Partially Moved In To The Coolest Place Ever...

And that's basically all I really have time to say... Finally got all the wiring done, and now trying to unpack everything else... Have to be up at 7am to work my shift on the move-in crew and I probably won't get this squared away until around 1 or 2... Lots of stories to tell, basically all great news, the more I learn about the way this year is going to be the more I look forward to it. More when time allows.

Back in SB, Sort Of...

Well, I got bored with the whole waiting game, so I decided to just get off my ass, get packed, and come up a day early. Of course, I can't move in until sometime tomorrow, but I figured I could hang out here with my friends rather than hang out at home alone. Busy abusing their internet connection, since it's here.

Ride up was pretty uneventful, other than almost getting screwed when traffic went from 80 to 0mph north of the airport even faster than usual, and the gigantic Ryder truck behind me had to swerve onto the shoulder since it couldn't brake fast enough. Ended up basically next to my car, pretty nerve racking. Had my usual cold cut trio at Subway on monterey cheddar, mmmm mmmm good. Pink lemonade to wash it down, and I was a happy camper for the rest of the way. Subs are good one handed driving food, and the one I always go to is just about right at the halfway point, so it works out well.

So, my entire life is basically in the back of my van, waiting to get moved into my new home. And oh what a home it is. I had to go up to campus to take care of a form for the Air Force through the Registrar's office, and decided to go see if I could peek in at what the new dorm looks like. Apparently construction is still not quite done, although the insides of the buildings look squeaky clean, they're still working on some of the terrain and walkways outside. The greatest thing about the fact that there were still hundreds of people workin away was that all the buildings were unlocked. I headed into mine and found my room, and proceeded to analyze its layout in the hall and try to visually gauge how big it was. Turns out since I'm on an interior corner I have a hallway on two sides, a bathroom on the third, and a window out to an open grass area and pathway. Therefore, no possibility of someone loud on the other side of the wall. Very cool. After wanding around and finding an open room it suddenly occurred to me that mine might be unlocked. I went back and tried the handle, and upon looking in, was quite astonished.

I'd heard they were bigger, but this was still shocking. You could fit two of my old rooms in this one. Actually a little more. It's a little deeper, but at least twice as wide. If that wasn't enough, there's then an alcove in the back left where an entire extra long bed fits lengthwise front to back of the room. So not only do I have twice the floorspace, if I bunk the bed I even have the room under there. I could literally fit like 100 people in my room if they all got cozy. Apparently I'm going to need more furniture. I'm literally overjoyed at the way things turned out. Better than expectations by far.

Tomorrow is the fun part, moving everything in and finding out just how cool I can make it. Going to be pretty busy over the next couple days, will update when the opportunity presents itself.

A Special Kind Of Person...

The ride home is always a particularly pensive time for me. Whether it's a commute home from work, a short distance from a friend's place after dropping them off, or coming back to LA from SB, I always tend to spend the majority of the time deep in thought. Tonight was no different, except it was happier than usual, in a way. It's amazing how a simple compliment, or a gesture of caring, can affect me. It generally just takes a minor statement from an important source to keep me smiling all the way home. In other instances like tonight, it's just a hug, that ends up making me feel inherently warm for the whole ride home. During times of lonliness, a hug from a special kind of person can do more than words ever could. I really can't say enough about the friend I was out with tonight. She's one of the few people in the world I feel utterly connected with, as if we're at the same point in our lives, the same maturity level, the same situation. When we hang out, it's nothing but smiles, I feel as comfortable with her as I would my own family. Unfortunately, I don't see her very often. There's not much I can do about that though, and it just makes the rare occurences even more memorable. I can tell that someone means a lot to me when during the ride home from time shared with them, I'm already missing them and their company, and looking forward to the next time we see each other.

I guess I sound pretty gushy. No, nothing's going on. Yes, she's the coolest thing since sliced bread. No, nothing's going on. Seriously. People talk about the concept of a soul mate, generally in reference to "the one" or their eternal love, somewhere out there in the world waiting to be found. I think of it differently, in terms of the idea that you can feel that someone is so important to you, that you couldn't live your life without them. I don't feel that there's only one singular soul mate for every person in the world, but I do feel I've found one of mine. She's someone I hope I keep in touch with, as the years go by. Sometimes to erase a year's worth of sadness, all you need is one smile, one kind word, or one loving hug.

I suppose there's the chance she might end up reading this at some point in the future, so I guess I'll just say thank you, for being you, an amazing person in general, and for being a part of my life.

Hopefully, Never Again...

After a immensely horrendous day, I called up my temp agency and left a message saying I was unable to work tomorrow and the next day, effectively going inactive. I'm basically just fed up with working. Today's job was just as bad as any of the others from this summer, and it's just not worth it to me. I'd rather get through the year with less money than suffer through more of that kind of thing. I look forward to just about everything about UCSB at this point. Waking up early, going for a morning jog, then hitting the reccen for a refreshing swim. Heading off to my "ready whenever I get there" breakfast and enjoying the morning paper. I'm even looking forward to class. Actual learning, rather than wasting my time completely just to make money. Even homework. Getting stuff done, moving on to other stuff, getting that done too. Heading to an intramural soccer game or friendly racquetball excursion that night. And the best part, knowing that if I open my door and walk down the hall or wander across a floor or two, there's always dozens of people around. Call me crazy, but I love dorm life. Everyone going through basically the same stuff, whether its a 2am fire alarm, or staying up until 4am to watch the US play in the World Cup. Late night Freebirds runs, or cramming for finals, there's always people. Depressing thing is that it's my last year. Going to do everything I can to make sure this one is by far the most enjoyable. You only live life once, as far as I know.

