Traveling to Austin

So yet again I am trying to start to blog again. Eventually I will make it regular, especially because I am no longer in the same city as all of my friends. For those who do not know I just accepted a job in Austin with the Department of Treasury. It is a temporary 6 month job. By accepting this job I am now living in Austin, TX. I just arrived today but the trip getting to Austin was hellacious. Let's start from the beginning but with a quick timeline

December 4, 2010 - I graduated with my dual degree in Communication and Political Science and a minor in Journalism.

December 15, 2010 - I began applying for government jobs

Monday, February 28, 2011 - Received a call to be interviewed/fingerprinted in Austin

Tuesday, March 1, 2011 - Flew to Austin

Wednesday, March 2, 2011 - Interviewed

Thursday, March 3, 2011 - Flew home

Now I can tell the story on Friday, March 11, 2011 I got a phone-call offering me a position with the Department of Treasury. The position is to exceed no more than 180 days (6 months). I accepted it. I then was informed the beginning date of my tour is Thursday, March 17, 2011 (tomorrow). So I called up BRP and Big 5 told them the news and informed them apologetically that Sunday will be my last day of work because I accepted a professional job in Austin.

I began to pack-up my stuff. I decided that none of my furniture will becoming with me. So I moved it into storage by the help of Frank. Niki (@nclinger) called and asked if she could road trip down with me to Austin in my 1990 Volvo that we nicknamed Icee (because it does horrible in ice). I naturally said yes.

The first thing I loaded into Icee was my Columbia Trail Head mountain bike. I then loaded up my clothing, pantry, movies, photos, shot glasses (from all over the country) and etc. Thanks to Rachel (@xorachel) she helped me pack Icee nice and full.

Niki and I hit the road monday morning at 5:30 a.m. We made good time to Las Vegas. Where we met my current/old roommate Neesha (@neshiii) for lunch at Panera Bread. We then filled the tank up at Costco. We then checked all of the fluids, oil was fine, the coolant had a weird color but we weren't to concerned because the car hadn't overheated or anything. I decided that I would change out all of the coolant when we arrive in Phoenix for the night.

So we jumped back onto the freeway and headed out of Vegas to Boulder City. Then the car began to overheat. We pulled over (happened to pull onto a street that a mechanic was on) and the engine began to smoke. We sat there debating what to do. We decided to get the car looked at. The mechanic ran a diagnostic on Icee and informed us that we blew a head gasket and they can't do anything with the car until the next morning. They gave us an estimate that it will cost around $1500 to fix it. I only paid $1000 for Icee. The mechanic said because we are travelers they wouldn't let us make a payment plan but if I have the title on me if we decided not to get the car fixed that they will take the car off our hands (for free of course).

Niki and I then got a hotel room and began to brainstorm how to get us the rest of the way to Austin. We looked into U-Haul and trailers to move the car, rental cars, Grey Hound and flying. You name it we looked into it. We were on a time crunch because I have to report for work at 9 am Thursday morning.

After a ton of deliberation and phone calls and figuring stuff out. We had a plan to rent a car and give the mechanic Icee. Toni (@toni_vegas) picked us up and drove us to the Vegas Airport. We got their and we couldn't rent a car. So we went back to Boulder City and slept. The next morning I made the decision that we were going to fly. Sara (@saraxmazing) got us in contact with her parents to pick us up from Boulder City and take us to their place and let me store all of my things there. Sara is going to pick my stuff up in a few weeks and take it back to Reno.

So I bought my plane ticket and resigned the fact that Icee will not be mine. Niki and I walked to the mechanic to look for the title of the car and I couldn't find it. STRESSED OUT BREAKDOWN AGAIN!!!!! I then began to research impoundment laws and we discovered if I just abandon the car I could get a warrant out for my arrest and destroy my credit. So we began brainstorming whose house we could tow it to in order to store until I get a new title for us to salvage the car. After more frantic phone calls Amy (@scmzeller) convinced her parents to allow this to happen.

