Thank you, Tian!

End of the year....

Hello everyone! As the GF is watching the historic game between the Patriots and the Giants, I am in my 2nd. hour of net surfing. We also recently flew back from her family in Dallas. It was really good to see the nephew... all six years old full of energy, stubbornness, and snuggles! We got the GF's parents a computer and we hope that as they enter the information age, they'll be able to communicate via e-mail, shop, and even surf some porn on their new computer! They (her folks) have worked hard all of their lives to raise their kids and now they're raising their grandson, and I just hope that one day, they'll finally be able to live a more comfortable and peaceful life.

I am going to fly back to my family for the new year and try to spend some quality time with my grandfather and my sister. I wish that we all lived closer, because the older I get, the less time I get to spend with them. Things don't feel the same since the passing of my grandmother, and I still miss her immensely. I still, however, have my grandfather and I am really appreciative of him! About my own mom and dad? I wish that things were different, and as much as we are civil with each other, I think they dropped the ball on my sister and I shortly after we were born... even though I don't really think that it was our fault, I think that sooner or later, the effects of their actions or inactions will come back to haunt all of us.

Nevertheless, 2008 is coming, and I am hopeful that it'll be a good year. I think I am going to try and make this military thing a part of my past, so wish me luck! I think the army has a lot of other young and motivated individuals that they can choose from instead of me, a semi-motivated, aging, and achy atypical Asian woman! I hope that I'll be able to understand my pets better, treat my GF better, maybe add an addition or two to our family, be more healthy, read more, and talk to God more.

I hope your new year will be a good one for you and yours too!

This is my dog, Ramen, and this is a picture of him in full "combat gear" for his walk in the snow a few nights ago. Doesn't he look thrilled?

I've arrived at my new job, the higher paying but longer commute and much more taxed one. I don't know how long I'll be there, but at least I'm not in that pot of drama at the last job post anymore. Even my then manager has managed to get another gig...yes, the upper management was that bad that everyone of us have decided to leave.

My last day at the previous job went better than I had expected it to be. Thank God! Maybe fate, or whatever is at play will somehow bring all of us back again, hopefully in better times and circumstances, you know?

The GF and I are going to her home for Christmas, and I'll then travel to my grandfather and sisters to be with them for a few days. I am guilty for not calling my grandfather more often. Granted, he doesn't like to talk on the phone much, but it's the effort that counts, right? I think it'll be good to spend some time with both families....and even better to be away from the traffic and the blahness of this place.

The GF is not having a good time at her job because of the various lazy people with attitudes who work around her. Listening to her, it makes me sad for her that, for someone so smart and hardworking, she still has to put up with this shit. It makes working from home or working in a smaller doctor's office setting so much more attractive. She has updated her profile on monster.com and will do some more research so that she can find some other opportunities hopefully come beginning of the year. I just wish that her next work crew will be so much better than her current ones.

More later....still got to get X'mas gifts!....Trying like heck to avoid the malls!

Updates

The picture to the left is the city that I've been to 2x now this month for some of my reserve duties. Okay, I didn't exactly work in Seattle, but close enough. ( I was at an army post in the nearby area.)

First of all, I just wanted to thank my GF for being so patient with me and my travels (including the travel delays), taking care of the pets, and just keeping everything in order. I really wish that I could have taken her with me to Seattle, but then again....I probably was too busy playing soldier that we most likely could not have done much.

While I cannot say too much about what had happened with the army stuff while I was in Seattle, I do have to say that I am realizing that I am just not the type to play politics in order to climb up in rank. I have put in a lot of time and effort into the army thing and it's really starting to interfering with my job, as well as my personal life....as much as I really like the people in my unit, there is just no way that they can know about my GF....even if the current chain of command is made up of some really good people, it's not a guarantee that the good attitude will stay the same...with all the different people that I'll be in contact with.

I think a lot of people that I know in my unit are feeling burned out also, with obligations at their day jobs as well as their reserve duties. It is really hard to please everyone.
I have also decided to start a new job that'll pay me more $. I don't know how long I'll stay at that job, but for the time being, it'll help us pay off some of our debts, and that'll be less of a weight on our shoulders.
We didn't goto our homes for thanksgiving, instead, we spent it in our apt. and cooked a 19 lbs. turkey. The GF knows how much I LOVE eating turkey, and the broth that it can make :-) We'll do X'mas at her home and I'll most likely do new years at my grandfather's in Houston. I so wish that my grandmother is still here....she really loved the holidays.
I hope that y'all had a good thanksgiving! I'd like to give a shoutout to all the good folks of the Pacific Northwest and hope to visit again soon!

