James Bond, Star Trek, ...etc Movie talk

This is the season for movies! Bond: No plot, thin story, but tons of fun eye candy action! Star Trek: Too much story for some people I think. Most people where prolly expecting something along the lines of previous two Star Trek movies. This one was more in line with the Star Trek Next Generation type stories, with meanderering storyline lines and annoying unnecessary character over-development.

Can't wait for Lord of the Rings.

With the death of millions of turkeys around the country last week...

lol I love turkey cooked just right...and the leftovers last and last. :) anyways, life for me right now feels like I'm in a holding pattern, waiting for something, but with nufin to wait for...just need a place to land. Not really a rut or anything. ...just nothing exciting or different going on. Work is work...that doesn't count here, but stuff is going on there. eh, hmm, oh well.

Turkey Weekend?

What did you do for your Turkey Weekend?

I headed out earlier on Thurs taking the southerly route to my parent via
Casa de Fruita. So, yeah, I was heading to 101 on 85 around 9:00am on
Thurs. :) I spend the day over there, then head up to my aunt's place in
Pleasanton the next day. Hung out there for awhile, then went to have
dinner at this place in Oakland with then. After that, I visited a friend
up at the delta near Martinez, slept there and took off around 8:00 for
home. So all that was cool...made my rounds. :) Then bought some dvd
shelving for my new and growing dvd collection. built that up...works good.
(it's just shelving of course). Last night hung out with Miriam and a
friend for awhile. Overall, quite enjoyable and relaxing!

PCS/Cell Deadzones

For information on deadzones, you can check out this website. http://www.deadzones.com/ This site lists reported dead zones for cell and pcs services in most metro areas.

Handspring Treo 300 Sprint PCS info

This is a freeform of my thoughts about the Treo and Sprint, so it's not a report, just my experience with my device and its service.

I encounter at least 50% signal strength almost anywhere and 100% near signal tours. Once in awhile I get less than 50%. Since it's PCS, that doesn't affect speech quality all that much...though maybe you'll have sometimes clipping. The only connection problem I encounter is during peak usage, where I'll briefly can't dial out to a phone on another service for a minute or so right around 5:00pm. Actually, i'm not entirely sure this is Sprint's fault since this has happened with only one of my friend's phones using verizon. I don't have any in-service problems at all.

I've used voice calls up the pennisula, in SF, up the East Bay, up 580, 680, 880, 17 (in cover areas), 101, 280 and 85, Los Gatos, West San Jose, Campbell, South San Jose, East San Jose, Cuptertino, Salinas, Monterey, Santa Cruz, Modesto and along I-5. I-5 itself is somewhat spotty. The is no data/internet available in sparse areas along I-5. I haven't tried data/internet useage in Modesto, but pretty much everywhere else. It's about the same speed as current dial-up, and can be faster at times and slower other times. There are breaks in connections sometimes, but you won't notice unless you are on big complex websites for awhile (like roaming around Amazon.com can be frustrating, but checking local movie listings or driving directions is usually problem free.)

I found that the Treo is being treated like a PC in terms of usage and customer service, but like a phone in terms of purchase and replacement.

If you go with the Sprint version, you'll get free unlimited data usage [yes, unlimited internet], but you'll need to install your own internet browser (and SMS add-on software for text messaging if you want to send text messages). (There is an internet browser included which does not recognize JAVA.) The SMS on Sprint phones allows incoming, but not outgoing, so u need add-on software to activate the outgoing ability. Cingular version of the Treo comes with full SMS on board already, but I think they are still charging for all data/internet usage. As far as the internet goes, once you have a JAVA enabled browser, you'll be able to access most of the internet. I haven't seen any Palm OS internet browsers that support Flash5 animations yet.

As for e-mail, you can set it up to directly access your work e-mail under the "Business Connection" option. I don't use this cuz I don't wanna clutter up my PDA with work emails. I also don't download Outlook emails during hotsync'ing, but it's automatic if you set it up that way. I do use a POP3 email account from Yahoo on my PDA for direct access to private emails to that account wirelessly. I haven't encountered any problem with this, other than the fact that the PDA doesn't come with a POP3 account already.

There's software that can allow you to fax documents from you PDA as well, but I gotta wonder who really needs that.

