My Old iPhone 3G

"Beware of the young doctor and the old barber." - Benjamin Franklin.

Monday I followed a live blog from the WWDC to find out about the new Apple iPhone. I have to say I was a bit let down with the iPhone 3GS. I know the insides are upgraded and it should be faster, but there didn't seem to be much tangible change. It looks exactly the same. I'm not asking for a keyboard (though I wouldn't mind one), but maybe a different look. Either way, the new iPhone comes out on June 19th. Check out the differences in the Tale of the Tape. I almost feel more excited about the Pre right now. Too bad I won't get to test one out. So I'm not even eligible for an upgrade, so my odds of getting the new iPhone are lowered. Though you never know right. I was excited to hear about the new TomTom app. I'm sure it is going to be expensive. The holder kit they have for sale looks great, even if you don't have the app.

So now that I have uploaded so many pictures from the wedding (and that only included two sets, mine and my sister Eliza's, it didn't include Bekka's, Sarah's, my mom's or any of my cousins that have posted on Facebook.) I decided it was time I updated my Flickr photos links on the right side of my blog. I didn't know it was so out of date. I had to hand write the html, so it too some time. Man there are a lot of links there now. I'm glad I have a digital camera again to keep it updated.


Today I was going over the list of people Facebook suggests to add as a friend and I ran into a person I used to date a few years back. That happens sometimes because we will have had friends in common or live in the same area or have gone to the same schools. This person though, I have no connection to. We have no friends in common (hs, undergrad, law, work) and don't live in the same place, attended different schools and well there is just no connection whatsoever to justify the suggestion. We had never previously been fb friends either. Yet she was on my suggestions list. Makes me wonder why Facebook would recommend them as a friend and how the software works. I just thought it was weird. You know, maybe it looked at my gmail contacts and used that. That would make perfect sense. I might of just solved the mystery in writing this. Well this was a waste of a mental exercise.


Speaking of FB suggestions, it got me to thinking, I wonder if people get me on their list of recommended friends and wonder if they should add me. Do they know me well enough they must ask. I go through that sometimes. I don't know why FB is on the mind this morning, maybe because it has been a slow day. -- Update: as of this writing, I have gotten 3 FB friend requests. I guess some people actually pull the trigger.

So this weekend is my friend Jon's wedding. Wedding #3 in a month. Last one for a long time I'm thinking. I'm taking Friday off and going to Victoria. Other than that, I need to call him to find out the details so that I can perform my groomsman duties to the best of my abilities. I'm looking forward to this. Update: as of this writing, I have talked to Jon. I got a better idea of the timing and what to expect. Its seems like they have things well coordinated.

Oh Rick is back from Europe. He sent me a post card from Edinburgh. Which is pretty cool since we are from Edinburg, TX. I'm sure I'll find out more about the trip this weekend. I can't wait until I go back to Europe. I think I would like to live in (and visit for the first time) Barcelona for at least a month or so. Oh to be an adult, having missed the chance to spend months in Europe on the dime of my parents. Wait, the never really was a choice huh. Well it would have been nice if we could afford that.

I was reading Texan in the City's post i'm doomed to be single and saw that she had a cool map. I'm guessing the pink areas are where single men should live. I like how the Valley is pink. I hope the map is big enough to read.

CLUNKER BILL: House Passes Bill To Subsidize New Car Sales
I hope this becomes law. I have been trying for years to figure out a way to get my dad an affordable car and to being able to use the 92 van he has driven into the ground would be great. I have failed in this goal and it is about time I got moving on it.

Mr. Perfect: This Student Hasn't Missed A Day Of School In 14 Years
I know some kids that could benefit from his example. I'm not saying perfect attendance, but you have a set amount of days you can miss, you miss that amount.

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Adam & Kirby Plata - The Wedding

"What counts in making a happy marriage is not so much how compatible you are, but how you deal with incompatibility." - Leo Tolstoy

Abram worked Friday night, so we left Saturday morning for my cousin Adam's wedding in Ft. Worth. Adam is the son of my mom's sister Mati and is a little more than a year younger than me. We spent a lot of time together as kids, but when he was in Jr. High his family moved to Ft. Worth. I get to see him about once a year. His fiance Kirby and I have met a few times over the years and she is a stand up girl. I am very happy for them and had been looking forward to the wedding for quite some time.

Abram didn't sleep much after working all night since he couldn't get to bed, so we left a bit earlier than we had planned. He could of napped on the trip up, but I talk a lot so that didn't work out. Since it was the morning, the trip to Ft. Worth didn't feel as long and before we knew it, we were arriving at our cousin Monica's house in Ft. Worth. It was very nice of her to let us stay with her while we were in town.

