Behind the Screen
The opinions, views, and insights stated within this Monologue are my own. The facts, fallacies, and errors, however, belong to someone else (see disclaimer).
Saturday, March 29, 2003
Well folks, I made it. Late Thursday afternoon I left Raleigh and headed for DC, where I would meet up with friends C.A.M. and Becky Wagner (thanks for letting me stay at your place!). It was great catching up with them.
On Friday, I left for Norwalk at about 10:00 a.m. Traffic was sparce until I arrived near NYC. I entered the NYC area around 3:00 p.m. but meet heavy traffic. I didn't arrive in Norwalk until right at 5:00 p.m. The second leg of this trip was supposed to last only five hours. Instead, it took me seven.
I had no problem finding the place. My roommate Steve left the back door open so I let myself in and gave myself a tour. I was pleased.
Ten minutes after arriving, Steve showed up. He gave me an offical tour before deciding that we needed to head out to SoNo for happy hour. SoNo is about a mile away and is about two blocks of bars, resturants, and shops. Reminds me of Indianapolis' Broad Ripple and DC's Georgetown. After several drinks and a Connecticut NCAA loss, it was time to call it the night.
In the morning, we got up, did some cleaning, and unloaded the truck. A U-Haul office was only two blocks away, so I simply walked down there to return the truck shortly after lunch.
Saturday afternoon I spent most of the time moving boxes around, setting up AV and IT stuff (TV, VCR, Xbox, Computer, etc.). Tonight, I plan on getting the Xbox online. It's nice having high speed access at home once again.
Tomorrow, I take the train to Boston to get my car. The East Norwalk train station is just 0.6 miles from home. I'll walk up there to catch a train shortly after 9 a.m. I'll then connect to an Amtrak train in Bridgeport, which will take me all the way to Boston.
The guys from the car dealer will meet me at the train station either with my car or will provide me a ride to my car. After ward, I'll enjoy a three and a half hour drive home.
Monday, I start work. I can't wait. It's been a busy week, but it's been nice to experience new things.
Thursday, March 27, 2003
I'm all packed and ready to go. I picked up the U-Haul this morning and will be starting my journey north late this afternoon.
My plan is to stop tonight in DC to visit my friends C.A.M. and Becky Wagner. Friday morning, I'll get up and complete my drive to Norwalk. All in all, the trip should take me about ten hours.
There are a lot of people that I will miss once I'm gone. I've had fun making new friends on the volleyball courts, parties, and other social outlets. I've been lucky to have the last seven months getting back in touch with several lost friends, as well as making many new ones. I hope I'm just as fortunate when I arrive to Norwalk.
Wish me safe travels and stay tuned. I'm sure I'll have many exicting new stories once I get settled. Thanks again for checking in on me.
Monday, March 24, 2003
Returned Guyana Peace Corps volunteer Brian Tarallo was recently featured in William and Mary's alumni magazine, March 13, 2003 issue. The short interview is titled "A Canoe Called Matoaka" and can be read online.
The story begins "Following graduation, Brian Tarallo ('00) served with the U.S. Peace Corps in Guyana. While there, he built a canoe to help local craftsmen retain their livelihoods. He called the canoe Matoaka after the lake on campus."
I think very highly of Brian and his wife Liz. I hope you enjoy this article.
Sunday, March 23, 2003
My trip to the beach was great. Birthday was yesterday, also great. I can't believe I leave Thursday.
Wednesday, March 19, 2003
Filed my North Carolina, Indiana, and Federal taxes today. Nice to have that behind me.
Heading to the beach (Duck, NC) tonight to celebrate/relax for a few days. If you need to reach me, try my cell phone.
I think my moving plan is to pick up the U-Haul on Thursday, March 27, and load the truck. At the latest, I'll begin my nine-hour drive to Norwalk on Friday with the goal of arriving Friday evening. I'll spend all day Saturday unloading/returning the truck and getting settled.
On Sunday, I'll head to Boston to pick up my Audi A6. I'll likely take the 9:08am MNR Train from the East Norwalk Station, which is a half mile from my new home, and arrive in Bridgeport, CT, at 9:26am. At 10:12am I'll transfer to an Amtrak train which will take me all the way to Boston, arriving at 1:20pm. The car dealer will meet me at the station, we'll close the deal, and I'll spend the next four hours driving back to Norwalk in my new ride.
