Long overdue update / NYC trip / etc.
Hey LJ! I'm actually writing in you! I don't know if anyone will actually read this! LJ isn't exactly that popular anymore. I think MySpace might have more fans still reading. I kind of like it that way, though. Much more private than "tell the world" Facebook. Hey, it's been awhile! What's happening, you ask?
Let's see. I played a pretty sweet iOS / Android game called GameDevStory. It's a game development simulator. It's pretty simplistic, but it's a Hell of a lot of fun simulating game development. I'd love a bigger, more featured version of this game. I blew a good 6-8 hours playing this.
Battlefield 3 beta has come and gone. I did not purchase the final product. The game is actually outstanding, but I need to hold off on game purchases for now. I have way too much shit to do to get too distracted by video games.
PAX East 2012 registration went live! I've registered, and you should, too! Passes sold out really quickly last year. Don't expect to buy a pass the day of the convention.
I'm all done with my first-time home buyers classes! I've been stuck in the home buying process, though. An old medical screwup on my credit report still needs to be fixed because I can get a mortgage. I'm working on fixing it, but it's taking forever. I can't move forward without a mortgage. ( obviously )
I'm back from my NYC Trip! It went pretty darned well!
NYC TRIP
-----------
* Took the BoltBus up and back to NYC. The trip to NYC only took 3 1/2 hours. The trip back ended up taking 5 1/2 hours. Getting stuck in NYC rush hour traffic is a freaking nightmare. I also hate the fact that BoltBus stops at Arby's. That's not exactly vegetarian friendly.
* The first day, I spent the night with my old roommate / awesome friend Andrew. I can crash at his place whenever I want to visit NYC! Which is pretty cool seeing as a Boltbus ticket is about $30 roundtrip. The tricky part is finding enough time off to actually make the visit.
* Met my Mom at LGA. She missed the flight she was initially supposed to be on, but I guess she had enough tearworks in her to get a flight rescheduled. We stayed at the Country Inn and Suites in Queensboro. It was a good compromise on quality / price / convienance. I just loathed the terrible hotel Internet speeds.
* A snowstorm hit on Saturday. It was pretty bad. Luckily we had a play to go to, so we didn't have to waste a day of touring during crappy weather.
* We wandered into Bloomingdales for a bit during the storm. We looked at the prices and quickly decided to freeze our *sses off elsewhere.
* We attended the Broadway play, "Relatively Speaking". It's really 3 mini plays in one. The 2nd play seemed to be the strongest one to me and my Mom. I was amazed at the detail and lighting the entire time. I guess that's what you get with high-end plays.
* Daily Show was great! Jon Stewart is pretty much as you expect him to be. It was a lot of wait for a very short show, though. Worth doing none-the-less.
* Colbert Report was *amazing*! Yo-Yo Ma was the guest that night, and we had awesomely close seats to Goat Rodeo's performance! Stephen Colbert has an OOC Q&A with the audience before the show. I must say, I like OOC Colbert far more than I like IC Colbert. I think he's doing himself a disservice by not just being himself on TV. He's freaking hysterical OOC.
* Mom got tickets for Anderson Cooper's new talk show. The set for that show is really spectacular. It has a great view of Central Park. The show itself was pretty alright. I'm just not much of a talk show type of person. I'd much rather be watching Anderson Cooper 360 instead.
* We made a couple of stops by Occupy Wall Street. I was mainly an observer, but Mom got back in touch with her 1970s protesting roots. Everyone was behaving orderly and it was very peaceful protest.
* I picked myself up a set of winter boots at Century 21. Century 21 is a neat discount store in NYC that carries very high end brands at discounted prices. I wish we had one in Boston.
* The NYC public transit system is gargantuan. In many ways, it puts the Boston public transit system to shame. The subway coverage alone is something monumental. I wish the MBTA would keep expanding as to cover more and more areas around Boston. All wasn't to be admired, however. The system, while dwarfing the Boston system, seemed out of date in many ways. The turnstiles are old, the cards are the old slider cards, and there is little to no tracking of NYC buses.
* Furthermore, NYC is a good bit dirtier than Boston in general. When I returned up north, I was so happy to be in a nice, clean place again. I understand that maintaining the city is much more difficult due to population and size, but it still needs to be done.
* We ate out really well for dinner each night in NYC. I used a Restaurant.com coupon each time. No need to go totally broke when eating fancy.
* I really need to go back without Mom. I really wanted to go out at night on that weekend, but alas, I'm not going anywhere with my Mum around me. I guess I'll have to save that for next time.
* All said, it was a great trip! I could see myself living in NYC under different circumstance, but I'm very happy with my home in Boston. I'd easily rate NYC well over cities like Philadelphia and Baltimore. DC is a harder comparison due to how much cleaner it is. Then again, DC has a whole different slew of issues of its own. It's a great city, and I'll be returning to visit again at some point!