Going to through out some tunes that have recently invaded my playlist, from "the other side" of Kid Rock we have "Only God Knows Why" and "Lonely Road of Faith," both of which have been sung along to many a time in the hallways as people walked past my door. Also an oldie but goodie, "There is Love" by Gordon Lightfoot, which your parents have probably heard if you haven't.

Actually, when I look back at my four years of college life, I think those will be the best memories. The spontaneous moments. Groups of guys in the hallway, belting out the tune reverberating through the walls in whatever key they've random chose, creating a cornucopia of sound unique to that group, at that moment in time. The road trips, sun roof and windows down, belting out "Livin on a Prayer" or an equal outburst of a song. The walks along the peninsula in the moonlight, the personal conversations, the emotions shared.

I actually have a whole lot to say there, but I don't think this is the right time to go into it. Besides, after this year I'll have a lot to add. Check back in June, and something tells me I'll have an awesome remembrance on display.

Another Weekend Trods By, But It's The Last One!

Did inventory on all the boxes I had sitting out in the garage, going through my checklist to figure out what I have to go shopping for... Time will be of the essence assuming i actually work Mon Tue and Wed this week, Thur will be the only day to pull everything together. I'd put it at about 50/50 that I'll actually work all 3 days though. The commute will probably be like 2 hours each way, and with 10-6:30 being the hours that's like 13 hours out of the house. I'll probably call the agency up tomorrow midday sometime and say sorry, find someone else to work the next two days, if it sucks that bad. They aren't even paying for parking, and they didn't even tell me what I was being paid, I guess I should have asked. It's never very tactful though. I guess I don't really care after this I'll hopefully never temp again. No need to burn bridges, but they really need to find people closer to these jobs to fill them with anyway. I'd be quite glad to use the remaining days burning cds and getting organized for school, I don't really need any more money. Managed to burn 18 movies today, but I have another 18 or so to go. That's not even counting all the other stuff I need to burn. The goal is to clear up massive amounts of space each year to start the school year, so at least for a while I can abuse the connection there for all its worth without having to worry about lack of space slowing me down.

While I burned I finally watched Casino which is pretty old but ended up being worth my time. I'l go with about 4.5 M's on this, definitely entertaining, De Niro is always fun to watch, and hadn't seen Joe Pesci in much since his Home Alone fame. Hard to be intimidated by a supposed mobster muscle man who's that tiny, though.

Guess I'll turn in early, going to probably leave at like 8:30, and I'll still probably end up late. Like I said, I'll take the money if they give it to me, but if it crosses the line to where its not worth it to me anymore, I'll probably end up bailing after the first day. I'm not usually so apathetic, but after four summers of temping, this one has been by far the worst, and has just given me even greater motivation to avoid ever being involved with corporate America again.

On a brighter note, I got a really kind e-mail from a friend last night, and that kind of thing really makes my day. I was wrong about a decision I'd made a few weeks ago, and I apologized. Those who know me or anyone else in my family for that matter know that earning apologies is generally like pulling teeth. I felt one was merited in this situation however. Glad to see they decided to accept it, and make me feel better at the same time. In the words of my pal Pumbaa "You've got to put your behind, in your past, Urrrr, Uhhh..." :)

Friday The 13th, Good Thing I Wasn't Doing Anything Important.

Felt amazingly good sleeping in today. I even woke up at like 6 by myself, then like 8 by myself, but purposely kept falling back to sleep until like 10. Then eventually had to get up for a dentist appointment. Found out that apparently I'll be working next week Monday Tuesday and Wednesday, up in Westwood. So instead of sitting on the 110, I'll be sitting on the 405. Change of scenery anyway. Finally, one week until I'll be back at school. Counting the days. The minutes even. 1080, give or take.

Headed over to see the West High football game tonight, and support the ol alma mater. We ended up taking a huge lead by halftime, and wiped the floor with South by a score of 56 or so to something smaller. The numbers got big, I lost count. Speaking of smaller, high school students seem to be headed that way. Couldn't possibly be me getting older. Some interesting fashion statements seem to be "in" as well. A few of the so called "cool" guys that walked by wearing the latest duds literally almost had me rolling. Utterly ridiculous. Whatever keeps them in the "in crowd" I guess. Also ran into the little sister of a friend of mine, who's not so little anymore. She recognized me even though I hadn't seen her in 5 years or so, I figure that's a good sign, I haven't changed as much as I thought maybe? It was her older sister I went to Magic Mountain and had a blast with a few weeks ago. Also ran into a few of my buddies who I've known through various things who are still in high school. That and was forced to make small talk with various sets of parents who apparently recognized me as well. It's rough being famous. Heh, well maybe in my head.

