Saturday, October 25, 2008
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Familial Frustrations
Just had a convo. w/my Mom. She's got a bad habit of not listening to what I'm trying to imply or what I'm saying. I get a little worried when it comes around to money. It's just her now, and while my Dad could have diverted funds differently, he was as a whole good with money. She is too, but I guess I'm just worried that she's going to come across problems that I don't know if I can help with... her being retired, having to pay for the house, the state of the economy, etc. I wish I could do more, maybe I'll have to start calling home more often just so I know what's going on.
My own finances are all fucked up too. I just signed up for Quicken's online application, and wow, I'm not stacking any money. It's pretty sickening. It seems like every month, something comes up that just kills any chance I've got to save. Why can't months happen where I've got X amount going to rent, bills, etc., Y amount going to gas, entertainment, and Z NOT going to random costs that pop up. Fuck!
I really miss having my Dad around. I listened to Atmosphere's "Caved In" the other day, and it just reminded me that he's not here anymore. I'm sure we'd bicker like we usually do, haha, but I don't care. Hope he's at least happy to see me putting that college degree to use.
My own finances are all fucked up too. I just signed up for Quicken's online application, and wow, I'm not stacking any money. It's pretty sickening. It seems like every month, something comes up that just kills any chance I've got to save. Why can't months happen where I've got X amount going to rent, bills, etc., Y amount going to gas, entertainment, and Z NOT going to random costs that pop up. Fuck!
I really miss having my Dad around. I listened to Atmosphere's "Caved In" the other day, and it just reminded me that he's not here anymore. I'm sure we'd bicker like we usually do, haha, but I don't care. Hope he's at least happy to see me putting that college degree to use.
Sunday, September 14, 2008
S2000 = Off Road Vehicle?
So yesterday during a drive that was ruined by rain, myself and others decided to have a little fun sliding around in an open lot in the rain. I don't understand how this happened, but I nailed a curb head on with the S2000. Awesome. Tweaked the core support (again, this time the other side), and gave the header a very small nick. It was actually pretty undramatic, slow, and not as bad as it might sound. My roommate Allen helped me straighten the core support today, and everything seems to be okay, the car just needs to be aligned. The bumper also has some nice rash all along the bottom of it. Sucks, the car was looking pretty clean. Things will be okay in time I guess.
I'm pretty bummed by the damage. But I'm more bummed by the fact that it happened when it could have been avoided. Apparently I still don't know when it's time to stop screwing around. I still don't have enough control over the car. I still panic in situations that I know how to control. I also looked like a dumbass in front of a bunch of my car guy friends. Nothing like hitting a curb to put your pride in check. Damnit, I'm such a fuckin' idiot sometimes.
I wish the skills I've been developing by just driving the car around and auto-x'ing it translated a little better to emergency situations. My second nature is still so wrong.
I'm pretty bummed by the damage. But I'm more bummed by the fact that it happened when it could have been avoided. Apparently I still don't know when it's time to stop screwing around. I still don't have enough control over the car. I still panic in situations that I know how to control. I also looked like a dumbass in front of a bunch of my car guy friends. Nothing like hitting a curb to put your pride in check. Damnit, I'm such a fuckin' idiot sometimes.
I wish the skills I've been developing by just driving the car around and auto-x'ing it translated a little better to emergency situations. My second nature is still so wrong.
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
1-sided Convo's Are Great
Learn how to hold a fucking conversation. Talking at people gets old quick.
Sunday, August 10, 2008
One Year Later...
So, it's been a year since I've used this thing. That's probably because I've reached a new low in laziness, business, and general lack of interest. Whatever though, I suppose this is still a good way to organize my thoughts.
So what's been up?
1a. Towards the end of last year, I ditched my horrible Corporate-leased Dodge Caliber for a '99 Civic Ex. What a piece that Caliber was: I blew 3/4 speakers in it with normal use, the clutch pedal squeaked loudly before it reached 1000 miles, it handled like garbage, and the interior smelled like poisonous plastics. The Civic was a cheap pick up to get me through the winter and daily grind, so it's got it's own quirks, but it gets 33+ MPG consistently! I couldn't keep myself from modding it... pictures soon hopefully. Oh, and I also got an '04 S2000 that I owe the bank about $18k for. It's an awesome car that I hope to keep forever. I just wish I hadn't hit a curb with it on the second day of owning it. I guess I can't own anything nice.
1b. Speaking of S2000's, mine in particular, my competitive side broke free through this car... kinda. I don't get competitive over much of anything really (competition often appears ugly to me), but Autocrossing this car, and initially losing by a significant amount has helped me find a healthy attitude towards competition. At the beginning of the season, a guy in the stock class I run in would continuously wipe the floor with me with his Silver Boxster. After much seat time and a very helpful auto-x class, I think I'm finally catching up to him, and it's an awesome feeling. I'll be very happy if I get 'em by the end of the season, but time is running out as I've nearly killed my stock Bridgestone RE050's that I won't replace until next season, and he's on a fresh set of BS RE01R's. [EDIT: the tires are officially donezo, they can be driven on, but I probably shouldn't count on having grip anymore after such a shit performance at today's CCM / Detroit Council event =(] Either way, the car has been good for me to have for multiple reasons, this being just one. At the verge of graduating, I told myself I'd pick up an S2000 since it's been a "practical" dream car for a while. Although the monthly car payment is a decent-sized hit to my income, I'm glad I went for it.
2. I recently took a trip to Seattle for vacation. Prior to flying out, I felt like I was beginning to feel well adjusted to Michigan. Despite it's horrible roads, climate, old school mentality, and an overall broke-down environment, it was beginning to feel not so bad. I'd been developing a decent circle of friends, and have a nice group of buddies to race (Auto-X) with. However, after just two days of hanging out in the North West with family and friends, I concluded that Michigan ultimately just isn't the right place for me. Other than the fact that I'm halfway across the country from my family and most of my deep-rooted friends - both of which are missed dearly out here - the area itself just doesn't suit me. It didn't take long for me to realize how much I missed all the little details of the PNW - it's green landscape, the elevation change, the non-humid summer, cool architecture, Puget Sound's layout, the people, etc. I'm not sure if or when I'll be able to go back, but Seattle is always going to be home.
3a. Being back for vacation gave me the opportunity to catch up with a lot of people. On the night before I flew back to Detroit, I was out at Neumo's in Capitol Hill and bumped into a long-time friend Tim, who's doin' big things with the Massive Monkees (aka world-renown b-boys). We talked about what we'd been up to, and while my life has been a lot more boring than his, he seemed to dig it. It's odd because he was telling me about all the places he's been traveling to (worldwide son!) and the type of opportunities he and his homies were landing (high-dollar endorsement contract vs. America's Best Dance Crew), and I really wished I could do some of the stuff he was involved in. He seemed so jaded by it though, and it sounded like he wished it could be more stable... kinda like my life (this is relative folks, I do work for the Big 3 afterall). It sounds like he's still very passionate about b-boying, but his argument was that it's not really something you could eat off of, whereas I've got a job and all that jazz. I guess you could say we've both been taking what we've got for granted. ...And this is where I shrug my shoulders and go "I guess the grass is always greener, right?" Note that I didn't say I wasn't blessed to have what I have as far as a professional life, I guess it's just feeling a little mundane.
