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So my parents trust me with their house. Cool beans, right? I would never go behind thier backs and host a phat party or anything destructive to the house, and I think they know that. Perhaps the only thing I would even consider is a LAN party, but even then ... a bunch of geeks armed with caffine?
Anyway, the worst happened last night. I completely screwed over the house.
It started when I got back from dropping Richard off. I got home around 1:30 or so, turn on the drip sprinklers in the backyard for the night, shove a load of laundry in the washer so I can have clean clothes in the morning and do my bathroom thing, then go to bed. I slept soundly until my alarm went off at a quarter to seven when I stumbled out of bed. I heard water running and was glad that I remembered to put the sprinklers on the night before. That reminded me to put my clothes in the dryer so I had something to wear to work. I walked down the hall, past the bathroom. Then the sound of water seemed to be close ... as in not in the backyard, or even in the pipes ...
My foot stepped into an inch and a half of standing water. I hadn't even gotten to the kitchen yet, still 20 feet from the laundry room. I almost screamed. I started freaking out. There was water everwhere! The door to the washing machine was open and water was pouring out of it as a steady stream. Still in my boxers, I went outside and shut off the water at the source where it enters the house, along with circuit breakers for electical appliances in the area.
I went inside to see the damage.
There was indeed over an inch of water resting on the hardwood floors of the kitchen, and it was spilling over into the carpeted living room. If you have never been to my house, you need to know that it is on a hill. The living room/kitchen is right above what used to be our home office (before my parents moved out). I went down the stairs and saw rain. Water was dripping - almost streaming - down from the ceiling and creating puddles on the floor. Water was everywhere!
I called my parents in San Jose and got my mom. I told her what was going on. She was frustrated more than mad, and suprisingly not mad at me. I was completely relieved. She told me to call my grandpa to have him assess the damage and help with the cleaning process. That was the last call my cellphone let me make for some reason, so I ran up to my grandpa's house, just a block away. I ran into my neighbor who was gardening and asked for his help as well. Both were more than happy to gather mops and towels and fans and go down to the stillman's.
We literally swept the water out the door. By the time we got back, the flow of water had subsided and the rain had slowed down significantly. With the top layer of water out (by sweeping it out the door) the hardwood dried pretty fast. The couple hundred square feet worth of carpet, however, was (and is) still wet. We got towels and sopped up as much of the water as we could, but it is still pretty bad. Now I get to go home to a wet house and wonder what to do with it. Any suggestions or insurance inquiries or offers to help can be directed to my cell phone.
I don't know. I just was kinda sorta hoping I could get through the summer without any shit like this happening. I guess I was hoping for just a little too much :)
Hey all, just getting the word out that Richard is hosting a LAN party tonight. At this current moment, he is in Portland OR, but he will be back around 5 oclock. The LAN should start later, so he has time to settle in and whatnot. Plan on showind up there around 7 or so.
If you need directions call my cell or IM me before 5PM and I can give you what I know. For those who need to know, his parents will be there, but the LAN will be in the guest house. BYOB. Spread the word... I'm at work, so I can't call ...
It it now something like almost nine in the morning. I just woke up. I am at a lan party, and got just about the best sleep I have had this week. On the floor. In Anthony's dad's house in some random bedroom.
I wish Ihad a camera right now. I have 5 soda cans on my CPU, there are misc. plates with bits of pepperoni on them, and an half-eated box of fudge cookies on the table next to me in between someone's laptop and Nick's new flat screen monitor. From my folding chair I can see 2 people sleeping, but I can hear 3. I see 3 people gaming, but hear another one in the other room. There are more people scattered throughout the house. What a night.
Last night I also bought service from www.networkeleven.com. I got 500 megs of space for transfering my website to get rid of the current service I have. I am expecting an email from them soon, and when I get it, I would say give me a week before I have a new site online. To see a preview of what I am working on (with real time updates) go ahead and click. Yeah, I guess they have a referrer program where if you buy from them they give me $30 bucks of credit for hosting, so if you are in the market and go with them, give them my name and URL and I am sure we can work out a way for me to give you some cash in exchange ;)
Each day passes in a blur to me now. Work is great... go in, get flipped off, browse the BB Forum for a while, work, browse a lil more, go to lunch, etc...
