Conclusion of Variety

Last week Stephanie, Erik, Michelle, Jonathan and his dad, and I went Whale Watching. A bunch of us had the rain checks from last year. However, this trip wasn’t as good even though we did see a whale, well, at we got to see it spray up about 2 ft. Very anticlimatic and Stephanie got sick.

On Friday I rented two racquets. A Wilson N-Code 98 and a Babolat Aero Pro Drive. On Saturday I took them out and hit with them and decided I liked the Babolat more (which also happened to be $60 more) and Stephanie bought it for me for my b-day. I pick it up today strung and ready.

This is all to get ready for the big tournament in two weeks in which my tennis group is suppose to play the UCSD Chinease Tennis Club. I playing doubles with a guy named Tan. We played together for the first time on Saturday and did ok. We won our game 6-4 (0-6) 6-2.

Yesturday I went ahead and put a deposit down on a Scion xA (manual, silver). I’ve been going through the process of buying a new car for over a month now and looked at a number of vehicles. I decided on this one because I wanted something compact with decent mileage but still looks and feels good. Also, Scion had fixed prices so I didn’t have to worry about haggling. Actually, I was pretty much sold when the sales guy told me he can install and ipod hook up and I can change the songs using the steering wheel. I also get 9 free months of Satellite radio. I pick up the car in two weeks.

Nothing huge has been going on. I’m currently thinking about buying a new car. I’ll being going to the credit union soon to see if I apply for a loan. If that is successful then I’ll probably be getting a new car soon. Else, I’ll be waiting a year and fixing up my new car.

In the past few weeks I went and saw: Brokeback Mountain, Transamerica, Underworld Evolution and a play: Biederman and the Firebugs. “Biederman” was a disappointment and was real hokey without any charm. Things like the Greek chorus would distract from the action instead of add to it.

I did finally start my PHP/SQL class. I was suppose to take this last fall but due to some confusion in my schedule (accidentally signed up for the Outlook class) I wasn’t able to. However, everything is fine this time around. The class is 100% online and is basically, read the book, read the webpage, due the assignment. The due the assignment is the important part.I don’t find programming and webdesign fun, but I means to an end to present information. So, the only way I’ll learn web technolgoies is if I have a project to present something or I have to work for a grade.

So, I found that the web class is perfect for me because I can’t teach myself something unless their is a grade at the end.

Nothing else really going on. January has been real slow with just normal stuff like tennis, and rpgs. Some good stuff coming up include my 30th b-day, new car, new tennis raquet.

On Sunday Stephanie ran the Carlsbad Half Marathon. What made this different was that I decided to tag along. This required that I get up a 4:45am with her. We got up, I turned on the essetial coffee maker, luckily remembered to put some clothes on and headed out.

We got there right around 6:00 and met up with her running training group who had a pavilion. Somehow we managed to kill 1 1/2 hours. About 10 minutes before the race started Erik met up with me and we head for the start line. The race starts and about a kazillion people poor out. After the start Erik and I head for breakfast.

We get back about an hour later, the 1st place guy for the half marathon had just come in. We watch for an hour as more people poor in until Stephanie comes around just over 2 hours. I yell out to her but she doesn’t seem to notice. Then Erik yells out with his uber booming voice and she waves.

On Saturday and Wednesday I got to play a bunch of tennis which was fun. Saturday I played around 3 hours and found out my group has tournaments which they had the final that day. I got to play a singles game both days and did real well.

Upon reading the blogs of some friends Kurt and Joe have both had really good years. I think I have, too. This I find funny because we are all pretty far seperated geographically. Why would we all have good 05. If GWB had been removed I could have blamed but that but alas, no such luck. Is it the economy, or did we all just get our shit together. Who knows.

Anyway, I ended up having a four day weekend. I went and saw two movies: Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe and Munich. Saturday I played some tennis but had to cut out early because Steph’s mom was coming at 11am for lunch. When I got back I found out she wasn’t coming. Stephanie and I went to fun party at Liz and Andy’s where we had a blind beer taste test. I got trashed after tasting 10 beers and had to slow down. Sunday I hung out with Erik and got a call from work saying we had Monday off. So, I stayed home and took it easy watching movies, and reading.