There's a ton of shareware/freeware available for Palm OS which will work on the Treo. I recommend staying away from "Hacks". Everything else works pretty good. When I was experimenting with hacks, i had regular hard and soft crashes. Since I stopped using them, I've had no hard crashed at all, and only rarely have soft crashes. That's pretty good considering I have over 50 applications on my device.

One more note about usage: The phone can handle more than one of certain wireless activities at a time, but it will hiccup if two different incoming events arrive at the same time (such as a phone call and a text message). You can recover pretty quickly though and doesn't even cause a soft crash.

So, to recap, the phone/PDA can voice call, text message, instant message, internet, e-mail and fax. You'll just need to download the software to fully enable certain abilities. And Sprint hasn't had bad service for my particular usage.

Anyways, that's the long and short of it.

What's been going on??

Well, just stuff. Nufin too exciting right now, and nufin on my mind. Maybe soon though. la la la

The Transporter

The Transporter Fun filled flick. Dude kicks ass and then more ass, and then more ass! Of course, it's got its ah-come-on moments too, like when Frank hot-wires a Mercades...psst, you can't hot-wire Mercades! lol How the girl got into the Mercades on her own while still being tied up to a chair is beyond me too. Oh, don't fret too much about the sudden custom changes in the middle of the action either. :) Ok, so I had to turn off my brain while watching. But if you can do that to, you'll enjoy it once. I won't be buying the DVD though. My highest honor for a movie is to buy its DVD. If I buy the DVD of your movie, it's like getting two thumbs up from Siskle and Ebert. Siskle is no longer with us, so that's a tall order to fill. :)

California Election 2002

Here's my planned votes on Props:

Prop 46 Housing and Emergency Shelter Trust Fund Act of 2002.
Yes Needed attention to our social needs.

Prop 47 Kindergarten-University Public Education Facilities Bond Act of 2002.
Yes Needed attention to our Public Education system.

Prop 48 Court Consolidation. Legislative Constitutional Amendment.
Yes Needed update to Constitution.

Prop 49 Before and After School Programs. State Grants. Initiative Statute
No Goes too far to control funding. Reduces flexability of the lawmakers to apply funding to immediate needs.

Prop 50 Water Quality, Supply and Safe Drinking Water Projects. Coastal Wetlands Purchase and Protection. Bonds. Initiative Statute.
No Goes too far to control funding. Too many special interest items for one law.

Prop 51 Transportation. Distribution of Existing Motor Vehicle Sales and Use Tax. Initiative Statute.
No Goes to far to control funding. Reduces flexability of the lawmakers to apply funding to immediate needs.

Prop 52 Election Day Voter Registration. Voter Fraud Penalties. Initiative Statute.
No Creates unnecessary Election day confusion, Making election fraud easy.

My planned votes on State positions: (I'm not listing party affiliation because I'm not affiliated myself and am not taking a canidate's party as an important point)

Governor – This election’s puppet master is Gray Davis.
Gray Davis Fought off the fowl stench of the corroption from White House’s Texan interests. Effective administrator. Raising economic clout of CA on world scene.

Lieutenant Governor – Fairly uninteresting offerings.
Cruz M. Bustamente First elected official to sue Texas energy companies for price-gouging us
Also considering: Kalee Przybylak Balanced social views which may be best adminstrated by the Lt. Gov. office (though not the Gov.’s office itself).

Secretary of State – Most canidates seem infatuated with stamping out voter fraud with little regard for another other issues.
Kevin Shelley Ideas and efforts are most relavent in the voting process and in social issues.

Controller – See there are two L’s in “Controller”! ::Yawn::
Tom McClintock Very aggressive stance on Corporate/Government corruption.

Treasurer – Uninteresting position, but…
Phil Angelides Appears to be the most active of all the canidates in matters of protecting tax dollars and making money for the State.

Attorney General – The only canidate that isn't a radical right or radical left is the incumbant. Scary!
Bill Lockyer The incumbant is doing a good job.

Insurance Commissioner – Interesting position to be on the ballot.
Gary Mendoza Record of taking on HMO’s.
Also considering: John Garamendi First Insurance Comm, with proven record.

Superintendent of Public Instruction – A nonpartisan position.
Katerine H. Smith Seems the more experienced of the Canidates, though her “Moment of Silence” thang is a bit quirky.

Yeah, it's been awhile...

