New Year. What I DIDN'T do during '09.

Since everyone makes a list of things at the end of a year, I thought it would be fun to make one too. This is a list of things I didn't do this year. It isn't all stuff I wanted to do, or was even able to do, just things I didn't do this year.

1) Create a Muppet screen play
2) Skydive
3) Kill anyone
4) Break a limb
5) Get my tongue stuck to a frozen pole
6) Adopt a pet
7) Adopt a child
8) Learn how to fly
9) Go blind
10) Dress up and act like R2-D2
11) Catch a snow flake on my tongue
12) Try out for the Olympics
13) Shave my head
14) Get involved with any fisticuffs
15) Get pregnant

Pretty good list I would say. Glad that the last one didn't happen. Yeah it was random, but it was the best thing I could think to post.

Happy New Year everyone!

Happy Birthday Me!

Today is my birthday. It also happens to be my first birthday away from my family. When I realized that none of my family wouldn't be around for it, I was a bit sad. I ended up going out and buying myself an early birthday present. It doesn't come close to being as good of company as any of my friends or relatives, but it does keep me busy.



For lack of a better made-up name, I am going to tell you I call it Frank. (No, I don't really call it anything. And I wouldn't unless it was sound activated. Then it would be awesome!)

Nothing Much Right Now

Guess who's a slacker? This guy!

Sorry, not much of an update right now. Don't expect much till after Christmas at earliest. Working a day and night job eats most of my time. Trying to fit a few hours (or minutes) of sleep in causes me to neglect other things, like keeping my apartment clean. Hopefully, after Christmas, I can get this all taken care of and share any news that I have.

Hope you aren't too heart broken. Absence makes the heart grow fonder, right? Something like that....

Job Searching Stinks!

I just wish companies would realize that I really am a hard worker and would be a valuable asset. Putting out tons of apps is so boring. At least I can listen to music on the 61.com and keep myself somewhat entertained. Should probably start figuring out how to create an iPhone app for that website.

Back to School!

So I finally enrolled in school again! I am really excited to go back to school and start learning again. I am really excited about the classes I have, and that I got such a nice schedule. My classes are:

ASB220 - Anthropology in Movies

CHM107 - Chemistry & Society w/ Lab

PHI106 - Critical Thinking / Problem-Solving

SPA101 - Elementary Spanish 1

This is a total of 14 credit hours. Not too bad. The schedule is:

Monday - CHM107 at 11am followed by ASB till 1:15pm

Tuesday - PHI106 at 10:30am till 11:45am then SPA101 at 1pm to 2:50pm

Wednesday - CHM107 Lab from 8am till 10:55am followed by CHM107 at 11am followed by ASB till 1:15pm

Thursday - PHI106 at 10:30am till 11:45am then SPA101 at 1pm to 2:50pm

Friday - CHM107 at 11am till 11:50am

Like I said, a really good schedule. All the classes seem pretty cool, or at least interesting. Should be a good semester.

Now to take care of getting it paid for in some way. That and all my current bills too. Dealing with money is so fun.

Rugby

Some of you may know, I own a rugby ball. I have never used it to play a rugby game, but I was once taught the proper way to throw the ball. I really want to try to play some time. I think the game would be a blast to play. I just have not put enough (any) time into figuring out if there is a pickup team around or what. Before I die, or grow too old to play, I want to play a game of rugby. Might need to get into better shape first.

VEGAS!!!

Well, I have had some quite busy past few weeks. Let's start with the freshest in mind.

I just got back from Vegas. Mike and I drove out Friday morning to see two of our friends tie the knot. It was a total rush in Vegas. I am not sure I love the city, not even sure if I would say I like it. The trip was a lot of fun, but it felt like a total tornado. I felt like we ran from place to place just to see everything. To be fair, most of the places are beautiful and I am looking forward to my next trip when I have less planned (no weeding) and more time (more than the 24ish hours we had), oh and having more money might not hurt.

It was a nice wedding and just a great time hanging with some really cool people. Vegas did get me for not gambling, I have a rather large blister on my foot.

On the plus side, I had a suit that I bought awhile back, tailored by a friend of mine. I dropped it off the night before we left and picked it up 5ish hours before we hit the road. Thanks, Brad, for doing it last minute. It looked great!

Short Update for the Upcoming Days

Well I must say, it's nice to have awesome friends. My buddy Brad, who I have mentioned a few times in this blog and who has his own blog here, invited me to work with him as a technician installing security systems . I am really hoping this works out, but for this week, I will be driving to Yuma tomorrow morning to train for a few days then go off by myself. From there, I am not totally sure, but we will find out when the time comes.

Let's see how this goes.

Not Always the Most Technical Minded

I recently got a wireless router to hook up to the modem so that I don't have to sit at the kitchen table whenever I am using the internet. I just got the router, no manuals or anything so I have been trying to figure out how to hook it up. It took me about an hour to figure out that the reason it wasn't working was because the transformer I had was incorrect. I manage to get my hands on the correct one. Still nothing. My phone and computer can see the signal but nothing from the internet. It really bugs me that I can't figure this out. Might help if I spent more than 40 minutes trying to figure this out. Stupid short attention span.

Something New!

Nothing big. Just thought since I haven't posted in a while, I would try and post mid-day. Don't do this very often, I usually just do it at the end of the day right before I go to bed to sleep. Still looking for a job, but trying to keep my chin up. It is never a fun process, but I guess it'll give me time to do other stuff. like apply to school! If I get in, maybe everything was for the best, but I am going to hate dealing with student loans. Even with that though, I will be so glad to be a student again.

Well without anything else to write (I do have a lot to write actually, just not right now. Don't want this post too cluttered. Maybe I'll post again tonight.) I'll post some pics.

My little bro and I in California, after a VERY long night. Great to see him again!
I actually dressed up for Halloween! Haven't done that in years. Face paint looked like a cross between a zombie (what I was supposed to be) and Rambo (not what I was going for)


Me in the sweet hoodie I took from my last job at Siren. I figured since I liked it and ran the inventory for a bit, no one would mind me taking one since they usually just take them around the office.

Not the Best Day Ever

The day started a bit goofy. Not anything in particular happened but it felt like it was going to be one of 'those' days. Boy, if I only knew what it was going to turn into, I might have called in sick.

If I looked at the work day up till 4:30pm, I would have just called it an over frustrating day, but then 4:30 hit and the proverbial shit hit the proverbial fan for me. I happened to randomly be walking by the VP, Chad's, office while he and Brandon, one of the managers, are pushing some chairs into it. He asks me to come in so we can talk about a schedule. I really don't have a schedule that I work on cause I am paid on salary so I am thinking that he is trying to get my opinion on the schedule for the call center. We all sit down and he calls my direct manager in. The three of them proceed to tell me that I am being moved back into the call center and I will now be hourly. The position will be for 22 hours per week and I'll be paid $10.00 per hour. So I will go from $500.00 per week to $220.00 This will be starting the week after next. The reason it has to wait that long is that the executive managers, sales reps, and techs will be going on a PAID COMPANY CRUISE. One of the executive managers going on this cruise doesn't really do anything. I see her half the time on Facebook, she updates her status 3+ times per day during work. Another frustrating part is that I was doing inventory in the outside office and have created most of the processes for tracking and forecasting inventory, yet they give the job to someone else. When I got back here, I was told that I was going to be the 'Corporate Office Manager' and take care of the reps here, but it seems that they will be giving that job to someone who just returned to the office. I come back here and they sort of cut my pay, they paid for my housing out in Fort Worth but not here, yet I didn't get a raise. I am incredibly frustrated but really have no idea what to do. I have to find a new job soon I guess.

The good part was that Chad and Brandon seemed to want to help me find a new job. They offered to write recommendations and said that they really do like having me here. It just doesn't really help right now.

Not Much of a 'Photo' Guy

I really wish I had a new profile photo for here and my Facebook profile. The problem is I don't take photos of myself. Getting a good self photo is, in my opinion, pretty tough, and even more so when I only have a cell phone camera. Its funny that most groups have someone that always pulls out a camera and takes about a billion shots. In one of my groups (that's right, I roll in many different groups) that person is my brother. Recently, he hasn't brought his camera out cause his nose is stuck in one of his text books. Even when he takes the camera out, I usually stay out of this flash cause I'm hanging next to him. Though of the few photos that people have taken of me, I am always pleased with the way I look in the ones he takes. He really seems to have a gift for it. (maybe the years of doing it and the classes helped)

One day I will start taking more photos and, hopefully, like the way I look in them. Fingers crossed!

Visiting Buffalo in November (or 'More Proof That I Need To Get My Head Examined')

Whose bright idea was this? Buffalo and Toronto in mid/late November? I did not think this all the way through when I agreed to the trip. I mean, I love my family, I do. I will be excited to see them and be home for a few days, but I would just rather see them in, how shall I put this, more 'livable' weather. I moved away from there because I don't enjoy the weather. I do like the cold (well, mostly the cool of fall) just not a fan of 6 months of snow. I really don't think it's very likely that there won't be snow while I'm up there, but I can hope.

