Three Hundred Forty-Third Entry
Amy and I and six of our closest bestest friends went out for froyo at Yogofina and it was hella good. How good...HELLA GOOD!!
They have a huge wall of toppings and about twelve different yogurt flavors to choose from. I had strawberry and blueberry yogurt with fresh blueberries, sliced almonds and mini fudge stripe cookies as toppings. It was delicious.
I made a little boat out of a yogurt cup, spoon and napkin. I should have taken a photo, but didn't. Food art is something I enjoy and do often. I should document my pieces more often.
Tomorrow Amy and I are trying a new church out. It's the one across the street from Fenton's on Piedmont Ave in Oakland. St. Mark's or Leo's or something...we'll find out when we get there.
12.17.2009
Three Hundred Forty-Second Entry
Well, it's finally happened. I got a damn job.
And not just any job. I will be the newest member of the Lea & Braze Engineering staff. Sound familiar? It should. That's because that is the place I left to go work in the solar industry. They have had a huge back log of work building up in the last few months. And since there are only 24 hours in a day, they decided to ask me to rejoin the team and give them a hand. I am taking a huge paycut from when I worked there previously, but a large raise from my unemployment check. However, everyone at the company is working at 10-25% less than their highest wage due to the economy. The company is just scraping by, and appears to be on the upswing. Hopefully I can help.
While I am grateful to have a job, I was a little disappointed in the paycut. But everyone at L&B has taken a paycut. It's interesting because while there is a loyalty to the company and the management, everyone seems pretty pissed that the paycut has lasted this long and are working hard to get company profits turned around. It will be interesting to see what happens when other jobs start opening up...
Everyone seemed happy that I was going to start work there on Monday. I was happy to see that everyone is happy. I'll need to readjust to it, and learn the quirks and idiosyncrasies of the managers again. I am concerned about a possible backlash from people saying that L&B should have reinstated peoples wages and not hire another person. But so far people have poo-poo'ed that and told me that they really need the help. I just hope I won't disappoint anyone!
So, at worst this is a temporary job, and after three or four months, if things don't pick up, I'm outta there. At best, after three or four months the numbers keep improving and everyones wages get reinstated, and I am permanently back on the team.
Oh yeah, and this time around, I get my own office! With a door and windows and everything! I'm sure that's so they can keep an eye on me...
In other news...
Amy and I went to Chez Avery for a delightful meal prepared by the cookers three (Amy, Care and I). We made Aloo Gobi...and I helped! It was really good...and VEGAN! Who knew that vegan food could taste sooo good? I certainly did...not. Just kidding Care. After dinner we watched Accidental Husband. I think it was a straight to video release. It was pretty bad. I think the lead guy in it was Izzy's dead husband or something from Grey's Anatomy. Uma Thurman was in it and was awful. And the casting folks obviously tried to class up this disaster with Colin Firth and Isabella Rossellini. Even Carolyn agreed that the Blockbuster guy that recommended this should be fired. LOL :)
Carina and I are headed down to the Tias tomorrow for a fun-filled "Clay Day". I'm taking the wheel and clay and my tools and stuff and we are going to throw and pinch and coil to our hearts content! It's kind of serendipitous that I scheduled this for Friday. I did so before I even knew they were thinking of asking me to come back to work. LOL. Works out for everyone!
Amy has signed us up for some classes through the Chabot Community Education. I'll be learning guitar and more about my car. Looking forward to it!
A couple of weeks ago, I took my car in to the shop. Turns out that I needed an oil change, a new alternator and a new master cylinder. Arrrggh... Well, they did it all and it cost me a bundle. I was driving it home and it starts squeaking at me! It was Friday night, and I didn't want to go back right then, so I thought I'd drive it during the weekend and see if the noise went away. Alas, it didn't. In fact, it worsened. :( Poop. So I took it back and said hey mothers, this is making noise! They took a look at it and decided to try to charge me $85 to replace the fan belt. Arrrggh... I didn't let them do it. So they put the belt back and as I drove off, the noise stopped! It was quiet for three days. Now its just as loud as before. So, yeah, I'm the one making all that damn noise driving down the street.
My French class is over. Voulez-vous parler francais? No thanks...class is over. It was a very fun class though. I am taking it again next semester. Anyone interested? Unfortunately it is on LOST night. I think I would be getting home just in time to catch the first set of commercials.
I looked up my student loan balance and I'll have that damn thing paid off in the next few months. It's about time too. Stupid loans...
That is all.
Well, it's finally happened. I got a damn job.
And not just any job. I will be the newest member of the Lea & Braze Engineering staff. Sound familiar? It should. That's because that is the place I left to go work in the solar industry. They have had a huge back log of work building up in the last few months. And since there are only 24 hours in a day, they decided to ask me to rejoin the team and give them a hand. I am taking a huge paycut from when I worked there previously, but a large raise from my unemployment check. However, everyone at the company is working at 10-25% less than their highest wage due to the economy. The company is just scraping by, and appears to be on the upswing. Hopefully I can help.
While I am grateful to have a job, I was a little disappointed in the paycut. But everyone at L&B has taken a paycut. It's interesting because while there is a loyalty to the company and the management, everyone seems pretty pissed that the paycut has lasted this long and are working hard to get company profits turned around. It will be interesting to see what happens when other jobs start opening up...
Everyone seemed happy that I was going to start work there on Monday. I was happy to see that everyone is happy. I'll need to readjust to it, and learn the quirks and idiosyncrasies of the managers again. I am concerned about a possible backlash from people saying that L&B should have reinstated peoples wages and not hire another person. But so far people have poo-poo'ed that and told me that they really need the help. I just hope I won't disappoint anyone!
So, at worst this is a temporary job, and after three or four months, if things don't pick up, I'm outta there. At best, after three or four months the numbers keep improving and everyones wages get reinstated, and I am permanently back on the team.
Oh yeah, and this time around, I get my own office! With a door and windows and everything! I'm sure that's so they can keep an eye on me...
In other news...
Amy and I went to Chez Avery for a delightful meal prepared by the cookers three (Amy, Care and I). We made Aloo Gobi...and I helped! It was really good...and VEGAN! Who knew that vegan food could taste sooo good? I certainly did...not. Just kidding Care. After dinner we watched Accidental Husband. I think it was a straight to video release. It was pretty bad. I think the lead guy in it was Izzy's dead husband or something from Grey's Anatomy. Uma Thurman was in it and was awful. And the casting folks obviously tried to class up this disaster with Colin Firth and Isabella Rossellini. Even Carolyn agreed that the Blockbuster guy that recommended this should be fired. LOL :)
Carina and I are headed down to the Tias tomorrow for a fun-filled "Clay Day". I'm taking the wheel and clay and my tools and stuff and we are going to throw and pinch and coil to our hearts content! It's kind of serendipitous that I scheduled this for Friday. I did so before I even knew they were thinking of asking me to come back to work. LOL. Works out for everyone!
Amy has signed us up for some classes through the Chabot Community Education. I'll be learning guitar and more about my car. Looking forward to it!
