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The Events that are: My Life

Things that go on in my life that cannot be catagorized somewhere else, sort of a catch-all

Done with Star Trek…For Now

33226 minutes later, I just finished the last episode of Star Trek: Enterprise. I’ve watched every single episode and movie of Star Trek ever made, in order1.

Total episodes/movies seen: 736.

All that’s left is 122 minutes of Star Trek: The Movie, which should be freaking awesome! But that hasn’t been released yet; so for the time being, I’m done.

I have a cool graph I’m working on based on the data I collected from Netflix showing my rental history, I hope to have it up soon.

In the meantime, I’m going to bask in the glory and get some homework done.

  1. order of series, not chronology release order…that just would have been too confusing ↩

Au Revoir to MySpace

Just killed MySpace account. I never really used it and have always hated MySpace. Normally, I’ just let it collect dust, but for whatever reason I decided to actually delete it.

Deal with it.

You can still find me on Facebook and, of course, here.

My First Photo Book: Rain :: Volume II – The College Collage

I finally finished up Rain :: Volume II today, just short of 6 months since I first blogged about the idea. I proof read it several times, ran spell check, proof read it some more, and finally ordered the first copy! It will take about a week to print and 3-5 days to get here, so I should hopefully have it in hand before I graduate. Assuming everything looks good, this puts me on track for a May 8th release date, which is what I was hoping for. I did not end up putting an ISBN on this book for a variety of reasons. Next time I guess.

The Rain :: Volume II came out 59 pages with around 70 photos. An introduction, a handful of short stories, a handful of anecdotes, and a special conclusion. Almost all the photos (except for three, I believe) have exposure (focal length, speed, aperture, and ISO), date, and location information. Final price is $40.951 plus shipping (which is almost another $9). Please note that I am not making any money off this book. If you feel that I should be, you may use the donation button found on my site.

I am planning on making available a special limited edition signed copy. This copy will be about $36.86 (yes, cheaper), plus shipping2. Because I have to order at least 10 copies to get this discount, I will A) need at least ten people to B) prepay. All the details about how to do this will be available on May 8th.

In the mean time, sit back, relax, and know that awesomeness is soon to come.

[flickr]3393960607[/flickr]

[flickr]3394768810[/flickr]

  1. I really tried to make it less expensive. However, quality won out in the end. It’s a bookstore-quality hardcover with dust jacket and premium paper [100-pound text silk-finish paper, I’m told] ↩

  2. unless you want to pick it up from me, than shipping will be “free” ↩

How to Give a 30 Day Notice

With only 8 days of school left and less than 20 days until I graduate, I figure now is probably a good time to send in my 30 day notice to vacate to my landlord. Unfortunately, I had no idea what to write. However, thanks to the power of the Internet, I was able to find a really good example on Associated Content, Tips on Writing a Move Out Notice to Your Landlord. So, letter is now written and I’ll drop it off on Monday. In the meantime, I thought I’d share the notice in an attempt to a) help other people, and b) remember what I did for next time.

April 20, 2009

ABC Property Management
123 Washington Ave.
Golden, Colorado
80401

Dear Sir or Madam,

According to the terms of my lease requiring a 30 day notice, you are herby advised of my intent to vacate the rental property at 112½ Beacon Street, Golden, Colorado, 80401 on or before May 31st, 2009. I will be cleaning the apartment as to leave it in a good condition. Please send me any specific move-out cleaning instructions if you have any. I will remove my personal belongings and turn in my keys on or before May 31st, 2009.

I would appreciate the return of my security deposit within thirty (30) days after I have vacated my apartment. The forwarding address for the return of my security deposit is:

Andrew Ferguson
1060 West Addison Street,
Chicago, Illinois1
60613

If you have any questions, please contact me at 206-569-4410.

Thank you for your courtesy and services during the period of my lease.

Sincerely,

Andrew Ferguson
112½ Beacon Street
206-569-4410

You can also download the 30 day notice as a Word document.

  1. Note: I’m not moving to Illinois. I’ll actually be back in Seattle, as promised. This is just an example address. ↩

Ukraine and Itinerary v0.3

Now that I have my plans to Russia finalized, I’ve started to plan out other parts of my trip. It also sounds like Charlie and Quinn are both seriously considering coming along for at least part of my adventure. Quinn has a prior engagement that will tie him up until the first part of July, but he’s considering joining me then. Charlie has a bit more flexibility and I’m trying to convince him to join me for the second part of June.