The trip should really be a lot of fun. Aside from seeing my family, which is always a good time, my friend Jeff and I will be going to a few hockey games, one in Buffalo and one in Toronto. While in Toronto, we will be checking out the Hockey Hall of Fame. I think I should research that a bit and figure out some players in there that I would like to see.

This trip will help fulfill one of the items on my bucket list. I recently started a list of places I wanted to visit sometime in my life. It eventually transformed into a list of things I want to do sometime in my life. One of them is see a hockey game in every arena. So far I have seen the Sabres and Coyotes but will be able to cross the Leafs off the list soon enough. Only 27 more to see. The funny thing was that, even though I had always wanted to go to every arena, I was thinking for a bit that I had to plan out what teams I saw where to make sure I see every team. Took me a bit to figure out that if I am seeing a game in every stadium, I will see every team play as a home team once. Duh! Sometimes I am not the swiftest thinker, but who said hockey fans are?

Just Kicking It.

Spent some time hanging with Chris and Jesse tonight. Had a bit to drink and just chilled. Man, I need to do that more often. That 'chilling' part, but now that I mention it....

Quick California Recap

Just a few thoughts about my trip to California.

1. I never want to drive around LA on a regular basis.

2. I wouldn't mind moving to LA. If I did, I would sell my car and bike everywhere. (Or get a scooter)

3. Always nice to hang with my family.

4. Can't say the same about all their friends.

5. Under-age kids that ask me to buy drinks for them really bug me. I didn't do much drinking before turning 21 (I think I might have had one drink about a month before I turned 21), why is it so hard for you to go without it?

6. I hate long drives.

7. Coffee helps keep me awake. So does shouting every song that comes on my iPod.

8. LA can have some crazy fog.

9. Being at the ocean was amazing. I am looking forward to going back some time.

10. I like Cali. just not sure if LA would be the city I would choose. Looking forward to checking out San Diego sometime.

Now to bed.

California Bound!

I will be in California tomorrow! Looking forward to seeing my bro. I won't be leaving till about noon. I said I would do a charity walk/run with my company, but right after that I will be leaving.

Won't have my computer with me so I can't blog. (Not that I would if I could. I'll be in California with my bro! Can California handle that many Debos?) But if you would like, you can follow my updates on my twitter here. Hope I can at least keep you a bit entertained that way.

Pierced My Knee

I was one of the lucky ones at work who 'volunteered' to help clean out the company's old Scottsdale office. While doing this, someone decided to move one of the clean plastic rug guards from one room to the other. You know, those stupid clear, plastic guard for under office chairs that have the little spikes on the bottom. When I went into the office that it was in, I went to pick up a few flower pots that were around it and I knelt down on it. How was I supposed to know he had put it spikes up? I now have 3 small puncture holes on my knee. My, that was painful. Luckily, there wasn't much damage done. Only small whole, but still, ouch.

Also, I just passed 1000 views after my last post. Actually, I think I passed it. I am not really sure, I am only going off what an add-on that I installed told me. I sort of don't believe it's accuracy, but I also didn't have it for the first few post. Who knows. Cool to know that people are reading it.

Am I a Superhero?

At the corporate office for Siren, they have recently put in a call center for one of the owners' other companies. The company is called Green Monster, they work with customer on how to make their house more 'green', at least, that's what I think they do. Anyways, one of the girls from that call center recently gave me a picture. Since the giant printer/fax/copy machine is near my desk, and she was having trouble with it, I decided it would be nice to help her with it.

I guess this has made me a superhero in her eyes. I am now 'super fax dude'. I have the picture hanging by my desk. Not the best of artwork, but MUCH better than the stick figure I would have drawn. It's nice to know some random person thinks highly of me. (Or, as one of my coworkers pointed out, someone that has a crush on me.)

Hockey Season Started!

It actually started a week or two ago but last Saturday was the first home game for the local NHL team, the Phoenix Coyotes. I was pretty excited so I picked up a pair of tickets and was planning on invited a friend who I used to work with at my last job. Sadly, prior commitments kept us from being able to go together. Thinking, 'Who would I really like to go see a hockey game with?', I send my friend Brad a text, asking if he would like to come along. He asks what time the game is and I reply 7pm on Saturday, the usual time for games. I wake up Saturday morning and remember (thanks to Facebook) that its Brad's birthday. It all seemed to work out, I could say that the ticket was a gift, if he didn't buy it, I would offer to pay for parking (which is free at the arena). I even told him that since it was his birthday, the Coyotes were giving away free t-shirts, which they were, in celebration of the first home game of the season. It ends up taking a little while longer than I thought it would to get over to the stadium. We end up parking at about 7:15pm. I keep saying, 'We probably only missed the singing of the national anthem.' While walking in, I check the score on my iPhone and notice the Columbus Blue Jackets, the visiting team, was already wining 1-0. 'Alright!', I think, 'This should be an exciting game if one of the teams already scored this early into the game.' We enter the stadium and don't get handed the advertised shirt. Excited, and not really thinking about the shirt, I lead the way to our seats and we sit down and enjoy the game.
The game was tons of fun with the Blue Jackets holding the 1-0 lead for the whole game. About the time I am expecting the final intermission to start, I notice the Coyotes pulled their goalie. 'Odd', I think, 'There must be a penalty that I didn't notice.' The Blue Jackets get the put and no whistle is blown. Must not be a penalty. I look up at the score board and notice that under where it says 'PERIOD' it has the number '3'. Walking out, wondering why it was only a 2 period game, I check the tickets. The game started at 6, not 7. Yeah, a bit bummed out about that.
At least Brad and I had a good time. (Well, I did and I think Brad did.) After that we went out and got some burgers from Red Robin. (He had a coupon for a free burger because it was his birthday) It was a really good time, always is when hanging with a good friend. The hockey didn't hurt either.

Just remember, always check the time on your ticket BEFORE the event and not just when its over.

Started Looking

It finally got to me. I came home today and decided I have had enough with coming home upset at my job. I started looking for a new job. I have been working for this company for 5 months now. I know that people there actually like working with me (At least I know they ACT like they do), and I do like staying busy with things to do (A problem I had with a few other jobs I've had). My problem with this job is that I feel that I am asked to do what everyone feels they don't have time for. I think I just don't like feeling like the square peg being forced into the round hole. Looking over paperwork is not my forte. I don't enjoy catering to whiny little sales reps whole expect me to do half their paperwork for them. What they make from one of their deals is normally more than I make in a week. I feel bad asking for a raise even though I am doing at least twice the amount of work as I was in the outside office without a raise. Actually, I am sort of making less cause they paid for my housing out there, not so back here and I didn't even get a raise to compensate. The issue I have with asking for a raise is that I know this company isn't a Fortune 500 company, and some of my friends are making less than I am and, at least one of them has had just as big of an increase in responsibility.

The good news is that, in my 20 minutes of looking, I did find 2 jobs that looked pretty neat. I'll apply for them tomorrow, after refreshing my resume. Maybe something good would come out of this.

Random Friends

I have been getting a few random friend requests on Facebook recently. Well, I have been getting this one guy trying to friend me 3 times over. When I get a friend request from someone on Facebook, I try to find out if I know the person. I am not a fan of making friends with random strangers over the internet. I have met many people in my life but I can not recall any guy I met who is in his early 30s, married, and living in Boston. I would think after rejecting it once, if he really wanted to be my friend, would write me and tell me who he really is, but I guess he had better things to do but still had the time to look me up and click the button "Request Friend". By the way, it case you were wondering, we don't share any friends.

Sorry, I don't know you, not going to friend you.

I Love Fish

In the past year or so, I have found that I love fish. I remember having sushi for the first time with some really good friends. Whenever I eat sushi, I think back to that time or one of the many other times like it, good friends and amazing food. Since that first time, I have really broken out of the self -imposed cage of beef and chicken. I still eat them, but if fish is offer, I am always tempted to go that route. I have recently been trying (but not to much success) to cook fish. Though it has been fun to try and cook it, when it doesn't....

Wow this song is awful. I have no idea what it is, but it is so bad that I need to delete it now and tell you all. Goodbye 'P.S I Love You' by the Beatles from the Please Please Me album. Wow that was bad. Anyways....

turn out well, it is a bit depressing. Not like 'end my life' depressing, just 'man, I should be able to do this better' depressing. I know I'll eventually get it, practice makes perfect, right?

Anyways, this all came up cause I had sushi from dinner. Whenever I have sushi, I wonder why I don't eat it more often. Though, compared to how often I used to eat it, it's crazy. (Well, not sure comparing eating it every once in awhile to not eating it at all is that crazy)

A Problem with the Weekend

Not having to work is probably the biggest reason why I love the weekend. Sometimes though, the weekend can really affect the rest of the week. Neither day did I wake up before noon or go to sleep before 2 am. This can really affect my sleep schedule for the rest of the week. I think I sleep so long on the weekend cause of the little amount of sleep I get on weekdays. Its a viscous cycle. I was going to try to break it tonight and hit the sack before 10pm. Well that didn't happen. At 10, I wasn't really tired. We shall see how tonight/tomorrow goes, if I don't get to sleep soon.