Monday, March 31, will be a day of running errands: getting my car registered, getting a drivers license, registering to vote. I report to work on Tuesday, April 1, 2003. I wonder if they will have any April Fool's pranks ready for the new guy.
Monday, March 17, 2003
Looks like my brother Cameron redesigned his personal website. I think his new site had many improvements over his old one. Nice work bro.
Figuring out train travel in the US isn't nearly as easy as it is to figure out air travel. But I think I'm catching on.
I'm working on figuring out how to get from Norwalk, CT, to Randolph, MA, which is where my new 1998 Audi A6 is waiting for me.
Basically, Norwalk is serviced by two train companies; Amtrak and Metro-North Railroad. Amtrak services all of the US while MTA services just the New York area.
The closest Amtrak stations for me are the Stamford (STM) and Bridgeport (BRP) stations. Stamford is located about 9.9 miles south while Bridgeport is 13 miles north.
The two Metro-North Railroad stations (South Norwalk Station and East Norwalk Station) are much closer; East Norwalk Station being the closest at only 0.6 miles north from where I'll live.
From what I've researched so far, it looks like I'll take an MTA train from the East Norwalk Station to the Bridgeport Station, where I'll connect on an Amtrak train leaving from Bridgeport to the Boston Route 128 (RTE), Back Bay (BBY), or South (BOS) stations.
Sunday, March 16, 2003
It looks like I won an Ebay auction over the weekend for a 1998 Audi A6 Quatro! I'm pumped, for this is one of the last big-ticket items I needed to take care of before moving to Norwalk less than two weeks from now.
Assuming I will have no problems closing and meeting the terms of the auction, I'll likely pick up the car shortly after completing my move. The car is located in Randolph, MA, which is just a few miles outside of Boston. I'll likely take a train from Norwalk to Boston on Monday, March 31, complete the purchase, and drive back later that day.
I can't wait to have the freedom of owning a car once again. I'm also eager to have a European car. This Audi comes with all wheel drive (called Quattro), heated leather seats, sunroof, Tiptronic automatic transmission (which means it has both automatic and manual shifting options), Xenon headlights, a Bose sound system, and much more. I'm excited. I hope it drives and looks as best as it was described in the auction. I can't wait to pick in up in a few weeks.
I had a great weekend with two new Raleigh friends Richard and Jennifer Robinson. I've been playing volleyball with them a few times a week at open gyms around the Raleigh area. A few weeks ago, Richard invited me to play the middle position for his USAV team in an upcoming tournament in Ashville, North Carolina. I gladly accepted the opportunity.
Since I still don't have a car (haven't had one since May 2002), Jennifer was kind enough to pick me up Friday afternoon. We met Richard at their place and began our road trip by 4:00.
The trip was going well for we were busy telling stories, playing games, and listening to tunes. About an hour into the trip, Jennifer's car decided to turn itself off unexpectedly as we entered Greensboro traffic. We pulled over, started the car back up, and re-entered the flow of traffic; ultimately repeating this process two more times before finding a gas station.
Ended up the car needed some oil - about three quarts worth. Needless to say, Richard and I had fun teasing Jennifer for her lack of maintenance. Thankfully, the car made the rest of trip with no further complaints.
Upon entering Ashville, we met up with several of Jennifer's USAV teammates for dinner at a Japanese steak house. These places are always fun with a large group.
After dinner, we drove to Jennifer's home about 20 minutes west of Ashville where we met her parents and sister. Very nice family. They were kind to host the three of us for the weekend.
On Saturday we woke early, had a country breakfast, and headed off to our separate gyms for a day of tough volleyball competition.
Richard and I had a tough time finding our gym, but eventually made it on time. Thankfully, our team didn't have to play or referee the first round of games.
I had not met or played with any of Richard's teammates. Our first two games were awful. While we could have beaten our first opponent, we made many errors and looked very unorganized.
Our second round of games were much better. We lost the first one, but started to jell as a team. By the second game, it all came together and resulted in victory.
Games five and six also resulted in victory. Our opponent was better than us but didn't play well and made many errors. I had a big influence on game five for I served for a streak of six points and ended the game with two big blocks and a heavy-handed spike for the final point.
Our last opponent for the day was the number one seed in our bracket. Furthermore, the outcome of our last two games would neither hurt nor help our standing. We already knew that we would end our bracket in third place.
