Archive for September, 2008

My Membership To The Optimists’ Club Has Been Declined

Published by Paulie [eatl/ga] on September 3, 2008 under My Daily Life

For four hours I listened to the audiobook version of “The Last Lecture” as read by its author, and now-deceased, Randy Pausch. By book’s end I was finally at peace with myself and all that has transpired. How could I not be after listening to the voice of wisdom of a man who had it all and was robbed of Life by pancreatic cancer? The rock to the windshield (which is still completely unresolved but addressed further below) didn’t seem to matter. My inability to change the past didn’t seem to matter. I was feeling okay. And then I returned home….

When I finally got back to my house at 10:30pm I noticed a note taped to my kitchen door. It was a note from one of my neighbors alerting me that a large limb had come down and fallen into my yard and asking permission to enter my yard for cleanup. The note was dated 8/20, the same day that I left for Colorado. Upon brief inspection I saw that the limb also struck my gutters and disfigured them to some degree. Today I’ll have to head home, inspect the damage, and speak with my neighbors and in the process explain to them why I’ve “ignored” their request.

I cannot understand why these hurdles are continually thrown in front of me, causing even more stress into my life.

A Short Primer On Insurance As Related To Renting A Car
Returning a car at the Denver International Airport is a process in efficiency, unless perhaps if something’s gone wrong. I was given a receipt for my rental without any questions so I hopped on the bus and headed for the airport. If my parking ticket fiasco from last year is any indication then I fully expect to receive a supplemental charge to my bill to cover the cost of a new windshield.

Prior to returning the car I did my homework to learn all of my options.

  • AAA: Membership provided no help at all. For some reason I didn’t think I needed to purchase insurance in addition to my membership in order to receive rental car insurance benefits.
  • State Farm: Since I have rental car insurance as part of my policy I can file a claim with them and pay only my deductible (which is $200)
  • American Express: American Express is supplemental auto insurance for car rentals. American Express will cover up to the full amount of my deductible (ie $200) and no more. They will not contact State Farm and instead leave that up to me if I decide to file a claim.

So it all boils down to this: Depending on how much Alamo charges me, I should choose one of two options.

  1. If the charge is $200 or less then, only file with American Express.
  2. If the charge is more than $200, file with American Express and determine if it beneficial for me to file an auto insurance claim with State Farm.

If nothing else, I’ve learned how insurance works when renting a car — something I’ve wondered about for a long time.

ITP Flickr Pic
An overlooked photo because of all of those landscapes I’ve taken
Bar At The Victoria Bar
I still have to process the hundreds of shots I took on this trip….

No Moo For Me? Boo. Hoo.
When I left for Colorado I was looking forward to returning to the office and picking up the Moo business cards that I was hoping would be delivered prior to my departure. I had received an email from Moo on August 12th alerting me that they had been dispatched and I should expect to receive them in 5-7 business days. Therefore, I expected to find the small box of fifty cards sitting on my desk. Imagine my disappointment when I discovered that they were not delivered.

Dammit! I just looked at the email again and noticed that the shipping address had the wrong ZIP code. Since they were shipped USPS it means that I will probably never see them. I give up.

George’s Was In The Plans, But No More
The plan was to make a triumphant return to George’s tonight. I certainly could use the exercise and the thought of running in sub-8000 feet of altitude seemed exciting.

For at least one obvious reason (read “tree limb”) and some not-so-obvious reasons (read “need to do laundry,” “have two weeks of mail to process”) I will have to put that plan off for a week.

