VexVox

Things about the old apartment I will not miss:

• The temperamental toilet. It flushes weakly and fills up slowly. Also, the seat rim has a bad habit of slamming down unprovoked.
• The a/c vent in the bedroom. When I'm working on audio, the white noise it generates interferes with my listening.
• The space-hogging fireplace which I never used in the seven cumulative years I lived in that unit.
• The back door, which tends to get hard to closer when the weather is extremely hot or extremely cold. Austin weather is rarely ever temperate.
• Carrying groceries up six flights of steps. My eating habits have deteriorated to whatever I can drag up in the fewest amount of trips.

Things about packing I hate:

• I cannot pack everything up days ahead. I would have liked to pack my plates, silverware and bathroom items days ago, but then what would I use till the actual move date?
• When everything is put into boxes, it's difficult to move around the apartment.
• It takes so fucking long!
• I refuse to ask friends to help me move because I don't want to be asked to help with a move, so I end up cursing multiple trips up and down six flights of stairs.

Things about the new apartment I won't look forward to:

• As I was bringing things over last night, I could hear my upstairs neighbor pounding away on a stairmaster or some such thing. That's really going to fuck with recording vocals.
• I spotted roaches.

This is why I don't move very often.

Exactly one year ago, I wrote an open letter to technology staffing agencies, imploring them to heed the preferences of my Monster profile. The letter was more for me to vent than for anyone to read, but now I have to reconsider.

Shortly after writing that letter, I changed my profile to remove any trace of a phone number, stating instead to e-mail me first. I'm not sure how Monster works for employers, but many agencies have kept my number. And they still call, some using an alternate number (my cellphone) which I should have never divulged.

Has the demand for developers really gotten that tight? I'm getting contacted by totally random people for positions that don't even reflect the preferences I selected on Monster.

A few weeks back, I made a slight change to my Monster profile — I removed Austin as a location in which I'm interested for opportunities. (Yes, folks, that's my passive-aggressive way of finding a way out of this city.) In the past, I would re-activate my profile to indicate to employers I want to be found. This time, I did not reactivate the profile — I wanted to see if I would attract attention with that slight edit. It seems I have.

Two recruiters wanted to pitch me jobs in Houston. Another wanted to pitch a job in Utah. I don't even list Austin as a preferred city. How much less for Houston, let alone Utah?

One recruiter thought I was qualified for a VB.Net job, and I've never worked with .Net. (I worked with ASP 6 years ago.) Another recruiter pitched me a job involving JSP, and I've never worked with that either. Two recruiters sent me user-interface positions, but I say in my profile I would rather work on the server side. One of those position was a senior position, and I say in my profile I am not interested in a senior position.

Don't get me started on the recruiters who pitch me contract jobs, when I specifically say I am not interested in contract jobs.

Yes, the ability to read from and write to a database through a web interface employs similar principles regardless of platform — PHP, ASP, JSP, Ruby on Rails. But c'mon — how is it I'm getting pitched jobs with acronyms not remotely listed in my profile?

The fact these agencies contact me makes me think:

• There's more demand than supply as far as web developers go.
• These agencies are really scraping bottom to get in touch with me.
• These recruiters don't know how to read.

I haven't followed up with any of them, especially the ones who just say, "I have something for you, so send me your resume!" I was told never to accept candy from strangers.

The only e-mail I did return was from the CTO of a media company. If he was willing to bypass the staffing agencies — some who have questionable judgment about my abilities — he probably saw something in my job history to catch his attention.

But that case was the exception. More often, staffing agencies want to hook me up with jobs that I wouldn't even apply for myself.

The buyer's regret is starting to sink in. Today was damn hot, and I packed my CDs, a task that took an episode of Grey's Anatomy and two episodes of Law & Order to finish. The weatherman said the 90-degree high today was unseasonably warm. My apartment hasn't really cooled down all day.

