I am a wave of frustration...

a big HAPPY B-DAY to my sister...Jos, you drive me crazy sometimes, but i still love ya.

So we went to Taps last night for Dorothy's b-day(the OC version) and I got there a little before 10. Ordered a beer, and ordered a second when I was bout 80 percent done w/ my first beer. Taps closed at 11, so we I ended up drinking the second one really fast...and today, i have a headache. I seriously hope it's because I had two beers in like 40 minutes, and that I drank the second one all fast...cuz if not, then I'm pathetic...cuz I had a monster headache this morning...but then again, I didn't drink much water either. Still...pathetic.

That's pretty much it...not much goin on in the world of Jay today...

I am another long break....

First of all, Happy Birthday to my friend Dorothy!!!

and second of all:

On Friday, August 25, 2006 at 10:37pm and 10:38pm, my friend Jennie gave birth to two beautiful baby girls, Abigail and Sophia. CONGRATULATIONS to you and Brian on the new additions to the family!!!!!
Abigail's stats: 6 lbs 6.4oz, 18 inches
Sophia's stats: 4 lbs 13oz, 18.75 inches

Since I have been blogging on what it seems to be a weekly basis lately, I totally forgot to mention this, which has been on my mind for a while now... They're trying to implement this machine in the states, and is already in use in Europe, at least at Heathrow, and a couple of others. I know a lot of people will protest the use of this thing, cuz it's an invasion of privacy, but dude, sometimes you have to sacrifice convenience for security. It's not like these are hi-res images that you can post on the web...it's to check if you have anything dangerous on you...bigger picture here folks, bigger picture. Plus I think they have stuff you can use to cover your privates anyway...hope they start using this sucker sooner rather than later...

Still busy as all heck...and I need to run more...

Lesson of the day
Birthdays are good for you. The more you have, the longer you live.

I am a leg short...

MVEMJSNU
Pluto is no longer a planet...wtf....after a hundred years or however long it's been that it HAS been a planet, all of the sudden it's not. Correction, Pluto is now classified as a DWARF planet. So it got demoted...how sad, it didn't even do anything, he he he. Now all of the sudden, it's not part of our 9 planet solar system. It's just a round icy asteroid. Did you know it's orbit intersects w/ Neptune's? So Neptune is actually further than Pluto at a certain point. Anyway, now all of these books are outdated and people will have to buy new ones, and we'll have to teach our kids about the 8 planets. And at the end of the day...we won't even care, except our grandkids will wonder how Pluto(from Disney) got his name...

I had lunch w/ Father Pat today. It is always so good to see him. He always has a way of helping me get a different perspective on things. We got to catch up and he got to advise me on our wedding planning. Always good to get advice from a priest...esp one that you're close to and can be open and honest with. I'm still praying he won't be out of town for our date so he can officiate....(please God please!!!).

Cheryl came over for dinner last night...too bad Kyle wasn't with her. It was a chill night...Adobo, ground turkey, rice and corn...and some Starbucks and Guitar Hero...and of course some good old catching up. Thanks for comin by Cherylita!

Forgot to mention that Cic and I finally saw Wicked, and dude, all I can say is that it was ....WICKED!!!. That show is awesome...instantly climbed up there right behind Les Mis... Also saw Earth, Wind and Fire....they are timeless man...

Anyway, still busy as heck...work blows...

Lesson of the day
The second mouse gets the cheese.

I am a missing part of Voltron...

My gosh...In all my busy-ness...I haven't been able to blog at all lately. First of all, let me say...CONGRATS Janelle and Ron!!! My high school best friend finally got hitched and I couldn't be happier. I hope they're having a ton of fun on their honeymoon, and I hope that they opened our gift BEFORE they left for the honeymoon; I don't think a Europe guide would be much help once one got back from a trip, he he he.

Here are some other pics I haven't posted yet either...sorry for the long delay...

Our Hawaii Trip :)


Jovan's surprise party. This one is WAY late...

Like I said earlier, work has been all but killing me lately. I've had to take home work...which I never really thought I would have to do. To top it all off, I actually have to do my personal e-mail stuff and computer work AT HOME, can you believe that? How dare they...he he he. And I just made it all the more harder to do work at home. I haven't been able to access my work e-mail because they changed our VPN IP address and I forgot to download the document onto my hard drive...it's on my e-mail, which I can't access because of this stupid VPN thing...what a catch 22. So I've been relegated to reading reports and stuff, which is good, I guess. Well...now that I've had my break(which was longer than I expected), it's time to get back to work...

