Montreal
I haven't had a real vacation all year, so I'm taking the week after Thanksgiving off. I'm thinking of driving up to Montreal for at least part of the time, as I've never been and I've heard it's a good city to be a tourist. This leads to two questions:

1) What should I do or see in Montreal?
2) Anyone in the New England area (or even not) interested in coming along?

Current Mood: tired

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Jim Butcher is an evil, evil bastard.

Current Mood: tired

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Superbowl
Saints win! Not that I care that much, but having chosen to cheer for the underdog, it was nice to see.

Current Mood: happy

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Massachusetts Senate Race
Remember to vote tomorrow!

Current Mood: depressed

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Massachusetts Senate Race
So for those of you in Massachusetts who don't obsessively read the political blogs, there've been a number of polls recently actually showing the Republican candidate Scott Brown winning or coming very close. The reasoning seems to be that democrats are overconfident and won't vote in the special election, while republicans are motivated. So this is just a reminder: if you're live in Massachusetts go vote Jan 19th.

Current Mood: worried

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Europe (Work in Progress)
Okay, I've been working on this for several hours now, so I'm just going to post it and get people's thoughts.

I've wanted to take a trip to Europe for several years now, and this year I finally intend to do it. I also prefer traveling with other people - I find myself more likely to actually go see interesting things, and enjoy having people to discuss the things I see with. I've discussed the Europe trip with several people on this list, some of whom have expressed interest. So I intend this post as a general discussion location for people are interested, plus advice from experienced Europe travelers (what should I go see? how should I travel). It's also a place for me to organize my own thoughts on the matter.

Everything below this point is highly speculative, and subject to change based on further research and advice:

• How Long: I'm planning on going for two weeks.
  
• When: My instinct is to avoid the summer months, when I would expect the most people to be on vacation and the prices to be highest. I'm currently looking at Spring (April, May) or Fall (August, September). My preference would be Spring, but that would mean pulling together all the details very quickly and reserving tickets soon. If you're interested but neither work for you, let me know.
  
• Where: Europe is a big place, and I realize saying "a trip to Europe" is really rather vague. My current thinking is to start in Spain, then travel up to France and cross the channel to the UK. I'm not really that interested in seeing England, but I've heard amazing things about both Ireland and Scotland. I don't know if it would make sense to visit both in one trip, so I'd probably just do Scotland.
  
• Doing What: My idea of a good travel vacation involves seeing historic/picturesque sites and landmarks, visiting a few cultural attractions (performances and the like), and sampling the local cuisine. I'm not a huge fan of museums, although I like to make a few exceptions (I'll likely visit the Louvre in France, for example).
  
• How to Travel: This is something I'd definitely like advice on. I'm a big fan of having a car while being a tourist, it makes everything easier. Looking at the prices, however, the cost for renting a car to travel between two locations is extremely prohibitive. Renting a car and then returning it at the same location is more viable, however. That suggests I (we) should travel between various central locations by train or bus (Madrid, Barcelona, Paris, Edinburgh, etc.) and rent cars at locations as needed.
  
• Where to Stay: Another area where input would be welcome. When I've done my cross country road trips in the past in the US, I've generally just driven until I got tired, then stopped at the next Best Western or Motel 6. That seems less practical when constrained by car rental pickup/drop off times and train schedules, in a country where I don't know the language. I'm not interested in spending that much money on where I stay, so I have more available to spend at the places I go to see.
  
• Other thoughts: I'm not dead set on anything I've said so far. Also, if people are interested in just part of the trip - such a week in Scotland for example - there's no reason that couldn't be made to work.
  
• Prices: Here are the initial results of my price research (all based on one person, flying into Madrid and out of Edinburgh):
  
  
  
  • Flights: ranging from $950 to $1200, depending on date of travel. Average was closer to $1100.
    
  • Cars: Highly variable based on location, but it looks like it ranges between $30 to $100 a day. A lot of the variability comes from whether you trust autoeurope.com, and the reviews I've been able to find are very mixed.
    
