| 12/1 |
Woke up at 7:00am. Chicago's winter parking ban
in effect from today. Cars are towed from the snow route. People pays at
least $200 for the fine. It must have snowed pretty good since I saw my car
covered with snow. Stayed at my friend's apartment whole day again. I wish I
could go out and do some workout. |
| 12/2 |
[Nintendo DS went on sale in Japan]
I got to go out from the morning. Get hair cut
at Hair Cuttery. My hair is now very short, looks like a serviceman. At
least I am satisfied. Then I headed to Kinko's to work on my webpage! Had lunch at Mr. Greek Gyro, which
has been my favorite place to eat at Merrillville. Stopped at Meijer to buy
some groceries for the next few days, went for a walk. Still waiting for a
phone call. Washed my cloths in the night.
 |
| 12/3 |
Woke up before sun rise since the room got cold.
Sent some emails to my friends who I have not communicated for a while.
Cooked Mabo Tofu and rice. Had it for lunch and dinner. |
| 12/4 |
Spent morning just relaxing. Cooked chicken
noodle stew and had it for the lunch with my friend. It was pretty salty. The outside was partly sunny with no wind,
so I decided to go out and take a walk for one hour. Stopped at Meijer to
buy some groceries. Cooked chicken and cashew nuts for dinner and had it
with my friends. Spent whole day watching college football games. Watched
VT against Florida, USC and UCLA game, then OU and Colorado game. Watched
SNL after that. Went to bed around midnight |
| 12/5 |
Had another easy going day in the morning. I
went to Red Robin's with my friend to have big hamburgers. I had a Banzai
burger which has teriyaki flavored I took a walk for
about one hour after that. Watched NFL games, Chicago vs. Minnesota, then
Philadelphia vs. Green bay. I cooked Mabo Tofu again. My friend wanted to
watch a movie on ABC so we watched it. It was quite warm and nice, but
breezier than Saturday. |
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| 12/6 |
Must have rained over night. Expecting more
tonight. I woke up around 7:00am and found out it is foggy outside. I had
canned soup for lunch. I had rice and chicken fries for dinner. I got phone
call from the company around 5:00pm, telling me to standby. I might have to
go to drug testing. There was a big fire a downtown Chicago building started
around 6:30pm. It was build back in 1880s and was one of the oldest
building. |
| 12/7 |
[I got a job!]
Woke up at 7:00am. News talked about the down
fire last night. Headed to Kinko's to check
mails since my friend's house don't have DSL anymore. Came back and stayed
at my friend's apartment. Had canned soup for lunch. Got a phone call in the
evening. I got the offer from the company I had interviews with. Had rice
and fried chickens for dinner. |
| 12/8 |
Woke up at 7:00am. Packed up, left my friend's
apartment at 10:00am. Stopped at Kinko's to access internet. Made several
phone calls to apartments and also hotels. Had lunch from Mr. Greek Gyro for
the last time. Headed down to Indianapolis after 11:30am(CST), Arrived
around 3:00pm (EST). I stopped at an apartment which I made appointment. I
liked it much so I took it. I ate my dinner at Macaroni Grill to cerebrate
getting a job. I stayed at Extended Stay America until Saturday. |
| 12/9 |
I could not fall sleep much. I woke up at 7:00am
anyway. I drove up to AAA to get local map, then Verizon wireless to switch
my plan to nationwide, so I don't have to pay roaming charge. Stopped by
BankOne to setup a new account, and Meijer to buy some groceries. I bought
my lunch at Burger King, ate at hotel room. I then go to Kinko's to browse
net, I also tried to get drug screening test, but the agency designated by
the company. I started to write some Christmas cards, got my dinner from
Chipotle. The traffic in the evening was very few. I did not have any
problem driving. |
| 12/10 |
Woke up around 8:00am. I got a bad headache but no
fever. I called gas and electric companies to get utilities setup. Drove
up to Kinko's to check email. Stopped by post office to mail portion of
Christmas cards out. Drive up to a public pool to check place out, Had lunch at McDonald's.
then headed back to hotel. They forgot to renew my code to I could not get
in to my room! On the way I stopped by at Meijer and a Honda Dealer. Called
SBC to set up phone line and DSL. Because of high demand, I cannot get the
phone line until 12/15 and also 28th for the DSL. Called ARC and stopped by the local office.
Went to Kinko's again to check email in the evening. Got dinner from Chinese buffet nearby.