Well, there was a job proposition that I had received a few months ago for a lot more $. Uncertainty about the company and the nature of the work involved prompted me to say no to them.

Now to the present, I am feeling a kind of sick and depressed about my job....everyone from my company that works on site is contemplating going somewhere else to work. About a week ago, that same company approached me again, offering me that same job for that same amount of money.

Needless to say, I am very tempted. I also don't want to get screwed by being naive about this. So next week, I'm going to meet with one of their managers, along with a friend of mine, to see if they're full of shit or are they at least halfway sincere.

Next week is also the week that I'll be flying to my reserve unit's headquarter for this leadership conference. Which is kind of funny and sad to me at the same time. My unit is so new, unbalanced, and almost kind of broken because no one really knows what roles they're playing and how to do their jobs. I've got this guy in my platoon who is supposed to help me out in managing the troops but so far has been nothing but a whiner about every little thing. I don't have enough rank to move him or fire him.....so that will be really interesting. Wish me luck because I really don't deal with that sort of folks will. Of course, a big part of me is hoping that I'm wrong about how messed up things are.

For now, I'm enjoying the weekend with my GF...cleaning the house, eating well, and getting enough sleep. My hat tip to her because I really enjoy her company, and I'm really happy just lounging around with her, laughing with her, and snuggling! Without her around, I'd just sit and drool, and feeling really lost!

More later!

Lazy, hazy Sunday

The GF and I woke up early this morning to take part in her monthly women's' bike ride. We were supposed to meet up with a few of the riders at this bagel shop in another town. We did meet them at the parking lot of the bagel shop....however, the GF's bike also had a flat tire that basically ended our motorcycle ride.

We had to call a tower, took the bike to a repair shop (it was closed on Sundays), and the tower man was nice enough to take us to the nearest train station so we can get back home.

One of the good thing about having to wait for the tower was that we found a Chinese grocery store and got ourselves some almond cookies!

The GF was really disappointed though. I was a bit too....but there will be other rides and I am sure that we'll make them.

After we got back to the apt. We napped, watched t.v. (mostly sports), and now we're trying to figure out what to eat for dinner.

Oh, I think it's time for me to look for another gig....I think most people in the office are thinking the same way about their own jobs. This friend of mine from work and I are going to attend a job fair together next week....I wish that I could just somehow land a job (besides the army) that I can work until I retire....but my life is about change, I guess....I am so not like that though!

About this day job

As some of you may already know, I'm not in love with my day job right now, far from it, in fact. There is a lot of favoritism, bad rumors flying around about the security of our jobs as contractors for this particular company, and it just sort of all came to this point where I just had to say something to my company's local manager, who works just a few floors above me.

I sent her an e-mail in which I told her that I think that my days at this job are numbered... and that coming to work is starting to feel downright bad. My manager then summoned me upstairs so we could talk about it. I wasn't really afraid of anything at that point... she could have told me to suck it up or just quit, and I wouldn't really have cared. I probably could go back to active duty assignments with the army, and there are people who will help me get on orders. Or, I could always get another contractor job... although a less desirable option... having just gone through one.

To my surprise, my manger agreed with my points of view and even told me that she is thinking about leaving the company herself by the end of this year because of the lack of support from the headquarters of our company. I was sort of surprised but not overtly. I think out of the 6 of us contractors from our company, at best, there are two people who could say that they're somewhat happy, but if they have the option, they will get to somewhere else.

I think this thing called career is a very illusive one. I've never done the same thing for any of my jobs. I was a supply clerk in the army, then I became a linguist, and now I'm an intelligence analyst (just not fully trained). Who really knows what I'll do next? I'd like to think that I'm trying to be well rounded and flexible... but maybe I'm just being not very grounded and flip-flopping from one thing to another.

Oh well, at least for now, the bills are getting paid.

Gross! Yet kinda neat!

Courtesy Pop Candy.

I gave in.....

Yes, I am now a watcher of "The View"!!!! After years of trying not to watch the show,the GF and I have started to watch this show when Whoopi Goldberg started to co-host the show. We both enjoy Whoopi Goldberg and some of her comedy, and she has definitely been a lot better co-host than Rosie O' Donnell.
The GF would DVR the show every day, and we'd watch it after we get back from work.
We're definitely waltzing toward middle agehood! I'd even found myself wanting to be a member of the studio audience so that I might be able to win a free trip or something!

