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.
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...
7.08.2009
Three Hundred Thirty-Third Entry
Michael Jackson died. It was sad. I'll never forget where I was when I heard. I was in my kitchen, preparing stuffed onions for dinner. So sad.
I watched the entire memorial yesterday. It was beautiful, but not without it's flaws.
Good Things:
- I started to tear when his daughter got up to speak. I was impressed with the little girls composure through out the ceremony, but I wasn't surprised when she broke down at the mic.
- I was pleased when whichever Jackson brother it was got up and spoke. At first, I was worried it would be a sobby, impossible to understand ramble. But I was pleasantly surprised when he spoke of his times with MJ.
- Brooke Shields' speech was perfect. You could tell she and Michael were good friends back in the day. I almost teared up when she was speaking.
- Barry Gordy said that MJ was the best entertainer ever. I agree.
- Television coverage of the event was very subdued and not "tabloidal". The fans lucky enough to be there were respectful and it wasn't the public safety nightmare LAPD was expecting.
- I liked how they brought the casket into the Staples Center. Very gospel church-y.
- I loved "We Are the World" and "Heal the World". I sang along, trying not to cry...sniff...
- John Mayer's "Human Nature" was amazing. I've always loved that song. It was cool just instrumental. If I ever try to learn the guitar again, I will learn "Human Nature".
- The end with the spotlight on the microphone was really great.
- I liked the generally celebratory vibe throughout the whole memorial.
Bad Things:
- Could someone please tell MJ's sons that it is inappropriate to chew gum and blow bubbles at a memorial service? And at their own fathers memorial service? If it was me, my mother would have slapped me silly!
- The videos were too short. They were good videos, just too short. I suspect they asked for short ones since every channel on TV has been showing MJ concert and video footage since it was annouced he was in the hospital. But even still, it's his memorial service! They should have done it up.
- Mariah Carey sucked. Yeah, maybe she was all shook up or whatever, but I didn't see any tears. And she had to get backup out on stage with her? Please, she just wanted to cover up her suckyness.
- His oldest son looked like he didn't care to be there. At least pretend kid!
- It might have been the camera angles, but when a speaker came down to give their condolences to the family, I don't think they went to every person. One would think it would be proper to go to the parents, the brothers and sisters and the children. That's only like 11 people. On second thought, that's kind of a lot of people to speak to during the ceremony...I did think it was weird that MJ's brothers all got up whenever someone came off stage.
I'm surprised La Toya "Media Whore" Jackson didn't get up and promote some appearance she's making at a run down casino in Laughlin or something. I really hope there isn't a "Jackson 4" tour starting up soon. I mean, I'd go if there was a tour, but I wouldn't approve.
I didn't really get into Michael Jackson until High School. Up 'til then any exposure I had to Michael Jackson was incidental. My parents didn't listen to his music. I didn't have any friends/older siblings that were obsessed with MJ. We didn't have cable TV until high school. Every once in a while, in elementary school, we would have PE in the multipurpose room and the teacher would play a tape with a Michael Jackson song in there somewhere. I knew who he was, just didn't really know the music.
In high school my family got cable. And with it, came MTV. It was around that time that Michael Jackson released the album HIStory. I saw the video for "Scream" and loved it. I bought the album (on tape cassette!) and listened to it endlessly. It was a double cassette, if I remember correctly. One cassette was the new HIStory album, and the other was his greatest hits up til then. I loved, loved, loved it! I have no idea what happened to that album. It's somewhere in my piles of junk.
The weekend following Michael Jackson's death, I took a trip to visit my family in Tulare. Long drive. But I had MJ's albums to help me along. The night before, I downloaded "Off the Wall", "Thriller", "Bad", "Dangerous" and "HIStory", and uploaded them to my iPhone. I listened to all of the albums on the way there and back. Wonderful music.
While I was in Tulare, I developed a love for Rock Band. That shit is hella fun. I was, of course, the singer. It's funny because you don't even need to know the song to get a decent score. You just have to follow the green lines up and down the top part of the screen. I tried the drums too, not as good at those, but still hella fun. I kept asking for Michael Jackson songs, but I guess he wasn't rock enough for the game. But they put a stupid Rush song about oak and maple trees forming unions and stuff. Truly bizarre. I'm sure lots of drugs were involved.
So, I went to a party the weekend before Michael Jackson died. It was a birthday party for one of Amy's work friends, Kathy. It's interesting what a small world we live in! Guess who was there? Randy Reyes!! He looks the same as in high school. I didn't quite recognize him at first, but once I heard him speak, I knew it was him. But an awkward amount of time had passed since we had first made eye contact. So I couldn't just go up to him and say "Hey, you're Randy Reyes!" I had to finagle my way into a peripheral conversation, slowly invite myself into his conversation and then spring it on him. There is a process!!! Anyway, he remembered me, and my brothers. I don't quite know how he knows the birthday girl et al, but I think it has to do with video games. He works at Capcom, I think, doing marketing, I think again. Kathy's boyfriend is a manager at GameStop, I think. So there's the connection...right?? (It was like two and a half weeks ago!)
I've got a twitter account now. You all can follow me!! I'm astralfly. I have it set to private, so you have to request to follow me, or something. I'm not sure quite how it works, but it's loads of fun!! I do not have unlimited texting, so I don't get tweets (that's what a twitter message is called) instantly, but I do have a twitter iPhone app that I check constantly. So, come on! Be my tweeps!! (twitter peeps)
Michael Jackson karaoke night last Friday! Sushi at Ray's with Amy, Dayni and Carolyn. We promised to meet for dinner more often! Karaoke at Hayward with Amy, Carolyn, Louis and Jen. Quite a few MJ songs, but they all skipped. It made for interesting "catch-up" singing. I sang "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough", and I had enough after the first verse. Afterwards, Starbucks with Amy and Carolyn.
Fireworks in San Ramon on Saturday night with Amy, Carolyn and Claire. We parked about a half mile away and walked towards the fireworks location. It wasn't too far. We climbed to the top of a parking structure practically underneath the fireworks and watched. They were very good fireworks, but a short show. The economy...
On the day that Michael Jackson died, I was making stuffed onions. They were OK. They needed more salt and garlic and less thyme and rosemary. I would make them again, but they take a lot of work. Maybe one day when I have patience.
Monday night, I made Brazilian cheese bread. It was very interesting because it doesn't take regular flour, but tapioca flour. I had to go to the Asian supermarket at the end of Lewelling to find it! Anyway, the real cheese bread takes a regional cheese from the Minas Gerais state of Brazil, but the recipe I got said to use fresh grated parmesan. I really enjoyed my little cheese breads. All it is, is tapioca flour, milk, olive oil, eggs, water and cheese. Nothing to make it rise. They were very dense little balls of cheese bread. They were really chewy and when you pull them apart, they are kind of stringy, like cheese. It was very interesting. Next time though, I will substitute butter for the olive oil. And, I bet the recipe could be modified to make some sort of dessert.
Nothing on the job front. No calls from prospective employers. I've decided to expand my search area to include the north coast and the central coast, down to Santa Barbara. If I still do not find anything, then I will start to look in the LA area. There are several jobs I see listed down LA way.
In an effort to keep busy, I've decided to write letters. Kind of like consumer advocate or concerned citizen letters. I have a mini list of letter subjects and I'm toying with the idea of posting them, here, when I send them. And eventually the responses, should I get any. I'm motivated by a book Amy bought me a while ago called "Letters From a Nut". This guy just writes weird letters to random people and companies complaining (or not) about the weirdest things. Mine aren't going to be weird, nor random. I'm always saying "I'm gonna write a letter." Well, now I will.
Oscar Mayer died at 95 years old. I guess hot dogs are good for you!
Michael Jackson died. It was sad. I'll never forget where I was when I heard. I was in my kitchen, preparing stuffed onions for dinner. So sad.
I watched the entire memorial yesterday. It was beautiful, but not without it's flaws.
Good Things:
- I started to tear when his daughter got up to speak. I was impressed with the little girls composure through out the ceremony, but I wasn't surprised when she broke down at the mic.
- I was pleased when whichever Jackson brother it was got up and spoke. At first, I was worried it would be a sobby, impossible to understand ramble. But I was pleasantly surprised when he spoke of his times with MJ.
- Brooke Shields' speech was perfect. You could tell she and Michael were good friends back in the day. I almost teared up when she was speaking.
- Barry Gordy said that MJ was the best entertainer ever. I agree.
- Television coverage of the event was very subdued and not "tabloidal". The fans lucky enough to be there were respectful and it wasn't the public safety nightmare LAPD was expecting.
- I liked how they brought the casket into the Staples Center. Very gospel church-y.
- I loved "We Are the World" and "Heal the World". I sang along, trying not to cry...sniff...
- John Mayer's "Human Nature" was amazing. I've always loved that song. It was cool just instrumental. If I ever try to learn the guitar again, I will learn "Human Nature".
- The end with the spotlight on the microphone was really great.
- I liked the generally celebratory vibe throughout the whole memorial.
Bad Things:
- Could someone please tell MJ's sons that it is inappropriate to chew gum and blow bubbles at a memorial service? And at their own fathers memorial service? If it was me, my mother would have slapped me silly!
- The videos were too short. They were good videos, just too short. I suspect they asked for short ones since every channel on TV has been showing MJ concert and video footage since it was annouced he was in the hospital. But even still, it's his memorial service! They should have done it up.
- Mariah Carey sucked. Yeah, maybe she was all shook up or whatever, but I didn't see any tears. And she had to get backup out on stage with her? Please, she just wanted to cover up her suckyness.
- His oldest son looked like he didn't care to be there. At least pretend kid!
- It might have been the camera angles, but when a speaker came down to give their condolences to the family, I don't think they went to every person. One would think it would be proper to go to the parents, the brothers and sisters and the children. That's only like 11 people. On second thought, that's kind of a lot of people to speak to during the ceremony...I did think it was weird that MJ's brothers all got up whenever someone came off stage.
I'm surprised La Toya "Media Whore" Jackson didn't get up and promote some appearance she's making at a run down casino in Laughlin or something. I really hope there isn't a "Jackson 4" tour starting up soon. I mean, I'd go if there was a tour, but I wouldn't approve.
I didn't really get into Michael Jackson until High School. Up 'til then any exposure I had to Michael Jackson was incidental. My parents didn't listen to his music. I didn't have any friends/older siblings that were obsessed with MJ. We didn't have cable TV until high school. Every once in a while, in elementary school, we would have PE in the multipurpose room and the teacher would play a tape with a Michael Jackson song in there somewhere. I knew who he was, just didn't really know the music.
In high school my family got cable. And with it, came MTV. It was around that time that Michael Jackson released the album HIStory. I saw the video for "Scream" and loved it. I bought the album (on tape cassette!) and listened to it endlessly. It was a double cassette, if I remember correctly. One cassette was the new HIStory album, and the other was his greatest hits up til then. I loved, loved, loved it! I have no idea what happened to that album. It's somewhere in my piles of junk.
The weekend following Michael Jackson's death, I took a trip to visit my family in Tulare. Long drive. But I had MJ's albums to help me along. The night before, I downloaded "Off the Wall", "Thriller", "Bad", "Dangerous" and "HIStory", and uploaded them to my iPhone. I listened to all of the albums on the way there and back. Wonderful music.
While I was in Tulare, I developed a love for Rock Band. That shit is hella fun. I was, of course, the singer. It's funny because you don't even need to know the song to get a decent score. You just have to follow the green lines up and down the top part of the screen. I tried the drums too, not as good at those, but still hella fun. I kept asking for Michael Jackson songs, but I guess he wasn't rock enough for the game. But they put a stupid Rush song about oak and maple trees forming unions and stuff. Truly bizarre. I'm sure lots of drugs were involved.
