Wednesday, March 29, 2006

Little update

Finally bought a new TV. I got a 20" TV with flat picture tube, from Best Buy. Only cost $179, and the picture is sweeeet! Watched CSI and Bloodsport...never enjoyed it this much. And whenever I turn it on or off, it plays a funky sound. Anyway, check it out here:
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=7035816&type=product&id=1099395890100

Still need an entertainment center and small computer desk. Will work on that tomorrow...unless it rains cats and dogs. :-)

No new pictures today...but stay tuned!

Tuesday, March 28, 2006

Pictures of the Olathe area

Hi again! PJ's back with a host of new pictures.

Some people have asked me whether Kansas has freeways, traffic signals, paved roads, and stuff like that. Hopefully I can now show you that we have all those things...and more!

This is my apartment from my carport's point of view, #1117.

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Oh! This is so funny. People in our community love to walk their dogs, but I guess there used to be a problem with owners not picking up after the dog does its deed by the fire hydrants, bushes, stop signs, etc. The city enacted some ordinance requiring dog-walkers to clean up after their pets, or else they'd be fined $25-$250! To make life easier for the community (when has a city ever done that??) they've put up dog poop waste cans in "convenient" places. Take a look....


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A view of the street just outside my apartment building. Looks almost as nice as the views from outside my former apartment in Lenexa. Today was somewhat overcast, which limited the amount of sunlight in these pictures...but notice how blue the skies are!

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OK, for the non-believers: Kansas has business areas like all the other metropolitan areas. This one is from Overland Park, on College Blvd and Highway 69.

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And yes, Kansas has multi-level freeways. Here's an on-ramp to Highway 69.

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A bowling alley....

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Bank of America, where I just opened a checking account!

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Who still thinks Kansas doesn't have paved roads and coordinated traffic signals?? Check this out:

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Blockbuster...around the corner!! Still expensive to rent, tho ($4.65 for 2-day new releases, $4.25 for 1-week for everything else).

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Here's a food/shopping strip mall across 119th Street from my apartment community. Granite Store is opening soon, and if you look very closely, you'll see Marshall's in full swing. (Click the image for a larger picture)

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Black Bob Road, 1 hour before the 5 PM rush. Some of the streets here have interesting names involving colors: Black Bob, Blackfoot, Blue Jacket....

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Another view of the Blockbuster store, with my car parked just left of center.


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Bally's Total Fitness...get fit! :)

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Faraway shot of an Old Navy.

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A BIG Borders Bookstore in the back. The place in the foreground, in front of the parked red car, is an Olive Garden. IBMers eat there all the time!

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I guess Kansas isn't too bad, right?

Monday, March 27, 2006

It's 2006...and I'm ba-ack!!

Hello, Kansas! Did you miss me? :)

I'm here in my new apartment, a wee bit smaller than my last one. Furniture is finally here...but why does this place have 9 doors??? Seriously, I only have 6 rooms, so what's up with all the doors? Check this out:

1. Door to the outside
2. Coat closet
3. Water heater room door
4. Bathroom from living room
5. Bathroom from bedroom (two bathroom doors!!)
6. Laundry/mini-storage area from bathroom
7. Bedroom from living room
8. Door to patio
9. Bedroom to walk-in closet

For rooms, I just have living room, bathroom, bedroom, small dining, kitchen, and laundry/mini-storage.

Yup, I'm back for another round. Oh boy, and have I got some stories for you! Keep your eyes on this blog, folks.

Wednesday, March 22, 2006

CS alum mini-reunion

Thank you, again, to y'all who made it to the dinner. Even though only 5
of us ended up there, we had the rest of you in mind (as in, since
so-and-so isn't here to defend him-/herself, do you remember when
he/she...).

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I got there about 20 minutes early (for good parking). The entire group was there by about 7:30, due to the heavy rain and being St. Patrick's Day. The live jazz band was awesome!



While me and one of the guys were doing the whatever-happened-to so-and-so bit, it turned out that a plot was in the works. One of the ladies went up to the guitarist and told him something. She told me that she said that the music was awesome and stuff. Next thing I knew, Yen-Yen totally flipped the subject and asked
about how I got around in Kansas. (For those of you keeping score: yes, we have freeways and paved roads.) So now the band leader starts talking,

"Ladies and Gentlemen, tonight we want to give a shout-out to PJ, who's
starting a new job....and so here's a song just for you."

I was like, "That was good, Guys, really good...."

We talked for what seemed like only an hour. Little did we know that it
was already 10:00! We got the check...but something was totally wrong.
How could we have had 5 dishes, 2 appetizers, and 2 drinks for just
$28?? We sat there analyzing their "algorithm" for a while. I think the
take-home portion was worth about $28 itself. ;-)

We took some pictures of the group--some candid, some posed.

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We finally dispersed at about 10:30, since some of us were thinking
about how the band's soulful tunes and our big ($28) meal were going to
hit us during the one-hour drive home.

Wednesday, March 15, 2006

First time at Fry's Electronics

I understand why my uncle loves going to Fry's Electronics (and why my cousin absolutely hates them).

I found a deal for CD labeling kits on their Web site, so I thought I'd pay them a visit. The store is enormous! They even have their own street and in-store cafe! I guess you'd need the cafe; you can work up an appetite playing in there.

First thing I asked myself, are the label kits in CDs, Computers, or Paper? Took me 5 minutes to find them...between Paper and Computers. :-P Worse, they weren't where the shelf label said they were, but on the next shelf over.

(Moral #1: don't ever try to find stuff on your own at Fry's)

OK, onto the replacement USB cable for my iriver music player. USB accessories, Audio, MP3 accessories, or Computers? The lady in Audio pointed me to computers, the guy in Computers directed me to audio, and the guy in audio pointed me to MP3 accessories. Needless to say, the dude in MP3 said Fry's didn't have the part. :(

While I was in Audio, I saw an FM transmitter and thought, hey, my new car probably won't have a tape player or MP3 port, so I'll need this to play my MP3s! I picked one up for $24.99.

(Moral #2: Fry's knows how to lure even less-compulsive buyers.)

Customers are pretty friendly too. This customer in computers was asking an associate if Fry's had PCMCIA to USB adapters. The Fry-guy didn't know what that was, and having just passed something that looked like it, I pointed out to the customer what I thought he wanted. It wasn't exactly it, but after talking to him all I could say was that those parts were hot like 8 years ago. Then in cables, another dude asked me about connecting his flat-panel TV to his computer. Hey, if I don't make it as a programmer, maybe I can ask Fry's for a job!

(Moral #3: don't undermine customers' willingness to ask other customers for help)

Finally, I went in line to check out. Now Fry's has one of those queues with all sorts of goodies. It was almost dinner time and those Pepperidge Farm cookies looked SOOOO GOOOD! I resisted and walked on, but then NESTLE CRUNCH WITH CARAMEL!! awwwww......

No! Must resist!

TGI Friday's Spicy Potato Strips....

No-oo-ooo-oo!

I'm not a compulsive buyer...but dang it, Fry's! You're going to make me max out my credit cards if I keep on coming back.

Fry's is the DEVIL!! ;)

13401 Crossroads Parkway North
City of Industry, CA
91746
(562) 463-2400

From the 60 Freeway, exit Crossroads Parkway, about 1/2 mile east of the 605.

Sheesh.