Pete Nickeas

Home is where you want to be when it first snows each fall/winter.

And right now, Casper isn’t feeling like home. It was to be expected. Springfield barely felt like home. But I don’t know that our current place of residence will ever feel like home.

I look back now and wish I appreciated what I had. With a decent income, we could’ve stayed there for a very, very, very long time.

In retrospect, of course, I miss Springfield. Now, it feels like I could call that place home. I have (almost) nothing but good memories about that place.

Walking distance from everyone who I hung out with AND walking distance from the bars. That in itself is pretty effing cool. Location of numerous pot lucks, breakfast and otherwise. A block from work. What more could you ask for?

Plus, we had a room with a view. A balcony with a gorgeous view of the Illinois capitol building. As dirty as you could feel working there, it was still something spectacular to see during the winter when the streets were dead and there was a light snow.

It actually didn’t snow when we were there. A lot of muck but no actual snow accumulation that lasted more than a morning. Frozen ice and shit too, but mostly just grime.

Anyway, we’ve only been here three months. It’s early yet. There’s no telling how I’ll feel after 7 months, which is where we were on Dec. 15 of 2008.

But, I look out my window, and I’m not five floors above a city. I don’t see the state capitol. My friends are not walking distance. When it snows (it has already), I don’t feel a sense of belonging.

Moving forward, though, whether I feel comfortable or not, Casper is my new home. It’s where we are. Though I miss what I’m familiar with, we’re slowly becoming accustomed to a different way of life out here. We haven’t changed our habits — just learning to tolerate those of an entire had been difficult enough.

The onset of winter, which should happen tonight (I’m not joking, it’s going to snow tonight and then it’s going to be in the 30’s until next week. Then a couple days of nice, then winter again), will undoubtedly endear us to Casper.

Until then, though, I feel like we’re in an odd state of limbo. It doesn’t feel like home but I don’t feel like I’m visiting either. Kind of like moving into a spot in Milwaukee 10 years ago. Just kinda was there.

With time I suppose. We shall see.

Until then, I’m going to start jacking fools on their way from the ATM.

Just joking.

If nothing else, not having enough money has taught us a lot. I feel like I’m ahead of the game anyway because I’ve never really had a ton of money and have been paying for some of the “necessities” since like 5th or 6th grade. I feel more responsible, more self sufficient, and more in a position to build a future based on my experiences and I’m grateful for all of that.

BUT DAMN I’D BE GRATEFUL FOR SOME MORE MONEY TOO!

Here’s the thing. I was half stupid and half broke in college, so a chunk of my credit card debt is 40’s and handles of whiskey. The other chunk is rent, tires, books, moving costs, etc.

One of the things I’m most proud of personally is not having incurred any debt since living in Wyoming. Erin and I have been out like 4 times since being here (more than three months now), and our recreation consists of at-home-drinking. Which, I’m good with. In my personal life I’m very fiscally conservative.

I just gotta get rid of some of this interest bearing debt. It’s a joke. It’s amazing what percentage of my monthly expenditures are from credit cards.

Work is going well, though. This last week was a grinder but I loved it. I didn’t feel like, at the end of the week, that I worked as much as I did. It flew. I was out of the office a lot, met a ton of people, etc. Plus, what I’m working on is material of consequence. I’m not pissing in the wind.

Here’s a random string of sentences:
Erin just started working full time. I’m debating the idea of getting another job. If work stays this busy I won’t have to, so I’m hoping that it does. My two brothers aren’t gonna make it out for Thanksgiving, I don’t think. That saddens me. I’m going back to Chicago for Christmas and my brothers will be there. Big ass party on the 26th. Everybody’s invited, as always. I’m glad winter is around the corner. I’m sick of people warning me about the Wyoming winter. GET ON WITH IT MOTHAFUCKA! I’m ready.

I think that this is the last nice weekend we’re going to have this year.

They’re calling for snow in the “lower” elevations of this county (I think that’s us) sometime next week and while it’s supposed to be gorgeous tomorrow afternoon and Sunday afternoon, it’s still getting into the low-30s overnight.

I’m still really excited for Thanksgiving since my two little brothers are flying in from North Carolina, where they’re stationed (2nd Marine Division). Mike just had laser surgery on his eye, so he’s chilling for the next couple weeks I guess. It will be nice to see some familiar places.

