Homelessness

With the end of my domestic travels and my international travels about to begin, I have found myself in a rare position for me. I am somewhat homeless. My lease in Ann Arbor ended August 24th, and I don't leave for Europe for another two weeks. My permanent address is still in Washington, but I've found myself shuttling back and forth between my parents house and Ann Arbor where I squat in places friendly to my low income lifestyle.

Luckily over the course of the summer I've become close with my summer housemate's group of friends. One of the nicest feelings I've ever gotten was when my roommates said they wished I could keep living with them, and that I was an upgrade over their friend I was sub-letting from. As a stranger to the group only 3 months ago, this was a pretty nice compliment.

So I've been staying at home for the beginning of the week and then traveling up to Ann Arbor for the weekends. Last weekend was the first football game so I was also lucky to have some of my friends come into town. I also stayed with my buddy Alex who I've known since freshmen year. He has a house at Stadium and Main which is across the street from the Stadium and an ideal tailgate location.

On Thursday night I met up with my new friends and did the traditional 'Welcome Week' thing. We went to the Greenwood block party which was broken up within 10 minutes of us getting there - just like old times. I also told my story of the time Gabe Watson drove his Hummer H2 down Greenwood during the block party many years ago (which is a great story). Then we went and played some drinking games and did shots of vodka from a plastic handle. There was dancing, yelling, a girl crying, playing cards everywhere and a guy talking about what a great taste in music he has. It was a interesting reminder of some of the good and bad things about college life.

Greenwood Block Party

On Friday, I complied with my usual routine for Ann Arbor of going to the UGLi and spending all day trying to find a job that I actually want. Something involving mystique and intrigue while also paying well and supporting my all leisure lifestyle. That evening I found myself out with a couple of my longtime Michigan friends from the dorms. It was another classic college night which involved bars, cabs, house parties, a frat, back to the bars and a bus ride home. I got to sleep around 2am.

Around 6am I awoke to strange noises. I looked out the window and to my amazement saw people setting up tailgates for the 3:30 game. I put my hungover head on the pillow and fell back to sleep knowing it was finally gameday in Ann Arbor. At 9 am I arose for good and started my day off with two cups of coffee and a BITS (beer in the shower).

My gameday consisted of playing drinking games, walking to State street, walking back to Main Street to see an old Box guy, walking back to State Street, walking to Rub Pub BBQ, walking halfway back to the stadium, seeing friends and then walking back to State St, walking over to Oakland to get a ticket to the game for $10, walking back to State Street, walking to the game, standing for 4 hours at the game, walking back to the house I was staying at.

On the porch at the old house

After the game I needed to lie down for an hour, but then I got a second wind and walked over to State Street and pre-gamed while playing Mario Tennis, from there I walked to The Brown Jug to meet up with my college friends, after a great time at the jug we walked over to Skeeps (this is where I started openly complaining about my ass chafage), after many beers and some shame at Skeeps it was time to go home.

At this point I was completely unwilling to walk all the way back to the Stadium from downtown, so two of us tried to get a cab, but at 2am on Saturday that is easier said than done. So after a few frustrating minutes, I just decided to hitchhike. While I'm a big fan of hitchhiking, getting into someones car at 2am might have not been my greatest idea. To my surprise the very first vehicle stopped for us, it was a van with two black dudes in it blasting a song that did not present white people in the best light. But the guys were totally cool and gave us a ride all the way down State street. So another point in my personal log of hitchhiking success stories (which I'm up to about 10 or 11).

Sunday I went back to the library for a bit to use the computers before driving home to my parents house to unwind for a few days. On Thursday I'm heading back up to AA to partake in a fantasy draft for a fantasy football league the guys I lived with have (proof they must actually have liked me). Then everyone comes into town for the Notre Dame game which I hope is just as fun as the last ND-Michigan game which is one of my favorite games of all time.

Perhaps I'll write more next week!

