2011.04.29 Friday

Ah a day off of work. Wait what... I'm awake at 7am. *cue Darth Vader scream*

Spent the morning running errands. I took a bunch of old oil from oil changes to Auto Zone (free recycling). I also went and had my tires rotated at Discount Tire Co. That business is awesome.

Next up, a quick stop at Lowe's for a soil pH test kit. Gotta have the right conditions for the optimal growth right?

Chik-fil-a for lunch, then a power nap.

I set up a few microphones around the drums and recorded a few takes of Habs playing some things. The room acoustics that are picked up on the mics bugs me a little, but there isn't much I can do about it. Not like I'm going to remodel or haul everything to a sound booth.

Played some CS:S with Ryan and Moriah.

Kelc came over and enjoyed a delicious fish dinner. We also watched the latest Office, the last one with Steve Carell. Interesting.

2011.04.28 Thursday

It seems as though the sickness has subsided for the most part. Time to get back to work.

And worked, I did. I actually was getting more into work as the day was progressing. I guess my energy had finally come back.

Left for home later than normal. Once home, my enthusiasm to get things done was still elevated. So I did my laundry, did some music editing, ate dinner, took care of my plants, and did homework (on a day that is considered my Friday). Booyah.

My ankle is still showing some issues. I don't have the flexibility, and sometimes I feel like I need to pop it, but it doesn't work.

Watched some Arrested Development and went to bed.

2011.04.27 Wednesday

Oh my goodness. I could not sleep last night. My stomach was cramping up and I was rolling around in pain. Either this is terrible acid indigestion, or I have some stomach flu or food poisoning (again).

Spent most of the day not really doing much. Tried to force myself to get fluids and food back in me.

I finished transferring files over to the new 2TB drive, and did some tests on it. Seems like the new drive is faster, even though the spin rate is slower. I really should look into getting a fast primary drive for the OS and programs.

Later on, I made a stop at Fry's electronics. Felt like I need a new keyboard. I feel like that store has changed quite a bit. They confronted me right as I entered the store about their "price guarantee" which will beat any advertised price, even online. As I did my shopping, I noticed how a lot of their stock is not the typical brands that I would be purchasing. I am disappoint.

Watched Mythbusters and cooked up potatos and Mac and cheese. Hooray.

2011.04.26 Tuesday

Today I did pretty good at staying on task and getting stuff done. Once you get rolling, time flies and the day is over.

Had our second-to-last class of the semester. I'll be excited when this class is over. Summer time is near, and not worrying about homework will be nice.

Class let out early, so Habs and I went home to kill time. My new 2TB hard drive arrived in the mail. Finally I can stretch out a little.

Later on in the evening, went to Taylor's kickball game to fill in. I made a few blunders, but we started off strong and put up a good fight. I need to get back into the rhythm of the game.

2011.04.25 Monday

My ankle is feeling better, but supposedly I'll be playing flag football this evening. Interesting...

Work went by slower than usual. Had a hard time really getting into the grove of things again. Stayed at work a little late to head straight to the fields.

I tried my best to play some flag football, but I really couldn't push myself because my ankle is still healing. We started off the game strong with an interception that led to a touchdown...

So yeah we lost in the first round of playoffs, but hey we made it into playoffs. Summer is definitely not the best time to be playing football. One thing that I would have to say bugged me was how competitive other teams were acting. I mean, this is supposed to be "Super Social", and they were calling audibles and had playbooks. Let me pull up a quote from the Austin SSC website:

"Two divisions- social (for players with football skills) and super social (for players with limited football skills / recreational league)."

"Any player in the super social league who is determined a social player by the Austin SSC must switch divisions or will not be allowed to participate that season and will have their league fee credited towards a future season. If more than one player fits in the category, the Austin SSC has the option to move the team to the social division."

I feel like if you are pulling out playbooks and audibles, that's crossing a line into "players with football skills".

Hopefully my ankle heals up quickly so I can get back to the skatepark. Also thinking about doing some kickball over the summer. Less intense when the heat gets up there.

2011.04.24 Sunday

Slept in somewhat late today. Cleaned up and watched an episode of Arrested Development. Great way to start the day.

