"Internet connection?" written by Heidi on estrip.org

Category: moving

08/06/08 04:08 - 77ºF - ID#45253

Internet connection?

So, starting next Friday, I'll be living on Allen Street in Buffalo... What do you do for internet connectivity at home? I have no need for cable TV or telephone, but I guess I'll end up with one or the other?

Is it incredibly rude of me to ask for help moving in? I'm bringing as little as possible, but it's still stuff - bed, mattress, dressers, recliner, table & chairs, bookshelves... My friend A is coming up with me, but gosh it would be nice to have another person, even just for an hour...

chico writes at 10:30:11 08/08/08 - Comment #37727: welcome to the neighborhood, (e:heidi)!! i may be able to pitch in with the move, i'll email you off-site with details.

for the record, i'm getting "broadcast basic" TV (i.e., the major networks and PBS, local access, Discovery, TBS, TLC and a few other random channels) and "medium-speed" (?) RoadRunner internet service from Time Warner for a combined total of about $31 per month...

they're a pain in the neck though, so i agree with (e:tinypliny) for the most part. if they come to do an installation, watch carefully and make sure they don't give you stuff you don't need...the installer gave me a big, ugly converter box that was useless and unnecessary, and it was a pain to give back.

heidi writes at 05:43:50 08/06/08 - Comment #37682: (e:tinypliny) is my hero!!!

tinypliny writes at 05:17:20 08/06/08 - Comment #37677: If you are moving in the evening, I could drop by for a couple hours. I can carry stuff my size. hehehe. :)

tinypliny writes at 04:42:28 08/06/08 - Comment #37669: You have two options for the most basic internet:

1. Time Warner Cable's Road Runner Lite
Speed: 768 Kilobits Down/ 128 Kilobits Up
Price: 19.99/mo
NO yearly committment
Start up fee: $60 ($30 "activation" + $30 "installation" -> both bogus way of extracting money out of you, BTW)
If you don't have pre-existing cabling in your flat, this fee might be higher.
Details at this :::link:::

2. Verizon's DSL Dry-Loop (Without Phone)
Speed: 768 Kilobits Down/ 128 Kilobits Up (Same as above)
Price: 29.99/mo -> However, if you point out that Time Warner Cable is $19.99 for the same speed, they bring it down to $19.99. Kind of shows of how shady they can be.
A full year's painful committment. If you cancel you pay a crazy amount (~$200 now. It was $72 last year.)
Start Up Fee: Don't even ask.
Unfortunately, I opted for this last year and after a major first-bill fiasco ( etinypliny,40220 :::link:::), settled on the $29.99 plan. I wanted to switch to Time Warner this year but I am really tired of confrontations with service representatives over the phone so I just made a quick call and told them that I was canceling in an extremely pleasant voice. They said they would be switching me to the $19.99 "Retention" plan. I said thanks-very-much-I'll-take-it in one breathless whoosh and hung-up. Whew. No more contact for a year. Their service is sometimes incredibly slow and the helpdesk is no help at all, so I just press the reset button on my modem and things get slightly better. Anyway, I don't have major bandwidth needs so this works out fine.

Permalink: Internet_connection_.html
Words: 95
Location: Buffalo, NY

07/29/08 01:42 - 73ºF - ID#45183

Paint & plastic

In response to this post (e:tinypliny,45179) about plastic bags, I worte about my community organization's efforts to reduce plastic bag usage.

We were able to give them away for free thanks to a grant from our regional solid waste authority. People are still asking me for them but they've all been distributed. We're thinking about using some other grant funding to buy more.

(e:drew,44403) prompted me to look at and photograph the paint on my old house. When we bought it five years ago, the paint was all peeling - here's a picture of the side of the house that hasn't been touched yet. (I've got pictures somewhere of when we bought it, but not accessible at the moment.)

West side ainted five years ago:

West side detail of window next to porch

South side painted five years ago:

South side detail lower right corner, spigot:

Paint scraped on east side:

East side currently in progress:

Kitten, my 17+ year old cat:

Permalink: Paint_amp_plastic.html
Words: 181
Location: Buffalo, NY

07/26/08 07:44 - 76ºF - ID#45152

Epic/heroic stories

tagging off (e:lauren) 's post about heroic/epic movies

... here's a telling of the Obama story as an epic...

