April 5th, 2000
I did not have
to travel anywhere to see one of the best bands of my time....the Red
Hot Chili Peppers! However, my brother drove four hours from
Philly to make the concert. Along with the Peppers were the amazing
rock band Foo Fighters! They are led by the former drummer
of Nirvana, Dave Grohl. They played an hour set and balanced their
set out by playing songs from each one of their records(I believe they
have three now). They made the crowd go crazy with their hit song
Learn
to Fly. They put a lot of energy into each one of their songs
and got the crowd pumped up for the lead act, the Peppers.
The Peppers
got everyone going with their opening song All Around the World.
I never heard the Bryce Jordan Center(stadium at Penn State) that loud
before. Surprisingly, the Chili Peppers went old school for the evening
while playing their new stuff every so often. This didn't bother
me one bit considering I know most of their old songs. Songs like
Soul
to Squeeze, Under the Bridge, Suck My Kiss, Other
Side, Scar Tissue, and Me and My Friends got the Penn
State students off their seats and made them go crazy including myself.
They played for about an hour and a half and everyone enjoyed every second
of it. I probably won't forget this concert for a long time.
Eventually I hope to scan my ticket stubs for each of these events onto
my site. Maybe I'll have a ticket stub page including stubs from
other concerts I have attended. Oh yeah, Kevin left for back home
at 12:03a.m. and arrived in Havertown at 2:53a.m. This was undoubtedly
a new world record in the shortest length of travel time! Way to
go Kev.
April 7th, 2000
This
day was the day of the Battle of the Bands at Penn State.
Of course I was supporting the group SONA a.k.a. Smuggling Grapes.
Before the event started, Sona gathered all their fans together at the
local pub The Rathskeller. There we shared some encouraging
words and free beverages of our choice. I could tell that some members
of the band were nervous but it didn't show when they finally went on stage
a little later on.
My friends and
I, including Patrick, Kendra, Steve, Carol, Tom W., and Michelle stayed
at the Skeller for about an hour and a half and then made the march up
to the HUB on campus. When we arrived we met up with the lead singer
of SONA, Brian Lubrecht, and again we added more words of encouragement.
He generously thanked us and then time came for them to perform.
The seats were constantly being filled in before SONA started and
by the time they began their set, the seats were packed. SONA looked
very pleased. Their set consisted of all originals including Birdsong,
Ether,
and Supernova. They rocked hard and often. What was
really great were the many individuals who didn't know the band but liked
what they heard and cheered loudly along with, of course, the regular supporters
(myself included).
Before I knew
it, the set was over (they were only allowed 20 minutes) but the night
just started. Eventually my friends and I made it back to the Rathskeller
once more. To our surprise, three members of the band were there.
Brian came over to our table and small talked with us for some time and
told us about a post party at 709 West College Ave. We jumped at
that opportunity. Some more beverages were had by all but another
march commenced. We walked about 6 to 7 blocks up to 709 West College
not really sure where the heck the place was. I took the initiative
when we got to what we thought was 709 and I opened the door without knocking
not knowing what to expect. Luckily we arrived at the right place
and the other members of the band were there including Jeff, Scott, and
Alec.
The hosts of
the party were generous with the beverages and also hilarious. The
main host looked like Stifler from the movie American Pie and quoted
many times from the movie which was incredibly funny. Steve, Patrick,
and myself (the women in our group went back to the Rathskeller
again!) conversed with the band many times throughout the night.
Jeff from SONA actually came up to us and greeted us with our names
(he takes care of the SONA website and since we are on the mailing
list he recognized us). This gave us sort of an odd feeling considering
it should be the other way around. Usually it is me saying, "Hey
your Jeff from SONA, right?!", not Jeff saying, "Hey Tim Ballisty,
welcome to the party!" Well the latter quote actually took place
which was really cool. Eventually Brian Lubrecht showed up and Patrick,
Steve, and myself talked with him once again. We learned alot about
Brian that night including his many philosophies about life and the music
industry. It was very entertaining to say the least.
The night went
on to around 2:30a.m. when we finally made our way back home. There,
many strange things occurred including myself being hit in the head with
a Hot Pocket from Patrick and my arm getting scratched up by Steve closing
the microwave door on my arm......that was really pleasant. Oh yeah,
did I mention water being spilled on me while falling asleep....that was
great also. However I didn't care due to the fact that I had experienced
one of my best yet odd nights here at Penn State. I hope I get to
experience that sort of night again.