3b. I also got the chance to hang out with a group of high school friends, one of which works for a high-profile investment firm, and another owns his own business and is going for an MBA. It sounds like both these dudes are geared up to earn some serious cheddar in a couple years. Makes me wonder about my career choice... more on that later.
3c. Shenanigans with my usual band of hooligans continued as usual the minute I landed in WA, and I loved every minute of it. I told myself I wasn't gonna pass out from alcoholism on Kevin's couch, but managed to do so on the first night back. Later in the trip I repeated this on Vincent's couch. Yeah, pretty much Summer Couch Tour '08. In between, there was kickin' it at Golden Gardens, getting killed in a Street Fighter 2 tournament, driving to Canada for awesome sushi buffet, droppin' knowledge on some dumb hos, teaching the locals some of my midwest-learned drinking games, and plenty of other nonsense.
3d. Also spent much needed time with the family, and finally paid a visit to my Dad after quite a while, RIP. That's all...
4a. Between peeking into the lives of friends of mine, the turmoil the auto industry is going through right now, how my colleagues are reacting, the general idea that engineer's never get the credit or pay they deserve, the fact that lots of engineering duties are being farmed out to India and China, and an overall unrest, I've been struggling a lot with whether or not I made the right career choice. Maybe I'm going through some mid-20's crisis, but I feel like it won't be long before I'm somehow buried into some boring, average Joe, middle-class American hole. I thought I was okay with this, but lately I've been getting a lot of desires to be notorious for something, or at least build some serious wealth (please don't confuse this with greed). The problem is, I'm not really sure how to go about that. A lot of my engineering buddies seem to be shifting towards CEO-ish aspirations - and more power to them - but I don't feel like that's something my heart would be in. Engineering is something I can feel passionate about, but it's not where the money's at. It sounds like I need to get in at the ground floor of a small, but rapidly growing, technical firm. ...Or create my own. It's a constant battle of wanting to put the time in and/or create opportunities vs. wanting to settle and work my way up with the doors that I've got. Maybe someday I'll make up my mind. I hope that day comes soon.
4b. A lot of my Chrysler friends are jumping ship right now. It's wild. So this is what happens when a company goes through one of it's darkest periods. I'm not sure what to make of it, but somehow it bums me out. It feels like being on a sports team that's doing shitty, and having the teammates that you trust the most, tell you that they're taking off for a different team, or different sport altogether. I don't know, maybe I'm more attached to the company that I think I am, because I really can't see myself taking off any time in the near future. I get frustrated A LOT at work between the decisions our leadership makes and the type of work I find myself doing, but somehow I have a lot of trouble seeing myself working somewhere else. Maybe I still have some small, annoying, belief that I can influence decisions, be part of some magnificent turnaround, or at least put my name on some cool shit. Maybe it's because cars are real to me, something I can be passionate about. Then again, I'm usually not up to date on the latest auto news, and I'm an all around car-guy that can't pledge allegiance to just one manufacturer. ...What am I doing here? Who knows. I guess I could say that I came here to do something, and I haven't done it yet, nor do I know how long it'll take to do. I have to constantly remind friends and family that this could be a permanent move. Do I believe that?
5. I'm not big into movies. I've got a long list of favorites, but I don't have much motivation to go out and sit in a theater for 2+ hours. When my roomies wanted to check out the new Batman flick, the Dark Knight, I was down, but not super enthused; especially since the last Batman movie I saw, I turned off in 20 minutes (Batman and Robin). I didn't know what to expect, but WOW. Insert cliche' phrase here: it's good on so many levels:
-There are quite a few layers to the story. On the surface, it's an action flick that puts Batman against the Joker, entangling all the other characters along the way. Within that, the main characters all have their own stories: Bruce Wayne for instance struggles with wanting to end the Batman gig so he can have a normal life, and not mentally being able to.
-All the characters have some depth, and are looked at from different perspectives throughout the movie. Harvey Dent / Two-Face seems to have the best intentions throughout, yet he makes some dangerous calls, showing how unstable he actually is. The Joker is an awesome villain, as his motivation isn't money or necessarily power, but more so just general chaos. A murderous villain without a clear objective seems much harder to stop. I read somewhere that Heath Ledger was experiencing some serious issues getting into character, which may have ultimately led to his death. That's damn tragic because his performance was insanely good. A buddy of mine commented on how serious actors do a lot to get into character, and having to get into a psychotic character, well... shit.
-There are a couple themes that get thrown out throughout the movie, a main one seems to be the struggle between what sacrifices can be made and what risks can be taken for the seemingly greater good (side note: Hot Fuzz ruined the term "greater good" forever for me). An interesting event that illustrates this is when Commissioner Gordon fakes his death, causing his wife and kids to feel the pain of actually losing him, while his goal is ultimately to protect them. Also, towards the end, Batman sets up a system to spy on the entire city (*cough*Patriot Act*cough*), is this wrong? Lucious Fox things so, but he agrees to use it once to help Batman catch the Joker. This theme is seen on multiple levels, as it ranges from the examples above, to Alfred - one of Bruce Wayne / Batman's closest folks - burning a letter from Rachel Dawes. A clear answer on what to do in X situation isn't given, and I don't really think it can be. The idea is that this is a gray area that's tough and confusing to deal with ...it definitely drew me into the movie a bit more. What I got out of it is that no one is going to ever be able to make a decision that satisfies everyone and some type of balance is required (wait, isn't this just some silly comic book movie?).
-Another huge contributor to the dopeness of the Dark Knight is the realism of the environment. Gotham is modern-day Chicago (sweet city btw). The cars (with IL plates), buildings, that sick ass MV Augusta that Bruce Wayne rides, all of that is tangible. Batman's outfit and tools have been modernized (it's '08, can't be in weird tights anymore), and are more believable; his outfit is part Kevlar or some other composite. The cops even have "GPD" on actual locations of squad cars and uniforms. Something about the lighting and angles used in the scenes also sets the current mood really well. This is a big, positive leap towards realism from the ridiculous lighting and strange architecture seen in Batman flicks from the past.
I'm not sure what else to comment on, but basically this movie really impressed me. It did have a few questionable moments: it disconnects from Batman Begins in some ways, yet in other ways it uses part of the story, a few minor parts of the story had some hiccups, but these are minor details. Like a dope song, this one stuck in my head for a while, and it takes a lot for a movie to do that. Part of me hopes there is a 3rd, but part of me hopes there isn't because of the high chance that it will suck and thus ruin the Dark Knight. We'll see.
