S*luty Nurse (S*lutty Nurse)

"Most people are other people. Their thoughts are some one else's opinions, their lives a mimicry, their passions a quotation." - Oscar Wilde (1854-1900)

Note: I apologize to those coming to this blog searching for "slu**ty nu**rse." I also spelled it wrong. I really feel like this was false advertising. I was just talking about Halloween later in this entry and unfortunately did not have any pictures of nurses. I almost feel obligated to put some sort of link for you guys that has pictures. Or just go to YouPorn and do a search there. Now back to my blog.

A lot of my blog entries want to be stories about work. This makes sense since I spend most of my day there and most of my thoughts and experiences happen while I am at work. Unfortunately, work is a topic better not talked about due to a plethora of reasons, namely well it is work. I'm sure there will be things to talk about. Also, if you want to watch a show about work, then watch the Office.

Monday night I took Max on his first play date. lol, I don't think I'll ever use that term again. I went to socialize my dog, yeah that is better. Max isn't potty trained, so I was worried about his trip in my truck. I put a sheet on the front seat and walked Max over to the truck. There were some kids riding bikes and a boy stopped and said to me, "Sir, you have a very nice dog." I enjoyed the compliment, but felt really old at the same time. I'm a Sir now. So it is a 25 minute drive to Rino's house and Max did really good. He is nothing like a cat in a car, he kept trying to get in my lap, but I didn't let him. So when we got there, I tried not to be worried about introducing Max to Rusty as not to influence the situation. They did the usual ritual of greeting and 1o minutes later Max made himself at home. The dogs had a blast, playing and running around. I was even able to use Rusty's training to show Max how to do some tricks. I took the dogs for a walk and it was neat to see how Max walked next to me, yet Rusty ran in front. It didn't take long for me to teach Rusty that he had to follow too. They both did well walking with me and they seemed really happy. Rino and I had dinner, and watched Monday night football. There was a point I felt silly for asking him what team he was rooting for while he was wearing a Green Bay jersey. I haven't been too good about going over, and I am glad I did. At the end of the night, I put Max in the truck and he fell asleep like a baby. He was so tired out from all the exercise. I hope Max gets to make a lot of new friends. Mainly, I'm hoping I get out more.

Tuesday was Ana's 17 year anniversary at her work. I think my family has always been really loyal to where we work. My mom has been at her job for at least 30 years. Ana said it feels like a lifetime and then thought, well it is a lifetime for her son Jon Andrew who is 17. Hers was the first grown up job I had ever seen and I think it made an impression on what to expect when I got older. From visiting her office I learned how important it is to be indispensible and how to make work your second home.

Diet and Exercise work. It isn't just genetics. Of course, things like that are so much easier said than done. I love to talk about this topic, and I know action creates motivation and not the other way around, but I still feel like motivation should create action. Here is hoping that more talk will lead to results.

I need someone I can ask computer questions to. I don't know a lot about computers, but I know a lot more than most of my friends. Of all my friends, I don't have a friend I can just call up and ask normal troubleshooting questions to. This includes all the CS engineers I know, they can program like a monster, but when it comes to the details of installing ram or setting up networks, that just isn't their expertise. The reason I'm thinking this is because I'm having a problem upgrading memory on my boss's computer and I feel like I have no one I can ask to help me think this problem out.

Tuesday after work I went to get a haircut. My usual lady wasn't in so I just went with whoever. There was this new guy who started working. He had moved from a salon to now do volume work. He told me how he recently broke up with his fiance and had to move out. You could tell he wanted her back and I really felt for him. We also talked about him finishing school, which I am the biggest proponent of. (It isn't a guarantee, but it gives you a better shot.) I'm not sure on what I think about his work yet, but after a few haircuts I'll see. Maybe I got a new barber.

Happy Halloween! That is kind of late in the entry. I'm not exactly sure what I'm doing today, but I'm sure it will probably include going to 6th Street and checking out all the cool costumes. I even bought candy for trick or treaters just in case. Maybe I should dress up as a Lawyer, mainly because it is a day of make believe. Never been a big holiday for me, just kind of there.

A YouTube Video has become almost like my closing quote. I'm liking this, though most of the time my videos will be political. It makes me have to watch YouTube more, something I feel I'm not too into doing. So much stuff just seems like fake porn and well I get distracted easily. Don't worry about watching them, just skip them for the most part, but if one topic catches your eye, hey it is worth checking out. Here is my latest installment, a video Rino showed me.

A 'HAUNTED' playground swing that rocks backwards and forwards on its own for days has scientists baffled. The phenomenon flummoxed police, who called physics professors into Firmat, Argentina. Locals claim the seat moves nonstop for TEN DAYS before stopping dead, while other swings remain still. Academics have now ruled out magnetic and electrical fields, and winds -- and called in ghosthunters. This is the original video. (embedding was disabled.)

Here is another video.

Here is one explanation, but I don't know.

In lighter news. Cheerleader Gets Run Over By Football Team. Is this funny or sad?

positive thoughts

How Sweep It Is!

"When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying the cross." - Sinclair Lewis

I've been learning to use voice software at work. A problem I was having was that the mic I was using was broken. It is funny, but it took me a while to figure this out and I'm pretty good with computers, but not with sound. My voice starts to hurt the more I talk, which is weird because I can talk on the phone for hours and my voice does just fine. I'm getting past the learning curve and am getting much better at dictating, but there is nothing like good old fashioned typing. A lot of people leave themselves voice memos, I would like to do that, but it would have to be a new practice for me to learn. So Friday my new mic came in. That made me excited and I practiced some more dictation. Too bad my computer is too slow to let me fully appreciate the program.



Friday Ana and Rick came into town for the UT game. We met up at Baby A's for drinks after work. Ericka met me there and then Rick's brother joined us. Later Ana and Rick got there and so did the other Rick and his girlfriend. We sat outdoors and ate and had drinks. Ericka and I headed out a few hours later to attend a party of one of her co-workers, but then we just decided to go home instead.

Saturday morning I was planning to head out to the UT tailgate to join Ana and Rick, but due to unforseen events, I ended up missing it. I did watch the game on TV though. Saturday night I didn't do too much. It was a sports watching weekend, with football and baseball.

The Red Sox are the 2007 World Series Champions. Sunday they swept the Rockies. That is twice they didn't win it at home though. Just read about it at Joy of Sox because there isn't much more I can add.

It is a good time to be a Sox fan. I guess the wait was worth it.

My grandmother called me with the usual once a week call, but this time she had news that my grandfather was sick again and had to go to the hospital. He is a strong man, but I don't know how many more illnesses he can beat in his condition. I don't think I'm emotionally ready to let him go, but I hate that he has to suffer. I've kept him in my prayers.

I really enjoyed this Youtube video. I think most of you will find it to be boring, but being a student and a person that uses computers a lot, it made me think about this.

A Vision of Students Today

A short video summarizing some of the most important characteristics of students today - how they learn, what they need to learn, their goals, hopes, dreams, what their lives will be like, and what kinds of changes they will experience in their lifetime. Created by Michael Wesch in collaboration with 200 students at Kansas State University.

who gets to decide if you don't like them enough?

