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July 31, 2003
catch up
things are alright in reno these days, i've aquired myself a frantic plebian job of delivering pizzas, it's averaging out to between 13 and 16 bucks and hour with tips, plus i don't have to make pizzas or anything, plus i get to listen to npr for 2 hours of my shift, plus everyone is happy to see me when i come to their doors. not a career option mind you, but ok for now.
been climbing thrice a week, feel like i'm coming up on where i was strength wise before i left for mexico. got john springer addicted as well, he's a good partner. it was nice when drew lived here cause we were much closer in ability, but it's alright.
starting to plan my trip to mexico for the wto protest. here's a good sheet about reasons to go there and make an alternative perspective known.
here's what saddam hussein's boys are doing right now.
burningman is coming up, which led me to dig up this old photo of the mullet ranger from '01. what a champion.
Posted by bendan at 11:32 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
July 17, 2003
last day in albuquerque
woke up, had toast and talked to granny, then got on my bike, took care of some errands, and then asked the guys at a bike shop where the nearest climbing gym was. they wrote me a note that got me in the gym free, and gave me a map of the albuq bike trails. so i went on a 45 minute bike ride, all on bike trails, most of it along this massive drainage ditch. i have always liked riding past industrial places, the path was fast and i got a good workout. the highlight was passing behind the lottaburger distribution center, lottaburger is a burger chain that i used to love when we'd come to visit during my childhood, now all i remember is my mom telling me they found lottaburger using sheep and horses a long time ago. yum.
the climbing gym was good, got a good pump, they had a giant cushioned mat so if you fell from high up it didn't matter, which i liked. the heat and dryness are causing my callouses to shred off, it's weird looking.
the ride back was against the wind, and i'm all sweaty, so i'm gonna head home, visit with granny, then go get us some mexican food. stoked about the food, plus i'm certain i'll sleep like a champ tonight. excellent.
Posted by bendan at 03:50 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
July 16, 2003
humor and the most disturbing news piece in a long time.
go to google and type in "french military victories." the answer is funny.
an american company is hired to make a travel magazine for canada. seems they forgot a few provinces. oops. (not such a big mistake, is it?)
and finally, the most disturbing news clip in a damn long time. (read it)
Posted by bendan at 12:55 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
July 15, 2003
albuquerque
the last time i came to see my grandma it was hitching from flag. i got dropped off at the side of the freeway, then went wandering into town, having to take 2 busses and walk a few blocks to get there. i remember walking up in the dusk, her waiting on the curb for me. this time i roared up to her doorstep, there wasn't enough buildup.
the drive from tucson was long, but better the coming down, no time constraints. granny is well, i drove her to her physical therapy session today, then we went shopping for groceries, then i drove around this town, looking in bookstores and army surplus stores. going back home in a minute, i'm at the university comp. lab, thank goodness for universities that let anyone at all use their computers.
tomorrow not sure what i'm gonna do, also trying to decide whether i'm going back towards reno on thursday or friday. a two and a half day stay is kinda short, but i plan on coming back in either september or december or both to visit again. we'll see.
can't seem to get ahold of sara liberatore my friend in vegas, i left a backpack of junk with her, want to pick it up. gonna probably just show up in vegas and look her up.
ok gotta go home for dinner, grandma is insane about feeding me, it's an eat-a-thon when i'm here. when i get home it'll be back to mountain biking and climbing, so i'm not too worried.
adios.
Posted by bendan at 04:54 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
July 13, 2003
going to visit granny
back when i was hitchhiking from flagstaff, arizona to albuquerque, n.m, i made a sign to hold up that "albuquerque to visit my grandma." this time i have a car, and barring incident, tomorrow evening i'll be rejoicing in the company of granny. had a bid of a decision dilemma, but my brother steve, who turns 21 in three days (how surreal is that ?) and shannen encouraged me to go for it, specially since i'm so close. the drive back will be rough, albuquerque to reno in two days is what i'm shooting for, we'll see if that pans out. no tickets yet (knock on wood cross fingers other good luck charms), plus haven't used the air conditioner at all, they weird me out. read some edward abbey today, got me excited to look out over the desert as i zoom past. i'll be sure to stop every once in a while and breath the air a bit.
wanna send a big thanks to andy, josh, patrick, zaliah, leo and everyone else i've met here for hosting me (i know i'm missing some names, sorry about that). i plan on trying to go with these guys to the WTO meeting in cancun, then come back and kick it in tucson a bit when it isn't 105 in the middle of the day. you guys are welcome in reno as well, come on up.
alright, gonna go get a good night's sleep. getting excited to see granny tomorrow. excellent.