A couple of weeks ago, I took my car in to the shop. Turns out that I needed an oil change, a new alternator and a new master cylinder. Arrrggh... Well, they did it all and it cost me a bundle. I was driving it home and it starts squeaking at me! It was Friday night, and I didn't want to go back right then, so I thought I'd drive it during the weekend and see if the noise went away. Alas, it didn't. In fact, it worsened. :( Poop. So I took it back and said hey mothers, this is making noise! They took a look at it and decided to try to charge me $85 to replace the fan belt. Arrrggh... I didn't let them do it. So they put the belt back and as I drove off, the noise stopped! It was quiet for three days. Now its just as loud as before. So, yeah, I'm the one making all that damn noise driving down the street.
My French class is over. Voulez-vous parler francais? No thanks...class is over. It was a very fun class though. I am taking it again next semester. Anyone interested? Unfortunately it is on LOST night. I think I would be getting home just in time to catch the first set of commercials.
I looked up my student loan balance and I'll have that damn thing paid off in the next few months. It's about time too. Stupid loans...
That is all.
12.02.2009
Three Hundred Forty-First Entry
Well, the best laid plans...
I went to St. Leanders yesterday to go to mass at 7am. I walked into the church, and they do the weekday masses at the very back of the church! There are like 30 seats and about 10 people at the mass. I immediately got self-conscious and left the church. With just 10 people in the mass, everyone would be able to hear me NOT praying, NOT singing, and see me NOT taking communion. I don't have too much of an issue with everyone seeing me not taking communion, but I was on a roll. I've decided that instead of attending mass everyday this month, I would devote at least half an hour each day to study and memorize all the prayers(namely the doxology, apostles creed and nicene creed) said in mass, memorize all of the responses, and try to memorize the order and structure of the mass. Sounds like a better plan...
I'm excited for this weekend!!
Well, the best laid plans...
I went to St. Leanders yesterday to go to mass at 7am. I walked into the church, and they do the weekday masses at the very back of the church! There are like 30 seats and about 10 people at the mass. I immediately got self-conscious and left the church. With just 10 people in the mass, everyone would be able to hear me NOT praying, NOT singing, and see me NOT taking communion. I don't have too much of an issue with everyone seeing me not taking communion, but I was on a roll. I've decided that instead of attending mass everyday this month, I would devote at least half an hour each day to study and memorize all the prayers(namely the doxology, apostles creed and nicene creed) said in mass, memorize all of the responses, and try to memorize the order and structure of the mass. Sounds like a better plan...
I'm excited for this weekend!!
11.30.2009
Three Hundred Fortieth Entry
It's been a while since I've updated.
No new news on the job front. I had a couple of interviews, but they were a no-go. There are so few jobs available. In fact, there are fewer now than there were when I was first laid off. But there are still a few, and I'll keep applying.
I had a presentation in my French class two weeks ago. I was so nervous and was working on it up to the last minute. There was a snafu with the powerpoint file type, but we got it to work in class. The presentation was to plan a trip to a french speaking country, and visit five cities. We had to research places to stay, eat and visit as well as a little bit about the culture. I picked France (as did half the class) and my cities were Paris, Strasbourg, Lyon, Avignon and Bordeaux. I did a decent job. The best comment I got was about my great pronunciation. They had to say something nice...
My confirmation class is interesting. I like learning about the bible and the catholic religion. I'm finding that I am a bigger believer in God than I thought I was. Now that I am older, I can appreciate the structure and order involved in a catholic mass. What we do in class is read through the readings for the following Sundays mass and discuss the message. It is basically a bible study disguised as a confirmation class. I don't mind. I've attended lots of bible studies and know what it's all about. The folks in the class are all younger than me save for a 60-something guy who looks like he's napping half the class. The priest in charge of the class is about 70 or 75, but is very laid back. He's a good person to be leading the class. He does pick on people to answer questions like "how does this passage make you feel" or something, but an honest answer is never followed by more questions. Plus, there are goodies half way through the class....mmmmm, cookies...
I am enjoying my class so much, that I am going to challenge myself to attend church everyday in December. Starting tomorrow, of course. St. Leanders has a mass at 7am and 12:15pm weekdays. Two chances to go. Yay Jesus!
Congrats to Dayni and Danny!!! Can't wait for Sunday!!!!
I recently took a cake class with Amy. I enjoyed it a lot. It was super fun and delicious! I took photos of all my cakes, and will post them at some point. I was the only guy in the class, so the teacher always made it a point to comment favorably on my work as if she were saying "cake decorating is so easy, even a guy can do it!" She may have even said that at one point in the class. I'm going to make a nice little Christmas cake, complete with basket weaving and roses! I've got to start planning.
Thanksgiving was uneventful and less emotional than last year. I was a baking machine. I made three pecan pies, one pumpkin pie and dozens of Alsacienne cookies that are traditional Christmas cookies in the Alsace region of France, which is where Strasbourg the "capital of Europe" is. I even made Stove Top stuffing and scalloped potatoes from several boxes. I still have some cookie dough left over in the fridge. Maybe I'll make some for Festivist. They were super delicious.
This past Saturday, I spent the day in San Jose with Amy, her sister Katie and her nieces. We had a lot of fun. First (8am), we had blueberry pancakes with sausage and hashbrowns. Then we went swimming in auntie Katie's swimming pool for two hours. The kids could have stayed in the pool all day, but we had big plans for the rest of the day. Then we had a lunch of chicken strips and pasta. After lunch, we lounged around. Some of us napped, some of us took the kids to the park and some of us did some laundry. Can you guess which one I did? I napped! After napping, we all headed over to Christmas in the Park in downtown San Jose. They had one of those carnivals going and the girls went on almost every ride! It was fun watching them on the rides all excited and stuff. The girls were really tired by the end of the day(8pm).
I guess that's it. I'm off to bed. Good night.
It's been a while since I've updated.
No new news on the job front. I had a couple of interviews, but they were a no-go. There are so few jobs available. In fact, there are fewer now than there were when I was first laid off. But there are still a few, and I'll keep applying.
I had a presentation in my French class two weeks ago. I was so nervous and was working on it up to the last minute. There was a snafu with the powerpoint file type, but we got it to work in class. The presentation was to plan a trip to a french speaking country, and visit five cities. We had to research places to stay, eat and visit as well as a little bit about the culture. I picked France (as did half the class) and my cities were Paris, Strasbourg, Lyon, Avignon and Bordeaux. I did a decent job. The best comment I got was about my great pronunciation. They had to say something nice...
My confirmation class is interesting. I like learning about the bible and the catholic religion. I'm finding that I am a bigger believer in God than I thought I was. Now that I am older, I can appreciate the structure and order involved in a catholic mass. What we do in class is read through the readings for the following Sundays mass and discuss the message. It is basically a bible study disguised as a confirmation class. I don't mind. I've attended lots of bible studies and know what it's all about. The folks in the class are all younger than me save for a 60-something guy who looks like he's napping half the class. The priest in charge of the class is about 70 or 75, but is very laid back. He's a good person to be leading the class. He does pick on people to answer questions like "how does this passage make you feel" or something, but an honest answer is never followed by more questions. Plus, there are goodies half way through the class....mmmmm, cookies...