I don't have a computer at home anymore...last one died, so I've not had as many opportunities to log on to the internet and update my blog. So here I am. Updates? A few months ago, someone (chop shop) ripped my emblem off my car so now I finally got that fixed. There was layoffs at my work last week. That was a stressful week in general. I got a new toy...Handspring's Treo 300 with SprintPCS phone built in. This toy is more useful than I imagined, and I imagined it being pretty useful. :) I have been waiting for someone to make a combo phone/pda/wireless internet with a color touch screen for years now (literally), and now it's finally here. I love it. SprintPCS services haven't given me any problems. Some say their customer service sux, but I haven't encountered a need for to talk to them yet, so hoping! lol

On the Treo 300, I've loaded Word/Excel clones, games, SMS messaging (SprintPCS doesn't provide outgoing SMS by default so I found a third party software that does the job), programs, contacts from outlook 2000, etc.

So that's pretty much the story for now.

Ok, Sarah, consider yourself mentioned. LOL Just kidding. I hope the best for you and your new b/f. :)

Damn what a weekend

A had a good weekend planned out with various friends. Only problem is that everything fell through, so it ended up sucking. :(

Front Business

I went to a Chinese restaurant with some co-workers for lunch today. It's kinda hidden. The service is completely horrible. No regular napkins at all in the place. When I asked for some, they gave us cocktail napkins with a logo from old restaurant that used to be at that location. The food is so-so. The place itself had limited seating that did no fill the dining area (if you can call it that). The place even had a rather inviting back door to the kitchen area which we mistakenly entered first. The place just had the feel like its primary business was not to be a restaurant. So we started thinking it was a front for a crime syndicate like the Triads. lol

Great Presidential Quotes

Dispite any great deeds, here is what they are really remembered for. This is my list, and if you have any suggestions to fill in missing presidents, e-mail me so I can update it.

Truman: "To hell with the Japs!"
Nixon: "I am not a crook!"
Ford: "Oops!" ::thud::
Reagan: "Huh?"
Bush Sr.: "Read my lips, no new taxes!"
Clinton: "I did not have sexual relations with that woman."
Bush Jr. "We must stop these evil-doers."

Just a report really.

Music in the Park had Stroke 9 last week. I left my yearly company picnic year to get there in time to catch them as your set started. Met up with Steph and Miriam and other friends. I don't let loose and just drink usually, but I wasn't driving and I haven't do it in awhile, so I just drank all I could in the afternoon and evening. Had lots of fun in the downtown San Jose event.

This week, my friend has been having some guy problems, so I've been hanging out with her and she's feeling better now. Today, I'm at work late, but not working...it's a weekly thang for our department called Darts Night. Beer and Pizza! Can't go wrong with that. lol

Funny, I'm writting about last weekend when this weekend is only a day away. lol

Last weekend, it was good. A friend of mine is heading out today on a 4 month tour with his band. So, last Friday, we had a party at his place to celebrate. Definitely a diverse mix of co-workers, college buddies and friend's friends. Later that night, we ended up at a beach and shot off some big fireworks. Got back around 4:00am. Next stop: Santa Cruz! Met up with some blogger buddies. Hey there Imelda for setting it up. Dave, Jillian and Marcie! Had fun down at the boardwalk, and I kicked ass at Laser Tag. Dang, this makes me wanna go Paintballing again soon. Maybe next month. A friend has a home business and goes to the Farmer's Market around this area to sell her goods. I ran across her at the Campbell market on Sunday, so after I got my shopping done, I helped out for awhile. After that, I just relaxed at home. Oops, no I didn't...well, kinda. I went to the movies to check out the new theater in the Pruneyard Sunday night. Saw The Bourne Identity The theater interested me because a friend and I looked over the sight for a possible business of our own before and I wanted to see what Camera Cinemas did with it. It turned out to be a nice place with a Willow Street Cafe (pizza) in side.

