Triple Treat

So, I was paging through the listings in the iPhone "restaurants" application again last night and came across this jewel from Little Caesars. I have never had the pleasure of enjoying any of the culinary masterpieces from this fine establishment (and I think I will keep it that way), but never the less, I thought this was hilarious. See annotated image below...

In other news... this weekend was a good one. Here's the recap that I know you all love to read (all 3 of you):

Friday night: V went to class as it was her last before testing for her senior green belt (more on that in a minute). When she got home, we were trying to figure out what to do for dinner. After some thought and debate, we finally ended up going to Trudy's. It was delicious... I had not been there in a while. When we got home, we promptly, and in normal fashion as of late ,conked right out.

Saturday: We slept in a bit then got up and got ready to go to the sports center for V's testing. My stomach was NOT feeling all that hot. I think that what I ate at Trudy's just did not sit right with me. Aside from my squirming in my chair, her testing was really great to watch. I am really happy that she invited me. I thought that her form went really well. She did a really good job on it. I was really proud of her b/c I know she was very nervous. Her sparring was even better to watch. Not only were there numerous hook and roundhouses delivered to other people's heads, but straight up sucker punches to their stomachs. Now, I guess you can't really call it a sucker punch b/c you are sparring. It's funny to watch how people will just leave themselves open and get it. Needless to say that was also really good to watch. I was very proud of what I saw. Hopefully, I can sit closer next time =).

As I mentioned before, my stomach was killing me, so I literally drove home at like 80mph. I'm sure that excusable by law, right?

When we got home, we decided that it would be good to finally set that other computer up using my old table as a temporary desk. Then we decided it would be better to swap the futon and desk. THEN we decided that we need to run cables across the room to do that.

I am now the proud owner of 300 feet of Cat5e cable, a crimping tool, and RJ45 jacks. Incidentally, if you need any Cat5e (network) cables made, let me know. I'll be happy to make one for you and 1/2 store cost =).

Anyway... the office now looks a WHOLE lot better and more comfortable. I will take some pictures and post soon.

We also did some work in the garage organizing stuff.

Unfortunately, we did not got Ben's party. I just did not want to be away from facilities for too long, my stomach was killing me.

Sunday: We slept in a little bit again, but then got back to doing stuff in the house. We did some more stuff in the office. It's pretty much done. We got A LOT done in the garage too. That is almost done as well. We also were able to get the futon for the outside front porch weather treated so that it will be all ready for the cushions which are scheduled to come either today or tomorrow. Once it's no longer in the triple #&(@ing digits here, it will be nice to sit outside.

Today... back to work... waiting on cushions, getting grass cut, going to KF to practice with Troy, then teach my class.

Currently pissing me off: Windows Vista Home Basic. Why the FUCK would you remove the ability for someone to connect remotely to your OS. M$ assholes. Most VNC options really suck and are not reliable at all. If anyone knows of a NON-VNC RDP alternative that does not require installing an additional client (like PC Anywhere) OR if anyone knows how to enable or ADD terminal services to Windows Vista Home Basic, please please please let me know.

Article and Weekend

Saturday morning, I was listening to a BBC news podcast and they ran a really interesting story. After searching the web a little bit, I was able to find something close:

http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/janet-street-porter/janet-streetporter-a-dignified-death-at-home-is-a-human-right-869683.html

It's about something a lot of us don't really think about. Where do you want to die? I'm not talking about things you have no control over like a car accident or the like. This is more of a you know you are going to die and there is nothing that can be done about it, situation.

The story centered around a man that had cancer. It was in an advanced state and there was really nothing more that the medical community could do with him. I won't go into too much detail, but long story short, he ended up opting to stay at home and spend the last of his time with his family.

He was able to be with his wife and kids. He was able to listen to his kids play piano and be with his wife whenever he wanted (as opposed to visiting hours). Most of all, his entire family was present when he left this world. They all got to say goodbye and see him off. What can be better than that? I think that many of us don't really think of this as an option.

Anyway, this weekend was jam packed. I had a pretty busy work week last week...

Friday: After work, Victoria and I finished cat proofing the backyard. They cats now can go outside in the backyard unsupervised and they love it.

Saturday: Was occupied mostly during the day. Got home around 6pm, did some stuff round the house, then we went to Scotty's party. It was a good time. We did leave a little early as I was not really feeling too good. Lack of sleep plus jack and coke plus beer... ugh...

Sunday: We slept in a little bit which was much needed. After waking up, we hit the agenda:

• Went to the Austin Citywide Garage Sale
• Visited a tattoo shop that Victoria is thinking about giving some business to.
• Sold my old house phone.
• Went out to a new BBQ place for lunch (J &J in Cedar Park)... YUM!
• Went to Lowe's to get some more stuff for the garage (1 shelf for workout stuff, peg board, and accoutrements).
• Went to see Dark Knight, which was freakin' awesome.
• Cleaned the house.

Needless to say... we were both really tired last night, but we got A LOT done!

This week ... lookin' busy again...

 

Good times...

Yesterday was a good day. I got a lot of work done, I got to meet V for lunch (@ Jimmy John's ... it was my first time, and it was good, and I will go back), I got to the bank, I got to the supermarket, and I didn't feel any work stress at all. It was very nice.