April 21st, 2000
Well,
we are coming down the homestretch in my college career. Just one
more week of classes!!! I can't believe it. I guess that is
exciting enough to put into my recent events page. Sadly, I still
haven't bought my cap and gown yet, oh well. Graduation is May 13th
at 7pm at the Eisenhower Auditorium here on campus. Well this is
the Easter Holiday weekend and unfortunately Tim is not going home.
My Mom and Dad are off to Ireland visiting my grandmom. So there
will be no turkey dinner for me on Sunday. Hopefully I can use the
extra time to my advantage like maybe buying my cap and gown! Well
that's it from here.
May 8th, 2000
It is May 8th
as stated and my classes and finals are OVER!!! It's all DONE!!
WOO HOO!! I will be graduating in less than a week on May 13th at
the Eisenhower Auditorium on the Penn State campus. I really can't
believe it is all over. Now what do I do with myself. I know...I'll
update my webpage. I'll be picking up my cap and gown today and I
got my seating chart for graduation. So that is the big news in my
life. My two Philly teams, Flyers and Sixers, are in the playoffs
so that is keeping me glued to the T.V. for the past couple of weeks. Flyers
are on their way in defeating the annoying Penguins and the Sixers are
playing tonight to try to even out their series 1-1 against the pumped
up Indiana Pacers. They are on fire. Also I'm waiting for the
release of Pearl Jam's newest album, Binaural, which comes out on May 16th!!
(8 days!...woo hoo!). So that's the latest from here...next time
I update this I will be an alumnus of Penn State University...wow!
Also be sure to check out pictures part 6!
May 13th, 2000
Yes Graduation
day finally came. My parents, brother, sister, and brother-in-law,
all came up to see me receive that thing called a diploma! It was
a great day with beautiful weather and good fun. Soon, I'll put up
some pics of that day.
July 18th, 2000
Well, nothing
really happened on this day but I get to update my site. It's been
two months since graduation and I've been busy working and getting some
mula in my bank account. I'm still searching for a TV job.
But in the meantime, I'm enjoying the summer. I'll be leaving for
Las Vegas on July 22nd! It'll be my first time that far west in the
US. I am going with my sister and brother-in-law, Mike's mom and
dad, and his relatives from Ireland. It should be a blast.
I'll be up again to Penn State on Aug. 5th to see my friend Patrick graduate.
It'll be the last time we will be in our apartment. Our lease expires
on the sixth of August. Thus officially ends our time at Penn State.
The end had to come sometime I guess. I'll be updating more frequently
at my other site, http://www.oocities.org/tdb152.
Bye for now!
July 27th, 2000
Hey everybody!
Just got back from the "City of Sin", Las Vegas!! The trip was nonstop
and on some nights I didn't have any time to sleep but who cares, it was
all worth it! I went with my sister, brother-in-law...Mike, Mike's mom
and dad, and his relatives from Ireland. It's hard to believe that is already
over. The trip was so overwhelming it's hard to put my experience into
words. Just the fact that it was my first time in the West was enough for
me. If I ended up in Death Valley, CA I still would have had a blast....I
would be dead but it would still have been a blast. Anyway, the many sites
I saw were just incredible, the multicolor lights, the casinos, the gambling,
the money, the restaurants, the women. I spent my time in many of the casinos
like the Excalibur(where I stayed), the Bellagio, Mandelay Bay, Caesars,
MGM Grand, Stratosphere, the Venetian(probably my favorite), Paris, and
so on. All I can say about the casinos is gluttony. Gluttony of money and
gluttony for money. But they are all very unique and beautiful in their
own right. Next the weather...ahhh....the weather. Everyday was about 110
degrees in the shade and humidity at a very, very dry 10%. My lips were
chapping and my mouth was dry. It was so dry, my love life asked me for
water. He he, a little joke! It was hard to travel sometimes but we all
drank a lot of water. During the last full day there, we drove out about
4 hours east to the Grand Canyon in good ol' Arizona. All I can say is,
"Wow!" It's hard to fathom how big it is until you see it. I'll have some
pictures up of this big ditch eventually. It was a long day on the road
but it was all worth it. What was pretty cool during the trip to and from
the Canyon were the twirling dust devils that were spinning around in the
desert. I took some pictures of them; I hope they come out. So all in all,
it was an incredible trip including many odds and ends that I am conspicuously
leaving out. Only a handful know what I am talking about...mums the word!
