Long Week

This has felt like the longest week ever. I haven't even been working overtime hours, but it seems like I am. Then I think about what I've accomplished work-wise so far this week, and it really doesn't seem like I have anything much to show for it either. After work, I can't really think of anything I've been doing that's worth noting. And this has showed blog-wise, as some of you may have noticed, I haven't been writing as much this week like I'm used to.

Maybe I haven't been doing anything because I've done a lot of "spacing out" instead. At my desk, on my bed, while eating, while driving, just about any situation, my head just wanders off to nowhere. My brain is really cluttered these days, but instead of trying to sort out thoughts, I end up just listening to music and letting the time pass until it's time to sleep. Not good.

Oh well, at least one thing I did accomplish this week was to sign up with Dennis at Bally's yesterday. Even though my membership at Powerhouse (or X-Sport Fitness) lasts till September or October, the "2 for 1" deal was too good to pass up. Now I'm set for 3 years. Anyways, I was basically only going to P-house on weekends in Darien, and I'll still probably do that thru the remainder of my membership.

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I just got a email from my mom to see if I had any ideas for Father's Day. She wants us to do something "memorable" as a family, but I have no idea what a family like us can do together. Both me and my sister are 20-something now, and other than having dinner with mommy and daddy, what kinds of things are there to do? It's already hard enough thinking of stuff to do with friends. Well, I guess I'm gonna try to think of a gift first, and then hopefully my trusty sister will have some ideas on what to do.

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Here is an interesting article on rebates that I read yesterday. I always wondered how and why manufacturers or stores would give rebates that made their products effectively free. Seemed like something shady was going on in that world.

Well, I guess it is a combination of these companies being shady but also people being lazy. And by "people", I guess it means "men". I figured a small percentage of people would always forget or be lazy, but not enough for the store/manufacturer to recoup significant profits. But if read the article right, the numbers suggest that usually at least 10% fail to collect their rebates for one reason or another, and 90% failure is not uncommon. If that's true, there's significant profit right there.

So the lesson to be learned is, be careful and vigilant about rebates, cause it's easy to get screwed out of your money and it happens more than you think. Sales are always better.

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Anyone know of a good place to buy checks? I've still been using the temporary ones Anuj gave me when I opened the account, but I'm gonna run out soon. I figure most people just get them from their bank, but Bank One charges too much I think. Plus I wanna see if there are cool designs out there. I'd pay more for those. Email/IM/Post Comment if you have any input, thanks.

(p.s. Josh if u read this, can u send me the name of that tint place again, I accidentally closed my IM without writing it down yesterday and now I forgot the info. thanks much appreciated)

Random Notes

- The "one-year reflection" blog is taking a lot of time. I think I will still do it, but not as in-depth as I planned.

- Happy Birthday to Caddy

- It is too cold to be June. I remember last year even in March/April/May we would be outside all the time, either on the Quad, or playing tennis, or BBQ-ing at the lake. This year, I still haven't put away my winter coat yet.

- Nothing is more frustrating in baseball than when a manager handles his pitchers like a reject and the team pays for it. It hurts even more in the fantasy world when my team pays for it.

- Running is boring, but I think I am gonna do more of it

- I'm going to tint the windows to my car sometime soon. If anyone has done this recently, and/or has any places to recommend, let me know.

- For some reason I really like the Ashanti song they are playing on the radio. I think it's called "Rock Wit U", but anyways it's the one where she goes "oh baby" after almost every line. I have had it stuck in my head hardcore for the past couple days.

- They have been playing "Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story" a lot on USA lately. I thought this movie was pretty well done, maybe except for a few things. But the reason I'm writing about it is because of the theme music. I am pretty sure I have heard it from at least one other movie too, if not more. Don't know which movie it is originally from. If anyone has time to download it, listen, and see if you recognize it from any movie you know, please tell me because it has been bothering me.

- It also got me thinking about the best movie songs ever. Of course, I am not qualified to do a complete list because there are so many movies I haven't seen, but there are a few that come to mind. The Dragon theme is good, except for a part around the 3 minute mark when they add a cheesy drum beat. Definitely there would be a ton of John Williams stuff on my list, like the Original Star Wars Theme, the Imperial March from Empire Strikes Back, Indiana Jones, E.T., Home Alone (seriously, he did that one), Schindler's List, Jurassic Park, on and on. Also, I like "Lose Yourself" from 8 Mile, which I noticed was pretty high up on VH1's list of top 100 songs in the past 25 years too. I haven't seen the Godfather movies, but even so, that song gives me chills when I hear it. And of course, who can forget the all time classic, "Part Of Your World" from The Little Mermaid. Certainly not I.