The evening was nice too. V decided to stay home from class so we got to spend a lot of time together. That, in and of itself is a good night. I tried a new recipe for "low fat chicken corn chowder". Let's just say I ended up not keeping the leftovers... it was not so good.

Aside from that, I helped Victoria get some new ring tones on her iPhone. If you are interested in not paying Apple $2 for a freakin' ring tone, check this site out:

http://www.ehow.com/how_2160460_custom-iphone-ringtones-free.html

Finally, I got my old desk sold. Strike one item off the list. I didn't get quite as much as I wanted for it, but... it's gone and I can move on.

Back to yesterday...

After Jimmy John's, V had some extra time to kill, so we went to Starbuck's (which is not a regular event). We both ended up getting "skinny" drinks which are made sugar free and with low fat or fat free milk. This trip did however spark my curiosity about some of the other things that I order at Starbuck's. This morning, continuing my expose on nutritional facts, I took a trip to Starbuck's web site and found the following:

1) Green Tea Frappuccino - Hmm... I guess another case of "I knew this wasn't all that great for me, but convinced myself that it was OK". The calories aren't horrible but, whoa whoa whoa on the carbs. That can pretty much derail any good eating day that might be having...

2) Vanilla Bean Frappuccino - <insert comments from #1>. Again, not SO bad, but bad enough =).

3) Caramel Macchiato -  This is like a once in a blue moon sorta thing for me. Just about half as bad as the above items (which seems completely backwards to me). Certainly an eye opener.

Finally, just for shits & giggles, I wanted to see what is in a can of Coca-Cola. Now, we all know that sodas are "fat free" and by many people's standards, that makes it ok, but not for me. Look at the carbs... 27g for ONE CAN. I know some people that drink like multiple cans of this shit daily... wow.

 

A Stark Contrast

It's a pretty relaxing Saturday. Victoria is out at her TKD class and I am home left to my own devices (tee-he). I was going though some journal entries that I made in google docs. This is stuff that I couldn't post here when I was working for <company that I used to work for> (I still wont mention the name, if you know me, you know who I used to work for). I found a journal entry that I made on 3.20.2008 regarding how I felt about work. It made me really happy to read over again because things are drastically different now. Here's the journal entry, edited only to remove the company's name:

I am really starting to not like myself while I am at work. I am not the person that I am outside of work in any way shape or form. At work, I am angry, pissed off, frustrated, short, and, what really bothers me the most is that I just really don't care about the work that I do. I honestly could really care less about any of the work that crosses my desk.

My only motivation to do any work is so that people will leave me alone. I have little to zero interest in almost any issue that comes into my queue. Couple this with the fact that I have completely fallen into the "cover your ass" mentality at work... I am not happy. I guess another factor is that I can just feel myself becoming less and less of a marketable employee as time goes on. It's starting to sound more and more true, what they say about <former company>. The longer you are here, the longer you will stay here. You get so pigeon holed into your special area that you completely loose site of the outside world.

What bugs me the most is that I can't just go out and get a developer job like I used. I have almost completely lost all of my skills in other areas. I am partly to blame for this as is <former company>. How in the world am I going to work 40-50 hours/week and have any interest in doing anything computer related by the time I get home???

Nothing... and I mean nothing in the world makes me as seethingly angry as work does. I got a god damn flat tire in the middle of Tennessee on the way to Lexington, had to drive an hour to an auto center, and spend $150 for 1 tire... 1 TIRE!!! and I was not even close to being as mad as I get on a daily fucking basis at this job.

So there it is. Let's review what is different:

1. I am no longer pigeon holed into any particular area or technology.
2. I am learning new things every day. Since my job now is half development and half services, not a day goes by where I don't learn at least one new thing about technology or web related software development.
3. Work does not make me angry any more. I now see the daily tasks that I have as challenges that I WANT to work on. There are times when I get frustrated, but in this sense, they are more like growing pains as I am constantly working with new things. I haven't wanted to smash something in months .
4. I am no longer working for the weekend. What a nice feeling. I can actually enjoy my time between 8am and 5pm everyday. What a concept.
5. I no longer feel like a worthless cog in a giant piece of shit machine. I actually take pride in the work that I do now. It isn't enough anymore more for me now to do the absolute minimum to remain in good standing. I want to better and I want to do more.
6. I don't feel the CYA or "if I do this for you, will you leave me alone" mentality anymore. I want to do things well and I want to be proud of what I do.

That's it I guess. It's like night and day.

In other news, I found this recipe this morning that I am going to try very soon. It looks delicious (in order to give proper credit, this came from LivinLaVidaLoCarb):

Mouthwatering Low-Carb Bacon & Cheese Cauliflower Better-Than-Potato Pancakes

LOW-CARB BACON & CHEESE CAULIFLOWER CAKES
1 head of cauliflower
1/2 stick butter (melted)
6 strips of crumbled bacon
3 Tbs sour cream
1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
Salt and pepper to taste
1 large egg
Cheese (optional topping)
Sour cream (optional topping)

Break up the cauliflower and place in a large pot of water. Cook on high heat to a boil for 20-30 minutes until very soft. When it reaches this consistency, put out paper towels across the counter and carefully pull the cauliflower out individually on the paper towels. Take more paper towels and place on top of the cauliflower. Gently press down to soak up the excess water in the cauliflower.