That means you, MIKE! Again, pictures to come. Talk to you later people
of the internet.
August 7th, 2000
Yes, here we
are already in August. Let me tell you time is flying by. Just
an update on my living conditions up at State College, Pa. They are
no more. Our lease for 603 Calder Commons is officially dead.
Myself, Tom Wiesak, and Steve Beauparlant cleaned out our apartment once
and for all. This means if I want to visit PSU it will have to be
at somebody else's expense. Enter my friends Carol, Siv, and Dan.
I know they won't let me down...will ya?!?! Still trying to get the
pictures of Vegas and the Grand Canyon scanned. Will take some time.
Sorry for the delay. I should invest in a scanner or a digital camera.
Another one of my roommates, Patrick, just graduated on August 5th.
Only two more of the roommates to go. Congratulations to Patrick
and to Steve and Jon....let's get a move on!! Also recently went
to Scranton, PA, to see Third Eye Blind on August 1st. Although I
don't approve of the way they handle themselves(esp. Stephan Jenkins),
I still enjoy their music and they put on a great show. OK, well
that's it from this end. Talk to you in a few.
August 14th, 2000
Hey....it's mid-August. Where
is the time going? Well, I spent this past weekend in Dewey Beach,
Delaware. I never thought of the state of Delaware as being cool.
But after spending time in Dewey (and the Rusty Rudder), I can definitely
say the beaches in Delaware are the place to be. A lot of fun was
had by all down there including, myself, Carol, Mike Martini, Becky, Kyle,
Cheech, and Karen. It was one day but it was fun to say the least!
September 2nd, 2000
This is Pearl
Jam day. But soon it will be known as the "day that Tim was an idiot
and got himself into trouble" day. Yes, it was a day when whoever
wanted something bad to happen to me finally had their wish and they got
everything out in a matter of 6 hours. I won't get into it too much.
All I can say is that I messed up the only day that nothing possibly could
have gone wrong and unfortunately everything that could have went wrong....did.
Miscommunication with my friend Keith, lost my friends and family at the
concert, was by myself during the concert, got into a fight while at the
concert, and finally....had my cell phone stolen. There's more to
it like I said but there is just too much to tell. The only good
thing that can come out of this is that even though I screwed up this night,
I still have two nights in Milwaukee and Chicago(yes I'm going to these
two cities) where I am going to see Pearl Jam once again....Woo hoo!!
More to come....more
pictures to come on my recent ventures. I will soon invest in a scanner...hopefully!!
If I do, I will place more pictures up more frequently.
By the way,
my friend Tom Wiesak got a job in my area!....Go Tom! Welcome to
the city of brotherly love and good luck.
October 7th-10th, 2000
Where do I begin?
I couldn't wait for this trip ever since the Pearl Jam concert on September
2nd in Philly. I knew it would be great and it was. It started
on Sat. October 7th when me and my brother Kevin arrived in Midway airport
in Chicago. There, Jamie(Kevin's friend) picked us up and we went
straight to Jamie's place. We stayed there during the trip.
We got a good night's rest to get ready for the next, long but great day.
We got up early on Sunday to travel to a river where Jamie coached his
crew team for a regatta that was held that day. That lasted during
most of the day with a break at around 12 noon when we caught some of the
Eagles loss to the Redskins. After the regatta it was off to East
Troy, Wisconsin which was about 90 miles away.
While
we were at the regatta it was very cold and nothing changed while tailgating
before the concert. The temperature dropped to around 35 degrees.
We were prepared....all of us had about 4 to 6 layers of clothing on.
And every bit was needed. The temperature kept on dipping and finally
stopped at 28 degrees during the concert. But this didn't stop Pearl
Jam. They played the same amount of songs that they would play during
a normal temperature concert. Probably partially due to Eddie's possession
of a few wine bottles and Stone's constant jumping up and down. Up
on the big screen you could see a tremendous amount of chilled breath coming
out of each member's mouth especially Matt Cameron's. It was very
cool seeing how hard each one was playing.
The night
was comfortable even though Ed remarked, "Welcome to the Iceball!".
We just relaxed and listened to the awesome music. Many songs were
played and some of them songs that Pearl Jam don't play too often.
Eventually it was time to take off and getting out of the parking lot was
interesting due to only one road leading in and out of the venue.
