Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Repairs, Comments, and more Games.
Nintendo received my stuff today, I can't wait to get my Wii back and start playing Mario Kart Wii but it's not too bad because I bought GTA IV as an impulse buy. I've got issues with GTA in general (nothing to do with the sex and violence) but I've got no other games and it's getting absurd reviews so I gotta know first hand if it's all B.S. or the real deal. I also bought Justice League Unlimited Vol 1 & 2. I watch it on Boomerang but they skip episodes which annoys me so at midnight I went on an angry Amazon rage and bought it. What can I say, I've got a thing for B-list DC Superheroes. There was a dude dressed as Vigilante at Comic-Con and I was freaking out. Liz looked at me like the idiot I am.
I'm also totally excited about 2 things this week. 1) HOUSE WAS BRAND NEW! I love House, one of my favorite shows ever. 2) IRON MAN IS COMING OUT! I'm totally seeing it Thurs at 8pm. If you wish to join me, give me a ring or just show up.
Lastly, I notice people are actually commenting on posts! It's like sing Duran Duran at a Karaoke bar and then getting applause! (Metaphor of the day). Keep it up.
And remember, sex is bad m'kay.
Sunday, April 27, 2008
We win our first softball game
Friday was the last day of Pre-Cana (thank God!) and me and Liz are officially ready for marriage. We even got a little certificate saying something like "You're not a pagan sinner! Congrats". The "sex talk" was the most amusing because we were told that you can have sex when a woman can't get pregnant as long as you don't wear protection. Something about timing and mucus, it was gross. So if you can figure out both your biological clocks, screw away and don't make babies but the moment you introduce plastic wrap, you're a sinner.
Saturday was at first clothes organization day. We got rid of a lot of crap, put some "rejected" items outside to air out (which surprisingly work! I may have suits!), and put away the rest. I can now go to the gym because I have gym clothes. Later, I visited Andrew and Peggy's place, to see a VERY VERY VERY drunk Pat. It was like watching deaf-mute trying to have sex but instead making sweet love to a pile of dirty clothes. Sad part is, Pat was in fact making sweet love to dirty clothes. Andrew's sweat-shirts will never be the same. Pat and Karl asked me to throw more metaphors into my blog. Last time those 2 asked me to do something, it involved Polaroids, ski goggles, a hose, and a mule. The situation was like being in a room with Jennifer Aniston and Angelina Jolie except a lot uglier.
Sunday involved buying Mario Kart Wii (though I don't own a Wii, Nintendo is repairing it for free), playing it at Matt's house, Harold and Kumar (totally awesome), and softball (We won! My average is .666, number of the BEAST). Oh, and I started testing my Nintendo, and it seems to work fine, though I seemed to have lost the light-gun and a 2nd controler I think. More searching needs to be done. Some games don't work, but the good ones seem to be ok. Only time will tell.
Remember, reading my blog is like having sex while in outerspace...it's awesome.
Thursday, April 24, 2008
Root Canal and Clothes
We had a borderline pointless meaning with the association basically telling us 2 things. 1, our association fee is being reduced by 15% (sweet) and nothing is going to happen with the building for over a month (un-sweet, bitter?).
I got a SNES in the mail, along with some other stuff. I'm just racking up the credit card bill. It's wonderful. I also got my clothes back! Most of the stuff is good, I lost some jackets and my suits (I'm suit-less) and some other things I really liked which just made me depressed. Liz lost her really nice dress and I felt awful. I'm getting her a new one as a graduation gift.
I'm really looking forward to the weekend. I just want to relax, play some Rock Band & Call of Duty 4, and forget about everything just for a little bit. Maybe I'll even start exercising again.
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Parents House almost pulls a Teo's Condo, My Teeth, and the Comic Con
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Money, Mets, and Gift Cards
Weds night went to see what was probably my last time in Shea. I'm a Yankee's fan but I don't hate the Mets and I want 1 more experience in the stadiums before they're gone. Mets won 5-2 and it was a really good game. Homers, good catches, strike-outs, etc. Yanks beat the Red Sox too. Suck it Boston!