Wow... that was a lot of words. Excuse the typos / grammatical errors. I was typing this shit at random times over the course of a few days. I'll try to update this thing more often. Next possible topic: Hip Hop concerts, motivated by a Blue Scholars & Hieroglyphics concert I went to last Friday. G'nite!
So what's been up?
1a. Towards the end of last year, I ditched my horrible Corporate-leased Dodge Caliber for a '99 Civic Ex. What a piece that Caliber was: I blew 3/4 speakers in it with normal use, the clutch pedal squeaked loudly before it reached 1000 miles, it handled like garbage, and the interior smelled like poisonous plastics. The Civic was a cheap pick up to get me through the winter and daily grind, so it's got it's own quirks, but it gets 33+ MPG consistently! I couldn't keep myself from modding it... pictures soon hopefully. Oh, and I also got an '04 S2000 that I owe the bank about $18k for. It's an awesome car that I hope to keep forever. I just wish I hadn't hit a curb with it on the second day of owning it. I guess I can't own anything nice.
1b. Speaking of S2000's, mine in particular, my competitive side broke free through this car... kinda. I don't get competitive over much of anything really (competition often appears ugly to me), but Autocrossing this car, and initially losing by a significant amount has helped me find a healthy attitude towards competition. At the beginning of the season, a guy in the stock class I run in would continuously wipe the floor with me with his Silver Boxster. After much seat time and a very helpful auto-x class, I think I'm finally catching up to him, and it's an awesome feeling. I'll be very happy if I get 'em by the end of the season, but time is running out as I've nearly killed my stock Bridgestone RE050's that I won't replace until next season, and he's on a fresh set of BS RE01R's. [EDIT: the tires are officially donezo, they can be driven on, but I probably shouldn't count on having grip anymore after such a shit performance at today's CCM / Detroit Council event =(] Either way, the car has been good for me to have for multiple reasons, this being just one. At the verge of graduating, I told myself I'd pick up an S2000 since it's been a "practical" dream car for a while. Although the monthly car payment is a decent-sized hit to my income, I'm glad I went for it.
2. I recently took a trip to Seattle for vacation. Prior to flying out, I felt like I was beginning to feel well adjusted to Michigan. Despite it's horrible roads, climate, old school mentality, and an overall broke-down environment, it was beginning to feel not so bad. I'd been developing a decent circle of friends, and have a nice group of buddies to race (Auto-X) with. However, after just two days of hanging out in the North West with family and friends, I concluded that Michigan ultimately just isn't the right place for me. Other than the fact that I'm halfway across the country from my family and most of my deep-rooted friends - both of which are missed dearly out here - the area itself just doesn't suit me. It didn't take long for me to realize how much I missed all the little details of the PNW - it's green landscape, the elevation change, the non-humid summer, cool architecture, Puget Sound's layout, the people, etc. I'm not sure if or when I'll be able to go back, but Seattle is always going to be home.
3a. Being back for vacation gave me the opportunity to catch up with a lot of people. On the night before I flew back to Detroit, I was out at Neumo's in Capitol Hill and bumped into a long-time friend Tim, who's doin' big things with the Massive Monkees (aka world-renown b-boys). We talked about what we'd been up to, and while my life has been a lot more boring than his, he seemed to dig it. It's odd because he was telling me about all the places he's been traveling to (worldwide son!) and the type of opportunities he and his homies were landing (high-dollar endorsement contract vs. America's Best Dance Crew), and I really wished I could do some of the stuff he was involved in. He seemed so jaded by it though, and it sounded like he wished it could be more stable... kinda like my life (this is relative folks, I do work for the Big 3 afterall). It sounds like he's still very passionate about b-boying, but his argument was that it's not really something you could eat off of, whereas I've got a job and all that jazz. I guess you could say we've both been taking what we've got for granted. ...And this is where I shrug my shoulders and go "I guess the grass is always greener, right?" Note that I didn't say I wasn't blessed to have what I have as far as a professional life, I guess it's just feeling a little mundane.
3b. I also got the chance to hang out with a group of high school friends, one of which works for a high-profile investment firm, and another owns his own business and is going for an MBA. It sounds like both these dudes are geared up to earn some serious cheddar in a couple years. Makes me wonder about my career choice... more on that later.
3c. Shenanigans with my usual band of hooligans continued as usual the minute I landed in WA, and I loved every minute of it. I told myself I wasn't gonna pass out from alcoholism on Kevin's couch, but managed to do so on the first night back. Later in the trip I repeated this on Vincent's couch. Yeah, pretty much Summer Couch Tour '08. In between, there was kickin' it at Golden Gardens, getting killed in a Street Fighter 2 tournament, driving to Canada for awesome sushi buffet, droppin' knowledge on some dumb hos, teaching the locals some of my midwest-learned drinking games, and plenty of other nonsense.
3d. Also spent much needed time with the family, and finally paid a visit to my Dad after quite a while, RIP. That's all...
4a. Between peeking into the lives of friends of mine, the turmoil the auto industry is going through right now, how my colleagues are reacting, the general idea that engineer's never get the credit or pay they deserve, the fact that lots of engineering duties are being farmed out to India and China, and an overall unrest, I've been struggling a lot with whether or not I made the right career choice. Maybe I'm going through some mid-20's crisis, but I feel like it won't be long before I'm somehow buried into some boring, average Joe, middle-class American hole. I thought I was okay with this, but lately I've been getting a lot of desires to be notorious for something, or at least build some serious wealth (please don't confuse this with greed). The problem is, I'm not really sure how to go about that. A lot of my engineering buddies seem to be shifting towards CEO-ish aspirations - and more power to them - but I don't feel like that's something my heart would be in. Engineering is something I can feel passionate about, but it's not where the money's at. It sounds like I need to get in at the ground floor of a small, but rapidly growing, technical firm. ...Or create my own. It's a constant battle of wanting to put the time in and/or create opportunities vs. wanting to settle and work my way up with the doors that I've got. Maybe someday I'll make up my mind. I hope that day comes soon.
4b. A lot of my Chrysler friends are jumping ship right now. It's wild. So this is what happens when a company goes through one of it's darkest periods. I'm not sure what to make of it, but somehow it bums me out. It feels like being on a sports team that's doing shitty, and having the teammates that you trust the most, tell you that they're taking off for a different team, or different sport altogether. I don't know, maybe I'm more attached to the company that I think I am, because I really can't see myself taking off any time in the near future. I get frustrated A LOT at work between the decisions our leadership makes and the type of work I find myself doing, but somehow I have a lot of trouble seeing myself working somewhere else. Maybe I still have some small, annoying, belief that I can influence decisions, be part of some magnificent turnaround, or at least put my name on some cool shit. Maybe it's because cars are real to me, something I can be passionate about. Then again, I'm usually not up to date on the latest auto news, and I'm an all around car-guy that can't pledge allegiance to just one manufacturer. ...What am I doing here? Who knows. I guess I could say that I came here to do something, and I haven't done it yet, nor do I know how long it'll take to do. I have to constantly remind friends and family that this could be a permanent move. Do I believe that?
