Well, Thanksgiving has come and gone, and even though there was a much lusted after four day weekend for me, it was in all reality, a bit of a let-down. For all the hype that it was building up to be, it was just slightly better than okay. Which is what this post will probably be.
The days leading up to Thanksgiving, my wife had a limited amount of time to clean the house. When my wife expects company, it's a little bit like a house overhaul. The house just becomes this non-functional Ikea display home. Nothing useful can be found, and things may look pretty, but they sure as hell won't make any sense. All my stuff on my desk was moved to a better home, namely in boxes upstairs at the back of my desk. My phone charger cord was missing, and when I asked my wife where it was, she thought that I probably had it hidden somewhere. So I thought her that it was probably in some obscure box in the back of the closet and it'd be better if she gave it a go. And sure enough, I caught her trying to sneak it back on my desk because it was in some obscure box in the garage. Even now, the apples are still sitting on a rack in the middle of the living room. Weird. I suppose I won't miss anything that I can't see.
But getting a bit ahead of myself. First of all, good news on the job front is that they not only met my request for a pay bump, they upped it a little to keep me contended. Goes to show kiddies, sometimes the worst thing about asking is being turned down. So once the whole background thing checks out, I'll be making a buck 25 more than I am now. This may not mean much to most, but to us bottom dwellers, it's kinda a big deal. Especially when I hit the OT, baby.
Anyway, sometime in the middle of the week, I was dismayed to find out in the morning that I had run out of deodorant. Now that in itself isn't really noteworthy. What makes the story is that I know that I'm a bit of a sweaty bastard, and that if I don't use something, I'll just end up stinking raunchy at work. So I did what a married man would do in that situation, which is to use my wife's deodorant. I somehow failed to purchase my own so I wore "Mystic Rain" for two days, worrying for two days at work that someone might catch on and ask, "Why are you using my wife's scent?"
As we were approaching Thanksgiving, we cleaned up house, got three turkeys (all free), gave away one, and I even experimented in brining. My verdict on brining is a little skewed, since I did leave the turkey in there a little longer than I should have, and it was a little saltier than I had wanted it, but it was okay. Couldn't really say if I would do it next year or not, the trouble that it took to brine two freaking turkeys in giant ziplock bags.
Thanksgiving day itself was okay. The kids enjoyed the company of the other kids, and my wife's daughter got to come visit, which was fine. My brother did something that I wasn't real happy about - he had come and dropped off my Mom, and then said something about going for a walk and then left without saying. My mom relayed that he found it rude that one of the guests had failed to acknowledge him when he showed up. I myself found it ruder that he had ditched us after we made sure that was enough food that was cooked, that we sorted through all our toys to make sure most of it was toddler safe for his son, and that we even vacated a spot outside our house so that he could park there. But despite that shortfall, Thanksgiving turned out pretty nice. The kids had a lot of fun so that was great.
And Black Friday wasn't a big deal for me. I have gotten to that point that I did own most of the toys that I could possibly have, so I just got a couple of used games and that was the extent of it. There's a thing on Amazon.com that I have my eye on, which could either cost me a fortune or nothing at all, depending on my luck. On the other side of the argument, it will either save me a lot of money in the long run, or make me some for the holidays. More on that as it unfolds later this week, I suppose.
Well, back to work tomorrow. I'm still not sure what happens when I go to bed at 3 something in the morning last night and have to wake up at 4:30am later this morning. Probably will hurt a good deal.
Sunday, November 25, 2007
Saturday, November 17, 2007
Under Pressure
One of the great things in life is that sometimes, coincidences come about to verify your state of thinking. It seems that whenever I get really tense and stressed about something, my iPod will just play Bowie and Queen's "Under Pressure" to kinda underline the tension that I have bouncing about in my head. So either my iPod has some psychic abilities or... I'm really stressed all the time.
Right now I should be editing my very last wedding but my mind wants to do other things, like play the ever so fun Super Mario Galaxy! I plowed through a couple hours yesterday, just lost in the gameplay that was familiar but so shiny and new at the same time. It was like letting you enjoy an old activity in a whole new different galaxy, as it were. The kids really enjoy watching it too, though I doubt they would get a chance to play it because the learning curve is a little steep if you didn't grow up with Mario. But man, is it fun.
I had downloaded Super Mario 2 and 3 from the virtual console to get ready for Galaxy, and I've always liked 2 for some odd reason, even though it's a tough one to play, but what's more surprising is how well I remember 3. I never owned a NES when I was a kid, just spent a lot of time playing at my friend's Patrick's house. From level one, I just remembered where the flutes were, the secret stuff was, all that. A lot of it came back to me pretty naturally, so that was a bit surprising.
I do have a couple pieces of odd media that I have to post, if I find the time and gumption. Other than that, just waiting for Thanksgiving whereby there could be quite a number of people coming for dinner, since we do have two frozen turkeys and a microphone.
---
The job end is going pretty well, I have my days whereby I want to just slap everyone I work with, and some days whereby I do enjoy working with them. But I'm on the verge of being permanent, and it was quite nice to hear that my boss and the HR rep had actually revised my proposal for hiring in order to accomodate the pay bump that I had requested. I had felt like I pulled enough weight around there to warrant a higher starting wage then they offered, so I sheepishly asked for it in a hemming and hawing way.