It made me realize that with 273 more square feet of space comes a proportional increase in my utilities bills. Electricity is already a killer, and it will be moreso come July and August. Water, I'm sure, will double. I'm considering getting rid of the telephone land line and — diety forbid — go entirely cellphone. My land line is the spam catcher of my phone — all the unwanted calls get directed there.

I also have another option — find a new job. I've been getting calls from staffing agencies, wanting to hook me up with their clients. I haven't followed up on any such leads. I do have a phone interview on Monday with the CTO of a media company. He contacted me, which means something, I guess.

I've characterized my job search so far as passive. I'm not looking for anything, but I wouldn't mind being found. And while I do like the stability my current job offers, the pay will always be an issue.

This moving thing has really thrown some screwdrivers into the gears. I liked the idea of a new job when it was an option. Now it's looking more like a necessity.

Before I went on vacation, I received a letter from my apartment office informing me of how much my rent would be raised when I renewed my lease. The damage? $72. Of course, my rent hasn't been raised in two years, which was nice. At the same time, the increase was something of a sticker shock.

My first reaction was to jump onto Craigslist and find new digs. I was brought back down to earth when I discovered my rent raise was actually reasonable.

Well, if I'm going to be paying more, why not go for broke? And that's exactly what I'm going to be for the next 12 months.

I went to the leasing office today to see how much it would cost to move into a larger one-bedroom apartment. The two which would be available when my lease expires easily broke the $700 threshold. Then the leasing manager looked up two-bedroom apartments. She found one going for less than $700. In essence, my rent raise would be $93. But I would increase my square footage by 273 feet.

So yes, I'm going to be broke, but now I'm going to have an entire room dedicated to my studio. For the next 12 months, I won't have to play spatial relations games just to squeeze one more piece of furniture (or equipment) into my 10×10 bedroom.

Of course, that means I have to pack. The weather is now getting hotter, and I am moving. Somethings are timed quite nicely. Other things are not.

What I've liked about the trip this past week:

• Eating local food
• Buying Japanese CDs
• Seeing cute local haole boys
• Spending time with Ryan and Jen
• Scattered showers, to a point
• Maui
• Wireless Internet access at home
• Birthday money from relatives

What I've disliked about the trip this past week:

• No circulation through my parents' house. Trade winds do not make their way through the house, making it hotter than it should be.
• The rock-hard bed my mom considers soft.
• Roosters crowing at four in the goddamn morning.
• The layer of gunk and sweat accumulated over the course of an entire day.
• Scattered shows, in excess
• Charged wireless network access at airports
• Heavy bags

Well, I went done gone did it. I drove up Haleakala Crater by my little lonesome.

I arrived in Maui at 3:30 p.m., got my rental car and checked into the hotel by 4 p.m. I considered going tomorrow, using the rest of the day to unwind, but since I was staying only overnight, I had a pretty narrow window to get to the crater and back before check out. The main reason for the trip was to see Haleakala anyway, so what was the point in delaying?

I reread my guide book, oriented myself with the maps, grabbed my digital camera and CDs and headed out. Because it was my first time on Maui, I missed a turn on the way over and on the way back. For the most part, getting there wasn't difficult. It helped to follow the signs.

My mom was all freaking out because I wanted to drive up the crater. She had gone with my dad a number of years before, and she was intimidated by the roads. As it turned out, it wasn't much different than driving along Makapu`u point, or the east side of Moloka`i. As the elevation got higher and higher, I was humbled by the winding curves of the road. One misstep, and it was a long, long fall.

I was warned about the cattle, and I saw them. They stayed out of the road on the way up.

My rental car has a thermometer indicating the temperature outside. I saw it drop from 74 to 63 to 54. At one of the lookout points, I got out to take some pictures and decided to take out the green jacket I had packed. The guidebook had also warned about the cold, and the temperature was appropriate for the green jacket. I was so glad I brought it with me.

