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Well...I'm back in Nashville for a few days. I was in Harrisonburg, VA the past two weeks. I flew from Nashville to Dulles Airport outside of DC then rented a car and drove to Harrisonburg. The airport was probably the biggest I have ever been to, or at least the most spread out. There were at least three separate terminals with buses going from one to the next. The buses were unlike anything I have ever been on before. The buses, called "mobile lounges", have passenger compartments that are raised or lowered in order to align one of the terminals doors with another terminals doors or directly to the door of the plane.

Training went well. Manufacturing training was a little boring at times, but I had never seen a book manufacturing plant before so the binding process was interesting. A lot more goes into making a book than I ever expected and I majored in this sort of thing. Pricing training went a lot faster because I was learning a lot. I have more background knowledge in the manufacturing process than in the pricing process so I had a lot to learn. Because I was already familiar with the whole manufacturing process, it made the pricing training a lot easier for me than most. I was done with the training a day early, so I didn't have to go in on the last day.

Harrisonburg was a nice little town. It's situated in the Shenandoah Valley, which was beautiful. There's not a lot going on in Harrisonburg except for JMU. I did end up going to see Carbon Leaf at a small little pub right down the road from my hotel. I liked their live music a lot more than their produced music. The people that I worked with at the plant were all great. They took me to all the good local places to eat that I probably wouldn't have found on my own.

It snowed a few fractions of an inch on a couple days while I was there, and I think the average high for my two-week stint was probably around 20 degrees. It was much colder than anything I'm used to, which made me even more ready to get back to Nashville. I found it funny that most of the people living in Harrisonburg consider Virginia to be a southern state, but every restaurant I went into only had unsweetened tea, if any tea at all. All-in-all the "friendly city" was indeed that, but I was ready to finally get back home to Nashville.

In between my two weeks of training, I drove down to Roanoke to visit my sister & her family at her husband's parent's house. My sister & her family drove up from Charlotte and met me for the weekend. The weather wasn't the best or the worst. They got a little snow and ice, but not enough to have any fun, just enough to make a mess. Overall, it was a lazy weekend. I ended up reading two books and watching the playoffs, but I was able to spend time with other people instead of being cooped up inside my hotel room.

I flew back to Nashville Friday night and Jeff flew in a few hours before me so we met up at the airport and then got a ride with a guy I work with, Kevin, back to my apartment. He drove us down music row, which is on the way to my apartment from the airport. Saturday was rainy most of the day. We went downtown and ate sushi at a place called Koto. We spent the rest of the day walking around downtown in the rain. I’ve driven around downtown once or twice, but I don’t get a very good feel for where things are unless I walk. We walked down historic Printer’s Alley, which is definitely not Printer’s Alley anymore. It’s more like a couple of businesses that look like they should be on Bourbon Street. Sunday we drove down to Cool Springs, which is pretty much just a huge commercialized area with a big mall and tons of restaurants and stores. On the way home from dropping Jeff off at the airport Sunday night, I stopped by the Tin Roof on Music Row to see what time the Angie Aparo show started. It was only 6:30 and the show didn’t start until 9:00, so I didn’t end up going to the show. If Jeff had still been around I probably would have gone, but I’m getting old and getting home at 1:00AM on a work night doesn’t work for me...especially not for my first day back after training.

I was back in the office yesterday to start getting some practical experience. Karl sent me a job to quote Friday before I left Harrisonburg. I quoted it after I got to the airport while I was waiting on my plane to board. Once I came in and compared it to the layout Karl did I quickly learned that the “corporate way” is just a guideline and all the Reps in the office price jobs differently, so I have plenty left to learn. I am going down to Reynosa, Mexico with Karl and one of his customers Sunday and coming back Wednesday.
Then it’s off to Crawfordsville, IN for another week of training. After I get back from Crawfordsville, I shouldn’t be traveling too much more. I’m hoping that mom & dad will be able to bring Jake up in March or April.
My bedroom mirror and a new footboard (to replace the one that is split) will come tomorrow and my living room furniture on Saturday. I’ll post some pictures of the apartment once everything arrives. There still won’t be much in the way of decorations, but at least it will be furnished! Since Friday and Saturday will be my first musical outings in Nashville, and it’s Will Hoge, I’m sure I’ll take pictures of that to post as well.

...I guess I should post more often so these things aren’t so long and boring...

It's that time again...