5. I'm not big into movies. I've got a long list of favorites, but I don't have much motivation to go out and sit in a theater for 2+ hours. When my roomies wanted to check out the new Batman flick, the Dark Knight, I was down, but not super enthused; especially since the last Batman movie I saw, I turned off in 20 minutes (Batman and Robin). I didn't know what to expect, but WOW. Insert cliche' phrase here: it's good on so many levels:
-There are quite a few layers to the story. On the surface, it's an action flick that puts Batman against the Joker, entangling all the other characters along the way. Within that, the main characters all have their own stories: Bruce Wayne for instance struggles with wanting to end the Batman gig so he can have a normal life, and not mentally being able to.
-All the characters have some depth, and are looked at from different perspectives throughout the movie. Harvey Dent / Two-Face seems to have the best intentions throughout, yet he makes some dangerous calls, showing how unstable he actually is. The Joker is an awesome villain, as his motivation isn't money or necessarily power, but more so just general chaos. A murderous villain without a clear objective seems much harder to stop. I read somewhere that Heath Ledger was experiencing some serious issues getting into character, which may have ultimately led to his death. That's damn tragic because his performance was insanely good. A buddy of mine commented on how serious actors do a lot to get into character, and having to get into a psychotic character, well... shit.
-There are a couple themes that get thrown out throughout the movie, a main one seems to be the struggle between what sacrifices can be made and what risks can be taken for the seemingly greater good (side note: Hot Fuzz ruined the term "greater good" forever for me). An interesting event that illustrates this is when Commissioner Gordon fakes his death, causing his wife and kids to feel the pain of actually losing him, while his goal is ultimately to protect them. Also, towards the end, Batman sets up a system to spy on the entire city (*cough*Patriot Act*cough*), is this wrong? Lucious Fox things so, but he agrees to use it once to help Batman catch the Joker. This theme is seen on multiple levels, as it ranges from the examples above, to Alfred - one of Bruce Wayne / Batman's closest folks - burning a letter from Rachel Dawes. A clear answer on what to do in X situation isn't given, and I don't really think it can be. The idea is that this is a gray area that's tough and confusing to deal with ...it definitely drew me into the movie a bit more. What I got out of it is that no one is going to ever be able to make a decision that satisfies everyone and some type of balance is required (wait, isn't this just some silly comic book movie?).
-Another huge contributor to the dopeness of the Dark Knight is the realism of the environment. Gotham is modern-day Chicago (sweet city btw). The cars (with IL plates), buildings, that sick ass MV Augusta that Bruce Wayne rides, all of that is tangible. Batman's outfit and tools have been modernized (it's '08, can't be in weird tights anymore), and are more believable; his outfit is part Kevlar or some other composite. The cops even have "GPD" on actual locations of squad cars and uniforms. Something about the lighting and angles used in the scenes also sets the current mood really well. This is a big, positive leap towards realism from the ridiculous lighting and strange architecture seen in Batman flicks from the past.
I'm not sure what else to comment on, but basically this movie really impressed me. It did have a few questionable moments: it disconnects from Batman Begins in some ways, yet in other ways it uses part of the story, a few minor parts of the story had some hiccups, but these are minor details. Like a dope song, this one stuck in my head for a while, and it takes a lot for a movie to do that. Part of me hopes there is a 3rd, but part of me hopes there isn't because of the high chance that it will suck and thus ruin the Dark Knight. We'll see.
Wow... that was a lot of words. Excuse the typos / grammatical errors. I was typing this shit at random times over the course of a few days. I'll try to update this thing more often. Next possible topic: Hip Hop concerts, motivated by a Blue Scholars & Hieroglyphics concert I went to last Friday. G'nite!
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
The latest...
-So what's going on lately?
1. Moved from Dearborn to Bloomfield. House >> Apartment. Better commute, cheaper rent, bigger, nicer, space. I just wish I didn't have to pay overlapping bills from moving in, yikes! I'm also living with 4 other people. Hopefully this won't be a train wreck.
2. My grades for my first semester at UM-Dearborn as a night-grad-student: B- (only one B- can count towards your degree) in Structural Analysis, B+ in Polymer Mechanics. Not up to standard as far as I'm concerned, but I'll live with it because it's passing. Both professors were horrible in their own ways. One was a dick that didn't care about helping anyone and wrote crazy tests. The other was a powerpoint abuser with boring lectures, and un-commented tests and homework so you couldn't learn from your mistakes. Sweet. I hope the classes get better.
2.b. Continuing on that note - I miss being a student in my undergrad at UW. Everything from the teamwork between myself and my classmates to get through our classes, to walking through campus through the changing seasons, and the plain 'ole college campus atmosphere, really made me enjoy and now miss my stay at UW.
3. I can finally do a semi-decent ollie. It only took me.... well, too long. I gotta say that I thoroughly enjoy snowboarding and skating. I wish I took up both sooner than the age of 22. I watch my nephew skate (who is SICK) and I just think about how old I am. Regardless of how talented teenagers are at both, I hope I don't grow out of this shit or get discouraged from just having fun with either. I'd say they're both fulfilling hobbies. Stomping shit @ the mountain is damn satisfying.
4. Something that's been annoying the shit out of me: how every mannerism I have is characterized as "west coast." My vocab, my style of dress, hobbies, music tastes, experiences (that could happen most anywhere), etc. keep getting the fuckin' "Oh, is that how they do it on the west coast?" bullshit reaction. Don't get me confused, I'm fuckin' proud, and glad that I was raised where and how I was. It's just annoying that everything I do is somehow west coast. ...Yes, because nothing else is an influence on my life decisions. Meh, I think it's just people around work (read: white people), because most of my friends outside of work don't pull that shit. Admittedly, while it is annoying, I do enjoy sticking out, because something's gotta separate me from the other CIEs. If it's my "west coast"-influenced personality, then so be it, as long as it's in a way positive.
5. Gotta bitch about work at least a little, right? For the first few weeks, work was damn slow. This was mainly because my bosses weren't giving me enough to do, which was probably because they didn't know enough about me to assign me something they could trust me with. A few months later, that's changed as I've picked up more about how the job works and they've learned more about me. Now I've got full days, and always feel overwhelmed and/or worried that I'm fuckin' something up. This bothers me a lot. I feel like I work too slow and that I should be able to manage a lot more than I do. Often I close the day out feeling like I didn't get enough done. Fuck, I want to leave work feeling like I've done all I could do. That just isn't happening unless I want to put in the OT, which I have on occasion. I told my bosses about this, kinda implying that I could use some advice, but I think they saw this as me not being able to handle what little they've given me; and seeing as they do my performance reviews, the worry only compounds. So, clearly there's a problem here. The solutions are probably a mix of a) changing my mindset to accept the fact that: perception is everything so focus your energy on what will give you positive exposure, b) learn how to budget time better, c) learn how to get from start to finish thorough, timely fashion while making sure all the information is correct, d) my performance depends on the performance of other people, so I've got to learn the art of being able to communicate to different types of people. I think I've got a long way to go before I reach the super-efficient worker I want to be. Who knows if I ever will?