Reading about what to expect doesn't really prepare for when you encounter it. I drove through clouds. THROUGH clouds. I felt the sun get more intense the higher I got. It got colder and colder. And yes, the thin air can make it hard to breathe.

After two hours of winding, winding road, I reached the summit. There are pictures. I'll let them describe.

As instructed, I drove down the crater with the lowest gear on the car. It really did make the trip down safer.

The sun had set as I made my way back down, so it was dark. Of course, that means the cattle which had stayed out of the way on the trip up would become a nuisance on the way down. One cow wandered into the middle of the road, and I didn't see her until I had made a hairpin curve. I stopped in time, and the cow just stared at me blankly. Nobody was behind me, thank diety, and no one was oncoming. So I drover around the heiffer, grateful I didn't have to involve my insurance in a bovine accident.

I didn't switch to second gear till I reached Kula, and I didn't switch to regular gear till I was at the junction between Highway 377 and Highway 37.

From there it was a straight shot to the hotel. And dinner. (Mall food court. It was late, and I was hungry.)

Even with my own laptop and wireless Internet access at the house, I'm still hesitant to post updates. I guess I'm now too accustomed to having privacy when I write these entries. Come to think of it, I don't really update from work much either.

So I'm here at the Honolulu International Airport Interisland terminal, waiting for my flight to Maui to board in an hour. I don't have much of a plan for Maui. I'm going to see Haleakala. I'll probably see Lahaina. I think maybe even a drive around the island is order. I don't have enough time for the Hana Highway. But I'm leaving this trip incredibly wide open.

What have I done so far since arriving in Honolulu?

Well, I shopped for Japanese CDs on Wednesday morning. I bought new shoes from the Navy Exchange (discounted, no tax.)

On Thursday,I bought some very expensive coffee for Double-A from a shop all the way in Haleiwa. I had some really good Thai food, and I found out my teeth are in really bad shape.

This morning, I bought some more CDs — two Super Junky Monkey titles! — failed to find a gay travel guide at Barnes & Noble, showed up way too early for Nippon Video to open and got some malasadas.

Now I'm heading to Maui to a hotel with no wireless Internet connection. Man, am I cheap.

I think I'll pass the time with some UNO now.

I hated just about every moment of my flight from Austin to Honolulu. It wasn't just the flights themselves but the time in between, waiting at gates and rushing to gates.

The first incident …

At the security checkpoint, I was trying to get my bins of stuff in order, but this bitch behind me kept shoving the bins forward, making me lose my place. She did this three times, and when I finally reached the conveyor belt, I shoved all the bins back toward the line and got my things in order before putting them in the scanner. I turned back to the cunt, who looked up when she noticed I was looking at her. She had an "oops" smile on her face, which promptly melted when she saw the undisguised scowl on mine. I think I may have uttered, "God fucking damn it!" when I shoved the bins back. Oh, I so wanted to fucking kick her ass. As we both left the security checkpoint with our items, I murmured audible enough that I hoped she could hear, "Fucking bitch."

The second incident …

The weather reports all day warned of thunderstorms in the evening. In Austin, conditions had not really worsened but they weren't ideal either. Flights had been already diverted from Dallas, and other flights to Dallas were delayed. A few minutes before my flight to Los Angeles was scheduled to board, an announcement was made over the PA declaring all flights to Dallas canceled due to tornado activity in the area. That led to a mad scramble to reassign gates. My 6:30 p.m. flight was pushed back to 7 p.m., and we didn't actually take off till 7:15 p.m. After we were airborne, the captain introduced himself and said we would land in LA at 8:30 p.m. What? My flight to Honolulu was supposed to leave at 8:25 p.m. Fuck me. I was going to miss my connecting flight. I could only hope the flight would be delayed.

The third incident …

We landed in LA as scheduled, and when I left the gate, I went to the monitors with the departure times. My flight was pushed back to 8:40. It was 8:39 by the time I managed to get off the plane. The gate was visible from where I was, so I walked quickly. Then I heard the final boarding call for my flight, and I ran. By the time I reached my seat, I was parched. I hate having to run between gates.