Posted by bendan at 09:28 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
it finally rained
the rain this after noon was excellent, the sky was red with dust and the wind was blowing in our direction. birds were zipping overhead, only going in one direction, hopefully the direction they were planning on going. then it started raining.
i guess this town only gets 10 or so inches of rain a year, i got to see about an inch of it. like vegas, the city is laid out with little regard to precipitation, so the streets turn to rivers and driving skills go out the window. i love how the desert smells after rain.
had a nice day, woke up on the roof, watched some family guy episodes, then went swimming. after that, burritos for lunch, then a nap, then a good dinner. then some lame parties, but now i'm back at the house, looking at maps.
the thing is, that albuquerque is only 7 hours from here. that's not so far. and i really miss my grandma, and worry about her health, and i still have enough money to get me there and back to reno. think i might do it. not sure yet though.
Posted by bendan at 01:02 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
July 12, 2003
tucson weekend
finished my course yesterday, exhausted. 40 hours of training crammed into 5 days is really hard. they had a post test, in which i feel like i really improved. still, maybe the biggest thing that course taught me is that i need a ton more training. gonna start looking at programs in california, see what i can find.
after the course came back to the house, had some food and beer, and slept on the roof. it was threatening to rain last night, that would have been so cool, since they only get 10 inches of rain a year. no such luck.
trying to figure out if i can go to cancun for the wto protest after burningman. i found tickets from phoenix for 289 roundtrip to mexico city, and from mexico city to cancun is 40 bucks and 22 hours on a bus. we'll see. all the folks i've met here are going, they're gonna do a street medic team, i feel like i could help with that in some way.
trying to decide when i'm taking off from here, part of me wants to go tomorrow, but i might wait till monday.
global exchange is a good site with info about all kinds of activist movements and organizations in the world. check it out.
Posted by bendan at 09:08 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
July 11, 2003
interpreter manuals
i'm storing these sites on here so i don't have to carry it around with me on paper.
the merck manual in spanish the merck manual in english
Bienvenido a la Enciclopedia Ilustrada de Salud!
DICCIONARIO DE LA LENGUA ESPAÑOLA.
Diccionario Mosby de Medicina
Mosby's Medical Dictionary with cdrom
spanish english online dictionary
spanish style guide (select spanish urgente on right side bar)
Posted by bendan at 09:13 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
July 10, 2003
day and a half left of my course
it's going well, lots of practice, find i do well with the grammer but lack a little in medical terminology. that part is coming though.
went climbing with david, a friend of a friend of the family who i climbed with ages ago in donner. we went to the gym cause mount lemon, where everyone climbs around here, is still burning. the gym here is good, and only 8 bucks, but not as good as rocksport. i'm going tomorrow after i finish the last day of my course.
Posted by bendan at 12:57 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
July 09, 2003
links links links
got excited to see this, Heather Havrilesky, who was the best writer at suck.com, is continuing with the rabbit character at rabbitblog.com (i'll link all this tomorrow when i get to a real browser). hope it's not all gossip.
Nike bought converse. quick buy up the last on the shelf converse at 35 bucks a pair (which is still total bullshit) before then cost 50.
read down in this article, the japanese are kicking our asses in terms of weird ass reality shows.
i was a fan of these cards back in the day. wonder if they'll make them all lame now, or stick to the original gross out formula?
things i may soon have to pay attention to.
Posted by bendan at 11:18 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
July 08, 2003
yet more links
first though, seems like the main topic of discussion is the weather here in tucson. it's like 110 during the day, and everywhere you go, eveyone you talk to, never fails to make some comment about the weather. spooky.