Oh, before I get goin...a funny story...
So on another work break, I decided to run tonight. So I put on my runnin shoes, my headband and turned up the ipod and hit the road. Towards the end of my run, while I was listening to my music...I could hear somethin, so I paused the tunes...and the sound is a dog, barking...and the barking is getting closer and closer. It's a high-pitched bark, so I know at least it's not a big dog...but the barking is still getting closer, and fast. Now, as many people know, I do not have the greatest night vision, so I had absolutely NO idea where this dog was coming from. So I start freakin out, and all of the sudden I see this little tiny dog in front of me, barking like crazy...and I didn't know if it was gonna bite me or not. So I start yelling and the owner comes out of his house and apologizes...all I can do is laugh...and run on...
...the end.

Lesson of the day
When everything's coming your way, you're in the wrong lane.

I am a swish in the dark...

Backhanders
I am frickin annoyed right now...by certain people that I interact with from 8-5. I don't understand why people have to go around other people's backs and to backhanded ish...
me "Oh, blah blah blah blah..." (Giving Information)
person B "Oh, I already knew that"
But what person B is actually saying is, "Oh, I went and talked to so and so, knowing you were already gonna give us the information as soon as you'd found out, and get the info first." WTF man...what is it that drives people to do shit like that? Effin pisses me off man. It's like this person is trying to do my job and saying they can do it better than me...but said person never wanted to be responsible for doing that job in the first place, and so I was given the task to handle it, on top of the additional tasks I'm already handling. Well if that's the case, then have some balls and take on the responsibility for handling it already...you stupid bastard.

I've actually been fortunate enough to have visited many of the states. I attribute that to the many test drives I've been on during my past 3 years at work, the drive from Michigan > Florida > California with the parentals when we moved to Cali, and the Irvine to Michigan drive I went on during my senior project back at UCI.


create your own visited states map
or check out these Google Hacks.

Now, as far as the world is concerned...I've only visited, less than a 1/10th of it...there is so much more to see out there. Definitely wanna see more of the world...


create your own visited countries map
or vertaling Duits Nederlands

And last but not least, for your entertainment...
Check it out

I am another late night...

In the news today...
Gas is gonna go up....AGAIN. What else is new? But it's not the war in the middle east that's driving oil prices up this time, or the change from winter grade to summer grade fuel, it's the Alaskan pipeline, which is corroded and may be closed for the next few months. This is getting absolutely ridiculous man, and it's not the closure or the fact that something's always happening to drive these prices up...it's the fact that these oil companies continue to boast $10 billion dollar sales profits! Isn't that some form of extortion or something? And yet, there seems to be no relief in sight, nor does it seem to be pushing anyone to find an alternative source for energy...or maybe I'm just not looking hard enough. Greedy oil bastards...

10 Straight! Dodgers rule all! He he he, not quite yet...but hey, they're comin up in the world. They've totally come out of their out of control tail spin to the bottom of the division to being 1 1/2 games out of first, behind the Padres and tied w/ Cinci for the wild card. I almost wrote them off myself a few weeks ago, esp after watching them lose to Weave pitchin for the Cards a few weeks back... the agony of defeat and the thrill of victory...Sports, you gotta love it!

The sanctity of marriage
One of my...hmm, actually, for the sake of anonymity, one of the people in one of the various circles of my life, is getting a divorce. Of course, it's no surprise, the divorce rate is what, more than 50% in the US? Which brings me to the question, "What ever happened to the sanctity of marriage?" I mean, the way said person told me about it was this: "Hey, guess what, I'm getting a divorce." It was so matter-of-fact. Like it was the best(which may be true) decision this person has ever made. But this person just said, it was the most logical decision. In another scenario, I know people that have gotten married, explicitly expressing that divorce is always an option. Which brings me to another question, why even go into marriage if divorce is a way out? Why even make those vows of "...in good times and in bad..." and "...til death do us part..." if you are going to keep the option of backing out of it all along? I mean, yes, divorce can be justified when one or both of the parties is unfaithful, becuase they broke that vow right there. Or just realizing you've made a huge mistake...but even that to me, is not completely valid. But to go into marriage thinking that, hey, if it doesn't work out, we can just end it...to ME, is just frustrating. THAT's why the divorce rate is so high, no one things it completely through before they go into it, not realizing that it is a LIFE commitment. Anyway...I don't know what fired me up so much about this...but whatever it was, it did....

