Sunday, October 7
Excitement and adventure!
A short note - somebody on eBay in the next town over was selling a Tablet PC that was as good as my desktop PC back home for a ridiculously cheap amount. They were selling it, now it's been sold and I own it. I'll be selling that old computer of mine when I get back after I've gotten everything off it I want to get off.
Thursday, October 4
Well hasn't it been a while!
I apologise for the delay in updates but hey, I also make no excuses other than "it's my holiday not yours, nyah nyah nyah."
Last weekend Maddie and I drove up to Cleveland, Ohio to visit my friend Sarah. Do you know how far Cleveland, Ohio is when you're travelling by car? I do. It's at least ten hours. It just may be over eleven. And iPod batteries don't quite last that long if you haven't charged it for a little while. It was fun playing the DJ in the car while it lasted though, and plenty of songs were sung.
On the way there (and on the way back) there were at least plenty of really ridiculously beautiful things to be seen. Like the view from the Appalachian Mountains over the state of West Virginia. Or the times we drove through clouds which still isn't quite something I am old enough to ignore. Or the two seperate circumstances that led us to driving through a mountain. Two different mountains, in fact. I love tunnels.
Once we reached Ohio though, it was still another four or so hours until Cleveland, and Ohio isn't that interesting a state until you get to the top of it, so we settled for frequent pit stops, CD changes and swearing at any ugly things that we drove past. I guess it was our own fault for putting off leaving until almost 4pm, but by this point in driving the both of us were very, very, very tired.
Cleveland came and I tell you what, it's a beautiful city. We found our way to Sarah's apartment quite easily and stumbled through her door exhausted from our extended period of strenuous sitting. I have no idea why but I didn't take any photos of Cleveland at all, which was terrible. For starters, Sarah's street was this narrow little street with beautiful big brick apartments and multi floor houses lining it, all old yet not dilapidated. And cheap as heck, I was amazed. Sarah's apartment was really big, with two bedrooms, a long hall, a living room, a dining room, a kitchen and a laundry, with a balcony out front, all for $575 a month. It was within minutes of the center of town too. If only Australian property prices were that cheap.
We slept pretty easily that night and the next day headed into the middle of Cleveland for walking, shopping, exploring and such. Only not much shopping went down as apparently on weekends, Cleveland shuts down early which boggled everybody's minds. We all jumped on a train and went west, to a smaller city area that was home to a gorgeously quaint little square with a statue and bus stop, and a fantastic brewery.
In the brewery, they served a "sampler" which was ten dollars and for that, you got a pot of each type of beer they made. Which was ten beers. And some of them were gloriously Australian-strength beers, one of which was an India Pale Ale which I do oh so love.
We got a little tipsy.
Oddly, Maddie and I got ridiculously hung over the next morning which put a damper on the day's activities. Oddly because we didn't drink enough to match up to how we felt, and oddly because Sarah and Max were absolutely fine and dapper. As such a lot of excursions and such that night were put on hold, although we did go visit a cool LGBT store and giggle at shot glasses that said "I LOVE BOYS." I didn't get one for anybody back home though so take that, you vicariosos.
Cleveland is on the borders of massive Lake Erie. Look up on a map if you have one for the size of it; it won't get the size across. This lake goes across several states, could float all of the ACT and looks like the damn ocean. It's a shame it also smelled really bad, otherwise I would have tried to swim to Canada. Failed miserably for sure, but I could have tried. Cleveland also has a river running through it, and we were informed by our hosts that the river has literally caught on fire. I thought "burning river" was one of them there urban legend type rumours, but I've thought a lot of very stupid things in my life so I shouldn't have acted so surprised when I found out it actually happened.
In any case, we drove around a little that night and eventually went to bed, woke up, stretched a lot then got in the car and sat still for the ten or eleven hours it took to get back. Google Maps told us the drive would only be 9 hours long but Google is Not Always Right. I harbor a little ill will towards this particular lie.