Grab a big bowl and place the cauliflower you just dabbed with the paper towels in it. Using a potato masher, thoroughly mash up the cauliflower until it is smooth. Add butter, bacon, sour cream, whipping cream, salt and pepper, and egg. Whip until well-blended.
Heat up a non-stick skillet to medium high, spray cooking spray or use butter to grease the bottom of the pan, and scoop the cauliflower mixture into the skillet. Cook the cauliflower patties for couple of minutes constantly scraping the sides. Gently flip and place cheese on top cooking for two more minutes.

Plate the cauliflower cake and put a dollop of sour cream on top.

ALTERNATIVE RECIPE OPTION: My wife Christine loves garlic and onions, so I added these to the cauliflower mix before the skillet step. It's not too bad, so you might try it!

Worst. Service. Ever.

Firstly, let me start by saying that yesterday's fast went really well. I would venture to say that it was the best one since we started this whole "eat stop eat" thing. I went to my class and taught my own, no problems. After 24 hours, my mind was clear, I wasn't terribly hungry, but, I was ready for some sustenance.

We went to Kerbey Lane, as we always do on Monday nights. We both have class until after 9pm, so it's usually the easiest thing to do. The only difference this night was that some friends from KF came along for the ride.

I'm going to progress this story in timeline format so you can see how ludicrous this is.

9:45pm - We arrive at Kerbey Lane. Request table.

10:00pm - Friends show up, we sit down at table.

10:05pm - We are all sitting around at the table waiting for someone to come over.

10:10pm or so - We order drinks, Ben orders queso.

10:15pm - nothing...

10:20pm - nothing...

10:22pm - Waters come... um... yaaay? Queso comes slightly after. We still have not ordered. At this point I have complained to a manager.

10:28pm - Our waiter prances past our table. We are still all drinking water. We have no yet ordered food. He doesn't say anything to us like "sorry it's taking a while". Nothing. Just a smug "I'm high as shit and I don't care" look at all of us.

10:30pm - V and I get up and leave. On the way out, I talk to the manager and say "I want you to know that we are leaving now and it is because this waiter let us sit at our table for almost a half an hour without ordering. If I DO come back here, I never want to sit in his section again". The manager's response is "OK I take care of him now". Whatever, we are going elsewhere.

You might think that I was in a "lipid fueled rage" (I owe Ryon $0.25 now) as I was coming off of a 24 hour fast, but, let me say that my mind was very clear and I was not feeling irritable. What follows most likely would have happened had I not been on a fast as well. The others at the table were equally as frustrated.

Here are some other random tidbits. He had 4-6 tables, all of which were not filled. The ones that were had 2 people at them. You are not "really busy", you are fucking retarded and need to not smoke weed before you come to work. I don't care what you do at your house. Kill yourself for all I care, but, when your stupid juvenile habit affects my night, we have a problem.

I notice these things. I worked in the service industry for about 8 years or so. I am very tolerant of people in the service industry b/c I know how much it sucks and the BS that you have to put up with on the daily.

For example, we went to Cheddar's for lunch last week. Our waiter dropped all of our food when he brought it out to our table resulting in a big crash. He apologize profusely. He was really trying. It was clearly his first or second day. I left him a larger than normal tip. I felt his pain.

This fucking hippie last night at Kerbey was the complete opposite. Every one of his tables was upset with him and he could not care less. He looked like he was high off his ass. He was slow as shit and couldn't keep up with the smallest workload. He should be fired. Had this been a one off incident, I would be more tolerant, however, this is not the first time we have had him as our waiter. Let's just say he is really consistent. There is no reason that dinner at a restaurant, a NOT EVEN BUSY restaurant should take almost 2 hours.

I have never stiffed a waiter. I have never walked out of a place, until last night. Had I stayed there for dinner, I would not have left him a tip. Yes, he was THAT bad. Victoria ordered a hot tea at 10:06pm and we didn't see it until he was on the way to the table with it as we were walking out at 10:30pm. Unacceptable. Go fuck yourself.

With regard to the manager's response of "OK, I take care of him". How's about taking care of the problem the first time I complain and not the second, third, fourth, or when I am walking out. Get back on the pickup truck with you "Kool" hat and "Garfield" shirt. You have no business managing a restaurant.

Starving, I made, probably not the best choice, and stopped at whataburger on the way home. I am almost ashamed to say it. It was, however, delicious as I had not had a burger from a fast food joint in almost 2 months. No biggie, I will compensate today.

Anyway, that's the end of the rant. Here's what's on the agenda today:

1. Have uverse installed.
2. Play with uverse.
3. Make cream of sorrel soup.
4. Work.
5. Make Wendy take pictures of her daybed.  =)

 

A very nice weekend and some random thoughts

Well, my mother left yesterday to go back to NYC. It was really nice having her here. I am really looking forward to everyone moving here so that we can all be together again.

