Tuesday, 07 July 2009

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    Great Gorge!!!

    What an exhaustingly fun  weekend. My friends and I went up to Great Gorge for my friend's (soon to be annual) Birthday party weekend and it was epic!

    I started the weekend early. Friday, I first went to lunch with some old friends I haven't seen in the longest. After, made my way to Great Gorge area to sneak in some mountain biking in before check in to the resort. Got some time in before I found out my friends came earlier than expected. lol.

    Last time we went there, we made a plan and I executed it with the utmost success. I'll leave it at that. lol. We shuttled our stuff up to the condo, did some grocery shopping for the weekend, ate dinner and went down to the resort to play!

    Played indoor basketball for a couple hours, which is always fun. I really miss playing basketball on a weekly basis. Makes me think if I should really take this triathlon thing too seriously by avoiding basketball to prevent injury. Basketball is after all a really good exercise. I put my heart rate monitor on and it was consistently above 120bpm, which is good, and I'm sure it peaked higher during sprinting around.

    After, took a dip in the pool and took some hilarious underwater photos and videos. Yes videos too! lol. I'll try and get some of them posted here, since they are all on facebook at the moment. Then ate dinner and got hustled at Texas Hold'em by someone who "didn't know how to play." You girls are a tricky breed.

    Saturday, just repeat! lol. More basketball, more swimming. Finally we able to dive off the cliff in Great Gorge. lol. Was fun! Was able to get a couple friends to do it too. hahaha. Good times. Then at night, people were getting there drink on and some things happened that I missed out on since I was picking up dinner. booOooo. Then played some Mah Jong.

    Sunday, repeat once more, but a little shorter since people wanted to go home before holiday traffic begun. Then went to the driving range for a quick bucket at the driving range then to my friend's house for her father's birthday.

    Then yesterday, met up with my old college buddy who was here from Las Vegas. We went to NYC for some Bon Chon Chicken, Red Velvet Cake, and Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory. Mmmmm. So good, so fattening. Good company and good food. Then went to dinner at Jersey City for dinner and dropped my friend off until the next time I see him (nest year most likely. lol. )

    I'll try to rob some of the pictures and post them later. As for now, its sunny and in the 80's! That means me go play outside!


Thursday, 02 July 2009

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    Cameltoe?

    I went to Barnes and Noble this morning for a little reading and relaxation after a good morning jog. I met this semi Goth girl in the Health and Fitness section. She was pretty cute even with piercings in her nose, lower lip and eye brow. lol. We talked for a good 15 minutes about general stuff with of course my hair being the ice breaker. hahaha.

    During our conversation, she kept adjusting her short shorts. Ok, that's a little weird. Its like they keep riding up on her while I was talking to her. Seeing how I wasn't ever going to see her again, I decided to be daring and make a semi-inappropriate joke.

    Me: Am I getting you hot in the shorts or something?
    Her: *in shock, then laughs* No. They just keep giving me a frontal wedgie.
    Me: You need a hand with that?
    Her: No, I think I got it.
    Me: You sure?
    Her: Yeah, I'm sure, you can't do that in public.

    I'll end the convo there before it starts sounding like a bad porno. lol. She was shocked to her that from me. She said I don't look like the type to say that kind of thing and that she knew I was just playing. She totally called me out on being a "good guy". Dam. I guess no matter how I try to be "bad", I'm stuck with this persona. Oh well.

    She was 20! Dam. She gave me her digits. What to do, what to do? is a 7 year difference too much? Just when I was making fun of someone I knew who was going after 18 year olds (though the difference there for him is 10 years!).

    I will be away this weekend, so no updates till monday. I will be playing at Great Gorge!

    Anyone want to check out this movie with me?





Wednesday, 01 July 2009

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    Quick Catch Up

    Sorry. Been busy as usual. Let me finish what happened last weekend....

    Saturday, went mountain biking in the AM. Then went with my family to take my niece to Turtleback Zoo. They had free admission for that day to promote Essex County Events. lol. They improved the place a lot since I last been there (three years ago?) I believe it was the first Zoo trip for my niece and she loved it! Especially the penguins and aviary (where you can feed the birds!) Had an incident with an African American who was yelling "It's a Shoalin Monk" at me where I politely ignored. If I wasn't with family, I would have went to town on his ass while yelling "Ruben Studdard!" or something along those lines. Also, my brother was with me and I'm sure he would have jumped into the altercation and like I said, my niece was present. That guy got off lucky.

    Afterwards, we went to eat at a spot I used to eat at when I worked at RoseArt. So good. Then went home to get ready to enjoy the night life.

    My white boy friends wanted to hit up New Brunswick as usual but I convinced them to go to the City. Of course this meant I had to drive. Oh well. Then I had another altercation, this time it was about to get ugly. And guess what, it happened to be another African American with the comments. My boys are a little racist (maybe I'll post about these guys some other time to further enlighten about them). So it was about to be ON!

