Wow,
more than a month since the last post - life, as usual, is nuts. I now work at a mortgage broker (yes, i wear a tie to work. NO, I am not happy about it). I have started to settle in to life here in the big city, but I do miss the coast. Oh well, I can always run back for a few weeks.
So, I went to Tuscany with the Dad and 30 something of our new best friends to go biking with Cinghiale Tours and do some cooking and drinking. One of the best trips I have been on, despite the age difference. (It was older married folks, but still a damn good time). The pictures above are from a butcher shop (me and the pig - a cinghiale) and a ride we did down the Avenue of the Poets, a Cedar-lined road that is one of the prettiest in the world, in my humble opinion.
Anyway, we started in a little town called Castegneto Carducci, and took day trips from the hotel to places like Volterra, Piombiono, (Oh, did I mention we biked past the Ornellaia vineyards every day?) and other mountain towns I can't remember the names of. Fresh food, cheese (some aged, but you get the idea), wine (of course, its Tuscany!) and bikes. Jesus, what more could you want? Ride your ass off every day, and then get stuffed to the gills with good food and italian wine? HA!
Ok, more later. I have to get to work now.
Moving Sale! Everything Must GO!!
In the time that has passed since I last posted, I sold two pieces of land, convinced my family to buy a place here, am desperately trying to get finished on the coast, and will be starting class in Atlanta GA (here we go again) this sunday.
The beach has been great, and anyone who wants to go piss off at the beach for a few days (that includes random hotties too!) should call or email.
The Bike trip: Jesus, what a whipping. But I made it. All 512 miles of mean-ass mountain roads, good food, and occasional drinking of good New England Brews. Places to visit again: Burlington, VT - lots of good food, and Lake Champlain is incredible - blue water (a bit cold), but really nice. ; Newport VT (google it you lazy bastard! -NOTE: go eat at the Brown Cow diner for breakfast, but DO NOT expect to get anything done afterwards. Anything. Also, Manchester, VT - kind of ritzy, but good bars, lots of spoiled NY chicks looking to piss off daddy, and beautiful scenery. I posted the pics up to my facebook profile (yes, I have one, you know you do too), so go see them there.
Other stuff: about.com is considering me for a guide position, providing I can put together a website (HA!) about woodworking. I am kind of excited, but not sure if I can hack it - I will probably end up resorting to the good old-fashioned "borrowing" of web content, and shameless quoting of other experts with minimal documentation. Whatever - it worked in college. I am also looking for work in atlanta - decks, etc, so any of you guys out there, HELP!!
really looking forward to atlanta, and getting back to a routine. I have been a vagabond now for quite a while, and would really like to finally buy something nice, and just chill. Maybe even get a Dog and chill for a bit. I have a few more trips this year, Italy in a month, and Chicago in late october - I will probably go sleep for a couple weeks after that. Still marathon training - damn this race!!, but i will get done with it, and probably throw my running shoes away in a drunken rage after finishing, just like last time.
Ok - ferry leaves the island in 45 mins, gotta go shower up for the day.
Holy Crap school is awful
Soooo,
I am stuck in real estate class in lovely Biloxi MS. Jesus tapdancing Christ it is miserable. I'm sure that most people are mildly entertained, but i am about to insert a ballpoint pen in each nostril, and bang my head on a table. Repeatedly.
The good news is that there are multiple MILFs in class, some wearing rings, some not. yrawrrr.
I have been on ebay, facebook, google, gmail, and every other site you can think of. I found a few condos in chicago, a great deal on a half-mass bag, the statute of limitations for adverse possession (sp?), and discounts on textbooks. Jesus I am bored, and I am so damn sick of SubWay i could cry.
However, I think I have sold some land down here for approximately 112% profit - should close on two pieces within 10 days, and the third shortly after. Habitat for Humanity has offered me a job - might take it, or might go piss off for a few months.
Teacher is starting to stare - I think i am about to get busted. Later...............
FOR SALE
For Sale: 3 lots in hickory hills area. Possible owner finance. For Sale Soon: 1998 singlewide trailer on lot. check back for details.
Yep, I am liquidating, and getting out while the getting is good. I have gotten lucky enough to make a few real estate acquisitions, and hopefully, when i sell them, I can make a few bucks, and get out of gautier. It's a nice town really, but there is offically not shit to do, and the food leaves a lot to be desired. I am contemplating where to go next. for suggestions, email me and tell me what you think. Chicago for some reason is first on my list (never having been there, i don't know why, but it is), with a possible exit to europe for a few months, or a stint as an apprentice in a cabinet shop somewhere cool.
the LSAT is the 30th of September, with law school to start the fall of 2007, so I need to do some living between now and then. Hmm, what else - business is still slow for construction, but lots of lumber quotes are going out - hopefully that will pay a few bills for now. Bike trip 2006 is coming up in July - I sponsored the jersey this year, so my logo theoretically should be somewhere on it. Pictures to follow this year - I swear. I realized i left my camera in my house about takeoff time last year - won't make that mistake again. It should have some scary climbs, including the Kankamangus Highway (i have no idea how to spell that, so sorry for the butchery) and crawford notch, both of which will probably hand my sorry ass back to me on a styrofoam plate. Oh well - I'll make it somehow.