Changed my AIM profile for the first time in a long while, it needed it. I'd like to think I'm no longer searching for anything and the title of this page is now irrelevant as well, but subconsciously that'll never be the case.

September 11th, Plus One Year.

The young man steps out from the doorway of the parking structure, into the chorus of taxi's horns and roaring engines. The sunlight streams between two of the skyscrapers, blinding him temporarily. He walks towards the corner, past a shady niche in a nearby building where an elderly homeless man has taken up refuge from the sun. Squinting upwards, he faintly mouths the words "Good for you, sonny" as the young man passes by. He arrives at the crosswalk, and waits for the signal to change. It does, and he and the rest of the wave of men and women step forth into the street. Another wave approaches from the other side, and he happens to meet the gaze of a middle-aged African-American man in an expensive business suit. He smiles and gives a thumbs up sign as their paths cross. As the young man approaches the building at which he'll begin his day of work, he greets the door-opener as he has each day, for many days prior. "Way to represent, Sir" is the reply he receives as he enters the building. He pushes the elevator button, and while he waits for the car that will expediate his journey to the 29th floor, he notices a young woman approach, wearing a bright red dress, with a blue blouse. "I like that" she says with a grin, indicating his clothing. "Thanks" he says, grinning back, as the bell dings and they both step into the elevator. As he doors close, the metallic surface shows a crystal clear reflection of the young man staring back at him. Glancing down, he acknowledges with pride the bold American flag emblazoned across the chest of his t-shirt with three huge letters. U. S. A.

December 7th. June 6th. November 22nd. Jaunary 28th. And now, September 11. Every generation has its Day of Days. You may not know the significance of all the above dates. That's probably because you weren't alive, then. For those who were, these dates probably mean more than most when they write them on a check, a homework assignment, or any other document. An entire nation was affected, on each of these tragic days. People say that this is the first time the United States has ever been downright attacked on our own soil. Clearly, they've forgotten 1941, when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. They say that this will be the most daring War the United States has ever been involved in, and the most necessary. Cleary, they've forgotten the most famous Day of Days of them all, D-Day 1944. They say it's the first time the nation as a whole has grieved. Yet everyone knows where they were in 1963, when Kennedy was shot. They even say the reason it's so painful is the fact it was so shocking, so unexpected, and that it's more saddening because the people involved had no idea it was coming. Although I was too young to fully understand, I remember watching the video of the Challenger explosion in 1986, which unexpectedly took the lives of those much too young to lose them. Unfortunately, there is now another tragic date that will be remembered, year after year. I wonder where I'll be in fifty years, and how many of these days I'll have lived through, only to have them haunt my memories.

When considering what I would write tonight, I was at a loss. Just about everyone in the world has said something about that day, what it meant, what it will lead to, how it affected them. The truth is, the latter is where I differ from the majority. I was lucky enough to not know a single human being personally that perished that day. The emotional and psychological loss that thousands of people across America have felt for the past year, is foreign to me. I know only the numbers involved, but can't imagine the faces, or the people, behind the 3,025 dead. I've read more about September 11th than any other day in my lifetime. The magazines, the newspapers, the media in all its forms, have helped me learn more about what happened that day, and helped me understand what my fellow Americans are feeling.

September 11th for me, was simple. I woke up at 11am or so, Pacific time. It was all over. I saw nothing live, witnessed nothing as it happened. As people died instantly when the planes hit the towers, I slept. As thousands of others died in the aftermath, I slept. I know not what I dreamt of that night, but I certainly had no idea that devestation was taking place on the other side of my own country. Reading my blogs from that day, and the next, and later that week, it only took me a few days to get back to business as usual. Same old jokes, same old stories, same old visible me. Invisibly, I was different. I remember thinking it would be a long time before I could really vocalize what I was feeling. I've always been somewhat articulate, but the situations in which I need to be most desperately, I'm always at a loss. There are many images from that day that are burned in my memory, but one more painfully affects me the most. The image of one of the thousands of people who had lost a loved one, holding up a picture to the camera, their husband most likely, with the words "Missing from Disaster" across the top. The look on their face on the surface is one of hope. Look closer though, and you can see that fear and a deeper sadness are taking over, even as we watch.

I can't even imagine what it must have been like to be there. To be the firefighters rushing toward the building after the first plane hit, thinking only of their job, and how to get it done, having no premonition that there might be a second plane, or that either building might actually collapse. To be the people in the street, staring upwards at flames a thousand feet above their heads. To be the people in the tower itself, feeling the initial explosion, confused, wondering, what would happen next.

As I sit here I'm watching the CBS special 9/11, for the second time. It's truly unbelievable. People from all over the world in the streets, afraid. I read a fact today, that people from 91 countries lost their lives. That number is staggering. This was not an attack on one nation's people. This was an attack that did not spare women, did not spare children, did not just kill U.S. citizens, and instead killed mankind indiscriminantly.

When asked why I've made the decision to join the military, one answer is easy. To defend this country to the best of my ability, and prevent this kind of terror from ever happening again. My generation was innocent to this point, living their lives as if they would never have to lift a finger in order to defend the freedom this country stands for. These attacks have shown that nothing comes free. I don't see myself ever being happy with a job where I merely reap the benefits of this country and its freedoms, without ever making any sacrifices to preserve them. Sitting in a cubicle somewhere, completely unaware that all over the planet, people are fighting to protect this bubble of a world we're living in. Maybe aware from a history book that sometime long ago, countless people died to create this country, and preserve its values. That oblivious kind of life is not one I will ever choose to lead.