    One cool thing about them is we always got each other's back. And they had mine. So when the guy stepped up to me with two of his friends, all three of mine came up behind me plus two of my friend's friends. The storm settled down quickly, and one of his friends was smart enough to pull him away. The friend came back to me later in the night to apoligize for his drunken friend so everything was cool. All this over a hairstyle.

    But I did get my chicken and rice fix so I was happy. The End.

    Side note: New trend in Japan. Purposely swelling your skin (temporary). Oh you crazy Japanese people. lol.




Monday, 29 June 2009

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    Movie Review: Transformers

    ******Spoiler Alert!*******

    On Friday, my friends and I went to see Transformers 2. The first one was ok, maybe its because I was a big fan as a child and it was nothing but a glamorized rehashed version of it. The second was no different. Yeah, I said it.

    If you haven't guessed it by now, I don't give a flying hairy monkey's ass about what popular opinion is about. I don't care if I have to stand out on this limb by myself and say that this movie was just OK too.

    Maybe I'm a person of substance and not easily fooled with gimmicks (well, not via advertisements when shopping, lol) and all those special effects. If you took away all of that, it was just an underdeveloped rushed movie. Seriously. Maybe I just pay too much attention and should just admire the special effects, but too bad this is one of my favorite cartoons of my childhood.

    I felt the plot was rushed through. It gave almost no time to develop any of the characters. You couldn't really connect with any of them. (besides Bumble Bee and Optimus Prime) The twins gave good comic relief those were a little racist. I guess because they killed off Jazz in the first one so they needed to fill a "quota." lol.

    Second, the plot holes. Why the heck was Optimus all by himself saving Sam? Where was Bumble Bee and the rest of the team? Why can that sliver resurrect Jetfire but not Optimus Prime? Why are they always fighting in the desert? Why does Optimus remove his Jetfire pack (I'd keep it if I was him!, lol)?  Rail gun? Really?

    Another thing, I'm not a fan of the redesign of the Transformers. I mean, we don't have to go original, just spice it up a little. Instead, its over done. So much to the point you can't tell what the heck is going on in half the fight scenes. When they transform, they all look like a mess of silver wires with a little highlight of the color car they were. When they fight hand to hand, it just looks like a mess with peices flying everywhere and you wonder who hurt who! And it takes them like twenty seconds to transform from car to robot and its all visual because I'll be dammed if a toy can transform like that.

    But like I said, its an ok movie. Not really going to go with the crowd and say "Oh I loved it". No. I don't think so. Maybe I should be a writer for Transformers 3. Can you say Dinobots! Snarl FTW!



Friday, 26 June 2009

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    Oh Burn!

    Yesterday, I went to the beach at Belmar. It was a nice day (not exactly sunny, but it was in the 80's.) Picked up my friend who actually wanted to ride a bike with me. OMG! I think she is the first girl who has accepted my offer of bike riding. We didn't bike for too long (like 10 miles) but its a start.

    After biking, we played on the beach. We got into a heated debate about swimwear. I am not a fan of girls in tube top bikinis. Its not sexy. It makes girls look flat and doesn't flatter their figure. I'm guessing she has a couple pairs and likes them and she shot back at me with, well, not everyone has the same taste, some girls don't like the monk look either. Oh burn! I'll let her win that fight because we all know you can't win an argument with a girl, especially if she was the one who drove. lol.

    We headed back early (3pm) because of the "rain". It was crazy, it poured buckets out of no where and literally flooded the streets, on our way back, it got sunny again. lol. Oh well.

    Got home and since I was unsatisfied with the "workout" I did my number at the gym. Then onward to the night.

    Was supposed to go to the Dollar Night at the Meadowlands Fair, but it was packed (from what I was told) Oh well. Just went out to eat instead. Hopefully we can still go before they leave town. I hope.

    Now I better do this oil change I've been slacking over. I got two cars to do.

Wednesday, 24 June 2009

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    FEED ME!

    So I called my friend yesterday, I to see if she wants to grab some lunch. She's a teacher and is lucky enough to have the entire summer off.

    Me: Wanna grab lunch?
    Her: Sure.
    Me: Where do you wanna eat?
    Her: Sonic's!
    Me: Ok

    And away we went.

    I think Sonic's is good but not the best thing in the world. I wasn't driving (my car) so I didn't care, (but I drove her car, lol) . Its about an hour away from us too. She wanted to check out the new one in Hasbrough Heights but I heard the lines were crazy there and I wasn't about to wait (and its just as far. ) Went to town on the food again. Had another Toaster with Rings and a Large Reese's Blast. lol.