We played hard as we entered the seventh game, but eventually began to unravel. By the eighth game, we fell apart. I made three errors in a row, costing the team to lose much momentum. Regardless, it was a fun day. It was nice to have a chance to play at this level of competition once again.
Saturday night was a night on the town. We had dinner with more of Jennifer's teammates, had drinks with her sister's friends, and then headed over to the hotel housing most of the volleyball players.
The hotel was rocking. I think every room was booked for this event, for we spent the evening hopping from one suite party to the next.
I never felt so short in my life. I'd say about half of the men were taller than me and about a tenth of the women were eye level. There were several guys there that had to duck every time they entered a room, for they were at least 6' 8". These are the guys that play at the AA level. My team, well, we played at the B level. Few at this level are taller than 6' 6".
Any rate, I had a great time. I hope to find a USAV team in Norwalk and travel to more of these big tournaments in the future. They're a blast.
Monday, March 10, 2003
I know only geeks like myself would be interested in this story, but the Xbox game Halo 2 sadly won't be released until 2004. Halo is the best game I have ever played. Here's the story from the BBC:
The eagerly awaited sequel to the award-winning Halo video game has been delayed. In a note on its website, developer Bungie Studios said Halo 2 would not be released until 2004.
The news will disappoint fans of the first person military action shoot-'em up, who had expected the title to be in the shops by Christmas.
Halo: Combat Evolved is the most successful game yet for Microsoft's Xbox and the delay in the release of its sequel could undermine sales of the console.
'Complex undertaking'
The original Halo came out with the launch of the Xbox in November 2001, going on to become the console's must-have game.
So far it has sold more than a million copies worldwide.
When Microsoft announced a sequel last year, it said the game would be shipped at the end of 2003.
The statement by Bungie was prompted by speculation about when the game would be in the shops.
"We're still not ready to pick a specific release date, but we do want to state for the record that Halo 2 will not ship in 2003," said the company.
"This game is a vast undertaking, considerably more complex than any of our previous efforts, and there is just no way to squeeze all of the necessary work into this calendar year," said the company.
"We know many of you were hoping to get your hands on Halo 2 during the holiday season, and we're sorry to disappoint you - but making this game as good as we possibly can is our paramount concern."
Halo 2 titbits
Halo 2 is expected to build on the adventures of a genetically enhanced super-soldier called Master Chief as he faces a coalition of alien races.
Bungie is promising more action and weapons, better graphics and a multi-player option to face other gamers on Microsoft's Xbox Live service. "Halo 2 is a lot like Halo, only it's Halo on fire, going 130 miles per hour through a hospital zone, being chased by helicopters and ninjas," said Jason Jones, the head of Bungie Studios when he announced the sequel in August 2002.
Gamers on a message board hosted by Bungie seemed prepared to wait.
"Personally I don't mind waiting a bit longer. We've got just under a year to go and a few more months won't make much difference," said one gamer.
"Maybe a lot of us are over-reacting but it seems like if this early they announced that it won't make 2003, then maybe they know wholeheartedly that they're looking at a game that's way off from being done," said another.
The good news for fans of the best-selling game is that Bungie will offer them a taste of Halo 2 at the video game industry's main trade show, E3 in May in Los Angeles.
In a similar story, the BBC did a story on Xbox Live, a Microsoft service that allows Xbox gamers to play others via a high-speed Internet connection. Since my new place in Norwalk already has high-speed access, you can bet that I'll be spending some time playing others online.
The Xbox Live service got off to a good start when it launched in the US in November, with Microsoft selling more than 150,000 starter kits in the first week. I can't wait to join them.
Friday, March 07, 2003
On a similar note, my birthday is also coming up (March 22). So if you are looking for a few good ideas, be sure to visit my wish list at Amazon.com.
My dad's birthday is 10 days away and I just came up with the perfect gift. I'm not afraid to share it here, for he rarely visits my site, so here it goes...
My brother Cameron and I bought dad a Zig Zag Racer. It's a small remote-controlled boat that he'll be able to drive around our pond.
Weighing in at 16 ounces and only 15 inches long, this little toy really does zip across the pond (I took it for a test drive today). According to the box, the boat is capable of speeds up to 12 miles per hour. I thought it was marketing hype, but was pleasantly proved wrong.