1. Moved from Dearborn to Bloomfield. House >> Apartment. Better commute, cheaper rent, bigger, nicer, space. I just wish I didn't have to pay overlapping bills from moving in, yikes! I'm also living with 4 other people. Hopefully this won't be a train wreck.
2. My grades for my first semester at UM-Dearborn as a night-grad-student: B- (only one B- can count towards your degree) in Structural Analysis, B+ in Polymer Mechanics. Not up to standard as far as I'm concerned, but I'll live with it because it's passing. Both professors were horrible in their own ways. One was a dick that didn't care about helping anyone and wrote crazy tests. The other was a powerpoint abuser with boring lectures, and un-commented tests and homework so you couldn't learn from your mistakes. Sweet. I hope the classes get better.
2.b. Continuing on that note - I miss being a student in my undergrad at UW. Everything from the teamwork between myself and my classmates to get through our classes, to walking through campus through the changing seasons, and the plain 'ole college campus atmosphere, really made me enjoy and now miss my stay at UW.
3. I can finally do a semi-decent ollie. It only took me.... well, too long. I gotta say that I thoroughly enjoy snowboarding and skating. I wish I took up both sooner than the age of 22. I watch my nephew skate (who is SICK) and I just think about how old I am. Regardless of how talented teenagers are at both, I hope I don't grow out of this shit or get discouraged from just having fun with either. I'd say they're both fulfilling hobbies. Stomping shit @ the mountain is damn satisfying.
4. Something that's been annoying the shit out of me: how every mannerism I have is characterized as "west coast." My vocab, my style of dress, hobbies, music tastes, experiences (that could happen most anywhere), etc. keep getting the fuckin' "Oh, is that how they do it on the west coast?" bullshit reaction. Don't get me confused, I'm fuckin' proud, and glad that I was raised where and how I was. It's just annoying that everything I do is somehow west coast. ...Yes, because nothing else is an influence on my life decisions. Meh, I think it's just people around work (read: white people), because most of my friends outside of work don't pull that shit. Admittedly, while it is annoying, I do enjoy sticking out, because something's gotta separate me from the other CIEs. If it's my "west coast"-influenced personality, then so be it, as long as it's in a way positive.
5. Gotta bitch about work at least a little, right? For the first few weeks, work was damn slow. This was mainly because my bosses weren't giving me enough to do, which was probably because they didn't know enough about me to assign me something they could trust me with. A few months later, that's changed as I've picked up more about how the job works and they've learned more about me. Now I've got full days, and always feel overwhelmed and/or worried that I'm fuckin' something up. This bothers me a lot. I feel like I work too slow and that I should be able to manage a lot more than I do. Often I close the day out feeling like I didn't get enough done. Fuck, I want to leave work feeling like I've done all I could do. That just isn't happening unless I want to put in the OT, which I have on occasion. I told my bosses about this, kinda implying that I could use some advice, but I think they saw this as me not being able to handle what little they've given me; and seeing as they do my performance reviews, the worry only compounds. So, clearly there's a problem here. The solutions are probably a mix of a) changing my mindset to accept the fact that: perception is everything so focus your energy on what will give you positive exposure, b) learn how to budget time better, c) learn how to get from start to finish thorough, timely fashion while making sure all the information is correct, d) my performance depends on the performance of other people, so I've got to learn the art of being able to communicate to different types of people. I think I've got a long way to go before I reach the super-efficient worker I want to be. Who knows if I ever will?
Thursday, July 26, 2007
Vacation Review
Time for me to document that super awesome vacay I had during the week of July 4th.
06.29: I take off from work at a typical hour and head to Dearborn to get my bags and what not. Liz and co. pick me up and take me to DTW where I chill in the airport for a minute. I'm flying NWA out of the D, and I'm a little worried because of recent articles showing that they've been cancelling a shit ton of flights. I make it on the plane though, which is good. Connect at MPLS, then off to SEA. I land in Seattle at about 11:30, pick up my bags, and meet Vincent in the pickup area. Conveniently, he works at the airport. Where'd we go afterwards? Earl's of course. I got a quite nice welcome from the homies and proceeded to consume quite a bit of liq. Great way to start the vacation. Vincent takes my intoxicated ass home, but not without stopping by McDonald's for the ultimate dollar menu combo. Thanks buddy.
06.30: I wake up pretty late (daylight savings adjustment + ending a work week + sleeping late) and hang out with the fam for a bit. My mom is pretty happy to see me, as I am to see her. 'Twas awesome. Phang picks my now hungover self up in the 240sx con SR20DET and we head to Nick's. I get to drive Alan's R-swapped '98 EJ8 with a smaller steering wheel, no power steering, and a 6 puck clutch. It smashed, but damn it was difficult to drive. Phang and I help Nick lower the AP1 (which is lookin' fly since coming out of JMI). Linh joins and we all mob to Sushi Zen for some bombass (yet pricey) sushi. After gettin' full, we head to Anthony's where he's hosting a drinkathon to celebrate his graduation. Drinking continues, but not with a Domino's 5 for 5 deals. Mushroom pizza FTW. Drink, then drink some more, then pass out back at home.
07.01: Wake up. Time to see the Church fam. It was nice to be in attendance, not just to see some of the people that I haven't seen in a while, but also because I've been having trouble getting to Church out here in MI; mainly my own fault on that one. Either way, good time. After the service, I meet up w/Linh and Bird, and we head to the Tulalip outlet. Kevin and Arlyn are around for a bit, but then split. Nic yanks some Ray-Bans, I buy some shoes, and Linh gets some glasses from Zumies. We then head to the local Applebee's to get some food. I order some gigantic burger that I'm asked to take a survey on for a dollar. It was an aiite burger, too much beef and lettuce though. Afterwards we go hang out at Linh's condo, checkin' out her bachelor'ette party shit she's getting together for her sister. Waaay too much penis. Nightfalls, and Linh, Nic, Danni, Helen, Heidi, and myself get our cheap drink on at Goldie's. Sunday night specials. Awesome tator tots btw. Afterwards we check out some joint on 45th but the girl's aren't feeling it so we go to Havana in Cap Hill. Havana is a dope spot on Sundays as they've always got good music playin'; some type of theme (Dilla, Wu, Nas, etc.), this Sunday was Michael Jackson and Quincy. Hot shit.
