by Matt | Jan 7, 2002 | Imported Entry
*written earlier today*
The trip to Colorado really kind of put things into perspective. That and my walk around Savannah today. I had actually missed this stupid city, somehow. It actually felt almost like “home.” Home is hard to come by at the moment. New Hampshire doesn’t feel like home, Savannah didn’t feel like home until recently. I dunno. I almost felt like I was a senior in high school again, that I was the “old hand” and knew what was going on more than the frightened little freshmen and certainly more than the random tourists. I had previously been in disbelief, that there was no way I was a junior, that Chris was graduating college this year, that my brother was driving. My little journey across the country forced me to realize how much I had done and how many more things I still wanted to do. So, I’m ready for life’s adventure I guess, but at the same time I finally feel comfortable where I am.
Besides all that, I managed to get a few things done today.
This morning I headed downtown for Digital II, my 9am, which is taught by a funny little woman with a thick Australian accent (probably since she’s from New Zeland) Turns out that the course description has changed since I signed up for it. Instead of more advanced digital techniques, it’s now completely and totally web design with a touch of Flash at the end. The theory being that we’ll be able to market ourselves after we finish school. So, I don’t know about everyone else but I’m certainly looking forward to the next class’ “introduction to HTML” lecture. *snicker*
I also heard rumor that my history class doesn’t actually count for history credits. If this is true, it’ll be a shame, but I’ll have to drop it. There’s no sense in taking a class that I can’t use to graduate. I’ll see about switching it if that’s the case, maybe back to poetry like I had originally arranged it. We’ll see what happens.
Later.
by Matt | Jan 6, 2002 | Imported Entry
Well, this might be a tad bit long. It kinda has to be. It’s got to cover two weeks. Ok, where to start. I suppose I should start with the vacation itself…
A whopping two weeks ago I was arriving in Durango CO, a snow set little playground of a town for rich people from the surrounding states. It was like you’d think Aspen would be only with out the recognition. Anyway, at this point we’ve settled into our nice little condo/hotel and make plan to have a week of fun. Which we do. Lauren and I went skiing, cross-country of course, in the Colorado back country (I believe thats how one brochure put it). We also got a chance to go snow-mobiling, take a sleigh ride, go ice skating, soak in the mineral water hot tubs, all that good stuff. It wasn’t until the last night of our little fun in the snow when things took a sharp turn south. By south I mean “not good”.
Mr. Arolfo, Lauren’s dad, was parking the car in a downtown shopping district when he fell and broke his leg. It seems he slipped on the ice, hit a dumpster, broke it once slipping, then in half again when he landed on it. This all was taking place while Lauren, her mother and myself are standing two blocks away wondering where Mr. Arolfo is. After a minute or two, a gentleman who turned out to be a very nice lawyer came walking towards us asking if we were the Arolfo’s. They answered yes and brought us over to where Mr. Arolfo was laying on the ice shivering and in a tremendous amount of pain. They had called the ambulance and they arrived quickly since the hospital was only a few blocks away. Lauren and her mom were visibly shaken and I was kind of in awe but I seemed the only one fit to drive so I ran and grabbed the van and drove them over to the hospital, following the ambulance in case I got lost.
They admitted him to the ER and that’s when we learned the severity of the situation and how badly he had broken it. They would have to do surgery and put in a rod and 4 pins/screws the next day. (this is last Saturday for those of you wanting a time line). So, surgery went well but he’d have to stay in the hotel for three to four days following it. During that time I tried to do all I could to help out the Arolfo’s since they didn’t have much “snow experience” and couldn’t drive and with their father in the hospital they didn’t have anyone to do things like load up the car, pack up the hotel rooms, run errands, stuff like that. The Arolfo’s appreciated it and I was glad to help. What else was I going to do? Leave them stranded on a mountain, in snow, with a crippled father?
Anyway, Wednesday rolled around and we were finally able to leave. Originally my plan was to fly home on Wednesday from Houston but seeing as how I was just leaving CO, that didn’t seem like it was happening. But that worked out well in the end and I was able to get AirTran to give me a credit towards a later flight. So, off we went towards Texas. Mr. Arolfo spread out on the back seat, Lauren’s mom and brother in the middle and Lauren and I at the wheel. I won’t cut any corners and I’ll tell you right now that it was a very long, uncomfortable and nerve wracking trip back across the country. Those first two days were not very much fun. But, rather than complain, I muddled through. There was no point in making a situation worse by letting tempers flair, and I think I did an ok job of staying calm and helpful.
So, we make it back to Houston late Thursday night, sleep, get up Friday, pack and run a few nessisary errands, sleep and get up and leave first thing Saturday morning. From there it was another two days of driving across the rest of the country till I was finally back home this evening. Saturday’s drive was horrible. It was nothing but rain and it was the really bad “horizontal” kind. I’m sure you know what I mean. Today was better, blue skies and partly cloudy most of the way.