Adventure in armyland

As some of you might know, I'm now a weekend warrior, which is a army reservist. From the description, I should be doing army stuff one weekend a month and two weeks of annual training a year, right?
That's not the way things turned out to be. When I became commissioned as an officer, the unit that I was in gave me 11 people to be in charge of, as well as made me a program manager for the linguists/translators in the company.
Needless to say, I'm experiencing growing pains big time. Even though this reserve unit is mostly virtual, the needs of soldiers do not diminish, there will always be people who are looking to the reserve unit as a way of getting some work to support their families, some of the superiors still have the "holier than thou" attitudes, and there will always be complaints of a unit not better taking care of each soldier's needs.
Since I made the conscious decision to stay in the army for now, I'd figure that I should just buckle down and try my best to see if I can do at least a good job. I know full well that I might just throw my hands up one of these days and say "fuck this sh*t!" and leave it all behind. It seems also like that, this is payback for the times that I was only being an half assed soldier.
But I am trying though......even when I don't feel like others are....
Pity the GF though.....because of this "part time" job, she has been neglected too much... :-(


Feel better B!

Awesome!

The above is the poster for Werner Herzog's documentary, "Encounters at the end of the world". The photography of this poster was done by my old college friend Cindy Ogasawara, world traveler and I think, a brilliant writer.

I will definitely see this documentary when it comes to town! Most of it was filmed during one of Cindy's sojourns in Antarctica. It is now being screened at the Toronto Film Festival. If any one of you could catch it, you will not regret it!

Got to check this out!

The Chinese backstreet boys doing Chinese opera!

Have a nice labor day weekend everyone!

Will fill you in on the dramas in life and work when I come back......in the meanwhile, here's another view of Hawaii.....

What has been going on

For today, most of the day has been spent clearing out the two boxes of shoes that I've yet to sort and move them to another place. Yes, it was sad for me because I finally have to say goodbye to some of my trusty old shoes .... yes I do have somewhat of a strong liking for shoes.
I like to express my condolences to Eric and Jeff, friend of mine and the GF who hail from Asheville, NC. They just lost their dog, Star, due to a sudden illness. All deaths are difficult to deal with, and this one is no different.

I will be posting some photos of my annual training in Hawaii up soon....sorry that it took so long to post!

There has been some dramas at work and it has to do with my manager and her boss at the agency that we work. I was on my way out of the office this past Thurs. when I saw my manager (this really smart 25 year old whiz kid) wiping away tears. I asked her what was the matter, she told me that her boss (who is not a part of our contracting company) is being manipulative and unusually demanding towards her. This guy, mind you, had about 3 complaints lodged against him from before, for hostile treatment toward employees.....all of them were females. My manager didn't think that her complaint to her managers would amount to anything, except maybe her transfer and even maybe severance. I felt sad for her, and tried to tell her that she wasn't as out of options as she thinks....first of all, she's young, she's got some money, and she has options that some might not have....meaning that she didn't necessarily have to sit down and take this bullshit. I'm learning about the indignity of being a contractor in this town.....$ is only part of the puzzle.

I've been working pretty hard also at my reserve unit business....I'm now in charge of 11 people and then I've got two other additional duties...I'm trying my best to balance the two....and I think there is really no balance to any of this. Oh well, I'm obligated to do both, so I'm trying my best....but somehow, in the back of my mind, I think I'm just filling in the space and time until one side fires me or tells me to do something else.

More as events warrant.....Next weekend, the GF and I are finally going back to Texas to see the nephew and enjoy Austin once again! I can't wait!

Here's a bit of Hawaii.....

RIP

For Doc

Throw it all away

Toad the Wet Sprocket

Take your cautionary tales
Take your incremental gain
And all the sychophantic games
And throw em all away
Burn your tv in your yard
And gather round it with your friends
And warm your hands upon the fire
And start again
Take the story you've been told
The lies that justify the pain
The guilt the weighs upon your soul
And throw em all away
Tear up the calendar you've bought
And throw the pieces to the sky
Confetti falling down like rain
Like a parade to usher in your life
Take the dreams that should have died
The ones that kept you lying awake
When you should've been all right
And throw em all away
With the time I waste on the life I never had
I could've turned myself into a better man
cause there ain't nothing you can buy
And there is nothing you can save
To fill the whole inside your heart
So throw it all away
Wont fill the whole inside your heart
Help me empty out this house
The wool Ive gathered all these days
And thought I couldn't do without
And throw it all away

Happy belated Chinese Father's Day!