The fourth incident …

I didn't really need to worry about missing my flight, as it turned out. We were delayed by a full hour as passengers from other connecting flights were also delayed. It was 9:25 by the time we left the gate. A Filipino guy was seated next to me, and the motherfucker could not keep the fuck still. He kept hogging the armrest, getting into my personal space and fidgeted all five fucking hours of the flight. I wanted to turn to him and say, "Asshole, take a fucking Dramamine!" I had already intimated one person that day, and I'm pretty sure this guy's English wouldn't have been good enough to understand what I was saying. Buying a laptop and burning some DVDs of Battlestar Galacatica Season 3 was the only thing that kept me insane.

So that was my flight from Austin to Honolulu. I don't understand people who say they love to travel.

Things I keep forgetting whenever I come home for a visit:

• The neighborhood is full of roosters. And yes, they start crowing at 4 a.m.
• Central air conditioning is optional around these parts.
• Although not as bad as in Texas during July and August, cars can get hot very fast when parked out in the sun.
• The speed limit on the freeways is 55. That means I can't go 70 or 75 as I'm accustomed.

I would like to write about my hell-ish flight, but I don't have the energy to call that much anger.

It's not so much that I've been busy so much as my attention hasn't been focused on blogging. It's not as if proper time management couldn't have helped me post now and then while getting things done. But who ever practices effective time management? Perhaps a lot of people, one of whom does not include me.

So where I at?

• I got into a car accident. No, don't panic. It's just a paint scratch, but even a tiny little brush is enough to be "involved in the accident". I was waiting at an intersection for the light to turn green. A driver was turning left to my side of the intersection when the other driver came barreling down the road and plowed right into car turning left. The force of the impact was hard enough to force both cars to head in my direction. I watched it unfold and, as they say in TV and film, was powerless to stop it. Oncoming train, that kind of analogy. I could only mutter, "Oh God, not again." I came out of it all right, but I was still kind of shell-shocked while we all waited for the police to arrive.
• I fucking hate UPS. I called UPS on Thursday to ask whether a package headed my way could be held at the main office instead of put on a truck. The package arrives on the day I'm supposed to leave for my trip. UPS usually delivers stuff around 2 p.m., and my flight is around 6 p.m. I would have to leave my apartment sometime around 4 p.m. It's a close call. And it's a package I want to bring with me on the plane. UPS tells me I can't do anything on my end — I would need to call the vendor to request what I want. Oh, fuck. I can already see how it's going to end. I thought I could give it a shot, and I called Bed, Bath and Beyond, who sent me the package in question. I explained my situation, and the incredibly friendly customer service woman did her best to accommodate me. The result: the package was reschedule for delivery after I return from my trip. God fucking damn it! All I wanted was for UPS to not put the damn package on a truck. But could they do that? No. As helpful as the Bed, Bath and Beyond customer service clerk was, I had a feeling something would lost in translation with my request, and a package intended to go with me to Honolulu is instead not even reaching Austin till after I get back. Fuck you, United Parcel Service!
• Seeing how disastrous that encounter went, I decided not to tempt fate with other packages arriving on the same day. To all the businesses out there using UPS for your shipping: Please, please switch to another provider. I don't get the same crap from FedEx, and some packages sent through DHL arrived without incident. Hell, I get better service from the United States Post Office, and those guys deliver on Saturday.
• Those other packages heading to me? They're various orders from Mixonic. I mentioned elsewhere that I've been experimenting with designing cover art and ordering short-run printed CDs. In fact, I was burning a bunch of enigmatics CDs while I was writing this post. That's why I haven't really updated. I've been immersed in QuarkXpress, Photoshop and Illustrator for the past two weeks. Huh. I wonder if I should go all old-school and try to start up a zine again.
• I'm heading home to Honolulu in three days. I probably should start packing now.