So I'm officially living in Nashville now and working at RR Donnelley. I've only been working a week and so far I haven't been able to do a lot. I'm going to Virginia for 2 weeks for training so that I will actually be able to contribute something. I'm looking forward to going to Virginia but I'm going to miss some good shows in Nashville while I'm gone (Modest Mouse, Ray LaMontagne, etc) plus Ben Folds is doing a lecture at Vandy tomorrow at 7...after I leave. Man I'm so mad. But luckily when I get back in February The Films & Will Hoge are playing at the Exit/In. I wanted to go see Kaki King & G Love at the Exit/In but I couldn't find anyone to go with and I'm not really sure where anything is yet or where to park downtown, but I'll definitely figure it out between now and then. I'm also going to go see Carbon Leaf while I'm in Harrisonburg so I'll at least have one thing to do while I'm there. I have to go to Indiana the second week in February for more training and Ben Folds is playing that Saturday at Wabash College. I'm hoping that I can get there a day early and catch the show. I'll be really disappointed if I can't. I've wanted to see Ben live since I stared listening to Ben Folds Five in middle school.

I miss my Jakers. I don't have him here with me right now since I knew I was going to be going out of town for two weeks right after I stared working. Right now he's staying with Jeff's sister, but hopefully they're going to bring him to me sometime in February.

I have furniture!! So far I have a bedroom set (dressers & night stand), a futon for the guest bedroom, and a dining room set. My living room furniture will be delivered the first weekend in February. It was supposed to be delivered on Thursday, but they came 30 min before the apartment office opened and they were supposed to give them the key, so now I have to wait a few more weeks. After I get the furniture for my living room there won't be much big stuff left to get except maybe an entertainment center, and possibly a new TV.

So, the job is good. The people I work with are awesome, and the company is really taking care of me. I got my own laptop, company card, Hertz gold club membership, and my own office w/ a view. I couldn't ask for much more. I just hope that I can live up to their expectations.

I haven't really met anyone here yet. I did meet my next door neighbor, but I didn't get to talk to her much. She's from NC too and just graduated from NC State, so I'll have to go over sometime and talk to her some more since she's the only person I've met so far that's remotely close to my age. There's always February.

I guess I'm going in reverse chronology here. I should probably say something about the holidays. This Christmas was probably the longest I'll ever be home for the holidays again. It was nice to spend some time with the family, even though we never get along all that well. I got to see Monique. Monique, Jeff and I all went to Raleigh for a couple days after Christmas to go shopping. Jeff "accidentally" ended up in Monique's bed which made for a hilarious story. For New Years Jeff and I met Will and Kelly in Raleigh and we watched Raleigh drop its nut and took the dogs to the dog park and spent some time with some of Will's family.

Melanie came up to Clemson for my birthday. We went to Peppino's for dinner and a bunch of people I know from the bike shop/cycling club and graphics showed up. We went from Peppino's to Sloan Street to TD's. Dr Weisenmiller (Melainie's future fianceeé) showed up since Melanie was there. He ended up buying most of the pitchers the rest of the night so I didn't spend any money, which was great. Best of all, Anne baked me a cake.

I'm sure there's more to talk about it, but I don't really want to take the time to think of it right now. Until next time...

Nashvegas

What do you know. It's been 2 months to the day since the last time I posted here. I guess it's time for a little update.

I went to Chicago the first week in October and had a great time. Hanging out with the other interns was lots of fun. I have had classes with Whit, Somer, and Lacy, but never have spent any time with them outside of class. We all go along really well. Somer and I were preoccupied most of the time teasing Superman and Boy Wonder! And I left with a new nickname G-Racy (or Racy Gracie)...don't ask. The 5 days we worked at the trade show were probably the hardest I've ever worked in my life, the most draining to say the least. It was fun to get to interact with customers and all of the Heidelberg employees. We didn't get to explore much of the city at all which was really disappointing. Chicago seems like a really fun city and I would like to visit again with more free time. There were lots of interesting museums, parks and restaurants that I would like to be able to visit. I think the week in Chicago did me in though. After I got back I was completely drained. Later I found out that I had mono. So that's where I've been all this time! As far as I know I'm over it now, but I have to go back to the doctor next week to be tested again. I feel so dirty...

Moving on to more recent news. I went to Nashville with my sister this weekend to look for an apartment. We spent all day Friday and Saturday driving around and looking at apartments. I finally decided on a complex called 'The Grove' in the Bellevue area (southwest) of Nashville–about 14 miles from the city, 8 miles from work, and bordering the Edwin and Percy Warner Parks. I am renting a 2 bedroom/2 bath apartment so there will be plenty of room for anyone who wants to visit! My address will be 2828 Old Hickory Blvd. #1412 Nashville, TN 37221. I'm going to be moving in on the 17th of December, so anyone that wants to help with that is more than welcome. My official start date at work is January 10th.