07.02: Time to find the 'Bu. My nephew has been learning how to drive on it, so it's at my sister's place. My Mom, brother, and I head to SeaTac for my sister's house where we kick it for a bit. Then we all head to RMC (for some reason they sell pretty good food at Renton Motorcylces) to have lunch and so my sister can buy some things for my toddler nephew (who was unfortunately at the sitter all day). Albeit only a few hours of good hangin' out time, it was really good seeing my sister, nephew, and bro-in-law. We had a lot of catching up to do. When it's all done, I meet up with Phang, who I lend a ride home from Drift Office, where he's getting some work done on his car. I take the Malibu home and chill for a bit, then get a call from Kiel about something going down at his place. I head out that way to his parents' BALLER ass house in Kirkland. We play a bit of pool and watch I'm Gonna Get You Sucka (Kiel's choice), eventually being joined by Dave, Alex, Steve, and Gilbert. We all develop some hunger and venture out into Bellevue. Gilbert lets me whip around his '06 Si which is a SOLID fuckin' car. I wouldn't mind having one. Good handling, good shifter, good NA power. After being kicked out of Joey's because of Gilbert's young-ness, we decide to settle for Denny's. Man, Denny's is sooo much better when you're stupid drunk. Great way to end the night either way. We had a lot to talk about between catching up on each other's lives and things going on with the FSAE team.
07.03: So, the previous week, my homie Nick volunteers his S as a car I can rock while he's at work. Rules are a) no humping in the car b) you wreck you buy and c) there are no other rules. I wake up and head to his place. We take the hard top off (I mean, come on) and I bring it back to my place so I can shower / get ready. I head back out to pick up Phang, who needs to get his car from Drift Office. Man, top down on 405 is a little violent, but it's a good violent. At first the fit in the S was a little awkward, but it didn't take long to adjust. I don't know what it feels like to be a fighter pilot, but this is what I imagined, between the 9000 RPM redline, sharp steering response, and the "cozy" cabin space. I was pretty much sold on the idea I'd been playing around with about getting one in spring/summer of '08. Anyhow, Phang and I get to Drift Office to pick up his now nicely running SR20DET. It previously had some cooling issues. We kick it at Drift Office for a bit. There's something cool about hanging out at a speed shop, idunno why. After that whole ordeal, Phang and out hang out at South Center for a bit until traffic dies. I buy cheap sunglasses and a belt from Pac Sun because I refuse to buy the expensive shit only to sit on it by accident. After that whole ordeal, I drive back up north. It's about 7 and the sun is setting. The view is fucking sick driving through downtown. Top down in an S in a city I love... why the fuck did I move again? I get to Lynnwood and find my friend John's hidden house. We grab some L&L aka quality Hawaiian BBQ and chat. The food is bomb and its dope being able to find out what John's been up to with the UW ME Grad program and such. Once that's done with, I meet up with Hobea (Hobey + Lea), Glenn, and Jeffrey and we cruise around for a bit. We end up at Boston's in Mill Creek, killing a team pitcher (128 oz's). 11 rolls around and it's time to return the car so we head to Nick's. Once we're all assembled, we go to some ghetto ass place in Lynnwood and meet up w/Rome, Nate, and some hood-ass white girls. We knew it was the end of the night when one of the girls was like "let's go back to your place and snort some yay." Just jokin' my ass you cokehead.
07.04: Independence Day. Lazy start off, hangin' out at home and chatting w/my Mom. I also ate some bombass steak and rice: a meal for champions. It's also my bro's bday so I don't forget the berfday wish. I head for Eddie's where a heated game of kickball is going on. I hang out there for a bit, eat many giant oysters, then head to my Uncle Bob's (not really my uncle, but that's how Filipinos do) house on Martha Lake. Apparently it was recently bought, and it's a sweet ass house on the water. Good food. Good people. Awesome stuff. When things wind down, I go back to Eddie's where being a blowin' shit up in the street. Side note: the Malibu is still a pretty solid car for all the shit it's been through. Much nicer than the Cal. It's also nice to be bumpin' KEXP again. Anyway, it's bright, and kinda nice how everyone regardless of political view comes together in the street on July 4th, even if it is just to blow shit up. Everyone heads in afterwards and eats some crawdads. I take off for home feeling really full from a combination of food, alcohol, and a lot more food.
07.05: I wake up and my stomach is not happy with me. I don't blame it though: oysters, lasagna, salmon, rice, steak, juicy jun's bbq, cheeseburgers, garlic bread, random beers, random shots, crawdads... my apologies to you stomach. It was good at the time though, LoL. I spend a good chunk of the day trying to feel normal again, and set up my mom's new laptop to work with our printer. Stupid ass Vista, way to go Microsoft; making different OS's not able to work together. Eventually I meet up with Eddie and Danni, and we grab some food at McCormick's on 5th downtown. They have some dope salmon cakes. We then head to Capitol Hill so I can try to find some local gear. No luck, but I did buy a shop deck from Goods. Gotta represent Seattle while in the D. So far the skateboard deck has been serving me good btw. After dropping Danny and Eddie back in Northgate, I head to UW for a UWFSAE meeting. I've said it before and I'll say it again, I MISS BEING A STUDENT AT UW. There's just something about the atmosphere on the campus, especially throughout the spring/summer, that makes it an ill ass place to be. Anyhow, I park in the 'ol C15 and sneak into the meeting. A bunch of my old teammates are like "WTF?! Alfy's here." You're damn right foo! There was a breakdown of the SAE West results so it was good to see that and see what's been up with the team. It was also good seein' all the old faces. This project takes a lot of your time, so you become quite familiar w/your teammates. After chattin w/a lot of the folks, we head down to the pit so I can check out the car. Liz by the way has made an appearance at this point. The car looks really similar to the T17 car, but the carbon work is far more awesome thanks to Kiel's creativity and some help from a professional Boeing cat. Chris Dolan's cooling system is much smaller and lighter than mine was, which was good and bad to see. Good because of the improvement made, bad because it was superior to mine (okay, so on some things I am a little competitive); well except for it blowing a fan fuse at comp, but he can't control that. After hangin' out there, I take off for Lake City / Northgate and have dinner with Hannah and Josiah. Hannah has graced us with some bombass tempura. Definitely quality catch up time with the Perez siblings. Around say, 10:30, I take off for Goldie's for more homies and drink specials. We proceed to quickly get our drink on. Long Islands and such. Afterwards, it's Viceroy time, another place that has dope ass music going depending on what night you show up. Viceroy also serves goldfish, which is sweet. Kiel and Liz join, which is sweet as well. After Viceroy, we check out the 7-11 converted to Kwik-E-Mart in anticipation of the Simpson's movie. DO NOT DRINK BUZZ COLA. 42g of sugar in that nasty ass drink. Kiel drank it all somehow. I took two sips and said heeeell no.
