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March 18, 2004, 3:42 pm

"1-2-3, 4, 5, 6-7-8" - that song from Sesame Street that normally went up to 12

8 more days in San Jose (not counting today 'cause today's mostly over already). I can't believe it! My time is dwindling so fast, and I can't even take some time to catch my breath because I'm so busy at work! I'm actually looking forward to the move so that I'll have a week off! But it's not work that I don't like, don't get me wrong. I'm actually really enjoying working on coding and stuff like this. I worked till 8:15 the other night without really feeling like I was working overtime. And it's neat when things work and it's keeping me really interested. :)

I have a new officemate, and I'm really sad that I'll be leaving so soon! He's a guy from Japan, and he's really nice. He's here for two months, and he has pictures of his adorable children on his desk. We just talked a little about our lives and stuff today, and his kids' names are Mizuki (she'll be 3 in June) and Yuuki (he's only 3 months old). He says he really misses them, it's so sad! Anyway, he's really nice, and I feel bad that this group is such a crazy one to join, especially when his English is still a little rusty. He doesn't speak Japanese to me, even though I told him I can understand it pretty well, and I think he's trying to practice with me before I leave next week. His English is actually really good, he just hesitates before he speaks any words. And I think he has a little problem with vocabulary, but hey, who doesn't?

So I have 4 more days of work because I'm not coming in next Thursday and Friday. I got a major piece of code working this morning, so I'm feeling pretty good about it. Now I'm just right back in the code implementation phase again, trying to put more working code into it. I've found that I really do have a good eye for detail, and I'm happy that I'm putting that skill to good use.

After today, pretty much all my days/nights are jam-packed. Tomorrow, I'm meeting with my old team one last time for lunch before I leave. Everyone's found a job now (except for my old boss...) so it'll be a fun lunch instead of a sad one like when me and Jude were leaving and everyone else was laid off. Tomorrow night is sushi & Cranium night! A group of us are going to Miyake's in Cupertino to have sushi and sake-bombs, then coming over to our place to play Cranium and party. :) It should be a good time. Hopefully everyone will have fun!

Saturday during the day, we have some sorting to do, to get rid of some junk, hopefully, and then, Jonathon, maybe his mom, and I will be going to dinner at my dad's house. My aunt and uncle will be making dinner there which I'm looking forward to. :) Sunday is more cleaning and sorting, then Sunday night is dinner at Mike & Kari's house. Monday night, I think will be some packing of personal belongings and whatnot. Tuesday is dinner at Azuma's with Sara one last time. Wednesday night is some fun in Santa Cruz with the girls. Thursday is no work and having the movers pack our stuff into boxes. Friday is having the movers pack the boxes into a truck, and then cleaning the house from floor to ceiling. Saturday morning is departure.

Anyway, my code is compiling, so now it's time to regression test. Hopefully none of my old code got broken in the process of adding new code. :p Wish me luck!! Have a great weekend.

March 7, 2004, 3:26 pm

"What a wonderful world."

I was reading Mary's xanga blog today at work (since it's Sunday and I've already been plenty productive according to my own standards) and she had this really neat weblink thing where you can get a map generated according to how many states or how many countries you've been to! Here are my maps:

It's kind of sad when they tell you that you've only visited 8% of the countries, especially when you don't remember, like, 99% of the 8% that you've visited. :) It's kind of like cheating, I guess, but oh well.

But I'm not much on travelling, at least to places that I don't think I could understand the language. Well, I think I would have fun if I went, but the anxiety before I actually went on the trip would be astronomical. If I travel, I like to travel to, like, Hawaii. Relaxing, tropical places. But there are a lot of things where I would rather not do it if I had a choice, but after I end up doing it, I really like it. So maybe I just need to travel more. But that entails having spending money, of which I have none. SO... back to the drawing board. :)

Now I'm just babbling. Is it okay for me to sneak out yet?? I'm obviously not getting anything done anymore today. I wish I was closer to the stairwell. :(

Oh... so yesterday, after the Memorial Service for my mom, Erika, Jonathon, and I went to PetsMart in Milpitas to get some stuff and look at hammies. And wouldn't you know, Jonathon and I (well, mostly I) came back with two more hams to add to our collection. And we can't even put them together with the others because they fight, not to mention, these two are girls. So they're dwarf hamsters, one is this really pretty greyish blue color, and the other is black... and looks SO MUCH like Evie!! Only tiny. They're so cute! The grey one is Scout (as in, from To Kill a Mockingbird, Scout Finch, who has to dress like a ham in the school play) and the black one is Lyra, from Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy (which I highly recommend if you haven't read it yet). Lyra has quite an attitude, just like the Lyra in the book. Pictures to come soon. And possibly ham babies if we feel bored enough in Tucson. :) J/K...?

Tonight we're going to Dave & Buster's for a friend's birthday. We haven't been in a while 'cause it's so expensive. But her boyfriend rented a room and everything with a pool table and whatnot, so we might be able to make it a quasi-cheap night. Besides, we have tickets to use up before Tucson. :) I'll drag Jonathon home early anyway since I have to work in the morning... like I'm kinda doing right now. Haha.

Well, hope everyone had a good weekend. Enjoy the beautiful weather for me! :)

March 2, 2004, 4:36 pm

"Your face, it haunts / My once pleasant dreams / Your voice, it chased away / All the sanity in me." -- My Immortal, Evanescence

That song (My Immortal) is one of the prettiest songs I've ever heard. The piano sounds so crisp and clear in the beginning, and the melody is so sad. And the words, of course, are heartbreaking. The first time I heard this song on the radio, I had tears well up in my eyes, I'm serious! The only other song I can remember actually getting teary with was (don't laugh) Don't Take the Girl by some Country singer (Tim McGraw?). And that was in high school.

Anyway, I'm just waiting for my code to build, 'cause when I make a change to a header file, it takes FOREVER. Plus I haven't updated in a while, so I thought I should. For whatever reader(s) might be out there. :)

Not much has been going on. My weekends are filling up pretty fast, though, 'cause we're trying to plan on seeing our friends and family here before we leave. This past Friday night, Jonathon and I got to go see The Lion King (the Broadway Musical) at the Orpheum Theater in San Francisco! We had to trade tickets with Shirley due to an unfortunate circumstance, but I'm glad it worked out so that she can still see the show instead of miss it altogether. The show was fantastic!!! I'm so glad I got to see it in San Francisco before we left, and it was definitely one of the best birthday presents I've ever gotten. (Shirley bought me the tickets for my birthday last year. :)) Jonathon and I both thoroughly enjoyed the show and bought a program and t-shirts to remember it by. :)

Saturday, I had a nice family dinner at my uncle's house (my dad's older brother). I got to see two of my cousins that I haven't seen in years, which was really nice. They had us over as a going-away thing for me, which was really nice of them. It was a delicious meal, and we had a lot of laughs around the table after dinner and during dessert. I worked on Sunday, which kind of ruined the weekend, but at least it felt a little more like a normal weekend. (Since we did something on Friday night, it was like a short Saturday!) We did go shopping a little on Sunday after I got back from work. I got some clothes for Tucson 'cause we got a 20% off an entire purchase at American Eagle Outfitters, which was also having some sales on basics! I got capris, a tank top, a halter top, and a v-neck shirt for $70! For AE, that's pretty good. (Could be better, but the clearance rack was awful.)

This weekend, we don't have much planned (maybe D&B for a friend's birthday Sunday night, but I have to work Sunday, so...), but from then on, the weekends are pretty full. Actually, I just remembered that Jonathon's mom *might* come this weekend, which would be nice, and we have a Memorial Service for my mom's 12 year. Next weekend, we're going to Sacramento to say goodbye to Jonathon's family up there. The weekend after, we have some dinner plans and then we'll start packing little things we're going to take ourselves and cleaning up the house and stuff. The weekend after that, we'll be on the drive to Tucson. I can't believe it's so soon already!! (And I can't believe my code is still compiling!!)

Work is busy, but at least I'm coding again. It's a lot of fun when it makes sense and I know what I'm doing. I hate hitting the speedbumps, but hopefully, they'll be less and less the longer I'm here. :) Okay, it finally compiled, with errors of course (I'm no SuperWoman), so back to work! I hope everyone's doing well!

February 17, 2004, 4:38 pm

"Why can't I breathe whenever I think about you / Why can't I speak whenever I talk about you?" -- Why Can't I, Liz Phair

I can't stand that song by Liz Phair. I mean, it's really catchy, and I can't help but sing along. But have you listened to the words? She's "the other woman" in an unfaithful relationship!! Actually, according to the song, she apparently has a boyfriend or something, too, but she's going out with this other guy who has a girlfriend anyway!! One of the other lines is, "Isn't this the best part of breaking up / Finding someone else you can't get enough of?" Well shit, I guess she got enough of the boyfriend that she's cheating on! But of course, they try to make it sound at first hearing that it's just another song about a girl who's crazy about a boy.

Anyway. Sorry it's been awhile. I have been working my butt off (which, BTW, is unfortunately just a figure of speech in this case) about 10 hours a day, 6 days a week. Yes, 6. I came in that Sunday after my last posting, and I came in again the day after Valentine's Day. And we IBMers don't get President's Day off, so poor Jonathon had a four day weekend without a partner in crime. Luckily, the Sundays usually aren't full days. Both times, I got here around 9:30 and left around 4. I can't tell when people leave at night around here 'cause they all seem to get her later than me on regular days. I'd say around 9:30 or 10. I still get in around 8:30, but stay till around 6 or 6:30. On one rare occasion (last Friday), I stayed till 7:15. And it's quite frustrating because everyone's hella busy, too busy to really sit down and explain things to me to the point where I can be of much help. And when I have little questions here and there, I feel bad asking/bothering them, but if I don't, I remain stuck. Then there's the whole problem of getting the necessary access and IDs that I need to work smoothly, which haven't quite been ironed out yet. But hopefully by tomorrow. :)

Well, we officially have a place to live in Tucson! Our first choice complex called us back and said that one is opening up in mid-March, and our lease will start on March 20th, only 8 days before we'll get there, so it should be just fine. (Besides, when you pro-rate $670/month for 8 days, it really isn't much by San Jose standards!) We had our pick of upstairs or down, so we chose down, for the hot summers (heat rises!). Also, I don't think I'll hire movers again when we move out of those apartments (and into a condo??), and it's much easier and safer to avoid having to carry our 230-pound TV down a flight of stairs. And this way, we won't have to pay the movers extra to move us in. They charge by the stair when you have to go up. The unit isn't near a pool, so that's nice. There's a BBQ area nearby, and I think our bedrooms will face the parking area, but that's okay, we had that at our other apartment and cars at our current duplex without a problem. I'm very excited about the bay window, and having closets that don't have the stupid swing-out doors like we do now. I'm also excited about the mold-less walls (unlike our current abode), garbage disposal, dishwasher, and second bathroom/bedroom. :)

On Saturday, February 7th, Shirley and Tony treated Shirley and me to a day at the Claremont Spa! It was a fantastic time, and I really enjoyed all the services. I think the best part of the day, though, was hanging out with Shirley and just being girls and enjoying each others' company. I had a great time and feel so lucky to have a friend like her to support me through all these ever-changing times in our lives. :)

Valentine's Day was sadly spent running errands. I felt bad, but there were so many things that needed doing that I didn't get around to during the week 'cause by the end of a work day, the last thing I wanted to do was run errands. We got to do some fun things, too, though, like go to Petco (which is always fun with Jonathon), get Cold Stone Ice Cream, and go to Kinokuniya and Sanrio. Well, okay, maybe the last things were more fun for me. But whatever. :) Jonathon was a sweetie and broke our "no gifts" promise without making me mad. He got me a card (which he actually wrote quite a bit in!) and this year's Valentine Woodstock. I collect those little $5 stuffed Woodstock dolls that come out about 5 times a year (Valentine's, Easter, Graduation, Halloween, and Christmas) at Hallmark and Long's. Actually, I don't buy the graduation ones. But whatever. I haven't been to Hallmark or Long's in so long I didn't realize this years' Woodstocks were out already. :) So that was nice. I felt bad 'cause I didn't get him anything. :( But he cheated! :)

Anyway, that's about it for now. I'm on the phone with helpdesk, so I'm going to upload this now. We're playing Magic and having dinner at our house with Aaron, Prateek, and Sadaf tonight, yay!! :) At last, something to look forward to. :)

February 5, 2004, 9:51 am

"Lately I've been staring in the mirror / Very slowly picking me apart." -- Lately, Jodeci

Yes, I watched part of American Idol yesterday, hence the song that's stuck in my head. If you consider just the words of the quote (and not the rest of the song), it actually kind of relates to me right now, so "Quote of the Day" it is!

Today is Jude's and my last full day in our office in building 005. :( After today, we won't be coming in to this nice window office anymore. Instead, we'll be sharing an office (of comparable size, at least) in building 051, third floor until February 18th, which will be Jude's last day at work before moving to Tucson. Then I'll have my own office... but it's small consolation because I'll be struggling and working my tail off in there 6 days a week, probably upwards of 10 hours a day. :( I know, I'm spoiled. I had a great team to work with and quite an easy job. But I'm still going to complain anyway. What do you really get out of a one day weekend, anyway?? I'd rather work longer during the M-F and get both my weekend days off.

Anyway, enough bitching. My car gets an oil change and safety inspection (and some other little things I want looked at) tomorrow. My dad is going to take it in for me so I don't have to take any more "personal business" time... which means, of course, I get to take the X5 to work! I also get to see my sister and her new baby hamsters (if they come out of the house at all)!! Her two "boy" hamsters ended up being a mating pair and lo and behold, squeaky, pink, baby hamsters! :) I hope they're all healthy 'cause I'm going to take one. :) If anyone else is interested (or is interested in one of the parents because she obviously can't keep breeding these suckers), please let me know!

Then, Saturday is the day I'm really looking forward to!! Shirley and Tony are treating me (with Shirley, of course) to a day at the Claremont Spa!! :) :) We'll get everything: a massage, a facial, a manicure, a pedicure... and use of the spa's saunas, steam rooms, etc. I've never been to a spa. I've never gotten any of the aforementioned, not even a manicure! So I'm looking forward to a really girly day of pampering, which I don't indulge in very much anymore, other than by making Jonathon watch Sweet November or Only You with me while I paint my nails. It was a lot easier to indulge when I was living with the girls, and there was a lot more room for excuses to have these girly days. Living with Jonathon and Rich (or even living by myself) kind of limited my options. Thanks, Shirley and Tony!! You guys are the best!!

I'm waiting to hear from my team lead (who has a doctor's appointment this morning) about whether I should come in this weekend or not. I explained that if I do, it would have to be Saturday, but I'm really hoping that he'll say he (or anyone else) doesn't feel like training on a weekend, and without training, I wouldn't do much good coming in, so maybe, just maybe I won't have to come in on Sunday! Oh, well. I guess it's okay either way. Oddly enough, the only thing that would really bother me about working Sunday is that I have to use that much more gas! Not to mention I wouldn't get to sleep in quite as much, and Monday would really be Sunday, which really isn't cool at all.

Yesterday, my old team took me and Jude out to lunch at The Cheesecake Factory! And not only that, we got some going-away gifts. But the thing that I honestly treasure the most is the card that everyone signed, with kind words. I'm definitely going to take it to Tucson with me, and probably put it up in my office or cubicle or wherever they put me. Otherwise, I've been wrapping up things here, and just continuing to read documentation for the new team. Jude and I will start packing up our office later this afternoon.

Details on the Tucson move are slowly progressing. While we still haven't heard about the availability of an apartment unit in our #1 choice complex, the movers are sending an estimator to our place tomorrow after Jonathon gets home from school. We've set the day that we'll actually leave for Tucson as March 27th. And I've booked one night at the Holiday Inn Express in Blythe, CA for that night so we can break our drive into two (with more driving on the first day). We're HOPING that the driver of our moving van will be quick and get there on the first day possible instead of that Thursday or Friday!! Keep your fingers crossed for us. Otherwise, the week off that I'm asking for to "settle in" will be for nothing.

Well... that's about it from here. I know. I haven't put up pictures. But no one is really bugging me, so I guess that's even less motivation, and quite frankly, if I'm going to be working 6 days a week, you can bet your ass that I won't be putting up those not-so-sought-after pictures on my site. No offense. :)

Goodbye, building 005-11L and department H02A. I'm going to miss you so much!!

