Two Hundred Twenty-Eighth Entry

This weekend has been really fun.

I went to Cache Creek on Friday night with Louis, Jen and Lisa...just like old times. Much fun was had by all. I lost $70. It's all good though. I drank a few beers and watched Louis attempt to dance like the guys up on the stage. It was hilarious! No offense Louis...

Saturday was a Neira-Heystek wedding devoted day. I spent 6 hours in Pleasanton/Dublin getting fitted for a tuxedo and eating dinner. It was a lot of fun. Dinner was realllllly good...Macaroni Grill! I would tell you all about the tuxes, but I have been sworn to secrecy.

Saturday night, I went Karaoke with Amy, Jen and Lisa. Just like old times.... I love to Karaoke. I don't know why, I just do. And of course, there was the mandatory Wal Mart run afterwards.

Today I went to the movies with Amy. For as long as we have been going out, we have never been to a movie together. We went and saw "Saved" at the Shattuck Cinemas. It was a verrrrry good movie. Think of all the bible beaters and holy rollers and all the stereotypes involved and multiply by 12. It was sooooo funny!

After that, I came home and ate BBQ. Then I watched a couple movies with Rouja. It got to be 9:30 and I decided that I would go home early tomorrow morning. I really need to work tomorrow.

I called Amy at 10 tonight and I went over to her house. We hung out and I helped her write her paper.

And now I am home...it's 2:39, and 10 seconds...beep.

I'm not leaving early tomorrow.

And I'd like to give a shout out to Rouja.

And another shout out to Fred.

Two Hundred Twenty-Seventh Entry

American Idol tonight did not disappoint! Even though my girl Diana did not win, I am still happy with the result. Fantasia won me over tonight and I am genuinely happy she won.

"I Believe" is a great single. And they both performed it really well.

I'm still sick.

Two Hundred Twenty-Sixth Entry

There IS a God!! America got it right this time!!!!!

Two Hundred Twenty-Fifth Entry

Fantasia clearly won AI tonight. It'll be interesting to see who gets the boot tomorrow.

24 was awesome! Why haven't I watched the show before??

TV aside, I spoke with Amy tonight. I love talking with her. She watches the same shows I do...at least now she does. Hahaha.

After Amy and I ended our conversation, I became very pensive. A lot of things running through my head (could be the alcohol). Song worthy? Some of it, maybe.

Must go buy Jen's b-day prezzie tomorrow. Must check out backpack prices at Surplus City tomorrow too.

I asked my boss if I could work Memorial Day weekend and she said that it's OK. I can't work the whole day on Saturday due to ultra top secret plans. I really need to test my key before then to make sure it works.

I started up work again today on the project that is going to cause me the most headaches in the coming weeks. Jesus.

My boss today asked me a bizarre question. She asked me when I will become eligible for the Engineer II position. I told her I make 2 years in August. There is a position open for Traffic Engineer, but they are looking for either an E2 or 3. She said that if that job is still open come August, that I would be eligible. Then she added that she wasn't trying to run me off or anything. Interesting...it would only be a lateral move, but if I someday want to work for a city, traffic experience is definitely a plus.

Blas and his wife welcomed a new addition to their family on Sunday. Her name is, get this, Kylie Nichole Martinez. I nearly passed out when I read this. He came back to work today and I informed him that this daughters namesake is a sexy, slutty, amoral singer from Australia. He was less than pleased. I can't blame him especially since he is a strict (no secular TV or Radio) Pentecostal. I love spreading joy!!

I must admit though, I could see myself naming my kid Kylie. It's a cool name.

Credit Card Payoff Update:
17 months 'til payoff.

Good night!

Two Hundred Twenty-Fourth Entry

It's hard to believe, but there are people at my work that care less about working there than I do.

I was supposed to work yesterday at the office and add 7 hours of comp time to my growing balance. Well...whoever was supposed to upgrade my passkey to a 24-7 key, forgot to do so. Mother fuckers.

So I lost 7 hours of comp time yesterday. That's alright. I made up for it with extra laziness and pizza.

No Alias tonight, but it's a new State of Play (BBC America show. Excellent political drama. Even better than West Wing.)

Two Hundred Twenty-Third Entry

As the President of Beers said, "It's a travi-sha-mockery!!"

