35 Days and Hippie Debates
Well bad news... at the University of Oregon they get paid once a month. Checks come on the first of the month. I started with only five days left to go in a month. That means I am 35 days away from my next payday. Guess how many days UoO allows you to go without a check... you guessed it. 35 Days! So... since I did not start one day sooner I will not get my first check until August 1st. This means Sam is going to have to take a loan from the Sutherland Credit Union.

Some of you noticed my recent post about the hippies at the Saturday Market in Eugene sparked a little debate. For those who know me, know I love a good debate. Sometimes I pick an opposite side just so I can start a rousing arguement, you know, just for fun. You also more then likely know that changing the mind of a Centellas is nearly impossible and only happened one or two times in the history of time. So enjoy the arguements, don't take things personally, and come back for more if you want. We got plenty.

So to change to a new subject... what are you doing this weekend? Me, a trip to Portland to explore the sights and see what's crackalackin over there. I also will now put in a shameless plug for those to mark August 6th (Bolivian Independence Day) in their calenders.

The House Sitter
Well Shelley is back now. We worked together the last few days and she has a little different management style then I am used to, but that is a good cause I need that experience. I am loving the office and working on the recruitment planning with the students. Some highlights from house sitting and work so far...

Saturday night I cooked, it was my first time cooking here. I kinda burned the food (too used to my Foreman Grill) and ruined a pan. I felt kinda bad about that. When Shelley got home I mentioned there was a pan soaking in the sink... and that it had seen better days. She did not seem to mind too much... but either way I owe Shelley (and Herb, her husband) a new pan. I did wash the Audi, which was in desperate need of a good bath. So I pulled a mini-love your car day and cleaned the inside as well. Hope the NX does not get too jealous.

Sunday was an IFC recruitment meeting. Orientation (called IntroDUCKtion) starts in two weeks and they have done little to nothing so far... so in steps Sam. I also have my nickname out here, the former Greek Advisor was a red head named Carly. So of course I am the "new" Carly as the students say, but I remind them that I am just the "Summer Carly" and now the nickname has been born. So if you come out here and hear them call me the "Summer Carly", don't be surprised. I think the guys are disappointed I am not cute like she is, they'll get over it.

Monday after work Herb cooked, and man he is some chef! I can't even list everything he made. Deviled eggs, roasted pork, sausage, teriyaki chicken, vegetables, lettuce wedge, cubed cheese (not sure why but cheese in cubes just tastes better), and tons of other stuff. It was a feast... best meal I have had in a long time. We got leftovers today for lunch and I am wondering what he will whip up today...

Got more meetings today. Meeting with the Panhel pres to go over GEORGE. That is what they call the master recruitment schedule. The thing is crazy, they have the week of formal recruitment planned to the minute. They have travel time to the Rho Gammas hotel, walking distance between houses timed, recruitment for the women here is an exact science. A little scary... and then today at 5 pm I meet with IFC. Their recruitment is let's say... not an exact science. The IFC actually plans very little at all, and there is nothing formal set up. This fall that will all change. It sucks that I will not be around to see the fruits of my labor, but I am excited to help them develop something new.

Another cool term from here is something they call the Greek Grid. During the Week of Welcome (WOW) they do the grid. that means for the high traffic times of the day fraternities and sororities are paired up and assigned parts of campus to "hangout" in wearing letters. This way students see Greeks all over the place. It creates the illusion to freshmen that Greeks are everywhere (Greeks are 10% of campus). A very cool idea, and I get to help plan the strategy for this fall. So I got my generals hat on... planning the attack grid.

I am trying to book my flight into Michigan for my Albion interview right now. Man flights from here are expensive! Good thing Albion is paying me back for the flight. Either way, I will be in town the weekend of July 16th, so hopefully I will run into some of you.

Hippie Fest
For those who did not know... Eugene is a hippie meca. On campus there is always some protest going on (only like three people there... but a protest none-the-less) and bums all over who don't believe in "work" for some reason. So I'm supposed to give them some of the money I "worked" to earn. Yeah right.