January 29, 2004, 8:58 am (back to PST)

"I've got the time, and I'm wasting it slowly." -- More to Life, Stacie Orrico

I know, I know, I'm a horrible person. I still haven't put up pictures yet, and I have no reason for it whatsoever. Well, unless the excuse that the thought of systematically resizing, then renaming, then creating informative tags to go with the pictures in HTML format counts. I have something like 46 pictures. Some are redundant. Some are of Dad's car. Some are of the animals at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum (and thankfully not just wildlife pictures). But there are also some of cacti. Honestly, the still pictures aren't very indicative of the kind of city that Tucson is... more the outskirts and such. I used my videocamera for the city ambiance and such. But I will try my best to get around to it, probably this weekend.

But anyway, I thought the least I could do is write up a little "journal" of how the trip was and things that I noticed along the way and stuff. Then I thought, hey, I wrote two hella long emails to some people already while I was out there (and while everything was fresh in my mind). So I've decided that I would just post the emails up on the web. Okay, so remember, I left for Tucson with my dad on the 17th (which is when I wrote the first email), then I wrote another email on the 18th. I didn't send another email on the 19th, but I did update my webpage, so the last entry before this one will have to suffice for the last full day in Tucson.

email sent on January 17th, 2004
email sent on January 18th, 2004

Other than Tucson, it's been quite a circus here at work. Right now, I'm technically working half my time for my old department, and half of my time learning and training with my new one. I had an "education" meeting for a couple hours on Tuesday, and I've been reading lots of documentation on our product from my old office. A new office is being set up for Jude and me in the other building, but we won't really move in there till the 9th of February (like, our machines and everything). We have another meeting on Friday, and Jude has been having crazy 7 hour meetings on Wednesdays and stuff. Luckily, I have had no such thing so far.

The other big news that I guess some of you might have heard on the news or read in the paper is that IBM San Jose has laid off 300 of its employees. The incredibly stunning thing is that if I hadn't taken this job in Tucson, I would be looking for a job with the rest of my old department right now. Our entire department, along with all the peer departments and everyone up to and including my second line was laid off on Tuesday. Jude and I were spared only because we applied for and took the jobs in Tucson. It's really crazy. I mean, I won't be able to come and visit my old team here in San Jose ever. My first real career manager will be gone. They have 2 months to find another job. It came as a total shock, because the rumors had been flying in early January, but when the 4th quarter earnings and stocks were going up, we figured everything was okay. :(

Anyway, not to end on a sad note, but I should get back to work. Lots more documentation to read, after all. :p Enjoy the email updates from Tucson, and I will really try to get around to resizing those pictures soon!

January 19, 2004, 6:04 pm MST

"Go ahead, make my day." -- Clint Eastwood

I don't know why I thought of that quote of the day. In fact, I didn't even remember what it was till my dad reminded me. But I guess it's maybe because I'm in what used to be "The Wild West." Yup, I'm in Tucson right now, on the final night of our trip to check out Tucson! This trip has been a lot of fun, which can mostly be attributed to the fact that my dad is awesome. We've been laughing and being sarcastic all weekend, which is what I love to do. Two smart-asses, driving into the Wild West. :) It's been a blast.

Tucson is actually a lot cooler than I originally anticipated. And not just temperature-wise (since I am aware of the fact that it gets about as hot as hell must be here in the summertime). The mountains are absolutely gorgeous. I never thought I would find cacti and barren mountains beautiful, but when you're out here and among the vast "desert" (which is actually teeming with all sorts of life), it's really breath-taking. The weather here until now has been perfect: upper 60's in the day with a strong, warm sun, and pretty cold in the night, judging by the cold mornings. But not enough to frost.

It took us 13 hours and 12 minutes on Saturday to get from my dad's house to our hotel in Tucson, including a breakfast stop and 6 pee/gas/stretch breaks. Total driving time was 11 hours and 20 minutes exactly. (Yes, I kept track.) Dad drove a little fast sometimes, but in Arizona, when you're not in the city areas, the speed limit is 75! Woo hoo! Just what I and my car like to hear! We left at 3 am and got here at 4:12 PST, which is 5:12 MST, because Tucson doesn't do the time change thing like we do. So CA is the same time as Tucson for the summer months, and during the winter months, we're an hour behind.

Yesterday, our first full day here, we decided to go to the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum in the morning, which was the best idea of the trip! It's really amazing, I can't even put it into words. My dad and I had a field day, and were sad that we had to rush through it to do the rest of our things on our list of priorities. I'll put up pictures when I get back to CA, 'cause I took some really neat pictures of the animals they have there. The drive there was really scenic, too, and that's really where I started appreciating the views here in the desert. (Dad loved it as soon as we came into AZ.)

Also yesterday, we drove by the IBM-Tucson site, which is located in UofA's Science & Technology Park, along with Raytheon, Sion, and a few other tech companies. Then we went to tour two of the apartments on my list. The first one was pretty nice, aside from the lack of microwave, the possible lack of garbage disposal, and the fairly small living room. The second was okay, but no washer/dryer or microwave! Survey says: X!! But the lady there recommended a great steakhouse, which we enjoyed.

This morning, I had an appointment at 9 am with my #1 choice apartment complex. It was SO nice!! I really, really like it, but of course, it's the one that can't guarantee that they'll have the apartment I want when I need it. Keep your fingers crossed for me! It's gated, has everything I want, and the size and everything is great! (900 square feet.) Then we went to check out another complex, which was nice, too. I would say that this one would be my 2nd choice after seeing the apartments in person. It's a little bit further, but nice.

Another highlight for today: Cold Stone Ice Cream!! (See why Dad is so great?? :)) I got to have a dose of my all-time favorite Chocolate Cherry Cheesecake Chill. My dad liked it, too. Then we went on to look for a coffee table for my dad to take home. We found one, so now he'll be able to throw out the old coffee table that we've had since, well... since before I was born. It's hexagonal, and white and yellow. Dad just said he bought it in 1971!! He was about my age!! I really hope I don't have anything that I have right now when I'm old like my dad! We finished off the day with some Panda Express, and now we're all showered and mentally preparing for the long day ahead.

So I don't know why I kept imagining Tucson as some small town with hardly any big stores and stuff. I have a huge list of familiar restaurants and stores that I've compiled while we were here, and it's just about the same as back home! There's even a dive shop, which is really weird. I guess people go to Baja, but still! The drivers here in Arizona are really bad, though. It was funny because we had been thinking that, and then the guy at the furniture store today mentioned how he thinks that all the AZ drivers drive like they're drunk... and he's right!! And the left turn lanes are really weird and will take a lot of getting used to. The light turns green for people going straight before the left turn arrow turns green! It bugs me, so I'll be sure to bring it up to the people in charge here. :)

Anyway, it's probably good that we came here in January, and that we'll be moving in March, where we're expecting it'll be really beautiful in the desert. But I'm glad that I came, and that my dad brought me, because now I feel better about knowing what my future home looks like, and what my future city of residence is like. And I'm okay with it. Plus I have my sights set on some 3900 sq ft homes that are still being built... for $450K, it's a great deal!! :)

Well, I'll try to write more, but it might just be more unbiased if I write after I move out here. I'll certainly put some pictures up, though. Most of them are from the Desert Museum, but oh well. I have some scenery pictures, too. I hope everyone had a great weekend, and hope for good driving weather for us tomorrow!

January 16, 2004, 1:07 pm

"There's gotta be more to life / Than chasing down every temporary high / To satisfy me." -- More to Life, Stacie Orrico

Sorry it's been awhile. Things are more hectic at work, now that I'm transitioning my stuff over to people who will be here, on top of getting ready for other things that are going on. Funny how life just keeps going, whether you can keep up or not.

Things haven't really changed much on the Tucson front. I found out that the data that I was so terrified of in my last entry really isn't very accurate, or, at least it isn't according to my new manager. Speaking of Ron, I officially report to him starting today, it's kind of weird. I'm still working with the same team, but paperwork-wise, I'm working for Ron. In fact, I think starting today (since it's a new pay period), I officially stopped paying California income tax and started paying Arizona tax, 'cause I'm under AZ's tax jurisdiction. Oh, well, I think that just means more money in my pocket for me 'cause AZ taxes are lower than CA. :)

Tonight, I'm spending the night at my dad's house, ironically in my childhood room. My sister has taken over it, but it'll still be weird because I haven't slept in that room since January 30th, 2002. Anyway, I'm going to my dad's 'cause we're leaving for Tucson at 3 am. Yes, as in, 3 in the morning, as in, the time that I used to get home from parties when I was in college. (Actually, I guess it's probably even earlier than most of my party-nights in college. :)) Of course, my dad will be driving the first shift, since it was his idea. I don't even know if he'll let me drive his car anyway, which is totally fine with me. We're going to be there until Tuesday, when we make our trek back to wonderful, beautiful California. That gives us Sunday and Monday to explore the city of Tucson, check out some apartment complexes, and walk around the different parts of town (sometimes in our bullet-proof vests).

I'll probably post up whatever pictures I take while I'm out there this weekend. I don't know how much will be on still-camera and how much will be video (documentary, "Sachi-style"). Grumpy, of course, will be chaperoning on the trip. Jonathon is going to be in Monterey with some Diver Dan folks for the weekend, starting tonight. I told him he should dive while he still has it so close. But yesterday, we found out that a lot of Tucson folks go scuba diving in Baja. It looks to be about a 4-5 hour drive (not to mention, mostly in Mexico), but it's supposed to be really beautiful and calm with a lot of life. So maybe he won't have to leave behind all his scuba stuff after all.

My laptop that I use as my PC for work died this week. The IT guy has it now, and is re-imaging it. I'm using my team lead's mini-laptop, which is really cool 'cause it's so little, but it's not little 'cause it's new. Hopefully I get my laptop back today, but I guess it's already Friday afternoon, why do I even care? :)

I got a new pair of jeans this past weekend. They're Lucky Brand Jeans, which everyone I know always gushes over, about how comfortable they are, how durable, how it makes their butt look good (well, the girls, anyway). Most of Jonathon's and Bobby's jeans consist of Lucky Brand. I've never had a pair because they're totally expensive, and the last thing I need is to always want to buy $100 jeans. Well, mine were 50% off this past weekend!! So I bought them, and took them to the cleaners on the corner to get them hemmed. They were regular length, so I had to get, like, 8" or something ridiculous cut off the ends! But I'm really excited now 'cause I get to pick them up after work today!! :) Hopefully they're just right and I can wear them while we're touring Tucson! :)

What else? Our orange Cichlid (Bernie... Ert died already in the heating fiasco of 2003) that had a severe case of fin- tail- and body-rot is getting significantly better! His tail and fins, which had been pretty much completely gone (especially the tail) are starting to grow back! We think it's a combination of the new medication we used, and the fact that we separated him physically (though still the same tank) from the bully fish that kept picking on him. I'm going to be sad to have to give them up, but there's just no way that we can take them all (in their heated, cycled water) to Tucson in somewhat of a convenient way... especially with Evie, Jerry, Popeye, and Brutus in the car already. If anyone wants 4 African Cichlids and a Plecostomus with everything included (tank, bubbler, heater, filter, extra filter inserts, vacuum to clean the bottom, and whatever food, water neutralizers, etc. that we have left), please ="mailto:jshioya@ferball.com" style=text-decoration:none>let me know. We need to find them a good home.

Anyway, I guess that's about it from here for now. I'll report back with Tucson stuff when I get back, or sometime next week, if I get a chance. Have a great weekend!

January 5, 2004, 9:25 pm

"I am the master of my fate; I am the captain of my soul." -- William Ernest Henley

Again, Happy 2004! Today, I officially accepted the offer for the job in Tucson. I'm still waiting to see if I'll be able to get some relocation money or not, but that's already in the works, all we can do is wait. I've been told that I can move out there at the end of March, which makes things much easier. I've also been told that I'll be given "at least one week" to move out there, so that makes me feel a little better about it, too. My dad and I are going to drive down to Tucson (Thanks, Dad!) for a 4-day weekend in a couple weeks so I can check it out and also see some of the apartments out there in person. I was okay with the moving-to-Tucson part, and was mostly nervous about the job, but just tonight, I looked through the Pima County website at the crime rates, and even in the decent areas, I'm seeing absurd things like "6 stolen cars," "1 homicide," and "3 forcible rapes" on this one street I wanted to look at apartments on, in 2003 alone!! Just on that one street!! But, I mean, this apartment I was looking at is one that my manager-to-be recommended because other IBMers live there! Grrr.... :( Anyway, at that complex, it looks like I could get a 2 bedroom 2 bath place (880 ft²) for about $600 a month (after the 5% IBM discount they give). Not too shabby! Too bad there's no garage that comes with it... because I love my car and don't want it to get stolen. :(

Anyway, maybe I can pretend that I never read that? Maybe it's not completely accurate? I don't know.

So my expense sheet for moving out there grows ever longer. Now, add things like "Car Alarm" and "Mace" to the list that has things like "Movers" and "Gas" on it so far.

Okay, well, I just wanted to update you all on what's going on. Oh, and it was so cold last night that my car was covered in frost and ice this morning. Maybe it was that way before, but I haven't had to get up at any certain time since last Wednesday, so I wouldn't know. :) I guess this year is going to be full of changes and adjustments for me. I hope you'll all be around to help support me on this crazy, life-changing decision I've just made (in spirit, if not in person). Take care!

December 31, 2003, 3:19 pm

"Happy New Year!!!" -- Me

I hope everyone has a very safe but FUN New Year's Eve tonight!!! May 2004 be the best year for you all, wherever you are! (Even if it's Tucson!) :)

December 29, 2003, 2:52 pm

"Some people change when they see the light, others when they feel the heat." -- Caroline Schoeder

I guess if I had to categorize myself under the quote of the day, I'd have to say that I'm a person that changes when I feel the heat. An example? Okay. So IBM here in San Jose hasn't been doing so hot, if you look at it in the point of view that A) Hitachi bought the Cottle site and we're now renting from them in a 3 year contract, and B) all the big-hitters like the VPs and directors have slowly (okay, maybe not so slowly) been moving out to Tucson. And lately, I've been thinking about how our application that our group works on is running out of time (being replaced by another, that we're not trained in), and how even if it wasn't, I wouldn't want to do this forever, and that I would have to learn something new at some point. I would say that all that stuff is "the light" and I saw it, but didn't want to change.

As for "the heat." Well, I didn't post this earlier because I didn't know what I wanted to do or how I was going to react. But on the 12th of December, I was given a job description and was told that it was highly recommended that I apply for this job. It's for a position as a firmware engineer, working on microcode on the big servers that IBM sells to, like, banks, airlines, and Walmart and stuff. And it's in Tucson. No one will say flat-out to me that they think layoffs are coming, or if they know of anything coming up. There are quite a few rumors flying around since the news reports came out saying that 4700 software engineering jobs will be offshored to India, and since a lot (if not all) of the contractors here on site have been laid off as of the end of the year. But no one can say for sure. This is definitely "the heat."

Well, I feel the heat, and I have decided to take heed. The week before Christmas, I applied for the job on Monday after sprucing up my resume over the weekend. Tuesday, I phone-interviewed with my potential manager, and interviewed in-person with one of the tech-leads who happens to be here in San Jose. Thursday, I was given one of the two remaining offers. So during my week off, I thought a lot about whether I would take the job, how it would affect me, etc. etc. I also talked to all the family that I met up with over the week off, and I've come to the conclusion that I will be moving to Tucson, whether I like it or not. I would like to stay with IBM for a minimum of 5 years (though initially, I had been hoping I would get to stay with IBM for my career). That way, I get my pension and my stock options vested. So that's anohter 2½ years or so, probably in Tucson. If I just can't get used to Tucson, I will move back to San Jose, whether or not it's with IBM. If I happen to really like Tucson, who knows, maybe I'll stay? I'm hoping that maybe while we're out there, I might be able to buy some property with my salary out there. But I'll look more into that later. I can always sell the property if I want to come back to use it as a down on a condo up here, or else keep it and rent it out. We'll see.

I guess that's the big news for today. Well, for this month, I guess. I shouldn't have to move till end of February, and actually, I'm hoping to push for the end of March (so Jonathon will be done with his quarter at DeAnza and so we can still see The Lion King without having to fly in from Tucson). I'll keep you posted.

Christmas was a great time! We saw little Sammy, who was sick with the flu. He came back from the hospital the day we got to LA. He was fussy, but he's sooo cute, and so sweet. :) And spending time with family is so fun, as usual. :) Tuesday, Jonathon and I went to Tiburon to pick up Bobby and Clive, then we went wine tasting in Sonoma Valley. I was the designated driver, and it was STILL fun! We had dinner in Sonoma, and then went bowling before dropping Bobby and Clive off and heading home. Wednesday through Friday, we went to Sacramento and had a great time! Lots of fun times, good food, laughs, and presents! :)

Anyway, I hope everyone has a very safe and happy New Year's Eve, and a great 2004!! I'll talk to you all then!