I am enjoying my class so much, that I am going to challenge myself to attend church everyday in December. Starting tomorrow, of course. St. Leanders has a mass at 7am and 12:15pm weekdays. Two chances to go. Yay Jesus!
Congrats to Dayni and Danny!!! Can't wait for Sunday!!!!
I recently took a cake class with Amy. I enjoyed it a lot. It was super fun and delicious! I took photos of all my cakes, and will post them at some point. I was the only guy in the class, so the teacher always made it a point to comment favorably on my work as if she were saying "cake decorating is so easy, even a guy can do it!" She may have even said that at one point in the class. I'm going to make a nice little Christmas cake, complete with basket weaving and roses! I've got to start planning.
Thanksgiving was uneventful and less emotional than last year. I was a baking machine. I made three pecan pies, one pumpkin pie and dozens of Alsacienne cookies that are traditional Christmas cookies in the Alsace region of France, which is where Strasbourg the "capital of Europe" is. I even made Stove Top stuffing and scalloped potatoes from several boxes. I still have some cookie dough left over in the fridge. Maybe I'll make some for Festivist. They were super delicious.
This past Saturday, I spent the day in San Jose with Amy, her sister Katie and her nieces. We had a lot of fun. First (8am), we had blueberry pancakes with sausage and hashbrowns. Then we went swimming in auntie Katie's swimming pool for two hours. The kids could have stayed in the pool all day, but we had big plans for the rest of the day. Then we had a lunch of chicken strips and pasta. After lunch, we lounged around. Some of us napped, some of us took the kids to the park and some of us did some laundry. Can you guess which one I did? I napped! After napping, we all headed over to Christmas in the Park in downtown San Jose. They had one of those carnivals going and the girls went on almost every ride! It was fun watching them on the rides all excited and stuff. The girls were really tired by the end of the day(8pm).
I guess that's it. I'm off to bed. Good night.
9.15.2009
Three Hundred Thirty-Ninth Entry
Today is September 15, 2009. Not a particularly memorable date. September 15, 2008, one year ago today, two major things happened that have had a profound effect on the way my life is today. A year ago today, I accepted a job with OptiSolar, Inc. a promising start-up solar energy company. A year ago today, my parents separated.
It has been a very tough year, and I've had a hard time dealing with my parents separating as well as losing my job, and it's hard to know which event has had more of an affect on my life. I think initially the emotion of the separation was offset by the excitement of a new job. But once I lost my job, I was in the thick of it all.
My mom has been living here in San Leandro for the last year. She was a complete wreck the first few months, especially with the holidays and everything. That's pretty much why I cooked for the holidays. She didn't want to at all. She has gotten much better about everything, especially after I convinced her that she had to talk to someone about all this. I couldn't convince her to see a counselor or anything, but I did get her to open up to her brothers and sister. It took about a month before she was ready to talk to them about it. I would go to work worried about if she would get out of bed at all, what she would eat(if anything), how much she would cry. It was nice knowing there would be someone else who could call her to see how she was doing and maybe stop by for a visit during the day.
My mother was fiercely secretive about all that happened, except to me and my brothers. We heard it all, but were in turn sworn to secrecy. I think I was the only one who didn't tell anyone for a while. That's why most of you reading this haven't heard about this, at least not from my lips. I only told one person, and that was Amy. And that was maybe two or three months after it happened. Amy has been very understanding and patient through all of this, and I must say it has brought us closer together. I suppose a thank you and I love you are in order... Thank you, and I love you, Amy.
The first couple of months she was very depressed. My mother cried everyday and really relied on Freddy's company, and eventually my aunt and uncles. I would get two or three calls at work everyday with her crying and being incoherent and I hate to think what would have happened to her if Freddy wasn't around. That annoying, shameless and loud dog really was a godsend. His usefulness has passed though. Now he just craps and pees everywhere.
My dad is staying at the ranch and I talk to him about once a week. He's doing fine and going on because that's just what he does. He keeps going. There are cows to feed, work to go to, books to read, TV to watch. I don't visit too often because my mom somehow finds out and ends up in a mood for a couple of days. And I don't like her moods...
Being laidoff has compounded the issue. I'm home all the time and hear about everything from my mom. It's bad enough I lost my job, but do I have to have this extra punishment? She complains to me, yells at me, argues with me and is just mom-ish. It seems amplified because I'm home all the time, and I'm the only one here. But I've come a conclusion, and I kind of think she's always been this way, and it's just my turn to deal with it. **shrug** But seriously, the second I have a job, I am so outta here.
So, my apologies to everyone if I have seemed a bit distant or distracted the past year, but I've had a lot "on my plate". And it's been tough to write this post because I still have trouble talking about the whole situation. I just thought I owed everyone an explanation.
As much as I'd like to talk about how Kanye West ruined the VMA's for Taylor Swift, or how Wendy Williams is hilarious, I don't have the strength. Maybe next time.
Today is September 15, 2009. Not a particularly memorable date. September 15, 2008, one year ago today, two major things happened that have had a profound effect on the way my life is today. A year ago today, I accepted a job with OptiSolar, Inc. a promising start-up solar energy company. A year ago today, my parents separated.
It has been a very tough year, and I've had a hard time dealing with my parents separating as well as losing my job, and it's hard to know which event has had more of an affect on my life. I think initially the emotion of the separation was offset by the excitement of a new job. But once I lost my job, I was in the thick of it all.
My mom has been living here in San Leandro for the last year. She was a complete wreck the first few months, especially with the holidays and everything. That's pretty much why I cooked for the holidays. She didn't want to at all. She has gotten much better about everything, especially after I convinced her that she had to talk to someone about all this. I couldn't convince her to see a counselor or anything, but I did get her to open up to her brothers and sister. It took about a month before she was ready to talk to them about it. I would go to work worried about if she would get out of bed at all, what she would eat(if anything), how much she would cry. It was nice knowing there would be someone else who could call her to see how she was doing and maybe stop by for a visit during the day.
My mother was fiercely secretive about all that happened, except to me and my brothers. We heard it all, but were in turn sworn to secrecy. I think I was the only one who didn't tell anyone for a while. That's why most of you reading this haven't heard about this, at least not from my lips. I only told one person, and that was Amy. And that was maybe two or three months after it happened. Amy has been very understanding and patient through all of this, and I must say it has brought us closer together. I suppose a thank you and I love you are in order... Thank you, and I love you, Amy.
The first couple of months she was very depressed. My mother cried everyday and really relied on Freddy's company, and eventually my aunt and uncles. I would get two or three calls at work everyday with her crying and being incoherent and I hate to think what would have happened to her if Freddy wasn't around. That annoying, shameless and loud dog really was a godsend. His usefulness has passed though. Now he just craps and pees everywhere.
My dad is staying at the ranch and I talk to him about once a week. He's doing fine and going on because that's just what he does. He keeps going. There are cows to feed, work to go to, books to read, TV to watch. I don't visit too often because my mom somehow finds out and ends up in a mood for a couple of days. And I don't like her moods...