Went over to my parent's place for Easter lunch. The menu for today: chicken-fried steak and chicken-fried chicken, mashed potatoes, green beans, corn on the cob, cheesy bread rolls, and a side salad. Not bad. If only I had the self-control to not snack on food before the meal, I could have eaten more.

My brother set up a Easter-egg hunt/puzzle for all of us. I was able to figure out everybody else's puzzle, just not my own. Actually, nobody could figure out my puzzle. Here, you try it. Don't cheat; first one to get it wins a prize.

What sequence of numbers comes next in the series?

1
11

21

1211

111221

312211

13112221

Post-lunch, I went into food-coma mode.

Evening time, we played some board games and Scene-It. Before I knew it, it was already late. Time to go home and get ready for work.

2011.04.23 Saturday

Well, today was mostly spent trying to get myself back on my feet again.

Cleaned up my room.

Played computer games for some of the day.

Kelc came over from work in the afternoon, took a nap, then left again to go back to work.

Spent the evening cooking up party mix for tomorrows celebrations. A few months back I made some bacon party mix, but never posted the recipe. Here's what I did this time:

8 or 9 cups of cereal (I used Crispix, but Chex works too)

1 cup mixed nuts

1 cup pretzel sticks (not easy to measure, just guess)

1/2 lb of bacon, cooked to crispy, then crumbled

0.5 cup bacon grease

2 or 3 tbsp worcestershire sauce

1.5 tsp seasoned salt

1.0 tsp garlic salt (or garlic powder for less salinity)

0.5 tsp onion salt

Mix ingredients together in a large pan. Bake at 250F for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes. Pour onto paper towels and allow to air-cool (and degrease). Store in air-tight container.

Simple as that.

2011.04.22 Friday

It's Friday, Friday. Gotta get down on Friday.

And getting down is exactly what I did. But not in the good way. Over lunch, we played flag-football at work. It was the first time playing without Gabino, and it really felt like something was missing. About half-way through the game, I came down from a catch really hard on my right foot, and I felt pain instantly. Using my quick cat-like reflexes, I may have reduced injury by rolling out of the pain, instead of face-planting.

As the evening went on, my ankle started to swell more and more, causing me discomfort regardless of what I was doing. Mmm advil.

Kelc came over, I cooked up some steaks and we popped open a bottle of wine, watched some of the movie Far From Home.

2011.04.21 Thursday

Well I couldn't really sleep last night. Not sure what it was. Surprisingly not terribly tired this morning.

Today was rather uneventful.

Home, games, food, fun.

2011.04.20 Wednesday

This week is going downhill fast. My energy levels are in steady decline.

Work was full of frustration. The task I'm working on just wasn't working today. Then I ran out of music to listen to. At least I had a ice cream cone for lunch.

Once home I went out for some skateboarding to unwind. Kickflips just aren't happening for some reason, but heelflips are getting there. I can heelflip really low, but I want height. I'm finding it hard to catch the board in the air before setting back down. Oh and on a funny note: My board went down a storm drain, so I had to pop off the cover and climb in. Fun.

Listened to an episode of RadioLab with Kelc. She was skeptic at first, but I think she might like it. We listened to the episode titled "Lost and Found"; very interesting stories indeed.

Cooked up a late dinner: Tilapia and couscous. I ate fish?

2011.04.19 Tuesday - Not the end of Football

Woke up late. Two games of football will take its toll, whether you like it or not.

Lost of meetings today. Not sure what to expect.

After work was school. Nothing exciting about that.

On a lighter note, it turns out our team made it into the playoffs for flag football. We don't exactly have the best chances of winning out, but hey we get to play more. Score!

Went to bed early in hopes of fixing the drowsiness.

2011.04.18 Monday - End of Flag Football Season

Already starting the week by being less than energetic. Fannnnntastic.

The workday was mostly uneventful. Meetings here and there, trying to remember what I was doing last week... usual Monday occurrences.

After work, made my way over to the softball fields in southeast Austin for our last week, double-header of flag football. We got there slightly late, so not that much time spent on warming up.