Whether or not I spend my life following orders in the skies, or end up serving the country and its people in another form, such as firefighting, paramedics, or law enforcement, that's the only way I'll avoid having an empty feeling inside, an empty soul. This is not a perfect world. We can only try to pretend. We can only try to make it a better place for those that come after us. We can only try to prevent terrible things from happening to those we love. We can only try.

I feel like I have no right to be saying any of this. My life continues. Basically unaffected, on the surface.

To all those negatively affected by the greatest tragedy I've lived to see:

As time passes, all wounds heal. Scars remain. They serve as reminders of the past, so that we'll never forget.
You learn, you change, you remember, you live. Most importantly, you live. So many people lost the chance to do so, unwillingly. Too young, too soon. Never take for granted a day that you spend alive. Remember the terrible cost of freedom. Remember the terrible price of peace. Remember those who lost their lives, and those who were responsible.

Remember September 11th. May nothing like it ever come again.

The Day's Eve.

On this day at this time a year ago, I was in the dining room tinkering with new computer hardware, trying to get my computer working again.

It was a night like any other night. Unfortunately the next day would be different.

Unfortunately I'm working tomorrow, but will be writing on the subject tomorrow night.

Isn't It Time To Go Back Yet?

Another dull day at work, although less dull than usual. Spent most of the day downstairs in the Kaplan center in the mall running tests, which involves putting a scantron form through the machine and then waiting for it to print out an 8 page results form thingy... Over the past few days I've had to do about 400, and I have at least 300 more to go. Luckily since I'm down in the mall I'm not under any kind of supervision, so I have a good time chatting up a storm with the friendly people who man the front desk down there. That and lunch is closer, no wasted time in the elevator. I got my hours switched to 9:30 to 5:30, since this whole staying til 6 and not getting home until 7 thing is getting real old. I even got a dinner date for tomorrow! Well sort of. Anyway.

Finally got around to finishing Band of Brothers the other day, which I now consider pretty much required viewing for anyone pondering the military track through life. Even if you're not, it's quite powerful and educational viewing, I learned a lot about the second World War that I had never been taught previously. Going to have to get around to watching a lot of the war movies I've missed out on over the years, including a few of the classics. The miniseries though was very well done, which didn't surprise me given it was directed by Tom Hanks and produced by Steven Spielberg.

Under two weeks to go I guess, can't wait to see how huge my new room is.

The Theme Song Ends...

Luck was a lady... this morning...

Turned out the last table I played at ended up the best, as I walked away with loads of twenties after an excellent stint of blackjack on the way to the car. Was just using a 7 for 5 coupon thing, ended up getting up to forty bucks, then decided to throw the rest all up for the last hand since the father was in a hurry, and low and behold got blackjack and walked away with a fat wallet. Always nice to end your tirp on a high note. That put me just about even on the trip, and given the room was free, and the father was picking up the food and gas bills, so everything worked out quite well.

Also headed out on Saturday to visit the grandparents, which became interesting since we took my grandfather's old rifles, shotguns, and various other weapons out to the shooting range in the middle of the desert (he lives in Boulder City, near Lake Mead and Hoover Dam about a half hour out of Vegas) and blew some stuff around. I'd never fired a gun in my life prior, so it took me a bit to get the hang of things, but it was surprisingly easier than I expected. The crowning moment was when we set a 7up can I'd just finished drinking about twenty five yards out and braced it with a rock, and I backed off a ways and fired off the first 7 shots of an 8 shot magazine, and managed to put them all clean through the can, incluidng one right through the middle of the red dot. :) The 7th shot knocked it over, so the silver bottom was facing me, so I managed to put the final shot through the bottom of it slightly off center, tearing a hole clean down the side of the can. The .22 I was firing for that clip ended up being my favorite, was quite fun. Also got a chance to blast a 12 gauge, and figure out the definition of the term "recoil." I avoided the 16 gauge after that, especially once the .22 pistol we had brought as well blew out my hearing for a good couple of minutes. That thing was LOUD. Hearing protection is always an intelligent thing to bring. So needless to say I got pretty comfortable with the concept of knowing how to shoot a gun, should the situation ever require it.

Interesting thing about driving around with my Dad in Vegas, is he's one of those ppl who just refuses to read signs or follow directions. There was not a SINGLE parking structure in which we didn't go the wrong way down an aisle, through a Do Not Enter sign, or end up having to back up a great distance to fix a mistake. That and of course the first available spot close to the elevator is never the one we take, as there's always supposedly a "closer one," which we spend several minutes circling trying to find. Then there's the freeway exploits, swerving around trying to find the "best lane." Nothing like a little extra stress on vacation. The concept of utter relaxation is lost on many people I guess.

Who knows, maybe one of these months they'll send me another thing for free rooms, and I'll get to go back. It's a very long drive from school though, would have to have an entourage along with me to keep it interesting. :) Believe it or not I have a friend or two who have never been there, boy are they in for a treat.