Treadmill

"He just wants to be friends. He apologized for hurting me. He just misses our conversations." - Violet, Private Practice
"I came back for you, that means I'm a beggar, a beggar for Halloween." Eva, Grey's Anatomy

The Joy of Sox I just love the name of this site. Check out the blog, I'm sure it will be great for the World Series. Speaking of, did anyone see game one where the Red Sox romped on the Rockies 13-1? They seem to have it in the bag, but this is baseball and they are the Red Sox. I'll be watching game 2 during Greys in my picture in picture. Baseball in HD just isn't as cool as Football in HD, but anything in HD is much much better.

I have a lot of NY Yankee's fans and they would never betray their team in this way. If I were a Sox fan I wouldn't want this man's support either.

My prediction is Red Sox in 5. A sweep of course would be better, but I'd rather the series last longer.

Puppies are hard work. I've heard this before, but I'm starting to understand it. I wish I had more experience with dogs because I don't want to instill bad behaviors right off the bat. Maximus's first issue is that he is teething and bites on everything, including my hands, forearms, and feet. At first I would just let him and that just made him think it was a game. I tried the yelling "Ow!" to startle him, but he doesn't seem to care and keeps on doing it. I put my finger in his mouth and said no, but he was just confused. I worry because he nips at my face and well, its cute and all when he bites me, but to bite my face would really upset me. Not like having a cat at all.

In better Max news, he is learning to use the treadmill. It is adorable and he is really loving it. Just imagine Marty rocking out the weights while Max runs next to me. I want to make sure he has a lot of outlets for his energy. If only he could train me to use it more regularly.

Here is a cool Sprint trick I learned. Sprint users can save others the hassle of button pushing by disabling the semi robotic female voice (politely called "User Instructions"). Once you're logged into your voicemail, the sequence is: Personal Options (), Greetings (), Personal Greetings (), Caller Instructions () Once you've disabled the caller instructions, it will go directly from your outgoing message to the beep.


Ana is coming up to Austin for the Texas Game this weekend. It is cool being in Texas and being able to see your family more often. My boss was kind enough to give me one of his free Southwest flights to use by the end of the month. I could go anywhere in the US, so I'm going to Dallas to celebrate with my brother Abram. I did think about going to San Diego, which is still my dream, but with all the fires, it isn't a good time. Then there was the option of going home to Edinburg, but I'm planning to go for Thanksgiving, my next thought was Seattle, but that didn't work out, I thought about DC, but it is just too early. Also, I don't have money once I get anywhere, so Dallas I know I could afford. I've had a lot of blessings lately.

Some Global Warming Fun. Melting Arctic Sea Ice

Sea ice is frozen seawater floating on the surface of the ocean. Some sea ice is semi-permanent, persisting from year to year, and some is seasonal, melting and refreezing from season to season. The sea ice cover reaches its minimum extent at the end of each summer and the remaining ice is called the perennial ice cover. The 2007 Arctic summer sea ice has reached the lowest extent of perennial ice cover on record - nearly 25% less than the previous low set in 2005.

"I like cheerful people. I'm cheerful."

Wake Up

"Nuestras vidas son los ríos que van a dar a la mar, que es el morir" - Jorge Manrique.

Monday night I arrived home exhausted. This is the main thing I hate about working. You feel tired at work all day and then you get home and you just want to crash out. You wake up and your free time has been eaten up and it is almost time to sleep and start the whole thing over again. I will solve this puzzle so that I can stop complaining about it. Key 1: go to bed early. Key 2: exercise, Key 3: don't nap. On paper this isn't that hard, but in real life, well it is a challenge.

Tuesday my high school friend Justin was in town for work. He is a lawyer in San Antonio. I met up with him downtown for lunch. I had to make a filing near there, so the timing worked out. We ate at Iron Cactus and it has been at least 10 years since I last saw Justin. We used to be neighbors and I have memories of riding 4 wheelers at his house and listening to Ugly Kid Joe. Justin moved away for the end of high school and I don't think I saw him again. He is now a married and working in San Antonio. Things seem to be working out really great for him. It was cool to hear stories about people in my situation and understanding that a lot of people are in my boat. After I went to the large Frost Bank building and made a deposit for Abram.

Wake up Cat - This video reminds me of my experience almost every single morning with Mia.

The Situation Room - Bush wants Billions more for the War(s)

the secret

Red Sox Win the Pennant

"Dogs look up to you. Cats look down on you. Pigs treat you like equals." - Winston Churchill

Sunday I watched the Red Sox win the ALCS and go to the World Series. A lot of people had given up on the Sox, but I never do. I just knew they were going to come back. Maybe my fond feelings for this adopted team came from my dislike for the Yankees or my watching of the Curse of the Bambino. Now it is time for them to win the World Series. I have to admit I even thought of naming my dog Max, Sox (man I wanted to name him a lot of things), but I'm sure there are way too many Sox out there. Plus I've always seen it more of a cat name. I do admit that baseball just isn't as exciting as it used to be. That helped make my Sunday better. For the celebration go here. Here is one of my favorite Nike commercials during 2004.

The Cowboys won too this weekend which was good, but it was somewhat expected so it is harder to feel really excited about it. I wasn't too happy when the game was close. I think they have a real shot this year.

I buy into the view that if you are feeling sick and think you are going to get sick, that you will get sick. At other times if you fight it and refuse to get sick, you can often times beat off the sickness. This is rare and for those of you that know me, it must not work very well since I'm commonly sick. Most of my problems stem from my allergies. The have always been my dreaded cross to bear. Recently mine have been very hard to deal with. I think it has to do with Max. Dogs don't clean themselves like cats, so he probably brings in allergens from outsides and then rolls around in my bed. I really hope I'm not allergic to dogs and I highly doubt that. My weekend was so useless because of how sick I was feeling. I wanted sympathy so bad, but I knew that talking about it would just make it worse.


I know I need to take my dog to vet, but since that might be a while, I gave him a shot on Sunday. It was a vaccine he needed and I have to give it to him again in 4 weeks. I had to mix two vials of medicine and then put the the medicine in a syringe. I decided to do it quickly, so I stabbed Max in the back of the neck, injected the medicine and then pulled out the needle. I'm glad I did it before I really had time to think about it. I was not cut out to be a vet.

Monday was another normal day of work. I heard from an old friend who lives in San Antonio now. He working for a law firm there and it was cool catching up with him. The day was really cold, maybe I was just too used to the Texas weather. A cold front just came in. Oh here is a story, so on the way to work I left at 7am and got to work at 9:30am. It is a 17 mile drive. That was not fun.

How to deal with Troubled Children. South Park is great. Cesar Milan is a famous TV dog trainer. Milan is known as The Dog Whisperer. Here Cesar is parodied in an episode of comedy central's South Park.

forgiveness

Farmer's Market

"Names are a great mystery. I've never known whether the name is molded by the child or the child changed to fit the name. But you can be sure of this -- whenever a human has a nickname it is a proof that the name given him was wrong." - John Steinbeck (1902-1968)

So I have shared my concern over the naming of my puppy Max. I felt guilty for giving Max such a common name. As Abram put it, "It is like you named your son John." No offense Johns out there. So I began my process of picking out a new name, one that was clever and thoughtful. The first name that came to me was Deigo. I had a dog stuffed animal named Don Diego who traveled Europe with me taking traveling gnome pictures. But the name just didn't feel right. I can't see my self yelling Diego, Diego. So then I came up with Monte (Spanish woods) while going through Monica's 30,000 baby names books. I wanted to call him Monte in Spanish, but to those who didn't know Spanish his name would be Monty. I didn't get great feedback from the name and according to Ana, Monte is kind of ghetto. Also Monty sounds a bit too much like Marty. Then Ericka told me why don't you name him Brody? I want to name my next dog Brody she said. Then like half an hour later I talked to Abram and he said, yeah man you should name him something like "Brody." So I was sure that that must be a sign. Two picked that name on the same day, it must be the one. Then as I thought about calling Max "Brody", it hit me, he is Max. Who cares that it is common? I don't know any dogs named Max and Max doesn't either. I've never had a dog named Max and I like it. So I'll be unconventional by being conventional and have decided to go with well I mean stay with Max.