Being laidoff has compounded the issue. I'm home all the time and hear about everything from my mom. It's bad enough I lost my job, but do I have to have this extra punishment? She complains to me, yells at me, argues with me and is just mom-ish. It seems amplified because I'm home all the time, and I'm the only one here. But I've come a conclusion, and I kind of think she's always been this way, and it's just my turn to deal with it. **shrug** But seriously, the second I have a job, I am so outta here.
So, my apologies to everyone if I have seemed a bit distant or distracted the past year, but I've had a lot "on my plate". And it's been tough to write this post because I still have trouble talking about the whole situation. I just thought I owed everyone an explanation.
As much as I'd like to talk about how Kanye West ruined the VMA's for Taylor Swift, or how Wendy Williams is hilarious, I don't have the strength. Maybe next time.
9.04.2009
Three Hundred Thirty-Eighth Entry
Yesterday I attempted the coq au vin again. It was better. More salt this time, the process was much smoother and everything just gelled. The leftovers were better than the original. Mmmm... I made the same tarts again and they were just a good as the first time! I finished off the extra puff pastry by baking it by itself, and filling it with a mascarpone, sugar and peach schnapps mixture. Pure pleasure.
I signed up for a couple of classes yesterday. Carina convinced me to take French with her on Wednesday nights at Chabot. I've missed three weeks, but I don't think that will be too bad. Carina missed the first two weeks before adding so I'm even less worried. I went down to the bookstore today and bought the book for the class. $15 for a thick-ass book. Not too bad! I am also taking the beginning cake decorating class that Amy took. She's taking it again so she'll be able to do the work for me...LOL. Of course, I have yet to find out which night(s) the adult confirmation class at St. Leanders is going to be. If it conflicts, then bye-bye cake class and au revoir French. Or both if it's a two night a week class!
My addiction on Facebook (FB to those in the know)has grown exponentially in the last few days. I am now playing yoville, mafia wars and pet society. I'm being pressured into playing vampire wars, but I'm trying to resist. Mafia Wars is way more fun than I thought it would be. You don't see any gun fights or robberies or anything, it's all icons and text. But it's still fun buying tommy guns and armoured cars and the like. Muahahahaha!!! I hatched a chick on Country Story. It looks like a peep. I think it's going to starve to death since I don't have any of the wheat it needs to eat, and no plots to grow it in. Oh dear...poultricide!
Tomorrow is a big swim day in SJ at Amy's sis's house. It's gonna be fun!!!
Yesterday I attempted the coq au vin again. It was better. More salt this time, the process was much smoother and everything just gelled. The leftovers were better than the original. Mmmm... I made the same tarts again and they were just a good as the first time! I finished off the extra puff pastry by baking it by itself, and filling it with a mascarpone, sugar and peach schnapps mixture. Pure pleasure.
I signed up for a couple of classes yesterday. Carina convinced me to take French with her on Wednesday nights at Chabot. I've missed three weeks, but I don't think that will be too bad. Carina missed the first two weeks before adding so I'm even less worried. I went down to the bookstore today and bought the book for the class. $15 for a thick-ass book. Not too bad! I am also taking the beginning cake decorating class that Amy took. She's taking it again so she'll be able to do the work for me...LOL. Of course, I have yet to find out which night(s) the adult confirmation class at St. Leanders is going to be. If it conflicts, then bye-bye cake class and au revoir French. Or both if it's a two night a week class!
My addiction on Facebook (FB to those in the know)has grown exponentially in the last few days. I am now playing yoville, mafia wars and pet society. I'm being pressured into playing vampire wars, but I'm trying to resist. Mafia Wars is way more fun than I thought it would be. You don't see any gun fights or robberies or anything, it's all icons and text. But it's still fun buying tommy guns and armoured cars and the like. Muahahahaha!!! I hatched a chick on Country Story. It looks like a peep. I think it's going to starve to death since I don't have any of the wheat it needs to eat, and no plots to grow it in. Oh dear...poultricide!
Tomorrow is a big swim day in SJ at Amy's sis's house. It's gonna be fun!!!
9.01.2009
Three Hundred Thirty-Seventh Entry
Congratulations Lisa and Greg on Baby Kean! I knew the baby was gonna be a boy! Welcome to the world Kean!
In the past three weeks I have become addicted to facebook and it's applications. My favorites are Restaurant City, Farmville, Farm Town, Country Story and Farkle. I'm considering joining Mafia Wars, only because everyone and their mother is playing Mafia Wars. Just planted my raspberries on Farmville. They'll be ready in 2 hours.
Last week was eventful. I went to Fresno and Tulare to visit the fam. Hernani's house in Fresno is very nice and he is making all the right changes to it. It is going to look great when he's done. I stayed there a few days in the 100+ degree heat. Blech...thank God for air conditioning. Then I went down to Tulare and spent a few days there with my cousins. We played Rock Band practically all weekend. I love that game. On the way back to the Bay, I stopped again in Fresburg and went swimming with Hernani. He doesn't have a pool. We broke into his old apartment complex's pool. It was hella hot that day, and there was noone there! Idiots!
Inspired by swimming in Fresno, I took advantage of Amy housesitting for her sister and went swimming at the pool in her complex. Three times. Each time fun. The last time we went, we were the only ones in the pool for the entire time we were there. It was very cool. I practiced my diving skills...scored a few 9's (Amy was the judge).
While in San Jose, we had pizza from Angelo's, this little hole in the wall Italian place in the Lucky's shopping center near Katie's condo. It was sooooooo good!! Very delicious pizza. We went again later that weekend, and tried some pasta and were non-plussed.
Amy started her new job at the Hayward airport yesterday! I'm so excited and happy! She's done with the evil Safeway! To celebrate I cooked her dinner last night. My mom made herself scarce and we had a nice quiet meal, at home, alone. It was almost romantic. I made Coq au Vin, with a turnip and parsnip mash and a honey apple nectarine tart for dessert. I had seen this same meal on TV Sunday morning on the Food Network. It was pretty good, even if I do say so myself. Per usual, I undersalted (it's an affliction). I like salt, I just can't ever seem to get enough in.
I had three interviews last week with two companies. Two were phone interviews, and one was in person in Richmond. They all went well. I am going to fill out another 4 applications online today. Hopefully something comes of these. We'll see. I don't want to get my hopes up...
In my daily job search I look up various governmental agencies in the area, and that includes water companies, sewer districts, counties, cities and towns. I had a big laugh this morning when I opened up the recently revamped Town of Colma website and saw their slogan. LOL!!!!
Congratulations Lisa and Greg on Baby Kean! I knew the baby was gonna be a boy! Welcome to the world Kean!
In the past three weeks I have become addicted to facebook and it's applications. My favorites are Restaurant City, Farmville, Farm Town, Country Story and Farkle. I'm considering joining Mafia Wars, only because everyone and their mother is playing Mafia Wars. Just planted my raspberries on Farmville. They'll be ready in 2 hours.