Permalink: Epic_heroic_stories.html
Words: 38
Location: Buffalo, NY

Category: rural

07/15/08 01:14 - 67ºF - ID#45022

Hummingbird in office

I feel like I'm cheating by not reading everyone's posts before posting something... this whole moving thing is difficult and time-consuming, but on the bright side, I just acquired a camera after being without for way too long. I'm out of practice in both composition and technical but sometimes documenting life and communicating outweighs the artistic. My goal is to become competent, if not fluent, in my camera's functionality in the next month. Hopefully I'll have some decent shots occasionally.

We had a hummingbird fly into the office today - we often leave doors and windows open, depending on the weather and my dog's willingness to stay inside:

How cool - my camera captured a hummingbird's wings at the moment of full forward motion!

This cropped version makes it look like the hummingbird is dead and laying on a tile floor, but no, it's just a cropped, flat version of a not very good shot of something kinda interesting.

I haven't figured out how to best manage photos on my laptop - suggestions, anyone? I've got Picasa, Photoshop CS and the software that came with the camera but I'm willing to try other things. I like the Picasa upload to the picasaweb - very easy instead of having to go thru a FTP-type interface (or the additional step to keep it on my own server). But I'm not quite catching on to how to save my edited or resized stuff to be able to send it up to estrip . I think the first hummingbird photo i uploaded here is 2MB which makes me look like a stoopid noobie... I guess I am at the moment... patience, grasshopper.

I enjoyed some time at one of my favorite spots today - long enough for the sun to go down and the moon become visible.

And two cuteoverload-style photos of Nisha:

This one seems like it needs a LOLcat-type phrase on it:

Permalink: Hummingbird_in_office.html
Words: 333
Location: Buffalo, NY

Category: belief

07/06/08 11:30 - 75ºF - ID#44884

Belief-o-matic!

Since (e:drew), (e:jim) & (e:janelle) are pondering such things as the particulars of Christian belief, I thought I'd throw out the Belief-o-matic!

(me: secular humanist)

carolinian writes at 09:06:04 07/07/08 - Comment #36811: 1. Orthodox Judaism (100%)
2. Islam (91%)
3. Sikhism (86%)
4. BahÃ¡'Ã Faith (81%)
5. Reform Judaism (80%)
6. Jainism (67%)
7. Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons) (64%)
8. Hinduism (64%)
9. ------'s Witness
10. Liberal Quakers (60%)
11. Eastern Orthodox (54%)
12. Orthodox Quaker (54%)
13. Roman Catholic (54%)
14. Unitarian Universalism (52%)
15. Mainline to Liberal Christian Protestants (51%)
16. Mainline to Conservative Christian/Protestant (50%)
17. Seventh Day Adventist (50%)
18. Mahayana Buddhism (48%)
19. Neo-Pagan (45%)
20. Theravada Buddhism (40%)
21. Secular Humanism (29%)
22. New Age (28%)

ladycroft writes at 06:45:39 07/07/08 - Comment #36810: my top 5:

1. New Thought
2. Neo-Pagan
3. Reform Judaism
4. Mahayana Buddhism
5. New Age

tinypliny writes at 11:45:29 07/07/08 - Comment #36797: This was so much fun! Hahaha... my original "religion" ranks at a lowly 12 and I have no idea what the hell 1-5 mean. Most of the ones from 6-14 are some of the central Indian faiths.

1. Liberal Quakers (100%)
2. Unitarian Universalism (100%)
3. Neo-Pagan (88%)
4. Secular Humanism (82%)
5. Reform Judaism (76%)
6. Mahayana Buddhism (76%)
7. New Age (74%)
8. Sikhism (74%)
9. Jainism (72%)
10. Mainline to Liberal Christian Protestants (72%)
11. Theravada Buddhism (71%)
12. Hinduism (69%)
13. Taoism (67%)
14. BahÃ¡'Ã Faith (66%)
15. Nontheist (55%)
16. Orthodox Quaker (51%)
17. New Thought (48%)
18. Scientology (48%)
19. Orthodox Judaism (47%)
20. Islam (42%)
21. Christian Science (Church of Christ, Scientist) (34%)
22. Seventh Day Adventist (30%)
23. Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons) (26%)
24. Mainline to Conservative Christian/Protestant (20%)
25. Eastern Orthodox (17%)
26. Roman Catholic (17%)
27. Jehovah's Witness (13%)

jason writes at 10:58:19 07/07/08 - Comment #36796: 1. Mainline to Liberal Christian Protestants (100%)
2. Liberal Quakers (93%)
3. Unitarian Universalism (93%)
4. Reform Judaism (81%)
5. Hinduism (79%)
6. Mahayana Buddhism (79%)
7. Sikhism (78%)
8. Theravada Buddhism (78%)
9. Orthodox Quaker (75%)
10. Neo-Pagan (75%)

drew writes at 10:05:15 07/07/08 - Comment #36794: The comment below was me, not Janelle.

janelle writes at 10:03:15 07/07/08 - Comment #36793: Last for me was Christian Science. Barely ahead of it was nontheist.