Right now I should be editing my very last wedding but my mind wants to do other things, like play the ever so fun Super Mario Galaxy! I plowed through a couple hours yesterday, just lost in the gameplay that was familiar but so shiny and new at the same time. It was like letting you enjoy an old activity in a whole new different galaxy, as it were. The kids really enjoy watching it too, though I doubt they would get a chance to play it because the learning curve is a little steep if you didn't grow up with Mario. But man, is it fun.
I had downloaded Super Mario 2 and 3 from the virtual console to get ready for Galaxy, and I've always liked 2 for some odd reason, even though it's a tough one to play, but what's more surprising is how well I remember 3. I never owned a NES when I was a kid, just spent a lot of time playing at my friend's Patrick's house. From level one, I just remembered where the flutes were, the secret stuff was, all that. A lot of it came back to me pretty naturally, so that was a bit surprising.
I do have a couple pieces of odd media that I have to post, if I find the time and gumption. Other than that, just waiting for Thanksgiving whereby there could be quite a number of people coming for dinner, since we do have two frozen turkeys and a microphone.
---
The job end is going pretty well, I have my days whereby I want to just slap everyone I work with, and some days whereby I do enjoy working with them. But I'm on the verge of being permanent, and it was quite nice to hear that my boss and the HR rep had actually revised my proposal for hiring in order to accomodate the pay bump that I had requested. I had felt like I pulled enough weight around there to warrant a higher starting wage then they offered, so I sheepishly asked for it in a hemming and hawing way.
Sunday, November 11, 2007
Disney on Ice
While hunting for a skating rink a while back, I saw that there were tickets for Disney on Ice: Princess Wishes on sale, so I got the cheap seats (cheap meaning after everything, it was 81 bucks) to go. But anyway, we went on Friday night and here's the recap.
First things first, driving to Everett on a Friday evening is murder. Driving especially after 10 hours of work is just murderous torture. When I get tired, my equilibrium gets thrown off and I actually get a little car sick, so that was starting to get to me a little - but it took over an hour just to get there. But after a trip to Jack in the Box and looking for parking, we walked with the hordes of children to the Arena - and when we got in, the place was crawling with kids. And kiosks peddling overpriced Disney toys. They had a ton of girls' toys, but only one sword for boys, and it was running 16 bucks. So we compromised and got the kids each a Disney mug with a sno-cone, and then found our spot and watched the performance.
Lemme tell you, screw being a rock star, if you're a Disney character and you show up, all the kids go wild. The screaming and excitement that explodes from the crowd is something to behold. Characters like Mickey and Sebastian got huge applause, and with scenes acted out from the movies and acrobats, great sets, and minor pyrotechnics, it was certainly something worth going to.
The look on the kids faces were pretty fun too, they went from elated to somewhat surprised to "my brain is fried, can I go home now?" But all in all, it was quite fun. Made me think about planning a trip to Disneyland in a year or two.
---
On the job front, I didn't get offered the sales job that I applied for, so I'll probably just take the one job that I'm doing now in a permanent basis. I was really hoping that it would go the other way, but I suppose I'll have to take what I can get.
Speaking of work, here's an incident that happened that irked me to no end. I was standing in line for the breakfast buffet at work, which was a precursor to the meeting that was going to happen right after. So I started up the PSP, and the guy in front of me turned around to see what I was doing.
"Just maximizing my time," I offered.
"You know, those things corrode your brain," he blurted, which caught me off guard. "According to the Christian right, violence in games will make people more violent."
At that point, the air was thick with irony as I wanted to kick him in the ear. I didn't say anything to that, and after a beat, he tried to further the conversation, perhaps to avoid seeming like a meddling, rude, inappropriate prick.
"Do they have Halo for that?"
"No, they didn't license that for Playstation," I replied, hinting at the that ignorant pedestal he was talking from.
And then I had to stand in line behind him some more, thinking about all the comebacks that I should've said.
First things first, driving to Everett on a Friday evening is murder. Driving especially after 10 hours of work is just murderous torture. When I get tired, my equilibrium gets thrown off and I actually get a little car sick, so that was starting to get to me a little - but it took over an hour just to get there. But after a trip to Jack in the Box and looking for parking, we walked with the hordes of children to the Arena - and when we got in, the place was crawling with kids. And kiosks peddling overpriced Disney toys. They had a ton of girls' toys, but only one sword for boys, and it was running 16 bucks. So we compromised and got the kids each a Disney mug with a sno-cone, and then found our spot and watched the performance.
Lemme tell you, screw being a rock star, if you're a Disney character and you show up, all the kids go wild. The screaming and excitement that explodes from the crowd is something to behold. Characters like Mickey and Sebastian got huge applause, and with scenes acted out from the movies and acrobats, great sets, and minor pyrotechnics, it was certainly something worth going to.
The look on the kids faces were pretty fun too, they went from elated to somewhat surprised to "my brain is fried, can I go home now?" But all in all, it was quite fun. Made me think about planning a trip to Disneyland in a year or two.
---
On the job front, I didn't get offered the sales job that I applied for, so I'll probably just take the one job that I'm doing now in a permanent basis. I was really hoping that it would go the other way, but I suppose I'll have to take what I can get.
Speaking of work, here's an incident that happened that irked me to no end. I was standing in line for the breakfast buffet at work, which was a precursor to the meeting that was going to happen right after. So I started up the PSP, and the guy in front of me turned around to see what I was doing.