The first team we played was huge. I'm pretty sure they had over double what was required on the field, so it felt like we were playing against a fresh team for both offense and defense. Not cool. They also had 3 or 4 people with wrist-playbooks on their arms, and called audibles a few times during the game. Seriously? Does "Super-Social" mean anything anymore? One guy sounded really intense when he ran, but wasn't terribly fast. I guess he really wanted to use that intimidation factor.

The second team we played was the undefeated team. Unfortunately, it stayed that way. They had a few "douchey" players that took the game way too seriously. This team had a guy that was pretty fast, but I was still able to keep up with him. The problem was that they ran routes into each other, and I wasn't in the mood to take out a player for the sake of keeping up with him... although this never caused me to allow him a catch (booyah!).

Left the season with a .500 record. That is an infinity-percent improvement from last time we played flag football.

Home, cooked dinner, then already bed time.

2011.04.17 Sunday

I performed another oil change on my car this morning. It's amazing how different old and new oil looks.

Kelc came back from her trip to the gymnastics championship in Ohio. We chit-chatted, then went shopping for shoes at a few locations.

For late lunch, we went to Souper Salad. Too expensive for what you get out of it.

Went to HEB to pick up much needed groceries. This coming week should be good; fish nights and steak nights coming up.

Watched a few episodes of Smallville. We are finally done with season 6. Only 4 more seasons.

Sleep.

2011.04.16 Saturday

Well I slept in super late. 11:30p to noon the next day... not bad. Ate a granola bar for breakfast/lunch.

I spent most of the day working on homework and listening to some cool jams (Portishead and Straylight Run are two artists that struck a chord with me)

Before I knew it, it was evening; I remembered I hadn't eaten, and I dont have any food. Stopped by Sprouts for a few things, then chik-fil-a as my dinner.

Met up with chris at the Round Rock skatepark. As the night went on, the number of people skating declined, and the number of middle/high-schoolers that were overly dramatic increased. It became too unbearable.

Went back to Paul's to share a dinner of Kerbey Lane. We watched Repo Man while we ate.

Back home for sleep, late night.

2011.04.15 Friday

Woke up fashionably late. Today's first priority: skatepark. I arrived at about 10am, and to my surprise there were a few sponsored skaters there taking video, so you might see me in the background of some skate videos soon.

After I got my grind on, I grabbed some chik-fil-a for lunch with Paul. We chit-chatted about random things, slightly philosophical.

Back at home, I got back to work on homework, with a few breaks for left for dead 2 and portal.

I spent the evening with Tyler to show him how solder works. He's wanting to get into circuit building and making effect pedals for a unique sound. Turns out he has tons of awesome music gear, so I know who I will be bugging whenever I want to record things.

Late night sonic snack, watched Arrested Development while I fell asleep around 11ish. What an interesting Friday night.

2011.04.14 Thursday

More often than not, when I wake up to the radio around 6am, 101x plays the most annoying song in the world. It feels like they play the same song at the same time. Must be a tape they made.

Work went by slightly faster than usual. I got to leave early to go to the dentist. Aparently I need to have two fillings done. Odd that I'm not feeling any pain or having sensitivity. Luckily, they didn't need to use any anesthetic, so I'm a happy camper.

At home, I worked on some homework, played a few games, and watched Arrested Development. I fell asleep pretty early too.

2011.04.13 Wednesday

Hump to the day, dump to the hay.

I woke up with a raised level of energy, but I can contribute that to the fact that I slept in some and had to rush to get ready.

Work went by like a flash. Lots of things going on and lots of things to do.

After work, I went for a skate session. I was in one area practicing some heel-flips, and I look up to see a guy standing on his porch...staring at me. Pretty darn creepy. I skated to a different spot.

I did some file manipulation on my computer and now have a chunk of albums ready to listen to. I've been off-and-on listening to more albums, but not as consistent as I used to be. I'm hoping to break the 1500 mark soon. If you happen to have any suggestions of albums I should look in to, let me know. Always open for anything.

Played a little L4D2 with Marky Mark. We beat Hard Rain on advanced, then bumped it up to expert. He left halfway through, but the rest of our group finished... that's right.. Hard Rain on Expert. Booyah.

Tired as heck.

2011.04.12 Tuesday

Fire in the hole, part deux. The morning started off with my enjoying the spice of fire in the hole... again.

Work was somewhat more productive, but at the same time just frustrating.