Alas, I go back to work tomorrow, it was a three day weekend for me, and it passed so quick. Luckily squeezed in a haircut today, it was gettin pretty ridiculous. I'm quite cheerful at the moment, hope working doesn't downgrade the mood.

The Theme Song Starts to Play...

Luck be a lady...
Luck be a lady...
LUCK BE A LAAAAADYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY, TONIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIGHT!

I'm off all, back Sunday a richer/poorer man.

Bubble Here, Bubble There.

You know how when you take the SAT you have to go through like a whole page of bubbling your first name, last name, birthdate, gender, school address, etc etc etc? How it's really boring and teacher spends like an hour explaining how to do it? Well it's officially, about 10% of you are complete morons. My job for yesterday and today has been to go through a stack of about 600 of these scantron forms, and fix all the mistakes. There's people who choose to do every other column, randomly on either the pink or white alternating columns generally depending on their gender. There are people who write it and don't bubble in at all, or people who bubble without writing. There are even people who bubble in all the letters of their name in the SAME column, making it impossible to tell what their name really is if they didn't write it in. My fun doesn't stop there though, I then get to write in and bubble in a four digit test code on every single sheet, luckily it's always the same. No such luck for the ten digit student ID however. After alphabetizing the entire stack of 600, I then give the first student the number 0000000001, the second 0000000002, and so on until 0000000600. That's right, I have to bubble in all ten bubbles for each of those. So fourteen bubbles per page, and yesterday I finished about 200 students, so roughly 2800 bubbles. Not including the fixing the names fiasco. My hand felt like it was going to fall off, being ambidextrous would have been nice. And I still have the largest stack to go. Then I get to go downstairs and run them all one at a time through the feeder to score them. I hear I'll get to do some of that this morning before I go back to bubbling.

The good news is, I was sent a thingy in the mail that gave me two free nights at the Stratosphere in Las Vegas on Friday and Saturday night. So I said I was "unavailable" for work tomorrow. I suppose the $150 I make over these couple days will be nice in the long run. I'll probably even go back on Monday just because I don't have anything better to do. This weekend though, I'm gonna relax and live the good life. Even with the concept of free, didn't find anyone interested, mainly due to the short notice and people having other plans. So it looks like myself and the father will be trooping out there, which is nice because then I don't have to drive, and can get some quality book reading in.

Lastly, I'd like to give a booyah to Kelly Clarkson for taking home the American Idol crown last night... I haven't been a diehard fan, just started watching in the last couple weeks, but still witnessed some pretty amazing performances. Downloaded both her upcoming single "A Moment Like This" and her version of Mariah Carey's "Without You", the latter of which is my favorite performance from the entire show. Also going to plug a song I've been trying to remember to download forever and finally got around to snagging. Live's "Lightning Crashes" is one of those songs where the melody is so simple, and yet you can't help but sway along with your eyes closed, envelopd by the music. It gets louder later, but my favorite part is those opening riffs.

Now it's off to work, all the live long day.

A Welcome Change.

Got my housing packet info thingy in the mail yesterday, and received quite a surprise when I opened it. Back in the Spring when I applied I put down Manzanita Village, the brand new still being built at the time dorm area as my first choice, and San Miguel, the dorm I'd been in for three years running, as my second choice. When I got the initial acceptance of my contract, it showed me as getting a single again in San Miguel. I spent the next few months talking myself out of Manzanita, for reasons such as the possibility construction wouldn't be finished, major utilities or the internet might not be working, and reasons such as a greater distance from most classes, and the 217 freeway, as well as proximity to IV. Well, it turns out something got bumped along the way, and I ended up getting into Manzanita. There actually are a lot of pros to go with the cons, the largest of which is that of the 800 or so slots available in that dorm, only 400 will be given to freshmen, so there will be a lot more upper classmen there. I've dealt with freshmen for a while, and I'm pretty bored of them. Another plus is that everything will be brand new, assuming it's all done and working. I'll be eating at Carrillo instead of Ortega, which is the brand new dining commons that's been under construction for over a year since it was previously an eatery for those living in San Rafael. The description seems to say on a daily basis things will be "cooked to your order" so to speak, including stations like Mongolian Barbeque. My building is the closest one to the food, which should be nice. :)

So, for all your stalking needs, I recommend checking out the Las Encinas Quad in Manzanita Village at UCSB, and I'll even narrow it down to Arguello House. To be even more discrete, I'll complain about how I did end up on the first floor. The good news is my building is four stories instead of three like most of them, but of the 17 buildings in the Village, mine has the smallest number of people. That means 40 people in the building divied up over 4 floors. In comparison, just on my floor back in San Miguel, there was 25 residents, with 50 total being on my "unit hall" of my floor and the female floor below us. Seems like there will be a lot less traffic, with only 10 people or so living on each floor. I'm wondering how the exterior door keys will work, if it will be the same one for only Arguello House, or all of Las Encinas Quad, or all of Manzanita Village. Needing a different key for each building would be pretty lame. You'd think they'd at least allow you into the buildings in your quad. More good news from the phone usage front, they've gotten rid of the old stupid way of hitting flash then dialing *01 to answer call waiting, now only the flash key is needed. That was really annoying, because no one ever did it right. So starting September 19th you can start mailing me at my new address at school.