December 18, 2003, 2:38 pm

"No man can kill a Nazgul!"
"I am no man."
The Head Nazgul guy and Eowyn in the Battle at Minas Tirith, LOTR: The Return of the King

Okay, that movie? Absolutely fantastic. Everything I imagined, and then some. It didn't even feel like a 3 hour, 28 minute, 58 second movie, even after sitting out in the parking lot in the cold for 5 hours, and then waiting in the theater amidst huge beach balls being bounced around from person to person for 45 minutes. Amazing. Simply amazing.

Favorite scenes? Too many to count, I think. The Peter Jackson did an incredible job directing the movie. The actors and actresses were awesome. All of the special effects were just superb. (I'm running out of synonyms for "great" here.) It was a great ending to a great trilogy. I really hope Jackson gets the rights to do The Hobbit, too! It would be so neat to see that! (The one JRR Tolkien book that I have read... or rather, am about to finish.)

Okay, so let's see what else. There's been some drama at work, but I'll leave that out of this since, well, nothing's set in stone yet. My sister is home for the holidays (yay!) and we're eagerly awaiting Saturday morning when we'll head down to LA with our dad to see some of the Shioya side of the family! Baby Sammy is, of course, the highlight, since it'll be his first Christmas, and the first time Dad and Erika get to meet him. But since we never get to see that side of the family, I'm really looking forward to seeing everyone who shows up! And I get to congratulate my cousin Chika on her engagement in person, finally, too!

I'm so excited that my week off is almost here. I need it so badly, especially after this past week. I get time with my family, time with Jonathon, and time with Jonathon's family. I will also have some time with friends and time with myself, so I'll be set till the New Year. :) I have to work those three days before, but it'll be so quiet, and that's fine with me.

Jonathon and I attended a delightful dinner party hosted by Shirley and Tony this past Saturday. And in getting Shirley some flowers, I found an awesome little florist really close to my house! We had so much great food. Tons of really tasty shrimp and five crabs!! They were accented really well with seasoned asparagus and rolls. Mmm, we were so full by the end! Then we went to go see Something's Gotta Give, starring Jack Nicholson and Diane Keaton. It was a really funny, cute movie! We all enjoyed it, and it was a nice end to a wonderful evening. Sunday was the Survivor 7: The Pearl Islands finale, which we were very happy with. All in all, a good weekend!

Tonight, I'm going to bake some holiday cupcakes for my department, and tomorrow, I'll have those, some little ornaments, and little treats for everyone! I made the ornaments myself, I'm pretty proud. Last year was little terra cotta pots that I painted and personalized. I think this year is better.

Anyway, I feel like I'm forgetting something else, but I can't think of anything else right now, so I'll stop here for now. I might very well not update till after Christmas, so Merry Christmas, everyone!! Have a very happy and safe holiday season!

December 8, 2003, 4:04 pm

"Is there anyone out there 'cause it's getting harder and harder to breathe." -- Harder to Breathe, Maroon 5

Hello, and welcome to another Monday in my life. :p Last night, I didn't sleep well at all because I kept having bad dreams. One dream in particular was really, really bad. I felt so scared, and then so horrified at what I saw in my dream. I called my dad (who called my sister) to tell him to be careful 'cause the two of them were in my dream. I've had a weird feeling in my stomach all day because of it. I hope today will just end without incident and I can hopefully sleep well tonight with no scary dreams.

This weekend was fun! Jonathon and I watched the extended version of The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers which Jude loaned to me. It was really, really good! Saturday, we played in the leaves (and scared Rich when Jonathon jumped out of the pile of leaves) and stopped by Aly's house for a little while, but Jonathon and I left fairly soon because my allergies get all crazy there. Aly has an adorable Rottweiler named Kubi, but he's big now, and thinks he's little. Even though he was outside, the house still had dog fur.

Sunday we just hung out, and then finished up our shopping for real this time. Just a gift for Gerald and something for Mo' and Bobbi. :) Then while we were at Petco, I saw THE CUTEST dwarf hamster ever. He was tiny, and he was white with patches of dark grey. And he had big eyes. But I couldn't have him 'cause we have no room for another hamster cage. So I called my sister. I figured, she's looking for a hamster, and if I can't have him, at least I can visit him if my sister had him! She had me buy him and I kept him till she could stop by with Chris. She loved him, just like I expected, and she named him "Peanut." It's a cute name, but he'll always be "Squishy" to me. I miss him so much, and I only had him for like an hour! I can't wait to see him again. Anyway. Evie's still the cutest Black Bear hamster ever, or at least tied with Josie.

Anyway, that's about it from here. Two more weeks of work, and then I have a glorious 9 days off! Have a great week, everyone, if I don't post again this week! 18 days till Christmas!

December 4, 2003, 2:47 pm

"I used to get away with so much / Now I can't get away / I even thought that it was simple / To say the things I wanted to say." -- Find My Way Back, Michelle Branch

Christmas time is here! But first, about the rest of my Thanksgiving weekend. :)

Friday was an absolute blast!! Jonathon and I met Bobby, Meghan, and Terrence at the Malibu Grand Prix and Malibu Castle in Redwood City, where we played a horrible-but-fun round of mini-golf (no offense, guys, but truly, we sucked!), swung the bat around at the batting cages (everyone but wimpy me), and then raced ourselves at the little racecar track! It was so much fun, just hanging out and being obnoxious (well, at least I was :))! Then we went to a great little bar and grill called Mulligan's. They had beer (sehr importante) and really tasty personal pizzas, and I believe Meghan and Terrence enjoyed their burgers very much. :) We continued south (in one car) to Palo Alto, where we had Cold Stone!! (See? Even though we were all separated, we've found common interests independently! Which brings up the whole "Nature vs. Nurture" discussion, but I'm not going to get into that. ;)) We (well, Bobby) drove back to Malibu Castle, where my car and Terrence's car were waiting patiently. From there, Meghan and Terrence headed home, with a long drive ahead of them. :( Sorry you guys had to drive the furthest! I hope you guys had as much fun as I did, at least!! :) It was great seeing you! Bobby and I drove in Bobby's car while Jonathon drove my car back to our house, since Bobby wanted to see it and was willing to hang out a little later. We hung out, and Bobby tried some of Jonathon and Rich's home-brew. I still won't go near it, but that's just me. :) He really seemed to like it, which was cool. When Rich got back from work, we all headed over to California Billiards in Sunnyvale to play some foosball and some pool. I was very much in the zone when it came to pool for some reason. I did really well! But Bobby ultimately kicked ass and him and Rich beat me and Jonathon. We went to Cluck U (excuse me, "University Chicken") by our house before Bobby departed for Tiburon around 1 in the morning. It was a great time, I'm really glad I got to see him and Meghan. I really needed a dose of Bruins. :)

Saturday was a fun day, too! Jonathon and I slept in till like 2 pm, and woke up totally sore all over! Bobby later told us he was, too, so we think it was the cars we drove at Malibu. :) We putzed around, then cleaned up a little (with Rich) and took out the little dining room table to the garage. We pulled out the rest of my Christmas decorations and then went to buy a Christmas tree!! We got a really nice 5' Noble Fir for about $30, and I also -- against the will of my roommates -- bought a sprig of Mistletoe for $2. :) We got home and decorated it and decorated the rest of that area of the house. The ornament that I had made for this year, sadly, was dropped by the tree right after I hung it, and shattered on impact. :( I had made another smaller one, so that will be my ornament of the year. :( Rich's looks really cool, I'll put up some pictures of the tree when I get around to it. After that, some people stopped by. Dave and Chris came for about a beer or so, and then left. Right before they got here, my sister, Wendy, and Becky came by. The girls stuck around till around 1 am, and that was a total blast! It was funny because when everyone was here at the same time, out of the 8 people in the living room, only 2 of them didn't grow up on Weybridge Drive! Haha! We were laughing about how Chris used to babysit Wendy and Becky and their brothers when they were small. Good times. :) The girls stuck around and eventually, we went to Cluck U (yes, again) because Wendy had never been there. We played some rounds of foosball (Wendy and I beat Jonathon and Rich!!!) and laughed a really lot. Back home again, we played some video games and drank some Kava from Fiji. We laughed a lot, and everyone seemed to have a really good time. :)

Sunday was a calmer day. Jonathon and I sat around watching movies and TV, and we even took a nap. :) It was a nice ending to a busy long weekend.

The week has been pretty uneventful. We went Christmas and grocery shopping on Monday, and Christmas shopping yesterday. I was also going to go myself on Tuesday, but I got a really bad headache, borderline migraine, where I felt really nauseous, too. So I went home and took a nap on the couch. When I woke up, my right eye was totally puffed up!! It was gross, it looked like a butt. But when I iced it, it started going away, and I was able to watch the Peanuts Christmas Special on TV and the first hour or so of Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, which I picked up at Walmart that day for only $14.88! I fell asleep halfway through Pirates and went to sleep right after. :) We just have 2 more presents to go, and we'll be done. My Christmas cards are almost done, too. It's taking longer because I have to coerce Jonathon to get into it and write in the cards, or at least sign his name at the bottom after "Jennifer &." I hope to send them out early next week.

Other news: I've purchased tickets to see The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King on December 17th (opening night) at Century 21 at 8 pm! We'll be going with the same crowd that we saw The Matrix: Revolutions with on opening night. I'm really, really looking forward to Return of the King. My officemate also brought The Two Towers Extended Version DVD for me to borrow for the weekend, so I'm really excited to see that, too!! Probably not tonight, though, 'cause it's Survivor night. :)

Anyway. The rest of this month I'm sure is going to fly by. Jonathon has finals next week, and then will probably work a little to help out with the holiday spending. Saturday the 13th, we've been invited over to Shirley and Tony's for dinner, and then maybe a movie at the Shoreline Theaters. The weekend of the 20th, of course, is the Shioya family trip to LA. And then I have a week off! That will be very nice. I'm really looking forward to that, and spending Christmas Eve and Day with Jonathon and his family for the second year in a row. :) I really have to try to enjoy the holidays while they're here because I know they're gone far too soon. And then it's another 5 months before we get another site holiday. Such is life. *sigh*

Well happy Christmas/Hanukkah/Kwanzaa shopping everyone! And stay warm and dry if you're in the Bay Area because it's cold and wet here right now. T-minus 21 days till Christmas and counting!

November 27, 2003, 10:18 pm

"Tell everyone I said 'Thanksgiving'!" -- Me

No, that's not a misprint. I told Sara to tell everyone I said "Thanksgiving." Not "Happy Thanksgiving." Just "Thanksgiving." Hehe. It was an accident. I was full of pancakes at that point, and was way excited to be on our way to the SF Auto Show. :)

So "Thanksgiving," everyone! And a very happy one, at that. :)

I had a wonderful, fun day myself. My dad and sister picked me up at around 9:30 this morning after picking up the pies at Marie Callendars. We charged through our usual Thanksgiving routine of IHOP downtown for breakfast, the auto show at Moscone Center till the afternoon, San Francisco to pick up my grandpa (my mom's dad), and then San Bruno for Thanksgiving dinner at my aunt and uncle's house (my mom's sister and her husband). My dad, my sister, and I pretty much laughed non-stop the whole time. Well, mostly my sister and I laughed, and my dad stood embarrassed, or laughed out of incredulity that we could be so ridiculous. :) We have many jokes from today, and I really treasure that my family and I are so close and can have such a good time together. I can't wait till we go to LA before Christmas!

So the car show was pretty cool, as usual. I took over 50 pictures, most of which I'll probably post with minimal information when I get a chance to resize them all and make a page for them. They had the X3 and the new 5-series (530i and 545i). I wasn't impressed with the X3 at all. It looked like most of it was made of plastic. The 5-series is actually pretty nice, and they change the interior, too. (Oh, I got a pretty funny picture of my dad popping his head out of the sunroof of the X3. Haha. The guy who worked for the show who went around dusting the BMWs (I wouldn't mind that job myself) shook his head at him. I proudly told him, "That's my dad!" They had this pretty cool Dodge truck that they said they'll be making a limited number of. It's going to have the same engine as the Viper or something ridiculous. Erika and I laughed at the lady who was talking about it 'cause she was joking that they didn't give her keys to the car "just because she went for a joyride the other day." Okay lady. You were way too old to be "joyriding." My sister said, "What, did you make your kids go with you, too?" Haha.

One of the funniest moments of the day started out as a very frustrating one. I was trying to get a picture of the silver Nissan 350Z when this woman and her husband or boyfriend totally walk right in my way. To make it totally worse, her significant other sees me, taps her on the shoulder, points at me, and moves out of the way. And she doesn't! I don't even think she was trying to be bitchy, she just was totally clueless and inconsiderate. She even kind of stood there, turned around looking at something, then moved up to the car and leaned on it, like she wasn't going anywhere for a while. (Erika had witnessed this, as well.) Frustrated, I just went over and took a picture of the yukky copper colored one instead. A few minutes later, we're walking by the two Z's, and the same lady is trying to get a picture of the copper one. My loyal sister sees her, and proceeds to walk right into the lady's view of the car, stops, turns around, looks right at her, and walks back the way she came. I couldn't stop laughing for a while at that one. :) Another one was when my dad and some other people were sitting in some car, whose interior color was a nasty shade of orangey-brown. I opened his door and said, "Nice. What color is this, pumpkin?" and my dad snorted and got out of the car, ashamed, but amused nonetheless. There is no way he can deny that we are definitely his kids. The sarcasm runs thick in our branch of the family tree.

After a few hours at the show (and some phone calls to some friends), we went to pick up my grandpa. We don't see him very much, but Thanksgiving is without fail. He's the kind of grandpa where he loves us to death and gets really excited to see or hear from us, but after about five minutes of our company, he gets bored. Haha, gotta love Jiichan. We talked a little in the car, he gave us some cash, and when we got to my aunt's house, he went and sat in front of the TV to watch the Dallas-Miami game. (He can't speak English, but he can speak Football fluently.) The rest of the day was spent helping with dinner, eating the dinner (I think my sister said I ate for about an hour and a half straight. My dad put up a valiant fight, but he couldn't quite outlast my stamina.), helping with the dishes, eating the pie, helping with dishes again, and laughing at each other (and others). It was great food, and I had a lot of fun with my family. :) My dad and Erika dropped me off at home at around 10 pm, armed with my salad leftovers and "tsukemono" (my roommates, both being only children, would be bringing plenty of non-vegetable leftovers, I knew), new chamois that my dad bought me for my car at the auto show, and my $200 cash from my grandpa. I'd say I made out quite well this year, and it's not even Christmas yet! :)

So Thanksgiving has gone just as fast as it came. Tomorrow is going to be great! Complete with sleeping in (maybe even till Jonathon gets back from Sacramento around 1 pm) and seeing good friends that I don't get to see nearly enough to keep me happy. :) I'm really excited to see Bobby and Meghan. It makes me feel like we're back at school. I miss everyone terribly! So I'm really looking forward to tomorrow. Then after all that, I'll still have a whole weekend left to decorate for Christmas, relax, and whatever else we decide to do! (Maybe see more friends, since a lot of people are home for the long weekend!) I think now I'll pop in a movie (maybe Finding Nemo?) in my room and doze off whenever I feel like it. I'm sleepy enough to sleep now anyway. I miss not having Jonathon here, but there is something to be said about sleeping diagonally in a bed, just because you can. Reminds me of my living-alone days. :) I hope everyone had a great day today! Turkeys, sleep soundly, for you've survived another year. :)

November 25, 2003, 12:59 pm

Update: 7:59 pm ~ Added Rich's new car to my cars page, and new pictures to my pictures page! Be sure to check them out!

"Dumb is forever." -- Jack

I'm still suffering from some tail-end (hopefully) symptoms of the hives that started late Thursday night of last week! The weekend was horrible. Friday night, when I had expected the hives to go away, they actually got worse, even after taking Benadryl for them! They had spread to my face, hands, feet, everywhere! And entire areas of my body (e.g. my entire thigh) were literally covered by the hives to the point where there was no regular skin. It felt puffy, and all of my skin felt like it was on fire. The cold compresses didn't do much good, either, because my skin was so feverish that the cold was immediately replaced by warm. It was so hot, itchy, and uncomfortable! (Note: I didn't have a fever, just my skin was feverish. If you have hives accompanied by a real fever, you should go to the hospital right away.)