Two girls, a gay guy and a kerioki bar

My friends Miriam and Steph are having a girls night out and end up a this place called the Bamboo 7 in Japantown. It's kinda dead, so Miriam calls me up to join. Hey thanks! lol anyways, I get there, and Ronie and Mark get there a bit later. Kerioki is particularly bad this night. We end up in a booth in someone else's spot. These two girls and their gay friend. The brunette is cute. She initiates a conversation and flirts with me a little bit. Cool. She's attractive, and we move close, with physical contact. I'm thinking, "Cool". Ok, so she and her two friends go outside for a smoke. Then when they come back, the blonde sits next to me. Right up next to me. She's even more physical, but I wasn't in to her. Of course, I find out the brunette is married, supposedly. huh, figure that out. So this blonde is all up on me now. So, I'm cool with it, but wasn't into her, which doesn't seem to deter her. Anyways, she gets up after a bit and goes to the bar. The gay guy moves up next to me and is trying to touch me casually. lol He's trying to talk me up. He even gets up the nerve to ask if I was gay. I ignored it, but he said, "well?" I'm like, "No, I'm not gay." He quickly retracts as pretends he was talking about something else. kinda funny. So now my friends, who (of course) where noticing all this, have teased me about being hit on by two girlfriends and their gay friend.

Money is tight

Right now, money is tight. Dang it. Well, I'm used to it, and I gots the self-control to deal with it, but still sux. I thought I'd be in better shape by now. I'm just waiting for Friday payday. As long as I don't go crazy, it should be a good starting point to recovering. I'm still a grand in the red on my checking account's reserve cash ($2000 line of credit attached to my checking), but at least cash flow will allow me to pay the big bills coming up without dipping further into debt. I maybe even be able to recover a little bit.

Marine World

Fun place. My favorite rides in the area. New shows. Medusa, Roar and Vertical Velocity are great! Didn't have a chance to do everything I wanted to last weekend, so I might have to end up going again.

Saw a lady have a heart attack...

Sunday, after a long day at Marine World, my cuzins and friends and I where heading out when this lady had a heart attack right in front of us while her family was waiting for the tram. At first, the women appeared to be trying to sit down, and I've never seen anyone actually having an heart attack, so it didn't register in my head. When she collapsed completely, her family noticed. Forturnately, the staff responded quickly. Now that I've seen what one looks like, I will likely respond much faster if someone has one around me again. I hope the lady is ok.

"I became disillusioned by the delusions"

"I became disillusioned by the delusions" is a great statement made by John Nash (of A Beautiful Mind (backup link) fame, played by Russell Crow) when talking about how he apparently aged out of his schizophrenia. It's a powerful statement that I'd thought I share. Yes, I know schizophrenia is not curable, but there is a small number of people that seem to be able to age out of it. I haven't seen the movie about him yet, but did see a documentary about him where he was interviewed. He has a few quick, power statements. He seems able to sum up quite a lot in a very some number of words. Another great statement is how he likened dealing with his disease to "Putting your mind on a diet". In other news, this weekend ended up being pretty good. Spend some time with a friend in Monterey Friday night and spent Saturday with family in the Modesto area. This statement doesn't quite do this weekend justice, but I can't give every detail about thangs here. :)

Work and Play

Recently, I've been busy with work and play. Not getting online too much. But here I am, with another blog entry. No new news or much to say just yet, but I will, don't worry. LOL

Blog time

Ok, now I finally got time to Blog. :) Don't really have much to say. Journalwise, I've been busy at work and been going out with my friends in the evenings. I'm goin start writing down opinions and stuff soon, but not today...too nice...I gots to get out and enjoy it. :)

More time

I'm taking more time to myself this weekend. Right now, I'm looking up accessories for my car to see if there's any aftermarket I wanna do to it right away. Oh, I saw Minority Report at the midnight showing Friday. Awesome movie...highly recommended! That's all for now, thank you. :)

"Soccer, the UnAmerican Sport", copyright 1997 Matthew Lorono :)

I'm glad the U.S. lost to Germany, and I hope it continues to lose regularly in the FIFA World Cup. The last thang America needs is for soccer to gain in popularity here. The biggest threat to keeping soccer unpopular is a successful U.S. team. Do we really need another sport popularized here? No. Many have tried. There's even attempts at variations on popular sports, like the XFL or Arena Football. Has anyone been to an Arena Football game? I did once...keyword ONCE. American (and by American, I mean the U.S. and Canada) sports have more action, more scoring, more defensive opportunities, more intelligence and more strength, and even bravery. Ever see two soccer players intentionally run into each other at a full sprint? It happens intentionally almost every play in Football. It happens in Baseball in the big plays. As far a intelligence goes, Baseball is played at multiple levels of strategy, requiring physical skill to implement. Football and Basketball too. Soccer? Well, there is some, but if you really know Baseball and Football, there is not comparisons at all. Hockey? The action in that game beats all! Of course, trying to keep up with the position of the puck isn't that easy at times.

