Chris DeFlumeri

44 posts

We're fine. We're all fine here, now, thank you. How are you?

Man, it's been two months since I last wrote something here. Two months! But hey, I'm here now, with all the boring news and hot takes you've come to crave from this journal-which-is-also-a-public-facing-website. And so much has happened! I started my new job, I got engaged, I went to the west coast for the first time, civil order and decency has continued to unravel nationwide. But hey, let's ignore that last thing for a bit, and concentrate on the first three. No time for sad sack bullshit t »

I've Driven Stick For Four Days Now

It's been 4 days since I picked up, if not bought, my Ford Focus GT, and it's been an eventful 4 days if nothing else. The first day was just a series of terrifying and jerky starts and stops as I attempted to navigate my way around the area without a) killing anyone and b) pissing anyone off. I succeeded at the former, flipped off a couple people while failing at the latter, but overall I was just a big ball of stress. I was filled with a lot of doubt. Was this the right choice? »

Picked Up My New (Used) Car Today

So last week, I ended up buying a car. This is what I used to drive: I love you, old car. (Quint singing "Spanish ladies") It's a great car, easily the most comfortable and performant car I've ever owned. So why buy a different car? Do I have two cars now? The answer is no, I traded this car for this: A Ford hatchback? Really? Yes! Specifically, a 2013 Ford Focus ST. I've been meaning to get a car for a while, specifically a car with a manual transmission, not an automatic. »

I Went For A Run Today

I'm now on day 3 of my month of not working, and I've started to make progress towards the (reasonable, attainable) goals I've sort of defined for myself before going back to work. One major one I accomplished late last week was purchasing a new (used) car! I'll write more about that when I actually get it, since there was some paint damage I negotiated the dealer fix before I'd agree to buy, but suffice to say it's a fun little 6 speed stick shift that should be »

We're Putting The Band Back Together

A lot of decisions are hard. In general, the larger their impact on your life, the harder they are to make. Thinking about some of the most important and difficult decisions you might have to make, some obvious ones come to mind. Getting married, buying a house, having a child, moving to a different region or country. One that I think often goes overlooked is deciding to find a new job, and shortly following that is deciding where you want to work. You're making the choice to forgo the relative »

The Sun Is Great

Winters are generally a pretty tough time for me, and this last one was no exception. I really love New England, and all the varied people and climates that we get to experience here, but as I've gotten older I've really come to hate Winter. Me, all Winter It's cold, everything is dark, there's too much food, most of it isn't as good as food in other seasons (fight me). When you throw SAD [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seasonal_affective_disorder] into the mix, it's a recipe »

We're Definitely Home

In case there was any chance we were mistaken, today it's definitely Spring In New England. Cloudy, rainy, miserable, and everything looks dead! There's no place like home Still, it is great to be back. We've been away since the 23rd of March (with a brief 24ish hour stopover here), and we're exhausted. The cat is absolutely ecstatic that we're back, and she won't leave me alone. Yesterday/last night, we had to put up with endless meowing and running around, which has now given way to her »

All Good Trips Must End

After our two bonus days in Iceland, we departed Keflavik around 3:30 PM GMT for Boston, and got back at 5:30 EDT. It feels like it's about 10 PM right now, but our internal clocks are so screwed up due to staying up too late, time zone differences, etc, that it doesn't really matter. We were SUPER PUMPED to see the cat, and she was absolutely thrilled to see us! I think she was a little more excited than usual, though it's hard to tell with her, since she resorted to her »

It's Pretty When The Sun Comes Out

Katie and I drove back to Reykjavik today, about a 9 hour trip. Normally it'd take about 5 hours, but once again we started the day with rain, snow, and sleet. This was a bit depressing, because despite how beautiful everything has been, we were hoping to see Iceland with some color! Nevertheless, we set out on the long drive with the intention of seeing some fun tourist sites, because even though the weather was bad, it wasn't the death ice hurricane of Friday. Unfortunately, our course took us »

Hot Tubs Are Pretty Great

After arriving in Siglufjörður last night around 9:30, eating dinner, and going to bed, we were looking forward to a day of doing basically nothing. That plan actually went pretty well! Katie got up first, around 10:30 AM, and I heard her gasp when she opened the curtains to our room. The view is incredible. Turns out that when it's not a blinding rainstorm, we're surrounded on all sides by icy water and gorgeous mountains. It was a hell of a way to get up on a Saturday, and made us eager to get »