I'm Yours

So 7 March has come and gone and while I may not have Abby's feet on my lap, I do have my feet in the door. I scored a three-day gig with Dancing With the Stars. Not too shabby.

Also, I applied for a wicked cool job based out of NYC, which of course is the place dreams are made of.

Finally, I'm 20 pounds lighter than I was when I wrote that last entry. Only four pounds away from my goal weight for when Abby comes up for a visit, which is less than three weeks away. Looks like I'll be even lighter than I hoped. Sweetness.

I am now off to enjoy this beautiful, almost 60-degree weather we're having.

Bon vivant

Wonderwall

On 7 January, I sat on the couch in our living room with Abby's feet on my lap. I wonder where I'll be on 7 March and what I'll be doing. I can't imagine it'll be more satisfying than the previously described moment. Regardless, I hope the next 30 days are more positive than the 30 that have just passed.

As for an update, haven't heard back from my interview. I have applied to several more jobs and expanded my search to include New York, Pittsburgh, LA, and Atlanta. Oh, and Germany. On Tuesday I'll be able to get my fingerprints done, pick up my transcripts, and get my other W2. Hopefully I can get my taxes filed and get that refund ASAP. I think I'll continue expanding my search.

Dominoes

My goal, right now, is to get a job and an apartment in the DC area. I've applied for several, and they all look like they'd be a good fit for me. One of them actually helped me realize that I had been leaving things off of my resume that could be valuable. My hope is to get one of these jobs, move down there, and get to work. Once I'm caught up with my student loan payments and settled, there are a few workshops and "boot camps" led by different media companies. The one I'm interested in is with the Travel Channel. What better way to build connections for the travel show I want to do than to actually train with the Travel Channel? Should I find myself with a free weekday, I'd look into subbing there, as I really want to find out if I would be a good teacher.

Should I not get hired there, the process for subbing here is moving along. I get fingerprinted on Tuesday and I'll have to schedule a physical for next week as well. While I have yet to hear back from anyone else around here, it is good to know I'll at least have something. Regardless, DC is my main focus.

In other random news, the final season of LOST started a couple of days ago. It was mind-blowing, as usual. Last night I finally got to PYT at the Piazza with Buddy, Mary, Roberta, Adam, and Alyssa. It was a pretty good time. They have bingo there in which the prizes are burgers, beer, and other food. Sweet deal.

Despite the moderately busy couple of days I've had, I still miss Abby. Being apart this time has been more difficult than I had expected. I hope we figure out a way to be closer together this summer. I miss my best friend.

Those are my thoughts for now. There's a blizzard coming, which will likely mean an extra dose of cabin fever for me this weekend. Times like these make me wish I had friends in NYC, DC, or Boston that I could stay with for a weekend or something. All of my friends either are in Philly or hundreds of miles away. I need to work on the area in between. Well, wish me luck with DC and have a lovely day. I'm off to download "Sound of Da Police."

Everlong

Because I have yet to, and likely will not, express it vocally, I just would like to say that the past few weeks have been among the worst in my life. That being said, I believe I made somewhat decent strides towards amending that today. I also take a small amount of solace in the belief that a lesser person would have long since cracked under similar circumstances. Hopefully, having now expressed this here, I can rein in my wandering mind and focus on the letter of intent I am trying to write.

State of the Union

Last night President Obama delivered his first State of the Union address (1). With the constant, 24-hour "news" cycle we have in our country, most of us are quite aware of the state of our union. That being said, President Obama laid out a bunch of ideas to try and fix things while maintaining a firm tone with his opposition, and at times with his constituents. On that note, it was refreshing to hear a Democrat with a back bone. As far is the issues go, there are quite a few that I hope come to pass.

The first issue is one I was hoping would be mentioned, and it actually received much more attention than I expected. I'm referring to the rising cost of a college education, which the President spoke about here:

To make college more affordable, this bill will finally end the unwarranted taxpayer-subsidies that go to banks for student loans. Instead, let’s take that money and give families a $10,000 tax credit for four years of college and increase Pell Grants. And let’s tell another one million students that when they graduate, they will be required to pay only ten percent of their income on student loans, and all of their debt will be forgiven after twenty years – and forgiven after ten years if they choose a career in public service. Because in the United States of America, no one should go broke because they chose to go to college. And it’s time for colleges and universities to get serious about cutting their own costs – because they too have a responsibility to help solve this problem.