Ok, who watches Golf? LOL

Napa Valley

I've been up in Napa Valley since Friday afternoon, and just got back a few hours ago. Friday evening, we took the Wine Train from downtown Napa. The ride lasts from 6 to 9:30 or so with dinner and plenty of wine choices. Dave, Miriam, Miriam and I had a great time on the Train. In the return trip, we where sitting near the live pianist and where able to make some lively requests other than the classic or jazz stuff, like Knocking on Heaven's Door. LOL A waiter and waitress had excellent voice and sang some too...and Miriam #2 got up and sang once too. We where all buzzing off all the wine, and just where laughing our heads off at times. That was a lot of fun. After that, we headed over to Sonoma to meet up with some other friends. It was cool...but remember this in case you head up...Sonoma has no night life to speak of, ok. We got up late on Sat and after lunch headed up hwy 29 to hit up a few wineries for a tour and some tasting. The tour at BV was interesting. The wine tasting was actually more fun that I thought it would. After going to downtown Napa at night, we headed back to the hotel before 12am to get our sleep. The trip was a lot of fun and I can't wait to go again, though, maybe more prepared next time, but it was great just being spontanious up there too.

Napa Valley Getaway

June 14, 2002 to June 16, 2002 

With David Erlichman, Miriam Erlichamn and Miriam Melo,

visited Napa Valley Wine Train, Napa Valley California and Robert Mondavi Vineyard.  Original post/backup link.

Not been on much lately

I've not been on much lately. Nights are getting full. I guess that means I have a life or sumfin....it's expensive though. lol Anyways, the trip up to Napa is tomorrow. I gots everyone riding with me coming over around 10am. Dave and his g/f look like they are breaking up, so it looks like it's just goin be Miriam, Dave and I tomorrow unless he surprizes everyone again by not ending thangs. Ronie will join later in the day cuz she can't get out of work at her new job. Man, she's shaking thangs up over there, as always when she starts somewhere new. Disorganization gives way to order and efficiency. Anyways, thats news for now. I'll be back Monday or maybe Sunday to details of the trip.

Link...

State of affairs in this country is always an important issue...and these words speak well of how thangs are.

Everybody Loves Raymond

You know, when this show first came out, I didn't like it. I think there was an element with the one or two episodes I watched that just didn't interest me. In fact, I didn't start watching the show until it was syndicated between the Simpsons syndicated shows in the afternoon after work around 6 to 7pm. I basically sat thru the two daily episodes waiting to watch the Simpsons. Guess what...some where, some how, I just started enjoying the show. I still recognize an episode now and then as something that is more annoying than funny, but for the most part, the show is great. It is funny. I'm rambling about it right now cuz I just saw "Headliners & Legends" on MSNBC about Ray which went into his life and how the show is partially modelled after his real life family and situations. The show is crisp, smart, funny etc etc. It grows on ya. The more you watch it, the more you like it, at least in my case. I still don't watch the new episodes in primetime often cuz it's not on a night I watch TV, but they will come out in syndication soon enough and I'll catch it relaxing after getting home from work one afternoon.

Long week of fun

I haven't been online since Tuesday. Man, what is wrong with me. oh...that's right, I'm having a life. lol Hung out with my friend Dave his g/f on Weds. Nufin much to talk about there sep went to play pool. I met up with my friend Michelle Thurs. We hung out and played videos games and stuff. Had a good time. Friday, I went out with Miriam and Dave and Ronie and the rest of the gang to Gordon B. in San Jose and then to Bamboo 7. I could fill this blog with all the stuff that went on, but eh, it's prolly not for public consumption. lol Let's just say, I've been having a good time all week!

Going to chill this weekend. Next weekend, a bunch of us are heading up to Napa Valley for a big getaway weekend. I'm looking forward to it!

http://neverthetwins.com/

http://neverthetwins.com/ (backup link) Here's the website to Never shall the Twins Meet. Enjoy!