Anyway, the hives lasted all weekend and even till yesterday, though after Saturday night, the symptoms seemed to lessen. They moved out to my extremities and were gone from my torso for the most part. Just here and there, a little bunch will break out on my back or something. Last night, I was pretty much okay, except for my eye started swelling up, and a few patches of welts showed up. My eye was still swollen this morning, but it seems okay now.

Otherwise, our weekend was pretty uneventful (especially because I didn't want to go out in public much with my hives). We bought some glass ornaments and a kit to decorate them. We also got some cute plain stocking stuffers that we could decorate with the kits, so that was fun, too. I finally saw that movie Identity on Friday night and enjoyed it thoroughly. We slept in quite a bit both mornings (through the sub-30 degree temps) and relaxed.

And now we're in a short week! I'm pretty sure we'll get off at lunch time tomorrow so we can get a head start on our long weekend. Even if we don't, tomorrow's like Friday! Jonathon leaves tomorrow after rush hour (and maybe after Survivor, which is on a special day) for Sacramento, and will be back on Friday late-morning or early-afternoon. Then we're meeting Bobby, Meghan, and Terrence at the Malibu Grand Prix in Redwood City to hopefully play a round or two of miniature golf, and maybe even ride the little go-karts. If it rains, we'll have to see if we can find something else to do, because we're meeting there no matter what. :) I can't wait to see them!! It really sucks that we don't get to live within walking distance of each other anymore! (Or in the same apartment, in Meghan's case.)

Saturday and Sunday, I think we'll get to start cleaning up a little and decorating the house for the holidays! I already have my Peanuts Christmas Tree up in the corner of the living room. I purchased it from the Danbury Mint, who now constantly sends me any news about new Peanuts stuff, which I just adore. I even ordered a new thing, but I'll discuss that some other time. :( Anyway, I also have my two mini stuffed Woodstocks (one from last Christmas and one from this year) sitting on top of our bookshelf. In my Christmas decorations box in the garage, there should also be the tree ornaments, tree skirt, stockings, lights (outdoor and indoor), Christmas candy dish, a door hanging, and some candles.

While it's hard to believe it's already time for Thanksgiving and loosening our belts, I can believe it's almost winter. It is soooo cold in the mornings!! I wore my leather gloves this morning for the drive (thanks, Aunt Patti!) which helped a lot, but the office is cold, too, and I can't type with gloves on. Turtlenecks and scarves have become the attire of choice for me, and my light blue fuzzy slippers are a must once I step foot inside the house.

Tonight when I get home, I'm going to try to work on getting new pictures up. I have a ton on my camera that I haven't even uploaded to my computer, so I feel really bad. I was doing well for a while, you know? Anyway, I have some pictures from when Jonathon and I went to Wilder Ranch to ride bikes, and also when we went back with his mom and grandma to take a walk. I also have pictures of Rich's new car, and a really, really cute picture of Evie (my favorite yet)! Other than Rich's car pics, which will of course make it onto the Cars section of my site, I might just bunch the rest into one pictures page so you can take a look. I haven't even updated pictures since September!! Bad Jennifer! So maybe tonight, while Jonathon is working on his group project after school. Then, hopefully sometime next week, I'll have pictures of the SF Car Show from this Thursday!

Anyway, that's all for now over here. I hope everyone has a very thankful Thanksgiving, and gets to spend it with the people they love and care about. Stay warm and have a great long weekend!

November 21, 2003, 1:42 pm

Last night, I started getting hives around 1 am when I was going to bed. It was minimal, and I didn't really think much about it 'cause I was tired and figured when I got up this morning, they'd be gone. Well at 4 am, they were all over my body (excluding extremities). I had them all over my torso, thighs (mostly on the back), down to my mid-calf, and on my arms, almost to the wrist and up to the shoulder. My neck was just a little itchy, and my face was safe. I took an antihistamine and went back to sleep. At 5 am, things were just as bad. I was too tired to care, though, so I went back to sleep to worry about it in the morning. 7 am, my alarm goes off, and I thought they were gone. But it was just not really raised welts/bumps anymore, although they were red and still there. Some bumps were still there. Even now, I'm still itchy (even moreso than before) and the welts are coming back, even though I've continued taking antihistamines throughout the day. :( I'm about to take another one now (even though it's early) 'cause I can't stand the itching.

I got an award on Tuesday afternoon. It was for the OnDemand Community, and working on the eMentoring Program at the junior high schools last school year. I was one of six people who were given the certificate, which was in a frame and everything! That was pretty neat. My boss was happy. :)

Yesterday, we watched Survivor (not a good episode) and then played Magic with Aaron and Prateek! Sadaf was also there for the dinner part, but as she drives to San Francisco and back for work everyday, she goes home early to get a good night's rest. Besides, she doesn't play Magic. I got a bunch of new Mirrodin cards from Aaron as a belated birthday present, so I had a lot of fun opening them up and reading about the new creatures and stuff. Totally boosted my artifact count, woo hoo!

Hopefully this weekend, we'll get to make our own ornaments for this holiday season. We're going to head over to Michaels to see what we can find. I saw a kit that you can decorated glass ornaments and objects with to make it look like stained glass, which looked really cool. We'll see. :) We also got quite a bit of our Christmas shopping done on Wednesday. We aren't exchanging with quite so many people this year (thanks, guys) so it was mostly family and some friends on our list. For the first time, we have babies on our list to buy for. Two of them, both boys, that will be 11 and 12 months old. Toys and clothes are both hard to pick, since their mommies usually spoil them anyway. :) I'm sure we'll find something.

Some very sad news today. Jonathan Brandis, the teen idol that I adored for about 5 years or so (from elementary school to high school), has died at the age of 27. According to a CNN article, it seems to be too early to confirm how he died, other than that it was a suicide. Those of you who knew me back then, you know how crazy I was about him. I had literally hundreds (I believe it was in the 300 range) of pictures of him cut out from teen magazines and up on my wall. I was also a part of his fan club and had the autographed pictures and "personal letter" sent to me from him. I couldn't believe it when I saw "SeaQuest DSV actor Brandis dead at 27" on the cnn.com homepage this morning. He was still so young, and it's so sad.

Sorry to end on such a sad note, but just remember to take care and be careful and remember that there're always brighter days ahead. And you know *I'll* always love you, so keep that in mind. Love you all.

November 17, 2003, 11:12 am

"Sunny days / Everybody loves them / Tell me baby / Can you stand the Rain?" -- Can You Stand the Rain, New Edition / Boyz II Men

The ground was wet this morning, but the sun has made its way through the clouds, finally. Not that that's necessarily a good thing. I happen to like ominously dark clouds on the horizon because then it means rain is coming. At least it's not 90 degrees anymore. A little sun never hurt anybody, other than those people who are severely allergic to the sun and can only go outside in total darkness.

So some happy news to offset the sad news I reported last Tuesday. Our roommate Rich has purchased a new (used) car! On Saturday, he asked us to come car shopping with him, which we obviously wanted to. He test drove a couple of Subaru WRX Imprezas and was particularly fond of the second one. The price was good, the VIN came up clean, low mileage, it already had after-market wheels, and it had everything he wanted in it. The color, though none of us normally like red very much, is a very classy deep red, kind of a burgundy, which apparently is a factory color, though none of us have ever seen one on the road. Very easy on the eyes. It's a 2003 and it's all Rich's. :) I'll be putting up some pictures soon.

The weekend was pretty fun. Saturday night, we had a friend over, and we played poker, ate pizza, and drank some beers -- basically, I was a guy for a night. I even brought out my visor and puffed on my Bic "cigar" when I was the dealer. We played with nickel, dime, and quarter chips. Jonathon and I lost about $4 each to Dave, which is really okay since he overpaid for his portion of the pizza. :) We woke up hungover and tired on Sunday (can't drink like we used to anymore), and Dave was nowhere to be seen! The only things we found as evidence that he was there were a pair of dirty socks and a pair of underwear. Okay, it's not Jonathon's, and Rich wouldn't leave his underwear on the Lazy Boy when his room is about 5 feet away. WHY Dave left his underwear, I don't know. He asked to borrow a pair of shorts from Jonathon, but now, given the circumstances, I'm sure Jonathon will be more than happy to let him keep that pair of shorts. Other weird things we discovered that morning were: a can of Spam that went missing and an untouched chocolate chip cookie sitting on the table. Just another night at the Newhall pad.

*** Time Lapse: 2 hours, 16 minutes ***

Okay. So I just went on my lunch to pick up my Costco card that my "husband" (aka Dad) bought the membership for 'cause I had to go and take my picture and get my card. That place is a madhouse even on weekdays. It was a full-blown Saturday afternoon-type crowd there! Kids of all ages (ever heard of sending your kids to school people??), adults of all ages (not just the retired or the stay-at-home-moms/dads), it was ridiculous! I'm talking entire families there together: Mom, Dad, the kids, and grandma, too. All everyone does is go to Costco now. I guess when you don't have a job, what better thing to do, right? Hopefully the Costco by our house is less crowded, or at least bigger and more efficient.

I also stopped by my dad's house before Costco so I could pick up the proof of membership and a picture that he had printed out for me. His house was completely, totally, utterly boring except for one thing, which I brought with me because I forgot I had left it there. (My light blue leather jacket.) Sucks to be him!

Anyway, I have dinner plans with Sara tomorrow, and Aaron will be coming by to hang out on Thursday (Survivor, then play some MTG). Tomorrow at work, there's going to be some site-celebration, and I've been "personally invited" by a few of the top dogs. I think me and a couple other women I worked with on the eMentoring Program last year will be recognized for volunteering or something. That should be kinda neat, if we get an award (or a free day off!) or something. :) Hopefully this week will go by fast 'cause then next week is a 3 day work week! Yay!! (Even though I'll be Jonathon-less for a night or two, I'll also get to see Bobby!!)

November 14, 2003, 1:28 pm

"You like that?" -- Bobby's brother Jeff

I've been out of commission for the past two days. A cold, not the flu, thank goodness. I was just overwhelmingly tired and coughing up lots of nasty things. I still had my appetite, so I ate a lot, and slept a lot. The best part, I think, was that I felt good enough to come back to work today: a Friday, and better yet, a Pay Day. :)

Rich's stolen car saga came to a sadly predictable close on Tuesday morning at 6:13 am. The phone rang, and it was the police saying they found his car in San Francisco, stripped to the bone. Right now, Rich is driving a white Ford Focus rental car with a spare tire on the front. A sad reminder of just how great his car used to be. However, he's already thinking of buying a WRX with whatever money insurance will give him. :) Way to see the bright side, Rich!

During my sick days, I started addressing some of our Christmas card envelopes. I haven't actually started writing in them yet, I'm not that far ahead of things. But I've addressed and stamped most of the envelopes. I love doing that kind of stuff! I also finished my Christmas stocking cross-stitch, except for the name that goes on the top. I haven't decided what I want to put on it yet. Right as I finished it, though, I cut the last thread and promptly proceeded to lose the needle I've used on this entire project. I was on the couch, but I haven't found it anywhere. :( Someone's going to have a big surprise when they visit and sit on our couch.

Anyway, another weekend for me (since it seems like I just had one), and a full checking account, woo hoo! We might be heading to Gordon Biersch tonight to see a friend who's in town again after coming back from the Middle East. We'll see what happens (Jonathon's friends are flaky sometimes, but usually not this one). Hopefully it won't rain while we're outside so I won't catch another cold! :)

November 11, 2003, 2:23 pm

"If you prick us do we not bleed? If you tickle us do we not laugh? If you poison us do we not die? And if you wrong us shall we not revenge?" -- Shakespeare

This past weekend, our roommate Rich's 1997 Acura Integra was stolen from right in front of our house. Jonathon and I were in Sacramento from Sunday morning to Monday night, and it was Sunday night that the car was stolen. It doesn't seem to be a haphazard crime because he would have heard his alarm or engine when the culprits took it away. They seemed to have something that could disarm his alarm (and Rich has reason to believe that they had been practicing it for the last few days because he would go outside in the morning when he was certain he armed it, and it would be disarmed), and probably towed or pushed the car in neutral until it was a safe distance from the house. These people must have known how much Rich took care of his car and put into his car. These people may even have been watching us to see when the best time might be to steal it. They may know our weekly routine and found that the car isn't there unless Rich is there. But whatever it was, his car had been targeted. They wanted it, and they took it.

To put salt in the wound, Rich found out that his insurance company will not be held accountable for the after-market products that he installed himself -- only products that he had installed by an authorized shop. Why in the hell would anyone who is mechanically capable of installing products pay for them to be installed?? And why should it be held against him?? There are lots of questions in our heads, and as early as it might be to jump to conclusions, one or two suspicions have crossed our minds individually. Will there be justice? Sadly, I have to say probably not. Chances seem to be that the car is probably already stripped and sitting, a mere shell of the car that Rich put so much time and love into. Maybe his car will appear as parts in a black market of sorts in the racing world (like the street races in Milpitas, perhaps?). Insurance might eventually give him, what, Kelley Blue Book price of roughly $9,265? Nothing compared to the other stuff he'd added to fine-tune his beloved car.

I would ask anyone who might know anything about this kind of thing to contact me, but what are the chances? Not too many of my friends and family are involved in stealing cars, that I know of. I just really hope that there is some kind of justice out there. All I ask is that Rich gets a chance to kick the shit out of whoever did this, and that Jonathon and I can shove them into scalding hot oil for making us feel uncomfortable in our own home.

Otherwise, the weekend was pretty cool. Friday night, us three roommates got some late-night Cold Stone. Saturday, Jonathon and I went to meet three of the four Aftowicz kids for lunch in South San Jose, then my friend Wendy came over to visit and finally see our new place. :) Saturday night, of course, I worked from 6 pm till 11 pm, and got to drive home in what was finally a decent downpour. I couldn't sleep well at all on Saturday night, with lots of waking up and shifting uncomfortably, sweating and freezing, and insomnia. I finally got out of bed around 5:15 am and watched some MTV's The Real World in the living room. While I was in there, a pretty crazy thunderstorm happened, so I'm glad I saw that. (Not that I would have been able to sleep through it... it shook our house!) I went back to sleep around 7 am (Jonathon, too, 'cause he came out and joined me around 6:15) and we got up at 9-ish to get ready for our trip to Sacramento. I was feeling a little sick, but not too bad. We had a great time in Sacramento, and I got to play with the doggies and work a lot on my cross-stitching! I also got my last two birthday presents, which was really cool. We got back around 8 last night, and I watched Finding Nemo with the commentary on while I did a little bit more cross-stitching.

Today, I'm still not feeling completely better, but then again, I don't even know if maybe I'm still just starting to catch it or if I'm fighting it off at this point. The cough is the worst, plus the hot air it feels like I'm breathing in, but it's just my nose *thinking* it's hot air. And I'm feeling a little weak. And the hot and cold flashes. At least I don't have a headache! (*Knock on wood!*)

Well, at least it's Tuesday already. Please keep your fingers crossed that maybe Rich's car will be found intact, or better, that the criminals are found and busted!!!! Stay healthy!

November 7, 2003, 4:36 pm

"Raindrops keep fallin' on my head / But that doesn't mean my eyes will soon be turning red / Cryin's not for me / 'Cause / I'm never gonna stop the rain by complaining / Because I'm free / Nothing's worrying me." -- Raindrops Keep Falling on my Head, Hal David

Yay for rain! I was sad when I woke up and saw that the sky was blue and the sun shining, but the next storm seems to be arriving already, with rain pattering outside our office window. Clam chowder and fresh sourdough bread for dinner! (With some broccoli to balance out the meal.)

I feel a tickle in the back of my throat. It actually feels like it's more "right behind my uvula" than "back of my throat." Somewhere along the path of my sinuses between my nose and my throat. I don't want to get sick 'cause I have to work tomorrow night, plus we're going to Sacramento on Sunday. :( I took a multi-vitamin for some vitamin C, but when I get home, I'll drink some juice and stuff. Hopefully I'll get better.

I think I either caught this cold from Sara, Jonathon, or maybe from waiting out in line for The Matrix: Revolutions. ** Okay I just got back from my break, and I had a 100% Vitamin C drink. Hopefully it'll help ** The movie, in my opinion, was awesome. Of course, I went in without the expectation that the third of this trilogy would all of a sudden be this totally intellectually stimulating, thought-provoking, accurate movie, like some of those critics seem to have done. I went in hoping for some kind of closure, some interesting ideas and thoughts, and awesome graphics and action. I really enjoyed the movie, even when I didn't like a few of the things that happened in it. It was entertaining, and way better than the 2nd movie.

