I am the finish line...

I was wondering...in hotels and stuff, if you don't use all of the toilet paper while you're staying there, do they just chuck it out and replace it w/ a brand-new one? What happens to the old toilet paper? Do they at least put it in the employee bathrooms or something? Cuz if not, then that's the biggest freakin waste ever. I wish I had a hotel worker friend that I could ask these qustions too...and there's always the internet...answer to come soon...

Personality
One thing I learned back in my training at work a few months ago, not everyone has the same personality type, and the trick to moving forward is to understand their personality and adjust how you deal with that personality accordingly. Not that I never knew this before, but I had to cite a source to substantiate this most recent rant about life. Anyway, as I was saying...different people, different personalities, different approaches. For example, you cannot tell a person who is very meticulous and careful with their work that you need something done right away, and it doesn't have to be perfect. Why? Because this person stamps their work with the knowledge that it was done without missing any details. This person is validated by their work, and they would not give you anything less than their best. Likewise, this same meticulous person cannot expect their fast-paced fast-talking, get the job done ASAP person to work on a task to perfection. It's all about the approach, understanding each personality type and dealing with it appropriately. And eventually, working in the same environment, each has to make compromises and adjust with the other in order to maximize efficiency and move forward together. And of course, there are extreme situations that gravitate towards a specific personality type, but that is not the majority of the time. So it's a good knowledge base to have in the workplace. But the great thing about approach, or outlook, is that its applications extend beyond the confines of the work environment, it applies to life. Because, as we all know, our loved ones do not have all the same personality, therefore, they cannot be treated as such. It's funny how often that zooms right past our noggins. We assume we can treat everyone the same way. Communication between two individuals can easily go down the tubes because each personality is not understanding the other. It's the basis of communication, coming to common ground where both people can understand one another clearly. I'm not really trying to make a point, it's just an observation, that I think could be made by more people.

I am the anchor leg...

Nothin like cruisin down the road listening to Classic Rock. Cruising through Weed, California...ahhh, how I reminisce about the old days, he he he. Shasta River...makes me a little thirsty. Dear on two legs...never thought how funny those signs looked. Why is it up on it's hind legs when it's a deer crossing sign. Shouldn't it be galloping or whatever the hell deer do? It's amazing how slow 60 mph feels when you've been averaging 80 for about 4 or 5 hours. Geez...we're at a crawl, he he he.

Yesterday, I got to ride w/ the Hulk, he's a cool guy, he he he, funny as hell man. We have a few things in common, he likes to bic his head. So we spent a good part of the morning talking about razors and stuff. He's been on this freakin test drive since Ohio...so 21 days, he's been driving accross the damn country...and I thought I had it back. Just supports my whole perspective thang. I seriously wouldn't know what to do if I had to do this crap for as long as he has...

Well...it's the long drive home today...yay!

I am a hood ornament...

Good news
Well, good news? or bad news? I got a call from Charles today(cic's dentist, or almost dentist friend) and he told me he talked to the head of their deptartment about my x-rays and apparently, I didn't have enough whatever to qualify as a board. Meaning, I am no longer gonna get free dental work...dangit. But I feel totally bad, cuz he has to work on this other person he had in mind, but his is way worse, so it'll be a much harder procedure. So I guess in a way, it's more bad news than good. And the worst news is that I'm gonna have to go to the dentist to get this taken care of now. Shucks...