It was hard convincing the mid-westerners to be aggressive. They sat back
and let everybody go by them while we tried to inch in to every little
nook and cranny. During that time, I got out of the car and surveyed
the site. I noticed an empty parking lot that nobody was using as
an exit! I passed on the news to Jamie. That's all he had to
hear. As time went by, we gathered a following behind us and each
one of us broke loose out of the jam and led a breakout through the empty
parking lot toward the exit. It was fun leading a whole pack of cars.
You just had to be there.
We got home around 2am and
slept in until around10am. It was a much needed rest. Now it
was time for Chicago. We left the apartment around 11am and checked
out downtown Chicago via the use of the brown line portion of the LOOP.
If you are in Chicago, you just have to ride the LOOP. It's something
that must be done for nostalgic reasons. Anyway, we ate in diner
downtown and saw the sites like the Sears tower, Chicago trade building
and the Chicago river that you can see at this link. CHICAGO
After
a few hours, we left back for home, picked up our tickets and extra clothing
and shot down Lake Shore Drive to the All-State Arena. We got there
early enough that our parking spot was right next to the main entrance.
We tailgated a while, then Kevin and I got in cue for the Pearl Jam Ten
Club tickets. It was a long wait but while in line we made fun of
some guy next to us who looked like a retarded Newman from Seinfeld.
So that made the time go by quickly. Eventually we got the tix and
we exchanged seat locations to each other. Immediately I was about
to beat Kevin up. He had Section 1 tickets for two while I had section
100 tickets for two. That placed Kevin on the floor while I was off
to the side. I was utterly angry. But Jamie and Kevin came
up with a plan to get me to the floor. We sold our remaining tickets
for some good money and off we went in.
But before
we reached the entrance, we noticed some senior citizens trying to hop
over a railing that separated the sidewalk from the parking lot.
We were baffled by what we saw but immediately helped the 2 couples over
the railing. Curiosity got the best of us and we had to know why
they were at Pearl Jam concert. What we were told opened our jaws
and made us think about what we just heard. It turns out that one
of the couples were the parents of Eddie's wife, Beth. Eddie Vedder's
inlaws! I know, I know, big whoop. But come on! How close
does an average person get to Eddie Vedder's family. Nowhere even
close, so that's why it was a big deal for us. They proceeded to tell us
who they were and we were dumbfounded. Anyway, I screamed, "We are
definitely getting a picture with you!" They obliged very politely
and Kevin took the picture of Jamie and myself with Eddie's inlaws. It
was very cool. Soon I hope to have that picture up.
We finally
made our way in and through the use of the plan, I was able to enjoy Pearl
Jam 7 rows from the stage! It was incredible. What was even
more incredible is that the show was videotaped and of course audiotaped.
We are hoping this will be the concert that Pearl Jam decides to place
on DVD. One can only hope. Also, the song Baba O'Reily was
recorded especially for a Who tribute album due later this year or early
next year. That I can tell you is 100% true. So can't wait
to hear it from that album. The concert itself was incredible.
They played the songs I waited for them to play live for a long time.
Those being of Crazy Mary and Leatherman. Have I said the show was
incredible? Well it was. You can hear if for yourself when
the North American tour is released onto CD early next year I believe.
Can't wait for that.
So, all
in all, it was a trip to remember for a long time to come. We got
back late Monday night to Jamie's apartment, got about a 3 hour sleep and
woke again at 4am to get to the airport for Kevin's early departure to
New Orleans. I stayed in the airport for a few hours more until my
plane departed at around 8am for Baltimore. Can't wait for the next
road trip to Pearl Jam.
November 27th, 2000
Can
you believe it? Christmas and the holidays are on the way!
How was your Thanksgiving? Mine was very quiet but that's the way
I like it. Let's see...many things are happening. Patrick Tomafsky
is awaiting word on a job offer from the company where my brother works,
Vertical Net. I should know soon if he got the offer. My friend
Ryan Meltzer has just attained a job in King of Prussia. I don't
think he likes the commute but he is very happy that he doesn't have to
say that he works at an Ice Cream shop anymore. He is happy to be
in the real world. My friend Carol has just accepted an offer from
Lucent Technology and also is moving into an apartment in Blue Bell, Pa.
She will commute to Pottstown. Just as this acceptance took place,
Lucent's stock plummeted down to 15 points from around 87 points. Ok, well
it's not because of Carol and her employment, just kidding Carol!