Sara and I went to Michelle Schulkins' bridal shower last night. It was really nice to get to share that with her, and it was a great shower. We also saw Natalie Larsen, who we all went to school with for junior high and high school. (Michelle and Natalie were also roommates and friends at BYU in Utah.) It was really good to see her, too, 'cause I hadn't seen her since high school graduation.

Tomorrow, I'm meeting with some of the Weybridge kids that have all scattered to various colleges and cities at the McDonald's near our old street. :) Jonathon's coming, too, 'cause we all grew up on the same street. Then my friend Wendy will be visiting at our house for a bit. After dinner, I have to come in to work to upgrade one of our web machines during a maintenance window. Sucks, but oh well. Sunday, we leave for Sacramento to visit Jonathon's mom and Mo (yay!) and of course everyone else in his family. We'll be coming back on Monday.

Anyway, I guess that's about it from this side. Take care!

November 3, 2003, 2:10 pm

"Don't go, you know you'll break my heart / She won't love you like I will / I'm the one who'll stay / When she walks away / And you know I'll be standing here still." -- To Love you More, Celine Dion

Another Monday. How boring. The only redeeming quality about this Monday is the big puffy clouds in the sky, and the rain that preceded my work day. Good thing I got new tires when I did. Now I should put in my rubber floor mats.

I had a good weekend. We gave out candy to our ONE trick-or-treater that came on Halloween night while we watched Psycho on TV. Went to bed pretty early. Saturday, I had lunch with Michelle, Sara, and Susan, which was a lot of fun. We spent a lot of time talking and laughing and catching up. Hopefully we can do that again soon. Also on Saturday, we went to get some pet supplies, like a mouse for Jerry and a new wheel for Evie. That shopping trip to Bangkok Aquarium ended up with a new Betta and snail to go in a small new tank to put in our room. :p I know, like we need more stuff. Anyway, we named our new roommates Popeye and Brewtus (Popeye being the snail, an albino something or other, and Brewtus being the teal-ish colored Betta). The aerator is good background noise for when we sleep. :)

Sunday, I had lunch with Shirley, and went with her to buy her totally adorable knee-length peacoat at Banana Republic! Oh, to have spending money again!! After that, I ran some errands with Jonathon, including a stop at Home Depot, Santana Row (Burberry, Mai Do, etc.), and Albertsons. Then I cleaned Evie's cage and rearranged it a little. I don't think she likes it much. But her wheel is ingenious, it's hanging from chains from the lid so that it won't rattle on the floor of the glass aquarium anymore. I'll see what I can do to give her a better place to sleep. Then Jonathon and Rich went to see The Texas Chainsaw Massacre while I sat at home watching some chick-flicks, cross-stitching, and painting my nails. More nightmares and scary images? Not for me, thanks.

My co-worker Jack gave me this little jar of jam that he loves. It's called Apricot Pepper jam, it has dried apricots, chili, and jalapeno peppers in it. It's really good!! I tried it on my breadsticks that I brought to work today for lunch. I'm really excited to try it on a bagel or something.

I also just bought tickets to see Matrix: Revolutions on Wednesday, opening day! We're going to the 7:20 show with Aaron and his friends at Century 21. I love that theater. It's huge! And the screen is enormous. I'm looking forward to seeing it, and I'm glad they decided on a not-too-late showing so we won't have to suffer the consequences the next morning. :)

Anyway, that's about it. Grocery shopping tonight (blech), but that's just typical of a Monday in my life. Hooray for sweatshirts and scarves!

October 31, 2003, 4:01 pm

"I've been driving for an hour / Just talking to the rain / You say I'm driving you crazy / And it's keeping you away." -- Breathe, Michelle Branch

Happy Halloween! And a rainy one, at that. It went from about 90 degrees Monday and Tuesday to 55 degrees today. Nice and chilly, and very winteresque. I like it. :)

Jonathon's pumpkin sadly did not survive the week since he carved it. Last night, we found it face-down in a puddle of its own juices, its innards totally infested by mold. :( Rich's pumpkin's eyeball seems to have caved in slightly, and mine has a bit of mold, but ours are still standing. We'll see how many kids come out trick-or-treating in tonight's cold, dreary weather. Hopefully we'll get some... we didn't get any last year, and I love seeing the little kids all dressed up!

I got a free lunch at Chevy's today! Some people from the CAD team took me and Masoud to lunch for our birthdays (his was yesterday). I'm still raking in birthday benefits! And tomorrow night, I'm getting a free dinner from our friends Jamie and Brad for my birthday! (Jonathon, too.) We're going to Applebee's on Saratoga.

Tomorrow for lunch, Sara and I are meeting Michelle and Susan for lunch at Oakridge Mall. I've known Michelle since pre-school, and all four of us have gone to school together from elementary school through high school (except Susan, who went to a different high school, but came to all our high school functions 'cause she was going out with one of Jonathon's best friends that we also grew up with). Michelle's getting married in December!! So Sara and I will be going to her bridal shower on Thursday, too. That should be fun. It's a Hawaiian theme because she's moving to Hawaii after she gets married! On Sunday, I'm meeting Shirley for lunch at Fresh Choice at the Stanford Shopping Center. We haven't seen each other in a while, so it should be fun to catch up. All these lunches and stuff... it doesn't usually all happen at once like this! And next Saturday, we're toying with the idea of a Weybridge reunion at the McDonalds near our childhood stomping grounds. Many of them are off at college, but some will be home that weekend. It should be fun (and Jonathon can come, too, since he grew up with us on Weybridge!)!

I got paid today, hallelujah!! I definitely needed it this paycheck. For the next two months, I won't have to worry about car insurance payments, so I'm glad for that. I'm so happy to have my reassurance that I have enough in my checking account. :)

Well, anyway, just wanted to do a quick update today. It's a really slow day. Drive safely, everyone, and my thoughts are with all the people who have lost their homes to the fires in Southern California. Take care, everyone.

October 27, 2003, 1:27 pm

"Dude, you guys need a bigger fish tank." -- Brian

Well, since my last posting, I've had a day off, helped bottle some more home-brewed beer, and aged by one year. Yes, my official age has jumped miraculously to 24. Where years 12-23 went, I have no idea. But for whatever reason, I kind of feel a little older this time... something I haven't experienced in about 12 years. The last time I actually felt older after a birthday was when I turned 11. And I don't know why. Weird.

But, here we are, and we can't stop time, so life goes on.

My birthday was a blast! Although I had to work, I didn't really work. I got some presents at work, as well as free donuts and lunch at BJ's at Oakridge. I received flowers at work from my boyfriend's lovely mother, which was a special treat for me. :) I got to open presents before and after work, and even after my birthday, as a couple arrived fashionably late. It's fine with me... extend the special day, by all means! :) Jonathon took me out to dinner on Thursday to Red Lobster. I ordered the large margarita, and boy, they aren't kidding when they say large! For the first time in a long time, I felt very self-conscious that if other people looked over and thought I was a lush, that they'd be making a safe assumption. Well, I got a lobster mardi gras bead necklace with it. So I was pretty happy. Thursday night after dinner was Survivor which was great, too.

Friday, we slept in, then went to breakfast. After breakfast, we went to the new theaters at Oakridge Mall (as well as the extension they completed) and saw Beyond Borders. It was more "grisly eye-opener to the horrors of third world countries" than "epic love story." But it wasn't bad. In fact, it made me want to start walking around puckering my lips in true Angelina Jolie fashion. (Kidding.) The best part of Friday afternoon was the Cold Stone Ice Cream. :) Friday night, after receiving a couple more gifts, we went to Cuetopia in South San Jose to play some foosball and pool. It has definitely been a while, as Jonathon even let an entire game slip by him. Maybe I retain my foosball skills better than he does... just like water.

Saturday was an errand day. The three of us (Jonathon, Rich, and me) picked out pumpkins at the pumpkin patch nearby. Then we went to Aaron Brothers to get a frame for my new poster -- a panoramic poster of the UCLA campus, Go Bruins!! A quick stop at Diver Dan's, then at Albertsons, and we were able to return to begin our party-that-ended-up-not-being-a-party-at-all. At least we got to have pineapples soaked in vodka! We carved pumpkins, which all came out really well (pictures to come) and watched TV and hung out. Brian, a guy who works at Diver Dan's, stopped by to hang out. This is when the quote of the day came up. We know we need a bigger tank. We bought these Cichlids when they were like an inch long. We didn't know they could grow up to 5" long! Oh, well, they're fine for now, especially since we only have 4 Cichlids and a plecostomus left. Which reminds me, Simon the Betta died sometime during the night. He had been bloating funny since Wednesday, so I added some of the medication to treat it to his bowl. He seemed to be doing okay, but I guess I was wrong. :( He's been with me since I moved into the first apartment (February, 2002).

Sunday, I got to sit around in my pajamas all day!! Jonathon worked on his presentation and report for his Engineering class. I watched movies and played some PS2. I also took out my CD-RW drive from my old computer and gave it to Rich, but it didn't work. I'm thinking we'll need to upgrade him to Win2000. Win98 sucks. After dinner (BBQed marinated steaks, baked potatoes, and sauteed mushrooms), more TV, then helped the guys bottle their latest batch of beer. Smelled good, and it went smoothly. In 3 weeks, we'll be able to see if they were successful. :)

The time change got me up pretty early this morning. I woke up at 6:15, feeling like I should get up, but just 'cause it felt like 7:15. I couldn't sleep too well after that, with weird dreams and stuff. At least I slept through the night till 6:15... usually I get up more often. I think the clean sheets helped me sleep better. Or else Jonathon just stayed on his side of the bed for once. :) I kind of like it that it's that time of year where it gets dark early. And I wish it wasn't so darn hot anymore... what's with 90-degree days at the end of October?? I think it'll be neat that I'll be driving home pretty much in the dark today. No more glaring sun in my eyes, anyway. And it feels later than it is, so it feels like I get to stay up later than usual, but still get the same amount of sleep. I'm ready for the cold weather to come!

Anyway, I hope your weekend was good. I hope you readers in SoCal aren't affected by those wildfires down there (other than by yukky air). Take care!

October 21, 2003, 3:04 pm

"When you refuse me, you confuse me / What makes you think I'd let you in again / Think again my friend." -- Not Coming Home, Maroon 5

Two more days till my birthday! This past weekend, at dinner at my dad's house, my aunt and uncle brought a yummy crunch cake, and I actually got candles on them!! Not the right number (I think it was like 8 of them), but candles to blow out, nonetheless. I haven't blown out candles in a while, it was fun. What's also fun is getting birthday cards in the mail! I've gotten 3 so far: one from my aunt and uncle that I saw on Saturday, one from Jonathon's grandma and Gerald, and one from Dr. Ferguson, my dentist. Haha. My sister kind of gave me a card, it was written on the cardboard box she "wrapped" my gift in. :) Ahh, college life.

I got my new tires, and they're great! They look cool, too, if tires can look cool. The tread is different from my Dunlops that I had. Rich and Jonathon put my clear reflectors in for me after quite an ordeal. I'll put up pictures soon, it looks sooooo cool! Maybe an intake and header are next in line when I have money. I'll have a lot of time to think about it. :)

So last week, I started the novel The Da Vinci Code. It's *such* a great book, I highly recommend it!! I had borrowed it from my sister's boyfriend, but I actually went out and bought my own copy last night, along with another book by the same author, Dan Brown, called Angels and Demons. I'll let you know how that one is.

I also indulged in a new pair of shoes. *sheepish grin* A pair of K-Swiss Tongue Twisters. They're white with a little bit of (what else?) light blue, and they're called Tongue Twisters because the tongue can be turned over to be white with light blue trim or light blue with a little white. It's pretty cool, they have other colors, too. And of course, no mall trip is complete without a stop at Cold Stone. Mmm... Chocolate Cherry Cheesecake Chill....

Well, that's about it for now. Two more days of work after today, and I get Friday off! Why? Because it's the day after my birthday!! Take care!

October 17, 2003, 10:45 am

"The battle's almost won / And we're only seven miles from the sun." -- Seven Miles from the Sun, Maroon 5

Today marks the 14th anniversary since the Loma Prieta Earthquake. I can't believe it's been 14 years! I guess I was only 9 (almost 10) when it happened. It's weird how when you remember the past, you feel like you were the same age as you are now, or at least close. I remember the sound, the swinging lights, the kids running outside freaking out, my mom running in with the expensive Japanese plate in her arms. Oh, and most importantly, my piano lesson that night was cancelled. Yeah, baby. Kind of crazy to think that was 14 years ago.

Today is also my grandmother's (Dad's mom's) 84th birthday! Yes, she's exactly 60 years and 6 days older than me. :) I'm trying to call her to wish her a happy birthday and make sure she got her card, but her line has been busy all morning!!! I wish I got that many birthday wishes on my birthday! Tomorrow's my grandfather's (Mom's dad's) 83rd birthday, as well! I'll have to remember to call him to wish him a happy birthday as well. :)

I'm very, very glad it's Friday!! It felt like a long week. Wednesday, I ended up working 13 hours till about 9:15 pm. Wasn't too bad, though. It worked out in the end. And I got to watch Survivor Episode 5 last night so that was good stuff.

This weekend, we'll be getting two free meals! Tomorrow night, we're going to my dad's, where my aunt and uncle will be coming and we're having Shabu Shabu for my birthday dinner! Very exciting. Sunday night, we're going to Mike and Kari's house for dinner, which I believe is a thank you for Jonathon who helped them move some heavy furniture.

Another exciting thing is, tomorrow afternoon, I get new tires for my car! I decided on the Yokohama ES100 Ultra High Performance tires, which is a great price compared to the Dunlops that I currently have, or the Continentals or Pirellis. I'm getting them through Auto Innovations in Milpitas because Jonathon and Rich know the owners (also scuba divers) and they're going to install them for me and switch out my front right rim with my spare because it's all scratched up by a curb. :) This will be very cool.

Well anyway, I'm very glad the weekend is almost here! And in just over one week, we'll be changing the clocks back... one extra hour of sleep! Yay!! And I hope it starts cooling off for good soon. Have a great weekend!

October 13, 2003, 3:52 pm

"This love has taken its toll on me / She said goodbye / Too many times before / Her heart is breaking in front of me / I had no choice / 'Cause I won't say goodbye anymore." -- This Love, Maroon 5

Happy Monday, everyone. I'm back from my long weekend in Monterey with Sara. We had a great time! We did all sorts of touristy things, considering we live only an hour from there to begin with. Friday, we drove to Carmel-by-the-Sea to do some window and real shopping, and even went to the sand at the end of Ocean Street, but it was too cold and windy to stay long. When we weren't by the water, though, it was a beautiful clear day with temperatures in the mid-70s. Perfect weather, and it stayed that way all weekend. After checking into the hotel, we checked out the hotel sauna (dry) and the hot tub/pool. Then we went to Cannery Row to have dinner at Bubba Gump's, and followed that up with some more shopping and dessert at Ghiradelli's. Saturday, we got up and went on the 17-Mile Drive in Carmel. It costs $8.25 to drive it now, but it was a really fantastic drive. Lots of places to stop and take pictures, plus it takes you right by Pebble Beach, where Shirley will be getting married in 2005! :) After the drive, we went back to Monterey to the Aquarium. As always, that was a lot of fun. Shopped on Cannery Row a little more, then went back to the hot tub. At 8 pm, Toy Story started, so we ordered room service and watched the movie. We went to the hot tub again after the movie for a bit, then showered before Saturday Night Live started. Justin Timberlake was on, and Sara wanted to watch. It was a really funny episode, he did a great job imitating some of today's "hottest" stars. And his performances were great, too. I'm glad we stayed up to watch. Sunday, we checked out and headed over to Fisherman's Wharf to check out the shops, which neither of us had ever done. There were some little booths set up and stuff, and some live music. We drove home after our meter ran out, and we ended our trip at around 2:30 when I dropped her off at home, safe and sound.

And now it's back to the old grind. Wednesday, I work late. Hopefully I can get a lot done on my cross-stitching project while I'm waiting for the newer version of AIX to install. At least some good would come out of working late, right? That, and Wednesday is a much-needed payday. I'm glad I don't have to work late on Thursday 'cause then I'd have to miss Survivor. We finally got The Lion King as well as some Nick Park DVDs that I had ordered way back. We watched them all yesterday when I got back.