Nashville is an interesting city to say the least. This was my first "real" visit outside of my interview. The good thing is the city appears to be fairly eclectic. There are all different areas of town. The Vanderbilt area seems most like what I'm used to, but there doesn't seem to be a lack of entertainment in any area of the city. It looks like the whole country atmosphere can be easily avoided, but it also looks to be a very good place for people-watching. The city looks pretty old, because it is pretty old, but it also looks like they are doing a major revamping now, instead of having gradually updated the city over time. I have never seen a city with so much construction–road and building–in my life! Every road we were on was under some sort of construction. Evidently road construction in Tennessee isn't like North & South Carolina. Lanes/roads aren't closed for months at a time, but sections of roads are closed for hours/days at a time without warning. So one day the road will be 4 lanes, and the next day it will be one lane. I'm just glad I don't have to commute into the city every day. Oh, and did I mention Tennessee drivers are horrible!

The highlight of my trip was VICTOR WOOTEN (the bass player for Béla Fleck & the Flecktones…one of the best bassists ever) sat behind me on my flight from Nashville to Charlotte!! So if you fly to see me in Nashville, there’s a chance you’ll share a flight with someone “famous.” There was also a band (I didn’t bother to ask who they were) sitting beside Gina and I that was whining about how sitting in coach was so demeaning. I guess I’m just out of the know, because I didn’t know who they were but they sure thought they were something special.

That's all for now. Hopefully I'll get a chance to post more often now that I'm not sleeping 18 hrs a day.

Do you know the muffin man?

So this weekend didn't turn out like expected, but still turned out good nonetheless. Anne and I went to see Costa play but we were too early and there was still some sorority function going on. Turns out he didn’t start playing until 11 and he played a 3 hour set so we probably could have caught most of the set even after I picked Jeff up in Greenville. Jeff and I went to the Sunrift sale on Saturday. They didn’t have one thing that I wanted, a new pair of chacos, so that was a drag.

The Will Hoge show was fun. The California’s were the first opening band, not particularly my kind of music, but they still put on a great show. The second opening band, American Horse, sucked major ass. Will and the guys were great as usual, but he didn’t tell any of his funny stories, but there were funny moments to make up for it. Towards the end of the show, a girl screamed for Will to take off his hat, which happens at almost every show. He refused saying that he would take of his hat if she took off her shirt. A few seconds later he followed with “I don’t see any shirts,” then a shirt came flying on stage. Will kept his end of the bargain and took off his hat. I think this was the first show I have seen him at without a hat. To his disappointment, when he looked out into the crowd to find the girl who threw the shirt, she was still wearing a tank top. He ended up putting his hat back on and giving her back her shirt. Then it was on to funny moment #2. During ‘All Night Long’ when he got to the part about black lipstick, a lady in the crowd waved a tube of lipstick in the air. He took the tube from her and opened it to reveal brown lipstick. He proceeded to messily apply the lipstick while making a vulgar remark to the guys. Then at the end of the song, Will gave Brian a kiss on the cheek leaving a brown impression of his lips on Brian’s cheek.

People watching at the shows is the most fun out of the whole experience. There was one lady I see at most of the shows I go to at the Handlebar, who is always blistered. She was writing Will’s set down on damp napkins with a red sharpie, looking more like she had a bad nose bleed than anything else. Jeff called Will muffinhead the entire show because he thought Will’s hat looked like a muffin, which it does, but that’s beside the point. Anything would have been better than American Horse, and I think Jeff enjoyed himself so it all turned out well.

This week has gotten off to a shitty start. Just between yesterday and today, I have been informed of too much crap that I have to do between today and next Tuesday, especially since I’m only taking 12 hours. This semester was supposed to be easy, and it sure isn’t turning out that way. I was on campus today from 9-8 doing something school related the entire time. I had a test in environmental science that completely kicked my ass. When I thought today couldn’t get any worse I turned to Will’s ‘From the Road’ posts for a little comic relief. I wish I could link directly to it, but flash sucks and I can’t. If you would like a good laugh, go to www.willhoge.com, click on Tour, then road journal, then the ‘Left over from last week’ post. Will’s from the road posts and strongbad emails are the highlight of my week every Monday, or whenever they decide to post an update.

Since I have so much crap to do between now and Tuesday, and I would like to go out of town this weekend, I’m going to get to work.

I could make a habit out of you...

Jump @ the Joint was great. There was a big crowd for a Wednesday night at a private club. The opener was a band called Rubyhorse. I had never heard of them, but they were a pleasant surprise. They’re from Ireland, and very U2-ish. I’ve been listening to Jump since my freshman year, but this was my first show. At the beginning of the show, they mainly played new songs off the new album, which I like so that was good. They also played ‘My Guitar’ with Jay and Ward playing the intro on the same guitar…very sweet. I can’t remember the entire set but some of the standouts were Dim and the Dark, Mexico, Hold You Down, Dancing Virginia, Just a Second, Copper Kettle, Cathedrals, Habit, and Vertigo. The guys sang Happy Birthday to Evan (the drummer) after midnight, and then they played Daylight at his request. The only disappointment was that they played an abnormally short set compared to how long I hear they usually play. They only played for an hour and a half, and Jay is known to do 3-hour solo shows. I guess I shouldn’t complain since I did have class at 9 the next morning.