But the stock did plummet. Don't buy any tech stocks right now!!
Stay away. That's my stock market advice right now. Thank you
for your time. Anyway.... Plans for New Year's Eve?
I'm not sure but I hope to make it down to Philly with a large group of
friends. Hope that comes to fruition. Still working at the
bakery making some mula. No news on the job hunt....boo hoo.
But I just bought a new car! That's very cool. A very slick
1997 Honda Accord with power everything, sunroof, and cd player.
Can't wait to use the sunroof in the summer time. OK, I didn't wait.
I put it down when it was 32 degrees outside! Even with the cold,
it was worth it! Anyway, I will be back soon to talk about the upcoming
holidays. Until then, Happy Holidays!
Christmas 2000
After working my little behind
off at the bakery up to Christmas Eve, Christmas finally came. And
what a day it came on....Monday! That meant two consecutive days
of church! Oh well. My brother and sister and brother-in-law
came over and we celebrated a nice, quiet Christmas. We had the fire
going and the old record player spinning out Elvis and Clancy Brother Christmas
albums. We got nostalgic. It was a good time. I received
some very cool articles of clothing(sweater, Adidas jacket and shirt, flannel
pajamas, and yes,oh yes.....Tom Wiesak slippers! Just give me a robe
and pipe and I'll be set. Next came New Year's Eve!
NYE 2000-NYD 20001
Christmas came and Christmas went
and then some time off from the bakery. Then came the snowstorm that
gave Bucks County about a foot of snow. That was fun and not so fun.
During the later hours of the storm, me, my Mom and Dad all traveled
to my cousin Tim's shower wedding shower. It was really a good time
and saw a lot of family from my Dad's side. It was good to see them
all. Tim and his fiance Liz will be getting married in late January.
Congratulations Tim and Liz! By the way, Tim, your older cousin is
hot.(That is his cousin on his other side of the family...not on my side....I
can' t believe you would even think I would say something like that!
That's just disgusting!) Must get email address. Anyway, that
was a good time. Then came New Year's Eve where I worked all day
at the bakery leading up to the Lowes Hotel in Philadelphia(formerly the
PSFS bank). I finally got there with my friend Keith at around 7pm.
Boy, were people pissed we were late. Anyway, we started the festivities
there with my friends Patrick, Kendra, Steve, Kathy, Kendra's friend Jen
Engelman, and Tom Wiesak. Good ol' Wiesak. He came, he saw,
he left us and went out with my other group of friends to Finnegan's Wake.
That's our Wiesak! After the little pre-party, we went across the
street to the Hard Rock Cafe and had a blast. Good band, lotta room,
everybody having a great time. Champagne toast at midnight with empty
glasses.....they didn't pour any of the champagne.....bad organization.
And then back to the hotel......just the hotel. I made some stops
at the 19th and 33rd floor and also a party on the 33rd floor that me and
Jen crashed. We felt like rebels that night. And who can forget
the roof top where Radio signals were at higher than normal frequencies!
Gotta love that. Finally back down to room 714 where I woke up to
the annoying drum beats from the Mummer's Day Parade. We got a bird's
eye view. Eventually, we all came back to my house(except for Jen,
she had to catch a flight to LA) and drank several cups of coffee to wake
ourselves up. It did the job sort of. This had to be the 3rd
consecutive great New Year's Eve night.
And by the way, Have I mentioned my sister is 7 mos. PREGNANT!! Ahhhhh!!
March 18th,2001
This was the day of the birth of
my first niece, Bridget! We all knew she was coming(well at least
we knew a baby was coming) but when the day finally happened it was still
unbelievable. She is such a cute baby. I can't wait until more
of her personality comes out in the next months to come. I was also
asked to be Bridget Anne's Godfather by my sister and brother-in-law.
What an honor!! You'll see some photos of Bridget here but you can
see many at her site that I created for our families at..... http://www.oocities.org/raganfamily1.
April 12th-19th, 2001
I'm updating this about 5 days after the trip so it's
hard to figure out what happened first and what came last but my trip to
San Francisco was incredible from start to finish. Just seeing palm
trees was good enough for me. Taking the trip were myself, Patrick,
and Kendra. We left from Baltimore to Denver to San Jose. I
won't get into the part about almost missing the plane in Baltimore.