Oh and over the week I caught up on sleep, played some free video games that a friend in Canada mailed to me because he's just ginchy and spent the next weekend doing nothing at all, because it's my holiday and I'll sleep if I want to, sleep if I want to, sleep if I want to. I'm off to stare at tablet PCs on eBay more now, as there's ridiculously good deals in this country, and having my own laptop would make things a lot easier on Maddie's school schedule but I am a filthy foriegner and it is my duty to get in the way.
Last weekend Maddie and I drove up to Cleveland, Ohio to visit my friend Sarah. Do you know how far Cleveland, Ohio is when you're travelling by car? I do. It's at least ten hours. It just may be over eleven. And iPod batteries don't quite last that long if you haven't charged it for a little while. It was fun playing the DJ in the car while it lasted though, and plenty of songs were sung.
On the way there (and on the way back) there were at least plenty of really ridiculously beautiful things to be seen. Like the view from the Appalachian Mountains over the state of West Virginia. Or the times we drove through clouds which still isn't quite something I am old enough to ignore. Or the two seperate circumstances that led us to driving through a mountain. Two different mountains, in fact. I love tunnels.
Once we reached Ohio though, it was still another four or so hours until Cleveland, and Ohio isn't that interesting a state until you get to the top of it, so we settled for frequent pit stops, CD changes and swearing at any ugly things that we drove past. I guess it was our own fault for putting off leaving until almost 4pm, but by this point in driving the both of us were very, very, very tired.
Cleveland came and I tell you what, it's a beautiful city. We found our way to Sarah's apartment quite easily and stumbled through her door exhausted from our extended period of strenuous sitting. I have no idea why but I didn't take any photos of Cleveland at all, which was terrible. For starters, Sarah's street was this narrow little street with beautiful big brick apartments and multi floor houses lining it, all old yet not dilapidated. And cheap as heck, I was amazed. Sarah's apartment was really big, with two bedrooms, a long hall, a living room, a dining room, a kitchen and a laundry, with a balcony out front, all for $575 a month. It was within minutes of the center of town too. If only Australian property prices were that cheap.
We slept pretty easily that night and the next day headed into the middle of Cleveland for walking, shopping, exploring and such. Only not much shopping went down as apparently on weekends, Cleveland shuts down early which boggled everybody's minds. We all jumped on a train and went west, to a smaller city area that was home to a gorgeously quaint little square with a statue and bus stop, and a fantastic brewery.
In the brewery, they served a "sampler" which was ten dollars and for that, you got a pot of each type of beer they made. Which was ten beers. And some of them were gloriously Australian-strength beers, one of which was an India Pale Ale which I do oh so love.
We got a little tipsy.
Oddly, Maddie and I got ridiculously hung over the next morning which put a damper on the day's activities. Oddly because we didn't drink enough to match up to how we felt, and oddly because Sarah and Max were absolutely fine and dapper. As such a lot of excursions and such that night were put on hold, although we did go visit a cool LGBT store and giggle at shot glasses that said "I LOVE BOYS." I didn't get one for anybody back home though so take that, you vicariosos.
Cleveland is on the borders of massive Lake Erie. Look up on a map if you have one for the size of it; it won't get the size across. This lake goes across several states, could float all of the ACT and looks like the damn ocean. It's a shame it also smelled really bad, otherwise I would have tried to swim to Canada. Failed miserably for sure, but I could have tried. Cleveland also has a river running through it, and we were informed by our hosts that the river has literally caught on fire. I thought "burning river" was one of them there urban legend type rumours, but I've thought a lot of very stupid things in my life so I shouldn't have acted so surprised when I found out it actually happened.
In any case, we drove around a little that night and eventually went to bed, woke up, stretched a lot then got in the car and sat still for the ten or eleven hours it took to get back. Google Maps told us the drive would only be 9 hours long but Google is Not Always Right. I harbor a little ill will towards this particular lie.
Oh and over the week I caught up on sleep, played some free video games that a friend in Canada mailed to me because he's just ginchy and spent the next weekend doing nothing at all, because it's my holiday and I'll sleep if I want to, sleep if I want to, sleep if I want to. I'm off to stare at tablet PCs on eBay more now, as there's ridiculously good deals in this country, and having my own laptop would make things a lot easier on Maddie's school schedule but I am a filthy foriegner and it is my duty to get in the way.
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