Moving Cubes and travelling the state

My company is preparing for a big move into a new larger building not far from its current site. For the first time in a couple of years, everyone will be in one building. I'm looking forward to the move myself. I'm not entirely sure why though. Moving cubes is a pain. The cube size itself is the same as my current one, only without a big column going thru it, so technically my own new cube will be bigger. Other than that, I'll be able to expand out into the walkways just a bit with filing cabinets and stuff.

In other news, I'm working out a plan for May right now, to visit friends and great places all over California. Santa Barbara, off-roading (possibly down south in Monterey County), the woodlands up north, and prolly Monterey itself. Should be fun. All this, and taking no
additional work days off...just taking off every weekend. :) That's the plan, at least.

Bayquon refresh

Ok, since this was a posting early on, and most people just now hitting up this site prolly having seen it, here's the link to the Bayquon story. It's pretty funny if you can follow it. Bayquon Story

In other news, last night I started dozing off around 10 or so, then I get a call from my friend at 10:30 telling me to come on down to this billards place where a bunch of friends are shotting pool. So I shake off the sleep, and head on down...getting there around 10:50 or so. Well, that's enough time for part of a pool game, which everyone was just kinda taking turns whenever. Then everyone decides at 11:30 to take off. huh. fun night. LOL

Late night

Damn, I was draggin' mah ass all day at work. Stayed up late on a school night last night. Had diner at Stoddards in Campbell, and then watched Fast and the Furious DVD with Dave and Ronin. That movie sucks sooooooo bad. yuk. What few race scenes in the move don't make up for the rest. Had a good time hanging out with my friends, though. Been working late recently too...but to make up for time off I'm taking for the UnitedWay funding review committee. I'm so tired right now too. ug.

Computer

Dang it, I have a nice car (and it is nice;), but I had to buy it before I was ready. My original plan was to get a computer, then a nice car...but now that I have the car, I'm not going to get a nice computer. Gots to save my money now, for business. i've paid off all my credit cards thru a credit management program, so I'm out of debt (old debt anyway...I have that new car now lol), but cuz I had to use the credit management, it means I'm pretty much starting over. So, I need to save my money to be able to use it towards my goals. sucks.

Troubling Neighbors and Answers to unquestionable questions

So far, I've avoided putting too much blog filler in my blog, but hey, this is pretty damn funny >>> http://www.knology.net/~carlos/redneck.htm  (archived version)To give credit, I found the link in this blog which I might be adding to my blogroll http://sdenjack.bravepages.***/ (removed direct link; site is gone and link is possibly hacked)

Next Topic
For the first time in my blog, I'm going to get all metaphysical. I won't do it often, so don't hold it against me. hehe Anyways, what is the answer to life, the universe and everything? I'm sure some of you know that the answer is 42, of course. Well, for some reason, that got me thinking recently about why the universe is. (I'm sure Douglas Adams never thought his book would be the catalyst for deep thought, but it is) Since the universe is governed so heavily by numbers, who's to say that the answer to life's great questions aren't really just numbers, or a single number like 42. So, what I came up with is this. The purpose of the Universe is to produce one random number. LOL The number prolly isn't "42" since that doesn't really mean much (as Douglas Adams intended). What is the random number that the Universe is supposed to produce then? The Golden Ratio (or PHI), which calculates roughly to 1.618. Why? This number is all over in nature, from rabbit breeding to our own body. It forms a symmetry and beauty that is everywhere in nature. What does this mean to us? Since the Universe's purpose is to be a random number generator, maybe God isn't so worried about us people following some ancient texts in a particular way. The Universe is designed to work thangs out for itself regardless of what us humans decide to write down on parchment. And, since the Universe has calculated its random number so soon (it's only about 13BY old and has another 250BY to go), maybe we have a free ride to actually enjoy living. ;)

Junior Acheivement

I actually ended up going to this thang after all. It was cool...and kinda funny to be at the "Arthur Anderson" table. It was a banquent to showcase some of the years best benifactors and show some on the local kids in the program. The presentations and talks were typical, but interesting. Oh...and I got a free dinner and drinks, so it was worth it. :)

Trouble with Guys and A Black Tie Affair

Hey Sarah, the trouble with guys is that a lot of us think we are playas when we really aren't. Of course, when more than one girl buys into our smooth lines and sweet talking, then we become a playa. Is your man trying to play ya, girl? Maybe I should create a test for it at one of those test sites, "Is your man a Playa?" :) (Just for the record, personally I'm not a hater, but I also not playa...live and let live, ya'no.)