I went to bed around midnight |
| 12/11 |
[Moving in to apartment]
Somehow I got up around 5:00am. Packed up and
left the hotel by 10:00am. The person at the apartment came in 5 minutes
late so I had to wait. Took a look at the room and signed off. I moved my
stuffs in then headed to Meijer to buy all the things necessary. I thought I
bought everything but I forgot few things so had to go there for the second
time. Bought lunch at Boston Market. I did one load of laundry, I liked this
apartment since the washer and drier is included in the unit. Went to bed
around 10:00pm. |
| 12/12 |
[Sony's Play Station Portable PSP went on sale
in Japan]
I woke up around 8:00am. I must be very tired
from yesterday. I went to Meijer again to buy a floor lamp in the morning.
Without hesitation, I picked the energy saving bulb, which is about 4 times
more expensive but use 1/4 of energy, and lasts 8,000 hours compare to 1,500
hours of conventional one. In the afternoon, I went to a swimming pool for
the first time in a while. I swam about half hour. Then I went to Office Max
to buy a desk and a chair. I had to fold the rear seats to bring them home
but sure they worth the effort. Now I don't have to sit on the floor. Took
me a while to assemble them. Had ramen noodle for dinner. |
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| 12/13 |
The temperature dropped over night greatly, so I
woke up in the middle of the night because it was too cold. So, I woke up
late for the appointment at Honda dealer. They fixed the window and now
working fine. Snowed occasionally entire day. the first stop was Fazoli's to
have lunch, then Kinko's to check email. Later, I went to get drug screening
test, stopped by a shopping mall in NE Indianapolis. So many thing are
20-30% off at stores so I was happy shopper. I tried to get my insurance but
realized there are about 20 insurance companies in the nation with name
"Farmers". Oh well... Stopped by Meijer again to buy things missing. Spent
evening relaxing.
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| 12/14 |
Another cold day. I had to keep the heater on
all night. Finally started to see some sun. Stopped by Kinko's but internet
was not working. Went to swim, had lunch at Subway. Finally found the right
insurance agency. I got renter's insurance for the first time. Stopped by
Meijer to buy groceries. I bought a phone since the line will be active from
tomorrow. It was cold and I did not have much things to do so I went to bed
very early. |
| 12/15 |
From the lesson yesterday. I put another blanket
on top of my sleeping bag. It worked well but still cold. I might need to
buy another blanket soon. I worked out at fitness facility in the apartment
complex. I felt so good because it's been a while since I used treadmill and
stationally bike. The SBC came to service my phone around 11:00am so now I
can access internet! I went to a Chinese buffet to get somethings to eat.
Went to bed around 10:00pm |
| 12/16 |
I woke up in the middle of night again. The
temperature is coming down over the weekend. The low in the Monday could be
low as 9 degrees above. I think I caught a cold. My muscles are aching and
really bad. I called Hertz to reserve a rental car over the Christmas break.
After swimming at a pool, I went to Meijer. Had canned spaghetti for lunch,
slept over the afternoon. I will be keep running the heater over night... |
| 12/17 |
I woke up a little better than yesterday. I
decided to not doing anything but rest. I called back the company to let
them know that I got the message. I did not do anything special. Had canned
food for lunch and dinner, drink lots of water and orange juice. I got a
package from UPS in the evening. It was Norton AntiVirus 2005 I ordered few
days back. |
| 12/18 |
I woke up around 8:00am. I worked out at fitness
facilities in the apartment complex for one hour. Installed new version of
virus protection program I got yesterday. Went to shopping; Best Buy, Meijer.
I bought my lunch at Subway. Spent evening doing laundry. I called home in
the evening but no one answered. Hmmm. Went to bed very late. |
| 12/19 |
I woke up because the outside was bright, but
was because of the snow. I had to stop eating my lunch because it was kinda
old. Worked out at gym for 1 hour. I had hard time walking back to my
apartment because wind started to pick up. Fried pork chop and had it with
Thai noodle. Went to bed by 10:00pm. |
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| 12/20 |
The temperature in the morning was 7 degrees. I
went to get hair cut. Stopped by a post office to request holding mail while
I am gone. Then spent time at Kinko's until the pool opens. I
just hated getting out of indoor since it is very cold. I swam for 50
minutes, had salad at O'Charley's. Stopped at apartment office before going
back to my room to request some repairs. |
| 12/21 |
Spent whole day organizing stuff for homecoming
trip. I had Pad Thai which I just needed to pour hot water to make for
lunch, and canned soup for dinner. Went to bed early. |
| 12/22 |
The winter storm warning took effect since the
last night, but I never thought about I actually get affected until 8:00am,
when the taxi I requested few days back did not show up. There were so
many people needing the rides in the city already. The company only said
sorry but I guess they can do nothing about it. I drove to a Hertz office to
get my car. I got a 2005 Ford Taurus. I left Indianapolis about 8:45am, it
was so cold so windshield washing fluid froze at the site, bringing the
visibility to almost zero; causing me to
drive very, very difficult.