In a Rut with Music

Sometime, because I have thousands of songs on my computer, I forget there is always new stuff coming out. I will go days without hearing the same song on my iPod, but I still love the joy of finding a new artist or song that I feel I need to put on my iPod immediately. I will usually play it 2-4 times in a row, to see if I really like it but not more than that cause I don't want to over play it too quickly. Recently, some of the bands/artists I found that I've enjoyed are:

Phoenix
Regina Spektor
Owl City
I am Not Lefthanded
Frank Turner
Ra Ra Riot
Frightened Rabbit
Sam Hart, though I have only listened to 'Mario Kart Love Song'. I think most of my family would enjoy it. You can listen to it here.

It pleases me to no end when I find that someone enjoyed my musical suggestion. Also, I would love to hear if you already know any of these bands and enjoy them. I am always up for talking about music.

And the Alarm Went Off

Actually, the alarm didn't go off. I was late for work this morning. Not really happy about it.

Before I went to sleep last night, I thought it would be a good idea to lay in bed and read for a bit, a normal routine for me. I was reading on my phone when the 20% battery warning comes up. 'I'll just finish the chapter then call it a night.' I think. Too bad I pass out mid sentence before I got a chance to plug the phone in. So I wake up the next day, thinking, 'Man, I feel so rested. Wonder when the alarm is going to go off." I enjoy laying in my bed for a bit till I really start to wonder why my alarm hasn't gone off, and, boy, it sure is brighter than it normally is in the morning when I wake. That's when I reach over for my phone, find it's not there, and it hits me like a wave.

Yeah, not a great way to start the day. Jumped in the shower, dressed, and rushed to work. Everyone said they were worried about me. I felt a bit foolish but that is to be expected. Luckily, the rest of the day went smoothly. I would say it was pretty much an all around good day. Why can't every day start at noon?

California! (In just over 2 weeks)

California. Never really been. Recently, I started thinking about how cool it would be to go and see the ocean and everything so I decided to go. I was going to go this weekend but I must pay bills. Next weekend I have a friends b-day party and opening night for the Coyotes. (It's hockey, not going to miss it) So I decided the weekend after I will be going. Already called my little brother and we are going to get together out there. Should be an awesome time. Really excited for it, just stinks that it is 16ish days away. Guess it gives me something to look forward to.

Tonight...

I made some waffles, and they were delicious.

Waffle Iron = Great purchase!

STAR TREK!!!

All day, I had no idea what I was going to write here. So instead of writing something random earlier, decided to watch the new Star Trek movie. (Not really new, I am just a bit behind the times.) I have to say, I loved it! I thought it would be a cliched Star Trek movie, making nonstop references to the show and only really catering to the hardcore fans. It surprised me in how accessible they made this movie. Of course there were the silly quotes from the old shows, but I felt I could jump right in knowing VERY little about the original shows. A movie with great action, an interesting story, and all the beeps and whistles you would find in any 'Star' movie. (I really think I had heard some of the sound effects and background noises in one of the Star Wars movies.)I recommend this movie to anyone looking for a captivating action movie. It doesn't hurt that it has the Star Trek name. Who doesn't know something about that show?

I just have to say, I was sort of distracted by who played the bad guy. I knew I had seen him in something before but I couldn't figure out who he was the whole movie. Turns out, I had seen him in a lot. Eric Bana, darn you for distracting me. I had to look it up right after the movie finished. I should have known that one.

Maybe an editor would help

I know a few other people who write online. I have 4-6 blogs that my friends write that I try to make a habit of reading. I also have a few other friends who do other random writing for websites, doing reviews and such. I just have a huge issue with their improper use of grammar in their writing. Most of them are actually really good writers and I do enjoy reading what they write. It's the other ones that seem to make a habit of those issue. Their spelling and grammar errors usually distract me from their writing. I feel bad, it isn't like they are going out of their way to make those small mistakes and they are just doing it for fun. I am a fan of people writing for no other reason than to just write. But you really should try to edit what you write, perfect it and perfect all your writing. If you look over it again, and see an issue, maybe it's something you do often and should keep an eye out for. I am not going to pretend that my writing is immaculate, it is far from it, but I am trying to improve it.
I know I should just let it be. If people don't want to improve their writing and are fine with the errors that some third graders would notice, that is up to them. As for me, since I use the English language so much, I will continue to work towards the best understanding of it that I can get. Maybe I should just become an editor or something, then I could actually get paid to correct peoples' errors.

A few thoughts on Pride and Prejudice

I am still reading Pride and Prejudice. My sister would probably be ashamed with how long it is taking me to read this but I don't invest nearly as much time into reading as she does (Not many people read as much as she does) I can really see why people love this book and why it is a classic. The book has, at times, really pulled me into the story. Though it is not normally the type of book I'd read, I am finding myself reading into the early morning hours. I usually will read it till I fall asleep, and many times have woken up the next morning with it still in my hands cause I didn't want to stop reading. Don't get me wrong, it is not the most exciting book in terms of action. As far as I know, there is none. The intriguing thing about this book is the human interactions between the characters. With every sentence I read, a picture is painted in my mind of what is going on. When this happens, you know you have a good book.

Just thought I would let everyone know I am enjoying the book. Still don't know how comfortable I am telling people I am reading what I consider one of the mostly 'girl-y' books ever.

New Job!!!

I was going to apply for a new job today. Yeah, I did just start this job recently and I don't HATE it but there was an opportunity that came up that I was going to apply for and see where it went. Sadly, this job was filled hours before I had a chance to apply for it. It probably would have taken me a while to figure out where to apply for this job anyways. I really don't think I had a chance, but who knows. I think I would have done a good job as the Head Coach of the Phoenix Coyotes. Well the Director of Hockey Operations job is still open, from what I know. Let's see if I can find it. Where should I look? Monster.com? Yahoo jobs? Jobing.com? Craigslist?

I guess, in the mean time, I'll have to stay with Siren Inc.

Here I go again

I feel like I've said this before, but I really am going to try to post on this more frequently. I know you are probably all wondering what I've been up to (and if not, just humor me) and why I haven't posted more often. Well here is the update:

1. I found a place. Living by myself in Tempe. It's a nice, small place. It's close to work, which is really awesome. The sad part is I never realized how much of my roommate's stuff I had taken for granted. Had to buy all new pots and pans. Still waiting for money to get a tv. BUMMER!!

2. I was told the first day to go to work was a Monday. I didn't realize that also happened to be Labor Day and the office was closed. Thanks for telling me guys!

3. Speaking of work, I don't think I have actually worked 8-5 yet. Usually get in between 7:40-8:05am, depending on how quickly I move in the morning. I stay till 6-7pm. I eat lunch at my desk while working. Today was the first time when I felt that, at moments during the day, I didn't have anything to do. Well at least I'm not bored.

4. Since I don't know many people around here and I don't really have money to go out, I have spent my Saturdays doing a bit of work too. Like the genius I am, I decided to go to the storage unit last Saturday at noon and spend 2-3 hours there counting hundreds of company T-shirts. For some reason, someone opened every box so none had a correct count. Not a great idea on my part to spend the hottest time of day in a metal box in the AZ heat. Also stinks that I am not hourly.

5. The good news is that the lack of funds have kept me in where I have had a chance to catch up on my movies and tv shows on Hulu. Good times.

6. Still working on being a soccer fan. Not sure who to root for or anything. I haven't really been able to watch a game in a while, which is sad. But I might be going over to a friend's place this Saturday to watch a game. That is, if I don't think it would be more fun to go back to the storage unit.

7. Got to watch a rugby game finally. Pretty cool but not exactly as pictured. Must watch more.

Well that's it for now. Think I may study some French before bed. Hopefully, I can remember to post again tomorrow. Night all!

Back in AZ

I made it! I would be ok to not take a car ride over 2 hours for a while. In the past year, I think I have made way too many road trips. The issue with being back in AZ is that I currently don't have a place to live. I am sleeping on my brothers couch and I haven't unloaded most of my stuff. I hope to have an apartment by the end of the week. Boy, am I going to be glad to get settled soon.

How quickly things change

After being told I was going to San Antonio for the extension office for about a month before being pulled back to the corprate office back in Phoenix AZ, I was just told I have to be back there on Monday. Yeah, that's right, I have a week to move back to AZ and find a place to live before I am expected to be back at work. I still have to work on closing the office here and maybe spend a day of 2 in San Antonio helping set that up. Well at least I can say it isn't boring here.

The worst part is I moved all my stuff into storage and have it paid till October. Well, guess there is no rush to move into my place in AZ.

It's been a while

Well...guess that whole 'once a day posting' won't be happening. I sort of got lazy, then sick, then just lazy again. It isn't like I was sitting by my computer laughing at anyone waiting for me to post. I was hanging with some friends, and by hanging out, I mean sitting around watching a movie, going to the pool, or playing cards. I just find it funny that the last thing I wrote about was cabin fever, then I really get sick. Well guess it's time for a big update.