One Year

Believe it or not, as of today, I will have been writing in this blog for exactly one year. I think about everything that happened in my life during this past year, and I'm really glad I started this blog and wrote my thoughts down along the way. While I don't know if future years will be as eventful or thought provoking, I guess I'll keep writing as long as I have the urge to write. And hopefully my blog will be interesting enough for people to keep reading.

One thing I remember from the very early days of starting my blog was a friend telling me "oh yeah, you're in the 'honeymoon stage' of blogging". Basically he was saying that I was writing a lot in the beginning, but eventually I'd get sick of it and stop updating as much, or even updating at all. After all, that's what happened to him and most other people who had been blogging before me.

But my response was, I don't believe in the "honeymoon stage" theory - not for blogs, not for relationships, not for my religious beliefs, not for anything. In fact, I hate the very idea of a "honeymoon stage". My philosophy in life is, why go nuts for a short while in the beginning, and then let yourself burn out after that? If you have a great relationship, it shouldn't only be good in the first few months, it should be good throughout. If you want to be a good Christian, don't count on "revivals" and "retreats" to fire you up for a few weeks and then let your passion die after that. Same goes, albeit to a less serious extent, for blogging.

And as I write here and now, one year later, I think I can be proud to say that I avoided that honeymoon trap, at least up to this point. I'm also really happy to see that so many of my friends who have started their own pages manage to write regularly too.

Anyways, there isn't much more to this entry, other than wishing a Happy 1st Birthday to Dudo509 Blogspot. Last week, I planned to go through my archives and highlight the "noteworthy" entries of this blog, but I just haven't had the time. So hopefully if I get the chance in the next few days, I'll be able to post something like that as a "one-year reflection" in blog-world.

- A summer intern started working in our department this week and I got to meet and talk him this morning. The guy seems so young and little, even though he is probably only a couple years younger than me. Fresh-faced, full of enthusiasm, eager to learn, and a positive attitude. Compare this to the older engineers here, seasoned veterans who have seen and done it all, often cynical about the corporation, but usually happy to teach and pass on their knowledge to the next generation (me). I wonder if 2 years ago, I was like this kid intern, but now it seems like I am in a different world than him. I feel almost like the seasoned veterans.

- Went to the Cubs game yesterday. Congrats to P on snapping his losing streak and Dennis on extending his win streak of Chicago sporting events attended.

I didn't have any winning/losing streak myself, I think I'm about .500 in that area. Plus I don't consider myself a big "Cubs fan". You might even call me a "Sox fan". I definitely don't care about the Devil Gays. So mostly I was there to check out Wrigley. The place was pretty nice, more friendly than Comiskey/US Cellular for sure. Too bad it was freezing last night and now I have a headache from the wind blowing on me for 3 hours. I still want to go to a day game sometime this summer when the weather is nice.

A highlight of the night was getting to pee in the legendary troughs of the men's bathroom. Also, we were treated to yet another one of Piya's quality jokes: "What's the difference between Neil Armstrong and Michael Jackson?" The answer to come at a later time... or you could just ask one of us who was there.

Even though I don't have a win/loss streak, I am now 2 for 2 in "weird things happening" at baseball games I go to this season. The Sox game was when all the guys ran on the field and one of them tried to tackle the ump. Yesterday, it was Sammy Sosa getting busted for a corked bat. What a chump. I've always hated Sammy.

So he claims it was just his batting practice bat, but even if it was, that's still retarded that he corks his bat just to look good in BP for the fans. They took all his other bats off for inspection though, so we'll find out soon enough how big of a cheater he is (in addition to being on steroids).

- Some quality songs that I forgot about but heard again in the past few weeks:

N Sync - It's Gonna Be Me
Bone Thugs N Harmony - Mo Murda
98 Degrees - I Do (Cherish You)
Britney Spears - Sometimes
Radiohead - Paranoid Android
DJ Encore - I See Right Through To You
Jars of Clay - Love Song For A Savior
Dave Matthews Band - Dancing Nancies
Nas - The Message
Smashing Pumpkins - Rocket
Eels - Novacaine For The Soul

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Could I have been... a parking lot attendant?
Could I have been... a millionaire in Bel Air?
Could I have been... lost somewhere in Paris?
Could I have been... your little brother?
Could I have been... anyone other than me?

