Matt's aching wallet

We have been informed that our movers will not be arriving for at least ten days, so we had to go out and buy a few necessities like pans and food storage stuff, cleaning supplies, etc. We have spent a lot of money since we left Colorado. We've had to fill up the car many times due to the trip. We bought a stacked washer and dryer today (only $500 at an appliance store, we're happy), we bought a corner nook dining room set, and our initial grocery shopping run was pretty painful. We do, however, only do grocery shopping once a month. We are shocked at how expensive hamburger is here. It's nearly $3.00/pound (for the least lean!!).

We did, however, decide to invest $40 and get a membership to Sam's Club. It's really a good deal. We've gotten quite a few things in bulk (laundry detergent, paper towels, pizza, etc). I would have liked to have gotten more stuff there, but we're really limited on freezer space, so we have to keep that in mind when shopping.

We also don't have our microwave yet, so cooking is interesting. I had to make hot dogs on the stovetop for the first time last night in a really long time :)

We made it!

We finally arrived in Daytona Beach today at about 2:30PM (we're in the Eastern Time Zone now). It took us a bit to finish up paperwork for the apartment, but we're in and we're pretty happy with the place. Matt likes the apartment a lot better than Hawaii, but I think our Hawaii apartment was bigger. I really have no major complaints, however. It's clean, north facing (this is really big since it's so bloody HOT here), I have yet to see a bug (other than a little ant) in the apartment, and the apartment complex staff is really friendly and professional.

The rest of the trip went by without a hitch. The cats seemed to adjust to the car very well, and by today's trip, we didn't hear a peep out of either one of them. They both immediately adjusted to the apartment as well. Buffy especially seems to be happy to be back to just the four of us. Matt and I are both pretty worn out from the trip, but we did begin to explore our new city today. We didn't see the beaches yet, but I'm sure we will before too long.

Turn the page

Matt and I said our goodbyes and left Colorado this morning. Of course, goodbyes are never easy, but we are glad to finally be moving on to the next page of our lives together. We have a very packed car with little room for the cats. I had decided that they were going to stay in their carriers the entire time, but Nite seemed to have other ideas. Within the first hour of our trip, we had to stop and clean out her carrier three times. After the last time, I decided to just let her roam around what was left of the car. She was pretty good after that, with a few antsy spells here and there. Buffy is a perfect angel in the car (she did puke once, but I'm pretty sure it was a motion sickness thing). I opened her carrier as well, and she would roam the car and find a perch atop a suitcase, but eventually found that her carrier was the most comfortable place to sleep. Nite switched between mine and Matt's lap, but also shared Buffy's carrier for the majority of the trip.

We drove for 12 hours today and ended up getting almost 40 miles per gallon and only had to stop three times (after Nite's incident). We are staying at a motel in Fort Worth, Texas, right now. We have an equally long day tomorrow. We'll be driving through the rest of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and into the panhandle of Florida. We need to arrive at our new home early Friday afternoon to get checked in and everything.

Our little huntress

As I think I've mentioned before, Nite has become quite the escape artist. She seems to have learned who doesn't watch for her sneaking out with them and is quick to dart for the door when she sees them going toward it. We don't really even pay attention any more, because every night she is in the window well outside of our window meowing until I come up and let her in.

Lately she has started to have fun hunting things. A few days ago she caught and ate a bird (which I found regurgatated on the hallway floor a day later). Yesterday was my favorite, though, she caught a snake! It was just a baby garder snake, maybe a foot long at most, but she had played with it (and perforated it) until it died. I have really never seen a snake in the wild up close before, so I was quick to pick it up and look at it. Matt would only touch it with a stick lol.

Anyway, I'm not sure how she's going to adjust to having to be inside all the time when we move to Florida. She'll just have to get used to it.

Another one bites the dust

I have ben studying for the last couple of weeks for yet another computer certification, Security+. This one focuses primarily on the security aspects of computers and computer networks. In other words, it focuses on keeping people out. I thought that the exam was easy, but I just barely passed. As I've heard it said, though, a lawyer that barely passes the BAR is no less a lawyer than one that aced it.

I think I've learned the most from my studies for this exam, so it's a bit more gratifying than some of the others. I am debating which exam to take next. I started to study for Server+, but from what I've read, the certification isn't as respected by potential employers as others. When we move into our apartment, I plan on having a mini computer lab including various operating systems, so I might do Linux+ next. I think I'm really procrastinating what I really need to do next, which is continue my Microsoft certifications because they are really hard :)

Chey the human pinball

Since we arrived in Colorado, I have heard that we needed to go tubing on the South Platte River, which runs about an hour from us in the mountains. Well today we did just that. I was really excited because I really like the lazy rivers at water parks. We packed up the tubes, some lunch, a two-man canoe, and a one-man rowboat and set off. It was me, Matt, his dad, Zach and the neighbor kid Mackenzie.