PO Box 15324, UCSB
Santa Barbara, CA 93107

And the countdown begins. I'm up early because I'm working back downtown at the place I was for today, I figure more spending money isn't a terrible thing since I didn't have plans today anyway.

Bigger, Better, Beautiful.

That's right, I'm talking about my new monitor! AHAHAHA yes I'm sure at least half the people who read that sentence immediately moved on to another one of their bookmarks. Assuming I was bookmarked in the first place, hah! Anyway, after like years of mumbling about it, and countless hours surfing the web looking for the best deal, and a few times coming tantalizingly close to winning an auction and then losing, I've finally ended up with a flat panel monitor. Aesthetically, it's actually better looking than I thought it would be. It's the Dell2000FP, that's 20.1 inches viewable. The final kicker was the price, when the Dell site decided to cut the prices of all monitors by 25% for a short period of time, that placed the monitor only slightly more expensive than most 18 or 19 inch viewable panels. The main reason 20 is such a good size is that its native resolution is 1600 x 1200, which is a size you basically can't use on any smaller sized monitors, due to text and everything else being so tiny. I ended up gaining two inches on my old monitor, as well as losing the two feet of depth I used to have to deal with. It's lighter, will give me a ton more room, and its already very clear how much easier on the eyes it will be. Even after a few hours straight of gaming or staring at it, there's no noticable effects like the typical headaches or whatnot one would normally experience. And hey, it even draws like 90% less power or something, so when I start having to care about electric bills (i.e. when I'm paying them) it'll help! :)

So all those who come over to watch movies this year will be much more pleased with the new addition. Cost a pretty penny, but I consider it a very good investment, since I paid several hundred less than it sells for retail, and I'm planning to have it for quite some time, as I move around from place to place over the next few years. My eyes sure will be thanking me.

My physical got delayed, as my recruiter figured out I needed the full on flight physical and not the general one all the non-rated applicants go through, which is going to put it sometime in October. Which means a trip down to LA at some point, probably on a weekday when I'll be forced to miss class. Oh well, as long as I know in advance I can probably make arrangements to counteract any possible problems.

That was strange. A very loud airplane just passed over my house. I live very close to LAX, but I'm not in the flight path, so that's not a normal thing. Sounded like a very large jet. It's a different world we're living in, when the first thing that crosses my mind when I hear an unexpected sound of a plane in close proximity, is whether or not its headed for me.

Three Hundred Sixty Five Days of a Lifetime, in Words.

Believe it or not, I've been writing in this Blog for a year. Doesn't really seem like it. Reading the first entry, much of it would be identical if I was writing it as we speak. If you've actually made it through the whole thing I salute you, you've covered approximately 229 pages single spaced, and 529,000 plus characters. You're one of 3,400 plus people who've visited the page for one random reason or another, just short of 10 a day or so. Many of you probably happened upon this page from a random search engine query, such as one of the many hilarious one's I've reposted. Others might be friends of mine, or family. The truth is, although I do check the counter info on a regular basis, if that was all I was interested in, this blog wouldn't be here. I'd be filling it up with words I knew would generate hits from search engines, along with links, popups, and the other lame things sites do to gain hits. Instead, these pages are filled with words of my own, that I just felt like saying at the time. I often go back and read entries from a month prior, a few months prior, a year prior. The funny thing is, I input these things so fast, that even a few days later, reading the words makes me feel like I'm reading someone else's novel. I literally laugh at my own jokes. It's quite pathetic when you think about it.

Have I succeeded in what I set out to do? I think so. This has been a journal that could never be replaced by pen and paper. The amount of time saved that's allowed me to be as articulate or convoluted as I wish without straining my hands is uncountable. I have this backed up to two different hard drives, so even if something happens to the Blogger server or one of my drives, I'll still have this journal to look back on, to see what life was like during my junior year in college. That's over now, it's now the month of September, in a short twenty days I'm headed back to school. I have a new career goal, a new path to follow, a new life to lead. There will be new people to meet, old faces to recognize, plenty of work to do.

Looking back, it's been a pretty good year, as have all of my years of college. No personal tragedies, no horrific injuries or illnesses, and although there was both physical and emotional pain of various kinds, there was always a rainbow through the storm at some point. Sometimes a new day, sometimes a friend to help, sometimes just a sentence uttered by someone, that cheered me up like nothing else could.

September 1st, 2001, was ten days before the event that shook the foundation of this country. In that respect, the world is a very different place than it was when I started this Blog. Then again, I feel I've also changed as a person as a result. In a good way.

Here's to you, the Reader, for sharing this last year with me. Believe me, you aint seen nothing yet.

I mean really, one of these days/months/years I'll be filling this with pages and pages about an actual DATE! :)

Yes Sir Captain Sir.