At any rate, back to business as usual today. There's lots of work ahead of me today. Also, this week, we are going to be fasting twice. I am looking forward to that. Last week, I learned the valuable lesson of not working out TOO hard when you are fasting. I won't make that same mistake this week.

Today marks 4 months together with Victoria. Quite an awesome 4 months if I must say so. I case any of you have no noticed, I am really happy! Most things in life seemed to have fallen into place. She is awesome. I love her.

I am really looking forward to the Bleach movie on Wednesday night. I have already seen it, but, still, there's nothing quite like seeing it on the big screen. I am not sure yet if it will be subbed or dubbed.

Weekend recap:

• Friday - V GOT HER GREEN BELT! Mom cooked dinner, but then didn't feel so hot. Just hung out at night.
• Saturday - Went to the Farmers Market on 4th with V, Mom, Wendy, and Nicky. Later in the day, we went to Ben's house for the next pancake theater. Mom decided not to go b/c she wasn't feeling well, so we ended up just staying for a little bit, then coming back home. We did have a good time while there. V got a ride on Tommy's new bike, we played some foosball, drank some smores milkshakes, and watched almost all of Metalocalypse season one. We stopped on the way and rented The Simpsons Movie, oh yeah... in glorious Blu-Ray. Nom nom nom.
• Sunday - We took a trip to Macy's @ the Domain in the morning. We ordered some new bed stuff. It came on Saturday and we didn't like it. This trip was to return that stuff. We DID find something that we liked, but they didn't have it in the store. We ordered online. Also, we went out for lunch, mom's treat =). Finally, around 3pm, we took her to the airport, said our goodbyes, and parted ways for now. When we got home, Wendy and Nicky came over for a bit (only to get some rainbow cookies) and hung out with us. We spent the rest of the night doing not much of anything.

I know, my head is all over the place this morning. I guess I'm still sorta sleepy.

Catch you later.

Yesterday's Fasting / Last Week Recap

I know, I haven't written in a while, sorry.

I had sort of a hard time last night. I did really well for most of the day. Mostly, it was the typical hunger pangs that would soon go away. I just focused on drinking a lot of water.

I got to my school around 615. I told myself to take it a bit easy, but, I never listen. I started with some moderate jump rope while the kid's classes finished out. When they were done, I, like a raging lunatic covered almost every piece of material that I know at a quick pace.

After the above, I went to Ben's class, then taught my own. By the time I got to my class, I was feeling very tired, and a little weak, but overall still ok. I was really looking forward to going to Kirby Lane, as we always do on Monday night. The drive there was fine too.

Finally, we sat down on the outside patio. It was actually really nice. Then the cold sweat started. I am not quite sure as to what physiologically happened to me, but I felt light headed, nauseous, really hungry, but I didn't want to eat. Just overall, really bad.

I ordered a Hibiscus Fizz thinking some sugar might do me good. It didn't really. For food, I ordered the famous chicken verde omelette with canadian bacon and some wheat toast. The odd part was that I was REALLY looking forward to the toast, I guess because I wasn't feel well. I always associate an upset stomach with eating bland food like toast. Anyway... my food came out, my toast didn't. Damn you, you damn Kirby Lane hippy. I finished my omelette and bacon. The my toast finally came.

I got home and laid down. Finally, I felt better.

Interestingly enough, this morning, thinking I would be starving, I made a 3 egg omelette with peppers, mushrooms, tomato, and cheddar. I couldn't even come close to finishing it. I am hoping that my eating is starting to change.

It is really nice to be back in Austin. Last week, I went to the north east area for work. I got to see my family too, which is always a plus. It was a very hectic week. I flew in Tuesday arriving around noon, saw some clients, then finally got home around 9pm. The next morning I had to wake up early to be off to Long Island. After a full day there, we drove up to NH. You can see some pictures from this on my mobile blog.

After going to sleep close to 2am, we had to wake up at 8am to get to client #2 on time. We worked for most of the day and actually provided all of our deliverables (we had 2 days to do this). Leaving at 545pm or so, we went back to the hotel to relax a bit, then went to a restaurant called "The Library". I would highly recommend this place if you are ever in the Portsmouth area. I ordered an 8oz fillet mignon with with a wine and gorgonzola sauce that was delicious. We shared some sides.

After dinner, I took a walk (thank's to google maps on my phone) to what looked like the town square. Earlier in the day, I had previously emailed one of my former managers from <giant company> knowing that she lived in Portsmouth, to see if she wanted to meet up for a few just to say hi. You know, networking is important. I don't remember the name of the place that we went to, but it was right on the water and you could see Maine from where we were sitting. It was really nice. She was always my favorite manager. It was nice to see her.

The next day, we went in just until noon and then started the trip back to NYC. There were many engaging discussions that one might imagine people in a small business might get in to. Overall, it was a very productive trip.

I finally got back to my parents house around 8am, ate dinner, and subsequently, CRASHED.

Saturday was really nice. I woke up a little early and met Danielle & Lenny for breakfast @ Mike's Place on New Dorp Lane. Yum! I got to see their new house, which is VERY nice and then they brought me back to my parents house where I spent the rest of the day. My grandparents came over as well. All in all, it was a really nice day.

After dinner, we went to a different Mike's Place (this time on Arden Ave) for some coffee/dessert. Good times.