East Coast Road Trip

Last Thursday I returned to Ann Arbor after a 16-day road trip across Canada and the Eastern United States.  It was a 3,200 mile trip as compared to my trip back from Seattle which was 5,400 miles. In the past 3 months I have been to 27 states, 2 Canadian provinces and the District of Columbia. After all that I have concluded my major domestic travels for this summer.

I wanted to write a few posts as I went along, but since I didn't bring my laptop and I didn't have a whole bunch of free time it ended up all piling up until I got back to Ann Arbor, so this one may be a doozy. Here is a map of my trip. Also, I hope you like selfies, because there is at least two selfies in this post.

View Eastern US Road Trip in a larger map

I should start with the night before I left. I had won the Charley's Bar Trivia Tournament of Champions and our team's prize was a free party bus to a Tigers game (which they won). We went with most of the Charley's staff and we drank on the way there, during the game, and on the way back. When I woke up the next morning  I was quite hungover and I didn't get out of Ann Arbor until a bit later than I had anticipated.

Nevertheless on Wednesday July 31st I crossed into Canada and headed towards Toronto. I had never been to Toronto and drove into town in the late afternoon. I checked out downtown and the pro hockey hall of fame.  I made the unfortunate mistake of purchasing a McLobster which is a McDonald's lobster sandwich that is only sold in Canada. It was gross. Overall I really liked Toronto and thought it was a really modern and clean city (except for the guy smoking crack on the street where I parked my car).

I learned that the Rodgers Center in Toronto is actually named after Aaron Rodgers

Toronto was a bit of a contrast to Montreal where I headed next. The drive was pretty miserable in the Canadian rain but I did appreciate the hint of Maple syrup that wafted across the countryside. Montreal seemed a little less modern and a little more disheveled, but I still liked the city. I walked around for a few hours and did some touristy things and learned all about Canadian culture which I found to be almost an exact replica of this.

J'adore Montréal

I really liked the Latin Quarter and trying to figure out where to park my car when all the street signs were in French. The next day I drove back to the USA and down to NYC. Driving through the Adirondacks was pretty neat and I kinda liked upstate New York. I drove onto Manhattan and actually had no trouble finding a parking spot near my sisters place in Gramercy Park.

I ate so many meatballs at The Meatball Shop I sprouted a double chin. Ha!

On Friday night we went out got some dinner and drank at a bar that you could only get to by walking through a Five Guys. We hopped bars a bit with some of the old Box guys who were around. The next day we walked the High Line and took a nap before grabbing some dinner. On Sunday we went over to Brooklyn and were in Williamsburg to watch the hipsters in their natural habitat. We got some beers at Brooklyn Brewery and then ate some really good BBQ. It was a pretty good Sunday.

Not the view from my sisters place

On Monday I left early and drove down to DC. I stopped at Byrd Stadium in College Park Maryland to see the newest Big Ten stadium. Once I got into DC I found a McDonald's and internetted my brains out for awhile. Then I met up with my friend Evan who I was staying with. He had some free tickets to a Nationals game so we went down to the waterfront and drank and watched them lose to the Braves by a run. The next night we played bar trivia where we went from dead last at halftime to having a 1 point lead going into the final round. Unfortunately we lost trivia because we answered that the tallest building in the US was the Freedom Tower in NYC and not the Willis Tower in Chicago. Even though we were right, they gave the prize to the other team. Not that it mattered since neither of us would be able to use a $50 gift card to that bar anyways.

Byrd Stadium in College Park - You can't see it behind me but there's really not much to see.

The Capitol of the USA

At a Nats game. They lost, but Teddy won!

Wednesday morning I had planned to drive to Pittsburgh to see my cousin and his family. On the way I took a wrong turn and ended up going on a road towards Gettysburg and said to myself "why not?" and kept going. Gettysburg was really cool and after having watched the 1993 epic film Gettysburg over 200 times in college it was awesome to stand on Little Round Top when Joshua Chamberlain and the rest of the 20th Maine defended the flank on July 2nd, 1863.