We got to the river and scoped out a good place to start and stop. We had taken two cars so we didn't have to walk all the way back after we were done. We inflated everything that needed to be inflated and set to the water! The first obstacle for me was the temperature of the water. I'd guess it was between 55 and 60 degrees. It didn't take much to get used to it, because once you were in the water, you were soaked.

The next obstacle was this - lazy river my ass. Basically, this was whitewater rafting with your butt sticking through a donut instead of a cushion of air protecting your fragile behind. The water was at most two feet deep, so I was constantly having my butt slammed into rocks on the river bottom. I quickly learned that it is best to face up river and use your legs to bounce off of any large 20-ton boulders that might be randomly sitting in the middle of the river.

It was a winding 1-mile stretch that we tubed down. It was a lot of fun, no matter how painful. Well, at least the first run was. The second time we went down the river was my worst. I had gotten pretty good at locating the problem rocks below me and lifting my butt far enough out of the water to avoid them. The problem was the ones that I didn't see. One caught me off guard and hit me right in the spine. I went limp for a second. Another time I jammed my wrist on a rock while trying to keep from slamming into said rock while rushing toward it in some rapids. But, I made it through the second run, smiling a little less and wincing a little more.

The third time I did the run I was beginning to tell myself that I'm really stupid. Again, I took a rock in the spine and continued to batter my bottom. I was glad that we weren't going again after that one. However, looking back it really was a fun day and I hope to get to do it again some day. The welts and bruises on my butt will heal :)

Getting ready for the move

Everything is coming together quite nicely for our upcoming move from Colorado to Florida. The movers are coming to pick up our stuff on either Thursday or Friday, and I have confirmed with our apartment owners our move-in date for July 28. We are both really looking forward to finally getting to our permanent home for at least the next three years. I am actually looking forward to working again, and I have one final computer certification (Security+) scheduled for the 21st of this month.

Buffy's rough 4th of July

Both cats have been showing an increase in going outside lately, so while Matt and I were home alone for a while on the 4th of July, we decided to read outside on the front lawn and let the cats run around outside with us. Nite has become a master escape artist and has ended up spending a few nights outside, so we're really not concerned with her at all. In fact, she pretty much just sat by us the whole time. Buffy, on the other hand, has just recently shown an interest in the outdoors and went off exploring. Again, I wasn't too concerned because I figured she'd find her way back if she went too far. Indeed, when she would lose eyesight, we'd hear her start to yell, and it wouldn't be long before she'd be back in our yard.

It appeared she was having a good time running around until everyone else arrived home. She doesn't do too well with other people. I could tell that she just wanted to get inside, but there were strange people in her way. I tried to clear a path for her, but I guess they were still too close to the door. Matt's niece and nephew tried to chase her inside, but she ended up running into the neighbor's yard, into a fence, and then she was no where to be found. At this point, I still wasn't very concerned because I figured she'd find her way home after everyone went inside.

Then we saw the wall of black clouds approaching. Everyone headed indoors, so I set out to find my scared kitty. I had to think like her, and I figured that she would probably stay close to a house, and that's exactly where I found her - next to the neighbor's house. Fortunately, when I yelled for her, she yelled back. I picked her up and headed home. All was good until she saw Matt's sister-in-law and nephew at the door. She freaked out, scratched me up pretty good (tore my shirt, in fact) and headed for the backyard. I was started to get frustrated at this point.

Fortunately, there is a sliding door heading into the basement, so Matt opened that and I eventually got her to run in before the rain really started to come down. I'm not sure she's going to want to go outside for a while.

Chey versus Best Buy

As I may have mentioned in the past, I have been working with Best Buy to repair my laptop. Fortunately, I purchased the performance service plan on it when I bought it three years ago. The laptop worked great for the first six months or so, but then it started to overheat (that's my diagnoses). The PSP states that if Best Buy can't fix it in three tries, I get a new one.

Well, three repair attempts came and went and they didn't fix it. Ironically, they were never able to identify the problem, which I knew from the beginning. They replaced just about every part that the laptop had at least twice. Yesterday, they finally called me and told me to come in and get my replacement.

When I bought my laptop, it was the top of the line at the time. It had a 17" screen and specifications that were capable of playing EverQuest II (impressive, especially for a three year old laptop). The PSP says that they will replace my laptop with one of a "comparable" quality. The sales guys tried to give me a laptop that was no slouch, but wasn't what I wanted. I wanted another Toshiba laptop. Throughout the replacement process, they never once asked me what type of laptop that I wanted. I eventually had to pull out the "I know what I'm talking about" card with my certifications. They stopped trying to push the lesser quality laptop on me at that point.

Basically, what I wanted was a 15" Toshiba laptop that is probably about three times as good as my last one. We eventually reached the agreement that they would only give me the lesser laptop, and if I wanted to get the better one, I had to pay the difference. The difference - $150. So in other words, I got this killer laptop for $150 :)