School’s out! And I’m going to live in California for the summer!

tags: family, globetrotting, umich

I made it to fall break! Reward: 3 full days in New England, for the first time since August 2008. I think it’s going to pour every single one of them, but I don’t really care.

tags: globetrotting

I should really be writing about what I did in Prague and London the past two weeks but instead all I can think about is the great time I had on my transatlantic flight back to America after I was involuntarily upgraded to business class. I could have stayed on the plane for another 8 hours!

• The seat was completely adjustable and there was also foot stool so that you could lie down if you wanted to
• There was a four course meal for dinner included smoked salmon ceviche
• The headphones they gave out blocked an incredible amount of the airplane noise

tags: globetrotting

• If you install IBM’s Rescue and Recovery on your ThinkPad when you are already dual booting Windows and Linux through GRUB, your computer will no longer boot.

• Luckily this can be fixed by reinstalling GRUB using the Ubuntu Live CD.

• Glossy screens in office environments are dreadful.

• If you live in Chicago and you need to rent a car, you can probably save a boat load of money by getting it in Oak Park. Their Hertz is even within walking distance of Green line and Blue line stops.

• If you update your credit card’s address twice within 10 minutes and then immediately attempt to use it to buy a laptop, you will set off a fraud alert and the charge goes through.

tags: globetrotting, list, navi

I am sitting here in Buffalo, New York. Did you know it is the second largest city in New York State? Kind of like how Providence is the second largest city in New England (although apparently now it is being threatened by Worcester). In fact, it is slightly smaller than Providence.

I have to say that so far the drive is a lot less satisfying that driving up the East Coast through the Boswash where you can tick off states and major cities are fairly regular intervals.

The bad thing about the rental car is that I could not automatically play my iPod through the stereo. It does not have a tape player or an audio input jack. Radio is not cutting it. I heard Coldplay’s Viva la Vida at least four separate times while flipping through radio stations. I also heard a lot of Pearl Jam and Nirvana. The only interesting station I happened across on the entire trip was WBER.

So I just spent $30 at Target here on an FM transmitter with the hope that it will make tomorrow’s slightly longer drive more bearable. It was working pretty well on the drive back to the motel, but I am still skeptical.

tags: globetrotting

January 8-10: San Diego. Stayed at HI-SD Point Loma. Highly recommended! Only $46/night for a private double. Free wifi, free parking on the street, grocery store across the street, nice big kitchen, free pancake breakfast! Very friendly and helpful staff.

The first day we settled in and walked to Ocean Beach and ate only half of an enormous “small” fries order at Hodad’s. The next day we spent the entire day at the San Diego Zoo was very worth the kind of pricey $24 admission.

Third day it was off to LA! Stopped at the Louis Kahn’s Salk Institute on the way.

January 10-12: Los Angeles. Went to Pasadena first, to James’ house. Checked out the Gamble House with him and his girlfriend Claire, followed by a delicious dinner cooked by his mom. His parents are very cool. Drove to Westwood to crash at Yvette’s apartment by UCLA.

Next day started out as a disaster. For some reason I thought it would be a good idea to go to Chinatown. We managed to get downtown and circle around the Walt Disney Concert Hall, but there was nowhere to park that didn’t cost $8. Didn’t seem worth it. Finally pulled over at a Burger King and plotted our escape to Venice Beach, where there was free public parking!

Made it back to Westwood before rush hour. Yvette gave us a tour of the UCLA campus and then we explored a bit on our own. Caught the end of her frisbee practice and got some good pizza.

On our last day in LA we got up and left early, first checking out the Getty Center but then getting away from the smog ASAP.

January 12-16: Santa Barbara
Mostly relaxing, enjoying the 70F weather and spending time with my family.

tags: globetrotting