Sunday morning, I awoke to go back to the dreaded LaGuardia airport. I have to say, I was really surprised at how easy parking was. Additionally, check in was a breeze. I guess that is what you get when you have a flight early on Sunday morning. My flight from NYC -> Houston was fine and on time. My flight back to Austin we delayed for over an hour due to some part being broken on the place that needed to be replaced. Sucked, but, shit happens. I'm happy they found it BEFORE we took off =). Finally, around 6pm, I was back in Austin and with my V. I missed her a lot.

I will write some more later. I should probably do some work now...

Update

I know, I know, I haven't written in a while.

The truth is, I have been working a lot, going to kung fu, spending time with Victoria, and when I sleep, I sleep like the dead, recently. And also, wtf is in the air??? My eyes have been itchy for like, a week now. Damn allergies.

So, if you read my previous post regarding IF, that is going well, so far. Granted my last post was only a few minutes ago, but regardless, it's still going well. I was about to do San He for my 1st time today, but then I heard my email and like the Pavlovian slave that I am, came running.

This weekend is shaping up to be busy and nice. If you read Victoria's blog you will see that, yes, she is indeed moving to live at my house with me. Yes, this is a big step. I know this and do feel that we are ready for it. To me, she is way different from any girl that I have ever dated and I have never known that this is what I want so freakin' fast. You know what they say though about opportunity or something. I'm too lazy to Google, but well, you have to take it when it comes.

At any rate, that will be happening gradually over the next month, so we won't be consumed with it all weekend. But, let's back up.

I was planning on going to class today, however, I am pretty effing sore from yesterday brown belt work. Also, I went back way to far on a rollover during warm ups, which caused my neck to make a noise that I hadn't heard in a while. My upper back is all sore and feels shitty. So does my right heel for some reason. I am a mess. Bleh...

Tonight, we are going to see the new Indiana Jones movie at the Alamo. That should be fun. I can't wait to eat =).

Tomorrow, I am not sure what we are doing during the day, but I will need to clean up a little bit to get my house ready for the next UFC PPV which is tomorrow. I am having some friends over to watch it. That is always a good time.

Sunday, we are going to move some of V's stuff over, particularly clothes and essentials.

Monday, we don't really have any solid plans, but I DO need to pack and get ready for my trip. My loose itinerary for next week is as follows:

• Tuesday - Leave for NYC @ 720am out of Austin. Arrive @ LaGaurdia Airport or "Satan's Asshole, as I like to call it" (Dane Cooke) at around noon EST. Go to boss' house in NJ. Go home to parent's house in Staten Island.
• Wednesday - Go to Long Island, work. Leave for Boston from LI.
• Thursday - Work in Boston. Stay over.
• Friday - Finish work in Boston. Go back home to parent's house in Staten Island.
• Saturday - Stay in Staten Island, visit with family.
• Sunday - Fly home to Austin.

 

Holy crap...

Scary? Awesome? Scary-awesome? You decide. I don't know yet...

They know what they are talking about...

Another OM... they keep posting really good ones.

April 11, 2008
Fluid Like a River
Living Like Water

The journey of water as it flows upon the earth can be a mirror of our own paths through life. Water begins its residence on Earth as it falls from the sky or melts from ice and cascades down a mountain into a tributary or stream. In the same way, we come into the world and begin our lives on Earth. Like a river that flows within the confines of its banks, we are born with certain defining characteristics that govern our identity. We are born in a particular time and place, into a specific family, and with certain gifts and challenges. Within these parameters, we move through life, encountering many twists, turns, and obstacles along the way—just as a river flows.

Water is a great teacher that shows us how to move through the world with grace, ease, determination, and humility. When a river breaks at a waterfall, it gains energy and moves on. As we encounter our own waterfalls, we may fall hard, but we always keep going. Water can inspire us not to become rigid with fear or hold fast to what is familiar. Water is brave and does not waste time clinging to its past but flows onward without looking back. At the same time, when there is a hole to be filled, water does not flee from it, fearful of the dark; instead, it humbly and bravely fills the empty space. In the same way, we can face the dark moments of our life rather than running away from them.

Eventually, a river will empty into the sea. Water does not hold back from joining with a larger body, nor does it fear a loss of identity or control. It gracefully and humbly tumbles into the vastness by contributing its energy and merging without resistance. Each time we move beyond our individual egos to become part of something bigger, we can try our best to follow the lead of the river.

Not feeling great...

I am not sure what has been up with me lately. I am just not feeling good. Not sick or anything, just physically tired and drained.

For the past week or so, I have been feeling this way... tired... sore... all I really want to do physically is lay in bed. Maybe it's the weather, I don't know. Maybe I just need to not do anything at all for a week or so.

Yesterday, I tried to go to class in the morning. I didn't feel good on the way, and honestly, I should have just gone home, but I went anyway. I got through 45 min of class then had to stop b/c I was feeling, well, not good. I did get the rest of SeaDragon Cane though, so it wasn't a total bust. 2 out of 5 down for the black belt test in August.

My grandparents are here visiting. I have been having fun with them. I think they are having a good time too.

Weekend Recap...