Ok, I'm reporting in to my blog now. :) I was invited to this "Junior Achievement Banquet" tonight by a friend of mine at Arthur Anderson. What's Junior Achievement, I asked. When I first heard it, I that is was some benefit for school athletes for something. lol It's for young people in the region to show them how to be leaders in business. Anyways, it's a black tie affair, and I haven't had a suit since I was a Junior in high school, so I'm not going to make it. The reason my friend brought it up is cuz (as we all know) Arthur Anderson is crumbling, and no partners from the firm are particularly interested in being around a crowd right now. So they offered up the Arthur Anderson table to the staff and managers. I think it's only going to be 4 people in all going. LOL

The comments are starting to get a bit racy...

Damn, the comments on this page are starting to get ...umm...interesting. :) I'd like to ask my friends to behave! Ok, I know that's a lot to ask. lol

I'm starting to build my credit

After getting my credit cards completely paid off using a credit management program for the past 3 or so years, I gots my first new credit card. Am I going to use it? Well, to build my credit back up, I gots to, but not extensively...only for small purchases of thangs I use my debit card for already, like gas. The big credit builder for me right now is my new car of course.

In other news, I was supposed to go to Marine World with my friends today...but stayed out to late last night to get up in time. Damn, does that make me a flake? LOL Oh well. So instead, I got to work a little extra overtime at work. Making the money instead of spending it...what a novel idea. :)

AOL problems not always AOL's fault. lol

I was just trying to log on to AOL and keep getting errors. So, as I try again, the phone rings on the same line. I only have one line, and my internet access is dial=up. Anyways, it was my friend, Miriam, trying to get thru. So we talk...she wants to meet down at Chevy's again. So I hang up with her and see there's a message at my message center...so I listen to it, and it was her! lol She was repeatedly calling me while I was trying to get online. That girl is crazy sometimes (in a good way lol).

Weekend

This weekend turned out to be fairly laid back. One of those weekends where you do a lot, but there's really nufin much going on. Worked, enjoyed the first nice day of spring in this area by going out for a long drive to the coast. chatting with friends online and on the phone. I did plan to do a bit of spring cleaning around the house, but ah, nope, I didn't end up doing that. lol I have updated my backpage with a new link if you wanna check it out.

No Car, but juicy details about Auther Anderson. lol

Oh woe is me. I took my car into for a little scratch...only the scratch wasn't so little, so now I don't get her back till monday. I know my life seems preoccupied with this car, and the insurance dispute, but it's really not. I am going out most evenings with my friends that happen to work at Auther Anderson. Damn there's a lot of juicy details going on behind the scene. The scandal really does go all the way up to the white house and the president himself. But will someone along the way have the guts to point out the link or to be the public snitch? I don't know. Well have to wait and see. There is some serious behind the scenes fiscal rigging going on. Enron is only the tip of the iceberg.

Finally did it

I finally wrote the appeal letter to my insurance. I'm going to have my friend check it over and give me some advice tonight. It will be mailed registered at the post office tomorrow once I correct errors. I doubt CSAA will change the findings, but I know I tried to right the wrong. I can appeal again if they come back still telling me they found me to be at fault though. I know, I'm rambling on, prolly not making much sense. lol Anyways, I feel good about getting it written, though this is at the last minute.