"Just maximizing my time," I offered.
"You know, those things corrode your brain," he blurted, which caught me off guard. "According to the Christian right, violence in games will make people more violent."
At that point, the air was thick with irony as I wanted to kick him in the ear. I didn't say anything to that, and after a beat, he tried to further the conversation, perhaps to avoid seeming like a meddling, rude, inappropriate prick.
"Do they have Halo for that?"
"No, they didn't license that for Playstation," I replied, hinting at the that ignorant pedestal he was talking from.
And then I had to stand in line behind him some more, thinking about all the comebacks that I should've said.
Saturday, November 3, 2007
Missing my Wife.
"I miss my wife," I uttered out loud during dinner, as if to console myself that was the source of my moodiness.
"I miss my wife too", chimed Alex, slurping on his soup.
"You don't have a wife, sweetie. Only Daddy has a wife. Mommy's my wife."
"Zoe's my wife," said Alex.
"Zoe's not your wife, she's your sister."
"Oh."
"I miss my wife too", chimed Alex, slurping on his soup.
"You don't have a wife, sweetie. Only Daddy has a wife. Mommy's my wife."
"Zoe's my wife," said Alex.
"Zoe's not your wife, she's your sister."
"Oh."
Friday, November 2, 2007
Halloween Pics
I was trying to get this photos of her with her ears protruding out. Like a pirate elf or something.
Zoe's pooped out by the end of the night.
The mall was PACKED.
I wish I got a better photo, but there's another girl in a similar outfit, the same height, the same type hair who was trick or treating at the same time. My wife almost reached for her. She's in the background.
Halloween and Job
No, they're not the same thing, but along with that I have to tell this story now.
I have a co-worker who's a natural born clown. Despite some language barriers, he's managed to solidify himself as someone who can make anyone laugh. He'll make the younger guys at work laugh, and he'll make the 60 year old woman at work laugh. He kinda has a gift for it, even though he tends to be a little blue at times. But somehow he manages to come across as harmless for the most part. He's like 45 and has a family, but he likes to keep things light and laugh about life I suppose.
Anyway, on Halloween day he was joking about another co-worker, who sorta has some problem genetically or acquired through an accident. He's got a bit of a gait, and one of his eyes is cloudy, either stricken with glaucoma or blindness or something, but it causes it to be less open than the other. Anyway, the joker co-worker was saying that T doesn't need a disguise for Halloween, he just goes out and he is Halloween. And Joker asks me, "Hey, you know Halloween?" I said no, and he promised he'd show me later.
So later just when a team meeting was about to commence, Joker leaned over to me and told me, "Hey, I'm going to say hi to Halloween. You watch." Then he turned around and say, "Hi T. How are you." T waves and smiles. And I'm suppressing the freakin' laughter that's leaking out of me. It's not that T's funny looking and I'm childish, but Joker is so brazen and keen on pointing out T to me that it just cracked me up.
---
Halloween was insane. We bought two hulking bags of candy from Costco and put the freaking bin out for the night while we went to the mall for some safe trick or treating. We chose another mall instead of the usual haunt because it was a colder mall, and the one we've been going to for the past two years is a outdoorsy type mall that's great in the summer, but generally quite sucky the rest of the year.
And boy, the mall was packed. With parents and costumed kids, with a lot of really interesting costumes. I cannot account for how many witch moms there were, including my wife. It seemed to be the standard Mom Halloween costume. The standard Dad costume was the I-Ain't-Participating costume, or sometimes, the "Goofy Hat" department. There were a lot of cute babies with their costumes who weren't even awake for the candy scavenging, and two notable families that really won the virtual prize in my head was the Incredibles family, whereby a family of five was dressed like the Pixar flick, and the personifications were perfect. Dad was a tall guy, there was a mom, a teen girl, a younger son, and a baby with a spiky tuff of hair in a stroller. It was quite perfect. Another family of four were dressed up as characters from The Wizard of Oz, with Mom and Dad as Dorothy and the Tin Man, and the two toddlers rounding the rest up.
Our kids were of course, pirates - a fairly popular theme at the mall as you might imagine. I myself don't care much for the theme, since pirating seems so far removed a crime from everyday life that people seem to forget that it's actually a real profession - but our kids do make for charming pirates. Alex had the whole getup, but Zoe was lacking a sword - which she compensated by bringing the knight sword that Alex had for his birthday. Well, not minutes after being in the mall, I was stuck shoving the sword in my belt. So, I was crazed Dad with sword.
Anyway, Halloween was just that. We went home and had a few more trick or treaters, and Alex was actually disappointed that we didn't have more. But they were just beat by the end of the day.
---
Back to work. I interviewed last Monday for a position in Sales, and the interview went well, though it might have gone a little too well. It was the first interview I've ever done whereby I'd cracked up the whole room with my jokes, one of which was actually laughing so hard that she cried. I don't know if it spoke about my experience, but I guess I strive better in interviews when I'm more informed.
Either way though, either I'll get pick up in Sales or my current position's been offered to me as a full time employee, which is really great news. My betters thought well of me, which is quite a feat and (boast) a testament to my character, since I've only been working there for four months and my current two bosses didn't come on till mid-September, which means my impression on them has only been 2 months in. My supervisor is training me to release sales orders, even though she doesn't know if I'm staying. But the future's looking pretty secure for me, for which I'm glad. It's nice to know that you have an actual job as opposed to a contract position.