The drive
Lots of things go through your mind when you're sitting in an all-day drive w/ people who do not speak your language nor you theres. So you just ponder...about life, about God, and about the things you see around you. We didn't see the sun today until 6:15PM, it was totally cloudy all day. We also passed by Joe Jumpoff Creek somwhere on the 5 in Oregon Country...kinda freaky as to why they probably named it that. It's like that Ravine that got named after the schoolteacher chick in Back to the Future III, she was supposed to die in the ravine, but Doc and Marty changed that by saving her. There are a lot of trees around here, and pretty much all you can see. Oh yeah, we made this one pitstop and they had an Adult Video Store and Arcade. Arcade? Sweet! We ddin't get to go check it out though, so pooh on that. The hotel I stayed at in Seattle was much nicer than the other hotels I've stayed at on my other business trips, which is mainly the Holiday Inn in Totowa, NJ and some other places. But the Courtyard by Marriott was nice man. Free internet access, well actually, the room was about 170 a night so not really free...but it's on my company anyway, so I don't really care. My lap gets pretty hot from my stupid laptop sitting on it all day long, so I wonder if I've done any damage...let's hope not. Ramble ramble ramble...thank God for XM radio.

It's been okay so far, not as mind-numbing as I make it out to be. There's two cars, and sometimes, one of the english speaking dudes is in the car w/ me. One's from Holland and the other is from Ohio. I've talked to the Holland one more just cuz we've been in the car longer at some points, but the other guy is cool too. He's freakin Hulk Hogan man, I swear. He's pretty beefy, has a shaved head w/ that wrestler goatee and he wears a tanktop, TUCKED IN!!!! HA HA HA. He even has that Hulk Hogan type voice...it's pretty hilarious. But like I said, he's cool. We all laugh a lot because of our communication barriers w/ the other guys. Kinda makes me want to pursue japanese.

Whew, what another long day...

I am a sigh of relief...

What a weekend...

Travel...
I pretty much spent all day yesterday traveling...

It's pretty funny to me that as many flights I've taken in the past few years, I'm still terrified of flying. I mean, sometimes, it doesn't bother me that much, but I still always get bothered...I really wish I could just come to a point and totally not be afraid. Well anyway, I flew up to Seattle last night. We were delayed for a pretty long time, first, I don't know why, but then, the flight was overbooked. PLUS, the plane they sent us was a different configuration than the one they expected, so there were 18 less seats than they could hold. So they had to see who would give up their seats for a 1st class ticket the next day, but I couldn't cuz I had to be here by last night(which didn't end up being true, cuz I didn't have to meet w/ my people early today, but oh well). Anyway, we finally took off and two and a half tense hours later, we landed. Took me another hour so, but I finally got in late last night...sheesh.

Earlier that day, it was the drive home from Vegas, and boy oh boy was it killer. We left early cuz I wanted to have ample time to have Father's day lunch w/ the fam and pack before I went. Well, it still took over 5 hours to get home. Unfortunately, there was a multiple fatality accident about 2 miles before we hit primm and traffic was pretty much all but stopped dead. Took us almost 2 hours to advance about 5 miles...after that, it was pretty smooth sailing, but that traffic was enough to throw lunch out the window and I only had about an hour and a half to eat and pack...which AGAIN ended up being that I actually HAD more time because my flight would end up delayed.

Turned out my day of not so much time ended up being a day of extra time that came in surprises...not the extra time I would have preferred, but time is a precious commodity.

Vegas weekend...
Fun fun and more fun. Well it could've been a little bit more fun if I had won instead of losing when I gambled, but fun nonetheless. It was my buddy Kyle's bachelor party and it was really good to see him. There have been big changes in his life and I was so glad to hear all about them coming from him. It's so good to see old friends and catch up. One thing we talked about was that even though we don't get to hang out or see each other as much as we did back in the day, we still valued our friendship a lot. Because the friendship is self-maintaining, we understand we're doing our own things, so we appreciate the time we do have. Anyway, back to Vegas. We partied it up at that outdoor circle bar by Harrah's and then went to Crazy Horse Too for some good old-fashioned debauchery...whatever happens in vegas stays in vegas...so that's about all I can say, he he he.

Sometimes, I find myself in the funniest situations. While I was waiting for my delayed flight to finally get it's final boarding call, I decided to go to McD's and I ended up getting myself a coffee. While I was putting my coffee and creamer in my coffee, and I threw away the coffee packets, I saw a 5 dollar bill...in the trash can. There were people around, but I decided to go for it...I stuck my hand in very quickly and fished out my new, well at least new to me, five dollar bill. hell yeah. I think I should've waited a week to go to Vegas, he he he.

