A Bayside Adventure

So, with the week be coming to a close, I have concluded my travels and have returned back to the little village/encampment known as the People's Republic of Davis. Overall, I'd say my time there would be best explained as... varied and quite the adventure.








Day one - Tuesday

To begin, I left Fresno all prepped and ready to go... save for one thing - midway through the journey to San Jose, I realized that I had left my phone charger with relatives back in F-town. With the Blackberry blinking yellow, I shut it off setting forth to get a replacement charger once in the Silicon Valley.

I was completely unprepared for the upcoming weather - bringing only a light jogging jacket, so upon arrival (and purchasing in advance a ticket home), I walk through the streets unprotected from the pouring rain, going through my options. I first stumble upon a CVS, which, much to my disappointment, only carried Apple products. So then I set my direction to downtown and grab a ride on the VTA train, and proceed to walk around, looking around, and starting to feel a bit delirious (most likely from the rain, either that or mild dehydration), so I take a quick refuge in a Pizza place, grabbing dinner in doing so, and checking out the bus routes to my relative's place in adjacent Santa Clara.

After grabbing a quick bite, I continue my trek under the now-dry skies and discover a Walgreens, and gleefully purchase a $10 phone charger. Realizing the time, I walk to the street where, Ideally my bus would be, and quickly board it... going in the wrong direction, ending up by a sandwich shop next to San Jose State(?), and having to wait 30 minutes for the next bus in the right direction. Seeing opportunity to try and charge my phone, I walk into the sub shop and do just that... for 5 minutes when the charger I bought blew out, barely even charging my phone as it starts to pour again. After a while, and seeing the bus arrive and stay motionless, doors closed, for 10 minutes, before allowing me in. The bus ride itself was rather uneventful, and I miraculously arrived into my relative's place safe and sound.

 Day Two - Wednesday

I guess, you could say that my first day was... rather unlucky. I ended up blowing 1/3 of my budget, and instead of exploring more of the area the following day, I mostly stayed put in my relative's tiny, highly-cramped studio.

Well, okay, I didn't stay inside the whole day (I never can stay inside for long periods - I get cabin fever easily). I walked 30 minutes to a shopping center to see if I can get a replacement to the replacement charger (redundant, I know). First, I stop by a Sprint store, covering the 'AT&T' insignia on my Blackberry. They offered an 'all-in-one' for $40; too rich for my blood, so I head over to the AT&T to see if they had a better price, which they did... $10 less but still costly. I head on over to a Safeway across the sea of parking lots to see if they had anything for phones (They did - Go phones, but no chargers). As a last resort, I walk to the adjacent Marshall's for the off chance that they'd have something relevant. To my luck, I had found a better charger for a ridiculously cheap price ($5) and gleefully walked back to my temporary place.

 Day Three - Thursday

Thursday was the big(ish) day for me. I have heard about Chicken (one of the major meets in the Bay) for months and have been wanting to go for a long while, but given my distance and that is fell on a School night, I have been unable to go. Since this was Spring Break, I took advantage to get, pardon the pun, a taste of chicken.

After a quick research through on Google maps for bus routes and ride arrangements back (thanks again if ye be reading this), I was on my way, and quick! Running to catch the bus, and missing my intended stop by several blocks. No worries though, as I was on the same street, was well early, and hey, there's nothing bad with more exercise!

Overall, I enjoyed Chicken - both the meat and the meet. It was fun meeting all (or most) of the furs in the area, and frankly, I was a bit surprised with how many new me despite me barely knowing them - one of the most common responses I got after greeting was more or less "I've heard of you from BAF" despite me seldom posting on the mailing list. All-in-all, 'twas a great time socializing beneath a fierce lightning storm.

 Day Four - Friday

The final day, Friday the 13th, more-or-less lived up to its name. I slept in and missed my original 9 am train, a minor setback, just go on the next one around noon. After much packing and double-checking to make sure nothing was lost in the clutter, I catch the bus with an hour to go until departure.