Last week was eventful. I went to Fresno and Tulare to visit the fam. Hernani's house in Fresno is very nice and he is making all the right changes to it. It is going to look great when he's done. I stayed there a few days in the 100+ degree heat. Blech...thank God for air conditioning. Then I went down to Tulare and spent a few days there with my cousins. We played Rock Band practically all weekend. I love that game. On the way back to the Bay, I stopped again in Fresburg and went swimming with Hernani. He doesn't have a pool. We broke into his old apartment complex's pool. It was hella hot that day, and there was noone there! Idiots!
Inspired by swimming in Fresno, I took advantage of Amy housesitting for her sister and went swimming at the pool in her complex. Three times. Each time fun. The last time we went, we were the only ones in the pool for the entire time we were there. It was very cool. I practiced my diving skills...scored a few 9's (Amy was the judge).
While in San Jose, we had pizza from Angelo's, this little hole in the wall Italian place in the Lucky's shopping center near Katie's condo. It was sooooooo good!! Very delicious pizza. We went again later that weekend, and tried some pasta and were non-plussed.
Amy started her new job at the Hayward airport yesterday! I'm so excited and happy! She's done with the evil Safeway! To celebrate I cooked her dinner last night. My mom made herself scarce and we had a nice quiet meal, at home, alone. It was almost romantic. I made Coq au Vin, with a turnip and parsnip mash and a honey apple nectarine tart for dessert. I had seen this same meal on TV Sunday morning on the Food Network. It was pretty good, even if I do say so myself. Per usual, I undersalted (it's an affliction). I like salt, I just can't ever seem to get enough in.
I had three interviews last week with two companies. Two were phone interviews, and one was in person in Richmond. They all went well. I am going to fill out another 4 applications online today. Hopefully something comes of these. We'll see. I don't want to get my hopes up...
In my daily job search I look up various governmental agencies in the area, and that includes water companies, sewer districts, counties, cities and towns. I had a big laugh this morning when I opened up the recently revamped Town of Colma website and saw their slogan. LOL!!!!
8.11.2009
Three Hundred Thirty-Sixth Entry
It has been a fun month since my last blog. I've gotten into the habit of writing down things I want to blog so I don't forget. This is going to be a long one...that's what she said.....hehehehe.
The six of us (Louis, Jen, Jen, Carolyn, Amy and I) pulled off the impossible and surprised Lisa in Michigan! Much fun and food was had by all! We flew into Milwaukee and drove the seven hours to Traverse City. We rented a very "g" GMC Suburban. It was a long drive (both ways!) but it was totally worth it. On the way to Traverse City we made several stops. We stopped in Chicago for a delicious Panera Bread breakfast and at Trader Joes for some goodies that Lisa would like since TJ's is hella far from Traverse City. We also got some food that we could use throughout our stay at Lisa and Greg's. After Chicago, we stopped at Michael Jacksons childhood home in the very economically depressed Gary, Indiana. You would have thought the city or state would have made a museum out of his house, but they haven't. It is a very small house, and even smaller when you think about how at one time there were eleven people living there. There were entrepreneurs there hocking their pirated MJ CD's and t-shirts. There were maybe thirty people there, including us. After Gary, we stopped in Grand Rapids, Michigan for some Wendy's nourishment. After Grand Rapids, we drove straight to Traverse City.
We drove up to Lisa and Greg's, and by then we were all just both ready to get out of the car and be where we were going, and super excited to surprise Lisa. We snuck up on her in the kitchen and she gave us a stunned/unbelieving look. The wheels worked in her head for a few seconds as she took it all in and then the waterworks started all around. It was very emotional, in a good way! Hugs all around. The secret was kept and the surprise was executed perfectly!
After the initial shock and surprise, Lisa's maternal instincts took over and she asked us if we'd eaten and we all went to Mexican at Agave. It was super-delish! We were warned that the other Mexican place "La Senorita" was gross and to avoid it at all costs...more on La Senorita later.
The following day was Friday, so work for Lisa and Greg. The six of us visited Lisa at her job at the Munson Medical Center. We got a very thorough tour of the building Lisa works in, and even got yelled at by some lady trying to escape. Well, maybe she wasn't trying to escape, but she probably thought of it at some point. After our tour we trekked over to downtown Traverse City and oohed and aahed all the Cherry stuff and the fudge. Delicious! There were a lot of out of state vehicles downtown. Traverse City must be the midwests summer playground.
On the way back to Lisa's, we stopped at Meijer (pronounced Majors) and picked up groceries for dinner. Carolyn got yelled at for attempting to take a picture of the inside of the humongous store. I guess Meijer is worried about industrial espionage and stuff. The store really was huge. It was bigger than a WalMart and had twice as many things. It had a Starbucks too! We got home and Louis and Amy made the best chicken curry ever!!!
Saturday, Greg and Lisa wanted to show us the treasures of northwestern Michigan, and I must say it is very beautiful. Everything is so green and wooded. Lake Michigan is ginormous! We stopped at this place where there is a 400 foot drop down a sandy slope to Lake Michigan. People were actually climbing down and up this massive dune. We stopped in a little town, I think it was Glen Arbor, for burgers. On the way home, we stopped at a lakeside marina and walked around a little. We came home and had homemade pizza for dinner. After dinner, we had a SL friends baby shower for Lisa, and, well, it was very emotional. Later that night, we inaugurated Lisa and Greg's new fire pit in their backyard. Smores all around!!!
Sunday was Lisa's official baby shower...women only! Greg, Louis and I hung out, took Ernie to a lake and watched him jump off a dock. That dog is full of energy! We had a great lunch at Dish Cafe, I think. It was the first time I'd had a wrap and it was really good. We got ice cream and saw what must have been a gazillion motorcycles clogging the street in front of the ice cream place. It was really cool! Greg told us that it was Father Jack blessing the bikes rally or something like that. It was really really cool. We left the ice cream place and went over to Greg's moms very nice house and munched on left over baby shower food and helped load up all the loot Lisa got at the shower. After unloading all the gifts at the homestead, we headed over to the Bay and waded in the water. Then we went over to Bubba's for some really excellent grub.
Monday was our flight back to the bay. In the morning, we bid teary farewells to Lisa and Greg. We all had tonsa fun hanging out with them. On the way to Milwaukee, we stopped a few times. The first stop was in Holland, Michigan. Louis wanted to find some authentic dutch bakeries. We didn't find any with what he was looking for. Louis was disappointed, but I thoroughly enjoyed the pastries Amy and I got. The candle dipping demo in the Dutch Village was really cool too...more on the Dutch Village later. The next stop was in Chicago for some authentic Chicago deep dish pizza. I really liked it, but I think our Zach's pizza here in the Bay Area is a very good substitute. We made it to Milwaukee a little late, but not late enough to incur late fees on the rental (which was all that mattered, thank you Jen) and waited for our plane. We made it home safe and sound. We will always have our memories and photos to remind us of that wonderful weekend. Thank you so much Lisa and Greg for hosting us!!!
**********
A few weekends ago was the Garlic Festival in Gilroy. It was my first time there, and I must say I was a little disappointed. I was expecting garlic flavored samples galore, and they were very few and far between! Traffic was bad getting there, but much better leaving. We met up with Debbie at the fest. There was lots of food and water to be had. It was a good time hanging out with Amy, Claire and Debbie.
