I am glad I didn’t promise any immediate recap of this year’s RAGBRAI in the last post because I just haven’t had the time. Since getting back from RAGBRAI, I have settled back down into work, got an iPhone 3G, and moved into an new apartment. If that doesn’t sound busy enough, let me explain that after living in Washington, DC for the last year, I sold or gave away everything in terms of furniture and things that go into a place and had to go out and buy it all back in one form or another.
RAGBRAI
Let’s jump back to RAGBRAI. Good times! We had a pretty full bus this year. At least full in terms of getting everyone out to Missouri Valley. It was standing room only once we passed by Des Monies. There were a lot of returning folks from years previous, but some new folks as well. This year we had our own bus driver/message therapist. A lot of people got up on her table and were happier throughout the week because of it.
The weather didn’t cooperate this year. It must have rained at least four times with at least two tornado warnings. In Harlan, we were told to move inside an elementary school because of a possible tornado. Luckily it didn’t hit us and all we lost was a few hours of sleep. Every morning it seemed there was some kind of rain or heavy dew on the tent that would have to be dried before bed time again. This is hard to do when you pack everything up and ride during the day. This year however, my tent stayed relatively dry on the inside. This made me a much happier camper than last year when I forgot to put my rain-fly on before a storm and wasn’t able to get back in time to put it on, leaving a pool of water in my tent. On our ride into Jefferson, Iowa, lighting was striking the road. Many people said they could feel the electricity flow through their bodies. Mike James and I did not have such a feeling and figured we were too dehydrated from all the beer. On the ride out of Tama, we woke up to rain. Most of the team decided to make use of the bus instead of riding.
Non-weather related, I had quite a few beers. Actually, I think the entire RAGBRAI, I was either drunk, buzzed, or hungover. Good times. A lot of quotes came up this year and landed in to the bus historical records (the bus ceiling).
Several folks were already talking next year. Thoughts about sponsorships, the team name, jerseys, bus modifications/additions, or the possibility of a new bus came up all the time. I know that I am already looking forward to next year.
iPhone 3G
Oh boy I was excited when I got my hands on the new iPhone 3G and walked out of the store. All of a sudden, my girlfriend was jealous of the iPhone because I spent so much time playing around with it. Eventually, I got my email setup, my calendars, a few games downloaded, and was surfing the web using the EDGE network because our apartment is currently without Internet.
All was going good until I brought it back from sleep two days ago to find the white screen of death and a psychadelic effect of vertical and horizontal lines of different colors move rapidly over my screen. Eventually it booted up but, I realized this would only get worse. Today I haven’t been able to start it up at all and have contacted Apple to repair it. They are sending me a box to ship it in and hopefully all will be fine.
In the meantime, I have purchased a $15 dollar cellphone with absolutely no bells or whistles and put my SIM card in. This experience has got me thinking about my future with AT&T. Should I stay or should I go now? There are a few options out there as I am still within the 30 day period of my contract. I will let you know what I ultimately decide.
The New Apartment
If you didn’t already know, I have moved back from Washington, DC, and have been living at my parents houses in Iowa City and Okoboji.
Anyway, the thought of living with my parents for a long period time did not sit well and a friend and I are living near downtown Iowa City next to College Green Park. It is a charming place, but has little quarks. The wood floors are incredibly creeky, and the doors don’t close very well. We also don’t have any air conditioning setup (window units), and have slept through this summer’s worst hot and muggy nights.
I am almost completely moved out of my parents house and pretty much have my new room the way I want it. I had to buy a new futon and frame, desk, and desk chair just so I could sleep there and work from home. Internet should be hooked up next week. I have still yet to have time to go get groceries or put much additional thought into our large empty living room and dinning room. I have been thinking about buying a TV. One that is big enough to help fill space in our living room and give people a reason to sit down and stay a while.
I will post pictures on Flickr sooner than later, but first, I am headed up to Okoboji for the weekend with Abby our friend Holly. My friends Dan and Shelby might also be in the area.