Whole lot of firsts for me on Thursday. First time meeting a Captain in the AF, first time on an actual AFB, first time on the LA AFB, even though it's only like 10 minutes north of me. The day started with me travelling up to SaMo to finish filling out a lot of the holes in my paperwork, and finish squaring away my package for the Board. Got to answer all sorts of interesting questions like I had on many forms, more along the lines of "have you ever done anything bad, ever?" but also some new one's such as "are you opposed to being responsible for discharging a nuclear weapon on an enemy?" Much of it was psychological, questions about whether you're anti-war being the most important I'm sure. They had the big word for pacifist on there, treating it as a religion, asking if I was a member of that group. I have friends who are, but I have always felt the price of the lifestyle that we live and the peace that we live in, is war. Not all the time, not continuously, but at times it is necessary. Squared away all the physical paperwork, just have to call back on Monday since I never actually found out where to go for it next Thursday.

We then caravaned down to the Base since I wasn't entirely sure where I was going, which ended up being more interesting that usual because I had to cut someone off to stay behind the recruiter who had just dived down a random exit ramp, and then he proceeded to get cut off pretty horribly at least 3 times during the remaining journey. Ahhh L.A. drivers, they keep you on your toes. I was thinking it was going to be with an O-5 or 6 (Lieutenant Colonel or Colonel) but it ended up being with an O-3 (Captain). The ranks in the Air Force when it comes to officers go from O-1 (2nd Lieutenant) which you start out as immediately out of training, all the way up to O-10, with O-7 through O-10 reserved for the four levels of generals. I'm sure I would have been intimidated regardless of his rank. It kind of sucks to be a civilian, while your enlisted recruiter is going through his reporting statements and salutes and so forth, and you're standing there with your thumb up your nose wondering what you should be doing. He really made his best effort to make me feel comfortable though, and as a result I ended up not using the word Sir as much as I'd been planning to. Alas its not like I have any experience with the concept growing up, but I'm sure I'll learn it in a hurry when it becomes necessary. It really felt like an AcaDec interview all over again, except for the fact that it was about an hour instead of a timed seven minutes. Covered just about everything about me that could be said in that amount of time, focusing on my past performance in life, basically. I really feel it couldn't have gone any better, although I stumbled over trying to find the right word at times, my typical ability to blab up a storm about everything in a very articulate way with a multitude of sweeping hand gestures reigned supreme. He seemed genuinely interested in everything I said, and had clearly done many of these types of interviews before, it was clear his questions followed a predetermined path. Made me all giddy inside when he said out of the dozens of interviews that he'd personally handled and officers that he knew on a personal basis, my AFOQT scores were by far the best he'd ever seen or heard of.

So, I might as well explain how the selection process works. As previously mentioned mid October the Board meets (it's made up of O-6's) and rates all the applicants on three categorys. Multiple officers rate each person, and the scores are averaged. In each of the three categories, ratings are given that range from 2 to 3.3 in .1 increments (weird I know). Thus, the worst possible score is 6, and the best score being 9.9. The three categories are:

Education/Aptitude: This consists of Academic discipline, AFOQT scores, GPA, and Transcripts
Experience: This consists of Military Experience/Performance if prior, Letters of Recommendation, Demonstrated Leadership, Community/Base involvement, Athletics, and Skills/Hobbies.
Potential/Adaptability: Finally this consists of Evalutation of Interviewing Officer, Letters of Recommendation again, Work Experience, Communication Skills, and Law Violations.

One thing you have to remember though, is you're only competing against people in your category. So although the Non-Tech selection percentage in the last few boards had been between 15 and 30%, the Navigator selection percentage has remained steady at about 80 to 90%. With those numbers in mind, I find it hard to believe that I'll be in the lower 10 to 20% in any of the categories, and thus feel pretty good about my chances. You can now begin talking about counting my chickens before they hatch any time now.

November 7th is the day my life will now revolve around, although there might be delays. More later, this post is getting lengthy.

Progression

So, I can now move both arms individually without any kind of major pain. Haven't blogged for a few days because well, there was nothing to blog about. Just a lot of sitting around, taking a cool bath once or twice a day, unable to really do anything.

Last night I rewatched the first two episodes of Band of Brothers, the only two I'd seen previously. My plan is over the next few days to finish watching the series. Kind of sad I haven't gotten around to it sooner than this, given all the good things I've heard. Given my new career choice however, I'm going to make a point of watching these kinds of things, and although it will never tell me what it's really going to be like, I can at least see what it was like for the people who helped give me the way of life I currently lead.

Speaking of which, I received a phone call from my officer recruiter today, letting me know that someone had been forced to cancel their interview appointment for tomorrow at 1pm, and thus there was an available slot. I of course jumped at the chance, knowing this could really speed things up. So it appears I'm to be up at his office in Santa Monica tomorrow morning at 11am, in order to fill out a bunch more paperwork and finalize my package, then we'll drive over to LA AFB for the interview. I'm sure I'll be nervous, but no more nervous that I was during AcaDec interviews, when I knew I was being graded from the moment I stepped into the room until the moment I stepped out. With the amount of training I've had, it shouldn't be a problem. I'm sure I'll be practicing answers at some point today though. :) I also found out to my surprise that my physical has also been scheduled, for next Thursday Sept 5th. This is both good and bad news, good because it's sooner than I thought, bad because there's the possibility that the sunburn might still be around. Other than having to explain what happened, I don't see how that can affect me negatively though. It's just all the what ifs, that get you. I'm four pounds under the max weight, even with clothes on I'm a few under, and with a week to go I'm sure I can drop even further into the safe zone. Who knows, having not had a physical for about 5 years, there's always a chance they'll find something wrong I didn't even know about. The good news is that just about everything is waiverable, if you have the time and patience.