Latest update from the lost luggage fiasco...
The luggage they found was mom and pop's...whew. Makes me feel a little better about the whole suit thing now...just crossin my fingers that I get a 100% reimbursement for that sucker.

Lesson of the day
It may be that your sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others.

I am the never-ending dilemna...

Update on the missing luggage situation...
So up until earlier today, I had been calling Hawaiian Airlines' baggage dept, and still no word of the luggage. I had just faxed them a detailed description of the contents of the missing pieces of luggage a few hours ago. As I indicated in my previous post, I had 2 suits in my luggage, and need them by this weekend. So during lunch, I went to the Men's wearhouse and dropped 840 bucks on two new suits and shoes(they had a buy 2 for 600 deal, otherwise they were 400 each). I had to do it today, to guarantee I could have them altered by Friday, cuz the wedding's on Saturday. So on my way back to work, mom calls me saying Hawaiian Airlines called her and said they FOUND "the Bermudez" luggage. That could mean 1 of 2 things: 1) They found my parents' luggage, the black roller bag that had "BERMUDEZ" written on a piece of tape that was on the luggage....OR.... 2) They found the luggage under the BERMUDEZ missing luggage claim, which still does not guarantee that they found MY bag. I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm glad one turned up...but I kinda need to know which one right now, so I can go back to Men's Wearhouse and cancel that order...or else, I'm kinda jacked! Argh!!!!!!!!! I need this ish to be resolved already!!! Calgone, take me away!!!

I am pain in the foot...

Dude, I am so not working right now. It may be partly due to the fact that I just got back from vacation and I'm still in "vacation" mode, or due to the fact that my project keeps getting put on the back burner. I'm feeling a little unimportant and insignificant at the moment, but oh well...eventually this project will be more of a priority, moreso because we'll be right up against the deadline and there's no other choice, and THEN I won't be so bored out of my mind and not working, I'll be working my tail off just to get done in time...it's frustrating, I must admit. But anyway, I'm just unmovitated to work. I kinda feel weird cuz it seems like all of my friends are totally busy whilst I am not...kinda weird how things go like that. Chris(who is also not incredibly busy at the moment) and I were both talking about how we weren't feelin our jobs...I wonder if it's just the summer talkin, or what, but we'll have to wait and see I guess. When things are going slow, I guess you have a lot to think about, current job usually being at the forefront of it all...

So still not working and reading blogs and doing just about anything to pass time. A bunch of people blogged on August 2nd after long hiatuses, which is so weird to me. I read the news, surfed, walked around, talked to coworkers, and now I'm back at my desk.

I wanted to write about a few more things, but they have lazily drifted out of my brain and it's 5 o'clock and I wanna hit the gym...

so...
Lesson of the day
If you lend someone $20 and never see that person again, it was probably worth it.

I am a week too short...

I am sooo not feelin work. I wanna go back to Hawaii...but alas, I am here, back in the working world, counting down the days until my next vacation...

It's a little gloomy outside, but I sure do love it. It's a nice little reprieve from this summer heat. Before we know it we'll be in the middle of a heatwave again...

So Hawaii was a ton of fun, got to take a hike, watch beeb crash a moped, hit the beach, stay in a nice nice hotel for free, eat at the local spots, eat at the tourist spots, and just chill. I could easily spend another 2 or 3 weeks out there w/o a thought of things back home. I didn't once check e-mail while I was out there, even though we had access to a computer...I think that's a first for me. That's how much I was in "vacation-mode" It was a great vacation, right up until the end when Hawaiian Airlines lost my and my parents luggage! Damn airline people. It's been such a headache. My mom has been calling me every hour to find out if they've called me back yet, I found out today when I gave a follow-up call, that the agent that filled out the original claim filled out a DAMAGE claim and not a MISSING LUGGAGE claim...so the wire was never sent out to find those bags. Frickin great. I've heard different things about lost luggage reimbursement, from 1-2 hundred per lost bag, to 2800 per lost bag...Considering the huge difference, I'm thinking I won't be getting 2800 per bag. But there was definitely at least 1200 worth of stuff in MY bag...my suits AND my camelback. So unless I'm guaranteed I can get the 2800 bucks for my lost luggage, then I pray I get our luggage back by next week, or else I don't have a suit for Janelle and Ron's wedding...

Lesson for the day
Always read stuff that will make you look good if you die in the middle of it.