My sister Ana, her kids, Sarah and JoMichael and my nieces Bekkah and Jamie were staying with Monica. Rick wasn't there, but I'm sure he lucked out since that was a lot of family to deal with. We all got dressed for the wedding and then my mom and my sister Eliza and family showed up with Monica's mom, my Tia Amelia. We drove out to the church in caravan. It was about 30 minutes away.

We arrived at the Baptist church a little before 4pm. The church was huge, which reflects the incomes in the area. We ran into everyone there and a lot of time was spent saying hello to family and taking pictures. It was great seeing everyone, it had been so long. What really got me was how many digital cameras there were. Every picture meant posing at least 3 times if not more. "Mine next." It just seemed inefficient. I didn't get to visit with Adam before the ceremony, but I didn't really have any words of wisdom to share. I found a nice seat and waited for the ceremony to begin.

The Wedding ceremony was nice. The girls wore pink and the guys wore green ties and vests. My Tio Mario read scripture. I wasn't used to the primer, "I will", but I don't know a lot about weddings. It was a nice affair. Then it happened and they were married.

After the wedding, we all went to a very nice country club for the reception. The houses in the neighborhood were amazing. The family sat together and visited as we ate dinner and then there was a lot of dancing after. This was the fun part where all the older people started asking everyone when they were planning on getting married. I heard a funny joke where someone said to their older family member, "I don't ask 'when's your turn' at funerals." It works on many levels. The highlights were the first dance, the throwing of the bouquet, where I hear it was very much contested, and the speeches. I spent a lot of time talking to my grandmother since she has now been in Ft. Worth over a year now.

Here is a picture of the Alaniz Family (Alvarez/Castro/Mendoza):

My Adam & Kirby's Wedding Pictures Album: http://www.flickr.com/photos/hyadus/sets/72157619328261449/
I posted a few on Facebook, but all my pictures are stored on Flickr.

The reception and open bar ended at 10pm. The night was still young, so Abram and I went out with Laurie, Rino, Jess, Vanessa and Mario to downtown Ft. Worth. We went to a piano bar which was a lot of fun. I like piano bars, but still my favorite is in San Marcos. They are also usually really loud which I'm not as big of a fan of, but what would you expect.

At the end of the night we arrived back at Monica's house where we crashed out. I slept in a bit the next morning and then headed to my Tia Mati's house for my cousin Marissa's baby shower. She was in town from California. Baby showers are for women, but since this was also a family BBQ, and I hadn't visited with the Valadez family in quite some time, along with not yet seeing my Tia's new home, I decided to go. I was very impressed with the home. A blessing to say the least. The turnout was good and I learned about how Marissa was moving to Alaska...talk about a cold place to have a child. The food was good.

After eating, Abram, JoMichael and I headed home for Austin. The drive wasn't too bad, but seemed longer than the trip up there. I was pretty tired by the end of the trip. Ana and the kids, along with Eliza and her family showed up a few hours later. Everyone stayed the night at my place one last time before heading home to the Valley in the morning. They were going to stop by the Wildlife Ranch, which is where I went a few months back. I hope they enjoy it.

Well that was my eventful two day weekend. Other than the actual wedding and starting their life together thing, my favorite part was visiting with family. Now I have my friend Jon's wedding this weekend where I'll be a groomsman, but I'll talk more about that in the days to come.

still not ready

Sleep and Donuts

"Death is not the greatest loss in life. The greatest loss is what dies inside us while we live.” - Norman Cousins

Happy National Donut Day! Yeah, I didn't know about it either. Too bad I won't have a donut today to celebrate. I hear that some places give away free donuts today. Well the day isn't over yet, I guess we will see. For future reference guys, last Friday in June. NATIONAL DONUT DAY: Free Donuts For Everyone!

Thursday night, I was feeling sick so at 8pm I fell asleep. It had been a while since I had taken a good nap. My family came into Austin last night at 10pm or so to spend the night on their way to Ft. Worth for a wedding. I missed the entire visit. I woke up this morning, said goodbye to my Mom who was up making coffee and left for work. I saw everyone asleep and hoped they had a good night. I am feeling a little better today which is good. They left at 10am today. The good thing is that I'll get to see everyone on Saturday anyway.

One thing this time of year always reminds me of is that Teachers are off from school for the summer. I am so envious and I think I make this point often. I think all professions should have summers off. Now I understand your argument that we need people working during the summer, so why not give us winters off then. One day my friends, I will have this type of setup. Speaking of teachers, a "Dream Team" Of $125,000-A-Year Teachers Will Be Put To The Test . This is a team I would love to be on. I would take the job and if I didn't do well, well fire me, it could be in the contract. Hopefully this creates a new way to approach teaching. I really do think I would love being a college professor.

The Palm Pre is released on Saturday. I'm looking forward to seeing a real one in action. I see myself getting the new iPhone we will learn about next week, but I think the Pre will be a good competitior.