Had class after work. I feel like the information being presented could be shrunk down to about an hour easily. Nope... lets stay for 3.

At home, went skating and took care of my plants. Did a few workouts and accomplished some to-do-list tasks. Played a little L4D2, then it was already bed time.

2011.04.11 Monday - Dark Monday

Welp, today is the day.

Will I survive? Sure. Will I still have a job? Maybe.

The day started off gloomy with managers making their rounds, delivering folders of packets with information on what to do once being cut.

Well, by around lunch time I figured that I was relatively safe. The rumor mill churns quickly on days like these, and productivity takes a serious hit. We had a group meeting with the remaining workforce, talked about what happened and how we will go from here, but mostly just wasted more time.

Took a lunch at Chik-fil-a to get away from everything for a little.

In the afternoon, we had another meeting with a higher-up person. This turned out to be more of a venting session. I guess management needs to gingerly calm the workers so they become productive again.

Went home, then off to Plucker's for a dinner out with Kelc and her friends. I enjoyed a plate of jamaican jerk and fire in the hole wings.

Home, games and homework, sleep.

2011.04.10 Sunday

Woke up late. Well actually I woke up early because Kelc was leaving for work, but then I went back to sleep and had some fun dreams and enjoyed a bed to myself.

Today, no major plans. Went over to my parent's place to enjoy a meal. I ate a ton and went into a food coma. Watched tv and didn't really do much.

Went over to Kelc's afterward. We played some Super Mario Bros Wii.

Then home, games and snooze.

2011.04.09 Saturday

Once I got out of bed, I made an executive decision to go to Shipley's Do-Nuts, and grab some doughnuts. They were delicious and fresh, and surprisingly close by. Thanks Shipley for following me from Houston.

I played some games, then went to Barton Creek Mall with a friend to check out the CCS skate shop. Yeah that's right, the CCS skate catalog that everybody used to worship... now has a store in the mall. (Actually it has probably been there for a while now, I'm just slow at finding out this stuff.) So now you can order the same awesome gear without paying for the shipping. Grabbed a quick bite at chik-fil-a for lunchies. Lots of cuties around the mall checking out my friend.

Afternoon, met up with Ray and Marisa and family at the Brushy Creek Skatepark. We rolled around in the hot Texas sun, intimidated by kids who were clearly better than myself. The only thing I had up on them was my monster bunny-hop ollie.

Met up with Kelc's friends at the CP tennis courts to play Vennis. It was rather sunny and windy still, so the game was a tad more difficult than normal. I was dehydrated so I proposed a trip to Sonic for drinks. After drinking a large volume of sugary liquid, I felt pretty terrible. Then our group went to Wonko's to pick up an expansion pack to Catan to allow more people to play. I'd have to say Wonko's is a rather interesting place to shop.

Met up with Taylor, Ray and Marisa at Torchy's Tacos. I was still feeling pretty crappy from that Sonic slush, so I just ate a chips and queso.

After that, we went over to Anderson Mill Tavern to play some pool and hang out, listen to live music and whatnot. The band playing was rather talented, but I'm pretty sure they were playing louder than what is allowed for an indoor venue. My ears were almost bleeding.

Home early for Kelc, sleep.

Sleep

2011.04.08 Friday

I went to bed a bit early last night, and slept in some this morning. This actually helped some of my grogginess, but I also had the joy of taking an emergency break prior to leaving for work. You win some, you lose some.

At work, everybody backed out on playing football today. Instead I got to go out for lunch to Zen. At some point they decided to change their menu, so I can't find the dish I once loved. Stopped by guitar center for some strings and playing around. Then back to work.

Spent the evening playing Minecraft and listening to Radio Lab, an NPR show. I probably should be working on homework, but hey it's friday.

Ate some leftovers, took a mini nap, took another emergency break, then went out to the Hideout for drinks and fun. I showed up late and didn't stay for long. I'm probably a buzzkill, but didn't order any drinks or really feel like doing much. Instead, I took Habs home and went over to Paul's to see how he is doing. Watched a little bit of Dick Tracy and saw Madonna's naughty bits.

Home, sleep.

2011.04.07 Thursday

This day feels like a lost day. Things at work just felt like they weren't getting anywhere.