07.06: The drinking has finally caught up to me. I let out a hearty bit of yakk Friday morning and get back to the air mattress that's now in my room. By the way, it appears my mom has turned my room into a storage area. I lazy around for a good bit of the day and try to pack my bags up. I meet up w/Bird for a bit and we check out the local mall. By the way, the shops here are far doper than they are in MI. I pick up a Casual Industrees snowboard tee from BC (they sell local gear, which is ill); gotta represent, again. Dinner comes around, and I decide it's time to take my Mom out. Myself, my brother, and my Mom all head to Ivar's in Mukilteo (sp?) for some awesome seafood by the water. Damn, I miss having good seafood. I hit my Mom off with some money, which was an awesome feeling. I wish I could give her a shit ton of cash just to show my appreciation, but I gave what I could and she was still quite surprised. After dinner is wrapped up, I coordinate some type of post-dinner activity with the homies. The fam and I say a traveling mercies prayer, and I say goodbye to my mom and brother, who I might not see until December =( . It was rough driving away (the car was going back to my sister) and having my mom stand in the doorway. I get to Earl's (it was the easiest choice) and meet up with the homies, from all around; high school, and college friends, and we all get to drinkin' profusely. Wow. I wasn't supposed to get too faded, but it's hard when it's your last night w/your homies and you are on vacation. Anyway, we drink and have a great time just soaking up those moments that seem too damn rare now that I'm in the D. Afterwards, we head to Alki so I catch a good glimpse of downtown Seattle before I take off again. I take in a couple deep breaths, bullshit w/the homies for a little longer (Alex's crazy ass tries to pick up the fireball) and then it's time to get the car to my sister's and get to the airport. Nic takes me to SeaTac w/Vincent following, then my sister takes me to SeaTac airport. The airport is quiet since it's 4 AM. It's peaceful... good time to relax and take in the last week. I hop on the plane, and that's that.
Wow. Just typing this out has got me all homesick again. Moving is fuckin' tough. Especially if it's far from anything familiar, you get hit with a string of unfortunate events, and you don't click with folks as easily. This midwest thing man, how long will it last?
Sorry for the typos.
06.29: I take off from work at a typical hour and head to Dearborn to get my bags and what not. Liz and co. pick me up and take me to DTW where I chill in the airport for a minute. I'm flying NWA out of the D, and I'm a little worried because of recent articles showing that they've been cancelling a shit ton of flights. I make it on the plane though, which is good. Connect at MPLS, then off to SEA. I land in Seattle at about 11:30, pick up my bags, and meet Vincent in the pickup area. Conveniently, he works at the airport. Where'd we go afterwards? Earl's of course. I got a quite nice welcome from the homies and proceeded to consume quite a bit of liq. Great way to start the vacation. Vincent takes my intoxicated ass home, but not without stopping by McDonald's for the ultimate dollar menu combo. Thanks buddy.
06.30: I wake up pretty late (daylight savings adjustment + ending a work week + sleeping late) and hang out with the fam for a bit. My mom is pretty happy to see me, as I am to see her. 'Twas awesome. Phang picks my now hungover self up in the 240sx con SR20DET and we head to Nick's. I get to drive Alan's R-swapped '98 EJ8 with a smaller steering wheel, no power steering, and a 6 puck clutch. It smashed, but damn it was difficult to drive. Phang and I help Nick lower the AP1 (which is lookin' fly since coming out of JMI). Linh joins and we all mob to Sushi Zen for some bombass (yet pricey) sushi. After gettin' full, we head to Anthony's where he's hosting a drinkathon to celebrate his graduation. Drinking continues, but not with a Domino's 5 for 5 deals. Mushroom pizza FTW. Drink, then drink some more, then pass out back at home.
07.01: Wake up. Time to see the Church fam. It was nice to be in attendance, not just to see some of the people that I haven't seen in a while, but also because I've been having trouble getting to Church out here in MI; mainly my own fault on that one. Either way, good time. After the service, I meet up w/Linh and Bird, and we head to the Tulalip outlet. Kevin and Arlyn are around for a bit, but then split. Nic yanks some Ray-Bans, I buy some shoes, and Linh gets some glasses from Zumies. We then head to the local Applebee's to get some food. I order some gigantic burger that I'm asked to take a survey on for a dollar. It was an aiite burger, too much beef and lettuce though. Afterwards we go hang out at Linh's condo, checkin' out her bachelor'ette party shit she's getting together for her sister. Waaay too much penis. Nightfalls, and Linh, Nic, Danni, Helen, Heidi, and myself get our cheap drink on at Goldie's. Sunday night specials. Awesome tator tots btw. Afterwards we check out some joint on 45th but the girl's aren't feeling it so we go to Havana in Cap Hill. Havana is a dope spot on Sundays as they've always got good music playin'; some type of theme (Dilla, Wu, Nas, etc.), this Sunday was Michael Jackson and Quincy. Hot shit.
07.02: Time to find the 'Bu. My nephew has been learning how to drive on it, so it's at my sister's place. My Mom, brother, and I head to SeaTac for my sister's house where we kick it for a bit. Then we all head to RMC (for some reason they sell pretty good food at Renton Motorcylces) to have lunch and so my sister can buy some things for my toddler nephew (who was unfortunately at the sitter all day). Albeit only a few hours of good hangin' out time, it was really good seeing my sister, nephew, and bro-in-law. We had a lot of catching up to do. When it's all done, I meet up with Phang, who I lend a ride home from Drift Office, where he's getting some work done on his car. I take the Malibu home and chill for a bit, then get a call from Kiel about something going down at his place. I head out that way to his parents' BALLER ass house in Kirkland. We play a bit of pool and watch I'm Gonna Get You Sucka (Kiel's choice), eventually being joined by Dave, Alex, Steve, and Gilbert. We all develop some hunger and venture out into Bellevue. Gilbert lets me whip around his '06 Si which is a SOLID fuckin' car. I wouldn't mind having one. Good handling, good shifter, good NA power. After being kicked out of Joey's because of Gilbert's young-ness, we decide to settle for Denny's. Man, Denny's is sooo much better when you're stupid drunk. Great way to end the night either way. We had a lot to talk about between catching up on each other's lives and things going on with the FSAE team.