In talking with Charlie, he encouraged me to do a little bit of route optimization. I’ve come up with Itinerary v0.3, which is essentially a reorganization of v0.2; I’ve also dropped France from the list…although I could put it back later. I’ve also, tentatively, added a stop in Greece.

Trip Path
Trip Path

As for Ukraine, I started looking and there are tours of Chernobyl! This is both incredibly exciting and scary1. There are a handful of companies that provide tours, each of them seem to have equal pricing and offerings, starting at $150/person or so. A bit more than I want to pay, but could be worth it I think, especially since it’s an all day adventure and includes lunch2. Pictures are also allowed, so I would definitely be a happy camper there.

TourKiev is the leading contender for the tour, they’re also recommended by The Lonely Planet and seem to be pretty professional.

Other travel companies include UkrainianWeb and SAM Travel Company.

In doing some research, I found this interesting slide show from the EPA, Chernobyl: An Inside Tour. I also found an obituary for Constantin Rudy, who’s mentioned extensively in the EPA slide show and who seemed like a pretty cool guy.

Interesting side note, part of Call of Duty 43 is set in Prypiat, Ukraine, which is just 2km from Chernobyl. When I was looking at the pictures from the tour companies, I immediately recognized them as from the game…creepy.

Itinerary v0.3:

  • Day 1:
    Seattle, Washington
    Dulles, Washington, DC
  • Day 2: Moscow, Russia
  • Day 8: St. Petersburg, Russia
  • Day 14: Tallin, Estonia
  • Day 16: Ukraine
    • Kiev
    • Chernobyl
  • Day 18: Turkey
    • Istanbul
    • Antalya
    • Ephesus
    • Cappadocia
  • Day 24: Greece
  • Day 26: Italy:
    • Rome
    • Venice
    • Agnone
  • Day 36: Switzerland
    • Arbon
    • Interlaken
  • Day 40: Austria
  • Day 44: Budapest, Hungary
  • Day 50: Prague, Czech Republic
  • Day 53: Warsaw, Poland
  • Day 57: Germany
  • Day 62: Seattle

  1. “According to our guide the radiation dose you get from a day at Chernobyl is less than from a transatlantic flight. In other words, it’s supposed to be safe.” ↩

  2. brought in from outside the exclusion zone ↩

  3. a video game I play on occasion ↩

Going to Russia

Dad picked up my visa today from the Russian Consulate, which means that I’m officially going to Russia now!

The process isn’t super straight forward, so here’s a what I did:

  1. Get an invitation letter. I didn’t find any place that cost less than $30. I asked the hostel where I booked my reservations who they recommended, they suggested WayToRussia.net…and that’s who I used. It took about 2 days to processes. They’ll send you a PDF, which I printed out (in color).
  2. Fill out Visa Application form (US version), available from Russian Consulate. There’s an option for an online version. I tried using it and would not recommend it. It’s much easier to fill it out manually.
  3. Attach passport/visa sized picture to application. I got my picture taken at FedEx Kinko’s for $12, however later heard that WalGreens is cheaper.
  4. Write a cover letter (here’s my cover letter to the Consulate General of the Russian Federation in Seattle). The cover letter needs to explain if you are travelling individually, who is going, where to, when and with what purpose, etc.
  5. Get a Money Order or Cashier’s Check from the bank (it doesn’t have to be from a bank, but it’s pretty easy and you can deduct the money right from your savings/checking account) for the actual visa fee.
  6. Copy your passports vital page(s). For me, this was just the front page (the one with my picture).
  7. Mail (or preferably drop off) all of the above, plus your actual passport to your Russian Consulate of
    choice.
  8. Pick up passport and visa 6 business days later, in theory.

47 days until I leave!

Hungary

I talked to Amy, a fellow fiver1, about Hungary the other day. She did a study abroad there a couple years ago, so I though she’d be someone good to talk to. She was.

Here are my notes on Hungary. Specifically, Budapest:

  1. 5th year graduating senior ↩

  2. exhibits related to the fascist and communist dictatorial regimes in 20th century Hungary ↩