I have a co-worker who's a natural born clown. Despite some language barriers, he's managed to solidify himself as someone who can make anyone laugh. He'll make the younger guys at work laugh, and he'll make the 60 year old woman at work laugh. He kinda has a gift for it, even though he tends to be a little blue at times. But somehow he manages to come across as harmless for the most part. He's like 45 and has a family, but he likes to keep things light and laugh about life I suppose.
Anyway, on Halloween day he was joking about another co-worker, who sorta has some problem genetically or acquired through an accident. He's got a bit of a gait, and one of his eyes is cloudy, either stricken with glaucoma or blindness or something, but it causes it to be less open than the other. Anyway, the joker co-worker was saying that T doesn't need a disguise for Halloween, he just goes out and he is Halloween. And Joker asks me, "Hey, you know Halloween?" I said no, and he promised he'd show me later.
So later just when a team meeting was about to commence, Joker leaned over to me and told me, "Hey, I'm going to say hi to Halloween. You watch." Then he turned around and say, "Hi T. How are you." T waves and smiles. And I'm suppressing the freakin' laughter that's leaking out of me. It's not that T's funny looking and I'm childish, but Joker is so brazen and keen on pointing out T to me that it just cracked me up.
---
Halloween was insane. We bought two hulking bags of candy from Costco and put the freaking bin out for the night while we went to the mall for some safe trick or treating. We chose another mall instead of the usual haunt because it was a colder mall, and the one we've been going to for the past two years is a outdoorsy type mall that's great in the summer, but generally quite sucky the rest of the year.
And boy, the mall was packed. With parents and costumed kids, with a lot of really interesting costumes. I cannot account for how many witch moms there were, including my wife. It seemed to be the standard Mom Halloween costume. The standard Dad costume was the I-Ain't-Participating costume, or sometimes, the "Goofy Hat" department. There were a lot of cute babies with their costumes who weren't even awake for the candy scavenging, and two notable families that really won the virtual prize in my head was the Incredibles family, whereby a family of five was dressed like the Pixar flick, and the personifications were perfect. Dad was a tall guy, there was a mom, a teen girl, a younger son, and a baby with a spiky tuff of hair in a stroller. It was quite perfect. Another family of four were dressed up as characters from The Wizard of Oz, with Mom and Dad as Dorothy and the Tin Man, and the two toddlers rounding the rest up.
Our kids were of course, pirates - a fairly popular theme at the mall as you might imagine. I myself don't care much for the theme, since pirating seems so far removed a crime from everyday life that people seem to forget that it's actually a real profession - but our kids do make for charming pirates. Alex had the whole getup, but Zoe was lacking a sword - which she compensated by bringing the knight sword that Alex had for his birthday. Well, not minutes after being in the mall, I was stuck shoving the sword in my belt. So, I was crazed Dad with sword.
Anyway, Halloween was just that. We went home and had a few more trick or treaters, and Alex was actually disappointed that we didn't have more. But they were just beat by the end of the day.
---
Back to work. I interviewed last Monday for a position in Sales, and the interview went well, though it might have gone a little too well. It was the first interview I've ever done whereby I'd cracked up the whole room with my jokes, one of which was actually laughing so hard that she cried. I don't know if it spoke about my experience, but I guess I strive better in interviews when I'm more informed.
Either way though, either I'll get pick up in Sales or my current position's been offered to me as a full time employee, which is really great news. My betters thought well of me, which is quite a feat and (boast) a testament to my character, since I've only been working there for four months and my current two bosses didn't come on till mid-September, which means my impression on them has only been 2 months in. My supervisor is training me to release sales orders, even though she doesn't know if I'm staying. But the future's looking pretty secure for me, for which I'm glad. It's nice to know that you have an actual job as opposed to a contract position.
Sunday, October 28, 2007
Thursday, October 25, 2007
Advice to my Boy
This is by no means definitive, but just a few loose tidbits. Maybe a list. Of like 15. 15's a good number.
By the way, you can't make numbers possessive. It's bad English.
15. Commitment. There are many things that will distract you from your commitments, whether it's commitment to another person, to your job, or to your passions. There are always temptations to do something or someone else, but the important thing is to remember that when you made your commitment to someone or something, you have to try with every fiber in your body to uphold that commitment. Anyone can make promises and attempts, but when you make a commitment, you have to try your best to keep it.
14. Excuses. Don't make them. There are always reasons why you're late, why you're stuck in a job you don't like, why you're not getting the results you want. But they are reasons, not excuses. Own up to your faults, and next time around, try to work around them or accommodate them. Making excuses may fool many people, but never yourself. The only way to make progress is to accept your reasons and try to understand why something happened, even though answers may not materialize.
13. Lies. I can't lie, so I generally try to keep out of trouble to avoid having to lie. Doesn't always work, but I do know that lies are like pink dinosaurs. One you produce one, they're hard to hide, eager to surface, and they will eat at you. If you use a bigger lie to cover it up, then it's just a bigger pink dinosaur. And usually people don't like it when you produce a pink dinosaur to them.