07.03: So, the previous week, my homie Nick volunteers his S as a car I can rock while he's at work. Rules are a) no humping in the car b) you wreck you buy and c) there are no other rules. I wake up and head to his place. We take the hard top off (I mean, come on) and I bring it back to my place so I can shower / get ready. I head back out to pick up Phang, who needs to get his car from Drift Office. Man, top down on 405 is a little violent, but it's a good violent. At first the fit in the S was a little awkward, but it didn't take long to adjust. I don't know what it feels like to be a fighter pilot, but this is what I imagined, between the 9000 RPM redline, sharp steering response, and the "cozy" cabin space. I was pretty much sold on the idea I'd been playing around with about getting one in spring/summer of '08. Anyhow, Phang and I get to Drift Office to pick up his now nicely running SR20DET. It previously had some cooling issues. We kick it at Drift Office for a bit. There's something cool about hanging out at a speed shop, idunno why. After that whole ordeal, Phang and out hang out at South Center for a bit until traffic dies. I buy cheap sunglasses and a belt from Pac Sun because I refuse to buy the expensive shit only to sit on it by accident. After that whole ordeal, I drive back up north. It's about 7 and the sun is setting. The view is fucking sick driving through downtown. Top down in an S in a city I love... why the fuck did I move again? I get to Lynnwood and find my friend John's hidden house. We grab some L&L aka quality Hawaiian BBQ and chat. The food is bomb and its dope being able to find out what John's been up to with the UW ME Grad program and such. Once that's done with, I meet up with Hobea (Hobey + Lea), Glenn, and Jeffrey and we cruise around for a bit. We end up at Boston's in Mill Creek, killing a team pitcher (128 oz's). 11 rolls around and it's time to return the car so we head to Nick's. Once we're all assembled, we go to some ghetto ass place in Lynnwood and meet up w/Rome, Nate, and some hood-ass white girls. We knew it was the end of the night when one of the girls was like "let's go back to your place and snort some yay." Just jokin' my ass you cokehead.
07.04: Independence Day. Lazy start off, hangin' out at home and chatting w/my Mom. I also ate some bombass steak and rice: a meal for champions. It's also my bro's bday so I don't forget the berfday wish. I head for Eddie's where a heated game of kickball is going on. I hang out there for a bit, eat many giant oysters, then head to my Uncle Bob's (not really my uncle, but that's how Filipinos do) house on Martha Lake. Apparently it was recently bought, and it's a sweet ass house on the water. Good food. Good people. Awesome stuff. When things wind down, I go back to Eddie's where being a blowin' shit up in the street. Side note: the Malibu is still a pretty solid car for all the shit it's been through. Much nicer than the Cal. It's also nice to be bumpin' KEXP again. Anyway, it's bright, and kinda nice how everyone regardless of political view comes together in the street on July 4th, even if it is just to blow shit up. Everyone heads in afterwards and eats some crawdads. I take off for home feeling really full from a combination of food, alcohol, and a lot more food.
07.05: I wake up and my stomach is not happy with me. I don't blame it though: oysters, lasagna, salmon, rice, steak, juicy jun's bbq, cheeseburgers, garlic bread, random beers, random shots, crawdads... my apologies to you stomach. It was good at the time though, LoL. I spend a good chunk of the day trying to feel normal again, and set up my mom's new laptop to work with our printer. Stupid ass Vista, way to go Microsoft; making different OS's not able to work together. Eventually I meet up with Eddie and Danni, and we grab some food at McCormick's on 5th downtown. They have some dope salmon cakes. We then head to Capitol Hill so I can try to find some local gear. No luck, but I did buy a shop deck from Goods. Gotta represent Seattle while in the D. So far the skateboard deck has been serving me good btw. After dropping Danny and Eddie back in Northgate, I head to UW for a UWFSAE meeting. I've said it before and I'll say it again, I MISS BEING A STUDENT AT UW. There's just something about the atmosphere on the campus, especially throughout the spring/summer, that makes it an ill ass place to be. Anyhow, I park in the 'ol C15 and sneak into the meeting. A bunch of my old teammates are like "WTF?! Alfy's here." You're damn right foo! There was a breakdown of the SAE West results so it was good to see that and see what's been up with the team. It was also good seein' all the old faces. This project takes a lot of your time, so you become quite familiar w/your teammates. After chattin w/a lot of the folks, we head down to the pit so I can check out the car. Liz by the way has made an appearance at this point. The car looks really similar to the T17 car, but the carbon work is far more awesome thanks to Kiel's creativity and some help from a professional Boeing cat. Chris Dolan's cooling system is much smaller and lighter than mine was, which was good and bad to see. Good because of the improvement made, bad because it was superior to mine (okay, so on some things I am a little competitive); well except for it blowing a fan fuse at comp, but he can't control that. After hangin' out there, I take off for Lake City / Northgate and have dinner with Hannah and Josiah. Hannah has graced us with some bombass tempura. Definitely quality catch up time with the Perez siblings. Around say, 10:30, I take off for Goldie's for more homies and drink specials. We proceed to quickly get our drink on. Long Islands and such. Afterwards, it's Viceroy time, another place that has dope ass music going depending on what night you show up. Viceroy also serves goldfish, which is sweet. Kiel and Liz join, which is sweet as well. After Viceroy, we check out the 7-11 converted to Kwik-E-Mart in anticipation of the Simpson's movie. DO NOT DRINK BUZZ COLA. 42g of sugar in that nasty ass drink. Kiel drank it all somehow. I took two sips and said heeeell no.
07.06: The drinking has finally caught up to me. I let out a hearty bit of yakk Friday morning and get back to the air mattress that's now in my room. By the way, it appears my mom has turned my room into a storage area. I lazy around for a good bit of the day and try to pack my bags up. I meet up w/Bird for a bit and we check out the local mall. By the way, the shops here are far doper than they are in MI. I pick up a Casual Industrees snowboard tee from BC (they sell local gear, which is ill); gotta represent, again. Dinner comes around, and I decide it's time to take my Mom out. Myself, my brother, and my Mom all head to Ivar's in Mukilteo (sp?) for some awesome seafood by the water. Damn, I miss having good seafood. I hit my Mom off with some money, which was an awesome feeling. I wish I could give her a shit ton of cash just to show my appreciation, but I gave what I could and she was still quite surprised. After dinner is wrapped up, I coordinate some type of post-dinner activity with the homies. The fam and I say a traveling mercies prayer, and I say goodbye to my mom and brother, who I might not see until December =( . It was rough driving away (the car was going back to my sister) and having my mom stand in the doorway. I get to Earl's (it was the easiest choice) and meet up with the homies, from all around; high school, and college friends, and we all get to drinkin' profusely. Wow. I wasn't supposed to get too faded, but it's hard when it's your last night w/your homies and you are on vacation. Anyway, we drink and have a great time just soaking up those moments that seem too damn rare now that I'm in the D. Afterwards, we head to Alki so I catch a good glimpse of downtown Seattle before I take off again. I take in a couple deep breaths, bullshit w/the homies for a little longer (Alex's crazy ass tries to pick up the fireball) and then it's time to get the car to my sister's and get to the airport. Nic takes me to SeaTac w/Vincent following, then my sister takes me to SeaTac airport. The airport is quiet since it's 4 AM. It's peaceful... good time to relax and take in the last week. I hop on the plane, and that's that.
Wow. Just typing this out has got me all homesick again. Moving is fuckin' tough. Especially if it's far from anything familiar, you get hit with a string of unfortunate events, and you don't click with folks as easily. This midwest thing man, how long will it last?
Sorry for the typos.
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