So, I went to a party the weekend before Michael Jackson died. It was a birthday party for one of Amy's work friends, Kathy. It's interesting what a small world we live in! Guess who was there? Randy Reyes!! He looks the same as in high school. I didn't quite recognize him at first, but once I heard him speak, I knew it was him. But an awkward amount of time had passed since we had first made eye contact. So I couldn't just go up to him and say "Hey, you're Randy Reyes!" I had to finagle my way into a peripheral conversation, slowly invite myself into his conversation and then spring it on him. There is a process!!! Anyway, he remembered me, and my brothers. I don't quite know how he knows the birthday girl et al, but I think it has to do with video games. He works at Capcom, I think, doing marketing, I think again. Kathy's boyfriend is a manager at GameStop, I think. So there's the connection...right?? (It was like two and a half weeks ago!)
I've got a twitter account now. You all can follow me!! I'm astralfly. I have it set to private, so you have to request to follow me, or something. I'm not sure quite how it works, but it's loads of fun!! I do not have unlimited texting, so I don't get tweets (that's what a twitter message is called) instantly, but I do have a twitter iPhone app that I check constantly. So, come on! Be my tweeps!! (twitter peeps)
Michael Jackson karaoke night last Friday! Sushi at Ray's with Amy, Dayni and Carolyn. We promised to meet for dinner more often! Karaoke at Hayward with Amy, Carolyn, Louis and Jen. Quite a few MJ songs, but they all skipped. It made for interesting "catch-up" singing. I sang "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough", and I had enough after the first verse. Afterwards, Starbucks with Amy and Carolyn.
Fireworks in San Ramon on Saturday night with Amy, Carolyn and Claire. We parked about a half mile away and walked towards the fireworks location. It wasn't too far. We climbed to the top of a parking structure practically underneath the fireworks and watched. They were very good fireworks, but a short show. The economy...
On the day that Michael Jackson died, I was making stuffed onions. They were OK. They needed more salt and garlic and less thyme and rosemary. I would make them again, but they take a lot of work. Maybe one day when I have patience.
Monday night, I made Brazilian cheese bread. It was very interesting because it doesn't take regular flour, but tapioca flour. I had to go to the Asian supermarket at the end of Lewelling to find it! Anyway, the real cheese bread takes a regional cheese from the Minas Gerais state of Brazil, but the recipe I got said to use fresh grated parmesan. I really enjoyed my little cheese breads. All it is, is tapioca flour, milk, olive oil, eggs, water and cheese. Nothing to make it rise. They were very dense little balls of cheese bread. They were really chewy and when you pull them apart, they are kind of stringy, like cheese. It was very interesting. Next time though, I will substitute butter for the olive oil. And, I bet the recipe could be modified to make some sort of dessert.
Nothing on the job front. No calls from prospective employers. I've decided to expand my search area to include the north coast and the central coast, down to Santa Barbara. If I still do not find anything, then I will start to look in the LA area. There are several jobs I see listed down LA way.
In an effort to keep busy, I've decided to write letters. Kind of like consumer advocate or concerned citizen letters. I have a mini list of letter subjects and I'm toying with the idea of posting them, here, when I send them. And eventually the responses, should I get any. I'm motivated by a book Amy bought me a while ago called "Letters From a Nut". This guy just writes weird letters to random people and companies complaining (or not) about the weirdest things. Mine aren't going to be weird, nor random. I'm always saying "I'm gonna write a letter." Well, now I will.
Oscar Mayer died at 95 years old. I guess hot dogs are good for you!
6.17.2009
Three Hundred Thirty-Second Entry
I busted out and dusted off my pottery wheel last week. Yes, I have a pottery wheel. My aunt gave it to me quite a few years ago, and I always just assumed it didn't work and would need a little fixin'. Well, the pedal doesn't function quite right, one of the bat pins is broken (I had to break it to remove it!), and the splash pan doesn't clip anywhere and only goes around half the wheel, but I'm making it work. I can only throw one pot at a time. But I've made five pieces so far. And only two of them are noticeably lopsided. What sucks is I can't fire them because I don't have a kiln. So, before too long I'll have a bunch of dried out "green"ware waiting for their first fire. I guess that's OK, it doesn't harm the pieces any just sitting there. Unless we have an earthquake. I would post pictures of the pots, but I can't find my camera cord.
I did a little research and found a few used kilns on ebay. It's quite an investment, and one that will require a little more research into what my firing needs are.
I had lunch with ex-coworkers Mike, Arnel and Leonard yesterday. Sushi in downtown Hayward across the street from old city hall. Mmmmm....I love that place. I had the Raider roll, which is a baked scallop roll. It was good seeing they guys, and hearing about the trials and tribulations of their work. I miss working with them, but at the same time I'm glad to not have the stress of the late work nights and fast approaching deadlines.
Tomorrow I'm having sushi with my old boss Will and Roxana at Naked Fish at Jackson and Amador in Hayward. I love that place too....I hope to have the ceviche! It's delightful...and off-menu! It's funny because if I were to go there by myself, I couldn't have the ceviche since they wouldn't recognize me. I have to drag Roxana or JR with me or else no special off-menu items. That's OK. They're good company. Except for JR...j/k. Awwww!!
After lunch tomorrow, I am going to drive up to Napa, by way of Chick Fil A at Solano Mall in Fairfield (mmmmmmm), to visit Amy. She's been up there all week for her baking and pastry class in St. Helena. She's made cookies, pies, breads, and other stuff. She is really enjoying it and is seriously considering doing the 30 week certification class.
Earlier this week, I got my first rejection email for a job in Concord. That's OK. That job was a bit of a long shot for my experience level. Today I got a postcard saying that my application is under review at a company in San Jose. There is a glimmer of hope for my application at the City of Palo Alto. Cross fingers!
I busted out and dusted off my pottery wheel last week. Yes, I have a pottery wheel. My aunt gave it to me quite a few years ago, and I always just assumed it didn't work and would need a little fixin'. Well, the pedal doesn't function quite right, one of the bat pins is broken (I had to break it to remove it!), and the splash pan doesn't clip anywhere and only goes around half the wheel, but I'm making it work. I can only throw one pot at a time. But I've made five pieces so far. And only two of them are noticeably lopsided. What sucks is I can't fire them because I don't have a kiln. So, before too long I'll have a bunch of dried out "green"ware waiting for their first fire. I guess that's OK, it doesn't harm the pieces any just sitting there. Unless we have an earthquake. I would post pictures of the pots, but I can't find my camera cord.
I did a little research and found a few used kilns on ebay. It's quite an investment, and one that will require a little more research into what my firing needs are.
I had lunch with ex-coworkers Mike, Arnel and Leonard yesterday. Sushi in downtown Hayward across the street from old city hall. Mmmmm....I love that place. I had the Raider roll, which is a baked scallop roll. It was good seeing they guys, and hearing about the trials and tribulations of their work. I miss working with them, but at the same time I'm glad to not have the stress of the late work nights and fast approaching deadlines.
Tomorrow I'm having sushi with my old boss Will and Roxana at Naked Fish at Jackson and Amador in Hayward. I love that place too....I hope to have the ceviche! It's delightful...and off-menu! It's funny because if I were to go there by myself, I couldn't have the ceviche since they wouldn't recognize me. I have to drag Roxana or JR with me or else no special off-menu items. That's OK. They're good company. Except for JR...j/k. Awwww!!
After lunch tomorrow, I am going to drive up to Napa, by way of Chick Fil A at Solano Mall in Fairfield (mmmmmmm), to visit Amy. She's been up there all week for her baking and pastry class in St. Helena. She's made cookies, pies, breads, and other stuff. She is really enjoying it and is seriously considering doing the 30 week certification class.
Earlier this week, I got my first rejection email for a job in Concord. That's OK. That job was a bit of a long shot for my experience level. Today I got a postcard saying that my application is under review at a company in San Jose. There is a glimmer of hope for my application at the City of Palo Alto. Cross fingers!
6.12.2009
Three Hundred Thirty-First Entry
I never watch basketball. I'm not a huge fan. But the Lakers/Magic game last night was about the most exciting basketball game I've ever seen. I didn't even watch the whole game! I saw the last 5 minutes of the 4th quarter and overtime. It was very exciting!
Starsky and Hutch are on KOFY right now. I haven't seen this show in a very long time. After S&H is The Streets of San Francisco, another fave. Old cop shows are great.
I'm monitoring a few items on ebay. I think I am too impatient a person to do ebay stuff. Especially now that I don't have anything else to do. I just sit in front of the computer and watch the clock tick down. Every once in a while the bid increases and I think about doing something, but don't. It's really quite exciting.
Starsky misses his girlfriend who was also a cop. She was killed by a "psycho cocktail waitress killer". Poor Starsky...
My unemployment frustration is turning into discouragement. I dont' feel like doing anything anymore. I really just sit in front of the computer and watch TV all day. I have been keeping up with working out, but I just didn't feel like it today. I'm just...blah...
"Psycho cocktail waitress killer" just fell off a really tall metal tower to his death. Case closed.
I'm thinking that if I can't find an engineering job in the next few weeks, I am going to go to work somewhere non-engineering like Safeway, or some office somewhere. I'm still considering volunteering somewhere locally.
The Streets of San Francisco has a very cool opening credits sequence. I like the music, the video and the stripy effect they used. Very 70's.
I never watch basketball. I'm not a huge fan. But the Lakers/Magic game last night was about the most exciting basketball game I've ever seen. I didn't even watch the whole game! I saw the last 5 minutes of the 4th quarter and overtime. It was very exciting!
Starsky and Hutch are on KOFY right now. I haven't seen this show in a very long time. After S&H is The Streets of San Francisco, another fave. Old cop shows are great.
I'm monitoring a few items on ebay. I think I am too impatient a person to do ebay stuff. Especially now that I don't have anything else to do. I just sit in front of the computer and watch the clock tick down. Every once in a while the bid increases and I think about doing something, but don't. It's really quite exciting.
Starsky misses his girlfriend who was also a cop. She was killed by a "psycho cocktail waitress killer". Poor Starsky...
My unemployment frustration is turning into discouragement. I dont' feel like doing anything anymore. I really just sit in front of the computer and watch TV all day. I have been keeping up with working out, but I just didn't feel like it today. I'm just...blah...
"Psycho cocktail waitress killer" just fell off a really tall metal tower to his death. Case closed.
I'm thinking that if I can't find an engineering job in the next few weeks, I am going to go to work somewhere non-engineering like Safeway, or some office somewhere. I'm still considering volunteering somewhere locally.
The Streets of San Francisco has a very cool opening credits sequence. I like the music, the video and the stripy effect they used. Very 70's.
6.10.2009
Three Hundred Thirtieth Entry
Did you know that Netflix has a limit on how many movies you can queue? 500. Yup. I found that out the other day when I was loading up my queue with TV series, and organizing them for maximum movie enjoyment. I am burning through them a lot faster now, so I'll be down to zero in about 2.5 years!
I'm trying not to get addicted to ebay. Louis and Jen gave me an ebay gift card for my birthday. I've used it all up buying a sleeping bag mat for camping (which I am using as a workout mat) and a cool little alarm clock that tells you the temperature too! I will never not know how hot or cold it is in my room! Anyway, I find myself trolling ebay-space for random things that I may want to bid on or "buy it now". I haven't bought anything else yet, but I do have a few things that I am watching. Given my employment situation, I can sit at my computer for days on end and monitor a particular bid to ensure victory. That may be dangerous. Somebody please give me a job and keep me from getting addicted to ebay!
I am considering selling a bunch of stuff on ebay. I have quite a few things that I don't have any need for and could get rid of. Any advice? Jen? Louis?