Friday night I took Max for a walk and then instead of going out with Oscar and Danny, I went over to Ericka's house to watch a movie. I was really tired and we didn't even through Lucky You. It wasn't very good, and I love poker. Maybe the lines just felt too corny, I mean Rounders didn't sound so forced. I won't fully judge the movie yet though since I haven't seen it all.

Saturday morning I woke up earlier than I usually do on a weekend and went to the Austin Farmer's Market with Ericka. I have to say, this is something that just doesn't connect with me, yet it is something that really makes Ericka happy. There were a lot of people with dogs there, and I kept watching them to see like kids, which were behaving well and which were behaving badly. You can always tell from the owner's personality. There was organic everything and all kinds of vegetables that I just didn't know about. I couldn't decide if the people there were enlightened or just pretentious. After picking out a few items, we headed to Whole Foods. I may have been to this store once before, but I was not a big fan today either. I felt guilty not wanting to eat anything in the store. There wasn't even normal coke or cheese or bread there. They did have a million types of cheeses so I know Jorge would love it. All I could think was that it was like wines, I know people really like them, but I'm not sophisticated enough to truly appreciate them. I couldn't even pretend and I hate that the energy I gave off wasn't very positive to Ericka who really enjoys shopping there. I was happy to be doing something she enjoyed, but I don't think I was giving off that body language. I should of been more flexible and open minded. Sometimes I just feel like my energy levels really make me seem boring and less willing to do more adventureous things. I know my allergies are not too great so the outdoors are a problem depending on the situation.



After we got back after shopping I was feeling dead tired and it is hard to explain why. I think it has to do with not sleeping well all week and my recent bout with allergy symptoms. I just had to nap, so I fell asleep for about 5 hours. Talk about wasting away the day. I have a lot of theories on why I was so sleepy, but not even sleep gaps are enough justification for sleeping away a perfectly good Saturday that you could be using to do something interesting and fun. People act like I just won't fight it, like if I wanted to stay up I could...and that is true, but all it would mean would be that I was even more tired later.

Speaking of, I've beaten my insomnia. At least this battle and for now. I'm getting by on about 6 hours of sleep and actually feeling tired come midnight. I'm able to sleep without the aid of medicine for a few weeks now. I still need to figure out a way to be more alert in the mornings. If only I drank coffee or gingerbread lattes. Ericka lives right by a Starbucks, but even if I worked by one I still don't think I'd get into the coffee kick.


Check out the following video, I like the arguments Maher makes about Values Voters and what real values truly should be. And this is coming from a guy who doesn't believe in Christ, yet his words are more Christian than those I hear from the Right.



Bill Maher 'New Rules': Religious Right Values Voter (10/19) [Skip the first 2 minutes 30 seconds to 3:40 to see the part I liked. The rest is funny if you got the time.]

I hate to keep picking on Notre Dame, but they really let me down this year. Here is another tribute to the team I grew up loving.

wish my nose would stop bleeding

Everybody's Dog is named Max

"The ability to quote is a serviceable substitute for wit." - W. Somerset Maugham (1874-1965)

I feel so foolish and be honest quite embarrassed. I come up with this clever dog name that just came from my instincts and gut when I saw my puppy. Max I thought, that has to be a Max. It was so divine. So the dog formerly known as Snoopy, aka Romeo had a new name that I thought was just a bit of inspiration. Then I'm listening to a book about dogs and the example name they use is "Max." I thought that that was weird, but maybe it was just a sign that Max was a good idea I mean for him to use the exact same name as my dog. Then I go to the pet store to get my dog a tag and the example tag said "Max." That confused me so I decided to research this. Well, no wonder the name came to me, I picked the most common dog name ever! It is the number #1 favorite dog name. (fyi #3 Buddy, #4 Bailey, #18 Sparky, #58 Gizmo.) Maybe I heard it so many times that it just engraved itself in my psyche. I should know more about dogs. This, oh no, this will not do. It has been like two days, so I invoke a mulligan and have re-named my dog to Not Sure Yet. He will forgive me. I thought about going to my past entries and just changing his name, but that would be wrong. I really wanted a two syllable name, but who knows what I'll end up picking.

Wednesday was a stressful day. I had a court filing due, but there was also one due on Thursday that was much longer. I finished my Wednesday filing early and took it over to the Court, but then came crunch time for the next one. It hit me while I was dropping off the response to a motion that I really want to be a lawyer. I think I could enjoy this. I still feel life has other bigger plans for me, but for right now, I can't wait until the day I am able to practice law. I wanted to work from home, but I found out that I am just not a productive person at home. Should I accept that fact or fight it? Is not working at home just giving in?

Thursday morning Max woke me up at 5am howling and yapping. The automatic sprinklers went on and as he got wet he was not enjoying the morning water. I let him inside and he hung out with me for the next hour. I know I should walk him in the morning, but I don't see that happening. I hope he doesn't yap like this again because I'm sure it woke the neighbors up. So far I don't have much to report. He got a new collar, a bad in tick medicine, I learned I can't cut dog nails and the cats are still not fond of him. Everything seems on schedule.

So I thought Wednesday was stressful, that filing due on Thursday was tough and I worked all day on it and got it in just in time. It was almost 70 pages long. It felt great to be done and I was proud of my work. On this same day, I went to IHOP to pick up a to-go salad and an old man in line behind me asked me if I wanted to get a booth with him. Usually I'd totally say yes since I enjoy chatting it up with strangers, but this day I had a deadline and was really stressed. I let him know I was getting food to go and he acted like he didn't invite me in the first place. I still felt bad though because I think it is hard to ask strangers to have lunch with you. Maybe another day. I noticed there were a lot of people that eat alone. I'm not a big fan, at least not in public, at home, well I always eat alone.

I have started up a MySpace blog. I think a lot of people visit MySpace who don't have the time to link to blogs, but don't mind checking out the blogs that MySpace has. I wish there was a way to just have my blog automatically updated to my MySpace blog, but I'm sure I'll figure out how to do it. Here is hoping this works out. I will not move my pictures over from Flickr to Myspace though. I like them at Flickr, but I need to find a way to add a link. I should probably redo my page soon, but I don't use MySpace as much so I haven't really had the drive.


Thursday night I joined Oscar for a Cornell Alumni event called Zinck's Night. It was held at a bar in north Austin. It was my first Cornell event and I met some cool people. The part that was hard for me was hearing the speech about donating to the scholarship fund and how important it is to future students. All I could think was how much money I still owe the school, I don't even think I've even started to really pay it back yet. Then throw on law school, yeah I can't be helping rich middle class kids get 1000 bucks spending cash while I'm still trying to figure out to pay off these debts. That is really negative I think and I know I'll donate to help poor kids get educations when I am in a positive financial situation, but then again that is the type of thing you seem to always put off. I think I might check out some more events.