10 more days till a certain someone's birthday! :) Woo hoo! Have a great week, everyone, and maybe I'll post again soon. Sorry today's post is so scattered... that's just how my brain is today. :\

October 6, 2003, 3:56 pm

"Just like me, you've got needs / And they're only a whisper away / And we softly surrender / To these lives that we've tendered away." -- Bed of Lies, Matchbox 20

Here we are in October, and we finally have some great weather between the seasons! Before today, we had about a week of low- to mid-70s, with a grey morning burning off to a soft sunny day. Today's a little warmer, but not bad. I can't believe it's October already! Barbara (our team lead) has pumpkins and skeletons and orange and black M&Ms in her candy dispenser, and she's already decorated Steven's monitor with cobwebs! At home, I put up our little door decoration (Frankenstein with a banner that says "Trick or Treat!"), a little porch candle thing that says "BOO," and three mini pumpkins (a little orange one for me, a bigger orange one for Jonathon, and a white one for Rich :)) for inside the living room. Hallmark didn't let me down and provided a new Woodstock for the 2003 Halloween. He's so cute in his devil's outfit, and I have last year's Woodstock dressed like a Jack O'Lantern. I also brought out my Halloween candy dish with Halloween/Fall candy to put in it.

Yes. Fall is here at last.

This past weekend was a nice relaxing one. On Saturday for brunch, I met Shirley and her sisters Diana and Amy at Lisa's Tea Treasures in the Pruneyard (Campbell). I've never been to a real "tea" before, and it was a pretty fun experience. The waitresses actually wear those outfits! And so do the teapots. :) I had an Apple & Caramel Black tea with one of the lunch items, which came with about 6 tiny sandwiches and a neato dessert. It was a frozen hollowed-out peach with the top cut off (like a little lid) and filled with peach sherbet. Definitely cool. Meeting and hanging out with the girls was a lot of fun, and I definitely think the 4 of us will have a lot of fun planning Shirley's wedding. :)

On my way home, I filled up on gas and bought a couple items of groceries at Albertsons for Sunday. When I got home, I was welcomed by Jonathon, his mom, and his grandma (or "Nani"). We hung out, watched a movie, talked, and caught up on the family affairs, while I cross-stitched. For dinner, Jonathon's mom took us to Rock Bottom (also in the Pruneyard). After dinner, we walked a few shops down to Cold Stone, where Jonathon and I treated them to ice cream. Home again, they started The Count of Monte Cristo while I logged on to work to do some testing on a machine after some maintenance was complete. Bedtime was about midnight.

Sunday, we got up at 9. Nanny bought us breakfast at the Mini Gourmet on Bascom. Then we headed back to Wilder Ranch State Park like we did last weekend, only without our bikes. We walked down to the fern cave and enjoyed the weather and ocean. We even saw a few seals playing in the water, a cool looking lizard (with a black diamond shape on its back), and a brown rabbit right by the path (it sat and looked at us until Jonathon sneezed). We all enjoyed the walk and promptly returned to "lazy" mode when we got home. Jonathon and I made them our specialty -- Asparagus Chicken Pasta -- for dinner, and they left full and happy. :)

This coming Friday, I don't have to come in to work 'cause I'm taking a vacation! Sara and I are going to Seaside/Monterey/Carmel for a long weekend. We got a great deal at the Embassy Suites in Seaside, almost half price of what it usually is! So we'll just do whatever... go without a plan or anything. Some girl time that should be fairly cheap without having to take much vacation time (which is why we're staying so close to home). The beach is nearby, plus shops (window shopping only), and if anything, we can sit around and hang out in our suite! :) Should be fun. I've never been on a trip with just Sara except for when we went to my family's old time-share, R-Ranch (R Wild Horse Ranch) in Red Bluff, California. That was a fun trip, too, we went up in Sara's previous car, the lowered, souped-up, orange Eclipse, and we just hung out. I'm sure we'll have a great time. :)

Anyway, my work day is about done. I hope you're enjoying the fall weather and looking forward to the wonderful fall clothes and scarves you get to wear now! :) Take care!

September 29, 2003, 3:56 pm

"Happy Birthday to you / Happy Birthday to you / Happy Birthday, dear Sara / Happy Birthday to you!"

Today is Sara's 24th birthday! Wahoo! I'll be seeing her on Wednesday for dinner, which should be fun. A dinner at Azuma's always is.

Jonathon and I had a great weekend! On Friday night, we just hung out and got Cold Stone Ice Cream at Valley Fair 'cause I was craving it. I got the Coffee Lover's and he got the Black Forest Cherry one or whatever it's called. They were really yummy. We also got Grumpy Bear a friend: Good Luck Bear! We got him 'cause he's green (Jonathon's favorite color) and because he has a four leaf clover on his tummy (Jon is half Irish, plus he has a shamrock/4-leaf clover tattooed on his arm). He has a big goofy smile on his face, which only accentuates Grumpy's adorable little frown, in my honest opinion. Anyway. After the mall, we watched Daddy Daycare which is a movie that Rich's friend Rob let us borrow. OH! Before I forget, I wanted to mention how adorable Rob's little daughter Viana is! On Thursday night, Rob, his wife Julie, and Viana came over to visit. She's sooo adorable, and gave Grumpy a kiss and hugged him and called Evie a squirrel! Haha! I can't wait to have a little baby!! Julie's also (very) pregnant with their second child, who will be named Robert, too. I'm sure he'll be just as adorable as Viana!

So on Saturday, Jonathon and I met up with Shirley and Tony for dim sum in Palo Alto. It was really yummy, and Jonathon really enjoyed his first time. I'm glad 'cause Tony seemed to open up a little more this time around, and the whole ambiance was more comfortable, instead of just me and Shirley doing our girl-talk while the boys were silent. After dim sum, Jon, me, and Rich went to see The Rundown, which was a very enjoyable action/comedy. The Rock was pretty good, and the dialogue was hysterical! Saturday night, just the two of us went to Santa Cruz for a party at my friend Brook's house. He works for the IBM/Tivoli group in Santa Cruz, and I met him at our BOV orientation class when we hired onto IBM on the same day. It was a good party, and I got to see some of his co-workers who I'd met before. They're cool, and some of them have this awesome Australian accent. Jonathon seemed to have an okay time, too. I considered it more of a networking thing for myself, except for I wanted to see Brook since I hadn't seen him in a while, too.

Sunday was awesome! Jonathon and I threw our bikes in his truck and headed back down to Santa Cruz for a little bike ride. We went to Wilder Ranch State Park and had a beautiful day to ride along the beach cliffs in. We got a bit of exercise and fresh air, as well as awesome scenery. We'll definitely go back again, maybe just to hike that same trail next time, which was really easy and flat. We rented Labyrinth on VHS at Blockbuster on our way home, and I enjoyed the movie very much. It was one of Jonathon's favorites as a kid, but I had never heard of or seen it.

This coming weekend should be a lot of fun. Jonathon's mom is coming to visit, and we were thinking of maybe taking her to Wilder Ranch State Park to go for the hike. He thinks she'll really enjoy it. On Saturday, I'll be meeting Shirley's two older sisters for the first time. I'll be joining them for tea in Campbell, so that should be fun. I hope they like me! I'll be working with them for the next two years helping Shirley plan her wedding, after all!

I got my first two birthday presents today! I got a generous check from my dad and my sister left me a box of beautiful yarn and a cool knitting book that has basics plus ways to make different stitches and patterns! Exactly what I needed since I'm a little rough at knitting. I'll be working on that after I work some more on (maybe finish) my Christmas stocking cross-stitch. :) Hehe.

Anyway, that's about it from here. Thanks for still reading this site, and I hope everything's going well for you. At least it's starting to feel more like autumn around here! Woo hoo! :) Take care.

September 23, 2003, 4:38 pm

"The wheels on the bus go round and round / Round and round / Round and round."

Jonathon started school full-time yesterday! Yesterday wasn't too long of a day for him, but today is pretty long, and tomorrow's the worst. It'll probably take him a while to get used to it, but I'm sure it'll be fine. It'll be nice to have him at home at a decent hour every day now... and have weekends with him, too!!

Today, me and my team at work went to the Second Harvest Food Bank to volunteer some time during IBM's Week of Caring. We had to sort through plums from these huge containers and pack the good ones into littler boxes (maybe twice the size of a large shoebox or so?), which were piled onto a palette. The palettes held 80 boxes each (4x4 = 16 per layer, piled 5 layers high), and we did 5 palettes with 11 people for a little over 2 hours. It was pretty cool, my back kind of hurts from bending over into the big containers when we got towards the bottom. But otherwise, it was neat seeing all the sorting we managed to get through (sort of sucked that there were so many more containers still left!). Plus we got to do it on company time since it was an IBM event. I actually had a lot of fun and would do it again (especially if it didn't have to do with plums).

On Sunday, I went to the Bridal Extravaganza with Shirley, and it was pretty neat seeing what they were like. We got there when they started, which was nice, 'cause by the time we left (around 1:30 -- we got there around 11), it was really crowded. This morning, a lady called us and tried to (we think) scam us into this "free trip" and stuff, but since she told me and Shirley both that we "won," we didn't think it was very valid. Not to mention, we had to pay for our own airfare, and go to this info session on Thursday. No thanks. Survivor is more important to us. :)

Today is the first day of autumn, according to my hamster calendar at home. It's cooler today than yesterday, but then again, yesterday was hotter than I can imagine hell to be. It's in the mid-80s right now. I would prefer mid- to low-70s, even 60s, 'cause then I could wear the new scarf that I finished crocheting!! It turned out pretty nice, if I do say so myself, and I saw scarves like this one selling at this expensive, posh store for $112! I should start selling mine!! Sheesh. I think I've gotten good at not losing stitches and keeping an even tautness on the yarn. Now that I'm done with that one, I'm taking a break from crocheting and getting back to that cross-stitch I abandoned last year, when I realized there was no way I was going to finish it by Christmas, 2002. It's the Snowman Stocking that I started in the summer last year. It's got a lot more involved than originally thought, and I think it might still be hard to finish it by this Christmas, unless I get going on it again now. I can't wait till it gets cooler!!

Well anyway, I guess that's it for now! I hope everyone's surviving in this heat! (P.S. One month till my 24th birthday!!)

September 16, 2003, 9:01 pm

Well, here we are, safe and sound, back in good ol' California. We had a great time in New Hampshire visiting with Jonathon's family out there! It was so amazing, finally getting to meet his dad. And his brothers Steven and Johnny are so cool, such good boys! The whole Ramos family was so welcoming and open, and I felt at home there. It was a relaxing vacation and I enjoyed getting to know all of them, and Elizabeth, too. She is a wonderful lady, so kind to us, when she doesn't even know me! I had a lot of fun checking out the parts of Nashua that Juan drove us through, and visiting with Jonathon's Aunt Karen and Uncle Fred, along with cousins Mike and Jenn. A lot of travelling, but a lot of fun and meeting new people. :) Here are the few pictures we took while we were out there, mostly of Jonathon's dad's family. Be sure to check them out!! :)

I'm actually still tired from the vacation, so I'm going to leave it at this for now. Please check out the pictures for now, and I'm going to do a little advertising for Steven and Johnny later on in one of my future postings. You'll have to wait and see what I'm talking about for now. ;)

Hope everyone's doing well, and I hope the fall weather comes soon!!

September 9, 2003, 4:27 pm

"I'm finding my way back to you / And everything I used to be / And waiting is all that I can do / Until you find your way back to me." -- Desperately, Michelle Branch

Two more days, and I'll be on the East Coast. I'm really glad that I'll be on vacation, but I'm still a little nervous about flying. Did you see the article on cnn.com about the guy who managed to ship himself in the cargo bay of a plane from NY to Dallas without anyone knowing? He surprised the deliveryman who delivered him on the doorstep of his parents' house. So who's to say some terrorist isn't going to pop up out of the cargo bay on our plane? Oh, well. If anything happens, I'm personally going to blame my friend Kyle who works for -- let's just say, the Government -- who told me that I shouldn't worry about flying on the 11th.

Let's see, what else is going on? It's sprinkled out for a little while this afternoon. That was kind of neat. Oh, I found out my video camera is going to make it a difficult as humanly and electronically possible to capture the video from tape to CD-R or DVD. And in the process, that makes it insanely expensive. I did all this research on the video camera itself, figuring that with all that snazzy software out there, the quality images would be most important, but now I have a great product with no way to distribute copies to friends and family. Sucks!! Why is technology always lacking in the areas that I need??

Last night, I scraped my thumb knuckle on Rich's cheese grater while grating some parmesan cheese. Two little chunks of skin are gone, and they're currently covered by a Blue's Clues bandaid. Jonathon and I are back into Gran Turismo 3 mode on the PlayStation 2. We used some money to buy my car in the game (the BMW 328Ci, because it was a year before my real car came out) and souped it up pretty much all that it can get. I think it's at about 450 HP with all the lightening stages done to it. It's Steel Blue Metallic, but looks pretty silver most of the time. It's pretty fast, but there aren't too many races available for it to run in.

I have to work on some audit thing again for work. I already did the big huge one in July, and there was another smaller one recently that I attended a meeting for. This isn't my job!! Sucks. :( At least my vacation comes up first! :)

Well, I guess that's about it. I probably won't post tomorrow, so hopefully when I get back, I'll have some cool pictures to put up from our trip to the East Coast! (I never realized just how far away New Hampshire is... like, almost as far away from here as you can get!) They're supposed to show The Italian Job on the way there and Bruce Almighty on the way back (with free headphones!), which would be cool 'cause we haven't seen either of them, and I wanted to see both. And it's kinda cool that I'll get to mark two more airports that I've stepped foot in, too: Chicago (O'Hare) and Manchester. I also have San Jose Int'l, SFO, LAX, Oakland, Sea/Tac, Atlanta, Miami, Honolulu, Hilo, Kahului, and Kauai. I have a bunch in Europe, but none that I can remember 'cause I was still a baby. :) If I don't post tomorrow, have a great weekend, and I'll hopefully write soon to write out the details! :)

September 2, 2003, 4:33 pm

"Something 'bout the way you looked at me / Made me think for a moment that maybe we were meant to be." -- Desperately, Michelle Branch

I had a horrible Labor Day!!! Not only did I have to come in to work (which really wasn't that bad), but the new cell wasn't working yet (which still wasn't that bad 'cause I had to come in to do some things anyway), AND on my way back, I took 280 'cause there was no traffic, and a gas container (those big red things) was tumbling in my lane when I merged from 87 to 280! I couldn't predict which way it was going, plus I had lanes on either side of me, and sure enough, it hit my front *right* bumper this time, as opposed to the front *left* when we had that fiasco coming back from LA. I kept driving and when I got home, I checked the front, and that piece that had come out last time from the front end that got dragged under had once again popped out, only on the right side this time, although it hadn't been dragged under. I was so upset. I don't have extra money to fix this kind of stuff that's not my fault, but some dumbass who lets things fly out of his/her pickup truck on the freaking freeway!! Insurance or not, it wasn't my fault, and it freaking pisses me off!! Luckily, Jonathon went out and saw that from his assessment, the piece is fine and fits back in, but it's just the foglight bracket that's busted, and that's more easily and cheaply fixable. Then I had to finish my work from home at night because the stupid-asses (related to the dumbasses who throw garbage on the freeway) didn't finish until then.

Then this morning, I had just gotten onto the freeway to go to work, preparing to merge left, and the car in front of me swerves to the left and I see this plastic garbage can, you know like you can buy at OSH or someplace, lying on its side in the middle of my lane. Luckily, this time, I could swerve onto the shoulder because I hadn't left the slow lane yet. And luckier still, my tires aren't yet so bald that the handling was affected. I swear, someone out there is trying to kill me. That's two scary incidents in the first two days of September.

Anyway, so Sunday night, we went to dinner with Jonathon's friend from Bellarmine Prep, Ruben, and who we thought was his g/f and his g/f's brother. Well, they got married (just a court wedding for now) in June because they wanted to buy a house together, and just in case something happened to one of them after they bought it, or something like that. I don't know, she's in law school, so I'm sure she's got way more details than that. So congratulations to Ruben and Liz on their wedding! They're planning on having a more formal church wedding in a few years when they can afford it (and when they're both done with their Masters'). Their condo is really close to our house, and it's really cute! They're so lucky, and I'm so jealous!!

I definitely am glad we just have a 4 day work week this week. And I'm *definitely* glad I have a vacation coming up. 3 days of work next week, then only 4 the week after that, too! :) I feel a little burnt out.

I've been honing my knitting/crocheting skills, and in the last week or so, I've made a slipper (and started one for Jonathon), a blanket for my Care Bear, and 2½ feet of scarf. :) It cramps up my hands sometimes, but it's so cool to see that I can actually keep the widths the same now! When I was little, it would inevitably get thinner and thinner until I gave up because I'd lose a stitch here and there. :)

Anyway, I hope everyone had a good weekend, and enjoy your short work week!