To my father and grandfather, as well as to all the Chinese dads in the world!

The Chinese father's day usually falls on the 8th. of August of every year.

How ironic

If they only knew who they were talking to....

When I was in training in Hawaii, my commander, in some random conversations that we were having, told me that people like me and her could probably tell if someone's gay within the first 10 minutes of meeting that person. I thought that was funny because I wonder if she knew who she was talking to, and nope, my own gaydar has never been activated as of yet.

Flash to yesterday, I've got this former collegue in the army who sent me a e-mail telling me that as I progress in my military career (really?), I should consider moving to the Pacific Northwest, but as long as I don't mind the "angry lesbians" running about town, protesting about everything under the sun. He obviously does not know half of the story!

Would I be out if they got rid of the "Don't ask, don't tell" policy? Not likely, because even in my civilian job, I don't really think it's anyone's business who I snuggle with at night.

What do you think?

The Hawaiian breakfast

While I did not get to do nearly as much sightseeing and sampling of island cuisines, I did have the pleasure to have the supposedly very traditional Hawaiian breakfast, over at of all places, the Burger King located near the main gate of Schofield Barracks, Hi.

The ingredients for the breakfast are steamed white rice, scrambled eggs, and a few slices of Spam, lightly sauteed. They're incredibly simple to make and probably an almost perfect breakfast if you have one of these busy mornings that requires a lot of running around. For a lighter version of the same dish, try doing mostly eggwhites for scrambled eggs and turkey Spam.

Finish the meal with a cup of Kona coffee....and you'll be good to go!

I'm baaaack!

From my two weeks of reserves annual training, will get try to get over the jet lag and settle back to some kind of routine before I post again, and yes, I will include some pictures!

This annual training has been one of the best, worst, and the most challenging two weeks in my life in the reserves, and I will elaborate on that soon!

Hope everyone had a good past two weeks!

Yawn....zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.........

Read this report on this reservist who is about to lose his job and house due to numerous (his fifth) deployments. This reservist and his wife have written to everyone under the sun who could possibly help in deferring his deployment or delay it, but so far to no avail.

Having only been been informed 2 days prior to my deployment and also being on deployment for more than a year, I understand where he's coming from. I got really lucky in getting my current job and not have to depend on active duty tours in order to get the bills paid. Also, for the first time in my life, I'm finally making more (not too much) than what I would had I stayed in active duty.

Some of the people that I knew from my deployment have already left military duty altogether, while others are on their second or third deployment overseas. I got myself involved with this new unit that pretty much doesn't have anything to do with deployments in the current theater of war.

So what do I have to complain about?

I've got a 6+ months long officer training that I've got to get out of the way or risk losing my security clearance and commission, to which, thanks to my employer, I got it delayed because my employer would like for me to, due to the recent transfer. I've also got the baby thing to do....so I have no idea what is going to happen. My employer is already not feeling too happy with the amount of time already spent away from my work (5 days in April...and possibly 11 days sometimes this month), even though legally they cannot fire me for performing reserve duties, promotions and other similar perks may be just that much more diffucult.

I never joined the military in the hopes of getting a retirement check every month when I turn 65, despite of all the bad things that I've experienced, I've also been very lucky at getting opportunities to be paid to use my native language, and to be able to be granted the clearance so that I could use that also in my day job. It's a hard call either way on whether or not to just resign my commission altogether. Now I've got as stable of a life as I could have with my GF and the pets, it's just so hard to pack up again and leave for months at a time. Yes, it's important to serve your country and most of all, fulfill your obligations, but there are also heavy prices to pay which cannot be ignored.

I know you

By Henry Rollins

I know you You were too short You had bad skin You couldn't talk to them very well Words didn't seem to work They lied when they came out of your mouth You tried so hard to understand them You wanted to be part of what was happening You saw them having fun And it seemed like such a mystery Almost magic Made you think that there was something wrong with you You'd look in the mirror and try to find it You thought that you were ugly And that everyone was looking at you

So you learned to be invisible To look down To avoid conversation The hours, days, weekends Ah, the weekend nights alone Where were you? In the basement? In the attic? In your room? Working some job - just to have something to do. Just to have a place to put yourself Just to have a way to get away from them A chance to get away from the ones that made you feel so strange and ill at ease inside yourself

Did you ever get invited to one of their parties? You sat and wondered if you would go or not For hours you imagined the scenarios that might transpire They would laugh at you If you would know what to do If you'd have the right things on If they would notice that you came from a different planet Did you get all brave in your thoughts? Like you going to be able to go in there and deal with it and have a great time. Did you think that you might be the life of the party? That all these people were gonna talk to you and you would find out that you were wrong? That you had a lot of friends and you weren't so strange after all? Did you end up going? Did they mess with you? Did they single you out? Did you find out that you were invited because they thought you were so weird?