Let us all just forget about that nerve-wracking 30 minutes! With
almost no hitch after that, we arrived in beautiful San Jose where Patrick's
sister Courtney was awaiting our arrival. During our time on this
trip we stayed at Courtney's and Paul's(Courtney's husband....nice
guy but takes money from people playing ping pong) place located just outside
of San Jose. Thank you to Courtney, Paul, and Glenn! It was sunny
and 70 degrees when we arrived. It stayed that way for almost the
whole trip. After the flight, we chilled at the house for a little
but made our way back to the airport to pick up Kendra's friend Jenn who
arriving from LA. After picking her up, the group was set...Me, Patrick,
Kendra, Jenn, Kenny(you can see him in Pictures
2), and finally Victor(a very good friend of Patrick, you can see him
in San Francisco
pictures). The first full day took the four of us(me, patrick, kendra,
and jenn) to the beautiful vineyards of Napa Valley. Another sunny
day made the trip even better. Kendra and Patrick that there will
be taste testing everywhere and they weren't kidding. We made it
to 6 different vineyards! I can only remember five....The Sterling,
Berringer, Coppola(owned by Francis Ford Coppola, Cakebread, and finally
my favorite V. Sequite(I found my favorite tasting wine there called Gamae
Rouge). Yes, much wine tasting took place and put me into a very
calm, warm, toasty feeling! We made our way back home where Courtney
set up a party for her friends and us. I personally had a great time
even if some others were placed into difficult situations....nothing big,
just Courtney saving her friend's life! But that's a whole different
story. Onto Saturday.....April 14th! The group of us(all six)
traveled down to San Francisco for the whole day but not really to see
the city but more to see Cousin Kevin!!
They are a group composed of a drummer(Cool Doe), bassist(Messiah), and
lead guitar and vocals(Kevin Cadogan). Patrick and I have been following
this band since their first day of creation. Kevin comes from the
band Third Eye Blind where he was unjustly fired just because Stephan Jenkins
has a big ego and didn't like how Kevin was writing everything! Anyways.....
Before the concert we saw all of Fisherman's Wharf including the touristy
Pier 39. There many sites and sounds there including amazing views
of the bay, Alcatraz, and several dozen seals laying about on the docks.
Those silly seals, Trix are for kids! We looked at our watches and
saw that it was time to head to the concert. The concert venue was
called The Pound S.F. located at Pier 96. There, we met up with fellow
longtime Cousin Kevin fans including Jeff Wichman and Casey Benjamin.
It was nice to finally meet fans who were also there from the genesis of
the band. I won't dwell on the concert here considering I will write
about them in the Cousin
Kevin section of my website. By the time you read this, I may
or may not have that site up but it's on the way! After the amazing
concert we headed to our hotel room for the night and woke up the next
day to Easter Sunday. After Kendra left to meet up with her brother,
the rest of us traveled back to San Jose. We said our goodbye's to
Victor who had to travel back to L.A. and left for Easter mass at St. Christopher's
church. We had a huge barbecue that night for Easter dinner, though
we all had small appetites. It was hard saying no to barbecued chicken.
Sunday came and Sunday went.....Monday. Kendra had to leave us for
good ol' PA due to work and Jenn was leaving Monday night back to L.A.
but before Jenn left we got to see more of the city of San Fran.
Patrick's sister joined us for this go at the city and she showed us a
good deal of the main attractions of the city. We rode over the Golden
Gate bridge, ate at the connecting town of the bridge called Salsalito,
explored some viewpoints on hilltops overlooking the bridge, drove down
Lombard Street(that winding street), and ended up at Ghiradelli's Ice Cream
and Chocolate factory. The ice cream there was of course delicious
but when is ice cream not delicious!? The day ended with Jenn heading
back to L.A. Then there was two....me and Patrick. Monday ended
and Tuesday came. This day was all beach. Patrick and I made
the trip down to Santa Cruz which is south of San Francisco. This
place was a beach haven with many restaurants and yes, amusement rides.
We got onto many rides at the amusement park right after lunch. We
started out feeling good but then got really sick after the 5th ride.
Patrick and I were ready to puke but we took deep breaths on the ride home
and felt better when we finally got back to the house. I just don't
get the beaches down there. It was sunny and bigtime beach weather
but hardly a soul on the sand. They are really spoiled I guess.