I had lunch yesterday with former co-worker Jenny. She still hasn't found a job... :( And she was laid off two months before I was. It doesn't look good. Anyhow, we decided to meet at La Salsa in San Leandro since she was going to be in the area around lunch time. Fine. I like La Salsa. Marina Square shouldn't be too busy at about 12:30. Well, nobody told me that there was a stupid graduation at Burrell Field! The Marina Square parking lot was totally full! It took me about 15 minutes to find parking! Everyone was parking at Marina Square and walking over to the field with balloons and stuff. It was good to see Jenny though.
For dinner I had the grilled chicken from KFC. It was surprisingly good! I was expecting nastiness, but I enjoyed it. And I can't say enough about how much I love the cole slaw there. KFC is one of the few places where I like the cole slaw. Mmmmmm.....
I've been pretty good about walking daily. I am getting used to all the walking. I'm seriously considering participating in the 5K that Carolyn and Jen are doing in October. I am able to run(jog)/walk (although mostly walk) 5K in under an hour on the treadmill. I'll only improve, hopefully. Of course, doing the 5K on the treadmill is much easier than doing it outside. The treadmill surface is much softer than concrete or asphalt making it easier on the joints, there are no extraneous elements to distract you or slow you down like grade changes, potholes, other people, and you know exactly where you are in the run/walk when you use the treadmill. I think it I can get the 5K down to about 45 minutes, then I'll take the show on the road and do the 5K outside. I've already figured out a local route that equals 5K, so that part is done.
I've also been fairly good about eating less. Not necessarily better, just less. I only had two pieces of the KFC last night, and one scoop of the cole slaw...Mmmmm cole slaw...
So, I've started to read "The Gospel According to Jesus Christ" by Jose Saramago. I'm on page 6. It is a hard read. There are no paragraphs, and very long sentences. There is no dialogue yet and I'm not sure if there will be. Wish me luck on this book.
My truck had surgery the other day. It overheated and the kind folks at Oil Changers discovered that my radiator was leaking. I took it in to Doral's over there around the corner from the Post Office. They told me the radiator needed to be replaced. I knew this day would come. I've been bandaging this radiator for the last two years, so I figured it was time to finally just replace it. I considered replacing the radiator myself; it would have cost me just a fraction of what I paid to have it replaced, and would be a relatively simple operation. But I opted for the professional install with professional guarantee. This is the fourth radiator since I bought the truck, and the third radiator in 4 years. Hopefully this one works fine for a long, long time.
Did you know that Netflix has a limit on how many movies you can queue? 500. Yup. I found that out the other day when I was loading up my queue with TV series, and organizing them for maximum movie enjoyment. I am burning through them a lot faster now, so I'll be down to zero in about 2.5 years!
I'm trying not to get addicted to ebay. Louis and Jen gave me an ebay gift card for my birthday. I've used it all up buying a sleeping bag mat for camping (which I am using as a workout mat) and a cool little alarm clock that tells you the temperature too! I will never not know how hot or cold it is in my room! Anyway, I find myself trolling ebay-space for random things that I may want to bid on or "buy it now". I haven't bought anything else yet, but I do have a few things that I am watching. Given my employment situation, I can sit at my computer for days on end and monitor a particular bid to ensure victory. That may be dangerous. Somebody please give me a job and keep me from getting addicted to ebay!
I am considering selling a bunch of stuff on ebay. I have quite a few things that I don't have any need for and could get rid of. Any advice? Jen? Louis?
I had lunch yesterday with former co-worker Jenny. She still hasn't found a job... :( And she was laid off two months before I was. It doesn't look good. Anyhow, we decided to meet at La Salsa in San Leandro since she was going to be in the area around lunch time. Fine. I like La Salsa. Marina Square shouldn't be too busy at about 12:30. Well, nobody told me that there was a stupid graduation at Burrell Field! The Marina Square parking lot was totally full! It took me about 15 minutes to find parking! Everyone was parking at Marina Square and walking over to the field with balloons and stuff. It was good to see Jenny though.
For dinner I had the grilled chicken from KFC. It was surprisingly good! I was expecting nastiness, but I enjoyed it. And I can't say enough about how much I love the cole slaw there. KFC is one of the few places where I like the cole slaw. Mmmmmm.....
I've been pretty good about walking daily. I am getting used to all the walking. I'm seriously considering participating in the 5K that Carolyn and Jen are doing in October. I am able to run(jog)/walk (although mostly walk) 5K in under an hour on the treadmill. I'll only improve, hopefully. Of course, doing the 5K on the treadmill is much easier than doing it outside. The treadmill surface is much softer than concrete or asphalt making it easier on the joints, there are no extraneous elements to distract you or slow you down like grade changes, potholes, other people, and you know exactly where you are in the run/walk when you use the treadmill. I think it I can get the 5K down to about 45 minutes, then I'll take the show on the road and do the 5K outside. I've already figured out a local route that equals 5K, so that part is done.
I've also been fairly good about eating less. Not necessarily better, just less. I only had two pieces of the KFC last night, and one scoop of the cole slaw...Mmmmm cole slaw...
So, I've started to read "The Gospel According to Jesus Christ" by Jose Saramago. I'm on page 6. It is a hard read. There are no paragraphs, and very long sentences. There is no dialogue yet and I'm not sure if there will be. Wish me luck on this book.
My truck had surgery the other day. It overheated and the kind folks at Oil Changers discovered that my radiator was leaking. I took it in to Doral's over there around the corner from the Post Office. They told me the radiator needed to be replaced. I knew this day would come. I've been bandaging this radiator for the last two years, so I figured it was time to finally just replace it. I considered replacing the radiator myself; it would have cost me just a fraction of what I paid to have it replaced, and would be a relatively simple operation. But I opted for the professional install with professional guarantee. This is the fourth radiator since I bought the truck, and the third radiator in 4 years. Hopefully this one works fine for a long, long time.
6.08.2009
Three Hundred Twenty-Ninth Entry
I love this cool weather. I wish it would last all summer. I'd be pretty happy if it was 60 degrees all day, every day throughout the year.
Had my birthday since my last post. Turned 31. It feels fine. Not much different than 30. Luncheon at Louis and Jen's was really a lot of fun! Good food, very fun games. Family Feud complete with sound effects! Catchphrase madness! Amy made a very fancy birthday cake and decorated it beautifully! Thank you Louis and Jen for a wonderful celebration!! The short ribs were delicious!!
Two Saturdays ago, Carolyn, Dayni, Jen and I went to Little Delhi and had dinner! It was the best indian food I've had in a while. Afterwards, Jen, Carolyn and I went to see "The In-Betweens", a small production at a small theater on Eddy Street. The first half was interesting, and the second half was pretty funny. Thank you Carolyn for a good time!
Since my last post I've watched lots of Netflix and even a couple of movies at the theater. I watched all of Seinfeld, Season 5. I really enjoyed Season 5. I thought it was one of the funniest seasons. Almost as funny as 3 or 4! Season 5 is where we learn about male shrinkage, and learn about value of one square of toilet paper. I watched Vicky Cristina Barcelona, In Bruges, American Gangster and The Office Special. All very good. Lots of blood and humor.
Amy and I went to the new Century theater in Hayward last week and watched Angels and Demons, and Star Trek. In the same day!!! I really liked Star Trek. Very good action flick. I read Angels and Demons before watching the film and was non-plussed with the film. Lots of stuff were changed in the screen adaption, and I guess I can't hold that against the movie since the movie would have been 5 hours long if it followed the book exactly. But I would have enjoyed it more... We had lunch in between the flicks at Buffalo Bill's. It was delish! Nachos and pizza! Not to mention all the junk food we(I) ate during the movies! Afterwards, we stopped at Zuckersuss and Amy had frozen yogurt.
Now, Zuckersuss is a very interesting place. I like the biodegradableness of everything in the store. I liked all the furniture being square and modern and stuff. There is something very L.A. about the store decor. So that's what I liked. I didn't like anything else. At all. I thought it was weird that there were no prices on the wall. I detested the taste of the yogurt. It was plain!! Plain yogurt = nasty. And that's the only flavor. They had an unusual and small selection of mixers, which you mix in all by yourself. They had the usual fruits to mix in, but then they had stuff like cap'n crunch and mochi and disgusting carob chips. Very weird. Amy had the plain yogurt(that's all they have!!remember?) with brownie, banana and something else. The stuff didn't mask the disgusting frozen yogurt one bit! I guess I expected sweet frozen yogurt like the kind I've had everywhere else I've ever had frozen yogurt in my entire life.
I can see a place like this working in San Francisco or Berkeley, but not Hayward. It's too much of a one flavor pony to be successful. I hope they add some more conventional flavors and more mixers. Then maybe I'll go back.
Amy and I made the trek to Hollister last Saturday to visit the Tias. A gourmet feast was prepared and much wine and beer was drunk by all. It was a lot of fun. I really should visit more often than once every few months. I think I am going to make it a point to visit at least once a month.
I've applied to five jobs in the last week. Hopefully I will hear back from them this week. There doesn't seem to be any improvement in the number of jobs available. :(
I love this cool weather. I wish it would last all summer. I'd be pretty happy if it was 60 degrees all day, every day throughout the year.
Had my birthday since my last post. Turned 31. It feels fine. Not much different than 30. Luncheon at Louis and Jen's was really a lot of fun! Good food, very fun games. Family Feud complete with sound effects! Catchphrase madness! Amy made a very fancy birthday cake and decorated it beautifully! Thank you Louis and Jen for a wonderful celebration!! The short ribs were delicious!!
Two Saturdays ago, Carolyn, Dayni, Jen and I went to Little Delhi and had dinner! It was the best indian food I've had in a while. Afterwards, Jen, Carolyn and I went to see "The In-Betweens", a small production at a small theater on Eddy Street. The first half was interesting, and the second half was pretty funny. Thank you Carolyn for a good time!
Since my last post I've watched lots of Netflix and even a couple of movies at the theater. I watched all of Seinfeld, Season 5. I really enjoyed Season 5. I thought it was one of the funniest seasons. Almost as funny as 3 or 4! Season 5 is where we learn about male shrinkage, and learn about value of one square of toilet paper. I watched Vicky Cristina Barcelona, In Bruges, American Gangster and The Office Special. All very good. Lots of blood and humor.
Amy and I went to the new Century theater in Hayward last week and watched Angels and Demons, and Star Trek. In the same day!!! I really liked Star Trek. Very good action flick. I read Angels and Demons before watching the film and was non-plussed with the film. Lots of stuff were changed in the screen adaption, and I guess I can't hold that against the movie since the movie would have been 5 hours long if it followed the book exactly. But I would have enjoyed it more... We had lunch in between the flicks at Buffalo Bill's. It was delish! Nachos and pizza! Not to mention all the junk food we(I) ate during the movies! Afterwards, we stopped at Zuckersuss and Amy had frozen yogurt.
Now, Zuckersuss is a very interesting place. I like the biodegradableness of everything in the store. I liked all the furniture being square and modern and stuff. There is something very L.A. about the store decor. So that's what I liked. I didn't like anything else. At all. I thought it was weird that there were no prices on the wall. I detested the taste of the yogurt. It was plain!! Plain yogurt = nasty. And that's the only flavor. They had an unusual and small selection of mixers, which you mix in all by yourself. They had the usual fruits to mix in, but then they had stuff like cap'n crunch and mochi and disgusting carob chips. Very weird. Amy had the plain yogurt(that's all they have!!remember?) with brownie, banana and something else. The stuff didn't mask the disgusting frozen yogurt one bit! I guess I expected sweet frozen yogurt like the kind I've had everywhere else I've ever had frozen yogurt in my entire life.