Work is piling on at work, and my responsibilities in my personal life seem to filling my evenings. Can I get some time for myself? Well, I do, but I spend it with friends, while spending too much money. lol

Monday

On Sunday, I signed over my half of the car my ex and I shared for over a year. I'm glad to have that mess out of my hair, though a little nervous cause I signed over the title, but didn't register the change with DMV. She wants to do it in NV where she's now staying. Shouldn't be a big deal (::jinx:: LOL). Anyways, I'm happy with my new car. yeah me! :) I didn't get to drive it around yesterday, cuz my friend (who was my ride back after dropping off the car) was the Dungeon Master of a D&D game going on at his place, so since it was a lot closer, he took me back there so he could finish that game. Yup, I said "D&D". LOL Scary. (...and NO, I've never played...not even once. LOL) While waiting for the game to end, I was reading up on financial strategy on how to start generating cash flow and stuff. Gots some good ideas. I may even be a millionaire one day. lol Well, we'll see.

Working II

I'm at work. I'm working. Well, not at this minute cuz I'm taking a lunch. :) I wanna get out and go drive my new car around. It's a little cold in Silcon Valley right now, but it's beautifully sunny. I know, poor me. boo boo. LOL

Working...

Well, I gots the pictures to my insurance appeal scanned in and printed out. Now, I just have to write the letter itself with details. Sucks that I hafta do this cuz it was a malfunction in the damn truck that caused me to lose control and almost kill me. But damn, does my insurance have my back? Nope. When I asked them why they weren't helping me on this, they said, "We are, we are covering the damages incurred." That's only half. They where very reluncted to pursue the case and help me out. I didn't want to sue the rental company that I got the truck from, but had I needed to, my insurance did a good job of screwing thangs up to hamper any efforts. Lame.

I'm working this weekend, but I intend to take time out to write the letter of appeal out as best I can. arg All this happened just when my life was starting to simplify a bit.

Busy week

There's a lot going on for me this week. I'm working a lot of overtime the first time in aeons, just got done buying a new car, gots to write an appeal to my insurance about a case involving a rental, gots to take my new car in for detailing and security, transfer ownership of my ex's car completely over to her, and have a life. I know, this ain't too interesting for the passer-by, but I am writing this for me. :) (actually, there's history to most of this in my archives)

More Test Driving and results

Well, assuming all goes halfway well with financing, I'm getting my Acura TL 3.2 Type S this Monday. I compared it to the Lexus IS300 and Cadillac CTS.
What so special about Lexus? Nothing...in fact, I'm kinda turned off to them now, at least in the "Upscale" price range. Maybe the luxury models ofter something tolerable.
What's wrong with the Cadillac? Nothing actually. Just not as good of a value for my money. Options which I was going to have to pay for in the Cadillac come standard on the Acura. Also, the interior of the Acura is a classier. The Caddy interior is good, but the Acura is better. Also, the CTS is a new model, which is likely therefore more problem prone.
Overall, I felt that the Acura was the best bang for my buck. Strong engine, good track record, great interior; these all overcome my slight objection to the exterior's dated and common looks.

So, there you have it. Honk if you see me on the road! :)

You wan bayquon

On one chilly winter evening at the Burger King counter in the old terminal of the San Jose International Airport:
((code: blue = me, red = Mariam, brown = Ronie, and green = bayquon lady))

"What do you guys want?" I ask
"Let me get the number 6," Miriam announces.
I look back behind us and ask, "What do you want, Ronie?"
"Oh, I feel like the large meal with the chicken sandwich," she says.
"That's the number 6, the same as I'm ordering"
"Huh, ok."
"May I hap you oder plez?" sounded the elderly filipino woman behind the cash register.
"Yeah, let me get one medium number 6, and one larger number 6, please. And I'll have a number one with bacon."
"Oh! I want bacon!" Miriam suddenly announces.
"Oh, you wan bayquon?" the lady asks.
"Yeah, ok. A regular number 6 with bacon, a large number 6 no bacon, and my number 1 with bacon."
Ronie makes clear, "I don't want the big one,"
"Big one?" Miriam asks
"No, I want the large" Ronie announces
"You wan bayquon?"
"No, the large, not the big one." Ronie replies over me as I was saying "Yes, we want the medium number 6 with bacon and the number 1 with bacon."
Miriam chimes in, "She doesn't want the big one."
"You wan bayquon?"
"Yes, on one number 6 and the number 1" I reply while Ronie starts to get frustrated saying, "I don't want the big one, just the large"
"Ronie, we are asking for bacon"
"Oh, ok, but I don't want the big one."
"You wan number 6 wit bayquon, an' large number 6 wit no bayquon and number 1 wit bayquon?"
"Yes"
"No big ones, just the large!"
"Ronie, we are getting the large, hold on."
"Oh ok"
Then it hits Miriam...Bayquon is Bacon.
"Ohhh, I thought she was saying `big one'"
Then it dawns on me that Miriam and Ronie thought Bayquon was `Big One'.
It never registered in the cashier's mind what any of this meant. But I over heard her asking the next person in line if they too wanted bayquon. LOL