12. Monogamy. It can be hard sometimes, when you're holding a perfectly wonderful gumball in your hand when you find yourself in the middle of a candy store. Maybe not the best metaphor, but certainly the imagery is sound. Having multiple girlfriends or wanting to cheat on your girlfriend or wife isn't hard. It doesn't denote manliness if you have more than one woman, it just means that you're too weak to commit. Any idiot can have three girlfriends, but only a real man can have a partner he loves exclusively.
11. Pride. Be proud of what you do, and who you are. If you start out doing the most menial, stupid job ever existed, then own that position and do the best you can. Whether it be an art project for a class you hate, or even sweeping the floor, everything you do reflects on you as a person. Taking pride in your tasks will often go unnoticed, but once in a while, it'll pay off.
10. The Hard Way. The right thing to do and the easy thing to do are almost never the same. Nothing that is easy ever has any real meaning. Shortcuts cost. Freeways are shortcuts. Microwave food are shortcuts. Emails are shortcuts. TV is a shortcut. They will exist amongst us, but we have to know that we'll miss out on the scenic views, the restaurant food, the human contact, and the joy of socialization when you take a shortcut. Of course, this applies for bigger things like responsibilities and tasks. Shortcuts can be taken, but approach with caution.
9. Feed your Brain. Be curious. Ask questions. Understand as much as you can. Learn everything, because you'll only be smarter and wiser. If you're not constantly learning something new, then what's the use of your brain if it only tells your body how to function? How could you ever find out your true potential?
8. Power is everything. Only if you know how to use it. You will find that you will be more powerful than others at many points in your life. Maybe you're the biggest kid in class. Or the manager of your workplace. Or the father of your children. It feels great to be in power, because it means control, and you can make people do what you want when you have power. But to truly utilize power in a responsible way is to empower others and to help others. Suppressing others is easy, but making people feel powerful in their own capacity is true power.
7. Enjoy the simple things. I like the way felt ink writes on white paper. I like the potential of that. I like showers, and how they cleanse the dirt and the day off, like a big reset button. I like the sound of children's laughter, and how it originates from a truly happy place. I like snow. How it floats, how it cruches beneath your shoes, how it melts on your tongue. Find the simple things in your life and never forget how the simple things are the things that satisfy your soul.
6. Judging others. Don't do it. You're usually wrong. I know I am. Be aware of who the people are, and what they're capable of, but then just leave it at that. Putting people in categories may seem like a simple solution to understanding them, but nothing is ever absolute. Be wary of people who judge and generalize people - the ignorant are not worthy of your time. Because they won't take the time to try to understand.
5. Life. Life is precious. Every life has been invested with love in some form or another, and every life is important. From that ant to that soldier on the other side, every living thing deserves a fair chance in this world. Not your place to decide it's not.
4. Money. There's never enough to get by, and when you have more, it's still not enough. But the wise will know that money is just currency. It's just paper and metal. Don't go chasing that mighty dollar, because money doesn't buy important things like time, love, and happiness.
3. Women. You know when you've found that perfect girl? When you can share you ambitions and fears, your insecurities and your strengths, your very core of your being with her, and she doesn't judge you for it. Likewise, she can do the same for you. And also, when there's a balance of control between the both of you, whereby choices have to be discussed and weighed, discussions are plentiful, and compromises are made by both of you. When you turn off the romance and lust, there's still your best friend staring back at you when you wake up in the morning. Beauty fades, bodies sag, but conversations can only get better once you've found that special someone.
2. Swearing. I do a lot of it, and it isn't necessarily a terrible thing. It's just language. But swearing does make a person seem unintelligent and angry. Nobody ever swears gracefully. And the more a person swears, the less meaning it has, which is really something you ever want to do - talk with no meaning derived from it. Attentions will perk up for the wrong reason when you swear, and then they will fade because swear words ultimately have no meaning other than anger. And anger isn't attractive.
1. Listening. Shut up and listen. It will do you a world of good when you realize that you don't know everything, and the sooner you realize that and take the time to absorb what the world has to offer, the more enlightened you will be. Nobody ever got smarter by talking.
By the way, you can't make numbers possessive. It's bad English.
15. Commitment. There are many things that will distract you from your commitments, whether it's commitment to another person, to your job, or to your passions. There are always temptations to do something or someone else, but the important thing is to remember that when you made your commitment to someone or something, you have to try with every fiber in your body to uphold that commitment. Anyone can make promises and attempts, but when you make a commitment, you have to try your best to keep it.
14. Excuses. Don't make them. There are always reasons why you're late, why you're stuck in a job you don't like, why you're not getting the results you want. But they are reasons, not excuses. Own up to your faults, and next time around, try to work around them or accommodate them. Making excuses may fool many people, but never yourself. The only way to make progress is to accept your reasons and try to understand why something happened, even though answers may not materialize.
13. Lies. I can't lie, so I generally try to keep out of trouble to avoid having to lie. Doesn't always work, but I do know that lies are like pink dinosaurs. One you produce one, they're hard to hide, eager to surface, and they will eat at you. If you use a bigger lie to cover it up, then it's just a bigger pink dinosaur. And usually people don't like it when you produce a pink dinosaur to them.
12. Monogamy. It can be hard sometimes, when you're holding a perfectly wonderful gumball in your hand when you find yourself in the middle of a candy store. Maybe not the best metaphor, but certainly the imagery is sound. Having multiple girlfriends or wanting to cheat on your girlfriend or wife isn't hard. It doesn't denote manliness if you have more than one woman, it just means that you're too weak to commit. Any idiot can have three girlfriends, but only a real man can have a partner he loves exclusively.