After the happy hour, I went to Ericka's and we watched Greys. The show just doesn't have the same feel to it as it did before, but I still want to watch it, so it must be good enough. We had popcorn and I got to see the invitations to Monica's baby shower. She is really starting to look pregnant. I think I'm getting better at being used to being away from my house. Right now with work and such it feels like I am at home only for sleep.

Friday I went to the Tax office in town and registered my Truck with Texas. Now it is an official Texas Truck with Texas Plates and Texas stickers. I had to pay a lot though and that sucked, and I don't know what I'm going to do with my VA plates now. So I have a new plate number to memorize, fun. This was a big step for me. I still have a VA license though.

So one day either February or July I'd like to take my 2nd bar exam. The states I can choose from are FL, VA, CA, NY. NY is out. I was leaning to CA as my main choice. One friend said FL would be my best choice because I was happiest there. Another told me that VA would be better because I have connections there and my education was from there. (Then throw in the DC waive in if I'm in VA). I don't want to move, or plan to move for some time, but if and when I take that second bar I don't know what to base my decision on.


One question I get a lot is, "How do you have the time to blog and keep up with news and then talk about it?" The assumption is that I must only do that and not be very productive. Though I do admit to being on a computer for quite some time, most of it at work many hours a day, I make time for it. My news reading is done with Google Reader - www.google.com/reader . I love it. You should really check it out, it has changed how I get my news. I can scan through hundreds of articles and just read the ones that interest me and also be aware of what is going on around me even if I don't choose to read that article. As far as writing goes, I write on breaks during the day. I start in the morning jotting down some thoughts and every few hours or so I take a break and just get out all the things going on in my head...ok well not all of them. But I don't see this as work, it is cathartic for me, a way of sharing ideas and thoughts that I'm mulling around in my head and sometimes just don't work well into normal everyday conversation. Though I do admit to try to merge the two.

This is a bit late since the veto for SCHIP was not overridden, but I thought it was a good speech.

Stark later apologized due to much pressure.

how does one pick a name?

Rain Check

“It is preoccupation with possessions, more than anything else, that prevents us from living freely and nobly.” - Henry David Thoreau

Monday I started another week of work and dealt with my issue of not feeling like I'm being productive enough. Sometimes writing a motion takes me a whole day and I don't know what the fair amount to bill would be. I understand that some things are taking more time for me because of my learning curve. I'm still pretty excited about working on Motions and arguments, not so much in summarizing depos or ambiguous research. The problem is that those are important components to making strong arguments. It reminds me of my debate days. I like making and responding to arguments. My new theory is the idea of disclosure. Just like in debate, you let them know what you are going to argue and then still kick their ass with their best defense. This idea has freed me from holding back thinking I could save that argument for later when it will be more powerful, but instead I'll just use it twice.


I also took advantage of my car wash rain check on Monday. The tip was still more than if I got a cheap car wash. Having a clean car does make you feel better. Danny made a joke about how he couldn't believe I don't wash my own car. It doesn't even bother me. I also don't think I'll cut my own yard in the future.

Koki and Mia are not too happy with Max. They are warming up. I try not to force them to interact, but I'm still doing that since I'm all about unity. I know my approach will just push them apart. I'm taking Max for a walk everyday and he is learning to respect my authority. It does take a lot not to baby him and treat him like the a baby puppy, but I am going to try treating him like a dog and trying to make him happy in that way.


I found this cool article on Phantom cell phone Vibrations. I've actually had many conversations on this issue many years ago. Maybe I should of written an article on this topic. I always thought it was me just feeling sad that no one wanted to call or text me.

Tuesday (today) is Herbert and Juan's Birthday. I gave them calls today. Time is flying by. Next year I promise to visit them to celebrate.

SNL did a great NBC/Notre Dame Football promo. This is the best quality I could find. I dedicate this to Mark D.

On a more serious note. From Crooks and Liars:

As the Right Wing’s War on Children’s Health Care continues to blow up in their faces, the pressure on Congress to override President Bush’s veto on SCHIP becomes more intense. In this video we meet Bethany Wilkerson, who is alive today only because of the SCHIP program. After the brutal attacks on the Frost family, the Wilkersons are ready for what will likely be in store for them from the right-wing hate machine.

S-CHIP Works: Bethany's Story

Maybe I care about this issue not because I'm this big fan of protecting children in general terms[hate the "think of the children" argument for censorship.] from things parents should take responsibility over, but I am a fan of protecting "people" including children from factors out of their control such as healthcare. I think everyone in a country as great as ours should have access to healthcare, even if it is just a basic amount and let capitalism sort out the people that want elective surgery and more comprehensive care. This is a step in the right direction. I am biased because this type of program affects my younger sister who is a hard working mom with a young child who doesn't meet the guidelines for medicare because she makes too much and doesn't qualify for SCHIP because she makes too little. (Might be vice versa.) With another niece/nephew on the way I want to know that all her basic healthcare needs will be met and financial decisions won't affect her parent's decision to properly take care of her. My sister owes 800 dollars for one doctor visit of prenatal care, how could she ever afford that? Just look at the money lost in Iraq each week, it could be used for healthcare or God forbid a stronger education system. Go after the grafters and fraud in Iraq and money lost down the rabbit hole, instead of trying to get health insurance for children. This was the argument Bill Maher made on Real Time and it really captured my feelings.

not a good day, but it will be ok

My Dog Max

"Of clean beasts, and of beast that are not clean, and fowls of every thing that creepeth upon the earth, There went in two and two unto Noah into the ark, the male and female, as God had commanded Noah." - Genesis 7:8-9

When I got home I found out that my mom had a puppy and I just knew I had to have him. So now I have a dog named Max. I know it isn't a good idea, but I'm excited about it.
Tori had originally named him Snoopy, but already having a cat with that name when I was little, I decided to change his name to a name that I thought commanded respect and sounded like the name of a dog. I like the name Max. I actually got the idea many years ago when watching the Max Power Simpsons episode. I hope my years of reading about Poncho has taught me to be a good dog owner. My nephew Andrew had also named him Romeo. He is about 2 months old. He won't grow to be too big, so I'm happy that my little mut with always be a manageable size. He is half brothers with Abram's dog Memphis. (they have the same mom, Sparky.) I hope you are ready for all the puppy stories to come. Max will be an outdoor dog and maybe one day an indoor/outdoor dog, but I don't want worry about that right now. Eliza is going to give me a dog house for him, so Max will have a place to hide when it rains. I need a dog collar, dog food and dog tags. Here is a video of Max, just so you can get a feel for the adorableness of him.

While in the VAlley, after my night of hanging out with my nephew Andrew on Friday night, I woke up really early on Saturday. 8:30am because I just couldn't sleep anymore. This whole being a working adult has made my bad sleeping ways hard to keep, but don't count me out yet. Having all this new found time, I had breakfast with my mother and sister. My meal cost $3.50. I liked the cafe a lot. Maybe there are things I miss about the valley.

Later in the day I met up with my Dad and we went to see a fence he was building for my cousin in Alamo. He was very proud of his craftsmanship and I too was impressed. He takes a long time he mentioned, but he would rather do it slow and right. After we went to visit my Dad's brother Tio Tony and Tia Libby. It is always nice to see them. It has been a year from his open heart surgery and he is doing great.