I can see a place like this working in San Francisco or Berkeley, but not Hayward. It's too much of a one flavor pony to be successful. I hope they add some more conventional flavors and more mixers. Then maybe I'll go back.
Amy and I made the trek to Hollister last Saturday to visit the Tias. A gourmet feast was prepared and much wine and beer was drunk by all. It was a lot of fun. I really should visit more often than once every few months. I think I am going to make it a point to visit at least once a month.
I've applied to five jobs in the last week. Hopefully I will hear back from them this week. There doesn't seem to be any improvement in the number of jobs available. :(
5.19.2009
Three Hundred Twenty-Eighth Entry
I am at home, done being sick.
The TV is off and the fan is on. It's warm in my house. Not a particularly warm day outside, but still warm in the house.
I bought a new DVD player for when I'm on the treadmill. I watched two and a half episodes of Arrested Development this morning. I've taken to stretching before walking and it works better. I don't know why I hadn't been doing it before. I'm sure it was laziness.
I missed last weekends potluck due to my illness...I heard much fun was had by all!
Mother's Day was fun. My brother got my mom one of those edible arrangements. It was really good. We barely made a dent. There was so much fruit!
Last night Amy and her sister picked me up on the way to San Jose. We had dinner and for dessert, cheesecake from The Cheesecake Factory! Delish. We went back to her condo and watched Office Space. That movie never gets old...
I'm getting increasingly frustrated with my job situation. It's been nearly a week since I submitted my proposal for contract work, and I haven't heard anything yet. To add to the frustration, I still get emails bringing my attention to the fabulously cheap foreclosures and short sales on the market, that I can't even think about until I get a job. I'm worried I'll miss the bottom of the market by the time I get a job. Arrrgh...
I watched three movies this weekend: Away from Her, American History X, La Vie En Rose. My favorite by a mile was La Vie En Rose. The lead actress was absolutely deserving of the Oscar she earned for the role. It's interesting because I have seen Marion Cotillard's photo all over the place, but I couldn't recognize her in the film. I guess that is a testament to the really great job makeup did more than it is to her as an actress. I just thoroughly enjoyed her portrayal of this amazing talent with a very bizarre past and severe emotional issues.
American History X was good too. I had seen it on TV, but I wanted to see it uncensored. It was pretty much the same. Away from Her was the story of an old couple living in Southern Ontario, and the wife develops Alzheimer's disease. It was a little bit sad, but not totally unexpected. There was a lot of old people sex, which was a little gross. They didn't show anything, just the pre and post coitus states.
The mail just got here. Nothing but junk...
My birthday is Friday. The big 3-1. Friends are planning a Memorial Day bash/potluck that I am very much looking forward to. Szechuan Chicken!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! My friend from AZ is sending me a boxfull of girl scout cookies. I did pay for them, but we'll pretend they are a gift! Thanks Kelly!!!
Has anybody heard the song "I'm in Miami, Bitch"? It is very interesting. I heard it on the radio the other day. They changed it from "Bitch" to "Trick", but the idea was there. It's a funny song. Lyrics about naked twister and polka-dot bikini's. I'm listening to it right now on Playlist.com
Oh yeah, my brother turned me on to this Playlist.com website. You can basically make a playlist of any songs and listen to them whenever you want. I had been using pandora, which plays music similar to what you like to hear, then I switched to finetune, which plays a set playlist of your choosing, but had limits of three songs per artist, and you couldn't play a particular song...it was all at random. Playlist.com has changed the way I listen to music...just kidding (how commercial of me). But it saves me having to download songs to listen to them. My hard drive free space thanks me. I think I want to listen to "1980" by Estelle...there it is...Now I want to listen to "Promesas" by Los Mono...there it is...see how easy it is????
Of course, Playlist.com does have it's draw backs. Some of the songs are not CD quality, some of the lesser known songs are not available, and when you do an artist search, the tracks aren't organized in any way whatsoever. I don't believe it has the large database of songs that Pandora has, but that's OK. Ooooh..."Right Round" by Flo Rida.
I think I'm going to watch "In Bruges" tonight.
I am at home, done being sick.
The TV is off and the fan is on. It's warm in my house. Not a particularly warm day outside, but still warm in the house.
I bought a new DVD player for when I'm on the treadmill. I watched two and a half episodes of Arrested Development this morning. I've taken to stretching before walking and it works better. I don't know why I hadn't been doing it before. I'm sure it was laziness.
I missed last weekends potluck due to my illness...I heard much fun was had by all!
Mother's Day was fun. My brother got my mom one of those edible arrangements. It was really good. We barely made a dent. There was so much fruit!
Last night Amy and her sister picked me up on the way to San Jose. We had dinner and for dessert, cheesecake from The Cheesecake Factory! Delish. We went back to her condo and watched Office Space. That movie never gets old...
I'm getting increasingly frustrated with my job situation. It's been nearly a week since I submitted my proposal for contract work, and I haven't heard anything yet. To add to the frustration, I still get emails bringing my attention to the fabulously cheap foreclosures and short sales on the market, that I can't even think about until I get a job. I'm worried I'll miss the bottom of the market by the time I get a job. Arrrgh...
I watched three movies this weekend: Away from Her, American History X, La Vie En Rose. My favorite by a mile was La Vie En Rose. The lead actress was absolutely deserving of the Oscar she earned for the role. It's interesting because I have seen Marion Cotillard's photo all over the place, but I couldn't recognize her in the film. I guess that is a testament to the really great job makeup did more than it is to her as an actress. I just thoroughly enjoyed her portrayal of this amazing talent with a very bizarre past and severe emotional issues.
American History X was good too. I had seen it on TV, but I wanted to see it uncensored. It was pretty much the same. Away from Her was the story of an old couple living in Southern Ontario, and the wife develops Alzheimer's disease. It was a little bit sad, but not totally unexpected. There was a lot of old people sex, which was a little gross. They didn't show anything, just the pre and post coitus states.
The mail just got here. Nothing but junk...
My birthday is Friday. The big 3-1. Friends are planning a Memorial Day bash/potluck that I am very much looking forward to. Szechuan Chicken!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! My friend from AZ is sending me a boxfull of girl scout cookies. I did pay for them, but we'll pretend they are a gift! Thanks Kelly!!!
Has anybody heard the song "I'm in Miami, Bitch"? It is very interesting. I heard it on the radio the other day. They changed it from "Bitch" to "Trick", but the idea was there. It's a funny song. Lyrics about naked twister and polka-dot bikini's. I'm listening to it right now on Playlist.com
Oh yeah, my brother turned me on to this Playlist.com website. You can basically make a playlist of any songs and listen to them whenever you want. I had been using pandora, which plays music similar to what you like to hear, then I switched to finetune, which plays a set playlist of your choosing, but had limits of three songs per artist, and you couldn't play a particular song...it was all at random. Playlist.com has changed the way I listen to music...just kidding (how commercial of me). But it saves me having to download songs to listen to them. My hard drive free space thanks me. I think I want to listen to "1980" by Estelle...there it is...Now I want to listen to "Promesas" by Los Mono...there it is...see how easy it is????
Of course, Playlist.com does have it's draw backs. Some of the songs are not CD quality, some of the lesser known songs are not available, and when you do an artist search, the tracks aren't organized in any way whatsoever. I don't believe it has the large database of songs that Pandora has, but that's OK. Ooooh..."Right Round" by Flo Rida.
I think I'm going to watch "In Bruges" tonight.
5.07.2009
Three Hundred Twenty-Seventh Entry
I'm sick. I've got the swine cold...
Another lengthy pause between blogs. That just makes them all that more special!!
Biggest development since last blog is that I've quit smoking. I just decided that last Monday, April 27th, was it. I did it cold turkey. The first three days were the worst. I had always guessed that smoking curbs the appetite, but this was proof positive. I would get the cravings for a cigarette and eat instead. And not just eat a small snack like an apple or something. I was eating full meals! In the first few days I must have eaten at least 15 full meals! And I wasn't chewing normally either. I would chew each bite as if I was mad at the food and try to kill it with each bite. My jaw got really sore after each "murder"...
I figured I would gain some weight with this, so the same day I quit, I started to use the treadmill that has sat idle in my house for about two years. I gained six or seven pounds in those first few days, but in the last week or so, I've seen it steadily burned off. I'm almost back where I started. What's interesting about the working out too is that I wake up in the morning wanting to walk on the treadmill. I think it has somewhat become my replacement for smoking. I guess that's good! But we'll see how long it lasts.
The nicotine cravings are decreasing daily, and so is my appetite. I'm hoping it sticks this time. Smoking was fun, I really enjoyed it. But it really is time to give it up. It's much too expensive, almost nobody else I know smokes, and, well, it's bad for you.
Still no news on the job front. I'm still hoping for an invite to return to my old job once the merger dust settles, but with each passing day the chance of that diminishes. There is also a small chance I could get back in at Lea & Braze, but that all depends on if this supposed economic recovery continues. I'm not putting too much into that option though; they don't owe me any favors...I left them, not the other way around.
There are not too many job postings out there either. Most of the jobs are for transportation engineers, but I have mini-experience in that line of work. I would basically have to start over and make what I started making at the County (minor ducats). Wish me luck!!
Earlier this week, Monday to be exact, my mother and I ventured out to Alameda and lunched with my brother. We had the Mountain Mike's lunch pizza buffet. It was good, except for the salad bar. I guess in Alameda, salad is made with cabbage instead of lettuce. It was...interesting...
Yesterday I spent most of the day with Amy. It was her day off! I brought lunch to her house. Togo's sandwiches and salads. Very, very good. Then we made sugar cookies for her mom's birthday. Matt and Teresa went into the city to see Wicked, so we had a lot of time to make and decorate the cookies. It's funny because ever since Teresa got out of the hospital the last time, every time I saw her, she would mention how she wanted "sugar cookies with pink frosting and sprinkles on top". Well, yesterday, she got her wish. She totally loved those cookies. They were hella good. For dinner, we all went to Manor Grill, at the request of the birthday girl. I had the catfish. It was alright. Afterwards, Amy and I ditched her mom and came to my house and watched "Lost". Next weeks season finale is going to be the best Lost ever! I can't believe the show is ending next year. Amy and I stayed up a little longer and watched "Pitchmen". That show is pretty funny. It is a relief to see that Billy Mays does actually have an indoor voice. I thought he was deformed or something.
I had lunch today with Roxana and JR. Roxy bought me lunch! I enjoy going out to lunch with them. They are fun people and I miss working with them. A usual lunch with Roxy and JR consists of us making fun of each others eating habits and trying to make each other laugh when we have a mouth full of food. We had Sushi at Naked Fish in Hayward. It's over there in the shopping center at the corner of Jackson and Amador, wedged in between Zorba's and a laundromat. It was hella good! We had: tempura shrimp and veg appetizer, dragon roll, baked scallop roll, cherry blossom roll, spider roll and some other roll. Then we went to Starbucks and I had a tall mocha. Mmmmm....caffeine!!
That's it. Today I'm sick, and not liking it.
I'm sick. I've got the swine cold...
Another lengthy pause between blogs. That just makes them all that more special!!
Biggest development since last blog is that I've quit smoking. I just decided that last Monday, April 27th, was it. I did it cold turkey. The first three days were the worst. I had always guessed that smoking curbs the appetite, but this was proof positive. I would get the cravings for a cigarette and eat instead. And not just eat a small snack like an apple or something. I was eating full meals! In the first few days I must have eaten at least 15 full meals! And I wasn't chewing normally either. I would chew each bite as if I was mad at the food and try to kill it with each bite. My jaw got really sore after each "murder"...