I got sick. I know it isn't really what you were waiting to hear about, not being exciting at all but whatever. It wasn't fun, never is. Sort of this annoying cold and lingering cough I had for more than a week. It was right before some of the other guys ended up getting sick. The worst part about getting sick before everyone else is that they all blame you for getting sick. Not that I gave them anything, they just wanted to blame someone.

I went back to Phoenix the other day. Had to pack my old apartment up and put everything into storage. Normally not a bad job, but the AZ heat made the little job into something that drained everything from me, Mike and Jesse. Glad to say its done and I won't have to move out of there until some time when it should be cooler.

It was nice to see a few people in Phoenix. I didn't really have time to see everyone I wanted to but I was grateful to spend some time with some good friends out there. We even got some Rock Band in, which is ALWAYS good!

Oh, about the job. I had been told that it depended on how the year round offices that they are starting go. If they went poorly, and couldn't afford another person, I wasn't going to get a job. When I went back to Phoenix, I stopped in to see them. They let me know that they had to let someone go and will be holding the job open for when I get back from extension. They are actually going to have me go out to San Antonio for a few weeks, probably around a month, and then come back to fill in the position. Pretty happy to FINALLY hear I have a job with them. Well, that I have a job in general!

Tonight, I went to visit the Belts, a great family from EHWC. It was really nice to catch up with them and find out somethings about why they left. It made me miss Buffalo a bit but also realize that the biggest reason I miss Buffalo, the people, are also the most mobile. (HINT: That means you can always visit me!) It is a bit sad that they moved down right before I am leaving the area, but also gives me a good reason to visit. Not that I didn't already have friends to visit here anyways.

Well that's about all I can think of needing to share. If I remember anything else, I'll put it in the next blog. Maybe I can get back on the 'once a day' Fingers crossed!

Getting Cabin Fever

Getting cabin fever, and I am getting it bad. I am not really sure why, I do get out a bit, but probably nowhere near enough. It is nearly exactly like the scene from Muppets Treasure Island where the muppets and people are dancing around and singing about, obviously, cabin fever. Well, minus the muppets, boat, singing, dancing, and colorful costumes. So really, nothing like the scene, but that was all I could think of at the time.

I really need to get out more.

Old Movies

I watched The Dirty Dozen and The Great Escape today. These movies are making me excited to see the new Quentin Tarantino movie, Inglourious Basterds. As you probably guessed, its a World War 2 movie.

Well my roommate just shoot a light bulb with a air-soft gun. Guess I should go do something about that.

Never on Time

I have found this very strange problem I have. (It is one of many) For me, there is a direct correlation between how close I live to work and how often I arrive to work late. I am normally supposed to be in the office at 8am. For the start of the summer, I was ALWAYS on time. As time progressed, I started coming in later just cause I didn't want to get out of bed early, but I was still normally in the office by 8:15am. Then, I was moved down a floor. I live the floor right above the office. If I could put a fireman's pole in my room, I would drop straight into my office (The Inventory room.) Sadly, I have not had the pole installed so I have to use the stairs, but I have been finding that I am turning my alarm off or going back to sleep much more often than before. One day last week, I didn't get up till about 10:40am. The good news is I still get all my work done by the time it is needed, nut it still doesn't make me feel great. But getting up early in the morning doesn't either. Guess it is one of those 'Catch-22' moments. I really didn't understand that book.

Pool fun

Last night, a group of us went to the pool. This is a nightly occurrence for many of us, but we usually spend most of the time in the hot tub just chilling. The other day, Jeff bought one of those underwater torpedoes. So last night, we had to devise a game with it that had the chance for bodily injury. Ultimate Torpedo was created. Pretty much just Ultimate Frisbee in water and replacing the frisbee with an underwater toy torpedo, and throwing in a good dose of wrestling. Pretty awesome! I don't think anyone came home that night without something hurting. We played for 2-3 hours. Of course, I rocked out at this game.

After that, we watched 'I Love You Man' which was much funnier than I thought it was going to be.

All of that caused me to look very bad in the morning though. A lot of Chlorine in the eyes and a lack of sleep are not a good combination.

G.I. Joe Review

Definitely an enjoyable movie. It was so bad it was good. I thought it was exactly like the cartoon. Who ever made it decided to adapt the cartoon and not worry about realism at all! Since I just thought I was going to hate the movie, it wasn't that bad.

Go Joe!!!

Well, going to see G.I.Joe tonight. Not really sure what to expect. But at least I know know what the battle they keep talking about is. Take a look.

Great...no, wait!

The review went as expected, great. Tamra and I talked for a while. Babe actually had gone to the Dallas office today and will be in the Fort Worth office tomorrow, so we'll see what goes on there. During the review, Tamra started mentioning the job at corp and making me feel really set that I had a job there. Talk of the extension came up and I foud out who I would be working with and I was pretty excited about it.

Then, I get a call from Tamra around 7pm. Turned the whole day around. We talked for a bit and now I am not really sure how things stand. The biggest problem with this is that I don't know what to do about my stuff in Arizona. I have most of my belongings in my old apartment there but I need to be moved out of there by September 7th. The problem is I need to figure out when I will have time to fly back there. Just very frustrating, though I should have an answer by Monday. Hopefully.

BIG DAY!!!

First off, happy 30th Anniversary Mom and Dad! It is awesome that you guys have made it this long and that anyone can see you'll be making it much longer. Thanks for everything!

Not so great news with court. Prosecutor basically said he would only give me a $138.00 fine and have me go to traffic school. (Which I would have done in the first place but they said I couldn't being that I am an out of state resident.) I tried to explain that the sign wasn't even in a place for me to see it and why would I think it would be 35mph where I was stopped. He responded with, "Ignorance to the law is no excuse." Boy did he not get it. But whatever, as soon as I take the class, it'll all be over with. Man, do I hate Texas right now.

My roommate loves to sing. I don't mind people who can sing well, doing so often. But when you have no talent for singing and only sing crappy songs, you really need to stop. Please, Jordan, think of the children! (And those who act like children.)

Tomorrow, my boss, Tamra, is coming in for my review. Babe, the owner of Siren, is also coming in, but I don't know if he is meeting with me or not. I hope they have word on my job situation. I am hearing from some little birds that I have well placed that I am 99.99% sure to have a job. The only reason I say 99.99% is because I don't have word from the people who can tell me the final word, but I am hopeful. Still will need to figure out what to do about the whole Arizona living thing, but a job might be helpful for that.

Should probably get a good nights sleep for tomorrow. I need to get into the office on time tomorrow. (And not the 10-20 minutes late that I have been.)

Tomorrow is the big day.

No, I am not getting married. I will be going to court and, hopefully, getting this ticket taken care of. I just spent an hour in the pool. Now time to sleep. Don't want to look irresponsible tomorrow in court/while meeting with the prosecutor.

Guns!!!!

I don't get it. What is the fascination young males have with guns? A bunch of the guys I live with decided to get air soft guns and have been running around all day shooting each other. I really just don't understand the enjoyment in doing this. I wouldn't find it all that fun to just sit around and shoot little pellets at each other, but maybe I should just give it a try. Maybe some other time.

The coolest part of it was that the war was between the my roommates and the guys above us. One of the guys about us has repelling gear and came out the window upstairs and locked everyone out of the apartment. I was in the other room while this happened, so I wasn't locked out of my room, which made me appreciate it more.

Counting down

After today, I know most of the works are leaving in 2 weeks. I think I'll be out here for another week after that to close the office. Never the less, it is exciting to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Plus most of the people leaving at that time, I don't really get along great with.
Almost there!

Waiting on the word

As you probably know by now, I am working a summer sales program with Siren Inc. in Texas. When I was hired I was told that this was only a summer job but most likely, if I did well, they would find a job for me at the corporate office after the summer. My boss and many others have told me that I have been doing a wonderful job this summer. For a few weeks, since I almost went back to Arizona but was asked (told) to stay, I have been under the impression that I would have a job back there after the summer. They had SAID I would have a job, but never really told me what it would be. None of my questions to anyone were ever answered as to what my job would be so I began to wonder if I was going to have a job then. So, when I was asked to go to the extension office, I figured it would be a good time to find out what I would be doing after the summer back at corp. So I told my boss, if I was going to go to the extension office, I would need to be promised a job at corp. I am very glad I asked because she told me that they are trying to find a place to put me back there. I thought it would be a simple 'yes' and I would just Find out what I'd be doing there later. But it really has been a waiting game.My boss will be talking to the VP of the company 2 weeks from tomorrow to figure out what will be going on with me. It bothers me that it will take that long to figure that out cause, by then, if I don't have a job with Siren, I should have another job lined up. I wish they would just give me an answer so I would know what is going on. I just get the feeling that they will try to force me into the other office and then not give me a job, but I just have to trust them a little and have plans in case it doesn't work out.

The good news is everyone loves me here. (At least, that's what they tell me.)

Blast from the past

So I was randomly messaged through Facebook by an ex-girlfriend. This was really weird for me cause things didn't really end well with us. I caught her with her ex-boyfriend. Yeah, it wasn't very cool. After telling her that I really din't think of her and I don't think much of her at all, I asked why, after over 2 years and the way we left things, she would contact me again. She said, 'A book reminded me of you.' Yeah, a book. Awesome. I am glad I don't make a habit of using impolite words cause I would of had a few for her.

