I'm Not a City-Person...

In my time in the UK, I'm enjoyed living the city life, being able to go to clubs, people-watching at city center, and walking to the grocery stores. But being a city-slicker is a change for me. Even when I lived in San Diego, I mostly stuck to the outskirts, and pretty much drove everywhere, except for maybe the 3 or 4 times I ventured downtown. But here, I can't get in my car and drive through the hills, or go behind Clarkson University and walk the forest trails. I needed to get out of the city for a bit, and get some grass under my feet.

Luckily, the hiking club was doing an afternoon hike just outside of Ilkley, a little town outside of Bradford. The train was cheap, and I had already been thinking about joining the club, so I decided this was just what I needed to relax and see some countryside. And I'm so glad I did.

Look! TREES!!!

And ROCKS!!

We kinda got lost and had to forge our own trail

This is Micheal, our guide. He hiked in a suit. We don't know why

The Evil That Accompanies Freshers Week - Freshers Flu

I take pride in my body's immune system. I haven't been sick in over 5 years (hangovers don't count) and trust me, it's not from a lack of interaction with other people. When I was at Alfred State, everyone in my suite, including my roommate, got the flu within a few days of each other. I don't think I even got runny nose. 

I like to thank my parents for not keeping me away from germs as a child. If wanted to play in the dirt, eat the cracker that fell on the ground, or play in the rain all day, by golly they let me do it. And because of that I was sick a lot as a kid. And I'm grateful for that. It taught my body how to defend against most colds, flus, and stomach bugs by the time I was in high school.

And then I came to Bradford. I should've expected it, really. Being so far from where I'd spent most of my life, there was bound to be some strain of the cold or flu my body wasn't ready for. But nevertheless, I'm still mad that I broke my healthy streak. 

Freshers flu is notorious for coming out right after Freshers week, and infecting the majority of the incoming students. And it did. Everyone in my suite, and every other new international student I've talked to has gotten it. It's very similar to strep throat, with first a sore throat, then congestion, followed by a worse sore throat and congestion. I've had it for a week now, and I think I'm finally on the mend (fingers crossed). By the way, the honey, whiskey, lemon trick does work to some degree. 

Hopefully by this time next week I'll be healthy enough to have gone on a weekend trip, a pub crawl,or something similarly worth telling about. But for now, I must go stock up on Halls, Whiskey, and Honey.

Freshers Week, Oh How Crazy You Were

Coming to Bradford, I didn't really expect there to be too much difference in the student culture compared to back in Potsdam. Everyone wants to party, no one likes to go class, and there's always something breaking in your apartment. These are the constants of a college student's life. 

Then came Freshers Week.

Bradford University does this thing where students actually move in a full week before classes start, to meet with their department heads and get their schedules squared away. But that's only in the morning. Freshers week is also about meeting new people and making friends at the start of the semester, joining clubs and sports teams, and last of all, a MASSIVE CLUB PARTY EVERY NIGHT OF THE WEEK.

I should probably mention that, because of the lower drinking age in the UK, universities can have their own frickin' club on campus. Oh and three different bars in the student union building. So these parties are actual organized events, not just some townhouse party filled above capacity (those are just the pre-parties). Sporting a different DJ every night, from a variety of club music styles, each night was a crazy adventure bordering on insanity. Each night we'd be out partying until anywhere from 3-6am, and wake up each afternoon thinking, "I should probably take a break tonight. Oh, tonight's the UV party/pub crawl/masquerade party? Well, I don't want to miss that." And then I'd chug a gallon of water, walk off my hangover, and get some kind of productive errand done before heading out again. It was a vicious, beautiful cycle.

