2009.04.28 Tuesday

Today really feels like a Monday. Except for the part where I ate the Tuesday special at Popeye's.

I ran after work today; it's been a while since I was able to do that. Felt pretty good too. I worked on some music after that. Things are getting closer to being done, yay!

2009.04.27 Monday

Well, it's good to be home.

I went in to work late to try to work off those hours I missed. It was extremely weird leaving when everything was dark. Almost creepy.

I didn't really have time to do much at home besides upload some photos and videos to facebook. I fell asleep to the warming glow of the tv.

2009.04.26 Sunday

We were able to sleep in today because the early flights werent looking so good. Then eventually, the best plan to get home was us driving from Pennsylvania to Ohio. Awesome, 3-3.5 hours of driving, then waiting at the airport hoping to get a flight, then 3-3.5 hours of driving from DFW back to Austin.

Or at least we hoped. Once we got to Columbus, that plan didnt look viable anymore. Crap. Next best plan (of hundreds of possibilities) was flying into Chicago, where a bunch of flights had been delayed due to a Tstorm.

Kinda cool how in one day I had been in 4 different states.

2009.04.25 Saturday

So these next few blogs are going to be somewhat lacking of detail, as I was lacking of sleep.

We woke up early to drive to DFW airport. Got through security just fine, i bet everybody was half asleep too. We were assigned our seats and sardine'd onto the plane. The 3 hour flight wasnt horrible, but it sucked because I wanted to sleep and couldnt. The seat was in the very rear of the plane, so there wasnt any room to recline. Kelc took the window seat so she had the wall to lean on. I tried leaning forward onto my hands, leaning on kelc, super slouching, and even stowing away in the overhead compartments; nothing worked.

Upon arrival, we went to get the rental car. Once we got that, it was only a 10-20 minute drive to the hotel.

We left to go get some food, and of all the unique places to go we settled on Boston Market. Still a pretty good meal, but not really exercizing the fact we were in a different part of the country. Then we left to Heinz Field for the fun activities.

There, we went to the locker room saw the 6 trophies, saw famous players signing autographs, and attemped a field-goal or two. I made a field goal on the 3rd try, woo woo.

Afterwards, we tried grabbing a table at a restaurant across the street, but it was super packed. Instead that we went to some bar in station square, still pretty good but overpriced (and slow service of course).

Then the fun began, we took over 1.5 hours to get back to the hotel. Yeah that's right, almost two whole hours to get somewhere thats about 20-30 minutes from downtown. Why? Construction/poor detour signs, and false maps. The best part about that whole trip was getting pulled over by a cop. Icing on the cake. Almost got a ticket for 'failing to use a turn signal' at a stop sign with nobody else around. Thankfully he was very forgiving about us being out of town and lost. Avoided a $150 ticket right there.

We got back to the hotel, and crashed from such a long day.

2009.04.24 Friday

Alright, a shorter day at work, then I get to pack up and leave the state...

or do I?

Actually, we drove to Dallas, picked up Kelc and spent the night at a hotel close to the airport. Hopefully this trip works out.

2009.04.23 Thursday

Today was pretty cool at work. A helicopter landed in the parking lot bringing some important people to campus. It was some sort of demo day, a lot of projects and prototypes were on display to show off our hard work.

After work I went out to dinner with some buds. Then worked on some music stuff at home. I need to practice kicking field goals soon.

2009.04.22 Wednesday

Well dangit. We lost another kickball game. BUT.. we did hold the 5-year veteran team to only 2 runs, so that's pretty good. I do remember reading something about how you can't play in the super-social league for so many years in a row. Maybe I'm just making that up.

Work was one of those days where nothing really falls into place, so productivity dropped like a lead ball.

Here's those pics I was talking about yesterday...

2009.04.21 Tuesday

Popeye's Special for lunch, yum. 4 pieces of fried chicken for $1.98

I'm making steady progress on my work project, but I'm starting to just be uninterested. At home, I worked on the bass guitar, soldered up the connections, drew up some designs, cut some metal, drilled some holes... all in a days work. The final product looks pretty good in my opinion. I went with a lightning bolt effect on the plug plate. I took pictures but forgot to upload them, so I'll have to update my blog later and show off my craftsmanship.

After that I worked on some musical elements. Slow and steady progress there as well.

Tomorrow is the big game.

2009.04.20 Monday

So last night while driving home, I could swear a couple times that I saw a "shooting star", or really 'crap from outer space falling through the atmosphere really fast and destroying itself'. I also thought that, hmm maybe its late and I'm just seeing headlight glare on the windshield.

Then this morning, I'm driving to work and I see a really bright, really close shooting star. This thing looked like it was heading for the Cedar Park High School area. This thing was super bright too. It went from like a bright greenish yellow, to bluish white. It was actually a rather amazing sight since the sun was rising off in the distance, so no other stars were visible.

Makes you wonder if that is that space-junk NASA has been talking about. Or even alien space craft. Or poop from a 747.

Well, happy April Twentieth?

Work consisted of a meeting with a guy that was a bit too excited about the material to take him seriously. So naturally, I started to rest my eyes and my mind.

