All posts by Andi

NYC Second Time Around

July 2, 2014 Andi Leave a comment

So we have moved back to NYC last week. It has been a pretty hectic past few months and up until now I have been constantly busy. I thought it would help to write more. Let’s start with the actual move. Last Monday (6/23) we paid some movers to load up our UHaul. Then around 11:30 am we set out on the road, Don driving the uHaul and Lina and I in the car behind him. The beginning of the drive was not too bad, but from about Ohio on it rained on and off constantly. Not just a light normal rain but downpours. It was scary. We stayed in a hotel Monday night in Pennsylvania. Lina did pretty good the whole first day and at the hotel.

The second day of driving started off pretty good there was barely any rain. We made it to NYC around 10:30 am. Ethan met us here and we had movers take our stuff up to our new 4th floor apartment in Washington/Hudson Heights. Luckily we have 2 elevators in the building. I was surprised to see how big the apartment was and I can’t wait to take pictures. I want to wait until we get a few more things done first.

The rest of the week was spent unpacking, organizing, and doing various things for my new job at NY Presbyterian. I start July 21. I also suffered from some sort of virus that made my muscles so sore and achy. At first I thought it was from moving but when it wasn’t getting better and my sister said she had similar symptoms I knew it was more than that. Luckily by yesterday I started feeling better but it was miserable. So achy and headache for about a week. How come every time I move I get sick? When we moved to Chicago I got a terrible cold. For the weekend we made a trip with the car to Lowes and Ikea in Brooklyn. We got blinds and various things but had no luck at Ikea due to their credit/debit machines not working. Hopefully we go back soon.

The place is pretty much getting in order now. Now I find myself having a lot of time to get things done but there’s only so much I can do. I find it harder to keep busy, especially with the weather being so hot. Keeping busy is key to not thinking about everyone and everything you’re missing. I love NYC and I love friends and family here, but I never thought I would miss Chicago so much. We made tons of friends there and my job at Lurie’s was the best. It makes me so homesick and sad to think about it. The problem is I don’t want to forget and lose contact with people…as well as I don’t want them to forget about me. But keeping in contact and wishing I was at work there doesn’t help with moving on here. I’m sure it will be different when I start working, I hope it will be good. Last night was the first night I cried about it in a long time. I know we did the right thing and I know things will get better. I also know we have no idea what the future holds. I’m excited for everything, I just want to feel happy and not homesick. I want to go on adventures with my husband and be able to sit around and watch our favorite shows again also. We haven’t been able to spend a lot of time together these past few months.

I went to the park today and it is so beautiful. I can’t wait to show people around when they come to visit. I can’t wait to see what the next year brings. Starting over is hard but I am able to do it, I’ll never forget our time in Chicago but mostly I won’t forget the people.

Bloggings, Rantings, Reviews

Living without Cable.

April 15, 2014 Andi Leave a comment

So we have been living without cable since the beginning of August. We held onto it the first week of August for Shark Week. Unfortunately, RCN reminded us why we were getting rid of cable…the cable was out pretty much the entire week. But not only was the cable out, the internet was also. The problem was somehow our cable line had been cut so our neighbors were also without cable and internet. It took so many phone calls and visits for RCN to get their act together. I think it took about 3 phone calls before they realized this was not only a problem for us but also for our neighbors.

Now we are happily living without cable, though we do still have internet with RCN. It has been a pretty easy adjustment, mostly due to our sweet set up. Our HD antenna was working great, but after a lot of thought and research I really wanted DVR. It’s so nice to be able to come home in the middle of one your shows and to be able to start from the beginning because it was being recorded.

In July I started doing a lot of reading about how to have DVR without cable. Tivo was the first and most popular DVR product that I saw, but with Tivo we would have a monthly bill. After more research I found out you could make your computer into a DVR. Basically you install a TV tuner into your computer and watch live TV through it with the help of an antenna.

We looked into 2 TV tuners with the best reviews: the SiliconDust HD HomeRun Dual HD Digital TV Tuner HDHR3-US and the Hauppauge 1229 HVR 2250 TV tuner. Both were very similar but we decided to go with the Hauppauge. It was about $100.

So here’s how we set up…we moved my PC into the living room so it could be next to the TV. My PC has Windows 7 on it so it has Windows Media Center. This is pretty much a free program that you run with a TV tuner. It allows you to watch live TV on your PC, you can watch whatever channels your HD antenna can pick up. It comes with a guide and even the option to record live TV. To use Windows Media Center though you need a TV tuner and that’s where Hauppauge comes in.
After a lot of trial and error we have a set up that really works for us. We ended up moving the HD antenna into our bedroom window that faces south. It gets the best reception here. We taped it with clear tape onto the window. It’s not really noticeable with the blinds. Then we ran a TV cable from the antenna to the PC. We had to purchase this cable because we didn’t have one long enough; I think it was about $30. From the PC to the TV we have a DVI to HDMI cable adapter. This was $18.99 at Microcenter. We bought a wireless keyboard to use as our remote. It’s the k400 Logitech. I like it because it’s small and light and works great.

Once everything is hooked up correctly and you install the Hauppauge driver you’re ready to scan for channels using Windows Media Center. We opted not to download the Hauppauge TV guide & program software because we read Windows Media Center was good enough. So the PC receives the TV signal from the HD antenna and over the air channels are projected on the TV from the computer in HD. It was really easy to set up.