Imelda...Drinking...and girls' hair

Ok...lots of topics today. ...first...Trouble...I'm having trouble with AOL today...ok...on to the stories.
As some of you new visitors know, I met up with Imelda on Sunday. She's really cool. Met up at the BookShop in downtown Santa Cruz and looked over some of her photography. We did head down for pizza, after the usual spur-of-the-moment "whadda you wanna eat" conversation for a few minutes. :) The weather was just about perfect...very sunny, not too hot, not cold at all, so we eat outside. Talked for awhile downtown. Met a friend of hers at one of the shops down there. Some of the wall ordainments looked, well, suggestive. So I made a suggestion on what they were for, and preceded to demonstrate. The girls seemed a bit taken back..but I promise I wasn't doing anything offensive! I swear. just was pretty funny.
Over at West Cliff, we hung out for awhile. You can read about some of that over here on her site. We had a good time.

In other news... I am definitely not an alcoholic. I'm feeling a bit down emotionally the past few days...not sure why or anything. So, I just went to fridge and the Goldschlager popped out at me. I normally don't drink alone or even at home, but I thought, hey, why not...so I pull it out, and it is all sticky from drips that dried on the side. I get a wet papertowel and clean it off, pick it up and put it back in the fridge. As I'm opening the fridge, I'm thinking, "Wasn't I planning on having some of this a second ago?" lol

Ok...there was a comment left about my hair reference in my likes. Here's the explanation. I like hair that is taken care of on a woman. As long as the style looks well managed and complements her well, I'll like it and find it attractive. For example, I like the bob-cut because it brings out the neck...a favorite body part of mine. :) I like long curly hair cuz it's really sexy on its own. I like long straight hair cuz it forms and fits and flows and nice to stroke. I could literally go on for a page like this. :)

::takes a breath:: any questions? :)

Movie premier

Well, the movie premier of Never The Twins Shall Meet went well at Camera 3 in San Jose. The movie itself was merely ok, but the event was fun. My friend Penelope worked on it and invited me. I met her friends Alex and Anne and we hung out at the reception at the Grill in the Fairmont afterwards, then headed down to Original Joes in San Jose. Had a lot of fun. As soon as I find the link for the movie, I'll post it here.

Naps

Well, I got home around 6:00, laid down for a minute at the end of my bed. Next thang I know, I'm flat on my back, rightways in my bed and it's dark. A minute later the phone rings, and it's Miriam telling me about this guy she's loosing interest in. I go to the living room and notice it's 10pm. It was quite disorientating for a couple of minutes. After I got off the phone with Miriam, I got online, but nufin interesting going on there in the chatrooms on a friday night of course, so around 1am I got in my car and drove a bit...but it was too late to do anything...so after a bit I went home, laid down on my bed and then woke up at 8am this morning. I came into work to pick up some personal stuff. If you hang out with me often enough, you notice that I always forget driving directions and events information at work Friday and hafta go back early Sat morning to pick it up. I even did it on the big Valentines vacation two years ago with an ex. How boneheaded is that? LOL

No longer Vegas...doin' some northern Cali touring

Well, my friend Miriam is organizing her b/d celebration...at first it was goin' be in Vegas, but now, we are goin head up to Bodega Bay for a day, then over to Napa for wine tasting and then over to Clear Lake to Dave's mom's place. man, that sounds complex for a vacation. lol

...well...

nufin terribly exciting going on right now. Planning on a Vegas Trip. woohoo!

Carnival in SF

Well, the parade was merely ok. The floats where kinda cheezy, the customs a bit on the cheap side. Not at all what I expected for an event touted so well. Ronie said it has been a lot better. One thang...there was a lot more people that normal...way too many for the festival at the end of the parade route. We got out just as the parade was ending, and thousands of people following it into an already over crowded area. If any of today's pictures turned out good, I'll post some of them here.