The Series Finale of Frasier is coming up. The very first episode was on earlier...really funny! This is one show that I'm sorry I didn't follow from the beginning.

So far this week I have worked 3.5 hours overtime. Tomorrow I hope to work 2 hours, and then I want to try and work at least 6.5 hours on Saturday, bringing my total for the week to 12 hours of overtime. That translates to 18 hours of comp time leave. After this week, I'll only need 8.2 more hours of overtime to reach my original goal. But.....

Since the Neira-Heystek wedding is right after I get back from Portugal, I am going to try to get more comp time to take at least three days off for the wedding, the two days before and the day after. Very nice. I think I'll even try to work some more extra and actually get paid for the overtime.

Two Hundred Twenty-Second Entry

It would have been one thing if La Toya absolutely sucked at her final song tonight and busted out in tears, but the fact that she held it together and sang soooo good made it all the more painful to watch her leave. Paula cried (and cried hard), Fantasia cried, Diana cried, and Jasmine cried (more tears of joy after giant-luckily avoiding the chop, the evil Hawaiian bitch).

Unbelievable.

Two Hundred Twenty-First Entry

I can't believe it. I just can't believe it.

That little Hawaiian flower bitch is safe this week. And who makes the sacrifice? LATOYA!!

I can't believe America is so stupid to vote off LaToya. I thought she could have won the competition...easily.

Goddammit! Goddammit!!

I'm not pissed though, it would be silly to get upset over a dumb TV show....I can't wait for Big Brother to start.

I got the official OK to work Saturday and catch up on a lot of stuff that really needs to get done. I even got my pass-key upgraded to a 24/7 key. I could go there at 3am, if I wanted. Sweet.

I also found out today that there is a locker room in the downstairs bathroom. I checked it out and it was pretty cool. There are two shower stalls where there could easily be eight, 15 lockers, a bench, and a little nook with a mirror, exercise bike and barbell. It's not a full gym and I guess it used to be a lot bigger. But I can definitely see myself working out in the morning and taking a shower at work. It would save me tons of time. There is only one locker left, so I will have to find out how to secure one.

I'm ready to boycott AI.

Two Hundred Twentieth Entry

Diana clearly won the night tonight on American Idol. Will vote 7 for her and 3 for LaToya.

Bad news at work today. The traffic engineer got pissed at his boss and moved to the flood control position that has been vacant for almost a year. That is where the bulk of my extra work these next few weeks was supposed to come from. And I found out today that another big project I was to work on is being taken out of its parent contract. I was going to suggest that I work overtime this weekend to help meet the deadlines, but now I have nothing. What a piece. There are only so many crosswords you can do for overtime.

Semi-good news at work today. The county deposited my check into my account twice. Very rare! Half the county employees got paid twice, while the other half got nothing. I just happened to be in the better half.

God! 24 is good tonight!!

Two Hundred Nineteenth Entry

I got my reimbursement check from my Sacramento conference. All seven hundred sixty-eight dollars and forty cents. I went straight to the bank right after work and paid my rent. And now I have 93 bucks left for the rest of the week. And...I get my regular check tomorrow! Excellent. I smell big payment to credit cards.

I looked at my last statement and I noticed that the last time I used my credit card was April 8th, when I was in Sacramento. Wow, I am amazed at my discipline. I won't chop them up yet, but once this summer is over I will probably have enough of a cushion in my checking account to not have to worry about having to use a credit card. Until then, they will remain in one piece.

That's pretty much all I have to say.

Oh yeah. I went and flew kites with Dalila, Georgia and Shaley. It was really windy today here. It was a lot of fun.

Two Hundred Eighteenth Entry

I had a really fun weekend. It was full of family, friends and surprises. Very good. Disappointment: No "oke"(karaoke).

Birthday present ideas/rules:
-Money (checks, not cash)
-Anything with a gift receipt (so I can return it for cash)
-No gift cards!

So yeah, if you are going to get me anything, please take the above ideas/rules into consideration. I am on a severe get-rid-of-debt kick and want money to help me with that. Of course thought counts, and if you were planning on getting anything for me for my birthday, you can write it on a piece of paper and wrap it around my birthday check.