11. Pride. Be proud of what you do, and who you are. If you start out doing the most menial, stupid job ever existed, then own that position and do the best you can. Whether it be an art project for a class you hate, or even sweeping the floor, everything you do reflects on you as a person. Taking pride in your tasks will often go unnoticed, but once in a while, it'll pay off.
10. The Hard Way. The right thing to do and the easy thing to do are almost never the same. Nothing that is easy ever has any real meaning. Shortcuts cost. Freeways are shortcuts. Microwave food are shortcuts. Emails are shortcuts. TV is a shortcut. They will exist amongst us, but we have to know that we'll miss out on the scenic views, the restaurant food, the human contact, and the joy of socialization when you take a shortcut. Of course, this applies for bigger things like responsibilities and tasks. Shortcuts can be taken, but approach with caution.
9. Feed your Brain. Be curious. Ask questions. Understand as much as you can. Learn everything, because you'll only be smarter and wiser. If you're not constantly learning something new, then what's the use of your brain if it only tells your body how to function? How could you ever find out your true potential?
8. Power is everything. Only if you know how to use it. You will find that you will be more powerful than others at many points in your life. Maybe you're the biggest kid in class. Or the manager of your workplace. Or the father of your children. It feels great to be in power, because it means control, and you can make people do what you want when you have power. But to truly utilize power in a responsible way is to empower others and to help others. Suppressing others is easy, but making people feel powerful in their own capacity is true power.
7. Enjoy the simple things. I like the way felt ink writes on white paper. I like the potential of that. I like showers, and how they cleanse the dirt and the day off, like a big reset button. I like the sound of children's laughter, and how it originates from a truly happy place. I like snow. How it floats, how it cruches beneath your shoes, how it melts on your tongue. Find the simple things in your life and never forget how the simple things are the things that satisfy your soul.
6. Judging others. Don't do it. You're usually wrong. I know I am. Be aware of who the people are, and what they're capable of, but then just leave it at that. Putting people in categories may seem like a simple solution to understanding them, but nothing is ever absolute. Be wary of people who judge and generalize people - the ignorant are not worthy of your time. Because they won't take the time to try to understand.
5. Life. Life is precious. Every life has been invested with love in some form or another, and every life is important. From that ant to that soldier on the other side, every living thing deserves a fair chance in this world. Not your place to decide it's not.
4. Money. There's never enough to get by, and when you have more, it's still not enough. But the wise will know that money is just currency. It's just paper and metal. Don't go chasing that mighty dollar, because money doesn't buy important things like time, love, and happiness.
3. Women. You know when you've found that perfect girl? When you can share you ambitions and fears, your insecurities and your strengths, your very core of your being with her, and she doesn't judge you for it. Likewise, she can do the same for you. And also, when there's a balance of control between the both of you, whereby choices have to be discussed and weighed, discussions are plentiful, and compromises are made by both of you. When you turn off the romance and lust, there's still your best friend staring back at you when you wake up in the morning. Beauty fades, bodies sag, but conversations can only get better once you've found that special someone.
2. Swearing. I do a lot of it, and it isn't necessarily a terrible thing. It's just language. But swearing does make a person seem unintelligent and angry. Nobody ever swears gracefully. And the more a person swears, the less meaning it has, which is really something you ever want to do - talk with no meaning derived from it. Attentions will perk up for the wrong reason when you swear, and then they will fade because swear words ultimately have no meaning other than anger. And anger isn't attractive.
1. Listening. Shut up and listen. It will do you a world of good when you realize that you don't know everything, and the sooner you realize that and take the time to absorb what the world has to offer, the more enlightened you will be. Nobody ever got smarter by talking.
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
First for Everything
This is a tad overdue, but nonetheless worth mentioning because it was such a wonderful experience.
So part of my unofficial duty as a Dad is to ensure that my family gets new experiences, explore new possibilities and the like. Even though I talked about it from time to time, we decided to go ice skating. We had attempted to go once before, but that time the rink was closed off to practice or meets or something or another, so we did miniature golf instead, which is hardly the same thing. And then last Friday, a last minute peek at the rink schedule showed that every Friday was open for public skate - except the current Friday. But Sunday was looking good, the rink in Kirkland was open, which was a hell of a lot closer than the other rinks. And this was a ice skating rink, not a roller rink in Everett that we tried to substitute but ended up not finding.
So on Sunday, we paid 31 bucks (more expensive than my basic math had estimated) and got everyone in skates. Alex went with his Mommy and I took Zoe, and it took seriously less than 2 minutes for her to start panicking and crying. She told me she was afraid and didn't want to skate anymore. Of course, I was trying to keep her calm and focused on the other kids who were seemingly have effortless fun, but she was too focused on the fear to even give it a chance. She wouldn't even budge with me to get off the ice. Seriously took us five minutes to move a few feet to the next exit off the ice, and she had simply given up. I thought, well, that's that. So much for skating. It took my wife and Alex about 20 minutes to go around the rink once, grip by grip along the wall, but when they made it back I was happy to trade off. Alex was a little more ambitious, despite falling a number of times - he was game for more. At first I was holding the wall too, because I had only skated maybe twice in the rink that I remember, maybe just once even. Anyhow, we inched we way along the wall too, with me catching him numerous times before he hit the ground. I liked it when he said, "Thank you for holding my hand, Daddy" after a near-spill.