Slow bus be slow, I arrive 5 blocks from Diridon Station... with 10 minutes until departure. Instinctively, I ran -- nay, I sprinted, rushing across the the parking lot with the boarding announcement of my train blaring out. Despite severe pain surging thru my sore legs, I dashed thru the station, under the tracks, and right onboard, literally at the last minute, and crashed, exhausted, onto an empty seat.

The rest of the trip went uneventful. Having skipped breakfast I grabbed lunch in the Cafe car and rested in my seat, up until Oakland, where we were all told to evacuate the train and head into the Station. Apparently there was a standoff in Jack London Square a block north and police were on the scene, blocking the tracks in the process. We were held inside the station (simply put, because it was cold out) awaiting for buses to carry us over to Emeryville and continue our journey on a train parked over there. After an hour of waiting, and hearing of the scene being cleared, the buses arrive and we were safely and swiftly transported to the stuck train, continuing the journey rather (thankfully) uneventfully and eventually arriving back home, safe and sound.

Overall, I'd say this week has been quite the adventure. Frankly, I think I'll stay put for now; I be tired of traveling... at least for the near future.

Anyways, if you've managed to go through this huge wall of text, then I must congratulate you! And until next time...

Hasta Marfle!

Folfdate #3 - Breaktime Primavera!

Next week is my Spring Break, and I shall be taking advantage of my travels. Well... to the best of my budget.

My initial plan was to purchase a CA RailPass (apparently they exist and seem like a pretty good deal) and visit furs and friends across the state. However, the added cost of computer repair borked that plan.

Granted, I have formed an alternate plan - I shall be heading around, though severely downsizing. Per suggestion of Family, I will be spending much of the week in the Bay Area (Specifically South Bay/Santa Clara/San Jose Area) and will be exploring the area and possibly attend a meet or two. Later in that week, I'll be heading down the Central Valley to visit more friends, furs, and Family.

'tis all a last-minute idea, so this shall be a fun, exciting thing to do :-P

Folfdate #2 - Personal Stuff

Plenty of things be abound these past few days. I originally was gonna wall-of-text this, but I figured summarizing is better =P -

First off, that one tech issue I had with my Laptop returned... permanently; the screen blacked out completely. I brought it to a local repair store on Monday and discovered that the issue was something different than I thought (the screen itself and not the inverter - LED and not LCD). Nevertheless, just got a call today that the problem has been fixed (screen replaced) and I shall be picking it up on Friday.

Second, I have been feeling varying amounts of Chest pain as of late - from soreness, to a slight sting, to a dropping feel, to even a grinding/itch along the center. While I'm technically a bit young to have a cardiac arrest, I'm gonna be getting it checked tomorrow. Hopefully it isn't anything major.

Third, just a reminder, I am open for commissions - and all proceeds will be going towards my school and the Senior trip. If you're interested in art of varying kinds, or your character drawn in my style, do send me a massage sometime soon!

Folfdate #1 - Commission Changes

So, just a few changes I've been meaning to implement with commissioning. First off, my computer is, as of typing, in shop (will explain this later) so all owed art that involves digital work (all but sketches) will be put on hold until Friday. Nevertheless, here be the changes implemented beginning this Friday:

 - Free sketches removed. This was an error on my part, reasons be rather obvious from a monetary standpoint
 - For the month of April (and I've been meaning to announce this earlier), in a fundraising effort all proceeds from commissions will go to my school's Senior Trip (SoCal - Disneyland, Beach, Foothills - we're short several in funds); reason for this month only is, simply put, all has to be paid for come May. So, if ye would like to help in funding, feel free to commish!
 - Prices are negotiable; all you see on this chart is just the base price. Depending on the content, we can set the price to a more appropriate level.
 - Content is also negotiable: contact me for more details on this, I reserve the right to refuse select content for any reason.