Thomas Jefferson Y'all

Memorial to the 20th Maine

I then drove across US route 30 to Bedford, PA where my father was born and raised. I tried to stop in at my aunt and uncle's house but they were not home. I made it to Pittsburgh and my cousin and I went downtown to catch a Pirates game. We bought some $10 tickets from a scalper but just sat directly behind home plate in some really good seats. So the total cost for the three games I attended over those 8 days was $10, not bad at all.

PNC park in Pittsburgh

Before I left I hadn't really planned on where I would go Thursday. I had three options which were going to visit a friend at UVA, camping in West Virginia or heading to Richmond to see Craig. My buddy wasn't around UVA and I didn't really feel like camping so I decided to drive to Richmond for a convenient DC to Pittsburgh to Richmond leg of my trip. I had a great time in Richmond and got pretty sauced. Like every place I wish I had a little bit more time in each city. I have some family in Richmond that I would have loved to visit but since I was only there for a night I really didn't have enough time.

Mountaineer Field at WVU - What a total dump

After sleeping in on Friday I got up and started the drive out to Blacksburg where I was meeting up with some of my family at my cousin's new house. Both my sisters came into town as well so it was pretty neat. We toured the new house which was really cool, especially because the house had a strong Arts and Crafts influence which is my favorite style for homes. On Saturday we floated the New River which we were lucky to do because it had been closed down do to high water levels the week before. I have never floated a river with rapids, and going over the rapids in a tube was a bit exhilarating. I was also responsible for the beer cooler which made things a bit harder as well.

Scott Stadium at UVA

Sunday I drove down to Atlanta to spend two days with my sister in her new place. She had a bunch of chores for me to do like building all the furniture she bought, hanging some curtain rods and relocating a ceiling fan. But I still found time to visit the Jimmy Carter presidential museum and grab dinner with my friend Kiki and her roommate. Tuesday night was my last night in Atlanta so we went out with some of my sisters friends. There were 8 of us and we ended up getting pretty drunk for a Wednesday night. Everyone else had to work except for me so I hope they weren't as hung over as I was.

Lane Stadium at VT

Howard's Rock at Clemson Memorial Stadium

My next drive was up to Columbus and it was my longest drive of the trip. Took all day, and I got into town just in time to meet Zola for some trivia. After we got 4th in trivia (we would have gotten second if my teammates believed me when I said that the Mona Lisa was painted on wood) I drove over to see my friend Dave where I spent the night.

Commonwealth Stadium at Kentucky

On Thursday I made the drive up to Ann Arbor which was uneventful except for the hitchhiker I picked up who turned out to be a little crazy, but that was more entertaining than anything else. I did arrive in time to grab a CIAYCELB which was great because after 2 weeks of eating out, stuffing your face with pizza is probably the best thing you can do for your body. Then that night I ran it back by ordering a Cottage Inn calzone which made me feel a large amount of shame.

Ohio Stadium AKA the Horseshoe at State University of Ohio

But overall it was a great trip and I would totally take it again. The only cities I had never been to were Toronto and Montreal but I liked both of them. By my count I saw 14 old friends and a whole bunch of the USA. I'm ready to not drive a car for awhile though. There are always more place I want to go and more friends that I want to visit. I tried to do as much as possible without spending all summer on the road.

Updates and Bar Reviews

I just wanted write a quick update on my recent happenings and I know that a large contingent of my readership are graduates of the University of Michigan so I also wanted to give you an update on some of the newest bars around A2.

I've been living the relaxed life for the past few weeks. Although 2 weeks ago I took a spontaneous trip back to Seattle for a long weekend. A buddy was hosting a camping trip that had free beer and free BBQ brisket. That's the sort of thing you fly across the country for. It was nice to get to enjoy at least a little bit of the Seattle summertime.

I've been reading at a voracious rate. I've polished off a book about every three days. The latest was JFK's Profiles in Courage which took me longer than most. I've also been working my way through some great American novels including some Hemingway. I read The Sun Also Rises in two days at the UGLi (because I don't have a library card). Reading Hemingway really inspired me to drink, so after I finished it I went to campus corner for a couple of bottles of wine. I'm really digging Campus Corner's new bags.