I am of the opinion that this would help students and their families out tremendously. I do not claim to be a financial expert, so I will refer only to my situation, as that is what I am familiar with. As it stands now, I owe $78,162. I began college in January 2003. I received my first (and only) Pell Grant for the Fall semester of 2008, for a total of $2291. The other eight semesters during which I was a full-time student, I received nothing. Even if Pell Grants were increased to the point where I received $500 per semester, that would still knock $4000 off of my debt. With the $10,000 tax credit, I'm not entirely sure how that would work. I paid for college, not my family. Would I see that tax credit or would they? Because I am not sure, we'll say I would've gotten half of that number, taking another $5000 off of my final debt. President Obama also mentioned that schools should cut back on spending, in examples I can relate to, perhaps Rowan shouldn't have entered a legal/bidding war with Walmart over who got to annex farmland. Maybe Temple shouldn't be spending a million dollars per year to use Lincoln Financial Field for their under-attended football games (2). With these cutbacks, let us assume I would have saved another $1000 over the course of my college career. All in all, that's $10,000 saved making my debt $68,162.

Now let's examine the other part of this selection. The President says debt would be forgiven in 20 years, 10 years if the graduate enters public service. My current repayment plan has my debt forgiven in 25 years. Taking that five years off at the end would save me $16,020. Should I become a teacher, as I have considered on and off since high school, the loan forgiveness after ten years would save me $46,800. With these ideas enacted, my debt would end up somewhere between $21,362 and $52,142, a savings of between $56,800 and $26,020. This is without factoring in that my payments would only amount to ten percent of my income, meaning I would have only paid $1300 in overall payments last year. Instead, with our current situation, I paid that much in interest alone last year. This money saved could be money in the hands of young professionals who could stimulate the economy by buying new cars, getting their first house, or contributing to their local bar scene. Even small business wins with this one! All kidding aside, with these steps enacted, the future of our country could start their lives off with a sense of hope and financial security instead of somebody like me, who has under $30 between his wallet and two bank accounts, has moved back in with his parents, and is jobless. It's like Dolly's past and future husbands both said, "Money, pardon the expression, is like manure. It's not worth a thing unless it's spread around encouraging young things to grow (3)."

I spent more time than anticipated on that subject, so I'm going to have to cut it short and resume my job hunt. Perhaps I'll go into more detail later, but until thin I have this to say: Health care must be reformed. Not because I have a sense of entitlement, not because anyone owes us anything, but because the current system is an abysmal failure and it is simply inhumane to have the means to treat the ill and injured only to turn them away for financial reasons. What does it say about our system as it stands now when Abby and I each have our own health insurance, but avoid going to the doctor as much as possible due to expense? What does it say about our system that my monthly payment is roughly $80, I pay $30 or $40 for each visit, yet I still have nearly $900 in unpaid medical bills for about one hour of that doctor's time over the course of three visits? Something needs to be done.

I have seen some feedback to this speech, and from the right, it is very defensive. Republicans feel as though they were attacked. Well, I happen to disagree. I find that President Obama was at times firm with both sides of the aisle, and managed to find some time for light-hearted joking with both sides as well. I think it is a dangerous double standard for the right wing to try and play the victim here. For years I was called a traitor, unpatriotic, and numerous four lettered things for sharing my liberal opinions. I didn't cry about it, I just continued to defend my position. So, Republicans, don't get upset because the President isn't as nice as you want him to be. Stop campaigning, and do your damn job. As for the Democrats, get off of your asses and get some work done! I want our elected officials to be aggressive in attacking our nation's problems, not courting businesses to line their pockets in hopes of winning the next election.

Finally, because I really do need to stop, transparency. In my opinion, the reason our government is prone to convoluted gridlock and confusion is the manner in which bills, orders, etc. are presented. I propose that any bill, order, etc. be limited to 20 pages. It should consist of an outline, a preamble that establishes the clear goal of the bill, an outline of the steps to take and money to be spent, a ledger detailing where this money will come from, and a brief essay describing how it will help the citizens of our nation. The document would be posted in full on a website, making it accessible for anyone to read. The bill could be debated so long as minutes from the debate and any changes, additions, or subtractions included are listed on the website. This would take away the all to common instance of bills not being read by the people we elected to vote on them.

That's all for now, it's time to practice what I preach, and get back to work. I have a one-inch stack of paperwork to get through in order to start substitute teaching, and I'm sure there are a handful of jobs left I haven't yet applied to. Have a snazzy day!

1. State of the Union Address
   
2. Philly News Archives
3. Hello, Dolly!
   

Ay Diablo

Well, it has been an interesting handful of weeks. I'm back in New Jersey, living with my parents, and somewhat desperately searching for jobs. I was expecting to go back to work at the museum, but that did not quite pan out as I had expected. In the past year, I have put out nearly 100 applications/resumes, and I've had three interviews out of all of them. Yikes.