In other news, some of the reps thought it would be funny to get one fo my roommate onto the balcony and throw water ballons at him. Worst part was, he left the door open and now the house is sort of wet. Along with my laptop. Not surprisingly, I am not happy with them.

Glad for my Dad

The last few days have been pretty strange at work. I've had to go to the office at many strange hours. Yesterday, for instance, I was in the office till 4am this morning. Its nice to get all the credit for the work I do, but I realized I have to give credit to my Dad for this. He has instilled in me an amazing work ethic. I am going to be honest, I don't work nearly as hard as my Dad, but I like to think that one day I might be close to that. If one day, if I could be half as good a man as my Dad is, I would be pretty well off. Thanks Dad for everything you have helped me become.

And now it all catches up to me...

The last few nights, I had stayed up till 3am or later. Today, I took a 5 hour nap. Not really sure what to do with my self right now. I think I'll chill at the hot tub till I have to do some extra work. One of the other offices closed so now I am going stay up late counting their inventory.

Guess I should get started relaxing before work. Later folks!

Results from the weekend

Well I didn't win anything, but I didn't lose anything either! I did end up playing a game and losing but since we hadn't bet anything on it, I didn't lose anything. We ended up switching from Poker to Rats and then Spoons. Both fun games, both games I lost at. All these card games reminded me of youth camp. Oh, those great days! But it was fun to hang with some of these guys. Definitely a good night with some really cool friends.

Poker!

Poker night with the guys. Hope I don't lose too much. Will report results tomorrow.

A visit to Dallas

Today, I went to Dallas for E's birthday party. I had a really good time talking to her friends and spent a bit talking to her mom. Really nice lady, not that I am surprised at all! It was a cool restaurant with a pool randomly in the back. I guess that's just how they do it in Dallas.

When I left, I thought it would be fun to just drive through downtown Dallas and find my way back. I was really excited to add photos that I took on my phone to this post. Uploading issues have derailed my plans. Maybe I will edit it later and add these for you.

Also, all you kids out there should learn from me. When spending a lot of time outside in the sun, drinks lots of water. I wasn't feeling very well when I got home, but a nap helped take care of that.

It pays to go swimming.

Last night, Jeff, Pat, Gene, and I all went to the pool to take a dip in the hot tub. Jeff and I got there first and say 4 people currently occupying the hot tub. I decide to visit the pool instead of crowding the hot tub with them. Jeff steps into the water and quickly gets out cause it was too cold for him or too dirty (there were a few bug floating on top. I stay in cause I'm from Buffalo, unless there is ice in the water, its nice enough to swim in. As I am floating around, I notice something floating in the middle of the pool. A little nervous as to what it is, I slowly approach. I was dark so I couldn't see what exactly it was but it look a little translucent and green. I then notice a number five on it. I reach over and pick it up, finding that its a five-dollar bill.

I just made $5.00 by going swimming!

I then go over to chill with Jeff in the hot tub as the 4 strangers are leaving. As they get out, Gene and Pat arrive and we just chilled for a while.

All in all, a pretty decent night!

Quick Question

Just a brief post tonight. I am really sort of worried about this. I just finished 'The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn' and just started the next book. Am I gay for choosing to read next 'Pride & Prejudice'? Or is it only bad if I find myself enjoying the book and debating who Mr. Darcy should end up with?

Take me out to the ball game!

Last week, if the reps in the office sold enough, the office would get to go to a baseball game. Well I was told we didn't get enough but we still did convince the boss to buy us tickets. Being SportyDebo, I was excited to go to a sporting even. Not as excited that it was baseball but at least the team I root for, the Boston Red Soxs, were there. (Not that they won.) Though I must say, my team is pretty boring to watch. (Might have something to do with losing.)

Here's a picture from my seat.

What was old is new again

I started doing things I haven't done in awhile. No, I am not talking about wearing diapers or anything that long ago. I started playing my guitar again. Still don't know that much but I can enjoy playing what I do know, just not in front of others. I also took out my roller blades again. This was a bit more painfully than the guitar. I started skating down the sidewalk by my apartment when I noticed it ended. Instead of stopping and stepping down, I thought it would be a good idea to jump the curb. I did stick the landing for a second or two. Then my knee, palm, and butt got a little roughed up. Nothing major, just skinned my knee and palm a bit, but I think I bruised my left butt cheek. I know everyone wanted to know specifically which side I hurt.

No worries, I'll be good.

Just a few thoughts recently

Well, maybe I'll post every other day? Like most of my other endeavors, I just can't really commit fully to this. Hope I can keep putting something on this. I have to keep my fan (Mom) happy by keeping her updated.

After hearing about how good the show 'No Reservations' is, I decided to give it a try. I quickly have fallen in love with the show. It is not the most amazing show or all that ground breaking at all. I think what amazes me is the fact that the show is, in a simple sense, just an essay with a video to go a long with it. Recently finding that I actually, somewhat enjoy writing, this excites me. The thought that, with just writing essays, I could have the opportunity to do some really amazing things. It just thrills me and really makes me consider strengthening and using my writing skills more than I currently am.

The other thing about the show that I love is all the places Anthony Bourdain, the host, goes. I have only watched a handful of episodes from the first season, but he has already spent time in Iceland, Paris, Vietnam, and New Jersey (I know, New Jersey, so exciting!) Thinking about my future career, one of the biggest things I want to include is the opportunity to travel. I would love to be paid to go to new places. This is one of the reasons I am trying to learn other languages, so when I do go to a new country, I can attempt to speak their language, instead of just looking like another stuipd tourist. Learning French hasn't been going great lately but I hope within the next few days to really sit down and study it again. I feel if I can start nailing down other languages and get a feel for them, maybe I should take them in college. If that goes well, maybe I should consider what being a linguist would be like. What would it hurt to look into?

Thats about all I can think of sharing tonight. Hope you are all doing well and keep doing so!

I am (in) a Green Lantern (hat)!

For those of you who don't know, I bought a Green Lantern hat. I am a big Green Lantern fan, so when I saw this hat on sale, I felt I needed to buy it. I think it is pretty cool, and that I am pretty cool when wearing (but really, when am I not cool?) The only issue is that not many people know who the Green Lantern is. It isn't like people come up to me and comment on my hat much. If they did comment on it ALL the time, I think it might get annoying. But every once in awhile someone will say something about it, and that makes my day. It boosts my ego more when that someone is a pretty female! And yes, that did already happen!

For those of you who don't know, this is the Green Lantern symbol.

SLACKER!!!!

Well I am finally showing my true colors. Yes, as most of you know, I am a slacker. I had been attempting to post on this blog once a day. Well yesterday, it didn't happen. I could try and find many excuses, but the truth is I just didn't think of it. I did remember this morning, when walking to the office that I hadn't posted, but by then I felt it was too late. Yes, I could have changed the date and time that it shows I posted this at, but I felt that was cheating. So I will be honest, I just didn't post. Shame on me and all that.

But if I was going to blame someone, it would be Conan. Damn you Conan!

Stupid Sleep Schedule

Yeah, I messed up my sleep schedule again. Yesterday, I was invited to see Harry Potter, which was very enjoyable, by the way, so I figured I should take a nap before going. This caused me to sleep much longer than I wanted to and, after the movie, I couldn't fall asleep till around 4am. Not a good time to fall asleep when you wake up at 7:30am. So today, I ended up napping most of the afternoon. I would usually fall asleep for around an hour before something woke me or I got up to do some work or something. Then, I'm guessing around 7pm, I was sitting reading on the couch. The next thing I know, it's 9:30pm, Kelly is calling me asking if I am going to dinner with the company. I decided against it cause I just had woken up. I send my boss a text just to make sure I get the money for the dinner. And now here I am, it's almost 11pm, a time when I am normally thinking about going to bed soon and I'm not tired at all. Awesome.

Naps, sometimes, I really hate.

Harry Potter!!!

Going to see Harry Potter tonight with a few guys (and one girl, don't want to seem sexist) from work. Should be a good time. For some reason, even though we have the tickets, they called me to meet them there around 2 hours before the movie. A bit excessive to me but what do I know. Well got to run.

I just really hope I see someone dress up! Those people are the best!

Finally found some good Pizza?

I am incredibly excited! One of my roommates, Pat, is also from Western New York. We often talk about the delicious food Western New York has. Today, when he was selling, he met a customer from Buffalo. They ended up sitting around for a bit talking about some different restaurants that are in the Fort Worth area that are as good as some in Buffalo. I am looking forward to driving around soon and picking up some food. First on the list is pizza. I will post as soon as I try it.

Friday's notes

I wanted to mention this earlier, but the last few days had been a bit taxing on me. You might have noticed those very short posts, yeah, sorry, sometimes I can be very lazy. But I will give you guys an update.