I then called Mr. Benedict (my mentor in everything) to talk about what is going on. As we ended this conversation it dawned on me the the title is in a box (not my files) in the car. I went back and found it. After a hallelujah Niki and I explored Boulder City until Sara's parents where able to rescue us.

We found an amazing wine bar and did a wine flight to debrief again. Sara's dad picked us up. We loaded his truck. I signed over my title and we went to Vegas. Got more drinks and ate dinner. Sara's parents then lent me two very large suitcases to allow me to pack up my clothes. Then they dropped me off at the airport the next morning for me to arrive in Austin and Niki to arrive in Reno.

I spent a ton of money getting here but I made it. I have my clothes and the rest of my stuff I do not know when I will see it again (hopefully soon). My plan is to find an apartment walking distance from work and to move forward. These past few days have been very stressful but I survived and now I am not stressed about finding a place to live because that seems easy to do now.

How Twitter Saved My Phone

Well as many of you know recently I had to get a new phone number. I have also been talking for awhile to write this blog post about how twitter saved my phone. I finally decided to stop being lazy and write this blog.

Towards the end of last semester. The day after the Santa Pub Crawl, which was absolutely amazing. I had to start working on a German group assignment. My group was meeting-up with each other at the Highlands. Myself being extremely hungover had to call a group member to walk me to the correct apartment because I had no idea where it was. While we were talking on the phone I saw him and hung up. We headed into his apartment to get started on the project. At some point we went on a beer run. I didn't drink with them because I was so hungover from the Santa Pub Crawl. Anyway after the beer run I realized that my phone was missing. We looked and looked and looked for it everywhere. We called it and it went straight to voicemail. I figured it would because I hadn't charged it yet.

I finally decided it was a lost cause. Well then about 10 pm that night I was chilling on g-chat when all of a sudden @saraxmazing sent me a message stating something like "OMG Adam someone just tweeted from your phone." I had to look at my twitter page and I saw the tweet. It stated something along the lines of "If you know whose phone this is and how to get a hold of this person tell them to call it." So I called my phone. Went and picked it up from the Highlands. I decided that I must have dropped it or something like that.

When I picked up my phone I was thinking damn I must have a weak password on my BlackBerry if they were able to tweet from my phone. So I went up to the door to retrieve my phone from those peeps. As I walked to their apartment it smelled like they were hot boxing the entire apartment.

I looked through my phone and they completely reset my phone. So when they tweeted from my phone they had no idea what this 40404 number was that kept sending them random text messages. It was hilarious. I am thankful I follow certain peeps on my phone or they would have kept it and twitter just freaked those pot head stoners out.

The story gets interesting the next day though because you all are wondering "Adam you have your phone back but that doesn't explain the new number"

Now I shall explain that. I was in class all day the next day and my phone just kept ringing off the hook. I didn't recognize any of the numbers yet because I had done the back-up on my BlackBerry from my computer yet. Once I checked my voice mail all of the messages where off the hook weird' One said "I am just calling you back about that pokemon ball"

I was explaining this to my mother who works and substance abuse. The minute I said pokemon ball she said "You are getting a new phone number right now." It made no sense to me but I went ahead and got the new number. I asked my mother why and she informed me that a pokemon ball is 6 hits of meth.

So essentially drug dealers or druggies stole my phone, where extremely high as fuck, the 40404 twitter number scared the living hell out of them so they tweeted from my phone and then I got it back. That is how twitter saved my phone. Thank you twitter.

Glued Together By Food And Politics

Hello Readers! So this blog is actually a paper I just wrote about discovering my culture. It is a paper I had to write for my Intercultural Communications class. Hope you like it.

Glued Together By Food And Politics

You want to know who I am? Where I came from? What my culture is? Why my culture is the way it is? Then I suppose that we need to start by letting you know that I am an American. I don’t like being called anything else. People always ask, “What is your heritage?” My answer will never change, “I am American, but my ancestors come from Whales, Ireland, England, France, Scotland and America.” Many people like to believe that culture is where your ancestors come from, but it isn’t. My family on my paternal side came to America in 1620 and the rest were natives. My family on my maternal side came to America in the early 1700s. This is why I say I am an American because my family was among the first settlers. I do identify my culture more so on my maternal side.