Last night I got an email from Moore Wallace (the company RRD acquired in February) asking me to interview with them for an outside sales position they are hiring for in the Atlanta/Greenville/Columbia/Charlotte area…dammit! Not that I would get the job if I applied for it, but I’d be a lot closer to everyone I want to be close to if I was in one of those areas instead of Nashville. I guess there’s always hope for a transfer in the future. I actually think it may be nice to be somewhere new for a while.

Today is Jake's 2nd Birthday!! He is now an adolescent and Brian predicts that he will now begin shutting himself in his room and listening to metal, and he will no longer want to go mountain biking or be seen in public with me. Jeff should be here late tonight to see his baby on his birthday. Don't expect another post until Monday at the earliest! hehe.

Rain, Rain, Go Away

Surprisingly, some of you are actually reading this so I guess I’ll keep posting. Clemson is the most retarded university when it comes to our academic calendar. We have had classes on Labor Day every year that I have been here. Since I had class, the highlight of my day was the Homestar Runner Labor Day puppet show. http://www.homestarrunner.com/toons.html It's called 'Labor Day' and it's under the 'Puppet Stuff' menu if you want to check it out. If having school on Labor Day wasn’t bad enough. Our fall break is the first weekend in November, NOVEMBER. I don’t know what masochistic person they put in charge of the calendar, but at least most businesses have standard holidays and when I get vacation will be my choice.

Frances is moving through today. It hasn’t even been raining for 24 hours yet and I’m already tired of it, and it’s supposed to keep raining through tomorrow. So today has been a ridiculously nasty day, but I actually got more done than usual. I officially sent in my offer acceptance packet to Donnelley, so I’m on my way to being an official employee. Since there isn’t a BB&T branch in Nashville, I have to change banks. I closed out my accounts with BB&T and opened up new accounts with Bank of America. It was a rather painless process, and now that’s one less thing I have to do once I move.

I emailed an acquaintance that transferred from Clemson to a school near Nashville this semester and he emailed me back today. It looks like I may know someone in the area after all. It would be nice to have someone around that I could ride or climb, or just hang out with.

I’m already looking forward to the rest of this week and especially this weekend, but I’ve got way too much work to get done between now and next Tuesday to even think about. Tomorrow night Jump (J,LC) is playing at the Joint. Friday night Anne and I are going to eat sushi and listen to Costa play at Uptown. Jeff is coming down sometime Friday evening, hopefully before Uptown closes so we can all get sushi together. Saturday, Sunrift is having their annual rental equipment sale. Saturday night while everyone else is at the Georgia Tech game, I have persuaded Jeff to go with me to the Will Hoge show at the Handlebar, since I already had tickets. At some point this weekend, we hope to get to see Will and Kelly.

That’s all for now…

So Sad

I can't believe I'm actually going to start one of these things. I'm not sure that anyone really cares to read them. As you all know, or should know, I'm graduating in December. I figured I'd start this blog to keep anyone who cares up to date with what's going on in my life.

I thought I was ready to leave Clemson until today. Today was a perfect fall day, and it made me remember how much I enjoy the fall in Clemson. I took Jake for a walk and everything was perfect - sunny and cool with a nice breeze. It made me want to go for a mountain bike ride, and made me feel bad about how rarely I ever ride anymore. Even though I don't care much about football, it was also nice to see such a close game today. I'm a slacker and only watched some of the first half and both OTs, but it was good nonetheless. I feel like I've just settled in good here and now I have to leave.

As of next Tuesday, I will have accepted a job with RR Donnelley in their Nashville Sales Office. I've started looking online for apartments and I think Gina and I are going to go to Nashville sometime in November to look for a place. I think everyone else is more excited about my job than I am. I am excited about the job, just not the location. I guess I should just be grateful to have a job at a good company before graduation, but I'm sad to be moving away from all of my friends and family. Luckily, plane tickets are cheap and I'll be making enough money to afford them. I've never been to Nashville except for the day that I flew up for my interview. Everything I've heard about it makes it sound like a pretty cool city, and I've been assured there's more to it that country music – I sure hope so. I start work on January 10 so there won't be much of a transition from Clemson to the "Real World." I'll be in training most of my first 9 months so I won't actually be in Nashville a lot of the time. I still expect to have lots of visitors when I am home, yes, that means you!

I think that's good for tonight. If anyone cares enough to read this, maybe I'll post some more.