I do call it my medicine.

A few weeks ago I went to play trivia at Charley's with my buddy Ting and his trivia team. I didn't know it, but it was the tournament of champions and the grand prize was a free party bus to a Tigers game. We won of course. So tomorrow I'm meeting up with everyone at Charley's for an all-expense-paid trip to Detroit to watch the Tigs take on the Nats. From the sounds of it everyone gets pretty hammered so I'm looking forward to it.

I went home yesterday and convinced my parents to get some Buddy's pizza. I've really missed Detroit Style Pizza and was jonesin' for some. It really hit the spot.

Yummy. I love Pizza.

Last Thursday I ended up going to Cedar Point with one of my roommate's friend and some of his high school friends. It was a fun trip even though I didn't know the guys that well. We bonded over a breakfast at Hardee's and we are all now lifelong friends. A while ago I had a picture on my facebook in front of the shitty Six Flags version of Snake River Falls. This is what a real Snake River Falls looks like. There is no comparison. I rode the Gatekeeper, it was a good ride. For some reason the Magnum had the longest line of all the rides most of the afternoon.

That's a 120 foot drop fools.

On Wednesday I leave on a 2.5 week road trip around the east coast. I've been spending the past week or two planning it. The idea is to drive across Canada to Montreal and then head south to NYC and then DC, Pittsburgh, Blacksburg and eventually Atlanta before coming back up to Ann Arbor via Columbus. It should be a good trip, and while it is taking me a bit longer than my trip back from Seattle, it is only 3,000 miles so basically no big deal driving-wise. I hope to blog from the road.

Tonight I took a break from blogging to write a letter to the editor of the Michigan Today magazine. The article that I took issue with is here. I've expressed my feelings towards increasing the availability of student housing in this space before, and as a campus legend it is my duty to continue to fight for campus housing as I am now living in campus housing again. This was my letter:

I enjoyed the recent article on rental housing development in Ann Arbor. Though when discussing supply and demand the article discusses the increase in supply without mentioning the equally important increase in demand. The University's enrollment has increased by 3,892 students between 2008 and 2012, which outpaces the 3,050 bed increase in beds due to new development (2,600) and North Quad (450).
(Link to the enrollment numbers: http://www.ro.umich.edu/report/12enrollmentsummary.pdf) 

We will see if it gets published.

BAR REVIEWS!!!!

1) World of Beer - South U and South Forest
This chain bar opened 2 weeks ago in the new Landmark building on the South U strip. It is not an overly big bar, but it appears they really built it well. A good mix of seating and open space. Navigating the bar is a bit tough due to some overly large bar stools, which make ordering a drink from the bar difficult despite it's decent length. They have an elevated stage for a band and actual live music is a nice touch for a bar north of the Mason-Dixon line. The bar is overly staffed which makes getting a drink easy even if the 1000 beers make deciding hard. I did find it odd that they didn't have Newcastle and the bartender said they didn't have Smithwicks even though I later found out they did (I eventually settled for a Samuel Smith's Nut Brown Ale).

The tough thing for this bar is going to be convincing college kids to spend $6 on a craft or imported beer when they can walk down the street and get a $5 pitcher of beer. I think this bar would do a bit better in the State St or Main St areas closer to the refined beer drinkers of Ashley's and other more upscale bars.

Service: A
Selection: A+
Atmosphere: B
Value: B-
Overall: B+

2) Old German - Washington and Ashley
This new addition to the Main Street bar scene has only been open a week but already it had me making the walk over there on a Saturday night. Located under and owned by Grizzly Peak this bar features a mix between the authentic German bar and some modern features. The pros had to be the stuffed bear in the corner and the free popcorn. The cons were an overwelming smell of pine sap and Hip Hop music blaring through the bar which didn't really mesh well with the rest of the bar.

We got the Rot Bier, The Soggy Viking Strong Ale and a Kolsch Style, all were good none were great. They only offer about 5-10 different beers. We didn't try any food, but since it comes from upstairs I'm sure it is great. It wasn't too busy for a Saturday night and there were maybe 40 people in the bar that could seat 100. Overall the beer was tasty but the music left us feeling a bit out of place.