Also, the people from Liz Moot Court team at Seton Hall Law pitched in and got us a large gift card to Macy's. Liz said she was borderline speechless and I can't say enough on how kind it was to do that for us. We'll be saving it to help buy furniture down the line. I also can't repeat myself enough on how I appreciate everyone's gifts and efforts to help during this time. It's been overwhelming.
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Saturday, April 12, 2008
The buying begins and SUPRISE!
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Stretching the Truth - Star Ledger
The photo above is completely staged. It says some crap about how she's consoling me, yeah right. I was busy loading stuff in my dad's truck when the photographer was snapping pictures and she comes buy and explains to me what the Red Cross does, I've been fine during this whole thing. Someone else may need a shoulder to cry on, I just want to buy my videogames and comics. The photographer was upset too because they were trying to stage photos all day apparently, as Pat overheard him being upset in broken English.
The Red Cross was at NO POINT IN MY PLACE! They helped outside with food and drinks (I think, maybe that was the condo association, I don't know) and they were around, but they weren't helping me because I didn't want or need them. I had my friends and family help me and people the insurance company brought to clean my clothes. I knew they were going to use me for photo-ops but these captions are a little much. Maybe I'm just angry because I've lost almost everything so I apologize for changing the Red Cross to a Red Bullseye.
If they want to help, find out whole stole my laptop from my ruined place, more on that to come later...
Pictures are Copyright of the Star Ledger or whatever.
Photos via Flicker
I make the news
Star Ledger Article
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
Old Navy Hates Me!
I got stuff out today, big post to come, probably tomorrow. Tons of pictures to come as soon as Pat can get them off his camera.
The Big Day!
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Older News from the Day Of
Lost Comics Count
Itemizing all the comics, games, movies, and music isn't so bad, finding the price of how much it'd cost to replace is a pain!
Once my lists are said and done, I plan on posting most if not all of them.
Saturday, April 5, 2008
Day 3 - 5
They let me and my dad in to my place for a few minutes. The place is a disaster area. The ceiling has fallen, things are burned, my TV and electronics either exploded or were melted. Things water logged. It's bad. My clothes are OK interestingly enough, they didn't get wet or burned thankfully. The furniture is toast, my Games, DVDs, CDs, and some (not all) comics are completely destroyed with only melted or wet remains. We got out all the uber-valuables which were ok and hard-drives. The hard-disks may be ok, we'll see. Some jackets, some old-school games (which are dead), and 3 of 5 boxes of comics (2 are good!). We also got out important documents and receipts which was probably the best thing to get.
We went home and tried to organize, Pat came over to help and take the already posted pictures.
We had a meeting at 7pm at night. It meant that the Yankee tickets I got were now useless, so we gave them to the landscaper. They gave us a ton of info, told us our big chance to get what's left is next Weds at noon (for me). 3 hours to get everything. Ugh! Also told us how long it'll take (a guess) to have it all demolished and rebuilt (12 - 14 months) and what "builders grade" means. Oh, and I still gotta pay my association fee even though I don't have heat or water, gotta pay sewage though I have no plumbing, and taxes obviously.
With all that had happened, I decided I need Friday to organize with my folks, so I took off from work.
Friday involved talking to the insurance guy, which was very helpful and beneficial. They're bringing in special cleaners to take care of my good but stinky clothes. Everything...and I mean EVERYTHING SMELLS. We also talked about the following steps, the meeting, and of course money. I separated all my water-logged comics and got very upset because there were a lot of awesome issues I lost. World War Hulk #1, Sinestro War #1, few issues of JSA, Buffy Season 8 #1, etc.
I also went through all my receipts to try and figure out what I could claim via my credit card's policy along with just a list of stuff I lost. My mom took one look at my giant bucket of receipts and almost died. Apparently my organization skills are only good in my own eyes.