I figured I would gain some weight with this, so the same day I quit, I started to use the treadmill that has sat idle in my house for about two years. I gained six or seven pounds in those first few days, but in the last week or so, I've seen it steadily burned off. I'm almost back where I started. What's interesting about the working out too is that I wake up in the morning wanting to walk on the treadmill. I think it has somewhat become my replacement for smoking. I guess that's good! But we'll see how long it lasts.
The nicotine cravings are decreasing daily, and so is my appetite. I'm hoping it sticks this time. Smoking was fun, I really enjoyed it. But it really is time to give it up. It's much too expensive, almost nobody else I know smokes, and, well, it's bad for you.
Still no news on the job front. I'm still hoping for an invite to return to my old job once the merger dust settles, but with each passing day the chance of that diminishes. There is also a small chance I could get back in at Lea & Braze, but that all depends on if this supposed economic recovery continues. I'm not putting too much into that option though; they don't owe me any favors...I left them, not the other way around.
There are not too many job postings out there either. Most of the jobs are for transportation engineers, but I have mini-experience in that line of work. I would basically have to start over and make what I started making at the County (minor ducats). Wish me luck!!
Earlier this week, Monday to be exact, my mother and I ventured out to Alameda and lunched with my brother. We had the Mountain Mike's lunch pizza buffet. It was good, except for the salad bar. I guess in Alameda, salad is made with cabbage instead of lettuce. It was...interesting...
Yesterday I spent most of the day with Amy. It was her day off! I brought lunch to her house. Togo's sandwiches and salads. Very, very good. Then we made sugar cookies for her mom's birthday. Matt and Teresa went into the city to see Wicked, so we had a lot of time to make and decorate the cookies. It's funny because ever since Teresa got out of the hospital the last time, every time I saw her, she would mention how she wanted "sugar cookies with pink frosting and sprinkles on top". Well, yesterday, she got her wish. She totally loved those cookies. They were hella good. For dinner, we all went to Manor Grill, at the request of the birthday girl. I had the catfish. It was alright. Afterwards, Amy and I ditched her mom and came to my house and watched "Lost". Next weeks season finale is going to be the best Lost ever! I can't believe the show is ending next year. Amy and I stayed up a little longer and watched "Pitchmen". That show is pretty funny. It is a relief to see that Billy Mays does actually have an indoor voice. I thought he was deformed or something.
I had lunch today with Roxana and JR. Roxy bought me lunch! I enjoy going out to lunch with them. They are fun people and I miss working with them. A usual lunch with Roxy and JR consists of us making fun of each others eating habits and trying to make each other laugh when we have a mouth full of food. We had Sushi at Naked Fish in Hayward. It's over there in the shopping center at the corner of Jackson and Amador, wedged in between Zorba's and a laundromat. It was hella good! We had: tempura shrimp and veg appetizer, dragon roll, baked scallop roll, cherry blossom roll, spider roll and some other roll. Then we went to Starbucks and I had a tall mocha. Mmmmm....caffeine!!
That's it. Today I'm sick, and not liking it.
4.23.2009
Three Hundred Twenty-Sixth Entry
It's been a while since I've updated this! Lots of stuff happened...
My brother got into an ATV accident the day before Easter...Here's what happened...
I got a call about 2:30am Saturday:
Fred (obviously in pain): Phillip...
Me (half asleep): Yeah.
Fred (drugged out): I crashed an ATV tonight.
Me (waking up): What? Are you hurt?
Fred (wincing): Yeah, it hella hurts.
Me: Did you go to the Emergency Room?
Fred: No, I took some Vicodin and I'm going to try to sleep.
Me: You should go to the hospital! Do you want me to go over there and take you?
Fred: No, but call me when you wake up in the morning to make sure I made it through the night.
Me (stifling laughter): OK.
Fred: Don't tell mom.
The whole thing was hella funny! I get up in the morning and call him. He answers and sounds no better than the night before. He's decided he needs to go to the hospital. 4 hours of hospital sitting and waiting and x-raying, he discovers that nothing is broken. Apparently, during the wreck he dislocated and relocated his left knee and right shoulder, and bruised a lot of internal stuff. They sent him home. He's an idiot.
The story is, he was "mashin" on the ATV across the street from his house in an empty field, in the middle of the night. He swears he was going 40, no 50 miles an hour. Then all of a sudden, this ditch appears out of nowhere and BAM! he crashes into it. Luckily, his buddies were out there with him and found him within several minutes. They wanted to take him to the hospital, but he wanted to "sleep it off".
He kept his humor the whole time. I'm sure the drugs had something to do with it. He wore his evil bunny slippers to the ER and for the rest of the weekend. He received many compliments on them. He claims that he asked everyone in the hospital if they watched House, and when they said yes, he informed them that "it's never Lupus." When I took him to get his scrip, the very kind Pharmacist asked him what happened. Without even thinking, he shot back with a tale about falling into the gorilla pit at the SF Zoo.
Easter evening through Wednesday, I stayed at his house and did stuff he couldn't do: laundry, make food, wash dishes, put on his socks and shoes, administer his Norco's. The really sucky thing is that he had to work the whole week. I guess things are going bad at his work and he can't miss any days. I offered to drive him, but his stubborn ass said he could drive. And no, he did not go to work under the influence of Norco's. He struggled through with just Advil.
It's funny because he really is healing quickly. You can hardly notice his limp (he stopped using his "House" cane after a coupla days), and he isn't using the sling anymore.
I slept on an air mattress in the living room. I awoke one morning to the cat meowing loudly at a peacock on the other side of the sliding glass door. I sat up for a spell, shushed the cat, noticed the peacock and went back to sleep. I realized later that sometimes the cats meows sound like peacock calls.
My mom relieved me of my duties Wednesday and I came home, to two televisions still with no cable!!!
I called Comcast on Wednesday and they still weren't able to fix it. They conceded defeat and scheduled a tech to come out to the house the next day, between 2 and 4 pm. Finally! Someone was going to deliver me from my cable-less room!
The guy (let's call him Ed) came a little after 2:30pm. I was in the middle of watching Springer on the "cabled" TV. I was more than glad to give up watching the battles of the toothless, in order to restore televisual balance in the house. Ed wasn't even here half an hour and he had fixed everything. There wasn't anything incorrectly plugged, he informed me. The problem was that our devices (digital TV receiver, cable modem, and two problematic digital adapters) were in the wrong order in the system. I asked if that wasn't something they could have fixed over the phone. Ed said that the problem could have been easily solved over the phone, confirming the laziness and ineptitude of the technical staff I spoke with.
I was stoked about the cable being fixed and watched TV in bed for the rest of the afternoon and night.
Friday, I packed a bag and headed on down to Tulare to visit my family. I got there and the first order of business was getting Rock Band!
Now, I hate shopping at Walmart. In fact I haven't done so in years. But, they do have everything. I was disappointed when Target didn't have Rock Band for the Wii. Walmart 1, Target 0. Target did have fresh produce, so I bought tons of fruit for my world famous fruit salad. They also have a Starbucks in there! So I got one. Target 2, Walmart 1. Target still won for the weekend, even with the Rock Band let-down of '09.
We get back to the house and the girls hooked up Rock Band. Next thing I hear is someone butchering "Spirit in the Sky". Hilarious! We all got into it. I'm super good on the drums and on the mic, but sucked on the guitar. I sang "Lump"...Paula and the girls were looking at me all weird because they had never heard the song. Really? Never heard Lump?? They must've been living in a cave in Afghanistan for the past 10 years.
Paula and I talked for quite some time in the kitchen while I made my fruit salad and while everyone else played Rock Band. By this time Dalila's(17-yr. old cousin) friends had come over for a sleepover. They were all going on a fieldtrip to Universal Studios the next day. I volunteered to wake up at 4am, get all the fieldtrip kids up and take them over to the high school where the bus was picking them up. Dalila's three friends slept on the couch (it's a huge couch) and I slept in Dalila's room. I couldn't get any sleep. Dalila has this Aero/sleep number bed thing and I couldn't get used to it. She also insisted on sleeping with some discoball thingy on all night. So there I was, sleepless in the bed, humming "I Will Survive", and Dalila sawing logs on the trundle bed on the floor.
Four o'clock reared it's ugly head and everyone got up. I parked myself on at the dining table and waited for everyone to get ready. The sooner I could drop everyone off, I could come back and go to sleep! Calvin got home from work about 4:30. He offered to take everyone for me, but I insisted, since he was going to have a long day ahead of him.
We're out the door at just after five. I get to the school, and there are a handful of vehicles parked out there waiting for the teacher and bus to arrive. The teacher begged everyone to be at the school by 5:15. He didn't get there until 5:45! And I couldn't leave the kids there alone and without a car to stay warm in!!! Let me tell you, when he got there, I bolted, cursing the teachers name!
I crashed on the couch, and woke up at 6:30 to Georgia (my 11 year old goddaughter) asking if she could play Rock Band quietly. I said it was fine...at least she asked! I slept until about 9. Not bad...
I called another cousin, and she invited me over for breakfast. She made a stellar meal! Bacon, sausage and a biscuit/egg/ham/cheese casserole thing that can only be described as heavenly!! We visited for a while and I got to put my arms in her pool. Very refreshing, especially since it was hella hot already.
I got back to Paula's and helped her and Calvin prepare for a party/BBQ they were having that evening. I planned on taking a nap before everyone got there, but ended up sleeping through the eating part of the party. I woke up, scarfed down some awesome BBQ and played Taboo and Peanuts til about 3 am. A good time was had by all!
I left the next day I got up before everyone else and started to clean the kitchen. Dishes mainly. We all breakfasted on leftovers. Still hella good. Then I left for the Bay Area.
I got home late. I called up Amy and she came over. We watched "Two Weeks Notice" starring Hugh Grant and Sandra Bullock. Does anyone else think it's funny that her last name sounds just like the British word for testicle?
Monday morning I got up at a respectable hour and called Firmino to see if he wanted to have lunch. He just got laid off too. Last Friday, in fact. I picked him up at his apartment in Alameda and we made our way over to La Pinata on Park Street. I wrestled with the parking meter for a few minutes, but I got it to work. I made that parking meter my bitch.
La Pinata in Alameda is the best of all the La Pinatas, in my opinion. It's hard to believe that they are even the same restaurants. The one here in San Leandro always serves their burritos in a pool of water. It's not even sauce! It's freaking water!!! And the chips are disgusting!! But the Alameda La Pinata is so different. Delicious food, served promptly with the appropriate moisture content.
After that unbelievably satisfying meal, we walked down the street to a bookstore and perused the aisles. Nothing good. So we went to the Borders and the "Alameda Towne Center", formerly "South Shore Center". I still call it South Shore. I bought a book entitled "How the States Got Their Shapes" or something similar. Very excited about it.
I went back to Firmino's apartment and we filled out his EDD application. Then he played me some hella cool clips on youtube. We played Phase 10. He hella cheated. I lost by 20 points. He is such a cheater!! But I ain't mad...
I got home to a package from Amazon.com. Very nice! My merch has arrived!!!:
-Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life by Barbara Kingsolver
-The Andromeda Strain by Michael Crichton
-Earth Abides by George Stewart
-Jailbird: A Novel by Kurt Vonnegut
-Armageddon in Retrospect by Kurt Vonnegut
-Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies
-Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand
-The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas
-V for Vendetta (movie)
-Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (movie).
Now I've got lots to do, right?? Thanks Louis and Jen!!!!
Monday night I returned to Fred's house to relieve my mother of babysitting duties. She really doesn't sleep well at Fred's house. It's the strong winds that keep her up. They do make quite a racket!
By Tuesday morning I realized that Fred didn't really need any help anymore. The first week was the hardest and each day he sees some improvement. But I still stuck around. I wanted to soak in as much HD DirecTV as possible. He even has a DVR! Very cool. I'm a DVR pro now.