So Wednesday night, two of my friends, Whitney and Christine, came into town. They were out in the Siren New Jersey North office, which merged with the Fort Worth office, and stopped in to visit on their way back to Phoenix. It was really nice to see them again. On Thursday night, one of the reps from their office who is now here was having a B-Day party so the three of use went. I had a good time getting to meet the new reps. I ended up getting back at around 1am. This became a problem when I woke up to drive to San Antonio for my little brother graduation. By 'a problem' I mean I went back to sleep till like almost 6am. I then spent over 4 hours in the car, in which time I was called 3 times for deliveries. The person who was filling in for me just decided not to go to the office in the morning, so we missed a delivery or two. The drive actually didn't feel that long but it might because I looked like a head-banger. Next time I have that long of a drive, I'll make sure I have a good nights sleep and coffee/energy drinks. When I got to San Antonio I found I was too late for the graduation. So I hung out at the hotel that my parents were staying at till they got back. Then, when Pat got there, we went out to eat and stopped by the Alamo. Yes, I will remember it, and no I could not find the basement of the Alamo. About 4pm I figured I should be heading home, so I spent another 4+ hours in the car driving back to my apartment. After arriving at the apartments, I spent the rest of the night moving boxes around the office, receiving shipments, and pretty much just doing what I do. No offense to anyone I work with, and I don't really think I am this valuable, but I really wonder how long this office would be able to stay open without me.

When looking back on Friday, and yes there were some fun parts in it, but for the most part, I wonder why I enjoy msking my life so hard. But I think it mostly came from a lack of sleep, or maybe that's just an excuse to sleep more.

Another one

Well today was another day I would rather forget. I was locked out of my apartment most of the day. The guy who locked it said, "I forgot you lived there." Makes me feel awesome! Maybe I will write more tomorrow. Hopefully!

Meeting!

After a long day, most of which was spent in the car. I am calling an emergency meeting with my head and my pillow. More news from the last few days will follow and if others send/post pictures on Facebook, I might add them here too.

Music, Everyone Loves It!

For the past year, I have been trying to clean up all the music I have on my computer. By this, I mean rating all my songs and deleting ones I don't listen to. This process has been taking a long time cause I have a lot of music, around 5,500 songs. The other problem is that after I delete 15, I find 20 more to download and rate. Even from those 20 songs, I will still have to figure out if they are all worth keeping. Many people wonder why I am doing this and my only defense is that I want to enjoy each and every song I have. I want to, as much as I can, know the songs I have on my computer/iPod.

One day it will all be cleaned up, probably when I go deaf or something.

I Fought the Law, and had to wait!

Ah the legal system! I got a speeding ticket a few weeks ago. So I went to the court last Thursday and was informed that I had to see the Judge, who only is in on Wednesday from 9am-10:30am, then back in from 1pm-2:30pm. What nice hours! So, I went back today to try and take care of the ticket. I wait in line for the appointment with the Judge, then wait in court for my name to be called. I get up there and tell him I want to plead 'Not Guilty'. I then am told I have to meet with the prosecutor. That date will not be till August 4th. Awesome! 2 trips to court already and nothing has been resolved.

On the upside, I got to wear nice clothes today, and I looked sharp. Sadly, there is no photographic evidence.

Pizza anyone?

The other day, I had a craving for pizza. For me, this isn't unusual, I love pizza and crave it very often. The strange part is that I realized that I haven't had a pizza in around a month. Well, at least not that I remember. Normally, if I thought about it, and found it to be the case that I hadn't had pizza in about a month, I would do one of two things. I would either: 1) Go right out and buy one, or 2) I would crawl up into a ball and cry. The reason this time was strange was because I actually just went upstairs and made a sandwich. Should I be worried? Am I getting sick? Or should I just be ashamed of myself?

In defense, I am trying to not spend as much on food till my friends come into town tomorrow. I figure I'll be spending money hanging with them and after that I may drive to San Antonio, which probably wont be cheap. I just have to figure if I have enough to buy a pizza before I leave.

Death of a (Potential) Salesman

I found out I'm not really interested in door to door sales. I tried to go out with one of the reps today to see what its like and see if I could do it. I watched for about a half dozen doors and then I took the lead. Not five sentences into my pitch, I am tripping over my words and trying to figure out what to say. I bombed most of the ones I tried, though one I might have been able to get if I could have figured out what to say. The good news is that Pat H. was with me and might save the deal, he'll go back on Wednesday to see if they are still interested in the system.

Though I am not going to give up and I hope to get at least one deal before the end of the summer, I don't really think sales is in my future. Not that I am upset about that!

Kicked out

Yeah, I was kicked out of my company apartment in Fort Worth the other day. This was a first for me, getting kicked out of an apartment, but not as bad as it sounds. It was somewhat expected. Let me explain.

So earlier this week, the NJ North office closed. They were having trouble selling in the area they were in so Siren decided to combine the office. So 9 reps and 3 techs moved down here on Friday. We had to figure out where to put everyone and I told Tyler that my roommate and I could move out of our 3 bedroom into another room where there are only a few people. He tells me no, he'll have the 5 guys from across the hall move, 3 into my room and 2 downstairs where there are already 2 guys. Thinking that was it, I go to Dallas to hang with some friends and watch fireworks. Having a good time meeting new people, I get a text at 10:30 from my current roommate telling me we are getting kicked out. Needless to say, this sort of ruined my night. I call my boss and flip out for a bit but just said that I'll move out the next morning. I was pretty upset for having to move. I was more upset for 2 other reason. 1) I had made this suggestion to him and he told me no and then takes my idea when I can't do anything about it. 2) I was told about this by my roommate and not my boss.

But it isn't all bad. I now have a balcony and a better internet connection. I can actually get it in the whole apartment and not just one room!

Happy Fourth!

Hope everyone had a good Fourth of July! I am happy to say I did. In the morning I had a bit of work to do. Some new guys came in and I had to move out of my apartment into another one downstairs, so I had to take care of that too. But after all the work was done, I went to Dallas and hung out by a pool with some people. I only knew one of them, 2 I had meet the night before, but the other 5 were new to me. It was nice to sit in the sun for a few hours with some cool people.

A bit of a problem arose though. I had thought I forgot my bathing suit until last night, I found the bag I had thrown it in before I left. The thing I forgot was that I had placed it in the bag when it was still a little wet, and I had left it there for almost 2 months. Not good. So I didn't go IN the pool today. Guess I'll be getting a new one soon.

Dallas!!!

Went out tonight. Hung out with friends in Dallas to watch fireworks. Good times. Also, trying to post this from the iPhone. (Actually didn't post from iPhone, will need to work on a bit more)

Gone Fishing!

Today, I was invited to go fishing with Jordan, the lead tech from the office. I have been fishing before but not in years. I only went fishing in the pond at the Debo-rama, but I don't think that counts cause I was never seriously fishing then. It was late in the day, so Jordan said we were only going to go for like 15 minutes, so we grab his stuff and jump in the car. We drive down to this little stream right by the apartments we're staying at. Long story short, I caught 2 fish. We wanted to do catch and release but I didn't know how to take the hook out and when I pulled the first fish out, around 2 inch Blue Gill was what I was told, Jordan wasn't around. By the time he got back and we(he) got the hook out and tossed it back in, it didn't go anywhere. Two casts later, I catch a fish, Spotted Bass I am told, that was at least twice as long. I was pretty proud of myself. I never really thought I would enjoy fishing , and I am far from sayign I am a fan of it, but I think if I am invited to go again, I'd totally join.

Going back to AZ early...or not.

It is pretty nice to find that your boss thinks highly of you. Today, I was told that one of the other office was going to close and combine with our office. I have two friends working in the office there in New Jersey, so I was pretty excited to hear they were coming here. It only took me a second to remember that there are 3 office positions and they are all filled here. So I quickly asked my boss what was going on with everyone. She tell me that I am being replaced as the inventory manager for Whitney, the inventory manager from New Jersey, and I was getting moved back to Corp to help in payroll. The company knew I was looking for a job after this summer gig is over, and they had an opening for me. I was pretty excited to be going back to Arizona. I would get to see my friends again and start looking at the houses in Tempe. I was also pumped for the different job I would be doing, not really sure what it was but I get bored easily, so a change was sort of needed. The news of the other office closing hadn't spread too much. The only other person I thought would know about it was Tyler, the head rep, who oversees this office. He had known about the merge, but when I mentioned that I was going to Corp, he laughs and says, 'I have the last word on that.' I get a call a bit later telling me that I was actually fought over and that I will be staying in Fort Worth for the rest of the summer and take the position at Corp after the summer is over. Pretty cool that Tyler thinks that highly of me to actually say that he wanted me to stay. As for my friends for New Jersey, Whitney is going to Corp and Christine is coming here for a few weeks, to help the merge go smoothly, and then she'll head back to Corp.

Pretty eventful day for me and my job. I was a bit let down when it all changed. I was really excited how everything was working out, but now I get to stay in Fort Worth. Still some stuff I wanted to do here, so it all works out. Plus, not sure if I am totally ready for an Arizona summer!