I always thought that I was more Buddhist than Bahai, but apparently I was wrong.

jim writes at 09:26:50 07/07/08 - Comment #36792: 1. Secular Humanist
2. Non-theist
3. Mahayana Buddhism

Very last was Catholicism! Nice.

drew writes at 08:41:03 07/07/08 - Comment #36791: Me: Orthodox Quaker.

This thing is seriously skewed towards Quakers/ Quakers can believe a lot of different things and still be Quakers.

:::link:::

"Liberal Protestant" came second for me.

I self Identify as a "Progessive Evangelical," but that's not on the list.

Permalink: Belief_o_matic_.html
Words: 35
Location: Buffalo, NY

Category: community

07/03/08 10:11 - 63ºF - ID#44850

Transportation/housing affordability

I like to geek about walkability, communities, poverty, transportation and such... Andrew Leonard's column/blog on Salon.com

is a very good read. He passed along a site that allows you to check out the impact of gasoline prices on household budgets, with 2000 & 2008 color GIS maps, transportation and housing costs as percentage of household income...take some time & play with it. Use the advanced option, and the gas cost impacts link.

I'm familiar with the DC-Balto metro area, and lightly familiar with Buffalo, so I compared those - Buffalo is a -lot- smaller... My current location: Data not available.

You can zoom in to street/neighborhood level. You'll see that cost of transportation is much lower within the city, and very low in certain areas - ones that are highly walkable (Elmwood) and/or highly convenient to public transportation.

Walkability by neighborhood in Seattle

Permalink: Transportation_housing_affordability.html
Words: 162
Location: Buffalo, NY

Category: moving

06/27/08 12:32 - 73ºF - ID#44797

apartment!

I found an apartment today! I totally didn't expect to find one so easily, but all the research I was able to do with the kind, gracious and thoughtful assistance of (e:peeps) really paid off. 8/15 I'll take possession of a very sunny third-floor one-bedroom apartment on Allen Street! I think it's the kind of apartment I can live (perch?) in for three years.

I also got to meet (e:drew)! *waves* Thanks so much for the warm welcome!

Now that I know where I"m moving, I feel like I can finally start packing and processing all my STUFF. I have a lot of stuff and most of it will be living in storage.

Permalink: apartment_.html
Words: 115
Location: Buffalo, NY

06/24/08 06:40 - 70ºF - ID#44772

transitions & change

I have a few minutes while waiting for computer scans to complete...

So much is going on. I'm selling my precious house. I'm ending a 2.5 year relationship. I'm easing out of people's lives, helping them figure out what to do when I'm not here to help fix their computers or untangle their QuickBooks messes, not to mention the roles of confidant, adviser, friend, emotional and logistical supporter.

I'm trying to commit to memory the details of -here-. (In the next few weeks, you'll all get some photographic treats, but I'm awaiting house closing to get a camera.)The mountain at my back, the river that speaks so softly of cleansing and renewal despite its pollution, the infinite collection of sunsets, full moons and rainbows. Not that I'm leaving for good - ha ha I tried that. This is my heart's home and this is where I'll always be based, but knowing that I'm leaving for three years makes each day, each starry night more of a gem to be treasured. And the connections to people. Yeah, there's email, there's the telephone, but its those casual, constant connections that make the relationships so real.

And it's not just easing out of here, it's also looking toward Buffalo and the new life I'll be building there. Where to live? How to find folks to connect with? ((e:strip) is an awesome starting point!!!) How to deal with 8am classes when I've never been successful at getting to work at 9? Food... diversity... sheer numbers of people... figuring out what my path is going to look like...

Nisha and her friend Bill at the office.

Permalink: transitions_amp_change.html
Words: 273
Location: Buffalo, NY

Category: moving

06/24/08 04:19 - 68ºF - ID#44769

Subway?