At New Jersey we take every chance we can get! Ok, finally onto the
last full day....Wednesday. We headed south again one more time for
San Fran and saw even more of the city. We saw places that Patrick
never even saw before. From center city, to the steep hills of China
town, to Koit tower which overlooked the whole city, back to Fisherman's
wharf, back to center city for some Starbucks coffee and Virgin records,
then finally to Pac Bell stadium where we saw the Giants defeat the L.A.
Dodgers. The stadium was incredible and what made if even better
was the 501st homer by Barry Bonds into the water of the bay. It
was a perfect ending to a unbelievable trip. Thursday came and that
meant time to leave for PA. I made it to Baltimore without any problem
where my brother was waiting to pick me up. He drove me back all
the way to Holland. Thanks Kev! Thus ending my
travels for a while. Back to the same routine.
****************************************************************************
In between April and August I moved
to Atlanta, GA but sadly I didn't write on the series of events that took
place which led me to Atlanta. One name, Chris Kuleszynski.
He got me to where I am today and to him I owe a great deal of thanks!!!
****************************************************************************
August 3rd, 2001
Haven’t updated this in awhile! I'll start it back up
with a trip. During the trip I got to see my brother, sister, dad, niece,
and many friends. This weekend I traveled from Atlanta to Philly to Latrobe,
Pa to Philly and finally back to Atlanta. It was a whirlwind
trip. Left for Hartsfield Atlanta airport at 4:30 AM, hopped the
plane at 6:40AM, delayed takeoff until 8:10AM, landed in Philadelphia at
around 10:45AM, my brother picked me up and arrived at my sister’s at around
12:30pm, left my sister’s place at around 8:30pm, arrived in California,
Pa at around 2:30AM, slept, got up at around 9:30AM, and left for Latrobe,
Pa at around 11:00AM. Fwoosh!! Quite a series of events but
it was all worth it when it comes to seeing some live music from today’s
artists. I did this all to arrive at the Rolling Rock Town Fair.
It’s an annual concert event and this year featured the bands Tantric,
Oleander, Incubus, Deftones, Staind, Live, and last but not least, Stone
Temple Pilots! And wow was it HOT! Literally, it was around
92 degrees with humidity off the charts. It was pretty brutal.
And after my trip to get there, I was feeling pretty out of it. But
still, it was worth it. STP was definitely the highlight with Staind
coming in a close second for entertainment value.
Did I do this trip by myself? Nope! In fact I didn’t have to operate a piece of machinery or driving unit at all during this whole trip! I had a MARTA(mass transit) for the trip to Atlanta’s airport, pilot for the flight, my brother to pick me up at the airport, and finally my buddies Patrick, Keith, and Kevin to drive everyone to and from the concert(that by the way is a 6 hour trip!). So thanks to everyone for that!
Finally, on Sunday into Monday of that weekend, I got a chance to see many of my friends…..Steve, Kathy, Carol, Michelle, Tommy W, Mike, and of course the drivers of the trip were there also, Patrick and Keith. We had a good time just chillin and hanging out.
Ah yes….I am writing this a while after that trip and
now I am contemplating my next trip. This time I am heading to Wilkes
Barre, Pa to see TOOL!! Woo hoo! My travels for music. That should
be my motto!
August 24, 2001
This is an update explaining what is going on down here
in Atlanta. It is coming up on my 3rd month down here in Atlanta.
Working is getting very active. As you know or don’t know.
We are heading into the peak of the hurricane season, September 10th.
So that means with one of my internships revolving around the tropics,
things are getting busy. I have new shift hours down here for this
internship. I used to have the afternoon/evening shift but now it
is the early morning/morning shift. Oh…..FUN!! With a Tropical
Storm Chantal and Dean, my shifts were running 2AM until 2PM. YUCK!
The first time I did that, I was starting to see people, people were in
slow motion, and my stomach was killing me. That is sleep deprivation
for you!
The other inernship, weather.com/international, is running along nicely and organized. We have a set agenda of what we have to complete. The international side is launching many websites in the months to come and I am taking part in that. I am laying down about 14 different text layers of cities in different languages. It gets somewhat tiresome and tedious but it is hours and money. I have talked to my supervisor and it is still up in the air concerning my length of stay. What I know for sure is that I am here until early November. What happens after that is not clear. Hurricane season actually goes on until early December so they will be running opitional shifts during the time from early Nov. until early Dec. I hope to pick those hours up. Things will become more clearer once they are in my rearview mirror. Hmmmm, I like the sound of that.