Yeah, I think I know you You spent a lot of time full of hate A hate that was pure sunshine A hate that saw for miles A hate that kept you up at night A hate that filled your every waking moment A hate that carried you for a long time

Yes, I think I know you You couldn't figure out what they saw in the way they lived Home was not home Your room was home A corner was home The place they weren't, that was home

I know you You're sensitive and you hide it because you fear getting stepped on one more time It seems that when you show a part of yourself that is the least bit vulnerable someone takes advantage of you One of them steps on you They mistake kindliness for weakness But you know the difference You've been the brunt of their weakness for years And strength is something you know a bit about because you had to be strong to keep yourself alive You know yourself very well now And you don't trust people You know them too well

You try to find that special person Someone you can be with Someone you can touch Someone you can talk to Someone you don't feel so strange around And you find that they don't really exist You feel closer to people on movie screens

Yeah, I think I know you You spend a lot of time daydreaming And people have made comment to that effect Telling you that you're self involved, and self centered But they don't know, do they? About the long night shifts alone About the years of keeping yourself company All the nights you wrapped your arms around yourself so you could imagine someone holding you The hours of indecision, self doubt The intense depression The blinding hate The rage that made you stagger The devastation of rejection Well, maybe they do know But if they do, they sure do a good job of hiding it It astounds you how they can be so smooth How they seem to pass through life as if life itself was some divine gift And it infuriates you to watch yourself with your apparent skill at finding every way possible to screw it up

For you life is a long trip Terrifying and wonderful Birds sing to you at night The rain and the sun the changing seasons are true friends Solitude is a hard won ally, faithful and patient

Yeah, I think I know you

On this July 4th.

Between the BBQ's, the fireworks, and the keg parties, please don't forget that we've still got folks out there doing most of the work to keep us safe.....

The weekend......

Never underestimate the power of napping. It's got regenerative effects and that was what we did this weekend, with viewing of "Ratatouille" and an episode of "Prime Suspect" (That early 90's Helen Mirren/female detective t.v. show).

The rest of the time we spent on mindless net surfing, eating, and taking the dog to the dog park so he can socialize with other humans/dogs and get his pooping out of the way.

The GF is all sore and frustrated because of a possible chiropractic dilemma in her hip, and this co-worker of hers who's getting away with not what you would call model employee behaviors. I really hope that her situation will get better soon, there's nothing worse than being bugged to no end by stuff like that.

I'm going to take the day off to take a language test, as a possible future job possibility. I'm not sure how easy/diffucult the test is going to be, and I don't even know if it's going to be a real job possibility... You would think that I'm staying at my current job for good, after turning down a 85G job proposition (but a shady 85G)... but in all truthfulness, my current job doesn't pay too much.

But for now, I'm not going to think that much about that... the dog just told me that he needs to be walked.

Cute!

So far....

First of all, a big shout out to Jeff and Eric for sending us the lovely leaf shaped ornament, "Kafka on The Beach", a bar of the most natural and great smelling soap, a copy of their local gay newspaper, and two great CD's that Jeff had made for yours truly....thank you guys very much!

Life has been good so far, I'm learning more at work, and the GF is doing great at her work. I've visited the baby doctor and we're thinking about perhaps adding to the brood of two humans, one canine, and two felines......all of us feels like we need a new playmate! I'll update on how that goes...it's not as easy as it was originally perceived...especially with someone as forgetful as I am! (Timing of the cycles, taking temps...etc.) If that doesn't happen? That's okay too...we'll be like Brangelina....only not as many kids...we can't afford all of them!

This job that I had said no to a while back has come back to stalk me. The project manager of that job practically begged me to take the job for 5 grands more than the previous offer....and it's really tempting because I've never been offered that much money before. I haven't made a final decision yet, but I think more than likely that I'll stay at my current job because I can make a living (even though I'm the lowest paid person there, but I'm also the least experienced person there.), and I am learning new things, even if they're not the most interesting things, but I'm better off for having the skills. I know.....I can just hear others tell me (and some of them have) about how stupid I am to reject all that $!

More later!

The root of all evil

Happy father's day!

