SeattleCasbah.Com

Last Post?

Yep, for now. You can keep up with me here -------------->

LOLSecretz

How do you go from a handful of visitors to over a few thousand in just a day? Get Gawker to give you props, of course. LOLSecretz is the brainchild of Arija and Ryan - congrats!

Help them exceed their bandwidth and start having to pay money to support this hobby! yea!

LOLSecretz

garden photos

can you feel fall in the air? I decided to spend a lazy Saturday editing and uploading some photos - here are some shots of my parents garden taken on previous visits to Lakewood, WA.

flickr gallery

Gotta love Craigslist

So I put my xbox 360 up for sale last night and I recieved over 100 responses already. Some emails from those to whom I will not be selling it to:

• ill take it my number is xxxxxxx name stan call me o give me ur nmber first response and at the end he got so excited he stopped forming words.
• Hey, I don't know whether you're looking for money or what but I do have some pretty valuable comics that I'm willing to barter away for an XBox 360.  Worst. Bargain. Ever.
• ill buy... is there anything wrong with it?? Aren't you supposed to ask before you say you'll buy? Hmm, maybe I will sell it to you.
• can u bring it to me im in bayside? that sounds like the worst idea i've ever heard.
• I can be reached on my cell - Ask for ,”k” - its your phone, right? and btw, unless I just slept with you, I will never call you by a letter.
• Does the system work without any problems?Which saturday morning are you planning to sell by?What part of manhattan do I have to come pick up the 360? Have you sold other things on craigslist?Is their anyway to contact you? Number or chat? - Nitekiller Yeah, NITEKILLER, I'll give you my phone.
• Yo bro call me as soon as you get this plz I'll buy I put a lil extra as well call me anytime my name is louis --thacommission - A little extra weed? Sex?
• do you have the original receipt? - elf seven - I left it in Mordor.
• Can I pick it up today? Sent from my iPhone - hahahahahahaha you dropped $500 for a phone!

The Departed

With reflection, I would say that the biggest surprise so far in preparing for my trip has been learning that getting rid of one's belongings isn't as difficult as imagined to be. After making the decision to leave, my books sat all untouched for weeks, physical manifistations of my reluctance to change. These were the "best of the best", already culled down from the move from Seattle a year ago. The Nick Hornby catalogue sat still in a perfect row, ordered not by publication date, but in order read. High Fidelity, read on the flight to Ireland with a dear friend years ago. It has the distinction of making me envious of other people's failed relationships (as opposed to my general lack thereof). About a Boy, read in one sitting while holed up in a cat-piss infested room on some hellish mistake of a visit to Oregon and the step-mother. Next to the Hornbys, the tiny, embarrassing Metrosexual handbook sat as a reminder; a joke of a gift from a girl met in Costa Rica and with whom I spent two random and unforgettable weeks with.

Slowly though, each book wound its way into other friend's homes or the bookshelves of faceless neighbors. For as long as it took for me to give up the books, its surprising that today I don't really think about them. The memories persist; the physical books themselves, well I guess they acted as a trophy of sorts to the mere accomplishment of having read them. As I consider the next items to go, this will serve as a useful reminder that nothing is ever as hard as one imagines its going to be. Keep your memories, give away your trophies.

That being said, it doesn't mean I'm not going to hold onto my HDTV until the last possible second.

the nokia n800

I am writing this with the nokia n800 internet tablet. So far, so good. I can only imagine how easy it will be with the travel keyboard. The n800 is nokia's answer to the iphone. The main differences include a linux platform. Skype support, and a $350 price tag.

The linux support should not be overlooked. For example, there is no native photo editor built in, a problem if i wanted to get large sized photos uploaded to my travel blog. So i went to a support site and d/l'd a free user created program.

(This photo was reformatted and cropped with the n800.)

another advantage is native skype support-i will be able to call anyone as long as i have a wi-fi connection.

All in all, its one of those inventions that makes you shake your head in amazement at technology's progression.

Times Square, deserted

The problem with Times Square is all the people, but without the people, it isn't Times Square. At 6am on a Saturday morning Times Square is yours to rule, but what is a king without a fiefdom?