The students in the office are a lot of fun, and it is summer so there are not many people around, but those who are around are the committed ones. So it makes it more fun to work with them. I am going to love working here for the summer.

So the weather is perfect here, and no it is not raining. Everyone thinks it rains here all the time. Actually the summers are very mild and dry. It is like 70-80 everyday and a blend of soft clouds and breeze keeps it a great temperature to hangout and relax under.

Saturday was chill day. I started with lunch with Audra (the office coordinator) and her family. Her son is 24 and just started law school so that was cool to chat with him about the local attractions. We had some money Mexican food and then went to one of the posh shopping districts. Very nice, and they had a Coldstone Creamery, Becky I know you love that place. Then I headed on my own to the Eugene Saturday Market (AKA Hippie Fest). The arts and crafts were great and the smells from the food booths was making me drool... then the shirtless men, bums, hemp, women with hairy armpits, bob markley stickers, and people trying to get me to sign petitions ruined it for me. It was interesting to see the people though.

Hemp Fest is coming soon... no hippie town is complete without someone wanting to legalize the whacky tabacky.

Tie-Dye everything... even bras. And here I thought hippie chicks did not wear bras.

Every corner had their little band playing trying to make a little loot.

Where ever there was a band... there was a tribe of hippies lying around.. "being free."

Of course free range organic vegetables...

These peppers looked good...

On each corner was someone trying to get people to sign a petition for something. Grassroots at its finest.

This guy's sign said, "Too Honest to Steal, Too Lazy to Work." Well I was to lazy to bend over and give his lazy butt some change.

This guy is famous for selling Frog Joke Books. I should pick one up one of these days, he is on campus everyday.

In the main tent there was a little band... and of course a crazy hippie dancer. Reminded me of Zach J. at a Nepenthe Show... Remember Andy?

One of the most common sites for me... laptop, cell phone and coffee drink at the Indigo District Coffee House. Gotta love free wireless.

It was a nice day... I rolled around with the top down... getting a tan.

Besides driving around and hanging out at my new wireless cafe I have been watching a lot of movies and working on websites. They have the super duper cable package at Shelley's place so I been watching that. I also updated my chapter website... check it out...
WMU Betas
Sign the guestbook for me. I like to know who visits the site. Tomorrow I am meeting with the IFC Recruitment chairs and starting one of my big summer projects... to build an IFC Forma Recruitment process...

The Crib
Well I am here... I posted last night a little about the trip and some info about my misadventures. Today I wanted to post about where I am and what I am doing. Well here is the deal.

I am currently living with Shelley (my boss) who is out of town. Her house sitter let me in and I set up in the guest room. I am now the house sitter and will be until Shelley gets back late next week and I hear about my place being ready. Shelley left me notes all over the house on how to do everything. I am still finding some of the post-it notes.

The kitchen had the most post-it notes.

Details directions for plant care.

House/car keys and more directions.

Even furniture had notes on it.

The cats toys... and many more notes.

The Drop Top Audi...

Once I settled I took a drive around the city. The Audi handled better then I imagined it would, and I can't wait to take the top off one of these days! I picked up some items from the store and then headed to bed.

Today was my first day in the office. I got here a little before 8 am and got settled after a quick tour of the Union and off to work. I am proofing a ton of brochures right now, they have the best literature here for information. Great stuff! I will be mostly working with IFC and Panhel recruitment for the fall while I am here. It feels wierd to be a Duck... maybe I will go and pick up a U of O sweat shirt today... better wait until I get paid, still broke.

More Adventures
The trip to Seattle was an adventure. Walking miles to find internet, seeing weird people in the airport, and getting stuck in the middle seat between two large people. Ah... traveling, what fun.

In Seattle I got picked up by a fraternity Brother, Anthony "Dough", I have known for a long time. It was great he even looked up train and bus prices for getting to Eugene. He drove me around the city and then we got some Korean food. Seattle is great and I am sure I will have some adventures here this summer.