A Bit of News

Recently I was asked by a few friends if I had thought of moving from the apartment I share with my brother in Glendale, AZ to Tempe, AZ. I had to admit that I really hadn't thought of moving to Tempe yet, but next year, when I hear residency in Arizona and can go to ASU without paying out the nose, I was thinking of moving out there. One of them brought up the idea of moving in together. We started looking at different apartments in the Tempe area when we were approached by another friend who is going to need a place in Tempe, so the three of us started looking at bigger apartments in the area. I was looking at a pretty nice place when I stopped and thought, 'There will be three of us, why don't we find a house instead?' So now the Tempe apartment has changed to a Tempe house search.

The other issue about moving, besides finding a place to live, is I now need to find a place to work in the area. I, along with everyone else I know, hate job searching. I started putting out applications and resumes on Sunday. The earliest time I could start would be the 24th of August, unless the job is so amazing that I would quit the job I am currently and imideatly move back to AZ, but I don't forsee that happening.

All this is pretty exciting. I am hoping that it all works out soon but, really, nothing needs to happen for another month and a half cause I don't think I'll be back in AZ before the 20th of August. I just hate the combination of excitment for these new adventures and patience needed till things get figured out and set up.

Random Venting

When I sit down to write my blog, I always hope that whatever comes out makes people think or just laugh (I usually, unintentionally get the latter.) Most of the time I have an idea of what I want to write. Today is not one of those days. Really wasn't that good of a day, but for some reason I feel it was better than it could have been. Let me explain. (Isn't that a writer's 'no-no'? Ending a paragraph like that? Anyone know?)

Today started as poorly as any other when working for Siren, way too early at 7am. I am not a morning person, I don't really get up well and it takes me awhile to get going. Being responsible, I try to get up around an hour before work, usually I still lay in bed for about 30 minutes looking at things on my iPhone. I then go down the two flights of stairs to the office carrying my bowl of Count Chocula cereal. I know what you're thinking, 'How can your morning start poorly when you have Count Chocula?' and really, that is the thing that makes my morning, but, either way, I digress. The reason I get to the office at 8am is to go over tech invoices and reconcile them with the database. I will then pull inventory for the techs so that they can just come in, check to make sure they have it all, and be on their merry way. Today, as has happened a few other times, I was missing invoices. This really doesn't surprise me, what did was that I didn't have tech invoices for any of my 5 techs, including the lead tech. Whatever, guess I am used to it. I text the lead tech and within 30 minutes, I received 2 of my techs paperwork. By 9:30am I was only missing two more sets. I got one more at 11am-ish. The last one brought his in around 2-2:30pm. Awesome. A job that would take 90 minutes kept me in the office for almost 7 hours. Like I said, guess I'm used to it. The lead tech and I talked and this issue should be resolved soon, but I have said that before.

The part that really bothered me was later. Marissa, the office manager, wanted to go to Olive Garden for the soup/salad/breadsticks deal. We rush over there to get in by 3:50pm which is 10 minutes before the deal ended. We had as wonderful a lunch as you can have at the Olive Gardan. I even started a conversation with 2 of the waitresses about movies. Then the bill comes stating the time of 4:00:09pm. Yes, 9 seconds after the deal expired. Cost us each like an extra 4-5 bucks, not even sure. I just didn't feel like arguing. So we left. If you have ever been to the Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) area, you know it has horrible traffic ALL THE TIME! For some reason, someone here thinks its a good idea to have 2 lane highways with all the people they have here. If you have ever driven with me, you know I hate sitting in traffic. So knowing some back roads, I start making my way back to the office. I am about halfway home, when I notice a guy in a yellow shirt, sitting on a motorcycle, right by the crosswalk. As I pass he pulls out behind me and turns on his lights. Cop. I get a ticket for 49 in a 35. I actually say to the cop, "Not to sound like a jerk, but are you sure I was going that fast?' and I actually get out of my car to see his radar. I have no idea what he was tracking, but I was not going 49. I was behind a truck and, if i was going 49, the truck was too. If he wasn't going that fast, neither was I. Again, I think whatever, I know I wasn't going that fast, I'll try and fight it, and I drive away. This is my second ticket in 2 months. The last one, I'll admit to, this one, no. Guess well see how the fight goes in a little bit.

Well those were pretty much the crappy parts of the day. I love, after getting a ticket, hearing everyones' stories about getting out of their tickets. Yeah thanks guys, any help for getting out of mine? No? Shut your mouth then. I didn't even want to drive or go to the Olive Garden that badly, it was Marissa who did. Well nothing I can do about it now.

Well maybe a bit more studying of French will cheer me up. Yes, I picked French and I hope in a few weeks to be able to speak it fairly well. That may be pushing it, but I do better when challenged. (At least I THINK I do.)

Two Weeks!

Well today is the two week mark! Two weeks ago I wrote my first post. Doing something for two weeks isn't really that big of a deal, unless this was a high school relationship, in which case, this might be a world record. But no, this is only a blog, so two weeks isn't anything amazing. I mean, I have been doing many thing for much longer and more often than once a day for two weeks. I have been breathing for about 8,216 days or 1,173 weeks and 5 days, somewhere around that. So, in comparison to my habit of breathing, this blog is a little baby that doesn't deserve any anniversary presents or acknowledgments. Maybe the year mark will be something special, but until then, just have to go about doing the day to day stuff.

Well that's all I have for now. More work to do for announcements that might be coming out soon. Stay tune! (Tuned to a website? Does that work? Is 'Stay refreshed!' better? Whatever, hope you get the idea.)

Scheduling

So today was.......long. At the Siren office I work at, there are three office staff. Kelly, who does scheduling, Marissa, who takes care of the reps paperwork, and me, who takes care of the inventory and the techs' paperwork. The jobs, when everyone is doing there job correctly, aren't bad. They all have their own moments that make you want to pull your hair out but, really, not too many of them.

When this office opened, I was doing both the scheduling and inventory. The day for an inventory manager started at 8am looking over techs paperwork and pulling inventory for them. The day for a scheduler ends at 10pm when all the reps stop knocking doors and come home. This made for some very long days. When Kelly started here about three weeks ago, I was very excited to not have to be doing that again. Alas, today I was back in the office doing scheduling for five hours. The thing was she went to New Jersey for a family reunion. I really don't mind if I was paid hourly to cover someone and get paid more. I am not hourly, I get paid salary. So Marissa and I have been doing her job and not getting any extra pay. Normally, if she had offered me money, I would have refused it. But when I did ask if she was thinking of giving us money, she almost seemed shocked that I asked. What, I am supposed to do 1/3 of your job (cause we had to schedule both Friday and Saturday) and NOT get paid extra for it? Not really cool. I just think if I had to go anywhere, I would either make sure everything was done before I left (which she can't really do) or pay someone a little to do my job. If neither of those worked, I probably just wouldn't leave, feeling that I had a job to do. But I guess that is just me.

Maybe I wouldn't be so bothered if doing the scheduler's job didn't mean I was sitting in the office for 5 hours with about 40 minute of actual work. I sat here for more than 3 hours before I actually got a call to dispatch. Guess its just been a long day.

French or Spanish?

I have been thinking that I should try and learn another language. Of the many different ones there are, the two I am considering are French and Spanish. I keep on finding reasons to learn both. I know people who know one or the other but I don't think I know anyone who can do both. People on both sides tell me the one they learned is better than the other but I am always trying to take that with a grain of salt. The other problem I have is trying to find a program to learn from. As most of you know, I am not "in the money", not that I am poor, I just don't "make it rain", so I am having trouble finding a good program to learn from that is in my price range (which, if its free, is in my price range.) If I get a program, stick with it, and it goes well, I am probably going to try and learn both and more, but well see how it goes, let's not get ahead of ourselves.

I think Spanish might be more useful cause I live in Arizona. (I know not currently, but soon enough I will be back.) Lots of people down there speak it. I hear it is one of the most popular languages in the world. French, on the other hand, I spoken in Quebec, and being a big hockey fan might find that more useful, if just so I could then watch the games on the French stations and know what was being said.

I think this decision will be made like many decisions I make. I am going with French because a pretty female friend told me I should. (Don't worry, I don't really make decisions like that. I usually just flip a coin.)

Good News!

Well I did make it through. I ended up doing more weight training than I normally doing. My normal being none. Brad decided last night was a good night to work out the back and legs. While my back stood up well last night, I almost couldn't walk up to my third floor apartment. My legs killed last night, but this morning, they felt fine, which I am pretty happy about.

I think we may be going again tonight. I just have a 24-day free trial so I want to get the most out of it that I can. I think we are planning on going again tonight and doing some chest exercises.

Right now I am making a pancake. The thought of a pancake the size of the pan has enamored me recently. This time, when flipping it, it sort of folded in on itself. But I kept going and I might just have made and consumed the best pancake ever.

Not Sure if I Will Make it Past the Night

I am going to work out with Brad. He is a pretty fit guy who works out fairly often. I, on the other hand, don't. The way he is talking, I may not make it past the night. If you don't hear from me tomorrow, I probably can't move.

