The albatross

Lately I was feeling a bit blah - blah as in kinda down and I didn't know why. I had a nice talk with Haydee and she reminded me that I needed a vacation. Just the reminder helped a lot I think. I was ready for a vacation back in August, but never got around to it due to my fun filled bout with chicken pox. Financially I am unsure if I can take a week off, but mentally I know I probably need it.

So anyway...back to my sucky mood...last night Merima wanted to meet up at the Albatross. I was tired and I knew I needed to work out, do some work at home, etc. etc. But I decided to go anyway and something odd happened. As soon as I arrived, was greeted by Merima, and sat down, I felt a wave of calm and happiness wash over me (it's always good to see Merima, but this time she had popcorn, too!). I then spent the next 20 minutes or so finding out about what Merima does at her work. I hope she didn't get bored explaining it to me, but it was absolutely fascinating! Maybe it was because it's so different from what I do, but I've always been interested in science - I just didn't have the wherewithal to do it. So anyway, while I was rifling through Merima's lab book and soaking in all the cool images and numbers, she went off and got us the pool table. We then played pool for a bit before Amit showed up.

I'm sure he was happy to see us, but I knew he was really looking forward to the hot serving wench that works there (she's actually really nice and sweet, and as far as I know - not a wench - but since I cannot recall her name I will refer to her as "the hot serving wench"). Amit keeps calling her by name, but I keep forgetting (translate: not paying attention) about what he's talking about. So between watching Amit hit on the wench, throwing popcorn at each other, using pool cues inappropriately, and sucking horribly at playing pool, I had a GREAT time and felt more relaxed than I had in weeks.

Too bad my neck is still a little tweaked, but I think that'll remedy itself soon enough. I keep stretching and popping my neck and every day it gets a bit better. Speaking of relaxing, I better get on top of getting tickets for Portland soon. Maybe by then I can add my "what I bought at Target" section!

bah

So I just got back from a fabulous weekend of camping! Yosemite was most beautiful and the hike to vernal falls wasn't even that bad. Of course, I only made it to the point where you're looking down onto the pond below the falls. Amit, Sarah, and Collin went on to the top and then onward to Nevada Falls, but I stayed with the girls and hiked back to camp.

When we got there, everyone was beat and there was talk of showers and buying pizza from the village establishments. In the end, we decided to just pick up some firewood and ice. We used the rented SUV to do so and it felt good doing it because technically I'm not supposed to be driving it around. So I got in with all the girls (I'm such a pimp) and drove to the store. It was about a 2 minute ride (if that) so it was really funny - especially since there was seven of us to pick up some beer, ice, and wood. It was a short, but thoroughly enjoyable jaunt.

On the way home, we drove, ranted, and listened to music. We also got another treat of In-N-Out burger. Boy that food is delicious! So now I'm left to upload all the photos I took and to ponder the next trip. Hope it'll be fun!

everything must die!

FUCK FUCK FUCK!!! I just tried to turn off my TV and instead of blinking out, it displays this weird trapazoidal light shape and doesn't shut off! The driver side rear door guard on my car is starting to peel off. And I just returned from Apple to get my computer fixed - and who knows how long that will last...It's so frustrating because I like to think that I'm really careful about what I buy. All this shit is so fucking expensive in the first place, is it so much to ask that things last the way they were built until I get tired of them???

Okay, I know that was a bit irrational, but I just had to rant. I think I feel the worst about my car, because I spent so much time saving/suffering for it and everyone tells me what a nice car it is, but I just don't take care of it like I think it deserves and now stuff is falling off of it - not to mention there's damage to one of my wheel wells (haven't a clue how that happened, although I suspect my oil changers), and more stuff is squeaking inside as the car ages. But one thing I definitely have to get looked at is my seat belt. When I move around in my seat, if I move far enough, the seat belt retracts ultra slow...we're talking Jay Leno audience slow here. It sucks and it'll probably be expensive, too! Augghhh!!!

But of course, all this stuff breaking is making me worried about all the crap I've recently purchased. Maybe it's fate's way of telling me to slow down and enjoy the stuff you can't by. Speaking of which, I've also decided to ease up on all the stealing. After my computer almost fucking died, I was thinking that it was maybe karmic payback for all the pirated software I have on my system. I think I can easily say that I've made enough money on the apps that I have that I can at least start buying SOME of the software I use. I'll still "steal" music though! Fuck the RIAA - greedy bastards!!!! I support music more than I ever have before and I know bands make more money off of me listening to their music now than before when I would just forget about them.

So, lesson learned today? Hmmm...maybe buying extended warranties aren't the stupidest thing in the world after all, and I still gotta work on being nicer, and swearing less. Fuck.

ps If my TV fizzles out, maybe it'll be time to get a bigger screen or maybe a projector! Sighhhh...more expensive shit that'll possibly break and cause me stress. I'll never learn!

fire up the pony

This is my first blog (unless you want to count the two "test" blogs and the blank one). I don't know who will read this, but I figured it might be cathartic or something. Today was a long boring day at work. We had a cool burrito lunch supplied by the company, but it doesn't even come close to easing the fact that I think I'm in desperate need of some sort of a vacation.

Of course, I'm in a bit of a foul mood because my stupid G4 that cost fucking thousands of dollars is now officially dead and it less than a year old! Now I have to jump through the many hoops I'm sure are ahead of me if I am to get this computer up and running without any cost to me. It just sucks not only because it's a lot of money and hassle, but I was really, really looking forward to using a faster machine and listening to music through the apple pro speakers. But of course, this whole situation just points to how nice it is to have a reliable system you know inside out - the new G4 is OS ten, so I have no idea what's going on under the hood.

Just a little while ago I started feeling melancholy. I miss my old friends. They're all so busy doing their thing and so am I that we never get to see each other. Sometimes I wonder if I should make more of an effort to see them, but I know that family, children, and career are pretty much it when it comes the big picture I suppose. I just hope that I will still be able to find time to do the stupid things I enjoy now when I find that significant other. Always the little things that matter...I need to find a hobby - like posting blogs or something.