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December 19, 2002
definitely..
its definitely easier to write a blog when one lets stream of consciousness take over..
- with the exception of the mavs game, im enjoyin watchin the lakers play this season. their poor shot selection, lack of intensity, and--most of all--losin makes the 2.5 hrs spent watchin the game worth it. ironically, theyre provin phil jackson right: the strength of the wolf is in the pack. man, i sound so gay..
- for all you employed bloggers out there, be careful about gripin ..
- i finally caught the cold esthers had all week. course (and unfortunately), ill be better by saturday and she ll still be hackin up a storm. she needs my immune system..
- ya kno, im really tired when i come home. and i dont think its so much that i get six hrs of sleep a nite. i think its that i get up a whole lot earlier than im used to. my goal is to be in the office by 8am, so in order to make that i hafta get up by 6:30am. when i was workin at tysons, i would GET UP at 8am, watch sportscenter as i got ready, and be in by 9pm. yeah, and i call myself a mornin person..
- 'im really tired when i come home' (above). course, it doesnt help that i stay up for no reason on the computer which i spend most of my day on as it is til 12:30am. wheres the discipline..
- ive been eatin these bacon, egg, and cheese muffins from the grill next door to work every mornin this wk. probly the best $2.05 ive ever spent in my life. okay, maybe this yr..
- besides the $2.05 that contributed to gettin the ring for esther =P..
- i got a pager at work for on-call support later on. but i carry it around like a second heart cuz i get streamin feeds on news, the market, weather, and scores. im like a little kid at christmas..
- speakin of which, wut am i gonna get esther for christmas? (not to bachelors: dont procrastinate when shoppin for your wives)
- id luv to write down my wish list, but i think id look selfish (im so vain)..
- i think ive grown quite apathetic over the past few yrs. not about everythin, but maybe just a general feel overall. worst thing: im kinda proud of it..
- so im drivin home from work today on the right side of a two-lane rd. approachin a corner, two kids are pushin and shovin (playfightin) when one knocks the other into the street--right in front of my right headlight. of course, i swerve but theres a loud bang and i screech to a halt. i look back and the kids look fine. i look to my car and the right sideview mirror is gone (my poor camry). i reverse and ask the kid if hes okay. he says hes good (and he looks fine, barely even shaken up--i believe the mirror only hit his arm or elbow). one girl nearby yells 'ask for money!!'. i ask em to gimme the broken pts lyin on the curb. after gettin em, i ask one more time if hes really okay and he says so. then i continue home. in all honesty, this incident neither shook me nor pissed me off that much. i mean, yeah im glad the kid is okay and im glad that i didnt really hurt him. and yeah, im kinda wishin i didnt hafta get the mirror fixed. but overall, its not been that bad. if anythin, i wish the kids wouldve been more aware of their environment. cmon, it couldve been much worse. thank god it wasnt..
okay, im runnin on steam. wut a lame entry. i need to go back to bein philosophical and dorky..
Posted by chars at 10:13 PM | Comments (2)
December 14, 2002
weekend activities..
lists make formulatin and writin thoughts easy:
- last nite hung out at a christmas party for esthers 'firm' (the group of interns & residents she works w/). was pretty coo sittin and mixin it up w/ doctors unwindin and seein how close they actually get thru the work that becomes their lives..
- today esther and i watched episodes five and six of the first season of 24. we rented the first dvd two wks ago and became engrossed in it. luv the drivin premise, twists of paranoia, and the high quality cinematic feel..
- last wk a co-worker introduced me to this game on netscapes site called word whomp. easy to play, easier to get addicted. its basically a word-scramblin type game (great way to improve your scrabble skills) and although each game is only 2.5 min long, three hours have passed before you know it. youve been warned..
- ever hate how one loss can ruin your 20-game win streak in freecell? okay, maybe not. but if so heres a cheat i came across: "By pressing CTRL+SHIFT+F10 during game play in Freecell, you can choose to win or lose." no game is made w/o a cheat..
- tomorr nite esther and i are gettin semi-dressed up for her housestaff christmas ball or wutever. 'housestaff' is the entire collection of interns and residents, i believe. havent been to a semi-formal in yrs so i better brush up on my no-i-just-wanna-sit-here-and-watch-everyone-else-dance skillz..
- so whens my office (we re not big enough to be called a 'company') christmas party? well, it was on friday. lunch. we gourged at phillips seafood buffet. and it was pretty good. esp considerin i didnt touch a single piece of seafood (not a big fan cept for crab). as long as i have my choice of sides and a pitcher of mountain dew, i can live on sirlion steak alone no matter how salty it may be..
- well, i was wrong. of the six fantasy football leagues this season, ive been eliminated from three (not two). which actually makes it easier for me now that work has me spendin considerably less time on this 'hobby'. of the three left, two are of playoff formats and im seeded #1 in both. now if i can only carry that dominance over to all 100 leagues im gonna play in next yr..
- although i mostly play madden and sports games on my gamecube, im seriously considerin gettin metroid prime cuz it looks so good. playin a bit of resident evil zero has got me into that whole figure-out-the-puzzles kinda mood. hopefully, i wont vomit 20 min in from the first-person shooter mode..
- i got my haircut today (im a 'every three wks' guy). my exclusive thoughts about this:
- why do we PAY for haircuts as a regular expense? arent 'expenses' usually synonymous w/ 'necessities'? like gas or food. or electricity and water. but haircuts? cmon..
- the thing is, if we didnt pay who would cut our hair? our mothers, right? no, i said HAIR not ears..