It's a bit of a running gag now. We are frequently making passing comical references to bayquon to annoy and confuse co-workers and friends.

Do you want bayquon?

Ok, I'm looking around, opening up the range of cars...

I'm going to look into more cars in the upscale (or near luxary) range. I test drove the Acura TL 3.2 S-Series already. After looking over comsumer reports again, next on my list is the Cadillac CTS and Lexus IS300. In the standard sedan range, I'm going to look at the Chevrolet Impala which has interesting styling and good reliability marks.

In other news, the payment, the final payment that makes me Debt Free is being made electronically today. I will be debt free for approximately 1 day if I buy my car this weekend. Joy.

Well, I test drove...

I test drove a Nissan Altima. Pretty good package on the outside and good engine under the hood, but the interior just isn't up to the task of being a $20K car. On paper, the Altima looks good, but on the road, it just doesn't cut it when it comes to comfort. The other car I test drove this weekend was the Acura TL S-Series. Good engine under the hood, very comfortable on the interior, but lacking exterior style points. If I don't mind having something not so sporty, and I guess a bit more classy, then this car would be fine. I don't mind too much, but just still gots to think about it some more. As far as likes, there just isn't much out there in the price range I'm looking at. I like the feel of the TL, and if nothing surprizes me by Saturaday, I will prolly get it...and two months from now, I'll be in love with it and happy as can be. :)

Arg, now just gots to deal with financing mess. I've never had to finance before...always just owned my cars out right.

Car

Well, I'm in the immediate market for a car. Arg. This sux. I gots to put time into the research, and test driving and ugh financing. What to do, what to do? No money for a downpayment yet...the plan was to have the downpayment ready in June. So I gots to take a hit in the monthly, which is going to sux big time. More to come.

Blind Dates Emperium

My friend Miriam calls me up today at work, "What are you doing tonight?" That was an opener for an invitation to be a chaperon, along with our friend Ronie, for her blind date she got off of a matchdate site. They are picking me up, and she'll be meeting this guy at Dave & Buster's in Milpitas. I'm going to kick Ronie's ass at Skeeball (I'm planning on you reading this, Ronie LOL). I love playing Battletech there. It's somewhat expensive, but it is a lot of fun to frag your friends first hang from a robot cockpit! It's not not having to be the "DD" tonight too. I used to always have to be DD long ago, and it's fine sometimes, but a drag if all the time. 

 BTW, Stoddard's (backup) in downtown Campbell is now open! It was supposed to open in Spring of 2001. When they were building it, the sign out front said "Coming Spring of 2001!". When spring ended, and it wasn't built yet, they whited out the Spring of part, so it read "Coming ........ 2001". Then when 2001 ended without it opening, they just leave the sign up. LOL It's finally open now! Cool place...not too cramped, with a full service bar and basically the same menu as the Stoddard's in downtown Sunnyvale.

First "Oral Sex Donation" offer! ! LMAO !

Here's a copy of the e-mail:


Subj: Oral Sex Donation
Date: 02/25/2002 8:13:12 PM Pacific Standard Time
From: oralsex@brunching.com
Reply-to: chesty@bighonkinboobs.com

Matthew--

You have received a donation of 82 acts of fellatio from
Chesty Larue (chesty@bighonkinboobs.com).

