Philly and Boston Part 1

The past 4 days I've been to Philadelphia and Boston. Never been to either before.

There are a lot of things I could write about: the hotels, the cities, the people, the experience, the toll roads, the history...

Let's start with the cities.

Philadelphia:

The city was built pretty compact (at least in the area I was in). There were a lot of skyscrapers, underground parking garages, historical sites, museums and entertainment centers built all within a 2 or 3 mile circumfrence. You could start at Independence Hall and walk 4 blocks and be at the State House. Looking from the State House you could look in all directions at very modern (and tall) skyscrapers. Walk another 4 blocks and you would be in the heart of the edcuation district, with libraries, parks/monuments, museums and art institutes.



The people were fairly friendly in Philadelphia...although one lady me and Beau ran into made a fairly poor assumption. Let's just keep it at that...

I think that Philly will give DC and Miami a run for their money for having the least patient drivers. They love their horns. It's like drag racing, where its a reflex of green light to gas pedal. In Philadelphia, its green light to horn reaction time.

We did get to see Body Worlds 2 at the Franklin Museum. Kind of creepy, but definitly an experience you should have if you go to Philly between now and April 18. Not as long to get through as I was thinking it would (took us about 75 minutes, and we were going slow) but for $19, it's not bad.

And I can say I had an authentic philly cheesesteak sandwhich. It was good.

Boston:

Boston is much more spread out than Philly. And there seems to be at least 20 universities and colleges just in Boston. We spent our time mostly in the financial district (give a mile in any direction from there). Never got to get over to the MIT side of Boston, but I made it a priority to see Fenway Park first. When there are baseball games there, it must be a madhouse. Fenway probably takes up less room than Capital City Stadium in Columbia, SC, is lined with restraunts, bars, and even a high school directly across from the stadium (I would have never passed high school had I gone there).

I got to walk the city by myself on Thursday and saw a few historical sites. Also got to see where the Bruins and Celtics play. We did get slammed by a snow storm Thursday night, but it was actually pretty cool.



Surprisingly, there are quite a few parts of downtown Boston where it's quiet. Kind of eerie. But judging by the cars parked along the road and the way the townhouses look, you need to have a net worth in excess of $2 million to live in that area...just my guess.

Personally, I liked Boston better than Philly, but maybe I'm biased being a Red Sox fan. And in neither city did I ever feel unsafe. I actually felt safer walking the streets of these cities than I do walking up Gervais Street in front of the State House in Columbia (then again, these were the very upscale areas). Go figure...

Toll Roads:

I got to say that there is no way I could have spent less than $70 on toll fees. The roads are very well kept on these roads, but damn...cut me some slack! Aren't these roads originally paved with taxpayer dollars through the Federal Highway Funds which are taxed through gasoline taxes? Maybe the idea behind it is to keep gridlock down, charge drivers to use the roads, which will cut down on unnecessary trips. I don't know, but I know this: To hell with toll roads.

Well, it's 1 a.m. and I am very tired. No sleep last night and drove for 8 hours today. I'll finish the rest of this later...probably on Monday.

To the north, to the north...

Well, I'm in DC right now...been watching the football games all day and so far am very pleased at the outcomes (I was pulling for Indy and am HOPING the vikings can pull out a victory).

It has been raining all day so there really hasn't been much I could do. Yesterday I went into DC...walked around all the touristy places (the big pointy thing and the white building with the dome on it) and also went to the Library of Congress. Never had been there before but have to say I was very impressed. They had a 5 panel map from China from like 1602 of the world...and it was VERY accurate. I was shocked.

Also found out how to take a tour of the white building with the dome on it (aka capitol building). You can go in person or click here to go to the website.

Tomorrow me and Beau are heading to Philly. We are staying at more of a bed and breakfast called Society Hill Hotel. I know absolutely nothing about Philly, the area, or where this hotel is...but I know it's gonna be fun!

I'll try to get some pictures up as well. But until then...

Hilarious

The Sleep Talkin' Man...

Northeast Expedition

So looks like I have my trip to the Northeast planned finally. I will be going to DC (Jan 22 - 24), Philly (Jan 25, 26), Boston (Jan 27, 28), back to DC (Jan 29) and then Ocean City, MD (Jan 30 - Feb 1).

Should be a lot of fun...never been to either Philly or Boston before. Then the Frank Turner/Flogging Molly concert in Charlotte is on February 19...following that up with my flight to Taiwan (which I finally booked). Leaving for Taiwan on February 21! More to come on that though...

New Toy

So I have been looking for an instrument to USB cord for awhile and today I finally found one. I went to target and got one for $45, which compared to the "bundle packages" I've seen at Best Buy and others (which included software and other crap) this was not a bad deal. The cable was a First Act 10-foot cable.

I went ahead and bought the cable and downloaded both Audacity and Cool Edit Pro (free music creating software) and my only current problem is that the sound card on my laptop will switch between the speakers and the USB cable. So in order to hear what I just played out of the laptop speakers, I need to unplug the USB cable. I see future difficulties (and repair bills) but it works for now.