So I just talked to a property management person and when I said I wanted to take public transportation to UB North, he said, "My guess is that you'll take it once or twice but you'll be so grossed out that you'll never take it again." Thoughts?

zobar writes at 08:17:12 06/25/08 - Comment #36454: The public transportation in Buffalo is no more or less gross than MTA or NJ Transit, but it is significantly less convenient. It is ok for regularly-scheduled or well-planned trips, but routes are sparse in the suburbs and schedules are infrequent off-peak and on weekends. UB North, eg, is served by one NFTA route: 44 Lockport :::link:::

- Z

leetee writes at 06:55:19 06/24/08 - Comment #36429: yeah, i'm with ya, Tiny...

to further that, i say that there does seem to be a snob factor and elitist attitude towards public transportation. not just here, but in a lot of places. other than giant cities like new york, chicago, paris, london... hell, even toronto.

gross? just hit toronto subways after a game with all the drunk jock guys pissing onto the tracks. or how about some seedy areas of london, where the blokes don't even bother to get off the train to piss. on a hot summer day, with at least 12 hours to go before maintence gets round to cleaning. now THAT'S gross!

heidi writes at 05:02:58 06/24/08 - Comment #36415: OMG I'm dying, Tiny! You're too funny...

I'm totally with ya on the attitude! I'm most familiar with the super-clean, tourist-friendly DC metro & metrobusses but how bad could Buffalo NFTA be??

tinypliny writes at 04:52:54 06/24/08 - Comment #36414: YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING!! COME ON!! (THIS IS IN CAPS, because I am frankly OUTRAGED!)

The tube is great. I am quoting myself verbatim from some other blog I posted on recently (because I am lazy and I should really not be stalking (e:strip) at this time, but I am. :P):

Going with a flawed preconception that Buffalo's public transport is bad is the underlying reason why cars have become a "necessity". Have you ever lived in a place where there is no metro? (Hint: Neighbouring Rochester, for instance?) Compared to such a place, Buffalo's public transport is a dream! There is a train every 12 minutes or less. If you are not too much of a snob to share sitting spaces with some of the less-privileged, travelling in the metro is one of the most convenient things to do. I know people have told me in the past that it is unsafe. But after a year of living here, I have no evidence to substantiate this ominous sounding warning. I am close to attributing all this paranoia of attacks to a lack of common sense. Any public transport, even in the world's safest cities becomes unsafe, if you dress up to the nines, attract a lot of attention to yourself by being peculiarly a model representative of the wealthy or the privileged. You are in *public transport*. Behave and act like public, not the elite. It does NOT require a lot of effort, just some sense of surroundings. That being said, I use the metro quite regularly and I have seen a lot of suited-booted people in there. It's not the warzone it is made out to be. Not even close. Again, my definition of a warzone comes from a somewhat crazy city where I lived for 2 straight years. Plus, the buses here actually connect to all the most important places and in fact, most places of interest. If you live out in the boondocks suburbs and then complain about the lack of buses and public transport, then, you have the definition of public transport quite wrong. The "public" does not usually live in far off inaccessible suburbs.

jbeatty writes at 04:51:21 06/24/08 - Comment #36412: If you end up near allen street there is a UB stampede bus that runs free from allen medical station to UB south for students and I think employees. :::link::: There is a bus from south to north campus. Although it isn't the quickest or most convenient way to travel there, it is free.

jenks writes at 04:40:06 06/24/08 - Comment #36410: i haven't used public transportation (aside from cabs) ONCE since I moved here. I have the feeling the guy is right.

Permalink: Subway_.html
Words: 47
Location: Buffalo, NY

Category: moving

06/09/08 05:15 - 85ºF - ID#44594

Apartments in Buffalo

Wow. Y'all rock.

It looks like I should focus on the Utica Ave. metro stop (do you call it metro or subway or light rail or train?). I'm looking for a studio, 1 br or 2 br (if i can find a roommate) that will accept 1 small dog and 1 cat. I'm downsizing from a house, so I have lots of stuff but I also plan on getting a storage unit so stuff storage isn't very important. I will need one parking spot. I can start renting as early as 8/1 and as late as 8/15. I think my rent range is about 500-550, up to 650 with all utilities but that's stretching things. I've got tentative plans to visit Buffalo either 6/26 or 6/27 to check stuff out. Linwood looks like a great option.

