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!