**********
A couple weekends ago, Amy and I went for a drive around the peninsula and south bay. We went over for lunch in Half Moon Bay at the Half Moon Bay Brewery. It was very good! I, of course, had Avo's Portuguese Fisherman's Stew:
A seasonal mix of fresh fish, shellfish, and linguica in a garlic broth with cilantro.
The recipe for this signature dish came from the grandfather (Avô is Portuguese for grandfather) of one of the Half Moon Bay Brewing Company's owners. Avô, who traveled the world as a merchant marine, regularly fished and visited Half Moon Bay during Prohibition. This recipe was created utilizing his worldly culinary expertise as well as the fish he caught in Half Moon Bay.
Sounds good huh...
Amy drove further down Highway 1 all the way to Santa Cruz. We drove around downtown, parked somewhere and perused the shops at the Boardwalk. I decided that Santa Cruz is a beautiful city and I wouldn't mind living/working there. Then we had the idea to visit the Tias since they live fairly close. We drove through Watsonville. Big mistake. Traffic was all snarled up because of the Strawberry Festival. I didn't even know that Watsonville had a Strawberry Festival! Finally through the Strawberry Fest traffic, we head up the mountain on 152 and it was beautiful. The fog was hugging the top of the mountain, the trees were everywhere, it was really nice. Then we get to the Gilroy side of the pass and it's sunny, hot and ugly. The one good thing about driving through Gilroy that day was the strong, delicious smell of garlic....mmmmmmm.
We hung out at the Tias for a few hours. They've done a lot to the house! It is very different in a good way!
**********
Saturday night was Korean and Karaoke night with the Tias in San Jose. We ended up going to a Korean BBQ place in Santa Clara called Beque. It was hella good. The side dishes were delicious and a plenty. Our table had a grill in the middle of it and the server was cooking our meat on it. It was completely smokeless. Amy and I were in awe of it. Very advanced technology imported from Korea, I'm sure. It was a totally quiet under the table ventilation system. Way cool. The food there was superb. I couldn't believe how good the food we all ate was. I had a bibimbob bowl thingy and some of the meat everyone else was cooking. The owner of the restaurant came to our table and was helping cook the food. He was very informative and ended up giving us a very delicious, very free rice flour, brown sugar and walnut dessert. Mmmmmm!!!!!
Karaoke was at "Renaissance" also in Santa Clara. In fact, it was just down the street. It was recently remodeled and looked really, really nice. I had been there before a couple of times when it was Echo KTV. It was a shithole back then. Now they serve food and drinks to the rooms. Each room has a renaissance artists theme. We were in the Da Vinci room, but I didn't notice anything particularly Da Vinci about it. It was a lot of fun, especially since it was Igo's first time. He had a lot of fun and was singing his lungs out. Boy can carry a tune!
**********
Over the past few weeks, I have spent a lot of time playing video games. I had a week long addiction to SimCity. I now have road connections from one end of my region to the other, thank you. And I increased my regional population to over one million, thanks again. My current addiction is Restaurant City in Facebook. Firmino introduced me to this game. It is really a lot of fun. You can basically let it run in the background while you look for jobs, check your email, update your blog, etc. You just have to remember to keep checking it periodically to keep your staff fed so they don't pass out and upset the customers. I'm up to level 8 out of 27, i think. My restaurant is decorated like a 50's diner and I currently have Firmino cleaning the toilets. Amy, Chalin and I are chefs, and Kelly is the server. Firmino got demoted after Chalin got stuck in the "kitchen" area while cleaning. She obviously wanted the chef job more than Firmino.
**********
I earlier wrote ad nauseum about our trip to Traverse City. Well, last week, there were a few mentions of things we encountered on our trip, on the national talk shows. Specifically, Regis and Kelly. All last week, they had local television personalities replace Regis on "Live with Regis and Kelly Lee" (thats how Dave Letterman would say it. The guy that hosted on Friday was a former Survivor contestant that now is a reporter in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Well, he brought a little gift for Kelly. A pair of wooden shoes from Holland, Michigan. Scroll to about 8:00 and watch for a couple of minutes. I was sitting by myself in my room, pointing at the screen yelling "I was there! I was there!!!" Then, at the end of the show, they showed the finalists for "Live's Ultimate Hometown Grill Off" "South of the Border" contest. The winner, selected by the public, gets to come to the show and demonstrate a dish. Well, La Senorita was one of the finalists! They showed the video, and again I was sitting by myself in my room, pointing at the screen yelling "Greg and Lisa told us not to go there!!! Greg and Lisa told us not to go there!!!" I was looking for their contest video, but it wasn't there anymore. I did see that they actually won the contest and are going to be on the show Friday showing off their "famous fajitas". Ick...
**********
Can I just say that I like Careerbuilder way better than Monster for job searching? Well, it's true. The careerbuilder layout makes much more sense to me.
Oh, another thing...remember how I was saying I was going to write some letters and send them out? Well, I sent a letter to Starbucks and another to Grace Baking. I got a response from Starbucks. I'll post it in the next blog. I'm typed out...
It has been a fun month since my last blog. I've gotten into the habit of writing down things I want to blog so I don't forget. This is going to be a long one...that's what she said.....hehehehe.
The six of us (Louis, Jen, Jen, Carolyn, Amy and I) pulled off the impossible and surprised Lisa in Michigan! Much fun and food was had by all! We flew into Milwaukee and drove the seven hours to Traverse City. We rented a very "g" GMC Suburban. It was a long drive (both ways!) but it was totally worth it. On the way to Traverse City we made several stops. We stopped in Chicago for a delicious Panera Bread breakfast and at Trader Joes for some goodies that Lisa would like since TJ's is hella far from Traverse City. We also got some food that we could use throughout our stay at Lisa and Greg's. After Chicago, we stopped at Michael Jacksons childhood home in the very economically depressed Gary, Indiana. You would have thought the city or state would have made a museum out of his house, but they haven't. It is a very small house, and even smaller when you think about how at one time there were eleven people living there. There were entrepreneurs there hocking their pirated MJ CD's and t-shirts. There were maybe thirty people there, including us. After Gary, we stopped in Grand Rapids, Michigan for some Wendy's nourishment. After Grand Rapids, we drove straight to Traverse City.
We drove up to Lisa and Greg's, and by then we were all just both ready to get out of the car and be where we were going, and super excited to surprise Lisa. We snuck up on her in the kitchen and she gave us a stunned/unbelieving look. The wheels worked in her head for a few seconds as she took it all in and then the waterworks started all around. It was very emotional, in a good way! Hugs all around. The secret was kept and the surprise was executed perfectly!
After the initial shock and surprise, Lisa's maternal instincts took over and she asked us if we'd eaten and we all went to Mexican at Agave. It was super-delish! We were warned that the other Mexican place "La Senorita" was gross and to avoid it at all costs...more on La Senorita later.