August 29, 2003, 12:37 pm

"If tomorrow never comes / I would want just one wish / To kiss your quiet mouth / Trace the steps of my fingertips." -- It's You, Michelle Branch

Work is totally insane. We have this big thing planned to happen this weekend, which is why I'm supposed to come in on Monday (Labor Day), and they just started testing the process like yesterday, and there are all these problems with fallout and stuff. We complained about how our main fileset hadn't been copied over, and they said they're working on it. 3 hours later, I see the guy on the internal chat program, so I asked him what the ETA was. He said "Let me check" and I haven't heard from him since. That was an hour ago. Now I heard from someone that they're thinking of scrapping the whole thing. This would be nothing but great news, except our boss told us we can leave once Steven's ride gets here, which is scheduled for 1 pm today. At this rate, I'll have to stay to make sure this thing is on or whatever. This is the epitome of IBM culture, I tell you. Last minute, last minute, last minute. Not to mention throwing things on innocent people and make them feel like it's their fault and get them to do your extra work. (Me being an "innocent person," of course.) And as if I wasn't frazzled enough, wondering what happened to that fileset and all, my boss says, "Oh, so-and-so is getting audited and needs some corporate standards info about your application, and since you just got us certified, I thought you could just throw together the answers." Yeah, throw together the answers to about 14 multi-part questions, which required files and links and all that stuff, WHILE I'm trying to make sure that we don't experience downtime on Tuesday by trying to see what else needs to be done on our test machine (since I have to do the same thing on our production machine on Monday all by myself). Testing isn't my job, but everyone else feels like it's okay to leave at 1, even though they don't have to come in on Monday. Whatever happened to freakin' TEAMWORK, man?? With my luck, this thing will continue, I'll come in on Monday, things will break, and I'll be here for 12 hours trying to figure out what went wrong, when it was really the IGS people's fault, and they can the whole thing anyway.

Otherwise... some very cool news, we're going to go see the Blue Man Group in Boston! Jonathon got tickets for us, his dad, and his dad's wife and two kids. It should be really cool, I've only heard good things about them. And Boston!! Even if we only go for that evening, it'll be cool to say I've been there. Maybe we can attend a tea party. :)

Also, my copy of Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers finally arrived yesterday and we watched it (I fell asleep) when Jonathon got home from work last night at 10:15. It's sooo much better than the first one!! And the first one was fantastic! [For the record, I didn't fall asleep due to lack of interest, only from exhaustion from yesterday's frantic work day.]

Speaking of frantic work days, I should probably get back to mine (even though there's not much I can do right now 'cause we don't know what's going on over at IGS!!). I hope all of you have a great 3-day weekend, while I enjoy my normal weekend and Monday headaches.

August 26, 2003, 9:14 am

"They be like 'He the man' when I'm really a Thundercat." -- Shake Ya Tailfeather, Murphy Lee, PDiddy, Nelly

Yesterday was a really weird day. I can't really explain all of it, but definitely the weirdest thing was that late last night, there was a crazy lightning show that we saw from our street. Lightning bolts everywhere, every few seconds! It was definitely one of the best lightning shows I've ever seen. Earlier that evening, I had finally caved and taken my absolutely filthy car that was ridden with hard water spots (because of the damn sprinkler things that our neighbor doesn't put on his lawn in the right place every time so it totally gets me and Rich's cars) to Classic to get a wash/wax/detail. Even after I washed it myself, the spots wouldn't go away, so I had to get it done. Well it looked fantastic, inside and out. They even got in between the vent slots and everything! I was so happy and thought that my $60 was well spent, and I spent like $35 on gas, and everything was perfect. Then we're laying in bed after we watched the lightning for a while, and right as I'm falling asleep, Jon says, "Uh oh. I smell rain." And he was totally right. It smelled like rain hitting the blacktop in elementary school after it hadn't rained in a long time. This morning, I got out to my car, and there were big brown spots all over the hood of my car, where the tree above had collected the smaller raindrops with the dirt on the leaves and dumped them on my car. NOT THAT I'M BITTER ABOUT IT.

Anyway. *deep breath* Friday night and all day Saturday and Sunday, I helped Sara and her brother Brett pack, move, and unpack their belongings from her old apartment to her new one. Her new one is really nice, and she can keep her dog and cat both! She's a little closer to where we live now, which is kind of cool. But parking there stinks! It was really exhausting carrying and moving boxes to and from the truck and apartment, not to mention it was totally hot.

I got my driver's license renewal form in the mail (sent to my dad) yesterday! I'll finally get that stupid "Age 21 in 2000" stripe taken off my license, and I'll get the new style instead of the old one! And my picture will finally be moved to the other side, too! Hehe.

Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers is released on DVD today! Mine was shipped via buy.com on the 22nd, but still hasn't arrived. Hopefully today. I really want to get Michelle Branch's Hotel Paper album. Maybe in the next couple of paychecks. I have to recover from this stupid car wash that was only good for about 4½ hours.

I have to work on Labor Day for hopefully just a few hours. But I get a full comp day in return, so I can put that towards our trip to the East Coast in a couple weeks. Figures that on the first 3-day weekend in a long time, Jonathon works Saturday and Sunday, and I have to work Monday. :(

Oh, well, at least I can look forward to another trip with Jonathon. I love travelling with Jonathon, even the waiting in the airport terminals and for shuttles and stuff is fun when we're in a different place together. Anyway, I hope everyone has a good Tuesday! Take care.

August 19, 2003, 4:11 pm

"I know you had to go away / I died just a little and I feel it now you're the one I need / I believe that I / Would cry just a little just to have you back now / Here with me." Here with Me -- Michelle Branch

First and foremost, congratulations to Oscar on his engagement to his girlfriend Natasha! They plan on marrying in May, 2004 in Miami, then bringing his new family home to San Jose, where he just started working here at IBM full-time. So many life changes in so little time! I'm very happy for him and Natasha!

The weekend was pretty nice. Jonathon and I met everyone at my dad's house at 11 am on Saturday to help them move the big couch to my sister's new Berkeley apartment. It was like a big party at that tiny place! Erika and two of her three roommates Kristine and Sawako were there with their families, and my dad treated me, Jonathon, Erika, Chris, and Hiroko to lunch and Yogurt Park. The rest of the time, us 4 kids walked around the campus and down Telegraph for a while. Saturday night, we stopped by at a friend of a friend's party, which turned out to be about a third about our age and the rest straight out of high school... as in, 2 guys who just graduated in June hit on me! Weirded me out... they're younger than Erika!! Sunday was a sleep-in day for me, and some errands (we have a sick fish tank -- just lost a fish on Saturday), and then grocery shopping with Jonathon after he got off work.

'And what about the morning jog?' some of you may ask. Well, Monday, we skipped 'cause we stayed up to watch the Discovery special on Nefertiti on Sunday night. Today, we just didn't go -- excuse: Jonathon works from 12-10 today. Sad excuse, but an excuse nonetheless. We swear we're going to go tomorrow. For sure.

Anyway, I guess that's really about it. What a boring post. I'll try to do something exciting for the next time I write -- maybe sprain my ankle jogging or something. (Then I won't have to jog for a while!! Haha.) Have a good rest-of-the-week!

August 14, 2003, 1:02 pm

"Running just as fast as we can / Holding onto one another's hand / Trying to get away into the night / And you put your arms around me and we tumble to the ground and then you say..." -- I Think We're Alone Now, Tiffany

Here we are in the middle of August, and I'm attempting my 3th shot at a regular exercise regimen, which has been a New Year's Resolution of mine since about the 8th grade. This morning, we grumbled as my alarm went off at 6:28 am, and we jogged/walked for just about half an hour. The first attempt was back in April or May when we first moved to Santa Clara. I did this for about 3 days (2 with Jonathon) and quit. The second attempt was yesterday morning, when I set my alarm for 6:28 am, but failed to stay awake and just went back to sleep till 7:21 as usual. Baby steps. We're thinking a MWF routine starting next week might work well for us... hey, anything is better than what we've been doing, which is nothing more than laying in bed until the very last possible minute. I think I'll be sore tomorrow.

Not to mention we should probably get on our bikes more, I mean, now that we have fancy new mountain bikes and all. Maybe once Jonathon starts getting more of his weekends free when school starts. Doesn't have to be an all-day event, after all.

This weekend, Jonathon and I will be helping my dad and sister move two couches up to Berkeley, to her new home for the school year! Already an apartment, poor Bears aren't even guaranteed housing for the second year! And so my sister will be forced to deal with the new adult banes known as rent, bills, and landlords a year earlier than I was. I hear it's two bedrooms for four girls, and fairly close to campus, which is a good thing for four girls in Berkeley. Being weighed down with books, my sister would probably look like an easy target, except that she's very feisty and resilient, and any attempts to stalk her would probably result in eyes being poked out and knees and groins being kicked in -- on the stalker's side, of course. :) Berkeley freaks, beware!

In four weeks, Jonathon and I will be on one plane or another (or stopped over in Chicago) on our way to Manchester, NH, then on to Nashua, where we will be spending a 5-day weekend. I'll be missing a Department "Day Away" to an Oakland A's game on the 11th, but oh well. And yes, that's September 11th. I will be flying across the country. It's just another day, right? And probably one of the safest days to fly cross-country. Yes, I'm a little nervous. But I'm also nervous when I go to the bathroom at night because I'm afraid that the "Tooth Fairy" from Darkness Falls will come and get me, dark or not. So anyway, I'm still looking forward to that trip because I've never been to New England, and I've never met Jonathon's East Coast family.

As for more recent events, Sara and I will be making an appearance at our favorite restaurant tonight, Azuma Japanese Cuisine. We haven't met for almost three weeks now due to schedule conflicts, so why cook and all that when we can just get served our favorite meals? Topics of conversation will surely include (but won't be limited to) engagements, wedding plans for various people, boyfriends, moving plans for her and her brother, and the delicious food. (I'm thinking an appetizer of the Yudofu, a side salad, and the Tamago Zosui for myself, with, of course, the Green Tea Ice Cream.) Our second crab Jacques molted last weekend, which means they're getting enough food to grow, so that's good, right? Jonathon and Rich came back from Monterey on Sunday with 4 fish, which we filleted (thanks, Dad, for showing us how!) and BBQed that night on Rich's new mini-Webber. Jonathon finished the 2nd Harry Potter book last night and promptly started the 3rd this morning after our morning jog/walk. When I left this morning, he was on chapter two with Grumpy Bear reading along from the crook of his arm.

Anyway, that's about it from here. Oh! Other than the fact that I was in the IBM Silicon Valley Newsletter! My picture, actually. It was for the article on the eMentoring program from last year that I helped coordinate and lead at John Muir Middle School. I can't deny that that job really did get me some "visibility." Well, ta² for now!

August 10, 2003

"Rice-a-Roni, the San Francisco Treat"

A beautiful summer weekend in the Bay Area, and Jonathon finally had the weekend off! The two of us had a great time Friday night at Benihana's, then a small get-together (i.e. bacchanalia) at Aaron's house in honor of Prateek's 25th birthday! While he actually celebrates the big day tomorrow, what fun is it to party on a Monday night, not to mention uncondusive to work Tuesday morning? So we got a late start, but we got quite a bit crammed into what was left of our Saturday. We have pictures of our beautiful state (well, a miniscule percentage of it, of course) here, so be sure to take a look!

"When winter comes in summer / When there's no more forever / When lies become the truth / Oh you know then, baby / That's when I'll stop lovin' / That's when I'll stop lovin' you." That's When I'll Stop Loving You -- *NSync

Hello. I'm sitting at work today, trying not to think about the fact that had plans not gone awry, a bunch of us would have been heading up to Reno for a 3½-day weekend of partying, gambling, and cool cars this afternoon. Alas, plans have gone awry, and instead, Jonathon is in Sacramento visiting his mom until tomorrow, and I am at work, saving up vacation days for our trip to New Hampshire next month.

However, all is not in vain. In addition to saving the hundreds of dollars I could potentially lose at Blackjack, Craps, or Roulette, I'll get to spend tonight in the company of Shirley, where we will indulge in pizza and beer while poring over huge bridal magazines and her Wedding Planning binder. Tomorrow, we will be celebrating Prateek's 25th birthday a few days early to take advantage of the Friday night. It sounds like it will consist of Benihana's for dinner, followed by a house party at Aaron's so we can drink our youth away! Saturday will be a nice day just for Jonathon and me, probably some bike riding, and then whatever else we feel like doing (if it's cheap). Maybe I can con him into going to get some portraits taken together. I found this coupon for Sears Portraits, a great package and stuff for like $9.99! Sunday will be another "Jennifer fends for herself" day as Jonathon has planned a spear-fishing trip to Monterey for the day with our roommate. If I didn't know he loved me to death, I would start to wonder if he was trying to spend as little weekend time as possible with me, what with his crazy weekend hours and planning trips on the weekends he doesn't work around things that I can't do with him. *Grrr.* But that's okay. When fall quarter starts up, I'll kick his butt around and make sure he knows who's boss. We have to start saving for the inevitable things anyway.

I got a free lunch today! Bev, the lady who was in charge of the eMentoring Core Team, took us Core Team people from last school year out as a "Thank You" for all the hard work and time we put in. It was fun to banter with the other women and gossip and joke around. It was especially funny when one of the women (divorced) got a fortune cookie that said "A man's most prized possession is a sympathetic wife." Mind you, these women are very involved in the Women's Interest Groups here on site and in the community. We all got a good laugh out of that one.

So tomorrow's Friday. Thank goodness! I had my first migraine headache on Tuesday and it put me out of commission for the rest of the day. I had to get my dad to come and take me home because I couldn't drive. I didn't know it was a migraine till my dad told me it sounded like one. I had this weird vision problem, but it wasn't in my eyes because both eyes experienced it independently. Then about half an hour later, my head started exploding, and it kept exploding until about 6 pm. (I went right to sleep after my dad dropped me off at home.) I managed to eat a little, even though I wasn't hungry, then slept again till around 9:20. When Jonathon got off work, I felt well enough to go and get my car from work so no one had to drive me to work in the morning. Then we went right to sleep and I was fine on Wednesday, thank goodness. I hope I won't start getting them frequently now that I had my first one. :( It was really awful, so excruciatingly painful. Plus I felt nauseous and extremely tired, like my arm didn't want to hold the phone to my ear while I called my dad.

Other than that, I'm doing fine. I'm looking forward to some girl-talk and wedding dress hunting tonight. I hope everyone has a good Thursday.

August 4, 2003, 4:06 pm

"Just close your eyes / Each loving day / And know this feeling won't go away / Till the day my life is through / This I promise you / This I promise you." -- This I promise you, *Nsync

Another Monday, but it's Bryan's 24th birthday! Also noteworthy is Bobby's 24th birthday, which was on Friday! My two most important boys from college, all growing up so fast! :) Hee hee. So I had an enjoyable weekend. Friday night, Jonathon and I "splurged" a little, breaking our "no spending" rule to go see Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl on the condition that we didn't get any snacks at concessions. The movie was great!! Not only was Orlando Bloom stunningly good-looking, but the acting and the swordfighting and the plot were all great! Johnny Depp was a great Captain Jack Sparrow, and the effects of the skeleton crew were amazing! I highly recommend seeing this in the theater if possible. I'm really glad we splurged on that particular movie!

Saturday, I spent most of the day at my dad's house with my sister. My aunt and uncle on my mom's side, as well as my dad, Hiroko, Erika, and Chris got together for a BBQ dinner. Jonathon had to work till 6, but he came straight over after work to catch the tail end of the outdoor dinner. There was so much food! Marinated steaks, salt and peppered chicken wings, freshly caught perch (courtesy of my dad), hot dogs, grilled peppers, eggplants, and okra, fresh homemade salsa, and of course, rice. Dessert was my sister's ever-famous Muddy Buddies and homemade chocolate chip cookies, and Chris brought a tasty Key Lime Pie from Marie Callendar's. We were stuffed by the end of the night.

Sunday was lounging around for me. I slept in till 12:21 in the afternoon, then I sat around with Rich and Mike and watched some TNN... "The First Network for Men." We watched the English-dubbed Japanese game show called MXC and we pretty much laughed about 10 pounds off our bodies, it was so funny! And what's more, there was a marathon going on. We must have sat there like bumps on a log for about 2½ hours, just laughing. When Jon got off work, Rich and I met him there and went swimming in the Diver Dan pool, then got some all-you-can-eat Mongolian BBQ for dinner. Mmmm... Mongolian BBQ.... Rented a flick and went to bed a little later than usual for a Sunday night.