I have all my stuff/junk/possessions/clutter in boxes stored in my Mom's garage. There are things that will be there until I get my own apartment, such as my bed, my couches and my dart board. Now that it is looking like I'm a legit Austin resident, I decided to bring more of my stuff up. I spent hours going through books and boxes trying to bring up all the things I feel I might need. I don't have enough room for most of it, but I was able to fill up most of the bed of my truck. Eliza made a good point when she said, you were able to live without any of that stuff for months, is it really important?

I picked up my nieces Bekkah and Jamie after Bekkah's pre-Pigskin Band competition in La Loya. I thought about going, but I didn't have enough notice. Bekkah is really excited about next week's Pigskin. She plays the clarinet. At night, I went to Ana'a house and we all hung out and played board games. We played electronic Outburst and electronic Taboo. Rick A came over and it seemed like his team always won.

On Sunday morning I had breakfast that my mom had brought for us before she went to church. Then Bekkah and I went Target to pick up some pictures for my Dad. The Target that I had to go to was in Mission, and though I had been there before, it was really far and in a part of town I didn't feel like visiting. There ended up being a mix up and the trip ended up being a waste. I did get packing tape so the whole trip wouldn't feel like a waste.

I then went to Ana's house and picked up Jamie and Sarah and along with Bekkah we went to the cemetery to visit Vero and pick out the type of tombstone that the girls wanted for their mother. We had a notebook and a camera to decide what they wanted it to look like. They were really animated about their decisions and I hope to compile all their thoughts and come up with something that will give them peace when they come to visit. I want to do this project right, but more importantly, I want to take care of this soon, I'm tired of waiting.

I then went with my father to Eliza's house and picked up a dog house for Max. My Dad drove with me to San Antonio and I dropped him off to visit his friend Arnold. I left from there to take the bus back in the morning and finished my trip home to Austin. I got home late and I unloaded all my boxes and set up Max's dog house. Max seems to like his new home.

Here is a collection of my pictures from my trip home. I recommend just go to flickr to check them out, but here is a flash version anyway.






adorable

Nobel Peace Prize

"We have, as human beings, a storytelling problem. We're a bit too quick to come up with explanations for things we don't really have an explanation for." - Malcolm Gladwell, Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking, 2005

This is the birthday time of the month. Herbert and Juan are celebrating their bday on the 16th. Well I'm off to the Valley today, I went to work in the morning and then took off after lunch on that long drive home to the valley. Interesting how I still call it home.

Al Gore won the Nobel Peace Prize!
I don't think there is much more to say about this. I'm excited for him and for the planet.

On my drive home I finally talked to Maria and got a health update. She updated her blog, so you can find out all the details about how things went. She is doing a lot better now and it was nice hearing what was going on in her life. She was great company on my drive home.

I got to Edinburg and I spent time talking to my mom for a few hours. I then went with my nephew Andrew to have dinner at Applebees. I don't get to talk to him much, so it was nice learning about what was going on in his life. He has his head on straight, but I'm not going to stop pushing college on him. I think he would benefit from leaving town, but the deal I made him was to apply to an out of town college and if he gets in and then decides to stay home and go to school here, well I'll support him, but he can't just not apply and not try. I think he would love San Marcos or Austin, but it is his life and only he can live it.

I need clearly written goals and objectives

You Don't Know Richard Cheney

"If you want to see what children can do, you must stop giving them things." - Norman Douglas

Are you fucking kidding me? Lynne Cheney appeared on the Emmy and Peabody Award-winning Daily Show Wednesday night to promote her new book, Blue Skies, No Fences: A Memoir of Childhood and Family. I have to hand it to Lynne, that was classy and though I despise her husband and the administration, I have a new found respect for her. I probably still don't agree with a lot of what she stands for (did agree on her stance on gay marriage though), but wow, that is the type of candor and openness that I didn't expect. I will be honest, I don't know her well...I give her the usual respect I have for first lady Laura Bush and try not to hold her husband's politics and decisions against her since she herself is not a politician. She isn't a blank slate though, so it isn't like she is just some random woman, she is a very important woman who is married to a man that I have never felt has had America's (working class America) best interests at heart. And Jon Stewart, man my friend, I admire your interview and the respectful approach you took. You could of pulled a Bill'O and just be a jerk and attack her ranting and raving. Instead you did your best to be tactful and when Jon started to ask political questions about the war from one of the few people America has access to and someone who we feel might actually be honest with us, he backed off and remarked how she wasn't the person he should be asking to justify those decisions, it is her husband and the administration and it was just not fair. But that is not to say that he gave her a cake walk either and just ignored the elephant in the room. He was willing to ask some tough questions and there were some very good points made and it is definitely worth watching. Maybe I was more shocked because I didn't know it was coming, the skit before that "You Don't Know Richard Cheney" (Dick) was funny because of how unfunny it was, but my only thought at the time was, why is he being so nice, is it really that funny now that saying positive things about Dick is so ironic that it is inherently funny on its own. I tip my hat off to you Jon Stewart and to you Lynn....oh yeah Lynne, really the soldiers dying in Iraq (and all the innocent civilians), it is the result of the, at best, misguided judgment of the man you married (The case for malice is much stronger though). You can still love him, but your love doesn't make his actions less wrong. The Huffington Post had a good article on it.

Here is the interview for your viewing pleasure.

Part 2 of the Interview

I've been trying to incorporate more multimedia into my blog as of late mainly to learn how. I don't know if I will continue to do it, but sometimes embedding a video or picture is much better than linking to it. I'd really appreciate feedback on this. My guess is that I'll just go back to normal text because it takes work.

Thursday I got a car wash. My car has been so dirty and even though I'm about to make it really dirty on my trip home, I at least wanted to make that trip in peace knowing that I wasn't driving a car with caked on pollen and dirt. I'm not a messy car guy, ok, well maybe messy, but not dirty. It was a good use of my lunch break. There was a massouse there, but I just felt tacky getting a massage in a car wash and well pay day is still far away.


My life is like private practice. lol That is my saying recently, my life is like every show out there. I should really stop that. I'd like to say my life is like girls next door, now that would be something. So, I feel like I'm always living in some sort of spin off show. Maybe it has to do with all the moving. Let me note that the show hasn't been too good, but my dedication to Kate Walsh has kept me watching, and though I hated her character at the beginning of Grey's, she really won me over. Back to the spin off life self indulgence topic. So I keep moving to new places looking for some magic. Ironically, I always seem to find the magic in the place I left once I am gone. So I'm in Austin now, I do need some magic. What that magic is, I still don't know. There are moments when I feel like I may have found the magic, but then they just start to fade. The one thing I will say is that this is where I want to be right now and I do know that. I really do have this feeling that there is magic in San Diego, why do I think that? I really should go visit one day. Note: I wrote this during pp and it made sense if you watched the show, but reading it back now, man well it doesn't make as much sense as it did last night. Oh yeah, I was drinking too.

My sister told me a funny story about my nephew. He is 17 going on 18 and a senior in high school. Next year he will be starting college, I feel like I was just staring college yesterday. He is at least 6'3" 290lbs and looks more like a man than I'll ever look. Well he was feeling sick and had to do to the doctor, so my sister sent him to a pediatrican. The service was quick and very qualified and he got all the medications he needed, but he wasn't a big fan of having to blow air into happy feet. Well he will be an adult soon and have to wait 4 hours in the emergency room like everyone else. Ana tells the story better, but it made me laugh.

