That's a little over the top. But I think that it illustrates the importance of burritos in my life.

The burrito. It's the perfect food. Self-contained, packed with nutrients, made with love. This atrocity, is not a burrito. Nor was it made with anything even slightly resembling love. This, my friends, is a wad of wretchedness plopped in a styrofoam container.

This unholy beast came from Mexican 2000. No... not a burrito powered, millennium themed, giant robot wearing a sombrero (although, that would be pretty rad) whose mission is to destroy all who oppose. Nope. It came from a restaurant ambiguously named Mexican 2000. And pray tell, what did this abomination cost? Twelve fucking dollars. Yep. $12.00.

Living in Northampton, MA, I had access to three establishments where I could purchase a burrito (some more reasonably priced than others, but all were beautiful and delicious). All within walking distance too. Ahhh, it was like living in a dream. Here in Wallingford, CT, I was delighted to find Mexican 2000 well within walking distance. But what on earth am I to do with a twelve dollar burrito that looks like ass?

Snap photos, eat it, complain, and then blog about it... I guess.

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Status
Posted by Sam at 11:18 PM

Oh my gawd! Things are crazy. This is the first chance that I've really had to sit down and post this entry... that I wrote three days ago! Whatev. It's all good. I miss everyone... Later. -S

I'm sitting in a local Wallingford restaurant called Archie Moore's. I just ordered a sandwich and beer. When the wind blows just right, I can leach off of someone's open wifi network from one of the apartments above. I get a weak connection for just about two minutes. Hopefully long enough to post this entry. We'll see.

Yesterday was move-in-to-the-new-digs day. It went well. We had a few friends helping out. No one fell down stairs carrying a couch of treachery, or bled, or injured themselves in any way... which is always nice. I'm still getting acclimated to the apartment and the area. I can say this though, it's going to be quite an adjustment. I think that I'll get the hang of things in a few weeks or so, but right now, it still feels a bit awkward.

Beer and food arrive.

One thing that I am struggling with is the zero diversity. From what I've seen so far, there's a lot of white folk here in Wallingford. As I mentioned, it's just going to be an adjustment.

Beer gone. Need more. Ordered more.

It is beautiful here though. From our window, we can see mountains (more like big hills really). Yesterday evening, I watched the sun set behind those mountains. It was amazing.

More beer! Yea! I just asked the waitress/hostess where I can get some reliable and free wifi (our internet will be installed tomorrow!). She suggested Starbucks. From my resulting facial expression, she gathered that Starbucks was not the answer that I was hoping for. She mentioned that I might want to trek into New Haven to find some culture/coffee. She's probably right.

The waitress/hostess (her name is Katelyn) seems pretty nice. I ask her about how to get to New Haven via bicycle. Bike trail? It exists. I just have to find it. She draws me a map.

Second beer disappears. More? Ok.

The apartment is really nice. There's a lot of room for us to spread out. It's in an old house though... and it shows. The windows are held in the open position by rope, and there's a door on the first floor that had to be cut in half to make way for a wall (it's actually pretty cool... I'll have to snap a photo). I appears that this was once an old, wealthy New England family house (with servant entrance and stairs) that has been retrofit to accommodate three apartments. There's no garbage disposal or dishwasher, but we'll cope. Oh... and the landlord refers to himself as "Uncle Jack." I called him that. It was... uncomfortable.

Beeeeeeeeer?

Connecticut is a strange place. So familiar, yet so foreign. Like for example: In Massachusetts, we had your normal, run-o-the-mill cars on the roads. But here in Connecticut, one can find automobiles of this sort (see accompanying photo. UPDATE Bluetooth malfunction. I can't seem to get any of my camera phone photos off of my phone. So, in a fit of creative genius, I took a high resolution digital photo of my phone's ultra lo-res display. I can see the population of photographers cringing at that thought... Trust me though, what I saw on the highway was obnoxious. It was a giant, 3D, Tony the Tiger head mounted on the rear of a van thing. Only in Connecticut... Yee-haw!).

I think the main issue here is that it is going to be a huge adjustment. I like it here. I really do. But I miss my town, and my housemates, and my coffee shops, etc...

What I don't miss however, is my job. See you in hell, employment! That'll teach you to occupy 40 hours of my week with mindless toil. Never again! Freedom! Those bastards... how dare they steal my life and fill it with meaningless busy work. I've got plans, man. Big plans. Big important plans. And who are you to stand in my way? And what happened to my beer?

And so on...

UPDATE Jump to later this evening: So the stealing someone's internet didn't work. I guess that I'll have to wait for the cable install. I can't believe that I've been sans internet for this long. That will all change tomorrow.

It is interesting however, that after the third beer kicked in, this post made the abrupt transformation into an anti-job rant. I sort of trailed off of the original topic and tangented (what? Tangent can be a verb) into a subject that's near and dear to my heart: not working. Now, I could edit the entry. But for the sake of preserving the moment, I will post it in all of its unedited, raw, and powerful awesomeness. Yes. That's what blogging is all about. Preserving the truth. Either that or I'm too lazy to fix it. No no... preserving the truth. It's all about preserving the truth.

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Trauma!
Posted by Sam at 9:08 AM

The following is a series of Haiku depicting the swirling torrent of emotions and events that are currently swirling like torrents through and around my skull. Enjoy.

Micah left last night.
Why Micah, why? Don't leave us!
South America!

I can't believe it.
Am I really moving out?
This just isn't right.

To Wallingford, ho!
A new town, new apartment.
Why so far away?

Who are these people,
In my bedroom, in my house?
New peeps, go away!

Two days left of work.
I can almost taste freedom.
It tastes like donuts.

Ashley and Sarah,
I will be back, I promise.
Keep couch warm for me.

More to come as inspiration strikes... I love expressing myself in Haiku. It makes the horrors of life much less horrifying. And much more cheesy.

Oh... comments to this post must be left in Haiku form. Or else. (now, it's a challenge)

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