Memorial Day Weekend..."Yes, that's right"

Solidly into the weekend now. Yesterday, I took care of a ton of chores around the house. I finally don't have one laundry item waiting to be washed. Of course, as we all know, that won't last for long. Also spent over $160 on groceries. Yes, that's right, I went shopping. Amazing but true. lol Hopefully I got enough stuff where I won't need to do that again for another 6 weeks (other than thangs like milk and bread of course...but that's was online grocery shopping is for) Today, I'm heading over to Carnival with my friend Ronie. Should be fun! Tomorrow, I gots a bbq with a few friends at my place. Yes, that's right. I'm gonna be cooking. Watch out! lol

Out of Trouble

Well, I'm completely in the clear for that truck I totalled (because of a malifunction in the vehicle) back in Jan. I got AAA to reverse the orignal findings of fault. Because I've been involved in 4 accidents within one year period, I had to contact the DMV. Because most of the accidents aren't my fault, I was able to get an over the phone hearing instead of having to go take a driving test out right. So, the hearing went well, and I was cleared of needing testing. YEAH!!! So, all of this started out with a lame ass accident in Nov '01 if you remember, where that Yukon was trying to squeeze by and I bumped into him. jerk. anyways, that lead to me getting the rental truck while the car was in the shop. The car was in the shop longer than it shoulda been, giving me ample time for two accidents with the damn truck. There's actually previous entries in my blog about some of this. Out of all this, it's only going register as 1 or 2 points (I gots to check on the rear-ending if the person claimed injury, which would add one more point) on my driving record. I think I'm lucky it wasn't 5 points. That woulda sucked. Of course, I do have a ticket on my record from over a year ago, so it will push me up to 2 or 3 points total...not leaving me any breathing room for mistakes now...but then again, I've gone for 10 years without any...just gots to do it again. :) ::hoping::

nufin much happened today

sep my blog blow up on me, and I hope posting this will fix it.

Orange Blossom and Clearlake

Friday night, a bunch of us friends went out to this karioki bar place in Japantown in San Jose. Had a good time. Steph, that chick mentioned before, was there. She was teasing me, but wasn't cool cuz Dave, his g/f, and I had to take off around 11 to be on the road to head over to his father's place near the Manteca area I think. I didn't mind though. lol of course. Anyways, next day we where in some place called Knights Ferry and rafted down river with some friends or co-workers of Dave. It was a lot of fun. But it wasn't "White Water" all that much cuz the river was flowing to high and fast. There was some parts, not much though. After that, we headed over to Clear Lake to his mother's place. Awesome place and increditable view of the lake. Good eating the whole time there too. :) Rounded everything out with a brief stop over for dinner in Napa. Got to watch a lot of movies on the road cuz he's got a portable DVD hooked up in his car. Fun weekend, and restful.

Attack of the Droids II

Star Wars: Attack of the Clones. I'm impressed, and that's not easy. It's not the greatest film of all time, but then again, what film is. I liked it. The beginning is a bit slow with the forced acting style that belongs on a broadway play stage and not in a movie, but once the movie hits its stride, it is great. nuf said...go see it. :)

United Way homework

Man, I finally caught up and got all the work done for the volunteer community I'm on for the United Way. It took a bit longer for me to get the reports and scores done for the agencies we visited. Now, just have the one last meeting to go to to work out which agencies are recommended for more/same funding and which ones we recommend get a cut in funding. Doesn't sound fun, but I'm happy my personal obligations are taken care of finally.

Drive into the Hills; Wilderness Sports Car; Freemasons

I started out the day early enough...prolly around 8 or so...and just got in my car and drove, just to see if I could get myself lost. I like doing that once in awhile. I ended up in the hills over looking the Silicon Valley. I don't know exactly where I was at most of the time till I got back down the other side of the hills to the Almeden Reservoir. Didn't get back till like 11, when I went to get my car washed. I felt like that guy in the Acura TL commercial driving the windy backroads...of course, I got the car before that commercial came out, I think. :) Near the top of one of the hills, I ended up in a nature reserve, got out and looked around for awhile. I saw a large hawk or eagle flying at about my level, looking for prey in the tree filled canyon below when I looked one way. when I looked the other, between hill sides, I could make out downtown San Jose, and parts of the valley.

Just as I was leaving, two guys and this hot chick in a professional sports car (sponsorship decals all over) and a ford truck where parked on the side of the road just below me. What the hell was a sports car like that doing in the middle of the wilderness? LOL The chick looked like one of those girls from the hotrod mags. I smiled and waved at the them as I drove by. I caught the girl checking out my car (at the very least) as I drove off. :) Maybe they where up there to take pics of the car for a magazine. Then again, prolly not...no good spots to get any good shots where they were. I thought about asking, "Hey, what's a hot girl like that doing up here?" as a joke to see what kinda reaction I'd get out of the girl when the guys knew I'd be talking about the car. lol I didn't though.