The donor added this comment:

Come and get it, big boy!

-----

Thank you for using the Oral Sex Donation System

Paid in Full

Very very soon now. My last credit card payment on my old debt is going to be made March 7th, and processed by the 15th. I should be officially completely out of debt (from over $28,000 little over 3 and a half years ago). ::breathing a sigh of relief:: Well, not just yet...I still do have to make the final payment. Can't wait.

Middle of the Day

I originally e-mailed this to a friend, and just thought it was a good thought for my blog too:

"...Ahhh, all these engineers, even the kids fresh out of school, are polo-ified. arg. Scary lot. At this point, I don't know how any guy would think they look good. yuk. What is the point of having a shirt with buttons only at the top. It's like a Kmart or "As-seen-on-TV" item that just kinda hung around well past its time. "You too can have this combination button-up/t-shirt for the new low low price of 19.95. Just look at all the thangs you can do in your new polo style shirts. Available in navy blue, salmon, yellow, trendy lime green, pink, orange and now in macintosh apple red for you artists out there. Order now, supplies are limited!" LOL Out of all these guys, one is wearing a decent looking one that attempts to look good, but it's no use...it is a polo after all. LOL Just a slice of my day for ya. :)"

Insurance giving me the blues

Innocent till proven guilty? Well, like it or not (or believe it or not), it's true in the criminal system of our country. However, I'm learning fast that this is the only place it actually applies. I just got screwed over by insurance.

I was renting a vehicle from *E*. It had a defect that caused me to lose control. I reported this fact to both my insurance company and *E* as part of the accident report. The findings: since the vehicle was too damaged, they couldn't find evidence that anything was wrong before the accident. DUH! It was totalled! Therefore, my testimony is the only evidence that can apply...but does it? Nope. By default, it is assumed I'm lying. Well, they don't say that...they just say I'm at fault regardless of what I testify to. The same logic that lets criminals go free, is what convicts average citizens in civil matters. How is the lack of evidence for fault some how perverted to mean fault must apply? They have no evidence that contracts what I'm saying (nor could they hope to have that evidence). This is backwards to what our legal system was founded on.

I'm not really going into an explanation of the accident or what was wrong cuz I really don't feel like it right now,but I may later. I will say that I was lazy and didn't report the problem to *E* when I first noticed it. However, no one ever expects to have an accident. I just didn't think anything would happen. Lesson: Don't procrastinate about safety, and reporting problems. Had I reported the problem before the accident, *E* wouldn't have a leg to stand on, and my own insurance might have actually taken my side.

Must Be Crazy

I talked with Jessica at Perceptives in IM who gave me some great information on how to enhance my blogging experience. Then I was tired and went to bed at like 10pm...dang that was early. I woke up at 4am with nufin to do, so I got up, showered, eat breakfast and went into work, getting there around 5:30. I work in a cube, so being in the office when no one else is around is the best time to get work done...and did I ever...at 5:30 in the morning. LOL I got to leave work around 3:00...plenty of time to get my hair cut and get home to relax. Still, it's insane...5:30 in the morning. But I get more of my life in the afternoon, when I actually need it so do stuff. I might do this more often, maybe.

I still have to look thru my paper work for the United Way funding committee. So far, I've only researched one of the agencies requesting funds. Gots 7 more to go thru. Interesting stuff, but time consuming. I gots a lot of time left to go over the material, but just need to schedule it cuz I still wanna have my life. This weekend, I'll dive into it during the day.

It's actually rainy

Just kidding. I will prolly never talk about the weather on this site, and shoot me if I ever do, please! hehe

I just don't know what to do about getting a car yet. I'm sharing a car with my ex-fiance (given to us as a wedding gift last year, completely paid for), but soon, I need to hand it over to her completely and get my own. My ex has been great and very understanding in allowing us to share for now. I've been working towards this end for quite some time. Part of the reason I decided to rush paying off my unsecured debt is so I can start saving up for a large down payment. Once I'm ready in a few months, I got even harder decisions.