After we had all the channels coming in crystal clear I started setting up our recording options. It’s just like a regular DVR you get through your cable box, except this one is already paid off. You can put in series recordings so you don’t even have to think about it your Hauppauge TV tuner and recorder will just record whatever shows you tell it to. Like most DVR offered by cable companies the Hauppauge is a dual tuner so you can record 2 shows at once. It is freaking awesome. The only thing you have to remember is your shows will not be recorded if your PC isn’t on.

So after about 6 months of no cable, do we miss it? Not really. Rather than spending hours watching really bad horrible reality shows or lifetime movies, I find myself doing other things, like watching Netflix. But really it does feel kind of refreshing to not have access to cable. We are still able to watch all of the shows we were watching when we had cable. We record Big Brother, Survivor, Amazing Race and Grimm right now. We have found ways to get access to The Walking Dead, and we are up to date. We have been watching every Bears game live on free TV, as well as a few Hawks games that have been on WGN. We still haven’t tried any of the websites for streaming sports live because it really hasn’t been necessary…but watch out for that blog later.

Actually I think getting rid of cable has made me watch more TV, but better shows. For example if we still had cable I wouldn’t have time to finish series like Breaking Bad, Orange is the New Black and Parks and Recreation. It’s pretty cool and it’s been going very well.

Set-Up Costs:
$70-HD antenna
$120 Hauppauge TV Tuner
$50 extra cables
$40 Wireless keyboard
—Total: $280

Old RCN cable and internet monthly bill $130
New RCN internet bill $28
Netflix $8/month
Amazon Prime-$8/month
Approx.-$45/month for internet and TV services
About $1000 saved a year!

Our new remote the Logitech wireless keyboard.

Travel

Last Day-Back to San Juan

December 21, 2013 Andi Leave a comment

Today we drove back to San Juan and returned our cars. We went back to our hotel that we stayed at on our first night and asked if they could hold our luggage while we wait for our flight. The guy there gave us a really hard time but eventually we left our bags there.

Then we went to look for a breakfast/lunch. We ate at Cafe Del Angel and it was absolutely delicious. I had the best cuban sandwich I have ever had there and they had the best salsa. We actually bought a bottle of the salsa it was sooo good.

After lunch we did a little shopping and then we walked along the beach. Our flight was around 3 so we left to go to the airport around 1. Judy and Steve’s flight was not until later that night.

It was a pretty good last day but I’m ready for our next vacation already.

Travel

Last Full Day

December 20, 2013 Andi Leave a comment

Today was a our last full day here in Puerto Rico. In the morning we did a tour of Coqui’s Hideaway. We were able to see all the plants and how big the property really was. It was raining a little. Don and Steve saw a big snake and then he fell and slipped in the mud. Good thing we have our own washer and dryer at Coqui’s.

After that Judy and Steve went to look at some gifts shops and Don and I went to the kiosks again for lunch. Then we relaxed in the pool before going to Fajardo for a tour of the Bio-luminescent Bay.

The tour of the Bio-Bay was a kayak tour and Don and I have not had a good history with kayaks. This trip didn’t start off well. It was pitch black and the water was very rough. We could not get the kayak to go straight in the beginning and I started freaking out. I decided that I didn’t want to go and we made it back to the dock. I told the tour guide I was scared and not good at kayaking. He asked if we wanted to hook up to his kayak and he can pull us, so we decided to do that. It was much easier and I was happy our tour guide was so accommodating. We saw other couples and groups being pulled also, so we were not complete losers. The Bio-Bay has glowing plankton and it was very pretty.

Food Blog, Snorkeling, Travel

Road Trip to La Parguera

December 19, 2013 Andi Leave a comment

So since we rented a car here in Puerto Rico we decided we wanted to check out some beaches on the West Coast. We woke up pretty early to go on our road trip. Our goal was to explore the town of La Parguera which is on the Southwest side of the island. The trip started out not so great because we missed our exit on the expressway and we were lost for awhile. Driving here is crazy I can’t stand the drivers. Finally we found our way and took a road through the mountains. We drove through lechon highway, this is where all the restaurants have a pig on the roaster.

Once we started getting to the other side of the island it got a lot hotter and dryer. The climate was so different. The drive got better on the highways and it was beautiful.

We didn’t stop much though, only for gas once. Then we made it to Parguera in Lajas. Right when we parked a man came up to us and wanted to know if we wanted a boat or if we wanted to eat. He took us to a restaurant called Puerto Parguera. We were the only ones there. We ordered empanadas and they were delicious. Then we each ordered a mofongo and it was good. People were stopping by to take carry out. The woman there was very nice.

After lunch we went to the port and looked at all the boat shops. We came to Johnny’s Boats and talked to them about a 1 hour snorkel trip. The guys there didn’t seem very friendly but we decided to do it. One guy took us out on a little motorboat to a mangrove island. We got out and snorkeled around the island. It was kind of scary because it was dark by the mangroves we saw a lot of cool stuff.

When we were done we asked the tour guide if he knew any good beaches on the way back to Ponce he told us Playa Santa. So we started driving…saw some horses by the street, stopped at dive shop. Looked for Playa Santa but got side tracked and ended up in a nature reserve and went to a beach there.

It was a pretty awesome day. On the way home we got some lechon.

GarbledSyntax