Still going out with friends every weekend, Chris the hero, Steve the Dirty Canadian, Rory the Huskie, Joe the Cleveland Steamer’s hater, and Amy the hero’s hero. The secondary cast, because they make it out with us sometimes, are the couple Casey and Emily. Casey cracks me up and Emily is my friendly boss……she is also friends with Stone Gossard’s fiance….KICK ASS! We like to stop by the local taverns of Brookhaven and Buckhead like Mellow Mushroom, Moondog’s, Have a Nice Day Café, the Saloon, and the BAR…oh yeah…..the f’en BAR!! If you are a guy, you will enjoy the BAR!
So that is what is going on down here. I also have joined
a soccer team. We will be playing every Sunday for the next several
weeks to come so I am excited about that! I didn’t think I would
be playing organized soccer again but here we go again! I am
planning a trip shortly for Philly and travel up to Wilkes Barre, PA to
see the band TOOL. I am very excited about that. So hope to
see everyone then! TTYL!
September 11, 2001
Worst day I can remember….worst day NYC can remember…..worst
day DC can remember…..worst day Somerset Co. can remember…….worst day AMERICA
can remember. All you can do is pray for the victims and pray that
it never happens again. The future is uncertain but I do know that
the US will do it’s best to rid of terrorism for a long time to come.
This will not be a Gulf War. This will be similar to a guerilla war…special
force troops completing their missions in quick, explosive battles then
pulling out and then going back in completing their objectives in a different
area of battle. It’ll be drop in, complete mission, pull out then
repeat cycle. We’re gonna get it right this time unlike previous
decades and we will.
Sept 21-25, 2001
I’ll make this short and sweet……FRI-partied at Brownies
with many friends, I danced and drank and had a blast. SAT-Mike’s 30th
Bday party, had another good time with my friend Kendra, family, and friends
of family…..we drank we talked we looked after babies. SUN-recovered from
Sat then had an absolute incredible time with friends at Patrick’s BBQ….we
made fools out of ourselves and looked at ourselves making fools out of
ourselves. MON-beat Patrick and Keith playing basketball 21, then
had a concert experience of a lifetime seeing TOOL….I mean, I can’t describe
it because it wouldn’t do it justice! All I can say is that will
not be my last TOOL concert……GUARANTEED
March 26th, 2002
Well, where the hell have I been? Many things have
occurred since that Sept. trip up to PA to see Tool. Geez, that was
six months ago! I'll try to keep "Events" a page that is updated
more often. As for now, let me summarize. The fall months mainly
consisted of my weather.com/International internship day in and day out
as well as playing soccer on the weekends. The soccer was a whole
lotta fun with beer being consumed after each game. It was a nice
reward. During Thanksgiving, I was able to head home for a good week
instead of a rush-rush weekend. And then next thing you know, the Christmas
season was upon us..........................You know what, let's just skip
over all of this. It's friggin' March, almost April already!
Spring has sprung. Recently, on the weekend of the March 16th, I
headed back up to PA for my niece's 1st Birthday party. I can't believe
she's one already. Of course, as always, time flies. I flew
up with my friend Rory and we partied with my friends on Friday and Saturday
night; especially Saturday. You can see pictures of the Saturday
party at Bill Ma's website located here:
http://www.billma.com/photos
That was a very fun weekend and probably one of the final
weekends I'll be able to enjoy in a long time due to my new job at the
Weather Channel. I started my first professional job on March 21st
and just completed my first week. I am aware already that this job
will be more challenging than I had anticipated but it is a good type of
challenge. There is more forecasting involved than I had anticipated
and many hour to hour deadlines that have to be met. Plus the majority
of my main work is during the 3am to 5am hours which is tough to focus
on due to the time of night. However, it is definitely an enjoyable
job and very shortly they will leave me to be alone on the shift.
Training is almost already complete. Still not sure when I'll be
starting another part time job but that will come probably within the next
few weeks. I don't think I'll be heading up to PA anytime soon
since my job is on the weekends so that is my only complaint about my job.
Weekend work....yuck! Oh well. Finally one other thing.
I am now out of my old apartment at Post Village! Woo hoo!
I had enough of that place. I recently moved into a house in Marietta,
GA with two other cool roommates, a guy and a girl. So thus begins
the second chapter of my time in Atlanta.