30: ready or not here I come

I really enjoyed myself last night at my birthday party. Lots of my friends came to share it with me and wish me well. Even Dad was able to come down for it, which was pretty special because I rarely get my friends and family together at the same time and I hate having to choose. The food was great and I got some very thoughtful gifts. I like having an excuse to throw a party, I just hope everyone enjoyed the party as much as I did.

I put up some links to more pictures, hosted over at flickr and a link to my second blog and profile over at MySpace. I just started exploring the community over there and its been rewarding so far. I'm keeping this blog for family and travel related stuff, MySpace is for random thoughts and and networking. Feel free to go through my stuff :)

Ciao.

More books and bike rides

Hey all,

So I got the rest of the books Chris ordered for me from Amazon the other day. Looks like he's got me covered for this trip between Krakow, Poland, and the rest of Eastern Europe. Thanks again bro! If I can't find something to do, see, eat, or somewhere to stay its my own fault now.

I've recently reconnected with Lindsey Miller and we've had a good time hanging out. As some of you may recall she's a friend from way back, grade school through high school and now she's back down here in Eugene working and finishing up grad school. Lindsey mentioned that she might do the Seattle to Portland bike ride coming up this Summer, and thought I might be interested seeing as how I ride my bike to work everyday. I've never done something like that before, but I'm considering it. Its a 200 mile ride spread over 2 days. We've decided to start training with little bike rides around town once a week and gradually scale up to longer rides. Too bad I'm going to be gone for most of May.

I'm looking forward to my party Saturday night. It will be nice to have most of my friends and family together for dinner and drinks. I just hope I get everything done in time.

Ciao.

Time to RTFM

Hey all,

On my ride home last night I was thinking to myself that I needed to get started really planning my free time on my next trip to Poland. I've never been good at planning stuff, usually just going with the flow and letting more organized people set the pace, and I'm cool with that. So I didn't know where to start when making a plan for myself. Thankfully my highly motivated and organized brother was a step ahead of me! When I got home there was a box from Amazon.com waiting for me. I was feeling a bit down and this immediately perked me up. Imagine my surprise to find Rick Steve's Best of Eastern Europe 2006 inside! Thanks, Chris :)

Looks like the perfect thing for me. I'll be reading it and taking it with me for sure. Its got maps and rail schedules and short trip itineraries and everything. Great stuff.

Ready or not, Europe, here I come.

I have tickets in my hand that say I'm going back to Krakow this May. I did want to go back, but I didn't expect it to be this soon. I am scheduled to stay 3 weeks. Hopefully I can take some of that time and see a little bit more than just Krakow.

This time my traveling partner will be Andrea, who is one of the three liaisons and the only one who hasn't gone over to meet the folks in Poland yet. Andrea is very cool and we've had a great time hanging out together. It's going to be a ton of fun to share what I've experienced of Krakow with her. She's only scheduled to stay one week though.

Anyways, when I come back from Poland I should be bringing one of their Java devs, Marcin, back with me to stay in Eugene as a guest of Lunar Logic for a bit. It should be fun to entertain him, but unfortunately Eugene isn't quite as fun as Krakow. We'll find something to keep him busy for sure.

Thanks again to Mom and Dad for my early birthday gift. This weekend they took me shopping for my very own matched set of luggage. I love it. Should cover me very well for just about any length trip. So naturally I gave them back their luggage I borrowed for my last couple trips, smells and all.

Speaking of my birthday I'm planning to have a party at my house on Saturday the 22nd. I'm thinking of a potluck dinner in the early afternoon and dinner time and then transition to a full blown party that night. You're all invited. This coming weekend I'm probably going to the coast with Elliot to help him celebrate his 30th. Happy birthday Elliot!

So on to the flight itinerary. Until next time.

Eugene to Krakow

United Flight 6404
depart eugene 10:45 2006-5-4
arrive san francisco 12:12 2006-5-4

United Flight 870
depart san francisco 14:00 2006-5-4
arrive chicago/ohare 19:56 2006-5-4

United Flight 4778
depart chicago/ohare 21:35 2006-5-4
arrive krakow 13:55 2006-5-5


Krakow to Eugene

United Flight 8765
depart krakow 6:55 2006-5-26
arrive munich 8:20 2006-5-26

United Flight 903
depart munich 11:35 2006-5-26
arrive denver 19:13 2006-5-26

United Flight 6665
depart denver 20:40 2006-5-26
arrive eugene 22:19 2006-5-26

Spring is in the air and my eyes are itching

Hey all,

So its that time of year again, time to find my allergy symptom meds I put away in the Fall and start popping them once again to combat the constant runny nose, itchy eyes, sinus headaches, and sudden sneezing fits. That may be one of the reasons I love the Fall so much, it means a respite from my allergies for six months.

April also means that my birthday is coming up, as well as the birthday's of some of my most favorite people. This year many of my highschool chums are turning 30 and some are celebrating in style. I have no idea what I want to do for mine. I will probably just invite people over to my house for a little party. Is it narcissistic to throw a birthday party for yourself? I just don't want 30 to go by without some sort of significance. Then again it is just another day, why ascribe any particular relevance to it at all?

When I bring up my birthday I feel bad for mentioning it, especially when someone asks what I want for my birthday. I never know how to respond to that. I don't keep a wishlist of things I hope people will buy for me, that would be very selfish. If I want something and I can't live without it I go buy it. If I think of something I want and I don't buy it right away I just end up forgetting about it anyways.

My thoughtlessness about gifts extends to others too. I never remember other people's birthdays in time to get them a decent gift. Plus I've always been a terrible gift giver. One of the reasons I dread the Christmas season.

So anyways, getting back to travel stuff... I might be going back to Poland in the first part of May. I'm not sure how long I would be staying this time around, but it could be for two weeks or longer. We are working out the details now. I will post more when I can.

Cheers.