I think one of my favorite nights this week was the pub crawl. Because it wasn't really a pub crawl. It was a club crawl. And this is where I ended up at the end of the crawl:

Please excuse the crap phone camera quality

Is that a foam gun firing into the crowd? Yes it is. Were there hundreds of foamy, drunk young folk going wild on the dance floor? Yes there was. Were there deals on 1 quid Jager-bombs all night? Yes, yes there was (forgive me, liver)

Long Flights, Crazy Driving, and Interesting Bus Rides - My 1st 24 hours in Bradford

Never before had I welcomed sleep as much as I did last night. Regardless of not having a blanket, or having fully unpacked, I dropped onto that bed like my life depended on it. And it was gooooood...

For some reason someone at Delta should explain to me, the cheapest flight to Bradford from Horseheads was via Detroit and Amsterdam. Make sense to you? Me neither. As such, I had a total of 3 flights on my way to Bradford, and on this trip I learned something very important about myself.

I physically can not fall asleep on planes. Which is an interesting thing to learn on an overnight trip. 

In the grand scheme of things, it was probably best, as I was better able to fall asleep at a proper hour my first night here, but it did involve being awake for 40 hours straight. 

Ok, now for my first impression of Bradford.

What I learned riding from the airport: The English drive like madmen.
What I learned on my bus trip to IKEA: Coach bus drivers are the exception.
What I learned on my bus ride to city center: City bus drivers are not part of the exception.

Oh, and the weather has been decent. So far.

The University of Bradford itself has a nice, modern feel to it, though I will say the city surrounding it does extremely a little run down. Though, in its defense, they are renovating a large portion of it right now to bring it up to modern times

The city center has a giant fountain that you can walk though. Which is cool.

My apartment is part of a university owned complex, called The Green. Its very new, and has pretty good furnishings, definitely better than Clarkson another university I've attended. The bathroom through me for a loop, though.

The entire bathroom is part of the shower, with the drain between right next to the toilet.

There are two different buttons for flushing my toilet. I still haven't figured out why.

Gorges Friday Morning with My Brother

So last weekend was a nice and relaxing weekend at the cottage, filled with kayaking, swimming, and overall being a bum. It was great. This past weekend I changed it up a little, as I had family visiting up from PA, and had a tradition to keep with my brother.

If you've never been, Watkins Glen State Park is one of the jewels of the Southern Tier of New York. Inside, is a massive gorge, with walking trails following the creek that cut it almost all the way to the top. The hike is manageable for most people, though there are a lot of stairs. But it's worth it. The views inside the gorge are one of the things that I love most about New York.

Like this one

Every corner is another perfect piece of scenery, with little waterfalls intersecting the trail along the way

For the past 2 years, my youngest brother and I have made it a tradition of walking the gorge when I come home from school. It's an awesome bonding experience and if you go early enough in the day (before 9am), you almost have the run of the place on your way up. We usually take our time, as we both like taking pictures of the landscape, and enjoy sticking our heads under the waterfalls (even if the water's cold. damn cold.)

Obligatory Bonding Selfie

After we went up and down the gorge, we went into town for some lunch, and went down to Seneca Harbor to walk the breakwater and get some more landscape pictures.

As we were walking on the breakwater, we were incredibly surprised to find a pair of muskrats running along the rocks and overall being sneaky. It was hard, but we managed to get a couple pictures of them

We would've followed them along the rocks for a lot longer, but my 2 hour parking spot was just about running out of time, so we had to go. It was a great morning, and a good memory that my brother and I will have for a long time.

Day 5 - Home Sweet Home

If anyone works at Guinness' Book of World Records, please head over to Toledo, OH to find what has to be the loudest swarm of cicadas on the planet. My campsite was louder than a frat-house after a football game, which was quite an annoyance to someone who desperately needed sleep(hint: me). Luckily, my body was so exhausted I managed to pass out for a good 5 hours before the annoying droning coming from the woods awoke me. I should've recorded them for an alarm ringtone...

So at 4am, I impressed myself with packing up my airbed and tent in the darkness and set off to finally complete my journey home. I'm not sure what surprised me more; the fact that I didn't forget anything at the site or that I managed to make a mess of my car in less than five minutes when I thought I forgot my wallet (it was in my glove compartment). After that minor heart attack, I was definitely awake enough to bang out the rest of I-90 before breakfast. Once again Ohio, you're highway tolls are straight-up highway robbery.