Shirley got me all excited about the wedding she's planning by telling me she's set the date at October 1, 2005, but then I sat and thought about it, and that's more than two years away!! She's decided to have it at the exclusive Pebble Beach in what will probably be the most extravagent wedding that I will attend in my entire life. It looks like I'll have some bridesmaids to stand up at the altar with me after all, and that makes me feel a little bit more comfortable. Shirley's older sisters will be by my side to share in this occasion.

Anyway, my cousin Waka sent me some real pictures of Sammy in the mail this weekend, which reminded me that I have some pictures here that I can put up and show you! I thought I had to send them to my home account to resize them and upload from home, but it turns out Maki either resized them or got them from the studio in a decent size! So here are three adorable pictures that were taken in the end of May, when Sammy was almost 4 months old.

So I hope you enjoy the pictures, and I'll write again soon!

July 30, 2003, 8:22 pm

"In the [Toyota] or [Bimmer] / Switchin' four lanes / With the top down, screamin' out / Money ain't a thang." -- Money Ain't a Thang, Jay-Z

I got my car back today!! I took some pictures to show you how good a job they did! The place I got it done at was called Pan American Body Shop, near the Santa Clara Fairgrounds. They're very professional and well-run, and the site is really amazing, like a huge warehouse with lifts everywhere, and they can work on tons of cars at the same time, all under one roof. I highly recommend them. All the work is 100% guaranteed for life, or as long as I own the car, both by the body shop and by my insurance company. They used OEM parts, too, so that's cool. Everything is back to normal, and I'm back in my lower-riding, automatic, speedier car!

I also took some random pictures of things near and dear to me. I got this little mini-Care Bear at the mall last week. They didn't have a mini-Sunshine Bear, which is what I had when I was little (the yellow one with the sunflower happy face on its belly), but they had the light blue one, which is Grumpy Bear. It is sooo cute, wait till you see it!! He has a little raincloud that's dropping raindrops and little pink hearts. I read the little tag on his head, and it said that it represents your grumpy mood, and that it's okay to be grumpy sometimes, because the people close to you will still love you. This is perfect for me, especially when I'm PMSing. But now the problem is that, whenever I leave the house or even the room, I feel so bad for him because of his little frown that I've been taking him virtually everywhere! You'll see what I mean with the pictures. Even the people at work have fallen in love with him, and occasionally steal him while I run to the bathroom.

Another big event at the Newhall house is that Houdini molted! It's actually kind of a funny story. We thought he was dead when we found him lying in the filter, which we still haven't figured out how he got in there because we covered the whole area! Anyway, we saw him lying on his back, and not moving. But when we looked closer, we realized that the real Houdini was there right next to him, only darker in color. He was eating his old shell. We read about it online and it says that sometimes they do that to regain the calcium they need. The weird thing is, the leg he was missing is fully regrown really suddenly, but another one is missing! But whatever. Houdini indeed keeps surprising us.

The other picture I put up is of Evie. It's proof that she's an acrobatic hamster. I hope you enjoy the pictures and the cooler weather! Take care.

July 29, 2003, 6:40 pm

" [Girl,] In your eyes, I feel your fire burn / Oh your secrets I will learn / Even if it takes forever / With you by my side I can do anything / I don't care what tomorrow brings / As long as we're together." -- Something Like you, *NSync

Yay for Fridays! But I had to leave my car at the vehicle-hospital this morning. :( He's undergoing surgery and awaiting a transplant of a new front bumper, or else his current one will be reconditioned to be like new. The damages so far have totalled $1188.25, but I'll only pay my deductible. *Only* $500. :p So my primary mode of transportation will be Jonathon's trusty light blue Toyota Tacoma for the next few days while my car is recovering from surgery, and hopefully by Wednesday or so, he'll be as good as new.

What else? Um... right now, we're toying with the idea of taking a trip to New Hampshire in mid-September so I can finally meet his real dad, and visit his mom's side of the family that lives there, as well. His dad wants us to come out and visit. I thought it would be fabulous to see New England in the autumn because I hear the leaves changing is spectacular! I've always wanted to see it for myself. I hope it'll be like fall by the time we go (if we go).

I have to work late tonight to help out with the patch install we're doing for our application. It hopefully won't take very long. This week was pretty busy, moving servers around and reconfiguring to ethernet from token ring and stuff on our big machines. It made the week go by faster, and I'm glad for that. It's also not as horribly hot as it has been the last couple of weeks. Lucky for me, too, 'cause Jon's truck doesn't have AC. But it's got a bumpin' system, and it's so fun to drive a stick again!! (And it's neat being higher up, too!)

Houdini and Jacques are doing well so far, and as far as we know, they're still in the tank. We cut some wire mesh to fit and cover the gap between the water filter and the rest of the cover, and it actually turned out pretty cool, if I do say so myself. Evie has mastered the art of escaping from her ball to the point where she chewed through and actually opened the lid of a brand new ball I bought for her ('cause she chewed through the other one) in ONE DAY!!! Luckily, I went to go get her 'cause she was suspiciously quiet for quite a while, and I found her there, looking at me guiltily with one paw out on the hardwood floor. I'd get mad at her for costing me so much money on hamster balls, but she's just so cute!

I'm happy to announce that two of my friends have gotten engaged in the past week! My friend Shirley, who I met while interning at Kinetics during the summer of 2000, accepted her boyfriend Tony's proposal while they were enjoying a weekend in Vegas! They've been together for a little less than 2 years now, and I couldn't be happier for them!! Shirley has become one of my best friends since we met, and I really don't know where I would be without her. I'm so glad that she has found someone so loving and caring and perfect for her! They plan on having their wedding sometime in 2005. My friend Eric, who I met at a computer store NCA (he was the tech guy fixing my computer that I bought there, and we just became friends) in the fall of 1997 right before I left for UCLA, proposed to his girlfriend of many, many years Alicia yesterday after they moved into their new townhouse that they purchased together! I don't know when they plan on getting married, but I'm really happy for them, too, 'cause I know they're very committed to each other, and they've weathered all possible storms so far and are still very much in love. So two couples married already (Jon & Robynn eloped, and Mike & Candace), two more this summer, and two more engagements! I guess wedding fever is affecting a lot of my friends, and I wonder when it'll be my turn?? Congratulations to you guys!

Anyway, I hope to have a quiet, relaxing weekend with sleeping in and hanging out at home. Jonathon works 11-hour days both days of the weekend, so other than meeting Shirley for lunch tomorrow, I'll probably be happily lounging on the couch watching TV or sprawled out reading a book somewhere in the house or on the front lawn. Sounds like a great weekend to me! I hope it doesn't get too hot again!! :p I'm ready for fall already. Have a great weekend, everyone!

July 20, 2003, 3:22 pm

"My lambourghini disappear like Houdini." -- Missy Elliot

I wanted to log on from home today and announce the addition of two new family members to The Newhall Aquarium! My sister Erika bought Jonathon two red claw crabs to add to our aquarium! They are tiny and adorable, with big claws that are bright red! One of them -- the littler one -- has only 9 appendages instead of the standard 10. We named him/her Houdini because he's already managed to escape... twice! But both times, he was in the filter area (like Nemo!). The other, we named Jacques, after the cleaning shrimp in Finding Nemo. We originally named them Jacques and Cousteau, but Houdini is definitely more appropriate than Jacques, so we swapped them.

These little crabs are probably about and inch and a half from limb to limb, with the littler one slightly smaller. They have cute beady little eyes on top of their head, and they like to grab an algae wafer from the fish and brandish their other claw to scare off the fish who try to steal it! They're sooo cute, and so much fun to watch! They can swim and climb almost anything, and they move surprisingly fast in the water. I bought some wire mesh at OSH and we plan on enclosing the open area to prevent Houdini from getting away. Jacques causes less trouble, and the worst he's done so far is hanging on to the bubbler piping near the surface of the water. Houdini is what Jonathon calls "a savage" and will even chase after and instigate stuff with the biggest fish in the tank!

Here are some pictures of Houdini (Jacques wouldn't come out), as well as the other animals we have in our collection! Enjoy!

July 17, 2003, 9:02 am

"I never know what the future brings / But I know you're here with me now / We'll make it through / And I hope you are the one I share my life with." -- If You're not the One, Daniel Bedingfield

It's Thursday already! This is my last 4-day work week (out of 3 in a row) and then it's back to 5-day work weeks for me. :( So we had a 4-day weekend away, and we had a great time at Disneyland and California Adventures!! Jonathon had a great 24th birthday, and we got lots of quality time together. However, my car, who just celebrated 2 years in my possession yesterday, sustained some unfortunate injuries, especially on the way home on Monday. Friday afternoon, we were hit by a 4 foot long 4x4 hunk of wood going about 75 or 80 on I-5, and I kid you not, it came flying at me at a 45 degree angle. We were unable to find the source -- we didn't see any trucks carrying timber, no wood on the road, nothing. Luckily for us, it hit us lengthwise, smack on the windshield right in front of me (the driver's side) and bounced off. I had no way of avoiding it, with cars on my right and behind me, and the dirt median to my left. No damage then, but I should have just turned around at the next exit and avoided the wedding and Disneyland altogether (no matter how wonderful Disneyland was).

Monday, on our way home, we were hit by and ran over one of those big rig tire treads that was tumbling on the freeway. I was sleeping, but I woke up with the initial loud bump, but nothing seemed to be wrong. Jonathon said he didn't see anything until he looked in his rearview and saw something black and flimpsy bouncing on the freeway, and he wasn't following close or anything, so I don't know what happened. Then a minute later, we felt another bump and this time my car beeped. My dashboard display that normally reads the outside temperature suddenly went from showing "107º F" to showing "-40º F" and Jonathon looked behind us and saw something else black rolling in the lane. So he pulled off on the next exit, which luckily had some grocery stores and a 7-11. It didn't seem like we had a flat or that we were dragging anything, which were my first thoughts. We get out, and Jon immediately checks the tires to see if they were okay. I looked on the driver's side of the front spoiler and saw a big black smudge of rubbery material, which I figured was the tire tread from the first bump. There are two wires hanging out of the wheelwell of the front left tire. We figured at least one was connected to the outside temperature sensor, hence the false temperature reading in the cabin. Jon goes around to the passenger side while I notice that something doesn't look quite right with my spoiler. I take a step back and realize that one part of my spoiler has been and still is dragged under the front of the car, but still attached on the undamaged side. We were able to put it back, but it's still loose. Also, my left foglight is loose, and we didn't realize it till we were at my dad's house, but there are also two pieces of the spoiler missing on that side (hence the loose foglight). While I'm noticing all this, Jonathon realizes from the passenger side that, hey, you're not supposed to be able to see into the engine bay from the wheelwell. So on the left (driver's) wheelwell part is missing. So is the front scrape guard that's under the spoiler (which I always scrape on curbs when I'm parking).

So here's my theory: The tire tread rams the car where the smudge was left. They really do seem to come out of nowhere, especially if it's tumbling on the freeways. When it rams the car, it knocks out those pieces and the foglight loose. The tire gets pulled under my car, and that's the initial bump and thud we felt and heard, which is what woke me up. When all that happened, on its way under my car, the tread got caught on some part of my car, whether it's the spoiler part that was dragging, the scrape guard, the wheelwell, whatever, it got something (probably the scrape guard, which is connected to the wheelwell, I think) and pulled it loose, but not off. Then, when we felt the second bump and lost the outside temp, that's when the loose piece got caught under my left tire and was ripped out, taking whatever parts it could with it. My dad told me that the temp sensor is in fact located on the engine side of the wheelwell, so when I lost that, I lost the sensor. Now, the airflow in my engine is skewed, so my AC is a little iffy, which sucks 'cause it's been so hot lately. My foglight on that side doesn't work, but I never used it. My temp gauge I used a lot, but it's not a necessity. My alignment is a little off, too. It could have been way worse, so I shouldn't complain, but I may have to replace my whole front end. My dad is going to help me this weekend by taking off that tire to see if there's any other major damage.

Anyway, so I'll be looking into what I should do soon. What a headache. Now I decided that going to Reno for Hot August Nights is pretty much out of the question with all these things, and it makes me sad. I'd really been looking forward to year #2. But money's tight, and I guess there's nothing I can do but look out for myself (and Jonathon). Was the weekend really worth all the money, anguish, and hassle that I have to deal with now? No. Especially because we spent a bundle on Disneyland and stuff, with souvenirs (of course) and all. But that's in the past now. I just wish we had been a little later waking up, or in a different lane, or something so that it wouldn't have happened. :(

Jonathon's family (his mom, his grandma, and his cousin Jennifer visiting from New Hampshire) will be coming to our house tonight to visit! They'll be going to the Boardwalk with Jonathon during the day tomorrow (I got them discounted tickets at work). And we'll have dinner with them tonight and tomorrow. (Well, I'll have dinner with them tonight. Jonathon will be working late.) I hope to relax this weekend after the hectic and tiring weekend we had last weekend. And I think our roommate will be gone for the weekend, too, so even more relaxing! :) Stay cool, everyone. I'll write again soon.

July 7, 2003, 4:00 pm

"Even though we ain't got money / I'm so in love with you honey / And everything will bring a chain of love." -- Danny's Song, Kenny Loggins

Sorry! Long time, no write. :( Work has been pretty much all I've been up to, though. This past weekend was the glorious 3-day weekend, which we spent in Sacramento with Jonathon's wonderful family! We had a great BBQ with tons of food, some (legal) fireworks we set off at his cousin Eric's house, and spent Saturday just spending time with his mom and grandma, checking out the new casino nearby (Thunder Valley) and having a nice dinner. My Sunday was relaxing, as I slept in and surfed the web a little, as well as watched some DVDs.

So the long-awaited Johnson-Dalton wedding is fast approaching! This Saturday, me and a bunch of my UCLA friends (and guests) will be gathering together in LA for the first of probably many weddings to come in the next few years! I'm so happy for Mike & Candace, and I wish them nothing but the best in their new life together!! They're going to have *such* cute babies!!! Plus I'm eager to introduce Jonathon to my UCLA friends since many of them have never met him before. Then Sunday is Jonathon's 24th birthday, and we'll be in Disneyland, woo hoo!! This next weekend will be loads of fun, and I'm really looking forward to it!!

This month is also the first month that my raise kicks in, as well as my new promoted status. My next check should be bigger thanks to that and a supposed tax cut that I read about on cnn.com. We'll see. I could use the extra money. But in 11 months, my car will be paid off, yay!! I can't wait for that to happen. I'm sick of paying car payments AND insurance!! Also, I might as well say right now, that July 16th is my car's 2nd birthday! Well, it's not really its birthday, because that would be June 10th or something. But July 16th is when I took delivery, and that's what counts. I have a whopping 29,000 miles on it already!

I'm slowly getting more and more excited about Hot August Nights this year!! Aaron and Prateek have decided to join us, which I'm very excited about!! Maybe we can win a little bit of money to put towards our credit card debts... that would be nice! But I won't gamble too much, as I need all the money I can keep.

I hope everyone has had a wonderful and safe 4th of July, and that everyone has endured the searing heat we've been experiencing here on the West Coast! Take care, and thanks for continuing to read this page of mine, loyal readers!

June 17, 2003, 4:47 pm

"Objection, I don't want to be the exception / To get a bit of your attention / I'll love you for free and I'm not your mother / But you don't even bother / Objection, I'm tired of this triangle / Got dizzy dancin' tango / I'm fallin' apart in your hands again." -- Objection, Shakira

Finally went on a real bike ride on Sunday, which was Father's Day! Jonathon, Rich, and I piled our three bikes and ourselves into Jon's truck and drove over to Shoreline, where we did a 45 minute ride. It was all paved and all, but we went a pretty decent pace, and there were some uphills and stuff, too. Considering I'm still pretty nervous with myself on a bike again, I kept up well, and my thighs were hurting so bad when we were riding, but I have felt no soreness since. Weird. I felt kind of bad because Jon and Rich wanted to go a little further, so I told them to go and I'd be waiting when they got back, but Jon refused, after those horror stories of rapings and killings in broad daylight at parks like that. Oh, well. It was a good ride nevertheless.

So Finding Nemo is one of the best movies I've seen. It was done so well, and the voice casting and characters and dialogue were perfect! I have 7 out of 8 Happy Meal Toys, all I'm waiting on is Bruce, the shark, thanks to my team lead who bought me two that I was missing this morning! :) If you haven't seen it yet, go! I'm telling you, you'll love it.

Another thing that I'm excited about is the 5th Harry Potter book, which comes out this Saturday, June 21st!!! I've been waiting literally years for this book. Woo hoo!! It's called "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix." It's longer (but smaller font) and should