The glue of my culture is food and politics. This holds my family together, even the extended side of the family that lives in various places in the United States. Our family also consists with a revolving door; we accept strays, those friends who have no other family than that at my father’s dinner table. Most of my family conversations take place while the ladies are cooking and everybody else is gathered around waiting to eat. Mother or one of the Aunts is always yelling at someone to stop picking at their ingredients as they are preparing for a meal. Our meals always differ from one another. We eat very diverse meals. One day it could be steak and potatoes for those in my family who eat meat. A few of us, myself included, are vegetarian. The next day we could be eating tofu and beans. One thing for sure is that the ingredients in our meals never get boring. Our meals are never mundane so we see know reason to eat out. We love our home cooked meals from scratch.

The conversation while cooking and eating tends to always be family gossip such as who is fighting with whom or who is getting married/divorced, etc. If we aren’t gossiping about each other then we are talking politics and that is the one topic that we all mostly agree.

Politics in my family is multi-generational. We are all very opinionated and our opinions tend to be on the more liberal side of politics. Ever since I can remember my family has always taught us that it is our civic duty to participate in the American democracy. We have also been taught to show respect to the President of the United States regardless of political party; that was until George W. Bush won his second term. There are a few members in the family that are republican; we accept it and most of the time we let them eat.

Through these conversations of politics my family has I learned that being politically active is one of my greatest passions. Having this passion I was eager to learn more. During the 2004 election my parents let me ditch class to listen to John Kerry deliver a speech, I was only 16. This was a very positive experience for me. I started to volunteer with the state party to get Kerry elected; we know how that turned out. I continued to volunteer and the next thing I knew it was 2006 mid-term election and I was a paid canvasser for the Nevada State Democratic Party. That election came and went. Then 2007 came and I was interning for the John Edward for President campaign for the caucus. Then 2008 came and my family encouraged me to apply to be a field organizer for the Mark Begich for US Senate. I got the job and moved to Fairbanks, Alaska.

If my family didn’t push me so hard to go after this job opportunity I would have missed out on one of the most influential experiences in my life. While I was away from my family I realized that they affected my life in many different ways. I missed all of those home cooked meals because I was constantly eating out while on the campaign trail. It was then that I realized that food, the way my family does it, is part of the glue to my culture. I had the politics but not the food. The first thing I asked for when I got home towards the end of November 2008 was a home cooked meal. We sat around, ate and talked about my adventure in Alaska.

Although food and politics is the glue to my culture it isn’t my entire culture. Education is a major part of my culture. We constantly want to learn something new. This is particularly why we follow the news so closely. Some people in my culture, my mother included, feel that they don’t need a piece of paper saying they know something; that paper being a degree in higher education. Although my mother and my oldest sister are among the most intelligent people I know they study on their own. However, my Aunt Ellen and myself strive to continue our education in higher education. My aunt recently graduated from ASU with her PhD and I will be graduating with my BA in the next couple of semesters.

The college atmosphere has definitely influenced my culture. While I identify a lot with my family I also identify a lot with the college lifestyle and my generation. Part of the college culture that I participate in is being an extremely active student with organizations. As much as I work at school this lifestyle also offers a lot of play. My close friends and I love the Reno nightlife. Every Thursday and Friday we go out on the town. We like to have a good time in a variety of different bars that downtown offers. What never seems to fail when we go out though is at least one political conversation.

One of our favorite hangouts is Amendment 21 a sports bar. My friends and I went there one day because we loved the name. We then ordered some food and although it is not a home cooked meal by my mother, I love the food.

So my culture is my family, friends, food and politics. Without those key ingredients I wouldn’t know how to even start about defining my culture.

Adding school into the mix of Nightlife

Well I have completed my first week of school of my senior year. So far so good. My classes are very reading intense this semester, where I am forced to read due to those pop quizzes. So far all of the reading as been rather. German is going to kick my ass but I am not surprised by that at all. I don't understand why that class is so much harder than my 400-level capstone course.

