Pearl Jam RULES!!!

Sorry for this being a tad late, but after my mini tour of Pearl Jam concerts and work to catch up on, I was too tired to write anything during the week. I'll give a day by day account of the concert trip:

Thursday 7-6
Kathy and I are scheduled to depart from Burbank Airport at 6:30 pm, for an hour (approximately) flight to Las Vegas, in which our show starts at 8 pm. That would give us a bit of time to check in, get our tix at the window since they are tickets bought thru Pearl Jam's fan club. Now, there had been some weather issues in Vegas that day that had me worried our flight would not be on time. I see that there is a flight that leaves Burbank at 5:55 pm, and I ask the guy at the Southwest Airlines counter if we can get our tix switched to that flight. It ends up not being a problem (as i find out later why that was the case) and so kathy and I are thinking we're gold, gonna have more time to get to the hotel, get a drink, and go to the concert on time.
I come to find out, that our flight is delayed due to weather issues, and the flight I was orginally suppsed to go on, has been cancelled. The flight was to be delayed an hour, so now we aren't leaving for Vegas til 7pm at the earliest. 7 pm comes by, and we board the plane, not actually leave the ground til 7:20 pm. The pilot says the flight is 32 minutes long (I love flying to Vegas!) and we should arrive shortly after 8 pm. Timewise, not too bad, our tickets will be available til 30 minutes after Pearl Jam takes the stage, and with an opening act, that gave us til approx. 9:30-9:45 just in case. We end up landing in Vegas at 8:10 pm, catch a taxi to MGM where we are staying, I check in, Kathy leaves her stuff with me, goes to the MGM Box Office to get the tix, and we agree to meet up when our shit gets taken care of. I check in, drop off our bags in our room, kathy got the tix, we have good seats, and we meet up at 9:00 in front of the arena. I get the ticket, we go in, get to our seats, at 9:10 pm, and then 5 minutes later, PEARL JAM TAKES THE STAGE!!!!!! The rest of the night was a bit of a blur, so many great songs, the show lasted about 2 and a half hours, which wasn't long enough for me or Kathy, but considering it was the first of 3 shows over the next 5 days, it was a good way to start things off.

Friday and Saturday 7-7 and 7-8
Nothing really exciting to report, had breakfast each day at my favorite place at the NYNY Casino called America that has the best pancakes EVER!!! Then onto some gambling at a couple different casinos including Hooters, which was the old San Remo hotel just remodeled and Excalibur, all these places took my money at craps, and i wasn't too happy about that. Friday night we went out to dinner and see my bestest friend Rachel at Postrio for fine dinner and drinks. It was great to see her and her co-worker Terri Lynn, whom I'm madly in love with everytime I see her. I tell her all the time, if she ever breaks up with her b/f, i'm on the first plane out to marry her in Vegas :P The drinks were flowing, the laughs were to be had by us all, and it was a fun night. The best part of it, which touched me deeply, was that we didn't have to pay for a single thing we ordered, food and drinks included. NOTHING. Rachel took care of it all. Needless to say, we left a fat tip for each of the girls, the least we could do for them for hookin it up and taking care of us in our time there. Kathy and I will be back in Vegas on Sept. 23rd, for Frozen Fury 9 to party with Rachel.

Sunday 7-9
This Pearl Jam show is here in LA, at the Forum, which is an outstanding venue to go see a show. There are no luxury suites in here, just a lower bowl and upper bowl. It used to be home to the Lakers and the Kings, and there isn't a bad seat in the house. Our seats on this night were to the left of the stage, on Mike McCready's side, 4 rows up from the floor and 2 sections over from the stage. I would consider tonight's show to be their greatest hits show. Every big song by them you can think of was played tonight from all their cds, all 8 of them. Even Flow, Alive, Jeremy off of Ten to Rearviewmirror and Last Kiss, with some other songs like Crown of Thorns and Why Go? mixed in there. For a sunday night show, it felt like a friday or saturday night show, and the time relfected that. The show was 2 hrs and 45 minutes long!! Mind you, I had work to go to the next morning, and still hadn't slept much from the Vegas trip, but hey, that's the price you pay to see your favorite band of all time play!

Monday 7-10
Our seats for tonight were on the opposite side of the arena from the night before, a few rows back further, but still great seats. The one thing I will say, is that sitting in the Fan Club area, you are surrounded by other "devoted" fans like yourself. I saw in other parts of the arena where if the song wasn't one of thier bigger hits like Alive or Daughter, they were sitting. Not in our area for any of the 3 nights, everyone, including Kathy and I were on our feet the whole show, singing and screaming at the top of our lungs with the other die hard fans. This night was different from the night before, in that they played a bit more obscure songs, but great songs none the less. I still knew them all, and sang along to them, but as the show was winding down, they played a song in one of their encores, that made me realize my 5 days of bliss was about to end. It's a song off of thier 4th studio CD, No Code, called Off He Goes. The words speak to me so much about them and how i feel for them. I wait all this time in between their studio releases and concerts, and then it's all over in a flash. Off they go, into the sunset, and I never know if the show I'm seeing will be my last of them. This tour came 3 years after their last one, and they're getting up there, I don't know how much longer they'll want to do it. I appreciate every show they've ever put on, but it also speaks to how fast time flies in life. I first saw them when i was 19, and now, I'm 27.

Viva Las Vegas!!

So the day has finally come, tomorrow is the day I've been waiting for now for over 3 years. PEARL JAM IN CONCERT!!!!! Not only that, but the show will be happening in beautiful Sin City, Las Vegas! I can't wait, it's like Christmas Eve for me right now. I'm packin up my bag, go to work early tomorrow so I can get outta there early, board a flight to Vegas, and by 8pm, will be rockin out at the MGM Grand Garden Arena. \m/ (-_-) \m/

After the show, my sister Kathy and I will be chillin at the MGM hotel, which will be the first time I've ever stayed there, and am looking forward to that. The next two days are chill days, mostly days that I will spend drinking or already be drunk. I will meet up with my friend Rachel who lives and works in Vegas, and get to kick it with her for a bit. She's one of my closest friends, and I do miss her very much. It's not often that I get to see her now that she lives in Vegas. Friday night, she will be working with a friend of hers that I absolutely adore, named Terri Lynn. If she wasn't already taken, I would move up there and marry this girl. She's smart, sassy, sexy, the whole package! I can't wait to see her as well, and when the two of them work together at Postrio Restaurant in the Venetian, the drinks are a flyin! The party won't end in Vegas either, I fly back saturday afternoon, and proceed to see PJ here in LA on Sunday and Monday. It will be 5 days of heaven for me in July.

I hope you all have a good weekend, and I will be back with pics to share of my trip to Vegas!

What a letdown/work progress

Today was the day of the big game for me in the World Cup, Mexico vs. Argentina in the round of 16, winner moves on, loser goes home. It started off so well for my peeps, with Marquez of Mexico scoring in the 10th minute of the game, but it all went downhill after that. Argentina tied it up on a goal that looked like was headed in by one of Mexico's own players, but was credited to Hernan Crespo of Argentina. The game went into extra time tied 1-1, and in the 98th minute, the most beautiful goal scored of the tournament was scored by Rodriguez of Argentina, giving them the lead that they would hold onto 2-1. Mexico is now out, and I'm bummed out about that. First the US gets eliminated, now Mexico, all my rooting interest teams are gone.

On a brighter note, this week at work i was given a raise! I guess my boss and company is satisfied by the work I've done since I've been there, and while I acknowledged that I'm grossly underpaid, this raise was a nice surprise. For my first entry into the IT world, starting off not knowing how to write SQL codes and process data, I am proud to say that I have put in the effort to get better and have in the months that have gone by. I have learned so much about my field in these short months, and now have been given more responsibilites within the company. I'm a junior Network Administrator to our FTP server, and have more duties with keeping the network goin smoothly, on top of my data work. I'm grateful to have this job and to get this experience which will go a long way for me in the future. My next challenge is to finally take the A+ exam, which will be in 3 weeks. After that, I will be going for my MCP. I'd like to take the test for Server 2003, but we'll see about that after I take the A+.

Oh well, at least in 12 days I'll be in Las Vegas watching Pearl Jam play at the MGM Grand Garden Arena!!!

Blogging purpose/Father's Day

As i sit here on a saturday night, i wonder a few things. Why do people do this? What is your reasoning for it? The reason i ask has a couple parts. First off, some of you may have known or read about my sister, Marie. She has a blog which was alot of fun to read for many reasons. I was able to get to know more about her through her writing, and she has a wonderful writing style. She stopped blogging a couple months ago, not for any major reason in particular, but she just feels she's done with that. Blogging served it's purpose for her in a time of transition in her life. The last post she wrote is very telling about her in her life. She is doing well if you wonder, but has decided to move on.

I started this blog at a time in my life filled with much uncertainty. I didn't know where i was going or what i was doing in my life. My title is telling of that, i felt that i was someone who rambled, not making much sense out of my thoughts or actions in life. I have since found direction and purpose, finishing my computer training school in february, graduating as validectorian of my class, got my first job in the IT field and am on my career path for success. I started to write again just as a means to express myself to others. I have a close group of friends in my life that i confide in and trust. There's just something about being able to express your thoughts that makes me feel better. A couple of my friends know about this site, but i'm pretty sure they stopped checking it out when i went on break. Which is good for me, not for any big reason, just that right now i have thoughts in my mind that may make certain relationships become different.

I just found out that my ex has her own blog about her life. Good for her, but part of me is afraid that she'll find out about my site. I don't want her to know what's goin on in my life in great detail. I know she's moved on in her life since we broke up, hell she has a kid now with her new boyfriend, but i have a feeling of privacy that i don't want her to know stuff about me. We'll see if she's able to find out about me. I never told her i had a blog, but something tells me she would try to find out if i did have something.

Tomorrow is Father's Day, and it will be a low key event with my family. Marie came over to my parents house and we all went out to lunch at a peruvian restaurant that my dad likes. Great food, great company, and a nice quiet day. We celebrated today cuz my dad is getting ready to leave for Spain on monday, and needed tomorrow to get his work organized and needs to pack. I love my dad very much, he's been such an inspiration to me on how to overcome adversity, what hard work and dedication can reap, and how to be a loving father and friend to me. As i get older, i understand and appreciate all the sacrifices he made for me and for my sisters. He sacrificed career advancement to make sure he was at every baseball game and soccer game i ever played. He always attended my sisters' softball/tennis/ballet event that they took part in growing up. I just wanted to write about how much I love him and am grateful to have a good relationship with him now as an adult.

Countdowns

Well, another day is in the books, I can't believe that it's already June! My countdown to Las Vegas has begun, being less than a month away. The FIFA World Cup is also starting up on Friday, and i can't wait for that to begin. For 30 glorious days, soccer will be in the spotlight showing the best players the world has to offer, and since it only comes around once every 4 years, those 30 days are pure bliss.

This weekend i'll be goin to an Angel game with my friend amado. You can see who he is by clicking on my myspace link if so inclined. I don't use myspace that much,mostly to keep in touch with peeps i've lost contact with, and to see what else is goin on with my friends. My important friends i talk to on the phone, so it's not a big deal for me to see or talk to them on myspace. I don't want my friends to know much about me, my thoughts or feelings, so they don't know about my blog. I had told a select few, but i doubt any still check up on it, especially since I stopped writing for a while. I think I may get a bit deeper here now that I'm sure they don't read.

One tidbit I'd like to share is that right now in my life, I'm lonely. Not in a literal sense, cuz i have my family and friends, but in the emotional sense. Monday was the birthday of my ex. We still talk, and in fact she's on my myspace friends list, but I've just been weirded out with her b-day just happening. I know that we weren't good for each other, and us breaking up was a good thing, but it makes me sad when I think of the fun times we did have, and celebrating her birthday by doing something or goin somewhere. I miss sharing those times with a significant other. It's the little things about a relationship that I very much miss. The goofing around, staring into her eyes for minutes on end, making her laugh, and so many more things to list here. I have someone that I wish I could share those things with, but it doesn't seem to be in the cards. I feel like Albert Brenneman from Hitch. When he asks Hitch if he knows what it's like to not be with the one you love, only to watch them with someone else, hoping that she finds the happiness she deserves even if it isn't with you? Sigh.......well, payday is friday, at least i have that to look forward to.

IT'S HOT

I hate summertime, the heat just kills me. It sucks the life out of me, i become irritable and cranky, and just am miserable. Today in the beautiful San Fernando Valley, temps reached up into the 100's. As i write this at 12:21 am, it's still 84 degrees. That's just not right, it shouldn't be that hot at night.

Anyways, today i went to lunch with my friend amado. We ate at this great bbq joint in the valley called Bear Pit and the food is delicious. After that, we went to the mall to check out new computers at the Apple Store. He's looking into getting a Macbook Pro, cuz since he moved out of his house into an apt in Santa Monica, he doesn't have a computer. He left his desktop back at his old house and doesn't have the space for it in his apt. We don't get to hang out often, but when we do, it's cool. Between his work schedule (he works graveyard at a call center for DirecTV) and him living in Santa Monica, it's hard to find time to get together.

I also enjoy talking to him, cuz he understands the pain of working in the IT field. I can tell him what goes on at my work, and he'll actually understand what i'm saying and be able to help me out on things to do at work. I can talk to my family about work, but they wouldn't understand a word of it if i go to them saying that our backup domain controller is a piece of shit e-machine running on an outdated AMD Sempron processor with a broken CPU fan. So it's nice to vent to someone who understands the field. He's really my only friend who i can say that about. He's also been great in helping me get better in the field, and alot of what i've learned has been from him.

Well, my sunday has a bit of everything planned. I will be attending church in the morning, followed by possibly a t-ball game in the afternoon watching my friend kerry's nephews play. That of course could change, since it's supposed to be another scorcher weather-wise. Another day in the 100's is in store. What type of weather can you not stand?

Guess who's back......back again......

Well, i doubt there's anyone out there who still reads this, but if there is anyone out there, hello again. It has been a long time since i last wrote something here, and that is my fault. I got into a routine of not writing for a couple days, which turned into weeks, so on and so forth. How fast the time flies, I can't believe that it's june already. It seemed like yesterday, i was talking with excitement about the LA Kings playoff chase, only to have my hopes dashed again and miss out on the NHL playoffs for the 3rd year in a row. To satisfy my playoff urge, I decided to go to a couple Clipper playoff games. Now before anyone thinks i'm a bandwagon fan, first and foremost, I HATE the Lakers, and my team has always been the Clippers. Growing up, my friend in grade school had season seats to the Clippers at the old LA Sports Arena, and i saw many a clipper game there, back when they were shitty. So now that they are good, i get to enjoy their successes. What makes it sweeter is the fact that the Lakers got bounced out of the playoffs before the Clips did.

Anyways, i'm rambling here, now for a quick update. I'm 5 months into my job, and it's going well. I've gotten real good at SQL query work, and I also am part time desktop support for my office and our sister company. I've seen and learned so much on the job, that I never got to experience before. Yes, I've made my mistakes, no one is perfect, but overall I've learned so much and am grateful for the opportunity that I have now. It's summertime here in LA, so the heat is on. I hate it with a passion. I wish that winter was here again, or at least the time of year that winter happens, cuz lord knows we don't really experience winter.

I went to Las Vegas 2 weeks ago, to visit my friend Rachel whom I haven't seen in many months. It came on the heels of a rough couple weeks at work, and i needed to get out of town. The trip was amazing, i got to see my first Vegas show, the Blue Man Group at the Venetian, which btw is the hotel she's a bartender at. I gambled, won 160 bucks at craps, and drank heavily. In fact, most of the weekend is hazy due to my drunken state. Since I've been back, I feel more refreshed, and have re-charged the batteries in life. I will be goin back to Sin City July 6-8th, to see Pearl Jam play in concert and hang out with Rachel. My sister Kathy and I will be goin, and doin a Pearl Jam mini-tour ourselves. We'll be seeing them 3 times in 5 nights. I can't wait for that to get here.

I hope everyone is well out there, and I'll be writing a bit more, not everyday, but probably twice a week or so. I've missed you all very much, and now will be checking up on you. I hope things are well out there, have a good weekend!!!

Happy Birthday......

TO ME! Yes, today is my birthday, it's dubbed my magic birthday, cuz I am turning 27 on the 27th today. Since it falls on a monday this year, I decided to celebrate it this weekend. On Saturday night, I went out with my friend Kerry for dinner and drinks, emphasis on drinks. Since I've been working, my drinking has been curtailed to non-existent. So what do you think happens when i drink 6 margatinis at a Mexican restuarant? Yes, the inevitable happened, I got drunk, and she had to walk me up the steps to my house and put me inside, cuz i could barely walk. She laughed with giddiness the whole time, cuz her goal was to get me smashed for my b-day. Props to her for Mission Accomplished. I threw up a couple hours later after getting home, my guess was sometime around 3 am.
Sunday, I awoke without too bad a hangover, but a rash on my face, from i guess an allergic reaction to my drinking binge. Thankfully, it's not too bad, so today at work hopefully I won't get asked too many questions about my face and what happened. The rest of Sunday was spent golfing with some friends of mine from LetsGoKings. I hadn't golfed in ages, probably around the last time I had a drink. My game sucked, but it was fun to get out there for a couple hours and hit the ball around and kick it with great people whom I don't see too often.
Today will be pretty low-key, work, then go out for 1 drink with my friend Amado. My other friend Rachel who lives in Las Vegas, will be coming down this coming weekend and wants to celebrate my b-day then. We shall see what happens. Yesterday was a bit of a somber one, as have been the past couple days before my b-day. It is the birth date of my grandmother, who passed away Sept. 24, 2003. My sister Marie wrote a beautiful tribute to her on her site, expressing many of the same things I feel about my Grandma. You should check it out if you haven't already. Other things have been on my mind, and I may get to them this week. I will be back in circulation now, after a break from blogging. I just needed a break to get into my new job and finish up my tech school, which i did last week. I will share more stories about this and other things over the next few days. So stay tuned! Hope all are well out there and have a Happy Monday, I know I will!

The Olympics

I'm not the biggest of Olympic fans, but I do prefer the Winter over the Summer Olympics to watch, they have more events that I enjoy watching. Some of those events include figure skating, speed skating, curling and of course HOCKEY!!! The cool thing about the hockey tournament is the fact that NHL players play in it for their native countries, so teammates now become enemies for a week. Today was the last game for the NHL before a 17 day break, and the Kings played Dallas, our division rival. The Kings were playing like shit for 2 periods, and it looked bleak for my boys, going into the 3rd trailing 5-2. Somehow, someway, they remembered the great play they showed early in the year, and rallied to score 4 unanswered in the 3rd to win the game 6-5. Now the Kings have a modest 2 game winning streak, nothing to be too happy about, but considering they had lost 7 in a row before hand, I will take it.

Kathy and I went in on a ticket package to see 4 games, all on Saturday to help with my work schedule, and I'm excited to be goin to games again. 2 in March, and 2 in April, with the opportunity to buy playoff tix if they do make it. So now that the Olympics are here, what events are you looking forward to watching?

PS: I decided to add a video to my page, it's a song I'm just getting into right now, and after the come from behind Kings win today, I'm all fired up and this song fits my mood.

Happy Saturday

Well today was a great day for me. I got to sleep in a bit, and had plans to go see the Kings play the Blackhawks at 1pm. I had some breakfast, nice and relaxing, hanging out with my parents and kathy before the game. Then Kathy and I took the subway to Staples Center. Now, LA doesn't have a great mass transit system here, but what we do have isn't too bad. At least there is some form of it by where i live. I've been on the subways here, and it's not bad, just like the subways of other cities, but alot less crowded, since not too many people know about it or use it. Plus the other advantage of taking the subway to the game is to save 20 bucks on parking and not have to deal with the horrible traffic going on by Staples Center. They are developing a brand new entertainment complex by it, called LA Live. It should be pretty cool when it's done, but the havoc it's causing right now in the area for parking and traffic isn't fun.

It's been my first game at Staples in awhile, and decided to treat myself for my hard work at my new job with buying a sweet new practice jersey as pictured. What made the day perfect was that the Kings won 5-4 in OT, their first win in their last 8 games. I'd like to think that they won since this was the first game I actually got to see in the past 10, but that's just me being vain. Tonight I'm just takin it easy and relaxing. Tomorrow will be my Sunday visit to Church to thank God for all that he has blessed me with in my life. This will be my last week of school, and when it's all said and done, I will write about that and how it has changed me for the best in so many ways. Also, my hectic schedule finally lets up after this week, so I will have more time to blog and check out all of your sites as well. I do miss reading everyone's blogs everyday, and look forward to doing that again. I hope all of you out there have a good weekend and a good week upcoming.

Update

Hello, sorry for the lack of updates recently, my schedule has been kickin my butt. Work then school at night, i stare at a computer screen all day, the last thing i want to do when i get home is stare at a monitor to write. I am doing fine, the job is getting better and better every day that passes, and i have 9 days of school left. Freedom will be mine!!!

On a side note, my birthday is coming up on the 27th, and i'm not too excited about it. I usually am very happy to see my birthday, but not this year. With all the drama that has gone on in my circle of friends the past year, that takes alot of steam outta my b-day. I used to have a birthday dinner with all my friends getting together for a night of laughs and drinks, I may post a pic or 2 from the good ol' days. This year I may actually go snowboarding by myself with the Young Adults group from my church. It would be a chance for me to meet new people, plus get some much needed excitement in my life to spice up the boring day to day activites. We'll see what happens, I should know by the weekend.

I hope all of you are doing well out there, once my nutty schedule ends on the 17th, I'll get back into posting more of what's goin on. The sad thing is, I haven't had much time to watch my Kings play. Actually, that may be a good thing, cuz since I stopped watching they've lost 8 of 10 and are falling further and further back in the playoff race. I will be goin to a game this Saturday, to watch them play Chicago. Have a great day today, and enjoy the rest of the week!

I'm beat

What a week this has been for me. As I said earlier, this job of mine is very demanding, and I struggle to keep up. I had a nice talk with my supervisor today about how my week went, where I was weak, how I felt about it, and all those nice things. Our talk lasted 20 minutes, and he said some things that I needed to hear in regards as to why I was hired. I was really starting to doubt myself and my abilities, because I had no experience in SQL I felt like an idiot at the office.


School has been alright, nothing too hard, if anything it's a place where i get to unwind a bit, talk to my teacher about my day and the experience of it all to him. He is a wonderful teacher, and I'm grateful to have had him as my teacher. I only have 15 more school days left before I graduate the 7 month program, and I'm amazed at how the time flies. It just seems like yesterday I was going to class for the first time, feeling much the same way about school as I do about work. Now 7 months later, school isn't a problem, I learned so much, and am a better person because of it.

This weekend will not be long enough for me, but it will serve as a nice break. Tomorrow the Kings play the Ducks in another cross-town rivalry game. Kathy will be goin with some friends of hers, while I hang out at home not doin a damn thing. Now I'm off to sleep, i actually want to sleep in and hope that I don't dream in SQL codes or Paradox data entries. I will try to catch up on other blogs this weekend to say hello. Thank you all who read this and comment, it means alot to me to get feedback from you wonderful people. Have a great weekend!

It's been a long time

Yes, it has been a while since I last posted, sorry for the delay. Things have been busy, I started my new job on Monday and still go to class at night til 10pm. So it's a bit of a long day that I'm getting used to. First day of work I had the usual jitters, nerves and fears that come with something new. This is my first experience in the "corporate" world, and having a 9-5 job. I must say, while being nervous about the experience, there was a part of me that felt like I've finally grown up, and am on my path to life and all that it brings.

Today was a new day, and not a good one. My job is a 90 day contract-to-hire position if both parties are satisfied with the other. Fine by me, it allows me time to get my feet wet, and see if I like it, and vice versa. I've been working alot with SQL and Paradox, both of which I have NO experience in. The company knew that, but were either desperate for a body, or saw something about me that they figured I would be able to get how it works. There are a ton of things to watch for, data to be entered, and other shit I'd rather not talk about. I guess my point here is that I know it's only my 2nd day, but I am frustrated. Frustrated because I am a person who excels at being able to grasp new concepts and ideas and implement them right away. These past 2 days have brought me down to earth. I have a LONG way to go, many mistakes to make, but I struggle with patience. I want results NOW!!! If I struggle, I feel like I'm failing, which I don't want to do at my job.

I guess I just needed to vent today, I know tomorrow is a new day, and I will try to make the mental adjustment to accept each day as it comes, and my progress may be slow, but I will make progress. I wasn't gonna post today, after work I didn't even want to turn on my computer tonight, but I did, just to say hello, I'm alive, and right now I'm struggling. I hope all of you are well out there, I will try to check out your blogs as soon as possible, but my computer usage will be minimal for this month while I go to school at night and work during the day.

TGIF

What a fitting title for my sentiments today. My test went well, I felt that I got the work done that I needed to do. My written part of the exam I know I did well on. It's just a relief to have it over with. There has been a new development in my life that I am excited to share. I had begun the process of sending out my resume to different companies in the area, and had yet to hear back from any of them. So on Wednesday night, i see a job opening that I kinda meet the criteria for, and it stated that it was an entry level IT position. I decided to send out my resume to that place, figuring what the hell, it's worth a shot. We fast forward to Wednesday afternoon, and my dad calls me up telling me I got a phone call from the company that I had just sent my resume the night before to. I go home, call them back, and to my shock they ask me to come down for an interview that afternoon if I was available. I say yes, and I go down to the company.

To make a long story short, I go through the interview and the company likes me, and they offer me the position. I will be an IT Analyst for this company and I begin Monday. Now I still attend my computer school, and have one month left, so instead of going to class in the morning, I will now attend evening classes for the last month. So basically my day for the next month will be from 9 to 5 for work, 6-10 pm for class. That should be fun! I will be learning new programs, including SQL and MS Access that I've never worked with before, and I look forward to the challenge that is presented to me now. I will enjoy my last bit of time this weekend before the madness begins, and hopefully I come out of this alive......;-)

Long Weekend Recap

Well this weekend flew by for me, it was a 3 day weekend cuz I didn't have school to go to today, which was nice. Especially considering I have my end of the module test that willl last 3 days. We will be responsible for installing Server 2000, configuring it to be a DNS, DHCP, FTP and I'm sure another type of server that I'm forgetting to put down. It will also be a chore because we will have to upload a webpage we created (or at least supposed to that I haven't finished yet) and send it over the network. Oh joy.

This weekend was pretty quiet, friday I went over to Marie's place to hang out for a bit with Kathy before we headed on over to a hockey game to watch in Anaheim featuring a bright young star to come named Alexander Ovechkin. The kid is 20 years old, and the skills he possess are truly amazing. He ended up scoring a hat trick (3 goals for non hockey peeps) and won the game 3-2 over the Ducks.

Saturday wasn't much more exciting, watched a bit of football, then in the evening watched the Kings get destroyed by Buffalo 10-1. Yes, 10-1, that isn't a typo. What made it worse was having to catch a bunch of hell from my good friend PJ, whom I've known since 7th grade and was born and raised in Buffalo, about the loss. Oh well, he knows if the Kings won, he would've also caught hell for it.

Sunday I went to Mass in the morning, just to say a prayer helping me in my situation with Church Girl, whom I didn't see this past weekend. I wouldn't be selfish enough to ask that things go the way I want, but that the way it goes will be the way He wants it to go, good, bad or indifferent. I heard wonderful music in church, songs that take me back to my elementary school days that I still know all the words to. The choir that sings that Mass does a wonderful job too, and it's the Mass I've gone to since I was a little boy. It provides me a place of solice, a comfort that I can always go to. The rest of the day was spent watching playoff football, with the Steelers-Colts game being my favorite of the day. I was glad to see the Steelers get that win, I'm no fan of the Colts, especially Peyton Manning, but was sad for the coach of the Colts, who lost his son to suicide late last year. If Indy were to have won, I would've been happy for Tony Dungy, the coach, to have won it.

Now today, since I had no school, Kathy and I decided to go down to El Segundo and watch the Kings practice today. I hadn't seen a practice since training camp opened back in Sept. and I do enjoy watching them practice. It's also a great time to get autographs of the players afterwards, as they walk to their cars in the parking lot. Plus, Kathy had to get her yearly picture with her favorite player, Mattias Norstrom. She loves him, and for the past 3 years, goes down to a practice to get a pic with her Matty. I took the picture, and it turned out real well, I'll post it in my Flickr tomorrow to show her giddiness.

I hope everyone had a good weekend, If you had to work today, sorry for that, just know that others did enjoy their day off....Have a great rest of the week!!

Rob The Onion

Rob the Onion

Stolen from Anne

I am one of many layers......;)

Layer One

Name: Robert
Birthdate: February 27th 1979
Birthplace: Van Nuys, CA
Current Location: Encino, CA
Eye Color: Brown
Hair Color: Brown
Righty or Lefty: Both
Sun Sign: Pisces
Innie or Outtie: Innie

Layer Two

Your Heritage: Peruvian/Mexican
The shoes you wore today: Dress shoes for technical school
Your hair: Brown
Your eyes: Brown
Your weakness: Chocolate chip cookies
Your fears: Heights, drowning, failure
Your perfect pizza: Cheese, and nothing else!
One thing you'd like to achieve: I'd like to learn to play an instrument

Layer Three

Your most overused phrase: "how ya doin?"
Your first waking thoughts: "Crap, can't I sleep 5 more minutes??"
The first feature you notice in the opposite sex: Eyes
Your best physical feature: I'd say legs
Your bedtime: between 10pm-11pm
Your greatest fear: going through another powerful earthquake
Your greatest accomplishment: Not yet accomplished
Your most missed memory: Listening to my grandma tell stories of her life

Layer Four

Pepsi or Coke: when I drank soda, Pepsi
Single or group dates: Single
Adidas or Nike: Both
Lipton Ice Tea or Nestea: Nestea
Chocolate or vanilla: Vanilla
Cappuccino or coffee: neither

Layer Five

Smoke: never
Cuss: like a sailor
Sing: when by myself
Take a shower everday: most definitely
Have a crush(es): yes
Do you think you've been in love: yes
Want to go to college: yes, I'd like to go back and finish
Like high school: it was alright
Want to get married: Very much so
Believe in yourself: Sometimes, not nearly enough
Type with your fingers on the right keys: yes
Think you're attractive: eh
Think you're a health freak: not really
Get along with your parents: fortunately, yes
Play an instrument: I wish

Layer Six

In the past month, did you...
Drink alcohol: Yes, New Years did just happen :-)
Smoke: never
Do a drug: no
Make out: no
Go on a date: no
Eat an entire box of Oreos: no, but sounds good!
Eat sushi: nope
Been on stage: no
Been dumped: no
Gone skating: no
Made homemade cookies: nope
Been in love: no
Gone skilly dipping: Heck no
Dyed your hair: nope
Stolen anything: not including this

Layer Seven

Have you ever........
Played a game that required removal of clothing: yes
If so, was it mixed company: nope
Been trashed or extremely intoxicated: Too many times ;-)
Been caught "doing something": I plead the 5th
Been called a tease: nope, but I'd like to be called that one day
Botten beaten up: nope
Shoplifted: Yes
If so, did you get caught: Nope, got away with it!
Changed who you were to fit in: Yes, but wish I never did that

Layer Eight

Age you hope to be married: 30
Numbers and Names of Children: 2 or 3, names for girl: Isabella, Andrea\ boy: Michael, Anthony
Describe your Dream Wedding: Can't say I've spent too much time thinking of this one.
How do you want to die: in my sleep
What do you want to be when you grow up: Computer Specialist
What country(ies) would you most like to visit: Italy, Peru and Spain again

Layer Nine

Number of women I've kissed: 7
Number of girlfriends you've had: 3
Number of drugs taken illegally: 0
Number of people I could trust with my life: 5
Number of CDs that I own: about 100
Number of piercings: 0
Number of tattoos: 0, hate them
Number of times my name has appeared in the newspaper: 10 or so, mostly box scores for HS baseball
Number of scars on my body: too many to count
Number of things in my past that I regret: 2 things, but won't be told here ;-)

Update

Alright, so here's the deal. I posted my nervous tension here on my site and what then should've been seen as an ominous sign, my internet goes out. Now being the IT guy-in-training, I tried to fix it myself, cuz it would bug the hell out of me if I didn't have the internet working. I'm not the only person in my house to use it, and others need it as well, not just for personal but for work. So it was imperative of me to fix it. Of course, I wasn't able to fix it last night, and not until I got home from school today did I finally solve the problem. Now for the update.

ready...........so i do call her, just before 9 pm last night, yes, it took me that long after posting to finally call. I call her up, first thing out of her mouth was "sorry to see your Kings lose to my Ducks last night" and that surprisingly enough helped me to relax, cuz now I was in my element of talking sports, specifically hockey. Some more witty banter ensued for the next 10 minutes, when I finally bring up the subject of going out. Now I put it in a way that wouldn't be too formal, instead of saying, would you like to have dinner this week, I said would you like to grab a bite to eat sometime. Stupid, I know, but hey, that's how I work. So I ask what day works for her this week, and she tells me that it doesn't look good this week to go out.

Now ladies, help me out here, how should I take that sorta comment. She had mentioned earlier in our conversation how she's still looking forward to going to see the Kings play the Ducks on the 28th. So should I take it at face value that she geniuinely is busy this week, or was that kinda her way of saying she didn't want to go out??? Damn you women for speaking in codes! I didn't force the issue, I said, alright, maybe we can try again some other time, and her response to that was "ok, sorry about not being able to do something this week". We finished up our conversation 5 minutes later, and my night was done. Yes, we still are going out to the game on the 28th, I just wanted to hang out before then, at this point, should I try to set something up next week? What to do, what to do........Please ladies, any help would be greatly appreciated on this.

Wednesday Wist

Today is Wednesday, and so it's time for Wednesday Wist. I hope you enjoy the read.

1. Change the World-Eric Clapton

If I could be king, even for a day
I'd take you as my queen, I'd have it no other way
And our love would rule, this kingdom we have made
Til then I'll be a fool, wishing for the day
That I can change the world.

I first heard this song years ago, when the movie Phenomenon came out. I did enjoy the movie, and loved this song when it first came out. Great song by Eric Clapton, kinda feeds into my hopeless romantic side.

2. It's All About You - Tupac Shakur

Due to explicit lyrics, none will be displayed.

Musically, this was a good song, off of 2Pac's All Eyez on Me CD in 1996. The beat was a good one. Reminds me of my high school days, I remember listening to this CD all the time before baseball practice just to get the bodies moving.

3. Everything She Wants - Wham

Somebody tell me - won't you tell me-
Why I work so hard for you
Give you money - work to give you money

Well, I was a young one when this first came out, but I had heard it growing up. I then saw the Behind the Music of George Michael a few months ago, and saw the tragic story of his life. The trials and tribulations he's gone through was something I didn't know. Dealing with his fame, his pending announcement of his homosexuality, the loss of a loved one, the love of his life, just a sad tale to hear. I came away with a greater appreciation for his music. He does have a fantastic voice, and hearing this song again, I just had to download it and add to my library.


4. Hawaiian Roller Coaster Ride-Lilo & Stitch Sountrack

If you really want to know the artist who sang it, I'll write it to you later, I didn't want to hear cuz it would've taken up 2 lines to write. Lilo and Stitch is one of my favorite animated movies out there. I'm not a big Disney fan, but this movie was so funny, and yet very touching. It tells the story of the alien Stitch, and his search to belong to a family. This song is played at the beginning of the movie, and the hawaiian music takes me back to when I visited Oahu 10 years ago. I can still hear the sound of the waves crashing, and the beautiful beaches on the island.

5. Even Flow - Pearl Jam

Alright, there are 2 artists who dominate my library, Pearl Jam and Dave Matthews Band. Between the 2 groups I have over 100 songs in my library from the 2 artists. Now for the memory or meaning of this song to me. There are times where I do get angry. I do have a bit of a temper, but the times I show my anger are very few and far between. When I do enter this place of rage, I like to crank up the music that feeds my rage. This is one of those songs, I'll crank it up, and sing the song as loud as I can to help release my tension. It does wonders for me, and the guitaring of Mike McCready in this song is one of my favorite pieces. The man just jams away and with Eddie's voice, I can't get enough of early Pearl Jam.

That's it for my WW. As I've said before, my library is quite different in the type of songs and the range of moods they can feed into.

Tuesday Takes

Well the Kings game sucked last night, losing to the lowly Ducks, and watching the scoreboard read that Dallas won their game didn't help my mood. Now the Kings are in 2nd place, and about to embark on an East Coast swing thru Boston and Buffalo. Hopefully they turn it around on the trip.

The atmosphere itself was fun, nothing like a bunch of loud drunk Kings fans in Anaheim to scare the locals. Great smack was talked by us, but the scoreboard really stole our thunder. Hard to say Mighty Ducks suck! when they kickin your ass 6-2.

On to the crux of my post. It's now 8:00 local time, D-Day for me to call up Church Girl and ask about going to dinner this week. I wish that I didn't get nervous about things like this. Normally I have no problem talking to girls, or people in general, but when it comes to this aspect of talking to a girl, the shy side comes out. As I type, my hands are clammy from nervousness. I've been pacing my room, trying to get myself goin. Yet instead of calling her now, I'm blogging. I'm trying to channel my nervous energy to something productive.

Alrighty, sorry that this wasn't anything deep, but my heart is racing a mile a minute right now and can't put my thoughts together much better. I just had to do this to help with the nerves. I'll give an update as warranted.

Weekend Recap

Hello everyone, I hope the weekend was a good one for you. This weekend started off rough, having to go to the hospital on friday with my kidney stone. I spent most of the day doped up and was grateful that it passed. And yes, it hurt like hell.

Saturday was a pretty low-key day, it was Hockey Day in Canada, so i spent 10 hours watching hockey games between the Canadian teams. with my night ending with a Kings loss to San Jose 3-2. What makes it worse is hearing that damn "BEAT LA!! BEAT LA!!!" chant. Bitter bay area people who are just jealous of SoCal.

Sunday I decided to go to church in the morning, thanking God for the wonderful gifts He has given me in my life, and the good fortune that I'm okay after my friday episode. So, I go to the 11 am Mass, just to hear the church choir, which sounds amazing compared to the singing at other Masses. Now Marie had mentioned that over a month ago, I got a girl's number that I've been trying to get for years now. For the story, we'll call her Church Girl. Church Girl is a girl i went to elementary school with, and have seen on occasion since high school Every time we would see each other, the conversations would be great, but we would lose touch cuz one of us would be in a situation (dating) that wasn't conducive. I'd be seeing someone one time, next time I'd see her, she was seeing someone, etc. This carried on for now 6 years, when I saw her for the first time in 2 years last month at church. To make a long story short (too late) I work up the nerve to ask for her number, and God was with me that day cuz I got it. This girl is awesome, she's beautiful, funny, smart, and, wait for it, A HOCKEY FAN!!!!! Omg, you don't know how hard it is to find one of those girls. Now no one is perfect, and she isn't either, she has to be a fan of my beloved Kings' rival, the Anaheim Mighty Ducks. BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! But, beggars can't be choosers, and so I can live with that gripe, plus, give me time, and I'll convert her from the dark side to the light.

So over the past month, we've talked a bit on the phone, the conversations have been fine, generic, but we've never really hit awkward moments of silence. The holidays hit, and I was getting ready to ask her out. Boom, i get sick with the nastiest flu ever. That kills off several days, then I call her up, we talk, and I chicken out of doing it. I do send text messages to her, wishing her Merry X-Mas, Happy New Year. Fast forward to this past week, I get ready to call her on Friday, but boom, kidney stone hit and I was done for the day. So I go to church on Sunday, say a prayer asking God for the strength to do this simple little thing of asking her out. When I see her sitting 4 rows behind me at church!! After mass was over, i walk up to her, hug her, and we start talking like no problem. We're out there for a good 20 minutes, she catches me up on her holiday season, and the drama that ensued, I fill her in on my drama of the weekend, then as she is telling me a story of her cousin moving in to live with her, it hits me. She says, "well, it's a long story about my cousin moving in with me" and I jump into the conversation and say, "that's alright, you can tell me the story over dinner sometime this week" like nothing. OH SNAPZ!!! I did it! Now I wait for her response, and she seemed stunned for a moment. Then she smiled at me and said, alright, that sounds good! So she finishes her story, we both look at the clock and realize we have to go our own way, so i depart by saying that I would call her this week to set up dinner. She says, sounds good, she'll wait for my call.

That wasn't so hard, what the hell was I chicken about, all she coulda said was no, and bummed me out bigtime, but whatever. I just have to think to friday night and remember the pain, and realize that THAT was some pain, the rest is just crap. So now I have to call her up, and figure out a place to go or what to do. I shall keep you updated on the situation. Tonight, I'm going to the Kings-Ducks game in Anaheim, which is so much fun, cuz duck fans don't go to the games, and the Kings fans end up outnumbering ducks fans and make it a home game for the Kings. Duck Roasts are great for that reason. Have a happy Monday, and remember, GO KINGS GO!!

24

8:00 am-12:00 pm
I hate to bite the title of a tv show, especially one I haven't seen, but as I write this, i lack the energy to be creative. My last 24 hours have been pretty interesting to say the least. Yesterday in class was test day, I had to install Windows 2000 Server, promote it to be a Domain Controller, make it a DHCP server, and an RIS server to install Windows 2000 Professional over the network. Plus do a written test, which was 4 pages long. I had the entire 4 hour class time to do the work, and the teacher lets us work together during the "hands-on" portion of the test as a way of troubleshoooting each other and helping each other out. One of the guys in my class, a person by the name of Daniel was seated near me. Now I'm all about helping people out if they ask questions, but this guy asks the stupidest questions due to the fact he doesn't pay attention to details. It'll say on our test to make our hard drive partition to be 10 GB NTFS, and he'll ask the teacher, "so how big is the hard drive partition supposed to be again?" Those kind of questions drive me up the fuckin wall, and I lose patience with people like that. So during the hands on part, he was asking me questions on how to do the steps, and all the questions had to do with paying attention to what the screen says and using common sense. Finally, I lost it, and I yelled at him that I will not aid him in his stupidity and lack of ability to follow directions cuz it's driving me crazy. He got upset with me, sayin I was supposed to help him during the test, cuz I know what I'm doin and he doesn't. LIKE THAT'S MY FAULT THAT I STUDY AND READ MY NOTES AND PAY FUCKING ATTENTION IN CLASS!!!!!! Alright enough on that subject.

12:30 pm-10:30 pm
After class I received great news, my sister Kathy had won us 2 free tickets to the Kings-Coyotes game that night at Staples Center. We go to the game, we have a good time, Kings win 4-0, keeping us in 1st place in the Pacific and 4th overall in the NHL pts wise. I can't compain too much, the day ended great, I wish I could say the night would go as well.

1:45 am - 7:45 am
Ladies, not that I didn't before, but those of you who have given birth I have a much GREATER respect for the miracle of life. I feel a pain in my stomach area, towards my left oblique area at 1:42 am, I thought I had to use the bathroom, thinking it was the food I ate last night coming back to haunt me. After using the bathroom, the pain doesn't go away. It gets worse. I try walking it off, but that didn't help. Now it hurts like HELL, I can barely breath, and can't stand upright. I rush to the hospital, and go to the ER with my dad, and once inside, I tell the male RN my symptoms, and at first I thought it was my appendix. Well, I work with computers, and am not a doctor, if I was a doctor, I would've known my appendix is on my right side, with my kidney and colon on my left. The RN believes that I have a Kidney Stone that hasn't passed. I spend the next 5 hours in the hospital, finally getting an IV put in me, a CAT scan to see if it was one, and sure enough, I had a 2mm stone that had yet to pass through me. So they put me on medication and now I am waiting for it to pass. The pain has subsided alot, but as I write this, I'm also on Vicodin, which could explain why the pain went away. Needless to say, I'm not going to school today, and told my teacher as much in a phone call when I left the hospital.

Yes, what a 24 hours it has been for me, I don't know how much if any I'll write this weekend, I'll play it by ear. Have a great weekend everyone, and I'll see ya around sometime.

Wednesday Wist

So this is my first adventure in the Wednesday Wist, I had seen it on Marie's blog, and now is my turn to give it a go. Enjoy!

So how do you participate in Wednesday Wist? You take whatever music player you use, put it on shuffle, grab the first 5 songs and write what that song makes you remember. If it's a new song....and can't relate to a memory.......do you like it? Leave a comment if you do it on your site and if you don't have a site, comment your wist here! Oh....and feel free to comment about my songs as well!!!!


1. If You're Not the One - Daniel Bedingfield

I don't want to run away but I can't take it, I don't understand
If I'm not made for you then why does my heart tell me that I am?
Is there any way that I can stay in your arms?

I admit, a VERY cheesy love song, some one hit wonder for a person probably most people haven't heard of. I heard it one night on the radio here, on a local radio show at night for Love Songs. I enjoyed how the song sounded, hearing the lyrics brought feelings in me I have for someone in my life. I would love to be her boyfriend, but circumstances seem to prevent that from ever happening. I do care for her deeply, and would treat her like the queen that she is. However, knowing that things probably won't be that way, I just stay quiet on it, with my heart bearing much of the pain.

2. Enter Lord Vader - John Williams

No lyrics to this song, it's off the Star Wars Episode III soundtrack. John Williams is the genius behind the music of so many favorite movies, including all 6 Star Wars. He's come up with so many wonderful scores, Jaws, Superman, Star Wars, Raiders of The Lost Ark, ET, Munich, Schindler's List, etc. I literally could go on about his music, but for me, hearing any of his music brings me joy, and this particular song is about my favorite character in all the Star Wars movies. The sound is dark, yet tragic because it tells in song the fall of Anakin Skywalker to the Dark Side. It answered the questions I had as a kid, how did Darth Vader become the man in the mask?? That question was answered last summer to my delight!

3. I Love LA - Randy Newman

From the South Bay, to the Valley
From the West Side, to the East Side
Everybody's very happy cuz the sun is shining all the time
Looks like another perfect day
I LOVE LA!! WE LOVE IT!!!!

I know, a campy song by Randy Newman, but this describes my hometown like no other song. It's played after a Dodgers victory at Dodger Stadium. It's played after the Kings score a goal at Staples Center. It reminds me of happy times, usually cuz the Dodgers winning and the Kings scoring a goal are reasons to celebrate. Plus you can't beat a day in the sun in SoCal baby!!

4. Alive - Pearl Jam

Is something wrong she said, Of course there is, you're still alive she said.
Oh, and do I deserve to be, Is that the question
And if so, who answers? WHO ANSWERS??
I, oh I'm still alive
Hey I, oh I'm still alive

Great song, great group. My other sister Kathy was responsible for getting me into them. She is 5 years older than me, and when we were younger, when Marie moved away to college, it was just the two of us left. So I started to hang out with Kathy alot, and I picked up several things from her. One of them being her love of Pearl Jam. She LOVES them, has since they first broke out in 91-92 around. So fast forward to 1998, Pearl Jam is in town for a concert, Kathy asks if I want to go, and since I'd never been to any concert in my life, I said yes. This was their last song of the night at the show i went to, and it was an AWESOME song live to hear. The power, the emotion from Eddie Vedder that night was something that I will never forget. It got me hooked both on them and on rock concerts in general.

5. One Way or Another - Blondie

One way, or another, I'm gonna find ya
I'm gonna get ya, get ya, get ya, get ya
One way, or another, I'm gonna win ya
I'm gonna get ya, get ya, get ya, get ya

Another song of bonding with a sister, this time Marie. So I owned a Super Nintendo back in the day. Marie wouldn't play too many video games with me, but for some reason, she really had fun with one, Super Mario Kart. She would get all into it, when she turned right in the video game, she leaned to the right, if she went left in the game, her body went left. Really funny to watch. In the game there's the option to go head to head vs. someone, so I'd challenge her, and she would usually take me on. Now, to get her motivated and to try and throw my game off, she would put on her "Best of Blondie" CD. Some of the songs didn't bother, but this song, every time it came on, she would play like a demon with her character "Princess" and beat me head to head. It never failed, she'd whoop my ass playing head to head. Now thanks to her, I know the words to many of Blondie's songs, including this one, The Tide is High, Heart of Glass, and others I'd rather not say I know the words to. But this song reminds me of her and I spending time together, which I always loved doing with her.

That's it, my first WW, I hope you enjoyed it, I know I did, looking back on these songs and putting memories to them. Have a good day.

Odd Relationships

So I was stuggling with a topic to talk about, when the phone rang. On the line was my ex-girlfriend with whom I've been broken up with now for over 2 years. I've never been one to talk with any of my ex's before, but for some reason, with her it's different. Her and I had gone out for a year and a half when we broke up, for reasons too long to discuss at this point. When we broke up, she said that she wanted to try and be friends with me. In my mind, I thought she was nuts, cuz I've NEVER had any sort of relationship with an ex. After I broke up with my past girlfriends, I cut them off completely, cold turkey, never to be heard from again. My last g/f before this one I haven't seen or heard from since the day we broke up on the phone, with her in Rhode Island for the summer on an internship. That may not sound too odd, but in my world, many times the same people will cross my path over and over again, usually the ones I never wanted to see again.

Anyways, back to subject, Amy, my recent ex, was adamant in being friends. She constantly called after we broke up, to the point of a nag, but I could never in my heart tell her to just fuck off and leave me alone. The calls finally died down, and the time between talking grew further apart. This one is different as I've said before. A part of me still cares for her deeply, for all her wackiness and insanity that she brought. We wouldn't see each other, just talk on the phone for several months after our breakup. Looking back on it now, right after we broke up, mere weeks after, my grandmother had passed away. In that time of sadness, I looked for comfort and solice, and she was there for me even though I never saw her during those days of grief.

Our roads have changed dramatically since we broke up, she's now a mother of a baby boy born last September. I've gone back to school to get my A+ certificate beginning my career path. Yet through these past 2 years, we've maintained contact. I don't know how long we will still talk for, but I am happy that we were able to get over our problems and differences and be able to have a healthy friendship. We just seem to make better friends than partners in a relationship. Of all my friends, I'd have to say our friendship is the last one I thought would ever happen. Sorry if this post doesn't quite flow together, but hey, my blog title should say it all!

Any odd relationships in your lives?

OMG IT'S RAINING!!!!!!

So it rained here today in LA, no big deal for the rest of the country. Well, it's a big deal here for some reason. It's the lead story on the news, team coverage in different areas where it rained and some of the minute problems it causes. They talk to people about the rain, like citizens here are gonna give some deep insight on rain and how it affects their lives in profound ways. The Doppler 7000+ is brought out to show that yes it is in fact raining in the area, like we needed a weatherperson to tell us that. Just look outside your window and you can get a good idea that it's raining.


Sorry for that rant, the news here bugs me when Team Coverage is spent on something like rain. The other thing about it raining here is the fact that people don't know how to drive in the rain here. Truly the idiots come out in wet weather. Accidents galore, people trying to cross roads that may be deep with water and then get stuck when their car drive through the water. People just freak out here over rain, and I don't understand why, it's just water.

Today I went over to my friend Kerry's parent's house because I was told that her father made some of his world famous chili. In the years that I've known the family (it's been 8 years) for one reason or another, I never had the chili. I go over and the chili was the perfect food on this cold, wet day. The rest of my time at the house was spent watching old VHS tapes of the family through the years. I saw Kerry when she was a little girl, I saw her brother Kris who is now 6'1 250 when he was 3 and I saw Kim in her high school days with the 80's HUGE hair that was popular during those days. I also saw a video tape of Kim's oldest son, who's now 7, when he was 8 months old. Scary thing for me looking at that tape was that I remember him being born like it was yesterday.

My how time flies so fast. All in all, it was a great day, my last day of vacation before I go back to school tomorrow. Back to the daily study of computer servers, network setups and various other computer subjects I'd rather not talk about right now. I'd rather just think about the awsome game that just ended tonight betweent the Kings and Dallas Stars, with the Kings winning in OT 3-2. It was such an awesome game to watch tonight, the perfect ending to my week+ vacation.

Happy New Year!

Hello 2006! There is something to the idea of waking up and realizing a whole new year is about to begin. I ended 2005 in a way I didn't think was gonna happen. I was content with spending New Year's Eve at home watching the ball drop on tv, when I got a call from a friend of mine, named Kim, asking if I wanted to do something. She is a single mom with two kids, and her boys were staying the night at a friend's house, so she had the night free and didn't want to spend it at home. She called me up, very excited and really wanted to do something instead of sitting at home, which in turn got me fired up to go out. It also helped that the Kings beat the Dallas Stars 3-2 earlier in the evening, that really got me pumped up. We decided on going to a TGI Friday's by where she lives, and we met up early thinking there would be a crowd there. I walk in at 9 pm, and to my surprise, only 6 people were in the bar!
Now Kim is the older sister of a very good friend of mine, named Kerry, and although I've known Kim for several years now, we've never really hung out and talked just the two of us. I found it to be one of the best nights of my life, we talked, we laughed, and actually got to know "more" of us than we knew before. After slamming 5 (I think, I may have lost count) Long Island Iced teas, it was near midnight here in Cali and by this point the bar had filled up a bit more, now up to a robust 16 people. We all counted down together, wished each other in the bar a happy new year and my sobering up time began. After this night, I developed a new level of admiration for Kim and how she handles her life. I can't imagine how difficult it must be to be a single mom with two boys, ages 7 and 5, raising them, providing for them, loving and disciplining them all at the same time.
No one knows what the new year will bring, heck, I never thought i would have my own blog, but I wish everyone out there much success and happiness in their lives. I can't wait to see what 2006 has in store for me.