Cleveland was pretty cool looking all lit up before dawn, but unfortunately I don't have any good pictures, as it was dark and camera doesn't like that.

Seriously, this is the best I could do

Around 9am, I saw what I longed for since I hit the corn fields of Nebraska:

 "New York Welcomes You!"

I was finally on the home stretch. Emphasis on home. I didn't really realize how much I loved the woodlands of New York until I was away from it for a long time. The long, rolling hills of oaks, birches, and evergreens and nice, winding highways through the hills... ah nostalgia...

It's....It's just so beautiful...

I decided to make a pit stop at good 'ol Alfred State, my first college where I got my Associates, to say hi to some of my old professors, and reminisce of the good old days of studying at a school that didn't put me into incredible debt.

An hour later, I was home. It was so good to see my parents again. And... my siblings... I suppose.

And then two hours after that, I'm up at my uncle's cottage, with a beer in my hand and the lake in my sights. 

Gotta love this view

Thanks to everyone who've followed me on this trip, and encouraged me along the way. 

Day 4 - Is There Anything That's NOT Corn East of Colorado??

Thank heavens for air beds. I finally caved and bought one yesterday, as my sleeping pad and sprung a leak, and wasn't really serving its purpose in the first place. I woke up this morning feeling so much better than I had the past two days, and had even had over 5 hours of uninterrupted sleep, a first for this trip. Still, I packed up an hour or so before dawn, and set out to bang out a few more states on my way home.

The rest of Iowa was corn. All of Indiana was corn (and obnoxious highway tolls). And the half of Ohio I managed to get through was, you guessed it, corn (and equally obnoxious highway tolls).

As such, I took even less pictures today than I did yesterday, and I'm sorry to say I don't really have too many scenic pictures of my drive. I did, however pass the couple trucks hauling these suckers down the highway:

Gigantic blade of a wind turbine

Wind power is pretty big out here, which is cool. I saw a bunch of wind farms in Iowa, and it was a common site to see a wide-load truck loaded with turbine equipment every hour or so. And no, I not get the so-called "wind turbine syndrome" headaches. Though that may be because I couldn't hear anything over my car shaking. I really got to get those bearings replaced...

Anyway, now I'm all set up just east of Toledo, Ohio. It's a big humid here, which sucks. I'd forgotten just how much humidity makes every extra degree so much worse. If only I had an air conditioned tent. But, if I could afford one of those (if they exist), I probably wouldn't be camping in the first place.

I decided to head into the nearby small town to see if there were any neat places I could get dinner. And boy, did I hit a road trip jackpot:

Say hello to the Speedtrap Diner!

 This place was just the thing you'd hope to find in Smalltown, USA. A backroads diner with license plates covering the walls, coffee served all day, and nothing but straight-up American food. Like this gem of a burger:

It wasn't the best I've ever had, but it certainly wasn't the worst. And for less than $10, I was pretty happy. And full. 

Tomorrow, I'll be waking up bright an early and complete my trip home! And then immediately do laundry, re-pack, and head to my Uncle's cottage for the weekend... 

Day 3 - So. Much. Corn.

Here's a word to the wise. Do no put a camp site in between a freeway, railroad, and distribution center that runs 24 hours. Between the sounds of the trucks barreling down the highway, the shift alarms blaring every 6 hours, or the train that just had to honk 15 times at 3 am, I did not get much sleep.

No matter, I had a Kickstart and cereal bar for breakfast, and once again set up on my journey East. Within an hour I was out of Wyoming (thankfully) and into what has got to be the most boring state in the country, Nebraska.