    Afterward lunch I get an invite for to eat at Jollibee. I've made the trek out to Queens about 4 times and never ate there because the lines were crazy long. So I finally ate at the infamous Jolliebee, and I must say, I was rather disappointed. I got the Palabok Joy special. The Palabok (a noodle dish) and wasn't impressed. It was bland at best. Didn't even have lemon for me to save it! What the heck! The chicken was totaly flavorless. I swear there was no seasoning on the breading, just flour or something. So sad. Nothing like the original. I think I will give it moremore shot to make it right, that's it but only if I'm in the area (say, I catch a Mets game or something) but that's it.

    My fat boy mode was still on. We hit up Chinatown and grabbed some bubbletea. Then off to the Bakery and I finally got my Jin Deui (Sesame Balls with Red Bean Paste). Been craving them for the longest time. Everytime I buy them at other places, they never have the filling (Red Bean) that I like. If they have a filling. While I was there, I picked me up some Sao Pao (Steamed Pork Bun). So I'm set for the week for food. lol.

    GTG. Got to GTD. 

Monday, 22 June 2009

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    Follow Me!

    Not sure if I mentioned it here, but you can now follow me on Twitter. Just random thoughts that come in my head on the daily basis really. Some might be messed up thoughts so I give you fair warning.

    Noah's Ark

    This rainy Jersey weather is killing me. I'm an outdoorsy kinda a guy who lives and breathes playing. Don't get me wrong, I'll still play in the rain but seriously, its rained for like 2 weeks straight! I wonder how Seattle people handle this kind of weather, I feel like slitting my wrists right now I'm so depressed with this weather.

    Weekend Update

    Dam, I have short term memory. I forgot what I did Thursday. hMMMm. My google calendar froze on me for the past week and didn't put anything on it so I have to go.... from memory! OMG!

    Friday I made a Philly run because I was in the mood for a Philly Cheesesteak. I also needed to visit a friend who was selling me a car part too so it was a duel stop for me. I asked around who wanted to come along and get only one response. Its a Friday so yeah, not too surprised but one of my home girls came along with me for my travels. She used to go to school in Philly (Temple) so she knows her way around. First we meet up with my friend to get the part, then off to Jim's. I ordered the Pepper Pizza Cheesesteak, it was soOOoo good. Basically its a cheesesteak with sweet peppers, onions, cheese wiz, and pizza sauce.

    We strolled around South Street afterwards, making our way through a shop that was very interesting, if you have been to South Street in Philly, I'm sure you know which one I'm talking about. Its the kind of shop that puts a little awkwardness and flirtation between us. I'll end it there.

    Then we had dinner at Sonic's on the way back home. Had the Chicken Club Toaster and a Reese's Sonic Blast. Oh man. So filling. Then I dropped her home.

    Then went bowling in North Arlington. Bowled pretty poorly. Only averaged 135ish. Normally I'm 160ish (or I used to be) Oh well, then ate at Arlington Diner to end this long day.

    Saturday!!!!

    I forgot. lol. umMMm. Supposed to be bike riding but because of the rain I decided not to since no one wanted to roll with me. Normally, if no one wants to go, I roll solo, but rain solo is a no no. so I went to the gym instead. I missed my workout on Friday since I was busy so I made up my swim workout. And I'm glad I did.

    The Saturday lifeguards are cute! lol. Not just one but two! I was talking to the lifeguard when she was relieved by another cute lifeguard! Dam. I think I'm about to change my workout days to Saturday swims if this is the case! hahaha. Maybe even fake my own drowning to get some mouth to mouth. Afterwards, biked and jogged to finish out my usual workout.

    Afterwards, visited my parents for a bit then went home. Was going to stay in, but get a call to hang out. It was raining so we decided to just make it a movie night. She brought some DVD's over and made me watch Hitch. I had no other good choices because the other ones were the Notebook and over chick flicks. Dammit. Will Smith was in Hitch so I figured it was a safer bet. lol. And I must say, it was a good movie.

    Sunday!!!

    Father's Day. Worked out in the morning as it was just cloudy and not raining finally! Did a short work out (1 hour bike, 30 min run) then off to church. I was thinking about biking to church but I didn't want to be sweaty and nasty for church. lol. Then took my Dad to his favorite restaurant. China Buffet. lol. My dad loves buffets. I don't mind them once in a blue moon, but we just ate there on his Birthday a week ago. hahaha. I mean they have a good variety and its good food, but sometimes I like trying new foods. And the all you can eat ice cream is cool too. lol.

    After, my parent's went to Atlantic City. I wasn't up to the drive because, well, its a long drive. lol. So I went to the gym to finish up my workout plan. I wasn't sure how good it would be to be working out only an hour or so after eating a buffet but my body seemed to hold up well. hahaha.

    Then topped the night off with some Halo. lol. The End.