Nightlife with school is going well too. Jessica (@jmestepa), Amy (@amylauder) and I went to Wolf-it-down. I gotta love free pancakes. Friday Festival sucked, there was no free food. Thanks ASUN! The only good thing about that is that a bunch of us who went to Friday Festival including Taylor (@Ander517) and Matt (@Silvam87) where drinking before hand. We then finished pre-gaming and headed downtown. Although this weekend was dead. That may very will be due to burning man. We did some major bar hopping.

Saturday I went to the Marilyn Manson concert with Niki (@nclinger). We had a blast, although we did get torn apart. Manson was amazing. The lighting in the concert was so bad ass. I loved it. He even burned a bible on stage which was pretty sweet. I did get my ass handed to me in the mosh pit when we all fell over during Manson's encore, but other than that it was pretty sweet.

Later that night I met-up with Alyssa (@alyssapants) at Vino. While sitting at Vino Alyssa, Ben and I decided that we are going to write a script called "The Bartender" because one of us is obsessed with a certain bartender at a certain bar. To save humility on us all I won't say who it is or what bar, even though all of our friends do know and so does the Bartender at Vino. Haha! So as we start to write the true life experience of our hunt to run into a certain bartender again we will let you know the outcome!

A Current Perspective on Friendship

According to dictionary.com friendship is "the state of being a friend" but what does being a friend mean? There are many different ways of figuring out what a determines an individual being a friend. There is also the saying "Keep your friends close, but keep your enemies closer." Does this imply that your best friend is actually your enemy or the people who claim to be your best friends are actually your enemies?

I ask this because I value friendship. To me I want my friends to not talk shit about me behind my back. If you have a problem with me let me know. When you talk shit about me that makes me feel like you are an enemy not a friend. It also shows me that you are still in high school not an upperclassman in college or a college graduate. I do admit their is a huge difference between venting about a person to another person and talking shit about them or spreading rumors. Those people are enemies. Another thing about friendship is understanding and willing to accept that your friends may have other friends that you may not like or care to see. Instead of constantly criticizing and stating how you dislike that person grow the fuck-up and deal. If you don't like that person then don't talk about them, especially don't talk shit about them because it makes you look like a school girl.

Also don't justify whether you will be going to a party, bar, movie or any other function based upon who else is going. I believe being in our early twenties we should have outgrown a lot of these immature actions that I seem to be surrounded by at the moment. Just because you "dislike" or "hate" someone doesn't mean you have to start drama and try to make that person's life hell. You just need to show other people respect. If you lack that then how can you ever call yourself a genuine friend.

A friend for me has respect for all people, whether you like them or not. A friend also shouldn't make their friends constantly feel stupid or make them feel like a duchebag on a constant basis. That is not what friendship is for. Friendship is so much more. It is about being there for your friends and having friends be there for you. Even if there is a larger tragedy in ones life than an other's the smaller one may need to be taken care of first. It isn't a competition of "whose life sucks more" it is a cumulative effort of making both lives equally great and having fun. Life only sucks if you want it to suck. You could look at Camus' example of Sisyphus and see how much his punishment sucked and how horrible it was but he was still happy.

Even of you think your life is the worst life in the world you could also get some pointers from Dostoevsky's character the Under Ground Man. His life was horrible and he knew it but he didn't care. He was only happy when he was miserable.

Friendship is a lot of stuff but mostly it is respect, love, caring, having fun, understanding, knowing when it is your place to be the shoulder, not to annoy your friends for always wanting to be up in their business (when they want to share with you they will), and not doing horrible things to the people you call friends. So if you call me your friend, treat me like one or tell me that you are my fucking enemy and let me know how you truly feel about me.

Colorado Road Trip Tweets

So here is the collection of our road trip tweets from Nevada to Colorado and then from Colorado to Nevada. We may not have hashed all of them but feel free to read the ones I have posted. On our way back we created Jenn a twitter account so she can participate. On our way to Colorado we left at 6 pm and arrived at 11 am on our way to Reno we left at 1 pm and got back at 4 am. Remember to follow any of us on twitter. Enjoy.