I finished “Great Expectations” today, which was mildly disappointing (ironic?) and I began “Team of Rivals,” which, 25 pages in, is amazing. That book will probably take in the 40-50 hour range to read, and as it cools off I’ll have more and more time.

I forced myself to run today, and I didn’t want to really. But, as there’s only a handful of good weather days left, I thought it prudent to take advantage of the weather. I’m going to run tomorrow morning and probably Sunday morning and then I’ll have to start doing different stuff once winter gets here. I haven’t ran in the winter before.

Our finances are kinda tight right now. This concerns me. I want to go out and buy a few candles, maybe some type of something to make this place feel more like home but we’re strapped for cash right now. I think a second job is in the very near future, because our combined incomes just aren’t cutting it.

Stay tuned.

Well, fall came in one day. It went from like, sunny and 80 the day before, to hail and overnight snow the next night. What the hell. There’s still snow on the top 2/3rds of the mountain. About 1,000 feet of elevation separates us from the snow, which seems like a lot but isn’t. It’s like a 12 minute drive to snow.

On the up and up though, I’m looking forward to the winter. I plan on working out a lot and reading, since we won’t be drinking in Dan, Jake, and Megan’s back yard anymore. Kinda sounds like prison. There’s also going to be some Xbox in there, obviously.

I’ve always liked fall. Back when I was in high school, me and my kid brother Jack would sometimes walk the train lines through Milwaukee, taking pictures of graffiti on the bridges and on trains if we could catch them rolling by. It was good times.

We’d park the car, walk to the spot, then walk from there. I’ve still got a whole book of photos that I ended up giving my cousin D, which, I guess I don’t have the photos anymore. But those were good times.

There’s also, walking in the cold. I enjoy that. Headphones, hoodie, some good boots. A coffee mug perhaps.

But I doubt we’re gonna be able to do a lot of that. Wind gets crappy here, and the snow is supposed to be a bitch.

We’ll see how it goes I guess. I’ve got mixed feelings.

Good:
While playing Call of Duty, I had a seven kill streak going when I realize there’s three dudes in close proximity. I doubled around, crept up on each one of them and shanked them all, one by one. 10 kill streak! Peeled off another five dudes before someone finally knifed me.

My two little brothers are coming to Casper, Wyoming for Thanksgiving. This excites me greatly. I’ve got that Thursday and Friday off, so we’re going to just hang out for a few days, probably drinking and playing Monopoly and running. That means I have to train, since they can actually run. Also means we have to save some money so we can make a big ass Thanksgiving dinner. HELL YEA

There’s a three day weekend in my future. I’m not sure what I’ll do. Something fun, hopefully.

Bad:
No Bears game. I’m going to watch Denver here in a couple minutes but it’s only because it’s the “closest” team. And they’re 4.5 hours away, and in another state.

I’ve come to two or three “profound” realizations in the past couple days. And they mostly suck.

I want to build things - shelves, tables, chairs, etc. I have not the tools nor the space nor the money to do this, though. I want to have a garage but perhaps if I make more money one day I’ll rent a small storage space and have a workshop in there. That’s until we get a home with a garage. Maybe we’ll move to the apartment complex to the south of us. I think if you live there you get a storage space. That could be good.

It’s supposed to snow tonight. Not even shitting you. I’m all about the fall and stuff, but, I mean, there’s forty degree temperature swings here. So if it snows tonight it could still very well be 70 degrees outside tomorrow.

I’m excited about the Fall.

It’s too warm to wear suits in the summer. I like fall and am looking forward to this fall for numerous reasons … because it’s good grilling weather, it’s not too cold for beer, it’s cool enough for whiskey, coffee in the morning is better because it’s cooler, the mountain side should be gorgeous, the end-of-summer dry spell should be over.

Not that it’s going to rain buckets. But any rain would be good. This rain, right now, is good. It’s been super dry here since the July 3 storms, it seems.

Anyway, I’m also a fan of thunder and lightning. It’s soothing and serene. You have to respect the power of nature and thunder and lightning exhibits in a sleek and subtle fashion what nature is capable of … it’s like a glimpse. It’s a menacing glare instead of a hard overhand right. It’s not the main threat but you know nature means business.

Anway, Erin’s cooking some burgers and corn for dinner (I’m lucky), and I can unwind after a long day by reading, listening to the thunderstorm, and relaxing. With that, I’m off. PEACE!

But for real man, four interceptions?