    P.S. Thank you for pointing out I forgot to tell you guys about my latest encounter with an engaged female friend. I told you I have short term memory. Tomorrow. I promise. I think....

Thursday, 18 June 2009

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    Milf Magnet

    So the other day I go to train with one of my triathlon buddies. He is a older than me but pretty hardcore. He also invited a girl to train with us as well.

    I didn't have a problem with that because well, some girls can kick but in triathlons so I'm not going to doubt her abilities. lol. But what was odd was she was getting a little too friendly with me. After we finished our bike/run session, we we hanging out at his garage, sipping some gatorade when she sit down on the couch next to me.

    We were biking and running at VO2 max rate during the run so I was pretty sweaty and gnarly and was uncomfortable with her sitting so close to me. She looks young but you can tell she has some more experience to her. She was all asking me questions about why I do triathlons and what not, and touching me on my arm and knee.

    She left and I asked my buddy what her story was. I find out she is 41 years old!!! OMG! I was thinking mid 30's but wow. Still looks fairly young for her age. lol. Not only that but she has a 24 year old daughter who is pretty cute too. He showed me her facebook page and yeah, I can confirm her daughter is cute. hahaha. Talk about wierd. Was she trying to hook me up with her daughter or for herself. yikes!

Monday, 15 June 2009

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    Neglected

    Sorry Xanga. I know I have been neglecting you. But apparently I'm not the only one. lol. I look at my subs and no is updating either. So yeah.

    Life is getting nuts around here. Prepping the house for sale, fixing the odd things around the house that potential buyers might frown at, trying to find places to do my Physical Therapy volunteer work, applying to jobs (don't know why I am since I'm 90% sure I want to do PT  ), etc. Sigh. Life takes us to strange places. I never thought I would be here though. Nothing ever goes as planned.

    Anyway, had a fun weekend. Thursday I bought my new daily driver car. Its a 92 Honda Civic Hatchback. A classic to any import racer. I literally found an old lady who driven it since 92. Its one of those stories you here from people all the time, but this time it was true. lol. Asked a friend to come back with me to pick it up and I pull off such an idiotic move. I locked the clutch with my AutoLock and forgot the key. So basically went all the way there to find out I forgot that key. Well, at least we had a nice Five Guys burger that I was craving for anyway.

    Friday went to pick it up again, this time with all neccasary keys. Then went to a bar with my friend to celebrate birthday. I was going to stay in but then my friend text me to go. lol. Twas fun. Saw this girl who had measurements somewhere in the ballpark of 36D-22-40. No joke. She came up to talk to us, not once but twice! Oh yeah. But brain wasn't working fully. Seriously, I have never seen a girl who looked like that in my life. I didn't think it was scientifically possible for a girl to look like that. I mean, looked good and all but in a strange way creepy too. lol. And she had one crazy spanish accent which I could barely understand her.

    Saturday after a power nap since I got home at 4am, woke up at 6am to head to Belmar. Did a 50 mile ride with my friend, was fun as the weather was nice in the early morning. The sun was actually out after a week straight of rain. Then met up with my female friends at the Belmar Seafood Fest. We got our fat on. Had the crabcakes. cajun shrimp, and shrimp jumbolaya. SooOOo good. Then it got cloudy and a little bit cold (to the girls standard) so instead of swimming at the beach, the girls decided to bounce and go to the mall or something and we went along to. Grabbed dinner at this little Italian spot my friend knew. End Night.

    Sunday baked some brownies with my silicone muffin pan. It wasn't from scratch, it was from the box, but hey, people actually thought I bought them when I brought them for my friend's housewarming. lol. Played some football, frisbee, and basketball when we were outside, then played some SF4 when we got inside. lol. I wanted to play ball more but everyone didn't want to play anymore.

    That's it for now. Today is my dad's birthday. Time to celebrate.

Wednesday, 10 June 2009

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    Surprise!

    So one of my buddies has been dating this girl for a couple months now. Everything was peachy I thought since he would only call me once in a blue to hang out, you know how relationships go. Then I get an interesting phone call from him.

    "She has a kid..."

    Wow. Just wow. He was never told that she had a son from a past relationship. He was devastated. He really fell hard for the girl. He was quite upset to find this out, that his "dream girl" had a baby with someone else. It was like listening to an episode of Jerry Springer. I thought these things were impossible, but sadly was proved wrong.

    Now I have no experience with baby mamas. I tend to stay clear from them all together. Even as friends. It puts me in an awkward spot and I don't want to bond with a single female friend's child as I don't want to mess up the child thinking I am the father or something. Shot, I'm having trouble with girls who are in relationships hitting on me! (More on my latest one tomorrow maybe?)