Naps

Many people ask me what I want to go to college for, I answer I have no clue. They then usually ask what I am good at. To this is also answer I have no solid idea. I just figured out what I enjoy doing, do often, and, I believe, do well. I nap. I think in the past two or three weeks, almost everyday, I have taken a nap, many times multiple ones. I am only out for like 30-50 minutes but the fact that I am always taking them is starting to make me worry that I am messing up my sleep schedule. I should probably try and fix this.

This problem was actually brought to my attention when Brad walked into my room and woke me up at 9pm. 9pm is really not a great time to be napping. I think I also took a nap at 11am, 4pm, and then my final one at 8pm. Well, I guess somethings never change.

Learning to Cook

Since I have moved out of the house, and most recently, since I have been in Texas, I have been trying to learn how to cook different meals. Honestly, I haven't been very successful at it. I havee made some decent french toast. The many things I have had issues with are:

Pizza - While taking the pizza sheet out of the oven, I burned my finger a bit.

Pancakes - I made a bunch of batter and looking forward to having a GIANT pancake. I did not know that putting all that batter in as small of a pan as I did was a bad idea. Found that out pretty quickly.

Omelet - All I can say is that my omelets have been terrible, my scrambled eggs have been amazing.

Pasta Sauce - I discovered that putting too many different spices in can really ruin the sauce.

I am sure I have many other stories about my cooking adventures, I just can't remember them right now. I do have fun cooking, I just need to do it more often. It isn't like I don't have the time.

Church

Today, I went to an LDS church with my friend Brad. I don't really know much about the LDS church, so I thought it would be a neat thing to experience. And it was except for I forgot how uncomfortable I get in churches. I am not sure what it about churches that make me uncomfortable. It isn't like any of the people or the service itself made me uncomfortable. I think it is the fact that this is something all/most of these people share, this faith in their GOD and the belife that they are worshipping Him correctly. I guess that is where I am normally lost with most churches. All the rules and structures that churches put in place to 'worship' GOD. I can understand a lot of their reasons for meeting GOD in the ways and places they do, but I don't really agree. But I can agree to disagree with them and let them do their thing. Again, this applies to all churches, not just the one I went to yesterday.

The funny thing is that Brad had invited me to go with him last week. I couldn't because I had some work to do, but before he left, I saw him get into his car in a suit. I sort of regretted saying I would go with him cause I didn't have any nice clothes with me, so earlier in the week, Brad and I had to go get some dress clothes for me. Might I say, I look good dressed up. A bit sad that I didn't take a picture.

Cuts

Today, I finally got a hair cut. I haven't had one since last August so it was pretty bad.




But now I look all clean and nice.



The saddest part was I had been receiving many complements from the ladies, saying that they really liked my hair. I also knew a few who suggested I cut it. Guess I can't look back now.

Well going to chill with Brad and Dan. We might be going out tonight. Not sure what we will be doing but I am in the need for a night out.

Lazy Days

Even though I had a lot to do today, it just seemed like one of those lazy days today. I had to drive to Dallas, which took about an hour. The traffic out here is crazy. It seems that no matter what time you get on to the highways around here, there is a backup. It takes extra time to get anywhere around here. But I normally don't mind. Today was one of those days where I was just glad to be out of the office no matter what's holding me up.

The reason I went to Dallas was to pick up a bunch of inventory that was supposed to come to us but was shipped to Phoenix instead. After loading my car up, I couldn't help but laugh because my car looked like a little UPS truck. Guess I got some of my dad's 'job' genes.

Working out

I have been going to the gym again. I've been there for the last four or five days in a row. I really pushed myself today. I ran over 3 miles, biked for 20 minutes, and was on the weights for a bit. This actually took more than twice as long as a normal workout for me. I usually just run around 1.5-2 miles. The strangest thing is I feel better than I normally do after working out.

That was until I got a call from work. Guess my job is never done.

A little about my job.

I don't think I've really told anyone what I do at this summer job. I am working for Siren, Inc. They are a lot like ADT. They get a bunch of people to knock door and sell security systems, which they also hire techs to install. I am in charge of giving these techs their equipment. Sounds easy, right? Well my problem comes from many of the techs in my office think I like to sit around from 8am, when I get in to run their numbers and make sure they haven't lost any equipment, till whenever they feel like coming in. Makes for some very long days. Also, about one-third of my techs think that they can turn in their paper work whenever they want, and then I'll drop everything to run their numbers and stock them. Not really cool, but I am working with their boss to try and resolve these issues. Hopefully, when this is fixed, my days will actually be fairly simple.

I really am glad I took this, mostly because of the awesome people I've met. I actually went suit shopping today with Brad, this really cool tech. Many of the people I met in training and working at this office are really cool. Marissa and Kelly, the other office staff are very friendly. AJ, Taylor, Nate, Pat S., Pat H., Austin, Clint, and Jason are all really cool sales rep who seem really good at their job and like pretty decent guys. The rest of the guys have, at times, made this job unbearable. I don't know why it frustrates me. Probably cause they make my job harder.

I guess there is good and bad with all jobs. Wow my brain is all over the place. Night peeps!

I am posting this in Moutain time.

Still trying to do this thing daily but it is close to the end of the day. Not really much to say. Roommate is getting sick. hope he feels better soon. And my whole day was made with the idea of making a Grilled Cheese sandwich soon. One of my coworkers suggested it right before I went to get groceries and the idea has been causing my mouth to water ever since. Man I am hungry,

Why I am Sporty!

Wow . I wanted to write a post like 5 different times today, I kept putting it off, and now that it is almost the end of the day, I have no idea what to write about.Well I guess I should talk a little about why I am the 'Sporty' Debo.

As many people who read this post know, I enjoy sports. I enjoy playing most sports, and if I am invited to a pickup game for any game I will do my best to make it and play. Not that I am actually good at any of the sports I participate in, but I like to think I can hold my own against most people. I follow most of the major league games. I can name a couple players on any team in the NFL and NHL. If a game is on, at least half of my attention is focused on it.

The problem is that I think I may be addicted to sports! I am always watching games and checking scores, even if my team isn't in it or it's not a sport I'm really interested in. Some times I catch myself doing this, paying more attention to the game on television than the people I am spending time with. I wonder if I should seek help for this. I guess until I get help or lose interest in sports, I'll be the 'Sporty one'

Thinking About My Reading

I have started reading for enjoyment again. I used to read all the time when I was younger, but during those teen years I just didn't enjoy books too much. I think what stirred this desire to start reading again was the iPhone. Many times, when I am bored, I pull out my phone and open up the Classics app and start reading. Now I am not to advertise for the iPhone or the Classics app, I actually have a few issues with both. (More issues with the Classics app than the iPhone.) I was thinking, while reading Dracula in Classics app, how different it would be to read many of these stories if I didn't know what was going to happen. How different it must have been to read these stories when they were first written over years later.

I have realized that sometimes, the thing that keeps me reading some of these stories is the fact that I know what's coming. In Frankenstein by Mary Shelly, I knew that Dr. Frankenstein was going to create a monster and that horrors that would follow. In The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas, Dantes gets thrown into prison for a crime he didn't commit and I knew this was going to happen before I actually read it. Even though these books at some parts seemed a bit boring to read, I knew some of what was going to happen next. I could try to make a big deal about this and ask, 'Am I one of those people who always needs to know what is going to come next?' 'Do I always need to know what is going to happen before I try?' but I really don't care. I enjoyed both of those books and will read them again sometime. I just wonder if these books would have pulled me in as much if I didn't know the over view of the story. Would I have kept reading Robinson Crusoe after reading all those chapters just talking about Crusoe making his house? How long would I have read about Captain Nemo and Pierre Aronnax talk for chapters about all the fish they saw in 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea? I almost believe the knowleadge of the story in these books tainted my view of these books. Know the plot of the story and the fact that these stories are Classics are most of the reason I read these books. Don't get me wrong, I am happy to have read these great tales, but what if I went into these stories without know anything about it? Were they well enough written to make me want to finish these stories or did I just finish them because they are classics and great stories?

Reading the classics sometimes is even a bit sad. I feel that I am spoiled while reading the book. With Dracula by Bram Stoker, I know that Count Dracula is a vampire. (Sorry if I ruined the story for you) Even before reading the book, I have a good idea what is going to go on in the book. I am not trying to say I knew everything that happened in this book, or anyone that I have read. All I am trying to say is that, with these classics, some of the mystery is gone. Some of the suspense that was in it for the first person who read it isn't there for me, and that is a bit sad.

I guess you can find the really good writers by finding if the book still gets its point across. Do Dracula and Frankenstein still scare you even though you know what is going to happen? Are you pulled into Robinson Crusoe's job of survival? Does Dantes betrayal make you upset and cause you to keep reading to find out how or if he ever gets his revenge? To me, that is how I tell a classic I would read again apart from the rest of them. Not to say that a classic isn't good if I wouldn't read it again, it's just not my taste.

I guess it's all about the adventure. If you get pulled in and enjoy what you're reading, what more should a book try and be?

First Post

I have been thinking of writing more, and with all the technology available to me, I thought a blog would be easiest to create. Not really sure what I'm going to write about, but I am just going to try to post frequently. I will probably write about what ever interests me at the moment, or just what I want to rant about.

Lets see how this goes.