I got home later than expected because I went to go find easter eggs. I found one, and somehow one is still missing. (If you find a green one with three holes on the end, let me know)

I ran some errands and sat around for most of the time I had left over for the evening.

2009.04.19 Sunday

Ugh, the weekend is going by too fast. Kelc is coming down with a cold, and has been working on school work most of the weekend. Feels like I haven't accomplished anything of my own.

Linds made a Tilapia lunch, thanks for the offer, but no thanks. I finished the leftovers from Olive Garden.

I watched a bunch of MythBusters and sat around. Meh, lame I know. For a farewell dinner, we finally went to Black-Eyed Pea. Yums. Back to ATX I go...

2009.04.18 Saturday

Another sleep-in day. Well, at least for me it was. Kelc had a hair appointment with a rising star in the hair business.

For lunch, the uber-filling Qdoba. So filling in fact, that I had to take a nap afterwards. Yay for feeling like a lazy bum.

Later on, we felt like going to Black-Eyed Pea, but they were closed by the time we woke up. Onwards to Chili's. Afterward, we enjoyed a Sweet Melon hookah.

2009.04.17 Friday

Kelc had school today... I had sleep-in-late ability.

For lunch, I got to try out *David*'s BBQ. Pretty good, bean recipe is a tad too sweet for my taste, but everything else was pretty good. Once we were back at home, we had to crash. When we woke, we were being rushed out the door to eat Olive Garden. There, we had to split a plate because we were both not that hungry.

Not that this is a bad thing, but somehow I was convinced to spend my Friday evening at school. I think living as an engineer has skewed my human priorities. At least the helicopters fly well at school. We stayed up late, and had to watch The Princess Bride when we got home, of course not finishing it.

2009.04.16 Thursday

Mmm crawfish day. Could there be anything better?

I managed to make it through the day without getting too restless. The drive to Arlington was surprisingly fast; I was probably behind a truck the whole time and didnt notice the speed. I listened to a radio show the whole time, that really makes time fly.

We went out to El Chico for dinner. I had an extra-large margarita... massive 32oz. Needless to say, I was done for the night.

2009.04.15 Wednesday

Awesome, so here's how the day played out...

I started off the day thinking about how I ordered a vinyl set back in like November or December, and it's expected delivery was over a month ago... so I sent the manufacturer and email just saying "hey guys, any updates?"

Then I started focusing on the kickball game that was going down tonight. I was actually worried we wouldn't have enough girls, so I was considering recruiting my sister. Decided to ask her after work.

Then on my way home from work my brother called me asking if I wanted pizza for dinner, and I said sure as long as it will be coming soon because I have stuff to do and a kickball game to get ready for.

===

So I get home, my brother hasnt even placed the pizza order yet. FAIL#1 Something about my mom not wanting to order until my dad was off the phone...just lame.

Then I went to ask my sister about playing kickball. I said "hey, what are you doing tonight?" she says "oh not much, just hanging around and playing kickball" -oh snap- Turns out she's playing against my team tonight. We just magically signed up for the same league without knowing. FAIL#2

Finally, I walk into my room and there's a box on my bed. -surprise- it's that vinyl set that I ordered from forever ago. Typical that it would show up the day I decide to send an email to the manufacturer. FAIL#3


And that's how the story goes. A triple play of fail.
Our team barely lost the kickball game. It was a good warmup game. Now we know what to focus on and do next time. Habibi got pegged in the face, Ronron twister her ankle - our team is full of complete dedication to the sport.

2009.04.14 Tuesday

Man, I'm really tired today.

I had popeye's for lunch, again. Only $1.98 for 4 pieces though, can't argue that.

How is this even legal?
...the Government wants to MAKE you VOLUNTEER for civic service (aka basic training)

Yay, sweet melon hookah. Time to relax from these stressful times.

2009.04.13 Monday

Average day at work. Free breakfast and popeyes for lunch.

After work, I kinda just wandered around. Went shopping late at night, that was interesting to see all the cool cats come out.

So I don't understand this, but:
Is this America standing strong?
"Yes we can... bow to other nations"

2009.04.12 Sunday

Woke up gradually today. Breakfast/lunch was a nice box of Mac&Cheese, the cheesiest.

The rest of the day was mostly spent very casually.

Later on we spent time with the happy couple and the mid-texas travelers.

2009.04.11 Saturday

Well yeah... woke up late today. Ran out to get pizza and chill for a while. Then the friends left, and Kelc and I picked up a little bit more.

We got home kinda late. Amazing how the day goes by so fast when you wake up past noon. LOLZ.

Later Kelc and I went bowling with her brother. Yep I suck. It's weird that there was a cop just walking around checking up on everybody. I mean, yeah there were people drinking... but wouldnt it be better to catch them on the road instead of trying to catch the drunks leaving just 1 bowling alley?

We fell asleep to Planet Earth.

2009.04.10 Friday

Yay end of week. Got out slightly late to get some more data stuff done, but still got out earlier than normal.

I'm starting to get more and more paranoid about what the real intentions of the government's actions. I'll try to start documenting some of that here later. Feel free to comment and debunk all that.