This was a really nice weekend. Allow me to recap:

Friday - A pretty uneventful work day, but, since I did work at home, I got a chance to get a killer work out in at the fit forge (my garage). This workout consisted of:

Jump Rope: 5m / 4m / 3m / 2m / 1m / 30s / 15s / 30s / 1m / 2m = 19m, 15s

Tabata Set:

1. Heavy Bag
2. Wood choppers with a medicine ball
3. Crunches / Reverse Crunches
4. That thing where you hold the plate in front of your chest then move it around the back of your head.
5. Jar holding

After finishing work, I shaved my head with Victoria's help:

 

... hilarious... I'm keeping it... for now...

That night, Victoria and I ate dinner at home, then went over to Shooter's for a few to play some pool. It was a fun time. I hadn't done that in a while.

Saturday, was a day filled with errands in preparation for my grandparents coming to visit. I don't really remember a whole lot from yesterday, but I did get caught up on some laundry as well as some Ratchet and Clank for the PS3... very fun game.

We went to pick my grandparents up at 7pm, which was when their plane landed. Nice how that works out. After getting them, we stopped to get a bite to eat, then came home and chilled out for the rest of the night.

Today (Sunday), we slept in a little, got up, ate breakfast. We did a lot of hanging around today. I was supposed to go meet my friend Jose to talk about a project that we are working on, but that didn't work out. Anyway... we ended up going to HEB to grab some groceries, then over to Home Depot. My grandfather was very gracious to buy me some stones for my flowerbeds in the front of the house. They look nice. I will post some pics when I take some.

On a good suggestion from Ryon, I also picked up some parts from Home Depot to build these:

http://www.rosstraining.com/articles/wheel.html

Here's the video... insane:

All in all, they cost around $25 for BOTH!!! I tried them after I made them... I have a lot of work to do to get even close to this dude, or... well... anyone who is competent with these things. Whoa... ab pain... whoa...

Also, him and my grandmother cooked some arroz con pollo...mmmm.... for your gringos, that means "rice with chicken". After eating that, we did some more hanging out. And, here I am... laying in bed, 1/2 watching ATHF, 1/2 blogging.

Looking forward, this coming week is my last at my current employer. I will be sure to post some more regarding my feelings on this topic. Unfortunately, being that this is a public forum, I can't really speak or write what I really want to. It will be a good one... I promise = ) ... stay tuned.

Another DailyOM...

Read it... this is a good one:

April 4, 2008
Permission To Forgive Ourselves
Releasing Guilt

Learning to accept the things that we perceive as wrong can be a difficult task for many of us. Often we have been brought up to accept that it is normal to feel guilty about our actions and that by doing so we will make everything seem alright within ourselves. Even though we might feel that we have a reason to make up for the choices we have made, it is much more important for us to learn how to deal with them in a healthy and positive way, such as through forgiveness and understanding.

When we can look back at our past and really assess what has happened, we begin to realize that there are many dimensions to our actions. While feeling guilty might assuage our feelings at first, it is really only a short-term solution. It is all too ironic that being hard on ourselves is the easy way out. If we truly are able to gaze upon our lives through the lens of compassion, however, we will be able to see that there is much more to what we do and have done than we realize. Perhaps we were simply trying to protect ourselves or others and did the best we could at the time, or maybe we thought we had no other recourse and chose a solution in the heat of the moment. Once we can understand that dwelling in our negative feelings will only make us feel worse, we will come to recognize that it is really only through forgiving ourselves that we can transform our feelings and truly heal any resentment we have about our past.

Giving ourselves permission to feel at peace with our past actions is one of the most positive steps we can take toward living a life free from regrets, disappointments, and guilt. The more we are able to remind ourselves that the true path to a peaceful mind and heart is through acceptance of every part of our lives and actions, the more harmony and inner joy we will experience in all aspects of our lives.

This OM just makes me think of some things that I learned from reading "Way of the Peaceful Warrior":

- You have no control over your emotions as they will come and go like the weather. You can only control your actions regardless of what your emotions may tell you. "Being emotional" is not an excuse for not doing the right thing.

- Every decision you make is the right decision for you at the time that you make it. Whether you choose option A, B, or C, you will be lead down a path that will lead to wisdom. Honor that path as you can always learn from it.

- Do not stress over things that you cannot control. Everything happens for a reason whether the reason is obvious or not. I have seen this time and again in my own life. Things that I thought were horrible at the time turned out to be some of the best things that ever happened to me in retrospect.

- Life will present you with lessons as you travel along on your way. If you do not see them and learn from them, the lessons will become more severe until you are forced to see them. Pay careful attention to yourself; the way you react to things and the decisions you make. Be honest with yourself about why you do the things that you do. Look at your life from a third party perspective and analyze trends in your life: what kinds of partners do you pick? what kinds of decisions do you make with regard to your job?

In looking at this point, I found a particular trend in the kinds of partners I was picking to be with. I never realized it until recently, after my last break up.

Up until this point, almost every girl I had picked to be a girlfriend (with 1 or 2 exceptions) had been a girl that I felt needed to be taken care of and mostly came from a broken or unstable home. I won't go into any more detail as this is a public forum, but, and interesting trend indeed.