Then the nighttime. Redding. Boring. After work every day I go to James' house, almost without exception. There is not much else to do. We go to In-N-Out, Red Robin, whatever, and just chill for a bit. Catch a movie, whatever, work on websites, play ultimate, have mini-LANs, whatever passes the time. When I finally get home around 1 each night, I go to bed due to extreme exhaustion. Then I wake up the next morning at 7 to go to work.
And that has been my summer so far, aside from a road trip to San Jose, Chico Orientation, and a few other things not really cool enough to mention. I am tired all the time. I like it. I don't get much sleep. I don't really do a whole lot. I am, however, in the process of making a new template for my webiste, which should be appearing in the next week or two (I hate the one I have now that you see...) Plus my hosting company sprung THIS on me, putting me in the market for a new hosting company. I have a few possibilities, but haven't forked out my checkbook just yet (payday is ... tomorrow) (yay!) so whatever. I will probably just make both switches at the same time.
Anywho, that is just about everything. Not much is there, huh? Story of my life. I can't wait until college starts. (August 18th is move-in day!)
So at orientation I was thinking about being a CS major. Then I realized that I don't want to be a programmer for the rest of my life. I already sit in front of a computer 40 hours a week, and I don't really want to do this for the rest of my life. Well, I switched my major to mechatronics engineering.
What is it? Glad you asked. It is basically a combination of Mechanical, Computer, and Electronics Engineering. Yeah, a combination. Lets just say that I was looking over the 4-year plan, and there are lots of math classes. Lots.
But do I really want to do that? Who knows. I heard that the average person changes their major 3 times or something like that. I haven't even started yet, and I have changed my major. ::sigh::
But what about web design? Don't I love it? Yes, I do, and perhaps I will continue to do it for a long time - I won't ever completely stop doing web design, but ... a career out of it? I don't know about that. I think that if I put that I was a mecha engineer on a resume, they wouldn't care. Maybe I could get a minor in something like graphics design or CS or something more geeky than mechatronics (is there something more geeky? Mechatronics major with a minor in computer science?)
All in all orientation was fun and I got all the classes I wanted (even if I am a bit ashamed at how dumb I am) and got to know the school better. I still think I might want to transfer to Cal Poly SLO (they have mecha as well), but I doubt it would happen. But hey, whatever, I am going to friggin college!!
So here I sit in front of a monitor in the basement of Whitney Hall at the famed Chico State University. Why, do you ask, am I in such a place? Well, the answer is quite simple. Orientation. Yeah, that's right, quality time (2 friggin days worth) I get to spend with not only my mother, but a host of other incoming freshmen planning to attend CSU Chico. Oh, how fun this is.
More updates as I forge into the unknown depths of this partying university...
"David Stillman, Your ideal job is a Pirate."
Wow, my parents moved. Like 2 days ago. To San Jose.
Crazy times. I go home and there is no furniture, no pictures on the wall, no nothing except for me, my stuff (in boxes, most of it), a TV (cable should be shutting off pretty quick) and my computer (Phone lines are already cut off). I am going to live like this for a month and a half. Until August 18th when Chico State starts.
So now my only connection to the outside world is my cell phone and the internet at work.
::sighs::
You know the funny part? I thought I would be at home alot. I figured I would have fixed the layout of my website by now, and had it all redone. (have you seen it in any mozilla-based browser?) What a laugh. Even when my parents lived in the same house I was never home. Now the only meal I eat at home is breakfast, and that is just every other day. It hit me yesterday when I went to go play ultimate. I got a tech support call from one of my neighbors, so I told her I would go help her. Well, I went home and showered, helped her out and by then it was just past 10pm. I went to go see a movie. Got in at nearly 1am and collapsed. And I thought I would be miserable, nothing to do in an empty house. Ha! I have done quite the opposite. Now I just need to figure out when to stop.
Speaking of, where is my morning coffee?