Two Hundred Seventeenth Entry

I just got back from watching "Mean Girls" and "13 Going on 30". They were both good. I liked "Mean Girls" more though. Very funny, lots of stuff going on.

I don't know what I am going to do with myself this weekend.

I need to do mega laundry.

I'm starving!

Two Hundred Sixteenth Entry

"Friends" tonight was a classic. I laughed, I cried. It was the perfect way to end the series. I doubt "Joey" will be as good.

I've only worked 2 hours of overtime this week.

Total comp time thus far: 15.05 hours.
Total comp time needed: 47.50 hours.
Comp time needed: 32.45 hours.

And that means that I need to work another 21.7 hours of overtime to make up all the time I need to get paid during my vacation. A little extra wouldn't hurt either.

I am planning on working 3 hours overtime tomorrow which would bring my overtime needed down to 18.7 hours, and my comp time needed down to 28.05 hours. The good thing is, that all the stuff that was supposed to be done this week, hasn't been done. Next week will be hell. I'm still waiting on 5 more curb and gutter surveys too. Ai ai ai! Not to mention the Richgrove Alleys that I need to complete, and all the official grades I need to set. Triple ai ai ai!

Two Hundred Fifteenth Entry

WooHoo!!! John, The Red-Headed Stepchild, Stevens got voted off AI! There is justice in this world.

I was driving home tonight, and as I drove over the freeway, I saw a giant brush fire behind some houses. It first I thought it could have been a controlled burn, but then I remembered that you can't do that within city limits. Duh! I drove by it and it was really cool. There were people running around all over the place. The TCFD hadn't even got there yet. It had just started. I drove up to it and watched it for a minute. I wish I had my camera with me. As I was leaving, the FD was rollin' in. When I got home, I ran up stairs to see if I could see it from my window(the fire is about a quarter mile from my house) but I couldn't. Too many trees in the way. Oh well.

I got a cool new cubicle organizer for my office today. It cost the County about $100, but its worth it. I've been needing more surfaces for my crap to spread to.

I vacuumed my living room today, and I hated every minute of it. Vacuuming is the one household chore that I absolutely detest doing. Not that I enjoy doing housework, but... you know what I mean.

I've been trying to write a song for the last few days. For those of you who don't know...

squiggly lines
Way back a few years ago, Jen and I were both into playing guitar (her more than me) and excited about making music. Lisa got in on the action and became our songwriter. Jen and I (and possibly Lisa...can't remember due to neo-band drug phase) made a pact to have a legitimate band by the time we turned 28.
squiggly lines

Come May 21st, 2004, we will have exactly 2 years to do this. In true Gemini form (I can't say this for Jen...she's a cusper) I have put it off and kind of lost interest in it...blah. Well, this week I have made an effort to write down my lyrical thoughts and make them rhyme. It's hard. I keep thinking about Eddie on AbFab when she is instructed by her "life coach" to write a pop song...."Hey baby...I'm drivin' down the road....lookin' at the bicycles....lookin' at the birds and people walkin' on by..." I try, but the words aren't there. I have had some really interesting ideas, but the words just aren't there. And you just can't write songs about Civil Engineering. "Hey baby...I'm drivin' down the road...checkin' out the superelevation of the curve...lookin' at the curb and gutter grade...starin' at the structural columns of the bridge..." Nno.

Two Hundred Fourteenth Entry

I'm still upset Jennifer Hudson was voted off Idol. Stupid John Stevens.

As most of you know already, I am going to Portugal in June. I knew my family was going before Easter. I told everyone that I would not be able to go due to time/vacation time restraints. But, in true Toste family style, I was persuaded to go by means of which I cannot mention for fear of persecution.

So yeah:

June 11th (noon) - Fly to Vegas from SFO w/Louis
June 13th (11:30am) - Fly back from Vegas to SFO w/Louis
June 13th (10:30pm) - Fly to Boston from Oakland by myself
June 14th (7:30am) - Get to Boston from Oakland
June 15th (~10pm) - Fly from Boston to Azores w/family
June 28th (~10am) - Fly from Azores directly to Oakland w/brothers.

It's going to be a very busy few weeks. And I would normally need 84 hours of leave to pull it off.