At home, I watered my plants and got crackin' on some Google Sketchup models. If you are curious, you can check out the work here. Nothing all that fancy.

Kelc, Habs and myself went to go play some Vennis at the Cedar Park courts. On the way there, I had an emergency to take care of, but everything went better than expected. At the courts, we got in about 20 minutes of play time before they shut off the lights. Terrible.

Back home, cooked up some meat and pasta. Then off to bed.

2011.04.06 Wednesday

Hump dizzle.

Work was slightly frustrating. I like to get stuff done, but some people like to talk about getting stuff done and whine about random stuff. I don't know, maybe I'm not that great in a big business setting. I'm a worker. Oh well. Let's hope I continue to have things to work on.

After work, went for a skate session and took care of my plants. Played L4D2 with Mark after having troubles burning a DVD. Weird to think how years ago, it was amazing to be able to burn a DVD, now it is just commonplace.

Went out to Pei Wei with Kelc for dinner. Yum. Ate way too much. Fortune: "Do not let great ambitions overshadow small success."

Home, sleep.

2011.04.05 Tuesday

Not surprisingly, I am tired this morning. I sat in bed listening to the radio for a lot longer than normal.

On the plus side, today there is a woot-off. Make sure you keep F5'ing to get that bag of crap.

Work, then class.

At home, grabbed a snack then took care of my plants. I planted some cilantro and okra, watered my tomato plants and pepper seedlings. I hope I get at least something spicy to eat this summer.

I had a date planned with Habs and Marky for Left 4 Dead 2. We spent a chunk of the evening trying to beat Dark Carnival on Expert (again, for some of us).

Watched a bit of TV and did some workouts during commercial breaks. Then bed.

2011.04.04 Monday

Bleh. I couldn't sleep last night, which translates to a gross morning. Not only that, but it feels super humid everywhere, and temps are all off.

Worked an extended day, diving further into a project to try and make some headway. It seems weird to try hard at this point, because technically they have already populated a list of who is eligible for the axe.

Hop, skipped and jumped over to the softball fields for our flag football game. The weather was all over the place, cold, gusty, non-gusty, warm, sunny, cloudy, you name it. Somehow, we still pulled through with a W, so now we are 3-1. Not bad. Hopefully next week we will have some more players to swap in and out so we don't wear out as fast.

Afterwards, we went to Doc's to celebrate. I had a Flowda Plowda (Flauta Platter). Good choice by Taylor.

Home, sleep.

2011.04.03 Sunday

Woke up late. Decided to not go to the UT Spring Game. I'm feeling pretty lazy today.

Played a lot of L4D2. Sat around.

Kelc came over after work, we tried to watch an episode of Smallville, but both ended up falling asleep.

Ate Freebirds for dinner, then played games and sat around more. Simple day.

2011.04.02 Saturday

Woke up early because Kelc had to wake up for work, which led me to watch the remainder of the Smallville episode that I didn't quite finish last night. I also played some Minecraft and L4D2, and was done before it was 9am. Crazy right?

I spent the day over at my parent's house, helping out with yard work and plants and things. My dad has quite a few vegetable options going strong.

Later on, after Kelc was off of work, we got together and went out for drinks and food at Mesa Rosa with my parents. Good times.

2011.04.01 Friday

Work was difficult today. APRIL FOOLS! Didn't have work today. Booya.

Woke up and picked up some car parts and things.

Went home, started cracking into some panels and unscrewing bolts and whatnot. I ended up stripping the hell out of a nut that holds up a measly bracket. At least I still was able to finish the job. Here's all what I did:
- Replaced cabin air filter
- Replaced air filter
- Replaced wiper blades
- Got car inspected
- Washed car

I didn't really spend much time online today. Normally there are a bunch of cool April Fool's jokes or things going on. Guess I just disconnect whenever I'm not at work.

Met up with Rudy for dinner. Yeah, Rudy from college. I haven't seen that guy in forever. Well, we actually made it a couples date, Rudy and Christine, myself and Kelcey. We went out to Z Tejas for dinner and drinks. That was my first time going there. After dinner, we went to Amy's Ice Cream for dessert.

Twas a good night.