Because of this recognition, I feel that I was able to make a more informed choice, if you will, this time around. VIctoria is very different from most other girls I have been with. Her caring for my feelings, what I want, how I feel, astounds me. I thought that quality in women was pretty much dead. Indeed, it is a rarity, and I am happy that I have found it. I love her to death.

At any rate, I digress. If any of the 3 of you that read this blog haven't read that book, I highly recommend it. It can have it's somewhat cheesy parts, but overall there is a good deal of things anyone can learn from it.

Have a nice weekend!!

 

The OM's keep comin...

I got this one today:

March 11, 2008
Nothing Big Required
You Are Enough

Most of us have the feeling that we are here to accomplish something big in our lives, and if we haven’t done something that fits the bill we may feel as if we are waiting. We may feel incomplete, or empty, as if our lives don’t yet make sense to us, because they don’t line up with our idea of major accomplishment. In some cases, this may be because we really are meant to do something that we haven’t yet done. But in most cases, we can let ourselves off the hook with the realization that just being here, being ourselves, is enough.

As we live our lives in this world, we share our energy and our spirit with the people around us in numerous ways. Our influence touches their lives and, through them, touches the lives of many more people. When we strive to live our lives to the fullest and to become our true selves, we are doing something big on an inner level, and that is more than enough to make sense of our being here on this planet at this time. There is no need to hold ourselves to an old idea in the back of our minds that we need to make headlines or single-handedly save the world in order to validate our existence.

We can each look within our hearts to discover what is true for us, what gives our lives meaning, and what excites us. We can release ourselves from any pressure to perform that comes from outside of our inner sense of purpose. Staying in tune with our own values and living our lives in tune with our own vision is all we need in order to fulfill our time here. Our lives are a process of becoming so that we cannot help but co-create; being who we are, responding to each moment as it comes, we can trust that this is enough.

I liked this one very much. So many people search for purpose and spend their entire lives wondering what they are "supposed" to do when what they should be doing is "just being".

Yesterday and Today

This weekend has been very nice so far.

 

Yesterday morning, Ben called me to tell me that Sifu Don is starting to teach a Brazilian Jiujutsu class at the Cedar Park school. He thought the class started at 930am. When I got there at 930am, they were already 30 minutes into it, but no big deal. They had just covered terminology that I already knew like "guard", "mount", "open guard", etc...

 

Apparently, that is going to be a weekly class. I am very much down to do that every week. I hope also, that we can get a class together on some week night to practice.

 

When I got home, I took care of a lot of stuff in the house... laundry, cleaning, etc. It really needed it. I wanted to work out yesterday, but I was very, very sore from the workouts that happened on Thursday and Friday.

 

After vegging around for a bit, I went out for dinner with Nik, Sarah, and Dave. After that we went to see "Sweeney Todd". It was pretty good... very graphic. So much so, that it's desensitizing. Much like Kill Bill.

 

This morning, I got up late, ate some breakfast, stayed in bed some more, then got up and went to Target. Now, I am not normally a Starbuck's fan. In fact, they make me very angry b/c they charge for wireless internet. WTF? $3 for coffee and $7 for internet. Fuck that. Anyway.. what I do like from time to time is a coffee type drink. I have been very wary lately about getting them though, with the whole wanting to lose 5lbs (4x) goals. But check this out... you can now get "skinny" drinks. This gets your the sugar free version of the drink made with skim milk. Nice...

 

Sorry for the tangent. I got the food that I needed at target and went home. I did a small workout today. I am still sore, but needed to move around. I ended up doing:

• 9 min of jump rope. 9 - 1 minute intervals with 25 seconds rest in between. I am getting better at this. I can now do one jump per rope revolution. Previously, I jumped rope like an 8 year old school girl having to do a mini jump in between the real jump. The rope moved... real... s...l...o...w.....
• Tabata Interval
• Crunches/Bicycles
• Barbell Side to Side thing

 

For the rest of the day, I don't have much else planned at home. I am going out for sushi with a friend tonight, then, not sure.

 

Hopefully I will get the "give your job notice" phone call very soon...

 

Hmph

I have no motivation. There, I said it.

I have had no motivation anywhere lately... work, kung fu, house, <anything else you can think of>. In fact, Christmas is almost here, and well, whatever. I am happy to go and see my family and friends, but Christmas, I think I can do without this year. I feel nothing.

My general feeling these days is "eh". Everything... is "eh". The range of emotion doesn't really seem to be there. Oh, something really good happened? "Eh, that's cool". Oh, did something bad happen? "Eh, that sucks". Eh...

By the way, how in the hell is tomorrow only Tuesday. For the love of god, can't I just be zonked out until Friday? If any of you reading this are hypnotists, please contact me. Here's my request. It's very similar to "Office Space". Now, from the hours of 8am - 5pm everyday, I don't want to know that I am working. By all means, engage the part of the brain needed for the job to do it's thing, but, can we like, at the same time, fool me into thinking that I am doing something that I enjoy all day? Maybe like... kung fu, or um... god, I don't know.. sleeping? Can we make it so that everyday, despite the fact that I have been working, I feel like I just woke up at 5pm? Please? Anyone??

Ah, screw it... I'm going to sleep.

