Where's Nate?

living large in the four-oh-eight. wicked large.

5.29.2007

globe trip.

While Paige and I are planning on heading to Scandinavia later this summer, a bunch of my pals from Michigan are jet-setting around Australia and Asia. You can read about their adventures here. It's good to have some time off before work. Oh, and a signing bonus.

5.24.2007

it's crappy in happy valley.

I'm usually one of the first to criticize Joe Paterno and his lousy Nittany Lions. But in a rare moment of clarity, JoePa made a pretty smart move this week after a dozen of his football players were beating up the good citizens of Crappy Valley. Most football coaches, including (sadly) Lloyd Carr, would look the other way if his team misbehaved like that. But JoePa is making his team come back to 107,000 seat Beaver Stadium to pick up trash after games. That's right, EVERY Sunday.

We'll see if Joe sticks to it. My bet is that he does. Not because he's being a hard-ass, but more likely because he's already forgotten that he laid out this punishment for his players.

Which out-of-town fans are the messiest? No doubt, those from Ohio State. But I bet the Notre Dame fans will make it a miserable Sunday morning (and Saturday afternoon) for the Nittany Lions.

5.17.2007

going once, going twice.

Sold. Tonight on "The Office," Steve Carrell's character sold his condo on eBay. (Brilliant episode, by the way.) Today, I had a number of interactions with the world's largest flea market. I sold a bundle of software to some guy in Texas and bought a Ben Sherman track jacket for $10. Yesterday I bought a Ping 3-wood for $80 to go with my fancy new driver. What can I say?

I'm addicted to eBay.

Things I have bought:
-Countless Ben Sherman shirts and jeans
-Family Guy DVDs
-An acoustic guitar

Things I have sold:
-My acoustic bass
-Digital cameras
-A first-generation MP3 player
-My old Sega Genesis

I was an early adopter. When Paige and I got married, we had a ton of duplicate CDs. So I listed a ton of them on Half.com, making several hundred dollars in the process. Nobody was happier than me when eBay acquired Half.com, bringing a huge selection of music and movies to the table.

eBay is based, fundamentally, on trust. And while Paypal is the validator for most transactions, the eBay community lives and dies on the ratings of individual buyers and sellers. It's the perfect retail storm, connecting millions of buyers with millions of sellers.

Sure, I've been burned a few times. But overall it's been a positive experience, both on the buyer side and the seller side. Now if only I could buy a few new trees for our front yard. Or a gardening service. Now that would be sweet.

5.09.2007

the list.

I thought it was going to be tough to adjust to non-student life. I was wrong. I've been home for a week and being with Paige and Fenway has been excellent.

I've been bombing around the Valley in my rental Dodge Charger (thanks, Google!). My stuff is supposed to arrive on Friday and the Subaru should be here Saturday (ummm, thanks again, Google!). Paige left me with a good to-do list and I've been plowing through it. I fixed our sprinkler system, guest room toilet, and removed the carpet from our garage. (Yes, we had carpet in our garage. Boy, was that a pain in the ass.)

Last Friday, we had Wells Fargo box tickets at the Giants game and were treated to free beer and hot dogs, not to mention a big victory by Barry and the boys. I hit the links on Monday with Dad and Reed down at Pajaro Valley. I had a great front nine and then blew up a little bit on the back to shoot an 82. But my new Ping driver is ripping it and I nearly drove the green on a 300 yard par 4.

What else? The Warriors are distracting me from my Giants, but I don't mind. This is the first time I've followed the NBA playoffs since I was in junior high and these guys (Baron Davis, Jason Richardson, and Steven Jackson) are super-fun to watch. It reminds me of pro basketball in the 80s, when teams would easily score 120 points and care less about defense.

This weekend I'm off to Vegas for a bachelor party. My best friend, Jeff, whom I have known since elementary school is getting married. So there's a nice crew of high school buddies going to Lost Wages for some gambling and general wackiness.

What can I say? I'm no longer a student. I'm back to domestic life. Thank goodness.

5.03.2007

done.


It's official. I'm done. The Commencement speech went pretty well. And thanks to the magic of YouTube, you can enjoy it too. Thanks, Reed, for editing and posting this.