Anyhow, after a while I got the hang of it, realizing that the wall was a crutch and really, you need to just convince yourself that falling isn't that bad. You just gotta go for it and push ahead. So I got relatively good at it for a newbie, so I was able to hold both Alex's hands and skate slowly. Zoe garnered up her courage and she went on the ice again, and she had a ball. I catered to her princess aspirations and hummed a ballet type song, and she just had fun. She fell once and I came tumbling after, and to avoid slicing off some fingers I had to fling myself over her and land on my knee. But we laughed it off and went on. It was really a nice time, one of those moments that I want to store in my memory for a long, long time.
---
So work's been work, and drama mounts, gets boring, and mounts again. Well, today out of the blue, I was taunted good naturedly about my work ethic. I was always doing something, either sorting or cleaning or doing something that was related to my department. They compared me to another worker, who did the same thing except she really did a lot of odd things that weren't in her department, mostly just to ward off boredom and keep busy. Anyhow, these guys like to talk and joke around about women and sex, and also they like to text message. Pretty stupid things. Now anyone who knows me knows that I like to joke about sex, but not necessarily brag about it or be rude about it, which is what my co-workers do. They do it within a lot of people's earshot, and they talk about conquests and stupid shit. I generally stay out of it because I don't want to be associated with a sexual harassment lawsuit, but also because I do find it a bit degrading.
Point is, I kinda had the last laugh because my new boss came up to me and asked if I wanted to join the company as a full time employee, instead of a contractor. She said that she's seen me working hard, so she'd like me on the team. This was a little bittersweet for me because yeah, it was acceptance which I like, but at the same time, it was still a job that I took on just to wait till something better comes along. I'll probably apply for the position anyway, and see what happens. The pay bump that my co-worker suggested is lackluster, but I'll see what I can get away with, I suppose.
So part of my unofficial duty as a Dad is to ensure that my family gets new experiences, explore new possibilities and the like. Even though I talked about it from time to time, we decided to go ice skating. We had attempted to go once before, but that time the rink was closed off to practice or meets or something or another, so we did miniature golf instead, which is hardly the same thing. And then last Friday, a last minute peek at the rink schedule showed that every Friday was open for public skate - except the current Friday. But Sunday was looking good, the rink in Kirkland was open, which was a hell of a lot closer than the other rinks. And this was a ice skating rink, not a roller rink in Everett that we tried to substitute but ended up not finding.
So on Sunday, we paid 31 bucks (more expensive than my basic math had estimated) and got everyone in skates. Alex went with his Mommy and I took Zoe, and it took seriously less than 2 minutes for her to start panicking and crying. She told me she was afraid and didn't want to skate anymore. Of course, I was trying to keep her calm and focused on the other kids who were seemingly have effortless fun, but she was too focused on the fear to even give it a chance. She wouldn't even budge with me to get off the ice. Seriously took us five minutes to move a few feet to the next exit off the ice, and she had simply given up. I thought, well, that's that. So much for skating. It took my wife and Alex about 20 minutes to go around the rink once, grip by grip along the wall, but when they made it back I was happy to trade off. Alex was a little more ambitious, despite falling a number of times - he was game for more. At first I was holding the wall too, because I had only skated maybe twice in the rink that I remember, maybe just once even. Anyhow, we inched we way along the wall too, with me catching him numerous times before he hit the ground. I liked it when he said, "Thank you for holding my hand, Daddy" after a near-spill.
Anyhow, after a while I got the hang of it, realizing that the wall was a crutch and really, you need to just convince yourself that falling isn't that bad. You just gotta go for it and push ahead. So I got relatively good at it for a newbie, so I was able to hold both Alex's hands and skate slowly. Zoe garnered up her courage and she went on the ice again, and she had a ball. I catered to her princess aspirations and hummed a ballet type song, and she just had fun. She fell once and I came tumbling after, and to avoid slicing off some fingers I had to fling myself over her and land on my knee. But we laughed it off and went on. It was really a nice time, one of those moments that I want to store in my memory for a long, long time.
---
So work's been work, and drama mounts, gets boring, and mounts again. Well, today out of the blue, I was taunted good naturedly about my work ethic. I was always doing something, either sorting or cleaning or doing something that was related to my department. They compared me to another worker, who did the same thing except she really did a lot of odd things that weren't in her department, mostly just to ward off boredom and keep busy. Anyhow, these guys like to talk and joke around about women and sex, and also they like to text message. Pretty stupid things. Now anyone who knows me knows that I like to joke about sex, but not necessarily brag about it or be rude about it, which is what my co-workers do. They do it within a lot of people's earshot, and they talk about conquests and stupid shit. I generally stay out of it because I don't want to be associated with a sexual harassment lawsuit, but also because I do find it a bit degrading.
Point is, I kinda had the last laugh because my new boss came up to me and asked if I wanted to join the company as a full time employee, instead of a contractor. She said that she's seen me working hard, so she'd like me on the team. This was a little bittersweet for me because yeah, it was acceptance which I like, but at the same time, it was still a job that I took on just to wait till something better comes along. I'll probably apply for the position anyway, and see what happens. The pay bump that my co-worker suggested is lackluster, but I'll see what I can get away with, I suppose.
Sunday, October 14, 2007
Haven't talked much about kids, but it's a bit overdue, so here it is.