Last night was pitiful. It doesn’t seem there’s a bit of clutch about the Bears so far.

Only one game, I know.

But man, how do you win when you throw four picks?

You don’t.

I really felt deflated last night. It was going well, just had to trust the solid Bears D to hold ‘em. It was not to be though.

But, on the up and up, I do feel like a new season is here. For two reasons. First, football marks the beginning of fall. Second, its been getting down to about 40 degrees each night. COLD!

So, I’ve been running for about 3 weeks now.

Erin and I run four or five times each week and one day on the weekend, usually.

And we’ve improved a little bit but there’s a few things working against us (and for us, as it were).

First, we’re in a higher elevation. It’s taking us a little to get used to it. Not that we have a huge frame of reference because we didn’t run in Illinois but it is different here, just a little.

It gets dusty in Casper and you can feel it when you’re running. Sometimes, you get half a mile and your throat is scratch because of how dry it is. Running after rain is the best - cool air, no dust, etc. It’s nice. But it’s dry as hell here and getting used to that has been difficult too. We can tell on days when it’s dry/dusty because the breathing is notably different.

There are tons of hills. I love it because I get super bored, super quick. It also means it’s more difficult to add distance because the route is difficult. It’s great though because we usually feel burnt at the end of running.

Anyway, I don’t have time to work out at the gym and at home, so I’m just going to make sure I stay consistent with running. For the next 30 days.

Anyway …
Day One:
Not so good. Didn’t run the whole 1.2 mile route - stopped after .8 to catch breath.

Day Two:
A lot better - walked a block and a half out of the whole route .

We had ran the full route the three days prior to this - and I think the past couple days (especially today) was because of dust. It’s been really dry and it’s getting to the point around here where all the vegetation is drying out (fuel for wild fires) and it’s getting dusty and kinda grimy.

Catch up with you tomorrow! Perhaps pictures from along the route soon.

I’ve been at work for about an hour and I’ve got way too much going on right now.

- I was walking down 5th street this morning towards home (and also yesterday at one point) and there’s the nasty formaldehyde smell (or other embalming chemical) coming from the Ellinger-Kunz & Park Funeral Home & Cremation Service building. It’s very distinct, extremely disgusting smell.

- It’s going to rain all day. I didn’t move yesterday because of threatening rain and I didn’t want to risk getting all of my stuff wet. It’s going to be in storage for awhile and I don’t feel the need to pre-soak my furniture on the ride over. So now we’re gonna try and get all of it out in increments this week I guess, whenever time permits.

- I feel like I should be more psyched up for this week but I’m not. I’m actually kinda bummed right now and I don’t feel well. I’m more interested in following the capital plan money than the prospect of an income tax hike or any other budget scenario.

- I talked to a guy about a job a couple weeks ago, and he seemed pretty cool. And I talked to another guy about a job last week (same company) and he also sounded like a good guy. So here’s to hope.

- I’m moving out of the first apartment I had with Erin. We moved in on our one-year anniversary last year. It’s sad. I’m going to miss Springfield. Learned a lot here. Last night I was walking a friend’s dog (the two of them tripped out to California for a couple days) and I was thinking, no way I pictured myself being cool enough with anyone I meet in Springfield to house-sit for them for three days. I mean, it didn’t even enter my mind that I’d meet people here that I’d be cool with. Just kinda figured I’d come, work for a year, and jet. Which is what’s happening anyway. But I’ve met some really, really cool people here too.

The sincerest of apologies are in order for the dust that’s begun to settle on this blog.

But let me tell you, it’s been one hell of a week.

It started Sunday night, staking out the leaders and seeing a capital plan being fleshed out.

The state Senate passed a construction plan Wednesday and the House passed it Thursday. The boss has been sick, though, so we’ve been on our own basically. We turned out eight stories between the two of us yesterday, half of them legislative and the other half about projects in our coverage areas.

In between that, I’ve been looking at donations, road projects, reform legislation, train maps, and other fun infrastructure things.

Needless to say, I’ve been feeling torn about how I feel about this whole thing all week. The hours suck but I love the job. Days like yesterday - when we were turning stories important to our coverage areas for numerous reasons - are perfect.

Other days, not so much.

Either way … it’s the end of the week, lawmakers canceled all of their planned weekend sessions, so that means nobody’s here til Tuesday. WE may be here this weekend but I dunno. See what the boss says I suppose.

And on that note … it’s 86 and sunny.

PEACE!