Another Long day
Damn, I'm tired... what a long ass day. We didn't get started early, so I ate breakfast and read some reports. Then I ran and worked out...a little too hard I think, cuz I almost passed out. Then, I did some more work and had a meeting, went to dinner and then went back to another meeting, and then, some more work. Now, I'm back, and I'm freakin pooped like crazy. My arms, legs, and brain hurt. I think I shall retire...got a 400+ mile drive to make tomorrow.

Good night...

I am a guinea pig...

So today, I go for my second set of X-rays for Cic's dentist friend. Same one that gave her the x-rays and told her she had perfect teeth. He needed a few more people to check out and after I went, I found out my teeth were perfect too...perfect for his Board Exam. Seems I have less than satisfactory level dental health. Which is quite understandable since I haven't gone to the dentist in about 3 years. Yuck, I know, but hey, no benefits, no dentist. Anyway, since he's gonna use me for his board exam stuff, I get all my work done for free, and even afterward, he said he'd hook me up if I needed anything.
It's friday, and my appt just wasted half of my day...on to LOS BIGAS BABY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WISH ME LUCK! WOOOHOOO!

I am the tear in my eye...

June Gloom
The weather today is seemingly perfect for the type of day it is...I decided to wear all black today in mourning for my Lakers. After 5 games, the better team won, and now it's time to say goodbye to this season, the 03-04 Lakers, and some of the players and staff who will be leaving us this year. It was quite a frustrating series to watch, simply because of how they lost. If they came to play every game and were just outplayed each game, then fine. But what made this particular series tough for me was that they pretty much got their a$$es handed back to them on a platter pretty much every game. The Lakers didn't bring the game they needed to win, and got beat by the better team. So with that, I must extend my hand and say...

Congratulations Detroit Pistons

standing still
How much patience is enough patience? Is there such thing as waiting too long? For example, someone is just trying to bide their time for their "big break," to get what they deserve. But how do they know when it's time to finally say, "I guess it wasn't meant to be..."? I mean, how does one actually know when it's time to hold'em or when to fold'em? Because, naturally, as someone waits for something, the world keeps turning and other opportunities or things may be passing by, but they'd never be the wiser. I don't really know, just one of my many "wonderings" I guess. I mean, I've always felt deep down in my heart to never give up hope, but hope and reality are two totally different things. You can always hope whatever one is hoping for will happen, but there must come a point when one has to look at his/her situation objectively and know what the next step is, so to speak.

minor setbacks
I've been trying to get into a regular routine at the gym again...since Hawaii is like 3 months away...gives me time to get in shape. So far this week, I've worked on legs and arms and chest with Cic. It's cool cuz she's my gym partna, it's so boring to go by yourself all the time. But I we were about to do bench and I found out that I could not bench because of my shoulder. I went through some pretty nasty pain trying to use the bench press...which made me pretty sad. Of course, there's a ton of other exercises, but bench was always one of my favorites. Stupid shoulder...it's been like almost 6 months now since I've injured it and it's still causing me problems, after four months of cortizone-steriod injections and trying to rehab it. It's definitely frustrating, and often times, I am inclined to just have it surgically repaired. But if that were the case, I wouldn't be able to do any workouts for a while...so I guess I'll have to just wait to see how much pain it causes me.

pick-me-up
Michael Jordan, after living a full life, died. When he got to Heaven, God was showing him around. They came to a modest little house with a faded Chicago Bulls flag in the window.

"This is your house for eternity, Michael," said God. "This is very special. Not everyone up here gets a house."

Michael felt special, indeed, and he walked up to his house. On his way up the porch, he noticed another house just around the corner. It was a 3-story mansion with a brilliant White, Purple, and Gold sidewalk, a 50 ft. flagpole flying an enormous Los Angeles Lakers flag, and in every window, a Lakers logo.