I watched so much TV the last few days. I watched lots of BBC America, TNT, TBS. Family Guy was a daily occurance since my brother was recording them all. I love that show. I also got to watch the Graham Norton show. Remember him Lisa!?!?!? Awwww, you guys!!
I also finally finished reading "I Am Legend". The print edition I bought has the first half of the book as "I Am Legend" and the second half of the book is a collection of short stories by the same author. And each and every short story was as disturbing as "I Am Legend". I usually prefer the book over the movie, but in this case it was very close. The book won out by a clove of garlic. I thoroughly enjoyed how the book delved into the science involved more than the movie, but was non-plussed by the ending. However, after reading the short stories, I understood, even appreciated the "Legend" ending more. This Richard Matheson guy is definitely weird.
I came back to San Leandro today! Yay!!!
Had a very good dinner at Vo's in San Leandro tonight. With Jen and Louis!! I had never been there before so I relied on their experience to carry me through the evening. We shared the sampler, which was very good! Spring rolls, noodle salad, fried calamari and some fried egg rolly thingy. I had Pho for the first time in a great while. It was Pho with thinly sliced beef and thickerly sliced beef and beef balls. It was sooo good. And FBI for dessert...very good! I hadn't had FBI in ages. I'm glad Jen is back! We got all caught up on things. She misses the birth center, but that's certainly understandable considering she was there for three months. And she was pleased with the additions/modifications Louis made to the decor of the house. Well done Louis.
Tomorrow the job search begins in earnest. I'm having lunch with ex-coworkers. That should be fun. Sushi...mmmmm...
It's been a while since I've updated this! Lots of stuff happened...
My brother got into an ATV accident the day before Easter...Here's what happened...
I got a call about 2:30am Saturday:
Fred (obviously in pain): Phillip...
Me (half asleep): Yeah.
Fred (drugged out): I crashed an ATV tonight.
Me (waking up): What? Are you hurt?
Fred (wincing): Yeah, it hella hurts.
Me: Did you go to the Emergency Room?
Fred: No, I took some Vicodin and I'm going to try to sleep.
Me: You should go to the hospital! Do you want me to go over there and take you?
Fred: No, but call me when you wake up in the morning to make sure I made it through the night.
Me (stifling laughter): OK.
Fred: Don't tell mom.
The whole thing was hella funny! I get up in the morning and call him. He answers and sounds no better than the night before. He's decided he needs to go to the hospital. 4 hours of hospital sitting and waiting and x-raying, he discovers that nothing is broken. Apparently, during the wreck he dislocated and relocated his left knee and right shoulder, and bruised a lot of internal stuff. They sent him home. He's an idiot.
The story is, he was "mashin" on the ATV across the street from his house in an empty field, in the middle of the night. He swears he was going 40, no 50 miles an hour. Then all of a sudden, this ditch appears out of nowhere and BAM! he crashes into it. Luckily, his buddies were out there with him and found him within several minutes. They wanted to take him to the hospital, but he wanted to "sleep it off".
He kept his humor the whole time. I'm sure the drugs had something to do with it. He wore his evil bunny slippers to the ER and for the rest of the weekend. He received many compliments on them. He claims that he asked everyone in the hospital if they watched House, and when they said yes, he informed them that "it's never Lupus." When I took him to get his scrip, the very kind Pharmacist asked him what happened. Without even thinking, he shot back with a tale about falling into the gorilla pit at the SF Zoo.
Easter evening through Wednesday, I stayed at his house and did stuff he couldn't do: laundry, make food, wash dishes, put on his socks and shoes, administer his Norco's. The really sucky thing is that he had to work the whole week. I guess things are going bad at his work and he can't miss any days. I offered to drive him, but his stubborn ass said he could drive. And no, he did not go to work under the influence of Norco's. He struggled through with just Advil.
It's funny because he really is healing quickly. You can hardly notice his limp (he stopped using his "House" cane after a coupla days), and he isn't using the sling anymore.
I slept on an air mattress in the living room. I awoke one morning to the cat meowing loudly at a peacock on the other side of the sliding glass door. I sat up for a spell, shushed the cat, noticed the peacock and went back to sleep. I realized later that sometimes the cats meows sound like peacock calls.
My mom relieved me of my duties Wednesday and I came home, to two televisions still with no cable!!!
I called Comcast on Wednesday and they still weren't able to fix it. They conceded defeat and scheduled a tech to come out to the house the next day, between 2 and 4 pm. Finally! Someone was going to deliver me from my cable-less room!
The guy (let's call him Ed) came a little after 2:30pm. I was in the middle of watching Springer on the "cabled" TV. I was more than glad to give up watching the battles of the toothless, in order to restore televisual balance in the house. Ed wasn't even here half an hour and he had fixed everything. There wasn't anything incorrectly plugged, he informed me. The problem was that our devices (digital TV receiver, cable modem, and two problematic digital adapters) were in the wrong order in the system. I asked if that wasn't something they could have fixed over the phone. Ed said that the problem could have been easily solved over the phone, confirming the laziness and ineptitude of the technical staff I spoke with.
I was stoked about the cable being fixed and watched TV in bed for the rest of the afternoon and night.
Friday, I packed a bag and headed on down to Tulare to visit my family. I got there and the first order of business was getting Rock Band!
Now, I hate shopping at Walmart. In fact I haven't done so in years. But, they do have everything. I was disappointed when Target didn't have Rock Band for the Wii. Walmart 1, Target 0. Target did have fresh produce, so I bought tons of fruit for my world famous fruit salad. They also have a Starbucks in there! So I got one. Target 2, Walmart 1. Target still won for the weekend, even with the Rock Band let-down of '09.
We get back to the house and the girls hooked up Rock Band. Next thing I hear is someone butchering "Spirit in the Sky". Hilarious! We all got into it. I'm super good on the drums and on the mic, but sucked on the guitar. I sang "Lump"...Paula and the girls were looking at me all weird because they had never heard the song. Really? Never heard Lump?? They must've been living in a cave in Afghanistan for the past 10 years.
Paula and I talked for quite some time in the kitchen while I made my fruit salad and while everyone else played Rock Band. By this time Dalila's(17-yr. old cousin) friends had come over for a sleepover. They were all going on a fieldtrip to Universal Studios the next day. I volunteered to wake up at 4am, get all the fieldtrip kids up and take them over to the high school where the bus was picking them up. Dalila's three friends slept on the couch (it's a huge couch) and I slept in Dalila's room. I couldn't get any sleep. Dalila has this Aero/sleep number bed thing and I couldn't get used to it. She also insisted on sleeping with some discoball thingy on all night. So there I was, sleepless in the bed, humming "I Will Survive", and Dalila sawing logs on the trundle bed on the floor.
Four o'clock reared it's ugly head and everyone got up. I parked myself on at the dining table and waited for everyone to get ready. The sooner I could drop everyone off, I could come back and go to sleep! Calvin got home from work about 4:30. He offered to take everyone for me, but I insisted, since he was going to have a long day ahead of him.
We're out the door at just after five. I get to the school, and there are a handful of vehicles parked out there waiting for the teacher and bus to arrive. The teacher begged everyone to be at the school by 5:15. He didn't get there until 5:45! And I couldn't leave the kids there alone and without a car to stay warm in!!! Let me tell you, when he got there, I bolted, cursing the teachers name!
I crashed on the couch, and woke up at 6:30 to Georgia (my 11 year old goddaughter) asking if she could play Rock Band quietly. I said it was fine...at least she asked! I slept until about 9. Not bad...
I called another cousin, and she invited me over for breakfast. She made a stellar meal! Bacon, sausage and a biscuit/egg/ham/cheese casserole thing that can only be described as heavenly!! We visited for a while and I got to put my arms in her pool. Very refreshing, especially since it was hella hot already.
I got back to Paula's and helped her and Calvin prepare for a party/BBQ they were having that evening. I planned on taking a nap before everyone got there, but ended up sleeping through the eating part of the party. I woke up, scarfed down some awesome BBQ and played Taboo and Peanuts til about 3 am. A good time was had by all!
I left the next day I got up before everyone else and started to clean the kitchen. Dishes mainly. We all breakfasted on leftovers. Still hella good. Then I left for the Bay Area.
I got home late. I called up Amy and she came over. We watched "Two Weeks Notice" starring Hugh Grant and Sandra Bullock. Does anyone else think it's funny that her last name sounds just like the British word for testicle?
Monday morning I got up at a respectable hour and called Firmino to see if he wanted to have lunch. He just got laid off too. Last Friday, in fact. I picked him up at his apartment in Alameda and we made our way over to La Pinata on Park Street. I wrestled with the parking meter for a few minutes, but I got it to work. I made that parking meter my bitch.
La Pinata in Alameda is the best of all the La Pinatas, in my opinion. It's hard to believe that they are even the same restaurants. The one here in San Leandro always serves their burritos in a pool of water. It's not even sauce! It's freaking water!!! And the chips are disgusting!! But the Alameda La Pinata is so different. Delicious food, served promptly with the appropriate moisture content.
After that unbelievably satisfying meal, we walked down the street to a bookstore and perused the aisles. Nothing good. So we went to the Borders and the "Alameda Towne Center", formerly "South Shore Center". I still call it South Shore. I bought a book entitled "How the States Got Their Shapes" or something similar. Very excited about it.
I went back to Firmino's apartment and we filled out his EDD application. Then he played me some hella cool clips on youtube. We played Phase 10. He hella cheated. I lost by 20 points. He is such a cheater!! But I ain't mad...
I got home to a package from Amazon.com. Very nice! My merch has arrived!!!:
-Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life by Barbara Kingsolver
-The Andromeda Strain by Michael Crichton
-Earth Abides by George Stewart
-Jailbird: A Novel by Kurt Vonnegut
-Armageddon in Retrospect by Kurt Vonnegut
-Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies
-Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand
-The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas
-V for Vendetta (movie)
-Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (movie).
Now I've got lots to do, right?? Thanks Louis and Jen!!!!
Monday night I returned to Fred's house to relieve my mother of babysitting duties. She really doesn't sleep well at Fred's house. It's the strong winds that keep her up. They do make quite a racket!
By Tuesday morning I realized that Fred didn't really need any help anymore. The first week was the hardest and each day he sees some improvement. But I still stuck around. I wanted to soak in as much HD DirecTV as possible. He even has a DVR! Very cool. I'm a DVR pro now.
I watched so much TV the last few days. I watched lots of BBC America, TNT, TBS. Family Guy was a daily occurance since my brother was recording them all. I love that show. I also got to watch the Graham Norton show. Remember him Lisa!?!?!? Awwww, you guys!!
I also finally finished reading "I Am Legend". The print edition I bought has the first half of the book as "I Am Legend" and the second half of the book is a collection of short stories by the same author. And each and every short story was as disturbing as "I Am Legend". I usually prefer the book over the movie, but in this case it was very close. The book won out by a clove of garlic. I thoroughly enjoyed how the book delved into the science involved more than the movie, but was non-plussed by the ending. However, after reading the short stories, I understood, even appreciated the "Legend" ending more. This Richard Matheson guy is definitely weird.
I came back to San Leandro today! Yay!!!
Had a very good dinner at Vo's in San Leandro tonight. With Jen and Louis!! I had never been there before so I relied on their experience to carry me through the evening. We shared the sampler, which was very good! Spring rolls, noodle salad, fried calamari and some fried egg rolly thingy. I had Pho for the first time in a great while. It was Pho with thinly sliced beef and thickerly sliced beef and beef balls. It was sooo good. And FBI for dessert...very good! I hadn't had FBI in ages. I'm glad Jen is back! We got all caught up on things. She misses the birth center, but that's certainly understandable considering she was there for three months. And she was pleased with the additions/modifications Louis made to the decor of the house. Well done Louis.