Until then, I will continue to stress, try and get this damn real estate class over with, sell a few logs, and keep the cranks turning on the bike. Don't be surprised if i turn up on your doorstep here soon.
- DC
A month between posts - I am slacking bad! So i recently made the mistake of joining Facebook.com, and have wasted countless hours looking stuff up - that site is like electronic crack. Bad stuff - but I have caught up with a lot of people I would have lost touch with otherwise.
hmm, what else is new? I am taking the LSAT september 30, and have the Kaplan course (Dear god in heaven that thing is expensive) starting in august. I really need a 170 on that thing.....
What else - business is slow this month, and that sucks, because I have no money to travel - rrgh, but that is tthe way of life i guess. Still waiting to finish the elevator. My land that i bought here is for sale, and I made an offer on a condo in Daphne AL - right on the mobile bay. I have recently fallen in love with Fort Morgan, AL. It's absolutly beautiful, very undeveloped, accessible by CAR FERRY (about the coolest thing EVER) and the famous Tacky Jacks - best boiled shrimp and view of the bay, and I have decided to try and move there. Its expensive as hell, and I have to figure out a way to make it work, but dammit, I'm going - not sure when or how, but I am going.
I start real estate school on monday (19th) and have class for about a week and a half - should be interesting to say the least. I managed to cajole 50 questions from the state exam out of a buddy, so that should help a little at least. Hope it works out.
Oh, here are a few pictures from my trip to NYC - thanks to Anne, Sa, Wink, Clare, and everyone else I am forgetting for hosting - it was sweet.
I am getting a house! No more living on the couch in my office!
went to the lawyer's office to close yesterday, and because I am a cheap bastard, and the little moron at Wachovia is too, I took a bag of cash instead of a check. (they charge 6.00 for a cashier's check - ridiculous) I have to admit, I felt like a sketchball sitting in a closed conference room with 3 old white guys, counting stacks of 100's, but hey - thats my life!
I ended up getting three lots for the price of two, and will probably only build on two for now. I am putting up modular homes (see photo) and will hopefully have two of them up in a couple months. The house below is the same model as I am building, but mine will be sided in hardiplank (click here for a link) and painted, rather than the brick veneer.
can't wait..... 
Oh my god, I almost forgot. Down in wild & wolly South MS, April 29th is offically designated as Dale Earnhardt day - i $h*# you not. So, in good C-worker fashion, there is a two-man game of Dale-Like Moustache chicken going on at work. Jeff v. Corey - any takers??
- DC
Ahh, back to the academic environment. After 3 grueling days of class from these guys and two exams from those jokers I have a license to adjust and hopefully sell insurance. New plan this summer is to use some of this construction knowledge in the field for some storm claims. Any interested parties should look to this site for advice, tips, tricks and a healthy dose of discouragement. My instructor was a pretty cool guy - he is a wood turner, and makes incredible bowls, plates, and other cylindrical/sperical objects from wood.
Oh, thank you to Cameron, who has started the official "blast from the past email" by sending out a copy of that godforsaken "class of 2K" remix song by Vitamin C. now instead of working, I can sit around and try to pick out the voices of all my high-school classmates. Wow, accounting must be fun.
Hmm, other goings-on. I think i bought a new bike, a sweet Trek Madone 5.9. for those of you who don't ride, the trek madone is the most badass thing ever. Sweeter even than this site Hopefully it gets here soon, and I can put pictures of me in spandex on the web. oh boy.....
on a note more like work, i recently got to go and tour the Charnley house, a residence on East Beach in Ocean Springs designed and built by Frank Lloyd Wright, that was completely gutted and demolished by Katrina. Really amazing. that guy was an incredible designer/architect. I went to give a bid on the curly pine in the home. the deal fizzled out, but i did manage to snag a piece that i am keeping for me - its beautiful, and expensive as all hell.
Here are a few pix: First one is the house as its sits today, and one interior shot of the pine paneling, and then a closer shot of the beams and such that once made up the house. Sad to see, but at the same time fascinating to look at old building techniques. You couldn't build a house that way today.
so, i guess that is about it for now. Life goes on, a lot of trips planned for the year - charleston, New york, chicago, italy, and hopefully Brazil in February. For now, trying to build a house in South MS, and babysitting the dogs and a couple businesses. Then maybe to law school. I don't know exactly why this text is hyperlinked, and have even less idea where it goes. so dont click it.
However, if you do feel like clicking, click
here and visit my other blog for work. In an effort to separate my life form my many jobs, i figured it was necessary. And it probably more fun to look at than your crappy desk job in a cubicle.
Wow,