The following day was Friday, so work for Lisa and Greg. The six of us visited Lisa at her job at the Munson Medical Center. We got a very thorough tour of the building Lisa works in, and even got yelled at by some lady trying to escape. Well, maybe she wasn't trying to escape, but she probably thought of it at some point. After our tour we trekked over to downtown Traverse City and oohed and aahed all the Cherry stuff and the fudge. Delicious! There were a lot of out of state vehicles downtown. Traverse City must be the midwests summer playground.
On the way back to Lisa's, we stopped at Meijer (pronounced Majors) and picked up groceries for dinner. Carolyn got yelled at for attempting to take a picture of the inside of the humongous store. I guess Meijer is worried about industrial espionage and stuff. The store really was huge. It was bigger than a WalMart and had twice as many things. It had a Starbucks too! We got home and Louis and Amy made the best chicken curry ever!!!
Saturday, Greg and Lisa wanted to show us the treasures of northwestern Michigan, and I must say it is very beautiful. Everything is so green and wooded. Lake Michigan is ginormous! We stopped at this place where there is a 400 foot drop down a sandy slope to Lake Michigan. People were actually climbing down and up this massive dune. We stopped in a little town, I think it was Glen Arbor, for burgers. On the way home, we stopped at a lakeside marina and walked around a little. We came home and had homemade pizza for dinner. After dinner, we had a SL friends baby shower for Lisa, and, well, it was very emotional. Later that night, we inaugurated Lisa and Greg's new fire pit in their backyard. Smores all around!!!
Sunday was Lisa's official baby shower...women only! Greg, Louis and I hung out, took Ernie to a lake and watched him jump off a dock. That dog is full of energy! We had a great lunch at Dish Cafe, I think. It was the first time I'd had a wrap and it was really good. We got ice cream and saw what must have been a gazillion motorcycles clogging the street in front of the ice cream place. It was really cool! Greg told us that it was Father Jack blessing the bikes rally or something like that. It was really really cool. We left the ice cream place and went over to Greg's moms very nice house and munched on left over baby shower food and helped load up all the loot Lisa got at the shower. After unloading all the gifts at the homestead, we headed over to the Bay and waded in the water. Then we went over to Bubba's for some really excellent grub.
Monday was our flight back to the bay. In the morning, we bid teary farewells to Lisa and Greg. We all had tonsa fun hanging out with them. On the way to Milwaukee, we stopped a few times. The first stop was in Holland, Michigan. Louis wanted to find some authentic dutch bakeries. We didn't find any with what he was looking for. Louis was disappointed, but I thoroughly enjoyed the pastries Amy and I got. The candle dipping demo in the Dutch Village was really cool too...more on the Dutch Village later. The next stop was in Chicago for some authentic Chicago deep dish pizza. I really liked it, but I think our Zach's pizza here in the Bay Area is a very good substitute. We made it to Milwaukee a little late, but not late enough to incur late fees on the rental (which was all that mattered, thank you Jen) and waited for our plane. We made it home safe and sound. We will always have our memories and photos to remind us of that wonderful weekend. Thank you so much Lisa and Greg for hosting us!!!
**********
A few weekends ago was the Garlic Festival in Gilroy. It was my first time there, and I must say I was a little disappointed. I was expecting garlic flavored samples galore, and they were very few and far between! Traffic was bad getting there, but much better leaving. We met up with Debbie at the fest. There was lots of food and water to be had. It was a good time hanging out with Amy, Claire and Debbie.
**********
A couple weekends ago, Amy and I went for a drive around the peninsula and south bay. We went over for lunch in Half Moon Bay at the Half Moon Bay Brewery. It was very good! I, of course, had Avo's Portuguese Fisherman's Stew:
A seasonal mix of fresh fish, shellfish, and linguica in a garlic broth with cilantro.
The recipe for this signature dish came from the grandfather (Avô is Portuguese for grandfather) of one of the Half Moon Bay Brewing Company's owners. Avô, who traveled the world as a merchant marine, regularly fished and visited Half Moon Bay during Prohibition. This recipe was created utilizing his worldly culinary expertise as well as the fish he caught in Half Moon Bay.
Sounds good huh...
Amy drove further down Highway 1 all the way to Santa Cruz. We drove around downtown, parked somewhere and perused the shops at the Boardwalk. I decided that Santa Cruz is a beautiful city and I wouldn't mind living/working there. Then we had the idea to visit the Tias since they live fairly close. We drove through Watsonville. Big mistake. Traffic was all snarled up because of the Strawberry Festival. I didn't even know that Watsonville had a Strawberry Festival! Finally through the Strawberry Fest traffic, we head up the mountain on 152 and it was beautiful. The fog was hugging the top of the mountain, the trees were everywhere, it was really nice. Then we get to the Gilroy side of the pass and it's sunny, hot and ugly. The one good thing about driving through Gilroy that day was the strong, delicious smell of garlic....mmmmmmm.
We hung out at the Tias for a few hours. They've done a lot to the house! It is very different in a good way!
**********
Saturday night was Korean and Karaoke night with the Tias in San Jose. We ended up going to a Korean BBQ place in Santa Clara called Beque. It was hella good. The side dishes were delicious and a plenty. Our table had a grill in the middle of it and the server was cooking our meat on it. It was completely smokeless. Amy and I were in awe of it. Very advanced technology imported from Korea, I'm sure. It was a totally quiet under the table ventilation system. Way cool. The food there was superb. I couldn't believe how good the food we all ate was. I had a bibimbob bowl thingy and some of the meat everyone else was cooking. The owner of the restaurant came to our table and was helping cook the food. He was very informative and ended up giving us a very delicious, very free rice flour, brown sugar and walnut dessert. Mmmmmm!!!!!
Karaoke was at "Renaissance" also in Santa Clara. In fact, it was just down the street. It was recently remodeled and looked really, really nice. I had been there before a couple of times when it was Echo KTV. It was a shithole back then. Now they serve food and drinks to the rooms. Each room has a renaissance artists theme. We were in the Da Vinci room, but I didn't notice anything particularly Da Vinci about it. It was a lot of fun, especially since it was Igo's first time. He had a lot of fun and was singing his lungs out. Boy can carry a tune!
**********
Over the past few weeks, I have spent a lot of time playing video games. I had a week long addiction to SimCity. I now have road connections from one end of my region to the other, thank you. And I increased my regional population to over one million, thanks again. My current addiction is Restaurant City in Facebook. Firmino introduced me to this game. It is really a lot of fun. You can basically let it run in the background while you look for jobs, check your email, update your blog, etc. You just have to remember to keep checking it periodically to keep your staff fed so they don't pass out and upset the customers. I'm up to level 8 out of 27, i think. My restaurant is decorated like a 50's diner and I currently have Firmino cleaning the toilets. Amy, Chalin and I are chefs, and Kelly is the server. Firmino got demoted after Chalin got stuck in the "kitchen" area while cleaning. She obviously wanted the chef job more than Firmino.