I'm on the left in the blue T-Shirt.

Service: B
Selection: C
Atmosphere: C
Value: B
Overall: B-

3) R.U.B Pub BBQ - State and Packard
When Packard Pub went out of business it was only a matter of time before some new venture moved in. That venture was R.U.B Pub which has opened it's third restaurant in a location many view as cursed given the number of failed ventures that have occupied the space. Differing itself from Packard Pub, Rub Pub bills itself as a BBQ restaurant first and bar second. They didn't do too much different to the space, but have added some great deals. I've been in a few times, and tonight i ate dinner there with my roommates. Since it was Monday everything was 1/2 off - both food and drinks - which is an insane deal.

I got the BBQ platter that has brisket, pulled pork, BBQ chicken and ribs along with two sides and toast. It was a great deal of food and I washed it down with a tall Labatt Blue Light. The brisket was a bit dry, but when you go to eat at 9 PM it's hard to expect a fresh brisket right out of the smoker. The waitress forgot about us for about 8 minutes but made it up by giving my roommate a free beer. Besides the 1/2 Monday's they also have this deal after 10 PM every night.

The $1 long islands are actually much better than you would expect for a $1 long island. The bar is fine and they have plenty of TV's that make it the type of place that is great for watching a game even if you aren't hungry. Overall it's a pretty good neighborhood bar.

Service: B
Selection: B
Atmosphere: B+
Value: A+
Overall: A-

The Hardest Challange

I may be over exaggerating a bit because I'm sleep deprived form A) taking a red-eye flight home from Seattle two nights ago and B) going to Detroit last night and not getting home until 4:30am.

But dammit if I didn't accomplish a feat today that was more difficult than any other feat I've ever accomplished. To be honest though, the said feat is of course secondary to the feat where I convinced some nice lady to let me touch one of her boobies. I swear this has happened at least twice so far in my life, and it was awesome.

But back to today's feat of human endurance. Today, I, Brian Russell went 1 whole day without consuming gluten. A proud feat indeed.

It is a feat I've been considering for quite some time. For the past three years I've had a gastro-intestinal tract that at times was uncouth. I had no clue as to the source of this, but I thought that I should try and figure it out. I thought that I would maybe try to reduce my gluten intake since that was pretty much the one constant that featured in every meal I've ever eaten.

About 6 days ago I really made a determined effort to not eat gluten. On average the past 6 days I would last until about 3PM and usually would eat wheat based products 3 times each day. These were days where I was consciously trying to avoid gluten mind you. The worst was the day that I failed at 6AM by eating a sandwich.

After spending like 4 hours trying to think of foods that didn't have gluten and also didn't taste like ass I developed the strategy that I successfully deployed today. First I ate lunch (at 3pm because that's how I roll). I went to Chipotle for a salad. It's one of the few salads that I would order at a food establishment. Then came the hardest part, at 7:30pm it was time for Jeopardy and I needed something to drink. Usually if the food doesn't get me it's the beer and whiskey. But I had planned for this, and had bought the requisite items for a night of Rum & Cokes. Around 11pm it was time for dinner, so I leaned on my fallback option and got a Jimmy John's Bootleggers Club Unwrap. Neither meal was my preferred order, but it was out of sheer determination that I went through with my order. Mission Accomplished.

What's weird about how hard this was for me is that for the last 3 years I've lived with a roommate who was 'glu-tarded' and couldn't have gluten. I've watched him eat for 3 years and still have no idea how he survived. I think if I was diagnosed with gluten intolerance I would just eat gluten until I died because it is so good and delicious and everything I like is made of gluten.

The other thing that surprised me with how hard I found going one day gluten free was is that I once went an entire year without eating meat. I had no problem doing a year avoiding meat products but struggled mightily to spend even one day avoiding wheat products. I think my will power has gone downhill a bit.