Wednesday I was watching tv and I saw an actress on a preview for a new series and these really random memories came to mind. I think it is inappropriate that I talk about this, but I've been in a really honest mood and it's on my mind. The actress is Angie Harmon from Law and Order fame I found out doing a quick internet search. That is her picture to the left. So, she reminds me of a girl I met in Florida, well at least this picture does. She wasn't anyone I dated or anything like that, actually she was a good friend of another friend of mine. She was down visiting from Boston and we all went out one night. She was engaged to her long time boyfriend to be married in a few months time. Well from what I know, they are married now. As a boy, you instantly know if you are attracted to a girl, but it is the learning more about who they are that determine if you fall for them or just find them attractive. I won't even get into the balancing act topic right now. Why am I even talking about this? So the point was that I was hanging out with her one night and we got to really talking. I'm a sucker for good conversation. I was kind of jealous for her boyfriend because she was a bit flirty and my Jessie's girl type of thinking was that, man if I was dating her or about to marry her I wouldn't want her to be flirting with anyone. It took a while to get past her snobby girl type defenses and actually have a real conversation with her. I didn't give her credit for being smart or thoughtful and just thought she was vain and superficial. That is what I do, assume things. Another friend that was with us, a bitch that really didn't like me (but I think she sure as hell respected me), had recently gotten breast implants and did all she could to show them off. She had a boyfriend too, but was talking and texting all kinds of guys that night. They were not very big, (the implants) but mainly due to the fact that she didn't have anything before. So pseudo Angie and I were talking about the implants and how it changed her life, and self confidence from before and after. I wondered if it was really better that now she was vain and stuck up instead of self conscious and quiet for being flat. I mean, why did she have to go to extremes, from shy to hey look at my breasts everyone as I look at you with disdain. I hate to repeat this, but they were still somewhat small, so stop imagining what you normally would think about breast implants. So back to pseudo Angie, well as she was laying out this argument, she explained how she could understand and identify how her friend felt because she had ears that popped outward when she was younger. I glanced over to look at her ears as she walked beside me, arm in arm, and they looked normal to me. She then preceded to tell me that she was made fun of growing up and that it really affected her self confidence. Then she decided to get surgery to get her ears pinned, I think that is what it is called, and that the transformation of how people treated her was dramatically different. She went from feeling odd and different to feeling attractive and garnering positive attention. My thoughts which I didn't share that night were that she probably only felt this way on the inside and that externally it probably wasn't too big of a different in how people actually treated her. This did bring her down to earth though in my interactions with her. I think when people share something personal with you, they let their guard down more. It at least seemed her her ugly duckling story instead didn't make her rude like it did to her friend, but then again I wasn't there and maybe that type of reaction wears off over time. We talked some more that night and I was good, and though I think every girl should like me (is that part of vanity?), I don't have any realistic clue what she thought about me other than that she enjoyed talking to me that night. Then I saw Angie Harmon on tv last night and that night came back to me. So why not share my thoughts on outward appearances and if they actually make a difference.

Thursday night Ericka returned to town from Dallas. Doesn't it seem like she is leaving and coming so often. I hope to see her tonight. Ericka and I are dating right now and I only have good things to say about her and the type of person she is, but a blog like this isn't the place to talk about those things since it is more important that I live my life rather than try to analyze it while it is happening. I'm sure it is clear that those thoughts are clearly missing from my almost daily recounts. There will be much time for that later and as you can tell I remember stuff going back really far.

way to be a man

Basement

"Those who face that which is actually before them, unburdened by the past, undistracted by the future, these are they who live, who make the best use of their lives; these are those who have found the secret of contentment." - Alban Goodier

Ericka went to Dallas this morning for work. I used to really enjoy work trips. Once I even got to go to Del Ray Beach and it was more of a vacation than work week. It was a retreat though and this is for work. So Wednesday night I went to happy hour with Danny and his co-workers. They had pictures from a work retreat trip (one Danny missed) and from the stories it sounded like it as scandalous. Maybe all work trips are that way.

When I was in college I would tell Herbert, Juan and Jorge that I wanted them to get rich so that I could move into their basement and live off of them. I'd be that creepy uncle Marty who stays up all night, sleeps all day and doesn't have a job. Their kids would love me and fear me at the same time. Then it hit me today, I almost became that guy, expect Oscar's house was the place and instead of a basement it is an upstairs room. I guess it all depends on how you look at it. Don't get me wrong, I'd still be happy to take up that offer if anyone out there is still offering.

I've been updating a lot more than I thought I would. Maybe I've just had a lot on my mind or feel like writing give me some sense of accomplishment in what feels like a waiting game. When will life stop feeling like this waiting game where you look backwards and miss things and forwards hoping for things. Now always feels too short to truly enjoy the way I should.


Wednesday I also go my truck inspection for the state of Texas. I hope to transfer over my plates and hopefully even get my TX licence back. Though, I wouldn't mind keeping my VA one, I mean it took me forever to get and I'd rather be different than anybody else. Maybe I should just accept I'm a Texan in every way than just in my heart.

Vacuum cleaner salesman donates kidney to would-be customer. This story touched my heart. Not just because a man sold a Kirby to my mother when she has no real carpet in her house and because I once had a drink with a guy who sold vacuums, but because some people may actually be altruistic.

I hate to harp on news because I have a whole news section where I highlight articles that interested me, enraged me or peaked my interest. But the story about the 12 year old boy who spoke about SCHIP and is now getting death threats really got me angry. Rush Smears 12-Yr Old: ‘They Filled His Head With Lies Just As They Have Some Of These Soldiers’ Maybe my head is being filled with lies too, thinking people kids should have access to healthcare and at the least be free to express their views without having their address and personal details exposed. Here is the Countdown take on it.

In lighter news.......I loved this video: Family Guy Steals from the Simpsons.

There is a part 2, but it wasn't as good so I didn't include it.

Oh yeah, I found this website today. http://postsecret.blogspot.com/ It seems really interesting and I think there are a few books out, so it must be really famous. Here are two examples I noticed from today, and they weren't even the best ones.

tell me what you want

Five Interceptions

"It's only after we've lost everything that we're free to do anything." - Chuck Palahniuk (1962- ), Fight Club

Monday I was driving home from work and this silver celica quickly drove past me on the frontage road right before I entered the highway. I paid special attention to the car because it was similar to a red one that my friend Claudia had. Then as I was driving, not more than 2 minutes later, I noticed there was as lull in traffic and people were slowing down. I was confused and then noticed the same silver celica with its rear crashed into the median under the underpass. The driver was sitting in the front seat and just looked like a normal passenger. There was a strong smell of burnt rubber. It must of spun around and then hit the wall with the back of the car. There was a car in front parked and I noticed two cars in front of me pull over to the side of the road. Since I didn't see the accident, nor did I hear anything, I just kept driving. It wasn't until I passed that I realized that this accident must of just happened and that those people stopping were not stopping as witnesses, but instead to offer assistance. I felt guilty for not stopping and helping, since I know that people always assume other people will help and usually nobody helps. I also know that too many people stopping creates more risk for other drivers too, but that didn't play a role in my decision. So in the future I resolve to offer any assistance I can if I am first to the scene, even if there are other people stopped. If I'm not, well I'll just stay out of the way. I know I won't be able to save lives or anything, but I can dial a mean 911 and maybe even direct traffic.