This was my view. For 600 miles

Look to your left. Now to the right. Now back to the left. If all you see is corn, chances are you're in Nebraska. This was such a huge contrast from the scenic views of Utah and Colorado, I honestly didn't know what to take for pictures. I never even stopped once for a "scenic view." I took maybe 20 pictures the whole day, and when I look back at them, they all look the same. Corn on my left, corn on my right. The highway was so straight, if it weren't for the occasional gust of wind, I could've set the cruise control, wedged my leg under the steering wheel and taken a nap! 

After hitting Omaha, which was a welcome reprieve from country freeways, I crossed over into Idaho, where to my un-surprise, I saw more corn. There's even a corn field 100 feet from my tent! Hopefully tomorrow will bring about a change of scenery, as I make my way to Ohio. Maybe this time when I drive through the state, at least one Ohioan will know how to use a turn signal. Maybe.

This is the view from my tent. Scenic, no?

Day 2 - The Search for More Oxygen

After getting roughly 4 hours of sleep, thanks to both the weather and my horribly uncomfortable sleeping pad, I set off in the wee-hours of a calm, Utah morning to complete the second leg of my journey. It was a long day, both physically and mentally exhausting, and I'm glad to finally be in my tent, writing this post before passing out.

The rest of Utah was just as beautiful as the first part, if not more so. The section of I-70 going from I-15 to Grand Junction is breath-taking. Huge, flat mesas, hundreds of feet above the wide swath of plains the interstate lain on, red stone contrasting with the light green brush. For the first part of my morning, I found myself stopping at every other scenic view rest stop just so I could take a few pictures that didn't have my windshield in the way. I haven't gotten the pics of my camera yet, so I'll update this after my drive tomorrow.

Edit: Here are the promised pictures

Colorado also has great looking country, though with less red stone, and MUCH higher peaks. The Rocky's are so much bigger than anything I'd driven by, and there were times the roads were so close to the base I couldn't see the sky out of my windshield. Just mountain. Speaking of mountains, how come nobody warned me about elevation fatigue?? I figured I'd be OK, since I wasn't exactly exerting myself driving, and the climb was relatively shallow. Then, I got above 8000 ft. Then 9000. It was about then I figured out the weird light-headedness I'd been feeling was the altitude. It was also the same time my car was also having breathing issues, barely making it up the hills, and having to constantly downshift to keep up the speed, even in relatively flat areas. When I saw the 10,800 ft peak sign, I knew my blurry vision wasn't my contacts.

After that wonderful ordeal, I had the pleasure of driving through Denver. By far, the cleanest city I've ever driven through. Even the run down areas looked clean, it was weird.

Now, I'm holed up in Cheyenne, Wyoming. A quaint, little city, with some rather, ah, interesting people... I went to the pub downtown to grab a my first meal in two days that wasn't out of my cooler, and had an awesome 1/2 lb Cajun burger with roasted garlic and melted bleu cheese. Oh, and a beer. Served in a mason jar...

So classy

Day 1 - The Long Desert Road...

Today, I began my long journey back to New York. At 4am. On a Monday. Not one of my best ideas, but I survived so I must've done something right. My 9 hour drive consisted almost entirely of desert landscapes, an almost-overheating car, and snapping random pictures out my windows when traffic wasn't too bad. 

Have you ever taken the same interstate for 500 miles? It's not exactly a riveting experience. But it was the easiest and fastest way for me to get out of the desert and into territory where grass is actually the default environment. That being said, there were some interesting moments and views.

Watching the sunrise over the mountains was an awesome experience

These solar power plants look so sweet!

The only part of Vegas that actually caught my eye. Yes, that's Trump Tower. Yes, it's completely clad in Gold. Subtle, Trump. Very subtle.

Got passed by a Ferrari 458....

And then an Aston DB9 30 seconds later

The pass through the mountains was awesome! There were mountain walls 100s of feet high on either side of the road

Then I got into Utah. Man, what beautiful country

Big, fluffy clouds! It was just perfect weather

Oh, I'd like to give a special shout-out to Jen at HME. I was rocking out to her driving mix CD's all morning. And Steve, I'm sorry, but I will never like Lady Ga-Ga.