My normal West Virginia Christmas vacation is scheduled for December 21st - December 30th.
Let's see. I played a pretty sweet iOS / Android game called GameDevStory. It's a game development simulator. It's pretty simplistic, but it's a Hell of a lot of fun simulating game development. I'd love a bigger, more featured version of this game. I blew a good 6-8 hours playing this.
Battlefield 3 beta has come and gone. I did not purchase the final product. The game is actually outstanding, but I need to hold off on game purchases for now. I have way too much shit to do to get too distracted by video games.
PAX East 2012 registration went live! I've registered, and you should, too! Passes sold out really quickly last year. Don't expect to buy a pass the day of the convention.
I'm all done with my first-time home buyers classes! I've been stuck in the home buying process, though. An old medical screwup on my credit report still needs to be fixed because I can get a mortgage. I'm working on fixing it, but it's taking forever. I can't move forward without a mortgage. ( obviously )
I'm back from my NYC Trip! It went pretty darned well!
NYC TRIP
-----------
* Took the BoltBus up and back to NYC. The trip to NYC only took 3 1/2 hours. The trip back ended up taking 5 1/2 hours. Getting stuck in NYC rush hour traffic is a freaking nightmare. I also hate the fact that BoltBus stops at Arby's. That's not exactly vegetarian friendly.
* The first day, I spent the night with my old roommate / awesome friend Andrew. I can crash at his place whenever I want to visit NYC! Which is pretty cool seeing as a Boltbus ticket is about $30 roundtrip. The tricky part is finding enough time off to actually make the visit.
* Met my Mom at LGA. She missed the flight she was initially supposed to be on, but I guess she had enough tearworks in her to get a flight rescheduled. We stayed at the Country Inn and Suites in Queensboro. It was a good compromise on quality / price / convienance. I just loathed the terrible hotel Internet speeds.
* A snowstorm hit on Saturday. It was pretty bad. Luckily we had a play to go to, so we didn't have to waste a day of touring during crappy weather.
* We wandered into Bloomingdales for a bit during the storm. We looked at the prices and quickly decided to freeze our *sses off elsewhere.
* We attended the Broadway play, "Relatively Speaking". It's really 3 mini plays in one. The 2nd play seemed to be the strongest one to me and my Mom. I was amazed at the detail and lighting the entire time. I guess that's what you get with high-end plays.
* Daily Show was great! Jon Stewart is pretty much as you expect him to be. It was a lot of wait for a very short show, though. Worth doing none-the-less.
* Colbert Report was *amazing*! Yo-Yo Ma was the guest that night, and we had awesomely close seats to Goat Rodeo's performance! Stephen Colbert has an OOC Q&A with the audience before the show. I must say, I like OOC Colbert far more than I like IC Colbert. I think he's doing himself a disservice by not just being himself on TV. He's freaking hysterical OOC.
* Mom got tickets for Anderson Cooper's new talk show. The set for that show is really spectacular. It has a great view of Central Park. The show itself was pretty alright. I'm just not much of a talk show type of person. I'd much rather be watching Anderson Cooper 360 instead.
* We made a couple of stops by Occupy Wall Street. I was mainly an observer, but Mom got back in touch with her 1970s protesting roots. Everyone was behaving orderly and it was very peaceful protest.
* I picked myself up a set of winter boots at Century 21. Century 21 is a neat discount store in NYC that carries very high end brands at discounted prices. I wish we had one in Boston.
* The NYC public transit system is gargantuan. In many ways, it puts the Boston public transit system to shame. The subway coverage alone is something monumental. I wish the MBTA would keep expanding as to cover more and more areas around Boston. All wasn't to be admired, however. The system, while dwarfing the Boston system, seemed out of date in many ways. The turnstiles are old, the cards are the old slider cards, and there is little to no tracking of NYC buses.
* Furthermore, NYC is a good bit dirtier than Boston in general. When I returned up north, I was so happy to be in a nice, clean place again. I understand that maintaining the city is much more difficult due to population and size, but it still needs to be done.
* We ate out really well for dinner each night in NYC. I used a Restaurant.com coupon each time. No need to go totally broke when eating fancy.
* I really need to go back without Mom. I really wanted to go out at night on that weekend, but alas, I'm not going anywhere with my Mum around me. I guess I'll have to save that for next time.
* All said, it was a great trip! I could see myself living in NYC under different circumstance, but I'm very happy with my home in Boston. I'd easily rate NYC well over cities like Philadelphia and Baltimore. DC is a harder comparison due to how much cleaner it is. Then again, DC has a whole different slew of issues of its own. It's a great city, and I'll be returning to visit again at some point!
My normal West Virginia Christmas vacation is scheduled for December 21st - December 30th.