To my dear grandpa. This photo was taken in Feb. of last year. I talked briefly to him last night, he sounded good and relaxed. Now that he's staying with my aunt in the cooler and more comfortable climate of the Northeast. I still wish that my grandma is here to stay with him, but you know, I believe that it's sort of like the Billy and Ruth Graham thing, they've been together for so long that their time apart will seem only like a short separation.
I hope he'll be happy, comfortable, and healthy while staying with my aunt! I will also talk and visit with him more often!

Rest In Peace

Ruth Graham
June 10, 1920-June 14 2007

Small update

My grandpa has travelled up to New Jersey to stay with my aunt and her clan for a while. We have no idea how long he'll stay over there, but it was certain that he just wasn't as happy living in Houston now that grandma's no longer around. I hope that he'll be more active and occupied instead of feeling bored and hopeless.
My sister is traveling to Europe for a little R&R. She has worked pretty hard in chef school and I hope that she'll have a great time there!
My work is going okay, sometimes the pace is faster than the other days. There are much interplays of personalities going on, not all of which end up with good feelings for everyone involved. That is the office environment.
The GF's work is going well, she's doing really well and she's trying to navigate herself between some really undedicated fellow workers.
On the way back from work today, I received a call from a friend of mine who was on active duty with me in Japan. He has been struggling to find a job ever since he had gotten back from Japan. The problem is not that he doesn't qualify for a lot of the jobs that he had applied for, the problem really comes from the fact that he wanted these military or federal jobs that takes a lot of breaking through red tapes, and such. I feel for him! I guess I really got lucky with this job, it's not the dream job, but you know what? I don't miss not knowing where my next paycheck is coming from.
More as events, or thoughts warrant.

Bring it back!

A little rant

To the three biggest non-actors of "Ocean's 13", it takes a lot more than just pretty faces and flimsy scripts .... you guys are just getting so old and boring.... lacking in depth or acting skills.

Mr. Sharpton, I don't give a flying flip about what you're saying about anything in general, if anyone is a racist and a bigot, it's you.

Mr.Bono, if I was the Prime Minister of Canada, I wouldn't want to consult with you either.

You were okay with U2, but now your band has depleted itself of originality and creativity. If you care so much about global debt forgiveness, how about letting go of some of your millions? You know, practice what you preach?

Get over it, please! Just sit your rich butt in jail for 23 more days and go back to your simple life. I am so sick of seeing you on headline news, fox, abc, etc.!

Hug

My achy breaky back

A minor detail about me, and that is that I've got a case of the arthritis, actually, the osteoarthritis of the lower back. It was diagnosed about a year ago and it was supposedly the result of an old injury from when I was a toddler, it just took about 30 some odd years to manifest itself.
My back would hurt big time every few months, and this past weekend was such occasion. Not being a fan of painkillers, I used heat, icy hot, and limited my activities so that it wouldn't get worse.
Tried to find a good chiropractor, just any doctor that would be good at taking care of this, and I think I finally succeed today by looking up this directory of chiropractors in town, the good part about this particular search was that there were ratings from patients. Found this place that was about 15 minutes away from my work and my first treatment was a good...rather a good start to many more treatments to come. My back is so messed up that I'll have to start treatments all over again, that includes doing exercises aside from the basic stretches so the joints don't freeze up.
Yes, I'm not 20 anymore, but you don't usually hear about 30 something year olds getting arthritis. While I am glad that I'm fairly healthy, I do know that it's time to try to be better to the body and mind.
The GF is becoming more physical now with her new job, and I know that both of us have a long way to go....to be able to keep up and not be in nursing homes in our 50's!

:-)

This past weekend

I had a good time hanging out with my sister and grandpa back in Houston! We really didn't do too much, just grocery shopped, watched Chinese t.v. shows, played mahjong, and walked my sister's dog.
I had a sense that grandpa was really bored and was not interested in going out to do things such as strolling in the park, window shopping, etc. I think he still misses grandma a lot and it's just not the same without her around. He's planning to goto my aunt's house in NJ for a while, at least there are people there 24/7, and with the summer coming up, the heat won't be as much of a problem over there.
I also got the feeling that I don't feel grandma's presence as much in the house. Whatever people have said about the departed having moved on, I can almost say that it feels true in this sense. Oh, she's always going to be in my memories, and unless I get some major problems with my brain, nothing will change that. I hope she's having a blast wherever she is!
Now it's back to the daily grind! I'm grateful that I got to be in Houston! Not the best place in the world, but it's familiar and it's in Texas! (Best reason of all!)

