Monthly Archives: May 2013

May4

15-Mar-13 – St. Paddies day with the folks from Artisan

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People say that you shouldn’t go drinking with your boss. That it’s dangerous and no fun, because you can’t drink too much around someone with that much control over your life.

People also say that I do things that I shouldn’t do.

They actually say that on a regular basis. Today was one of those times.

 

  • I left work a bit early, around 4:00, to drop my car off at home and jump on the T.
  • From there, I dropped my friends Allegra and Bridgette off at Government Center, and walked over to meet my coworkers at a cool pub called the Kinsale.
    • I arrived a bit late, but quickly got caught up with a round of Guinness
    • From normal Guinness to Black Lager
    • We mowed through a whole slew of wing orders
    • Dinner was had by all – I ate an amazing dish of Mac and Cheese with BBQ Brisket. I’ve since learned the recipe, and made it on multiple occasions. It’s amazing.
    • More drinks were had, Shots included.
    • We got kicked out of our table to make room for a huge party. In return, my coworker Csky got us a round of free shots.
  • After a bit we got bored of the Kinsale, and moved over to another bar downtown called The Harp.
    • Fun times getting in – some people had passes, while the rest of us had to pay a cover. We all split the cost once Csky had saved the day yet again by convincing the bouncers to let us all in at once, ahead of the line.
    • More drinks (Bass, or Black and Tans this time) were had by all
    • There was a dancefloor. We had a dance party. It was awesome
    • I hit my “ohh crap I’m loosing it!” moment
  • Once I hit that peak, I knew it was time to go home. So I quickly excused myself, grabbed my coat, made a quick trip to the bathroom, and hit the dusty trail…
    • Literally. I hit it. Faceplanted pretty quick, but I recovered admirably and made it to the T.
    • But I made it to the wrong line. In my state, I couldn’t deal with this, so I got off and walked to the correct line.
    • This part was horrible and I don’t want to remember it.
    • Finally arrive at Alewife, where Allegra and Bridgette are waiting for me, like guardian angels sent from heaven.
    • They help me home, put me to bed, and set me up to sleep off the nights adventures…
May3

27-Feb through 06-Mar-13 – Buying a new car.

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Wednesday, 27-Feb

 

One of my goals in life had been to own a Mustang convertible. I decided on that specific car while on a roadtrip in 2011 – Spring break actually. I’d rented one, for various reasons, and had completely fallen in love with the car.

My plan was to buy one new, direct from the factory. And through a whole series of events, I found myself sitting alone at a desk at Watertown Ford, waiting to talk to a salesman about the car.

Honestly, this wasn’t at all what I had expected. I was buying a new car, damnit, and not a stock one at that. I’d called ahead, yet I was still sitting bored for nearly an hour while I waited on the person from the phone.

I never met that person – instead I got a salesman who had no idea what I wanted, and through a whole long conversation I came to the inescapable conclusion that I could neither afford to buy a car here, nor had the desire to discuss it with them any further. I’d expected a bit of give-and-take, maybe some thoughts and options. Instead, I simply got blank stares and a monthly payment insanely over my budget.

It’s the downside of looking the way I do – having dreadlocks, even when wearing a work suit, makes people take a certain attitude toward you. So, I left.

I was bummed out.

So when I got home I jumped onto the computer, looking for some other options. And I found one, in a place I didn’t at all expect. See, I’d given up on buying this car used, because no dealerships stocked what I wanted (manual transmission, convertible, premium package) in my area.

But when I checked my email, there was a notification. A short message saying that a new car had come up on Cars.com. One that fit my requirements perfectly, and was easily within my price range.

I looked it up, assuming there was something wrong.

There wasn’t.

So, I called my buddy Chirag, and set a date to go buy the hell out of it.

 

Sunday, 03-Mar

2013-03-23 10.41.06

Bright and early Sunday morning saw Chirag and I finishing up breakfast and driving North, to a dealership right inside the New Hampshire state line.

Late morning saw us test driving a beautiful black Mustang, top down, tearing up and down the highway.

Early afternoon saw me locked in battle, arguing the value of the car with the dealer.

Early afternoon also saw me somewhat winning the argument, using my desire to buy a new Xbox to haggle the owner down $500 on the price, to just below the official estimate resale value of the car.

Once the late afternoon rolled around I had signed away the largest sum of money I’d ever signed for, and we were driving back down toward Cambridge. And by “we”, I mean “Chirag”. I was still in too much shock to drive at that point.

I’m 25, and I just bought my dream car.

May2

14-Jan-13 My first Capoeira roda in the United States

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14-Jan-13

 

Living in Medway, I hadn’t been able to find any Capoeira groups to join. A combination of being focused on finding a new job, not wanting to spend money that I didn’t really have, and simply being lazy had kept me from any real classes since my time in Auckland, NZ.

So after finding a full-time job and moving back to Cambridge, one of my first orders of business was to find a group and start training again.

The group that I found trained under Mestre Chuvisco, out of a fairly large dance studio in Central Square. The room that we had though, was definitely about half a size too small for the class that was packing into it – The warmup was good, but once we started into the actual training and kicks, I came way too close to getting booted (or booting someone) for my comfort.

Aside from that, it was tough. Not as tough as Pontual had been (I’d been warned that he was insane when I joined in Christchurch), but I was still left sweating and panting by the end of each section. It was good. Great even. This was what I had missed about Capoeira, this workout and expenditure of energy, the motion and the control.

But then we grouped up into the Roda, and I realized just how different this group actually was.

Some of the folks I played against were awesome; they pushed just past my limit and kept me on my toes – they were obviously better than me, but they kept the competition just unbalanced enough to be interesting.

The rest though… the rest were very into it. There was no quarter given, and while nothing connected too hard, I could feel that it was only a matter of time before something did.

Training with Pontual and company, basically everyone was better than me. But when they performed a kick, did a takedown, or made a move they always had full control. They didn’t push people too hard, and didn’t throw attacks that couldn’t be either dodged, or pulled away at the last minute.

Here, it was another story. I saw kicks flying that couldn’t be stopped, that were barely controlled. And to be honest, it scared me a little.

After the Roda I changed and hung out with everyone for a bit, chatting and shooting the breeze. I even went to a few more classes over the next two months. But it quickly became apparent that I wasn’t comfortable with the group, and that I didn’t quite belong in.

So, I stopped going. But I keep looking, and I’m sure that I’ll find a group that I fit into, sooner or later.