Ander517: Pit stop in Battle Mountain NV #nv2co

Ander517: Full moon on the night drive to Denver, really bright and beautiful#nv2co

adamkallen: Sleeping to prepare for the late night drive #nv2co

Ander517: Leaving Elko #nv2co

adamkallen: Elko, NV first drive change @Ander517 has the wheel. Time to pray for safety :) #nv2co

Ander517: @adamkallen just farted #nv2co

Ander517: Just passed Wells, NV #nv2co

Ander517: Wendover, NV almost to the utah state line #nv2co

Ander517: In mormon country #nv2co

Ander517: Crossing the great salt flats #nv2co

adamkallen: Just woke-up from a lengthy nap after Elko. Apparently we are in the salt flats #nv2co

adamkallen: Time to caffeine myself up #nv2co

adamkallen: Hello and Goodbye Delle, UT which looks like just a gas station#nv2co

adamkallen: Driving past the Great Salt Lake. Almost to Salt Lake City, UT #nv2co

adamkallen: Approaching SLC, UT #nv2co

adamkallen: Salt Lake City, UT. It makes me want to watch the movie SLC Punk#nv2co

adamkallen: "Don't stop believen" by Journey! We are rocking out in the car.#nv2co

adamkallen: Getting gas and switching drivers. My turn to drive! #nv2co

Ander517: Pit stop @ Great America! Almost to CO #nv2co

adamkallen: Little America, WY bathroom break, coffee and sunrise #nv2co

Ander517: Beautiful sunrise in Wyoming #nv2co

adamkallen: 12.5 Hours in the road. In Rawlins, WY changing drivers #nv2co

adamkallen: "It is called a highway not a low-way" -Jenn #nv2co

adamkallen: Laramie, WY #nv2co

adamkallen: 7 miles until we reach the Colorado border #nv2co

adamkallen: Colorado #nv2co

Ander517: In Colorado! Whoooo!!!! #nv2co

adamkallen: Headed to University of Colorado, Boulder to get the key to the house we are staying at #nv2co

adamkallen: 17 hours in the car straight. We are finally arriving to our place of rest#nv2co

Ander517: Finally made it to Boulder, CO. Relaxing after a 17 hour drive from#nv2co

adamkallen: Goodbye Denver! On our way back to Reno #co2nv

JennGinger: On the road! Tweet tweet #co2nv

adamkallen: The beginiing of another 16 hour driver with @Ander517 and@JennGinger #co2nv

adamkallen: In the mountains! We are taking a different route home :) #co2nv

adamkallen: Scary 5 mile tunnel #co2nv Let's make this a high speed chase

JennGinger: Umm scary tunnel through a ginormous mtn #co2nv

adamkallen: RV on fire on the I-70 got a great pic on my camera. That road will be closed for ever #co2nv

JennGinger: The mountains are so beautiful much better than driving through wyoming #co2nv

JennGinger: @adamkallen is taking death-defying pictures while driving #co2nv

adamkallen: Almost lost my hat trying to take a picture of a mountain #co2nv

adamkallen: Vail, CO #co2nv

JennGinger: We are in vail! #co2nv

adamkallen: Could you imagine living in Vail right by the ski resort and on a golf course #co2nv

adamkallen: @Ander517 's burp smells. #co2nv

adamkallen: "California, Calfornia, Here we come!" #co2nv

adamkallen: Just crossed over the Colorado River #co2nv

adamkallen: Jealous of all those peeps rafting in the Colorado #co2nv

adamkallen: Nap time for @JennGinger and myself. Wish @Ander517 good luck on the drive #co2nv

Ander517: http://twitpic.com/a5qn8 - Western CO is really beautiful. #co2nv

JennGinger: @adamkallen for the record the pills make me sleepy #co2nv

adamkallen: Grand Junction, CO #co2nv

JennGinger: I made a new friend...a ladybug named ladygaga she was in the car...#co2nv