  • Hotels: Also highly variable obviously. For hostels it looks like you can frequently find space for under $50 a night. At regular hotels I'm hopeful we could keep it under $120 a night.
    
  • Trains: Europe's high speed rails seem nice, but figuring out the correct combination of passes and tickets seems complicated. I programmed out a theoretical Madrid, Barcelona, Paris, London, Edinburgh trip using raileurope.com:
    
    1. Madrid to Barcelona: $176
       
    2. Barcelona to Paris: $220 (overnight)
       
    3. Paris to London: $122
       
    4. London to Edinburgh: $206
       
    
    For a total of $724. With train passes, I could get it down to $629.00. Cutting out Barcelona might lower the rate, it wasn't clear.
    

Okay, the more I look it this, the less practical it seems. That's around $3000 for housing and travel - it doesn't even consider food, tourist expenses and the like. Maybe just a week in Scotland would be more practical?

Current Mood: hopeful

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Looking for A Roommate (again)
So my roommate is moving back in with his girlfriend, which means I'm back doing the roommate search thing. If you know anyone looking to rent in the Boston area, please point them in my direction. It's a nice two bedroom in Belmont, rent is $750 a month plus utilities.

Current Mood: annoyed

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!!
David Eddings died Tuesday. I grew up reading his books.

EDIT: also, David Carradine committed suicide yesterday.

Current Mood: surprised

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Israel (Concluded)
The Grand Finale!

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So at this point I should probably write some deep meditation on what my trip to Israel meant to me. Instead, I'm going to be lazy and say that Israel was amazing, and that everyone, regardless of religious affiliation, should go visit.

Current Mood: accomplished

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Israel (Continued)
Almost done!

( Part FourCollapse )

Okay, so I only managed to cover one day, but it was a pretty long day.

Current Mood: tired

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Israel (Continued)
The saga continues!

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Are people enjoying this? I'm having fun going through and compiling a record of the trip, but I'm curious if anyone else is getting anything out of it.

Current Mood: accomplished

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Israel (Continued)
Putting this report together is taking a lot longer than I expected, but it's fun to go over what happened.

( Part 2Collapse )

To Be Continued...

Current Mood: thankful

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Israel
Here it is at last - Aaron's Trip to Israel!

( Part 1Collapse )

And now I'm tired, so I'll finish this up tomorrow.

Current Mood: tired

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Back
I'm back! Details and photos when I'm not typing from my mobile phone.

Current Mood: tired

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Israel
So for those who aren't already aware, I'm going to be in Israel for then 10 days, on a Birthright trip. I'm going to be without e-mail or phone contact, but I promise I'll post pictures when I get back.

Current Mood: excited

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Roommate Search
So my roommate is moving out at the end of the month, which means I need to find a new roommate soon. I've posted an ad on Craigslist (see here), and mentioned it to many of you, but I figured I'd post here as well. If you know anyone who's looking for a place near Boston, please let me know.

It's a nice 2 bedroom apartment in Belmont, easy bus access to Harvard Sq, $800 a month, pets welcome. Take a look at the craigslist add for the details.

Current Mood: worried

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G1 Android
So I just bought a G1 Android. Any app recommendations out there?

Current Mood: sick

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Lost Cell Phone
I've lost my cell phone, which means I've lost all my contact numbers. Please post your number here if you think I should have it. Comments are screened.

Current Mood: annoyed

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Resident Evil 5
So I just picked up Resident Evil 5 for the Xbox 360, which, for those who don't know, is designed to be played with two players online cooperatively. Anyone else with an Xbox 360 and a copy interested in playing?

Current Mood: curious

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Ouch
Up until today, I had never sprained an ankle nor had ever used crutches. The first ceased to be true at around 11:30am, and the later around 2:30pm.

Damn it, I had plans for this weekend.

Current Mood: annoyed

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