(shit just realized i'm talking about the weather. damn)
ok, here are spider webs made by spiders on different drugs. (what the hell?) just think, someone got grant money for this.
damn mozilla sucks, here's the link. i'll fix it tomorrow.
http://www.missblackwidow.com/drugs.html
Posted by bendan at 09:18 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
links
a broke cop with no morals.
god hates dave mathews.
even your browser can't find the weapons of mass destruction.
beer for the homeless.com
Posted by bendan at 06:30 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
interpreting course
the course is going good, just finished the second day. kinda weird that only tomorrow are we getting into the workshops to practice the tecniques we've been talking about, but i guess they feel that sufficient background is necessary. my lack of knowledge of medical terminology will make tomorrow interesting, but i'm not too worried, i find that even if i don't know an exact term or verb, i can work around that and make myself understood.
being back in a school setting is interesting, i was surprised to hear my own voice when first asked a question, but this being here and being interested in the subject matter in a way that i can see it's real world applications makes me excited. plus speaking all the spanish is great, in a way it's a shame that i'm not staying at the hotel where all the out of town folks who've come for the course are staying, some of them are good to talk to, but then again it's 20 or 30 bucks a night, and i'm couching it for free. the guys i'm hanging out with are good folks, i'm gonna bust out the pancake recipe that i love so well saturday morning to say thanks. plus they clued me in a to a falafel joint up the road, and a chinese restaurant with fake meat dishes. mmmm, fake meat.
rode home from the final lecture a few minutes ago, in a hot, hot wind. there's something about said wind that is gross, your lip curls and and you want to run for an air conditioned place. i can't imagine where the water for this city comes from, apparently the downtown area is expected to start sinking in a few years cause they've drained the aquifers located beneath it.
ok, that's all for now. i'll probably throw a link up tonight.
Posted by bendan at 06:02 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
July 07, 2003
yet another blogger linking to the star wars kid
there are more then 1 star wars kid re-edits, some of them are good. i heard he gets to be in the new star wars film. how do you say god bless the internet in french canadian?
Posted by bendan at 09:00 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
July 06, 2003
tucson fucking hot arizona
left the reno yesterday at 7:30, got to vegas at 2:30, decided i didn't have the strength to make it all the way here to tucson and also didn't want to drive at night, so i went to flagstaff. flag wasn't as fun as the last time i was there, the house i stayed had different people living in it, and i didn't have any luck asking people at the metal show if i could crash at their place, so i ended up sleeping on top of the catholic services building. i was exhausted from driving and from not sleeping enough the night before cause of 4th of july, so i slept like a champ.
this morning i awoke, climbed down from atop the building, and started driving. i was pretty tired, but 4 hours later i arrived in tucson. called up patrick, the guy who said i could stay at his house (friends of friends rule), and got the directions to his house. as i got off the payphone this lady named teardrop asked me for a ride. as we got in the car, she asked my name, then whether i liked to party.
teardrop had no qualms about telling me that she was a "lady of the night," and that she was living in the holiday inn, room number 122 if i ever wanted to stop by.
needless to say, i declined.
got to this house, met all the kids here, still learning their names. they have some cool stuff going on, acivism wise. we watched the animatrix animated shorts, then i took a nap. tonight we're gonna cook some communal dinner, then i'm taking my bike to go find where my class is tomorrow. apparently there is a huge problem with bike theft here, so i'm glad i left my mountain bike at home. didn't have room in the car for it anyways.
excited to start class tomorrow. also glad to be on the road again.
Posted by bendan at 04:32 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
July 04, 2003
this will be a long drive with no one to talk to
tomorrow morn i depart el reno, hoping for 6 am but we'll see, either i'll make it to tucson late or i'll arrive sun. morning. made some new friends down there who will let me stay with them, very happy about that. my car is doing well, forgot how much they suck down the dollars, surprising, not like a bike. think i'm taking both my bikes, plus climbing and camping gear. still, won't be gone that long, i expect around 2 and a half weeks.
want to say thanks much to owen for helping me figure out the headlite situation on my car, as well as some other things, thanks much good buddy.
so those of you who read this, i'll be recounting my adventures, hoping to go visit my grandma in n.m., then come back through colorado and utah. when i get back i'll be getting a job post haste, have some new debt to pay off as well as another course to save for. this will be the first time i get out of reno since i've been back, excited a bit for it.
here's a good reason not to get a penis enlargement.
a good webpage for will truce, the primatologist.
this is scary, makes me only want to swim in rivers lakes and pools.
Posted by bendan at 09:27 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
July 01, 2003
standing on the corner?
seems i might be heading to arizona in a different manner then i had previously anticipated. get your hitch on!
wanted to apologize for bitching about money in past entries, seems that was annoying for some of you. i'll make a point to not do that again.
Posted by bendan at 12:35 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack