Posted by at 4:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (1608)

I didn't think I would get into mountain biking so quick. Kinda just happened when I borrowed my bro's bike to ride the neighborhood. Then it went to biking the trails and ever since then, I was hooked. If only I started doing this earlier. Always a good workout and a peaceful trek around nature.

Hope to see you on the trails!

Posted by at 7:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (31)

Earlier this month I got a fix it ticket for having my front side windows too dark. After removing the previous tint and paying a $17 fine for the fix it ticket, I got a new 3M Color-Stable Tint all around. the front side windows are on a medium tint, while the back rears are limoed out. After a week of having the new tint, the car has been much cooler inside and I don't have to blast the a/c to cool down the yukon. I just hope I don't get pulled over for the tints again...

Also hit the 60K mileage mark this week...

Posted by at 3:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Wow, it's been a while since my last post. Same old thing going on with me, mostly busy with work. Can't wait til I get away from work and relax. At least there are some trips planned out for bachelor parties, can't wait to get crazy!

Excited about the start of the Angels new season, waiting to see if this will be another World Series run. We looked good today, they just couldn't put up runs today. Clippers season pretty much already done with, hopefully next year they'll be healthy and be a force in the Wild Wild West.

March Madness was good to watch, kinda bummed Tennessee didn't go further now I'm rooting for UCLA to win it all.

I'll try to keep up with my posting, but kinda hard with this busy schedule.

Posted by at 10:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The year has flown by so fast, can't believe it's already December. It's starting to get chilly at night and around our neighborhood, people have their Christmas lights out. I love the holiday season and can't wait for more of the holiday food and celebrations to come.

Wishing everyone Happy Holidays. It's only 21 more days until 2008!!!

Posted by at 9:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Back from a long hiatus from the realms of blogging. I want to give a little recap as to what went on the past couple months. September - busy with work and the start of the NCAA Football & NFL season. Kind of disappointed with how my Eagles started, but hoping they can bounce back and get into the Playoffs. October - still busy with work, but also had a little vacation to DC/NY with Joesan, Karen, Cat and Joe. It was good seeing all the history in DC/NY that I was in awe how the Washington Monument and White House are still in pretty good condition. It was a very much needed time away from work. Took lots of pictures and will post them shortly on Flickr. Can't wait for the next vacation trip...

Also, want to congratulate my boy, Joesan, with his proposal to Karen while we were in NY last Tuesday. Can't wait for the Bachelor's Party!!!

Posted by at 12:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The past two weeks, I've been working in Sin City and it is ridiculously it hot over there! I am not used to starting my mornings @ 90 degrees. Gave me a little sneak peek of how work would be if I worked in this area. The locals say it's only 7-8 months of this crazy heat and then it's normal weather once fall and winter hits. Don't know if I can handle this type of extreme heat. The good thing about this area is that traffic is not that bad as we have here. Commute to offices is only 20-30 minutes unlike the hour and a half plus in LA. All I can say is that I am happy to be back here in California, except for the traffic. Vegas is a fun place to go when you're with a bunch of friends, but when you're there for work it's a different story. You can't go out and enjoy Vegas when you have work the next day.

My stay here is always great, especially when it came to food. I found a couple new food spots to check out, Osaka Japanese Bistro (awesome sushi "Roppongi Roll" - a little pricey, but worth it), tried the Wynn Buffet Dinner (flat out fantastic!!! Better than Bellagio's - thanks Cat for the the recommendation, must go here again). Well those were my two places I ate this that I would recommend any Vegas travelers to check out.

Posted by at 10:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

July has flown by so fast and now I can't wait til work slows down or til my vacation days start up again. I will accrue more vacation time starting August 4, which was my start date 2 years ago. Being busy with work sucks especially when you gotta drive in LA traffic on a daily basis. Driving 30 miles in 2-3 hours is just plain ridiculous, LA drivers need to press their gas and not talk on their darn cell phones. Crossing my fingers something else will come up in my career hunt. I've finally come to terms that this isn't the career path that I want to take. There are many more opportunities I am interested in doing and will have to get lucky in finding that dream job. Wish me luck...

Not only was work busy, but I was busy attending weddings in July, one up in SF and another down here in Los Angeles area. In all, I had a blast the past couple weekends due to being inebriated with the open bar being so generous to us. To start off the first weekend in August, another wedding to attend, I guess everyone likes getting married in the summer time. Good times with friends and family, congratulations to the newly weds (Jenn & Cesar, Kristine & Alfred).

Softball, we're getting the hang of things now. Just gotta make sure we have enough girls to play every sunday because we are usually playing with the bare minimum (4). Double header coming up and hopefully we can fill that rover spot we so desperately need. Last weekend, I was happy to see we had a lead after the first couple innings of play. Solid hitting and solid defense helped until the other team started playing like bitches. It's freakin' slow pitch softball, swing at the darn ball.! That irked me a bit when their players would stand at the plate and have the bat resting on their shoulders. They knew we couldn't throw the ball to the plate every pitch and used that to their advantage. Oh well, guess they do what it takes to win. Next time we play them I'll do the same and get on base that way. Hopefully, I'll piss them off and walk in some runs.

Posted by at 6:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Wishing you all the best in your new journey in life together. I am glad to have attended the wedding and be a part of your new step as a married couple. Tthis was the perfect weekend to get away from all the stress that work can bring. Good times wandering around SF Bay Area and also at the wedding reception where we all got a little crazy. Hope everyone had fun like I did. Thanks for an awesome weekend.!

wedding pictures... link

Posted by at 6:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Times have been going by so fast that I haven't even had the chance to think about my situation. If I haven't told you yet, I have a couple choices for where I could be relocated, either the bay area or the lovely sin city. Both areas will be a change, and I know this change will be an adventure. I'm going into 2 years of service in August and have contemplated whether or not this is the right career path for me. The only thing holding me back is the long drives that I have to endure on a daily basis. The drives can get to you especially if you drive in the awesome LA traffic. I can't complain since fuel and car allowance is given, but it doesn't help when you're driving 5mph in stop and go traffic. Possibly a change of scenery will alleviate the traffic congestion.

I have also been searching for any office job that has an IT position available. I think this type of work suites me best, since I like working with co-workers in an office environment. I was spoiled at my old company with awesome co-workers and even though the pay wasn't great, it helped that the work environment was pretty chill. Not to bag on my current job, we have awesome workers, it's just I don't see all of them on a daily basis. I knew what I was getting into when I got hired on, but I just have to figure out if this is the kind of stuff I want to do as a career. I hope things will work out and I find that answer to my career path... Until then, wish me luck!

Posted by at 11:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Jacked up the old one, so I'm starting a fresh one.

Posted by at 11:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Finally, UCI is getting some recognition in sports media with the Anteater baseball team in the College World Series. I remember back in college when UCI Basketball was making a ruckus trying to get into the Big Tourney, but we were denied by Utah State. Now I know how it feels when your school is winning and getting some action on ESPN. Hopefully, the Anteaters can keep the dream alive and beat out Oregon State to get into the Finals. Let's Go Eaters!!! Zot Zot Zot, haha!

here's the link for the CWS Results

Posted by at 9:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (55)

(Picture Courtesy of Sherwin)

I got down and Dirty this weekend! I had a blast this weekend...

Posted by at 9:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Congratulations Ducks!

Although I was unable to watch Game 5 live, due to work, I was happy to hear the Ducks finally win the Stanley Cup. Went back home to watch the replay and didn't sleep until 2am (also because I had Molca Salsa, which kept me up this late). Hope everyone has a great day. I know I will.

Posted by at 8:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Just picked up this new album by my favorite J-Pop artist... Beni Arashiro.. So far anything she says makes me smile, so soothing to my ears. All I have to do now is learn some Japanese.

domo arigato gozaimashita.... yatta!

Posted by at 10:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

(10/1996 - 05/02/2007)

Today is a very sad day for me and my family. Our Cockatiel, Misty, has passed away around 730-8am this morning. Noticing she was very weak late last night, we cuddled, petted and took care of MIsty in her last day here on Earth. We tried feeding her, giving her water, but she did not want to eat or drink anything. I couldn't even sleep last night due to knowing that she may not make it through the night. When I woke up this morning, around 630am, I ran down and checked up on her. She was sleeping when I petted her head and she looked at me and went back to sleep. I thought all was fine and that she may just need some rest, but this was the last time I saw her alive. A couple hours later, my brother found her lying on her back. She lived a little over 10 years and I am very fortunate to have her as a pet. It is going to be hard to not see her around because every morning I always stop by her cage and say goodbye before I go out to work. I give her a whistle and she would reply back with her cute whistle and either go back to sleep or back to preening herself.

I will miss her whistling and happy nature. I know you are resting peacefully in heaven. Until we meet again, RIP Misty...

Misty Ready to Fly

Misty Smiling

Posted by at 9:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I am finally back to normal after that Atlanta business trip. The hardest thing was trying to adjust to the time change. My sleep took the hardest hit, I would be wide awake at 12 midnight eastern time and have to wake up by 6am eastern just to get ready for my seminar/training. I only fell asleep a couple times during my seminar and luckily my co-worker woke me up before my snoring would take place.

My short time I was there, I met some good people from the east coast who were encouraging and great to be around. One of my friends from the last Atlanta trip was there, too. Although, we weren't able to hit up the Oasis like last time, we managed to go crazy at the Hotel Bar. The trip overall was a perfect way to relax from the busy work schedule. The best part of the trip was taking the courtesy limo to a local Starbucks just to pass time by. You would never thought there was a Starbucks addict until you meet one of my co-workers. Wow, he goes there like 3-4 times daily and then asked if I would go with him to Starbucks in a limo. I went along and drove in Atlanta traffic to the local Starbucks.

I also love the southern food they have here. Ate at an awesome restaraunt called "Dantes Down The Hatch" and ordered the Beef Fondue dinner a meal I would recommend to any visiting Atlanta. The restaurant had a nice jazz band playing while you eat and can get a little crazy with some alcohol in the mix. A suggested drink by Captain Dante made the night awesome, I forget what it was called, but that's from what I remembered that night. By the time we were getting used to the Atlanta scene, it was already time to fly home the next day. Another food spot I forgot to mention was, Kobe Steaks Japanese Restaurant. This is a Benihana style restaurant that had great Japanese food. I love the free food I get to eat at whenever we go on business trips. Well now, I have to get back to work-mode. Have a good rest of the week.

On a sad note, I kept on checking the Clippers scores as I could in between flights. It would have taken a miracle for Golden State to lose to Portland, but I guess this season they didn't have the fight like they did last year. Just hope next year they can do some damage and make a playoff run.

Posted by at 9:09 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It's been almost a month since my last post and tonight I couldn't sleep. So I figured I should blog some new stuff going on. I picked up golf again, going to the range 2-3 times/week relax after the daily grind of work. I just picked up a new sand wedge that will help me out on my short game and can't wait to test that out. After golf, I usually hit up the gym later on at night to keep up with my training schedule. It's good having work out partners, they keep you motivated and on track.

Second thing going on is work has been crazy hectic. I just checked my work schedule for today and noticed something that I haven't seen in a while, a clear schedule, but that will probably change if any calls come in. Looks like I'll be doing phone support today. Can't wait til the weekend hits, need some time to catch up on sleep and do some training.

Posted by at 1:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Being swamped with work is a good thing. That means we will/should be hiring another person to help me out in my area. Let me know if you know of anyone interested in a position. The title of this post refers to all the work I have done while working at my current company, wow that's a lot come to think of it.Then last Monday I was very fortunate to get a new position in my company, meaning more responsibility in my duties. I am ready for the challenge and excited of what lies ahead. Wish me luck!

On another note, my application process for another job has finally ceased due to medical reasons. I am very happy that I went through the process, I wanted to see if I can pass the tests and get in, but it was something out of my hands that hindered me from entering the Academy. I am very thankful for everyone who encouraged and supported me in my application process.

I just have to get by a couple days of work til my mini vacation in Sin City...

Posted by at 12:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This past weekend was something I needed. Time to relax and catch up on some rest. Not only did I relax, but I was able to watch the NBA All-Star Festvities. Saturday night's All-Star contests were pretty exciting to watch. In the NBA Slam Dunk Contest, I wonder why the judges didn't give any love to Dwight Howard. He had some nice dunks and showed his hopping abilitiy. But the score he got did not justify the things he did. The 3-point shootout was won by Jason Kapono, a product of UCLA. Surprisingly, Dirk Nowitzki did not show up as anticipated. Sunday night's All-Star game was a blowout, couldn't believe the West won in that fashion.

Now that the All-Star game is over, the Clippers must pull out more wins to get in the Playoffs. They currently are fighting for the 8th spot. A couple weeks ago, they were at the 7th right behind the Lakers. Just hope the Clippers can do some damage down the 2nd half of the season.

Posted by at 8:54 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Last night I've never had any bad experiences with dining until now. My cousin and a couple friends went to the local Hooters over in Anaheim. We get seated and start looking at the menu figuring out that we'd split 50 wings and some french fries. The waitress introduces herself and says that she's covering for another co-worker that was on break and takes our drink order. So far so good, we get our drinks fine and place our order for wings and some fries. This is where the table turns sour, our order was given to the wrong table and then we had to wait awhile for our new order to arrive. Then 20 minutes later only part of our order arrives and so we start munching on the chicken wings. Another 20 minutes has elapsed and still no fries came to our table nor did any of the waitresses come by to check up on us. Karlo, who was already finished with his drink, was tired of waiting and actually walked up to the coke dispenser to get his refill. We tried waving down the waitresses and none would look our way. Another group wasn't getting served correctly either and had to wait about 30 minutes to get their food and they didn't even order that much. What I didn't understand was why no one went over to check up on us when only about 40% capacity was filled. There was this couple behind us that didn't even get serviced after sitting down so they ended up leaving. Then finally our real waitress who came back from break introduced herself to us and we asked why things haven't been brought to us as planned. By this time, we were already done with our food, none of us had a refill, except for Karlo who walked to the dispenser to get himself a refill, and still haven't gotten our fries. We asked our waitress if we could speak to the manager after he talked to the other group next to us and talk to him, but when she tried to flag him down, he didn't want to come to us. He ended up walking to the back and talking to our waitress. It was already too late to have any apologies given to us. The waitress came back to us and started saying sorry this and sorry that, but we weren't having it. There nothing she could to to fix any of this bad service we received that night until she said that we could go and not pay anything anymore. So we all stood up and left. Karlo was still hungry so we ended up going to Fatburgers and getting some more stuff over there. I know being in the food service industry, it is a hard job to handle all the customers, but when the place is not busy and not crowded, there was no way they should be ignoring customers like that.

I guess having the meal for free made the situation a little better, but it just sucks when a place like Hooters gives bad customer service like that. I know some places have bad customer service, but it's a given because they're either way too busy with many customers or just don't have enough workers to help everyone at once. I still will go back to Hooters because the food is good and they have awesome waitresses working there, I just hope this doesn't happen again.

Posted by at 7:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

This MLK weekend was spent at the lovely area of North Lake Tahoe. Good times with 16 crazy people in a spacious and cozy cabin where numerous alcoholic beverages were consumed throughout the weekend. I've never had so much fun being away from home. I guess flying anywhere beats staying home on a 4-day weekend, especially on our annual MLK snowboarding trip. I was really glad that I was going to be off from work for 4 straight days. I get beat up at work driving and flying all over the place, but it was all worth it when our cabing had a nice jacuzzi to relax and drink some beers. That was a good call getting a larger cabin because it made it a lot easier for everyone to move about.

Snowboarding at Squaw was awesome, at least this time we were able to snowboard longer than 2 hours and not get jacked up by the high winds. Can't wait for the next snowboard trip. Hopefully there's one next month for President's day weekend.

BTW, Happy New Year Everyone!!!

Posted by at 9:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I am loving the short work week due to the Holiday Season. Nowadays offices are closed and work has slowed down quite a bit. I am thankful for having my new co-workers, they are helping me out with my region so much and it has saved me a bunch of driving. Hoping next year we'll have more work and I'll see how things go with my new application.

With the end of 2006 coming, I am happy that things went well this year, except the passing of my lola, there were many weddings that welcomed more people to our family. I know 2007 will bring many more weddings and many more adventures. Let's end 2006 with a bang! Stay safe and enjoy the time spent with family and friends.

Posted by at 6:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A couple of weeks ago LOST has been placed on hiatus until February and that's just ridiculous. They start showing all the good stuff, then put the show off for a couple months, I don't get it. Heroes lately has been pretty good, we're starting to get to know more about the characters, then bam now HEROES is going to be on hiatus until next month. I still can't believe they killed off that short hair girl who had the power of persuasion. I was hoping she would grow her hair out like before because she was kinda cute! Oh well, at least they still have Ali Larter in that show.

With my favorite shows on hiatus, I can make use of the Xbox 360 I recently purchased. Gears of War is an awesome game that's been keeping me up a little later than usual. Can't get away from the 3rd person action/shooting game. Another way to keep me busy until Halo 3 comes out.

Posted by at 10:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

What an awesome way to start off Thanksgiving weekend... Thanks to Joe and Cat for suggesting Shin-Sen-Gumi in Fountain Valley. It reminded me so much of Japan and the Yakitori was amazing. Good times with good friends when Sake and Biru is involved. Joesan, Karen, Lou, Belle, Tommy, James and Ana joined in the festivities that night. We should do Yakitori again!

Thanksgiving was a blast this year. Spending time with my family in Carson was just what I needed to start off the holidays. Oh, it's so crazy how my (little) cousins are now in high school or college. They have grown up so fast and it makes me feel so old seeing them grow up like that. Another reminder of my old age was getting my Class of 97 High School reunion reminder in the mail. Dang, I can't believe it's almost 10 years since I've graduated high school. Just shows how time flies so quickly when we're having fun. Then just around the corner is the big 3-0, oh man I don't want to think about that just yet. Nevertheless, I'm still thankful for everything and everyone that has been a part of my life. One wish I would like to have would be 4 day weekends and 3 day work weeks. If I could have that, then I would be a happy camper!

Now that the holiday shopping has officially begun, I haven't bought a gift for anyone yet. This past weekend I only spent money on myself getting a new digital camera (to replace the one that got stolen) and Xbox 360. I got some good deals, so it should be ok to spend on myself this time. I hope to start my Christmas shopping this weekend.

The best part of the Holiday season is once the weather turns cold, I have the best sleep at night. No more tossing and turning, just plain 7-8 hours of rest. The bad thing is that I don't want to wake up and get ready for the day, so I press the snooze button more than usual. Today I pressed the snooze button about 7-8 times which gave me an extra 35-40 minutes of staying in bed.

Posted by at 11:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This past weekend reminded me of college with the video game playing, football, bbq and having a good time with friends. We celebrated the birthday of the lovely Belle, Happy Birthday, hope you had an awesome birthday weekend.

The first night we had some jagerbomb shots to start off the festivities that would lead to a weekend full of drinking. I haven't drank that much in a while, but it was worth it since work has been crazy hectic since my return from vacation.

The next day was football for Belle's birthday bash. I've never had so much fun playing flag football. Even though we lost, it was fun playing with a lot of people. Later that day, we hung out at Belle/Lou's new pad and played video games. The best part was watching them play Bomberman, that game is so fun. I was sooo tired from football, I crashed a bit on their couch. The late night Albertos run was what woke me up, because we were all craving some Mexican food.

Sunday was Shockers softball and another fun game. We were looking a little better on defense, but couldn't put up enough runs to keep the game going. There is potential, we just need practice and then we'll be ok.

The funniest post I've ever read is by our new blogger, Dr. Romeo, you gotta read this.

Posted by at 1:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Damn, I've been trying to adjust back to reality and it's sooooo hard. After a long vacation and not working for 10 days straight, I still haven't been able to fully recover. The past few days after returning from Japan I get so tired during the day and am wide awake during the night. Lately, the earliest I can sleep is around 1:30-2am. I guess I'm still a little jetlagged, but I thought after a couple days I would be fine. It is now Tuesday and I wake up dreading work. I even tried taking nyquil to get sleepy, but that didn't work. Tonight, I will try to sleep by 1am and hopefully get enough rest to wake up at 8am. Wish me luck!

Posted by at 11:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Kind people welcoming us to Japan @ Tokyo Tower

Posted by at 4:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I have fully recovered from my cold that I've had since Thursday night. All the medication I took didn't help much as the Nyquil kept me up, the Green Tea burned my tongue and Sudafed just stopped my sniffles for 10-15 minutes at a time. The only thing that worked was drinking water and putting Airborne on that. I know I'm supposed to take Airborne to prevent being sick, but I liked the taste of sparkling lemon water.

Weekend was pretty fun with Softball and hanging out with friends. We also got to sport our new team shirts that Lou designed. Even though we lost, we looked good playing and still had fun. Next weekend we have a double header and hopefully we'll be able to hang playing 2 hours straight.

Mondays have been pretty awesome with television shows, starting off with Monday Night Football followed by Heroes and then What About Brian. That is about 5 hours straight of watching tv, but I guess it's worth it when working 9 hours straight and all you want to do is lie down and watch tv. Can't wait til next weeks episodes of Heroes, that show has gotten me hooked the same as LOST did the first season. That Ali Larter chick is also hot, and Hiro has some crazy super powers. If you haven't seen it yet, try to jump on board and watch the episodes on NBC.com.

Posted by at 11:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It's been another hectic month and I am sooo looking forward for my vacation coming up in 2 weeks. Lately, things have been going great. Work, still keeping me busy. Softball Season 2 has been underway. So far the teams we played are at the same skill level as us meaning we can hang. My application process for another position is still going on. I am just worried about my medical exam that I took last week. Due to a slight color blindness that I have with certain colors, I am unsure whether or not this will not be a road bump with the application process. I first noticed this problem when playing Puzzle Fighter 2 game and couldn't determine the colored boxes on the screen, yellow and green. I thought it was me being weird or my head playing tricks on me, but I also know a few other people have this same problem. I hope this isn't something huge that could deter me from getting into the Academy because I know I could do this. Oh well, I'll just pray and hope for the best.

I love when the Fall season comes, the weather gets much cooler and that means that snowboard season is just around the corner. I saw pictures of Mammoth and it's dumping ther like crazy. For some reason, I like cold climate because it keeps me wide awake. Maybe I have this wild crazy bear syndrome that allows me to wear my boxers all over the house and not worry about a damn thing even if it's about 50 degrees. Ha, I don't know if that little statement will deter me from a certain position I am trying to apply for, but we'll see how it goes.

Posted by at 10:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

This weekend another run over by the LA Coliseum for the Nike Run Hit Remix was so much fun. We rolled about 10 deep for this event and was able to run with music playing in the background first by Shaking our Love with Deborah Gibson, then we bust a moved with Young MC, next heard Vanilla Ice talking about sexing up some people, then Coolio looked like he was high, Digital Underground was playing some funky beats and ended the race at the LA Coliseum with De La Soul. Thanks again for fun times, an awesome group of friends to run with. The only sucky thing is getting $1 gift cards to Jamba Juice, wished it was at least enough for 1 smoothie. It's hump day and can't wait til the weekends hits.

Softball Season 2 baby is underway!

Posted by at 5:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This past Sunday a group of us celebrated Shewin's birthday bash over at the Disneyland Resort running in the 13.1 miles around Anaheim. Boy was I excited to run this marathon because I was going to see all these places that I have wanted to see all in one day. We ran to Disneyland (my first time inside the park since 1997), California Adventure (my first time ever setting foot into the park), Arrowhead Pond (passed by where the Ducks play), Angels Stadium (first time stepping foot on the field). It was truely a memorable experience and I was just happy to complete the race. What made my day was when the crowd would cheer us on and kept supporting us at different parts of the race. This gave me motivation to move on and kept me going, thanks ya'll.

Congratulations to all in completing the Disneyland 1/2 marathon, I'm sure we all felt sore the next day, I know I was hurting. Let's do this again next year, I'm sooo down!

Posted by at 6:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This week one of the new guys, Devon, has been hanging out with me and learning what we do on a normal work day. Training him is fun because I get to share my knowledge about what we do and he seems to be enjoying the new job. I'm glad because now he can handle the Riverside/San Bernadino area while I stick with the LA/OC area. Then there's the other dude, Kevin, I haven't met him yet, but should be training him sometime next week. Yup, we hired Kevin and Devon, kind of funny because they rhyme. I'm just hoping these guys can hang and handle all the driving that we do.

Posted by at 10:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This is one of the best weekends I will never forget. We also celebrated this Labor day weekend Lou's birthday. The weekend started off with a nice marathon training run on Saturday followed by lunch at Denny's. The next day we had some skydiving action over in San Diego (link), where I conquered my fear of heights by doing this 13,000-ft jump. The feeling of freefalling down from the sky was amazing. I never would have thought that this was something I would ever do, but I wanted to get this over with and experience something new. I can't wait to do this again and hopefully get a lot more people to do the jump. Monday, was a chill day ate lunch at a Seafood restaurant at the Seaport Village, then grabbed some dessert over at Extraordinary Desserts where I tried the Banana Split Ice Cream with some fruit.

San Diego was a nice place to visit, chill atmosphere and had awesome scenery. I would like to visit the city again and check out the many different restaurants around the area. Thanks again to all for a wonderful weekend and also Happy Birthday to Lou. I hope you had an awesome weekend, I know I did!

Posted by at 8:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I've been all over the place the past few weeks and luckily Jay was able to get me another GPS unit to use while I'm on the road, you're a lifesaver. I don't know how I would do with all the driving without this piece of device. I'm very grateful for having great friends and glad that I can do the same whenever they need help. Technology these days, sometimes you can't live without it.

Today, I was able to hear great news from my boss, we got 2 more workers to help me out with the work around my area. Since the other dude left, I had a lot of work to cover around my region, but in a couple weeks my work will hopefully drop. That is it, have a great work week, 3 more days and we have a 3-day weekend!

Posted by at 11:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This past weekend, I just noticed that someone broke into my car and took a few items. This probably happened around 5-7pm Friday evening. I didn't realized anything was missing until I finished washing my car Saturday afternoon. The first thing I noticed was gone was my Vacuum cleaner that I had for work to use on my dirty jobs. I was going to clean my car's interior after washing it and didn't think much because I thought I left it at one of my jobs and just forgot to bring it back with me. The second thing I noticed gone was my portable GPS unit. I couldn't believe it, this is one of the most used item in my car. It took me to many places, including all the dental offices that I've visited and certain spots that I've liked to check out. I just thought to myself, how come I don't see the docking station on my windshield and then it hit me... Damn, I got jacked. This was actually when I found out that my stuff got stolen. The third item, I noticed that my glove compartment was wide open and my heart dropped when I noticed my Swiss Army watch was gone. I placed my watch inside the glove when I had a job that was going to get dirty and didn't want my watch to get scuffed up. I protected it from getting harmed, but it wasn't enough for now it is long gone. This was the main item I wish they had not taken, because it had a lot of sentimental value to me. The fourth item that was stolen was my Canon SD400, a point and shoot camera that I left inside my center glove box just in case anything happened I could take pictures at any moment.

Saturday night, I couldn't sleep well because I kept on thinking what the heck could have happened that day. I know there was no forced entry to my vehicle because there were no windows broken nor any doors picked open. Now here I am writing down the things I'm missing at 5am Sunday morning trying to figure out who would take these from me. I may have forgotten to lock my door as I went inside my house Friday evening, but dang, a lesson that I have to learn the hard way.

Posted by at 5:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)

Taken from my cousin, Karlo's, blog...

"For some odd reason my IQ doubles when i take a dump...Obviously i am concentrating more..But its actually my quiet time by myself, i do the most thinking and its honestly where i do my best reading...over the weekend i did my own double blind study, testing the the artform of the GRUNT while trying to achieve maximum force...There was a 55 year old guy to my left, and a young 9 year old boy to my right...

Karlo"

This is one of the funniest thing I've ever read about taking dumps, but it is true. There are many ways to achieve oneness with yourself while at the bathroom stall. I prefer the silent approach and just let my ass do the talking. Always a good approach when you have someone next to you because it gives you motivation to rock it even harder. The best is when you get compliments from other crappers at the stall when you unload, I've had quite a few, haha. Alright, enough about this crap talk... I gotta go rock it right now, have a good one!

Posted by at 7:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Flying up North this weekend was amazing. Finally met our new nephew, Baby Aiden. It was a good weekend to hang out with my cousins again checking out the City and then spending time playing games and bbqing.

My favorite part of the trip was when my cousins brought us to a good spot for some desserts at Fentons Creamery in Oakland. I ended up battling this new dessert, the Banana Special. We gotta hit up this spot again.

From Fenton's Ice Cream Creations...
Banana Special - Watch Out! Tourists may takes photos of you with this Fentons tradition!
HUGE scoops, we mean HUGE scoops, of Vanilla, Chocolate and Strawberry ice cream cradled by a whole ripe banana. Topped with pineapple, strawberry and chocolate fudge. Topped off with almonds, whipped cream and cherry.

Thanks to a wonderful weekend. Pictures posted on Flickr. Back to another crazy work week. Have a good one!

Posted by at 9:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It's been a while since my last post and this is mainly due to work keeping me busy. It's good being busy with work and knowing that I have some place to go almost every day. We just wrapped up this huge installation/migration over at LAX and now I'm glad to have my weekend back.

Today, I went over to Oxnard for work and boy was it a drive from Fullerton. It took about two and a half hours to get there because traffic was horrendous. Other than the traffic, it was a good day because work went by quickly. After work I was able to hang out with my buddy Romeo and check out where he worked at. It was a nice office and he looked all professional with his white coat on. I'm proud to see that he's in the working world now. Well now, it's time to get some rest because I'll need it for another day of driving around. Have a good work week everyone!

Posted by at 11:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Pretty cool showing which states you've visited... So far, I've visited about a little more than half of the U.S. My goal will try to visit the next 24... Who's down for a road trip?

create your own visited states map

Posted by at 3:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Wow, July has been a really busy month for me especially when it comes to work. I've been driving to the counties of Ventura, San Bernadino, Riverside, Orange and Los Angeles in the past two weeks. I think I've hit most of Southern California's counties except for a few down in the south, San Diego and Imperial. What sucks is the weather hasn't been cooperating lately being so humid and hot. While I was up at La Quinta last Friday, within 5 seconds coming out of my car I felt like lechon walking to the entrance of the dental office. I've also been hitting up the gas stations alot where my fill ups are about $75 for a full tank, luckily work covers that during my office visists. Being so busy makes my work week fly by and makes it for a more enjoyable weekend to relax and hang out.

The past weekends in July have been fun, first weekend was the surprise birthday for Mr. Jovan and then the following weekend went to the engagement party for Jay and Cicely. I would like to thank everyone for the enjoyable weekends and another thanks for work making my weeks go by so quickly. I'm counting down 2 days until the 3rd weekend in July, what's going on? All I know is that I want to hit up the beach this weekend and catch some waves. Beach Day anyone?

Posted by at 11:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Yesterday, while I was working at this office, a nice old lady approached me and kindly asked, "Are you from around here? You look a mix between an Oriental and Mexican." I replied back with a smile, "No ma'am, my heritage is Filipino. From the Philippine Islands." She replied back, "Is that near Mexico, because I've never been there?" My jaw dropped after hearing that last sentence and I was kind of shock from hearing that. She probably didn't know much about the Asian/Pacific Islander people so I told her, "No, it's in Asia, beneath Japan and Taiwan."Then she said, "Oh wow a new country that I can learn about." That made my day because she was so eager to learn something new even at her age, she must've been in her 80's.

Posted by at 9:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Yeah, I haven't been on this blog thing for a while. Been preoccupied with work and so much stuff to do in June then bam, it's July... The first week of July went by pretty fast. I started the month off going to a birthday party for Chris' son. It was a nice day to hit the park in Carson because the weather was sunny and not too hot. Oh yeah, we got to make some cotton candy at the end, I haven't had those in a long time.

Sunday, was a perfect day to watch the Angels/Dodgers game. Thanks for awesome suite tickets Joes. Fortunately, my Angels pulled off the win with a 4-0 victory. The Angels, although being last in the AL West, are starting to do some damage to finish off the 1st half of the 2006 season.

picture by Joes

The next day, we hit up Huntington Beach to bodyboard and catch some waves. That day the water was nice, not the usual freezing water that requires a spring suit. Waves were decent and I caught a bunch of waves. Maybe this summer we'll hit the beach more. Call me up, because I'm down to some waves.

July 4th was first spent at home bbqing and watching some World Cup Soccer. Later on the day I went over to Jovan's to hang out. We played some Guitar Hero, ate more bbq, and played some poker. Guitar Hero is a pretty fun game where you get to jam like a rockstar hitting buttons on the guitar controller pad. I need to practice some more because my coordination is lacking.

Now, it's the weekend, time to rest up and relax. To start off the weekend, I picked up a new book, "Deception Point" by Dan Brown. I loved reading "Angels & Demons" and "The Da Vinci Code" so much that I picked up another one of his novels. Brown slyly keeps you attached to his novels for the sake of not missing anything that comes. Also, I plan to watch the final outcome of World Cup Soccer. I'm hoping for a good match between Italy and France. There is also a new movie, the sequel to Pirates of the Carribean. Damn, so many things I want to do and the weekend is always so short. Fudge, are there any jobs out there that has a 4-day weekend and 3-day work week? Let me know, I'm ready to apply.

Posted by at 9:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Yesterday, I took the Physical Abilities Test and was able to pass all sections of the test. The first part wasn't too bad because it measured my lateral movement doing side steps from left to right. The second part was the cable pull, measuring your chest strength. Boy was I surprised how hard the 3rd part of the test was, the bicycle ride for 2 minutes. The first minute and twenty seconds was a breeze because I was able to bike at a good rate, but with 40 seconds left the resistance gradually started to pick up and my legs started to tense up a bit. It felt like I was climbing a huge hill, but in my head I just kept on saying to push as hard as I can. As the instructor said it was time, everyone was relieved that the bike portion ended. It was kind of funny because some people couldn't walk straight after they got off the bike and I just smiled because my quads felt like jello. I was talking to a couple guys outside after our test and they were pretty surprised how the test went. It was nice to see everyone complete the test and congratulate each other as they passed, but now it's just a wait and see what's next in the last steps of the application process. Alright, hope everyone has a great work week. Try and keep cool in this crazy hot weather!

Posted by at 6:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This weekend was the start of my family's graduation parties for the class of 2006. Man, a lot of my younger cousins are now graduating from high school and moving onto the next phase in their academic life. I remember when they were in grade school while I started up college, ahh that like like 8-9 years ago, oh well. I want to let them know that we will be here for them if they ever need any help with anything. One of my cousin (Vianne) is going to UC Santa Barbara and another (Lloyd) is going to UC Berkeley. I am excited for them and I know they will enjoy their time in college. One advice that I gave them was to enjoy their college life because it will come and go so fast they won't know what hit them, which is the "real world". Congratulations again, Lloyd and Vianne, man I'm getting old!

Posted by at 7:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

photo from Lou

Did I Kancho this person?

Thank GOD tomorrow is Friday!!! Anyone down to watch Nacho Libre Friday night?

Posted by at 11:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Yesterday, I was relieved to pass my test. I can't go into much detail regarding it, but I just want to let you know that I passed. Hopefully, things will be going well with this application process. Thanks again to all for being supportive during my application process.

Congratulations to Jay, Lou, Jovan, Cicely and Belle on their mudrun this past Sunday. It was a crazy race and I liked seeing all you guys get dirty. Hopefully next year we can have more people doing the race.

Also, Friday Tacky Fundue night was awesome. Thanks to Belle and Cicely for being such great hosts. We should have another one of these nights. Hope everyone has a great week!

Posted by at 8:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)

This weekend I went to Vegas for my bowling league's end of the year tournament. Bowling sucked because I did horrible, but other than that I had a grand ole time. Friday night, we arrived at Rio and started off the night with a free meal. I got the Black Canyon Roasted Prime Rib (20oz) over at All-American Bar & Grille (link to menu). A little bit pricey, but the food always taste great when it is free. After dinner went to gamble a little at the tables. Won a little bit, then headed to The Orlean's to check out the lanes we were going to play at the next day. I didn't practice because I was kinda tired from the drive to Vegas.

The next day was bowling at the Orleans. I didn't play my best because I haven't been bowling for a month. I was way off in my throws and couldn't get solid marks. We didn't do as well as anticipated, but I had fun this season with my cousins Karlo, Kristian and Tess. Team XXX-rated went out with a bang, getting jacked up and playing horrible. There's always next season. After bowling, we went back to the Hotel to rest up so we can get bastos over at a srtip club. We ended up hitting Cheetahs and I was quite disappointed with the selection that night. Well maybe I got irritated at this one lady who kept annoying me with getting a dance from her. The reason I rejected her was because she looked like an old Auntie and she was so aggressive in asking for a dance. There should be some law that says if you say "NO" to a dancer politely, then it means you are not interested. That kinda bugged me the whole time there. Other than that crazy Auntie lady, I had fun at the club. We got a bottle of Crown and drank the night away. Well, I only drank as much as I can until I got this pounding headache. What topped it off was almost throwing up in the cab ride back to Rio, but as I got off the cab, I ran straight to the trash can to yack my guts out. After that, I was relieved and wanted to go back to the room and rest.

Sunday, drove back home and ended a great trip in Vegas. No pictures this trip due to me leaving my camera at home. Shucks... maybe we can repeat this next time!

Posted by at 9:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

picture taken by Juan

Damn, I miss the hooka. We should do this again.

Posted by at 11:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Posted by at 4:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I'm finally back home from my little 4 day adventure at Salt Lake City. I was here to attend a seminar for a new dental software that we would be supporting at work. It was a nice town, but there wasn't much to do. Sunday, as I arrived and met up with some of the people I would be training with, we couldn't even get drinks anywhere because they prohibit alcohol sales on Sundays. That was a total bummer because it would've been a nice way to start off the week and break the ice with the new people that I met. One reason I would not go here is because I seem to be the only asian in the town. It was cool because everyone was nice, but it feels kinda funny if you can't relate to anyone else.

Training for the new dental software was pretty exciting, we learned about some new products which they had coming out as well as the hardware that they had out in the market. I don't want to bore you guys with the computer jibberish, but I learned quite a few new things.

The best part of the trip was the free food which was included in our stay. Sunday night, we ate dinner at Outback Steakhouse. Monday, for lunch we had Mexican food (it was alright, Cali has better Mexican food) and for dinner we ate at Tepanyaki Japanese Steakhouse (comparable to Benihana's). Tuesday by far was the best day, for lunch we had Olive Garden catered and for dinner we ate at this Brazilian restaurant called Tucanos, this was one of the best places to eat in that area. If you haven't gone to a Brazilian all you can eat buffet, you should check it out. They have waiters walking around with skewers filled with all the meat such as Top Sirloin, Garlic Parmesian Beef, Teriyaki Beef, and many more. Those were the few items that we ate. After all that meat, I was happy to top it off with a nice flan desset.

My stay here wasn't that bad, I met a lot of pretty cool guys who knew stuff about the computer/dental business and the food made up for the place being so boring.

Posted by at 11:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Friday night started off awesome going to the Clippers playoff Game 3 at the Staples Center. The weekend festivities began by going to Staples Center a hour before tip off which paid off because I was able to score a couple tickets for Game 4 by winning them from the AM 570 radio station. Once they said they were gonna give out tickets to the craziest person who yelled the loudest, so wanting the tickets I started screaming and yelling like a deranged monkey. This got me all hyped up for the weekend becuse I knew I would be going to another Clipper Playoff game in a couple of days. Although the Clippers lost Game 3, I still had fun in my first Clipper Playoff experience.

Saturday, was my cousin's wedding over in Pasadena. It started off sucky driving through traffic on the 5 freeway, but we were able to make it in time for the wedding. After the wedding, I was able to stop by and grab some fudge over at this dessert shop a while back, thanks to Sherwin and Cicely for reminding me of the place. Then headed to the wedding reception over at the Hilton Pasadena. Another fun time with the cousins started off drinking the usually jack and coke and cape cod as my cousin Rodney seems to like. All the cousins went a little crazy that night, drinking and dancing all night long. I am glad to see the new bride and groom, Kristine & Wayne. I will surely be glad to watch your condo while you guys go on your honeymoon. So, I'll be housesitting at my cousin's pad in Irvine for the next two weeks.

Sunday, mother's day, was a lot of fun spending lunch with my momma and relatives over at my uncle's house. After the lunch, it was off to Game 4 of the Clippers Playoff matchup against the Suns. This time, the Clippers were able to overcome the Suns and tie the Series 2-2. I also bought a new Shawn Livingston jersey at The Team LA store because they had 50% off all reebok apparel. By this time, I pretty much lost my voice with all the yelling and screaming the past few days, but it was all worth it spending time with my family and my favorite team.

Today at work was pretty crazy because I could not speak. I sounded like a horse that squeaked off and on, so I tried to keep my speaking to a minimum. I mainly whispered throughout the day, but I was able to make do. Hopefully by tomorrow I'll be able to speak in a normal fashion. Thanks to all for a wonderful weekend. GO CLIPPERS!!!

Posted by at 6:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Recently, I've tried a new approach to sleeping and found the best sleeping style. Instead of sleeping on my normal pillows, I bunched up my comforter into a ball and use it as a pillow. The normal pillows are placed on each side of my body which keep me from moving. I've have about a weeks straight of good sleep thanks to this new approach. The best thing is when I wake up, I wake up in the same position that I slept in the first place. But most of all, I do not have that neckache or backache that normally occurs when you sleep in an unusual way. My previous sleeping position was on my right side facing the window so that I could have some air flowing into my face.

I found something on WebMD that says "What Your Sleeping Style Says About You". This is a pretty interesting article, try and read it if you have the time.

Yeah, this was a pretty weird post, but I'm just happy to have a weeks worth of good rest. Alright, hope everyone is ready to watch the Clippers win the next series! Sorry to the Lakers fans whose team did not finish off the Suns. The Clippers will finish them off and trash them!

Posted by at 10:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Lately, I've been training for the Disneyland Half Marathon this coming September. I also have been training for the LAPD fitness test if I pass the LAPD written test this coming weekend, the psychological tests and background investigation that are pieces of the application process. It's something that intrigued me a while back when I spoke with my cousin and uncle about applying for the LAPD. My uncle currently works for the LAPD and has been asking if I wanted to join and should take the test and see if I like it. My cousin already took the written test and is on his way to taking the physical testing process. There's nothing wrong if I don't try and I will never know unless I try is what I tell myself. I gave this a lot of thought and after some encouragement and support from my family, I decided to start the next part the application process. It would be a great challenge for me and I am ready to take this on mentally and physically. It would also be a great motivating factor for me when I do my training sessions. Wish me luck...

Oh yeah, I forgot... GO CLIPPERS!! I am so excited that they finally won a Playoff Series. I can't wait to go to a Clippers Playoff game, hopefully next round it'll be their hometown rivals, the lakers.

Posted by at 11:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Saturday was a perfect day to celebrate the wedding of my cousin Melissa and her new husband Wilkin. I'm so happy for them. I remember the last time we hung out with Wilkin he was piss drunk over at my other cousin's wedding. He got hammered and was all saying, "I'm going to be the next one to get married, and have another open bar like this". Another good time spent with my relatives over in Redondo Beach for the church ceremony and over in Citywalk for the reception. The best part was open bar the whole night. We were going at it with the bartender who kept the drinks coming. At least this time, we didn't take too many shots. Oh yeah another part I couldn't forget was when my bro caught the garter that was tossed. My bro is going to be the next one married since he caught it. The night seemed to fly by so fast because we were all having so much fun. I love spending time with the relatives, it gives us a chance to catch up on things and also it's fun to see how much everyone has grown the past years. I know next month we have another cousin getting married and I can't wait for that.

Here are the pictures to Melissa & Wilkin's Wedding

Posted by at 9:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Already a day since I've had this pounding headache. I've taken some tylenol to alleviate the throbbing sensation on my left temple, but it only seems to contain the pain for a few hours. Yesterday, on my drive home from La Jolla, I started feeling this pain coming from my head. So I took some dayquil hoping it would help. That drive back was madness, I couldn't bear the traffic back home. Next time I'll take a nap if I hit some traffic. When I got home, I took some nyquil so I can knock out early and get some rest. I rested from 8pm til like 430 in the morning awaking to another pounding headache. I was like, why the heck is this headache still here? I've rested a lot, and thought my body should be fine after a long rest. So I took a calcium vitamin tab and tried to knock out again. Then awaking again to the freakin alarm clock. Oh man, that was the worst feeling because the stupid alarm just made my head hurt even more. I called in work saying I had a bad headache and would try to get to clients after I rested a few more hours. The 2 hour nap worked fine until I felt another throbbing sensation around noon. So I took more tylenol, man I feel like a tylenol addict, eating them like skittles. So I went back to work as usual and tried to do the best I can to survive the day. 5 o'clock hit and I was so glad my work day was over, but still kinda bummed cuz my headache didn't want to leave. Well, it's time to knock out early. I hope this headache goes away by morning.

Posted by at 9:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Saturday night with the boys was freakin crazy. I had a blast drinking up and partying over at Highlands. I can't believe how long I've known these guys back from the dorms. It was good seeing them and celebrating the birthdays of Romeo, Jon and Thano. I hope everyone had a blast, I know Thano, Lou, Romeo, Jon, Terry and I did.

Posted by at 8:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

link

Posted by at 6:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Mammoth was soooo awesome. Driving up late Friday night was one crazy adventure after working a 12 hour shift. Luckily, Cesar helped with the drive up, thanks bro. We ended up arriving around 230 Saturday morning, but it was enough rest for boarding that day. I just couldn't believe what happened to Sherwin, Caren and Jenn on their way to Mammoth from the bay. A 15+ hour trek is ridiculous, but I'm glad they got here safely. Then in the morning, once I opened the door, I knew we would have a great day of snowboarding. After a few hiccups trying to buy our lift ticketes, my bro and I were able to find our group. The runs over at Mammoth were nice, not too crowded and just good enough to carve down the mountain. The best run was the one going down to Eagle Lodge. I was able to finally go down this run when I couldn't last year due to a groin injury. After that run, we had a few more runs up and down the mountain to finish off the day. It was a good time snowboarding with friends. Later that night we ate dinner and tried to play some games, but I think a lot of us were too tired from a long day of boarding.

I would like to thank everyone for a great weekend. What a perfect way to end the month of March. I hope we can all hang out again and enjoy another snowboarding weekend.

note: pics to come at a later post.

Posted by at 9:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I am so excited for this year's for March Madness Tournament. It brings more college basketball being nationally televised and also upsets galore. For one, #11 ranked George Mason, who would've thought this team would make it this far especially beating the #1 ranked team Uconn. They were a huge underdog this whole time and I love how every team plays so hard just to have the chance to get that National Championship. I know alot of brackets have been broken with the main teams, Duke and Uconn, out of the tournament, but now I'm just hoping UCLA can make it to the finals. They got a pretty tough matchup with LSU as their next opponent. I think they're a pretty solid team and it would be nice to have California up in the Championship scene again.

The Final Four matchup are as followed (my predicted winners in bold):
#11 George Mason vs. #3 Florida
#2 UCLA vs #4 LSU

I can't wait to watch these games. Have a greaaat week everyone!

Posted by at 4:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This weekend was something I really needed to refresh everything that happened earlier this month. Getting away from home and flying up North was the perfect remedy. I also went up North to attend the graduation of the newly named Dr. Dimaano. Friday was a pretty crazy experience partying up with those new Chiropractors in Downtown San Jose. I never thought of running in the rain with dress shoes and then riding in an Excursion Limo only to be stopped by the cops after driving a few blocks past the club that we didn't get in. The next place we went to was fun because we drank it up and just hung out. The best part was when Me and Tony (Romeo's brother) kept on busting up Sherwin and whoever teamed up with him in Foosball. It sucked when we lost to a couple of girls who played us, we lost 4-5. Oh well, next time we go there I'll make sure we won't lose! After the night came to an end, we all went back to Romeo's pad. He was pretty drunk and wouldn't let us leave his place because he wanted us to drink more and hang out, but we promised him we would see him the next day and go out again.

Then comes Saturday, another crazy day partying up in San Francisco. This time our new tour guide was Jenn (another local Norcal resident). She is one crazy lady when intoxicated. I could not forget how she went up to this one fobby asian girl and said it was my birthday just so she could dance with me. I know Joesan has some pictures of that night. Man, I can't wait to see those pictures. The worst thing happened on our way back to the hotel... TRAFFIC! We were about 10 minutes away from our hotel when everything in front of me were red lights. This caused a delay for about 30 minutes. After that craziness on the road, I was able to sleep and get ready for our flight back home. Thanks to everyone for a wonderful weekend!

Posted by at 9:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This past weekend was spent with family that I haven't seen together in a while. All the 12 cousins (on my mom's side) spent time catching up and celebrating the life of our lola. I do not know why we don't hang out that often, because when we do, it's pretty fun. I know most of us live in different states and so I think we should try to make it a habit to see each other besides on holidays. It was good smoking a cigar with my cousins after playing a game of poker. We all met up at Rodney's pad in Torrance. He's the eldest of the cousins and asked us to come over and hang out. Poker was fun because these guys play crazy, even the girls played so sometimes it would be hard to read the girls. They always go all-in and somehow win all the time, ha. Oh well, next time I won't play wild like I did last time. Our penalty for getting kicked out was singing a song by the person who took you out. So the song of choice was "Summer Nights", the Grease Theme song. They wanted a duet of me and Rodney, because we were the first ones out. I was a little hesitant at first, but then said what the heck... let's do this!

This was a good weekend to catch up with the family and pay my respects to my lola. I can't wait til this week ends, because we'll be going up north for Romeo's graduation.

Posted by at 8:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It's only been 5 days and I still can't get the thought of Grandma Dalen out of my mind. Putting a slideshow together for you has been kind of hard because it makes me reminisce about times we spent together with our family. Just like the picture above, from back in the day. I forgot where this was, probably somewhere around Carson. I use to remember you when you smiled and sometimes your dentures would fall out because you had the biggest smile or maybe it was because you were so happy to see us. I will always remember that smile Grandma...

Posted by at 11:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Today was a very sad day for the Cabebe family (my mom's side), as one of our oldest members has passed away. She is on her journey to be with GOD as she would put it, but we all know that you will be once again reunited with your true love, Grandpa Castor. I would like to thank my grandmother for all the strong words she's said to her 20+ or so grandchildren/great-grandchildren and for being very supportive with whatever we did. I will always keep you in my heart and prayers. I just wish I was there 5 minutes eariler so I could've talked to you for a few moments before you passed. She passed away today at 3:03pm and I got there at 3:08pm. Once again, thank you Grandma Dalen your caring nature, beautiful smile and strong will to live will never be forgotten. I will Love You Always, Ryanboy....

Posted by at 8:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

This past President's day weekend I stayed home and relaxed. I didn't even go outside at all due to the weather being so crappy. Being home has it's good side, no money was spent and I was able to get all the rest I wanted. I was able to catch the NBA All-star events held in Houston and also watch the Olympic events being televised.

"Nate Robinson" courtesy of NBA.com

The slam dunk contest this year was fun to watch. I thought the judges were favoring the shorter dunker, Nate Robinson over Andre Iguodala because he was able to dunk at his height.

"Andre Iguodala" courtesy of NBA.com

The sucky thing was that I didn't have Monday off from work, but it's all good work today wasn't too hard. I just hope this week goes by fast.

Posted by at 8:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Since I reserved my spot for Japan, I was looking around the web about Japanese culture. Also, Lou sent me a link about a school teacher who wrote an article about his students (Link to article). Then what got me was something new about Japanese kids. I know this will be some fun game to play, but just read the description. I hope they can handle butt darts!

Kancho
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Kancho is a game or trick often played in Japan by young school-aged children; it is performed by clasping the hands together so the index fingers are pointing out and attempting to insert them into someone's anal region when the victim is not looking. It is similar in spirit to the wedgie or a goosing in North America.

Illustrated example of a kancho.

It has been popular in Japan for years but has recently become popularised in other countries by the anime Naruto, where it has been called the Thousand Years of Pain/Death technique. It is also known in South Korea as "ttong chim", "ddong chim" or "dong chim" and in the Philippines as "tumbong", the Filipino word for rectum. In Japan, there is a gameshow where a celebrity routinely kanchōs random people.

In certain countries, the act of kancho may be illegal and considered sexual harassment, or even sexual assault, although children are given more leniency. In the USA a child at school performing the act would probably receive counselling, detention, suspension, and/or a parent-teacher conference; for an adult the act would likely result in an arrest. While the practice is known in South Korea, there have been cases where adults performing it have been arrested. However, in Japan it is considered a childish prank rather than a criminal act.

The word is sometimes used by English speakers in Japan who have some knowledge of Japanese language in a prank as a light form of hazing aimed at people who have recently come to Japan. When asking for the bill at a resturant in Japan (one way of asking for the bill in Japanese is "kanjo kudasai" or "Please give me the bill") the victim is told to say, "Kancho kudasai!" or "Please give me a kancho!" which usually results in hysterical laughter by the waiter.

Kancho is also the name of a brand of chocolate-filled biscuits produced by Lotte Confectionaries.

Posted by at 8:44 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)

This past Monday I couldn't sleep. I tried watching tv to get sleepy, but to no avail it kept me awake. Then, I tried covering my eyes with my pillow, but still could not fall asleep. I tried looking at my alarm clock so that it would trick me in wanting to fall asleep, but the damn thing kept me awake. I don't know what it was that night, but I didn't have any reason to be excited for anything the next day. There was no trip or nor anything big going that day, it was just work. Then I tried looking at the stars up in my ceiling, but all I saw was a blur because my eyesight isn't that great. I tried sleeping in different positions, face down... didn't work, on my back side... didn't work, then on my side (my usual sleeping position, didn't work also. So I thought going outside in the cold would shock me and get me sleepy, that didn't work. When I got back in, I was wide awake and tried doing some pushups. This was when I started feeling fatigue. I just worked out a little bit and then when I was done doing a few sets, I checked the time and it was a quarter til 3. Damn, it was almost 3 am and I should be fast asleep. I drank a cup of water, then went back to my bed and finally I believe around 3 am, I fell asleep. I woke up to my alarm clock around 730am and I wasn't in a good mood. About 4 hours rest and a lot of driving ahead wasn't a good thing. I guess that's how it is sometimes. I hope to sleep earlier tonight and get at least 7 hours rest.

Posted by at 7:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

http://view.break.com/74461

Posted by at 3:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This lingering cough I've had for a while has gone away. I've been coughing since we got back from our Tahoe trip, but it was just a dry cough. No phelgm, but an itchy feeling in my throat. I'm glad it's gone away, now I can resume my work and normal routines with 100% health. Sometimes these coughs would be killer on my head since coughing so much would bring headaches on and off throughout the day. Other times I sound like a laughing hyena as I speak and cough at the same time. I took tylenol, took nyquil/dayquil, ate cough drops like skittles, drank robitussin shots, hot tea, but that would only suppress my cough for a few moments. Alright, I just hope I can be healthy the rest of the year. Good thing too, because I've been keeping up with my New Years Resolution. Nowadays, I am much more awake, excited and happy about the way I feel. Well, I gotta get ready for work. Heading off to Manhattan Beach today, no not to relax, but for work... We'll see maybe if I finish early enough I'll persue my new photography hobby!

Posted by at 8:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

(note: we are the Olympic winners this weekend)

One of the funnest weekend this year. Ha, it's been only three weeks in the new year. It was a great weekend hanging out with close friends... snowboarding, ice skating (i'm thinking of turning pro), and playing games. The whole trip was awesome, I can't wait to play some games again, I know I won't jack up this time.

Here are the pictures from this past weekend.... MLK Weekend @ Tahoe

Posted by at 3:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

of work is freakin crazy. I never thought I could do it, but it's not that bad since my job isn't that stressful. All I do is drive to clients and try to fix their network problems or whatever is computer related. I worked the past weekend just so I could get this Friday and Monday for the snowboard/ice skating/crazy vacation in Lake Tahoe. I still gotta start packing up because all my junk is spread out all over the place. I just need to start looking for my snowboard gear and I'll be set. At least the snowboard rack is up in my new ride and the tires and everything are good for the trip. Alright, I'm gonna take a little nap before I start my packing. Til then, only 31 hours til we depart for Lake Tahoe!

Posted by at 3:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

The first week of 2006 was a pretty hectic week for me, mainly for work, but I don't wanna think about work right now. Happy New Year to everyone!. I'd like to say 2005 was a good year, visited places such as Costa Rica *Pura Vida!!!*, Phoenix & Atlanta *for work, but gotta check out the Oasis in ATL, it's grreaaaaat*, Chicago *downtown Chi-town with the crew was a blast*, and Las Vegas *always a fun trip*. I am also blessed to find a company where I love going to work because it deals with computers and networks, the 2 funnest things I love working with, haha I know I'm a nerd. I also spent time with family and friends a lot during the Holidays and that's what made the end of 2005 awesome. Also, at the last month of the year, I made the biggest purchase, a GMC Yukon. I finally had the courage to make this purchase with the savings I had over the years. Now my credit is a little bit stronger for that big purchase I plan on doing in a few years. Well I would like to thank everyone who has been there for me and I hope this year brings another great adventure in your life.

ps. Shockers season 2 is about to start again. Anyone down to play some softball? Just let me know...

Posted by at 12:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I would like to say I am very blessed to have great family and friends to spend my Christmas with this year. Here are the pictures from this years Christmas:

The Crew Christmas @ Jovan's
Christmas in San Diego
The Cousins Christmas

I want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Posted by at 12:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I had a great weekend for my sister's birthday. Driving up friday night with Chris and Karlo went by pretty fast. We got there around 11pm which was the best time to start the weekend because we were there right in time to hit the bars. First night was spent bar hopping at the Wynn, then moved over to the Hard Rock Casino. As for gambling, I didn't do as well this time as I lost a big parlay and lost my winnings in black jack. I should stick with Pai Gow next time, I usually win playing that.

Saturday was spent hanging out with my sister and her friends, eating lunch at Mandalay Bay and ending the night with clubbing at the Venetian's nightclub TAO. I must say this place is really nice, but the people in charge of the event were pretty rude. If you weren't a hot girl or have money, you wouldn't get in and $30 for entry is pretty ridiculous unless you're in the front of the line. Luckily we got inside and spent more money on drinks and some crazy fun. If you're there, try their Chrysanthemum Dew Sake, that is a pretty good drink for $25/bottle. It'll hit you later on when you least expect it, haha! This drink will make your body quiver helplessly after the night ends, damn I was jacked up.

The next day was recovering from last nights craziness, this time I was able to wake up fine without a hangover, good job to me! We finished our Vegas trip eating lunch at the CAL and headed back to Southern California. Happy Birthday Erica, I hope you had an awesome time on your birthday! We shall do this again...

Posted by at 7:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

After long research, many test drives at dealerships and some decision making, I finally got my new ride. I hope that this new car gets me and my passengers to our destinations safely. I am so grateful to GOD for providing me with many blessings, including this new car.

Posted by at 11:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)

Man, the first couple days of my work week has been hectic. I've been driving all over the place and I seem to keep racking up mileage on the runner. I wish it was the weekend so I can rest up a bit and start my holiday shopping. Well, I hope the next few days go by fast. Please weekend, come now!!

Posted by at 8:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This weekend went by so fast, but I was able to do a lot of things to keep me busy. Friday started off with Joe's birthday celebration at D&B's. It was fun hangin out with friends and having a few drinks. Saturday, shopping day, was a pretty fun adventure. Went to Skidazzle with Joes and Cicely. It was the perfect time to go because there were no crowds and we could walk anywhere we wanted without walking into someone. I doubt Cicely will ride with me since all the criminal activities I've done that day at the Parking Lot and driving on the Freeway, haha. After Skidazzle, Cicely showed us a great place to eat CHICKEN. We all got the same 3-piece combo with 2 sides, I had the mash potatoes with gravy and chicken noodle salad. Damn, I want to go back to that place to try their Chicken Wraps, the way they made it looked soooooo good. After a late lunch, we went shopping at the Westside Pavillion where I almost bought a new pair of shoes, but luckily they didn't have my size. After shopping, one thing remained to finish off the night... CLIPPERS GAME! I'm so happy the Clips are doing well this season, I hope they can keep up their game. Sunday was our last softball game of the season. Thanks to all who participated in softball, I can't wait for season 2. Let me know if you guys are down to play again! Well, that's my weekend, thanks again for a great weekend!!!

Posted by at 7:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The thing that annoys me the most is when I can't fix something. It gets me all rattled up spending all this time and not able to get it to work. Today at work, I was pretty annoyed with this one digital X-ray machine because it would not power up. I knew I set this up correctly, because I made sure the connections were connected to the unit. I also switched out the power boards that the X-ray company sent me to replace. So I finally concluded there was not enough power being supplied to this X-ray unit (220 volts is needed to power up this sucker). Without any luck, I called up Tech Support and talked to the Tech Support guy for 2 hours doing tests and reads on the voltmeter and still couldn't find a solution.

I did not want to fight with the doctor because he told me that he had his guy check out the wiring and he said they were getting 220 volts. I know, 220 is a lot of voltage, but this sucker was not even powering up. I called the doctor again and told him he was not getting enough power to the unit, it only read 120 volts. So another phone call to Tech Support and the Tech Support guy figured out it may be a wiring issue and from the start, that the wiring at the office wasn't up to spec. I was doing all this work for nothing, getting all annoyed that I couldn't fix this unit, but I knew from the start it was a wiring issue and I told the doctor that. If you know anything about wiring, to get 220 volts, you need two separate 110v legs connected to the breaker. What the electrician did was put 2 of the same 110 volts into 1 breaker which only gave it 110 volts. I know the doctor is gonna be yelling at the person who wired his office. Man, this was a crazy day at work. At least I was able to fix the sucker at the end and make the doctor happy.

Note: always trust your first instinct. it'll save you a lot of time!

Posted by at 10:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving Weekend. It was great spending time with family and friends, shopping for sales and most of all EATING. The best was when I checked my email this morning. I got an email stating:

Dear E R L,

We thought that you would like to know that your withdrawal from 25-Nov-05 has been processed and was sent to you as follows:

$1,000.00 was sent on 11/28/2005 as an ACH(electronic check) bank wire to wire Routing (ABA) Number (US Banks)

If anyone is free for lunch, Lunch is on me... Give me a call! HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!

Posted by at 10:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Check out our Family day pictures.... link

Look at the food

Posted by at 8:14 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- Actor Pat Morita, whose portrayal of the wise and dry-witted Mr. Miyagi in "The Karate Kid" earned him an Oscar nomination, has died. He was 73.

You will be surely missed.

Posted by at 7:52 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

To Everyone, Enjoy the day spent with your family. Be thankful with what God has provided and for a day filled with eating lots of food, NOT Turkey!!!

Posted by at 12:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This weekend was one crazy weekend. Saturday, started off with Belle and Cicely's birthday bash at Medieval Times. I don't know why the BLUE knight always comes back alive and ends up killing the bad guy. Dinner was awesome and the clincher of that night was Broomballing. I thought the Grey bandanas team was the best team that night. We should've had that game, but had some cheaters (KARLO BUENO) on the other team, haha just kidding. It was crazy running around the ice rink and listening to old school jams. The final score was 6-6 and I played pretty solid scoring a goal and an assist.

(picture courtesy of Lou, jersey courtesy of Joes)

Sunday was Shockers Softball and then Thanksgiving dinner with The Crew. We lost in softball, but scored over 10 runs this time. Good job team, we're improving alot. Thanksgiving dinner was celebrated at Belle and Cicely's new pad in San Gabriel. Ate a lot of food and played my favorite game, Catch Phrase. Good times with great friends. It was good seeing all those people I haven't seen this weekend. We should all go Broomballing again and break the tie!

Thanks again to Belle and Cicely for an awesome birthday weekend!!!

Posted by at 9:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

10.25.2005

Here are the pics from Bj's. Thanks again for a wonderful evening!!
note: click on pictures for link

Posted by at 9:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

When is this week gonna end? I've been swamped with work and have been working at least 3-4 hours per office I visit. What sucks is when these clients just whine and whine to you when you have no control over their computer. Should've bought from us in the first place. If you deal with other companies, don't expect us to know how they made their computers and what they installed on their system. Sorry, had to vent a bit because these clients are giving me a headache with their computers not working as they want it to be.

Luckily, I have friend's places where I can rest at before I head back home. Tonight, I stayed at Joesan and Joe's pad. Thank you guys for letting me hang out and watch TV.

Posted by at 8:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This morning I started feeling a little sick. At first, I thought it was just a normal stuffy nose from my sleep, but once my nose turned into a faucet, I knew that today will be a long day. I couldn't stop sneezing and my co-workers kept calling me sick boy. I was bound to finish my work, so I kept telling myself that once this sucker is finished, I'll go home and take a nap. I setup a brand new server and some workstations at a dental office in Cerritos. This was a pretty good job today because my co-workers left to go to another dental office to install a digital PAN and I was able to set this bad boy up myself. The good thing about working by myself was that I didn't have to ask if I was doing something right, I just did it myself and made sure the computers were able to read each other. I guess all the PC troubleshooting over the years helped me figure out any problems that arose.

Posted by at 12:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Tonight's game was great, the Clippers won their season opener against the Seattle Supersonics, 101-93. All props go out to Sam Cassell. This guy played awesome tonight and said he would do what he can to make the Clippers win. Sam Cassell had a monster game with 35 points, 11 assists and 5 rebounds. Well, I also won my first NBA parlay this season. Yesterday, lost when Phoenix Suns/Dallas Mavericks went into Double Overtime, but made a nice comeback tonight!! Have a nice night...

Posted by at 9:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A nice quality 20" widescreen monitor for the price. Luckily, DELL had a promotion for 30% off certain monitors and the DELL UltraSharp 2005FPW was included in this deal. I was researching on quite a few LCD monitors and saw this as the best fit for my computer. I was also looking at the Samsung LCD 19" and the Apple monitors, but I jumped on this one since I usually work with DELL systems and saw the quality first hand with their 17-19" monitors. Alright, it's back to gaming. Have a great weekend, I know I will.

Posted by at 6:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

thank you mom, dad, erica, elwyn, joesan, karen, tinz, jennvis, dianne, lou, belle, justin, abbi, thano, terry, aimee, jevon, jay, cicely, joemama, tommy, john john, ivy, lyle, sophy, karlo, chris, ryan p., teary, paul, jen, lynden, daisy, dean, keno, kristian, dan, peachy and everyone else who wished me a happy birthday. thanks for coming out to BJ's for my birthday dinner. i had a great time tonight and remember i will get you guys back. i appreciate the time you spent with me on my birthday.

Posted by at 11:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

We won our first softball game of the season. Although it was through forfeit, I still believe we could've beaten this team. I think they were scared to play us so they told their other players not to come. The first game of our double header was good practice for us. We were able to field and play at least 6 innings. The 2nd of our double header was very different, we got mercied 15-0. Playing the team that jacked us up our first game, we came a little closer this time, but failed to score any runs at this game. Oh well, at least we had fun playing in both of our games. Thanks again to all that showed up to show support for the Shockers! Til next week, we shall do some damage!

Posted by at 5:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

yahtzee!!!

Posted by at 4:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Today was a really long day at work. First, had to visit an office in Aliso Viejo to get an intra-oral camera to work with the software. Then had an emergency visit to take care of in Orange. I couldn't believe I was at a dental office for over 7 hours trying to fix a down server. Luckily, I was able to fix and recover all the dentist's data and he should be up and running tomorrow. Note, please back up your data correctly and as often as possible. It will save you a lot of time and you'll have less headaches when you need to recover files.

Posted by at 11:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Today's game was pretty fun playing with friends and family. I was surprised to find out we were playing a team that has been playing together for 10 years. A good learning experience for all of us. I played on a league with my old co-workers at Reynolds, but it was more serious than our team now. It was a much different feeling playing with my friends because everyone seemed to be cheering at almost anything.

Thanks to all that came out on our 1st game and showing support. Remember that we'll have practice next Saturday morning. This time we'll focus on Defense (fielding, pop flies, and grounders). Enjoy the work week!

Posted by at 4:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I'm so glad October is here. Now, the weather will start to cool down a little bit and now it's time for MLB Playoffs. I hope the Angels can handle the Yankees. Should be a good series now that the series is tied at 1-1. Also, softball season has officially began. Thanks to those who could make it to practice last Sunday. Our first game will be held this Sunday afternoon. If anyone is interested in watching us play, let me know and I'll give you information of where we're playing at.

Today's work was pretty chill, was able to finish really early and get a lot of stuff done. I really like the company that I work for. They really make me feel welcomed and also meeting the dental clients I have. I'm glad that all of them have been great and easy to work with. I thank GOD for all the great things he's provided for me. Now, it's time to relax a bit and I'll catch you all in a few days or so.

Posted by at 1:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Today, I had to drive all the way to Palm Desert to fix some computer and networking issues. The drive there wasn't too bad. I ddin't have to deal with traffic since, I left OC before noon. As I passed by Morongo, I was tempted to make a little pit stop, but knew I had to go to a client's office. Then looking at my directions, I had like 36 more miles to go. I didn't expect this place to be far, but dang, the later just dragged.

Arriving at the office, I was greeted with one of the prettiest receptionists I've ever seen. Actually everyone in the office looked awesome! Ok, my drive wasn't that bad, I was able to help them out with whatever needed to be fixed, mainly their network issues.

My 4 hours over in Palm Desert was pretty nice, but sucked when I had to drive back home. I already passed Morongo, so I didn't feel like turning back just to play some games. Luckily, I didn't go back because I knew I wouldn't make it in time for LOST. Well, that was my day at work. Palm Desert is pretty nice!

Posted by at 8:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Dang, the past couple weeks have been really busy for me. Since I got back from Atlanta, I've been playing catch up with the clients I had to visit or schedule some maintenance. Also, after a week of fighting a cold, it's good to say that I'm back to 100%. I'm starting to like the cooler nights that the Fall season has brought. The best part is that my favorite shows have started, LOST and Grey's Anatomy. If you haven't seen them yet, you're missing out. LOST is one of the best shows out there. They have Season 1 of LOST on DVD, so get it at the local entertainment store. Alright, I gotta get back to finishing up my paperwork for work. I hope everyone is doing well. Don't forget to Keep It Bengin!

GO ANGELS!!

note: softball players, practice on Sunday.

Posted by at 9:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

In a couple weeks our first season of Major League Softball will begin. I'm glad to have a lot of interest and hopefully it will be a great learning experience as well as a way to play competitive sports. If anyone is free to watch our games, we usually play Saturday afternoons. Right now, we have practice Saturday mornings and if anyone is interested in scrimmaging, feel free to join in and give me a call so we can tell you where we're playing at. Thanks to everyone for joining our Shockers team.

If anyone knows how to make a team logo for shirts, please let me know. Thanks again, let's get crazy team Shockers!

Posted by at 9:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

So far the only thing I had a problem with was the time change. Since I lose 3 hours, my sleeping pattern has been out of whack. Weather is pretty cool, just a little humid, but staying indoors is what I have been doing. I wanted to walk around the city, but the hotel guys said it wouldn't be the best time to go downtown. Training day 1 has been pretty long. It's like going back to school again because we're sitting there through the lecture and I'm always trying to stay awake. The reason I'm here in Atlanta is because getting certified for products that we'll be selling to our clients. Tonight, I ate at a seafood sports bar called Barnacle's Seafood Oysters. I had the combo platter which had a variety of scallops, clams and calamari. They hooked it up with the seafood and piled it all over my plate. Alright, it's time for Monday Night Football. It's crazy that the stadium is like 10 minutes away from my hotel. Oh well, maybe next time I'll catch a game.

Posted by at 8:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A very fun-filled Labor Day Weekend was spent at the Windy City, Chicago.
note: click on the picture above to view the album set.

Posted by at 6:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Damn, Kanye West's new album Late Registration is awesome. One of the best albums I heard recently, cuz lately I haven't been into the new releases artists have been throwing out these days. So if you haven't checked it out yet, support Kanye on his new album, only $9.99 at your local Best Buy.

Posted by at 10:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

My Saturday night was spent playing Tiger Woods PGA Tour on my PSP. I was able to play 3.5 hours of which I won 1 tournament and placed 4th and 5th on the last two tourneys. I never knew golf on a handheld would be so addicting. This has been a good way to relax on the weekend.

The mode I liked the best was creating my player, where I probably spent half a hour creating the perfect look for my golfer. This however, does not match the way I play or look on the golf course, but it doesn't hurt to look good. My golfer has this nice cardigan shirt with blue diamonds, khaki shorts, and matching blue socks to complement my khaki sandals. Alright, well enough about this game. I just posted this to give you my take on this game. If you have a PSP get this game and lets battle one on one. Hit me up if you want to rock...

Posted by at 11:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I'm glad to see some progress that my Clippers have done in acquiring Sam Cassell. Good trade for Marko Jaric and another dude I don't really know, Lionel Chalmers.

Alright, I'm back from my training over at Phoenix, but it looks like I may go back again in a few weeks. I'm glad to be back in Cali because the weather here is so awesome. Phoenix is nice and all, but I'm not sure if I can hang having the a/c on 24/7 and sweating just walking outside. The next time I go, I'll take some pictures of the area.

<-- click on pic to read article

Posted by at 8:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

My stay in Phoenix so far has been a pleasant one, especially staying at the Hilton Phoenix Airport. It is monsoon season and it's been raining on and off since I arrived yesterday morning. But so far it looks like the sun will be shining today. I will be training with a couple fellow workers who take care of the Phoenix area, so far tagging along with them has been a learning experience. I like being more active and making sure people's networking or computer problems are fixed. Alright, I gotta get ready for work. Enjoy the work week!

Posted by at 9:18 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Yesterday was a really long day at work, but I was able to learn alot from the guy who trained me, Siri. This guy is pretty cool, used to be a soccer player back in the day. The whole day we visited some dental offices to see what kind of stuff I'll be getting into, mainly network issues. Alright, just gotta rest up before my trek to Phoenix on monday.

Posted by at 11:53 AM | Permalink

Finally back to work after a 5 month hiatus. Which is good because I was getting bored staying home and playing Halo. I accepted a Network Technician position at PactOne, they provide network solutions for the medical industry (dental/veterinary). I guess it's time to get to work. Thanks to all who helped out with my job search.

Posted by at 1:47 PM | Permalink

1. If you were a ninja, what would your ninja name be and what would you do now that you're a ninja?
Of course my name would be called "Manek Do" and I'd make fools go crazy hearing me talk my "Beng Do" style.

2. Do something completely unexpected and random like Natalie Portman's character in Garden State and describe what you just did.
I don't do anything random, just funny things to pass time by.

3. Name 3 of your favorite toys growing up as a kid.
uno) nintendo, especially playing kung fu... wa-tah!
dos) legos, great learning tool for future architects.
tres) playdough, pretty fun throwing this at your teacher.

4. What's something obscure you learned in school that you somehow still remember?
The area of a sphere is 4 pi x r^2.

5. You wake up one morning and find out you're a princess. Who would be your prince and how would you rule over your people?
My prince would be Lloyd Christmas from Dumb & Dumber. The way I'd rule over my people would be fair and funny. Punishment will be getting tickled for 1 hour for any minor crime and up to 3 days straight for a major crime. There is no way people would want this type of punishment, and I see it as just and fair. Everyone would live happily ever after, haha.

6. Which song do you think is the best "feel-good" song in the history of mankind?
Legend of Zelda theme, the 1st zelda that came out or from Ocarina of Time.

7. If you had the option to live the rest of your life in a constant orgasm...would you take it?
I do not think this would be the best way to live your life, I would be tired all the time and no one would like to stand near you after all the mess.

8. Osama bin Laden has been captured by the Marines and they turned him over to you to get some answers out of him. What methods of torture would you use?
I heard this one before from someone, put a damn needle up his peehole and insert glass pieces then stomp on his mother sucker. Then fo sho this guy would talk.

9. Complete this sentence: "Yo mama so _____, she _______!"
"Yo mama so ugly, they pushed her face into dough to make gorilla cookies!"

10. What is the most touching/memorable moment of your life?
When I found out Mickey Mouse wasn't real, I haven't gone to Disneyland since grade school!

Posted by at 12:58 PM | Permalink

Drove up Thursday night to meet up with the 1st pack at Stateline. Even though I was feeling a little sick, I didn't let it get to me. I took many vitamin c drops and drank a lot of tea to fight off this cold. First night, we stayed at Buffalo Bills, not bad for rooms at $25/night. Spanish 21 is an awesome game to play, even without the 10s in the shoe, the best part is that they pay you right away when you hit 21 and you can double down anytime. Next day headed to Rio and tried to make some damage at the Sportsbook & Horse racing, but lost all my parlays and race bets.

Saturday was a crazy long day, ate at Goldilocks and got full fast, thanks Mike for the free lunch. Then afterwards, checked out the Wynn, pretty nice hotel. My next visit, I'll try to book a room at this hotel. I came up even at the Wynn, just wanted to try my luck there. Later that night we tried heading over to PURE, but the line was crazy long. I didn't know so many people would wait 3 hours+ just to get in this club. I heard a lot of good reviews from this place, but next time gotta get up on this a little earlier. Instead, we got our drank on at the bar and headed over to Margaritaville. The best part of the night was seeing a fight between 2 guys. One younger guy pushed an older guy I guess from what the older dude said about his chick. Then after the push the old guy knocked out the young dude and straight floored him. The young dude was on the ground for about 5 secs before realizing he got knocked the hell out. Once the dude got back to his feet, he was all dazed, that was damn hilarious. I couldn't believe the old guy was complaining about why he was getting kicked out... "Why do I get kicked out, he pushed me first?" hahah, straight comedy right there. After that, just chilled abit at O'sheas and grabbed a bite to eat.

Sunday, just ate lunch and got ready to leave for home. Fun Vegas trip, won a little bit and wasn't feeling sick after the 2nd day. We shall do this again.

Posted by at 11:35 AM | Permalink

I still can't believe I caught that ball. Even though it was a ball he was practicing with, I was lucky enough to catch a ball he tossed to the crowd before the 9th inning started. I've never had a ball come so close to me in any of the baseball games that I've attended and tonight was my lucky night. All I could remember was seeing all the hands going up in the air and bam, that sucker flew right into my glove. I was the happiest guy that night catching a ball by my player Vladimir Guerrero. I even showed him my jersey after I caught that ball. This is a night I will never forget. Oh yeah, the Angels won.

Per Sherwin's request...

Posted by at 10:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Only 7 weeks and 2 days left!

Chicago has it all: the busiest airports, the best convention centers, a strong business base, world-class entertainment, and a dynamic and captivating city. Dig deep into our resources to help make your visit productive and enjoyable.

Posted by at 11:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

note: click on photo to see set.

Posted by at 2:06 PM | Permalink

Today was the first full day that my new system was all up and running. New FTP Server is running fine. No problems when users log on and connect. I found out the problem to my system was the onboard network card. So I just used my old network card and this bad boy is running smoothly. Thanks to those that tested my FTP server out. I'll be sure to help you guys out whenever you need it. Alright, no baseball games due to the All-Star break, freakin sucks cuz the damn Angels were on a losing streak. Hopefully, they'll do awesome the 2nd half.

Posted by at 11:25 PM | Permalink

July has finally arrived and been a busy one for me. First off, went to my cousin's egagement party in San Marcos. It was a nice area that the groom's parents lived in. They had a huge backyard and a lot of waterfalls in the backyard. Then I spent the next few days building my new computer system upgrade (AMD 64 3200+/Asus A8N-E motherboard/Microsoft Windows XP Professional x64 edition/BFG Geforce 6600 GT OC PCI-Express videocard/1 Gig of Corsair XMS Pro Memory). It's been running fine and gaming has been heaven.

4th of July was pretty chill for me. Hung out at Joes' pad for a bbq and fireworks show at night. It was crazy how close the fireworks were. There was one part I liked where a firework exploded and then made those crunching sounds. Ahh, I can't explain it well, but those who were there know what I mean.

July 6th, went to the Angels/Twins game where I saw Johan Santana get torn up by the might Angels of Anaheim. I was glad they pulled off the win. Garrett Anderson is a freakin stud hitting that 3-run homer to take the lead. Well that's it for now, I'll be sure to post more of my daily experiences.

Posted by at 5:14 PM | Permalink

The Clippers select Yaroslav Korolev

Ahh YEAHH!!!

Posted by at 6:01 PM | Permalink

This past weekend was a pretty busy one. Saturday was spent helping out my cousin's fiance being one of his patients for his dental board exam. This sucker lasted from 3-6pm (had my mouth open for that long was crazy, I was slobbering up a storm). I was so relieved when the procedure was over, and the only thing I had was a numb mouth for a few hours. Good luck on your results! Afterwards, I met up with friends to watch a Hula performance by the lovely Tinz, the show was pretty nice especially those cute little girls who danced. After the show, we ate some chinese food at Won Kok restaurant. The night wouldn't end without some crazy LA dude talking gibberish as we walked out of the restaurant. I was about to give him some cash, but he insisted on us giving him money, I hope it wasn't a test from God because I know he can test us at any moment.

Posted by at 3:09 AM | Permalink

Lately, I've been having a lot of free time. Free time to hang out, watch movies, play ball, golf, softball, bowl and tennis. If you're free let me know so we can hang out. I'm also planning to start up a co-ed softball team and recruiting some players. The more girls, the better. Games will usually be weeknights around 7ish in the city of Anahiem (where the best MLB team is located). Hit me back up if you're down to play because, right now, we've been practicing to get ready for the September league.

Posted by at 11:19 AM | Permalink

... by far has to be Cinderella Man. This movie was so inspirational that it made me have chills, the good chills that brought me to believe in myself, to follow my dreams and never give up (I'll see how I do with my training). Russell Crowe played the main character, Jim Braddock, very well in this film. Before, I didn't like him as an actor, but now he made it in my good actors list after watching this movie. Renee Zellweger's performance as Mae Braddock, Jim's wife, was stunning in this movie. Renee has this aura that made it hard to resist her cute smile. I would recommend this movie to anyone, you will not be disappointed.

This summer's movie offering has been pretty good with Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith, Mr. & Mrs. Smith, Batman Begins, and Cinderella Man. The next movie I can't wait to see is War of the Worlds. I hope this movie will make my list as Cinderella Man did.

Posted by at 11:51 AM | Permalink

Wow, another earthquake hit us today around 1:53pm. It was not that strong as in magnitude, 4.3, but I thought that sucker was pretty strong. It first started out as a small rumble, then gradually starting jolting my room. As I was bracing my tv, so it won't fall down, thoughts came through my head, "Wow, we've had quite a few earthquakes the past week". Luckily, no one got hurt and not much damage came from today's quake. I'm just happy to hear that everyone is okay. We just gotta be prepared in case something big comes up.

Posted by at 3:03 PM | Permalink

Been doing some changes on this blog. I learned how to word wrap my posts with pictures (look at my previous gem post).

Yesterday was a good day. I ran some errands and ended the night playing ball with my boys. We ran some good pick up games, and on our last game I made the game winning shot. To finish the night off we grabbed some dinner at BJ's.

Ahh, I think its time to knock out. Spent most of the night reading up on web stuff.

Posted by at 4:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

So far I've been in chill mode since my return from Costa Rica. I think I shall get back on the job hunt. I've been applying almost every week for positions here and there, but didn't have any luck. A lot of job fairs coming up, so I have to spice up my resume to entice some employers. Wish me luck.

Thanks to all that prayed for my pops, he's doing much better now.

Posted by at 12:35 PM | Permalink

Finally got one of my prized gems that I've always wanted. This is the first year Fleer made basketball cards in 1986 and featured his airness, Michael Jordan, card #57 of #132. Jordan has been in the league for a couple years when this cards was made.

Posted by at 2:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

my Pops because he is in the emergency room. thank you for your all your support.

Posted by at 12:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Here are the Costa Ria pictures... link

Posted by at 7:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

this is me here zip-lining down the costa rican rain forest. damn, i guess i'm not afraid of heights... just don't look down!

thanks to joe for taking the picture

Posted by at 12:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

this is where i'll be for the next week... click above for itinerary

Posted by at 9:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

The commercial can be seen here.

Doesn't this make you wanna buy the $6 Spicy BBQ Burger?

Posted by at 11:27 PM | Permalink

Well tonight the Angels put up a win against the Chicago White Sox. Another free ticket from my buddy Joesan. Ervin Santana pitched an awesome game, making his first Major League win a complete game shut out!

Posted by at 11:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

So the battle between cross town rivals Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and Los Angeles Dodgers this weekend came to an end today and the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim won the series 2-1. I was quite disappointed at today's game which I attended and didn't see my Angels pull off the sweep. Might have been a different story if Guerrero was healthy to play, but I do like his work ethic. "If the situation comes up again I will do it the same way," Guerrero said. "I really cannot control the instinct to avoid the tag when I'm going into a base. You cannot play this game being careful." This guy plays to win, willing to give up his body to get the score. Unfortunately, it brought him to the Disabled List for 2 weeks. Oh well, hopefully he'll heal quickly and bring that work ethic back again! I was able to sport my new Vladimir Guerrero jersey that I bought off ebay.

Luckily, the jersey survived the trenches over at Dodgerland. Experiences like this will not be forgotten. I'm glad to hang out and watch a ball game.

Posted by at 6:21 PM | Permalink

I finally got these limited edition Jordan IV Lasers in today after a weeks wait. I'm not sure if I'll wear them yet because I don't want to crease them up and keeping them in deadstock condition will make them immaculate. So, it looks like I'm gonna be sporting the t-shirt and hat. Not a bad pickup, but some may think $200 for this package is quite steep. Jordan fanatics may think otherwise. Can't wait til more retro Jordans come out. If you want to order a pair check out jumpman23.com. Good luck, because it looks like they're sold out.

Posted by at 1:29 PM | Permalink

Final score ended up being Suns 114 - Mavericks 108

Posted by at 9:15 PM | Permalink

Today's interview went well, she was pretty nice and I hope she felt I am fit for the position. It was for a job I applied at Santa Ana as a Systems Support Analyst. I'm just waiting to schedule my 2nd interview with them (crossing my fingers). I'm looking forward to the next interview where I will meet with the director of that department. Wish me luck.

----------------------------------------------------
Oh, today's picks should be cool for MLB.

Florida Marlins -1.5
Boston Redsox -1.5

That should win you some dough. Let me know how it goes. Good luck!

--Mr. Lockadocious

Posted by at 1:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Hey guys, anyone down to play some bowling? Just let m know because I'm usually free to hang out. It also gives us a chance to hang out and have fun with a little arm workout. Also, I'm planning to join a league again and looking for some bowlers interested in playing. It's a filipino league in Orange County and all you need is some free time, a great personality and want to have fun.

note: happy birthday john halog and john john!

Posted by at 7:12 PM | Permalink

Recently, I've acquired this Jordan XI (Black/Red) colorway. This is the one with the patent leather, defining the Jordan XI design.

These shoes are one of the nicest Jordan's I have, but it's hard not wearing them because I love sporting my Jordan's. So we'll see how long this pair last in my closet. I've already worn my Jordan IV's, but fudge, it was hard just leaving them in the box.

Posted by at 10:28 PM | Permalink

Yesterday, while I was driving I noticed a stench coming inside my car. At first, I though I ran over something but I know I didn't hit anything. But once I popped open my hood, on top of the engine I saw a dead possum fried with all it's guts all over. The body was sizzling a little bit and I almost threw up once I saw that sucker. So I had to take out that possum with a rake because I didn't want to get my hands on it. I guess these possum's like to keep warm, I didn't expect it to climb into the engine bay to keep warm. Oh well, that was a little action I had yesterday, hope today is more chill.

Posted by at 1:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Yeah, lately I've been blah. Still figuring out what I want to do. Having a long vacation made me think about what my purpose here on earth is. There are many things floating around my head right now and I just pray to God that things I can sort things out. Yeah, it's good that having a long vacation, but seeing how time flies by doesn't help. Right now I'm trying to avoid certain things like looking for work full-time. I saw one of my close friend at church today, and it was nice catching up with her. I'm glad that she's doing well with her new career and that she will be getting married soon. It made me realize that I'm way behind in both of those categories. I just hope that I can find a job that I'll love going to. I know in the other category, I've always had bad luck in that so I avoid that so I don't get hurt anymore. So, I bought some shoes today to make me smile.

I went shopping with Joesan and got some new Air Max 95's at Cerritos Mall. I wanted to get a Vladimir Guerrero jersey, but they didn't have any good ones.

These are the shoes I bought. Really good deal from footaction, 20% off (using my military id) and also had gift cards that I haven't used. Now it made my blah day much better!

Posted by at 11:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

The new Pope Benedict XVI has been appointed. It was a pretty swift decision on a few rounds of voting. I was kind of surprised to hear that the new pope has been elected so fast. Watching CNN's coverage of the new pope being elected was an awesome experience. Now some of my Latin has been put to use and I can understand "Habemus Papam!", translates "We Have A New Pope!" I'm glad to see the new pope being appointed. I pray to him and all that appointed him.

This is what I found when a pope dies.

The Pope dies
When the Pope dies, the Cardinal Camerlengo (currently Eduardo Cardinal Martinez Somalo) must verify the death, traditionally by calling the Pope three times by his name without response (although this is only a ritual &emdash; the death is verified by medical staff). He must then authorize a death certificate and make the event public by notifying the Cardinal Vicar for the Diocese of Rome (currently Camillo Cardinal Ruini). The Camerlengo then seals the Pope's private apartments. He would also arrange for the "ring of the fisherman" and the papal seal to be broken. He then makes preparations for the Papal funeral rites and the novemdieles, the nine days of mourning.

Rest in Peace Pope John Paul II.

Posted by at 11:03 PM | Permalink

The past few days I was up North helping Sherwin move his stuff to Biggie's pad. It was a pretty good trip for me, especially at Berkeley. We got lost getting to Rasputin Music and ended up catching a fight where 2 black men were beating on another black man. That was quite a scene to see these men fighting in the middle of the street in broad daylight while the spectators stood around in amazement. Even the construction workers took a little break to watch the commotion. We walked around the shops over there and saw a lot of the Berkeley crowd. It's pretty diverse, I wanted to check out a class and see how different it was compared to Irvine. Later on that day, I had dinner with Romeo and Janice over at Union City. It was good catching up with them because I haven't seen them in a while. Then later on that night we headed over to Sake Lab on Broadway. That place had pretty good music the whole night and there was a good amount of people that went. I got a good fade that night and went home the next day. I want to make another trip up North, let me know if you guys are free for a road trip.

Thanks to Biggie for a good time these past few days. As I headed back home, to end the day Joesan asked me to go to a Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim game, I'm still tripping on their stupid ass name change. He was able to get hooked up with suite tickets with free food, free drinks, and free parking. The best part of the game was that it went extra innings, 11 and also I got a free bottle of Vodka that I took from the suite, haha yikiteee. I had a blast, but sucks that the Angels lost that night. They're 1-1 right now!

Posted by at 11:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

This is where I plan to go on vacation with a few friends this year. I can't wait!

TRIP COROBICI - 2 nights

link 1

MAWAMBA LODGE - 1 night

link 1 - link 2

TABACON LODGE - 2 nights

link 1 - link 2

HOTEL PARADOR - 2 nights

link 1 - link 2

Posted by at 7:37 AM | Permalink

Just wanted to wish everyone a HAPPY EASTER!!! I hope everyone enjoys the holiday with their family.

Posted by at 10:25 PM | Permalink

... is Clams with Black Bean Sauce from Sam Woo Seafood Restaurant. Damn, I had that for lunch and it was so freakin' good. Oh my gosh, you'll be in heaven after you eat a few of these suckers. The clams with shell is complimented with the black bean sauce and garnished with diced onions and bellpeppers. I wanted to try something new at Sam Woo and this just stuck out on the menu. You'll be amazed at how the clam jumps in your mouth and gives you a kick. But yeah, if you're bored and want to taste something new, go order the Clams with Black Bean Sauce at Sam Woo.

You could also go here if you want to make it yourself.

Posted by at 10:29 PM | Permalink

The NCAA Mens Basketball Tournament has started today which means more gambling than ever. Here are my picks for Thurday's games,

WVirginia -2
TexasTech -4
UofArizona -5

Good Luck!

Posted by at 3:55 PM | Permalink

edited

I can't believe my luck, I will see how I do on tomorrow's California Lotto Jackpot... $28,000,000 baby!! Let's do this!

Continue reading "This is ridiculous" »

Posted by at 2:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Lately, I've been chillin at home playing halo or job searching. I've got some interviews coming up, so I'll see how those go. The recruiter I've been talking to referred me to a great company and I have landed an interview this Friday. I have to do some studying and reviewing of technical skills before I go on this interview. I am excited with this opportunity and hope I can make a great impression. Besides chillin at home, I've been shopping for interview clothes. I got some nice pants and long sleeve shirts. Well, this is the unemployment life. Looking for work and trying to be persistent with all leads. Thanks to all that have been looking out for work. I hope to keep in touch with you. If I land this new job, I'll be sure to buy you guys lunch.

Posted by at 1:06 PM | Permalink

If you're bored and have nothing to do, you should go to... Victoria Gardens. It's a pretty good outdoor shopping place that has many shops you could spend your money on. I was there for less than 2 hours and I spent a nice amount over there. So check it out if you enjoy the nice drive up 15 north, exit FOOTHILL Drive and be ready to spend or you could just stroll along the area and chill out.

Posted by at 6:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

So far the unemployment life is not as it seems. I thought that it would be good not working, but waking up this morning made me realize that I need to figure out what to do next. I guess I miss the daily routine of driving to work in crazy traffic, logging in to my computer, talking to co-workers around me and doing any work that needs to be done. Mainly the fact that I have someone to talk to when I'm at work was what I missed. It sucks being home alone and watch tv all day. Damn, I need to find work soon or else I'll go crazy.

Posted by at 8:43 PM | Permalink

My last day has come working at Reynolds & Reynolds. A perfect way to end my tenure here, I came in on time, well actually 3 minutes early. It's funny because I'm usually 5-10 min late because of the lovely 5 traffic or maybe it's me not wanting to wake up from my wonderful sleep. Wow, 2 years here at Reynolds. I've never worked at a place for that long and now that it's coming to an end, I am going to be sad. Not sad of the work, but sad because I'm leaving such awesome co-workers. I think that's what made working at Reynolds such a fun place to go. It was a pretty chill work environment, everyone is very upbeat and easy to talk to. You could basically talk to anyone in the office and feel right at home. There are a few that likes to joke around, and knowing me I love joking around and playing pranks. Yesterday, we ate at an Indian Cuisine restaurant for a few of my fellow co-workers that are leaving. Thanks goes out to my co-workers who came and paid for my meal, I am greatly appreciative for that kind gesture. Today, after work, we're going to get wasted at Original Mike's, as what my co-worker Saul said. I have yet to see some of my co-workers wasted, that would be a nice way to part from them. Alright, it's time to get some work done.. haha yeah right!!!

Posted by at 7:09 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

If you missed the superbowl commercials, you can see them here, just click here.

My favorites were GoDaddy.com

and
CareerBuilder.com with the monkeys.

Posted by at 10:57 AM | Permalink

The 2005 All-Star Weekend was pretty exciting. Friday, started off with the Rookie/Sophomore game where the Sophomores beat the Rookies 133-106. I had the Sophomores -11.5 and under 240.5. Saturday Night's festivities were pretty good. The 3-point shoot out was won by former Clipper Quentin Richardson. I can't believe how awesome former Clipper players get after they leave the team.

Then the slam dunk contest was won by Josh Smith.

Here Josh Smith leaps over a sitting Kenyon Martin of the Nuggets for a perfect score of 50. This was my pick for the contest because I didn't want Amare Stoudamire to win it.

Then Sunday's main event, the All-Star game was pretty boring for my taste. I expected more from these NBA All-Stars, but was disapointed with their efforts. To me, it looked like the West Players didn't show up this game. Maybe it's the way Gregg Popovich coached, but his way of coaching is damn boring. He's a good coach, but we need more excitement when watching the All-Star game. The MVP that night was Allen Iverson. He played pretty well and showed that he's not only a scorer; he can dish out players as well. The most exciting play was Vince Carter's off the glass dunk.

Can't wait til next years All-Star game. Hopefully this time, Elton Brand will be selected as an All-Star. This guy deserves to be in the All-Star Game.

Posted by at 10:18 AM | Permalink

Try and beat this score 10580, it's a really fun game if you're really busy at work. I suggest you play.

Click on the picture to play

Posted by at 9:04 AM | Permalink

For a new job and a new phase in my life. I've been applying here and there hoping that one company will choose me to be a part of their company. I've applied to USPS as an Information Systems Specialist, ADP as a PC Support Field Technician, at 5 Sqaure as a Java Programmer and various other companies for their Systems Admin position. The job hunt is pretty exciting because I know that I will be doing something new. Well, if you have some job opportunities for me, let me know.

Posted by at 1:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I heard today while picking up my lunch at Charo Chicken. This one black dude had a confrontation with a white dude, who was trying to act black. Then all of a sudden, the black dude said to him... "Damn, why you gotta be acting like a Wigger? Don't be frontin and acting black, cuz you aint". This was one of the funniest thing I've heard in my life, I just started laughing as I went back to my car. Oh my, that Wigger was sure trying so hard to act black. Do you see some people around that acts like that? I wish they wouldn't, it's freakin annoying.

Posted by at 3:33 PM | Permalink

Today I was in court the whole day to help out my Uncle with his appeal. It was a long day at court, but the outcome was well worth the long court hearing. I'm glad that he'll be able to stay here in the United States with us and that his family will be staying here for good. The judge we had was very compassionate and understanding with my Uncle's case. I know good things happen for a reason and I am very thankful that today's court hearing went out well. Now things can go back to normal and the 125 or so members of our family can live happily as a tight-knit group.

Posted by at 9:22 PM | Permalink

I've tried figuring out the title of this reggae song that goes Boom Boom Mami Mami? Please let me know if you know the artist and correct title for that old reggae song. I'm going crazy trying to find the artist and name of the songe... oh well, TGIF baby!!!

-keep it bengin'

Posted by at 1:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Today, I went to lunch with a few co-workers to the food court off Von Karman and Barranca. They suggested a new Vietnamese place called BB Vietnamese (i I think that's what it was called) and got their Seafood Pho which hit the spot. Now, I have a good Pho spot to go to around, but I wish they were here a year or so earlier. Would've been a good place to get lunch when I couldn't figure out what I wanted to eat. There are also those Pho places up in Westminster, dang those are really good places to eat at. Spring rolls are really awesome! Man, talking about food is making me hungry again, but this time I want to get some desert. I know what'll hit the spot, the mango cake from this one bakery on Irvine Center Drive, near Sam Woo's. Oh man, their mango cake is a dream come true! Ok, enough about food. Gotta get back to work.

Posted by at 12:33 PM | Permalink

What the heck is wrong with the Clippers? They were up by freakin' 18 points at the half and then end up losing by 5, 94-89. How could you lose that lead? I just don't understand. I knew that when I went to Mass for Ash Wednesday, Clippers would somehow lose that lead. Idiots!

-loyal clipper fan

Posted by at 10:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Sinigang: A soup flavored with tamarind and
includes meat or fish with various veggies


Which Filipino Food Are You?

Posted by at 12:59 PM | Permalink

I wasn't feeling good today so I called in sick. I know my co-workers will be making fun of me tomorrow when I get in because I always make fun of them whenever they call in sick, but it's my time to get clowned on. The reason I called in sick was because I couldn't sleep at all last night. I kept on waking up every hour and had this pounding headache. Maybe it was from all this coughing, so not going into work made me feel a lot better. To ease my sickness, I played a few games of Halo 2 to build up my ranking and to do some shit talking. I also ran some errands and even went to the mall to return some clothes. After that, took a quick nap then went shopping again with my bro. I finally got some snowboarding boots that fits and a new jacket. I'm glad this day was pretty chill for me, I love calling in sick! Now, 2-days have passed since I last placed a bet for sports. It feels weird, but I do check up the lines and see how I do with my picks. I guess that's what keeps me addicted to the sportsbetting, always wanting to beat the linesmakers. Anyways, I won enough money for me to survive if I don't have a job for a while. Thanks to sportsbook.com for your gracious paychecks and I hope to get back to business with you in the future, I need to find a full-time job first!

Posted by at 8:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

My pick for this year's Superbowl is the coin toss..."tails".
Put $10 on that sucker!

Posted by at 10:12 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Last night, I finally got to watch Ray which Jamie Foxx played quite well. The movie traced the career of the music legend Ray Charles. I did not know that this guy was a player and a crazy heroin addict. It was amazing how Ray innovated the soul music that we listen today with his physical disabilities. The movie showed the positives as a musical innovator and negatives as a heroin addict. Throughout the movie, I forgot that it was Jamie Foxx playing Ray Charles. No wonder Jamie Foxx received an Oscar nomination for this movie, hopefully he'll win. Also, the music in the movie is absolutely sensational, consisting either of remasters of original Ray Charles's recordings, or new recordings for which Charles provided the vocals. I would recommend this movie to anyone. Go check it out if you haven't. I give it 5 Stars!

Posted by at 9:55 AM | Permalink

One thing I noticed is how some friends you were really close with before have now disappeared from your life. Things happen for a reason and maybe they're happier that you're not in their life anymore, but that's the way life goes. Life has it's ups and downs, but starting off 2005 has been pretty great for me. Not only because of the $$$ I've been winning and new toys I got, but because now I realize who my true friends are. They are the ones who kept me from doing stupid stuff, kept me on track with my goals, gave me a shoulder to cry on and gave me some advice in life that I can finally put to use. I used to be an enigma, no one could understand what my thoughts and actions were. Last year, I know I may have acted differently towards some, but that's because I didn't want to show them how I felt at the time. I know I may joke around alot, but that's what I do when I feel uncomfortable about certain situations. Laughter and joking around is usually the remedy for my problems.

Another thing I noticed is trying to move on with my career. This also has it's ups and downs, as now I will be on a full-time job search. Losing a job, is not the same as losing a friendship, because work is just there from 9 to 5 monday to friday, but the friend will always be there 24/7, at least some friends I know will be there no matter what. Not knowing what is in store for the future is what scares me the most. Right now, I'm living for day to day stuff, doing things that makes me happy. I try to push away all the negative influences in my life, but no matter what I do, I can't get it out. See, I'm still an enigma, I can't even figure out myself. I'm just rambling here, forget everything I said in this post.

-keep it bengin'

Posted by at 10:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

current january 2005 sportsbooks earnings +$4089.50

Posted by at 12:00 AM | Permalink

Posted by at 8:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

I guess I started writing this after work to see what's happening in my life. As of February 25, 2005, I will be out of a job and will be taking a much needed vacation. My plans are to visit New Zealand and check out the scenic areas such as the setting of Lord Of the Rings and Braveheart. Currently, I'm looking for a new job and trying to take 1 more pre-requisite class so that I can apply for Radiology school. This all depends on if I find a job within a year and if I can finish that last class (human physiology). But first, I will chill, relax and play Halo 2 until my thumbs get tired of playing. This sounds like the perfect life!!!

Keep it Bengin'!

Posted by at 4:06 PM | Permalink

This past weekend's Mammoth Trip was great! Not only did I snowboard, went on a hiking adventure, almost lose my snowboard trying to sled downhill, but I rode a snowmobile downhill with the safety patrol. My legs and body were so tired after a days worth of snowboarding. I had to sit on my board to get down the mountain because my quads were already jacked up from snowboarding. Luckily, lil jay was there to catch my flying board as I fell off trying to slow down. Our hiking adventure began when we were figuring out how to get back to our cabin after the ski patrol kicked us off the mountain. It was crazy on our hiking adventure at Mammoth mountain because that place is just huge! Reminder, do not use tight ass snow boots when trying to board, you'll cramp up really quick. I tested out my new bindings this weekend, and I really like the feel of strap-in bindings compared to my old step-ins. Here are the pictures on this link.

currently listening to: Nujabes + Fat Jon (samurai champloo music)

Posted by at 7:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Man, I can't wait. Only 24 hours to go before we head over to Mammoth. Should be a fun trip!

fyi--
lakers -2.5
lakers/cavs over 197
nets +9

= easy money!

Posted by at 4:00 PM | Permalink

This whole weekend has been raining non-stop. I wanted to go out, but I don't like driving in the rain. So this weekend was HALO 2 weekend for me. I seriously love that game, especially playing on Xbox Live. I love talking shit to others and it makes the game exciting when they talk shit back. So if you guys want to battle on Live, my Halo 2 id is: "manek do". Can't wait til next week, snowboarding will be fun!

Posted by at 9:12 PM | Permalink

Well, the new year started off great, click here for pictures last night. I can forget about 2004, no more bullshit anymore. I'll brush that shit off my shoulders. But anyways, I hope this new year will be one where I can do something with myself. I know soon I'll be out of a job, but that only motivates me to move out of California and find a job elsewhere.

Posted by at 3:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Just wanted to wish everyone a Happy New Year! Can't wait for tonight to get crazy. It should be a fun night. Damn, this year went by so fast, but time flies when you get older. Oh well, have a good one everybody!

Posted by at 11:35 AM | Permalink

Finally, I spoke with my manager and she handed me my layoff letter. As of, February 25, 2005, my tenure at work will be terminated. Now, I have to start looking for work again. Although, I've been looking for a while, it's hard to get a job now because of the Holiday season and not a lot of jobs are hiring at the moment. If finding a new job fails, I'll probably go back to school and pursue another career in radiology. I have been trying to finish the prereqs for radiology at Fullerton JC. Going back to school has been pretty fun because it made me realize how much I miss taking tests and going to class. Plus the girls in my class are pretty damn hot, especially my lab partner! But now class is done, I'm sad.

I have also applied to a few places and have been waiting their call back. One is in La Palma (ADP, Automated Data Processing, Inc.), while the other one is in Westlake Village (5 Square Systems, kinda far from Orange County), but we'll see how this goes. I guess now my new years resolution is to probably to get away from California. I feel like I need to get out of here and see what's out there. Any state will do, I just want to get away from here.

Posted by at 6:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

A sign where mondays suck is that I woke up late and came in 25 minutes late. I was about to call in sick, but felt bad because I would not be working this Friday and the following Monday, vacation days baby!!! Now, I'm sitting here in my cube figuring out what I should do next, but then I usually check out my fantasy teams and email every morning. I'm done with that and now I don't feel like doing any work today. I should've called in sick! Oh well, next time I'll listen to my first intuition about calling in sick. Should be a long long day at work. I'll catch ya'll later. At least I'm done with my christmas shopping, I don't have to worry about shopping anywhere unless I wanna treat myself to a new toy!

Posted by at 8:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Once again, new toys have been coming... Thanks again Bestbuy & Sportsbook.com

I gotta stop this spending! Who wants to go to Vegas? =)

Posted by at 10:15 AM | Permalink

I finally called it quits after 11 weeks of sportsbetting. I lost $200 on sunday's football parlays and I've accumulated quite a few winnings within that 11 week period. So I told myself if I lose between $100-200 in a day, I should keep my winnings and run. Sorry to those that I've tried giving advice, but I seem to have lost my luck. I appreciate all the stuff sportsbook has given me, but now I gotta move on and earn money elsewhere. I know I still have a tab on some of you guys, email me and I will give your winnings check/cash sometime next week.

Posted by at 7:35 AM | Permalink

This is my new toy I got yesterday. Thanks again to the people at Sportsbook.com for this free Samsung 32" LCD HDTV. I got this bad boy at Bestbuy. Happy Holidays!

Posted by at 8:03 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Damn, I've been wanting to go to New Zealand. I want to check out the film locations of The Lord of the Rings, The Last Samurai, and one of my favorite movies Braveheart.

This is what I got from the site:

New Zealand�s awesome landscapes, lush forests, amazing wildlife and pleasant climate make it a haven for many outdoor activities, and a great place to unwind. New Zealand society is diverse, sophisticated, and multicultural, and the honesty, friendliness, and openness of Kiwis will impress you. And the great advantage of New Zealand is that all of its diverse physical, cultural, and artistic landscapes are so close to each other!

What do you guys think?

Posted by at 10:37 AM | Permalink

here are the pictures from my hawaii trip... link

Posted by at 11:16 PM | Permalink

This weekend I was able to modify an xbox with Jovan. We spent countless hours trying to figure out the correct setup for modding the xbox. Total time to setting that sucker up was over 15 hours. After 8 trials, we got that sucker to work. We know the xbox inside and out. I can say that this was a great learning experience in using a soldering iron. If anyone wants their xbox chipped let us know. We can install the chip (Xenium Ice), upgrade the hard drive (upto 200gigs), and whatever you like. Email or leave a message... Your business is greatly appreciated.

Posted by at 3:06 PM | Permalink

Thank you Las Vegas, Jay, Cicely, Joemama, Chris, Tommy, Dana, Lou, Belle, Joesan, John2, Summer Bay Resort, Caesars Palace, Oshea's, Hard Rock Casino, Primm Valley and can't forget the lovely Corina for a wonderful weekend. I hope everyone had a blast because it's always fun going to Vegas with a group of friends to gamble, drink and just do whatever you want. We went to vegas to celebrate Miss Belle's and Miss Cicely's birthdays... I hope the birthday celebrants liked the nice dance I got them.

This is one of the funnest Vegas trips I had. I don't know what it is, but I was freakin lucky this entire trip. $100 could do wonders in Vegas. So the first night we arrived, we drank before we headed out to the casinos. The casino we headed over to was Caesars Palace, I tried my luck at the black jack table and came out with a win over there. The next stop was Oshea's, I usually never win at this casino, but somehow I pulled it off. Then we headed back to our rooms to get some halo 2 action and some rest.

Day 2 was even better, woke up and ate lunch at Bertolini's an italian restaurant at the Forum shops. Afterwards, we did some shoppingI got a Carmelo Anthony jersey and a gray warmup jacket. Then we rested up before dinner and clubbin. We decided to check out Body English at Hard Rock Hotel because some dude had connections to get into the club. I thought it was gonna be awesome going there, but this turned out to be a bust. The dude who hooked us up miscommunicated the $30 bucks which only got us pass the big ass line. We found out we had to pay another $30 to pay cover at the door so we ended up hanging out in front of the bathroom and listening to the music, that was our Body English experience. Some people were upset with the situation so the dude ended up paying us back some of the cover charge with his money. I was kinda upset waiting in line for so long and not able to have fun with my buddies. I asked the guys if they wanted to double up this money in black jack. I got the approval of the guys to rock the black jack table and doubled that sucker in one game.... Yahtzee! Next on our crazy adventure was Crazy Horse Too. My stripper of choice was the lovely Miss Corina. I know some of you liked Corina and her gymnastic moves! Damn, she was awesome. After that hour of debauchery we headed to eat at Barbary Coast for some steak and eggs then called it a night.

Sunday was a good day except for the traffic on the way back home, but this ended up being a good thing because I won some more money on our stop at Primm. Vegas trips are always fun because you don't think about anything else but having a good time. Now I'm forced back into reality of work and class. Damn, I should've called in sick. To everyone, thanks for an awesome weekend. We shall do this again!

Posted by at 5:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Damn, what a perfect lineup for Foxes Thursday night. Starting off with The OC at 8pm, yeah I know this show may not be what the REAL OC is, but I guess I got hooked watching Season 1. Then following is North Shore, the perfect setting for a show in Hawaii. If you like watching hot chicks, check out North Shore...

Sun, surf, sand and sex. And that's what keeps the staff occupied. At this exclusive five-star resort, The Grand Waimea, intrigue abounds and passions often flame. But when wealthy guests visit this little piece of paradise to let their hair down, what else would you expect? The question is, with everything swirling around him, and past relationships popping back up, can Grand Waimea General Manager Jason Matthews keep the hotel running smoothly?

Posted by at 10:09 AM | Permalink

My Hawaii trip this past weekend was awesome. My family went there to attend my cousin's Wedding which was on Saturday along Waikiki Beach. The weather was pretty humid with rain sporadically coming and going throughout my stay. Hanging out with the cousins was fun, too. We went to the beach, hung out at the bars, went snorkeling, and did some shopping. Everyone was finally of age and had a blast at the wedding reception. The best part of the wedding was OPEN BAR when all the cousins started taking Kamikaze shots and shouted "ONE MORE TIME, ONE MORE TIME" so the bartender would keep the shots coming. All the cousins probably took about 50 shots at a time, damn everyone got jacked up Saturday night. My cousin said that we finished all the grey goose vodka she ordered for the wedding. She even had a lot of wine left over and gave those out because hardly anyone drank wine. I can't forget about how tossed my sister was that she yacked in front of my parents at the dining table. They lectured her the next morning which was pretty funny. Everyone was making fun of her the following day, which was a given because she didn't even remember anything that night.

Oh man, I can't wait til the next family party, which should be soon because Thanksgiving and Christmas is coming up. I wish I could have stayed a little bit longer in Hawaii, but school and work has forced me to come back today. That's it for now, Aloha!

Posted by at 9:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

What can I say about Online Gambling? It's GREAT! Thanks to the people at Sportsbook.com, I have been winning a lot of my sports bets in the month of October. It's a great thing to do if you don't have time to go out and gamble or place bets at the casinos. If you guys are avid gamblers, check out that site. Their payoffs are awesome! Thanks again to Sportsbook.com who was able to purchase my new home theatre system.

Posted by at 8:36 AM | Permalink

This journey that I'm on is pretty lonely and damn long. The only thing beside me is my shadow pulling me to go one direction, but I somehow go the other way, hoping that I'll find something new in life. There are times when I thought about the "what if's" in life and took the other route. How my life could've been, but now I realize that life is a journey. One must take different routes in order to get to their destination. I, however, took the long ass route which I wish I brought a Thomas guide because now I'm lost... Is there anyone that can bring me a Thomas guide, preferably the 2005 edition? Just give me a call, I'm kinda stuck in which route I should take right now.

Posted by at 8:26 AM | Permalink

Today, I got a raise. Wow, thanks Reynolds. I'll only be enjoying this raise for a few months.

Posted by at 4:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Just found out today that our Irvine office is closing down. Wow, over 100 employees will be unemployed within a few months. It caught us all off guard finding out this horrendous news of our facility. I had some premonition when the Canadian region was taken away from the Irvine office and new restructuring began to take effect. The crazy thing is that they have security guards in our office walking around smiling and trying to fit in. I'm still in shock with the news of our company, but it will motivate me to go on to better things. I just hope this radiology thing works out. Realization has come into effect for me because now I must start over again. Well, that's the news for me right now. Keep in bengin!!

Posted by at 3:34 PM | Permalink

"You are now encouraged to take things at a much easier pace, Scorpio, and to use your spare time for deep thought and inner reflection. Your intuition is going to be even more spot on. This is one time when you should trust it and follow your gut instincts. Your dreams will be powerful, and it is worth keeping a journal of the ones that seem to contain a message. It might also be useful for you to look at how your spiritual life is shaping up, and how committed you are to inner change."

*Crossing my fingers*

Posted by at 6:47 AM | Permalink

Tonight's debate was a decisive victory for John Kerry because America saw him as our next president. He showed strength, conviction, and a steady command of the facts. He offered clear plans for Iraq and fighting terrorism.

George Bush has a record of failure to defend, and he failed to defend it. The president just gave us more of the same shallow promises.

With the current president sounding like Stuttering Steven, it shows how little prepared he was in voicing his opinion.

Posted by at 10:44 PM | Permalink

Here are my top albums:

1. De La Soul -- 3 Feet High and Rising
2. Nas -- Illmatic
3 A Tribe Called Quest -- The Low End Theory
4. Babyface -- The Day
5. A Tribe Called Quest -- Midnight Marauders
6. Jurassic 5 -- Quality Control
7. Janet Jackson -- janet.
8. New Edition -- Greatest Hits Vol. 1
9. Jay-Z -- Reasonable Doubt
10. Mos Def & Talib Kweli -- Black Star
11. 7L & Esoteric -- Soul Purpose
12. Babyface -- MTV Unplugged NYC 1997
13. Notorious B.I.G. -- Ready to Die
14. Gangstarr -- Moment of Truth
15. Boyz II Men -- II

What are yours?

Favorite song - Janet Jackson (Let's Wait Awhile) in Janet's Control Album.

Posted by at 8:49 AM | Permalink

Every incumbent seeking re-election needs to defend his/her record. But George Bush can't defend his record of exporting jobs, soaring health care costs, dangerous dependence on Middle East oil and a disastrous foreign policy. His campaign only has one strategy left: throw all their resources into a negative campaign spreading lies about John Kerry.

Posted by at 1:14 PM | Permalink

This night was an awesome night of season premieres. First off, was NFL kicking off the 2004 season on ABC with the Indianapolis Colts and New England Patriots matchup. It was a close game until Vanderjagt missed a tying field goal with seconds left in the game. Sucks that he missed because I missed out on 3 fantasy points.

Then there were the season premieres of 'Joey', a Friend's spin-off on NBC at 8pm followed by 'The Apprentice 2'. I thought the premieres were pretty good especially 'Joey', that guy is freakin hilarious. That's why I'm glad to call him my IDOL. I'm glad there's something good to watch on tv since the closing of the Olympics.

Posted by at 8:54 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Fuck all you Bush supporters. No more Bushit!! This year it's time for a new leader. Kerry will do the job for you, he will do it RIGHT! (You can tell I'm a Democrat). If Bush becomes President again, we'll have 4 more years of his Bushit, and I know some of you guys don't like what he has done lately. We can change that by voting Kerry as our new President. Feel free to write what you think. Because if you know me, I don't give a fuck!

Posted by at 12:13 PM | Permalink

As the Greatest Celebration of Humanity reached its final phase, host-city Athens bade a final farewell to the athletes and its guests. The Ceremony was held on 29 August at the Athens Olympic Stadium, under Attica's full moon. A beautiful setting to end the Olympic games.

Goodbye to the XXVIII Olympiad. It was a pretty good two weeks of sporting events. Still shocked to see the USA Mens team win a Bronze medal, but what can you do when other teams have better chemistry than the US. Also, Women's beach volleyball was nice to watch, those girls can hit a ball!

The closing cermony last night was a great ending to the 2004 Olympics. Hopefully, in 2008, I will make it to Beijing for the Olympics. I've always enjoyed watching the Olympics, I can't wait til 2008 comes.

Posted by at 7:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

"Life is like a game of cards. The hand you are dealt is determinism; the way you play it is free will." - Jawaharlal Nehru

Lately, I've been dealt fucked up cards. I don't think I can ever play with these cards I get. Looks like I'll be flying solo forever!

Posted by at 8:31 AM | Permalink

Posted by at 11:01 PM | Permalink

I'm not alone, I wish I was
'cause than I'd know, I'm down because...
I couldn't find, a friend around
to love me like, they do right now
they do right now.....

And all is well, I can't complain
well okay, I guess I could
I got my place, I got my name
I chase my tail, all the same

and I cant think about what's keepin' me down
Something's missing,
and I don't know how to fix it
Something's missing,
and I don't know what it is, no I don't know what it is
I don't know....

And it all comes, it doesn't last
It just walks in, with a bad you lash
And you never know, when it starts
until this fog inside the glass around your summer heart

Can't put my finger on what's keeping me down
Something's missing,
and I don't know how to fix it
Something's missing
and I don't know what it is, no I don't know what it is

I can't be sure that this state of mine, is not of my own desire
I wish there was an over the counter test, for loneliness,
for loneliness like this

Something's missing,
and I don't know how to fix it
Something's missing,
and I don't know what it is, no I don't know what it is

Friends check, Money check
good times check, guitar check
all check, all of you, check
everyone, check
havin' fun

And I don't know what it is, no I don't know what it is at all....

Posted by at 10:13 AM | Permalink

This past weekend, Saturday, I was out in the sun for John John's graduation at Pepperdine University in Malibu. It was a nice graduation ceremony, with the view of the ocean in the background, it was awesome. I came out there with a nice sunglass tan on my face. Sucks that the tan was on the left side of my face. Then, on Monday, I was in Oxnard for Romeo's mom's funeral. I was again out in the sun, and now I feel like my face got baked. Romeo would like to thank those who gave their condolences to him and his family.

I also visited Halog's site and said some few words to him, hoping that he was doing alright in Heaven. Later on we stopped by Hueneme Beach to check out the people fishing. Oxnard is a really nice city, I love the weather - sunny with a nice ocean breeze..

Posted by at 8:15 AM | Permalink

You may encounter some issues involving home and family at the moment. You may even have the urge to make some radical changes, but don't be rash and decide to throw everything out the window just because you're having some problems right now. You have the inner strength and resources to soldier through these times and emerge smiling. There are some major discussions to get out of the way first. Be careful when choosing your words -- others may not be ready for you.

Posted by at 9:25 PM | Permalink

I have 4 invitations left for gmail accounts. Let me know if you're interested in 1gig of email space. email me at ryan@916xl.com

Posted by at 11:18 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

FUCK ALL THE BULLSHIT

Posted by at 11:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Call me out
You stayed inside
One you love
Is where you hide
Shot me down as I flew by
Crash and burn
I think sometimes you forget where the heart is

Answer no to these questions
Let her go, learn a lesson
It's not me, you're not listening now
Can't you see something's missing?
You forget where the heart is

Take you away from that empty apartment
You stay and forget where the heart is
Someday if ever you love me you'd say it's okay

Waking up from this nightmare
How's your life, what's it like there?
Is it all what you want it to be?
Does it hurt when you think about me?
And how broken my heart is

Take you away from that empty apartment
You stay and forget where the heart is
Someday if ever you love me you'd say it's okay

It's okay to be angry and never let go
It only gets harder the more that you know
When you get lonely if no one's around
You know that I'll catch you when you're falling down
We came together but you left alone
And I know how it feels to walk out on your own
Maybe someday I will see you again
And you'll look me in my eyes and call me your friend

Take you away from that empty apartment
You stay and forget where the heart is
Someday if ever you love me you'd say its okay
It's okay
It's okay

Posted by at 11:37 AM | Permalink

goodbye.

Posted by at 1:41 PM | Permalink

Just give me one piece of the puzzle to figure things out... thx

Posted by at 2:17 PM | Permalink

The last episode of FRIENDS was a perfect ending to the series. I was happy with Rachel's choice of staying back and the surprise of twin babies for Monica & Chandler. I can't believe it's over, now my Thursday nights will be filled with boredom without FRIENDS, but I guess things gotta end sometime. At least there will be Joey's show coming out. Hopefully, that one will turn out awesome like FRIENDS did. Alright, I guess its time to find another TV show to watch or I could just watch the past seasons on dvd.

Posted by at 8:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Finally, I got my new toy in today at work, the exo2 case for my iPod. Ordered this, April 9th, 2004 and received this sucker April, 26th, 2004. Damn, they have the fastest service ever. Oh well, at least I got it. Yeah, this is what I have been messing around with lately. Still sorting and fixing up the music albums and playlists on my iPod. This sucker is exactly what I needed. 20 gigs of music, damn... Although, I'm already at the halfway mark, I don't think I'll be running out of space for a while. It's a pretty good investment if you have a lot of music that you've downloaded and want to listen to, especially at work.

Posted by at 5:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Today, I got called in to have a meeting with my manager. Damn, this monkey ass manager is tripping at me being late 2 minutes. I know I come in late numerous times, but for 2 freakin minutes. I guess my manager is anal about us making it exactly to work on time. Shit, she even complain if we come in 10 minutes early for work. She tells us to clock in at our scheduled time. Wants everything to be perfect. Good Lord, what else does this bitch want? I fuckin do a lot of work for the stupid Canadians and this is what I get in return. What the hell is wrong with this bitch? Just because she's our new manager and expects shit to be done her way, no wonder everyone hates her ass. The morale at work has drastically went down since she became our manager. Not only was I called in to talk to my manager, but earlier this week other coworkers received written warnings regarding their attendance. Damn, its like we're back in grade school. I just think it's stupid how some people think attendance is an important factor in work. I get my shit done, but why do they have to hound me for being 2 freakin minutes late!!! Man, I wouldn't mind if she fired my ass, I need to find a better job...

Posted by at 4:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

This new time change has thrown off my sleeping pattern. I freakin' woke up at 640 today, when I had work at 700. It was still dark outside and my stupid head thought that I had a lot of rest left. My alarm even went off, but it wasn't freakin set correctly. Oh well, I guess I gotta sleep earlier tonight to adjust to this loss of hour that we have. I was late to work 10 minutes and it was still freakin dark. Damn, this time change!

Posted by at 8:27 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Throughout my 24 years of living I have yet to really open my heart. It's like a door that has been slightly open, but no one can really look what is inside because I won't let anyone go further than that. They tell me to have faith, and that everything happens for a reason, but how can you think that when you feel that there is no reason to believe. Last night I stared at the shadows on the wall, reflected and thought about everything. Day by day I try to pick up myself to do better. To try to accomplish what I have only dreamed of when I was younger. Yet it seems that the silence helps me cope better with the days to come. I need time to myself. I try to understand why people are the way they are. Why do they do the things they do to others to hurt them so. I think back to when I was younger and instead of warm smiles, my emotions begin to turn into anger. Why can't I be heartless? Why can't this heart of mine turn cold? But it doesn't. It just seems to keep loving no matter what I do. I look at my reflection in the mirror wishing I could go back in time to tell myself when I was younger the things I know now. To warn him of the faults that may arise in the future, but I can't go back in time. So I tell myself now, that it will get better somehow. I just have to believe in myself, but sometimes I just wish that someone believed in me...

Posted by at 3:04 AM | Permalink

I've been thinking alot about stuff going on and I think the best thing for me is to leave. Right now, work is not cutting it for me because I do so much repetitive stuff on a daily basis. Plus, with all the work I do, I can't go anywhere in this company. A freakin' 3% raise is all I get after a years work, but whatever. There are also other things that lead me to get away, but I don't want to delve into those issues right now. I just wished things would work out. I know I have to take things one by one, and hopefully one day things will be clear.

Posted by at 2:18 PM | Permalink

SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 21). There is no easy way to win -- but if there were, you wouldn't get that fabulous rush you get from winning! Advice for a troubled work situation: Just let go of your need to figure everything out. Travel improves a love relationship.

I think I need to get outta here with all the bullshit I get from some people, it's not worth it anymore.

Posted by at 9:49 AM | Permalink

Rejection is a part of life. What can I do when things don't go the way you would like it to be? Sucks that everytime I think it will work out, it never does. I guess being a nice guy doesn't cut it anymore. Looks like I'll be flying solo for a while...

Posted by at 9:50 AM | Permalink

In the car ride of life, there will be many stops and new places to be seen and even though they say it's not the destination but the journey, I think equally as important is who's in the car with you. I have always thought that it is the journey that you should cherish, and not the actual destination. So many people have come in and out of my car ride of life, that its just plain ridiculous. There isn't one person in my life, currently, that I have been friends with more than 10 years? But, I can honestly say that the people in the car with me now are people that are going to make it to the end with me. It's always so hard when you been through so much, and it just seems that there is this black cloud of bad luck constantly following you, but thank GOD for the people around me, friends and family. They make the trip more bearable / weatherable / fun / exciting / enjoyable / entertaining / pleasurable / doable. Who knows how many times I just wanted to get out of the car and give up, and yet these people still were there to pick me back up. Now, I'm just waiting for the one who will ride shotgun with me.

Posted by at 11:58 AM | Permalink

Snowboarding yesterday was really fun except for my face which got sunburnt. I hate it when my face gets sunburnt because everyone notices how red your face looks and you can't do anything about it. At least this time I didn't get injured or hurt myself snowboarding. I didn't think we would stay that long at Mt. High, but we ended up staying almost til 4pm. The snow up there was really nice and soft. Carving was an ease at the East Resort because it was not as packed as it usually was at the West Resort. This past weeks rainfall put a lot of new snow up in the mountains. I'm just glad I went snowboarding this weekend, it really made my week. I can't wait to go again! Damn, now I think I'm getting a cold. It sucks having a weak immune system!

Posted by at 8:22 AM | Permalink

This year I will give up meat again for Lent. I usually do it every year and its freakin' hard giving up meat, but it doesn't compare to how Jesus gave up his life for us so that our sins will be forgiven. With that in mind, the movie, The Passion of The Christ, was released today and I'm interested in watching the movie that Mel Gibson directed. It is about the last 12 hours of Jesus' life and I can't believe how much controversy arose from this movie release. But with religion, there will always be opposing views!

Posted by at 12:31 PM | Permalink

Since I last blogged. Nothing really new going except for Vegas this past weekend for some birthdays. It was fun getting away from California and going back to gambling mode. This is the only way I get away from everything and not have to give a shit about things going on in my life. Even though I didn't win, I had fun gambling and drinking. The only thing that sucked was the rain that impaired my driving abilities for the trip. Now I know that I need to get new windshield wipers. When I used them, all that I could see was water smeared on my winshield. I can't believe how stupid drivers are. When it rains, you're supposed to be cautious of other cars driving, but there are some dumbfucks who speed and when the least expect it, the car in front of them brakes and they end up hitting the car in front of them causing an accident. I saw at least 5 accidents on my way back from Vegas. Next trip will be New York or freakin' Florida. At least this time I'll be flying. I'm down to go anywhere now... But now, I have to adjust back into the real world and go to work. That's my life... fuck it!

Posted by at 10:58 AM | Permalink

With Valentines day coming up, I have the slightest clue to what this day is. I have yet to experience this day with someone special, but hopefully one day it will happen. Last year I thought I would have a Valentine, but she never felt the same way about me. I guess you could say my heart was shattered because I had something planned for her, but unfortunately, I never had a chance. I still have the card that I made for Valentines day, but now I think I should throw it away because I don't think it will ever happen. Everytime I put my heart into things, it gets torn up into millions of pieces. I think I try too hard with these things and in the end when it doesn't work out, I end up losing somone special and hurting myself. I guess that's how it was meant to be.

Posted by at 8:18 AM | Permalink

Michelle Branch has a really nice soothing voice. Hopefully someday I'll find someone like her, who could sing me songs before I go to sleep.

Posted by at 10:03 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Damn, all I can think about was the halftime show with Miss Janet Jackson. All I can say is WOW! You can check out more pics here. In the beginning the game sucked, 0-0 in the first freakin' quarter, boring! But damn, after that awesome halftime show, I was into the game. Sucks that I didn't win my office pool, but it was fun watching the game. I couldn't believe how Adam Vinatieri made another game winning field goal to win the Super Bowl. It was funny watching all the Panthers fans look upset after the Patriots won it again, oh well... haha

Posted by at 9:53 PM | Permalink

Is hurting from my fall last night while night boarding at Mt. High. I had fun, but I think my first fall made me lose confidence in boarding the rest of the night. I was on the ground for about 4 or 5 minutes cuz the pain was so bad that it felt like I was gonna take a crap. I was able to do about 4 or 5 runs last night. At least this time, they didn't have the snow blowers on full blast with all the snow blowing right in my face. I also used a snow mask so my face wouldn't freeze like it did the last time. Then to top off my last run, I fell on my chest and did a swan dive and slid about a couple yards in the snow. I thought I heard someone yell, "Safe!", but maybe that was something in my head. Damn, this place doesn't even compare to Mammoth's park. I guess I was spoiled when I went to Mammoth this past MLK weekend. Alright, its time to get to work. Can't wait til Superbowl this Sunday. Go Philly!

Posted by at 8:03 AM | Permalink

My Clippers are finally making me happy. Their new coach, Mike Dunleavy, is showing a lot of improvement coaching this years Clippers. Last nights game against the Chicago Bulls was a great game not only because they won the game, but because they played like a team with intensity. They kept up with the solid scoring from Corey Maggette and Elton Brand. If anyone is interested in watching a Clippers game let me know. I know some of you guys may not be a Clipper fan like me, but they are exciting to watch and their tickets are way cheaper than that other Los Angeles team. I just don't wanna go to a Clipper game by myself.

Posted by at 9:32 AM | Permalink

I went to the doctors after work and found out that I have Asthmatic Bronchitis. I have a few medications which I have to use to alleviate my cough: 2 inhalers and a cough suppressant with codeine. Hopefully, with rest and these medication my cough will go away. I can do it!

Posted by at 7:23 PM | Permalink

Mammoth was fun except for coughing the entire trip. I think I need to get checked up because my cough doesn't seem to go away. I was irritated the whole time because of this stupid cough. Hopefully, my condition didn't worsen staying in the cold weather.

This weekend, I also got my new Sony 27" WEGA Flat-Tube Stereo TV at Best Buy. I know its the old model, but its still a WEGA. I even got an extra 10% off the television. Thank you everyone for all the gift cards I've accumulated over the past year. Now I have better picture quality watching DVDs or playing games on my PS2.

Posted by at 5:13 PM | Permalink

Damn, its only the first week of January and work has been so crazy. Before I left for vacation the Canadian queue was at 10 requests. When I came back this Monday, it was at 80. By the end of the week, Friday, the queue was at 117. The new year has brought craziness to work. What tops it all is that I have this cough that comes and goes. I don't know if its a new cough I get, but it doesn't help when everyone at work is coughing all over the place. At least now, its Friday, time to rest up and get over this cough.

Posted by at 1:24 PM | Permalink

Damn, it's been a week now since I've been sick. I'm coughing out a storm and at least now it's slowly going away. I called in sick today so that I would have a lot of rest. I've already drank a bottle of Robitussin and Dimetapp hoping it would cure my sickness, but all it does is alleviate my coughs for a couple hours. I don't think my cough got any better going to Vegas because the air over there really sucks. The dealer even noticed how bad my cough was and said that he wish he had cough medicine so that I wouldn't get him sick. I didn't want to leave the table because the dealer was hooking everyone up. Oh well, I just have to take care of myself this year. Sucks being sick at the beginning of the New Year.