So, I’m home, very tired, very very tired and actually quite pleased with my little adventure. It wasn’t quite what I was expecting, but it was fun and interesting to say the least. Even the bad parts had their moments. Anyway, I was going to write some more but I feeling pretty tired. I’ll share what I got for x-mas, my stories about gas stations across the country and how classes went after I get home tomorrow. Why is that you ask? Because I have a class at 9am.
Ok, more tomorrow, I promise. G’night.
by Matt | Dec 31, 2001 | Imported Entry
*Update from the road*
Well, original plans had me getting home tomorrow… but, that’s not going to happen anymore. Let me explain. Well, actually, let me start at the begining.
On the 19th I flew into Houston, spent two days, including my birthday hanging out with Lauren before leaving on the morning of the 22nd. We drove for two days across the beautiful Texas landscape, through New Mexico and into Durango CO. We spent four great days playing in the snow, having fun. We went skiing, snow-mobiling, sleigh-riding, all that good stuff. Unfortunatly, the fun ended on Friday night. We were shopping downtown when Mr. Arolfo slipped on the ice and broke his leg in three places. That facilitated a trip to the hospital and surgery. He’s still there as we speak. This obviously complicates matters a bit. We can’t leave. I can’t get back to NH and so on. So, the tenative plan now is to drive back to Savannah with Lauren directly from TX. Which isn’t to bad. My dad is planning on driving my car down and dropping off my stuff. So that’s cool. I’ll give Pete a call and hopefully he’ll be able to be there when my dad drives in. Also, if Mr. Arolfo gets out of the hospital a day late, then Lauren and I have to drive the two days to TX then the two days to Savannah IN A ROW. That would suck. Hopefully he gets out on Wednesday. At any rate, the situation sucks but we’re all dealing. I’m trying to help out the Arolfos as much as possible and we’ll get through it. Oh, did I mention that classes start on Monday. Yah. More fun to the mix. We’ll see how it works out. Sorry boys, I won’t be able to hang out this week. I’ll let everyone know how everything is going if I can but I probably won’t be able to check back in until Savannah, which, if you’re doing the math, won’t be until Monday. Ok, gotta run. Wish me luck.
by Matt | Dec 18, 2001 | Imported Entry
Well, I’ve only got a few hours left here in NH and then it’s off to TX and CO. This will probably be the last post until after New Years. I won’t be anywhere near a computer. Which, is a good thing I think. Anyway…
My basic schedule… for anyone that cares is fairly simple. Tomorrow morning around 7am, FlightLine picks me up at drops me at Logan around 9-9:30. I check in, have fun with security and then leave on AirTran, flight 279 at 11:45. I fly into Atlanta at 2:30, have a brief layover and leave on AirTran flight 130 for Houston at 3:20. I should be in Houston at 4:30 local time. That would be 5:30 for those of you in New England or on East Coast Time. I spend three days in TX, celebrating my birthday with Lauren, then leave with her family for Durango CO on the morning of the 22nd. We spend Christmas there, have fun, ski, etc. Then we drive back to Houston on the 30th. I spend a few more days there, ring in the new year and then fly home on the 2nd. I get back into Boston at about 6pm that night. After that, it’s a few days of rest then I’m off for school again on either the 5th or 6th. Probably the 5th.
Ok, take care everyone. Have fun and stay out of trouble. Merry Christmas to all. Happy Birthday to me. Have a safe and happy holidays and New Years. Etc etc etc. Later.
by Matt | Dec 18, 2001 | Imported Entry
One day to go. I’m feeling better about the whole thing, realizing that somethings are just out of my hands. Last I heard from Canada, they were still figuring out how to proceed or if to proceed. As for me, I’ve gotten 98% of everything done. All thats left to do is repack my bag to make it a little lighter, find my old ski cloves and to remember to set an alarm for the morning. Also, my sudo-birthday present to myself from myself but paid for by my parents will be here shortly. At least that’s what ups.com seems to think so. Joy. I’ve also changed my schedule next semester for school. A “History of Jazz” class opened up, and since I need history credits, why not. I dropped poetry which is a shame because I wanted to take it, but I already had an english elective and it wouldn’t have helped me graduate. Plus this way it makes my course load a little lighter so I can concentrate on solid work in Studio and really beef up my portfolio. Its a compromise I can live with. Anyway, so that brings us to less than 24 hours till lift off. I really starting to get amped for this. I can’t wait to see Lauren, ski some powder and relax in the beauty of the Rockie Mts. I’ve been wanting to do that all my life. Ok, I’ll check in before I leave. Later.
by Matt | Dec 17, 2001 | Imported Entry
Well, I’ve got half a million things on my mind and another half million things to do. I’m worried about my grandmother, I’m worried about flying, I’m worried about money. I’m just not in the right mindset to “go on vacation” yet. Anyway. Today I’ve got so much to do. I need to make a bank deposit, go to MVP, go to B&N, pack, get my skies down from the attic, do laundry… the list goes on and on. To top it off, it’s snowing. Sorta. It’s “dusting” and won’t do anything besides make the roads annoying. How fun. So, today I run around, won’t relax and will worry about everything. Look out world… today… Matt’s a mess.
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