- why is the great clips i go to RIGHT next door to a barber shop? those big-name-franchisin bastards are tryin to run the quaint mom-and-pop stores into the ground. course, thats not why i go there..
- my haircut today wasnt particularly good. i asked the lady to cut the sides and back 'tight'. apparently that translates to 'im in the military'. yes, short and small asian dude w/ glasses IN THE MILITARY..
- course, im goin back there in three wks. after all, i have $2 off coupon..
- after the cut, i stopped by a nearby bookshop. wow, theres a new michael crichton book out!! although i realize he isnt the greatest writer in the world and none of his novels will be remembered in a hundred yrs, i enjoy readin his books. plot-driven page-turners w/ great premises. although his last few were sub-par (airframe, for instance) his previously most recent, timeline, was a great read. i look forward to readin about nanotechnology and artificial intelligence..
- speakin of which, im gonna get or rent minority report when it comes out on tues. i luv spielberg, esp when he does sci-fi..
- and speakin of dvds-comin-out-on-tues, who isnt gonna buy the back to the future trilogy set?
- and speakin of movies, the last one i saw in the theatre was austin powers 3 (not worthy of a link). the ones id like to see out now: die another day, harry potter, solaris, star trek: nemesis, and 8 mile..
- i made some pasta today. gawd, i luv rotini in marinara. i could eat it twice-a-day forevah..
- esther made some brownies today (yum). i never realized there were (at least) two types: fudge-filled vs cake-like..
- i think there are two types of people in the world: 1) those who eat only when theyre hungry (esther), and 2) those who continue eatin beyond satiation just because theres food (charles). no, im not a glutton..
- last one: i like to eat my food in small morsels. and i mean s-m-a-l-l. the smaller the better (to a point). the other day, esther remarked "for a guy w/ such a huge mouth you sure like to take small bites." my response? "oh yeah?! for a girl whos got such a SMALL mouth you sure like to take BIG bites!!" prime example of a witty comeback..
man, did i just ramble. on and on and on. hmm, i wonder if i have enough links to amazon up there? =)
Posted by chars at 11:59 PM | Comments (3)
December 13, 2002
laizee..
gawd, im beginnin to really neglect this thang..
oh well..
Posted by chars at 11:59 PM | Comments (1)
December 09, 2002
some rambles..
so w/ my first wk behind me, my thoughts:
- although ive been out of a workin environment for so long, its not as big of an adjustment as i thought it would be to get back into a hardcore workin mode
- i am officially a "programmer" now. no "developer" sneerin under the guise of a "consultant". so yes, i have become the computer dork that ive always appeared to be..
- havin delved into the financial and telecommunications industries, i think itll be quite fascinatin to work in healthcare. but i hope i have the heart (and strength) to make it past seein those in the cancer center, patiently waitin and resolutely fightin. yeah, i make it sound so dramatic. but it aint no joke..
- when i think back to the end of my soph yr i laugh at how i made the decision to major in computer science. basically, i looked at my grades over the five courses i was takin that semester. yep, i better stick w/ my strengths..
- i hafta admit that im gettin old...er. a good six hours of sleep makes all the difference when i wake up to go in the mornings..
my sports thoughts for the week:
- although i wont be makin the playoffs in one of my football leagues come the end of tonites game, my record for this wk will be 5-1. like i keep sayin to one of my fantasy buds, ill be ready next yr..
- other than the endless fantasy football drivel, my favorite weekly readings are peter kings Monday Morning QB and gregg easterbrooks Tuesday Morning QB. the former is written by a well-respected and quirky analyst while the latter by the editor of a politically-opionated magazine. both are at once insightful and hilarious..
- i hate fantasy basketball. the only thing worse than havin your players perform horribly is benchin one that goes off for a major triple-double (sam cassell tonite). dont worry, nba, three more weekends and you have my undivided attention. i miss you too..
- i hafta say i feel bad for mj, although im sure he doesnt want my sympathy. not so much because of his individual performance which really isnt bad at all but cuz of the wizards record. definitely a better-on-paper team. just gotta hope they pick it up...soon..
- i was livid after fri nites mavs-lakers games which dallas should have won. it was an amazin performance by the mavericks esp the last two mins of the first half. but somehow, you just knew the lakers were waitin to come out of hibernation in the fourth. and though nearly everyone hates shaq and kobe, i think i hate brian shaw more. i mean, if he were on any other team id luv him (as well as robert 'big-game' horry). but he cant miss!!
aite, im goin to sleep..
Posted by chars at 11:05 PM | Comments (4)
December 04, 2002
contributin to society..
so i guess my diary diligence has been lackin since i started back at work. ill tell ya, i was pretty tired the first two days--and i didnt even do much cuz it was all a general hospital orientation. but i think gettin up early had more to do w/ my tiredness..
today was my first real day of work. and, as i remember how things were on my previous first days, not much was different. overwhelmed w/ knowledge. open-eyed to all the going-ons. and somewut concerned over my abilities..
but wut i realized prior to headin into this 'first day' was that no matter how unsure of myself id be at times today--whether or not i could really do and exceed the good job i was hired to do--i had some confidence in my steps. because i remembered wut ive done in the past and how well i (think) performed. i recalled my seemingly small yet not-so-trivial-to-me successes. and that made all the difference..
cuz like mj said, confidence comes from havin succeeded in that situation before. course, he was referrin to game/championship-winnin shots on the court but i can extract. my comfort level w/ the new and unfamiliar was higher because ive been there before and (i hate that i keep usin this word) succeeded. and isnt that all confidence is? bein comfortable..
Posted by chars at 09:31 PM | Comments (2)