Posted by at 7:10 PM | Permalink

Just wanted to wish everyone Happy New Year. Vegas was fun even though I was coughing the whole time. This year I will try not to get sick.

Posted by at 8:52 AM | Permalink

I'm freakin sick AGAIN because I'm coughing like a donkey and whenever I breathe my chest feels like Mike Tyson used it as a punching bag. I hope I get well before New Years Eve because I'll be in Vegas. I usually get sick at least once a year, it just sucks that it has to be right at the end of the year. It's my fault for not taking better care of myself. If you have time, watch Paycheck with Ben Affleck. It was a pretty good movie with a lot of action and good storyline. Alright, its time to get some rest.. Damn, I have work tomorrow morning!

Posted by at 10:01 PM | Permalink

Christmas 2003 was really nice spending time with the Lapid family. Christmas was at our house again this year and everyone had a blast. All the relatives coming over for dinner, nba basketball and movies really made this day special. This Christmas made my day because I was happy to see all my relatives at our house just having fun. Thanks for all the memories. To the Gremlins, we gotta hang out again. Let me know if you guys wanna go snowboarding. We all gotta hit the slopes.

Posted by at 10:29 AM | Permalink

"And I don't want the world to see me
'Cause I don't think that they'd understand
When everything's made to be broken
I just want you to know who I am" - goo goo dolls - iris

This past 4-day weekend was a good time away from work. Friday, I tried to finish off my Christmas shopping, but the long lines and craziness stopped me from completing my goal. Holiday shoppers are crazy when it comes to deals and sales. Oh well, I still have a few days until Christmas comes. Even though I didn't go to New York, which was my scheduled plan, boarding at Bear Mountain on Thursday and Mountain High on Saturday made it worthwhile. I only ate it once at Mountain High while slowing down to wait up for Nino to come down. As I slowed down, a lady hit me from behind and I did a front flip landing neck first on the icy slope. Damn, I couldn't believe I got jacked up like that. That muthasucka tackled me to the ground and I was airborne for a few seconds. I didn't feel the effects of the hit until two days later while at work. I began to have sharp pains in my head, my eyes began to strain and my neck began to feel stiff. I guess that's one of my first snowboarding accidents in which I learned not to slow down on icy slopes for people.

Posted by at 8:51 AM | Permalink

I wish that things worked out the way I would have liked it to be. I don't know why things happen a certain way or how things could be forgotten in just a matter of seconds. That's how life usually runs for me. I do a lot of praying, hoping that things will work out, but disappointment seems to run in my genes. There are times when I'm happy, but it is usually overshadowed by the negativities inside me. For once, I wished my happiness overshadowed my negativities. My mood right now this Christmas season is one I wish I never had. It sucks having this kind of feeling because I know nothing can change how I'm feeling. The past few weeks, I haven't had a good nights rest due to things going on inside me. I don't know what is wrong, but when I get these attacks, it feels like an elephant is stepping on my chest making me gasp for air. I hate this feeling, feeling like nothing will ever go right. Feeling that things will never change. I just pray that next year will bring me some kind of happiness. That's all I want. There have been thoughts of me moving away, maybe to Arizona, possibly for a job offer over there. Maybe, that's what I need.. to get away from everything. Maybe I need to start off fresh and get away from my comfort zone.

Posted by at 1:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Started my christmas shopping. I got my mom a jewelry box that she's always wanted. Hopefully she'll like this jewelry box I got her. Now, I have to get something for my sister's birthday. It's so hard buying gifts for my sister because she is so picky. Let me know if you have any suggestions for my sister's gift. I gotta start shopping now, only 9 more days until Christmas.

Posted by at 9:18 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Well, today after work, all I'm going to do is go home and sleep. I couldn't sleep last night because I was up again last night trying to figure out what was wrong with me. People always say that things will be alright, but as of lately, it hasn't been alright. I always try to say things are alright and hide everything inside, but I don't know where to go or let out my problems. All I can do is hope that things get well. I've been in this world for 24 years now, damn almost a quarter of a century next year. Work sucks as usual, I can't even concentrate with all the work I have to do today. I'm just glad I don't have work tomorrow or else I'd freakin call in sick. Right now, I really want go away and take a vacation so I get away from all this madness. Damn, if any of you guys have the Ziggy Zaw cd, let me know. I need to burn that sucka!

Posted by at 11:31 AM | Permalink

For Vegas December 30th - January 2nd? We can also camp out at Niketown for the new Pharrell Dunks retailing for $120. I'm probably going to get a room that weekend, maybe at the RIO, let me know.

Posted by at 4:43 PM | Permalink

Is a time for spending. Damn, I must have spent almost $1000 on shoes and clothes this past week and I haven't even started my Christmas shopping yet. Well, once I get my next paycheck, I can dedicate all of it for other people. It's also hard to shop for people because you never know what they'll want. I just hate it when someone doesn't like what I get them, it makes me feel like I didn't put enough effort in getting their gift. If they don't like it, then they can just return it for store credit. Alright, time to get some stuff from Footlocker with the 30% discount. Enjoy and Happy Holidays!

Posted by at 10:36 AM | Permalink

Thanksgiving was alright, sucks that my mom had to work so all I did was had Thanksgiving lunch and watched some football. Afterwards, I had nothing else to do so I camped out for 17 hours with Nino to get a pair of Nike Dunk Methamphibian Checkmates, which was a fun experience. I didn't know so many people would camp out for a pair of freakin' shoes. Most of the people who came out were resellers because no one in their right mind would spend $300 for a pair of painted shoes. On ebay, I saw a pair of shoes go for $750 bucks. Not bad for waiting so long in the cold and making a $350 profit. Hopefully my auction goes for that price. I know that they are limited edition shoes and only 16 pairs were made. I was lucky enough to get #1 of 16 of these Nike Dunk Methamphibian Checkmates, it also comes with a chess piece. Alright, you guys might think I'm crazy camping out for shoes, but I hope to make some profit off these bad boys. What sucks that night was how people would cut in front of people who waited so long and never got a pair. I heard some people came from San Jose and even Michigan just to get a pair of these shoes. Also, they wouldn't sell the shoes to girls. There were a couple girls who were behind us and couldn't get a pair for themselves because the store thought that they would just sell them, haha, oh well, luckily I got a pair.

Saturday morning, I went boarding with my coworkers at Mt. High. Another good boarding session here because I changed my stance to Regular and I was able to board freely and not fall as I usually did while I rode Goofy. I'm weird like that because I feel comfortable boarding on both stance, I guess it depends how I'm feeling that day. Oh well, I just want to go again and make use of my season pass.

Sunday, was a day for rest and NFL football. This weekend, I wished I did more, but my tiring body left me to another day of chillin time. It's all good, it's best to chill alone than spend money, but damn, I think I must have spent over $500 on 2 pairs of shoes this weekend. I guess this year I'm gonna spend more on myself than on others.

Posted by at 11:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

How life is like a big roller coaster. It has it's ups and downs which makes me wonder how people are able to deal with it. Lately, I haven't been myself and it's hard to determine what is real and what is fiction. In reality, we just have to face life and all of its blessings and craziness. I know its a struggle, but in the end happiness will arise. I wished everything worked out, but most of the time it doesn't go the way you wanted it to be. I am thankful for everyone who has affected my life in some way and I know it's hard to say it up close to that person. I just hope everyone realizes that they have one life to live and must appreciate everything they have. In the end GOD will be there for us and if you believe in him, everything will be alright. Put your faith in GOD and he will do the rest.

I hope everyone has a Happy Thanksgiving with their families and friends. Be thankful for all the things you have in this world because everything happens for a reason. I just wanted to write a few things on my mind while I was at work because a lot of stuff has been on my mind. Alright, it's time for me to finish up my work. Manek and I'm out!

Posted by at 2:09 PM | Permalink

Man, I'm so sick of my contact lens. Lately, they have been so much of a hassle to me that it's made me think about getting LASIK Eye Surgery done. I just need to do my research first and find out what procedure works best for me. I know a few people who have had the procedure done and it looks like the surgery has helped them with their vision. I've been wearing glasses or contact lens since the 4th grade (about 16 years) and I think it's about time for me to get this done. If you know anyone who's gotten the surgery done, please let me know so I can ask them how they liked the surgery and what necessary things I need to get done. Anyone who wears glasses or contacts knows what I go through every morning and everytime you can't see a thing. A lot of the times I can't even enjoy myself because of how irritating my contacts are. I try to manage with contacts, but any sudden movement would give me discomfort. I know eyes are one of the most important body parts to have and I know that by getting this procedure done will be a big step in living a better life... Hope everything works out for the best!!!

Posted by at 3:17 PM | Permalink

This weekend the once in a year Snowboard & Ski Show, Ski Dazzle, runs November 20-23. I checked it out last night and was completely amazed with the venue. I was able to pick up a new snowboard bag and of course, the Bear Mountain lift ticket. It's worth the drive, because $12 for a lift ticket is an awesome deal. I may go again this weekend and pick up a more lift tickets. Just let me know if you guys are down to head over to the Los Angeles Convention Center.

Posted by at 10:16 AM | Permalink

When I think too much about something and then all of a sudden it doesn't go the way you like it. I thought things wouldn't get complicated, but I always end up getting more confused than I was before. I don't understand how things can be awesome one day, like everything you wished came true. Then when everything looks great, for some unknown reason things shift 180 degrees the other way making you feel like crap. I don't know what it is that changes my mood. I'm so fortunate to have all these things in life, but I feel there is something missing that would make me happy. I know that life is complicated and I feel like there is more to my life than just working and chillin. Maybe I need a need job, a career, or I need to get away from all the daily routines that I've been stuck with. All I have left is hope and prayer that things will get better. Prayer is what has gotten me through living, I just hope I can be happy sometime soon. Thanks for always being there for me, GOD. Please help guide me through this world so later on I will be able to go to your kingdom.

Posted by at 2:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Things don't go your way. Because lately, it hasn't been going my way. Actually, since school ended, it hasn't been going my way. I feel like life is filled with disappointments right now. It makes me think if I did something wrong to deserve this. I don't know what it is, but I just hope someday, something will make all my disappointments disappear. Sometimes I feel like shit, and sometimes I try to make myself happy, but in the end, nothing ever works. There are times when I want to leave this place and go somewhere far away so I can start all over again. I was thinking about going into the Navy so I can travel and get away from everything. I think being away will help me find out what is out there in life. When I'm here, in California, I feel as though nothing seems to work out at all. Work is the same damn thing every freakin' day... it sucks! Chillin is what I do most of the time... it sucks! Everything, just freakin' sucks! I don't know. I just want to get away from it all.....

Posted by at 2:13 PM | Permalink

Snowboarding was fun Wednesday night. Driving to Mt. High was crazy because it was hailing by Corona on the 91. Traffic was horrendous with people driving 5 mph because of the hail. Going on the slopes that night was awesome, not that many people and pretty good conditions. The top was powder all around and it was very easy to manuever down the mountain. I only had one bad fall where I fell on my family jewels on the icy section going toeside. Now, I think I bruised my ribs as well because it hurts whenever I cough or sneeze, but I guess that's the only way to learn from your mistakes. Alright, I wanna go boarding again soon. Let me know when you guys are free.

Posted by at 9:42 AM | Permalink

I'm gonna go check out Mt. High tonight after work and get some runs in. All I can say is finally I'll be doing something besides staying at home chillin. If you guys are down, meet me up tonight. Alright, gotta get back to work.

Posted by at 9:27 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Damn, if you haven't seen the Carl's Jr. yet, click on the link. Now, that's what I call working out! If you're gonna eat a burger like that, riding a bull will burn all those calories. My coworkers are betting 20 bucks to find out how old this girl is. One thinks she's younger than 18, and the other believes she's over 18. What do you think? Manek Dou!

Posted by at 11:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (9)

Damn, all I can say is that I got jacked the freak up! This past vegas weekend was awesome. Although I didn't win any money, I had fun drinking most of the time. I was already jacked up drinking up in the room. While we rode the hummer limo, I had to sit next to the window because I felt like yacking every time the freakin bass bumping my back, but I was used to the bass hitting me like that. Man, I don't think I can drink any hard liquor for a while. My liquor of choice this weekend was Jack and Coke. That really jacked me up because the next morning I had a fun time with the porcelain goddess and Mr. Trashcan. I also had to make a pit stop at Nevada Landing. Thanks to all that came, I had a blast, except for all the yacking that occured afterwards!

Posted by at 6:30 AM | Permalink

I want to give thanks to those who came out for my birthday weekend. I really appreciated the warm smiles and birthday greetings. If you guys are free next weekend, we're going to Vegas for Joesan's and my birthday. We're staying at the Venetian Resort Hotel Casino. So just let me know if you're down to go. I will be leaving this Friday, around 11am, with Joesan, Karen, and Justin. If you need rides, I think Jeff, Melissa and Lou are driving on Saturday, just ask them what time they're leaving. Enjoy the rest of the week and hopefully I'll see you in Vegas!

Posted by at 9:36 AM | Permalink

Lately at work, I've been thinking if this is the right job for me. I know it's a pretty chill job, but I feel like I can do better. It has made me think of a career change, maybe something in the health profession... maybe becoming a nurse or physical therapist. I know that will mean more school for me, but I am fortunate enough to get support from my parents. This past weekend I spoke with my mom about maybe taking nursing. She became excited and gladly said that she would help me out. Then I spoke with my cousin, Karlo, who plans on taking nursing as well and said we could go to the same school. Well, it looks like I need to take 3 courses.. Physiology, Microbiology with Lab, and Human Anatomy with Lab. Well, we'll see how it goes. I may start this next year.... wish me luck.

Posted by at 2:49 PM | Permalink

This years MLB playoffs have been pretty awesome. The Chicago Cubs / Florida Marlins matchup was a crazy series. I can't believe the Marlins came back from a 1-3 series and won 3 games in a row to get into the World Series. Haha, I told you guys they would beat those cheapo Cubbies. Also, thanks to that one fan in game 6 who interfered with the pop fly that Moises Alou could have caught. Then what was funny because after that, the Marlins scored 8 runs in that inning.. Well, now the Boston Red Sox must beat those damn New York Yankees tonight. This one will be a great game with Pedro Martinez and Roger Clemens pitching.

Posted by at 2:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

This past Friday I watched one of the craziest movie that I've seen in a while, Kill Bill. This movie by Quentin Tarantino is one of his craziest so far. Other Tarantino's movies that I watched were Jackie Brown and just recently I finally watched Pulp Fiction. Both were pretty funny movies, but I like Kill Bill out of the three that I've watched. I've never saw a girl kick ass like that before. If you like blood and gore, go watch this movie! Let me know if you like the movie.

Posted by at 3:07 PM | Permalink

Posted by at 3:00 PM | Permalink

Say the darndest thing. Today, after I played tennis one guy approached me on a bicycle trying to sell me some stuff. He asked me politely, "Hey you got a few minutes, I'm selling some socks and I have some razors.. I got them at Target. Four for a dollar?" I looked at him with the, what the hell look and said, "I'm sorry I use an electrical razor." Then he said to me, "Hey bro, do you have a quarter you can spare me." I looked at him funny and exclaimed, "Sorry I just played tennis.. I have no money with me." This dude looked so normal, I don't know why he would be at the park selling freakin razors! I should have messed around with him asking if the freakin' razors were the Gillette Mach 3s. He just threw me out of the loop. I thought he needed directions when he approached me, but I guess he was a business man trying to make some ends.

I hate it when people come up to me and try to sell me stuff on the street. I don't trust the product they're trying to sell. A while back, some dude was trying to sell me some stereo speakers. He said he was overstocked with shipments and would give me a good deal. Luckily, I didn't even look at them because on the news I saw a special where guys would sell people fake speakers that work like crap. Some guy spent $200 on phony speakers. When the cameraman took the guy's picture, he just laughed and gave them the finger. Damn, that sucks that people would do that just to make money.

Posted by at 11:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

This past Saturday, I went to my company's picnic at William Mason Park. It was nice seeing some of the coworkers having fun playing horseshoes, volleyball, and frisbee. What is a picnic without cheeseburgers and hot dogs. Damn, I ate a grip that day because there was so much food. I think they brought enough food to feed everyone who went 5 servings, but I was only about to eat about 2 servings of cheeseburgers. After the picnic, I went to ESPN Zone in Downtown Disney to eat again, watch some college football and have some fun. I was feeling good after a couple drinks which was followed by a huge chili dog and fries. If you go to ESPN Zone you have to play the game Lou and I played. I forgot the name, but you sat on this seat which moved side to side and you would roll downhill and try to hit the other riders as you pass them. It was a nice game to play. That was my Saturday, fun just hanging out with friends. We should do this again, with more people!

Sunday was reserved for watching NFL games and going to mass with my parents. It's great having Cingular because I can get sports updates with my phone after every quarter. The awesome game to watch was the Oakland Raiders vs. San Diego Chargers battle. The Chargers had a pretty good chance of winning the game, but could not handle the Raiders' comeback at the end. Damn, I'm not looking forward to work tomorrow. I hope this week goes by fast!

Posted by at 9:28 PM | Permalink

It just came to mind how people like to be called. For me, I like being called "Ryan", my middle name. I guess I have been used to it since I was young. Then when some people call me by my first name, Edgar, it sounds kind of weird to me now. Either way, I will still respond to both names. I don't know, but that's kinda weird. When I hang out with my old high school friends, they know me as Edgar and I'm fine when I'm around them, but once I go home and they hear my family call me by Ryan, they get weirded out. There are other names out there that are very unique and really nice to hear. Some names like Romyr (my younger cousin - has the first syllables of his parents' name: ROmeo and MYRna), Cicely (a really nice name to pronounce), and Joesan (nice unique name). Alright, I guess I'm out of my mind right now just thinking about how people got their names. This is how it is when you get bored at work. Next, I may think of names to call my first son... MANEK!!

Posted by at 3:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Starting next month, October 1st, the $20 bill will have color. I am excited to see how the new bill will turn out. I guess it's about time that the bills be remade, because of counterfeiters mass producing so much fake bills. Having color will be another deterrent to the highly counterfeited $20 bill. One time some kid gave me a fake $20 bill while I was working at Game Max and I said I could not accept this fake bill. I kept it and told him I could not return this fake bill. The funny thing when I used the counterfeit marker, was that the mark disappeared after a few minutes... haha, oops. That was an easy $20 for me =). Alright, that's about it for now. Manek!

Posted by at 3:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

This past 5-day weekend started on Thursday for me. I was lucky enough to get Thursday and Friday off for my Vegas Trip. I had two complimentary nights at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino. The journey began with Nino, Melissa and me driving to Las Vegas hoping for a fun-filled two day stay. We also hoped that more people would come the next day because a lot of people had work or class. Regardless, we had a lot of fun walking the strip and just hanging out. I love the strip with the lovely lights, the lovely 2nd hand smoke, and the lovely GAMBLING!! The first night, I gambled a little and won a couple hundred, then called it a night.

The next day, Friday, we went shopping at the Belz Outlet and Fashion Show Mall on the Strip. After that we ate at the lovely Rio Buffet and ate a grip of Crab and steak, what a combination. Oh, how I love vegas!!!

The casinos that hooked me up was RIO, Caesar's Palace, Paris, and Barbary Coast. I got jacked up at The Boardwalk, but luckily I was able to make it up at Barbary Coast.

The funniest part of the trip was the free ride that Melissa had while we were walking on the strip towards Boardwalk. I know that she had a great ride on the strip, you had to be there to witness that, right Nino?

The best luck was leaving from Paris to go back to Rio because I was randomly pulling on slot machines. There was one that happened to be active and from that I ended up cashing out $66 which I split three ways with Nino and Melissa. Damn, that must have been the best time gambling because I was on a winning streak after my lost in The Boardwalk. After that, I stopped gambling and enjoyed the rest of my vegas trip.

Posted by at 10:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

For some FOOTBALL! Finally, the season is about to start in less than 4 days. Now I will have some fantasy football fun and of course, sports betting! This is the start of my sports betting season which my main teams this year will be Philly and Oakland. I hope this year will be my year to win the fantasy football and some sports betting. I'm pretty stable with my picks and looking at the weeks this year, I know that the best weeks to bet on are the 3rd-6th week. I will post up my picks and see if they work. Alright, time to crash now. Enjoy the Labor day weekend.

Posted by at 12:51 AM | Permalink

Damn, what the heck is wrong with the gas prices lately? I freaking spent like 17 bucks for half a tank of damn 89 gas. I know I can't do anything because I need the freaking gas to drive around. The funny thing is that gas seems to go up during major holidays. Those freakin idiots are jacking our money. I wish I could strangle those fools who set those damn gas prices. And going to Vegas I know I will have to buy gas again because I will be travelling more than usual. Damn, I hate you damn gas companies!

Posted by at 10:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

This Saturday I took out my little cousins out for some fun-filled action to Mulligan Family Fun Center in Torrance. I haven't hung out with them in a while because I am so busy with work, but luckily I didn't have any plans this weekend. We started the day off riding the go carts, so much fun. I would advise anyone who has a lot of cousins to take them here. I drove in the dual go cart with my little cousin, Justine who couldn't ride on her own. This was good because she helped me rock all the other cousins by telling me who was trying to overtake us. After a few bumps behind, we were able to keep our position and never let anyone by. In the end, the winner was the youngest driver out there, Rona. She is not even 12 yet, but was able to pull off the fastest time around the course.

Afterwards, we played 18 holes of miniature golf, we ended up doing both courses that they had. Man, it was so much fun competing with the cousins. We played in groups of 4 and my closest competition was Lloyd, who had a couple of hole in ones to come back and tie my score. After the 36 holes of miniature golf, we went to play some video games. I felt like a kid again playing video games with my little cousins, especially the ones that gave you tickets. I can see why games excites little kids. It keeps them on the move and they are able to focus on what they are doing.

The night wasn't over, we went to Rolling Hills 20 AMC to watch S.W.A.T. and the younger cousins watched Uptown Girls. S.W.A.T. was an alright movie, I thought the story line was pretty good and real.

To top the night off, we ate at Inn N Out, boy that was a perfect way to finish off. We ate a few burgers and then I dropped them off at their homes. Luckily, they all live in carson within a mile distance. I wished that all our cousins was there to be a part of this day, but I know next time that they come over, we will try and go again.