Tomorrow the job search begins in earnest. I'm having lunch with ex-coworkers. That should be fun. Sushi...mmmmm...
4.10.2009
Three Hundred Twenty-Fifth Entry
Today was a not that boring day. It started off a little boring, but picked up dramatically after about noon.
I met up with ex-Lea & Brazers again for lunch today. Had a tuna salad sandwich from Eden Cafe in Hayward. I've always liked that place. Found out lots of old company gossip, including discovering that Karma actually does exist. Never burn your bridges...
I returned home to a box from Comcast. Apparently, if we do not get digital converters for our televisions we will lose half our channels come May 1st. I didn't really understand it, my mom spoke to the lady on the phone. So, they sent us two digital converters, and one digital receiver. I called them to figure out what to do with all this, and Tiffany basically called me an idiot and told me to read the instructions. Yes folks, everyone with cable has become their own cable guy!!!
I opened the instructions and all the equipment. I connected all the hardware to the three televisions we designated worthy of them, and called to activate all the boxes. Well, once you've called to activate, you need to wait for 45 minutes, and then complete the activation through the TV. Melvin was unable to activate the two digital converters, and said to call back later. I tasked my mother with this since I had to leave to go take Amy her lunch. Easy enough!
I basically run out the door with Amy's homemade tuna salad sandwich and a bag of chips and speed on over to Safeway. I wasn't too hungry, so I just brought a yogurt with me to eat while she ate. It was Peach...mmmm... I didn't use to like the peach flavored yogurt, but it's grown on me. Amy really liked her tuna salad sandwich. :) After our quick nosh, we headed over to Peet's coffee where I finally finished using my gift card. Yes folks, I used up the 30 cents I had on the card and got a small mocha. Starbucks mocha is so much better. Starbucks in general is so much better: tastier, quicker, friendlier. I'll bet the plain coffee at Peet's is better than Starbucks, but Starbucks wins every time in the non-plain bevs.
As per usual, we sat out front of Peet's, talked and tried to ignore the two Pomeranians that were almost as annoying as Freddie, my mom's pom. I encouraged her to buy a "chug" of milk and she did. Chocolate milk...mmmm. The second she started drinking it, the phlegm started to form. It really was quite fascinating.
I left Safeway and headed home. I got home to a frustrated mother and no TV's working. Arrrgh! I called Comcast again and asked them what the hell was wrong with our TV's! I was on the line for about an hour as the guy told me to unplug things, turn things on and off, push buttons, etc. Finally the TV in the family room started to work. By this time I was transferred to some technician lady. I told her that the receiver was working properly, but the digital adapters were still not working. She said I needed to call some number to activate them. Fine.
I called the number and "activated" the new boxes. No sooner did I activate the adapters, but the family room TV stopped working!!! WTF!!!
I read the letter that came with the stuff, and there was a website where all of the equipment could be activated. Why didn't I see this before!!! I go online to activate everything, and only the digital receiver is there. No wonder they can't activate the two adapters, Comcast doesn't even know they exist. I saw a link for Chat Help. I figured, all of the clowns I've been talking to on the phone haven't been able to help me, maybe the internet guy could figure this all out.
Meanwhile, Louis showed up because we were supposed to go to dinner, so I was trying to get this all done quickly.
Well, after over an hour chatting with Antonio.37071, the family room TV was working but still nothing on the other two TV's. Antonio wrote that I should wait 45 minutes for everything to kick in and "download". Fair enough.
I log off the chat with Comcrap, and I see Jen pop up on IM! I chatted with her for a while, Louis chatted with her for a while. She had a long day and was on her way to bed.
Louis and I head over to El Torito at about 9:15, 45 minutes before they close. Plenty of time to eat, chat and get out of there. I think that El Torito really liked us because they tried to keep us there all night! Oh wait, I think it was just horrendous service! It took about 15 minutes to take our orders, we were only allowed one glass of water and I guess we looked content enough because nobody bothered to check on us at all. Yes I know they were close to closing, and I know that there are other customers in the restaurant, but there were maybe 6 other tables there, and as many servers! And if you don't want to serve people after 9, then close at 9! I'm sure all the servers were out back counting their tips and smoking crack. I left a 4 cent tip. I have never left so little a tip. For bad service, I leave 10% minimum. They just caught me on a frustrating day...and they sucked ass!!!
Louis and I head back to the house and I do a quick check on the TV's. Still nothing. I give it one more shot, and call up Melissa over at Comcrap. She basically can't help me either but assured me that she has escalated the issue and forwarded the problem to a better equipped team of technical screw ups who may or may not call me within 3 days.
I told my mom we should get the DISH Network.
Louis is asleep on the couch. He's hella tired. I think I'm gonna do the hand-in-the-warm-water trick!
Scratch that...he's on my couch.
Today was a not that boring day. It started off a little boring, but picked up dramatically after about noon.
I met up with ex-Lea & Brazers again for lunch today. Had a tuna salad sandwich from Eden Cafe in Hayward. I've always liked that place. Found out lots of old company gossip, including discovering that Karma actually does exist. Never burn your bridges...
I returned home to a box from Comcast. Apparently, if we do not get digital converters for our televisions we will lose half our channels come May 1st. I didn't really understand it, my mom spoke to the lady on the phone. So, they sent us two digital converters, and one digital receiver. I called them to figure out what to do with all this, and Tiffany basically called me an idiot and told me to read the instructions. Yes folks, everyone with cable has become their own cable guy!!!
I opened the instructions and all the equipment. I connected all the hardware to the three televisions we designated worthy of them, and called to activate all the boxes. Well, once you've called to activate, you need to wait for 45 minutes, and then complete the activation through the TV. Melvin was unable to activate the two digital converters, and said to call back later. I tasked my mother with this since I had to leave to go take Amy her lunch. Easy enough!
I basically run out the door with Amy's homemade tuna salad sandwich and a bag of chips and speed on over to Safeway. I wasn't too hungry, so I just brought a yogurt with me to eat while she ate. It was Peach...mmmm... I didn't use to like the peach flavored yogurt, but it's grown on me. Amy really liked her tuna salad sandwich. :) After our quick nosh, we headed over to Peet's coffee where I finally finished using my gift card. Yes folks, I used up the 30 cents I had on the card and got a small mocha. Starbucks mocha is so much better. Starbucks in general is so much better: tastier, quicker, friendlier. I'll bet the plain coffee at Peet's is better than Starbucks, but Starbucks wins every time in the non-plain bevs.
As per usual, we sat out front of Peet's, talked and tried to ignore the two Pomeranians that were almost as annoying as Freddie, my mom's pom. I encouraged her to buy a "chug" of milk and she did. Chocolate milk...mmmm. The second she started drinking it, the phlegm started to form. It really was quite fascinating.
I left Safeway and headed home. I got home to a frustrated mother and no TV's working. Arrrgh! I called Comcast again and asked them what the hell was wrong with our TV's! I was on the line for about an hour as the guy told me to unplug things, turn things on and off, push buttons, etc. Finally the TV in the family room started to work. By this time I was transferred to some technician lady. I told her that the receiver was working properly, but the digital adapters were still not working. She said I needed to call some number to activate them. Fine.
I called the number and "activated" the new boxes. No sooner did I activate the adapters, but the family room TV stopped working!!! WTF!!!
I read the letter that came with the stuff, and there was a website where all of the equipment could be activated. Why didn't I see this before!!! I go online to activate everything, and only the digital receiver is there. No wonder they can't activate the two adapters, Comcast doesn't even know they exist. I saw a link for Chat Help. I figured, all of the clowns I've been talking to on the phone haven't been able to help me, maybe the internet guy could figure this all out.
Meanwhile, Louis showed up because we were supposed to go to dinner, so I was trying to get this all done quickly.
Well, after over an hour chatting with Antonio.37071, the family room TV was working but still nothing on the other two TV's. Antonio wrote that I should wait 45 minutes for everything to kick in and "download". Fair enough.
I log off the chat with Comcrap, and I see Jen pop up on IM! I chatted with her for a while, Louis chatted with her for a while. She had a long day and was on her way to bed.
Louis and I head over to El Torito at about 9:15, 45 minutes before they close. Plenty of time to eat, chat and get out of there. I think that El Torito really liked us because they tried to keep us there all night! Oh wait, I think it was just horrendous service! It took about 15 minutes to take our orders, we were only allowed one glass of water and I guess we looked content enough because nobody bothered to check on us at all. Yes I know they were close to closing, and I know that there are other customers in the restaurant, but there were maybe 6 other tables there, and as many servers! And if you don't want to serve people after 9, then close at 9! I'm sure all the servers were out back counting their tips and smoking crack. I left a 4 cent tip. I have never left so little a tip. For bad service, I leave 10% minimum. They just caught me on a frustrating day...and they sucked ass!!!
Louis and I head back to the house and I do a quick check on the TV's. Still nothing. I give it one more shot, and call up Melissa over at Comcrap. She basically can't help me either but assured me that she has escalated the issue and forwarded the problem to a better equipped team of technical screw ups who may or may not call me within 3 days.
I told my mom we should get the DISH Network.
Louis is asleep on the couch. He's hella tired. I think I'm gonna do the hand-in-the-warm-water trick!
Scratch that...he's on my couch.
4.09.2009
Three Hundred Twenty-Fourth Entry
Today was even boringer than yesterday, save for several highlights. And now the highlights of my day, in chronological order...
One: I went on a shopping spree at Amazon.com. Well, not exactly a spending spree...I just finally decided to spend a gift card I received for my birthday last year! Thank you Louis and Jen!! I bought two movies and eight books! They are just slashing prices on Amazon. Maybe it's because of the bad economy...
Two: Lunch with Roxy and JR (sorry JR, ladies first)! We went to Red Chili in Hayward. I had the Pumpkin Curry with brown rice. I ordered it mild spiciness, but it was soooo medium!! That didn't matter though. It was so good I finished it all up! I'll be paying for it through tomorrow, I'm sure. I also had a thai iced tea(they make the best one) and the rest of Roxana's soup...mmmm.
For those who do not know, I worked with Roxy and JR at Lea & Braze. The three of us used to sit in the same room, and now we try to make it to lunch as often as possible, just so we can make fun of each others faces. Awwww!
Three: Jerry Springer! Today was "I have a latin lover" day. It was hilarious! It's sad, if the stories are true, that people actually do the things that they claim to do. It's even sadder that Jerry Springer was a highlight of my day...
Four: I got my EDD paperwork today. I qualify for the highest benefit amount! Excellent. I have a phone interview with them next Wednesday at 8am. I wonder if I should wear a tie...
Five: I took lunch to Amy today! Her lunch hour is between 4 and 5pm. Today, I stopped at Don Jose's in CV and got two orders of fish tacos with rice and beans. I'm not sure I would get the fish tacos again, as they were pretty bland. They did get extra points for lots of avocado and mango salsa. They also did get points for giving me the lunch special price instead of the dinner price. Muchas gracias Don Jose!
After Amy's lunch/My dinner, we went over to Pete's Coffee where I enjoyed a large mocha and Amy enjoyed a piece of pumpkin and cream cheese bread. I tried to spend my entire gift card, but ended up with 30 cents left on it. They don't have anything for 30 cents...
Six: I got a call from ex-coworker Arnel. He filled me in on what's going on at the new First Solar, and what I'm missing: laptops, blackberry's for everyone, free lunches, happy ending massages...just kidding about the free lunches... 8)
Now I'm pretending to watch the Spanish version of Ugly Betty, only because I'm too lazy and bored to change the channel. Oh...I've found Austin Powers on TBS!
