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James came really close to beating me in racquetball yesterday.  I had to sprain his ankle to stop him.  The final score: 22-20.

It’s 2009, and I’m still a little surprised whenever I run into someone who doesn’t believe that Atlanta is the void of the South.  We have a perimeter around the city, I-285.  This perimeter separates us from those with the area code 770, and better yet, 706.  Inside the perimeter (ITP), we are cosmopolitan.  Outside the perimeter (OTP), they appreciate the law that forbids the sale of alcohol on Sunday.  Their accent is stereotypical.  ITP, I run into more Indian and East Asian accents than I do Southern.  Think about that one: there are more people willing to travel thousands of miles to ITP than just 30 miles from OTP.  I can’t believe that we who are ITP still have to succum to a stereotype surrounds us geographically.

Disclaimer:  There are many exceptions to OTP-ers from what I’ve said here, but it doesn’t detract from my point:  Atlanta is the void of the South!

King, me, and 3 others in my lab won an award at CDC this morning.  The award is in excellence in “partners in public health.” King accepted for our lab, and we had a good picture taken when we got back.  I’m going to wear my suite and ribbon all day long now.

And so I posted this review.

Equity Residential destroyed and threw away my bike without remorse.  In March of this cold year they supposedly posted notices about the bikes being abandoned at the bike rack.  These notices were at the bike rack, the mail boxes, and delivered to my door.  
Except they weren’t.  By that I mean that I never went to the bike rack because it was cold and I wasn’t going to ride my bike.  I never paid any attention to the fliers that have been next to Jeff’s Fitness for the last few years by the mail boxes.  And I never got a notice about it at my door.  I’ve gotten other notices and emails about other topics though: the car wash, robberies, fire alarm testing, an auction, air conditioning filters being replaced, every monthly statement, apartment complex parties, etc.  However, I never received a notice at my door nor an email about the bikes.
When the complex finds an abandoned car, they wait for six months and they give several notices before towing the car and giving ownership of the car away.  Even though I didn’t receive any notices, Equity feels justified in giving me one imaginary notice.  I have heard from the employees that the notices were displayed for about 1 month.  During a cold winter there is little chance that I, or anyone else, would look at the bikes and therefore a notice at the bike rack for a month is unjustifiable.  Somehow the management is surprised that zero people claimed their bikes.
The bike locks were torched off and many bikes were accidentally cut in the process and thrown away.  Others were put into storage.  Mine was not in storage and was therefore torched.  Soon Equity will auction off those remaining bikes and earn money.  The management refuses to pay me back any kind of compensation towards getting a new bike.
This apartment complex has been excellent in terms of almost everything I have wanted in a home.  The management staff is very nice and down-to-earth.  Things get repaired on time, and the site is clean.  Everything else is good.  However, I am greatly surprised that the parent company Equity feels justified and is unremorseful in throwing away so many bikes.  

I know that I am the only one who complained about his/her bike being trashed and so this review isn’t anonymous.  Also, my bike was more than 10 years old.  Therefore, I would be happy to remove this review or even change it to an overall fairly positive review for the price of 50% of a new bike.

I was out on my sister’s birthday at the beginning of May at Neighbor’s, where I met a few of her friends.  One of her friends Julie parked close to my car and we got into talking about things.  We stopped on a sidewalk next to a residential driveway, and after a minute of our talking, a man in a security uniform walked out of the house next to us (I guess he was going to work?).  

As he approached I sanguinely asked if we were talking right next to his car.  He paused for a second and then replied “Go away” with a smile.  Julie and I kept talking for a second as the guy took a few steps towards his car on the street (not the car that was right next to us).  He turned around to us and saw that we were still there, so he repeated himself with clarity, “Go away.”  With a smile.

We walked to Julie’s car because it was closest and we talked for another several seconds before the man approached us and asked me what I was driving.  ”A car,” I quipped.  Julie got into her car and started to drive away.  I walked down the street, past the man who was now getting into his car, and got into my car to go home.  What was wrong with us talking on a public street for about two minutes?

I know it’s only a 4GB hard drive but I couldn’t help it.  How can you say no to a 0.99kg computer?

netbook computer

http://sellout.woot.com/Default.aspx?WootSaleId=8242&ts=1237467645&sig=64a8a334cde5eb9a

I renewed my apartment finally.  The timeline goes something like this:

• I asked my leasing office for a quote for my friend who is looking for a single apartment, which was $635-$680.  Meanwhile I am paying $795.
• A few days later, I received a letter to renew my apartment for $819/month.
• I looked online for apartments at the same location as I am and discovered an equivalent apartment for $680.  Moving fees and signing fees as I estimate, would have put that rate up to something like $710.
• I objected and told the leasing office that I wouldn’t renew unless the price dropped to $700.
• They countered with something like $750.
• I objected.
• They gave me a quote of $734.
• I accepted for a grand total of an $85/mo discount.

The end.  I’m here for another year.