So after all that, I got some Jack-in-the-Box (love those spicy chicken sandwiches), then sat in the sun and read this new book I got about Freemasons and their possible links to history. Nufin exciting? It is an interesting read cuz from the outset, it challenges perceptions of the monotheistic god we all claim to know and love. lol All that reading gave me a mild headache, and by this time it was around 5, so I tuned into the rerun comedies on TV until the Fox Sunday lineup came on. I'm bummed that they took Futurama of the air, damn it. and now, here I am, typing.

Oh, I did update my backpage to use blogroller.com so now I can add links anyone's blogs much faster.

Links...

Once in awhile, I do'll this...links to some entries in the past...
Bayquon Story funny story...if you can follow along. lol
and Answers to Life the universe and well...

Comments from YACCS

So, I "upgraded" my comments code from YACCS. sucks... lost of a lot of good comments from everyone in the upgrade. bastard. Ok, now I have more abilities for my comments...notice the new link...pretty cool. :) Use in good health, everybody.

Stanford Baseball

I went to the Stanford baseball game against Cal last Sat. That was a lot of fun. I got tickets to go today too, but eh, don't much feel like it right now. Maybe later. Right now, I'm watching a show on discovery about where hitler's body ended up. interesting stuff.

Simpsons

"The politics of failure have failed. We need to make them work again!" I love that episode. :) Tonight, going out to some art show with a friend in SF. Just sitting here online waiting for the e-mail with the address. la la la hm hm hm eh...

lol

United Way Committee

Well, now's the time I gots to do my homework for the United Way committee I'm on. After all these site visits and interview presentations, I gots to write up a brief report on each of the agencies, with kind of a grade. This is turning out to take longer than I thought. Takes time to put together all the input and come up with something that makes sense. The organizations we are grading are good groups, with a lot of heart, and fulfilling good needs in the community...going to hard to put one over another.

Weekend again...now in May

Well, Friday, Steph stood me up, so I just hung out with my friend Dave and actually caught an episode of Dark Angel. I wish they put that on a better time. oh well. A friend of mine gave me tickets for the Stanford-Cal baseball game on Sat. That was a lot of fun. Stanford won! Yeh! ...not that I truly care other than they were the home team. lol Also caught the Spiderman movie! Highly recommended! Go check it out!!! :) Today, went to the Los Gatos creek trail and walked it for the first workout (yeah I'm using the word loosely lol) I've had in a long time. All this time in the sun is giving me freckles everywhere. lol ok...don't take that statement too literally. :) Good start for a good month I hope.

Interesting Week

This is turning out to be an eventful week. At work, earlier in the week, my boss's boss surprized me with an attaboy...a literal pat on the back. It tripped me out for most of the day. I'm a professional, working in a serious office environment, and attaboys just aren't part of the usual routine. I'm appreciative that he's appreciative of my work, but it was quite unusual. Also, our company is moving into a new larger building, and all of Friday was spent packing up and preparing everything for the movers. All in a month here, I've got a new and a new office. Now I just need a new g/f. lol

Anyways, last night I went out with some friends, Dave, Miriam, Ronie and this co-worker of theirs Stephanie. Cuz Dave can't drink, he's the automatic Double D for the night. So, we all meet up at Paolo's in downtown San Jose, which is on the ground floor at Ronie and Miriam's work (Authur Anderson). The rest of us got our own poisons. Me with the Long Island Iced Tea, Ronie with a Lemon Drop, Miriam with...I can't remember now and Stephanie with her wine and cheese. Afterwards, we went down to this Kareoki bar in Japan Town. Over all, I had a great time, and have that great worn-out-from-the-night-before feeling right now. It's been awhile for me.

Funny thang happened on the way home today

Have you ever seen the movie "Saving Silvermen"? It's pretty funny...sep the three stars in the film are in a band that idealizes Neil Diamond. Is there even one guy in the world that idolizes him? C'mon now! hehe...well, perhaps...on the drive home today, I drove past this older Datson Z. It was in good condition for its age. Guess what was blaring from his car? Neil Diamond, thumpin away (as best as you can with a Neil Diamond song anyway). lol I just passed by, smiling.

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. :)