Okay, I Am Worn Out
My body is still on Mountain Time. I am still very tired and emotionally drained. Tomorrow. Tomorrow. The sun will come out tomorrow…

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal…
Current Mood – tired, frustrated, questioning Life
Current Music – listening to the “Daily Source Code” podcast from 9/1
Website Of The Day – I still need a break from reality so today I’ll surf around Uncyclopedia: The Content-Free Encyclopedia
Exercise (b)Log – nothing
Monthly Foot Mileage – 0 miles
Monthly Wheel Mileage – 0 miles
Mode Of Transportation To Work – my car
Monthly Marta Rides – 0
Consecutive Days Of Bed-Making (Longest Streak) – 0 (110)
Books To Read To Earn Kindle – 4

September Goals
Don’t know yet

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]

What A Long, Strange Trip It’s Been

Published by Paulie [eatl/ga] on September 2, 2008 under My Daily Life

Oh, hello there. It seems like an eternity since I’ve written one of these. A lot has transpired, so let’s wait no longer…

For my East Coast early-morning readers: I return to East Coast Time tonight, so I’ll be attempting to get my early-morning post schedule back tomorrow.

Colorado, You’ve Been Pwned
Here is the travel log of Colorado cities I’ve visited over the past thirteen days of vacation

  • Fort Collins (four nights)
  • Vail (one night)
  • Cortez (one night)
  • Durango (lunch only)
  • Alamosa (one night)
  • Salida (one night)
  • Walsenburg (four nights)
  • Denver (one night)

The state is large and I covered about two-thirds of it. While known mostly for its skiing (the Rocky Mountains might have something to do with that), it has a fairly significant cultural shift from north to south. It was also somewhat jarring for me to drive back into a big city after spending so much time in the middle of nowhere.

Hash, Hash, Goose (Egg)
I managed to run the two day’s worth of trails offered up at the 13th Colorado Invihash. On both days I chose the “Eagle” option over the “Ballbuster” because I knew that what scant training I’ve had, none of which was performed at any significant altitude, would hurt me if I chose the harder option.

Saturday’s trail was enjoyable as we ran across semi-flat ranch land (at 8000+ feet mind you) over cacti, yucca, and ants. The worst part of the trail was that I wound up with about one hundred hitchhikers on the pants I purchased to hash in, so I had to toss them after only one use.

Sunday’s trail started and ended at a ski resort that “closed for Summer” — on July 4th 2000 — and has remain closed since. It would have been the perfect place for a photo shoot, but I was there to hash so I didn’t bring the DSLR with me. The trail I ran basically went up a ski slope, and then back down again. At the top of our trail we had a breathtaking view of southern Colorado.

Yesterday morning I decided to skip the hangover hash and push on my way, but not before submitting my registration and check for Colorado Invihash #14 in 2010.

ITP Flickr Pic
While I took a lot of photos on this vacation, not many were taken since Friday. Therefore, I’ll use this one taken on Thursday night.
Split Sunset
This photo is a pretty decent metaphor for my trip as well. While I have had much fun in my journeys, not everything turned out the way I desired.

Rock On, In The Worst Possible Way
During my travels I’ve been careful not to take my rental car on roads which required four-wheel drive vehicles. Unfortunately, no matter how fucking careful you are, bad luck can find you no matter where you are.

While driving up I-25 on my way to Denver a rock hit the rental car’s windshield putting a nickel-sized star into it. Fug…. So today I need to get to the airport that much earlier so that I can take care of any business which needs to occur when shit like this happens. I think I used my American Express card to secure the car, which may help me. I have rental car coverage on my State Farm insurance, which may help me. And, the hotel from which I type this is a block away from AAA, of which I am a member, which may help me.

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal…
Current Mood – sniffling, not looking forward to becoming a responsible adult again
Current Music – watching CNN in a hotel room
Website Of The Day – If you want to look like a hasher without having to go through all of the pain of actually being one they you should check out Hash Shirts.
Exercise (b)Log – nothing
Monthly Foot Mileage – 0 miles
Monthly Wheel Mileage – 0 miles
Mode Of Transportation To Work – n/a :)
Monthly Marta Rides – 0
Consecutive Days Of Bed-Making (Longest Streak) – 27 (110) on hold because it’s not my job.
Books To Read To Earn Kindle – 4

September Goals
Don’t know yet

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]

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