Memorial Day

So far....

We're watching the season finale of "Heroes", definitely one of the best shows of this season! I think the rest of the major t.v. shows are crap, with the exception of "Friday Night Lights", and "How I met your mother" (Even though that show suffers from overacting).

I spent the whole day at work today, feeling a kind of invisible. No one said much of anything to me, I just pretty much sat in front of my desk, typing away and consistently checking the clock to see if time is close enough for me to dash out of the office and go home. While I am grateful for this job, I really cannot picture myself spending more than another 6-9 months in that office. Where there's a constant battle of those who wanted to get ahead by ass-kissing, those who are so steeped in the old ways of doing things that they simply refuse to hear of anything new and different, and of course, lots and lots of really smart and ambitious people whose sense of ambition is strong enough that you almost feel like you are chocking.

The GF is doing well at her job, with a combo of different personalities, and some body aches to go with it too.

We'll see how things go, but for now, I'll keep on typing away at my desk.

Floyd Landis

Dude, I'd love to believe that you didn't dope while you were biking your ass of during the tour, but I wasn't there so I don't know exactly what went on and if there were serious infractions by the authorities against you. If you're right, then I wish you all the luck and justice in the world, and then you can come back to competition again.

For now though, things don't look too good....

Greg LeMond

I don't know if any of y'all have heard about the
fiasco that have taken place during Floyd Landis's
pre-trial trial. Greg LeMond had testified yesterday
as a witness for the prosecution. Was the testimony
bizzare or what?
Look on just about any of the major news sites and there will be an detailed description of the whole event which took place.
I doubt that Mr. LeMond's testimy will have a lot of weight to the entire trial, since he never took part in any of the testing done on Mr. Landis.
I did feel sad for Mr. LeMond though, I got a sense that this was a man, whom, despite of his achievements, endorsements, and a sound business (He had his own bicycle company which he sold to Trek for a large amount of $), this man is still not satisfied. He gave me the impression that he just have to be in the limelight again. He just have to have his say in doping scandals of other athletes who had nothing to do with him whatsoever.
Okay, he had also claimed that he was sexually abused when he was six years old. If that was true, then I'm deeply sorry that he had to go through that ordeal. Perhaps that was something that should have stayed between him and his therapist. He might have felt that he needed to tell Mr. Landis this secret so that Mr. Landis would be courageous enough to admit to doping, but I fail to see the relevance. If Mr. Landis did indeed practice doping, that was on his own accords, wheras, Mr. LeMond's ordeal was probably not something that he had wanted to happen.

Happy mother's day grandma!

For your first mother's day in heaven!

I can't believe....

that I've just gave up on a job that'll pay me 80 grands a year! It was from one of those defense contracting firms who pimps out linguists to government agencies.(I can read and speak Chinese). After a lot of talking back and forth between the hiring company, the GF, me going to "interview" the site manager for that gig, and some people in my family, I decided that I'd rather take less $ for a bit more stability, and the chance to learn more about things in this job.... even if it meant feeling like a second fiddle for a bit longer.

I saved the offer letter as a souvenir, because who really knows when someone might offer me lots of $ again? Granted, my company is cheap, but I've got a good manager who makes sure that people get taken care of, and that's rare....so I'll stick around for a bit longer.

It's a cool Saturday night with a hint of a rainstorm, rather nice. We took the dog to the local dog park and had him running around off-leash. The dog greeted everyone and tried to keep up with the other dogs...you see, our dog don't exercise much (and that's my fault) and it shows. Now that we know where the dog park is, we'll try to make it a weekly treat for him!

Later this afternoon, we met up with my friend Chong, her hubby, and baby Constantine. They took us to the local Korean grocery store that she likes and I was really happy to know that someplace like that is in the area. We got some groceries and then some bread from the Korean bakery, with a delicious Korean lunch in between.

I was hoping that Chong would bring her family to see our humble apt., but then Constantine had to get his nap on, so we took a raincheck.

It was a good Saturday. :-)

To my GF

I just wanted to say that kudos to my GF for going through the rigors for returning to the workforce, trying to wake up early, and bravely dealing with all sorts of different people, not all of them easy to deal with.

Even if I may seem so tired lately, I still wanted to let her know that she's still the funniest, smartest, and the nicest GF there is!

MmmmMMmMmMmmmm!

For your eyes only

But I think some republicans think this way too....

Lately....