In one of my previous updates, I wrote about saving money here in order to have a bit of savings stowed away for the next place Abby and I end up. A few things have set that back a bit. One is the realization of how much I truly owe. Thanks mainly to my poor financial habits while attending Temple, I am officially $78,162 in the hole. If I were to make a payment of $1000 every month from here on out, I'll be done paying for it when I'm 40. With that information now in front of me, I have to reevaluate some goals and plans. Another issue is the job hunt. I've only been called for one interview since coming back up here and that worries me. There was also the little hiccup with identity theft, but that's been about 80% taken care of. On top of that, my phone broke, so the limited contact I had with Abby dwindled even more. It has been difficult to try and stay positive in light of these events of the past two weeks, but I am trying.

On the plus side, I'm starting the process to become a substitute teacher. Granted, the process will cost me roughly $250, but my parents said that they'd assist with that. This is good on a number of levels. First and foremost, it's a job and a paycheck. Sub jobs around here range from $75-100 per day. Secondly, I see it as a test. If I like it, I can pursue teaching as a possible career. There are a few programs around here in which I could obtain a Master's degree in education should I so desire. Finally, it will give me somewhat of a better idea of what Abby puts up with on a daily basis.

In the meantime, I've been spending a lot of time on this chair staring into space. There's only so many jobs out there, and I've applied to most of them. I haven't really had the money to go see any friends since I've been back in the area. I went to one lunch meeting with a few Temple grads in hopes of getting a documentary project off the ground, but I feel that the meeting just pushed it farther down into said ground. It's frustrating being here with nothing to do, and even more so to know that Abby has a new crowd to hang out with that I just missed out on. I'm really hoping to get together with friends soon because I think I could use a good conversation over a couple of drinks.

In other news, I recently posted a to-do list for the year on Facebook, which I think I'll elaborate on a bit.

1. Make (at least) one film/movie. (Documentary is currently being planned.)
-I want to shoot a documentary on the district musical. While things initially looked to be going well, interest in the project has been somewhat dismal since. I still have hope for it.
2. Visit Canada. I have no excuse for not having gone yet.
-CJ mentioned having a relative near Toronto. As soon as I can justify spending the money, I want to drive up.
3. Get back into a work out routine. Break's over.
-I have been seriously slacking. I need motivation.
4. Hang out with a Disney person. Been too long.
-I've spent a lot of money I didn't have on this in the past, which led to a significant portion of the aforementioned debt. In fact, I figure about $3000 of that debt was spent visiting CP friends and Abby. I don't regret it, but that doesn't mean that it was a smart move on my part.
5. Check out this Piazza I've heard so much about. Where was this when I lived in that area?
-Why do I feel like cool things happen once I leave? I'm looking forward to checking this out, especially after seeing Timmy's Clam Bake.
6. Save money. Priority wise, this is numero uno.
-I've actually done incredibly well stretching the little money I have, but I did have help. We'll see how this goes after I get hired somewhere.
7. Stick with my photo project. (I lasted 345/365 days last time.)
-Just over three weeks in and still going strong. I need to get a bit more creative with it, but so far, so good.
8. Run in a race. Perhaps a 5K?
-Before moving up here, I wanted to run in the 5K in MB. I'm sure I can find one here to run. I want to do this in Spring.
9. Try not to go insane when LOST ends. This is a legitimate worry.
-I just re-watched last season's finale. Out of the eleven items on this list, this is the one I have the least confidence in. I simply cannot fathom how they will end this story.
10. Get Abby out of the South and get a new place.
-I was worried that I would begin to get comfortable there and just accept it for what it was. I hope Abby doesn't get to that point, because I think she would thrive in an environment more conducive to her personality and style.
11. Try as many new things as possible.
-Well, I can't think of anything I've done in the first 26 days of this year that would count for this.

Well, this has been a downer and if anyone actually read it, I apologize. I really hope I get to chat with friends this week, get some things off of my chest, and some beer in my mouth. I would like to end on a happy note and say that the Wittwer family is currently in the process of getting a dog. It's about time!!

Buffin'

Before I delve too far into this topic, allow me to first describe what "buffin" is. Growing up, I always enjoyed spending time with my Grandpop. Grandpop was a self-described trolley-buff, and spent much of his free time collecting any type of transit memorabilia he could get his hands on. Included in this hobby was riding the mass transit systems of cities he visited while photographing and documenting the vehicles he saw and rode. This affinity for trains, trolleys, and buses came from experiences as a child riding the 47 trolley from his school in North Philadelphia to visit his grandmother in South Philadelphia. Over time, Grandpop began to refer to these photo excursions as buffin, a term I was not aware he made up until my twenties. As I grew up I was one of the few who never tired of going on these day trips with Grandpop, and I have come to enjoy a few such trips on my own in the past couple of years.