Regardless I am a champion. Since I'm convinced that tomorrow I will falter, this probably won't tell me much if my gluten dependent diet is in any way tied to my indigestion problems. But I'm still proud of myself.

Higgins Lake and Etcetera

Last Wednesday my old college roommate came up to Ann Arbor and we drove up to Higgins Lake for the weekend. Out plan was to get a CIAYCELB (Cottage Inn All You Can Eat Lunch Buffet) before the drive up but he didn't make it up in time.

Every year my old roommates do a trip up to beautiful Higgins lake in Northern Michigan for a weekend of drinking and fun. Since I've always been in Seattle this is the first time I've been able to go and I was looking forward to it. We got up wednesday afternoon and had a few beverages around a nice fire waiting for the rest of our friends to arrive.

On Thursday Zola, Dan, Al and I went to go play 9 holes at Ye Olde Country Club which was about 10 miles from the lake house. Unfortunately I hadn't played since last August in Oklahoma so I embarrassingly had a more than one violation of the Dick-Out rule. For those who are not familiar with golf, the USGA rulebook defines the rule as "If a player fails to advance his ball past the ladies tees on his first shot he must pull his dick out and proceed to his ball on foot and take his next shot with his dick out" (sorry mom). The good news is that when we went back for 9 holes on Friday I did not have any violations of the dick-out rule.

Before Golfing on Thursday Zola put a pork butt in the smoker and 12 hours later (with a few hours in the oven), we had the most delicious pork. On Friday Al repeated the feat with a brisket. Saturday saw some Turkey Legs take their turn through the smoker. Basically we ate pretty well.

The rest of the time we spent drinking on the boat, drinking in the yard, drinking around the campfire, drinking to the "HJNTIY" (He's Just Not That Into You) drinking game, drinking while playing euchre, drinking while watching lesser movies and drinking at the local bar where we paid the DJ to play Rocky Top. We drank a bit.

Sunday, Zola and I came back to A2 and after short power naps we sent to The Brown Jug for dinner followed by an epic best-of-7-game pool series at the 8-ball saloon. I came back from down 3-2 to best him, but there was no besting the 2 whiskey shots and 2 High Life's for $5.50. After that we walked down the railroad tracks to the new Rub Pub BBQ at State and Packard but it was closed. Dejected but not defeated we went back to the Jug for karaoke. There was some real singers in the room. I stumbled my way through Runaround Sue and a bit later Zola knocked out Country Roads. Not a bad little Sunday.

On Monday Zola and I finally got that CIAYCELB we had been craving. Tuesday saw me wake up at noon and then do a research study for $5 followed by a little afternoon light reading at Dominick's.

In other news:
I will soon start trying to find a job which means the blog may go dark for weeks or months at a time. Sorry about that.

I've been pleased to see some campus characters are still around from my days. They weren't well known to probably anyone else but me and mostly from my days as a bus driver. There is this one middle aged woman who I would always see jogging with a windbreaker around her waist. We always looked really frail but I'm happy to see her still running. Also I saw the guy I nicknamed "Turtle Man" He was a middle aged guy with a big belly and always wore a hat. I could never tell if her was a little slow or not. But I saw him at Rub Pub BBQ my first week back. He used to guard the door to Schembechler Hall in the fall and do other jobs the rest of the year.

Continuing my eatery tour mentioned before I've also knocked out Blimpy, CIAYCELB, The Brown Jug, Red Hot Lovers, Mr. Spots, Quickie Burger.

Also, I went to Chipotle today and found myself in line directly behind two members of the Michigan Basketball Team. Being a big fan of Michigan Sports it is nice to see the athletes around town although I always avoid interaction unless prompted.

One week back in Ann Arbor

I've been back in town for a week now (minus two days I spent at home) and getting back adjusted to college life - sans the college. I've noted a couple of things.

• College houses are dirty, and all we watch is ESPN. I've watched more ESPN in the last week than I have all year.
• Booze is super cheap and it is awesome. WA is probably middle of the road in terms of booze prices but how can you pass this up?