    My friend's world was shook. Its funny cause he is like 2 years older than me yet I feel like I'm the older one with all the advice I through at him. lol. But I didn't know what to say. Its only been 6 months they have been dating. How can a girl hid that fact for  whole months to a good guy like him. I told him to follow a consensus of his heart and mind. (I'm no longer a believer of just following one's heart alone anymore blame it on bad relationships. )

    I also told him that the relationship wasn't built around trust. If she hid this, what is the truth behind her. What else has she lied or hid from him. He countered with, "But I love her"

    Those are the words that spurred the reveal. When he told her that he loved her she broke down and told him about her son. He baby's daddy is in jail serving for assault of guess who. The baby mama. I told you, its just like Jerry Springer.

    With craziness like this, its just best to cut ties and leave. There are better fish in the sea. This one got serious problems. Take it from a guy like me who has a hero complex. I tried to rescue many girls but only ended up hurting myself. And he finally agreed that I was right and he was trying to save her too.

    I'm not saying people don't deserve a second chance, but I don't think its cool she lied to him right off the bat. If its meant to be it'll find a way to work itself out and not forced fixed. The twisted part of me is thankful that crazy drama happens to other people besides me. lol.
    asd

Tuesday, 09 June 2009

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    Goodbye Old Friend

    Last     weekend was a picnic/BBQ filled one. Saturday, was my old grade school, Saint Frances Cabrini's, farewell picnic. My grade school is closing its doors after a long bout with low enrollment. I spent my 1st to 8th grade there. Lots of memories, though a lot not so happy ones.

    I was the only one in attendance from my year. lol. Or at least from what I can recall. To be honest, its been 14 years since I saw some of them so I might not even recognize them. I hung out with a couple of them here and there, mostly by accident in my small town, and one (filipino) even went to my college but he is more white washed than I am.

    In grade school, I was pretty awkward. I was the second tallest in my class, I had the promiscuous girl going after me (setting the tone for the rest of my life huh? lol), and didn't hit my own stride until my final years there. I lived in the shadow of my older brothers who also went there, so I had a lot of negativity to overcome from teachers and students alike.

    My old principal was there, she recognized me off the bat. "You and your crazy hairstyles" she said. She made me shave my head bald right before 8th grade pictures for having a shaved mushroom cut. Apparently, shaved areas of the head was against school's "policy" though there wasn't anything on paper on that. She also suspended me several times and nearly prevented me from graduating.

    I spent most of my time with my family and playing with my niece. lol. We went into the Moonbounce and she was confused. She couldn't stand up on her own! lol. So I jumped a couple times with her in my arms and she liked that but when I tried to help her stand up on her own, she would sprawl on the ground with a confused look on her face like "why is the ground shaking" look. It was cute.

    They had a little fixings bar for ice cream to which I pigged out on. I ate 6 cups of ice cream under 30 minutes. I had a stomach ache when I headed to my friend's BBQ that night. I ate like one stick of BBQ at his place because I was so stuffed. lol. Saw some people I haven't seen since last summer. My summertime friends. hahaha.

    Sunday was my parent's Filipino Association's picnic. It was really bad timing since it was also the same day as the Filipino Day Parade in  NYC, but its ok. Played with my little twin cousins. They are hilarious! We were playing catch with a football and they would run under the ball and catch it with there face! lol. They would laugh and say "I'm ok". Too cute. I'm going to train them to be little sports stars. bwahaha. They already play organized soccer, one of them just runs around like a chicken with its head cut off, and the other just sits and plays in the grass. Yeah, that's MY cousins for you. lol.

Thursday, 04 June 2009

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    Wheels in Motion

    Economic Slowdown = Less Spending = Less Products Sold = Less Products Need to be Designed = Less Industrial Designers Hired

    So I've been looking for a job like crazy. I have been spamming every place I could find and nothing. When I was laid off last year (yes two layoffs in a year and a half) it took me 4 months to find a job. Back then, I had a better nest egg to weather me through the storm but a second layoff this soon you can say its going to screw me fast.

    This time around, I got two months before meltdown, if I am lucky. So I made my resolve, I'm selling my house.

    I love my house, don't get me wrong, but maintenance alone is killing me solo. I amassed some great things like my pool table, my furniture, etc, everything I would want if I was married and had kids, but I don't, so I don't really need all this.

    I think living with my parents again will be odd after 2 years living on my own. But its something I have to do. I will be applying to the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey for a Doctorate in Physical Therapy. I tried looking into schools in the Philippines but it all seems too complicated for me. I could save half the tuition rate over there but I have to move fast on this. My credits expire in 10 years and I would have to retake 6 more classes if I don't start by 2010. So

    I'm kind of scared though. My undergraduate was fully paid via scholarships and working part time. The rate per credit is $500 and I need 110 to graduate (Fun Fact: I have over 240 undergraduate credits already! ) So I'm looking into getting in debt about $55,000 as soon as I get out and the starting salaries are about $70k  and upwards to $80k     if I am lucky. So hopefully I'd be able to knock out those loans in a hurry if I stay living at home.