I must admit, I'm used to my brand new kitchen, dishwasher and garbage disposal, washer & dryer on second floor next to my huge bedroom... but of course I'll be living on a student budget and expect to downscale considerably. Um... how do I provide references when I haven't rented in 10.5 years?

libertad writes at 01:38:33 06/12/08 - Comment #35969: 773-4246. It is advertised as a large one bedroom. I don't have any other details except it is on Norwood Ave and is very close to the Co-OP. Not sure it is the best place for you, but you may want to call for details.

chico writes at 09:41:26 06/11/08 - Comment #35936: (e:leetee) makes a good point. North Buffalo in the University Heights/UB South area is a distinct possibility and would probably be a little cheaper for rents, too. I think it's a little bit tricky for two reasons: (1) the neighborhoods change kinda quickly around there, so one block has beautifully maintained old owner-occupied homes and the next block has run-down rentals, and (2) I'm guessing that there's lots of crappy absentee landlords because of the off-campus student housing (though that's just a guess based on experience in other college towns).

Some advantages are: being close to a major supermarket (Tops) and a smaller supermaket (Aldi), a grungy but lovable vegan- and student-friendly luncheonette, a Walgreens, the Metro station (either for Metro rail heading downtown or for the UB shuttle to North campus), and a variety of restaurants and takeout joints.

Some disadvantages are: potentially loud neighbors (that you'd never know about till school is in); sketchy characters floating around Main Street (also true near Utica Station too); not being within walking distance of Elmwood (you'd have to drive or bike).

I suppose one important consideration is how often you'll be going to North campus and how often you'll be going to Elmwood. If it's like a 5:1 or 5:2 ratio each week, University Heights might be a good bet because it will make your UB commute that much easier and more efficient.

tinypliny writes at 12:22:58 06/10/08 - Comment #35894: Hey. :)

I live at the Mayflower (66 Summer) as (e:leetee) mentioned. I found it through craigslist (an excellent source, btw. They always have something available. If not at the Mayflower, maybe at their other buildings around the area. Check out their website and give them a call: :::link::: Rents are semi-reasonable - hovering around $600 and above (upto $850) for a studio/1BR (All utilities paid). The management is fairly decent. The flats are a hit or miss. The building as a whole is well-maintained, but depending on your luck you may or may not have:
a) a decent heating coil (mine punished me throughout the winter with erratic heating. I have chosen to carefully block that aspect out now that summer is here.)
b) hot water (my showerhead specializes in spouting out mostly lukewarm water. I am not sure I know what hot water is anymore.)
c) Light (My windows are south-facing and I live on the 5th floor so the lighting in my flat is a DREAM come true for someone who loves sunlight and natural light.) Some flats face brick walls of the adjacent building with crappy light, so beware. Check it out in person.

Check out my posts from last month. I went on a flat hunt and was somewhat successful but not quite... Let me know if you have any questions! Cheers and Good Luck!

leetee writes at 09:02:55 06/09/08 - Comment #35881: Belated Welcome to (e:Strip).

Wish i could help you more with the apartment hunt... the only experience we have is at the building (e:Tinypliny) lives in, since we lived there about a year or two before she did. Not sure if they allow pets.

If you have a car (you did mention needing a space, so i am assuming), Buffalo isn't a particularly big place, so the commute, even if it is in another part of the city, will not be very long. Not like a big metropolitan area where commuters spend an hour or more in traffic and/or on trains.

You might want to consider finding a place near UB South, too. Way less of a commute with their free South/North campus shuttle. Anyone else know anything about the neighbourhoods up there?

terry writes at 09:00:16 06/09/08 - Comment #35880: Have you looked into Artspace?

It's right on Main St. I think the closest subway stop is Summer/Best, though it's also not far from Utica. Their whole "thing" is atist loft + studio. Rents are supposed to be pretty decent. Check it out:

:::link:::

fellyconnelly writes at 06:11:45 06/09/08 - Comment #35875: esquared is nice... we are at 367 elmwood - and they are really nice here. if you have a problem, they really try to fix it for you. We pay 675 a month for a 1 bedroom - includes everything except electric. heat too! you sometimes lose hot water, but i find that everywhere.

pet friendly.

off street parking.

and if you get a place next door to us, our kitties can chat at eachother from the balconies!

Permalink: Apartments_in_Buffalo.html
Words: 179
Location: Buffalo, NY