At RUB BBQ where Packard Pub used to be. Which was MY IDEA.

• I've been trying to exercise a bit more now that I have a lot of time but it hasn't been working out very well due to a few of the following notes.
• I don't wake up until 11 each day which is great. It took my body 4 months to get used to the routine of waking up early and going to work. It took 3 days for me to start staying awake until 3 and waking up at 11.
• I've been gorging on AA food since I've been back. BTB, Bells, Za's, Sottini's, Noodles, Jimmy John's, Cottage Inn (but not a CIAYCELB), Heidelberg free wings. I was planning to do Blimpy Burger this week but didn't have any cash. That and a CIAYCELB are happening for sure next week.
• I've been walking around a lot enjoying Ann Arbor. It's weird walking by houses that I have so many memories in, but seeing other people on the porches. Sometimes I just want to go up and tell them how I went to a party there in 2008 and something crazy happened. Most of those crazy things I can't share with the blog until the statute of limitations expires in a few years. I have such fond memories of many of these houses and apartments.
• In sad news I have to report that Oriental Express has gone out of business. I will always miss their inexpensive, below average fare. I guess in a way their car get tow fast (not a typo, but fans of OE will get the joke).

So much blight on Packard.

• Next door I was unsurprised to see that the "Get Your Game On" storefront (old Sake Bombs for the older crowd) was empty. I knew that place wasn't going to last. That is until I was walking up State Street and saw that they actually moved the a BETTER storefront. It looks like they are actually doing well. Color me surprised.

People love games I guess.

• I found out that I have a much higher tolerance in Ann Arbor. A month before I left, I played Edward 40 Hands in Seattle and afterwards could barely drink anything. A few nights ago I polished off two 40's including a Mickey's ICE and then went to the bar that moved into Packard Pub and had 3 $1 PBRs. I'm a machine in A2. No plans for E7C yet.

Mickeys Ice - Built for results not for pleasure

• I went out last weekend and it was weird that the most popular bar on South U looked to be the Blue Lep. I met up with a buddy at the Jug and was surprised when I got a booth immediately. We then went to the Blue Lep which I wasn't too crazy about until I saw how many people were there. I had heard it was also the place to watch the final 4, so maybe there is a new king in town. It's still a shame that Mitch's closed but I have accepted that.
• I've been trying to keep busy, and so far I have been for the 6 hours between when I wake up and when the sun goes down. I wandered over to the wild bird shelter on Mary St. and I think I might volunteer there a bit this summer even though I don't really like birds. I've also been going to a lot of public meetings because usually they have free cookies.
• My proudest moment though is when I saw the new Landmark building was completed. If you recall from the blog that in 2008 I went before city council and shared my support for the building which was then ridiculed by the Student Assembly vice president. Also note my subsequent mention in The Chronicle. And now that it is complete and looks terrific I'm happy to know that it was built and has made the city better even though some people thought it wasn't a good idea. Victory!

Looking a bit better than U Towers.

Some final notes from my trip

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​Create your own visited states map​ or check out the ​JavaScript Maps​.

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Just some final notes from my 2 week trip back to Ann Arbor:


States Visited (15) in Order:
Washington
Idaho
Montana
Wyoming
Idaho (again)
Utah
Nevada
California
Arizona
New Mexico
Colorado
Kansas
Missouri
Illinois
Indiana
Michigan

Total Miles: 5,425

Total Cost: $1,128
Lodging Cost: $108
Gas Costs: $805
Food Etc: $232

Campsites ranked best to worst:
1) Joshua Tree National Park, CA
2) Yellowstone Natioal Park, WY
3) Hayburn State Park, ID
4) Lewis and Clark National Forrest, MT
5) Shitty state park near Las Vegas, NM

College Football Stadiums visited in order:
Martin Stadium - Washington State
Kibbie Dome - Idaho
Mackey Stadium - Nevada
California Memorial Stadium - Cal
Rose Bowl - UCLA
University Stadium - New Mexico
Bill Synder Family Football Stadium - Kansas St.
Memorial Stadium - Kansas