Whats cool about the Cool Edit Pro software is that it will also allow me to layer sounds too...so if I were to add a microphone and/or another instrument, I can layer them to sound like it was a full band playing. Pretty cool I think.

Oil Reserves

So I have been doing some catch-up reading on some older The Economist magazines. Came across something I thought was interesting. This is from the June 13 - 19, 2009 issue, page 101:

Although the price of oil peaked at $147 a barrel in 2008, the world's proven oil reserves - thoses that are known and recoverable with existing technolog - fell only slightly, to 1,258 billion barrels, according to BP, a British oil company. That is 18% higher than in 1998. OPEC tightened its grip slightly in 2008, and commands slightly more than three-quarters of proven reserves. Saudi Arabia and Iran together account for almost one-third of the total. Venezuela, with nealy 8%, has the largest share of any non-Middle Eastern country. BP reckons that if the world continues to produce oil at the same rate as lst year, global supplies will last another 42 years, even if no more oil reserves are found.

I find it amazing how oil reserves in the past 10 years have actually GROWN by 18%, but the price of oil (and as of today, its spot price is $82.66/barrel) has grown by over 400%!

Taiwan Bound?

Well, it looks like I am finally getting somewhere with this teaching English in Taiwan adventure. The past 3 weeks I have applied to many places, gone through a placement agency and used (my brothers) networks to get things rolling. But let me make some observations:

1. I am thinking that when schools ask that you come in for an interview in person (that is come to Taiwan without the knowledge if you will be hired or not) they are saying "We'll call you..."

2. When I paid the University of South Carolina $200 per semester in "technology fees" and it still takes them OVER 3 months to get me my diploma, I think there is a problem. Being I graduated on December 14 and they said that we should receive our diplomas in March, this could cause some problems with my work visa for Taiwan. If transcripts don't work, I'll be camping outside the registrars office until I get my diploma. And I'll do it too...

3. For the school that I will be working at, some kind of teaching certificate is required. Now, most of the other ones I applied to didn't require this, but it's fine. But what is interesting is that I will be a certified substitute teacher in Arizona. I haven't even been to Arizone before...

4. When a placement agency sets up an interview with you, and then they stand you up, you make sure you give them a shout out. Thank you Reach To Teach Recruiting. Luckily, it was my backup school in Korea. So no worries.

I have a feeling this will be a very interesting next couple of months. No doubt, there will be setbacks, but hopefully I can stay on top of these things and get moving.

More to come...

Atlantic City - Bruce Springsteen

A little of this, a little of that

So I finally graduated. Yep, I made it. Somehow.

This past week, I have done a little bit of traveling. On Thursday, I headed to Charleston with some friends. Played a little basketball (got schooled) and did a little running (got cramped). That night, we went to downtown Charleston and went salsa dancing. By the way, I can't dance. No matter how hard I try. It's impossible. But that has never stopped me.

We went to Southend Brewery and Smokehouse for the salsa dancing. They had a $5 cover charge. Never have been a fan of a cover charge. But I guess since they had a live DJ and had to pay him, they needed to pass on those costs to the consumer. Thanks capitalism.

There were several things I liked about Southend. For one, it was a microbrewery (well, they had their own beers, but their "vats" were encased and really small, nothing like Hunter Gatherer here in Columbia, so I think that they make the beer elsewhere). I tried two of their beers and had to say that they were actually very good - and only $3.50!!

Another thing I liked was that the restruant was actually 3 stories (they have both an elevator and stairs) and they have a "gawking" area set up so you can look down on the people below you. On the 3rd floor, they have another bar, dart boards and a few pool tables. Unfortunatley, they had already closed the bar - or so the bartender told me - so we couldn't play pool. Ever hear of coin slot operated tables?! Anyhow...

The music was good, the atmosphere was overall friendly (minus the short stocky black guy who came over to where we were sitting and said "this is my table" like 8 times. Yeah, I heard you the first time.) I would defintly recommend hitting this up if you're in Charleston sometime.

Then Friday I went to Aiken, SC and Augusta, GA. Never really have been to either of them before. Didn't actually do anything in Aiken. But Augusta was a very nice place. They have a great layout for their downtown, with parking on both sides of the street and parking lots built in every other block in the middle of the road. Very nice, very convienent, and very busy.

We went to a place called Firehouse (I think) and it was pretty interesting. In Georgia, unlike South Carolina, they don't have a smoking ban in bars. Not a big fan of laws governing our actions, but have to say I do like SC's laws a little better. But they had fair prices on their drinks (domestics seemed priced about $2 each) and they had a few local microbrewery beers on tap. Besides Firehouse being where the local wildlife of Savannah hangs out, it was a good place. Had a pool table and a very tiny bathroom. Just FYI's. I was also told the womens bathroom had showcurtains for dividers. Now that's classy.