The kids have been rather cute lately, picking up odd little things wherever influence seeps in. They spent pretty much most of today chanting, "I don't like Candy Corn, no I don't like Candy Corn" which is rather cute.
And yesterday, they were signing one of the Snoopy songs from "Snoopy, Come Home," one of the lesser known ones that I just happened to rent. The one mystery song still remains whereby the two of them will start singing:
"I'm notttt perrrrr-fect. I'm nottttt Perrrr-fect..." I don't really know where they got it from, but it seems aptly appropriate most of the time, which is pretty ironic.
And one of the best ones so far that I think would be perfect for a trip to the bar is actually from me. Sometimes Alex gets a little overexcited while drinking and he'll choke on the water and cough at the dinnertable. So when I say something like that, it's appropriate. But just imagine what people must be thinking when they're out in public, and out of the blue they'll just say:
"Take it easy with the drink."
They might guess that's why Mommy always says about Daddy.
Oh yeah, yesterday during the refreshing walk, this happened: toward the end of the walk, even though I had my iPod on, I heard them giggling and laughing back there so I glanced back and say that they had a new game. Kissing. They would lean in, kiss, and fall back laughing. It was really cute, and sometimes they would go in, linger, maybe have they mouths open, and then kiss, and then laugh heartily. I thought it was funny - at first.
And then they kept doing it. And we were in public.
I didn't want to overreact about it, being how they've never done it before and it's not like they were making out, but it sure felt a little odd after they kept doing it. I know that it's completely innocent, but in my mind I'm thinking, it's always a bit fun to be doing that. After all, that's why we all do it, don't we? So I just gently told them they were being too crazy and by the time we got home, they were done. But it was a strange moment for me.
Kinda like this I suppose.
Oh, and Alex started Playschool a few weeks back, whereby he'll be at a facility whereby he'll interact with other kids, doing fun activities, and squeeze in some learning. He's been saying some cute things too, when a teacher exclaimed after noticing Alex's head that he was sweaty, Alex replied, "Oh. I'm sorry." Zoe started gymnastics, which is just a bit of jumping and climbing. She's doing pretty well, except she does want to constantly embark on her own agenda.
We were feeding the ducks today and Alex and Zoe were conversing with a two year old. Then Alex turned to the Mom and asked, "What's your name?" "Ronnie," she replied.
"That's a good name," reassured Alex.
We've been trying to teach him about talking to strangers. That's not going that well, as you can see.
---
I took the risk and applied for a different position at work. I don't know if it'll come to anything, but it's a good company and I'd like to stay with it, although not in the same position I'm in now. I just think things won't improve and my patience will once day implode if I stay at my current position for any longer than 9 months.
The kids have been rather cute lately, picking up odd little things wherever influence seeps in. They spent pretty much most of today chanting, "I don't like Candy Corn, no I don't like Candy Corn" which is rather cute.
And yesterday, they were signing one of the Snoopy songs from "Snoopy, Come Home," one of the lesser known ones that I just happened to rent. The one mystery song still remains whereby the two of them will start singing:
"I'm notttt perrrrr-fect. I'm nottttt Perrrr-fect..." I don't really know where they got it from, but it seems aptly appropriate most of the time, which is pretty ironic.
And one of the best ones so far that I think would be perfect for a trip to the bar is actually from me. Sometimes Alex gets a little overexcited while drinking and he'll choke on the water and cough at the dinnertable. So when I say something like that, it's appropriate. But just imagine what people must be thinking when they're out in public, and out of the blue they'll just say:
"Take it easy with the drink."
They might guess that's why Mommy always says about Daddy.
Oh yeah, yesterday during the refreshing walk, this happened: toward the end of the walk, even though I had my iPod on, I heard them giggling and laughing back there so I glanced back and say that they had a new game. Kissing. They would lean in, kiss, and fall back laughing. It was really cute, and sometimes they would go in, linger, maybe have they mouths open, and then kiss, and then laugh heartily. I thought it was funny - at first.
And then they kept doing it. And we were in public.
I didn't want to overreact about it, being how they've never done it before and it's not like they were making out, but it sure felt a little odd after they kept doing it. I know that it's completely innocent, but in my mind I'm thinking, it's always a bit fun to be doing that. After all, that's why we all do it, don't we? So I just gently told them they were being too crazy and by the time we got home, they were done. But it was a strange moment for me.
Kinda like this I suppose.
Oh, and Alex started Playschool a few weeks back, whereby he'll be at a facility whereby he'll interact with other kids, doing fun activities, and squeeze in some learning. He's been saying some cute things too, when a teacher exclaimed after noticing Alex's head that he was sweaty, Alex replied, "Oh. I'm sorry." Zoe started gymnastics, which is just a bit of jumping and climbing. She's doing pretty well, except she does want to constantly embark on her own agenda.
We were feeding the ducks today and Alex and Zoe were conversing with a two year old. Then Alex turned to the Mom and asked, "What's your name?" "Ronnie," she replied.
"That's a good name," reassured Alex.
We've been trying to teach him about talking to strangers. That's not going that well, as you can see.
---
I took the risk and applied for a different position at work. I don't know if it'll come to anything, but it's a good company and I'd like to stay with it, although not in the same position I'm in now. I just think things won't improve and my patience will once day implode if I stay at my current position for any longer than 9 months.
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