    At this moment, I know about a dozen people who I graduated with are starting on a new career. And I'll be joining them. I didn't think I would change paths since I love my past two jobs, but like I stated  earlier, my job market sucks beyond recognition and doesn't offer me stability for my future which is scary. Yeah, I don't really need much to survive in this world, just food in my belly and a roof over my head, but it won't attract the ladies.

    I guess we'll see if this pans out, I still got to get accepted into the program and its pretty tough I hear.

Wednesday, 03 June 2009

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    Left Behind

    What is your legacy?

    Yesterday, I went to Arligh's wake. I was amazed at the turnout, but seeing how cool of a guy he is, I wasn't surprised. I don't think I'd draw a quarter of that crowd if I passed, but to see how many hearts he touched in just 28 years is just incredible.

    It was a closed casket, which means the hit and run was bad. They said it was so bad they thought to just cremate him right off the bat. This was the first closed casket I have been to and I think I want my funeral to be the same.

    Maybe I'm just being selfish but I want people to remember me as a lively happy guy. I think it would cause people more pain to see a guy like me laying in there, lifeless. Every funeral I've been to, people seem to grasp them in the coffin and it just breaks my heart to see that. I think if I just disappeared from the Earth, without being seen like that, people wouldn't have to remember that image but the last time they saw me, alive and well.

    I'm really not kidding when I said I want a big fiesta type party when I pass on. Food, drinks, ice cream, balloon animals, caricature drawings, the whole 9. When God does call me back, I want to know I changed this world for the better. That the things I work towards gets continued. That I touched as many hearts as Arligh....

Monday, 01 June 2009

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    Death in Perspective

    It can happen any where, any time.

    This weekend, one of my friends pasted away. I'm not going to front and say I knew him very well, but he was a cool guy every time I encountered him. He was my friend's friend really, who I had the pleasure of playing basketball and partying with from time to time.

    He died tragically. In a series of events that make you wonder. According to the online reports, he hit a concrete barrier on an exit ramp and exited his vehicle to inspect the damage. Another car hits his damaged car which in turns hits him. This sent him over the barrier, down 20 feet into the highway below where is he stuck by another motorist who fled the scene. Makes me sick to my stomach to think someone would flee after hitting a HUMAN BEING!

    Makes me think, what the odds are of all those things happening. Its sad and scary really. Human life is so fragile. You would never in your wildest dreams thought something like that was possible. A man's life taken in his prime by a freak accident at the wrong place at the wrong time.

    Rest In Peace Arligh. My prayers are with you and your family.


Wednesday, 27 May 2009

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    Interesting Proposal

    No, I'm not getting married. At least not yet. lol.

    So during the weekend, one of my parent's friend happens to be a scout for a Philippines Basketball Association. What are the odds? He doesn't scout directly for the PBA but its farm teams ("minor league"). He asked me if I would be interested in playing abroad. And well, being just laid off, how can I possibly say no?

    Its not concrete though. I really haven't played much since I started my triathlon quest a year and a half ago. Mostly because I usually get injured playing basketball and want to be competitive at triathlons. I briefly thought about going to the Philippines to live just for the experience and what better way that to play basketball. They have triathlons in the Philippines as well so I can still get my fix.

    I didn't see myself being in such a horrible crossroad in my life. Laid off for the second time in a year and a half's time. Having the burden of a house. Still unmarried and no kids. What happened to my promising life? It gets almost depressing when I think about it. I woke up today later than I have in months wondering what I should do today. I applied to all the jobs on all the job sites, even jobs I wasn't even qualified or didn't ever want to do.

    Maybe I should head back to school. Maybe go to the Philippines and get that Physical Therapy degree. Stop fiddling around with this toy designer dream and get a grounded career. It seems to be a growing tread amoung people I know who are switching up what they want to do with life. Maybe I should do the say. Or maybe I should chase down this basketball dream and live up to the potential. I'm only young once and still single. So why not? I'll see if I can make this happen. Go to the Philippines, try to make it to the big leagues over there, if not, go to school there for my Ph. D.

    Now where do I start?





Tuesday, 26 May 2009

  •  

    Confirmed

    What an awesome vacation.

    For Memorial Day Weekend, my family and I went to Virginia Beach. Our family and my parent's friend's family rented out a beach house for the long weekend. For those who didn't see my facebook status update:

      

    That was the view from the balcony of the beach house we stayed in. Not water front, but only across the street is a sweet deal!

    The whole weekend was seriously fun. Every morning, I jogged on the beach (even met some cute joggers and early sun bathers) while watching the sunrise over the ocean, afternoons body surfing and boogie boarding, and evenings biking until sunset over the bay. You just can't live a better life than that!