So, I look forward to the new year. I don’t have any big expecatation nor am I making any resolutions. I’ll stick with the little goals a constantly make for myself.

I am finally recovering from a cold which more or less lasted the weekend and I slowly felt a little better each day. I had a good Christmas anyway.

Friday night I took Stephanie to Mr. A’s. A fancy restaurant (possibly the most fancy restaurant I’ve ever been to) for her birthday dinner. We even dressed up. However, upon dressing up I could not find my good shoes so we had to drive out to the storage unit and find them.

Saturday morning I wasn’t feeling much better. I got up and did some last minute Christmas shopping because Stephanie’s mom was suppose to come down for dinner. Unfortunatly, she got real sick and decided to stay home. I also found out the Stephanie’s mom and I both got Stephanie the same gift. So, I returned and bought a wireless router and set up my computer and Stephanie could use her laptop anywhere in the apartment. We spent the evening listening to a Christmas “Prairie Home Companion” and eating Zeti, an Italian dish that was a Christmas Eve tradition in Stephanie’s family.

Christmas morning we opened gifts and layed around until we had to drive up to LA to have Christmas dinner with Stephanie’s dad and the rest of the family. I got to meet aunts, uncles, and cousins who were all real friendly.

My favorite day had to be yesturday when my old friend Kurt came down to San Diego. Kurt, Erik and I hung out most of the day and we drove around getting sushi and stopping by the gaming store, frys, and the beach. Finished up the day by having some Mexican food and a margarita at “Casa de Pico.”

I got sick on Monday. It was bizarre because normally I feel it coming. This time it just hit me, one moment I feeling great, next I’m all sick. I took half they day off on Wednesday which was the night we were suppose to see Santaland Diaries which was written by David Sedaris.

I had to see this play so Stephanie, my stuffy head, and I went to see the play. It was a lot of fun. It was a single act play that was originally just a short piece by David Sedaris. It was all about a 35 year old guy who is looking for work as a soap opera actor but ends up working at Macy’s as an elf in Santaland. Well performed and brilliantly written. It even had a nice set which it didn’t really need. The acting and writing were so powerful it could have just been the actor on stage.

When we got back Stephanie’s parking spot had been taken again. About three weeks ago someone parked in Stephanie’s spot while I was gaming. When I got back she was frantic as she had the car towed, but the owner came out and insisted that the car was in her spot (she lived in unit 32 and therefore parked in spot 32). However, this was not the case. She ended up bringing the cops into it and the cop requested that Stephanie bring out proof of the parking spot. This is when I walked in while she was shuffling through her mortgage papers looking for parking documentation. Stephanie finally found it after the car and tow truck left.

Two days later the woman comes banging at our door a 5:30 in morning. We answer and she tells us someone us towed her vehicle and came to the door because she knew that Stephanie was on the board. Later, Stephanie requests and receives the documentation of all assigned parking. We thought we heard the end of it…

Upon see the car once again parked in Stephanie’s spot she decided to knock on her door first. Stephanie rings the doorbell, on one answers. I knock on the door… no one answers but the door creeks open. We shut it and once again tow her car.

At 6:30 this morning we hear ring and knocking at the door. We answer it and once again it is the woman upset that we towed her car. She said something about her roommate being confused and how the entire thing has been confusing and if it was her she was just move to another spot instead of towing a car. We don’t feel sorry for her and tell show her the spot she is suppose to be in. However, she claims that she got towed from her designated spot. We tell her it isn’t our problem and she should get it figured out. If she parks in our spot we will tow her. She left pissed.

On Saturday I had two holiday parties to attend. One was hosted by a Weight Watchers coworkers of Stephanie’s, named Michelle. The party was a potluck and there was a ton of great food. Michelle made sure my glass was full. After and hour I had two glasses of wine and then show brought out the eggnog/rum mix and I had to partake of that. At the time the started an “Aggresive Gift Exchange.” We couldn’t participate because we had to leave for the other party soon. However, 5 minutes before we leave Michelle comes up to me to take my glass and comes back with it filled with more eggnog/rum. When we left I was pretty fucked up.