I guess it wasn't that boring a day after all...
Today was even boringer than yesterday, save for several highlights. And now the highlights of my day, in chronological order...
One: I went on a shopping spree at Amazon.com. Well, not exactly a spending spree...I just finally decided to spend a gift card I received for my birthday last year! Thank you Louis and Jen!! I bought two movies and eight books! They are just slashing prices on Amazon. Maybe it's because of the bad economy...
Two: Lunch with Roxy and JR (sorry JR, ladies first)! We went to Red Chili in Hayward. I had the Pumpkin Curry with brown rice. I ordered it mild spiciness, but it was soooo medium!! That didn't matter though. It was so good I finished it all up! I'll be paying for it through tomorrow, I'm sure. I also had a thai iced tea(they make the best one) and the rest of Roxana's soup...mmmm.
For those who do not know, I worked with Roxy and JR at Lea & Braze. The three of us used to sit in the same room, and now we try to make it to lunch as often as possible, just so we can make fun of each others faces. Awwww!
Three: Jerry Springer! Today was "I have a latin lover" day. It was hilarious! It's sad, if the stories are true, that people actually do the things that they claim to do. It's even sadder that Jerry Springer was a highlight of my day...
Four: I got my EDD paperwork today. I qualify for the highest benefit amount! Excellent. I have a phone interview with them next Wednesday at 8am. I wonder if I should wear a tie...
Five: I took lunch to Amy today! Her lunch hour is between 4 and 5pm. Today, I stopped at Don Jose's in CV and got two orders of fish tacos with rice and beans. I'm not sure I would get the fish tacos again, as they were pretty bland. They did get extra points for lots of avocado and mango salsa. They also did get points for giving me the lunch special price instead of the dinner price. Muchas gracias Don Jose!
After Amy's lunch/My dinner, we went over to Pete's Coffee where I enjoyed a large mocha and Amy enjoyed a piece of pumpkin and cream cheese bread. I tried to spend my entire gift card, but ended up with 30 cents left on it. They don't have anything for 30 cents...
Six: I got a call from ex-coworker Arnel. He filled me in on what's going on at the new First Solar, and what I'm missing: laptops, blackberry's for everyone, free lunches, happy ending massages...just kidding about the free lunches... 8)
Now I'm pretending to watch the Spanish version of Ugly Betty, only because I'm too lazy and bored to change the channel. Oh...I've found Austin Powers on TBS!
I guess it wasn't that boring a day after all...
4.08.2009
Three Hundred Twenty-Third Entry
I lied. There are lots of interesting things on TV during the day! I just wasn't surfing the right channels...
I'm watching Jerry Springer, and guess what?? They brought back all the fighting!!! No holds barred! It used to be like this, then they decided to cool the fighting down. But it's back! They just need to uncensor everything...
Love it, love it, love it! Thanks for bringing this new and improved Jerry Springer show to my attention, ex-coworker Jen!
I lied. There are lots of interesting things on TV during the day! I just wasn't surfing the right channels...
I'm watching Jerry Springer, and guess what?? They brought back all the fighting!!! No holds barred! It used to be like this, then they decided to cool the fighting down. But it's back! They just need to uncensor everything...
Love it, love it, love it! Thanks for bringing this new and improved Jerry Springer show to my attention, ex-coworker Jen!
Three Hundred Twenty-Second Entry
I finished updating my resume yesterday and sent it out to some old coworkers for review. I kept it to one page, holding to my rule of one page for the first ten years of a career and anything goes after. I also sort of perused the net for employment only to find a few jobs that require twice as much experience as I have. I didn't spend too long doing that though.
It rained all morning and early afternoon yesterday. That kept me in the house, wishing I could go outside and finish the gardening I started last weekend. I didn't want to drive around anywhere since I should be conserving my monies in preparation for what could be a long unemployment. I'm over that already...I'm going to lunch today with ex-coworkers.
It was so boring yesterday. I did leave the house before the rain started just to go to the bank and deposit my refund. And then, once the rain stopped I went to have dinner with Louish at Le Soleil, which is always very fun. But the in-between time was sooooo boring. Daytime television sucks, and don't want to get sucked back into the soap opera world. I wasted too much of my time on that in college. I suppose I could have cleaned up the house some...I did do some laundry!
My next step is to start learning stuff. I somehow ended up with a huge cache of engineering reference materials on several DVD's. I'll probably start reading/watching some of that stuff. I also have two boxes full of VHS tapes of civil engineering lectures that I could watch. Talk about exciting!
Speaking of VHS tapes, does anyone know how to transfer a VHS tape onto a DVD? Is it something I could do at home with a high powered computer and a DVD burner? Is there a special dual machine(VHS/DVD burner) I could get that would do it all for me?
Jen's back next week!!!
I finished updating my resume yesterday and sent it out to some old coworkers for review. I kept it to one page, holding to my rule of one page for the first ten years of a career and anything goes after. I also sort of perused the net for employment only to find a few jobs that require twice as much experience as I have. I didn't spend too long doing that though.
It rained all morning and early afternoon yesterday. That kept me in the house, wishing I could go outside and finish the gardening I started last weekend. I didn't want to drive around anywhere since I should be conserving my monies in preparation for what could be a long unemployment. I'm over that already...I'm going to lunch today with ex-coworkers.
It was so boring yesterday. I did leave the house before the rain started just to go to the bank and deposit my refund. And then, once the rain stopped I went to have dinner with Louish at Le Soleil, which is always very fun. But the in-between time was sooooo boring. Daytime television sucks, and don't want to get sucked back into the soap opera world. I wasted too much of my time on that in college. I suppose I could have cleaned up the house some...I did do some laundry!
My next step is to start learning stuff. I somehow ended up with a huge cache of engineering reference materials on several DVD's. I'll probably start reading/watching some of that stuff. I also have two boxes full of VHS tapes of civil engineering lectures that I could watch. Talk about exciting!
Speaking of VHS tapes, does anyone know how to transfer a VHS tape onto a DVD? Is it something I could do at home with a high powered computer and a DVD burner? Is there a special dual machine(VHS/DVD burner) I could get that would do it all for me?
Jen's back next week!!!
4.07.2009
Three Hundred Twenty-First Entry
A lot has happened since I've last posted.
In an environmentally responsible move, I quit my job at Lea & Braze Engineering, and accepted a position at OptiSolar Inc. as a Civil Engineer. At OptiSolar, I performed much of the same tasks I did at the last couple of jobs, except this time for solar power plants. It was a nice change from working on the greed and excess driven world of high-end single family custom homes. Unfortunately, OptiSolar sold off it Business Development division to First Solar, and I was one of the casualties of the deal, which was finalized last Friday. So, last Friday I was informed of my layoff. I'm OK with it. I get a decent "severance" thanks to the gubment, and in addition, I get unemployment. But hopefully, I will not be on unemployment for too long. I'm sure staying at home all day, every day will get really old, really fast.
I was one of two folks out of seven from my group to get the chop on Friday, not to mention the dozens of other folks from different departments that were let go the same day. There were no incidents, no one was yelling or anything. There really isn't much that throwing a hissy can do to get you your job back. It was a big relief for me, especially since there had been speculation all week about impending doom for the company and specifically our group. I lost sleep all last week stressing about it. I'm sleeping fine now. I'm even still on the working sleep schedule; I got up this morning at seven. Not bad, eh?
The worst part about leaving on Friday was saying goodbye to my coworkers. Three, in particular, I had worked with at the last company. They are a good group of guys, and I'm glad they survived the merger. They've got a great opportunity to work for a juggernaut of the solar industry, and hopefully they do well.
So, I'm unemployed. I've decided to take this week relatively easy. I'm updating my resume today, but I won't start looking for work until the end of this week. If anyone would like to review my resume, please let me know! It's been a long time since I've had anyone look at it. but for now, I'm just going to cruise on into Easter, pig out on candy and chocolate, have some pizza and taco bell, and get into job searching next week. By the way, I've given up sweets, fast food and pizza for lent(that should explain the last sentence.)
I would like to thank everyone who emailed, texted and called me since I broke the news about my sudden unemployment. Thanks for your concern and the job leads!
-------------
I'm going to make a lasagna for Easter. I'm salivating just thinking about it! The last one I made was a great success. I was thinking of also making some tapas dishes from the new tapas cookbook I recently acquired. Everything in that book looks delicious! Especially the baked stuffed onion....mmmmm....I'll have to take a pic when I do make it.
Last week was a big week for Claim Jumper. I went three times last week! Sunday, Thursday and Saturday. Each visit was a very good time!
-------------
I'd like to ask for an opinion...at what point is it OK to expand your resume to two sheets? It is my personal belief that after ten years in any given industry, you have earned the right to expand a resume to two sheets. Any thoughts?
-------------
I got an email a few weeks ago with this video. It is quite adult content so be careful who you watch it in front of. Also, if balloon animal sex offends you, please do not click the link! It just has to be shared...
Balloon Animals!!
A lot has happened since I've last posted.
In an environmentally responsible move, I quit my job at Lea & Braze Engineering, and accepted a position at OptiSolar Inc. as a Civil Engineer. At OptiSolar, I performed much of the same tasks I did at the last couple of jobs, except this time for solar power plants. It was a nice change from working on the greed and excess driven world of high-end single family custom homes. Unfortunately, OptiSolar sold off it Business Development division to First Solar, and I was one of the casualties of the deal, which was finalized last Friday. So, last Friday I was informed of my layoff. I'm OK with it. I get a decent "severance" thanks to the gubment, and in addition, I get unemployment. But hopefully, I will not be on unemployment for too long. I'm sure staying at home all day, every day will get really old, really fast.
I was one of two folks out of seven from my group to get the chop on Friday, not to mention the dozens of other folks from different departments that were let go the same day. There were no incidents, no one was yelling or anything. There really isn't much that throwing a hissy can do to get you your job back. It was a big relief for me, especially since there had been speculation all week about impending doom for the company and specifically our group. I lost sleep all last week stressing about it. I'm sleeping fine now. I'm even still on the working sleep schedule; I got up this morning at seven. Not bad, eh?
The worst part about leaving on Friday was saying goodbye to my coworkers. Three, in particular, I had worked with at the last company. They are a good group of guys, and I'm glad they survived the merger. They've got a great opportunity to work for a juggernaut of the solar industry, and hopefully they do well.
So, I'm unemployed. I've decided to take this week relatively easy. I'm updating my resume today, but I won't start looking for work until the end of this week. If anyone would like to review my resume, please let me know! It's been a long time since I've had anyone look at it. but for now, I'm just going to cruise on into Easter, pig out on candy and chocolate, have some pizza and taco bell, and get into job searching next week. By the way, I've given up sweets, fast food and pizza for lent(that should explain the last sentence.)
I would like to thank everyone who emailed, texted and called me since I broke the news about my sudden unemployment. Thanks for your concern and the job leads!
-------------
I'm going to make a lasagna for Easter. I'm salivating just thinking about it! The last one I made was a great success. I was thinking of also making some tapas dishes from the new tapas cookbook I recently acquired. Everything in that book looks delicious! Especially the baked stuffed onion....mmmmm....I'll have to take a pic when I do make it.
Last week was a big week for Claim Jumper. I went three times last week! Sunday, Thursday and Saturday. Each visit was a very good time!
-------------
I'd like to ask for an opinion...at what point is it OK to expand your resume to two sheets? It is my personal belief that after ten years in any given industry, you have earned the right to expand a resume to two sheets. Any thoughts?
-------------
I got an email a few weeks ago with this video. It is quite adult content so be careful who you watch it in front of. Also, if balloon animal sex offends you, please do not click the link! It just has to be shared...
Balloon Animals!!
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