Awesome Best of CL Posting

I read this today on the best of Craig's list... I could not have said it better:

I see this question posted with some regularity in the personals section, so I thought I'd take a minute to explain things to the ladies out there that haven't figured it out.

What happened to all the nice guys?

The answer is simple: you did.

See, if you think back, really hard, you might vaguely remember a Platonic guy pal who always seemed to want to spend time with you. He'd tag along with you when you went shopping, stop by your place for a movie when you were lonely but didn't feel like going out, or even sit there and hold you while you sobbed and told him about how horribly the (other) guy that you were fucking treated you.

At the time, you probably joked with your girlfriends about how he was a little puppy dog, always following you around, trying to do things to get you to pay attention to him. They probably teased you because they thought he had a crush on you. Given that his behavior was, admittedly, a little pathetic, you vehemently denied having any romantic feelings for him, and buttressed your position by claiming that you were "just friends." Besides, he totally wasn't your type. I mean, he was a little too short, or too bald, or too fat, or too poor, or didn't know how to dress himself, or basically be or do any of the things that your tall, good-looking, fit, rich, stylish boyfriend at the time pulled off with such ease.

Eventually, your Platonic buddy drifted away, as your relationship with the boyfriend got more serious and spending time with this other guy was, admittedly, a little weird, if you werent dating him. More time passed, and the boyfriend eventually cheated on you, or became boring, or you realized that the things that attracted you to him weren't the kinds of things that make for a good, long-term relationship. So, now, you're single again, and after having tried the bar scene for several months having only encountered players and douche bags, you wonder, "What happened to all the nice guys?"

Well, once again, you did.

You ignored the nice guy. You used him for emotional intimacy without reciprocating, in kind, with physical intimacy. You laughed at his consideration and resented his devotion. You valued the aloof boyfriend more than the attentive "just-a-" friend. Eventually, he took the hint and moved on with his life. He probably came to realize, one day, that women aren't really attracted to guys who hold doors open; or make dinners just because; or buy you a Christmas gift that you mentioned, in passing, that you really wanted five months ago; or listen when you're upset; or hold you when you cry. He came to realize that, if he wanted a woman like you, he'd have to act more like the boyfriend that you had. He probably cleaned up his look, started making some money, and generally acted like more of an asshole than he ever wanted to be.

Fact is, now, he's probably getting laid, and in a way, your ultimate rejection of him is to thank for that. And I'm sorry that it took the complete absence of "nice guys" in your life for you to realize that you missed them and wanted them. Most women will only have a handful of nice guys stumble into their lives, if that.

So, if you're looking for a nice guy, here's what you do:

1.) Build a time machine.
2.) Go back a few years and pull your head out of your ass.
3.) Take a look at what's right in front of you and grab ahold of it.

I suppose the other possibility is that you STILL don't really want a nice guy, but you feel the social pressure to at least appear to have matured beyond your infantile taste in men. In which case, you might be in luck, because the nice guy you claim to want has, in reality, shed his nice guy mantle and is out there looking to unleash his cynicism and resentment onto someone just like you.

If you were five years younger.

So, please: either stop misrepresenting what you want, or own up to the fact hat you've fucked yourself over. You're getting older, after all. It's time to excise the bullshit and deal with reality. You didn't want a nice guy then, and he certainly doesn't fucking want you, now.

Sincerely,
A Recovering Nice Guy

Quicky...

"Nothing is less important than a score at half-time."

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!

Just wanted to post to say Happy Thanksgiving to everyone out there. For those of you who I cannot be with today, you are certainly in my thoughts; at the forefront of my thoughts. I hope you all have a great day off and enjoy some time well spent with your families.

As for me, I will be heading over to my friend Jose's house to then go over to someone else. I think Rafael and his family will be there too. It will be nice to see them as it has been a really long time since I have.

Last night was pretty fun. I reconnected with a friend, actually a friend's sister that I met about 10 years ago but spoke to on and off. This is nothing serious or romantic, just a friend, but it was nice to talk. I found out that she actually moved to Killeen, TX which is about 1 hour north of me. I talked to her for a bit then went to Sherlock's.

I met a friend from Kung Fu there and I invited Nik as well. It was a little weird that my friend brought his parents, but I guess I understand why. Apparently, the last time he was there, a woman that could be classified as a "cougar" was there and all over him. I think he told his parents about this and it actually made them a little mad. I think that he wanted to show them. I dunno...

Nik and I left Sherlock's around midnight to go kill things using his PS3. Heavenly Sword is one of the most fun games I have ever played.I want it. I want it really bad. There is nothing more hot than a, well, really hot chick that can thrown around giant life endangering swords (dork alert, I know... )...

Anyway... other than eating a bit today, I am just getting ready to go home tomorrow.

That is all... be safe everyone!

How much longer??

Ok... check this out.

24 = number of hours in a day

168 = number of hours in a week

8736 = number of hours in a year

698880 = number of hours in the average human life span ( see above )

If you are 27, like me, you have lived 235872 hours. You have 463008 left. That's only like 27780480 minutes...

How insane. I have more of less quantified my time left on Earth. How much time do you have left??? Are you using your time well? It's not infinite...