Then Dough swung me by the Beta crib here. Carlos and Jacob where there and we hung out, we ended up hanging out at PhillyPhil's with a Brother from Miami(OH). We had some Heffenweizen and exchanged old Beta stories all night which was funny... Then they drove me around the city a little more and showed me the Freemont Troll.

Ian, Jacob, PhillyPhil and Carlos.

Had to take a pic of the Space Needle.

Some of the Bros on the Freemont Troll

Me in front of the Troll... it was huge.

Wednesday morning got up and Carlos, Ian and I headed to the bus station. Before leaving Carlos' new roommate showed up, they are excited to have a cute girl moving in. She asked about Eugene and I was telling her how hippy it was out here... you know... granola and sandals all the time. Then she said, "I know what you mean, I'm from Olypia, they have this old school there, and they never fix the old buildings.." Ian and I looked at eachother... I looked at her and smiled, thinking to myself... good thing you are cute, cause you got nothing else going for ya... what does old buildings have to do with hippies?

The bus is always an adventure... and 6.5 hours later I was in Eugene. We had one nice stop... Portland. It was a great drive and that city seems really cool. For sure a weekend visit there is in order.

The Union Station was an awesome old building.

The cities here are so green and surrounded with mountains and trees.

I got to Shelley's house and got the house tour. Very nice... and she left the keys to the Audi convertible for me to use until she gets back next week... yeah! Let the adventure begin....

Surprises and Adventures
So the Epsilon Chapter of Sigma Lambda Beta has two new members. On Friday night at 10:20:56 PM the Nu Line crossed. Steve and Raul are now El Padre and La Razon and their proud ship name is NUVISION. Congrats to the Neos and like all Brothers say... "The Hard Work Begins Now."

This was a very exciting line because Steve is Gary's little Brother in two ways, they are blood Brothers and now he is his little Brother in the Fraternity. It is very prideful for me because Gary is my little Brother making Steve part of my family tree. These two guys will be amazing additions to the Beta family at WMU and I expect great things to come.

The night was great, from GVSU came Maximo, Santiago, Sunil and of course Hermen. Ramon came and represented for Zeta and Junior from MSU came. Of course WMU diehar, Reymall came out and Vic as well. Rudy and Ish did a good job making everything successful. Good work everyone. We ended the night with a trip to Denny's after clubbing it up at Cheek to Cheek (the only under21 club on Fridays). Many hilarious stories.... Vic and his stain... Max not allowed to enter with his sleeveless cowboy shirt... Raul getting gamed on by the hot chicks at Denny's (no seriouslly, they were hot)... the old Asian hottie... and the clothes donations.

Steve and Raul... the proud Neos.

The Epsilon Nu Line: N.U.V.I.S.I.O.N.

Steve and my deuce Vic.

The Proud ME posing with his Neos.

The GVSU gang rolled up: Hermen, Santi, Sunil and Max. Big Ups from the Epsilon Chapter to GVSU for their support.

Anyone who knows me really well... will know why this picture of us ready for the club is funny.

Saturday morning we got up, had a quick meeting with the guys since I am missing the full chapter retreat, ate some more Big Burrito... and then Hermen and I rolled to Chicago. Novalí was a little cranky when we got there so we hung out a little and Hermen went back. Thanks a ton for the ride Bro, good looking out. After a short nap Novalí was back to her normal funny self and she was asking where Hermen went.

Saturday was the Puerto Parade so Novalí had her flags.

Novalí must keep Kraft in business with her Mac and Cheese addiction.

She loves to take pictures... tells you to say Cheese and everything.

Always the Diva... with her purple purse and twirling her hair.

Sunday was fathers day, Novalí made me a sweet little card with her hand prints in it, best card (and only) I got for fathers day. It was nice to have a few fraternity Brothers and friends called and congratulated me as well. Thanks. Sunday was also the Puerto Rican Festival. The famous Tito Rojas was playing and Tamara's mom did not want to miss it. So I went with her and Novalí while Tamara went to work. It was a lot of fun and great to see that many Latinos out and having great food, games, and Caribbean music. I ate three cups of Coco Ice Cream, some sweet lechon, arroz, chicharon, and of course tostones.

She woke me up at 8am and we played.