Now you may be asking what my dad would want with a toy like this. Simple. He'll be able to use it to chase the Canadian Geese off of our pond. While they are nice to look at, there are so many of them that they end up making a mess of our yard and other common areas. Mom and dad have tried hiring a trainer and his dogs to chase the geese away a few times a week, but the dogs just can't out swim the geese on the open water.
The Zig Zag Racer, however, can.
On its inaugural run this afternoon, I tested it out on two geese who were pleasantly swimming by our house. Starting at only half throttle, I found that the boat was able to easily catch up to their leisurely swim. Once the couple caught on, they started swimming much faster; so I punched it.
Boy were they surprised and a bit perturbed. Honking, they took to flight. Sensing something amiss, a few more geese resting on the shore decided to fly to the other end of the lake. This gave me a chance to test out the boat's range.
Within 45 seconds, I was able to get the boat from one end of our seven acre pond to the other. Realizing my new little toy was not going to end its pursuit, the rest of the geese took flight and headed over to the neighbor's pond.
Way to go Zig Zag Racer! Dad's going to have fun with you.
Wednesday, March 05, 2003
I found a place to live. Come April, I'll be living at 9 Cove Avenue, Apartment 2, Norwalk, CT 06855. Scott Findlay will be one of my two roommates. We have not selected our third roommate yet.
Scott was born in CT and went to the University of Connecticut. He has a degree in Graphic Design and Illustration, and works for the Danbury Mint designing collectibles. He seems easy going and should be a helpful contact/friend for me to have as I get used to the area.
The thrid room will need to be filled by May 1. We have ads in the paper and at RoommateService.com, which is how I found out about the place.
To give you a better understanding of where I will be living, I have organized some photos of the place as well as some maps to the office and social areas. I hope you enjoy.
Tuesday, March 04, 2003
I received an Internet phone call from one of my good Peace Corps Guyana friends today. It was great to hear form him.
His news was that a dozen new volunteers arrived to Georgetown this week to start their three months of training and two years of service. Somehow, my name came up as a recent volunteer who was sent home. When Country Director Earl Brown explained why I was sent home, he told the new volunteers that I was sent home for selling photos of Guyanese and Peace Corps volunteers over the Internet.
It's amazing how the truth gets twisted. I simply posted digital photos within Ofoto.com and Yahoo Photo's personal photo albums. Volunteers before me did so, volunteers while I was there were doing so, and current volunteers continue to do so. Ofoto.com and Yahoo Photo provide the option for visitors to purchase prints of any photo that is within anyone's photo album. The owner of the album doesn't get paid for the prints purchased. The payment is simply for development, shipping, and a small profit for either Ofoto or Yahoo. Here are examples of the very photo albums I'm refering to:
Some of the IT volunteers tried to explain all of this to Earl Brown while I was down there. Seems he's still not smart enough to understand how all of it works, which is why I likely felt like a threat to him.
More importantly, Earl shouldn't be saying that I was kicked out at all; for I technically wasn't. Technically speaking, I wasn't Administratively Separated. Instead, I received what the Peace Corps calls an Interruption of Service, which is granted to volunteers "who have to leave due to matters beyond their control."
Privately speaking, of course, Earl twice told me that he should have Administratively kicked me out for having a personal website and for sharing my experiences as a volunteer with others (photos, stories, or otherwise). But he'd never admit to such a thing for the Peace Corps' rules clearly state that the country director must not use Interruption of Service as a replacement for Administrative Separation.
It's sad to hear that the hypocrisies and lies continue to run deep in Guyana. Particularly from the Peace Corps' most senior officials.
Regardless, it was good to hear an old friend's voice and laugh. Man, we had some good times.
Guess that's all for now. Time for me to get back to making my "2003 Girls of Guyana" calendar.
Sunday, March 02, 2003
Saturday, March 01, 2003
Dad and I went to see the symphony last night in Meymandi Hall at the BTI Center in Raleigh. Being the architect of this great hall has nice perks, like front-row balcony seats.
Earlier this week dad received a good word from the mayor. In front of a gathering of about 300 people in Meymandi Hall, the mayor said "Every time I enter this building I think of Irv Pearce." Way to go dad.
Friday's show featured the music of Bill Conti, an Oscar and three-time Emmy Award winner who wrote the music to Rocky, Broadcast News, The Karate Kid, Chariots of Fire, and several TV shows.
Between songs, Conti told great stories about smelling smoke while directing the Oscars, working with Madonna, flying to London just for lunch, and more. Fun show.