2009

Continuing a tradition going back to 2006, it's time to ring in the new year on Randomness with a little token of well-wishing in the form of something somewhat creative.

Happy 2009!

I was indeed on a bus as the ball dropped in Times Square, somewhere between Pittsburgh International Airport and the Petersen Events Center in Oakland. I have a general idea of where I was at the exact moment, but I haven't yet been able to find it on a map and Street View isn't being much help.

But I will find out. Even if it means catching a bus that'll go past that spot, GPS in hand. That, I can assure you.

One thing I do know is that I started writing my last post 43 miles (70 km) northeast of Kansas City, Missouri and finished it 25 minutes later, 8 miles (13 km) northwest of Decatur, Illinois. So yeah, I was right about Central time.

Since we didn't actually go into the airport after landing, I wasn't able to get a wireless signal, so I had to wait until we were back at the Pete to upload the post. But even though we didn't get there until 00:19 EST, and I uploaded the post at (according to Blogger) 00:44:53.639 EST, it still contained 100% raw, unedited, word-for-word 2008-me.

And now 2009-me can point and laugh, I suppose. But that would just be mean.

After collecting my checked luggage (and discovering that its handle had been completely snapped off during its handling), I got to the hotel at around 01:45, and was flipping through channels, about to doze off, when at 02:00, CNN and Fox News started rebroadcasting their Times Square coverage for the West Coast crowd.

So, naturally, in an effort to achieve some sense of normalcy by ringing in the new year properly, I stayed up until 03:00 EST (00:00 PST) to watch the ball drop on tape delay. And then I went to bed.

This morning, a friend who was heading to Binghamton, New York picked me up (along with several other bandies), and took me most of the way home, since she was going that way anyway. So I was home by 13:30 and it saved my parents three out of four hours of driving. That was good.

It's been a fairly busy day, with parents wanting to see my pictures (I promise they'll be posted soon) and football-watching and the like. Friday is the last business day before I go back to Pittsburgh, so I need to deposit all of my Christmas/birthday money so I can buy books and pay for the China trip!

Have a happy 2009, everyone!

Resolved: That I'll blog more this year. In each of the last three years, I wrote a post 74, 36, and 18 times. That needs to change. And it needs to change now.