 Dirty
windshield... (Wipers won't fix the problem...)
I stopped at a gas station to clean the
windshield later. Had lunch from McDonald's. Stopped by Lawrence, KS but I
could not meet up with my friend, so I drove to Topeka, to have dinner with
my other friend from Wichita. I arrived Wichita around 9:30pm. There were so
many people around and later we played Phase 10. Went to bed around 12:00am. |
| 12/23 |
I forgot to change time so I woke up one hour
earlier than I hoped. Went to Wal Mart to buy groceries. Spent whole day
organizing my belongings a house. I plan taking what I need most. Went to
Spangles to have lunch, spent evening going out with my host family. We ate
at Italian Garden, then went to downtown to check out movies but there
weren't any available when we get there. Came back home after a while. Went
to bed around midnight. |
| 12/24 |
It was about 2 degrees when I woke up. I think
today is the coldest day in a while. Went to Wal Mart again to do the last
minutes shopping. Visited a house for Christmas gathering. About twenty of
us attended a Christmas mass at a Catholic church in Andover in the night.
Came home around midnight... |
| 12/25 |
Since I went to bed around 12:00am last night, I
was still sleepy when I woke up. I went to a retirement housing to visit my
host family's great grandmother with the family in the morning. We went to a
fire station in the afternoon. I get to see all the equipment which fire
engine and ambulance have. They are all cool stuffs. Later in the evening, I
went to another house for their Christmas gathering. Came home around
midnight. |
| 12/26 |
I woke up around 8:00am. Went to see my friend
in Wichita, drove by WSU campus and saw all the new things they put out. I
had my lunch at Malaysia Cafe, they now have a value menu. The people I met
yesterday came to the house. I played Risk. One guy got really strong after
a |
| 12/27 |
I went to shopping to make Tiramisu this
morning. I went to Wal Mart but I also had to go to a liquor store to get
coffee liquor, and Dillons superstore to get Mascapone cheese. I wanted
three packs but they had only two of them so I had to make a smaller one.
Took me a while to make one but managed to finish it by noon. I get to open
gifts from my host family. They gave me an ornament, a WSU keychain, and
handmade blanket. In the evening, I finally got to see my friend. I had
dinner at Red Robin's Gourmet Burger with two of my friends leaving to
Mississippi, my host family members, and some additional people. |
| 12/28 |
I woke up around 6:00am. Loaded boxes into the
car. The rear suspension was very soft so the tail looked very low. When I was petting dogs,
I realized one of them got hold of a dead bird. I
chased her, and wrestled to get the nasty stuff out of her mouth. Yikes... I
left Wichita around 9:30am. I used I-35 instead of I-435 to save some money,
but realized there are so many cops on the road since there are more
entrances from regular roads. I think I am going to take the Kansas turnpike
next time. Went through KC, STL
 Driving in
St. Louis
Stopped at the same McDonald's for lunch around 4:30pm. When I
entered Indiana, I saw snow all over the place. I arrived to my apartment around 9:30pm. I set up DSL, I
went to bed around 11:00pm. |
| 12/29 |
I messed up my alarm clock and I did not know what
time I wake up. I returned the rental car on time and my car started just
fine despite of leaving it at a cold place for a week. Over the trip, I drove
about 1,600 miles, with average fuel economy of 25mpg. Still snow everywhere and expecting some drizzle today. I went to Meijer to buy groceries in the morning.
I got to swim for half hour during the noon (the pool was very clouded), then had lunch at Subway. I
went to Castleton Mall to buy clothing from after Christmas sale. Spent
evening organizing items I brought from Wichita. |
| 12/30 |
The alarm clock went off at 6:30am, but I woke
up one hour later. Spent morning organizing items. I went to swim for about
1 hour at pool. I stopped at a gas station to fill up, and Kroger to buy
groceries. Contacted Kyocera to order replacement cell phone battery since
it is being recalled. I realized I forgot to bring few items from Wichita...
I think there will be more stuffs just like that. I did not feel like eating
much so I had some creamy corn for the lunch, and chili for dinner. |
| 12/31 |
Last day of 2004. I woke up in the middle of the
night because of rain. My car did not get washed well when I took a look at
in the morning. Maybe I should have it washed yesterday. I worked out at gym
for about one hour, paid rent for next month. I felt lighting for my desk is
a bit dark, so I went to Meijer to buy another lamp. Stopped by Asia Mart
for the first time. It was not god as I hoped, so I guess I have to make
trip to Chicago to get what I want. I got lunch from Subway. I got bills
from gas and telephone company. I used "pay bills online" function for the
first time. Had soup noodle with rice for dinner. Stayed up until 11:00pm.
Not midnight... |