Michael looked at God and said; "God, I'm not trying to be ungrateful, but I have a question: I won six NBA Championships, more awards than I can remember and am the greatest player of all time."

God said; "So what do you want to know, Michael?"

"Well, why does Shaq get a better house than me?"

God chuckled and said; "Michael, that's not Shaq's house. It's mine."

I am a heavy eyelid...

Gimme more!
Dang, Yahoo e-mail just expanded their storage space to 100MB! Sweet! I probably don't even need half that much space, but I have it in case I need it! So for all those people who simply refuse to delete e-mails, their inboxes won't get filled up and not be able to receive messages anymore...at least for a while until they DO get filled up. And now that there's more space they'll probably not delete any messages at all anymore and thus still have that full inbox problem, sheesh, I guess for them, it doesn't really matter. But I have more usable space and I love it!!!! I don't like the new format though. Call me an old dog, but I just liked it the way it was. Sometimes, change isn't always good I think, esp in this case.

Navigation factoid
There is a street called Washing Machine Rd in Needles, CA.

Ulterior motives irritate the crap out of me man...they really do...ARGH

I am a floating interrogative punctuation...

Who wins the battle btwn a high energy person and a low energy person? Is it like heat, which travels from hot to cold? Which pretty much means, given a limited amt of heat, the cold will eventually sap out all of the heat. During a camping trip, the campfire only lasts as long as there is wood. Does energy work the same way? If you were a high energy person and ran into a low energy person, would the low energy person just keep drawing your energy away until you have none left? Or does the high energy person have enough energy to bring the low energy person up w/o losing their own?

It's crazy to think about how unforgiving our society can be at times. I always hear, "Let ____ burn in hell," or things like that said about people. Sometimes, I don't think people grasp the concept of what they are saying. And yeah, they're just saying it, but I believe it has to have an inkling of truth to it, because people are obviously not joking when they sayi things like that. I imagine the absolute worst things that can happen, the greatest fears, the worst torture, and the most pain and anguish a person can experience. I believe that hell is a hundred times worse than that...and to damn someone to hell or hope they rot in it, well I just don't think I could ever do that or even think it. I couldn't savor the thought of another person's suffering and pain. I even feel bad when someone I already don't like is going through hardship. We're supposed to be a forgiving people, yet we seem to be more of the punitive and vengeful type. And I know that forgiveness is very hard to come by in many situations, but to hold a grudge is to dwell, and to dwell on the negative is to remain unhappy. And it seems, we like to do that a lot of the time.

"Allow others to make decisions and be responsible and accountable."

I am an unkind word...

just great...

J	Jolly
A	Adventurous
Y	Yucky

Name / Username:

Name Acronym Generator
From Go-Quiz.com

I am a nice long walk around the block...

Milk does the body good
A few days ago, I had a pretty rough encounter. I got pepper sprayed! Well, actually, I wasn't "sprayed" so much as I rubbed it on my face when I was fixing Cic's pepper spray thingy(It broke when she threw her keys at me. She wasn't mad, her buzzer thing to open the front door doesn't work). So I guess the canister was cracked or something as I was trying to put in back into its case. But after I was done trying to fix it, I must have rubbed my face or something. Cuz soon enough, my lip started to burn slightly. I kindof waved it off, thinking that I it was just a case of when my lips feel like they're burning or something. But the burning sensation started to spread...and get more intense. I was telling Cic that it started to hurt, and proceeded to go to the faucet and throw some cold water on it...big mistake. I guess it incited the effect because soon, it spread to my eyes and my whole face was burning! And when I say burning, I mean BURNING, it felt as if someone had a lighter and was holding it to my face. (I was to find out later that there is some chemical in pepper spray that tricks your brain and intensifies the pain you are feeling...so it's not physically as bad, but your brain is telling you it is). I was in freakin agony...at this point, saliva was coming out nonstop from my mouth and mucus dripping from my nose...while tearing like crazy and still my face burned. We called Chris to research a remedy for it and he told us that Milk would work. Luckily her roomie had some milk(non-spoiled thank God) and I began to wash my face with it. Kinda gross washing your face w/ milk man...but it began to relieve the pain soon enough. It wasn't until after about 15 minutes that the pain completely subsided. Kinda funny to think that milk was the remedy for this thing. Who would've thunk it? Man....agony I tell you...don't ever let someone get you w/ that stuff... It's worse than it looked on Jackass...trust me.