    Also went to the Virginia Aquarium which houses the best turtle exhibit I have ever seen but with my luck, they closed that section off for renovations. Also hit up the Virginia Botanical Gardens. Very nice place.

    This pretty much cements what I want. A nice sunny climate to do this kind of thing regularly. Don't get me wrong, I love NJ, but being able to bike 10 miles of coast line with no drivers coming close to hitting me was unbelievable. I need to make this lifestyle for me possible. I need to move to Cali. Shoot, even Virginia Beach is looking good to me too. I want this badly. One day back and I am going through a serious withdrawal. So I'm expanding my new job search to all coastal places. Hopefully somewhere where a mountain for snowboarding is possible. lol. Then again, I would pick up surfing if I was by the water.

    Side notes: I got sand rashes from boarding and one three inch semi deep scratch across my stomach along with several other all over my body since I forgot my rash guard shirt. I'll try and post pictures later if I can get them from my sister since my camera is busted. Got some good shots at the gardens to share with the macro.


Thursday, 21 May 2009

  •  

    No Blessing

    I would like to think I am a rather honorable man. I don't disrespect and say my "please" and "thank you"'s.

    So at the gym the other night, I was doing my cardio routine. I decided to do the stairclimber to mix it up a little bit since my knee still didn't feel 100%. I put in a good hour on the stairs and a lot can happen in that time. I finally found my charger for my MP3 player and I use it to avoid the local drama. I put it on and ignore everything around me. I usually space out when I work out so I was not really paying attention. Next thing I know, a girl in leggings start to run in front of me.

    At first, I didn't think about it really, then she kept turning around while running and looking at me. WTH? So I look around and see there are several other treadmills she could have picked but CHOOSE to run in the one in front of me. Oh man! Let's face it, I would have to be gay not to look at a girl in leggings running in front of me.     That's why peripheral vision is a great thing. I don't stare, I merely glimpse, and often. Kidding. lol. But seriously, how can I not look?

    So then I finally get a look at the face on one of her stares back to me. OMG. I know her! (I'm telling you, its hard to escape this small town!) It happens to be my friend's little sister! Well, she isn't so little now! She is two years younger than me so its not a pedophile moment, ok. I haven't seen her in ages. I stopped hanging out with him because he was more whitewashed than I was. Hard to believe, I know, but he liked being the only token asian guy in the group. hahaha. But he's cool people, just been too busy to call him lately.

    Think unsexy thoughts, think unsexy thoughts.

    Like I said, I'm pretty respectful and don't encroach on people's sisters/cousins/ex gf/friends/etc. If I don't get the blessing, I ignore the girl. It sounds rather extreme, I know, Aaron the personable guy I am, ignoring people. Its absurd, but its the only way I can be respectful to my friend. I ran into several occasions where I would be friendly Aaron and these girls would, um, yeah. So to avoid losing more guy friends, I made this ignore policy. And it is tough when they start the conversations.

    She then went on the stairclimber next to me. Oh man, we are going to talk. I know it. She looks at me for like a good ten akward seconds with one of those, "Don't I know you" looks so I finally just said, "Hey! Aren't you ____'s sister?" The perfect opening line because I know people always hate it when you refer to them as someone's sister. lol. We exchanged some small chat, told her to tell her brother I said hi, and that was it. Luckily my hour was up and I left.

    If this gym wasn't so close to my house, I would total not go here.

    This weekend, I'm headed to Virginia Beach with the family. Our family and my mom's friend's family rented out a beachhouse there for the weekend. Should be fun! Bringing my bike, I just don't know which one. My Triathlon Bike, my road bike, my mountain bike or my beach cruiser. I feel like a woman with her shoes. lol.

Tuesday, 19 May 2009

  •  

    Tiring Weekend

    What a sports filled weekend.

    Friday was ho hum. Just went to the gym as usual then stayed home for the night working on my bikes. Put some of those new parts I bought from the previous weekend to good use. And prepared my stuff for the my bike ride the next day.

    Saturday, I woke up at around 5:30am. It was my Multiple Sclerosis Coast the Coast 50 mile bike tour. (Thank you to those who donated to my cause.) Was my third year doing it and was the catalyst to my weight loss. The weather was not too cold and really foggy. My eyelids were collecting water vapor and I would get a shot of water every time I blinked. It was really weird but refreshing. lol.

    Not many girls rode this year, so I didn't talk to many. First tour ride with no eye candy. hahaha. But did meet some cool guys who biked who were at my level. I started the race with the guy who parked next to me. At the starting line we picked up another biker to roll with us. By the end of the ride, our pack was about 8 deep. It was pretty much the multinationality pack. 2 Asians, 3 African Americans, 1 Latino, 2 Caucasians. lol. Went at a quick pace, but I wish it was a little quicker. But we all chatted as we rode so it was pretty casual. The final leg was the quickest. Finished before 12pm.

