Food, drink, film and other random thoughts from The Lone Star State.

Monday, May 28, 2007

Jew On




Israel, here I come. Actually, here we come. HEU Tara will be joining me on my trip over the pond. It kind of came as a surprise to me that she would be interested, but she is. So much so that she has been learning Hebrew. Although I'm sure her MO is more to meet a nice Jewish boy, I'm not going to mention it, lol.

I'm really looking forward to seeing my family, most of whom I haven't seen in a decade, some I have never met.

It will also be fascinating to see the country itself. I realized in planning that there is no way to see even a fraction of the sights in the 9 days I will be there. So, we are limiting the tour to Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Dead Sea and some hiking in the Negev.

I am hoping to feel some sort of connection to Israel considering half of my family comes from the region. I did not feel that connection when in England (another part of the family). And I have still not made it to Russia or Germany.

Labels: ,

Sunday, May 27, 2007

Goodbye Townhouse




Last pics of the townhouse


I closed on Friday, yay!

So many people asked me if I was sad, since I spent almost 10 years in my place. Not to mention the 8 months of renovating it every single day. I looked at my new bank balance after closing and could only think - No, I'm not sad. How could I be, I basically lived here for free and got paid a nice lump sum to leave :)

For those who do not already know, I will be staying in Dallas. It was a very odd turn of events that I will explain when I have more time.

Thursday, May 24, 2007

Decision, Redux

Once again I have a picked a new city and have a new job.
I will post details after I sign the agreement today.

Also, I have spotty internet access for interim, dont expect too much :)

Tuesday, May 22, 2007

House In A Box




Its amazing what really good movers can fit into a small storage unit. Everything I own in now in a 10x15 room, lol. Herman's Movers were fantastic!

Now onto cleaning.

Not to worry I have been doing other things beside moving!

Labels:

Thursday, May 17, 2007

Boxlandia



I think this explains my absence.

Labels:

Monday, May 07, 2007

Update

I've been interviewing like a madman lately, including revisting some positions I turned down in Feb. There are a whole new crop of potential cities. But instead of boring you with the blow-by-blow I will just post when I have decided when and where.

My new contract is fun, even without the flying around in the boss's plane. We are scheduled to do antoher longer flight this week if the weather holds out. The software we are developing is financial and tax based. It sounds boring but it isnt, and I have learned alot about how property is valued and why.

The packing is done except for what I need to live on until closing. Rented a storage unit and moved as much as I could in my little rollerskate on wheels. Movers will pick up the rest in a couple of weeks.

I have a schedule of people to stay with until I leave Dallas. It was wonderful how many people insisted that I stay with them when I told them I wasn't sure where I was going.

I had more paired electronic failure. Last month was the fridge/dryer, this month the PDA/phone. I didn't want to get both a new phone and a new PDA, so I just got one smart phone - a Crackberry Pearl.



If you're in the market, this one is great! I have been really happy so far. The setup and synch with Outlook took about 20 minutes; the most painless integration ever! I havent activated the web browsing yet, but I will very soon.



Made it out to see Fracture finally. I liked it, I give it an 8.0/10. It was slow in spots but overall a very good psychological thriller. Gosling and Hopkins should pair up more often, they play off each other very well.

Labels: , , ,

Tuesday, May 01, 2007

The Greater Good

I went to see this one with Big Mike and HEU Tara. I loved it but they were more mediocre. I think the trick to enjoying this film is to understand spoofy dark British comedy, since that is what it is.



I laughed almost all the way through the 2-hours of direct sarcastic hits on American shoot-em-up films like Lethal Weapon, Bad Boys and Die Hard. What makes this film even more appealing is that all of this sinister action is taking place in a lovely, remote village in England.

You should see it for 'the greater good' (then you'll understand the reference :)

9/10

Labels: ,