My focus today is to document an ideal buffin' trip throughout the main part of Philadelphia. The trip I have planned was originally intended to start from my old apartment in South Philadelphia. This trip will be low in cost, and cover as many modes of transportation as possible. The only major modes left out are the 101 and 102 Suburban trolley lines, the Norristown line, and the PATCO line to New Jersey, all of which take the rider outside of Philly's limits. This trip will remain within the city.

Before embarking on a buffin' trip, a local transit map such as this SEPTA one is key to have handy. This is especially key for cities that are rail-heavy, such as New York City or Washington, DC. In the case of this particular trip, this map only covers a portion of the routes that will be used. Nevertheless, the map is always a helpful tool, and if you happen to be as into this type of thing as I am, check out the book Transit Maps of the World. In it you will find every metro map the world has to offer. It's a handy guide to not only getting around the cities, but how to read the maps and other interesting facts.

As previously stated, this is a relatively cheap trip. A one way fare for SEPTA is $2, with transfers costing an additional $.60. An ideal way to pay for this trip is to have a pocketful of quarters, dimes, and SEPTA tokens. A ten-pack of tokens will cost you $14.50, which gives you more than enough to get around and lowers your price per fare by $.55.

The trip begins with the Broad Street Subway. The Tasker-Morris station was a short walk from my apartment, making it a good starting point. At the station, go to the window with one token and sixty cents to get your transfer. Then catch the next train heading North.

At the City Hall station, which is the fourth stop following Tasker-Morris, you will transfer to the Market-Frankford line, or the El. Follow the blue signs to get to the El's Eastbound platform (towards Frankford Transportation Center). This is a free transfer, so you won't need to use your transfer or another token so long as you remain in the station.

Your journey on the El will keep you underground for awhile, before coming up between the 2nd Street and Spring Garden Street stops. From then on, you're on the elevated tracks going through the trendy neighborhoods of Fishtown and Northern Liberties before turning and heading through the Lower Northeast. In the interest of keeping things simple, I'm going to trim a bit from this portion of your excursion and have you disembark at the Girard Avenue stop, which will be the second above-ground stop.

From this station, head downstairs and look for the trolley stop in the middle of Girard (See photo). Give the trolley operator your transfer and you are good to go. In 2005, SEPTA brought trolleys back to this route, which had previously been serviced by buses. As a nod to their history, they restored some old PCC cars like the one seen on the left to service this route. For trolley buffs, this is a fun route to ride for a trip down memory lane. For everyone else, a stop across the street from the Philadelphia Zoo doesn't hurt.

Unfortunately, this trip doesn't include a zoo visit. Instead, in the interest in using as many vehicles as possible, you'll get off of the trolley at 19th Street where you will wait for the route 33 bus, with another token and sixty cents in hand. The main reasoning behind taking the 33 over other buses in the area is its design. The 33 is a heavily used route, and therefore has a special extended bus that many refer to as a "slinky bus" in reference the the accordion-like connection between the front and rear of the vehicle.

The 33 will take you past the Free Library, Franklin Institute, and Moore College of Art before bringing you back into Center City along Market Street. As you cross the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, take a look to your right to get a look at the Art Museum. Shortly after passing the Franklin Institute, you'll get off of the bus at Market Street. From here you will see City Hall to your left and Amtrak's 30th Street Station to your right. Begin walking towards 30th Street until you reach 22nd Street. Here you will see a stop for the Subway-Surface trolley line. Head downstairs and turn in your transfer for a quick ride to City Hall. Once at City Hall, follow the orange signs for the Broad Street Subway Southbound for a free transfer back to the subway that will take you back to our starting point at Tasker-Morris.

Throughout the trip, you will have several opportunities to snap photos on train and trolley platforms or while waiting for your bus to arrive. You also always have the option to get off whichever route you are on to do a little sightseeing, although it will add to the cost of your trip. An especially good place to do this is along Market Street. Should you get off of the El at 5th Street and walk down to get back on at 2nd Street, not only will you have a whole host of buses to photograph, but your walk will highlight some of the best parts of historic Philadelphia (Old City) including the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall.

As you may have guessed, this trip could take quite a bit of time, and I would advise starting around 10am, after the morning rush. This should leave you plenty of time to finish your trip before the evening rush. I hope to post more blogs of this nature both in Philly and other cities, and I hope you enjoy your trip!