I am a Firefly fan, yet I only joined the Browncoats once it came out on DVD. I like the movie Serenity, but that seemed to be the end of the series. Now I heard about Serenity 2 A New Hope? There is a "chance," may may maybe for a new movie. I would go and watch it.

Monday night football, Cowboys v. Bills, was a game I won't soon forget. The Cowboys kept messing up and Romo threw 5 interceptions (almost 6) and all I could think was that they didn't deserve to win. Then my fandom kicked in and I wanted them to win anyway. So they are down by 8 points and there are 2 mins left. The Cowboys drive down the field and score the possible game tying touchdown. Now they have to go for 2 to tie. Romo throws it high for Owens and despite the uncalled pass interference (my view since the defender wasn't looking for ball and made contact first) TO dropped the pass as he came down and the Cowboys were down by 2 with only 20 secs to go. Then there was the offsides kick, which never works, but this time the Cowboys fall on it after it got touched just outside the 10 yard distance mark. Now there is 18 seconds left to get in field goal range and no timeouts. Romo passes to TO in the middle of the field, it is ruled a completion and the Cowboys run up and spike it it with 1 second to go. Then the refs have an official review and rule that it was not completed. I could of sworn the ball was spiked before the review so I wondered about that. Now with 7 seconds to go they make a side line pass and get within a little over 50 yd field goal distance. The kicker's career long is 47. So the other coach pulls this shit where he calls timeout right before the snap and as it goes through the upright, I cheer just to find out it didn't count. So they do it again after the timeout and this time it also goes through and the Cowboys win. Oh what a game, an ugly game, but I'm glad they pulled it out. That was Marty with sports, now back to you Bob.

Daily Show - "Banned Aid" Bush Vetoes SCHIP. Health care program for low income children. Universal health care is going to be hard to get.

Tuesday I had lunch with Ericka at Panera. It has been a while since I have been there. I discovered Panera in DC and used to eat there a lot at my old job in Virginia. I tried to convince Ericka to get a new cell phone, but she is just too responsible with money. I love text messenging and her buttons don't work, so I think a new Pearl would be a great addition.

I'm not really good with dealing with anger. Maybe emotions in general are not great for me. I feel like I keep things inside too much and don't properly express my anger when I do feel it. Usually people who act this way end up over reacting to something or going from normal to really angry. I don't feel like that is how it manifests with me. What bothers me is that I don't like to be mean or hurtful to those I care about because I am not very thick skinned myself. When someone I care about is mean to me, or hurts me, it hurts much more than I rationally think it should. Every word is like a dagger that pierces me and makes me want to close off and not let people in. I've always had the view that I will only dish out what I could take, and hence I try not to dish out anger or hurtfulness as much. It is almost like an inverse do unto others type view. Well what I don't take into account is that some people have more power to hurt me than others, power I gave them, power they gain from how much I care about them. Others I could care less about and ignore most of what they tell or do to me. For example, if I was in a fight, I wouldn't kick to the groin, eye gouge or intentionally break any bones, mainly because I would hate for that to happen to me, but the second I saw them trying to do that to me, then I'd have to change into a no rules type approach. This is a fine social covenant with a stranger (ok no face punching non verbal agreement), but with a person you care about, if they resort to dirty tricks, well you can't respond in kind, your hands are tied because you actually care for them and just because they would hurt you doesn't mean you would hurt them. Am I just being a martyr here, should I just do what is best for me always and not take these thoughts into consideration.

So I finally got Koki and Mia (my cats) new cat collar charms with their names and my phone number. Each time I change my number I need to get them new charms. The reason it was important is that Mia is now an indoor/outdoor cat and I want to make sure if she gets lost that I'll be able to find her. I also need to get them some nice collars, but I'm waiting on that. Mia has full reign of the backyard right now and loves to be out there. I think she spends most of her night outside and a lot of the day there too. She seems to come inside only to eat and wake me up in the morning. I can tell you this, she is much happier with this set up. Koki on the other hand hasn't taken to be outside much. I throw her out to test her, but she just runs back in through her cat door. Maybe she sees it as Mia's area, but if Koki wants to stay inside I'm 100% ok with that. Mia is closed in with a fence, but I'm thinking it won't be long until she learns to get out,but I'll just have to trust that she comes back home.

Today I learned the word Spoonerism. (from Mark's blog.) I didn't know what it meant. Maybe it is a common word, so I went to wikipedia (the link the link) and checked it out. A spoonerism is a play on words in which corresponding consonants, vowels, or morphemes are switched. It is named after the Reverend William Archibald Spooner (1844–1930), Warden of New College, Oxford, who was notoriously prone to this tendency. I love wikipedia. I still don't completely understand, but here is an example. " One of Metallica's live albums is called Cunning Stunts (1998), as is an earlier (1975) album by English band Caravan. This is also the name of a group of female stunt artists in the UK."

do I act the way I deserve to be treated?

Of all that's been told

"what i want from this
is learn to let go
no not of you
of all that's been told
killers reinvent and believe
and this leans on me
like a rootless...
so fuck you
and all we've been through
i said leave it
it's nothing to you
and if you hate me
then hate me so good that you can let me out
let me out of this hell when you're around
let me out...and fuck you, fuck you, i love you
and all we've been through
i said leave it
it's nothing to you."
- Damien Rice, Rootless Tree

I've been listening to the Damien Rice 9 cd recently. Song 4, Rootless Tree really got my attention, but I have to say that I enjoyed "O" a lot more so far. I wonder what exactly these lyrics mean. I need a new band to start listening to on my drive to work.


So here is the plan. I'm all about having plans. I want to drive home on Friday October 12th after work for Edinburg. It will really be a quick trip, and I'll be on my way back Sunday morning. I hope to see my family and friends.

So sometimes I try to be cute and it backfires. Usually when I am drinking I am bad at math. So sometimes instead of writing a tip amount, I just write "15%" instead. That way they know I gave them a standard tip and I don't have to figure out how much 15% is. Well I got charge "$15.00" instead of "15%" and I had to dispute it today. Yeah it is my own fault, now I'm just going to write a number.

Ericka is back from Mexico today. It was a long trip of driving and taking buses and I'm sure she is happy to be back.

SNL Weekend Update on Larry Craig: "You're Not Going to Resign...Really!?"

Senator Webb Sets Joe Scarborough Straight On Blackwater. I've been following this issue since I first heard about it on the daily show last year (when the book came out) and I was wondering why more people were not enraged at this. It took them murdering people to finally get some attention to our government's solution to privatize everything.

I think Mark (of Martian Cat Problem) explains my views on supporting the troops the best in his entry Don't Put This On the Troops. It is well reasoned, but I do feel that there are limits to just doing your job. At some point it has to be the responsibilty of the troops to have an opinion, but of course not while in the throws of combat. It is analogous to having to disobey orders to be in accordance with international law.

Here is a cool article I read I today. Oh baby, what's a Sox fan to do? "It wasn't until the mother-of-my-child-to-be announced our due date of October 18th that I thought, uh, that could be potentially problematic." The comments to the article are great too.