Posted by at 1:01 PM | Permalink

Well, I have been moved again to another region, but now it's not any of our U.S. regions. I'm working for the Canadian region, ey? It's a different system than our main U.S. system, but I have been able to keep up. The main dealers we provide service for are the BMW and Toyota dealerships. Those are our main priorities because we own all the accounts for the BMW in Canada and have many Toyota dealers in Canada. Some people maybe thinking, "what are you talking abooute", but this is how we do business here in Reynolds. I have talked to a few dealers and already I have heard a lot of the Canadian expressions they have like "ey" and "abooute". Working in this new region is something new, I love it when I get moved into another region and start off something fresh, now I won't be as bored and now I wil have some sort of freedom.

Posted by at 10:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Posted by at 7:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

This past weekend I got a lovely full size bed (mattress and boxspring), thanks Mom and Dad. It took a while bringing the bed down to Irvine because I had to pick it up from Los Alamitos and drive it down to Irvine taking the side streets. It was worth every hour and a half of it. Ever since, I have been sleeping like a baby. I never knew how comfortable beds can be until now. Before, I was able to sleep alright in my 15-year old twin bed, but now I don't have to move around to find that comfortable position. It just feels good knowing that I can always look forward to sleep every night. I even look forward to taking naps, how funny is that. Right now I wish I had called in sick so I didn't have to work today. I want to sleep all day!

Posted by at 7:04 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

The past few days I've been playing a wonderful game called no-limit "Texas Hold 'em" you can download this at PokerStars.com. This is a poker game where each player has two cards to use and tries to make a hand with the 5 community cards that are laid in the table. Each player can bet to keep those players who want to win the pot or fold their hand not risking any more money into the pot. The first three cards flipped, the flop, is the cards that a player can make a hand with their two. Each time, a player can check or bet more money in the pot. After everyone checks or calls the bet, the next card is flipped, called the turn. Then another round of checks or bets comes along. Finally, the last card is flipped, which is called the river and all the five community cards are out. The winner is determined by the player with the best poker hand.

The best part of "no limit" hold'em is that you can bet "All In", all of your money into the pot and just try to rock it with the other players, that's if they can hang with you. If you guys wanna rock, my name is "rynizzay". I'll be in the $5/$10 stakes table. I know John John has been battling with me for a while. Let's rock!

Posted by at 1:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Man, I can't even do any Sports betting this time of the year. Even though it is summer time, there is no way I would bet on WNBA games. It's so hard. I can't wait until Football season starts. At least, I can get back in the game. Lately, I've been wanting to go to Vegas and do some gambling. I don't like going to the Indian Casinos around here because I do not feel comfortable gambling at places close to home. The good thing about not going to Vegas or gambling is that I have money to save up. I know I should be saving up, but once in a while, you gotta do what makes you happy. For me, its gambling. Oh well, hopefully there is a Vegas trip being planned because I need to get out of Socal!

Posted by at 3:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

The movie, Pirates of the Carribean, was awesome! Set in the Caribbean in the 17th century, this high-seas tale involves infamous rogue pirate Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp), recruited by a young blacksmith (Orlando Bloom) to save his true love (Keira Knightley) from a crew of dangerous ghostly sailors. Johnny Depp's character in this movie suited him well as a pirate who didn't give a shit! Another movie that I liked that starred Johnny Depp, was Edward Scissorhand. He was awesome with the scissors, almost made me want to become a Barber, haha. Man, acting looks like it would be fun to do, but I don't think I can act. I don't think I can be taken seriously, because I like to joke around too much. As for the movie, I would recommend watching again and again, Keira Knightley was pretty cute, too. Ahh, the life of an actor, they get to make out with lovely actresses. Oh well, only in my dreams.

Posted by at 9:35 AM | Permalink

Some parents treat their children. A while back, I had a co-worker whose mother did not treat him well. He was always brought up thinking he would be nothing in life. I remember him telling me how his mom kicked him out of the house when he turned 18 and how hard it was for him to live his life. I felt bad for this guy, he was a really cool guy to work with. I could not believe why a parent would kick out their child like that and let them survive on their own. I appreciate all the sacrifices that my parents have done for all of us. I just hope someday I can return the favor to my parents. Well, it's the weekend, time to relax and chill.

Posted by at 3:22 PM | Permalink

Damn, what the heck is wrong with Kobe. Read this from ESPN.com, the charges pressed by the DA after two weeks of deliberation. What do you think about this?

Posted by at 2:48 PM | Permalink

It is so nice to be at work with the constant air condition blowing on my face. I really love air conditioned areas, but the only downside for being at work is that I have to be working! Oh well, I'm getting old and that's how it's going to be for about 30-40 years until I retire. Man, it was just last year that I was in school. Now, one of my co-workers is starting a twenty something hang out thing, where people can just hang out and go to happy hour places. I think this would be a really good thing to do since I constantly work. I need to just hang out and chill, preferably where it is nice and cool. I've always loved being cold, whenever the heater goes on, I can't stand the heat because sooner or later my nose will start bleeding. I don't know what's wrong with me, but that is one thing I can't handle, the heat. Yeah, there are times when it's too cold and I need to warm up, but most of the time, I would rather be in the freezing cold than in the smoldering heat. Yesterday, I finally got across to buying a fan that I wanted to get for so long. Well, I just wrote a little something before I get off work and head to the hot weather that Southern California is accustomed to. Maybe I'll go to 7-Eleven and get a slurpee, yeah, that gives me something to do and I can put my slurpee mug to use... manek beng dek cuh!

Posted by at 3:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Lately, its been hot in Irvine, especially in my room. Last night I was bored and thought that it would be much cooler if I placed my bed along the wall. It took me almost a hour to rearrange my desk and bed because there was so much crap on my desk, but it was worth the time. I slept like a baby last night because I was so comfortable right by the window. Well, that's my Friday night, I hope your night was better than mine.

Posted by at 12:23 PM | Permalink

::FRIDAY::
This weekend was great! I really needed this three-day weekend to get out of southern california. I flew to San Jose Friday morning with John John, Ed and Keno. Once we got there, we already had some action. Our freakin' taxi driver doesn't know how to yield to pedestrians, even when the lady was pushing a stroller, then the worst part was he started getting mad and trying to put the blame in them. Another thing that annoyed me was that he freakin broke so hard every time he stopped. Also, this fool didn't even help us out with our luggage, he just unhatched the trunk and expected us to get it ourseleves, but I was glad that we got to our hotel so we don't have to deal with that guy anymore. We arrived at The Fairmont San Jose, a lovely hotel where each guest room and suite is luxuriously appointed with every amenity a guy like me could only dream of, including terry cloth robes, the finest bedding and fragrant bath products. I was surprised when we got there, the hotel is really nice and very expensive.

After we brought our stuff to the room we wandered around downtown San Jose and stumbled across Original Joes, an Italian restaurant walking distance from our hotel. I ordered the fried chicken in lemon sauce, $15.95. Yeah, it was pricey, but I was damn hungry. Man, that made my day because I was so hungry after our flight and the food quickly sufficed my appetite. After that we headed back to our room and figured out what to do, but instead we took a nice long nap. After we woke up, we went to Gordon Biersch and met up with Keno. After a some drinks we headed out and walked around downtown San Jose. How dead can this city be? We wandered around and didn't see much people walking. We thought there would be alot since it was July 4th, but most of the people were at the festival at a park. It was shoulder to shoulder walking and I was afraid someone would step on my shoes, I just cleaned them a couple days ago. Luckily, no one stepped on them.

After hanging around waiting til the fireworks show, we chilled at the Starbucks because I was getting thirsty and I didn't want to sit around at the park by the fountain. Then once we headed back to our room, the fireworks show started and we watched the show beside the entrance of our hotel. It was a nice thirty minute firework show. A lot of oohs and ahhs from the crowd. When the show ended we headed back to our room and just hung out until we met up with Keno's high school friends.

When we met up with them, we played Mafia, a game that I've heard about, but never had the opportunity to play until now. It is a very fun game, its hard for me to keep a straight face, because whenever someone accuses me, I just start to laugh. We played that til like four in the morning and then headed back to our room to crash. That was my Friday, the next post will disclose what we did on Saturday and Sunday.

To be continued...

Continue reading "4th of July Weekend" »

Posted by at 6:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Life has not been the same since I finished school. The Real World sucks! I thought once I graduated, things would be better because now I wouldn't have to worry about school, but that wasn't the case. It's made me think about going to school some place far away from all this bullshit! I'm seriously thinking of moving out of CA and doing something on my own. All I do is worry about shit and it has driven me crazy. I feel out of place sometimes because I'm not used to just working every freaking day! Sometimes I think about how things may have turned out if I didn't do the things I did, but I can't regret what I did. Just some random shit is in my head right now that I can't explain the reason to why I'm acting this way. Maybe I'm just sick and tired of life and sick and tired of all the bullshit I get. Well, I got some shit at work to do. Fuck the world, I don't care anymore!!!

Posted by at 7:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

This movie was pretty good especially for Kristanna Loken who plays the Terminatrix in Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines... Damn, she's awesome! T3 is a movie that I'd recommend because of all the action in it, especially the crane scene. I thought it was better than Matrix Reloaded, which had a lot of unneccessary scenes in it. I didn't expect much from T3, but now I know not to expect much from a movie because it will make you enjoy the movie. Well, I plan to watch the new Charlie's Angel: Full Throttle movie sometime this week, I hope it will be a good movie to watch. Alright, it's time to get some work done...

Posted by at 7:19 AM | Permalink

Starting my training today!!!

Posted by at 8:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

This past weekend was an awesome time to have a Vegas trip. Friday afternoon around 6pm was the departure from Southern California to Sin City. Those present on the drive were John John and me. The drive there was alright, yeah right! we hit traffic before we got on the I-15, then more traffic after Barstow. I slept most of the drive there and we arrived there around 1230am. We picked up Kevin at Hard Rock Cafe, then drove back to NYNY to bring our stuff to the room. After that, we gambled a little before the limo came to drive us around the City of Sin! After cruising in the Escalade Limo we found a nice club to check out. It was cool because we stayed there til the sun came up. Whoa, that's the longest I've been in a club. We left and got back to our hotel around 530 and knocked out.

On Saturday morning we woke up at 1030 and had brunch at the NYNY deli. Then after we ate, I gambled a little to try and win back the money I was down from Friday night. This was when I was on a roll, I came back to be up 150 and then saved the money for later. After gambling, we went to the Belz outlet to do some shopping. All I bought were some nike shorts with pockets, which I would use for playing tennis. Then when night came, we ate at Fatburger for dinner and got ready for Rain at the Palms Casino. I couldn't believe all the people waiting in line for Rain, there were a lot of nice looking girls, but me being the sissy shy boy, just stared in awe. Inside Rain, was a nice setting, dance floor in the middle and bars surrounding it on each side. The music was not my taste because of the techno rave style that was playing most of the time. I guess they only played hip hop from 1130 to 12 something because my head was starting to hurt from the music they were playing. After Rain, I gambled a little at Carribean Stud and won 9 of the 10 hands I played. Well, that's what I experienced in Vegas this past weekend. I hope to go back soon and party again!

Posted by at 4:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)

"Dear Sir or Madam: Soon your son will drop from the sky to engage and defeat the enemy. Your frequent letters of love and encouragement will arm him with a fighting heart. With that, he cannot fail, but will win glory for himself, make you proud of him, and his country ever grateful for his service in its hour of need." - Captain Herbert Sobel

Band of Brothers tells the story of Easy Company, 506th Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division, US Army. Starting with their rigorous training in Georgia in 1942, it recounts the achievements of the elite rifle company, which parachuted into France early on D-Day morning, fought in the Battle of the Bulge, and captured Hilter's Eagle's Nest at Berchtesgaden. Drawn from hours of interviews with survivors, as well as soldiers' journals and letters, Band of Brothers chronicles a unit that took 150 percent casualties and became true American heroes.

If you haven't seen it yet, the one dvd series you have to watch is Band of Brothers. I've been watching it on and off this past weekend and it's awesome! I watched the first three of ten episode with my parents, and we were amazed with the action that went on in the movie. Band of Brothers, the 10 part World War II miniseries was based on Stephen Ambrose's book chronicling an elite WWII Airborne unit, Easy Company.

Posted by at 7:26 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Damn... I GOT ROCKED TODAY!! 4 times in the employee restroom. It was such a crazy ROCKIN' day, most of my work time was spent sitting on top of the porcelain god. The first rockin was at the morning, which was a simple stop and go. The second rockin, approximately 20 minutes after the first rockin, was more abrupt because I was just working, then all of a sudden I got goosebumps and I knew I had to rock it! This time I felt like I had a stomach ache with the toast with peanut butter, cereal and milk that I ate for breakfast. I guess that sucker had to go out as well. The third rockin was right before I took lunch, around 12:50, I felt my stomach churn and went at it again. Oh, how I couldn't believe that my body was reacting this way. The fourth one, oh man, was the worse. It came right when I finished my lunch. I had to go really bad because I had this feeling that this sucker is coming out once I sat down. So, I met up again with the porcelain god. I think my stomach wanted to get rid of all the waste I didn't need because damn, once I sat down, I felt like Harry Dunne, from Dumb & Dumber, in that one scene after he took some laxatives. Boy, I was in there for a whopping 20 minutes with some crazy noises and horrible stenches in the surrounding. This is one of the most craziest day for me. I couldn't help it, but now I have a couple hours left of work and I can't wait until the weekend...

Posted by at 2:22 PM | Permalink

Finally, the weekend has arrived. Only 7 hours and 53 minutes left of work! Yes, that's what I'm talking about. I always look forward to the weekends, its where I can relax and sleep whenever I want. Alright, time to get some work done...

Posted by at 7:16 AM | Permalink

It was my sister's graduation party back at home. Man, it was such a long day for my whole family. We started setting up for the party around 8am cuz there was so much cleaning we had to do. First, I had to clear out my stuff that I brought from moving out from Rattan because it was scattered throughout the living room. I just stuffed all of it in my sister's room because it had the most space for my stuff. Next, I went to Sam's Club and bought some tables for the backyard. Once the food came, everything was pretty much set up. Then I got ready for my sister's grad party and just waited until family and friends arrived. It was fun once my little cousins came because they wanted me to put up the basketball hoop in front of our house. We usually play basketball for our family parties because that is where we set up our teams and have tournaments. For the first game, my teammates were Lou, my little cousin Jaycee and me. We beat out another team, who was much bigger. The teams consisted of two older people and one 12 and under kid. We won the first game, but got rocked the second game. Man, my little cousins are growing up so fast. Now, they're so much taller than me, but still lack the body structure to bang with me! It's all good, it was just fun playing basketball with them and seeing everyone enjoying my sister's graduation party. Before, we used to have the losers bring the winning team drinks, but we didn't enforce the rule this time. Maybe next time, there's still my younger brother to go. Damn, I'm getting old!!!

Posted by at 11:48 AM | Permalink

Man, today I look EGOT, but I had so much fun yesterday! I went to Huntington Beach for Memorial Day and it was such an awesome day to go to the beach. It was Joemama and I who got to the beach around 10:30. We were chillin for a while until we noticed that we didn't see anyone else with bbq grills or firewood. So Joemama asked one of the Lifeguards about bbq-ing, so we had to walk almost a mile farther down the beach where the fire pits were. We found a lovely spot across the newly built Hyatt Regency Hotel. Damn, that place looks clean and what's awesome is that it has a Spa. I could use some of that Spa action.

While we settled down at our spot, we ended up throwing the football around, swimming in the 60 degree ocean, and laying in the nice sunny day! It was good times at the beach today, I would not ask for anything more. The best part of the day was eating the smore's that Melissa brought, that made my night. The only bad thing I regret was not putting sun block on my feet, they hurt whenever I move and now I have a mean slipper tan line on my feet. Although I almost spent 12 hours at the beach, I kind of wished this weekend never ended. I had so much fun yesterday and now I'm disappointed that I have to work tomorrow. Now, it's time to get back to work...

Posted by at 12:30 PM | Permalink

My sister's graduation is coming up, Wednesday, May 28 2003, which means I will be working half day and attending the graduation ceremony at 1pm, yay for no work! Today, I went to her Pinoy Graduation at California State University, Long Beach. Wow, she graduated in four years, I'm so proud of her. All the hard work has paid off for her. It was sad when she went up for her speech because she became emotional when it got to the end saying her thank you's, especially the thank you's to my parents, my brother and me. When I turned to look at my dad, he started crying, I couldn't believe how emotional he got. I know how my parents worked so hard for us so we could have all this. Looking at my dad, I saw how happy he was with my sister's graduation. That's the best feeling to have seeing my parents being happy like that, it really made my day. Two more days left of this memorial day weekend.. Yes, I love 3-day weekends!!!

Posted by at 11:13 PM | Permalink

This is what I have been waiting for since Monday, May 19, 2003 at 7:00am. I have about an hour left at work and didn't have any work to do on my schedule. The whole day I was helping out with work due today. It wasn't that bad because the work was pretty easy. For lunch, I took a nap, because I was so tired yesterday. I love parking under the shade, I could have stayed inside my car forever, but Jeff called me up looking for me and Dean. That half an hour of rest fully re-energized me. Work was going by fast and I was able to browse the web and see some stuff on ebay. I'm looking for posters to decorate my room. I want this Ferris Bueller's Day Off. It would be perfect in my room. I want to frame that sucker, but it might be kind of pricey framing it. I also have to fix up my closet during the weekend. I need to buy a closet organizer because my hangers are so high up in my closet and I'm not able to reach my clothes easily. Alright, it's back to work. Have a great 3-day weekend!!

Posted by at 2:28 PM | Permalink

"I just found out there's no such thing as the real world
Just a lie you've got to rise above"
-John Mayer, No Such Thing

Well, this song by John Mayer describes how I'm feeling right nowadays. I don't believe there is a "Real World". I feel like I'm in my own world, trying to believe what I see, but to no avail, nothing seems to be clear and just makes me look stupid. There is a lot going on my mind right now, but I do not know how to disclose it in words. Every day seems like a neverending cycle of work, eat, sleep. I need a new routine, a new job, something new! I am looking forward to this 3-day weekend because it should go by longer than this week of work. Work has been something I wish I wasn't doing at the present moment. It seemed like school was much funner, more chill and most of all, less stressful! I know that things make be out of loop, but I have to live with it and try to face what comes ahead!

Posted by at 3:15 PM | Permalink

Finally, my DUCKS have made it to the Stanley Cup Finals. Ducks have a sweep success over the Minnesota Wild and the Detroit Redwings. I could not believe the Ducks are in the Finals after losing in previous playoff appearances. They lost twice to Detroit in the playoffs in 1997 and 1999, but I'm glad that they rocked them them this time! Sorry Joes, I told you that my Ducks were awesome and I still think that Joe Sakic is the best NHL player ever!!!

Too bad the Lakers lost last night to the San Antonio Spurs. The Lakers didn't play with heart, they didn't have the fight in them. The only one who played the hardest was Kobe, he did a lot, but there is so much he could do. Shaq wasn't able to handle Duncan in that game. Duncan was making all his shots and getting a lot of his own missed shots. It sucks that injuries to Fox and George have played a big factor in the Lakers exit in the Playoffs.

Posted by at 12:14 AM | Permalink

Damn, it was a crazy Laker game. I couldn't believe that they were down by like 25 points in the 3rd Quarter and came back in the 4th to only lose by 2, 96-94. I watched the game at Hooters with friends. There was this annoying cook who would yell some gibberish when the food was ready to be served, but it wasn't too bad because we had an awesome waitress, Heather. All I can say is WOW, she must work out, right joes, haha!!! I stuffed myself with hotwings, heineken, dr. pepper, and caramel cheesecake. Well, that was my healthy dinner last night. Its back to work... manek and I'm out!

Posted by at 9:19 AM | Permalink

The funny thing one of my Kentucky customers told me after I fixed his system was, "Thanks for your help, now go have a bourbon!" He laughed hysterically which made my day. This customer is a special customer because I have to do his requests right away whenever there is something wrong with his system. He's a cool customer, I just wished that all of my customers were funny like that. It would make my day a lot better! I gotta get back to work before my mentor catches me on the web... manek!

Posted by at 12:42 PM | Permalink

Damn, this weekend was a really good one. Saturday, chilled all day and did some laundry. I caught the Anaheim Ducks double overtime win (1-0) against the Minnesota Wild. These two are both cinderella teams in the Western Conference Finals. I also got a lot of much needed rest, that's what Saturday's are for rest and relaxation! Then at night, I hung out with my buddy Melissa for a little bit then went back home to rest some more. Sunday, Mother's Day, went to mass and ate at Thai BBQ. I ordered the Sate Dinner plate with BBW beef over shrimp fried rice and Phad Thai downed with Thai Ice Tea. Now, its time for bed cuz I have to work early tomorrow... manek and I'm out!

Posted by at 1:09 AM | Permalink

Finally, it's Friday! Time for relaxation and catching up on sleep. The first thing I want to do is play tennis with whoever. If no one wants to play, then I'll probably run some errands. I still have to figure out what to get my mom for mother's day. I may go to Target to get eyedrops since I'm almost out and my eyes always feel dry, especially at work where it's so dusty around my cube. Then afterwards, I might watch the Laker game, they're down 0-2 against the Spurs. Who would've thought that the Spurs would handle the Lakers like that. It sucks that the Lakers lost two good players, but we'll see what happens tonight. That's it for now, I'll write up more as the weekend progress... have manek-ing weekend!

Posted by at 3:10 PM | Permalink

The movie, X2, was pretty good. I had to order tickets online because I had work and could not buy tickets at The Block. Luckily, my buddy Lou sent us the link to order tickets online at MovieTickets.com. If you haven't seen the first X-men, you should check it out before hand so you understand the story of X-men. I used to be a big comic book fan when I was in the fourth or fifth grade, but I grew out from that once I became interested in sports. All I have to say is that you have to watch this movie. It was much better than the first one, a lot of building up of stories of Jean Grey, Wolverine, Iceman, Nightcrawler, and Pyro. Just watch it whenever you can, try to go early because the theatres get packed so fast.

Posted by at 11:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I've been moved to another cubicle, far away from the entrance of the office. I used to reside in the second cubicle from entrance of the office, but now I'm in the middle of the office in the Eastern region which was where I first started when I finished training. It has been a chill week at work because there has not been much work to do lately since the main project has been placed on hold. Many cube moves has allowed us to wear "CASUAL CASUAL", we can dress in any way we like, but has to be appropriate. The East region is pretty much slow and boring because people hardly talk around this area. They are concentrated on doing their work and on occassion would talk to someone when they needed help. Alright, I gotta get back to work.

Posted by at 3:15 PM | Permalink