At night, back to normal, ate with Liz, Whitney and Jason, went to bed. Today I ran more errands, saw Marv and the Mall, and contacted Nintendo about possibly replacing my Wii. I hope they can help. I'm going to call Microsoft and Sony later. Right now, I'm going to shower. Expect another update in a few days. Any questions or comments e-mail me or call.
About the photos
This pictures are from the day of the fire, courtesy of Emery, and of some of the stuff we got out when were were allowed in for a few minutes (courtesy of Pat).
Day 0 - 2
Day 0:For anyone who doesn't know yet, this is where I will tell you. The building I live(d) in caught fire on Monday, March 31st while I was at work. No one was harmed or hurt, all animals survived. The fire, which started outside below my condo raged upwards destroying my deck and the wall, and completely took all the homes above me out. My place is still intact but I suffered severe water damage. This is what it looked like when I arrived only an hour after the events.
I'm in the middle floor.
I got in around 4pm after my friend Whitney gave me a buzz about it. I assumed the worse and that I'd lost everything and when I got there I figured that was a good guess. All the officials were there and the Red Cross along with friends and family. People at work were nice enough to drive me there but there was nothing I can do but wait for more information. We had a meeting late at night where they brought us up to speed and what needed to be done and afterwards and they explained how the building would probably be torn down and I'd be homeless for a year at least. We then got burgers and I went to bed. I slept alright that night, trying not to think about it but that wouldn't last.Day 1:When I woke up, I couldn't help but think and hope on what I could get back and what I can't. I worried that my comics (1+ years worth) were soaked, that all my movies and video games were wet, my old school games (Atari, SNES, etc) where out in the open and probably soaked. My Xbox, HDTV, Wii, PS2, etc were also probably gone. After a while I realized I wasn't falling back to sleep and got up. I think I've recently become allergic to my house, so spending the night resulted in red eyes and a sore throat. I spent the day with my dad doing as much as possible. I spoke with dectectives explaining what I knew, what I had on the deck, and any posisble theories. I really had none. It was mentioned that the people above us smoked on their deck but no evidence or explanation for the fire has been found. I cancel my cable and eletric bill, got a new gym card made. Of course, Patriot Media/Comcast will be billing me for the lost modem and cable box. I went and bought underwear, socks, and some pants from Old Navy. Old Navy didn't have my jean size, jerks. We also met on site with the insurance people and of course our coverage plan isn't as good as I'd hope. After dealing with that, we went to get my tax stuff, had the mail rerouted, and went home. Liz came by and we went to the mall (Menlo Park) to see if I could get more stuff. We hit Old Navy and got more stuff (still no jeans at 2nd location!) and tried other stores. I didn't know if my clothes might be salvagable so I didn't want to buy much. We ate Chick-Fil-A and went home. We watch a bunch of Ninja Warrior on my old college TV and she went home. I slept better.Day 2:The morning I got some bins hoping to be able to go inside and get some stuff. Instead it's brought to my attention that the building is unsafe and I wouldn't be allowed in. I'd have to wait till next Weds to get my things. Will my comics last? Will anything last? I don't know. Pat swung by and we hit up Panera. I like Panera bread, just not sliced bread. Afterwards I went to my 3rd Old Navy and guess what...NO JEANS IN MY SIZE! Am I fat? Seriously tell me. I bought a shirt, got my new comics at the store, and went back to the site. After sorting through what's going down the next week, I finally went home to read some comics and get on the web. I really want to document most of what's happened and keep everyone informed.Everyone has been incredibley helpful and kind during this entire thing. Thing is the best way to put it since it's so much rolled into 1. If you got questions or anything, shoot and e-mail or call. E-mail will take a while to respond unless I'm at work because my parents basement is colder than Frostie's penis. Yes, Frostie the Snowman has a penis, he's a SnowMAN right? I'm off to shower and possibly put on new close, and try and cough out the smoke and hazardous chemicals I'm sure to have swallowed. Seriously though, I'm ok and wearing clothes only made by Old Navy and Hanes.