I've added some new features to my site. I have Blog Quick links which let you see if Maria or Mark's blogs have been updated and some other random links.

this feels right

Love and Marriage

"When a man is in love or in debt, someone else has the advantage." -Bill Balance

Friday night I went out to 6th Street. Oscar and I met up with his co-worker Christian and a friend, Karina. The missing of the presence of Ericka was there. We met up at Key Bar and had drinks while trying to get away from a malfunctioning mister that was constantly dripping water on us. After a while I decided to try to mix things up and try a new place that we had never been to. I was proud of my idea and once we got there I felt like I made a good decision. It didn't take long to notice that the place was dead and in fact a bad idea. It didn't bother me though, because at least now I knew. After a drink there, we headed up to another bar we had been to before and ended the night off there. I wasn't driving so I had an extra shot with Karina and we discussed her opinions on topics I had for her. I think we will be good friends. As the night came to an end, we walked back to our cars and a friend of ours was not completely fit to drive. I was more fit, so being the great people we are, Oscar took her home and I drove her car behind them. I'm glad I don't over drink.

Saturday I had lunch and then went to HEB Plus. I had heard about the one in the valley and how grand and wonderful it was. I figured I'd give this one a stroll and pick up some things I needed while I was there. I think I built up the place too much in my mind, something I am known for doing. It was was large and had a great selection, but it wasn't right for me. When I go shopping for food I want to make it quick and effective, focusing more on what I need rather than what I might be willing to try. There were all kinds of sections, like an organic section, which I'm sure Ericka would enjoy, but for me it just meant more expensive food. The karts were much bigger, which is very smart, and I pretty much went through a whole long tour throughout the store putting things I could remember I needed into my cart. I thought the idea of a clinic there was really good. I might it check it out one day considering I still don't have health insurance.

Saturday I also watched Texas lose to OU. I feel like a UT fan even though I never went to UT, it is hard for me to understand. I'll always consider them my school. Sunday I watched the Red Sox win and I spent the day trying to relax and get ready for another week of work.

There are a lot of reasons why October has been and is going to be a great month for me. There are also reasons why October is harder to get through than I wanted. It is all mental though. I don't know the exact day or weekend, but someone I used to date is getting married this month. I try not to think about it, but I'd be lying if I said it wasn't on my mind. I'm torn between being happy for them and getting lost in a past that I know turned out the way it was supposed to. How can I have no regrets and still feel this regretful at the same time? It is the not knowing that helps me I think. Maybe people just want what they can't have and when I had it I didn't want it as much as I thought I did. There is no where else I'd be if I could do it again, but it still sucks and isn't easy for me. So it is true that the wedding has been on my the back of mind, but mainly in putting my life into perspective and thinking about what I want from myself. This isn't a case of wishing it was me because I made the decision to not return and I know it was what was best for me. Hopefully November will come and I'll be over it.

all was well

San Marcos

“Man loves little and often: Woman much and rarely.” - Basta

Thursday night Sam Cook was in town, so I met up with him in San Marcos. We started off at the Tap Room where we met his friend Omar. I remembered the place as somewhere Abram too me once when I was really drunk. We then went to J's where I got to see a different piano bar singer than the one who was there last time. I think we ended the night off at a salsa bar.


I don't have a lot of memories from when I was little. I feel like the older I get the less I remember about when I was young and about stories that I don't recant in my head or to other people. When I started my new job I noticed there was a small page size poster on wall. It was of Snoopy. It looks like this.





I remember seeing this poster I think in my dad's office when I once went with him when I was little. I remember not understanding why Wednesday was so bad, but I easily understood why Saturday was so great. It brought back memories of wondering what it would feel like to have a job, what I wanted to be when I grew up and trying to understand what exactly my dad did. The other thing I remember about his job was his two hole paper puncher. I never understood it, I mean I understood the 3 hole paper punch, but 2? Was there special paper? I would play with it a lot at home I think just punching random two holes into paper. Why was it missing the 3rd hole? Really what use could it be? While I was at work today I was going over some procedural history of a case when I saw the pages sorted in a folder with two holes at the top. All of a sudden the two hole paper punch made sense all these years later. Though I do admit I never thought about it again in over 20 years. Small things can bring back interesting memories I think.

I run into really silly articles online. Here is one that caught my eye. Your man making you fat? Guy-proof your diet I think I have been that guy. Reading an article on how to deal with a person like me was enlightening. I'm sure there are people out there that will understand this.

I was talking to my Tia Amelia yesterday. She told me that she visited my blog. It is nice to know that family members visit too. I'll probably still talk about embarrassing things and work on trying to be has honest as possible. So she was telling me how she praying for me, which I really appreciate. I feel great to have so many people praying for me, but I don't want to feel like I will be letting a lot of people down.

be good

Across the Universe

“Smart women love smart men more than smart men love smart women.” - Natalie Portman




I was thinking of going home (Edinburg) this weekend. It has been a while since I have been there. I now understand what Abram meant when he said that it wasn't that easy to get home even though I'm relatively close. I decided instead to plan for next week, Oct. 12th to go to the Valley and see my family. My nieces should be there and I have a list of things I need to bring back. It will probably just be a quick weekend trip, but I think it will be worth it.


Ericka decided to go and visit her parents in San Antonio this coming weekend. They are going on vacation to Mexico. I think she is going to be really happy to see them. I hope she has a good time and takes a lot of pictures. She is trying to plan a vacation soon, but she isn't too sure what she is going to do. I think right now the plan is to go to Canada with Karina.


I haven't played poker in a long time, online or in real life. I want to play, but I just can't afford it right now. My thoughts are I can start making some extra money to pay back the people I owe money to, but how irresponsible does it seem to be playing poker with $16 rather than giving to the person who it rightfully belongs to. I should just get over it and get back on my feet and take care of everyone that has helped me out. I should get back on the horse getting a home game started.

I am a playoffs watcher. It doesn't matter the sport, I just enjoy watching playoffs. Baseball I find to be very slow so I don't really start to pay attention until the run up to the playoffs, but this year I did worse and am just tuning in now. My sentimental team is the Red Sox, but now that the curse is over, well I don't support them as fully, but I don't mind being a bandwagon fan. I dislike the Yankees like most red blooded Americans and my Texas teams didn't make the playoffs this year, but I am an Astros fan. I missed the whole history making slide by the Mets and how they didn't make the playoffs.

So I'm trying to get into Pearls Before Swine like I have mentioned before, but it isn't too easy for me. I just don't take to comics fast. Pooch Cafe took me until I purchased the books until I was really hooked. I guess when you only get a small piece it doesn't make the impact of comic after comic after comic. I'll give it some time, I just wish I knew the back stories on the characters.

We got this dication program at work where you talk and the computer transcribes the words for you. I don't think I'm too much of a fan of dictation. I hear you can talk faster than you type, but I'm so used to thinking and then typing rather than thinking and dicating. I'm going to try to learn the program, but just don't think it is going to be the best fit for me.

I haven't discussed my Harry Potter book. I am almost embarrassed to say that it has taken me so long to read. Mainly, I've just had problems reading for enjoyment lately and I just can't find a position where I can sit for hours and read. I have had some good days where I've really gotten into the book, but really it should only have taken me one weekend to read. I've been mixing up reading a chapter at home and then listening to a chapter on audiobook on my way to work. I've never done this dual type of digesting a book. Maybe my problem is too much tv or this working thing where I don't have the time I used to.

People let me know about the good shows that are out that I should check out. It is better I tune in now than try to catch up later. I hear Shark is good, is that worth trying to catch up on? I need to catch up on 30 Rock and Weeds.

I always root for the Red Sox, it is how this whole mess began