**********
I earlier wrote ad nauseum about our trip to Traverse City. Well, last week, there were a few mentions of things we encountered on our trip, on the national talk shows. Specifically, Regis and Kelly. All last week, they had local television personalities replace Regis on "Live with Regis and Kelly Lee" (thats how Dave Letterman would say it. The guy that hosted on Friday was a former Survivor contestant that now is a reporter in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Well, he brought a little gift for Kelly. A pair of wooden shoes from Holland, Michigan. Scroll to about 8:00 and watch for a couple of minutes. I was sitting by myself in my room, pointing at the screen yelling "I was there! I was there!!!" Then, at the end of the show, they showed the finalists for "Live's Ultimate Hometown Grill Off" "South of the Border" contest. The winner, selected by the public, gets to come to the show and demonstrate a dish. Well, La Senorita was one of the finalists! They showed the video, and again I was sitting by myself in my room, pointing at the screen yelling "Greg and Lisa told us not to go there!!! Greg and Lisa told us not to go there!!!" I was looking for their contest video, but it wasn't there anymore. I did see that they actually won the contest and are going to be on the show Friday showing off their "famous fajitas". Ick...
**********
Can I just say that I like Careerbuilder way better than Monster for job searching? Well, it's true. The careerbuilder layout makes much more sense to me.
Oh, another thing...remember how I was saying I was going to write some letters and send them out? Well, I sent a letter to Starbucks and another to Grace Baking. I got a response from Starbucks. I'll post it in the next blog. I'm typed out...
7.15.2009
Three Hundred Thirty-Fifth Entry
I got a rejection email from the City of Palo Alto yesterday for one of the three positions I applied for. The rejection was for the position I was least qualified for, so that's almost OK...it's still a rejection :(
I got my unemployment check today in the mail. Yay!!! So...
I went downtown to the Wamu on Parrott to deposit my check. Not a big deal...it's only 5 minutes away, ample parking (usually) and just generally easy (I use ATM deposit). Well, I arrive downtown at about 2:30pm and the damn street is closed in front of Wamu! Damn Wednesday night Farmers Market...I had to park all the way at Scribner center and WALK (for two minutes) all the way to Wamu! When I got to Wamu, I noted that they close the street from the stop sign at Hays to just before the Wamu parking lot. I did all that walking for nothing! I could have just gone around to E. 14th! I don't know why, but that really upset me...
Sunday hung out with Dayni. She tried my cheese bread and liked it. Maybe I will make it for the next potluck. We had wings at the Wing Stop over at Bayfair. The BBQ sauce ones were hella good, but my attempt at "cultured" chicken wings (Garlic Parmesan) was nasty. The fries were hella good! Slightly sweet. Afterwards, we went over to Jamba and I had a White Gummi Bear for the first time. I liked it. Then we went to Target and putzed around in there for a while. It was fun spending time with Dayni.
Also on Sunday, I had Taco Bell for the first time in several weeks. It was delicious!! I had a Crunchwrap, Cheesy Double Beef Burrito and two Bean Burritos. I drowned everything in Fire sauce. It was soooooooo good!! I think I can wait another few weeks before I have it again. It's funny because my fast food consumption has gone down significantly since I got laid off. I think it's mostly due to having much more time to prepare foods at home. Not that all foods prepared at home are healthier than fast food (see brazilian cheese bread), but they generally are.
Now I'm hungry...
I got a rejection email from the City of Palo Alto yesterday for one of the three positions I applied for. The rejection was for the position I was least qualified for, so that's almost OK...it's still a rejection :(
I got my unemployment check today in the mail. Yay!!! So...
I went downtown to the Wamu on Parrott to deposit my check. Not a big deal...it's only 5 minutes away, ample parking (usually) and just generally easy (I use ATM deposit). Well, I arrive downtown at about 2:30pm and the damn street is closed in front of Wamu! Damn Wednesday night Farmers Market...I had to park all the way at Scribner center and WALK (for two minutes) all the way to Wamu! When I got to Wamu, I noted that they close the street from the stop sign at Hays to just before the Wamu parking lot. I did all that walking for nothing! I could have just gone around to E. 14th! I don't know why, but that really upset me...
Sunday hung out with Dayni. She tried my cheese bread and liked it. Maybe I will make it for the next potluck. We had wings at the Wing Stop over at Bayfair. The BBQ sauce ones were hella good, but my attempt at "cultured" chicken wings (Garlic Parmesan) was nasty. The fries were hella good! Slightly sweet. Afterwards, we went over to Jamba and I had a White Gummi Bear for the first time. I liked it. Then we went to Target and putzed around in there for a while. It was fun spending time with Dayni.
Also on Sunday, I had Taco Bell for the first time in several weeks. It was delicious!! I had a Crunchwrap, Cheesy Double Beef Burrito and two Bean Burritos. I drowned everything in Fire sauce. It was soooooooo good!! I think I can wait another few weeks before I have it again. It's funny because my fast food consumption has gone down significantly since I got laid off. I think it's mostly due to having much more time to prepare foods at home. Not that all foods prepared at home are healthier than fast food (see brazilian cheese bread), but they generally are.
Now I'm hungry...
7.09.2009
Three Hundred Thirty-Fourth Entry
Quick post...
Last night I went to Safeway in CV where Amy works. Their liquor license has been suspended for 45 days for selling alcohol to a minor. It was weird seeing all the empty beer coolers and wine and liquor shelves... anyway.
I picked up a few things, and I proceed to the checkout line, where I see this weeks OK! magazine with Michael Jackson's and "The Last Photos" of him alive. I had seen the picture on TV the week he died, so I had seen it before, but it was different up close and in print. Well, one of the first things I noticed, was what has to be a reflection on the ambulance door as they were transporting MJ to the hospital. If you look at the exclamation point in OK!, in between the dot and the straight line that form the exclamation point, you will see a set of four or five parallel-ish lines. The first thing I thought of when I saw that reflection was a human skull's teeth. Sure enough, if you look above it, there is a dark spot where the nose hole is, and above that and to the right, you'll find what looks like an eye socket. Yes folks, the reflection seen in the ambulance doors transporting Michael Jackson to the hospital, is of his soul, in skeletal form, escaping his body forever to points unknown to any earthly creature.
If you're in the grocery store this week, check it out. I showed the cashier and Amy and they were non-plussed...
Quick post...
Last night I went to Safeway in CV where Amy works. Their liquor license has been suspended for 45 days for selling alcohol to a minor. It was weird seeing all the empty beer coolers and wine and liquor shelves... anyway.
I picked up a few things, and I proceed to the checkout line, where I see this weeks OK! magazine with Michael Jackson's and "The Last Photos" of him alive. I had seen the picture on TV the week he died, so I had seen it before, but it was different up close and in print. Well, one of the first things I noticed, was what has to be a reflection on the ambulance door as they were transporting MJ to the hospital. If you look at the exclamation point in OK!, in between the dot and the straight line that form the exclamation point, you will see a set of four or five parallel-ish lines. The first thing I thought of when I saw that reflection was a human skull's teeth. Sure enough, if you look above it, there is a dark spot where the nose hole is, and above that and to the right, you'll find what looks like an eye socket. Yes folks, the reflection seen in the ambulance doors transporting Michael Jackson to the hospital, is of his soul, in skeletal form, escaping his body forever to points unknown to any earthly creature.
If you're in the grocery store this week, check it out. I showed the cashier and Amy and they were non-plussed...
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