He stands touch his hair shoes untied tongue gaping stare
Could I have been a magnet for money?
Could I have been anyone other than me?

Twenty-three and so tired of life
such a shame to throw it all away
the images grow darker still
Could I have been anyone other than me?

Then I look up in the sky
my mouth is open wide
lick and taste
what's the use in worrying
what's the use in hurrying
turn turn we almost become dizzy

I am who I am
who I am
well who am I?
Requesting some enlightenment
Could I have been anyone other than me?

And then I'll sing and dance
I'll play for you tonight
the thrill of it all
dark clouds may hang on me sometimes
but I'll work it out

And then I'll look up in the sky
my mouth is open wide
lick and taste
what's the use in worrying
what's the use in hurrying
turn turn we almost become dizzy

Falling out of a world of lies
Could I have been a dancing nancy
a dancing nancy
Could I have been anyone other than me?

- This morning I woke up with the feeling that this week was gonna suck. We'll have to see what happens.

- Saturday was "Car Day" held by some people at my church. Basically everyone just brought their cars and did car stuff. "Car stuff" ranging from changing light bulbs in the sidemarkers, to putting in a cold-air intake, and changing out headers. As for me, I just changed my oil and rotated my tires. Man, it's such a pain to rotate tires, even with my hydraulic jack and stands. My hands still hurt from trying to loosen all those lugs with the iron.

But just watching and helping people work on their cars for a day managed to awaken the part of me that has been sleeping for the past couple years. Maybe it was because I was too busy with school, job interviews, girlfriend, etc. Maybe it was because I didn't have as much money to spend. Or maybe it was the last of 3 speeding tickets (39 in a 30 zone on Green St. in Champaign yes I'm bitter) that put my car enthusiasm to rest. But that part of me never died, that's for sure.

You know the stereotype of all guys loving cars? Well, it's true. No point in denying it. Don't matter if you're white, black, or yellow. Find me a white guy who doesn't like a Mustang Cobra, a black guy who doesn't like a Cadillac Escalade, or an Asian guy who doesn't like the Nissan Skyline GT-R. I challenge you. Okay, they have to be straight too. Now I'm not saying girls can't like cars too, cause I know plenty who do. But not every girl appreciates them like every guy does.

So anyways, the wheels are turning quickly in my head about what to do with my baby. I think the first things will be cosmetic, including tint and clear corners. Yes, this goes against my typical philosophy of "brawn before beauty", but I don't think I want to mess with performance upgrades this early in the warranty period.

Eventually, the performance stuff will have to follow. I know the only main difference between the 280 hp coupe and my 260 hp sedan is the exhaust system, so I'll have to see about changing that out. But the big bopper I'm eyeing is the twin-turbo system that's coming out for the 350Z. I think I'll have to set aside a couple bucks out of each paycheck and save for a year or two to get that one. And if I actually get the turbo, that opens up a whole new world of mods. I'm gonna stop writing about this for now because I'm drooling on my desk.

Then again, maybe I should give it a rest. The last thing I want is more speeding tickets. And I'm getting old too... I'm probably better off just letting those rich suburban high school kids pass me on the highway in their M3 convertibles.

- The "M" key of my keyboard at home is sticky. I think it's from spilling a couple drops of Sprite in there. If anyone knows how to clean the inside of a keyboard, please share your wisdom. Also, if you talk to me on IM or get a email from me with many typos involving words with the letter "m" in it, you know why.

- Don't know why I remember this story now, but I thought it would be worth writing about. A few weeks ago before going to Champaign, I was stopped at a light and there were these girls holding a sign for "Car Wash - Glenbrook North Softball" or something. As they looked my way, I almost crapped my pants. Fortunately, the light turned green and I peeled out. In my best Chris Rock voice, I was like, "ya'll ain't gettin me!". I can't imagine too many people stopped that day to get their car washed by those psychos. Maybe if they threw in a free offer like "We'll wash your car, wax it, AND rub animal feces in your face", then it would be more attractive. But I dunno.