House of Spa

yep! believe it or not this is a genuine bona-fide true-blue dinky-di you name it update! so where does one start? here i am sitting in the business centre of 36sixty, my new place of residence, checking emails, doing some work, chatting to friends back home, and writing this update! i’ve just used the gym here for the first time, and i have to say it’s by far the best gym in an apartment complex i’ve ever had the priviledge of using - 10 points for 36sixty!

for the past few weeks, with my imminent departure from Pittsburgh and the Cork Factory, local residents have been graciously attending rolling “farewell” parties in my honour … some pics from such events can be found here. i have to say that i really am going to miss it, i have so many new friends and so many memories, and i know that i’ve only been gone for a few days now but know that i will return … soon! so if anyone from Pittsburgh is reading this, I’LL BE BACK!

anyway, as i’m sure you have gathered by now, I am a full-time resident of Houston, Texas. living at 36sixty, which is just inside the 610 loop, about 10 minutes west of downtown Houston, and 10 minutes from the Galleria area which is where i work … the journey down to Houston in the U-Haul + car transporter was by far the most enduring trip i’ve ever embarked upon. being almost a full day and a half behind schedule (due to U-Haul screwing me around with the car transporter) i was on a mission to make up lost time and still make it to Houston by Sunday afternoon. so, at 11:15am EDT i set out on my 1500 mile trek in my Ford F350 gas-guzzler, Snowball (my Mazda3) in tow, and Karen … the Australian speaking GPS unit i bought a few days earlier to guide me on my way - without her i would probably be somewhere in Mexico! so Karen guided me out of Pittsburgh, across into the state of Ohio, through Columbus, Cinncinati, over into the state of Kentucky, through Louisville, down through Nashville in Tennesse, over to Memphis, across the Mississipi and into the Arkansas, over to Little Rock … and at this point the clock struck 2:30am, i’d been driving non-stop (excluding filling up the truck, visiting the mens room, and grabbing food-to-go) for some 14 hours and really had to call it a night! so, i stopped and tried to get into any motel i possibly could … on my fourth attempt i managed to get a single SMOKING room at a Super8 just outside Little Rock … my god, talk about life-size ashtrays … i mean seriously this place was terrible. however, for $60/night it was the best sleep i’d had in weeks and the shower in the morning was euphoric!

up at 7am (managed 4hrs sleep) i jumped into the truck and was on the road again by 8am … charging along at between 70-80 miles/hour … down to Texakarna on the border between Arkansas and Texas, i crossed into my new home state and was looking well on track to make my original time of 3pm … finally onto US-59 South heading directly to Houston I pulled up at my new home at 3:15pm … total travel time of 29 hours, of which approximately 22 hours was on the road, $800 in gas, and one seedy night in a motel, i made it!

so i’m now mostly unpacked, cleaned up, shower curtain in (yes, shower curtains are a BIG DEAL in the USA), and i should really head to bed as it’s 12:30am here … so to finish up i will leave you all with some pics of my travel down, don’t ask me to name the pictures of each city cause i just can’t remember … so, goodnight, and happy viewing!

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all, i apologise for the lack of updates recently. i’ve just been swamped with my move, farewells, work, and the pure logistical nightmare of transporting yourself and worldy possesions 1400 miles (~2300km’s) by truck and car trailer solo! i have some pics to post up but haven’t got around to it yet, and i have a lot to post which i will get to hopefully later in the week once i am settled in my new apartment.

so, for now, bear with me and i will promise a full and comprehensive update, including pictures, by the end of this week - hopefully much sooner! hope all is well in your respective part(s) of the world!

well it’s been a week since my last update and there has been lots happenning! mainly involving alcohol, good food, good people, and good music! on thursday we had our Ericsson / Marconi end of contract party, which was held at the Cabana Bar, which was suprisingly pretty good considering it backs onto a major health club and from the outside doesn’t look like much! pictures of the evening are available here.

the second farewell i had was last night, the residents at my apartment complex (the Cork Factory), decided to throw a farewell “cook-out” (aussie translation = BBQ). so, stocked up with sausages, shrimp, hot dogs, and burgers, i actually got behind the BBQ and under the expert guidance and tuition of Ken managed to produce fairly respectable results …! but really, how can you mess up a BBQ? anyway, was a good night, and a good farewell … for those interested the pictures are available here.

not much else hapenning, two weeks from now i’ll be approaching the city of Houston in my U-Haul … i have to say i’m sad to be leaving Pittsburgh, my home for the past 10 months, but also excited to be moving onto another area of the country and experiencing what it has to offer! bonvoyage!!

well it only took me 10 months to do it, but this afternoon / evening Ken (a former co-worker) and myself jumped into some kayak’s and took in the unique perspective that you get only from being on the river. here are some pictures. it was my first time in a kayak since i was about 10 years old so I was more than a little unsteady getting into / out of the kayak, but suprisingly managed to stay dry …! you’ll see in some of the pics the apartments I am in, and one specifically pointing at my apartment (just above my finger). there also happenned to be a baseball game on so that was good to see the park all lit up and the atmosphere of the crowd spilling over onto the river as we scooted past in our kayaks.

roundtrip, by my calculations, put the kayak at approximately 12km’s, which is fairly impressive! we stopped at station square and had a bite to eat, before making the journey back the way we came … I don’t want to think about how sore my upper body will be from todays journey, but it certainly beats going to the gym!

that’s all for now, i’ve gotta jump in the shower and run some warm water over my aching muscles! big thanks to Ken for organising everything and being my very knowledgable tour guide

exactly 3 weeks from now i’ll be halfway to Houston, Texas! the countdown begins!!