    Afterwards, went to Mountain Creek/Vernon Valley area for some "R & R". My friend got a place for the weekend at the Mineral Spa and graciously invited me to join in the fun. So I dropped off my bike at home and went there (from the beach to the mountain, lol. Gotta love New Jersey) Played some indoor basketball for the first time in a long time. Felt good to play again since I "gave it up" for triathlons to avoid injuries. Speaking of which, I think I got a bruised rib. hahaha. Then hit up the pool and jacuzzi after. Saw the hottest girl in the Jacuzzi. Easily was a 9, maybe 9.5. Tall Brunette with a smoking fit curvy body. Totally a Leap Year kind of girl, so hot, you only see those kind once every 4 years.

    Then Sunday Morning, woke up early to head back down south for my Jewish Temple Softball League game. We lost by one freakin' run at the last inning. Honestly though, we should have won since we all the runs they scored were unearned thanks to errors. Oh well. Then went back to the mountains for some more basketball and swimming. lol.

    My body was toasted. Played I don't know how many hours of basketball but my knee was hurting from all of it. After some hot cold treatment in the jacuzzi and the cold-cuzzi, the pain went away! Got to love that!

    I'm still a little sore today, but I don't care. For the love of sports!

Friday, 15 May 2009

  •  

    It's Official!

    I knew it was coming and now its official! Hello Unemployment. I guess its a good time to have that cross country /Euro Trip. Oh wait. I got a mortgage.

    Sucks because I didn't save much liquid assets. Maybe enough to keep me afloat for the next two months, tops. So I have to either A: Find a job ASAP or B: Sell this house ASAP. With this troubled housing market, I don't know about the latter. The former seems just as tough in this economy.

    Economy bad -> Less Spending -> Big Box Not Paying Bills on Time -> Small companies (like my former) Not getting paid -> Me getting laid off.  Its a cruel cycle based on consumer habits and bad corporate money management.

    I'm not sure what to do. If I find a local job, should I still keep the place and find some roommates? Or maybe rent out the whole place until the market is better for selling? I've applied to a lot of West Coast jobs for the heck of it hopefully something bares fruit and FAST! But I got a huge monkey on my back and need to deal with it.

    I need to make waves, and get moving. I have to polish off the old portfolio of work and hopefully get something good. I got a call back the other day from a company in New York but they were playing some serious hardball. For what they were looking for in terms of experience, I fit the bill. But they asked for 20k less than I wanted, and this is a job in New York City. I can't imagine paying my bills let alone for a New Yorker to survive on that. Maybe if I lived with Mom and Dad. But I guess I should have known when I applied to a big company.

    Sent via my home PC. lol.

Thursday, 14 May 2009

  •  

    Be All That You Can Be

    So I have been sending out resumes like crazy. One of them happened to be to the US Army for a Mechanical Engineer Position for the Department of Defense. Yeah, its a long shot a former toy designer turned weapon of mass destruction maker. lol.

    I get an interview from them on Monday and it quickly turned into a recruitment pitch. I listed some of my interests in my resume to show my versatility and I guess they actually read it. Two in particularly were paintball and triathlons.

    At first glance they seem like your ordinary hobbies of an active male but to the army it screamed Green Beret. Yes, the special forces of the US Army Green Beret! Talk about crazy! He told me I was perfect for this division and I should enlist. Umm. No thanks. lol.

    I guess I should feel complimented on the fact I was recommended for that but are you crazy? I am not going to be a front line soldier to a war I don't believe in. I was just spamming my resume to get a better job, maybe travel the world on the US government to design and engineer, not to enlist as a soldier, albeit a Green Beret. I guess he was hoping he could stroke my ego and tempt me to join by saying I can be among the best soldiers and possibly being an officer (because if you have a degree you become an instant officer) Yeah, ok, who are you kidding. I'm not that crazy to join. No offense to those who do and serve our country, I'm just not one to fight for things in OTHER countries for major corporate interests.

    Man, first interview out of the blocks and this is what I get! lol. My end is nearing. I can taste it. I got to jump ship before I get sunk.



LapuRizal

  • Visit LapuRizal's Xanga Site
    • Name: Aaron
    • Country: United States
    • State: New Jersey
    • Birthday: 10/15/1981
    • Gender: Male
    • Member Since: 6/19/2002

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  • Reasons to Click Here 1.) I'm a really weird guy. 2.) I am adventurous. 3.) I make a real good friend. 4.) I can leap tall Lego buildings in a single bound. 5.) I can fold road maps well. 6.) I am the master of "What If's." 7.) I am attention hungry. 8.) I like trying new things/ open-minded. 9.) I live in a drama filled world and need help! 10.) I just need help *Warning- i am not responsible for i say, do, or take pictures of... *

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