The Mechanics

I don't have enough vacate(I watched Legally Blonde yesterday) to be gone for two weeks. So, a combination of sick leave(the Friday we leave for Vegas), vacation(24.5 hours by the time we leave), comp time(4.55 hours to date), personal holiday(8 hours I can take whenever), a leave of absence and patient/compassionate management at work allows me to be gone for this vacate. In an effort to reduce my leave without pay, Marcia has very generously offered me the opportunity to work overtime. For every hour I work overtime, I get 1.5 hours of comp time(it's basically vacation time). So:

4 hours of sick leave
+
24.5 hours of vacation
+
8 hours of personal holiday
=
36.50 hours of leave

84 hours needed
-
36.50 hours of leave
=
47.50 hours of extra leave needed (i.e. comp time)

Now, another thing I forgot to mention is that any request for personal leave of absence where I would be gone for more than 40 hours would need to be approved by the head of personnel at the courthouse. That's where the comp time comes in.

47.50 hours of comp time needed
-
4.55 hours of comp time
=
42.95 hours of comp time needed
/
1.5 hours of leave per hour of overtime
=
28.7 hours of overtime

I need to work 28.7 hours of overtime if I want to get paid during the vacate. That amounts to about 4 hours every week from now til then. It just so happens that we have an absolutely giant pile of work to do at work. We are all working under the gun right now. I don't think I will have any trouble making up a big chunk of the time needed for the vacate. And hopefully I will be able to work a little more comp time than I actually need.

In other news.

I bought a bunch of cinder blocks and pine boards and am going to make a coffee table. It's white trash furniture, according to Louis. But all the things cost me $32. And I've got some cool ideas to make it decent looking.

Two Hundred Thirteenth Entry

It has been a while since I wrote a blog.

Last week was the California ADA Conference, referred to as the Curb Ramp Carnival at my office. I learned a lot of things about the accessibility issues facing disabled Californians. It was a good conference, and I learned a lot.

I was up north all last week for the conference and Easter. I missed a lot at work.

This week has been really stressful. There is going to be a lot of voluntary and possibly some manditory overtime at work. Not that I mind getting Comp Time (for every hour worked over time, we get 1.5 hours of paid leave), but it's kind of a nuisance.

***Newsflash*** Jon Peter Lewis was voted off of American Idol tonight. I thought for sure Diana was going this week.

Two Hundred Twelfth Entry

Out the door just in time
Headin' down the 405
Gotta meet the new boss by 8 am
The phone rings in the car
The wife is workin' hard
She's runnin' late tonight again

Well, I know what I've been told,
You got to work to feed the soul
But I can't do this all on my own
No, I know, I'm no Superman
I'm no Superman

You've got your love online
You think you're doing fine
But you're just plugged into the wall
And that deck of tarot cards
Won't get you very far
There ain't no hand to break your fall

Well, I know what I've been told
You gotta know just when to fold
But I can't do this all on my own
No, I know, I'm no Superman
I'm no Superman

That's right

You've crossed the finish line
Won the race but lost your mind
Was it worth it after all
I need you here with me
Cause love is all we need
Just take a hold of the hand that breaks the fall

Well I know what I've been told
Gotta break free to break the mold
But I can't do this all on my own
No, I can't do this all on my own
I know that I'm no Superman
I'm no Superman

I'm No Superman
by: Lazlo Bane

Two Hundred Eleventh Entry

Amy was down this weekend. We had lots of fun. Much eating, TV and farting around was had by all.

I am sooo excited about going home next Friday. Less excited about the conference in Sacramento on Tuesday. Meeting new people. Hmmmph! And then excited about coming back to SL on Thursday. And less excited about going back to work the following Monday.

Oh yeah, did I tell y'all that I'm going to a conference next week? Yeah. The "California ADA Conference". It's in Sacramento. I'm staying at the Best Western Hotel. I am excited about learning all kinds of things about ADA and cementing myself as the "Curb Ramp Czar" at work, but I am not excited about everything else a conference means, mainly meeting a bunch of people. Scary.

So yeah, if enough people are interested, I am open to having a hotel party in my room. I will be there Monday night through Wednesday night. I'm certain that noone will take me up on that offer, but it would be fun, and I thought I'd throw the idea out there.