Jimmy Kimmel Goes Head To Head With Spelling Bee Champion (VIDEO)
This kid seems to be very smart and personable. I liked her appearance on the Rachel Maddow show. I'd like to learn the strategy her Dad used. If I had a kid, I think it would be fun to train them. I bet he could sell it. I watched the final round last week and was very impressed. Note, I can't spell worth anything.

Senate Dems: Expect A Health Care Bill Next Week - 47 Million Americans lack health insurance. Health care is a really big issue to me and it was one of the main reasons I voted for Obama. To be fair, it is one of my key issues, but his health care plan wasn't my favorite. It is why at first I initially supported Edwards (whose policy issues were dead on even if he had his own personal problems) and Clinton. What I want is pretty much Universal Health Care. There should be a standard of care provided by the government or non-profits (through private doctors of course) available to all Americans. We are the only industrialized country that doesn't have that. Now if you want extra crazy elective stuff, well then private insurance can play a role. The problem is that this isn't where our government is going. I'll probably support the bill since it will be better than our current system, but I don't understand why universal health care is so out of reach. We spend so much in taxes for war, for roads, for government contracts, why not on health care? Hopefully it will be able to pay for itself over time. Then you have the whole issue of how this would positively effect the economy and how much it would help small businesses and people seeking employment. I guess all we can do is watch.

Did you know that Fatherhood Makes You Smarter? I guess you always have more to learn.

America's Best Christian Explains Traditional Marriage to Everyone Else - Since I'm off to a wedding this seems somewhat fitting. Thanks Facebook Mark for sharing this.

hopes I would........ Wow.

Family and Birthdays

"Never ascribe to malice, that which can be explained by incompetence." —Napoleon (Hanlon’s Razor)

Last week was a 4 day week, but it didn't feel that way. Maybe it was because it was so busy at work, but it felt a lot longer. It is an interesting time in the car industry right now.

Saturday was Abram's 25th birthday. He had the day off, which is rare on a weekend for him. Once he got back from the Ski Ranch, Abram, Todd and I went to dinner on West 6th. Oscar joined us a while later as did Rino. It was a fun night, consisting of bar hopping and such. We made our way back downtown to the bar where Abram works. Abram introduced me to this pretty cool guy, who is a self made millionaire. He was a personable guy who gave me the speech about money not truly making people happy, but I figured I'd save my counter arguments for another time. As one comedian put, I've never seen an unhappy person on a waverunner. You also have so much capacity to do good when you are financially secure and doing good makes people feel better so that has to be able to help in some way. I understand the points about family and true friends of course. He was a stand up guy. As far as the night goes, Abram seemed to have a pretty good time. He ran into a lot of his work friends. The night ended late, but it was a very fun time. It has been a while since I have been out like that.
Here are a few pictures from the night: http://www.flickr.com/photos/hyadus/sets/72157619110566488/


So as I mentioned in my last post, my niece Bekkah made drum major. She was in Austin for band State solo and ensemble. I think it was so late in the year due to the whole swine flu situation. Sunday night, Abram and I picked her up and took her to dinner near campus in Austin. It was nice visiting and I'm glad she is getting to visit colleges while in high school. She told us how she is going to drum major camp at Texas State this summer for a week. That should be cool. I even took her by the Castillan apartment building where Rick lived when he was in college. I had visited a few times and liked the place and thought she might one day look into it. Speaking of, she turns 17 today, so I'd better not forget to call her for her birthday.

So all the weddings are starting. This weekend is Adam's wedding in Ft. Worth and the entire family is coming up and its almost like an extended family reunion. The plan, as I know it so far, is that my family is coming up on Thursday to stay at my place. Then they take off to Dallas on Friday while I go to work. I will join them on Saturday and attend the wedding and then leave Sunday morning back to Austin. Ana and the kids might join us in Austin Sunday night and then go to San Antonio on Monday. No matter how it works out, I'm looking forward to seeing everyone.

The other day I was organizing photos on my computer and I ran into photos from when I was 18, 20, 24 all until the current day. What I find amazing is what my self image was like at the time. I always felt out of shape, not strong enough, slender enough, yet damn I was super slim and strong in some of those pictures. Even when I look at photos where I felt like an obese monster, I was so much more healthy than as of late. I wish I would of appreciated it instead of feeling so bad about myself. I know this sounds like crap you would hear from a chick, and I don't mean it that way, but I'm trying to put into words a realization I had. In any case, it motivates me to do what I can now. Luckily men get more distinguished with age.

Tuesday night I saw the movie UP. I did so because a friend of mine recommended it, I think he took his kid to see it in 3D. I have to admit that when I saw the previews I was not interested at all and since I wasn't too impressed with Monsters v. Aliens, I was going to pass. I have to say it was pretty good. Not like amazing good, but a nice watch. I too recommend it.

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