Welcome To Wausau
I made it!
Technically speaking, I've been here for over two weeks already. In that time, however, I haven't had Internet access. Oddly enough, that didn't stop me from blogging -- after all, this is really just a journal I'm willing to make public. It stopped me from posting, though, so over the next few days I'll be getting you caught up ... That's enough of that. Let's get started, shall we?
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Sunday, February 11th, 2007
I'm in a Days Inn and I start work tomorrow.
It's weird. Friday I packed up the car and drove away without thinking too much about it. There was plenty of time to think in the car, and I was already running an hour behind.
Friday night was great. I stayed in Minneapolis with my sister, where we went to a performance by Hip Hop Theater there on the U of M campus. It was awesome -- a student on campus takes actual accounts from students and sets them to ... rap. It's half-rap, half-dialogue/standard play. And it's really, really well done. The group that performs is amazing, and you leave knowing that you're gonna have to do some serious thinking.
The rest of Friday was fun but uneventful. Mostly it was just cool to hang out with my sister.
Yesterday morning I managed to drag myself out of my sleeping bag at 7:00, shower, and hit the road by 8. That in itself was a feat of massive proportions. Keep in mind, I've been very lazy for the last month. I haven't gotten up that early since ... wow. Urbana, I think.
Anyway, it's a fairly short drive from Minneapolis to Wausau -- three hours, give or take. And it's gorgeous. It reminds me a bit of SoDak, but with a lot more trees. (I'm really looking forward to making the drive at least once come May or so.)
I rolled into Wausau about an hour and a half before my appointment with the apartment manager that would be showing me around.
And I promptly got lost.
I had a map. I had very precise directions. What I lacked was any clue as to what part of town I had come in on, or for that matter what highway I was actually on. When I came for my interview, most of what I saw was on the south side, and as far I could tell, I was on the northwest side ... maybe. Somewhere on the west side. And what the heck was up with all the construction?! It's February, for crying out loud!
No matter. I did some "exploring" (read: driving around aimlessly) with hopes of finding a Taco Bell. All I had eaten up to that point was a couple of oatmeal rolls that my mom had sent with me.
Well, I couldn't find a Taco Bell, but I managed to make it to my meeting on time. Lo and behold, I even managed to find an apartment right away! It was love at first sight ... It's spacious, it's not too expensive, the kitchen is a great size ... The carpet is a little hideous, but I can work with it. It's a two-bedroom bit too, so now I can have an office. Or something like that.
Anyway, sometime after that I managed to find a Taco Bell after looping out around town and finding Siemens again (that was a relief), and then my awesome sister helped me find a hotel for the next two nights.
Some more exploring, a quick run to ShopKo, ordered a pizza, and then I crashed for the night.
Today was pretty uneventful ... I used the hotel computer (they have one open for guest use, and since I'm about the only guest now that the high schoolers? that were here last night left, I could bum around for awhile. Too bad Blogger didn't want to work ...) and I drove around for a bit, mostly trying to figure out how long it'll take to get to work tomorrow. I'm nervous, but I figure that's normal.
I think it's time to crash ... At least tonight there won't be any hoodlums running around. G'night!
Technically speaking, I've been here for over two weeks already. In that time, however, I haven't had Internet access. Oddly enough, that didn't stop me from blogging -- after all, this is really just a journal I'm willing to make public. It stopped me from posting, though, so over the next few days I'll be getting you caught up ... That's enough of that. Let's get started, shall we?
----------------
Sunday, February 11th, 2007
I'm in a Days Inn and I start work tomorrow.
It's weird. Friday I packed up the car and drove away without thinking too much about it. There was plenty of time to think in the car, and I was already running an hour behind.
Friday night was great. I stayed in Minneapolis with my sister, where we went to a performance by Hip Hop Theater there on the U of M campus. It was awesome -- a student on campus takes actual accounts from students and sets them to ... rap. It's half-rap, half-dialogue/standard play. And it's really, really well done. The group that performs is amazing, and you leave knowing that you're gonna have to do some serious thinking.
The rest of Friday was fun but uneventful. Mostly it was just cool to hang out with my sister.
Yesterday morning I managed to drag myself out of my sleeping bag at 7:00, shower, and hit the road by 8. That in itself was a feat of massive proportions. Keep in mind, I've been very lazy for the last month. I haven't gotten up that early since ... wow. Urbana, I think.
Anyway, it's a fairly short drive from Minneapolis to Wausau -- three hours, give or take. And it's gorgeous. It reminds me a bit of SoDak, but with a lot more trees. (I'm really looking forward to making the drive at least once come May or so.)
I rolled into Wausau about an hour and a half before my appointment with the apartment manager that would be showing me around.
And I promptly got lost.
I had a map. I had very precise directions. What I lacked was any clue as to what part of town I had come in on, or for that matter what highway I was actually on. When I came for my interview, most of what I saw was on the south side, and as far I could tell, I was on the northwest side ... maybe. Somewhere on the west side. And what the heck was up with all the construction?! It's February, for crying out loud!
No matter. I did some "exploring" (read: driving around aimlessly) with hopes of finding a Taco Bell. All I had eaten up to that point was a couple of oatmeal rolls that my mom had sent with me.
Well, I couldn't find a Taco Bell, but I managed to make it to my meeting on time. Lo and behold, I even managed to find an apartment right away! It was love at first sight ... It's spacious, it's not too expensive, the kitchen is a great size ... The carpet is a little hideous, but I can work with it. It's a two-bedroom bit too, so now I can have an office. Or something like that.
Anyway, sometime after that I managed to find a Taco Bell after looping out around town and finding Siemens again (that was a relief), and then my awesome sister helped me find a hotel for the next two nights.
Some more exploring, a quick run to ShopKo, ordered a pizza, and then I crashed for the night.
Today was pretty uneventful ... I used the hotel computer (they have one open for guest use, and since I'm about the only guest now that the high schoolers? that were here last night left, I could bum around for awhile. Too bad Blogger didn't want to work ...) and I drove around for a bit, mostly trying to figure out how long it'll take to get to work tomorrow. I'm nervous, but I figure that's normal.
I think it's time to crash ... At least tonight there won't be any hoodlums running around. G'night!
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