And we arrive at my company Christmas Party. It was being hosted by our General Manager. I was already stuffed and drunk but that didn’t stop me and I drank and ate more. We did another “Aggresive Gift Exchange” but this time we got to participate. The game is too much fun with silly gifts that you get to steal. I ended up with a box of wine, and Stephanie ended up stealing a “My Girl” DVD to get the game rolling. However, the gift I put out got some attention as it was a TRIO-Bear from cafepress which had our company logo and a retail fixture on it.

Last Wednesday Stephanie and I left for Las Cruces, NM for Thanksgiving. We arrived in El Paso around 1:30pm and my brother picked us up. Stephanie got to experience the wonderful drive from El Paso to Las Cruces, including the stinky cow farm on your way into town.

We got lunch and then took a tour of town. We also stopped by “My Bookstore” and I had again brought used books with me. I grabbed a few books and Stephanie grabbed 4 or 5 and cut herself off. Now she knows the true power of My Bookstore.

We drove around town a little more getting the official Las Cruces overview from my dad who stopped and picked Stephanie her first cotten flower. We then went and ate at El Patio, famous for it New Mexican cuisine. I got a burrito covered in Red Chili that I ended up paying for the next 2 days.

On Thanksgiving I played tennis with my dad. We then sat around and watched football and bad movies and had dinner.

On Friday we went to Carlsbad Caverns as it is the coolest thing in NM. I think everyone had a goodtime as the Caverns are just amazing. Later that evening Stephanie had caught a cold which made her feel bad for the rest of the trip.

On Saturday she got enough energy to head out to White Sands which just the two of us headed out to. We didn’t spend much time there as the sands are amazing but there isn’t anything to do unless you want to slide or jump off dune, or maybe go Jesus and walk into the horizon (I’ve actually seen two people do this).

The wind had just started to pick up when we decided to leave. We could see the sand getting kicked up. We stopped by the visitor center and as we walked out it was blowing hard. As we drove over the pass we could see the entire Valley was covered in dirt. The wind continued all night keeping me up until 2:30am and went through the next day.

On Sunday we took it easy because it was windy and Stephanie was still feeling bad. We did get breakfast out and I had a breakfast Casadilla with green chili. I normally never eat green chili but they gave it to me and it was ok.

We got back exhausted and glad to be back in our own bed.

Inbetween moving I decided to take a break and head out to Gencon Socal. However, this time it wasn’t to be all fun and games, this time it was to work with the team at Dream Pod 9. I have always wondered what it was like to work a convention or in the gaming industry and this way I can do both.

I left on Thursday around 11:30 just finishing up a Jovian Chronicles adventure I was going to run at the con. I got there around 1 and after checking into the hotel room we picked up our badges and then went to set up our booth. I had never seen a convention in the set up stage with forklifts, boxes, trash everywhere. It took us about 2 hours to set up.

When we finished we headed out to dinner and I ran into some friends, Andy and Andy who I game with. After dinner I met up with them at the “True Tavern”, which was a bar dressed up like a tavern and the lights were turned low. After that we got tickets for True Dungeon and then a few of us went over to Downtown Disney.

Friday we headed over to our booth at 10. Working the booth was boring as it was real slow both Friday and Sunday. At 1pm I went to run my Jovian Chronicles game but I only had one player show up, one of the Andy’s. Later Jonathen went up to run Tribe 8 and no one showed up for his game. We were both annoyed. Later in the evening we did “True Dungeon” and then had some pizza.

Saturday morning I played in a Shadowrun game which starts in 3rd edition and ends in 4th (both rules and setting). I spent the rest of the day working the booth and at 7pm we went to run a 12 person Heavy Gear Miniature tournament. I ran a got the guys some taco bell (there was no time to stop and eat) and then went to get a burger and beer with the Andys and another friend Mike.

Sunday I got up early again to run Jovian Chronicles and again no one showed up. Ditto for Jonathan’s Tribe 8 game. Stayed until 12 and then left.

Total Swag from con: Dreaming Cities, Delirium and supplement, Burning Wheel, In Spectres, some Vampire tES cards, 2 Dork Tower graphic novels.

When I got back I got some dinner with Stephanie and then it was off to the Nine Inch Nails concert again. It was fun and they finished the show. Best effects I’ve seen at a concert. I loved it.