Then it was bath time before getting ready.

Her hair is so curly when wet.

It is finally starting to get long also.

All dressed and ready to hit the road.

In the stroller entering Humbolt Park.

There were all kinds of games and of course Novi wanted to ride the courosel.

Puerto Ricans put flags designs on everything, or just plain out wear the flag.

Novi and Abuela waiting for the bands.

I love Coco Ice Cream... I need to buy a machine.

Food, food, food... Atkins can wait until I am not near Puerto Rican food.

She sat on my shoulders to be able to see the bands. She loved the stage dancers and danced all over.

I took some great video clips as well and put together a little clip of her dancing. You can tell Novalí is part Puerto Rican cause any time a little Salsa comes on she gets to dancing. Check her out:

VIDEOS: Small Size (.6 Meg) | Large Size (3 Meg)
Right click to download videos. Small size only recommend for Dial-Up users.

Monday morning we watched Dora the Explorer and then hangout all day. Then Tuesday was the adventure....

I got up and headed to O'Hare Airport. I got there barely on time for my flight and rushed to find the ticket counter for ATA.... but there was none. I looked all over, terminal after terminal... no ATA. So I asked someone that worked there... "There is no ATA here sir" was the reply I got. I check my ticket, and sure enough.... I was supposed to be at Midway. So I hoped back on the CTA Train and headed to Midway. It was about an hour long train ride and I arrived. The lady there at the counter laughed when I said I was a little late for my flight. I managed to get a stand by flight... for five hours later. What to do... what to do... what to do...

I bummed for a while and made some calls. Talked to my mom and found out she is in the hospital with more shoulder pain... I cheered her up with my funny airport story. Then I decided I needed to find internet... so my last reserve was to call 1-800-STARBUCKS... and it worked. There was a shop about 10 blocks away with internet... so I took to the streets... and the adventures of Sam continue...

To Do List
Since I found out I was leaving my list has been insane. I have so many things to get done and not enough time. I did a get few major things done yesterday. Clean out my desk - Check. Last trip to Club Soda - Check. See my little Brother - Check. Wash clothes - Check.

So lets recap what happened. Well I cleaned out my desk. It was more work then I thought. I saved a lot of thank you cards and little things and it was nice to see them before I put them away and won't see them again until I retire or something. Fun memories of the Kirkhoff Center and now on to a new life...

I started just throwing things everywhere. I was the grad who always had too much crap.

My pile of free shirts, awards, and name tags from the million events.

My Connect Four... Becky and I would play rounds between Thesis stress... I think it is the only thing that kept us sane.

I made nice binders for the new grad, cleaned the desk top and it is good as new...

Then it was off to Kalamazoo for Latin Night at Club Soda. It is a well known fact that the Betas started Latin night there back in 1998. Now it has become one of the prime cultural spots in Kalamazoo. We never dreamed it would get this big, our little baby is all grown up. This time Andres and Saloumeh also came which was great. Check it out.

The Betas...Ish, Ramon, Rudy, Me, Hermen and Ramiro came out.

The Gamma that you can always count on to chill, Colleen with Rudy and Ramon.

The place gets packed week after week. I remember when we started it some nights we would be lucky to get 50 people.

Andres, Saloumeh and I. Andres finally got a taste of the club soda action. I think he will back for more.

Everyone danced and had a sweet time.

They were the dancing machine couple on the dance floor.

The ladies breaking it down.

We out! Lets find some grub.

I have not had a Big Burrito night in a long time. So I talked the gang into going. Hermen of course was right there voting with me for some Big B! So we went and got some grub. I know... I know... not Atkins friendly... but I will have plenty of time for Atkins while living in Oregon.

Hermen and I were like kids in a candy store.

Ramon and Hermen... The age old question...I think my burrito is bigger then yours...

What a night! I wish I had more time to chill before leaving. This was a sudden move and I know I will be back soon.... Oh yeah... email from Albion today. They want to schedule my on campus visit already, I don't think they even got my packet in the mail yet. Looks like I will be in Michigan the week of July 14th for an interview...