The last 8 years in 155 words

Lets see, last 8 years recap:

-Attended and graduated from UIUC with a degree in Theatre Lighting +/- lots of beer and general shenanigans.

-Worked on probably 25-30 or so shows during college.

-Worked professionally in Chicago on about 6 shows with 2 different companies.

-Met Alyssa in 2000 and married in 05 (she is now in her 2nd year at University of Chicago studying Diabetes)

-Met a guy who started a company, I was his first employee, I still work for him. 6+ years

-Moved to Chicago in 2002, moved in with Alyssa in 2003, and we just bought a place in Chicago's South Loop neighborhood a few weeks ago.

-Traveled to Australia, Costa Rica, California twice, Vegas twice, Colorado twice, Kansas, Philly, all around the Midwest.

-Went skydiving 7 times (it got expensive and i more or less stopped)

-Got into website design and consult with a handful of companies now on that.

Air travel and your luggage

Bruce Schnider writes about a way to better ensure your luggage is not lost during air travel. He says to simply pack a starter pistol along with your luggage, declare it, show it and then tsa/airline will better hold on to your bag so as to not LOSE a GUN. I think this is a fantastic idea, people always say, i have flown tons of times and they never lose my bag. etc etc...well the fact is that bags are lost all the time by everyone.

lets count my experiences and those of my immediate family and friends.

1) Lost my bag on a weekend trip to Vegas, delivered to my hotel room around 2am.

2) Sister lost her bag while traveling to italy with my family.

3) Grandma also lost her bag on the same trip, cept on the return flight.

4) While living down at school, a neighbor returned from a school break and apparently had lost his bag. Sometime late at night a courrier, having driven several hours from Chicago, knocks on our door and asks to leave this heavy-ass bag with us, as our neighbor is not currently at home. Ummm sure?

5) I will bet $20, $50 or $100 that at least 50% of the people in my office will have a similar story or related experience. This is wayyyyyy too much lost luggage and just a terrible way to do business for the airlines.

Things learned while buying a condo

I recently bought a condo and I have completed moving. I have learned a few things through the process.

*Clothing inside the washer does not mean that the washer works. Remove clothes and test.

*Always look behind furniture during inspection.

*Aim high when asking for credits for repairs, painting, etc...

*Retention of a good lawyer is awesome.

*Movers want to be tipped, but it is hard to tip them if they break something.

*Empire Carpet (588-2300) is a decent place to get carpet, but probably not the cheapest.

More to come if I think of any.

Jansport To The Rescue

Jansport doesn't make the nicest or best quality backpacks in the world, but at least they stand by their lifetime guarantee. They promise to repair or replace any pack or part of a bag or pack that has failed before the bag had generally worn out from use.

Well I had a backpack that I got back in highschool - probably around 1994 or 1995. It served me well for a few years but eventually the zipper got stuck a few too many times and eventually would not stay zipped. So I kicked the bag under my bed for a few years, and moved it around a few times mixed in with other various bags and packs. Then finally I was going to throw it out in conjunction with my current move, but I decided to investigate Jansport's guarantee which I had heard about. Their website says to send it in to an address where they will repair or replace it for free if they deem it to be broken to their standards. I concluded that the bag was still in fairly good condition except for the zipper and that it would be worth $1 of company postage to see if I could get a working bag or perhaps even a brand new bag. (I was really hoping for a brand new bag.)

So I sent it off and about 3 weeks or so later I got it back int he mail, they replaced the zipper...and the bag is back in working order. So Jansport makes good on its promise, and I might consider buying another Jansport backpack or luggage if I am so inclined again in the future.


(I was really hoping they would send me a new bag or like a certificate for a new one or something as i don't particularly like the one I had. The main zipper goes all they way down about 80% of each side making it somewhat difficult to get something out without spilling the entire contents of the bag. Oh well)