The shuttered shops and shady hoods on the corner finally gave me the Times Square that New Yorkers secretly miss: dank, dirty, and tourist free. As the sun slowly arrived to announce the morning, the tourists slowly filed out onto the street to enjoy their day. I tipped my hat to the brief glimpse back that I was granted and shuffled down into the waiting subway.

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Delta airlines has a poor grasp on 1980's technology

Called later in the day, which means Indian Call center time. I was calling to confirm that they recieved my claim, which I had faxed over yesterday.

Rep: "Well sir, because you just sent in your claim, it will take time for us to recieve it."

Me: "Actually I faxed it, so you should already have it."

Rep: "...well, according to my supervisor, we do not yet have it, but check back at the end of next week."

Me: "Its a fax. You get it instantaneously. Its a pretty established technology at this point. You have the fax, I'm just calling to make sure you didn't lose my claim like you lost my luggage."

New York, I barely knew you.

While I've managed to let quite a few people know of my impending departure, I apologize to those who are going to read about it for the first time. I've decided to quit my job here in New York and travel abroad for a while.

The reasons of why and all of that stuff is far too drawn out and not that interesting. However, I am very excited about it and plan on writing and sharing it all with you.

The Casbah will still be up and maintained, albeit at a slower level. Dumb random things and non-travel related rants will find there way here. Owing to my super dork status, I've created a travel blog that can be found at: www.thehostelwitness.com

My flight out of New York is on Oct 1. I'll be spending a few days in Seattle, so hopefully I can see a few of you before leaving for Europe on the 4th. Good travels!

Delta Airlines Loses Luggage

I don't have the best luck with air travel. Remember?

Delayed flights? OK. Bump me? Well, I'll get there I guess. But lose all of my backpacking gear?

Who are you tryin' to get crazy with, ese? Don't you know I'm loco?

As I type this I am on hold with Delta Airlines for the (not even kidding) 10th time since they lost my gear on a flight to Seattle last week. To add insult to injury, they delivered someone else's tent with my luggage tag on it.  I'm filing a claim, which requires me to itemize everything that I was carrying...its over $1600 worth of equipment (purchase price anyway - that surprised even me!)

To scrap enough gear together to go backpacking, I had to borrow clothes (John - your jackets are at Jayson's place), a pack (imagine a pack worn by a 110lb woman on my back), and rent gear from REI. I can't say enough about REI - even in Manhattan where boxed wine can be delivered at 1 in the morning, there would be no way to rent backpacking gear at 10am on a Saturday. REI - if I wasn't a lifetime customer already, I am now. You saved my trip, really.

Rather than rant on about this, I thought I'd pass some tips along that I learned about flying and if you have to, checking luggage:

1. Don't fly Delta. Or US Airways. Find a carrier that you like and stick with them, even if the flight might cost $100 more (much cheaper than say...$1600).

2. If you can help it, pay the extra money for a direct flight. Two stops double your chances of airline nincompoopery, three stops triple, etc.

3. When packing, tape your personal contact info, itinerary, and yes, items being packed on the inside of your luggage. Remember, airlines are not responsible for computers, cameras, or any other packed electronics if stolen.

4. When checking luggage, do not leave the counter until you watch the agent tape the tag to your bag and place the bag on the belt. I would even go so far as to ask to double check the tag. Don't be embarrassed - they don't trust you (can I see your I.D?), so why trust them?

5. Airlines generally give you three weeks to file a claim - any longer, too late. Even after you file, it can take them 6-8 weeks to pay your claim. So don't wait - if your luggage isn't back to you the day after its been lost, trust me its lost. Unclaimed bags are sent to a central processing center (think Indiana Jones and the Lost Ark), where its contents are itemized and computerized. When you file your claim, a computer will check the database for probable matches. If no match is found, eventually you get paid. And your bag? Well, if its ever found, it belongs to the airlines and ends up here: www.unclaimedbaggage.com

6. Finally, take your story and email it to airconsumer@dot.gov. Yes, in the grand scheme it doesn't do much. But if an airline is going to lose your stuff and then sell it to greedy vulture bargain hunters, the least you can do is voice your displeasure to the US government.