Ander517: RT @adamkallen: Grand Junction, CO #co2nv

JennGinger: Only 25 miles left of colorado and just made 2nd pitstop of the trip...4 hrs 17 mins in #co2nv

adamkallen: Entering Utah aka Mormon Country #co2nv

JennGinger: Just entered beautiful utah! #co2nv

JennGinger: Now we are in green river, ut gonna make 3rd pitstop of the trip get some blimpie subs! #co2nv

adamkallen: They sell condoms in the mens bathroom in Utah. Makes you wonder... #co2nv

adamkallen: About to buy a Utah shot glass. Haha #co2nv

Ander517: Driver change, @JennGinger is now in control. On our way toward NV.#co2nv

adamkallen: No services for the next 100 Miles. @Ander517 @JennGinger and I are in the buttfuck of nowhere UT #co2nv

Ander517: We're about 11 hours from Reno, driving I-70 to US-50 to I-80 then home.... #co2nv

adamkallen: As much as I like to make fun of Mormons and UT this state is very pretty #co2nv

adamkallen: Are we there yet? #co2nv

adamkallen: Rain in Utah #co2nv

Ander517: Welcome to Salenia, UT pop... 5 haha jk #co2nv

adamkallen: Taking a tour of Salina, UT #co2nv to get on Highway 50

adamkallen: We keep losing cell service but now we are in Scipio, UT #co2nv

adamkallen: RT @Ander517 On our way to Ely, NV next stop Delta, UT. ETA 8.5 hours #co2nv

Ander517: On Highway 50, the loneliest highway #co2nv

adamkallen: Did @Ander517 fart or is it the landfill? Any thoughts? #co2n

Ander517: I think @adamkallen just needs a shower.... Maybe that's why he uses a whole bottle of ax body spray #co2nv

adamkallen: I think @Ander517 needs to go back to 2nd grade to lear how to spell :) #co2nv

Ander517: Looks like @adamkallen needs to too "lear"???? #co2nv

JennGinger: Delta, UT #co2nv

adamkallen: Just saw a deer #co2nv

Ander517: Just crossed the NV/UT stateline, there is a tiny casio/motel/gas station there. #co2nv

Ander517: In the middle of nowhere NV, no cell service so this prolly won't post until we get close to Ely, NV. #co2nv

Ander517: Driver switch, @adamkallen is now driving, @jennginger is taking a nap.#co2nv

Ander517: Clear sky out here, I can see the stars really well! #co2nv

Ander517: We're in Ely, NV!!!! Woooohoooooo #co2nv

adamkallen: Eureka, NV #co2nv

Ander517: Austin, NV almost home! #co2nv

adamkallen: Driver change in Austin, NV. @Ander517 has the wheel. #co2nv

Ander517: Just passed Fernley, on I-80 almost home! #co2n

Ander517: 10 miles to Reno! #co2nv

adamkallen: Back in Reno, early from our goal. #co2nv

Ander517: RT @adamkallen: Back in Reno, early from our goal. #co2nv

The start of a city wide war

Imagine being in a tennis court playing a game of tennis with one of your friends (@nclinger) and then all of a sudden you are ATTACKED! By these two crazy girls (@xorachel, @CrinkledStraw), both of which who have obviously lost their minds. Maybe it is due to the lack of school or the heat that the city seems to have been neglecting for the entire month of June, besides the last week. Anyway these two crazy girls have lost their minds. We know this because they attacked us while wearing Batman masks. I believe that qualifies as crazy. I was just enjoying a game of tennis when these two crazies started pelting us with WATER BALLOONS. This was the creation of the huge city wide warm known as the "Reno Water War 2009" (#renowater).

That is right we have started a city wide war. So far there have been plenty of attacks. Read about them all on that twitter link. We love to have fun and get wet. SOme of this water war has been seen through out the entire state, such as when a group of us went to Las Vegas. Annie (@TahomaPrincess) she ended up in a fountain on the Strip. This is war so lets fight all summer.