Two Hundred Tenth Entry

It has been a long, long time since I wrote in my blog. A lot has happened since my last entry:

Trip to the Coast
I went to the Coast a couple of weekends ago. I went with my cousin Igo and his friend David. It was a lot of fun. We went to SLO, Cal Poly, Pismo, Montana de Oro, Santa Maria and everywhere in between. We ate until we nearly exploded at Krispy Kreme, Margies and Woodstocks. It was a great day.

Amy Visit
Amy came to Tulare this weekend. We had a lot of fun. I didn't realize how much I missed her until I saw her actually drive up to my house. She's coming again this weekend.

Wisdom Extraction
I had the Friday from hell last week. I locked myself out of my house, spent an hour trying to break in, had a wisdom tooth pulled, took my grandma to the doctor, suffered from unbelievable pain that I'm sure is worse than childbirth, did 6 loads of laundry, I put away 6 loads of laundry, and cleaned my house. My wisdom tooth-hole still hurts and I am taking about 4 Motrin's a day.

Death of a Dream
I found out yesterday that I am not eligible to sit for the PE exam this October. I have to sit for it April 2005. I have to wait until at least July 2005 to quit my job. I am so sick of it. I am motivated more than ever to get a second job.

Rubber Checks
I bounced a record 5 checks this month. Fucking 24-Hour Fitness takes their money out at the most inconvenient times.

Idol Madness
I have yet to miss an episode of American Idol. I am officially addicted. I am pulling for Diana DeGarmo. I'm glad Matt got eliminated this week.

That catches you all up.

Two Hundred Ninth Entry

This weekend was extremely fun. It was a weekend of food, family, friends, campfires, food, snow, hiking, food...

Friday night we got to the cabin at about 7pm. We unloaded and hung out by the fire. We ate a dinner of hot dogs and chili. Delicious. For dessert, we had strawberry covered cheesecake. It was Igo's birthday on Thursday, so we lit a Jesus candle and sang him Happy Birthday. He turned 17. After dinner, we sat in the cabin and lounged/talked. We played "Light as a Feather". Lisa and Igo levitated! We figured out the sleeping arrangements and went to bed.

Saturday morning I woke up at 5:30am. I was out of the cabin by 6am. I was the only one awake. I decided to hike down to the creek by myself. It was a very tough hike. I was dying the whole way down and back up. At the creek I accidentally nearly completely fell in. My foot was soaked.

I went up and saw that Tia and Debbie were awake already. They were taking the dogs for a walk. Tia started the fire and we sat around. Everyone got up soon there after. We drank hot chocolate and talked around the fire. The sun behind us was welcome warmth.

We ate a breakfast of "vegelated" eggs and flank steak. It was sooooo good!

Afterwards, Jen, Lisa and I went down to Glenville to buy beer, trashbags and a newspaper. Very expense! On the way back, we took a detour to Sugarloaf and loaded up my truck bed with a ton of snow. When we got back we had a snow fight and lots of snow fun.

By mid afternoon, Jen wanted to go fishing. So we went. We didn't catch anything. We didn't even see any fish in the clear creek, but nevermind. It was fun to just sit around and cast the line in.

We had lunch at about 5pm. It was meatloaf and it was soooooo good! I don't normally care too much for meatloaf, but I love Debbie's version of it. Paula's is a close second. :)

We sat around the fire more and talked. Roasted Marshmallows and stuff like that.

Dinner consisted of Tia's World Famous 10 Veggie Chicken Soup. It cooked for over 8 hours. It was sooooo good! It was even better when I added Cilantro, Sour Cream and Wine. Mmmmmmmmmmm.

We all crashed pretty early (around 9pm).

Sunday morning I awoke at 5am and went to the bathroom. I could barely see anything. I was going into the bathroom and Jen kicked me. She was awake too! I did my business and went back to bed. I couldn't sleep anymore so I listened to my mp3 player. When it got more light outside, I got dressed and went outside. Tia followed shortly thereafter. We started the fire and put the soup on.

Soup for breakfast. It was even better the second day.

We played a little frisbee and catch later. Then it was time to pack up.

We packed up and hung out for another hour enjoying the silence and serenity. It was almost sad to leave.

Thanks to Debbie, Tia, Igo, David, Jen and Lisa for making it a great weekend.

I intend on going back up there again. It's only an hour and a half away from here. Lots of fun.