Next up for me will be - hopefully - Boston and Philly. Maybe NYC? I don't know yet, but I'm going to try to get up that way sometime after Christmas. More to come...

Been an interesting past couple of days...

Yesterday, randomly around lunch time, my cell decided to just stop working. The screen just blanked out, no warning...just bam! But since it was still under the factory warranty, they sent me a new one (in less than 24 hours!) for free. Unfortunatly, they couldn't transfer any of the data I had...so all my contacts, pictures, videos - lost. And I had some good stuff in there. Oh well.

Tonight, I saw my first ever "professional" play - in America. I had seen Chicago and The Tempest in England years ago, but I had never seen a professionally done play before. I saw Rent, which from what I was told had a great cast. I thought it was pretty cool and think its something everyone should do.

Today was my last day at the governors office. Not much to write home about. I have to say that the internship was, for "experience" purposes, almost a complete waste. Minus the fact that I was able to sit in on a state supreme court hearing (Sanford v. Ethics Committe) and got to make a few contacts at some of the state agencies, all I can say is that the opportunity cost made me lose out in about $700 per month. So not cool. Not cool at all.

Tomorrow is my last day at Avista. I've been there for 2 and a half years, and although I really do love the people I work with, it's time to move on. I've been a "glorified" telemarketer and think I max out on what I could learn about a year ago.

Graduation is on Monday. Ironically I have my last final that day too. Way to give me a parting middle finger there, USC. But come 3:30 on December 14 (and me passing a certain final that I took on Monday) I will be done with college - and none too soon. Burned out doesn't begin to explain it. But I made it, with a double major in business (accounting and management) and a minor in political science.

Right now, I'm trying to get a job teaching english abroad. I'm concentrating my efforts in getting into Taiwan. Not really sure why - I know almost nothing about the Asian culture. But maybe that's why I want to do it - no real predisposed biases and something that I can only learn from. It would be a year long thing and I could be leaving as soon as the end of January. I am all for it, but I may have started my application process a little too late. If it's meant to be, a door will open. Or the security system will be off so I can knock open the door......

Ray LaMontagne

Ray LaMontagne is in my opinion a more chill artist than Jack Johnson, but has a much wider variety of songs, and a much better lyric writer. Here is a sample of one of his songs...listen to the words, I think they will blow you away...

The End of Ideology and Beginning of Wandering

So for many, this may come as sort of a surprise:

I really couldn't give two shits about politics.

You see, after all the reading I've done over the past 4 years, the conversations I've had with people of all persuasions, and working for a politican for the past semester (yes, the famous Governor Sanford of South Carolina), I must admit, politics is too much banter, too little governing.

So at the ripe old age of 23, I'm looking for something new.

So what will it be? It's easy for me to get into anything. I love sports, music, friends, beer, dogs, cats, long walks on the beach, roller coasters, zoos, snow, sun, and sleeping. Food too.

With this in mind, what encompasses all of the things I love most? I thought long and hard about it. At least 6 minutes.

And I came up with an answer...

Travel

Yes, I think the next thing that I will begin to do, begin to study, begin to write about, begin to live is travel. And as a college graduate with a business empahasis, finding time right now to travel should be no problem.

So with the political ideology behind me (but don't confuse that with me saying I will never dive into the subject again. It's just I'm going to be focusing on others things for the next chapter of my life) the new passion will be travel, and all that it encompasses.

And lucky for me, it's a lot. So far, I'm already planning a few trips around a Frank Turner/Flogging Molly concert; also looking at hitting up DC, Boston, and Philadelpia. Even an outside chance of doing that teach english abroad in Taiwan for a year. Imagine that?

Well, I guess I have to graduate college first, so I better get back to studying for my finals - my final finals. Strange how real this is...

Ouch

For the crap FOXNEWS gets...it's good to be the king

http://www.mediabistro.com/tvnewser/ratings/

Good Website

Be part of the grassroots movement that will soon be called "un-American activity" and send this to all of your Obama/ex-Obama friends...

http://www.iamsorryivotedforobama.com/

De-Cap and Trade

Enjoy <-------

40%

With the new Nigerian-Russian oil deal, about 40% of oil and gas to western europe is now controlled by the Russians.

Personally, I am a bit concerned.

"Change"

That's right, the Obama Administration is all about change...

...from saying that the effects of the stimulus package would “begin almost immediately,” to “We always knew we were not going to get all that much fiscal impact during the first five to six months. The big impact starts to hit from about now onwards.”

What will be the spin in September?

The Debt President

This is a quick 180 from what the German media was saying just two months ago...

One of my favorite excerpts:

"The mistakes of the Bush administration are now widely accepted. The mistakes of the Obama administration are still not recognized as such. They are seen as the truth."

You know what this means...

...all of those 18 - 24 year old Obama voters will now begin jumping off his bandwagon or saying that they really don't follow politics anymore...

http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/obama_administration/daily_presidential_tracking_poll

A Diverse Naval Academy

An interesting editorial from a teacher at the Annapolis Naval Academy.