Grabbed a quick dinner with Kelc and her mom. Then went out to her lakehouse for some shenanigans with friends.

2009.04.09 Thursday

Work was above average. I got a lot of work done.

My brother and I got into a discussion about the government and where things are going in the world. -- I can honestly say I'm worried. People really need to wake up. Should we just let the government do things behind closed doors? Shouldn't we be able to see where over $800 billion of bailout is going?

It's sad really. Ignorance has never been such a worthwhile investment.

2009.04.08 Wednesday

Hump dizzle, 4 shizzle.

The week has peaked and is started its decent. And tonight i get to go out with some buds!

On a side note, my skin is changing colors, finally.

2009.04.07 Tuesday

Another day at work...

I came home and couldn't really find much to eat, so I made a bag of 5 cheese "Tortelloni", ate the whole thing. Close to 1000 calories in one sitting, go me.

Once I recovered from that, I worked on some music stuff. Then made a quick trip to smoke hookah. Relaxing.

I'm still recovering from some sunburnage.

2009.04.06 Monday

Ah.. the beginning of a long work week. What more could a person ask for?

I had a meeting that I was dreading, but it turned out to not be that bad, more informative actually. I made a few leaps and bounds in productivity, so hopefully that will show later on down the road.

After work, I considered running, but honestly it's too chilly for my liking. Instead, weights!

Then I ate a bunch of chicken, good protein.

Then later I went to the store to pick up some groceries. I'm trying to each much cheaper and healthier... so we shall see how that goes.

I also worked on some music stuff. Sometimes the creativity is there... this is probably not one of those times.

2009.04.05 Sunday

By mid-afternoon yesterday, I felt like I had been all over town. I went to the record thing, I went to Spyder House to meet up with Chris (awesome piano btw), then I went to Andrew/Emily's party, then to wrap it all up I went over to Justin's brother's place.

Today, I woke up and then went to the Oragne+White scrimmage at UT. We won.

After that we went to Mighty Fine Burgers. It's pretty much like P.Terry's or In-N-Out, but with its own style.

I could definitely tell that I'm burnt; the next few days are going to be amazing.

Well, I set up a record player and receiver and speakers. The sound is completely different than anything on the computer. I really want to look into trying out some tube-amps and upper-level turntables.

Besides trying to update my computer and rearranging my room, the evening was mostly uneventful and short.

2009.04.04 Saturday

Well I took Kelc over to her house and wasted some time there. Her brother is going to the Southwest Regional Finals and she was going to support.

I, on the other hand, wanted to go to the Austin Record Convention (I think that is what it is called). I grabbed some awesome records, very proud of myself for my first vinyl purchases.

Pink Floyd - Animals ($15)
Pink Floyd - A Momentary Lapse of Reason ($8)
Styx - Equinox ($5)
Styx - Kilroy Was Here ($5)
Led Zeppelin - IV ($13)

Now I know that most of these are probably not original pressings, nor are they sealed or un-listened, but hey vinyl is pretty resilient and these are amazing prices for the experience I'll get out of them. I just need to get a record player now...

2009.04.03 Friday

Now I remember why I don't go downtown as much anymore... expensive drinks and headaches the next day. Oh and paying for parking.

I cleaned house some, then drove to the airport to pick up Kelc. We grabbed some TGIFridays for late-lunch. Word on the street is they are discontinuing their fried mac and cheese appetizer, get it while you still can!

After that, we went back to my house to just relax. Later, we went to Applebee's for dinner and it was actually good this time around. After that we saw AdventureLand, pretty good except Kristen Stewart is stupid cute. Like, the whole movie makes her look extremely good looking and yet her character can't get the words out sometimes...? That's just about exactly opposite. Lol, and according to Yahoo "a knack for challenging roles as troubled adolescents"... I totally called it before even knowing. It has to be the face.

2009.04.02 Thursday

Ah yes, crawfish etoufee. Delicious.

Work was kinda slow today. Then in the afternoon it picked up all of a sudden... next thing I know, I was leaving at 6:45. That's close to 12 hours of workday. Gross.

At home I didn't really do much. Eventually got dressed and went downtown with some friends. Good times.

2009.04.01 Wednesday

YOU FOOL, it's April. Happy hump day too.

So, apparently, I have some distant readers of this blog. Totally cool; they should step up and post comments and rip apart some of my stuff.

Work was fun...

I worked some more on that song, sent a copy to a couple people to get some feedback. I'm really hoping it's starting to sound more like a song than just organized noise, lol. I think I'll spend this weekend pushing more of that out so I can move on to new ideas.


On a side note -- "oh look at me, i'm so cultured and educated, look at how eccentric i am, and my eclectic style ...brb while i step on you" -- lol, good day sir.

2009.03.31 Tuesday

..and just like that, 1/4th of 2009 has come and gone.

Work was average.

Today I skipped the workouts to let my body rest some. I focused more on some music endeavors. This project is getting more and more complicated; it keeps evolving.

I totally beat Kelc in a race. It was not a fair fight because I have more years of experience. At least I was in bed at a decent time.