What do I want for a car? LOL I don't like having to owe on my car, but for a new car, it looks as though I need to take out a loan this time (first time ever). I like sports cars, but I won't get much use out of it here in Silicon Valley. Maybe if I lived in Silicone Valley in L.A., I'd have fun with one. LOL The traffic up here in the bay area is just too density to enjoy a nice car properly...even on the weekends.

So, I can get something sensable? hmm, how sensable? So far, my list of interests is pretty small. I kinda want to shy away from 4-cylinder cars. However, for the first time ever, I actually like the look of a Honda...the Civic of all thangs. It's not my first choice though. I like the look of the Ford Mustang and the Dodge Stratus. Bigger cars. Nufin European...too much money for the same type, options and quality of Japanese and American cars. I was even considering an Audi for a short time, but they have no character, and they really are way over priced for what they are.

The myth of European cars having more quality is actually starting to annoy me. They really don't. I was in a European luxary brand name SUV the other day and was surprized how inferior the interior was...literally, my Ponitac Sunfire has a more comfortable, and has better built interior. No parts in my Sunfire interior shaked, rattled or "crunched" when lended against. The SUV also had to have a MAJOR component completely replaced recently, and the vehicle is only a year old.

In conclusion, I still must at least test drive the fun cars, even if I end up with a sensible one. :) Damn, I'm going to need to learn how to drive stick.

*Take This Test!*


As you can see, I tried one of those online quizzes and inserted it into my blog to see if it would fit it. It doesn't, but I'll leave it in just in case anyone is interested, and to remind me that these quizzes just aren't for me. :)

Back is a little sore

I helped my ex girlfriend Jaymie move last night, and I'm a little bit sore this morning. She's prolly more sore that I am. It kinda reminds me that I need to start working out. I used to go to a local rock climbing gym until a couple of unrelated accidents left my back in no condition to work out for awhile. I really feel like I need to get back to doing that, and possibly working out on weight machines too.

An answering machine message was left on my phone last night by my friend Michelle while I was helping Jaymie move. I bought and mailed a froggie necklace charm for her. She called to say she loves it and is wearing every day. Cool. It's a little green frog charm that I found online thru Yahoo Shopping, of all places. Anyway, she sounded happy as can be. She almost always starts out here messages with "Heh-loooo? You're never there!". It's amusing. Always puts a smile on my face.

Blog is Open for Business

Well, I've spend most of V-Day evening and night working on making my blog fully functional, yet simple. There's prolly a bit more tweaking in store, but I'm done for the night. I added comments, my profile, my picture and the background, and spend more than a couple of hours getting to where I'm happy with it. My pic is still 103K, but I'm going to make a 45K or less version prolly tomorrow, so the page itself will view faster. In case someone runs across this page, please leave feedback about the look of the page in comments field after this message. Thanks!

Well, right now, I'm trying to add comments to my postings.

As you can tell by the time stamp on this post...

...I'm doing nufin for v-day. Right now, I'm cooking a TV Dinner. I'm trying to eat those unhealthy platers of cholersteral less these days, but hey, it's food.

Trouble with Time

The trouble with time is that there is too much of it between important events, but not enough of it to do everything you need to get done.

For the next couple of months, I'm a volunteer on an United Way committee which is determining funding levels for local charities. When I was approached by United Way to be on this committee, they let me know that I'd need to attend 4 meetings, and one charity site visit. Well, I still need to attend the four meetings, but the required site visits is more like four! These are all during work days, so I gots to take time off of work for this. Ok, I'll manage, but finding the time for this is going to be harder than I thought.

Ok...flip side: I'm paying off my last bit of debt at the start of March. I have most of the money required for this right now, but cuz of timing of my automatic payments, I decided to wait till the next scheduled payment to make the final payment. Seems too far away...March. I've waited over three years for this, and I still gots to wait another 3 weeks. Argh. It's taking forever to get here! Lucky I have a lot of patience...though right now, it feels like a sort of impatient patience. :)