I got the power!
...Mach 3 Power that is. Actually, I don't HAVE the power, I WANT the power. One of my coworkers swears by the new mach 3 razor...the one that has the electric stimulus thing for the hair follicles so that shaving is much smoother. I wanna try it for my head. I'm excited, I wanna see if it's really gonna be easier to shave my head. I'd still rather opt for a permanent hair removal system, not electrolysis though, I'm afraid of frying the few brain cells I already have left. Update to come...

Two words about the NBA finals so far...

FREAKIN LAKERS!!!!

"Everything we are and have is the result of choices we have made in our lives. We choose our attitudes, beliefs, behaviors, and feelings. These choices determine the course of our lives."

I am an out of body experience...

Late night distress call
So I had fallen asleep last night somewhere around midnight I think...then whilst I was in a dream(I think it was a Harry Potter dream...I'm trying to finish the book before I go see the flic), I could hear a voice...kinda faint at first, but soon grew very loud, but I couldn't decipher what the person was saying. Naturally, I woke up becuase the voice was coming from outside of my dream...it was almost 2:30AM. The voice ended up being pop(remember what I said about his voice? He can't control his volume), and he was talking to mom. Well, I was irked to be woken up like that, but I had to find out what was going on, so I went to the living room and saw that he was on the phone, talking to mom. Apparently, the van was not starting and mom was out in the parking lot. Luckily, she was with her friend, and they had been trying to start it for over an hour...why they waited that long before they called, I have no idea. And mom is so weird, she didn't wanna call AAA because they would take too long(yet she tried for an hour to start the car). 10 minutes later, I arrived at her work. tried to start the car...and it wouldn't turn over. So we left the van there, and headed home. But when I got home, I couldn't sleep anymore...so I ended up not being able to go to bed until 4 something...needless to say, I'm a little tired...but not as tired as I thought I'd be. I'll feel it later...I'm sure it'll all catch up to me.

8 days a week
I feel like that Beattles' song man...I have to work tomorrow and stay late next week, until this current project I'm working on is finished. I swear, it's been project after project lately, except for that one lil lull in the work...which was, apparently, the calm before the storm. Damn...I wanted to run and work out and watch Harry Potter too...work is slowly putting a stranglehold on my life...

I'm gonna get out of here and have some fun for a while...

I am a late night snack...

It's incredible how much life can change over short period of jobs. One day you're working, the next you're not; one day you're in perfect health, the next you're a resident of injuryville, USA; and the list goes on and on. I mean, I'm listening to London singing along to Toxic after she just sang Drift away by Uncle Kracker...crazy, ain't it? How much has SHE changed over the past almost four years, and I stress "almost" because she's grown up ALOT in such little time.

Anyway, so work has been quite the bore lately...busy, but boring. I'm workin on some monotonous voice recognition testing stuff and it's killing me. So I jumped on the web to turn on the webcast of the news and my manager goes, "Please don't use the internet so much." Damn, I hate when that happens...I was just turning on the radio, but he probably wouldn't have understood it, and I did not want to go into it, so I just let it go. I hope he doesn't think I'm a slacker now, since we just got our performance reviews and I was quiet happy with mine...he probably thinks I don't care anymore..but I do, I just wanted to turn on the radio...

Can't wait for the NBA finals to start on Sunday...me and Jon jon were thinking about getting tickets to go see them there...we'll have to see how that pans out.

"The best things in life come unexpectedly."