Life has been quite full, with a new cell phone, the GF starting a new job, longer walks with the dog, finally getting into some kind of rhythm at work, and finally getting to meet and hang out with Doc and Tragic from the famous "Doc in the Box" blog! They were in town for the Milbloggers' conference and got a lot of press coverage, do look at his interviews on CNN, and other media outlets! (I've enclosed their picture so y'all could marvel at what a gorgeous couple they are! Not only are they great looking, but they're funny as well as kind!....I'm not kidding!)

It's such a departure from the first several weeks of our lives in the D.C. area, with the broken down apartment, and the worries over jobs and money. I still haven't gotten reimbursed from my move yet, nor did I have been paid yet for my reserve drill, but life is definitely better now!

The GF finally found a job that she thinks that she'll enjoy, and I'd like to welcome her to the traffic and the hustle and bustle of working in the city!

Will post in more details later...right now I need to catch up on some sleep and get this crick out of my neck!

Cold and rainy in the East Coast this weekend. For some, I guess it's a welcomed event, since part of the state (Va.) has been in a somewhat dry condition.

The GF and I have finally found ourselves another apt. to live in, and of course, with better quality of residence, there will be higher rent price too. Nothing an extra job or a miraculous promotion won't take care of. Most of all, I hope that we'll find a peace of mind finally.

Last night, the GF and I went to a friend's place to have dinner. We were supposed to have dinner at the local Koreatown, but on the way there, her baby threw up...and he threw up a lot! So, we had to goto her apt., where her husband cooked up some good pork chops for us to enjoy. Unfortunately, her baby did not get better with the vomiting and could not keep down pedialyte, so they called an ambulance and off we all went to emergency room. I hope that they're all doing a lot better now. These stomach viruses are just nasty to deal with, especially in babies.

I don't really know what it takes to live even semi-comfortably in this town, it looks like that unless you're earning in the 6 figures, then everything is a struggle. My friend and her husband, despite of both being highly educated and competent adults, still are struggling with monetary issues even with both working and doing what they can not to overspend and going into debt.

Will update more as long as internet access is obtainable.

In the meanwhile, feel better, little Constantine!

Update

We've all moved to DC and I've started work at my old/new workplace. Being the new kid at the job again is beginning to get a bit to old for my taste.

We've got a little dilemma that we're trying to deal with right now, and that is we are trying to move from one apt. to another. In the effort to trying to go cheap, we've landed ourselves on a ticking timebomb of a apt. No hot water, bugs, noisy neighbors, and a seemingly clueless managment are making us feel that we should (especially me) try to get the heck out of here as soon as we can!

Since we don't have internet access right now (I'll explain why later), we're at this diner near where I work and trying to use their free wi-fi so we can check on stuff. I promise that I'll give a more detailed update once things calm down a bit.

Hat tip to the pets and the GF, for all the stuff that they put up with from me!

Goodbye, J-Town!

I miss them

Happy birthday to my PQ

To the smartest, cutest, and the best smelling PQ on the planet, I love you! Happy birthday!

Happy birthday, Ramen dog!

Update

Today's my 35th. birthday, and while I don't feel 35 mentally, I think physically, I am already feeling 35 and beyond!

The GF took me out on her motorcycle and we rode around town for a bit. The weather was really nice and that made the motorcycle ride really relaxing. Then we got some steaks and stuffed mushrooms for a great steak dinner! Thank you my PQ for a great birthday!

I also need to mention that we've found a ghetto apt. that we could maybe afford to rent in Va. This whole transition at work thing is happening really fast, and it was made more complicated by the fact that we had limited time to look for a place to live and make all the other arrangements. I don't know how my job will be from this point on, but I hope it'll get better from this point on. Both my GF and I are still longing to live back in Tx....and if I can somehow manage to find something to do back there, we'll be on the first U-Haul back!

The last few days has been stressful for us because of looking for a place to live, and fighting the nagging feelings of insecurity and the frustration of navagating the complicated roads of the DC Metro area....but the hotel bed was comfy and we had our faithful dog with us, so it wasn't completely that bad.

BTW, today is also the faithful dog's birthday! Well, we're not exactly sure when he was born, but it was 5 years ago today that we adopted him from Townlake Animal Shelter in Austin, Texas, so, happy birthday, Ramen dog!

Hey Doc,

Thanks for the birthday greeting, please e-mail me about when/where you'll be at when you come to the Milbloggers's Conference! I'll be living in that neck of the woods pretty soon!

The GF and I would love to be able to meet with you and Tragic!

Iraqi kids