It's Almost Time...

I can't believe it. I've only got a week left here in California. These past 7 months have been crazy, from adjusting to city life to discovering the wonderful California Burrito. I'd say I wish it never to end, but to be honest, I'm quite happy to leave.

Don't get me wrong, I've had an amazing time here. I've gotten more sun since January than I had the previous 10 years.  I've met some great people and done some pretty cool things. But we've had a rocky relationship, San Diego, and I think it best we parted ways.

We're just too different. You like warm, sunny weather. I prefer the cool Autumn breeze and the crisp, fresh snows of the northeast. You enjoy the constancy of never-changing weather, while I prefer the varying sky of central NY. There's nothing wrong with either, just different strokes for different folks. While I didn't realize it when I first left home, I'm a Winter boy, through and through. And January in San Diego just isn't Winter, in my book. 

THIS is Winter!

That being said, the people I met here will be that which I will miss the most. Friends I've made at work, strangers I've chatted with at the beach, and the occasional polite homeless man asking for money. Alright, that last one I probably won't miss, but it was a memorable experience, nonetheless!

Bacon, Goats, and A Capella. Weird Combo, Great Results

In the month leading up the San Diego County Fair, all my co-workers kept telling me was, "Oh, you have to go to the fair!" "They have great food at the fair!" They have all kinds of beers at the fair!" So, with the thought of good food and beer in mind, and some free tickets I won on from a radio station in hand, I set off to see what the hullabaloo was all about.

So. Many. People.

Seriously, it was absolutely nuts how many people were walking through the fairgrounds at any one time. It was like a sea. If the crowd has willing, one could probably crowd surf for over a mile without hitting a sparse area. 

But my crowd anxiety abated rather suddenly when I saw THIS:

Complementary cardiologist referral with every purchase!

I needed it. All of it. In my mouth. Fortunately, I had the sense to realize that would probably kill me. So I settled with just these:

Yeah, I'm gonna need that cardiologist

On the left, you've got french fries, fried in fortified bacon grease, covered in sour cream and bacon. On the right, bacon-bombs - bacon wrapped, deep-fried, beer-battered cheese balls, literally floating in melted garlic butter. If you're not drooling by the third hyphen, you're not American.

Do I regret my decision? No. Did I have to do extra 2 hours of cardio at the gym just to make myself feel OK with my decision? Yes.

There were other great things about the fair as well, including a large petting zoo, several as-seen-on-TV vendors, and a pretty decent Pentatonix concert that was also included in my free ticket.

From the pic's vantage point, you can tell the tickets were free

Must. Squish. Face.

Up-cycling Before Recycling - Heineken Mini-Keg Speaker

One of the big things they don't tell you about doing an internship is how much free time you end up having, compared to the crazy flying-by-the-seat-of-your-pants rigor of your Junior year engineering curriculum. It actually quite unsettling to come home after work and have nothing to do. No homework, no projects, no studying. So to combat the stir-craziness I was experiencing, I started trying a multitude of hobbies, such as learning a new programming language, trying my hand at app development, blogging (duh), and a few DIY projects.

One of the projects that really took my interest was turning a Heineken mini-keg into a standalone speaker. It made perfect sense to me. I like beer. I like music. It's only natural that I'd want to combine the two.

Borrowing heavily from gilgonza3's project on Instructables, I set off on creating my own boozy jam box. And let me tell you, it was an eye-opening experience, beset with several problems (mostly of my own making), but I'm damn proud of the result, and I'm so glad I did it. Here are some pictures documenting the build.

Opening up the keg

Gluing the speaker support ring

Getting ready to drill holes for the connectors

Wiring going between back of keg and amp

Mounting the amp

Installing the amp and connectors

Finished product

There are still some things I want to do with the speaker, namely reinforce the stands and put a protective grill on the speaker, but that stuff can wait. This speaker is loud, proud, and ready for a party!