So it turns out that I will in fact have everything done before the deadline for the October Board. According to the schedule, that Board actually meets from October 15th-18th, and the estimated release date for the results is November 8th. Bit earlier than expected, but welcome just the same. It's the first Board of the Fiscal Year 2003 for the military, so that could work to my advantage, as there will be plenty of slots to fill. The last few boards have been somewhat selective in many of the fields, that should be less true with the new FY. Of course, the release dates for the least few boards have been delayed quite a bit, with the July release coming out around 2 or 3 weeks late and the August release so far 1 or 2 weeks late itself. "Hurry up and wait."

All in all though, I'll still know by mid November at the latest what the deal is. Worst comes to worst, I'll be rejected the first time and automatically go to the second Board which meets in November, and releases the results in December. If you get rejected twice you have to wait at least six months I think it is, so that'll be it at that point until I graduate at least. Although I haven't been completely ignoring the fact I might have to consider other options, this has been my main focus for a while. Will just be nice to finish up these last few steps and be done with it, so I can get back to doing other things.

I do believe it's time for that 3rd BoB ep. Haha BoB. That looks funny.

Blisters Hurt

Never had an experience with sunburn blistering until today. I'm in more pain than I have been in oh, about five years.

Didn't help that I was having to meet and greet people which involved hugging and shoulder slapping extensively at the party. That probably screwed it over actually. I'm proud though, I didn't complain once to anyone outside my family who were smart enough to not do those kinds of things.

It's my own fault, I guess. More later on how cool the party was, when I'm able to do things like type blogs without flinching from the searing pain through my shoulder.

Sunburned to Bits

You want funny lookin sunburn, I got one for ya. Picture this. You're going on a hike, and the last time you got a bit sunburned, so this time you grow a brain and take some lotion. Beforehand when you get out of the car you lather up your neck and face to be sure that it isn't a problem this time. Your t-shirt and shorts getup covers everything else possibly lighter in color, as your arms and legs are tan enough for it not to be a problem. You decide about a half hour in to roll up your sleeves and create a tank top effect. You leave your upper arms and shoulders exposed to 90 degree heat for approximately 8 hours. Voila! When you get home and remove the T-shirt, it now appears that you are wearing something with red sleeves. Plenty of white in between, but amazingly bright red long sleeves from the shoulder down. Ah, intelligence.

The good news is my back isn't burned, because trying to sleep with that is the worst. My arms still hurt like the dickens, but I suppose I deserve it. Unfortunately have the big party tomorrow, so I'll have to dress of spiff and make attempts to cover the evidence.

More good news is we made it to the top, again, and even got back before dark this time. I'm gettin pretty good at this, I should be a tour guide or something. Even more good news I'll probably be really light tomorrow morning. :) Well a new low anyway. Man, even my sockline shows a clear difference in shade, when there wasn't one before. At least I was smart enough to switch wrists on my watch like halfway through, something I hadn't done for like 5 years which felt really whack, but did the trick and avoided serious lines there. The strange thing is, it was much hotter the last time I went, and I didn't get much darker at all, and no really painful burns to speak of. I guess it was a different UV rating today, or something.

Ah... blowing air on my arms sure feels good. All I need is like a fan doing that at all times, but some sort of sleeveless thing to keep me warm meanwhile. Actually blowing on them just makes them burn more a few seconds later, nm. Well, if I can't sleep I'll be back. :/

Spring Cleaning, in August

The big 30th anniversary thingy bobber for the parents is on Sunday, and some cleaning ppl are coming tomorrow morning to give the house a whoopin, so everything in my room has to be decent looking by 10am. I tend to live out of boxes during the summer, so the place is pretty trashed. Really annoying to have to box stuff up and put it in the garage, when you're just going to have to take it all out in a few weeks and get everything together making sure you didn't forget anything to take it to college. Least I get to move in on a Friday this year instead of during the weekend, that should give me a few extra days to get into the swing of things. Something tells me they got rid of the week before classes start though, and they probably start early the following week, which would be lame.

I conned another friend into climbing Mt. Baldy tomorrow it looks like, so we'll see how that goes. Now that I've conquered it again, I won't be as disappointed if we have to turn around halfway. That and I'll actually know where I'm going this time. :)

The new job basically sucks ass, your classic data entry, which is good for oh about four hours, then your eyes start going blurry and you start getting really bored and it seems like motivating yourself to do each new record takes like five minutes at a time. If you actually get going time sort of passes, but gets old after a while.

Highly doubt it's going to last much longer, I'm doing everything relatively as slow as possible without drawing attention, but still getting through the huge amount of entries pretty quick. They didn't even want me back on Monday, but they do Tuesday, which is strange. Oh well as long as I get a day next week out of it that's at least one more paycheck. Then I'm supposed to call the other job at Kaplan back on the 6th and see if they need me some more there, so I should be able to eek out some more money before I head back to school.

Remnants of my shins started being annoying today, which is not such a good sign, since I even took a day off yesterday. I guess I'm going to not run for a few days, the Baldy trip tomorrow will do plenty. Gah, when is move in day when you need it.