robotech_master

A brief trip downtown

2020-07-07T05:49:43Z

So, I headed downtown for the first time in, well, several months. Since starting to work from home in October, I don't think I've done much visiting downtown at all save for visiting the nurse practitioner at the Anthem building a couple of times, or catching a bus to elsewhere a couple of times. So, with a new mode of transportation available, and the cruel sun no longer shining down from the heavens, I figured it might be fun to check in and see how things are.

I took the Pleasant Run Trail down to Virginia Avenue, near the Anthem building, and stopped in at Tappers Arcade Bar, a video arcade bar where all the video games are free to play as long as you buy something at the bar. They had "Sweet Baby Jesus" chocolate peanut butter porter, which I enjoy, so I had one of those, and played a couple games on the vintage Tron arcade game. Then I moved on to the downtown area, swung around Monument Circle, ran by the convention center where the Gen Con convention isn't being held this year, and cruised around a few more blocks before heading back home along New York Avenue.

It was really something else seeing all the boarded up buildings—either covering broken glass or protecting unbroken glass, not sure which. Some of them had graffiti on them—"BLM" or "#georgearmstrong". One of them, on Jack's Donuts, bore the message, "I'm sorry Chris, but we have to be heard." An apologetic vandal, now I've seen it all. But then, a couple of the boarded windows actually had murals painted, saying "we're all in this together" and memorializing the victims who touched off the movement. I found that kind of heartwarming.

The expression, "May you live in interesting times," isn't actually an ancient Chinese curse, but still, with all this year has done so far, I'm starting to understand the meaning behind it in a fully practical way. I hope things calm down soon and next year is substantially less interesting.

One other thing I saw downtown was that a lot of Lime and Bird electric scooters are still in use there. Apparently Bird has stopped turning them off at 9 p.m., because it was after 11 and people were still cheerfully whizzing around on them. I made good money on those a couple of years back, but apparently Lime and Bird have given up on the outskirts of town and chosen to concentrate their scooters strictly in the downtown areas—nowhere near me.

When I checked Juicer Mode on the Lime app, I noticed that the standard fee for juicing scooters now is only $2.75. There were several around that I could have gotten if I'd had a way of getting them home, and the urge to go back into town and drop them off before 7 a.m. If I end up getting a trailer for my e-bike, maybe I could do some of that. But it doesn't seem like $2.75 per scooter is even worth amount of time and effort I'd have to put in for it.

Anyway, I guess I should go get in bed. Have to get up early tomorrow and get back to the grind. Back to normal, so far as "normal" goes…

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Do you want to move to Indianapolis, and not have much stuff?

2018-04-05T01:39:03Z

Indianapolis is a really great city, with a low cost of living, lots of brewpubs and even several wineries and distilleries, several big pop-culture conventions per year (GenCon, Indy PopCon, ComicCon, etc.), the Indy 500 and the Colts, a good job market, and Chicago just a few hours away. See the guidebook I wrote for more details about some of the cool stuff that can be found here.

I currently live alone in a century-old two-bedroom condo in Indianapolis, which is owned by my brother. (I'm planning on paying him back for it, gradually.) I've got room for a housemate, and I was wondering if any of my friends or acquaintances might be interested in living here. For details, read on.

( The details and requirements. )

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Goodbye, Old Friends

2014-03-25T14:52:18Z

Not you lot, but these shoes.

( Off with the old Rockports, on with the new Doc Martens, in preparation for my new job. 'cuz, after all, there's noe biz like shoe biz! Also, have some Sam Vimes. )

So now it's time to get rid of these old shoes. As you can see, I pretty much wore them to bits. This is the longest time I've ever owned a pair of shoes, I think, and after all this time it almost feels like I should be giving them some kind of funeral.

( New job starting Thursday…and apartment-hunting travails. )

So, anyway, got me some butterflies.

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My Further Adventures in Northeast Indianapolis

2014-03-20T19:11:36Z

Well, yesterday was an eventful day.

( My adventures from here to the northeast end of Indianapolis and back, and the obtaining of a job! )

Anyway, that's the story of my adventures yesterday. Looking forward with trepidation to this coming Monday. It's going to be a different, possibly difficult experience getting back into the harness…but this time it's finally going to be a job that makes full use of my talents. I can hardly wait.

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Rising to the challenge: My adventures en route to and from "The Wind Rises"

2014-03-02T20:50:47Z

Well, I promised an account of my adventures yesterday, in which my trip to see The Wind Rises in a theater turned out to be much longer and more adventurous than I had expected, so here it is.

( Let's have an adventure! )

In the end, The Wind Rises was a movie that would have been worth bicycling the whole ten miles for. I heartily encourage anyone and everyone near a theater playing it to go and see it while you still can. And I have to say that, as much as I enjoyed Frozen, there's really just no comparison in terms of movie greatness. Here's hoping it takes the Oscar tonight!

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